Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary
She thought the lamb was going to die. When she picked him up, the lamb's body was cold and limp, and he was too weak to hold up his own head. He'd lost most of his color, and at one point, she couldn't even see the lamb breathing. Eagles had started circling in the sky, waiting for their chance to swoop. According to the farmer who found the lamb, the mother had abandoned him at birth. The lamb was just 2 days old. Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary The situation seemed hopeless, but Kathy Munslow still rushed the lamb to Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary, a rescue and rehabilitation center she runs in Victoria, Australia. "I've raised quite a number of orphaned and critically ill animals over the years and know the most critical thing is to gradually increase their core body temperature, then to try and get them to take some fluids," Munslow told The Dodo. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries This Pregnant Pittie Foster Story Is The Happiest Thing Ever Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary After about an hour, the little lamb - whom Munslow named Kenny - started coming back to life. His body temperature rose and his skin regained its color. Then, after about two hours, Kenny was bright and alert and up on his feet. He even started taking milk from a bottle. This was incredible as young lambs have a difficult time surviving without their mothers; they also rely on the mother's colostrum milk in the first 48 hours of their lives to build up their antibodies and strengthen their immune systems. Since Kenny was abandoned at birth, he probably didn't get his mother's colostrum milk, which jeopardized his chances of surviving. "I was quite amazed with his progress,' Munslow said. "When I first saw him, I would've given him a 20 percent chance of surviving the first 48 hours, possibly less." Munslow was keeping Kenny inside her house while he was still in a critical condition. When she left the room for a moment, she came back to find something that melted her heart. "I walked into the lounge room and found Kenny and my dog Jemelda lying together on a dog bed on the floor," Munslow said. Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary According to Munslow, Jemelda - a 16-year-old rescue - often snuggles up to new residents at the sanctuary, so it wasn't a big surprise to see Jemelda lying next to Kenny. But Munslow was surprised when some of the other animals cuddled up with Kenny too. Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary "So far there's been Jemelda, Mel (our Jack Russell mix), and William the cat," Munslow said. "I also saw our other cat Mishka sitting next to him, and she normally doesn't go near anyone! They're fairly used to new animals coming into the house and have been known to snuggle up to them before, but it's happened a lot quicker with Kenny and has been pretty much nonstop." Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary "It got to the point where I didn't know who was going to be cuddled up to him when I walked into the room!" Munslow said. Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary Who can blame them? Kenny is especially cute and cuddly. Kenny doesn't seem to mind the company, too. Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary "I think he's really loving the connection, warmth and companionship," said Munslow. "He's a fairly quiet lamb. Sometimes other rescue lambs are more interested in running around and trying to eat everything in sight. I definitely think the close connections help with the healing process. It's one of the special things about this sanctuary that you really can't put a price on." Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary Besides cuddling with his new friends, Kenny loves following Munslow everywhere she goes, and looking at the other "strange lamb" in the mirror. He also likes burying himself under the pillows on the couch until just his tail, legs and bottom are sticking out. "He may not have his mum by his side, but he has no shortage of new friends here who have been doing a great job of making him feel safe and loved," Munslow said. "He's gotten over the really critical first 72 hours, and he's eagerly awaiting his bottles ... so everything is heading in the right direction at the moment." Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) India and Nepal will hold their fourth Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) on Thursday during which the two sides will "review and assess" past agreements and commitments reached between them. The JCM will be co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Nepalese counterpart Prakash Sharan Mahat, who will arrive here tomorrow on a three-day visit. advertisement "The Joint Commission will make a comprehensive review of bilateral issues between Nepal and India," a statement from the Nepal Foreign Ministry said. The Nepali delegation will consists of Foreign Secretary and other senior officials. During the recent state visit of Nepals Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to India, both sides had agreed to hold the Joint Commission Meeting "at the earliest". During the JCM, discussions will be held on a wide range of bilateral issues and also focus on expediting the India-funded projects and setting up of a joint mechanism at the government level to monitor progress of these projects in Nepal. The third meeting of the Joint Commission was held in Kathmandu in 2014 after a gap of more than two decades. PTI PYK SMN --- ENDS --- A 2-year-old cat named Giselle was quite possibly the most unwanted cat in America until someone figured out how to show her unique beauty. Giselle was one of a litter of munchkin kittens who would normally be desirable because of their cute, stumpy appearance, despite whatever health issues the mutation might cause. Munchkin cats are characterized by a mutation that causes them to have short legs. But Giselle was given up when she proved to be too much to handle. This browser does not support the video tag. Instagram/realstumpycat She was brought in to Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) earlier this month. A family in Boston surrendered her when realized they couldn't take care of her special needs. The family had gotten her as a kitten from a friend who had let his cat breed. By the time the staff at MSPCA saw her, Giselle was a mess. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries This Pregnant Pittie Foster Story Is The Happiest Thing Ever "She was covered in urine and feces. She was so matted. And she's blind," Alyssa Krieger, manager of the MSPCA Animal Care and Adoption Center and Giselle's current foster mom, told The Dodo. "When she came to us, I was like, 'I don't know if we can help this cat.'" Giselle was also noticeably sick. An exam showed she had a lung infection. She was also twitching in her ears and her eyes, suggesting that she might have nerve pain. "Munchkin cats are always easy for us to place, just like any purebred cat," Krieger said. But Giselle, because of her health issues, was a different situation. Each year, the people at the MSPCA helps 4,000 stray and unwanted cats find homes. But Giselle's hopes for a home looked bleak. Eventually, though, she got accustomed to her foster home at Krieger's house, and started coming out of her shell. "Because she's blind, transitions can be hard," Krieger said. "She also hates being held, partially because she's uncomfortable and partially because she's blind and it's disorienting - but she loves having her belly rubbed." The MSPCA sent out a press release to help garner attention for Giselle, who, as kittens and cats around her were getting adopted, was quickly becoming what the staff at MSPCA feared: the least desired cat in America. Krieger started an Instagram account to help show how sweet Giselle really is. "She's really an affectionate cat," Krieger said. Giselle even lets Krieger's pit bull, Tuna, and her other cats get close to her. "She's pretty low-key." Then something amazing happened. Krieger got about 3,000 emails from all over the world, as far away as Australia, inquiring about how to take Giselle home. Now, Krieger is sifting through all the applications, trying to choose a great home. "She's a challenging placement," Krieger said. "A lot of people might be like, 'I want her!' but might not realize the special care she needs." But there are quite a few homes that seem like the right fit - it's become hard to choose, which is the best kind of problem a shelter cat can have. "The only thing I wish is that pictures did her justice," Krieger said. "She's so much tinier than you'd expect."Mike Jivanjee
In 2014, Mike Jivanjee and his friends were out boating on a lake when they spotted something bobbing in the water. As they got closer, they realized it was a tiny goose, all alone and drowning. Wanting to help, the group scooped the little goose up into their boat and drove her over to a nearby island where her family was. They assumed the little goose would be welcomed back into her family graciously - but something was wrong. Mike Jivanjee The little goose had a bad foot, and because of that, her family seemed to think she wouldn't survive. They abandoned her, and refused to welcome her back. The group wasn't sure what to do, but after watching the little goose for a bit, they knew they couldn't just leave her behind. And so Jivanjee brought her home and welcomed her into his family instead. Dodo Shows Odd Couples Kitten Isn't Sure About His Pittie Brother At First Mike Jivanjee He named her Kyle (they thought she was a boy at first), and immediately fell in love. Jivanjee raised Kyle until she was old enough to fly, and then he figured she would go back into the wild. But Kyle had other plans. Mike Jivanjee Every time Jivanjee tried to release Kyle, she always came right back home. "When I saved Kyle I thought when she was big enough to fly she would fly away," Jivanjee told The Dodo. "Once she started flying she would always return at the end of the day. At about a year of age I drove her in my car about five miles away and released her. When I got back home she was already there hanging out on the boat." Mike Jivanjee Now, Kyle will leave home to go out and fly around the lake, but at the end of the day, she always comes home again. She loves Jivanjee too much to ever truly leave him. "When I am out on the lake she finds me every time," Jivanjee said. "There's no escaping her. Turns out geese have, like, built-in GPS that's better than your iPhone." Mike Jivanjee Kyle and Jivanjee are the best of friends and love hanging out together. The pair loves taking trips to Starbucks, hanging out with friends, going paddle boarding and of course, just chilling around the house watching TV together. Mike Jivanjee "Kyle loves all shows on the Discovery Channel," Jivanjee said. "She loves Alaskan Bush People but wants to fight all the people on Duck Dynasty. She's also is a huge fan of the Ellen Show and Animal Planet." Mike Jivanjee Kyle also loves causing mischief, like hanging out inside of neighbors' houses when they go on vacation, but Jivanjee doesn't join her in those activities. Mike Jivanjee "She loves to steal small items and throw them in the lake," Jivanjee said. "Keys, wallets, flip flops are all fair play." When Jivanjee rescued Kyle, he thought he would raise her until she was ready to leave. He had no idea that when he pulled her out of the water that day, he'd made a best friend for life. The devil is in the footnotes. How do we know that infrastructure drives economic productivity year after year to the tune of 20 to 50 cents on every original dollar invested? See footnote one: McKinsey Global Institute and the International Monetary Fund. How do we know that for every $1 million invested, approximately 15 jobs are created? See footnote two: McKinsey Global Institute. How do we know that best practices in infrastructure development can result in savings in the range of 23 per cent? See footnote 14: McKinsey Global Institute. At the risk of regurgitating prior columns on the strategic initiative known as the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, lets allow that dollar-a-year man Dominic Barton has spent years on the hustings selling global audiences on McKinsey data and McKinsey big think. Now we have the McKinsey Plan to open the spigot on international funds seeking a revenue-spinning home via investment in Canadian infrastructure while burnishing our reputation as a place for foreign direct investment like, say, Singapore. (Barton once lauded Singapore as the best for one-stop FDI investment. Their economic development board is like a Procter & Gamble for capital, he once said. He was at the time, and remains, a member of the boards International Advisory Council.) Thus Canada is becoming a Petri dish for a grand experiment, a sort of McKinsey global case study that will surely make its way one day into the Harvard Business Review. As part of the grand experiment Finance Minister Bill Morneau is being asked to green light a Canadian Infrastructure Development Bank (CIDB), which sounds like a moniker sprung from the 60s. (The word sprung may trigger PTSD for some economists who recall the east coast vegetable boondoggle.) So Minister Morneau might think first about carefully naming this once-in-a-generation opportunity, as defined by the councils Path to Prosperity outline released last week. (Its feather light, so lets not call it a report.) As sketched, the bank would not only assess revenue-generating infrastructure proposals with project costs in excess of $100 million, but could offer optional advice as to the procurement and execution of social fabric projects where there is no revenue potential. This dual-class structure seems out of step with the Trudeau government, which has pledged to prioritize, by example, the infrastructure needs of indigenous communities. The risk here is that the CIDB will emerge as an archaic-sounding institution with a highly independent board of governors and a CEO with world-class, relevant business experience. (That an independent board of governors needs to be defined as highly independent brings to mind the toady director archetype, still a common creature in the Canadian corporate landscape.) And yet, the bones are there. A national centre of excellence in infrastructure with transparent performance measures calls to mind Infrastructure Australia, which regularly releases a countrywide priority list. Its Oct. 7 release, by example, itemizes proposed corridor upgrades, airport links, rail improvements etc. by location, timeline and problem category (urban congestion, national connectivity). Remote infrastructure and opportunity for growth are two defined problem categories. And so we see near-term plans for the delivery of infrastructure and essential services to remote communities, improved agricultural water supply in Tasmania and water supply security in Darwin and relocating a STEM research facility to Hobart. Note: as part of its listening tour in advance of drafting its first communique, the Advisory Council on Economic Growth held two workshops with First Nations communities. Two. Thats just embarrassing. Theres still time for Finance Minister Morneau to walk back some of the McKinsey think, and define instead a more encompassing, holistic Centre for Canadian Infrastructure Excellence. A centre that will not speak first to corporate interests and return on investment, but equally to the needs of one Canada. In numerous speeches, Dominic Barton has made reference to a comment made to him by the late Jim Flaherty. It goes something like this: I wish I learnt at the beginning to put a microscope in one eye and a telescope in the other and not get a headache. I wonder if he has ever shared the same anecdote with Bill Morneau. SHARE: Joel Watanabes restaurant Kissa Tanto, with a blend of Italian and Japanese cuisines, has been named Canadas best new restaurant by enRoute magazine. Its not the first time Watanabe and business partner Tannis Ling have made the top 10 list. In 2010, the teams French-Chinese brasserie Bao Bei was second. Were all pretty thrilled, Watanabe, 40, said from Vancouver. His 1960s Tokyo jazz bar-inspired Kissa Tanto which means House of Plenty is located in Old Chinatown on the second floor of a faded building. The 74-seat space opened in the spring. Theres a bit of a journey getting into this space, but I think people are usually blown away when they get in here, he added, explaining the decor really harkens to somewhere that is not Vancouver so you feel literally transported, I think, when youre in this room. You feel New York or L.A. in its heyday. Watanabe refuses to let his food be pigeonholed into one cuisine. As an example, hes now serving a lamb dish topped with tosaka seaweed and olive oil, accompanied by the Sardinian pasta fregula that is flavoured with anchovy butter and sesame and garnished with egg yolk puree, scallions and pickled chilies. Sometimes dishes tend to feel more Italian and sometimes more Japanese. Its very rare that its right in the middle, Watanabe said. A blend of cuisines is not surprising for a chef who grew up in Ottawa dining on multicultural cuisine French Canadian from his mothers influence and Japanese from his father, while his grandfather was Corsican. My parents met hitchhiking in Guatemala in the 70s so theres also South American and Mexican influence in the food I grew up with. The other restaurants on the top 10 list, marking its 15th anniversary, span the country, from Bay Fortune, P.E.I., to Victoria. At FireWorks in Bay Fortune, celebrity chef-turned-innkeeper Michael Smith creates feasts served at communal tables with ingredients foraged from his land and cooked over live fire. In Montreal, restaurateur Jen Agg teamed up with members of Arcade Fire to build Agrikol, a Haitian restaurant with a vibe straight from Port-au-Prince. Kraken Cru in Quebec City, featuring seafood expertise in a raw bar, is an intimate and homey 12-seat space, while Victoria baker Cliff Leir takes his ethical, all-organic approach a step further with the French-by-Northwest cuisine of Agrius. Backhouse in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., won the Eat & Vote peoples choice award from among 35 nominees. Here are the other nine winners in the top 10 list: 2. Alo, Toronto 3. FireWorks, Bay Fortune, P.E.I. 4. Agrius, Victoria 5. Foxy, Montreal 6. Agrikol, Montreal 7. Kraken Cru, Quebec City 8. Le Fantome, Montreal 9. Highwayman, Halifax 10. Savio Volpe, Vancouver Winners will be profiled in the November issue of Air Canadas enRoute magazine and at enroute.aircanada.com. The top 10 restaurants will receive their awards at a Nov. 10 gala at Torontos Design Exchange. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWAWhen he appears in person Tuesday at a town hall-style grilling by MPs and senators, Newfoundland Appeal Court Justice Malcolm Rowe will have 90 minutes to show what kind of Supreme Court judge hell be. But before he does, Kim Campbell head of the advisory board that included Rowe on a short list of five candidates recommended to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a rousing defence of the judges qualifications for the top court. The former Progressive Conservative prime minister, who as justice minister brought in Canadas rape shield law, dismissed criticism that Rowe might be biased against women. Campbell told reporters that Rowes failure to order a new trial of a man acquitted of sexual assault, after unfair questioning of the complainant, was not a concern. On the contrary, said Campbell, he was extremely supportive of women and incredibly supportive of rape shield (protections). Such provisions guard against irrelevant cross-examination of a complainants sexual history. Campbell said Rowes ruling on the Newfoundland Court of Appeal in May, highlighted by the Star on Friday, articulated a really interesting question in terms of law . . . if a judge has been rebuked in terms of rape shield, does that automatically justify a new trial? The 2-1 ruling has been appealed to the Supreme Court, and Campbell said it will be sorted out. At a televised parliamentary committee hearing, Campbell appeared Monday alongside Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. The two explained how the board led by Campbell conducted the new judicial application, vetting and screening process, and why Rowe was selected by Trudeau from the short list drawn from a pool of 31 applicants. The justice minister said the government picked Rowe for the vacancy traditionally reserved for Atlantic Canada because of his legal and judicial acumen, public service background, ability to work in French and depth of understanding of Canadas diversity. She later told reporters Rowe does fit the boxes, and denied the government was spooked by the criticism that erupted over whether the Atlantic Canada seat should go to someone from outside the region, saying Rowe is an incredible jurist of the highest quality and the best candidate that the prime minister was proud to nominate. He is, as stated, functionally bilingual. He has an in-depth knowledge of the law and understanding of the social context in which he has made decisions . . . and an understanding of the role of a judge in a constitutional democracy. Campbell told MPs that 31 people from across Canada applied for the vacant seat, nearly half of them women, and nearly all were functionally bilingual, as the government required. All five on the final unranked short list were functionally bilingual, including at least two from Atlantic Canada. But Campbell wouldnt be more specific about their regional origins, or say what the gender breakdown of the final short list was, citing the privacy of candidates. Our goal was to create a list that would keep the prime minister up at night trying to figure out which one of these excellent people to appoint, she said. Campbell said the advisory board consulted with the chief justice of the Supreme Court, provincial chief justices, the Canadian Bar Association and a range of other professional organizations. It actively sought out candidates. The board screened applicants legal writings, as well as professional and community references, and conducted an hour-long interview of 10 of the 31 who applied. Rowe, she said, was a man of few words I thought the interview would be over in 10 minutes. He elaborated on answers when asked, Campbell added. Asked how diversity played into the process, Campbell said the committee sought great competence and considered diversity as a broader thing than just ticking off boxes of under-represented people. The short list of names given to the prime minister provided some very interesting choices, she said. And while Rowe didnt check a box other than being from Newfoundland which has never had a Supreme Court judge she said he had a lived experience and understanding of Canadas diversity, having worked with indigenous communities through the volunteer organization Action Canada. Wilson-Raybould declined to reveal her personal advice to the prime minister on the appointment. She said the government would use the same process for future top court appointees, the next of which is anticipated when Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin retires in 2018. But Wilson-Raybould added she would consider the feedback of opposition Conservative and New Democrat MPs, who complained they did not have a role in drafting the short list under the new process. SHARE: WOODSTOCK, ONTFive elderly women and three men. All parents, grandparents, or beloved friends and all allegedly killed in two long-term-care homes by a registered nurse who police say acted with intent. When the Ontario Provincial Police announced the investigation on Tuesday, with officers from Woodstock and London police, they gave scant details beyond the fact that 49-year-old Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder. Wettlaufer gave unidentified drugs to seven residents at Caressant Care Woodstock and one resident at Meadow Park long-term-care home in London, Ont., police said. The first case victim they identified was 84-year-old James Silcox, in Woodstock, who died on Aug. 17, 2007. The last was 75-year-old Arpad Horvath, on Aug. 31, 2014. No bodies will be exhumed, police said. Information about the alleged killings came to Woodstock Police on Sept. 29 and a short time later a joint task force was created, with the OPP taking the lead. Wettlaufer gave up her nursing licence on Sept. 30. Wettlaufer was arrested on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, when reporters gathered at a Woodstock community centre for a press conference, the former nurse made her first appearance at the downtown courthouse. She was remanded into custody. Two residents are alleged to have been killed in 2007, three in 2011, one in 2013 and the final two in 2014. More on thestar.com: Ontario nursing home murder suspect talked God and sobriety on social media The eight people Wettlaufer allegedly killed That much is known. Police wont release more details, saying additional information is protected as evidence in the investigation. What is known, however, is that this case is yet another hit on Ontarios 630 long-term-care homes, which experts say are severely underfunded and short-staffed. Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, said, Theres not enough brain power. Theres not enough leg power to give residents the care they need. The 77,000 residents are coming into homes older and frailer, but, Grinspun said, their fragile condition doesnt mean its in the hands of the health professional to make (life and death) decisions. Police wouldnt identify the type of drugs they say the residents were given, nor would they say whether the checks and balances for nursing-home drugs records were followed. Nurses are expected to follow a code of ethics when signing off on drug administration to residents. But, as one industry source said, its difficult to find wrongdoing or errors when, for example, someone correctly fills out paperwork but elects to withhold a drug from one resident to double up on another. It is not known what police believe happened in the Wettlaufer case. Wettlaufer is being investigated by the College of Nurses of Ontario, confirmed Denise Riposati, communications adviser for the college, which is the regulatory body for nurses in the province. Records from the college show that Wettlaufer was first registered as a nurse in August 1995. She resigned Sept. 30 of this year and is no longer entitled to practise as a registered nurse. Fred Spina, 57, said hes seen Wettlaufer at the nursing home before while visiting friends there. She was always polite, so when I heard the name it was a shock, Spina said. It cant be. He said the nursing home is known for being one of the best in Woodstock. I just couldnt believe it because this is Woodstock. Its a small town. Things like that happen very rarely, he said. It doesnt happen here. In a statement, Trevor Birtch, the mayor of Woodstock, said: This is a very sad moment for the city of Woodstock. Our hearts go out to the families, and I want to assure them that the community will assist them through this tough process. Charlene Puffer, who said she lives down the hall from Wettlaufers apartment, described her neighbour as a decent person. Neighbour Derek Gilbert said, She seemed like a very normal person. She came by and walked her dog with my dog and we talked. She seemed like a normal everyday person. Wettlaufers former husband, Dan Wettlaufer, still lives in the white bungalow they once shared. When he opened the back door to his home, he said he would not be talking. Asked if he knew any details, he responded: I dont know, myself. Im not going to speak on it at all. On Monday night, Wettlaufers former employer, Caressant Care Woodstock, sent the Star a written statement saying, We deeply regret the additional grief and stress this is imposing on the families involved. A Caressant spokesperson, Lee Griffi, said, We are determined to avoid compromising the police investigation in any way and are therefore unable to provide any additional comment at this time. Caressant Care operates 15 homes with 1,250 beds in Ontario. On Tuesday, Meadow Park long-term-care home in London issued a written statement, saying it is cooperating fully with police investigating the actions of a former staff member who left our homes employ some two years ago. A Meadow Park spokesperson, Julie King, also said, Our highest priority is to continue to provide for the health and comfort of our residents, and that remains our focus. News of the alleged killings erupted at Queens Park, with NDP and Conservative critics pouncing on the government Liberals, saying homes are not properly funded to ensure residents get good care. Premier Kathleen Wynne called the circumstances extremely distressing under questioning from London-area New Democrat MPP Theresa Armstrong, who later told reporters the government had no idea this was happening. Its not acceptable . . . Theres obviously big, gaping holes. Health Minister Eric Hoskins would not answer repeated questions on what the standard procedures for nursing homes reporting deaths are and about subsequent oversight by officials in his ministry. This is an ongoing police investigation. I think it would be inappropriate for me to speak in detail. We need to let that investigation unfold, Hoskins said as he was swarmed by journalists after the Legislatures daily question period. I know you have a lot of questions. Ontarians have a lot of questions . . . There will be time to answer those questions, he added. The health ministry released a statement clarifying that when a long-term care home resident dies unexpectedly, the death must be reported to ministry officials through the existing critical incident reporting system. Otherwise, nursing homes must report patient deaths to the local coroner, who has the power to decide if an autopsy is warranted. With files from Rob Ferguson, Peter Edwards, Theresa Boyle, Peter Goffin, Hina Alam, Sammy Hudes and The Canadian Press SHARE: Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer cuts a happy figure on Facebook, most of the time. There are plenty of mentions of God, multiple photos of cats and a few dogs, and lots of recipes. Then theres the passage where the multiple murder suspect describes what appears to be a battle with alcoholism. My own voice called to me in the darkness, Wettlaufer, 49, wrote on Sept. 28, 2015. Other hands lifted me when I chose the light. One year ago today I woke up not dead. 365 days clean and sober. Wettlaufer was charged on Tuesday with eight counts of first-degree murder over the deaths of patients at nursing homes in Woodstock and London, Ont. Her ex-husband Dan Wettlaufer, a truck driver, still lives in the little white bungalow they once shared. When he opened the back door of his home, Dan Wettlaufer said he would not be talking. Asked if he knew any details, he replied: I dont know, myself. Im not going to speak on it at all. Charlene Puffer, who said she lives down the hall from Wettlaufers apartment, described her neighbour as a decent person. More on thestar.com: Nurse charged with murdering eight Ontario nursing home residents The eight people Wettlaufer allegedly killed Im quite shocked. She didnt strike me as that type of a lady. I live on the same floor that she lived on. Just seemed like a normal person to me. I knew something was up with all the police coming around here the past few weeks, she said. Derek Gilbert, who lived in the same building as Wettlaufer, said they would talk when they walked their dogs together. She seemed like a very normal person. No indications of anything crazy or different about her. She really liked her job. She was very happy and satisfied with what she did. . . . She had been working in multiple locations because she worked for more or less of a temporary agency kind of thing with nursing. Andrea Jones, an acquaintance of Wettlaufer, met her at a local dog park. She took a kitten that I found abandoned . . . So, I know she has cats and a dog, wrote Jones in an email to the Star. The only time we ever discussed work is when we discovered that we are both nurses, and she told me she worked for a placement agency, in several nursing homes, and prefers to work nights. Just a few weeks ago, Wettlaufer gave away her beloved dog, Nashville, a spry Jack Russell terrier. Her friends thought the move odd, but they now wonder if the 49-year-old nurse knew what was coming. Wettlaufer is being investigated by the College of Nurses of Ontario, confirmed communications adviser Denise Riposati. The college is the regulatory body for nurses in the province. Records from the college show she was first registered as a nurse in August 1995 but resigned Sept. 30 of this year. She is no longer entitled to practise as a registered nurse. The police probe on her began on Sept. 29 after a tip from someone in the public, police said at a news conference on Tuesday. The Woodstock resident once used the last name Parker. On LinkedIn, she described herself as a registered nurse with a specialty in wellness and fitness. She listed her experience as working at Caressant Care Nursing Home from June 2007 to March 2014. Her LinkedIn profile also listed less than a year of employment at Meadow Park nursing home in London in 2014. She said she was employed at the Meadow Park Nursing Home for less than a year in 2014 and said she worked as a charge nurse. She did not detail her responsibilities there or her reasons for leaving either job. The LinkedIn profile also showed a bachelors degree in counselling from the London Baptist Bible College. She wrote in LinkedIn that she had a 90 per cent average while studying nursing from 1992 to 1995 at Conestoga College. She listed a Woodstock apartment as her address when she applied for a loan to buy a 2009 Ford Flex for $21,584. On Facebook, she portrays herself as someone with a strong and loving family. On June 16, she posted a photo of herself with a man she said is her father and the message: Fathers day is a great reminder of how blessed I am to still have my Dad alive and able to spend time with me. Theres also a picture of her smiling in a field, looking about thirteen years old. Picking potatoes, the entry says. My boots match my jacket. There are also hints of loneliness, like in a post from last Valentines Day. It shows a cat in front of a plate of food and the words, Me on Valentines Day. And theres a post of her career heading in a new direction on Nov. 13, 2015 that reads: Me, a pediatric shift nurse. Whod have predicted that? With files from Hina Alam, Sammy Hudes and The Canadian Press SHARE: Police are investigating a registered nurse over the deaths of elderly residents in southern Ontario long-term-care homes, the Star has learned. Details in what the Ontario Provincial Police are calling a multi-jurisdictional death investigation will be released Tuesday morning but sources told the Star that nursing homes in the London and Woodstock regions are the focus of the probe. Three police forces in the area are pooling resources on the case, which has stretched to Oxford and Brant counties. In a written statement sent to the Star on Monday night, Lee Griffi, a spokesperson for Caressant Care Woodstock, said the home is co-operating fully with police investigating the actions of a former staff member, a registered nurse, who left our homes employ approximately two-and-a-half years ago. In the release, Griffi said the home has been in touch with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Griffi added: Our highest priority is to continue to provide for the physical, social and spiritual needs of our residents. We deeply regret the additional grief and stress this is imposing on the families involved. Caressant Care is a private nursing home chain that cares for roughly 1,250 residents in 15 homes across the province. In Ontario, there are a total of 630 nursing homes with 77,000 residents. A source said Caressant is not the only chain police are looking at, adding that a nursing home in London is also part of the investigation. The OPP had told local media on Oct. 14 that it was conducting a multi-jurisdictional investigation and that the case began in Woodstock on Sept. 29, but it provided no further details at that time and did not say the case was related to a nursing home. OPP Sgt. David Rektor said Monday that no details could be released in advance of the Tuesday press conference in Woodstock. Detectives from the Woodstock and London city police forces, as well as the OPPs criminal investigation branch, are working the case. Police would not say how many deaths are being probed. Weve charged nobody at this point, Rektor said. Griffi, of Caressant Care, said: We are determined to avoid compromising the police investigation in any way and are therefore unable to provide additional comment at this time. Moira Welsh can be reached at 416-407-3488 or mwelsh@thestar.ca . SHARE: OTTAWAMalcolm Rowe, the first Newfoundland and Labrador appointee to the countrys top court, surprised observers Tuesday with his command of French, his ardent defence of rape shield laws and unequivocal view of the duty of judges to overturn laws that violate the Charter. At ease under questioning in both official languages, Rowe said he couldnt discuss the specifics of a 2-1 ruling he wrote last May where he refused to grant a new trial despite mistakes by a trial judge. The case involved a rape complainant whom Rowe said was wrongly cross-examined by a defence lawyer about her sexual history. The accused was acquitted by a jury and Rowe declined to order a new trial. It has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and Rowe will be required to recuse himself when the appeal is heard. However, Rowe said he understood the need to protect victims and ensure the search for truth in a courtroom isnt distorted by improper questions of a complainant that could also deter others from coming forward. For me, sexual assault and sexual harassment are revolting behaviours; they have no place in our society. They are simply unacceptable, he said. These are serious crimes and . . . too often they are not reported and many victims suffer in silence. It was an answer that barely satisfied Conservative Sen. Denise Batters and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, who challenged Rowe based on a Star story that outlined the concerns of some law professors last week. Batters said shed continue to watch Rowes rulings in the area and Mulcair said putting theory into practice and giving a proper remedy to victims is where the rubber hits the road. Yet it was Rowes expression of his personal hope that Canadas project of reconciliation with aboriginal people would be achieved that was most revealing. During a 90-minute town-hall style appearance at the University of Ottawa where he was questioned by MPs and senators, watched by an audience of law students invited from across the country, Rowe fielded several questions related to aboriginal and treaty rights. Rowe said these rights existed prior to enshrinement in the repatriated 1982 Canadian Constitution Act and were beginning to be recognized by courts, but they were vulnerable to infringement. The 1982 constitution brought about a sea change, he said, because it constitutionally protected those rights. Rowe said, however, that how they are defined in law and in practice is very, very much a work in progress. Aboriginal law cases are, increasingly, a large part of the Supreme Court of Canadas caseload. Rowe said treaties must be viewed through the perspective of indigenous people who had laws and ways of dealing with land, trade and commerce before European settlement. But he said courts must take a cautious approach and not get ahead of governments and indigenous leaders who bear the prime responsibility of engaging in negotiations and dialogue and bringing along the public. I think it would be unwise of the court to get out ahead of a process which I truly hope will be a process of reconciliation . . . which will come through nation-to-nation dealings, he said. And, in a sense, the courts should stand a little apart from that. It was a revealingly cautious statement that won support from Sen. Murray Sinclair, former head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He said later Rowe was articulating what all judges already know, that reconciliation must happen and courts must proceed cautiously. Courts are not equipped at this point in time to answer a lot of these things by themselves, Sinclair said. I think a lot of dialogue has to occur at the community level, at the regional levels, at the provinces as well as at the national level. Rowe also said judges have a responsibility in constitutional cases to ensure the rights of Canadians are respected when state action or laws infringe on them. He said when it comes to interpreting statutes, judges must divine the will of Parliament and give effect to it, but when it comes to laws that violate the Charter, the judges duty lies elsewhere. It is the duty of the courts to craft a remedy to protect the rights of Canadians. On occasion, it may be to strike down a law or to read down a law or modify it. It is not an exercise against the will of Parliament; it is an exercise in favour of the rights of Canadians and it is the responsibility of the courts to protect their rights as established under the Charter. Rowe admitted his French grammar is not perfect and he occasionally searches for words, but would continue to study the language on the bench. It prompted Bloc Quebecois Leader Rheal Fortin to tell Rowe his French was better than Fortins English, but Fortin complained that Rowe, like all judges outside Quebec, is not familiar with the provinces civil code. The Liberal-dominated Commons committee that questioned Rowe is to meet Thursday to indicate whether it supports the nomination, but it is all but certain to pass. And Rowe is expected to be sworn in at a ceremony at the Supreme Court on Monday. SHARE: OTTAWADozens of delegates at a youth labour forum turned their backs Tuesday on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, using body language to express their frustrations with everything from global warming to so-called precarious work. As Trudeau began taking questions from two of the forums hosts, some delegates began to heckle and jeer while several rows of young people turned to face the back of the room, prompting harsh words from the prime minister himself. Their actions sent the wrong signal to the other young people in the room, Trudeau told his detractors. It is a little bit frustrating for me to come in, sit down, look forward to hearing from you, talking with you, and seeing a room full of people who are standing in a way that shows theyre not listening, he said. And I think it reflects poorly on everyone who does want to listen and engage. While Trudeau was applauded and cheered by some for defending himself, several delegates shouted back, calling the PM a hypocrite and holding signs reading Keep the Promise. Many of the delegates were upset with the Liberal governments support for the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, as well as Finance Minister Bill Morneaus recent comments about job churn. This past weekend, Morneau told Liberal party insiders in Niagara Falls that the government needs to prepare for high turnover and short-term contracts among youth because such jobs are here to stay. How do we train and retrain people as they move from job to job to job? Because its going to happen. We have to accept that, Morneau said. The comments prompted cries of arrogance from the opposition Conservatives and New Democrats, who accused the finance minister of lacking an understanding of Canadas youth unemployment problem. Many young people at Tuesdays forum, which was organized by the Canadian Labour Congress, voiced frustration about their employment prospects, and booed as Trudeau also suggested that precarious work including jobs with no pensions is a fact of life. Its simply unacceptable when the minister of finance is saying young people need to get used to precarity, young people need to get used to not having the same opportunity as other generations have had, said Briana Broderick, a youth delegate representing the United Steel Workers union at the forum. This concept that we wont have as much as other generations had, thats really frustrating people. Trudeau said the issue of precarious employment is a major concern for his government, and why the Liberals pushed so hard to reach a recent agreement with the provinces to make improvements to the Canada Pension Plan. The youth unemployment rate in Canada is almost twice the national average and has been since last years election campaign, when the Liberals promised to create 125,000 jobs annually for young people by spending $1.5 billion over four years on a youth employment strategy. Employment numbers for August showed the youth jobless rate was little changed from a year ago at 13.2 per cent. Vass Bednar, who chairs a new federal panel on youth unemployment, has warned the country could see economic and social ripples in the future without a clearer picture about where and how young people are failing in the labour market. Read more about: SHARE: In this video, a missile by militant outfit ISIS has reportedly been shown bombing an Abrams battle tank near Mosul in Iraq. By India Today Web Desk: An Abrams battle tank, hit by a missile reportedly by ISIS today, goes up in flames near Mosul. ISIS has been employing tactics of guerilla warfare, using homemade explosives, networks of tunnels and suicide bombers. Hundreds of ISIS fighters have been fleeing Mosul in Iraq and crossing into neighbouring Syria. Shelling has resumed in the town of Bashiqa on the outskirts of Mosul. advertisement ISIS has executed about 40 people celebrating the "liberation" of their villages by Iraqi forces, a Mosul official said. --- ENDS --- In the medical profession, a doctor who has sex with a patient automatically loses his or her licence. In the legal profession, a lawyer who has sex with a client can face a mere suspension. The case of Toronto lawyer Antonio (Anthony) Macri, who was suspended for two and a half months Friday for having sex with a client and failing to inform his firm, demonstrates the stark contrast between how such conduct is handled by the self-regulating bodies that govern doctors and lawyers in Ontario. Lawyers who have sex with their clients should be subject to mandatory penalty of disbarment, the ultimate penalty that law societies can impose on lawyers, said University of Ottawa law professor Adam Dodek, speaking generally. It is surely time to revisit the issue in the public interest. The case against Macri was outlined in an agreed statement of facts filed at the Law Society Tribunal. As well as being suspended, he was also fined $2,500 and ordered to pay a further $2,000 in costs. He was found to have acted in a conflict of interest by representing the client in her family court proceeding while also engaged in a sexual relationship with her. He was further found to have acted without integrity by failing to inform his firm of the relationship and that he had loaned her $50,000. Macri, who was called to the bar in 1997, was also found to have behaved dishonourably by sending a series of uncivil text messages and emails to Client A, some of which implied he may use solicitor-client and/or privileged information against her should she fail to reimburse him funds he loaned her over the course of their personal and professional relationship, according to Law Society documents. The lawyer apologized to a three-member panel at his disciplinary hearing. I am deeply sorry for my actions, Macri said, at times becoming emotional. I crossed a line that should have been clearer Ive paid a price for my actions. I am the only person to blame. The line is clearer to me now, and I will never cross it again. Lawyer Lisa Freeman, representing the Law Society, told the panel there is currently no outright ban on lawyers having sex with their clients. I think we probably need a rule change, she said. I dont understand why there is a prohibition in the health profession and not in the legal profession. The ban on doctors having sex with their patients, along with the penalty of mandatory revocation of their licence, has been upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which has stated that there is a clear power imbalance between a doctor and a patient. Medical malpractice lawyer Paul Harte, who is familiar with that prohibition, told the Star a lawyer should be subjected to the same penalties as physicians when there has been a finding that the lawyer took advantage of a vulnerable client. Many lawyers work with vulnerable individuals. For example, personal injury lawyers, criminal lawyers and family lawyers, he said. In my view, in these circumstances there should be no physical relationship during the lawyer-client relationship and for a reasonable period after ending the relationship because of the potential vulnerability. Law Society rules in place at the time of Macris misconduct say that a lawyer engaging in a sexual relationship with a client may conflict with the lawyers duty to provide objective, disinterested professional advice to the client. The lawyer should consider several factors, including whether the client is vulnerable and if the relationship could create a power imbalance. In the Macri case, the client was found to be particularly vulnerable. She was a stay-at-home mother to two small children in an unhappy marriage who was financially dependent on her husband, a man who was charged for allegedly vandalizing her personal property, according to the agreed statement of fact. Her court proceeding was described as complicated and heated. For a period of about four months after Macri was retained to represent Client A, they engaged in a secret consensual sexual relationship. After that ended, Macri continued an intimate personal relationship with the woman, which included their shared hope that their romantic relationship would resume once the litigation concluded. As the womans case dragged on in court, Macri gave her $60,000 over a period of about three months in 2013 to cover her legal fees with the firm and personal expenses $10,000 of which was characterized as a gift. The client agreed to repay the remaining $50,000 when the sale of her home was completed, according to the agreed statement of fact. When the sale was completed and she refused to reimburse him, Macri sent her threatening texts and an email wherein he implied he would divulge confidential and privileged information about Client A to her husband. In one text message, he said: You dont want to screw me over like this. Your case isnt over. You still need me. She replied: Dont blackmail me, to which Macri said: Seriously? You want me as an enemy??? Pay what you promised you would. Pay it this week. She told him he was threatening her, which he denied. The client then reported the relationship and communications to Macris firm. He admitted to having had an inappropriate relationship with the client and loaning her money, and was then fired and reported to the Law Society. Macri never did recoup the funds he loaned to the client, which his lawyer told the tribunal was money he was saving as a down payment on a home for himself and his two children. He now works on his own, and only this year his practice became financially viable. SHARE: There was the time she says her staff sergeant said, in front of several male colleagues, that hed spank her later in private. There was the time she says Facebook photos of her and other female officers in bikinis were shown around 23 Division. There was the time she says a sergeant bragged about how good he was at oral sex and whispered in her ear that he wanted to lick her. There was the time she says when the same sergeant kissed her goodbye on the mouth after a work party and she had to keep her lips closed to stop him forcing his tongue in her mouth. Toronto police officer Heather McWilliam is arguing at a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario hearing that she was sexually harassed and humiliated for years by her supervising officers and that she was punished for speaking out. But she is also going a step further and alleging there is a systemic problem with the way female officers in the Toronto Police Service are treated that needs to be addressed. (TPS) has policies that are fine on paper but the reality is a situation where female police officers were subjected on an ongoing basis to ongoing harassment and discrimination, McWilliams lawyer Kate Hughes told the tribunal in her opening statement Monday. Police culture is a poisoned one for women police officers, she said, citing research specific to Toronto, reports on sexual misconduct in the army and two class-action sexual harassment lawsuits recently settled by the RCMP. The lawyer representing the Toronto Police Services Board says the tribunal should only focus on the allegations made by McWilliam as an individual and denies that any inappropriate treatment of her was condoned by management. What you have here is one person. You dont have before you a set of facts dealing with a number of women in the Toronto Police Service, said lawyer Amandi Esonwanne, who is representing the Toronto Police Services Board in his opening statement. If the applicant is going to suggest that there are all these women who are labouring under unbearable masculine objectification and harassment in the workplace, they should put them before this tribunal. Hughes acknowledged in her opening statement it would be an uphill battle to prove that sexual harassment is a systemic issue for the Toronto police. It is a career ender to complain against another officer, and police officers are seen as disloyal particularly if you air police laundry in public as is happening today, she said. We expect a collective closing of the ranks. There will be collective amnesia. None of McWilliams allegations have been proven at the tribunal. McWilliam, whose father was a police officer, has always wanted to be a police officer, Hughes told the tribunal. After a stint with the RCMP, she was hired by the Toronto Police Service in October 2005. In 2014, she filed an application with the Human Rights Tribunal alleging sexual harassment and discrimination. She is seeking $54,400 in compensation as well as broader remedies that could include training or policy changes. Her complaints span 2008 until 2014, when she went on medical leave after she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of persistent sexual harassment in the workplace, Hughes told the tribunal. The alleged behaviour of her supervising officers literally disabled her, Hughes said. One officer told McWilliam that he watched her on security cameras while she was at the divisions gym, another showed photos of her in a bikini to other officers, Hughes said. Both officers deny this, Esonwanne said. Staff Sgt. Christopher Nolan, who was McWilliams supervisor at 23 Division, made the comment about spanking her, Hughes said. Other officers appeared to be shocked by the comment, Hughes said. He also commented when shown a photo of McWilliam in her RCMP uniform that hed prefer to see you in your high brown boots, she said. Nolan admitted to making those comments and in 2013 pleaded guilty to one count of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act. He was sentenced to forfeit 20 days pay. McWilliam alleges that there are other female officers who Nolan sexually harassed, but says the Professional Standards investigators did not interview those women. Esonwanne says Nolans two comments should be struck from the application because they have been dealt with. The most serious of McWilliams allegations pertain to Sgt. Angelo Costa, the only officer named as a party along with the Toronto Police Services Board. According to Hughes, McWilliam says Costa was present when Nolan made the spanking comment and mocked the formal complaint she made. He went on to brag to her about oral sex, mime performing sexual acts and once whispered in her ear that he wanted to lick her, Hughes said. He also whispered in the ear of another female officer who had a look of disgust on her face, Hughes said. McWilliam also heard him say he did not want any female supervisors on shift and referred to one female sergeant as that ct, Hughes said. On one occasion, Hughes said, Costa kissed McWilliam and tried to force his tongue into her mouth. Esonwanne said that after the human rights application was filed, Costa was investigated thoroughly by both Professional Standards and the Special Investigation Unit regarding what is an alleged sexual assault. No charges were laid after either investigation, he said, and Costa denies sexually harassing or discriminating against McWilliam. McWilliam was harassed and denied advancement opportunities for filing a formal complaint about Nolans harassment, Hughes said. The board denies this happened, Esonwanne said. The hearing continues. RELATED: More GTA stories on Thestar.com SHARE: Kate Shindle is compiling quite the resume. Once she was Miss America. Now shes a labour leader, president of Actors Equity. And this month she began playing the nations most famous lesbian cartoonist, Alison Bechdel, in the touring production of the Tony-winning Fun Home. Over the next year, Shindle will be travelling from city to city, introducing the United States to one of the more unlikely recent musical successes, while simultaneously leading her union as it works to improve pay and benefits for more than 50,000 actors and stage managers across the U.S. Its a complicated juggling act, and one that Shindle has decided to turn into a year-long adventure. A Queens, N.Y., resident accustomed to travelling by subway and bicycle, she bought a used green Nissan Rogue, loaded in some clothing and a computer, and hit the road. She also cut off the long brown hair she has worn since adolescence, the hair once crowned by a tiara. After failing to persuade the show to let her wear a wig, she chopped most of it off the day before the first rehearsal, and has had multiple trims since, each one bringing her nearer to the close-cropped style favoured by Bechdel. Yeah, its pretty funny about Kate, Bechdel said in a wry email about the casting. Shes a former Miss America, Im a former Miss America what are the chances?! (Thats a joke Bechdel, for any of you who might be confused, was never Miss America.) But seriously, being portrayed by her in the musical feels like a lovely, twisting kind of cultural progress, like a Mobius strip suddenly theres this inexplicable but undeniable continuity between the marginal lesbian and the beauty queen, Bechdel added. I find it delightful. Shindle, who is 39, straight and single, is delighted as well. She saw the show for the first time in January six months after it won the Tony Award for best new musical and said, By the time I left the theatre, I just thought: Oh, thats mine. Im going to go get that. There was a lot that resonated with me, in terms of the family dynamics, she added. And I think its exciting to take this show, with the topics that it addresses, across the country right now, so the activist part of my brain flipped on, too. For Shindle, the journey is not as odd as it might seem. As Miss America, in 1998, her cause was AIDS activism, and she used the visibility to champion disease prevention through safe sex and needle exchange programs. Now shes leading the cast of Fun Home, a musical about the sexual awakening of a lesbian, and the simultaneous unravelling of her gay father. The juggling is not without precedent Actors Equity is administered, on a day-to-day basis, by a paid staff; the elected officials, like Shindle, are not paid, so, as she said, a girls got to make a living. Shindle, who was elected last year to a three-year term as president, and who this year led the union as it endorsed a presidential candidate (Hillary Clinton) for the first time, said she would participate in meetings by phone, fly back to New York as needed and continue to focus on priorities like gender parity and racial and ethnic diversity. Among the most pressing issues facing the union: Off-Broadway actors are agitating for better pay, Broadway actors are looking to share in profits from shows they help develop, and Los Angeles actors are battling new union rules that affect the thriving small-theatre scene there. Shindle grew up in Moorestown, N.J., and found herself drawn to the stage in seventh grade, when she wrote a paper about theatre. (It was a terrible paper, she said. I got a bad grade on it.) Undaunted, at her tiny Roman Catholic high school she took on multiple roles. She enrolled at Northwestern University to study theatre, but was also competing in pageants. During her junior year, she was chosen as Miss Illinois and then as Miss America, and she took a year off for her reign, during which she travelled the country talking about AIDS. A family friend and two theatre professors at Northwestern had died of the disease. She returned to Northwestern to finish her degree, and then moved to New York, working at times as a waitress and selling real estate, but also acting, eventually in the original Broadway cast of Legally Blonde, where she met the producers who now oversee Fun Home. Her roles have been limited by her height she is five foot 11. Now I get to play this character for whom whether she can stand on a stage with a man, and be more petite than he is, is nowhere in the equation. SHARE: In life as in politics, you reap what you sow. It could be a bitter autumn harvest for PC Leader Patrick Brown. Soaring in the polls, he is suddenly being brought down to earth by his own party faithful for whom faithful means God-fearing, rather than merely loyal to the leader of Her Majestys Loyal Opposition. Ontarios Progressive Conservative Party remains home to the provinces social conservatives. But it is a marriage of convenience, not a love match made in heaven, and it faces the earthly strains of an uneasy cohabitation. Feeling betrayed by the leaders recent public flirtation with sex education in schools, the so-called so-cons have denounced Brown for straying from the straight and narrow. And made their last stand in Niagaras own bible belt, near the U.S. border. Over the weekend, a strong majority of local Tories in the riding of Niagara West-Glanbrook defied their party leader, and their party president, by choosing an avowedly pro-life, anti-sex-ed, teenage candidate to represent them in a coming by-election. It was political payback for Brown after he tried to divorce himself from the movement while repositioning himself to win over mainstream Ontario voters in the next election. But the latest message from Niagaras grassroots may also be a missive from higher up: Whatever one sows, that will he also reap, Paul told the Galatians. In an Ontario context, hell hath no fury like a so-con scorned. This is the seat long held by former PC leader Tim Hudak. It is the seat long coveted by defeated Tory MP Rick Dykstra, an old Brown crony from Ottawa days who was his personal choice to become party president, and his private favourite to represent the riding and serve in his future cabinet. Instead, the Tory tag team was humiliated by 19-year-old student Sam Oosterhoff, who is crusading against sex education in the schools. I will never waver in my support of parents as primary educators and I will strive to ensure that parental rights are respected in education, Oosterhoff pledges on his campaign website code for keeping sex ed away from teachers and in the hands of parents at home. Hard to know what Oosterhoff knows about Ontario schools. Those who know him say he was home-schooled, but he hasnt responded to Toronto Star interview requests for two days (breaking his promise to follow up). When I tried him at home, his mother explained that hes a busy lad but wouldnt say whether she had home-schooled him. If you offer yourself for public life, your educational background is hardly a private matter. Never mind Oosterhoff, though. While Brown is putting on a brave face about how a fresh-faced youth stormed the partys barricades, any biblical David versus Goliath narrative spells trouble for the party, its leader, and its president. In fact, young Oosterhoff didnt slay anyone on his own. He was vaulted to prominence by so-cons who protested furiously against an updated sex-ed curriculum, carried pro-life placards, and lashed out bitterly at Brown for leaving them at the altar. Now, the leaders on-again, off-again, so-con past and subsequent progressive makeover will once again come under the microscope. As a backbench Conservative MP in Ottawa, Brown merited a coveted Green Light rating from the Campaign Life Coalition for backing a bill to revisit abortion rights in Canada. He also vocally opposed the legalization of gay marriage. Running for the PC leadership, he appeared at an anti-sex-ed rally against Premier Kathleen Wynnes legislation, where protesters vilified her as a lesbian. He courted rival leadership candidate Monte McNaughton, who delivered his so-con constituency after dropping out of the race to back Brown. But after winning the leadership last year, Brown quietly distanced himself from anti-sex-ed so-cons. Then, sensing a Scarborough by-election breakthrough last summer, his office cynically wooed them again by distributing a signed letter from the leader promising to scrap the curriculum. When it became public, Brown claimed with a straight face that he knew nothing about his signed letter, sparking outrage among his former fellow travellers in the religious right. Now, the PCs will have to decide whos running the party. Will they become captive of so-cons the Canadian equivalent of the Tea Party and Trump obstructionists who captured the U.S. Republican party? Brown won the provincial leadership with an insurrectionist campaign, signing up more members than any of his rivals. In Niagara, young Oosterhoff replicated those same insurrectionist tactics to beat the party establishment at its own game. He persuaded more members to put pen to paper by faithfully signing the required forms. Live by the pen, die by the pen. Or as it says in the Bible, All who take the sword will perish by the sword (Matthew 26:52). Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn Read more about: SHARE: A Brampton family is growing increasingly worried about the fate of Canadian Shawn Ramta, who disappeared in Mexico City a little over seven weeks ago. Ramtas family said they are concerned about Mexicos high levels of crime, kidnappings and disappearances. It is coming up on seven weeks that he has been missing and it is a lot scarier now. Something is not right in this picture, said Gord Ramta, Shawns uncle, by phone. The family has hired a private investigator, launched a social media campaign and is offering a 1,000,000 peso ($72,000 Canadian) reward for information on Ramtas disappearance. Ramtas family posted billboards offering the reward in the Mexican capital Monday, after placing ads in the newspaper El Universal last week. Ramta, a 34-year-old entrepreneur and bodybuilder, went to Mexico alone on vacation in August and was renting a condo through Airbnb in Polanco, a safe, upscale neighbourhood popular with business travellers. He last spoke with family on Aug. 31, when he told them he was going to a gym. Ramta, who does not speak Spanish, did not board his Sept. 3 return flight back to Toronto, and calls to his cellphone went unanswered. It is very stressful because we cannot get any information about what happened to him, said Sunny Ramta, Shawns younger brother. He would have stood out in Mexico. Hes a tall, buff Indian guy. A spokesperson with the Mexican embassy in Ottawa said he had only recently learned of the case, and could not comment. The private investigator hired by the family in Mexico City was not available for comment by deadline. The Canadian embassy in Mexico was also unavailable for comment. Ramtas uncle said he flew to Mexico earlier this month and spent two weeks searching hospitals and morgues, filing police reports and visiting consular officials at the Canadian embassy. We went to the condo and found his clothes there, but no passport or wallet, he said. We asked the police to get his cellphone records from Rogers but they have not. Ramtas uncle said he also asked a Toronto dentist to provide Ramtas dental records to help with the search, but was told they can only be released to police. Ramta, who according to family was in the process of moving to Vancouver, is the director of a small trucking firm. Ramtas uncle said he did not believe his nephew was involved in any illegal activity or has ties to organized crime. Ramta has no criminal record and does not smoke or take drugs, he said. At least 28,000 people have disappeared in Mexico in the last nine years. With files from Tim Wilson in Mexico City With Files from Tim Wilson in Mexico City Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONAmericas presidential election is dramatic. It is not close. There are two weeks of shouting to go, but know this: Hillary Clinton is overwhelmingly likely to win. Donald Trumps chances are tiny. Hes in a lot of trouble, thats just all there is to it. And they know it, said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. Polls suggest that Clinton leads by about six percentage points nationally, a giant margin in modern presidential politics. When Barack Obama crushed John McCain in 2008, he won by seven points. Clinton had a double-digit lead, unheard-of in Americas modern political climate, in at least four recent national polls. More importantly, she leads in every major swing state. In Pennsylvania, a state Trump needs to seize to have any chance, the Democratic candidate has prevailed in every poll since July. In Florida, another must-win for her Republican opponent, she has led in 12 of the last 13. The race is so lopsided that Clinton is at 262 electoral votes, just eight shy of victory, counting only the states where she leads by five or more points. Add the 10 electoral votes of Minnesota, where she leads by four and no Republican has won since 1972, and Clinton is elected even before the votes are counted in Ohio, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Iowa and Arizona. The momentum is all on Clintons side. States where she had trailed narrowly, like Nevada and Ohio, have moved in her direction. Supposed swing states, like Virginia and Colorado, have moved out of Trumps reach. States where Democrats have long lost handily, like Utah and Texas, have become competitive. Clinton is even up in Arizona. I cant think of a single state that has clearly moved from a battleground to a Trump advantage, said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette University Law School Poll. Trump continues to have a sturdy lead in Iowa and a narrow lead in Ohio. Mondays news of a hefty ObamaCare price increase may help him. And, of course, some shocking event could occur at any time. But the odds are stronger that he will lose in a landslide than that he will win at all. Prominent data-crunching websites give Clinton a 97-per-cent chance (Princeton Election Consortium), 92-per-cent chance (New York Times) and 86-per-cent chance (FiveThirtyEight). In polls that include the two prominent third-party candidates, Trump averages a pitiful 39 per cent. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, was never below 40 per cent in any poll in the last two months. Its quite remarkable, said Franklin. Even in recent blowout elections, the losing candidate is typically at or just above 40. So falling to 39 would be beginning to flirt with the level of George McGovern in 1972. McGovern won only one state and the District of Columbia. In todays America, which is more polarized by geography, Trump is certain to win a higher number. But he is doing so badly that Clinton could conceivably do as well in the race to succeed a two-term Democrat as Obama did during an economic crisis under an unpopular two-term Republican. Trumps comeback chances are limited by his unusually weak ground-level campaign, which some experts believe will cost him at least one extra percentage point. And polls suggest a majority of voters is not even willing to consider him, saying he is unqualified and lacking in basic decency. Every from-the-gut voter marker that you look at, he is doing badly, Malloy said. Stuart Stevens, chief strategist on the Romney campaign and a vocal Trump critic, said Trumps only good option to salvage his standing was to use the debates to express regrets and ask Americans to give him a second look. His favourability rating is so bad, Stevens said, that voters are now unwilling to listen to the case he is attempting to prosecute against Clinton. Trump has responded to the recent polls with his typical mix of bravado and conspiratorial complaining. I actually think were winning, he said in a Monday speech soon after alleging on Twitter that polls were phony. But he also acknowledged in a radio interview that he is behind in the polls. Trumps problems are compounded by the fact that voting has already begun in states including Nevada, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. Clintons current lead and superior ground game allow her to bank a significant head start in advance of Nov. 8. In Nevada, Democrats are far outperforming their 2012 showing. Its a very blue wave so far, and Republicans have to be worried, top local journalist Jon Ralston wrote. In Florida, Politico reported, Republicans have just a 42 per cent to 40 per cent lead in absentee ballots returned so far; at this point in 2012, it was 45 per cent to 40 per cent. If the elections close enough, then the early vote wont be decisive. But if its a lopsided election, then the early vote may be so decisive that it would basically make it impossible for the other party to catch up on election day, said Michael McDonald, an early-voting expert at the University of Florida. More on thestar.com: Trumps campaign manager admits we are behind in race for president Trump receives his first major newspaper endorsement from the Las Vegas Review-Journal Atlantas black population boom gives Hillary Clinton a chance in Georgia Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump had one of the busiest days of his campaign on Monday, Oct. 24. He did two Florida rallies, two Florida round tables, two radio interviews, an interview with Christian conservative Pat Robertson, and an interview with the Palm Beach Post newspaper. And he said 37 false things tying the record he set at the third presidential debate, by far the most of any nondebate day since we started counting in September. The list: 1. Falsely said of Clintons email deletion: Sophisticated people, people that really know the Internet and this stuff, said they never even heard of bleaching, because its such an expensive process. (Clinton aides used a software program called BleachBit which is a free download.) 2. Falsely said, of an allegation that he violated the trade embargo with Cuba, I mean, Im hearing this for the first time but Ill check that. (Trump was asked about this very subject the day prior, and his senior aides have been asked since the story came out in September.) 3. Falsely said, And Ive been endorsed largely, at least conceptually, by the military. (The military does not issue endorsements, and it is nonsensical to say he has been conceptually endorsed by the military. Trump has endorsements from retired officers, but so does Clinton.) 4. Falsely said, Wow, just came out on secret tape that Crooked Hillary wants to take in as many Syrians as possible. (No such tape has just come out. In an undercover video by a conservative group in 2015, Clinton aide Huma Abedin benignly agrees with a provocateurs suggestion that the U.S. should accept Syrian refugees, as Clinton has said publicly.) 5. Falsely tweeted, Why has nobody asked Kaine about the horrible views emanated on WikiLeaks about Catholics? Media in the tank for Clinton but Trump will win! (Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine was asked in various interviews about Clinton aides comments about Catholics.) 6. Falsely said, She got the debate questions in advance. Think of it. Did you hear this? Hillary Clinton got the debate questions in advance from Donna Brazile! (This is false in more than one way. Clinton appears to have been given one question by Brazile, not questions plural, and it was for a CNN town hall during the Democratic primary in March, not a debate. And certainly not a general-election debate, as Trump was implying.) 7. Falsely said, Hillary Clinton gave Russia 20 per cent of American uranium. And you know, she was paid a fortune. (Clinton didnt personally give Russia uranium the State Department was one of nine government entities that endorsed the purchase of Uranium One by a Russian state-owned enterprise. Investors in the deal made big donations to the Clinton Foundation, but at least two years before the deal, Politifact reports. There is no evidence that Clinton personally profited at all.) 8. Falsely said, New Hampshire was my first win. Then I went on to win 42 states. (Trump won 36 states in the Republican primary.) 9. Falsely said of the Clinton campaign, Theyve given up in Ohio. (They have not. Clinton and her top allies have made repeated October visits to Ohio.) 10. Falsely said of North Carolina, In your state, Im one point, two points and even in three polls. One point, two points and even. (Clinton has led in at least 13 consecutive North Carolina polls.) 11. Falsely said, All I know is were leading in the polls. (Trump trails by an average of more than five points nationally.) 12. Falsely said, The new poll that just came out from Investors Business Daily, which was the most accurate poll from the last three presidential elections, has us up two points nationwide. (The IBD poll is a tracking poll that changes daily; as of the moment Trump spoke, Clinton had a 0.1 per cent lead in it. She leads by 0.8 points in it. The IBD poll was not the most accurate poll in the last election.) 13. Falsely said, Everybody had me winning the third debate. (False. Trump lost in every scientific poll.) 14. Falsely said, I won the last two debates, and every poll showed it. (False. Trump lost in every scientific poll.) 15. Falsely said, Like the ABC phony poll that just came in. Totally phony poll. (The ABC poll is a legitimate poll.) 16. Falsely tweeted, Major story that the Dems are making up phony polls in order to suppress the the (sic) Trump. (This did not happen.) 17. Falsely said, Were way ahead in Ohio. (Trump has a tiny lead in Ohio, 0.4 per cent in the average poll.) 18. Falsely said, Were leading Ohio by five or six points, were even in Florida, were leading North Carolina. (Trump has a tiny lead in Ohio, 0.4 per cent in the average poll. He is down by an average of four points in Florida. He has trailed in 13 consecutive North Carolina polls.) 19. Falsely said of polls, When they leave them alone and do them properly, Im leading theyre polling Democrats. (Pollsters are conducting legitimate polls. Trump is losing in almost all of them.) 20. Falsely said, WikiLeaks also shows how John Podesta rigged the polls by oversampling Democrats a voter suppression technique. (This is one of the most comprehensively wrong sentences of the campaign. One: the hacked email in question is from 2008. Two: it is not from Podesta. Three: it was about internal polling, not public polling. Four, oversampling is a polling technique used to ensure accurate data about demographic groups, not to rig polls. Five, it is not a voter suppression technique.) 21. Falsely said, Seventy-five per cent of the American people think our country is on the wrong track, according to all of the latest polls and Close to 80 per cent of the people in this country feel that our country is going in the wrong direction. (The wrong track number averages 64 per cent in the polls. It has not been higher than 70 per cent in any poll for more than three months, according to RealClearPolitics.) 22. Falsely said of Syrian refugee intake, Were allowing thousands of people, we dont know who they are, where theyre from, we know nothing about them. (The refugees are put through an extensive screening process. Trump can argue that the U.S. still does not know enough about them, but it is false to say it knows nothing.) 23. Falsely said, She lies more than any human being. (Trump lies far more frequently.) 24. Falsely said, When Hillary Clinton was secretary of state they would catch a murderer, drug lords, gang members, violent criminals and they would bring them back to their country Hillary Clinton was told that their country wont take them, so she said, thats okay bring them back, we dont want to create waves. (This is thoroughly incorrect. When countries wont take back an illegal immigrant who has committed a crime, the U.S. does not deport them anyway. It was not Clintons choice to release them; under a 2001 Supreme Court decision, they cannot be held indefinitely.) 25. When you hear about the highest murder rate in 45 years, theres a lot of reasons for it. (The increase in murders between 2014 and 2015, 11 per cent, was the highest in 45 years. But the number of murders was even lower than it was 45 years ago even though the country had more than 100 million more people. The murder rate remains near a historic low.) 26. Premiums are going up 70, 80, 90 per cent and The rates are going up 60, 70, per cent. (Obamacare prices are jumping, but Trump greatly overstates the hikes. On the Healthcare.gov federal exchange, the benchmark premium is rising by an average of 25 per cent, the administration announced Monday. Wrote the Washington Post earlier: State-by-state weighted average increases range from just 1.3 per cent in Rhode Island to as high as 71 per cent in Oklahoma. But the most common plans in the marketplace will see an average increase of 9 per cent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundations July analysis.) 27. Falsely said, of the Veterans Health Association, In Phoenix, they had people who got caught stealing and they couldnt fire them. Theyre going through a process right now. (The Phoenix scandal was not about theft but about wait times for care, falsified records and retribution. Though many critics say it should be easier to fire executives in such cases, and there is a legal and political battle over a law that would allow this to happen, Phoenix employees were indeed fired.) 28. Falsely said, Ive been endorsed by all the Border Patrol. (Trump has been endorsed by the Border Patrol agents union, not its executives and not the entire entity. Trump usually specifies, but did not here.) 29. Falsely said, WikiLeaks also shows how John Podesta he said she has bad instincts. (It was not Podesta but another Clinton ally, Neera Tanden, who said her instincts were suboptimal.) 30. Falsely described an Obamacare study: Over two thirds of the counties are losing insurers. (The Kaiser study found that about one third of U.S. counties will have only one insurer on Obamacare marketplaces. It did not talk about what percentage of counties had lost insurers.) 31. Falsely described a campaign donation: Listen to this the FBI is investigating Clinton and virtually her best friend, and absolutely closest ally, gives $675,000 in campaign contributions to the woman whos married to the FBI person whos doing the investigation. No wonder they found nothing wrong. (The donation by the PAC of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to unsuccessful Virginia state Senate candidate Jill McCabe was made before her husband Andrew McCabe was promoted to FBI Deputy Director and before he had responsibility for the email investigation; Trump is clearly suggesting the donation was made during the investigation.) 32. Falsely said of the New York Times, The Times is going to be out of business pretty soon. (There is no indication this is even close to true.) 33. Falsely said of lawyer Gloria Allred, She works for the Clinton campaign. (Allred is a Clinton supporter who was a delegate to the Democratic convention, but she does not work for the campaign.) 34. Falsely said, of illegal immigrants committing murders, This crime wave ends, believe me, quickly, when I am president. (There is no evidence of a wave of crime by illegal immigrants. Studies suggest that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes, not more.) 35. Falsely said, Were giving you massive tax relief for the middle class. (Experts say the overwhelming majority of Trumps cuts will go to the rich. Half are for the top 1 per cent, according to the Tax Policy Center, and some middle-class families will pay even more than they do now. Most families below the top 20 per cent of earners are expected to reap income gains of less than 1 per cent.) 36. Falsely said, Hillary Clinton is going to raise your taxes substantially. (Clinton is only raising taxes on the highest earners. The Tax Policy Center says most residents below the top 1 per cent will receive minor tax cuts under her plan, and even most of the highest earners will not see a doubling.) 37. Falsely said, of Clintons abortion views, a day prior to birth you can take that baby. (Abortions are not performed a day prior to birth, doctors say.) More on thestar.com: Donald Trump said 14 false things on Sunday, Oct. 23 Donald Trump made 20 false claims on Saturday, Oct. 22 Donald Trump made 37 false claims in final debate SHARE: CHICAGOThink autism and an image of an awkward boy typically emerges. The developmental disorder is at least four times more common in boys, but scientists taking a closer look are finding some gender-based surprises: Many girls with autism have social skills that can mask the condition. And some girls are born without autism despite the same genetic mutations seen in boys with the condition. The gender effect is a hot topic in autism research and one that could lead to new ways of diagnosing and treating a condition that affects at least 1 in 68 U.S. children. Better understanding of genders role is key to helping the most people, said Kevin Pelphrey, an autism researcher at George Washington University. Autism may not be the same thing in boys and girls. The causes of autism arent known, but various genetic mutations are thought to play a role and outside factors including older parents and premature birth also have been implicated. Brain imaging suggests there may be an additional explanation for why many girls with autism have more subtle symptoms, Pelphrey said. The surprising thing we are finding is that even in girls who clearly have autism, brain regions involved in social behaviour that are normally affected are less severely impaired, he said. Recent studies on autism-linked genes have found another gender difference. Girls can have the same kinds of genetic mutations seen in boys with autism and even need to have twice as many mutations on average to actually manifest with autism, said Joseph Buxbaum, director of an autism centre at Mount Sinai medical school in New York City. Buxbaum is among researchers trying to identify a protective factor that may explain how some girls at genetic risk remain unaffected, perhaps a protein or other biological marker that could be turned into a drug or other therapy to treat or even prevent autism. That possibility is likely a long way off, but Pelphrey said this line of research has prompted excitement among autism scientists. Theres no autism blood test. Its diagnosed by observing behaviour and some experts say gender-based differences highlight a need to develop different ways to evaluate boys and girls. Autism screening is recommended for all kids at age 18 months and 2 years. But screening tools typically are based on research in autistic boys, said Rachel Loftin, clinical director of an autism centre at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. One widely used screening questionnaire for parents focuses on social deficits seen more often in autistic boys than affected girls. Questions include Does your child play make-believe, make eye contact, seek praise, show interest in other children? Girls with autism, especially mild cases, often dont show obvious problems in those categories theyre more likely than affected boys to play pretend with toys rather than lining them up by size or shape. Loftin said theyre also more likely to show concern for another persons feelings. Government data show that all forms of autism mild to severe are more common in boys and that the average age at diagnosis is 4 years old in boys and girls. But Loftin said anecdotal evidence suggests a two-year lag time in diagnosis for girls, especially those with mild cases. And she suspects many cases are missed or misdiagnosed. That means a delay in early intensive behaviour therapy that is the main treatment for autism. Some girls manage to camouflage symptoms until school pressures to fit in become overwhelming, delaying diagnosis until around age 8 or 9, said Alycia Halladay, chief science officer at the Autism Science Foundation, a non-profit educational and research-funding group. Prominent autism advocate, professor and author Temple Grandin didnt fit that mould. She wasnt fully verbal until age 4. It was obvious something was drastically wrong with me, Grandin said. With 1950s parenting, including intense encouragement to develop social skills and other talents, she said she learned to adapt. Allison Klein worried about possible autism in her daughter, Jillian, for three years before the little girl was finally diagnosed. Jillian couldnt tolerate loud noises, grew withdrawn around her preschool classmates and lagged behind their academic progress. She was labelled anxious, not autistic. She didnt meet the stereotypical behaviours of no eye contact, no communication, hand flapping, Klein said. It was always the hands-off approach from teachers and doctors. Theyd say Lets wait and see. Give her some time, shell grow out of it. Shes just shy, Klein recalled. People dismiss it in girls. A few months ago, just before Jillian turned 6, Rush Universitys Loftin confirmed Kleins concerns. Jillian has mild autism. Now the family is playing catch-up in getting her needed services. Buxbaum, the Mount Sinai researcher, is seeking to enrol hundreds of families with autistic sons but unaffected daughters in a study looking for genetic clues and protective factors. Funded by the Autism Science Foundation, the Autism Sisters Project began last year with the goal of building a big database that other scientists can use. Girls and their families visit the New York lab to give saliva samples for DNA analysis and efforts are underway to expand DNA collection to other sites. Evee Bak, 15, hopes her saliva samples will eventually benefit her older brother Tommy. The suburban Philadelphia siblings are just a year apart. They play in a garage band Evee on drums, Tommy on guitar and vocals. Hes a masterful musician, but has trouble reading social cues and doing things that come easy to other teens, such as shopping alone or using public transportation. The thing at the forefront of my mind is mostly just taking care of Tommy and making sure hes happy and healthy, Evee said. Tommy was diagnosed at age 3, after he stopped using words hed learned months earlier and showed unusual behaviour, including repetitively lining up toys instead of playing with them. Hes a wonderful person and I dont think that wed ever want to change him, said his mother, Erin Lopes. But theyd welcome anything that could help him function as independently as possible because I think thats what he really wants, is to be independent. SHARE: SPOKANE, WASH.U.S. wildlife officials say a grey wolf that left its pack in northeastern Washington trekked more than 1,100 kilometres across Idaho and Canada before being shot in central Montana last month. The Spokesman-Review reports the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department captured the male wolf in February and fitted it with a GPS tracking collar. The wolf, which originated in the Huckleberry Pack, started wandering into Idaho in June. It then headed into British Columbia, where it crossed Lake Koocanusa before travelling southeast into Montana in July. The wolfs journey came to an end in Judith Gap, Montana on Sept. 29 after it was killed by a federal wildlife officer, who had responded to a report of a wolf attacking sheep. Wolves are protected by state endangered species rules in eastern Washington but can be hunted and trapped in Montana and Idaho. SHARE: Shell Oils Stena IceMAX drill ship, drilling for oil on March 5th, two kilometres below the surface of the Atlantic on the edge of the Scotian Shelf, was the site of what regulators euphemistically call an incident. Battling unexpectedly high waves, the drill ship crew successfully secured the well and disconnected the ship from the wellhead to protect the operation. Shortly after, the riser, a 2,100 metre-long protective series of 21-inch diameter pipes, each weighing 20 tonnes, broke free of the drill ship before it moved clear of the site. The riser pipes fell to the ocean floor missing the wellhead by a mere 12 metres. A Shell investigation of the incident was monitored and matched by an internal review by the regulator, the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB). The federal/provincial CNSOPB is the equivalent of the National Energy Board, regulating oil industry activity in our offshore. In June, after receiving Shells report on the event, Stuart Pink, the CNSOPBs chief executive officer, declared, We are satisfied that the cause of the incident has been properly determined and that appropriate corrective actions have been taken so that drilling may resume safely. The CNSOPB released only a summary of Shells investigation report, omitting key facts, such as the near hit at the wellhead when the riser pipes hit the seabed, and the poor preparedness of personnel for handling the technology connecting the riser stem and the drill ship. Those facts, and the full extent of what might better be described as a potential disaster, rather than a mere incident, came to light when Michael Tutton of the Canadian Press obtained the full report through a freedom of information request. The lessons the CNSOPB drew from the event related to technology, procedure, training and competence, and a commitment to ensure the risk of a recurrence was minimal. The rest of us might reach other conclusions from this near disaster. Simply put, the failure to foresee and plan for the heavy seas that are common where the deep Atlantic rolls up onto the continental shelf south of Nova Scotia, is a failure of both the operator, Shell, and more importantly, the regulator, the CNSOPB. They illustrate a fundamental characteristic Canadians are discovering in regulatory agencies across the country they are captives of the industries they regulate. As such, they are ill-suited to the task of risk assessment in the broader public interest. Assessing risk is an inexact art that is only half the challenge. The other half is determining what is an acceptable risk. That determination must include those most likely to bear the costs of a catastrophe. Shell is drilling Cheshire and its sister well, Monterey Jack, in water deeper than almost any other well in the world, significantly deeper than BPs Deepwater Horizon well. Reliable experience in such deep water is almost non-existent. As the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill concluded in its report to U.S. President Obama, Deepwater energy exploration and production, particularly at the frontiers of experience, involve risks for which neither industry nor government has adequately prepared, but for which they can and must be prepared in the future. Shells exploratory wells lie close to our most productive sustainable fishery, to key spawning and nursery grounds for scallops, lobster, haddock and halibut, and not far from the massive daily tidal in- and outflow from the Bay of Fundy. Clearly, deciding acceptable risk must involve southwestern Nova Scotia communities dependent on those resources. A blowout would have catastrophic consequences. Today, the interests of the people of this region rest on assurances from the CNSOPB, whose members are overwhelmingly oil industry veterans, unrepresentative of those who bear the risks resulting from the agencys decisions. There may have been a time, before we truly understood the risk of further developing our non-renewable, dirty energy resources, or before we truly appreciated the importance of sustainable resource industries, such as the fishery or tourism, when risk assessment could be left to a self-serving industry. But knowing what we know now, to continue with that model of regulation is clearly senseless. The lesson of Shells recent incident at its Cheshire well is that we need to democratize the process of deciding if we can safely drill for oil, and whether and where the risks of doing so are acceptable. Until we take steps to ensure full and informed public involvement in those decisions, further approvals for drilling exploratory wells in our vulnerable offshore cant be trusted and should be annulled. Correction November 4, 2016: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said the full extent of what might have been a disaster came to light when Halifax Examiner obtained Shells full investigation report through a freedom of information request. Peter Puxley is a member of the Coordinating Committee of the Campaign to Protect Offshore Nova Scotia (CPONS), a project of the South Shore Chapter of the Council of Canadians. Read more about: SHARE: By India Today Web Desk: CM Fadnavis came out in defence of the state government for intervening between Karan Johar and Raj Thackeray's MNS over the release of the film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. He compared Thackeray's hooliganism with that of the Naxals, Hurriyat, and said if we could resolve matters over talks with them then why not the political party. ALSO READ: Army refuses Karan Johar's Rs 5 crore penance contribution advertisement ALSO READ: Anushka Sharma was completely in awe of her ADHM co-star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan MNS had threatened to incite violence at the multiplexes which screened Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, because it has Pakistan actor Fawad Khan playing one of the significant roles. MNS had earlier protested against Bollywood giving work to actors from across the border while jawaans kept dying on the LoC. They said it was disrespectful to the martyrs and disgraceful that they put business before the nation. CM Fadnavis came and addressed all the criticism coming towards his government for backing MNS' extortion amount as called by most of the Twitterati. Fadnavis said to national daily newspaper, "If talks can be held with the Hurriyat and Naxals, what is wrong in talking with the MNS." He also went to add, "At the meeting, it was producer Karan Johar who expressed his desire to make a contribution of Rs 5 crore towards the welfare of the families of the martyred soldiers. To which I categorically said there should be no such compulsion. Yet, if you want to show your deshbhakti, there is the Army welfare relief fund where you can help." He reasoned why a deal had to brokered if he was so confident about maintaining the law and order situation with MNS activists saying, "Deploying additional force at every theatre to ensure release of film was not a problem. But I believed why should I allow tension during the festival season when people and police want to enjoy Diwali.?? --- ENDS --- There is a foundational fairy tale to this presidential campaign: a born and raised plutocrat, a man who has always lusted for the shallowest of celebrity lives, has somehow morphed into the leader of a Movement, fighting for Americas working people. As President Barack Obama now says to roaring crowds, several times a week, Cmon, man! I mean, really?!? It is a monstrous political fiction. Occasionally, he lands a successful punch, nonetheless. Donald Trumps attack on Hillary Clinton for her unwise remarks to a private fundraiser was bang on. Every successful politician offers one message behind closed doors and another in the open, on big divisive issues. She should never have discussed such political sausage-making, even in a closed social event with major donors. Like her deplorables gaffe, it was further proof of how weak is her understanding of total change inflicted on politics by the intrusive reach of social media. Clinging to the fantasy that you can offer confidential remarks, even to the most loyal group, in an era when smartphones can sneakily record any dumb remark can be fatal. Clinton must have forgotten Romneys famous 47 per cent smartphone debacle. Trump has made the rhetorical backbone of his march to a humiliating defeat crude labels and insults. Lazy Jeb Bush, became Lying Ted Cruz then crooked Hillary. Now there is Hillary who is such a liar ... so corrupt she needs to be locked up. In the flood of increasingly hysterical insult that flows from him non-stop, we are numbed to the fact that it is Donald Trump who has taken fiction, fable, and daily dishonesty to unheard of heights. Despite her foolishness, to hear the definition of a bald-face liar, sneer at her admission that a leader must offer different versions of a policy pitch on a big and risky issue to different audiences was another gold-plated Election 2016 irony. When she awkwardly tried to use Abraham Lincolns famously torturous journey to winning support for the abolition of slavery, as a defence, she dug herself a deeper hole. Otto von Bismarck, the statesman who built Germany through endless secret deals, favourite bon mot was: Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made. It has survived because of its essential truth. Curiously, many Americans still hold a more naive view of compromise and political deal-making. Woodrow Wilsons Paris Peace Conference nonsense was that he would deliver Open covenants of peace, opened arrived at. Every serious political compromise is crafted behind closed, not open, doors. Lincolns round after round of secret persuasion with hard line abolitionists and hostile slave owners was essential to winning the 13th Amendment. Did he share the same message with each senator? Dont be silly! The similar skill of his successor at slippery sausage-making was powerfully told by Robert Caro in his Master of the Senate, volume three of the best political biography of the century. He reveals LBJs cunning and negotiating prowess in winning the Civil Rights Act. There is an ironclad corollary to keeping the sausage factory hidden. It is this: Never talk about it! The many, many months of the often painful path to winning Canadas Charter of Rights ran through many locked caucus rooms, back rooms literally filled with smoke, and too many anxious whispered concessions in dim parliamentary corridors to count. Only Joe Clark thought one could successfully negotiate with a megaphone. One senior Canadian politician, advocating to skeptics in private, the basis for the Free Trade Agreement, would chuckle, Look, the Americans are always gonna cheat on trade. Why? Because they can! And no one can stop them! All Im trying to do here is add a little friction, to slow them down a bit. You dont think thats a good idea? It was a persuasive line to Canadians, always willing to believe in American skulduggery. It was not one he would have used with any Americans in earshot. The Trudeau government has been playing three-layered chess for many months to win support for a pipeline in Alberta and B.C. and a national standard on carbon pricing all without enraging green Liberals, red-hot Greens, or suspicious First Nations leaders. When the Toronto Star reports on their sausage-making, Ottawa loses. Silence until agreement is reached is essential to any such finely balanced deal. If Donald were to lie a little less flagrantly in public, listen a little more respectfully in private, he might become a master of the Art of the Deal for real. Not merely deals made in a locker-room cooking up tax fiddles for casinos, but in the high-stakes real world of terrorism and nuclear-diplomacy. I wouldnt hold my breath. Robin V. Sears, a principal at Earnscliffe and a Broadbent Institute leadership fellow, was an NDP strategist for 20 years. Read more about: SHARE: It is the height of hypocrisy. Last week, as Correctional Services Minister David Orazietti was expressing his concern for prisoners held in solitary confinement in Ontario, a horrific example of the provinces treatment of prisoners was underway in a Thunder Bay jail. There, a young aboriginal man named Adam Capay was in solitary confinement in a Plexiglas-lined jail cell, lit 24 hours a day, where he has been held for more than 1,500 days while he awaits trial. Thats right. Capay has been held for over four years without even being convicted of the crime for which he is being held in segregation the alleged killing of another inmate. This torture, as the United Nations calls solitary confinement that extends beyond 15 days, never mind 1,500, was going on even as Orazietti was announcing a 15-day limit on the number of consecutive days prisoners can spend in segregation. He also promised that from now on solitary confinement would only be used under the least restrictive conditions available. If Orazietti meant what he said, Capay must be released on humanitarian grounds into a hospital setting immediately. His mental health is fragile. He told Ontarios chief human rights commissioner, Renu Mandhane, who discovered his situation on a tour of the jail, that he has difficulty talking because of the lack of human contact. He also showed her scars from self-harming incidents. Further, it appears that Capays Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time has been violated. He was originally in another Thunder Bay jail for misdemeanors at the age of 19, when he was charged in 2012 with first-degree murder for an alleged attack on another inmate, Sherman Kirby Quisses. Its imperative that his legal situation be resolved as quickly as possible. As horrible as his situation is, Capay is not alone in suffering in indefinite solitary confinement. Last spring provincial ombudsman Paul Dube reported on a prisoner who had been kept in solitary for more than three years. Yet the government continues to rag the puck on this important issue. Oraziettis announcement last week was the outcome of a 19-month review of solitary confinement in Ontario. But instead of making the difficult decisions that human rights organizations have been demanding for years, Orazietti passed the buck once again and said the government would hire a third party to conduct yet another review due next spring. This is not good enough. The situation in prisons in this country has been studied to death and it is clear, as the Ontario Human Rights Commission argued just this month, that there is an alarming and systemic overuse of segregation. Its time that federal, provincial and territorial governments legislated changes to ensure that segregation is a limited, last resort at Canadian prisons, and not left to the whims of correctional staff. And while they work on that, they should end the unjustifiable mistreatment of Adam Capay. SHARE: The shooting death this week of 23-year-old Mohamed Omer was the 56th homicide in Toronto so far this year. With nearly 70 days left in 2016, Toronto has already seen as many murders this year as last and a significant increase in gun homicides. The rise in violent crime, after decades of decline, has been reported in many cities across North America, prompting inevitable calls for expanded police resources and powers. But, while such incidents are no doubt shocking and sad, the statistics are hardly cause for panic. Torontos crime rate has been steadily declining since its peak in 1991, a reflection above all of shifting demographics. Even with this years uptick, the homicide rate is likely to remain significantly lower than it was a decade ago, which itself was a fraction of what it had been a decade before that. As University of Toronto criminologist Scot Wortley told the Star, a one-year blip does not a crisis make. To argue that were experiencing some kind of long-term upward spiral of violent crime at this point would be a little premature, he said. In fact, Toronto remains exceedingly safe for a city its size. Chicago, by contrast, which has a slightly smaller population than Torontos, has seen at least 614 homicides already this year, a murder rate about 12 times higher than ours. None of that makes specific incidents of violence any less real or horrifying, nor does it suggest there are no pressing public safety issues in Toronto. Like many other largely safe cities, Toronto contains neighbourhoods beset by profound, often socially rooted problems. In a meeting with the Stars editorial board on Tuesday, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders acknowledged that his force, like many across North America, is grappling with the rising propensity to use firearms and the brazenness with which firearms are used, particularly in certain low-income neighbourhoods. But instead of the typical calls for more police resources and tougher approaches in the face of rising violence, Saunders seemed to signal a better way. Part of the answer, he said, is a crackdown on Canadas illegal firearms trade involving many forces, including the RCMP. But Saunders also rightly emphasized the need for trust-building with the public, bridging the growing gap between police and the communities where the problems are the greatest. The focus on trust is crucial. The legacy of police carding, a practice banned by the province earlier this year, has created a gulf between minority communities and the police. Public trust has been further undermined by the police violence meted out against those in the midst of mental-health crises such Sammy Yatim, gunned down on a streetcar, or Andrew Loku, shot to death seconds after police arrived at his apartment complex, not to mention the secrecy surrounding such cases. The problems of crime and violence are best addressed with the community, not against it. The Toronto Police Service is currently considering the far-reaching reforms proposed this past summer by the forces so-called transformational task force. Saunders says the much-needed modernization will be rooted in three principles trust, accountability and transparency. If it is, the transformation might help ensure that the violence weve witnessed this year is a blip, not the start of a disturbing trend. SHARE: It's all going wireless. Everything. We might as well start looking at traditional checkbooks vanishing and it will only be so long before we stop handling cash. No, we're not talking about Bitcoin. Instead, we're looking at the way we send money to different people. PayPal (PYPL) is perhaps the most well-known name in the space, where users can pay for goods and services or send money to friends and family. The company acquired Venmo, which is experiencing red-hot growth, while others like Square (SQ) are looking for a piece of the pie as well. These companies, however, will face a little bit more competition with Zelle. Previously, banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM) , Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC) tried to make a money-sending network called ClearXchange. However, without other banks joining in and low efforts in marketing, the platform never gained a lot of traction. Citigroup (C) joined the efforts last month and the platform has been rebranded as Zelle, which should start to roll out soon. By early 2017, about 20 banks are expected to be on the network and, if so, Zelle could become a formidable competitor to others who have a foothold in the industry. Shares of PayPal closed at $43.87 Monday, down 0.6%. We've heard of assembly line strikes, mining strikes, even strikes at Verizon (VZ) , but rarely have we seen a strike like this: a voiceover actors strike. Yep, that's right. "A union represents thousands of voiceover actors has called for a strike against 11 video game companies... over a pay dispute," reported the Wall Street Journal. Two of those 11 include juggernauts Electronic Arts (EA) and Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) . Apparently, the union has been negotiating a new deal for almost two years. (Seriously, who would've known?). The union is working on negotiating the actors' secondary compensation. Initial compensation accounts for about $825 for a four-hour session. However, the union is fighting for a piece of revenue sharing with gamemakers too. Of course, that's not too surprising given the massive amounts of money video games bring in, as EA's revenue swelled to more than $4 billion last year. Shares of Electronic Arts closed at $814.15 Monday, up 1.5%. Although the AT&T (T) and Time Warner (TWX) deal is stealing the spotlight, why not shine a little love on The New York Times (NYT) , which acquired The Wirecutter for a brisk $30 million. OK, OK, so the deal is a touch smaller than the $85 billion one inked between Time Warner and AT&T. But that's not the point. The online consumer guide, which ranks a wide range of different products from headphones to bags and travel to smarthome items, was started in 2011 by Brian Lam. Lam formerly served as an editor at Gizmodo and he has self-funded the company's growth. The Wirecutter generates revenue through affiliate links, which occurs when customers click on links and make purchases. Perhaps this will give a boost to The New York Times' digital ad revenues, which saw a year-over-year decline last quarter. Shares of The New York Times closed at $11.50 Monday, flat for the session. This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned. The first wave of Europe's leading oil companies will release their third-quarter results this week with a slim increase in oil prices and increased production likely to provide a boost to earnings. Norway's Statoil (STO) will be the first out of the gates when it releases quarterly figures on Thursday, a day ahead of Italy's Eni, Portgual's Galp Energia and the first of the top-tier producers Total, of France. Investors will then have to wait until next Tuesday for Western Europe's two other heavy hitters, BP (BP) and Shell, before Spain's Repsol closes out the reporting season in a week's time. Brent crude traded at an average of $45.90 over the third quarter, marginally higher than the previous quarter's prices but down on the average of $50.50 in the third quarter of 2015. Ongoing cost reductions are likely to continue to slow in the third quarter, given the amount of cutting already achieved, leaving less room for positive surprises, while analysts will be looking to see how close companies have come to covering dividends with free cash flows. Statoil's focus on the relatively expensive deep water fields means it is still someway from breakeven at current oil prices. The company probably needs prices of about $60 per barrel to cover its dividend and expenses. Investors should look for further progress on capital spending cuts, possibly below the targeted $2.5 billion of savings announced for this year. Hints of progress on asset sales, most likely in Norway, would also be welcome for a company with gearing at 33%, the second highest among its European rivals. Analysts are tipping earnings per share of about 0.06 Norwegian kroner for the third quarter. Goldman Sachs rates Statoil a sell with a price target of Nkr120 ($14.53), well below its Tuesday price of Nkr137.10. Galp's results will be all about production. The company is likely to increase output by about 26% in the third quarter as deepwater fields in Brazil come online. The resulting increase in free cash flow should leave Galp in the almost unique position of being able to cover its dividends and spending over the quarter. The only other European oil company likely to achieve that mark this quarter is OMV,of Austria. Exane BNP analysts rates Galp outperform with a price target of 14.50 ($15.77), a 13.5% premium to its current share price of 12.77. Eni's results are unlikely to hold any great surprises. The group's focus on the upstream business means it is highly levered to the oil price, which hasn't changed much quarter-on-quarter. On the down side it probably needs oil at above $60 to cover its spending. Eni's earnings per share for the third quarter are likely to be about 0.05, according to the average of analyst estimates. Goldman Sach's remains positive on the company, which it rates a buy with a price target of 14.70, noting earlier this month that "higher volumes, falling costs and higher oil prices should drive meaningful cash flow growth." Exane BNP doesn't share the sentiment, rating Eni a sell with a price target of 12.50. Eni shares traded Tuesday at 13.79. Total has quite a bit to live up to after it emerged as the only European oil producer to beat average analyst estimates last quarter. Hopes of a repeat of that performance suffered a set back when the company said its average liquids price in the third quarter had fallen, to $41.40 from $43 in the second quarter. Look out for the capital expenses figure, which, if it comes in at the low end of guidance of $15 billion for the year, will indicate that Total's cost per barrel has continued to edge down toward about $50. Analysts are looking for an earnings per share in the region of 81 cents for the third quarter, and 84 cents in the fourth. Both Goldman and Exane have buy ratings on Total, with price targets of 47.70 and 47.50, respectively. Total traded Tuesday at 44.53. Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT) took the wrecking ball to its 2016 results, bringing down sentiment about the health of the world economy in the process. The recovery figures to be a massive, time-consuming rebuilding project. Caterpillar reported Tuesday a third-quarter profit of $283 million on sales of $9.2 billion, down from a revised $559 million profit on $11 billion in sales in the same quarter a year prior. On a per-share basis and excluding restructuring costs, the company made 85 cents, beating a forecast of 76 cents but warned for a second time in 2016 that full-year revenue was likely to come in below expectations. For the full year, Caterpillar said it now expects sales of $39 billion compared to previous guidance of between $40 billion and $40.5 billion. Profit expectations also declined from $3.55 a share to $3.25, excluding restructuring costs. The results continue a bad run for Caterpillar, which has attempted to weather weakness in the commodity and energy markets that has led to more than three years of flat to down month-over-month sales by slashing 20% of its global workforce and restructuring its operations. CEO Doug Oberhelman, architect of a poorly timed $8.6 billion acquisition of mining specialist Bucyrus in 2010, earlier this month announced plans to step down early next year. Shares of Caterpillar traded off $1.30 on Tuesday afternoon at $84.71. While these latest results were expected by the markets, the outlook for 2017 wasn't encouraging. Caterpillar management, who earlier in the year was still expressing hope that a turnaround could begin in 2016, said that uncertainty remains in many parts of the world going into the new year. "While we are seeing early signals of improvement in some areas, we continue to face a number of challenges," Oberhelman said. "We remain cautious as we look ahead to 2017, but are hopeful as the year unfolds we will begin to see more positive momentum." Specifically, the company said it sees potential for upside going into 2017 from construction activity in China and other developing markets, and from increased sales to mining firms should sentiment in that sector slowly start to improve as expected. But Caterpillar warned that weakness in North American construction sales, lethargic economic growth in Europe and continued issues in the oil sector could be drags. Commodity prices, according to Caterpillar, appear to be on the upswing, though it isn't clear whether they will be high enough to drive increased sales of heavy-duty equipment. The problem is not just economic weakness, it is also a glut in some of the big-ticket machinery that Caterpillar makes. North American construction, for example, is expected to be weak in part because of the large amount of used equipment available for sale and rent, and not because of a falloff in building starts. "The market has an abundance of used construction equipment, rail customers have a substantial number of idle locomotives, and around the world there are a significant number of idle mining trucks," Oberhelman said. "Many of our businesses, including mining, oil and gas, rail and construction, are currently operating well below historical replacement demand levels in many parts of the world." For all of Caterpillar's current issues, Oberhelman and his team have set up Caterpillar to benefit when those end markets do recover. The company remains on track for about $2 billion in cost reductions in 2016, including the benefit from restructuring and layoffs as well as from equipment design and material-sourcing-related cost reductions and lower incentive pay. The company also has more than $6 billion in cash on its balance sheet. AUTO INDUSTRY VW to pay $15 billion in emission settlement A federal judge approved the largest auto-scandal settlement in U.S. history Tuesday, giving nearly a half-million Volkswagen owners and leaseholders the choice between selling their cars back or having them repaired so they dont cheat on emissions tests and spew excess pollution. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said the nearly $15 billion deal adequately and fairly compensates consumers and gets the polluting vehicles off the road as soon as possible. The German automaker acknowledged last year that about 475,000 Volkswagens and Audis with 2-liter, four-cylinder diesel engines were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. Under the agreement, owners can choose to have Volkswagen buy back the vehicle regardless of its condition for the full trade-in price on Sept. 18, 2015, when the scandal broke, or pay for repairs. Volkswagen also will pay owners $5,100 to $10,000, depending on the age of the car and whether the owner owned it before Sept. 18, 2015. Volkswagen has agreed to spend up to $10 billion compensating consumers and could start buying back cars as early as next month. Regulators have not approved any fixes. The settlement also includes $2.7 billion for environmental mitigation and $2 billion to promote zero-emissions vehicles. Breyer said owners were not entitled to a full refund because many had received a great deal of use out of their vehicles. The settlement is an important milestone in our journey to making things right in the United States, Hinrich J. Woebcken, president and chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America said in a statement. The lead attorney for owners, Elizabeth Cabraser, said the deal holds Volkswagen accountable for its illegal behavior and breach of consumer trust. Associated Press DEFENSE Lockheed forecasts strong growth in 17 Lockheed Martin predicted robust sales growth next year, as chief executive Marillyn Hewson streamlines the worlds largest defense contractor to focus on planes, helicopters and missiles. Lockheed also surprised analysts with a forecast for stronger 2016 results after the $4.6 billion spinoff of an IT unit in August. Profit is expected to be $12.10 a share, compared with a July forecast of from $11.15 to $11.45 a share, the Bethesda, Md.-based company said Tuesday. Sales will expand about 7 percent in 2017, Lockheed said. Hewson bolstered Lockheeds holdings over the past year by buying a United Technologies helicopter division and boosting a stake in the United Kingdoms nuclear deterrent program by 18 percent. Several key elements may still shape year-end totals, starting with continuing negotiations for the largest low-rate initial production F-35 contracts. Adjusted third-quarter earnings rose to $3.61 a share. Sales reached $11.6 billion. Bloomberg News Also in Business From news services Lucia Perillo, an award-winning poet who wielded a fine-edged wit, unflinchingly dissecting mortality in verses that drew upon her suffering from multiple sclerosis, died Oct. 16 at her home in Olympia, Wash. She was 58. Her husband, Jim Rudy, confirmed her death but did not disclose the cause. Ms. Perillo published her first collection of poetry, Dangerous Life, in 1989, shortly after her 30th birthday and two years after the diagnosis of her illness. A naturalist by training, she turned to full-time writing when she could no longer look forward to physically demanding work in the outdoors. A decade into her career, and after the publication of two more poetry volumes, she received a 2000 MacArthur fellowship, commonly known as a genius grant. Ten years later, her collection Inseminating the Elephant (2009) became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. In her writings, which appeared in magazines including the New Yorker and the Atlantic Monthly, Ms. Perillo coupled the observational rigor of a field researcher with a conversational language all her own. Her subject matter veered from a scene of prostitutes in a grocery line to Girl Scouts in song, from a bra fitting to the impregnation of an elephant in captivity. Much of her most celebrated poetry touched on death and, directly or indirectly, on her physical affliction. By the time of her MacArthur fellowship, Ms. Perillo required the use of a wheelchair. Once, when a doctor resorted to the cliche pins and needles in suggesting a description of the pain in her leg, she corrected him. No, its more like rubbing against a hot driveway impregnated with broken glass, she said. Oh right, the physician replied, youre the poet. She referred to her body as just a ball and chain, a meat cage. In her poem Women Who Sleep on Stones, she observed: If I sleep on my belly, pinning it down, / my breasts start puling like baby pigs / trapped under their slab of torpid mother. Another poem, Again, the Body began: When you spend many hours alone in a room you have more than the usual chances to disgust yourself this is the problem of the body, not that it is mortal but that it is mortifying. She cited rot as her favorite subject but also told Poets & Writers magazine that she had never been interested in being a disabled poet. She said she endeavored to write poems that could be read, understood and appreciated whether or not the reader knew of her illness. I wanted them to foster two readings, she said. Two layers. Where you could step into the poem on whatever layer you wanted to step into it on. By critical assessment, Ms. Perillo succeeded. I have two words for anyone who wants to know why people turn to poetry in times of need: Lucia Perillo, David Kirby, an English professor at Florida State University, wrote in the New York Times in 2005. Shes the funniest poet writing today, which is saying a lot, since shes also the poet most concerned with the treachery practiced on us daily by our best friends and worst enemies, our bodies. He cited in particular her lines in Christmas at Forty: How unexpected life is, the speaker remarks. One minute youre a punk driving around / in Eddie Butterfords blue Dodge, hashing / out the script for whatever happens next, and then somehow you end up / with a whole mortgageful of ornaments in the attic / and even a green metal stand to triangulate the trunk. Lucia Maria Perillo was born in New York City on Sept. 30, 1958, the daughter of a lawyer and a librarian. She studied wildlife management at McGill University in Montreal, where she graduated in 1979. She worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and later held a seasonal job at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington while pursuing a masters degree in English at Syracuse University, which she received in 1986. An early mentor was the poet Robert Hass, later a winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Ms. Perillo published seven books of poetry in total, including The Body Mutinies (1996), The Oldest Map With the Name of America (1999),Luck Is Luck (2005), On the Spectrum of Possible Deaths (2012) and, most recently, Time Will Clean the Carcass Bones (2016). She also wrote a collection of essays, Ive Heard the Vultures Singing: Field Notes on Poetry, Illness, and Nature (2007), and a book of short stories set in the Pacific Northwest, Happiness Is a Chemical in the Brain (2012). She taught at Syracuse University, Southern Illinois University and Saint Martins University in Lacey, Wash. Survivors include her husband of 23 years, Jim Rudy of Olympia; her mother, Marie Kucija Perillo of Irvington, N.Y.; a sister; and two brothers. Ms. Perillo once wrote that a sunrise often makes me scream, what with the very idea of another day in her condition. And yet, she wrote in an essay, while a therapist felt that my giving up on hope had darkened my outlook, I think hope shackled me to my body as it dropped like dead weight to the floor of the sea. And surrendering hope has left me feeling unburdened, lighter, strangely giddy as I float. An earlier version of this obituary incorrectly attributed a review, published in the New York Times, to Robert O. Lawton. The author of the review was David Kirby, the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of English at Florida State University. Pakistani exhibitors had decided to lift the ban on Indian films. However, in the wake of the Quetta terror attack, Pakistani theatres might not screen Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay. By India Today Web Desk: Well, well. Film theatres in Pakistan had been planning to screen Shivaay and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil after all. This was, indeed, going to be a welcome development after the ban declared on Indian films by Pakistani theatre owners. However the Quetta police training college attack, Pakistan might just no screen the films. According to a report by The Express Tribune, Pakistani exhibitors were supposed to put an end to the ban that they had declared on Indian films in the wake of the Uri attacks on September 18 and India's retaliatory strikes on September 29. However, the Quetta tragedy, which led to the deaths of at least 61 security personnel, has pushed Pakistan to put a hold on these plans. advertisement ALSO READ: Indian Army refuses KJo's 5 crore for the release of ADHM ALSO READ: I told KJo that if you wanted to show deshbhakti, army welfare fund was the way, says Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis Chairman of Pakistani exhibitors and Distributors Association, Zoraiz Lashari, said, "Our basic demand was a lift on the ban on Pakistani actors working in India and the Indian authorities have lifted that ban. Even Fawad Khan's film is all set to be released in India on time, which is why even we are looking forward to a more positive outcome of this entire scenario." The Pakistan government had not put any official 'ban' on Indian films. Following the ban on Pakistani artists working in India by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA), earlier in October, Pak exhibitors decided to 'suspend' (and not 'ban') the screening of Indian films. Reportedly, Pakistani exhibitors have decided to screen Indian films in response to the Indian Army's rejection of a Rs 5 crore deposit by Karan Johar to the Indian Army's welfare fund. Donating Rs 5 crore to the army's welfare fund was in compliance with the decree issued by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) Raj Thackeray. However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis clarified on October 24 that it was Karan Johar's idea to donate Rs 5 crore to the army's welfare fund. "It was producer Karan Johar who expressed his desire to make a contribution of Rs 5 crore towards the welfare of the families of the martyred soldiers. To which I categorically said there should be no such compulsion. Yet, if you want to show your deshbhakti, there is the Army welfare relief fund where you can help," Fadnavis said. Back in Pakistani, all exhibitors decided to resume screening of Indian films, from Tuesday, following discussions on Sunday and Monday. "Indian Army's statement is a good enough evidence for the change in perspective on the other side of the border. So is the release of Fawad Khan's film in India," a Pakistani cinema owner was quoted as saying. The Pakistan Ministry of Commerce has issued NoCs (No Objection Certificate) to both Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay. As such, both films will be previewed by the Pakistani censor boards. advertisement Secretary of Sindh Board of Film Censors, Razzaq Khuhwar said, "The government has issued the NoC for Shivay. We are set to screen or tomorrow for certification," the secretary of Sindh Board of Film Censors." The chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (Pakistan) Mobashir Hasan was quoted as saying, "We will accept and preview Indian films, if and when they are submitted for certification." Ae Dil Hai Mushkil starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Fawad Khan, and Shivaay starring Ajay Devgn are scheduled to release in theatres on October 28, this year. --- ENDS --- Do some language errors outshine their correct forms? Thats the view New Yorker and Random House alumnus Daniel Menaker has come around to after half a century of writing, editing, copy editing, verbal irony (that addiction), and listening closely to conversation my own and others. Menaker has even coined a term for these beau-boos: He calls them sveltes, after the hopeful author whose story submission stated, The zebras were grazing on the African svelte. Spying the inadvertent elegance of this slush-pile error the African veldt is indeed smooth, understated, lissome Menaker began to lasso similar gaffes, each boasting a sort of cosmic suitability that transcends its incorrectness. He presents these unintentionally ingenious misspellings in a witty book titled The African Svelte. The collection catches writers using their vocal chords to bemoan getting stuck in the styx. Other malapropmasters ply unchartered waters perfect for naval gazing for what is a navel if not a little ship, writes Menaker, afloat on the (sometimes vast) ocean of a tummy? Some wait with baited breath to find out whether being lack-toes intolerant may cause undo stress. Leavened by famously jittery drawings from Roz Chast, The African Svelte cleverly educes the literally poetic justice of eeking out a living or disguising your terrorist intent by wearing a baklava. Its hard to hide the stretch marks in a book this pregnant with meaning, which is why I wish Menaker had strained far less to trace the word origins undergirding his meaningful mistakes. Like the soil we walk on, he incants, most of the words we speak and write hide secret kinds of life. But hadnt my tour guide warned me? In the books foreword, when Billy Collins inserts a butterfly pin through the authors healthy penchant for elaboration, its no missed stake. Allan Fallow is a writer and editor in Alexandria. On Saturday at 6 p.m., Daniel Menaker will be at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. West Antarcticas Thwaites Ice Shelf, pictured in the background, is melting dramatically from underneath, a new study shows. Scientists plan to further study how this is happening. (John Sonntag/Nature/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) If you want to see the future of coastal cities including New York, Tokyo, or Mumbai, India look no further than West Antarctica, where a warmer sea is turning ice into water that may be headed to your doorstep. The bottom of the world has drawn increased scrutiny from scientists over the past few years, as West Antarctic ice loss in some places shows signs of becoming unstoppable. Theres enough water locked up in West Antarcticas Amundsen Sea region alone to raise the global average sea level by four feet, and its the fastest-melting spot on the continent. The National Science Foundation and a British counterpart last week announced that theyll fund up to $25 million in research that will help the scientific community better understand the timing and mechanics of a critical glacier, the Thwaites. The project is basically the climate-science equivalent of an FBI Most Wanted poster. A study issued on Tuesday in Nature Communications measures directly just how dramatically glaciers are being gnawed at from beneath. The research focuses on those that empty into a section of the Amundsen Sea just south of the Thwaites Glacier. A significant portion of Antarctica is now subject to intense unbalanced melting, the authors write. Everyone has heard of global warming, and most understand that letting ice melt will eventually flood coastal cities. But many may not understand how these critical parts of the globe function. In West Antarctica, glaciers flow (yes, they move very slowly) off the continent, toward the sea, ending at a final grounding line where the ice stops lying on bedrock. From there, a frozen sheet called an ice shelf extends into the sea. The problem, increasingly, is the sea around West Antarctica has warmed up and is flowing beneath those ice shelves, washing grounding lines back toward the continent. Its as if the foundation of your house were slowly being chipped away from below. It may be only a matter of time before the structure collapses. The topography of the region isnt helping matters. The ground beneath the glaciers sinks the farther you move inland. So when grounding lines retreat, they also descend, leaving a deeper target for warming waters to flow into and carving away additional ice. Scientists can see the ice retreat because of direct measurements taken in 2002, 2009 and 2014, when NASAs Operation IceBridge flew over the area with ice-penetrating radar. The program is expected to fly the same route again this season to produce a new snapshot. Those images left no doubt about the melting. Any change within a few meters probably would not have been easy to discern, said Ala Khazendar of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the lead author, but here were talking about between [985 and 1,640 feet] in seven years. An advertisement for Texas A&M University that is up in Metro Center for the month of October. The university bought all of the ad space in the Metro station as part of a branding campaign. (John Kelly/The Washington Post) Mary Billingsley noticed something odd as she walked into Metro Center subway station earlier this month. There was an ad for Texas A&M University. And another ad. And another. In fact, every single ad in the Metro station from the turnstiles to the walls was for the Texas university 1,400 miles from Washington. Mary was in the middle of a trip that had taken her from Cairo, where she lives, to Dallas to visit some friends, and then to Washington, where she used to live. She was in a fuzzy, semi-jet-lagged state. I immediately had a thought of, Wait, where am I? Mary recounted in an email. Once I realized that I was indeed in D.C., wow, such pride! And how lucky I was to have timed my brief visit to the States to see it! Mary, you see, is an Aggie the nickname for students at what was once called the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas and she was delighted to find that Metro Center has been temporarily transformed into a little patch of Aggieland. The theme of the ads is Fearless on Every Front, and they tout the schools achievements in such areas as science, agriculture and the environment. Texas A&M University Fearless on Every Front ads in Metro Center. (John Kelly/The Washington Post) But why? Is it to encourage D.C.-area high school students to apply to the Texas university? Not exactly, said Amy Smith, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer at the school. Smith joined A&M in July after working as vice president of communications for Raytheon, the defense contractor. Raytheon is the sort of company that typically shells out for station domination, which is what Metro calls it when a single advertiser snaps up every display space. Most of the people who ride Metro arent in a position to buy their own weapons systems, but a few are involved in those decisions because they work at the Pentagon or on the Hill. The Texas A&M ads serve a similar purpose. Potential students might see the ads, yes, but hopefully so will people who grant research funds, like from the National Science Foundation, and academics who might be lured to Texas to teach. Weve hired maybe 25 National Academy members in the last couple of years, said Michael Young, who became president of A&M in May 2015. When we call [potential faculty] we want them to pick up the phone and say, Yeah, I know about Texas A&M and Im intrigued. So Metro Center is like a big help wanted ad? More of a were helping out ad, Young said. And, so, if what were doing intrigues and resonates, and you have a passion to help make the world a better place, come join us, he said. Young was in town this week, and on Monday evening, he posed for a photo in Metro Center with more than 50 local alums. (There are about 3,500 Aggies in the Washington area, the highest concentration outside of Texas, Smith said.) Every college campus has a unique personality. I spent a week at Texas A&M in 2009 as a visiting journalist and can report that its personality is more unique than most. The school grew out of a strong military tradition. I think the ads which cost about $150,000 for 5 1/2 weeks are an effort to show that todays A&M is a little more Athens and a little less Sparta. If the Metro Center ads are warming Aggie hearts, theyre sending a cold chill through graduates of their rival school. Said Smith: Im getting hate emails from University of Texas graduates saying, I assume I have you to blame for walking through this every day on my commute. Meow mix Ambivalent about Aggies? What about cats? Youll recall the insane coverage when all the ads in a London Tube station were recently replaced by photos of felines, including one from our area. [Londons Tube subway has been taken over by cats, including one from Virginia] Now a Maryland woman is hoping to do the same thing here. Nicole Adams, of Gaithersburg, has been getting advice from Glimpse, the London collective that created Cats Not Ads. And she has spoken with Outfront Media, the firm that handles Metros ad space. Nicole doubts she could afford to dominate a station like Metro Center but hopes to crowdfund enough money to cat-ify a smaller one, such as Dupont Circle. She said she hopes to launch a fundraising drive next year. Stay tuned. Twitter: @johnkelly For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly. Chuck Rosenberg is the acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, a former prosecutor and investigator with more than two decades of experience. His administration is on the front lines of a rising opioid abuse epidemic that is projected to kill about 30,000 people in the United States this year. But when it comes to teaching teenagers about the dangers of opioid abuse about how the drugs are killing their peers he said he realizes that he might not be the best source. Ive seen people roll their eyes at me, Rosenberg said. Whenever someone tells you to do something you dont want to do, theres going to be cynicism and skepticism. DEA and Discovery Education rolled out a drug-education program Tuesday that aims to take a different approach to teaching teens about drugs. Rather than Just say no messaging and school assemblies, it will teach teenagers the dangers of addiction by showing them the science behind opioid use, in classrooms across the country. Were focusing on the science behind addiction and what it can do to your brain and your behavior, said Bill Goodwyn, president and chief executive of Discovery Education, a subsidiary of Discovery Communications. Its not a one-off assembly where youll have a speaker come in once a quarter or once a semester. Its actually part of the core curriculum. The curriculum debuted with an event at Fairfax Countys McLean High School, where in 2013 a student died after using heroin for the first time. In a program billed as a virtual field trip, a panel that included a scientist, a recovering addict, an assistant principal and a DEA agent spoke with an audience of high school biology students. It was broadcast to 200,000 students nationwide, according to Discovery Education, which developed the program with the help of a $2 million grant from the DEA. The program features free videos and classroom materials and a student video contest that will allow students to educate their peers about drug abuse. [McLean High School students heroin overdose shows disturbing trend facing police] Rosenberg said that 4 out of 5 heroin users start their habits by abusing prescription painkillers, many of which were obtained legitimately from doctors and then swiped from medicine cabinets. Many people who start with prescription painkillers might believe they are safe because they originate with a doctor even when taken at doses higher than prescribed but some painkillers have proved deadly even in very small doses. The program aims to disabuse teens of the notion that drugs found in their parents medicine cabinets are safe, to show them that just one pill can lead them down the road to addiction, and that addiction can touch any community even a wealthy suburb such as McLean in Northern Virginia. All of this will be communicated in the context of science. In the virtual field trip, special agent Melvin Patterson said the face of heroin addiction is shifting. Early in his career, when he would make undercover heroin purchases, he told the students that he would target people who dressed like hippies or people in the inner city. Now, heroin is everywhere. Its housewives. We see professional athletes. We see professional doctors or lawyers, Patterson said. Its actually scary the number of people using this drug. Peggy Compton, a Georgetown University professor whose research focuses on opioids and addiction, told the students that some drugs make changes to the brain that make users crave them more. What youre doing is rewiring that part of the brain that makes decisions for you, Compton said. Brittney Sabock, 25, of Westminster, Md., told the students that she is recovering from heroin and alcohol addiction, noting that her drug use started innocently with alcohol and marijuana in high school. When she moved to heroin, it took away every dream and aspiration I ever had. The virtual field trip got mixed reviews from student audience members, who asked screened questions of the panelists that were generated by students from across the country. Sophia Shiells, a McLean freshman, said she felt the event was scripted and worried that it was too impersonal to reach some students. But she said that hearing from Sabock, who talked about how she was once a good student, was deeply moving because she was relatable. Its much more personal than getting it on a PowerPoint presentation and taking notes and taking a quiz about it, she said. Alexa Jordan, a 14-year-old freshman and biology student, said she was moved by the testimony of a recovering addict, a woman she said looked like she could be a young teacher at the school. But she felt that the science portion moved too quickly. I feel like the scientist talking about the brain and the frontal cortex I think thats what its called that part got confusing, she said. McLean Principal Ellen Reilly said it is still too difficult for her to speak about the student she lost to a heroin overdose, a death that sent shock waves through the community and underscored the drugs broad reach. She said that the opioid epidemic terrifies her. She said she believes its important that students know that just one pill can lead to so much more. A long-running student discipline case involving a Maryland boy who was suspended after chewing a pastry into the shape of a gun and aiming it at his classmates has ended with a settlement between school officials and the childs family. Neither side would discuss the terms of the agreement, but the recent resolution brought closure to a 3 1 /2-year struggle that inspired legislative efforts concerning student discipline in several states and came to be known as the Pop-Tart case. On March 1, 2013, a 7-year-old allegedly misbehaved during the morning breakfast period in his class at Park Elementary School in Anne Arundel County. Look I made a gun! he yelled, showing off a nibbled pastry bar and pointing the imaginary weapon at students at nearby desks and in a hallway. [Judge upholds suspension of student who chewed pastry into the shape of a gun] The boy, then a second-grader, was suspended for two days, which his family described as an overreaction. It was harmless, his father, William B.J. Welch, told The Washington Post in 2013. It was a danish. [Anne Arundel second-grader suspended for chewing his pastry into the shape of a gun] The boy who has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to his parents served his suspension and the family filed an appeal, asking that the incident be cleared from his school records. Their request was turned down by the Anne Arundel schools superintendent, a hearing examiner, the county school board, the Maryland State Board of Education and a county Circuit Court judge. The parents did not give up, and the school system did not back down. The boy who once wielded the strawberry-filled pastry grew older: Hes now 11 and in middle school. The Welches have long argued that the incident unnecessarily tarnished the boys school files: His disciplinary referral uses the word gun four times. Its a mark on his record for something that doesnt need to be there, his father said in an interview in June. Theres just a lot of unknowns, and I dont want something that could potentially debilitate his future. [Appeal for Md. 7-year-old suspended for nibbling pastry into shape of gun] But the school system successfully argued that the case was never about a pastry or a gun, but rather an ongoing behavioral problem. They said that the boy disrupted the classroom repeatedly and that the suspension was a last resort. We had not been able to make him understand that he had to follow the rules, Sandra Blondell, the principal of the Brooklyn Park school, said at a hearing in 2014 that lasted more than six hours. The incident, she said, was probably the 15th or 20th time there was a classroom disruption. [Hearing in pastry gun case: School officials cite other alleged misbehavior] The Maryland State Board of Education sided with Anne Arundel in 2015, saying that the school had used progressive intervention and that the suspension was justified based on the incident in question and the students history. The case came 11 weeks after the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., which claimed the lives of 20 children and six staff members and heightened sensitivities about guns, even imaginary ones. In the Washington region, several young children were suspended from school for pointing their fingers like guns or having play guns. [Finger guns, toy guns and threats: The fallout of Sandy Hook] Florida lawmakers invoked the Maryland incident as they passed a Pop-Tart law to limit zero-tolerance at schools, including discipline for brandishing partially consumed pastry or other food to simulate a weapon. The resolution of the case followed the familys latest appeal, to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. Both sides agreed to participate in mediation, and a judge-mediator, Thomas L. Craven, helped forge a settlement that was signed last week, said Robin Ficker, the familys attorney. The matter has been settled, Ficker said. He could not comment further under the terms of the settlement. Welch also said he was barred from making a comment. Anne Arundel schools spokesman Bob Mosier confirmed the settlement but declined to comment further. Kaitlin Banner, a senior staff attorney with the Advancement Project, a civil rights organization active on school discipline issues nationally, said that student misbehavior often points to deeper issues that need to be addressed and that an out-of-school suspension does not resolve such problems. She also expressed concerns about student missteps appearing on school records throughout a childs academic career. This is an example of how far the overreach of school district policies can be, Banner said. State Senator J.B. Jennings (R-Baltimore County), who sponsored an unsuccessful bill aimed at limiting such disciplinary actions, said he was glad for the resolution. The fact that the family has had to spend 3 1 /2 years to do what they felt was right for their child is wrong, he said. Earlier this year, when the family lost an appeal in Circuit Court, Anne Arundel school officials said the decision in their favor showed that the school system acted appropriately. We have believed from the outset that the actions of the school staff were not only appropriate and consistent with Board of Education policies and school-system regulations, but in the best interests of all students, said Mosier, the school system spokesman. Ficker argued at the time that school leaders should be able to deal with a 7-year-old in-house. It would be different if this was a 17-year-old and he was threatening physical harm, he added. The Rolling Stone staffer responsible for fact-checking an article about a gang rape at the University of Virginia testified Tuesday in federal court that she had no doubts about the story when it was published in 2014 but acknowledged that she later regretted the articles flaws. The fact checker, Elisabeth Garber-Paul, said she was responsible for ensuring that everything was as accurate as possible before we went to press with the article in November 2014. She testified that she had worked for the magazine since 2010 and had reviewed hundreds of articles before being assigned to fact-check the feature by journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely about sex assault at U-Va. Garber-Paul said she spent 80 hours scrutinizing the article, going line by line and word for word to vouch for its credibility. When we went to print, I believed it all to be true, Garber-Paul said. To have that all fall apart, that was incredibly traumatic for me. [Our worst nightmare: Legal filings detail reporting of Rolling Stone story] Garber-Pauls testimony came on the eighth day of former U-Va. dean Nicole Eramos defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone, which alleges the article, A Rape on Campus, smeared her, destroyed her lifes work and hurt her career by offering a false account of a gang rape and making the claim that Eramo was callous and indifferent to sex crimes on campus at a time when she was responsible for working with rape survivors. ABC News interviewed Nicole Eramo, the former University of Virginia administrator who is suing Rolling Stone magazine over a November 2014 story about a sexual assault. That story was discredited. (ABC News and 20/20) The article pivoted around the experiences of Jackie, a student who said she was brutally assaulted at a fraternity house near campus during her freshman year in 2012. Rolling Stone later retracted the account after an investigation by The Washington Post showed significant discrepancies in the articles reporting. A subsequent inquiry by the Charlottesville Police Department concluded that Jackies 2012 attack, as described by Rolling Stone, never occurred. [Jackie stands by account but says she had concerns about article] Garber-Paul said that she had previously worked with Erdely and had been impressed by her diligent and thorough reporting. She said in court that as she read the article she had no doubts about its veracity. She testified that she spent four hours discussing specific facts about Jackies encounter in the fraternity house, and Garber-Paul said she felt satisfied that the U-Va. student was telling the truth. But she acknowledged that she was aware that aspects of Jackies account had evolved over time, including a discrepancy in the number of men she said had attacked her. Garber-Paul said she knew that Jackies friend Emily Renda had given congressional testimony in June 2014 referring to Jackie being assaulted by five fraternity brothers. Garber-Paul said that she believed at the time that the inconsistency in Jackies story was attributable to how trauma can affect the memory of assault survivors. It takes them time to come to terms with it, Garber-Paul said, noting that she had discussed the effects of traumatic experiences on victims with her mother, a licensed clinical social worker. Garber-Paul testified that when she asked Jackie about the alleged assault, she was able to provide many specifics and vivid details. They were 360-degree memories, Garber-Paul said. I had a sense she was reliving one of the worst moments of her life. . . . We had to pause a couple of times so she could catch her breath. It seemed like she could close her eyes and tell me exactly what she was seeing. In a taped deposition, Jackie declined to elaborate on aspects of her assault, saying that she has post-traumatic stress disorder and memory loss and has trouble remembering what she told Erdely. [U-Va. students challenge Rolling Stone account of alleged sexual assault] Garber-Paul said that she deeply regrets not verifying quotes attributed to friends of Jackies that appeared in the article, part of a critical scene that painted U-Va. students as more interested in their own reputations than helping a classmate who said she had been attacked. Jackie told Rolling Stone that she did not want the magazine to speak to the friends who met her on the night of her alleged attack, because they had a falling out. The friends later spoke to The Post and said they were never contacted by Rolling Stone to confirm their account, which differed significantly from what appeared in the magazine. Garber-Paul said that in retrospect she acknowledged that Jackies reluctance to have Rolling Stone contact the friends should have been a red flag. Correction: An earlier version of this report misspelled Elisabeth Garber-Pauls first name. Six candidates are facing off on the Nov. 8 ballot in three contested races for Montgomery County school board, following a campaign season that has touched on budget issues, school construction and the achievement gap between white and minority students in a district where Hispanics recently have become the largest racial or ethnic group. The candidates have crisscrossed the county, speaking at forums and mingling at community events some arguing for change and new ideas, and others making a case for stability and experience. All six candidates want to expand magnet and language-immersion programs in Montgomery, a flash point in recent months as the board considered a report that recommended changes to admission practices. The three winners in the nonpartisan election will become part of an eight-member board that sets policy in Marylands largest school district and votes on a budget of more than $2.4 billion. Jeanette Dixon Phil Kauffman At-large candidates Jeanette Dixon, 67, a retired educator from Silver Spring who collected the most votes in a five-way primary and is making her first run for office. She was principal of Paint Branch High School for 12 years and White Oak Middle School for four years. Dixon says her top priority is being a good steward to the $2.46 billion that the taxpayers are contributing to educate our children. She wants to eliminate waste, govern with transparency and seek public input on issues before the board votes, not after. Its also important, she said, to evaluate the effectiveness of school programs: whats working, what needs to be tweaked, and what needs to be jettisoned and is no longer meeting the needs of our kids. Dixon says that its time for a new voice on the board and that she is more in touch than other candidates with what is going on in schools with what students need, what teachers need, what principals need. One way to start tackling the achievement gap: a convocation of all stakeholders, she said. Dixon earned a bachelors degree at American University and a masters degree at Loyola University in Maryland. Her two children graduated from county schools. Phil Kauffman, 63, an incumbent seeking his third term, is a retired federal government lawyer from Olney who is married to a teacher and served in PTA positions for 13 years. A former board president and vice president, he is chairman of the boards fiscal management committee. Kauffman, the father of two graduates of the school system, says his top issue is the achievement gap. He supports Superintendent Jack Smiths approach of using data to identify student progress and intervening early on. Other issues Kauffman cites include lower class sizes, overcrowded school facilities and career education. As a board member, he said, he has pressed the district to calculate the return on investment for its programs so that we spend our limited resources on programs that are actually effective and having an impact on student achievement. Kauffman, who earned a bachelors degree at the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree at the University of Maryland, said he should be reelected because of his experience and leadership. I think stability on the board will be important, especially as we are working with a new superintendent. Brandon Rippeon Rebecca Smondrowski District 2 candidates Brandon Rippeon, 44, who lives in Darnestown and has made unsuccessful bids for Congress and the County Council, owns a check-cashing and money transfer business in Gaithersburg and says he is passionate about working to improve education and literacy. He is a member of the Montgomery County Library Board. Rippeon says his top issue is raising academic standards and expanding internship and vocational training programs. He disagrees with the boards decision to get rid of final exams in high school courses and grading policy revisions that make it easier to get As. [One of nations largest school districts ditches high school final exams] He says he would push for budget transparency and action on items highlighted in a state audit, including bus routes that operate below capacity. On the achievement gap, he said: Its about more than education. It involves social issues, cultural issues, political issues. . . . Thats why we need a comprehensive solution that involves the other side of the government, specifically HHS. A lifelong county resident, Rippeon graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., and earned a masters degree at the American University of Paris. Rebecca Smondrowski, 48, an incumbent seeking a second term, lives in Gaithersburg and previously worked as a legislative aide to state Sen. Roger Manno (D-Montgomery). She was an officer of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs before joining the school board. Smondrowski said her top issue is making sure every child has the opportunity to have a complete and positive school experience. . . . We need to have a rigorous curriculum and make sure each student is not just college- but career-ready, and we need to make sure our students are engaged in school, have fun, and feel safe and secure. As chair of the boards special populations committee, Smondrowski describes herself as a longtime advocate for students with special needs. She says communication and community outreach are high priorities, as is providing students with options such as internships, project-based learning and vocational education. One step to help address the achievement gap: a four-year plan for students coming out of middle school, so they get what they need as they head toward college or career. Smondrowski, who attended West Chester University in Pennsylvania, is active with other organizations, including the countys Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. Shebra Evans Anjali Reed Phukan District 4 candidates Shebra Evans, 44, a parent activist with a background in finance, is making a second bid for office after an unsuccessful race two years ago. She says she got involved when she saw lagging scores for her childrens school. I wanted to make sure all of our schools are strong, she said. Her top issues are narrowing the achievement gap and creating more opportunities for career education so that students have multiple career options after high school. Evans also wants to focus on engaging community partners such as businesses or nonprofit groups to support the school system. A co-leader of the districts African American Student Achievement Action Group, she says she believes the biggest thing is to make sure the policies we put in place create opportunities for students and ensure there are no unintended consequences. Evans, who earned her bachelors degree at Tennessee State University, started in PTA leadership positions in 2009 and later became an officer with the Montgomery County Council of PTAs. She has been active in other organizations, including the nonprofit Big Learning, and served on district-created budget work groups. Anjali Reed Phukan, 38, who works as an auditor for the state, is making her second bid for public office. The daughter of a teacher, she said she wants to bring her financial background and her experiences in addiction recovery to her work on the board. As an Asian American, she also said she would be a voice for an underrepresented community. Her platform: Happy living is the most important thing. She said she wants children to like coming to school, so she is an advocate for magnet programs, after-school activities and opening schools for student-led learning after school hours. She supports the idea of later high school start times an issue of health and wellness, she said. Of the achievement gap, she said: I dont want the bar lowered. She said disadvantaged children could be helped by opening schools in the evenings so they could study. Phukan earned her bachelors degree at what is now Trinity Washington University and received two masters degrees, one in business administration from American University and another in information systems from University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In this 2010 photo, Washington Home Resident Joseph Washington looks out in the courtyard where volunteers are at work. (Evy Mages/FTWP) A judge decided Monday to allow the controversial sale of a Northwest Washington nursing home to neighboring Sidwell Friends School. Residents of the Washington Home had sought to block the $32.5 million sale, arguing that the transaction violates a D.C. law requiring landlords to give tenants right of first refusal before selling a rental property. D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert R. Rigsby ruled that nursing facilities are fundamentally different than housing accommodations, and therefore are not subject to that tenant protection. [Residents sue to block sale of nursing home to Sidwell Friends] Washington Home officials said they were pleased with the judges decision. Were continuing to focus on caring for the residents who are in our facility and making sure that we safely discharge them into other nursing homes, said CEO Tim Cox. The nursing home is scheduled to close on December 15 and the Washington Home plans to shift to providing in-home hospice care. It will also continue to provide about 10 inpatient hospice beds at a new location yet to be determined. Cox said that while about 80 residents have already moved to new facilities, the Washington Home is still caring for 24 residents who have yet to find new homes. Cox said he was confident those residents would find suitable placements. But many rely on Medicaid, and some of them and their families have said the search for equivalent, affordable care has been difficult. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit seeking to block the sale were represented by students and professors at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Norrinda Brown Hayat, who directs the schools housing law clinic, said that her clients would consider whether to appeal. While we respect the judges decision, we disagree and stand by our claims, she said. In the meantime, she added, a number of vulnerable, elderly District residents are now going to be displaced and this much needed housing will be lost. Next to our clients, no one is more disappointed in that result than us. THE DISTRICT Ex-ofcial sentenced on federal tax charge A senior D.C. official who served under six mayors was sentenced Tuesday to one year of probation and home confinement and ordered to repay $220,987 to the U.S. Treasury on a federal felony tax charge, according to the office of the U.S. attorney for the District. Warren Graves, 74, most recently served as chief of staff for the city administrator before stepping down in January 2015. He pleaded guilty July 18 to filing a false tax return and understating income from 2009 to 2013. The income came from a consulting company that he ran between 2005 and January 2011 that set up meetings with D.C. officials for private clients, who paid him over a period of years. Spencer Hsu MARYLAND Brazen daytime heist in Takoma Park Two people wielding assault rifles robbed an armored truck in Takoma Park on Tuesday, police said. About noon, police went to the 6900 block of Laurel Avenue after a report of an armed robbery of a Brinks armored truck, Takoma Park police said in a statement. An investigation showed that the trucks driver was preparing to deliver money to a SunTrust Bank on that block when he was approached by two people with assault rifles, the statement said. The two took the money he was holding and fled, the statement said. Police asked anyone with information about the robbery to call 301-270-1100. Justin Wm. Moyer Prosecutor accused of having child porn A Baltimore prosecutor assigned to the juvenile division was arrested Tuesday in Baltimore County and charged with possession and distribution of child pornography, county police said. Patrick Moran, 39, an assistant city states attorney since 2003, was taken into custody after police raided his Nottingham home and found numerous images and videos of child pornography. Police said they also found various pieces of computer equipment and digital storage devices that are being tested. Moran was released after posting $150,000 bail. He could not be reached for comment. Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby said in a statement that Moran was a now former employee. Baltimore Sun Mall garage shooting leads to lockdowns A shooting in the parking garage of Iverson Mall on Tuesday placed two schools in the area in temporary lockdown, according to school and police officials. A man was shot at the mall near Branch Avenue and Silver Hill Road, Prince Georges County police said in a Twitter message shortly after 1 p.m. His injuries did not appear life threatening. A suspect fled from the scene of the shooting, police said. Hillcrest Heights Elementary School and Jessie B. Mason Regional School were placed on lockdown, which was lifted around 2 p.m. Lynh Bui and Donna St. George Police fatally shoot 2 fugitives in Elkton Police in northeastern Maryland shot and killed two fugitives who came out of a second-floor motel room on Tuesday and pointed what appeared to be regular handguns at the officers, authorities said. The guns raised by the fugitives turned out to be BB guns, officials said late Tuesday. The shootings unfolded at about 10 a.m. at the New Eastern Inn, a two-story motel in Elkton, Md. The fugitives identified by police as Brandon Jones, 25, and his girlfriend, Chelsea M. Porter, 25, both from Dover, Del. died at the scene. The Maryland State Police is investigating the shooting. Dan Morse "I am focusing on election. I can't worry about things which I can't control. Whatever has to happen, will happen. I will tell the people and explain the work the government has done so far," said Akhilesh Yadav. By Javed M. Ansari : Beleaguered Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav intends to hit the campaign trail and reach out to the people from November 3. In a freewheeling chat with India Today, Akhilesh said he had developed a tunnel vision. Akhilesh Yadav today said that the welfare of Uttar Pradesh has always been paramount for him and that he will continue to work in the coming days as well. advertisement "I am focusing on election. I can't worry about things which I can't control. Whatever has to happen, will happen. I will tell the people and explain the work the government has done so far," Akhilesh Yadav told India Today off the camera. "Netaji had set me a certain task when I was made the chief minister and I delivered more than that," said Akhilesh. "WELFARE OF UP IS MY PRIORITY" "For me the welfare of Uttar Pradesh has been paramount and I will continue to work in the coming days as well. People know what I have done for the state and I hope they will appreciate the work done by the government," added Akhilesh Yadav. He refused to be drawn into the battles within his party or the systematic attempts to undermine him and pit him against his father. He regretted the fact that some people were trying to take advantage of his father's simplicity. "Attempts are being made to mislead him and to give the impression that I am trying to conspire against him or sideline him. This is something I cannot even dream about," he said. Sitting in his Kalidas Marg office, the chief minister was busy giving final touches to promotional films highlighting the government's achievements and the advertisement campaign that he intends to launch as a part of his campaign blitz. "The demographics are changing, there is a whole new generation of voters, they want development. I believe I have done enough to merit their support and a second chance" Akhilesh said. ALL IS WELL: MULAYAM Earlier in the day, Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed all was well within the party and it remains one and united. The 76-year-old leader said his rebel son Akhilesh Yadav remains the chief minister and there is no question of replacing him. Mulayam's brother and Uttar Pradesh party chief had demanded that Mulayam should take over from his son. Also read: Samajwadi Party crisis: All is well, Akhilesh remains CM, says Mulayam Pari-war impact on Uttar Pradesh election: A split will hit both Akhilesh and Samajwadi Party advertisement Akhilesh Yadav fantastic CM, needs Mulayam's experience and time to be a mass leader: Amar Singh He said, "Akhilesh Yadav changed image of the party. Voters won't believe the conspirators and Akhilesh will remain CM of Uttar Pradesh." Though Shivpal Yadav, seems to have won the latest round of conflict between him and his nephew, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, with the latter agreeing to reinstate his uncle and other ministers sacked on Sunday for their closeness with Amar Singh. Also read: Samajwadi crisis: Mulayam Singh pulls up Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal calls CM a liar Goons in party, wheeling and dealing: Did Mulayam, Akhilesh and Shivpal's speeches reveal too much? Watch video --- ENDS --- A man living in a house in Montgomery County was shot and killed Monday night in what appeared to be a home invasion, the county police said. The incident was reported about 10 p.m. in the 7900 block of Muncaster Mill Road in the Gaithersburg area of the county, said Capt. Paul Starks, the county police spokesman. The victim was not identified immediately. As of late last night, no arrest had been reported. Authorities were preparing to seal off the area of the house to facilitate a search for the alleged intruder. No motive in the incident could be learned. Before her arrest in 2007, Harriette Walters, a midlevel D.C. tax office manager known as Mother Harriette, stole more than $48 million from the city, issuing fraudulent tax refunds for almost two decades. She gambled, making more than 45 trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City. She spent more than $2 million at high-end shops such as Neiman Marcus. And she hoarded luxury watches in her Northwest Washington home. Walters was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison in 2009. But her scheme was partly facilitated by Bank of America, where a bank manager deposited almost $18 million in Walterss refund checks. [Tax scam leader gets more than 17 years] Now, eight years after D.C. sued the bank to get its money back, Bank of America is settling the suit for $13 million, the citys attorney general said Tuesday. We are glad that this closes a chapter in the Districts history, Attorney General Karl A. Racine said in a statement. The District has made a host of changes in process and personnel to protect against the type of fraud leading to todays settlement. The Districts 2008 lawsuit said Bank of America should make the District whole for losses suffered because of the Defendant Banks wrongful hiring, inadequate training and inadequate supervision. The suit pointed out that some checks were cashed even though the payees name did not match the account holders name, and a Bank of America assistant branch manager, Walter R. Jones, pleaded guilty to his part in the fraud. It made no sense to have these large checks being cashed and nothing adding up, acting D.C. attorney general Peter J. Nickles said when the suit was filed. It sounds like a bank that would be in Disneyland. A spokesman for Bank of America declined to comment. Police have identified a woman who was found dead in a Rockville area parking lot on Monday and said there was no evidence of trauma to her body. [Womans body found in Montgomery County parking lot Monday morning] The woman was identified through fingerprint analysis as Lori Denise Detwiler, 55, of Millsboro, Del., Montgomery County police said Tuesday in a statement. About 6:30 a.m. Monday., police responded to reports of a body in the 12300 block of Parklawn Drive. Detwiler was found near a fence line several blocks from the Twinbook Metro Station. An autopsy showed no trauma on her body, and toxicology results are pending, the police statement said. Police asked anyone with information about Detwilers death to call them at 240-773-5070. Two suspects, dressed in dark clothing with their faces covered, entered a Montgomery County home Monday night and one fatally shot a man who lived there, authorities said Tuesday. Police identified the victim as Ronald Michael Lone III, 23, of the 7900 block of Muncaster Mill Road, near the intersection of Snouffer School Road in Gaithersburg. He was pronounced dead at the scene. At this time, investigators do not believe that this is a random act, a police spokeswoman said. Police and medics were called to the residence just before 10 p.m. Monday for a reported shooting. They arrived to find Lone on a back deck, suffering from a gunshot wound. They tried to save his life but could not, officials said. There were multiple people in the home at the time. During the apparent home-invasion robbery, one of the suspects shot Lone, police said. The suspects fled. No one else was injured. Detectives said they believe the suspects had entered the home through an unlocked rear door. A shooting in the parking garage of Iverson Mall on Tuesday afternoon placed two schools in the area in temporary lockdown, according to school and police officials. A man was shot at the mall near Branch Avenue and Silver Hill Road, Prince Georges County Police tweeted shortly after 1 p.m. His injuries do not appear life threatening. A suspect fled from the scene of the shooting, which does not appear to be random, police said. Hillcrest Heights Elementary School and Jessie B. Mason Regional School were placed on lockdown out of an abundance of caution, police said. The lockdown was lifted at around 2 p.m. Donna St. George contributed to this report. Two people wielding assault rifles robbed an armored truck in Takoma Park on Tuesday, police said. About 12 p.m., police responded to the 6900 block of Laurel Avenue after a report of an armed robbery of a Brinks armored truck, Takoma Park police said in a statement. An investigation showed that the trucks driver was preparing to deliver money to a SunTrust Bank on that block when he was approached by two people with assault rifles, the statement said. The two took the money he was holding and fled in a vehicle down Carroll Avenue before making a right on to Westmoreland Avenue, the statement said. Police asked anyone with information about the robbery to contact them at 301-270-1100. Ernestine Turner, 83, says she and her two daughters have no working heat or air conditioning in their Terrace Manor apartment in Washington. (Amanda Voisard/For The Washington Post) Lately, with a nip in the autumn air, Ernestine Turner, 83, has needed bedtime heat in her rodent-infested apartment. So she pulls open the door of her old Hotpoint electric oven and sets the knobs to broil at 350 degrees. Tuesday morning, as Turner, whose health is failing, sat on a sofa in a threadbare robe, the coils still glowed in her tiny kitchen, radiating since the night before. Nothing works in this place, she said, meaning the three-bedroom apartment she shares with two of her adult daughters. Were living uncivilized. At Terrace Manor, an 11-building housing complex for low-income tenants in Southeast Washington, broken heating systems are just one of many chronic problems that have made conditions deplorable for tenants, according to the D.C. government, which filed a lawsuit Monday against three partnerships that control the development. Turner, who has suffered three strokes, has a deteriorating memory and is losing her eyesight, also said she endured a summer with no air conditioning. Samantha Wright peeks into an open unit from the door of her apartment in the Terrace Manor complex. Mold and rodents are common, tenants say. (Amanda Voisard/For The Washington Post) When it was so hot in here, and I had just got out of the hospital, I called and called and called, she said. The landlord is Sanford Capital and two related partnerships, all based in the same office suite in Bethesda, Md., the lawsuit says. My daughter called, Turner said. But no one responded to her messages. She finally went up there and talked to them. Oh, yeah, well send somebody just all kinds of excuses. And it was so hot in here one day, I got sick from it. The civil action, filed in D.C. Superior Court, marks the second time this year that the city has sued Sanford for allegedly operating a vermin-infested apartment complex rife with heat, water and fire-safety problems in Ward 8, the Districts most impoverished precinct. The company declined to comment on the allegations. The current complaint, citing a serious threat to the life, health and safety of Terrace Manor residents, echoes a lawsuit filed by the city against Sanford in January. In that case, four other Ward 8 apartment buildings owned by the company were placed under a court-monitored repair regimen after months of futile complaints from tenants about mold, vermin, flooding, broken utilities and other hazards. At those four buildings, along Alabama Avenue and 13th Street SE, near the Congress Heights Metro station, renters alleged that Sanford was trying to push them out by allowing living conditions to deteriorate. Sanford and a co-developer are planning to raze the buildings and construct offices and new apartments at the site. Terrace Manor, along Savannah and 23rd streets SE, is a mile east of the Congress Heights buildings. According to the lawsuit, Sanford runs the complex under the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which gives tax breaks to companies for providing affordable housing for poor families. Samantha Wright, left, and Monica Jackson, peek into an open unit in the Terrace Manor Apartment. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post) Although the city did not explicitly allege that Sanford is trying to push tenants out of Terrace Manor, the lawsuit notes that 52 of its 61 apartments were rented when the company acquired the property four years ago but that only 14 are occupied now. That management company I wouldnt even call them a management company, said one tenant, Samantha Wright, 50, who lives with her husband, two of her daughters and three of her grandchildren. Mold all over this bathroom. Its up here on the ceiling. Its on the bathtub, the counter, the walls and trying to get into the other room. Her rent is $942 a month. Referring to Sanford, she said, They want your money and they dont want to do nothing for it. The lawsuit, like the earlier one, was filed by D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine. At a Tuesday breakfast meeting of the D.C. Council and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), Racine said his office lacks the resources to be the landlord-tenant lawyer for the entire city. But he vowed to pursue landlords with patterns of violations. Companies that have a clear record of not doing what they are obligated to do under law, which is to provide habitable and safe conditions to tenants, should, frankly, not be permitted to benefit from any District government subsidy or grant or award, Racine said in an interview after the meeting. We have an affordable-housing crisis, he said. It would be far better for landlords to remediate problems so that folks can have full, habitable, safe conditions. Bowser said, We dont want any landlord to have squalid conditions for their tenants, so we support any aggressive action against people who arent following the law. The lawsuit, which asks for a court-appointed receiver to oversee repairs at Terrace Manor, says city inspectors found 129 housing-code violations at the complex in February and notified the landlord about the problems in March. The time for compliance passed on April 3, the city said. But as of Monday, only four of the problems had been fixed. Indeed, the most egregious violations remain unabated, including rodent/vermin infestation and lack of proper heat. Among other problems, according to the lawsuit, the inspectors noted failure to maintain smoke detectors, fire extinguishing equipment and emergency lights in operable condition; failure to eliminate roach, bedbug and mouse infestations; and failure to provide adequate hot water and heat. Sanford has repeatedly declined to rectify the problems, either by wholly ignoring the repeated complaints or by performing shoddy, superficial fixes, Racines spokesman said in a statement, adding that the owner also continued to demand and collect full rent. Besides seeking a court-appointed receiver, the city wants Sanford to provide restitution to tenants who paid rent during the time period that the property was in violation of the citys housing code or was otherwise uninhabitable. Turner said the daughters who live with her, ages 58 and 62, are also chronically ill. The three get by on Social Security payments. Their rent is $1,090 a month. The rodents, she said, shuddering. My God, the rodents. You can be sitting here and theyll run right by. Now I havent seen it for a few days, thank God. One of her daughters said: I saw them yesterday. Little rat ran right out from underneath the stove, right up there by the wall. Turner shivered again and, once more, said, My God. Jonathan Pinkerton, left, and his boyfriend, Eric Rosecrants, live in micro-apartments at The Harper on the 14th Street corridor. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) Before he moved to Washington a few years ago, to a new apartment building in a gentrifying hot spot just north of Logan Circle, Eric Rosecrants owned a house in Florida that was huge compared with his current digs. Yet the house, near Orlando, was only 1,200 square feet. His boyfriend, Jonathan Pinkerton, with whom he lives in the District, also gave up relatively spacious quarters in Florida 890 square feet when the two relocated to the nations capital, to a micro-unit in a high-end building called the Harper. Their $2,250-a-month junior one-bedroom, overlooking the bustling bar and restaurant scene along 14th Street NW, is massive at 500 square feet, says manager Jason Tremblay, grinning. Thats because the smallest of the Harpers 144 units are practically shoe boxes at 350 square feet. Its a blessing and its a curse, says Pinkerton, 32, offering a micro-tour of the place: A kitchenette, a bathroom, a 12-by-15-foot living area and a narrow hallway with a nook just big enough for their bed. It doesnt allow us to be hoarders, thats for sure, he says. And when company is coming, it cleans up in minutes. A fixture in New York City, micro-units tiny luxury apartments for people willing to forfeit roominess for lower rents in desirable neighborhoods are relatively new in Washington, an outgrowth of the enormous influx of young professionals over the past decade that has sent housing prices into the stratosphere. [For $71,000, you can have a tiny house delivered to your doorstep] So far, only a handful of micro-unit buildings have opened, and it remains to be seen whether tiny apartments and condos become a growing part of the D.C. landscape. But Pinkerton and Rosecrants, echoing residents of other micro-units, say that sacrificing square footage for affordability and a prime location has turned out to be a good bargain. When we were doing this, when it was happening, I started thinking, This is kind of risky, Rosecrants, 32, says. But it ended up being surprisingly not hard. Theres actually something fun about it. Storing their belongings becomes a puzzle to solve, a Rubiks cube of apartment living. Pinkerton steps to a bookcase filled with knickknacks and lifts the lid off a small wicker basket. This looks decorative, doesnt it? In here, we have toiletries, medicines. Removing the cover from another little basket, he says, And these are Erics grooming things, like his nail clippers, stuff like that. A mile away, on 17th Street NW in Adams Morgan, Meaghan Wolff, 37, bought a condo in July in the new Moda 17 building $304,000 for about 400 square feet, which she shares with her dog, a whippet named Eddie. Wolff has a bedroom and a living room of roughly equal size, plus a bathroom. No space is wasted. There are cabinets inside cabinets, drawers within drawers. Even her bed frame, which came with the unit, is a warren of storage compartments. [D.C. shift could make tiny houses more abundant] The trade-off is, do you want to live in the city? says Wolff, who works on Capitol Hill for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Referring to new one-bedroom condos in the downtown area, she says, Oh my God, the kinds of things I saw would have cost me at least $100,000, maybe $200,000, more. With the sweep of an arm, she says: All of these things you adjust to. . . . I mean, Im a super-minimalist now. I have a lot of books. I love books. But I keep them at work. This is not a library. As for Rosecrants and Pinkerton, adapting to micro-living hasnt been hard, they say, partly because they had a flexible lifestyle to begin with. Jonathan Pinkerton, left, and Eric Rosecrants at The Harper on the 14th Street corridor. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) Jonathan Pinkerton in his micro-apartment at The Harper. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) In Florida, where they met, Pinkerton, a product manager for a digital advertising company, worked in his Orlando apartment. Rosecrants, a communications specialist for Teach for America, worked in his house in a nearby town. They moved north in 2014, having heard from friends in the District that the city had become a lively locale for people their age. And neither had to change his job. Looking online at new rental buildings in high-demand neighborhoods, the two experienced a little bit of sticker shock, Pinkerton says. But we knew about that going in. Orlandos a cheap city, and we knew D.C. was a lot more expensive. Then a friend in the District told them about the Harper, which was about to open. While still in Florida, the couple took a FaceTime tour of the building. One selling point was the apartments high-end features, typical of the citys new micro-units. They include top-quality stainless-steel appliances, hardwood floors, marble countertops and floor-to-ceiling windows that are almost soundproof. A front-loading Bosch washer-dryer is tucked into a closet. Micro-unit apartments have been part of the New York City rental landscape for decades, sprinkled in buildings with larger units. The first new Manhattan building made up strictly of luxury micro-units opened last year, but Jonathan Miller, a Manhattan-based real estate analyst, said it is a long shot that such developments will become prolific. [Tiny house, big benefits: Freedom from a mortgage and worries and stuff] In many areas of the country, he says, a growing number of millennials are forgoing pricey city neighborhoods in favor of more spacious, less expensive apartments and condos in outlying, quasi-urban communities. Think Clarendon or downtown Bethesda. Indeed, even for those with a preference for city living, the tiny spaces can feel confining for some young renters accustomed to bigger places. Janelle Wylie, 23, a George Washington University graduate student, moved to the District from Bellingham, Wash., last month and started hunting for apartments. I wanted a place where I could step outside and have bars and restaurants right below me. And she totally suffered sticker shock. Janelle Wylie settles into her new 375-square-foot apartment in Washington. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) I had a full one-bedroom in Bellingham, brand new, she says. I think it was 800 square feet. I was paying $800 a month. In the District, she got less than half the space for more than twice the price. On her move-in day at the Harper, standing in her 375-square-foot, $1,950-a-month studio, with her pared-down belongings piled on luggage carts, Wylie surveys her 12-by-15-foot living area and says: Ill have to choose between a couch and a table. I think Ill pick a coffee table with a chair, so I can eat like that. Pinkerton and Rosecrants chose a junior one-bedroom, so named because their queen-size mattress fits in the hallway nook, which doesnt have a door. The couple embraced the challenge of downsizing. Pinkerton donated his Florida furniture to charity, Rosecrants sold his house furnished, and the two shopped at Ikea after they got to Washington. As for their jobs, theres not enough room for both to work in the apartment, so Rosecrants goes to Teach for Americas offices in the District. See this? Pinkerton says, pointing to a shelf. He reaches for what looks like a book the size of a dictionary, but its really a box, and he opens it. All our Blue-rays and DVDs! At Moda 17, Wolff enjoys the rooftop, which is divided into fenced-off lounging areas, one for each condo owner, each with a planter. Wolff put down patio blocks in her 12-by-9-foot space, bought porch chairs and a table, and is growing peppers. John Guggenmos, a vice president of the company that markets Moda 17, says the building is geared toward the first-time home buyer, the person whos maybe just out of college, trying to make it. They work at a law firm, for instance, but they definitely havent made partner. Theyre still putting in the hours, working their way up. One unit in the building is 630 square feet and priced at $549,000, he says. Of the other 44 condos, the smallest, costing $229,000, is 275 square feet. After paying $2,500 a month for a normal-size one-bedroom apartment in the high-rise Capitol View on Fourteenth building, a half-mile away, Wolff moved to Moda 17 after it opened this year because she wanted to accumulate equity. Sometimes I have a hard time with it, she says. Because Im 37, and I think, Why am I this old and still living in such a small space? Thats not supposed to happen. But, look, this is D.C.! Its not like I paid nothing for it. THE DISTRICT Ice cream vendor shot on Alabama Ave. SE The driver of an ice cream vending truck was shot and seriously wounded Monday night in Southeast Washington, police and witnesses said. The man was found in his truck about 6:15 p.m. in the 2200 block of Alabama Avenue SE, police said. They said he was conscious and breathing when taken to a hospital. A businessman in the area said it appeared the victim was shot elsewhere and drove his boxy green truck to Alabama Avenue. He said people in the area described the man as an ice cream vendor. Martin Weil Suitland man charged in fatal shooting D.C. police arrested a suspect Friday in the shooting death of a man in Southeast Washington last month, police said. Andre Becton, 24, of Suitland, Md., was charged with second-degree murder in the Sept. 15 shooting of Darnell Peoples, 35, of District Heights, Md., in the 600 block of Mellon Street SE. Peter Hermann Sale of nursing home to school can proceed A judge decided Monday to allow the controversial sale of a Northwest Washington nursing home to neighboring Sidwell Friends School. Residents of the Washington Home had sought to block the $32.5 million sale, arguing that the transaction violates a D.C. law requiring landlords to give tenants right of first refusal before selling a rental property. D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert R. Rigsby ruled that nursing facilities are fundamentally different from housing accommodations, and therefore are not subject to that tenant protection. Washington Home officials said they were pleased with the judges decision. The nursing home is to close Dec. 15, and the Washington Home plans to shift to providing in-home hospice care. It will also continue to provide about 10 inpatient hospice beds at a location yet to be determined. MARYLAND Invader kills man in Montgomery house A man living in a house in Montgomery County was shot and killed Monday night in what appeared to be a home invasion, the county police said. The incident was reported about 10 p.m. in the 7900 block of Muncaster Mill Road in the Gaithersburg area, said Capt. Paul Starks, the county police spokesman. Martin Weil Silver Spring man, 64, is fatally struck by car A man was fatally struck by a car as he crossed Georgia Avenue near Regina Drive Monday, Montgomery County police said. Authorities said a 2015 Toyota Camry was traveling north on Georgia Avenue about 6:55 a.m. when it hit Robert Michael Grossman, 64, of Silver Spring. Dana Hedgpeth and Justin Wm. Moyer Bicyclist killed in collision is identified A bicyclist who died after being hit by a car Sunday in Prince Georges County has been identified by police as Lorenzo Queen, 53, of Hyattsville. The collision occurred about 1:15 a.m. at Kenilworth Avenue and John Hanson Highway. Justin Wm. Moyer VIRGINIA Pastor, wife charged in $1.2 million fraud An Alexandria pastor and his wife were arrested Sunday after being charged in an alleged $1.2 million fraud scheme that targeted their congregation, prosecutors said. Terry Wayne Millender, 52, and Brenda Millender, 56, founders of Victorious Life Church, ran a company called Micro-Enterprise Management Group that claimed to help poor people in developing countries by providing small, short-term loans for businesses, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said. From 2008 to 2015, the Millenders recruited investors by discussing their companys Christian mission, but they used the funds they raised for risky trading in foreign currency markets and to buy a $1.8 million home, prosecutors said. The Millenders and a church member allegedly involved in the fraudulent business, Grenetta Wells, 52, of Alexandria, were indicted Thursday, prosecutors said.The Millenders attorneys were not available for comment. Wells was arrested Monday; her attorney declined to comment. Justin Wm. Moyer The late night militant attack on the police training academy in Quetta left 60 dead and more than 100 injured. Police and security forces arrive at the police training academy to fight the militant attack. (Photo: AP) By India Today Web Desk: The late night attack on the Pakistan police training academy on the outskirts of Quetta was carried out by three heavily-armed militants wearing suicide bomb vests. The attack which killed at least 60 people and left more than 100 people injured started around 11.30 pm. If some eyewitness acccounts are to be believed, the Pakistan police responded to the attack after 30 minutes. advertisement MILITANTS LAUNCH ATTACK Nearly 700 cadets, trainees, instructors were inside the academy when militants stormed into the building. The exchange of fire lasted for at least four hours, said Sarfaraz Bugti, Home Minister, Balochistan. ALSO READ: Islamic State claims attack on Pakistani police college Two terrorists entered the premises after shooting at the guard manning the checkpost near the front gate, while the third reportedly climbed the rear wall of the police centre. After entering the academy complex, the militants headed straight to the dormitory where cadets and trainees stayed and opened fire. Source: AP Hearing the gun shots, the terrified cadets ran for cover, some even jumping off the rooftops and few others trying to escape through the building's windows. "I saw three men carrying Kalashnikovs... they were in camouflage and their faces were hidden," a cadet was quoted by Dawn. ALSO READ: Baloch rebels attack convoy of Chinese explosive company "When the firing started, all of us lay down under our charpoys, turned off the lights and closed the door," another recruit told the Pakistani paper. "They tried to break down our door, but were unable to. Then they started shooting at our windows. They couldn't get in," the recruit said. COUNTER-OFFENSIVE LAUNCHED According to some reports, the militants were constantly in touch with their handlers. At least three explosions were reported at the site. As the police and security forces launched an offensive, the training academy plunged into darkness. Security personnel threw up a cordon while ambulances reached the spot, taking the injured to hospitals. Military helicopters circled overhead. ALSO READ: Afghanistan: Gunmen attack shrine in Kabul, 14 killed The cadets were rescued from the college following an operation carried out by Special Services Group (SSG) commandos. Source: AP "Two suicide attackers blew themselves up, which resulted in casualties, while the third one was shot dead by our troops," said Major General Sher Afghan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan, who led the counter-attack. Senior Superintendent Police Operations Mohammad Iqbal said the suicide jacket of one of the attackers was not detonated. advertisement ALSO WATCH: At least 59 killed in terror attack in Quetta's police academy ALSO READ: Pakistan army brutality in Balochistan: 1 dead, several women taken hostage ALSO READ: If ISI won't act, we will destroy terror networks operating in Pakistan, warns US --- ENDS --- LANSDOWNE, VA - OCTOBER 6: LuAnn Bennett (D), L, and Northern Virginia Representative Barbara Comstock (R), R, greet one another following their first debate in the race for the Virginia 10th Congressional District on October, 6, 2016 in Lansdowne, VA. (photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) Northern Virginia residents, stay tuned for even more commercials about the race for the 10th congressional between now and Nov. 8. Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock and Democratic challenger LuAnn Bennett and their allies on Tuesday launched a barrage of TV ads aimed at drowning out each others messages in the final two weeks of a contentious contest. Both parties consider the race one of the most competitive in the nation and a must-win for Democrats trying to flip control of the House. Independent analysts rate the district a toss up tilting toward the Republican, due largely to the influence of the presidential contest on the northern Virginia district. The 10th District is anchored by Loudoun County, whose affluent, diverse and well-educated residents are turned off by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, according to polls. Bennett is hoping that a strong turnout among Democrats voting for Hilliary Clinton, who is leading Trump in Virginia by double digits, will help her wrest the seat from Comstock. But the district also includes Loudoun County, Manassas, Manassas Park and Clarke and Frederick counties as well as parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties, where Trump has more support. Comstock urged Trump to drop out of the race earlier this month after the release of a 2005 Access Hollywood video that captured him speaking in lewd terms about women. It remains to be seen if the approach wins over independent voters without alienating Trump fans in conservative, rural western swaths of the district. [In Virginia, Republicans reacting to Trump are looking ahead to 2017] Bennett entered the final stretch with $90,000 in the bank a small sum compared to Comstocks $2 million in cash on hand but the candidates have gotten help from national groups. Outside groups have poured nearly $5.2 million into almost exclusively negative ads in the race, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. On Tuesday, Comstocks campaign began airing a positive ad about her while the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Congressional Leadership Fund put out ads knocking Bennett. Comstocks campaign ad tries to portray her as a bipartisan advocate for the district as she seeks reelection to a second term. The NRCC ad argues that Bennett, a real estate executive, broke a promise to put a day care center in a building she developed in the Districts gentrifying NoMa neighborhood. Bennett says she and her partners renegotiated a deal with the city to donate $1 million in lieu of the day care center, a feature that she says would have discouraged a federal tenant. The NRCC also says she lived in her Georgetown condo while paying lower real estate taxes in Virginia. Bennett counters that she only occasionally stayed in the District, where her business is located, and her primary home was always in Virginia. On both points, Bennetts attorneys sent letters to television and radio stations airing the ads that say the ads are false and threaten legal action. At the same time, Bennetts campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released ads tying Comstock to Trump a national strategy that assumes Trump will be a drag on down-ballot races. The ads say the Comstock, like Trump, wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and is opposed to gun control and comprehensive immigration reform. They also dinged Comstock for staying silent for months when asked if she would vote for Trump. Dironna Moore Belton got a letter Tuesday from Petersburg Mayor W. Howard Myers informing her that she was being sent back to the transit agency where she was working in March when the city council tapped her for the interim city manager job. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) The hometown girl who forced this city to confront its epic budgetary crisis has lost her job as interim city manager apparently. Like much in the beleaguered city government, Dironna Moore Beltons hold on the job she coveted is a bit confusing. Petersburg Mayor W. Howard Myers sent Belton a letter Tuesday informing her that she was being sent back to the transit agency where she was working in March when the City Council tapped her for the interim city manager job. But the demotion took some other council members by surprise. I received three or four texts from council members saying they didnt know about it, so I dont know what theyre doing, Belton said Tuesday afternoon. [City on the brink: Petersburg cant pay its bills, and time is running out] Belton was the one who began probing city funding gaps and worked with advisers to uncover a shortfall of about $19 million that pitched the community to the edge of insolvency and caught the attention of Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). Last month, she led the council to adopt drastic cuts to stave off default and avoid a shutdown of all city services. Petersburg is the only locality in Virginia with a junk-status credit rating. At least one council member contested the mayors dismissal of Belton, noting that the body had never voted on removing her and contending that the mayor had no authority to act on his own. How he did that, I dont know, council member Treska Wilson-Smith said. Myers did not respond to an email or a phone message left with the city clerk. His letter to Belton, obtained by The Washington Post, thanked her for her services and contribution to the city during this time of transition. But it noted that she will see a reduction in salary and benefits, and instructed her to surrender her city car, cellphone, iPad and City Hall access card. Belton, 38, grew up in Petersburg and had dreamed of one day running the city. She got the chance when the previous city manager was fired over problems with the water billing system and questions about the budget. Once in office, Belton took the unusual step of asking the states finance secretary to look at the citys financial mess. He found that the city had a gap between revenue and expenses, had spent all its reserves and had been papering over deficits with short-term borrowing. Another outside consultant drew up a plan of drastic steps slashing school funding, cutting city pay, closing museums, raising taxes and fees to get the city in position to make payroll and avoid default. [Residents erupt in anger at drastic financial rescue plan] Belton shepherded that plan through council last month as she was applying for the full-time city manager job. Myers seemed set on hiring someone else, however, and last week he and three other council members voted to bring in the Robert Bobb Group to devise a new rescue plan. The firm is led by the former D.C. city administrator, who also served as emergency financial manager for Detroits public schools. Other council members balked at the estimated $300,000 cost of hiring Bobbs firm, and contend that the vote violated city procedure. Nonetheless, the Bobb Group took over operations Tuesday. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a campaign stop in Tampa on Monday. (Gregg Newton/AFP/Getty Images) Next years race for Virginia governor could be dominated by someone not on the ballot: Donald Trump. Virginia Democrats hope to make the 2016 Republican presidential candidate a central theme in the 2017 governors race a strategy the state party rolled out Tuesday with a new website, Trump4Gov.com. Virginias Gubernatorial Candidates are YUUGE Trump Supporters, the site says. The site has a photo of the Republican presidential nominee on top. Below that are pictures of all four GOP contenders for governor, along with supportive comments each has made about Trump. The four are: Ed Gillespie, a political strategist and former counselor to then-President George W. Bush; Corey A. Stewart (At Large), chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors; state Sen. Frank W. Wagner (Virginia Beach); and Rep. Rob Wittman. [Stars align for Clinton as swing state appears solidly in her column] The four have not embraced Trump with equal fervor. But any association with Trump could pose complications in a swing state where polls show Democrat Hillary Clinton leading by double digits. [Trump confounds many with last-minute push in Virginia] Stewart, who until recently served as Trumps Virginia chairman, has been one of Trumps most vocal defenders throughout a string of controversies. As many Republicans recoiled, Stewart defended Trumps comments about a Mexican judge presiding over a fraud case against now-defunct Trump University. When The Washington Post uncovered a 2005 video of Trump bragging about groping women, Stewart said Trump had acted like a frat boy, as a lot of guys do. [Trumps Va. chair: Trump acted like a frat boy, as a lot of guys do] Gillespie and Wittman got on board only after Trump locked up the nomination and they did so with a palpable lack of enthusiasm. Gillespie offered a one-sentence statement that sounded resigned at best. Wittmans confirmed he would vote for Trump without uttering the word Trump. [Gillespie and Wittman, candidates for Va. governor, say they will support Trump] Both recently issued statements criticizing Trump for the groping video. Last week, as Trump announced a statewide leadership team, Gillespies name was conspicuously absent. Wittman and Wagner were on the list. Trump was not Wagners first choice. The senator had been state co-chairman for Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. When he didnt win and the Trump campaign asked me to be part of his organization, I said yes, Wagner said. Wagner said he was not worried about being linked to Trump next year. He made no apologies for standing by the nominee of a party that he said stands for less government, efficient taxes and less regulation. And he said that Democrats who appear to be lining up behind Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam for governor will have to defend ties to their own nominee. Both candidates are extremely controversial, Wagner said. Ill make it all about Hillary. Supporters and opponents of abortion rights turned out for a Virginia Board of Health hearing in 2013, when the board passed hospital- style regulations for abortion clinics. (Daniel Sangjib Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP) The Virginia Board of Health voted Monday to scrap hospital-style building codes for all abortion clinics, saying that they were unconstitutional under a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The board had signaled months ago that it would lift the requirements for 14 existing clinics but impose them on any new ones. But in an 11-to-4 vote Monday, it decided that the construction requirements should not apply to any of the states clinics. The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling in June that struck down abortion-clinic regulations in Texas. It also fulfills a central campaign promise of Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who said during the 2013 campaign that he would be a brick wall against abortion restrictions. I want to thank the Virginia Board of Health for working to repeal onerous regulations designed solely to reduce or outright remove access to essential reproductive health services for women across the Commonwealth, McAuliffe said in a written statement. This vote demonstrates to the rest of the United States and the world that Virginia is a community where people can live, find employment, and start a family without politicians interfering with decisions that should be made by women and their doctors. The General Assembly voted in 2011 to have abortion clinics operate under the same regulations as outpatient surgical centers, which would require costly renovations such as wider hallways and doorways, expanded parking and entrance awnings. [Virginia Board of Health rolls back strict abortion clinic regulations] Supporters said the changes would safeguard women undergoing abortions at the clinics and ensure that emergency-medical personnel had access to patients. Abortion rights advocates called the rules medically unnecessary and a transparent attempt to force clinics out of business. Whatever their merits, the rules have been tied up in the states complex regulatory process and shifting political winds. It fell to the states Board of Health to implement the rules. And after a series of required public hearings, the board voted in June 2013 to grandfather existing clinics. But the board reversed itself that September under pressure from then-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R). After advising board members against grandfathering, Cuccinelli said that his office would not defend them in any litigation resulting from such a decision and that members could be personally liable for legal bills. McAuliffe went on to beat Cuccinelli in the 2013 governors race, during which he hammered on the theme that Republicans were waging a war on women. The new governor remade the health board and directed it to review the regulations again. Mondays vote does not shield clinics from parts of the regulatory package passed in 2011 that require more complete record-keeping and inspections. And there are several regulatory hoops to clear before the new rules are made final. The regulations now go to the attorney general and governor for administrative review, and they will be posted online during a final public comment period. But advocates for abortion rights say substantive changes are unlikely. Today the women of Virginia can take a deep breath knowing that for now they will continue to have access to safe and legal abortion, said Anna Scholl, executive director of Progress Virginia Education Fund. Politicians, not doctors, pushed these sham restrictions to cut off womens ability to access comprehensive reproductive health-care services. But Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, hinted that the antiabortion group would challenge the decision in court. The actions of the Board that violate state law and the Boards disregard for the clear intent of the General Assembly have opened Virginia to costly litigation, she said in a written statement. We have known from day one of this administration that abortion will be protected at all costs including ignoring the well-being of the women who make the unfortunate decision to [enter] an abortion center in Virginia. The day before his sentencing for filing a false tax return, Warren Graves tried to relax at his home in Northwest Washington. The 74-year-old former D.C. government official did some exercises, meditated and joined in a conference call with members of his church, Trinity Episcopal, who were praying for him. One day can be sunny, the next day stormy, but that passes too, said Graves, who had worked for every D.C. mayor from Walter Washington in 1974 to Vincent C. Gray in 2011. Graves pleaded guilty in July and faced a penalty of up to 18 months in jail. My son-in-law is moving in, just to keep an eye on the place in case I have to go to jail, Graves said, smiling grimly. If he did, it would be a sorrowful end to a life of public service, including his work in the 1960s with the National Sharecroppers Fund, trying to improve the lives of migrant workers and tenant farmers. In the 1970s, before serving as Washingtons deputy campaign manager, Graves helped to organize the National Black Media Coalition, which fought to end racial segregation in the broadcast industry. Seated at a dining room table, surrounded by family photographs and mementos, Graves reviewed a statement of contrition that he planned to read in federal court on Tuesday. He would take responsibility for his actions, apologize and ask for forgiveness. But beneath the humility, he was roiling. The U.S. attorneys office in the District had spent more than five years trying to tie him to the illegal financing of Grays 2010 mayoral bid. They went through my bank statements, emails and memos, Graves said. They interviewed my friends and colleagues. Two investigators showed up at my house unannounced at 7 a.m. one morning and interviewed me for two and a half hours. He shook his head, seemingly awestruck. The power of feds is enormous, he said, and when you get caught up in a huge investigation, the presumption of innocence becomes a myth. They pursue every allegation they hear, and then they go out and repeat those allegations as if they were facts. Much to Gravess chagrin, the prosecutors were still claiming his guilty plea in the personal tax case as a victory in their crusade against public corruption. He had become a target of investigators after being named as part of the shadow campaign by Jeffrey Thompson, the wealthy D.C. businessman who pumped more than $660,000 into the scheme. After his arrest, Thompson began making deals with prosecutors. To avoid jail time, he would give prosecutors the names of people involved in the shadow campaign. [Shadow campaign donor sentenced to three months behind bars] The probe also revealed illegal spending by Thompson on the 2006 D.C. mayoral race and a host of D.C. Council races, as well as several congressional campaigns and Hillary Clintons 2008 presidential bid. Before Thompson could reveal the names of the big fish, he was discredited and exposed as an unreliable informant. He had bamboozled federal prosecutors into giving him a get-out-of-jail-free card. In justifying why Thompson was essentially allowed to go free, prosecutors told a federal judge in July that his cooperation in the public corruption probe had led to the conviction of Graves and a half dozen others. Graves was furious. A lapse of judgment in filing personal taxes is not public corruption, Graves said. If that were the case, Id be facing bribery and public corruption charges. He doesnt want his friends and church members thinking that he had engaged in corrupt practices while working as a public servant. But Graves shouldnt have been surprised at how he was portrayed. During Grays reelection bid in 2014, then-U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen held a news conference to declare that Gray had known about the shadow campaign and that it was just a matter of time before he was brought to justice. What you learned about today is only the tip of the iceberg, a fraction of the information were learning, so you can expect that this cooperation is ongoing, Machen said. But Gray was never charged, and the investigation closed. Graves had been the last person charged in the probe. He was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss to a year of home detention, with exemptions that include work and church-related activities. In the end, Machens iceberg had hardly amounted to an ice cube. To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy. TEXAS Nurse stricken with Ebola settles lawsuit A nurse who contracted Ebola two years ago while caring for the first person to be diagnosed in the United States with the deadly disease settled a lawsuit Monday against the parent company of the Dallas hospital where she worked. Attorneys for Nina Pham announced the settlement with Texas Health Resources. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Pham contracted Ebola in the fall of 2014 while caring for Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. Duncan, who contracted Ebola in his native Liberia and became ill during a trip to the United States, died. Pham, at the time an intensive care unit nurse, survived, as did another Dallas nurse who contracted Ebola. In her lawsuit against the hospitals parent company, Pham said that the sum total of information she was given to protect herself after being told she would be treating a patient suspected of having Ebola was what her manager Googled and printed out from the Internet. In a response to the lawsuit, the hospital operator denied allegations of poor training and improper preparation. Associated Press ALASKA Agency can protect species, court rules An appeals court panel on Monday ruled that a federal agency acted reasonably in proposing to list a certain population of bearded seals threatened by sea ice loss. The decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco reverses a lower-court ruling that found the decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service was improper. At issue was whether the fisheries service can protect species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act when it determines that a non-endangered species will lose habitat due to climate change in coming decades. In 2014, a federal judge in Alaska found there was no discernible, quantified threat of extinction within the foreseeable future for the seals and determined that the listing decision was arbitrary. But the appeals court panel ruling issued Monday said the fisheries service relied on the best available scientific data and seriously considered the comments it received. Associated Press NORTH CAROLINA Onetime soldier who killed teen kills himself A former soldier who pleaded guilty two years ago to killing a teenager has killed himself in his North Carolina prison cell. Department of Public Safety spokesman Keith Acree said Christopher Blackett, 25, was found dead Sunday afternoon at the Lanesboro Correctional Institution in Anson County. Blackett pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder in the killing of his 17-year-old neighbor Vincent Carlisle II in 2011. He was sentenced to at least 26 years in prison. Prosecutors say Blackett thought Carlisle had broken into his home and killed him in revenge by forcing him into the woods and shooting him. Associated Press Though, the cause of the explosion was as yet unknown, some online news sites quoted residents as saying the blast could have been caused by illegally stored explosives. By Reuters: A powerful blast at a prefabricated house in northwestern China on Monday killed at least 14 people and injured 147, state news agency Xinhua said. The explosion, whose cause was as yet unknown, occurred in the early afternoon in the town of Xinmin in Shaanxi province, damaging dozens of buildings including the local hospital, Xinhua said. Eleven of the injured were in intensive care, it said. advertisement Pictures carried by state media showed rescuers digging through the rubble of low rise buildings. Some online news sites quoted residents as saying the blast could have been caused by illegally stored explosives. China has a bad safety record, with previous blasts blamed on poorly stored chemicals or industrial explosives which are easy to get hold of due to their use in China's booming coal mining sector. A series of powerful explosions last year at a chemicals warehouse in the northern city of Tianjin killed 165. There have also been cases of people deliberately setting off blasts to settle local grievances such as land disputes. ALSO READ: Kabul: 4 injured in explosion targeted at government officials --- ENDS --- Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Take the baby boomers. Please. The idealists of the 1960s have come a long way from Woodstock. After a quarter- century of mismanaging the country, they have produced Donald Trump, who with his narcissistic and uncompromising style is a bright orange symbol of what went wrong with the massive generation. And polls show that the boomers are the biggest source of support for Trump. Among voters between age 50 and 64, Trump leads Hillary Clinton by three points in Post-ABC News polling and by a point in NBC-Wall Street Journal polling, equal to the older, smaller Silent Generations support of the Republican nominee in the latter poll. The generational support for Trumps burn-it-all-down campaign is the latest reminder of why the baby boomers are in the running to be remembered as the Worst Generation. But, if I may claim a rare moment of generational pride, there is good news in the polling, too. Generation X my much-maligned generation has turned emphatically against Trump. The NBC poll shows Clinton leading by 22 points among those between 35 and 49 a more lopsided rejection of Trump than even the millennials mustered. This raises hope after the debacle of boomer governance. Its really the boomers that are driving the hyperpartisanship and polarization and gridlock, says David Rosen, a consultant specializing in generational effects in politics. Beginning with the boomer-led 1994 Republican Revolution, thats where you see the origin of the insane politics that we have right now. Trump is in some ways taking that style to its most absurd and ridiculous extremes. In the final stretch of the race for president, Trump supporters advise their candidate on how he can deliver on Election Day. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post) But maybe this is the boomers last gasp. Hopefully, Rosen tells me, when Gen X comes to power it will repudiate the boomers and the entire legacy of this style of politics and move us toward something that is more pragmatic. Before the emails start pouring in, let me make clear that this isnt an indictment of individual boomers, nor of boomers contributions to art and science. But as a generation of leaders, they have been disastrous. Boomers seized the White House in 1992 and the House in 1994 and have generally dominated government since. Clinton, like Trump, is a boomer, which guarantees that the generation will control the White House through at least 2020. [The RNCs suckers and sellouts are helpless to Trump] And what does this generation have to show for its quarter-century of leadership? Boomers inherited the sole superpower after the Greatest Generation won the Cold War and squandered U.S. influence with two long and inconclusive wars. They gave us the financial collapse of 2008, the worst economy since the Great Depression, a crushing federal debt and worse inequality. They devoured fossil fuels and did little about global warming while allowing infrastructure and research to deteriorate. They expanded entitlement programs and are now poised to bankrupt those programs. Their leadership has led to declining confidence in religion, the presidency, Congress, the Supreme Court, banks and big business, schools, the media and the police. They may leave their children (the millennials) worse off than they were. Boomers, coddled in their youth, grew up selfish and unyielding. When they got power, they created polarization and gridlock from both sides. Though Vietnam War-protesting boomers got the attention, their peers on the right were just as ideological, creating the religious right. Boomers are twice as likely to identify as conservative than liberal, a figure that hasnt changed much in two decades. And Trump captures his generations selfishness: his multiple draft deferrals, his claim that hes made a lot of sacrifices by building buildings, his vow not to cut Social Security but to have huge tax cuts and massive military investments. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump responded to Vice President Joe Biden, who said he would take Trump "behind the gym." (The Washington Post) Generational patterns repeat over time, as researchers William Strauss and Neil Howe showed. A civic generation is followed by an adaptive one, then idealist and reactive generations. The boomers are idealists same as the generations that led the United States into the Civil War and the Great Depression. Gen Xers are reactive cynical and pragmatic and clean up idealists messes. Millennials, like the Greatest Generation, rebuild institutions. Happily, Gen Xers, the cleanup crew, could become the plurality in Congress as soon as 2018. The question is whether my generation, working with the millennials, can break the boomers gridlock and deal jointly with the many crises boomers left us. Gen Xer that I am, Im not convinced my cynical cohort has what it takes. But Rosen is hopeful. When we see national emergencies arrive, Generation X will be able to get things done when it needs to, he says. All the evidence suggests that Gen X has those qualities. And this much is for sure: After a quarter-century of boomer mismanagement and the monstrosity that is Trump, we cant possibly do worse. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Not enough has been made of two obvious facts: Hillary Clinton, if she wins, will be the first woman elected to the White House. And it will have been the votes of women who put her there. Think, for a moment, about what a remarkable milestone that would be. Consider what it would say about the long and difficult struggle to make the Constitutions guarantees of freedom and equality encompass all Americans. The first 43 presidents were all members of a privileged minority group white males. The 44th is a black man, and the 45th may well be a white woman. That is a very big deal. The historic nature of Clintons candidacy has been all but lost amid the clamorous sound and fury of the Donald Trump eruption. The campaign has seen many unforgettable moments, but one that I believe will prove truly indelible came during the third and final debate, when Clinton was speaking and Trump interrupted her by snarling, Such a nasty woman. Within minutes, nasty woman became an Internet meme not so much because of what it said about Trump, since we already knew of his sexism and misogyny, but because of what it said about the moment. A nasty woman was on the verge of shattering the highest and most shatterproof glass ceiling of them all. That this accomplishment would come at Trumps expense just made it a bit sweeter. Polls show Clinton leading Trump among women by double-digit margins an incredible 17 percentage points in a recent Fox News poll. If only men could vote, Trump would have a lead, albeit a shrinking one. But thanks to the 19th Amendment, Clinton is well ahead nationally and has taken solid leads in almost all the swing states. Surely this has something to do with the Access Hollywood videotape in which Trump brags of groping and kissing women against their will and the 11 women who have come forward to accuse him of doing just that. But I like to believe it also has much to do with Clinton and the virtues she has demonstrated during the campaign. Trumps slide in the polls, you will recall, began after the first debate, before the Access Hollywood tape came to light. The contrast at that encounter, which took place at Hofstra University on Long Island, was striking. Trump was clearly winging it, relying on swagger and presence to bluff his way past questions he could not intelligibly answer. Clinton was sharp and aggressive, but also fully prepared to discuss the issues in detail. She had done her homework, and it showed. This was the case in the second and third debates as well, and Ill bet her performances struck a chord among women who watched. To succeed, a woman cant just be as good as her male counterparts. She has to be better. She has to know more, she has to work harder, she has to sweat the details while maintaining the illusion that she never perspires at all. Like any woman who runs for office or, for that matter, seeks a corner office in the business world Clinton faces scrutiny in ways men never do. What was she wearing? Did she sound shrill as opposed to bold or dynamic when she raised her voice? Did she smile enough? Did she smile too much? Male candidates simply are not critiqued in this manner, unless there is something bizarre about them that cannot be ignored (such as Trumps hairstyle). The next woman nominated for president by one of our major parties will have a lighter burden because of the poise with which Clinton conducted herself and her campaign. President Obamas election meant that African American parents were no longer lying when they told their children they could grow up to be president. Likewise, if Clinton wins on Nov. 8, all parents will be truthful when they tell their daughters that there is nothing they cannot achieve. It is ironic that when Bill and Hillary Clinton met, she was the rising academic and political star, largely on the basis of a 1969 Wellesley College graduation speech that received national attention. But she put her own ambitions on hold in favor of her husbands. It was, at the time, a rational choice; he was likely to go further, and be able to achieve more, than any woman. Only decades later could she step out on her own. For almost twenty years, Hillary Rodham Clinton put her political aspirations on hold when she moved to Arkansas to marry Bill Clinton, who would become the country's 42nd president. The former New York senator, secretary of state and Democratic nominee for president would be the first woman to hold the office if she is elected. (Jayne Orenstein/The Washington Post) Thats a familiar story to millions of women. Now they look ready to change the script. Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A. AS VENEZUELAS political and humanitarian crisis has escalated, the government of Nicolas Maduro made clear that it was prepared to shred what remained of the countrys constitutional order to stop a growing opposition movement. It stripped the opposition-controlled national assembly of its powers, imprisoned several top leaders and tried to slow a campaign to trigger a constitutionally authorized recall referendum on Mr. Maduro. But the opposition drive continued, so last week the regime took definitive action: It formally suspended the referendum process, postponed local and gubernatorial elections, and banned eight senior opposition leaders from leaving the country. On Sunday, the congress issued a declaration saying Mr. Maduro had staged a coup. That is accurate and it ought to provoke a consequential reaction from the United States and Venezuelas Latin American neighbors. The recall referendum the opposition was pursuing offered a democratic way out of what has become one of the worst political and humanitarian crises in Latin Americas modern history. An oil producer of 30 million people that was once South Americas richest country, Venezuela now suffers from severe shortages of food and medicine, one of the worlds highest murder rates and chronic power shortages, the result of the populist regimes disastrous economic mismanagement. A new report by Human Rights Watch cites official figures showing a 79 percent increase in maternal mortality this year compared with 2009, and a 45 percent increase in infant mortality compared with 2013. The vast majority of low-income families say they are having trouble obtaining food. Yet rather than seek humanitarian assistance, the regime denies there is a crisis and punishes health professionals, human rights defenders and ordinary Venezuelans who speak out about the shortages, Human Rights Watch said. The government blames the opposition for what it calls an economic war, and it blocks the referendum that might give the countrys angry and hungry people a peaceful outlet. Polls show that about 80 percent would vote to recall Mr. Maduro if they had the chance. The resort to crude repression may provoke disorder: The opposition has called rallies for Wednesday and appealed to the military not to intervene against them. But the regime may be calculating that it can crush street protests, as it has in the past. What it may fear more is concerted action by its neighbors, such as Brazil and Colombia, as well as by the United States which under a regional treaty called the Inter-American Democratic Charter have not just the authority but also the duty to isolate and punish the regime for its breach of constitutional order. Until now the Obama administration has offered lip service to a recall referendum while centering its strategy on promoting negotiations between the government and opposition. But the dialogue initiative led by leftist former Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is going nowhere, despite the announcement Monday of another meeting next weekend; Mr. Maduro is simply using it to screen his denial of democracy. The regime wont change course unless it comes under far greater pressure, from the streets or from external sanctions. If it wishes to head off still greater turmoil in Venezuela, the United States should be coordinating tough international action. Dustin Wahl, Paige Cutler and Alexander Forbes are students at Liberty University. In January, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. endorsed Donald Trump for president of the United States. As Liberty students, we watched as the leader of our school loudly and proudly advocated for a man many of us felt compelled to oppose. Trumps flagrant dishonesty, consistent misogyny and boastful unrepentance made many of us feel the need to publicly express disagreement with President Falwells endorsement. Mark DeMoss, the chair of Libertys executive committee, spoke to The Post in March to tactfully do just that. Criticizing Trumps politics of personal insult, DeMoss said: Its not Christ-like behavior that Liberty has spent 40 years promoting with its students. But such criticism of Trump did not sit well with President Falwell. After making these statements, DeMoss was asked to resign from the executive committee, and he opted to leave both that post and the schools board of trustees, abruptly ending his decades-long career of service to Liberty University. In part because our leaders were not allowed to publicly criticize Trumps words and actions, many of us as students felt the need to speak out. We want the world to know that Liberty University is a great place to go to school and that many in the student body find Trumps character and values objectionable. Last week we began circulating a statement titled Liberty United Against Trump expressing our opposition to President Falwells endorsement and disassociating ourselves from Trump. In the days since, more than 2,000 Liberty students and faculty have signed the statement. We deeply disagree with President Falwells enthusiastic support for a man such as Trump, but we understand that he is not alone among evangelical Christian leaders. Many of them believe that Christianity is under attack in the United States and that our nations moral fiber is weakening by the day. Additionally, many believe that a Hillary Clinton presidency would result in a liberal Supreme Court that could take away religious liberties. Perhaps these things are true. Like many people, we who are writing believe Clinton has proved herself untrustworthy with political power. We do not trust her judgment in choosing Supreme Court justices, and we understand why so many Christians are afraid. The future is uncertain. Speaking in Cleveland on the third day of the Republican National Convention, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. talks about why he's supporting Donald Trump, a presidential candidate who doesn't always line up with Evangelicals on social issues. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post) Yet we feel that too many in the church have been bitten by election-year hysteria. Since the birth of Christ, Christians have withstood far more serious trials and tribulations than we face today. First-century Christians faced coliseums filled with lions; today, American Christians face the possibility of a liberal Supreme Court. The Christian message of salvation through faith in Christ has prevailed despite actual threats, from actual tyrants, and it will continue to thrive no matter who is elected president in 2016. This knowledge is encouraging, considering the main options on the ballot. If Clinton has proved to be dishonest, Trump has given dishonesty new meaning. Evangelical conservatives who vote for Trump to get a favorable Supreme Court must realize that doing so requires trusting the words of the most unabashedly untruthful presidential candidate in modern history. Trump has changed his position on nearly every issue of importance at least once, sometimes mid-speech. There is little reason to believe that he is worried about the same issues we are. It makes more sense to believe that Trump is happy many Christians are worried because it allows him to do what all demagogues do: offer strength in a time of fear. Trump is the antithesis of our values; there is no reason to revisit his vices here. Most non-Christians recognize Trump as amoral and self-centered. If we ignore this fact and buy in to his promise of strength, what will it tell the world about how seriously we Christians esteem our values? Thankfully, there are other options in 2016. Elections are not about choosing the perfect candidate, but about choosing the best candidate on the ballot. We ought to take a close look at all the options and vote for the candidate who best embodies our values. This person may have little chance of winning or not be a traditional option, but such a vote would not be wasted. A wasted vote is one that contradicts ones conscience. If we allow fear to make us choose a candidate who embodies what we oppose, we allow fear to win the day. Fear should never decide elections; as Christians, we believe that values should. We encourage everyone to take their conscience with them into the voting booth. Vote for your values, not against your fears. Pearl and Harry Cohen, a.k.a. my parents, did not believe in transparency. When a big decision had to be made regarding my sister and me, my parents retreated to their bedroom and issued their pronouncement the next morning. They spoke as one. There was no way to divide them. As a child, I could have used WikiLeaks. Now WikiLeaks is all over the place, a veritable downpour of the once secret, both consequential and trivial more the latter than the former, it seems. Taking a lateral from Moscow, the organization has gutted the Democratic National Committee, revealing that it had taken sides in the primary fight between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. It later opened a digital vein into the most secret thoughts of John Podesta, Clintons campaign manager and a former White House chief of staff. Like the DNC, he, too, favors Clinton. We are constantly finding gambling at Ricks. When in 2006, WikiLeaks leaked its first leaks, it was hard to know what to make of it. Not much has changed. The organization seems both invaluable and a damned nuisance leaking a video showing what certainly seemed like a U.S. war crime in Iraq as well as transcripts of Clintons speeches to various Wall Street groups in which she did not call for breaking up the banks or for socializing the economy. These non-revelatory revelations, however, were just a piece of the Clinton oeuvre, which also included some personal emails. They, too, are shocking in their banality. WikiLeaks has been accused of recklessness and of publishing information that has risked the lives of U.S. government employees and contractors. Maybe so, but no hard evidence has been provided. Still, the compunction to throw open every window to insist that all secrets are bad and that transparency is always good has an obvious cost. In fact, it was the long-ago closing of windows that illustrates what I mean. In 1787, in Philadelphia, the Founding Fathers not only shut and barred them, but drew the blinds, enduring stifling heat and swarms of mean flies so that their deliberations would remain secret. They feared the damage that leaks would do before the final document, the Constitution with all its controversial compromises, could be published. Lobbyists lurked. Nowadays, of course, such secrecy would be impossible. Nowadays, in fact, it is a careless or inebriated soul indeed who sends candid emails or keeps a diary. Dick Cheney, for all his faults, was ahead of his time when he said, I learned early on that if you dont want your memos to get you in trouble someday, just dont write any. As far as I can tell, he hasnt. And neither do many others. The result of this new transparency is less transparency. Where once every high government official devoted part of every day to his or her private diary, now only a fool would do so. Joseph Lelyvelds new book, His Final Battle: The Last Months of Franklin Roosevelt, details the end of FDRs life, much of it in diary entries made by others. The president himself kept no diary, but just about everyone who had access to him did, and while some of them were willing to lie in public at the time about Roosevelts health FDR was clearly failing they were usually truthful in their diaries. They wrote of his cadaverous appearance, his lack of focus, his flagging energy portraits they would never, out of either charity or political caution, have made at the time if they knew it could be leaked. They were compiling a historical record. They lied to the present, but not to the future. Now, though, that record may come down to anodyne emails with smileys at the end. Nothing honest will be put down on what used to be paper. I know one former White House aide who went home after his first day of work and wrote 12 pages of journal entries. The next day he had second thoughts harrowing visions of subpoenas and the like and that night he destroyed what he had written. No more diary. No one I know writes candid emails anymore. No one I know is unaware that he or she shares a computer with the Chinese and the Russians. The Chinese are in your business, Googles Eric Schmidt told a group of businessmen not too long ago. The more prudent among us have deleted emails from way back. Now the record is what we say it is. The only thing truly transparent will be our lack of candor. Read more from Richard Cohens archive. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called polls that show him lagging behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton "rigged" because, he said, the polls sample too many Democrats. The sampling Trump referred to is considered standard methodology for political polling. (The Washington Post) Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called polls that show him lagging behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton "rigged" because, he said, the polls sample too many Democrats. The sampling Trump referred to is considered standard methodology for political polling. (The Washington Post) Donald Trump looks likely to get a whupping (or, to use his preferred Yiddishism, schlonging) in a few weeks. Forecasts suggest many of his down-ballot co-partisans will as well. No doubt, should this expected defeat come to pass, Republican leadership will try to regroup and figure out what went wrong. As in the last autopsy, the GOP establishment will probably conclude that it needs to broaden its appeal to demographics beyond older white men; that what prevented this more widespread appeal in 2016 was having a boorish, sexist, race-baiting, egomaniacal, undisciplined nominee; that if only it fielded a more genteel version of Trump, someone who espoused essentially the same fiscal and social policies but with more empathy, theyd have won the White House, and will win it once again. This conclusion would be wrong. The sickness in todays Republican Party is not confined to its current standard-bearer. It is therefore not curable by merely disavowing, however belatedly, the soon-to-be-defeated nominee. The sickness has taken over the Republican base, and theres only one antidote. 1 of 60 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad What Donald Trump is doing on the campaign trail View Photos The GOP presidential nominee is out on the trail ahead of the general election in November. Caption The GOP presidential nominee is pressing his case ahead of Election Day. Nov. 7, 2016 Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. If Republicans truly want to save the Republican Party, they need to go to war with right-wing media. That is, they need to dismantle the media machine persuading their base to believe completely bonkers, bigoted garbage. [Trump expects the cozy OReilly-Hannity treatment from the entire media] It is, after all, the right-wing radio, TV and Internet fever swamps that have gotten them into this mess, that have led to massive misinformation, disinformation and cynicism among Republican voters. And draining those fever swamps is the only way to get them out of it. For a sense of just how misinformed Republican voters have become, consider a few of the provably wrong things many believe. Seven in 10 Republicans either doubt or completely disbelieve that President Obama was born in the United States. Six in 10 think hes a secret Muslim. Half believe global warming is possibly or definitely a myth concocted by scientists. Among just Trump voters, 7 in 10 believe government economic data are fabricated. Half dont trust that votes will be counted accurately in the November election. Further, some fraction though to my knowledge, as yet unmeasured apparently believes presidential elections are determined by Instagram followers. All hail President Selena Gomez! Republicans and Trump backers didnt come to these conclusions independently. They learned them from the influential TV, radio and Web outfits whose imprimaturs Republican politicians desperately seek, and whose more troubling content these politicians have been reluctant to criticize. Its not as if Republican politicians have had any principled objection to media criticism in the past. Of course, their critiques have been reserved solely for left-wing lame-stream media, or at least media outlets they think are putting their thumbs on the scale for Democratic causes. When Republicans generically attack bias in the media, they are widely understood to be referring to centrist and left-leaning media, even though the most-watched cable news channel is, by leaps and bounds, conservative Fox News. When it comes to the paranoid, destructive excesses of right-wing media not just Fox Newss headliners such as Sean Hannity, but also Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones Republican leaders have been somewhat more reluctant to condemn or even gently critique. [The lap dogs of democracy who didnt bark at Trump] Thats presumably because many of the crazy conspiracy theories circulated by these outlets served the partys political interests. At least in the short term. Birtherism, which Republican leaders were painfully slow to renounce, helped delegitimize the popular mandate of our first black president, even as it legitimized widespread racial resentment. Claims of voter fraud justified measures that made it more difficult for Democratic-leaning groups to vote, even as they paved the way for a sore-loser candidate to claim hes about to be robbed of his victory. Data trutherism claims that the economy is worse than the official numbers indicate, that polls are skewed to favor Democrats, that hurricane forecasts are exaggerated to scare the public into fearing climate change riled the base, even as it sowed a deadly distrust in any impartial metric of the nations economic, political, social or climatological health. Never-ending witch hunts against Planned Parenthood, climate scientists, Hillary Clinton similarly galvanized supporters in the near term but increased bloodlust for punishment of political enemies in the long run. In other words, Trump is not some black swan, whose unique cocktail of charisma, telegenicism and political fluidity landed him the nomination. His nomination is the product of years of race-baiting, conspiracy-theorizing, expert-delegitimizing right-wing media nonsense, which Republican politicians aided and abetted because it seemed politically expedient at the time. They helped the alt-right create the alternate reality that made a Trump nomination inevitable. And unless the party establishment grapples with its own complicity in misinforming, misleading and frightening the masses, its doomed to field more Donald Trumps in the future. Though Republican prospects are not quite dead, the autopsy has already begun. Which is probably not a good idea, even in metaphor. But the best of the anticipatory autopsies so far comes from Matthew Continetti writing in National Review. In Crisis of the Conservative Intellectual, Continetti traces a several-decade struggle between intellectual conservatives (think William F. Buckley Jr. and George F. Will) and the new right (think Sarah Palin and Pat Buchanan) over the meaning of the movement. In Continettis telling, National Review conservatives elitist, pessimistic, grimly witty, and academic had depth but lacked power. The new right largely Southern, often blue collar, opposed to compromise, gradualism and acquiescence in the corrupt system had populist and nationalist appeal, but could be led astray by disturbing figures such as George Wallace. The groups were united in their disdain for the Eastern, liberal GOP establishment and eventually were hitched to the same political goal by Ronald Reagan. The alliance, however, was never easy. And it has broken down completely in the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump, Continetti argues, is so noxious, so unhinged, so extremist in his rejection of democratic norms and political convention and basic manners that he has untethered the new-right politics he embodies from the descendants of William F. Buckley Jr. It is hard to argue with that. But the article does something typical of many conservative writers, dismissing the only two-term Republican president since Reagan in two sentences of a long article. President George W. Bush, Continetti says, is the exemplary religious-Right leader who earned vituperative criticism from the new right. And thats it. The alternative right has come under fire from Hillary Clinton and establishment Republicans, but it has been seeping into American politics for years as a far-right option for conservatives. Here's what you need to know about the alt-right movement. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Can Bush be explained merely as a religious-right figure? Did Americans vote for him in 2000 and 2004 on the recommendation of James Dobson or Pat Robertson? The idea is absurd. Continettis binary construct needs a little more room. Bush represented a fundamentally different option (still embraced, in more modern form, by many Republican governors). His appeal included the aggressive promotion of economic growth, expressed in support for broad tax cuts. A commitment to compassionate and creative social policy, demonstrated by No Child Left Behind and his support for faith-based social services. A belief in ethnic and religious inclusion, shown by his proposal for comprehensive immigration reform and by his defense of American Muslims after the 9/11 attacks. An internationalist foreign policy, which included not only the war against terrorism but also the U.S. Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. And a tolerant version of traditionalism, based on moral aspiration rather than judgment. (It is an approach I helped frame while working for candidate and then President Bush.) It is understandable that figures on the left would argue that this approach was discredited during the worst days of the Iraq War and the Great Recession. They would prefer not to face the type of appeal that beat them twice. And movement conservatives were always inclined to regard Bushs compassionate conservatism as a failed experiment, even before it was actually tried. When Bush was down politically, the new right rushed to disown him. But here is the reality: There is no reconstitution of conservative influence or the appeal of the Republican Party without incorporating some updated version of compassionate conservatism. And conservatives need to get over their aversion to the only approach that has brought them presidential victory since 1988. I really dont give a damn what adjective is applied to distinguish this type of reform-oriented conservatism. But it must include a response to stagnant growth; the reform of failing institutions to help prepare more workers for a skills-based economy; a sincere appeal to rising ethnic minorities; a properly chastened but vigorous war against terrorism and the encouragement of global development and health as alternatives to hatred; and an inclusive concern for families and the character essential to self-government. Even more than all this, conservatives require a set of democratic values informed by faith a commitment to civility and human dignity. The new right has gotten what it always wanted an arsonist as its presidential nominee. No limits. No mercy. Burn it down. Lock her up. Lock her up. 1 of 60 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad What Donald Trump is doing on the campaign trail View Photos The GOP presidential nominee is out on the trail ahead of the general election in November. Caption The GOP presidential nominee is pressing his case ahead of Election Day. Nov. 7, 2016 Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. The outcome, in all likelihood, will be to give her the keys to the White House. And to cause lasting damage to the very idea of a responsible, governing conservatism. Will future Republican primary voters marinated in the anger and conspiracy theories of conservative media prove capable of choosing a reform-conservative candidate? On this question hangs the future of a party that has earned a nations contempt. Read more from Michael Gersons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook . Kaiser Health News On the campaign trail, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has sharply criticized the health-care industry, accusing pharmaceutical companies of profiteering and vowing to control skyrocketing costs. But Clintons tone was often more conciliatory before her presidential campaign when she addressed medical companies and trade groups as part of her brief but lucrative career delivering speeches for pay. Elements of the speeches, some of which were delivered behind closed doors, were revealed in a hacked email that WikiLeaks made public in recent weeks. I know how critical the role that you play is, Clinton told the Advanced Medical Technology Association, a medical-device trade group, in a 2014 speech. She avoided a direct question about a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices that was intended to fund the Affordable Care Act but was suspended until the end of 2017 after intense industry lobbying. That appearance, for which Clinton was paid $225,000, was one of 15 paid speeches she gave to health-care-industry audiences, drawing a total of $3.5 million in fees. Overall, between the end of her tenure as secretary of state in February 2013 and the start of her 2016 White House bid, Clinton was paid about $21.6 million in speaking fees, according to her federal financial disclosure forms. The health-care speeches, largely overshadowed by the political storm over Clintons paid presentations to big banks, provide another example of an industry with much at stake during the next administration adding to the personal wealth of the woman who is now the Democratic presidential nominee. Clinton campaign spokeswoman Julie Wood said that the candidate has a long record of standing up to special interests in health care, noting that the industry waged an aggressive push against her efforts as first lady in the early 1990s to overhaul the system. In this campaign, she has put forward proposals to hold drug companies accountable and ensure they put patients before profits and strengthen scrutiny of insurance companies, Wood said. Shes called out drug companies by name when they try to jack up prices with no apparent justification, like Mylan and the EpiPen, or exploit tax loopholes to shift profits overseas, like Pfizers proposed inversion, or insurance company mergers that threaten to raise prices and restrict choice. Transcripts and excerpts of Clintons paid remarks show a cautious speaker treading delicately between flattering her hosts and avoiding compromises on policy that might complicate a presidential run in a time of public antipathy toward the drug industry and rising insurance costs. One internal email published by WikiLeaks that gained attention this month, for showing an aide flagging politically dicey comments Clinton made to financial institutions, also compiled Clintons potentially controversial remarks on issues such as single-payer health care, universal coverage, medical devices and pharmaceutical price controls. The difference between Clintons tone as a candidate and her paid remarks to the industry is evident when it comes to her comments on how drugmakers deal with the burden of paying high U.S. taxes and issues of costs. In 2014, Clinton seemed sympathetic to the struggles of the drug industry when she appeared alongside Jim Greenwood, chief executive of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), a trade association that includes large drugmakers such as Pfizer and Gilead Sciences. I dont want to see biotech companies or pharma companies moving out of our country simply because of some kind of tax perceived tax disadvantage and potential tax advantage somewhere else, she said, according to an excerpt included in the email released by WikiLeaks. The group paid Clinton $335,000 for the speech, according to her disclosure form. But as a candidate, Clinton has attacked the industry on several fronts. Her campaign website, for instance, singled out the now-defunct proposed merger of Pfizer and Allergan which would have allowed Pfizer to avoid taxes by moving its headquarters to Ireland for eroding the U.S. tax base. And Clinton sent biotechnology stocks tumbling last year when she rebuked price gouging by the specialty drug market, tweeting a link to an article about Turing Pharmaceuticals and then-chief executive Martin Shkreli. Greenwood, the BIO executive who sat with her in 2014, criticized Clintons jab, saying at the groups convention two years later that even a lone tweet by a candidate for high office can have unintended, market-moving consequences. BIO did not respond to requests for comment. Clinton resisted the idea of drug price controls during a 2014 dinner with the Drug, Chemical and Associated Technologies Association, at a venue the moderator described as being filled with individuals from the pharmaceutical industry. She was paid $250,000 for the speech, the content of which has previously not been reported. Well, I have to start by saying I dont think we proposed price controls, Clinton said in reference to her efforts in the 1990s, according to the WikiLeaks email. We proposed more competition, more transparency, state exchanges, if those sound familiar, to entice greater negotiation over price. In her 2014 appearance before the Advanced Medical Technology Association, Clinton addressed the groups conference in Chicago and participated in a question-and-answer session with the groups chief executive, Stephen Ubl, according to a news release from the group. Ubl has since become chief executive of the industrys largest trade association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and has been critical of Clintons negative comments about the industry during the campaign. A spokeswoman for the association, Wanda Moebius, said asking Clinton to speak was in keeping with the groups outreach to important policymakers to address our members on key issues of the day and to share their policy perspectives. The speech excerpts show that Clinton has consistently supported the Affordable Care Act. She applauds government-provided health care but is cautious about applying those lessons to the U.S. market. Clinton expressed resignation to the current private insurance market in a 2013 address to the Economic Club of Grand Rapids whose board includes the president of Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan. People are entitled to make a profit, she said. Despite Clintons criticism, the pharmaceutical and health-products industry is the 10th-largest industry among her campaign contributors, giving about $11.6 million to her campaign and outside groups supporting her, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzes Federal Election Commission data. Hospitals and nursing homes have donated $3.8 million. Republican nominee Donald Trump has received $1.5 million from health professionals. Although Clinton has campaigned on improving the Affordable Care Act, she also has accepted speaking fees from groups that opposed aspects of the health law, including the National Association of Convenience Stores and the Society for Human Resource Management. Elizabeth Lucas contributed to this report. Kaiser Health News is a national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Hillary Clinton poses with Neera Tanden, center, president of the Center for American Progress, and the centers founder, John Podesta, in October 2013. Emails between Tanden and Podesta show frustration over Clintons email controversy. (Yuri Gripas /Reuters) On the day the news broke that Hillary Clinton had used a private email account as secretary of state, the man who would soon be named to chair her presidential campaign fired off a note of distress, venting frustration about some of Clintons closest aides. Speaking of transparency, our friends Kendall, Cheryl and Phillipe sure werent forthcoming on the facts here, John Podesta complained in the March 2015 note, referring to Clintons personal lawyer, David Kendall, as well as former State Department staffers Cheryl Mills and Philippe Reines. Why didnt they get this stuff out like 18 months ago? So crazy, replied Neera Tanden, a longtime Podesta friend who also has worked for Clinton. Then, answering her own question, Tanden wrote again: I guess I know the answer. They wanted to get away with it. The exchange, found in hacked emails from Podestas account and released Tuesday by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, provides a striking window into how the revelation of Clintons email setup roiled her nascent campaign team in the weeks before its official April 2015 kickoff. The Washington Posts John Wagner breaks down some of the consequences of the release by WikiLeaks of hacked emails from Hillary Clintons campaign. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) The emails show that while aides struggled to get past the public controversy, they also expressed exasperation at each other and, at times, at Clinton both for her decision to use the server and for the way she handled questions about it. Several exchanges illustrate fears among some top advisers that Clinton and other aides were demonstrating the very traits that polls suggested made her vulnerable: a penchant for secrecy and a hesitancy to admit fault or error. Weve taken on a lot of water that wont be easy to pump out of the boat, Podesta wrote to Tanden in September 2015, at a time when Clintons campaign feared that Vice President Biden was about to enter the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Most of that has to do with terrible decisions made pre-campaign, but a lot has to do with her instincts. Tanden responded, Almost no one knows better [than] me that her instincts can be terrible. Tanden and Kendall declined to comment. Neither Reines nor a lawyer for Mills responded to requests for comment. Clintons campaign has largely declined to comment on the WikiLeaks emails, which U.S. officials say were stolen through hacks of Democratic groups and leaders orchestrated by the Russian government. Clinton aides have declined to authenticate the emails, noting that the Russians have been known to doctor documents, but they have not disputed any specific revelation from Podestas email trove. Instead, Clinton spokesman Glen Caplin on Tuesday responded to questions about the internal campaign struggles revealed in the emails by attacking GOP nominee Donald Trump for his recent comments disputing U.S. government findings that the Kremlin was behind the hacks and for cheering on WikiLeaks Russian-directed propaganda. Though the WikiLeaks disclosures have not contained the sort of campaign-shaking bombshell that some Trump backers had hoped for, the Podesta emails have provided an almost unprecedented historical archive of the inner workings of a major-party presidential campaign. 1 of 57 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail View Photos The Democratic presidential nominee hits the road as Election Day nears. Caption Hillary Clinton loses to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Nov. 9, 2016 Hillary Clinton speaks in New York while her husband, former president Bill Clinton, applauds. Melina Mara/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Some of the emails include private and contemporaneous assessments of the candidates strengths and weaknesses by advisers widely seen as likely to hold top posts in Clintons White House should she win. They show that in August 2015, months after the New York Times revealed Clintons use of a private account and after the Associated Press identified her private server, Clintons aides were still struggling to persuade the candidate that she should show remorse for her email practices. By that time, the FBI had opened an investigation into whether classified material had been mishandled through Clintons use of the server. Some of the most frank commentary can be seen in exchanges between two friends and frequent correspondents: Podesta, a longtime Clinton hand who founded the powerhouse liberal think tank Center for American Progress, and Tanden, a former top aide to Clintons 2008 presidential run who now heads the center. Both are strong supporters of Clinton and her presidential bid. In another email released by WikiLeaks, Tanden referred to herself as a loyal soldier who would do whatever Hillary needs always. Their email exchanges often appear to have been written out of concern for Clintons best interests. I know this email thing isnt on the level. Im fully aware of that, Tanden wrote in an August 2015 note to Podesta. But her inability to just do a national interview and communicate genuine feelings of remorse and regret is now, I fear, becoming a character problem (more so than honesty). On Sept. 4, Clinton gave an interview to NBC Newss Andrea Mitchell, saying that she was sorry that this has been confusing to people but otherwise dodging questions about whether she apologized for her actions. Tanden wrote later that day: Everyone wants her to apologize. And she should. Apologies are like her Achilles heel. Three days later, Clinton had still not apologized, even as the issue dominated campaign news coverage. This apology thing has become like a pathology, Tanden wrote. I can only imagine whats happening in the campaign. Is there some way I can be helpful here? Podesta replied: You should email her. She can say shes sorry without apologizing to the American people. Tell her to say it and move on, why get hung on this. Finally, the next day, Clinton told ABC News that her use of the server had been a mistake. Im sorry about that. I take responsibility, she said. The WikiLeaks disclosures reveal how, from the earliest days of the campaign, some advisers and staffers feared that Mills who had served in the White House counsels office during the Republican investigations of the 1990s and then was Clintons chief of staff at the State Department enabled Clintons tendencies to hunker down. In her March 2015 exchange with Podesta about the email controversy, Tanden lay the blame squarely at Millss feet. This is a cheryl special, Tanden wrote. Know you love her, but this stuff is like her Achilles heal. Or kryptonite. she just cant say no to this s---. Mills has no formal relationship with the campaign but, the emails show, consults frequently about all major decisions. If Clinton wins, Mills could assume a significant role in the White House. The emails show, at one point, similar skepticism of Mills from campaign manager Robbie Mook, the young operative Clinton appointed to build an operation that would avoid the personality clashes and internal dramas that plagued her 2008 presidential bid. In February 2015, Mook complained to Podesta that Mills was going around him to vet campaign contractors. It is secretly going around a transparent system we all agreed upon, he wrote. The secret s--- has got to stop. Its a giant time suck. The emails also show a fondness among Clintons staff for her strengths and genuine enthusiasm when she did well in interviews or other public appearances. After Clinton appeared on Face the Nation in September 2015, an ally wrote to Podesta to praise her appearance. Thought she was really good. Really good, he wrote, before adding: She sometimes laughs a little too hard at jokes that arent that funny. Other than that. Podesta responded with humor: Laughing too hard, he wrote, is her authentic weirdness. Read more: Hacked emails show extent of foreign government donations to Clinton Foundation WikiLeaks emails show Clinton campaign collected data to discredit Bill Clinton accuser Hacked emails appear to reveal excerpts of speech transcripts Clinton refused to release Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said there would be a thorough investigation to determine how the malfunction happened. By India Today Web Desk: Four people were killed on a river rapids ride at Australia's biggest theme park, after a malfunction threw two of the victims off the seemingly innocuous ride and left the other two trapped inside. The tragedy that took place on Tuesday at the Thunder River Rapids Ride at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, the main tourist district in Australia's northeastern state of Queensland, ranks among the world's deadliest theme park accidents. advertisement "One of the rides sustained a malfunction, causing two people to be ejected from a ride, and the other two were caught inside," Gavin Fuller, an official of Queensland Ambulance, told reporters. The four dead ranged in age from their early 30s to their early 40s. It was not immediately clear if they were locals or tourists, police said. Photo: Reuters Also read: Ouch! Texas man falls off water slide onto rocky cliff, video goes viral Shares in park owner and operator, Ardent Leisure Group, dropped 7 per cent in the final hour of trade after the incident, having been little changed for most of the day. "Dreamworld will remain closed tomorrow as a mark of respect for the victims and their families," Ardent said in a statement, adding that it was working with emergency services to establish what had happened. Asked if there were any earlier problems with the ride, Todd Reid, an inspector with Queensland Police, said, "I'm not aware, but that will be part of the investigation." The ride, meant to simulate going over river rapids, uses round floating devices that seat six, and can reach speeds of 45 kph (28 mph). It is described by Dreamworld as a "moderate thrill" attraction for those older than two. Witnesses recounted the scene on television. "There were kids onboard screaming while their mum was trapped under. I'd rather not talk about what I saw," one unidentified man told Australia's Channel 9. Visitors to the theme park, 48 km (30 miles) south of Brisbane, said they had seen repairs to the ride before the accident, but a Dreamworld spokeswoman told Reuters she was unable to confirm the reports. Photo: Reuters Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said there would be a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the accident. Tuesday's tragedy is one of the worst theme park accidents on record. Earlier incidents include eight teenagers killed in a 1984 fire at the Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park in New Jersey in the United States; seven dead in Sydney's Luna Park ghost train fire in 1979; six people killed by a failed simulated rocket launch in Shenzhen, China, in 2010 and five children killed when the Battersea Park Big Dipper malfunctioned in Britain in 1972. --- ENDS --- advertisement Counterprotester Demietrich Baker jumps over a Trump wall erected by the Washington State University College Republicans on campus on Oct. 19, 2016, in Pullman, Wash., in support of Donald Trump's proposal to build a wall along the border with Mexico. (Geoff Crimmins/Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP) (Geoff Crimmins/AP) For some Republicans, the 2016 presidential election might as well be over. If Trump loses, the party will still likely control half of Congress and most state governments, perfect places to rebuild. Trump himself is already being described as an interloper. When the Davidson College Republicans dissasociated their group from Trumps campaign, they made sure to include in their condemnation that this candidate is not a conservative, and disrespects the causes closest to us. But on campus, where a fitful rebellion has led many College Republican chapters to denounce Trump and sit out the campaign, peers who could not have cared less about politics are stepping in. While hundreds of young activists are missing their first chance at presidential campaign work, plenty more are being inaugurated into a conservatism that owes more to Trump than to the RNC. Trumps rise coincided with the backlash against political correctness, similar to what birthed conservative student newspapers in the 1980s; that eras campus stars, such as Laura Ingraham and Dinesh DSouza, are now some of Trumps highest-profile defenders. A Make America Great Again hat, on campus, is a universal symbol for rejecting safe space; a Trump T-shirt is a way to mock rape culture, white privilege and the rest of modern academias nostrums. [U-Va. College Republicans rescind support for Trump] Many College Republicans, also known as CRs, would like to skip that fight. Elizabeth Wright, who arrived at Davidson in 2013 and took over a small, moribund club, grew it from around 20 to around 115 members, large for a liberal arts school. In 2014, the Davidson CRs helped Republicans win close statewide races. In 2016, they hoped that Trump would topple on his own. A counterprotester holds a sign after the Washington State University College Republicans erected a Trump wall on campus Oct. 19, 2016, in Pullman, Wash. (Geoff Crimmins/Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP) (Geoff Crimmins/AP) We were holdouts, Wright said in an interview in the student center, a few hours before the final presidential debate. I was one of those people saying, Come on, come on, come on, theres got to be a way out of this, until it was too late. Instead, in September, Davidsons College Republicans joined other CRs at Harvard, Penn State and Ohio University in denouncing Trump; the CRs at Princeton tried to stay neutral. In the last few weeks, at Liberty University, the Students for Trump chapter has been overshadowed by an anti-Trump protest that has ensnared Jerry Falwell Jr., the college president and Trump endorser. Thousands of Republican students at elite schools are sitting out the presidential election, with unknown effects on their future political engagement. Politics is 75 percent relationships, and CRs build relationships that can last a lifetime, said Ron Nehring, who rose from the College Republicans to the chairmanship of the California Republican Party. No one who tunes out is lost forever unless they move to some desert island. But the tone of this campaign may lead some people to decide engineering would be more fun. And thats too bad. Republicans who care about the college pipeline are worried about the trend. In 2012, President Obama won 18- to 29-year-old voters by a 23-point margin over Mitt Romney, 60 to 37 percent. The College Republican National Committee made that margin infamous, even producing a fantasy map that showed what would have happened had Romney won young voters a narrow electoral college victory. The fantasy is further away now. In an October Washington Post-ABC poll, Trump earns the support of just 25 percent of voters between age 18 and 29. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson sits at 18 percent; Green Party candidate Jill Stein is at 10 percent. Forty-seven percent of young voters back Clinton. Among young voters with college degrees, its even starker, with Clinton leading by 35 points with all such voters under 40. Meanwhile, many groups built to evangelize young conservatives have been in flux. Most conservative college newspapers linked to the Delaware-based Intercollegiate Studies Institute have ignored the presidential campaign. Generation Opportunity, a millennial-focused offshoot of the Koch donor network, is doing no politicking around the presidential race. [Liberty University students protest association with Trump] Were focused on building a grass-roots movement around issues important to young people, said GenOpp spokesman Clay Sutton. For us, this is beyond any election. We prioritize issues based on principle, not political party. Its about advancing a free and open society that drives long-term change. On any campus, its easy to find voters who intended to go Republican this year but cannot, because of Trump. On Monday, as Liberty Students United Against Trump battled Falwell, Johnson arrived on campus to speak at morning convocation. In the vast Vines Center, where Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) had launched his presidential bid, Johnson gave a friendly-but-combative pitch for libertarianism. I disagree with him about abortion, but hes currently the best candidate weve got, said Matthew Lofgren, 19. The more people that vote for Gary, the clearer the message is that the Republican Party cant go down this path of nationalism. Lofgren, like many of the Johnson fans who packed the front rows, had supported Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in his disappointing presidential bid. Tyler McNally, 21, was like more students he had supported the so-called Republican establishment and watched with horror as Trump conquered it. Now a leader of the Liberty movement to oppose Trump, he proudly wore his 2012 Romney sweatshirt over his shorts and sandals. The whole thing has cooled me on politics, he said. Rubio and Ryan did make it clear that we did care about young people and minorities. They talked about reaching out to the voters we didnt know. To see them turn tail and endorse Trump? It basically made a mockery of the years and years Id spent supporting them. But the gap between established Republicanism and the new populism fueled by Trump, visible in every swing state, is mirrored in college towns. On the day of the last presidential debate, Davidson was expecting a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos, the tech editor at Breitbart who has become a superstar on the alt-right. Through the election, a bus wrapped with the Dangerous Faggot Tour logo and a stylized Milo logo next to his fashion-model face, is winding around the country, delivering him to campuses from the Deep South to Yale. [Harvard Republican Club ashamed of Trump] The day before the Davidson appearance his birthday Yiannopoulos arrived at Clemson University through several layers of security. To attend, students had to be checked for weapons, then show their ticket, with ID, to a guard. Inside, there was the star, clad in a white bathrobe protesters had promised to splatter him with eggs, he explained. And he began the talk by unfurling banners of Pepe the frog and Harambe the gorilla. I am the aforementioned Dangerous Faggot, and first apostle in the Church of Harambe, peace be upon him, said Yiannopoulos. The joke, which was not lost on the room, was that the Southern Poverty Law Center had branded Pepe a symbol of white nationalism, and a Clemson faculty member had said the same of Harambe. For more than an hour, to hundreds of students many wearing Trump hats Yiannopoulos mocked the low-energy left and encouraged conservatives to deride social justice adherents whenever they could. I want you to meme, s---post, wind up every feminist you come into, laugh at every Black Lives Matter bumper, he said. The questions, unlike at some appearances, were friendly. The first came from a student wearing a Hillary for Prison shirt, who asked what exactly was happening in the election. There are a lot of people in despair at the moment, and then you look at the people at the rallies, he said. I get crowds five times the size of Hillarys, said Yiannopoulos. After accepting a birthday card from the student, Yiannopoulos explained his nickname for Trump daddy as a frame for why to have faith. Hes not perfect, said Yiannopoulos. Sometimes he says things that make you go uggggh. But hes your dad, and at the end of the day, if you let him, hell be there for you. Yiannopolous, it turned out, would not be there for Davidson. On debate day, hours before his speech and a protest were set to begin, Yiannopolous canceled the event. It had limited the attendance to students, and even after two fraternities pledged to attend, it was guaranteeing that the room would be less than full. The energy drained from the campus. As they had been doing for every debate, the leaders of Davidsons College Republicans joined a nonpartisan, pizza-laden watch party, sitting near the College Libertarians. So as long as the NSA has it, then its fine! snarked one Libertarian after Clinton attacked WikiLeaks. The Republicans had less to laugh at. Why does he keep saying bigly? asked Wright at one point. I dont think that means what he thinks it means. Later, when Trump responded to a Clinton gibe by saying, Youre the puppet! Youre the puppet, Wright tensed up. I just dont know what to do with this, Wright groaned. The debate ended an hour later. Some of the libertarians had already made for the exits. The Republicans followed, ready for 19 more days of trying to think about anything but the election. Correction: An earlier version of this story contained a misspelling of Tyler McNallys name. Emily Guskin contributed to this report. Newly displaced people at a processing center south of Mosul, Iraq, carry humanitarian packages Tuesday after they climbed over a wall to get them. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters) More than a thousand Sunni Arabs displaced from battlefields across Iraq have fled the northern city of Kirkuk in recent days, after they were threatened with expulsion by Kurdish authorities in the city, relief workers said Tuesday. The threat against the displaced Sunnis, which included the demolition of informal housing where they were sheltering, was an apparent reaction to a brazen attack on Kirkuk last week by dozens of Islamic State militants that killed at least 80 people a plot that the authorities said benefited from collaborators inside the city. The flight of the displaced Iraqis heightened fears, however, of a possible backlash against Sunni Arabs during a government offensive to recapture the northern city of Mosul. The city has been occupied by the Islamic State, a Sunni extremist group, for more than two years, and there are concerns that Sunnis in Mosul and surrounding areas could face retribution for their perceived sympathy for the militants. [Iraqi Sunnis fleeing Islamic State rule in Mosul brace for revenge] Human rights groups say that thousands of Sunni men have faced harsh treatment by elements of Iraqs security forces, including summary executions, during other phases of Iraqs campaign against the Islamic State. People wait for humanitarian aid outside the processing center in Qayyara, south of Mosul, Iraq, on Tuesday. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters) Oil-rich Kirkuk has long been a focal point for Iraqs political and ethnic tensions, and is central to Kurdish aspirations for independence. The presence in the city of more than 300,000 displaced Iraqis has exacerbated the strains. Kurdish authorities for months have insisted that the displaced Arabs return to cities, towns and villages elsewhere in Iraq that have been cleared of the militants. The governor of Kirkuk, Najmiddin Karim, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. In a Facebook post Monday, he denied that there was any order given to expel displaced people from Nineveh province, where Mosul is located. He added that the Iraqi government should find suitable locations and services for displaced people in Kirkuk from other parts of Iraq. Lise Grande, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said that she is concerned about the reports and that they could be perceived as collective punishment. It will be very difficult to bring the community together after Daesh is expelled if things like this happen, she said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. [10 new wars that could be unleashed as a result of the one against ISIS] The Islamic State fighters attacked Kirkuk on Friday in what was widely seen as an attempt to distract the huge Iraqi force advancing on Mosul. A relief worker in Kirkuk, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the displaced people were told to leave beginning on Saturday, while the militants were still fighting in the city. There were varying estimates of how many people had been expelled, with aid workers saying it was at least 1,500. They included Iraqis who have fled the western city of Fallujah, in Anbar province, as well as many residents of Hawijah, a city west of Kirkuk that is still occupied by the Islamic State. The relief worker said the Hawijah families had been told that they would be relocated to camps outside of Kirkuk. View Graphic The uneasy mix of forces battling the Islamic State Read more: ISIS sets sulfur alight in attempt to foil attack on militant stronghold Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A migrant stands on top of a hill in a makeshift camp known as the Jungle in Calais, France, on Oct. 25. (Thibault Camus/AP) As French authorities began demolishing parts of the notorious Jungle camp Tuesday, hundreds of migrants lined up with all of their possessions for transport to asylum centers elsewhere in France. More than 2,500 migrants have left the camp since Monday, French authorities said. Defying expectations, Frances demolition of the Jungle has largely proceeded in a calm and orderly fashion. As of Tuesday evening, there were none of the violent scenes that marked the governments earlier attempts to close portions of this sprawling camp, where as many as 9,000 people mostly from Afghanistan and Sudan have lived in squalor for more than a year, an experience riddled by disease and lawlessness. [What remains of the Jungle camp in Calais after authorities forced migrants to leave] In the past, most migrants refused to abandon the Jungle because they believed staying would make it easier to enter Britain just 20 miles to the north where many still say they hope to go. Some remain in the camp, but after months of failed attempts to stow away on trucks and ferries heading across the English Channel, many have resigned themselves to staying in France, at least for now. As a small crew of about 20 construction workers began tearing down makeshift dwellings in this seaside shantytown, those waiting to get out said that they had no idea where they would sleep come nightfall. The French government will send the Jungle migrants to a network of 400 welcome centers across the country, where they will be granted a temporary stay to decide whether they wish to claim asylum here or move on elsewhere. Migrants can choose eastern or western France, but their specific destination depends on the day of the week and where the particular buses are headed. While they waited most with bags and suitcases they had struggled to close some of the men in line began to reflect on their experience living in the camp that has become a politically charged issue in both Britain and France and a symbol of Europes struggle to handle a historic influx of migrants from Africa and the Middle East. For migrants and aid workers alike, the closure of the Jungle immediately represented the end of a complex legacy of extremes. [France gets ready to dismantle the Jungle. But what happens to the refugee children?] Some said that they would remember their time in the camp as terrifying, a dark coda to an already traumatic exile from war-torn home countries. But others said that they would remember it as oasis of kindness in a new world devoid of family and home. Siddiq Khan, 25, of Afghanistan, was waiting Tuesday in the long line outside the transport registration center. I saw everything about life in there and about what life is, he said, gesturing behind him at the camps entrance. And this is not life. A police officer stands guard in front of a burning shelter at the Jungle migrant camp on Oct. 25 in Calais, France. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images) Khan said that early in his 10 months in the Jungle, he, like many others, attempted to jump into a Britain-bound truck in the middle of the night. But on one occasion, he said, French authorities discovered him at one of the checkpoints, throwing tear gas in his eyes and beating him to an extent that required medical attention. He gestured for his friend, Asad, 24, who was with him that night, to show the scar on his forehead. A purple line showed the marks where five stitches had been. Ill remember that night for the rest of my life, Khan said. [Britain to begin taking in eligible children from Calais refugee camp] But Khalid Altayeb, 32, of Sudan, said he would carry different memories as he leaves for elsewhere in France although exactly where, he said, he could not yet say. I will remember all the human aid organizations who helped me, Altayeb said. They gave me medicine I needed. They helped me with my kidneys I have some problems with my kidneys. This was work for all people, he said. A migrant tears down his restaurant and home on the second day of the evacuation of migrants as part of the dismantlement of the Jungle in Calais, France. (Philippe Wojazer/Reuters) Aid workers, a large number of whom left their lives in Britain behind to relocate to Calais and serve the camp, were emotional as the demolition began. Clare Moseley, who left her career as an insurance executive last year to found Care4Calais, a humanitarian organization, the camps closure represented a massive capacity to not care on the part of many Britons. To me, [the Jungle] represents the failure of the United Kingdom to help people who need help. Its so weird that people can care about what happens in Africa but bury their heads in the sand when things happen right on their doorstep. For others, the memory of Jungle essentially equidistant from London and Paris, two of Europes wealthiest capitals will carry a larger meaning. Alf Dubs, 84, a member of Britains House of Lords who sponsored recent legislation to welcome unaccompanied children to the country, said that the camp will be remembered as a scar on Europe, a sign of how Europe has not stepped up to the mark. The world has to come to terms with the fact that migration flows are going to become a norm, he said. And the Jungle is no place for human beings to live. Soon, all that will be left of this camp and of the tension it created is the concrete wall that separates it from the highway, funded mostly by the British government to keep migrants out of Calaiss port, where the British border begins. There is also the mural at the camps entrance by the famous graffiti artist Banksy. London Calling, it reads, scrawled on a highway underpass. For many, London still calls, if no longer as loudly. Read more: How far right will Nicolas Sarkozy go to become Frances president again? French Jews: The first victims in a France where everyone is now in the crosshairs France and Britain just beat Donald Trump to building a border wall Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news By PTI: Washington, Oct 24 (PTI) Babies should sleep in the same bedroom as their parents during the first year of their lives, but on a separate crib or bassinet, to decrease the risks of sudden sleep-related deaths, US experts say. The new recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics draws on new research that supports skin-to-skin care for newborn infants; addresses the use of bedside and in-bed sleepers; and adds to recommendations on how to create a safe sleep environment. advertisement "Parents should never place the baby on a sofa, couch, or cushioned chair, either alone or sleeping with another person. We know that these surfaces are extremely hazardous," said lead author Rachel Moon, from the University of Virginia. About 3,500 infants die annually in the US from sleep-related deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); ill-defined deaths; and accidental suffocation and strangulation. The number of infant deaths initially decreased in the 1990s after a national safe sleep campaign, but has plateaued in recent years. According to the new recommendations, babies should be put on their back on a firm sleep surface such as a crib or bassinet with a tight-fitting sheet. Soft bedding, including crib bumpers, blankets, pillows and soft toys, should not be used. The crib should be bare, experts said. The baby should share a bedroom with parents, but not the same sleeping surface, preferably until the baby turns one, but at least for the first six months. Room-sharing decreases the risk of SIDS by as much as 50 per cent, researchers said. Skin-to-skin care is recommended, regardless of feeding or delivery method, immediately following birth for at least an hour as soon as the mother is medically stable and awake, they said. Breastfeeding is also recommended as adding protection against SIDS. After feeding, experts encourage parents to move babies to their separate sleeping space, preferably a crib or bassinet in the parents bedroom. "If you are feeding your baby and think that theres even the slightest possibility that you may fall asleep, feed your baby on your bed, rather than a sofa or cushioned chair," said Lori Feldman-Winter, member of the Task Force on SIDS and co-author of the report. "As soon as you wake up, be sure to move the baby to his or her own bed," Feldman-Winter. "There should be no pillows, sheets, blankets or other items that could obstruct the infants breathing or cause overheating," she said. While infants are at heightened risk for SIDS between the ages one and four months, new evidence shows that soft bedding continues to pose hazards to babies who are four months and older. advertisement The research was published in the journal Pediatrics. PTI MHN SAR MHN --- ENDS --- Mr. MacFadyen founded and led the Centre for Investigative Journalism in London. (Centre for Investigative Journalism) Gavin MacFadyen, an American investigative journalist who was a prominent advocate for members of his profession, for their sources and for Julian Assange, the embattled founder of the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website, died Oct. 22 at a hospital in London. He was 76. His wife, Susan Benn, confirmed his death. The cause was lung cancer, according to an announcement by the London-based Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ), which Mr. MacFadyen helped found and where he was director at the time of his death. Mr. MacFadyen spent much of his professional life in England, where he established himself as a producer and director of documentaries that aired on outlets that included the BBC and Granada Televisions World in Action, a British investigative program that has been compared with CBS Newss 60 Minutes. In the United States, his work was seen on programs such as the PBS documentary series Frontline. He traveled around the world for his reportage, according to CIJ, covering topics that included the neo-Nazi movement in Britain, organized crime in China, the diamond trade in Africa, electoral fraud in South America, arms trafficking in the Middle East, nuclear proliferation and environmental degradation. In situations of what he considered paramount public interest, he worked in disguise. Mr. MacFadyen founded CIJ in 2003 as a training ground for reporters in his field. He also was credited with helping found the Global Investigative Journalism Network, an association of nonprofit organizations, and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London. Gavin created an environment where everybody was helping everybody else, Mark Lee Hunter, a Paris-based investigative journalist, said in an interview. Through his work, Mr. MacFadyen developed an intense concern for whistleblowers, the sources who may risk their jobs or safety to reveal to a reporter evidence of corporate, governmental or other wrongdoing. Its a dangerous thing being a whistleblower, Mr. MacFadyen said last year in a speech covered by the Cape Argus of South Africa. Many lost their wives, children and often livelihood. They needed protection. In time, CIJ began offering legal and psychological support to whistleblowers. Through that work, Mr. MacFadyen met Assange, the Australian national who founded WikiLeaks in 2006 as a clearinghouse for leaked information. The site attracted widespread attention after the publication in 2010 of tens of thousands of State and Defense Department documents leaked by Army analyst Chelsea Manning. Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence imposed in 2013 by a military judge. More recently, WikiLeaks published a trove of hacked emails from the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Many investigative journalists, while supporting transparency and related principles, vigorously oppose Assanges methods, arguing that he essentially dumps information into the public arena without adequate consideration of how the information was obtained or of potential privacy or security concerns. In 2012, facing a rape allegation in Sweden and fearing extradition to the United States over the Manning leaks, Assange took up residence at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, where he remains. Mr. MacFadyen helped organize a legal defense committee and at times spoke on Assanges behalf. In 2012, he declared that although Assanges embassy abode was not quite the Hilton, it was also true that we have all had worse. Speaking to the London Observer, Mr. MacFadyen described Assange as an inspirational figure and probably the most intelligent person Ive ever worked with, despite his unusual amount of self-confidence. Mr. MacFadyen saw a natural community of interest between journalists and hackers, both of whom, he said, sought information and had come under increasing pressures. There is a free Internet, there is a free press, and there is free speech, he said in a 2014 speech reported by the London Guardian, and we share all of those things together. Gavin Hall Galter was born in Greeley, Colo., on Jan. 1, 1940, and grew up in Chicago. His mother was a pianist. He did not know his father and eventually took the surname of his stepfather, a medical researcher. Mr. MacFadyen studied at numerous high schools and universities before working as a field organizer with trade unions. He was jailed for participating in civil rights demonstrations, according to a biography provided by CIJ, before moving to England, where he joined the International Socialist Organization. After graduating from the London School of Film Technique, he founded a film group that covered events that included race riots, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations and the turbulent 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago for the BBC. He also reported on the war between the right-wing rebel contras and the Marxist Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s. His film work included collaborations with directors John Frankenheimer and Michael Mann. According to CIJ, he served as a technical adviser to Mann on The Insider (1999), which starred Russell Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand, a tobacco executive who exposed industry secrets about cigarette manufacturing, in particular regarding the addictive nature of nicotine. Mr. MacFadyens marriage to Virginia Daum ended in divorce. Survivors include his partner of 20 years, Susan Benn, whom he married in 2010, of London; a son from his first marriage, Michael MacFadyen of London; three stepdaughters, Sarah Saunders of Sussex, England, Deborah Ramsay and Samantha McLean, both of London; and six grandchildren. Last week, following WikiLeakss publication of the hacked Clinton emails, the Ecuadoran government declared that Ecuador does not meddle in electoral campaigns nor support any candidate in particular and announced that Assanges Internet access at the embassy would be temporarily restricted. After Mr. MacFadyens death, WikiLeaks tweeted a tribute: Gavin Macfadyen, beloved director of WikiLeaks, now takes his fists and his fight to battle God. Sock it to him, forever, Gavin. The tweet was signed with the initials JA. People gather at the scene of an attack in the town of Mandera, Kenya, near the border with Somalia, on Tuesday. (AP/AP) Twelve people, described as non-Muslims, were killed early Tuesday morning in Kenya's northeastern town of Mandera in a suspected terror attack by the Somali militant group al-Shabab. The extremist group has for years conducted cross-border attacks in Kenya, partly in retribution for Kenya's decision to send troops to Somalia as part of an African Union military campaign. Mandera, a predominantly Muslim border town nestled between the Ethiopian and Somali frontiers, has been a frequent target, and many of its residents have fled. According to Abdi Rizak, a member of the Mandera county assembly, Tuesday's attack occurred at a guesthouse called Busharo at 1:30 a.m, several miles from the border. Kenya's deputy police spokesperson Jared Ojuok said that suspected al-Shabab militants used explosives to blow up the front door of the guest house and then detonated another bomb-like device inside. Immediate reports from the ground indicated that about 12 were killed in the aftermath of the explosion and four people were rushed to the hospital with injuries from crumbling bricks. A member of the security forces walks near the scene of an attack in the town of Mandera, Kenya, near the border with Somalia, on Tuesday. (AP) Rizak, speaking from Mandera, said some people were leaving the town because they were afraid. "They live in fear. Every night people hear guns around the town," he said, adding that only non-Muslims were targeted in Tuesday's attack. The victims were visitors from Nairobi. "They want to divide the country every time they do something," said Rizak. Since last night's attack, there has been a heavy security presence in Mandera. Mandera has experienced frequent al-Shabab attacks in which dozens of civilians and security personnel have been killed. In July this year, at least six people were killed when suspected al-Shabab militants sprayed two buses with bullets. In December 2015, a group of Kenyans travelling on a bus from Nairobi to Mandera was ambushed by al-Shabab gunmen. The Muslims in the bus protected Christian passengers by refusing to be split into groups. At least two people were killed in that attack. In November 2014, 28 people in another attack on a Nairobi-bound bus near Mandera. In one of its most devastating attacks, masked al-Shabab militants stormed Garissa University in eastern Kenya last year and killed 147 people. Al-Shabab is imposing a total economic sanction on Manderas people. We cannot allow this to happen, Mandera Governor Ali Roba told the Kenyan newspaper The Standard back in July. Read more Muslims protect Christians from extremists in Kenya bus attack Women with bomb shot dead in Kenya police station Al-Shabab attacks Kenyan university killing at least 147 Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A worker puts the finishing touches on a large mosaic at the entrance to the new National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem. Oct. 9, 2016 A worker puts the finishing touches on a large mosaic at the entrance to the new National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem. Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency The complex will soon show off some of the best finds from the 1.5 million years. The new complex will soon show off some of the best finds from the past 1.5 million years. The new complex will soon show off some of the best finds from the past 1.5 million years. There is no shortage of ancient artifacts in the Holy Land. Some have already been found, and others are just waiting to be discovered. But the big question is whether fragments of pottery, fraying textiles and decaying manuscripts can elicit excitement these days when people are glued to technology. Can archaeology draw big crowds? The Israel Antiquities Authority thinks so, and it is constructing a multimedia, multi-floored underground complex designed to show off some of the best finds from the past 1.5 million years. Uzi Dahari, the authoritys deputy director, said that Israel has more than 2 million ancient artifacts in storage that cant be squeezed into any of Israels existing museums. So the authority is building what he calls an archaeological campus, an interactive center where items from every prehistoric and historical period in this fraught land will be stored and displayed. A piece of a life-size human statue discovered in April in the sea off the coast of Caesarea in Israel, part of marine cargo from a merchant ship that sank in AD 400, sits in a display cabinet at the entrance to what will become Jerusalems archeology center. (Ruth Eglash/The Washington Post) The center, which is due to be completed in 2018, will also house one of the largest archaeological libraries in the Middle East, specialized archaeological laboratories for rescuing and restoring ancient relics, and climate-controlled storage rooms. The center will explain the history of this land and will give everyone the chance to connect with history via archaeology, the authoritys director, Yisrael Hasson, said during a recent tour of the multiplex. There are, for example, between 15,000 to 16,000 parchments from the Dead Sea Scrolls collection that were discovered in a cave near the Dead Sea about 70 years ago and have been studied intensely by historians ever since. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. [Israeli archaeologists rush to dig at Cave of Skulls before looters take everything] Preserving the past and teaching future generations about it is certainly a noble feat, but a question remains: Is there interest in one more antiquities museum in Jerusalem? The city is already packed with historical sites and museums. The new project will be flanked by the Israel Museum, with its own collection of antiquities, and the Bible Lands Museum, which displays mostly antiquities. A worker nearby a display of ancient glass in one of the galleries of the new National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel, during a tour in Jerusalem. (Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency) We dont want to be in competition with these places, said Dahari, who is heading the project. We expect the place to draw researchers who want to learn about the archaeology here, it is the only place where one can learn about Israeli archaeology. Speaking at an event at the center last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campus represented a defiant response to those attempting to deny, ignore or erase our history in our land. He was referring to a resolution recently passed by UNESCO, the U.N. cultural and heritage agency, that did not mention the Jewish connection to Jerusalems Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism and once a site of two Jewish temples. The place is now home to the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. [Archaeologists find possible site of Jesus trial in Jerusalem] The new archaeology campus, the National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel, was designed by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie. The building reflects the layering of archaeology, flowing down 10 floors deep into the ground. The upper floors will display a wide variety of mosaics, pottery, manuscripts and other interesting finds, but the 10th floor below ground will hold what Dahari calls the state treasures. Several storerooms with wide portholes line the hallway on that floor. Each room will have a specific type of lighting, temperature gauge and climate control designed to best preserve the historical items. There will be separate rooms for ancient textiles, old coins, bronze, jewelry and manuscripts. In addition, a dusty, dimly lit hall with a suspended bridge will allow visitors a chance to glimpse thousands of oversize artifacts. It has the aura of a mysterious Indiana Jones adventure. Read more: Work begins to try to save Christianitys holiest shrine: Jesus tomb Israel suspends cooperation with U.N. cultural agency over resolution Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Gunmen in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta killed at least 61 people in a bloody assault on a police training camp, storming a dormitory of unarmed cadets in a shooting rampage before detonating explosive vests, government officials said Tuesday. The assault involving at least three attackers who also battled paramilitary forces is the latest blow by militants operating along the lawless border with Afghanistan as Pakistan struggles to make gains against various insurgent factions. It also was another direct strike at Pakistans powerful security forces. In September 2015, Taliban fighters stormed an air base in Peshawar, another border hub northeast of Quetta, killing at least 29 people. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted online Tuesday. The militants Amaq news agency published a photo of what it said were the three attackers, all operatives of the groups so-called Khorasan Province faction, which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. [Islamic State steps up attacks in Kabul] Pakistani troops enter the police training school that was attacked by militants in Quetta, Pakistan. (Arshad Butt/AP) But a senior security official said Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Pakistani extremist group that has targeted the countrys Shiite Hazara minority over the years, was responsible for the bloodshed, which also left more than 100 people injured. Hospital officials said at least 61 people were killed in the attack. Many of the wounded remained in critical condition, meaning the death toll could rise. Two officials, including Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, the chief of Pakistans paramilitary forces, said the militants had either crossed over from Afghanistan or were in contact with handlers on the Afghan side of the border. Pakistani authorities have blamed Afghan militants for attacks inside Pakistan in recent years, despite Pakistans history of homegrown extremism. Dozens of jihadist groups have emerged from the lawless border area between the two countries, and both sides are rife with militancy. Quetta, 150 miles from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, has long served as a staging ground for insurgent activities in Afghanistan and is a base for leaders of the Afghan Taliban. None of the officials gave any motive for the assault. [Islamic State tries to put down roots in Pakistan] First they tried to target the city, but due to a high security alert, they failed, said Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, a spokesman for Baluchistan province, where Quetta is located. After that, they attacked the Police Training College, he said. The college is less than 10 miles from central Quetta. Security officials told local media that gunmen attacked a hostel inside the camp where cadets had retired for the night. Because the cadets were in training, they did not have their own weapons, one police official said. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, added that many of the cadets had completed their course and were preparing to return home. Baluchistans home minister, Mir Sarfraz Bugti, told reporters that the gunmen killed a watchtower guard before slipping over the wall into the compound. I saw two gunmen firing as they ran toward us, toward our building, a police cadet told Pakistans Geo News television channel. We got to the roof and jumped down to save our lives. Footage aired on Pakistani television showed ambulances streaming out of the camps main gate. Firefighters also rushed to the scene. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in a statement early Tuesday, directed authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby also condemned the attack. Mondays attack was the latest in a string of deadly assaults in Quetta. In August, a suicide attack on a group of lawyers killed more than 70 people, including most of the provinces practicing attorneys. The Islamic State also claimed that attack, along with other groups. The lawyers had gathered in the emergency room of a local hospital to view the body of a slain colleague. The attacker detonated an explosive vest in the middle of the crowd. Cunningham reported from Kabul. Aamir Iqbal in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. Read more: Scores of attorneys among the dead in Quetta suicide bombing An entire generation of a citys lawyers killed in Pakistan Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Two weeks from Election Day, a number of battleground states are still fighting over voting laws and whether voters have been adequately informed about an array of changing and sometimes complex rules. An unprecedented number of states have put stricter election laws in place since the last presidential race. And in several cases, those laws were overturned by the courts or are still caught up in litigation, creating the potential for widespread confusion. In some states, such as North Carolina, the rules in place during the primary races have changed for the general election. A federal court in Texas has ordered the state to reissue voter education materials that were misleading to residents. And in the Texas county that includes Fort Worth, voting rights advocates pointed to an email from Republican officials warning election workers in Democrat-controlled polling locations to make sure OUR VOTER ID LAW IS FOLLOWED. The note did not explain that polling places are supposed to allow people without the correct identification to cast a ballot if they show other documents, following a federal appeals courts ruling that the Texas voter-ID law discriminates against minority voters. The changing election rules add another volatile element to a presidential campaign season already marked by an unusual level of conflict between the candidates. Polls show a tightening race in a number of states that have usually gone to the GOP in recent presidential races. And faced with sinking numbers, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has claimed that the vote will be rigged and encouraged supporters to monitor the polling sites for fraud. In Wisconsin, a years-long fight over the states new photo-ID law ended with courts ordering the Division of Motor Vehicles to make it easier for residents to get a photo identification to vote. But media reports suggested DMV locations were not following the courts direction, and a federal judge ordered an investigation and weekly progress reports on education and retraining efforts up until the election. Guilford County, N.C., poll worker Amy Thompson trains a group of county workers who will be inside polling precincts on Election Day. (Sari Horwitz/The Washington Post) And in North Carolina, advocates say voters remain confused as to whether they need to bring photo IDs after a federal appeals court struck down the states voting law, considered among the most controversial in the country. The law would have cut a week of early voting and required voters to show certain kinds of photo IDs, but the court called it surgical racism. Advocates say that the states efforts to curtail early voting are still in effect in some counties that have a particularly high proportion of African American voters. There remain a great deal of concerns on the ground, said Denise Lieberman, a senior attorney with the Advancement Project, which represented the NAACP and other plaintiffs in the legal battle over the states voting law. People are still very confused about voter ID. Theyre confused about early voting and whether you can register to vote and vote on the same day. These have been back and forth in courts for three years. People are very confused about what is in effect and what isnt. Preparing for Election Day It was a routine training session for poll observers in small, rural Louisburg until trainer Armenta Eaton got to the bottom of the third page of her election manual. Eaton had told the 20 volunteers gathered at the Democratic Party headquarters on Main Street one night last week what to wear and whom to call if they see long lines or other problems in this battleground state. And then, smiling, Eaton read out loud the rule that the observers needed to make sure was enforced inside their polling places: No voter ID required! Eaton and her 95-year-old mother, Rosanell, were plaintiffs in the North Carolina lawsuit against the states voting law. The federal appeals court that ruled against it called it the most restrictive voting law North Carolina has seen since the era of Jim Crow. But Lucy Allen, 74, who was at the session, said later that some of the voters in North Carolina are still not clear on the rules. Some folks dont follow the news about the court case, Allen said. And all theyve heard is that they have to have a voter ID with a picture. Poll watcher Peggy Lucas, 65, also at Eatons training, said voters still need to be told that a photo ID is no longer required to vote. I fear there are people in this state who feel they need it and dont have it and will stay home, Lucas said. About 100 miles away from Eatons session, Amy Thompson was training a small group in front of computers at Guilford Technical Community College in High Point, N.C. Thompson does not represent a political party. She is working for Guilford County. In North Carolina and across the country, political parties send their own representatives to observe, such as Eaton and the Democratic volunteers she was training. But each county also hires poll workers and chooses a chief judge to resolve disputes that may arise. Guilford County Board of Elections Director Charlie Collicutt said that this year, his county of 355,000 registered voters will have about 1,560 poll workers who undergo four to five hours of training by the board to help conduct the election. He said the training has been going well. Those workers, many of whom manned the polls during the March primary, are all being retrained on the change of election rules. Its actually much less complicated now, said Thompson, who stood next to a sign that said No Photo ID Needed To Vote. The signs are supposed to be placed at every precinct so voters will know the law has changed. The rules before were what complicated things for us. Its easier now that were back to where we used to be. At every precinct, a poll worker will walk the line of voters or catch voters on the way in to tell them that no ID is required, Collicutt said. But it will not just be poll workers and the political-party observers who will be on-site. Nonpartisan groups such as Democracy North Carolina also recruit volunteers to answer election-protection hotlines and work outside polling places to ensure that poll workers are adhering to the rules and no one outside is trying to intimidate voters. And some are concerned about Trump supporters showing up at the polls and being misinformed about the law. We dont want a lot of untrained people out there, because they dont know what to look for necessarily and they might see fraud where no fraud exists, said the associate director of Democracy North Carolina, Jenn Frye, who was training about 35 volunteers at a church in Greensboro last week. Battles on the ground In some counties elsewhere in the country, local officials are still fighting over how the law will be applied on Election Day. In the largest county in Texas, Harris County, the chief elections official has said that he will forward for criminal prosecution the names of voters who sign an affidavit that they are without voter ID if he has some evidence that they received an ID or are not accurately representing their situation. After the court ruling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said, If you sign that affidavit and you lie about not being able to get a photo ID, you can be prosecuted for perjury. Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said that such statements are intended to have a chilling effect on voters. What we are seeing is a pattern where local officials are clearly taking actions that are intended to undermine the weight of the courts rulings, Clarke said. At a rally in Durham on the first day of early voting last week in North Carolina, the Rev. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, said the selection of the polling places showed discrimination against minorities. In past years, North Carolina Central University, a historically black university where Barber was holding his rally, had an early-polling place on campus open by this time. But this year it wont be open until the end of the month. After the rally, students marched two miles to the nearest place where they could vote early. Now we have a situation where, in some counties, you may have only one early-voting site, Barber said. In some counties, they do not have Sunday voting, may not have Saturday voting. In all 100 counties, they should have access to Sunday and Saturday voting and to more than one site. A group of voters represented by Marc Elias, counsel to Democratic nominee Hillary Clintons campaign, filed an emergency motion this month asking a federal court to require the state board of elections to change the early-voting plans in five counties that they said discriminated against African Americans. Last week, a federal appeals court rejected the request. At the same time, the NAACP is calling on county election boards to stop trying to remove minority voters from their rolls. In Beaufort County, Barber said, a Republican recently challenged the registration of a 100-year-old African American woman, Grace Bell Hardison, who has voted in that county since 1992. He said Hardison was told that if she wanted to vote, she had to attend a hearing to defend her registration. We certainly had a major victory, Barber said of the courts ruling against North Carolinas voter law. But we are still fighting. Read more: Justice Dept. reducing number of federal observers inside polling places Can you rig a U.S. presidential election? Experts say its basically impossible. He says he didnt start the fight, but he is certainly not pulling any punches. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte launched another impatient broadside at Washington on Tuesday, threatening a bilateral defense deal that has expanded the U.S. military presence in his country. The volatile Duterte last week announced his separation from the United States, although he subsequently backtracked to say he did not want to cut economic and military ties. But on Tuesday he was at it again, saying he hated having foreign troops in the Philippines and telling the United States not to treat his country like a dog with a leash, the Reuters news agency reported. He also questioned the 10-year Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed in 2014, which expanded military ties between the two nations and enabled the United States to deploy conventional forces in the Philippines for the first time in decades, rotating through five bases. The deal was heralded as a key element of President Obamas strategic rebalance to Asia. 1 of 26 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Who is Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte? View Photos He made headlines recently with comments about a rape victim. Caption He made headlines recently after saying he wanted U.S. troops out of his country. Dec. 14, 2016 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrives for a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Heng Sinith/AP Wait 1 second to continue. You have the EDCA well forget it, if I stay here long enough, he said. I do not want to see any military man of any other nation except the Filipino. Thats the only thing I want. In the Philippines, a president is allowed only a single six-year term in office, and Duterte did not specify what he meant by staying long enough. Richard Javad Heydarian, an assistant professor of political science at Manilas De La Salle University, said Duterte might scale back military ties with the United States but is unlikely to end the partnership entirely. That would create a huge backlash in the security establishment and in the Philippine media, which is favorably disposed towards the United States, he said. The Philippine military is very entwined with the United States. But Heydarian said it would be wrong to write off Dutertes remarks as pure bluster. The president has real resentment and antipathy toward the United States, as well as a track record of having acted on these feelings: As mayor of Davao, Duterte blocked the United States from using the citys air base for drone flights against terrorist groups on Mindanao island and persuaded the city council to block joint U.S.-Philippine military exercises from taking place there in 2007. If Duterte gains some concessions from China, Heydarian said, he could conceivably shift such exercises away from the South China Sea, cancel plans for joint patrols in the disputed waters, or even scale back the EDCA to withdraw permission for U.S. troops to rotate through the three military bases that face the South China Sea: Subic Bay, Oyster Bay and Clark. On Monday, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, Daniel R. Russel, visited Manila in a bid to calm the situation and to get clarity about Dutertes intentions. Russel told reporters that he loved the Philippines and that the United States remained a trusted partner of the country. But he also made headlines by saying that Dutertes controversial comments had provoked uncertainty and consternation around the world. Those remarks seemed to get under Dutertes notoriously thin skin. On Tuesday, the Philippine president had appeared calm and composed as he read a statement before departing for a visit to Tokyo, describing Japan as a true friend of his country and a preeminent and peerless investor and development partner, Reuters reported. But he soon lost his cool as he answered questions, holding up the front page of a Philippine newspaper carrying the headline, Duterte sparking international distress U.S. You know, I did not start this fight, he said. Duterte went on to complain about issues ranging from the U.S. bombardment of Japanese-occupied Manila at the end of World War II to American consular officials once questioning his intentions when he applied for a visa to visit his girlfriend, Reuters reported. China has been extremely unhappy about the heightened U.S. military presence in the Philippines and is likely to welcome Dutertes unease with American troops. But it is another headache for Obama and a setback for his goal of a strategic rebalance to Asia. If U.S. troops eventually were forced out of the Philippines, it is unclear where else they could deploy to effectively monitor the South China Sea, experts said, with Singapore and Malaysia quite far south and Vietnam very unlikely to welcome them. Rear Adm. Michael McDevitt, a senior fellow at the Center for Naval Analyses, said that losing access to Philippine bases would be a disappointment, particularly in light of Chinas island-building in the South China Sea. But he told the Nelson Report, a Washington newsletter, that much of the current commentary overlooked the fact that it was Vietnam not the Philippines that was the key impediment to Chinese ambitions to control all the land features in the disputed waters. Vietnam still occupies 20-odd features and seems to be quietly improving the resilience of its holdings, he said. Read more: Philippine president creating uncertainty, causing distress, U.S. diplomat says China is the big winner as Clinton, Trump disavow hard-fought Asia-Pacific trade deal These are the bases the U.S. will use near the South China Sea. China isnt impressed. Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Infants born with microcephaly and their family members in Pernambuco state in Brazil. (Felipe Dana/AP) Nearly nine months after Zika was declared a global health emergency, the virus has infected at least 650,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean, including tens of thousands of expectant mothers. But to the great bewilderment of scientists, the epidemic has not produced the wave of fetal deformities so widely feared when the images of misshapen infants first emerged from Brazil. Instead, Zika has left a puzzling and distinctly uneven pattern of damage across the Americas. According to the latest U.N. figures, of the 2,175 babies born in the past year with undersize heads or other congenital neurological damage linked to Zika, more than 75 percent have been clustered in a single region: northeastern Brazil. The pattern is so confounding that health officials and scientists have turned their attention back to northeastern Brazil to understand why Zikas toll has been so much heavier there. They suspect that other, underlying causes may be to blame, such as the presence of another mosquito-borne virus like chikungunya or dengue. Or that environmental, genetic or immunological factors combined with Zika to put mothers in the area at greater risk. We dont believe that Zika is the only cause, Fatima Marinho, director of the noncommunicable disease department at Brazils Ministry of Health, said in an interview. Brazilian officials were bracing for a flood of fetal deformities as Zika spread this year to other regions of the country, Marinho said. However, we are not seeing a big increase. Researchers and health officials remain cautious about the lower-than-expected numbers. The latest studies have found more evidence than ever that the virus can inflict severe damage on the developing infant brain, some of which may not be evident until later in childhood. Doctors confirmed the link between the Zika virus and microcephaly in April. While the most visible sign of microcephaly is the small size of the head, its actually inside the brain where the most damage occurs. (Whitney Leaming,Julio Negron/The Washington Post) But researchers so far have learned a lot more about Zikas potential to do harm than its likelihood of doing so. Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are closely watching Puerto Rico, which has reported more than 26,800 cases of Zika. More than 7,000 pregnant women could be infected by the end of the year, according to the CDC. But although the outbreak has spread this year to more than 50 nations and territories across the Western Hemisphere, U.N. data shows just 142 cases of congenital birth defects linked to Zika so far outside Brazil. In Colombia, praised for some of the most rigorous standards for detecting and monitoring Zika, the government has tallied more than 104,000 Zika cases, including nearly 20,000 pregnant women. It has the second-highest number of Zika infections in the world after Brazil. But so far, Colombia has had just 46 babies born with congenital nervous system damage linked to Zika. And the number of new Zika cases in Colombia has fallen so sharply that the government in July declared the epidemic over, saying the virus will remain a threat but no longer spread rampantly. Colombia is investigating 332 more cases of birth defects for a possible Zika link, but health officials there had been prepared for many more. Our focus on Zika has changed, said Ernesto Marques, an epidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh who is working on a project to develop a vaccine for the virus. Marques is from Recife, the city in northern Brazil hit hardest by the Zika outbreak, and he was part of the team that first identified the virus as a possible culprit when deformed infants began showing up almost every day in Recifes maternity wards at this time last year. At the time, Marques said scientists were focused on identifying Zika as a causal agent for the sudden increase in birth defects, especially microcephaly, in which babies are born with undersize heads and often calcified brain tissue. Now weve settled on Zika as the smoking gun, but we dont know who pulled the trigger, said Marques, speaking from Recife, where he is working with government researchers. One of the leading theories, said Marques, is that northeastern Brazils last dengue outbreak was in 2003 relatively long ago so perhaps mothers in the area had relatively fewer antibodies to cope with Zika, which is spread by the same mosquito. Sexual habits and hygiene may also play a role, he said, explaining that researchers are looking at whether sexual transmission can infect the uterus and placenta with the virus, potentially exposing the fetus to elevated risk. We suspect the villain has an accomplice, but we dont know who it is, Marques said. Tatiane holds her nephew Arthur Conceicao, who was born last year with microcephaly, during his birthday party in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) (Felipe Dana/AP) Many question marks Researchers caution that it will take years to fully identify the dangers Zika poses to babies brains, and microcephaly is just one threat from the virus. A Zika infection poses the greatest danger toward the end of the mothers first trimester of pregnancy, and its harmful effects on fetal development may not be apparent at birth or manifest themselves until later in childhood. Marcos Espinal, the director of communicable diseases and health analysis at the Pan American Health Organization, said U.N. health officials were right to put the world on high alert earlier this year because so little was known about Zika. If you dont know about something, you better take preventative measures to minimize the risks, Espinal said. So maybe the fact that we dont have a lot of microcephaly means that we were doing our jobs and helped women avoid infection. At the peak of Zika alarm earlier this year, several Latin American countries urged women to delay pregnancy. El Salvadors government recommended waiting two years. The widespread anxieties produced by the outbreak may have led to an increase in abortions in Latin America, a region where the procedure is widely banned. Anecdotal evidence suggests more women have been quietly terminating pregnancies over worries that their babies might be deformed. This may also help explain the relatively low number of babies born with Zika-related birth defects outside northeast Brazil. It is very difficult to work out truly what is going on, said Oliver Brady, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who has been working with the Brazilian government on Zika. Until last year, Brazil reported about 150 cases annually of microcephaly, a condition that can also be caused by diseases like herpes and syphilis. Claudio Maierovitch, a former senior Brazilian health official responsible for monitoring Zika when the epidemic started, said that the figure was probably an undercount and that around 500 cases of microcephaly a year pre-Zika would be a more accurate number. When the microcephaly outbreak was first identified in Brazil, spooked health officials erred in the other direction and overdiagnosed the condition. Eventually, nearly 5,000 newborns who had been diagnosed with possible microcephaly turned out to be fine, according to Marinho, the Brazilian health official. But that still leaves at least 2,000 instances of Zika-related birth defects in the country, with an additional 3,000 cases under investigation. A big problem in determining whether Brazil has a higher rate of Zika-related birth defects is that no one is sure how many people caught the virus in 2015, when it was little known and widely confused with dengue. The fact is we dont have any idea how many cases there were, said Maierovitch, meaning its possible Brazils birth-defect totals could simply be a reflection of a Zika outbreak that was far more pervasive than anywhere else. Lucas Matheus, who was born with microcephaly, during his physical therapy session at the UPAE hospital in Caruaru, Pernambuco state, Brazil. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) (Felipe Dana/AP) An eye on U.S. territory Puerto Rico is the next laboratory for understanding Zika. CDC researchers are watching for Zika-related birth defects on the island, but the mainland United States appears to have averted a major outbreak so far. The vast majority of cases the CDC has counted were attributed to infections acquired abroad or through sexual transmission, though mosquitoes have spread the virus in a few neighborhoods in and around Miami. Experts have warned, however, that local mosquito-driven outbreaks may be occurring in other parts of the country, particularly in states on the Gulf of Mexico. An estimated 80 percent of people infected with the virus dont have symptoms and dont realize they have Zika. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said Congresss failure to approve Zika funding this year means there was no effective way to accurately count how many people were infected. Well have to hold our breath to see what happens in labor and delivery suites in a few months, he said. Thats the only way well know whether weve dodged a bullet. 1 of 65 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad How countries are combating the Zika virus View Photos The mosquito-borne disease suspected of causing serious birth defects is expected to spread to all countries in the Americas except Canada and Chile and remains a global health emergency, according to the World Health Organization. Caption The mosquito-borne disease suspected of causing serious birth defects is expected to spread to all countries in the Americas except Canada and Chile and remains a global health emergency, according to the World Health Organization. Oct. 27, 2016 A health ministry worker fumigates a house to kill mosquitoes during a campaign to prevent Zika in Managua, Nicaragua. Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters Wait 1 second to continue. Lena H. Sun in Washington contributed to this report. Read more Zikas terrifying path Zika has been linked to birth defects. Now it may be causing paralysis. While Latin America struggles over Zika, Haiti faces epidemic with a shrug Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world After former Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalezs putsch inside the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) paved the way for the installation of a right-wing Popular Party (PP) government, the Podemos party is signalling that it plans to form Spains next government after that. The Pabloite Anticapitalistas faction of Podemos and General Secretary Pablo Iglesias are seeking out alliances with disgruntled factions of the political establishment linked to the PSOE. They are well aware that the incoming minority PP government will be weak, deeply unpopular, and quite possibly very short-lived. Workers must be warned: the government coalition Podemos is seeking to build in Spain would be an enemy of the working class. Were it to come to power, Podemos would pursue an agenda of war and austerityjust like Podemos ally, the coalition government between Syriza and the far-right Independent Greeks party in Athens. Days after Gonzalez ousted PSOE leader Pedro Sanchez and pushed for the PSOE to back the installation of a PP government, Iglesias called for forging alliances with social democratic unions, a critical prop of successive PSOE and PP governments. Since 2012, the unions have remained silent as millions of workers suffered unemployment, wage cuts and redundancies. Referring to the PSOE-linked General Union of Labour (UGT) and the Stalinist-led Workers Commissions (CCOO) trade unions, Iglesias said: If the working class organisations call a general strike, Podemos is ready to make this general strike different. He continued, The general secretary of the UGT said something reasonable: no, we do not discard the possibility of calling a general strike if the PP rules. This is very important, very important. Iglesias told eldiario.org that the delivery of the government by the PSOE means we have to make parliamentary activity consistent with the construction of a popular movement. Iglesias is well aware that the PP government will be Spains weakest in the post-Franco era. The PP is massively unpopular due to its savage austerity measures and is involved in numerous corruption scandals. Just last week, Spains largest corruption trial in years opened; among the 37 accused are three former PP treasurers. The PPs electoral base is little less than 20 percent of the electorate, many of them pensioners, who face grim prospects, as Spains social security fund is predicted to run out of cash in late 2017. At the same time, the PP has already prepared a 5 billion austerity package to be implemented with the European Union once it takes power. On Sunday, after the PSOEs Federal Committee voted to allow the PP to rule, a decision that was the raison detre of the coup against Sanchez, Iglesias wrote a piece for Publico. In it, he declared that we are the opposition because there is where they have taken us, and we will assume it with pride. But I assure you that we prefer to govern and we will continue to prepare for it. Be assured that sooner or later it will occur. Podemos is conscious that the blow to the PP-PSOE two-party system means that the ruling class will sooner or later rely on Podemos to carry out its policies of austerity and war. The PSOE has been the main party of bourgeois rule in Spain for the past 40 years. Re-founded in the dying days of the fascist regime of Francisco Franco by Gonzalez, with the aid of European social democratic parties and semi-tolerated by the fascist Franco regime, the PSOE has undermined itself by backing a PP-led government. It is clear to ever broader masses of people that the two-party system in Spain in the entire post-Franco period was a duopoly between reactionary bourgeois parties deeply hostile to the working class. Podemos hopes to be the entirely undeserving beneficiary of mass anger with the PSOE and PP. Two years since its creation, Podemos is virtually indistinguishable from the PSOE in terms of its pro-capitalist programme and its imperialist foreign policy. Podemos is signalling as aggressively as possible to the media that its populist rhetoric is purely for show, and that it will carry out whatever policies are required by the banks and the financial aristocracy. Two weeks ago, Iglesias bluntly stated: If we rule, we will look for compromises and consensus, and we would openly say that our populism has ended, that it was useful in the fight. To the extent that Iglesias is briefly adopting deceitful populist rhetoric in a cynical bid to prepare Podemos for power, however, this has provoked an enthusiastic endorsement from the Pabloites. Previously, Anticapitalistas had directed mild criticisms at Iglesias after the June 26 elections, when Unidos Podemosthe alliance between Podemos and the Stalinist-led United Leftlost 1.2 million votes. Anticapitalistas blamed Podemos loss on Iglesias blatant attempts to reassure the Spanish and European banks that he would protect their interests, by forming a left coalition with the PSOE. In the days before June 26, Iglesias declared that Podemos was the new social democracy, and that former PSOE Prime Minister Jose Zapatero was the best PM in Spains history. Speaking to the Pabloite web site International Viewpoint just weeks before the Gonzalez putsch, Josep Maria Antentas, a leading member of Anticapitalistas, complained that voters have seen Podemos say one thing and do the opposite: rejecting left unity and then making an alliance with United Left; saying they would never form a joint government with PSOE only to then make an offer to do just that; refusing the label left and then embracing the label of social democracy. Antentas raised the fear that Podemos leadership was moving to further moderate the partys positions in order to increase its governmental and institutional credibility, especially among those potential voters still suspicious of Podemos. After Gonzalezs coup against Sanchez, however, Iglesias has changed course and distanced himself from those inside Podemos who advocated an alliance with the PSOE and even with the right-wing Citizens party. This has been well received by the Pabloite Anticapitalistas. In Madrid, where Podemos is holding primary elections to decide on the regions leadership, the Iglesias faction and Pabloite Anticapitalistas have joined forces. The written agreement cynically declares the party is not looking for moderation and that they will have no insecurities about scaring the privileged. Their aim is to create a party that does not surrender itself now that the PSOE has chosen the PP. They both agree that Podemos will not enter alliances with the PSOE in the region of Madrid. The Pabloite leader and Podemos Eurodeputy Miguel Urban declared that this does not end here, stating that the aim is to replicate the Madrid agreement at the national level. By PTI: The two sides welcomed cooperation in anti-human The two sides welcomed cooperation in anti-human trafficking and the fight against emerging security threats of the two countries. The two sides agreed to continue high level communication to reinforce security cooperation. The Home Minister expressed thanks and appreciation to the Bahrain Interior Minister, hailing the historical ties between the two friendly countries that are based on love and peace. advertisement Singh said Bahrain is a civilised and open society that promotes unity and co-existence and mutual visits will develop bilateral ties. He said terrorism is a threat to the whole world and that India is ready to reinforce joint counter-terrorism cooperation with Bahrain. Rashid hailed the first meeting of the Bahraini-Indian Joint Steering Committee as part of the agreement signed between the two sides on counter-terrorism to reinforce security cooperation, especially regional terrorism issues, a statement said. He highlighted that Bahrain has experienced terrorist acts that caused loss of life and horrific injuries and damage to infrastructure. The Bahrain Interior Minister said, "We look forward to working together in the fight against terrorism and in strengthening our mutual and regional security." He said the Joint Steering Committee should look at how "we can work together to address challenges and to follow up the progress of the agreed decision through exchange of visits and expertise and working to achieve common goals". The two sides agreed that the historical visit of the King of Bahrain to India in February 2014 built a basic foundation toward a strong partnership between the two countries, as well as the creation of opportunities to develop bilateral relations in various sectors. The two sides also agreed that the exchange of high level visits has contributed to the implementation of important agreements between the two countries. They discussed the visit of the Bahrain Interior Minister to India in December, 2015, that included the signing of the cooperation agreement on international counter-terrorism and trafficking of narcotics, psychotropic substances and chemical precursors. PTI ACB ASK ASK --- ENDS --- marijuana farmer grower Support for weed legalization in the US recently hit an all-time high, but looking at the industry, it's been a long time coming. Sixty-percent of Americans up from 35% in 2005 now support legalization, according to a Gallup poll from Wednesday. In addition, legal marijuana is on the ballot in five states in November, support among likely voters is well above 50% in in California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada. Arizona, the fifth state with recreational marijuana appearing on the ballot, is polling at around 50% in support of legalizing. Pro-legalization voices are now coming from some so many diverse places including the financial industry, law enforcement officers, and traditional activists it's no wonder a majority of Americans want legal access. 'Tipping point' California is particularly important because of the massive size of its economy. The state's economic output came in at $2.46 trillion in 2015, reports Business Insider's Ben Gilbert. If California were it's own country, it's economy would be the sixth-largest in the world, based on GDP. The state presents a massive opportunity for the marijuana industry and could affect the rest of the country's attitude. "We see California following the lead of Colorado and other states as a tipping point that will lead to the end of this incredibly destructive prohibition nationwide, and eventually globally," David Bienenstock, the head of content for High Times, a California-based marijuana publication, told Business Insider in an email. Tom Angell, an activist with Marijuana Majority, a pro-legalization group, agrees. "The topline number [in the Gallup poll] obviously bodes well for the marijuana measures on state ballots next month," Angell told Business Insider in an email. "But what gives me even more hope are the demographic breakdowns showing just how strongly young people support ending prohibition." While support for legal marijuana remains slightly lower for the 55-plus crowd, 77% of poll respondents in the millennial demographic aged 18-34 are in favor of legalization. Story continues Even former and current police officers, who've seen the devastating effects of the drug war on the communities they serve, are calling for marijuana legalization. "The Nancy Reagan era of 'just say no' doesn't solve the problem," Former detective and deputy sheriff Nick Morrow, and an advocate with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), told Business Insider. "For a five-year-old, that may work. But for a 25-year-old, that's not right." marijuana trimming trim trimmigrants LEAP is playing a "supporting role," along with the Drug Policy Alliance, to pass the Adult Use of Marijuana Act in California. "We want responsible drug policy, we want legalization," Morrow said. "If you're going to criminalize something have a really solid, science-based reason for doing it. Gut reactions don't solve problems." While statistics are hard to come by for exactly how many police officers support marijuana legalization, it's more than just LEAP. "The war on drugs was a failure, I should know as I once led it," Steve Downing, a former LAPD deputy chief, told The LA Times. "Our policies have done more harm to people and community than marijuana. We demonize people. We unnecessarily criminalized people." 'Massive cultural shift' Sensing a massive opportunity, financial executives are moving rapidly into the nascent marijuana industry. It's a sign that a once-maligned plant could now potentially be a multi-billion dollar industry. A report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation in May found that legalizing weed could generate up to $28 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue about the same as the GDP of North Korea. "The overall landscape will have reached a point of critical mass, and the cannabis industry will be too big to ignore," Al Foreman, a partner at Tuatara Capital, an alternative investment manager specifically focused on the marijuana industry, previously told Business Insider. marijuana cannabis pot weed And, like any burgeoning sector, a number of companies that provide a layer of software services to more traditional dispensaries and cultivators are moving into the space as well. Joel Milton, the CEO of Colorado-based Baker, a software tool that helps marijuana dispensaries better engage customers, told Business Insider that California's "poised," to pass recreational marijuana in November. Milton thinks that legalizing marijuana will give the industry some much-needed maturity in its what may be the biggest market. "Having some level of regulation makes for a normalized market," Milton said. "And obviously that opens up the market to a whole slew of people who didn't want to go through the process of a medical card." But, Milton says that until "cannabis is legalized on a federal level," issues around marijuana businesses accessing banks and opening lines of credit will remain. "California might be the 'tipping point,' but it alone won't change public and investor sentiment around the cannabis industry," Milton said. "But it may well be a catalyst toward it." "Its more clear than ever that legalization is the future," Angell, from Marijuana Majority, said. marijuana cannabis weed Despite growing support across the spectrum, there's still some pushback from activist groups on the other side of the coin that want to keep marijuana illegal and off the market. Kevin Sabet, a founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an anti-marijuana legalization group, told Business Insider in an email that marijuana legalization initiatives are all about profits. Smart Approaches to Marijuana, based in Washington, D.C., is one of the leading anti-legalization groups in the country. "These initiatives are all about addiction for profit," Sabet wrote. "They pack regulatory boards with industry representatives. They allow for unfettered sales of high THC pot candies, almost unlimited advertising, and many allow for pot bars." "So it's clear that this is about an industry getting rich," Sabet wrote. However, Colorado legislators where weed is already legal have created new regulations to rein in the sale of candies that contain THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. NOW WATCH: The 'Mrs. Doubtfire' house is on sale for $4.45 million heres what it looks like 23 years later More From Business Insider Rhode Island Women March in Yoga Pants Parade After Local Man Pens Letter Bashing Their Age, Weight About 400 people paraded past a mans house in Rhode Island in their yoga pants after the he deemed the garment inappropriate and unattractive read his letter Thanks, but namaste in our yoga pants! About 400 people gathered together for a peaceful parade around a mans neighborhood in Rhode Island on Sunday, October 23, after the man, Alan Sorrentino, penned a letter printed in The Barrington Times begging women over the age of 20 to stop wearing yoga pants in public. PHOTOS: Shape Up Your Wardrobe: The Coolest Winter Workout Clothing, Inspired by Celebs The absolute worst thing to ever happen in women's fashion is the recent development of yoga pants as daily wear outside the yoga studio, Sorrentinos letter to the paper read. Like the miniskirt, yoga pants can be adorable on children and young women who have the benefit of nature's blessing of youth. However, on mature, adult women there is something bizarre and disturbing about the appearance they make in public. Maybe it's the unforgiving perspective they provide, inappropriate for general consumption, TMI, or the spector [sic] of someone coping poorly with their weight or advancing age that makes yoga pants so weird in public. PHOTOS: Celebrity Workout Buddies Sorrentino went on to ask that those over the age of 20 refrain from wearing yoga pants, and claimed that its equivalent to if men started wearing Speedos to the grocery store. To all yoga pant wearers, I struggle with my own physicality as I age. I don't want to struggle with yours, he concluded. His open letter (obviously) didnt go over so well. On Sunday, women and men gathered to protest Sorrentinos remarks. Some held signs read we wear what we want, and others told local outlets they were outraged when they read the letter. I dont get involved in much in the way of protests and marches and all of that, but this just brought me out because the guys letter was offensive, Ellen Taylor told the Boston Globe on Sunday. Its OK if youre 20 and gorgeous to wear yoga pants, but dont do it if youre older and lumpy and bumpy? According to Sorrentino, who told outlets hes since received death threats, he penned the letter in jest. Story continues I assumed the character of this grumpy old man that was railing about women in yoga pants because he was too tight to just relax and accept himself in his age and his own ways. It was meant to sound stupid and creepy, Sorrentino told WPROs John DePetro on Saturday. I have no problem with yoga pants. Wear them all you want! PHOTOS: Celebs Fight Back on Twitter! Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics, and more delivered straight to your inbox! Related Content: Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Photo: Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection) George Lucas created the character of professor-archaeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones back in the early 80s, and had a primary hand in conceiving the stories featured in his first four feature films (all directed by Steven Spielberg). However, when asked about the in-the-works fifth installment in the popular franchise, screenwriter David Koepp revealed that, this time around, Lucas hasnt been involved in the story process. While doing press for Inferno (which he also wrote), Koepp was asked by Colliders Steve Weintraub if the Star Wars creator would be pitching in on Indiana Jones 5 especially since Spielberg himself previously announced that Lucas would be an executive producer on the project. Koepps answer? Hes not, to my knowledge. Ive had no contact with him. Thats certainly a stunner of sorts, given Lucass primary role on past Indy sagas. With 2008s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull proving to be something of a letdown, it appears Koepp who was credited with penning Crystal Skull will shape the material himself. In doing so, the screenwriter said that the crucial thing about any Indy outing is the MacGuffin, or the device or artifact that triggers the plot. I think that what [Indy] looks for and when he looks for it dictates what the movies gonna be, said Koepp. So the selection of the MacGuffin is everything. For Crystal Skull, which was set in the late 50s, the production team took inspiration from classic sci-fi, rather than the World War II influences of the earlier movies. That was a really conscious decision that dictated a lot about what the story would be and what the movie would be like, and I think that was followed through on really nicely, said Koepp. Learning how thats the importance of the choice of the MacGuffin is a big deal. Koepp also said that the sequel which will bring back star Harrison Ford is moving forward, and that everyone is enthusiastic about its clean and simple premise. Spielbergs busy schedule (he just wrapped principal photography on Ready Player One, and is next shooting The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara) means the productions actual start date remains up in the air. Nonetheless, Disney has Indiana Jones 5 slated for a July 19, 2019 release, so things should be ramping up soon. Story continues You can read the rest of Colliders chat with Koepp here. Watch a trailer for Crystal Skull: The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or graduate school search. While Greek life in college isn't for everyone, some students join to socialize, engage in philanthropy and build a community -- to name just a few reasons. More than 6,100 fraternity chapters existed on roughly 800 college campuses in the U.S. and Canada during the 2014-2015 school year, according to data from the North-American Interfraternity Conference. For students interested in joining Greek life, the presence of fraternities -- or lack thereof -- might become a factor when deciding where to apply. Among the 784 ranked colleges that submitted these data to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average proportion of male, degree-seeking undergrads who joined fraternities in fall 2015 was about 9.6 percent. [Explore what to ask before you join Greek life.] However, among the 11 schools with the highest percentage of male undergrads in a fraternity, the average was much higher: 58 percent. Indiana's DePauw University topped this year's list, with 79 percent of male undergraduates in fraternities, closely followed by Washington and Lee University in Virginia at 78 percent. Those are the only two colleges where more than three-quarters of male undergrads pursued Greek life. [Discover a range of fraternity scholarships.] DePauw -- where the Greek system dates back to 1845 -- and Washington and Lee each have about 25 fraternities and sororities on their campuses, according to information submitted to U.S. News. On the opposite end of the spectrum, 195 ranked colleges reported to U.S. News that zero percent of male undergrads joined fraternities in fall 2015, and 220 schools reported between just 1 and 5 percent. Story continues Most of the schools on the list were National Liberal Arts Colleges, which emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts. Below are the 11 schools where the largest percentage of male, degree-seeking undergraduate students joined fraternities in fall 2015. While fraternities are predominately male, there are a few coed fraternities. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report. Don't see your school on this list? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find data on fraternities, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights. U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2016 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The fraternity data above are correct as of Oct. 25, 2016. Jordan Friedman is an online education editor at U.S. News. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at jfriedman@usnews.com. For hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen diesel owners whove been waiting to get rid of their smoggy cars, the day has finally arrived. A $14.7 billion settlement with U.S. regulators over VWs diesel-emissions cheating won final approval from U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer. The decision paves the way for VW owners to get cash compensation, a buyback or simply have the car repaired, although a repair has not yet been approved. Consumers Union, mobilization and policy arm of Consumer Reports, applauded the approval of the final settlement and urged the government to maintain oversight over VW throughout the process. "Volkswagen needs to make consumers whole, and this work starts today," said Laura MacCleery, vice president of policy and mobilization for Consumers Union. "Were pleased that consumers can choose which remedy works best for them and receive cash compensation regardless of their choice." This sentiment was echoed by other groups championing consumer protections. "Theres a sense from many consumers that they just want this done," said Dave Cooke, vehicles analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Now people can actually begin the process." Once owners get their application processed by VW, they will be able to schedule a buyback appointment within 90 days, the German automaker said. Leaseholders will be able to schedule an appointment in 45 days. There are already 336,000 consumers registered to receive settlement benefits, according to a hearing Breyer held last weeka little more than two-thirds of the estimated 475,000 affected owners. About 3,200 VW owners have opted out of the deal, preserving their rights to mount their own separate lawsuits. VW called the judges approval "an important milestone in our journey to making things right in the United States." "Volkswagen is committed to ensuring that the program is now carried out as seamlessly as possible for our affected customers and has devoted significant resources and personnel to making their experience a positive one," said Hinrich Woebcken, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. This deal also is exclusive to owners with 2.0-liter engines. About 85,000 owners of larger cars and SUVs with six-cylinder, 3.0-liter engines are waiting for their own settlement and government-approved fix. The other elements of the settlement that can now get under way are a $2.7 billion program to clean the air through locally administered smog-control grants and a $2 billion investment VW has promised for electric-car infrastructure and consumer education. Story continues The government agencies that negotiated with VWthe U.S. Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, and the California Air Resources Board (CARB)promised consumers would get generous compensation for the diminished value of their cars, which can emit up to 40 times the permitted amount of smog-forming nitrogen oxides. VW owners will have the option of selling their cars back to the company or keeping them and getting a free, government-approved repair. Either way, theyll get cash payments ranging from $5,100 to $10,000. Making the decision to sell or fix won't be easy until more is known about the repair, how well it works, and how much it affects performance and fuel economywhich Consumer Reports will test. VWs fix still hasnt been approved by EPA and CARB. The settlement creates a strong incentive for consumers to have their cars bought back, said Cooke of the Union of Concerned Scientists. If youre a VW owner whos already tired from having to wait more than a year to get to this point, youll have more months to wait to evaluate the potential repair. No one knows at this point how the recall will affect vehicle performance, and the market for the repaired cars isnt expected to be great, Cooke said. The EPA has been having a technical discussion with VW for months about how a fix will work, agency spokesman Nick Conger said. Now that the judge has approved the settlement, the next step will be for VW to formally submit the repair for review. The agreement gives EPA and CARB 45 days to evaluate the proposal, and the regulators are going to try to stick to that timetable, Conger said. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright 2006-2016 Consumers Union of U.S. When you think of wineries, rolling vineyards in Napa Valley or the Finger Lakes may come to mind. But Brian Leventhal and John Stires want you to think of Brooklyn. The entrepreneurs co-founded Brooklyn Winery in 2010 after meeting at an internet startup years earlier in 2007. They liked wine and knew a bit about it, after having participated in several years of team-building exercises with their coworkers making and bottling their own wines. "Each year we made a different vintage, and went through the entire process from fermentation all the way through bottling with our own custom label," Stires recalls. The only problem? "One of the pain points was getting out to New Jersey. None of us had cars, so we were taking the subway, train, or the bus, and then walking a mile to get to this place." That got them wondering why this wasn't being done in the New York City area. So Stires and Leventhal decided, Who better to give it a go? They got to planning and decided to quit their jobs in 2010 with only a business plan in place no space, capital, or winemaker lined up. But they felt confident their concept would take off. Plus, they had nothing to lose. They weren't in their dream careers and did not yet have children to support. "You start thinking, 'What's the worst that can happen if we try and fail?'" Leventhal says. "And the way we looked at it, that was not nearly as bad as not trying at all." The friends officially launched Brooklyn Winery in Williamsburg in October 2010, raising about $1 million from friends and family to renovate an 8,000 square foot building that's had several lives: a former creamery, a pickle factory, and most recently, a nightclub. The co-founders really bootstrapped the operation, even renovating the space themselves to keep costs down. "We were working every day, hammering and sheet rock painting it's given us a much greater appreciation of where we are," Leventhal says. The business opened with a simple concept: it would make and bottle wine and offer a small menu of options for food. But once they opened, they adjusted to customer demand. Story continues "People started saying, 'The space is beautiful and I love wine do you do weddings?'" Stires recalls. The answer was no, but they soon changed their business model and began holding events. Today, about 75 percent of the winery's business comes from hosting weddings and other parties. Brooklyn Winery's wine business itself is also gaining traction. In its first year, Brooklyn Winery made 2,500 cases of wine. Today, at full capacity, they are making between 8,000 and 9,000 cases per year. Revenue totaled $5.2 million in 2015, with growth projected for this year as well. They sell close to 20 different wines featuring imported grapes from all over the country, taken through the full wine-making process on site. Bottles retail for around $20 to $30 a bottle in their store, online, and in other local retailers. Today the business has grown to 80 employees and it recently opened up a new bar and restaurant called BKW in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. In 2017 they are planning to open a winery in Washington, D.C., with the same concept as Brooklyn Winery, but larger. "The nice thing about being an urban winery is that we have the ability to focus on grapes from a lot of different regions. We are pulling fruit from New York State, Northern California, Washington and Oregon we bring all of that here and can really make a diverse portfolio," Leventhal says. Beyond making great wine, Stires and Leventhal have now made their dream jobs into a profitable and rewarding reality. "There's nothing better and more fulfilling in life than our job of making people happy, whether it's just selling them a bottle of wine they will take home and drink, enjoying a glass at the wine bar or celebrating one of the most important days of their lives with us," Leventhal says. "And being able to create that experience, there's nothing better than that." More From CNBC Investors with a short-term investment plan may not be interested in semiconductor equipment stocks. They rarely see news-making variation quarter to quarter and the direction of their results can be predicted in advance. Thats because major equipment buyers (their customers) offer capex estimates which in combination with market research data on new fabs coming to market leave little to imagination. But that just means they are suitable for longer-term calls on whether to buy or sell. A negative sentiment follows when individual memory and logic makers and specialized foundries have equipped their fabs and will only make moderate purchases to supplement existing equipment. They will try to make their fabs as efficient as possible to continue without major investment for as long as possible because building fresh capacity is extremely expensive. But things turn positive when theres good reason for customers to upgrade existing equipment either due to technology inflections like shrinking geometries, 3D NAND, etc or due to increasing demand. So thats when we need to take a look at the markets driving the demand for such technologies, whether such demand is likely to sustain and for how long. Since foundries like Taiwan Semiconductor TSM, logic makers like Intel INTC, memory makers like Samsung and Micron MU are all trying to bring to market products based on new technologies and China is trying to get a number of fabs and foundries online both this year and the next, the spending environment remains positive. Add to this the fact that concepts like cloud computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence are greatly increasing the need for computational efficiency in data centers while the concept of IoT and the resultant data that is generated is raising demand for a humongous number of chips that must be manufactured. Besides, industries that have thus far stayed away from automation and technology (mining is an example) are beginning to consider the investment to drive efficiency in operations. Story continues Unlike semiconductor makers, semiconductor equipment makers still arent too many and its still a handful of companies that rake in most of the revenue and profits. Because semiconductor equipment is extremely expensive to develop, this concentration of capabilities is not likely to go away any time soon. Of course, China does have a semiconductor focus, but current efforts are focused on internal production of its huge chip consumption. So it remains a buyer of equipment and will remain so for a few years. With that backdrop, lets jump to the stocks- Three semiconductor equipment companies have reported September-quarter results and theres a couple more left to round out the top five. Of the companies that reported, Lam Research LRCX and KLA-Tencor KLAC beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate while ASML Holding ASML missed. Lam has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) (you can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here )and VGM score A. Its Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter has moved up 21.6% since it reported results last week. The March quarter estimate is up 12.0%. LAM RESEARCH Price and EPS Surprise LAM RESEARCH Price and EPS Surprise | LAM RESEARCH Quote KLA has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and VGM score A. Its Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter has moved up 10.3%. Since it reported results last week, estimates for fiscal 2017 and 2018 are up 2.4% and 2.1%, respectively. KLA-TENCOR CORP Price and EPS Surprise KLA-TENCOR CORP Price and EPS Surprise | KLA-TENCOR CORP Quote ASML may have missed estimates and seen moderate correction in forward estimates, but the company has received a number of orders for EUV machines that will be a positive going forward. Growth can be a challenge however since EUV machines generate lower margins, so can result in a negative mix if legacy products see weaker sales. The company has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and VGM score F. Growth can be a challenge, however, since EUV machines generate lower margins, so can result in a negative mix. Last Words Investors should note that the Zacks Rank is a short-term recommendation covering the next 1-3 months although todays picks also look good as long-term investments. Confidential from Zacks This week, Zacks researchers have named 7 other stocks that look to break out even sooner than today's Bull of the Day. You can see these time-sensitive tickers free, and access additional trades that are not available to the public. Simply click here>>. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report INTEL CORP (INTC): Free Stock Analysis Report MICRON TECH (MU): Free Stock Analysis Report KLA-TENCOR CORP (KLAC): Free Stock Analysis Report ASML HOLDING NV (ASML): Free Stock Analysis Report LAM RESEARCH (LRCX): Free Stock Analysis Report TAIWAN SEMI-ADR (TSM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research 2016 Triumph Street Triple Ride Review Before recently throwing a leg over the 2016 Triumph Street Triple I had never before harbored a desire to do so, despite the accolades its received over the years. The bike is revered in its native Britain. First introduced in 2007 as a little-brother version to the streetfighter-styled Speed Triple, it has spent the past almost-decade being a big seller in Blighty and has earned a fair few fans elsewhere. The unabashedly 1990s styling of both the Street Triple and Speed Triple is polarizing, though, and Im one of those folks who falls on the side of thinking it is ugly as sin. But a motorcycle is a motorcycle and all motorcycles are good. So, when an opportunity came up to spend some time with the 675cc inline triple I definitely wasnt going to turn it down. Fortnight With a Triumph I ended up getting to spend two weeks with the Street Triple, racking up a little more than 800 miles on the clock thanks to the need to make a run to London to attend the launch of appropriately another Triumph: the new and ultra-gorgeous Bobber. (For those of you unfamiliar, I am based in Cardiff, Wales). I also had a chance to put the bike to the test in a number of scenarios and, as a result, was reminded once again that you cant judge a book by its cover. The Street Triple is a far better ride than I would have imagined. 2017 Triumph Street Triple In The City When people talk about the Street Triple they tend to do so in terms of its performance on twisty roads. Certainly I agree that it is fun in those conditions but where the bike really excels is an urban setting. This thing is a surgical tool with which one can dissect traffic. If you are fortunate enough to live in a place where lane splitting is allowed or tolerated, the Street Triples relatively narrow bars, upright riding position, and responsive but smooth throttle will ensure you almost never have to sit still. A tall first gear overlaps into second nicely and a combination of the two will allow you to get north of 30 mph comfortably i.e., no jerkiness when letting off the throttle. Urban maneuvers are so fluid as to be almost confidence-building. Story continues The bike carries its 414-lbs. of wet weight well, but I wouldnt complain if steering lock were more generous to allow it to snake more easily through traffic gaps. One major complaint is that the bike seems to lack presence. Maybe it was just bad luck but in my time with it cars were pulling out in front of me, meandering into my lane, and otherwise being oblivious to my presence far more than when Im on other bikes. Additionally, the mirrors are abysmal. They dont show whats behind you so much as they just remind you that there might be something behind you. Maybe. Youll have to check for yourself. 2017 Triumph Street Triple On The Highway Some of my criticism of the Street Triples mirrors may stem from the fact that, at 6 feet 1 inch tall, I am clearly not the target audience for this bike. Its ergonomics are pretty cramped for a guy who generally favors adventure bikes and cruisers especially when riding at speed, leaning into the windblast. In that position I found the mirrors were almost parallel with my line of sight. I had to pull back and contort when attempting to view things behind me. Speaking of windblast, the Street Triple is a warm-weather-only machine. That little cowl above the twin headlights offers no discernable protection against the elements. Rain, cold, bugs youll get the full brunt of them when astride this bike. Which, in conjunction with the seating position, makes it ill-suited for long hauls. Its not sportbike uncomfortable (handlebars are upright after all), but my knees, shoulders, back, and neck started to ache after an hour or so in the saddle. Add to that the fact the passenger seat is more of an idea than a reality, and there are no bungee pegs for luggage. Its something of an apples to oranges comparison to say this, but when it comes to sporty all-rounders, I found the Honda CBR650F I rode earlier this year to be far more comfortable over distance. However, the Street Triples magnificent engine makes a person kind of not care about those complaints. Triumph claims 106 horsepower for this little bike, whereas other sources suggest a number closer to 98 hp. Either way, its more than enough. Smooth, bungee-like acceleration brings you up to and beyond legal highway speeds with no effort. And the bike holds those speeds comfortably with little to no vibration coming through the bars or pegs. The chassis is unflappable at high speed, holding rock-steady on long boring straights and flicking with ease from lane to lane when asked. The Triumph is so good in this sense that I wish there were some sort of sport-touring Daytona (the Street Triple is, after all, effectively a naked and detuned version of the Daytona 675 sportbike). Triumph will never create such a thing, because theyd only sell about eight of them, but a lad can dream. 2017 Triumph Street Triple Back Road Riding Where the Street Triple shines most, of course, is on back roads. Its the sort of machine that makes every corner fun even when keeping at or close to legal speeds. Everything works so fluidly, so very much as you wish a bike would. Im not a track bro, and I suspect the standard Street Triple would come up short in that environment (Perhaps the Street Triple R would be more to sirs liking?), but on public roads the bikes suspension is more than sufficient. ABS-equipped brakes perform well, though they may not offer quite as much bite as some folks would prefer. I thought they were fine. The soundtrack of the bikes exhaust is a reason in and of itself to hustle down country lanes. At higher revs you are rewarded with the iconic bark of an inline Triple, ease off and you hear an anticipative burble. Involuntary revving will occur any time you pass through a tunnel, followed by goofy laughing on your part and an overwhelming desire to do wheelies. One of these days Ill learn how to do those... 2017 Triumph Street Triple Practicality Whether the Street Triple is practical depends on your intended use. As a long-distance machine, no. Along with compact ergonomics, bad mirrors, no luggage points, and a complete lack of weather protection, the bikes fuel economy leaves something to be desired when run for long stretches at interstate/motorway speeds. London is just 150 miles from Cardiff but I wasnt able to make it all the way without a fuel stop. Within the city, at lower speeds, fuel economy improves and as I say it is a magical commuting machine. In a heavy-traffic area like London, Los Angeles, or Houston (Ive seen plenty of dudes lane-splitting there despite its questionable legality) this would be the ideal motorcycle to own. There is something life-enriching about hearing the sound of that burbling, barking engine bouncing off the doors of cars as you pass by. Obviously, the Street Triple is far more powerful than necessary for just city duty, but that means you dont need to switch bikes when travelling to those less hectic roads where no one really worries about practical matters. 2017 Triumph Street Triple What Everyone Else Says Its a running joke that any time Triumph releases a motorcycle the British press automatically place it on their Best of the Year lists. So, it comes as no surprise that Motorcycle News was gushing in its praise back when the Street Triple was first released five stars across the board. Its impossible to think of a better engine to power the Triumph Street Triple, MCN reported. The 675cc motor lifted from the Daytona 675 offers absolutely everything you need. I agree. The engine is absolutely the star of the show, outshining the motos horrendous looks and cramped riding position to the point of making you feel a little silly for complaining too much about them. Meanwhile, Blake Conner, writing in Cycle World, said: The Street Triple completely redefines what the middleweight naked class is all about. He wrote that in 2007, before anyone had even thought about the Yamaha FZ-09, but Id argue the Street Triple still holds its own in the class. It lacks traction control and spiffy riding modes but remains engaging, loads of fun, and easy to ride (though, Id disagree with anyone suggesting it as a bike for newer riders). 2017 Triumph Street Triple The Little Things I mentioned that the bike doesnt seem to have much presence, somehow disappearing from other road users view. Exacerbating this is the nature of the bikes turn signal lights. Rather than the traditional set-up of having a bulb behind a colored cover window (i.e. yellow on the front, red on the rear) the signals use colored bulbs inside a mirrored housing. Thats swell in low-light conditions, but creates a unique problem in bright sunlight. Which I learned about when a Dominos delivery driver almost ran me over. I caught up with him and offered to insert my boot into his bodily orifices, but he claimed Id been signalling a right turn. I informed him he was wrong, expressed my displeasure with his actions, and ultimately the two of us parted on unhappy terms. About 20 minutes later, I was walking out of a shop and, in looking at the bike, thought: Why is my blinker on? It wasnt. It was sunlight reflecting in the mirrored housing. I had unfairly expended a whole lot of negative energy toward that delivery driver, and I felt like a jerk. I also felt nervous riding in sunshine; perhaps Triumph intended this bike for vampire use? 2017 Triumph Street Triple The Best Things The Street Triple doesnt look too bad from the rear, and I really dig the underbelly exhaust that as I say makes a beautiful sound. Here in Her Majesty the Queens United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland there is a special feeling one gets when riding a Triumph, regardless of how ugly it may be. Even little old ladies give you a warm smile when they see the name on the tank. Police officers give a nod of approval when you park on the sidewalk. Youre unlikely to receive such special treatment beyond the shores of this sceptered isle, but theres still something unique about riding a bike with such an iconic name. Most importantly, though, theres that engine. It will make you happy every time. 2017 Triumph Street Triple Would I Buy It? I can say a lot of good things about the Street Triple, and Id argue that the bikes US $9,400 asking price (7,500 in the UK, 9,590 in the EU) is mostly fair. Despite the fact its $400 more than a FZ-09. But I cant imagine ever being willing to part with my own hard-earned cash for a bike this ugly. I mean, Lord, is it ugly. Thats a rich statement coming from a guy who likes adventure bikes (every manufacturer makes one, none of them look good), but in those cases the bikes offer more all-round usefulness. Which compensates for the fact they arent as fun. Within the Street Triples own genre, however and assuming that I wasnt living in the UK, where the Triumph name delivers a lot of intangibles I suppose Id spend my moola on uh well thats a tough one. There are bikes that are cheaper, that look better, that have more techno whizzbangery, but few put everything together as well as the Triumph. So, I guess Id just learn to live with it, taking solace in the fact I cant really see the bike when Im on it. Besides, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and some people love the Street Triple. I cant blame them for doing so. Rider Stats Rider: Chris Cope Height: 6 feet 1 inch Physical build: Thin, lanky Riding experience: 25,000+ miles a year Gear Helmet: BMW System 6 Evo Jacket: Resurgence Gear Rocker Gloves: Weise Remulus Jeans: Resurgence Gear Voyager Boots: MotoBailey ElBulli If you've been to Bali, you must have walked across those lovely boutiques wondering which one to stop at? Here's a guide for you. If you haven't been to Bali, what are you waiting for? By India Today Web Desk: What is it about Bali? Je ne sais quoi. Yes, that is the only expression that can describe it. It has miles of sandy beaches, but so does Phuket. It has mouthwatering fresh seafood, but that's just as good in Sri Lanka. It's been bombed to bankruptcy and tsunamis have beaten it to rubble and yet the international jet set throng Kudeta in their Oscar De La Renta kaftans and their Shivan Naresh malliots, learning how to surf. advertisement The good life in Bali begins with where you stay. Sure you can sit back and watch the Indian Ocean lap at the edges of the stylish Legian, or the elegant St Regis, but the only way to really vacation in Bali is to sip a lychee martini by your very own pool in your personal villa. While there are few to choose from, my picks would be The Elysian, Pentai Lima, Latitude Bali, the decadent Puri Ganesha or you could just choose Villa Bali Becik where Gado Gado, your butler not the salad, caters to your every whim. Think of arranging a personal yoga session with Kathy Cook, the island's premier yoga instructor. Also read: Sleeping under the Northern Lights: that's what you can do at this hotel in Finland Begin your day with a head rush by doing a downward dog as the sun rises from the ocean. Otherwise, call Elisa Senese for aqua pilates in your pool and she will make sure that your core is pumped for a breakfast of bacontopped pancakes all served by your personal butler who has also made sure that your Stella McCartney linen shift is ironed and crisp for your day in the sun. Bali pulls at the heartstrings of the bohemian and the diva in a way incomparable to the rest of Asia and this has made it a haven for resort wear and lifestyle goods that have slowly become more than just travel clothes and holiday souvenirs. In the last decade, the heart of spring clothing clientele has arrived in Seminyak in droves. You could rent the plus private bungalows at The Legian. Photo: India Today Archives If you happen to stay at The Legian, then it's best to begin at their boutique stocked with stunning resort wear from Shiva Diva. Step out and you'll find a cluster of boutiques. My favourite are Nafsu for lovely fashion trinkets but jewellery hoarders will love Maru that stocks Indonesian inspired baubles made of copper, silver and gold. Jump into a cab, go past the Kudeta Beach Club, and get onto Ji Lakshmana to find Quarzia at 3A, which stocks stunning silk dresses hand painted using the traditional batik technique by two Italian designers. Turn a corner where Ji Lakshmana meets Jalan Kayu Aya road and you'll find Seminyak Square, a commercial restaurant and shopping hub. This is where you stock up on holiday reading at Periplus, Indonesia's largest provider of English books, and groceries shopping at Casa Gourmet and Bali Deli, a favourite with expats. advertisement Step out of Seminyak Square and head down the road and you will find the The Hobo Store at 8B. The Hobo is the perfect blend of international design by Indonesian craftsman, all conceived by Anna Pretty who creates both mass production and high quality bespoke products. Want your home to look like The Legian or St Regis? Try The Orchard at number 33, the retail showroom of Ibal Designs, suppliers to over 70 hotels around the world. Bamboo Blonde is on the right of The Orchard and great for casual fashion. But if you prefer a name on your jeans then head to Lily Jean at number 58 and Nico Perez for breezy billowing linen shirts for the Heathcliff in your life. Ahead you'll find irreverent hand-woven cotton and silk robes at Paul Ropp and natty lace dresses at the French Magali Pascal. Follow the bend and you'll find over 50 brands including Alessi, Melissa, Baby Manis, Vivienne Westwood, design brand COVO at SimpleKonsepStore. Picture courtesy: Bali Horse Adventure advertisement If you care for something more vintage then head to Shalom Art Shop, next to the Oberoi, which specialises in mirrors and Venetian frames made in Java. Surfer boys, heads up! Dues Warung of Simple Pleasures at 32B is where actor Orlando Bloom shops for custom made motorbikes and Drifter Surf Shop, down the road, is where he probably goes for all things surfing. Skin is great for casual natural fiber men's wear. Aluminum lovers should head to YES, right opposite the fine art gallery Kebath and then to Caf Zucchini for a glass of iced tea. Now hop into another cab and head for Ji Raya Kerobokan and hop out at the junction and saunter into the famous Niluh Djelantik, a favourite with the likes of Uma Thurman and Gisele Bundchen, for bespoke footwear that combines high heels with comfort by using rubber platforms. A right on Ji Basangkasa will lead you to the Australian brand Enfant Paradis where heavenly scents will elevate your mood and make you want to pack your bags only to use their luxury travel skin care. advertisement By now your feet will be ready for Jari Menari's 'dancing fingers' and yoga influenced 'long massage strokes'. Make sure to book ahead. Before you continue down the road for lunch at Made's Warung, take a peek into Galeri Esok Lusa, which specialises in glass sculptures by Japanese artists. Made's Warung is an icon in dishing up home-cooking Balinese style but if you're feeling less coconut water and more Apple martini, then head back for a fashionable lunch at Kudeta before you head home for a long well deserved snooze. Time to be a Bond girl. Having spent the morning exercising, the credit card I mean, it's time to savour the ocean and nothing says Bond girl more than galloping on a stallion, the wind in your hair and sea salt spraying your face. Hire from Bali on Horse. Follow that up with a massage in the privacy of your own home. Most local masseurs couldn't find a knot if it stared at them in the face but Cendana Spa will make sure your every muscle goes soft, pliable as clay. If it's a facial that makes you smile, then the Crme de La Mer facials at the cliff top Ayana Resort's Spa on the Rocks will make you swoon; it might also empty your wallet. After a blow dry, or perhaps a shave, at Spoiled at Kerobokan (book ahead), you are now prepped for the evening. Wine, dine and shop at the French food extraordinaire Metis, which comes attached to a divine boutique that sells intricate mother of pearl and silver hair accessories. I still wear mine. If you are looking to encapsulate your Bali moment, try the Pesta Lobster at the Ayana Resort in Jimbaran. Tucked away in their private jetty is your one table restaurant overlooking Jimbaran bay with your own personalised framed lobster menu and rinkik orchestra. This is the moment solitaires were made for. If you're ready to mingle and show off that rock, head back into Seminyak and pull into The Potato Head Beach Club and join revellers who've been sipping bellini's and having the perfect sundown. If you're less Pucci and more Picasso, there are many art and antique emporiums like Horn Emporium and Aulia in Kerkoban, Stephanie Sensey and Icon Asian Arts in Seminyak but my favourites is Bali Gucci at Jalan Raya Basangkasa, which stocks an eclectic mix of antiques. If you've been everywhere and done all of that, just one phone call to Diana von Cranach at well-kept secrets. com will guide you to hidden beaches and whispered experiences that will have the most cynical globetrotter saying, there's something about Bali. Keep in mind Though Bali gets pretty busy in December, remember that October-March is the wet season. August is when all of Europe comes to play. Most shops are closed on Sunday during off season. So if there's somewhere you want to go especially, call in advance. Hire a car and a driver: It's cheap and you're cheerful. Remember that they overestimate the travel time of most places. One hour often means twenty minutes. Small warungs and cafs are cash only and make sure you ask them how much that tasty looking crab weighs when you pick it from the tank. Avoid vendors and touts that walk up to you selling handicrafts. We are now stuck with a totem pole carved by a fiveyear old. --- ENDS --- Attending college overseas can be an amazing experience. But navigating daily life at a new school in a country you aren't familiar with requires careful planning to ensure a happy international college journey. If you are a prospective international student, avoid making these three common mistakes when choosing a global university. [Read these five considerations for choosing a university overseas.] 1. Not adequately researching locations: Exploring school locations means thinking about geography and weighing factors like your preference for a small or big city, cost of living, and internship and work opportunities. Choosing a university only because of its location "might cause problems if the student is not ready for the challenges of the location," Nazan Kabatepe, certified educational planner for Erka Group in Turkey, said via email. Challenges could include adapting to a large campus, a town without a lot of diversity or a bustling city. She suggests students research potential locations online and consult with college counselors to find an institution that is the best overall fit. "Find a program, school, city that matches who you are," says Caela Provost, North American officer and U.S. representative for study abroad and postgraduate programs at University College Cork in Ireland. [Get to know the pros and cons of earning a bachelor's degree in Europe.] Students who are used to walking and biking, for example, may want to explore schools where classes and housing are in the same vicinity. For students who thrive on city life, schools in big cities may be the right choice for a more active social life and greater networking opportunities for internships and jobs. When Provost speaks to prospective international students, she asks them questions such as whether they are a city or country person, if they prefer high- or low-energy environments and why they want to study overseas. She says students should research their options and put great thought into their final decision. Story continues "Paris is more than the Eiffel Tower. London is more than Big Ben. Egypt is more than the pyramids," says Provost, who studied abroad as a U.S. undergraduate at the University of Limerick in Ireland and then attended the institution for graduate school. "No matter where you land, let it be somewhere that you feel will allow you to grow as a student, as an international citizen and as a person." 2. Not accounting for all costs: Students should remember to account for costs beyond tuition -- including daily living expenses, such as food and other necessities, as well as leisure activities -- before they choose an international college. This is particularly important for students coming from countries with weaker currencies, experts say. Kabatepe, the educational planner, recommends students check college websites for general tuition information and related expenses and then calculate a budget in the currency of the country to which they want to move. She says they should carefully consider the foreign currency, keeping in mind that exchange rates can fluctuate day to day, and plan to have additional funds as a reserve. [Prepare for the hidden costs of earning a degree overseas.] Some universities offer tools to help students account for expenses and exchange rate changes. For example, on its website, the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom provides students with typical living costs per week, a Student Budget Planner and a link to the International Student Calculator to help them create a budget while living and studying in the U.K. The financial aid and bursar's offices at New York University Shanghai counsel prospective students on fluctuating exchange rates between the student's home country currency and the Chinese yuan, says Jake Pu, the university's media relations officer. "The only advice I'd give is to monitor the exchange rates on a consistent basis before you move," says Singaporean national Jonathan Chuah, who graduated from New Zealand's University of Otago in 2013. He says he factored in daily living expenses before deciding to earn his degree overseas. 3. Not having strong English-language skills: Prospective international students attending an English-language university should be prepared for lectures and assignments as well as conversations between classmates and professors that are entirely in English. Many of these schools require students to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language or the International English Language Testing System exam, which tests students' English proficiency. Kabatepe advises students to take either exam and make sure they have the required score before applying to English-language universities. She said that if students can't achieve the score a school requires, they should "consider colleges that have intensive English language programs on their own campuses." Many universities offer these programs to help nonnative English speakers who have met the other admissions requirements improve their English proficiency. Kingston University in the U.K., for example, offers what's known as a presessional English language course to help international students -- even those who have met the language requirements -- sharpen their academic English language and study skills. The university also offers current international students a free language development program during the school year that provides academic English courses to help with their studies. To prepare for an English-language university, Joyce Vining Morgan, certified educational planner for Educational Transitions in the U.S., advises students to read and write in English daily, including reading novels and watching movies without subtitles and summarizing both in writing. "Reading news on the internet, listening to mainstream news broadcasts online and then writing summaries is also helpful," says Morgan, a former college counselor and teacher. "The more practice the better." See the complete rankings of the Best Global Universities. Anayat Durrani is a Los Angeles-based freelance education reporter for U.S. News, covering global universities, including those in the Arab region. (QUETTA, Pakistan) Militants wearing suicide vests stormed a Pakistani police academy in the southwestern city of Quetta overnight, killing at least 59 people, mostly police cadets and recruits, and waging a ferocious gunbattle with troops that lasted into early hours Tuesday. Pakistani officials feared the death toll could rise further, as the four-hours-long siege one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistans security forces in recent years left 117 wounded, some of them in critical condition. The assault caught many of the recruits asleep in their dorms and forced cadets and trainers to jump off rooftops and run for their lives to escape the attackers. By mid-day Tuesday, conflicting claims of responsibility emerged. ISIS, which is waging war in Syria and Iraq where it has declared a self-styled caliphate, posted a claim on the groups media arm, the Arabic-language Aamaq news agency. It said three ISIS fighters killed 60 police recruits in Quetta but the claim was not confirmed by Pakistani officials and ISIS did not offer any previously unknown details about the assault. Earlier, a little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Hakimullah group, also issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. Pakistani officials, doubting the groups capabilities in staging such a coordinated and spectacular assault, also could not confirm that claim. While most of the casualties were police cadets and others at the academy, some of the army personnel who responded to the assault were also among those killed, said Shahzada Farhat, police spokesman in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. The attack in Quetta began at 11:30 p.m. on Monday, said Baluchistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti, with the militants shooting and killing a police guard at the watch tower before storming into the academy, located on the outskirts of Quetta. Baluchistan officials had earlier received intelligence reports that some terrorists have entered the province but had no indications about possible targets. Story continues We had tightened security, which is why they could not do it in the city and chose a target on the outskirts, said Baluchistans chief minister, Sanaullah Zehri. There were also disparate figures as to the number of attackers. Provincial police chief Ahsan Mahboob said four gunmen were involved in the assault while a military statement later said there were up to six attackers. About 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff were inside the academy when it was attacked, Bugti said, adding that the gunbattle with the militants lasted for at least four hours. Once inside the academy grounds, Pakistani media said the gunmen headed straight to the dorms housing the cadets and trainees and opened fire, shooting indiscriminately. Some of the cadets jumped off the rooftops and through windows to try to escape. They were rushing toward our building, firing, one cadet told Pakistani Geo TV news channel. We rushed for safety toward the roof and jumped down in the back of the building. Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told the station the gunmen shot at whoever they saw. I ran away, just praying God might save me, he said. After the attack, Pakistani forces tightened security around the academy and Quetta hospitals were the wounded were taken. Footage aired on local television stations showed ambulances rushing out of the main entrance of the academy as fire engines struggled to put out fires set off by the explosions from the attackers suicide vests. Most of those being treated at the city hospitals had gunshot wounds, although some sustained injuries jumping off the rooftop of the hostel housing the cadets to escape the gunmen. This war isnt over, said Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. The enemy is weakened, but not eliminated. Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force which is primarily responsible for the province, claimed the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighboring Afghanistan. He said they were most likely from the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi militant group affiliated with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Sunni militant group has mainly targeted minority Shiite Muslims whom its members consider to be infidels. The paramilitary chief spoke before ISIS and the Hakimullah groups claims surfaced. Afghanistan condemned the attack and dismissed Pakistans allegations that the assault was planned from bases inside Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the biggest victim of terrorism and denounces all terrorist attacks, said Mohammad Haroon Chakhansuri, spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. In a separate statement, Ghani also condemned the attack, saying that terrorism is a threat throughout the region, which is reflected in the brutal act today in Quetta. Pakistan maintains that militants fleeing army operations in the tribal regions regularly escape across the border, finding safe havens inside Afghanistan. For his part, Ghani has been deeply critical of Pakistan, saying it has provided safe havens to the Taliban and in particular the violent Haqqani network. For over a decade, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share in the regional resources. Islamic militants and Sunni sectarian also have a presence in the province. Pakistan has carried out several military operations against militants in countrys lawless tribal regions along Afghanistan border, including a major push that started mid 2014 in North Waziristan, a militant base. The Islamic militants have killed tens of thousands of people in their bid to overthrow Pakistans government and install their own harsh brand of Islamic law. Later Tuesday, a roadside bomb killed a police official escorting a polio team that was travelling in northwestern Pakistan as part of a vaccination campaign, according to Furqan Bilal, a police superintendent in Peshawar. Militant attacks on polio teams are common in Pakistan as Taliban and other extremists denounce such vaccination campaigns as a Western conspiracy. Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, 3M Company MMM reported relatively healthy third-quarter 2016 results with GAAP earnings of $1,329 million or $2.15 per share compared with $1,296 million or $2.05 per share in the year-earlier quarter. The year-over-year improvement in earnings per share, despite slightly lower sales, was largely due to a decline in operating expenses. The reported earnings exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. Net sales during the quarter were $7,709 million, marginally down from $7,712 million in the year-ago quarter and in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Foreign currency translation impact increased sales by 0.5%, while organic local-currency sales declined 0.8% and inorganic growth added 0.3%. On a geographic basis, organic sales increased 1.2% in Latin America/Canada, offset by a 2.2% decline in Asia Pacific, 1% decline in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and 0.4% in the U.S. Operating income in the reported quarter was $1,904 million versus $1,876 million in the year-ago-quarter, resulting in respective operating margins of 24.7% and 24.3%. FindTheCompany | Graphiq Segment Results Industrial segment sales increased 1% year over year to $2,582 million as sales growth in automotive OEM and automotive aftermarket was partially offset by decline across the rest of the portfolio. Operating income increased 2% year over year to $591 million, while operating margin improved 0.3% to 22.9%. Health Care segment sales increased 1.1% to $1,361 million in the reported quarter, driven by growth in food safety, drug delivery systems, and critical and chronic care. Organic local-currency sales increased 1.5% year over year while adverse foreign currency translation partially reduced segment sales by 0.4%. Operating income decreased 0.6% year over year to $429 million, while operating margin was also down 0.6% to 31.5%. Consumer segment revenues were $1,209 million, up 4% year over year, driven by home improvement and home care businesses. Operating income was $317 million, up 8.3% year over year. Operating margin was 26.2% for the reported quarter compared to 25.2% in the year-ago quarter. Safety and Graphics segment sales increased 2.2% year over year to $1,448 million, owing to sales growth in roofing granules and commercial solutions. The segment recorded organic local-currency sales growth of 2%. Operating income increased 12.3% to $364 million, while operating margin improved 2.2% to 25.1%. Electronics and Energy segment revenues were $1,293 million, down 7.5% year over year due to decline in electronics material solutions and display materials and systems. Organic local-currency sales declined 8.1%, dragged down by weakness in electrical markets and renewable energy markets. Operating income was down 9.1% year over year to $312 million, while operating margin was down 0.4% to 24.2%. Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Cash and cash equivalents as of Sep 30, 2016 were $2,308 million, compared with $1,605 million as of Sep 30, 2015. Long-term debt stood at $11,079 million at quarter end, compared with $8,937 million in the year-ago period. Cash flow from operating activities for the first nine months of the year was $4,453 million compared with $4,082 million in the year-earlier period. Free cash flow generated during the quarter was $1,561 million, up from $1,310 million in the prior-year period. During the reported quarter, 3M paid $670 million in cash dividends and repurchased $774 million worth of shares. 3M converted 117% of net income to free cash flow during the quarter. Outlook Narrowed 3M narrowed its earlier guidance for 2016. The company anticipates 2016 GAAP earnings in the range of $8.15 to $8.20 per share compared to earlier projections of $8.15 to $8.30. Organic local-currency sales is expected to be flat compared to 0%-1% growth expected earlier, while free cash flow conversion rate is anticipated to be 95%-105%. 3M CO Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise 3M CO Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | 3M CO Quote With continued restructuring activities for a focused portfolio, 3M expects to report relatively healthy results in 2016 and beyond. 3M currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the industry include Danaher Corp. DHR, Leucadia National Corporation LUK and Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation MIC, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Danaher has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 11.7% and is currently trading at a forward P/E of 22.4x. Leucadia has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 18.0% and is currently trading at a forward P/E of 94.2x. Macquarie is currently trading at a forward P/E of 70.1x. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report 3M CO (MMM): Free Stock Analysis Report DANAHER CORP (DHR): Free Stock Analysis Report LEUCADIA NATL (LUK): Free Stock Analysis Report MACQUARIE INFRA (MIC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The 30-year-old pastor of a small religious group that former members insist is a cult has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault, thus avoiding murder charges in a 2015 attack on two of her church members, PEOPLE confirms. Her plea along with the pleas of three other church members on Friday comes little more than a year after two teenage brothers were savagely beaten over a dozen hours for what prosecutors said was their plan to defect from the upstate New York congregation. Under the terms of a deal brokered by prosecutors, Tiffanie Irwin, the leader of the Word of Life Christian Church in Chadwicks, New York, pleaded guilty on Friday to two felonies: third-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault. Irwin will avoid a murder prosecution for 19-year-old Lucas Leonards killing, thanks to the plea agreement, which recommends a 12-year prison sentence. Last fall, Leonard and his then-17-year-old brother, Christopher Leonard, were pummeled by several church members, including their own parents. Lucas eventually died from injuries he sustained in the attack. Prosecutors contend the beatings began soon after both brothers approached church leaders with their plans to leave the secretive congregation. But in the spring, Christopher, who sustained severe injuries during the beatings, testified that he and his brother had molested the children of several of the churchs members, including his half-sisters infant child. (Prosecutors had long claimed the allegations of abuse against the Leonard brothers were baseless, that Irwin falsely accused the two teens of sexually abusing their younger siblings and cousins over the course of several years.) All told, nine people were indicted for their roles in the Oct. 11, 2015, attack. Irwin was one of the four remaining defendants facing murder charges. The other three also accepted plea deals on Friday, a court official confirms: Joseph Irwin, Tiffanies 23-year-old brother, pleaded guilty to first-degree gang assault and second-degree assault; he faces eight years in prison when hes sentenced in December. David Morey, 27, and his mother, 55-year-old Linda Morey, both pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree assault and will likely be sentenced to five years behind bars. Story continues Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. The teens parents, Bruce and Deborah Leonard, were also church members and previously pleaded guilty to assault. Bruce faces 15 years while Deborah is looking at five. Tiffanies mother, Traci Irwin, and her son, Daniel Irwin, pleaded guilty to unlawful imprisonment. Theyre each facing two-year prison sentences. Sarah Ferguson, the teens half-sister, was the only defendant involved in last falls violence to decline a plea deal. In July, she was convicted of manslaughter and assault but was cleared of murder. She has since been sentenced to 25 years in prison. At Fergusons trial, Bruce Leonard testified that Tiffanie called his family together, following a Sunday service, before confronting the brothers with allegations of child abuse and witchcraft. He told a judge the beatings began with a punch and a slap and quickly progressed to electrical cord whippings. Bruce testified that the beatings were carried out so that his sons would understand the hurt that they caused and to discipline and punish them. Bruce said he handed a power cord to Ferguson, who Leonard claims asked the teens, How could you? as she started whipping them. He further testified that Lucas admitted having a voodoo doll of Tiffanie and said hed regularly stick pins in it to hurt the pastor. Court records show Bruce testified that Lucas fell down during the attacks and was ordered to stand back up. Lucas fell a second time, and he begged for the violence to cease. The father told the court that the whippings finally stopped after Lucas sustained an injury to his genitals. According to court records, he bled out from a laceration there, causing his death. Lyon (AFP) - More than $460 million and some 300 weapons have been seized, mainly in Mexico, in a global anti-smuggling operation, Interpol said Tuesday. "This operation has taken millions of dollars and hundreds of weapons out of the hands of organised crime and potentially terrorist groups as well," Interpol Secretary General Juergen Stock said in a statement. The four-week operation, codenamed Chimera, launched on September 19 and involved 70 countries. Stock said it "clearly shows what can be achieved through close cooperation". Focusing on express courier and mail services, the operation targeted the illicit trafficking of small arms, cash, cheques, traveller's cheques, bearer bonds and postal orders. Among the key seizures was a record interception of $450 million made by customs officers in Toluca, Mexico, said France-based Interpol, which coordinated the operation with the World Customs Organization (WCO). Interceptions were made at key border points in the participating countries, Interpol said, without going into details. Operation Chimera now moves into a second phase with the WCO and Interpol analysing the results so far in order to target the criminal networks behind the seized cash and weapons, the statement added. As the race for the presidency enters its last lap, Hillary Clinton has emerged as the clear favorite. Going by the Real Clear Politics poll average, Clinton is leading Donald Trump by more than six points as of now. Market watchers and analysts alike are now examining the implications of a Clinton presidency for various sectors of the economy. Given her stand on healthcare and the biotech industry in particular, it comes as no surprise that investors have become increasingly wary of such stocks. However, the sectors inherent appeal remains intact despite the troubled waters it has traversed recently. Picking healthcare stocks despite a Clinton win could be a profitable play after all. Would Healthcare Companies Be Badly Hit? Most of the pharma industrys apprehensions related to a Clinton presidency are related to her stated position on drug overpricing. However, the fear that a Clinton presidency would lead to industry wide price controls on drugs may be widely exaggerated, according to analysts at Credit Suisse CS. Clinton and Donald Trump are both in favor of giving Medicare the freedom to negotiate with drugmakers directly on prices of prescription drugs. But such a scenario is highly unlikely given the resistance that President Obama has faced in his multiple attempts at giving Medicare bargaining power. Meanwhile, the pharma industry supports a different approach to fix pricing. This model envisages prices being set according to a drugs performance. For instance, a drug could be initially provided at lower cost and prescription plans would later pay higher amounts if the medication succeeds in achieving preset goals. Several companies such as Eli Lily LLY, Merck MRK and Amgen AMGN have already struck such deals where performance determines pricing. Sector Prospects Remain Bright Given the challenges on the drug pricing front, investors are now betting on other stock categories which could be better bets. Medical technology, life science tools and service providers have replaced biotech stocks as industry favorites. Story continues Companies such as Thermo Fisher TMO and Illumina ILMN are riding the genomic analysis wave and have begun offering products with applications ranging from cattle breeding to oncology. Meanwhile, Medtronic MDT and Edwards Lifesciences EW are poised to gain from there cardiovascular therapy products which is emerging as one of the most innovative therapeutic areas. At the same time, healthcare stocks remain great defensive options during a period of economic uncertainty and looming geopolitical risks. A spate of mergers and options, primarily in the biotech space, is likely to spark off further investor interest. The fact that Pfizer PFE paid $14 billion to buy Medivation MDVN shows that the eagerness of larger companies to acquire smaller industry players. This trend is likely to continue in the near future. Our Choices Despite the near certainty that Clinton will win the presidential election next month, its not all doom and gloom for healthcare stocks. In fact a section of market watchers are even predicting a biotech relief rally. But given the uncertainty which hangs over this particular set of stocks, it may a good idea to pick up other options from within the healthcare industry. However, picking winning stocks may prove to be difficult. This is where our VGM score comes in. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum and the score is a weighted combination of these three scores. Such a score allows you to eliminate the negative aspects of stocks and select winners. However, it is important to keep in mind that each Style Score will carry a different weight while arriving at a VGM score. AngioDynamics Inc. ANGO designs, manufactures and sells a wide range of medical, surgical and diagnostic devices. AngioDynamics has a Zacks Rank #1 and a VGM Score of A. The company has expected earnings growth of 12.9% for the current year. Its earnings estimate for the current year has improved by 3.2% over the last 30 days. WellCare Health Plans, Inc. WCG is a provider of managed care services targeted exclusively to government-sponsored healthcare programs, focusing on Medicaid and Medicare. WellCare Health Plans has a Zacks Rank #1 and a VGM Score of A. The company has expected earnings growth of 46.2% for the current year. Its earnings estimate for the current year has improved by 0.4% over the last 30 days. Surgery Partners, Inc. SGRY is an operator of surgical facilities located in the U.S. Surgery Partners has VGM Score of A. The company has expected earnings growth of 90.6% for the current year. Its earnings estimate for the current year has improved by 1% over the last 30 days. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH is a diversified health and well-being company. It has been consistently gaining from robust Medicaid and Medicare businesses. UnitedHealth has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of A. The company has expected earnings growth of 24.2% for the current year. Its earnings estimate for the current year has improved by 1.2% over the last 30 days. Boston Scientific Corp. BSX manufactures medical devices and products used in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. Boston Scientific has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of B. The company has expected earnings growth of 18.3% for the current year. Its earnings estimate for the current year has improved by 0.1% over the last 30 days. Confidential from Zacks This week, Zacks researchers have named 7 other stocks that look to break out even sooner than today's Bull of the Day. You can see these time-sensitive tickers free, and access additional trades that are not available to the public. Simply click here>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report PFIZER INC (PFE): Free Stock Analysis Report LILLY ELI & CO (LLY): Free Stock Analysis Report MERCK & CO INC (MRK): Free Stock Analysis Report CREDIT SUISSE (CS): Free Stock Analysis Report THERMO FISHER (TMO): Free Stock Analysis Report ANGIODYNAMICS (ANGO): Free Stock Analysis Report BOSTON SCIENTIF (BSX): Free Stock Analysis Report MEDTRONIC (MDT): Free Stock Analysis Report EDWARDS LIFESCI (EW): Free Stock Analysis Report ILLUMINA INC (ILMN): Free Stock Analysis Report AMGEN INC (AMGN): Free Stock Analysis Report UNITEDHEALTH GP (UNH): Free Stock Analysis Report WELLCARE HEALTH (WCG): Free Stock Analysis Report SURGERY PARTNRS (SGRY): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research //players.brightcove.net/416418724/default_default/index.min.js The Houston Police Department and the Houston Fire Department honored a 5-year-old boy for his bravery and heroism on FridayA after he rescued his brother from a burning vehicle. Isiah Churchs stepfather, Glenn Church, wasA driving a moving van from Michigan to Texas with Isiah and his sleeping 2-year-old brother, Jeremiah Church, on October 14A when the vehicle was involved in a fatal, fiery accident. Glenn was killed instantly in the crash and Jeremiah became trapped under the van. Isiah dug through debris, found his toddler brother and pulled him to safety. Hes an amazing little man, the boysA grandmother, Sandi Watkins, tells PEOPLE. Hes always watching out for his little brother. He loves his brother so much. Jeremiah suffered second and third degree burns in the horrific accident with a majority of the skin damage located on his arms, chest and face. He received a skin grafting operation on Friday at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston. Its amazing that these two children made it out alive, truly a miracle, says Watkins. Jeremiah is doing phenomenally, he looks better every single day. The boys mother, whom Watkins would like to remain anonymous, was driving in a car ahead and is currently hospitalized for emotional trauma. An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway by the Houston Police Department. The boys lost everything they had in that fire, says Watkins. So were just taking it one day at a time now. Isiah is doing absolutely amazing, hes talking to a psychologist and we dont bring up the accident. Watkins says Isiah saw his brother for the first time on Friday. We didnt think he would be able to handle seeing Jeremiah up close with all the burns, so we had him stand 30 feet away and say hello, she explains. That night he said Nana I cant believe baby Jeremiah is alive! I want to give him a great big kiss and hug! Story continues Houston Police Department acting chief Martha I. Montalvo presented Isiah with a public service award, silver badge and backpack with toys for his actions. Isiah Church is a hero in my eyes.A A This was a tragic event and, as a mother myself, as a parent, I was touched by what this child did.A A He didnat think of himself, but thought of his brother, Montalvo tells PEOPLE. Isiah had been ejected from the vehicle and, Iam told, he motioned to his brother to get out of the vehicle that was on fire. When his brother didnat, Isiah found a way to get the door and got his brother out. He lost his dad in the accident, who had been ejected, but he still thought of his brother first. As police officers, weare trained what to do, but Isiah already knew.A I told him to come back in a few more years, we need police officers like him. Watkins was able to get custody of the boys with help from Houston notary Tracee Jordan who read about the accident on the local news. I knew I had to help out this family they have been through so much it absolutely broke my heart, Jordan tells PEOPLE. I have been staying by Sandis side helping her cope and deal with everything. Jordan set up a GoFundMeA page to raise money for the boys and agreed to help the family with all necessary paperwork for free. Through this tragedy we have received the most amazing support from kind strangers, says Watkins. Isiah and Jeremiah will be okay in the end, they are strong and theyll get through this together. The Daily Beast STRINGER/ReutersVideo footage shows pedestrians attempting to sway an Indian suspension bridge in the moments before it catastrophically collapsed, leaving at least 141 people dead as of Monday.Rescuers expect the death toll to continue to rise after the bridge fell apart in the western state of Gujarat on Sunday. The majority of those killed were women, children, or elderly people, a local official told the BBC. Almost 180 people were successfully rescued, however, in an overnight operation inv By PTI: Bill New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) A delegation of an Assam-based Bengali association today derided the All Assam Students Union (AASU) for its opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and demanded strengthening of the proposed law. The Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya O Sanskriti Sammelan said the Bill in its present form does not guarantee citizenship to the people from minority communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India at various points of time. advertisement The delegation today presented a memorandum to the 30-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), headed by BJP MP Satyapal Singh, which is examining the Bill. "We are in favour of the Bill. But its language needs to be reworked and should reflect clear and unequivocal assurance of citizenship. The waiting period after application should be reduced to six months instead of six years as it currently seeks to provide," Joydeep Biswas, a member of the delegation, said. He termed as "bizarre" AASUs claim that the Bill, if passed, may change the demography and culture of Assam. AASU has also threatened to launch a mass movement against the Bill. "It is absurd to think that minorities fleeing persecution in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan will come and settle in Assam," Biswas said. The original Citizenship Act, passed in 1955, defines the concept of Indian citizenship, and lists out ways to acquire the same, explicitly denying citizenship to all undocumented migrants. A key amendment in the new Bill, however, seeks to grant citizenship to people without valid documents from minority communities ?- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians ?- from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India. PTI SBR SMN --- ENDS --- Although voters in Colombia recently rejected a negotiated peace accord between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla movement, a ceasefire continues to hold as both sides say they remain committed to achieving an agreement for a lasting peace. The principal reasons for the accords defeat have been ably identified elsewhere. Suffice it to say, many Colombians oppose the transitional justice system intended to hold FARC leaders accountable for their decades of criminality, as well as a plan to grant them automatic seats in congress. One concern of the Colombian people that has not received adequate attention, however, is not just the FARCs legalization as a political party, but as one that is estimated to have upwards of $10 billion stashed away in foreign banks. Some Colombian fear that the FARC would uses those illicitly accrued funds to replicate the Hugo Chavez playbook: buying support and suborning democratic institutions until, voila, Colombians wake up one day under the thumb of an ideological authoritarian movement dedicated to repressing dissent and forcibly redistributing wealth. Remember, they said it could never happen in Venezuela either. The FARCs offshore holdings have already been a bone of contention in the run-up to the peace plan referendum. Last month, Santos told a New York audience that Colombia has a history of seizing assets from drug cartels and warned the FARC that their ill-gotten wealth could be seized to pay reparations to war victims. The FARC, for its part, said prior to the referendum that it would reveal the amount of its offshore wealth only when the accord was approved, and offer to pay reparations to victims. Many observers dismissed that statement as a ploy to influence the plebiscite. Regardless, to build voters confidence in a final peace accord with the FARC, the Colombian government and the United States ought to proceed in identifying and seizing FARC assets abroad now. This is blood money, derived from trafficking in illicit drugs, people, and other contraband, to which the FARC has no legitimate claim. Indeed, let the seized assets be used to indemnify victims of the conflict or even to reintegrate FARC foot soldiers into Colombian society. Thats certainly more just than calling on Colombian taxpayers to pay the bill. Story continues The Obama administration can do its part by lending technical expertise and moving against known facilitators of the FARCs finances abroad. That brings us once again to Jose Luis Merino, the FARCs man in El Salvador and a top operative of the ruling party, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). I have written before on this blog about Merino (here and here), but much has transpired since then. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is the latest Member of Congress to weigh in on Merino, challenging the administration at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on global corruption, saying, Youve got the right hand man of the president of El Salvador, Jose Luis Merino. This guy is a top-notch, world-class money launderer, arms smuggler for the FARC as well as for corrupt Venezuelan officials. Why is this guy not sanctioned? Rubio then followed up with a letter to the Treasury Department asking the same question. Soon thereafter, El Salvadoran Attorney General Douglas Melendez announced he was reviving a 2014 investigation into Merinos involvement in drug and weapons trafficking. Given these statements from a public official of another country, and given that they are addressing a politician and public official of our country, we cant not investigate, he said. Demonstrating that the targeting of Merino has struck a nerve, the FMLN recently took the extraordinary step of sending a delegation to Washington to lobby the U.S. Congress on behalf of Merino, according to investigative journalist Hector Silva. The delegation also reportedly complained about U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Jean Manes, who enthusiastically supports the anti-corruption efforts of Attorney General Melendez. All this shows that those investigating Merino are on the right track. But, as noted, there is more to this situation than just the suspected criminality of one man. Merino is an important cog in the FARCs money-laundering machine abroad. The most important contribution the United States can make at this point to help Colombia achieve real peace is to bring down their foreign aiders and abettors. A good first step would be to sanction Jose Luis Merino and seize FARC assets secreted in his vast financial empire. Photo credit: Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Shailene Woodley will stand trial in January on charges stemming from her arrest with more than two dozen other activists while protesting construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, court documents showed on Monday. Woodley, 24, who has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of trespassing and engaging in a riot, faces up to two months in jail and a $3,000 fine if convicted. The actress, who had been livestreaming the Oct. 10 protest at a Dakota Access pipeline construction site 2 miles (3.2 km) south of St. Anthony, North Dakota, was seen on camera being taken into custody and narrated her own arrest. In an interview with the website Democracy Now! on Sunday, she said she was strip-searched at the Morton County jail. "I have to say, I was the first person who got released that day on bail. My mom happened to be there. And I think it freaked her out a lot. But there were a lot of women who I got to know in that chamber who had to stay overnight and spent a lot more time in jail than I did," she said. Woodley, also known for her environmental activism, had previously joined members of North Dakota's Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to demonstrate against the $3.7 billion project. The 1,100-mile (1,770-km) pipeline, being built by a group of companies led by Energy Transfer Partners LP, would be the first to bring Bakken shale from North Dakota directly to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The tribe believes the pipeline would leave its land vulnerable to contamination and damage historic and culturally significant sites. Supporters say it would provide a safer and more cost-effective way to transport Bakken shale to the U.S. Gulf. Woodley co-starred in the film "Snowden" as the girlfriend of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked details about the U.S. government's massive surveillance programs and was granted asylum in Russia after fleeing the United States in 2013. In a related protest on Oct. 11, activists were arrested as they tried to shut down the flow of oil through pipelines carrying crude from Canada to the United States. Among those taken into custody were documentary filmmakers, Lindsey Grayzel, Carl Davis and Deia Schlosberg, who were filming the action. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for charges to be dropped against them, saying they were protected by free speech rights. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Peter Cooney) Adrienne Bailons 33rd year is already positioned to be her best yet! The actress celebrated her birthday on social media, Monday, while simultaneously showing off her huge sparkler from fiancA Israel Houghton. In the photo, smiling Bailon looked out from a balcony while Paris Eiffel Tower shinedA brightly in the background. Looking into this new year of life with so much gratitude & excitement for the future, Bailon shared on Instagram. Thank you for all of your beautiful birthday wishes. My heart is so full. Thank you Lord for another year! Just two months ago, Houghton popped the question in the City of Love, presenting The Real co-host with a multi-carat cushion cut diamond bordered on all sides by French pavA diamonds. RELATED VIDEO: What did Adrienne Bailon Splurge on in Paris!? //players.brightcove.net/416418724/rJSWQ1RE_default/index.min.js Back Stateside, the pair honored the location of their big moment with a Parisian-themed shower at West Hollywood restaurant Fig & Olive. Were very D.I.Y. people and were hands both for our wedding and the shower, Bailon told PEOPLE of the party. The Eiffel Towers were black but we wanted them rose gold like my engagement ring, so we got spray paint and sat on the deck of our house and spray painted them ourselves. We had frames that I got there and put pictures in it. I did all the table setting myself with Israel. The lavish shower was a blast aA and only an indication of whats to come for the happy couple. Said Bailon, I cant wait to marry my best friend. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / October 25, 2016 / Gunpowder Capital Corp. (CSE:GPC) (CSE:GPC.PR.A) (YS6N.F), (the "Corporation") announced today that it has been retained by Advantagewon Oil & Gas Corp., ("Advantagewon") to assist in Advantagewon's proposed going public transaction. In order to provide Advantagewon with a sufficient public float, GPC will subscribe for up to Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ("$250,000.00") CDN of common shares in the capital of Advantagewon by issuing up to Two Million Five Hundred Thousand ("2,500,000") Gunpowder Capital Corp., common shares to Advantagewon. As compensation for Gunpowder's services, which will include managing administrative and compliance matters, Advantagewon will pay Gunpowder Capital Corp., Thirty Thousand Dollars ("$30,000.00") CDN. It is anticipated - barring any regulatory delays - that it will take approx., 30 - 45 days in order for Advantagewon's non-offering prospectus to be approved by the OSC. The OSC's approval will then give Advantagewon the ability to apply to the Canadian Securities Exchange ('the CSE") in having its common shares listed onto the CSE. Upon successful listing of Advantagewon's common shares onto the CSE, Advantagewon will issue Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ("$250,000.00") worth of Advantagewon common shares to Gunpowder Capital Corp. About Advantagewon Oil & Gas Corp Advantagewon was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) on July 10, 2013, and is a widely-held privately owned, Toronto-based oil and gas company with a focus on development opportunities in Texas, U.S.A. Advantagewon currently owns two properties in Texas: (i) the Saratoga property located in Hardin County, Texas (the "Saratoga Property"); and (ii) the La Vernia property located in Guadalupe County, Texas (the "La Vernia Property"). Saratoga Property The Saratoga Property contains 260 acres and is located near the Spindletop oil discovery of 1901. A National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities ("NI 51-101") reserves report, dated November 1, 2013 (the "Saratoga Reserve Report"), indicates gross proved plus probable reserves of 1.61 million barrels of oil and net proved plus probable reserves of 1.20 million barrels of oil on the Saratoga Property. Story continues A well drilled by Advantagewon on the Saratoga Property in May 2014, resulted in an initial production of 100 barrels of oil per day ("bbls/d") from the Cook Mountain Formation Yegua Group. The total current production of that well as of November 17, 2014 is approximately 105 bbls/d. The Saratoga Reserve Report indicates that additional oil reserves are present in other locations updip to wells that watered-out in previous years. Due to the strong water drive flow and pressures of the Cook Mountain formation updip oil from prior oil well producers in this formation was not recovered, leaving several potential drilling locations. La Vernia Property The La Vernia Property is a low-risk, low-cost infill drilling development project. Advantagewon is currently acquiring additional land in the area, with a goal of acquiring 6,000 acres. This project is currently not producing. A NI 51-101 reserves report, dated November 1, 2013 (the "La Vernia Reserve Report"), indicates gross proved plus probable reserves of approximately six million barrels of oil equivalent ("MMBoe") and net proved plus probable reserves of 4.7 MMBoe on all available leases, with potential production coming from shallow (i.e. less than 1100 feet) Cretaceous and Tertiary strata. In addition, potential reservoirs are present at a depth of approximately 1,000 to 3,500 feet. This area is in the heart of the South Texas oil fields (25 miles southeast of San Antonio). Roads and pipeline infrastructure and service companies are excellent, allowing for easy development of the field. For further information please contact: Mr. Frank Kordy Interim CEO & Director Gunpowder Capital Corp. T: (647) 466-4037 E: frank.kordy@gunpowdercapitalcorp.com Mr. Paul Haber CFO Gunpowder Capital Corp. T: (416) 363-3833 E: paul.haber@gunpowdercapitalcorp.com Forward-Looking Statements Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although Management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Gunpowder Capital Corp. Clutching a radio in his hand on a barren hill surrounded by desert peaks, Sahil prepares to guide a pilot flying low overhead toward his training target -- the third car in a convoy below. Under pressure from the Taliban, Afghanistan's military is increasingly relying on the country's young air force, and, together with Western allies, is speeding up its training of pilots and ground controllers in order to strike the enemy. Once a strong flying power supported by the Soviet Union, Afghanistan's air force was decimated by the civil war of the 1990s and the turbulent period of Taliban-rule. By the time Western forces started rebuilding it in 2007, there were only a handful of MiG fighters left. "There are currently 78 trained and available aircrews in the Afghan Air Force," says Captain James Smith, spokesman for the US 438th Air Expeditionary Wing, which is responsible for training the Afghans. But there is still a long way to go. The AAF now has around 100 aircraft, including 27 MD-530 attack helicopters, and about 20 small support aircraft, such as the Brazilian built A-29 Super Tucanos -- used against drug traffickers in Latin America. It also has approximately 50 Russian Mi-17 transport choppers. "With the three main bases in Kabul, Kandahar and Shindand, the bad guys know (the AAF) can strike anywhere in the country," says Captain Smith, adding: "I have been in an MD-530 when firing a rocket and believe me, it's no joke." The "bad guys" -- the Taliban -- have stepped up their insurgency to record levels following the withdrawal of foreign combat troops in 2014, inflicting more than 5,000 deaths on government forces last year. - Collateral damage - Along with training pilots, NATO is also trying to ensure there are enough skilled Afghan Tactical Air Coordinators (ATAC) on the ground. Hence the exercise in this desert base in Logar, about forty kilometres (25 miles) south of Kabul, to test the abilities of young pilots and future ATACs -- "the eyes and ears" on the ground, according to one of the five being trained that day. Story continues "When you are in flight it's very difficult to tell who's on the ground -- you need to have someone who tells you who is who", explains Air Force Colonel Andrew Jannsen, the man overseeing the training. Twenty-two year old Akram, considered by his trainers to be among the most promising, is critical of Sahil's performance despite the fact he helped the missiles hit their target using a handheld laser device. "They talk too much, it (took) too much time," he says. There are three key points the controller must convey: his own position, that of the enemy, and any civilians in the area. But the growing strength of the AAF has been accompanied by a rising number of unintended deaths: according to the UN, 133 civilians have been killed and 159 injured in air strikes since January 1, a 72 percent rise on the same period in 2015 -- with Afghan crews responsible for two-thirds of casualties. It is a statistic that Major General Wahab Wardak, Commander of the Air Force, regrets. "Unfortunately, Taliban often hide in homes. We issue orders to avoid bombing residential zones but these things happen in war," he says. - Background checks - "To mitigate civilian casualties the ATAC is the bigger factor," says Colonel Janssen. "And the pilots themselves can call off the mission if they don't find themselves comfortable." He insists that the officers are also briefed on ways to reduce casualties -- unlike in the Soviet-era when, according to Janssen, the mantra was to strike first, ask questions later. Flying is a dream for many young Afghans. Some "1,800 to 2000" apply for for each batch of the Afghan Air Force Academy in Kabul, says its commander Colonel Naqitullah Woror. Of this number, around a hundred 18 to 26-year-olds get picked in the first selection. Each recruit is subject to intensive background checks by Afghan intelligence, and must also be sponsored by two officers to attest they have no links to the enemy. So called 'green-on-blue' attacks in which Afghan troops turn their weapons on Coalition partners have been a frequent occurence in recent years, with two Americans dying in such an incident near Kabul last week. "This has never happened with us," says Woror. Six women are currently at the academy, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Captain Niloofar Rahmani, the country's first female pilot who graduated in 2013 and finished her training in Arkansas. Piloting an aircraft in a flight simulator, female recruit Shamin, 22, says she joined the academy "with the blessing of my family", despite living in a society that is often reluctant for women to take on such roles. KABUL (Reuters) - Divisions at the top of Afghanistan's government deepened on Tuesday after President Ashraf Ghani was forced to reject accusations by his own vice president that he was favoring members of his Pashtun ethnic group. Ghani's reaction followed incendiary comments from First Vice President General Rashid Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek with a long history of blunt speaking and a sizeable militia at his command, who said the government was wholly run by Pashtuns. "Anyone who speaks Pashto is a good man," Dostum said at a press conference in the northern province of Faryab. "If he speaks Pashto and is from Logar, he is even a better person," he added, referring to Ghani's home province in eastern Afghanistan. Dostum accused a small Pashtun coterie around the president, including National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar, intelligence chief Massoom Stanekzai and chief of staff Abdul Salam Rahimi, of controlling Ghani. "If they say the milk is black, the president says the milk is black," he said. The comments, which risk stoking brewing ethnic tensions, were made last week but only gained wide attention after they circulated on social media. Pashtuns are Afghanistan's largest ethnic group and have always dominated Afghan governments. But resentment of their dominance has been growing among others, including Persian-speaking Tajiks and Hazaras and Dostum's Uzbek minority. In a statement on Tuesday, Ghani rejected the comments, which he said helped Afghanistan's enemies and were not consistent with Dostum's position in the government. In a comment that appeared to reflect accusations against Dostum of widespread human rights violations, the statement also said that the government "was aware of its duty" and could investigate complaints of abuses and crimes "by the Taliban and any other forces involved in the fighting". The spat comes at a difficult moment for the unwieldy national unity government, which has been riven by infighting and has struggled to contain an escalating Taliban insurgency. The militants have come close to seizing at least three provincial capitals in recent months, pushing into Kunduz in the north, Lashkar Gah in the southern province of Helmand and Tarin Kot in the southern province of Uruzgan. Heavy casualties were inflicted, laying bare the weakness of Afghan security forces. As the security situation has deteriorated and political divisions worsened, old rivalries between Afghanistan's different ethnic groups have resurfaced, threatening the stability of the Western-backed government. Ghani, a former World Bank official, is supported by the United States, which sees him as the leader most committed to fighting corruption and reforming the shattered economy. But political rivals accuse him of monopolizing power, while many non-Pashtuns believe he deliberately favors his own ethnic group at the expense of others. (Reporting by Hamid Shalizi; writing by James Mackenzie; editing by Larry King) By Andrew Osborn and Gleb Stolyarov MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Moscow airport workers involved in a plane crash in which Christophe de Margerie, the CEO of Total, was killed had been drinking alcohol, Russia's aviation regulator said on Tuesday, saying the accident could have been avoided altogether. The French energy group's chief executive was killed along with his jet's three-person crew in October 2014 at Moscow's Vnukovo airport when they tried to take off for Paris but collided with a snow plough that had strayed onto the runway. De Margerie oversaw multi-billion-dollar Total investments in Russia and was killed just as the conflict in Ukraine raised tensions with the West to levels not seen since the Cold War and brought down Western sanctions on Russia. The snow plough driver, Vladimir Martynenko, and a duty engineer, Vladimir Ledenev, both pleaded guilty to causing de Margerie's death in July. Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) said on Tuesday it had completed its own investigation and that Martynenko and the airport's duty shift supervisor, whom it did not name, had been drinking alcohol and were partly to blame for the tragedy. It said Martynenko had suffered "a loss of situational awareness" and that the shift supervisor had not done his job properly. Alcohol had been found in both men's blood, it said. But the IAC said the accident could probably have been avoided altogether if the jet's crew had aborted take-off once they had spotted the snow plough on the runway rather than pressing ahead. "A simulated test showed that if the crew had decided to abort take-off at that stage and used all available braking methods ... it would probably have been possible to avoid the catastrophe," the IAC said in a report. "The lack of a decision to abort take-off was probably the result of the far from ideal psychological and emotional state of the crew which could have made it hard for the crew to assess the real threat level," the IAC said. This was a reference to the fact that they had been waiting for a long time at an unfamiliar airport and wanted to return home as soon as possible. The IAC said it had drawn up new safety recommendations based upon its investigation. (Editing by Richard Balmforth) CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The Alberta Energy Regulator issued a formal notice of investigation to Trilogy Energy Corp on Tuesday after a company pipeline spilled around 1,600 barrels of mixed oil and water in central Alberta. Calgary-based Trilogy reported the oil emulsion leak on Oct. 7, and said it was discovered within its Kaybob Montney development about 15 km (nine miles) northeast of the town of Fox Creek. In a statement, the regulatory agency said its investigation will confirm the volume of the spill and consider potential enforcement actions against Trilogy. The regulator had already issued an environmental protection order forcing the company to suspend operations and contain the leak. Trilogy shares were down 5.9 percent by midafternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange at C$7.53. (Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) Om Swami has been mingling a lot with celeb contestants lately. Is that the reason why he wasn't nominated last night? By India Today Web Desk: The wildly popular show Bigg Boss Season 10 just keeps getting better with every passing episode. Last night's episode of the reality show was again full of drama, and of course, arguments. One of the main highlights of the episode was the open nominations. Also read:Bigg Boss 10 Day 8: Is something cooking between Mona Lisa and Manu Punjabi? advertisement Yes, as the Bigg Boss loyalists would know, seven contestants were nominated on day 8, including celeb contestants Gaurav Chopra, Rohan Mehra, Mona Lisa; and aam aadmi contestants Manu Punjabi, Akansha Sharma, Nitibha Kaul, and Manveer Gurjar. But aren't you surprised that aam aadmi contestant Om Swami's name wasn't in the final nomination list? We know you are. And it is indeed a mystery as to why Swamiji's name didn't make it to the nomination list. In fact, celebs hardly took his name during the nomination process. Is it because Om Swami has been trying his best to bond with celebrities after his "beti" Priyanka Jagga was eliminated? Be it learning yoga from Gaurav Chopra, or complimenting Mona Lisa's dancing skills; Swamiji is putting his best foot forward as far as interacting with celebs are concerned. In fact, both Lopamudra Raut and Rohan Mehra had serious issues with Om Swami, but during the nominations, they didn't nominate Swamiji. But aam aadmi contestants are not at all happy with this new and slightly well-behaved version of Swamiji. Manveer and Manu think that Swamiji is trying to play safe by mingling with the celeb contestants. One thing is clear now, Swamiji is smarter than he looks; BB10 contestants, beware! Bigg Boss 10 airs every Mon-Fri at 10:30 pm, and every Sat-Sun at 9 pm. --- ENDS --- Beirut (AFP) - Syrian doctors in the besieged eastern half of Aleppo said Tuesday a plan to evacuate sick and wounded residents failed because the UN was unable to guarantee the patients' safety. The United Nations and key medical groups held days of talks aimed at securing the safe passage of the critically injured or ill during a three-day Aleppo ceasefire announced by Russia, to no avail. The UN on Monday said the plan was aborted for several reasons, "including delays in receiving the necessary approvals from local authorities in eastern Aleppo". But doctors inside the war-ravaged city said the UN was also at fault. "Of course we blame the United Nations for not providing a clear plan," said doctor Hamza al-Khateeb, spokesman for nine leading doctors in eastern Aleppo. "We need guarantees that there will be no arrests or attacks on the sick, wounded, and their companions," he told AFP from inside the city. "There was no clarity on the meeting points, on which cars would transport them, or on whether they would be searched." The uncertainty meant the doctors did not provide the UN with the names of candidates for medical evacuation. The UN's humanitarian coordination agency in Geneva had no immediate comment, but on Monday UN humanitarian aid coordinator Stephen O'Brien accused both regime and rebels of holding up the evacuations. He said rebels imposed conditions to guarantee the safety of the evacuation while the Syrian government refused to allow medical and other aid supplies into the rebel-held east. One of east Aleppo's last paediatricians, doctor Hatem, who declined to give his last name, said he and fellow doctors had demanded guarantees evacuees would be safe. They also sought an end to bombardment, aid deliveries, and reinforcements for Aleppo's exhausted medical staff. "The UN contacted me as a paediatrician to ask me for children's names. I told them there's no problem as long as you give us the conditions we asked for," he told AFP. Story continues "To each of these conditions, they told us, 'We'll see in the future.'" More than 250,000 people remain in eastern Aleppo, which has been under government siege since July and faced heavy regime and Russian fire since Damascus began an operation to recapture the city. Russia's three-day truce was meant to encourage civilians and rebels to leave the east, but only a handful did so. The powerful Nureddin al-Zinki faction also said it had sought "written guarantees from the United Nations that the wounded and their companions would not be detained, arrested, killed, or insulted." "Until this moment, we have not received any responses, either positive or negative, on the previous points -- only verbal promises to study the points and respond," political officer Yasser al-Youssef said. Why has the Islamic State lost some of the territories under its control? And why has it lost some of its leaders? This was the headline of an article published last week by a pro-Islamic State media outlet. As its leaders are picked off from the sky, as its economic resources run dry, and as its prized caliphate slips from its grasp Mosul likely being the next casualty the Islamic States supporters are looking for explanations for why the tide of war has turned against them. The facts on the ground, after all, no longer support the Islamic States triumphalist slogan: Remaining and Expanding (baqiya wa-tatamaddad). How, one may well ask, does a group that projected such unbounded confidence, whose legitimacy seemed to rest on seizing and controlling large territories, adjust its message to less fortunate circumstances? The answer is surprisingly simple: The Islamic States mouthpieces preach that this is a period of trial (ibtila). It is not that God has ceased to favor the Islamic State, for that is of course inconceivable. Rather, divine favor comes with ups and downs. It is Gods practice to subject His creation to trials and tests, as He subjected the prophets and the early Muslims before our time. As a result, this misfortune is nothing to cry over. On the contrary, as the above article puts it, we should rejoice in Gods choice to extend the period of preparation, tribulation, and difficulty. The Islamic State, however, only began offering such explanations reluctantly. As recently as April 2016, the group was still assuring its followers that all was well in the central lands of the caliphate. That month, despite having recently lost control of the city of Ramadi, its weekly Arabic newsletter, al-Naba, downplayed the significance of its losses. The withdrawal of the caliphates soldiers from areas on the ground in Iraq and Syria, read the editorial of the April 16 issue, in no way means that its enemies on the ground have grown stronger and more powerful than it. The reality shows that they are in a state of great weakness and, despite thousands of airstrikes, have failed to achieve decisive victories against the army of the caliphate. Story continues It was a month later when the groups leaders publicly acknowledged that the caliphate was contracting. On May 21, the official spokesperson of the Islamic State, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, delivered a speech finally coming to terms with the battlefield setbacks. Partly because it was his last address Adnani was killed four months later in a U.S. airstrike his words have been memorialized in official and unofficial Islamic State media, reverberating in the videos, essays, and postings that have appeared online since. In his speech, Adnani introduced or, rather, reintroduced the themes of patience and resilience in the face of hardship. The Islamic State may be down, he suggested, but it most certainly was not out. The key line, and the one most cited today by the Islamic States members and fanboys, concerns the true meaning of victory and defeat: Do you think, America, that victory is in the death of one or more leaders? For that is a false victory. Were you victorious when you killed Abu Musab [al-Zarqawi] or Abu Hamza [al-Muhajir]? Or Abu Omar [al-Baghdadi] or Osama [bin Laden]? No way! Victory is for the adversary to be defeated. Or do you reckon, America, that defeat is the loss of a city or the loss of a territory? Were we defeated when we lost cities in Iraq and came to be in the desert, with no territory and no land? Will we be defeated, and will you be victorious, if you take Mosul, Sirte, Raqqa, and all the cities, and we return to how we were before? No! For defeat is the loss of the will and desire to fight. As Adnani said, and as numerous among his followers have repeated, the loss of leaders and land is immaterial to the Islamic State. So long as it has its will, it shall remain. Significantly, while Adnani did use the term remaining (baqiya) in this speech, he did not pretend that the Islamic State was still expanding (tatamaddad), the other part of the groups slogan. Indeed, the Islamic States propaganda has since then been heavy on resilience over expansion. This represents a return to the theme at the heart of the Islamic State for so many years: survival. The desert experience to which Adnani alluded was the period between 2006 and 2012, when the Islamic State, then called the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), was a widely ridiculed clandestine guerrilla force. It was amid these circumstances that ISIs first leader, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, declared in a 2007 speech that the state was remaining, giving birth to the original slogan. For years, it was only the promise of remaining, not remaining and expanding, that served as the groups slogan. The second word was tacked on only in 2013 with the attempted annexation of Syria. In his speech, Adnani recalled the groups time in the desert as one of trial and testing, and it is this idea that is again taking center stage in the Islamic States media today. The most recent editorial in al-Naba, for example, reminds readers of Gods habit of trying the believers with misfortune and hardship before Gods victory will descend upon them. Similarly, the previous weeks editorial centered on the apparently inspiring story of the people of the ditch, a mythical group of early monotheists mentioned in the Quran who flung themselves in a burning ditch rather than submit to the polytheists. The message, the editorial argued, was that the Islamic States followers ought to look at the present war through the eyes of the people of the ditch. Then they will understand that the struggle isnt about cities that we rule or a land that we roam about in; it is a matter of the religion that we seek to stand up. Yet the message really isnt as downbeat as throwing oneself in a pit of fire might suggest. The Islamic States media outlets still preach about their inevitable triumph, even though the triumph might be further off than previously imagined. As Adnani claimed in his final words, the Islamic State is still promised victory in the long run, and in the meantime its still gaining strength, being many times more powerful than in previous years. A variation on this theme emerged two weeks after Adnanis speech, when al-Naba argued that the Islamic State was winning in a generational sense: It had reared an entire generation which would have to be wiped out before its enemies could taste victory. The same sentiment was found following the loss of Manbij in northern Syria in August. A popular essay published online, titled We Lost Manbij but We Won the Battle, argued that the Islamic State had won a generation to its way of thinking through its educational efforts. The Islamic States prioritization of baqiya over tatamaddad doesnt mean that it is eagerly awaiting the loss of the territories under its control. Instead, it is laying the ideological groundwork for such a possibility, and hopes not only to console supporters but also to inspire them to keep fighting by recalibrating its message. The goal is to urge them to give their lives for the Islamic State in its time of difficulty. As for the current battle for Mosul, the Islamic State has not yet given up hope that the city can be held. Indeed, as al-Naba and other outlets have suggested, the struggle for Mosul could very well turn out like the famous Battle of the Trench, in which the Prophet Muhammad and his followers successfully defended the city of Medina in a drawn-out siege. As an essay making this comparison notes, it was at the Battle of the Trench, in the fifth year of the Islamic calendar, that the Prophet finally turned several years of misfortune around. Medina was besieged for a month by a broad coalition of forces far more numerous than the defenders, but the early Muslims prevailed. To repeat that victory is the hope and dream of the current defenders of Mosul. Of course, they are unlikely to succeed. When the city finally falls and the dream fades, the long period of trial and testing will resume. If history is any guide, this is unlikely to be the last of the Islamic State. Photo credit: TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images We expect Alliance Resource Partners LP ARLP to beat expectations when it reports third-quarter 2016 results before the opening bell on Oct 28. Last quarter, this coal company had reported a positive surprise of 50.00%. Why a Likely Positive Surprise? Our proven model shows that Alliance Resource is likely to beat estimates this season because it has the right combination of two key ingredients. A stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold) to be able to beat estimates, and Alliance Resource Partners has the right mix. Zacks ESP: The Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is +5.00%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate stands 84 cents, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 80 cents. This is a meaningful indicator of a likely positive earnings surprise. Please check our Earnings ESP Filter that enables you to find stocks that are expected to come out with earnings surprises. ALLIANCE RES Price and EPS Surprise ALLIANCE RES Price and EPS Surprise | ALLIANCE RES Quote Zacks Rank: Alliance Resources Zacks Rank #1, when combined with a positive ESP, makes us reasonably confident of positive surprise this quarter. Conversely, Sell-rated stocks (#4 or #5) should never be considered going into an earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions. Factor to Consider Alliance Resource has secured coal sales agreements and is essentially sold out for 2016, thereby increasing visibility on its third-quarter top line. Further, it has realigned its productions levels based on contracted sales volumes in light of the lackluster coal market fundamentals. The company is also poised to benefit in case the market picks up. Additionally, rising natural gas prices and above-average temperatures have resulted in depleting coal stockpiles. Weather patterns are projected to be favorable throughout 2016, with natural gas prices expected to go further up. Story continues These factors will support a further reduction in the coal inventory and drive demand in the to-be-reported quarter, primarily in Alliance Resource Partners Illinois Basin and northern Appalachian markets. As a result, the company expects coal sales volumes to increase by approximately 4.5 million tons in the second half of 2016 over the first half. Stocks to Consider At present, Alliance Resource is the only company related to the coal industry with the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter. Here are a few oil & energy stocks that you may consider, as our model shows that they too have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter: Murphy Oil Corporation MUR has an Earnings ESP of +9.52% and a Zacks Rank #3. It is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Oct 26. Devon Energy Corporation DVN is slated to report third-quarter earnings on Nov 1. It has an Earnings ESP of +20.00% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Western Refining, Inc. WNR has an Earnings ESP of +4.88% and a Zacks Rank #3. It is slated to report third-quarter earnings on Nov 1. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ALLIANCE RES (ARLP): Free Stock Analysis Report WESTERN REFING (WNR): Free Stock Analysis Report DEVON ENERGY (DVN): Free Stock Analysis Report MURPHY OIL (MUR): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Nigel Stephenson LONDON (Reuters) - Paul Beatty was on Tuesday named as the first American to win the prestigious Man Booker fiction prize, for "The Sellout", a biting satire on race relations in the United States. The narrator of "The Sellout", an African-American called "Bonbon" tries to put his Californian town back on the map, from which it has been officially removed, by re-introducing slavery and segregation in its high school. The 289-page novel begins with "Bonbon" facing a hearing in the Supreme Court, looking back over the events that led up to that point. The language is uncompromising and may offend some readers. So might some of the content - one old black film actor asks to become Bonbon's slave - as Beatty lampoons racial stereotypes. The protagonist's father is unjustly shot by police. "This is a hard book. It was hard for me to write, it's hard to read," said a tearful Beatty immediately after winning the award at a ceremony at London's historic Guildhall. "For me, it's just really gratifying that something that's important to me is also important for other people," he later told a news conference. Chair of the five judges for the 50,000 pound prize Amanda Foreman said "The Sellout" had been a unanimous choice, reached after a meeting lasting some four hours. "It plunges into the heart of contemporary American society with absolutely savage wit of the kind I haven't seen since Swift or Twain," she said. "It manages to eviscerate every social nuance, every sacred cow, while making us laugh and also making us wince ... It is really a novel for our times." Asked about the language, Foreman said, "Paul Beatty has said being offended is not an emotion. That's his answer to the reader," Foreman said. "The Sellout" is 54-year-old Beatty's fourth novel. He has also edited an anthology of African-American humour. It was publisher Oneworld's second Man Booker victory after winning the 2015 prize for "A Brief History of Seven Killings" by Jamaican Marlon James. Beatty said he would not have written the book had his partner not persuaded him to apply for a grant that allowed him time to complete the book. "I don't like writing," he said. "I'm a perfectionist in some ways and I get easily disgruntled and discouraged with what I'm doing." Apart from the 50,000 pound prize, each of the six shortlisted authors wins 2,500 pounds winning the Man Booker can have a major impact on a writer's sales and readership. James told Reuters recently that winning the prize can have a "seismic" impact. In its 48-year history, the prize has gone to authors including Salman Rushdie, Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood. Three years ago the rules were changed to cover any novel written in English, regardless of the writer's nationality, and published in Britain. Previously it was confined largely to authors from the Commonwealth. Since January, the judges have read 155 novels before whittling the pile down to a "longlist" of 13 then a shortlist of six. This year's shortlist comprised works by two Britons, a Briton born in Canada, a Canadian and two Americans. Deborah Levy, whose "Hot Milk" was in the final six this year, has been on the shortlist before, while Ottessa Moshfegh's "Eileen" was her debut novel. (Editing by Catherine Evans and Grant McCool) By Barbara Lewis and Mamidipudi Soumithri LONDON/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Anglo American (AAL.L) on Tuesday left output guidance broadly unchanged for most of its commodities, adding market conditions had improved for its diamond business, while it trimmed full-year production expectations for coking coal exports. Chief Executive Mark Cutifani said in a statement operational improvements were continuing across the portfolio. Analysts also said the results were solid and Anglo American's share price gained another 3.8 percent by 0748 GMT, adding to a leap of well over 250 percent this year. The gains have been fuelled by a rally in commodities, notably coal. Coking coal prices have risen by more than 200 percent, meaning even small changes in output can impact profits and prices. Anglo American has estimated a $10 per tonne price increase in coking coal creates a $142 million (116 million pound) change in pre-tax earnings, while for thermal coal the same increase leads to an extra $54-to-$200 million depending on the region. Anglo American lowered full-year production guidance for export metallurgical coal to 20.5-21.5 million tonnes from 21-22 million following the completion of the Foxleigh sale in Australia at the end of August. Full-year production guidance for export thermal coal from South Africa and Colombia was unchanged at 28-30 million tonnes. Anglo American has said it is focusing on high value core commodities, including platinum group minerals, copper and diamonds. For its De Beers diamond unit, it said market conditions had improved after a difficult 2015 and output had been increased by 4 percent to 6.3 million carats compared with the third quarter a year ago. Rough diamond sales increased by 77 percent in the third quarter to 5.3 million carats. Full-year production guidance remains unchanged at 26-28 million carats, subject to trading conditions. For copper and platinum, it also said overall guidance was unchanged. Production from Los Bronces in Chile decreased by 27 percent to 72,100 tonnes due to expected lower grades and in part because of a strike, but it reaffirmed its previous full-year guidance of 570,000 to 600,000 tonnes. Paul Gait, analyst at Bernstein, which rates Anglo American outperform, said the results were solid and Anglo was "putting to rest" issues, such as high levels of debt that a year ago rocked the sector. (Reporting by Barbara Lewis in London and Mamidipudi Soumithri; editing by Jason Neely) By Barbara Lewis and Mamidipudi Soumithri LONDON/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Anglo American on Tuesday left output guidance broadly unchanged for most of its commodities, adding market conditions had improved for its diamond business, while it trimmed full-year production expectations for coking coal exports. Chief Executive Mark Cutifani said in a statement operational improvements were continuing across the portfolio. Analysts also said the results were solid and Anglo American's share price gained another 3.8 percent by 0748 GMT, adding to a leap of well over 250 percent this year. The gains have been fuelled by a rally in commodities, notably coal. Coking coal prices have risen by more than 200 percent, meaning even small changes in output can impact profits and prices. Anglo American has estimated a $10 per tonne price increase in coking coal creates a $142 million change in pre-tax earnings, while for thermal coal the same increase leads to an extra $54-to-$200 million depending on the region. Anglo American lowered full-year production guidance for export metallurgical coal to 20.5-21.5 million tonnes from 21-22 million following the completion of the Foxleigh sale in Australia at the end of August. Full-year production guidance for export thermal coal from South Africa and Colombia was unchanged at 28-30 million tonnes. Anglo American has said it is focusing on high value core commodities, including platinum group minerals, copper and diamonds. For its De Beers diamond unit, it said market conditions had improved after a difficult 2015 and output had been increased by 4 percent to 6.3 million carats compared with the third quarter a year ago. Rough diamond sales increased by 77 percent in the third quarter to 5.3 million carats. Full-year production guidance remains unchanged at 26-28 million carats, subject to trading conditions. For copper and platinum, it also said overall guidance was unchanged. Production from Los Bronces in Chile decreased by 27 percent to 72,100 tonnes due to expected lower grades and in part because of a strike, but it reaffirmed its previous full-year guidance of 570,000 to 600,000 tonnes. Paul Gait, analyst at Bernstein, which rates Anglo American outperform, said the results were solid and Anglo was "putting to rest" issues, such as high levels of debt that a year ago rocked the sector. (Reporting by Barbara Lewis in London and Mamidipudi Soumithri; editing by Jason Neely) Animals from above A Gemsbok herd in Namibia. Gemsbok are able to survive in even the harshest conditions thanks to an intricate network of blood vessels in the nose which cool down the blood supplied to the brain. (Photo: Michael Poliza/Caters News) This unique bird's-eye collection of amazing African wildlife from German photographer Michael Poliza, 58, was assembled over several trips he made across the continent in the past 10 years. A photographer and travel designer, Poliza moved to Cape Town, South Africa, from Hamburg about 13 years ago and just started to goof around with his camera on safari. Poliza challenged himself to take photos of lions and leopards with a difference, so when the opportunity arose to go airborne, he seized it to show animals from an alternative point of view. (Caters News) See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr. Manu Punjabi seems to have developed a soft corner for Mona Lisa and is dropping hints about his growing attachment. By India Today Web Desk: Something is cooking between Mona Lisa and Manu Punjabi and all the housemates are discussing about this special bond. In today's episode, Manoj will share with Mona that he appears to be a very touchy person, but deep down, he is very emotional. He will further reveal that he has this tendency of getting attached to someone very easily and it has happened to him inside the house. advertisement Manu will share how he considered Bani a friend, but she let him down. He will now think twice before getting attached to anyone. He will also say that "Bigg Boss doesn't want us to build relationships here, what can we do." Also read: Bigg Boss 10 Day 8: Is something cooking between Mona Lisa and Manu Punjabi? Will this relationship go anywhere? Stay tuned to this space. Bigg Boss airs Mon-Fri at 10:30pm and Sat-Sun at 9pm on Colors TV. --- ENDS --- Anna Kendrick has been giving us a real life fashion show these last few weeks Anna Kendrick being in more movies is good for so many reasons. For starters it means more Kendrick on the big screen, which equals more laughs and good movie-going experiences. It also means more fabulous fashion moments from the star. Over the past few months Anna has been promoting not one, but two new films, which has been amazing for all you Kendrick fashion fans out there. With every new interview and red carpet premiere in honor of both Trolls and The Accountant weve been more and more in awe of the Pitch Perfect stars style. Seriously, its like Kendrick knew we were obsessed with her style and therefore decided to totally bring it every time she stepped out for her new films. From day one of Trolls and The Accountants press tours shes been slaying the fashion game and therefore we had to pay tribute to her wardrobe below. To kick off her Trolls promotions this summer Kendrick rocked this grey bandage dress proving grey can actually look fierce AF. London calling! The Maine native looked sophisticated and chic as she posed in front of the London Eye in September. Black and blue match game strong! Kendrick was all smiles in her black-and-white lace skirt and long-sleeved shirt combo as she hung out with Trolls co-star Justin Timberlake. They both have a pop of blue in their ensembles that we love especially Kendricks purse! After celebrating Trolls in NYC with Timberlake, Kendrick did a solo appearance at Extras New York studios. Really excited about this early Jane Fonda, Klute/China Syndrome vibe. #investigativejournalism #callgirl #etc, Kendrick said about her #GirlBoss look on Instagram. In early October, Kendrick let her dark side out while attending The Accountants Hollywood premiere. This Moschino belted dress is so fierce and totally sexy. Hello princess! This look is fit for a Disney princess, especially its pink hue and dainty-printed material. Were thinking Belle would totally wear it, if she was into pink. Story continues Kendricks most recent look has our jaws on the floor. This stunning Marc Jacobs velvet number is exactly what we want to wear to every holiday party this year. Plus, that blue color totally pops on Kendricks fair skin tone. Which of Kendricks red carpet looks is your favorite? The Accountant is currently in theaters and Trolls hits theaters November 4. The post Anna Kendrick has been giving us a real life fashion show these last few weeks appeared first on HelloGiggles. This Immigrant Doctor Is Reimagining Health in the American City Warming ocean waters have been destabilizing some of the massive ice shelves around Antarctica for years. Now scientists have figured out that some of this ice is melting far more quickly than previously thought, according to a study published Tuesday. That has implications for how much sea levels will rise over the next several decades and centuries. The system is no longer in equilibrium, said Ala Khazendar of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the leader of the study published in the journal Nature Communications. The melting is happening at such a fast rate that the glaciers cannot replenish what has been lost. The net result is that the glaciers are thinning. This affects the stability of Antarctic ice in two ways, Khazendar explained, because ice shelves are the gateways and the gatekeepers of Antarctica. As glaciers flow slowly off the edge of the continent and into the sea, they begin to float while still attached to the land in a zone scientists call the grounding line. Its natural for seawater to melt the resulting ice shelves, or pieces of the ice shelf detach from the front, forming what we know as icebergs, said Khazendar. That puts new supplies of freshwater into the ocean. For eons the weight and bulk of the ice at the grounding line tended to slow down the flow of ice entering the ocean, while the formation of new ice far inland on Antarctica kept pace with the losses at the edges of the ice sheet. But using airborne radar to make direct measurements along many miles of the grounding lines of three West Antarctic glaciers that flow into a body of water called the Amundsen Sea Embayment, Khazendar and his colleagues determined that between 2002 and 2009, the glaciers retreated at the fastest speed ever recorded in West Antarctica, melting from the undersides upward. RELATED: Sea Level Rise Poses Hard Choice for Two Neighborhoods: Rebuild or Retreat? Scientists have long tracked extreme melt rates at West Antarcticas Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, but the three glaciers analyzed in this studySmith, Pope, and Kohler glaciers, which flow into the Crosson and Dotson ice shelvesare changing even more rapidly, the researchers found. Story continues The study and its findings are really important because, although we suspected that the West Antarctic ice sheet was melting from underneath where it is in contact with the ocean, we had no direct evidence, Neil Glasser, an expert on Antarctic ice sheets based at Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom, wrote in an email. This study not only provides that direct evidence but also puts some numbers on the rate of submarine ice melt. The findings would tend to suggest that current estimates of sea level rise from the [West Antarctic Ice Sheet] are too low and they need to be revised upwards, he added. Since 2009, the glaciers have continued to lose more mass than theyre gaining but at a slower pace than in the 2002 to 2009 period. These phenomena are complex, Khazendar said. In the past couple years, a couple papers have said that retreat of grounding lines in the Amundsen Sea are irreversible. Well need more observations and numerical modeling to investigate that. NASA radar planes are supposed to take new readings along the same lines soon, he said, which will allow the researchers to update their estimates of the rate and amount of ice loss in the area. If this continues, then the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could become unstable and enter a phase of very rapid recession as it melts back at the grounding line, Glasser said. Donate: Help Ceres Tackle Climate Change Related stories on TakePart: Interactive Map Shows How Scary Sea Level Rise Could Get NASA Says Three Feet of Sea Level Rise Is Unavoidable Melting Glaciers Arent Just Raising Sea Levels, Theyre Polluting the Oceans Original article from TakePart Past albums by Canadian acts Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Rush, Blue Rodeo, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Arcade Fire and Lhasa were selected as the 2016 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize winners. Two albums were selected for each of the four time periods -- 1960-1975; 1976-1985; 1986-1995; and 1996-2005 -- one album picked by a jury; the other by public vote. For 1960-75, the public selected Neil Young's After the Gold Rush; the jury selected Leonard Cohen's Songs of Leonard Cohen. For 1976-85, the public selected Rush's Moving Pictures; the jury selected Kate & Anna McGarrigle's self-titled album. For 1986-95, the public selected Blue Rodeo's Five Days in July; the jury selected Mary Margaret O'Hara's Miss America. For 1996-2005, the public selected Arcade Fire's Funeral; the jury selected Lhasa's La Llorona. This is the first time a jury chosen an album. The prize was launched last year to recognize albums that might've been made the short-list for the Polaris Music Prize were it in existence then, and the winners were decided only by public vote. The time frames were also changed. Like the Polaris Music Prize, albums are selected based on artistic merit without regards to sales or affiliations. The list of nominated albums was also increased to 10 titles (from last year's five) for each time period, selected by four separate juries of music critics, journalists, broadcasters and programmers from across Canada. "I liked the idea of the critics picking one of those records," Polaris Music Prize founder Steve Jordan told Billboard when the changes were announced. "We do want to get fan engagement and the public engagement, but we don't want artists who are less popular and don't have that ability to mobilize a fan-base not to get the recognition." He says it will not be possible for the same album to be picked by the fans and jury. "No, we'll just go down the list." Last year's winners were Blue by Joni Mitchell (60s & 70s); The Trinity Session by the Cowboy Junkies (80s); Twice Removed by Sloan (90s); and The Teaches of Peaches by Peaches (00s: 2000-2005). Fire Island, three miles off the shore of New York's Long Island, has long been a haven for the Northeast's LGBTQ community. The Pines were developed in the 1950s, making the enclave one of the youngest on the island. In the '60s, The Pines quickly went from a clothing-optional beach with a few coastal shacks to a clothing-optional beach flanked by impressive, architecturally assertive homes. In The Pines, design talent of the era found a primed audience, and the area rapidly became exceptionally rich in significant modernist residential architecture. In his book, Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction, architect and designer Christopher Rawlins lays out one of the first authoritative histories of the islands homes. He provides valuable context for modernism's potency and triumph on The Pines meager 1 square mile. Much has been written about the effect of the AIDS crisis on the gay community, Rawlins explains, but the two hopeful decades before the epidemic are best encapsulated by the bacchanal atmosphere of Fire Island-and that atmosphere was best embodied by the houses that rose up during this time. Related: The Coolest College Architecture in the United States Fire Island Architecture My tour started at the house of my guide. Scott Bromley lives in an early '60s house by celebrated architect Horace Gifford, a man whose beach house designs have come to define The Pines' transformation. Bromley is an architect, too, having got his start under the tutelage of Philip Johnson, one of the most influential American architects to have ever lived. Bromley designed Studio 54 and hobnobbed with the likes of fashion designer Halston and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Now, he and and his business partner Jerry Caldari are the torchbearers of Fire Island modernism. Bromleys home is a testament to Giffords great love of pavilions-as the communal center of a home with off-shooting bedrooms, for example. In Giffords designs, this feature becomes much less stern. Story continues The central space of Bromleys home is an octagon with a tented ceiling. It looks closer to something youd see in Bali than New Canaan. Its also, Bromley notes, ideal for a roller skating party. Fire Island Architecture Like his mentor, Louis Kahn, Gifford looked to Eastern monuments for inspiration, eschewing the "skin and bones" architecture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and other fathers of modernism. Two years before Bromleys house was built, Gifford built three houses in the style of Kahns bath house in Trenton, New Jersey (another day trip for NYC architecture enthusiasts). There are no cars allowed in The Pines, so Bromley drove me around on his John Deere Gator. We zoomed along the boardwalk, surrounded by vegetation. Rawlins mapped notable homes on his website, Pines Modern, and though I studied it in advance, I can easily imagine getting lost. Its a very public way to enjoy private architecture, Rawlins explained. The trick lies in knowing what to look for. On that sunny day, the aluminum roof of Bromley Caldaris towering A-Frame was the first landmark I saw from the ferry. Just next door is one of Giffords "tree houses." Borrowing from fellow Fire Island architect Harry Bates, Gifford inverted the layout of the house by arranging bedrooms downstairs and elevating the kitchen to the second floor. You had to go up to preserve your view, Rawlins explains. The development of the island created a windbreak for vegetation to flourish as the septic system enriched the soil. "The architecture was sustainable before it was fashionable." Small plots and strict fire codes means there are no McMansions. Quality over quantity is in The Pines design DNA. (This extends to furnishings. I lost track of how many Tulip tables and Barcelona loungers I saw.) Fire Island NY Architecture The best way to experience the variations in the islands vernacular is to walk along the beach. On the southern shore of The Pines, the communitys western edge is marked by a home that shows Giffords eventual embrace of curved volumes. Rawlins put the sinuous design on the cover of his book to emphasize that modernism seduced Fire Island, just as the inhabitants of Fire Island were being (willingly) seduced. Next door is a 1977 home by Arthur Erickson. Its a fine example of using cedar to blend with the weathered seascape. Then comes a recent Bromley Caldari home and guest house. Though the plot is large for the island, the home sprawls out and not up, more like a village than an imposing villa. From the deck is a view of Calvin Kleins former Gifford house, which was the setting for Longtime Companion, the first major feature to address how AIDS devastated the gay community. Walk further East down the beach and youll reach 122 Ocean Walk, the only house Gifford built in 1970. The architect was bipolar, and productivity came in waves-but he didnt let that derail him from pursuing perfection. He was cognizant that everyone would see it, Rawlins wrote of the home; just as they would be seen frolicking within this series of stacked, largely transparent cubes. The most private space in the house? A womb room lined with blue shag carpet. Gifford called it the cave in his blueprints. Groovy. It embodies the voyeuristic quality of the heady post-Stonewall period, Rawlins added. On the island, the lines between rich and poor were diminished. There was sex appeal and there was great architecture, and most importantly there was the freedom to exist. Nobody knew what was coming down the pipeline. Gifford died of AIDS in 1992. Fire Island Architecture Fire Island is a delicate ecosystem. It used to be twice its size, but in 1683 the ocean burst through and separated the current land mass from Jones Beach Island. The Fire Island Inlet Bridge opened in 1964. For a community well-versed in resiliency, it's fitting how well the architecture here stands the test of time. Travelers who want to do their own tour can get to The Pines via three separate ferry routes from Long Island: Davis Park Ferry, Sayville Ferry Service, or Fire Island Ferries. You can also drive by taking the Robert Moses Causeway or William Floyd Parkway. Fire Island Architecture What to Do in The Fire Island Pines Heres a map of the houses mentioned in this piece. For a more detailed map, visit Pines Modern. Getting There To get to the Fire Island Pines from New York City, take the Long Island Rail Road to Sayville and a taxi from the station to the ferry dock at 41 River Road. A shuttle runs between the station and ferry at peak times. Ferry schedule varies, so check the website for more details. Note that bikes are not permitted in The Pines. Where to Stay Book a room at The Madison Fire Island Pines, at 22 Atlantic Walk. Bedrooms here are light filled and, of course, extremely clean and modern. Visitors can also check Airbnb for Fire Island Pines home listings-we spotted a Horace Gifford. Where to Eat Here for the day? Pack a beach picnic. Its common to see residents wheeling coolers along the boardwalk. The food options are limited, and (as with most islands) overpriced. Grab a coffee and snack at the Canteen above the ferry dock, or have a sit down meal at the Pines Bistro (don't miss the fried calamari). This article was originally published on TravelAndLeisure.com From Esquire Snakes often have a hard time finding the right fashion accessory due to their obvious lack of arms, legs, and ears. But a new picture shared by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shows a snake appearing to rock a pair of sunglasses and a mustache. The unique scale pattern belongs to a Western rat snake, a nonvenomous species of snake found throughout North America. The pictures, which were given to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department by Karlie Gray, were posted on the state agency's Twitter account on Wednesday. We mustache you to #lookclose have you ever seen a snake with sunglasses?! Thanks to Karlie Gray for the great pics! pic.twitter.com/wjSZwUvKth - Texas State Parks (@TPWDparks) October 19, 2016 The rodent-eating reptile is also known as the black rat snake and pilot black snake-but this particular rat snake should be called "Shades" in honor of Victor Alvarez from Netflix's Luke Cage. From: Esquire UK You Might Also Like Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer Bryan Domeij was one of three soldiers killed by an IED over the weekend in Afghanistan. The 29-year-old Army Ranger was servingA his 14th deployment to the war zones,A according to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Domeij served four toursA in Iraq and another nine stints in Afghanistan since 2002, ABC News reports. aTo volunteer that many times to deploy speaks volumes to Krisa character and dedication to his country,a said Tracy Bailey, spokeswoman for the 75th Ranger Regiment, according to theA Huffington Post. aHe was larger than life. The man everybody wanted to be around.a His battalion commander, Lt. Col. David Hodne, told ABC News that Domeij was one of those men who was known by all as much for his humor, enthusiasm, and loyal friendship, as he was for his unparalleled skill and bravery under fire. This was a Ranger you wanted at your side when the chips were down He is irreplaceable a in our formation a and in our hearts, Hodne said. Domeij enlisted in July 2001 after graduating high school in 2000. During his time as an Army Ranger, DomeijA was highly decorated. HeA was awarded two Bronze Stars for his service overseas and will be awarded a third Bronze Star posthumously, along with the Purple Heart, according to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. According to the San Diego Tribune,A Kyle Domeij saidA thatA his brother was not one to gloat about his accomplishments and told the family thatA he didnt want media coverage if something happened to him. aHe didnat want to be in the limelight. My brother was a very humble man,a said Domeij. aWe never even knew all the accomplishments he had. Weare just finding out about it now.a Story continues The San Diego native, who was living in Washington, is survived by hisA wife and two daughters. Also killed in the incident were 1st Lt. Ashley White, 24, and Pvt. 1st Class Christopher A. Horns, 20, according to a U.S. Army Special Operations Command news release.A Horns was on his first deployment. One-meter float boulders have assayed up to 6.62 g/t Au. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 25, 2016 / Astorius Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: ASQ, Frankfurt: 47AF) ("Astorius" or the "Company") reports that it has entered into an option agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Lateegra Ecuador S.A., title holder of the Condor gold property in southeast Ecuador from Condor Mines S.A. ("CMSA"). The Condor property represents a group of strategically-located mineral claims surrounded entirely by the 75,000-hectare Fruta del Norte concession, Lundin Gold's flagship asset where mineral production is expected to begin Q1 2020. Astorius Resources on signing of the Option Agreement, will issue 500,000 restricted commong shares of ("ASQ") and pay US$50,000 in cash, subject to TSX and regulatory approval. The Condor property is one of the few remaining claim blocks in the Fruta del Norte concession area not held by Lundin Gold. The claims also lie within the recognized Ecuadorian Copper Belt, just six kilometres south of EcuaCorriente's Mirador, Panantza and San Carlos advanced copper projects. "The Lateegra-Condor acquisition represents a significant milestone for Astorius," said Sandy MacDougall, Astorius' Chairman of the Board. "Not only is Condor valuable for us from a strategic standpoint due to its location, geologically it's highly prospective in relation to Fruta del Norte. Condor's alluvial potential also aligns with our strategy of striving for near-term production of high-value minerals." Astorius is now updating the existing NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Condor concession. A new report is expected early in 2017. Lateegra Ecuador originally purchased the Condor claims from Mr. Freddy Salazar, an Ecuadorian geologist who was instrumental in identifying the Fruta del Norte land package held originally by Aurelian Resources, then Kinross Gold and now Lundin Gold. Mr. Salazar spent ten years working as an in-country geologist for Newmont Gold and subsequently for Aurelian Resources. Story continues The Condor concession is covered by strongly altered and oxidized intrusive rocks with presence of limonite veins and some brecciated bull quartz sections with sericitic alteration. The property is underlain by strongly altered intermediate porphyritic intrusive rocks containing weathered sericitic/chloritic alteration. Veins up to four metres wide of tectonically brecciated crystalline quartz with iron oxides have been intersected in nearby trenches by Aurelian Resources. The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Chris Cherrywell, QP, who is a Qualified Person with respect to the Condor property as defined under NI 43-101. About Astorius Resources Ltd. Astorius (TSX.V:ASQ Frankfurt: 47AF) is a junior exploration and near term production company focused on high value minerals deposits in North and South America. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS /s/ "Arthur Brown" President & Director This news release contains projections and forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements; the uncertainty of future profitability; and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ materially from anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressed qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstance or management's estimates or opinions change. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Astorius Resources Ltd. By Shashank Shekhar: The Delhi government has been awaiting reports of bird samples sent to the central government institutes in Jalandhar and Bhopal for nine days now, based on which they will draw their action plan. Whether the delay is being caused by procedural complications or the never-ending tiff between the AAP and Centre, is yet to be known. Also read: Bird flu scare: 10 birds die in Deer Park, anti-virus operation ordered advertisement Also read: Bird flu scare: Here's what you need to know about the virus REPORTS AWAITED However, Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai disclosed that there has indeed been a delay in getting reports from central government labs and to fasten the process, he will meet Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday. "Reports from Jalandhar and Bhopal are not coming. Reports of samples sent from October 19 onwards are still awaited. The government has so far received only the reports from first samples, which were sent to central government labs. Since then, we have been regularly sending out samples, but are yet to hear from them," Rai said. "We have sought appointment from Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday to apprise him of the situation and also to ask for lab reports to be expedited so that appropriate action can be taken in the matter." Also read: India's poultry farming regulations under scanner in lieu of bird flu outbreak in Delhi WHAT'S THE DELAY? According to a senior officer, the delay in acquiring the reports has caused major confusion in drawing the future action plan. "At present, the action plan is being made on the basis of the deaths but if the reports had come to us on time, we could have planned in advance to keep a check on the virus," he said. So far, 64 birds have died since October 14, due to Avian Influenza. The first death was reported from the Delhi zoo. Also read: Delhi bird flu update: Delhi zoo, Deer Park to be shut until normalcy returns Following this, 47 ducks have died in Deer Park in Hauz Khas. Both have been closed for public till the situation is controlled. Fresh cases of at least six more bird deaths were reported on Monday, taking the total deaths of migratory birds from the disease to 64. However, the antivirus operation in Deer Park and Delhi Zoo appears to be bearing results, as only two bird deaths have been reported in Deer Park over the last 48 hours. No deaths have been reported in Delhi zoo in the last three days either. advertisement But, four deaths have been reported from a lake behind Shakti Sthal near Raj Ghat. Speaking on the matter, Rai said, "We have started close monitoring of the lake, along with other locations. But with bird deaths being reported from more locations, there is need to increase vigilance." Meanwhile, the Delhi government has issued an 11-point health advisory with a detailed list of 'do's and don'ts' for residents. They have been asked to take full precautions when dealing with birds. The government has also asked people to ensure that they do not consume raw meat or half boiled eggs. In a coordination committee meeting of all the agencies in the Delhi Secretariat on Monday to consider further action on checking the spread of H5N8 influenza virus, it has been decided that all government departments will spread lime powder along all water bodies in the city. Rai has also ordered them to spray Sodium Hypochlorite around water bodies that attract birds. Watch the video here --- ENDS --- SYDNEY (Reuters) - Hancock Prospecting (Pty) Ltd, controlled by Australian billionaire iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart, on Tuesday said it was investing $300 million (245.30 million pounds) in British fertiliser business Sirius Minerals Plc (SXX.L) as it moves deeper into agriculture. Hancock said Sirius could become one of the worlds leading producers of multi-nutrient fertiliser. The company, which has a market capitalisation of 792 million pounds according to Reuters data, is developing a polyhalite project in North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. "This fits with my approach of investing in strategic areas for the long term, and I hope the product is of assistance to many Australian farmers," Rinehart said in a statement. Sirius Chief Executive Chris Fraser said Hancock's investment would bring mining and agricultural sector expertise to the operation. Polyhalite is a naturally occurring mineral containing four of the six nutrients that ensure plant growth potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium. In a note Shore Capital, which rates Sirius a buy, said the polyhalite price could be a significant source of upside as yields being demonstrated in crop trials suggest it could command a premium. It called Rinehart's backing "a resounding endorsement" and said it expected the conclusion of stage one financing this year. A further $800 million will need to be raised. Sirius' share price was up 3.6 percent by 1133 GMT. Hancock is also in a joint $278 million bid with China's Shanghai CRED Real Estate for Australia's biggest cattle empire, S. Kidman & Co. Rinehart is attempting to persuade the Kidman cattle empire that her offer remains superior after a group of four wealthy graziers, known as BBHO, made a A$386 million (240.97 million pounds) bid. (Reporting by James Regan; additional reporting by Barbara Lewis in London; editing by Christian Schmollinger and Jason Neely) AvalonBay Communities, Inc.s AVB third-quarter 2016 funds from operations (FFO) per share of $2.11 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.12. However, the figure grew 4.5% from the year-ago number. Though the company achieved growth in net operating income (NOI) from newly developed and existing operating communities, the benefit was partly offset by an increase in outstanding share count. However, total revenue of this residential real estate investment trust (REIT) increased by 8.6% year over year to $516.2 million as revenues from development communities and established communities reported growth. Total revenue also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $513 million. Average rental rates were up 3.9% year over year with the highest increase coming in the South-California portfolio (6.0%), followed by North-California portfolio (5.8%) and Pacific North West (5.7%). Established Communities' Revenues Increase, Expenses Go Up Revenues from established communities those that have stabilized operations as of Jan 1, 2015 and are neither executing nor planning any significant redevelopment work within the current year improved 3.7% year over year. This improvement was driven by a 3.9% increase in average rental rates which offset the 0.1% decrease in economic occupancy. However, operating expenses for established communities climbed 2.2% year over year. Consequently, net operating income from established communities rose 4.3% year over year to $271.6 million. Solid Liquidity Position As of Sep 30, 2016, AvalonBay had $170.0 million outstanding under its $1.5 billion unsecured credit facility. The company had around $232.2 million in unrestricted cash and cash in escrow as of that date. Moreover, the companys annualized net debt-to-core EBITDA for third-quarter 2016 was 5.1 times. Notable Portfolio Activity During the third quarter, AvalonBay acquired two communities Avalon Columbia Pike, in Arlington, VA, (269 apartment homes and 27,000 square feet of retail space) for a purchase price of $102.0 million and Studio 77, in North Hollywood, CA (156 apartment homes and 11,000 square feet of retail space) for $72.1 million. On the other hand, the company sold three wholly owned communities, comprising 1,051 apartment homes in aggregate, for $275.5 million in total. This resulted in a gain (GAAP) of $197.8 million and an economic gain of $140.1 million. Further, the company completed the development of two communities Avalon Dublin Station II, in Dublin, CA; and Avalon Alderwood II, in Lynnwood, WA for an aggregate capital cost of $111.2 million. Outlook For fourth-quarter 2016, AvalonBay expects its FFO per share in the range of $2.06$2.12 and core FFO per share in the range of $2.08$2.14. Currently, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is $2.13. For 2016, the company projects FFO per share in the range of $8.23$8.29 and core FFO per share in the range of $8.15$8.21. Presently, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $8.32. In Conclusion We are discouraged with AvalonBays lower-than-expected performance in the third quarter. Going forward, completion of a number of projects in its markets, leading to higher supply, is likely to result in moderation of rent growth. Also, there is a trend of increased concessions in some of the companys markets. Nevertheless, the company has a solid portfolio of high quality assets in premium locations. Its balance sheet is also very strong. AvalonBay currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Story continues AVALONBAY CMMTY Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise AVALONBAY CMMTY Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | AVALONBAY CMMTY Quote We now look forward to the results of other residential REITs like Equity Residential EQR, Essex Property Trust Inc. ESS and Apartment Investment and Management Company AIV, commonly known as Aimco. Equity Residential is slated to release its third-quarter result on Oct 25, while Essex Property and Aimco have their earnings scheduled on Oct 27. Note: All EPS numbers presented in this write up represent funds from operations (FFO) per share. FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report APARTMENT INVT (AIV): Free Stock Analysis Report AVALONBAY CMMTY (AVB): Free Stock Analysis Report EQUITY RESIDENT (EQR): Free Stock Analysis Report ESSEX PPTY TR (ESS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Baku (AFP) - Azerbaijan on Tuesday sentenced a pro-democracy activist to 10 years in prison as the ex-Soviet state faces growing criticism over its crackdown on dissent. A Baku court found Giyas Ibrahimov, a 21-year-old activist who belongs to the NIDA pro-democracy youth group, guilty of drug trafficking. Human rights activists dismissed the charges as politically motivated, his lawyer Elchin Sadykhov told AFP. Ibrahimov and fellow activist Bayram Mammadov were arrested in May for painting anti-government graffiti on a monument in the capital Baku to late Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, the father of current President Ilham Aliyev. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on authorities to "immediately free" the activists and investigate allegations that they were mistreated in police custody. Activists have raised concerns over Azerbaijan's dire human rights record, with HRW in May criticising the country for "cracking down on human rights activists and critical journalists". Last month the population overwhelmingly backed constitutional changes extending President Ilham Aliyev's grip on power in a referendum denounced by opposition and rights groups as a ploy to cement the family's dynastic rule. Aliyev, 54, has led the country since his father died after a decade in power in 2003. From Cosmopolitan Typically when mothers give birth, its the first time their wriggly, little baby is out in the world. But for Margaret Boemer, this was not the case. According to CNN, when Boemer went in for a routine ultrasound 16 weeks into her pregnancy, doctors told her that her baby, Lynlee, had a sacrococcygeal teratoma, a tumor that develops on a babys tailbone before birth. Dr. Darrell Cass, co-director of Texas Childrens Fetal Center and associate professor of surgery, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College Medicine, told CNN that these tumors can end up sucking blood flow from the baby, which in some cases can cause a babys heart to go into failure. This was the case for Boemers baby, with the fetus becoming more ill each day. While some doctors advised Boemer to terminate the pregnancy, Dr. Casss team at the Texas Childrens Fetal Center suggested emergency fetal surgery. On Boemers GoFundMe page, she wrote that while "they told us she had a 50% chance of making it with the surgery ... [we] were in agreement that termination was not an option and we wanted to give Lynlee a chance at life." Boemer went into the emergency surgery in the 24th week of her pregnancy. The procedure took five hours and included lifting the fetus outside the womb. Dr. Cass told CNN that the baby was "hanging out in the air... Essentially, the fetus is outside, like completely out, all the amniotic fluid falls out." By this point, the tumor had grown to be almost larger than the fetus itself. After the surgical team removed most of the tumor, the fetus was placed back inside the womb, and the uterus was sewn shot. "Its kind of a miracle youre able to open the uterus like that and seal it all back and the whole thing works," Dr. Cass told CNN. Boemer was on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy and at almost 36 weeks, Lynlee was born again, this time via C-section. Eight days later, doctors were able to remove the rest of the tumor, and Lynlee arrived home to her family after spending a few weeks in the NICU. Story continues Boemer told CNN that while the experience was difficult, "it was worth every pain." And in a post shared on Facebook on Monday, she added an update on Lynlees condition. Currently Lynlee is thriving and doing well. She has a very large scar across her bottom and lower back from the removal of the SCT. Lynlee has follow up appointments at Texas Childrens every three months and will be followed until she is an adult at Texas Childrens Hospital. Lynlee has her AFP (Alpha-Fetoprotein) level checked each visit to ensure it is dropping and no sign of regrowth of the tumor is occurring. Lynlee may have to have reconstructive surgery of her bottom/lower back in the future. We will also have to wait until she is older to find out if she has any bowel issues due to damage from the tumor growth. CNN reports that while this is one of the most common tumors seen in newborns, it will only occur in 1 out of 35,000 births. According to the University of California, San Francisco Fetal Treatment Center, fetal intervention is only offered to women when there is evidence of heart failure in the fetus. Follow Madison on Twitter. You Might Also Like Coming to terms with the past is always a messy business. But in few countries is the debate over history as fraught and as consequential as it is in Ukraine. This has much to do with the complex history of a nation that was caught, for much of the 20th century, between two totalitarian powers that sought its destruction. Nor does it help that the successor of one of those powers Vladimir Putins aggressive and chauvinistic Russia is cynically exploiting the most controversial elements of Ukraines history as part of its war against Kiev. Increasingly, however, some of the responsibility must lie with Kiev itself. Of particular issue is the historical interpretation of a radical nationalist party that sought to carve out an independent Ukraine around the time of the Second World War the diehard Bandera faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B). The dilemma is that, while many of the OUN-Bs leaders and ordinary members gave their lives in Ukraines fight for independence, most were also virulent nationalists, to the point of outright xenophobia. Some were even complicit in the Holocaust and other mass crimes against civilians. As a result, though the group enjoys considerable sympathy among Ukraines governing class and large parts of the intellectual elite, it is highly controversial among the countrys Russian-leaning population, its Jews, its liberal intelligentsia, and its foreign partners. The question of how Ukrainians should interpret this wartime history requires nuance and restraint. It was therefore surprising that Ukraines political leaders decided in 2014 to hand over the Ukrainian Institute for National Remembrance (UINP in Ukrainian) the main government body responsible for historical memory to a group of relatively young activists with unknown scholarly credentials. Under its new director, Volodymyr Viatrovych, the institute has since been pushing a whitewashed version of the OUN-Bs ideology and actions during the war. Through its various popular publications, media appearances, web projects, and other initiatives, the UINP portrays the groups leaders, such as Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych, and Yaroslav Stetsko, as national heroes of unimpeachable nobility. As a result, even as Ukraine tries to integrate with the West, its notorious wartime ultra-nationalist movement has come to enjoy official recognition as the pinnacle of Ukrainian patriotism. But apart from other worrisome repercussions inside Ukraine this approach is in danger of subverting Kievs all-important relationships with its Western partners. In particular, the institutes campaign to honor an extreme nationalist movement runs entirely counter to the principles that underlie the whole enterprise of European integration. In contrast to what some Ukrainians believe, the unification of Europe, which began in the 1950s, was not primarily an anti-Moscow project. Instead, it was a response to the challenge of radical nationalism, which begat two world wars in just half a century. Thats why the UINPs embrace of the ultranationalist OUN-B is so problematic it lionizes precisely those aspects of European history that the continent has been working to transcend since 1945. A related problem of the OUN-Bs history is its anti-Semitism. To be sure, hatred of Jews was not as prominent a feature of the groups xenophobia as it was with the German Nazis. But it was strong enough to motivate a considerable number of its members to actively participate in the Holocaust, either as German collaborators or as self-motivated Jew-hunters. Needless to say, the UNIP and Ukraines other pseudo-historians prefer to gloss over these events, instead emphasizing the many real cases when Ukrainians (and even some nationalists) helped save Jews during the war. But this approach leaves little room to properly acknowledge the crimes committed by the OUN-B. As a result of the UINPs misleading statements and publications, most Ukrainians have little idea that some of the groups militias participated in anti-Jewish pogroms during the war, even though this is now extensively documented by both Western and Ukrainian historians. In view of the continued relevance of the Holocaust in Western public discourse, these developments will have an increasingly corrosive effect on Ukraines foreign relations, its international image, and its cultural diplomacy (not to mention its ties to Israel). The contradictions will only grow as the most recent research about the OUN-Bs involvement in war crimes spreads from the academic community to Western history textbooks, Holocaust education, and mass media. Gradually, Ukraines soft-pedaling of the OUN-Bs crimes will become less and less acceptable. (The fact that none of the UINPs new staff seem to have proper academic credentials, and that its director has become notorious among academic historians for his selective approach to history, makes it unlikely that a positive narrative about the OUN-B will make much headway in the West.) The most immediate political problem arising from Kievs official World War II narrative is its unacceptability to European Union and NATO members, such as Poland and Germany, which have especially high stakes in how Europes wartime history is interpreted. Poland will accept nothing less than a full acknowledgement and appropriate memorialization of the massacre of tens of thousands of Polish civilians by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which was under the OUN-Bs command. For Germany, any suggestion that honors are due to Nazi collaborators such as OUN leader Roman Shukhevych an officer of the Wehrmacht and of a notorious auxiliary police battalion is out of the question. Apart from the United States and Canada, Poland and Germany are Ukraines most important Western partners. Berlin has played a crucial role in imposing and extending EU sanctions against Russia, and Germany is one of Ukraines main Western donors (and potential future business partners). And, though it is less powerful than Germany, Poland may be an even more important partner for Kiev, since its level of knowledge and interest in Ukraine exceeds that of any other EU member. Given its acute understanding of the Russian threat, Poland is often the most insistent pro-Ukrainian advocate in Western organizations, particularly on matters of security. Warsaw also remains Kievs main regional ally, as Ukraine cannot hope to join either NATO or the EU anytime soon. But Kievs continuing glorification of the Bandera movement risks estranging Warsaw from the Ukrainian cause. To make matters worse, Ukraines embrace of the OUN makes it that much easier for Russian propagandists to portray Kiev as a nest of fascists. Of course, Putins violent assault on the Ukrainian state since 2014 has been one of the main reasons for the countrys embrace of its nationalistic heroes in the first place. Nevertheless, the more Ukraines official historiography diverges from what is commonly accepted in the West, the easier it will be for Putin to win converts and sow doubt among Kievs friends. The repercussions of Ukraines failure to properly study, acknowledge, and teach the darker sides of its past are making themselves felt. Indeed, they seem to be causing international scandals with increasing regularity. The UINP and other activists are alienating Ukraines most important international partners and allies at a time when Ukraine needs their help the most. For these and other reasons, Ukraine should embrace a more academic and less escapist approach to understanding its wartime history as most Western countries have eventually done. In the photo, nationalists march in Lviv, Ukraine on January 1 as they mark the 107th anniversary of the birth of Stepan Bandera. Photo credit: YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP/Getty Images (Adds details) Oct 25 (Reuters) - Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Inc reported a much smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as the company's aggressive cost-cutting measures paid off. Baker Hughes, which in May abandoned a merger with closest rival Halliburton Co due to opposition from antitrust regulators, said total costs and expenses fell 31.2 percent in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. The company said in July it expected to save an annualized $500 million in costs by the end of 2016. Baker Hughes said on Tuesday it expected activity in North America to modestly increase as customers slowly begins to ramp up activity. Larger rival Schlumberger Ltd, the world's No.1 oilfield services provider, said on Friday there were early signs of recovery in industry activity in most parts of the world. The number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States this week rose by 11 in the week to Oct.21, the most in two months. However, Baker Hughes said it expected activity declines in the international community, with continued pricing pressure. Net loss attributable to Baker Hughes widened to $429 million, or $1 per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $159 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier. The company said it recorded after-tax charges of $365 million related to asset and goodwill impairments, restructuring and litigation settlements. Excluding items, the company reported a loss of 15 cents per share, smaller than the 44 cents analysts had expected, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue fell 37.8 percent to $2.35 billion. (Reporting by Anet Josline Pinto and Vishaka George in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government to draft a set of rules to regulate protests in Mumbai. By Vidya : The Bombay High Court today gave a month's time to the Maharashtra government to draft a set of rules (policy decision) on regulating protests in Mumbai. Taking note of several citizen association's plea, the division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice AA Sayed directed the state government to act swiftly on regulating protests. The bench directed the additional secretary (home), the police commissioner and the municipal corporation chief to meet immediately and collate suggestions so that a decision of the issue can be taken at the earliest. advertisement ALSO READ: MNS protests against closure of chicken, mutton shops in Mumbai for Jain festival SHIFTING PROTEST SITE TO AZAD MAIDAN Earlier on a court order, the Azad Maidan was designated as a protest site but the state government till date has no regulation or law on the same. In 1997, the Nariman Point Churchgate Citizen Residents Association and a few others had filed a petition asking for protests in the city to be regulated. ALSO READ: Karnataka: Do not encourage protests in colleges, says Directorate of Technical Education The petitioners included Oval-Cooperage Residents Association, Colaba-Cuffe Parade Citizens Association and some hotels too. The petitioners had complained about the noise pollution due to the incessant slogan shouting all along the arterial routes and subsequently at the Kala Ghoda where the morchas used to terminate then. The petitioners also said the protests affected residents, shopkeepers, college students and lakhs of office-goers who travel to the Nariman Point everyday. In the same year an interim order was passed by the court which said that all protests and morchas would terminate at the Azad Maidan, next to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus(CST). ALSO READ: Bombay High court raps Maharashtra government for delay in procuring noise-measuring meters The court, however, was of the view that ending morchas at the Azad Maidan may lead to people staying in the vicinity facing similar problems. NO PANEL MEETING IN FIVE YEARS In 2011, it was decided that the state would take a policy decision on regulating protests for which a committee consisting of additional secretary home, police commissioner and the municipal corporation chief was formed. ALSO READ: MNS threatens to beat filmmakers who work with Pakistan artistes However, in the last five years the committee has not meet even once. Taking a stern view, the Bombay HC has directed all the three to meet within a month so that suggestions could be collated and a decision could be taken. The advocate for the petitioner S C Naidu said that taking a policy decision would mean "providing facilities at the ground for protests, regulating the traffic and security in the area in such a way that others are not inconvenienced". advertisement ALSO READ: JNU siege ends, but protest to continue over missing student; VC calls students 'relentless, adamant' --- ENDS --- As a ballerina in the elite Joffrey company, Maggie Kudirka put off worrying about a hard, raised lump above her left breast. Just a few weeks away from turning 23, she reasoned that it was most likely a ballet injury, and couldnt be breast cancer. I thought I had just pulled a muscle, Kudirka, now 25, tells PEOPLE. Being a dancer, I could not take time off and risk losing my parts, so I continued dancing without telling anyone about my injury. Plus, with her hectic schedule of practice six days a week from 9 to 5, and the chance of going on tour at a moments notice, Kudirka didnt have time to see a doctor. When she finally got an appointment in June, four months after she first discovered the lump in February 2014, Kudirka learned that she not only had breast cancerA a it was a very aggressive, fast-growing, triple positive stage 4 breast cancer with a very poor prognosis, she explains a a median life expectancy of two to three years and a five year survival rate of less than 20 percent. My whole world turned upside-down, Kudirka says. I wondered if I would ever dance again. I didnat know how to respond a I just started crying uncontrollably. Time was immediately of the essence, so she moved back home with her parents in Maryland, and started treatment on July 1. When breast cancer strikes someone under age 30, it is usually very fast-growing and frequently metastatic at initial diagnosis, Kudirka says. For many young women, by the time a lump is felt, the cancer has already spread to the bones, brain, liver or lungs, as happened to me. Kudirka started with chemotherapy infusions, and once those ended, she had a double mastectomy, a silver lining for the dancer. I was extremely happy to get a double mastectomy because my breasts were abnormally large, she says. The surgery would give me the danceras body that I had dreamed about for over 10 years a remove the source of my cancer. Story continues The day after my surgery, my mom said that I looked the happiest she had ever seen me. Kudirka now has maintenance infusions every three weeks to keep the cancer at bay. After two years of treatment, shes had a total of 41 infusions that have allowed her to maintain parts of her old lifestyle, but with complications. Since most breast cancer patients are older women, many of the drugs and treatments that have been developed work only in post-menopausal women, she explains, adding that the infusions have put her in menopause at age 25. She also deals with dizziness and weakness that limits her from dancing as much as she used to. But when Kudirka can dance, shes on top of the world. Cancer changes your perspective pretty quickly, she says.A I am grateful for every day that I am healthy and strong enough to dance. When I was with the Joffrey Concert Group, I often wished the rehearsal would end early; I welcomed days off from a grueling performance schedule.A Now I long for those days. During chemotherapy, Kudirka dubbed herself the Bald Ballerina on social media, and was thrilled with an outpouring of support from across the country. She set up a donation website on YouCaring.com to help with her mounting medical bills, and though her near-constant treatment precludes her from rejoining Joffrey, she teaches ballet nationwide and performs on a freelance basis whenever I can. RELATED VIDEO:A Sheryl Crow Talks Breast Cancer Prevention //players.brightcove.net/416418724/rJSWQ1RE_default/index.min.js While I donat have the stamina and strength to dance full time, I cherish each invitation I get to perform because it could be my last, Kudirka says. While my doctors have kept the cancer stable, it could change in the blink of an eye. I will keep dancing as long as I can. It is what I live for and it is what keeps me alive. By Valerie Volcovici and Devika Krishna Kumar (Reuters) - Forget the accusations of groping, bigotry and email mismanagement. If the American voter had to choose between Republican nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton based on their energy policies alone, the presidential election would still be a remarkable drama, amounting to the biggest referendum on global climate change since the term was coined. How the country decides on Nov. 8 will have far-reaching implications for the price of electricity and gas at the pump, as well as the future of the U.S. energy industry, which employs about 10 million people. Trump's vision is an America where oil derricks pump furiously again, coal miners get back to work, and the country puts its own economy ahead of foreign nations worried about the effects of fossil fuels on sea levels, droughts, and storms. Clinton sees an America where half a billion solar panels power homes, cars run on electricity, oil use is cut by a third, and the clean energy sector provides a deep well of new jobs supported by government mandates and subsidies. "At a very basic level, it would be a climate vote," said Sarah Emerson, the head of Energy Security Analysis Inc in Boston. "Do you want fossil fuels, or renewables?" MAKE AMERICA DRILL AGAIN Trump has said he wants to unleash a U.S. energy revolution by streamlining environmental regulation, easing infrastructure permitting and pulling the country out of a global pact to combat climate change moves he says would promote increased oil and gas drilling and revive the dying coal mining industry without compromising air and water quality. The proposals align neatly with both the Republican Partys opposition to government overreach, and Trumps own campaign theme of making America Great Again by restoring traditional industries, including many that have been hurt by international trade agreements. While the plan has earned him some support within an oil and gas industry naturally opposed to regulation, it has also given rise to skepticism among even his closest allies over whether he can deliver. Obama hasnt shut down drilling what has shut down drilling is price, Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens, a Trump supporter, told Reuters. I dont know what Trump can do to help the industry. A technology-driven drilling boom has pushed U.S. oil and gas production up 70 percent since President Barack Obama took office in 2008, making America the top producer in the world, but it has also triggered a slump in prices as demand has failed to keep up. Oil prices are running at four-month highs around $50 a barrel after the OPEC cartel signaled in September it may make its first production cut in eight years, but prices remain less than half their levels from mid-2014. While the price crash has been a boon for consumers and energy-intensive businesses, dozens of energy companies have gone bankrupt, putting blue collar workers in the coal mines, shale fields and oil rigs out of work. Critics have said Trumps plan to revive natural gas drilling would finish off the very coal industry he promises to restore, because the two fuels compete. It would seem to defy basic market laws of supply and demand, said Jason Bordoff, a former energy adviser to Obama. The coal industry, once a large employer in parts of America, now employs less than 60,000 miners. It has become a symbol of Trump's vow to revive dying industries. Clinton suffered political damage when she said "we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business." Trumps energy plan would also force the United States to make an abrupt turnabout on the environment: He wants to withdraw from the global climate change pact agreed in Paris last year. He has called climate change a hoax and has argued the Paris deal would cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars and put it at a disadvantage. Trump wants to rescind the Clean Power Plan to limit carbon output and downgrade the Environmental Protection Agency to a commission, not a cabinet level agency, and refocus it on its core mission: clean air and clean water for all Americans, regardless of race or income. An oil industry lobbyist in Washington D.C., who asked not to be named, said that even if Trumps policies were unlikely to solve the root problem facing the industry right now the low price of oil and gas his ideas were still mainly welcomed. Regulation is a killer, and if it can be streamlined, it helps, he said. Trumps campaign has drawn about $99,000 from employees of the oil and gas industry since July, when he was formally nominated, while Clinton has received about $114,000 from the industry over the same period, according to the latest federal campaign finance disclosures. CLEAN ENERGY SUPERPOWER Environmental advocates argue that a failure to agree on strong measures like the Paris accord would doom the world to ever-hotter average temperatures, bringing with them deadlier storms, more frequent droughts and rising sea levels as polar ice caps melt. Clinton says she wants to address that by making America a clean energy superpower." Her plan calls for phasing out fossil fuels, embracing clean energy sources like solar and wind, strengthening environmental protections and leading the world in curbing carbon dioxide emissions blamed for climate change. We can deploy a half a billion more solar panels. We can have enough clean energy to power every home. We can build a new modern electric grid. Thats a lot of jobs. Thats a lot of new economic activity, Clinton said in the first presidential debate in September. Solar development is aided by a federal tax credit worth 30 percent of the cost of a system. That credit was set to expire at the end of this year, but received a five-year extension from Congress in late 2015. Even so, the cost of electricity from large-scale solar installations has dropped to a level that is now comparable to natural gas-fired power, even without incentives. Clinton has also signaled increased regulation of fracking to prevent water and air pollution, continued support for the Obama administrations efforts to curb carbon output that would pressure fuels like coal, and a tougher approach to infrastructure permitting. Her approach appears much more likely than Trumps to lift consumer prices for gasoline, heating oil, and electricity, given that increased regulation typically increases costs of production, many analysts said. Still, Clinton will likely face stiff resistance from U.S. Congress - if Republicans retain control of one or both houses. She could follow in Obama's footsteps by relying on executive orders to implement her agenda, but opponents would almost certainly challenge her in the courts. Jay Faison, a North Carolina entrepreneur who calls himself a conservative advocate for clean energy, agrees with the need for more lower-carbon sources of energy, but says Trumps plans to cut regulation could provide a more effective way to get there. They could potentially make it easier to build nuclear power plants and hydro-electric dams, which produce no carbon dioxide, for example. Environmentalists, who have helped mobilize mass protests against energy infrastructure projects during Obama's presidency, hate Trump's proposals. But they are also suspicious of Clinton. She promoted fracking technology to European allies while Americas top diplomat to help them reduce their dependence on Russia, according to leaked diplomatic cables, and was slow to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline proposal that would have piped in more oil sands from Alberta to U.S. refineries. Its a shame that were going to have to spend four or eight years pressuring her at every turn but we will, said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, which advocates a complete halt to fossil fuels development. (This version of the story was refiled to change "powers" to "power" in the headline) (Additional reporting by Nichola Groom, Richard Valdmanis and Jessica Resnick-Ault, editing by Ross Colvin) Donald Trump might need some aloe for that burn! On Monday night, President Barack Obama visited Jimmy Kimmel Live! where he participated in a second round of Presidential Mean Tweets. After reading a few zingers like, "Obama couldn't negotiate getting a Whopper without pickles" and "Barack Obama dances like how his jeans look," Obama read a tweet from GOP presidential nominee, Donald Trump. MORE: Barack and Michelle Obama's First and Last State Dinners: How Their Style (and Love!) Has Evolved The tweet read, "President Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States!," to which the President cheekily replied, "Well, @realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a president." And while the sketch was all fun and games, Obama had a more serious message for viewers when he sat down to talk with host Jimmy Kimmel. "We joke about Donald Trump, but part of the reason you've seen Michelle [Obama] passionate in this election, part of the reason that we get involved as much as we have, is not just because we think Hillary's going to be a great president, but it's also because, there's something qualitatively different about the way Trump has operated in the political sphere," Obama said. In fact, the President noted that he doesn't feel the same way about Trump as he does his past political opponents. "I ran against John McCain. I ran against Mitt Romney. Obviously, I thought that I could do a better job, but they're both honorable men," Obama said of the Republicans. "If they had won, I wouldn't worry about the general course of this country." MORE: Alec Baldwin Skewers Donald Trump's Third Debate Performance, Pokes Fun at Brother Stephen on 'SNL' When Kimmel asked if Obama would ever run again if it were legal, he replied, "Personally for me, if I were able to run for a third term, Michelle would divorce me. So it's useful that I don't have that choice to make All the women in my life are looking forward to being able to live a more normal life." Story continues For more from the presidential election, watch the clip below! Related Articles By Jilian Mincer and Martinne Geller NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - British American Tobacco Plc's proposed takeover of Reynolds American Inc could speed up Big Tobacco's dominance of the quickly changing e-cigarette market, putting more pressure on early innovators already getting squeezed out. BAT offered last week to buy its U.S. peer for $47 billion (38.54 billion pounds) in a deal that would combine Lucky Strike and Newport cigarettes, and Vuse and Vype e-cigarettes. Reynolds has yet to respond to the unsolicited approach. A combination would create a company with significant share of two of the biggest e-cigarette markets - the United States and United Kingdom - and pit it more directly against the efforts of rival Philip Morris International Inc, and U.S. partner Altria Group Inc, to devise a successful alternative to traditional cigarettes. The deal is expected to spark further consolidation, such as a reunification of Philip Morris with Altria, analysts said. It would also put further pressure on smaller players Imperial Brands Plc and Japan Tobacco International to do deals of their own. Electronic cigarettes and other alternatives to smoking are seen as the future of a tobacco industry whose sales are shrinking in Western markets as more people give up the deadly habit. BAT and Reynolds already have a technology-sharing and licensing deal for their e-cigarettes, which produce vapor from liquid nicotine instead of tobacco smoke, but a full takeover is expected to speed and simplify innovation. This is critical as Philip Morris and Altria work to launch a promising, new technology called iQOS - using tobacco instead of liquid - in the United States, the biggest market for "vaping" products. "Leveraging that R&D more seamlessly across the enterprise is one of the big benefits" of the potential BAT deal for Reynolds, said Morningstar analyst Adam Fleck.IQOS and similar devices heat tobacco enough to create a vapor that its makers say is less harmful than the smoke derived from burning it. They could be more successful than e-cigarettes for smokers who find e-cigarettes unsatisfying. Story continues Reynolds' Vuse e-cigarette is the top selling vapor product in U.S. chain stores tracked by Nielsen. Its "heat-not-burn" product Eclipse is only available in limited distribution and not separately reported by the company. BAT, which sells e-cigarettes under the Vype brand, also has a medicinal nicotine inhaler called Voke and a tobacco-heating product called glo iFuse that it launched in Romania. It has about 35 percent of the UK mainstream market for e-cigarettes, according to Nielsen. The data does not include vape shops, which often sell smaller brands. CHANGING LANDSCAPE Use of e-cigarettes has grown quickly in the last decade, with U.S. sales expected to reach $4.1 billion in 2016, according to Wells Fargo Securities. While it is unclear how the market will evolve over time, the success of the tobacco-based vapor category would favor global businesses already based on tobacco. Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro, has spent more than $3 billion in recent years on research, development and production of cigarette alternatives. BAT has spent about 500 million pounds ($606.8 million). Philip Morris sells its iQOS product in 10 test markets. It plans to be in 20 by year end. Philip Morris said in September that iQOS was luring smokers away from traditional cigarettes, citing conversion rates of 60 to 70 percent over a period of up to two months. By contrast, users often try e-cigarettes but drop them over time. Altria, which has an exclusive U.S. licence for iQOS, is eager get the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve it as a "modified risk tobacco product," which if approved would carry a different warning than traditional cigarettes. Philip Morris hopes to begin that process by the end of the year.Regulation is also favoring big tobacco companies. After years of delay, the FDA in August implemented new rules that require companies to submit e-cigarettes for government approval before marketing them. The lengthy, expensive process is difficult for small startups without experience navigating government bureaucracy. NJOY - one of the first big U.S. e-cigarette makers - filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, citing poor sales and high costs associated with the new rules. "We're going to have a huge contraction of the vaping market with most of the market share going to the tobacco companies," said Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, who has advocated vaping as a way to wean smokers off conventional cigarettes. (Additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London; Editing by Joseph White, Michele Gershberg and Lisa Shumaker) Brussels (AFP) - Delicate negotiations in Brussels failed Tuesday to reach an agreement that will allow an EU-Canada trade deal to forge ahead, as a holdout Belgian region warned it would stop the talks if it faced more pressure to sign up. Belgian and European Union officials held a string of meetings aimed at winning over the Wallonia region, which has prevented Belgium from supporting the agreement and effectively blocked a deal that must be endorsed by all 28 EU nations. "I want to be clear on the fact that we have already received three ultimatums and that we will not tolerate a fourth ultimatum, wherever it comes from," Wallonia leader Paul Magnette told reporters. "If there is a fourth ultimatum, we will stop the negotiations." Six hours of talks broke up late Tuesday without an agreement, with bleary-eyed negotiators set to return to the table at 0600 GMT on Wednesday, the Belgian foreign minister said. "We worked very well this afternoon and this evening," Didier Reynders told reporters as he left the negotiations, adding there were still "two or three difficulties yet to resolve". Canada as well as the European Commission, the EU executive, and the European Council, which groups the member states, have all pushed for the landmark deal known as the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). The pact would link the EU's single market of 500 million people -- the world's biggest -- with the 10th largest global economy. But leaders of Wallonia, a 3.5 million-strong French-speaking region south of Brussels, want more talks to produce cast-iron reassurances that CETA will not harm local interests. Magnette and other critics oppose terms of the deal intended to protect international investors which, they say, could allow them to force governments to change laws against the wishes of the people. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Monday his government could not endorse the deal after brief talks failed to win over Wallonia as well as the small German community and the Francophone community, all of which oppose the deal. Story continues Nonetheless, European Council President Donald Tusk said later following a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that a summit was "still possible in Brussels" on Thursday. A Trudeau spokesman said the Canadian leader was still planning to fly to Brussels on Thursday to sign the deal, which has involved seven years of negotiations. His trade minister Chrystia Freeland, who engaged in fraught talks with Magnette last week, has said: "Canada is ready to sign CETA but the ball is in Europe's court and it's time for Europe to do its job." - 'CETA is not dead' - The European Commission renewed calls for patience while a majority of the European Parliament called for the most ambitious trade deal in EU history to be saved. "CETA is not dead," said both the head of the Conservative European People's Party bloc, Manfred Weber, and his liberal counterpart, Guy Verhofstadt, during a session in Strasbourg, France. Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, said it was important to lay the groundwork for approving the deal by November and signing it in December. European Parliament President Martin Schulz told German radio that he did not think a solution will be reached this week but that delaying the summit would not mean failure. "If you need 14 more days then you just push back the summit," he said. By Robert-Jan Bartunek and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Feuding Belgian politicians, keeping Canada and the European Union waiting, resume talks on Wednesday with hopes fading that they will unblock a Transatlantic free trade deal in time for a planned signing summit. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was due to fly to Brussels to ink the CETA trade pact with EU leaders on Thursday. But Belgium's federal government failed in six hours of negotiations on Tuesday to overcome a veto from the region of Wallonia that is stopping the European bloc from signing up. Didier Reynders, the Belgian foreign minister who chaired the talks, said he hoped that his liberal-led federal government could forge a common position with Socialist-led Wallonia, one of five devolved authorities whose agreement it needs. It would then go back to EU negotiators trying to conclude the accord. "I hope we can give a signal to our European colleagues that we are ready to respond to the European discussion on the basis of Belgian proposals," he told reporters late on Tuesday, while stressing that he could not yet say if Belgium would sign up. Paul Magnette, the Wallonia premier, has said it could take some weeks to agree a deal that has been seven years in the making. He repeated on Tuesday that his French-speaking region, less than 1 percent of the EU's 507-million population, could not agree to an arbitration system in CETA that he said favoured multinational corporations over existing national courts. EU and Canadian officials have said that even if Trudeau does not come to sign the accord, they will keep talking. Canada, with much to lose from failing to gain easier access to such a big market, says the ball is in Europe's court. All 27 other EU states are ready to sign up, as is Belgium's federal government and its biggest region, Dutch-speaking Flanders. Critics accuse the French-speaking Socialists, pushed out of federal power for the first time in over 20 years by the current coalition, of exploiting its veto for domestic ends. Magnette, who has reacted angrily to pressure to reach a deal in time for Trudeau's visit, told reporters after the talks that he wanted an accord with Ottawa: "We've always negotiated in good faith," he said. "Our demands are very clear," he said. "We want to start to be understood." (Additional reporting by Marilyn Haigh; Editing by James Dalgleish) From Cosmopolitan Fraternities and sororities at the University of California, Berkeley have taken a bold stance against sexual violence, voluntarily banning all parties following reports of two sexual assaults last week at off-campus frat functions. Interfraternity Council President Daniel Saedi called it "relatively unprecedented" for the Greek system to suspend its own parties but said Friday that fraternities and sororities agreed to pause social events to figure out how to keep them safe. "We needed to take some time off and really assess our situation," said Saedi, a 21-year-old senior at Berkeley. "These are grave acts of violence that are occurring. They have no place anywhere in this country let alone on college campuses." Saedi and Panhellenic Council president Divya Thomas, who oversees the schools 12 sororities, announced the suspension this week in a Facebook post, saying they would "suspend all social events until we can reevaluate our risk management practices." Berkeley police say that two female students reported alleged assaults at off-campus fraternity parties last weekend. According to the universitys crime statistics, 22 rapes were reported on-campus or in student housing in 2015 and four rapes were reported off-campus. The party ban comes amid heightened attention to sexual assaults on college campuses, just months after the high-profile case of Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman. Turners six-month jail sentence drew public outrage. The UC Berkeley administration has also received attention and criticism for its handling of sexual harassment cases involving high-profile faculty members. Among the critics were students, who now appear to be taking their own steps to increase safety. Saedi said there is no timeline for the ban. Members of all fraternities and sororities will meet this weekend to discuss safety measures related to sexual violence, alcohol consumption, and other issues. Story continues "Hopefully, over the weekend we will craft a new set of operating standards that all fraternities and sororities will agree on," Saedi said. Voluntarily shutting down fraternity parties is unusual but not unheard of. After a reported sexual assault at Emory University in Atlanta in 2014, the Intrafraternity Council there also issued a self-imposed suspension of all social activities. But typically, the university administration is the one to impose bans on fraternities or sororities for hazing, drinking, sexual misconduct, or other disciplinary matters. Saedi said he realized not all students would be pleased with the suspension. But several students welcomed it. "Im glad at least theyre taking time out to step back and think about it," student Arjun Mahajan told KNTV. "I think its a good opportunity to reflect about ... this issue." You Might Also Like New York (AFP) - A Donald Trump impersonator appeared Tuesday outside New York's Trump Tower accompanied by two bikini-clad models, causing a stir in a staged promo event for a British artist. British photographer Alison Jackson became famous for using body doubles of famous people and setting them up in photographs of imagined and unusual situations. Jackson's best-known pictures include Marilyn Monroe undressing in front of President John F. Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth washing dishes, and President Barack Obama on a cigarette break. For a big-bang opening for her new photo exhibit, titled "Private," Jackson hired the same Trump impersonator she used her photo shoots. The impersonator began his short trip at Trump International Hotel and Tower, located on the southwest corner of Central Park, and traveled to Trump Tower aboard a chauffeur-driven convertible along with two models in bikinis. After being briefly intercepted by police, the impersonator arrived at Trump Tower, headquarters of the Republican's presidential campaign. A crowd quickly gathered as a dozen bikini-clad women in high heels, as part of the stunt, surrounded the impersonator waving signs with slogans like "I am not a slut," and "Grab America by the pussy" -- a reference to Trump's brags in a 2005 video that fame lets him grope women without their consent. "Respect us!," "Don't touch our bodies!" then women chanted around the fake Trump, a reference to the women who came forward claiming that the real estate billionaire groped them. After several minutes the fake Trump took off, briefly walking down Fifth Avenue amid a forest of pedestrians taking pictures with their smartphones and cameras, then climbing aboard a taxi. Organizers told AFP that the impersonator then traveled to Times Square, and then went to the HG Contemporary Gallery for the Jackson exhibit. Resolutions adopted at the meeting suggest that the issue would continue to simmer unless the Centre constitutes the Cauvery Water Management Board. By Amarnath K. Menon : The all-party meeting on Cauvery waters called for by the DMK at Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters in Chennai, on Tuesday morning did not draw a full house. Major parties stayed away from the meeting, terming it 'a political gimmick'. But the resolutions adopted at the meeting suggest that the issue would continue to simmer unless the Centre steps in with firm measures, particularly the constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board. advertisement In the three other resolutions adopted at the meeting, it was decided that the Opposition parties would be meeting the Prime Minister on the sharing of the Cauvery waters, the Tamil Nadu government should convene the legislative assembly at the earliest to discuss the Cauvery issue at length and adopt a resolution and a compensation of Rs 30,000 per acre be paid to the affected farmers in the Cauvery belt wilting under pressure and distress. NEED FOR UNITY ON CAUVERY ISSUE: STALIN "There is a need for unity among various stakeholders to solve the Cauvery issue in favour of Tamil Nadu, just as political parties in Karnataka are uniting," emphasised Stalin, who presided over the meeting. "We made several requests to the government to take the initiative. As no one came forward to hold this meeting, we took the first step in the hope that those who abstained would participate in the future." Although leaders of farmers' associations and political parties, including G.K. Vasan of the TMC, Tehlan Baqavi of SDPI, Congress State president Thirunavukkarasar and IUML's Khadar Mohideen took part, those conspicuous by their absence were leaders from AIADMK, BJP, DMDK and PWF. Also read: Cauvery row: Supreme Court asks Karnataka to continue releasing water to Tamil Nadu As Stalin put it, "There has been no kuruvai cultivation and in the last five years. This year, even samba crop is doubtful due to Karnataka's unwillingness to release Cauvery waters." This is why all parties want this difficult situation to come to an end and a share in credit for resolving the issue in favour of Tamil Nadu. Creating the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) is the only meaningful solution for Tamil Nadu, which does not have a single river that flows perennially anywhere in the state. The primary concern is that inadequate flowing of river water over the years is transforming the Thanjavur delta from being a rice bowl to a dust bowl. And the pre-poll promise of AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, elected for a historic second consecutive term in June 2016, is that she will never compromise on Tamil Nadu's interests and least of all those of the farmers. CAUVERY WATER BOARD DISADVANTAGEOUS FOR KARNATAKA Karnataka is fully aware that the creation of the Cauvery Water Management Board could work to its disadvantage. Leveraging as the upper riparian state, Karnataka's stand is that it has pledged to provide Tamil Nadu 192 TMC in a good rainfall year as envisaged by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. This is why it has glossed over Tamil Nadu's protests against the construction of the Mekedatu reservoir in Ramanagaram district to store 48 TMC to meet Bengaluru's drinking water needs. It is going ahead by allotting funds for the project. advertisement Jayalalithaa senses that the situation could get worse for Tamil Nadu with every passing year. She has reminded Prime Minister Modi in writing that the BJP's manifesto for Tamil Nadu also promised the creation of the Cauvery Water Management Board, as ordered by the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal in 2007. The Supreme Court has also endorsed this plan. Also read: Tamil Nadu's farmers, parties protest for Cauvery board, stop trains A Cauvery Water Management Board will be detrimental to the interests of Karnataka. That is why in Mandya and other places, along the upper reaches of the river, farmers and others are protesting against the Supreme Court's directive to supply water to Tamil Nadu. Earlier stand-offs coupled with political posturing whipping up the Kannada versus Tamil sentiments have helped parties score brownie points. advertisement POLITICAL EVENTS IN CAUVERY DISPUTE HISTORY Major political events in the decades-long Cauvery water dispute include the 80-hour long fast by Jayalalithaa in Chennai way back in 1993 and the then Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna's 100 km padayatra in 2002. In the time to come, incidents such as self-immolation attempts and fast-unto deaths cannot be ruled out. With assembly elections less than two years away in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah and others such as BJP's BS Yeddyurappa will leave little to chance in projecting the state's and its farmers' interests. Also read: Farmers in Trichy demand formation of Cauvery water management board Tamil Nadu will lobby with the Centre even as it stays the legal course. After all, it is in response to the Special Leave Petition lodged by the state earlier. The Supreme Court on May 10, 2013 had in an interim order asked the government of India to establish a temporary Supervisory Committee to implement the Cauvery Tribunal order till the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board as provided for in the tribunal order. In that order, after 16 years of hearing and interim order, the Tribunal allocated 419 TMC to Tamil Nadu, 270 TMC to Karnataka, 30 TMC to Kerala and 7 TMC to Puducherry. It concluded that the total availability of water in the Cauvery basin was 740 TMC. advertisement BJP OPTIMISTIC ABOUT REGAINING POWER IN KARNATAKA The central government may prefer to be indecisive on the Cauvery Water Management Board, which would lead to a rational allocation of shares and ensure distribution, at least until the assembly elections in Karnataka are over. The BJP is optimistic about regaining power in the state and, at the same time, does not want to annoy the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and even hope to improve the party's support base here. It is only after the Karnataka polls that the Water Resources department can bring warring sides to the table and take a pragmatic rather than a political view, to dissolve the interim supervisory committee on sharing the waters and constitute the permanent Cauvery Water Management Board. All motions, until then, serve only as a short-term solution by implementing a temporary truce on sharing what is available and ensuring an amicable flowing down of the river water. --- ENDS --- (Reuters) - Microsoft founder Bill Gates through his foundation has donated $210 million to an initiative based at the University of Washington in Seattle aimed at improving people's health around the world, university officials said on Tuesday. The gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, named after the billionaire and his wife, will be used to construct a building at the university to house its Population Health Initiative, the school said. The donation is one of the largest contributions to the University of Washington in the 155-year-old institution's history, it said. "Melinda and I are pleased to make this investment in the University of Washington to help dramatically accelerate their 25-year vision to achieve positive health outcomes for populations around the world," Gates said in a statement. The statement from the University of Washington said the initiative will focus on combating diseases and health disparities and healing the environment, with the understanding that factors such as air pollution contribute to illnesses. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the largest private charities in the world. In June, Gates announced a donation of 100,000 chickens to sub-Saharan Africans living in extreme poverty. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernard Orr) Bindle & Keeps Daniel Friedman and Rae Tutera In 2012, Rae Tutera (then known as Rachel) saw drag king performer Murray Hill wearing a suit that not only looked good, but was tailored very specifically to his individual body. As someone looking for a suit themselves (Tutera identifies as transmasculine and prefers neutral pronouns such as they), Tutera sought out Daniel Friedman, the custom Brooklyn tailor who owns Bindle & Keep and made Hills suit. Rather than just craft a custom two-button and be done with it, Tutera sought an apprenticeship with Friedman and shortly thereafter began a career in the custom suiting business as Friedmans partner. Though the two come from superficially different backgrounds, their partnership has helped create what Bindle & Keep is todayyes, a custom suiting shop in Brooklyn, but one uniquely attuned and sensitive to the role an outfit can play for a member of the LGBTQ community. After a New York Times article profiling B&K ran in 2013, director Jason Benjamin approached Friedman and Tutera about creating a documentary about their business; the filmSuited premiered at Sundance in January and aired on HBO. It was mostly an emotional experience that made me do that, Tutera says, when I ask why the apprenticeship with Friedman when the original goal was just to get a suit. My background is not even remotely appropriate for what I do aside from the fact that Im a sensitive, present, engaged person. I used to be an activist. The thread may seem hard to draw, but one only has to watch the documentary to understand just how deeply qualified for the job that allowed Tutera to be. As Tutera and Friedman describe in the film, no one comes to the Clinton Hill studio saying simply, I want a suit. Everyone comes seeking an outfit because of a specific individual story. Theres the transgender man getting married; the law student in Atlanta who needs a suit to land a job; the 12 year-old who needs a suit for his upcoming bar mitzvah. A Bindle & Keep suit Every person we met was different from every other person we had met, says Tutera. The only thing that we learned was that two bodies may look the same and have even the same technical measurements, but we can never treat them the same way. Thats what makes Bindle & Keep so singular in the world of suit tailoring, which can often be entirely prescriptive (you have the Italian shoulder or the British shoulder, double vents or center vent, notch or peak lapel). That was a hard lesson for me to have to learn because Im 54 and weigh 125 pounds. Originally when I was learning how to make measurements, I would meet someone who had the same physical dimensions as me, and we would be bonding in conversation, and I would accidentally make them a suit that I would like. Its those tiny victories that make Tutera and Friedmans work so worthwhilemore than one client tears up onscreen when they see themselves for the first time in Bindle & Keep suitsbut its also part of the companys grander mission that a company can succeed and at the same have a conscience. We hope Bindle & Keep serves as a micro-example of what companies can do by being open and non-judgmental and encouraging everybody to be themselves, says Friedman. Help people express that. The lining of a Bindle & Keep suit jacket Find your #PowerLook with Yahoo Styles complete guide to fashion that makes you feel invincible, and post your #PowerLook to be featured on our feed! BEIJING (Reuters) - A powerful blast at a prefabricated house in northwestern China on Monday killed at least 14 people and injured 147, state news agency Xinhua said. The explosion occurred in the early afternoon in the town of Xinmin in Shaanxi province, damaging dozens of buildings including the local hospital, Xinhua said. An initial police investigation indicated that the blast was caused by illegally stored explosives, Xinhua said, adding that authorities had detained the owner of the building and were searching for the tenant. Eleven of the injured were in intensive care. Pictures carried by state media showed rescuers digging through the rubble of low rise buildings, though searches for the incident on Chinese social media were blocked on Tuesday. China has a bad safety record, with previous blasts blamed on poorly stored chemicals or industrial explosives which are easy to get hold of due to their use in China's booming coal mining sector. A series of powerful explosions last year at a chemicals warehouse in the northern city of Tianjin killed 165. There have also been cases of people deliberately setting off blasts to settle local grievances such as land disputes. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Michael Perry) Giselle went from surrendered and scared to one of the most adored adoptable cats on the planet. The 2-year-old blind munchkin cat was given up by her owner to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, according to WCVB. Giselles previous family was too overwhelmed with the cats medical needs to care for her any longer. So the MSPCA went to work finding the feline a new home, worried that Giselle, who is also healing from a lung infection, might be one of their most difficult cats to place. Because of a genetic mutation, Giselle can fit in the palm of your hand, an adorable attribute that comes with its own health problems. The itty-bitty kitty has trouble getting around on her own due to nerve and joint issues. But even with all of these bothers, Giselle stays optimistic and affectionate. She loves to snuggle, get chin scratches and keep her foster family company. To show off Giselles amazing nature, the shelter created the Instagram @RealStumpyCat for her, which is filled with updates, videos and photos. The plan worked! Giselle now has over 4,000 followers who enjoy watching her explore, recover and cuddle with her foster family. This many followers also means a lot of interested adopters. The shelter says they have recently received adoption requests from 20 different states, plus Canada and even as far away as Australia. Since Giselle is still healing from her lung infection, the shelter is going to wait until she is in full health before choosing a forever family. This means you still have time to apply, if this sweet, special animal seems like the pet for you. Giselle is looking for a new home that is single story (since her little legs have trouble with stairs), has a consistent routine and is already home to at least one animal for her to befriend. Were just so hopeful that her story motivates that special adopter who wants nothing more than to safeguard a cat most would view as broken, and who will reciprocate with unconditional love and years of companionship, Alyssa Krieger of the Jamaica Plain adoption center told ABC7NY. If this sounds like the purrfect match for you, reach out to akrieger@mspca.org to inquire about adopting Giselle. By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Boeing voiced more optimism on Tuesday about going ahead with a new aircraft to fill a gap in its product line, but said the time frame for producing such a plane remained years away. "I would say we're a little bit more optimistic today than we have been" about the "middle of the market" plane, Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said at a briefing on Boeing's market outlook in Brussels, ahead of Boeing's results report on Wednesday. But Tinseth said other projects will come first: bringing its 737 MAX single-aisle aircraft into service next year, adding a longer Dreamliner, the 787-10, in 2018 and developing the 777X, due in 2020. "So whatever we're going to do here, it will come after we get all those other things done," Tinseth said. Boeing is under growing pressure to produce the middle of the market plane, which would fill a gap between its largest 737 MAX model and the smallest 787. Earlier this month, the head of Qatar Airways took the opportunity of an order announcement to further press Boeing to build such a plane. Asked in a Reuters interview when he wanted to hear more about the plane, Al Baker said: "Yesterday!" Ray Conner, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in the same interview that Boeing continues to evaluate the idea and talk with customers. In addition to building the jets already on the drawing boards, Boeing's first order of business in the mid-market segment is to protect its flank from European rival Airbus (AIR.PA), which has gobbled up orders in that space. Airbus' A321neo is larger than Boeing's competing 737, and Boeing said it is studying a stretched version, dubbed the MAX 10, that would be easier to make than an all-new middle of the market plane. But the 737 MAX 10 is not seen coming to market until after the smallest version comes out in 2019. Boeing could develop both a 737 MAX 10 and a new middle of the market plane, Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said at an investor conference last month. But no decisions have been made. Story continues "We could potentially do both," he said. Boeing also could compete with the planes it has already, he added. Analysts are looking for Boeing to report profit of $2.62 per share when it posts third-quarter results on Wednesday, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Additional reporting by Alwyn Scott in New York; Editing by Ruth Pitchford) By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic PARIS (Reuters) - A train that derailed in Cameroon killing at least 79 people on Friday had recently had its number of carriages doubled and was travelling at twice the normal speed when it crashed, the chairman of the train operator's parent company told Reuters. Eric Melet, chairman of Bollore Africa Railways, a unit of French conglomerate Bollore Group which owns train operator Camrail, said the train was running at about 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) as it neared the station at Eseka. "What we can say is that the train, while approaching the station where it derailed, was going at an abnormally high speed," Melet said in an interview. He said at least 428 people had also been injured in the crash around 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital Yaounde, from where the train had departed with more than 1,300 passengers for the port of Douala. The official death toll is expected to rise. Melet confirmed that Camrail had recently doubled the size of the train to 16 carriages, with the permission of authorities, to accommodate extra passengers following the collapse of portion of a main highway on the same route. Camrail usually adds wagons to its regular trains during periods of peak demand, like during school holidays, Melet said. He said the train had been full, but not overloaded. "Yes, the train was packed due to demand, but the train was within its authorized capacity and in every wagon, there is a regulation for seating and standing space." The company will carry out an internal investigation on top of the official judicial investigation, he said, adding: "Hopefully, everyday, we'll be able to inform the public on the investigation in coordination with Cameroon authorities." Cameroon's President Paul Biya on Tuesday signed a decree giving a special investigating commission 30 days to look into the causes of the tragedy. It will be headed by the prime minister and include the justice minister and other senior government officials. The transportation minister, who has been heavily criticised for his handling of the crisis, was notably absent from the commission. Another train operated by Camrail derailed in 2009 near Yaounde, killing five people and injuring more than 200. Bollore Group's local logistics and transportation unit also operates Cameroon's two main ports of Douala and Kribi. Melet said Bollore "has always invested massively" in Camrail, which will receive five new machines "in the coming days" from South Africa. The deadly derailment at Eseka, for which a national day of mourning was observed on Monday, has exposed widespread frustration with Biya, one of Africa's longest-ruling leaders. (Additional reporting by Bate Felix and Gilles Guillaume in Paris and Joe Bavier in Abidjan; Editing by Catherine Evans) By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic PARIS (Reuters) - A train that derailed in Cameroon killing at least 79 people on Friday had recently had its number of carriages doubled and was travelling at twice the normal speed when it crashed, the chairman of the train operator's parent company told Reuters. Eric Melet, chairman of Bollore Africa Railways, a unit of French conglomerate Bollore Group which owns train operator Camrail, said the train was running at about 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) as it neared the station at Eseka. "What we can say is that the train, while approaching the station where it derailed, was going at an abnormally high speed," Melet said in an interview. He said at least 428 people had also been injured in the crash around 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital Yaounde, from where the train had departed with more than 1,300 passengers for the port of Douala. The official death toll is expected to rise. Melet confirmed that Camrail had recently doubled the size of the train to 16 carriages, with the permission of authorities, to accommodate extra passengers following the collapse of portion of a main highway on the same route. Camrail usually adds wagons to its regular trains during periods of peak demand, like during school holidays, Melet said. He said the train had been full, but not overloaded. "Yes, the train was packed due to demand, but the train was within its authorized capacity and in every wagon, there is a regulation for seating and standing space." The company will carry out an internal investigation on top of the official judicial investigation, he said, adding: "Hopefully, everyday, we'll be able to inform the public on the investigation in coordination with Cameroon authorities." Another train operated by Camrail derailed in 2009 near Yaounde, killing five people and injuring more than 200. Bollore Group's local logistics and transportation unit also operates Cameroon's two main ports of Douala and Kribi. Melet said Bollore "has always invested massively" in Camrail, which will receive five new machines "in the coming days" from South Africa. The deadly derailment at Eseka, for which a national day of mourning was observed on Monday, has exposed widespread frustration with President Paul Biya, one of Africa's longest-ruling leaders. (Additional reporting by Bate Felix and Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Catherine Evans) At least one woman has died and 18 others were wounded after a bomb destroyed a noodle shop in southern Thailand, where the government has been battling insurgents for more than half a century. Agence France-Presse reports that the blast occurred around 7 p.m. on Monday in downtown Pattani, a town in Thailands Muslim-majority deep south near the border with Malaysia. An AFP reporter at the site said multiple casualties could be seen, and many of the injuries appeared critical. The one reported fatality was a Buddhist woman, police told the news agency. Mondays blast occurred on the eve of the anniversary of a 2004 crackdown on antigovernment demonstrators that left 85 people dead in Tak Bai, a town in the neighboring province of Narathiwat. Most died when paramilitary forces stacked Muslim detainees atop each other like cargo to transport them to the Inkayut military camp. When the trucks arrived, scores of detainees had suffocated or died from crushed organs. Mondays blast also occurs less than two weeks after the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The Kings death has plunged the nation into political uncertainty, and the military junta which took power in a 2014 coup has tightened security on several fronts amid vague intelligence reports of potential bomb plots allegedly linked to the southern insurgency. On a major holiday marking the Queens birthday in August, simultaneous blasts at a number of popular tourist destinations in southern Thailand left four people dead and dozens injured. Police said at the time the explosives were similar to those used by southern insurgents, though military officials dismissed the possibility that the attacks were an extension of the separatist conflict. BorgWarner Inc. BWA is set to release its third-quarter 2016 results before the market opens on Oct 27. Last quarter, the company posted a positive earnings surprise of 2.44%. It has delivered a positive surprise in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average of 2.68%. Lets see how things have shaped up for the forthcoming announcement. Factors Influencing this Quarter BorgWarner expects third-quarter 2016 earnings per share to be in the range of 7481 cents. Net sales growth for the quarter is projected in the range of 13%20.8%. Excluding the impact of foreign currencies and the Remy International buyout, the year-over-year increase in net sales for the quarter is expected in the range of 2.5%7.7%. Moreover, a healthy balance sheet and ample cash flows help BorgWarner to return capital to shareholders. These efforts also positively impact earnings per share. However, the negative impact from foreign currencies poses concerns. The company projects an adverse impact of 10220 basis points on net sales related to foreign currencies in the third quarter. BORG WARNER INC Price and EPS Surprise BORG WARNER INC Price and EPS Surprise | BORG WARNER INC Quote Earnings Whispers Our proven model does not conclusively show that BorgWarner is likely to beat earnings this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. This is not the case here as you will see below: Zacks ESP: The Earnings ESP represents the difference between the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate. BorgWarners Earnings ESP is -1.30% because the Most Accurate estimate is 76 cents, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 77 cents. Please check our Earnings ESP Filter that enables you to find stocks that are expected to come out with earnings surprises. Zacks Rank: BorgWarners Zacks Rank #3 increases the predictive power of ESP. However, we need to have a positive ESP to be confident about an earnings surprise. Story continues Stocks to Consider Here are some companies you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter: Fox Factory Holding Corp FOXF, expected to report third-quarter 2016 financial results on Nov 2, has an Earnings ESP of +2.56% and a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Magna International Inc. MGA has an Earnings ESP of +1.67% and a Zacks Rank #2. The companys third-quarter 2016 financial results are expected to release on Nov 3. Visteon Corporation VC has an Earnings ESP of +9.46% and a Zacks Rank #3. The companys third-quarter 2016 results are expected to release on Oct 27. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report BORG WARNER INC (BWA): Free Stock Analysis Report MAGNA INTL CL A (MGA): Free Stock Analysis Report VISTEON CORP (VC): Free Stock Analysis Report FOX FACTORY HLD (FOXF): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Sarajevo (AFP) - The Council of Europe on Tuesday criticised authorities of Bosnian Serb-run entity Republika Srpska (RS) over a decision to honour three convicted war criminals, including wartime political leader Radovan Karadzic. "The decision... represents a serious blow to reconciliation efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is an insult to the numerous victims of those crimes who remain traumatised by the violent past," the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks said in a statement. "While thousands of victims in the region remain without access to justice and reparation, the focus of the authorities in the whole region should be on ensuring that these victims human rights are upheld and on fostering harmonious inter-ethnic relations," Muiznieks said. At a ceremony on Monday marking the 25th anniversary of the parliament of Republika Srpska, a number of people were awarded appreciation certificates, including Karadzic, his successor as RS president Biljana Plavsic and former parliamentary speaker Momcilo Krajisnik. All three have been sentenced by the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for their role during the 1992-1995 inter-ethnic war in Bosnia that claimed 100,000 lives and displaced more than two million people. Wartime political chief of Bosnian Serbs, Karadzic was sentenced in March to 40 years imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity. Biljana Plavsic, the only woman convicted by the ICTY, was sentenced to 11 years in jail in 2003 after she pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity for a leading role in a campaign of persecution against Croats and Muslims during Bosnia's war. Momcilo Krajisnik, wartime speaker of RS parliament, was convicted of persecuting and forcibly expelling non-Serbs and crimes against humanity. Having served two-thirds of his 20-year jail term, he returned to Bosnia in 2013 to a hero's welcome by fellow Bosnian Serbs. Story continues The international envoy to Bosnia, Valentin Inzko, condemned the move to honour the trio, saying that by "glorifying the war criminals" the Bosnian Serb authorities "have placed themselves outside of the realm of European and civilised values." The internationally-brokered Dayton agreement that ended the war in Bosnia divided the Balkans country along ethnic lines into two semi-independent entities: Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation. Bosnian Serbs, led by independence-seeking hardline nationalists, have been defying international efforts to hold accountable those responsible for war crimes committed during the war, accusing the ICTY and the international community of being biased against Serbs. In the high-profile Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting today, president by Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, it was also decided that the government should codify the learning outcomes so that they can be included in the RTE rules. By India Today Web Desk: The government will soon amend the Right to Education (RTE) Act to allow states to review the no-detention policy. A decision on scrapping the CBSE Class X examination has been put on hold. In the high-profile Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting today, president by Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, it was also decided that the government should codify the learning outcomes so that they can be included in the RTE rules. advertisement The CBSE has been asked to take a decision on Class X boards and ensure advance notice to students when it happens. The CABE meeting is important since it comes at a time when the government is working on a New Education Policy. The CABE also decided to form a committee on issues concerning the female child's education. A decision to train all untrained teachers in the next five years was also taken. --- ENDS --- By Gordana Katana BANJA LUKA, Bosnia (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb lawmakers voted on Tuesday to make a national holiday a purely secular event in a bid to heed a court ruling that it was an act of religious discrimination against the region's non-Serb inhabitants. The Jan. 9 holiday, also known as Statehood Day, marks the date in 1992 when Bosnian Serbs declared independence from Bosnia, triggering a three-year war in which 100,000 died. It also coincides with a Serbian Orthodox Christian festival. It was this religious component that led the Constitutional Court in Bosnia's capital Sarajevo to declare the holiday illegal as it discriminated against the autonomous Serb Republic's Catholic Croat and Muslim Bosniak communities. "Based on the confirmed will of Republika Srpska citizens, Jan. 9 has been defined as the Day of the Republic ...(which) will be marked and celebrated as a secular holiday," read the text of the amended legislation passed by a vote of 57-2. The brinkmanship over the holiday is widely seen as part of an attempt by Milorad Dodik, the Serb Republic's nationalist president, to test the limits of his freedom of maneuver against post-war Bosnia's fragile central authorities. Bosnian Serbs voted overwhelmingly for the national holiday in a referendum held last month in defiance of the court ban. Critics saw the referendum as a dry run for a subsequent vote on full independence for Bosnia's autonomous Serb entity. Bosniak deputies walked out of the Serb Republic parliament ahead of the vote on establishing a secular holiday, saying the day reminded them of Serb war crimes against their kin. The day before, the same parliament had decorated three Serbs who were convicted of crimes against humanity during Bosnia's war by an international tribunal in The Hague. "A new law is a compromise between the referendum and the constitutional court ruling, but Bosnia resembles a broken porcelain vase which all the time someone tries to put together," said Serb deputy Perica Bundalo, alluding to the Serb nationalist stance that Bosnia is a bogus state. Bosnia's other autonomous entity established under the 1995 Dayton peace accords is the Bosniak-Croat Federation. Bosnian state prosecutors in Sarajevo have launched an investigation into the illegal Serb referendum and summoned Dodik for questioning. He has yet to appear. (Writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; editing by Thomas Escritt and Mark Heinrich) Prince Williams/Getty Images Rapper Rick Ross hustled his way into selling his 10,000-square-foot waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale, FL, for a little over $6 million, after initially listing the home nearly two years ago for $9.25 million. The rapper made headlines in 2014 after spending $5.8 million on a 54,000-square-foot, 109-room mansion outside Atlanta on 235 acres, previously owned by boxer Evander Holyfield. Its reportedly the largest home in Georgia. Exterior realtor.com His recently sold, three-story, Mediterranean-style home in Fort Lauderdale features eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, and two half-baths. Built on nearly half an acre, the property has 150 feet of private waterfront in Seven Isles, a manmade community consisting of a grid of canals, private docks, mansions, and an abundance of yachts. Great room realtor.com The home includes a private movie theater, arcade room, home gym, sauna, full bar, elevator, and pool with built-in bar and spa. Double gates with custom metalwork open to a circular driveway and three-car garage. Palm trees and immaculate tropical landscaping surround the property. The home has marble flooring and tall ceilings, punctuated by a two-story-tall fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows in the open-concept great room. Waterfront pool realtor.com The homes spacious master bedroom has a fireplace and master bath with soaking tub in the center of the room. In photos accompanying the listing, most of the the bedrooms appeared to have ensuite bathrooms and balconies overlooking the pool and dock. The home was built in 2008. Ross purchased it in 2012 for nearly $5.2 million. It was most recently sold to Paul D. DeAngelo, CEO of Pennsylvania-based DBi Services, The Real Deal reports. Ross initial asking price of $9.25 million is in line with comparable homes currently listed for sale in Seven Isles. Just down the street, a pair of 10,000-square-foot mansions with similar amenities are currently being listed for $13 million, and $13.75 million. Ross (aka Rozay), 40, is the founder of the Maybach Music Group. He got a relatively late start in rap, releasing his first studio album, Port of Miami, in 2006, at the age of 30. In the following decade, he rose to prominence in the rap game, releasing hit albums including Teflon Don and Mastermind. Story continues The prolific rhymer is currently facing charges that he allegedly pistol-whipped a groundskeeper at his home in Atlanta, after the man reportedly threw a party at Ross house without permission. Ross had been ordered to wear an ankle bracelet while out on bail. Homes for sale in Fort Lauderdale, FL Learn more about Fort Lauderdale, FL The post Like a Boss: Rapper Rick Ross Sells $6M Fort Lauderdale Mansion appeared first on Real Estate News and Advice - realtor.com. Two boys, ages 3 and 1, survived a 100-foot fall from a Wanaque, New Jersey, bridge in their fathers Monday, October 24, murder-suicide attempt. According to PIX11, Pequannock Police Captain Christopher DePuyt is calling their survival a miracle. Though his kids are alive, the dad died in the incident. PHOTOS: Celebrity Health Scares The news outlet reports that the kids parents got in a heated argument inside the familys nearby Pequannock home before the dad took off with the boys and threatened to kill the boys, according to police. "[It] happened very quickly and [the domestic disturbance] became secondary to why we were called there after he threatened to do harm to the boys," DePuyt told PIX11. PHOTOS: Most Infamous Family Murders in History According to PIX11, police were able to track the fathers cellphone and quickly realized he was driving to a highway bridge on the I-287 over the Wanaque River that is infamous for suicide attempts. "That bridge is a place where suicides have been attempted and committed before," DePuyt explained. Case investigators think that the father climbed over an 8-foot suicide prevention fence with his sons before jumping off the bridge. Responding officers noticed his car on the bridge and immediately began searching for the three individuals underneath the overpass. PHOTOS: Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths of All Time The dad who has yet to be identified was pronounced dead at the scene, but the boys were conscious when they were found. Police said that the 1-year-old has a bruised lung and a concussion while the 3-year-old only has a concussion. Related Content: Miami (AFP) - A review of scientific evidence on breastfeeding out Tuesday found that some long-held advice is worth ditching, including that babies should avoid pacifiers and moms should breastfeed exclusively in the first days after birth. Individual interventions to help expectant and new moms breastfeed are still recommended, but systematic or hospital-wide policies tend to show little benefit, said the report by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an independent panel of experts. The benefits of breastfeeding include providing optimal nutrition and an immune system boost for babies, while helping mothers bond with infants and speeding maternal weight loss after birth. "There is convincing evidence that breastfeeding provides substantial health benefits for children and adequate evidence that breastfeeding provides moderate health benefits for women," said the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). "However, nearly half of all mothers in the United States who initially breastfeed stop doing so by six months." The American Academy of Pediatrics urges women to breastfeed for at least the first year if possible, while the World Health Organization recommends up to two years of age or beyond. Just 22 percent of US babies are breastfed exclusively for six months, even though 80 percent were breastfed at some point in their young lives, suggesting that women face challenges in continuing to breastfeed. Although the process is natural, getting started can be complicated, and babies often need help learning how to latch on and feed. For some mothers, the demands of returning to work can make breastfeeding impossible. Others may be physically unable, or may prefer the convenience of formula. - Tailored approaches work best - To update its 2008 recommendations, which also urged breastfeeding support for women, the task force reviewed evidence from dozens of studies, both new and old, on the effectiveness of various kinds of interventions on whether women took up breastfeeding, and how long they continued. Story continues They found that the most effective interventions were one-on-one assistance provided by trained personnel, particularly when delivered at multiple points in time. Hospital policies designed to encourage breastfeeding by implementing a series of pre-determined steps did not show any significant effect on improving breastfeeding. Some of the policies in place even have the potential to be harmful, an accompanying editorial in JAMA by doctors Valerie Flaherman and Isabelle Von Kohorn warned. For instance, step nine of the World Health Organization's Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative urges parents to avoid giving pacifiers to babies, on the basis that they could deter breastfeeding. However, the evidence review "showed that avoiding pacifiers was not associated with any breastfeeding outcomes." Since pacifiers are recommended as a way to help reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the leading killer of young babies in the United States, "routine counseling to avoid pacifiers may very well be ethically problematic," the editorial added. Another source of controversy is the advice -- contained in step six of the WHO plan -- that new mothers should not feed their babies formula in their first days of life, but only provide breast milk unless medically necessary. Not only did this advice show no evidence of a benefit for breastfeeding practice, it can raise the risk of dehydration complications and rehospitalization in babies in their first week of life because mothers' milk does not always come in right away, but can take four to seven days. "Although these conditions are generally mild and often resolve rapidly, their frequency is high; one to two percent of all US newborns require readmission in the first week after birth, and the risk is approximately doubled for those exclusively breastfed," said the JAMA editorial. Finally, the long-held recommendations that babies should be fed only breast milk for their first six months of life may need to be reconsidered in light of recent research that shows some babies could benefit from small introductions of highly allergenic foods like crushed or ground peanuts in their first four to six months. The editorial urged medical professionals to exercise their individual judgment and pursue tailored approaches to helping women with their personal breastfeeding needs. "A single, uniform approach is ineffective at improving breastfeeding duration of the population," it said. By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Britain and France pushed on Tuesday for the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Syrian government forces blamed for three gas attacks by an international inquiry as Syrian ally Russia said it was still studying the findings. The fourth report from the year-long inquiry by the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a text of which was seen by Reuters on Friday, blamed Syrian government forces for a third chlorine gas attack. The results set the stage for a Security Council showdown between the five veto-wielding powers, likely pitting Russia and China against the United States, Britain and France over how those responsible should be held accountable. The 15-member council is due to discuss the latest report by the international inquiry on Thursday. British U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said that the council, which set up the inquiry, now needs to "make sure there is genuine accountability and that means sanctions." French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre called for the council to adopt a resolution extending the mandate of the U.N./OPCW inquiry, which expires on Oct. 31, for up to a year and also work on a separate resolution to punish those responsible. "We call for a resolution of the council to sanction the authors of those crimes," Delattre told reporters. "When the use of weapons of mass destruction are at stake, weakness and impunity are simply not an option." U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in a statement on Saturday that the United States wanted to see appropriate accountability for the attacks. She also supported an extension of the mandate of the inquiry. "Other actors, seeking to terrorize innocents, will be watching to see how the international community responds at this time," Power said. Following the inquiry's third report in August, which blamed Syrian government forces for two chlorine gas attacks and said Islamic State militants had used sulfur mustard gas, Russia said the conclusions could not be used to impose U.N. sanctions. Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said on Tuesday that Moscow was studying the latest report. The inquiry said that Syrian government forces had used helicopters to drop barrel bombs, which then released chlorine gas. The latest report confirmed a Reuters report in September that the inquiry had identified the 253 and 255 squadrons, belonging to the 63rd helicopter brigade. The inquiry said those "with effective control in the military units ... must be held accountable." (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by James Dalgleish) * Move ends decades of government indecision * West London airport is preferred to Gatwick * Seen boosting trade links after Brexit vote * Some senior politicians still oppose the move * Will not open before 2025 * Graphic: http://tmsnrt.rs/2dYZlPO (Adds detail on Goldsmith move) By Kylie MacLellan and Sarah Young LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Britain backed a $22 billion expansion of London's Heathrow Airport on Tuesday, ending 25 years of indecision with an ambitious plan to boost global trade links following the vote to leave the European Union. Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, defeated a proposal from smaller rival Gatwick to secure the first new full-length runway to be built near London in 70 years after environmental and political protests scuppered previous attempts. The long-awaited decision put Prime Minister Theresa May on a collision course with several senior politicians including her own foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and the plan is also likely to be challenged in the courts. But with a promise of jobs and greater trade links after Britons opted in June for Brexit, May is likely to win parliament's approval, triumphing over an issue that has paralysed successive governments in the past. "After decades of delay we are showing that we will take the big decisions when they're the right decisions for Britain," May said of her Conservative government's backing for what will be one of Europe's biggest infrastructure projects. The decision in favour of a third runway at Heathrow, due to be built by 2025, is one of May's most significant acts since she took office in July. It follows her approval in September of a $24 billion nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point. With established links around the world, Heathrow always offered the greatest economic potential. However, its position to the west of London, near several affluent suburbs represented in parliament by Conservative lawmakers including Johnson, drew a powerful coalition of opponents worried about noise and pollution. Story continues A new runway will also require parts of the motorway circling the capital to be rebuilt, making it more expensive and complex than alternative options to extend an existing Heathrow runway or build a new one at Gatwick, south of London. According to a three-year study by Britain's independent Airports Commission, a new runway at Heathrow would create 70,000 new jobs by 2050 and increase gross domestic product by between 0.65 and 0.75 percent over the same period. It will also enable Britain to keep pace with Europe's biggest airports in Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, which have greater capacity. FACTBOX - Reaction to Heathrow runway decision FACTBOX - What next after expansion backed? CITY OF PLANES But within hours of the decision, politicians were lining up to denounce it. Johnson, a leading Brexit campaigner, said the plan was "undeliverable" and "very likely to be stopped" while London Mayor Sadiq Khan, alarmed by the potential impact on air quality, said he was exploring legal options. Zac Goldsmith, a lawmaker in May's Conservative Party, resigned over the issue, meaning a by-election will be held in his constituency near the airport and May's already slim majority in parliament will be reduced. Johnson, a former London mayor who once vowed to lie down in front of the bulldozers to prevent a new Heathrow runway being built, said he worried that a third would be followed by a fourth. "You'd have New York, a city of beautiful skyscrapers, Paris the city of light, London the city of planes," he told reporters. "Is that really what we want for our fantastic capital city?" Wary of being damaged by the issue, May has allowed her ministers to criticise the plan but not campaign against it before a vote in parliament in a year's time. Surveys show a majority of lawmakers will back her. Lawyers said opponents could delay the decision on the 18-billion-pound project in the courts but were unlikely to be able to block it. Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said governments had prevaricated for too long. "Put simply, it's about time," he said. "Businesses will now want assurances that the final approval process for Heathrow's new runway will be smooth and swift, so that construction can begin as soon as possible. "The time for playing politics with our national connectivity is over." Heathrow is owned by Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial, Qatar Holding, China Investment Corp and other investors, and the bill for expansion will be paid for by the private sector, with the government expected to pay for some of the additional road and rail costs. Engineering firms Arup, U.S.-headquartered CH2M, British construction company MACE and construction and project management firm Turner & Townsend are already working on the early stages of the project. The government said the UK aviation regulator would work with Heathrow and airlines to ensure the new runway was affordable and keep landing charges paid by the carriers close to current levels. The government also proposed legally binding noise targets to provide respite for local residents while Heathrow will need to meet air quality rules as a condition of planning approval. "Heathrow stands ready to work with government, businesses, airlines and our local communities to deliver an airport that is fair, affordable and secures the benefits of expansion for the whole of the UK," the airport said. (Additional reporting by William James, Paul Sandle, Costas Pitas and Estelle Shirbon, writing by Kate Holton; Editing by Giles Elgood and David Stamp) LONDON (Reuters) - The chief of British Airways-owner IAG (ICAG.L) welcomed Britain's commitment to cap airline charges in its plans to build a new runway at Heathrow. Britain on Tuesday gave Heathrow the green light to build a new $22 billion (17.99 billion) runway, ending 25 years of indecision. Under the government's plans, the new runway will be open for flights from 2025. In choosing Heathrow, the government said that the British aviation regulator would work with the airport and the airlines to ensure the new runway plan is affordable and keeps landing charges per passenger that are paid by airlines close to current levels. That condition was welcomed by IAG CEO Willie Walsh. "The Government's directive to cap customer charges at today's level is fundamental," Walsh said. "We will be vigilant in ensuring that Heathrow does not raise charges to benefit its shareholders to the detriment of the travelling public." British Airways is Heathrow Airport's biggest airline, accounting for more than 50 percent of the available take off and landing slots. Walsh has long said that British Airways would look to expand elsewhere if building a bigger Heathrow meant higher fees for its customers. IAG will face more competition at Heathrow when the additional capacity becomes available, a development which RBC analyst Damian Brewer said British Airways would need to adapt over the next ten years. "For IAG's BA this will mean a need to orientate its cost base closer to market levels, that is reduce costs, and also do this while at the same time becoming more competitive on perceived quality," the analyst, who rates IAG "underperform" said in a note. Amongst those looking to gain a foothold at Heathrow once it is expanded is rival airline easyJet (EZJ.L). Currently the pair mainly compete directly at Gatwick Airport, as easyJet does not fly from Heathrow. easyJet on Tuesday repeated that it plans to operate from a bigger Heathrow, which it said would mean lower fares for short haul passengers through increased competition. Story continues Shares in IAG, for which British Airways makes up three-quarters of its profit, closed down 0.7 percent at 401.8 pence, lagging Britain's bluechip index which closed up 0.5 percent. Europe's biggest budget carrier Ryanair (RYA.I), has meanwhile called for London's three biggest airports, Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, to all be allowed to build new runways to maximise competition and ensure lower fares. (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton and Jane Merriman) By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) The Centre seems to be trying to distance itself from the visit of a civil society group to Kashmir Valley to meet separatists apparently to end the three-month long unrest with a senior official pleading ignorance about the exercise. A top Home Ministry official said the five-member civil society delegation led by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha was touring the Kashmir Valley on its own wisdom and the Central government has nothing to do with it. advertisement The delegation has not informed the Central government about its visit and it has nothing to do with their initiative, the official said. The delegation led by Sinha called on hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani at his residence in Srinagar today. Before meeting Geelani, Sinha told reporters that they had not come as a delegation. Asked if the team will be meeting other separatist leaders like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, Sinha said they are trying to meet everyone. Geelani had refused to meet a few MPs, part of an all party delegation visiting Kashmir, last month. The team led by Sinha is attempting to break the three-month impasse in Kashmir triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in July. PTI ACB SKL RG --- ENDS --- * OakNorth says loan book doubles after Brexit * Challenger bank CEO says Brexit has been positive * Expects recession, uncertainty, opportunity By Guy Faulconbridge and Sinead Cruise LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Rishi Khosla didn't vote for Brexit, but he says it has proven a boon for his new start-up bank. OakNorth was just nine months old, with a new loan book of 100 million pounds, when Britain voted in June to leave the European Union. As sterling and stocks around the world tumbled in the hours after the vote, he gathered his staff to go over every loan in the book and in the pipeline. They decided to tweak the terms of just two deals -- and, instead of retreating, keep lending. Since then, OakNorth has doubled its loan book to 200 million pounds, with another 60 million awaiting final approval. "Brexit is something that has actually had a massively positive impact on the business," Khosla, chief executive officer of OakNorth, told Reuters at his offices in London's Mayfair area. Thanks in part to the surge in business, his new bank broke even in August, seven months earlier than expected. The conventional wisdom is that leaving the European Union, by hurting Britain's economy, will doubly hurt its banks, and that small banks with potentially greater exposure to weaker loans will be hurt more than big ones. But for some in the tiny but rapidly growing sector of start-ups known as "challenger banks", Brexit could offer more opportunities to find business. If tightening conditions force big banks to retreat from lending, smaller banks may have a bigger role to play. "The big banks are very constrained in what they can do. Yes, they have cheap funding but they also need to get loans through model-driven credit approval processes," Khosla said. "They don't have people in branches making credit decisions anymore. You throw it into a computer programme and it gives you a green light or not. But we have people making those decisions." Story continues Britain's start-up challenger banks were born after the 2008 financial crisis, when the Bank of England lowered the capital requirements to set up new banks. Since then, the upstarts have yet to be tested by a major economic crisis, and some analysts who study the sector have been pessimistic. "The impact of the EU referendum result- slower volumes, delayed operating leverage, lower margins, asset quality issues- are likely to be more pronounced in the Challenger Bank sector than the incumbents," Citi said in a recent note. Share prices at some of the largest start-up lenders have been hit badly in 2016, despite strong first-half lending and deposit growth at the likes of Virgin Money, Shawbrook , Aldermore and newly-listed Metro Bank . Nevertheless, British banks are still busy writing loans. While the outlook for Britain's housing market remains uncertain, data published on Thursday by the Council of Mortgage Lenders estimated gross lending of 63.6 billion pounds in the third quarter of the year, up 11 percent on the previous quarter and up 4 percent on the corresponding period in 2015. EXPANDING Most of Britain's small banks are publicly listed and therefore restricted from revealing how their balance sheets have fared since the Brexit vote until they release their third quarter results, which are due in coming days. But before the vote they were growing fast. Metro Bank more than doubled the size of its loan book in the year to June 30, to 4.6 billion pounds from 2.2 billion. Shawbrook's net loan growth for the first half of 253 million pounds was up 28 percent annualised. Aldermore reported 21 percent growth in lending on an annualised basis in the first half of the year. It cut savings rates for the second time in seven months in October, as deposit growth surged faster than it could find lending opportunities. For institutional fund managers, representing hundreds of millions of pounds in potential investment in the sector, the main concern is that start-up banks can achieve meaningful business or mortgage lending growth only by taking on risky borrowers shunned by more established lenders. Khosla at OakNorth acknowledges that keeping a tight grip on credit risk is "the most important thing" for a new entrant, but denies the model automatically requires taking excessive risk. He describes his clients as established borrowers, "people who have actually built a business and who are now looking to scale that business". "We don't lend to start-ups. These are midmarket companies with revenues of 10-100 million pounds," he said. As an example, he says OakNorth loaned 19 million pound to Leon, a growing fast-food chain with dozens of restaurants, shortly after the Brexit vote. Still, investing in the small bank sector is mostly a highly-leveraged bet on the fundamentals of the British economy, analysts at Barclays said in a note earlier this month, although they said "comfortable capital ratios and low valuation multiples should provide significant insulation". Khosla, 41, a former investment banker who worked at ABN Amro, GE Capital and the venture capital businesses of steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, still expects Brexit to damage the British economy. But he does not think that will kill off small banks. "There is a high probability that the UK will go into a recession. Do I think the economy will stop? No. The economy will still run. It will still turn so there will still be opportunities." (Editing by Peter Graff) Oct 2, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) tries to avoid Denver Broncos defensive linemen Derek Wolfe (95) during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are sitting at 3-3, winning their last two games while the Atlanta Falcons coughed up two consecutive losses to make the NFC South race that much more interesting. The Falcons (4-3,) lead the division by a half-game. However, Tampa Bay won the lone meeting thus far in Week 1, giving them the possible tiebreaker. Here is how the rest of Tampa Bays schedule plays out: Week 8: vs. Oakland Week 9: vs. Atlanta (BIG GAME) Week 10, vs. Chicago Week 11, at Kansas City Week 12, vs. Seattle Week 13, at San Diego Week 14, vs New Orleans Week 15, at Dallas Week 16, at New Orleans Week 17, vs. Carolina Analysis The Buccaneers have three games at home, but beating both Oakland and Atlanta at home is asking for quite a bit. Lets assume they take two of three on this upcoming home stand. With a visit to Kansas City and a hosting of Seattle, Tampa Bay has to come out firing. They could lose both of those. A visit to San Diego is scary, but weve seen the Chargers fold a lot. Give Tampa the advantage but assume they fall to Dallas. They can easily sweep New Orleans if their defense shows up. The Panthers are one of the leagues worst teams, Tampa should beat them in Week 17. Atlanta But the Falcons schedule is harder. They host the rebounding Green Bay Packers this week then visit Tampa Bay and Philadelphia before a bye week. Theyll host Arizona and Kansas City back-to-back. It gets easier. They visit Los Angeles, host San Francisco before a visit to Carolina and a home finale against New Orleans. The Falcons are known for slumping in the second half. Its not hard to see them losing to Green Bay. If the Bucs beat Atlanta, theyre in the drivers seat. The Falcons will surely lose in Philadelphia, who have one of the NFLs best defenses. They wont win back-to-back against Arizona and Kansas City. You can assume theyll lose one of those final four games. When all is said and done, the Buccaneers really have the easier schedule and will control their destiny should they win the next two games. The post Bucs have schedule edge to catch up to Falcons appeared first on Cover32. From Hollywood to New York, an epidemic of entitlement is sweeping across the country. I call it Entitlemania. Children of a me generation have grown up watching the Kardashians make millions by lounging at the pool, and 16-year-old influencers fly private at vendors expense. Although entitlemania existed long before today, social media may have helped it spread more rapidly. These kids expect everything from Instagram fame, to cushy jobs and unending funds, yet fail to recognize the effort it takes to attain it all. Remarkably, well-intentioned parents are typically unaware that their actions are the single cause of the expectation of entitlement in their children. And no one is willing to tell them! At some point, parents rationalize that its more important and perhaps less stressful to prevent their childs failure than to take the time to navigate that failure and permit children to learn the positive lessons that attend every struggle. An eaglet learns to fly only because a knowing parent pushes it out of the nest and sends it plunging toward the rocks below. One of the most pervasive symptoms of entitlemania is being your childs best friend. Big mistake! Parents should encourage their kids to find best friends their own age! A parent is only one of two people on the planet who qualifies for a unique role. It takes practice and stamina to administer tough love. The results are worth it. Kids are not a hobby and were not intended to be trophies to enhance the branding of their parents. Hiring a nanny is a necessity for many parents with busy schedules, and the further separation between them and their kids requires the parents to be even more vigilant. And single parents? That duty is probably the most arduous scenario to foist upon a parent and a child. So, who is going to speak up? The mothers of bear cubs, Secret Service agents, and Hollywood business managers all seek to prevent intrusion upon those they protect. All are capable of dispensing punishing measures to predators attempting to violate the boundaries of those they protect. Story continues Where does the responsibility of the dedicated business manager begin and end? As the person most trusted, the fiduciary, are you trusting your clients reaction to constructive criticism as much as they are trusting you with their careers? Is your primary directive only their financial success, or are you willing to risk pushback after warning your client of the struggles, challenges, and even the dangers that their very uniquely positioned children face? Have you heard your client complain, I dont understand why my kids are so unappreciative. We have given them everything we ever wanted. Have you said nothing, and thought to yourself, why put my job at risk? Im not their shrink. You can rationalize, and say, At least Ive arranged for the entire family to participate in therapy. Its a start, but its like fixing the leak in a dam by putting your thumb in the crack. And no matter if you are the business manager, wealth manager, or the family office attorney, few psychologists can boast the amount of practical experience you have witnessed repeatedly throughout your own career. You not only recognize the problem, but have practical, targeted solutions. You, the confidante, are a walking Wikipedia of child-rearing. You already know many of the answers. Most of them revolve around tough love something you dont see utilized often enough by your client parents on their own kids! Well-intentioned parents often weaken their children by overindulging them and over-managing their lives. Moreover, when parents give their children too much, it often prevents those children from recognizing their true dreams and aspirations. Consider this simple truth: For everything you give your child, you take something away. It is the responsibility of a good parent to consider and discuss what the cost is of giving their child a fast-pass to move ahead in the line. I am the family office attorney to some of the wealthiest families in America. Im not a psychologist. However, my book, Entitlemania: How Not to Spoil Your Kids, and What to Do If You Have, offers warnings and solutions to families who have kids aboard a train of entitlement barreling down a track toward heartbreak and disappointment. As the business manager, instead of imagining yourself as the brutish Goliath pacing tirelessly at the familys castle gate, be your clients immune system. Help them prevent a future of codependency and frustration with their children. Be willing to share the simple truths that your professional career has taught you about the entitlemania that ever presses inward, metastasizing from one child to the next. You may gain immense gratitude for having saved a clients family in addition to making their career. Richard Watts is author of Entitlemania: How Not to Spoil Your Kids, and What to Do If You Have and Fables of Fortune: What Rich People Have That You Dont Want. For more information, go to entitlemania.com. Related stories With Business Managers, Nothing Can Replace Checks and Balances Calais (France) (AFP) - In one of the tents due to be demolished in the windswept Calais "Jungle" camp in northern France, the migrants who once lived there had left behind several loaves of bread and a milk carton. Outside they had also abandoned the clothes that were drying on a washing line slung between a tree and a pole, suggesting they had left in a hurry. Arabic graffiti scrawled on the side of another tent, among one of the first to be torn down, said: "You may be able to find safety in a temporary homeland, but you cannot build a life." All that remained of this section of the camp -- which once housed hundreds of migrants hoping to reach Britain -- was a pile of mattresses, blankets, clothes, pots, plastic bags and suitcases, dumped by demolition workers on top of the debris from the wrecked tents and huts. Elsewhere in the Jungle the remaining inhabitants attempted to carry on as normal before reluctantly leaving, or making a final stand against their removal. As authorities took sledgehammers Tuesday to some of the structures that once housed vibrant communities of Afghans, Eritreans and Syrians amongst others, some of those who had spent time in the camp spoke to AFP about their experiences in the Jungle. One group of young men from Sudan gathered around a small fire they had lit to stay warm, smoking a water pipe. "We are leaving tomorrow morning," said one of the men as he smoked. But despite French efforts to clear the camp -- more than 3,000 people have already been bussed to shelters around France -- some migrants are refusing to budge. - 'They will come back' - "Why has Britain abandoned us? How will France house so many thousands? We want to go to Britain. I am not leaving the camp until the French police come here and force me out," said Sudanese 18-year-old Ali Othman, smoking a cigarette outside his tent. "Whatever the French police do to me I will not apply for asylum here. They can detain me, jail me, throw me out on the street. I still want to go to Britain." Story continues In the town centre, business owners reflected on what the camp, which has existed in a makeshift form since 2002, has meant for them. Ali Charfa, the owner of a restaurant in central Calais -- the closest point on continental Europe to the UK mainland -- said that British people had avoided the town because of the Jungle. "I have been in Calais 25 years. I moved here from Paris because I heard you could make a lot of money here, because of all the business the Channel crossing and the construction of the Eurotunnel would bring," he said. "The migrants have never done me any harm, but people in Britain only ever think about the Jungle when they hear of Calais. So it makes them stay away. "I think the situation will improve a little -- (it) will never be what it once was, but will be better than now. "The problem in the long run will not improve though. They want to be in Britain. That will not change. They will come back one day." Los Angeles (AFP) - A California man has been charged with making terrorist threats against a Muslim center and posting hateful messages on social media, authorities said Tuesday. Mark Lucian Feigin, 40, was arrested last week after calling the Islamic Center of Southern California and threatening to kill Muslims, officer Liliana Preciado of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told AFP. She said Feigin is suspected of having called the center on September 19 and leaving a hate-filled message. He called again the following day, when he spoke to an employee and threatened to kill Muslims, Preciado said. A search of his home in Agoura Hills, a city northwest of Los Angeles, turned up five rifles, a shotgun, seven pistols and more than 250 pounds (113 kilograms) of ammunition, including modified high-capacity magazines, she added. "The right to free speech is a hallmark of our society," Commander Horace Frank, of the LAPD's Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau, told a news conference. "But that right is not and cannot be unabated. "Mr. Feigin broke the law when he threatened the lives of the individuals at the Islamic Center." Omar Ricci, chairman of the Islamic Center, told AFP that staff became concerned after Feigin, who he said works in real estate, posted a message on the center's Facebook page in September and then followed up with the threatening calls. "Generally speaking, the threats were against the religion of Islam, the Muslim community," he said. "And it was enough to cause fear in the person that was taking the call." Feigin, who was released on $75,000 bail, could not be reached for comment and it was unclear if he had an attorney. He is due to appear in court on November 10 and faces up to four years in prison if found guilty. Ricci said the center has had to boost security in the wake of the threats and rising anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States. Story continues "There will be armed guards at the center for the foreseeable future," he said. - 'Toxicity toward Muslims' Hate crimes against American Muslims have soared to their highest level since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, according to a report published earlier this year by researchers at California State University, San Bernardino. The surge has been attributed to last year's terror attacks in Paris, Brussels and the California city of San Bernardino, as well as anti-Muslim rhetoric during the US presidential campaign. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and for a national registry of Muslims in the country. Ricci said he has noticed a spike in anti-Muslim sentiment that has spread fear among the community that numbers about half a million in Southern California. "In the United States today there is a certain toxicity toward Muslims being generated by a certain presidential candidate," Ricci said, referring to Trump. "And that toxicity is finding comfort with people who have ignorance of Islam and Muslims." Paris (AFP) - The train that derailed in Cameroon last week killing 79 people was travelling "abnormally" fast before the crash, a senior executive from the rail operator's French parent company told AFP on Tuesday. "On part of the tracks approaching the station where the derailment occurred, we had speeds that were abnormally high compared to the speeds we should have had," said Eric Melet, head of Bollore Africa Railways. A judicial enquiry has been launched into the accident which also injured about 550 people. Melet said trains travelled at between 40 and 50 kilometres per hour in "slow zones" such as approaches to railway stations. "But we have indications which seem to show that the approaching train was travelling at between 80-90 kilometres an hour when it should have been much less." The train was travelling from the capital Yaounde to the economic hub of Douala and came off the rails near the central city of Eseka. Imagine having your entire life reduced to a 'score' that determines your 'worth' and the facilities you can access. By India Today Web Desk: Imagine having your entire life reduced to a 'score' that determines your 'worth' and the facilities you can access. If a Washington Post report is to be believed, this is exactly what China plans for its citizens. The Communist Party is planning to develop a 'social credit system' by 2020 that will measure the 'trustworthiness' of every individual. Those who will fall short could be denied basic freedoms and privileges like travel and loans. advertisement How will the 'scoring' work? The Chinese government plans to monitor every move made by its citizens by collecting all their interactions, and awarding them 'points'. Things like defaulting on a loan, criticising the ruling party, skipping a red light and failing to look after parents, among many other factors, will affect this score and determine an individual's 'trustworthiness'. Professionals like doctors and teachers might also be scored by citizens for professionalism and efficiency. The government is yet to announce the intricacies of the proposed system, like how these scores will be compiled and weighed. The crux, however, is that the ruling party will be the ultimate judge. So far, eight private companies have been allowed to set up 'credit databases' that compile online, financial and legal information. Agencies like the Cyberspace Administration of China have demanded that anyone behaving in a 'dishonest' manner online be blacklisted, while some have rallied for blacklisting media organisations that engage in 'irresponsible reporting'. What are the implications of this 'score'? According to the report, this score will determine everything from, if a Chinese citizen can borrow money, travel and get their children into a good school, to if they can rent a room in a fancy hotel, book a seat in a top restaurant, and even just get a date. The party released a high-level policy document in September listing such sanctions to be imposed on individuals and companies falling short of the appropriate score. Those with lower scores could also face daily supervision and random inspections. Why is China doing this? The Communist Party believes that such a scoring system will promote 'a culture of sincerity' and help build 'a harmonious socialist society'. Its idea is to promote a society where 'keeping trust is glorious' and 'if trust is broken in one place, restrictions are imposed everywhere'. How are people responding? "This is like Big Brother, who has all your information and can harm you in any way he wants," Beijing-based novelist and social commentator Murong Xuecun told the Washington Post. Xuecun has been censored on many occasions for criticising the government, and fears this move will shut down those 'who dare to speak out'. "My social-media account has been cancelled many times, so the government can say I am a dishonest person. Then I can't go abroad, and can't take the train," he said. advertisement Experts say the plan could pose a huge 'technological challenge' to China and, for obvious reasons, could prove to be 'extremely unpopular'. "From a technological feasibility question to a political feasibility question, to actually get to a score, to roll this out across a population of 1.3 billion, that would be a huge challenge," Rogier Creemers, a professor of law and governance in Netherlands, told Washington Post. Authorities have, meanwhile, defended the plan saying it is an attempt to fix China's market economy. "Fraud has become ever more common in society. Swindlers have to pay a price," Lian Weiliang, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's main economic planning agency, said in April. *** The report bears an eerie resemblance to an episode of Netflix series Black Mirror, released just this month. (SPOILER ALERT for next two paragraphs) Titled 'Nosedive', it explores a scenario where people receive up to five points from others, and their overall rating defines everything from the social interactions they are invited to, to the cars they can rent and the apartments they can live in. More importantly, it shows how subjective and elitist such a system can be. advertisement The show's protagonist, in an attempt to get a fancy house in a posh locality, tries to further improve her 4.2-star rating, but ultimately she falls victim to the whims and moods of those she interacts with. In this world, everything from how you dress, how you look and how 'cool' you are to how you interact with others can make or break your life. *** This is not the first time the Communist Party has tried implementing such a scoring system. Back in 2010, it launched a similar project in Suining County, where citizens were awarded points for good behaviour. They could accumulate a maximum of 1,000 points, and a minor violation of traffic rules would cost them 20 points. Other incidents like drunk driving, paying bribes, participation in 'cult' activities, and failure to care for elderly relatives cost 50 points. Activities like using internet to falsely accuse others further resulted in a 100-point deduction. On the other hand, things like being classified as a 'model citizen' added 100 points to their score. advertisement Citizens were then classified into four levels based on their scores. Those with an 'A' grade qualified for government support while starting a business and for preferential treatment when applying to the party, the government or the army, and even while applying for a promotion. Those with "D" grades could not qualify for official support or even employment. The system was met with a huge backlash with many taking to social media saying it should be citizens who grade the government, "and not the other way around". The A-D classifications were eventually withdrawn, but the county government continues to record their 'social credit scores'. --- ENDS --- (Adds analyst quotes, updates prices) * Canadian dollar ends at C$1.3352, or 74.90 U.S. cents * Bond prices higher across the yield curve By Fergal Smith TORONTO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, but pared sharp gains made after its official close the previous day after the central bank clarified remarks made by Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and as oil fell. The central bank governor's remarks as reported in some media on Monday were interpreted by the market as conveying that the central bank is on hold for 18 months. The central bank later clarified those remarks. "My statement concerning the need to wait 18 months was in reference to the timeframe over which the output gap is expected to close," Poloz said in an email. "It was not intended as a reference to the bank's monetary policy." Still, the loonie traded much weaker than before Poloz acknowledged last week that the central bank had considered a rate cut at its policy meeting. "I think the reality is it will depend on the data. If the numbers are soft enough that warrant an easing, they'll ease," said Daragh Maher, head of FX strategy, U.S. at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. U.S. crude oil futures settled 56 cents lower at $49.96 a barrel ahead of data likely to show a build in domestic inventories. Oil is one of Canada's major exports. The Canadian dollar ended at C$1.3352 to the greenback, or 74.90 U.S. cents, stronger than the Bank of Canada's official close of C$1.3386, or 74.70 U.S. cents. The currency's strongest level of the session was C$1.3277, while its weakest was C$1.3371. On Monday, the loonie touched its weakest in seven months at C$1.3398. Addressing lawmakers on Monday, Poloz explained that it was not clear cut that the central bank should try to speed up closure of the output gap - the economy's spare capacity - by cutting rates as it would leave the bank very close to using unconventional tools. Story continues "They may recognize that there is not much conventional ammunition left, but then that's what the ammunition is there for, it's there to be used if required." Maher said. Canadian government bond prices were higher across the yield curve, with the two-year price up 4.5 Canadian cents to yield 0.543 percent and the benchmark 10-year rising 23 Canadian cents to yield 1.14 percent. The 2-year yield fell 3.8 basis points further below its U.S. equivalent to leave a spread of -31.3 basis points, its widest since June 2, as Canadian government bonds outperformed. (Reporting by Fergal Smith, editing by G Crosse) Ottawa (AFP) - Despite tensions over conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, Russia and the West have maintained a strong working relationship in the Arctic and Canada's new Liberal government is looking to further bolster that cooperation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has continued to press Moscow over its annexation of Crimea and its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in a long-running civil war. But his Liberals have softened the previous Canadian administration's isolationist policy enough to allow for talks with Russia on other matters, such as the far north -- despite Kiev's objections. A joint conference in Ottawa has been scheduled for November 24. Canada and Russia control three quarters of the Arctic. "Preventing scientists from these countries from talking to one another is irrational. Our government wishes to be rational," Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, parliamentary secretary to Foreign Minister Stephane Dion, said in a speech last month. "We wish to establish links with Russia -- cautiously -- because we believe that that serves the interests of Canadians and Russians," as well as "those in Ukraine and Syria," she said. The overtures are welcome, said a Russian official, who contrasted former prime minister Stephen Harper's hard line with Trudeau's "greater flexibility" in the bilateral relationship. "It's much better," said the official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin "views the Arctic as a region that should be void of conflict." Russia's opening of a string of bases in recent years -- with interest in the Arctic growing as rising temperatures open up shipping routes and make hitherto inaccessible mineral resources easier to exploit -- should not be seen as hostile moves, the Russian diplomat told AFP. - Search and rescue - Rather, the Russian bases were established to support Arctic search and rescue efforts as the need arises along new shipping routes. Story continues "Currently, only our military has the capability to carry out search and rescue operations in the Arctic," the Russian official explained. Russia is betting on increased shipping through its Arctic waters linking Asia to Europe, and has set up a number of outposts capable of answering distress calls. In contrast, Canada has been vocal in asserting its Arctic sovereignty, but has been slow to build up infrastructure along its Northwest Passage. "We're not going to attack Canada," said the Russian source, laughing off concerns about Russian militarism in the far north, which led Norway to ask Washington to deploy troops in Vaernes, about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the Russian-Norwegian frontier. The desire to cooperate in the north was evident at an Ottawa meeting last week of Arctic states, organized by the European Union. The EU is not a member of the Arctic Council, but the bloc's member states Denmark, Finland and Sweden are part of the group that also includes Canada, Iceland, Norway, Russia and the United States. Created two decades ago, the Council is the main platform for discussions about the Arctic between riparian countries and nations granted observer status at those meetings. Despite recent geopolitical tensions, says EU ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx, "this cooperation has continued, including with Russia, independently of certain positions taken by Russia that we do not like, such as the annexation of Crimea, which is unacceptable." "It's the intention of all members of the Arctic Council, and observers, that the Arctic not be politicized. The Arctic is all of our responsibility and must not be politicized," she said. CHICAGO (Reuters) - (This version of the Oct. 17 story corrects spelling of Oberhelman in paragraph 2 and Umpleby in paragraph 5) Caterpillar Inc insider Jim Umpleby will become chief executive of the heavy equipment maker on Jan. 1, faced with the challenge of reversing a multiyear sales decline triggered by the global commodities slump. He replaces Doug Oberhelman, who will retire as CEO on Dec. 31 but stay on as executive board chairman until March 31, the company said on Monday. Caterpillar shares were down about 0.58 percent to $87.20. Under Oberhelman the company recorded record high revenue in 2012, two years after he became CEO. However, a decline in metals and oil prices hit the company hard and its sales have fallen since 2013. A 35-year company veteran, Umpleby must grapple with Caterpillar's sober outlook. In July, the company said it expects no upturn this year in the mining, oil and gas and transportation industries as commodity prices have apparently stabilized at low levels. To cut costs, the company has shed nearly 14,000 employees since 2015 and more layoffs are planned. Oberhelman said on Monday the future is bright partly because of Caterpillar's lean and agile manufacturing and industry-leading digital capabilities. Umpleby is currently group president for energy and transportation, which makes equipment for the oil, gas, power generation and rail industries. "It is worth noting that much of the energy and transportation business is sold directly to end customers and not through dealers, so there will likely be a learning curve for him as he develops the critical relationships with CAT dealers," JP Morgan analyst Ann Duignan said. CFRA Research now recommends Caterpillar stock as a "sell" as demand for new heavy machinery will likely remain low with a "lack of any positive catalysts on the horizon," analyst Jim Corridore said in a note. Under its restructuring plan Caterpillar has started to move part of its mining operations from South Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Tucson, Arizona. The company said in August it was considering options, including a sale, for a portion of its underground mining equipment business. One challenge Umpleby faces is a glut of used mining machines available for rent or lease that has hit Caterpillar's new mining equipment sales. Additionally, construction equipment sales have suffered as weak crude prices sapped building demand in oil-rich countries. When Oberhelman retires as the board executive chairman, board member Dave Calhoun will become non-executive chairman, Caterpillar said. Umpleby will also join the board. (Reporting by Meredith Davis in Chicago; Nick Carey in Detroit and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva, W Simon and Meredith Mazzilli) Caterpillar bulldozer Caterpillar lowered its outlook for profit this year when it reported third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday. The retailer of large industrial equipment said it expected 2016 earnings per share excluding restructuring costs to be $3.25, down from an earlier projection of $3.55. Because Caterpillar products like bulldozers and electric generators are used in a variety of massive capital projects across the world, the company's performance is seen as a bellwether for the global industrial economy. "Economic weakness throughout much of the world persists and, as a result, most of our end markets remain challenged," CEO Doug Oberhelman said in the earnings statement. "We remain cautious as we look ahead to 2017, but are hopeful as the year unfolds we will begin to see more positive momentum." Caterpillar said that in 2017 the balance of risk was "likely on the negative side" and that uncertainty around the UK's vote to leave the European Union would continue. The company's preliminary forecast does not see 2017 sales and revenue that much different from that of 2016. A rebound in commodity prices and in the construction industries in key markets including China, Russia, and Brazil could boost Caterpillar in the coming year. Profit excluding restructuring costs in the third quarter was $0.85 a share, beating the average analyst forecast of $0.76 according to Bloomberg. Equipment sales fell because of low demand in every region except the Asia/Pacific, where Chinese government spending on infrastructure provided a lift, Caterpillar said. The company's shares fell 2% in premarket trading after earnings. NOW WATCH: FEMA is tracking Hurricane Matthew using the 'Waffle House Index' More From Business Insider * Hungarian bonds extend gains, 3- and 5-year yields at record low * Hungarian central bank seen holding rates, reaffirming policy * Leu rebound as government challenges fx mortgages bill By Sandor Peto and Luiza Ilie BUDAPEST/BUCHAREST, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Hungarian government bonds traded at record low yields as the country's central bank, which meets on Tuesday, was seen reaffirming its policy to pump liquidity into markets. Assets in Central Europe's fast-growing and stable emerging economies firmed as U.S. and European factory surveys helped boost risk appetite in global markets. Hungarian short- and medium-term government bond yields dropped 2-3 basis points from Monday's fixing to record lows, with 3-year papers trading at 1.13 percent and 5-year bonds at 2.65 percent. The central bank is seen keeping its record-low base rate on hold this year and next. But it still loosens policies through channelling liquidity into the banking system to promote lending and create demand for government debt. It provided banks with over 400 billion forints ($1.41 billion) at two swap tenders in the past two weeks, and has limited the amount to be accepted at its monthly 3-month deposit tender on Wednesday at 150 billion forints. In the past two weeks the forint has gradually retreated from 17-month-highs against the euro, pushed lower by the central bank measures. Trading at 308.15 at 0836 GMT it was still off Friday's 3-week lows and firmer by 0.2 percent over Monday. "The expectation is that the central bank wants to weaken the forint, but paradoxically that attracts buyers who speculate that the central bank will push down yields," one Budapest-based trader said. "Yields are just not low enough yet to really weaken the currency," the dealer added. Hungary's 3-year bond yields are still 2 percentage points above German Bunds which yield -0.66 percent. Central European safe-haven Czech Republic's corresponding yield dipped even below German levels recently at -0.842 percent. Story continues These papers still attract buyers amid speculation that the crown could surge after the Czech central bank removes a cap on the currency at 27 against the euro in a measure it forecasts to take in mid-2017. The leu led currency gains in the region, firming 0.4 percent to 4.488 against the euro, regaining part of this month's steep losses suffered because parliament passed a bill on the conversion of Swiss franc mortgages, boosting the costs of some banks. The rebound came as the technocrat government challenged the bill at the Constitutional Court. "This is likely to delay application of the bill for quite some time, which might dilute its impact on the FX market," ING analysts said in a note. Romania will hold parliament elections on Dec. 11. If you still think Brad Pitt's ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston, remotely cares about his split with Angelina Jolie, don't -- at least according to Chelsea Handler. Weeks after the 41-year-old Chelsea host slammed the famous couple on her talk show -- calling Jolie a "f**king lunatic" -- Handler has no regrets about her comments on the divorce that rocked Hollywood, and says her pal Aniston couldn't care less. WATCH: Chelsea Handler Says Brad Pitt 'Married a F**king Lunatic' After Angelina Jolie Files for Divorce "I made one comment on my show that got completely blown out of all proportion," she says in a new interview with Grazia magazine. "I am being quoted as if I live with them." Handler has become good friends with Aniston in recent years -- even accompanying the actress and her new husband, Justin Theroux, on their honeymoon to Bora Bora last year -- so it's understandable why she'd be fiercely protective of the star. Though, according to Handler, she's just saying what other people are too scared to. "No," she scoffs when asked if her comments were too harsh. "I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking." "I don't have any boundaries," she adds. "I don't ever pretend I'm not doing something that I'm doing. The way people present themselves in this day and age is so false and fake and bulls**t. I don't want to ever be like that -- I want to be as real as I can." WATCH: EXCLUSIVE: Courteney Cox on Jennifer Aniston Being Dragged Into Brangelina Split Drama: 'It's Not About Her' And while Handler has no problem offering her opinion on Brangelina's divorce, she says Aniston simply doesn't have one. "It's so stupid and pathetic," she says. "As if Jen cares -- she doesn't care. It's ridiculous that people still drag her into this. Hello, as if she is sitting around even caring about this." Story continues Handler isn't the only one trying to keep Aniston away from the Brangelina media storm. In a recent interview with U.K's The Sunday Times, Theroux praised his wife for how she manages to keep calm through the tabloid rumors. "She has lived through a lot of bulls**t," he says. "Many people would have crumbled under some of the stresses that have been put on her. I'm very proud of her for that, for the way she handles herself." WATCH: Justin Theroux on Divorce of Wife Jennifer Aniston's Ex Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: 'That's Terrible News for Those Children' See more in the video below. Related Articles (Adds comments from second source) * ChemChina ready to offer more concessions to EU - source * Syngenta reassures investors takeover by ChemChina will go ahead * Says expects deal to close around end of Q1 2017 * Shares rise 1.9 percent after Monday's drop By Chen Aizhu and Michael Shields BEIJING/ZURICH, Oct 25 (Reuters) - State-owned Chinese chemicals group ChemChina is ready to offer more concessions to win European Union antitrust approval for its $43 billion bid for Swiss pesticide and seed group Syngenta, a source with direct knowledge of the process said. Clinching China's biggest-ever foreign acquisition is taking longer than planned amid a flurry of deals in the agriculture sector that Syngenta, the world's biggest pesticides maker, said on Tuesday had swamped competition watchdogs. Syngenta expects the transaction to close around the end of March 2017, rather than this year as first planned, but insisted it would go ahead despite increased scrutiny by watchdogs gauging the impact of big deals on farmers and consumers. Syngenta's deal with ChemChina is one of two under EU scrutiny, while another mega deal involving Bayer and Monsanto is expected to land on the regulator's desk in coming months. Bayer and Monsanto have not formally requested EU approval but the European Commission has to consider this deal as well when assessing the ChemChina and Syngenta linkup, and another deal involving DuPont and Dow Chemical, to take into account the changing landscape, said an EU official. Syngenta stock plunged more than 9 percent on Monday after a European Commission spokesman said the companies had not offered concessions to get the deal through, raising concerns about the likelihood of a longer, full investigation. ChemChina submitted a proposal to the Commission in September, including a plan to divest some $20 million worth of assets from its agrichemical subsidiary Adama Agricultural Solutions, the Beijing-based source told Reuters. Story continues But the Commission raised "a more detailed menu of possible remedies" last week, said the source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media. ChemChina is ready to cooperate fully with the Commission and come up with a satisfactory solution, the source added. Another person close to the deal said there is very little overlap in technology and products between ChemChina and Syngenta and therefore total concessions on offer will remain low, adding that targeted divestments are in the 'low double-digit million' dollars area. The Monsanto takeover of Bayer had changed the shape of the agrichemicals sector and the EU Commission would therefore take more time to look into the ChemChina-Syngenta deal, the person said, adding a couple of months to the deal timeline but unlikely derailing the transaction. A ChemChina spokesman was not immediately available. The Commission sometimes opens a full investigation to get a better understanding of complex takeovers, whereby some are eventually cleared with no or minor concessions, though this is probably not the case for ChemChina because of the wave of consolidation moves and the diverse interests involved. REGULATORY REVIEW Regulatory scrutiny over the ChemChina-Syngenta deal comes as global agricultural chemicals makers bulk up to better compete with each other. Dow Chemical and DuPont plan a $130 billion merger, while Bayer aims to buy Monsanto for $66 billion. Syngenta Chief Executive Erik Fyrwald told Reuters he expected the EU anti-trust watchdog to take its regulatory review of the ChemChina deal to a second phase once the Oct. 28 deadline for fast-track approval passes. "I think it is likely and we are expecting it, but it is not certain," Fyrwald said. "The process was going along and then on Sept. 14 ... the Bayer and Monsanto deal was announced, since then in both the U.S. and the EU there has been a very large escalation in data requests and questions." The Commission declined comment. Fyrwald dismissed suggestions that the deal could be complicated by a possible merger of ChemChina and Sinochem. "We talk to ChemChina regularly on a range of issues ... and they have repeatedly assured us that they are not in any discussions about merging with Sinochem," he said. Fyrwald declined to comment on the regulatory impact of the other two big deals in the pipeline. "But I can tell you that the regulators are taking a very close look at everything." Syngenta reported third-quarter sales of $2.5 billion, down 3 percent year-on-year at constant exchange rates. The average forecast from analysts polled by Reuters was for sales to ease 0.5 percent. Syngenta stock rose 1.8 percent to 404.70 Swiss francs by 0930 GMT, still well below the ChemChina offer price of $465 in cash per share plus a 5 Swiss franc special dividend, worth a total of around 467 francs. Liberum analysts, who rate Syngenta "buy", valued Syngenta at 357 francs per share should the deal not go through. ChemChina's offer also includes a break fee of $3 billion, or 32 francs per share, for an overall fair value of 389 francs, they wrote in a note. (Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt in Zurich, Foo Yun Chee in Brussels, and Arno Schuetze and; Editing by David Holmes/Ruth Pitchford) Here is all you need to know about the new Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 which is causing a stir in Assam. By India Today Web Desk: Thousands have been protesting against the granting of Indian citizenship to Hindu foreigners as hearing for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, began yesterday, saying it would threaten the existence of the indigenous people of Assam. The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, began its hearing in Assam yesterday. Protesters, meanwhile, believe the move will make Assam a "dumping ground for Hindu Bangladeshis". advertisement WHAT IS THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILL 2016? Introduced on July 19 in the Lok Sabha, the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 seeks to allow illegal migrants from certain minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship. In other words, it amends the Citizenship Act of 1955. WHAT DOES IT WANT? The Citizenship Amendment Bill seeks to allow illegal migrants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian religious communities coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan to not be imprisoned or deported. It also appeals for the minimum years of residency in India to apply for citizenship to be lessened from at least 11 to six years for such migrants. The Bill, however, does not extend to illegal Muslim migrants. It also does not talk about other minority communities in the three neighbouring countries, such as Jews, Bahais etc.. WHY ARE PEOPLE IN ASSAM NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT? The Citizenship Amendment Bill has not been sitting well with the Assamese as it contradicts the Assam Accord of 1985, which clearly states that illegal migrants heading in from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971, would be deported. WHO ARE THE ILLEGAL MIGRANTS? Under the Citizenship Act of 1955, foreigners who come into India without valid travel documents, or stay in the country beyond their visa period, are considered illegal migrants. Over the years, certain exceptions have been made to this law. In September 2015, illegal migrants belonging to minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan and coming to India on or before December 31, 2014, were allowed to stay. This allowed the illegal migrants to stay in India without being imprisoned or deported. This exception was sought again in July this year. HOW DOES ONE GET INDIAN CITIZENSHIP AT THE MOMENT? Anybody who is born in India, has an Indian parent, or has lived in India for over 11 years, is eligible for Indian citizenship. At present, illegal migrants to do not fit this category. WHAT ELSE DOES THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILL SAY? The Bill also seeks to cancel the registration of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders if they violate any law. advertisement Also read: India Today-Axis Opinion Poll on Manipur: Another north-eastern jewel in BJP's crown after Assam Also watch: --- ENDS --- U.S. energy giant Chevron Corp. CVX is set to release its third-quarter 2016 results before the opening bell on Friday, Oct 28. What Investors Need to Know The companys stock performance has been pretty choppy lately, and it will be up to this coming release to set the trend heading into 2017. However, the second-largest U.S. oil company by market value after Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM has a good industry rank in the top 38% overall. Chevron also has a B for its VGM Score and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), so fundamentals are pretty strong for this stock as well. But the company doesnt exactly have a great track record when it comes to earnings, as it has missed estimates in two of the last three quarters, as you can see in the chart below: CHEVRON CORP Price and EPS Surprise CHEVRON CORP Price and EPS Surprise | CHEVRON CORP Quote Earnings estimates have also been sluggish for the stock, as the consensus estimate has been going down over the past few months. This is something that investors definitely dont want to see heading into a report. Therefore, notwithstanding Chevrons Buy rating, the signals are mixed and it seems as if it could be a rockier report than one might think. Factors to Consider This Quarter Unlike the last quarter, where oil advanced more than 26% sequentially to notch up the best quarterly percentage gain in 7 years, the Jun-Sep 2016 period turned out to be a rather flat one with crude barely advancing. In fact, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures during the third quarter hovered around the $45 per barrel mark, flat from the second quarter and down from $46.50 in the same period last year. This does not bode well for Chevron one of the most oil-weighted majors. Worryingly, there are signs of weakness in the refining business, suggesting that the unit which saved Chevron when crude prices plunged could now be a drag. The second quarter saw the integrated behemoths downstream segment income erode on fuel oversupply and weak demand. With refined product inventories remaining at their maximum seasonal levels in at least 20 years and margins set to narrow, Chevron could be in for more trouble in the to-be-reported quarter. Story continues Finally, disruptions and asset sales could hamper the companys production as it did in the previous quarter. However, to a large extent, Chevrons successful cost reduction initiatives are expected to cushion the results. At $12 billion, the companys capital and exploration expenditure for the first half of this year has run 31% lower than in the equivalent period of 2015. Earnings Whispers Our proven model does not conclusively show that Chevron will beat estimates this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) to be able to beat consensus estimates. Please check our Earnings ESP Filter that enables you to find stocks that are expected to come out with earnings surprises. That is not the case here as you will see below. Zacks ESP: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is 0.00%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate both stand at 40 cents. Zacks Rank: Chevron has a Zacks Rank #2. Though a Zacks Rank #2 increases the predictive power of ESP, the companys ESP of 0.00% makes surprise prediction difficult. We caution against Sell-rated stocks (Zacks Ranks #4 and 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions. Stocks to Consider While earnings beat looks uncertain for Chevron, here are two companies from the energy space you may want to consider on the basis of our model, which shows that they have the right combination of elements to post earnings beat this quarter: CONE Midstream Partners L.P. CNNX has an Earnings ESP of +2.7% and a Zacks Rank #1. The partnership is expected to release earnings results on Nov 4. You can seethe complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Antero Resources Corp. AR has an Earnings ESP of +25.00% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is anticipated to release earnings on Oct 26. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CONE MIDSTREAM (CNNX): Free Stock Analysis Report CHEVRON CORP (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report ANTERO RESOURCE (AR): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research A free education protest outside the Art Institute of Chicago resulted in arrests on Monday, October 24. Several dozen protestors blocked Michigan Avenue, a major Chicago road, during rush hour to protest the support several Art Institute trustees have offered Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. Several protesters were arrested for blocking traffic, and many in the crowd were wearing traditional graduation gowns and mortarboards. Governor Rauner has come under fire for a budget deal that has taken significant state funding from universities and reduced enrollment. Credit: Instagram/gelatinskeleton The toll from a powerful explosion in China rose to 14 dead and 147 injured Tuesday, state media said, as three suspects were arrested and admitted to illegally storing explosives. Monday's blast in Xinmin, in the northern province of Shaanxi, tore through five prefabricated buildings, destroying or damaging 58 others, the official Xinhua news agency said. Authorities on Tuesday censored discussion of the incident online. An initial investigation found the incident was caused by illegally stored explosives, state broadcaster CCTV said on its website late Tuesday, adding that three people had been arrested. "During the investigation, the suspects confessed to illegally producing and storing explosives," it said. Pictures showed widespread damage, with windows blown out of buildings, a crater in the street, and bloodied victims lying on the ground. Rescue efforts had concluded by Tuesday morning, and more than 100 of the injured were still hospitalised, Xinhua said, citing local authorities. The explosion comes at a time of heightened vigilance for the ruling Communist Party, which holding a high-level meeting in Beijing, the "Sixth Plenum". Outraged social media users said that there were comparatively few reports on the incident available online, and others had been deleted, with comments on many platforms disabled. "They've closed off discussion of the incident and don't dare reveal the numbers of casualties and deaths," wrote one incensed user. "Such a big incident, and they're preparing to quash it under pressure." Another cried: "The one-party dictatorship that controls the throne is only interested in the good of the party, not of the people! Where is China's future?" Industrial accidents are common in China, where safely regulations are often flouted. Giant explosions at a chemical storage facility in the northern port of Tianjin last year killed at least 165 people, sending a monumental fireball skyward and mangling structures kilometres away. A suspected industrial explosion tore through a small town in northwestern China on Monday, leaving at least 14 people dead and almost 150 injured, while cleaving a crater several feet deep in the street and shattering the windows of a nearby hospital and kindergarten. The blast rocked Xinmin township of Fugu county, Shaanxi province, at around 2 p.m. local time, reports state news wire Xinhua. Some of the wounded were seen fleeing the scene covered in blood, while six people were pulled from rubble in the explosions immediate aftermath, reports local news site Huashan News. Investigators believe the likely cause of the blast was improperly stored chemicals in a steel hut used by a local construction crew. Police are questioning those responsible, reports local media. There are many coal mines around us and many people think some coal-mine boss stored the explosives in the building, which caused the tragedy, Dr. Wang Xueming, who has worked at a health clinic in Xinming for 20 years, tells TIME. Deadly industrial accidents are all too common in China, as the nation has embraced a process of rapid industrialization that is credited for hauling more than 600 million people out of poverty by prioritizing economic growth over environmental or health and safety concerns. However, the government says it is addressing the problem as part of the next stage of national development. In the first half of this year, there were 13,723 work-related deaths in China 75 every day yet this still represents an 8.1% drop from the previous year, according to the State Administration for Work Safety. (By comparison, 4,821 American workers were killed on the job in 2014.) That said, according to Hong Kongbased China Labor Bulletin (CLB), these figures are lower partly owing to changes in the way workplace accidents are defined and calculated. There are weighty political pressures to report improvements in environmental and workplace safety, especially after last years colossal chemical explosion at a port storage facility in the northeastern port city of Tianjin, which killed 173 people and made headlines around the world. A total of 123 people, primarily local officials and company executives, were deemed responsible for the disaster. Story continues In China, enforcement of workplace safety generally involves punishing top officials rather than empowering workers, meaning accidents are frequently glossed over. In Shaanxi province, officials were recently accused of stuffing pollution-monitoring equipment with cotton wool to filter out impurities, reports the South China Morning Post. Compounding the issue, typically overstretched safety inspectors are generally only held culpable for disasters in facilities they have actually visited. Therefore, it is often personally beneficial for them to concentrate on scrutinizing a few relatively safe facilities rather than prioritizing potentially hazardous ones. Theres a lot of incentive to just keep quiet, hide incidents that do happen for fear of repercussions and not inspect, says CLB researcher Keegan Elmer. The strategy of punishing rather than really preventing is still a common way of looking at work safety among officials and employers. In fact, the CLB reports more major explosions in China in the first nine months of this year than last. In addition, Greenpeace reports 232 chemical-related accidents in China from January to August this year an average of 29 per month. Employers just dont take workplace safety seriously, says Elmer. One of the only ways to increase workplace safety is to increase both the training and involvement of the actual workers whose lives are on the line in these dangerous facilities. The Xinmin explosion comes at a sensitive time for the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which is holding a behind closed doors plenary meeting in Beijing this week. By Tuesday, the term Shaanxi explosion was blocked on Chinas Twitter-like microblog Weibo, and state censors began purging any footage of the Xinmin blast. Deleting the posts is more scary than the explosion itself, posted one Weibo user. With reporting by Yang Siqi / Beijing From Popular Mechanics Chinese hackers attempted to gain information about an American aircraft carrier by sending fake emails to foreign government officials scheduled to tour the ship. Visitors to the USS Ronald Reagan were targeted with malware in an attempt to access their computers, according to the Financial Times. The technique, called "spear phishing," is meant to trick people into installing malware on their computers by impersonating a trusted source. The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has been a major part of the U.S. effort to counter China' aggressive posture in the South China Sea. Based in Japan, the flat top has conducted exercises in the South China Sea, shown the flag, and hosted visits by dignitaries from foreign countries pressured by Beijing's expansive claims in the region. The day of one such visit in July, an official-looking email was sent to local government officials set to tour the carrier. The email contained Enfal malware, which can be used to gain entry to an infected computer. According to the Financial Times, the IP address from which the email originated has been used by Chinese intelligence before. The country involved in the incident has not been named, but could be one of several countries in the region including Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, or Indonesia. The carrier was touring the South China Sea at the time and could have flown in dignitaries from any one of those countries. What were the Chinese trying to find out? The U.S. Navy wouldn't share classified information about the Reagan with foreign dignitaries, and it's likely the attack wasn't meant to dig up any information about the ship at all. Rather, the Chinese would be more interested in monitoring the communications of the tour members, their impressions of the ship, and how the trip might shape their opinions about their country's relationship with the U.S. This sort of information would be useful at the strategic level, so that Chinese policymakers could work to figure out how to respond to U.S. diplomacy in the region. Story continues The U.S. Navy said there was no indication the Ronald Reagan or Navy networks were compromised during the attack. Source: Financial Times You Might Also Like * Germany unexpectedly withdraws approval of deal * FGC says Germany cited security-related technology * FGC says examining legal implications (Adds data on Chinese deals in Germany, comment from M&A adviser) By Maria Sheahan FRANKFURT, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The Chinese company bidding for chip equipment maker Aixtron may push ahead with its takeover plans even after Germany has withdrawn its approval because of security issues. Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund LP (FGC), which is trying to buy Aixtron in a 670 million euro ($727.75 million) deal, said on Tuesday the German government's move did not necessarily mean it would drop its bid but it was looking at the legal implications. The German Economy Ministry's plans to review the deal adds to growing protectionist rhetoric in Germany, where Chinese companies have been stepping up their spending. Chinese investors have racked up deals worth more than $10 billion in Germany so far this year, about 40 times as much as in 2015 as a whole, according to Thomson Reuters data. One of the biggest single transactions was the 4.5 billion-euro takeover of German industrial robot maker Kuka by Chinese household appliance maker Midea . Berlin initially sought to limit Midea's stake to restrict the Chinese company's influence on Kuka, which was considered a national champion. "The German government clearly has a motive here. It wants to keep all that technology in Germany with good reason. They've already given too much away. It's German companies, it's German technology, it's German jobs, it's German capital," David Vos, capital goods analyst at Barclays, said. Economy Minister Gabriel has also called for a Europe-wide safeguard clause which could stop foreign takeovers of companies with technology deemed strategic for the future economic success of the region. He is due to lead a business delegation to China next week. Daniel Domberger, partner at UK-based mergers and acquisitions advisory firm Livingstone, said the German government was over reacting and creating regulatory uncertainty. Story continues "The Eurozone needs to be stimulating growth, not deterring investment. But we will see more stories like this, even though Chinese acquisitions count for a tiny proportion of the deals done in Germany," he wrote in an email. Others have also put China's offshore ambitions under the spotlight this year, with the European Commission raising doubts on Monday about Chinese chemical company ChemChina's Switzerland's Syngenta. According to FGC, Germany had cited technology that was relevant to security, especially to the defence sector, being revealed by a takeover of Aixtron as the reason for its scrutiny. Aixtron makes machines used in the production of red, blue, green and white light emitting diodes (LEDs) as well as chips for memory, power management and nanotechnology. Its products are not directly designed for the defence sector. FGC is partly state-backed, but businessman Zhendong Liu, who owns 51 percent of the company, told Spiegel Online this month that the Chinese government played no role in his decision to invest in Aixtron. The Chinese foreign ministry meanwhile said it was encouraging its companies to invest overseas. "At the same time, we hope relevant countries can provide a fair environment and convenient conditions for investment by Chinese companies, which accords with both sides' interests," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in Beijing. ($1 = 0.9206 euros) (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard, Georgina Prodhan and Caroline Copley; Editing by Alexander Smith and Jane Merriman) From Popular Mechanics Chinese shipyards are reportedly busy constructing what will be the largest destroyers in Asia. The yet-unnamed destroyers, tentatively called the Type 055 class, will be stealthy and packed with firepower. Despite the hype on the internet, it's unlikely to be a super-ship. Instead, China's next jump forward will likely have the Chinese Navy merely catching up with the rest of the region. The first reports of the Type 055 emerged in 2014, when photos of a giant land-based mockup of the ship's superstructure-particularly the bridge and radar mast-were spotted in Wuhan, China, hundreds of miles from the ocean. The location is the same place where a mockup of China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, was constructed in 2009. Subsequent reports have fleshed out the Type 055 as a guided missile destroyer 574 feet long with a displacement of 12,000 tons. That would make it the largest destroyer-type ship produced in Asia, exceeding Japan's Kongo-class destroyers by 2,500 tons. According to GlobalSecurity.org: [The 005] would be outfitted with four new types of missiles, including medium-range air defense and antisubmarine missiles, as well as long-range air defense missiles and supersonic long-range anti-ship missiles. The Type 055 destroyers would also brandish long-range land attack cruise missiles and a sea-based missile interceptor All of this sounds very much like the USS Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers. First constructed in the late 1980s, the Burke class was designed to defend aircraft carriers from waves of Soviet supersonic anti-ship missiles. In addition to fleet defense, the destroyers are also capable of anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship attack, and cruise missile strikes. Lately they have also added ballistic missile defense, through software and hardware upgrades to their Aegis combat systems and the development of the SM-3 missile interceptor. The Type 055 class will reportedly be armed with a single 130-millimeter deck gun, 128 vertical launch system cells, and two close-in weapon systems for last-ditch missile defense. The ships will also mount four large AESA radars for detecting and tracking aerial threats, similar to the SPY-1D on the Burke class. Story continues [contentlinks align="left" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="The%20Zumwalt%20Is%20Here,%20Now%20What%20About%20the%20Railgun?" customimages="" content="article.23440"] Various media reports of the 055 as a "super ship" mounting laser weapons and railguns are likely exaggerated. Chinese research and development into both kinds of weapons appears highly classified, but there is no reason to believe the Beijing is any further along than Washington-and the US Navy is only considering retrofitting energy weapons to the Zumwalts at some vague point in the future. A Chinese military expert has downplayed the notion of railguns on the 055s, stating that the ships lack an electric drive necessary to provide power to the megawatt-hungry weapons. Although large at 12,000 tons, there is no indication the ship is any more heavily armed that similar ships of its kind. The Zumwalt class weighs 14,000 tons and yet is armed with only two 155-millimeter guns and eighty vertical launch missile silos. The new American destroyers are larger in part due to an effort to mask most of their sensors, weapons, and other exterior features behind a sleek, stealthy surface. The Type 055 class will likely be the same, although artist conceptions of the ship show a comparatively modest amount of radar reducing features. An advanced air defense radar and silos for 128 missiles is in fact nothing special to the Asia-Pacific region. South Korea's Sejong the Great destroyers are identical in sensors and loadout-and produced ten years ago. American Burke and Japanese Kongo class destroyers have slightly smaller missile loadouts. The only major upgrade the 055s represent is over the Chinese Navy's current 052 destroyers, which were designed to fulfill a similar role but pack an anemic 64 missiles. The 055's relatively quick development time implies that the ship may just be the weapons and electronics of the 052 on a larger, stealthier ship. There are various ways the 055s could be employed. The most obvious is as a fleet defense platform, protecting high value targets such as the upcoming Type 001A aircraft carrier, Type 075 landing helicopter attack ship, and Type 071 amphibious ship. Other missions could be protecting China's nuclear missile submarines in the South China Sea, launching anti-ship and cruise missile strikes against enemy targets, and protecting China from ballistic missile attacks. Chinese military watchers believe there are three 055s currently under construction all at once, and the first ship is rumored to be ready by 2018. This rapid production schedule implies China believes the technology is mature-giving credence to the 052 theory-but also that China believes it needs them ASAP. You Might Also Like Police have arrested officials in charge of environmental protection in central China after they were accused of tampering with air quality monitoring data, local media said Tuesday. "Staff members interfered with the monitoring station a number of times, blocking the equipment with a cotton thread, which disrupted the collection of data," the Huashang Bao newspaper said. The "abnormal" readings, collected in the ancient city of Xi'an, alerted the national body for environmental protection, resulting in the opening of a police investigation, the newspaper added. A number of suspects have been arrested, Huashang Bao said, including the head of the monitoring station, his deputy and the director of the environmental protection bureau in Chang'an, a district of Xi'an. "It's truly terrible!", the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party said on social network Weibo. "It's not by betraying their duties that the air quality will improve." The acrid gray haze that regularly envelops Chinese cities has become a major focus of discontent in the country. To try to contain the problem, Beijing has imposed air pollution reduction targets on local officials, who are punished if they are not reached. The latest case "should serve as a warning to officials around the country that the central government is serious about punishing environmental abuses," said Dong Liansai, of the campaign group Greenpeace, in a statement. "Reliable data is the very starting point of China's 'war on pollution'" that Beijing declared in 2014, Dong said, adding that "citizens have a right to know about the quality of the air they breath". A man was arrested for dressing up as a tree and blocking traffic. His friend says he was trying to study the traffic pattern of the city. By India Today Web Desk: Police say they've arrested a man dressed as a tree for blocking traffic in the US state of Maine. Photo: Twitter - @MetroRadioNews They said that the man didn't respond to officers when they warned him against obstructing traffic in a busy intersection in downtown Portland. Watch the video here: Police have arrested a man dressed as tree for blocking traffic on Congress Street...as God is my witness. pic.twitter.com/VUFQY6Vyv0 TVTEDDY (@TVTEDDY) October 24, 2016 advertisement A friend of the man says he was trying to study the city's traffic patterns. The man appeared to be dressed as a pine tree or other type of evergreen, according to an Associated Pres s report. Booked only for wearing a tree and blocking traffic, if he had betrayed his country, he could have also been arrested for treeson. --- ENDS --- By Lisa Baertlein (Reuters) - Chipotle Mexican Grill Incwill@cvradio.com
BB Guns Are Not Firearms, Minnesota Supreme Court Rules
Last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that a BB gun does not count as a firearm when it comes to a felon-in-possession charge. David Haywood, who was convicted of a felony in 2005, was convicted three years ago for possession of a firearm and sentenced to the mandatory minimum 5 year sentence. Now, his conviction is overturned.
Most states restrict the rights of individuals who have been convicted of a felony when it comes to gun ownership. The ruling by Minnesota's highest court will indeed change the landscape of gun ownership for felons, but only in Minnesota, and only until the legislature responds.
Air Powered Can Still Be High Powered
The court in Minnesota relied on the fact that a regular gun shoots a projectile using the explosive force of gun powder, while a BB gun uses air or pneumatic force. The court strictly interpreted the state legislature's definition of a firearm, finding that a BB gun's use of air propulsion excluded it as a firearm. The court did recognize that a BB gun, like a nail gun, or other tools that use compressed air, can be lethal; however that is not enough to bring a BB gun within the definition of a firearm.
The court advised that defining a firearm is a job for the legislature, hinting that the legislature could close this loophole by passing a law redefining a firearm to include air-powered weapons.
What the Ruling Means
As one local county attorney noted, the ruling will likely require that all felon-in-possession cases be dismissed where the gun in possession was an air-powered firearm. While the ruling may cause some prosecutions to fall apart, the ruling does not affect treating BB guns as regular firearms if they are used in the commission of a crime or are fired. The same attorney noted that BB guns today come in high-powered varieties that are not like the air rifles of the past.
While Mr. Haywood should be released soon, there has not been any indication that the state law makers plan to redefine the term firearm. Because weapons technology will continue to keep advancing, the legislatures in every state should be seeking to keep state laws current with technology.
If you have been charged with a criminal offense for use of a BB gun, contact an experience criminal defense lawyer in your area right away.
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Store Owner Arrested for Allegedly Torturing Burglars
Two unlucky burglars got way more than they bargained for when they broke into the Gas bike shop in Orange County, Florida last week. The pair of burglars found the shop's owner lying in wait, gun in hand, and it only got crazier from there.
The bike shop owner had a few prior break-ins and was justifiably paranoid that it would happen again. As a preventative measure, he began sleeping in his store, with a gun. When the burglars broke in, he allegedly held the two men at gun point, forced them to strip down to their underwear, then marched them into the bathroom where he beat them, while still holding them at gun point. The shopkeeper did not call the police until some time had elapsed and his brother and brother's girlfriend arrived at the store.
Everyone Gets an Arrest
When the police arrived, they were confronted with an odd situation. Undressed burglars being held at gunpoint is unlikely something that gets taught at the academy. However, as you probably already suspected, the bike shop owner's actions were illegal. Officers arrested not only the burglars, but also the shop owner and the owner's brother, and the brother's girlfriend.
While the owner could have held the burglars at gun point while waiting for the police to arrive, by making them strip, he went too far. Then, when he beat them, he went beyond too far. While Florida law does allow a shopkeeper, or homeowner, to defend themselves, there are limitations, and beating someone at gun point, who isn't resisting detention (citizen's arrest), is just simply illegal (Note: state laws vary on how far a shopkeeper or homeowner can go in defending their property).
Who Faces More Serious Charges?
To put things in perspective, it is likely that the shopkeeper will face more serious charges than the burglars. Property crimes, such as breaking and entering, as well as burglary, are generally not as serious as crimes against a person, such as assault, battery, rape, and murder. While the would-be burglars may face charges for breaking in, and maybe even attempted burglary charges, the shopkeeper could be facing assault and battery with a deadly weapon, torture, sexual battery, and other charges.
The brother of the shopkeeper and his girlfriend can be charged as accomplices, or more, depending on their roles, which is unclear at this time. Convictions for accomplice liability can be just as severe as the charges the burglars face.
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Theresa May vs the EU: Why can't we be friends?
Published on October 25, 2016
Story by Raquel Lorenzo
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Theresa May, the UKs prime minister since July 2016, showed up at the European Council with a clear message: the UK will continue to work closely with the European Union even after their smooth (or maybe not so smooth) divorce. However, her future ex-partner is not necessarily aligning himself with such I'm-leaving-but-we-can-still-be-friends discourse.
Brussels, a little before 3pm on Thursday morning: Theresa May arrives at the Justus Lipsius building earlier than expected. Complete madness amongst journalists as everybody wants to capture the moment of Theresa Mays first European Council. Here she is, making her grand entry in red heels.
Welcome to a nest of doves...
Last June, we said goodbye to David Cameron after the in/out referendum that unexpectedly pushed the UK towards the exit route. But during this summit a new recruit was to participate in the negotiations. Donald Tusk wanted her to feel at home by giving her a warm welcome. The president of the European Council told journalists that Theresa was completely safe with them, even using poetry to make the message clear: "she is not entering the lion's den, but a nest of doves." Wow, that was deep.
Though initially an outsider, the leader of the Conservative Party did not seem lost at all upon her arrival in Brussels. Quite the contrary: she really knew why she was there, making clear that, yes, the UK is leaving the EU, but Britain won't draw a line under their joint work with their neighbours. "I'm here with a very clear message: the UK is leaving the EU, but we will continue to play a full role until we leave and we'll be a strong and dependable partner after we have left," Mrs May said.
...or not.
Her wish to maintain good relations and collaborate with the other 27 member states was not welcomed by most of her counterparts, who actually behaved like the lions Tusk had previously mentioned. Francois Hollande warned her as he arrived for the summit on Thursday that: "I say it very firmly; if Madame Theresa May wants a hard Brexit, then talks will be hard too."
European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker already seemed fed up of Brexit after the first day of the summit. When BBC journalists asked him about the issue, he just let out a weary sigh, an untranslatable answer that appeared to summarise what everyone at the Council was thinking. Some British journalists even described Brexit as "their worst nightmare ever" and confessed that "this whole thing was ruining their lives."
For his part, the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said he "refused to imagine a Europe where lorries and hedge funds are free to cross borders but citizens are not." What Schulz meant is that the UK would never have access to the single market if Ms. May did not accept the fundamental rule of free movement of persons. That means that the British government should forget about the hard divorce they had innitially planned, and move towards a smooth separation.
Only five minutes for Brexit
The three main topics of this European Council meeting were migration, trade agreements and external relations with Russia. However, Theresa May would also have the time to address Brexit. Not for too long, though, as she only managed to deliver a speech of five minutes right after dinner, just before waiters cleared up the tables. EU leaders made her wait until 1am (which is really late for a Briton), but at least she had the time to digest her scallops with bean mousseline, crown of lamb and vanilla parfait before speaking.
Brexit in the UK vs. Brexit in Brussels
Mrs May will trigger Article 50 in March 2017. There are two possible scenarios: a hard Brexit or a soft one. One would have thought that Theresa would always defend the hard version of the divorce between the EU and her country, since that is what she always suggested in London. However, things may have changed and, during the Council in Brussels, she seemed to lean towards "constructive negotiations." It might be because of the many different tendencies within the Conservative party, the dramatic fall of the pound, or even because Brexit is turning into "Regrexit."
Be that as it may, the fact stands that the views of the EU and the UK on how the Brexit process should continue are very different. Brussels is upset with Theresa May and most of the leaders refuse to find a middle ground. As Xavier Bettel, prime minister of Luxembourg said, "it is either married or not married." Furthermore, even if Brexit makes the front pages of British newspapers every single day, Europe seems to have more important issues to care about during summits.
Top 3 important quotes from her briefing
Friday, 2pm. The UK's press room was crowded with journalists. No one wanted to miss May's first briefing at the European Council. Before she began, she warned the media that she had to be quick, since she "had a lunch date with Juncker." The President of the Commission had invited her to look more closely at Brexit.
One of the questions British journalists raised was: "do you really expect countries to keep listening to us or are they entitled to ignore us now?" Prime Minister Theresa May did not even hesitate: "as long as we are members of the EU we will continue to meet our rights and obligations. Of course the 27 will have to take discussions among themselves, but I will continue sitting around the table." She does not want to be ignored by the rest of the group.
Once again, Ms. May said she was confident and enthusiastic about cooperating with her neighbours: "the UK is leaving the EU, but we are not turning our backs to our friends and allies."
Before leaving for her date, Theresa May addressed CETA and future EU-UK trade negotiations: "we are not looking to replicate a model that somebody else has in relation to their trade with the EU, but to develop a new relationship."
As the October summit came to an end, we all had the impression that for May it was like walking into the office once you have resigned for insulting your boss.
Story by Raquel Lorenzo
Why is the whole of the EU talking about CETA?
Published on October 25, 2016
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The EU-Canada Trade Agreement (CETA) has been a concern in many member states recently. The European Council attempted to overcome the deadlock caused by Wallonias refusal to back Belgium in signing on the agreement, but to no avail. Cafebabel asks what CETA means and why its important for the EUs trade policy in the future...
1) CEwhat?
CETA is the freshly negotiated EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). It all started back in 2009, when the belief was that having no trade borders between the EU and Canada would put 70 billion euros in our pockets. Politicians, economists and experts on both sides of the Atlantic figured that breaking down those trade barriers was the best way to go to boost bilateral trade.
More than five years later, the promised deal was wrapped up in a 1,600 page document which would mean every product or service from the Great White North and the Old Continent - from maple syrup to Dutch gouda - can be bought and sould without restrictions or higher prices. It also coined the term "regulatory cooperation", meaning that legal experts will create common rules for everything from the proper definition of a bike tyre to the expiry date on the pears in your grocery story. Overall, it's a good thing for the bankers, winemakers, engineers or farmers. Apparently.
2) Why we are all talking about CETA now?
The whole story about CETA, in cafebabels own words, is that the trade deal was rather calmly negotiated behind closed doors for more than 5 long years. The reality is that CETA attracted no or little public attention, which is also why the accord was negotiated at good pace and with limited publicity. At first sight, CETA looked like any trade deal bound to enable free trade, leading only to positive implications for citizens daily lives. But five years later, things changed as tarders, farmers and civil society at large started to be wary of those trade deals leading to potential wage cuts or less environmental protection. The European Commission did try to fix those fears by being more open about how the deal was put together, in "full dialogue" with civil society. Whether this was simple glitter to lure opponents depends on who you ask.
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3) So, when did things go wrong?
The EU was on top of the world, happily negotiating one of the its most far-reaching trade deals. Back in 2009, every European country thought it was Brussels' job to lead negotiations on those trade agreements. But in 2013 negotiations start on the CETA's big brother TTIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), leading to turmoil across Europe. People start realising that the Commission is maybe not that well-equipped to be at the frontline of these negotiations. Plus, it seems the trade guys in the Commission only wanted to talk business and were overlooking what normal citizens really expect from trade deals.
Things start getting ugly when grassroots movements come together to question the transparency around TTIP and its relevance for consumers, health and environmental protection. Pressure mounts and pushes the Commission to open up the process, starting with providing access to reading rooms across Europe where TTIP documents can be consulted on the spot. Soon after, CETA starts being considered as TTIPs little brother. Many fear that multinationals with headquarters in Canada will use CETA at their advantage, and anticipate expected benefits under TTIP. CETA then becomes that new secret deal that may be worse or at least as bad as TTIP. Rumor has it that the EU-Canada trade deal may be TTIPs Trojan horse. While other trade deals, such as the EU-Korea agreement, cause no mobilisation, TTIP, CETA or TiSA (Trade in Services Agreement) become the new battleground to challenge the democratic legitimacy of EU trade policy.
4) How did we end up making CETA a "mixed agreement"?
Trade policy is part of the exclusive structures of the European Union. It means that only the European Union as a whole can sign a trade agreement with a third party such as Canada. But the increasing pressure from national governments seriously threaten sthe legitimacy of such agreements, negotiated almost exclusively behind closed doors. This led the European Commission to propose CETA as a mixed agreement, on 5 July.
But what is a mixed agreement? Nothing related to your blender sadly, but it means national politicians, like members of your national [and sometimes regional] parliaments have to agree to the terms. A mixed agreement means that both the EU and its individual member states need to ratify the agreement with the third party in question. Though member states need to resort to referendum or parliamentary vote to ratify the agreement, CETA may still be applied provisionally, before final ratification.
Mixed agreements raise several concerns, both in terms of legitimacy and efficiency. As European Parliament president Martin Schulz said, "Democratic legitimacy for mixed agreements comes from the European Parliament, and the national parliaments." Nevertheless, this could make the conclusion of agreements close to impossible in the near future. The cherry on top is that trade is now fiercly observed by everyone. Indeed, with Brexit, the UK will need to negotiate a trade deal with the continent, and if we are not able to do it with the country of beavers, how on your earth can we manage something fair without wasting our time with Great Britain? European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom made it clear in Luxembourg on Tuesday, stating "If we cant make it with Canada, Im not sure we can make it with the UK."
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5) What does Wallonia have to do with the blocking of CETA?
Adding to a tight timeline, CETAs status as mixed agreement triggered concerns from what turn out to be blocking brigades from Member States side. Over the past months, French and Greeks defended their right to protect their cheeses, Germans had a problem with their constitutional court who was reluctant to apply the agreemet before final national ratification, said it the text with Canada was a new thing for them and they should not give their green light too quickly. And Bulgaria and Romania expressed their reservations at CETA, demanding some clear guarantees for the granting of visas to their nationals. Turns out that Canada seemingly agreed on their requirements and both countries should be prepared to sign along.
But why have we been hearing about Wallonia recently? As a federal state, Belgium needs the approval of its different parliaments to ratify a treaty. On Thursday, the French-speaking Belgian region (effectively another Belgian government) refused to sign the CETA, which therefore prevented the country as a whole from signing off on the deal. Negotiations are still ongoing and Paul Magnette, Minister-President of Wallonia, aims to get some guarantees in terms of agriculture and public services.
European leaders were hoping to close in on the deal by the end of the month, as Donald Tusk underlined on the first day of the European Council: "I hope Belgium will once again prove that it is a champion at compromise making," he said, adding: "If we dont manage to build enough public support, CETA might be our last trade agreement."
Twist to the story: all these efforts have been unsuccessful, with the negotiations deemed to have failed as the Canadian Trade minister walked out of negotiations with Wallonia on Friday.
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This article was written by cafebabel Brussels.
How John Lennon Exposed a Secret Government Policy
Imagine a time when a person could exist having never heard of The Beatles. In 1972, when Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) attempted to deport John Lennon, he hired an immigration attorney that would change the world. Amazingly, his attorney had never heard of him and had no idea that he was about to transform government policy.
To fight the decision to deport Lennon, they not only sought to stop it entirely, but at the very least were trying to delay the proceedings so that Yoko Ono could continue her custody battle (which was taking place in the US), and search for her child, who was abducted by the father (not Lennon). What was achieved went well beyond that, and exposed a secret government program.
Secret Government Program Revealed
During the Nixon administration, John Lennon was viewed as a threat to the current administration's political platform. It was no secret that Nixon was did not approve of the rock & roll music. The big revelation from Lennon's deportation case was that INS and the government had a secret program that would designate certain immigrants as priority or non-priority for purposes of deportation. Obviously, those in the non-priority group would be safe from deportation. Through thoughtful and dutiful use of Freedom of Information Act requests, Lennon's lawyer was able to discover nearly 2,000 incidences of the secret program.
In exposing the secret program, Lennon's lawyer forced INS's hand into officially recognizing the program. In doing so, the INS also released official guidance on how the program would be applied which curbed the program's misuse. President Obama's current deferred action policy is rooted in the program that Lennon's case exposed.
John Lennon's Deportation Case
While the expose of the secret program proved critical in Lennon's case, what may have been more critical was the technical application of the US law allowing deportation for drug convictions. Lennon's 1968 conviction for possession of "cannabis resin," aka hashish, from the UK, was being used as the basis for his deportation. The law specifically used the term "marijuana" and Lennon's lawyer skillfully differentiated between marijuana and hashish. Lennon famously testified when asked about the difference: "Hash is much better than marijuana."
Lennon was granted a waiver and his deportation denied. Likely, a strong motivating factor in the decision was Ono's missing child and custody battle.
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| BY Ricki Green |
South Australian director Stephen Packer has shot a new cinema and online campaign for the South Australian Tourism Commission.
Eager to tell stories of his state, Packer along with longtime producer Adam Camporeale pitched a commercial to the SATC (South Australia Tourism Commission) based around a group of friends hiring a private island for a weekend getaway off SAs beautiful Yorke Peninsula. Having stayed there with family in the past, Packer knew what an incredible setting for a tourism film the island would make.
Says Packer: The idea that a family or a group of friends could literally hire an island to themselves at an affordable rate here in SA was incredible to me, and something that I dont think most people around Australia know.
With an aim to showcase local talent Packer and Camporeale collaborated with amazing businesses every step of the way. From custom surfboards to unique event styling, every part of the process was designed with bright, eye-catching visuals in mind. Packer also teamed up with Adelaide producer Ben Green at Private Universe Studios in the Barossa Valley to record the soundtrack for the piece.
| BY Ricki Green |
Sharne Patient, managing director of creative agency headmark , has been named a finalist in the Female Entrepreneur of the Year category in the 13th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and will ultimately be a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award winner in the program.
The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honour women executives, entrepreneurs, employees and the companies they run worldwide. The Stevie Awards have been hailed as the worlds premier business awards. More than 1,500 entries were submitted this year for consideration in more than 90 categories.
Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced during a gala event at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Friday, November 18. Nominated women executives and entrepreneurs from the U.S.A and several other countries are expected to attend. The event will be broadcast on Livestream and the pre-show from the red carpet will be streamed on the Stevie Awards Facebook feed.
Patient will be attending the ceremony in New York as a Finalist in the Female Entrepreneur of the Year category. Patient began her career at a Boston-based advertising agency, where she spent over four years cutting her teeth on some of Americas most renowned brands, including Subway, Midas and PepsiCo.
Upon returning to Australia, Patient spent eight years as marketing manager at Foodco Group looking after brands Muffin Break, Jamaica Blue and Dreamy Donuts in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and China. Her experience spans brand strategy, marketing planning and activation, budget management, media buying, guest speaking and events management.
In 2006 Patient co-founded headmark, a full-service creative agency. The name headmark encapsulates the agencys vision to leave a tangible imprint, take ownership and deliver bold, innovative results for clients ranging from big brands to small business. Headmark now has a loyal client list that includes Lindt and Yokohama, and is differentiated by an agency culture that approaches a client as though their business is their own.
Says Aimee OReilly from Yokohama Australia: Sharne and the team at headmark have been instrumental in our brands development. Theyre continually innovating to solve communication challenges and meticulously executing ideas to build the brand and drive sales. Their passion for what they do is only matched by their dedication for high quality work, delivered on deadline and within budget for each and every project.
Finalists for the Stevie Awards were chosen by more than 110 business professionals worldwide during preliminary judging. Members of five final judging committees will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging October 17-26.
Says Michael Gallagher, founder and president of the Stevie Awards: In the 13th year of the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the judges were very impressed with the quality of each nomination that qualified as a Stevie finalist. The competition has grown each year because there are so many high-achieving women all over the world, who serve as an inspiration to those who would like to start, grow or lead a business.
Are Employers Responsible for an Employee's Distracted Driving Accident?
As an employer, you should know that you can be held responsible for your employees' acts, and you should know that liability can extend to car accidents. But what if your employee was distracted at the time? What if they were texting or taking a phone call? Would it matter whether or not that call or text was work-related?
Here's how distracted driving laws could affect employer liability in the event of a car accident.
Vicarious Liability
One of the reasons you want to make good hires at your small business is because you can be on the hook if they screw up. And you definitely don't want to be on the hook for an employee's car accident. There are four general theories of employer liability in a car accident:
Owner Liability Statutes: Some states impart strict liability for car accidents upon the car's owner, so if an employee was driving a company car, you would be liable. Negligent Maintenance: If you own the vehicle, it's your job to ensure proper maintenance, and you could be liable if improper care caused the car accident. Negligent Entrustment: You must also exercise due care before entrusting a third party with the vehicle, so if you failed to look into an employee's driving record, or knew that they shouldn't be driving, you may be held liable. Respondeat Superior: A Latin way of saying you're liable if an employee acts negligently while acting within the scope of his employment.
Distracted Liability
As the last theory notes, employers are vicariously liable for the negligent acts or omissions by their employees in the course of employment. So as long as the vehicle was being used for work or a work-related task, it probably won't matter whether the negligence that caused the accident was the employee rolling a stop sign or scrolling his Twitter feed. And if the employee is being distracted by a work message or call on his phone, that's an even stronger argument for employer liability if there's an accident.
Make sure your small business has implemented a strict distracted driving policy at work. And if you someone in your company got into a car accident, you might want to consult an employment attorney.
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"There's no way in the world we can just give a blank cheque to Labor to go ahead and spend billions of dollars. We accept their mandate for stage 1 and we will analyse the business case for stage 2. It's still got to be the best use of money, we cannot be in a situation whereby we're compounding the folly."
"It was very difficult, obviously, to portray that while standing there, but I think because he's such an easy-going person, he gets the story out of you. He really portrays what I was going through when I was 15 and had just lost my father. It took four years for me to be comfortable enough to tell him how I felt during that time and my grief and depression and whatever comes along with grief, and that really is what the portrait displays, basically."
"One of the problems that has afflicted the solar and renewables industry more generally has been changing government policy," he said. "Here in the ACT, through a consistent approach, we have been able to see a lot of investment taking place which is providing clean energy but also a steady supply of investment and jobs."
The man's actions in making his vulnerable victim carve his initials into her arm were meant as a demonstration of his dominance and an exertion of his power over her, she said.
Under New Facebook Policy, Newsworthy Trumps Nudity
Most of us have never violated Facebook's Community Standards. Then again, most of us are only posting photos of our children, vacation, or food. But as more businesses, charities, and media companies join the ranks of individual Facebook users, the limits of the site's policy on explicit posts are bound to be stretched. (And the most vitriolic presidential campaign in recent memory doesn't help matters.)
But rather than tightening its parameters on illegal or offensive content, Facebook announced last week it is relaxing its standards on explicit posts, so long as the post has some news or public interest value.
Which Community?
Facebook admitted that balancing norms and standards for a global community isn't easy. "Whether an image is newsworthy or historically significant is highly subjective," the company said in its statement. "Images of nudity or violence that are acceptable in one part of the world may be offensive -- or even illegal -- in another." Still, Facebook recognizes that the value of newsworthy items may outweigh an interest in not being offended:
In the weeks ahead, we're going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant, or important to the public interest -- even if they might otherwise violate our standards. We will work with our community and partners to explore exactly how to do this, both through new tools and approaches to enforcement. Our intent is to allow more images and stories without posing safety risks or showing graphic images to minors and others who do not want to see them.
Which Posts?
Facebook didn't cite any particular posts that sparked the change in course, but the Atlantic noted two recent cases of content being pulled: one was a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of victims of a napalm attack during the Vietnam War, the other a breast cancer awareness campaign ad.
If you're wondering whether a particular post is permitted under the new rules, you can check out Facebook's Community Standards page. In the meantime, you still might want to stick to photos that prove to friends and family how great your life is, and be prepared to come across some potentially offensive content.
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Italys Ministry of Economic Development gave the companies the final approval for their 50-50 joint venture that will see Wind Italy merge with Three Italy. The European Commission has already approved the deal.
CK Hutchison and VimpelCom welcome the approval, which means that the transaction remains on track to complete by the end of the year, said the companies in a statement from their respective headquarters in Hong Kong and Amsterdam.
The combined entity will deliver major investment into Italys digital infrastructure, bring benefits to consumers and businesses across Italy and unlock significant value through synergies.
The deal will also make way for French company Iliad to launch an operator in Italy. The merging groups offered Iliad, which owns Free Mobile in France, spectrum for 450 million and access to masts as a concession to Italian and European authorities. Xavier Niel, controller of Iliad, will sell his marginal stake in Telecom Italia so that this part of the deal can go ahead, he said in July.
Meanwhile CK Hutchison is still thought to be considering taking action against the European Commission for blocking its proposed purchase of O2 UK from Telefonica earlier this year.
[Your Business Name]
s for layout, and you have fixed widths in inline styles. You've also used a negative margin to shift the button. You'll need to change the markup before you start trying to apply a responsive design to it.
Google has plenty of examples of creating a responsive login form, which would probably be a better place to start.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
We know Lincoln won, but who ran against him in 1860?
Anti-slavery 31-millimeter Lincoln campaign medalets were struck in a variety of metals. Examples usually sell for several hundred dollars each.
This Stephen Douglas campaign token from 1860 is also considered a desirable Civil War patriotic token, so the piece has crossover appeal to that collecting interest. Measuring 22 millimeters in diameter in silvered brass, its is valued between $600 and $1,000, and is part of a series issued for the four presidential candidates in 1860.
1860 presidential campaign banner features a portrait of Lincoln and touts his candidacy with his running mate, Hannibal Hamlin. This example sold in a 2007 auction for $83,650.
The primary contenders for the presidency in 1860 were Abraham Lincoln, left, and Stephen Douglas, shown in this composite of contemporary photographs.
Hat badge featuring Abraham Lincoln was issued by the Wide Awakes a paramilitary campaign organization affiliated with the Republican Party during the United States presidential election of 1860.
This is the third part of a multi-part series on Presidential campaign collectibles from the Nov. 7, 2016, monthly issue of Coin World:
Presidential campaign banners, badges, tokens, medals and more from 200-plus years of American elections provide windows into the quadrennial campaigns and their eras. Depending upon the campaign and candidates, available items may be abundant and cost only a few dollars each, or scarce, some costing thousands of dollars regardless of condition.
The presidential aspirations in the 1860 campaign of Honest Abe, Republican Abraham Lincoln, were not without periodic acerbic exchanges with his Democratic opponent, Sen. Stephen Douglas of Illinois.
Also-rans in that race included Constitutional Union nominee John Bell and Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge.
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Political memorabilia collectors may consider collectibles associated with each candidate, as well as their vice presidential running mates.
Lincoln and Douglas were no strangers to one another. In 1858 they had faced off in a series of seven debates across Illinois as Lincoln attempted to unseat the incumbent Douglas in a race for the U.S. Senate. Before then, both men courted Mary Todd in Springfield, Ill. Todd chose to marry Lincoln.
The issue of slavery became the hottest of topics in the senatorial campaign that Douglas won, but which had also cast Lincoln into the national spotlight. The issue of slavery would continue to face Lincoln during his presidency marked by Civil War.
While it is not uncommon today for political candidates in state and national contents to stump in any small community that will host them, during the 1860 campaign the tactic was considered somewhat tacky.
Douglas, however, claiming he was taking a leisurely train trip from the nations capital to New York to visit his mother, took more than a month to do it, scheduling campaign stops along the way.
Lincoln supporters were quick to ridicule Douglas and his tactic. They published and distributed a Lost Child handbill chronicling the trip, claiming Douglas answered to Little Giant, a reference to Douglas being just 5 feet 4 inches tall. Lincoln was a full foot taller.
The handbill also noted Douglas Talks a great deal, very loud, always about himself.
Douglas, on the other hand labeled Lincoln as a horrible-looking wretch, sooty and scoundrelly in aspect, a cross between the nutmeg dealer, the horse-swapper and the nightman.
Douglas also once referred to Lincoln as the leanest, most ungainly mass of legs and arms and hatchet face ever strung on a single frame.
Lincolns appearance is speculated to have been due to Marfan syndrome or a related disorder, affecting connective tissue. While no DNA testing has been done to prove the theory, his symptoms somewhat match the disorder, an affliction characterized by a tall, thin body shape, with long arms, legs, fingers and toes.
While Lincoln and Douglas were presidential arch rivals, Breckinridge finished second in the Electoral College balloting, despite being third in the popular vote, behind Douglas.
Lincoln collectors have much more ornate memorabilia to acquire for the 16th presidents re-election campaign in 1864.
Among the pieces are a jugate shield badge featuring portraits of Lincoln and running mate, Andrew Johnson. An example realized $56,762.50 in a Dec. 11, 2012, Heritage sale.
Read our entire series so far on collecting Presidential election materials:
The presidential election that might have been the nastiest on record: So nasty were the personal attacks between Jackson and the incumbent, John Quincy Adams, during the 1828 campaign that Jackson blamed the stress of the attacks for contributing to the death of his wife.
The election of 1800 saw a number of firsts among American presidential races: The presidential election of 1800 was a particularly uncomfortable one in political circles, pitting Vice President Thomas Jefferson against the president he was currently serving under, John Adams.
Abraham Lincoln faced more than one opponent in the 1860 presidential election: While it is not uncommon today for political candidates in state and national contents to stump in any small community that will host them, during the 1860 campaign the tactic was considered somewhat tacky.
Sounds like jewelry, so why was a cross of gold not considered a good thing in 1896?: The hotly contested presidential race of 1896 pitted former Ohio Gov. William McKinley, a Republican, against Democratic contender and perennial presidential wannabe William Jennings Bryan.
How Theodore Roosevelt helped deliver the White House to Woodrow Wilson: The 1912 election witnessed the establishment of a new political entity, Roosevelts Progressive Party, also dubbed the Bull Moose Party.
Four-time winner Franklin Roosevelt generates opposition collectibles: The election of 1932 put Democrat and former New York governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt into the White House for the first of his unprecedented four terms.
The 2016 presidential election hitting new heights, or depths, of nastiness: Campaign collectibles are trying to promote the 2016 presidential candidates amid all the mudslinging.
An apparently unique and previously unknown gold version of a medal issued by Napoleon to attack Britain for its 1803 breaking of a treaty will appear at auction in November.
The Treaty of Amiens was supposed to usher in peace in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars; instead, it only put the fighting on hold.
When the British government declared war with France on May 18, 1803, it was just shy of a year since the treaty was signed on May 25, 1802, but only after months of provocation from Napoleon.
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When the treaty was broken and the British declared war, Napoleon commissioned a medal to attack Britains actions and show the French reaction. An apparently unique and previously unknown gold version of this medal, from the estate of the Bonaparte family, is a highlight of the Nov. 1 auction conducted by London Coin Galleries in cooperation with Fritz Rudolph Kunker in Osnabruck, Germany.
The 1803 medal was known in bronze and silver versions, and depicts allegorical representations of France and Britain.
The obverse of the medal shows the leopard, the older heraldic animal of England, ripping a parchment-scroll apart with its claws. An inscription in French translates to: The Treaty of Amiens broken by England in May of the year 1803.
The reverse depicts France as the goddess of victory Victoria, in an unusual pose. She rides a galloping horse and holds a laurel wreath in her right hand. Her left arm is wrapped around the horses neck, demonstrating her full control of the animal.
The horse is a political reference to Hanover. The French took control of Hanover in June 1803, where Britains King George III was prince-elector of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover) in the Holy Roman Empire.
After the treaty collapsed, the British had immediately secured all French and Dutch ships they could capture, and Napoleon reacted by imprisoning all British tourists travelling in France and Italy.
Napoleon also proceeded against the British in the place where he could harm them the most on German soil. The field marshal in charge of the Hanover territory was completely overwhelmed. He surrendered without a fight and Napoleon had the army disarmed and dispersed.
A legend on the French medals reverse proclaims that it uses metal from the mines of the formerly British-ruled territory.
The 1803 medal is one of several such biting, satirical medals issued to promote Napoleon and humiliate the British, including a few other pieces in the same auction.
The 1803 gold medal is in Extremely Fine to Fleur-de-coin (Proof) condition, according to the auction house, and has an estimate of 5,000 ($6,090 U.S.).
Report details family's care for Santulli
Danny Santulli's family has created a hospital room for him in the living room of their Eden Prairie, Minnesota, home, his dad wrote in a report.
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Apple has been working furiously to introduce Apple Pay in new territories, and this mornings Japanese launch appears to be attracting huge interest.
Trains in Tokyo
Apple introduced train fare payments with Apple Pay in Tokyo, Japan today. Interest in using the system was so intense that the Mobile Suica contactless payment system experienced service disruption for a couple of hours as commuters raced to register their Apple Pay device.
Japan is arguably the worlds most advanced mobile wallet nation. Electronic transactions began long ago in 1999, and their importance increased in intensity dramatically when Japan became one of the worlds most advanced 3G nations early in the Century.
Its a shame that systems went down, but it shows just how much user interest there is, Celent analyst, Eiichiro Yanagawa told Bloomberg, whose weirdly slanted and robotically repeated headline declared the service off to be experiencing a rocky debut in Japan. The article itself doesnt support that statement -- it suggests, if anything, that just like almost every other product, Apple Pay has strained the production system to the point at which demand has exceeded available supply. If this was an iPhone the shops sold out fast.
Positive sign
We can probably take this as a positive sign, the analyst said. In fact, user demand is so high Apple Pay and Mobile Suica became the top trending Twitter topics in Tokyo this morning. Mobile Suica said the problems were due to the large number of attempts to access the service.
In 2003, Apples then QuickTime chief, Frank Casanova, told me, "If the Japanese market is any example of what will happen, it will come across Europe like a tidal wave.
Four years later, Apple launched the iPhone.
Apple has equipped iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and second generation Apple Watch with Sony FeliCa NFC technology to enable Apple Pay in Japan. That demand for the service was so high as to put systems out suggests Japan will be a bright spot for Apples new device sales during tonights results announcement.
A 2011 Accenture study claimed that 33 per cent of active mobile users in Japan had already used their phones to make payments in the preceding six months, with 47 per cent of them preferring to pay for things this way, compared to 26 per cent in the US and Europe.
Japan has the most developed contactless infrastructure in the world and customers are already familiar with using their mobiles for contactless services, Michael Au, regional Gemalto president told Japan Times.
A big month for Apple Pay
The news comes after several weeks of quietly delivered though noteworthy Apple Pay announcements. The service has recently been introduced in New Zealand and Russia, is expected to arrive in Taiwan and Kenya, and is already available in Australia, Canada, Mainland China, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, UK, and the US. The service is reaching new merchants, new banks, and new implementations, such as Intuits recent addition of Apple Pay support to QuickBooks. Last month Apple launched Apple Pay on websites, and in future seems likely to enable person-to-person payments through iMessage.
Adoption in the US has been hampered by real and perceived challenges in merchant acceptance, but where it is possible to use the service, Apples is the most popular mobile payment service in the US. You should ignore reports that claim weak Apple Pay acceptance that are based on US only data, the US was late to the mobile payment game, and usage patterns there dont reflect global trends instead they reflect intransigence among many traditional stakeholders.
In July, Apple confirmed that the number of service users climbed 450 percent year-on-year, and that half of the transaction value is coming from non-US markets. On a global basis, moves to launch Apple Pay in new markets, adoption by new banks, and service support across additional merchants will inevitably drive further growth in the service. We would like to be a catalyst for taking cash out of the system, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, told Nikkei recently, when also discussing the companys plans for AI.
The suggestion that Apple Pay adoption in the worlds most switched-on mobile payments nation on day one has been so rapid as to create a service interruption shows the company is on track with the mobile wallet plans it has been developing since at least 2010. Thats not a bad position to be in.
Google+? If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not join AppleHolic's Kool Aid Corner community and join the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple?
Want Apple TV tips? If you want to learn how to get the very best out of your Apple TV, please visit my Apple TV website.
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Privacy is a critical area for IT, and as social media and mobile extend potential privacy invasions into areas once considered safe, reasonable safeguards must be taken. But it has to be acknowledged that many restrictions youre not allowed to save this or to track that are simply not going to work. If data can be accessed, it will be used and retained, and no rules or laws to the contrary will make any difference.
Two recent events make it clear how such attempts are futile. In Germany, a country where privacy is generally valued much higher than in the U.S., a mini-uproar erupted when the government was asked to not store the IP addresses of web visitors. A European Union court ultimately told the government it could go right ahead and save the addresses. And if the court had gone the other way, are we supposed to believe that thousands of government employees would have simply done without the data?
Then there was the dust-up when law enforcement started using a social media monitoring tool to pursue alleged criminals.
I understand the sensitivities involved, but tools and data that are generally accessible to people cant be put into a box thats off-limits to government, corporations or law enforcement. Restricting access to private data think tax returns or medical exams is a very different issue.
Data is sort of like the dinosaurs in the movie Jurassic Park as described by mathematician Ian Malcolm when he pushes back against park management for attempting to control dinosaur breeding: The kind of control youre attempting simply is not possible. If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us its that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously.
Data is no more controllable. Once data enters the internet, it will be accessed and logged and stored and analyzed and compared with a billion other pieces of data. You cant legislate data access away.
This is why we need to rethink privacy expectations and make them more realistic. Its often been said that privacy doesnt exist anymore. Thats not true. But what is true is that a massive number of things that could be considered private 20 years ago no longer are.
Often, we have no one to blame other than ourselves. Years ago, Social Security numbers were considered sensitive and private. Then companies and schools started asking for them routinely and they became a makeshift identification number.
As that data became easy to find in web searches, Social Security numbers were no longer private. Impact: In 1970, asking for a Social Security number could be a reasonable identity verification. Today, not so much. And given how remarkably difficult it is to change ones Social Security number, it is a huge privacy and security problem.
In the world of online payments, we have a similar example: The CVV. Those are the numbers on the back of Mastercards and Visas (on the front for American Express) that are not embossed. This goes back to the days when payment cards were run through a sliding mechanism that left an imprint on a carbon paper receipt. The CVV didnt appear because those numbers werent raised. The original rationale? Because it would never appear on a receipt, merchants online could ask for the CVV as proof that the person was holding the actual card, as opposed to a receipt that he or she had fished out of someones trash.
But now that e-commerce sites routinely ask for the CVV, that data no longer means anything. It doesnt mean that you have the actual card. It could simply mean that one of the umpteen million e-tailers that had that number has been breached. So, again, we have a number that at one point was private and meaningful and is now close to pointless.
Lets go back to what we now consider private. Medical exams? As electronic medical record requirements spread, hospitals and doctors offices are outsourcing them to specialists. And those specialists may not be especially security-aware, or willing to pay the money to get help.
In short, expect your latest EKG or eye exam to be in the files of Eastern European cyberthieves.
What about tax returns? How many of those returns are in the files of Intuit, which helps people automate tax records? Breaking into the IRS may be difficult (OK, probably not, but lets pretend), but accessing files from Intuit or its subcontractors should be far easier. And how about offsite backups?
Enough doom and gloom. Is there anything today that still is private? Yes. Ideas and thoughts that you dream up but never put into your computer or mobile device. For the moment, those are private.
Why for the moment? I am a big fan of Siri, the A.I. assistant in iOS. Whenever I have a question, I simply say, Hey, Siri and ask it. Think about that. That means that Siris microphone is constantly listening, awaiting that command. What is to prevent Apple from making use of what it hears while waiting? Or an identity thief who breaks into that mobile device?
For that matter, what about the internet of things? How many science fiction fans arent worried about their smart refrigerator, thermostat or security system noting everything they are doing?
Anything recorded or analyzed can be accessed. A few things are private today, but we may soon need safe rooms where all electronics are banned just to have a private conversation.
Maybe people are right. Privacy may not exist anymore.
This story, "Does privacy exist anymore? Just barely." was originally published by Computerworld .
The Secretary of State for Transport this afternoon delivered the following statement on airport expansion:
With permission Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about airport policy.
Last year, the independent Airports Commission delivered its Final Report under the chairmanship of Sir Howard Davies. I would like to pay tribute to the quality and professionalism of their work.
It concluded that we needed more capacity in the South East.
And put forward three viable options for expansion.
It unanimously agreed that the proposed Northwest Runway at Heathrow presented the strongest case.
In December, my predecessor came to the House to announce the Government accepted the Commissions assessment of the need for additional capacity
but made clear that further work was required before making a decision on the location of a new runway.
That work is now complete.
Mr Speaker, this is a momentous step for our country. The decisions taken earlier today, which I shall outline in a moment, are long overdue, but will serve our country for generations to come.
I know that some Members of this House have strong convictions on this issue
and that everyone in this House will understand the significance of this announcement.
It is significant for jobs. For an economy which works for everyone. For passengers. For the global importance of our country.
For the environment and people affected by expansion.
And also Mr Speaker to send a clear message today that Britain is open for business.
It is not an easy issue or a simple process. I make no apologies for the fact that we have taken time to get it right, but today also shows that this is a Government unafraid to take the difficult decisions and get on with the job.
Process
Before I outline the decision the Government has reached, I want to explain how todays announcement fits within the planning process, and the opportunities Members of this house will have to contribute.
In the New Year, we will bring forward a draft National Policy Statement, which includes the details of the proposed scheme.
As required under legislation, this will be subject to a full and extensive public consultation, followed by a period of Parliamentary scrutiny.
Only once members have voted on the final National Policy Statement and it has been designated will the airport be able to bring forward a detailed planning application.
Industry
Mr Speaker, strong connections with global partners and the ability to trade with new and growing markets are vital to securing Britains place in the world.
The UK currently has the third-largest aviation network in the world, second only to the US and China and contributing over 22bn to UK GDP.
We have the second largest aerospace manufacturing sector, which generates annual exports of 26bn.
Our aviation industry supports almost 1 million jobs and invests 1.7bn every year in research and development.
Last year, UK airports handled over 250 million passengers, up 5% on 2014, as well as handling 2.3m tonnes of freight.
Heathrow is the busiest two-runway airport in the world and Gatwick the busiest single runway airport.
Indeed, the London system will be almost entirely full by 2030, with the exception of a small amount of capacity at Luton, and that will be taken up soon afterwards.
If we do nothing, the cost to our nation is significant, amounting to more than 20 billion over 60 years through delays, fewer flights and passengers having to fly from airports elsewhere.
In addition, the wider impacts on our economy are in the region of 30 45 billion.
Governments conclusions
That is why the decision we have reached today is so important to the future of our country
not just to tackle the immediate shortage of airport capacity
but to set our country on a course to even greater prosperity for future generations.
I have spent, Mr Speaker, a considerable amount of time this summer visiting the different schemes, talking to their promoters, and assessing their strengths and weaknesses. I have been genuinely impressed by the quality of choice available to us, and the detailed work that has been put into the three plans. Any one of them would bring benefits to this country.
At the end of the work that the Airports Commission did, it made a clear and unanimous recommendation to the Government that we should accept the proposal to build a new North West Runway at Heathrow, subject to a package of measures to make expansion more acceptable to the airports local community.
Since the publication of that recommendation, my Department has studied in detail both its report, but also new and supplementary information that has emerged about the different options since then.
The Commissions report and that subsequent information formed the basis of the discussion that took place this morning at the Cabinet sub-Committee.
As a result of that discussion, the Government has decided to accept that recommendation. We believe that the expansion of Heathrow Airport and the North West Runway scheme in combination with a significant package of supporting measures of the scale recommended by the Airports Commission offers the greatest level of benefit to passengers, business and to help us deliver the broadest possible benefit to the whole of the United Kingdom.
It delivers the greatest economic and strategic benefits to our economy
it strengthens connectivity for passengers right across the UK
it offers a major boost to freight operators
it can be delivered within carbon and air quality limits
and crucially, it comes with world leading measures to limit the impacts on those living nearby.
Mr Speaker, in addition to the benefits identified by the Commission, this scheme will deliver the connectivity and hub capacity the UK needs to compete with fast growing European and Middle Eastern hubs.
The airports location means it is more accessible to business and the rest of the UK both by road and rail.
Access to Heathrow is more resilient and it is better placed as the national freight hub.
Ultimately, it brings the largest benefits to passengers and the wider economy, of up to 61bn over 60 years.
But we are not alone in this view
UK airlines and business are also clear that Heathrow is the right place to expand.
Before continuing, Mr Speaker, I would like to pay genuine tribute to the promoters of the other two schemes considered by the sub-Committee. Both presented well-developed and compelling cases for new capacity.
In particular, I would like to place on record that Gatwick, despite not being selected today, remains a key part of our national transport picture and will continue to do so in future.
Concerns and evidence
I want to be very clear expansion will not be at any cost to local peopleto passengers or to industry
We have to make three assurances.
Firstly, to make Heathrow a better neighbour.
We must tackle air quality and noise, and meet our obligations on carbon both during and after construction.
Air Quality
Air Quality is a significant international health issue which this Government takes very seriously
Thats why we undertook further work which confirms the Commissions original conclusion on air quality that a new runway at Heathrow is deliverable within air quality limits and we remain committed to ensuring this remains the case.
The airport has already committed to industry leading measures to mitigate air quality impacts.
Furthermore, this Government will only grant development consent if we remain satisfied that a new runway will not impact on the UKs compliance with its air quality obligations.
The broader issue of air quality is one that this Government takes very seriously indeed, and the updated evidence base shows very clearly that the biggest challenge we face is not the expansion of an airport, but the level of emissions in built up urban areas more generally.
That is the very reason for our National Air Quality Plan.
I can also tell the House that as part of our ongoing work on air quality, my Department, along with Defra and the Treasury have embarked on a joint project to identify further ways in which we can tackle this issue. By the time a new runway opens in the next decade, we intend to have made very substantial progress indeed in tackling these air quality challenges across our nation as a whole.
Noise
On the issue of noise, no airport can be silent.
Technology is making aircraft quieter. The newer generation aircraft coming into service have a noise footprint typically 50 per cent smaller on departure than the ones they are replacing, and at least 30 per cent smaller on arrival.
Although planes are getting quieter, they still have an impact.
That is why we will expect a six and a half hour ban on scheduled flights each night to be a requirement for development consent. This will also see the airport held to clear and legally-enforceable noise performance targets
So even with expansion, fewer people will be affected by aircraft noise than today.
We also recognise the importance of providing local residents with a clear, predictable timetable of respite from aircraft noise. This is something local communities value today, and we will ensure this continues once a new runway is built.
Compensation
I recognise this decision will have a big impact on people who live close to Heathrow, which is why we have insisted on a world class package of supporting measures.
Those communities who are affected by the decision will be supported by up to 2.6bn towards compensation, noise insulation for homes and schools, improvements to public facilities and other measures.
For those people whose homes need to be bought to make way for the new runway, Heathrow is planning to pay 25% above the full market value of their home and cover all costs including stamp duty, moving and legal fees
an offer significantly above the statutory requirement.
In addition, I can announce the creation of a community compensation fund and that local authorities will benefit from our policy of local retention of business rates.
Costs
The second assurance I want to give is on costs for airlines and passengers.
A new runway will bring in new capacity to meet demand and allow greater levels of competition, lowering fares relative to no expansion even after taking into account the costs of construction.
This is an investment in our countrys future and will deliver major economic and strategic benefits to the UK, but it must be delivered without hitting passengers in the pocket.
The Airports Commission was clear that this was achievable
as are the Civil Aviation Authority.
Its really important to remember that this is not expansion at any cost, but the right scheme at the right price.
I expect the industry to work together to drive down costs for the benefit of passengers.
As the regulator, the CAA will have a vital part to play in achieving this and ensuring new capacity fosters competition
Their aim should be to deliver a plan for expansion that keeps landing charges close to current levels.
I have full confidence in their ability to do so.
UK wide benefits
The third assurance I want to set out is around how the expanded airport will benefit the whole of the UK
not just by creating jobs across the airports UK-wide supply chain
but by giving even more of the UK access to important international markets by strengthening existing domestic links, and developing new connections to regions not currently served
The airport expects to add six more domestic routes across the UK by 2030 bringing the total to 14.
Strengthening links to existing nations and regions, such as Northern Ireland, Scotland and the North of England and also developing connections to new regions like the South West.
I am determined that Heathrow will meet these pledges and Government will hold the airport to account on this. Furthermore, Government will take all necessary steps, including where appropriate ring fencing a suitable proportion of new slots for domestic routes through public service obligations, to ensure enhanced connectivity within all the United Kingdom.
Mr Speaker, its really important to say this is a decision in the national interest and not just the South East.
Other measures
So a new runway will strengthen the aviation sector across the whole nation. But we can do even more.
Our airspace is out of date. Modernising it will boost the sector, and will help to further reduce noise and carbon emissions.
We will soon bring forward proposals to support improvements to airspace and how to manage noise, including the way in which affected communities can best be engaged and whether there is a role for a new independent aviation noise body such as the Commission recommended.
Process next steps
Finally, let me turn to what happens next.
Mr Speaker, there have been suggestions in the media recently that this process has slowed down, or somehow delays construction.
In fact, the opposite is true
Members will remember the saga of the planning process behind Terminal 5, which took years to resolve.
Following that, the National Policy Statement process was designed by the last Labour Government through the 2008 Planning Act and subsequent 2011 Localism Act to speed up major projects, but in an open and fair manner.
By setting out now why we believe there is a need for new runway capacity along with the supporting evidence
we will fulfil our legal obligations to consult with the public and allow Members the opportunity to vote before it becomes national policy. That is what the law requires.
This means Heathrow is able to bring forward a planning application, safe in the knowledge that the high-level arguments have been settled and wont be reopened.
Today the Government has reached a view on its preferred scheme, and the National Policy Statement we publish in the New Year will set out in more detail why we think it is the right one for the UK.
It will also set out in more detail the conditions we wish to place on the development, including the supporting measures I outlined earlier.
We want to make sure that we have considered all the evidence
And heard the voices of all those that may be affected
..and all that could benefit as well.
The consultation will start in the New Year
and I can announce today that I have appointed Sir Jeremy Sullivan, the former Senior President of Tribunals, to oversee the consultation process. This is an independent role, and Sir Jeremy will be responsible for holding Government to account and ensure best practice is upheld.
Ending
The issue of runway capacity in the South East is one that has challenged successive administrations for decades
There are strong feelings both for and against a third runway at Heathrow
This is not the same scheme that was supported in 2009
It does much more to mitigate environmental impacts
Compensate communities
And distribute benefits across the nation.
This is an issue of national interest that touches every part of the UK
which is vital to the economic prosperity and global status of our nation.
Mr Speaker, I commend this statement to the House.
Iain Duncan Smith is a former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, founded the Centre for Social Justice, and is MP for Chingford and Woodford Green.
On the news, hardly a day goes by but that the bombing of Aleppo features with more and more stories about the suffering of the Syrian civilians trapped in the city. The scenes are of course quite terrible and it would take a very hard heart not to be moved by it. It is at present an unbalanced conflict, for knowing that the rebels lack any air defence capability, the Russians, supported by the Syrian Air Force, are able to roam the skies at will. Nothing brings this home to us all more than the harrowing scenes of what passes for medical treatment in the makeshift hospitals, not only having to deal with the wounded from the attacks but also the aftermath of bombs landing on or near the hospitals themselves.
Despite all the public condemnation and International initiatives, despite the endless attempts by John Kerry to broker new ceasefires, the bombing goes on relentlessly. Russia is immune to all the rhetoric and refuses to explain or respond to the Wests verbal assaults, whether they are in the UN or on the media. What was incredibly dispiriting recently, was to watch Kerry alongside Boris Johnson at the press conference following the Syria Summit in London. After the Summit produced nothing more than platitudes and the various nations couldnt agree to any real action, a deflated Kerry dolefully admitted he had nothing new to propose. The only thing of note was Johnsons Les Miserables cry of to take to the streets, which resulted in red faces at the Foreign Office, only one protestor and a Russian lecture on how diplomacy works.
Small wonder that Putin believes he has withstood the worst the West can throw at him, through sanctions, hollow threats and accusations. He has come to the conclusion that NATO, the EU and the United States are all paper tigers.
Take the sad saga of the Ukraine. The EU overtly offered the Ukraine the opportunity to fully engage with them, holding out the implicit potential of eventual market access. When Russia decided to punish the Ukraine by cutting off the gas, taking over the Crimea and sanctioning a war to gain control of East Ukraine, the EU did next to nothing. Even the sanctions proposed by the UK and the USA were watered down as EU countries like Italy complained about the billions lost on their trade with Russia. Then, almost immediately President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel rushed to strike an agreement with Putin that gave him pretty much what he wanted the de facto annexation of Eastern Ukraine.
Whatever else you can say about the man, he is brutally consistent. He has been crystal clear what he wants; after all, he has made no secret of the fact that he places Russian self-interest at the heart of his foreign policy. The same is true of his actions in Syria. The emergence of ISIL offered Putin an opportunity to reinforce Russian strategic interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, via his port in Tartus. He moved quickly to build up his forces and now holds two airfields as well in Syria. His purpose is simple. In joining, uninvited, the attack on ISIL, he forced the US-led coalition to work around his plans and accept them. At first he made the pretence that his air strikes were on ISIL, whilst the coalition accused him of attacking the so called moderates. Now he has abandoned any of that pretence and, alongside the Syrian government, all the Russian military assets are concentrated on the moderates, mostly in Aleppo. The result is devastating.
Putin clearly wants to destroy any pretence the coalition has that there is a moderate alternative to Assad. By destroying whats left of them in Aleppo and elsewhere, the international community will be left with the stark choice of either Assads government or the extremists such as ISIL.
Meanwhile the Russians are condemned in Washington and London and in response they carry on and deploy their Foreign Minister to deny all allegations with a shrug. No-fly zones are proposed alongside protected zones for civilians, followed by renewed calls for a ceasefire, all of which fall on deaf ears. The Russians believe they are winning and they believe the West lacks the resolve to challenge them. The only way that the bombing might stop is if the Russians and Syrians start losing some aircraft. Remember what happened when Turkey shot down a Russian jet after it crossed into Turkish airspace, (not the first to have done so) all incursions stopped.
Years ago the British Government argued that arming the Bosnian Muslims so that they could defend themselves against the Bosnian Serbs who were massacring many of them would make matters worse by creating a level killing field. In response I asked how it could be that an un-level killing field was better for those being massacred. Providing the weaponry to give the people of Aleppo some defence could alter the balance and provide the impetus to get back to the peace table, though I accept it may yet be too late.
As Obamas spends his time on his rock star tour of foreign capitals, there is a growing sense that his legacy will be one of vacillation at a critical time when the West needed leadership remember his red lines he set up early on, only for Assad to cross them without Obama fulfilling his ultimatum. No, when summarising the Wests response to Russia, perhaps the last word should be left with Churchill. In 1936 he said this, so they go on in a strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent. I think Putin long ago studied that quote.
So, was she a murder victim, maybe someone who lived off the grid? Well, here's the first twist: The head was professionally embalmed. That could mean that the head belonged to an already-dead body that had been taken to a mortuary, except no mortuary, hospital, or graveyard in the area had any knowledge of a missing head. And how in the hell would they lose one? It's not like they're driving around with a pickup truck full of them.
Beaver County Sheriff's Office
... Ri- right?
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Likewise, investigators can't tell whether the embalming was done legally through the proper funerary process, or by some rogue, uh, hobbyist in his or her basement/dungeon. The fact that nobody can identify the victim seems to imply the latter, right?
Wait, It Gets Worse:
Part of the difficulty in identifying the head can be attributed to the fact that her eyes had been removed. Both eyes had been replaced with fake ones, which is a common embalming procedure. However, in this case, the fake eyes were not the professional ones used by mortuaries -- they were rubber children's toys, the kind of bouncy balls widely available from vending machines and dentists' prize chests all over the country.
To understand how Times Beach ended up as the bastard child of Love Canal and Chernobyl, you need to remember the root cause of most problems in the world: money. More specifically, the town didn't have enough money to pay for the roads to be properly maintained. So when drivers complained about road dust obscuring their vision, the town came up with an ingenious plan: they'd just hire a local waste hauler, Russell Bliss, to douse the roads in motor oil. And to be fair, who among us hasn't tried to drown our dirty problems in motor oil?
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There was just one problem. Russell wasn't just pouring out cans of oil like 40s in memory of his homies -- he was using random barrels of chemicals that he had laying around his yard from a previous job. As it turned out, that "previous job" was working for a local mom n' pop outfit that doubled as one of the biggest manufacturers of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
A&E Networks
Whenever a construction crew trades their hard hats for hazmat suits, run the other way.
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Those barrels contained huge quantities of dioxin, a highly toxic component of the defoliant that, in the words of the WHO, "can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones, and also cause cancer." Way to bury the lede, WHO.
This practice of pouring cancer juice over the streets continued for years before someone noticed that, huh, a lot of people were dying of liver failure. The EPA tested Times Beach in 1979 and discovered an off-the-charts level of dioxin contamination. Although people slowly trickled out of the danger zone, it wasn't until an outbreak of flooding in 1982 that the residents were paid to GTFO.
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Internet of things News
Hangzhou Xiongmai Issues Recall Of Connected Devices After Friday's Massive DDoS Attack
Lindsey O'Donnell
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Chinese manufacturer Hangzhou Xiongmai is issuing a recall of several of its webcams and other devices that were exploited by hackers to assist in Friday's massive distributed denial of service [DDoS] attacks.
The company, which sells components for surveillance video cameras, dashboard cameras and DVR devices, announced that it will recall the web cameras that use its circuit board and other components which were one of the many devices used in the attack.
The company's statement said it would recall some of its earlier products sold in the United States, strengthen password functions and send users a patch for products made before April last year," according to a report by Reuters. The company also encouraged its customers that are not part of the recall to change their passwords, especially those using the default password on their devices.
[Related Video: Are IoT Security Concerns Unfounded?]
The denial of service attack was launched Friday through Internet of Things consumer devices, including webcams, routers and video recorders, to overwhelm servers at Dynamic Network Services (Dyn), leading to the blockage of more than 1,200 websites.
The attack on Dyn, which connects users to websites such as Twitter, Spotify and Netflix, came from tens of millions of addresses on IoT devices infected with malicious software codes, knocking out access by flooding websites with junk data.
Hangzhou Xiongmai said in the statement that its devices did not make up the majority of those used in the attack but it would recall products sold before April 2015.
Solution providers like Douglas Grosfield, founder and CEO of Kitchener, Ontario-based Five Nines IT Solutions, say that many smart home device manufacturers still do not provide the ability to password-protect their connected devices and security remains an "after thought" in the IoT industry.
"[Vulnerable devices] will continue to create these issues on a growing scale unless consumers vote with their wallets and force manufacturers to address security related shortcomings in their offerings in this market by refusing to purchase devices until the issues are addressed," he said.
A Christian man in China has been arrested and charged with printing religious materials.
ChristianToday.com reports that Li Hongmin, a member of a house church in Guangzhou province, was arrested and brought to trial for printing the popular devotional Streams in the Desert, as well as other religious literature.
Authorities have accused Li of illegal business operations. His trial, however, was postponed.
His lawyers, Li Baiguang and Liu Peifu flew out to be there for the case, which they then found out was delayed.
Ma Ke, the leader of the house church Li attends, expressed the unfairness of the authorities arbitrarily changing the date of the trial:
"You government agents, you have to give yourself some credit, don't you? You already set a time, you can't just change it casually. It cost us a great deal to hire the lawyer and to book his flight tickets. You change the date however it suits you. You said the venue is going to be occupied, but how did you not know it wasn't available when you first scheduled the hearing?" Ma told Christian ministry China Aid.
Lis wife also expressed her concerns over his arrest, saying that she feels helpless in the face of how events have already unfolded.
Publication date: October 25, 2016
Flashpoint Intel released a brief after action report on Tuesday, outlining some of their observations following Fridays DDoS attack against Dyn Inc., which affected traffic to a number of high-level domains.
Among the reports findings is that Fridays attack was the work script kiddies (amateurs), not a nation state actor.
Fridays attack against Dyn Inc. was felt almost immediately after it started at 07:00 a.m. EST.
Visitors to PayPal, Twitter, Reddit, Amazon, Netflix, games like RuneScape, or music services such as Spotify, reported outages. Around this time, Dyn Inc. reported a sustained DDoS attack that was impacting their customers, the first of two that the company would experience that day.
As reported on Friday, it was determined early on that the Mirai botnet was partially responsible for the Dyn Inc attack.
The Mirai botnet is made up of compromised consumer devices such as routers, DVR systems, and IP cameras. There are millions of these devices online, and during Fridays attack Dyn Inc. reported that tens of millions of IP addresses were hitting their systems.
In their report on Tuesday, Flashpoint again said that while the Mirai botnet was used in Fridays attack, the command and control server managing the botnet was separate and distinct from those used in the previous Mirai attacks against OVH and journalist Brian Krebs.
After the attack was mitigated early Friday evening, several people and groups claimed responsibility. Wikileaks blamed their supporters, The Jester blamed Russia but to be fair, so did everyone else and a group calling themselves the New World Hackers say they were behind the attack.
Flashpoint dismissed each of their claims, looking instead towards a group of amateurs, or script kiddies, that lurk on Hack Forums.
In its investigation of Dyn DDoS attacks, Flashpoint discovered that the infrastructure used in the attack also targeted a well-known video game company. While there does not appear to have been any disruption of service, the targeting of a video game company is less indicative of hacktivists, state-actors, or social justice communities, and aligns more with the hackers that frequent online hacking forums, the report says.
Again, more directly, Flashpoint says that those responsible for Fridays attack are likely regulars on Hack Forums, because the community there is known for developing DDoS tools (stressers / booters). Moreover, a Hack Forums member developed, and later released the Mirai source code.
The hackers that frequent this forum have been previously known to launch these types of attacks, though at a much smaller scale, Flashpoint explained.
The technical and social indicators of this attack align more closely with attacks from the [Hack Forums] community than the other type of actors that may be involved, such as higher-tier criminal actors, hacktivists, nation-states, and terrorist groups. These other types of threat actors are unlikely to launch such an attack without a clear financial, political, or strategic objective, and they are very unlikely to launch an attack against a video game company.
Flashpoint said that given the lack of indicators suggesting extortion attempted or not against Dyn Inc., or any of the other websites impacted by Fridays attack, theyre confident that wasnt the motive. Additionally, the broad scope of the attacks impact also doesnt lend itself to political motivations either, the report says.
BRIDGEPORT A member of the Saudi royal family will be in the city this week to take part in the International Trade Forum hosted by a Connecticut nonprofit.
Prince Turki Bin Mohammed Bin Nasser Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who has spent the last two days in New Haven as part of the forums events, will travel to Bridgeport on Thursday for a three-day visit.
The forum is being hosted by Metashar Dillon, founder of East Hartford-based Kingdom International Economic Development Corp.
The prince, who was recently appointed director general of international relations for the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources in Saudi Arabia, will be participating in a number of events in Bridgeport from Thursday through Saturday, most which will be held at the University of Bridgeport.
My new assignment on behalf of the kingdom is very important, the prince said in a statement. This visit will allow me the opportunity to create solid and sustaining partnerships in the U.S. and globally.
Officials from China, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, Central African Republic and other countries are expected to participate.
The prince was in Bridgeport briefly on Monday for a tour of the citys development projects hosted by the business community.
He will participate Wednesday in the Kingdom International Economic Development Corp.s inaugural Royal Humanitarian Awards Dinner Gala, from 6 to 10 p.m. in New Havens Omni Hotel, 155 Temple St.
A formal reception will be held welcoming him to Bridgeport on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. at the University of Bridgeport. Then, on Friday, Mayor Joe Ganim will address the forum before a series of workshops are held.
Dr. Andrea Jeffress, vice president of the Kingdom corporation, said the prince will also meet with local university students on Saturday to hear their pitches for development projects. She said he will also announce a series of trade deals with local companies throughout the course of the forum.
For more information about the forum and a schedule of events visit internationaltradeforum.org.
ktorres@hearstmediact.com; 203-330-6227
STRATFORD - A former New York City hospital aide has been charged with fraudulently purchasing Oxycodone pills and selling them in the area.
Chad Augustus, 32, of Bronx, N.Y., was charged with illegally obtaining prescription drugs, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, identity theft and credit card fraud.
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Most Connecticut voters dont want to wait for a final court ruling before the state fixes the way public schools are funded, a new survey suggests.
A telephone survey in October of 600 people who voted in the last gubernatorial election found overwhelming support for a decision handed down in September by Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher. The ruling found woeful inadequacy in the way the state doles out funding for education.
Even though most respondents were not familiar with the case, 68 percent, when given a brief decision, said they supported the ruling, and 57 percent said the General Assembly should act now to create a plan for improving public education. Another 36 percent would just as soon wait for the appeal to work its way through the state Supreme Court.
The decade-old case pits the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education a group of individuals, school groups and municipalities against the state. Moukawsher ruled that the states distribution of school funds is unconstitutional. The system counts on local property taxes to pay for what the state doesnt, leaving property-poor, high-need school districts like Bridgeport on the losing end of the equation.
Bridgeport and Danbury were both used as examples in the trial.
The survey was commissioned by the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, a statewide advocacy group that is a major supporter of charter schools and education reform efforts.
The poll shows a clear, strong consensus for action, this legislative session, to adopt a fair funding formula that ensures that all of Connecticuts students, across all types of public schools, have access to the great public education guaranteed by our state Constitution, said Jennifer Alexander, chief executive officer of ConnCAN.
She and Danny Franklin, a partner with Benenson Strategy Group, the firm that conducted the survey, acknowledged that the pool stopped short of asking respondents how school funding can be distributed more fairly and if they would be willing to pay more for better schools.
Most respondents, however, said the state needs to do more than it is doing now to ensure fairness, and that the way the state funds local schools denies children in poorer areas a fair chance to succeed.
Some 87 percent who responded said the public school system has a role to play in giving the state a strong economy, Franklin noted.
According to the survey, a majority of respondents have a favorable view of Connecticut teachers and schools. They were split evenly on wether the state legislature was doing a good job.
lclambeck@ctpost.com; @lclambeck
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At 20, Seattle woman Katherine Stone decided to auction off her virginity at a Nevada brothel.
Speaking with CNNs Lisa Ling recently, Stone said she found herself in dire financial straits after her familys home was destroyed in a 2014 fire. Prostitution was her solution.
"People say you are supposed to do it for love," Stone said, according to the CNN report. "But if you think about it, I am doing it because I love my family."
Stone was featured in a Sundays episode of This is Life with Lisa Ling. Ling and her crew heard from brothel operators and workers in Nevada as they explored America's attempt at legal prostitution.
Clips from the episode can be found at CNN.com.
The report on Nevadas legal brothels drew criticism from prostitution opponents. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, which often rails against pornography and sexually oriented content, described the piece as appalling.
National Center on Sexual Exploitation Executive Director Dawn Hawkins cast Stone as a victim despite the young womans reasoned claims to the contrary.
Tragically, Ling portrays Stone as a woman who is choosing a career path, but what I see is a young woman with economic desperation as her coercive pimp, Hawkins said in a statement. Our society should seek to protect the economically vulnerable, not auction them off to be used as sexual objects by the financially privileged.
The leading bid to have sex with Stone was over $400,000 at the time Lings report aired. Stone said the money will provide her with economic security so far denied her.
"I have the right to choose what I do with my body," she says. "And in this troubling economy, do you blame me?"
Click through for more from This is Life With Lisa Ling. The program airs at 10 p.m. on Sundays, and streams on CNNgo.
MORE FROM SEATTLEPI.COM: Washingtons not-so-little dirty secret: Police 'overwhelmed' as state leads the nation in child pornography
Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.
You are the sum of your habits. When you allow bad habits to take over, they dramatically impede your path to success. The challenge is bad habits are insidious, creeping up on you slowly until you dont even notice the damage theyre causing.
Breaking bad habits requires self-control -- and lots of it. Research indicates that its worth the effort, as self-control has huge implications for success.
Related: 8 Habits of Wildly Successful People
University of Pennsylvania psychologists Angela Duckworth and Martin Seligman conducted a study where they measured college students IQ scores and levels of self-control upon entering university. Four years later, they looked at the students grade point averages (GPA) and found that self-control was twice as important as IQ in earning a high GPA.
The self-control required to develop good habits (and stop bad ones) also serves as the foundation for a strong work ethic and high productivity. Self-control is like a muscle -- to build it up you need to exercise it. Practice flexing your self-control muscle by breaking the following bad habits:
1. Using your phone, tablet or computer in bed.
This is a big one that most people dont even realize harms their sleep and productivity. Short-wavelength blue light plays an important role in your mood, energy level and sleep quality. In the morning, sunlight contains high concentrations of this blue light. When your eyes are exposed to it directly, the blue light halts production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and makes you feel more alert. In the afternoon, the suns rays lose their blue light, which allows your body to produce melatonin and start making you sleepy. By the evening, your brain doesnt expect any blue light exposure and is very sensitive to it.
Most of our favorite evening devices -- laptops, tablets and mobile phones -- emit short-wavelength blue light brightly and right in your face. This exposure impairs melatonin production and interferes with your ability to fall asleep as well as with the quality of your sleep once you do nod off. As weve all experienced, a poor nights sleep has disastrous effects. The best thing you can do is to avoid these devices after dinner (television is OK for most people as long as they sit far enough away from the set).
2. Impulsively surfing the internet.
It takes you 15 consecutive minutes of focus before you can fully engage in a task. Once you do, you fall into a euphoric state of increased productivity called flow. Research shows that people in a flow state are five times more productive than they otherwise would be. When you click out of your work because you get an itch to check the news, Facebook, a sports score or what have you, this pulls you out of flow. This means you have to go through another 15 minutes of continuous focus to reenter the flow state. Click in and out of your work enough times, and you can go through an entire day without experiencing flow.
Related: 10 Habits That Will Make You Much Happier
3. Checking your phone during a conversation.
Nothing turns people off like a mid-conversation text message or even a quick glance at your phone. When you commit to a conversation, focus all your energy on the conversation. You will find that conversations are more enjoyable and effective when you immerse yourself in them.
4. Using multiple notifications.
Multiple notifications are a productivity nightmare. Studies have shown that hopping on your phone and e-mail every time they ping for your attention causes your productivity to plummet. Getting notified every time a message drops onto your phone or an e-mail arrives in your inbox might feel productive, but it isnt. Instead of working at the whim of your notifications, pool all your e-mails/texts and check them at designated times (e.g., respond to your e-mails every hour). This is a proven, productive way to work.
5. Saying yes when you should say no.
Research conducted at the University of California in San Francisco shows that the more difficulty that you have saying no, the more likely you are to experience stress, burnout and even depression, all of which erode self-control. Saying no is indeed a major self-control challenge for many people. No is a powerful word that you should not be afraid to wield. When its time to say no, emotionally intelligent people avoid phrases like I dont think I can or Im not certain. Saying no to a new commitment honors your existing commitments and gives you the opportunity to successfully fulfill them. Just remind yourself that saying no is an act of self-control now that will increase your future self-control by preventing the negative effects of over commitment.
6. Thinking about toxic people.
There are always going to be toxic people who have a way of getting under your skin and staying there. Each time you find yourself thinking about a coworker or person who makes your blood boil, practice being grateful for someone else in your life instead. There are plenty of people out there who deserve your attention, and the last thing you want to do is think about the people who dont matter when there are people who do.
7. Multitasking during meetings.
You should never give anything half of your attention, especially meetings. If a meeting isnt worth your full attention, then you shouldnt be attending it in the first place; and if the meeting is worth your full attention, then you need to get everything you can out of it. Multitasking during meetings hurts you by creating the impression that you believe you are more important than everyone else.
8. Gossiping.
Gossipers derive pleasure from other peoples misfortunes. It might be fun to peer into somebody elses personal or professional faux pas at first, but over time, it gets tiring, makes you feel gross and hurts other people. There are too many positives out there and too much to learn from interesting people to waste your time talking about the misfortune of others.
Great minds discuss ideas, average ones discuss events and small minds discuss people. -- Eleanor Roosevelt
9. Waiting to act until you know youll succeed.
Most writers spend countless hours brainstorming their characters and plots, and they even write page after page that they know theyll never include in the books. They do this because they know that ideas need time to develop. We tend to freeze up when its time to get started because we know that our ideas arent perfect and that what we produce might not be any good. But how can you ever produce something great if you dont get started and give your ideas time to evolve? Author Jodi Picoult summarized the importance of avoiding perfectionism perfectly: You can edit a bad page, but you cant edit a blank page.
Related: 9 Bad Habits You Must Break To Be More Productive
10. Comparing yourself to other people.
When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from comparing yourself to others, you are no longer the master of your own happiness. When you feel good about something that youve done, dont allow anyones opinions or accomplishments take that away from you. While its impossible to turn off your reactions to what others think of you, you dont have to compare yourself to others and you can always take peoples opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes from within. Regardless of what people think of you at any particular moment, one thing is certain -- youre never as good or bad as they say you are.
Bringing It All Together
By practicing self-control to break these bad habits, you can simultaneously strengthen your self-control muscle and abolish nasty habits that have the power to bring your career to a grinding halt.
A version of this article appeared on TalentSmart.
Related:
10 Bad Habits You Must Eliminate From Your Daily Routine
Use This Green Beret Morning Routine to Feel Energized All Day
4 Science-Backed Ways to Increase Productivity
Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
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Colin Powell is yet another Republican to buck his party's nominee and make a pledge to vote for Hillary Clinton.
The former secretary of state who served in the George W. Bush administration shared his support for Clinton and denounced her opponent Donald Trump at an event for the Long Island Association, a business group frequently hosting politicians, on Tuesday.
Mathew Cohen, a spokesperson for the association, revealed Powell's announcement on Twitter, writing: "Gen. Colin Powell has announced to @LongIslandAssoc that he will be supporting @HillaryClinton for POTUS."
LIA boardmember Paule Pachter confirmed the news with The New York Times.
"He said he would support Hillary Clinton and he also elaborated on several reason why he felt that Donald Trump was not the right candidate," Pachter told The Times. "He spoke about his inexperience, he spoke about the messages that he's sending out every day to his supporters, which really paints our country in a negative light across the globe with all our allies."
Powell's attitude toward Clinton at Tuesday's event was different from the one he expressed in emails leaked in September. In the emails hacked from his in-box, he criticizes Hillary Clinton for equating her use of private email at the State Department with his, according to the AP. He also calls Trump a "national disgrace."
Powell is among many notable Republicans, from donors to politicians to business people, to make a public announcement stating support for Clinton. In the gallery above, we highlight some of the biggest names.
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Turning it down
Here are some tips, from the American Psychological Association, for curbing election-related anxiety.
Limit media consumption. Read just enough to stay informed. Turn off the newsfeed or take a digital break. Take some time for yourself, go for a walk, or spend time with friends and family doing things that you enjoy.
Avoid getting into discussions about the election if they have the potential to escalate to conflict.
Channel concerns into making a positive difference. Consider volunteering in the community, advocating for a pet issue or joining a local group.
Realize that, whatever happens on Nov. 8, life will go on. The political system and the three branches of government mean that we can expect a significant degree of stability immediately after a major transition of government. Maintain a balanced perspective.
Vote. In a democracy, a citizen's voice does matter. Find balanced information to learn about all the candidates and issues on the ballot (not just the presidential race) and make informed decisions.
Five students have been accused of possession of marijuana on the University of Memphis campus since the end of September. In most cases, no drugs or drug paraphernalia were found. Many students were accused based on the lingering smell of weed.
While recreational marijuana is often referenced in popular culture, and the decriminalization of marijuana has even found its way into a couple of political platforms this year, students at college campuses are still facing punishments because of the very smell of the drug. In the last month and a half, one student was arrested for possession and the other four will face disciplinary action from the U of M Office of Student Conduct.
On Oct. 4 the Memphis City Council voted to pass an ordinance that somewhat reduces the penalty for people found with a small amount of marijuana within city limits. Instead of definitely serving serious jail time, those caught with less than an ounce of marijuana can face a $50 fine or up to 10 hours of community service for their first offense. However, police officers still have the option to enforce the current state laws if they so choose.
Even though this ordinance passed, Ryan Van Dusen, associate dean of Student Conduct, said he does not believe this is the reason that five students in the last month and a half were accused of possession at the U of M.
I think its just the drug of choice over alcohol, Van Dusen said. Even though the city passed this, it is still a violation of federal law.
Any school that has federal funding is required to have punishments for marijuana usage on campus, according to Van Dusen. This means that students on university campuses in Colorado, Alaska, Oregon and Washington, where recreational marijuana is legal, still face punishments if they are caught with cannabis on campus.
On the U of M campus, if students are found with weed or even smell like weed, the report is referred to Student Conduct.
When cases are referred to Student Conduct, the punishments can range from written warnings to expulsion. The students under suspicion are called to the office for a meeting, which can be individually or in front of a committee, said Van Dusen.
We use the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities that is outlined in the student handbook and find out what really happened, Van Dusen said. If we are 51 percent sure that a student is responsible, we will issue punishments.
On Oct. 13, two staff members complained about a strong smell of marijuana outside one of the apartments at the Park Avenue Campus Residence, according to the police report filed by officer Robert Bramlett. Staff tried to get the attention of those inside the apartment, but the occupants were not answering the door, according to the report. When officers arrived, they said they smelled the faint odor of marijuana.
However, the police did not find drugs or paraphernalia in the apartment. Two students, aged 18 and 22, and two non students, aged 16 and 22, denied smoking. No one was arrested, but the students were still referred to Student Conduct.
One of the occupants, Michael Royal, was visiting his girlfriend when police knocked on her door.
We were just watching a movie and then three or four police officers were outside her door, Royal, an East Memphis resident, said. She told them that the vents were connected, so someone else was probably smoking and the smell was coming from the vent.
They took our IDs and ran a report, but it was just out of nowhere. In addition to the event on Oct. 13, two U of M police reports regarding marijuana were reported on the same day, Sept. 29. A resident at Rawls called campus police and complained about the smell of marijuana on Sept. 29.
When police arrived, the two female residents admitted to smoking weed and flushed the remaining drugs before answering the door, according to a police report written by officer Andre Fuller.
The case was referred to Student Conduct. At the Park Avenue Campus Residence on Sept. 29, a staff member said he saw drugs in plain sight when he entered the apartment. The resident consented to a search and a bag of marijuana was seized by police.
She was arrested and issued a misdemeanor citation, according to a police report written by officer Jermaine Wilson.
She told them that the vents were connected, so someone else was probably smoking, and the smell was coming from the vent.
Michael Royal
Is there no end to the sanctimonious posturing of self-important celebrities and Left-wing politicians?
First that great luminary Gary Lineker vilified as hideously racist anyone questioning the ages of child refugees coming from the Jungle camp in Calais.
Now shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott says calls for dental checks to verify the ages of these suspiciously old-looking boys have made her ashamed to be British.
Stick to football: Gary Lineker (pictured) claimed questioning the age of 'child' refugees was 'hideously racist' behaviour
She even goes on to accuse the Government of being one of the most racist she has known in nearly 30 years as an MP.
Why is it that these people think they have the right to brand anyone who doesnt agree with their pious world view as bigots?
Britain has a proud record of giving sanctuary to the dispossessed and the fact we are accepting these child migrants not to mention tens of thousands of other refugees from Syria shows that spirit of charity still burns bright.
And lets not forget, weve given more aid than any other nation to help Syrian refugees in camps in the Middle East.
But that doesnt mean there shouldnt be checks. If men come into Britain masquerading as children, the whole system is brought into disrepute.
It not only raises serious safety issues if those adults are placed in homes and schools here but can also push children in genuine need of asylum to the back of the queue.
The trouble with the Left is it doesnt want a proper debate on immigration. It believes it has a monopoly on compassion and demonises anyone who wants to limit numbers as racist.
Never mind that the EU referendum showed a majority of ordinary, decent Britons are in favour of tighter border controls, the liberal elite are convinced they know best. They believe in democracy when it suits their purposes. When it doesnt, they simply ignore it.
Miss Abbott has already shown herself to be a monstrous hypocrite by railing against selective education yet sending her son to private school.
After this latest outburst, isnt the real shame that someone with her questionable principles is regarded as suitable to shadow one of our great offices of state?
Sturgeons bluster
FOR all the bravado, Nicola Sturgeon must surely know her demands for a separate Brexit deal for Scotland are totally unworkable.
Nevertheless, she was at it again yesterday, threatening to march Scotland out of the UK unless it was allowed to remain in the single market.
But is there any appetite for a split? True, a majority of Scots voted to remain in the EU but not as an independent nation. Joining separately (in the highly unlikely event it would be accepted) would mean adopting the euro and losing even more control over fiscal policy.
Also, since the oil price slump, Scotlands deficit has plunged below that of Greece. It is solvent only because of huge subsidies from England.
Unsurprisingly then, recent polls show support for independence dropping below 40 per cent. Clearly, the vast majority of Scots have a lot more common sense than their First Minister.
The audience watches as a disabled man is being given a Work Capability Assessment in a Newcastle Jobcentre.
He is the eponymous character in I, Daniel Blake, the latest film by Left-wing director Ken Loach. Needless to say, his experience is portrayed as brutal and degrading.
To make matters worse, the healthcare professional who cross-examines Daniel is an employee of you guessed it an American private company.
I, Daniel Blake stars Dave Johns (right) as Daniel, a disabled man, and Hayley Squires (left) as single mum Katie
Typical Tories, eh? Not only do they force the disabled to go through a humiliating test to see if theyre fit for work, they outsource the administration of it to an evil capitalist corporation!
You may find it hard to believe, but that opening scene is the most entertaining in this relentlessly dour film. Daniel makes light of some of the questions, such as whether he has difficulty evacuating his bowels.
Compared with what follows, the first five minutes are almost upbeat.
The remaining 135 minutes are unremittingly depressing.
Daniels application for Employment and Support Allowance is declined, in spite of the fact hes just had a heart attack, and hes then thrown into the Kafkaesque labyrinth that is the welfare system appeals process.
Inevitably, the Left-wing Press has taken the film to its heart. The Guardian, for example, calls it a battle cry for the dispossessed, and its reviewer describes how he was reduced to a shivering wreck . . . awash with tears, aghast with anger.
Veteran socialist Loach also throws in a female character a single mum called Katie whom Daniel befriends when he witnesses her being mistreated at the same Jobcentre.
Veteran socialist Ken Loach (pictured, receiving the Palme d'Or) made the TV play Cathy Come Home, 50 years ago, about homelessness
Shes been turfed out of a homeless shelter in London Theyre moving out the likes of me, she tells him and ends up in a freezing flat in Newcastle with no electricity.
She faints from hunger in a food bank, is caught shoplifting sanitary towels and becomes a prostitute so she can buy school shoes for her daughter.
Such is Loachs view of life for people trying to claim benefits in austerity Britain.
I, Daniel Blake is supposed to be a contemporary version of Cathy Come Home, the famous BBC film that Loach made in 1966 and which caused such an uproar at the time it led to changes in attitudes and, ultimately, changes in the law.
Will the latest effort of this 80-year-old Jeremy Corbyn supporter have a similar impact?
Im no expert on the welfare system, but several aspects of I, Daniel Blake dont ring true.
The two protagonists are a far cry from the scroungers on Channel 4s Benefits Street, who I accept arent representative of all welfare recipients.
But Loach has erred in the opposite direction. For a filmmaker who styles himself a social realist, he has an absurdly romantic view of benefit claimants.
Daniel is a model citizen. At no point do we see him drinking, smoking, gambling, or even watching television. No, he is a welfare claimant as imagined by a member of the upper-middle class metropolitan elite.
He listens to Radio 4, likes classical music and makes wooden toys for children the kind of over-priced artisanal tat sold in alternative toyshops in Islington, where Loach lives.
Katie, too, is a far cry from White Dee, the irresponsible character in Benefits Street.
Shes determined to better herself and has embarked on an Open University course.
If only those heartless Tories hadnt thrown her out of London, where her mother helped with childcare, she might have become a social worker.
Perhaps even an organiser for the Islington branch of Momentum, the Corbyn-supporting phalanx of hard-Left Labour activists.
As it is, poor Katie is reduced to trying to read by candlelight, as her wan-faced children fight over the last digestive biscuit.
She is more like a Dickens character than a resident of 21st-century Britain, the fourth richest country in the world.
Daniels experience of trying to claim Employment and Support Allowance is also a little implausible.
Why are there no characters like Deirdre Kelly, aka White Dee, in Ken Loach films?
Would a middle-aged man whos just had a massive heart attack really be declared fit for work by the Department for Work and Pensions? Or is it the fault of the evil American corporation that conducts the tests for a multi-million-pound contract?
Even supposing this happened, it is dishonest to suggest, as the film does, that Daniel couldnt appeal until a so-called decision-maker had called him.
Employment and Support Allowance claimants are entitled to appeal as soon as they get the letter telling them their application has been turned down.
More importantly, the whole polemical thrust of the film is misleading.
Were asked to believe people who claim incapacity benefit are all upstanding citizens who would love nothing more than to earn an honest living if only they were able-bodied. Forcing them to undergo a Work Capability Assessment is a needless humiliation from a sadistic Tory government.
In fact, after the test was introduced, 265,000 existing claimants and nearly a million new applicants were found fit for work.
No doubt Loach believes they all suddenly got better overnight. I dare say some were men like Daniel Blake who were wrongly assessed. But that still leaves many tens of thousands who should never have been receiving disability benefit.
They were among the huge number who became welfare-dependent under the last Labour government which saw Britains benefits bill rise by 50% despite record economic growth and falling unemployment.
Is Ken Loach really telling us all the new claimants were genuinely disabled, like Daniel Blake, and are being cheated of their benefits by evil Tories?
What about poor Katie? Is it likely shed be reduced to selling her body to buy her daughter a new pair of school shoes?
Hardly. A single mother with two children typically gets more than 200 a week in state hand-outs and her rent would normally be covered by housing benefit. School shoes from Tesco cost around 10.
In the film, the working people of Newcastle are portrayed as kind-hearted Labour voters who support Daniel and Katie every step of the way. But welfare cuts introduced by the Coalition government were wildly popular with the majority of the British public.
A Populus poll in 2015, on the eve of the last General Election, found that only 25 per cent of the public share Loachs view that abuse of the benefit system has been overstated.
By contrast, 75 per cent think too much money is being spent on benefits and want further cuts to Britains welfare bill.
And it may break Loachs heart to learn that working class voters in the North of England are just as keen on cutting welfare as Conservatives in the South.
Indeed, Corbyns opposition to cutting the benefits bill is one reason his party is trailing Theresa Mays by 18 points.
Perhaps Im missing the point of I, Daniel Blake. Maybe its not supposed to be a realistic portrait of what life is like for people at the bottom of society. Maybe it is just intended to signal to all Loachs admirers what a compassionate fellow he is.
If so, it should be judged a success. It won the Palme dOr at this years Cannes Film Festival because of movie industry bigwigs keen to let the world know how virtuous they are, too, and no doubt will be showered with Baftas in due course.
At the end of the film, Daniels appeal hearing has arrived and he has prepared a moving statement in which he complains about his terrible treatment at the hands of the Tory Government: Im not a client, or a customer, or a service user. I, Daniel Blake am a citizen, nothing more and nothing less.
Unfortunately, tragedy strikes for Daniel.
Loachs indictment of Tory Britain certainly packs a punch if you can make it to the end of his 140-minute civics lesson.
If the news that food prices will soar in the coming months leaves you filled with dread, then look no further.
Bargain hunting has long been a staple of the money-saving game, and collecting and using coupons is a great way to get started.
And if you're unsure where to begin, Pounds to Pocket has compiled a helpful list to cut the price of your weekly food shop.
Bargain hunting has long been a staple of the money-saving game, but collecting and using coupons is a great way to get started
Earlier this month, Bank of England boss Mark Carney warned that the plunging pound could mean the weekly shop rises.
Since the Brexit vote, the drop in the Sterling's value has made the rising costs of imports inevitable.
So there's no better time to start cost-cutting using couponing - the method of collecting, cataloging and then unleashing those discount vouchers.
And if you're still skeptical, take note from 28-year-old Sammy Hancock, who can knock down a 77 food bill to just 7.41 - saving a total of 4,000 a year for her family
Couponing - the method of collecting, cataloging and then unleashing those discount vouchers - is prized as a good way to save hundreds of pounds
Sammy, who lives in Alton, Hampshire, spends hours scouring the internet to track down money-saving coupons for her supermarket shop.
Many websites list vouchers, like Super Savvy Me and Extreme Couponing, as well as magazines and newspapers often have free pull-outs.
Apps can be downloaded, like VoucherCloud and Redeemia, too.
Speaking about the best places to find coupons, Sammy told FEMAIL: 'Tesco monthly magazines always have a page full of coupons as well as the Pets At Home magazine.'
Many websites list vouchers, like Super Savvy Me and Extreme Couponing, as well as magazines, newspapers and apps often offer discounts
She added: 'I always find Tesco is the best place to coupon as they always have offers on products - and then combined with coupons you can get a lot of items free, plus you can still get Clubcard points from each each item.'
Sammy Hancock first used coupons three years ago and realised how powerful they could be when she paid 2 for a basket of goods which should have cost 20.
She now makes popular YouTube videos teaching other shoppers how best to make use of money-off vouchers and discount deals.
Giving her top tips for nabbing a bargain, she advised: 'Always browse newspapers and magazines for coupons and cut them all out.'
Sammy listed Shopitize and Checkoutsmart as her favourite cashback apps, saying they were great for claiming money back off your shopping.
Meanwhile, writing to a company to complain about or compliment a product can also be a good way of getting coupons sent to you in response.
Once you're stocked up on vouchers, it's time to get organised, which means keeping them in folders and ring binders, say experts
And if you want to get really creative, sites like BzzAgent and Tesco Orchard will let you try out and review items - in return for freebies.
Once you're stocked up on vouchers, it's time to get organised, which means keeping them in folders and ring binders,
And if you're feeling especially efficient, you can sort health, food and beauty vouchers into different sections.
Sammy said: 'I have a coupon folder where I organise all my coupons to make it easier.
If you find yourself always rifling through receipts in your wallet or digging deep in your handbag, why not use a paperclip to keep them together?
'I check coupons once a week to see if they are due to expire and always keep a lookout when an item is on offer - as if you have a coupon for it, it could make it free.'
And extreme couponer Holly Smith added: 'If you find yourself always rifling through receipts in your wallet or digging deep in your handbag, why not use a paperclip to keep them together, a page in your diary or even a dedicated book to hold them in.
'Keep them in categories of expiring soon, product type or value so when you need them or you think you have one somewhere, it's easy to find.'
The married mother-of-two, who refused to be held back by her Asperger's, holds the current world record for the biggest supermarket shop in the UK using coupons. In December 2015, she managed to get 1,164.39 worth of goods at no cost at Tesco Lowestoft.
She said: 'Most people think a good way of getting coupons is by complaining to brands!
'One day I decided to send positive feedback to a brand and ended up getting more coupons than I would have done from complaining! I used this method to pull off my Christmas Coupon Shop getting over 1,000 of shopping at my local Tesco for free.'
Try the act of 'stacking' - combining your vouchers and sale offers in one transaction to get the lowest price possible
One coupon queen Emma Mumford revealed that if she had coupons - and no need for them - she had a thoughtful way of putting them to use, by sending the food to food banks
Another expert, Emma Mumford, started couponing in June 2013 when her partner left her with 7,000 of debt when she was just 22 and has even set up her own website about it all since.
Emma suggests being tactical about when you choose to spend your vouchers.
'Wait until the items are reduced,' she revealed. 'You can use coupons against products which are on offer (ie. half price, buy one get one free), you can't use coupons on discontinued items which are on clearance.
I check coupons once a week to see if they are due to expire and always keep a lookout when an item is on offer
'Items normally go on offer every twelve weeks so keep a note, and use the coupons to maximise your savings.'
This is the act of 'stacking' - combining your vouchers and sale offers in one transaction to get the lowest price possible.
Emma also revealed that if she had coupons - and no need for them - she had a thoughtful way of putting them to use.
'My top tips once you have collected your coupons are, only buy what you need. This may sound obvious but you'll be surprised how many people buy products they'll never use just because it has a coupon.
'A great idea would be if you get any free items to donate them to a food bank if you won't use them.
A Scottish grandmother has stormed the web with a mock-beauty tutorial that offers make-up tips to the older generation.
Sandra Boylan, 64, of Kennoway, Scotland, suggested mature women should Sellotape their faces and rub lipstick on their cheeks for an instant facelift.
The grandmother-of-six, who filmed the hilarious clip to mark her 64th birthday, even had a genius solution to the dreaded bad hair day - simply wearing a hat.
Sandra Boylan, 64, from Scotland, has stormed the web with a mock-beauty tutorial that offers make-up tips to the older generation
Sandra posted the video on Facebook with the caption: 'A wee video I have made for my friends on facebook xxx'.
The comical clip - which pokes fun at beauty tips - has become an Internet sensation and received more than 600,000 views.
In the video filmed on her iPad, Sandra begins: 'I got to thinking there's lots of makeup posts on here, how to keep your skin good.
'But what about us older people with more mature skin?'
She continues: 'So I've got a few things about what I've done for years and I think I'm not bad for 64 - I know not everyone will agree with me, but maybe that's jealousy.'
She goes on to show off her favourite lipstick and starts applying it - before the tip crumbles in her hand.
Sandra, 64, of Kennoway, Scotland, suggested the 'older ladies' Sellotape their faces in a mock-beauty tutorial
Sandra, who said she's 'not bad for 64' advised using her mum's trick of applying lipstick to her cheeks
'Oh sorry, it's broken!' she chuckles, as she tries to fix it.
Having repaired the product, she dabs it on her lips, as well as cheeks - a trick she learned from her mother.
'That was you done, you just go,' she says. 'You don't need all the other stuff that the young'uns use, the eyebrows and all that.'
Pointing to her skin, she then shares her secret to the instant facelift - some well-positioned Sellotape.
Taking it a step further, the grandmother wraps the tape around her cheeks and even tacks it to her neck. Sandra adds: 'If your hair's a mess, why worry? Put a hat on!'
The grandmother (pictured in the clown costume on her 60th birthday) admitted she was 'always doing silly things'
The grandmother-of-six, who filmed the hilarious clip to mark her 64th birthday, even had a genius solution to the dreaded bad hair day - wearing a hat
True to her word, she produces a knitted animal hat which she flings over her short crop, and closes with the parting words: 'There you are. What's wrong with that?'
Explaining why she made the clip, Sandra told FEMAIL: 'I just did it for a laugh and for my family and friends, as I am always doing silly things.
'My family love it - they expect that of me.'
The grandmother added that she felt the younger generation spent too much time on their makeup.
'They have too much time on their hands - they put makeup on even when they're just going to the shops. Changed days.'
Discussing how well the video has done, she added: 'Brilliant response, I could not believe the views that it had, and all for a laugh.
Shares her story with Ben Fogle on the latest series of his Channel 5 show
Chose to live this way 25 years ago after being a punk rocker
She has learnt how to survive with skills like fire-building and hunting
A British-born former punk rocker said she couldn't be happier since she swapped hedonism for a back-to-basics lifestyle living alone in a remote forest.
Lynx Vilden, 50, who was born in London, aims to replicate the Stone Age with her way of life in the far reaches of America's Pacific Northwest.
Using money she inherited, she bought a wood cabin and a five acre acre plot of land in the wilderness location, where temperatures can plummet to minus 15 in the winter.
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Lynx Vilden, 50, aims to replicate the Stone Age with her way of life in the far reaches of America's Pacific Northwest where she lives in a mountainous forest
The nature-lover has learnt how to live off the land, hunting, foraging and fire-building in order to survive.
Lynx shares her primitive way of life with presenter Ben Fogle on the new series of his Channel 5 show, New Lives In The Wild, which returns this evening.
She admitted she wasn't always an eco-warrier but had an epiphany in her twenties after a hedonistic period living in Amsterdam as a punk rocker.
She said: 'After abusing myself for a few years in Amsterdam I realised I had to clean up my act.
'I had a lot of family in Sweden and I decided to go and live in the forest up there. It was a soothing and nurturing place for me and very beneficial to my survival at that age.'
Lynx has learnt how to hunt so she can eat meat to survive and wears clothes made from hide
In her youth, pictured, Lynx was a punk rocker living in Amsterdam. She realised she had to change her hedonistic days and 'clean up my act'
Lynx shares her way of life with presenter Ben Fogle in the new series of his Channel 5 show, New Lives In The Wild
Ben stands in the snow in front of a wooden store room Lynx has built. She uses it to stockpile wood and food in the summer so she can survive the freezing winter
She then travelled through wilderness areas in America and attended a survival school to learn how to make her own tools, build a fire in less than 30 seconds and hunt.
She said it was then that she realised she wanted to do without mod cons for the rest of her life.
'I lay down on the earth and said "this is what I want to do, protect the earth and live as low impact as possible and help others live that way".'
She spent 25 years living in remote locations before making the mountain forest in the North Cascades of Washington state her home.
Despite having a wood cabin there, which has electricity powered by solar panels, a wood burning stove and satellite dish for a telephone connection, Lynx prefers to sleep in an 'Earth lodge' she made herself underground.
Ben beside an igloo Lynx helped him build. She has spent years learning how to survive in the wild and can build a fire in less than 30 seconds
She's also made herself a store room from wood, which she uses to help her survive the harsh winters by stocking up on food during the summer months.
For food that needs to be kept cold, her 'fridge' is a hole in the snow.
The snow also comes in useful for washing and drinking, while in the summer she uses river water.
If she wants to wear makeup, she uses charcoal brushes her teeth using a twig.
She doesn't need a toilet as she can go in the forest but one bathroom luxury she has created is a homemade hot tub, made from a tin drum with wooden planks across the bottom, heated by an open fire.
Lynx uses the forest as a toilet but she does have one bathroom luxury - a homemade hot tub
She invited Ben to join her in her hot tub under the stars surrounded by snow and trees and told him 'you won't get a better bathroom than this'
'You won't get a better bathroom than this,' she said as she invited Ben to join her in the hot tub under the stars surrounded by snow and trees.
Meanwhile, for clothes, shoes and sleeping bags, she makes her own from the hides of animals she has killed to eat.
'I counted all the hides I was wearing the other day when it was cold and it was 25 animal skins - deer skin, fox tails, wolf felt, coyote and reindeer,' she told Ben.
She revealed her annual expenditure is $10,000 (8,000) a year, which mostly goes on feeding the four horses she uses to help her sustainable way of living and to plough her way through the snow in the winter.
She earns her money by training small groups of students in how to live off the land like she does throughout the year.
They are her only visitors, aside from her daughter, Clara, 22, who lives in Seattle, so she admitted she can get lonely and would love to find a 'sensitive caveman' to share her lifestyle with.
She separated from Clara's father when her daughter was two and raised her in the wilderness until she chose to go and live with her father in suburbia so she could attend school.
Lynx admitted allowing her daughter to follow her own path was the most difficult thing she has ever done.
'The hardest time was letting her go and be a regular kid. I used to home school her but then she wanted to go to school. I felt like I was losing her to a culture but you can't make them be little extensions of yourself,' she said.
Ben learnt how to use a bow and arrow during his time with Lynx. She regularly teaches such skills to students to promote her primitive way of living - but it is a path her daughter, 22, chose not to follow
Clara told Ben on one of her visits to see her mother - where she always stays in the cabin - that it was an unusual upbringing being raised in the wilderness by her technology-shunning single parent.
'I grew up in Montana three or four miles from town, it was remote and we were in a yurt with no electricity or running water,' she said.
'I was given worms for my eighth birthday and dressed in animal skins.'
Now studying at university, Clara said she often doesn't get her friends' references as she has 'a massive pop culture gap from the nineties'.
She added: 'I have never seen a Disney movie. Friends will joke "where were you, living under a rock somewhere?" and I am like "well, in a cave."'
Ben said he admired how Lynx has learnt to live alongside nature during her 25 years of wilderness living. She raised her daughter in a yurt with no electricity or running water
Although she has chosen not to live in the same way now, Clara said she admires her mother's sustainability and cooperation with nature.
Lynx said much of her primitive way of life has been trial and error.
She's spent half her lifetime living in the wild and lessons she has learnt along the way include that worms do not make a great soup but bear fat is an excellent energy source when added to stews.
She enjoys teaching Stone Age masterclasses as she wants to show others how to live off the land and be at one with nature.
After spending time with Lynx and following her way of life, from fire building to sleeping in an igloo, Ben praised her spirit.
He said: 'She is unlike anyone I have ever met before, a unique character with pulsating wild genes who needs to live as close to the earth as possible.
'This is her grand experiment for where she thinks we should all be going.
'She is the sort of person I will be telling my grandchildren about in years to come.'
Here she shares her warnings and offers tips for travelling as a solo female
She was also the victim of an attempted mugging when in Bolivia
She told FEMAIL she once feared she had Ebola in South Africa
However, she reveals things haven't always gone to plan on her travels
Cast your eye through Brooke Saward's sumptuous Instagram profile and it's hard not to feel a little jealous.
But behind each perfectly-arranged, beautifully-set-up snap, the truth isn't always so flawless.
Ms Saward, 25, who runs the incredibly successful World of Wanderlust Instagram account and blog, spoke to FEMAIL about some of her more challenging travel experiences.
And from an attempted mugging in La Paz, to Ebola fears in South Africa, what happens behind the scenes isn't always quite so glamorous as the pictures would have you believe.
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Success story: Brooke Saward (pictured), 25, from Tasmania, is the hugely successful travel blogger behind the World of Wanderlust blog
Charmed life: Her beautiful photos around the world make it look as though she has life super easy, however she says things aren't always what they seem
Challenges: In between the perfectly-arranged Instagram photos (pictured), the blogger has had to manage many difficult situations in four years of travelling alone
WHAT ARE WORLD OF WANDERLUST'S TOP TIPS? * Never travel without travel insurance - it only costs a couple of hundred dollars, but could save you thousands down the track. * Read up on your destination and plan out all of the different places you'd like to visit - Brooke Saward likes to read up on all the cafes she wants to go to. * Study maps for the place you're going to before you go there, so as soon as you arrive, you have some orientation. * Load up your maps with your locations saved on them as soon as you arrive via wifi. * Try to learn just a few of the words of the local language of the place you're visiting - it helps a lot with people. * Also, read up on the customs of the place so you know you're not doing anything incorrectly. * Overbudget where possible and plan ahead so you know what you're going to spend. * Embrace Skype for staying in touch with your loved ones and family - it's a game changer. Advertisement
'Travelling alone as a solo female can be scary,' Ms Saward, from Launceston in Tasmania, told the Daily Mail Australia.
'But it's a really good time to challenge yourself, and learn how to rely on yourself.
'I started travelling by myself at age 20 and there have been many challenges I've faced along the way.
'The biggest thing I took away from the whole experience was learning how to control my emotions.'
From South Africa to Bolivia, and everywhere in between, in the past four years, Brooke Saward has visited over 50 countries - a lot of the time by herself.
'You have to be careful when you're travelling by yourself as a young girl - I'd never go out alone late at night, for instance,' she said.
'The most vulnerable I've ever felt travelling was when I was in La Paz and I had an attempted mugging.
'I'd been warned not to get my bag or my camera out, but still someone tried to take my handbag from me.
'They didn't manage to, but the whole experience was quite scary and I now think if I was going back to La Paz - which I totally would - I'd go with someone.
'At the point when that happened, I'd been travelling for about seven months and kind of felt invincible.
'In many ways, it was perhaps a good thing to bring me back to earth.'
Growing: Brooke Saward told FEMAIL that travelling alone (pictured) teaches you to rely on yourself - she says the most important thing is to learn to control your emotions
Solo female: Having visited over 50 countries, she says you have to be careful as a young woman - for instance, she would never go out alone late at night
Invincible: The 25-year-old said that for the first seven months of travelling, nothing bad happened and she felt somewhat invincible
Scary: However, the most vulnerable she felt was when she was in La Paz, Bolivia, and someone tried to mug her and take her handbag - she said that was scary
Crashing down: However, the blogger believes something like that needed to happen in order to bring her back down to earth - she knew to be more savvy from thence forth
Difficulties: As well as the attempted mugging, Ms Saward has had other difficult situations she has had to manage, including missed flights and things not going to plan
As well as the attempted mugging, Ms Saward has had countless other difficult situations she's had to manage in the past.
From missed flights to things not going quite to plan, one of the worst things that happened to the 25-year-old from Tasmania was when she thought she had Ebola or Malaria in South Africa:
'I convinced myself I had malaria or Ebola, and so I literally stayed in my hotel room for seven days ordering room service
'I hadn't taken my malaria tablets and totally convinced myself I had malaria or Ebola,' she said.
'I literally stayed in my hotel room for seven days ordering room service. Eventually, I got on my flight to Arizona and landed drenched in sweat.
'By the time I got to the hospital, and racked up a $10,000 hospital bill (luckily, I had travel insurance!), I found out it was just a kidney infection.
'That was a lucky escape.'
Lucky escape: In South Africa, she was convinced she had Ebola and so stayed in her hotel room for a week - when she went to hospital (pictured), it turned out it was a kidney infection
Back up: Ms Saward says one of the most important things she's learned is to have travel insurance - it may cost a couple of hundred dollars, but can save you thousands later on
Fortunate: Ms Saward said she was a bit of a princess before she went travelling - however, different experiences meant she has learned to be grateful for having a roof over her head
Extreme sports: In her time, she has done bungee jumps from the highest point in the world, and extreme sports and water sports
Fun: Ms Saward says she loves all of the activities she has been fortunate enough to do in the past four years
Savvy: She has much advice for females wanting to travel alone, including the fact that it's important to acquaint yourself with the local area before you go there
Familiarity: Ms Saward says it pays to learn a few local words, and the customs, so you can fit in seamlessly - and spend ages looking at maps before you go somewhere
These days, the successful travel blogger is, for the most part, pretty fortunate (and careful).
Before I went travelling, I was a bit of a princess, and I freaked out when things didn't go to plan
'Before I went travelling, I was a bit of a princess, and I freaked out when things didn't go to plan,' she said.
'But you have to learn to deal with things. For instance, one time I was thrown out of my accommodation in Bolivia as they'd overbooked for a big group, and there was hardly anywhere left to stay in the town.
'I ended up staying somewhere pretty dirty, where the sheets hadn't been washed and things like that.
'Before I went travelling, I wouldn't have done it, but going travelling teaches you to be grateful for having a roof over your head.'
Over compensate: Ms Saward also advises over-budgeting for travel, and she and her boyfriend are already saving for a trip to New Zealand next July
Stay connected: She says that things like Skype are wonderful for people to stay in touch with their families and loved ones at home
On the road: Ms Saward has been travelling for four years now, and is currently mixing up a bit of travel each month with some time at home in Tasmania
Burn out: She said she wants to keep travelling for the rest of her life, and doesn't want to have seen everything in the world by the time she is 30
Research: Before Ms Saward goes to a new place, she loves to read up extensively on the destination - including the little cafes she wants to go to
Fun: She wants to have some experiences at home as well as abroad, and hopes to go camping in Australia as well as Norway
Overkill: According to the successful blogger, there can be a degree of overkill if you're always on the road - you need to learn to appreciate things
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As for advice for any other young women who want to set off and travel the world alone, Ms Saward has a few pointers:
'Over budget and plan as much as possible.
'I'm going to New Zealand next July with my boyfriend, and we're already planning and budgeting so we have an idea of what we're going to spend.
'Also, embrace Skype, which has been life-changing for staying in touch with my family and loved ones.
'I love researching my destinations and acquainting myself with local maps - it helps to have orientation as soon as you arrive.'
Ms Saward is currently mixing in some travel each month, with some time at home, which she hasn't done in a while:
'I've learned, after four years of travel, that I need to take things a bit slowly too, as if I've done everything at 25, what will there be left to do in a decade?
'I think it's possible to feel a bit of immunity from beauty if you travel all of the time. Say you see a gorgeous church, but you've seen 50 in the past fortnight... There can be a degree of overkill.'
And so, Ms Saward now spends as much time in Tasmania as she does further afield:
'I want to go camping in Australia - not just Norway!,' she laughed.
It was 10pm when Aimee Morrisby's sister rang her out of the blue and said, 'Let's have a baby'.
Aimee, 26, had been trying for a child since the age of 21 but had been thwarted in her attempts by a ball of scar tissue sitting in her uterus.
She was just getting used to the idea she would never have children when sister Shayna rang and offered the gift of a lifetime to be a surrogate mother for her.
Amazing: Aimee Morrisby (in blue) is pictured at the moment she sees her baby daughter Francesca for the first time
Loving: New mother Aimee cradles her baby daughter for the very first time
Amazing: Shayna Wiffen (left) is pictured before giving birth to her sister's daughter
Aimee, from Toowoomba, told Daily Mail Australia about the rollercoaster journey that ended with the birth of her healthy daughter, Francesca.
'My sister rang me at 10 o'clock one night and said let's have a baby.
'At this point me and Jake [Aimee's husband] had properly given up having children.
'The first words that came out of my mouth were, ''Are you sure''.
'Why would she put her life at risk to have a baby for me? I couldn't believe someone was going to risk everything for me.'
'Are you sure?': Aimee could not believe it when her sister offered to be a surrogate. Sister Shayna is pictured after giving birth to baby Francesca
Breathtaking: Aimee and husband Jake react to seeing their new baby daughter for the first time
As a child Aimee was diagnosed with Hirschsprung disease, a painful bowel condition which causes blockages in the large intestine.
It was a trip to hospital to treat abdominal pain caused by the condition that lead to the discovery of scarring in her uterus.
'I was only 21 when I went into hospital with some pain. That's when I realised I had a lot of scarring in my reproductive area,' Aimee said.
'The doctor said if I was at a happy time in my life, I should get cracking having a baby.'
Baby shower: Sisters Aimee (left) and Shayna (right) laugh together at Francesca's baby shower
Thriving: Shayna (left) and Aimee (right) celebrate the 32 week milestone of Shayna's pregnancy
What followed were eight painful rounds of IVF and four pregnancies that ended in miscarriage.
Amy later learned that the 40-50 surgeries she had to treat her bowel condition had turned her uterus into a ball of scar tissue.
'I got to nine weeks with twins and I lost both of those. That's what stopped it all.
'I went and got some second opinions. I met with my bowel surgeon and he handed me a picture of what was supposed to be my uterus and it was a big ball of scar tissue.
'That's when I went back to my IVF specialist and he said to me, ''You're not going to get pregnant''.'
Smiling family: Aimee and husband Jake pose with their newborn daughter Francesca
Happy and healthy: Aimee said baby Francesca was a happy seven-month-old baby girl
Aimee and Jake had given up on children when sister Shayna, already a mother-of-two, stepped in and made her 'amazing' offer.
'She's amazing to do this,' Aimee said.
'As soon as she rang me and made the offer I handed in my resignation and moved to be closer to her.'
Shayna was impregnated with one of Aimee's frozen embryos left over from the IVF process.
Watching her sister go through the water birth of her daughter was an overwhelming experience, Aimee said.
She added: 'Not only was I seeing my daughter enter the world, I was watching my sister give birth. There were two totally different emotions.
'When Francesca came out of the water and my husband cut the cord I couldn't move. I could not believe what she had just done.'
Seven-month-old Francesca was now a 'thriving' baby girl and Shayna had bounced back to health quickly after the pregnancy.
'My biggest advice to mothers that are pushing themselves to the brink is that it is OK to stop trying in your own body,' Aimee said.
This is the moment eccentric brewing heiress Daphne Guinness lost her footing during a postprandial stroll with her French lover, philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.
Her embarrassing tumble with the 67-year-old, who is still married to his third wife, actress Arielle Dombasle, was not helped by her vertiginous Massaro heel-less shoes.
The couple, who met in 2005, were returning to Claridges arm-in-arm following a leisurely lunch at Cipriani in Mayfair when they failed to remain upright.
As she tripped, Guinness, 48, leaned on Levy for support, causing him to stumble.
Speaking about juggling a three-way relationship, Daphne has said: Ive tried to be as elegant about it as possible.
Daphne and Bernard spotted leaving central London eatery Cipriani restaurant and headed to the nearby Claridges Hotel
This is the moment eccentric brewing heiress Daphne Guinness lost her footing during a postprandial stroll with her French lover, philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy
Her embarrassing tumble with the 67-year-old, who is still married to his third wife, actress Arielle Dombasle, was not helped by her vertiginous Massaro heel-less shoes
Actress Imogen Stubbs and theatre director Sir Trevor Nunn may have divorced five years ago after which he embarked on a short-lived fling with socialite Nancy DellOlio but apparently relations are still friendly between the thespian exes.
Indeed, Stubbs, 55, names him as the person who has inspired her most in her career.
Nunn famously left his second wife Sharon Lee-Hill for Imogen after she became his acting muse. Imogens career has not exactly soared since their split maybe shes hinting that they work together again?
The evergreen screen siren Dame Joan Collins shows no signs of retiring at 83 and now wants to conquer Bollywood, according to Indian actor and Dynasty co-star Kabir Bedi.
She told me she is very keen to do a Bollywood film, he says.
She is familiar with Bollywood films and since she is a very good dancer, she wants to do a film where she can dance.
It didn't take long for newly single actor Laurence Fox to find himself a new mate
It didn't take long for newly single actor Laurence Fox to find himself a new mate.
Having been pictured on several dates recently with glamorous Irish TV presenter Vogue Williams, the 38-year-old Lewis star, whose eight-year marriage to Billie Piper ended earlier this year, has come clean about his relationship status.
Im pleased to announce that I am stepping out with a new bird, he wrote next to this picture online.
A plus-size model and mother-of-two is hoping to inspire other women to love their bodies no matter what.
Leila Palma, 32, is a size 26 model from Melbourne who says weight doesn't matter when it comes to loving life.
'We should not allow society to discriminate against our size,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'It's OK to be a size 26 just like it's OK to be a size eight.'
Happy: The mother-of-two poses for the camera in a dark blue, sheer negligee
Gorgeous: Ms Palma said other women should not let society convince them they are not beautiful
Do it better! Being a size 26 did not stop her living life to the fullest, the mother-of-two said
Ms Palma said it was 'completely unacceptable' to discriminate against someone based on their weight.
'As a woman at size 26 my aim is to show women all over the world, just because I'm that size doesn't mean I'm restricted from living.
'I live every day to the fullest and so can they.'
'A lot of people associate being size 26 as lazy and not doing anything - sitting at home all day,' she added.
'I'm here to teach people that it's not true and to give people the confidence to believe in themselves.'
Beautiful: Plus-size model Leila Palma is hoping to inspire other women to love their bodies
Body beautiful: With plans to launch her own line of plus-size clothing, Ms Palma says: 'Body beautiful clothing is the modern style of fashion'
'To the fullest': Ms Palma said if she could live every day to the fullest, so could other plus-size women
In addition to modelling and caring for her two young daughters, Ms Palma also has plans to launch her own line of plus-size clothing.
'In 2017 I will be launching my very own plus size collection clothing label,' she said.
'Sizes will range from 16 to 32 and at this stage will be for women only.
'Body beautiful clothing is the modern style of fashion, with clothing to fit the real sized plus size women.'
Boss lady: It was 'completely unacceptable' to discriminate against someone based on their weight, Ms Palma said
So what: 'Don't let society change your mentality of the way you should look, be proud of who you are,' Ms Palma says
and compassion towards her son Josh (Callum Woodhouse) after he came out to her
It's largely been a triumphant return for the sixth series of Cold Feet, and last night's episode didn't disappoint, serving up a cocktail that featured an emotional coming out, sex scenes galore and not one but two proposals of marriage.
The final episode of Mike Bullen's ITV drama was set around a party to celebrate Adam's (James Nesbitt) 49th birthday and fans of the show didn't want this particular television shindig to end.
Viewers took to Twitter to say they cried as Josh (Callum Woodhouse) came out to his mum Karen (Hermione Norris) and laughed as they marvelled at Karen's more than a little complicated love life.
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After securing a hot new author, Karen (Hermione Norris) secured herself a hot new lover in the shape of her social media co-worker
The final episode of the show saw the character of Karen impressing viewers with her ability to garner a young lover and two proposals of marriage
Josh revealing he was gay was particularly praised by those watching at home, with many saying they loved Karen's reaction to her son's news.
@mark_p_wilson wrote: 'The scene with Karen and josh in #coldfeet was superbly written and takes me back to my own coming out.'
@LinaDy52 agreed, writing: 'Who wouldn't expect that from Karen?! Proud mum of her gay son! :)'
@haynes_nick added: 'Fantastic ending to #ColdFeet tonight... Soooo good to have it back. Loved the rooftop scenes. And Karen's reaction to Josh made me cry!'
Karen generally seemed to be the heroine of the hour, with many envious of her in-demand relationship status which included a 'two-off' with a handsome younger colleague, a proposal from ex-husband David (Robert Bathurst) and a second proposal, just minutes later, from dullard Eddie (Art Malik).
@Leelabelle admired from afar, writing: 'When I grow up, I want to be like Karen from #Cold Feet. Assertive, understanding and in complete control. I love her.'
An emotional rooftop scene saw Karen admitting to Josh that she knew he was gay, a moment that touched viewers
'I had to admit it to myself first, Mum' Josh tells Karen that he's in love with Ramona the nanny's boyfriend Juan
Tears: The mother and son moment was applauded by those watching at home
Perfect parenting: Karen's relaxed attitude to her teenage son's sexuality was praised
@CaptScarlet wrote: 'Cold Feet was brilliant! Touching funny romantic warm - it had everything. I'm a bit obsessed by Karen too!'
Elsewhere, Pete (John Thomson) and Jenny's (Fay Ripley) desperate bid to reignite their love life, derailed by Pete's depression, saw some more lighthearted moments in the episode, as Pete resorts to Viagra and is blessed with a 'chemically-induced tentpole'.
The episode culminated in Adam finally securing the object of his affection, Tina (Leanne Best), after she agrees to 'see how it goes' dating him from across the hall.
The reincarnation of the show has been a huge ratings winner, with fans of the first series seemingly just as hooked this time around and viewing figures regularly hitting seven million.
Writer Mike Bullen thanked fans of the show in a tweet last night
As they were: the last series of Cold Feet aired in 2003 before a 13-year hiatus
Writer Bullen has been widely praised for his handling of male depression via the character of Pete, something that he has revealed has blighted his own life.
A woman has spent more than 200,000 in an attempt for 'plastic perfection' and to look like a Barbie doll.
Amanda Love, 39, from Cumbernauld, Scotland, a stay at home mother, has already had three boob jobs and is planning another to inflate her 30H boobs to a massive 30MM.
Spending approximately 11,500 a year on her extensive beauty regime, Amanda also has regular Botox injections and fillers and frequently gets her lips pumped with collagen.
Amanda Love, 39, a stay at home mother from Cumbernauld, Scotland, is obsessed with looking 'plastic' and has had three boob jobs
Amanda Love with daughters Logan, 14, and Tegan, 18, at home. Tegan says that people often mistake her and her mothers for sisters
Amanda said: 'I feel this passion for plastic perfection, so everything is perfected, I wanted this lift, the flawless face, smooth skin, big lips, the doll kind of look.
'When I was younger I used to play with my Barbie dolls and I used to play being a Barbie. And I remember watching Baywatch. Pamela Anderson was my idol and I wanted to look like her.'
Looking significantly younger than her 39 years, it's hard to believe married Amanda is mother to four children - Tegan, 18, from a previous relationship, and Logan, 14, Cruz, seven and one-year-old Cash with her second husband crane operator Paul Sweeney.
Amanda as a teenager. As a child she used to play with Barbie and considered Pamela Anderson on Baywatch to be an idol
People at her daughter Tegan's school would say that Amanda looked much younger than her years and asked if she was her daughter's sister
Enjoying a close relationship with her two teen daughters, Amanda has even been mistaken for being their older sister.
Eldest daughter Tegan said: 'People mistake us all the time for being sisters. They think we are the same age! Even when I was at school, people would say "oh your mum she looks like your sister."'
Looking significantly younger than her 39 years, it's hard to believe married Amanda is mother to four children - Tegan, 18, from a previous relationship, and Logan, 14, Cruz, seven and one-year-old Cash with her second husband crane operator Paul Sweeney
But in spite of her raunchy looks, Amanda is more likely to be found making the kids tea rather than on nights out partying.
She said: 'I keep my circle small - if my kids are happy and I'm happy that's all that matters.'
Alongside her mum duties, Amanda's beauty routine takes up a lot of her time.
When Amanda met her second husband Paul, she hadn't had any surgery at all
Amanda said: 'I get a blow dry once a week, my roots done every three weeks, my nails every two weeks and a facial every couple of weeks as well. And then my eyelashes and threading on my eyebrows I get done all the time.
'I don't wear makeup during the day because I've got it tattooed on and I don't actually like wearing it!'
Before embarking on her quest for 'plastic perfection' Amanda was a fresh-faced model with a slight frame and A-cup bust. She left Scotland aged 16 to pursue a career in modelling but never felt comfortable with her looks.
Amanda spends 11,500 a year on her beauty regime. She gets a blow dry once a week and her nails done every two week
She said: 'I was a size zero with no boobs at all.
'All my friends in LA had big boobs and I was so jealous I didn't have that but my partner at the time didn't want me to as he liked me looking natural.'
After their daughter Tegan was born, Amanda returned home to introduce the newest member of the family to her parents and brother. Ultimately the relationship broke down with Amanda choosing to stay in the UK with the family she had missed so much while in the US.
After their daughter Tegan was born, Amanda returned home to introduce the newest member of the family to her parents and brother. Ultimately the relationship broke down with Amanda choosing to stay in the UK with the family she had missed so much while in the US
Amanda said: 'Back in Scotland I had to go to the hospital, I was so skinny it was making me ill and I needed to get healthy again. My relationship wasn't working so for my health and happiness I knew I needed to be home in Scotland with my family.'
Amanda started working in her mum's canteen despite lacking cooking skills. After serving one of the regulars, Paul, a still-frozen hash brown, he joked he'd forgive her if she would go out with him.
Amanda started working in her mum's canteen despite lacking cooking skills. After serving one of the regulars, Paul, a still-frozen hash brown, he joked he'd forgive her if she would go out with him
Paul said: 'When I first met Amanda, she had no plastic surgery at all; blonde hair, beautiful eyes and a beautiful smile.
'I've always thought Amanda was beautiful and I loved her before she had any surgery.'
The pair's instant chemistry saw them dating almost immediately and after just three months together Amanda revealed her boob job plans to Paul.
The pair's instant chemistry saw them dating almost immediately and after just three months together Amanda revealed her boob job plans to Paul
Amanda before her surgery. Although Paul loved her before she altered her appearance, he used to have pictures of glamour models on his wall so was 'really into' her transformation
She said: 'He supported my decision - he used to have posters of glamour models on his walls, so yeah he was really into it!'
Amanda's parents were also supportive of Amanda's wish and, together with Paul who funded the first augmentation, she inflated her breasts to a 30C.
'After the surgery I woke up and cried because they were so small, I was so disappointed. I wanted these big round boobies and they weren't big enough.'
Vowing to go bigger in the future, Amanda continued her extensive Botox and filler regime, but life as a mum took over and after mourning the death of her mother and then her brother, thoughts of a second boob job didn't re-emerge until after the birth of Cruz in 2008, when Amanda went up to a 30DD and then again last year when she went up to a 30H, following the birth of her second son Cash.
Amanda has returned to her modeling roots to raise money for yet another boob job
But Amanda hasn't finished and has returned to her modeling roots to raise money for yet another boob job.
She said: 'It started off with me taking pictures in nice dresses and putting them on Instagram. I was getting more and more likes. Now I get fan mail and followers from all over the world. It's crazy!'
Amanda has amassed thousands of followers dressing up in PVC and lingerie - with Paul frequently taking the photos.
She's amassed thousands of followers on Instagram by dressing up in PVC and lingerie - with Paul frequently taking the photos
And Amanda's sexy snaps haven't gone unnoticed by her children either.
Daughter Logan said: 'A lot of the boys at school say things that aren't really nice, that she always gets her boobs out and that she does porn, which she doesn't. Sometimes I shout stuff back. It's hard when they say stuff like that.'
Older daughter Tegan is also reluctant for her mum to have yet more surgery.
Older daughter Tegan is reluctant for her mum to have yet more surgery, and doesn't think that she needs to get anything done
She said: 'I don't think mum needs to get anything done, I think she was beautiful before and every time she gets something done I get quite upset.'
However the self-confessed surgery addict says she has no intention of stopping.
Amanda said: 'I don't think I will ever stop having surgery. It's my goal to look plastic. Next I want to get some my ribs removed so I have a tiny, tiny waist.'
Queen Mathilde of Belgium continued her week-long humanitarian tour of the Middle East today, arriving in the country's capital to spend time with Queen Rania.
Meeting in bright sunshine, the Belgian and Jordanian royals embraced before they began a tour of the Jordan River Foundation headquarters, a charity of which Rania is the patron of.
Showing her support for local craftswomen, Queen Mathilde, 43, looked striking in a pleated red and white floral skirt, thought to have been designed and made by Jordanian artisans.
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Both Queen Rania, left, and Queen Mathilde, right, chose to wear colourful outfits as they met in Amman, Jordan this morning. The Belgian royal is currently on a seven-day humanitarian tour of the country
A meeting of minds: Rania and Mathilde embrace; the royals are expected to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis, something which Queen Rania has been consistantly campaigning about this year
The mother-of-two, who is travelling without her husband King Philippe, looked delighted to be in the company of Rania
A warm embrace on a warm day: yesterday Mathilde toured Jordan's biggest refugee camp, Al Zaatari in Mafraq near the Syrian border, yesterday
In a flowing orange dress and Jimmy Choo heels, Queen Rania, 46, looked equally radiant and appeared keen to show Mathilde the work being carried out by the charity, which fights to combat child abuse in the country.
The royals chatted as they admired art and fabrics being created by locals before touring a stylish, boutique-style showroom.
The royals have formed a strong bond; Rania visited Belgium back in May to raise awareness about the Syrian refugee crisis and Mathilde expressed her keenness to experience the situation first hand.
Yesterday, Queen Mathilde toured Jordan's biggest refugee camp, Al Zaatari in Mafraq near the Syrian border, which is home to 80,000 people, before meeting patients at the UNICEF Makani Centre.
Rania showed Mathilde around local art projects while explaining how one of her charities, the Jordan River Foundation, aims to combat child abuse in the country
Mathilde looked enchanted as she browsed some of the local crafts showcased by the charity and sold in their showroom while Rania looks on
Serious note: Rania and Mathilde are expected to discuss the current refugee crisis engulfing the Middle Eastern country, a matter they previously talked about during Rania's visit to Belgium in May
Style haven: The showroom at the Jordan River Foundation certainly looks to have a boutique touch
Shop til you drop: The Belgian royal looked delighted at the pretty items on display
The Belgian royal has been honest about expecting an 'intense and emotional' few days in the Middle Eastern country.
She arrived in the Middle East last night, and told a journalist on her flight that she was expecting the next seven days to be 'emotional and intense'.
The royal is a UN Special Advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals and today's visit coincided with United Nations Day.
This morning, the Belgian royal court issued a statement from the Queen, praising Jordan's humanitarian efforts.
'From Jordan where I am currently on a humanitarian mission, I wish everyone a happy United Nations (UN) Day,' she said. 'I specially thank the many UN workers for their permanent engagement.
Mathilde admires gifts displayed in wicker hanging baskets and chats to a local artisan
Flavour of the Middle East: Mathilde and Rania learn more about how the gifts are made
The Belgian queen has widely praised Jordan's response to the Syrian refugee crisis
'As an advocate of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, I can see how big the humanitarian needs are in Jordan and I recognise the enormous efforts made by Jordan in order to receive refugees from the region.
'All refugee children need access to education and good healthcare. Many children who fled the war in Syria are in need of psychological care.
'This is why I am asking that a special attention be given to education and healthcare of refugees and to their mental well-being in particular.
Belgium's Queen Mathilde visits Jordan's biggest refugee camp Al Zaatari in Mafraq near the Syrian border, which is home to 80,000 people
Queen Mathilde smiled warmly as an elderly woman attempted to kiss her hand, despite wearing an oxygen mask as she spoke to patients at the UNICEF Makani Centre
Queen Mathilde chats to refugees who have fled conflict in Syria on a humanitarian visit to Jordan
Queen Mathilde of Belgium Queen is greeted by a patient at the UNICEF Makani Center in Mafraq
'I praise all humanitarian workers for their daily engagement that does not go without risks. I also thank the Jordan volunteers and families who give these vulnerable persons a home.
My presence on the field is a way of giving these persons a face and a voice.'
The mother-of-two is travelling without her husband King Philippe, but has been accompanied by International development minister Alexander De Croo.
She opted for an understated look with ankle-skimming cream trousers and a patterned burgundy top, which matched her ballet flats, and accessorised with a straw shoulder bag.
The Belgian monarch is shown the vast refugee camp near the Syrian border which houses 80,000 displaced people
Queen Mathilde arrives at Marka airport Amman, Jordan ahead of a humanitarian mission
On arrival in Jordan earlier this week, she looked smart and polished even after a six hour flight.
She stepped off the plane wearing a blue jacket and black trousers, adding a statement necklace to her ensemble.
She was in town for Dutch Design Week so, naturally, Queen Maxima put on a strong sartorial display for the occasion.
The style savvy monarch looked chic in a camel coat, which highlighted her trim figure to perfection, as she arrived at the 15th Dutch Design Week (DDW) in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on Tuesday.
The Argentinian-born royal offset the look with some killer accessories in the form of matching suede court shoes, suede clutch and eye-catching gold jewels.
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Queen Maxima of the Netherlands looked chic in camel during her visit to the 15th Dutch Design Week (DDW) in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on Tuesday
The mother-of-three, who has a serious eye for coordination, wore her bright blonde locks loose and glowed with a healthy tan.
Dutch Design Week runs for nine days and boasts 100 locations, presenting the processes, experiments and ideas, answers and solutions thought up by 2,500 designers.
'Come and be amazed, surprised or astonished,' reads the event's programme. 'Ask yourself new questions, draw inspiration for your own answers and allow the power of design to convince you.'
The Argentinian-born royal offset the look with some killer accessories in the form of eye-catching gold jewels
The mother-of-three, who has a serious eye for coordination, completed her look with matching suede court shoes and a suede clutch
Dutch Design Week runs for nine days and boasts 100 locations, presenting concepts thought up by 2,500 designers
Maxima seemed enthused by many of the concepts on offer from the budding designers
Maxima is one of the world's hardest-working royals and just last fortnight she paid a visit to her hometown of Buenos Aires .
The Argentinian-born royal stepped out in a glorious tartan skirt as she attended a news conference.
The 45-year-old royal, who was staying at the hotel Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt, kept her makeup neutral as she delivered an impassioned speech at the conference this afternoon.
Maxima is one of the world's hardest-working royals and just last fortnight she paid a visit to her hometown of Buenos Aires
The monarch, who always has a huge smile on her face, was treated to a tour of the exhibitions by the team
To ward off a chill, Maxima later added a ruffled poncho over her coat. Once inside, right, she removed it and showed off her trim new figure
The cheerful royal managed to find time to have her photo taken with wellwishers and local designers during the day
Following her busy morning at the conference she joined the Argentine President Mauricio Macri for a private meeting at the Olivos presidential residence.
The Dutch queen missed the Duchess of Cambridge's visit to the Netherlands as duty called in the Argentinean capital.
Her husband, King Willem-Alexander, was left to entertain Kate more than 10,000km away making friends with the British royal.
A college student has turned her parents into online stars after she proudly shared a photo of their raunchy Halloween costume.
Brooke Bogin, a 22-year-old senior at James Madison University in Virginia, took to Twitter over the weekend to share a snapshot of her parents dressed in their sex toy-inspired couple's costume, which represents a very dirty pun.
'Mom and Dad before their Halloween party. He's a dill pickle. She's a female deer. Together they're a "dill-doe." And also my heroes,' Brooke tweeted.
Dirty pun: Brooke Bogin tweeted a photo of her parents' Hallween costume, explaining that her dad Scott is a dill pickle and her mom Karen is a doe
Proud daughter: The 22-year-old senior at James Madison University in Virginia tweeted that her parents aer her 'heroes'
Brooke's father Scott and her mother Karen are all smiles in the photo that sees him a pickle costume and her wearing a fur vest with face paint on her nose.
The tweet has been shared more than 26,000 times with over 79,000 people 'liking' it.
Unsurprisingly, plenty of people have shared the tweet with their friends and partners in the hopes of replicating the brilliant costume.
One woman named Jazmin tagged her friend in the comments section, asking her to 'check every store [to see] if they have any in stock'.
TWITTER GOES WILD FOR PARENTS' HALLOWEEN COSTUME Advertisement
'Someone be a female deer with me for Halloween and I'll be a dill pickle so we can be dill-doe *cough* [sic],' Connor Penny tweeted, and Malia Cruz asked: 'Who wanna be the dill to my doe?'
Meanwhile, others are clearly in awe of the fun-loving couple.
'I aspire to have a marriage like this,' Sierra Hope wrote, and a woman named Sharon added: 'Dill- Doe. They just won at life! I want them to adopt me. #thisisawesome.'
Brooke told Buzzfeed that she was proud of her parents for 'doing something so witty' and wanted to share the hilarious idea with her friends.
'This is one of the first years they are "empty nesters" so they have a lot more time to devote to fun things like this party they went to,' she said.
Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner are as close as can be, and now the model due are sharing the spotlight in a new video that sees them performing a dramatic rendering of Justin Bieber's song Baby.
The two were filmed reading or in Gigi's case singing the lyrics from the 2010 hit for a video directed by writer Lynn Hirschberg for W magazine.
'You guys, this is scary,' Gigi, 21, says at the start of the clip as she mentally prepares herself to start singing.
Giving it their all: Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner teamed up to give a dramatic reading of Justin Bieber's song Baby
Humorous interpretation: Kendall, 20, gave a very dry reading of the catchy tune
Karaoke star: Gigi, 21, flipped her hair and waved her finger around as she sang the song
Before she gives fans a sneak-peek at what it would be like to do karaoke with her, the blonde beauty makes it clear from the get-go that she is only willing to sing the song on camera for Lynn.
However, Kendall, 20, sticks with the dramatic reading and starts the song off by reciting the first line: 'You know you love me, I know you care.'
'Just shout whenever and Ill be there,' Gigi chimes in while enthusiastically bobbing her head from side to side.
Joint effort: The two alternate between reciting the lyrics from the song, which makes for one very interesting rendition of the catchy tune
Over-the-top: Some fans who watched the footage joked that Gigi didn't quite understand the meaning of a dramatic reading
The two are like night and day on the runway, and unsurprisingly, they both also had very different ways of approaching the challenge.
While Kendall gives a very dry reading of the catchy tune, Gigi whips her hair back, waves her finger back and forth, and bobs up and down as she sings the song.
At the end of the clip, Kendall throws her copy of the lyrics behind her and gives the camera a wink, and Gigi insists that this is how Lynn knows that she loves her.
Dramatic finale: At the end of the video Kendall threw the lyrics behind her
Old friends: Gigi and Kendall are pictured with Justin in Paris in 2014
In the background Lynn can be heard gushing about how blown away she is by the models' individual performances, and the clip has been viewed thousands of times on YouTube.
However, some fans joked that Gigi didn't quite get the concept of a dramatic reading, but others thought her energetic performance was simply adorable.
Kendall and Gigi share the cover of W magazine's 10th Anniversary Art Issue, joining forces for the quirky editorial titled the Placebo Pets Project.
Famous faces: Kendall and Gigi are pictured with Justin and Cody Simpson in 2015
Catwalk queens: Gigi is pictured on the runway at the Giambattista Valli show earlier this month (left), while Kendall can be seen at the Ralph Lauren show in September (right)
The models were transformed into 'humanoid pets' and photographed by Jason Kibbler for the creative spread by Lizzie Finch and Ryan Trecartin.
During her recent interview with the magazine, Kendall admits to being besotted with Justin long before they became friends.
Alison said he is the 'biggest celebrity' in the world, but claimed it would be a 'catastrophe' if he became president
She said she spent months trying to find a willing lookalike and perfecting his hair and make-up
Alison sent a lookalike, a 66-year-old man from Chicago, onto the streets of New York with a group of female protesters in a white Bentley
The British artist told Daily Mail Online that the key to impersonating the Republican presidential candidate is his foundation shade and unruly quiff
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Donald Trump took Times Square by storm this afternoon along with a group of scantily-dressed women as part of a project by spoof photographer Alison Jackson.
The British artist, known for her candid photographs of celebrity lookalikes, said she spent months searching for the perfect lookalike to portray the Republican presidential candidate.
She told Daily Mail Online that recreating the 70-year-old's look has been 'a nightmare' after auditioning 300 people and going through 20 hairstylists.
Statement: Artist Alison Jackson set up a spoof campaign rally in the middle of New York City on Tuesday featuring a Donald Trump lookalike and bikini-clad female protesters
Signature style: The British photographer said the key to impersonating the Republican presidential candidate, pictured played by a lookalike, is his foundation shade and unruly quiff
Performance art: Alison sent a 66-year-old man from Chicago, pictured, onto the streets of New York in a white Bentley
After months of searching, she finally found the ideal candidate for the job who she said impressed her with his head shape, attitude and jaw.
She said: 'The secret is the color and this flicking flick quiff. I mean really, what the hell is it? What is that?
'It takes Donald Trump two minutes to do that in the morning, it's taken me two months and tears.'
Alison sent her Donald lookalike to Trump Tower, Times Square and the New York Stock Exchange in a white Bentley.
He was accompanied by 12 women holding placards emblazoned with slogans including 'grab my p*$$y,' 'grab America by the p***y' and 'so nasty...' making reference to comments he has made about women.
Time-consuming: She said she spent months trying to find a willing lookalike and perfecting his hair and make-up
Famous: Alison said he is the 'biggest celebrity' in the world, but claimed it would be a 'catastrophe' if he became president
Fits the bill: After months of searching, she finally found the ideal candidate for the job, pictured, who she said impressed her with his head shape, attitude and jaw
Alison said: 'It's a performance with some girls, really who have something to say to Donald Trump because obviously Donald Trump has said a lot of bad things about girls, it's an opportunity for them to say something back.
'They're all women who feel strongly about what's happened with the audiotapes, the way Donald Trump's been talking about women the past few months - pigs, s***s and whatever it is, dogs - and I think it would be a catastrophe if he was president, for them, I'm not American, on that basis, it's like going backwards in time.'
Alison said she is both fascinated and outraged by the Republican and his fame - claiming he is currently the 'biggest celebrity' in the world.
She said his star quality and celebrity appeal make him a difficult rival for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
'He's already got his little pop-up, fold-up, flat-pack podium with lights, there he is all glossed up and orange in seconds and Hillary Clinton hasn't been able to keep up.
Presidential race: She said Donald's star quality and celebrity appeal makes him a difficult rival for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton
Controversial: Alison's latest book, Private, features spoof photographs of the Donald lookalike, pictured
Talent search: Alison wanted to make an entire film about the candidate but she ran out of time after struggling to find a willing lookalike
'She looks drab and tired and sort of grey and then suddenly we see this glossy star as if he's popped up on one of Simon Cowell's reality shows, just doing it for the media and I suppose that's what the public is used to,' Alison said.
She wanted to make an entire film about the candidate but she ran out of time after struggling to find a willing lookalike.
Her latest book, Private, features photographs of the Donald lookalike cavorting with bikini-clad women and looking between a woman's legs as well as pictures impersonating the Queen on the toilet and George W Bush trying to solve a Rubik's cube.
An exhibition of pictures from the book opens at HG Contemporary in New York tonight.
'It's been a nightmare because it's been a nightmare to find Donald Trump, a nightmare to do this damn wig, it's just horrible I can tell you and tiring.
High standards: Even after auditioning 300 Donald Trump lookalikes, Alison said none of them were good enough
Not interested: When she pulled over potential lookalikes on the street they were not willing to cooperate
Perfect match: Finally she found a 66-year-old man from Chicago, pictured, who said he has been told 'for years' that he resembles the businessman
'And I don't have enough time. I'd like to make the Donald Trump reality show which I don't have time for. It's all very hard work and challenging but very important,' she said.
Even after auditioning 300 lookalikes, she said none of them were good enough and when she pulled over people on the street they were not willing to cooperate.
She added: 'I would run after them and say "hey you look like Donald Trump" and since I mentioned that name they would either run away, put the phone down [or] shout at me.
'Eventually I was told to shove off in no uncertain terms and far less polite than that, so I slightly gave up and everyone kept saying "why aren't you doing something?"
Finally she found a 66-year-old man from Chicago who said he has been told 'for years' that he resembles the businessman.
Challenge: But finding the right wig, pictured on 'Donald', still proved to be a problem
Not optimistic: Although being British she said her views 'don't really matter', the artist said if Donald becomes president it would mark a significant negative 'milestone'
Exposure: She claimed that even if Donald, pictured being impersonated by a 'lookalike' in an audition, does not win the election, 'this is going to make him billions of billions of pounds'
After Donald announced his candidacy, the musician and entertainer decided to make a demo to capitalize on his resemblance.
But even after finding the right person, perfecting the wig still proved to be a time-consuming problem for Alison.
She said: 'We've done extensive wig making back in London here...I've been through about 20 hairstylists who have been unable to do the weave.
'It's super complicated isn't it, it's just the weirdest thing...It goes from the side to the back.'
Alison said Trump is so famous that he has 'surpassed Charlie Sheen and Kim Kardashian'.
Celebrity status: Alison said Trump, pictured being impersonated in an audition, is so famous that he has 'surpassed Charlie Sheen and Kim Kardashian'
Inimitable? She said Donald's hair is 'super complicated' to copy
She claimed that even if he does not win the election, 'this is going to make him billions of billions of pounds.'
Although being British she said her views 'don't really matter', the artist said if Donald becomes president it would mark a significant negative 'milestone'.
She added: 'To suddenly have a chat show host media man as president. But you know it's the choice of the Americans, that's what they all want which is also bizarre. Viewing it from Britain is completely odd...
She was picked to present the literary award at the Man Booker Prize ceremony on Tuesday night.
And the Duchess of Cornwall certainly dressed up for the occasion, looking resplendent in a purple tiered dress.
Camilla beamed as she arrived at the The Guildhall in London where she mingled with esteemed guests at the prestigious literary event.
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The Duchess of Cornwall, 69, looked resplendent in a purple tiered dress as she arrived at the Man Booker Prize ceremony on Tuesday night in London
The 69-year-old looked positively regal in the mauve number, which featured fringing detail along the hem and sleeves.
She rounded off the demure ensemble with a string of pearls around her neck and black snakeskin pumps.
There has been endless speculation about the winner of this year's Man Booker Prize, with many bookies dubbing Madeleine Thien's Do Not Say We Have Nothing the hot favourite.
The novel, about a woman who flees China after the Tiananmen Square protests is 2/1 to scoop the 50,000 prize, according to Ladbrokes.
Camilla will present the literary award at this year's event to the winner - who will scoop 50,000
The royal accessorised her demure ensemble with a string of pearls around her neck and matching drop earrings
Camilla strolled into the event alongside barrister Helena Kennedy (left)
She looked positively regal in the mauve number, which featured fringing detail along the hem and sleeves
Camilla commanded the audience's attention as she took to the stage to present the Man Booker Prize
Donning her glasses to give a speech, the royal was animated as she addressed the esteemed guests
The shortlisted authors include Paul Beatty, Deborah Levy, Graeme Macrae Burnet, Ottessa Moshfegh, David Szalay and Madeleine Thien.
And for the authors that miss out on the main accolade, they will still receive 2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book.
Marlon James, who wrote A Brief History of Seven Killings, scooped the 2015 prize.
Camilla beamed as she arrived at the The Guildhall in London where she mingled with esteemed guests at the prestigious literary event
For the authors that miss out on the main accolade, they will still receive 2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book
British writer Deborah Levy, who is shortlisted for her offering Hot Milk, stopped to have a discussion with Camilla
This is the third year that the prize has been open to writers of any nationality.
The shortlist is split between British, Canadian and American writers - a Stateside author is yet to pick up the gong.
Meanwhile, Camilla has been keeping busy, as earlier in the week she crashed one lucky couple's wedding.
Holding a glass of water in her hand, Camilla appeared deep in conversation with two of the guests
The royal seemed happy to mingle with the other guests, including British writer David Szalay
Camilla chatted to American author Ottessa Moshfegh (left) who is shortlisted for her novel Eileen
There has been endless speculation about the winner of this year's Man Booker Prize, with many bookies dubbing Madeleine Thien's Do Not Say We Have Nothing the hot favourite
American author Paul Beatty, who is shortlisted for his novel, The Sellout, smiled as he mingled with the royal
Newlyweds Craig and Rachel Bailey looked delighted to bump into Camilla on their way out of the registry office in Swindon after tying the knot.
The royal asked the couple if they had just got married and where they were going for the reception and honeymoon.
The couple told the Duchess that they were heading to a local restaurant and would be enjoying time in Devon for their honeymoon. The Duchess wished them well and continued on her tour of the town.
The Duchess of Cornwall receives a bouquet from schoolchildren from Robert Le Kyng Primary School
The Duchess of Cornwall added a twist of tartan to proceedings as she made a solo visit to Swindon on Thursday.
The royal looked resplendent in her trusty purple and red tartan coat as she arrived in Swindon to officially name Sir Daniel Gooch Place at the front of the railway station.
The glamorous wife of Prince Charles was positively glowing as she posed for pictures outside the train station with local civic leaders.
The glamorous wife of Prince Charles was positively glowing for the occasion
A baby boy born with a rare medical condition was rushed to London's top Great Ormond Street Hospital shortly after birth.
Tiny Raymond Dean is one of the few people to have been born with Currariano Triad.
The tot was born with a malformed rectum that stopped him defecating and severe problems with his tailbone.
Seven-month-old Raymond Dean, who has a rare stomach condition called currariano triad, with his parents Billie and James
Baby Raymond was transferred to the world renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for treatment
Raymond's parents, Billie and James Dean, looked on as their first child had to be transferred by ambulance from Norwich to London.
But seven months on Mrs Dean said their pride and joy little boy is 'thriving' - despite the everyday challenge of having to live with a colostomy bag.
Doctors have improved Raymond's malformed rectum and that's given the family hope he will be able to go to the toilet normally as he gets older.
'Raymond has become such a cheeky, smiley baby and we think the world of him,' said Billie of Norwich.
'He loves going out with us and he sleeps so well at night.'
Recalling the day he came along, first-time mother Billie, a nurse, says Raymond
The one in a million turn of events left Raymond's parents, Billie and James Dean, shell-shocked as their first child had to fight for his life
Doctors have improved Raymond's malformed rectum and that's given the family hope he will be able to go to the toilet normally as gets is older
was whisked to the neo-natal intensive care unit at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital after being allowed a brief cuddle with his parents.
However eight hours later the infant was put in an ambulance and swept off on the 100-mile trip to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
It could have been a life-threatening condition for Raymond who spent the next week undergoing major surgery and treatment. But doctors treated him so quickly it never got to that.
For childhood sweethearts Billie and James, who stayed night and day close by the hospital to support their ailing son, it was not the start to parenthood they had imagined
For childhood sweethearts Billie and James, who stayed night and day close by the hospital to support their ailing son, it was not the start to parenthood they had imagined.
'It was terrifying and really difficult,' said Mrs Dean. 'I don't think we slept for 48 hours straight through after Raymond was born.
'In London we were getting naps but I kept expressing milk which we would run over to the hospital.'
Raymond has to live with a colostomy bag and the family are eager to get in touch with other people whose children suffer bladder or bowel disorders.
'We'd love to hear from other people who have a young child with a similar problem,' said Billie. 'It would be great to set up some kind of support group.
A teenage girl was left fighting for her life after developing toxic shock syndrome from using tampons.
Katrina Shelton, was 16 when she contracted the rare illness, which she initially misdiagnosed as flu.
She was rushed to hospital when the 'virus' became steadily worse and she felt weak, feverish and was repeatedly vomiting.
She was transferred to intensive care where she was diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome.
Katrina Shelton, was 16, when she contacted the rare illness, which was initially misdiagnosed as flu. She was rushed to hospital and spent two days in intensive care
Miss Shelton, pictured with her mother Jennifer as she prepares to leave hospital, says she now won't use tampons
Medics desperately pumped her full of antibiotics in a bid to save her life and she pulled through and survived.
It is thought she caught the deadly infection as a result of using tampons - but she insists she didn't leave them in for longer than the recommended time.
Miss Shelton, from Pentwater, Michigan, was feeling a little out of sorts when she got up to go to school.
'I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I felt really bad, so I called my mum and she came and took me home,' she said.
After sleeping for the rest of the day, she felt better and went back to school.
But again, after just a few hours, she was overwhelmed by intense tiredness and suddenly started vomiting.
She went to a doctor suspecting she had flue before going home again to rest.
Her symptoms continued the next day, but on the Thursday, her condition suddenly deteriorated.
As her mother Jennifer, 37, went to get the car to take her to hospital, she collapsed on the bathroom floor.
'I woke up and I couldn't move the right side of my body. I couldn't lift my leg or my arm and I started freaking out.
'I don't remember how I got there, but my mum had to carry me to the car, because I couldn't walk,' she said.
Her mother and stepfather Mike Arambula, 46, rushed her to casualty at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan, where doctors told her family she was seriously ill.
'They took my vitals straight away and my blood pressure was so low that the nurse had to take it twice.
'Suddenly, there were doctors and nurses in the room and they were sticking needles in my arm. I was crying and I was very scared.'
Her family sat by her bed and watched, as doctors pumped fluids into her arm, to try and bring her body back to normal.
'If I had come any later, I probably wouldn't have made it, because my blood pressure was so low.
It is thought Miss Shelton's case, she caught the deadly infection as a result of using tampons - but she insists she didn't leave them in for longer than the recommended time
'On that first day, doctors were preparing my family for the worst. It was very frightening for them,' she said.
Medical staff stabilised her blood pressure and she was in intensive care for two days before she was diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome.
Toxic shock syndrome is caused by bacteria getting into the body and then releasing harmful toxins.
In Miss Shelton's case, it was caused by the tampons she was using.
'They aren't sure why exactly it happened,' she said. 'But I was told not to use tampons again. I was so shocked.
'You see the warning labels on boxes of tampons, but you never think it's going to happen to you.
'You think it's just some scary thing that they put on there just in case.'
WHAT IS TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME AND HOW CAN YOU GET IT FROM WEARING A TAMPON? Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a rare but life-threatening bacterial infection. It is caused by staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus pyogenes - bacteria that normally live harmlessly on the skin, nose or mouth. But they can invade the body's bloodstream, where they release poisonous toxins. The toxins damage tissue, including skin and organs, and can disturb many vital organ functions. TSS is a medical emergency and sufferers must seek medical help as soon as possible. It is caused by staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus pyogenes - bacteria that normally live harmlessly on the skin, nose or mouth Signs of TSS include a temperature of 38.9C or above; fainting; widespread; flat, red skin rash; three or more organs affected by infection; infection caused by staphylococcus or streptococcus. If left untreated, TSS can cause shock and organ damage that results in death. Anyone can develop TSS but for reasons that are not fully understood, a significant number of cases are in women who are on their period and using a tampon - particularly those designed to be 'super absorbent'. The role of tampons in toxic shock syndrome remains unexplained. One theory is that if a tampon is left in your vagina for some time, as is often the case with the more absorbent types of tampons, it can become a breeding ground for the bacteria. Another theory is that the fibres of the tampon may scratch the vagina, allowing the bacteria or the toxins to enter the blood. No evidence has been found to support either theory. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement
Luckily, Katrina made a fast recovery and was able to leave hospital on Sunday - just four days after she was admitted.
She said: 'I went home on the Sunday morning and I had to do breathing treatments, because they put so much fluid into my body and it was going it into my lungs.
'But I was much better on the Monday and I even went back to school on Tuesday.'
Three years on, the illness hasn't had any long-term effect on her health.
'I lost half the hair on my head in the hospital, but other than that, I was fine. Some of my friends didn't even know I had been ill,' she said.
But since then the psychology student, now 19, has been told to avoid using tampons.
'Doctors told me not to use tampons for a while after I was ill,' she said.
'After about two years, I went back to using them and I thought it would be ok.
'I was lying in bed and I started feeling a bit sick and I freaked out. I just don't want it to happen again.
A baby born with an alien-shaped head had life-saving surgery to break apart his skull and put it back together like a jigsaw.
Harry Barker, 18 months, from Liverpool, was diagnosed with craniosynostosis when he was born - a rare defect which causes an abnormal-shaped head.
Doctors told his mother, Kylie, 28, that he had the skull of a fully-grown adult and was at risk of brain damage.
He was forced to undergo two major operations when he was just months old to ease the swelling on his brain - and was left temporarily blind.
The condition causes him to suffer from intense pain when he moves his head as a result of his over-sized skull.
Harry Barker, 18 months, from Liverpool, was diagnosed with craniosynostosis when he was born - a rare defect which causes an abnormal-shaped head
Doctors told his mother, Kylie, 28, that he had the skull of a fully-grown adult and was at risk of brain damage. He was forced to undergo two major operations to ease the swelling on his brain - and was left temporarily blind
Ms Barker said: 'When I was pregnant and had my scan they told me his head was quite large.
'I was heartbroken when they first told me about his condition because I didn't know I was pregnant at the time.
'I didn't see him for the first two days and that was very difficult - all I wanted to do was go and meet him for the first time.
'When I did see him, his head was quite long and he looked like something out of the Alien films.'
But neither operation was completely successful and doctors have warned he will need further surgery in future. He suffers from intense pain when he moves his head which causes him to cry, but his mother, Kylie, 28, says he just 'smiles throughout it'
Ms Barker was rushed into hospital in February last year after suffering from an asthma attack.
But to her surprise, nurses revealed she was 31 weeks pregnant.
Just a week later, the mother-of-five gave birth to Harry, who weighed just 3lbs.
Doctors revealed his abnormally-shaped head was putting pressure on his brain and that he needed surgery.
WHAT IS CRANIOSYNOSTOSIS? Craniosynostosis is a rare skull problem that causes a baby to be born with, or develop, an abnormally shaped head. It is rare, affecting an estimated one in every 1,800 to 3,000 children. Three out of every four cases affect boys. The irregular skull shape in craniosynostosis can cause persistent headaches, learning difficulties, eye problems and other symptoms. Craniosynostosis is the result of the premature fusion of different sections of the skull. This means the skull is unable to grow in affected areas. When one area of the skull is prevented from growing, other areas may 'overgrow' to compensate and limit the pressure developing around the brain. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement
When he was three months old, surgeons conducted surgery to help relieve the discomfort and help his skull grow correctly.
They broke apart his cranium to remove excess bone and then put his skull back together again.
Surgeons repeated the surgery three months later.
He was left blind for a few days after going under the knife both times - a known side effect of the surgery.
But neither operation was completely successful and doctors have warned he will need further surgery in future.
He suffers from intense pain when he moves his head which causes him to cry, but Ms Barker says he just 'smiles throughout it'.
His family are now hoping to buy him a special pram for Christmas to keep his head secure and allow him to leave the house more often.
They need to raise 1,500 for the device and a post-operative cranial helmet which will require a fitting at a specialist London-based firm.
Surgeons broke apart his cranium to remove excess bone and then put his skull back together again to help prevent permanent brain damage
Unions have called for an end of 'blink and you'll miss them' Health Secretaries as the Sunak shuffle gives England its fifth Health Secretary since 2021 and the NHS faces multiple crises. Record waiting lists, a broken emergency service system, looming staff strikes and the prospect of the worst winter facing the NHS in living memory are just a selection of the issues No10 must get a grip on. To handle the numerous problems newly anointed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed Steve Barclay (bottom left and right) as his Health Secretary yesterday, the fourth MP to hold the position in 12 months. It's Mr Barclay's second go at the job, having briefly filled the post between July and September after Sajid Javid (top right) quit the position in a wave of resignations to hit then PM, Boris Johnson. His most memorable event in the role was being accosted by a member of the public outside a hospital who accused him of doing 'bugger all' about the NHS crisis. Mr Barclay replaces Therese Coffey (bottom centre), who kept the seat warm for a grand total of 49 days as part of the ill-fated Liz Truss Government. Ms Coffey last night thanked her ministerial team on Twitter, saying 'we achieved a lot together in seven weeks'. Some of her most memorable achievements include implying NHS nurses unhappy with their pay can leave the UK, telling her staff to stop using the Oxford comma, and admitting to illegally supplying antibiotics to her friends. Today unions called for an end to chaos in Westminster and for Mr Barclay to get a grip on the staffing crisis they claim is fuelling the issues facing the health service. The revolving door of ministers has left Matt Hancock (top left) the longest serving Health Secretary in recent times, having an almost three year stint before resigning after footage of him emerged breaching social distancing guidelines by kissing a colleague.
Britain and France suffer the highest number of malaria cases imported from other countries, new research has revealed.
An average of almost 1,900 people with malaria moved to Britain each year over the last decade, figures suggest.
While France had an average of 2,169 imported infections per year.
The US followed with the third highest rates at 1,511, followed by Italy, 637, and Germany, 401.
An average of almost 1,900 people with malaria moved to Britain each year over the last decade, researchers from the University of Southampton found
Researchers from the University of Southampton examined and mapped the movement of malaria from endemic countries.
They were tracked to around 40 countries which were defined as being malaria-free or non-endemic.
Experts said that infection movement was strongly skewed to a small number of 'high-traffic' routes.
Malaria cases originating from West Africa accounted for 56 per cent of all those detected in non-endemic countries, they found.
Lead researcher Professor Andrew Tatem said: 'This is the first worldwide assessment of imported malaria cases in 20 years and mapping this data is hugely valuable in helping us understand how we can mitigate against the effects of the global movements of the disease.
'Imported malaria can be expensive to treat, contribute to drug resistance, sometimes cause secondary local transmission and threaten the long-term goal of eradication.
The average annual number of imported malaria cases per year between 2005 and 2015 (red). Also visible, cases from endemic countries to non-endemic countries (blue)
The average annual number of malaria cases between 2005 and 2015 moving from endemic to non-endemic country pairs are mapped as flow lines. Only average annual flows of 50 plus cases are mapped, with 200 plus in red, 100200 in pink, and 50100 in yellow
'This study forms part of wider efforts to understand patterns of human and malaria parasite movement to help guide elimination strategies.'
The research constructed and analysed a database of publically available nationally reported statistics on imported malaria covering more than 50,000 individual cases over 10 years.
The study showed 20 per cent of cases were from India, 13 per cent originated from East Africa and three per cent from Papua New Guinea.
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Despite the West Africa to France and the UK being the strongest imported malaria link, other high traffic routes existed.
India to the US recorded an average of 149 cases a year, while visitors from Pakistan were responsible for 69 cases each year in the UK.
Malaria is a serious tropical disease spread by mosquitoes. If it isn't diagnosed and treated promptly, it can be fatal.
A single mosquito bite is all it takes for someone to become infected, NHS Choices say.
Professor Tatem said by mapping the network of malaria movements across continents they highlighted a number of factors that influenced imported strength.
Historical, economic, language and cultural ties all play a part - population movements with former colonies had particular influence.
These included Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya with the UK, and Mali, Niger and Chad with France.
Now the researchers hope to conduct further studies to examine which factors are the drivers behind the patterns of malaria spread between endemic and non-endemic countries.
Children born to overweight mothers have a higher chance of developing ADHD, scientists warn.
They are also more likely to suffer from sleeping problems, anxiety and depression, a study found.
Public health strategies to help women planning pregnancies reach and maintain a healthy weight could address the risk, experts say.
Recognising severe obesity as a risk factor could also lead to the development of prevention strategies.
Children born to overweight mothers have a higher chance of developing ADHD, sleeping problems and depression, scientists found
Researchers from the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Helsinki, Finland, assessed the impact of obesity on children.
The mothers were classed as severely obese - with a body mass index of 40 or above.
They also studied symptoms of mental disorders linked to the nervous system in 112 children aged three to five, who were born to obese mothers.
Youngsters born to severely obese women had a 'significantly higher' chance of hyperactivity and sleep problems.
They were also more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and aggressive behaviour.
The risk remained higher even when other factors were taken into account, such as the mother's mental health, social status and whether she smoked.
The risk of children remained higher even when other factors were taken into account, researchers discovered (stock)
Researchers said the results suggest risks are higher for children of severely obese mothers and could mean maternal weight is a strong indicator for whether children are likely to develop brain-related psychiatric disorders.
Study author Professor Rebecca Reynolds, from the University of Edinburgh said: 'This research underlines the importance of finding ways of helping women plan for pregnancy by optimising their health, including reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.'
'Bostin', meaning 'brilliant', is used in the Black Country and is derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'bosten', meaning 'something to boast about'
A Wolverhampton curry restaurant has beaten off competition from some of the UK's top hotels and restaurants to be awarded 'Best Restaurant' at the prestigious 2016 Curry Life Awards.
Malabar Indian Restaurant topped their category after 10-years in business and a menu that specialises in sea-food, locally-grown produce and culture where tradition meets experimentation.
The judges were particularly impressed with a Shalamari Shellfish curry that contained unusual British ingredients like scallops and mussels within a traditional Indian coconut sauce.
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A Wolverhampton curry restaurant has be awarded the 'Best Restaurant' award at the prestigious 2016 Curry Life Awards
Owner Mohammed Shah Islam attributed the win to the freshness of his Wolverhampton grown products, and the quality of his spices.
'Every other restaurant has the same chicken Tikka Masala, bhuna but we want to bring the original Indian cuisine back into the restaurant', Islam says.
With over 22-years experience and 10-years at the current venue, Islam claims that Malabar is full almost every week and Mohammed is known for travelling around South Asia, picking up new techniques and ideas all the time.
Stourbridge-based, Balti aficionado David Cox confirmed on social media that Malabar's curries are well-known among locals to be, 'Bostin'.
Owner Mohammed Shah Islam attributed the win to the freshness of his Wolverhampton grown products, and the quality of his spices
Meanwhile, Chief Guest at the Curry Life Awards, Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, Secretary of State for International Development, told the audience at the Park Plaza Hotel in London: "The Curry Life Annual Awards ceremony is a great opportunity to celebrate the enormous talent that is on display around the country and the success of the Great British Curry!
The Brits have a long-standing love affair with curry dating back to 1809 when the first Indian restaurant opened in London. Curry has now become one of the most traded currencies in the culinary arena of Great Britain.
The British curry industry is is now worth an estimated 4bn, however, there have been concerns raised that Britain's Balti culture is not what it once was due to the difficulty of attracting top Indian chefs to the UK.
Syed Belal Ahmed, editor of Curry Life magazine told MailOnline that one of the problems is Britain's strict immigration rules: '35,000 for a minimum wage is a lot for a restaurant.
'The immigration laws need to be relaxed if we're going to get the elite Indian chefs working in Britain. These are skills that take years to master, no disrespect meant, but it's not a job a Polish person can do '.
Brick Lane: The British curry industry is is now worth an estimated 4bn, however, there have been concerns raised that Britain's Balti culture is not what it once was due to the difficulty of attracting top Indian chefs to the UK
However, Ahmed claims that one the whole, I ndian food has improved dramatically during the past 20 years, and very soon we will see more and more Michelin stars being awarded to British, Indian chefs.
Thats a wonderful achievement and we want our chefs to keep raising the bar because the curry made in this country is unique and has developed independently of its birthplace on the Indian subcontinent, Ahmed says".
The All India Executive Council of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), also known as the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (ABKM) passed a resolution against continuing violence of CPI(M) against RSS and other opponents in Kerala on Monday.
The ABKM is meeting for a three-day congregation that ends on October 25.
The RSS called upon the Kerala government as well as the Centre to take appropriate action urgently against political violence and to ensure rule of law in Kerala.
RSS also known as Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal passed a resolution against 'continuing violence of CPI(M) against RSS'. (Picture for representation only)
The meet is being presided over by RSS second in command Bhayyaji Joshi and is also being attended by chief Mohan Bhagwat.
The ABKM of RSS strongly condemns the continuing violence of CPI(M) against RSS and other opponents in Kerala.
Ever since the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) started its work in Kerala way back in 1942, the Leftists, and afterwards, particularly the CPI(M), unnerved by the RSS mission of inculcating patriotic feeling and the spirit of unity and oneness among the people of the state, as also its ever growing popularity and influence among the people, have been busily engaged in a vain attempt to finish off the RSS by organising unprovoked and wanton attacks against Sangh Shakhas and workers, the resolution said.
A man was allegedly stabbed to death by suspected members of the CPI(M) party in Kerala recently
The resolution deprecated Marxism as an ideology as intolerant and totalitarian.
Over the last seven decades, more than 250 young, energetic and promising Sangh workers were murdered and scores of men and women incapacitated due to serious injuries in the most dreaded manner by the blood-thirsty CPI(M) cadres all over the state with the silent connivance and approval of the leadership, the resolution said, mentioning that the maximum number of victimised RSS workers came from the Kannur district.
BJP presidemt Amit Shah inaugurated an exhibition entitled 'An untold story of intolerance: Communist Violence in Kerala' in Delhi, last year
"Recently, C.K. Ramachandran, a BMS worker, was gruesomely murdered in his home on July 11, 2016, in front of his wife, paying no heed to her repeated pleas to show mercy.
"K. Ramith was hacked to death in broad daylight on October 12, 2016, in front of his house, while he was rushing out of his house to buy medicine for his pregnant sister.
"Ramith, the sole bread earner of his family was the only son of his father, Uthaman, a bus driver, who was also murdered 14 years ago by the CPI(M) goons, while on duty, in his bus. These are but the latest examples of the CPI(M)s violent and barbaric intolerance.
The resolution also said that CPI(M) was not even sparing its partners.
Why, they even do not spare their own cadres who leave the organisation, as is evident from the dastardly killing of T.P. Chandrashekhan, on May 4, 2012.
At a time when defence personnel are under constant attacks from hackers to steal classified information, the Indian Air Force is set to arm all its personnel with smartphones to protect them from offensives.
These are special smart phones that the IAF is in the process of providing to all its 1.75 lakh personnel, which are hack proof as they connect only with the Indian Air Force internal network.
All IAF personnel from airmen to officers are being provided these smartphones, which can protect our communication from getting intercepted and also prevents our data from being leaked to hackers who are always on the prowl for classified defence-related information, an IAF officer said here.
The special smart phones will be given to 1.75 lakh IAF soldiers, these phones are hack proof as they connect only with the Indian Air Force internal network. (Picture for representation)
The phones are equipped with facilities of video calling, but it does not have any other Apps like other general smartphones.
In future, we may develop and provide apps which can help the air soldiers like if they need any information immediately about their salary or any other official work, the officer said.
The phones also provide end-to-end connectivity at all times and at all air bases - from the worlds highest battlefield Siachen Glacier to Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The smartphone sets are being provided to the officers right after their commissioning, where the service number is put in as the last five or six digits of their official mobile number and can be also be used to establish their identity.
The smartphones cannot be hacked as they only connect with Indian Air Force internal network (Picture for representation)
The phones wont bother the personnel when they are on leave as they can connect to the air force network only inside or near the air bases.
Even if some officer involved in the running of an airfield is not on seat, he can be contacted immediately at his location, the officer said.
The IAF invested more than Rs 300 crore for the creation of an exclusive mobile phone network.
There have been cases where phones and computers of service personnel have been compromised by hacking groups backed by Pakistani spy agency ISI and Chinese hackers.
Personal laptop of an Army officer posted under the Andaman and Nicobar Command was compromised and spy agencies were alerted after they tracked the source of the leakage.
The Delhi government has been awaiting reports of the bird samples sent to the central government institutes in Jalandhar and Bhopal for nine days now, based on which they will draw their action plan.
Whether the delay is being caused by procedural complications or the never-ending tiff between the AAP and Centre, is yet to be known.
However, Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai admitted that there has indeed been a delay in getting reports from central government labs and to speed up the process, he will meet Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday.
Fresh cases of at least six more bird deaths were reported recently, which had taken the total deaths to 64
Reports from Jalandhar and Bhopal are not coming. Reports of samples sent from October 19 onwards are still awaited.
The government has so far received only the reports from first samples, which were sent to central government labs. Since then, we have been regularly sending out samples, but are yet to hear from them, Rai said.
We have sought appointment from Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday to apprise him of the situation and also to ask for lab reports to be expedited so that appropriate action can be taken in the matter.
So far, 64 birds have died since October 14, due to Avian Influenza. The first death was reported from the Delhi zoo.
According to a senior officer, the delay in acquiring the reports has caused major confusion in drawing the future action plan.
At present, the action plan is being made on the basis of the deaths but if the reports had come to us on time, we could have planned in advance to keep a check on the virus, he said.
So far, 64 birds have died since October 14, due to Avian Influenza. The first death was reported from the Delhi zoo.
Following this, 47 ducks have died in Deer Park in Hauz Khas. Both have been closed for public till the situation is controlled.
Fresh cases of at least six more bird deaths were reported on Monday, taking the total deaths of migratory birds from the disease to 64.
However, the anti-virus operation in Deer Park and Delhi Zoo appears to be bearing results, as only two bird deaths have been reported in Deer Park over the last 48 hours.
No deaths have been reported in Delhi zoo in the last three days, but, four deaths have been reported from a lake behind Shakti Sthal near Raj Ghat.
Speaking on the matter, Rai said: We have started close monitoring of the lake, along with other locations. But with bird deaths being reported from more locations, there is need to increase vigilance.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has issued an 11-point health advisory with a detailed list of dos and donts for residents.
They have been asked to take full precautions when dealing with birds. The government has also asked people to ensure that they do not consume raw meat or soft boiled eggs.
In a coordination committee meeting of all the agencies in the Delhi Secretariat on Monday to consider further action on checking the spread of H5N8 influenza virus, it has been decided that all government departments will spread lime powder along all water bodies in the city.
The inner sanctum is the resting place of a legendary saint
The famous Haji Ali Dargah Mosque mosque in Mumbai, India has finally agreed to end a ban on women entering its inner sanctum.
The trust for The Haji Ali Dargah Mosque has since 2011 barred women from the landmark mausoleum off the coast of Mumbai, insisting the presence of women near the tomb of a revered saint is a "grievous sin" in Islam.
The trustees had appealed to the Supreme Court against a lower court's order in August to overturn the ban, a ruling made on the grounds that the prohibition violated constitutional rights of equality.
The Haji Ali Dargah historic mosque in Mumbai, India has finally agreed to end a ban on women entering its inner sanctum (Punit Paranjpe AFP/File)
Haji Ali Dargah is one of Mumbai's most recognisable landmarks and receives tens of thousands of not only Muslims but Hindu devotees and sightseeing tourists every week
Sayyed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari The Haji Ali Dargah was constructed in 1431 in memory of a wealthy Muslim merchant, Sayyed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, who gave up all his worldly possessions before making a pilgrimage to Mecca. On Thursdays and Fridays, the shrine is visited by enormous amounts of pilgrims. Irrespective of faith and religion, people visit the dargah to get the blessings of the legendary saint. On Fridays, various Sufi musicians perform a form of devotional music called Qawwali at the dargah. Advertisement
But the trust told the Supreme Court on Monday it would now admit women, but needed several weeks to set up special entry areas to the tomb in the 15th-century building.
"The trust has decided to give women access to the sanctorum housing the saint's tomb," its lawyer Gopal Subramanium told the court.
A Muslim women's rights group hailed the decision as a victory which would likely put pressure on other places of worship that have gender restrictions.
"It's a victory for women's rights," said Noorjehan Niaz, co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan which campaigns for the rights of Muslim women in India.
"It is restoring the Islamic values of what we have always believed as Muslims, that Islam is a religion of equality, democracy and women's rights," she told AFP.
Men Only: he trust for The Haji Ali Dargah Mosque has since 2011 barred women from the landmark mausoleum off the coast of Mumbai, insisting the presence of women near the tomb of a revered saint is a "grievous sin" in Islam
"It's a victory for women's rights," said Noorjehan Niaz, co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan which campaigns for the rights of Muslim women in India
Niaz was one of the petitioners who filed the case against the Haji Ali Dargah trust on constitutional grounds.
Women in India have been intensifying their campaigns to be allowed to enter a string of Hindu temples and other religious sites.
Hundreds of women staged a protest march to a temple in Maharashtra state in January, leading the high court in Mumbai to strike down a ban against women entering a shrine there.
The Haji Ali Dargah was constructed in 1431 in memory of a wealthy Muslim merchant, Sayyed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, who gave up all his worldly possessions before making a pilgrimage to Mecca
The reasons for the trust's change of heart in the latest case were unclear. But the Supreme Court when taking up the appeal had expressed hopes of a "progressive" approach from it, according to the Press Trust of India.
Haji Ali Dargah is one of Mumbai's most recognisable landmarks and receives tens of thousands of not only Muslims but Hindu devotees and sightseeing tourists every week.
After snubbing the all-party delegation comprising Indian Opposition parties last month, separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani met former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha at his residence on Tuesday.
Sinha led a five-member delegation to Geelanis residence where he is under house arrest, insisting that they are well-wishers of Kashmiris.
After emerging from the meeting, which lasted for an hour, Sinha said that the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani (pictured) met former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha at his residence on Tuesday
The delegation later called on other separatist leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Abdul Gani Bhat.
Mirwaiz was released from jail on Monday night and remains under house arrest.
The other members of the delegation were Wajahat Habibullah, former chairman of the National Commission for Minorities; Kapil Kak, former Air Vice-Marshal; journalist Bharat Bhushan and Sushoba Barve of Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation.
On September 4, Geelani had refused to meet CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and RJDs Jay Prakash Narayan.
A Kashmiri throws back a tear gas canister at Indian security personnel during a protest after Eid al-Adha prayers in Srinagar
The delegation was met with pro-freedom and anti-India slogans from demonstrators who had gathered outside Geelanis residence.
On Tuesday, the Sinha-led delegation too was met with anti-India slogans.
In the evening, the Geelani-led All Parties Hurriyat Conference issued a statement saying, A high-level delegation headed by former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha dropped at the residence-cum-office of chairman Syed Ali Geelani at 11:30 am".
Yashwant Sinha led a five-member delegation to Geelanis residence where he is under house arrest, insisting that they are well-wishers of Kashmiris
Geelani reminded the delegation of the historical perspective of the Kashmir issue, pending for its final resolution since 1947, the statement further said.
As Kashmir entered into its 110th day of unrest on Wednesday, the Hurriyat demanded that all arrested people should be released and cases against them withdrawn.
Police have so far arrested more than 6,000 youths involved in stone-throwing.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has scrapped a controversial Army deal worth around Rs 1,000 crore to procure 45,000 rifles amid allegations of corruption in the acquisition process.
The potential deal fell under scrutiny over the possibility of favours being given to Israeli firm, Israeli Weapons Industry, over its other rivals in the deal.
The tender for the rifles was issued in 2010 in which 44,600 close quarter carbines (rifles) were to be provided to the infantry units for combating terrorists in close fights.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has scrapped a controversial Army deal worth around Rs 1,000 crore to procure 45,000 rifles amid allegations of corruption in the acquisition process
Twenty-eight companies had shown interest in the tender but ultimately after only the Israeli firm was left as single vendor in the race for the coveted contract.
A senior Defence Ministry official told Mail Today: "The tender has been scrapped after deliberations with all stakeholders and legal advice. The Army has been asked to restart the process to buy the guns.
The process for acquiring the guns may have been affected but there will be zero tolerance for corruption, the official added.
Twenty-eight companies had shown interest in the tender but ultimately after only the Israeli firm was left as single vendor in the race for the coveted munitions contract
Though the Defence Ministry allows single vendor cases to be carried through, but it generally prefers only multi-vendor cases at the final stages to reap benefits in terms of cost due to competition.
The Ministry has now asked the Army to restart the tender under fast-track procedure, but Parrikar has made it clear that the next tender should also be a multi-vendor procedure, sources revealed.
The deal had come under cloud after Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh expressed doubts over the process of selection of the Israeli gun at the Defence Acquisition Council meeting in June.
During his stint in the Defence Ministry, the minister had also sought a CBI probe into the deal.
After objections were raised about the tender process, Parrikar had held meetings with all stakeholders including secretary, defence production, Ashok Gupta; director general, acquisition, Smitha Nagaraj; Army deputy chief Lt Gen.
The potential deal fell under scrutiny over the possibility of favours being given to Israeli firm, Israeli Weapons Industry (pictured), over its other rivals in the deal. The tender for the rifles was issued in 2010 in which 44,600 close quarter carbines (rifles) were to be provided to the infantry units for combating terrorists in close fights.
Subroto Raha and other senior officers to find out a way to go ahead with the ongoing deal, but it did not yield results.
In the initial phase of procurement, the Army had sent the Request for Information to 28 companies and after getting responses, the Request for Proposal was sent to five firms.
At the trial stage of the competition, just two companies - Italian Beretta and Israeli Weapon Industry - were left. The Galil ACE CQB carbine was offered by IWI while Beretta had offered its ARX160 model, the official said.
Sources said the Directorate General of Quality Assurance rejected Beretta because a safety measure on its laser sight was found unsuitable.
The night sight by Beretta, widely used in the US, was fitted with a small screw, which needed to be opened before use. This screw dropped off during trials resulting in its rejection, and subsequently the single-vendor situation.
The Ministry has now asked the Army to restart the tender under fast-track procedure, but Parrikar has made it clear that the next tender should also be a multi-vendor procedure, sources revealed
The tender called for night-vision sights to be fitted onto the Picatinny rail- a standardised bracket - on the top of the barrel.
Since no munitions manufacturer makes night sights, it was suggested to keep options open.
The global tender for the carbines was issued with the option to get transfer of technology to build another 1.2 lakh such carbines by the Ordnance Factory Board.
Beretta offered its ARX160 model but it didn't work well with night vision
Defence sources said it needs to be clarified as to why such a deal was allowed to progress when several three-star and two-star rank officers were involved in supervisory role.
L-e-T posters in Gujranwala town of Punjab called for last rites for one of the terrorists
In first-hand evidence of a Pakistan-based terror group carrying out last months Uri attack, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) put up posters across Gujranwala town in Pakistans Punjab province claiming responsibility for the killing of 20 Indian soldiers.
The posters also called for the last rites of one of the four terrorists who were killed in the attack.
They announce that the LeT will be holding the last rites in absentia for Gujranwala resident Muhammad Anas, one of the four terrorists involved in the attack on an Army base in Uri in Kashmir, and asked local residents to join in.
The posters ask residents to pray for the lion-hearted holy warrior Abu Siraqa Muhammad Anas, who sent 177 Hindu soldiers to hell at the Uri Brigade camp in occupied Kashmir, and thus drank from the glass of martyrdom.
Hafiz Saeed, who heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is the parent organisation of the LeT, figures prominently on the posters, along with other members of the terror organisation.
Protesters burn posters of a film starring a Pakistani actor Fawad Khan after the attack on the Indian army camp in Uri, close to the Line of Control which divides India and Pakistan
The posters nail Pakistans denial that its non-state actors were not behind the pre-dawn attack on the Army camp last month, which triggered one of the worst India-Pakistan standoffs in recent years.
Pakistani demonstrators chant slogans against Indian government and burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month
The Uri attack was followed by the Indian Armys surgical strikes, which dismantled at least seven terror launch pads and killed an unknown number of terrorists and their sympathisers across the Line of Control.
India has also been on the diplomatic offensive in its attempt to isolate Pakistan globally with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling it a mother ship of terror earlier this month.
A convoy of Indian troopers pass through the border line area in Uri sector, where tensions are running high after the attack last month. The Uri attack was followed by strikes from the Indian army (above) which killed an unknown number of terrorists
India had even called off its participation in the SAARC summit that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in protest.
Other SAARC member states - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan - had followed suit and refused to participate in the SAARC summit, forcing Pakistan to call it off.
Modi had even flayed Pakistan at the BRICS-BIMSTEC summit in Goa, in which he found the backing of several countries.
On the contrary, Pakistan, despite being isolated globally, continues to deny the activities of terror groups on its soil.
Pakistani Army soldiers shift coffins containing bodies of Police cadets for burial to their home towns, following an attack by militants in Quetta, Pakistan
When presented with evidence on the Uri attacks, Pakistan not only denied it, but its defence minister Khawaja Asif even suggested that it was an insider job.
In retaliation, India threatened to scrap the Indus Water Treaty and contemplated giving refuge to Baloch activists.
The Uri attack did not spare the film industry as well, with fringe right-wing organisations calling for a ban on movies starring Pakistani actors and asking Pakistani actors to leave India for not denouncing the brazen attack.
The man had no Aadhaar card to buy foodstuffs (file photo)
A 28-year-old unemployed Dalit man allegedly died of hunger in the Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
His differently-abled wife, who has not eaten a morsel for days, is also fighting for her life.
Dharmendra did not have an Aadhaar card or a ration card and therefore was not able to get foodgrain from the local fair price shop.
The district administration has ordered action against the local officials and the owner of the fair price shop which provides government subsidised food to the poor.
Tehsilar Ramkumar Verma, who inspected the couples house at Dharauta village under Soraon tehsil after Dharmendra's death on Sunday morning, said he could not find any food in the house.
Hunger deaths are rife in the countryside despite the government running several schemes, especially a food subsidy programme offering cut price rice and wheat
Aadhaar Identity Card
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a central government agency of India, and its objective is to collect the biometric and demographic data of residents. This is then stored in a centralised database, Each resident is then issued with a unique 12-digit identity number. Aadhaar is considered the world's largest national identification number project. Advertisement
Verma gave Rs 1,000 to the family as an immediate relief. Dharmendra was a local dancer at rural functions and did not possess the Aadhaar card which is required to procure the subsidised ration card for families below the poverty line.
Initially, the couple survived on the food provided by the villagers, but after some time, the food from villagers stopped coming.
Dharmendra and Usha Devi were married for eight years, but the couple was childless.
He had some agricultural land registered in his name, sub-divisional magistrate Brajendra Dwivedi said. It is reported that the family survived on the food provided by villagers.
But of late, people had stopped giving them alms, plunging the couple into hunger.
Dharmendra succumbed on Sunday morning. Villagers collected money to perform his last rites.
Hunger deaths are rife in the countryside despite the government running several schemes, especially a food subsidy programme that guarantees cut-price rice and wheat to 63.5% of the population.
A National Investigation Agency probe on the 21 missing persons from Kerala has unearthed the deep ISIS terror module operating inside the state.
The probe has also revealed that 30 youths from the state had attended IS training camps in Afghanistan and many had returned to the state to run sleeper cells.
The investigations also revealed that many educated Muslim youths from the state who were working in Gulf countries had strong links with IS terror networks and were in close contact with the so-called "prophets of terror".
A National Investigation Agency probe on the 21 missing persons from Kerala has unearthed the deep ISIS terror module operating inside the state
The activities are being funded by NRI businessmen from Kerala, said officials.
A senior police official told India Today: The image of secular Kerala is a vanity. The state has been a breeding ground of terror networks. Many organisations and religious outfits were facilitating their activities,.
The probe has also revealed that 30 youths from the state had attended IS training camps in Afghanistan and many had returned to the state to run sleeper cells
Its not limited to radical Muslim outfits. Even the so-called religious groups which claim secular credentials promoted the prophets of terror, the officials added.
According to him, the handlers of terror outfits have used social media effectively to recruit the youths from the state without alerting the police and intelligence agencies.
A senior police official told India Today: The image of secular Kerala is a vanity. The state has been a breeding ground of terror networks. Many organisations and religious outfits were facilitating their activities,.
Hell broke out when the state came to know about the 21 persons including four families that left the state to join Islamic State in May last year.
Later NIA had taken over the investigation to track the terror network operating in the state.
NIA arrested seven persons including Subahani Haja Moideen, who had fought for IS in Iraq.
The arrest of 31-year-old Subahani, who is a native of Thodupuzha in Idukki district, was a major breakthrough as he had identified key persons in the network.
NIA identified Sajeer Abdulla Mangalaseri as the chief of the IS network in Kerala. 35-year-old Sajeer, a Civil Engineer from National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode and a Salafist who hails from Moozhikal in Kozhikode has been recruiting people from Kerala in IS fold.
His involvement in IS recruitment is a new revelation. He has no crime records and has been working in UAE since 2004. His family has no knowledge about his involvement with terror networks, a police official in Kozhikode revealed to India Today.
Hell broke out when the state came to know about the 21 persons including four families that left the state to join Islamic State in May last year
To his family and relatives, Sajeer is deeply religious and a silent man.
He was a bright student and his father died 10 years ago. He was more of an introvert, his neighbor Azeez Mohammed said.
His family told the police that he has been sending money to them and occasionally spoke to them over phone.
But intelligence agencies believe that Sajeer is no more working in UAE and hiding somewhere in Afghanistan and is in close contact with the missing persons from Kerala.
Ratan Tata appears to be bracing himself for a legal battle with Cyrus Mistry as the Tata Group filed caveats in the Supreme Court, Bombay High Court and the National Company Law Tribunal to prevent him from getting any ex-parte relief on his removal from the chairmans post.
Tata Sons and a Tata Trust, among others, filed the caveats that they should be heard before grant of any interim stay order to the ousted Chairman.
The petitions included one by Ratan Tata and others against Mistry. In a dramatic and sudden turn of events Mistry was removed last evening as Chairman of Tata Sons, the main holding firm of over $ 100-billion conglomerate, while his predecessor Ratan Tata was recalled as an Interim Chairman.
Ratan Tata appears to be bracing himself for a legal battle with Cyrus Mistry as the Tata Group filed caveats in the Supreme Court, Bombay High Court and the National Company Law Tribunal
Earlier there was some confusion over whether Mistry had filed caveats, but his office said no such action had been taken.
A statement from Mistry's office said, a caveat is a notice filed by a party fearing legal action seeking notice before action.
Tatas have filed caveats seeking notice from Cyrus Mistry fearing legal action.
Cyrus has not filed any caveats. He has already made a statement that such concerns are misplaced at this stage.
The Mistry familys Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which owns a hefty 18.5 per cent stake in the Tata Group, issued a statement saying it was studying the circumstances and has not yet decided on taking legal recourse.
Meanwhile, the interim chairman Ratan Tata this morning addressed the senior management of the conglomerate's firms and asked them to focus on their businesses without being concerned about the top level change.
Tata said his appointment was for a short term and the process to find a permanent to succeed him would soon begin.
India's Tata Group's interim Chairman Ratan Tata leaves Bombay House, the company's head office, in Mumbai
Meanwhile, a day after taking over as the interim Chairman, Ratan Tata told the senior executives of the Tata Group that an "institutions must exceed the people who lead it".
"The companies must focus on their market position vis-avis competition, and not compare themselves to their own past.
"The drive must be on leadership rather than to follow," he told Managing Directors and senior leaders of Tata companies.
Sacked: Tata Group's former Chairman Cyrus Mistry
"I look forward to working with you as we have worked together in the past. An institution must exceed the people who lead it. I am proud of all of you, and let us continue to build the group together," he added.
He asked the leadership of the companies to focus on their respective businesses, without being concerned about change in leadership, a media release issued by the company said.
On the business challenges that Tata Group presently faces, Tata said: "We will evaluate and continue to undertake those that are required to. If there is any change, they will be discussed with you."
Tata met the Group's top officials at Bombay House. The meet was called so that Tata could address concerns that top officials had raised regarding possible changes.
India is facing a difficult situation on its borders. Though we obsessively focus on the western front vis-a-vis Pakistan, what goes mostly ignored is the Chinese side.
Between 200 and 300 Chinese intrusions inside the Indian territory occur every year but for the sake of normalisation of relations with Beijing, Delhi keeps them under wraps.
There is perhaps a solution to improve the situation - a better administration of our border areas.
India is facing a difficult situation on its borders. Though we obsessively focus on the western front vis-a-vis Pakistan, what goes mostly ignored is the Chinese side.
For security purposes, the Indo-Tibet Border Police Force (ITBPF) is deployed from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh along the 3,488-km Indo-Tibetan border, manning border outposts in the three sectors of the Himalayan frontier.
Unwillingness
While the ITBPF, raised on October 24, 1962, is a specialised mountain force with professionally trained mountaineers, the civil administration in these areas is still in the hands of young IAS officers, unequipped and often unwilling to go through the hardship necessary to interact and help the local population.
Today, there is an acute need for a special cadre to administer Indias borders, especially in the Himalayas.
Is the government ready to take a first step in this direction? Probably not, as it may ruffle many feathers starting with the powerful IAS lobby.
Jawaharlal Nehru took a great initiative in creating a separate cadre for Indias frontiers, mainly NEFA, Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan
It is worth noting that Jawaharlal Nehru did it, though with romantic concerns.
He wrote: I am not at all sure which is the better way of living, the tribal or our own.
"In some respects, I am quite certain theirs is better. Therefore, it is grossly presumptuous on our part to approach them with an air of superiority".
Though constitutionally a part of Assam, in the 1950s, the NEFA was administered by the ministry of external affairs, with governor of Assam acting as agent to the President of India, seconded by a senior officer (often from the ICS), designated as advisor to the governor.
Nehru took a great initiative in creating a separate cadre for Indias frontiers, mainly NEFA, Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan.
Jairamdas Doulatram, the Governor of Assam
When on April 4, 1952, the then Prime Minster mentioned to Jairamdas Doulatram, the Governor of Assam, the need of a special cadre; the idea was not appreciated by all.
Finally, in 1954, the first batch of officers, drawn mainly from the Army but also from the All-India services, was posted on the frontiers.
The initial recruitment to the Indian Frontier Administrative Service (IFAS) was made through a Special Selection Board.
Segregation
Sixty years later, one realises that though the idea was good, the over-romantic views about the border population amounted to the segregation of a large chunk of the Indian population and triggered underdevelopment of the border areas, which still exists today.
KC Johorey, who later became chief secretary in Goa, was one of the pioneers to join the IFAS.
There is an acute need for a special cadre to administer Indias borders, especially in the Himalayas
He still remembers what Nehru told his batch: The staff must go along with the flag and the typewriters can follow later on.
Johorey recalls his first posting along the Siang Frontier Division: There were two houses, one for the burra sahib (for Yusuf Ali, his boss), and behind another smaller hut.
"The houses were really huts made of bamboos, palm leaves and canes.
"Even the tables and the beds were of bamboos. There were no mattresses, no electricity and no furniture. The houses were very clean and airy. That was all, he says.
One of the most famous members of the IFAS is Maj Ranenglao Bob Khathing, who single-handedly brought Tawang under Indian administration in February 1951.
One of the most famous members of the IFAS is Maj Ranenglao Bob Khathing, who single-handedly brought Tawang under Indian administration in February 1951
Development
Another officer, Maj SM Krishnatry, has left an extraordinary account of his tour report in what is today the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Krishnatry, who had earlier been posted for seven years in Tibet, provides a detailed description of his adventures: (Earlier) most exploratory expeditions in the tribal frontiers have been armed or armoured with heavy escorts much to the cost and suppression of human rights, occupation of their lands, burning of villages, molestation of women, looting of livestock, crops and banning of trade.
Unfortunately, Verrier Elwin could only see the anthropological side of the issue, forgetting the strategic as well the economic aspects of the border development; it resulted in a huge development gap between the frontier areas and the rest of India, which became critical after Tibets invasion in 1950.
As a result, when China attacked India in October 1962, the country was unable to give Maos troops a befitting response.
The IFAS, an ad-hoc creation of Nehru, was dissolved in the mid-1960s and the intrepid IFAS officers were merged with the boring IFS, IAS or IPS. It is perhaps time to review the concept and create a new IFAS (or an Indo-Tibet Border Administrative Service), with daring officers coming from different walks of life (perhaps mainly from the Army to start with), but who would be willing to undertake the vital task to develop Indian frontiers.
In a significant clarification, which incidentally comes ahead of crucial assembly polls in five states including Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will not reconsider its 1995 judgment which said, Hindutva was not a religion, but a way of life and a state of mind.
The immediate larger consequence of this is that seeking votes in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur in the name of hindutva will continue to be legal and not deemed a corrupt practice under the Representation of Peoples Act.
Social activist Teesta Setalvad asked the bench to redefine Hindutva and also sought a ban on the use of the term in elections, saying that religion and politics should not be mixed
Justice Thakur headed the bench
We will not go into the larger debate as to what Hindutva is. We are only focusing on the question - will a religious leaders appeal to his followers to vote for a particular political party amount to electoral malpractice under Section 123 of the Representation of People Act?
This was the clarification of a seven judge bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur, which also dismissed a plea of social activist Teesta Setalvad known for her anti-hindutva brigade stance.
What is Hindutva? Savarkar:Nationalist Hindutva, or "Hinduness" is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. Championed by Indian pro-independence activist and writer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who coined the term in 1923, Savarkar wanted to create a collective Hindu identity as an "imagined nation. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) adopted Hindutva as its official ideology in 1989, and it is also supported by Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliate organisations. Social activist Teesta Setalvad sought a ban on the term during elections, but the Supreme Court ruled it will not reconsider its 1995 judgment that: Hindutva was not a religion, but a way of life and a state of mind and is therefore not a corrupt practice. Advertisement
She had asked the bench to redefine Hindutva and also sought a ban on the use of the term in elections.
Setalvad had sought to intervene in the matter with an application stating that religion and politics should not be mixed and a direction be passed to de-link religion from politics.
Setalvads plea came while the top court is examining a question arising out of a separate plea filed in 1990 which said:
Will a religious leaders appeal to his followers to vote for a particular political party amount to electoral malpractice under Section 123 of the Representation of People Act.
Clarifying it further, SC bench said it is only examining a nexus between religious leaders and candidates and its legality under Section 123 (3) of the Representation of People Act.
The ambit of Section 123(3) of the Representation of People Act, provides for the disqualification of a candidate, if he, or any one on his behalf, is found promoting or attempting to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of India on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language, for furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate.
In elections in Maharashtra after the 1992-93 Mumbai riots, Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi had promised to turn Maharashtra into Indias first Hindu State.
The Bombay High Court nullified Joshis election as by seeking vote in the name of religion he violated the constitutional commitment to secularism.
Can my soon to be divorced husband take half my pension and cash in his share?
SCROLL DOWN TO FIND OUT HOW TO ASK STEVE WEBB YOUR PENSION QUESTION
Splitting up: You should assume a court will want to consider the pension rights of both and your husband when agreeing a settlement
Steve Webb replies: The whole area of pension sharing after a divorce is a really complex one and I would strongly encourage you to discuss this issue with your solicitor as part of any overall divorce settlement.
But I hope that I can explain a few of the basics for you to be aware of. I should add that the law is different in Scotland and so this information relates principally to England and Wales.
Until the passing of the 1995 Pensions Act, limited account was taken of pensions in divorce settlements.
If one party had a substantial pension, and the other party was going to lose access to a share of this as a result of the divorce, a value could be put on those pension rights and this could be knocked off the value of other assets as part of the settlement.
So, for example, a party with a big pension might get a smaller share of the matrimonial home to offset the fact that the other party was going to be losing pension rights after the divorce. The key thing about this is that the pension itself was not affected.
Steve Webb: Find out how to ask the former Pensions Minister a question about your retirement savings in the box below
The 1995 Pensions Act introduced the idea of attachment orders and earmarking orders. Under such orders, the court could require that when one party retired a share of their pension lump sum was paid over to the other party, and/or that part of their ongoing pension was paid as maintenance to the other party.
Whilst this was a welcome step forward, these orders were not widely used and had their limitations.
One was that there was no clean break between the parties, with money flowing from one to the other possibly for decades after the divorce. Another problem was that if the person with the pension rights were to die before reaching pension age, the other party would get nothing.
As a result of these shortcomings, new legislation was passed in 1999 which gives the courts the ability to impose pension sharing orders as part of the divorce settlement. These orders can cover occupational pensions, personal pensions and even part of the state pension scheme (the additional state pension).
Where there is a pension sharing order, what happens is that the receiving party gets something called a pension credit (not to be confused with the social security benefit of the same name) and the other party has a pension debit.
This is basically a way of reducing the pension rights of the one party and creating a new pension right for the other party.
That right could be separate membership of the same scheme - the ex-wife of a teacher could be made a pension credit member of the teachers pension scheme, for example - or it could be a cash sum removed from the pension fund of one party and placed in a pension for the other party.
The other options used in the past offsetting the value of a pension against other assets, or having a pension attachment order are still available to the courts.
When the pension freedom reforms were introduced in April 2015, there was concern that some divorced people aged 55 and over could try to cash in their savings to avoid sharing retirement income with their former spouses under existing attachment orders.
However, the Financial Conduct Authority has issued guidance to pension providers and financial advisers to take attachment orders into account in such cases.
With regard to your specific question, whilst I obviously dont have access to all the facts of your case, you should assume that a court will want to consider the pension rights of both parties when agreeing a settlement.
If you have built up pension rights to which the court thinks that your husband has some right, then it could make a pension sharing order. But equally if he has built up pension rights, you will be entitled to a share too.
Exactly how this would work depends on the type of pension you have, but in principle you would have a pension debit applied to your policy, and your husband would acquire a pension credit, which could be a cash sum placed into a pension pot for him.
Pensions are not generally accessible before the age of 55, but after this point he could, if he wished, access the money in his pension pot, subject to the usual rules on taxation.
A few other things to be aware of:
* As noted above, it is not always the case that pensions are shared through a pension sharing order; the pension is one part of the settlement so there is still the option to offset the value of the pension against other assets;
* Any pension split may not be exactly 50-50 because men and women will, on average, live for different lengths of time;
* The financial settlement normally happens after the divorce and it can take some months for the Court to sign it off and for the sharing order to be enacted.
Finally, your divorce will have impacted your finances. Once the dust has settled, you should look again at your pension position and how this may impact on your retirement plans.
A useful organisation for free information and guidance is the Pensions Advisory Service who can be contacted at: www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk
A two-year-old boy whose mother was murdered in the Paris terror attacks still asks his heartbroken father one year on: 'Where's mummy? I want to see her.'
Widower Antoine Leiris has tried so hard to gently explain to toddler Melvil that she will not be coming home again.
Make up artist Helene Muyal was killed when ISIS gunmen burst into the Bataclan concert hall in Paris on Friday 13 last November.
Paris based journalist Antoine, 35, was looking after their son at home at the time.
Three days after the attack, the father-of-one published a letter on Facebook to his wife's killers.
They may have stolen 'the love of my life, the mother of my son' but, he wrote, they 'will not have my hate'.
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Gone: French Make up artist Helene Muyal, pictured above with her son Melvil as a baby, was among 89 music fans murdered at the Bataclan theatre during the Paris terror attacks
Grieving: Melvil still asks his father, journalist Antoine Leiris, 35, above, 'Where's mummy? I want to see her.' Antoine had to gently tell Melvil that mummy is never coming home
Three days after the attacks, Antoine wrote a Facebook message to his wife's killers in which he wrote: 'Friday night, you took an exceptional life the love of my life, the mother of my son but you will not have my hatred' Pictured: The Bataclan theatre, scene of the massacre
Antoine had been at home looking after Melvil as Helene, a mad rock music fan, had excitedly left the house to see the concert from US band Eagles of Death Metal, pictured performing moments before the shooting started
In total 89 music fans were killed that night including Helene inside the Bataclan. A further 41 victims lost their lives in coordinated attacks across the city and 368 were left wounded. Pictured: French special forces evacuate people from the music hall amid the terror
Now, 12 months on, Antoine is equally determined the men who took his loving wife won't have their son Melvil's hate either.
'He understands his mother's not here,' Antoine told MailOnline. 'I told him what happened, but it doesn't stop his questions and him wanting her back. Sometimes he's very sad, sometimes he's happy.'
Melvil, now aged two years and four months and at kindergarten in the French capital, is learning along with his dad to cope with their terrible loss.
His mother, 35, a mad keen rock music fan, left home excitedly on the day of the coordinated terror atrocity to watch the US band Eagles of Death Metal, oblivious of the horror to come.
Not long after she left, back at home Antoine received a number of text messages from friends that said, 'Are you safe?' and 'Everything OK?'.
He turned on the TV to discover that there has been a series of terrorist attacks across the city.
She was the most beautiful girl in the world and was everything to me. We were together for 12 years. Antoine Leiris
Alongside 89 slain at the Bataclan with Helene, a further 41 victims lost their lives in a series of atrocities and 368 were left wounded.
Like his son, Antoine desperately misses his wife. He said: 'She was the most beautiful girl in the world and was everything to me. We were together for 12 years.'
To help ease their pain, both father and son keep mementos of Helene close to their hearts.
The pair moved to a new apartment in Paris after the tragedy on the advice of a widowed friend with a young son, who warned them not to 'make the same mistake by staying in the same place, but to start afresh.'
Antoine smiled: 'Helene is next to me and our son, she's not down in the cellar, all her belongings are right here beside us in the rooms. We feel her presence. It is comforting.'
The widower has written an extraordinary account of his grief and his battle bringing up his son alone in his first book, 'You Will Not Have My Hate'.
Love of his life: Antoine still desperately misses his wife, Helene, above. He said: 'She was the most beautiful girl in the world and was everything to me. We were together for 12 years'
Single dad is toughest job: Father and son moved house on the advice of a widowed friend who told them to start afresh. Antoine struggles with day to day parenting tasks, like cutting his young son's nails. But, he smiles: 'Helene is next to me and our son. We feel her presence.'
Recalling the moment he realised he had to tell his son Helene was not coming home, he played the boy's favourite songs before showing him photos of his mother on the phone.
He wrote: 'Her face appears, blurred, badly framed, but that is all it takes to jolt Melvil from the fragile calm produced by the opening words of the song...
'Immediately he points an anxious finger towards [Helene], and then turns to me, his smile turned upside down and warm tears welling in his eyes.
'I break down, and I explain to him as best I can that his mama will not be able to come home, that she had a serious accident, that it's not her fault, she would have loved to be with him, but she can't any more. He cries like I've never seen him cry before.
'He's shed a few tears before, of course, out of pain, fear, disappointment, tantrums.
'But this, this is something else altogether. This is his first real sorrow.'
In his book, translated into more than 20 languages, Antoine told MailOnline how he bravely refuses to hate his wife's killer.
In fluent English, he said: 'I can't forgive them but I can't feel hatred towards them because it would turn me mad. This is the right way for me and my son to move on. Grief is very precious.'
Since that night last year when terrorists opened fire on the Bataclan theatre, Antoine admits that at times he is afraid.
'Sometimes I feel fear and need to escape from the violence that surrounds us,' he said. 'But I'm not escaping reality. Other times I feel strong enough to face it.
'I lead a normal life. My world has been destroyed but life has to rebuild itself. I don't want to submit to defeat.'
At the time of the attack Melvil was just 17 months old. Antoine has precious memories of waving his wife off before sitting quietly reading a book as his baby son slept - an evening of calm before life was torn apart.
He believes his son 'knows he will never see his mother again but it doesn't stop him asking why or where she is.'
'It is a mistake to read what is in a child's head,' he added. 'It is different to an adult's and very specific. When he is older he will come to learn fully.
Memories: At the time of the attack Melvil was just 17 months old. To help ease their pain, both father and his son keep mementos of Helene close to their hearts. Antoine, pictured in happier times, added: 'I can't forgive them but I can't feel hatred towards them because it would turn me mad. This is the right way for me and my son to move on. Grief is very precious.'
Since last year's atrocity Antoine admits that at times he is afraid but will not let the terrorists occupy his thoughts. He is determined not to feel hate towards his wife's killers. Pictured: A police officer helps an injured man near the Bataclan where Antoine's wife was murdered
'Most of the time he's a happy little boy, he likes music and stories and we have fun together.'
'Being a single dad is the toughest job,' admitted Antoine and he recited a tale of how as a lone parent he struggled for the first time to do simple tasks like cutting his son's nails. 'It was very difficult, my wife used to do that, but for me it became a necessity.'
Friday night, you took an exceptional life the love of my life, the mother of my son but you will not have my hatred. We are just two, my son and me, but we are stronger than all the armies in the world.
He told how people in France feel threatened by more terror attacks but urged them: 'Fear is an instinct which is normally due to circumstance so don't submit to it.'
In the aftermath of the atrocity Antoine wrote a letter to his wife's killers on Facebook which gathered thousands of views from around the world.
It started: 'On Friday night, you took an exceptional life the love of my life, the mother of my son but you will not have my hatred. I don't know who you are and I don't want to know, you are dead souls.
'Of course I am devastated by this pain, I grant you this little victory, but the pain will be short-lived. We are just two, my son and me, but we are stronger than all the armies in the world.'
It later inspired writer Antoine, 35, to pen his memoirs in just two months 'to share the moments that are meaningful to me' without totally baring his soul.
He explained: 'I need to hold some things back.'
He politely declined to say if the couple were planning to have more children, if he is still in contact with his wife's family and how he copes with his pain.
But he described the book poetically as 'like an open door to the land of freedom and investigation.'
Antoine believes his son 'knows he will never see his mother again but it doesn't stop him asking why or where she is'. He explained how he has struggled to cope and remembered his beloved wife to Phillip Schofield and Christine Lampard last week on 'This Morning'
Antoine believes his son 'knows he will never see his mother again but it doesn't stop him asking why or where she is'. In his book, he writes heartbreakingly about his son's confusion that his mama will never come home: 'His smile turned upside down and warm tears welling in his eyes' Pictured: The outpouring of grief after last November's terror atrocity
In the past he has started writing many books but never got beyond fifty pages. It is with tragic irony that the one he finally completes is about his beloved wife's murder.
The quietly and calmly spoken stoic Frenchman said during our interview at a bar at London's St Pancras Station before he returned to Paris: 'Our son doesn't know precisely what happened but will build his own story as he gets older.
'We have a very close relationship and that makes me happy.
'I've met families of some the other victims, we all cope differently. People want to meet me, talk to me and touch me.
'But I'm no hero coping with my loss, I'm just a normal guy.'
'You Will Not Have My Hate' by Antoine Leiris is out now, published by Harvill Secker
Suman Das, pictured with his wife Sonia, was convicted of molesting a teenage girl during a flight from Qatar to England while sat next to his wife
A married Indian holidaymaker faces jail after he was convicted of molesting a teenage girl during a flight from Doha to Manchester.
Suman Das, 46, was arrested when the plane landed at Manchester airport after the 18-year-old victim claimed he touched her between the legs while she was sleeping.
She woke up to a 'rubbing sensation' and ran crying to the back of the plane where she alerted a member of the cabin crew.
At the time of the assault Das' wife, Sonia, was sat beside him unaware of her husband's actions.
The 46-year-old initially claimed he must have touched the girl by accident while fidgeting in his seat at 30,000 feet.
He later claimed he could not have carried out the assault as he was asleep.
The incident occurred in July five hours into the flight from the Qatar capital.
Das and his wife were visiting the UK for a 'holiday of a lifetime' while the girl was returning to England after spending two months in Thailand.
The victim told the hearing: 'He knew exactly what he was doing and he wasn't sleeping. He was looking at me, I saw he was looking at me.
'He must have been looking at me to see if I was awake. He did move very quickly once he saw that I was awake.'
The distressed girl ran to the back of the plane and told a member of the cabin crew.
The incident occurred in July five hours into the flight from Doha on a Qatar Airways flight (stock image)
Prosecuting Holly Holden said: 'In this case the victim has zero motivation to make a false claim. Her evidence has been consistent and credible throughout. This was an 18-year-old flying alone. She said that the defendant touched her between the legs over her clothing.
'One person sitting next to another may jostle someone with their elbow but to touch them between the legs without knowing is a deliberate action. He gave two versions of events and said he was very concerned that this could prevent him from getting a UK visa and would destroy his life.'
During the hearing Das' wife of 23 years said she had 'complete faith in her husband' and added: 'I have had no concern. Until today I have faith in my husband and still today I have total faith in my husband.'
She also told the court that Das told her following the flight that if he saw the girl and her mother he wanted to talk to them to apologise.
Das, 46, was arrested when the plane landed at Manchester airport after the 18-year-old victim claimed he touched her between the legs while she was sleeping
Ellie Akhgar, for the defence, told the court: 'This man has no previous convictions, so why would he now decide to take the plunge into criminality and sexually assault a stranger on a plane, with his wife sat next to him.
'He is a family man and a visitor to this country and has been here for the last three months. These cases are always very difficult cases. They are difficult emotive and very highly charged.
'You have seen the victim to be emotional and you have seen the defendant also becoming very emotional. But the fact is that emotion can be manufactured. She feels a rubbing sensation, a light rubbing sensation and she feels an arm moving away from that very tight constricted area.
'She doesn't say "what the hell are you doing?"
'This is a young woman who had been travelling to Thailand for two months. She would have had to have some degree of confidence - enough to say something to Mr Das.
'Being awoken by the "sensation" of sexual assault does not mean a sexual assault took place. The whole time she says nothing. This was a very, very long flight and this man is being scrutinised for fidgeting.
'The mother of the victim went to work the very same afternoon as her daughter told her of the attack. She was described as being very calm from hearing that her daughter had just been sexually assaulted.
'It is easy for a man of his age and his culture to apologise - he wanted to calm the waves in a turbulent sea of confusion. He apologised because he wants to fix what it is he has done wrong. This is a case of a very serious misunderstanding. Very serious misunderstandings can happen.'
However Das, who has been staying with friends in Bolton since his arrest, was convicted of sexual assault.
A mobile home fire in Georgia started by an improperly installed wood stove killed six people, including four children, authorities said Monday.
The blaze happened around 10.30pm on Sunday and killed parents Miron Bradley 'Brad' Jones, 29, and Demi Josephine 'DJ' Jones, 22, according to Glenn Allen, a spokesman for the state fire marshal's office.
Their children Clair McKenzie Jones, five, Lola Rosanna Jones, three, and Olivia Josephina Jones, three months, were also killed in the fire.
Miron Bradley 'Brad' Jones (top), 29, and Demi Josephine 'DJ' Jones (left), 22, and their children (pictured) died after their mobile home in Georgia caught fire
Clair McKenzie Jones (bottom, left), five, Lola Rosanna Jones (top, left), three, Olivia Josephina Jones (top, right), three months, and cousin Jada Marie Kendrick (bottom, right), five, all died in the Sunday night fire
Jada Marie Kendrick, five, a cousin of the children, who was spending the night at the home, died, also.
The parents died while trying to save the four children from the blaze.
Family member Sharon Pope told WSBTV: 'DJ was the best mother you ever want to meet. She was deaf, but when it comes to those babies, that was the best thing for her.
'Brad was going to make sure those babies were warm, and he had no other option, so he did what he thought was right to keep them warm and it cost them their lives.'
Police determined that a wood stove that was installed Sunday was placed too close to an interior wall with wood paneling, and that's what caused the fire
Neighbors said they could see the blaze from down the road and initially thought someone was burning garbage
State investigators on Monday ruled the wood stove fire accidental.
Allen said they determined that the wood stove that was installed Sunday was placed too close to an interior wall with wood paneling, and that's what caused the fire.
Neighbors said they could see the blaze from down the road and initially thought someone was burning garbage.
By the time they realize a home was on fire, it was too late to save the family.
Fourteen people were killed in Georgia house fires over the weekend, including those the Jones family and their cousin
'I thought they were burning trash at first and when I got over here I could see it was just engulfed in flames coming out of the window.
'It was fire underneath, fire everywhere. (There) wasnt nothing you could do and by that time the fire department had finally showed up,' Brian Osburn told WSBTV.
Fourteen people were killed in Georgia house fires over the weekend, including those the Jones family and their cousin.
He said that when Walters left co-anchoring duties on The View in 2014 after 17 years, she made the decision to retreat into a more private life
'She's able to get around on her own without a cane or walker and is leading a contented life in retirement'
Renfroe, who was last at Walters' Fifth Avenue apartment in New York City October 21, told DailyMail.com that 'she is doing just fine'
Barbara Walters' friend and hairdresser Bryant Renfroe has dismissed rumors that she's in ill health - but says she most comfortable at home
TV news legend Barbara Walters marked her 87th birthday last month, and despite concerns her health has been declining, a close friend has assured fans that all is well.
Walters has not been seen in public in recent months, but her long-time friend and hairdresser Bryant Renfroe has dispelled rumors that she has been ill.
Renfroe, who was last at Walters' Fifth Avenue apartment on New York City's Upper East Side on October 21, exclusively told DailyMail.com that 'she is doing just fine'.
He said: 'I'm not her doctor but her mind appears sharp and she hasn't forgotten anything, at least that I'm aware. She's able to get around on her own without a cane or walker and is leading a contented life in retirement.'
His comments come after reports that The View creator is in ill health.
Barbara Walters' long-time friend and hairdresser Bryant Renfroe (right, with Walters) has dispelled concerns that she is ailing
One of the last times Walters was seen out in public was at a Paramount Pictures reception in June. Renfroe, who was at Walters' apartment in New York City October 21, exclusively told DailyMail.com that 'she is doing just fine'
The last known health concern was in 2010, when she had open heart surgery in 2010 to replace an aerobic valve - an operation she has fully recovered from.
More recently, she was photographed looking frail while walking down the street, linking arms with a person believed to be a household staffer or health aide.
Fueling speculation over more recent health concerns, a doorman at the apartment building adjacent to Walters' told DailyMail.com on October 20 that he hadn't seen her in quite some time.
'Like for ages,' the doorman said. 'It's kind of got me worried because I used to see her coming and going all the time.'
But Renfroe says that isn't aware of any ailments that would cause undue concern.
'In fact, the day I was at her apartment she was readying to do a shoot for the Discovery Channel, which is repackaging her old interviews,' he said, in which she'll give a narrative between segments in the program.
Walters, who created The View, left co-anchoring duties on the talk show in 2014 after 17 years
Renfroe appeared on The View with Walters in April 2014, where he displayed his favorite hair products
Renfroe claims that Walter's 'mind appears sharp and she hasn't forgotten anything'
Renfroe said that when Walters left co-anchoring duties on The View in 2014 after 17 years, she made the decision to retreat into a private life 'and that's pretty much what she's done since then'.
In her younger years, Walters was regularly photographed at star-studded galas and charity events, taking front-row seats among other stars.
But more recently, she's been staying out of the public eye. Rumors circled about health concerns in August, when she was taken to the hospital for a routine appointment.
Walters and her only daughter, Jacqueline Danforth, now 48, have had a tumultuous relationship over the years, rocked by Danforth's history of substance abuse
In June, she was pictured at a post-Tony Awards Broadway dinner reception.
'Her dear friend Beverly Sills gave her a ring that says "I've done that already", and when she called it a day on The View, for the most part that's how she's been living her life ever since - out of the public eye,' Renfroe says. 'During her remarkable career what hasn't she seen or done already?
'Why travel now when she's been everywhere. At this stage of her life, I'd have to say she's most comfortable staying close to home.'
Walters was an early Today show host and in 1976, she became the first woman to ever co-anchor a network evening news program, The ABC Evening News.
She earned a $150million fortune over an on-air TV career that spanned 52 years.
But as for her personal life, she was married four times to three different men, the first of which was annulled and the others ending in divorce.
She told Piers Morgan in 2013 when he hosted a prime time CNN show - now a DailyMail.com columnist - that 'I regret not having more children. I would have loved to have had a bigger family'.
Waltesr, pictured above in 1969, was an early host of The Today Show, where she co-hosted from 1962 to 1976
After leaving The Today Show (pictured above on the show with Gene Shalit, left, and Frank McGee, right) in 1976, Walters became the first woman to ever co-anchor a network evening news program, The ABC Evening News
She added: 'I have one daughter. I don't have brothers and sisters. I had a sister that I loved and she was developmentally challenged, I guess, is how they put it. I wish I had a bigger family.'
Her only daughter is Jacqueline Danforth, who was born in 1968 and adopted the same year by Walters and her second husband, theater producer and owner Lee Guber.
Walters and Danforth, now 48, have had a tumultuous relationship over the years, rocked by Danforth's history of substance abuse, including a 2013 incident in Naples, Florida - where she lives - on DUI charges that saw her handcuffed after she tussled with the arresting officer.
Though Walters (pictured in 1993) used to regularly attend star-studded parties, she has recently stayed out of the public eye
But all that appears to be water under the bridge now, as Renfroe said that Danforth recently came to New York for a four-day visit with her mother and stayed in the Upper East Side apartment.
'I'm sure Barbara would have loved if Jackie had made her a granny, but at her age that ship has sailed,' he says. 'And as much as Barbara wishes she was closer, Jackie has her own life to lead. She has a long-term partner [Dennis Anthony Pinkham], who is a a postal worker and she's busily involved in animal advocacy.'
He adds: 'Even though Barbara doesn't have her nearby or a special man friend in her life, not since Merv [Adelson, her third and last husband] she isn't lonely for companionship.
'That's because she has live-in household help that she considers family.'
In Walters' 2008 book, Audition, she wrote how she considered her former live-in housekeeper Icodel Tomlinson, now retired, and her two kids, Phillip and Yvette, part of her tight-knit family.
Yvette, however, told DailyMail.com on October 21 that she hadn't had contact with walters in several years and did not know the state of her health.
'I hope she's okay and wish her well,' she said. 'She's such an icon in the industry and so many women look up to her as a trailblazer. What she's accomplished in her career is not only amazing, it's legendary.'
Renfroe insists that Walters is still quite active and eager to know what's happening in the world, and 'of course she still tunes in to The View'.
'Afterall, that's her baby,' Renfroe said. 'She had it on while I was doing her hair. But she didn't share her feelings with me about the show and the direction it's taken or the current crop of co-hosts.
An intensive care nurse who contracted Ebola while caring for the first person to be diagnosed with the disease in the US has settled a lawsuit against a Texas hospital group.
Nina Pham was diagnosed with the deadly virus in 2014 along, with co-worker Amber Vinson, after treating Thomas Eric Duncan at a Dallas medical center. He later died of the disease.
She survived her battle with the disease but filed a lawsuit against Texas Presbyterian Hospital, claiming she became the 'symbol of corporate neglect', as senior officials failed to adequately prepare for the crisis.
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Nina Pham (pictured with her dog) was diagnosed with the deadly virus in 2014 along, with co-worker Amber Vinson, after treating Thomas Eric Duncan
On Monday, attorneys for Pham announced the settlement with the hospital's parent company Texas Health Resources. Both sides said in a join statement that they would not release the settlement terms.
Pham caught Ebola in 2014 while treating Duncan, who contracted the virus in his native Liberia and became ill during a trip to the US.
The nurse said that she was 'the last person' to find out that he was positive for Ebola.
'You'd think the primary nurse would be the first to know,' she told The Dallas Morning News. 'I broke down and cried, not because I thought I had it but just because it was a big "whoa, this is really happening" moment.'
Pham said she considered not going back to care for Duncan after his diagnosis, with her colleagues insisting they would back up her decision. But she felt she had to.
Privacy issues: A doctor wearing a video camera came into her room, claiming he was making an educational video. She did not give permission for the video, which was subsequently released to the media
Pham (pictured boarding a private flight to Maryland in a hazmat suit in 2014) survived her battle with the disease but filed a lawsuit against Texas Presbyterian Hospital, claiming she became the 'symbol of corporate neglect'
Criticizing how the hospital prepared for the crisis, she said the extent of her training was a single piece of paper one of her superiors found online.
The day after Duncan died, Pham met with someone from the CDC and the hospital's employee health manager to review Duncan's care. They also deemed her 'no risk' in terms of contracting the Ebola virus.
When tests confirmed she had the virus, she broke down crying, and asked medical staff that her name be released as 'Jane Doe' to protect her privacy. The request was refused and from then on Pham became the face of the fight against Ebola in the United States.
She said: 'Just knowing the whole world's watching but you're so isolated and the people that are coming [in to care for me] are risking their lives.'Touching me is life-threatening. It's very lonely.'
Before she was transferred to Maryland, a doctor wearing a video camera came into her room, claiming he was making an educational video. Pham said she did not give permission for the video, which was subsequently released to the media.
She told the Morning News: 'They had just a PR nightmare with what happened with Mr. Duncan and then us being infected with Ebola. Not just one nurse, but two. People lost faith in them, especially after we got sick.
Texas Health Resources gave the paper a statement saying: 'Nina Pham bravely served Texas Health Dallas during a most difficult time. We continue to support and wish the best for her, and we remain optimistic that constructive dialogue can resolve this matter.'
Concerns: Nina Pham, who was diagnosed with the deadly disease in October 2014, says the experimental drugs used in her treatment is causing her hair to fall out and makes her suffer aches, pains and fatigue
Smiles: Pham posed excitedly with her 'best friend' Mr Bentley and one of the vets that cared for him
However her attorney Charla Aldous said she was simply used as a 'PR pawn'.
Pham said her own treatment had a massive impact on her life, causing her hair to fall out, insomnia, aches and pains and even damaged her social life.
Doctors have also warned her to check for signs of vision loss as well as sensory and organ failure.
She split up with her boyfriend, who was quarantined as a precaution, after she was released from hospital and struggles to interact with friends because 'Ebola always comes up'.
In her lawsuit against the hospital's parent company, Pham said that the 'sum total' of information she was given to protect herself after being told she would be treating a patient suspected of having Ebola was 'what her manager 'Googled' and printed out from the Internet.'
A day later, Duncan tested positive for the disease.
The lawsuit called Pham 'a casualty of a hospital system's failure to prepare for a known and impending medical crisis.'
It described a chaotic situation at the hospital, in which nurses scrambled to decide what kind of personal protective equipment to wear 'without any formal guidance or training' from their supervisors.
On Monday, attorneys for Pham announced the settlement with the hospital's parent company Texas Health Resources. Both sides said in a join statement that the would not release the settlement terms
Clear drop cloths were taped to the ceiling and walls of the hallway to create a makeshift containment facility, nurses had to dispose of hazardous waste, which they weren't trained to do, and hazardous material placed in the room next to Duncan's was allowed to pile up, the lawsuit alleged.
On the first day Pham treated Duncan, when Ebola was suspected but not yet diagnosed, she wore a regular isolation gown, double gloves, a surgical mask with a plastic shield and double booties. The lawsuit said her hair and neck were exposed and that she wasn't given a change of clothes to wear home, so she went home in the scrubs she wore while treating Duncan.
After his diagnosis, nurses put on hazmat suits with double gloves and added 'chemo gloves' and taped them to the suit. They also added a personal respirator they covered with a gown. These decisions, the lawsuit said, were made without any formal guidance or training by supervisors.
The lawsuit said that after Duncan died, Pham was told that what she had worn was safe and that she had no risk of contracting Ebola.
Confident in what hospital officials had told her, she spent time with friends and family. The lawsuit said that she began feeling ill two days after Duncan died. The next day, she drove herself to the hospital and was diagnosed with Ebola.
In a response to the lawsuit, the hospital operator denied allegations of poor training and improper preparation.
An independent review released in September 2015 found the hospital wasn't adequately prepared for a patient who had Ebola and stumbled because of communication failures.
Sufferer: Miss Pham was diagnosed with the deadly disease along with co-worker Amber Vinson after treating Thomas Eric Duncan (pictured) the first patient to die from the illness in October
Happy: Pham has since recovered from the deadly disease. Pictured above giving a hug to President Barack Obama on October 24 2014
The report led by a former chief executive of the Mayo Clinic found communications at the hospital were inconsistent, such as when Duncan's travel history gathered by a nurse wasn't verbally communicated to a doctor.
The report also faulted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which it said failed to prepare the hospital in the use of personal protective equipment, waste management and 'other challenges.'
Pham eventually was transferred to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland for treatment and recovered.
The lawsuit said, though, that she worried about her long-term health and doubted she'd ever return to being a critical care nurse again because of the stress and anxiety of the trauma she experienced and the 'fear and stigma' that follow her.
After her recovery, Pham continued to be a hospital employee but didn't return to work.
Her employment status following the settlement of the lawsuit was unclear. T
he two parties said in their statement announcing the settlement that they would not be making additional statements.
Islamist militants wearing suicide vests have stormed a police academy in Pakistan killing at least 60 people and wounding dozens more.
Three gunmen from the Pakistani Taliban-linked group burst into the sprawling academy in Quetta targeting sleeping quarters that are home to some 700 recruits, gunning them down and sending some flee.
The shoot out is one of the deadliest extremist attacks this year and gunfire was still ringing out from the building several hours after the attackers stormed it.
The bodies of police cadets shot dead in a terror attack on a police academy are lined up on the ground in Quetta, Pakistan
A police cadet who was injured during an attack on a police academy in Pakistan is taken to a hospital. Islamist militants killed 60 during the attack on the Balochistan Police College
Three gunmen from the Pakistani Taliban-linked group burst into the sprawling academy in Quetta targeting sleeping quarters that are home to some 700 recruits. Pictured is an injured recruit receiving treatment
It is believed the attackers had first targeted a watch tower sentry before killing a security guard and entering the academy grounds
A Pakistani volunteer and a police officer rush an injured person to a hospital in Quetta after the attack
The attack on the Balochistan Police College began around 11.10pm yesterday when the three attackers burst into the building.
It is believed they had first targeted a watch tower sentry before killing a security guard and entering the academy grounds.
ISIS later released a picture of the men they claimed carried out the attack on the academy
One cadet said: 'I saw three men in camouflage whose faces were hidden carrying Kalashnikovs.
'They started firing and entered the dormitory but I managed to escape over a wall.'
A picture released by ISIS which claims to show the three attackers responsible for storming the Pakistani police academy
Security was tight outside the academy this morning, with media kept out of the building as a large contingent of security forces swept the area.
Weeping relatives arrived at the academy and were sent to the main hospital, where authorities were starting to prepare for funerals.
Major General Sher Afgan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan, which led the counter-operation, said 'the attack was over in around three hours after we arrived'.
It is believed that the attackers covered their faces and used Kalashnikovs during the raid. Pictured is an injured cadet
The shoot out is one of the deadliest extremist attacks this year and gunfire was still ringing out from the building several hours after the attackers stormed it
A trainee police officer lies injured in hospital while is relatives crowd around his bedside
He added that communications intercepts showed the militants belonged to the Al-Alimi faction of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group -- which is affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban.
He said: 'They were in communication with operatives in Afghanistan.' The group itself has not claimed the attack.
The area was plunged into darkness when the counter-offensive was launched, while security personnel threw up a cordon and ambulances zoomed in and out, taking the injured to hospitals. Military helicopters circled overhead.
After the attack began, Pakistani army soldiers arrived at the police academy in a counter terrorism operation
The area was plunged into darkness when the counter-offensive was launched, while security personnel threw up a cordon
Ambulances were also seen zooming in and out, taking the injured to hospitals while military helicopters circled overhead
Mineral-rich but impoverished Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province, is beset by sectarian strife, Islamist violence and an on-off separatist insurgency that has lasted for decades.
The army has also repeatedly been accused by international rights groups of abuses in Balochistan, particularly against nationalists demanding autonomy and a greater share of the region's resources.
In August, a suicide bombing at a Quetta hospital claimed by the Islamic State group and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban killed 73 people, including many of the city's lawyer community who had gone there to mourn the fatal shooting of a colleague.
Pakistan has been battling an Islamist insurgency since shortly after it decided to ally with the US following its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Pakistani family members of victims visit a police training center where gunmen opened fire in Quetta
The weeping relatives comforted each other after being told their loved ones had been sent to the morgue
Violence has declined in recent years following a series of military offensives in the northwest border areas as well as concerted efforts to block the militants' sources of funding.
But the remnants of militant groups are still able to carry out periodic bloody attacks, particularly in the northwest.
Monday night's attack also came a day after separatist gunmen for the Baloch Liberation Army on a motorcycle shot dead two coast guards and a civilian and wounded a shopkeeper in a remote southwest coastal town in the same province.
Balochistan is also a key region for China's ambitious $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project linking its western province of Xinjiang to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan.
The nest of a rare and endangered Australian water bird has been destroyed by a man on a jet ski.
Photos were taken earlier this month showing the jet ski rider travelling dangerously close to an osprey nest built on a channel marker on the Georges River in Sydney, NSW.
The pictures show him spraying water at the bird, which flies off in terror.
The nests of a rare and endangered osprey has been destroyed by jet skiers
Photos show the nest before (left) and after (right) it was damaged by riders
When the bird returns, the elaborately constructed nest has been turned into nothing more than a pile of sticks.
Images before and after the attack show the extent of damage to the nest, which was the home of two osprey - which are endangered in Australia.
A joint investigation with experts from Roads and Maritime Services, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and NSW Police Marine Area Command was launched last week.
WHAT ARE OSPREY? Osprey, a bird of prey, is a coastal bird found in many parts of the world. In Australia, they are found on the north and east coast from Broome to the south coast of New South Wales. In NSW they are listed as vulnerable, while in South Australia they are endangered. The osprey make huge nests out of sticks, driftwood and seaweed. Advertisement
'Three jet ski owners have been identified and are assisting the investigation team with its inquiries. A number of witnesses have been interviewed,' a Roads and Maritime spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
The incident also saw calls for a ban on jet skis on the Georges River. NSW Roads and Maritime Minister Duncan Gay ruled this out.
'Banning jet-skis from the Georges River would only move the problem, instead of solving the issue and putting a stop to this behaviour, which is what were trying to do,' Mr Gay told Daily Mail Australia.
A joint investigation with experts from Roads and Maritime Services, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and NSW Police Marine Area Command was launched
Instead, new laws had been introduced to curb 'anti-social behaviour' including the immediate suspension of boat and jet-ski licences for 'reckless, dangerous and negligent behaviour,' Mr Gay said.
'The NSW Government has introduced a range of measures trying to get these hoons to play nicely on the Georges River,' he said.
Three McDonald's staff face the sack today after beating up a customer outside a London restaurant after he allegedly called them 'f****** P****'.
The white middle-aged customer, who has not been named, was reportedly drunk and began racially abusing workers in Bow, east London, on Saturday night.
Footage taken by a customer shows how the row spilled outside and three uniformed staff - including a manager - punched and kicked the man to the ground.
One witness said they had initially tried to calm the abusive customer down but became irate when he allegedly told them: 'Go back to your own country'.
McDonald's has said it will be taking disciplinary action against the staff 'as a matter of urgency', and all three have been suspended pending an investigation into the brawl.
The incident took place outside the McDonald's outlet in Bow, east London - close to the Olympic Stadium (pictured)
According to the person who recorded the video, workers inside the fast-food outlet managed to get the man outside and two uniformed workers punched and kicked him.
He fell to the ground during the incident and a man - who appeared to be wearing a grey uniform - lashed out while he was down.
Seconds later another worker wearing a white shirt and black tie - thought to be the manager - also joined in and threw a punch.
The unnamed customer then shouted 'You wanna go down that road?' as people gathered outside to watch the fight.
The incident comes just one month after a beautician was jailed for nine months for assaulting two sisters as they queued in a McDonald's in Canterbury, Kent.
And the person who filmed the altercation in Bow told the newspaper: 'The customer was being very abusive and shouted 'f****** P***s' at the workers, who were doing their best to calm him down.'
'Other customers were calling him a f****** racist. That's when I started filming it but I couldn't believe it when they started punching him it was mental.
'I couldn't believe what I was seeing especially when the manager started getting involved. It was shocking how they went at him.'
A source told the newspaper that the McDonald's employees suggested the customer was 'really drunk' and was causing a 'disturbance'.
In September, Emily Gibbs, 23, attacked two women inside a McDonald's in Canterbury, Kent
It was after he was asked to leave that he allegedly became racist, and shouted 'What are you doing in this country? Go back to your own country', according to the source.
A McDonald's spokeswoman told the newspaper: 'All employees involved were called into the restaurant and disciplinary action will take place as a matter of urgency.'
In September, Emily Gibbs, 23, left two sisters injured - one with a broken elbow - after launching an attack after one of her friends was accused of pushing into the McDonald's queue in Kent.
The 'burger rage' incident was caught on CCTV and shown to a judge at Canterbury Crown Court.
A man has been hospitalised after he was attacked by a vicious seal on a Sydney beach.
Nathan Shepherd was bitten on the right arm at Shelly Beach at Manly, on the Northern Beaches, by the Australian fur seal as he was having an afternoon surfing on Sunday, The Manly Daily reported.
Mr Shepherd was taken to nearby Manly Hospital where he is set to have surgery to close his wound and was prescribed antibiotics.
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Another man who was attacked by a seal was Tom Wallington, 26, from Bondi. Pictured are the puncture marks on his board
Mr Wallington was at Shelly Beach in Manly, on Sydney's Northern Beaches, on Sunday - the same day lawyer Nathan Shepherd was bitten on the arm
The Manly lawyer said the sea creature seemed harmless at first.
'I thought it was amazing to be out with a seal. It was swimming closer to me. It swam quite fast - it jumped out of the water and bit me on the upper arm,' Mr Shepherd said.
'I tried to bring the surfboard down on top of it, and then to put the surfboard between me and the seal, and then I got back on the board and paddled to shore.
Mr Shepherd's wife, Miriam, said she was relieved her husband was okay.
'My first thought was "thank God it's not a shark",' she told The Manly Daily.
Bondi engineer Tom Wallington, 26, was also at Shelly Beach on Sunday and was attacked by the same 'aggressive' seal earlier in the day.
Mr Wallington described the seal as 'aggressive' and it was about four or five feet long
Mr Wallington said the seal had also gone after a second man who was in the water nearby with him and his friends. Pictured is more damage to the 26-year-old's surfboard
'I was up Manly for the day surfing, quite fun - a few mates on a few foam boards having a late afternoon sun and surf,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'We saw him [the seal] come up to us. At first he looked playful and he was kind of rolling around on his belly.
'I lost sight of him and he came up from behind and I thought, "I hope it's not a bloody shark swimming around".
'He hit me from below, I have puncture marks on board, and he knocked me off my board. That's when I thought, "I'm in some trouble here."
'The force at which he bit my board was quite frightening actually.
A seal having a sunbathe at Shelly Beach - where the three attacks took place
Another surfer Peter Fitzhardinge, 54, was also attacked by the seal on the same day at Shelly Beach (pictured is a stock image)
'The marks on my board shows he penetrated through some hard plastic there.
'It was quite an experience. I certainly have not had that happen to me before.'
Mr Wallington said the seal had also gone after a second man who was in the water near him and his friends.
'He bit his board. This bloke was petrified... he swam away and he must have been excited as he swam after him and started nibbling at his toes,' the engineer told Daily Mail Australia.
Mr Wallington said the seal would have been 'about four or five feet' and weighed about 50 kilograms.
The 26-year-old's friend, Alex Lipman, was sitting on his board next to Mr Wallington out in the ocean when the attack happened.
'We saw this thing playing around and then Tom was off his board. Then it went straight for the other dude and then came back for Tom,' Mr Lipman told Daily Mail Australia.
'It was quite surprising... I would think most people aren't scared of seals... It was relatively frightening.'
A head nurse working at a nursing home in Sydney's east has been formally reprimanded after leaving an 89-year-old woman with burns by washing her with bleach.
Helena Bennett, a former Castellorizian Aged Care Services care manager working at the organisation's care facility in Kensington, was disciplined by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC).
The HCCC report said how Bennett got the doctor's instructions wrong and washed the elderly patient in bleach over five days in July 2014.
An 89-year-old woman suffered severe burns when she washed in bleach (stock image)
The elderly patient was treated for a staph infection using bleach. Dermatologist Dr Lance Bear told the HCCC he prescribed a bleach solution 'emphasis[ing] that the correct dilution was half cup of unscented household bleach to half a bath tub of lake warm water.'
However Ms Bennett alleges the instructions she was given were to give the patient a bath of 50/50 bleach and water.
The patient was also unable to communicate how she was feeling as she suffered from a number of other ailments including dementia.
Ms Bennett allegedly told Dr Bear that there was no bath that could be used for the procedure at Castellorizian, and that instead the patient 'would be sitting in a bath chair wrapped in bleach soaked towels.'
The incident took place at the Castellorizian Aged Care Services facility in Kensington, Sydney (pictured)
HCCC report detailed how head nurse Helena Bennett got the doctor's instructions wrong and washed the elderly patient in bleach over five days in July 2014 (stock image)
The patient's chronic skin condition had given her open wounds and scabs across her torso, but when Ms Bennett administered the first treatment on July 11, she bathed the patient using household bleach she had bought herself from Coles.
'Dry towels were placed in the bucket, wrung out, and wrapped around the patient's body. Bleach solutions were then poured over the towels ever five minutes for 30 minutes,' the decision read.
Ms Bennett then gave the patient's progress notes to weekend staff to continue washing the elderly patient with the bleach.
When Ms Bennett returned to work on Monday after being off the weekend, she saw the burns on the patient's skin and stopped the bleach treatment immediately.
Ms Bennett was 'guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct'. But although the HCCC imposed a number of restrictions on her duties, they did not revoke her nursing registration.
Andrew Tyrie, pictured, was cross about Cabinet leaks on Brexit in Parliament, writes Quentin Letts
Andrew Tyrie (Con, Chichester) mentioned Cabinet leaks on Brexit.
It was delicious to see the reaction of various suspects on the Government bench.
Spot the hosepipe pronger. Spot the guilty leaker.
Mr Tyrie, who was a pessimistic Remainer during the referendum and has since appeared rather grumpy about the result, spoke in his usual tone of controlled exasperation.
He would be a credit to any anger management course.
You could flatten his new Hillman Imp with a steam roller and he would only ask you, politely, what you hoped to achieve by your action.
Shades of Wellington at Waterloo who looked down to see Lord Uxbridges leg had just gone whizzing across the battlefield and merely murmured his surprise to the poor fellow.
In his own mournful way, old Tyrie was cross about the leaks. He complained that the May Governments policy of not disclosing details of its Brexit negotiations was unsustainable, not least because it created a vacuum and that vacuum was being filled by leaks from the Cabinet Brexit committee.
On the front bench, like those three monkeys of fable, sat Brexiteers Boris Johnson, David Davis and Liam Fox.
Just up from them separated, as was probably only wise, for relations have been tricky perched the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that vain snoot Philip Hammond.
He had been smoothing down his fringe, patting its edges carefully with his right hand.
Hammond is the one who has contrived, by design or accident, to emerge from recent weeks as the Cabinets main brake on Brexit.
As Mr Tyrie mentioned those leaks, Mr Davis blushed to the colour of a call-girls undies.
Theresa May, pictured, 'has discovered that saying nothing is a big part of being Prime Minister'
Boris started to laugh, fruiting his lips. Dr Fox was motionless, an iguana hoping it has not been spotted.
Mr Hammond? Sitting with one knee crossed over the other, he, too, barely moved; but wait, was that perhaps a tiny twitch of one ankle as it dangled in the air? As the seconds passed, Boriss levity continued.
He was soon gossiping with Davis and Fox. Not being a lip-reader, I cannot tell you what they were saying but they were pretty clearly sharing some lively scorn.
I suspect the target of their scorn may have been Mr Tyrie, whom they may regard as a dusty nitpicker.
Did I mention that Mr Tyrie, who so fancies himself an all-knowing seer, once wrote a book about us joining the euro single currency.
It was called Never Say Never. Ha! I think we can probably now say never with a certain confidence.
It is also possible that Boris, as he chortled, was looking at Dr Fox and saying something along the lines of theyre on to you, Liam!
Or were the Brexiteers making exuberant noise to rile Hammond?
Mr Hammond must have been able to hear their jollity. The more they gassed away, laughing and snorting, the more the Chancellor strove to keep a straight face.
His determination to wipe all reaction from his face may only have served to heighten suspicions that he is the source of these leaks.
Theresa May, who was on her feet for a good 90 minutes, made no obvious slips.
But Jeremy Corbyn, pictured, was 'feeble by his own standards' despite wearing a 'smart new suit'
She has been Prime Minister little more than three months but already she blocks and bats away and leaves balls with the aplomb of a Geoffrey Boycott.
She has discovered that saying nothing is a big part of being Prime Minister.
Having managed to say not very much as Home Secretary for six years, she is to the manner born.
Jeremy Corbyn, despite wearing a smart new suit (Marks & Sparks?) was feeble, even by his own low standards.
He became pompous at one point and said that he, too, had been at Brussels at the weekend yes, at a symposium of Leftists! and he had jolly well been given a better reception than Mrs May had received from EU leaders.
Hacked Off campaign group wants to launch new regulator Impress
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, pictured, said she 'would not be rushed' into activating press regulations until she 'examined all the options'
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley yesterday signalled that the Government had serious doubts about legislation that would force the Press to sign up to a new State-backed regulator.
She defended the importance of a free and vibrant Press, and said she wanted to consider other options for achieving similar regulation that did not threaten newspapers.
She warned against legislation that could force newspapers to pay the other sides costs in a libel or privacy action even if a newspaper wins a case.
The Cabinet minister said she had been told by several editors that such a move could put local newspapers out of business and affect their ability to carry out investigative journalism.
Appearing before the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Mrs Bradley insisted she would not be rushed into activating the regulations until she had examined all the options.
The Government-backed Press Recognition Panel (PRP) was established in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards.
It was set up by Royal Charter to make sure Press regulators were independent and properly funded.
It is due to rule today on whether to recognise Impress, a new regulator funded by Max Mosley, the Hacked Off campaigner.
It has spent two years and 2million of taxpayers cash preparing to give recognition to Impress.
If it does, Mrs Bradley will have to consider whether to activate Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013.
This would mean any newspaper that refused to sign up to Impress could have to pay the other sides costs in a libel or privacy action even if they win the case.
The move has angered many newspapers, which have overwhelmingly rejected the idea of any State regulation, warning it would be a threat to Press freedom.
Mrs Bradley acknowledged that most newspapers were not prepared to consider applying for recognition through the PRP.
While she said she had not ruled out activating Section 40 at some point, she wanted to consider the options for achieving appropriate levels of robust regulation... outside the PRP.
She told MPs: We want to see good, robust regulation that works for all, that enables good investigative journalists to continue to thrive, but gives protection for members of the public and others. We need to get that right.
Mrs Bradley said that in 2013, when the Government debated and passed the Crime and Courts Act, it was a different situation.
She added: We expected and hoped that the Press would join regulators that applied for recognition under the PRP.
'That simply has not happened. I could do an ideological position on this but the implications may be that we see a vibrant, free, local Press being affected.
Pressure group Hacked Off has been campaigning for a new regulator funded by Max Mosley, pictured, called Impress, to be officially recognised by the Government-backed Press Recognition Panel
It has been put to me very clearly by a number of editors of local newspapers that the exemplary damages section of Section 40 could see them being put out of business and would impact on their ability to do investigative journalism.
I want to consider those representations very carefully, and then make a determination.
I am reserving judgment at this stage until I have had a chance to consider all the options.
Championing local newspapers, she said: I want to make sure they can succeed and continue to do the investigative journalism they do without fear that an exemplary damages claim against them could put them out of business.
I expect to see robust regulation of the Press.
Asked whether the Government was exploring a middle way, she said: It would not be fair to victims of Press intrusion to take a decision based on facts and situations from three years ago without reflecting on the position today.
His father Geoff is overwhelmed by the community support for his son
Russell is now a local hero where he lives in Northmead, western Sydney
Russell O'Grady, 48, donned the uniform when he was just 18-years-old
A McDonald's worker with Down syndrome has been delighting customers at his local McDonald's for the past 30 years.
Russell O'Grady, 48, first donned the fast food restaurant's uniform in 1986 when he was just 18-years-old. Now, 30 years later, he is a local hero at Northmead McDonald's, in Sydney's west.
His father, Geoff O'Grady, told Daily Mail Australia his son had become 'the best-known person in Northmead' since he started working at McDonald's.
This picture was snapped when Russell started working for McDonald's in 1986
'People stop him on the street and shake his hand,' Geoff said.
'He's very affectionate, dearly loved and appreciated, to such an extent that we just don't believe it.'
Geoff said he was 'extremely proud' of his son, but never thought the community would embrace him in the way it has.
'Customers love him just as we love him,' he said.
Geoff said his son's career has given him a different outlook on life.
'Somebody said to him "are you handicapped?" and his answer was "I used to be when I went to school, but now I work at McDonald's",' he said.
'Because other people who work there are normal, he assumes he is now too.'
Russell made a good impression on his workmates and the customers and was soon promoted to a secure position with the Northmead McDonald's (photo taken in 1987, one year after he started the job)
Russell's career began with work experience, but when he proved himself a good worker, he moved into a secure job with McDonald's packing party boxes.
He also tried his hand at other duties in the restaurant, even trying his hand in the kitchen.
Geoff said the staff at Northmead McDonald's accepted him with open arms, and made Russell's work life more enjoyable than he thought possible.
'These people are absolutely fantastic, if it wasn't for their attitude he wouldn't still be working,' he said.
Geoff O'Grady (left) with his son Russell (right) who has this week celebrated his 30-year-anniversary working at McDonald's
Store assistant Katie Chlyder told Daily Mail Australia that Russell made the restaurant a brighter place.
'You feel happy that you have him here, he's just nice to have around,' she said.
'He's really sweet, he always comes up to me to shake my hand hello and goodbye without fail, just a really sweet gentleman.'
Ms Chlyder said it was Russell's job to clear trays, sweep the restaurant and - his favourite job of all - greet customers.
She said Russell has his quirks, just like anyone else.
Russell is a much loved colleague at McDonald's in Northmead, as proven by the store's celebration of his 30th anniversary in the job (pictured)
Russell (left) with his brother Lindsey OGrady (right) and sister-in-law Kate O'Grady (centre), who also supported him and got him the job through Jobsupport
'He's kind of funny, he walks to work, and you'll ask him what he's listening to, and he'll always say: 'The Beatles', he loves the Beatles,' she said.
'The Beatles and Abba.'
And after 30 years of putting smiles on the faces of staff and customers, Russell's happy-go-lucky attitude has become a trademark of the local store, second only to the fast food franchise's golden arches logo.
Russell is just one of hundreds of people living with a disability who has been trained and placed in a job through Jobsupport.
Jobsupport assistant manager Kate O'Grady told Daily Mail Australia the job noticeably changed Russell's life.
Russell's (pictured) happy-go-lucky attitude has become a trademark of the local store
She said it also gave him access to the community he otherwise would never have had.
'There have been a lot of people who've worked with him and shared that connection,' she said.
'In fact there's a man who worked with Russell when he was a teenager and now his children work with him.
Russell (right) has always shared a special connection with customers at the Northmead McDonald's
'He's a very familiar face to a lot of people.'
Mrs O'Grady said Russell grew so popular he could go very few places where he wasn't recognised.
'He's an incredibly social person and can hardly walk down the street without people stopping to chat with him or buy him a beer at the club.'
Three of the four college students who were killed in a fiery midnight crash near Boston on Sunday night have been identified.
The horrific smash which occurred just after midnight in Middleborough, Massachusetts happened when a car that was travelling in the wrong direction on the highway hit the students vehicle head-on.
Jordan Fisher, 19, of Harwich along with Kraig Diggs, 20 of Osterville were killed instantly. So too was Jordan Galvin-Jutras, 19, of Hyannis and another 18-year-old man from West Babylon, New York. Three of the men were cousins.
The female driver of the vehicle that was heading the wrong direction also lost their life.
Jordan Fisher, 19, of Harwich, left, and his cousin Kraig A. Diggs, 20, of Osterville were killed
A third cousin, Jordan Galvin-Jutras, 19, of Hyannis, also lost his life in the firey smash
The father of Jordan Fisher, Rodney spoke to WCVB about his son.
'He was a good kid,' Rodney Fisher said. 'I loved him to death. He was all we had.'
Jordan was a freshmen at Becker College.
Kraig Diggs who died alongside him was Fisher's cousin and was a sophomore at Anna Maria College where he was studying business.
The deadly crash occurred at 12.11am.
All the men were on their way back to classes at Anna Maria College in Paxton Kraig's 2003 Mercury Sable was struck by a 2011 Infiniti G37
The Infiniti that was travelling the wrong way then burst into flames. Police say they didn't find evidence that the car took any evasive action to avoid colliding with the young men's vehicle.
The charred and burnt out remains of a car that carried the four young men show they never stood a chance after being hit by a woman driving the wrong way on a Boston highway
Jordan Galvin is pictured here at his high school graduation, left. Kraig Diggs, right, was driving his car at the time of the accident
Jordan Fisher was headed to Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts
Throughout the day on Monday, friends were posting condolences on social media sites.
'At a loss for words right now. In the last couple of hours we lost two genuinely amazing human beings. I look back on all the memories we shared and it puts a smile on my face. From summer camp to major upsets in dodgeball tourneys, I'm so lucky to have kicked back with some cool dudes. For now hold it down for us up there. Thoughts and prayers for both of your families #RIP,' wrote Sonny Bisazza on Facebook.
'Rest In Peace Kraig Andre Diggs and Jordan Galvin. Heaven gained some beautiful angels today,' wrote Jen Peacock on social media.
Scene: Five people died in the wrong-way crash late on Sunday night
Incident: A vehicle traveling south on the northbound side of Interstate 495 in Middleborough struck a vehicle heading in the correct direction early Monday morning
Deadly: The driver and lone occupant of the wrong-way vehicle died, as did four people in the other vehicle. The crash occurred at 12.11am
Massachusetts state police said in a Monday news release: 'Troopers are still gathering information about the victims.
'The facts and circumstances of the crash, including the cause of the wrong way operation, remain under investigation.
'The investigation is being conducted by Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police with assistance from the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and State Police Crime Scene Services Section.'
The northbound side of the highway was closed during the investigation, but reopened by Monday morning at 5am.
Two British tourists have contracted the Zika virus after travelling to Florida, it emerged last night.
Pregnant women have been advised to cancel all 'non-essential' travel to the American state to avoid the risk that their babies are born with deformities.
The virus can cause babies to be born with small heads.
The identities of the two British citizens to have contracted the virus is not currently known and neither is their condition.
An 'Aedes Aegypti' mosquito - which transmits the Zika virus - was pictured in a laboratory
They caught the virus while travelling to the Miami-Dade County in the southeastern part of Florida, which has areas deemed 'high risk' for Zika.
A Public Health England report, published earlier this month, revealed that a total of 229 British travellers have caught the Zika virus since January 2016, although only two have contracted it in North America.
More than 1.5 million British tourists visit Florida each year.
Most of those who contracted the virus had previously visited the Caribbean or South and central America.
Zika is a mosquito-borne disease which causes relatively mild symptoms in adults causing only a mild fever, joint pain and rashes.
However, thousands of babies who have contracted the virus while in the womb have been born with microcephaly, which causes them to be born with smaller heads and disabilities.
Tourists from the UK have also been asked to consider abstaining from unprotected sex throughout their trip and for eight weeks afterwards due to a small risk the virus can be spread through sexual transmission.
The Foreign Office has also said that sporadic cases of local transmission have also been reported in the Florida areas of Palm Beach county, Broward county and Pinellas county.
The risk of catching Zika in these areas and the rest of Florida is described by the FCO as 'moderate', although a square mile of Miami called the Little River neighbourhood is described as 'high risk' for the Zika virus.
Zika does not exist naturally in the UK as the mosquitoes which belong to the genus Aedes currently shown to transmit Zika do not live in the UK.
Two British tourists have contracted the Zika virus after travelling to Florida (stock photo)
Last month, following the updated health guidelines, British tour operators Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice announced that they would grant free Florida holiday cancellations or amendments for pregnant tourists with trips booked up until December 31.
British Airways said pregnant women could change any destination for free while Virgin Holidays offered its customers full refunds.
Some of those travel firms slashed their prices for package holidays to Florida and offered travel discounts of more than 40 per cent on some bookings.
One Thomas Cook deal offered 14 nights in Florida for two adults with flights and car hire for 1,080, a price drop of 42 per cent.
The pair claim the 43-year-old man purposely broke a glass while seated
A mother and her teenage son have escaped jail after they followed and bashed a man for knocking over a glass from his table while sitting at their restaurant.
Mun Yee Tracey Khong, 49, and Benny Foon, 19, punched, slapped and chocked their victim after the incident occurred at their now-defunct Malay Kitchen restaurant at Mermaid Waters on the Gold Coast, in April last year.
Joshua Warhaft, 43, said he accidentally knocked over the glass but the mother and son claim the glass was purposely broken, reported Gold Coast Bulletin.
A mother and son received a nine months prison, wholly suspended, after they followed and physically assaulted their victim because he broke a glass, a court heard (stock photo)
Mr Warhaft attempted to record the confrontation when Khong and Foon followed him into a nearby shop.
But Khong slapped the phoned out of Mr Warhaft's hand and began to physically assault him with her son, a court heard.
Foon strangled Mr Warhaft from behind after jumping on his back resulting in a depressed fracture to his larynx which needed surgery, the Southport District Court heard.
The pair initially pleaded not guilty to unlawful assault occasioning bodily harm while in company but changed their pleas on the second day of the trial.
Foon, who studies mechanical engineering at Griffith University, claimed a conviction will deter from his chances of receiving employment.
The pair's barrister also argued they will not re-offend.
Benny Foon, 19, strangled Mr Warhaft from behind after jumping on his back causing a depressed fracture to his larynx the Southport District Court heard (pictured)
Judge Kent did not agree.
'He [Mr Warhaft] was pursued by you and your mother to the fruit shop which was nearby,' he said.
'Your response was completely disproportionate.'
'[Khong] You should have been mature enough to know better,' he said.
On Saturday we began our hard-hitting series on Britains meat industry by revealing the shameful truth about antibiotics in meat products. Yesterday we shone a spotlight on the real cost of cheap chicken. Now, in our final instalment, we look at the tricks used to seduce supermarket shoppers and what really goes into those fresh-looking joints, hams, bangers and burgers...
As health-conscious consumers, many of us pore over food labels before popping our favourite meat products into our trolleys. But while we may learn the calories, salt and fat content, there are plenty of other things the label does not reveal.
Did you know, for example, that fancy deli salamis often contain a meat glue that makes them deceptively firm? Or that when chicken is labelled marinated, that term may be an attractive cover story for the less palatable truth: that it is simply pumped with water to bulk it out? Few things about supermarket meat products, from their colour to their texture and weight, are as they seem.
Health-conscious consumers pore over food labels before choosing meat products but there are plenty of other things the label does not reveal. Stock image
These perfectly legal techniques are employed to make our food seem fresher, better value and more wholesome than it really is. But as an investigative journalist and author who has researched the food we eat for 25 years, I am deeply disturbed by the thought that we are being ripped off by companies eking out the actual meat in sausages, nuggets, pasties and pies.
We are also acting as guinea pigs in a vast experiment one in which we unwittingly consume combinations of high-tech ingredients and additives whose effects on human health cannot even be measured.
Here, we reveal the stomach-churning secret ingredients that supermarkets slip into your meat...
Chickens cheap, waters cheaper
If you make burgers or meatballs at home, the recipe wont include water but food manufacturers use it all the time, to cut costs on everything from bacon and sausages to cooked meats and salamis.
Even some whole chicken and turkey breasts have a solution of water, salt and starch forced into them, either by using industrial tumbling machines, which jumble the ingredients round like a tumble dryer, or by puncturing their cell structure with needles to create a network of invisible holes which trap fluid.
In the meat trade this is known as plumping, but on the ingredients list the product might be labelled marinated, or simply have the names of the plumping ingredients in brackets after the meat name. For instance, in your ready meal it may appear as chicken (chicken breast, water, tapioca starch, salt, spices).
Butter basted products that trumpet their succulence usually have added water in the baste, along with that attractive-sounding butter. Its also highly probable that the meat in ready meals, salads and pizza toppings you buy has water added.
By law, all processed meats can contain 5 per cent added water without that having to be stated on the label. So if you pick up a pack that says 10 per cent added water, it more likely contains 15 per cent.
Sticking in invisible glue
Manufacturers can use an enzyme called transglutaminase to get scrappy bits of meat to stick together.
Known as meat glue, this chemical gives meat a deceptive juicy firmness, helps retain added water and reduces the traditional drying and maturing time needed for cured meats by up to 40 per cent. So even that salami hanging up in your independent deli could contain the glue.
Food regulators class transglutaminase as a processing aid rather than an ingredient because once it has done its job gluing miscellaneous meat and water together, it is no longer present in the final product. So theres no way to tell if your meat purchases were made with a helping hand from transglutaminase.
Food manufacturers use water all the time, to cut costs on everything from bacon and sausages to cooked meats and salamis. Stock image
Soapy chemicals for heavier ham
Phosphates are another useful tool in the meat processors chemical arsenal.
Derivatives of phosphoric acid, they dissolve the protein in meat, making it tacky and sticky, so that it binds with water which makes it weigh more, adding to manufacturers profits. This chemical group, commonly used to produce mid to down-market hams, chicken, turkey roll, and bacon, has a soapy taste (it is also used in soap production), so manufacturers add salt, sugar and flavouring to mask this.
Wobbly products are gum giveaway
Many processed meat products are literally stuck together with gum. The gums most often used are carrageenan and agar (chemically extracted from seaweed); gum acacia and locust bean (from trees); guar gum, inulin, cellulose and konjac (from plants); and xanthan (made by fermenting corn sugar with a mould bacterium).
Known as hydrocolloids, these gluey, sweet starches can bind a ragbag of butchered meat and water in a sticky embrace that is highly lucrative for manufacturers. By using carrageenan and added water, for instance, they can double the end weight of their products.
Gums are also used to manipulate the texture of processed meat products, making them appear meatier than they really are.
Carrageenan is supplied by chemical companies to the meat trade in three forms, depending on how jellied a mouthfeel is required. So if your ready-cooked meat slices have a rubbery wobble, check the ingredients listing for gum.
Gas that makes juicy cuts shine
If you think that a glistening, ruby colour is a guarantee of quality minced beef, think again. Unlike High Street butchers, who will simply wrap your meat in paper, all supermarket meat is sold in rigid plastic containers sealed with a strong lid.
These packs have been flushed with a special mix of gases known as modified atmosphere, designed to extend the shelf life of the contents.
While in normal air conditions meat would gradually darken and dry out, giving the buyer an indication of its age, when packed in a low-oxygen environment it remains moist and red for weeks.
This gassing is one of the reasons why supermarket meat can often be quite tough. Beef, for instance, naturally becomes more tender when it matures and sheds moisture.
But it is more profitable for supermarkets to serve meat that has just been butchered direct from the slaughterhouse because it retains that moisture and so weighs more.
Meat packed in modified atmosphere has a label (usually in tiny print) saying packed in protective atmosphere. This gives the misleading impression that the technique is used for the consumers benefit, when actually its all about the supermarkets profits.
More starch means less meat
Food engineers have extracted a number of high-tech, water-binding starches from sources such as wheat, soya, peas, bamboo, rice, potatoes and citrus. These are used in products such as sausages, pates, meatballs and pie fillings because they have a sponge effect that soaks up and holds added water, yet doesnt ooze out liquid when they are defrosted or cooked.
Labelled on the ingredients list with innocuous names such as wheat flour or pea flour, they are used by food technologists to retexturise chicken products, such as kievs and nuggets, that have been restructured (that is, formed from various bits).
They are also used to firm up the consistency of products such as frankfurters and garlic sausage, where the meat mix has been processed into a slurry. By using these starches, manufacturers can radically reduce the amount of meat needed in their recipe.
Now Stretch it out with soya . . .
Soya protein is one of the most common meat extenders used by manufacturers to pad out products such as sausages and nuggets. They add it to cheaper lines in the form of a chemically refined flour, concentrate or protein isolate.
This soya protein is typically extracted by washing soya flour in acid, in aluminium tanks, introducing the possibility that this heavy metal, which is known to be bad for the brain and nervous system, could leach into the product.
The chemical solvent hexane a component in glue and cement is also used in the process. Hexane can poison the nervous system, although the soya industry insists that no hexane residues find their way into the finished product.
Manufacturers add soapy chemicals to meats because it adds to their weight. Stock image
. . . add gelatine from carcases . . .
Manufacturers add gelatine to meat products to give them a jellied consistency. This is a highly refined form of collagen, the protein found in animal tendons, ligaments and skin.
The gelatine is extracted from animal carcases after all their meat has been stripped away in the abbatoir, in a chemical process that uses an acid or alkali solution, or enzymes, and water, to break down the raw material.
If gelatine is used in a meat product, it has to be listed as an ingredient on the label. Traditionally, gelatine is added to pork pies to make the jelly that surrounds the meaty centre, but in other meat products its presence on the ingredients list is another sign of poor-quality processed meat eked out with cheap ingredients.
. . . and pump up the protein
The word protein has a healthy ring to it, so you might not be alarmed if you spot it on the ingredients list eg, beef protein. This is the labelling term used for collagen protein powders extracted from animal by-products.
Manufacturers use these tailor-made proteins to make processed meats more sliceable, firm and cohesive and reduce purge the telltale seepage of watery liquid into the product pack. These protein powders cost companies much less than even the cheapest meat.
Manufacturers usually add proteins to their ready-to-eat meats in brine. Protein powders can also be whisked with water until they form a firm, cloudy gel with the elasticity of a stress ball. This is canned, pasteurised and stored until it is needed for mixing into everything from burgers and chicken supremes to salami. Manufacturers also use protein powders to add glossy thickness to gravies and ready meals, such as a cottage pie or roast beef dinner.
Frankenstein frankfurters
Some of the added proteins that manufacturers use to value engineer their production costs. Stock image
Some of the added proteins that manufacturers use to value engineer their production costs downwards are extracted from animal blood: plasma and globin. When these are heated above 65c they form a strong gel that can later be dissolved in water and used to firm up meat products.
Plasma can quite legally be included in the brine injected into cheaper cooked hams, and processors often use it to produce a firm meat bite in frankfurters, chorizo, smoked and garlic sausage.
Globin makes a handy emulsifier for manufacturers of low-grade processed meats because it allows them to add lots of cheap fat and water to their products without them separating out and leaking when we cook them at home.
A dash of added blood products does wonders for a manufacturers profit margins. The only clue to their use lies in the weasel word protein in the ingredients listing.
How frozen food is sold as fresh
Manufacturers of meat products generally buy in pre-butchered and de-boned meat called trim that is already frozen.
In the factory, they defrost it in industrial-sized microwaves before using it to make their product.
Even though it will have been made with frozen meat, they can sell the end product as fresh. So those chilled packs of meatballs or that ready-to-eat shepherds pie could contain meat slaughtered years before.
Mince packed with gristle
MORE than half the beef sold in Britain is mince. And while the label may say 100 per cent beef, a single packet of supermarket mince will contain meat taken from up to 100 cows.
In cheap mince, as much as a quarter of the packet will be fat and a smaller proportion is what the layman might call gristle collagen or connective tissues.
British troops will return to Jordan and Turkey to train moderate Syrian forces to fight Islamic State.
A similar programme to ready 5,000 fighters for battle ended in farce last year when the moderates were either kidnapped or joined extremist organisations and UK forces pulled out.
But in a U-turn yesterday, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced 20 soldiers will return to the region to start the training again.
British troops will return to Jordan and Turkey to train moderate Syrian forces to fight Islamic State. Pictured is a stock image if Syrian special forces
Under the new plans, recruits will be subject to strict vetting procedures in an attempt to stop them slipping through the net and working against Western forces.
Speaking ahead of a ministerial meeting today in Paris to discuss IS, also known as Daesh, Mr Fallon said: Daesh are on the back foot. The RAF is already playing a leading role in the air, hitting them hard in Iraq and Syria.
Now were stepping up our support to moderate opposition forces in Syria, through training them in the skills they need to defeat Daesh.
Last year Britain sent around 100 soldiers to Turkey and Jordan to take part in the US-led training programme.
But only around 100 moderates were thought to have undergone training because of problems finding Syrian recruits untainted by extremist affiliations.
The first trained batch of about 50 were kidnapped by Al Qaeda and the second group of around 30 betrayed the US and defected with their weapons to another jihadi group, Jabhat al-Nusra.
In a U-turn yesterday, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced 20 soldiers will return to the region to start the training again
The British soldiers returned home in an admission the plan had failed. Yesterday a Whitehall source said: Syria is a basket case and we need to try to do something.
UK personnel will train the moderate Syrian opposition fighters on basic infantry tactics, and medical and explosive hazard awareness skills. The Ministry of Defence said in a statement: As the campaign against Daesh terrorists reaches a crucial stage, following the advance on Mosul in Iraq, UK troops will help improve the capabilities of vetted members of the moderate Syrian opposition, and to generate greater numbers of trained moderate Syrian opposition fighters to contribute to the counter Daesh campaign.
The announcement follows a US request to the UK to support the training programme, which restarted in July.
Last year David Cameron faced criticism after he said 70,000 moderate Syrian ground troops would help the UK and the coalition in its fight against IS.
The UN refugee agency has said it will set up 30,000 tents within days to shelter an estimated 150,000 Iraqis fleeing battles around the IS stronghold of Mosul (pictured)
Tory sceptics suggested it was delusional to claim there were tens of thousands of moderates willing to kill the jihadists.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency has said it will set up 30,000 tents within days to shelter an estimated 150,000 Iraqis fleeing battles around the IS stronghold of Mosul.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi insisted: The preparations are proceeding well. Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition last week launched an offensive to push IS from its last stronghold in the country.
As fighting nears the city, up to a million people could be displaced, sparking an unprecedented humanitarian emergency. UNHCR says more than three million people have already been forced from their homes since the start of 2014, including a third in its Kurdish region.
The trail is set to conclude on Tuesday in Warwick District Court
The man 'asked to come in' and the teenager said 'no'
A man has been accused of indecently touching a 14-year-old girl while she was showering.
The young girl claimed the man entered her home in Clifton, Queensland and then came into the bathroom.
'I was having a shower and he was at the door asking, "can I come in?" and I said "no" more than once,' she told a police officer in a recorded interview.
A man has been accused of indecently touching a 14-year-old girl while she was showering (stock image)
The girl said the man started touching her back and body inappropriately.
In Warwick District Court on Monday Crown prosecutor Sam Bain said the alleged offence was a plan that backfired.
'It was meant to happen when the mother wasn't home.'
The jury was shown a police interview with the accused man, who denied going into the girl's house and said he was walking past there because he was trying to lose weight.
The teenager's mother appeared in court and said her daughter contacted her following the alleged offence.
The trial is set to conclude on Tuesday.
Nearly a third of teachers who began work in England's state schools in 2010 were not in the classroom five years later, official figures show.
Around 7,200 of the 24,100 newly qualified teachers who joined schools in November 2010 had left the profession by 2015, according to figures published by schools minister Nick Gibb.
Around one in eight (13 per cent) had left after just a year.
The Government insisted that teacher retention rates have been 'broadly stable' for the last 20 years, but the Liberal Democrats warned that ministers must work with teachers to deal with the factors that make the profession feel 'demoralised and under-valued'.
Official figures reveal nearly a third of teachers who began work in England's state schools in 2010 were not in the classroom five years later (file picture)
The statistics, revealed in response to a written ministerial question submitted by Lib Dem MP Greg Mulholland, show that of those who joined the profession in November 2010, 87 per cent were still in the classroom a year later and 82 per cent were working as teachers two years later.
This dropped to 77 per cent after three years, 73 per cent after four years and 70 per cent after five years.
Lib Dem education spokesman John Pugh said: 'This is a damming record for Michael Gove's time as education secretary.
'It is bad enough that dedicated teachers are being driven away from the profession they love, but this is also laying the foundations for a disastrous teaching shortage in years to come if we cannot train new teachers fast enough to replace the ones which leave.
'The Government must urgently work with the teaching community to address the many factors which are making teachers feel demoralised and under-valued, as well as reversing their devastating cuts to school budgets which are putting increasing pressure on teachers and schools.'
A Department for Education spokesman said: '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 (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average, and higher than many of Europe's high-performing education systems like Finland, Norway or Sweden.
'We want every child to have access to great teachers that aren't weighed down with unnecessary workload so they have the time and freedom to do what they do best - inspire the next generation.
The Government has been urged to address why teachers are feeling 'demoralised and under-valued' in schools (file picture)
'We recognise teachers' concerns and are continuing to work with the sector to find constructive solutions to this issue.'
Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said: 'It is deeply regrettable that so many people have chosen to leave teaching, when we need new teachers more than ever.
'Despite high demand, there has been a consistent shortfall in the numbers recruited to training courses since 2010.
'On top of this, schools are now experiencing increased difficulties in retaining staff.
'Ministers need to ask themselves why this is happening, and to take immediate action.
Mayda Rivera-Juarez, 32, was charged with poisoning her former coworkers' coffee
A disgruntled shipping company employee is facing criminal charges after she allegedly made her coworkers say by sneaking cleaning products into their coffee machine.
Mayda E. Rivera-Juarez, 32, was arrested on Friday after cops say she poured cleaning fluid meant for windows and bathrooms into the Keurig coffee machine at, JAS Forwarding Worldwide in Sterling, Virginia, according to WTOP.
It is unclear when she worked there, but police say the poisoning seemed to take place over several weeks, possibly even months.
Several employees were severely sickened, and suffered digestive problems and diarrhea, said Loudoun County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Alex Kowalski.
'The employees at this place had been getting sick, didnt quite know what was going on,' Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman told WJLA. 'When [Rivera-Juarez] was coming in to get terminated, some of this came to light.'
The company had about eight employees.
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ABC 7 identifed the coffee machine that was allegedly tampered with as the one above
JAS Forwarding Inc, above, in Sterling, Virginia, was the site of what police say was a disgruntled worker pouring cleaning solution into an office coffee machine
Coworkers described Rivera-Juarez, who worked the front desk, as someone who didn't see 'eye-to-eye' with them, according to the outlet.
'She was really nice. It's shocking to hear about something like that,' a man who worked nearby told WJLA.
The husband of a woman who was murdered by an illegal immigrant a decade ago has blasted Donald Trump for demonizing foreigners living in the United States and the right-wing media for trying to make his wife an anti-immigration poster girl.
Andy Ostroy found his wife Adrienne Shelly, an actress and filmmaker who starred in indie hit Waitress, dead in her office in Manhattans West Village on November 1, 2006.
She had been brutally murdered by Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old undocumented construction worker from Ecuador who later said that he killed her because he feared Shelly would report him and have him deported.
In the years since, Ostroy says he's had offers from members of the conservative media including Fox News Bill OReilly and Megyn Kelly to speak out and give legitimacy to the right-wing anti-immigration sentiment.
Who better than a Democrat to attack an entire segment of our population, right? he writes in an op-ed for The New York Times.
Andy Ostroy, whose wife Adrienne Shelly (left) was murdered by an illegal immigrant a decade ago, has blasted Donald Trump for demonizing foreigners living in the United States. Right, Ostroy at a 2008 fundraising gala for his wife's foundation)
In the piece, Ostroy blasted the anti-immigrant rhetoric that is the foundation of Donald Trumps presidential campaign.
He insists that his wife was not murdered by an illegal immigrant, but that she fell victim to a depraved killer who simply happened to be an undocumented immigrant.
He adds: Its an obvious distinction, almost too obvious, but its an important one to consider as the country goes further down the dangerous path of demonizing those not born here.
Recalling the tragedy of his wifes murder, Ostroy says her killer staged her death to look like a suicide. The couples daughter was two at the time.
And because there was no clear motive or witnesses to the crime, Ostroy was advised to accept a deal that would send Pillco to prison for 25 years with no parole.
It was an agonizing decision: roll the dice for a life sentence or possibly end up with a manslaughter conviction, with her killer receiving a meager three to five years in prison, he wrote.
Adrienne Shelly was an actress and filmmaker who starred in 2007 film Waitress (above, Shelly in the film)
He notes that Pillco will be a free man at 44 while his wifes vibrant life was snuffed out at 40.
And given the anger and grief he continues to feel almost a decade to the day since her murder, Ostroy says he could easily be seduced by the rhetoric Trump is peddling.
The Republican nominee infamously began his presidential run last year with a speech in which he branded Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists.
And the 70-year-old real estate mogul has repeatedly doubled down on the sentiment, saying in last weeks final presidential debate that the country is filled with bad hombres and we need to get them out.
He has pledged to build a wall on the US-Mexico border and repeatedly insisted that he will force Mexico to pay for it.
Shelly was killed by Diego Pillco (above), a 19-year-old undocumented construction worker from Ecuador
Ostroy says Pillcos reason for killing his wife and the lenient sentence he received certainly feeds Mr Trumps xenophobic, fear-mongering narrative.
But he adds: Attributing his heinous act to his immigration status dilutes the more relevant truth that he lacked the ability to know right from wrong and had zero respect for human life.
Trump uses murders like Adriennes though never hers specifically, fortunately as political props, Ostroy says.
In his op-ed for the New York Times, Ostroy branded the billionaire businessman a xenophobic agitator
He brands the billionaire businessman a xenophobic agitator.
Its politically expedient for Trump to scapegoat the millions of foreigners who come to United States seeking a better life, Ostroy says, but his malevolence toward immigrants runs counter to the principles on which out great nation was founded.
With the exception of Native Americans, America is inhabited by immigrants and the descendants of immigrants who fled religious and ethnic persecution, he says.
That millions of people face a similar fate on out soil is deplorable, he says, using a term Hillary Clinton has previously used to refer to Trump supporters.
And while Ostroy accepts that the country does have an immigration problem that is in need of reform, he disputes some of the claims that Trump has made when speaking about illegal immigrants.
He notes that while Trump often claims two million undocumented immigrants have been convicted of crimes, the actual figure is 176,000, citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Ostroy says hes had offers from members of the conservative media including Fox News Bill OReilly and Megyn Kelly (left and right) to give legitimacy to the right-wing anti-immigration sentiment
Yes, some illegal immigrants commit crimes, some of them violent, Ostroy says.
But so do blacks, whites, Asians, Christians and Jews.. The reality is, Americans have appreciably more to fear from their fellow citizens than from undocumented immigrants.
Ostroy concludes that the government needs to do more to secure borders, deport criminals and protect Americans from terrorism.
But he also believes we must find a realistic, humane path to citizenship for the millions of decent, hard-working immigrants who love this country as much as I do, regardless of whether they are documented or not.
He adds: We need the kind of compassionate reform that Democrats have been advocating for decades in the face of persistent Republican obstructionism.
Paris police chief Christian Sainte had never heard of Kim Kardashian (pictured)
The police chief investigating the 8.5million Kim Kardashian heist had never heard of the world famous celebrity - and only found out who she was after searching her name on the internet.
Paris police chief Christian Sainte received a phone call at 3am - just after the raid at her room in the luxury hotel in the French capital.
Miss Kardashian, who is married to famous rapper Kanye West, was bound and gagged before robbers stole her expensive jewellery.
In the build up to the raid, the reality star uploaded a number of photographs of her wearing the items while she was in France for Paris Fashion Week.
In one of the photographs, posted on her social media account, she was wearing a diamond ring which was worth a staggering 3.3million.
The thieves then discovered she was staying at the Hotel de Pourtales and carried out the high-profile raid three weeks ago.
Mr Sainte told Vanity Fair that the night officer in Paris informed him that a woman called Kim Kardashian had been the victim of an armed robbery in the city.
French police officers stood in front of Kardashian's luxury apartment at Hotel de Pourtales
Kim and her husband Kanye West were photographed at LAX airport in California before flying over to Paris in June this year
He told the magazine: 'I asked my number two "Who is this victim?"'
The night manager was also unaware of who she was and after the phone call, Mr Sainte searched her name and 'quickly understood who she was'.
He added: ' And now I know almost everything about her. The personality of the victim, Kim Kardashian, is not like anyone else. She has a lot of likes on Facebook.'
Mr Sainte added that Kardashian is 'giving information on social media all the time' about where she is but added he is confident of catching the robbers.
It comes after the 'concierge' at the centre of the heist broke his silence to claim that the prestigious hotel was to blame for the shocking robbery because its bosses 'didn't care' about security.
The traumatised father-of-one, 39, named only as Abdulrahman because of fears for his safety, told MailOnline he had warned Hotel de Pourtales that guests were vulnerable years before the attack.
He even claimed that security was so lax at the luxury hotel that 'someone might die'.
In a world exclusive interview, he told MailOnline of a series of shocking security lapses, saying: 'There was no real security at all. It's a choice.
The thieves then found out she was staying at the Hotel de Pourtales and carried out the high-profile raid three weeks ago
Kim Kardashian was spotted in Paris just hours before the reality star was held at gunpoint in her hotel room in the city
'The hotel doesn't mind about security. We told them years and years before, you have to make a camera, you have to put [in place] a security process, about keys.
'Nothing was locked, there was no proper security there.'
The 39-year-old security guard, who is working towards a doctorate at the Sorbonne university in Paris, was the only guard on duty when reality star Kim robbed at about 2.30am on October 3.
The Hotel de Pourtales, so exclusive it is known as No Address France, is located in Paris' 8th district, round the corner from the British embassy.
David Cameron famously resigned in 2008 as a member of gentlemans club Whites in protest at its refusal to admit women members.
But there is one female who is always welcome at the oldest and most exclusive club in London the Queen.
She first visited the establishment in St Jamess Street in 1991 and last week was back at Londons most raffish venue with Prince Philip for a lunch at the invitation of the club to celebrate her 90th birthday.
David Cameron famously resigned in 2008 as a member of gentlemans club Whites in protest at its refusal to admit women members.
Prince Charles who held his Bollinger-fuelled stag night there in 1981 before his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer and Prince William are members at Whites, where former prime minister Camerons father Ian was once chairman.
But even in the 21st century the club, which specialises in game dishes and is rarely called upon to serve one of its vegetarian options for lunch, refuses to move with the times and admit women members.
Interestingly, Cameron has been spotted at the club several times since his July departure from Downing Street. However, his office assures me he has not renewed his membership.
The club, founded in 1693 as a hot chocolate house, was embroiled in royal controversy two years ago after a close friend of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge withdrew his membership application after he was threatened with being blackballed.
Dr Mark Cecil, a hedge fund millionaire who had entertained William and Kate at his villa in Mustique, was told he was not welcome at the establishment and would be rejected if he tried to join.
It is believed he had fallen foul of his Harrow contemporary and rival hedge fund boss Crispin Odey, founder of Odey Asset Management, who deemed him a pushy social networker.
There is one female who is always welcome at the oldest and most exclusive club in London the Queen
The incident caused great embarrassment to Cecils membership proposer and seconder, Viscount Daventry and pop star Bryan Ferry.
The Queen seldom crosses the threshold of gentlemens clubs, which is perhaps just as well given their toxic environment.
Annabels is said to be the only nightclub she has ever visited. She popped in for a party there in 2003, when she sipped a gin martini.
Which poor royal drew the short straw to present Janet Street-Porter with her CBE today? Street-Porter, honoured for services to journalism and broadcasting, has a dim view of the Firm.
She once said of Prince Charles: The idea that hes going to be the next monarch is ludicrous . . . Why cant [he] just run the Duchy of Cornwall and make biscuits? The 69-year-old christened Prince Williams wife the Duchess of Drab and likened Prince George to a cross-dressing millionaire when photos were released on his second birthday.
She has also said: There are just . . . too many servants, too many advisers giving them c**p advice. Presumably bestowing a CBE on JS-P did not fall into this category.
Former Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton admits her gold medal from 2012 has already lost its lustre
Former Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton admits her gold medal from 2012 has already lost its lustre.
The gold is wearing off, she tells me. They are actually silver, but they are gold-plated.
'When people come round to my house they always want to hold it. Im more than happy to let people touch it. Thats part of the magic: when you give it to a kid and they get to put their hands on it, thats quite a special moment for them.
It would seem wrong to put it in a plastic box for them to hold.
You want them to wear it and feel it and touch it.
The evergreen screen siren Dame Joan Collins shows no signs of retiring at 83 and now wants to conquer Bollywood, according to Indian actor and Dynasty co-star Kabir Bedi.
She told me she is very keen to do a Bollywood film, he says.
She is familiar with Bollywood films and since she is a very good dancer, she wants to do a film where she can dance.
Is parenthood finally catching up with Jamie Oliver? The 41-year-old tv chef, who recently became a father for the fifth time, looked worlds away from his youthful Naked Chef days
Is parenthood finally catching up with Jamie Oliver?
The 41-year-old tv chef, who recently became a father for the fifth time, looked worlds away from his youthful Naked Chef days as he posed outdoors with his youngest three: daughter Petal Blossom, seven, and sons Buddy, six, and two-month-old River Rocket, during half-term.
Looking the very model of middle-aged respectability in his brown plaid scarf, a smiling Jamie added: These are my new glasses if you were wondering.
An inquest into the 2003 disappearance and death of schoolboy Daniel Morcombe will resume for two days in December.
An inquest into the Sunshine Coast boy's death was adjourned in April 2011 before his killer was arrested later that year, but the Morcombe family's lawyer Peter Boyce says his parents Bruce and Denise want the coroner to examine some aspects of the police investigation.
'Bruce and Denise aren't unhappy with the police, they're very happy with the investigation,' Mr Boyce told ABC radio on Tuesday.
Bruce and Denise Morcombe leave the Supreme Court in Brisbane in December 2014
Daniel Morcombe, from the Sunshine Coast, disappeared in December 2003, aged 13, while going Christmas shopping
Daniel's killer, Brett Cowan, who was caught in 2011
Lawyer Peter Boyce
'But there are some matters that perhaps need some attention so no one else has to go through what they've been through.'
Boyce told Daily Mail Australia the Morcombes wanted the adequacy of the investigation and details like forensic evidence looked at.
Also of interest was the length of time it took for his killer to be arrested, when he had been a suspect from the early stages of the case.
Other officers who didn't appear before the inquest previously were also expected to be called to give evidence.
The 13-year-old boy was abducted from a bus stop and murdered in 2003.
Brett Peter Cowan is serving a life sentence after being convicted of Daniel's murder in 2014 following a lengthy and complex police operation.
Daniel Morcombe
The annual Day for Daniel walk, organised by the Morcombes to raise awareness about child safety, will be held on Friday.
In the week leading up to the day, they will be educating children about how to identify danger and react, the Sunshine Coast Daily reported.
They will travel to schools in Queensland during the week before the Day for Daniel walk from Woombye to Palmwoods at 6am.
About 1500 people are expected to participate.
The inquest will continue in the Brisbane Coroner's Court on December 14 and 15.
Bruce and Denise Morcombe leave the Federal Court in Brisbane, Friday, March 11, 2016
Walkers take part the 10th annual Walk for Daniel at Woombye on the Sunshine Coast in 2014
Convicted paedophiles who try to dodge restrictions on their behaviour should face jail even if they have committed no new crimes, judges and magistrates were told yesterday.
They will face up to five years in jail if they break orders intended to stop them from grooming children or using the internet to view child pornography, new rules for the courts said.
Sexual Harm Prevention Orders are intended to stop paedophiles and other sex offenders from committing further crimes.
Convicted paedophiles who try to dodge restrictions on their behaviour should face jail even if they have committed no new crimes, judges and magistrates were told yesterday. Stock image
They can include bans on a range of actions and behaviour, including getting access to internet porn sites, using a computer rigged so that nobody can find out which websites have been visited, restrictions on where an offender can live, and curbs on going abroad or visiting particular foreign countries. The orders can also be used to stop offenders from meeting particular children or families.
The new guidance says that in future, courts should sentence sex offenders who break court orders according to the risk their actions posed to children or adults not according to any harm they may actually have done.
The move to tighten the restrictions on convicted paedophiles won praise from childrens charities. Barnardos said that sex offenders who try to get round court orders can cause devastating damage and the guidance would ensure people who pose a risk to children are dealt with appropriately.
The guidelines from the Sentencing Council, the judge-led body which sets sentencing rules, have been sent out for consultation and will come into effect next year if they are approved. The new sentencing rules will cover all convicted offenders who break court orders, including community punishments for criminals who have been spared jail.
The Sentencing Council, which is chaired by Appeal judge Lord Justice Treacy, said: For the first time, guidance for sentencing for breaches of these orders will require sentencers to take into account the risk of harm as well as actual harm caused by a breach.
It added that in sentencing offenders for breaking orders courts should look at any harm caused or risked to individuals or the wider public.
The Sentencing Council, chaired by Appeal judge Lord Justice Treacy (pictured), says risk as well as actual harm will be considered
As an example, the guidances says a paedophile who is banned from meeting a child could break the court order by grooming the child or her family with the intention of committing further crimes.
Even if there is no offence committed, the Council consultation paper said, it is highly likely that distress would be caused to family members who had unknowingly exposed their child to a risk of sexual harm, and to the child who may become aware of being the subject of potential harm.
The most serious offenders should face prison sentences of four years and six months, the guidelines said. Only sex offenders who caused or posed risk of little or no harm or distress should escape prison and be handed another court order, they added.
Sentencing Council member and Probation Service manager Martin Graham said: Our guidelines aim to ensure that offenders get the type of sentence that reflects the seriousness of what they have done, and give courts clear guidance on what action should be taken against those offenders who ignore court orders. Where they breach orders and cause or risk harm or distress to others, they can expect robust penalties to be imposed.
Javed Khan, Barnardos chief executive, said: Court orders that prevent convicted abusers from sexually harming children are a vital way of protecting victims. Breaches of these orders can put children at risk and have devastating consequences.
We welcome this consultation into new sentencing guidelines which enable courts to ensure people who breach court orders and pose a risk to children are dealt with appropriately.
New sentencing guidelines yesterday also warn courts not to impose suspended sentences because they are unwilling to use community orders. Suspended sentence numbers have risen in recent years amid suspicions that some judges and magistrates do not believe that community punishments are effective or rigorous.
The country's second highest law officer has quit his job in a biting resignation letter, saying his relationship with Attorney-General George Brandis had been 'irretrievably broken' and lacked 'trust and confidence' and mutual respect.
Australian Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson and the attorney have been embroiled in a public spat over changes to Mr Gleeson's role, principally that no-one including the prime minister could seek the solicitor-general's advice without the attorney's permission.
Mr Gleeson said while he regretted having to take the decision, it was the necessary step to resolve the impasse between them and establish a 'functional working relationship between the first and second Law Offices.'
Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson (pictured) has tendered his resignation in a biting letter describing his relationship with Attorney-General George Brandis as 'irretrievably broken'
Senator Brandis (pictured), who announced the move on Monday, said it was the 'proper course of action' for Australia's Solicitor-General
'The best interests of the commonwealth can be served only when its first and second law officers enjoy each others' complete trust and confidence within a mutually respectful relationship,' he wrote.
'When such a relationship is irretrievably broken, as is the case here... there must be some resolution to the impasse.'
Mr Gleeson said his resignation did not mean he withdrew any of the positions and claims he made in 'matters of controversy' between himself and the attorney.
It would in fact enable an objective analysis of the issues he'd raised.
'I also make perfectly plain that I reject absolutely each and every attack and insinuation that has been made in recent times upon me personally, or upon my office, by government members of parliament, including you, in the Senate committee process,' Mr Gleeson wrote to Senator Brandis.
'My decision is unrelated to any finding the Senate Committee may make in favour of or adverse to any person.'
Mr Gleeson said while he regretted having to take the decision, it was the necessary step to resolve the impasse between them and establish a 'functional working relationship between the first and second Law Offices' (pictured)
'I also make perfectly plain that I reject absolutely each and every attack and insinuation that has been made in recent times upon me personally,' Mr Gleeson (pictured) said
Earlier this month, Mr Gleeson told a Senate inquiry the 'radical change' to his role was unlawful and threatened his independence.
Mr Gleeson said he had not seen the new direction until May 4, after it was issued by Senator Brandis, and that he had asked the attorney to withdraw the order and engage in proper consultation.
Senator Brandis has rejected claims he was undermining the solicitor-general, and that the directive amounted to a power grab.
Senator Brandis, who announced the move on Monday, said Mr Gleeson's resignation was the 'proper course of action'.
'I will immediately take steps to identify and recommend to the Cabinet a suitable person to be the next Solicitor-General,' Senator Brandis (pictured) said in a statement
'I will immediately take steps to identify and recommend to the Cabinet a suitable person to be the next Solicitor-General,' Senator Brandis said in a statement.
'In the meantime, the Government will recommend to His Excellency the Governor-General the appointment of Mr Tom Howe PSM QC as the Acting Solicitor-General.'
Mr Gleeson will step down from the job on November 7.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Mr Gleeson was an honourable man who was pushed out of office by a dishonourable government.
'(Malcolm) Turnbull should hang his head in shame,' Mr Shorten posted on Twitter.
An elite private school female teacher, 33, allegedly had sex with a 17-year-old boy six times.
The pair allegedly had sex four times at the school, Sydney Grammar in Darlinghurst, and at her home twice during their relationship between January and March this year, The Daily Telegraph reported.
In September, the student revealed the relationship to a school counsellor.
Sydney Grammar School in Darlinghurst, where the teacher and the 17-year-old allegedly had sex four times
The Downing Centre Local Court (pictured) heard the pair sometimes were alone together when working on extracurricular activities
A police source also said the teacher - who is pregnant - had sought medical care after the relationship, according to the Telegraph.
The original non-publication order protecting the school's identity was dropped on Tuesday, while one remains in place for the identity of the teacher and the student involved, the Downing Centre Local Court heard.
The 17-year-old student revealed the relationship to a school counsellor in September (stock image)
The court heard the pair sometimes were alone together when working on extracurricular activities.
Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge said publishing the name of the school was of interest to those attending the school and may encourage any other victims to come forward.
The teacher did not appear and did not enter a plea to the six counts of sexual intercourse with a person under care between 17 and 18 years, and one of indecent assault.
Sydney Grammar released a statement on Tuesday confirming New South Wales Police had charged a staff member 'with serious misconduct of a sexual nature'.
The teacher has been suspended and ordered to have no contact with students until the outcome of legal proceedings.
Last week she appeared in the Newtown Local Court - supported by her husband - and granted bail when her mother posted a $30,000 surety.
Sydney Grammar charges fees of $32,644 per year per student.
The teacher appeared in Newtown Local Court last week supported by her husband and her mother posted a $30,000 surety (pictured)
A former Miss Indy model has turned her life around after she was left disgraced when she re-opened a road rage case as a prosecutor to get her boyfriend a lesser penalty.
Rosanna Doolan was a prosecution star on the rise in 2012 before her career ended abruptly when she was caught lying to a judge to benefit her then-partner Dax Roep.
She plead guilty to abusing a public office and abusing office for personal gain last year.
Rosanna Doolan (left) had an infatuation with her former boyfriend which led to her lying to obtain him a lesser penalty for a road rage assault charge
After losing her job, Doolan has found another purpose in life - working as a support worker for people with a disability at a community group based on Queensland's Gold Coast, The Courier-Mail reported.
She did not wish to comment on her new occupation but Doolan was seen taking people with a disability around the coast on day trips to the beach or park.
Doolan told a magistrate Roep had not slapped his victim in the face but had pushed her.
This lie led Roep's compensation liability to be halved in May 2012.
Doolan lied to have Dax Roep's (pictured) penalty reduced over a road rage incident
As a result, Doolan was handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to the charges.
The barrister acting for Doolan said she 'idealised' her former partner, The Gold Coast Bulletin reported at the time.
Judge Kiernan Dorney said her alcohol addiction also played a part in her crimes, he said.
Further details of the report were suppressed.
'It is clear that the infatuation you had with your boyfriend gave you a blinkered view of your role as a prosecutor in the criminal justice system,' Judge Dorney told Doolan in sentencing.
Cary Joseph Heath, a teacher at Permenter Middle School, was arrested at his workplace on suspicion of capital murder
A middle school science teacher has been arrested at his workplace over allegations that he shot two men dead on their driveway.
Cary Joseph Heath, 35, is suspected of capital murder following the double killing in Fort Worth, Texas.
The men - who have been identified on social media and in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as Daniel Haros and his best friend, Phillip Garcia - were shot dead at around 4am on Sunday.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for funeral costs for Haros.
On the page it says: 'Our hearts break for the families of Daniel Haros and his best friend Phillip Garci, who were maliciously shot and killed early Sunday morning in their driveway.
'Due to circumstances beyond the families control, life insurance has declined payment due to age.
'We are asking for support for this family. Daniel was a wonderful person and loved by many. Please help the family provide funeral services and lay their son to rest. Any help is much appreciated. God Bless!'
Victims: Daniel Haros, pictured left, and Phillip Garcia, pictured right, were shot dead in a driveway in Fort Worth, Texas
Scene of the crime: It is understood the two victims lived on the same street as Heath in the 800 block of Buffalo Springs Drive in far south Fort Worth
An update on the page on Tuesday morning said: 'The love and support being shown for this family is amazing! Thank you everyone! Please keep sharing even if we meet our goal, everyone knows the cost of laying a loved one to rest exceeds the amount set.'
So far $4,000 has been raised for the funeral.
It is understood the two victims lived on the same street as Heath in the 800 block of Buffalo Springs Drive in far south Fort Worth.
Phillip Garcia and his father are pictured in this Facebook photo. He was shot dead at 4am on Sunday
Daniel Haros is seen above in a Facebook photo. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for his funeral expenses and has so far raised $4,000
Neighbor Jordan Milner told NBC: 'My wife woke me up and said someone is banging on the door.
'Turns out what my wife heard were gunshots.
'From my understanding, the guy had an assault rife. From the looks of it, due to the shell casings, he unloaded the whole clip and killed two of the people who lived next door.'
He said the victims had lived in the neighborhood for a long time.
According to a page on the school's website, which has since been deleted, this is the eighth-grade teacher's first year at Permenter Middle School in Cedar Hill.
Heath had previously served for 13 years in the US Air Force, during which time he got his degree in physical education and science.
Police were initially called to reports of a robbery, but arrived at the scene to discover two men dead on the driveway.
Heath was arrested at Permenter Middle School, where he is a teacher, in connection with the killings
A woman had told police that multiple shots were filed in a 911 call in the early hours of Sunday.
Heath was arrested yesterday at the school Monday. He has been suspended by his employers. Bond is set at $1million.
Police have not released any information about the possible motive for the murders.
Last night investigators searched Heath's house, where CBS11 reports that rifles and other weapons were found inside.
A 30-year-old artist was arrested after he dressed as a tree and blocked a busy intersection in Portland, Maine.
Asher Woodworth was charged with obstructing a public way on Monday after he refused to stay out of traffic at the intersection of High and Congress Street.
The evergreen branches had to be removed in his mug shot and they were left behind at the Cumberland County Jail, according to the Press Herald.
Woodworth, who is a dancer, told police he wanted to see how he would affect 'people's natural choreography'.
Asher Woodworth was charged with obstructing a public way on Monday after he refused to stay out of traffic at the intersection of High and Congress Street
Hilarious video footage shows Woodworth ambling slowly across the intersection, flanked by police officers on both sides as they struggled to grab hold of him
Police have arrested a man dressed as tree for blocking traffic on Congress Street...as God is my witness. pic.twitter.com/VUFQY6Vyv0 TVTEDDY (@TVTEDDY) October 24, 2016
Woodworth was released on Monday evening after he posted bail, which was set at $60.
Hilarious video footage shows Woodworth ambling slowly across the intersection, flanked by police officers on both sides as they struggled to grab hold of him.
The officers initially left him with a warning to stay out of the road, only to arrest Woodworth when he wandered back into traffic.
The 30-year-old, who received his undergraduate degree in Dance and Philosophy at Bennington College in Vermont, later told police it was a 'performance'.
His friend also told the Press Herald that Woodworth wanted to study the city's traffic patterns.
Woodworth lists his interests in 'choreography' and 'plants' on his website, and he posted images of people covered in branches on his Tumblr page on September 28.
Woodworth, who lists his interests in 'choreography' and 'plants' on his website, told police it was a 'performance'
This isn't the first time Woodworth has been arrested.
In 2009, he and three other friends ran more than 450 feet of extension cords across four lanes of traffic to power an electric drill in an attempt to steal an enormous chili pepper logo from a Chili's franchise in Bennington.
He was caught trying to remove the bolts when an alarm went off, and three women keeping a lookout were also arrested.
Woodworth listed the incident on his website, along with numerous other performances, writing: 'Okay, first off let me clarify that this was supposed to be a gesture of generosity, not malice, as it has so crudely been spun to be.
With his diagnosis, she says the need for a family home is even greater
Her husband Jason was recently also diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Jo anne Gooch, 36, has not been able break into the housing market
Mother is appealing for a private investor so her family can buy a home
A mother-of-three has taken a novel approach to getting a loan to buy her family's dream home - finding an investor to loan her the money instead of a bank.
Convinced she will never have the cash for a deposit the satisfy the banks, Joanne Gooch is looking for a private investor to back the family's dream.
The Sunshine Coast woman, 36, says the family is already paying $490 a week in rent and this would be enough to repay a loan of $550,000 to a willing lender.
Mrs Gooch and her husband Jason, from Sippy Downs in Queensland, had dreamed of owning their own home and had been saving for a deposit.
But their dreams were shortly after they moved to the Sunshine Coast two years ago when Mr Gooch was diagnosed with multiple schlerosis.
Joanne (left) and Jason (right) Gooch are desperate to own their own home, especially after Jason was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two years ago
She told Daily Mail Australia her husband's diagnosis rocked the family emotionally and financially.
'Three months after we moved he couldn't speak, went completely numb, couldn't feed himself or walk,' Mrs Gooch said.
'It took six months before we could even get in to see a neurologist.'
Mrs Gooch, now a truck driver, was left the main breadwinner for her family of two daughters aged 15 and 12, and a son, 19.
'(Jason) has a job again now which is awesome, but his neurologist says he can't do more than four hours work a day,' she said.
Mrs Gooch said the family had been at the mercy of landlords for the majority of their lives and needed a place to call their own now more than ever.
'We've been renting for so many years and just can't do it any more,' she said.
'We just want the security of a house and knowing someone can't sell it underneath us.'
Her husband's illness made the family's need for their own home even greater.
'We don't have air-conditioning, and my husband needs air-conditioning for his MS,' she said.
'It's the small things.'
And while it was a plea for help, the Sunshine Coast woman said she wasn't asking for a hand-out.
'I'm not one of those sit back and feel sorry for myself people, I'm not going to sit there and sulk in the corner, I'm not like that,' she said.
'I work full time, my husband works, we're just in a situation.'
Joanne Gooch (left) said her family saved enough money to buy a home, but used the money to move to Queensland before they discovered Jason's (right) multiple sclerosis diagnosis
Before their move from South Australia to Queensland, Mrs Gooch said the family were in a different circumstance altogether.
'We saved a deposit which we planned to use to either buy a house or move,' she said.
But then three months after they moved, her husband Jason fell ill and she said their priorities changed.
'If only we'd known,' she said.
Mrs Gooch said the family currently paid $490 a week in rent and could manage similar repayments on a loan.
She said she never missed a payment, but simply couldn't save up enough money for a deposit she assumed would cost about $50,000.
The mother-of-three pleaded for a private investor to come forward with a loan of $550,000, claiming it was her family's only chance at ever owning a home.
'It would mean the world to me if someone came forward,' she said.
Steve Irwin's father Bob has revealed his son was 'somewhat emotional' and 'sensed something was going to happen' just days before he was killed by a stingray barb.
In his memoir The Last Crocodile Hunter: A Father and Son Legacy, Bob said they were finishing a month-long crocodile research project in Cape York, Queensland, in 2006 when Steve told him he wanted to cut back on filming to spend more time with his daughter, Bindi.
Bob said his conservationist son was physically drained and when shaking hands to say their usual goodbye, he felt the 'weight of his pain'.
'You never expect thats the last time youre ever going to see your son, but I certainly had a feeling he sensed something was about to happen,' Bob said in his book.
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Steve Irwin's father Bob has revealed his son (both pictured) was 'somewhat emotional' and 'sensed something was going to happen' just days before he was killed
In his memoir, Bob said they were finishing a month-long crocodile research project in 2006 when Steve told him he wanted to cut back on filming to spend more time with his family (pictured)
The 77-year-old said Steve would always be the first to go to bed during expeditions, but joined him at the campfire to talk about his physical struggle.
Steve was suffering debilitating pain from his broken neck and numerous scars on his body.
The 44-year-old told his father he had 'almost reached his used-by date'.
'He was struggling physically because hed really knocked himself around and he rarely gave himself any reprieve from his injuries,' Bob said in his memoir.
'In his lifetime hed been snapped, gnawed, clawed, bitten, savaged, jumped on, whacked you name it. He had scars all over him.
The 44-year-old told his father he had 'almost reached his used-by date'
'He was struggling physically because hed really knocked himself around and he rarely gave himself any reprieve from his injuries,' Bob said in his memoir
He told his father he was no longer a young man and had been thinking to return home to spend more time with his family (pictured his son Robert, mother Terry and daughter Bindi)
Bob said his son always worked through his physical pain, but his gruelling upcoming filming schedule was weighing heavy on his mind
'No two fingers were the same; each one had either been broken, split or chomped'.
Bob said his son always worked through his physical pain, but his gruelling upcoming filming schedule was weighing heavy on his mind.
He told his father he was no longer a young man and had been thinking to return home to spend more time with his family.
As Bob prepared for his 2000-kilometre journey home to Ironbark Station in southeast Queensland, he shook hands with his son and told him to 'take it easy'.
'See ya later Bob,' Steve responded. It was the last words they would ever share.
As Bob prepared for his 2000-kilometre journey home to Ironbark Station in southeast Queensland, he shook hands with his son and told him to 'take it easy'
In the memoir, Bob also described the horrific moment they were told their son was killed while filming an underwater documentary film titled Ocean's Deadliest at Batt Reef
He told his father he was no longer a young man and had been thinking to return home to spend more time with his family
'Steve was my everything. My friend. My strength. My mirror image,' Bob said
In the memoir, Bob also described the horrific moment they were told their son was killed while filming an underwater documentary film titled Ocean's Deadliest at Batt Reef.
'It's incomprehensible to wake up without a care in the world and go about your day, as carefree as normal, and then get a life-altering phone call like that,' he wrote.
'Steve was my everything. My friend. My strength. My mirror image'.
Steve was killed on September 2, 2006, after he was pierced by a stingray barb while filming a documentary on Australia's deadliest animals.
Bob Irwin's The Last Crocodile Hunter: A Father and Son Legacy will be available from Wednesday.
Bob posed for photos with the co-author of his memoir Amanda French on Tuesday
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Huge waves have destroyed several Sculptures by the Sea artworks, leaving a trail of destruction along beaches at the world's largest annual exhibition of its kind.
For the first time in 20 years, a monstrous 12-foot swell blasted the coastline, with waves smashing Tamarama and Bondi beaches in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
And despite efforts to relocate some of the artworks in the sand, a king tide managed to drag some sculptures along the beach before being swept into the ocean on Monday.
Two artworks have been lost and another three were damaged by the wild weather, just less than a week after the opening of the popular exhibition.
On Tuesday, workers used a forklift to relocate some installations after they were buried in the sand following the severe conditions.
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Thong vs. Sandfly (pictured) by artist Jane Gillings covered in sand after it was damaged by a king tide at Sculpture By The Sea at Tamarama Beach, east of Sydney
Huge waves have destroyed several Sculpture by the Sea artworks, leaving a trail of destruction along the beach
Workmen repair a sculpture on Tamarama Beach which was damaged by large waves at the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition
Workers watched as a sculpture titled 'The Window of the Future' by South Korean artist Sang Sug Kim is lifted out of the sand after it was buried due to large waves at the annual outdoor exhibition
The aftermath of Sculptures by the Sea after several installations were damaged by huge waves and massive swells
Exhibition founder David Handley told ABC TV the organisers had taken a number of precautions to try and save all the artworks on Tamarama beach.
'We have a very high tide, a huge swell which has still not abated,' he said.
'For four hours the sculptures were pounded. We prepared for this but didn't expect it to be significant.'
Other pieces, by Alyssa Sykes-Smith, Anne Levich and Sang Sug Kim, were damaged, with the latter to be moved later on Tuesday.
'We hope to retrieve it by crane at low tide. With the base and the sculpture, it was two tonnes. That's how strong the water was,' Mr Handley said.
'We have the excavator this morning. By early this afternoon, we will be back to normal.'
'Fair Dinkum Offshore Processing' (pictured) an artwork by Bronek Kozka was torn apart by the wild weather conditions
Festival organisers tried to save the works by moving them further up the beach and anchoring them in the sand - to no avail
Exhibition founder David Handley said the organisers had taken a number of precautions to try and save all the artworks
Workers digging a sculpture out of the sand after it was buried due to large waves at the annual outdoor exhibition
Workers attempting to save some of the artworks after they were savagely destroyed following the wild weather
The sculpture by South Korean artist Sang Sug Kim sits on a walkway after it was lifted out of the sand
'Fair Dinkum Offshore Processing' - an artwork by Bronek Kozka - also fell victim to the wild conditions, thrashed by the tide before being dragged into the ocean.
Mr Kozka told Sydney Morning Herald that he was in 'shock' and 'still processing' the news that his work had been 'totally been broken apart.'
'The emotions are going up and down a little bit,' the 46-year-old said.
'I'm upset that it's gone, but I'm more upset that offshore processing is an issue we need to keep in peoples' minds all the time, and now they won't be seeing it.'
German artist Angelika Summa's Alien: Self consciousness is a virus from outer space, was also lost to sea.
An enormous red Havaiana thong and bronzed rhino buried in the sand were both battered by water but remained intact when conditions eased on Monday afternoon.
Sightseers watched on in horror as the waves pounded the artworks.
Tourists surround the giant installation after being buried in sand following the wild weather overnight
Sculptures are seen after they were damaged last night by a king tide at Tamarama Beach on Tuesday
An enormous red Havaiana thong was buried in the sand after it was battered by the monstrous waves
Installations were seen at sunrise during Sculpture By The Sea at Bondi Beach on Tuesday amid wild weather causing havoc
For the first time in 20 years of the Sculptures by the Sea exhibitions, a monstrous 12-foot swell blasted the coastline
Two further artworks placed precariously by the rocks on the walkway between Bondi and Tamarama were destroyed by the conditions.
A number of the artworks were pushed back 25 metres on the beach, and all of them were anchored in the sand - some almost a metre deep.
'Today's king tide, it's right on high tide now, and a huge swell. So unfortunately we've really got the trifecta,' Mr Handley said.
'The work that has been destroyed, we moved it 25 metres back from the end of the stormwater drain. In all these years we've never had a work damaged on there, but the waves were so strong they still swept it off.'
The company that cost Australian taxpayers up to $30 million when the 2016 eCensus website shutdown has revealed the simple solution that could have avoided the national bungle.
IBM Australia managing senior engineer Michael Shallcross said turning the router's power 'off and on again' could have solved the problem earlier.
'If we had our time again we would have probably test the hard power it off, power it on router- that would have discovered earlier that we had that reboot and configuration problem,' he said.
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BM Australia managing senior engineer Michael Shallcross (pictured) said turning the router's power 'off and on again' could have solved the problem earlier
IBM managing director Kerry Purcell (pictured) took full responsibility for the Census meltodown on August 9 but insisted the website was not hacked during a Senate hearing
IBM managing director Kerry Purcell took full responsibility for the Census website meltdown on August 9 when he presented evidence at a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Tuesday.
He said IBM, which won a $9.7 million contract to develop and run the eCensus, deeply regretted the inconvenience to the Australian public and the government after the site went offline for over 40 hours as thousands tried to input their data.
IBM managing director Kerry Purcell took full responsibility for the Census website meltdown on August 9 when he presented evidence at a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Tuesday.
He said IBM, which won a $9.7 million contract to develop and run the eCensus, deeply regretted the inconvenience to the Australian public and the government after the site went offline for over 40 hours as thousands tried to input their data.
Mr Purcell said the government was a 'valued customer' and that the failure did not 'sit well' but assured the Senate no personal information of participants had been compromised.
He described the incident as being 'akin to someone parking a large truck in front of your driveway ... Not someone breaking into your house and taking your goods', the Daily Telegraph reported.
The blame-game over the national survey continues with the contractor in a spat with its own sub-contractors over the August 9 distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
Mr Purcell did not comment on who should be held responsible as the AFP's investigation into the incident was ongoing, but said it related to a geo-blocking protocol not being applied by an internet service provider (ISP).
Thousands of Australians took to social media to complain about the eCensus after the website started displaying error messages on August 9
Mr Purcell said IMB were prepared to relaunch the website three hours after it failed, but the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) insisted it be kept it offline for a further 40 hours
He said IBM was prepared to relaunch the website three hours after it failed, but the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) insisted it be kept it offline for a further 40 hours, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The director told the hearing IBM had offered Treasury Secretary John Fraser to cover expenses incurred by the government while the website was down but did not disclose an amount.
The ABS's chief statistician told the Senate last week the shutdown cost tax-payers up to $30 million.
The company's engineer Michael Shallcross said it had been told by its internet sub-contractors that geo-blocking was properly in place after the third attack on August 9, but it continued to see foreign traffic through Singapore.
The company's engineer Michael Shallcross (pictured) said it had been told by its internet sub-contractors that geo-blocking was properly in place after the third attack on August 9
It attempted to restart two routers after the fourth attack about 7pm, but only one restarted correctly.
IBM have insisted it anticipated and planned for the risk of DDoS attacks, using protection known as geo-blocking, known as 'Island Australia' inside IBM, and Australians should have no reason to fear personal information was exposed.
IBM claims both the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Signals Directorate were aware it planned to use geo-blocking.
The hearing heard no employees were fired or reprimanded over the incident.
Mr Shallcross defended the use of its geo-blocking, but did admit to using protection methods from Telstra and Nextgen when the site was relaunched, because people were made aware of what they were using.
But if he had his time over, Mr Shallcross said the company would seek greater certainty from their sub-contractors that they could implement geo-blocking directions and would have conducted more testing on the routers.
The director (middle) told the hearing IMB had offered to cover expenses incurred by the government while the website was down but did not disclose an amount
Census Australia notified thousands of Australians desperate to input their data that the sit would be down overnight at about 11pm
IMB earlier claimed the fourth DDoS attack which struck down the website on August 9 was foreign-sourced and came when it had already instructed NextGen that geo-blocking was to be put in place.
'Had NextGen (and through it Vocus) properly implemented Island Australia, it would have been effective to prevent this DDoS attack and the effects it had on the eCensus site,' IBM says in its submission to a Senate committee.
The geo-blocking had been tested prior to census day and had been working, the submission states.
Mr Shallcross told the hearing having a third back up router would not have stopped the incident as it would have been 'overwhelmed' as well.
He said geo-blocking was an effective approach to stopping attacks , particularly for the census.
Sub-contractor Vocus has denied the fourth DDoS attack, which Mr Purcell told the hearing came from Singapore, caused the site to become unresponsive.
Participants saw an array of error messages when trying to log into the eCensus website
Many - including singer Rob Mills (top) and comedian Dave Hughes (bottom) - took to social media to vent their frustrations
HOW MUCH DID THE AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS PAY TO SET UP THE OFFICIAL CENSUS WEBSITE? Trevor Long shared a receipt - showing how much the Australian Bureau of Statistics spent on setting up the Census website Australian Bureau of Statistics paid nearly $10 million to develop the official census website - a platform for millions of residents to fill out the compulsory survey on August 9. Leaked receipts, obtained by EFTM, have revealed ABS awarded the contract 'Design, development and implementation of eCensus Solution 2016' to IBM Australia. Following concerns the system could crash due to high volumes of users accessing the website, ABS forked out more than $460,000 on software licenses and testing to ensure the page would not descend into meltdown. ABS paid Australian company Revolution IT Pty Ltd in three separate contracts for 'Load Testing Services for Census 2016'. The organisation initially claimed the online census form could handle one million form submissions per hour. But despite spending tens of thousands of dollars on system testing, the website went down completely on Census night, causing a nationwide outrage. Advertisement
'The fourth attack comprised of attack traffic which peaked at 563Mbps which is not considered significant in the industry, and lasted 14 minutes ... such attacks would not usually bring down the census website,' it says in its submission.
The cause was IBM workers falsely identifying normal traffic patterns as data exfiltration.
'Vocus was not informed of IBM's DDoS mitigation strategy, Island Australia or its specific requirements, until after the fourth attack.'
Nextgen says it wasn't privy to 'Island Australia' until July 20, just six days before the eCensus site went live.
IBM has accepted the shutdown means it did not deliver its obligation to make sure the website was available 98 per cent of the time between 7pm and 11pm on August 9.
It also revealed there have been further DDoS attacks on the site, which have all been successfully defended against.
The ABS initially argued putting the Census online would save taxpayers $100 million
But many were left irate when attempting to log into the Census website (pictured)
The prime minister's special advisor on cyber security Alastair MacGibbon, who is conducting a review of the events, hasn't yet finalised his findings.
But he has already concluded there was a failure in the geo-blocking service during the fourth denial-of-service attack.
Simultaneously a monitoring system indicated there was outbound traffic from the website, feared to be malicious and now known to be a 'false positive'.
'Those responsible for the denial-of-service attacks have not yet been identified,' he says.
In its submission, the ABS says the attacks should not have been able to disrupt the system.
Census data had previously been collected through paper forms issued to Australian residents
'Despite extensive planning and preparation by the ABS for the 2016 Census this risk was not adequately addressed by IBM and the ABS will be more comprehensive in its management of risk in the future.'
Representatives from the ABS and IBM continue to give evidence at Tuesday's parliamentary hearing in Canberra.
Thousands of Australians vented their rage on social media when the government's survey website crashed after the ABS argued putting the Census online would save taxpayers $100 million.
President Barack Obama's approval ratings have been on the rise, but that doesn't stop plenty of disgruntled Americans from tweeting their criticisms.
The president appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday night for another installment of 'Mean Tweets', a segment that features celebrities reading out the bizarre and harsh insults written about them on social media.
Obama, who is campaigning for Hillary Clinton as well as other Democratic politicians, also took a dig at Donald Trump, saying: 'I don't tweet at 3am about people who insult me.'
The president appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday night for another installment of 'Mean Tweets'
In a preview video, the president read aloud one tweet that asked, 'Barack Obama, bro do you even lift?'
He shot back: 'Well, I lifted the ban on Cuban cigars. That's worth something.'
He read one sent by Donald Trump in August when he said 'President Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States.'
Obama's reply: 'Really? Well, (at)realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a president.'
Obama read another insult, saying: 'Barack Obama is the 'Sharknado' of presidents - loud, stupid and overhyped #Sharknado4.'
The president also discussed some of his own social media habits with Kimmel before issuing an insult of his own.
The president appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel show during a three-day trip to Nevada and California as he campaigns for other Democrats before the elections
Differentiating himself from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Obama said: 'I don't tweet at 3am about people who insult me.'
Obama also joked with Kimmel about sticking around in Washington after his presidency, a choice the Obamas made so daughter Sasha could finish high school.
I don't tweet at 3am about people who insult me Barack Obama
He said: 'I'm like the old guy at the bar where you went to high school, right? Still kinda hanging around.. .like his shirt's buttoned a little too low, still thinks he's cool.'
The president also admitted to laughing 'most of the time' while watching the presidential debates.
Obama, a big sports fan, was asked if he was happy that the Chicago Cubs were going to the World Series. Obama appeared to have some trouble getting 'yes' out.
'To see just how happy everybody was, I actually felt pretty good. I am rooting for hometown team even though it is not my team.'
Comedian Bill Murray is a big Cubs fan, and Obama told of his recent visit to the White House. He said they had a putting contest in the Oval Office and Murray won $5 from him.
'He won repeatedly,' Obama said. 'The glass was rigged.'
Despite the high pressures of the presidency, Obama admitted it's rare for aides to wake him up in the middle of the night. The most serious problems are usually anticipated.
Kimmel also asked why people don't trust Clinton. Obama chalked it up to being in the trenches for 30 years.
He said when people are in the public eye that long, people try to find weak spots and 'a whole narrative begins to build.' He described Clinton's brand of politics as 'pragmatic.'
Kimmel said he knew Obama had to leave, but he asked if the first lady could stay for another four years. Obama said his wife was never wild about politics.
He said: 'All the women in my life are looking forward to being able to lead a more normal life.'
The president appeared on the late night show during a three-day trip to Nevada and California as he campaigns for other Democrats before the elections.
Obama is putting the emphasis on helping Democrats in close Senate and House races, making sure to tie Republican congressmen to Trump.
President Barack Obama is putting the emphasis on helping Democrats in close Senate and House races, making sure to tie Republican congressmen to Trump (pictured)
Obama tried to galvanize donors during a fundraiser in San Diego, saying Democrats need to recognize that Republicans will try to block Clinton's agenda and create more gridlock.
'It is really important that we push back and defeat this argument that somehow the duly elected president of the United States should simply be blocked from doing anything by the opposition party,' Obama said.
'They're not making the argument that they want to work with her to get things done. They are saying we are going to say no to everything.'
The president's strategy of focusing more on congressional races was on full display Sunday in two separate events.
In Las Vegas, Obama said it was too late for GOP Representative Joe Heck of Nevada to say he could not support Trump.
Heck is seeking the seat now held by five-term Senator Harry Reid, and a Heck victory would make it much harder for Democrats to gain the majority in the Senate.
Obama pointed to statements where Heck previously had said he had high hopes that Trump would be president and said he trusted him with the nation's nuclear code for launching a strike.
'Now, I understand Joe Heck now wishes he never said those things about Donald Trump. But they're on tape. They're on the record. And now that Trump's poll numbers are cratering, suddenly he says, well, no, I'm not supporting him,' Obama said. 'Too late. You don't get credit for that.'
Later, the president singled out GOP Representative Darrell Issa of California, who once said Obama's administration was perhaps one of the most corrupt in history.
The mother of toddler Nikki Francis-Coslovich has told a court the last time she heard her daughter's voice was as she called out to her when she was on the phone to her boyfriend.
Nikki's mother, Peta-Ann Francis, tearfully spoke of how she could hear 'Nikki crying out for me' as she spoke to her partner John Torney on the phone, the Herald Sun reports.
Torney - who is facing trial for the girl's murder - confessed to the Supreme Court to hiding Nikki's body in the ceiling of her Mildura home, but has alleged the toddler was killed by her mother, Francis.
Peta-Ann Francis (left) has told the Supreme Court in Mildura of the last time she saw he daughter Nikki Coslovich (right) alive
Ms Francis told the jury she saw her daughter alive for the last time while she was playing in the backyard as she dropped off groceries to their home.
She then left to renew her driver's license at about 10am on August 25, 2015, and did not see her daughter alive again after this.
'I seen Nikki in the backyard in the sandpit playing quietly,' Ms Francis said.
She later called Torney at about 11am, who said Nikki was falling asleep on the couch, but 'I heard Nikki crying out for me in the background,' Ms Francis continued.
John Torney, Ms Francis's boyfriend, is facing trial for the girl's murder
Ms Francis (left) told the jury she last saw Nikki (right) alive while she was playing in the backyard of their home
Ms Francis (pictured right with Nikki's father and her three other children) said she later called Torney, and she 'heard Nikki crying out for me in the background'
Ms Francis then told the court when she arrived home later that afternoon she said Torney was in the backyard, but on entering the house she could see Nikki lying under her bed clothes.
However she alleged that she was blocked from entering the bedroom by Torney who had by now entered the house.
'John Torney put his arm up and prevented me from going in the room saying 'I just put her down',' Ms Francis said.
The pair had lunch and it was only at 2.40pm that Ms Francis said she woke after a sleep to find that her daughter was missing - Nikki was later found dead in the roof of her Mildura home.
'I went into Nikki's room and realised she wasn't in it ... I seen (sic) no child in the bed and I'm like, where's my daughter,' Ms Francis said.
Police and emergency services were called to help search for Nikki and her body was found hidden in the ceiling of the home at about 5.15pm.
Beachgoers are most likely to be attacked by a shark in New South Wales, with the state accounting for almost half of all encounters in Australia since 1990.
Research from the Global Shark Attack File found Australia has recorded a total of 295 unprovoked shark attacks in the last 26 years, with 42 fatalities.
Of the 13 most prolific locations for attacks, NSW has the top three- Byron Bay, Ballina and Sydney Harbour.
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Surfer Glen Folkard, (left) sporting a massive scar, displays his damaged surf board in February 2012 after he was attacked by a shark in Newcastle
All Byron Bay beaches were closed after a shark attack at Broken Head on Monday
A large shark was spotted swimming near surfers at Wategos Beach at Byron Bay in northern NSW in July
Jade Fitzpatrick was in the water at nearby Broken Head about 7.30am on Monday when he was attacked by a shark
Grandmother Doreen Collyer, 60, died after a shark attack off the coast of Perth in June
A great white shark was filmed in shallow water metres from the shore after an attack in Ballina in July
Byron Bay has recorded 13 encounters and two fatalities since 1990. The latest coming only yesterday after 36-year-old surfer Jade Fitzpatrick suffered lacerations to his leg.
Mr Fitzpatrick was in the water at nearby Broken Head about 7.30am on Monday when he was attacked, but managed to escape and make his way to hospital with help from a friend.
Ballina in far northern NSW is the second most prolific location, with six attacks and one fatality.
Last month Cooper Allen, 17, was mauled by a shark at Lighthouse Beach in Ballina.
The shark latched on to Mr Allen's thigh, leaving him with deep lacerations to his leg and torso, but local lifesavers claim the surfer got lucky as his board took the 'brunt of the attack'.
Sydney Harbour ranked third on the list with five attacks, followed by Newcastle with four. None of these encounters led to a fatality.
Justin Daniels, 42, was attacked by a shark at Shelly Beach on NSW's Central Coast last month- the photo above shows he was bitten on the hand
Mathew Lee (pictured with his girlfriend Suzy Gerada), 32, sustained 'significant' injuries to his lower legs in the shark attack at Lighthouse Beach in Ballina last year
Cooper Allen, 17, (pictured) was mauled by a shark while he was surfing with friends last month
A three-and-a-half metre great white shark (pictured) was spotted in the area shortly after Cooper Allan was attacked
A great white shark pulled from nets off Bondi Beach in Sydney, 2014
Western Australia saw a total of 59 attacks and 17 fatalities, with popular Cottesloe beach topping the state's list (four attacks and two fatalities).
There were 60 encounters and seven deaths recorded in Queensland.
These figures come as the NSW state government is expected to propose a six-month trial deployment of shark nets to deter attacks on the state's northern coast.
The victim of the latest attack in Byron Bay, Jade Fitzpatrick, said he opposed the plan because the nets could trap other marine animals.
'I don't want animals dying just to make us feel safe,' he told Seven News.
TOP LOCATIONS FOR UNPROVOKED SHARK ATTACKS 1.Byron Bay, NSW- 12 attacks, 2 fatalities 2. Ballina, NSW- 6 attacks, 1 fatality 3. Sydney Harbour, NSW- 5 attacks 4. Newcastle, NSW- 4 attacks 5. Cottesloe Beach, WA- 4 attacks, 2 fatalities 6. Bondi Beach, NSW- 3 attacks 7. Seal Rocks, NSW- 3 attacks 8. Bells Beach, VIC- 3 attacks 9. Fingal Bay, NSW- 3 attacks 10. Shelly Beach, NSW- 3 attacks, 1 fatality 11. Lennox Head, NSW- 3 attacks 12. Mona Vale, NSW- 3 attacks 13. Middleton Beach, SA- 3 attacks Source: finder.com.au, sharkattackfile.net
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Daniel Smith, 18, was fishing on December 15 at Rudder Reef, near Port Douglas, when he was attacked
Jay Muscat, 17, was attacked while spear fishing at Cheynes Beach in Western Australia
A Michigan town has voted to ban Syrian refugees from living there, because they believe the vetting process is not good enough.
The Waterford Township Board of Trustees passed a resolution against allowing refugees from the war torn country to settle in the area, on Monday night.
The vote was specifically against a federal resettlement program for the refugees. It passed with a 7-0 vote.
The result is a surprising one given that the town in North America with the highest proportion of Arab-Americans lies just 30 miles to the south.
Waterford Township leaders have approved a measure to stop participating in a federal resettlement program for Syrian refugees until reforms are put in place and better vetting procedures are introduced
Dearborn has more than 40,000 Middle Eastern immigrants who are proud to call the city home.
As of 2006 Dearborn has the largest Lebanese American population in the United States with thousands of immigrants from Yemen, Iraq and Palestine, most of whom are Muslim, joining them.
As a state, Michigan leads the nation when it comes to welcoming Syrian refugees to the country.
Oakland County, where Waterford is located also leads Michigan in refugee resettlement according to the State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
The board passed a resolution, citing federal authorities testifying before Congress, 'that refugees from failed states such as Syria cannot be adequately vetted to ensure that they do not have terrorist ties because the necessary records do not exist.'
In Waterford, the decision came after local leaders began to voice their feelings on an issue that has also been discussed during the election campaign.
Despite the unanimous verdict on the the ban, leaders have said they are open to allowing refugees to come to the town, but only when a process is in place to ensure those coming into the country are 'adequately vetted.'
Board members said they know the resolution carries no legal weight.
'We're letting the county, state and federal officials know this is how we feel,' said Trustee Anthony Bartolotta.
Right now, thousands have requested to come to Michigan, and records show the state leads the nation in taking in Syrian refugees.
The decision comes amid an influx of immigrants expected in the United States. American communities received 84,995 refugees in fiscal year 2016. (Pictured, refugees in Rome)
The Jewish Community Relations Council has called on Oakland County officials to welcome refugees - saying there was a time Jewish refugees were turned away.
Those who favored the resolution agreed with township officials, who say the refugees cannot be properly screened for ties to terrorist organizations and that the refugees will place a strain on township and school resources.
They also said refugees are bringing diseases such as tuberculosis into the United States.
Those opposed to the resolution say the number of refugees fleeing a civil war in Syria and coming into Michigan is estimated at about 4,000- a small fraction of the state's more than 9 million residents.
Kenny Van Horn of Waterford opposed the resolution. 'This is a fool's errand,' he told the Daily Tribune. 'I'm not part of a community that would do this. We're supposed to take care of people like this.'
It was a view shared by Pat McClerren who also lives in the town: 'We're a country that's based on diversity,' she said. 'Is a Syrian not our brother? Is an Irishman not our brother? I think they are all our brothers and sisters.'
More than 1,400 have resettled in Michigan. The state once ranked first for receiving Syrian refugees, but California recently surpassed the Great Lakes State for the top spot with more than 1,500
The United States has taken in far fewer refugees than many countries, such as Canada, France and Germany.
Advocates for organizations that assist refugees say only a handful of families have settled in Waterford.
The vote was symbolic, as the federal government maintain jurisdiction over the program.
President Barack Obama called for accepting 10,000 refugees to resettle in the United States this fiscal year.
In 2015, Sen. Gary Peters called on Obama for the U.S. to allow at least 100,000 refugees, specifically allowing 30,000 to arrive in 2016.
With all his talk about the media being rigged against him, Trump launched his own nightly news program on Facebook live Monday night - although his campaign denied it was a test run for Trump TV.
The Republican candidate's advisers Cliff Sims and Boris Epshteyn spoke with campaign manager Kellyanne Conway from Trump Tower in New York City, where she declared: 'This race is not over...Let me just say unequivocally: We will win.'
While the format mimicked a cable news show, his campaign denied reports that the Donald was looking to launch a media company to capitalize his fan base in the event of losing the presidency.
It was reported last week that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who owns the New York Observer, floated the idea of a Trump TV channel during a meeting with the head of an investment bank, according to the Financial Times.
Trump's advisers Cliff Sims and Boris Epshteyn launched a nightly news program on Facebook live and spoke with campaign manager Kellyanne Conway from Trump Tower in New York City
While the format mimicked a cable news show, his campaign denied reports that the Donald was looking to launch a media company. Pictured, Tomi Lahren who was also featured
The live stream, which was a partnership with Right Side Broadcasting, coincided with other newscasts by starting at 6.30pm, attracting an average of 40,000 to 60,000 viewers in the first half hour.
Viewership was dramatically lower than a trial run of the livestream on Wednesday, which drew in 200,000 people before the final presidential debate, according to Politico.
Sims welcomed viewers to 'Trump Tower live' on Monday, explaining the program would air each night before the campaign broadcasts a livestream of the Republican candidate's rallies, which typically start at 7pm.
He added: 'This is just an effort by us...to give you the message straight from the campaign. You don't have to take it from the media and the spin they put on it.'
Sims also referred to future episodes with planned appearances by the Trump kids before encouraging viewers to share the link with their friends.
Conway highlighted the possibility of taking swing states, saying: 'The race is not over...Let me just say unequivocally: We will win'
He loves this country! Donald Trump hugs the American flag as he arrives for a campaign rally at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater on October 24
When Epshteyn asked Conway where the campaign stood with about two weeks left until election day, she remained steadfast, even though she acknowledged Sunday that the real estate mogul is trailing Hillary Clinton.
On Monday, Conway highlighted the possibility of taking swing states like Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Maine, and even Colorado, where Clinton appears to be leading by six points.
Conway concluded: 'The race is not over. You have to respect people, give them their voice, their vote, and we will win. Let me just say unequivocally: We will win.'
The 'episode' later featured Tomi Lahren, a conservative commentator with Glenn Becks The Blaze who also appeared in Trump's post-debate show on Wednesday.
On Monday, Epshteyn made it a point to deny that there was a Trump TV in the works, calling it another one of the 'left-wing media's' spins.
He said: 'The left-wing medias even trying to spin this, believe it or not. Theyre saying, well this is Trump TV. Thats not what this is. This is our campaign, and most importantly, our candidate being out there and speaking directly to the voters.'
But when Steve Bannon, the CEO of Trump's campaign and chairman of Breitbart News, was asked about rumors surrounding a media empire last week, he simply smiled and said: 'Trump is an entrepreneur.'
When asked about the rumors, Bannon (pictured) said: 'Trump is an entrepreneur'
Trump certainly has allies who are media veterans with Fox News CEO Roger Ailes as an adviser, and his son-in-law, who owns New Yorker Observer.
Kushner also secretly met with the head of LionTree, an investment bank that specializes in acquisitions, about the possibility of a Trump channel 'within the past couple of months,' the Financial Times reported.
Three people with knowledge of the conversation say Kushner disused the media venture the with the firm's founder, Aryeh Bourkoff. They have not talked about it since, FT's sources said.
Trump previously said he's not looking to launch a media company if he fails to win the White House.
'I have no interest in a media company. False rumour,' Trump told the Washington Post this summer after Vanity Fair wrote that he was pursuing the creation of a media empire.
A man has been left shocked after swarm of bees took residence on his car
A man has been forced to abandon his car after an enormous swarm of angry bees took residence on the passenger window.
Darren Watt was attending a two-hour orientation for his youngest daughter at Bardia Public School in Ingleburn, Sydney's southwest, on Tuesday and returned to find the thousands of insects engulfing the rear of his 4WD.
After the bees refused to budge, Mr Watt was forced to abandon the car and take his daughter home while a beekeeper removed the queen.
A man has been forced to abandon his car after an enormous swarm of angry bees took residence on the passenger window
Darren Watt (pictured with wife Leanne and three children) was attending a two-hour orientation for his youngest daughter at Bardia Public School in Ingleburn on Tuesday and returned to find the thousands of insects engulfing the rear of his 4WD
Before he left, he had another driver try to do a burnout in a hope the smoke would force the swarm to fly elsewhere.
But he uploaded a picture to Facebook of the tire marks in the dirt and the bees still firmly settled on his car.
After Mr Watt left, the beekeeper managed to safely shift the bees and Mr Watt's wife Leanne drove the car home.
Before he left, he had another driver try to do a burnout in a hope the smoke would force the swarm to fly elsewhere
'Apparently they started moving under the wheel-arch so it was lucky [the keeper] returned to the car when she did,' Mr Watt told Daily Mail Australia.
He uploaded photos of the swarm to a driving Facebook page and many joked he should have driven the car through a car wash or set it on fire.
'To be honest now I want to go through the McDonald's drive through,' Mr Watt's joked.
Five men found dead inside a fire-ravaged adult-care facility in Southern California in August may have been victims of murder-suicide, it was revealed this week.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced on Monday that four of the deceased found at the Temecula home on August 29 had gunshot wounds.
The fifth man may have committed suicide after the fire was set.
The victims were identified by the coroner last month as 26-year-old Jared Prudhomme; Milford Battison and Richard Driskill, both 37; 31-year-old Miguel Ferreyra, and the facility's 50-year-old operator, James Jennex.
Homicide: Officials in California say four of the five men who were found dead after a fire gutted the Renee Jennex Small Family Home adult-care facility in August had gunshot wounds
Torched: Investigators say the August 29 fire at the facility for people suffering from severe developmental disabilities was caused by arson
Monday's statement didn't identify which man was the killer or provide a motive for the shootings. It did say the deadly fire was caused by arson.
The Renee Jennex Small Family Home was a facility that cared for adults suffering from severe developmental disabilities.
Named: Jared Prudhomme, 26,(above) was among the five men found dead inside the fire-ravaged adult-care home
The home was licensed in 2003 to house up to four patients and no deficiencies were found during its most recent annual inspection in November, according to records from California's Department of Social Services.
Neighbor Sofia Villalobos previously told the Press-Enterprise that her husband called the county Fire Department after the blaze erupted around 5am on August 29, then jumped a fence to reach the burning house.
Told that several people were inside, he and another man tried to enter the residence but could not because the doorway was too hot. They then broke a window, but the fire intensified, Villalobos said.
Once the fire was extinguished, firefighters went inside the and discovered the remains of the five men.
The cause of the fire had not been determined but it was labeled suspicious.
Added that the billionaire refused to allow smoking - which he detested
Added that the billionaire refused to allow smoking - which he detested
They claim Trump never did cocaine, but was getting laid like crazy
They claim Trump never did cocaine, but was getting laid like crazy
Donald Trump used to host wild cocaine-fueled sex parties with underage models as young as 15 at the Plaza Hotel, a new report claims.
Two men who attended the bashes said the Republican nominee threw them regularly in the suites of the Manhattan luxury hotel when he owned it between 1988 and 1995, the Daily Beasts Michael Gross reports.
Trump, who was married to his second wife Marla Maples at the time, never took cocaine at the parties, but would have sex with the girls, one of the men who attended has said.
While other guests did cocaine and drank, Trump was getting laid like crazy, the man, a fashion photographer based in New York who wished to remain anonymous, said.
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Donald Trump used to host wild cocaine-fueled sex parties with underage models as young as 15 when he owned the Plaza Hotel, a new report has claimed. Above, Trump with his second wife Marla Marples in 1980
Trump would go from room to room where there were guys with younger girls, sex, a lot of sex, a lot of cocaine, top shelf liquor but no smoking, which the businessman didnt approve of, the photographer told the Daily Beast.
Trump was in and out. Hed wander off with a couple girls. I saw him. He was getting laid like crazy, he added.
Trump was at the heart of it. He loved the attention and in private, he was a total f****** beast.
Andy Lucchesi, a male model who used to help arrange the parties, appeared to confirm some of the claims, but was vague when asked about the age of some of the models.
A lot of girls, 14, look 24, he said. Thats as juicy as I can get. I never asked how old they were; I just partook.
He also claimed that while Trump never took drugs, the real estate mogul had plenty of sex at the parties.
Two men who attended the bashes said Trump threw them regularly in the suites of the Manhattan luxury hotel when he owned it between 1988 and 1995. Above, Trump outside the Plaza in 1995
The unnamed photographer claimed Trump (left, on Monday, and right, at an event at the Plaza in 2002) would invite young models to meet his wealthy and older friends
The unnamed photographer said Trump would take over corner suites at the Plaza for days to host the parties.
He claimed the billionaire would invite young models to meet his wealthy and older friends who would purport to help their careers.
There were always dramas because the men threw money and drugs at them to keep them enticed.
Its based on power and dominating girls who cant push back and can be discarded.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Trump campaign for comment on the allegations.
Trump has spoken of the fast life associated with teenage models in an interview with the New York Times in 1997 when his daughter Ivanka, then 15, was pursuing a career in modeling herself.
I am only modestly in favor of this because I understand that that life is a very fast life, and at that age it is always a risky proposition.
And in his report, Gross recalls what Trump told him in a previous interview about his days as a bachelor.
Members of Congress from California and national veterans' leaders have slammed the Pentagon for ordering nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers to repay huge enlistment bonuses a decade after signing up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan
Lawmakers have called for federal action after thousands of soldiers were ordered by the Pentagon to repay enlistment bonuses.
The Guard offered bonuses of $15,000 or more and student loan aid for people who enlisted at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Members of Congress from California and national veterans' leaders have slammed the Pentagon's order to force 10,000 National Guard soldiers to pay back enlistment bonuses
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic senator Barbara Boxer are two of the lawmakers vowing to ensure the soldiers do not have to repay their bonuses
Democratic senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as well as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Bakersfield Republican, are among those expressing outrage.
In a statement posted to Twitter, McCarthy said: 'It is disgraceful that the men and women who answered their country's call to duty following September 11 are now facing forced repayments of bonuses offered to them.
'Our military heroes should not shoulder the burden of our military recruiters' faults from over a decade ago.
'They should not owe for what was promised during a difficult time in our in our country.'
McCarthy says the House will investigate the reports. His spokesman, Matt Sparks, declined to say what that would entail.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (pictured) says the House will investigate the reports. 'Our military heroes should not shoulder the burden of our military recruiters' faults from over a decade ago,' he said in a statement
Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein (pictured) also condemned the Pentagon's decision
Democratic representative Scott Peter of San Diego said: 'It is our job to stand up for our veterans and their families and to protect them from financial hardship, not impose it upon them.'
Susan Davis, also a Democratic representative of San Diego, said: 'I will look into all available options to help these service members and their families.
'They should not have to pay the price for mistakes made by others over a decade ago and we owe it to them to address this'
Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers says the California National Guard is working with members of Congress to reintroduce legislation that would clear the debts of soldiers wrongly given the bonuses.
The Pentagon demanded the money back after audits revealed over-payments by the California Guard under pressure to fill ranks and hit enlistment goals.
If soldiers refuse, they could face interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens, the Los Angeles Times said.
Faced with a shortage of troops at the height of the two wars, California Guard officials offered the over-inflated bonuses for soldiers to reenlist.
A federal investigation in 2010 found thousands of bonuses and student loan payments were improperly doled out to California Guard soldiers.
About 9,700 current and retired soldiers received notices to repay some or all of their bonuses with more than $22million recovered so far.
Soldiers said they feel betrayed at having to repay the money.
'These bonuses were used to keep people in,' said Christopher Van Meter, a 42-year-old former Army captain and Iraq veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart. 'People like me just got screwed.'
Van Meter said he refinanced his home mortgage to repay $25,000 in reenlistment bonuses and $21,000 in student loan repayments that the military says was improperly given to him.
The California Guard said it has to follow the law and collect the money.
Retired Army major and Iraq veteran Robert D'Andrea (pictured) said he was told to repay his $20,000 because auditors could not find a copy of the contract he says he signed
Nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers have been ordered to repay huge enlistment bonuses a decade after signing up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan (file)
'At the end of the day, the soldiers ended up paying the largest price,' Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, deputy commander of the California Guard told the Times.
'We'd be more than happy to absolve these people of their debts. We just can't do it. We'd be breaking the law.'
The Pentagon agency that oversees state Guard groups has said that bonus overpayments occurred in every state, but more so in California, which has 17,000 soldiers.
California Guard officials said they are helping soldiers and veterans file appeals with agencies that can erase the debts.
But soldiers said it's a long process and there's no guarantee they'll win.
Retired Army major and Iraq veteran Robert D'Andrea said he was told to repay his $20,000 because auditors could not find a copy of the contract he says he signed.
D'Andrea appealed and is running out of options.
Matthew Tossman was beaten to a pulp after telling a student to take off his headphones
A principal was viciously attacked by pupil at a lower Manhattan high school after he was asked to take off his headphones.
Principal Matthew Tossman of Manhattan Early College School for Advertising, requested 18-year-old Luis Penzo to remove the earphones that he was blasting as he walked in the hallway.
According to the NYPD, the principal was attempting to pick up the headphones from the ground, not take them from the student. Before the attack, there was no physical contact between the principal and the student.
According to the New York Post, at this point Penzo cold-cocked the principal punching him several times in the face.
But it didn't stop there. Penzo then pounced on him punching and scratching the principal leaving him with a swollen face and lacerations around both of his eyes.
Tossman is the principal of Manhattan Early College School for Advertising, which is in inside Murry Bergtraum HS
Tossman was taken hospital for treatment but was released just hours later.
Meanwhile, Penzo was quickly arrested and charged with second-degree assault.
The Department Of Education released a statement that said the NYPD 'immediately responded to a concerning incident' that took place at the inside Murry Bergtraum HS which is where the Advertising School is based.
'The safety and security of students and staff is our top priority, and we are looking into it,' the statement continued.
The Post reveals that Penzo was trouble with the law last month also when he crashed his car into another vehicle in Williamsburg, Brooklyn before punching the other driver.
He was charged with assault and harassment at the time.
Tossman could hear music blasting from the Luis Penzo's headphones and so asked him to turn it down, at which point the student flipped out and brutally beat the school head
The controversial death shooting of a male gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo earlier this year has not resulted in a drop in attendances.
The gorilla, Harambe, was shot after a three-year-old boy got into his enclosure and was grabbed by the arm in May.
The killing of the 17-year-old primate sparked outrage among some people. Zoo officials said they had no choice, given the danger the animal posed to the child.
The zoo's director, Thane Maynard, said attendance remained comparable to 2015 with about 1.2 million visitors this year.
Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard says attendances have not fallen since the shooting of 17-year-old gorilla, Harambe
He added that local support has remained strong as well.
It comes as Hamilton County commissioners said on Monday they are satisfied with the zoo's response when the young boy fell into the enclosure, but also want to see any internal reports about what went wrong, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Director Maynard said he will provide that to the commissioners, who must approve a zoo levy before it appears on the ballot.
The zoo has reopened its gorilla exhibit with a higher, reinforced barrier.
Harambe the Gorilla was shot and killed in May this year after a three-year-old boy fell into his enclosure
Harambe's death drew a lot of attention for the zoo, with visitors going there to pay tribute to the killed primate
The new fence is 42 inches high - six inches higher than the one it replaced. It also has a mesh-fence from top to bottom, according to the Enquirer.
'It was an adequate barrier, but it wasn't adequate to that test,' Maynard told the newspaper.
'No one expected this to happen.'
The gorilla enclosure has been updated, with the old fence (pictured) replaced by one that is higher and more secure
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Two young girls, aged 10 and 13, were miraculously thrown to safety from the doomed Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld on Australia's Gold Coast and watched in horror as the four adults in their raft were killed.
A malfunction with the ride's conveyor belt is suspected to have caused the six-person raft to flip, crushing and drowning two men, aged 38 and 35, and two women, aged 42 and 32, about 2.20pm on Tuesday.
Those killed include Canberra woman Kate Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Dorsett, 35, his partner Roozi Araghi, 38, and another woman.
The New Zealand Herald has named Cindy Low, 42, from Kawerau, as the fourth victim. She was believed to be holidaying in Queensland at the time.
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Two men, aged 38 and 35, and two women, aged 42 and 32, died at the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld on Australia's Gold Coast following a catastrophic accident
Emergency services were called shortly after 2pm on Tuesday after one of the ride's raft is understood to have flipped. Police investigators can be seen examining the site
Victims: Luke Dorsett, 35, is pictured left and his partner Roozi Araghi, 38, is pictured right. Both died on the ride
Mother Kate Dorsett is pictured (left, right). She leaves behind a husband, daughter, and newborn baby girl
One of the children thrown to safety from the raft was Ms Goodchild's daughter. She howled in horror as she watched her mother die, according to News Corp.
Top police officials said it was 'almost a miracle that anybody came out of that', saying they may have escaped through 'the providence of God or somebody'.
Both girls were recovering in hospital on Tuesday night.
The tragedy happened after the raft the six people were riding on turned over and flipped, Assistant Queensland Police Commissioner Brian Codd said.
'(It fell) back on top of those persons and those persons (were) variously caught in machinery.'
The catastrophe was captured on CCTV cameras and the footage would be reviewed as part of the investigation.
The theme park is closed indefinitely.
The mother of the Dorsett siblings, Kim, took to Facebook to express her grief.
'My family have been completely wiped out,' she said.
'I have three children and two of them are now gone.
'My eight-month-old granddaughter is never going to know her mother and that truly breaks my heart.'
Tributes have piled up outside Dreamworld - one of the country's most popular theme parks - with locals laying flowers
The iconic theme park is closed indefinitely while investigators pore over the park in the wake of the disaster
Ms Dorsett's husband, daughter, and newborn baby girl, had to be consoled by paramedics. Families were being informed of the tragedy on Tuesday night.
Radio broadcaster Dom Knight, an old university friend of Mr Araghi, remembered him as a 'passionate, funny, brilliant man with an unquenchable love of retro pop'.
Other friends described Mr Araghi and Mr Dorsett as the 'most loving couple', 'intelligent and witty, filled with life and hope'.
Witnesses to the tragedy said they saw a young girl was wandering alone at the ride's exit calling out for her mum shortly afterwards.
A woman could be seen 'hanging by her foot, crushed from the ride'.
Bystander Claire Wooley said she helped a child she believed was the daughter of one of those killed,Sunshine Coast Daily reported.
Another witness said 'there were kids on board screaming while their mum was like trapped under'.
A malfunction with the ride's conveyer belt was believed to have caused the tragedy, Queensland Ambulance acting supervisor Gavin Fuller told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Two of those that died had been trapped beneath the raft, and two had been trapped underwater in the conveyor belt. The two children were thrown to safety
A birds-eye-view of the scene where four people were killed on Tuesday afternoon
Emergency personnel and investigators are pictured at the Thunder River Rapids ride at Gold Coast's Dreamworld theme park
'One of the rides has sustained some sort of malfunction, causing two people to be ejected, two caught, two males and two females,' the Queensland Ambulance acting superviser said
flume be turned over and flipped, resulting in it falling back on top of those persons and those persons being variously caught in machinery - and I don't want to go into too much graphic detail.
The four adults and two children were in a raft that collided with an empty raft that had become stuck, Courier Mail reported.
Reports suggest their raft flipped, crushing two of the adults. The other two adults were trapped in the conveyor belt underwater.
Visitors to the theme park have claimed the ride had been plagued by mechanical issues earlier in the day.
Lisa Walker said she had tried to board the ride with her daughter Kaylah, 25, and said rafts were piling up against each other, she told The Australian.
'Earlier in the day it had broken down,' the same witness told Sydney Morning Herald.
'It had broken down and we went back a couple of times to this particular ride.
'We were standing on the bridge watching and the water had stopped.
'There was no rapids.'
The accident happened 10 minutes after she and her daughter left the scene, Lisa said.
Families of those killed, including Mr Dorsett (right) and Mr Araghi (left) were being informed of the tragedy on Tuesday night
Another woman told Nine News engineers were called to the ride earlier in the day.
'They drained all the water out and then had to refill it back up, and then we were allowed to go. But, yeah, we were stuck there for about 30-40 minutes at least,' the woman said.
Todd Reid, Inspector Regional Duty Officer, could not confirm reports the ride had been faulty earlier in the day.
'I'm not aware [if that's true], but that will be part of the investigation and that will be one of the aspects we will be looking at,' he said.
The horrific accident happened towards the end of the ride.
Mr Fuller, of Queensland Ambulance, would not elaborate on any of the injuries the four adults suffered.
'They sustained injuries incompatible with life,' he said.
Dreamworld staff had drained water from the ride in an attempt to save the trapped passengers and desperately tried to treat two of those injured before paramedics arrived.
A coroner will investigate and police have established a crime scene. There will also be a workplace health and safety investigation
Emergency services are pictured at the scene on Tuesday afternoon after two men and two women died
Dreamworld staff drained the water from the ride in an attempt to save the trapped passengers (emergency services are pictured at the scene)
The park was evacuated and hundreds of shocked patrons streaming out.
Dreamworld will be closed until further notice.
CEO of the theme park, Craig Davidson, said the team was 'deeply shocked and saddened by this and our hearts and our thoughts go to the families involved and to their loved ones'.
The ride's annual maintenance, conducted by independent workplace health and safety engineers, had been done just three days before the accident, a Dreamworld spokesperson said.
A certification was provided, which Daily Mail Australia has requested a copy of.
People are seen sitting outside of Dreamworld after it was evacuated about 4pm following the accident (pictured)
Witnesses said the accident was horrific and happened as the ride was coming to an end
Specialist forensic and scientific officers, as well as detectives were at the scene on Tuesday evening.
Investigators have been interviewing a number of witnesses at nearby police stations with support services also being offered.
The State Coroner and the Queensland Government's Forensic Pathologist also attended the scene.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
Dreamworld owners Ardent Leisure shares fell 7.8 per cent on news of the tragedy.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he was 'very saddened to learn of the tragic accident'.
'Theme parks are a place for family fun and happiness, not tragedy. This is a very, very, sad, tragic event. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives,' Mr Turnbull said in a statement.
'This is a very sad day, and we trust there will be a thorough investigation into the causes of this accident over the days to follow.'
Dreamworld describes the Thunder River Rapids ride (stock picture) as a moderate family ride
Children over two-years-old are allowed to go on the ride (pictured). If they are under four they must go on the ride with someone above the age of 14
Dreamworld was evacuated and will be closed until further notice
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the news was 'heartbreaking'.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she had heard the scene was 'horrific' and said counsellors were being rushed to Dreamworld to calm the 'many, many witnesses'.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said it was a 'very sad day for our city' in a statement.
'Our thoughts are with the families of those affected and the emergency staff in attendance.'
Shocked US Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz said he had been on the ride just a few minutes before the accident.
RECENT SAFETY INCIDENTS AT DREAMWORLD June 2009: Helicopter crashes into Dreamworld carpark, injuring the pilot and four Taiwanese passengers 2011: Two separate reports of Bengal tiger Kato biting handlers at the Tiger Island attraction - once in May and once in September November 2013: More than 7000 people evacuated from Dreamworld in under an hour after a bushfire came close to the facility April 2016: A passenger on the Rocky Hollow Log Ride nearly drowned after being thrown from the attraction and suffering lacerations to his head Advertisement
'Dude, just got off a ride 15 mins ago that has 1 person seriously injured and 2 others trapped,' he wrote on Twitter.
A similar Dreamworld ride called Rocky Hollow Log Ride was shut down in April for a weekend after a man almost drowned, according to The Courier Mail.
A Queensland Ambulance spokeswoman said at the time the man swallowed water after he fell from the ride.
The Thunder River Rapids ride was built in 1986 and is said to be a 'moderate' with a maximum speed of 45km/h, according to Dreamland.
Visitors as young as two-years-old are allowed to go on the ride.
People sit on circular rafts that seat six.
Shocked US Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz said he had been on the ride just a few minutes before the accident
'SOMEONE WILL GET KILLED ONE DAY': HOW A VISITOR FORESAW A TRAGIC ACCIDENT AT DREAMWORLD JUST TWO WEEKS BEFORE FOUR PEOPLE DIED AT THE PARK An Australian woman posted a negative review of Dreamworld, including numerous safety concerns, just two weeks before the tragic accident on Tuesday. Tracey Christensen wrote on the Dreamworld Facebook page on October 10: 'So we went to Dreamworld yesterday with the kids, went to go on the tower of terror, almost to the top and we hear.. 'sorry everyone there's an operational issue and we are waiting for maintenance'.. we left that ride real quick. 'Then went on Puss In Boots, maintenance issue. Then went to the Wipeout, 'sorry operational issues'. The kids get off the Claw and said one of their belt buckles came undone right up in the air. 'I told the attendants they didn't listen. I went and told the manager and he said he will call someone to go have a look, yet they continued to let people on the ride and keep operating. 'I went back to the manager and questioned it and he tells me that that belt buckle is an added safety feature dreamworld added to the seats, so if they come undone they are still safe. 'There must have been a reason they added those belt buckles or they wouldn't have bothered, then continues to tell me that the log ride is now broken! Are you freaking kidding me? One visitor to Dreamworld said she counted 'five operational issues' when she visited the park two weeks ago 'I paid $400 to get yearly passes and all I want now is my money back because having 5 rides with operational issues is not good enough. Someone will get seriously injured or killed one day!' However, other reviews on the Facebook page heap praise on the much-loved park. One woman wrote: 'We had a great day On Sunday at the park. There were no overly long queues, and when a staff member on the Tower of Terror 2 made a mistake and couldn't get the ride started, she treated us to a free 2nd ride. Thanks Chloe.:) We love the pizza place for lunch, such a great value meal for a family. All in all it was a great day!' Advertisement
They say she was 'beautiful' with a kind spirit and great sense of humour
Ms Wright's friends say she should not be
Warriena Wright was not just a 'victim' and should be remembered for the joy she brought into the world with her 'wild humour' and kind spirit, her friends say.
The New Zealand tourist, 26, plummeted to her death from the 14th floor balcony of her Tinder date Gable Tostee in 2014 - putting her at the centre of his murder trial.
But her closest friends, who have endured painstaking details about Ms Wright's last hours throughout the nine-day trial, now want the 'beautiful' young woman to remembered for the way she positively impacted their lives before her tragic death.
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Warriena Wright's friend Hayley Cason (right) has asked the young woman be remembred for her for the joy she brought into the world with her humour and kind spirit
'For us Rrie was not just a victim of crime - she's a real person who is loved and missed everyday,' friend Hayley Cason wrote on Facebook.
She said Ms Wright was a 'dear and beautiful friend' who deserves nothing more than to be remembered for 'the kind and gentle things' she did for those she loved.
'Most importantly for all the laughter and joy she brought into our lives with her wild sense of humour,' Ms Cason added.
She thanked Queensland Police and everyone who showed the Wright family support during Tostee's trial, particularly those who tried to 'get justice for Rrie'.
Ms Wright has been remembered for her 'wild sense of humour' and passion for animal rights
Ms Cason posted an emotional tribute to her 'dear and beautiful friend' on Sunday afternoon
Ms Cason commended Ms Wright's family for their 'strength and dignity' but asked for privacy as they and her friends start to process the results of last week's trial.
'As I'm sure you all can appreciate this is a difficult time for all who know and love Rrie, and we thank you for the respect and privacy while we put the pieces of our lives back together,' Ms Cason wrote.
'Although one very important piece has been unfairly taken from us she will forever be remembered and carried in our hearts,' she added.
'For us Rrie was not just a victim of crime - she's a real person who is loved and missed everyday,' Ms Cason (right) wrote on Facebook of Ms Wright (left)
She said that while there is a 'very important piece' missing from her life, Ms Wright (right) will 'forever be remembered and carried in our hearts'
Ms Wright travelled to Australia for a two-week holiday in August 2014 when she met Tostee.
The pair had drinks, got in an altercation and Tostee locked her on his balcony.
Second later she plummeted to her death, with Tostee being acquitted of her murder and manslaughter by a jury last Thursday.
Key evidence used in the trial included a recording of their meeting, which was shared with media despite Ms Wright's mother pleading it remain private.
Ms Wright was born in Bulacan, north of Manila, but migrated to New Zealand with her parents.
At the time of her death she lived in Lower Hutt, Wellington, with her sister younger sister, Marreza 'Reza' Wright.
Ms Wright met Gable Tostee (pictured) on the night of her death after connecting on Tinder
Ms Wright's mother, Beth, pleaded with the court not to release a recording of her daughter's last hours
At the time of her death Ms Wright (right) lived in Lower Hutt, Wellington, with her sister younger sister, Marreza 'Reza' Wright (left)
She was a photographer and passionate advocate for animal rights, penning a touching submission to New Zealand's Parliament arguing for animal testing to be outlawed in a forthcoming bill a year before she died.
'When I see an animal in pain, to me it's exactly the same as seeing a child in pain,' she wrote in a letter introduced with a quote from Ghandi.
'If someone murders an animal or tortures an animal I believe their punishment should be the same as if they had done this to a child.'
Her sister, 25, said Ms Wright loved animals, gaming, anime, photography and pulling pranks on people.
'She was really intelligent and reliable. I think she would want people to remember that because she always valued smarts before looks. She was just lucky to have both,' Ms Wright told New Idea.
A father who died after jumping off a highway bridge in New Jersey with his young sons aged one and three in his arms has been identified.
John Spincken, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene at the Route I-287 overpass over the Wanaque River, after jumping up to 100ft.
His children however somehow survived the fall with non life-threatening injuries
Authorities were first alerted to a domestic situation when Spincken's wife, Fara Araullo, called Pequannock police in Morris County just before 7pm on Monday.
John Spincken, pictured with his wife Fara Araullo and his young sons aged three and one, jumped off a highway bridge in New Jersey with his boys in his arms
Domestic disturbance: Authorities were first alerted to a situation when Ms Araullo called police and said Spincken had threatened to harm himself and the boys before fleeing
State troopers were subsequently called to I-287 near mile marker 56 around 8pm according to NBC New York.
Spincken, who runs Autolux, an auto detailing service in northern New Jersey, had reportedly been arguing with his wife and then threatened to harm himself and his sons before seizing them and taking them away in his white SUV.
Ms Araullo subsequently contacted 911 and police were eventually able to track his phone down to the car which was parked on the I-287 southbound in Wanaque Township.
His car was found near the bridge; police believe he climbed on top of the vehicle, before scaling an 8-foot 'suicide prevention fence' with the boys before jumping.which police believe he climbed on top of before jumping.
His body and the children were found in the embankment below. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 9pm.
Miracle: While Spincken's body was found at the scene, his children amazingly survived the fall, a drop of up to 100feet; and were only treated for non life-threatening injuries
Spincken was killed and his two young children were seriously injured after he jumped off of a highway bridge with them in his arms (pictured at the scene)
John Spincken jumped while holding his two sons, aged one and three, from the Route I-287 overpass into the Wanaque River in New Jersey; amazingly the children survived
The children are thought to have survived because they managed to land within a wooded area located beneath the bridge as opposed to the river
Amazingly the children were conscious when police found them, with the one-year-old suffering only a bruised lung and concussion while the three-year-old only had a concussion. They were taken to St Joseph's Regional Medical Center for treatment.
'It's a miracle [they survived],' Pequannock police captain Christopher DePuyt told Pix11 News.
'Happened very quickly and [the domestic disturbance] became secondary to why we were called there after he threatened to do harm to the boys.
Police said that there were no previous records of police being called to the family home in the past, although court records obtained by NJ1015 show he pleaded guilty in 2003 to violating a domestic violence restraining order. He was also charged with unlawfully possessing forearms and handguns without a permit and criminal mischief. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and five years of probation.
There is no hint of any animosity on Spincken's Facebook page.
He wrote as recently as August how 'grateful and appreciative' he was to have two sons.
In December 2014, he wrote about how he saved one of his son's lives.
'As I sit here in a hospital room and stare at my sick and sleeping baby boy, I can not help but think to myself how fortunate I am. Although I cannot remove the horrific image of my frantic wife holding my lifeless blue son, I am grateful of my instinctive reactions as well as caring neighbors and a fast acting EMT squad. I've never performed CPR in my entire life nor have I ever takin a CPR class...
'And was able to buy him enough time before our neighbor, which is a nurse, could help in reviving him. All of this happened within a matter of minutes which felt like an eternity. The next thing I knew I heard an EMT say "he's breathing...he's breathing!" I was still in a panic but those 2 words gave me a sense of relief.'
On the day his three-year-old son was born, he wrote: 'I'm a dad! Best feeling on the world!'
Spincken was pronounced dead at the scene but his children survived the fall and were rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries (pictured are emergency crews at the scene)
The Thunder River Rapids ride at the centre of a fatal accident at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast is described as just a 'moderate thrill' for families.
Two men and two women died when their raft flipped over, trapping two inside and ejecting the others, as they were travelling along the conveyor belt in the water. The victims were aged between 32 and 40.
The latest incident comes after the Log Ride at Dreamworld - which uses the same conveyor belt system - was closed on a weekend in April when a man had a brush with death, The Courier-Mail reported.
He almost drowned when the conveyor belt lost traction and stranded passengers.
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The Thunder River Rapids ride at the theme park was the scene where up to four people are reportedly dead
Worksafe Queensland was called to the ride and gave Dreamworld operators the green light to open again.
Listed under 'family rides', the Thunder River Rapids ride, which has been open for 34 years, is compared to white water rafting.
'Travel down a foamy water track past the Gold Rush Country, speeding up to 45 km/h through the turbulent rapids,' its website reads.
Children under the age of four must be accompanied by an adult.
The ride at the centre of a fatal accident at Gold Coast theme park Dreamworld is described as a 'moderate thrill' for families
Listed under 'family rides', the ride is limited to children over the age of two with a height of more than 120 centimetres.
He almost drowned when the conveyor belt system, which is the same one used on Thunder River Rapids, on the Log Ride (pictured) lost traction and stranded passengers
Each circular raft seats up to six people.
Thrillseekers need to have 'upper body control' and 'must be able to maintain an upright seated posture', according to Dreamworld's Guests With Disabilities guidelines.
'Physical size must not reduce effectiveness of restraints,' the guidelines read.
Reviewers online said the ride was 'lame but fun' and 'not a thrill ride but still cool'.
Reviewers online said the ride was 'lame but fun' and 'not a thrill ride but still cool'
A Sudanese man with links to the notorious Apex gang has complained he doesn't like life in an adult jail and wants to be moved to somewhere he feels more comfortable.
Mursal Biel, 18, complained he was subjected to ruthless violence in jail when he appeared in court on Tuesday, according to the Herald Sun.
Biel complained he'd seen a man brutally bashed while awaiting his sentence in Port Phillip prison.
A Sudanese man with links to the Apex gang has complained he doesn't like life in an adult jail
Biel, who has links to the notorious Apex gang in Melbourne, is accused of robbing people of cash and mobile phones while armed, and stealing a former taxi while high on meth in April 2016.
The 18-year-old Sudanese man drove around Melbourne in the stolen taxi with three friends attacking random strangers, bashing them with an extendible baton, the court heard.
He faces up to 25-years behind bars for pleading guilty to the terrifying series of armed robberies.
Biel, who has links to the notorious Apex gang in Melbourne (pictured), is accused of robbing people of cash and mobile phones while armed
In each of the attacks, the three men approached strangers and asked for their phones before launching the sickening attacks (alleged Apex gang member)
In each of the attacks, the three men allegedly approached strangers and asked for their phones before launching the sickening attacks.
One man was allegedly beaten and kicked in the head while another was bashed in his own car.
After the alleged ruthless attacks, the men told one alleged victim they would track him down and murder him if he reported the crime to the police.
The men also later allegedly used their victim's bank cards to withdraw large amounts of money.
The men also later used their victim's bank cards to withdraw large amounts of money, court heard (alleged Apex gang member pictured)
The men were captured on CCTV using the cards at Chadstone, Victoria (alleged Apex gang members pictured)
The men were captured on CCTV using the cards at Chadstone, but despite this, Biel denied any involvement, court heard.
But Biel later admitted to his alleged crimes and willingly handed his alleged co-offenders names over to police in an attempt to minimise his own involvement.
When Biel appeared in court on Tuesday his defence barrister Caitlin Blakeney said her client's actions were fuelled by his addiction to meth.
She said Biel suffered from a dangerous addiction to the drug, an addiction aided by friends who freely handed the drugs over to him.
Ms Blakeney told the court her client was struggling to cope in an adult jail and asked to move somewhere more comfortable (alleged Apex gang member pictured)
Ms Blakeney told the court her client was struggling to cope in an adult jail and asked to move somewhere more comfortable.
She said he had been the victim of bullying in jail and also witnessed a highly violent attack on a fellow inmate.
Crown prosecutors did not object to Biel being assessed for juvenile detention, and County Court Judge Felicity Hampel considered his plea.
He will appear for sentencing on November 22.
A man has been jailed for seven years after telling a friend to brutally stab an autistic teenager because he was 'sick of' him, a court has heard.
Kyle Dumesny, 21, pleaded guilty to manslaughter over the grisly murder of Jake Lasker who was stabbed 102 times during an Xbox session in Queensland's Toowoomba in November 2012.
The 19-year-old's death at the hands of Dumesny and another young friend, Max Peter Smith, was planned in a macabre series of text messages.
The Toowoomba Supreme Court heard the pair discussed how they might kill Mr Lasker, who had Asperger's Syndrome, after Smith described him as 'not useful to society'.
Dumesny appeared to go along with the plan by responses such as 'lol' and 'cool'.
Jake Lasker, 19, (pictured) was stabbed 102 during an Xbox session with two friends in 2012
Kyle Dumesny, 21, (pictured) has been jailed for seven years over the stabbing of the teen
Justice Peter Lyons said in sentencing Dumesny on Tuesday: 'The conduct went on for several days,'
'It plainly reflected an intention that some harm be inflicted upon Mr Lasker.'
The court heard Mr Lasker's mother had stepped out of her home to pick up her younger son from school while the teen played video games with his two friends, ABC News reported.
'By the time she returned from the school pick up, Jake was dead,' prosecutor Vicki Loury told court.
Smith struck when the trio had started playing Xbox in Mr Lasker's room, stabbing Mr Lasker with a carving knife from the kitchen amid cries of 'please stop'.
He is currently serving a life sentence for Mr Lasker's murder.
Crown Prosecutor Vicki Loury said Dumesny, who was 'squeamish' about blood, was in the toilet at the time of the prolonged attack and then fled from the home.
The mother of the slain teenager rounded on the turncoat friend who helped plan her son's murder but was too squeamish to witness it.
Joanne Lasker, in her victim impact statement, said Dumesny could have stopped the murder.
'Even though you didn't kill him, you still helped plan it,' she said.
The 19-year-old's (pictured) death at the hands of Dumesny and another young friend, Max Peter Smith, was planned in a macabre series of text messages
The distraught parents fronted the media as they described their son's murder as 'senseless'
Dumesny, now 21, was charged with murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on Monday, when his trial was meant to begin.
Ms Loury said Dumesny gave varying accounts to police that he either thought the texts were a joke, or was too scared to say anything.
Defence barrister Stephen Kissick stressed his client's young age and said he had no appreciation of Smith's intent to kill.
Dumesny, who has been in protective custody since May 2015, was having a tough time behind bars because other inmates believed he was willing to give evidence against Smith, Mr Kissick said.
On Monday, Jake's parents appeared in court to see Dumesny plead guilty to manslaughter
The parents of slain teenager - Joanne and John - fronted the media outside Toowoomba Supreme Court on Tuesday as they vowed to keep their son Jake's memory alive
Mr Lasker had survived a cancer scare months before his death.
His father, John Lasker said the crime was senseless when he fronted the media outside court as the couple vowed to keep their son Jake's memory alive.
'Keep his memory alive, there's not much more we can do than that,' he said.
Mrs Lasker said the 'horrific ordeal' had ruined lives across three families.
'If you don't like someone, don't take their life,' she said.
'It's not worth it. Just walk away. That's all they had to do.'
two charges of fraud and three charges of attempted fraud
to get up to $70,000 in funding
The former University of Queensland academic faked a study on Parkinson's disease
A former University of Queensland academic has escaped jail on fraud charges after she falsified a study into Parkinson's disease to get up to $70,000 in funding.
Dr Caroline Barwood, 31, who is a former researcher at the university, was found guilty of two charges of fraud and three charges of attempted fraud by a Brisbane District Court jury on Monday.
She given a two-year-suspended jail term for using a false research paper to obtain the funding.
A former University of Queensland academic has escaped jail on fraud charges after she falsified a study into Parkinson's disease to get up to $70,000 in funding
The jury failed to reach a majority verdict for the other two charges, which will return to court for a mention on November 15.
Judge Terry Martin sentenced her to two years for two counts and 15 months on the other three, with the terms to be served concurrently and suspended immediately for three years.
The week-long trial heard Barwood obtained or tried to obtain about $700,000 from different organisations between 2011 and 2013 in relation to a Parkinson's disease study that never took place.
Barwood also copied the papers of another academic that she then passed off as her own to apply for grants, fellowship and travel funding.
The research assistant was at the time in an intimate relationship with UQ professor Bruce Murdoch, who first approached her to help him with his Parkinson's study in 2009.
Barwood admitted during an investigation by the university's integrity unit she had her doubts about the research having 'not even met a single patient'.
Dr Caroline Barwood, 31, who is a former researcher at the university, was found guilty of two charges of fraud and three charges of attempted fraud by a Brisbane District Court jury on Monday
She also never saw patient consent forms, their files or ethical clearance forms.
'I put my trust in him,' Barwood told the investigators.
'There is not a lot of evidence ... it really pains me to admit that.'
Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said in her sentencing submissions Barwood's fraudulent conduct not only cost the university money, but meant other applicants missed out on much-needed funding.
Judge Terry Martin sentenced her to a two-year-suspended jail term for using a false research paper to obtain the funding while working at the university (pictured)
Ms Marco said the research also gave false hope to patients and harmed UQ's reputation.
Defence lawyer Gregory McGuire said Barwood had lost her academic career because of a lie Professor Murdoch told.
'She has paid an extraordinarily high price already,' he said.
Mr McGuire said the mother of one had always had an 'altruistic' attitude and believed she was alleviating the suffering of others.
University of Queensland president and vice-chancellor Professor Peter Hj told Daily Mail Australia the court findings against the two researchers sent a clear signal that research misconduct was deplorable and unacceptable.
'This exemplifies our unstinting commitment to research integrity, and illustrates that we will investigate research misconduct matters forensically and refer them to relevant authorities where our findings dictate such action,' he said.
'UQ has worked with a range of authorities and has reimbursed about $175,000 to funding bodies associated with Dr Murdochs work.
However, Police Association question claim the drug dealers had gone
A New Zealand gang leader's claim his vigilante campaign against meth dealers had forced them out of town has been questioned by police.
Tribal Huk leader Jamie Pink says he lost an eyeball during a shootout in the North Island town Ngaruawahia, following his 24-hour ultimatum for them to leave.
However, the Police Association said there was 'no evidence' the meth dealers had left.
'It's very hard to stomp out meth use,' vice-president Luke Shadbolt told the New Zealand Herald.
Tribal Huk leader Jamie Pink (pictured) says he has lost an eye during a confrontation relating to his gang's methamphetamine purge
'What we do know is with gangs there's always a risk of turf wars and retaliation.
'It's hard with gangs to step into the realm of fighting drugs.'
Pink said a bullet grazed his eye after shooting through the windscreen of his Ford Explorer four-wheel drive during a weekend confrontation on a country road.
'Those bullets that came through the windscreen, one of them came a bit close and burnt it, that part on the top of the eye - it's all burnt out,' he told stuff.co.nz.
'The doctor said the rest will have to come out in about two weeks so I'm wearing a patch so I don't scare the kids.'
With a patch over his right eye and bandaged arms and hands, the notorious gang chief arrived at a newspaper office in a blood-stained, armoured vehicle loaded with weapons.
He was there to announce victory over methamphetamine dealers in Ngaruawahia, which he summed up in three words: 'It is over', Stuff reported.
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The interior of Pink's bullet-riddled Ford Explorer which is now in the hands of police
The exterior of the Ford Explorer also shows numerous bullet holes where it was shot at
Bullet holes riddle the side of Pink's black American four-wheel drive
His gang recently gave dealers 24 hours to leave town before clearing out 14 homes associated with them.
'I've lost an eyeball, but all good,' Pink said.
He abandoned his car at the newspaper offices for police, who had collected it and were investigating.
Bullet holes punctured the doors and windows and the rear windscreen was gone altogether.
Bags of cement, a punching bag and a metal plate had been arranged inside to armour the vehicle and presumably stop further bullets, Stuff reported.
Pink pictured driving through Ngaruawahia claiming victory over methamphetamine dealers
Members of the Tribal Huk gang from Waikato, in New Zealand's North Island
Tribal Huk president Jamie Pink pictured in a 2015 documentary
In an earlier visit to the newspaper, Pink told reporters his vehicle had been shot at as payback for running meth dealers out of Ngaruawahia.
Despite Pink's claims, New Zealand Police earlier said there had been no reports of violence involving meth houses in the area during the purge.
The Tribal Huk decided to rid the town of meth after observing the effect it had had on children and families in the community.
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After years of treacherous journeys down a mountain to get to school, children in a village in China are finally getting a ladder to make their school runs less risky.
In May, heartbreaking pictures emerged showing pupils, the youngest aged just six, climbing unsecured vine ladders on the side of a steep rock face while returning home from school.
The children live in Zhaojue County in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, which is situated at the top of a 2,624-foot-tall peak in west China. Their school is at the foot of the mountain.
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Dedicated students: In order to go home after school, the children have to scale the peak, carrying their backpacks as they go
Improvements: Since the pictures emerged, the local authority has begun installing a secure ladder for the children
Slightly safer journey: The ladder is made from 1,500 steel pipes and connects the village to the school
Scary: The journey up the terrifying cliff face takes around two hours and the students are accompanied by three adults
Dangerous journey: Children of the village scale the cliff to make their way back home after two weeks of school
The children were pictured travelling two hours climbing 17 cliff ladders in Zhaojue County.
These pupils aged between six and 15 were seen carrying heavy bags and were supervised by three parents.
However their journey is due to become less dangerous thanks to a new steel ladder which uses more than 1,500 steel pipes.
Construction began on the ladder in August with the local authorities footing the one million yuan (120,000) bill.
The new ladder is expected to be completed by the end of October.
The children live in a terrifying 'cliff village', which is situated on the top of a 2,624-foot-tall peak in Zhaojue County
Working hard: Chinese villagers carry a steel pipe to deliver them to the cliff edge for the construction of the ladder
Long journey up: A Chinese villager makes her way up a steel ladder made from 1,500 pipes on the cliff
The village, dubbed the 'cliff village' by Chinese media, is so remote that only 72 families live there, most of whom make a living by growing chillies.
Once the children arrive at the school, they stay there for two weeks before making the journey up the mountain to visit their families.
Every time they come down or go up the mountain, their parents take it in turns to pick them up.
Before the new ladder, it took the pupils around two hours to scale the cliffs.
In May, A Pi Ji Ti, the Secretary of Communist Party of Zhi'ermo Township told reporters that the journey between the village and the foot of the mountain had killed around eight people.
Because the journey is so dangerous, some children are not sent for education even after they reach the school age.
The village started to construct the steel ladder in August this year after getting funding from the local authority
Saddening: The children spend two weeks at school before making their way up the mountain to visit family
The Mexican President has said his meeting with Donald Trump was a mistake, following an angry backlash from his citizens.
Enrique Pena Nieto said the visit to Mexico City in August had been arranged in haste, adding that given the option he would reverse his decision to host the GOP presidential nominee.
The two leaders held a private meeting in the Mexican capital, before they answered questions from journalists in a joint press conference.
Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto said he regrets his decision to hold a press conference in the country with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
Speaking to La Razon newspaper on Monday, President Pena Nieto said: 'It was very controversial and I accept that I took a decision.
'Maybe today it would be different, I think I took a very rushed decision.'
While in a separate television interview he said: 'Could we have done things better? Maybe yes, admittedly.
'I think that this genuine interest to bring about a meeting to take care of Mexico's interests, I think, could have been done in a better way.'
Trump's August visit came after he derided Mexicans in a campaign speech, saying: 'they are bringing drugs, and bringing crime, and they're rapists'.
His flagship policy has been the building of a border wall between the countries that he insists Mexico will pay for. Mexico denies that they will pay for it.
Trump's trip to their country angered many Mexicans, who criticized President Pena Nieto for hosting the meeting.
The president was already unpopular, and has faced a backlash from his citizens over the decision to host the controversial meeting
He loves this country! Donald Trump hugs the American flag as he arrives for a campaign rally at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater on October 24
The president was already unpopular, and his closest cabinet ally, Secretary of Finance Luis Videgaray, resigned in the wake of the visit.
Polls released shortly before the visit showed Trump's approval rating in Mexico at 4 per cent, and Pena Nieto's at 23 per cent.
The Mexican premier faced criticism after the conference for failing to mention Trump's controversial border wall policy.
The Mexican government said after Trump's visit that his rival Hillary Clinton had also also been invited to Mexico, but she had declined the offer.
Defending himself against criticism following the meeting, President Pena Nieto said he had wanted to build relationships with both major party candidates in order to continue the close working relationship between the Mexican and US governments.
'Many times I have given the explanation of why I sought an encounter with both candidates, and it was only to care for Mexicans and the interests of Mexico,' he said.
The man will be sentenced in December
He was under an apprehended violence order at the time of the attack
ourt were told Monday the man threatened to 'cave in woman's head'
The man physically assaulted his ex-partner and mother of his two kids
A father of two who threatened to 'cave in the head' of his ex-partner and mother of his children with a hammer has appeared in court.
The unnamed man appeared before Wollongong Local Court on Monday, facing 12 charges including assault.
The woman became scared for her safety in March when she became involved with a new partner after being in an 'on and off' relationship with the man, according to the Illawarra Mercury.
A father of two who threatened to 'cave in the head' of his ex-partner and mother of his children with a hammer appeared in Court on Monday
The woman received a text message off the man saying 'I'm going to cave your head in with a hammer'.
An apprehended violence order was issued to the man but he breached it the following month claiming that he wanted to see the children.
The woman initially denied him his request but apprehensively allowed the man entry after he threatened to smash the window.
Once inside the house the man put his forehead up against the woman's and said to her 'why are you doing this to our family? I love you'.
The woman resisted the mans advances and the pair became involved in a fight which resulted in one of the children being injured after trying to subdue his father who was holding down his mother.
The unnamed man appeared before Wollongong Local Court facing 12 charges including assault
The woman received a text message off the man saying 'I'm going to cave your head in with a hammer' after she started to see a new love interest
The woman was attacked by the man in which she was repeatedly thrown to the floor, following the attack the man stole the woman's phone and left
After the frightening attack in which the woman was also repeatedly thrown to the floor the man stole the woman's phone and left.
The woman also recounted to the court other times in which the man stalked her.
The man's lawyer, Danny Lagopodis, told the court that he was a loving father and only became violent after being refused access to his children.
'There can't be any dispute that he is a loving father,' he began.
But the Magistrate Mark Douglas said that the man subjected the children to frightening scenes and that what he did wasn't out of love.
'He's a loving father, so he commits acts of violence in front of his children?' he said.
'What he's done is wrong. In relation to the children, he may have feelings for them, I accept that, but what he's done in front of them is unacceptable, criminal behaviour.
'That is not what a loving father does. It's frightening for a young child to have to endure Mummy and Daddy going through that.
'It's frightening for a child to see that. He couldn't put his own needs or what he thought were his own needs to the side for the sake of his children.'
Hundreds more child refugees are set to come to the UK over the next few weeks, Amber Rudd has revealed.
The Home Secretary signalled arrivals would continue as the makeshift 'Jungle' camp in Calais is dismantled. Some 800 have been interviewed by British officials over the past week.
But one in four local authorities are said to be refusing to accept responsibility for them - including Theresa May's own council.
Ms Rudd also disclosed that the UK will hand France 36million to beef up border controls and help make sure the camp stays shut.
Amber Rudd told the Commons last night that hundreds more child refugees will be brought to the UK over the coming weeks as she updated MPs on the process
Questions have been raised about the claimed ages of some of the refugees, including this individual who has arrived in the UK
In recent days scores of unaccompanied minors have been arriving in Britain from Calais, either because they have family links here already, or under the Dubs amendment requiring the Government to give refuge to children stranded in Europe.
However, questions have been raised about the vetting process - with suggestions that some are not as young as claimed and councils complaining they have struggled to located family.
According to the Guardian, one in four local authorities are refusing to take responsibility for the lone children from Calais. They are said to include Windsor and Maidenhead in the PM's constituency.
'The Royal Borough is currently taking in four children under the Syrian resettlement programme and has committed to house another eight Syrian refugee families. We are not able to take further people at this point,' a spokesman for the council reportedly said.
Mrs Rudd told the House of Commons that almost 200 migrant children had been brought to the UK from Calais since October 10 under a fast-track scheme.
She also revealed several hundred more children will be brought over in the coming weeks.
'This includes more than 60 girls, many of whom had been identified as at high risk of sexual exploitation,' she added.
Mrs Rudd told the House of Commons that almost 200 migrant children had been brought to the UK from Calais since October 10 under a fast-track scheme
A child migrant from 'The Jungle' camp in Calais arrives on a coach at an immigration processing centre in Croydon
A bus arrives from the Calais Jungle camp with selected child refugees. A fence was put in place which screened the migrants as they arrived at Lunar House, in London
Ms Rudd insisted the Government has been working to speed up the process - saying officials were only given access to the camp in the last week.
She appealed to local authorities to come forward and volunteer to take more children under the Dubs amendment, saying there were not yet enough places.
Ministers have repeatedly faced criticism over the pace of efforts to transfer children with a right to come to the country either because they have family ties here under the so-called Dublin regulations, or through the Dubs amendment.
However, Ms Rudd said: 'The Government has sought every opportunity to expedite the process to transfer children to the UK.
UK citizens turn out to a welcome event outside Lunar House in Croydon, south London, as more migrants arrive. But they were hidden behind a 15ft fence
French police struggle to control migrants outside a processing centre in the Jungle today
'My officials were only given access to the camp to interview children in the last week, and similarly we have only recently received agreement from the French government that we could bring Dubs cases to the UK.
'Before this we worked closely with the French behind the scenes, but without their agreement it was not possible to make progress on taking non-family cases from Calais.'
In the last week, officials have interviewed 800 children in the camp claiming to have close family in the UK.
Ms Rudd said: 'Every child presented in the last week has been interviewed by UK staff. Much of this work has been carried out in difficult conditions, and on a number of occasions interviews have been paused and UK staff have withdrawn for safety reasons.'
Those likely to be granted refugee status and those aged 12 or under will be prioritised for resettlement under the Dubs route.
More than 2,000 migrants were moved from the Jungle on Monday but many more remain (pictured) and there are fears a hardcore will refuse to budge
Only those present in camps before the start of the clearance operation launched on Monday will be considered, Ms Rudd added.
She said it was important that more children are not encouraged to head to Calais.
The Home Secretary said the Government would be contributing up to 36 million to maintain the security of 'juxtaposed' border controls, to support the camp clearance, and to 'ensure in the long term that the camp is kept closed'.
She stressed the contribution is 'not made unconditionally', adding: 'We will continue to work with the French government to ensure that the clearance operation is full and lasting.'
A Melbourne couple have sold their farm in the city's west to a Singapore-based property developer for a whopping $95 million.
The couple, who have not been identified, sold their Black Forest Road sheep property in Wyndham Vale to Frasers Property, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
The 115 hectare property, which is 31km west of the centre of Melbourne, was purchased in the 1970s and has been owned by the farming family ever since.
A Melbourne couple have sold their farm (pictured) in the city's west to a Singapore-based property developer for a whopping $95 million
Savills Australia agent Clinton Baxter, who helped negotiate the deal with his colleague Julian Heatherich, said they had 'hit the property jackpot'.
He told the Herald Sun: 'With the encroachment of suburbia theyve chosen to sell and demand has been such from the development sector the value has increased markedly and theyve secured a good solid price for the property.'
Frasers Property told the Sydney Morning Herald it was 'one of the largest site acquisitions in Melbourne in recent years'.
The developers plan to build a $440 million housing estate on the block with room for 1400 homes.
The couple, who have not been identified, sold their 115 ha Black Forest Road sheep property in Wyndham Vale to Frasers Property
It will also include about 20,000 square metres of shopping and retail outlets.
The City of Wyndham has reportedly become one of Victorias fastest growing municipalities.
A 36-year-old Brazilian man was freed yesterday after allegedly being held captive by his father and step-mother in the basement of their home for at least 20 years.
Police in Brazil came across Armando de Andrade by accident after they searched homes looking for members of a drugs gang.
The man, who disappeared when he was 16, was reportedly tied to a bed in a tiny, windowless room of the house in Sao Paulo.
Armando de Andrade who was freed yesterday after allegedly being held captive by his father for at least 20 years in a basement
Police in Brazil came across the 36-year-old by accident after they searched homes looking for members of a drugs gang
He was found with 'enormous' toenails and fingernails and a long beard which had grown to his knees, according to witnesses, while police officers who found him described him as 'malnourished'.
Police believe he lived in virtual darkness for two decades in a room without light fittings, while the floor was reportedly covered in human faeces.
Police chief Celso Marchiori, who is investigating the case, said of the moment policemen found him: 'He got up, very impaired and didn't speak a word. We took him outside and he still didn't say anything. We didn't know if he was scared or drugged.
'He wasn't able to identify us as police officers. We called for help and he was taken straight to hospital.
Armando is being cared for in the psychiatric ward of a local hospital, where he is reportedly too traumatised to speak
'It's difficult to believe he was in that place for 20 years. It's a very insanitary place, he wouldn't have survived. There's no light at all.'
Neighbours in the Guarulhos district of Sao Paulo, southeast Brazil, recalled how Armando was a normal 16-year-old, who liked skateboarding and playing the guitar, when he suddenly disappeared.
Never seen again by his friends, Armando's family always claimed he had moved to another part of Brazil and was 'doing well'.
One neighbour, Aparecido Rocha Brasil, said he believed the teenager's father and step-mother decided to lock him in the room after he started experimenting with alcohol.
He told Brazil's Globo News TV channel: 'Every teenager is curious about these things. But for some reason, when alcohol entered into his life, his family decided to take this approach, and kept him locked up for all this time.'
Ederson Silva, a childhood friend of Armando, said: 'Whenever we asked about him they always said they same thing, no, he's living in the northeast, he's well, he's working, he's building his family there. That's all they said to us.'
A map showing the district of Sao Paulo where Armando was found. Neighbours recalled how Armando was a normal 16-year-old, who liked skateboarding and playing the guitar, when he suddenly disappeared
Armando's father Amancio de Andrade denied the allegations, claiming that his son left home aged 18 and returned last week, and asked him to lock him in the room as he wanted to get clean from drug addiction.
He said: 'He's a grown man. He never got in touch. Then last week I opened my door and he was there. He gave him food and let him stay in the basement room. He asked me to lock the door so he couldn't get out.'
Armando is being cared for in the psychiatric ward of a local hospital, where he is reportedly too traumatised to speak.
A video of a friend talking with him shows the man only able to nod or shake his head to respond to questions.
Convenience store workers and fruit-picking backpackers are more likely to be underpaid and are being urged to pursue dodgy employers.
The National Union of Workers has launched an online underpayment calculator so Australia's hospitality, charity and farm workers can see if they are being ripped off.
The union's assistant general branch secretary Godfrey Moase says the tool means unscrupulous employers can be pursued in the industrial courts.
International students working in convenience stores are often at risk of being underpaid
Backpackers who pick fruit to fund their travel are also at risk of being underpaid
'It's not just a calculator, it's an enforcement tool to enforce people's legal rights,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.
'That creates a space where they can upload evidence and we will help them.
'The wage theft crisis is spread through our economy.'
The calculator, which went live last week, determines if a worker has been underpaid for the hours they have put in.
The union said it was part of its Fair Pay Campaign to give back $23 million owed to Australian workers.
'Have you been robbed? Are you one of the thousands of workers who have been underpaid in Australia? Lets find out. And lets do something about it,' its website said.
The campaign is aimed particularly at migrant and casual workers.
The National Union of Workers' assistant general branch secretary Godfrey Moase (pictured)
Mr Moase said international students working at convenience stores, backpackers working as fruit pickers in remote areas and charity fundraisers on holiday visas were most at risk of exploitation.
'It might be because they have recently arrived in the country, whether temporarily or permanently, and employers may be seeking to take advantage of them,' he said.
'Particularly for temporary migrant workers, they might be in a situation where they haven't been educated on legal minimum rights and standards in Australia.'
The National Farmers' Federation, whose members employ seasonal workers on holiday visas, has previously vowed to stamp out wage exploitation.
A British Muslim 'Mumpreneur' has set up the world's first Islamic online toy store.
Nazia Nasreen, 31, says her range of 'Muslim Barbies', colourful prayer mats, Koran cards and Arabic letter blocks fill a gap in the market and also help battle extremism.
Mrs Nasreen, from Birmingham, set up Ibraheem Toy House in 2014 and sells her products all over the world.
She said: 'A lot of times children learn the wrong things and that's where the extremism kicks in. If the right educational toys and books are provided from a young age, we can instil the correct Islamic ethos and values in our children'.
She is in a group of leading British 'Muslim Mumpreneurs', which also includes Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, who juggle bringing up children and running successful businesses in what has traditionally been a male-dominated world.
Mumpreneur: Nazia Nasreen, 31, from Birmingham, pictured, has set up an Islamic toy business online and is selling her products across the world
Popular: Ibraheem Toy House sells a wide range of products, including this 'Muslim Barbie' for 25, which is sold out
Popular: Ibraheem Toy House sells a wide range of products, including this 'Muslim Barbie' for 25, which is sold out
Colourful: Mrs Nasreen also sells colourful prayer mats and other fun items for youngsters
The mother-of-two now sells 200 toys, games and other children's products and her turnover has near-doubled to 30,000 in just a year.
Message: The businesswoman, whose biggest markets are Britain and America, also says the toys can 'instil the correct Islamic ethos and values in our children' and put them on the path the peace
Popular products include 'Muslim Barbies' for 25, foam Arabic alphabet blocks for 12.99, a cardboard minaret for 22, prayer mats for 17 and Ramadan bunting for 9.
The businesswoman, whose biggest markets are Britain and America, also says the toys can 'instil the correct Islamic ethos and values in our children' and put them on the path the peace.
She says her business has built a 'fan following' and this weekend she will meet customers at a Muslim Lifestyle Expo in Manchester this weekend.
There will be at least 130 exhibitors taking part with female entrepreneurs last year showcasing non-alcoholic mocktails, greeting cards, luxury prayer mats, Islamic toys, fashion and cosmetics.
Explaining the importance of her products, Mrs Nasreen told The Times: 'I want children to grow up being proud of their religion and heritage and knowing the truth about Islam.
'We teach what any other religion would how to pray, spirituality, sharing so from day one they have the core belief. Then they know who they are and no one can misguide them'.
Novel: These foam Arabic alphabet blocks, prayer mats and books are among the items for sale helping children 'learn through play'
Mrs Nasreen set up the business because she struggled to find the right toys for her own family.
She said: 'I struggled to find good quality, Islamic toys and books for my children from one store.
A church in Israel built where Christians believe the transfiguration of Jesus took place has been ransacked by vandals who damaged icons, stole chalices, threw Communion bread on the ground, and robbed a donation box.
Church officials believe the motive for Monday's incident was robbery and not Jewish extremism, which has been blamed for previous vandalism at Christian sites in Israel, Wadie Abunassar, a spokesman for bishops in the Holy Land said.
Abunassar could not say how many chalices were stolen from the Basilica of the Transfiguration or how much money from the donation box had been taken.
Christian officials said chalices were stolen from the Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, in Israel' s Lower Galilee
The Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor is in northern Israel, is where Christians believe Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah
He said that no graffiti was painted on the church, which usually occurs with vandalism by extremists, adding that a report had been filed with police.
The church is located on Mount Tabor in the Galilee region of northern Israel, where Christians believe Jesus transfigured and became radiant with glory.
He is believed by Christians to have spoken with Moses and Elijah as he shined with bright rays of light.
Dr Xavier Mmono, 53, has been accused of groping a debt-ridden patient's breasts, pictured outside a tribunal in Manchester
A gynaecologist groped a debt-ridden patient's breasts and sent her 'inappropriate' texts to encourage her to have cosmetic surgery on her vagina, a tribunal heard today.
Dr Xavier Mmono, 53, conducted intimate examinations on the care worker, 32, without a chaperone and sent her messages about being 'friends with benefits'.
Despite the woman saying she could not afford the 1,800 labiaplasty to reduce part of her vaginal area, Mmono insisted she could 'pay later' and joked about her 'Big O'.
When she underwent the operation at Mmono's private Manchester clinic, the gynaecologist allegedly put his hands down her top and told her to 'touch his d***'.
The woman said 'no' - causing Mmono to step back and accidentally smash an expensive piece of equipment, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal heard today.
Mmono, who runs The Aesthetic and Laser Clinic, has denied misconduct.
The tribunal heard how Mmono text the woman, known as Patient A, the night before the operation, saying: 'Have one last play. Night! x.'
He also talked of friends being causal sexual partners adding: 'Mates with benefits good I agree! Will remind u in 2 years when not a patient'.
Mmono also previously messaged her when she failed to show up for treatment, saying: 'I thought u were out having sex with ur friend (sic)!'
The woman, complained about Mmono after his Aesthetic and Laser Clinic sent her a letter warning her of legal action when she failed to pay her bill.
In a text she said: 'You were so inappropriate at our meeting with you asking me if I wanted to touch your d***.'
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service was told the woman had met Mmono in February 2015.
Mmono, who runs The Aesthetic and Laser Clinic in Manchester (shown), has denied misconduct
She decided to undergo the labiaplasty procedure when she split up with her boyfriend who had been mocking the size of her genitalia.
During the first consultation, Mmono said a lot of strippers had the procedure done.
The patient told the hearing: 'At the first consultation Dr Mmono said a lot of strippers and exotic dancers had the procedure done and he was the best at it.
'I explained to him why I wanted the procedure done and he said it was a relatively simple thing.
'I spoke to my friend on the phone who was a nurse and she specifically advised me not to go back saying she didn't think someone should ever make me feel like I needed to have something done. However I did go and have this procedure done.
'I thought it was going to make me feel different about myself but to this day I didn't get what I wanted. I went there for a procedure and it didn't get completed, it was not what I was told it was going to be.
She told the hearing how she was in a 'bad place' and felt the gynaecologist's behaviour was inappropriate.
'He abused his position of trust, he had gone to a vulnerable person and said 'I'll do it for you' when I said I couldn't afford it,' she said.
'I made it very very clear I couldn't afford it. When someone is vulnerable you don't take advantage.
'I was in a bad place and I on't think a doctor saying you have such a big 'O' is appropriate. Looking back at it I do think it was for sexual motivation.
'I didn't tell my friend I went back because I was embarrassed as she told me not to go. I should have not had the procedure done, I should have reported him to the police.'
Catherine Cundy, the counsel for the General Medical Council, told the hearing how no chaperone was present when Mmono carried out the intimate examination.
'On arrival Patient A noted no one else was working besides Dr Mmono, there was no nurse or other chaperone present when he undertook the intimate examination of the patient,' she said.
'She told Dr Mmono she had split up from her partner who made comments about her genitalia which she said upset her.
'He told her he could improve things. The procedure did not take place as originally planned but Dr Mmono continued to contact Patient A via text signing his messages of with kisses and addressing Patient A as 'babes'.
'She was not expressing any direct wish to rebook the procedure but he continued to contact her asking her when she would next be in Manchester and saying he had been thinking of her.
'She indicated she still did want to have the procedure once she had paid off various debts but he responded saying she could have it done and pay later if she wanted.
'The new date for the procedure and the discussion turned to sex and he commented saying he is not getting any at the moment.
'He talked about 'mates with benefits', by which he means friends who are also casual sexual partners, are a good thing and he would 'remind her in two years when she is no longer a patient.'
'He speculated whether she will be worth the wait and then said 'less sex talk'.
Ms Cundy told the hearing how Mmono 'pressed her for details' about an embarrassing situation.
'Speculating she got caught in a compromising situation, he asks whether she had: 'Such a big 'O' she wet the bed'.
'Then she eventually tells him what happened. He signs off by suggesting: 'Have one last play. Night x.'
The hearing was told on the day of the procedure Patient A removed the lower half of her clothing only for Dr Mmono to say her breasts 'looked nice.'
Miss Cundy said: 'He put his hands down her top and cupped her breasts in turn. He asked whether she wanted to touch him.
'She said no she didn't and he stepped back knocking into a piece of equipment behind him.
'They continued to exchange text messages asking her how her 'foo' was, referring to her genitalia. After a few days Patient A responded saying that the stitches had started to come out and she was concerned this was too soon.'
The woman went back to the surgery for a review but Mmono said laser treatment might help her then raised the issue of payment despite Patient A saying she had debt problems.
In August last year she returned to the UK from a trip abroad to find a letter threatening legal action for non-payment of surgery. She then reported Mmono to the GMC.
A father has been sentenced to death in Pakistan after he confessed to killing his daughter because she wasn't able to bake perfect bread.
Khalid Mehmood admitted murdering his daughter Aneeqa before dumping her body outside the Mayo Hospital in Lahore.
According to prosecutors, he then told police that the girl was missing and feared she had been abducted, claiming she had failed to return home after going out to buy food.
Khalid Mehmood admitted murdering his daughter Aneeqa because she failed to perfect the recipe for gol roti bread, pictured (file pic)
However, according to the Express Tribune, officers later discovered that the girl was actually killed by her father after she failed to perfect the recipe for making gol roti.
The bread is a type of chapati that is usually round and flat and eaten everyday with curries and chutneys.
Police later arrested Mehmood and his son Abuzar when they confessed to killing Aneeqa by beating her to death.
They also admitted dumping her body as well as filing a false missing persons report.
A judge at a court in Lahore then awarded Mehmood the death penalty and also fined him 500,000 Pakistan rupees (4,000).
Mehmood admitted murdering his daughter Aneeqa before dumping her body outside the Mayo Hospital in Lahore, pictured
The case comes just a week after another man who murdered his daughter and her boyfriend in a so-called honour killing was allowed to go free after he pardoned himself and his accomplices.
Faqeer Muhammad was accused of shooting dead his daughter Kiran Bibi and her alleged lover Ghulam Abbas, to save family honour due to their relationship in Lahore in 2014.
Muhammad and the daughter's mother Azmat Bibi were the legal heirs to the girl, meaning they could pardon anyone accused of killing her.
Australia's richest woman has defended teaming up with a Chinese firm in a bid to buy one of the country's largest cattle stations.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart and Chinese partner Shanghai CRED Real Estate are currently locked in a bidding war with a group of four wealthy Australian graziers for total control of the sprawling S Kidman and Co cattle empire.
Responding to critics concerned at the prospect of foreign ownership of the land, Ms Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting company issued a statement on Tuesday.
'The Hancock JV bid is an Australian bid you don't get much more Australian than fourth generation Australian Gina Rinehart,' Hancock Group CEO Garry Korte said.
'So let's not start to pretend otherwise.
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Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart (pictured) has defended teaming up with Chinese partner Shanghai CRED's in a bid to buy one of the country's largest cattle empires
Four wealthy Australian graziers known collectively as BBHO (pictured is one, Tom Brinkworth) , have made a $386 million bid - $21 million more than Ms Rinehart's current offer
BBHO argue that their offer would mean Kidman would be wholly Australian owned but Ms Rinehart says she is Australian as it gets (pictured is Anna Creek which is part of the portfolio)
'Mrs Rinehart is from a long line of great Australian pastoralists, from her great grandfather down to herself.
'The real difference between the bids is that we will maintain and secure the future of the Kidman legacy, invest in the stations and avoid seeing it split up and destroyed.
'We will not close down or radically change the Adelaide head office or make the hard working experienced Kidman staff, who in many cases have been with Kidman for decades, redundant.'
Australian graziers Tom Brinkworth, Sterling Buntine, Malcolm Harris and Viv Oldfield, known collectively as BBHO, current offer is $386 million - outbidding Rinehart's offer by $21 million.
Ms Rinehart and her bidding partner have the right to match the quartet's offer.
BBHO say they would triple the size of the cattle herd marketed under the Kidman, which has a herd of 185,000 cattle. Pictured is Sterling Buntine, one of four graziers that make up BBHO
BBHO say their offer would mean Kidman would be wholly Australian owned and would not require the green light from the Foreign Investment Review Board.
They also say they would triple the size of the cattle herd marketed under the Kidman, which has a herd of 185,000 cattle.
'The four families comprising the consortium are deeply committed to honouring and preserving the Kidman heritage and brand which will continue under the stewardship of highly regarded and successful Australian graziers,' Mr Buntine said in a statement on Sunday.
A spokeswoman for Ms Rinehart argued the BBHO consortium was no guarantee of getting state government approvals and needed to get pastoral leases transferred because of dubious 'track records'.
That was a reference to Mr Brinkworth, who has previously been fined for illegal land clearing and charged with animal cruelty but found not guilty.
Mr Oldfield runs transport company Tanami Transport, which counts S Kidman and Co as a customer
Along with running cattle stations in the Northern Territory and South Australia, he is part owner of Shamus Award (pictured with jockey Craig Williams in 2014)
Crossbench Senator Nick Xenophon said the BBHO should be the successful bidder.
Senator Xenophon said the BBHO bid came from 'families with great depth of experience and commercial acumen in running cattle empires and they have a plan to grow Kidman'.
'Where there is a credible, 100 per cent Australian bid, then it would be unforgivable for the federal government not to approve a 100 per cent local bid,' he told AAP on Sunday.
S Kidman and Co, founded in 1899, is Australia's largest private landholder with properties covering 101,000 square kilometres across three states and the Northern Territory.
Family seen breaking down at the scene of the
Hamad Assaad, 29, was gunned down in front of his son in Sydney's south-west
A man gunned down in front of his 12-year-old son in Sydney's south-west was a known contract killer, it has been revealed.
Hamad Assaad, 29, was fatally hit by a hail of bullets in a drive-by shooting on his driveway in in Georges Hall at 9.20am, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Assaad was a suspect in the shooting of gangland figure Walid 'Wally' Ahmad, who was gunned down in April in the carpark of Bankstown Central this year.
Two gunmen ambushed Assaad before fleeing the scene, leaving him riddled with bullets in front of his son, who he was preparing to take to school.
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Assaad was shot in the driveway of his home in Sydney's south-west
It has been revealed he was preparing to take his young son to school when he came under fire on his driveway
Police are seen here speaking to onlookers at the scene
The victim was a suspect in the shooting of gangland figure Walid 'Wally' Ahmad (pictured)
There are reports Assaad had been shot in the head when he collapsed on the driveway at 9.20am, dying shortly afterwards.
Assaad was involved in numerous murders and shootings, and police believe he may be the shooter behind Ahmad's high-profile killing.
It has also been reported that the 29-year-old had boasted about the attack on Ahmad - known as the 'Mr Big' of Sydney's crime world.
His sister was seen breaking down at the scene before begging police to let her inside.
Ahmad's April murder at a Bankstown shopping centre was thought to be retribution for the killing earlier that month of another man, Safwan Charbaji.
In 2010 Assaad was charged with murder in another drive-by shooting, relating to a love triangle, but was found not-guilty of killing Mohamad Alahmad, 37.
The man's distraught mother was home at the time of the attack, however it is not yet clear if she witnessed her son's murder.
Ahmad's murder at a Bankstown shopping centre (pictured) was thought to be retribution for the killing earlier that month of another man, Safwan Charbaji.
Nearby residents and shops said they heard multiple gunshots
A black Audi sedan was seen leaving the scene
He was well known to police, and detectives from the State Crime Commisison, Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad and officers from the south-west Sydney region are investigating.
Officers described the attack as a 'targeted shooting', and are currently scouring CCTV footage from businesses and homes in the area.
Photos showed the man's body laying in the driveway covered by a white sheet, and a large amount of blood could be seen on the concrete beside him.
Police from the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad are reportedly at the scene
Officers are seen here speaking to bystanders
A distraught man was held back by friends and police after arriving at the scene
The man was comforted by a friend as police blocked his entrance to the crime scene
Earlier it was reported police were hunting for a black Audi seen in the area, however it was later confirmed they were hunting for a black 'sports type' sedan.
A hairdresser at Tamed Hair by Rose, around the corner from the house, heard the gun shots.
'It does happen but it hasn't happened quite so close to us,' Rose told AAP.
'It was pretty frightening.'
Disturbing footage showed paramedics performing CPR on Ahmad after he was fatally shot in April 2016
A man was treated by paramedics at the scene of Walid 'Wally' Ahmad's shooting in April for gunshot wounds to his leg before being taken to hospital
Being gay is a crime in Iran that can carry the death penalty
The visit came as those with Western ties increasingly face arrest in Iran
Intelligence minister tried to appease their claims Tuesday in parliament
Hard-liners had said Dabakis' visit posed a threat to the country's security
Jim Dabakis traveled from Salt Lake City to Iran for six days last month
A gay senator from Utah was under 'full surveillance' during his recent trip to Iran, Tehran's intelligence minister has claimed.
Mahmoud Alavi on Tuesday defended his agents' handling of Senator Jim Dabaki's six-day visit to Tehran and Isfahan last month.
Hard-liners had accused Dabakis of being part of 'a major Western project to infiltrate' the country. Dabakis' visit came as those with Western ties increasingly face arrest in Iran, where being gay is a crime that can carry the death penalty.
Alavi also questioned during an open session of Iran's parliament why hard-liners didn't have a problem with Dabakis's previous 15-day visit in 2010, during the administration of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iranian intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi (pictured) on Tuesday defended his agents' handling of Senator Jim Dabaki's six-day visit to Tehran and Isfahan last month
On Tuesday Alavi used Dabakis' trip as an example to support his claims that his agents counter all infiltration attempts, according to semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard.
Earlier this month Alavi said Dabakis had been kept in the 'intelligence web of the ministry'.
Dabakis said he traveled as a private citizen to Iran with his partner. Iranian officials have said his visa application didn't clearly say he held elected office in the United States.
Dabakis (pictured in Salt Lake City) said he and his partner traveled to Tehran and Isfahan last month after being invited by the Iranian travel industry
Shortly after his trip, Dabakis , a Salt Lake City-based art dealer, said such cross-cultural exchanges will help relations between Iran and the US, which have been tense since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran.
'You don't make peace with your friends,' Dabakis told The Associated Press at the time. 'Rather than rubbing up against each other in the Strait of Hormuz and having tension because of domestic political affairs in both countries... let there be this people-to-people beginning of understanding.'
Dabakis said he and his partner traveled to Tehran and Isfahan for six days after being invited by the Iranian travel industry.
He said he got a visa through the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, which handles Iranian affairs. He added that he listed his occupation on the application as both an art dealer and a state lawmaker in Utah's part-time legislature.
'Sometimes diplomacy is too important to be left up to the diplomats,' Dabakis said.
But things grew rather undiplomatic when the Democrat returned home and gave an interview about his trip to local Salt Lake City television station KUTV .
News agency Tasnim seized on the interview. It quoted a hard-line lawmaker who described Dabakis' visit as 'part of a major Western project to infiltrate into the country.'
The pro-reform newspaper Arman then quoted Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, as saying his committee was not told of Dabakis' visit.
Responding to Dabakis' description of being welcomed by average Iranians on his trip, Boroujerdi said: 'Iranians' main slogan is "Down with the USA," and it shows Iranians do not love Americans.'
Alavi also questioned during an open session of Iran's parliament Tuesday (pictured) why hard-liners didn't have a problem with Dabakis's previous 15-day visit in 2010
Dabakis said since he traveled as a private individual, he didn't feel like he needed to inform 'the Ministry of Anything,' though he said he 'felt bad' about the growing mess his visit caused.
When asked about his own chances of being detained on the trip, Dabakis said 'a person would have to be an idiot not to recognize there is some risk.'
He also said gay rights issues did not come up on his trip and were 'not on the agenda.'
But he stressed his own experience moving to the Soviet Union and brokering art deals and culture exchanges during the fall of Communism.
Asked how he'd respond to those who'd consider him naive for entering the realm of tense international diplomacy, Dabakis offered this: 'Remember, it was ping pong that broke that wall of tension with the Chinese.'
A police vehicle stands in front of a residential building as an anti-terror operation is taking place in Germany today
Police in Germany have stormed 13 buildings across the country after reports ISIS terrorists were planning an imminent attack.
Anti-terror raids were launched on houses in Thuringia, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony and Bavaria as officers believed the threat was credible.
Armed police accompanied by sniffer dogs conducted the raids after being sent to look for weapons and explosives.
The operation came as part of an investigation into a 28-year-old Russian citizen of Chechen background suspected of intending to join the fighting in Syria on behalf of ISIS.
The investigation later developed into a probe of 13 further individuals, 10 men and three women, suspected of financing extremist activity.
Police said all were people of Chechen ethnicity with Russian citizenship seeking asylum in Germany, and whose status has not yet been decided.
Police said there was no concrete danger of an imminent attack. The statement did not say whether anyone was arrested.
Germany is on high terror alert after a wave of attacks this year, heaping pressure on chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door immigration policy.
A bloody week of violence that rocked Germany began on July 18 when Pakistani teenager Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, 17, posing as an Afghan refugee, hacked at passengers on a train in Wurzburg with an axe, wounding five. He was shot dead by police.
Police in Germany have stormed 13 buildings across the country after reports ISIS terrorists were planning an imminent attack (file pic)
Four days later mentally unstable German-Iranian teenager Ali Sonboly shot nine people dead during a rampage through a shopping centre in Munich before taking his own life.
Two days later a Syrian refugee, 21, hacked a pregnant woman to death in Reutlingen and on the same night Mohammed Daleel, 27, injured 12 people when he detonated a rucksack packed with metal shards and screws.
The officers under investigation over the death of Eric Garner could face criminal charges after the Justice Department replaced the New York officials and lawyers investigating the case with a team from outside the city.
A group of five NYPD officers stopped Garner, a 300lb father of six, for selling loose cigarettes in Staten Island on July 17, 2014.
The incident was filmed by a member of the public and shows one officer, Daniel Pantaleo, 31, holding Garner, 43, by the neck in a chokehold as he says 'I can't breathe' 11 times before passing out and dying.
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The officers under investigation over the death of Eric Garner, including Daniel Pantaleo (pictured) could face criminal charges after the Justice Department replaced the New York officials and lawyers investigating the case with a team from outside the city
Involvement: Officer Pantaleo, in green, was on plain clothes duty when he and other officers arrested Eric Garner. The 300lb father of six resisted arrest and Pantaleo used a chokehold
The New York City Medical Examiner ruled that Mr Garner's death was a homicide but a jury in Staten Island decided not to indict Pantaleo.
The City of New York has settled the case with Garner's family for $5.9million, but Pantaleo's fate remains in the balance.
He has been made a national pariah and even some of his neighbors do not want him around.
An investigation into whether the officers involved in the fatal encounter violated Mr Garners civil rights has been stalled by federal prosecutors and the FBI opposing bringing charges but the Justice Department backing the case for them, The New York Times reported.
Remembered: Eric Garner with family members. They say they are furious that the cop who killed Garner has received a pay increase after the tragedy
Anonymous federal officials told the paper that the investigation has now been reorganized by the Justice Department, with FBI agents and officials from New York replaced by outsiders.
It was revealed recently that Pantaleo earned $120,000 last year.
Pressure is mounting on the owners of a Chinese shopping centre after a million people called for its polar bear tourist attraction to be shut down.
Pizza, dubbed the 'world's saddest polar bear', is confined to a small enclosure without natural light and air in the Grandview Shopping Mall, Guangzhou, south China.
Disturbing footage of the three-year-old bear made headlines around the world last month. She was seen slumped on her side with her mouth quivering, as animal experts warn she must be relocated.
Pizza, dubbed the 'world's saddest polar bear', is confined in a small enclosure without natural light and air in the Grandview Shopping Mall, Guangzhou, south China
Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the Chinese centre each year to see Pizza
Animal experts are concerned about Pizza's behaviour inside her small enclosure
Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the centre each year to see Pizza.
Now one million people have signed two petitions calling for the mall's animal enclosures, which contain 500 different species, to be closed.
Last month, Doncaster's Yorkshire Wildlife Park, offered to give the polar bear a home in its 10-acre enclosure.
However, it is understood that the Chinese authorities have refused the offer, stating that Pizza will not leave China.
The Grandview's general manager was reported as stating that there is 'no need for foreign organisations to get involved'.
Not to be deterred, China's own animal groups have taken up the campaign.
In an open letter to governor Zhu Xiaodan, 50 Chinese animal groups are urging him to take action.
The groups are asking that the animals, including arctic fox, walrus and beluga whales, be rehomed as soon as possible.
The Chinese groups are adding their voice to the international outrage at the polar bears fate, as new undercover video footage is released by Humane Society International (HSI) and its Chinese partner group VShine.
Professor Alastair Macmillan from HSI viewed the footage and said: 'This polar bear is showing classic stereotypical behaviour, including head swaying and repetitive pacing, induced by frustration and poor welfare.
Shopping centre managers have said they will improve her conditions but will not expand the enclosure
Disturbing footage of the three-year-old bear made headlines around the world last month
'This is the animal's attempts to cope with stressful, aversive situations such as barren enclosures, boredom and constant disturbance by visitors.
'The conditions in which he is being kept are completely unsuitable, vastly removed from anything approaching his natural habitat, and if something is not done then he will likely slip further and further into mental decline.'
HSI, along with Care2 and Born Free Foundation, has collected 500,000 signatures calling for the closure of the malls enclosures, in addition to the 500,000 signatures previously collected by Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation.
The shopping centre's management has denied claims about the polar bear enclosure.
Li Chengtang, the deputy general manager, said the reports give a false impression of the venue.
He denied that animals are kept in poor conditions, but admitted Animals Asia's attention has prompted them to give the facilities a boost.
Pizza can't be released into the wild because she was born in captivity, but they have come up with a 'polar bear enrichment plan' to improve life for the animal.
Live fish will be put in her pool for her to chase and food will be frozen into ice blocks to challenge her.
She will also be given sporadic access to an area out of view from customers.
Controversial Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has reignited his feud with the United States saying they treat his country like 'dogs'.
The volatile new leader was holding a press conference before boarding a flight from Manila to Japan for an official visit, when he launched into another anti-American tirade.
It came a day after the US envoy to Asia branded Duterte's deadly crime crackdown in the Philippines, which has left almost 4,000 suspected drug dealers dead, as bad for business and voiced human rights concerns.
Controversial Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has reignited his feud with the United States saying they treat his country like 'dogs'
But now the Filipino president has lashed out saying Washington could forget about a military agreement between both countries if he were to be in power longer.
He told reporters: 'They started it, then came out the issue of human rights, the State Department, Obama, EU. They did this to me.
'Then they said, we will cut our assistance. So I said to them, 'son of a whore, do not make us your dogs, as if I am a dog with a leash, and you throw some bread, where I can't reach.'
'The ambassador said something not very nice. You are not supposed to do that because in an election of another country, you should be careful with your mouth.
'I look forward to the time when I no longer see any military troops or soldier in my country except the Filipino soldiers.'
Duterte then flew to Japan, one of the top US allies in Asia, for a three-day visit that is partly aimed at building on two-way trade of more than $18 billion dollars last year.
Upon arrival in Tokyo, Duterte proceeded to a hotel for an event with members of the local Filipino community.
The US envoy to Asia branded Duterte's deadly crime crackdown in the Philippines, which has left almost 4,000 suspected drug dealers dead, as bad for business and voiced human rights concerns
Duterte, a self-proclaimed socialist with close links to communists, announced in Beijing the Philippines' 'separation' from the United States, throwing into doubt a 70-year alliance that is anchored on a mutual defence treaty
More than 100 of them waiting outside gave him an enthusiastic welcome, calling his name and waving small Philippine flags. A smiling Duterte approached them and shook hands.
He will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and have an audience with Emperor Akihito during the trip, which follows his headline-grabbing state visit to China last week.
Duterte, a self-proclaimed socialist with close links to communists, announced in Beijing the Philippines' 'separation' from the United States, throwing into doubt a 70-year alliance that is anchored on a mutual defence treaty.
He quickly walked back from his comments after returning from China, saying 'separation' did not mean he would 'sever' ties and that the US alliance would continue.
Duterte has previously branded US President Barack Obama a 'son of a whore' and told him to 'go to hell'.
Daniel Russel, the US envoy, said after meeting Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay on Monday that many people around the world were becoming increasingly worried about Duterte's tirades.
'The succession of controversial statements, comments and a real climate of uncertainty about the Philippines' intentions have created consternation in a number of countries,' Russel said.
BT is preparing to roll out a futuristic new phone box that offers free calls and WiFi.
The ultramodern Link kiosks will open on major high streets across London next year and will come complete with charging points, maps access and tourist information.
BT said the rollout marked 'the next evolution' of its public payphones and would bring digital innovation fit for the modern age to the streets of the UK's capital.
The ultramodern Link kiosks (pictured) will open on major high streets across London next year and will come complete with charging points, maps access and tourist information
The futuristic new BT phone box will offer free calls, access to maps and ultra-fast WiFi
Hundreds of BT's existing phone boxes - including the classic red boxes - will be replaced by the new Links, which will take up less space on the pavement.
However they will be installed in smaller numbers than the payphones they replace, with 'at least 750' appearing across central London and other cities over the next few years.
Users within range of a Link will be able to access free ultrafast Wi-Fi with speeds of up to 1Gbps, and the kiosks will offer free UK landline and mobile phone calls, mobile device charging via two USB charging ports and a touch-screen tablet for accessing maps, directions and local services.
The Links will also have sensors to capture real-time data relating to the local environment, such as air and noise pollution, outdoor temperature and traffic conditions, with potential for the information to be fed into smart services.
BT said the service would be funded by revenue from advertising on the Links' digital displays.
Rajesh Agrawal, London's deputy mayor for business, said: 'I welcome this exciting new addition to [our] streets.
Hundreds of BT's existing phone boxes - including the classic red and red-and-black boxes (both above) - will be replaced by the new Links, which will take up less space on the pavement
'Expanding London's digital infrastructure is a priority for the Mayor, and LinkUK can play a big part in improving connectivity for Londoners and visitors to our city, while reducing street clutter by upgrading and reducing the number of phone boxes.
'London is already widely regarded as one of the technological capitals of the world but the Mayor is determined to improve connectivity across the city to ensure we maintain that position.'
Gerry McQuade, BT chief executive for wholesale and ventures, said: 'We're evolving the phone box to make it relevant in the 21st century by offering people ultrafast Wi-Fi and a range of digital and information services entirely for free.
'London is one of the greatest cities in the world and it's entirely fitting that it becomes the first UK city to benefit from the Links.
Australian man Robert Ellis said he was acting under 'God's law not man's' when he lured at least 11 girls into his rented home in Bali, molested them and gave them money and gifts.
Now the 70-year-old could end up spending the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday.
In a case that highlights the scourge of child sex tourism in Southeast Asian countries, Ellis came to Bali in 2013 on a single entry visa for retired people or senior citizens.
Australian paedophile Robert Ellis, 70, will possibly spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced to 15 years jail in Bali on Tuesday for molesting girls as young as nine
'In Australia the defendant lived in a remote area so he loved staying in Bali ... using his money from his pension,' Chief Judge Wayan Sukanila told Denpasar District Court.
Between 2014 and 2015 Ellis abused at least 11 girls, aged nine to 15 at his rented room in Tabanan, near Kuta.
He would bathe them in exchange for gifts and money, sometimes paying for a motorbike for a girl's family or for dental braces.
For every shower he allegedly paid between 100,000 to 300,000 rupiah (A$10- A$30).
'He made sure the victim did not leave empty handed so they would feel happy and not realise they had been harassed,' Chief Judge Sukanila said.
Between 2014 and 2015 Ellis abused at least 11 girls, aged nine to 15 at his rented room in Tabanan, near Kuta
He would bathe them in exchange for gifts and money, sometimes paying for a motorbike for a girl's family or for dental braces
Ellis said treating children under 16 as minors was not 'God's law' and that he respected 'God's law but not man's'
'Even to some of the children the defendant is considered a good man.'
In sentencing Ellis and also fining him 2 billion rupiah (A$200,000), the judge said the Australian had robbed the children of their futures.
Ellis looked shocked as the decision was delivered, later telling reporters: 'I'm 70 now. Fifteen years would take me to 85. I don't know if I will live that long.'
His legal team say they will appeal his sentence.
In a disturbing letter previously penned to the court, Ellis said treating children under 16 as minors was not 'God's law' and that he respected 'God's law but not man's'.
He maintains he had done nothing wrong by bathing them, and that the children were his good friends who probably wanted to see him freed
Ellis looked shocked as the decision was delivered, later telling reporters: 'I'm 70 now. Fifteen years would take me to 85. I don't know if I will live that long.'
He maintains he had done nothing wrong by bathing them, and that the children were his good friends who probably wanted to see him freed.
The Australian Federal Police told a senate estimates hearing in Canberra this month that Australia was a supplier of travelling sex offenders to the region but that Indonesia had lately changed their approach and were turning more people away.
Acting deputy commissioner of operations, Justine Saunders said there were approximately 900 recorded attempts by registered sex offenders to travel last year - 41 per cent of whom went to Southeast Asia.
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French workers in hard hats and orange overalls, protected by riot police, have spent the day tearing down shacks and tents in the Jungle camp near Calais and tonight they were being consumed by flames.
Most of the 7,000 migrants who remained have now been taken out of the camp - known as La Lande to the French - and put on buses taking them to reception centres around the country.
There has been no sign of the violent resistance which some British and French politicians feared.
'The start of the clean-up operations sends a sign that La Lande camp is really over,' said Fabienne Buccio, head of security in the Nord-Pas de Calais region.
A migrant sets fire to his bicycle in the Jungle tonight. The remaining people in the camp are due to be put on buses tomorrow
A migrant walks past one of the shacks which has been sent over. Only a small number of migrants are still in the Jungle
Most of the camp has been demolished and there has been no sign of the violent resistance from the migrants
There has been a migrant camp near Calais since 1999 but now the slum, which became known as the Jungle, is being wiped off the face of the Earth
Mattresses, blankets, clothes, pots and suitcases which were left behind by the migrants have all been carted away.
Muzab Ismail, 16, from Sudan, begged the police for entry to his shack to retrieve his possessions but was refused.
He said: 'Now we know the Jungle is finished. I still want to go to UK but I dont know where I'm going.'
Thousands of migrants - mainly from Sudan, Ethiopia and Afghanistan - are being transported to all corners of France - and beyond - as a major operation to clear the Calais Jungle continued today.
Hundreds have already been put on buses at the northern port town and transported to new hostels set up around the country.
A man runs with a British flag walks through the Jungle, which has become a humanitarian blight on France's northern border, where thousands fled war or poverty, living in squalor, and hoping to sneak into Britain
The French interior ministry said 3,182 adults have been transferred to centres around France and 772 unaccompanied children have been moved to a container park near Calais, which will serve as a temporary shelter while their futures are decided.
The number who were bussed out today was 1,264, down from 1,918 on Monday.
They are situated in regions from Brittany in the north west to Nouvelle Aquitaine in the south west, and in total 7,500 beds are being made available.
Meanwhile, 1,300 minors in the camp will be given an additional 15 days before being sent off, while they learn if they can be sent to the UK as around 200 others have in the past week.
Riot police protect firefighters who move into the Jungle as flames rise in the background tonight
Some migrants are still sleeping at the Jungle tonight in tents but they have watched most of the camp be demolished
A migrant is silhouetted by the flames. Only a few hundred migrants remain, but they might prove the toughest to budge
A major operation is under way to move thousands of migrants to all corners of France - and beyond - as work to clear the Calais Jungle continued today
French riot police are on site protecting workers and firefighters
A hardcore of migrants remain at the Jungle
French riot police walk past the Afghan restaurant which was built in the Jungle to cater for the migrants
Earlier migrants warmed themselves in front of a fire in part of the camp which has not yet been demolished
A large group of workers, protecting by the police, have been removing shacks all day
A pile of migrants' belongings is pictured as French demolition teams dismantle the notorious Jungle camp by hand before authorities demolish the site
Small groups of refugees stood watching as the debris from one wooden shack was loaded on to a skip. A shack was set on fire during the demolition
Demolition work has finally begun at the Calais Jungle this afternoon with workmen using mini diggers to rip down the squalid camp
A French riot police stands by a shack set on fire during the demolition of the Calais Jungle. Hundreds of migrants have left
A shelter at the Jungle which housed up to 60 women migrants from Eritrea and Ethiopia now stands empty, awaiting demolition
Inside there are still a few possessions but in a matter of hours it will be gone and demolished
French riot police stand in front of the Jungle as it goes up in flames
Hundreds have already been put on buses at the northern port town and transported to new hostels set up around the country. Two Sudanese men study a map for their new destination before they board a bus
Hostels have been set up in regions from Brittany in the north west to Nouvelle Aquitaine in the south west, and in total 7,500 beds are being made available
Leading up to the evacuation of the camp, the migrants were told to choose two regions in France where they would prefer to head.
But there are fears that once the operation has been completed, up to 2,000 may either return to Calais or simply refuse to leave the Jungle area.
Workers are demolishing the camp now after a second batch of migrants boarded buses today as part of a massive operation to clear the squalid settlement.
More than 1,900 left the slum on Monday, ahead of work to tear down the makeshift shelters and eateries in the camp that has become a symbol of Europe's refugee crisis.
Some 400 youngsters are being provisionally housed in shipping containers in a part of the Jungle where families had been living, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday.
Leading up to the evacuation of the camp, the migrants were told to choose two regions in France where they would prefer to head. This map, complete with symbols, shows how little the migrants know about the geography of France
There are fears that once the operation has been completed, up to 2,000 may either return to Calais or simply refuse to leave the immediate area
Workers have begun demolishing the notorious camp as a second batch of migrants boarded buses under a massive operation to clear the squalid settlement
Under the eye of more than 1,200 police yesterday, the first of hundreds of buses were arriving to begin transferring migrants to reception centres around France where they can apply for asylum, and level the camp in a week-long operation.
There are said to some 760 spaces for migrants at 30 centres in Brittany in northern France while neighbouring Normandy is set up for 813.
In Pays-de-la-Loire, 36 centres are ready to accept up to 922 migrants.
Hauts de France, Grand-Est, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Auverne-Rhone-Alps and Occitaine are ready to accept more than 1,000.
Centre-Val-de-Loire, Provence-Alpes-Cote-D'Azur and Bourgogne-France-Compte will take in fewer than a thousand each.
More than 1,900 left the slum on Monday, ahead of work to tear down the makeshift shelters and eateries in the camp that has become a symbol of Europe's refugee crisis. More left today (pictured)
These coaches are taking migrants to reception centres across France. Some will take many hours to reach their destinations
An estimated 6,000-8,000 people, mainly Afghans, Sudanese and Eritreans, have been living in dire conditions in one of Europe's largest shantytowns in the hope of reaching Britain
In all the migrants will be sent to 451 reception centres across the country France - of which 287 have been opened specifically for the Calais operation.
According to The Local, 60 per cent of the hostels are in towns with populations larger than 30,000 while each migrant will cost about about 20 a day to house.
Hotels and even castles are said to be among the hundreds of centres officials have been converting to migrant housing ahead of the big move.
Unaccompanied minors, many with family members in Britain, were to be housed on-site in containers set up earlier this year as their files are studied in London to see if they qualify for a transfer across the English Channel.
Refugees are being separated into families, adults, unaccompanied minors and vulnerable individuals, including elderly people and single women.
The afternoon, demolition work started at the Jungle with mini diggers dismantling wooden shacks in the sprawling camp in Calais.
More than 30 demolition workers in orange boiler suits flanked by riot police began tearing down parts of the camp that had been home to up to 10,000 migrants trying to reach the UK.
Small groups of migrants stood watching as the debris from one wooden shack was loaded on to a skip.
Small groups of refugees stood watching as the debris from one wooden shack was loaded on to a skip. A shack was set on fire during the demolition
A team of more than 30 demolition workers in orange boiler suits flanked by riot police began tearing down parts of the camp that had been home to up to 10,000 migrants desperate to reach the UK
Demolition work has finally begun at the Calais Jungle this afternoon with workmen using mini diggers to rip down the squalid camp
Wooden supports and plastic sheeting that had formed the roof of one building was tossed on a skip and transported away.
Not one of the migrants protested as their former home collapsed into a pile of rubble. The acrid smell of burning plastic hung over the camp as small bonfires were lit by those preparing to leave to reception centres in other parts of France.
Police had been fearing violent resistance from as many as 2,000 migrants who have said they will not leave. But apart from a standoff involving about 30-40 Afghan migrants at an entrance to the camp there was no trouble.
The Deputy Mayor of Calais told MailOnline the demolition of the camp could take longer than the week predicted by French Government officials.
Philippe Mignonet watched from a roadside with other officials from Calais city council as mini diggers tore down several buildings.
He said was pleased to see the demolition had begun but said the timescale of flattening the camp by the end of the week would not necessarily happen.
'We will have to wait and see. It will take however long it takes but it will be completed,' he said.
'The city has been waiting a long time for this to happen. We are not involved in the demolition and have not been asked to take part.
'Everything depends on the cooperation of the migrants and at this time they are cooperating.'
Members of the demolition team said each wooden shack and tent would have to be checked for occupants before bulldozers can move in to carry out their work.
The Jungle covers an area about two square miles with thousands of huts and tents.
The female boss of a five-star hotel on the French Riviera has been kidnapped by a 'masked gang'.
Jacqueline Veyrac, 76, president of the Grand Hotel in Cannes, was seized from her car in the middle of the day on Monday near her home in Nice, said prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre.
Her attackers forced her from her black 4x4 into a white van, while several passers-by looked on, a source close to the case said.
A witness described the kidnapping as 'like a scene from a movie'.
Jacqueline Veyrac, 76, president of the Grand Hotel in Cannes, was seized from her car in the middle of the day on Monday near her home in Nice (file photo)
'A woman of that age, kidnapped in those conditions - we are all very concerned,' the prosecutor said.
Local media reports at least three kidnappers were in the vehicle. Two of them got out with their faces hidden and grabbed Ms Veyrac.
'They took her by force, hiding her face with a towel or a scarf,' the prosecutor said, Nice Matin reports.
Sophie Jonquet, lawyer of two of Jacqueline Veyrac's children, talks to journalists the day after Jacqueline Veyrac was kidnapped
Police officers search for evidences at the scene after Jacqueline Veyrac, the head of the Grand Hotel, a five-star hotel in Cannes, was kidnapped
A police investigation has been launched to try to apprehend the 'organised gang' members and secure the victim's safe return.
It is not the first time Veyrac has been the target of a kidnapping gang. In 2013 there was an attempt to abduct her outside her garage.
The Grand Hotel is one of Cannes' most famous landmarks.
It was first built in 1863, one year after the completion of the Promenade de la Croisette, and was the meeting point for royal families across Europe.
British Airways has launched an investigation into a mystery illness that hit dozens of people, forcing a London'bound flight from San Francisco to divert to Vancouver.
Initial reports suggested that crew, pilots and passengers on board the Airbus A380 suffered from smoke inhalation when they were rushed to hospital by emergency vehicles waiting on the runway.
Someone on the flight claimed the illness was caused by engine fumes leaking into the plane and setting off a safety alarm, forcing the crew declare a medical emergency and the plane to land.
But eight hours after the incident in the early hours of this morning, BA denied that was the problem - saying only that the cause of the mass illness was subject to an internal investigation.
Pictures from Canada show the plane being escorted by emergency services in Vancouver
The airline has said that no other aircraft are affected, and none of the rest of its fleet has been grounded in the wake of the unexplained incident.
The airline said the plane made the unscheduled stop because staff members had been taken unwell.
The airline and health officials have declined to reveal what symptoms the patients were suffering from.
BA said 22 cabin crew members and three pilots were taken to hospital for medical checks as a precaution, and have since been discharged.
A further two passengers were seen by medics, but did not suffer any injuries, BA has confirmed.
Steve Lowy, who was on the flight, said no explanation for the sudden diversion had been given.
A paramedic boards the plane after it landed in Vancouver, as passengers were told a technical fault was to blame for the flight being diverted
The 35-year-old, who was returning from a two day business trip in San Francisco, told MailOnline: 'They said there was a potential technical fault and crew members were feeling unwell.'
Mr Lowy, who was on the top deck of the plane, said it was initially set to land in Calgary, but the size of the aircraft meant it had to divert to Vancouver.
Despite the uncertainty, he said passengers remained calm, stating: 'We were all very British, we were wondering what had happened, and whether they had suffered food poisoning.
'We were very high up in the air and we weren't in control of the situation, it was just a bit weird. People wanted to know a bit more information, but I don't think all the crew knew what was going on. Steve Lowy
'We were very high up in the air and we weren't in control of the situation, it was just a bit weird.
'People wanted to know a bit more information, but I don't think all the crew knew what was going on.
'After they mentioned a fault, people did start coughing a bit, there was a lot of activity.'
He said he did not see any smoke on the plane, or smell burning.
Despite the confusion, Mr Lowy praised the crew for the professional manner they handled the situation.
He said: 'I think the crew did what they could, especially as their colleagues weren't feeling very well. It would be nice to know what actually happened though.'
The Airbus A380 took off around 7pm local time on Monday and landed in Vancouver several hours later.
Passengers on Flight BA 286 from San Francisco to London told how firefighters in full respirators came onto the plane after it was diverted to Vancouver Airport.
Liz Keller, from London, tweeted: 'Passengers on #ba286 pretty much totally in the dark about what happened on board or what comes next.
'Not reassuring to see firefighters with respirators walking aisles and only be told the crew was taken ill. And have been told we need to book our own return flights.'
The route taken by the flight after the medical emergency was reported
The jet can hold 469 passengers but BA did not say exactly how many were on board.
Passengers have been put up in hotels and will be rebooked on other flights.
A statement from British Airways said: 'We are sorry for the delay to our customers' flight but the safety and well being of our customers and crew is always our top priority.
'The flight from San Francisco diverted to Vancouver after members of the cabin crew became unwell.
'Our ground team at Vancouver has arranged hotel accommodation for the customers and will book them on alternative flights as soon as possible.'
A company spokesman told MailOnline: 'It was a medical diversion. I'ts still being investigated.
He said the cause of the emergency has not been determined. He continued: Every report of smoke or fumes is pure speculation.
BA has confirmed it will be carrying out the investigation itself.
A spokesman said: 'We've not said at any point that the entire crew has been taken ill, we said they have been checked as a precaution and discharged.'
The airport's official Twitter account confirmed that medical staff were on hand to assist patients
Ten patients were rushed to Richmond Hospital, while another 10 went to the Vancouver General Hospital, and another five went to the Delta Hospital, CBC reports.
Laura Kohli, a spokeswoman for Vancouver Coastal Health hospitals, said all those taken to Richmond Hospital and the Vancouver General Hospital had been treated and released. All of these were cabin crew members.
Gavin Wilson, public affairs director for Vancouver Coastal Health, told the BBC that everyone had been discharged from hospital, but added: 'I can't tell you at this point what they were assessed for.'
A letter handed to passengers said: 'I am very sorry for the disruption to your journey today.
'Due to unwell crew in need of medical attention we have had to divert to Vancouver.
'As a result of this diversion the current crews will not be able to operate again today.'
The Oxford English Dictionary publisher insisted today that it will not remove the term 'Essex girl' after a campaign that has attracted 3,000 signatures.
The petition was started by two mothers who claim the term 'pigeonholes' women into an 'appalling stereotype', and they have organised a meeting with the publisher.
Natasha Sawkins, 34, and Juliet Thomas, 32, reacted after the term became recognised in the dictionary to describe 'unintelligent and materialistic' women.
But Oxford University Press, which publishes the OED, said it cannot make changes as a result of a petition, 'as this would go against our descriptive editorial policy and undermine the evidence-based approach that our dictionaries are built on'.
Natasha Sawkins (left), 34, and Juliet Thomas (right), 32, launched a petition after 'Essex Girl' became recognised in the dictionary to describe 'unintelligent and materialistic' women
The two former Bloomberg executives claim the phrase is not reflective of Essex women and that those living in the county should 'reclaim' the term.
Speaking to London Evening Standard journalist Benedict Moore-Bridger, Mrs Thomas told of her delight that a debate around the term had been sparked.
She said: We are now in an open dialogue with Oxford Dictionaries and will be meeting with the head of marketing tomorrow to discuss the campaign.
The 'derogatory noun' has become more popular since the start of The Only Way Is Essex, whose former star Amy Childs
Mrs Sawkins added: We will be looking at how usage of the term has changed to mean something more positive.
We also want to highlight the fact that Essex girl is frequently used simply to mean a girl who lives in or comes from Essex.
The petition says: 'We want more Boadicea and less of this invented "Essex girl". Because that girl you're referring to.... she's just a girl.'
In the dictionary, the 'derogatory noun' describes the typical 'Essex Girl' as 'unintelligent, materialistic, sexually promiscuous and devoid of taste'.
But the mothers say the terms 'simply don't define the women we know'.
'It doesn't define the lady working double shifts at Tesco to make ends meet, the teenage girl up late studying for her A Levels, the hairdresser who dreams of opening her own salon, the volunteer at the woman's refuge trying to help those who need it most,' they said.
'It doesn't define the mothers, the sisters, the daughters of this county and we sure as hell won't let it define us.'
The mothers, who both live in Essex, hope their campaign will help redefine 'Essex Girl' by celebrating their achievements and true character.
Mrs Sawkins and Mrs Thomas, who created the Mother Hub blog which supports and inspires women, said: 'People can argue that it's a bit of "harmless fun".
Dictionary decisions: After the mothers' campaign started to grow, OED officials agreed to look again at entry if there is evidence suggesting a new definition is required
'This is about celebrating the awesomeness of what women in Essex are doing every day. We want the definitions removed. Or, at the very least, made obsolete.
'And we know that, in order to do this, Essex needs to reclaim "Essex girl". To let the world know that it doesn't signify anything other than a girl who lives in Essex.
The pair's online petition, launched under the hashtag #IAmAnEssexGirl, has now been shared thousands of times of social media.
A spokesman for Oxford University Press, which publishes the OED, told MailOnline today: Oxford Dictionaries set out to describe the language as its used rather than specify how words should be used.
THE OED'S DEFINITION Essex girl n. [after Essex man n.] Brit. derogatory a contemptuous term applied (usu. joc.) to a type of young woman, supposedly to be found in and around Essex, and variously characterized as unintelligent, promiscuous, and materialistic. Advertisement
Where words or phrases in the dictionary are offensive or derogatory, like in the case of Essex Girl, we clearly indicate this.
We dont exclude offensive or vulgar terms from our dictionaries as they are as much a part of the language as any other words. Their presence in the dictionary is simply a recognition of existence and of relative longevity.
Keeping our dictionaries up-to-date and identifying changes to prioritise for investigation is a huge task and we always appreciate it when people highlight words where they believe usage is changing.'
But she added: We cant make changes as a result of a petition as this would go against our descriptive editorial policy and undermine the evidence-based approach that our dictionaries are built on.
Australia has ruled out starting talks on a trade deal with the UK before we formally cut ties with the European Union.
Under EU rules member states are banned from signing their own individual agreements with non-European nations but Britain's International Trade Secretary Liam Fox had hoped to line up deals for the UK to sign as soon as Britain cuts ties with Brussels in the spring of 2019.
In a blow to his plans, Australia's trade minister Steven Ciobo said today he has been given advice that even starting talks over a future deal would be illegal.
Australia's trade minister Steven Ciobo announced plans to make it easier for Britons to secure 'working holiday visas' to Australia. He held a pop-up beach show with Made In Chelsea star Lucy Watson at London's Victoria railway station in a bid to promote the visa programme
However he added that Australia will negotiate a deal with Britain 'as efficiently and promptly as possible'.
And in a boost for British travellers, Mr Ciobo announced plans to make it easier for Britons to secure 'working holiday visas' to Australia.
He hosted a pop-up beach with Made in Chelsea star Lucy Watson today at London's Victoria railway station to promote Australia as a destination for British youngsters.
The new package of measures aimed at enticing more British youngsters to emigrate to Australia includes a reduction in the working holiday visa, a cut in the tax rate and proposals to extend the age limit so British citizens aged up to 35 years can travel on the visa.
Currently the visa program allows British citizens aged between 18-30 to work in Australia for up to two years.
There are currently around 40,000 Britons who take up the visa every year and a survey published today found that more than half (52 per cent) of British youngsters aged between 18-24 are considering a temporary move abroad - an increase since June's Brexit vote.
Australia's trade minister Steven Ciobo (pictured on ITV's Good Morning Britain show this morning) said he has been given advice that even starting talks over a future deal would be illegal
Steven Ciobo hosted a pop-up beach with Made in Chelsea star Lucy Watson today at London's Victoria railway station to promote Australia as a destination for young Britons
Reports in the Times said Australian officials privately want the UK trade deal to include measures to allow privileged access to Britain's labour market for Australian workers.
And they also want the deal to allow Australian financial service firms to expand in the UK.
But revealing that he had been warned against starting trade negotiations with Britain until it had left the EU, Mr Ciobo said: 'That is the legal advice we have had.
'But when Britain formally leaves we hope to be in a position to secure an agreement as efficiently and promptly as possible.'
Under EU rules member states are banned from signing their own individual agreements with non-European nations but Britain's International Trade Secretary Liam Fox (pictured today with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arriving for the Cabinet meeting in No 10) had hoped to line up deals for the UK to sign as soon as Britain cuts ties with Brussels in the spring of 2019
Promoting Australia's working visa scheme today, Mr Ciobo said: 'An Australian working holiday is more than just a job, and more than a holiday. Our country offers so much.
'It is a beautiful and unique destination where you can work, live and have adventures every day. A year, or maybe two, travelling and working in Australia will change your life.
'I'm delighted to be in the UK, Australia's biggest market for working holiday maker travel, to encourage more young Brits to travel down under. With recent changes announced to the program, a working holiday in Australia is now easier and affordable.
China is about to head into its worst season for
Three environmental officials in China have been detained after they were caught putting cotton wool in air quality sampling equipment to tamper with the results, according to Chinese media.
Media reports on October 21 claimed that the officials in the northern city of Xi'an had doctored the data by using both cotton wool and altering the readings on computers.
In 2015, a study by Berkeley Earth found that polluted air in China was linked to 1.6 million deaths a year.
Darkness: During the winter months smog completely engulfs Chinese cities
Xi'an, located in northwest China often has bad smog in the winter months
According to People's Daily Online , the three officials in China's Shaanxi province are being questioned by police.
The report claimed that they had put cotton wool in equipment to make the sample appear to be less polluted.
There is a lot of pressure for these officials to meet strict air quality targets.
Huashang Daily, the official newspaper of Shaanxi, reported that the head official at the centre in Xi'an may have been under extreme pressure to meet the target, driving him to doctor the results.
The result of the air quality rating is sent to the national environmental monitoring centre where analysts examine the results from across the country.
According to reports, surveillance footage at the monitoring centre had also been tampered with.
The officials had reportedly tampered with the air quality rating in Xi'an (File photo)
During the winter the smog in Xi'an can leave some people stuck at home
In 2014, the government announced its war on pollution.
During the opening of the annual meeting of Parliament, Premier Li Keqiang said the government would be tackling the issue which has been worrying the public.
Li Keqiang said that the government would focus first on reducing hazardous particles PM 2.5 and PM 10 which are found in smoggy air and are harmful to your lungs.
James Stunt claims he is victim of huge theft from his firm Stunt and Co
This is the dramatic moment a petrol bomb was lobbed at the 20million mansion of model and socialite Petra Stunt, daughter of billionaire Bernie Ecclestone.
CCTV cameras catch the bottle smashing on the driveway and exploding into flames just a few metres from the 27-year-olds 60,000 Range Rover.
Police said those responsible showed a complete disregard for anyone's safety as anyone on the other side of the gates could have been seriously injured.
They are hunting two hooded youths seen running past the tall gates of the imperious property in the wealthy enclave of Chelsea, west London.
It has been a traumatic year for Petra and her husband James because five months after the fire bomb attack his brother Lee, 37, was found dead at home.
And in the days after the tragedy Mr Stunt's company office was searched by police investigating a multi-million pound fraud.
Crime: This is the moment a petrol bomb was lobbed at the house belonging to Petra Stunt, daughter of Bernie Ecclestone, in Chelsea earlier this year
Wanted: These two youths are the subject of a Scotland Yard appeal for information about who they are
Victims: Petra and her husband James Stunt were not at home, where they live with their three children
Friends of Petra, who is married to gold bullion trading art dealer Mr Stunt, suggested the petrol bomb attack may have been motivated by envy.
Speaking at the time, a spokesman said that the attack was thought to be the action of a disaffected member of the public who disapproves of the Stunts' lifestyle.
Luckily, Mrs Stunt and her three young children were not at home when the firebomb attack took place earlier this year.
She has spent millions renovating the 14-bedroom grade two listed mansion, which is set in its own grounds since purchasing it for cash in 2012.
It is understood that a member of staff called London Fire Brigade who attended and extinguished the fire.
Officers from Kensington and Chelsea CID are now asking for the public to help them name who is responsible.
They suspect the two arsonists are linked to a street gang but despite a six month investigation have been unable to identify them.
Mrs Stunt, the glamorous daughter of billionaire Formula One mogul Bernie Ecclestone, has endured a torrid year.
Footage: The two attackers throw the petrol bomb over the towering wall and of the mansion
Last month the body of her brother-in-law Lee, 37, was found at his parents home on the exclusive Wentworth Estate in Virginia Water.
Despite police and paramedics being called to the scene, attempts to revive Lee, 37, were unsuccessful.
Friends said Mr Stunt, chief operating officer for metals company Stunt & Co, had been suffering from depression.
One said: 'He had been struggling for some time. But his brother James recently bought him a new Porsche Turbo.'
But his brother James vehemently denied that Lee had been depressed or that he had bought him the luxury car.
My brother was not depressed, my brother did not commit suicide' he said.
You have to understand he did not suffer from depression, you couldnt meet a more positive, happy man. He suffered from a simple anxiety condition, many people do. I do, my great father in law does - everyone gets panic attacks some times. Thats it.'
Surrey Police said the death was unexplained and an inquest will take place to determine exactly what happened.
Deadly: It is then seen exploding into flames just a few metres from the 27-year-olds 60,000 Range Rover
A day later the company offices of her husband James, 34, were searched by police investigating a multi-million pound fraud.
The businessman, who married Petra in a lavish ceremony five years ago, claims he is the victim of a substantial theft from his gold bullion firm Stunt and Co.
Offices linked to him in Mayfair were searched by West Yorkshire Police and investigators from the National Crime Agency (NCA).
An office in Bradford belonging to Fowler Oldfield - a company linked to Stunt and Co - was raided by West Yorkshire Police and investigators from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and a total of 12 people arrested.
At the time neighbours described dozens of officers streaming inside its nondescript headquarters in an industrial area of Bradford, West Yorkshire.
At the same time, police also entered the luxury offices of Stunt and Co in Curzon Street, Mayfair.
Stunt was out of the country in Los Angeles at the time of the search.
Family: Petra is the daughter of F1 billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, pictured prior the United States Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday
Officers from West Yorkshire Police led the searches, supported by the National Crime Agency, often dubbed Britains answer to the FBI.
Fowler Oldfield, which claims to have an annual turnover of more than 100m, and the Stunt and Co are intricately linked.
Speaking at the time, a spokesman for Mr Stunt said he had been left reeling by the scale of the suspected theft from his business.
Mr Stunt is in his Los Angeles home and was shocked to learn of the raid on Fowler Oldfield and the accompanying arrests, he said.
He was also shocked by the simultaneous exercise of a search warrant at the companys London offices...The company was already conducting an internal investigation into the disappearance of very significant sums of money... which appear to have been misappropriated.
Although no assistance has been sought from Mr Stunt, he intends to cooperate fully with the authorities if requested. He is due to return to London in the next few days.
Mr Ecclestone, 85, recently sold Formula One for 3.3billion. A few weeks earlier his mother-in-law was kidnapped in Brazil for a 28million ransom.
The Metropolitan Police asked anyone who recognises the men who has information about the arson on Sunday April 24 to come forward.
DC Clare Reynolds said: We are keen to hear from anyone who may recognise those shown in the images released, or anyone who witnessed the incident.
These men showed a complete disregard for anyone's safety by blindly throwing flammable liquid over a gate - if anyone had been on the other side they could have been seriously injured.
A motorist has been filmed 'deliberately' running over a sunbathing dog - who he believed had urinated on his car.
Footage shows the driver running over the animal after coming out of a car park in Mumbai.
As the dog writhes around in agony, other pooches can be seen rushing over towards it.
A motorist has been captured on camera 'deliberately' running over a dog in Mumbai
The driver reportedly ran over the sunbathing dog because it had urinated on his car
Witness Nanda Mahadik took the dog, which suffered a broken back and limbs, to a veterinary clinic.
The dog has now been transferred to a specialist veterinary clinic.
The footage was posted on Facebook by Bala Mani and has been shared over 10,000 times.
Mr Mani claims the driver was customer service executive Saurabh Dukhande.
As the dog writhed around in agony, other pooches were seen rushing over to help it
He said he ran over the dog, named Bandya, in revenge for the dog urinating on his car.
Meet Ashar, from PETA India, said police had issued an arrest warrant for the motorist.
He said: 'We will be sending a letter to the employer of the accused about this gruesome act of animal cruelty'.
Expired milk powder from New Zealand was resold in China as part of a criminal racket.
Chinese authorities have arrested 19 people in Shanghai for allegedly selling about 300 tonnes of Fonterra milk that was past its use-by date.
New Zealand Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said the criminal syndicates had sold and on-sold exported Fonterra milk about six times.
'There are some people out there, a few scallywags, that want to take advantage of New Zealand's reputation,' he told TVNZ on Tuesday.
Powdered milk from New Zealand (pictured) was exported to China and resold illegally
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy (pictured) is concerned about the milk on-selling
'It's very hard for a New Zealand exporter to keep a handle on our products once it's been sold.'
Fonterra is unaware if anyone has become sick as a result of the milk scam but the company has confirmed none of its employees or contractors were arrested.
The Chinese suspects were allegedly managing a company, which repackaged 276 tonnes of expired popular Fonterra products into smaller packages for resale at discount prices, the Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration said.
Chinese detectives discovered that one of the suspects sold the expired products to another company, Fairfax New Zealand reported.
They then allegedly resold almost 200 tonnes to distributors in Shanghai and in the Jiangsu, Henan and Qinghai provinces.
Fonterra spokeswoman Maree Wilson said no one arrested was connected with the company.
'In this case there appears to have been criminal activity much further along the supply chain,' she said in a statement.
'While we believe this is an isolated criminal incident, we are reviewing the case internally.'
The timing of the arrests isn't clear however Chinese police began investigating the Fonterra milk scandal in March.
Chinese authorities are particularly sensitive about dairy products, following the death of six infants in 2008 from milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.
New Zealand makes up about 40 percent of China's dairy imports.
His colleagues were shocked when he
A shocking video showing a Chinese doctor coughing up blood after a 32-hour shift has sparked an outcry in China.
The cardiologist, identified as Zhang Wei, suddenly felt ill after working non-stop for more than a day at Shanghai No. 10 People's Hospital.
After the CCTV footage was released by state media, the Chinese public expressed an outpouring of anger at the working hours of doctors.
A shocking video shows a Chinese doctor coughing up blood after a 32-hour shift
Surveillance footage from the emergency room was released by China Central Television Station on its Youtube page on October 24.
However, reports revealed that the horrifying incident happened in mid April.
At the beginning of the clip, doctor Zhang Wei could seen walking into the emergency room with the help of his co-workers.
Zhang placed one hand on his stomach while talking to another doctor.
Apparently in pain, he was assisted by his colleagues along the short walk to the bed.
After he lied down on the bed, a couple of nurses prepared equipment for medical treatment.
All of sudden, sick doctor Zhang sat up and vomited a huge amount of blood on to the floor.
'This patient coughed three to five times in 10 minutes. He coughed up quite a lot of blood, almost 500ml per time,' said a doctor, surnamed Qin, who treated Zhang.
The Chinese public expressed an outpouring of anger at the working hours of doctors
Zhang reportedly lost more than four pints of blood. Even his trousers had also been stained by his own blood.
He was transferred to intensive care for blood and fluid transfusion.
Xu Yawei, the chief cardiologist of the hospital, was surprised to see the huge pool of blood on the floor.
The senior colleague of Zhang conducted a venipuncture for him.
'He grasped me and told me he was very scared, very scared,' said Xu.
He said Zhang was 'near death', but he 'had a strong desire to survive'.
After a six hour-long operation, Zhang's condition stablised.
The footage has caused an outrage among the Chinese public, who were shocked at the working conditions of their doctors.
One user on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, said: 'A 32-hour shift is inhumane. It does not do any good to both doctor and patient.'
Another Weibo user wrote: 'If you get a nice job, it's better to quit being a doctor. '
A third one tried to explain the cause of the incident: 'There are too many patients at big hospitals while doctors are never enough. '
While a fourth one said: 'Nowadays, doctors are exhausted, not earning much and not respected'.
Zhang's work stress, coupled with his study pressure, was believed to have made him sick
Zhang Wei had come to Shanghai a few years ago from a small city, according to his supervisor Xu Yawei.
He had aspired to be a doctor since childhood.
The man eventually became a cardiologist at the No.10 People's Hospital in Shanghai in 2015.
Since then, he regularly worked long hours. Before the incident, he had worked 32-hour-shifts consecutively.
The hard-working man was also preparing for a qualifying examination to be a doctoral student.
You could be forgive for seeing double with these twin cats, who each have one normal and one bright blue eye - because of a rare genetic condition.
Kittens Iriss and Abiss, who live with their owner in St Petersburg, both have heterochrmomia, which produces a difference in colouration in both eyes.
Pavel Kasianov, 31, adopted the cross-bred 10-month-old cats after seeing an advert online.
Pictures have emerged of twin cats who each have one normal and one bright blue eye - because of a rare genetic condition
Kittens Iriss and Abiss, who live with their owner in St Petersburg, both have heterochrmomia, which produces a difference in colouration in both eyes
Pavel Kasianov, 31, adopted the cross-bred 10-month-old cats after seeing an advert online
He said: 'I was blown away by their appearance and the fact that they were twins was the determining factor to adopt them both and not to separate them.'
As well as their hypnotising eyes, caused by a lack of melanin, the cats also have snow white fur adding to their unique look.
Since having the cats, Pavel has set up an Instagram page for the twins which boasts more than 70,000 followers.
He said: 'I decided to make a special gallery for the girls to share their special beauty. The philosophy of the @sis.twins page is that each picture is a perfect shot like an art gallery.
'Every picture has a story behind it, it is all about crispy white cleanliness, gem-like eyes and beauty!'
As well as their hypnotising eyes, caused by a lack of melanin, the cats also have snow white fur adding to their unique look
Since having the cats, Pavel has set up an Instagram page for the twins which boasts more than 70,000 followers
Despite their massive following online, both kittens are keeping all four paws firmly on the ground and live a relatively normal life
Despite their massive following online, both kittens are keeping all four paws firmly on the ground and live a relatively normal life.
Pavel said: 'They wake up as I wake up, have their breakfast and then investigate the house.
'They investigate birds behind the window, each other and stuff like phone chargers, chewing gum or any other small things left around the house.'
In some cases heterochrmomia can have a negative effect on an animals' health, leading to blindness and deafness. However these twins escaped this fate
Despite their unique appearance Pavel said the two cats lead a normal life at his home in Russia
The two cats have a massive following of 70,000 after Pavel set up an account showing pictures of his pets
Pictures show the twins playing around with each other at their home in Saint Petersburg, Russia
'My cats are not spoilt. They are rather easy going but first you need to curry their favour,' he added.
In some cases heterochrmomia can have a negative effect on an animal's health, leading to blindness and deafness, however the twins escaped this fate.
Pavel said: 'I am lucky in this lottery as the cats hear and see perfectly well. They can hear an opening can from the other end of the house and see all the flies on the ceiling.'
Pavel said he was lucky because the cats hear and see 'perfectly well' despite their condition
One of the twins looks into the camera, showing her different coloured eyes
The cats, pictured examining flowers, look virtually identical with white fur and piercing eyes
The man who detailed his years working as a fixer for Bill and Hillary Clinton in the National Enquirer last week revealed himself on Monday night's episode of Hannity.
Jeff Rovin, a writer and former editor of Weekly World News, said that he was the man who detailed 12 'fixes' he did for the Clintons, most of which involved Bill's alleged relationships with women.
During the interview with Sean Hannity however, Rovin downplayed most parts of the story, saying that the Enquirer had been in possession of the records for years.
Rovin said that he had very little contact with the Clintons and only met Hillary twice, while never accepting any payments for his work.
He also said that he has since apologized to one of the woman he worked to take down - Monica Lewinsky.
Here he is: The Clinton fixer who gave an interview in the National Enquirer last week was revealed as Jeffrey Rovin (above) on Monday night's episode of Hannity
Dialing it back: Rovin downplayed parts of the Enquirer story during his appearance, saying he only met Hillary twice in his life (Clintons above in 1992)
Huge scoops: Rovin is the former editor of the Weekly World News (above), a tabloid that ran articles about Hillary dating aliens and adopting extra terrestrial beings
Hannity led off the program by reading a statement from Dylan Howard, the editor-in-chief of the Enquirer, about their story last week.
'In vetting this story during almost two years of investigation, we were confident in the credibility of Jeff Rovin after reviewing his hand-written diaries during the relevant time period, faxed memos to the White House bearing date and time stamps, pay-off ledgers, and the independent verification of four other sources who confirmed Mr. Rovin's involvement in the Clinton operation,' read the statement.
Hannity then told viewers that the Clintons 'shockingly' did not provide the program with a statement.
And then, before introducing Rovin, Hannity stated: 'It is important to note that Fox News cannot independently verify this story.'
Rovin then came out to speak about the story, and clear up some things that were written about himself and the Clintons.
'One of the reasons I wanted to come on your show is to put things in a little less hyperbolic way,' said Rovin.
Hannity then jumped in, saying to Rovin: 'You don't think paying off people and having an open marriage...'
At that point Rovin responded by saying: 'To me it's not my business and it's no one else's business.'
Hannity once again interrupted his guest, saying: 'So you're a libertarian in terms of people's sexuality, that doesn't matter to you?'
Rovin responded by saying: 'My personal feelings were irrelevant in this,' before going to to talk about how easy it is to feel 'seduced' when you are given access to the White House, like he was during his time with the Clintons.
He then spoke about Lewinsky, saying that a group of tabloid reporters were working to find stories that would portray the former White House intern as 'crazy' after rumors began to emerge that she had an affair with Bill.
Rovin then said that in 'one of those cosmic, karmic ironies' Lewinsky became his neighbor in New York City years later, at which point he was able to apologize to her for what he had done years before.
He did not say however who urged him to uncover dirt on Lewinsky, but did reveal who told him not to use any of the stories that painted the intern in a negative light.
'I have to say that as this proceeded, because the president said there was nothing there and ultimately, though this may sound strange, he's the one who put the kibosh on using any of this material,' revealed Rovin.
Is it too late now to say sorry: Rovin said that he had apologized to Monica Lewinsky (above last month) after he was part of an effort to dig up dirt on her after her affair with Bill
Bill's ladies: Rovin said that he shut down rumors that Bill was allegedly having affairs with Night Court actress Markie Post (left in 1992) and Mary Hart of ET (right in 1994)
He also said he only met Hillary twice, with one of those times being at the wedding of Roger Clinton.
'You have to remember that every time I saw Hillary I was bringing bad news. The messenger got shot,' said Rovin.
Hannity then jumped in to ask: 'Did she have the infamous temper we read about?'
Rovin immediately shot that notion down however, saying: 'I wouldn't say there was a temper, there was steeliness.'
He also would not confirm Hannity's questions about Bill and Hillary have an open marriage, but did say that Hillary's affair with Vince Foster, former deputy White House counsel, was 'pretty much an open secret in our circle.'
In his Enquirer story, Rovin claimed Hillary had him scrub Foster's office and remove Whitewater documents, just two hours after the White House employee's lifeless body was found in a park outside Washington DC.
'I was informed that these stories would involve rumors of Bill Clintons many sexual dalliances and an alleged ongoing affair of Hillary Clinton with a male member of her law firm, Vince Foster, as well as a female mover-and-shaker in Hollywood,' the fixer said of their first meeting about the possible new job.
'For a retainer of $4,000 a month - paid by a third party, not the campaign - I was told to keep these stories hush-hush in one of two ways: by trading access to the Clintons for positive interviews, or by paying the reporters.'
Allegations: Rovin also claimed that he had to shoot down rumors of an alleged affair between Bill's brother Roger (left with first wife Molly) and Oscar-winning actress Faye Dunaway
Out in the open: Rovin said that Hillary and Vince Foster's affair was an 'open secret' among members of his circle (Clinton and Foster above)
He then went on to detail his hardest fix, which involved the president's brother Roger.
'Presidential brother Roger Clinton was marrying his eight-months-pregnant bride Molly. There was a bachelor party,' said the fixer.
'Recordings were made. Recordings involving Bill Clinton.'
Those recordings were eventually obtained by the National Enquirer according to the fixer, and in exchange for not releasing them the tabloid was given exclusive access to Roger's wedding.
'Before the publication and its then-editor could publish a transcript, I swooped in and negotiated for the White House to give this paper exclusive access to the ceremony itself,' said the fixer.
'Not even The Washington Post or The New York Times had that.'
Maureen Dowd shot down that claim last week in a story, pointing out the article she wrote and the access she was given as a journalist for The New York Times.
Rovin also claimed that he shut down rumors that Roger was allegedly having an affair with Oscar-winning actress Faye Dunaway just prior to his wedding.
He did not go into much detail about Bill's alleged affairs in the story, but did claim he paid one photographer a shocking amount of money in exchange for pictures of Bill and Post.
The story first broke in the Enquirer last week
'I was ordered to buy photos from a photographer who lived in Malibu. He had been on the lot and snapped Bill and Markie alone in a car. I arranged a $10,000 payoff in cash. Used bills. Always used bills,' said Rovin.
'Incredibly - or perhaps not - the photographer's studio burned down the night before. But I don't know anything about that and I don't want to.'
There were less details given about the Rovin's allegations that Hillary ordered Foster's office to be scrubbed after his death.
'Fix No. 7 happened when Hillary ordered - and supervised - the looting of incriminating Whitewater documents from Vince Foster's office in the two hours following the discovery of the deputy White House counsel's body in a McLean, Va. park on July 20, 1993,' reads the Enquirer.
'Clinton oval office staff ordered Mr. Fix It to stall hungry tabloid media while Foster's office was sanitized.'
Rovin claimed that in the end though, he did not want these stories to have any impact on the upcoming election.
'I mention some of these here and now because we have only two serious candidates for the presidency,' saidRovin.
A CNN/ORC poll on Monday put Clinton at 49 points to her rival's 44
But two-thirds of party supporters believe that a divided party cannot win the presidential race
Fifty-seven per cent of Republicans say their party is divided and don't believe it will come together before election day
Ten per cent of voters have already cast their ballots, the poll showed
Hillary Clinton has a five-point lead in the latest NBC News/Survey Monkey poll, at 46 points to Donald Trump's 41
Hillary Clinton looks to be cementing her lead with exactly two weeks to go before election day, as Republicans lose confidence in Donald Trump's ability to win the race, a poll showed Tuesday.
Clinton is five points ahead of her rival in the latest NBC News/Survey Monkey poll published Tuesday, at 46 to the billionaire's 41 points. Libertarian Gary Johnson gets seven points and the Green Party's Jill Stein has three.
More than half of Republican respondents in the survey - 57 per cent - said that their party was divided and will not manage to unite by the time of the Nov. 8 election.
But despite Trump's apparent belief that he can go it on his own, two thirds of Republican supporters say that a divided party cannot win at the polls. They say the party needs to come together in order for their candidate to win.
Republicans have lost confidence in Trump's ability to steer them to a win, the NBC/SM poll showed Tuesday
Ciinton was in New Hampshire on Monday campaigning with Senator Elizabeth Warren. 'Get this Donald,' Warren said. 'Nasty women are tough. Nasty women are smart and nasty women vote!'
In comparison, 54 per cent of Democrats believe their representatives are united.
Trump has gone to war with his own side, criticizing high profile figures including Speaker Paul Ryan, the country's most senior Republican.
In return his party has shied away from him.
The Republican National Committee ignored their candidate altogether in mailers to New Hampshire voters set to be distributed later this week, according to material obtained by The Associated Press on Monday.
The divisions have worked to Clinton's advantage. An ABC News Tracking poll had the former secretary of state twelve points in front on Tuesday, at 50 per cent to 38, while a CNN/ORC survey the previous day showed her capturing 49 per cent of the vote against 44 for Trump.
Clinton has a 5.1 lead over Trump in the RealClearPolitics.com average of nationwide polls between the two candidates, at 48.3 per cent of the vote to the Republican's 43.2.
By way of comparison, at the same point in the last election cycle Barack Obama was just 0.9 points ahead of Mitt Romney, at 47.9 per cent to his 47.
Ten percent of voters have already cast their ballots, according to the NBC/SM poll which was conducted online Oct. 17-23. That leaves limited time for Trump to turn things around.
The Republican was in Florida on Monday in a last-ditch attempt to woo over voters in key battleground states.
A senior adviser conceded privately on Monday that Pennsylvania - a crucial state for Trump to win - is slipping away from his grasp, leaving the path unclear for winning the 270 electoral college votes required for the presidency.
Trump remained defiant when speaking to voters.
'I believe we're actually winning,' Trump said during a discussion beside a pumpkin patch in Florida, before blasting 'phony polls' and the 'disgusting' media.
Voters in Florida - which analysts believe to be the most important battleground state - began their first day of early voting on Monday.
Clinton leads by four points in the region, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.
The Democrat has been encouraging voters to cast their ballots early, in an attempt to cement her leading position.
She gave the stage to outspoken senator Elizabeth Warren in New Hampshire on Monday, who slammed Trump for his attitudes towards women.
'Get this Donald,' Warren said. 'Nasty women are tough. Nasty women are smart and nasty women vote!'
Harris County probation officer Karla McKeown, 37, has been charged with two counts of hindering apprehension
A Texas probation officer developed a romantic relationship with a man at the substance abuse treatment facility where she worked, and then helped him and another inmate escape, investigators said.
Harris County probation officer Karla McKeown, 37, has now been charged with two counts of hindering apprehension after she allegedly harbored the fugitives in her home after their great escape last May.
The suspect she was said to be romantically involved with 26-year-old Raymundo Alzamora who still remains at large following the ordeal.
While working a second job at the Peden Community Corrections Facility, a court-mandated substance abuse treatment facility, McKeown got to know Alzamora, investigators said.
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McKeown is accused of harboring fugitives Raymundo Alzamora (left) and Joshua Parsons (right) in her home after they escaped from a court-mandated substance abuse treatment facility where she worked. She was romantically involved with Alzamora, investigators said
He was one of the people sent to the facility by court who are ordered to undergo a 12-month resident drug treatment program, KPRC reported.
On May 4, four of the men undergoing treatment at the center managed to escape after one of them set off a fire alarm, according to court records.
After escaping, Alzamora allegedly called McKeown who met him and then drove him another escapee, 27-year-old Joshua Parsons, to her home in Spring.
On May 4, four of the men undergoing treatment at the center (pictured), including Alzamora and Parsons, escaped after one of them set off a fire alarm, according to court records
Four days later, warrant officers searching for Parsons swarmed McKeown's home after receiving a tip off, investigators said.
Parsons allegedly attempted to escape out the back door but was eventually captured and led out of the home by officers.
Neighbor Brandon Alsobrooks was home at the time and said he saw Parsons trying to escape before running back inside the home.
'The cops ran in the house and next thing I know they're bring(ing) this young man out,' Alsobrooks told KPRC.
After escaping, Alzamora allegedly called McKeown who met him and then drove him another escapee, 27-year-old Joshua Parsons, to her home in Spring (pictured)
Officers were not aware that Alzamora was also inside the home at the time, who they say was possibly hiding in a closet inside the home, officials said.
They only learned he was also there months later when Parsons started cooperating with police, investigators said.
Alzamora is charged with unauthorized absence from a correctional facility and aggravated assault.
Do you know who Poison Ivy is? Email nelson.groom@mailonline.com
One lover exclusively said he would consider suicide if she did the same
Her Twitter is flooded with photos from
Hanna, 17, later entices the vulnerable men to commit suicide claim some of her followers
A woman known as 'Poison Ivy' is grooming unstable men into sexually degrading themselves online before enticing them to commit suicide, it has been claimed.
Hanna, 17, from New Zealand, reportedly seeks vulnerable men in online gaming communities before 'bullying' them into sexually humiliating themselves in the public eye.
A chilling YouTube video has surfaced shedding light on Hanna's seemingly sinister activities and calling for victims to put an end to the abuse.
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Hanna, 17, finds vulnerable men in online gaming communities before blackmailing them into humiliating themselves sexually
Hanna later encourages her vulnerable victims to commit suicide, it has been claimed by some men
The clip claims: 'She encourages guys to do disgusting acts, via webcam on a live screen, like showing their genitals, spreading their butt cheeks on camera and sticking objects up their a**.'
He said the teenager chooses 'weak, socially awkward guys who have never had a girlfriend or a social life' before luring them into debasing themselves.
The YouTube video, uploaded by user MarsRPG, claims her goal is for her victims to 'kill themselves for her as an act of love.'
'This girl will not stop until these guys kill themselves. She grooms them for months. We need to report her,' he says.
Hanna's Twitter bio reads: 'I treat all men like s*** because they are weak and they deserve it. I bully the weak to make them weaker as I simultaneously grow stronger.'
Her account, which has over 900 followers, is flooded with images of men around the world declaring their love for her.
Her Twitter accounts is flooded with images and footage of men around the world declaring their love for her
A YouTube user has claimed Hanna seeks 'weak, socially awkward guys who have never had a girlfriend or a social life' before luring them into degrading themselves
Many of the men appear emotionally unstable, bursting into tears while begging for forgiveness
She also convinced one man to shave off his hair and eyebrows
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, one of her lovers said he has no problem sharing her with other men, despite the fact she punishes them for talking to other girls.
Her grip on the man, from Corpus Christi, Texas, is so strong that he said he would actually think about killing himself if she was to do the same.
'I would consider suicide if she would take herself with me,' he said.
He added: 'We basically share her. I'm OK with it. But a few others take it too far. She tells me what she wants me to do over Skype. I love to Skype see... So yeah I do some pretty weird stuff for her but it's worth it cause she gives me attention.
'I don't get much attention. I've always been a loner. I dig dirt for a living, making holes in the ground to make swimming pools. So I don't get out much.
Alleged examples of conversations between Hanna and a man online
'I see myself as inferior to her so the rules don't necessarily apply to her. I know it sounds crazy but if you're in the situation and get the kind of attention you've never experienced before you overlook the hypocrisy.
'I'd never question her motives for fear that she'd stop talking to me.'
Poison Ivy has even convinced him to pour vinegar down the hole of his penis.
Many of the men appear emotionally unstable, bursting into tears while begging for forgiveness.
She convinces one man to shave off his beard and eyebrows, saying it will 'look hot' but once he does it and insecurely asks if she likes it, she replies 'Do you want me to be honest? No.'
She adds: 'I just wanted to see what you look like with no eyebrows.'
She also encourages him to put his head down the toilet in another video.
Just some of the men who have posted images of themselves with 'Hanna' written on them
A man who said he was in a relationship with Hanna posted this image to social media with the caption: 'I'm so sorry Hanna. Please take me back'
Hanna, who appears to be of Asian heritage, has several tweets explicitly glamourising suicide.
'And the only way to do is properly is for a couple to suicide together, because that way they will have been together forever, as they surely promised each other.'
However, Hanna refutes claims she has encouraged men to commit suicide.
'I do not, under any circumstances, encourage others to commit suicide. My intention was only to troll men responsible for harassing me online,' Hanna told Daily Mail Australia.
'Others have encouraged me to commit suicide,' insists the woman known as Poison Ivy.
The online temptress further says her Twitter statement which appears to glamourise suicide, was intended as nothing more than an 'inside joke among her friends'.
Hanna has detailed her full response in a video posted to YouTube.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
For confidential help, call Lifeline at 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
AT&T is earning millions from taxpayers by secretly helping the government and its law enforcement organs crack cases by providing information on trillions of telephone calls.
The existence of the controversial program, which is known as Hemisphere, was first reported back in 2013 and now The Daily Beast has revealed that AT&T is making millions of dollars from the scheme although the exact amount has not been revealed.
It has been criticized by civil liberties advocates for serving as what they say is essentially an espionage program targeting US civilians.
Hemisphere enables government agencies to tap into phone records and pinpoint the locations of cellular phone users, which law enforcement officials say is key to helping in the fight against narcotics traffickers.
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Since 2007, AT&T has been helping the government by providing a database that stores information on trillions of phone calls. AT&T headquarters in Indianapolis is seen above
The program has been up and running since 2007 and gives police access to a database which stores phone calls that span decades.
The Hemisphere program has alarmed civil liberties groups to the point that they took the government to court demanding that more information about its collaboration with AT&T be made public.
Last year, one organization, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, sued both the Drug Enforcement Agency and the California State Attorney General in an effort to force them to release full documentation regarding their cooperation with the Hemisphere program.
'Through the Hemisphere program, AT&T assists federal and local law enforcement in accessing and analyzing its massive database of call detail records (CDRs) - information on phone numbers dialed and received, as well as the time, date, and length of call and in some instances location information,' the EEF said.
The program has been run in total secrecy, and its existence was only revealed to the public by the New York Times in 2013. The official logo of the program is seen above
'More specifically, Hemisphere has access to telecommunication 'switches' operated by AT&T that guide telephone calls. Because other providers use AT&T 'switches' for their calls, the database contains call detail records regardless of carrier. The database has records concerning local, long distance, cellular, and international calls.'
EEF initially filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get the government to release records about Hemisphere, but once it received documents that were heavily redacted, it went to court.
Law enforcement officials in California used Hemisphere to make an arrest in the November 2013 killing of the McStay family.
Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their two children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3, were bludgeoned to death and buried in makeshift graves in the desert.
It took local sheriffs a year before arresting the suspect, Charles Merritt.
Hemisphere was used by law enforcement in California to make an arrest in the brutal 2013 murders of Joseph McStay (right), 40, his wife, Summer (far left), 43, and their two children
The couple and their two children were bludgeoned to death and buried in a makeshift grave in the California desert. The suspect was arrested based on information obtained from his girlfriend's phone records
Authorities relied on his girlfriend's phone records, which indicated that he was near the grave site and used his cellular device while there, according to The Daily Beast.
The Hemisphere revelations have prompted observers to draw comparisons to the Edward Snowden case.
In 2013, Snowden, a system administrator by trade who at the time was a contractor working for the National Security Agency, copied and leaked masses of classified documents to journalists.
The documents revealed massive domestic surveillance programs begun in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
The programs collected the telephone metadata records of millions of Americans and examined emails from overseas.
Snowden, who was granted asylum in Russia, is wanted by the US government for allegedly violating the Espionage Act and for stealing government property.
Privacy advocates have argued that the secrecy with which the government operates in implementing surveillance programs against its own nationals violate constitutional protections and thus necessitates the work of whistleblowers like Snowden.
AT&T's cozy relationship with the US government may come in handy at a time when it is seeking regulators' approval for a mega-merger with Time Warner.
AT&T and Time Warner say that their $85.4 billion merger will lead to innovative new experiences, but the deal could also hurt consumers in subtle ways.
Britain deployed RAF fighter jets to intercept Russian bombers nearing UK airspace twice in four days - as Putin sailed a fleet of warships towards the English Channel.
The Russian military aircraft flew in an 'area of interest' off the coast of Scotland in the middle of the night on October 12 and again on October 16, the MoD revealed.
Typhoon jets from RAF Lossiemouth near Elgin, Scotland, were scrambled in response, supported by Voyagers from Brize Norton.
It came as the Royal Navy was placed on red alert after it emerged Russia was sailing a fleet of warships along the British coast en route to Syria.
Two days after the first bombers were detected, the Royal Navy revealed plans to escort Putin's heavily armed flotilla, led by aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.
Britain has deployed RAF Typhoon fighter jets (stock) to intercept Russian bombers approaching UK airspace - twice in one week
An MoD spokesperson said: 'Quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft from Lossiemouth intercepted Russian Military Aircraft and escorted them while they were in the UK area of interest.
'At no point did the Russian aircraft enter UK territorial airspace.
'Air-to-air refuelling support is often provided by a Voyager aircraft from RAF Brize Norton.'
The Russian Bear bombers were detected on October 12 at 11.35pm and the second interception came at 9.20pm on October 16.
The RAF scrambled Typhoon jets from RAF Lossiemouth near Elgin, Scotland (shown)
It came as the Royal Navy was placed on red alert after it emerged Russia was sailing a fleet of warships along the British coast en route to Syria
On October 14, Russia's plans to sail a fleet close to Dover were revealed.
The Royal Navy responded by deploying three British warships to man-mark the fleet - including an aircraft carrier and nuclear-powered battlecruiser.
The Russians boasted they were seizing control of the seas and had no equal in terms of naval power as the fleet made its way through the Mediterranean to Syria.
Type-45 destroyer HMS Duncan the worlds most advanced air-defence destroyer and HMS Richmond were both deployed.
As well as the Royal Navy, the Royal Norwegian Navy, Finnish Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy all had vessels surrounding the North Sea.
NATO aircraft was also patrolling the area, with tanker aircraft on station ready to refuel any fighter jets tasked with observing the Russian fleet.
Type-45 destroyer HMS Duncan the worlds most advanced air-defence destroyer was deployed to 'man mark' the fleet
The heavily armed eight-ship fleet, led by flagship Admiral Kuznetsov, passed through the English Channel last week.
Putin seemed intent to give a show of strength right on the doorstep of the UK amid rapidly escalating tensions between the west and Russia.
The MoD said nine Quick Reaction Alerts were launched this year - most of which were in response to civilian aircraft.
Earlier this month, Two Russian Blackjack bombers were intercepted flying back and forth to Northern Spain from the direction of Norway, it has emerged.
Four nations - Norway, the UK, France and Spain - all deployed their own jets as the TU-160 planes skirted the airspace of each country.
In September last year a senior Russian officer said flights by Russian bombers on the edge of British airspace should not be considered provocative, the Telegraph reported.
British military bosses held talks with Army officials in Moscow in December last year over 'incursions' of Russian aircraft around the UK.
A New Zealand man, who had been assaulting children for years, was exposed after a child wrote a note to her teacher saying he was mean and hit children.
The 34-year-old man from Southland, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in Invercargill District Court on Tuesday to six counts of assaulting a child, reported stuff.co.nz.
The man had allegedly been hitting three children in his care, who were all under the age of 12, for a number of years.
A New Zealand man, who had been assaulting children for years, was exposed after a child wrote a note to her teacher saying he was mean and hit children (stock image)
He was sentenced to 80 hours' community work and 12 months' supervision.
Judge Mark Callaghan told the court the man's offences were revealed after his daughter wrote a note to her teacher at school.
The man admitted to police he had hit the children's bottom's and legs.
The children told police the man had hit them on the head with a metal dessert spoon, on the legs with a telephone cord and on the back with a wooden spoon.
Lawyer Simon Claver said the 34-year-old was extremely remorseful and had fully cooperated with police and addressed his issues.
He said the man had no other criminal history and was unlikely to reappear before the court again.
The 34-year-old man from Southland, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in Invercargill District Court on Tuesday to six counts of assaulting a child (stock image)
Judge Callaghan said the man had tried other types of discipline and only hit the children as a last resort.
He said the man's behaviour could have been explained by his depression and inability to get help because of where he lived.
A refugee from Kenya shot dead his former co-worker and wounded three others inside a rail car manufacturing company in Virginia before killing himself.
The shooting took place around 6am on Tuesday at FreightCar America, located in an industrial area near downtown Roanoke, police said.
The gunman, identified as Getachew Fekede, 53, had stopped showing up to work at FreightCar America in March, Roanoke Police Chief Tim Jones said.
But he rode a bicycle to his former workplace early Tuesday and somehow entered the facility's paint shop, firing 10 rounds from a 9mm handgun.
At this time, investigators say the shooting appears to be work-related but the possibility of terrorism will be investigated.
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Roanoke Sheriff's Office SWAT team, along with several agencies, responded to a fatal shooting at FreightCar America in Roanoke, Virginia on Tuesday morning
A view of FreightCar America employees leaving the scene following the shooting. Gunman Getachew Fekede, 53, fatally shot a former co-worker and wounded three others inside the facility before killing himself
One of the victims died and two others suffered wounds to their 'lower extremities.'
A bullet grazed a third victim's chest before Jones said Fekede then killed himself.
He was found with appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
Fekede, who authorities believe acted alone, entered the U.S. in 2011 through a refugee immigration program, Jones said.
The victims have not been named at this time and the investigation is ongoing.
Following the shooting, police searched the facility, which was evacuated, to check for possible explosive devices.
Police sent out a tweet later on Tuesday saying they searched the facility, which includes several buildings over several acres, and determined there were no other threats.
Above workers and law enforcement officers stand outside the crime scene. Police sent out a tweet later on Tuesday saying they searched the facility, which includes several buildings over several acres, and determined there were no other threats
Law enforcement officers pictured responding to the scene. Officers received a call at 6.08am for reports of gunfire at the facility
Norfolk Southern employees wait down the road to be let into work, as the company placed a hold on entering the railyard, after the shooting
Officers received a call at 6.08am for reports of gunfire at the facility.
The company has an overnight shift and was open at the time of the shooting. At this time, it is not clear how many employees were on the third shift.
When officers arrived, they found two dead, including Fekede who then killed himself.
None of the responding officers fired their weapons, police said.
One witness hid inside a bathroom during the shooting and they are waiting to interview him, Jones said.
The victims were taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment for their gun-related injuries.
One of the victims is in serious condition while the other two were said to be in good and fair condition.
FreightCar America employees reporting for the company's 7am day shift found law enforcement at the scene.
The victims were taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment for their gun-related injuries
Police pictured at the scene of the shooting. Investigators say the shooting appears to be work-related but the possibility of terrorism will be investigated
A man who works for the railcar manufacturer said he missed the fatal workplace shooting by one minute.
Michael Ewing told WDBJ in Roanoke that warnings of an active shooter came over the facility's PA system, forcing him and others to begin to hide.
Ewing said he and his co-workers 'got organized' and 'did everything' they were supposed to do.
He added that he was about a minute away from entering the area where the killing took place.
The facility, along with the adjacent Norfolk Southern property, were evacuated on Tuesday.
Students at nearby Community High School were also notified not to come into school, which was closed for the day.
Several roads were blocked while police conducted their investigation and searched the area, and a large police presence remained at the scene.
The shooting took place around 6am at FreightCar America, located in an industrial area near downtown Roanoke, authorities said
FreightCar America, based in Chicago, has been manufacturing railcars since 1901.
The company is the largest North American manufacturer of aluminum bodied railroad freight cars used to haul coal, according to its website.
It had announced in August that it would cut staff and months before Tuesday's shooting in Roanoke, itsaid in news releases and SEC filings that it would eliminate 15 per cent of its salaried workforce.
It said it would also adjust staffing levels for hourly and salaried workers to coincide with production.
The company said it faced unexpected and rising costs for new types of rail cars that it makes, as well as fewer deliveries of them.
It is already significantly curtailed operations at an Illinois facility this year.
FreightCar America has manufacturing locations in Roanoke; Danville, Illinois; and Cherokee, Alabama.
The company opened the Roanoke facility in 2005 on land leased from Norfolk Southern before the shop closed in 2009 during the recession, The Roanoke Times reported.
ISIS executed nine of its own members by throwing them into trenches of hot oil and burning them to death after they tried to flee the battle raging around Mosul.
The city is the terror group's last major stronghold in Iraq and last week government forces backed by the U.S. launched an offensive to liberate the area.
So far around 90 villages and towns under ISIS control have been freed in the past week and in some parts, coalition forces are just three miles from the centre of Mosul.
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Iraqi forces defended their positions after taking control of the town of Bartella from ISIS as they advance on Mosul
A member of the Iraqi forces holds a position at the al-Shura area, south of Mosul. ISIS has executed nine of its own fighters who tried to flee the battle
Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government's peshmerga forces attack ISIS targets with artillery to capture Bashiqa district
Iraqi families who have been displaced by the ongoing military operation jump on to the back of a truck to flee the city
A mother carries her small baby on the outskirts of Mosul as fires rage at the oil trenches nearby
However, today it was revealed jihadis have now taken control of the Iraqi town of Rutba as it shifts its area of control.
It comes as some ISIS fighters begin to flee other parts of the city and surrounding areas after being defeated by the Iraqi government, leaving commanders of the terror group to turn on their own members.
According to Al Sumaria News, nine ISIS fighters who tried to flee Mosul were captured by their commanders and tied by their hands and legs.
Afterwards, they were thrown into trenches containing burning oil and killed.
Iraqi men fight for food near Qayyarah after flee Mosul as the battle for the city continues
Fighters who have been displaced by ISIS pile on to pick up trucks before heading to the front line of fighting
Despite the men heading to the front line, many seemed in good spirits and gave the V for victory sign
Today the Iraqi army paused its week-long advance on Mosul as it approached the city's eastern edge, while waiting for other U.S.-backed forces to close in
A woman tries to flee Mosul from the south as smoke rises from a burning oil refinery nearby
Burning the oil trenches around Mosul is one of the tactics adopted by the terror group in a bid to fight off government forces advancing on the city.
They believe the large fires and vasts amounts of smoke impede the vision of Iraqi and U.S. jets who are helping in the battle.
Jihadis have also lined many of the towns and villages on the way to the city with IEDs and booby traps while preparing for the onslaught.
In addition they have also launched surprise attacks elsewhere in Iraq in places such as Kirkuk in a bid to distract the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces from Mosul.
Women and children who have been driven from Mosul gather near the town of Hassan Sham
Children collect water and other aid supplies after waiting in line at Ibrahim Khalil village
Elsewhere, a man who recently escaped Hamam Ali, south of Mosul, told the Guardian a relative told him 200 men, mostly former police officers, had been killed by ISIS as the Iraqi army closed in
And security sources now say Rutba is under ISIS control near the borders with Syria and Jordan after they expanded their territory to cover half of the town.
The Iraqi army and Sunni tribal fighters remained in control of the other half, at the town's entrances from the express highway that links Baghdad and the western border, they said.
However, today the Iraqi army paused its week-long advance on Mosul as it approached the city's eastern edge, while waiting for other U.S.-backed forces to close in.
On the ninth day of the offensive on Mosul, government forces and allied Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are still fighting their way towards the city's outer limits, in the early stages of an assault which could become the biggest military operation in Iraq in over a decade.
An aid worker in a remote village on the outskirts of Mosul administers the oral polo vaccine to children
A young boy holds out his arm and is held by an older relative as an aid worker gives him a measles vaccine
U.N. aid agencies said the fighting has so far forced about 9,000 to flee their homes including many children
The first to get near to Mosul, advancing to within just over a mile of Iraq's second largest city, was the elite U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).
CTS troops have moved in from the east, dislodging Islamic State from a Christian region that has been empty of residents since the ultra-hardline Sunni militants took it over in 2014.
The combat ahead is likely to be more difficult and deadly because of the presence of civilians. Some 1.5 million residents remain in the city and worst-case forecasts see up to a million being uprooted, according to the United Nations.
U.N. aid agencies said the fighting has so far forced about 9,000 to flee their homes. U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said Islamic State fighters have reportedly killed scores of people around Mosul in the last week.
Islamic State fighters have reportedly killed scores of people around Mosul in the last week
Colville said that security forces discovered the bodies of 70 civilians in houses in Tuloul Naser village south of Mosul last Thursday. Islamic State also reportedly killed 50 former police officers outside Mosul on Sunday, he said.
The Mosul campaign, which aims to crush the Iraqi half of the ISIS self declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria, may become the biggest battle yet in the 13 years of turmoil unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A CTS commander said the advance will pause to allow the other military units to make a similar progress and consolidate the front before pushing further into the city.
Hillary Clinton will try to pull in a Donald Trump-sized crowd next weekend in what could be her campaign's largest event yet.
Rapper Jay Z will perform at a concert on her behalf in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, Nov. 4.
Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, who endorsed Clinton at the beginning of the month, is likely to make an appearance, as well.
Tickets to the concert will be distributed 'on a first-come, first-served basis,' the Clinton campaign says. Prospective attendees can obtain tickets at Hillary for Ohio offices.
But having a ticket isn't enough, the advisory warns. 'A ticket does not guarantee access to the concert if capacity is reached.'
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Rapper Jay Z (left) will headline a concert for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland, Ohio. A source told Buzzfeed that LeBron James (right) could also stop by
Hillary Clinton is getting big names in music and Hollywood involved in her campaign for the last few weeks, enlisting the likes of Jay Z, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Jon Bon Jovi
GOTV Performance in Cleveland with Jay Z Where: TBA When: Friday, November 4, 2016 Ticket Distribution: Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis near the Cuyahoga County Board of elections at 3030 Euclid Avenue from Friday, October 28 to Sunday, October 30, and beginning on Monday, October 31 at Hillary for Ohio campaign offices. How To Sign Up: Visit hrc.io/jayz Note From the Campaign: 'A ticket does not guarantee access to the concert if capacity is reached. Only one ticket per person will be issued and guests must be present at the ticket distribution site to claim a ticket.' Advertisement
And don't even think about sending one person to pick up tickets on behalf of a group, the release says.
The rules state that 'only one ticket per person will be issued and guests must be present at the ticket distribution site to claim a ticket.'
The rapper who likes to refer to himself as 'Hova' will hold 'Get Out The Vote' (GOTV) concert at a TBD time and place next Friday, Clinton's campaign said this morning in the release.
Buzzfeed first reported the news, citing three sources close to the Democratic nominee's campaign.
A Democratic source also told the website that James could stop by, too.
A press release announcing the Jay Z concert teased 'special guests' at the performance and did not provide any additional clues.
The Clinton campaign has announced a number of 'Love Trumps Hate' concerts that are supposed to motivate certain blocs of voters such as one with Jennifer Lopez this Saturday in Miami. The Jay Z show will be the first to specifically target the young, black voters.
If Clinton can motivate enough African-Americans, and especially young, black voters, to get to the polls in Ohio, a swing state that has been friendly to rival Donald Trump for most of this cycle, she'll easily win the White House over the billionaire.
Trump needs to 'run the table' in Ohio, Florida and also Pennsylvania if he expects to win on November 8, Clinton's campaign has pointed out.
Jay Z, and his powerhouse wife Beyonce, endorsed Clinton months ago.
The couple has performed for Democrats before, with Jay Z doing a concert with Bruce Springsteen in Columbus, Ohio, during President Barack Obama's re-election bid.
Beyonce infamously lip-synced the national anthem at Obama's inauguration the next year.
Both Jay Z and Beyonce have spoken out and sung about police violence against black Americans, a topic Democrats have embraced and Republicans have pushed back against using slogans like 'Blue Lives Matter' and 'All Lives Matter' instead of 'Black Lives Matter.'
Beyond the Jay Z and J Lo shows, band members of The National will perform a concert in their hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Jon Bon Jovi, who stumped for Clinton in his native New Jersey during the Democratic primary and performed at Bill Clinton's final Clinton Global Initiative in September in New York, is slated to play two shows. One is in Pittsburgh this Thursday and another is in Tampa the Saturday before Election Day.
Last weekend, the Clinton campaign deployed pop star Katy Perry to Nevada to encourage young people early vote. Pop star Miley Cyrus knocked on dorm room doors in Northern Virginia.
Washington State is 'grossly unprepared' for a megaquake, state officials have concluded, warning residents that they may be left stranded for up to a month if 'The Big One' hits.
The claims came in a report based on the four-day 'Cascadia Rising' disaster drill that began on June 6 and saw 23,000 officials, National Guard and other authorities in action.
The conclusion of that test - the largest ever performed in the Pacific Northwest - said that 'the state is at risk of a humanitarian disaster within 10 days,' according to The Seattle Times.
Troubles: The National Guard (pictured) assisted in June's 'Cascadia Rising' drill to prepare for a Washington state megaquake. The drill uncovered huge issues with official plans
Undermanned: A lack of helicopters (seen during Cascadia Rising in June) means the state will rely heavily on roads. But emergency and transportation groups struggled to clear debris
Stress: The Cascadia Fault can be seen here running along the coast near Seattle and Vancouver. It last caused a megaquake in 1700 and has been building stress since then
Struggles: Attempts to contact Gov Jay Inslee in the drill were foiled when satellite phones failed to work. Communication issues could lead to communities not being helped
Scientists have long believed that Washington will be hit hard if the Cascadia Fault, also known as the Cascadia Subduction Zone - which stretches, mostly off the shore, from Canada to California - were to suddenly break.
Cascadia, which last had a megaquake in 1700, so is about due for another one, also intersects with the San Andreas Fault and the Mendocino Fracture Zone at the Mendocino Triple Junction in California.
'The big one' - which would have a magnitude of at least 8 - would destroy roads, disable power lines and communications and result in a tsunami.
Washington officials believe it would cut off all routes to the Pacific Coast, as well as the state's biggest east and west corridors, as well as causing at least 14,000 fatalities and 30,000 injuries across Washington and Oregon.
Washington had previously warned its residents to stock three days of supplies in the event of a quake, believing that authorities would be able to regain control of the situation fast.
But the simulated megaquake - reaching a 9 on the 10-point Richter Scale - showed that if the area were to be hit today, it could take from two weeks to a month for rescue to arrive.
WHAT IS THE 'BIG ONE'? The 'Big One' is a hypothetical earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater that is expected to happen along the San Andreas Fault. The San Andreas Fault also intersects with a number of other faultlines, including the Cascadia Fault that runs, mostly submerged, from California up to Canada, passing through Washington state. Such a megaquake is expected to produce devastation to human civilization within about 50-100 miles of the quake zone, especially in urban areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Contingency plans have a worst case of upward of 14,000 people dead and 30,000 injured in Washington and Oregon alone. Thousands would also be left homeless and the region's economy setback for years, if not decades. Advertisement
Flaws were obvious almost immediately when Washington Emergency Management Director Robert Ezelle discovered that his satellite phone - essential in a situation where conventional communications have been destroyed - wasn't working.
He had to get another one before he could talk to Governor Jay Inslee.
Several other drill participants had trouble with their satellite phones, so ham radio operators and National Guard technology was used to link people together.
But the real issues were found on the ground, as restrictive budgets, a lack of manpower and official red tape slowed progress.
A lack of helicopters means that clearing roads is a top priority so that aid can get though.
But emergency officials were slow to identify which roads needed to be cleared first, causing friction between them and transportation officials, and creating a 'poisonous' environment.
The anger went both ways, with the emergency heads telling Washington State Department of Transportation officials that taking three days to clear a landslide from the I-90 was 'unacceptable.'
Response to the megaquake was also slowed by restrictive and poorly designed policies, such as requiring federal and state teams to wait for communities to request assistance.
That might work in a regular earthquake situation, but in a megaquake - where access to telephone and internet connections will be lost - that can mean disaster.
For Seattle's emergency managers, that meant their pleas for aid, including search-and-rescue teams, went unheard.
Stranded: If National Guard trucks like this (file photo) can't get to outlying communities, they may be stranded for up to a month. Previously just three days' food stocks were suggested
Although Washington's hospitals will be pushed to breaking point, the governor does not have the ability to call in relief help from out-of-state medical staff.
That means a heavy reliance on Red Cross support - something that isn't practical on the scale of a megaquake.
The state is now looking at ways to relieve, fix or circumvent the problems encountered in the drill.
Improving communications to ensure they're robust enough to withstand the megaquake is a major priority - though it's not yet known how that will be achieved.
The red tape that stopped boots on the ground being deployed successfully is also being looked at.
But the lack of money remains a problem.
'If (the megaquake) happens, the first question everybody is going to ask is: "How come you weren't ready?"' Chuck Wallace, the only full-time employee of Grays Harbor Countys emergency department, told The Seattle Times.
'Right now, we're working with pennies.'
Red tape: The governor is not allowed to call in medical staff from out of state, meaning too much reliance on the Red Cross by the millions of WA residents (pictured: Seattle)
Emergency departments are now training volunteers who will be asked to assist in rescue and co-ordination in the event of The Big One.
The state Emergency Management Division has asked for $750,000 for a public information campaign telling residents to beef up their emergency rations from the previous three days to at least two weeks.
In some areas, however, such as Clallam County on the Olympic Peninsula, residents are being told that they might have to go for a month before rescue teams can aid them.
Many of the problems that emerged during the Cascadia Rising drill had been noted in a 2012 report by the Washington State Seismic Safety Committee.
That report suggested hardening public buildings and infrastructure to better withstand a possible megaquake.
But its guidelines were not followed, the Cascadia Rising report said.
The Cascadia Fault last caused a 'subduction zone' megaquake in 1700, resulting in a large tsunami.
Stresses have been building on the fault for the past 300 years, and scientists believe another major quake is about due.
Concerns have built in the past few months about faultlines and the potential for major earthquakes on the West Coast.
At the end of September, 35 miniquakes hit an area four miles from the southern tip of the San Andreas Fault.
A week later the Salton Trough Fault, a previously undiscovered faultline, was found running parallel to San Andreas.
Last Wednesday it was revealed that the Hayward Fault, which runs underneath some of San Francisco's most densely populated areas, is connected to the Rodgers Creek Fault.
That could mean a 7.4 magnitude dual earthquake that would kill hundreds, scientists said.
This two-year-old whizz-kid put many adults to shame when he demonstrated his impressive knowledge of times tables as seen in this funny film.
The toddler was in the back of a car in Aliso Viejo, California, when the man driving announced a maths game would take place.
The toddler was in the back of a car in Aliso Viejo, California, when the man driving announced a maths game would take place
For three minutes little Ethan answered every equation and times table question, much to the amusement of the man and woman, believed to be his parents.
At the start of the footage he is asked how old he is, confidently replying that he is two years old. He then focuses his attention on each question before answering.
Initially he is asked basic addition sums such as what is 8+8 and 3+5 but then Ethan is tasked to prove he can do multiplication as well.
His mother, Jenny wrote online: 'At the age of two he loves numbers. In just two weeks he already learnt his times tables from 1 to 12.'
Despite being such a young age it seems Ethan is already a perfectionist.
After being asked what is 14 x 9 he gives the right answer of 126, but then for no apparent reason, he shouts 'oh no' as if he needs to correct himself much to the amusement of the man and woman.
A brave state trooper in New Jersey went beyond the line of duty by jumping into a swimming pool to save a buck from drowning.
Dwayne Phillips was called to a house in Harmony Township after a worker saw the deer struggling in a pool on Friday lunchtime.
When Trooper Phillips arrived, it was clear that the buck had been struggling for quite some time and was in danger of dying.
Without thinking twice, the kind-hearted officer jumped into the pool, risking injury as he pulled the buck to safety by its antlers.
Trooper Dwayne Phillips fearlessly jumped into a swimming pool to rescue a buck that was in danger of drowing
The deer lay by the side of the pool for some time, but eventually recovered and ran to freedom - after Trooper Phillips managed to snap a quick picture with the animal.
Sharing the story of the unusual rescue on Facebook, New Jersey State Police wrote: 'The most rewarding thing that we can do as troopers is to save a life, human or animal. And this past Friday, that's just what Trooper Dwayne Phillips did!
'Now believe it or not, we don't necessarily teach recruits in the academy how to rescue drowning deer, but we do teach them how to think on their feet and adapt and improvise when a peculiar situation presents itself.
'So what did he do? Well, he grabbed the buck by its rack and pulled him from the water to safety!
'Now, there is always the possibility of serious injury or worse when trying to rescue a drowning victim and even more so when the victim is a wild animal. But this trooper did an outstanding job!
The state police proudly shared news of Trooper Phillips' exploits on Facebook
'We are happy to report that the buck eventually recovered and ran off! He was so exhausted that he hunkered down on the ground for some time before he could regain enough energy to even stand.'
Facebook users have heaped praise on Trooper Phillips for his kind actions, commenting on the post on the social networking site.
Beth Somers wrote: 'Wonderful job and so very, very brave!! He, himself, could have been injured or killed.'
And Angela Jepson said: 'Well done.You did a fantastic thing for a poor wild animal.
Cold case detectives are reopening an investigation into the so-called Red Shoe Murder of four-year-old Norma Dale (pictured) in 1946
Cold case detectives are reopening an investigation into the so-called Red Shoe Murder of a four-year-old girl in 1946 after the victim's cousin penned a book about the killing.
The body of little Norma Dale was found dumped on wasteland near her home in York 70 yeas ago.
It became known as the Red Shoe Murder because the little girl was missing one of her shoes. More than 1,000 people were interviewed but no one was ever arrested.
But North Yorkshire Police have now announced a cold case review following the 70th Anniversary of the murder in York.
Norma's cousin Brian Dale, 78 - who was one of the last people to see her alive - welcomed the news and hoped the review could give his family closure.
He said: 'I really, really hope the case can be solved. It would have been better if her mum had still been alive, that way she would have had closure.'
Mr Dale said Detective Constable Sam Pearson from North Yorkshire Police had visited him and his wife Beth, who have spent years researching and writing a book about the events surrounding the case.
He added: 'They are gathering as much information as they can and want to see the papers we have.'
Mr Dale - whose father Pash was brothers with Norma's father - said he saw Norma the day she went missing.
'We used to see her and her mum every week on a Saturday,' he said. 'Norma went to a dance school and our house was nearby and they used to call in for a cup of tea and a play.
'It was a normal morning, but Norma was pleading to stay and did not want to go home. But her mum wanted to get some material and make a skirt for her going to school.'
He said Norma was not allowed to stay and that his mother, Mabel, 'beat herself up about it' for a long time.
'My mum blamed herself,' he said.
Norma was aged four when she left her house to play on Saturday, September 21, 1946.
The following day, her body was found on wasteland by 11-year-old Michael Duffy.
The body of little Norma Dale was found dumped on wasteland by 11-year-old Michael Duffy (pictured) near her home in York 70 yeas ago
Another one of Norma's cousins, Alan Powell, 80, said he was pleased police were looking again at the case.
He said: 'The person who did it probably can't be brought to justice now - but at least we can get some closure and find out what happened, put the case to bed.
'We have known all along it's not a dead case, it's live as far as NYP is concerned, and they hadn't forgotten about it, but I think 70 years on is possibly a good time to have another look at it and see if we can come to a conclusion.
'You never know, it's just possible someone remembers something they overheard or saw that might give police a new lead.'
Mr Powell believes Norma was killed because she saw something she shouldn't.
Norma's cousin Brian Dale and his wife Beth (pictured together) have been researching the murder and have spoken to police about the killing after writing a book about events
He said: 'I remember laying on the floor at home pretending to read a comic, but listening to my parents and one of mum's sisters or brothers talking about it.
'From what I can remember the person they suspected had an alibi for the crucial ten minutes, but who the person was, I wouldn't like to say.
'The general opinion at the time was that Norma had walked in and seen something she shouldn't have seen, and was murdered because of it.'
Mr Powell also hinted at the up-hill struggle for North Yorkshire Police to be able to do anything with Norma's original red shoe - because of how old and damaged the evidence is.
Speaking about the original investigation, he said: 'The big let down is - with modern technology and science I'm quite sure more could have been done.
The killing became known as the Red Shoe Murder because the little girl was missing one of her shoes. A report from the time is pictured above
More than 1,000 people were interviewed but no one was ever arrested. A report from the time is pictured above
'No doubt the original red shoe would have been held by police and there might have been DNA on that, you never know, but now it's probably lost to the river.
'It doesn't matter how good technology is, if it's not there to test, you can't test it.'
Mr Dale says North Yorkshire Police are contacting Metropolitan Police departments to try and re-examine surviving records.
Scotland Yard detectives were called in to boost the local investigation without success in the 1940s.
A police spokeswoman said: 'Officers from the Major Crime Unit have made contact with the family of Norma Dale and North Yorkshire Police has confirmed that the case is under review.
'We will be continuing our enquiries but would appeal to any member of the public who holds any information or evidence that has the potential to identify and ultimately convict the person responsible.'
If you have any information call 101, select option 2 and ask to speak to the Major Crime Unit.
A former State Department information technology official has refused to answer questions from a conservative legal group as part of a civil lawsuit over Hillary Clinton's emails.
John Bentel on Monday invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to 90 questions posed by lawyers from Judicial Watch.
A federal judge in August ordered the State Department's retired director of Information Resource Management to be deposed by the group, which has filed numerous lawsuits targeting the Democratic presidential nominee.
A former State Department information technology official refused to answer any questions about Hillary Clinton's (pictured) email setup this week
Bentel was granted limited immunity from criminal prosecution as part of the FBI's now-closed investigation into whether the former secretary of state mishandled sensitive government information that flowed through her private email server.
Bentel's lawyer previously told congressional investigators that he does not recall any discussions involving Clinton's email server.
John Bentel (pictured) invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 90 times
However, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan granted Judicial Watch's request to depose Bentel citing inconsistencies in that sworn testimony before the House Benghazi Committee.
There, Bentel said he was not aware that Secretary Clinton's email account was housed on a private server until media reports exposed it in 2005.
But several emails indicate Bentel knew about the private server as early as 2009, when Clinton took the reins of the State Department after President Obama's election.
Sullivan also cited a May 2015 inspector general's report that found that Bentel had told employees in his office that Clinton's email arrangement had been approved by the legal staff at the State Department.
He 'also instructed his subordinates not to discuss the Secretarys email again,' Judicial Watch noted, citing the report, in a release about the Bentel's testimony, or lack thereof.
Bentel made this direction to staff after one member raised concerns about information being sent and received not being properly preserved and thus failing to satisfy federal recordkeeping requirements.
'According to the other S/ES-IRM staff member who raised concerns about the server, the Director stated that the mission of S/ES-IRM is to support the Secretary and instructed the staff never to speak of the Secretarys personal email system again,' the inspector general's report said.
On Monday the former IT staffer refused to answer any questions including whether Clinton was paying his legal fees, offering him employment or offering any other financial incentives.
Another IT staffer, Brian Pagliano, also plead the Fifth Amendment throughout his Judicial Watch deposition.
A New Jersey woman has given a harrowing account of the night she fell victim to a 'gang rape' during a college fraternity party on campus.
In a federal lawsuit filed in US District Court on Friday, the woman, whose identity is concealed, describes a horrific ordeal in which partygoers played 'rock-paper-scissors' to determine who would be first in sexually assaulting her.
Others also 'laughed hysterically' while filming the rapes, the woman's lawsuit alleges, according to The Bergen Record.
The plaintiff, who was 19 years of age at the time and who is identified in court papers as 'Jane Doe', alleges that on the night of November 14, 2014, she was raped while attending a 'Date Night'-themed party thrown by members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at a Ramapo College dorm in Mahwah, New Jersey.
Justin Sommers (left), Nakkem Gardner (center), and Christian Lopez (right) were indicted earlier this year for their part in the alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old college student
Christopher Rainone (left) and Jordyn Massood (right) were also indicted for their parts in the alleged attack
During the party, fraternity members allegedly provided alcohol to underage teens who were mostly female.
The frat members 'actively solicited, recruited, and persuaded random students outside of the apartment building to come to this party'.
'They were calling down to recruit guests,' the lawsuit alleges.
The alleged victim says that after she became intoxicated and passed out, a number of those at the party took turns raping her.
The lawsuit alleges that as she laid out on a bed, fraternity members played 'rock-paper-scissors' to 'determine who would get to sexually assault her'.
The lawsuit also alleges that while the assaults took place, others stood outside the door and did not intervene.
'Incredibly, rather than helping, (the defendants) watched and celebrated the assaults,' the lawsuit states.
Jane Doe also alleges that after the assaults, she was moved 'without her shoes, underwear, and jacket' to another dorm across campus, where she was raped by others.
The lawsuit says that those present during the course of these events 'were falling-down laughing hysterically while also videotaping the sexual assault'.
In June, authorities in New Jersey indicted five people for taking part in the alleged attack, The Bergen Record reported.
Ramapo College and its administrators were named in Jane Doe's federal lawsuit for allegedly failing to prevent an environment hostile to female students. Ramapo's campus is seen above
The defendants were identified as Christian Lopez, 26, of Secaucus, New Jersey; Nakeem Gardner, 20, of Paterson, New Jersey; Christopher Rainone, 20, of Staten Island, New York; Justin Sommers, who is also 20 years old and from Staten Island; and Jordyn Massood, 20, of Wayne, New Jersey.
Lopez, Gardner, Rainone, and Sommers were charged with 17 counts that included aggravated sexual assault as well as videotaping the victim while she was naked.
Rainone, Sommers, and Massood were charged with encouraging or aiding the assault.
Jane Doe's lawsuit names Ramapo College, the Pi Kappa Alpha national fraternity, and members of the college's administration.
She alleges that these entities failed to adequately protect her by neglecting to adhere to federal statutes that require colleges to prevent 'hostile educational environment for female students.'
Ramapo and the fraternity knew of the events leading up to the assault 'but did nothing to intervene or stop them from unfolding,' the lawsuit alleges.
'This includes Public Safety and security employees and representatives, including outside Campus Security staff on patrol and present in security booths and checkpoints, as well as the individual responsible for entry and exit at Mackin Hall,' the lawsuit reads.
Jane Doe is seeking compensatory damages for emotional distress.
The fraternity in question has been suspended from campus.
Ramapo College declined to comment on the matter.
After the incident, the college hired a former New Jersey attorney general, Anne Milgram, to conduct a review.
In her report, Milgram concluded that while the college did act properly, it needed to implement changes in its campus security and alcohol policies.
A husband and wife are still missing after they went on a camping trip nearly a week ago and haven't been heard from since.
West Australian couple Jeremy Sim, 41, and his wife Marama Sim, 38, were seen by family members on Tuesday, October 18 at 4am, and later that day at about 3:00pm, at a tavern in Lake King, about 260 kilometres north-west of Esperance on the south coast.
They left their home to go camping and didn't return home on the weekend as planned.
West Australian couple Jeremy and Marama Sim pictured on CCTV at the Lake King Tavern Motel on Tuesday, October 18
The husband and wife left their home to go camping and didn't return home on the weekend as planned
A friend of the couple, Lindy Vandermeer, told the ABC that the pair went away to have a bit of parent time, but 'the kids usually hear from them within 24 hours.'
'We're just hoping they're bogged and waiting for someone to find them.
'I'm just concerned that there's been a lot of wet weather, or if their vehicle has broken down.'
The couple, who are experienced campers, have three children who are being cared for by friends.
Authorities are urging members of the public with information to come forward.
'Concerns are held for their welfare as they have not contacted any family members since they left Esperance last Tuesday,' a police statement said.
'This is out of character as when they go camping they keep in touch with family.'
It is unclear exactly where the couple were heading and an aerial search is being conducted between Esperance, Lake King, Norseman and Balladonia.
Police say the couple were driving a 2002 gold-coloured Nissan Patrol, registration number 02ESP towing a box trailer with a dull metal roof.
A friend of the couple, Lindy Vandermeer, said she hopes the couple, who are experienced campers, are just 'bogged and waiting for someone to find them'
The Duggar family is getting ready for the upcoming presidential election, and it seems that some members have not only decided who they will be voting for but are also sharing their thoughts on Twitter.
Derrick Dillard, the husband of Jill, has revealed twice this month that he will be supporting Donald Trump and Mike Pence come November.
He wrote on twitter Tuesday: 'Voting for Trump doesn't = condoning his lifestyle. It just means agreeing with more of his policies than Clinton's.'
Trump has now been accused of sexual assault by 11 women in the past two weeks.
Jill, Derrick's wife, revealed last year that she was a victim of sexual assault after being molested by her brother Josh as a child.
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He's with him: Derrick Dillard, the wife of Jill Duggar, revealed he would be supporting Donald Trump for president on Twitter Tuesday morning (Derrick and Jill above with son israel)
Thoughts: 'Voting for Trump doesn't = condoning his lifestyle. It just means agreeing with more of his policies than Clinton's,' wrote Derrick on Twitter
Derrick first revealed he he was voting for on October 14, in another Twitter post.
He wrote to his followers: 'Are you registered to vote?! If not, it's not too late. No excuses. Get 'er done so you can vote....and then don't forget to vote!'
When then asked by one person who he was supporting in the election, Derrick responded: 'Trump Pence.'
Many of his followers seemed to take issue with that choice, with most of them pointing out the sexual assault allegations that have been made against Trump.
Others also pointed out that it was in fact too late to register to vote in most states at the time Derrick sent out that tweet.
Derrick also criticized Tim Kaine during the vice presidential debate earlier this month when he stated that his faith and his job as a public servant must remain separate.
'Did @timkaine really suggest that you should live out your faith, but not in your public service?! That's not right! #chooselife #vpdebate,' wrote Derrick on Twitter.
One of his followers immediately responded by writing: 'You are so right. You better vote for the man who has had 3 marriages and cheats on all his wives. Very Godly of him!'
Jill's sister Jessa and her husband Ben Seewald seem a bit more uncertain about who they will be supporting in the election.
Over the past few weeks, Ben has retweeted negative comments about both Trump and Clinton.
First look: Derrick first revealed he was supporting Trump earlier this month
Not a fan: Derrick took issue with Tim Kaine's belief that personal beliefs should not play a trole in one's job as a public servant
In early October, Ben retweeted a statement made by a guest on Anderson Cooper'a CNN show Anderson Cooper 360.
'Trump's 2005 remarks about women is "completely contrary to everything that we believe in as Christians",' read the tweet, with that comment coming from Russell Moore, the president on the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
He retweeted another statement made by Moore during that interview as well when he said: 'Evangelicals dont trust Clinton with SCOTUS or executive orders and Trump with nuclear codes or our wives.'
Jessa, like her sister Jill, was also molested as a child by their brother Josh.
Josh and wife Anna with family friend and former Republican hopeful Rick Santorum
Josh poses for a photo with Ted Cruz, who ran against Trump in the primary
Ben also retweeted John Piper, the chancellor of the Bethlehem College and Seminary when he wrote: 'Of course, Trump should step down as Olasky and Grudem say. So should Hillary. That is what "unqualified" means. It's never been a question.'
The Duggars were intentionally supporting former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in the election, before he dropped out of the race.
Huckabee just recently announced that he was endorsing Trump in the election.
Family patriarch Jim Bob has not revealed yet who he will be supporting in the election.
He served one term in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002 before losing in his bid for a United States Senate seat.
Jim Bob later ran for the Republican nomination to the Arkansas State Senate District 35, but lost that election as well.
Paula Nickolds, who joined the partnership in 1994, will hold one of the most powerful and coveted jobs in British retail when she becomes the John Lewis MD in January
A one-time trainee graduate who started her career in John Lewis's haberdashery department 22 years ago is set to become the firm's first female managing director.
Paula Nickolds, who joined the partnership in 1994, will hold one of the most powerful and coveted jobs in British retail when she takes the helm of the department store chain in January.
The 43-year-old, who started her career in the chain's flagship Oxford Street store, joined the partnership's management board in 2013, having risen through the ranks in buying roles across fashion and home.
Her long career has also seen her work as head of brand development, as well as commercial director, a role which she took on in 2015.
The married businesswoman will now become the first woman to run the department store chain since it was founded in 1864.
The promotion - following the resignation of current boss Andy Street - also makes her the only female boss of a national high street department store group.
Ms Nickolds said she was excited to be taking on the role, adding she knows 'just how special the John Lewis Partnership is'.
Ms Nickolds, who lives in London with her husband, grew up in Hertfordshire, attending St Helen's in Northwood.
She studied history at Southampton before joining John Lewis as a graduate trainee at the Oxford Street branch.
The 43-year-old (pictured), who started her career in the chain's flagship Oxford Street store, joined the partnership's management board in 2013, having risen through the ranks in buying roles across fashion and home
Ms Nickolds, who lives in London with her husband, grew up in Hertfordshire, attending St Helen's in Northwood
By 1997, she had become a buyer across various departments including clothing, furniture and homewares, before taking up the role of head of buying for furniture.
She went on to be appointed head of product development in 2006, where she was responsible for developing and promoting new own-brand design and development.
Ms Nickolds (left) is pictured with colleague Mockie Harrison at the British Design Awards in 2009
Three years later, she became the company's buying director of home, where she launched new brands within John Lewis's own-ranges, and developed the firm's home shop format.
In 2013, Ms Nickolds joined the John Lewis management board as buying & brand director, where she was responsible for all elements of the business's product offer, marketing and brand identity.
Two years later, she was appointed commercial director, overseeing John Lewis's entire product offer and spearheading new shops and services.
She has been heavily involved in the opening of its latest wave of new stores, most recently in Leeds and in Chelmsford.
Announcing the appointment, Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, the department store's parent group, which also owns Waitrose, said: 'At a time of transformation in the retail sector, Paula's progressive and dynamic leadership is just what's needed for the next phase of modern retailing.'
Ms Nickolds added: 'As a partner with 22 years' service, I know just how special the John Lewis Partnership is.
'Driven by our unique business model, and with innovation in our DNA, I am immensely excited to lead John Lewis on the next stage of our journey.'
THE BUSINESS CHALLENGES FACING THE JOHN LEWIS BOSS Having worked her way up the ladder at John Lewis over the past 22 years, Paula Nickolds will be no stranger to the challenges retailers face today. John Lewis benefits from an immensely strong brand, robust finances and its employee ownership structure, but is not immune to the struggles all high street brands encounter. These include the shift to online shopping, the cost and difficulty of fulfilling online orders, the higher price of imported goods due to the fall in the pound, concerns over a Brexit effect on consumer confidence, and fierce competition among retailers. Ms Nickolds will run the John Lewis part of the John Lewis Partnership Group, which has continued to outperform the retail sector, with its most recent half-year figures showing sales up 4.5 per cent at 2 billion. However, in a sign of how tough the retail landscape is, those figures for the six months to the end of July 2016 also showed that operating profit fell by 31.2 per cent to 32.4 million. John Lewis said more than half of this decline was down to distribution costs, as it maintains legacy sites while also building its new state-of-the-art Magna Campus and increases in pay. The latter came as the retailer brought in the new National Living Wage, which became law in April 2016, and then had to also raise wages for other staff to maintain differentials. Highlighting the further challenges it faces, John Lewis added that the rest of the fall in profits came from the continued shift to online and highly competitive pricing in the retail market both of which would continue to weigh on profits in the second half of the year. Financial challenges are also on the agenda for the John Lewis group as a whole, which has seen its pension deficit balloon by 512 million this year, to 1,454 million, due to low interest rates and government bond yields making fulfilling promises to pensioners more expensive. However, John Lewis has already taken steps to remedy this, scaling back future pension benefits accrued by its staff, while also paying down debt on its balance sheet. The good news for Ms Nickolds is that John Lewis is better placed to fight its corner than almost any other British retailer. Its reputation for quality and customer service means that it retains a loyal customer base, while its strong online offering accounts for 34.5 per cent of all sales and it has successfully integrated shopping on the internet, on mobile and in-store. This year it will open two new stores, in Leeds, and in Chelmsford, Essex, and its most recent results showed that its Home department grew sales by 3.7 per cent and was on track to becoming a 1 billion business in its own right. - Simon Lambert Advertisement
Ms Nickolds conducting a televison interivew talking about John Lewis's first airport store, at Heathrow
Current MD Andy Street (pictured) will leave the partnership at the end of this week to join the West Midlands mayoral race on a Conservative Party ticket
The John Lewis flagship store in Oxford Street, where Ms Nickolds started her meteoric rise through the company's ranks
Mr Street will leave the partnership at the end of this week to join the West Midlands mayoral race on a Conservative Party ticket.
Mr Street joined in 1985, initially working in the firm's department stores, head office and manufacturing units.
He became director of personnel in 2002 and managing director in 2007.
Dino Rocos, operations director, will lead the group until Nickolds moves to her new role in the new year, meaning he will oversee the critical Christmas trading period.
Her body was found in a wooded area a month later with 29 stab wounds
Jaymie went missing in December 2011 after going to meet Cyr for sex
Justin pleaded guilty in 2014 to first-degree manslaughter, for aiding and abetting his wife's
The husband of a pregnant prostitute who was brutally murdered five years ago spoke in court on Monday about how he helped pimp her out.
Jaymie Adams, 25, went missing in December 2011 after going to meet with a client for sex. Her dead body was found in a wooded area of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma about a month later, with 29 stab wounds.
Joseph Richard Cyr, 34, the client Adams was scheduled to meet that night, is currently on trial for her murder.
In court on Monday, Jaymie's husband Justin, now 29, addressed the jury to speak about his wife's prostitution.
Justin Adams (right) told a jury on Monday about how he helped his wife Jaymie (left) prostitute herself
The couple married in February 2011, and it was in May 2011 that Jaymie posted her first ad on Craigslist as a prostitute.
Joseph Richard Cyr, 34 (pictured), is currently on trial for murdering Jaymie in 2011, after arranging to meet with her for sex
After that, her husband says he started composing ads for his wife and driving her to meet clients.
One post from 2011 read: 'I am letting any willing man come and have his way with my wife with a little compensation for us to help with our holiday funding we need. So if this sounds hot and fun to you then just email me. We have a hotel for the night and can host for anyone.'
Justin says that the prostitution was a way to make some much-needed money but that he now regrets his decision to support his wife in the endeavor.
He also revealed that the evening before Jaymie went missing, she said she was thinking about stopping prostitution because she was two months pregnant.
'We had no other choice. It was something we fell into to pay bills.
'Neither one of us really enjoyed what she was doing It was demeaning towards her. The money was great but it wasn't worth what it was doing to us.
He added: 'I feel like if I would have done everything different, if I wouldn't have agreed to it then she would still be here.'
Prosecutors say Cyr stabbed Jaymie to death shortly after midnight on December 20, 2011 - the day she disappeared.
Jaymie (right) was two months pregnant when she went missing on December 10, 2011. Her dead body was found a month later with 29 stab wounds. Her husband is pictured on the left after her disappearance
Her body was found a month later, dumped near Lake Stanley Draper with 29 stab wounds covering her body.
DNA found on her corpse led investigators to Cyr, who claimed that he arranged to meet Jaymie that night but never showed.
He is facing two counts of first-degree murder, one count for Jaymie and one count for her unborn child.
The trial against Cyr began on October 17. Last Wednesday, the jury of 13 women and one man were taken to the area where Jaymie's mutilated corpse was discovered on January 7, 2012.
They have also been shown gruesome pictures of the crime scene and Jaymie's stab-covered body.
Jaymie's husband was originally charged with first-degree murder in her death as well, for supporting her illegal prostitution business.
A British male nanny will be extradited to the US to face a child pornography charge after an undercover FBI officer found indecent photos of young boys online.
Nicky Paul Mitchell is wanted in connection with the allegation dating back to 2013, when he worked as a nanny to a family with three children in Georgia.
He launched a legal battle against his extradition, arguing his removal to the US could breach his human rights.
Nicky Paul Mitchell is wanted in connection with the allegation dating back to 2013, when he worked as a nanny to a family in Georgia. Pictured, the Royal Courts of Justice
Mitchell said that a guilty verdict could lead to his indefinite detention as a sex offender, in addition to him having to serve a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Lord Justice Gross and Mr Justice Nicol, sitting at the High Court in London, dismissed appeals against his extradition.
In 2013 an undercover FBI officer used a secure online network to contact a user named 'Mitch287' who had 897 files in a protected folder.
'Mitch287' provided a password that enabled the agent to download files containing images of young boys exposing themselves and engaging in sexual acts.
In March 2014 a federal grand jury sitting in Atlanta returned an indictment accusing Mitchell of inter-state distribution of child pornography. The present charge does not involve allegations of 'contact molestation' with any child, the court heard.
The US Department of Justice requested his extradition in October 2014, and he was arrested and taken before District Judge Shenagh Bayne at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
Mitchell claimed that if he was extradited and convicted he faced, in addition to a long prison sentence, the risk of a civil commitment order under which he would face indefinite detention as a sex offender.
A 6ft-long 'torpedo' stuffed full with 4.4 million worth of cocaine that was parcelled up in Playboy packages has been found on a beach in Ireland.
Officers were tipped off to a suspicious object on the shore near Liscannor in Co Clare, close to the Cliffs of Moher and other renowned surfing spots.
Customs chiefs said at least 75kg of the drug was discovered inside the 6ft metal tube yesterday.
A 6ft-long 'torpedo' stuffed full with 4.4 million worth of cocaine parcelled up in Playboy packages has been found on a beach in Ireland
Customs chiefs said at least 75kg of the drug was discovered inside the 6ft metal tube yesterday
Small bales of cocaine, each about a foot long and weighing about 1kg, were found wrapped in plastic stamped with the Playboy logo.
The Irish Republic's Revenue Customs Service described the tube as a 'torpedo-type device'.
A spokesman said it may have been attached below the waterline of a cargo ship or another ocean-going vessel.
But it is not yet known where the drugs came from, or their intended destination.
Small bales of cocaine, each about a foot long and weighing about 1kg, were found wrapped in plastic stamped with the Playboy logo
Officials said the alarm was raised thanks to the customs drugs watch programme.
This urges people living in coastal communities, maritime personnel and people living near airfields to report unusual or suspicious activities.
Investigations are continuing.
The Irish Republic's Revenue Customs Service described the tube as a 'torpedo-type device'
A crack shot marksman dubbed the 'Sniper of Mosul' has struck again after taking out an ISIS executioner just moments before he beheaded a teenager.
The gunman is said to be waging a one-man war by hunting down extremists while they are on patrol in the city's streets.
He has already shot several ISIS jihadis in four regions of Mosul as Iraqi government forces battle to take back control of the city.
A marksman has shot several ISIS jihadists in four regions of Mosul as uprisings against the group continue (file picture)
And now it has been revealed that the sniper has struck again as ISIS supporters gathered to watch the execution of a teenager accused of supporting resistance movements within Iraq.
According to the Daily Star, as the the executioner went to behead the boy, the sniper struck, killing the jihadi.
ISIS supporters then began to randomly opening fire after panicking but the sniper escaped.
It comes as a number of extremists have been injured by the shooter amid reports the attacks are improving morale among Mosul resistance groups.
According to Iraqi News , there may even be more than one sniper at work.
A number of extremists have been injured by the shooter amid reports the attacks are improving morale among Mosul resistance group. Pictured is a member of the Iraqi army
It quotes local media as writing: 'The emergence of the "Sniper of Mosul", as the residents call him, increased the pace of the popular resistance against the ISIS.
'The presence of the sniper in four neighbourhoods emphasizes that there are many snipers and not only one.'
Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters have launched a major bid to drive ISIS out of its last major stronghold in the country.
It was also reported that local youths are forming militia in a bid to fight extremists from the inside of the city.
However, today the Iraqi army paused its week-long advance on Mosul as it approached the city's eastern edge, while waiting for other U.S.-backed forces to close in.
Today the Iraqi army paused its week-long advance on Mosul as it approached the city's eastern edge, while waiting for other U.S.-backed forces to close in
Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters have launched a major bid to drive ISIS out of its last major stronghold in the country
On the ninth day of the offensive on Mosul, government forces and allied Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are still fighting their way towards the city's outer limits, in the early stages of an assault which could become the biggest military operation in Iraq in over a decade.
The first to get near to Mosul, advancing to within just over a mile of Iraq's second largest city, was the elite U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).
CTS troops have moved in from the east, dislodging Islamic State from a Christian region that has been empty of residents since the ultra-hardline Sunni militants took it over in 2014.
A newborn baby has died after it landed on its head when it slipped out of its mother's womb as she walked to a delivery room in an Indian hospital.
Puja Devi had been admitted to the government hospital in Muzzaffarpur in the northern city of Patna two days earlier after going into labour.
But her husband, Naresh Sah, says that when it came to deliver the baby, his wife was told she would have to walk to the birthing suite as there was no trolley to take her there.
A newborn baby has died after it landed on its head when it slipped out of its mother's womb as she walked to a delivery room in an Indian hospital
And it is reported that as she was escorted by two nurses, the baby suddenly slipped from her womb, suffered critical head injuries and died soon after.
Now the dead infant's outraged father says he is holding hospital staff responsible for his baby's death.
Mr Sah said: 'The hospital administration is totally responsible for the incident.
'My wife was told to walk up to the labour room, instead of being carried on stretcher, even though she was in labour.'
The husband added that staff made matters worse by then beating his wife while she was crying over the death of their child, whose sex was not reported.
The nurses are alleged to have hit Puja, asking her: 'Why did you go for the third child when you already had two?'
Muzaffarpur district magistrate Dharmendra Singh said: 'This is a very serious matter.
'We have ordered an investigation into the matter. Based on the probe report, action will be taken against the culprits.'
Dr Stephen Frost (pictured) is claiming substantial damages in a whistleblowing claim against the Ministry of Defence Read more
A senior doctor sacked by text while on holiday after blowing the whistle on a suspected drugs scam at a British Army base will seek justice tomorrow.
Dr Stephen Frost, who led the campaign for an inquest into the death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly, was dismissed by the Ministry of Defence after calling for a police investigation.
He claims there was a 'cover-up of criminality' over the ordering and dispensing of 2,400mg of the drug morphine sulphate for a patient, instead of 400mg.
The alleged incident happened before Dr Frost started working at the military camp's medical centre. But less than a month after telling bosses he believed a crime had taken place, he was sacked by text and email while on holiday in North Wales.
Now his claim for unfair dismissal - which the MoD sought to strike out - will be heard at an employment tribunal in Manchester.
Earlier this month, in a dramatic twist to the legal battle, which has lasted more than three years, the MoD suddenly withdrew its application to strike it out.
It was a major victory for Dr Frost, who has fought to bring a whistleblowing claim against the MoD. If he wins the case, he could receive substantial damages that could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The Mail has long campaigned for the protection of public sector whistleblowers, revealing how NHS doctors have been gagged by their hospitals.
Dr Frost has long questioned the official explanation for the death of Dr David Kelly, who was found dead in woods near his Oxfordshire home in 2003 shortly after being exposed as the source of a BBC claim that Tony Blairs Labour government had 'sexed up' a dossier that helped make the case for war in Iraq.
The Hutton report into the episode concluded that Dr Kelly, a UN inspector sent to Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction, had committed suicide. Dr Frost is among doctors who continue to doubt that conclusion.
Dr Frost, who had worked for the MoD for nearly 20 years, was employed on a six-month contract at Weeton Barracks, near Blackpool.
Dr Frost was employed on a six-month contract at Weeton Barracks (pictured), near Blackpool, Lancashire, when his ordeal bega
In August 2013, two weeks after he started the job, he was told a pharmacy technician had mistakenly ordered 40 60mg tablets of morphine sulphate instead of 10mg pills a month earlier.
He checked with the patient, who insisted that the lower strength drugs had been dispensed - leading the doctor to conclude that the stronger tablets were missing.
He believed it was unlikely the pharmacy technician had made a mistake, and suspected she may have been forced into criminal activity.
Dr Frost expressed his concern to members of the practice team and an internal investigation, and said the matter was so serious that police should be informed.
He was sacked in September 2013, without being given a reason, and told he was barred from working on another Army base.
Dr Frost led a campaign for a full inquest into the death of chemical weapons expert Dr David Kelly (pictured)
As long ago as January 2015 the MoD - which said it only employed Dr Frost through an agency - tried unsuccessfully to get his claim thrown out on a technicality.
The department argued that he could not officially be regarded as a 'worker' despite the fact that he had practised almost exclusively for the Armed Forces for almost two decades.
The MoD also argued he could not be treated as a whistleblower because he had not originally stipulated this was a basis of his case even though the word 'whistleblower' appears on his initial claim form. At that point a judge said a tribunal could take place.
Dr Frost has been diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder since being dismissed.
Dr Frost said: This has been a very difficult and sometimes lonely battle but it is not yet over. The consequences for me and my family have been catastrophic.
I have lost over three years of my life and I have been told that it may take some time for me to recover. I have learned of the importance to us all of whistleblowers and of laws being in place to adequately protect those whistleblowers.'
A leading French presidential candidate has promised to fix the country's tax system to help lure London-based firms worried about Brexit.
Alain Juppe, who is leading in the polls to win the Republican party's nomination for next year's presidential election in France, blasted the 'many mistakes' the socialist government had made on tax policy.
He pledged to cut corporation tax and scrap a wealth tax on the rich to ensure Paris wins the battle to attract firms who might decide to flee the UK after it leaves the EU.
Alain Juppe (pictured last week), promised to fix France's tax system to help lure London-based firms worried about Brexit
His comments come after the British Bankers' Association warned that some London-based banks could react to the uncertainty caused by Brexit to move operations overseas within weeks.
The head of the organisation, Anthony Browne, predicted larger financial institutions would follow suit in the first few months of next year over fears Theresa May is pursuing a 'hard' Brexit, which could restrict their passporting rights to trade across the EU.
British ministers have acknowledged it is unlikely that Britain will remain in the single market as doing so would not allow it to end the EU's freedom of movement rules.
Speaking today, Mr Juppe, a former French prime minister, said he backed Britain retaining a relationship within the EU's single market but said he would not support any move to offer the UK a concession on freedom of movement unless it remained as a full member of the trading bloc.
Alain Juppe (pictured last week) is leading in the polls to win the Republican party's nomination for next year's presidential election in France
The British Bankers' Association warned that some London-based banks could react to the uncertainty caused by Brexit to move operations overseas within weeks. The head of the organisation, Anthony Browne, predicted larger financial institutions would follow suit in the first few months of next year over fears Theresa May is pursuing a 'hard' Brexit, which could restrict their passporting rights to trade across the EU
'One cannot be in and out at the same time,' Mr Juppe said on a visit to the Paris-based financial markets operator Euronext.
He told European leaders not to drag their feet on Brexit, insisting they should move as quickly as possible to secure a resolution to Brexit.
Hitting out at the socialist government's tax policy, Mr Juppe said he was 'stupefied' by the French Parliament's plans to increase wealth taxes.
The latest polls today showed he is widening his lead over ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy in the race to become France's Republican party candidate in next year's national election, to be held in April and May.
The centre-right party's nominee will be chosen in a primary next month and an Ipsos Mori survey found 41 per cent of those who are certain to vote in the internal party poll plan to support Mr Juppe, with Mr Sarkozy trailing behind on 30 per cent.
An Illinois couple has tied the knot, one year after meeting over a life-saving liver transplant.
Heather Krueger was 25 when she was diagnosed with stage four liver disease. Doctors told her she had less than a 50 percent chance of living for more than two months.
But she survived, long enough for former Marine Chris Dempsey to hear a coworker say that his cousin needed a liver transplant.
Heather had been struggling to find a donor. Many people kept getting tested, but none of them met the three essential conditions: being in good health, having the same blood type, and having a liver of a similar size.
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Heather Krueger and Chris Dempsey (pictured), of Frankfort, Illinois, tied the knot earlier this month after meeting over a life-saving liver transplant
Chris, a former Marine, had never met Heather when he heard one of his coworkers say she needed a liver transplant. Heather had life-threatening, stage four liver disease
The pair discussed the transplant over lunch and both checked into the University Of Illinois Hospital for the procedure in March 2015 (pictured)
Chris got tested and in him, Heather found not only a life-saving match, but also her future husband.
'I spent four years in the Marine Corps and learned there never to run away from anything. So I just said to myself, 'Hey, if I can help, I'm going to help,' ' Chris, who now works as a code enforcement officer, told CBS.
He had never met Heather, who in the meantime was still wrestling with her shocking diagnosis.
'By that time I could really feel my body shutting down,' she said.
Heather told Chris during their wedding (pictured) that he is the most incredible man she has ever known, adding: 'Because of you, I laugh, smile and I dare to dream again'
The pair (pictured on their wedding day) got engaged in December after a romantic night that included a visit to the top of the Hancock Building and a carriage ride
Chris called Heather to tell her he was a match - and that he would set up a fundraiser to help pay for her medical bills.
'I could not believe it. My mom started crying,' Heather told the Chicago Tribune. 'I knew he was a good possibility, but until I got that phone call...
'And then he wants to do a fundraiser. It's just unreal.'
Heather and Chris had lunch together and discussed the transplant. Both checked into the University Of Illinois Hospital for the procedure in March 2015.
The transplant took more than eight hours but all went well. Chris gave Heather half of his liver and both recovered afterwards.
Heather struggled to find a donor before Chris (pictured with her) came forward. Doctors had told her she had less than a 50 percent chance of living for more than two months
The couple (pictured showing their surgery scars during a walk for organ donation) have now both recovered from the procedure, which lasted for more than eight hours
As they got healthy again, Heather and Chris' relationship deepened. They had feelings for each other before the procedure, but didn't dare speak out, thinking it would be strange.
'He had told me at the beginning of everything, "You owe me absolutely nothing for this. We can go our separate ways if that's what you want," ' Krueger told Today.
'It was kind of like, we do have this special bond, but is this just because I'm sick that I'm feeling this way? You had to kind of separate that, but after the surgery, I realized it went beyond that.'
Chris proposed to Heather in December after a romantic night that included a visit to the top of the Hancock Building and a carriage ride.
The two got married earlier this month, Heather surrounded by 10 bridesmaids in burgundy dresses.
'You are the most incredible man I have ever known,' Heather told Chris in her vows.
A 16-year-old boy died early Tuesday morning after police said he jumped in front of an oncoming A train at the 42nd Street subway station under the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York.
The boy, whose name wasn't released to the press, was hit by the southbound train at around 8am.
The teen had a 'history of depression' and cop sources said he had been hospitalized in September for suicidal thoughts, according to the New York Daily News.
The incident resulted in a number of disruptions across subway lines, including the A, B, C, D, E, F, and M trains, transit officials said.
Service was resumed at around 9.30am.
Forensic investigators wheel the body of a 16-year-old boy out of the 42nd Street subway station in New York early Tuesday morning
The boy leaped to his death in front of an oncoming train as it was pulling into the station underneath the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan
The identity of the boy (whose body is seen here as it is stored in a vehicle belonging to forensic investigators) has yet to be released by authorities
'He had books [and a backpack] with him,' Inspector Thomas Ponella, who was heading the investigation taking place at the station, told the New York Post.
'It's very sad,' he said. 'There were several witnesses, they were pretty shaken up.'
The boy jumped from a platform loaded with commuters headed to work during Tuesday's morning rush.
The boy's backpack is seen on the platform from where he jumped onto the track of the A subway line at the 42nd Street station
Personnel from the New York Police Department, the fire department, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are seen investigating the incident
Rush hour commuters are seen here as they were being evacuated from the station by a uniformed New York police officer
A New York police officer points the way to commuters at the station. The investigation forced disruptions across a number of subway lines
Police and forensic investigators combed the scene for evidence as they cordoned off the platform where the incident took place
Officers investigating the suicide said the teen was a 'high school-age kid' and that 'there are going to be a lot of questions on this one'
'You hear all the time about people jumping in front of trains, but Oh God! This was just a kid! A teenager!' said a woman who was at the scene.
A police source told the Post: 'This was a teenager, a high school-age kid There are going to be a lot of questions on this one.'
Investigators who rushed to the scene extricated the boy's body from the subway.
They then wheeled the body into a vehicle waiting outside of the bus terminal.
Officers were also seen cordoning off the stairwell leading to the train track as forensic experts collected evidence.
Crowds of commuters were evacuated by uniformed officers in the moments after the boy jumped to his death.
The boy's backpack was seen on the platform of the subway just feet away from the point at which he jumped onto the track.
Units from the New York Police Department, the New York Fire Department, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were on hand to supervise the investigation and the subsequent response.
Britain is the most business-friendly major economy on the planet, the World Bank has said casting fresh doubt on predictions of economic collapse after Brexit.
The UK came top of the G7 group of industrialised countries in an annual index on ease of doing business, one place ahead of the US and significantly higher than any nation in the Eurozone.
In the overall league table, Britain ranked seventh.
New Zealand which has signalled its enthusiasm for a trade deal after we leave the European Union topped the list.
It was followed by Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong and South Korea.
Britain is the most business-friendly major economy on the planet, the World Bank has said casting fresh doubt on predictions of economic collapse after Brexit. It throws doubt on suggestions over the weekend that Britain's banks, pictured in Canary Wharf, could relocate amid uncertainty in the wake of June's Brexit vote
Britain was better ranked than its G7 peers America, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Germany was in 17th place, while France was 29th.
Supporters of Brexit said the study scotched claims that Britain would cease to be attractive to investors after leaving the EU.
Eurosceptic Tory MP John Redwood said: Its great news that were open for business and more competitive than most.
When were free of the EU, we can do even better.
Roger Bootle, managing director of Capital Economics, said: Theres no doubt that the business climate in Britain is extremely favourable, and this is going to stand us in good stead when we do finally leave the EU.
Suggestions that umpteen businesses are going to up sticks and leave the UL are just complete nonsense.
Eurosceptic Tory MP John Redwood (pictured) said: Its great news that were open for business and more competitive than most'
They dont give credence to just how much better off businesses are in Britain.
Large corporations, the Government and international think tanks lined up to warn that Britain would collapse outside the bloc in the run-up to the Brexit vote.
Then-Chancellor George Osborne said it could wreck the economy and promised a so-called punishment Budget of tax rises and benefit cuts.
American bank bosses pledged to pull thousands of staff out of the City.
Xavier Rolet, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, warned of devastating consequences.
And Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the impact would range from pretty bad to very, very bad.
But the Treasury has since disavowed its gloomy pre-referendum forecasts, while bank leaders have rowed back from pledges of a mass staff cull.
Mr Rolet has said there is no immediate threat to his business and the IMF has decided Britain will still be the fastest-growing G7 economy in 2016.
The World Bank looked at access to credit, tax regimes, red tape and a host of other factors when compiling its league table.
It found that high-income countries continued to lead the way, and that the biggest reforms in the last 12 months had come in Eastern and Southern Europe.
A separate study yesterday found there was corporate optimism about the future outside the EU.
The survey by NGA Human Resources and Moorepay revealed six in ten respondents working for large companies expected Brexit to have a positive impact on their firm.
But the couple say Rosser's report was false and they heard her say she 'didn't like James' on the Real Housewives of New Jersey show
Airport police escorted them off after flight attendant Moriah Rosser reported that James was threatening and choking Amber
Amber Marchese and her husband James have filed a lawsuit against Virgin America after they were removed from a flight in April
Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Amber Marchese and her husband have filed a lawsuit against Virgin America, slamming the airline for kicking them off a flight in April after a 'domestic violence' incident.
The couple, who have four children, are accusing Virgin America and a flight attendant of false imprisonment and defamation following their flight from hell.
They say that their removal was based on a lie that James, 47, was threatening and choking Amber, 39, prior to take off - when in fact, they claim, James was asleep.
The documents were filed Tuesday and have been reviewed exclusively by DailyMail.com.
The couple are arguing that the real reason flight attendant Moriah Rosser, from Las Vegas, Nevada, reported them for 'domestic violence' to airport police was because she didn't like James, having watched him on the Real Housewives show.
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The couple were snapped leaving the police station after James Marchese was arrested for 'domestic violence'. But the pair say the allegation was made up by a Virgin Americas flight attendant
Amber and James Marchese, pictured together at the premiere of Marriage Boot Camp in September, have filed a complaint against Virgin America after they were removed from the flight back in April
Amber, who left the RHONJ show last year, says that far from James 'choking' her on the flight, he was actually asleep
The Marcheses made a splash in season six of the RHONJ show but said last year they were leaving, declaring that the series 'doesnt fit who we are as people, our lifestyle, and who we are as a family'.
James heads up a mortgage company while Amber, a breast cancer survivor, was a writer for People magazine.
The incident occurred on April 20 at LAX airport. The couple had spent three weeks filming Marriage Bootcamp when they boarded the red-eye flight from LA to Newark.
The complaint, filed Tuesday, states that they were sitting in first class when they overheard Rosser saying that she did not like James.
'The Marcheses pretended to ignore the nasty comment,' the document says.
It goes on to detail how they then 'engaged in some flirtatious behavior and conversation', but that 'nobody else approached them'.
Amber ordered a glass of wine from Rosser while James fell asleep. In the meantime Rosser notified airport police that James had 'choked and threatened' Amber - which the Marcheses say was 'entirely false'.
The couple have filed a complaint against flight attendant Moriah Rosser, pictured, and Virgin America
The police then came onto the aircraft, removed the couple and questioned them separately. Police wanted Amber to sign a statement alleging domestic abuse, which Amber repeatedly denied had taken place.
She was then handcuffed 'for reasons unknown and later unhand cuffed (sic) for reasons unknown'.
No medical report was created nor was medical treatment provided.
James meanwhile was taken into custody and arrested for domestic violence. Amber posted bail of $50,000, by which time he had already spent several hours in the jail cell, the documents say.
By the time they were ready to depart from the police station the paparazzi had got wind of the situation and snapped the couple leaving, leading to a slew of articles 'showcasing James as someone that would abuse his wife'.
To her neighbors, Carolyn Heckert was a respectable wife and proud mother with a high-powered job as a realtor.
Well-dressed she would walk their quiet rural street with her daughters, a 14-year-old high-school freshman and talented gymnast who she boasted about, and a six-year-old first grader, and the family's black Labrador.
Her husband Michael, 49, would often be spotted mowing the lawn and the couple were clearly enjoying the fruits of financial success, building a larger home on their extensive property in Smithville, Missouri.
But last week that life ended dramatically - as US Marshals surrounded the house and arrested Heckert, 48, charging her with a bloody murder in 1989.
Now Heckert is in Wyandotte County Detention Center, Kansas, accused of murdering Sarah DeLeon, 18 - and suspected of a second killing in 1994, the brutal murder of a young mother home alone with her baby daughter and four-year-old son.
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Alleged murderer: Carolyn Heckert is behind bars now and facing life in prison (left) but in 1989 was a young US Postal Service worker (right). It was then she allegedly murdered her ex-boyfriend's new love, Sarah DeLeon, 18
First victim: Sarah DeLeon was murdered two days after a picture taken with her boyfriend Matt Utland - Heckert's former lover - on 27 December 1989.
Second victim: Diana Ault was murdered in 1994 when she was at home with her son Josh, then four, and daughter Katie, six months. He was locked in a closet and she was shot dead with her cheating husband's handgun.
Each of them were in some form her love rival - the first was dating her ex-boyfriend; the second was the wife of the man she was having an affair with. She met both her lovers - and apparently her husband too - at the US Postal Service where she worked.
DeLeon was last seen leaving her boyfriend Matt Utland's Kansas City home in the early hours of the morning on December 29, 1989.
Hours later, her bloodied body was discovered close to train tracks at the intersection of the I-495 highway and Wolcott Drive a down-at-heel neighborhood approximately 18 miles from downtown Kansas City.
At the time of her murder, police said DeLeon's Ford Mustang car had been discovered close by, and that there was no indication that a sexual assault had taken place.
'There were so many stab wounds [on DeLeon] it was horrible,' Deleon's mother Gail Elieson, 68, told DailyMail.com from her home in Loveland, Colorado.
'I just had no idea at the time who could have done something like that. It must have been someone with a lot of passion, a lot of anger.'
Cheating: Timothy Auld was conducting an affair when his wife was gunned down in their home with his firearm. He said in 2004 he regretted his infidelity
Jeff Cheek, a Kansas City cop who was among the first to arrive on the scene and has been part of the cold case team whose work led to Heckert's arrest, described it as 'pure evil'.
'It just looked like pure evil met pure innocence,' he said. 'This was just a little girl fresh out of high school.
'It just made absolute zero sense and the manner, the fashion [of DeLeon's death], it just looked like pure evilness.'
To Elieson, the slaying of her daughter was particularly senseless because she was a 'total sweetheart' who had no enemies apart from one.
'The only person I knew who had a beef with her [Sarah] was Carolyn [Heckert],' said Elieson. 'She came to the [family] house once but I don't think Sarah was there. She threatened to cut her hair. Basically, I think she was just jealous.'
The cause of the jealousy was DeLeon's new boyfriend, whom DailyMail.com can name for the first time as Matt Uland, now 47.
Uland, who declined to comment, has since moved away from Kansas and now lives in Helena, Montana, where he works as a physical therapist.
Married to Jeanette, 43, and a father of two children, he had dated Heckert, then known as Carolyn Coon, for several months before splitting from her and taking up with DeLeon.
A photo of him and DeLeon taken two days before her murder shows a young couple who are clearly in love although according to Elieson, that wasn't enough to stop Heckert from being angry about it.
'He had dated her before Sarah but he was single when they started dating,' she said. 'He wasn't doing anything wrong but she was jealous.'
Both Heckert and Uland worked for the Postal Service at the time of the killing and, in a remarkable coincidence, both moved to the small town of Manhattan, Kansas, after the murder, living just a few streets from each other for more than a year.
Family: Michael Heckert, with the couple's daughter, 14 and six. He told DailyMail.com he had spoken to his wife and was 'coping'. The couple married in 1998 and lived a quiet and respectable life
Suburban life: Carolyn and Michael Heckert's home in the rolling countryside close to Smithville, Kansas. Neighbors said they were a normal family, although not regular churchgoers, unlike most of the town
Suburban life, interrupted: This was the scene when US Marshals and other law enforcement arrived to arrest Carolyn Heckert - to the shock of neighbors
Heckert later moved to Kansas City, taking up residence in a comfortable detached home on 59th Street in the northeastern suburbs.
Just over 22 miles away is Independence a small town that sits on the western edge of Kansas City and was home to Diana Ault, who was living there when she was murdered on January 31 1994.
Ault, 26, was looking after her two children: her son Josh, then four, and her six-month-old baby daughter Katie when she was shot dead.
The young mother had been watching the Super Bowl with relatives on the night she was killed and had returned home early to put her children to bed.
When her husband Timothy, now 49, let himself into the house later that night, it was to discover a scene of chaos his wife lying dead from gunshot wounds on the floor and his son locked in a closet.
Nothing had been taken apart from Timothy's handgun later found to be the murder weapon.
Speaking to Fox 4KC in October 2013 to mark the launch of the Justice for Diana Ault website, Josh, now 27, said he recalled very little of the incident.
'I can remember being put in the closet,' he said. 'I can remember the police showing up and that's about it.'
Although no one has yet been charged with Ault's murder, Heckert is known to be under investigation for the crime.
She was having an affair with Timothy before the killing. Days after Timothy left Heckert to return to his wife, Ault was dead.
Although Josh and his father declined to speak to DailyMail.com for fear of jeopardizing the investigation into Ault's murder, Elieson has been in close contact with the family and says the circumstances of her death are similar to that of DeLeon's.
'Sarah was harassed by Carolyn before her death, although what she did to her was less than what she did to Diana,' said Elieson.
'The extent of the harassment she [Heckert] did to Diana It just escalated with her. Carolyn just escalated.
'It was jealousy again. Carolyn is just a jealous type of person.'
Ault's father told KCTV he had been suspicious at the time and told Timothy Ault's family what he believed.
'I said no, it wasnt a robbery. Its the b**** your sons been with, Laskey said. I think its Carol.'
Ault's murder remains officially unsolved, although the family are said to be hoping that the DNA breakthrough that finally saw Heckert charged with DeLeon's killing will produce similar results for their loved one.
New life: Matt Utland, the ex-boyfriend who went on to date Carolyn Heckert's alleged first victim, Sara DeLeon. He now lives in Helena, Montana with his wife Jeanette and their two daughters and declined to comment on his ex's arrest
Crime scene: This is where police found 18-year-old Sarah DeLeon's bloodied body. She had been stabbed repeatedly.
Crime scene: Timothy Ault returned home to find his wife shot to death, his four-year-old son locked in a closet
While both Ault and DeLeon's families have had to live with the agony of justice denied for the last 27 years, Heckert has built a comfortable life for herself.
After a brief stint in Tucson, Arizona, where she lived for a year between 1995 and 1996, the 48-year-old has remained within the environs of Kansas City.
In 1997, she moved into a pretty wood-clad home in the northwestern part of the city joined there a year later by her new husband Michael.
Like Matt Uland and Timothy Ault, he works for the US Postal Service as does Heckert's older sister Kohler.
Neither chose to comment when approached by DailyMail.com, although Michael did say he had no knowledge of his wife's alleged crimes.
'No, no, I didn't. Nothing.' he said when asked if he had prior knowledge of the murders. He added: 'She's alright, I'm alright. I'm coping. Yes, I have spoken to her but I can't say any more right now.'
Heckert's life could nott have been more respectable; until her arrest last Wednesday a traffic ticket issued in January 1996 under her maiden name of Coon was her only brush with the law.
She's alright, I'm alright. I'm coping. Yes, I have spoken to her but I can't say any more right now Michael Heckert, the alleged murderer's husband
She passed her real estate exams in 1997 and since then has sold properties in Kansas City's northern satellite towns such as Smithville and Platte City.
On her profile for realtors Reece & Nichols, in whose Kansas City office Heckert worked, she also describes herself as being a 'dedicated' agent.
'It is my credentials combined with my strong work ethic and dedication to my clients that equates to success,' she says.
In 2006 when the couple and their elder daughter relocated to Smithville, a small rural town of 8,000 people approximately 26 miles north of Kansas City, with their younger daughter being born four years later.
She was a proud mom, highlighting in March how her elder daughter was in the final of a state-level gymnastics competition.
Neighbors in Smithville described Heckert as 'respectable' if very determined to get her own way - but said her arrest was less of a surprise than a visit from police earlier this year.
What Heckert did not know was that new DNA methods had allowed police to begin putting together their case, and that they had found a suspect who they were also linking to the 'harassment and intimidation of romantic rivals'.
'Back in May, the homicide detectives came round and were asking about her,' said Heckert's next door neighbor Randy.
'He was asking if she was pushy and if she had harassed people in the past. Then just after that, they [the police] announced they had a suspect so it didn't come as a complete surprise when she was arrested.'
Others said she had been a 'difficult' person to deal with but insisted they had no inkling that she might be capable of murder.
'She was never a very open person and she liked to have things done her way,' said Joann Biggerstaff, 62, who knew Heckert for six years.
Still mourning: Sarah DeLeon (left) was just 18 when her mother Gail Elieson lost her. The bereaved mother simply wants justice and for her daughter to be remembered for her life
'She never scared me but she was very vocal. She was a bit of a b****h at first but we duked it out and after that, she was OK.
'I was just shocked when I heard she'd been arrested. She wasn't a person who I would ever have thought would be capable of something like that.'
Another neighbor, Mark, added: 'She isn't very popular she likes to have things her way. I'd say she seems normal, respectable even, but a bit on the bitchy side.'
The odd spat with neighbors notwithstanding, Heckert appears to have enjoyed a pleasant lifestyle that revolved around her daughters, rural walks and overseeing the construction of her new home.
But on October 19 a convoy of police cars arrived at her home and left 45 minutes later, taking her with it.
Neighbor Randy, who saw the 48-year-old being hauled off, said: 'It [the arrest] was wild. I saw the US Marshals pulling up and jumping out [of their cars] with their guns out.
'They were in there [the house] for about 45 minutes and then they came out with her and took her away.'
A photo exclusively obtained by this website shows a row of cars pulled up outside the Heckerts' home shortly before the convoy pulled away, a handcuffed Carolyn inside one of the vehicles.
Heckert, who was extradited to Kansas on Monday, is now locked up in maximum security at the Wyandotte County Detention Center and faces spending the rest of her life in jail if found guilty something Elieson says she would welcome.
Although Kansas is a death penalty state and the option has not been taken off the table by prosecutors, its last execution was in 1965.
'She is not the type to apologize,' she said. 'I don't even expect that I don't even pray for that. I just want her to stay in jail for the rest of her life. I want no parole. That would be my ideal situation.'
Once she has justice for her daughter, Elieson says she hopes people will finally be able to remember DeLeon for the person she really was rather than as the victim of an unsolved crime.
'Sarah was a beautiful, smart, loving young woman,' she told DailyMail.com. 'She was just getting to a great point in her life. She was going to school to become a travel agent she loved to travel.
A rift between wings of the Democratic party is already starting to reassert itself, as progressive groups aligned with the Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders wing of the party signal they dont want to allow free rein for tech giants in the economy after the election.
Clinton campaigned with Warren on Tuesday in New Hampshire, but it is already becoming apparent that Warren and Sanders and others on the left are planning to pressure a new Clinton administration in the early stages over both personnel and policy.
Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation told Politico, I think itd be a lot of heartburn, a major amount of heartburn. You could potentially see a lot more investigations and even enforcements against companies just because they are big, he added.
He said of the Warren-aligned forces, I could see them having a field day, and just going after tech companies."
Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren campaigned together on Monday. After the elections, Warren-aligned forces are signaling they will push to pressure tech giants who have helped bankroll Clinton's campaign
Newly revealed emails from the hack of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta have highlighted Warrens interest in personnel as policy, with her campaign stressing the issue around the time Warren met with Clinton at Clintons Washington home as they hammered out what would become a Warren endorsement.
Rival Republican Donald Trump has pounced on the news that AT&T is seeking to buy cable giant Time Warner for $85 billion.
Clintons running mate, Virginia senator Tim Kaine, also sounded a skeptical tone. I share the concerns and questions, Kaine told NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday. We have to get to the bottom of them.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt helped design Clinton's campaign web site, according to hacked emails posted by Wikileaks
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon was more reticent. In general, we think that marketplace competition is a good and healthy thing for consumers and so theres a number of questions and concerns that arise in that vein about this announced deal but theres still a lot of information that needs to come out before, before any conclusions should be reached, Fallon said. Certainly, [Clinton] thinks that regulators should scrutinize it closely, he added.
Hacked emails posted on Wikileaks also show how close major tech players are to the Clinton administration. One batch of emails revealed how former Google CEO Eric Schidt, an ally of President Obama, was part of a team that developed Clintons campaign web site.
Hacked emails also show Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg soliciting face time with Podesta to discuss his own interests in public policy.
Donald Trump said Tuesday that new revelations from WikiLeaks establish that President Barack Obama is 'caught up in the big lie' surrounding the secret server that held all of Hillary Clinton's emails while she was secretary of state.
The president 'claimed to have no knowledge whatsoever of Clinton's Hillary Clinton's email server,' Trump recalled as he spoke to nearly 10,000 people assembled on a central Florida airfield.
'"I have no knowledge of it! I don't know!" Trump mugged, doing an Obama impression.
'This guy! He's as bad as she is!'
A Wikileaks email chain published online hours earlier showed Clinton's senior aides knew Obama had received emails from the private address she used to conduct government business. The president, however, claimed he learned about its existence in news reports.
The email, one of thousands hacked from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's account, memorializes campaign insiders' surprise when the president played dumb during a CBS News interview.
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Donald Trump blasted President Barack Obama on Tuesday, suggesting that he lied last year about his knowledge of Hillary Clinton's secret email setup
Obama said in an interview with CBS News in 2015 that he only learned about Clinton's private server when journalists broke the news
Trump spoke to thousands about Obama on an airport tarmac in Sanford, Florida: 'This guy! He's as bad as she is!'
'Jen you probably have more on this,' Clinton national spokesman Josh Schwerin wrote to communications director Jennifer Palmieri on March 7, 2015, 'but it looks like POTUS just said he found out HRC was using her personal email when he saw it in the news.'
The interview had not yet aired when the email chain began.
Traveling press secretary Nick Merrill forwarded the message to Cheryl Mills, who raised a red flag with Podesta three hours later.
'[W]e need to clean this up - he has emails from her - they do not say state.gov,' wrote Mills, who was Clinton's lawyer and served as her chief of staff at the State Department from 2009 to 2013.
In the interview, CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante asked Obama when he learned about Clinton's private email system.
'The same time everybody else learned it, through news reports,' the president replied.
But Mills' email to Podesta indicates the president had already exchanged emails with his onetime secretary of state at her 'clintonemail.com' address.
In Sanford, Florida, Trump interpreted the story's tea leaves for his cheering and then booing supporters.
Clinton campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin emailed communications director Jen Palmieri after the interviwe was taped but before it aired, suggesting the president hadn't been honest
After receiving a copy of Schwerin's email, Clinton lawyer Cheryl Mills told campaign chairman John Podesta that 'we need to clean this up' since 'he has emails from her' that were not sent from an official government email account
'In other words,' he explained, 'Mills was saying Obama, he had to know that Hillary was using an illegal server, but he claimed otherwise.'
'So that means Obama is now into the act. And now I understand that despite his hatred of the Clintons 'cause I know one thing, Bill hates him! but despite his hatred, now I understand why he pushed her.'
'Because he didn't want to be caught up in the big lie,' Trump said.
'He's caught up now, folks.'
White House press secretary Josh Earnest began the clean-up a day after the CBS interview aired in 2015, conceding that Obama had Clinton's private address, but suggested the president never thought it was operated without government oversight.
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president, has never been able to shake accusations that she deleted tens of thousands of emails that should have been archived by the State Department, specifically in order to hide pay-for-play corruption in her office
'The president, as I think many people expected, did over the course of his first several years in office exchange emails with his secretary of state,' Earnest said then.
'The point that the president was making is not that he didn't know Secretary Clinton's email address. He did'
'But he was not aware of the details of how that email address and that server had been set up,' Earnest insisted, 'or how Secretary Clinton and her team were planning to comply with the Federal Records Act.'
Clinton ultimately appeared to violate that law by failing to archive every work-related message she sent and received while she was America's top diplomat.
Her lawyers deleted more than 33,000 emails, after keyword searches indicated that they were not about her role at the State Department.
But the FBI, which was later able to scour her homebrew server, discovered hundreds of work-related messages that Clinton failed to submit to State for archiving.
This month WikiLeaks has been publishing a steady stream of emails written and received by Podesta (pictured) after an unknown hacker stole them
Clinton is shown with lawyer Cheryl Mills (left), who recommended the 'clean up' to Podesta
Donald Trump has claimed on the presidential campaign trail that Clinton purposely deleted thousands of emails in order to cover up 'pay for play' arrangements involving favors for foreign governments that contributed to her family foundation or paid her husband six-figure speaking fees.
Those emails that were turned over to the State Department have been released to the public following a review to mask classified information.
Thousands of emails contained such sensitive material, including a few that were classified at the 'Top Secret' level or above.
A school bus driver and five child passengers were hospitalized on Tuesday afternoon after the bus lost control and crashed into a house in Boston.
The Quincy Public Schools bus crashed into a building on Quarry Street. The bus included kindergarten through fifth grade students who were on their home from Furnace Brook Parkway. There were 34 on the bus in total.
Witnesses said all the children walked off the bus, however five were transported to hospital, along with the driver, around 11.30am, NECN reported.
Crash: Five children were taken to the hospital for minor injuries after a Tuesday morning crash involving a school bus in Boston
The Quincy Public Schools bus carrying 34 children from a half-day at school crashed into a building around 11.30am, with four children and the driver transported to hospital
Police said five elementary school-age children as well as the driver were taken to the hospital after their school bus struck another vehicle
Aerial footage from the scene shows the front of the bus wedged inside the building it hit
The kids were on their way home from a half-day of school at Charles A. Bernazzani Elementary School. The five that were injured were taken to South Shore Hospital.
Police said the bus crashed into telephone polls before coming to a rest against the house. Aerial footage shows another car was also involved in the crash.
Police said a woman who was driving an SUV also suffered minor injuries when she crashed.
Investigators work at the scene of school bus crash on Quarry Street on Tuesday in Boston
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.
However onlookers said the SUV was exiting a driveway and clipped the bus, sending it into a stone wall and then a home.
The driver of the SUV was speeding, according to Fox 25 Boston.
Another witness said the bus swerved to miss hitting the SUV. Police say the cause of the crash remains under investigation.
No matter the outcome of the presidential election now just two weeks away Donald Trump has committed to building a wall.
The Republican nominee, in an effort to score more donations, is advertising a 'Trump Donor Wall' to be constructed post-election in his New York City Trump Tower.
'I am dedicating a wall in Trump Tower to a select group of donors and supporters from my campaign who have chipped in wherever and however they can,' Trump wrote in the fundraising plea.
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Donald Trump's call for a border wall between the United States and Mexico has inspired a wall-themed fundraiser for the GOP nominee
Donald Trump is asking donors to give $49 or more and their names will be placed on a 'Trump Donor Wall' to be constructed in Trump Tower in New York City
'I want to see your name up there,' he added.
Donors only needed to donate $49 or more to have their names added, though suggested donations included the amounts of $1,000 and $2,700 too.
Earlier this month, Trump announced that he had raised $100 million for his presidential campaign and the greater Republican party.
Trump himself, according to the campaign, threw in $2 million.
'These numbers show that Donald Trump continues to have incredible broad based support from across America,' boasted Steven Mnuchin, Trump's finance chairman.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, however, beat Trump by more than 50 percent, raising $154 million for her campaign and the Democratic party.
Hillary for America and her other joint fundraising committees thus started October with $150 million in cash on hand.
As for the other wall, Trump is still touting that too.
'Now, I want to build the wall. We need the wall,' he told the crowd at last Wednesday's final presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was here that he also made one of the most eyebrow-raising comments of the night.
'But we have some bad hombres here, and we're going to get them out,' Trump said.
For her own part, Clinton trolled Trump on his border wall standing at the podium beside him Wednesday night.
'When it comes to the wall that Donald talks about building, he went to Mexico, he had a meeting with the Mexican president,' Clinton said.
'Didn't even raise it,' she continued.
about her treatment, she was accused of
The mother-of-one is a natural-born US citizen whose parents are Mexican
Suit claims Avila's colleagues signed her up to volunteer for Trump's campaign without her
Avila also allegedly received racist memes, including one that read:''How's Mr. Donald Trump going to deport all these illegals? Juan by Juan'
replaced photo of Avila's daughter on screensaver with one of a shouting Trump
A Hispanic woman has filed a civil rights lawsuit claiming that her white colleagues at an Iowa company used photos of a screaming Donald Trump to harass her and repeatedly called her an 'illegal immigrant,' even though she was born in the US.
Alexandra Avila's civil complaint against her former employer states that co-workers at Sedgwick Claims Management Services where they administered benefits for Wal-Mart employees turned on her after they learned she was angered by Trump's description of Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers.
According to the lawsuit filed on Monday in Iowa district court, employees at the claims office placed a photo of an angry-looking Trump as Avila's computer's screensaver, signed her up to volunteer for his campaign without her knowledge and sent her racist memes, including one that read: 'How's Mr. Donald Trump going to deport all these illegals? Juan by Juan.'
Racial harassment: Alexandra Avila (left and right), 32, of Iowa, has filed a civil rights lawsuit that alleges her co-workers at an Iowa office used images of Donald Trump to harass because she is Hispanic
Defendant: Avila's complaint against Sedgwick Claims Management Services (pictured above is the Coralville, Iowa, branch) alleges that her white colleagues turned on her after she expressed anger over Trump's description of Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers
Avila, a 32-year-old mother of one who worked at Sedgwick for three years, claims she faced similar heckling at her white-collar workplace in Coralville, Iowa, from the beginning of Trump's campaign in June 2015 until after she was fired five months later.
'It's been a weird political season where one candidate is taking public stances on things that, if the same words were said in the workplace, might constitute violations of our civil rights laws,' said Avila's attorney, Paige Fiedler. 'His candidacy has emboldened some people to feel like that doesn't violate social norms anymore.'
Lesley Gudehus, spokesman for Memphis, Tennessee-based Sedgwick, declined comment on the lawsuit.
California native: Avila is a natural-born US citizen whose parents are Mexican, but her co-workers dubbed her an 'illegal immigrant,' according to her lawsuit
Avila, a native of California born to Mexican parents, told colleagues she was upset with Trump's 2015 campaign launch when he said of Mexican immigrants: 'They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists.'
Soon after, the lawsuit claims, colleagues removed the photo Avila had of her young daughter as her computer screensaver and replaced it with a picture of Trump yelling and pointing his finger.
When Avila removed the photo, they kept switching it back to Trump, the suit alleges.
An email arrived from the Trump campaign last fall thanking her for the support and asking how she wanted to help, according to the complaint. Avila also claims her colleagues sent offensive memes, including one showing a brown-skinned man that read: 'Found Jesus he stabbed me twice.'
When her department was voting on a potluck menu, one co-worker said Avila was ineligible because she was an 'illegal immigrant,' drawing laughter from Avila's boss, the lawsuit claims.
Avila contends that after she complained about the harassment, the company accused her of falsifying timecards by claiming she worked minutes more time than she actually did.
The woman's complaint alleges that her co-workers repeatedly replaced a photo of Avila's daughter (pictured) on her computer screensaver with one of a shouting Donald Trump
Candidate: Avila's lawsuit claims her colleagues signed her up to volunteer for Trump's campaign without her knowledge
Avila was fired last November and escorted out, with Sedgwick saying it would send her personal property later.
When her belongings arrived from FedEx, Avila says they contained a handwritten note that called her 'La Trumpa' and added: 'Illegal immigrants can't vote or work. Good luck finding a job.'
'Getting that box in the mail was a horrific experience,' Fiedler says.
After her firing, a co-worker sent her an invitation to a Trump rally on Facebook, the lawsuit claims.
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Prince Albert II of Monaco has made a trip to Philadelphia to inspect the house he recently purchased: the home where his mother, Oscar-winning actress Grace Kelly, grew up and accepted a marriage proposal from his father, Prince Rainier III.
Albert spent nearly an hour inside the home Tuesday before also walking around the property, purchased for $754,000. He made no public statements.
It marks a happy ending for the East Falls estate, which was found covered in feces and fleas from the 14 cats that had been hoarded by the homeowner in 2013.
Albert's cousin, John B. Kelly III, says the prince came to kick around ideas about what to do with the 2.5-story Colonial home.
Kelly says it's possible the home could house the prince's charitable foundation. He says it's also possible it could be used to showcase to the public things that were of interest to Princess Grace. But opening it as a full-time museum is unlikely.
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Prince Albert II of Monaco, center, tours a house he recently purchased in Philadelphia on Tuesday. It's the home where his mother, Oscar-winning actress Grace Kelly, grew up and accepted a marriage proposal from his father, Prince Rainier III of Monaco
Prince Albert's (seen waving in the photo above) cousin John B. Kelly III says the prince came to kick around ideas about what to do with the 2.5-story Colonial home. The home showcases the Monaco flag (left), the American flag (center) and the Irish flag (right). Kelly's paternal grandfather moved to the U.S. from County Mayor, Ireland in 1869
The Philadelphia home with where Grace Kelly grew up and accepted Prince Rainier's marriage proposal. Her son Prince Albert is pictured above in a light brown blazer and glasses
Albert (waving) spent nearly an hour inside the home Tuesday before also walking around the property, purchased for $754,000. He made no public statements
John B. Kelly says it's possible the home could house the prince's charitable foundation. He says it's also possible it could be used to showcase to the public things that were of interest to Princess Grace. Prince Albert pictured above
The 4,000 sq ft house, built in the 1920s by Kelly's father John B Kelly Sr, was originally listed in July for a cool $1million before the price was brought down to $850,000.
The price dropped again by another $100,000 in August but a competitive bidding war pushed the sale tag back up by $25,000.
'There were multiple offers on the property,' realtor Patty Gernerd told PhillyVoice .
'We started at a higher offer because we had no idea what the wow-factor would be.'
It is the very home where Prince Rainier III of Monaco proposed to Kelly. The actress is pictured here showing her mother her new engagement ring while they sit in the family's living room
Kelly left the home to pursue an acting career in 1950, going on to star in the likes of To Catch A Thief, Dial M For Murder, Rear Window and Country Girl before she retired and married Prince Rainier in 1956 (pictured on their wedding day)
'The people who put in offers really wanted it because of a combination of the name and the architecture.'
Kelly spent her childhood in the home, which features six bedrooms and four bathrooms.
It was also the very place where Prince Rainier III of Monaco proposed to Kelly before their 'Wedding of the Century' in 1956.
The house remained in the family until 1974, when Kelly's mother Margaret sold the estate to Thomas and Janet Lawnton, who then sold it six days later to Marjorie Bamont.
Bamont lived at the home for more than 40 years. She was charged with animal cruelty in 2013 when 14 live cats - and one dead - were found inside the residence.
Philadelphia SPCA officers said the house was covered with cat feces and fleas. A live dog was also found inside the dwelling, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer .
The price of the East Falls estate (pictured here is the living room) was initially listed for $1million, but brought down to $850,000 in July. It dropped by antoerh $100,000 in August
Realtor Patty Gernerd said the home soon received multiple offers and a bidding war brought the price up by $25,000
Bamont, who was believed to be suffering a mental health crisis at the time, eventually pleaded no contest after she was convicted of 14 counts of animal cruelty in 2014. She died two years later.
The house was purchased after four months on the market.
A grandson of Kelly's father said the royal family is securing the estate for the winter and were planning renovations.
Kelly left the home to pursue an acting career in 1950, going on to star in the likes of To Catch A Thief, Dial M For Murder, Rear Window and Country Girl.
She tragically died in a car crash in 1982, but the legacy of her childhood home has remained in her former neighborhood.
Kelly's father John was a three-time Olympic gold medalist and a prominent bricklayer in Philadelphia who was almost elected to be the city's mayor.
A grandson of Kelly's father said the royal family is securing the estate for the winter and were planning renovations
Kelly spent her childhood in the home, which features six bedrooms (including the one pictured here) and four bathrooms
The house remained in the family until 1974, when it was put on the market by Kelly's mother and sold to Marjorie Bamont
Bamont (pictured here) lived at the home for more than 40 years. She pleaded no contest to animal cruelty in 2014 when 14 live cats - and one dead - were found inside the residence, which was discovered to be covered in feces and fleas
The family was known for throwing incredible parties and hosting carnivals for the children of the community.
'People still recollect seeing Grace wait for the bus and how sweet and kind she was,' Grenard said.
'The family was beloved by the neighborhood as a gregarious and magnanimous group of local dignitaries. Their nobility was a force that shaped the community.'
Gernerd said that much like the family's legacy, the house has also maintained its original shape through the years.
Gernerd said that, despite its rocky recent history, the house has maintained its original shape through the years
'It's a solid-structured building with great bones in it,' she said. 'It was built correctly, and most of the originality is still there. The architecture of the time didn't get muted'
Gernerd said the house still has its original windows and bricks, as well as the stunning archways and staircase
The legacy of Kelly's childhood home has remained in her former neighborhood, which still recalls her family's famous parties for adults and carnivals for the community's children in their backyard (pictured)
The estate is seen as so important in Philadelphia's legacy that the city dedicated an official plaque in 2012 (pictured)
'It's a solid-structured building with great bones in it,' she said.
'It was built correctly, and most of the originality is still there. The architecture of the time didn't get muted.'
'When people came to look at it, the integrity remained and you could feel the flavor when it was first built. That was the charm of the house overall.'
Gernerd said the house still has its original windows and bricks, as well as the stunning archways and staircase.
'It really is a love story,' she said.
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Fresh images coming out of Iraq show the innocence of youth as children, their faces and hands covered in soot and dirt, play in the streets of a deserted village as huge plumes of black smoke rise into the sky from oil wells set on fire by retreating ISIS fighters.
Women and children are seen congregated near al-Qayyarah, which was liberated this week by Iraqi government forces, as thick, acrid smoke fills the horizon.
Many Iraqi families gathered on a roadside after being driven out of their homes by the ongoing battle to recapture Mosul.
Dozens of civilians huddled together near the camp which was littered with rubbish, as wind blew in clouds of carcinogenic smoke from burning oil wells and a fire at a nearby sulphur plant.
Setting oil wells ablaze is a common tactic by retreating armies in the Middle East. In 1991 Saddam Hussein ordered wells to be set on fire when his army retreated from Kuwait in the face of a US-led offensive, something he repeated in southern Iraq in 2003.
A boy covered in dirt plays in the street in al-Qayyarah, near Mosul, as smoke rises from oil wells, which were set on fire by ISIS to limit coalition forces pilots' vision and to deny the oil to Iraqi government forces
Children play in the streets as flames and smoke rise from oil wells, which were set on fire by retreating ISIS fighters. The acrid black smoke is extremely carcinogenic if inhaled
Boys make victory signs in the streets of al-Qayyarah, a town which has just been liberated from ISIS. In the background huge palls of toxic smoke rise into the air from burning oil wells
A girl, her hand blackened from the smoke, stares straight into the camera
Most of them escaped the 'caliphate' with just one or two bags containing some clothes and other essentials.
Many can be seen looking on with fear and uncertainty in their eyes as they await the outcome of the fighting, which has been ongoing for a week.
Abu Jowaher, 27, said: 'The jihadists fled our village south of Mosul four days ago, slipping out from the Iraqi forces' siege under the cover of night. We were left there alone, with no water or food.
'Some of us decided to leave too and others stayed back to look after the sheep,' he said.
Firefighters attempt to put out one of the oil well fires which were lit by retreating ISIS fighters
Firefighters and oil workers try to dowse the huge fires started by ISIS
A girl covers her face with her dirty hands as her little brother looks into the distance. They have survived ISIS but are now living with pollution from burning oil wells
An Iraqi woman and her two young children are escorted to safety by an Iraqi government soldier but the horizon is full with the thick black smoke from the burning oil wells
A bed lies abandoned in the wilderness near al-Qayyarah as smoke from the oil well fires billows into the sky
Haunting images show scores of Iraqi families gathering on a roadside after being driven out of their homes due to the ongoing battle to recapture Mosul
This child, who was also seen holding his mother's hand with a dummy in his mouth, looks up to the sky
A mother holds her child after being displaced from their home by the ongoing operation by allied forces against the Jihadis
This young child grips an adults back as she looks on into the distance. A mother can also be seen cradling an infant who looks no bigger than a few weeks old
Women and children are seen gathering on a roadside near the Qayyarah area, as the background is filled entirely with huge plumes of black smoke
The UN refugee agency is preparing to receive 150,000 people who fleeing the conflict around the Islamic State-held city
Federal forces have taken dozens of small villages south of Mosul and are working their way up the Tigris Valley.
After an initial push by the Kurdish peshmerga, federal army and elite counter-terrorism forces have taken over the eastern front, where they have retaken swathes of the Nineveh plain.
They wrested back control of Bartalla, a Christian town only about 15 kilometres (10 miles) east of Mosul, and are fighting to take full control of Qaraqosh, formerly the largest Christian town in Iraq.
On the northeastern front, a large deployment of peshmerga have taken several villages from IS and are closing in on Bashiqa.
The crowd waits by the roadside as they wait for the fighting to finish, as they have nowhere else to go
Many can be seen looking on with fear and uncertainty in their eyes as they await the outcome of the fighting, which has been waging for a week
This group of men hold onto a railing as the clouds of smoke rise above them. The battle for Mosul has now been going on for a week
The US-led coalition says it has carried out 32 air strikes on the area in a week, delivering more than 1,700 munitions that destroyed 136 IS fighting positions, 18 tunnels and 26 car bombs.
Neither the federal government nor the autonomous Kurdish region release any figures for their dead and wounded, but both sides are taking casualties.
However, Baghdad, the Kurds and the US-led coalition supporting them with air strikes and advisers on the ground have said early gains exceeded expectations.
A young child hides behind an adult as the group prepare themselves for what could be a long wait. Bags of possessions can also be seen
The group a supervised by a member of the Iraqi army, who are currently fighting Isis in Mosul
Federal forces have taken dozens of small villages south of Mosul and are working their way up the Tigris Valley
A girl wipes away tears as other children look extremely distressed as they sit on the floor
Kurdish leader Massud Barzani has hailed what he describes as excellent coordination with the forces from Baghdad, despite a running political and budgetary feud.
The push for Mosul, IS's last major stronghold in Iraq, has been delayed on many occasions and all sides have had ample time to learn from previous operations and fine-tune their battle plans.
In other areas, children were seen posing for pictures giving the victory sign and scrambling around government forces for fruit as they celebrated the liberation of their village from ISIS.
Youngsters in the village of al-Khuwayn, south of Mosul couldn't contain their excitement after the terror group were driven out as coalition forces advance on the city.
The liberation comes as the operation to tighten the noose around Mosul enters a second week as the battle continues to reclaim the last Iraqi city under control of ISIS.
A group of Iraqi girls gather around to give the victory sign after the village was liberated by Iraqi forces from ISIS
Youngsters in the village of al-Khuwayn, south of Mosul couldn't contain their excitement after the terror group were driven out as coalition forces advance on the city
Iraqi forces hand out fruit to children who clamber around their vehicle as they celebrate no longer having to live under ISIS rule
Iraqi government forces raise their national flag as they enter the village of al-Khuwayn, south of Mosul
Pictures from the village showed young girls posing giving the victory sign as Iraqi forces arrived in tanks waving the country's flag.
Young men could also be seen crowding around vans of Iraqi troops as they drove through the village distributing fruit.
However, in other parts of the city, women and children were seen fleeing as the battle for Mosul intensifies.
In other parts of Mosul, women and children were seen fleeing the city and heading towards the Syrian border
An Iraqi refugee woman who fled Mosul walks with her child as they wait to enter Syria in the desert area of Rajam al-Saliba
A refugee toddler cries as she and another child head towards the Syrian border after fleeing the battle for Mosul
Iraqi children were pictured carrying blankets and pillows after they had fled Mosul and were heading towards refugee camps
A child plays at a camp for displaced families in Dibaga, near Mosul. The campaign to retake Mosul comes after months of planning and involves more than 25,000 Iraqi troops
A young boy carries bedding on top of his head as he walks around a camp for displaced families on the outskirts of Mosul
Hundreds of worried residents made their way to the desert area of Rajam al-Saliba on the Iraq-Syria border south of al-Hol in Syria's Hassakeh province to cross the border.
The UN refugee agency is preparing to receive 150,000 people who are fleeing the conflict around the Islamic State-held city.
Filippo Grandi told reporters: 'The preparations are proceeding well... UNHCR is going to have in two or three days 30,000 tents in Iraq, enough for 150,000 people,'
Mr Grandi said a key issue was 'to find enough sites to be able to receive this huge mass of people should it come out of Mosul'.
Iraqi refugees that fled violence in Mosul get inspected from rebel fighters upon arrival in al-Kherbeh village, northern Aleppo province, Syria
An Iraqi refugee girl that fled violence in Mosul rides a van upon arrival in al-Kherbeh village, northern Aleppo province in Syria after leaving her home country
Women and children were pictured riding on the back of a pick-up truck after fleeing the violence in Mosul
The UN refugee agency is preparing to receive 150,000 Iraqis fleeing fighting , its chief said on Monday
Hundreds of worried residents made their way to the desert area of Rajam al-Saliba on the Iraq-Syria border
An Iraqi refugee girl that fled violence in Mosul plays with sand upon arrival in al-Kherbeh village where she will live
'Negotiations in this respect are going on with the government of Iraq and with the Kurdish regional government,' he said.
So far, 'the outflow of displaced people is not yet from the city of Mosul but from the outskirts' where there has been fighting.'
'We have about 7,500 displaced people that have moved from the outskirts of Mosul to other locations that have been assisted and we have perhaps around 1,000 that have crossed into Syria,' he added.
A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter aims to fire during a battle with ISIS militants at Topzawa village, near Bashiqa, in Mosul
Smoke rises after an U.S. airstrike, while the Iraqi army pushes into Topzawa village during the operation against ISIS terrorists
Smoke rises after a road side bomb blew up a Kurdish Peshmerga vehicle during a battle with ISIS militants on the outskirts of Mosul today
It is unclear how many people were caught up in the roadside bomb but one Kurdish fighter was seen with blood running down his face
It comes as the terror group have begun launching diversionary suicide attacks as coalition forces edge closer to liberating the Iraqi city of Mosul from their control.
The terror group unleashed a series of car bombs in the town of Rutba to the west of Mosul yesterday in a bid to distract Kurdish forces who have been approaching the city from the north.
Meanwhile, Iraqi forces shelled ISIS positions outside Mosul this morning as fighting to retake the extremist-held city entered its second week.
However, yesterday jihadis stormed the town of Rutba unleashing three suicide car bombs that were apparently blown up before reaching their targets.
ISIS have began launching diversionary suicide attacks as coalition forces edge closer to liberating the Iraqi city of Mosul from their control
Iraqi forces enter a church in the town of Bartella in a bid to liberate it from ISIS control and allow worshippers to return
Inside the church, pews had been destroyed, the altar had been vandalised and ISIS graffiti was daubed on the walls
Spokesman for the Joint Military Command Brigadier General Yahya Rasool confirmed that several militants were killed but declined to say if any civilians or Iraqi forces were left dead.
He added that ISIS did not seize any government building and that the situation was 'under control.'
Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, confirmed there had been a complex attack in Rutba and said he expects more such diversionary attacks as Iraqi forces close in on Mosul.
For the first time in two years, the bells at the churches in Bartella were able to ring out after the town was liberated
Iraqi forces surround a liberated church which had been destroyed during the occupation of ISIS for the past two years
Iraqi troops wave the Iraqi flag after liberating the predominantly Christian town of Bartella over the weekend
A church in the Christian village of Bartella, which has been liberated from ISIS control was left destroyed following a battle for the area
Faces of characters from a biblical scene have been defaced by ISIS when they were in control of the village
An Islamic State flag is painted on the wall of a church in the predominantly Christian town of Bartella during the occupation by ISIS
Piles of burned bibles lie on the ground after they were destroyed by ISIS during their occupation of Bartella
It comes after ISIS carried out a large assault on the northern city of Kirkuk on Friday, in which more than 50 militants stormed government compounds and other targets, setting off more than 24 hours of heavy fighting and killing at least 80 people, mainly security forces.
The interior of another church which shows the altar and the pews ransacked and destroyed
But jihadis have been fleeing other towns as Iraqi and Kurdish forces continue their march towards Mosul, including the Christian town of Bartella.
There, Christians have been able to ring the church bells for the first time in two years since it came under ISIS control.
In one church building in Bartella, Iraqi forces discovered that ISIS graffiti had been daubed all over the walls while a statue of the Virgin Mary had been destroyed.
In the church yard, piles of burned bibles were strewn on the ground while a statue of Christ was shown to have had its head broken off.
The campaign to retake Mosul comes after months of planning and involves more than 25,000 Iraqi troops, Kurdish forces, Sunni tribal fighters and state-sanctioned Shiite militias.
It is expected to take weeks, if not months, to drive ISIS out of Iraq's second largest city, which is still home to more than a million people.
The militants captured Mosul in the summer of 2014, when they swept across much of northern and western Iraq. ISIS has suffered a series of setbacks over the past year, and Mosul is its last major urban bastion in Iraq.
Troops recover items including books and artwork that have been destroyed inside a church ransacked by jihadis in Iraq
The militants captured Mosul in the summer of 2014, when they swept across much of northern and western Iraq. Pictured are Iraqi troops inside one of the churches in Bartella
An Iraqi soldier walks past of broken statue of the Virgin Mary after liberating the town of Bartella, which has a Christian population
An Iraqi soldier stands guard next to a church in Bartella. In the background is a statue of Christ with its head broken off
Meanwhile, a rights group has been calling for a probe into a suspected airstrike last week that mistakenly hit a mosque, killing over a dozen civilians.
The purported airstrike in northern Iraq struck the women's section of a Shiite mosque on Friday in the town of Daquq amid a large Islamic State assault on the nearby city of Kirkuk. That assault was meant to distract the Iraqi forces and their allies from the massive operation around Mosul.
Human Rights Watch said Daquq's residents believe the attack was an airstrike because of the extent of the destruction and because planes could be heard flying overhead. The New York-based watchdog said at least 13 people were reported killed.
Iraqi special forces put their weapons in place and prepare to attack ISIS positions as fighting to retake Mosul enters a second week
It is expected to take weeks, if not months, to drive ISIS out of Iraq's second largest city, which is still home to more than a million people
A member of the Iraqi government forces smokes a cigarette as they rest in the village of al-Khuwayn, south of Mosul, after recapturing it from ISIS
The U.S.-led coalition and the Iraqi military, which are waging the offensive to drive ISIS from the northern city of Mosul, are the only parties known to be flying military aircraft over Iraq.
Colonel John Dorrian, a U.S. military spokesman, said the coalition had 'definitively determined' that it did not conduct the airstrike that killed civilians in Daquq, and had shared its findings with the Iraqi government, which is carrying out its own investigation.
'The Coalition uses precision munitions and an exhaustive process to reduce the possibility of civilian casualties and collateral damage because the preservation of civilian life is paramount importance to us,' Dorrian said.
The Iraqi government is also investigating the attack but declined to say whether Iraqi or coalition planes were flying in the area at the time of the explosion.
Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces prepare to attack Islamic State positions as fighting to retake the extremist-held village of Tob Zawa, outside Mosul
More than a dozen shops were evacuated in a bomb scare after a 'suspicious package' was spotted outside a restaurant in an upmarket area of west London.
Dozens of onlookers were left waiting for more than an hour as police cordoned off High Street Kensington when diners reported a large gym bag left outside Prezzo.
Police were seen herding shoppers out of shops on the busy tourist street - just metres from Kensington Palace - and some are said to have been stuck inside shops.
An eyewitness said police 'screamed' at passers-by and one tourist was told 'Congratulations - welcome to London' as they were moved outside the cordon.
Officers were seen running through nearby shops, telling staff and customers to get out
The incident is taking place on High Street Kensington, opposite Kensington Palace
A witness in the restaurant told MailOnline that a diner took pictures of the man who left the bag outside the restaurant - in an alley just off the high street.
It was left at around 6.30pm and staff were immediately told to evacuate the restaurant, then police arrived minutes later to clear the rest of the area.
At the luxury Royal Garden Hotel, metres from where the package was found, guests were moved to the back of the building, which has a glass front facing Prezzo.
The area cordoned off by police at the scene was between Maplin and Whole Foods on the busy road, leaving dozens waiting by the tape to get by.
One passer-by claimed their friend and other shoppers were told by police to get out of TK Maxx or stay in there until the incident was over.
The sealed off section is just a two minute walk from Kensington Palace - the royal residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Police confirmed that the incident was stood down at 7.50pm after investigations revealed that the package was not dangerous.
The area cordoned off by police at the scene was between Maplin and Whole Foods on the busy road
One passer-by claimed their friend and other shoppers were told by police to get out of TK Maxx or stay in there until the incident was over
Hillary Clinton is holding her final big bucks money haul of the campaign at a Florida mansion Tuesday night.
The late decision to wrap up a relentless fundraising effort gives Clinton the chance to focus on media interviews and rallies to reach voters for the the final sprint to Election Day.
'We met our goals,' Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri told reporters traveling with Clinton to Florida, where she planned to lace into Donald Trump for his statements refusing to say he'll accept the election results.
Hillary Clinton holds her final fundraiser of the campaign in Miami Tuesday night, according to her aides, capping off a relentless money haul that helped her beat back Bernie Sanders and outraise Donald Trump. Along the way, she held fundraisers pegged to 'Hamilton' and events hosted by major stars
'We have had the money that we needed to compete. And it's great that people have given us as much support as they have. We spent the resources pretty well too and have what we need for the last two weeks.'
Palmieri was unapologetic when asked by DailyMail.com about the abrupt transition Clinton had to pull off Monday night, when she left an event with consumer crusader Senator Elizabeth Warren and jetted to New York, where she held a major fundraiser with 300 big contributors.
Clinton's final fundraiser is to be held at the home of Florida donor Chris Korge, pictured here at a Best Buddies Miami gala
Cynthia Erivo (L) stands with Billy Crystal during the Hillary Victory Fund - Stronger Together concert at St. James Theatre on October 17, 2016 in New York City. Broadway stars and celebrities performed during a fundraising concert for the Hillary Clinton campaign
Apple CEO Tim Cook (C) and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta (R) leave a fundraiser for Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on August 24, 2016 in Los Altos Hills, California
Attendees payed $10,000 and $33,400 to go to the fundraiser where Stevie Wonder performed.
'We have a group meeting resources to run our campaign,' Palmieri said. 'She's really grateful that people have been willing to support the campaign across the board both with their votes and with their work and also the financial resources.'
By earlier this week, Clinton had raised at least $445 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Guests were paying $33,400 per person or $100,000 per couple to attend the event at the Pinecrest home of longtime Democratic donor Chris Korge.
Clinton has used her fundraising advantage to pound Donald Trump over the TV airwaves. She has doubled and even tripled Trump's ad spending in some battlegrounds.
Actresses Uzo Aduba, Julia Roberts and Lena Dunham appear on stage during the Hillary Victory Fund - Stronger Together concert at St. James Theatre on October 17 in New York
She also has assembled a massive field operation and data effort meant to turn out Democrats and reliable supporters.
Hacked emails revealed plans before she announced her bid to have top tech people, including Google founder Eric Schmidt, involved in the effort.
President Obama has hosted a fundraiser at the Korge home. A pool reporter at the time described an upper level with a pool, hot tub and bar. A lower level has a pond and a rowboat beached on 'lush greens.'
Outside groups have raised another $171 million for Clinton.
Why You Should Definitely Go Vote In Your Local Races, Chicago
By aaroncynic in News on Oct 25, 2016 7:02PM
CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 15: Voters casts their ballots at ChiArts High School on March 15, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Voters in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio vote in primary elections today. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
While the focus of election 2016 has been squarely on Americas longest and most vitriolic contest for president in recent memory, theres more at stake on Nov. 8 than who will take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania.
While Illinois, which hasnt voted for a Republican presidential candidate in more than two decades, isnt a swing state, its a battleground in its own right. Hundreds of posts are up for grabs this fall, including a U.S. Senate seat, all 18 Congressional Districts, the State Comptrollers office, nearly all of the legislature in Springfield, appellate, circuit and subcircuit judges, various posts in Cook County, one state constitutional amendment, and several non-binding referendum questions.
While voter-shaming is not a thing were going to take part inchoosing not to vote can be its own form of protest and plenty of social struggles were fought and won outside ballot boxesgoing to the polls means more than checking a box for President. Heres a look at some of what else is at stake in Chicago and Illinois.
At the top of the ticket locally lies the race for U.S. Senate, where incumbent Mark Kirk is defending his seat from challenger Representative Tammy Duckworth. Kirk has had an uphill battle and still trails in several polls. A moderate Republican, particularly by todays standards, Kirk supported stronger gun control measures and same-sex marriage and even bucked his own party by voting against defunding Planned Parenthood. Very early in the race, he even walked back his support of Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump, citing the carnival barkers temperament and inflammatory rhetoric.
None of that, however, might be enough for Kirk to save his seat from two-term House Rep and Iraq War vet Tammy Duckworth, the Democrat challenging Kirk this year. Duckworth has consistently gone after Kirk not only for his initial support of the leader of fascisms revival Trump, but the sitting senators many controversial remarks, including the time he called President Barack Obama a drug dealer in chief, and fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham a bro with no ho. And while being in the minority party of Congress can make it difficult to get legislation pushed through, Duckworth has touted her work on several pieces of legislation on veterans care as a measure of success as a House rep. If you've been hoping to see a change in the Senate's majority party, this is a chance to make that happen.
Much like every election after the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision in 2010, this years race to fill the state legislature in Springfield will be one of the most expensive in history. Gov. Bruce Rauner and his allies are pouring untold amounts of money into state legislative races, along with the race for Comptrollers office. So far, Rauner and his campaign have dumped an astonishing $45.8 million into various races around the state. In fact, $21 million of the $29 million the Illinois Republican Party has raised has come from the governor. One of his biggest backers, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, has also spent big, pouring more than $11,000,000 into this cycle this year according to FEC filings.
Rauner and his allies have a twofold goal: to loosen Democratic control over the legislature and retain key allies across the state, which has essentially turned the election into a proxy war between Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.
State Comptroller Leslie Munger was appointed by the governor in 2015 after the death of Judy Baar Topinka, and has since presided over the office during one of the worst budget crises in Illinois history. Shes been Rauners right hand through the budget impasse and has voiced agreement with many of the governors policy ideas, but has repeatedly attempted to assert she and her office operate independently. Mungers critics include challenger Susana Mendoza, now the Chicago City Clerk, who has accused her of allowing the Comptrollers office to become a wholly owned subsidiary of the governors office.
The pair will face off in one televised debate Tuesday night at 7 p.m. on WTTW-Ch. 11's "Chicago Tonight."
In addition to national and local legislative representatives, Chicagoans will also be voting on three Cook County offices - Recorder of Deeds, Circuit Court Clerk and State's Attorney. The Democratic primary for the office of State's Attorney received national attention when incumbent Anita Alvarez, who came under fire in handling numerous cases where police killed citizens, including Rekia Boyd and Laquan McDonald, was ousted by Kim Foxx. She faces a lesser-known Republican challenger, Christopher Pfannkuche, who served as a county prosecutor for 31 years.
(By Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist)
Finally, voters in Chicago will also have the ability to voice their opinions in a few binding referenda and many non-binding advisory referenda questions. Among them include:
Countywide: Whether the Recorder of Deeds should be eliminated and merged with the Cook County Clerk's Office.
Countywide: Whether there should be a state law to mandate that workers receive earned sick time.
Citywide: Whether the state should make gun trafficking a felony and require gun shop owners and employees undergo background checks.
Citywide: Whether the state should provide 'full and equitable' funding to the Chicago Public Schools.
Citywide: Whether the city should work with state and federal officials on prioritizing infrastructure projects.
You can find the full list here, as well as where to vote in the City here.
Perhaps the most talked-about ballot initiative is the Transportation Funds Amendment. The so-called transportation lockbox would amend the Illinois constitution to mandate that all transportation-derived funds (vehicle title and license fees, gasoline taxes, tolls, etc.) must be directed solely to transportation-related programs.
Public support for the amendment is robust. According to a survey by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at SIU-C, 80 percent of likely voters support the ballot measure. Backing is also strong from prominent advocacy organization Active Transportation Alliance in addition to commerce chambers and labor unions like the AFL-CIO.
But there is discord, as well, perhaps unsurprising given Illinois ongoing budget woesand, by extension, the threat that other funds already vulnerable for raiding would be made more so by such constraints. You can see a fracture even within transit forums like The Chainlink biking message board and in the pages of transit-news site Streetsblog Chicago, where Deputy Editor Steven Vance and Editor John Greenfield present differing (and compelling) arguments.
Eric Allix Rogers
Its safe to say that Illinois lawmakers have failed in terms of budgeting, but it is ultimately their responsibility, not that of the constitution. Opponents of the measure who argue that the lockbox is merely the handiwork of contractor-and-construction unions are peddling a bogeyman canard (hi again, Tribune Editorial Board!); but the few, Democratic lawmakers who opposed the measure in the General Assembly make a good case against constitutional spending prioritization:
Without a doubt, there should be strong protections for investment in our road, bridges, ports, and rails. But experience has demonstrated that unexpected events can have drastic impacts on our state budget. A major natural disaster or economic turmoil can blow huge holes in a budget, even in states in healthy financial conditionwhich Illinois is decidedly not.
That said, a degree of guaranteed funding for the kinds of transit projects we truly love is a pretty excellent consolation prize.
A list of early-voting sites is available here and a map of those locations can be found here.
Hillary Clinton's campaign bars its staffers from the very activity that led to the embarrassing release of more than 22,000 hacked emails - and counting - from chairman John Podesta's private email account.
An employee handbook that took effect on April 1, 2015 bans employees from using their personal email accounts to conduct business.
The handbook became public as a result of a hack on Podesta's Gmail account. Wikileaks has been publishing new batches of messages that were stolen from the senior Clinton official's account each day.
Hillary Clinton's campaign bars its staffers from the very activity that led to the embarrassing release of more than 22,000 hacked emails - and counting - from chairman John Podesta's private email account
Clinton has battled questions over her own use of a private email address during her tenure at State the entire race.
She bucked government guidelines and used a personal account that she routed through a secret server that she kept in her Chappaqua, New York, home for four years while she served in President Barack Obama's cabinet.
The FBI launched an investigation into her email practices that lasted nearly a year. She was not charged in the case. Donald Trump and his supporters say she belongs in jail, however, and the Republican says he'll appoint a special prosecutor to revisit the case if elected.
Clinton announced her candidacy for the presidency on April 12, 2015.
An email from one of her lawyers that Podesta was presumably copied on, given that the message was taken from his account, on the first of that month advises that a set of memos 'are in effect now that we have triggered candidacy.'
One of those documents was an employee handbook. Another described document retention procedures.
The handbook explicitly stated: 'Employees must use their Campaign-provided e-mail accounts for all correspondence regarding or related to the Campaigns business.
'Employees cannot use personal email addresses (.gmail, icloud, etc.) to conduct Campaign business.'
It went on to remind aides that 'e-mail is an inherently unsecured medium, analogous to a postcard in traditional mail, and should be treated with due care.'
An employee handbook that took effect on April 1, 2015 bans employees from using their personal email accounts to conduct business. And yet Podesta was still using his Gmail address for campaign conversations almost a year later
And yet Podesta was still using his Gmail address for campaign conversations almost a year later.
The last email from Podesta that's currently listed on the Wikileaks site was from March 21, of this year - 11 and a half months after the memo went into effect.
At the beginning of the campaign other senior staffers were using their personal addresses to conduct business, as well. But they appear to have migrated to the campaign system, eventually.
They used personal email to respond to campaign inquiries when the sender contacted them through that address, the Wikileaks emails show.
Clinton campaign employees were separately advised in the handbook to follow the password instructions they were given for their workplace accounts to the letter to protect the organization against the kind of cyber attack that Podesta fell prey to.
'The security of each individual employee is closely related to the security of the whole system, and whenever an employee selects an inappropriately easy password, that employee places the security of all Campaign data at risk by making it possible for an unauthorized intruder to manipulate the entire system,' the document says.
BAD EXAMPLE: Clinton has battled questions over her own use of a private email address during her tenure at State the entire race. She bucked government guidelines and used a personal account that she routed through a secret server
The document retention file also contained a section on email use that was intended to protect the campaign from a messy leak.
'HFA policy requires all email messages to be deleted from the network after 30 days. There are no exceptions to this 30 day rule,' it says. 'As is current best practice, all individual users can maximize the speed and overall efficiency of their use of the email system by routinely managing their own email on a daily basis, and are strongly encouraged to do so.'
Another section in the document explained that the campaign is, however, 'legally obligated to retain all documents relevant to pending or reasonably anticipated litigation or other legal processes.'
The campaign's legal department will 'periodically circulate a list of pending or reasonably anticipated litigation and descriptions of those documents which would be relevant to such litigation,' it forewarned.
Michael Vance is accused of sexually assaulting a girl, 15, in addition to double homicide and auto-theft
An 'HIV-positive gunman' accused of decapitating his aunt and uncle and streaming his rampage on Facebook has a hit list containing the names of several more people, it has been claimed.
A massive man hunt is underway for Michael Vance, who Oklahoma police fear wants to spread the sexually transmitted disease.
On Tuesday, it was revealed the 38-year-old was facing court next month for allegedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.
Now investigators have voiced fears for the safety of those on Vance's list.
He went on the run in a stolen police car on Sunday after shooting two police officers, murdering his aunt and uncle and shooting four other people.
Vance live streamed some of the crime spree in videos on Facebook, proudly showing off his AK-47 in the front seat of two stolen cars.
Scroll down for video
In his Facebook live videos, Vance proudly showed off his AK-47 rifle
Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel told The Oklahoman newspaper: 'Obviously, as long as he isn't apprehended, we're extremely concerned about those he may have indicated that he wishes harm to.
'Most of those are outside of Oklahoma County.'
He said protection is being provided for the people on Vance's hit list. The FBI is coordinating the manhunt alongside several federal, state and local agencies, but is releasing few details for fear of tipping Vance off.
His alleged teenage victim told police in July how he had rubbed her back, put his hands in her underwear and began kissing her, an arrest affidavit states.
He was due to appear in Lincoln County Court on November 7 and may have been referencing the impending charges when he said in his Facebook videos that he had been 'set up', 9 news reported.
Vance fled on Sunday after officers were called to reports of shots fired in Wellston, Oklahoma, at 7pm.
When they arrived they exchanged fire with the man, shooting him in the stomach.
Neither of the officers suffered life-threatening injuries. Despite being shot, Vance fled in their police truck.
He then went to a nearby trailer park where he stole a Lincoln towncar and shot at one of the mobile homes parked. No one was seriously hurt.
Vance killed Ronald and Valerie Kay Wilkinson, his uncle and aunt, on Sunday night
Vance's crime spree began on Sunday in Wellston, Oklahoma, where he shot two police officers at 7pm
The stolen car was found in the nearby town of Luther at around 9pm. It had been abandoned and inside the trunk were the dead bodies of Ronald Everett Wilkson, 55, and Valerie Kay Wilkson, 54, Vance's aunt and uncle.
The couple had both suffered deep wounds to the neck which suggested Vance had tried to sever their heads, police said.
He is thought to have fled the crime scene in a 2007 Grey Mitsubishi Eclipse with Oklahoma plates 946-LQQ.
At 2.45am, police received reports that a man had attempted to carjack an RV in the town of Sayre, and a man was shot in the leg. He was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Sayre Police Chief Ronnie Harrold said the man identified Vance as the man who shot him.
The arrest warrant for Vance also includes charges of an unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm after former conviction of a felony.
After shooting the officers at 7pm on Sunday, Vance made the first of two videos he streamed live on Facebook.
In it, he appeared in a blood-soaked t-shirt.
'It hurts, it sucks. America, you knew this would happen. That I would get my guns and... you're lucky it went down this way.
Vance (above in a 2010 mugshot for a separate crime) was due to face court next month for child sex abuse charges
Neither of the two policemen shot were seriously injured. Above, the scene in Wellston where the crime spree began
'I was coming for you. This is more intense than I thought it was going to be to say the least.
'This truck is about dead. I need to get out of the road. I'm about to steal another car. Like, right now.'
Vance is feared to have returned to the central Oklahoma area on Monday
In a second video, he said: 'This ain't a joke. This ain't a prank. This is where it gets interesting.
'If you want to know what happens next, stay tuned to your local news channel.'
At 11.30am on Monday, Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office issued a warning that he may have returned to the central Oklahoma area.
They issued an alert warning Vance has a 'medical condition' which he wants to 'spread' but would not give further details.
9 news cited investigators claiming he is HIV-positive.
Another person at the house in Wellston, where the first incident occurred, was also arrested. It is not known what their role is in Vance's spree or if they have one.
He was last seen driving on I-40 in the early hours of Monday morning prompting fears he may be returning to the central Oklahoma area.
Half of all the criminal cases going before juries in the Crown Courts now involve sex abuse charges, senior lawyers said today.
They said there has been a boom in sexual cases since the Jimmy Savile scandal broke and warned that trials of historic sex charges are fraught with legal and practical difficulties.
They called for a time limit on historic sex abuse cases so that no allegations based on events more than 12 years ago or 20 years in the case of children can be the basis for criminal charges.
The warning over the increasing burden of sex abuse and historic sex abuse trials was made in the journal of the Bar Council, the professional body of barristers.
There has been a boom in sexual cases since the Jimmy Savile scandal broke, with half of all criminal cases involving abuse charges
Richard Jory QC and Sam Jones, both prominent criminal lawyers with long experience both prosecuting and defending in sex cases, said in the journal Counsel that it was time for a fundamental reappraisal of how we deal with such cases.
Powerful evidence of unease at the top of the legal profession comes at a time of continuing turmoil in the Governments inquiry into historic child sex abuse, which is now on its fourth chairman and racked with controversy over the extent of the allegations it should pursue.
The latest scandals to afflict the inquiry centre on the behaviour of its latest departed chairman, Dame Lowell Goddard, and its senior lawyer Ben Emmerson QC, who left after being suspended last month.
The Metropolitan Police Operation Midland inquiry into historic sex abuse allegations made by a credible and true witness against a series of highly-placed individuals has collapsed into debacle, with police apologies to, among others, former Chief of Defence Staff Lord Bramall, whose home was raided by police during the investigation, and Lady Brittan, widow of former Home Secretary and suspect Lord Brittan.
Police have to apologise to, among others, the wife of former Home Secretary and suspect Lord Brittan (pictured)
The 2 million inquiry is the subject of a scathing independent report which has yet to be published and the Commissioner who presided over the Met during the affair, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, announced his retirement last month.
The two barristers said in their analysis that since the Savile scandal opened in the autumn of 2012 there has been a surge in complaints.
They added that this, couple with a system that generally permits the cases to proceed to the Crown Court, has led to a leap in prosecutions.
More than half of all cases now heard in the Crown Court concern sexual allegations, and the proportion is increasing.
There are no official statistics that break down the nature of Crown Court trials, in which the most serious criminal allegations are put before judge and jury.
Chairman of the Government's inquiry, Dame Lowell Goddard, resigned after being suspended
The two barristers are understood to have based their estimate on figures available within the legal profession and the opinions of colleagues.
However the claim goes alongside a count of cases that go before magistrates assembled by the Ministry of Justice that shows numbers of sex charges up by more than 35 per cent since the spring of 2013.
All serious cases must be put to magistrates before they are sent for trial in the Crown Courts.
There were 9,239 sexual offences which went before magistrates in England and Wales in the year to March 2013, but 12,525 in the year to March 2016.
The two barristers said in their Counsel article: At a time when overall cases prosecuted have been steadily decreasing, those involving sexual allegations have been rising, and rising markedly.
The said that the demands placed on lawyers in the Crown Prosecution Service has in some areas reached crisis levels and specialist officers trained in fighting organised and international crime are now diverted to historic abuse cases, trying to track down witnesses from an earlier generation and medical and social records which no longer exist.
The barristers pointed to rules at the Crown Prosecution Service which are focused on the complainant, with little mention of the suspect.
Complaints of sex abuse almost always end in criminal charges against a suspect, the lawyers said. In reality, if a complaint with any detail is made, and there is no material that fundamentally undermines or contradicts the account, it will almost always overcome the evidential test.
The Commissioner who presided over the Met during the affair, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, also announced his retirement last month
Mr Jory and Mr Jones raised the cases of Jack Mount, a 97-year-old former boarding school head, who was cleared by juries in two trials before a judge ruled that his ill-health prevented him from facing a third, and of David Bryant, sentenced to six years in jail for raping a 13-year-old boy 40 years previously.
Mr Bryant, a retired fire chief, was freed this summer after evidence showed his accuser to be a liar and a fantasist.
The barristers said in Counsel: Historic complaints provide fertile territory for such miscarriages of justice. Research into he effect of the passage of time on memories, especially when punctuated by physical or mental trauma, shows how memories can disintegrate, change or become fluid with time.
They said every other European country imposes time limits on sex abuse claims, generally starting at 12 years and escalating to 20 years where the complainant is a child.
Kathleen Kane, the disgraced Pennsylvania Attorney General who was convicted of abusing her office, has been released on $75,000 bail after spending only two hours in jail.
On Monday afternoon, Kane, 50, was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs after being sentenced to 10 to 23 months for illegally leaking grand jury documents to embarrass a rival prosecutor and then lying about it under oath.
Kane was also sentenced to eight years of probation by a Montgomery County judge who said Kane's ego drove her to take down enemies and break the law.
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Former state Attorney General Kathleen Kane, pictured above leaving court in handcuffs after her sentencing Monday, was released two hours later on $75,000 bail
Next step: Kane's legal team has 30 days to appeal her convictions. She was sentenced Monday to 10 to 23 months in jail for perjury
Kane plans to appeal the verdict. Her defense team has 30 days to file the appropriate documents to get the process under way.
Marc Steinberg, one of the lawyers who represented Kane in the perjury case, said outside court Monday he thought the judge's sentence 'was an appropriate sentence', adding that he did not have 'any qualms about it', PennLive.com reported.
Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy on Monday said of Kane that she assumed an 'off with your heads' mentality as she ran the state's top law enforcement agency.
The judge called Kane a political 'neophyte' who failed to make the transition from campaigner to public servant after she took office.
'This case is about ego the ego of a politician consumed with her image from Day One,' Demchick-Alloy said. 'This case is about retaliation and revenge against perceived enemies who this defendant... felt had embarrassed her in the press.'
Kane, the first woman and first Democrat elected as the state's top prosecutor, was handcuffed in court and led out a side door.
She had been a stay-at-home mother, and former assistant county prosecutor, before using her husband's trucking fortune to run for statewide office in 2012. She quickly became a rising star in the state Democratic Party before her office devolved into turmoil as career prosecutors came and went.
Kane and her husband are now estranged and share custody of their teenage boys.
'Your children are the ultimate ... collateral damages. They are casualties of your actions,' the judge said. 'But you did that, not this court. '
Earlier Monday, Kane's 15-year-old son, Chris, pleaded for leniency while her former deputies described an office demoralized by her leadership and terrorized by 'Nixonian espionage'.
Kane, 50, had argued that the loss of her career, law license and reputation was punishment enough.
She had asked the judge to sentence her to probation or house arrest so she could be home to raise her sons.
Kane has been jailed for illegally disclosing details from a grand jury investigation to embarrass a rival and lying about it under oath
Kane asked for mercy for her children before she was sentenced for the sake of her two teen-age children
'I really don't care what happens to me,' Kane said during before leaning toward the defense table to grab tissues. 'There is no more torture in the world than to watch your children suffer and know you had something to do with it.'
The one-term attorney general said her younger son, 14-year-old Zachary, did not attend Monday's sentencing because 'he couldn't even bear it'.
Kane's family declined to comment after the sentencing.
Prosecutors called her crimes 'egregious' and pushed for jail time. They said a paranoid Kane ruined morale in the 800-person office and the wider law enforcement community through a calculated scheme to embarrass rival prosecutors who had left the office.
Kane didn't testify at her trial. She was convicted in August of two felony counts of perjury and seven misdemeanor charges, and she resigned the next day.
Kane was found to have acted in anger over a local newspaper article that accused her of dropping an investigation in politicans accepting bribes
Kane leaked, sealed, confidential grand jury documents to the media and then lied under oath
On Monday, former deputy Clarke Madden said in court that a dark cloud permeated every corner of the attorney general's office and victims, witnesses and other law enforcement agencies feared working with them.
'Through a pattern of systemic firings and Nixonian espionage, she created a terror zone in this office,' said Erik Olsen, a career prosecutor who is now the chief deputy attorney general.
Kane enjoyed mostly good press early on as she supported gay marriage, ramped up a child predator unit run by her twin sister and questioned her predecessor's handling of the Penn State sex assault case.
But turmoil inside the office became apparent as top deputies and career prosecutors headed for the doors. Kane's feud with one of them, Frank Fina, who had helped run the Penn State probe and other sensitive investigations, led to the leak.
Kane, taking aim at him, had a campaign consultant pass confidential files to a reporter about a corruption case Fina had declined to charge before he left the office. She then tried to frame someone else for the leak, aides testified at the perjury and obstruction trial.
Colin Powell has announced he is voting for Hillary Clinton in two weeks, while also condemning Donald Trump.
The former secretary of state said he is supporting Clinton while speaking at a business function in Long Island, New York, on Tuesday.
Powell said he believes the Democratic nominee will serve with 'distinction', and went on to cite her 'experience' and 'stamina', Newsday reports.
Colin Powell has announced he is voting for Hillary Clinton in two weeks, while also condemning Donald Trump
The 79-year-old then pivoted and went on the attack against Donald Trump, saying the Republican nominee is not qualified for the Oval Office.
He also said Trump, 'insults us every day', and accused him of 'selling people a bill of goods'.
With his decision, Powell will have voted for the Democratic nominee in each of the last three elections.
He publicly endorsed President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.
Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton sit with current Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department's Harry S. Truman Building September 3, 2014 in Washington DC
Colin Powell said Hillary Clinton will serve with 'distinction' if she becomes president. The two are pictured together in 2013
Newsday reporter Robert Brodsky tweeted news of Powell's announcement on Tuesday
Powell's endorsement of Clinton comes after he was seen to have called Trump a 'national disgrace' and an 'international pariah' in leaked emails.
Powell made the 'disgrace' and 'pariah' remarks in an email sent to ex-aide-turned-journalist Emily Miller on June 17 this year.
'(Trump) is in the process of destroying himself,' he added, 'no need for Dems to attack him. Paul Ryan is calibrating his position again.'
Former secretaries of state Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton chat at an event in September 2014
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell waves before arrival of President Barack Obama at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington DC on October 17, 2016
Powell wrote again to Miller on August 21 complaining about Trump's involvement in the birther movement, which claimed Obama was not, in fact, born in America.
'Yup, the whole birther movement was racist,' he wrote. 'That's what the 99% believe.
'When Trump couldn't keep that up he said he also wanted to see if the certificate noted that he was a Muslim.
Hillary Clinton says allegations that her family charity misallocated funds for Haitian relief efforts are 'false rumors.'
'I'm really sorry that these false rumors have been started, and it is a shame,' Clinton said Tuesday during a radio interview with Miami's Rick Party.
A Donald Trump surrogate in June claimed she 'took in hundreds of millions of dollars for a hospital in Haiti that went to the Clinton Foundation, that was never built'.
The Washington Post's fact-checkers have rated the claim false.
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Hillary Clinton says allegations that her family charity misallocated funds for Haitian relief efforts are 'false rumors'
The accusation, made by The Trump Organization's lawyer Michael Cohen on CNN, came up during Clinton's interview today with a Miami radio host and his crew.
Miami has a large Haitian population, the Hot 105 host noted. They want to know about 'the money that was allocated for Haiti and the Clinton Foundation' after a 2010 earthquake devastated the country.
'What do you have to say to the Haitian community that could shed light and just kind of ease their minds?'
Clinton said, 'Im really sorry that these false rumors have been started, and it is a shame because I feel very strongly about Haiti.
'Its always had a special place in both my husbands and my hearts, and its also an important neighbor with a lot of ties, as you know so well, to people in this country.'
The Democratic White House candidate, who is campaigning in Florida today, said, 'We helped to raise a lot of money to provide relief. It was actually a great effort. The Clinton Foundation raised $30 million in aid, helped other people raise tens of millions of dollars. '
That money continues to help small businesses and framers, she said, despite Hurricane Matthew. It also went to 'emergency needs like medical supplies and tents and basic needs being addressed' as well as nonprofit groups and faith organizations.
'Not a single penny not a single penny was kept by the foundation for overhead, for salaries or anything. It was just a total pass-through.'
Continuing, Clinton said that since then, 'the Clinton Foundation has continued to support the economic recovery and rebuilding of Haiti' through scholarships and intern programs.
'So we have no political engagement with the government of Haiti. Its all focused on empowering people,' she said. 'And there still is a lot of work to do, so I hope people will not listen to false rumors but will really work with us to help the people of Haiti.'
The Democratic White House candidate, who is campaigning in Florida today, said on the interview, 'We helped to raise a lot of money to provide relief. It was actually a great effort
Hillary Clinton was in charge of the State Department at the time of the earthquake. She joined her husband's charity in 2013 after she vacated the office.
The Clintons have been accused of treating the State Department like a cash cow. Hillary and Bill are said to have directed millions in rebuilding contracts to Clinton Foundation donors and friends after the 2010 earthquake.
The quid-pro-quo allegedly saw the charity receive additional payments from those same donors that funded glitzy get-togethers.
The foundation itself raised $30 million for the effort. A housing project that received $2 million in funding never came through.
Wikileaks emails described the preferential treatment the Clinton Foundation gave to 'Friends of Bill' the former president's inner circle when awarding redevelopment contracts in Haiti.
Those awards often led to a swifter current of cash back to the Clintons' family foundation, and in some cases appeared linked to lucrative speaking engagements that later flowed to Bill Clinton personally.
'The Clintons couldn't stop cashing in,' Donald Trump charged at rally earlier this month.
Trump claimed, 'As people were dying in Haiti, Clinton insiders were separating out requests from "friends Of Bill" or "William Jefferson Clinton VIPs" so that their business interests or contracts would receive very special treatment.'
'People who were labeled "Not friends of Bill" were placed very much on the sidelines.'
The Republican White House candidate said, 'We should never forget how Bill and Hillary Clinton handled Haiti the last time out,' he said. 'To all of our friends in Haiti ... your day of justice is coming, and it arrives on November 8.'
At the final presidential debate he said the Clintons were running a 'criminal enterprise.'
'I was at Little Haiti in Florida, and I tell you they hate the Clintons because of what's happened in Haiti with the Clinton Foundation, it is a disgrace.'
He looked at the former secretary of state and charged, 'You know it. They know it. Everybody knows it.'
Moderator Chris Wallace had said to Clinton that 'those seeking grants for Haiti relief were considered separately from non-donors, and some of those donors got contracts government contracts, taxpayer money.
At the final presidential debate Trump told Clinton, 'I was at Little Haiti in Florida, and I tell you they hate the Clintons because of what's happened in Haiti with the Clinton Foundation, it is a disgrace'
'Can you really say that you kept your pledge to that Senate committee? And why isn't what happened and what went on between you and the Clinton Foundationwhy isn't it what Mr. Trump calls "pay to play?" '
Clinton said, 'Well, everything I did as secretary of state was in furtherance of our country's interests and our values. The State Department has said that. I think that's been proven.'
Addressing the overarching allegations against the foundation, Clinton said, 'We spend 90 per cent of all the money that is donated on behalf of our programs of people around the world and in our own country. I'm very proud of that.
'We have the highest rating from the watchdogs and would be happy to compare what we do with the Trump Foundation, which took money from people and bought a six-foot portrait of Donald. I mean, who does that? It's just astonishing.'
She further noted that the Clinton Foundation had raised $30 million to go toward earthquake relief.
Outrage is building in Germany after it was revealed that a Syrian refugee is claiming social benefits for his FOUR wives and 22 children.
Ghazia A. - whose full name has not been disclosed - fled Syria in 2015 and headed to Germany via Turkey, accompanied by his four wives and 23 children - but one of the daughters has now married and is currently living in Saudi Arabia.
According to Muslim tradition, a man is allowed to have up to four wives as long as he can support them financially.
Germany does not officially recognize polygamy but is footing the bill for his clan nonetheless.
He lives in Montabaur (pictured) - hometown of kamikaze Germanwings pilot Andreas Lubitz who killed 148 people last year
Ghazia had to choose one of the women as an 'official' wife in order for him and the rest of the family to claim social benefits.
He opted for his 'main' wife Twasif and five children, while the other three women have been officially labelled his 'partners' by authorities.
He lives in Montabaur - hometown of kamikaze Germanwings pilot Andreas Lubitz who achieved infamy last year after seizing the controls of a jetliner he was co-piloting to crash it into the French Alps, killing himself and another 148 people on board.
His other three wives had to split their children between them and were moved into various neighboring communities.
A neighbor of Ghazia told Bild that he is often absent from his 'main' family while visiting other wives and children.
'According to our religion I have the duty to visit each family equally and not to prioritize any of them,' Ghazia A. told Bild.
The story has caused a storm on social media. 'Of course, the #Syrian (49) lives with his 4 women & 22 children from #Social benefits, from what else?!' one person noted in a tweet.
A German financial manager released his calculation of what the German state is paying to the entire family annually. On the website of the Employers' Association he estimated that the refugees are getting roughly 360,000 Euro per year.
But there is no official confirmation on what they receive.
Ghazia A. - whose full name has not been disclosed - fled Syria in 2015 and headed to Germany via Turkey, accompanied by his four wives and 23 children (file image of refugees)
'I am practically always on my way to be with my family yet I would gladly like to work,' added Ghazia A.
Back in his home country he used to earn money with his car sharing and car service business which covered raising his extended clan.
Some people believe the case reflects the 'new reality' in Germany since it opened its doors to over a million people.
'The new reality in the big canton nice Friday to you all. My neighbour has 4 women and 23 children,' one message said.
Another one claimed that the 'the Syrian with 4 women and 23 children is now being sold to us as a new normality.'
The horrifying moment four people were killed on a ride at Dreamworld theme park was captured on CCTV.
Police said they would be looking at the footage to piece together the final moments before two men, aged 35 and 38, and two women, aged 42 and 32, were killed on the Thunder River Rapids ride on the Gold Coast.
The victims were identified as Canberra woman Kate Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Dorsett, 35, his partner Roozi Araghi, 38, and their friend, Cindy Low, 42, who is originally from New Zealand but had been living in Sydney.
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Police confirmed after the tragedy they would be looking at the footage to piece together the final moments before two men and two women were killed on the Thunder River Rapids
The 42-year-old was from New Zealand but was a long-term resident of Sydney.
Inspector Todd Reid said on Tuesday the incident had been captured on CCTV.
'We are now working with the park to determine how this tragic incident has occurred,' he said.
'There is CCTV footage available and that will be reviewed as part of the investigation.'
There had been earlier reports that the ride had broken down earlier in the day but Insp Reid could not confirm if this was the case.
Dreamworld remains closed as more than 30 investigators analyse the scene.
Inspector Todd Reid said on Tuesday the incident had been captured on CCTV. Pictured is the scene
There had been earlier reports that the ride had broken down earlier in the day but Insp Reid could not confirm if this was the case
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the investigators would remain at the scene of the Gold Coast theme park on Wednesday and take statements from witnesses.
'Today, the focus will turn to the ride itself and what policies and procedures were in place for that particular ride,' she told the 7News.
A malfunction with the ride's conveyor belt is suspected to have caused the raft to flip, crushing and drowning the group of four.
Clinton aides planned to make a joke about President Barack Obama being from Kenya in a fictional e-mail thread they wanted to use as part of a strategy to handle Hillary Clinton's email scandal.
In an attempt to make Clinton's private server seem filled with unimportant emails, the aides, including Jon Lovett and Jennifer Palmieri, thought of a plan to make a fictional thread of emails between Clinton, Republican presidential candidates, Obama and others.
Their plan was to print out the emails - all with fictional email addresses - and have them jokingly presented by Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton ally, at an unknown date and time.
Obama's email address in the joke thread featured an extra kicker - it showed his address being rooted in Kenya with a '.co.ke' as a domain address suffix: BarackH@gmail.co.ke.
In an attempt to downplay Hillary Clinton's private server, her aides planned to make a fictional thread of emails and play them off as a joke
The plan was to print out the emails and have them jokingly presented by Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe is a longtime Clinton ally
Obama's email address in the joke thread featured a '.co.ke' domain address suffix, meaning it was from a Kenya domain
The thread also featured jokes about Chris Christie emailing Bruce Springsteen and George Bush's future in the White House
Other fictional addresses included JoeyBiden@geocities.com for Joe Biden, HRod16@clintonemail.com for Clinton, MackerVAgov@gmail.com for McAuliffe, JerseyBoyChrisC@yahoo.com for Chris Christie, and GWBush43@altavista.com and JebBush45@gmail.com for George and Jeb Bush respectively.
The tagline for the proposed strategy was: 'Everybody knows Hillary got in trouble for using her personal email. But it was truly personal.'
A fake email from Biden to Obama shows the vice president getting his hand stuck in a vending machine.
'OK, I cann barely type this but my hand i sstuck insdie the vendign machine aand if I let go I lose the snickers, tell me what to do boss,' the satirical email reads.
In another, Clinton asks McAuliffe about going to yoga together.
'We still on for yoga? Want to get my shavasana on,' she writes.
A fake email from Biden to Obama shows the vice president getting his hand stuck in a vending machine
In the end, the Clinton and McAuliffe's (pictured together above) aides admit they're struggling to make the satirical email chain work as a joke
In one satirical email, Christie is seen haplessly emailing rock legend Bruce Springsteen.
'I miss you. I miss talking to you. Forget it, I'm just kidding. I shouldn't have sent this. Unless you agree. Call me?' the email says.
A fake email from George W Bush to Jeb Bush, shows the brothers discussing George's future role in the White House - and offered a sideswipe insult towards a Supreme Court justice.
'Miss u, bro. By the way I asked dad's lawyer friend (Clarence Thomas) and you're wrong: nothing in the constitoosh says I can't be VICE president,' the email says.
In the end, the Clinton and McAuliffe's aides admit they're struggling to make the satirical email chain work as a joke.
'We're trying to work with them to get something in that indicates that she's in on the joke here, we'll see what they come up with,' the email says.
The plan was never put into action. If it had been it would have caused major difficulty to subsequent attacks Clinton leveled against Donald Trump for 'birtherism'.
She called him racist for refusing persistently asking if the president had actually been born in the United States.
'He has a long record of engaging in behavior. And the lie was a very hurtful one,' she said in the first presidential debate, in September.
An email from George to Jeb Bush, shows George saying there's nothing holding him back from being vice president in the future
The WikiLeaks disclosure is part of a trove of thousands of John Podesta's emails that were hacked from his account this year.
The Obama administration has pointed a finger at Russian intelligence services, claiming Vladimir Putin's government is plotting to prevent Clinton from winning the White House.
Clinton's email saga began in March 2015 and has spiraled into multiple congressional investigations and a lengthy FBI probe.
It took 50 years and 2,000 miles of ocean, but a message tossed into the sea as a prank has finally made its way home, thanks to a curious holidaymaker's one-man mission to fulfill a mysterious request.
Clint Buffington, of Utah, was holidaying on the Turks and Caicos Islands near the Bahamas in May 2011 when he happened across a message in a weathered glass bottle, ABC News reported.
That message had a cryptic address and a promise of $150 for whoever would deliver it. Buffington knew he had to try - little suspecting it would take him four years to complete his journey.
Happy returns: Clint Buffington (left) of Utah flew to Paula Pierce (right) of New Hampshire to return the letter (center) her father had thrown into the sea more than 50 years before
Message in a bottle: Buffington found the bottle (left, with message right) on the Turks and Caicos Islands near the Bahamas. It promised $150 if returned to 'Tina' on 'Ocean Blvd'
A hunter and collector of beached bottled letters, Buffington has found 80 so far - but this one was different.
'I've never given one back to someone,' he said. 'But in this case I knew it was the right thing to do. Just imagine it was a letter from your parents.'
Though the paper was mottled and smudged from years at sea, he was able to make out a message.
'Return to 419 Ocean Boulevard and receive a reward of 150 dollars from Tina, the owner of Beachcomber,' the paper read.
He set about searching for 'Tina,' but with no surname and an Ocean Boulevard in seemingly every beach town, the going was tough.
Discovery: Tina Tsiatsios had died in the years between, but Buffington (pictured after finding the bottle) tracked down her daughter, Pierce. The bottle had floated 2,000 miles
He used his blog, 'Message in a Bottle Hunter,' to canvass opinion on what 'the Beachcomber' might be, and where it could be found.
As he honed in on Hampton, New Hampshire, his investigation spread out into the real world, as he contacted local authorities for documents.
Eventually he found the deed of sale for a plot of land to Paul and Tina Tsiatsios, who then built the Beachcomber Motel there.
Joke: Pierce (pictured) says her dad wrote the message as a prank on her mom. However, she still paid Buffington the $150 he had been promised
They had since died - in 1990 and 1980, respectively - but their daughter, Paula Pierce, was still in the area.
Buffington - apparently finding the US postal system less trustworthy than the Atlantic Ocean - decided to deliver the message personally, flying it 2,000 more miles from Utah to New Hampshire.
Pierce was delighted to recognize her father's handwriting.
The message was, she believes, probably a prank on her mother.
'The joke part of it was that rooms were going for 15 or 20 dollars a night back then, and that was a lot,' she said. 'So 150 dollars was a lot of money back then.'
'It was a very sweet gesture, he was trying to tease her,' she added.
She later discovered that her father had told her husband about the letter - saying that he threw the bottle in the sea in 1960 - but that the secret had been kept until now.
County Leaders Want To Keep More Nonviolent Defendants Out Of Jail While They Await Trial
By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 25, 2016 6:16PM
Photo credit: Gary Eckstein
In the wake of a class-action lawsuit that alleges discrimination against the poor in the countys bond system, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and four commissioners are calling for reductions in pretrial incarceration of nonviolent offenders.
Preckwinkle and the reforms supporting commissionersRichard Boykin (Oak Park), Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (Chicago), Peter Silvestri (Elmwood Park) and John Fritchey (Chicago)announced on Monday a hearing, set for Nov. 17 to consider the issue.
"I support the commissioners' call to bring clarity and visibility to this issue, and I urge all of our stakeholders to continue working together and continue to reduce unnecessary pretrial detention, Preckwinkle said in a statement.
According to the Tribune, the commissioners directly cited a recent lawsuit in which two jailed plaintiffs are suing five Circuit Court judges along with Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart for unreasonably high bail parameters.
Many, many people in the Cook County jail are there because they cant pay bail, and they are kept behind bars, even though they havent been convicted of anything, lawyer Alexa Van Brunt told The Daily Northwestern last week.
Sally Daly, a spokesperson for the States Attorneys Office, told the Tribune that the department has been utilizing alternative programming for nonviolent detainees while working with Darts office to expedite such cases.
But proponents of reform argue the county should go further. "This is a question of fairness," Silvestri said in a statement. "We are still innocent until proven guilty in this country. If you are guilty of a crime you should be incarcerated. If you are awaiting trial and there is no finding of guilt, and the nature of the crime does not present a threat to the public, we should not be expending public money on the jail."
A 14-year-old boy shot another teenager twice and left him critically injured after the pair got into an argument outside a middle school in Utah, authorities said.
Police arrested the suspected shooter after the incident in a park behind Union Middle School in Sandy on Tuesday afternoon.
Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger said the 16-year-old victim was taken by ambulance to hospital and is in critical condition.
A 14-year-old boy shot another teenager twice after the pair got into an argument outside a middle school in Utah, authorities said. Above, officials investigate the scene of the shooting
Kalani Matthews, 17, center, sits with friends across the street from Union Middle School
He was in surgery on Tuesday evening.
Nobody else was hurt, but dozens of students from the middle school witnessed the shooting.
It occurred just as the students were leaving school for the day at around 3pm, Carriger said.
Detectives were interviewing those students to determine what led to the argument and why the suspect shot the other.
The school, about 15 miles south of Salt Lake City, was briefly put on lockdown. It was lifted at around 4pm.
The suspected shooter is a student at the middle school. The victim is not, Carriger said.
Principal Kelly Tauteoli hugs a woman outside of Union Middle School after the shooting
People are pictured outside Union Middle School in Sandy after the shooting on Tuesday
Police are also trying to find out if the suspect had the gun during school or if he got it after school.
One witness told Fox 13 that the two boys had been about to fight in a park near the school, when one pulled out a gun.
The shooter fired one shot at the victim, then when he fell, fired again.
He then sat down on the ground and started crying, the witness said.
The second man spent time in the vicinity after the alleged attack
One man is accused of wiping her face before stealing her purse
The alleged victim was selling magazines when she was approached
Two men are accused of robbing woman with cerebral palsy in Melbourne
A woman with cerebral palsy was robbed by two thugs as she sold magazines in the street.
The woman was standing outside a restaurant on the corner of Swanston and Londsdale streets in Melbourne city at 2.10pm on Monday when she was attacked, police said.
Police released CCTV images of two men wanted in connection with the robbery.
Two men approached a woman with cerebral palsy before one man allegedly stole her purse
One man is accused of approaching the woman and wiping her face as he rummaged through her belongings, taking her purse and putting it in his back pocket.
The woman was unable to call for help due to her medical condition, Victoria police said.
The man was described as being of Aboriginal appearance, and was carrying shopping bags and wearing a hooded camouflage cargo jacket, white t-shirt and beanie.
The second man was smoking and stayed in the area of the robbery for some time after it happened.
He is described as of Caucasian appearance with a slim build.
He was wearing a grey hooded vest, denim shorts, black leggings and grey runners with fluorescent green laces.
He also has a distinctive mohawk haircut with shaved sides and a long goatee, as well as a bandaged elbow.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Theresa May told bankers before the referendum that firms would leave the UK if the country voted for Brexit, a previously unheard recording has revealed.
A month before the EU referendum, the then-home secretary told an audience that leaving the single market would threaten jobs.
Speaking to investment bankers at Goldman Sachs, she said that global companies would think twice about investing in the UK if we left.
Theresa May warned that companies would leave Britain if it voted to leave the EU while giving a private audience at investment bank Goldman Sachs in London (pictured) on May 26
The comments, revealed in the Guardian, are stronger than her more nuanced public position during the referendum campaign.
Although she was a Remain supporter, No 10 was worried about her lukewarm support for EU membership.
Downing Street sought to play down the remarks today, insisting Mrs May had said during the campaign that there were 'opportunities and risks' to leaving the EU.
'The Prime Minister is focused now on making sure it is the opportunities that we seize,' Mrs May's spokeswoman said.
But Labour said it represented 'cast-iron evidence' of how ministers had been two-faced over cutting ties with Brussels.
Shadow minister Andrew Gwynne said: 'As if we needed it, this recording is cast-iron evidence of how Theresa May and other senior Tories have been saying one thing in private about the economic impact of Brexit, and another in the comfort of Tory conference halls.
'It's plain that she recognises what a disaster it would be for Britain to lose access to the Single Market, so why doesn't she be honest with the British people and say how she plans to retain it?'
Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer was among the political opponents seizing on the video of Theresa May
Aides to Mrs May, seen leaving for PMQs in the Commons today, have insisted she is determined to make a success of Brexit
The recording reveals Mrs May had numerous concerns about Britain leaving the EU. She appeared to go further than her public remarks to explain more clearly the economic benefits of staying in the EU when speaking at the bank in London on 26 May.
She told staff the UK should be taking a lead in Europe, and that she hoped voters would look to the future rather than the past.
She also worried about the effect of Brexit on the British economy in the hour-long session before the City bankers. 'I think the economic arguments are clear,' she said. 'I think being part of a 500-million trading bloc is significant for us.
She said at the Conservative party conference (pictured) she wanted to prioritise reducing immigration over being part of the single market
'I think, as I was saying to you a little earlier, that one of the issues is that a lot of people will invest here in the UK because it is the UK in Europe.
'If we were not in Europe, I think there would be firms and companies who would be looking to say, do they need to develop a mainland Europe presence rather than a UK presence? So I think there are definite benefits for us in economic terms.' Mrs May also told the bankers she was convinced it was best for Britain's security to remain in Europe because of tools such as the European arrest warrant.
Last night's disclosures could prove embarrassing for the Prime Minister.
Her warning about the importance of the UK's membership of the EU contrasts her position in recent weeks.
She said at the Tory party conference she wanted to prioritise reducing immigration over being in the single market.
A No 10 spokesman said: 'Britain made a clear choice to vote to leave the EU and this government is determined to make a success of the fresh opportunities it presents.
'David Davis made very clear in the House of Commons last week the importance the government places on financial services across the UK in the negotiation to come, as has the Chancellor in recent weeks.'
Last night Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: 'It is disappointing that Theresa May lacked the political courage to warn the British public as she did a a group of bankers in private about the devastating economic effects of Brexit.
'But far more disappointing is that now she is supposedly in charge, she is blithely ignoring her own dire warnings and is prepared to inflict an act of monumental self-harm on the UK economy by pulling Britain out of the single market.
'She is doing so purely to satisfy the uncaring, divisive and extremist voices around her own Cabinet table.
A furious driver has been caught punching a motorist in a shocking road rage attack in Perth.
The attack took place at around 10am on Wednesday on Leach Highway at the intersection with Murdoch Drive, according to 7 News.
A passing motorist captured the moment fists started to fly, saying it appeared as if the driver of the white pickup had rear-ended the other man.
This is the shocking moment a furious motorist pummeled a fellow driver after he was apparently rear-ended during morning traffic in Perth
The video shows one driver, wearing a fluorescent jacket, standing outside the other motorist's open window.
As the footage starts he is already raining blows through the open window as an object, which appears to be a phone, comes flying out.
At least six punches are thrown, though it is not known how long the fight had been going on for before the video started.
Footage shows the attacker raining at least six blows down on his victim, though it is not clear how long the fight had been going on before the film started
Police say no incident matching the footage has yet been reported to them, and they are encouraging the victim to come forward
It is also not known how long the fight lasted for, or how badly injured the victim was during the confrontation.
Western Australia Police have reviewed the footage, but say no incident has yet been reported to them.
Millions of families could face an increase in their council tax bills to pay for the influx of migrants from Calais, town halls warned last night.
Local authorities are expected to receive almost 40,000 a year from the Home Office for every young refugee they care for.
But they say the real cost can reach up to 133,000.
Don't come here: Now the Jungle is being emptied but some of the migrants could be a burden on council tax payers in Britain
Councils claim austerity measures, which have seen their budgets cut by 18billion since 2010, mean they are unable to cover the shortfall.
It led to a warning last night from a local government chief that householders could face rising council tax bills if their town hall takes in migrants.
At least one in four cash-strapped councils is said to be refusing to take lone child migrants from the Jungle camp in Calais because of a row over funding.
David Simmonds, chairman of the Local Government Associations asylum, refugee and migration task group, said: How are the public going to feel if in a years time we are saying sorry we have got to close the library or close childrens centres because we have taken in refugee children and the Government is not willing to pay for it?
It isnt right that local taxpayers could see rising bills to pay for things which are entirely a consequence of national actions.
Councils are responsible for all costs with lone asylum seekers right up until the age of 25
David Simmonds (pictured) said determining a migrants true age was educated guesswork
He also warned that Government funding has been guaranteed for only a year.
Councils are responsible for all costs associated with lone child asylum seekers up until the age of 25, and many are already struggling to cope.
The number of young migrants has risen by 54 per cent in a year because of the spiralling migration crisis.
At least 3,472 unaccompanied children were seeking asylum at the end of June.
Council chiefs expect hundreds more child refugees from Calais in the coming weeks, putting an additional strain on resources.
A voluntary Government scheme was launched in July urging councils to take a quota of the unaccompanied children.
But three of the nine regional local authority areas in England have yet to sign up to the scheme, according to a report by Leicestershire County Council.
Due to the varying number of councils within the regions it could mean as many as 76 and at least 38 of the countrys 152 local authorities are opting out.
Many of the migrants in the Jungle (pictured) want to come to Britain and, while they could eventually become taxpayers, they will initially be a burden on the system
Leicestershire is refusing to sign up to the arrangement over concerns that it would have to pay more than 2million from its own coffers.
It said the Government grant makes no allowance for any other specialist costs that may be incurred such as educational psychology and special educational needs.
A spokesman for the council said the Government needed to resolve the serious funding and practical issues involved.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, which contains Prime Minister Theresa Mays constituency and has already taken in some Syrians, is not accepting any more children under the new scheme.
NOW TRAFFICKERS PUT UP FEES TO 13,500 People smugglers have increased the amount they are charging migrants to cross the Channel, a French immigration official said yesterday. Migrants are now paying up to 13,500 for places on speedboats bound for the UK. Jaoued Belmir, head of Frances Office of Immigration and Integration, said prices have risen because tougher security measures have made it harder for stowaways to reach Britain. Pre-arranged spots in the back of a lorry can cost up to 8,000 and traffickers can make up to 160,000 in a crossing by sneaking 20 migrants inside, according to Mr Belmir. Others are being quoted five-figure sums to make the trip by air with fake passports. Mr Belmir said the price rise has lead to a situation where most of them do not have the means to pay the smugglers. Advertisement
The 23 councils across the North West region will accept no more than 100 child refugees between them.
Town halls in other areas said they were still in discussion with the Home Office over the issue. The row comes after residents of a market town in North Devon said it was being used as a dumping ground for migrants from the Jungle.
Up to 70 young male refugees are to be housed on a tranquil woodland estate two miles from the small town of Great Torrington.
Meanwhile, local authorities have threatened to withdraw free health care, education and housing if they discover that migrants are lying about being under 18.
Mr Simmonds. himself a Conservative councillor in the London Borough of Hillingdon, said determining a migrants true age was educated guesswork and could end up in costly legal battles.
The age assessments have not been undertaken before they arrive in the care of a particular council, he said, adding that councils were given little time to find foster places.
The Home Office insists that all nine local authority regions in England are taking part in the scheme, which ensured that caring responsibilities are shared across the country.
A homeless man who stabbed Miranda Kerr's security guard in the eye after jumping the fence of her Malibu home has been charged with attempted murder on Tuesday.
Shaun Anthony Haywood hopped the fence to the model's Malibu home at 11.10am on October 14, slashing the guard in the face and arm before he was shot multiple times.
Haywood, who could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted, also faces two additional felonies including aggravated mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon, according to the LA County District Attorney's Office.
The 29-year-old intruder, who is a fellow Australian like Kerr, was trying to gain access to Kerr's home in order to deliver a letter, prosecutors said.
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Gruesome photos of the incident show a man kneeling over what appears to be a prone and shirtless Shaun Haywood, who had blood covering his head and torso
The guard shot Haywood four times after he scaled a fence onto Kerr's $2million Malibu property. Pictured, a gun at the scene covered in blood
Kerr, who lives with her five-year-old son at the Malibu ranch, was not at home during the incident. She is pictured in Los Angeles on September 10
Haywood was arraigned on Tuesday at the LA County Superior Court in Van Nuys, California.
Haywood managed to jump the fence earlier this month before grabbing the guard's knife and slashing him in the face, prosecutors said.
The guard then opened fire and shot Haywood four times, the LA County Sheriff's Office told DailyMail.com.
Gruesome photos of the incident show a man kneeling over what appears to be a prone and shirtless Haywood, who had blood covering his head and torso.
Kerr, who lives with her five-year-old son Flynn in the $2million Malibu ranch, was not home at the time of the intrusion.
'There were no occupants in the house at the time of this incident. The incident took place on the property, but not inside the house,' Sergeant James Braden said.
Shaun Haywood was charged with attempted murder after stabbing Kerr's security guard in the face. He is seen above being stretchered into an ambulance
A car that appears to have bullet holes through the windscreen was towed away
A broken wire fence around Miranda Kerr's home shows where the intruder allegedly got in
A vehicle that appeared to have bullet holes through the windshield was towed from the scene and both the security guard and the intruder were hospitalized.
The security guard was stabbed below the eye but was seen walking on to the LA County Sheriff's Department chopper unaided after the attack.
'Deputies responded to a shots fired call in Malibu. They discovered a security guard had been involved in a physical altercation with an intruder.
'The guard was stabbed in the facial injury and he had minor injuries.
'He produced a handgun and shot the intruder three to four times in the face and torso.
'Neither the guard nor the intruder has life threatening injuries,' said a police spokesman.
Later, as he arrived at hospital, the guard was seen walking from the gurney. Neither he nor the intruder suffered life-threatening injuries, police said
The Special Enforcement Bureau of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shared this photograph as the guard was airlifted to the hospital
The Special Enforcement Bureau of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shared a photograph as the guard was transported to hospital by air ambulance
The intruder was airlifted separately to a trauma center.
Kerr bought the four-bedroom home for a reported $2.15million after she divorced Lord of the Rings actor Orlando Bloom in 2013.
She invited Harper's Bazaar Australia for a tour of the 1960s ranch earlier this year, posing in backyard pool as well as on her acrylic grand piano.
But the model has reportedly been spending her time at a $12million sprawling mansion in Brentwood, Los Angeles, where she lives with her billionaire fiance, the 26-year-old Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel.
Fire fighters and police descended on the property in north Malibu on October 14
The intruder was airlifted to hospital. Above, emergency services working at the scene
The Australian model bought the property in 2014 following her split from Orlando Bloom
The intruder reportedly tried to climb a fence. Pictured is the gate outside the property
Kerr's intruder scaled her fence just one week after Kim Kardashian was held at gunpoint and robbed in her luxury apartment in Paris.
This is not the first time Kerr has been targeted.
When the 33-year-old was still married to Bloom, she was one of several celebrities robbed by a group of teenagers known as the Bling Ring.
Journalist Nancy Jo Sales, who wrote a book about the teens, said they stole Kerr's lingerie because they were obsessed with fame and wanted to look sexy.
In 2013, Steven Swanson was arrested after he called a dispatcher in Los Angeles and shared his plans to fly across the country with two handguns to 'rescue' the model.
Zac Goldsmith dramatically stepped down in protest yesterday at the catastrophic decision to expand Heathrow Airport.
As the Conservative MP announced his resignation last night, the Liberal Democrats vowed that the by-election sparked by his decision will be a vote on Brexit.
Party leader Tim Farron told the Mail he was confident of victory in the seat, Richmond Park, which the Lib Dems held as recently as 2010.
The Tories failed candidate for London mayor campaigned for Leave in Junes referendum, but his seat voted strongly for Remain giving the Lib Dems hope of victory.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, pictured, said the by-election in Richmond Park triggered by Zac Goldsmith's resignation would lead to a 'vote on Brexit'
However, Eurosceptics will be angry that Remainers plan to use the by-election as a re-run of the referendum.
Mr Goldsmith will stand as an independent, as the Tories announced they would not put up a candidate against him for fear of handing the seat to the Lib Dems.
Mr Goldsmith is a high-profile environmentalist and his constituency lies under the Heathrow flight path.
His decision reduces Theresa Mays precarious majority in the Commons still further from 12 to ten.
Mr Farron said yesterday: This will be a vote on Brexit and people should use this chance to send a message to the Government.
'Zac Goldsmith has failed Richmond Park on Heathrow and the Conservatives have betrayed the area on Brexit.
The Liberal Democrats will stand on our pro-European platform, as well as our outright opposition to a third runway.
The Prime Minister did not listen to Zac at all and ploughed on with Heathrow expansion.
She did not even bother to pretend to listen to him. But the Prime Minister will listen to a Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park.
Mr Goldsmith, pictured yesterday, will run as an independent and the Tories will not challenge him as they fear handing the seat to the Lib Dems
At the last election Mr Goldsmith had a majority of 23,000. The seat would fall to the pro-EU Lib Dems if they received the same swing as seen in Witney last week.
Yesterday former business secretary Vince Cable, who lost his seat last year, refused to rule out standing.
Speaking in Richmond last night, Mr Goldsmith insisted the fight to stop expansion was not over and insisted the by-election would be a chance to send a message to Government.
He said: I told you that if my party changed its position, I would trigger a by-election and give you a chance to vote again.
A Pennsylvania woman accused of torturing her toddler son by burning him with cigarettes and the boyfriend accused of laughing about it have entered guilty pleas in the case.
Anna Russell, 19, and Enrique Soto, 25, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Allegheny County in East Pittsburgh to aggravated assault, child endangerment and related crimes.
Authorities say at least 15 burns were inflicted August 1 on the now-two-year-old boy and were discovered a week later when his grandmother took him to Children's Hospital.
Scabbed-over wounds were found on the toddler's face, chest, neck, back, left arm, left hand and both legs, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Anna Russell, 19, pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated assault and other crimes in the cigarette burning of her 2-year-old, above, in court in April
Enrique Soto appeared in court in April and declared that he was 'innocent' and 'loved his children'
The pair pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and other charges and will be sentenced in January
'[I]f an independent and prudent third party had witnessed this event they would believe that [the boy] was being tortured and that each burn would represent an agonizingly painful event that the child was experiencing,' the complaint said.
The boy's 3-year-old sister said that while this was happening, her mother said 'He's still alive' and Soto 'laughed a lot... a lot, a lot, a lot.'
While press reports describe Soto as Russell's boyfriend and do not make it clear whether or not he is the children's biological father, he called them 'my children' in a news video, and the judge in the case is pondering whether their parental rights should be permanently stripped.
In April, after a preliminary hearing, Soto shouted 'I'm innocent, I love my children' to a reporter for WTAE as he was escorted out of the courthouse handcuffed and in red prison garb.
The couple, who lived in Braddock, may lose permanent custody of their children, who were put into foster care after the abuse
Asked if he laughed while the child was being burned, he replied, 'No, ma'am. That's false.'
'He's not a monster. She's new to the family, but we love her. They is good people, good parents,' an unidentified woman said outside the courthouse.
The attorney for Russell, Veronica Brestensky, argued that the scabs on the boy that triggered his grandmother taking him to the hospital may not be cigarette burns after all, but scabs from bug bites. She said the original ER doctor could not identify the marks as burns.
However, according to WTAE, doctors who did an examination of the toddler 'found with a high degree of medical certainty that these wounds were consistent with cigarette burns.'
Arrested: Anna Russell (left), 19, and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Enrique Soto (right), are in the Allegheny County Jail on several charges including aggravated assault and conspiracy in East Pittsburgh
Police say the boy's three-year-old sister told them Russell burned him while Soto watched and laughed.
Russell and Soto are scheduled to be sentenced January 19.
Russell's attorney says a Family Court hearing is scheduled in December on whether to terminate the couple's parental rights to the children.
'I want to make sure that [any future child] isn't subject to the same kind of abuse,' Judge Cashman said during the hearing, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
According to the couple's Facebook pages, Russell worked at McDonald's and Soto at Subway.
Police say Russell tortured her 2-year-old son with at least 15 cigarette burns while Soto watched and laughed. The boy was taken to the Children's Hospital (above) a week later by his grandmother who discovered the burns
Doctors told police the burns were 'administered deliberately, in a chronological order, over a very short period of time in one sitting.'
The criminal complaint also says, 'Whoever inflicted these wounds upon [the boy] did so intentionally, knowingly and recklessly.'
Police interviewed the boy's 3-year-old sister on March 9 who told them Russell burned the boy while Soto watched and laughed during the incident.
When asked by police if Russell or Soto said anything while her brother was being burned, the little girl said her mother said 'He is still alive' of her brother.
The boy and his older sister were placed into foster care after the examination at the hospital.
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Dramatic pictures have emerged showing the apocalyptic aftermath of a deadly explosion that rocked a small Chinese village on Monday.
Streets and residential buildings at Dajingta village, in north-west China's Shaanxi province, were ripped apart by the huge blast which killed 14 people, reported People's Daily Online.
The explosion, which occurred in a residential compound, also destroyed a hospital, a kindergarten and left a 13-foot-wide and 6.5-foot-deep crater in the ground.
Apocalyptic: Dajingta village in north-west China's Shaanxi province was ripped apart by a deadly explosion yesterday
Destroyed: The huge blast occurred in a residential compound opposite to a hospital and near a kindergarten
Shocking: The five-storey hospital building was seriously damaged by the sheer power of the massive explosion
Reduced to rubble: The explosion damaged 63 cars and 58 houses, including a five-storey hospital and a kindergarten
The explosion occurred at around 2pm local time on Monday in a residential compound opposite to Xinmin Hospital.
Residents said the blast could have been caused by the explosives illegally stored in the compound, according to a previous report on Huanqiu.com, an affiliation to People's Daily Online.
An initial investigation indicated that the explosives were stored in a few prefabricated houses inside the compound.
The houses in question are owned by a local villager and were rented out in September.
The owner has been detained by the police and an investigation is under way.
Horrific: 14 people have been confirmed dead and 147 injured after rescue efforts concluded this morning. The streets of Dajingta village have been left in dire conditions
Huge impact: A 13-foot-wide and 6.5-foot-deep crater has been created by the powerful blast in north-west China
Damaged: An initial investigation indicated that the explosion had been caused by explosives stored in the residential area
The local fire brigade dispatched 10 fire engines and over 70 firefighters to search for survivors after they were informed of the accident at 2:06pm yesterday, said the Shaanxi General Fire Brigade in a statement.
Rescue efforts had mostly concluded as of 9 a.m. on Tuesday after firefighters freed the last victim trapped under the debris, according to Chinese media.
A total of 147 people were injured. Among them, 106 remain hospitalised as of Tuesday and 41 have returned home following treatment.
The explosion damaged 63 cars and 58 houses, including a five-storey hospital and a kindergarten.
The explosion occurred on October 24 in a residential compound at Dajingta village, in Xinmin town, Shaanxi province
Race against time: Rescue efforts had mostly concluded as of 9 a.m. on Tuesday after firefighters freed the last victim
Rescue effort: A total of 147 people were injured. Among them, 106 remain hospitalised as of Tuesday and 41 have gone home
Video footage taken after the blast showed survivors sustaining serious injuries as they left the explosion site soaked in blood.
An ER doctor from the a local hospital told reporters yesterday that they had received more than 30 patients from the explosion.
Most of them suffered minor injuries, said the doctor.
Elon Musk's futuristic Hyperloop transport system is a step close to becoming a reality.
The high-speed transportation system could eventually see passengers travelling from London to Manchester in 18 minutes or from New York to LA in 45 minutes.
Now, a group of students demonstrated their design for the pods, showing it levitating above the ground.
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A team of students from the University of Cincinnati looks on as their Hyperloop Prototype prepares to levitate
WHAT IS THE HYPERLOOP? Hyperloop is a proposed method of travel that would transport people at 740mph (1,200km/h) between distant locations. It was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes - half the time it takes a plane. It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum. The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes. Passengers would sit in either individual or group pods, which would then be accelerated with magnets. Capsules carrying six to eight people would depart every 30 seconds, with tickets costing around $20 (13) each way. The cost of building a line from LA to San Francisco has been estimated at $16 billion (10 billion) - although critics say it would be nearer $100 billion (65 billion). Advertisement
The Hyperloop UC team comes from the University of Cincinnati and is one of just 30 from an original 1,200 international teams that have been selected to officially test their designs in January.
The 14-foot-long (4.3-metre) vehicle was shown to hover around a quarter of an inch (0.6cm) above the ground, powered by eight miniature engines.
'Our pod is light-weight, modular and scalable and can travel up to 240mph,' Dhaval Shiyani, Founder, Team Captain and Chief engineer at Hyperloop UC told MailOnline.
'It features a dual redundant braking system with magnetic and friction brakes along with a dual redundant levitation system through magnetic levitation and wheels'.
'The levitation system works through strong magnetic arrays arranged in a circular pattern which, when rotated at high speeds, produce a lift force capable of levitating our entire 300kg system'.
Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk first unveiled his Hyperloop concept in 2012 and subsequently challenged the world to submit prototype ideas for the tube-based passenger system that would allow travel between cities at the speed of sound.
The selected prototypes will be tested between 27 and 29 January on a mile-long test track next to SpaceX's HQ in Hawthorne, California.
More than 60 students worked on the 'Hyperloop UC' prototype, which will be shipped to California to begin early track testing in early November ahead of the competition in January.
'We are very proud of the design we have created,' said Shiyani, Hyperloop UC's president and an international student from India.
'It hits all the marks with respect to performance, safety and scalability.
'Our education at UC has taught us well, and we are confident that we will be a force to reckon with come January.'
A render showing what the finalised Hyperloop UC pod will look like
Render of a concept design for the interior of the Hyperloop UC passenger pod
Levitating Hyperloop pods that hurtle through underwater tunnels at 1,220 kph (760 mph) could arrive in Dubai relatively soon.
While the idea is still being tested, Dubai has already partnered with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One to examine possible lines.
Hyperloop One is one of numerous companies developing pods for Musk's trasport concept.
A full-scale test of a Hyperloop system is expected in the first quarter of 2017.
In the first six months of this year, $10.7 billion in capital outflows went to foreign property markets, with 84 percent of it going to five global gateway cities which have good infrastructure, according to the global property consultancy Knight Frank.
The US was the top destination for Chinese capital, attracting $5.1 billion, with 80 percent of the money heading to New York. Let's take a look at the top five property investment destinations.
People enjoy the colorful scenery in Central Park, the New York City, Nov. 8, 2013. [Xinhua]
No 1 New York
The incident was reported by an unnamed worker at 'one of the big' US mobile networks
It may not just be the Samsung Note 7 that's in danger of catching fire.
That's according to a new report of one of the Korean firm's Galaxy S7 exploding.
According to one unnamed Galaxy S7 Edge user, the phone exploded while charging.
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A unnamed US phone user claims that their Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge exploded while it was charging overnight. The owner had recently turned in their Note 7, following the firm's massive product recall.
An unidentified worker from 'one of the big' US mobile networks claims that a customer brought in severely heat-damaged S7 Edge that had supposedly exploded, reports PhoneArena.
The owner of the phone is said to have been charging it overnight and had recently turned in their Note 7, following the firm's massive product recall.
The owner of the phone is said to have been charging it overnight and had recently turned in their Note 7, following the firm's massive product recall.
Samsung eventually recalled the product and ceased production entirely following numerous reports of the batteries overheating and exploding.
The latest report is not the first time that an S7 Edge is said to have exploded.
A man in Ohio recently sued Samsung after he claims that his handset overheating in his trousers last month, allegedly leaving him with second and third degree burns, reports PhoneArena.
The flagship S7 Edge has a 5.5-inch (14cm) screen, while the S7 has a 5.1-inch display. They both have other features seen in previous Galaxy devices that users missed in the S6 and S6 Edge (pictured)
The site has also reported on another S7 Edge owner who claimed that their phone exploded while charging overnight.
'We are unable to comment on this specific incident until we obtain and thoroughly examine the phone,' a Samsung spokesperson told MailOnline.
'Customer safety remains our highest priority and we want to work with any customer who has experienced an issue with a Samsung product in order to investigate the matter and support them'.
The troubled Korean technology firm eventually had to recall and cease production of its Galaxy Note 7 earlier this month.
A number of the replacement handsets sent out to customer were also reported to have overheated and melted. Pictured is Samsung Galaxy Note 7 which belonged to a 13-year-old in the US which 'melted in her hand' after overheating
After going on sale on 19 August, reports of overheating batteries began to trickle in.
The company initially began a replacement programme for buyers to exchange faulty handsets for new ones.
However, after reports of the replacement devices exploding, the firm was forced to ditch the product altogether.
With long flowing hair and rosy red cheeks, you might do a double take when you see Jia Jia, a humanoid robot.
Dubbed the 'robot goddess', Jia Jia is being taught deep learning abilities, including understanding human language, and detecting facial expressions.
The life-like cyborg was displayed at the 2016 World Robot Conference, where she pulled in huge crowds eager to see her abilities.
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Dubbed the 'robot goddess', Jia Jia is being taught deep learning abilities, including understanding human language, and detecting facial expressions. The life-like cyborg was displayed at the 2016 World Robot Conference, where she pulled in huge crowds
HOW DOES JIA JIA WORK? It took a team three years to complete the robot, which can speak, show micro-expressions, move its lips and body, yet seems to hold its head in a submissive manner. The humanoid is programmed to recognize human/machine interaction, has autonomous position and navigation and offers services based on cloud technology. This humanoid has natural eye movement, speech that is in sync with its lip movement and refers to its male creators as 'lords'. Advertisement
Jia Jia is the brain child of researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, who displayed her at the World Robot Conference in Beijing this week.
The humanoid robot is programmed to recognise human and machine interaction, with autonomous position navigation and services based on cloud technology.
At the event, JiaJia demonstrated her ability to communicate with humans, detecting facial expressions and responding to questions.
When asked by an audience-member 'What kind of skills do you have?', Jia Jia replied: 'I can talk with you. I can recognise faces. I can identify gender and age of people standing front of me, and I can detect your facial expressions.'
When asked by an audience-member 'What kind of skills do you have?', Jia Jia replied: 'I can talk with you. I can recognise faces. I can identify gender and age of people standing front of me, and I can detect your facial expressions'
But these skills are no mean feat for Jia Jia's developers.
Speaking to The Mirror, Lu Dongcai, who leads the Jia Jia project, said: 'There are a few challenges about her.
'Firstly, she has to receive not only language but also facial expressions.
Another human-like robot at the World Robot Conference impressed visitors with his calligraphy skills, by using a similar style of calligraphy used by legendary philosopher Wang Yangming
The humanoid robot is programmed to recognise human and machine interaction, with autonomous position navigation and services based on cloud technology. It is pictured at the unveiling in April
'Like what she showed just now, she can observe your facial expression, and give a natural response, so that you can see her intelligence.'
Alongside Jia Jia, several other advanced robots were showcased at the World Robot Conference.
In the exhibition area, a badminton robot demonstrated a badminton match with staff, while a bionic bird and butterfly was also on display.
At last year's World Robot Exhibition, an eerily life-like robot named Android Geminoid F was unveiled, with some fans even describing her as 'sexy'
At last year's World Robot Exhibition, an eerily life-like robot named Android Geminoid F was unveiled, with some fans even describing her as 'sexy.'
The 5ft 6 inch android is capable of eye movements, response to eye-to-eye contact and can recognise body language.
Geminoid F has already taken the film industry by storm, becoming the first android to star in a film.
Earlier this year, she co-starred in a Japanese movie named 'Sayonara', about the after-effects of a nuclear power plant meltdown.
Robot engineer Hiroshi Ishiguro (left), US actress Bryerly Long (2nd right) and Japanese actor Nijiro Murakami (right) help android actress Geminoid F wave to the audience before the premiere of new movie 'Sayonara'
Russia has unveiled chilling pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile, capable of destroying an area the size of France.
The RS-28 Sarmat missile, dubbed Satan 2 by Nato, has a top speed of 4.3 miles (7km) per second and has been designed to outfox anti-missile shield systems.
The new Sarmat missile could deliver warheads of 40 megatons - 2,000 times as powerful as the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Scroll down for video Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly planning to replace the country's older SS-18 Satan weapons with the new missiles amid a string of recent disagreements with the West. The Kremlin has stepped up the rhetoric against the West and carried a series of manoeuvres that has infuriated politicians in the US and UK.
Russia has unveiled chilling pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile, capable of destroying an area the size of France. A contract for the weapons was signed in 2011, and they are expected to be ready in 2018
The pictures were revealed online by chief designers from the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau.
A message posted alongside the picture said: 'In accordance with the Decree of the Russian Government 'On the State Defense Order for 2010 and the planning period 2012-2013', the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau was instructed to start design and development work on the Sarmat. '
The RS-28 Sarmat missile is said to contain 16 nuclear warheads and is capable of destroying an area the size of France or Texas, according to Russian news network Zvezda, which is owned by Russia's ministry of defence.
The weapon is also able to evade radar.
It is expected to have a range of 6,213 miles (10,000 km), which would allow Moscow to attack London and other European cities as well as reaching cities on America's west and east coasts.
Igor Sutyagin, an expert in Russian nuclear capability at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told MailOnline: 'The SS-18 is more than 30 years old. It is past its sell-by date.
'So even if you had the warmest relations in the world with Nato you would want to update your missiles.
'But (President) Putin of course is happy for it to be portrayed as an aggressive move. He wants to stress his unpredictability and his importance.'
Each missile contains 16 nuclear warheads, according to pictures revealed online from the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. It is also able to evade radar.
Earlier this year, a Yars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile system was paraded through Red Square during the Victory Day parade but there was no sign of the RS-28 Sarmat
Dr Sutyagin points out that the SS-18 missiles which the Russians currently rely on were designed in 1988 during the Soviet Union and were built at a factory in Dnipropetrovsk, in what is now the Ukraine.
COULD RUSSIAN LAUNCH NUCLEAR ATTACK FROM SPACE? Russia is readying itself to become a leader in the construction of hypersonic aircraft, a new report reveals. Kremlin-backed media claim engineers in the Federation are among the first in the world to work towards new materials for planes capable of reaching hypersonic speeds. The move could help Russia produce a new fleet of aerial war machines that could launch nuclear attacks from space. Aviation researchers are reportedly working to develop the materials which can withstand the stress and high temperatures of travelling many times the speed of sound. Advertisement
He said the Russians cannot totally rely on the Ukraine-based maintenance engineers and he said Sarmat were designed and built by Russians at the Khrunichev plant just outside Moscow.
Dr Sutyagin they would be no match for Nato systems like Aegis Ashore, the controversial missile defence shield which the US is deploying to Romania.
If a Sarmat missile were fired at London it would wipe out most of Britain, as well as northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands
He said: 'Not only are they too fast but they have got rid of the predictable flight path.
'It manouevres all the way so it is terribly difficult for any missile defence system to shoot it down.'
The Russian Defence Ministry plans to put the Sarmat into service in late 2018 and remove the last SS-18 by 2020.
The Sarmat has been in development since 2009 and is scheduled to start replacing the old ICBMs in 2018.
The new missile is said to be undergoing testing near Miass in Russia.
Vladimir Putin pictured at a Victory Day parade earlier this year
A Russian intercontinental ballistic missile RS-20 (SS-18 Satan according to the NATO code) takes off somewhere at undisclosed location in Russia in this June, 2001 photo
Fat Boy, the atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 (pictured), delivered 20 kilotons of power. Sarmat would be 2,000 times more powerful
The tests are the latest in a line of policies and incidents carried out by Putin to antagonise the West. Western leaders have been quick to slap him down and accuse him of war-mongering.
A fortnight ago, Hillary Clinton launched an open attack on Russia in a presidential debate, saying Vladimir Putin wants Trump to win and accused the regime of 'war crimes' in Syria.
Clinton went on the offensive during the combative head-to-head showdown, apparently riled after she fell victim to leaks which she attributed to Russian hackers.
In some of her strongest words yet aimed at Russian President Putin, Clinton rebuked the country for its bombing of Aleppo, home to some 250,000 people.
'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,' she told the crowd.
'Russia hasn't paid any attention to ISIS. They're interested in keeping Assad in power,' she went on.
'I do support the effort to investigate for crimes - war crimes - committed by the Syrians and the Russians, and try to hold them accountable,' she told the crowd.
She also alleged that Russia wanted to see Trump in power rather than her.
'But I want to emphasize that what is at stake here is the ambitions and the aggressiveness of Russia,' she said.
'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.'
A fortnight ago, Hillary Clinton launched an open attack on Russia in a presidential debate, saying Vladimir Putin wants Trump to win and accused the regime of 'war crimes' in Syria
The FBI said in July that it was looking into the hacking of the Democratic National Committee computer system, after WikiLeaks published nearly 20,000 internal emails on the eve of the party's convention.
At the debate the subject of Russian hacks also came up in a separate voter question about a WikiLeaks document published earlier this month, which showed that Clinton allegedly said in a Wall Street speech that 'you need both a public and a private position on certain issues.'
Clinton went on to blame the leak on Russian meddling, saying: '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.'
The recent criticism has clearly rubbed Putin up the wrong way, who reacted today by saying: 'If somebody out there wants confrontation this is not our choice but this means that there will be problems,' according to The Mirror.
Last week, the Royal Navy was forced to deploy its vessels as Russian warships chugged through the English Channel on their way to the Mediterranean.
The fleet is heading for Syria could be used to target civilians in the besieged city of Aleppo, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday, calling on Moscow to implement a lasting ceasefire.
NATO is monitoring the movement of the eight-strong carrier battle group from northern Russia towards Gibraltar en route to the eastern Mediterranean, where alliance officials fear it will launch fighter bombers to hit northwestern Syria early in November.
'The battle group may be used to increase Russia's ability to take part in combat operations over Syria and to conduct even more air strikes against Aleppo,' Stoltenberg said.
'The concern is that the carrier group can be used as a platform for increased air strikes against civilians in Aleppo,' he told a news conference, calling for a halt to all bombings.
The naval group, which passed through the English Channel on Friday, is made up of Russia's only aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, as well as a nuclear-powered battle cruiser, two anti-submarine warships and four support vessels, likely escorted by submarines, NATO officials said.
The naval deployment, a rare sight since the end of the Soviet Union, is carrying dozens of fighter bombers and helicopters and is expected to join around 10 other Russian vessels already off the Syrian coast, diplomats said.
Last week, the Royal Navy was forced to deploy its vessels as Russian warships chugged through the English Channel on their way to the Mediterranean
The White House and the Kremlin have been at loggerheads for weeks over the Syrian civil war with the US backing rebel groups attempting to overthrow the government and Putin supporting President Assad.
Both have accused each other of air strikes on aid convoys and civilians.
Though the Russian military said Tuesday the weeklong halt of Russian and Syrian air strikes on the besieged city of Aleppo will continue and humanitarian corridors will remain open even as the Syrian army has unleashed a new offensive on the rebel-held neighborhoods.
As well as a bulging stock of nuclear missiles in Russia itself, Putin is looking to flex his muscles around the world.
Russia is considering reopening military bases in Vietnam and Cuba as Putin looks to assert his army's presence around the world.
Bases in those countries served as pivots of the Soviet global military power during the Cold War.
Now, the Kremlin looks set to plot a return Russian news agencies quoted Russian Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov.
Cambridgeshire company is bringing back the ancient tombs after the idea proved surprisingly popular with people seeking a final resting place
Prehistoric stone tombs used to store the ashes of loved ones are being built in Britain for the first time in thousands of years.
The ancient resting places could help to tackle the problem of a lack of burial space.
Until now, Neolithic earth mounds built over the dead, known as long barrows, had not been used since around 2,000 BC.
The limestone frame covered in soil and grass was entirely handmade by a team of four stonemasons using traditional techniques over the course of five months
WHAT ARE LONG BARROWS? Long barrows were Neolithic burial chambers. Earth mounds were built over the stone structures, which acted as collective tombs. The ancient burial chambers have not been widely used in Britain since around 2,000 BC. Advertisement
However, a company is about to open a barrow near St Neots, Cambridgeshire, after the idea proved surprisingly popular among people looking for a final resting place.
The limestone frame covered in soil and grass was entirely handmade by a team of four stonemasons using traditional techniques over the course of five months.
The project took more than 3,500 hours and in excess of 300 tons of Northamptonshire limestone to complete.
The end result is a large dune of earth with a burial space within.
The earth-covered barrow contains 400 niches for families to reserve at 2,000 ($2,442) to 5,000 ($6,106) a plot
Plots, or niches, line the walls and a central passageway bisects the circular chamber, which is illuminated by candles
Plots, or niches, line the walls and a central passageway bisects the circular chamber, which is illuminated by candles.
The limestone walls support a striking beehive-shaped corbelled roof above and on the outside. The insulating earth roof ensures that everything underneath is kept dry.
Stone seating has been built in the woodland surrounding the barrow.
Work starting on the new St Neots barrow in Cambridgeshire. In 2014, stonemason Tim Daw built the first barrow on British soil in 5,500 years
An image shows the base of the new tomb starting to take shape in St Neots,Cambridgeshire
The base of the new long barrow in being built up from the ground out of limestone
The limestone frame covered in soil and grass was entirely handmade by a team of four stonemasons using traditional techniques over the course of five months
Toby Angel of Sacred Stones is behind the scheme to build new long barrows
Sacred Stones, the Bedfordshire company behind the project, was inspired by associate and stonemason Tim Daw who built the first barrow on British soil in 5,500 years in 2014.
While Tim's was a labour of love, Sacred Stones views the project as the beginning of a successful business.
The firm will be selling 400 niches for between 1,950 ($2,381) and 7,000 ($8,549).
The niches come in three different sizes according to the number of urns it can fit.
A single niche measures 180 cubic inches, a double 210 and a large, with enough room for up to five urns, measures 350 cubic inches.
Toby Angel, managing director of the company, said: 'Our objective is that people will use these structures to celebrate life.
'What has struck me most is just how meaningful our barrows have become for people.
'They spend hours in there talking or simply admiring the craftsmanship, it's a beautiful place to lay someone to rest.
'Inside it's very calm and peaceful, the only light comes from the entrance or people can light candles.'
The barrow is being built in St Neots,Cambridgeshire
The earth covered barrow contains 400 niches for families to reserve at 2,000 ($2,443) to 5000 ($6,103) a plot.
Toby Angel of Sacred Stones (pictured left) is behind the new building boom.Neolithic barrows are being built again as burial mounds for modern Britons
He added: 'There is no common trend among the people who are interested, we have a variety of different ages and religions.
'People love the fact that our barrows are secular but they are free to practice whatever faith they like.
'My local vicar came to visit and absolutely loved it, she completely understands what we are doing.'
Mr Angel says the emergence of barrows could also provide an answer to the lack of burial space in the UK, which experts say could soon develop into a crisis.
Plots, or niches, line the walls and a central passageway bisects the circular chamber, which is illuminated by candles. The firm will be selling 400 niches for between 1,950 ($2,381) and 7,000 ($8,549)
A recent survey revealed around 50 per cent of local authorities fear they have 20 years or less before they run out of room.
The cost of a niche is similar or in many cases even cheaper than a traditional burial, which on average runs to 3,800 ($4,641).
Mr Daw said the purchase becomes even more cost-efficient when you consider each niche has at least enough room for two urns.
Willow Row is located in a secluded area of countryside surrounded by woodland and fields, visitors have to walk about a third of a mile from the nearest car park.
The Amundsen Sea has long been thought to be the weakest ice sheet in the West Antarctic.
Now new studies show three of the region's frozen gateways are melting away faster than believed.
This could lead to a massive ice sheet collapse that will cause global sea levels to rise by several feet.
Scroll down for video
The scientists examined three neighboring glaciers in West Antarctica. The Smith, Pope and Kohler glaciers flow into the Dotson and Crosson ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea embayment in West Antarctica, the part of the continent with the largest loss of ice mass
IRREVERSIBLE ICE LOSS In 2014, researchers claimed the melting of glaciers in West Antarctica may be irreversible. A study by Nasa and the University of California, Irvine revealed the barren region was haemorrhaging ice at a rate triple that of a decade before. The team found the rate by taking radar, laser and satellite measurements of the glaciers' mass between 1992 and 2013. They found they lost an average 83 gigatons per year (91.5 billion U.S. tons), or the equivalent of losing the water weight of Mount Everest every two years. 'The mass loss of these glaciers is increasing at an amazing rate,' said scientist Isabella Velicogna, jointly of the University of California, Irvine and Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Advertisement
Researchers have previously said the melting of glaciers in West Antarctica, which contain enough water to raise sea levels by at least a metre, may be irreversible.
The Amundsen Sea embayment hosts some of the fastest melting glaciers on the planet.
This is because warm ocean waters flow across the continental shelf into sub-ice shelf cavities where they slowly erode the ice, especially near the glaciers' grounding lines where the glacier meets the sea.
However, until now the exact magnitude of this ice loss has remained poorly understood.
To measure the size of the problem, scientists from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and the University of California, Irvine, examined three neighbouring glaciers that are melting and retreating at different rates.
The Smith, Pope and Kohler glaciers flow into the Dotson and Crosson ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea embayment in West Antarctica, the part of the continent with the largest decline in ice.
The team used airborne data collected as part of Nasa's Operation IceBridge to calculate submarine ice loss and variations in melting rates.
The Amundsen Sea (pictured) has long been thought to be the weakest ice sheet in the West Antarctic. Now, two new studies have revealed the fastest ongoing rates of glacier retreat ever observed in West Antarctica
Bernd Scheuchl, lead author of the first study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, explained: 'Using satellite data, we continue to measure the evolution of the grounding line of these glaciers, which helps us determine their stability and how much mass the glacier is gaining or losing.
'Our results show that the observed glaciers continue to lose mass and thus contribute to global sea level rise.'
His team compared radar measurements from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 mission and other satellite data to identify changes in each glacier's grounding line - the boundary where it loses contact with bedrock and begins to float on the ocean.
The grounding line is important because nearly all glacier melting takes place on the underside of this floating portion, called the ice shelf.
If a glacier loses mass from enhanced melting, it may start floating farther inland from its former grounding line, just as a sunken boat may be able to float again if a heavy cargo is removed. This is called grounding line retreat.
The researchers discovered Smith Glacier's grounding line had retreated 1.24 miles (2km) per year since 1996.
The Amundsen Sea embayment hosts some of the fastest melting glaciers on the planet because warm ocean waters flow across the continental shelf into sub-ice shelf cavities where they slowly erode the ice, especially near the glaciers' grounding lines
However, the Pope Glacier's grounding line receded more slowly, at 0.31 miles (0.5 km) annually since 1996, while the Kohler Glacier's grounding line, which had gradually retreated, actually re-advanced 1.24 miles (2km) since 2011.
In a separate study, led by Ala Khazendar at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and published in the journal Nature, ice loss at the bottom of the three glaciers was measured.
The team gauged the thickness and height of the ice using radar and laser altimetry instruments as part of Nasa's Operation IceBridge.
The study authors said a significant portion of Antarctica is now subject to 'intense unbalanced melting.'.
Radar waves penetrate glaciers all the way to their base, allowing experts to analyse how the bottom profiles of the three glaciers at their grounding lines differed between 2002 and 2014.
Laser measurements of surface elevation were also used to infer changes in the thickness of the floating ice shelves.
Previous studies using other techniques estimated the average melting rates at the bottom of the Dotson and Crosson ice shelves to be about 40 feet (12 meters) per year.
However, the new study revealed high rates of ice loss from the glaciers' undersides on the ocean sides of their grounding lines.
The fastest-melting glacier, Smith, lost between 984 and 1,607 feet (300 and 490 metres) in thickness between 2002 and 2009 near its grounding line, or up to 230 feet (70 metres) per year.
Those years encompass a period when rapid mass loss was seen around the Amundsen Sea, leading scientists to suspect that an increase in the influx of ocean heat beneath the ice shelves must have taken place.
'Our observations provide a crucial piece of evidence to support that suspicion, as they directly reveal the intensity of ice melting at the bottom of the glaciers during that period,' Dr Khazendar said.
'If I had been using data from only one instrument, I wouldn't have believed what I was looking at, because the thinning was so large,' he added.
However, the two IceBridge instruments, which employ different techniques, both measured the same rapid ice loss.
He believes the Smith glacier's fast retreat and thinning are likely related to the shape of the underlying bedrock over which it was retreating between 1996 and 2014.
It sloped downward toward the continental interior into the cavity beneath the glacier, so as the grounding line receded, warm and dense ocean water could reach the newly uncovered deeper parts of this cavity, causing more melting.
As a result, Dr Khazendar said: 'more sections of the glacier become thinner and float, meaning that the grounding line continues retreating, and so on.'
It's hoped that Smith's retreat might slow down now that its grounding line has reached bedrock that rises farther inland of the 2014 grounding line.
The question remains whether other glaciers in West Antarctica will behave like Smith, because many are on beds that deepen farther inland.
With white sandy beaches and azure waters for miles around, the tropical island chains of the South West Pacific Ocean are a slice of heaven for tourists.
But just how the first settlers came to call these remote islands home almost 3,500 years ago, and where they started from, is still a matter of debate.
Writing in an article for The Conversation , Dr Alvaro Montenegro, an assistant professor of geography and director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at Ohio State University, explains how the changing climate and environmental conditions played a key role for these early island-hoppers.
Evidence suggests the major islands of the South West Pacific were colonised almost 3,500 years ago. But researchers continue to debate where these first settlers came from and how they arrived or from which direction. Pictured is the Fijian island of Tavarua
FIRST SETTLERS OF OCEANIA A mass of archaeological, genetic and linguistic evidence suggests the major islands of the South West Pacific were colonised almost 3,500 years ago. But researchers continue to debate where these first settlers came from and how they arrived or from which direction. Dr Alvaro Montenegro and a team at Ohio State University carried out a number of simulations to try and shed more light on these settlers. They were able to show how the remote location of the island groups and environmental conditions affected the spread of the first pioneers. Seasonal changes and larger environmental events including El Nino and La Nina would have made certain journeys harder or easier depending on the year, start point and direction of travel. From the analysis, they reveal two 'gateway islands' which would need to be passed through to expand into larger regions to the East. To move into Micronesia, these seafarers would have had to go through the gateway island of Yap. While expanding East to Polynesia meant passing though Samoa. The team explains how the idea of gateway islands that had to be colonised first opens new possibilities for understanding the process of how Oceania was settled. Advertisement
Just look at a map of Remote Oceania the region of the Pacific that contains Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa, French Polynesia and Micronesia and it's hard not to wonder how people originally settled on these islands.
They're mostly small and located many hundreds to thousands of kilometers away from any large landmass as well as from each other.
As our species colonized just about every region of the planet, these islands seem to be the last places our distant ancestors reached.
A comprehensive body of archaeological, linguistic, anthropological and genetic evidence suggests that people started settling there about 3,400 years ago.
While we have a relatively clear picture of when many of the major island groups were colonized, there is still considerable debate as to precisely where these settlers originated and the strategies and trajectories they used as they voyaged.
In new experiments, my colleagues and I investigated how environmental variability and Oceania's geographical setting would have influenced the colonization process.
We built computer seafaring simulations and analyzed wind, precipitation and land distribution data over this region of the Pacific.
We wanted to understand how seasonal and climate variability in weather and currents might lead to some potential routes being favored over others.
How would these factors, including the periodic El Nino and La Nina patterns, affect even the feasibility of different sailing strategies? Did they play a role in the puzzling 2,000-year pause we see in eastward expansion? Could they have provided incentives to migration?
Oceania is the general geographical term for the islands, including Australia (pictured), remote Oceania is the region of the containing Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa, French Polynesia and Micronesia which extends Eastwards across the vast Pacific Ocean
Standing questions about Oceania's settlement
While the archaeological record contains no concrete information on the sailing capabilities of these early voyagers, their navigational prowess is undeniable.
Settlement required trips across thousands of kilometers of open ocean toward very small targets.
Traditional Pacific vessels such as double-hulled voyaging canoes and outrigger canoes would be able to make these potentially harrowing journeys, but at this point we have no way of knowing what kind of boat technology those early settlers used.
The first pioneers to expand across Oceania may have originated from Melanesian societies, such as Papua New Guinea. Pictured are people from Papua New Guinea in traditional dress at a cultural Hagen show
And colonization occurred in the opposite direction of mean winds and currents, which in this area of the Pacific flow on average from east to west.
Scientists think the pioneers came from west to east, with western Melanesia and eastern Maritime Southeast Asia being the most likely source areas.
But there's still considerable debate as to exactly where these settlers came from, where they traveled and how.
Among the many intriguing aspects of the colonization process is the fact that it occurred in two rapid bursts separated by an almost 2,000-year-long hiatus.
Starting around 3,400 before present (BP), the region between the source areas and the islands of Samoa and Tonga was mostly occupied over a period of about 300 years.
Scientists think the pioneers came from west to east, with western Melanesia and eastern Maritime Southeast Asia being the most likely source areas
Then there was a pause in expansion; regions farther to the east such as Hawaii, Rapa Nui and Tahiti were only colonized sometime between about 1,100 and 800 BP.
New Zealand, to the west of Samoa and Tonga but located far to the south, was occupied during this second expansion period.
Simulating sailing conditions
We know the general sailing performance of traditional Polynesian vessels how fast these boats move given a particular wind speed and direction.
We ran the simulation using observed present-day wind and current data our assumption was that today's conditions would be very close to those from 3,000 years ago and offer a better representation of variability than paleoclimate models.
The simulations compute how far one of these boats would have traveled daily based on winds and currents. We simulated departures from several different areas and at different times of year.
For these seafaring pioneers to expand Eastwards into the remote islands of French Polynesia (pictured) they would have first had to colonise the gateway island of Samoa
After conducting thousands of voyaging simulations and calculating hundreds of shortest-hop trajectories, patterns started to emerge.
While the annually averaged winds in the region are to the west, there is significant variability, and eastward winds blow quite frequently in some seasons.
The occurrence and intensity of these eastward winds increase during El Nino years.
So downwind sailing, especially if conducted during particular times of the year (June-November in areas north of the equator and December-February in the Southern Hemisphere), can be an effective way to move eastward.
It could be used to reach islands in the region of the first colonization pulse.
Trips by downwind sailing become even more feasible under El Nino conditions.
Though many do believe early settlers were able to sail efficiently against the wind, our simulations suggest that even just following the winds and currents would be one way human beings conceivably could have traveled east in this area. (Moving eastward in the area east of Samoa does require sailing against the wind, though.)
Our shortest-hop analysis points to two 'gateway islands' eastward expansion into large areas of Oceania would require passage through them.
Seasonal changes and larger environmental events including El Nino and La Nina would have made certain maritime journeys harder or easier depending on the year, start point and direction of travel. Pictured is a traditional va'a canoe on Somoa
Movement into Micronesia would have to go through Yap. Expansion into eastern Polynesia would mean traveling through Samoa.
This idea of gateway islands that would have to be colonized first opens new possibilities for understanding the process of settling Oceania.
As for that 2,000-year-long pause in migration, our simulation provided us with a few ideas about that, too.
The area near Samoa is marked by an increase in distance between islands. And no matter what time of year, El Nino or not, you need to move against the wind to travel eastward around Samoa.
So it makes sense that the pause in the colonization process was related to the development of technological advances that would allow more efficient against-the-wind sailing.
And finally, we think our analysis suggests some incentives to migration, too.
In addition to changes to wind patterns that facilitate movement to the east, the El Nino weather pattern also causes drier conditions over western portions of Micronesia and Polynesia every two to seven years.
The first region, between the source areas and Samoa and Tonga, was occupied around 300 years. There was a pause of almost 2,000 years before a sceond wave of expansion led to New Zealand and East to Hawaii. Pictured are Maori people launching tradition waka canoes
It's possible to imagine El Nino leading to tougher conditions, such as crop-damaging drought.
El Nino weather could simultaneously have provided a reason to want to strike out for greener pastures and a means for eastward exploration and colonization.
On the flip side, changes in winds and precipitation associated with La Nina could have encouraged migration to Hawaii and New Zealand.
Overall, our results lend weight to various existing theories.
El Nino and La Nina
El Nino and La Nina have been proposed as potential migration influences before, but we've provided a much more detailed view in both space and time of how this could have taken place.
Our simulations strengthen the case for a lack of technology being the cause for the pause in migration, and downwind sailing as a viable strategy for the first colonization pulse 3,400 BP.
Cyclical environmental events like El Nino and La Nina would have altered currents and winds, so changing sailing conditions and favouring some routes over others (illustrated). They explain El Nino weather could have provided a reason to expand and look for greener pastures
In the future, we hope to create new models turning to time-series of environmental data instead of the statistical descriptions we used this time to see if they produce similar results.
We also want to develop experiments that would evaluate sailing strategies not in the context of discovery and colonization but of exchange networks.
Are the islands along 'easier' pathways between distant points also places where the archaeology shows a diverse set of artifacts from different regions?
There's still plenty to figure out about how people originally undertook these amazing voyages of exploration and expansion.
Alvaro Montenegro, Assistant Professor of Geography and Director Atmospheric Sciences Program, The Ohio State University
Nasa has said astronauts are 'closer than ever before' to setting foot on Mars, but a multitude of questions remain, not least how they will get there and what state the crew will be in after such a grueling long-haul space flight.
But research has revealed that the first crew bound for the red planet could end up with more than just a severe case of jet lag.
A study has found that prolonged space flight is linked with back pain as the muscles waste away in the absence of gravity.
Extended periods of reduced gravity experienced by astronauts on the ISS (pictured) can weaken muscle and cause bones to become brittle. Now evidence suggests the spine is susceptible as well, with many crew members reporting back pain
The mass of data collected from astronauts aboard space stations has shown that a lack of gravity can wreak havoc on the human body, weakening muscle and causing bones to become brittle.
Now evidence suggests the spine is susceptible as well, with many crew members reporting back pain following a mission.
On long space missions, astronauts do not experience a change in the height of their spinal discs, but the muscles supporting the spine weaken.
The findings will be of importance when preparing for a mission to Mars, which could take between six weeks and 18 months, depending on whether nuclear propulsion is used.
By scanning the spines of astronauts before and after long haul space missions. On long space missions, astronauts do not experience a change in the height of their spinal discs, but the muscles supporting the spine weaken.
WHY DO ASTRONAUTS GET BACK ACHE? The mass of data collected from astronauts aboard space stations has shown that the lack of gravity can wreak havoc on the body, weakening muscle and causing bones to become brittle. Now evidence suggests the spine is susceptible as well, with many crew members reporting back pain following a mission. By using MRI to scan the spines of astronauts before and after long haul space missions, researchers could see the effect reduced gravity had on their backs in more detail. On long space missions, astronauts do not experience a change in the height of their spinal discs, but the muscles supporting the spine weaken. The findings will be of importance when preparing for a mission to Mars, which could take between six weeks and 18 months, depending on whether nuclear propulsion is used. Advertisement
The intrepid astronauts who set out to make history will not only have to get to grips with new technology, but will face may physical challenges too.
Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine set out to understand the effects of back pain during long spells in space, as well as the spine's response after returning to Earth gravity.
Back pain is common during prolonged missions, with more than half of crew members reporting spinal pain.
Back issues in astronauts are accompanied by a roughly two-inch increase in body height, thought to result from spinal unloading lack of weight carried by the lower back - and other body changes related to microgravity.
Astronauts are also at increased risk of spinal disc herniation in the months after returning from spaceflight about four times higher than those of us who havent journeyed into space.
The team studied six Nasa crewmembers before and after spending four to seven months in microgravity on the International Space Station (ISS).
Each astronaut had MRI scans of their spines before their mission, immediately after their return to Earth and again one to two months later.
The scans indicated significant atrophy (weakening) of the muscles surrounding the spine their time in space.
The findings will be of importance when preparing for a mission to Mars, which could take between six weeks and 18 months
These small paraspinal muscles connect to the vertebrae and direct the motion of individual bones, helping to support the spine while keeping it aligned and allowing for core movement.
When before and after scans were compared, the team revealed that functional, cross-sectional area of these muscles decreased by an average of 19 percent. And a month or two later, the astronauts has only recovered around two-thirds of the reduction.
But there was no consistent change in the height of the discs of the spine.
These findings run counter to the current scientific thinking about the effects of microgravity on disc swelling, said first-author Douglas Chang, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation service at UC San Diego Health.
Further studies will be needed to clarify the effects on disc height, and determine whether they contribute to the increase in body height during space missions, and to the increased risk of herniated discs.
However, it's information like this that could provide helpful information needed to support longer space missions, such as a manned mission to Mars.
The experts say their findings suggest core-strengthening exercises could prevent the negative spinal effects of spaceflight.
For example, yoga might help in addressing spinal stiffness and reduced mobility, Professor Chang said.
that the Galaxy S8 could have a dual-camera lens design
New chips have 30-percent increase in area with 27-percent higher performance or 40-percent lower power consumption
Samsung's next-generation Galaxy handset will feature a radical 5.5inch ultra HD display - but no home button, the latest rumours have claimed.
The eagerly anticipated gadget will, the firm hopes, be able to repair some of the damage to the firm's brand caused by the Galaxy Note 7.
The latest rumours, according to Android Police, point to a 4K display - which will make the handset perfect for VR applications.
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Numerous reports are surfacing about what may be Samsung's saving grace, particularly new renders that suggest it will incorporate a dual-lens camera design and remove the home button for an edge-to-edge screen
Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S8 at Mobile World Congress 2017 in February next year.
It could also have a revolutionary processor on board, after it was revealed the firm's system chips business has started mass production of semiconductors using 10 a revolutionary nanometre technology to cram more components on a chip.
The chips are expected to be far more powerful and energy efficient that current designs, and Samsung is the first company in the industry to mass produce them.
Samsung said in a statement a tech product launching early next year will use chips made with its 10-nanometre production technology - as rumours swirl its Galaxy S8 could be the first recipient.
South Korea's Electronic Times reported this month that Samsung will be the sole contract manufacturer of Qualcomm Inc's high-end Snapdragon 830 chips using 10-nanometre production technology, and these processors will be used in half of Samsung's next Galaxy S smartphones expected to launch in early 2017.
'The industry's first mass production of 10nm FinFET technology demonstrates our leadership in advanced process technology,' said Jong Shik Yoon, Executive Vice President, Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics.
WHAT ARE THE OTHER SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 RUMORS? New renders of what could be Samsung Galaxy S8 have surfaced and they suggest the device will incorporate a dual-lens camera design and remove the home button for an edge-to-edge screen. It's speculated that Samsung could design a fingerprint-sensing display or place the feature behind the tempered glass. Because levels of concentration will be increased with a 'full screen', pictures and videos should be much clearer and even go so far as to produce a 3D effect. Rumors suggest that pixels of the dual-cameras will support 16 megapixels and 8 megapixels. Another new addition to the Galaxy S8 could also be an upgraded Application process (AP) that corresponds to handset's brain. Sources say Samsung is going to start mas-producing 10-nano Snapdragon 830s, which will be used for Galaxy S8, at the end of this year at the earliest. The artist impression also shows the handset in four vibrant shades of red, blue, purple and yellow - another feature yet to be seen by Samsung users. Advertisement
'SoCs with 10nm process technology will be used in digital devices launching early next year and are expected to become more widely available throughout 2017,' the firm said.
'We will continue our efforts to innovate scaling technologies and provide differentiated total solutions to our customers.'
The new chips allows 'up to 30-percent increase in area efficiency with 27-percent higher performance or 40-percent lower power consumption,' Samsung said in a press release.
The death of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has put huge pressure on the firm for a new flagship device.
And it's rumored that what could be called the Galaxy S8 will be announced in just a few months with claims it could feature a radical new design with no bezel.
With the removal of the iconic home button, Samsung will have no choice but to design a fingerprint-sensing display or place the feature behind the tempered glass. because levels of concentration will be increased , pictures and videos should be much clearer
Multiple reports say it will incorporate a dual-lens camera design and remove the home button for an edge-to-edge screen.
The leaked renders were revealed by Vaibhav Jain of Techdroider, who said a report from South Korea predicts the Samsung Galaxy S8 will be designed with a 'completely bezel-less display'.
It's also believed that the handset will have sleek, curved side-edges that could extend from the top to the bottom.
As many hope the Galaxy S8 will put the Apple's 10 year anniversary smartphone to shame, many rumors suggest that the Korean firm will actually follow its lead.
With the removal of the iconic home button, Samsung will have no choice but to design a fingerprint-sensing display or place the feature behind the tempered glass two strategies Apple has been parading around for quite some time.
Not only could this device be Samsung's first bezel-less phone, but it would also be the first to have rear-dual cameras. Rumors suggest that pixels of the dual-cameras will support 16 megapixels and 8 megapixels
The renders for what could be the Samsung Galaxy S8 also hint at a smartphone that users have yet to experience and most of the changes will be in the design, reports Yun, Keonil with ET News.
And because levels of concentration will be increased with a 'full screen', pictures and videos should be much clearer and even go so far as to produce a 3D effect.
Not only could this device be Samsung's first bezel-less phone, but it would also be the first to have rear-dual cameras.
'Currently Samsung Electronics is deciding whether to use all-in-one dual-cameras or separated dual-cameras.' a representative for a component industry told ET News.
'It already finalized a decision to use dual-cameras.'
Since people are telling stories with pictures more and more, Samsung feels this new technology will be a hit among its users by by improving the quality of their photos.
BRITAIN'S ROYAL MAIL REFUSES TO TAKE NOTE 7 RETURNS The Royal Mail in Britain has already said it will not accept Samsung's Galaxy Note 7. Customers should contact the company where they purchased their Note 7 - whether it's Carphone Warehouse, EE, Vodafone, Three, 02 or Samsung - to arrange a full refund or to swap it for another model. What could be called the Galaxy S8 might be announced in just a few months a smartphone said to rival the iPhone 7 and surpass the iPhone 8. But the firm still has to gather up the Galaxy Note 7 handsets - which are being sent back in fire proof boxes A spokesperson for the Royal Mail said: 'In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7, Royal Mail and ParcelForce are unable to accept the posting of earlier versions of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 phones. 'For several years, there have been Government restrictions in place around the transport of lithium batteries, which are also present in the Galaxy Note 7. 'All customers are asked to detail what is in each package so that we can make sure that we are not carrying items that are hazardous. 'Faulty lithium batteries are prohibited in the mail by transport regulations to all destinations.' Advertisement
Rumors suggest that pixels of the dual-cameras will support 16 megapixels and 8 megapixels - the iPhone 7 Plus only supports 12 megapixels.
Another new addition to the Galaxy S8 could also be an upgraded Application process (AP) that corresponds to handset's brain.
According to Samsungs' DS (Device Solution) System LSI Business Department's Foundry Business Team, it is going to start mas-producing 10-nano Snapdragon 830s, which will be used for Galaxy S8, at the end of this year at the earliest.
According to Samsungs' DS (Device Solution) System LSI Business Department's Foundry Business Team, it is going to start mas-producing 10-nano Snapdragon 830s, which will be used for Galaxy S8, at the end of this year at the earliest
WHY ARE LITHIUM BATTERIES SO DANGEROUS? Lithium batteries are use in a range of consumer electronic devices, favored by manufacturers because they are lightweight and pack much more energy into a small space than other power cells. But storing so much energy in a tiny space, with combustible components separated by ultra-thin walls, makes them susceptible to overheating if exposed to high temperatures, damage or flaws in manufacturing. With the nightmare of Note 7 smartphones bursting into flames (pictured), many are sure that the Galaxy S8 will make an appearance much earlier. But, if the South Korean firm is too hasty with manufacturing process, they may experience the same blunders If the separators fail, a chemical reaction can quickly escalate out of control. Koh Dong-jin, Samsung's mobile president, told reporters in Seoul: 'The flaw in the manufacturing process resulted in the negative electrodes and the positive electrodes coming together.' It is unclear how Samsung failed to discover the battery problem before launching the Note 7. Advertisement
The artist impression also shows the handset in four vibrant shades of red, blue, purple and yellow - another feature yet to be seen by Samsung users.
With the nightmare of Note 7 smartphones bursting into flames, many are sure that the Galaxy S8 will make an appearance much earlier.
However, if the South Korean firm is too hasty with the design and manufacture process, they may experience the same blunders.
The artist impression also shows the handset in four vibrant shades of red, blue, purple and yellow - another feature yet to be seen by Samsung users
The firm still has not disclosed what caused the Note 7 to smoke and catch fire or even whether it knows what the problem was.
Consumers can buy on for $399, which is expected to ship March 2017
While some firms see electric cars as the future of transportation, one inventor believes scooters are the future of commuting.
Daniel Huang, the former CEO of battery phone case maker Mophie, has unveiled a 3-wheel electric scooter that is powered by a 'Super Battery' with its own operating system.
Called Immotor Go, this foldable scooter tops out at 20 mph and has a range of 20 miles on a single charge there also a smartphone mount that lets riders play music, take videos and snap selfies without using their hands.
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While some firms see electric cars as the future of transportation, one inventor believes it's scooters. Daniel Huang, the former CEO of battery phone case maker Mophie, has launched a 3-wheel electric scooter that is powered by a 'Super Battery' with its own operating system
WHAT ARE THE FEATURES? Immotor Go 3-wheel electric scooter powered by a 'Super Battery' with its own operating system. The scooter has LED headlights, GPS tracking, cruise control and a digital accelerator. It tops out at 20 mph and can travel for 20 miles on a single charge. Each unit includes a swappable 'Super Battery'. The horn, cruise-control, headlight buttons and brakes are controlled by your thumbs that are firmly positioned on the handlebars. This feature is also linked the smartphone mount in the center of the handlebars, which lets riders take pictures and videos without using their hands. And accompanied app turns your smartphone into a wireless key. Advertisement
'We recognize the demand for safe and innovative battery-powered transport systems,' said Huang, who is now CEO of Immotor.
'For some time now, most of the new electric transports are being built using heavy, old batteries and primarily using existing product designs.'
'With Immotor GO we wanted to introduce something new, especially considering that 38% of all trips are in a personal vehicle, with a single occupant.'
'Designed from the ground up and with zero emissions, it makes travel efficient, cheap, environmentally friendly, fun and above all - smart.'
Some riders may view he Immotor GO as like any other scooter, but this new innovation is packed with high-tech features that are found in an electric car.
It comes with LED headlights, GPS tracking, cruise control, a digital accelerator and brake controls at your fingertips.
And because most people travel more than 20 miles to work, each unit includes a swappable 'Super Battery'.
This battery is designed inside a metal casing, with shock absorbing buffers between the battery cells and there is a proprietary smart connector that stops electricity from leaving the scooter.
The Super Battery is also water resistant and rain proof.
This foldable scooter tops out at 20 mph and has a range of 20 miles on a single charge. And because most people travel more than 20 miles to work, each unit includes a swappable 'Super Battery'
'The easily removable Super Battery modules allows for quick exchange, safe storage and multi-functional use as a standalone power station,' shares Immotor Go's recent Indiegogo campaign.
'This provides instant recharge, virtually unlimited power, and even use as a AC Plug or Light with the optional accessories.'
The firm also designed an operating system for the Super Battery 'that creates a digital handshake between device and battery'.
'The operating system is extremely powerful and enables the Immotor GO to become the smartest personal transport ever,' reads the campaign.
This technology lets user's select different power levels for custom applications.
There also a smartphone mount that lets riders play music, take videos and snap selfies without using their hands. It also comes with LED headlights, GPS tracking, cruise control, a digital accelerator and brake controls at your fingertips
ELECTRIC SCOOTERS BANNED IN CHINESE CITIES Beijing and Shanghai, China's two largest cities, have banned residents from using electric scooters and Segways on roads amid safety concerns this past August. Traffic authorities in Beijing said violators will be fined 10 Yuan (1) starting on August 29; while the Shanghai police launched a crackdown last week on the popular modes of transport, reported the People's Daily Online. Electric scooters and Segways are getting increasingly popular among residents in large Chinese cities as a way to cope with traffic congestion. The ban applies to two-wheeled scooters as well as one-wheeled self-balancing scooters. Anyone who disobeys the law can be fined up to 50 Yuan (5.7). According to Beijing Daily, the city's consumers association had tested more than 20 brands of electric scooters and found most of their brakes did not meet the national standard of safety. The test discovered that the braking distance of the electric scooters could be as far as 9.9 meters (32 feet). Only one brand could come to a full stop in less than four meters (13 feet), which is the Chinese national standard. In terms of Segways, they could take as long as nine seconds to stop after the riders lean backwards to slow down. Advertisement
And it wouldn't be deemed a smart scooter if you had to use your hands to control everything.
The horn, cruise-control, headlight buttons and brakes are controlled by your thumbs that are firmly positioned on the handlebars.
This feature is also linked the smartphone mount in the center of the handlebars, which lets riders take pictures and videos without using their hands.
The system includes an accompanied app that lets riders use their smartphone as a wireless key for the scooter and customize the horn and lights using the technology.
The team at Immotor Go also notes that they will 'continue to work on future upgrades utilizing Immotor GO built-in sensors, accelerators and other hardware capabilities, so you can expect future improvements down the road'.
Consumers who pledge the starting amount of $399 will a fully assembled Immotor Go scooter with a 250 watt motor, a standard 99 watt Super Battery and an AC adapter for re-charging - orders are set to ship March 2017
Immotor Go is seeking $45,000 via an Indeigogo campaign, which they have raised a total of $21,412 from 43 backers there is still a month left until the campaign closes.
Consumers who pledge the starting amount of $399 will a fully assembled Immotor Go scooter with a 250 watt motor, a standard 99 watt Super Battery and an AC adapter for re-charging.
Adopting a kitten or a stray dog is all very well, but what about a lamp?
And not just any lamp, a beautiful bronze lamp with coloured glass from a turn of the century French library.
The Richelieu Library in Paris is undergoing a dramatic renovation and is trying to raise funds by asking for donations, as well as the more unique approach of putting up various objects in its stunning Oval Reading Room for adoption.
The Richelieu Library in Paris is undergoing a dramatic renovation and is trying to raise funds by asking for donations, as well as the more unique approach of putting up various objects in its stunning Oval Reading Room for adoption
There are 42 lamps from the reading tables and desks available for 1,000 (890). The bronze lights are made of opaline globes and lampshades with a steel sheet, painted and covered with copper
The Bibliotheque nationale de France (French National Library) hope to raise 500, 000 (445,000) before December 31 to fund restoration of the breathtaking room.
Laurence Engel, president of the BnF told MailOnline Travel: 'Anyone entering the Oval reading room, struck by its beauty, enters at the same time the library's universe.
'It is the whole literary and intellectual history that comes to life. Adopting a lamp, a table, a column is an opportunity to be part of this history and forge personal and emotional connections with our institution. I sincerely hope that our users will be touched by this perspective. '
There are 42 lamps from the reading tables and desks available for 1,000 (890). The bronze lights are made of opaline globes and lampshades with a steel sheet, painted and covered with copper.
The waxed oak reading tables too are available for adoption. These tables, of differing lengths have a black linoleum desk blotter protected with hessian.
There are a 100 of these impressive desks available, up for 2,000 (1,779) each, and a seat number can also be chosen.
They hope to raise 500, 000 (445,000) before December 31 to fund restoration of the breathtaking room. Renovation of the room will is set to cost 3.8m (3.4m) and will last for four years
There are 42 lamps from the reading tables and desks available for 1,000 (890). The bronze lights are made of opaline globes and lampshades with a steel sheet, painted and covered with copper
The third - and most unusual item to adopt - is one of the 32 cast-iron twin columns; yours for 6,000 (5,338). These columns bear the 12 arches of the ring-shaped half-vault.
Unsurprisingly given the price of the furniture there are many honours that come with the adoption process - not that adopters actually get to keep the items.
However their names will eternally be associated with the adopted item and, if owners wish, they can be mentioned on the BnF website and on the gates of the Richelieu Library.
The waxed oak reading tables too are available for adoption. These tables, of differing lengths have a black linoleum desk blotter protected with hessian
The huge oval glass roof is surrounded by gilded acanthus leaves and a set of 16 glass bull's eyes windows used for ventilation
Its nickname 'Oval Paradise' is apt given its sheer size (It's 143ft long, 108ft wide and 50ft high) and the wealth of mosaic, gold decorations, decorative paintings and unique furniture
Donors will also be invited to a VIP evening at the Richelieu Library and the opening of the BnF exhibitions for a one-year period and receive a subscription to Chroniques, the magazine published by the BnF and to the newsletter of the library.
Construction for the Oval Room - designed by the French architect Jean-Louis Pascal - began in 1897 and it was inaugurated in 1936.
Its nickname 'Oval Paradise' is apt given its sheer size (It's 143ft long, 108ft wide and 50ft high) and the wealth of mosaic, gold decorations, decorative paintings and unique furniture.
The huge oval glass roof is surrounded by gilded acanthus leaves and a set of 16 glass bull's eyes windows used for ventilation.
Each bears the name of a city symbolically famous in the history of civilizations and libraries: Paris, Byzantium, Washington, Florence, Athens, Ninive, Berlin, Alexandria, London, Babylon, Vienna, Thebes, Rome, Carthage, Beijing, Jerusalem.
Renovation of the room is set to cost 3.8million (3.4million) and will last for four years.
The expansion at Heathrow, which has been given the go-ahead today, is expected to bring not only a boost to the economy but also greater connectivity and fewer delays for passengers, according to experts.
The London airport has previously told MailOnline Travel that there will be 12 new routes to destinations that are currently not being served as well as direct flights to 30 or so destinations that were only accessible via indirect flights.
But perhaps even more importantly for cash-strapped holidaymakers, it would mean savings of as much as 300 on the cost of your ticket.
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The London airport has previously told MailOnline Travel that there will be 12 new routes to destinations that are currently not being served as well as direct flights to 30 or so destinations that were only accessible via indirect flights
The proposal is to have a third runway at London Heathrow, although the exact positioning is yet to be confirmed
According to an early estimate by Frontier Economics, who worked with Heathrow on the expansion plans, the average cost of a return ticket could be 300 less by 2030 thanks to increased competition between the airlines.
The possibility of lower fares has already been confirmed by Easyjet, who told MailOnline Travel in 2015 that they would expect to schedule around 150 flights a day from Heathrow following the expansion.
This means around 19 extra routes plus an increase in competition on 48 other European routes.
Annually, this means around 30,000 to 55,000 flights from Easyjet alone will depart from Heathrow.
In a statement issued to MailOnline Travel on Tuesday, the carrier said: 'Easyjet supports the Government's decision in favour of expansion at Heathrow Airport as this will provide the greatest passenger and economic benefits for the UK.
There are currently two runways at Heathrow. A third runway would mean a new terminal would need to be built
THE 40 CITIES AN EXPANDED HEATHROW WOULD SERVE WITH DIRECT FLIGHTS San Jose Portland Salt Lake City San Antonio Quito Lima Panama City Bogota Santiago Caracas Porto Alegre Belo Horizonte Dakar Port Harcourt Durban Harare Khartoum Lilongwe Mombasa Baghdad Dammam Goa Peshawar Kochi Thiruvananthapuram Kathmandu Kolkata Penang Jakarta Chongqing Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Denpasar-Bali Fuzhou Perth Wuhan Nanjing Osaka Nagoya Brisbane Advertisement
'Expanding Heathrow will benefit all parts of the UK and all passengers - business and leisure, long and short haul and will also deliver lower fares for short haul passengers by opening up the airport to increased competition.'
Carolyn McCall, CEO of Easyjet, commented on the decision: 'This is good news for UK consumers and businesses and will help ensure that the UK is better connected to the rest of the world.
'With the right charging structure and the right infrastructure for our efficient model, Easyjet plans to operate from Heathrow, in addition to our existing London bases, providing new routes and lower fares to customers.'
Dale Keller, Chief Executive at the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK, told MailOnline Travel: 'We agree with the statement by the Secretary of State for Transport that to benefit passengers and the UK, expansion must be the right scheme at the right cost and not expansion at any cost.
'A bigger and better Heathrow will present new route opportunities for airlines and greater choice for passengers.
'As we commence engagement with the CAA and Heathrow Airport on how the runway will be financed and delivered, airlines will keep passenger needs front of mind.
'We do not agree that todays passengers should pay towards tomorrows infrastructure before they can use it.'
There will be a number of new direct routes served via Heathrow.
For example, there will be 40 new long haul destinations that will offer direct flights to Heathrow - up from the 82 served at the moment.
These include Quito in Ecuador, Nanjing in China and Durban in South Africa.
Regional flights will also be doubled from eight to 16, connecting the capital to smaller airports in the UK.
Overall, it will mean up to 745,000 flights taking off from Heathrow in a year.
Brian Strutton, British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) General Secretary, said: 'Heathrow's expansion will benefit not only holidaymakers and business travellers in the South East, but the whole of the UK.
'As well as increasing travel from abroad, a prime reason to expand Heathrow is the improved inter-connectivity here.
'Ensuring that the UK's biggest hub airport is connected to Liverpool, Newquay, Humberside, Prestwick and Durham Tees Valley will open up many more connection possibilities for people and businesses in the regions and nations of the UK, and open up the world to more of this country too.
'The increase in tourism and jobs as a result of expansion will also be a welcome boost to our economy.'
But, experts says that an expansion at Heathrow alone is not enough.
HEATHROW EXPANSION: THE BACKGROUND Britain's government gave the go-ahead Tuesday to build a new runway at London's Heathrow airport despite concerns about air pollution, noise and the destruction of homes in the capital's densely populated western neighborhoods. The decision comes after years of discussion, study and outrage over the building of the first full runway in the southeast of the country since World War II. Theresa May's government, reeling from a vote to leave the European Union, was anxious to prove the country was 'open for business' but detractors described it as 'catastrophic.' The government rejected other options to expand airport capacity, including the extension of an existing runway at Heathrow or building a second runway at Gatwick Airport, south of London. The decision is only the first step, though. The government's recommendation will be studied further and Parliament will vote in about a year. Entire communities will be leveled, and the government said that compensation and mitigation could cost 2.6 billion pounds ($3.2 billion). But the government was unmoved by the concerns. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: 'The step that government is taking today is truly momentous. The decision on Tuesday is only the first step. The government's recommendation will be studied further and Parliament will vote in about a year 'I am proud that after years of discussion and delay this government is taking decisive action to secure the U.K.'s place in the global aviation market.' He added: 'This is an important issue for the whole country. 'That is why the government's preferred scheme will be subject to full and fair public consultation.' London and southeastern England need more airport capacity to meet the growing demands of business travelers and tourists. Heathrow and rival Gatwick, 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of central London, had offered competing projects that will cost as much as 18.6 billion pounds ($29.1 billion). But those in the pathways of the bulldozers don't see why their homes should be sacrificed, even if the country might need capacity. The issue was so toxic that politicians created an independent commission to weigh the options and it had decided to expand Heathrow. It is up to political leaders and lawmakers to make the final decision, and authorities had stalled for months. The upheaval prompted by Britain's vote to leave the EU pushed the issue back further. A furious public relations battle has raged, with placards all over London's subway system, for example, extolling the virtues of Heathrow or Gatwick. The commission had already rejected other options, such as one backed by former London Mayor Boris Johnson to build a new airport in the Thames Estuary. Source: Associated Press Advertisement
According to flight compensation company EUclaim, British travellers flying out of Heathrow or Gatwick are at a huge disadvantage when compared to those travelling through some airports in continental Europe.
Their stats reveal how those flying from the two London airports are three times more likely to be delayed than those travelling from Amsterdam Schipol or Frankfurt where there are five and four runways respectively.
Adeline Noorderhaven, UK Manager of EUclaim, explained: 'The reason that London Heathrow has such a high percentage of delays compared to its European counterparts is because it's functioning on two runways whilst Frankfurt and Amsterdam have four and five respectively.
'The proposed third runway will make a huge difference to air passengers, lessening the chance of delay and the need to claim flight delay compensation; we believe it is a very positive step.'
She added: 'Being a network airport connecting between smaller regional locations and the rest of the world, it is crucial that London Heathrow allows passengers to make their connecting flights and travel smoothly.
Some have said that one new runway is not enough and more are needed for UK to compete with European hubs
'However, this currently is not the case. What we are seeing at the moment is that passengers can miss their connecting flight by just 15 minutes and as a result can incur a delay of more than 24 hours to their final destination.
'Global airports, such as Istanbul and Dubai, are growing in an attempt to take over network connections and draw people away from Europe.
'Rather than arguing about a third runway, we should be planning a fourth to stand any chance of competition.
'When looking at the global developments within the aviation industry we expect that by the time the third runway is complete, Heathrow will still not be able to provide that pivotal network operation needed for growing number of international travellers.'
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling makes a statement on airport expansion in the House of Commons on Tuesday
Her sentiments are echoed by UKinbound, a leading trade association that represents over 370 UK tourism businesses.
Deirdre Wells OBE, UKinbound's chief executive officer, said: 'The UK's tourism industry is predicted to continue its rapid growth as a key destination for leisure and business travellers.
'Given this, we ask the Government to develop a transport infrastructure to match demand and that a second runway at London Gatwick not be dismissed in the long-term.'
Ryanairs CEO Michael OLeary said he wanted to see not one but three new runways at London airports.
In a statement, he said: This piecemeal approach to runway infrastructure in the south east is damaging British tourism and the competitiveness of London airports. '
Rather than arguing about a third runway, we should be planning a fourth to stand any chance of competition
'Approving a third runway at Heathrow over Gatwick is not the way forward. London now benefits from three competing airports, and three large competing airlines (BA, Easyjet and Ryanair) and the best way to deliver additional runways in a timely and cost efficient manner is to approve three additional runways, one each at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
'The threat of additional runways at competitor airports will force Heathrow to keep its costs down while developing a third runway in the most timely and efficient manner, he added.
But while there are obvious benefits to the expansion, experts warn changes are likely to take some time.
John Grant, Senior Analyst at aviation data specialists OAG, told MailOnline Travel: 'Dont expect anything to change quickly, we are still at least a decade away from any increase in capacity at Heathrow and that is being optimistic.
'In the short term things will be very much as they are today, in fact, we may see some air fares rise as available capacity becomes increasingly scarce and the cost of developing the new Heathrow infrastructure is passed on by the airlines to their passengers.
Faeces from a variety of species could well be coming to a place near you.
Britain's National Poo Museum, normally based on the Isle of Wight, is going on tour and is looking for venues to host its displays.
The unusual exhibition opened in March this year and is the first museum in the country dedicated to human and animal excrement.
The unusual exhibition opened in March this year and is the first museum in the county dedicated to human (pictured: the faeces of a baby) and animal excrement
It features 18 samples of faeces, ranging from a human baby to an adult lion making it one of the most unusual tourist attractions in the world.
The national tour is set to take place in 2017 and will trial the mobile exhibition in the Isle of Wight - collaborating with the island's library service and beginning at Sandown Library before starting its journey around the mainland.
'We're waiting for places to express an interest in having us so we can get a workable plan for the tour together,' co-founder Daniel Roberts told MailOnline Travel.
'We would be very happy to travel far and wide,' he added, 'but it's still early days for us.'
The alternative museum is currently on loan to the Sandown zoo as part of a temporary show called Poo at the Zoo and the public's keen interest for the exhibition is what sparked the idea for a tour.
'They went bananas for it,' Roberts said.
Dorking library in Surrey has already expressed an interest in hosting the museum via social media as has Gladstone Pottery Museum, whom the museum team visited, which already features a gallery dedicated to the history of the toilet and lifts the lid on the role that potters played in its development.
Also interested are Sharpes Pottery Museum in Derbyshire - who similarly have a toilet exhibition - and interactive exhibition The View in Epping Forest, Essex.
'We're currently making a list of places that would be interested in having us so that we can come up with a plan of dates and venues, co-founder Daniel Roberts (pictured holding lion excrement) said. Pictured, right is a fox poo
Where space allows Roberts hope to divide the room up in the venues as though simulating the digestive system so visitors can enter one end, wander along a long, twisting corridor, discovering fun facts along the way before coming out the other end.
The National Poo Museum will also be working with various digestive health charities to raise awareness.
To add a touch of glamour to otherwise gruesome exhibition each dried sample, including a piece of cat poo in a child's shoe, is displayed in a glass orb that can be illuminated with the push of a button.
The National Poo Museum's exhibits include a specimen believed to be 38million years old, a poo with teeth and bones in it, and faeces that look like cereal bars.
They include samples from an owl, meerkats, pigeon, cow, fox and a human adult.
While it may seem like a revolting display, the National Poo Museum is intended to inform visitors about human and animal health and well-being, sewer systems and the use of excrement as an energy source.
It aims to change the way people think and feel about faeces, and its creators believe it is the first of its kind in the world.
To add a touch of glamour to otherwise gruesome exhibition each dried sample, including a piece of cat poo in a child's shoe, is displayed in a glass orb that can be illuminated with the push of a button
The National Poo Museum is intended to inform visitors about human and animal health and well-being, sewer systems and the use of excrement as an energy source. Picture, pigeon excrement
It is the brainchild of Roberts, an inventor and social entrepreneur from the Isle of Wight and Nigel George and Dave Badman from the artists' collective, Eccleston George.
The group has built a special excrement drying machine to desiccate each sample before it is encapsulated.
Depending on the type and size of the sample it can take anywhere from a day to several weeks.
She publicly announced her desire to step away from the spotlight in order to work on her marital problems with cheating husband Kieran Hayler.
And Katie Price was pictured using her surgically-enhanced assets as flotation devices as she swam in the water while on a trip to Barbados.
She was also pictured walking along the beach with her man, as the pair strengthened their bond some two years after he embarked on flings with two of her closest friends.
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Armbands not required: Katie Price used her surgically-enhanced assets as a flotation device while swimming in the sea in Barbados
Hand in hand: Katie and cheating husband Kieran Hayler were seen hand in hand as they took a stroll across the beach while enjoying their time away
The couple were hand in hand as they took a quiet stroll along the beach, shortly after flying to the picturesque West Indian island for a much needed break.
Former glamour model Katie, 38, was hard to miss in a vibrant mismatched bikini comprised of fluorescent yellow top and hot pink bottoms as she walked alongside her man.
Meanwhile a very relaxed looking Kieran, 29, sported baggy blue beach shorts while strolling close to shoreline.
Katie soon left her husband on dry land as she raced into the ocean for a refreshing dip.
Colourful: Former glamour model Katie, 38, was hard to miss in a vibrant mismatched bikini comprised of fluorescent yellow top and hot pink bottoms
Make or break: Katie has publicly announced her desire to step away from the spotlight in order to work on her marital problems with Kieran
Wet and wild: Katie soon left her husband on dry land as she raced into the ocean for a refreshing dip
The busty star later revealed the assets that helped score her a string of glamour modelling assignments while floating on her back in the lapping water.
Katie and former stripper Kieran headed to the stunning island - where they were first married in 2013 - in order to work on their recent relationship difficulties.
A source told The Sun: 'She and Kieran have left the kids at home and intend to work on their marriage.'
Good times: Katie was in high spirits as she splashed around in the ocean
The star recently revealed on an episode of Loose Women that the tour for her autobiography Reborn, and discussion of her cheating husband, had become too much for her to bear.
Kieran had embarked on affairs with her best friends Jane Pountney and Chrissy Thomas while Katie was pregnant with their second child together - an issue she discusses in her new book.
She admitted she now aims to heal her heartbreak and marriage tension away from the public eye with couples therapy sessions and quality time together - such as their Caribbean break.
She explained: 'We had therapy at the time (of Kieran's cheating) and I thought I was over it... The past two weeks, I've been back on my book tour, it's reopened new wounds. I've had to talk about it.'
Here for a reason: Katie and former stripper Kieran headed to the stunning island - where they were first married in 2013 - in order to work on their recent relationship difficulties
She's the glamorous former pageant girl who has carved out a successful modelling career and has just released her first book.
But Jesinta Campbell has revealed she was the 'ugly duckling' back at school and opened up about being bullied over her looks.
The 25-year-old told KIIS FM's The Kyle and Jackie O Show she hopes to inspire others who may be getting bullied, admitting: 'I had braces, I had glasses, I had that longer skirt.'
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'I had braces and glasses': Jesinta Campbell revealed in a radio interview on Tuesday morning she was the 'ugly duckling' back at school and opened up about being bullied over her looks (Pictured in September)
Shock jock Kyle Sandilands asked if she was the 'ugly duckling' and Jesinta said she 'definitely' was.
She added had received some apologies from the girls at her school who bullied her and sometimes sees them.
'I have seen them and I've had a few people write to me and apologise for the way they treated me at school,' Jesinta said.
She added that she hopes to help others going through similar bullying, which she talks about in her new book, Live A Beautiful Life.
Helping others: The former beauty queen (left) said she hopes to help others going through similar bullying, which she talks about in her new book (Pictured with younger sister Aleysha right)
Working hard: The brunette has carved out a successful modelling career since appearing in the Miss Universe pageant in 2010 (pictured)
'I never felt that I was really really stuck, I wasn't in a place where I thought I couldn't get out of it but some people are and I just hope that they share in some of my personal stories about some of the things that happened at school, it can help someone else in their journey.'
In 2011, Jesinta - who grew up on the Gold Coast - spoke to Woman's Day about her school teacher mother Valerie, who helped her through the schoolyard troubles.
'A girl from my primary school moved to the same high school as me, and she had started a rumour before I even got there and told everyone not to be my friend,' the former beauty queen told the magazine, admitting she became isolated as a result.
A mother's wisdom: In 2011, Jesinta - who grew up on the Gold Coast - spoke to Woman's Day about her school teacher mother Valerie, who helped her through the schoolyard troubles
'Mum used to tell me that people's opinions of you don't define you,' she said.
She eventually changed schools but Valerie said the experience was hard on her daughter.
'We cried together at times,' Valerie confessed.
Jesinta - who is a David Jones ambassador and has now signed with IMG models - is currently engaged to Sydney Swans star Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, 29.
The pair are planning to wed in the distant future, having gotten engaged in December 2014.
She's a big fan of Halloween and has even been doing a countdown to the holiday on social media.
So on Monday Vanessa Hudgens made sure she was ready for the weekend ahead as she got her nails done in Studio City.
The 27-year-old even went for a themed manicure, showing off her black nail polish as she headed to her car.
Stunner: Vanessa Hudgens looked effortlessly chic as she stopped by a nail salon in Studio City on Monday
Vanessa looked effortlessly chic for the pamper session in a black fluffy over-sized sweater which she wore as a dress.
The unusual garment left the actress's lean legs on show and she teamed it with platform Stella McCartney shoes.
Her short ombre tresses were styled in a wavy fashion and she went for a dark make-up look with deep purple lips and lots of black eyeliner.
Ahead of Halloween weekend, Vanessa's Instagram has been full of throwback posts dedicated to the holiday.
Flaunt it: The young actress donned a pair of stylish platform boots, a fluffy over-sized sweater as she showed off her lean legs
Before her nail salon outing she posted an artsy black and white photo of her and her sister, Stella Hudgens.
Vanessa captioned the photo: 'sista sista @stellahudgens #VsHalloweenCountdown @eliastahan.'
She posted another photo yesterday of her and her famous besties, Ashley Tisdale and Shenae Grimes-Beech.
Getting ready for Halloween: Just today she posted an artsy black and white photo of her and her sister, Stella Hudgens
The three beauties smouldered for the very dramatic black and white photo.
She wrote next to the shot: 'happy birthday vibes for @shenaegrimesbeech (@eliastahan) #VsHalloweenCountdown.'
The former High School Musical star has been dividing her time between LA and Vancouver, B.C. the past couple of months as she started work on the freshman NBC comedy Powerless.
Halloween countdown: Vanessa here with Ashley Tisdale (L) and Shenae Grimes-Beech (C)
After shooting the pilot, the production was temporarily put on hold after the departure of Executive Producer Ben Queen.
But the DC Comics workplace comedy about an insurance company that deals with the destruction left behind by superheroes is still slated for a 2017 debut.
Vanessa plays Emily Locke in the superhero sitcom, which premieres January 2 on NBC.
As outrage mounted against her tribute to Beyonce's Formation music video, comedian Amy Schumer posted a statement about the parody on Instagram.
'You know you that b**** when you cause all this conversation. Thanks for the exclusive release Tidal! We had so much fun making this tribute. All love and women inspiring each other. #strongertogether,' Schumer wrote, alongside a topless photo of herself laying down on a chaise.
The 35-year-old comedian started a firestorm on social media this weekend when she released a parody of Beyonce's Formation video, filmed with the co-stars of her upcoming film Mother/Daughter.
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Amy Schumer posted this statement to Instagram on Monday as many turned against her on social media for her parody of Beyonce's Formation music video
Schumer has been criticised and labeled as racist on social media for her parody of Beyonce's Formation music video also starring Goldie Hawn
While the video was released by Tidal, which is owned by Beyonce's husband Jay-Z, and several women of color appeared in the video, many found the video to be racist.
The outrage didn't start until Saturday though, when Schumer was allowed to post it on her YouTube account, letting those without a Tidal account to view it.
She also appeared teary-eyed in a video posted to her Instagram account early Tuesday morning.
In the video, posted just after midnight Pacific Time, Schumer says she's 'grateful'.
Schumer appeared teary-eyed in a video recorded early Tuesday morning. In the video, she says's she's 'grateful for all of this s***'
'I'm going to bed. I just want to say - I'm sober first of all, no drinking - im tired, a lot of work today...I'm grateful. I'm grateful for all of this s***. I'm grateful to be alive right now during this time. I hope you have a good night too,' Schumer says from her bed.
Schumer teamed up with actress Goldie Hawn for the spoof which mimics the choreography for the hit from the album Lemonade.
However as the original song and video from the 35-year-old Queen Bey is aimed around black female empowerment, many outspoken Twitter users expressed their distaste for it.
Hitting back: One user was so upset by the video that they wished this would have a negative effect on her career
One user with the handle @Maliagif wrote: 'Amy Schumer made a parody of Formation, a song about female black empowerment, with a bunch of other white women...what a mess.'
Another was so upset by the video that they wished this would have a negative effect on her career.
@peacebang wrote: 'There is no possible excuse for @AmySchumer not to know the cultural significance of #Formation for black women.I hope this hurts her career.'
Not pleased: Several took to Twitter to express their distaste as a hashtag '#AntSchumerGottaGoParty' was also created
The social media movement was so strong after the video that many aired their grievances under the hashtag '#AmySchumerGottaGoParty' and many even dug up her old tweets which they found racist.
@lotuseatur wrote: 'It's a goddamn hate crime that amy schumer was allowed to do a parody of formation and it's on tidal.'
When it was posted on Amy's personal YouTube account, it gained almost triple the amount of dislikes to likes.
Original: Beyonce's visual album Lemonade was parodied by the stars
Hilarious: Amy, 35, and 70-year-old Goldie showcased their comedic chemistry in the parody released on Friday
Dream team: The pair were recently in Hawaii filming a movie together
The parody featuring Amy and the 70-year-old acting legend was released on Friday
The pair are seen wearing revealing khaki outfits for the clip named 'In Formation.'
They put on an energetic performance, mimicking Queen Bey's epic dance moves and twerking.
Amy tweeted that it had been filmed on 'an island', while she was with Joan Cusack and Wanda Sykes.
Got moves; They put on an energetic performance, mimicking Queen Bey's epic dance moves and twerking
Hot stuff; Amy is seen looking disheveled in front of a burning building
Close pals: Amy tweeted that it had been filmed on 'an island', while she was with Joan Cusack and Wanda Sykes
The lip-sync video seems likely that it was filmed while they were shooting her new big screen comedy Mother/Daughter in Hawaii.
It marks Goldie Hawn's return to acting after a 15-year hiatus from acting in 2002.
The Private Benjamin star is starring alongside Amy in the film - which she co-wrote.
Back in January, Beyonce released the original music video for Formation which was set in a flood-ridden New Orleans and made several references to the Black Lives Matter movement.
You know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation. Thanks for the exclusive release Tidal! We had so much fun making this tribute. All love and women inspiring each other. #strongertogether A photo posted by @amyschumer on Oct 24, 2016 at 1:10pm PDT
Having fun: Amy did not respond to the social media backlash but did take the time to post a silly video on Instagram Monday
Beaming: Music could be heard playing in the background as she turns to the camera
Showing off: She stood up then began taking her shirt off
Revealing: Her bra was on full display
She won praise for her performance as Harley Quinn, a sexually provocative, fishnet clad super-villain in the otherwise poorly received cinematic rendering of DC comic book series Suicide Squad.
But Margot Robbies latest role finds her in rather less confronting situations and goes some way towards diversifying her already eclectic portfolio of films.
The Australian actress, 26, plays Daphne de Selincourt, the wife of celebrated Winnie the Pooh creator A.A Milne in director Simon Curtiss forthcoming historical biopic Goodbye Christopher Robin.
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Ready for action: Margot Robbie plays Daphne de Selincourt, the wife of celebrated Winnie the Pooh creator A.A Milne in director Simon Curtiss forthcoming historical biopic Goodbye Christopher Robin
Dressed in period costume, Margot was in high spirits as she mingled with a gathering of cast and crew members during an outdoor shoot at Windsor Park on the outskirts of London earlier this month.
On a chilly autumn day the actress, who was born and raised on Australias Gold Coast, wrapped herself in her characters shawl while waiting for the cameras to roll.
The film sees Margot reunite with Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, 33, who takes the lead as Milne, some three years after they starred together in romantic comedy About Time.
Back together: The film sees Margot reunite with Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, who takes the lead as Milne, some three years after they starred together in romantic comedy About Time
Upbeat: Dressed in period costume, Margot was in high spirits as she chatted with the Irish star during an outdoor shoot at Windsor Park on the outskirts of London
In good company: The two stars were joined by fellow cast-members, all dressed in period costume
And Gleeson, better known for his previous role as Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter film franchise, looked radically different having dyed his ginger hair blonde as they idled on set.
As filming commenced later that day, a group of children were seen dressed in animal costumes as they playfully marched through the woods.
Adding to the surreal nature of the shoot, a platoon of soldiers and various extras sporting fancy dress were also filmed as they formed a procession through the forest.
A cold front: On a chilly autumn day Margot, who was born and raised on Australias Gold Coast, wrapped herself in her characters shawl while waiting for the cameras to roll
Ready to roll: The cast readied themselves for another outdoor scene in Windsor earlier this month
In need of refreshments: The actress sipped from a cup of water while sharing a joke with her co-stars
Depth: Margot's latest role goes some way towards diversifying her already eclectic portfolio of films
Coming soon: Set in the 1920s, the forthcoming film will centre on Milne as he draws inspiration for his most iconic character through his relationship with his young son Christopher
Set in the 1920s, the forthcoming film will centre on Milne as he draws inspiration for his most iconic character through his relationship with his young son Christopher, who will be played at different stages in his life by young actors Will Tilston and Alex Lawther.
Scottish actress Kelly MacDonald, whose previous screen credits include Trainspotting and No Country For Old Men, will also feature as Christopher's nanny, Olive.
Speaking after the film's casting was announced, director Curtis said: 'I am delighted to be collaborating with (screenwriter) Frank Cottrell Boyce to tell the remarkable and poignant story of the family behind the creation of Winnie the Pooh.
'We are assembling a wonderful cast, headed by two actors I am longing to work with.'
While the film is yet to be given an official release date, it is expected to hit cinemas in 2017.
Enchanting: As filming commenced later that day, a group of children were seen dressed in animal costumes as they playfully marched through the woods
Attention: A platoon of soldiers were also seen making their way through the forest
They've made it to the final three of The Bachelorette Australia.
And it's little wonder why, with contestants Lee Elliott, 35, Matty Johnson, 29, and Jake Ellis, 30, all looking buff and handsome in their fun shoot for NW Magazine.
The trio showed off their buff physiques and muscly arms in white T-shirts, ahead of the show's series finale, to air on Thursday.
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Looking good! The Bachelorette finalists (from L to R) Lee, Jake and Matty look buff and handsome in their fun shoot for NW Magazine ahead of the finale this week
Lee wore his T-shirt with light washed jeans and brown lace up boots, putting his various small tattoos on display.
Matty look casually cool in black ripped jeans and black leather boots.
Jake meanwhile wore light washed grey denim with brown suede boots.
Mucking around: It appeared that the boys have formed a strong bond in the Bachelorette mansion, playing up for the camera and having a good laugh
It appeared that the boys have formed a strong bond in the Bachelorette mansion, playing up for the camera and having a good laugh.
Mechanical plumber Lee could be seen giving Jake a piggy back in one shot and in another gives marketing manager Matty a noogie.
In another image, the love rivals pose up with their arms around one another.
Sales professional Jake has told NW that he's fallen head over heels for leading lady Georgia Love.
Cheeky: Mechanical plumber Lee could be seen giving Jake a piggy back in one shot and in another gives marketing manager Matty a noogie
He confessed he's even thought about marriage.
'I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I've definitely thought about it,' Jake said.
Meanwhile, photos have recently emerged of Lee and Matty filming scenes for the finale with Georgia in Singapore - suggesting Jake will not be receiving the final rose.
Lee has also said he could see a future between him and Georgia and told Popsugar he felt 'something special' between them during home visits.
Wedding bells? Sales professional Jake has told NW that he's fallen head over heels for leading lady Georgia Love (pictured)
Who will win? Lee has also said he could see a future between him and Georgia and told Popsugar he felt 'something special' between them during home visits
'After taking her home to meet my family, that was when I really had a moment,' he began to explain.
'I already knew there was something special, but you can also wonder whether you're getting caught up in all this.
'I sat back and watched her with my family and just took it in and went, "Hang on, there's far more here. This is something special",' he said.
The two part finale airs on Wednesday and Thursday on Channel Ten.
Has she found the one? Georgia quit her journalist job to find love
Gareth Malone has lamented a sound trick called audio compression, which he blames for making everything loud
From dialogue that is too quiet to booming background music, poor sound quality has long been the bug-bear of television viewers.
And TV presenter Gareth Malone has lamented a sound trick called audio compression, which he blames for making everything loud.
The host of The Choir said that X Factor is one of the worst offenders for using the technique, which reduces the volume range in a programme.
In an interview with the Radio Times, Malone suggested that sound engineers on the ITV talent show manipulate the sound levels to make the programme more shiny.
When asked what he would change about British TV, he said: Its a boring, nerdy answer: less audio compression, which is when they make the softer bits loud, so that everything is loud.
X Factor is a prime example. Its so shiny. You can turn it right down, and still hear absolutely everything.
Malone, whose new show The Choir: Gareths Best in Britain launches next Tuesday on BBC Two, is not the first person to raise issues with sound on TV.
His grumblings are the latest in a long line of complaints from viewers about problems with sound quality.
Earlier this year, people tuning into BBC drama Happy Valley resorted to turning their TV sets up to full volume in a bid to hear the dialogue, which they said was muffled.
Others went as far as saying that lead actress Sarah Lancashire was mumbling her lines.
The host of The Choir said that X Factor is one of the worst offenders for using the technique, which reduces the volume range in a programme
BBC dramas Jamaica Inna and Quirke drew hundreds of complaints for similar reasons, whilst the BBC had to turn down the volume on Professor Brian Cox science series Wonders of the Universe after viewers complained.
Another common gripe among viewers is that adverts on TV sound too loud when compared with programmes.
In many cases this is linked to audio compression, as commercial advertisers reduce the wide variation of levels in order to give the adverts greater impact, by lifting the quieter sounds up to the higher end of the spectrum.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) sets guidelines for loudness normalisation and permitted maximum level of audio signals.
She broke her silence this week on social media regarding her rumoured split from Today host Karl Stefanovic.
But it seems Cassandra Thorburn was referencing the 'break-up' several days before in a Facebook post to a mutual friend of the couple.
The 44-year-old sent a birthday message to Ben Fordham's wife, journalist Jodie Speers, on Saturday and it seems she is distancing her family from Karl.
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Distancing herself? Today host Karl Stefanovics (L) estranged wife Cassandra Thorburn (R) sent a Facebook birthday message to Ben Fordham's wife Jodie Speers on Saturday addressed from all her family - except for Kyle
The Facebook post stated: 'Hi Jodie. Wishing you a wonderful, happy birthday filled with fun and love.'
But the way Cassandra finishes the post appears to suggest she has in fact split from Karl, as multiple news outlets claim.
She signs off the birthday greeting, 'Cass, Jackson, Ava and River', mentioning all her family members EXCEPT for Karl.
From all the family, EXCEPT Karl! Cassandra signed off the birthday message from herself and her three children - but not her husband of 21 years
Karl and Cassandra have been married for 21 years and share three children, Jackson, 16, Ava, 11, and River, 10.
It is believed the children are living with the former ABC journalist, while Karl allegedly stays with his brother Peter.
The Today show host worked with Ben Fordham for four years at Channel Nine, with Karl getting tearful on Ben's last day.
Best of buds! The Today show host worked alongside Ben Fordham (L), Jodie Speers' husband, for four years at Channel Nine. Pictured with co-host Lisa Wilkinson (C) at the 2014 Logies
As Karl formed a strong friendship with Ben, it seems he and Cassandra also became close to Ben's wife Jodie.
Jodie appeared to 'like' the subtle jab at Karl in the birthday post by his estranged wife, but did not comment on the thread.
Afterwards, Cassandra wrote a lengthy post on social media, seemingly breaking her silence over the 'split' for the first time.
Mutual mates: Karl and Cassandra became mutual friends with Ben and his wife Jodie during Ben's four-year stint at Channel Nine between 2010 and 2014
She wrote: 'Apparently Today Show finally won a year. This took a huge toll on my family and I, and Im congratulating myself today for all the effort that went into making that [ratings] happen.
'The suggestions, the story ideas, the constant counselling of questions for years.
'Im giving myself a pat on the back tonight, as I know many people will also know how much effort I put into it,' she wrote, according to Adelaide Advertiser.
Speaking out: Cassandra recently appeared to break her silence over the 'split' from Karl in a lengthy Facebook post claiming Today's ratings victory 'took a huge toll' on her family
The Facebook posts comes after Today claimed the top rating spot for the year, beating Channel Seven rivals Sunrise.
It has been reported Cassandra left behind her career as an ABC journalist early in their marriage to raise the couple's children.
A source told New Idea last month: 'Cass has sacrificed everything to raise Karl's kids while he pursued his dreams of becoming a network star.'
Meanwhile, Karl seemingly referenced the alleged split last week on Today.
During a segment on Thursday, he jumped in when Lisa Wilkinson asked viewers: 'How much do you think your partner is worth?'
'Heaps,' Karl quickly responded.
Spotted: Karl was recently spotted outside his Sydney home for the first time after news of his split from wife Cassandra, who was watching him leave
It comes after a source close to Karl and his wife told New Idea she plans to keep the $7 million mansion, which the pair purchased a month before 'splitting'.
Earlier in the month, the publication reported that Channel Nine staff were not surprised by news of Karl and Cassandra's separation.
'They have been having issues for ages, and no-one at Nine was surprised when they heard they had split,' a source told the magazine.
The insider continued: 'He had been fed-up with being married to her. She was constantly fed-up and nagging him.'
New Idea also claimed the couple's relationship reached tipping point at the Logie Awards in May, as Karl was 'off getting drunk' while his wife looked for him.
Karl has recently been spotted on and off air without his wedding ring amid reports of a marriage breakdown.
He has also reportedly moved out of his Sydney family home and is staying with his younger brother Peter Stefanovic.
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Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour will pay an official visit to China from Oct. 27 to 31, at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Ghandour will hold talks with Wang and attend seminars with scholars from various Chinese think tanks, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang at a daily press briefing Tuesday.
The Chinese side looks forward to discussing bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues of common concern; consolidating consensus and cooperation; and encouraging the sustained and stable development of China-Sudan relations, Lu said.
He also said that China attaches importance to relations with Sudan and was ready to further enhance bilateral exchanges across all areas.
He played one of the most iconic gay characters of all-time and came out in 2010.
And now Sean Hayes has said he regrets not doing it sooner.
The 46-year-old actor was honoured at the 12th Annual Outfest Legacy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
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Opening up: Sean Hayes was honoured at the 12th Annual Outfest Legacy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night
It was there where he was given the Trailblazer Award at the event held at the Vibiana as he apologised for not coming out sooner.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, he shed light on his signature character as he said: '[The press release] said that I took the stereotypical gay sissy and made him human, lovable, flawed and real.
'While this may be true, I think you shouldve led with flawed because at the time, I was a young closeted actor having his first taste of a little success and unfortunately, in my mind, my lucky break was inextricably tied to me thinking that i had to stay in the closet in order to keep moving forward.'
'I know I shouldve come out sooner and Im sorry for that: The 46-year-old actor expressed regret after being presented with the prize by Dax Shepard
Signature role: He played Jack MacFarland in the highly-popular NBC sitcom Will & Grace,which aired from 1998 to 2000
He played Jack MacFarland in the highly-popular NBC sitcom,which aired from 1998 to 2000.
Sean explained: 'Looking back at my choice to stay silent, I am ashamed and embarrassed. What was I thinking? As If any of you had any doubts. I mean, right, could a straight actor ever do this?'
He said when it comes to gala events and honours like the one he was receiving, he is 'consumed' with what he hadn't done previously.
The talented actor continued by saying: 'I know I shouldve come out sooner and Im sorry for that. Especially when I think about the possibility that I might have made a difference in someones life.
Regret: During his speech he also said: 'Looking back at my choice to stay silent, I am ashamed and embarrassed'
Just us: He was accompanied by music producer husband Scott Icenogle
'I would probably be able to sleep a lot better than I do if I had acted sooner, but such is life. We learn our lessons only when we are ready.'
He was presented the shiny new prize by fellow actor Dax Shepard and was joined at the event by husband Scott Icenogle.
Sean refused to talk about his sexual orientation for several years before implying that he was gay in a 2010 interview with The Advocate.
Nearly two years ago in November 2014, he announced that he had married partner of eight years and music producer Scott.
Miley Cyrus blamed being 'too stoned' for flubbing lyrics while performing on Sunday in Washington, DC.
The 23-year-old pop star was performing a rendition of My Way in honor of Bill Murray at the Kennedy Center event when things went awry.
'I f***ed it up,' Miley reportedly told the audience, according to an article on Monday by People.
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Top honor: Bill Murray is shown on Sunday upon arrival at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC to receive the 19th annual Mark Twain Prize
'Sorry guys. I got too stoned,' she continued after tripping mid-song on lyrics.
Bill, 66, was receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and rushed to Miley's defense.
The former Saturday Night Live star joked with the crowd from his seat despite not having a microphone.
Too much: Miley, shown last month in Las Vegas, uttered profanity while apologizing to the audience and blamed being 'too stoned'
'This is happening right now in Washington D.C., the 51st state in the union,' the Ghostbusters star joked.
Miley and the crew thanks to the comic interlude were able to set up for a second attempt at the song that went more smoothly.
Bill and Miley have been pals since her cameo in his 2015 Netflix holiday musical comedy special A Very Murray Christmas.
The honoree: Bill is shown arriving at his seat before the start of the program
Isn't this airing on PBS? According to AP, Miley ursed repeatedly and made an excuse about smoking too many cigarettes after she botched the lyrics to a version of My Way during a performance at The Mark Twain Award at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (pictured performing on stage with Paul Shaffer during the show)
Holiday special: Bill is shown with Miley in a scene from his 2015 Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas
David Letterman, 66, delivered a heartfelt tribute to Bill before he accepted the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, following in the footsteps of previous recipients Tina Fey and Richard Pryor.
After he was presented with a bust of Mark Twain, Murray handed it to a man in the first row of the audience and urged the crowd to pass it around.
Known for living outside the Hollywood bubble, Murray admitted he was uncomfortable sitting in a box with his family while more than a dozen of his co-stars and collaborators spoke warmly about his body of work.
Man of the hour! Bill Murray received the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday night, following in the footsteps of previous recipients Bill Murray, Tina Fey, and Richard Pryor
An unforgettable performance: Cyrus no doubt had audience members in the palm of her hands
Miley, meanwhile, has been using her celebrity status to drum up support for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Virginia.
The former Disney star surprised George Mason University students on Saturday by knocking on their dorm room doors in a bid to earn the Democratic presidential candidate extra millennial votes.
In a video clip posted on social media, Cyrus, who is sitting next to a window looking down on a huge crowd of students, tells the camera: 'They're saying Hillary, I swear.'
Seeing stars: On Saturday, Cyrus captioned a selfie of herself, 'Supreme Court celebrating Bill f**kin Murray!!!!!'
Crowd pleaser: The hit-maker sported a star-themed ensemble as she posed up with another fan
She then adds, 'they're saying Miley,' and laughed.
Miley made her way around campus in a Stars-And-Stripes-themed outfit by Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz De La Prada, with a red and white striped skirt and a blue bow for a crop top.
She talked with students about topics including LGBTQ rights, pineapple fried rice and Clinton's white pantsuit during the third presidential debate, which Miley loved, according to reporter Emma Loop, who was on campus and live-tweeted the visit.
The fans love her! Cyrus and a fan playfully stuck out their tongues during the show
She's loved-up and engaged to British beau Adam Ellis - less than a year after splitting from ex-husband Michael.
And Lindy Klim has debuted what appears to be her engagement ring at Virgin Mobile and Smiling Mind's event in Sydney on Tuesday.
Sporting a natural glow and a black pant-suit, the 38-year-old beauty flashed some new bling on her left hand ring finger as she posed for photos.
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That engaged glow! Lindy Klim looked radiant as she stepped out for an event on Tuesday in Sydney
The bling ring: The 38-year-old showed off what appears to be her engagement ring given to her by British beau Adam Ellis
The mother-of-three struck a series of meditation poses in a round pod during the event.
Lindy's new piece of jewellery appears to be a cognac diamond ring set on a gold band.
Wearing minimal make-up, the Balinese beauty looked sharp in a tailored suit and a printed blouse.
Sparkly: The ring worn on Lindy's left hand appears to be a cognac diamond set on a gold band
Fashionista: The Balinese beauty cut a stylish figure in a black pant-suit as she posed in a meditation pod during the event
Her hair was pulled back into a slick ponytail for the daytime outing.
Lindy and Adam's engagement was revealed earlier this month after friends sent the couple congratulatory messages on Instagram.
During their romantic getaway to Morocco, the model took to social media to share idyllic snaps from their trip.
Loved-up: News of the model's engagement to Adam came to light earlier this month after friends flocked to Instagram to congratulate the couple
'Amazing, congratulations,' one account posted, while another added: 'Congrats on the engagement (sic).'
The speculation of the engagement came after the mother-of-three shared an image of herself, along with a hashtag for 'trip of a lifetime' and 'in love' in the caption line.
Lindy later set tongues wagging after seemingly showing off her engagement ring in a Snapchat story with good friend Ian Thorpe.
Smitten: Lindy was first pictured with Adam earlier this year shortly after announcing her split from swimmer Michael Klim
Meanwhile, the skincare company founder, who currently goes by her estranged husband's surname, confirmed to friends that she will be adopting Adam's last name once married.
Lindy replied to a question on Instagram by Australian fashion designer and Triangl founder Erin Deering if they will 'have the same surname soon'.
Erin is engaged to former AFL player and business partner Craig Ellis, who does not appear to be related to Adam.
Showing off: Lindy was also seen sporting her new jewellery last week in a Snapchat story alongside good friend Ian Thorpe
Erin wrote: '@lindyklim are we both going to have the same surname soon?! (if Craig and I ever get round to getting married!!! #ellisgirls'.
And Lindy promptly replied: '@erinkdeering hahahaha yes... #ellisgirls rock!!'
Lindy and former Olympic swimmer Michael were previously married for 10 years before announcing their split in February after several months of break-up rumours.
Jumping ship: The brunette beauty confirmed to friends via Instagram that she'd be adopting her new beau's surname once they are married
Shortly after confirming the separation, Lindy was spotted with Adam at London's Heathrow Airport.
Their relationship appears to have blossomed remarkably quickly as they got engaged within eight months.
Meanwhile, Michael is dating Balinese fashion designer Desiree Deravi and claims they are in no rush to get married.
After decades in the modelling business, Naomi Campbell is no slouch when it comes to selecting a red carpet outfit.
And the 46-year-old didn't disappoint on Monday night when she attended the Princess Grace Awards Gala at Cipriani 25 Broadway in Manhattan.
Naomi dazzled in a richly textured pearl evening gown that tightened about her enviably svelte waistline, treading the carpet with stars including Queen Latifah.
Another day, another red carpet event: Naomi Campbell spent her Monday evening attending the Princess Grace Awards Gala in New York CIty
Well, she is fashion royalty: The supermodel's gown featured a dramatic, flowing train and looked fit for a princess
The frock, which the supermodel was spotted leaving her hotel in earlier in the evening, flared out at the hem and formed a train.
Naomi had slung a heavily brocaded cape over one shoulder, and it glistened as she moved. Adding a pop of colour, her toenails were painted bright red.
The native Londoner accessorised by way of a silver clutch, as well as a gleaming bracelet and a large diamond necklace.
Added elegance: Her outfit featured a long and heavily brocaded white cape
Still got it: The 46-year-old's richly textured white dress showcased her svelte frame
Location, location, location: The celebration was held at Cipriani 25 Broadway
Effortlessly elegant: Naomi dazzled as she arrived at the star-studded charity event in her show-stopping gown
Brains and beauty: The catwalk queen took to the podium to address the crowd
Royal connections: Naomi posed alongside Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco as they worked their magic in front of the cameras
A tuxedoed member of her staff held onlookers at bay as she headed into her car. When she clambered in, another member of staff was waiting for her.
Once at the event, Naomi strolled the dark grey carpet with brio, letting the cape trail behind her and fully demonstrate its impressive length.
As the cameras began to click, she finally unleashed her winning smile, poising herself expertly.
Scheduling: After a champagne reception, the evening moved into the awards ceremony, dinner and a live auction, to be followed by dancing
Out and and about: Earlier in the evening, she'd been spotted leaving her hotel to head over to the event
A pop of colour: The native Londoner's toenails were painted bright red
According to the invitation, which the Princess Grace Foundation have posted online, the gala featured the sitting Prince and Princess of Monaco: Albert II of the House of Grimaldi and his wife Charlene Wittstock.
His Serene Highness is the son of the late Grace Kelly - namesake of the awards and organisation - and her husband Prince Rainier III.
Albert II's sisters Caroline, Princess Of Hanover and Princess Stephanie of Monaco were also among the group's Board Of Trustees.
Gangway: A member of her staff held onlookers at bay as she made her way to her car
The necessities: Though she'd eschewed it by the time she got to the grey carpet, she initially accessorised with a silver clutch
Well looked after: When she clambered into her car, a second member of staff awaited her
Chatterbox: Naomi seemed in her element as she took to the podium at the event
Star-studded: Naomi posed alongside Prince Albert and Queen Latifah inside the bash
After kicking off, in continental style, with a champagne reception, the event soldiered into its awards ceremony, along with dinner and a live auction.
Once the more sedate portion of the evening was dispensed with, celebrity DJ Chelsea Leyland was booked to get the attendees dancing.
At the event, actor Leslie Odom Jr of Hamilton fame and choreographer Camille A Brown were the proud recipients of Princess Grace Statue Awards.
Elegant: The guests stood at the table before being seated for dinner
Glittering: Queen Latifah also wore figure-hugging white on the grey carpet
Dynamic duo: She (left) stood for photographs beside jewellery designer Alex Soldier (right)
Royal connections: Prince Albert II of Monaco presented Queen Latifah with an award
Star-studded: (L-R) Katia Toledano, Sidney Toledano, Queen Latifah, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and Princess Charlene of Monaco
Pleased to meet you: Queen Latifah looked utterly delighted to be in the presence of royalty as she shook Prince Albert's hand inside the event
Getting to know you: The pair seemed to have plenty to chat about
Queen Latifah's figure-hugging white dress featured a glittering turtleneck and a matching strip that sloped over her cleavage.
The same fabric wound its way about her decolletage and encircled each arm near the shoulder, finally winding its way up to connect with the turtleneck.
Her hair gathered into an elaborate updo, she held a pale silver clutch against her dress. Jewellery designer Alex Soldier posed beside her in a pinstriped suit, his pocket square matching his black and white polka-dotted bow tie.
Guest of honour: Leslie Odom Jr (left), who along with Camille A Brown (not pictured) got a Princess Grace Statue Award that evening, posed with his wife Nicolette Robinson (right)
Odom Jr, who's explained to People how the Princess Grace Foundation helped him pay his way through Carnegie Mellon, wore a gleaming grey tuxedo.
His black collar complemented his black bow tie as he stood for photographs beside his wife Nicolette Robinson.
Robinson's strapless gown featured a blue and white rose pattern and a large protuberant ring of raised fabric about her bust.
When you got it: Victoria Silvstedt bared her cleavage in a purple gown
Solemnity: Rose Lesie wore an idiosyncratic blue and black outfit to the gala
Tommy Hilfiger stuck to a simply elegant classic look, a white pocket square adding a splash of contrast against his black tuxedo.
Alongside the 65-year-old, his 46-year-old wife Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger let her cleavage bulge from the almost midriff-low neckline of her diaphanous baby blue gown.
Flower-like knots of cloth were clumped at her slender waist, as well as on her shoulders, almost resembling epaulets.
Man and wife: Tommy Hilfiger, 65, (right) attended on the arm of his 46-year-old spouse Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger
Taking the plunge: Dee looked incredible in her plunging ice blue gown
Meanwhile, Victoria Silvstedt let her platinum blonde hair fall free over a purple gown, complete with a translucent train.
Rose Leslie wore an idiosyncratic ensemble in which midnight blue fabric cascaded about her sides, framing black fabric beneath it.
Their Serene Highnesses themselves paraded down the grey carpet. Prince Albert wore a three-piece suit, Princess Charlene a flowing white gown speckled with images of green flowers.
The House Of Grimaldi: His Serene Highness Prince Albert II Of Monaco (left) - son of the event's namesake Grace Kelly - and his wife Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene Of Monaco were present for the ceremony
Addressing the crowd: Princess Charlene delivered an impassioned speech
Heather Dubrow went ballistic on Vicki Gunvalson on Monday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Orange County and called her a 'stupid b****'.
The trash talk came after Heather, 47, earlier accused Kelly Dodd of being 'trashy'.
The show opened with a full scale slanging match in the bus to the airport in Ireland.
Lost it: Heather Dubrow cussed out Vicki Gunvalson on Monday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Orange County
The rancor was caused by Kelly who'd told Shannon Beador that Vicki had been telling people that Shannon's husband David had hit Shannon.
Heather called Vicki a 'stupid b****' and wagged her finger imperiously.
'She's got f***ing kids, you don't do that, are you kidding me?' raged the slim brunette.
Tamra Judge was also outraged about rumors that self-declared 'O.G. of the OC' Vicki had spread about her husband Eddie being gay.
Spreading lies? Vicki was accused of spreading lies about Shannon Beador's husband David and Tamra Judge's husband Eddie
Felt cornered: Kelly Dodd spilled the beans about what Vicki told her after feeling ganged up on
Getting emotional: Shannon started crying when she heard what Vicki said about her husband
'Look at me, f*** you!,' yelled Tamra, who was millimeters from Vicki's face.
'I'm so sorry your beautiful trip is ruined by that trash,' Heather told Meghan King Edmonds, who was not impressed.
'Heather's deflecting her role in this whole debacle and it's conniving, and I see right through it,' said Meghan later.
Up close: Tamra screamed 'f*** you' right into Vicki's face
Great trip: Heather apologized to Meghan King Edmonds for the trip to Ireland being ruined
Not impressed: Meghan felt that Heather was being conniving
In a break from the fighting Tamra managed to win her long-awaited fitness competition with the help of some serious fake tan.
'Just look at that body,' marveled Shannon, 52.
Tamra asked Jesus for strength before she hit the stage.
Fitness competition: Tamra decided to allow Vicki to go to the fitness competition
Spray tan: A spray tan was in order for Tamra before the competition
'Basically it comes down to how good you look in a bikini,' she explained.
Adding: 'So many things were out of control in my life, like my relationship with my daughter, I wanted to do something for me'.
Kelly said she felt 'set up and sabotaged' by everyone in Ireland and Shannon decided to never speak with 'despicable' Vicki again.
For her: Tamra had been training for months for the fitness competition
Bikini outfits: The reality star showed her fit physique in a series of bikinis
Physically fit: Tamra showed off the results of all her hard work
She's a winner: The gals surrounded Tamra after she won her fitness competition
'She's going to attack our men because she's vengeful,' huffed Shannon.
Tamra then showed off her 'booty' in a selection of 'teeny' swimsuits.
'I was blessed with a booty,' she boasted.
Beach body: Tamra carried a surfboard during part of the competition
Her call: Shannon Beador went to the fitness competition despite Vicki also going
The born again fitness nut decided to be 'a good Christian' and allow Vicki to attend her competition.
'Maybe I'll score points from up above,' she hoped.
Tamra also apologised to Kelly for pushing her in Ireland.
Face to face: Tamra apologized to Kelly for pushing her in Ireland
'I'm not a good drunk,' admitted the buff 49-year-old.
As usual Vicki refused to take responsibility for the fight.
Kelly was livid that 'puppet master' Heather had called her 'trash'.
Bad trip: Kelly talked to Vicki about feeling abandoned by her in Ireland
'I think I threaten Heather because she's a fake, pretentious snob,' she decided.
Kelly was also furious at Vicki for not standing up for her during the onslaught, but she vowed to 'try and be a better person' after a chat with Meghan.
Vicki claimed to have advised Kelly to stay sober in Ireland, when in fact she'd done nothing but insist that she 'whoop it up'.
RHOC returns next week on Bravo for its season 11 finale.
It's down to crunch time for The Bachelorette's Georgia Love, who will present one lucky guy with the final rose this week.
And after instantly forming a connection with the 27-year-old journalist, finalist Jake Ellis says he hasn't held back showing her how he felt.
'The whole way through the show I definitely fought for her,' the 30-year-old Queensland native told Popsugar.
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Passionate: Jake Ellis revealed he 'fought' for Georgia Love throughout The Bachelorette after forming an instant connection
Possibly taking a swipe at his fellow contestant Courtney Dober, who famously passed up time with the starlet, Jake continued: 'I fought for her time, and to show her that with everything that's going on, I'm there - I'm thinking of her and I care'.
Gushing about the 'amazing' Georgia, the salesman recalled feeling so 'comfortable' he was easily able to share details about his family and parents' health battles, after Georgia revealed her own mother's pancreatic cancer battle.
Meanwhile, with Matty Johnson and Lee Elliott still in the running, Jake admits heartbreak has played on his mind while in the Bachelorette mansion.
'In the back of my mind I was definitely a little bit nervous about being heartbroken, because being heartbroken sucks,' Jake said.
Serious contender: The 30-year-old salesman admits he was nervous about being heartbroken, but says he wouldn't have made it this far without letting his guard down
Chemistry: The pair have had undeniable chemistry throughout the series, with Jake eventually introducing Goergia to his family last week
But he did also acknowledge that he wouldn't have come this far in the competition if he'd remained guarded towards the brunette beauty.
Last Thursday's episode saw Jake introduce his family to the Melbourne-born journalist.
Jake's mother Robbie was immediately wanting answers from Georgia about the logistics of her relationship with Jake, should he be her chosen man.
Robbie emphasised the importance of keeping her son close and in Queensland, telling Georgia: 'The family unit, the four of us, is very, very strong, very, very important to all of us.'
Instant connection: The salesman made an impression from the beginning, scoring the first date and kiss of the season
Awkward! Jake's mother Robbie had her doubts about the pair's relationship, and wasted no time grilling Georgia on her future plans
She later revealed her doubts about her son's romance with Georgia.
'Georgia wants to be there for her mum, as it should be,' she began.
'But long-distance relationships at the best of times are challenging, to say the least. So... yes, I'll be very interested to see how it continues. If it continues.'
Meanwhile, photos have recently emerged of Lee Elliott and Matty Johnson filming scenes for the finale with Georgia in Singapore - suggesting Jake will not be receiving the final rose.
She said she was 'almost there' in a pregnancy snap 10 weeks ago on Instagram.
And, Lara Worthington - nee Bingle - is continuing to keep details of her second pregnancy tight lipped.
In a recent upload with her mother, Sharon Bingle, the 29-year-old appeared to keep her baby bump out of the frame, reducing the possibility of fans and followers guessing her approaching due date.
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Hiding something? Lara Bingle chooses to conceal growing baby bump in Tuesday Instagram selfie with mother, as she crops pregnant belly out of sight amidst rumours she must only be weeks away from her due date
Lara appeared in good spirits with her mum, as they took a sneaky rooftop selfie ahead of a helicopter ride over New York City.
And the expectant model, who is set to welcome her second child with Sam Worthington in the coming weeks, didn't seem too worried about giving birth mid-air.
The model appeared to be wearing a black coat with a black T-shirt, matching her mother's black T-shirt and leather jacket combination.
Both blonde's wore their hair down for the outing and sported over-sized black sunglasses as the helicopter's propellers spun behind them.
Lara has shared minimal images of her bump to social media, with a myriad of alternative images of belly casts, drawings and shadows instead, to comment on her journey.
Baby bump! Lara's last baby bump picture was posted 10 weeks ago with the caption 'almost there', but it was a rare sighting for the model, as only a handful of photos have been posted in regards to her pregnancy
Before Lara and her actor partner revealed they were expecting, the blonde beauty declined to speak of rumours of a second baby on The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
She vowed that any pregnancy news would be kept between her and her husband.
'I think being pregnant is such a personal thing for a woman. I just find it weird even talking to you about it,' Lara said, keeping mum on the issue.
A private pregnancy: She vowed that any pregnancy news would be kept between her and her husband, Sam Worthington, in an interview earlier this year with KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O, saying 'I think being pregnant is such a personal thing for a woman' (Lara pictured in May)
In June, the Australian beauty confirmed that she and her actor husband Sam Worthington were expecting their second child together.
'I'm just excited that Rocket gets a sibling and that they'll be so close [in age] together', she told InStyle at the time.
'I'm sure it might seem full-on at the beginning for me, and it's probably a lot harder than it is now, but when they get older they can share their life together,' she explained.
Lara and Sam were married in 2014 and relocated to the US in the same year where they are based in New York City.
The couple welcomed one-year-old Rocket, in March 2015.
The Block is both physically and mentally draining for contestants.
And on Tuesday's show, it seems it got to software account executive Sasha who was rushed to hospital in the middle of the night.
The 43-year-old revealed during the episode that partner Julia, 31, had to take her to get medical help, saying: 'I went to emergency and was put on a drip with some morphine.'
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Health scare: On Tuesday's The Block, Sasha (pictured) revealed during the episode that partner Julia, 31, had to rush her to hospital in the middle of the night
'I think I woke Julia up around one o'clock and said "you need to take me to the hospital," Sasha said on a piece to camera.
She was also seen on site of The Block and looking worse for wear, saying doctors think she has food poisoning.
Holding a bucket in case she spewed, Sasha said she was feeling 'really average.'
Feeling queasy: She was also seen on site of The Block and looking worse for wear, saying doctors think she has food poisoning and holding a bucket in case she spewed
Not ideal: She added on a piece to camera how unfortunate it was for her to fall ill on site, saying: 'It's not fun on The Block, because there is no plumbing!'
She then became bedridden after her hospital visit and had to rest up in her and Julia's apartment for an entire day.
She added on a piece to camera how unfortunate it was for her to fall ill on site, saying: 'It's not fun on The Block, because there is no plumbing!'
Last week, Sasha told Woman's Day about being hospitalised during filming.
'Julia had to rush me to hospital in the middle of the night,' she told the magazine.
The publication reported she had suffered abdominal pain and vomiting.
During Tuesday's episode, the contestants were left to work on the challenge apartment.
Taking charge: Julia was forced to make decisions without Sasha until she returned. She had a tiff with foreman Dan about a swing for their children's bedroom
Julia was forced to make decisions without Sasha until she returned.
Making some decisions on site about fire proofing their apartment space, Julia said to camera: 'I'm actually doing alright!'
'My dad would be surprised,' she added with a laugh.
Foreman Keith meanwhile was left wondering if the girls would finish their bedroom if Julia was left in charge.
Sasha eventually returned back to working and said she was feeling better but still had some stomach pains.
'Shoot me now': The contestants all struggled with their tight budget given to them by Kim, who was in charge as treasurer
Julia and foreman Keith eventually had a little tiff as they hoped to hang a seat in their children's bedroom however Keith worried the ceiling was strong enough to hold the weight.
Julia eventually got the go ahead from Keith.
The contestants all struggled with their tight budget given to them by Kim, who was in charge as treasurer.
'It's way too much for one person to do, one hundred percent. Shoot me now, shoot me now!,' she complained to camera.
Meanwhile foremen Keith and Dan handed out their list of defects in their respective apartments, with Dan and Carleen's being deemed the worst.
She has just weeks to go before she's due to give birth to her second child.
But that's not slowing down Teresa Palmer, who has been travelling non-stop on the promo trail for her new film Hacksaw Ridge.
Matching in black with her husband Mark Webber, the 30-year-old actress showed off her burgeoning baby bump as she attended the Los Angeles premiere of the film on Monday.
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Match made in heaven! Mark Webber and Teresa Palmer looked stylish in chic all-black ensembles as they stepped out for the Hacksaw Ridge premiere in LA on Monday
Standing against a black media wall, Teresa's baby belly almost blended into the background as she posed on the red carpet.
The floor-length gown featured a high neck and sleeves that ended near the elbows, while hugging the starlet's pregnant figure perfectly.
Bejeweled details at the shoulders added a touch of glamour to the actress' classic look.
Baby on board: The 30-year-old actress stunned as she showed off her burgeoning baby belly in a floor-length gown
Teresa's long blonde locks were worn straight and in a low ponytail, with wispy strands framing her face.
Smokey green eyeshadow complemented the expectant star's light blue eyes, while black eyeliner and lashings of mascara added intensity to the look.
The rest of her makeup was kept quite simple, with just a hint of peach blush adding definition to her cheeks and pale pink lipstick coating her pout.
Hot mama! The Adelaide-born beauty oozed confidence as she posed on the red carpet, just weeks before she's due to give birth
Keeping her accessories to a minimum, Teresa carried a silver embellished clutch that matched the shoulder details of her dress.
Film-maker Mark meanwhile, was every inch the doting husband as he posed alongside is gorgeous wife, stroking her belly with his hand.
Teresa later posed alongside the star-studded cast, including director Mel Gibson and actors Andrew Garfield, Luke Bracey, and Vince Vaughn.
All-star cast: The film also stars Andrew Garfield, Luke Bracey and Vince Vaughn, and was directed by fellow Australian Mel Gibson
This will be Teresa's second child with Mark, who also has an son, Isaac, from a previous relationship.
The couple share two-year-old son Bodhi and have revealed they're planning to called their new child Forest.
The Adelaide-born beauty married the American director-producer in December 2013.
It was previously rumoured Cassandra planned to keep the other home
Last month, it was reported the couple had 'split' after 21 years of marriage
Today co-host Karl and Cassandra, a former ABC journalist, also recently bought another $7million harbour-front house
Drones were also seen flying around the Sydney property on Tuesday
Photographers have been spotted taking exterior and interior shots of Karl Stefanovic and estranged wife
Photographers have been spotted taking interior and exterior pictures of Karl Stefanovic and estranged wife Cassandra Thorburn's marital home.
The camera team - believed to be from a real estate agency - appeared to be using standard photography equipment as they arrived at the Sydney property on Tuesday and were even seen taking photos with drones.
It is not confirmed if Today co-host Karl and Cassandra, a former ABC journalist, are planning to sell the house.
Selling the family home? Photographers have been spotted taking interior and exterior pictures of Karl Stefanovic and estranged wife Cassandra Thorburn's marital home
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Karl's representatives for comment.
This follows multiple reports the couple, who share three children, have decided to separate after 21 years of marriage.
The Herald Sun first reported the split in September, claiming Karl had moved out of the family home and was living at James Packer's Bondi apartment.
Several days later, the pair were spotted looking rather downcast as Cassandra stood at the front gate watching Karl leave.
Split rumours: It is not confirmed if Today co-host Karl and Cassandra, a former ABC journalist, are planning to sell the house. Pictured at the 2011 TV Week Logie Awards in Melbourne
What's going on? The camera team appeared to be using standard photography equipment as they arrived at the Sydney property on Tuesday
Aerial views: The photographers, believed to be from a real estate agency, were even seen taking pictures with drones
New Idea previously reported Cassandra was planning to keep their other property - a newly-bought $7million harbour-front mansion.
A source told the publication: 'Cass has sacrificed everything to raise Karls kids while he pursued his dreams of becoming a network star.'
Karl and Cassandra first met in the mid '90s while he was working for WIN Television and she was at ABC radio in Rockhampton.
Tying up the loose ends? This follows multiple reports that the couple, who share three children, have decided to separate after 21 years of marriage
Breaking news: The Herald Sun first reported the split in September, claiming Karl had moved out of the family home and was living at James Packer's Bondi apartment
Where it all happened: Back in September, the couple were spotted looking rather downcast as Cassandra stood at the front gate watching Karl leave
Karl previously told The Age their first encounter was 'at a Melrose Place party' over 20 years ago, adding:'She told me I looked preppy.'
He also claimed last year Cassandra quit her job at the ABC to look after their three children - Jackson, 16, Ava, 11, and 10-year-old River.
'She gave up a promising career at the ABC and I'm forever thankful and tremendously appreciative of that,' Karl said.
'She has sacrificed everything to raise Karls kids': New Idea magazine previously reported that Cassandra was planning to keep the expensive family home
Could it be the end? Karl and Cassandra first met in the mid '90s while he was working for WIN Television and she was at ABC radio in Rockhampton
It is rare this reality star encounters anyone that can out do her when it comes to big broods.
But Caitlyn Jenner meet her big family match in Mel Gibson at the premiere of Hacksaw Ridge, with the Hollywood heavyweight having her licked by two kids and one on the way.
The Olympian and the Oscar winner no doubt could have traded a few child raising stories as they caught up on the red carpet in Los Angeles, California, on Monday night.
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Outdone: Caitlyn Jenner meet her big family match in Mel Gibson whop brought pregnant girlfriend to the premiere of Hacksaw Ridge in Los Angeles, California, on Monday night
Cait looked ecstatic to speak to the director of the film and meet the mother-to-be of his latest child, Rosalind Ross.
Reaching out her hand, the 66-year-old beamed as she introduced herself to the 26-year-old expectant mom as they prepared to head in to watch Mel's other baby on the big screen.
Caiytlin - who has six children - took a page out of one of her four step children's style book for the premiere.
The I Am Cait star stepped out in a very Kim Kardashian-like laced up body con dress.
Stitched up: Caiytlin - who has six children - took a page out of one of her four step children's style book for the premiere
Figure flaunting: The I Am Cait star stepped out in a very Kim Kardashian-like laced up body con dress
Just a hint: A lace-up panel across the bust flashed some flesh but Caitlyn refrained from showing the amount of cleavage her step-daughter would usually show in such a look
The dusty rose long sleeved dress was made from a knitted ribbed fabric and clung to the star's curves.
A lace-up panel across the bust flashed some flesh but Caitlyn refrained from showing the amount of cleavage her step-daughter would usually show in such a look.
The Olympian wore the long sleeve dress with a pair of snakeskin heels while her golden ombre locks were styled in loose waves.
Deep in conversation: Caitlyn and Mel were chatting away outside the venue
A jolly occasion: The group appeared to be getting along well and were seen exchanging smiles
Proud papa-to-be: Mel beamed as he walked the carpet with his 26-year-old pregnant love
Hairy situation: The director wore a simple dark suit with a striped tie which was fortune as this thick beard and turned up gunslinger mustache already impressed
Mel meanwhile wore a simple dark suit with a striped tie which was fortune as this thick beard and turned up gunslinger mustache already impressed.
Following her love's dark lead, Rosalind wore a classic black floor length gown.
The dress' shade and slightly loose-fit concealed her burgeoning bump.
Coming through: Caitlyn walked past the couple as they posed for the cameras
Keeping it simple: Following her love's dark lead, Rosalind wore a classic black floor length gown which kept her bump under wraps
Like father like son: Mel's sixth child, Milo Gibson, is making his big Hollywood debut in his father's film
The gown also had a thigh high-split which was tasteful rather than revealing a satin edged sweetheart neckline.
Mel and Rose - as she also goes by - revealed they were expecting last month and their baby will be Mel's ninth child.
His sixth child, Milo Gibson, also joined him on the red carpet.
Another baby on board: Australian star Theresa Palmer also attended the event wowing in a figure hugging black dress
A month to go: She was joined on the carpet by her husband Mark Webber, who lovingly caressed her bump
Milo - who is the same age as his father's girlfriend - is making his big Hollywood debut in his father's film.
Rose's was not, however, the only bump heading down the carpet.
Australian star Theresa Palmer also attended the event wowing in a figure hugging black dress.
Child-free night out: Also treating the event like date night was her co-star Vince Vaughn, who was accompanied by his beautiful wife Kyla Webber
Stylish duo: KaDee Strickland and husband Jason Behr also got to enjoy some time as couple at the event
The 30-year-old, who is due next month, wore a dress which was simply striking with a loose-fit layer which finished just above her pregnant belly.
On each of the shoulders was a jewel-encrusted epaulette which she matched perfectly to her sparkling clutch.
She was joined on the carpet by her husband Mark Webber, who lovingly caressed her bump.
Dapper gent: The film's leading man - and former beau of Emma Stone - Andrew Garfield walked the carpet solo
Keeping it casual: Former MMA fighter turned actor Randy Couture - who came with wife Mindy - took a more casual approach
Baby on board: Carlos PenaVega tenderly cradled Spy Kids star wife Alexa's growing bump
Also treating the event like date night was her co-star Vince Vaughn, who was accompanied by his beautiful wife Kyla Webber.
The film's leading man - and former beau of Emma Stone - Andrew Garfield walked the carpet solo.
Andrew - who wore a slim-fit black suit for the occasion - plays Pfc. Desmond T. Doss a real-life hero and conscientious objector, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor despite refusing to bear arms during WWII on religious grounds.
The film also stars a who is who cast made up of predominately Australians including Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving, Luke Bracey and Rachel Griffiths. The film is out November 4 in the US.
When it comes to Latin presence in mainstream media, they are among the ones with the most weight.
And on Monday, Eva Longoria and Gina Rodriguez were both chic and glamorous as they attended The Paley Center for Media's Hollywood Tribute to Hispanic Achievements in Television, held in Beverly Hills.
The carpet was no doubt a reunion for the duo, who previously worked together when Eva directed next week's episode of Jane the Virgin, which stars Gina.
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Together again: On Monday, Eva Longoria, 41, and Gina Rodriguez, 32, attended The Paley Center for Media's Hollywood Tribute to Hispanic Achievements in Television in Beverly Hills
Gina, 32, wore a fitted, sleeveless black dress with mesh detailing.
The Jane the Virgin star wore her chocolate brown locks straight and parted down the middle.
She accessorized with multiple rings and hoop earrings before completing her look with black pumps.
Hello, again! The carpet was no doubt a reunion for the duo, who previously worked together when Eva directed next week's episode of Jane the Virgin, which stars Gina
Well-known: When it comes to Latin presence in mainstream media, they are among the ones with the most weight
Classic: Gina, 32, wore a fitted, sleeveless black dress with mesh detailing
Eva was mesmerizing in a white suit jacket dress.
The Refugio actress complemented her look with a set of black strappy shoes.
Like Gina, she too wore her hair straight and parted down the media. Fpr make-up, she opted for her go-to dark, smokey eye and nude lip combination.
Complementing colours: Eva was mesmerizing in a white suit jacket dress, paired with a set of black strappy heels
Shoutout: Prior to the event, Eva took to Instagram to give credit to her glam squad
Prior to the event, Eva took to Instagram to give credit to her glam squad.
'Team Eva @kenpaves @beautybyelan,' wrote the Devious Maids executive producer.
In the photo, Eva posed with her longtime hairstylist pal, Ken Paves, and make-up artist Elan Bongiorno.
Eva's episode of Jane the Virgin is set air on Monday, October 31 on the CW.
It has been reported that she is to stand trial in North Dakota early next year on charges related to her protest against the Dakota Access pipeline
But Shailene Woodley didn't let that get in the way of her shine on her most recent outing.
The 24-year-old actress looked absolutely fantastic on red carpet of the 2nd Annual InStyle Awards in Los Angeles on Monday night as she rocked intricately braided locks and a sexy sheer Sophie Theallet gown.
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Lovely lady: Shailene Woodley looked absolutely fantastic on red carpet of the 2nd Annual InStyle Awards in Los Angeles on Monday night
She stunned in a sheer mixed-media number as she arrived at the event held at The Getty Center.
Shailene showed some skin in the intricate strapless peplum dress featuring a sheer striped top with a gold detailing.
The midi skirt featured an embroidered dark floral design as she teamed the look with strappy green patterned Christian Louboutin Pigalle Follies heels
Braid-y bunch: Shailene's glossy chestnut locks were styled in intricate braids which wrapped across the back of her head whilst the rest of her tresses were swept into a chic topknot
Stunning: The 24-year-old actress stunned in a sheer mixed-media Sophie Theallet number as she arrived at the event held at The Getty Center which looked great from all angles
Hello petal: Whilst the bodice of her gown was sheer, the skirt was a floral tapestry style design which grazed her ankles to expose a pair of metallic green heels
Looking good: Shailene showed some skin in the intricate strapless peplum dress featuring a sheer striped top with a gold detailing
She accessorised with a pair of large gold hooped earrings and matching bangle.
Her brunette tresses were pulled back in a messy bun as her natural looks shined in minimal make-up including shiny lip and smokey eye.
The recent news did not seem to bother her one bit as she smiled and posed all the way down the red carpet.
Two of a kind: Shailene was congratulated by her Snowden co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt after picking up the Advocate award at the event
Chilling out: The pair seemed in great spirits as they chatted away together on the table
Three's company: Shailene posed with her award as she joined Usher and honoree Priyanka Chopra - who won the Breakthrough Style Star award
Woodley was among 27 activists arrested October 10. The Divergent star, who livestreamed her arrest on Facebook, pleaded not guilty last week to criminal trespass and engaging in a riot.
Protests supporting the tribe have been going on for months, with 269 people arrested as of Sunday.
Protesters fear the pipeline project could potentially cause irreversible harm to the drinking water for the Standing Rock community - who live just one mile from the river - as well as the river's ecosystem.
Mug shot: She was arrested Monday, Oct. 10, 2016, during a protest against the Dakota Access pipeline
Court documents show Woodley's trial is scheduled Jan. 25 in state court in Mandan.
She could face two months in jail and $3,000 in fines if convicted of the two misdemeanors.
The Standing Rock Sioux want construction of the $3.8 billion pipeline halted, saying it could taint water supplies and encroach on tribal burial sites.
Arrest: Shailene was led to a transport vehicle by a Morton County Sheriff's deputy after being arrested at a protest
It's been one month since the split from her partner of more than a decade, Liev Schreiber.
But Naomi Watts seemed untroubled as she attended New York Academy of Art's 'Take Home A Nude' auction on Monday night.
The 48-year-old star looked gorgeous in a floral blush gown with keyhole cutout at the star-studded event.
Pretty as a petal! Naomi Watts looked gorgeous in a floral blush gown at New York Academy of Art's 'Take Home A Nude' auction on Monday night
The two-time Academy Award-nominated actress cut a ladylike figure in the pale pink frock.
Her feminine garb was adorned with floral patterns which included shades of burgundy, mint, citrus yellow and indigo.
She stepped out in a pair of strappy black leather heels with red velvet platform soles.
Flawless: Naomi's feminine garb was adorned with floral patterns which included shades of burgundy, mint, citrus yellow and indigo
Also in attendance at affair, which featured nude drawings and photos by a variety of famous and emerging artists, was ageless beauty Brooke Shields, 51.
The Suddenly Susan actress flashed a hint of cleavage in her white halter-style blouse.
She slipped into a pair of form-fitting black trousers that encased her endless lean limbs.
Ageless beauty! Brooke Shields, 51, looked stunning in a white keyhole cut-out blouse which flashed a hint of cleavage
Details: The Suddenly Susan actress rounded out her youthful look with diamond encrusted hoop earrings and a white leather clutch
Her silky chestnut tresses were swept up in a high ponytail and she rounded out her youthful look with diamond encrusted hoop earrings and a white leather clutch.
Polish model Anja Rubik, 33, made a showstopping appearance in her all black ensemble.
The blonde stunner gave a glimpse of her taut torso in a sheer blouse which she wore beneath a cropped jacket.
Showstopper! Polish model Anja Rubik, 33, made sure to turn heads as she flashed a hint of her taut torso in sheer blouse
Retro red-head: Designer Nicole miller looked pretty in vintage-inspired mini dress with multiple shades of mauve
She looks good in virtually everything.
And Gigi Hadid proved that by posing in nothing but the bare essentials.
The 21-year-old model looked absolutely fantastic in her latest Tommy Hilfiger advert photo released on Monday.
Tommy Girl: Gigi Hadid stripped down to bra and panties in her latest Tommy Hilfiger advert photo released on Monday
She showed off her slim figure in a black bra and panties combination as she posed in front of a red wall.
There was definitely no need for photoshop as the moles on her torso were on full display as she rocked the sheer undergarments.
Her signature blonde locks were worn down in a middle-part as she had natural, complimentary make-up topped off with a swipe of shiny lip.
Gigi has worked with Tommy Hilfiger for years as a brand ambassador and even recently launched her own collection with the American fashion brand.
On-the-go: The 21-year-old model is now one of the most famous models in the world as she is pictured promoting her new Tommy Hilfiger collection in Tokyo, Japan earlier this month
Earlier this month she did quite a bit of globetrotting as she went on a promotional tour in Asia for her collection.
She had a busy week in mid-October as she had stops in Dubai, Tokyo and Shanghai.
No doubt she has enjoyed a bit of downtime as of late as she was spotted enjoying a relaxed day in her hometown of Los Angeles on Saturday.
She looked every bit the California girl as she rocked a casual and laid-back look while catching up with a friend.
Casual cool: No doubt she is enjoying some downtime from the jetsetting as she was spotted out and about in Los Angeles on Sunday
Pretty: Gigi looked good in a thin cotton T-Shirt featuring holes all over it along with skinny blue jeans pin-rolled to show off her ankles and a pair of pink Reebok Classic trainers
Heading for a smoothie, Gigi and her friend looked to be enjoying a catch-up; presumably briefing each other on the current play in each other's lives.
The two friends then headed off to Bristol farm foods, where the rising supermodel and her friend bought some beer and flowers.
Gigi looked good in a thin cotton T-Shirt featuring holes all over it along with skinny blue jeans pin-rolled to show off her ankles and a pair of pink Reebok Classic trainers.
She matched her sneakers with a clutch in the same colour and several necklaces while enjoying the errand day with her gal pal.
Her boyfriend and former One Direction member Zayn Malik was not spotted with her on the casual day out.
Hanging out: She looked every bit the California girl as she rocked a casual and laid-back look while catching up with a friend
How much money would it take you to sign away your right to privacy?
For the cast of Real Housewives Of Auckland, that amount was $15,000.
The New Zealand Herald revealed on Sunday that each of the six wives had signed away their right to privacy as well as the perpetual right to use their name, likeness and voice 'throughout the universe'.
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Real Housewives: (From left to right) Michelle Blanchard, Louise Wallace, Anne Batley-Burton, Gilda Kirkpatrick, Julia Sloane and Angela Stone make up the show's cast
Cast members also agreed that the show's producers could tell them untruths for 'dramatic effect'.
As well as waiving a number their right to privacy, the cast allowed producers permission to depict them in an embarrassing or unfavourable way - no matter if it was true or not.
Producers were also given permission to disclose and broadcast medical and psychiatric information about the women.
Private eye: Julia and the rest of the housewives signed away their rights to privacy in exchange for the $15,000 contracts
Controversy: Anne (R) and Julia (L) agreed, along with the others, to allow producers to depict them in an embarrassing way
Anne Batley-Burton, Michelle Blanchard, Gilda Kirkpatrick, Angela Stone, Louise Wallace and Julia Sloane are the six wives who signed the 25-page contract.
Speaking to the publication in an earlier article, Housewife Anne said that she had no qualms signing the contract despite a lawyer friend warning her about some elements of the deal.
'I just thought I know I am a good person and I had seen the overseas versions so trusted the integrity of the brand,' she said.
Shocker: Louise and the other housewives agreed for show producers to disclose psychiatric and medical information about them
Caught in a storm: Michelle was at the centre of public outrage after co-star Julia called her a 'n***er'during an episode
The show's finale aired last week, capping an explosive ten weeks which had fans of the series hooked.
Last month, Julia was reported to have taken legal advice over scenes that made it to air in which she called co-star Michelle, the sole black member of the cast, a 'n***er'.
Dame Helen Mirren turned back the years on Monday night when she attended the 23rd Annual ELLE Women In Hollywood Awards.
The 71-year-old showed off her incredible figure in a body-hugging black dress which gave her an incredibly youthful appearance.
The event, held at the Four Seasons hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, honoured eight female super talents, who all appear on the magazine's latest covers.
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How does she do it? Dame Helen Mirren, 71, turned back the years on Monday night when she attended the 23rd Annual ELLE Women In Hollywood Awards at the Beverly Hills hotel in LA
Helen appeared in high spirits as she walked the red carpet at the event, wearing a huge smile on her face.
She added some edge to her look with a David Webb oversized silver statement necklace which drew attention to the cleavage.
Wearing Via Spiga heeled sandals, she carried a cute clutch bag in her hand and added a pop of colour to her look with a slick of red lipstick.
Wow thing: The Oscar winner - rocking a David Webb necklace - showed off her incredible figure in a body-hugging black dress which gave her an incredibly youthful appearance
She was in good company on the night as also being honoured was Kristen Stewart, Lupita Nyong'o, Amy Adams, Anna Kendrick, Aja Naomi King, Felicity Jones and Kathy Bates.
Helen was pictured catching up with fellow actress Lupita, who looked beyond incredible in a burnt orange and green satin lace dress.
She wore her hair high up on her head with an accessory which matched her outfit perfectly.
Double team: She was in good company on the night as also being honoured was Kristen Stewart, Lupita Nyong'o (pictured), Amy Adams, Anna Kendrick, Aja Naomi King, Felicity Jones and Kathy Bates
Partner in crime: Helen was pictured catching up with fellow actress Lupita, who looked beyond incredible in a burnt orange and green satin lace dress
Cool: She wore her hair high up on her head with an accessory which matched her outfit perfectly
All stars: (L-R) Honoree Amy Adams, honoree Aja Naomi King, honoree Helen Mirren, honoree Anna Kendrick, host Anthony Anderson, ELLE Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers, honoree Kathy Bates, honoree Felicity Jones, honoree Kristen Stewart, and honoree Lupita Nyong'o
ELLE's EIGHT COVER ICONS... Kristen Stewart Lupita Nyong'o Amy Adams Anna Kendrick Aja Naomi King Felicity Jones Kathy Bates Helen Mirren. Advertisement
Meanwhile, Helen has been busy promoting her latest movie offering, Eye In The Sky, which sees her take on the role of Colonel Katherine Powell a military officer in command of an operation to capture terrorists in Kenya.
The film unfolds as she struggles to control a mission escalate as an young girl enters the kill zone - something that triggers an international dispute.
The film received rave reviews garnering a 4/5 from both The Guardian and Empire, as well as a commendable 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Stunners: She also caught up with Kristen Stewart who was also looking resplendent in a black number which had a cut-out detail at the sides
Married At First Sight's Lachlan McAleer has had an AVO granted against him after he appeared in court on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.
The 38-year-old fronted Penrith Courthouse in Sydney's west where he faced one charge of common assault.
According to A Current Affair, the reality TV star allegedly assaulted his now-estranged partner, Casey Williams, on October 19 at his Cawdor cattle farm.
Court appearance: Married At First Sight's Lachlan McAleer has had an AVO granted against him after he appeared in court on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend
During the court appearance, the NSW Police placed an AVO against Mr McAleer on behalf of Ms Williams.
The Channel Nine program has claimed Mr McAleer consented to the AVO without admissions and is due to reappear in court next month.
Mr McAleer is a beef cattle and hay farmer, who lives on a 500-acre farm in western Sydney.
Tense: The 38-year-old fronted Penrith Courthouse in Sydney's west where he faced one charge of common assault
Event: According to A Current Affair , the reality TV star allegedly assaulted his now-estranged partner, Casey Williams, on October 19 at his Cawdor cattle farm
He'll be back: The Channel Nine program has claimed Mr McAleer consented to the AVO without admissions and is due to reappear in court next month
The farmer first graced Australian television screens in 2015 as part of series one of Married At First Sight.
During the series, he married marketing manager Clare Tamas, but they separated soon after filming finished.
Earlier this year, Mr McAleer reappeared on screens as he continued his guest to finding love on Australia's version of Farmer Wants A Wife.
The farmer first graced Australian television screens in 2015 as part of series one of Married At First Sight, where he married marketing manager Clare Tamas
Her movie career has spanned a whopping 15 years at the tender age of 22.
So Dakota Fanning was a natural choice for an expert speaker at the Elle Women In Hollywood Awards at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles on Monday night.
The Twilight star looked sensational for her turn at the bash as she wore a plunging yellow gown which perfectly complemented her alabaster complexion before she later pulled on a stunning pair of geek chic glasses.
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Veteran: Dakota Fanning was a natural choice for an expert speaker at the Elle Women In Hollywood Awards at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles on Monday night
Dakota was rubbing shoulders with the creme da la creme of Hollywood's female stars as she wowed in her lemon yellow gown.
Shunning the favoured long gowns of her peers, she instead injected some youthful style into the bash with her pretty pleated number.
The blonde beauty opted to go braless beneath the plunging gown which featured a slash down to her waist while highlighting her tiny middle with a dazzling band.
Her detail around her waist perfectly matched the adornment on her shoulders before the dress fell into a near backless rear with a delicate ribbon tied behind her back.
Specs appeal: The Twilight star looked sensational for her turn at the bash as she wore a plunging yellow gown which perfectly complemented her alabaster complexion before she later pulled on a stunning pair of geek chic glasses
Plunging power: Dakota was rubbing shoulders with the creme da la creme of Hollywood's female stars as she wowed in her lemon yellow gown
Geek chic: Shunning the favoured long gowns of her peers, she instead injected some youthful style into the bash with her pretty pleated number
Flaunting her attention to detail, she wore a sexy lace up pair of lemon yellow satin heels which boosted her height and gave the ensemble an edgy feel.
Dakota wore her silky blonde locks in a dead straight style extending from a centre parting which showed a stylish, deliberate peek of her darker roots.
Favouring a fresh-faced look, the blonde beauty wore extremely minimal make-up with just a lick of mascara darkening her light lashes.
Clearly proud of her flawless alabaster complexion, she shunned a false tan to help complement her exquisite pastel hued gown.
Incredibly chic: Her detail around her waist perfectly matched the adornment on her shoulders before the dress fell into a near backless rear with a delicate ribbon tied behind her back
Through the looking glass: Once inside the bash when she took the podium, Dakota peeled on a pair of chic glasses with a clear frame - showing her edgy flare for eyewear
A hairy situation: Dakota wore her silky blonde locks in a dead straight style extending from a centre parting which showed a stylish, deliberate peek of her darker roots
Chic: Her glasses were super trendy with their sheer frame
Once inside the bash when she took the podium, Dakota peeled on a pair of chic glasses with a clear frame - showing her edgy flare for eyewear.
Dakota is currently blazing the promotional trail for her new movie American Pastoral, where she stars opposite Ewan McGregor and Jennifer Connelly.
As she continues working on the movie's promo, she spoke to Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live last week.
She looked sensational for the appearance in which she wore a deeply plunging black corset with a dazzling high-waisted skirt.
Stylish as ever: Dakota is currently blazing the promotional trail for her new movie American Pastoral, where she stars opposite Ewan McGregor and Jennifer Connelly
Dazzling diva: As she continues working on the movie's promo, she spoke to Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live last week
He has been open about his feelings towards Georgia Love over the last weeks.
Now, Bachelorette finalist Matty Johnson has admitted he is head over heels for the lady of the moment.
Speaking to Popsugar, the 29-year-old revealed he's 'gone...hook, line and sinker'.
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Fallen hard: Matty Johnson has admitted he is head over heels for Georgia Love ahead of the show's finale
'Every time I see Georgia, my feelings become stronger and stronger,' he confessed after making the final three.
'The more time I get to spend with her, that bond between us just seems to strengthen so much more.
'And after seeing her with my family, I'm gone hook, line and sinker,' he laughed.
In love? He confessed: 'Every time I see Georgia, my feelings become stronger and stronger. The more time I get to spend with her, that bond between us just seems to strengthen'
Earlier in the week, Matty revealed he 'would definitely move to Melbourne' to be near Georgia's sick mother, Belinda, who has been admitted to palliative care and battling pancreatic cancer.
'Given Georgia's [mother is sick] it doesn't make sense to pull her away from her family,' he told NW magazine.
'I understand why my sister would be frustrated, but I think she understands,' he noted.
The moment: The contestant went on to reveal: 'And after seeing her with my family, I'm gone hook, line and sinker'
The marketing manager also revealed, he would be devastated if he doesn't get the final rose during the finale this coming Thursday.
'That's a difficult thought to digest. I don't know how I'm going to handle that. It's going to hurt ... a lot,' Matty told the publication.
The Bachelorette Australia finale airs on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm on Network 10.
Rob Mills has revealed he kept in contact with socialite Paris Hilton for a year after their affair.
Speaking on Rove and Sam's 2DAY FM show, the actor admitted the pair continued to speak after their 2003 fling.
Rove McManus broached the subject when he jumped on an opportunity to bring up the American's name in conversation.
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In the hot seat: Rob Mills was questioned about whether he still kept in touch with former lover Paris Hilton on Rove and Sam's 2DAY FM show
Rob was talking about having 'Twitter wars' with people who say 'what have you done, Millsy?' before Rove quickly butted in with 'and your response is: 'I've done Paris Hilton'.
The 34-year-old looked to be taken aback by the statement before saying: 'I don't think that's the thing I'd go with all the time.'
As Rove's co-host Sam Frost sat in the studio giggling, the broadcaster added that if he were in Rob's shoes he'd 'play that card'.
Trouble maker: Rove McManus was keen to do some digging on the actor's relationship with Paris
Pen pals: The 34-year-old told the show he had kept in contact with the American for 'about a year' after their affair
Sam then raised the subject of Paris's return to Australian soil next month when she flies in for her Gold Rush Tour.
The 35-year-old will perform three DJ sets, the first of which is in Brisbane, and the radio duo were keen to find out whether Rob still kept in touch with her.
'We did years ago,' he told them.
Australian Idol: Rob joked that he'd ask Paris to play his song Miss Vanity when she arrives in Australia on her Gold Rush Tour
'For about a year we did and then that was it. We caught up the next time she was here,' he added.
Keen to tease his studio guest a bit more, Rove asked the former Australian Idol finalist what song he'd request Paris to play.
Rob replied 'Miss Vanity', his 2004 debut single in which he sings about a popular girl who doesn't have time for him.
Coming soon: The 35-year-old DJ will perform three shows on these shores, the first of which will be in Brisbane on 20 November
The actor first met Paris at a party at Sydney Opera House before the pair later headed back to The Bachelorette presenter Osher Gunsberg's house for an after party.
They left the doo and headed for Paris's hotel, as Rob recalled in an interview with Sydney Morning Herald, before meeting again shortly after at the races.
She's famed for her uncompromising opinions and brutally funny put-downs.
So it's no surprise that Chelsea Handler hasn't pulled any punches when it comes to stopping her BFF, Jennifer Aniston, from being dragged into the Brangelina furor.
The comedian, 41, came to the actress' defence when the subject of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's divorce came up in a chat with Grazia - saying it was 'ridiculous' people thought she'd care.
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'As if Jen cares - she doesn't care': Chelsea Handler hasn't pulled any punches when it comes to stopping her BFF, Jennifer Aniston, from being dragged into the Brangelina furor
Chelsea, who is the star of her own Netflix chat show, hasn't been afraid to address the subject of the biggest divorce in Hollywood.
And as news broke of Brad and Angelina's split last month she called the By The Sea actress a 'f***ing lunatic'.
Quizzed on Jennifer's attitude towards the breakdown of her ex-husband's second marriage, Chelsea certainly wasn't afraid to share her opinions.
'It's so stupid and pathetic,' the comedian said of Jen being dragged into the matter. 'As if Jen cares - she doesn't care.'
Over it: Chelsea, 41, came to the actress' defence when the subject of Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie's split came up in a chat with Grazia - saying it was 'ridiculous' people thought she cared
Chelsea said it was 'ridiculous' the former Friends star was being placed in the same headlines as Brad, who left Jennifer for Angelina, and the break-down of his marriage.
Soon after the break-up was announced numerous reports surfaced suggesting the We're The Millers actress was gleefully watching her ex's marriage implode.
Sounding off her feelings on the matter, Chelsea snapped: 'Hello! As if she [Jennifer] is sitting around even caring about this.'
'Hello! As if she [Jennifer] is sitting around even caring about this': She said it was 'ridiculous' the former Friends star was being placed in the same headlines as Brad and his relationship
The former E! network heavy hitter was unrepentant with her less than favourbale views on Brangelina, explaining she was simply voicing what many others were thinking.
The couple shocked the world in September when they announced that they were separating after two years of marriage and 12 overall years together as a couple
Turning her thoughts back to her friend Jennifer, the comedian softened her tone and applauded Jennifer for taking a swipe at the scrutiny surrounding her life.
Loyal friend: Turning her thoughts back to her friend Jennifer, the comedian softened her tone and applauded Jennifer for taking a swipe at the scrutiny surrounding her life
'It was just so nice for her to finally respond to it,' she said. 'It doesn't matter how famous or rich or wealthy you are, you're still able to get your feelings hurt.'
Earlier this year, the actress, 47, wrote an op-ed piece for The Huffington Post where she responded to scrutiny surrounding her life.
'We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child,' wrote the actress.
'We dont need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own happily ever after for ourselves.'
She was praised for her piece by many celebrities and fans, with her husband Justin Theroux amongst the first to congratulate his wife on her carefully penned article.
She's one of the eight female superstars to grace the cover of US fashion bible ELLE magazine this month.
And Felicity Jones oozed effortless elegance as she arrived at the 23rd Annual ELLE Women In Hollywood Awards at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles on Monday night.
The British actress, 33, wowed in a figure-skimming velvet Dior dress at the star-studded bash, where she was honoured for her achievements in the film industry.
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Arriving in style: Felicity Jones oozed effortless elegance as she arrived at the 23rd Annual ELLE Women In Hollywood Awards at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles on Monday night
Winner: The British actress was honoured, alongside seven other stars, for her achievements in the film industry
The simple, yet striking garment draped across her decolletage and featured an asymmetric hemline, flaunting her gold strappy heels.
Making sure to not take the fuss away from the gorgeous gown, which boasted a striking bow on her right shoulder, Felicity threw her chestnut locks into a loose chignon.
Felicity accessorised with matching wine-coloured David Webb jewels and a dark manicure.
Sexy detail: Felicity wowed in a figure-skimming velvet Dior dress which was split at the side up to her knees
Chic: The simple, yet striking garment draped across her decolletage and featured an asymmetric split hemline, flaunting her gold strappy heels as she posed with Anna Kendrick
In good condition: Making sure to not take the fuss away from the gown, Felicity threw her chestnut locks into a loose chignon. Pictured with director Ron Howard
The Theory Of Everything star was positively beaming as she accepted her award later in the evening.
'If you can do it on your own terms, then maybe I could too,' the beauty revealed as she admired her fellow honorees.
Dame Helen Mirren, Kristen Stewart, Kathy Bates, Amy Adams, Aja Naomi King, Anna Kendrick and Lupita Nyong'o were also recognised at the prestigious event.
Felicity's acting career is set to go from strength to strength as she's set to star in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, set for release December 16 release in the US and the UK.
Very pleased! The Theory Of Everything star was positively beaming as she cradled her award alongside Kathy Bates
'If you can do, maybe I could too': Felicity dedicated her award to her fellow honorees
All stars: (L-R) Honoree Amy Adams, honoree Aja Naomi King, honoree Helen Mirren, honoree Anna Kendrick, host Anthony Anderson, ELLE Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers, honoree Kathy Bates, honoree Felicity Jones, honoree Kristen Stewart, and honoree Lupita Nyong'o
Winning style: Kristen Stewart and Lupita Nyong'o also looked sartorially savvy for the high-profile event
Last year's Star Wars newcomer Daisy Ridley also praised her fellow Brit's upcoming portrayal of Jyn Erso and mentioned she 'needed no advice' for the famous film franchise.
Speaking to People Magazine, Ridley stated: 'Felicity needs no advice - she is a phenomenal actress and a wonderful human being.
'She is very graceful and poised and probably speaks far less than I do more interestingly. She's great!'
Eagerly anticipated: Felicity is next set to star in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, set for release December 16 release in the US and the UK
Big hair, dark shades and a snappy suit can mean only one thing: Richard Wilkins.
The TV presenter, famed for his great head of hair, was pictured attending the world premiere of No Activity on Tuesday evening.
As he arrived at Golden Age Cinema in Sydney, the 62-year-old caught the eye of onlookers in a dark blue velvet jacket.
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On the blue carpet: Richard Wilkins attended the world premiere of season two of TV series No Activity on Tuesday evening
He completed the ensemble with a black t-shirt, matching trousers and a pair of dark sunglasses.
The Today Show reporter was at the event to catch a first glimpse of the second series of the TV series.
No Activity earned rave reviews after its debut on streaming service Stan last year.
TV expert: No Activity is an Australian comedy series which has no fixed script, leaving the actors to improvise
In the know: Richard has been in the television industry for over 20 years and is the former hosts of Entertainment Tonight
Starring Patrick Brammall and Bridesmaids actress Rose Byrne, the comedy has no fixed script, leaving actors to improvise around story points.
In fact, No Activity lives up to its name as the main story line follows two cops who have been assigned to an uneventful stakeout.
However, fans lapped it up and the series scored three Logie nominations, including best comedy, the first streaming series to ever be nominated for at the awards.
I see you: No Activity was nominated for three Logies, including best comedy, becoming the first streaming series ever to be nominated at the awards
Richard chose to sport the same glasses he wore at Spring Champion Stakes Day earlier this month.
The Smooth FM presenter attended the Royal Randwick race meet with his son Christian.
They were photographed at the Moet & Chandon suite holding up gold glasses of champagne for the cameras.
She recently revealed she can no longer rely on genetics, despite being given the moniker 'The Body' during her 34-year career as a supermodel.
But Elle Macpherson looked eternally stylish in an effortlessly chic ensemble as she headed out in London on Tuesday.
The catwalk queen, 52, draped her svelte, statuesque frame in a black coat, which she layered over a crisp white shirt dress.
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Monochrome magic: Elle Macpherson looked eternally stylish in an effortlessly chic ensemble as she headed out in London on Tuesday
Cinching in her slim midriff, the Australian beauty's button-down garment skimmed her figure to perfection.
Falling past her knees, the mother-of-two teased a glimpse of her tanned legs, while adding further height to her frame with a pair of edgy stiletto boots.
Elle wore her long locks beachy blonde waves and opted for natural make-up to showcase her striking features.
The model and buisnesswoman completed her look with dark shades and toted a black handbag with scarlet and leopard print detailing.
Style queen: The catwalk queen, 52, draped her svelte, statuesque frame in a black coat, which she layered over a crisp white shirt dress
Elle - who owns lifestyle company WelleCo - still gives models half her age a run for their money, but she recently confessed in an Instagram post that she can't solely 'rely on genetics' now she's reached her fifth decade.
'Today at 52, I need to make conscious choices that support my body for optimum health, vitality and beauty from the inside out,' she revealed.
However, Elle looked on firm form as she graced the latest issue of ELLE Australia magazine, 25 years after she was plastered on the front of the fashion bible in 1991.
The latest cover was shot by her ex-husband, Gilles Bensimon, 72, whom she was married to from 1986 to 1989.
The evolution of Elle: The Australian supermodel stuns on the November cover of ELLE Australia (R)... 25 years after going braless on the cover (L)
Model behaviour: Elle still gives models half her age a run for their money, but she recently confessed that she can't solely 'rely on genetics' now she's reached her fifth decade
When she married Frenchman Gilles - who at the time was the international creative director of the publication - she was just 21.
Elle - who is based in Miami, Florida - also spoke recently to Haute Living Miami about how she looks so good, revealing her health and beauty tips.
'Some simple tricks that anyone can do is drink three litres of water every day and try to get at least seven hours sleep,' Elle said.
'Sleep makes such a difference as it helps the body to detox, rest and restore.'
Secret to her supermodel success: The mother-of-two recently revealed she relies on seven hours of sleep a night and drinks at least three litres of water a day to maintain her looks
He graduated from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. in 1997 and this past weekend Bradley Cooper returned to his alma mater for a visit.
And while he was there, he happened to drop by the wedding of two friends who were having a private ceremony in the Georgetown Crypt.
He then accompanied them around campus as caught on camera by the couple's official wedding photographer.
Here's a sneak peek from Meg and Nick's private ceremony this past weekend! Their friend, Bradley Cooper, was visiting Georgetown and made sure to congratulate the newlyweds as they walked around campus. #thecoops A photo posted by Lisa Boggs (@lisaboggsphoto) on Oct 24, 2016 at 6:44am PDT
On Monday, the grooms father, journalist Mike Barnicle told MSNBCs Morning Joe that Cooper had 'caught the bouquet, according to People.
The Hangover star was without girlfriend Irina Shayk.
The Russian model is currently in Turkey on a photo shoot for celebrity fashion photographer Mert Alas from where she's posted some sultry pics to her Instagram.
But Cooper has been keeping himself busy in her absence.
Keeping busy: On Monday night, Cooper was in LA where he attended the Instyle Awards, left, while on Saturday night he partied in NYC, right, with Tom Hanks and SNL castmembers
Apart from dropping by his friends' wedding, he hung out with Tom Hanks in New York City after the star's guest appearance on Saturday night Live.
Then on Monday night, he was in Los Angeles where he attended the Instyle awards at the Getty center.
Cooper is busy prepping his remake of A Star Is Born which he plans to direct as well as star in.
It was recently confirmed that Lady Gaga will be his co-star in the project in the role previously linked to Beyonce.
He's a famous face - but you might not have seen it quite like this before.
Mel Gibson went through his full face-pulling repertoire as he attended a press conference for new film Hacksaw Ridge in Los Angeles.
The bearded actor showed exactly why his career has yielded a host of major accolades, including two Oscars, as he took part in the bizarre photo opportunity.
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Surprise: Mel Gibson ran full his full range of expressions as he attended a press conference for new film Hacksaw Ridge
The 60-year-old stood against a white background as he pulled a number of faces for the camera.
Dressed in a dark blue shirt and jeans, Mel went from surprised to open-mouthed amazement to cheesy grin to stern faced as he ran through a catalogue of emotions.
The Braveheart star has been in-demand after his new film earned rave reviews, with some tipping it to be Oscar worthy.
Two-faced: The 60-year-old's grey beard couldn't hide his emotions at the Los Angeles press conference
Laid back: Mel has two Oscars to his name, both for his work on 1995 production Braveheart
High praise: The actor has been showered with praise for his new film, leaving him happy with the reviews: 'It is always gratifying that people enjoy what it is that you have done'
But the acclaimed director and filmmaker has been trying to keep a lid on things, saying he just wants people to 'take something' from the much-anticipated film.
'You can't listen to that. You hear it. It is somewhere in the back file but one can't put much stock in that. It's a funny old world,' he told Fairfax Media.
'I just want it to do well and for people to enjoy the experience and take something from it.'
'You can't listen to that': Mel's new film Hacksaw Ridge is widely considered worthy of an Oscar award, but he is trying to keep a lid on things
Filmed in Sydney last year, Mel's first movie as a director in a decade has even the staunchest of critics raving.
The Guardian's Andrew Pulver said Hacksaw Ridge 'couldn't be more perfect'.
'As repellent a figure as many may still find Gibson, I have to report he's absolutely hit Hacksaw Ridge out of the park,' the film editor wrote.
Admirers: Mel signs autographs at the premiere of Hacksaw Ridge during the 73rd Venice Film last month
The Daily Telegraph in Britain echoed the views of critics the world over.
'Hacksaw Ridge is a fantastically moving and bruising war film that hits you like a raw topside of beef in the face a kind of primary-coloured Guernica that flourishes on a big screen with a crowd.'
The actor and filmmaker told Fairfax he was thrilled with the film's acclamation.
Star-studded: The film's cast includes Hugo Weaving, Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Luke Bracey
'It is always gratifying that people enjoy what it is that you have done. They can throw raspberries at it, but you know. You don't make films for the elite because you want as many people to see them as possible and if they dig it, yeah, that's great.'
Hacksaw Ridge is based on the true story of conscientious objector Desmond Doss, who saved 75 men in the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa in World War II - without ever firing a gun.
Its star-studded cast includes Hugo Weaving, Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Luke Bracey.
No shots fired: Desmond Doss saved 75 men in the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa in World War II
'It's about a man who wouldn't touch a weapon and wanted to be part of saving lives in the worst place on earth,' director Mel said last year.
'I mean Okinawa was a horrific place... there were over 300,000 casualties, mostly civilian.'
Hacksaw Ridge will hit cinemas across Australia and New Zealand on November 3 and in the US the following day.
She's set to make the tough decision between Lee Elliott, Jake Ellis and Matty Johnson on the finale episodes of The Bachelorette Australia.
And before the first of two eliminations, Georgia Love, 28, candidly spoke to Popsugar Australia about the remaining three hunky lads.
While praising all, the newsreader-turned-reality-star admitted that Lee is 'a bit of a dreamboat' and would often turn up with 'flowers and a coffee'.
'He's a bit of a dreamboat': The Bachelorette's Georgia Love, 28, revealed to Popsugar Australia ahead of the finale episodes that Lee Elliott is 'a bit of a dreamboat' and would turn up with 'flowers and a coffee'
'He rocks up with flowers and a coffee, I mean, come on [laughs]!' Georgia shared with the publication.
'The more dates we go on and the more time we spend together, he makes me laugh so much, and I feel like he really treats me like a princess, like every girl wants to be treated! Bit of a dreamboat,' she continued.
But the brunette beauty will certainly have a tough decision on her hands, with Matty Johnson and Jake Ellis also impressing.
'He says things to me that no one has ever said to me in my life,' she said about Matty, while for Jake Ellis: 'He says the most beautiful things to me and about me and makes me feel very, very special.'
Suave: 'He rocks up with flowers and a coffee, I mean, come on [laughs]!' Georgia shared with the publication
Sentimental: 'He says things to me that no one has ever said to me in my life,' Georgia shared about Matty Johnson
Touching: 'He says the most beautiful things to me and about me and makes me feel very, very special,' Georgia gushed about Jake Ellis
Georgia's comments come shortly after Matty revealed to Popsugar that he's fallen head over heels for the television personality.
'Every time I see Georgia, my feelings become stronger and stronger,' the 29-year-old confessed after making the final three.
'The more time I get to spend with her, that bond between us just seems to strengthen so much more.
'And after seeing her with my family, I'm gone hook, line and sinker,' he laughed.
Earlier in the week, Matty revealed he 'would definitely move to Melbourne' to be near Georgia's sick mother, Belinda, who has been admitted to palliative care and battling pancreatic cancer.
Who has captured her heart? Georgia will certainly have the daunting task of choosing between the three lads on the finale episodes of The Bachelorette Australia, airing this Wednesday and Thursday
'Given Georgia's [mother is sick] it doesn't make sense to pull her away from her family,' he told NW magazine.
'I understand why my sister would be frustrated, but I think she understands,' he noted.
The marketing manager also revealed, he would be devastated if he doesn't get the final rose during the finale this coming Thursday.
'That's a difficult thought to digest. I don't know how I'm going to handle that. It's going to hurt ... a lot,' Matty told the publication.
The Bachelorette Australia finale airs on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm on Network 10.
She shot to fame in the 80's and has lived through many of her life's highs and lows on the small screen.
But Ulrika Jonsson has revealed that whilst she may no longer be in the public eye, she's far happier and more settled in this later stage of her career.
Looking far younger than her 49 years during her appearance on Tuesday's Loose Women, the mum-of-four revealed she is embracing her seniority, but admitted: 'Anyone who says they don't worry about ageing is either lying or 21!'
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Onwards and upwards: Ulrika Jonsson has revealed that whilst she may no longer be in the public eye, she's far happier and more settled in this later stage of her career
Asked her thoughts on the ageing process, the former TV-am weather girl admitted: 'I'm more aware of it now in my lovely menopausal glory!' adding: 'I'm enjoying it.'
The Swedish star also discussed her decision to step away from the limelight as she revealed she had no interest in the work on offer.
'It's a little bit my own choice,' she explained. 'Just wanting to take a little bit of a backseat, but also I wasn't getting offered the work I wanted to do.'
Throwback: Ulrika still looks just as glamorous as she used to (pictured in 1997)
Improving with age! Looking far younger than her 49 years during her appearance on Tuesday's Loose Women, the mum-of-four revealed she is embracing her seniority
Ulrika, who was keen to discuss her appearance on Tuesday night's Storage Hunters, revealed that a break from the spotlight could be a good thing after she struggled to find happiness at the height of fame.
'When my career was at its highest I was least settled and least happy,' she admitted.
When pressed further, Ulrika revealed: 'Old fears and anxiety comes flooding back.'
Full of beans: Asked her thoughts on the ageing process, the former TV-am weather girl admitted: 'I'm more aware of it now in my lovely menopausal glory!' adding: 'I'm enjoying it'
Flashback: Ulrika shot to fame in as a weather presenter for TV-am during the 80's and has lived through many of her life's highs and lows on the small screen
Taking her pick: The Swedish star also discussed her decision to step away from the limelight as she revealed she had no interest in the work on offer
Taking a backseat: Ulrika, who was keen to discuss her appearance on Tuesday night's Storage Hunters, revealed that a break from the spotlight could be a good thing
But the Celebrity Big Brother winner doesn't regret how some of her relationships overshadowed her career achievements.
'I don't think it's in my powers to regret that,' she said. 'The way my life evolved and the decisions I made, I was moving so fast I didn't have time to regret.'
Ulrika has been happily married to American advertising executive Brian Monet since 2008, following on from two failed marriages.
Loved-up: Ulrika has been happily married to American advertising executive Brian Monet since 2008, following two failed marriages but doesn't regret her past dalliances
Learning curve: The former Shooting Stars team captain - who has four children from previous relationships - added that she was also enjoying her role as a mother and life with teenagers
Chic and cheerful: Ulrika seemed in great spirits as she left the ITV studios after her chat
The former Shooting Stars team captain - who has four children from previous relationships - added that she was also enjoying her role as a mother and navigating life with her teenagers.
'It became an interesting time,' she explained. 'You start to reflect on things that went on before.
'When they're babies anyone can feed them and cuddle them but it's when they're becoming monster teenagers that's when they need you.'
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Fans of the books and the TV series will remember the two men being raised as brothers under the eye of Eddard Stark at Winterfell.
But as Jon Snow finally comes face-to-face with Theon Greyjoy, the man who betrayed his family and razed their home to the ground, the King in the North can't hold his anger in check and resorts to throwing him around in a fit of anger.
The dramatic showdown between the two men comes as the cast of HBO's fantasy romp continued to film scenes for highly anticipated seventh series in Zumaia, Spain, on Tuesday.
This one's for Winterfell! As Jon Snow finally comes face-to-face with Theon Greyjoy, the man who betrayed his family and razed their home to the ground, the King in the North can't hold his anger in check and throws him around in anger
Making his first outing on the sandy set Alfie Allen, who plays the cowardly Theon, was at the head of a group of Ironborn warriors who landed on the shores of what is believed to be the fortress island of Dragonstone.
But having betrayed the Starks - who raised him as their own - the repentant and reformed Prince of the Iron Islands finds Jon (Kit Harington) in no mood to forgive.
Surrounded by a legion of crew members the two actors filmed a tense scene on the beach in Northern Spain.
Glowering and twisting his face in fury, Kit can be seen marching up to Alfie and grabbing him by the scruff of his tunic before flinging him about.
Face-off: The dramatic showdown between the two men comes as the cast of HBO's fantasy romp continued to film scenes for highly anticipated seventh series in Zumaia, Spain, on Tuesday
As Jon's fury takes hold, Theon can be seen offering little resistance to the new King's aggression - though he appears to be pleading with Jon to hold his anger in check.
Showing his physical dominance, the fearless former Captain of the Night's Watch almost bodily lifts Theon off of the ground as the men of the Iron Islands watch on - having no real respect for Theon.
The showdown is a long awaited one, as although the Stark's former ward helped Jon's sister Sansa escape he betrayed Rob Stark as he tried to avenge his father when he failed to face-up to his conniving father, Balon.
Theon is also responsible for Winterfell being captured by the Ironborn and subsequently Ramsay Bolton - so it's no wonder Jon isn't too happy to see him.
A warm welcome: Having betrayed the Starks - who raised him as their own - the reformed Prince of the Iron Islands finds Jon (Kit Harington) in no mood to forgive as he lands on the sandy shores of what is believed to be Dragonstone island
For the shoot Kit sported the same costume he's been wearing over the course of the shoot in Spain, clad in his leather armour, riding boots and a metal gorget.
Theon meanwhile looks to have recovered from his time being mutilated and tortured at the hands of the maniacal Ramsay Bolton - standing taller and straigher.
Clad in a grey padded tunic, trousers and high boots, the Prince of the Iron Islands looks to have regained some of his former swaggering glory.
As other cast members looked on camera men swarmed about the two actors, who were lost deep in their moment.
What a grip! Showing his physical dominance, the fearless former Captain of the Night's Watch almost bodily lifts Theon off of the ground as the men of the Iron Islands watch on - having no real respect for Theon
Land ho! The dramatic scene began with Theon and his men arriving in a boat, pulling the rowing boat up onto the shoreline, however, there was no respite for Theon as Jon was there to meet him
The dramatic scene began with Theon and his men arriving in a boat, pulling the rowing boat up onto the shoreline, however, there was no respite for Theon as Jon was there to meet him.
It seems that there was plenty to film on the day, and the two stars were joined by Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos Seaworth).
During a break in filming the three actors were all seen relaxing before they got back to work, while Kit smoked a cigarette and chatted to Liam, Alfie shared a laugh with some crew members.
More star power: It seems that there was plenty to film on the day, and the two stars were joined by Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos Seaworth)
Hanging with the guys: During a break in filming the three actors were all seen relaxing before they got back to work, while Kit smoked a cigarette and chatted to Liam, Alfie shared a laugh with some crew members
Alfie's arrival comes not long after Emilia Clarke made her debut on set as the Khaleesi, Daenerys Targaryen, which followed on from Kit's arrival as Jon Snow.
Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) and Liam were the first stars to be spotted filming in Spain, where the two characters were seen enjoying a clandestine meeting on a beach.
Filming in the past few days has taken place on Itzurun beach, famed for its flysch rock strata, which is one of the longest continuous examples of the geological phenomenon in the world.
Khaleesi is here: Alfie's arrival comes not long after Emilia Clarke made her debut on set as the Khaleesi, Daenerys Targaryen, which followed on from Kit's arrival as Jon Snow.
The start of the end? Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) and Liam were the first stars to be spotted filming in Spain, where the two characters were seen enjoying a clandestine meeting on a beach
The formation is a mix of hard layers (limestone and sandstone) and soft layers (clay and loam), and the strange wonder extends eastward and westward from Zumaia, stretching a total of 8 kilometers.
Other locations for this run of shooting have also included the shoreline of La Muriola in Barrika, two hours to the West of Zumaia, where Peter and Liam were seen filming last week.
It's also believed that cast and crew will be filming on the San Juan de Gaztelugatxe islet, close to Barrika.
A strange stretch of coast: The crew and cast are currently filming scenes in Northern Spain's Basque Country, where they have taken over the Itzurun beach
Straight out of fiction: The beach is famous for its rock formations called flysch, which has transformed the sand shore into an almost alien landscape - perfect for the fantastical world of Game of Thrones
She's become one of the hottest young stars in Hollywood thanks to Netflix series Stranger Things.
But at 12 years old, Millie Bobby Brown still thinks kissing boys is a bit yuk.
Her character Eleven shares a sweet kiss with Mike, played by Finn Wolfhard in the hit show, and she told Interview Magazine that doing the scene 'was definitely strange.'
Opening up: Millie Bobby Brown, 12, shares her feelings about her first on-screen kiss in the new issue of Interview Magazine
'At the end of the day, it's only acting, and it's something you have to do, and I would do anything for the show. I cut my hair, I kissed Finn,' the young British actress said.
'It was definitely strange. It was, like, my first kiss, so it was kind of weird. But then, like, when I'd done it, I thought, 'Wow. It makes sense for the storyline'.'
Brown stars in her first cover shoot for Interview and the accompanying article is basically a conversation between herself and her BFF Maddie Ziegler, 14.
Close friends: Brown stars as the mysterious Eleven on the Netflix show Stranger Things and shared a sweet kissing scene with co-star Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike (pictured)
Cover girl: The young British actress stars in her first cover shoot and poses in a series of black and white images in funky outfits
Spiky: Brown had to shave her head for Stranger Things but her dark hair has now grown back several inches and became a star in its own right in the Interview photo shoot
Establishing a look: She had her hair gelled and coiffed for the pictures
Tough cookie: She showed off her edgy style in leather and chunky jewelry
The pair first met when Brown was invited backstage to meet Ziegler after a taping of the TV reality competition So You Think You Can dance back in July.
'Then you followed me on Twitterand I had a meltdownand the rest is history, really,' Brown recalled.
'I finally got your number, and then we met, and we had that very hysterical day where we met some funny people at the pool. We just clicked.'
Rocking it: Brown donned enormous studded shoes paired with a girl frock
Sense of humor: She showed her playful side too
Recurring role: Her character Eleven will return in a second season of Stranger Things
In Stranger Things, the youngster plays an almost catatonic young girl who has telekinetic powers thanks to a top secret experiment.
After she escapes from the facility where she#s been kept since birth, she finds refuge with Mike and his pals and, together, they become part of the tale of a monster and the world of Upside Down.
Eleven quickly gained a cult following and Brown says it's flattering that fans want to dress up as the character at Comic-Con and at Halloween.
'It's very rewarding in a way,' she said. 'People are embracing her character and trying to portray her. I think it's nice to see what different people think of her character.'
'I'm cool with people dressing up as Eleven for Halloween. I definitely want to open my door and give them candy,' she added.
On her way: The Interview cover is the 12-year-old's first ever cover
She announced she is pregnant with her first child on Monday.
And Amy Childs displayed a hint of a bump as she was pictured for the first time since the shock news, which appeared in OK! magazine.
Beaming from ear to ear, the beauty looked over the moon after revealing she has reunited with her jailbird beau Bradley Wright.
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Mum-to-be: Pregnant Amy Childs displays a hint of a bump as she is seen for the first time since announcing she is expecting her first child with jailbird boyfriend Bradley Wright
Covering up, the 26-year-old wore a long black baggy jumper which looked cosy and comfortable, layering it over a pair of glamorous rubber leggings.
She added some sexy suede knee high boots and kept snug in a lovely grey overcoat which she draped over her shoulders.
Her flame red locks cascaded down over the collar of her coat and she carried a black leather Chanel handbag with her.
Happy time: Covering up, the 26-year-old wore a long black baggy jumper which looked cosy and comfortable, layering it over a pair of glamorous rubber leggings
The outing comes after the former TOWIE star confirmed to OK! magazine that she is expecting a baby with her jailbird boyfriend Bradley Wright.
She admitted she had tried to get pregnant before he served his five-month spell in prison for handling stolen goods last year.
In the interview the delighted star revealed she is 'shocked but happy' as she awaits the arrival of her first child after revealing she did not think she could get pregnant.
Mum's the word: Amy showed off her baby bump on the cover of OK! magazine as she announced she is pregnant with her first child with Bradley
Amy, who reunited with her on-off beau in March, delightedly announced the news to the magazine as she revealed the happy couple are overjoyed after wanting a child for some time.
The pair met in a pub in Essex two years ago but their relationship came to a halt last year when Bradley was sentenced to 16 months in prison for handling stolen goods.
However, the jailbird, who is already father to daughter Lexi from a previous relationship, only served five months of his sentence as he was released early for good behaviour leading to their eventual reunion.
As she unveiled her bump in a stunning shoot, in the accompanying interview she said: 'We wanted (a baby) before Bradley went to prison but it didn't happen. I didn't think I could get pregnant.
On and off: The pair met in a pub in Essex two years ago but their relationship came to a halt last year when Bradley was sentenced to 16 months in prison for handling stolen goods
A bumpy road: Over the moon: The former TOWIE star, 26, said she didn't think she would be able to fall pregnant
'We'd been together for nine months and I came off the pill in the summer and I thought it might take me ages. I was taking folic acid but it didn't happen. I was really panicking.
'I went online to find out why and it was the worst thing I could have done. I got so stressed out about it that I was drinking. Brad told me off for it but I couldn't help it.'
Amy, who soared to fame in TOWIE's 2010 inauguration, spoke of their desperation to start a family as she said: 'We wanted kids together soon after we met.
Way back when: As she unveiled her bump in a stunning shoot, in the accompanying interview she said: 'We wanted (a baby) before Bradley went to prison but it didn't happen'
Doting: 'I love kids, especially because Bradley has Lexi, and spending time with her made me want a baby more. I have a big family so I love having my nieces and nephews around'
'I love kids, especially because Bradley has Lexi, and spending time with her made me want a baby more. I have a big family so I love having my nieces and nephews around.'
Amy, who is set to welcome her baby to the world in May, tells the magazine: Weve wanted a baby for so long, so were happier than weve ever been. We were both so shocked, so emotional and so happy at the same time.
Delighted Bradley, 25 added: Im so excited, I cant wait until the baby is born.
The couple have already discussed names for their tot, as Amy revealed: Brad likes Archie for a boy and our top name for a girl is India. I definitely dont want a home birth.
Over the moon: Amy, who soared to fame in TOWIE's 2010 inauguration, previously spoke of their desperation to start a family as she said: 'We wanted kids together soon after we met
'I couldnt think of anything worse! Sam Faiers wanted one but it didnt work. I want a water birth. Brad will be amazing during the birth because hes really calm.
Of Bradley's prison spell, she said: I had a breakdown when Bradley went to prison, but I never fell out of love with him. Bradley still apologises for what he did to me now.
Soon after news came to light, Amy took to Twitter to reveal: 'We are so excited' before retweeting a host of delighted messages from her management team.
Despite their joyous news, the relationship was not always so smooth sailing after Amy reportedly vowed never to return to her beau following his sentencing.
Formerly fractious: Despite their joyous news, the relationship was not always so smooth sailing after Amy reportedly vowed never to return to her beau following his sentencing
According to The Mirror, Bradley, 25, was handed his latest sentence at Isleworth Crown Court in Middlesex in October last year, and was sent to Wormwood Scrubs prison in West London, from where he called Amy.
A source close to the former TOWIE star told the paper: 'Brad called Amy from prison to tell her he was banged up and she was shocked. It's been hard enough coming to terms with the end of their relationship, let alone then hearing that,' adding that this time Amy has ended her relationship with Bradley for good:
'There's no going back though. Amy feels really let down. Her career is going from strength to strength, but it's clear Bradley isn't going places. She won't be visiting him.'
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The path that finally leads to their first meeting has been nothing short of treacherous, but the bloodshed was momentarily forgotten as Games of Thrones co-stars Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke posed for a fun selfie on Monday afternoon.
The two actors, best known as respective characters Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, are currently mid-way through a location shoot in northern Spain as filming continues on the much anticipated penultimate season of the HBO show.
And as their characters finally cross paths after six previous seasons of swordplay and sorcery, Kit, 29, and Emilia, 30, appeared keen to document the moment during a welcome break between scenes.
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She's no dragon: Emilia Clarke posed for a fun selfie with co-star Kit Harington as filming continued in northern Spain on the penultimate season of Game Of Thrones
Dressed in character, the co-stars were side by side as Kit took a snap on his iPhone, much to Emilia's amusement.
The actress grinned as she peered over his shoulder while checking the photo, shortly before the pair prepared for another pivotal scene.
At the end of the sixth series, the Mother of Dragons assembled her armies and began to sail and fly across the sea to Westeros in preparation of taking back her throne.
Many fans believe she and Snow will join forces to overthrow Cersei, who now sits on the Iron Throne after her son Tommen committed suicide.
The forthcoming season will see Jon Snow finally comes face-to-face with Theon Greyjoy, the man who betrayed his family and razed their home to the ground.
Say... winter's coming! The two co-stars were side while posing for the snap during a break between scenes
Plotting: The pair certainly looked on good terms in between scenes, despite never shooting together before
The writing's on the wall: Kit and Emilia may well join forces as Game Of Thrones prepares for another bloody season
Face-to-face: At the end of the sixth series, the Mother of Dragons assembled her armies and began to sail and fly across the sea to Westeros in preparation of taking back her throne
Joining forces? Many fans believe she and Snow will join forces to overthrow Cersei, who now sits on the Iron Throne after her son Tommen committed suicide
A dramatic showdown between the two men was filmed earlier in the week on a deserted beach in Spansih Basque town Zumaia.
Filming in the past few days has taken place on Itzurun beach, famed for its flysch rock strata, which is one of the longest continuous examples of the geological phenomenon in the world.
The formation is a mix of hard layers (limestone and sandstone) and soft layers (clay and loam), and the strange wonder extends eastward and westward from Zumaia, stretching a total of 8 kilometers.
Filming in the past few days has taken place on Itzurun beach, and it appears the Dothraki are fully back on her side as extras dressed as the violent tribe lined along a stone wall
Direction: Emilia, Kit and Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei) get tips on their next shoot as crew prepare on the beach
This one's for Winterfell! The new season sees Jon Snow finally come face-to-face with Theon Greyjoy, the man who betrayed his family and razed their home to the ground
Other locations for this run of shooting have also included the shoreline of La Muriola in Barrika, two hours to the West of Zumaia, where Peter and Liam were seen filming last week.
It's also believed that cast and crew will be filming on the San Juan de Gaztelugatxe islet, close to Barrika.
Nicole Richie recently turned 35.
And to celebrate, the fashion designer wrote an essay for Lena Dunham's site Lenny. The former Simple Life star began by talking about how she is not ashamed of her wild past that includes partying with Paris Hilton and getting a DUI.
And then the mother-of-two addressed the names she's been called: 'I've been given many titles: Wild child. Reality star. White-washed black girl. Skinny. Rich. (I guess the last two aren't so bad).'
Looking back: Nicole Richie, seen here on Saturday, wrote on Lenny that she has had many titles in her lifetime but being called rich and skinny are not bad
The wife of Joel Madden added: 'Now, at 35, the only titles I am taking on are the ones I give myself.'
In the early 2000s, Nicole spent a lot of time partying with her Simple Life co-star Hilton.
The daughter of Lionel Richie also hung out with Paris' sister Nicky as well as Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson and Johnny Knoxville. And she dated DJ AM, who died of a drug overdose.
Wild things: The 35-year-old actress also addressed the early 2000s when she was close pals with Paris Hilton. Here they are seen in 2002
She won;t apologize: The TV star also said she feels no shame from her party days; here she is seen with Paris in 2004
She was young and restless: In her Lenny letter she addressed those 'dark' times and the 'bad decisions' she made, but mostly focused on how she was treated. The two here are posed with a cow for season two of The Simple Life
Then she started having problems with the law.
In 2002, Richie was arrested following a brawl in a New York City nightclub. The charges were dropped.
In February 2003, she was arrested in Malibu for driving with a revoked license and possession of heroin. She checked herself into a rehabilitation center. Months later she was sentenced to three years' probation.
In December 2006, the TV star was arrested by the California Highway Patrol after she failed a field sobriety test. She was charged with driving under the influence on in the Burbank/Glendale, California area.
Her pal: Here Nicole is seen with party girl Lindsay Lohan in 2006
She had entered the freeway on the exit ramp and traveling in the opposite traffic direction, winning her the name Wrong Way Richie.
Nicole admitted to using marijuana and the narcotic Vicodin before the incident. She was sentenced to four days in jail at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, California but only served about 82 minutes of the sentence.
In her Lenny letter she addressed those 'dark' times and the 'bad decisions' she made, but mostly focused on how she was treated.
'I hear a lot of "Wow, you once looked like this, but now you look like this!" and "You once were wild, and now you're an angel!"' she wrote.
Only five years ago: Nicole with Cher, and singer Jesse Jo during the Vans X Jesse Jo launch party at the Troubadour in 2011
'I was so used to hearing others' views of my life that I found myself believing them,' she added.
'I sat and wondered, "Why do I laugh at home, but feel shamed out in the world?" With my family and close friends, I am owning my past, relishing in the absurdity, slightly flinching at my own naivete, and giving myself props for the unabashed bravery that streaked through my youth. But not trying to hide from it, not trying to change it, just allowing it to help propel me forward.'
Now she wants to embrace her past. 'Being ashamed of your life is not OK,' Richie wrote.
She also said: 'And as much as I have to look at those moments and learn from them, as we all do, it's important for me to have gratitude for that time, too. Not shame.'
A new life: The small screen wonder with husband Joel Madden of Good Charlotte in January
Nicole added: 'I feel the need to support women loving themselves. It's by loving ourselves that we give permission to others to love us,' she said,
'Life is a roller coaster, and we all have had times where we need to get back on the up, but we can't do it alone. We need each other's love and support.'
The former friend of Kim Kardashian also said that she probably would have had a tougher time with her sobriety if she was not famous.
'I realized I am actually extremely thankful I was so beastly in front of the world for a few reasons. It's so bad in people's minds that there's nothing that can embarrass me now. I got a little surprise gift of freedom!' she said.
'I also truly believe if I didn't have so many eyes on me, it would've been easier for me to slip back into my reckless behavior. I had people rooting me on and watching me at a time when I needed that.'
She was furious with boyfriend Pete Wicks upon discovering he was texting other women.
But it appears Megan McKenna's pain is finally subsiding as she and the tattooed hunk enjoy a spa break in Wednesday's episode of TOWIE.
The brunette beauty, 24, is whisked off for a night by 27-year-old Pete as he steps up his efforts to win her back.
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Will he get her back? It appears Megan McKenna's pain is finally subsiding as she Pete Wicks enjoy a spa break in Wednesday's episode of TOWIE
Getting her back: Megan insists on separate bedrooms but Pete wines and dines her, before surprising her with breakfast in bed
Megan insists on separate bedrooms but Pete wines and dines her, before surprising her with breakfast in bed.
Megan discovered Pete's extra-curricular activity during the show's annual pilgrimage to Marbella, where she launched an explosive tirade at him when he was caught texting former flame Jacqui Ryland.
After initially being unconvinced by Pete's intentions, Megan begins to mellow, but can Pete really regain her trust?
Meanwhile, Gemma is back from her holiday and eager to catch up on the Essex antics. She's outraged when she hears what Pete's been up to.
She's back! Meanwhile, Gemma is back from her holiday and eager to catch up on the Essex antics, and is outraged when she hears what Pete's been up to
Smooch: As the gang assemble at the launch of Diags' new calendar venture, Gemma gets a little intimate with Jon Clark's portrait
Teary: There's a double dose of emotion for Amber when she breaks down amongst the girls while reflecting on her break up with Chris
And later, as the gang assemble at the launch of Diags' new calendar venture, Gemma gets a little intimate with Jon Clark's portrait.
There's a double dose of emotion for Amber when she breaks down amongst the girls while reflecting on her break up with Chris, and when Jon corners her for a catch up, she gets teary eyed while talking through their troubles.
Megan is not the only one unsure of her man as Kate is uncertain of where things stand with Dan.
Cry me a river: When Jon corners her for a catch up, she gets teary eyed while talking through their troubles
In force: The girls stand united when Danni and Georgia pull Dan up on his recent behaviour towards her
Not interested: When Dan approaches Kate to discuss the matter, she's far from impressed and walks off
Love is in the air: Romance blossoms for Chloe L and Ben as they venture out of Essex for a date
The girls stand united when Danni and Georgia pull Dan up on his recent behaviour towards her.
And when Dan approaches Kate to discuss the matter, she's far from impressed and walks off.
At least one couple is all smiles, though, as romance blossoms for Chloe L and Ben as they venture out of Essex for a hot date.
The drama continues in The Only Way Is Essex on Wednesday 26 October at 10pm on ITVBe.
Doing their bit: TOWIE's James Lock and Dan Edgar have shown their support for MovemBET, a betting shop launched by the Movember Foundation, which opens on October 26
She starred in all six series of much-loved period drama Downton Abbey.
And Joanne Froggatt, 36, turned out to support the next generation of British acting talent at the unveiling of the BAFTA Breakthrough Brits 2016 at the Burberry store, Regent Street, London, on Tuesday night.
The actress was unmissable in a bold red dress tied around the waist with an elaborate black and gold belt.
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TV favourite: Joanne Froggatt, 36, turned out to support the next generation of British acting talent at the unveiling of the BAFTA Breakthrough Brits 2016 in London on Tuesday night
The classy, sleeveless frock consisted of a pleated chest piece, and she complemented it with eye-catching black heels.
Joanne wore her blonde tresses in a simple middle parting, while she sported dark smokey eyeshadow and a pale pink lip.
Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike, 37, attended the star-studded event in a stylish, long-sleeve Champagne top with navy cuffs, and a pair of retro black flares.
Lady in red: The actress was unmissable in a bold red dress tied around the waist with an elaborate black and gold belt
Looking good: Joanne wore her blonde tresses in a simple middle parting, while she sported dark smokey eyeshadow and a pale pink lip
Fan favourite: Joanne starred in all six series of much-loved period drama Downton Abbey
Leading lady: Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike, 37, attended the star-studded event in stylish, long-sleeve Champagne top with navy cuffs, and a pair of retro black flares
Classy: Her golden locks rested neatly atop her shoulders, and her rosy cheeks and pink lips perfectly complemented her top
Smouldering: She posed in front of a wall adorned with the famous golden BAFTA masks with an intense gaze on her face
Gold star: Rosamund's bag boasted a chunky gold chain for a touch of bling
She posed in front of a wall adorned with the famous golden BAFTA masks with a bright smile on her face.
Her golden locks rested neatly atop her shoulders, and her rosy cheeks and pink lips perfectly complemented her top.
The event, which celebrates talented industry newcomers, also saw Will Poulter and Jennifer Saunders in attendance.
Stylish: Jennifer Saunders, 58, cut a sophisticated figure in an all-black ensemble which she teamed with a statement necklace and a gold bangle
Class act: The talented star smiled brightly for photographs, her eyes decorated with a subtle smokey shadow
Sophisticated: She carried her essentials in a tasselled black handbag and stood tall in chunky black heels
Full of volume: Jennifer's blow-dried blonde locks were styled with a sweeping fringe and messy sides
Centre stage: Jennifer addressed the crowd from behind a podium
An eye for fashion: Jennifer's long lashes enhanced her peepers
Double act: Both Rosamund and Jennifer looked radiant as they stood side by side
Full of praise: Rosamund paid tribute to this year's talent
An honourable accolade: The event celebrated talented industry newcomers
Shining bright: Rosamund was no doubt a source of inspiration for some of the 'Breakthrough Brits'
Having a blast: Rosamund looked to be having a ball at the high-profile event
Strutting their stuff: Rosamund and Joanne led the way in the fashion stakes
Bright-eyed: Joanne emanated a healthy glow underneath the bright lights
Suave: Will Poulter, 23, looked dapper in a navy suit and a black T-shirt
Star turn: Joanne and Will took to the stage together in front of the star-studded audience
In the navy: Donna Air, 37, looked elegant in a navy dress embellished with buttons
Dressed to impress: She covered the dress with a stylish blue coat and finished the look with black heels
Social butterfly: A regular at high-profile events, Donna knows how to dress well for any occasion
Model material: Toby Huntington-Whiteley rucked his hands casually into his pockets as he posed for pictures
Handsome: Toby held a brooding gaze as he was snapped inside the Burberry store
Jennifer, 58, cut a sophisticated figure in an all-black ensemble which she teamed with a statement necklace and a gold bangle.
She carried her essentials in a tasselled black handbag and stood tall in chunky black heels.
The talented star smiled brightly for photographs, her eyes decorated with a subtle lilac shadow.
Immaculate: Alex Grahame dressed smartly in a dark blazer over a white shirt with an eye-catching pair of metallic shoes
Dapper: Kayode Ewumi rocked a grey suit over a black turtleneck, while Tim Wicksteed opted for a smart-casual look with a white shirt and navy jeans
Happy! Jo Hartley sported an ankle-length black dress and a slick of rouge on her lips for a classic style
Rocking it: Malachi Kirby gave off an effortlessly cool vibe in his jacket and shirt combo
Dazzling: Ruth Madeley opted for a glamorous, shimmering black dress
All smiles: Rebecca Lloyd flashed a pearly white smile upon arrival
Will Poulter, 23, looked dapper in a navy suit and a black T-shirt. He finished his look with some well-shined black shoes and a buzz cut.
Speaking at the event, Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive of BAFTA, said: 'Now in its fourth year, Breakthrough Brits, in partnership with Burberry, is our headline new talent initiative showcasing, celebrating and supporting the next generation of British creative talent in film, television and games.
'Our 2016 Breakthrough Brits come from a range of backgrounds and represent the variety of specialisms that make up our creative industries. Im thrilled to see such talented individuals recognised this year.'
Feeling good: Jon McKellan and Vinay Patel posed proudly for photographs in front of the instantly recognisable golden BAFTA faces
Classy finish: Helen Walsh added an array of delicate jewellery to her stylish ensemble
Luscious locks: Marnie Dickens' brunette locks cascaded down her front in waves
Peace! Alexander Vlahos stood out from the crowd in a velvet jacket
Loved-up: Alexander was joined by his fiancee Kajsa Mohammar in a bronze dress
Mix of styles: Amber Anderson looked great in a purple satin dress and gold shoes, while Amanda Eliasch went for a racy bralet underneath a navy coat
Work it: Amber wore her brunette hair in tight curls, perfectly complementing her outfit
This year's 18 Breakthrough Brits are made up of: Alex Grahame games artist, Eben Bolter cinematographer, Ellen Husain producer, Florence Pugh actress, Helen Walsh writer-director, Jodie Azhar lead technical artist, Jon McKellan creative director, Kayode Ewumi actor/writer, Malachi Kirby actor, Marnie Dickens writer, Matt Hyde creative director, Michael Berliner producer, Nainita Desai composer, Rebecca Lloyd editor, Ruth Madeley Actress, Tim Wicksteed game developer, Tom Davis actor/writer, Vinay Patel writer.
Back in April, acclaimed director Paul Greengrass said of Breakthrough Brits: 'Initiatives like Breakthrough Brits are vitally important to ensure outstanding talents are supported to succeed, whatever their background. BAFTA's commitment to providing tailored mentoring and career development opportunities for the honourees helps to safeguard the future of our industry, and I'm delighted to support this unique initiative.'
Making a statement: Clara Paget wore a striking printed jumpsuit as she cosied up to a guest
Headturner: Clara's ensemble turned plenty of heads at the fashionable film industry event
Eye-catching: Michael Berliner wore a striking patterned blue tie to liven up his suit
Pulling out all the stops: Ray Panthaki sported a finely-groomed beard as he posed with a female guest
Standing out from the crowd: Lady Violet wore a silk shirt tied at the waist, and Alice Manners rocked a quirky multi-coloured minidress
Gothic-tinged: Inesa De La Roche vamped up with black nail polish and lace gloves
Gemma Collins has slammed the Oxford English Dictionary definition of 'Essex girl' after a campaign to change it attracted more than 3,000 signatures.
The TOWIE star, 35, appeared on Sky News to discuss how the term became recognised in the dictionary to describe 'unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic' women.
Speaking to presenter Kay Burley, she insisted she was 'massive fan' of the dictionary, adding: 'We should be like promoting the dictionary anyway because it is like a massive, historical, British thing.'
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Speaking out: Gemma Collins has slammed the Oxford English Dictionary definition of 'Essex girl' after a campaign to change it attracted 3,000 signatures
But she demanded compensation for the 'derogatory' definition, insisting it was outdated.
'Personally I think the dictionary should be paying everyone in Essex some compensation,' she said.
'We have definitely evolved over the years as Essex women.
'We can all take a laugh and a joke at ourselves Kay, you know we're up for the banter, but it is very, very derogatory what has been said about us and it does need to be changed.'
She branded the definition a stereotype, saying many Essex women are intelligent and hard-working.
Outraged: The TOWIE star, 35, appeared on Sky News to discuss how the term became recognised in the dictionary to describe 'unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic' women
Horrified: She demanded compensation for the 'derogatory' definition, insisting it was outdated
'We are like a lot of other women in the world just striving to be a woman and do their thing.
'Back in the day it was all about the white stilettos, the really blonde hair and all the fakeness and that's fine if you want to be like that but also, there's another side to Essex as well. You can't just stereotype the whole of Essex.'
Refuting the definition, which calls Essex girls materialistic, Gemma said: 'We aren't buying white handbags any more, Essex girls are buying the Chanel bags at the end of the day.
Hitting back: She branded the definition a stereotype, saying many Essex women are intelligent and hard-working
Gemma said: 'Back in the day it was all about the white stilettos, the really blonde hair and all the fakeness and that's fine if you want to be like that'
'We are smart, we are sassy and you know it is absolutely outrageous in today's society, that the dictionary, which, I'm a massive fan of the dictionary, we should be like promoting the dictionary anyway because it is like a massive, historical British thing.
'But for them to write that about us Essex girls, we are not happy. Keep us in the dictionary but please change the meaning.
'I think it should say an Essex girl is smart, sassy, fun, striving hard in life like everyone else.'
She's back! Meanwhile, Gemma is back from her holiday and eager to catch up on the Essex antics, and is outraged when she hears what Pete's been up to on Wednesday's TOWIE
Breadwinner: Gemma also insisted that Essex girls run the world and earn more than their male counterparts
Gemma also insisted that Essex girls run the world and earn more than their male counterparts.
She said: 'We really are out there doing it for the women of the world and we're just mortified that that's been written about us.
'Essex girls are taking over the Essex boys, its more or less the women who are earning the money now, driving the nice cars, we are keeping the men now.
'We are taking over. Who run the world? Essex girls, that's what I'm saying.'
Asked if the Essex girls on TOWIE conformed to the definition, Gemma said: 'Back in the early days of Towie I can understand that but Towie has evolved as well.
'We all went on the show very young, very innocent in a way and we have totally transformed from the early days.
She said: 'We aren't buying white handbags any more, Essex girls are buying the Chanel bags at the end of the day.'
Controversial: 'Essex girl' is recognised in the dictionary to describe 'unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic' women
'We were given an opportunity and you'll find off of the show, more of the women have gone on to get their own businesses and be really successful at it.
'We are, I think, a very good example of Essex girls.'
The petition to change the definition was started by two mothers who claim the term 'pigeonholes' women into an 'appalling stereotype'.
Oxford University Press, which publishes the OED, said it cannot make changes as a result of the petition, 'as this would go against our descriptive editorial policy and undermine the evidence-based approach that our dictionaries are built on'.
The 7th Heaven Halloween Spa was supposed to be a spooky not steamy affair.
But Casey Batchelor turned up the heat when she smooched apprentice candidate Grainne McCoy in the crypt of St Etheldra's Church in London on Tuesday night.
The glamour model, 32, dazzled in a sheer mini-dress that showcased her ample assets and toned tum as she grabbed Grainne around the neck and pulled her in for a kiss.
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Steamy scenes: Casey Batchelor turned up the heat when she smooched apprentice candidate Grainne McCoy in the crypt of St Etheldra's Church in London on Tuesday night
The 31-year-old make-up artist, clad in a racy slit mini-dress, reciprocated Casey's advance, grabbing the model below the bust and extending her lips.
The cheeky pair then smiled for the cameras as they embraced, beaming from ear to ear.
Casey sizzled at the beauty company's event. Keeping her hair tied back from her pretty face, she completed her look with some high-heeled over-the-knee boots as she posed for photos.
Hot stuff: The glamour model, 32, dazzled in a sheer mini-dress that showcased her ample assets and toned tum, as she grabbed Grainne around the neck and pulled her in for a kiss
All square: The 31-year-old make-up artist, clad in a racy slit mini-dress, reciprocated Casey's advance, grabbing the model below the bust and extending her lips
Smoking hot: Casey sizzled at the beauty company's event in a sheer mini-dress
She accessorised with a black handbag and gold-buckled belt, adding earrings and a snood that matched her black dress.
Accentuating her striking features with a touch of makeup, she smiled for the cameras.
The former CBB star was accompanied by a host of familiar faces, including X Factor contestant Freddy Parker and TV personality Venessa Feltz.
Hand in hand: Casey and Grainne wandered from the venue holding each other's fingers
Beautiful: Casey showed off her voluptuous curves in a figure-hugging mini-dress
Having a laugh: Comedian Russell Kane shared a joke with Casey at the end of the evening
The brunette beauty is hoping to carve out a career as an actress after starring in new gangster movie Bonded By Blood 2, set for release next year.
The gangster flick - which also stars former TOWIE star Kirk Norcross and Danny Dyer's daughter Dani - showcases the voluptuous brunette, 32, struggling to contain her assets in a skintight ensemble.
Showing off: Casey Batchelor showed off her incredible figure at 7th Heaven's Halloween Spa in London on Tuesday night as she put on a very busty display
Stunner: The glamour model, 32, dazzled in a sheer minidress that showcased her ample assets and toned tum
Glamour gal: Keeping her tied back from her pretty face, she completed her look with some high-heeled over-the-knee boots as she posed for photos at the beauty company's event
All star cast: TV personality Vanessa Feltz and her daughter Saskia Kurer were at the star-studded event
Chilled: Former X Factor contestant Freddy Parker looked relaxed in jeans and a white shirt
All smiles: Strictly Come Dancing's Lesley Joseph flashed a beaming smile
Casey will be playing the role of Claire and although not much is known about her character, her jaw-dropping physique may have caused an issue on set, as the flick also stars Essex boy Kirk, her former flame.
The Sugarhut favourite looks in character in the short video, which teases sex, glamour and gritty action.
Casey and Kirk enjoyed a brief fling back in 2011 but things didn't appear to be too awkward as filming took place last year.
Making a mark: Goggle Box star Sandi Bogle turned heads in her fur coat
Tom Hanks can still remember the words to Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Pop that he sang in his 1988 hit Big.
The Hollywood star, 60, was enticed into performing the rap by YouTubers Wesley and Philip Chang after they were invited to the Florence, Italy, press junket for Hank's latest release Inferno.
The pair then posted the video online showing Hanks rapping and moving to the beat while his Inferno director Ron Howard busts a move behind him.
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Still knows it: Tom Hanks was enticed into performing the Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Pop rap from 1988 film Big by YouTubers Wesley and Philip Chang at press junket for new film Inferno
Rapping: In Big, Hanks played a boy in a man's body and the only way he could convince his best friend he was actually his schoolmate was to sing the song they knew together
In Big, directed by Penny Marshall, Hanks is a boy catapulted overnight into adulthood after wishing he could be 'big'.
In one scene, he is trying to convince his best friend Billy that he really is himself even though he's in an adult body.
He communicates by singing the song only they know, with the lyrics Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Pop and some signature moves.
Good recall: Hanks, 60, proved he could still remember the words
Jiggy with it: And he could also bust the moves much to the delight of YouTubers Wesley and Philip Chang
Inspired: The Hollywood star revealed he'd come up with the rap on the spur of the moment and he's picked it up from his kid who'd learned it at summer camp
'I actually stole that from my kids summer camp,' Hanks revealed in the video about where he came up with the song.
'We needed a thing for the movie and I said How about we just do this?'
Inferno, in which Hanks reprises his role as Dan Brown's Robert Langdon for a third time, opens in theatres on Friday.
Once again, he must try to save the world from a deadly plot and overcome nefarious foes, this time with the help of British actress Felicity Jones.
Last weekend saw Sunrise 'lost' its ratings race against rivals Today, for the first time in over a decade.
But as Channel Seven's PR department goes into damage control, its star Samantha Armytage was putting her feet up in sunny Queensland and enjoying a long weekend.
The 40-year-old's co-host David 'Kochie' Koch meanwhile, was holding up the fort at Brekky Central with newsreader Natalie Barr as his side-kick.
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Bad timing? Tensions were reportedly high after Samantha Armytage took time off from work on Monday, after Sunrise suffered its first yearly ratings 'loss' against rivals Today, in over a decade
Samantha's break came after the breakfast show was broadcast from the One & Only Resort in Hayman Island on Friday, with the bubbly presenter staying on to enjoy an extra day of sunshine on her own.
But according to The Daily Telegraph, Sam's poorly-timed break has raised eyebrows at the Seven office.
Sunrise executive producer, Michael Pell, told the news publication: 'This was planned weeks ago.
'Sunrise is Australia's number one breakfast show and on metro measure, Sunrise is ahead in numbers,' he added, dismissing Today's early victory with still weeks to go in the official ratings year.
Carefree: The 40-year-old presenter enjoyed a long weekend in Queensland
Nice office! Sunrise was broadcast from Hayman Island on Friday, with Samantha staying on through to Monday to enjoy a mini break
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sunrise for comments.
On Saturday, Channel Nine had 21 metropolitan weekly ratings wins, making Today apparently unbeatable as there are only 40 ratings weeks in a year.
With five weeks until the winner is announced, a Seven spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald that talking about a predicted victory at this stage is 'a bit like a half-time victory lap'.
Keeping up appearances: Kochie and Natalie were left to host Monday's show in Samantha's absence
When it comes to city viewers, the Seven spokesperson claimed the annual average audiences beat weekly wins, and a winner can only be properly determined after the 40-week cycle.
But if Today does finish on top, this will be its first victory in 13 years.
Now, Today is closing the gap after steadily increasing its audience to catch up with rivals Sunrise - which has replaced Melissa Doyle with Samantha Armytage.
On top: Today, hosted by Karl Stfanovic and Lisa Wilkinson, is closing the gap after steadily increasing its audience to catch up with rivals Sunrise
On October 17, Sunrise averaged 540,000 viewers a year including regional audiences to Today's 475,000 both audiences appearing small, because few watch the show from start to finish, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Meanwhile, Channel Seven as a whole appears to have taken the lead in the ratings war against Channel Nine and Network Ten.
Channel Seven's director of programming told The Herald Sun: 'We said we would be a more dominant number one in 2016 and we are.
Victory lap: Channel Nine had 21 metropolitan weekly ratings wins, making Today apparently unbeatable in a 40-weeks ratings cycle
'We are number one in all people and every key demographic. We have the number one show on television My Kitchen Rules.
'We are number one in news and we have launched more new hit shows in 2016 than any other network.
'Seven is the only network to grow all people and every key demographic in 2016.'
Georgia Love is Australia's second Bachelorette.
But according to new speculation, she may very well be the last.
Channel Ten has yet to announce casting for a third series, after Georgia's series has had miserable ratings compared to the first series starring Sam Frost.
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Will the show return? Georgia Love (pictured) is Australia's second Bachelorette but according to new speculation, she may very well be the last
Advertisements have appeared already for a new series of The Bachelor, after Richie Strahan's successful search for love earlier this year.
Georgia's debut episode pulled in a disappointing viewership of 655,000 for its premiere last month.
The second episode of The Bachelorette showed a promising climb with 703,000 viewers, but it was still number nine in the ratings against other shows on the night, according to TV Tonight.
Interesting: Channel Ten has yet to announce casting for a third series, after Georgia's series has had miserable ratings compared to the first series starring Sam Frost (pictured)
Who will follow in his footsteps? Advertisements have appeared already for a new series of The Bachelor, after Richie Strahan's (seen) successful search for love earlier this year
But it was back at 14th place again the following night, with only 570,000 people interested in watching the 27-year-old beauty find her dream guy.
Meanwhile Sam Frost's finale drew in a reported 1.52 million metro viewers, while its debut saw 875,000 viewers.
Back in July, Richie Strahan's debut episode as The Bachelor pulled in a whopping 882,000 fans while the finale saw 1.32 million people tune in.
According to The Daily Telegraph, a head honcho for Ten called The Bachelorette a success despite Georgia's lucklustre ratings.
Screen time: Georgia's debut episode pulled in a disappointing viewership of 655,000 for its premiere last month (seen is a preview of the finale this week).
She pulled in audiences: Meanwhile Sam Frost's finale drew in a reported 1.52 million metro viewers, while its debut saw 875,000 viewers (seen with winner Sasha Mielczarek)
They said The Bachelorette isn't as successful as The Bachelor due to many factors and Sam Frost did well because people wanted to see her find love after being dumped by Blake Garvey on The Bachelor.
They added of Georgia's series: 'Overall I would love it if it was doing a little bit more (in the ratings) but we're happy with the performance and we're happy with the production of the show.
'Georgia is such a good Bachelorette she takes control of what's going on and that's made it a really interesting series.'
They said there could be a chance for another Bachelorette.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Ten for comment in relation to this story.
In the pipeline? A head honcho for Channel Ten said there could be a chance for another Bachelorette
The finale of The Bachelorette starring Georgia Love airs on Wednesday and Thursday.
The former journalist has three men left vying for her heart, Lee, Matty and Jake.
Photos have recently emerged of Lee and Matty filming scenes for the finale with Georgia in Singapore - suggesting Jake will not be receiving the final rose.
Georgia recently spoke about the hunky contestants to Popsugar Australia and called Lee a 'dreamboat.'
Who will win? The former journalist has three men left vying for her heart, Lee, Matty (R) and Jake (L)
'He rocks up with flowers and a coffee, I mean, come on [laughs]!' Georgia told the publication.
'The more dates we go on and the more time we spend together, he makes me laugh so much, and I feel like he really treats me like a princess, like every girl wants to be treated! Bit of a dreamboat,' she said.
But the brunette beauty will certainly have a tough decision on her hands, with Matty Johnson and Jake Ellis also impressing.
'He says things to me that no one has ever said to me in my life,' she said about Matty, while for Jake Ellis: 'He says the most beautiful things to me and about me and makes me feel very, very special.'
She's known for her unique take on red carpet attire.
And, Deborra-Lee Furness has raised eyebrows with her unusual outfit choice at the Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program Luncheon in New York.
On Tuesday, the 60-year-old covered up from head-to-toe in a quirky androgynous look in her signature all-black fashion.
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Hats off to you! Deborra-Lee Furness raised eyebrows with her unusual outfit choice at the Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program Luncheon in New York on Tuesday, in a head-to-toe quirky androgynous look in her signature all-black fashion
She appeared comfortable in her casual look, wearing loose-fitted clothing in numerous layers and posing with her hands in her pockets.
The Australian actress and producer didn't bare any skin for the luncheon, as she wore long slacks, a semi sheer blouse with a singlet underneath and a long-sleeve draped cardigan.
Ditching heels for the star-studded outing, she instead opted for crocodile-look leather shoes with socks.
Quirky! The 60-year-old actress didn't bare much skin in the all-black ensemble, which included a quirky pair of crocodile-look leather shoes with socks and a slanted cap
She accessorised her eccentric style with a single gold necklace, a black watch and a black hat over her blonde tresses.
Her hair appeared to have a tinge of pink as she stood against the green foliage backdrop.
Going for a natural approach to her makeup application, the actress had a nude lip, a dusting of light blush and mascara.
Signature look: Seemingly a fan of the laid-back approach to red carpet fashion, she wore a similar look in June last year for the premiere of Dukale's Dream.
Seemingly a fan of the laid-back approach to red carpet fashion, she wore a similar look in June last year for the premiere of Dukale's Dream.
The Aussie star regularly wears an all-black palette to special occassions, and often coordinates her look with partner, Australian actor Hugh Jackman.
Deborra-Lee, who has been married to her Wolverine star husband, 45, for almost two decades have been married since 1996 and share two children.
Matching! The Australian actress regularly wears an all-black palette to special occassions, and often coordinates her look with partner, Australian actor Hugh Jackman
The mother-of-two has recently returned to acting on Australian television in the series Hyde And Seek.
It's the actress's first role on an Aussie TV production since starring in an episode of ABC's Sea Change in 2000.
From episodes aired so far, she seems to have taken her fashion sense with her, sporting black androgynous outfits in the Channel Nine drama thriller series.
It has been a decade since national treasure Steve Irwin was tragically killed while filming an underwater documentary.
Now, Steve's father Bob, has broken his silence with the release of his debut memoir The Last Crocodile Hunter: A Father And Son Legacy, in which he revealed unprecedented details about the life and death of Australia's most iconic conversationalist.
During a promotional appearance on Sunrise Wednesday morning, the 77-year-old gushed about his vibrant son, saying: '[Steve] was an amazing kid, even when he was born. He could not wait to get into the world.'
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'He could not wait to get into the world': Steve Irwin's father Bob, revealed details about the life and death of Australia's most iconic conversationalist in his debut memoir The Last Crocodile Hunter during an interview with Sunrise on Wednesday
'Eight minutes after I got to hospital they brought out this ugly little thing, that turned out to be Steve.'
While his memoir delves into similarly positive memories of Steve's formative years, the novel also contains harrowing details surrounding the loss of Steve and the impact his death had upon Bob.
'As self-protection, I never watch Steve on television. I choose not to remember the date he passed,' wrote Bob in a chapter titled 'Return To Cattle Creek'.
While his memoir delves into similarly positive memories of Steve's formative years, the novel also contains harrowing details surrounding the loss of Steve and the impact his death had upon Bob.
Readers will also encounter peppered details of Bob's rather fraught relationship with his grandchildren Bindi and Robert, from whom he has become estranged.
In a paragraph titled A Message To My Grandkids, Bob wrote: 'The most frequent question I am asked wherever I go is about my relationship with Steve's children, Bindi and Robert.'
'As self-protection, I never watch Steve on television': The novel also contains harrowing details surrounding the loss of Steve and the impact his death had upon Bob
New generation: He also wrote that he would like the pair to follow in their father's footsteps
He also wrote that he would like the pair to follow in their father's footsteps.
Bob briefly commented on his estrangement from the famous children earlier this week, simply telling The Daily Telegraph: 'That's life'.
'[Bindi and Robert] will grow up and they might come to understand me better for my having written this book,' he told the publication.
'Its sad but its just the way things are': Bob has previously told the Herald Sun that he is not on speaking terms with his grandchildren.
Bob has previously told the Herald Sun that he is not on speaking terms with his grandchildren.
Though he did not going into the finer details, he did divulge that he is still proud of what his 17-year-old granddaughter has achieved.
'Its sad but its just the way things are,' he said.
Steve was killed on September 2, 2006, after he was pierced by a stingray barb while filming a documentary on Australia's deadliest animals.
'They might come to understand me better for my having written this book': Bob confirmed his estrangement from his famous children earlier this week, telling The Daily Telegraph: 'That's life'
Philippines' Duterte tells worried foreign businesses to go
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday urged foreign businesses in the Philippines worried about his deadly drug war to "pack up and leave", as he launched another anti-American tirade before flying to Japan to attract investments.
Duterte voiced outrage at comments made the previous day by the top US envoy to Asia that his fiery rhetoric and crime war, which has claimed about 3,700 lives in four months, were bad for business.
"These Americans are really crazy," Duterte said, as he held up a newspaper with headlines reporting criticism from US assistant secretary of state Daniel Russel.
The United States' military presence in the Philippines is a source of anger and has led to protests in Manila Noel Celis (AFP/File)
"Russel says 'Duterte comments causing worries in business communities'. Then you pack up and leave. We will recover, I assure you."
Duterte then flew to Japan, one of the top US allies in Asia, for a three-day visit that is partly aimed at building on two-way trade of more than $18 billion dollars last year.
"With Japan as the Philippines' top trading partner, I shall seek the sustainment and further enhancement of our important economic ties," Duterte, 71, said in prepared remarks at Manila airport.
"I look forward to meeting business leaders in Japan. I will tell them clearly that the Philippines is open for business."
Upon arrival in Tokyo, he proceeded to a hotel for an event with members of the local Filipino community where he heaped more invective on Washington.
"I do not want to fight," he said. "But these stupid Americans, you know the Americans are really a bully... they are bullies, these pests."
In contrast, Duterte had nothing but praise for Tokyo.
"Japan has really been our biggest helper," he said, citing assistance in the form of an airport and road-building projects.
"The fact is they are really so very kind," he added.
But his harsh criticism of Washington -- which guarantees Japan's security -- is likely to be seen as embarrassing.
Duterte will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and have an audience with Emperor Akihito during the trip, which follows his headline-grabbing state visit to China last week.
- 'Lapdog' -
A self-proclaimed socialist with close links to communists, Duterte last week announced in Beijing the Philippines' "separation" from the US, throwing into doubt a 70-year alliance that is anchored on a mutual defence treaty.
He quickly walked back from his comments after returning from China, saying "separation" did not mean he would "sever" ties and that the US alliance would continue.
Still, the anti-American vitriol kept flowing.
Prior to departure for Tokyo, Duterte said he was not a "lapdog" of the US, and again voiced anger at American and European criticism of apparent extrajudicial killings on his watch.
"You are a son of a whore," he said referring to his critics.
"Do not make us dogs. Do not. As if I am a dog with a leash and then you throw bread far away that I cannot reach."
Duterte has previously branded US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and told him to "go to hell".
Russel, the US envoy, said after meeting Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay on Monday that many people around the world were becoming increasingly worried about Duterte's tirades.
Japan, which is wary of China's rising influence in the region, signalled it would be looking for clarification from Duterte about his foreign policy plans.
"It is important to have good communication and to listen directly to what Mr Duterte has in mind," Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters ahead of a meeting with the president when asked about his comments on ties with Washington.
Abe had worked to improve bilateral relations with Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino.
Japan provided patrol boats to support the Philippines in its territorial row with Beijing over rival claims to the South China Sea, as it sought backing in its own maritime dispute with China.
Aquino took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive claims in the South China Sea -- where it has built artificial islands capable of hosting military facilities -- and the Philippines won a resounding victory in July.
But Duterte has sought not to use the verdict to anger China, instead worked to improve ties and attract billions of dollars in Chinese loans and investments.
Disputed claims in the South China Sea Adrian LEUNG, Gal ROMA (AFP)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has launched tirades against the United States and President Barack Obama Ted Aljibe (AFP/File)
US general visits Saudi amid Yemen bombing concerns
The head of US military operations in the Middle East wrapped up an unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, amid mounting friction over the kingdom's bombing campaign in neighbouring Yemen.
An international outcry over the civilian death toll from the air war against pro-Iran rebels launched by a Saudi-led coalition in March last year prompted the White House to announce a review of US intelligence and logistics support earlier this month.
But Washington has trod a wary line, not wanting to strain already delicate relations with Riyadh, a key Middle East ally and partner in the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in Syria.
US Central Command chief Joseph Votel, who is in Saudi Arabia, held talks on Monday with top officials including the defence minister, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Jim Watson (AFP/File)
US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel held talks on Monday with top officials including the defence minister, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Votel told reporters travelling with him that he wanted to hear Saudi concerns.
"The first thing we are trying to do is listen to what they are telling us. It's important to maintain confidence in the relationship," he said.
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Prince Mohammed and Votel discussed defence cooperation and joint efforts in "combatting terrorism".
An October 8 air strike on a funeral ceremony in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa which killed more than 140 people, most of them civilians, sparked a storm of criticism of both Saudi Arabia and its US ally.
In response, the US National Security Council announced that commanders had begun a review "of our already significantly reduced support to the Saudi-led coalition and are prepared to adjust our support so as to better align with US principles, values and interests."
In the summer, Washington cut the number of advisers deployed to a joint planning cell from 45 to five but the US Air Force stills provides air-to-air refuelling for Saudi bombers operating over Yemen.
The frictions over the air war in Yemen come with relations already strained.
Riyadh was angered by the US Congress's passage last month of a law allowing the families of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom for alleged ties to the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Saudi officials vehemently deny any involvement.
Shabaab suicide bomber strikes AU base in Somalia
A Shabaab suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into an African Union military base in central Somalia on Tuesday, a security official said.
The explosion was followed by heavy gunfire at the Djiboutian base in the city of Beledweyne.
Witness Ismail Mahad described seeing "clouds of smoke caused by the heavy blast" followed by "exchange of gunfire at the Djiboutian camp".
African Union soldiers from Djibouti stand at the site of a car bomb attack at an African Union army base in central Somalia on October 25, 2016 STR (AFP)
"There was a suicide attack targeting the Djiboutian military base in western Beledweyne," said Abdullah Ibrahim, a local security official who added the number of casualties was not yet known.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab militant group said, via its Radio Andalus media organisation, that it was responsible for the attack, claiming "the death and injury of many soldiers".
The Shabaab, which is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, regularly attacks AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) bases as well as government and civilian targets.
In recent weeks Ethiopian troops deployed in the nearby area have withdrawn from some of their positions, with no explanation given for the movement of troops back towards Beledweyne, the provincial capital.
Elderly Australian man jailed for Bali sex abuse
An elderly Australian man was jailed for 15 years Tuesday for sexually abusing Indonesian girls on the resort island of Bali after luring them to his house with promises of gifts.
Robert Andrew Fiddes Ellis was found guilty of abusing 11 girls since 2014 at the home where he was living on the island. The 70-year-old would bathe the children, aged between seven and 17, and touch them inappropriately, prosecutors said.
"His actions could have damaged the victims' futures," said judge Wayan Sukanila, as he announced a guilty verdict and handed down the 15-year sentence at a court in the Balinese capital Denpasar.
Robert Andrew Fiddes Ellis during his trial in Denpasar on Bali island, Indonesia, on October 25, 2016 Sonny Tumbelaka (AFP)
The judge said the case could also taint the image of the Indonesian island, which attracts millions of foreign visitors each year, as a tourist destination.
Ellis, who has long, white hair and a big bushy beard, was arrested in January after a tip-off from local child protection officials and accused of luring the girls back to his house with promises of money and other gifts.
Last week the pensioner admitted to journalists at the court that he had bathed the girls in exchange for cash but insisted that he had done nothing wrong and it was "not a serious thing".
After being convicted, the elderly man looked creastfallen and told journalists: "I'm 70 now, 15 years would take me to 85. I don't know if I'll live that long."
Asked if he thought the court's decision was fair, he said: "Well it doesn't seem to be."
His lawyer Yanuar Nahak said he would file an appeal as police had treated Ellis unfairly, only focusing their probe on him and failing to investigate two other people who had allegedly brought the children to the pensioner.
In addition to the jail sentence, Ellis was ordered to pay a fine of two billion rupiah (around $153,000) or serve an additional six months in jail.
Bali is a popular holiday destination for tourists from around the world, who flock to the island for its beaches, resorts and nightlife.
Afghan Taliban use drone to film suicide attack
The Afghan Taliban have released aerial footage of a suicide car bombing in southern Helmand province, marking the first time the media-savvy militant group has used a drone to record an attack.
The 23-minute video shows a suicide bomber ramming a Humvee into a military base in volatile Nawa district, triggering a mushroom cloud of flames and smoke and razing the entire compound.
With pro-Taliban poems playing in the background, the video reported Tuesday by the US-based SITE Intelligence group shows a turban-clad bomber in front of a Humvee, hugging fellow fighters before he departs.
Afghan commandos take position during a military operation in Helmand province on October 2, 2016 Noor Mohammad (AFP/File)
The camera mounted on a drone shows a birds-eye view of the target, tracking his Humvee as it strikes the base without any apparent resistance, causing a massive explosion.
The video, which could not be independently verified, is the first drone footage released by the Taliban. The Afghan defence ministry in a statement rejected it as "propaganda".
Once seen as uneducated thugs, the Taliban have developed a savvy PR team who use digital technology to reach out to audiences worldwide.
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, almost all electronic products were outlawed as un-Islamic.
But the Taliban have avidly embraced electronic communication and social media in recent years as a recruitment tool and to promote their propaganda.
The Taliban now have a robust social media presence and a website in five languages including English.
In April, Google removed a Taliban smartphone app from its online store, countering the insurgent group's increasing efforts to boost its global visibility.
Afghan authorities in June banned media companies from using drone cameras, citing security concerns in a country well known for the rampant use of unmanned military aircraft.
Syrian Kurds say Ankara attacking to block Raqa recapture
A Syrian Kurd leader in France on Tuesday accused Turkey of waging attacks on Kurdish forces trying to recapture Raqa, the Islamic State group stronghold in Syria.
"With its artillery and aircraft, the Turkish army is taking advantage of the media and international community's focus on Mosul to massively attack Syrian Kurds to stop them taking Raqa," Khaled Issa told a news conference in Paris.
Iraqi forces have been advancing towards the northern city of Mosul in a major operation to retake it from the IS jihadists.
The Islamic State group took control of the Syrian city of Raqa after pushing out regime forces in 2013 - (Welayat Raqa/AFP/File)
Issa, the representative of Syrian Kurds in France, said that in their preparations to retake Raqa, the US-backed Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had "liberated" several villages occupied by the jihadists to the northeast of the devastated Syrian city of Aleppo.
"If Turkish artillery and aircraft are heavily bombing SDF positions in this zone... it is partly to stop them (SDF) cutting Daesh supply lines to Raqa and partly to allow Turkey to keep control of 70 kilometres (40 miles) of its border with Syria," he said, using another name for the Islamic State.
"We cannot go and fight in Raqa when the Turkish army is bombing us," he said.
Accusing the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of "rushing to Daesh's rescue," Issa called on France and other permanent members of the UN Security Council "to put an end to Erdogan's irresponsible actions which hamper the fight against Daesh".
The Turkish military has carried out a number of raids against Kurdish militia targets in northern Syria in recent days.
Turkey views the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD) as terror groups linked to Turkey's banned insurgent Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
It is vehemently opposed to the creation of an autonomous Kurdish region on its border in northern Syria.
US judge approves massive VW emissions settlement
A US judge on Tuesday granted final approval for a $14.7 billion class action settlement in Volkswagen's diesel emissions cheating scandal, the largest such automaker settlement in history.
The buyback deal at the same time also resolved some claims brought by US and California environmental regulators who had sought penalties for Volkswagen's violations of pollution laws.
"Final approval of the 2.0 liter TDI settlement is an important milestone in our journey to making things right in the United States and we appreciate the efforts of all parties involved in this process," Hinrich Woebcken, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said in a statement.
Volkswagen's troubles began in September 2015 when it admitted installing so-called "defeat devices" in 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide Mark Ralston (AFP/File)
The settlement offers compensation to nearly a half-million owners of polluting Volkswagen and Audi diesel-powered vehicles in the US which the German automaker has admitted configuring to deceive emissions tests. This allowed some cars to emit almost 40 times the permissible levels of harmful nitrogen oxides.
Owners of 2.0 liter diesel-powered cars will be eligible for buybacks, penalty-free lease terminations or free modifications to fix the vehicles' emissions. All participants will also receive cash payments.
- Avoids lengthy trial -
In addition to $10 billion for compensation to owners, Volkswagen will create a $2.7 billion fund for environmental remediation, and provide $2 billion to promote the use of "zero emissions" vehicles within the United States.
"The settlement adequately and fairly compensates class members," US District Judge Charles Breyer wrote in an opinion approving the deal.
"While plaintiffs might ultimately prevail on their claims, the settlement provides benefits much sooner than if litigation were to continue. Moreover, litigation would cause additional environmental damage that the settlement otherwise reduces."
Breyer had granted preliminary approval for the settlement in July, praising the "enormous efforts" by all sides to reach an agreement and avoid a trial.
Volkswagen's parallel agreement with US authorities will require it to modify or remove 85 percent of the vehicles from the roads by June 2019 or face steep additional penalties.
California will receive about $1.2 billion to mitigate environmental damage caused by the pollution, of which $381 million will fund projects to reduce smog, such as creating incentives for cleaner heavy-duty vehicles, according to the California Air Resources Board.
- 'Innovative settlement' -
"Today is a landmark day, when this innovative settlement can be put into action, investing billions of dollars into public health protections to remedy these serious violations," Cynthia Giles, head of enforcement at the US Environmental Protection Agency, said in a statement.
Breyer's rulings were a major step in the German automaker's efforts to move past the scandal and revive sagging sales after admitting to the deceptive practices in the production of some 11 million vehicles worldwide.
But the costs of the scandal have been considerable. Volkswagen reported a 1.6 billion euro ($1.74 billion) net loss for 2015, its first in more than two decades. The company has booked 18 billion euros to cover repairs, buy-backs and legal costs for the scandal, but commentators have said the final amount could be much higher.
The company is in talks with US federal prosecutors to settle criminal allegations related to the emissions cheating. Prosecutors last month indicted James Liang, a Volkswagen engineer, who has pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate as the United States builds its case.
Volkswagen also still needs to conclude a separate settlement in the United States concerning about 80,000 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche cars with 3.0 liter engines equipped with the emissions cheat devices.
The company has been far less generous in Europe, pledging to bring affected cars there into compliance by next year. The company also faces billions of dollars in damage claims from investors.
Volkswagen emissions scandal John Saeki (AFP)
First American killed in Mosul assault was in navy
The first American killed during Iraq's offensive to retake Mosul was a member of the navy hit by a bomb blast near the city, the US-led anti-jihadist coalition said Tuesday.
Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan was the fourth member of the US military to be killed in Iraq by the Islamic State jihadist group, which overran large parts of the country, including Mosul, in June 2014.
Finan died on Thursday "from wounds sustained during an improvised explosive device blast near Bashiqa," the coalition said in a statement, referring to an area northeast of Mosul.
Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters stand near the town of Bashiqa on October 20, 2016, near where American Chief Petty First Officer Jason Finan was killed in a blast during the US coalition-led effort to retake hub city of Mosul from the Islamic State Safin Hamed (AFP/File)
He was advising Iraqi Kurdish forces "when the element he was with came under small arms fire. Finan was repositioning to a more advantageous position when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device," it said.
"His sacrifice will not be in vain," Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commander of the international anti-IS operation, said in the statement.
"Our troops are in harm's way supporting our partners in their fight against (IS), which presents a very real danger to not only the region, but the United States and our friends and allies around the world as well," Townsend said.
US President Barack Obama repeatedly pledged that there would be no "boots on the ground" to fight IS, but Finan is the fourth member of the US military to be killed in combat in Iraq during the war against the jihadist group.
A US Navy SEAL was killed in northern Iraq in May, while a Marine was killed by rocket fire in March and a special forces soldier died of wounds received during a raid last October.
Coalition huddles as forces inch towards Mosul
Iraqi forces were inching to within striking distance of eastern Mosul Tuesday as coalition defence chiefs gathered in Paris agreed to also take on the jihadists' Syrian bastion of Raqa.
With the Mosul battle in its second week, French President Francois Hollande called for the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group to prepare for the aftermath and the next stages of the campaign against the jihadists.
The United Nations said it had received reports of a new series of atrocities by the jihadists as troops close in on its last major urban stronghold in Iraq.
Iraqi families flee the fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic State jihadists around Mosul on October 24, 2016 Bulent Kilic (AFP)
Forces from the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) retook areas close to the eastern outskirts of Mosul.
"On our front, we have advanced to within five or six kilometres (three to four miles) of Mosul," their commander, General Abdelghani al-Assadi, told AFP.
"We must now coordinate with forces on other fronts to launch a coordinated" attack on Mosul, he said, speaking from the Christian town of Bartalla.
Kurdish peshmerga forces are making gains on the northeastern front, but federal forces advancing from the south have some way to go before reaching the outskirts.
"All axes of advance have made the progress we expected at this stage of the operation, some are ahead of schedule," said Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the coalition.
Meanwhile, thousands of men from the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary umbrella group dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias were preparing for a push to the west of mainly Sunni Mosul.
- Turkey threat -
The Hashed's mission will be to "cut off and prevent the escape of (IS) towards Syria and fully isolate Mosul from Syria", said Jawwad al-Tulaibawi, spokesman for the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia.
"We expect that it will be a difficult and fierce battle," he said.
Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Arab politicians have opposed the Hashed's participation in the operation, as has Turkey, which has a military presence east of Mosul despite repeated demands by Baghdad to withdraw its forces.
Tensions have risen between Baghdad and Ankara, whose foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned Tuesday that if there is a threat to Turkey, "we are ready to use all our resources including a ground operation".
As Iraqi forces advance, the United Nations said it has received reports of dozens of execution-type killings by IS in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital.
Citing preliminary reports, the UN said those killed included 50 police officers who had been held hostage.
In Paris, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was meeting coalition counterparts, including Pentagon chief Ashton Carter, to review the war on IS after more than two years of air strikes, training and on-the-ground military advisers.
Besides coordinating their support for the forces closing in on Mosul, ministers also discussed the Syria side of the campaign and said they were "laying the groundwork" for the isolation of Raqa.
France is keen to tackle Raqa, where the 3,000 to 4,000 IS fighters include a contingent of around 300 French nationals whose potential return to France when the "caliphate" disintegrates is considered a major national threat.
- Looking to Raqa -
As the ministers met, Hollande warned that "the recapture is not an end in itself. We must already anticipate the consequences of the fall of Mosul."
"What is at stake is the political future of the city, the region and Iraq," Hollande said, calling for "all ethnic and religious groups" to have a say in the future running of Mosul.
Seeking to draw attention away from the Mosul campaign, IS has staged attacks in the northern city of Kirkuk and western town of Rutba in recent days.
Jihadists seized two neighbourhoods in Rutba, but officials said that as of Tuesday it was fully back in government hands.
Senior Iraqi and US military officials have reported that IS leaders are already trying to leave Mosul to reach the Syrian side of their "caliphate".
But an official close to Le Drian said a few hundred IS fighters recently moved in the opposite direction, reinforcing the estimated 3,000 to 5,000 jihadists defending Mosul.
IS had shown increasing pragmatism in recent battles, tending to fall back in the face of superior firepower.
But with its claim to run a "caliphate" losing credibility with every new loss of territory, IS has mounted a fierce and well-organised resistance in the fight for Mosul.
The city is where IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the cross-border "caliphate" in June 2014, and its loss could spell the end of the group's days as a land-holding force in the Iraqi part.
In Moscow Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov equated US support for Iraqi efforts to recapture Mosul with Russian backing of a Syrian government offensive to seize rebel-held east Aleppo.
The battle for Mosul Paz Pizarro, Iris Royer De Vericourt, Thomas Saint-Cricq (AFP)
Iraqi forces gather in the al-Shura area, south of Mosul, on October 24, 2016, during an operation to retake the main hub city from the Islamic State Ahmad al-Rubaye (AFP)
Rwandan genocide suspect arrested in Sweden
Swedish police on Tuesday arrested a 48-year-old man suspected of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide which claimed 800,000 lives, police and prosecutors said.
The man, whose identity was not revealed, was arrested at dawn in his house at Orebro, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of Stockholm.
The suspect came to Sweden in 1998 and was naturalised in 2006.
Swedish police arrested a man suspected of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, who was naturalised in Sweden in 2006 PETER KRUGER (TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP)
The three-month orgy of killing was triggered by the shooting down of the plane of then president Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, in April 1994.
Sweden sentenced to life imprisonment two other naturalised Rwandans Stanislas Mbanenande and Claver Berinkidi, in 2014 and 2016 respectively, for their roles in the genocide.
China blast suspects 'confess' as 14 killed: state media
The toll from a powerful explosion in China rose to 14 dead and 147 injured Tuesday, state media said, as three suspects were arrested and admitted to illegally storing explosives.
Monday's blast in Xinmin, in the northern province of Shaanxi, tore through five prefabricated buildings, destroying or damaging 58 others, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Authorities on Tuesday censored discussion of the incident online.
Industrial accidents are common in China, where safely regulations are often flouted Greg Baker (AFP/File)
An initial investigation found the incident was caused by illegally stored explosives, state broadcaster CCTV said on its website late Tuesday, adding that three people had been arrested.
"During the investigation, the suspects confessed to illegally producing and storing explosives," it said.
Pictures showed widespread damage, with windows blown out of buildings, a crater in the street, and bloodied victims lying on the ground.
Rescue efforts had concluded by Tuesday morning, and more than 100 of the injured were still hospitalised, Xinhua said, citing local authorities.
The explosion comes at a time of heightened vigilance for the ruling Communist Party, which holding a high-level meeting in Beijing, the "Sixth Plenum".
Outraged social media users said that there were comparatively few reports on the incident available online, and others had been deleted, with comments on many platforms disabled.
"They've closed off discussion of the incident and don't dare reveal the numbers of casualties and deaths," wrote one incensed user. "Such a big incident, and they're preparing to quash it under pressure."
Another cried: "The one-party dictatorship that controls the throne is only interested in the good of the party, not of the people! Where is China's future?"
Industrial accidents are common in China, where safely regulations are often flouted.
Denuclearizing N. Korea a 'lost cause,' US intel chief says
Convincing North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons is a "lost cause," America's top intelligence official said, causing concern in the State Department and ally South Korea over an issue of long-standing US policy.
The United States has always maintained it cannot accept North Korea as a nuclear state and, under President Barack Obama, has made any talks with the North conditional on Pyongyang first making some tangible commitment towards denuclearisation.
But in remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank, US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Tuesday suggested such a policy was based on wishful thinking.
People watch a television news report showing file footage of North Korea's missile launch at a railway station in Seoul on October 20, 2016 Jung Yeon-Je (AFP)
"The notion of getting the North Koreans to denuclearize is probably a lost cause. They are not going to do that. That is their ticket to survival," Clapper said.
"They are under siege, and they are very paranoid. So the notion of giving up their nuclear capability, whatever it is, is a nonstarter with them," he added.
- Policy change? -
His comments reflected an opinion widely-held among North Korea experts but one only expressed in private by senior US administration officials who feel a policy change on North Korea is overdue.
While Clapper may have been seeking to shore up arguments to support the imminent deployment of the US THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, his remarks add a high-profile voice to the growing debate over how the next US president should handle North Korea.
State Department spokesman John Kirby rebuffed Clapper's position, stressing that "nothing has changed" with the Obama administration's policy of pushing the North -- through a toughened sanction regime -- to give up its nuclear weapons.
"We want to continue to see a verifiable denuclearization of the (Korean) peninsula," Kirby said.
Critics of the policy say sanctions and non-engagement have done nothing to prevent the North's accelerated drive towards a credible nuclear deterrent that could directly threaten the US mainland.
- Steadfast South -
South Korea, which has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the US hardline on Pyongyang, also stressed there would be no change of course.
"The determination of not only South Korea and the US but of the international community to end North Korea's nuclear program is stronger than ever," a foreign ministry official told AFP.
"We will work with the international community to impose stronger sanctions and pressure on the North so it will have no other choice but to denuclearize," the official said.
Although there is no official dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, there are regular, so-called Track 2 discussions involving former US diplomats and North Korean officials -- most recently in Malaysia last weekend.
In July, the North cut off its only remaining official channel of diplomatic communications with the United States in retaliation for American sanctions against its leader, Kim Jong-Un.
North Korea has been hit by five sets of UN sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
After Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, the Security Council adopted the toughest sanctions resolution to date, targeting North Korea's trade in minerals and tightening banking restrictions.
Council members are currently debating a fresh resolution after the North's fifth nuclear test in September.
According to Security Council diplomats, the negotiations are focused on closing loopholes and zeroing in on North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile technology industry.
James Clapper, US Director of National Intelligence, speaks at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York, on October 25, 2016 Drew Angerer (Getty/AFP)
California man charged with threatening to kill Muslims
A California man has been charged with making terrorist threats against a Muslim center and posting hateful messages on social media, authorities said Tuesday.
Mark Lucian Feigin, 40, was arrested last week after calling the Islamic Center of Southern California and threatening to kill Muslims, officer Liliana Preciado of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told AFP.
She said Feigin is suspected of having called the center on September 19 and leaving a hate-filled message. He called again the following day, when he spoke to an employee and threatened to kill Muslims, Preciado said.
Hate crimes against American Muslims have soared to their highest level since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, according to a report published earlier this year by researchers at California State University, San Bernardino Mark Davis (Getty/AFP/File)
A search of his home in Agoura Hills, a city northwest of Los Angeles, turned up five rifles, a shotgun, seven pistols and more than 250 pounds (113 kilograms) of ammunition, including modified high-capacity magazines, she added.
"The right to free speech is a hallmark of our society," Commander Horace Frank, of the LAPD's Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau, told a news conference. "But that right is not and cannot be unabated.
"Mr. Feigin broke the law when he threatened the lives of the individuals at the Islamic Center."
Omar Ricci, chairman of the Islamic Center, told AFP that staff became concerned after Feigin, who he said works in real estate, posted a message on the center's Facebook page in September and then followed up with the threatening calls.
"Generally speaking, the threats were against the religion of Islam, the Muslim community," he said. "And it was enough to cause fear in the person that was taking the call."
Feigin, who was released on $75,000 bail, could not be reached for comment and it was unclear if he had an attorney.
He is due to appear in court on November 10 and faces up to four years in prison if found guilty.
Ricci said the center has had to boost security in the wake of the threats and rising anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States.
"There will be armed guards at the center for the foreseeable future," he said.
- 'Toxicity toward Muslims'
Hate crimes against American Muslims have soared to their highest level since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, according to a report published earlier this year by researchers at California State University, San Bernardino.
The surge has been attributed to last year's terror attacks in Paris, Brussels and the California city of San Bernardino, as well as anti-Muslim rhetoric during the US presidential campaign.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and for a national registry of Muslims in the country.
Ricci said he has noticed a spike in anti-Muslim sentiment that has spread fear among the community that numbers about half a million in Southern California.
"In the United States today there is a certain toxicity toward Muslims being generated by a certain presidential candidate," Ricci said, referring to Trump. "And that toxicity is finding comfort with people who have ignorance of Islam and Muslims."
Turkey-Iraq relations remain tense on Mosul
ISTANBUL (AP) Tensions between Turkey and Iraq showed no sign of subsiding on Monday with Turkish leaders saying the country was engaged in the offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State groups while Iraq denied the claim.
Iraq has objected to the presence of some 500 Turkish troops who are training Sunni Arab and Kurdish forces at a base near Mosul, saying they are there without permission from Baghdad. Turkey has refused to withdraw them, and insists it will play a role in the Mosul offensive.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a joint news conference with his visiting French counterpart that Turkey is involved in the Mosul operation, "in a multi-faceted way," including the participation of four Turkish F-16 fighter jets in the U.S.-led coalition.
The minister said Turkish troops in the contentious Bashiqa camp are contributing to the campaign by training Sunni Arab and Kurdish forces as well as firing artillery against Islamic State militants. Seventeen IS militants have been killed by Turkish troops since the beginning of the Mosul offensive, according to Cavusoglu.
Cavusoglu was echoing the remarks of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who told journalists Sunday that Kurdish peshmerga requested Turkish troops' support in Bashiqa and, "we are supporting them with artillery, tanks and howitzers."
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi denied Turkey's claim that its troops were taking part in the operation as "baseless and untrue" and reiterated his opposition to the presence of the 500 Turkish troops in Bashiqa.
"We reject any interference in Iraqi internal affairs and violating its sovereignty," al-Abadi said at a Baghdad press conference Monday.
The Baghdad government has said Turkish troops are on Iraqi soil without permission and has repeatedly requested their withdrawal. Turkey insists that the troops entered last year with an invitation to train anti-IS forces, and that Turkey wants a bigger role in the Mosul operation to protect itself against terror and prevent sectarian clashes in Mosul.
"We hope that neighboring Turkey ... will not threaten Iraq amid these dangerous and sensitive stages as we are looking for good relations with Turkey and all neighboring countries," al-Abadi added.
Iran, a close ally of the Baghdad government, has criticized Turkey for its possible involvement in the Mosul operation and said Turkey must get permission to do so.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani indirectly referred to Turkey and said on state TV, "We consider intervention of foreign countries (in Iraq and Syria) under the pretext of fighting terrorism and without coordination with the host country very dangerous, whether it is armored forces, air forces or ground forces."
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Liz Weston: A president can't fix your finances
Presidential candidates always promise economic improvements that are beyond their power to deliver. Any measures that actually could create more jobs, raise wages or lower tax burdens require the cooperation of Congress or business cycles or both.
Even if a president could lead us to the promised land of rising incomes and wealth, we wouldn't get there overnight. America's middle class has been wandering the economic desert for decades, and it will take years of better fortunes to restore what's been taken away.
"Our economy is so large that both good and bad impacts are not seen until years or even a decade later," said Michael Kitces, director of wealth management at Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Maryland.
FILE - This file photo provided by NerdWallet shows Liz Weston, a columnist for personal finance website NerdWallet.com. (Dylan Entelis/NerdWallet via AP, File)
That doesn't mean you have to wait. It does mean you should do what you can to improve your own personal fortunes rather than wait for some politician to bail you out.
NO SUDDEN MOVES, NO MATTER WHO WINS
"Bottom line, no one person has that much power to control your finances," says Carolyn McClanahan, director of financial planning at Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida. A Democratic sweep could mean higher taxes on the wealthy, she says, but "if you are in the bottom 99 percent, the election is unlikely to affect you very much."
The limited economic power of presidents also means you shouldn't sabotage your finances by making big financial moves if the "wrong" candidate wins, financial planners say.
Jeff Rose, CEO and founder of Alliance Wealth Management in Carbondale, Illinois, says his clients who are worried about the election tend to be pessimistic in general, constantly looking for reasons why the economy and their portfolios could plunge.
"In the short term, even if their 'wrong candidate' is elected, it's doubtful they'll see any significant impact to their investments barring another terrorist attack or overseas conflict," says Rose, author of the book "Soldier of Finance."
Instead, do what you can to set yourself up to prosper when the economy surges and protect yourself if it stalls. Here's what you might do instead of waiting or panicking:
Get a raise. Median incomes finally increased in 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau says, after eight years of falling or stagnating. The jump of 5.2 percent was the biggest since the bureau began keeping records in 1967. If your income hasn't increased, it might be time to ask for a raise or look for a better job. With unemployment at 5 percent, your prospects are likely better than when joblessness peaked at 10 percent in October 2009.
Contribute to a retirement plan. A comfortable retirement requires investing year in and year out, regardless of who's president. If you don't have a workplace plan, you can make deductible contributions to an individual retirement account. Several providers, including Ameritrade, Betterment, ETrade, Fidelity, Merrill Edge and Vanguard, allow you to open IRAs with no minimum investment.
Ditch toxic debt. It's a myth that most Americans carry credit card debt. If you're among the 42.1 percent of U.S. adults who don't always pay off your balance, it's time to start. If you have good credit scores, you can qualify for low-rate balance transfer offers that can help you pay off your debt faster. Another good option could be a personal loan that offers a fixed rate and fixed payments to pay off your debt in three or four years. If you're struggling, consult both a bankruptcy attorney and a nonprofit agency affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling to understand your options.
Build some equity. More than 3 million homes are still underwater, worth less than their mortgage, and home prices are still below their peak in about 60 percent of metro areas, according to research by CoreLogic. Another troubling trend is the number of people entering retirement age who still owe money on their homes: 30 percent in 2013, compared with 22 percent in 2001, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau analysis of Census Bureau data. A paid-off home not only reduces your expenses in retirement, but also serves as an asset you can tap for income if needed. So once you've paid off toxic debt and are on track for retirement, consider making extra principal payments to get your mortgage paid off faster.
Taking positive action can help you deal with uncertainty by focusing on what you can control, rather than what you can't, says consumer expert and radio host Clark Howard.
"You are excusing or minimizing your own role in your financial picture if your focus is mostly on the person elected to office," Howard said.
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This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet .
Liz Weston is a certified financial planner and columnist at NerdWallet. Email: lweston@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @lizweston.
RELATED LINKS:
NerdWallet: How much do you need to retire?
https://nerd.me/7-nerdwallet-investing
National Foundation for Credit Counseling
https://www.nfcc.org/
TIME.com: Reverse mortgages
DIVIDED AMERICA: Yearning for unity, enduring divisiveness
Though they live about 1,730 miles apart, though they've never met, though they are of different races and backgrounds, Lauren Boebert and Dorothy Johnson-Speight speak almost in unison when they lament the fracturing of America.
Americans must "come together, be non-judgmental about people and their opinions," says Johnson-Speight. Americans must "come together as one," says Boebert.
And yet these two women stand squarely at the epicenter of American acrimony territory explored by The Associated Press in "Divided America," a series of stories that surveyed a United States that is far from united.
Dorothy Johnson-Speight visits the grave of her son, Khaaliq Jabbar Johnson, in Philadelphia on Monday, May 9, 2016. Johnson was killed in 2001 - shot seven times over a parking space dispute. "We're losing our loved ones at an alarming rate. I don't think that folks that are fighting and talking about the second amendment understand us. We don't want to take the rights of responsible gun owners away from those people. We just don't want our loved ones to be murdered on the streets of Philadelphia and cities across the country because they have the opportunity to get guns so easily," she says. "People with long criminal history records like the person who killed my son, like people with mental health challenges, they should't have guns." Johnson-Speight is the director of Mothers In Charge, a group that "advocates for families affected by violence and provides counseling and grief support services for families when a loved one has been murdered." (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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EDITOR'S NOTE This is the final installment of Divided America, AP's exploration of the economic, social and political divisions in American society.
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Boebert owns the gun-friendly Shooters Grill in the aptly named town of Rifle, Colorado, and wears a handgun. Johnson-Speight fights for gun control laws after the 2001 murder of her 24-year-old son Khaaliq Jabbar Johnson, shot seven times in a dispute over a Philadelphia parking spot.
Their differences are stark, but their yearning for a more civil and less divided nation is genuine. In that, they mirror other Americans interviewed over the past six months. They are caught up in a campaign that magnified its disagreements, and left them longing for harmony; they live in a country that cannot square its present with its pedigree as "one nation, under God, indivisible."
The fact is, America's differences are real, and cannot be glossed over.
In Missoula, Montana, an effort to welcome dozens of refugees Congolese, Afghans, Syrians was met with demonstrations and angry confrontations. "I didn't do this to be controversial. I didn't do this to stir the pot," says Mary Poole, one of the leaders of the refugee project but she did. Two patriotic visions came into conflict: the America that welcomes the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, and the America still shaken by terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and in the years since, insisting on homeland security above all.
On New York's Staten Island, police and the policed struggle to coexist. On an island that is home to 3,000 police officers, a black man suspected of selling loose cigarettes died in an encounter with police in 2014. The black community knows the police do an important job, but it is deeply distrustful after the death of Eric Garner and other violent encounters with authority. Police, meanwhile, feel unappreciated, their character impugned. "I think the divide is worse than it should be and more than people think it is," says retired detective Joe Brandefine.
At the Christian Fellowship Church in Benton, Kentucky, pastor Richie Clendenen tells his congregation, "There's nobody more hated in this nation than Christians." Evangelical Christians' numbers are in decline, their political clout diminished. On signal issues particularly same-sex marriage they have lost, at least for the moment. They are angry and frustrated and unwilling to surrender. "We are moving more and more in conflict with the culture and with other agendas," says David Parish, a former pastor at Christian Fellowship.
There's so much more: Americans split on climate change, between those who say it is an existential threat and those who deny it is happening or at least that man has anything to do with it. Even as they contemplate electing the first woman president, even as women take on combat roles, Americans are struggling with a misogynistic backlash, online and in real life. Then there's the gun debate, which Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA says is "more polarized and sour than any time before in American history."
There is common ground. At the Annin Flagmakers factory in South Boston, Virginia, seamstress Emily Bouldin says Americans "may be divided on some things, but when it comes down to the most important things we come together." Nearly all Americans, according to surveys, believe in small business, the public schools, helping the less fortunate and caring for veterans.
Some differences, though, are profound and lasting, having less to do with what people think and more to do with where they fall on which side of the line between prosperity and ill-fortune.
In Logan, West Virginia, in central Appalachia, the decline of the coal industry has brought a population drain, rampant drug abuse, heightened poverty (cremations are up because folks can't afford caskets) and deep resentment that fed support for Republican Donald Trump: "I don't know what's in his head, what his vision is for us," said Ashley Kominar, a mother of three whose husband lost his job in the mines. "But I know he has one and that's what counts."
The recovery from the Great Recession has left behind a lot of rural America. The Washington-based Economic Innovation Group found that half of the new business growth over the past four years was concentrated in just 20 populous counties, and three quarters of the nation's economically distressed ZIP codes are in rural areas.
The recovery meant little to workers in Hannibal, Ohio, where Chinese competition resulted in the loss of the largest employer, the Ormet aluminum plant.
And it meant little to students in Waukegan, Illinois; poor school districts had no way to make up funding losses when federal stimulus money dried up. So while the nearby Stevenson district spends close to $18,800 per student, Waukegan spends about $12,600. Its students must cope with a high school that is often badly maintained, where as many as 28 students share a single computer.
That Stevenson is mostly white and Waukegan is mostly minority should come as little surprise. The racial divide endures, at least in some part because minorities continue to be significantly underrepresented in Congress and nearly every state legislature, an AP analysis found. Thanks to gerrymandering and voting patterns, non-Hispanic whites make up a little over 60 percent of the U.S. population, but still hold more than 80 percent of all congressional and state legislative seats.
An example: African-Americans represent more than a fifth of Delaware residents, but for the past 22 years Margaret Rose Henry has been the state's only black senator.
"If there were more black elected officials, we would have a better chance to get something done," Henry says.
Much of this is not new. As much as Americans like to recall the past as a rosy Norman Rockwell illustration, they have been at odds from the start thousands of British loyalists battled their revolutionary neighbors in the colonies, North and South went to war over race, labor and management fought for decades, often violently, and the Vietnam era was awash with vitriol.
If today's divisiveness is different, some say, perhaps it is because of a lack of leadership.
"Yes, America is great. It could be a lot better if the politicians weren't fighting each other all the time," says Rodney Kimball, a stove dealer in West Bethel, Maine.
Elvin Lai, a San Diego hotelier, says the voters themselves must accept much of the blame.
"I do believe that our political system is broken," he says. "I do believe that a person that is centered and is really there to bring the country together won't get the votes because they're not able to speak to the passionate voters who want to see change."
It's those passionate voters, after all, who cocoon themselves with the likeminded, watching Fox News if they lean right or reading Talking Points Memo if they're on the left. In their ideological segregation, their minds are not open to compromise.
Take gun control. For all the nastiness surrounding the issue, a Pew Research Center poll in August showed 85 percent of American supported background checks for purchases at gun shows and in private sales, 79 percent support laws to prevent the mentally ill from buying guns, 70 percent approve of a federal database to track gun sales.
Dorothy Johnson-Speight, who founded the anti-violence, anti-gun group Mothers in Charge after her son's death, says these are steps well worth taking. "We don't want to take the rights of responsible gun owners away," she says.
Her aim is peace both in the streets and in the public sphere.
"We've got to find a way to be more accepting of one another, more tolerant of each other," she says. "We have more things in common than we do that are different and we need to find those commonalities in order to live in peace."
Lauren Boebert calls most gun measures "crazy," but she is not skeptical about the ability of the American people to rise above division, on this and other issues.
"Right now, we're using our rights to tear each other apart," she says, passionately. "Freedom of speech, it's just being used to say whatever mean, harmful, violent thing you can. ... That's not what it's for. You also have the freedom to lift them up and to hold them up and edify them. Let's come together, let's unify as Americans, all of us."
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EDITOR'S NOTE An e-book, "Divided America," featuring stories in this series from around the country, select photographs, and more, is available now exclusively at Amazon.com http://amzn.to/2enMViJ
Gun-rights advocate, restaurant owner and mother of four sons, Lauren Boebert, wears her usual gun on her hip as she brushes the hair of Roman, 3, as the family gets ready to leave home for church in Rifle, Colo., on May 1, 2016. "When we first opened Shooters Grill, we were one month in, and I was there alone a lot, and there was actually a man who was beat to death in the alley. He lost his life that night, and it kinda shook me up. I was there alone a lot and I thought, 'what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do if something happens, what if somebody comes in here, my husband isn't here to protect me, I'm all alone,' and really, that's what got me to open-carry." (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Samir Bitar, Arabic studies professor at the University of Montana, speaks during an interview on the campus in Missoula, Mont., on April 13, 2016. Bitar moved to Montana as a 16-year-old to attend college in Missoula and has been here for 42 years. But he says because of current anti-Muslim sentiments in the U.S., he feels threatened in a way he never has before. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Jim Buterbaugh, a vocal opponent of refugees coming to his state, stands on ranch land belonging to a friend near Clearwater, Mont., on April 12, 2016. "It doesn't make any difference if they're Muslims, Russians, whatever. You have to know who they are, what they've been doing in the past," says Buterbaugh, a construction worker who organized three opposition rallies, including one at the state capitol. "Are you going to go downtown and take five people off the streets and move them into your house without knowing who they are? Nobody in their right mind would do that." (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Police officer Jessi D'Ambrosio, right, of the 120th precinct in the Staten Island borough of New York, speaks to a resident while on patrol at the Richmond Terrace Houses, Thursday, July 7, 2016. D'Ambrosio, 32, and his partner, Mary Gillespie, 28, are the new "neighborhood coordinating officers" for the six-building project where Eric Garner once lived. Jersey Street, with a reputation for crime, runs the length of a complex, most of whose residents are black. "We want them to feel comfortable with us and that's what we're building on," Gillespie says. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Richie Clendenen, lead pastor at Christian Fellowship Church, left, and his wife Jenny, say evening prayers with their son, Trey, 11, as he goes to bed at their home in Benton, Ky., Sunday April 10, 2016. "I worry about the country he's going to inherit. I feel our rights are slowly being taken away from us," said Richie Clendenen. "I pray if Christianity could lose all rights in his future, I question what that's going to mean for him?" Even in this deeply religious swath of western Kentucky - a state where about half the residents are evangelical - conservative Christians feel under siege. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
In the evening twilight, Diane Cowan, a marine biologist who has been studying lobster behavior and ecology for 30 years, ties up her skiff on the shoreline of Friendship Long Island, Maine, on May 10, 2016. Her life on the island is often dictated by the changing tides - and now, she says, by climate change. Her research has produced data on post-larval and juvenile lobsters that is crucial to understanding the future abundance of lobsters in the state. "I am definitely bearing witness to climate change For the first 18 years I could predict at least the seasons I had a strong seasonal cycle And then all of a sudden that was gone because a rapid rise in sea level that change things overnight. And that was like a jolt to me. I should've known. I mean, I read about climate change, I knew the sea level was rising. But until I saw it, until it impacted me directly, I didn't feel it the same way, I didn't understand what it would do," said Cowan. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A bull leaps over an electronic fence as he is driven back into the pasture after escaping onto a road in Turner, Maine, on Sunday, May 29, 2016. Ralph Caldwell, 73, right, sold off his dairy business because of the high price of corn needed to feed his dairy cows. He blames the government for subsidizing ethanol and says corn that could be used to feed people is being used for fuel. "We think we are so rich and arrogant that we can burn the world's food supply in our automobiles." Caldwell has lived at the same farm his entire life. "I do believe in climate change but it isn't our fault. The climate changes all the time. The world isn't coming to an end over climate change." (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Employees Lottie Penick, left, and Melissa Hodnett iron stars onto a United States flag at Annin Flagmakers in South Boston, Va., on Wednesday, July 6, 2016. Ask the workers at the factory to name life's most important things and family, work and faith are repeated. Presented the chance to live in a foreign land, the idea is uniformly rejected, with each saying America can't be beat. And nudged to sum up what this country's people share, they invoke their handiwork and what it stands for _ freedom, opportunity and pride. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Pinatas depicting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are displayed for sale at El Rey De La Pinata shop in Las Vegas on Friday, June 10, 2016. "A lot of times you hear this rap about how politics doesn't affect their life," says Yvanna Cancela, political director of Las Vegas' predominantly immigrant Culinary Union. "But that changes when it's personal, and there's nothing more personal than Donald Trump talking about deporting 11 million immigrants." (AP Photo/John Locher)
Billy Prater, 27, adjusts a Donald Trump sign on his fence in Beech Creek, W.Va., in Mingo County on April 28, 2016. Laid off from the mines, he had been out of work for more than a year. Now he works for the railroad, but the major customer is the collapsing coal industry so his work is unsteady. He was a registered Democrat from a family of diehard Democrats. But when he hung the Trump sign, his neighbors started calling and sending him messages, asking where he got it and how to get their own. "Everybody on this creek wants one," he said. "He's honest. He says thing that he probably shouldn't say. We respect that, because it means he's not buttering us up." (AP Photo/Claire Galofaro)
A large compenent from an air compressor lies on the ground at the site of the former Ormet plant in Hannibal, Ohio, on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016. For decades, many workers in the area found work at the aluminum plant - union jobs, with good pay and generous benefits. But due to stiff price competition from China, the plant closed in 2014. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Students play basketball outside Little Fort Elementary school in Waukegan, Ill., on Tuesday, June 7, 2016. In the years following the 2008 financial crisis, school districts serving poor communities generally have been hit harder than more affluent districts, according to an Associated Press analysis of local, state and federal education spending. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)
Students gather between classes in a lounge area overlooking an Olympic-size pool at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., on May 24, 2016. A study for the non-profit and non-partisan National Bureau of Economic Research tracked students enrolled in districts where there was a prolonged increase in school funding. Students educated in flush times finished more years of school, were less likely to live in poverty as adults, and made about 7.25 percent more in wages. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Weeds grow around an old building and picket fence in Rocky Ford, Colo., on July 1, 2016. Otero County is a rural and increasingly impoverished part of southern Colorado. Two different economic worlds are writ large in this state. It is among those with the greatest economic gap between urban and rural areas, according to an Associated Press review of Economic Innovation Group data. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Patrons sit in a coffee shop in the trendy RINO neighborhood of Denver on June 29, 2016. The city is one of the fastest-growing in the nation, with a 3.3 percent unemployment rate and a housing market that has risen 45 percent since 2012. Once dependent on the energy industry for jobs, the city has diversified its economy enough that the recent downturn in fuel prices has barely hampered a booming economy powered by technology and health care jobs. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Car sideswipes school bus that tips over, slightly hurting 3
SHELDON, Calif. (AP) Authorities say a car sideswiped a small school bus in Northern California and then hit another vehicle, giving three people aboard the bus minor injuries.
The Sacramento Bee newspaper reports (http://bit.ly/2eoilId ) that the bus tipped on its side after the crash about 7 a.m. Monday near Sheldon, about 20 miles southeast of Sacramento.
California Highway Patrol Officer Michael Bradley says the driver of a car involved in the collision was taken to the hospital in critical condition after the vehicle sideswiped the bus, then hit another vehicle and a tree.
California Highway Patrol Officer Trevor Shields photographs the school bus involved in a three-vehicle accident near Elk Grove, Calif., Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The bus, from the Elk Grove Unified School district, carrying special needs students, swerved to miss a car that was coming head on after crossing a double-yellow line. The car side-swiped the bus sending it into a field were it landed on it's side. The car also forced another vehicle off the road before crashing into a tree. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Officials say an Elk Grove High School student, the school bus driver and another adult had cuts and abrasions. Three middle school students had no visible injuries, but two were taken to a hospital as a precaution.
A firefighter escorts one of the students that was a passenger of an overturned school bus involved in a three-vehicle accident from the scene near Elk Grove, Calif., Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The bus, from the Elk Grove Unified School district, was carrying special needs students, swerved to miss a car that was coming head on after crossing a double-yellow line. The car side-swiped the bus sending it into a field were it landed on it's side. The car also forced another vehicle off the road before crashing into a tree. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
A firefighter escorts one of the students that was a passenger of an overturned school bus involved in a three-vehicle accident from the scene near Elk Grove, Calif., Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The bus, from the Elk Grove Unified School district, was carrying special needs students, swerved to miss a car that was coming head on after crossing a double-yellow line. The car side-swiped the bus sending it into a field were it landed on it's side. The car also forced another vehicle off the road before crashing into a tree. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
The car believed to be the cause of a three vehicle accident, including a school bus, sits in a ditch near Elk Grove, Calif., Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The bus, from the Elk Grove Unified School district, carrying special needs students, swerved to miss the car that was coming head on after crossing a double-yellow line. The car side-swiped the bus sending it into a field were it landed on it's side. The car also forced another vehicle off the road before crashing into a tree. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Obama reads mean tweets as part of Jimmy Kimmel show
LOS ANGELES (AP) President Barack Obama entertained Jimmy Kimmel's audience with some of the mean tweets sent his way, beginning with one sent by Donald Trump in August when he said "President Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States."
Obama's reply: "Really? Well, @realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a president."
The president appeared on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" during the middle of his three-day visit to Nevada and California, where he is campaigning and raising money for presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates. The segment contained a mix of humor and serious talk about the current election.
President Barack Obama talks with Jimmy Kimmel in between taping segments of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Kimmel routinely has celebrities read some of the mean tweets sent their way. Another person asked: "Barack Obama, bro do you even lift?"
"Well, I lifted the ban on Cuban cigars. That's worth something," Obama replied.
Obama, a big sports fan, was asked if he was happy that the Chicago Cubs were going to the World Series. Obama appeared to have some trouble getting "yes" out.
"To see just how happy everybody was, I actually felt pretty good. I am rooting for hometown team even though it is not my team."
Comedian Bill Murray is a big Cubs fan, and Obama told of his recent visit to the White House. He said they had a putting contest in the Oval Office and Murray won $5 from him.
"He won repeatedly," Obama said. "The glass was rigged."
Despite the high pressures of the presidency, Obama admitted it's rare for aides to wake him up in the middle of the night. The most serious problems are usually anticipated. He used the question to take another dig at Trump, saying "What I don't do at 3 a.m., I don't tweet about people who insulted me."
Kimmel then asked Obama if he ever laughed during the debates when watching the GOP nominee. "Most of the time," Obama said.
Kimmel also asked why people don't trust Clinton. Obama chalked it up to being in the trenches for 30 years. He said when people are in the public eye that long, people try to find weak spots and "a whole narrative begins to build." He described Clinton's brand of politics as "pragmatic."
Kimmel said he knew Obama had to leave, but he asked if the first lady could stay for another four years. Obama said his wife was never wild about politics. "All the women in my life are looking forward to being able to lead a more normal life."
President Barack Obama talks with Jimmy Kimmel in between taping segments of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
This photo provided by ABC shows guest, President Barack Obama, left, and host Jimmy Kimmel during the taping of the television show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The show airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST. (Randy Holmes/ABC via AP)
This photo provided by ABC shows guest, President Barack Obama, right, and host Jimmy Kimmel during the taping of the television show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The show airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST. (Randy Holmes/ABC via AP)
This photo provided by ABC shows guest, President Barack Obama, left, and host Jimmy Kimmel during the taping of the television show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The show airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST. (Randy Holmes/ABC via AP)
This photo provided by ABC shows guest, President Barack Obama, left, and host Jimmy Kimmel during the taping of the television show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The show airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST. (Randy Holmes/ABC via AP)
President Barack Obama talks with Jimmy Kimmel in between taping segments of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Barack Obama talks with Jimmy Kimmel in between taping segments of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Reports of 6 dead as Mexican vigilante groups clash
ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) The head of one of the largest vigilante groups in Mexico's southern state of Guerrero says six vigilantes were killed in a clash with a rival group.
The vigilante-style community police groups took up arms in 2013 and 2014 to fight drug cartels. The smaller group known as The FUSDEG later split from the larger group, known as the UPOEG.
The head of the UPOEG said Monday his men were ambushed by vigilantes from the other group in the town of Tierra Colorada, north of Acapulco. Bruno Placido said at least a half-dozen community police activists were killed, and more injured.
Both groups accuse the other of being allied with drug gangs that have imposed violence and extortion in the area.
Police say 2 were lucky to survive accident at Aussie park
SYDNEY (AP) Two young children are fortunate to be alive, police said Wednesday, after they were thrown clear and survived an accident that killed four people on a river rapids ride at a popular theme park in Australia.
Two men and two women died in the accident on Tuesday at Dreamworld, a park on Queensland state's Gold Coast, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd said.
The Thunder River Rapids ride whisks people in circular rafts along a fast-moving, artificial river, with a conveyor belt helping move the rafts through the water. Closed-circuit television footage showed the ride was coming to its conclusion when two rafts collided, Codd said.
Queensland Emergency Services personnel are seen at the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Four people died after a malfunction caused two people to be ejected from their raft, while two others were caught inside the ride at the popular theme park. (Dan Peled/AAP via AP)
"One has flipped backward and it has caught and tossed some of the people that were on the ride backward into the conveyor belt," Codd told reporters.
The two children, a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, who shared the raft with the victims were thrown clear and managed to escape, he said.
"In terms of how they escaped, maybe through the providence of God or somebody, but it seems from what I've seen almost a miracle that anybody came out of that," Codd said. "If we're going to be thankful for anything, I'm thankful for that."
Codd would not explain the girls' relationship with the victims. They had been traumatized and were being cared for by family, he said.
Kim Dorsett, of Canberra, confirmed that two of the victims were her children: Kate Goodchild, 32, and Luke Dorsett, 35.
"I have three children and have lost two of them today my whole family has been wiped out," she told The Courier-Mail newspaper on Tuesday.
Kim Dorsett was on a family vacation with her children and Goodchild's daughters from Canberra.
Police have declined to identify the other two victims, a 38-year-old man and a 42 year-old woman.
Media reports say the man was from Canberra and the woman was a New Zealand citizen who lived in Sydney.
Codd said police would investigate reports of problems with the ride earlier on Tuesday, as well as maintenance records and procedures.
Dreamworld would remain closed as a crime scene for two or three days. Charges could follow including criminal negligence, he said.
Dreamworld CEO Craig Davidson said the park was working with police to try and determine what went wrong.
"We are deeply shocked and saddened by this, and our hearts and our thoughts go out to the families involved and to their loved ones," Davidson told reporters.
Thunder River is considered one of Dreamworld's tamer, family-friendly rides, and is open to children as young as 2. The park has been open since 1981.
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Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk, in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report
In this image made from video, rescue personnel stand by the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Four people died after a malfunction caused two people to be ejected from their raft, while two others were caught inside the ride at the popular theme park on Australia's east coast. (Channel 9 via AP)
In this image made from video, rescue vehicles are parked outside Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Four people were killed while on a river rapids ride at the popular theme park on Australia's east coast. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)
In this image made from video, tourists walk outside Dreamworld in the Gold Coast, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Four people were killed on Tuesday in an accident while on a river rapids ride at the popular theme park on Australia's east coast, officials said. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)
Blast in Turkish Mediterranean resort causes slight injuries
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) An explosion inside a car left in the parking lot of the local chamber of trade in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya on Tuesday slightly injured about a dozen people, an official said.
Mayor Menderes Turel said the cause of the explosion at the Antalya Trade and Industry Chamber was not immediately known. He added it may not have been the result of a terror attack.
About 10 or 12 people were hurt by flying glass but none of the injuries was serious, he told private NTV television. The blast damaged at least four cars in the parking area and shattered glass panels inside the building located some on the outskirts of Antalya.
Officials investigate the site after an explosion in Turkey's Mediterranean resort of Antalya, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. The explosion inside a car left in the parking lot of the local chamber of trade on Tuesday slightly injured about a dozen people, an official said. (IHA via AP)
Turkey has been rocked by a wave of deadly bomb attacks in the past 18 months blamed on Kurdish rebels or Islamic State group militants.
But Turel and the chief of the trade chamber said the blast may be the result of an accident an explosion inside a car running on liquefied petroleum gas and not necessarily an act of terror.
As with previous explosions, authorities on Tuesday imposed a temporary media blackout on the coverage of the incident, citing safety and public order concerns and the integrity of the investigation.
Antalya is a major tourism destination for Turkey, which has seen a sharp drop in visitors following the spate of violent attacks. Earlier this month three rockets believed to have been fired by Kurdish militants hit a fishing company depot near Antalya. No one was hurt in the attack.
On Tuesday, several ambulances were dispatched to the scene and police sealed the trade center's perimeters in case of a second explosion.
The blast occurred as employees were arriving at the building for work and hours before the trade chamber was to hold a meeting to be attended by the mayor.
Officials investigate the site after an explosion in Turkey's Mediterranean resort of Antalya, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. The explosion inside a car left in the parking lot of the local chamber of trade on Tuesday slightly injured about a dozen people, an official said. (DHA via AP)
Threatened in Mosul, Islamic State uses alternative tactics
BAGHDAD (AP) Dozens of Islamic State fighters struck at dawn, storming government and security compounds in and around the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk last week, in a coordinated assault more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the front lines of the Mosul offensive.
Over the last two years, the extremists have adopted innovative tactics and launched diversionary attacks along the amoeba-like frontiers of their self-styled caliphate, and many now fear they have more surprises in store as Iraqi forces close in on Mosul, the militants' last urban bastion in the country.
The Kirkuk assault was carried out by more than 50 militants who may have been part of so-called sleeper cells. They struck targets in and around the city, pinning down Kurdish security forces for two days and killing at least 80 people. A similar attack was launched on the western town of Rutba, hundreds of miles from Mosul, over the weekend.
FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016 file photo, youths ride bicycles next to a burning oil well in Qayara, about 31 miles (50 km) south of Mosul, Iraq. The Islamic State group has pioneered brutally innovative tactics and launched diversionary attacks that have shocked its opponents, and now many fear it has more surprises in store as Iraqi forces close in on Mosul. Last weeks assault on the northern city of Kirkuk offers a glimpse at the kind of asymmetrical response it might mount as Iraqi forces close in on Mosul, its last major urban bastion in the country. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic, File)
Here is a look at some of the other tactics the group may employ.
ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS
As it has suffered a string of battlefield setbacks over the past year, IS has increasingly returned to its roots as a brutal insurgent group, carrying out suicide bombings against civilians, mainly in and around Baghdad.
The group has sought to reassure its supporters that its long twilight struggle will continue, regardless of whether it loses territory. Vastly outnumbered in Mosul, it may respond with attacks on so-called "soft targets" in Iraq or further afield, perhaps seeking to replicate the devastation of the 2015 Paris attacks.
But Iraq is at the greatest risk.
"What happened in Kirkuk might be an introduction to a series of operations, and we cannot rule out the targeting of Baghdad," said Ahmed al-Sharifi, a Baghdad-based military analyst. "There are sleeper cells all over Iraq, particularly in Baghdad."
DIVIDE AND CONQUER
The choice of Kirkuk likely reflected a strategic calculation on the part of IS to sow tensions within the unlikely alliance arrayed against it. The city has long been at the center of a territorial dispute between the central government and the autonomous Kurdish region, where the Mosul operation has seen federal forces deployed for the first time in 25 years.
The Baghdad government and the Kurds are united against IS, but the Kurds have little interest in Mosul, a potentially ungovernable city with a Sunni Arab majority. The Kurds have long prized Kirkuk, however, and could divert their forces, known as the peshmerga, from Mosul to other fronts in order to defend territory they value more.
CHEMICALS AND DRONES
Closer to the front lines, IS may deploy new and unconventional weapons. IS used a homemade drone carrying C-4 explosives to attack French and Kurdish forces in northern Iraq earlier this month, killing two Kurds.
IS is believed to have used crude chemical weapons in both Syria and Iraq, and Iraqi forces have said they are going into battle with protective gear. Last month, an IS rocket initially believed to contain sulfur-mustard , a chemical agent that causes skin blistering, struck a military base used by hundreds of U.S. troops near Mosul. However, tests carried out by the U.S. military later came back negative, and U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said follow-up tests were done and the ultimate conclusion was that it was not sulfur mustard.
No one was wounded in the attack, but Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the time said the military had assessed it to be a chemical agent.
SUICIDE ARTILLERY
Suicide car bombs have featured in Middle East conflicts for decades, but IS might be the first insurgent group to deploy them against conventional forces on the battlefield as a kind of "smart" artillery. The group has already sent more than a dozen armored vehicles loaded with explosives careening toward front-line troops since the Mosul operation began.
Iraqi forces, with the aid of U.S.-led coalition aircraft, have gotten better at blowing them up before they reach their targets, but the weapons still pose a huge risk.
SCORCHED EARTH TACTICS
IS deployed another kind of chemical weapon last week when it torched a sulfur plant south of Kirkuk, sending a cloud of toxic smoke across the Ninevah plain that caused breathing difficulties and nosebleeds up to 30 kilometers (18 miles) away. The fumes mixed with the smoke from oil wells in the region that IS has set alight in recent weeks to try to create a smoke screen.
Many fear that as Iraqi forces converge on Mosul, the extremists could destroy factories, oil installations and other critical infrastructure in a scorched earth campaign. They may also seek to use civilians as human shields. Mosul is still home to more than one million people.
"UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS"
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously warned of "unknown unknowns ," things we don't know that we don't know, which somehow captures the challenge posed by evolving militant groups.
The IS capture of Mosul in 2014 and the fleeing of thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police who were supposed to defend the city in the face of their advance came as a shock to many people who had never imagined an extremist group could seize a major city. That they have persevered since then, holding onto large swaths of territory despite more than two years of U.S.-led airstrikes and a vast array of forces battling them, also testifies to their dark ingenuity.
"Every time we think we've countered terrorist tactics something new always happens," said David M. Witty, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel and former adviser to Iraqi special operations forces. "There's no end to it."
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Iranian-American held in Iran gets 18-year sentence
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) An Iranian-American held in Tehran has reportedly been sentenced to 18 years in prison for "collaboration with a hostile government," another dual national convicted in a secret trial since Iran's nuclear deal with world powers.
The sentence handed down to Robin Shahini, a 46-year-old graduate student who lives in San Diego, is the harshest yet for those detained in what analysts believe is hard-liner plan to use them as bargaining chips in future negotiations.
Shahini told Vice News in an interview aired late Monday that he "just laughed" after hearing his sentence. He acknowledged supporting the protests that followed Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election, but denied being involved in any sort of spying.
"Whatever information they had is all the pictures I posted in Facebook, in my web blog, and they use all those (as) evidence to accuse me," Shahini said in a telephone call from prison.
Iranian judiciary officials did not respond to request for comment from The Associated Press on Tuesday, nor did Iran's mission to the United Nations.
In a statement, the U.S. State Department said it was troubled by reports of Shahini's sentence.
"We reaffirm our calls on Iran to respect and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, cease arbitrary and politically motivated detentions and ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings," it said.
Shahini, who traveled to Iran to see his mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, was detained on July 11. He left Iran in 1998 and has lived in San Diego for 16 years. He graduated in May from San Diego State University with a degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution and had been accepted to SDSU's graduate program in Homeland Security.
Shahini's girlfriend, who also lives in San Diego, said she spoke to him after he received word of his sentence.
"We both just cried," she told The Associated Press. "We didn't know how to react. It was just a joke or nightmare, I didn't know what to call it."
The girlfriend asked not to be identified because she has family in Iran and fears for their safety. She said she has been able to communicate with Shahini regularly and he has told her that his detention has been mentally tough. His cell has no natural light and he has no idea what time of day it is.
Iran does not recognize dual nationalities, meaning that those it detains cannot receive consular assistance. In most cases, dual nationals have faced secret charges in closed-door hearings before Iran's Revolutionary Court, which handles cases involving alleged attempts to overthrow the government.
Analysts and family members of those detained in Iran have suggested that hard-liners in the Islamic Republic's security agencies want to negotiate another deal with the West to free the detainees.
A prisoner exchange in January that freed Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans also saw the U.S. make a $400 million cash delivery to Iran the same day. The payment of that cash, part of a $1.7 billion settlement of a decades-old arbitration claim between the United States and Iran, has drawn criticism from Republicans including presidential candidate Donald Trump, who describe it as a ransom payment.
In September, Iran freed retired Canadian-Iranian university professor Homa Hoodfar amid negotiations to reopen embassies in the two nations.
Last week, Iran's judiciary announced it handed down 10-year prison sentences to Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi and his 80-year-old father, Baquer Namazi . Iran earlier sentenced Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe , a British-Iranian woman traveling with her young daughter, to five years in prison on allegations of planning the "soft toppling" of Iran's government.
Still missing is former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorized CIA mission.
For Shahini, he said he wasn't sure whether he'd file an appeal, but said he also had another option to protest his sentence.
"I do a hunger strike until either they free me or I die," he said.
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Julie Watson in San Diego contributed to this report.
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On Trump, Sen. McConnell has gone from quiet to mum
WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has never had much to say about Donald Trump. But lately, he has fallen completely silent.
As he's made the rounds in his home state of Kentucky this month, McConnell has either ducked reporters' questions or explicitly refused to address the topic he acknowledged was on everyone's mind: his party's presidential nominee.
At a local Chamber of Commerce event in Danville, McConnell twice instructed the crowd not to ask him about the presidential race "even though that's what I know you all wanted me to talk about."
FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2016, file photo, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, addresses the crowd gathered at the Fancy Farm Picnic in Fancy Farm Ky. McConnell has never had much to say about Donald Trump. But lately, he has fallen completely silent. On the few occasions when the Republican leader has appeared publicly in his home state of Kentucky this month, hes either avoided answering reporters questions, or explicitly refused to address the topic he acknowledged was on everyones mind: His partys presidential nominee. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
At an event in Pikeville, McConnell refused to answer a reporter's question about Trump not paying any taxes.
And on Tuesday, McConnell urged high school students in Brandenburg, Kentucky, to "put the personalities out of your mind" and instead decide whether they want "the status quo versus change" as they prepare to vote for the first time.
But McConnell never mentioned Trump, and he declined to discuss the GOP nominee with a reporter after the event. Asked if he agreed with Trump that the election is "rigged," McConnell laughed and walked away.
McConnell's silence is especially notable in light of Trump's recent complaints about the election system and hints he might not ultimately accept the results. Despite a lifetime in public service, McConnell has offered no reaction, passing up the opportunity to defend the nation's democratic institutions.
Allies argue that for the 74-year-old McConnell, there is little upside in saying anything more about Trump at this point. Any stance he might adopt could cause complications for vulnerable GOP senators and candidates, who could face questions about whether they agree with whatever McConnell had to say.
Democrats and newspaper editorials have criticized McConnell's silence. But for McConnell those GOP incumbents are by far his top priority, as he faces the prospect of losing his slim 54-46 Republican majority in the Senate only two years after finally ascending to his dream job as majority leader.
If McConnell talked a lot about Trump "he would make life very difficult for everybody who's trying to run their own race," said Josh Holmes, McConnell's former chief of staff.
Another former top McConnell aide, Steven Law, who now runs a super-PAC dedicated to electing Senate Republicans, said, "I think Sen. McConnell's neutrality gives his caucus maximum flexibility to adopt whatever position on Trump best reflects their own states and their own political situations."
McConnell endorsed Trump immediately after the billionaire clinched the GOP nomination in May, indulging none of the wavering or public soul-searching of his GOP House counterpart, Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Ryan withheld his endorsement for a month before finally granting it, an approach that some Republicans groused accomplished little beyond spawning headlines about GOP infighting.
Over the subsequent months McConnell offered occasional public criticisms of Trump, suggesting at various points that the presidential nominee should stick to the issues and stay on-script, and condemning some of his remarks.
In June, McConnell denounced Trump's attacks on an American-born judge of Mexican heritage. The next month, he defended a young Muslim-American man who was killed fighting for the country in Iraq, after Trump criticized the soldier's parents over their appearance at the Democratic National Convention.
After the release of an "Access Hollywood" tape on Oct. 7 with audio of Trump boasting he could get away with doing anything to women because he's a celebrity, McConnell issued a stinging denunciation calling Trump's comments "repugnant and unacceptable in any circumstance" and calling for Trump to "apologize directly to women and girls everywhere."
No such apology was forthcoming, and since then McConnell has had nothing more to say about Trump.
A few GOP Senate candidates withdrew their endorsements of Trump over the tape, while others stuck with him and still others wavered back and forth. Ryan announced after the tape became public that he would no longer defend Trump or campaign for him, which angered some conservatives in his House GOP conference and led to talk that he might face a challenge to his speakership.
But McConnell still apparently backs Trump, he just doesn't want to ever talk about him. Asked Monday whether McConnell still supported Trump and intended to vote for him, spokesman Don Stewart said only, "If he puts out a new statement or a new position, I promise you'll get it."
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Fire at Malaysian government hospital kills 6 patients
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) A fire at a Malaysian government hospital killed six patients and injured another patient and 10 hospital staff early Tuesday, officials said.
Some 500 people were evacuated from the hospital in southern Johor state after the fire raged through two floors of a building that houses the intensive care unit. Temporary tents were being used as treatment areas for patients after the evacuation.
Health Minister S. Subramaniam said six patients were trapped and died. Another patient was rescued but suffered severe burns while 10 hospital workers were injured, he said in a statement.
Johor police official Sulaiman Salleh said the bodies of four women and two men have been recovered from the hospital.
He told local media that the victims were believed to have suffocated in the thick smoke. Sulaiman said an initial investigation showed that faulty wiring may have caused the fire.
Obama health plan hit by double-digit premium hikes
WASHINGTON (AP) Premiums will go up sharply next year under President Barack Obama's health care law, and many consumers will be down to just one insurer, the administration confirmed Monday. That's sure to stoke another "Obamacare" controversy days before a presidential election.
Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less.
Moreover, about 1 in 5 consumers will have plans only from a single insurer to pick from, after major national carriers such as UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Aetna scaled back their roles.
The HealthCare.gov 2017 web site home page as seen in Washington, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The Obama administration is confirming that premiums will go up sharply next year for health insurance sold to millions of consumers through HealthCare.gov. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
"Consumers will be faced this year with not only big premium increases but also with a declining number of insurers participating, and that will lead to a tumultuous open enrollment period," said Larry Levitt, who tracks the health care law for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
Republicans pounced on the numbers as a warning that insurance markets created by the 2010 health overhaul are teetering toward a "death spiral." Sign-up season starts Nov. 1, about a week before national elections in which the GOP remains committed to a full repeal.
"It's over for Obamacare," Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said at a campaign rally Monday evening in Tampa, Florida.
Trump said his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, "wants to double down and make it more expensive and it's not gonna work. ... Our country can't afford it, you can't afford it." He promised his own plan would deliver "great health care at a fraction of the cost."
The new numbers aren't too surprising, said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who chairs a committee that oversees the law. It "does little to dispel the notion we are seeing the law implode at the expense of middle-class families."
HHS essentially confirmed state-by-state reports that have been coming in for months. Window shopping for plans and premiums is already available through HealthCare.gov.
Administration officials are stressing that subsidies provided under the law, which are designed to rise alongside premiums, will insulate most customers from sticker shock. They add that consumers who are willing to switch to cheaper plans will still be able to find bargains.
"Headline rates are generally rising faster than in previous years," acknowledged HHS spokesman Kevin Griffis. But he added that for most consumers, "headline rates are not what they pay."
The vast majority of the more than 10 million customers who purchase through HealthCare.gov and its state-run counterparts do receive generous financial assistance. "Enrollment is concentrated among very low-income individuals who receive significant government subsidies to reduce premiums and cost-sharing," said Caroline Pearson of the consulting firm Avalere Health
But an estimated 5 million to 7 million people are either not eligible for the income-based assistance, or they buy individual policies outside of the health law's markets, where the subsidies are not available. The administration is urging the latter group to check out HealthCare.gov. The spike in premiums generally does not affect the employer-provided plans that cover most workers and their families.
In some states, the premium increases are striking. In Arizona, unsubsidized premiums for a hypothetical 27-year-old buying a benchmark "second-lowest cost silver plan" will jump by 116 percent, from $196 to $422, according to the administration report.
But HHS said if that hypothetical consumer has a fairly modest income, making $25,000 a year, the subsidies would cover $280 of the new premium, and the consumer would pay $142. Caveat: if the consumer is making $30,000 or $40,000, his or her subsidy would be significantly lower.
Dwindling choice is another issue.
The total number of HealthCare.gov insurers will drop from 232 this year to 167 in 2017, a loss of 28 percent. (Insurers are counted multiple times if they offer coverage in more than one state. So Aetna, for example, would count once in each state that it participated in.)
Switching insurers may not be simple for patients with chronic conditions.
While many carriers are offering a choice of plan designs, most use a single prescription formulary and physician network across all their products, explained Pearson. "So, enrollees may need to change doctors or drugs when they switch insurers," she said.
Overall, it's shaping up to be the most difficult sign-up season since HealthCare.gov launched in 2013 and the computer system froze up.
Enrollment has been lower than initially projected, and insurers say patients turned out to be sicker than expected. Moreover, a complex internal system to help stabilize premiums has not worked as hoped for.
Nonetheless, Obama says the underlying structure of the law is sound, and current problems are only "growing pains." The president has called for a government-sponsored "public option" insurance plan to compete with private companies.
Republicans, including Trump, are united in calling for complete repeal, but they have not spelled out how they would address the problems of the uninsured.
Clinton has proposed an array of fixes, including sweetening the law's subsidies and allowing more people to qualify for financial assistance.
The law makes carrying health insurance a legal obligation for most people, and prohibits insurers from turning away the sick. It offers subsidized private plans to people who don't have coverage through their jobs, along with a state option to expand Medicaid for low-income people.
Largely as a result, the nation's uninsured rate has dropped below 9 percent, a historically low level. More than 21 million people have gained coverage since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010.
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Online:
www.healthcare.gov
Take a moment right now to put Jan. 25, 2017, on your calendar. That marks a day you can help make history by being part of our regions annual one-day trek to Madison for the Chippewa Valley Rally. Its a day where everyday business people like you and me can have a positive impact on our communities relationships with state government in areas like transportation, higher education, economic development and more.
With so much of the states population and, therefore, legislative districts concentrated in the southern portion of Wisconsin, the Chippewa Valley Rally is an opportunity to combat the out of sight, out of mind tendency when it comes to state economic policies that impact our area. Its organized each year by the Chippewa Valley Chamber Alliance, a joint effort of the Chippewa Falls, Menomonie and Eau Claire Chambers of Commerce.
As the legislature convenes this coming January, there will be many new faces in the Capitol as a result of retirements and the fall election. That adds to the value of this unique event bringing the Chippewa Valleys concerns to every office in the state Capitol.
In fact, the key to the Rallys effectiveness is the impact of visits to each legislator by groups of 3-4 Chippewa Valley business and community leaders. Each team is made up of a diverse set of citizens, representing local businesses, education, government and other organizations, who visit five legislative offices during the day and present the list of important issues. And everyone gets a matching scarf perfect for the usual cold winter temperatures adding to the impact of our presence in the Capitol.
A productive day
The largest share of Rally participants begin the day early, departing Eau Claire on a chartered bus at 6:30 a.m. Others take advantage of the day by combining the trip with other business they may have in Madison and travel on their own.
Upon arrival at the Rallys headquarters, the newly-renovated Park Inn across from the Capitol, members get a briefing on this years issues and how to present them. Then its a quick walk across the street for visits to legislative offices two each in the morning and three in the afternoon. Thats punctuated by a luncheon back at the hotel, with the governor invited to speak. The Rally concludes back at the Top of the Park with an early-evening reception, which provides an informal opportunity to talk with state decision-makers, including many legislators, their staff members, and other state officials. Then its onto the bus for a relaxing ride home, the end to a productive day in Madison.
Success stories, continuing challenges
Issues highlighted at recent editions of the Rally have focused on state policies and programs that have been catalysts of renewed local investment and economic growth. Results include strengthened downtowns in Chippewa Falls, Menomonie and Eau Claire, including the Confluence Project; critically-needed engineering programs at local state universities; and targeted efforts among employers, educational institutions and state government to close the skills gap.
Big challenges remain, however, including ensuring adequate support for education, strengthening talent attraction and retention efforts, and providing long-term funding stability to meet current and future transportation needs.
If youve never participated in a Chippewa Valley Rally, I encourage you to join us. Not only is everything included for those who participate, but the registration fee is kept low by the more than 20 local business organizations whose sponsorships provide a significant part of the funding. For your small group visits, youll be assigned to a team led by a veteran attendee, and theres no expectation that you have to personally be an expert in the issues.
Finally, theres one of the most valuable but underrated benefits of participating: The opportunity to meet and spend time with others from the Chippewa Valley who are interested in public policies that affect our business environment. I hope youll decide to join us this year!
South Korea's leader acknowledges ties to woman in scandal
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Korea's president offered a surprise public apology on Tuesday after acknowledging her close ties to a mysterious woman at the center of a corruption scandal.
President Park Geun-hye's apology came a day after a South Korean TV network, JTBC, reported that the woman, who has no government job, was informally involved in editing some of Park's key speeches. Other media have speculated that the woman, Choi Soon-sil, might have meddled in other state affairs.
Park's approval ratings have plummeted to a record low amid weeks of media reports that Choi might have used her connections to Park to push companies to make tens of millions of dollars in contributions to establish two nonprofit foundations.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye speaks as she offers a public apology in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Park has offered a public apology after acknowledging her close ties to a mysterious woman at the center of a corruption scandal. Park's apology came a day after a South Korean TV network reported that the woman Choi Soon-sil, who has no government job, was informally involved in editing some of Park's key speeches. (Baek Seung-yul/Yonhap via AP)
In a nationally televised speech, Park said that Choi helped her on speeches and public relations issues during her 2012 presidential campaign and after her 2013 inauguration. Park said she eventually stopped getting such help from Choi, but didn't say when that help stopped.
"To me, it was something that I did out of a pure intent to do things more thoroughly, but regardless of any reason, I am sorry that I caused concern to the people of our nation, caught them by surprise and hurt their feelings," Park said, bowing deeply.
Park didn't mention Choi's corruption allegations, but there was a frenzied social media reaction in South Korea over the president's acknowledgment.
The JTBC network said in its report Monday that it obtained a personal computer abandoned by Choi that contained 44 files carrying drafts of some of Park's speeches, remarks at Cabinet meetings and other public comments. Some speech drafts included highlighted parts, suggesting that Choi made some changes to original texts, the report said.
It's not clear who sent such drafts to Choi. But if the JTBC report is accurate, those involved in the transfer of texts would face legal punishment for breaking laws that govern behavior of civil servants. If the materials sent to Choi include those with sensitive issues, charges of leaking state secrets or obstructing official duty could also be imposed, according to legal experts.
Choi is a daughter of a Christian pastor who had worked as Park's mentor before his 1994 death, according to South Korean media reports. The pastor, Choi Tae-min, was originally a Buddhist monk, had six marriages and allegedly used his relationship with Park to take bribes from government officials and businessmen, the reports said.
The junior Choi is also the ex-wife of a man who served as Park's chief adviser when she was in the National Assembly before she became president in February 2013. A Japanese newspaper reported that Park was with the husband during a deadly ferry sinking in 2014 that killed more than 300 people, mostly teenagers. South Korean prosecutors charged the journalist from the Sankei Shimbun newspaper who wrote the story with defaming Park, but a Seoul court later declared him not guilty.
Park is the daughter of late dictator Park Chung-hee, who was assassinated by his own intelligence chief during a late-night drinking party in 1979. Wednesday marks the 37th anniversary of Park Chung-hee's death.
Park Geun-hye's single five-year term ends in early 2018. On Monday, she proposed revising the country's constitution to change the current presidential system, drawing immediate criticism from liberal rivals who described the overture as a tactic to divert attention from Choi's scandal.
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Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung and Youkyung Lee contributed to this report.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye bows after a public apology in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Park offered a surprise public apology after acknowledging her close ties to a mysterious woman at the center of a corruption scandal. (Baek Seung-yul/Yonhap via AP)
A man watches a TV screen showing the news program about South Korean President Park Geun-hye's apology, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. South Korea's president offered a surprise public apology on Tuesday after acknowledging her close ties to a mysterious woman at the center of a corruption scandal. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Spain: Police arrest 2 suspected pro-jihad imams
MADRID (AP) Spain's Interior Ministry says police have arrested two imams suspected of promoting the Islamic State armed group on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza.
A ministry statement said the Moroccan-born imams were arrested Tuesday in the town of Sant Antoni de Portmany.
The ministry said they used the Masllid al Fath mosque where they worked and a social media network to spread propaganda for the armed group among the Muslim community.
It said their activities had intensified since 2012, coinciding with the Arab Spring protests and the increase in fighters traveling abroad to join the group.
The ministry said Moroccan authorities had provided key information for the arrests.
3 Vietnamese sailors freed by Somali pirates return home
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) Three Vietnamese sailors who were held hostage by Somali pirates for more than four years returned home Tuesday, with one father expressing happiness at seeing a son he hadn't heard from in three years.
They were among 26 Asian sailors who were released Saturday after being held since their fishing vessel was seized in March 2012.
The sailors appeared in good health when they emerged from a flight from Nairobi, Kenya, to Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi on Tuesday and were greeted by relatives before having their health checked at a hospital.
Nguyen Van Xuan holds his daughter as he emerges from a flight from Narobi, Kenya, at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Xuan was among three Vietnamese sailors who were held hostage by Somali pirates for more than four years returned home Tuesday. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh)
Phan Xuan Linh, father of sailor Phan Xuan Phuong, said his son only called the family three times in the first year asking for help and then did not have any contact with him.
"(We were) worried, but did not know what to do," Linh told the Associated Press while waiting for his son's return. "They were pirates, they were lawless and we just prayed for him and did not know who to call for help, because the pirates are similar to terrorists. We had faint hope that my son would return home. Today we are very happy."
The sailors did not speak to journalists upon their arrival at the airport.
The crew from Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines had been among the few hostages still in the hands of Somali pirates.
The sailors were the crew of the FV Naham 3, a Taiwan-owned fishing vessel seized in March 2012, pirate representative Bile Hussein said Monday. The ship later sank.
Hussein said $1.5 million in ransom was paid for the sailors' release. That claim could not be independently verified.
One member of the crew died in the hijacking and two died of illnesses in captivity.
Piracy off Somalia's coast was once a serious threat to the global shipping industry. Attacks dropped off dramatically after NATO counties, China and India, sent their navies to patrol the waters.
Most hostages held by Somali pirates have been sailors on merchant ships, although European families also have been kidnapped from their yachts while traveling in the dangerous waters.
Nguyen Van Ha holds his son as he emerges from a flight from Narobi, Kenya, at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Ha was among three Vietnamese sailors who were held hostage by Somali pirates for more than four years returned home Tuesday. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh)
Nguyen Van Xuan listens to a phone call next to his wife Nguyen Thi Quynh, right, after Xuan arrived from a flight from Narobi, Kenya, to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Xuan was among three Vietnamese sailors who were held hostage by Somali pirates for more than four years returned home Tuesday. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh)
Nguyen Thi Quynh listens to a phone call as she waits with her two daughters for the arrival of her husband Nguyen Van Xuan in Hanoi, Vietnam, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Nguyen Van Xuan who was among three Vietnamese sailors held hostage by Somali pirates for more than four years returned home Tuesday, (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh)
Major militant attacks in Pakistan over the past 3 years
ISLAMABAD (AP) Militant attacks in Pakistan have killed hundreds of people over the past three years, including many schoolchildren. On Tuesday, authorities were investigating a brazen attack overnight in the Baluchistan provincial capital of Quetta where gunmen stormed a police academy, killing 61 people, mostly police cadets and recruits.
Conflicting claims of responsibility have emerged, including by a Taliban splinter group and an Islamic State affiliate.
Here are some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan in the last three years:
A Pakistani volunteer and a police officer rush an injured person to a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. A government official said tens of police trainees were killed when gunmen attacked a hostel at a police training center in Pakistan's restive southwestern Baluchistan province. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
__Oct 25: Gunmen storm a police academy in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing 61 people, mostly cadets and trainees;
__Sept 16: Suicide attack kills 36 worshippers in a Sunni mosque in the northwestern tribal region of Mohmand;
__Aug 08: Suicide bombing kills more than 70 people at a gathering of lawyers on the grounds of a government-run hospital in Quetta;
__March 27: Bombing on Easter Sunday kills 65 people in the eastern city of Lahore, in a park crowded with Christians, including many children;
__March 16: Bomb rips through a bus carrying Pakistani government employees in the volatile northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 15 people;
__March 7: Suicide bomber attacks the entrance to a court in northwestern Pakistan, killing 11 people;
__Jan 20: Islamic militants storm a school in Charsadda in northwestern Pakistan in an hours-long attack, killing at least 20 people;
2015:
__Sept. 18: Taliban storm a military air base used as a residential area on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing 29 people, including 16 praying inside a mosque;
__Aug. 16: Suicide bombing at the home of Punjab province's home minister, Shuja Khanzada, kills 18 people, including the minister and a senior police officer;
__May 29: Gunmen hijack a bus and kill 22 people near Pishin district in southwestern Baluchistan province;
__May 13: Gunmen storm a bus carrying Shiite Muslims in the southern city of Karachi, killing 45 people;
__April, 11: Gunmen in restive southwestern Pakistan kill 20 workers at a dam construction site;
__March 17: Two suicide bombers attack two churches in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore as worshippers pray inside, killing 15 people;
__Feb. 14: Taliban militants storm a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, killing 20 people;
__Jan. 30: Suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in southern city of Shikarpur kills 59 people;
2014:
__Dec.16: Militants attack an army-run school in Peshawar, killing over 150 people, mostly schoolchildren;
__Nov. 2: Taliban suicide bombing kills 60 in an attack on a paramilitary checkpoint close to the Wagah border crossing with India;
__June 9: Ten gunmen disguised as police guards attack a terminal in Karachi, Pakistan's busiest airport, killing 13 people during a five-hour siege.
__June 8: Suicide bombing in the country's southwest kills at least 23 Shiite pilgrims returning from Iran.
FILE -- In this March 28, 2016 file photo, people carry the coffin of Sahil Pervez who was killed in a bomb attack targeting Christians gathered on Easter, in Lahore, Pakistan. On Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, militants wearing suicide vests and firing automatic rifles storm a Pakistani police academy in the southwestern city of Quetta overnight killed at least 59 people and wounded over 100 more, mostly police cadets and recruits. There were conflicting claims of responsibility on Tuesday for the attack. Militant attacks have in the past 3 years claimed the lives of hundreds of people, including many schoolchildren. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)
FILE -- In this Jan. 21, 2016 file photo, people comfort a man mourning the death of his family member who was killed in an attack on Bacha Khan University, during a funeral in Charsadda, Pakistan. On Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, militants wearing suicide vests and firing automatic rifles storm a Pakistani police academy in the southwestern city of Quetta overnight killed at least 59 people and wounded over 100 more, mostly police cadets and recruits. There were conflicting claims of responsibility on Tuesday for the attack. Militant attacks have in the past 3 years claimed the lives of hundreds of people, including many schoolchildren. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad, File)
Australian gets 15 years prison for abusing girls in Bali
BALI, Indonesia (AP) An Indonesian court on Tuesday sentenced an Australian retiree to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing girls on the tourist island of Bali.
Robert Andrew Fiddes Ellis was arrested in January and accused of abusing 11 girls as young as 8. Some of the victims said Ellis gave them small amounts of money and gifts such as a bicycle in exchange for letting him bathe them.
Ellis admitted to bathing the girls, but in comments made to media last week he also defended his actions as harmless.
Australian Robert Andrew Fiddes Ellis, center, walks into a courtroom for his verdict trial in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. An Indonesian court has sentenced the Australian retiree to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing 11 girls on the tourist island of Bali in 2014 and 2015. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
The Denpasar District Court found him guilty of violating Indonesia's Child Protection Law, and the panel of judges, led by Wayan Sukanila, also fined Ellis 2 billion rupiah ($153,000) or a further six months in prison if the fine wasn't paid.
"The defendant has been proven guilty of persuading children to perform obscene acts repeatedly," Sukanila said. "There are no excuses for the defendant's deeds."
The panel also said that Ellis had damaged the image of Bali's tourism industry.
His lawyer, Yanuar Nahak, said Ellis would appeal. He said the sentence was too heavy because Ellis confessed and promised not to reoffend.
Ellis came to Bali in 2013 on a five-year retirement visa. The case involves crimes committed in 2014 and 2015.
Rights group: torture reports after failed coup in Turkey
ISTANBUL (AP) A human rights group said Tuesday that Turkish police have tortured or abused detainees following the failed coup attempt in July, a claim that Turkish officials deny.
In a 43-page report published Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said that a state of emergency adopted after the coup attempt which is still in effect has weakened safeguards against torture. It details 13 alleged abuse cases, including sleep deprivation, severe beatings, sexual abuse and rape threats.
"The prohibition of torture in international law is absolute and cannot be suspended even in times of war or national emergency," the report said. "And yet, the emergency decrees remove crucial safeguards that protect detainees from ill-treatment and torture."
FILE - In this July 16, 2016 file photo, Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, right, Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, center, and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag arrive for a press conference hours after a failed coup attempt in Ankara, Turkey. Bozdag says Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016 the country has provided "more than sufficient" evidence to the United States for the extradition of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of orchestrating the July 15 failed coup attempt. Bozdag was speaking to reporters Tuesday before departing to the U.S. for talks with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch over Turkish requests for Fethullah Gulen's arrest and eventual extradition. (AP Photo/File)
It called on the authorities to "immediately rescind those provisions of the emergency decrees that enable abuse."
Turkey launched a massive crackdown on suspected followers of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of masterminding the failed July 15 coup. At least 32,000 people have been arrested, among them soldiers, policemen, judges and teachers.
Human Rights Watch said the emergency decree provisions, which include denying lawyers access to medical reports, have made documentation and corroboration of ill-treatment and torture allegations difficult.
Still, the New York-based group said it was able to gather evidence of abuse in ad hoc facilities set up after the coup attempt.
It quoted one police officer telling a detainee: "Because of the state of emergency, nobody will care if I kill you. I will just say I shot you while you tried to run away." It said those words were overheard by the relative of another person in detention.
There was no immediate reaction from the government to the report. But Turkish authorities have for months been facing allegations of rights violations and have denied them.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag tweeted Sunday that there is no abuse or torture in Turkey's prisons, arguing that Turkey was being unfairly accused and that a special unit was established to investigate all claims.
The Latest: Clinton picks up endorsement from UK's Adele
WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on the U.S. presidential race (all times EDT):
10:13 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is attending an Adele concert in Miami and picking up some support along the way.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally at Broward College in Coconut Creek, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill says the singer said onstage that while she can't vote in the U.S. she is "100 percent for Hillary Clinton," adding: "I love her. She's amazing."
Merrill says Adele told the audience that while she is British, "what happens in America affects me too."
Merrill says it was not apparent that Adele knew Clinton was at the show on the eve of her 69th birthday.
Reporters traveling with Clinton were not allowed to accompany her inside the arena.
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8:55 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is getting an early birthday present an Adele concert in Miami.
Clinton's motorcade made a surprise stop at Miami's American Airlines Arena after a Tuesday fundraiser. The Democratic presidential nominee turns 69 on Wednesday.
A small group of reporters traveling with Clinton were not allowed to accompany her inside the arena for the concert.
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7:08 p.m.
Donald Trump is mocking Vice President Joe Biden's wish to bully the Republican nominee, saying that Biden is only a tough guy "when he's standing behind a microphone by himself."
Biden, criticizing Trump's vulgar remarks toward women, said last week that he wished he could take Trump "behind the gym" to settle things.
Trump, speaking in Florida on Tuesday, declared that "he'd love that."
"Mr. Tough Guy!" Trump teased. "You know when he's Mr. Tough Guy? When he's standing behind a microphone by himself!"
Trump's rally in Tallahassee was the final stop of a three-day blitz through Florida, a state vital to his White House hopes.
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5:52 p.m.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have stopped personally raising money for their presidential campaigns so that they can focus on campaigning in the final two weeks before Election Day.
Clinton on Tuesday was making what her campaign says will be her last fundraising stop, in Miami. Trump attended his last major scheduled fundraiser in Las Vegas last week, The Washington Post reported.
But that doesn't mean the campaign cash will stop flowing. Clinton's surrogates will continue attending fundraisers on her behalf, and both candidates have robust online fundraising operations.
Trump has had a turbulent relationship within his own party, but his fundraising has benefited GOP candidates up and down the ballot, just as Clinton's has on the Democratic side.
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5:51 p.m.
Mike Pence may be spending the day campaigning in the crucial swing state of Ohio but that's not changing his World Series loyalty.
Reporters aboard the Indiana Gov.'s press plane rolled a baseball up to where Pence was seated, asking if he was backing his beloved Chicago Cubs or the Cleveland Indians in a World Series that starts Tuesday night in Cleveland.
Pence later pitched the ball back into the plane's press section, his throw so high that it struck the plane's ceiling.
He wrote on the ball "Two great teams It's gonna be a great World Series ... Go Cubs Go!"
Pence then signed the ball over the inscription "lifelong Cubs fan."
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5:27 p.m.
A hacked email shows a key aide to Hillary Clinton was concerned about President Barack Obama's public statement that he first learned about Hillary Clinton's use of a private email sever through news reports. But the White House says Obama was being truthful.
The March 2015 email released by Wikileaks showed Cheryl Mills writing, "We need to clean this up," adding that Obama has "emails from her" sent from Clinton's non-government address.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that Obama exchanged emails with his then-secretary of state, but the president had no knowledge of where Clinton's server was located or what sort of arrangements had been made to retain her emails.
Documents released from the FBI's now-closed investigation into Clinton's email use previously revealed she messaged with Obama.
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5:25 p.m.
Hillary Clinton danced, shared her favorite cookie recipe and was feted with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" by a Mariachi band in an interview with Univision's "El Gordo y La Flaca."
Clinton appeared on the Spanish language program a day before her 69th birthday. She was given a bottle of tequila and a large patriotic birthday cake featuring her face and the White House on set of the entertainment news show in Miami.
Clinton asked whether she should "come back every week. What do you think?"
The Democratic presidential nominee vowed to seek comprehensive immigration reform "as soon as I get into the White House. I'm not waiting."
Clinton danced briefly with co-host Raul De Molina and shared her favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with rolled oats with De Molina and co-host Lili Estefan.
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4:41 p.m.
Donald Trump is pledging to bolster the government's investment in the space program a boon to the Space Coast of Florida.
Trump made the declaration at a rally Tuesday in Sanford, not too far from the hub of the space program on Florida's Atlantic Coast.
He vowed to create new public-private partnerships to fund the program, which he said has benefited Americans by creating new technologies and more jobs for the region.
The airplane hangar rally in Sanford, Florida, left only one more stop for Trump of a three-day campaign swing in political critical Florida.
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4:05 p.m.
Donald Trump says his first presidential act would be to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Trump told supporters at a rally in Sanford, Florida, that he would immediately "ask Congress to put a bill on my desk to get rid of this disastrous" program, adding "it will be so easy."
The Republican presidential nominee has said he'd give people more choice over their insurance plans but has not offered much in the way of specifics.
Average premiums under President Barack Obama's signature health care lawwill jump sharply, potentially by 25 percent in popular plans before taxpayer subsidies kick in.
Trump has tried to seize upon the rate hike as a potent issue to reverse his slide over the campaign's final two weeks.
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3:48 p.m.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says he will vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.
The Republican and retired four-star Army general made his announcement at a fall meeting of a Long Island business association.
He is the latest in a series of Bush administration officials who have rejected their party's nominee.
Powell recently engaged in a public fight with Clinton when he denied her claim that he advised the Democratic nominee to set up a private email server as secretary of state.
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3:15 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is assailing Donald Trump for refusing to say he'll respect the outcome of the presidential election.
The Democratic nominee says in Florida that she has "serious doubts" about whether Trump understands the meaning of the president's oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the constitution."
Clinton said Tuesday at a Coconut Creek rally that Trump is "attacking everything that has set our country apart for 240 years." She pointed to his refusal at the final debate to commit to conceding the race if he loses.
She joked that Trump would have called George Washington "a loser" for not wanting to be king.
During the rally, the crowd broke into a spontaneous singing of "Happy Birthday" ahead of Clinton's 69th birthday on Wednesday.
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3 p.m.
President Barack Obama is wrapping up a three-day swing through Nevada and California. He's campaigning and raising money for Democratic candidates in the Nov. 8 election.
The president is participating in a fundraiser benefiting the organization that coordinates efforts to elect Democrats to the Senate. Tickets for the event were $33,400. It's taking place Tuesday at the home of television writer, director and producer Ryan Murphy.
Obama has participated in 12 fundraisers for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee this election cycle and Vice President Joe Biden has participated in 15.
Democrats need to pick up four seats to take the Senate majority if Hillary Clinton wins and five If Republican Donald Trump wins.
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2:10 p.m.
A hacked email shows Hillary Clinton's aides lamenting last year that she was not more forthcoming about her use of a private email server.
The March 2015 exchange between Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and political operative Neera Tanden was among more than 1,300 stolen emails released Tuesday by the WikiLeaks organization.
The day after The New York Times first reported that the former secretary of state had used a private email address, Podesta wrote that Clinton lawyer David Kendall and chief-of-staff Cheryl Mills had not been forthcoming on the facts.
Tanden described the problem as "a Cheryl special" and said Clinton's team was crazy not to have gone public about the issue months earlier. She then suggested the answer was that "They wanted to get away with it."
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2:05 p.m.
Hillary Clinton's campaign says the election is a choice between improving President Barack Obama's health care law or kicking 20 million people off insurance.
Clinton campaign communications director Jen Palmieri said Tuesday that Clinton has a plan to make health insurance more affordable. But, she said: "What we shouldn't do is what Donald Trump would do, which is throw away the gains we have made."
The campaign's statement comes after the federal government announced that premiums for some health plans will increase by an average of 25 percent.
Speaking earlier in Florida, Trump said that Obama's legislation is "just blowing up."
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1:55 p.m.
Donald Trump is praising veterans of the failed CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs operation which tried to topple Cuba's Fidel Castro.
The Republican presidential nominee visited the Bay of Pigs Museum in Miami on Tuesday. He received an endorsement from the Veterans Association for the Bay of Pigs.
Trump said he was "in a room full of heroes." He said the veterans were "fighting for values that unite us all" during the 1961 invasion.
He sharply criticized President Barack Obama's move to restore some diplomatic ties with Cuba, though he has yet to spell out his own plan for relations with the island nation.
Trump's appearance at the museum was his second event Tuesday aimed at rallying Cuban-American voters in the key battleground of Florida. They have traditionally leaned Republican.
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1:45 p.m.
A celebrity strike force is fanning out for Hillary Clinton. And it's not just megastars helping on the campaign trail.
The stars stumping for Clinton include Jay Z and Jennifer Lopez. But Sean Astin, of "The Goonies" and Busy Philipps, of "Freaks and Geeks" are also getting people to the polls.
Phillips recently campaigned in Iowa. She said she came out because she is a "concerned citizen."
The campaign deploys prominent supporters as stand-ins for the candidate. They're known as surrogates. They work with celebrities who want to get involved to figure out how best to use them considering their fan base as well as how much time they have to offer.
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12:50 p.m.
The Justice Department and FBI say they will have officials ready on Election Day to respond to potential crimes.
Justice Department officials will be monitoring conduct at certain polling places, and lawyers will be available to handle complaints regarding voter intimidation, discrimination and fraud such as vote-buying.
The FBI will also have a command center to monitor potential security threats related to the election. U.S. intelligence officials have warned of Russian efforts to use hacking to interfere with the election process.
The Justice Department has already warned that it will have fewer observers at the polls than in 2012 because of a Supreme Court opinion that gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.
The exact number of observers will not be revealed until closer to Election Day.
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11:50 a.m.
Donald Trump is slamming President Barack Obama's decision to re-open relations with Cuba, saying "it's always a bad deal with Obama."
Trump did not offer specific criticisms during a Tuesday meeting with Cuban supporters at his golf course just outside Miami.
He listened and nodded along as a pair of women recounted the injustices they suffered at the hands of Cuba's government
Trump reversed his own position on Cuba during a September visit to Miami, which has a sizable Cuban-American population.
He had previously supported the decision to reopen diplomatic relations with the island nation. But he now believes the United States "needs to strike a better deal" and has vowed to scrap Obama's efforts.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to speak to a campaign rally, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, in Sanford, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2014 file photo, former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks at the State Department in Washington. Powell says he will vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. The Republican and retired four-star Army general made his announcement at a fall meeting of a Long Island business association. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gives a thumbs up to a member of the media as she arrives to board her campaign plane at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, to travel to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. for a rally. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Barack Obama waves as he walks to Marine One after arriving at the Los Angeles International Airport Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, right, accompanied by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wave as they arrive at a rally at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump listens to a speaker during a meeting with Cuban supporters at Trump National Doral, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, in Miami. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
The Latest: EU to prolong ID checks in 5 countries
PARIS (AP) The Latest on Europe's response to the inflow of asylum-seekers and migrants (all times local):
6:00 p.m.
The European Union's executive arm is recommending that some north European and Nordic countries be allowed to keep border controls in place for three more months.
Migrants share a bottle of water as they wait to register at a processing centre in the makeshift migrant camp known as "the jungle" near Calais, northern France, Monday Oct. 24, 2016. France began the mass evacuation Monday of the makeshift migrant camp known as "the jungle," a mammoth project to erase the humanitarian blight on its northern border, where thousands fleeing war or poverty have lived in squalor, most hoping to sneak into Britain. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden were previously granted permission to carry out ID checks on all travelers including Europeans until Nov. 12 due to migration pressures.
The EU Commission said Tuesday that there are still a lot of migrants in Greece, which has not been able to effectively control their movements since last year.
The commission also said that administrations in the five countries have been swamped by asylum requests. The five are all part of Europe's passport free-travel area known as Schengen, where checks on EU citizens are usually not carried out. Norway is the only non-EU country among them.
EU member states must now endorse the recommendation to extend checks until February, a move that seems certain.
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2:15 p.m.
Serbian authorities say they have captured 15 suspected people-smugglers in the past 10 days who tried to illegally transfer 236 migrants through the country.
Serbia's ministry of defense said in a statement on Tuesday that five more suspected people-smugglers remain at large. It says the detained are 11 Serbs, two Bulgarian citizens, one citizen of Pakistan and one from the Netherlands.
The statement adds that nearly half of the discovered migrants are Afghans, while the rest are from Iraq, Pakistan, Syria as well as other African and Asian countries.
Serbia has stepped up border controls to curb the influx of people trying to reach the European Union through the Balkan country. Migrants have been using clandestine routes and people-smugglers after borders closed for entry in March.
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2 p.m.
Residents of a town on the Adriatic coastal town of Goro have blocked the arrival of 12 female migrants including a pregnant woman who were to be housed in a hostel.
The blockade came after new government figures showed total migrant arrivals to Italy have reached 153,632 so far this year, compared with 153,846 for all of last year.
The prefect of Ferrara province, Michele Tortora, said Tuesday that the women had been placed in nearby towns. Goro is among a handful of towns in the Italian province that currently houses no migrants.
Protest organizers told Sky TG24 that they would maintain their blockade as long as it takes.
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12:30 p.m.
A German sea rescue group has urged the European Union to reconsider its plans to train Libyan coast guards following an incident last week in which dozens of migrants are feared to have died after an attack by a speedboat labeled as belonging to Libya's coast guard.
Sea-Watch says a Libyan coast guard ship intercepted an inflatable boat with about 150 migrants on board as the group was trying to rescue them.
The group presented photos Tuesday showing a coast guard walking through the packed dinghy and others manipulating the front of the fragile boat before it sank.
Sea-Watch says it recovered four bodies in the incident Friday and rescued 120 people.
Spokesman Ruben Neugebauer said the group was calling on the EU to closely scrutinize who exactly it was training and giving equipment to, to ensure such incidents aren't repeated.
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12:10 p.m.
Hungary has started building a new fence on its southern border with Serbia as part of its efforts to keep migrants and refugees from freely entering the country.
Hungarian state television said Tuesday that two kinds of barriers are being tested along a short stretch of the border before construction begins in earnest.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in August that a sturdier fence to be set up with electronic surveillance equipment was needed in case of a new surge of people moving toward Western Europe.
Last year, Hungary built fences protected with razor wire along some 175 kilometers (110 miles) of its border with Serbia and shorter sections on the border with Croatia. Before the border was sealed in mid-October, nearly 400,000 people passed through the country on their way to Germany and other destinations in Western Europe.
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11:55 a.m.
Police say the number of registered migrants crossing into Austria from Hungary has plummeted this year to fewer than 6,000, compared to almost 300,000 in 2015.
Police official Christian Stella says the drop is due in great part to the closing of the so-called West Balkans route used last year by migrants to reach prosperous western European countries.
That route, leading from Greece through Macedonia, Serbia and into Hungary, has been effectively shut down, with Hungary erecting razor wire on its eastern borders and other nations also strengthening border controls.
Stella told the Austria Press Agency Tuesday that about 5,800 migrants were recorded moving from Hungary into Austria this year, compared to some 294,000 last year.
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11:30 a.m.
The Dutch government says 840 migrants have been caught so far this year trying to illegally enter Britain by hiding in trucks leaving ports in the Netherlands.
The number is a sharp increase from the 500 caught in 2015, but the government said Tuesday that numbers are on a downward trend this year from 360 in the first three months to 270 in the second quarter and 210 in the third quarter.
Authorities in the Netherlands have increased surveillance and checks at ports since mid-2015 amid fears that migrants trying to get to Britain would target Dutch ports.
Tuesday's announcement came on the second day of a French operation to clear a squalid camp in the busy port city of Calais that is home to thousands of migrants who want to reach Britain. That operation has raised concerns that migrants could attempt to make the crossing from other ports.
The Justice Ministry says nearly 80 percent of the migrants were caught at Dutch ports and the remainder on arrival in Britain.
Albanians accounted for nearly half of all the migrants caught trying to reach Britain via a Dutch port.
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11:10 a.m.
French police are being deployed to keep order among the young migrants pushing barriers at Calais' makeshift camp.
Dozens of migrants jumped over railings Tuesday in an attempt to get to the camp's temporary processing center, the first step to being relocated in France.
Most identified themselves as unaccompanied minors with relatives across the English Channel in the U.K. They had made their way to the gates in the port city very early in the morning.
France is in day two of a weeklong, 6,000-person-strong mass evacuation of the controversial slum-like migrant camp.
Hassan Ali, a 25-year-old Pakistani, said Tuesday he was "excited" to leave and hoped to return to university and find a job in France, having been unable to get to Britain.
Migrants wait before being registered at a processing centre in the makeshift migrant camp known as "the jungle" near Calais, northern France, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. France began the mass evacuation Monday of the makeshift migrant camp known as "the jungle," a mammoth project to erase the humanitarian blight on its northern border, where thousands fleeing war or poverty have lived in squalor, most hoping to sneak into Britain.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Migrants wait before being registered at a processing centre in the makeshift migrant camp known as "the jungle" near Calais, northern France, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. France began the mass evacuation Monday of the makeshift migrant camp known as "the jungle," a mammoth project to erase the humanitarian blight on its northern border, where thousands fleeing war or poverty have lived in squalor, most hoping to sneak into Britain.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Migrants hug each other as they say goodbye before leaving a makeshift camp known as "the jungle" to register at a processing center, near Calais, northern France, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. France began the mass evacuation Monday of the makeshift migrant camp, a mammoth project to erase the humanitarian blight on its northern border, where thousands fleeing war or poverty have lived in squalor, most hoping to sneak into Britain. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Migrants leave a makeshift camp known as "the jungle" to register at a processing center, near Calais, northern France, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. France began the mass evacuation Monday of the makeshift migrant camp, a mammoth project to erase the humanitarian blight on its northern border, where thousands fleeing war or poverty have lived in squalor, most hoping to sneak into Britain. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Migrants carry their belongings as they leave a makeshift camp known as "the jungle" to register at a processing center, near Calais, northern France, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. France began the mass evacuation Monday of the makeshift migrant camp, a mammoth project to erase the humanitarian blight on its northern border, where thousands fleeing war or poverty have lived in squalor, most hoping to sneak into Britain. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Migrants, one of them carrying a French flag, walk past French police as they leave a makeshift camp known as "the jungle" to register at a processing center, near Calais, northern France, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. France began the mass evacuation Monday of the makeshift migrant camp, a mammoth project to erase the humanitarian blight on its northern border, where thousands fleeing war or poverty have lived in squalor, most hoping to sneak into Britain. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
FILE - In this Oct. 13, 2016 file picture a police officer, second right, and border guard, right, of Poland patrol with Hungarian policemen along the temporary border fence on the Hungarian-Serbian border near Roszke, 180 kms southeast of Budapest, Hungary. Hungary has started building a new fence on its southern border with Serbia, part of its efforts to keep migrants and refugees from freely entering the country. Hungarian state television said Tuesday Oct. 25, 2016 two kinds of barriers were being tested along a short stretch of the border before construction begins in earnest. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in August that the new fence was needed in case of a new surge of people moving toward Western Europe. (Zoltan Mathe/MTI via AP,file)
Spain: Rajoy accepts king's call to form overdue government
MADRID (AP) Spain's conservative acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Tuesday he has accepted King Felipe VI's request to seek Parliament's approval to form a government and end the country's 10 months of political deadlock.
Rajoy is all but guaranteed to obtain that approval in the coming days following the rival Socialist party's decision to stop blocking his bid and to abstain in a second parliamentary vote.
Two inconclusive elections since December have left Rajoy running a caretaker government. His Popular Party won both elections, but lacks a parliamentary majority and needs outside support to form a minority government.
Spain's King Felipe VI, left and Ciudadanos party leader, Albert Rivera, pose for photos before a meeting at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. King Felipe VI is s expected to call on conservative acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to try to form a government after he wraps up two-days of talks with political party leaders aimed at ending Spain's 10 months of political deadlock. (Juan Carlos Hidalgo/Pool Photo via AP)
Rajoy spoke after the king wrapped up two days of talks with leaders from each party in an effort to end the impasse ahead of an Oct. 31 deadline. If no government is in place by that date, a third round of elections would have to be called.
Parliament Speaker Ana Pastor said the investiture session would start Wednesday. The timing would pave the way for a first vote on Thursday and a second and final one on Saturday.
Rajoy is unlikely to get the necessary absolute majority of votes in the 350-seat chamber in the first round. During a second vote, he would only need more deputies in favor than against. Barring a major upset, he should be elected premier over the weekend.
As it stands, Rajoy has the support of 170 lawmakers 137 of them from his own party.
The Socialists, who have 84 deputies, voted for the abstention to avoid a potentially disastrous third election and more political uncertainty. The party, long one of the country's major political groups, suffered its worst-ever results in both the December and June elections.
It agreed to vote against Rajoy in the first vote, but abstain in a second round, thus letting him through.
South Sudan's army committed atrocities, Amnesty says
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) A 6-year old girl who was killed by rocket fire from a helicopter gunship. A journalist who was killed because of his ethnicity. A 15-year-old girl who was gang-raped.
A new report by Amnesty International says they are among the victims of crimes committed by South Sudanese soldiers when clashes with the opposition in the capital, Juba, killed hundreds of people in July.
The new report describes how atrocities continued even after the fighting stopped.
Soldiers raped and gang-raped more than 200 women on the basis of ethnicity over a one-week period just after the clashes ended, according to Amnesty International.
The report called the pattern of sexual violence carried out by soldiers "systemic," adding that "pillage and destruction was so enormous that it could not have been done without, at a minimum, a large degree of command acquiescence."
Soldiers also were seen looting a U.N. agency food storage site, used to feed around 220,000 people, two days after the opposition withdrew, the report said.
Opposition fighters also put thousands of civilian lives in danger, according to Amnesty International, entering U.N. civilian protection sites during clashes, potentially in an attempt to use people inside as human shields.
South Sudan's government has agreed to the formation of a hybrid court set up by the African Union to investigate war crimes committed during its civil war, which began in December 2013 and has killed tens of thousands. A fragile peace deal signed in August 2015 has not stopped the violence.
When it comes to thinking locally, it doesnt only mean buying from local vendors or hosting a farmers market in your parking lot. You can also think locally when building your team or increasing employee engagement.
Welcome packages
Hiring someone from outside of the area? You can make their experience feel local by giving them a welcome package to the area. Include items like local restaurants or take out menus, local dry cleaner fliers, local grocery store ads, local publications that will make them feel right at home from the start.
Will they be looking for a home to purchase? Relators are wonderful resources when it comes to knowing the different neighborhoods in the area. Partnering with your local Chamber of Commerce is another way to gather information for an employee that is new to the area.
From a professional aspect, are there local professional conferences you can make them aware of or have them attend? These are great networking events and can make people feel more in tune with the local professional community.
Just think of the engagement opportunity for that employee right from the start if you are welcoming them into the community and making them feel comfortable. A little can go a long way and in turn will help local businesses.
Referrals
Your team knows firsthand what it is like to work at your company and in many cases will know who will be the best fit. Having a successful referral program often can be a good indicator of employee engagement. If your team is not shouting from the rooftops about how much they like working there, they arent going to be telling their friends, family and others they should join the team.
Not only will you get a good feel for engagement, but it can assist in reducing turnover since those that refer tend to stick around if their friends are hired and they are actively engaged.
By asking your team to refer others to work at your company, most times they will be local candidates, which further enhances the feel of recruiting locally. This can give your team a family-type atmosphere where many people know each other from a variety of connections.
Encouraging your team to recruit when they are out and about around town will influence that local feel as well. Creating business cards that include a hiring message on them is a simple way to make referrals easier for your team to act upon.
Community service
A question that is at the top of many recent graduates minds is, What is the company doing for the community and the environment? Are you prepared to answer that? Participating in United Ways Day of Caring or Adopt a Highway are great ways to start.
Some companies have gone the extra mile in giving their employees paid volunteer time. Use your discretion as to what may work best for you, but even eight hours of paid volunteer time a year can go a long way. Perhaps you are doing something like this already and formalizing it and calling it a paid volunteer program may just be the push to make it a wow benefit for your team. The United Way website has a great directory of volunteer opportunities. You can find it here: www.uwgcv.org/volunteer
Benefits
Other miscellaneous benefits could lead to giving local business more traffic as well. If you have a fitness reimbursement program, local gyms can get a boost. Reach out to a local furniture store or appliance store for one-of-a-kind coupons to use for your team for different events in your office will help to drive traffic and provide a local connection.
Utilizing a local coffee shop for offsite interviews may well introduce a candidate to a local coffee shop and help to drive sales at the business. If you provide special dinners or outings for your team, think locally and host the event at a small local business or find a small caterer to host the event.
Thinking close to home will help you expand your horizons when it comes to thinking local for your employees. Look at a map and see who is around you or start asking your team which businesses they would like to see supported. Helping local businesses is the right thing to do and the additional bonus is it feels good to know you are making a difference in a community members life.
Pediatricians: Babies should sleep in same room as parents
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for infants to be kept in their parents' bedroom at night for six months to a year to reduce the risk of sleep-related death.
The new recommendations say babies should sleep on a separate surface, in a crib or bassinet, and never on something soft. The guidelines say babies should sleep in the same room as their parents, preferably until they're a year old. The nation's most influential pediatricians' group says it updated its safe-sleep guidance because of studies suggesting that room-sharing reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome by as much as 50 percent.
For two decades, the academy has advocated that babies be placed on their backs for sleeping to reduce risks of SIDS. Other recommendations include: avoiding bed-sharing; use of crib bumpers, blankets, pillows and soft toys; using pacifiers; and breastfeeding. But SIDS cases have plateaued at 3,500 unexplained deaths each year in the U.S., prompting the updated advice released Monday.
FILE - In this May 6, 2016, file photo, Keyshla Rivera smiles at her newborn son Jesus as registered nurse Christine Weick demonstrates a baby box before her discharge from Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia on Friday, May 6, 2016. The American Academy of Pediatrics announced new recommendations for safe infant sleeping on Oct. 24, 2016. They call for parents to keep infants in the same bedroom as them at night for six months to a year in order to lessen the risk of sleep-related death. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Noting that SIDS' risks are highest in the first six months, the academy says room-sharing but not bed-sharing is most likely to prevent suffocation that can occur when infants sleep with their parents.
"Placing the crib close to the parents' bed so that the infant is within view and reach can facilitate feeding, comforting, and monitoring of the infant," the academy says.
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Vatican, Argentine church to open 'dirty war' archives
VATICAN CITY (AP) The Vatican and Argentina's bishops have finished cataloguing their archives from the country's "dirty war" and will soon make them available to victims and their relatives who have long accused church members of complicity with the military dictatorship. The 3,000 files being released, though, are a fraction of the documentation believed to be in the possession of the Argentine church.
A joint statement Tuesday by the Vatican and the Argentine bishops' conference said the process of digitizing the archives had been completed and that procedures to access the information would be forthcoming. No date was set, and the opening for now is restricted to victims, detainees, their relatives and the religious superiors of victims who were priests or nuns.
Official estimates say between 7,600-13,000 people were killed or disappeared in a government-sponsored crackdown on leftist dissidents during Argentina's 1976-1983 "dirty war." Human rights activists believe the real number was as high as 30,000.
A man stands outside the Cathedral, which was previously defaced during a protest against gender violence, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. The Vatican and Argentina's bishops have finished cataloguing their archives from the country's "dirty war" and will soon make them available to victims and their relatives who have long accused church members of complicity with the military dictatorship. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Many senior clerics were close to Argentina's military rulers at the time and human rights groups have accused them of complicity with the regime.
The statement said the decision to open the church's archives was taken at the express direction of Pope Francis, "in the service of truth, justice and peace."
Francis then the Rev. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the young Jesuit superior in Argentina during the military dictatorship, making his decision to open the archives all the more remarkable. The Argentine bishops' conference, which Bergoglio headed until 2011, began cataloguing the archives soon after his term ended.
"We're not afraid of the files," said Cardinal Mario Poli, the archbishop of Buenos Aires. "We're making them available in the pursuit of reconciliation, truth and justice."
Relatives of victims welcomed the development as an important first step, but expressed disappointment that the files will only include an estimated 3,000 documents, most of them believed to be letters from Argentines to church authorities seeking information about their "disappeared" loved ones. That is likely a fraction of the documentation in existence since the archives of religious orders and individual parishes were not included in the cataloguing project, officials said.
"There's no centralized archive," Monsignor Jose Arancedo, who succeeded Bergoglio as president of the Argentine bishops' conference, told reporters Tuesday in Buenos Aires. "We hope that the work done here is also done in other instances of the church."
Dora Salas, a member of the group Families of the Disappeared and Held for Political Reasons, said the release was important "because it is the beginning of a new road, a whole new step." Salas was kidnapped with her partner in 1977; she was released with her two young children but her partner was forcibly disappeared. "I think that this will lead to important things but I also believe that also there is a very long road ahead and that there is still a lot missing," she said, citing parish files, military files and other documentation.
Francis himself had been criticized for not speaking out publicly about the atrocities while a high-ranking Jesuit. But he has also been credited with saving the lives of more than two dozen people, giving them sanctuary in his seminary and helping spirit them out of the country.
The documents concern archives held in the Vatican secretariat of state, the Vatican's Buenos Aires embassy and the Argentine bishops' conference. Most would normally never be made public, and in the case of the Vatican archives, they would only become available to academics starting around 2075.
The Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, stressed that for now the archives would only be open to victims and their relatives, not academics. He suggested that a broader opening could come later.
Activists say the church has yet to fully apologize for its human rights record, identify those responsible for the many violations the church knew about at the time, or lead Argentina's justice system to bodies and to people who were stolen as babies from their birth families. Francis has said when he ran Argentina's bishops' conference in the 1990s no such evidence existed in church files.
The most damning accusation against Francis himself is that as the military junta took over in 1976, he withdrew his support for two slum priests whose activist colleagues in the liberation theology movement were disappearing. The priests were then kidnapped and tortured at the Navy Mechanics School, which the junta used as a clandestine prison.
Francis said he had told the priests Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics to give up their slum work for their own safety, and they refused.
He testified as part of a human rights trial in 2010 that to save them, he persuaded another priest to fake an illness so that he could hold a private Mass for dictator Jorge Videla and personally plead for the Jesuits' release. They were set free in October 1976, left drugged and blindfolded in a field.
Yorio, who is now dead, later accused Francis of effectively delivering them to the death squads by declining to publicly endorse their work. But Jalics has said he and Francis have reconciled and that he considers the matter closed.
Francis' decision to open the church's archives raises the question of whether he will do the same elsewhere in Latin America, where some members of the church and Vatican hierarchy were seen as being aligned with right-wing military dictatorships that targeted leftists in El Salvador, Chile, Nicaragua and elsewhere, even while fellow priests were being targeted.
It also begs the question of when the Vatican will open its archives into its World War II-era pope, Pius XII, long criticized by Jewish groups as having stayed silent in the face of the Holocaust.
The Vatican usually waits 70 years after the end of a pontificate to open its archives. But it has been under pressure to accelerate the Pius catalogue so the documents can be made public before the generation of Holocaust survivors dies.
Asked if the Argentine exception to the 70-year rule set a precedent for the Pius archives, Burke said to wait and see, suggesting a development was expected in the not-too-distant future.
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Calatrava, Luis Andres Henao and TV producer Paul Byrne contributed from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2016 file photo, Pope Francis sits at a table with, from left; Mons. Mario Antonio Cargnello, Archbishop Jose Maria Arancedo, Cardinal Mario Poli, and Mons. Carlos Humberto Malfa, on the occasion of his meeting with the Argentine Episcopal Conference,at the Vatican. The Vatican and Argentina's Catholic Church said Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, they had finished cataloguing their archives from the country's brutal "dirty war" and will soon make them available to victims and their relatives who have long accused the church of complicity with the military dictatorship. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP, files)
Angela "Lita" Boitano, president of Human Rights organization "Families of the Disappeared and Detained for Political Reasons," sits next to a picture of her with Pope Francis, taken on April 2015 when she traveled to the Vatican to ask the pope to declassify dictatorship files, as she poses for a portrait inside her home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. The Vatican and Argentina's bishops have finished cataloguing their archives from the country's "dirty war" and will soon make them available to victims and their relatives who have long accused church members of complicity with the military dictatorship. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A pigeon flies outside the Cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. The Vatican and Argentina's bishops have finished cataloguing their archives from the country's "dirty war" and will soon make them available to victims and their relatives who have long accused church members of complicity with the military dictatorship. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
UN warns of 'alarming rise in hate speech' in South Sudan
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) The U.N. human rights chief warned Tuesday against the "alarming rise in hate speech and incitement to violence against certain ethnic groups" as fighting continues in South Sudan.
Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein called the "hateful rhetoric between Dinkas and Equatorians highly dangerous" and could lead to "mass atrocities if not reined in," spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva.
Letters with warnings against ethnic Equatorians have been found outside the offices of several aid groups in Northern Bahr el Ghazal in the northwest, Shamdasani said.
Ethnic Dinka groups have warned Equatorians that they will be "eliminated," the spokeswoman said.
The threats came after an unknown number of Dinka were killed while traveling by bus to the capital, Juba, on Oct. 8, the U.N. said.
Tensions continue in South Sudan despite a 2015 peace deal to end a civil war in the world's youngest country.
Also Tuesday, a new report by Amnesty International described crimes committed by South Sudanese soldiers when clashes with the opposition in the capital, Juba, killed hundreds of people in July.
Atrocities continued even after the fighting stopped, the report said.
Soldiers raped and gang-raped more than 200 women on the basis of ethnicity over a one-week period after the clashes ended, according to Amnesty International, which called the pattern of sexual violence "systemic."
The report said the "pillage and destruction was so enormous that it could not have been done without, at a minimum, a large degree of command acquiescence."
Opposition fighters also put thousands of civilians in danger, Amnesty International said, entering U.N. civilian protection sites during clashes, potentially in an attempt to use people as human shields.
Little Rock police fatally shoot man pointing gun at uncle
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Little Rock police say an officer fatally shot an armed man while investigating a reported disturbance.
A police report says officers responding to multiple reports of a disturbance early Tuesday found 46-year-old Roy Lee Richards pointing a long gun at his uncle.
The report says one officer "engaged" Richards and fired several shots. It doesn't say whether Richards opened fire.
The officer and another officer then began resuscitation efforts.
The report says the uncle told investigators that Richards started the disturbance and was approaching him with the gun when the officers arrived.
The names of the officers were not released.
The shooting happened in Little Rock's Quapaw Quarter neighborhood of historic homes, a few blocks north of the MacArthur Park Historic District and the city's art museum.
Adriatic town blocks arrival of 12 female migrants
MILAN (AP) Residents in a town on Italy's Adriatic coast are blockading a hostel to prevent the arrival of 12 female migrants, one of them pregnant, who were to be housed there, in a sign of growing tension amid persistent migrant arrivals.
The impasse in the town of Goro came after new government figures showed migrant arrivals have surpassed the same period last year, with 153,632 so far. That compares with 153,846 for all of last year.
And while the pace is shy of the 2014 record of 170,000 migrants, Italy has tightened its borders under pressure from its European partners, meaning greater numbers are remaining in Italy than in the past.
In this picture made available Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, protesters try blocking a road with pallets to prevent a bus carrying migrants from passing, in Goro, near Ferrara, Italy. Residents in an Adriatic coastal town posted a blockade overnight to prevent the arrival of 12 female migrants, one of them pregnant, who were to be housed in a hostel, in a sign of growing tension amid persistent migrant arrivals. (Filippo Rubin/ANSA via AP)
The prefect of Ferrara province, Michele Tortora, on Tuesday called the blockade "disconcerting." He said that the women have been placed in nearby towns and that he will meet later with the mayor of Goro one of a handful of towns in the province of Ferrara that currently are housing no migrants.
Unidentified residents told Sky TG24 that they would maintain their blockade as long as it takes. They said they needed the hostel for tourism and that they were concerned about public safety.
Tortora said officials had canvassed the province looking for hotels and other buildings in which to place migrants, and had requisitioned the hostel after being repeatedly told that all buildings were fully booked. "All this touristic turnover at the end of October and November seems improbable to me," he said.
Bottled message sent out to sea is found 5 decades later
HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) A bottled message sent out to sea by a New Hampshire man more than five decades ago has been returned to his daughter.
WMUR-TV (http://bit.ly/2dFgqsy ) reports the message was discovered by Clint Buffington of Utah while he was vacationing in the Turks and Caicos.
Buffington says he found a Coke bottle half-buried in the sand. The note inside the bottle said, "Return to 419 Ocean Blvd. and receive a reward of $150 from Tina, owner of the Beachcomber."
The Beachcomber was a Hampton motel owned by the now-deceased parents of Paula Pierce in 1960.
Pierce's father had written the note as a joke and cast it into the Atlantic Ocean.
Buffington flew to New Hampshire to deliver the message to Pierce. She made good on the promised reward.
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Hungary summons Russian envoy over 1956 uprising criticism
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Hungary's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador over reportedly disparaging remarks on Russian state media about Hungary's 1956 anti-Soviet uprising.
The ministry said Tuesday it wants to clarify that Hungary does not tolerate anyone talking "in a humiliating manner about the revolution and its heroes."
The Foreign Ministry said Russian state media described the Hungarian revolt as a "pogrom" and as the first of the "color revolutions," like Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" in 2005, implying that the United States was behind the uprising.
A mural duplicating the cover of the Jan. 7, 1957 issue of the US Time magazine is applied on a building by a street artist of the legal graffiti organization, Szines Varos (Colourful City) to mark the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1956 Hungarian revolution and freedom fight in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016. The magazine cover featured Hungarian civilians who participated in the fights against communism and Soviet rule. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
The opposition party Politics Can Be Different had urged the ministry to react.
Hungary is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the brief but bloody revolt, during which over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed and which prompted 200,000 Hungarians to flee their country.
A mural duplicating the cover of the 7 January 1957 issue of the US Time magazine is depicted on a building to mark the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1956 Hungarian revolution and freedom fight in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016. The magazine cover featured Hungarian civilians who participated in the fights against communism and Soviet rule. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
San Francisco filmmaker won't face criminal charges
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A San Francisco filmmaker and community activist arrested in connection with a fatal shooting won't immediately face criminal charges, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The district attorney's office found insufficient evidence to immediately press charges against Kevin Epps, the San Francisco Chronicle reported (http://bit.ly/2dHyYsf ).
Epps, 48, won acclaim for gritty movies about the violence and poverty plaguing city communities. He is best known for his 2001 film "Straight Outta Hunters Point," which explored the devastation of the neighborhood where he was raised. He followed it with "Straight Outta Hunters Point 2" in 2014.
In this Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 photo, a woman is consoled by others as San Francisco Police guard a door after the fatal shooting of a man in San Francisco. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Kevin Joseph Epps, a San Francisco filmmaker and community activist, has been arrested on suspicion of homicide and being a felon in possession of a firearm. (Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Epps was arrested Monday afternoon, shortly after a man was found shot dead in his house in the Glen Park neighborhood. Epps was booked on suspicion of murder and being a felon in possession of a gun.
Police didn't discuss a possible motive for the shooting at the time. Epps declined to be interviewed after speaking with an attorney from the San Francisco public defender's office, the Chronicle reported.
Friends and family identified the dead man as Marcus Polk, 45, and indicated the two men knew each other, the Chronicle said.
Polk was a registered sex offender with a history of drug abuse and prior convictions for attempted robbery and domestic battery.
Epps' arrest had shocked acquaintances.
"This is one of the last things I would expect to hear," Stanley Cox Jr., an Oakland rapper known as Mistah F.A.B. who appeared in the filmmaker's 2006 documentary, "Rap Dreams."
"He's one of those guys that you idolize," Cox, 34, told the Chronicle. "He became my big brother and mentor because of the work he did in the community."
German court: Doctor who killed husband can still practice
BERLIN (AP) A court in western Germany says a doctor who killed her husband with morphine can continue practicing medicine.
The regional court in Aachen reversed an earlier ruling that would have prevented the 40-year-old defendant from working as a doctor for life.
The woman, who hasn't been named publicly in keeping with Germany's privacy laws, also was sentenced Tuesday to seven years and eight months imprisonment for manslaughter.
Prosecutors accused the woman of killing her husband after a fight in 2011. He was about 50 years older than her.
German news agency dpa reports that she told the court she wants to "return to society" after overcoming drug dependency and prostitution to become a doctor.
Emmett Till historic sign shot full of holes, being replaced
GLENDORA, Miss. (AP) A center dedicated to the memory of slain black teen Emmett Till has raised over $20,000 to replace a bullet-riddled sign commemorating the 1955 Mississippi killing that helped spur the civil rights movement.
The Emmett Till Interpretive Center has raised about 10 times the amount it will cost to replace the historical marker, The Clarion-Ledger (http://on.thec-l.com/2eNEgmP) reported.
Center director Patrick Weems said the new sign will cost between $1,400 and $2,000. He said the extra donations will be used to commemorate Till in other ways.
FILE - An undated portrait shows Emmett Till, a black 14-year-old Chicago boy, who was brutally murdered near Money, Mississippi, Aug. 31, 1955, after witnesses said he whistled at a white woman. The Emmett Till Interpretive Center, in glendora, Miss., dedicated to the memory Emmett Till, has raised over $20,000 to replace a bullet-riddled sign commemorating the 1955 Mississippi killing that helped propel the civil rights movement. (AP Photo/File)
"In doing this work for 10 years and now seeing this outpouring from people who want to see Emmett Till's memory sustained, that is incredible," he said about the donations.
The sign commemorating Till's slaying has been a repeated target of vandals, and was recently found to be damaged with bullet holes.
It was put up by the Emmett Till Memorial Commission in 2008 near the Tallahatchie River, the site where Till's body was found 61 years ago.
The 14-year-old Chicago teen was visiting relatives in the Mississippi Delta in August 1955 when witnesses said he whistled at a white woman working behind the counter of a store in the tiny town of Money.
On Aug. 28, he was kidnapped from his uncle's nearby home. Three days later his body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River, gruesomely disfigured. Barbed wire was wrapped around his neck and he was weighted down with a cotton gin fan.
Till's mother insisted on an open-casket funeral, and Jet magazine published photos of his corpse. It generated outrage that gave momentum to the civil rights movement.
In 1955, an all-white jury acquitted two white men of murder in Till's slaying.
Months later, the two told Look magazine they had in fact killed Till.
___
Cohen Joseph Fuerstenberg, 20, of Menomonie passed away Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, in Menomonie.
He was born Jan. 10, 1996, in Baldwin, Wis., to Henry and Connie (Heisa) Fuerstenberg. He grew up in Knapp, and graduated from Menomonie High School in 2014. In his junior year, Cohen joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard, where he attained the rank of specialist. Following high school graduation Cohen then graduated with honors from C.V.T.C. in May 2016, with a degree in the power and electric distribution program. He had been working as a lineman in Madison, Wis.
Cohen enjoyed hunting, fishing and spending time with friends and family.
Cohen is survived by his parents, Henry and Connie; his sister, Rhyenne; grandparents, Dave and Patty Fuerstenberg; aunts, uncles and cousins; and his girlfriend, Alana Christianson.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Gordon and Esther Heisa.
Private services are being held at Olson Funeral Home in Menomonie. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery in the town of Stanton, Dunn County, with military honors by the Wisconsin National Guard Honor Guard, and Menomonie Veterans Honor Guard.
To share a memory, please visit obituaries at www.olsonfuneral.com.
El Salvador sentences 2 teenage gang members for killings
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) A court in El Salvador has sentenced two gang members to five and 15 years in a youth correctional facility for the March killings of 11 people.
Fifteen years is the maximum sentence allowed for people convicted of crimes committed when they were between 16 and 18 years old.
The killings of eight electrical company workers and three farmers shocked the nation, and weeks later spurred the government's crackdown on street gangs.
The court ruled that one gang member nicknamed "Danger" shot the victims to death, and sentenced him to 15 years. Another gang member nicknamed "Restless" was sentenced to five years for helping him.
Pena Nieto: No president thinks "how do I screw Mexico?"
MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexico's increasingly frank president, who is battling low approval ratings, launched a campaign on Tuesday to get people to talk positively about his country.
President Enrique Pena Nieto said his administration has made mistakes, but that his efforts were in good faith.
"I don't think any president has woken up and thought, and forgive me for saying it, 'How do I screw Mexico?'" Pena Nieto said.
FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump walks with Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto at the end of their joint statement at Los Pinos, the presidential official residence, in Mexico City. President Pena Nieto said Sunday, Oct. 23, that he could have done a better job handling the controversial meeting with the Republican candidate. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)
He continued, "Let's speak well of Mexico. I am not asking you to speak well of the administration."
Pena Nieto's approval ratings were around 23 percent even before his controversial decision to meet with Republican candidate Donald Trump.
In an interview broadcast Sunday, Pena Nieto said he "could have done things in a better way" regarding the visit by Trump, who has suggested many Mexicans are criminals or rapists.
Many Mexicans wanted Pena Nieto to openly demand an apology from Trump during the visit.
Also Tuesday, Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party tried to put a corruption scandal behind it by expelling former Gov. Javier Duarte from the party ranks.
Sen. Arturo Zamora said Duarte had been expelled by a party commission, after he failed to show up to defend himself.
Authorities are trying to arrest Duarte, the former governor of Veracruz state who is under investigation for alleged money laundering and participation in organized crime. His whereabouts are unknown.
Zamora said Duarte should turn himself in to authorities.
The Latest: Pentagon says only 6,500 soldiers in bonus snafu
WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on enlistment bonuses the Pentagon is ordering California National Guard soldiers to repay (all times local):
6 p.m.
The Pentagon says it instructed at most 6,500 California National Guard soldiers to repay enlistment bonuses received a decade ago at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 21, 2016 file photo, Robert D'Andrea, a retired Army major and Iraq war veteran, holds a frame with a photo of his team on his first deployment to Iraq in his home in Los Angeles. Nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers have been ordered to repay huge enlistment bonuses a decade after signing up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via AP, File)
Defense Department spokesman Maj. Jamie Davis says the number is lower than a widely reported figure that nearly 10,000 soldiers have been told to repay part or all of their bonuses. The number was first reported by The Los Angeles Times.
Davis says an audit more than five years in the making concluded last month that 1,100 soldiers improperly received bonuses for which they were ineligible. Another 5,400 soldiers had erroneous paperwork that could have made them ineligible.
Teen shot outside Utah middle school by classmate
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A 16-year-old boy was shot twice and critically wounded by another teenager Tuesday afternoon when the two got into argument outside a middle school in a Salt Lake City suburb, authorities said.
Police arrested a 14-year-old who they believe was the shooter, Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger said.
The victim was taken by ambulance to a hospital and is in critical condition, Carriger said. He was in surgery Tuesday evening.
A group of kids gather across the street as police investigate a teen shot in argument near Union Middle School in Sandy, Utah, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger said the victim was taken by ambulance to a hospital and is in critical condition. Police arrested a 14-year-old who they believe was the shooter, said Carriger. (Scott G Winterton/Deseret News via AP)
Nobody else was hurt, but dozens of students from Union Middle School in Sandy witnessed the shooting that occurred just as students were leaving school for the day about 3 p.m., he said.
Hillcrest High School student Jasen Trotter told the Deseret News that he saw the fight between the two boys from about 15 feet away. The teens appear to have planned their encounter beforehand and met shortly after the school day ended, Trotter told the newspaper (http://bit.ly/2eJMo9G).
Trotter said one of the boys unexpectedly pulled out a gun, shot the victim and then shot him again while he was on the ground.
"It just happened so fast," Trotter said.
He said that the alleged shooter, who Trotter noted was one of his friends, fell to the ground crying after the shots were fired.
Detectives were interviewing students to determine what led to the argument and why the suspect shot the other.
The school, about 15 miles south of Salt Lake City, was briefly put on lockdown.
The suspected shooter is a student at the middle school. The victim is not, Carriger said.
Detectives are trying to find out if the suspect had the gun during school or if he got it after school.
Mason Lewis, 14, is comforted by a passerby after learning that his friend was shot outside Union Middle School in Sandy, Utah, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. A 16-year-old boy was shot twice and critically wounded by another teenager Tuesday afternoon when the two got into argument outside the middle school in a Salt Lake City suburb, authorities said. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Kalani Matthews, 17, right, and his friends gather around Rachel Otteson as they try to see photos of the Union Middle School shooting suspect, found on the Internet in West Valley City, Utah, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. A 16-year-old boy was shot twice and critically wounded by another teenager Tuesday afternoon when the two got into argument outside the middle school in a Salt Lake City suburb, authorities said. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Kalani Matthews, 17, right, gets a hug from Dusti Rowland, 16, across the street from Union Middle School in Sandy, Utah, after a shooting Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Matthews said it was his brother that was injured in the shooting. A 16-year-old boy was critically injured after being shot outside Union Middle School by a 14-year-old, who is a student at the middle school, police said. The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. when two teenage boys got into an argument on a field north of the school, said Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger.The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. when two teenage boys got into an argument on a field north of the school, said Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger. The victim was transported by ambulance in critical condition to Intermountain Medical Center, where he went into surgery. The 14-year-old suspect is in custody. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
A woman wipes her eyes outside of Union Middle School in Sandy, Utah, after a shooting involving an argument between two juveniles took place outside of the school, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. The victim was taken by ambulance to a hospital. His condition was not immediately known. The suspected shooter is in police custody. (Kristin Murphy/Deseret News via AP)
Principal Kelly Tauteoli hugs a woman outside of Union Middle School after a shooting involving an argument between two juveniles took place outside of the school, in Sandy, Utah on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. (Kristin Murphy/Deseret News via AP)
A group of kids gather across the street as police investigate a teen shot in argument near Union Middle School in Sandy, Utah, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger said the victim was taken by ambulance to a hospital and is in critical condition. Police arrested a 14-year-old who they believe was the shooter, said Carriger. (Scott G Winterton/Deseret News via AP)
Officials investigate the scene of a shooting outside Union Middle School in Sandy, Utah, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Authorities say a boy has been shot by a classmate outside of the middle school in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy. (Ravell Call/Deseret News via AP)
A 16-year-old boy was critically injured after being shot outside Union Middle School in Sandy, Utah on Tuesday Oct. 25, 2016, by a 14-year-old, who is a student at the middle school. The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. when two teenage boys got into an argument on a field north of the school, said Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger. The victim was transported by ambulance in critical condition to Intermountain Medical Center, where he went into surgery. The 14-year-old suspect is in custody. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Kalani Matthews, 17, and friend watch from across the street from Union Middle School in Sandy, Utah, after a shooting Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Matthews said it was his brother that was injured in the shooting. A 16-year-old boy was critically injured after being shot outside Union Middle School by a 14-year-old, who is a student at the middle school, police said. The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. when two teenage boys got into an argument on a field north of the school, said Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger.The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. when two teenage boys got into an argument on a field north of the school, said Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger. The victim was transported by ambulance in critical condition to Intermountain Medical Center, where he went into surgery. The 14-year-old suspect is in custody. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Kalani Matthews, 17, center, sits with friends across the street from Union Middle School in Sandy, Utah, after a shooting Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Matthews said it was his brother that was injured in the shooting. A 16-year-old boy was critically injured after being shot outside Union Middle School by a 14-year-old, who is a student at the middle school, police said. The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. when two teenage boys got into an argument on a field north of the school, said Sandy police Sgt. Dean Carriger.The victim was transported by ambulance in critical condition to Intermountain Medical Center, where he went into surgery. The 14-year-old suspect is in custody. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Panama, Colombia step up border security
PANAMA CITY (AP) The presidents of Panama and Colombia have signed agreements to increase security along their porous border, which is used by migrants and drug traffickers.
President Juan Carlos Varela of Panama met with Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos in the jungle-clad southern province of Darien Tuesday.
The two presidents said the flow of migrants has tapered off since thousands of Cubans, Haitians and others streamed north earlier in the year.
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, left, and Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela wave to the press as they arrive to Nicanor Air Naval base in Darien province, Panama, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Santos and Varela are meeting to discuss security and immigration. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
Santos said "not long ago, this border was a no-man's land."
Official figures estimate about 15,000 migrants entered Panama through Colombia so far this year. Traffickers also seek to ship drugs across the border.
The two countries agreed to establish two more joint security bases on the border, in addition to the two already operating.
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos speaks during a press conference after a meeting with his Panamanian counterpart Juan Carlos Varela at the Nicanor Air Naval base in Darien province, Panama, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Santos and Varela discussed security and immigration issues between both countries. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, left, and his Panamanian counterpart Juan Carlos Varela talk during a press conference, after a meeting at the Nicanor Air Naval base in Darien province, Panama, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Santos and Varela discussed security and immigration issues between both countries. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
Support drama in schools for more working class actors, says Michael Sheen
Working class children will be denied the chance of becoming professional actors unless they can study drama at school, actor Michael Sheen has warned.
Sheen, who famously played Tony Blair in The Queen, warned that the path into acting was being closed for many young people from working class backgrounds.
Amid criticism that the profession is increasingly dominated by people who were educated at public school, he called for greater support for drama in the state school system and for youth theatre.
Michael Sheen warned that the path into acting is being closed for many young people from working class backgrounds.
"If you want more working class actors you have to support education. There has to be a drama department in schools," he said.
"If there's not, you can forget everything else after that. Nothing else matters. You haven't got working class actors suddenly deciding to become actors and suddenly being good at it at 30.
"Acting is a craft. You just don't suddenly do it. You can't do it on your own in your bedroom either. It takes ages before you are really good at it.
"So you have got to support youth drama groups but also you have got to force youth drama groups to go out and outreach."
Sheen was speaking at an event at the Houses of Parliament highlighting the latest research by the Sutton Trust showing the UK's "professional elite" is still disproportionately educated at private schools and at Oxbridge.
While he had attended drama classes at his comprehensive school in Port Talbot, South Wales, before joining a youth theatre and then going on to receive a grant to attend drama school, he said those opportunities no longer existed for many young people.
He said that failure to ensure working class voices were heard in the theatre, in film and on television would have a wider impact on the whole culture.
"Part of what changed our culture in the late 50s and into the 60s is that we stopped doing Noel Coward and Terence Rattigan plays and John Osborne came along and wrote something, and suddenly were heard Albert Finney and Tom Courtney - people who voices and accents had never been heard apart from 'All right guv'nor' in the background," he said.
"That's what changed our country and our culture. If we only hear certain stories and certain voices we all lose out."
Chris Ashton to join Toulon from Saracens
Chris Ashton is to join Toulon next season in a move that all but ends his England career.
Saracens have confirmed that wing Ashton, who is currently serving a 13-week suspension for biting, will depart after a five-year spell at Allianz Park during which he has established himself as the double winners' leading try scorer.
"We would like to thank Chris for his contribution to Saracens and the role he played in helping us create some incredible memories during that period," director of rugby Mark McCall said.
Saracens have confirmed that Chris Ashton will join Toulon next season
England will only pick overseas-based players in exceptional circumstances, so the move prevents him from adding to his 39 caps for the duration of his spell on the south coast of France.
The 29-year-old is said to have grown disillusioned with life in the English Premiership after falling foul of the game's disciplinary process and Saracens granted his request to be released early from his contract.
He served a 10-week suspension for raking his hand over the face of Ulster's Luke Marshall earlier this year, preventing him from taking up his place in England's RBS 6 Nations squad, before being given a second lengthy ban of the year last month.
In both instances, Ashton felt he was harshly treated.
"I'd like to put on record my thanks to Mark McCall, our chairman Nigel Wray and the whole team at Saracens for the manner in which they have dealt with my request to join Toulon next season," Ashton said.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Allianz Park and I have made so many special memories on and off the field.
"I have developed as a player during my time with Sarries, but more importantly I have developed as a person and I will always be indebted to the club for that.
"There is a tremendous culture at Saracens and the bond between everyone here is very tight.
"It will be a real wrench for me to leave all that behind at the end of the season, but I'm looking forward to a new challenge at Toulon next year.
"My focus now is helping the squad prepare for Leicester on Saturday, contributing to the side when I return to action later this year and hopefully making a few more memories together in a black and red shirt."
Ashton had 18 months to run on his current contract, so is leaving a year ahead of schedule, and he has agreed to join Toulon until 2020 to follow a path into the Top 14 taken by his former Saracens team-mate and wing David Strettle.
He returns from his latest disciplinary lapse on December 19 and knows that, had he avoided the ban, he would have been in contention for England's autumn campaign following injuries to rivals Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell.
Australia's richest woman defends bid for cattle empire
By Tom Westbrook
SYDNEY, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart on Tuesday defended her joint bid with China's Shanghai CRED Real Estate for the nation's biggest cattle empire, after it was trumped by a rival all-Australian syndicate.
Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting issued a statement detailing the virtues of her A$365 million ($278 million) offer with Shanghai CRED for S. Kidman and Co, hoping to counter any concerns about foreign ownership.
Kidman Managing Director Greg Campbell said Hancock remains the preferred bidder and has the right to match any rival offers, but added the A$386 million BBHO offer would be fairly evaluated once fully lodged.
"It will be a balancing act of sentiment and history and price in the minds of the shareholders," he told Reuters by phone.
The sale of Kidman, which has an average beef herd carrying capacity of 185,000 cattle and grazing rights to a South Korea-sized swathe of land, is under the microscope amid Australia's increasingly protective stance against foreign takeovers in its agricultural sector.
Domestic ownership of agriculture, seen as crucial for the country to cash in on global food demand and to keep tax revenues onshore, has become a hot political issue. The BBHO bid has the advantage of not needing approval from Australia's foreign investment review board.
"The Hancock JV bid is an Australian bid, you don't get much more Australian than fourth generation Australian Gina Rinehart, so let's not start to pretend otherwise," Hancock Chief Executive Garry Korte said in the statement.
"The real difference between the bids is that we will maintain and secure the future of the Kidman legacy, invest in the stations and avoid seeing it split up and destroyed."
That contrasts with the BBHO bid, comprised of the Brinkworth, Buntine, Harris and Oldfield wealthy grazier families, which plans to break up the Kidman lands to share between them.
The Rinehart-CRED bid excludes two large defence-sensitive Kidman properties, Anna Creek and The Peake, which are adjacent to a government weapons-testing range. A Rinehart spokeswoman, Sophie Mirabella, said on Monday that exclusion and a "break-fee" of A$3.8 million if Kidman ditches the Rinehart-CRED bid leaves the duelling bids valued "about the same".
The Australian government has twice rejected foreign offers for Kidman, including a previous bid by Shanghai CRED and China's Hunan Dakang Pasture Farming Co Ltd that had a minority Australian interest.
The BBHO proposal would keep the 100-year-old Kidman name for marketing purposes but split up the vast properties, with various pieces to be absorbed in to the bidding families' existing cattle runs.
($1 = 1.3137 Australian dollars)
Philippines' Duterte hits out at U.S., then heads to Japan
By Martin Petty and Linda Sieg
MANILA/TOKYO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out anew at the United States on Tuesday and said it could forget a bilateral defence deal if he stayed in power long enough, in the latest jarring statement from Manila about the future of the alliance.
Duterte delivered his new broadside as he was about to board a plane for an official visit to fellow U.S. ally Japan, a big investor in the Philippines that is becoming nervous about its apparent pivot towards rival power China.
The volatile, crime-busting Duterte had on the eve of the visit softened his remarks last week about a "separation" from Washington, telling Japanese media he was not planning to change alliances and was only seeking to build trade and commerce with China.
But he pulled no punches on Tuesday when he said he hated having foreign troops in the Philippines and told the United States not to treat his country "like a dog with a leash".
Commenting on a visit to Manila on Monday by Daniel Russel, an Assistant Secretary of State, Duterte said Washington should forget about an Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the Philippines if he were to stay in charge longer.
"You have the EDCA, well forget it. If I stay here long enough," he said. "I do not want to see any military man of any other nation except the Filipino. That's the only thing I want."
He did not elaborate on what staying longer meant. In the Philippines, a president is allowed only one six-year term in office.
The remarks were another perplexing swing from Duterte, who last week announced in China his "separation" from the United States, before assuring that ties were not being severed and he was merely pursuing an independent foreign policy.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Duterte's remarks were "inexplicably at odds" with the relationship the two countries continued to enjoy and Washington was going to "take the long view" on ties with Manila.
"We've seen this rhetoric and then we've seen it walked back," he told a regular news briefing. "We're not going to react and respond to every bit of rhetoric. We're going to continue to work at this relationship."
Kirby said the United States would continue to meet its obligations in its defence treaty with the Philippines and had not seen Duterte's comments against it translate into policy.
"The long view in our mind is a sustained, healthy, vibrant, bilateral relationship with the people and the government of the Philippines. That's what we've had for 70-odd years and that's what we expect to have for 70-plus more years ... so that's where our focus is on," he said.
Duterte's latest swipe at Washington could rattle Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who wants to keep ties with the Philippines tight. Abe is to hold rare one-on-one talks with Duterte at his residence in Tokyo on Wednesday evening.
Before leaving for Tokyo, Duterte described Japan as a true friend that had played a "preeminent and peerless role" as a big investor and Philippine development partner.
'I DIDN'T START THIS FIGHT'
But he quickly became vexed when answering questions and held up the front page of a Philippine newspaper which carried the headline "Duterte sparking international distress - U.S.".
Duterte vented at Washington on several fronts, from its bombing of Manila at the end of World War Two to embassy officials once questioning his intentions when he applied for a visa to visit a girlfriend.
"You know, I did not start this fight," he said.
Director of U.S. National Intelligence James Clapper said Duterte was playing to a domestic audience.
"President Duterte has a point of view, I think conditioned quite a bit by his own life and his apparent resentment of the United States and its relationship with the Philippines, so he has reached out to the Chinese," Clapper said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Clapper said he had recently had a private meeting with senior Philippine intelligence officials. "They are themselves concerned about the impact on our relationship," he said. "So we will just have to see how it plays out."
Duterte's overtures to China and hostility towards the United States have raised questions about what his overall goal is and the extent to which his actions could shake up the geopolitical dynamic of a region wary about Beijing's growing influence and U.S. staying power.
Abe has sought to strengthen ties with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, particularly Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, as a counter-balance to Beijing.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday that both presidents would have a meeting to "further the strategic partnership with the Philippines".
Japanese officials said Abe would not overtly try to mediate between Tokyo and Washington but would probably explain the importance of the U.S. role in the region. Kirby said Washington had no "special expectations" for Duterte's Tokyo visit.
First repatriation of Myanmar refugees in Thailand begins
By Amy Sawitta Lefevre
BANGKOK, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The first, voluntary repatriation of 68 Myanmar refugees from camps along the Thai-Myanmar border began on Tuesday with the United Nations refugee agency calling the movement a "milestone" while underscoring it would not lead to an exodus.
The return of the refugees is the first to receive endorsement from the Thai and Myanmar governments, the UNHCR said.
For tens of thousands of refugees living in a total of nine camps along Thailand's border with Myanmar a return home has been a dream made impossible because of political and economic uncertainty in Myanmar.
That has somewhat changed since a civilian government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, took power earlier this year.
The return began on Tuesday with one family leaving a camp in the western province of Ratchaburi. Dozens more from Nupo Camp in Thailand's western Tak province will follow on Wednesday, said Iain Hall, UNHCR's senior field coordinator.
"This particular movement is a milestone," Hall told Reuters by telephone from the border town of Mae Sot, which is located some 490 km (304 miles) from the Thai capital Bangkok.
"But it won't be the start of a large exodus," he said.
"The Myanmar government came over and issued certificates of identification saying these people are their citizens," said Hall, adding that those who chose to return had based their decision on information given by their families in Myanmar who said that it was safe to return.
There are around 103,000 refugees and internally displaced people living in the nine camps along the border.
Some residents have been living in the camps for 30 years. Nearly 80 percent are ethnic Karen from eastern Myanmar who fled armed conflict and often persecution at the hands of the Myanmar army during decades of military rule.
Ko Ko Naing, a senior official from Myanmar's Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlements said Myanmar was ready to receive the returnees.
"These people want to return to Myanmar of their own volition," he told Reuters.
Successive Thai governments have raised the possibility of shutting down the camps permanently. Hall said now was not the time.
"We're not promoting return and we've made that clear with both governments," said Hall.
"We don't yet believe it is the time to return but of course these people have the right to return if they want to."
CHIPPEWA FALLS/CORNELL Theodore Ted Wajek, 91, of Chippewa Falls and formerly of Cornell, died Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, at St. Josephs Hospital in Chippewa Falls, and was a man who will be greatly missed. He was one of the greatest generations seeing action in World War II. Ted loved his God, his family and his country.
Ted was born at home June 19, 1925, in Gilman, Wis., the son of Frank and Inga (Bittner) Wajek.
He grew up in Cornell, and is a graduate of Cornell High School, obtaining credit for his senior year due to his service in the Navy during World War II.
He was in the Navy from June 1943 until his discharge in May 1946, serving as a signalman on the N.S.S. LCI44, much of that time in the Mediterranean Sea, involved in the invasion of southern France.
Ted married Beverly Bushland June 27, 1946, at Notre Dame Church in Chippewa Falls.
Ted attended Chippewa Valley Technical College becoming the second student to receive a welding certificate. He worked at Presto Industries, the Cornell Paper Mill (1949-1972), and Uniroyal until his retirement in 1987.
He and Beverly moved to Chippewa Falls in 1972, after the close of the Cornell Paper Mill.
Surviving are his wife of 70 years, Beverly; his children, Cheryl (Paul) Pedersen of Indian Trail, N.C., Thomas Wajek of Lakeland, Fla., Mary (Jack) Teela of Estero, Fla., James Wajek, Steven (Teresa) Wajek and Susan Schulz, all of Chippewa Falls; he is survived by 13 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren.
Ted loved to dance the polka and was an avid stamp collector, which gave him his tremendous knowledge of the world. He also loved fishing, casinos, hunting, cards and traveling. One of Teds prides was that he had traveled to every state in the continental U.S. Ted belonged to the Knights of Columbus (Cornell) the American Legion (Cornell) VFW (Chippewa Falls) Moose Club (Eau Claire).
Ted delighted in everyday life. He was always the first with a joke, the first to laugh at a joke and the first to support and help a friend.
This man leaves many happy memories for all who knew him. He has given inspiration to all with his work ethic, his environmental concerns and his patriotism. His grandchildren will always remember his answer when they called him or saw him. How are you Grandpa? His answer, Still vertical! This was always followed by his contagious chuckling. His children believe him to be the original recycler, the first person to buy only American made items, and a person who could laugh at himself and his own jokes to eternity.
A wake celebrating Teds life will be held from 10 until 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at Holy Ghost Church in Chippewa Falls.
A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at Holy Ghost Church in Chippewa Falls. The Rev. Justin Kizewski will be celebrant of the funeral Mass. Burial of cremains will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, in the Cornell Cemetery with military rites.
Horan Funeral Home in Chippewa Falls is in charge of arrangements.
Family and friends may express condolences online at www.horanfuneralhome.com.
China regulator asked to curb property firms' fundraising - Caixin
SHANGHAI, Oct 25 (Reuters) - China's securities regulator has been instructed to curb access to bond and H-share financing by real estate firms, online financial magazine Caixin reported on Tuesday, citing sources.
H-shares are Hong Kong-traded stocks issued by companies registered in mainland China.
China's main economic planner has also been instructed to curb bond issuance approvals by real estate firms, Caixin said.
Caixin's report comes amid increasing signs of a crackdown on China's bubbly real estate market. Multiple industry sources told Reuters last week that bond issuance by real estate firms on public exchanges has become far more difficult recently, as policymakers worry about high housing and land prices.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission did not respond to faxed and emailed requests for comment, and multiple calls went unanswered.
PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Oct 25
SOFIA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
-- Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said he would not seek the support of ethnic Turkish MRF party for the pending presidential elections because the party would then demand access to governance. (Standart, 24 Chasa, Trud, Monitor)
-- Asylum seekers, mainly from Afghanistan, at the camp in the southern city of Harmanli protested against the conditions and at the camp and demanded faster processing of their refugee status as well as the right to leave the country through Serbia. (Duma, Standart, Sega, Trud)
Romania - Factors to watch on Oct. 25
Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Tuesday.
MONEY SUPPLY
Romania's central bank will release M3 money supply data for September.
DEBT TENDER
Romania sold a planned 500 million lei ($120.90 million) worth of Dec. 2022 treasury bonds on Monday, with the average accepted yield at 2.65 percent, central bank data showed.
CEE MARKETS
Czech crown forwards surged on Monday due to speculation that the currency would strengthen sharply once the bank ends its weak crown policy.
LIBERALS
Romania's second largest party, the centrist Liberals, proposed incumbent technocrat Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos to continue to run the country at the helm of Liberal-led government if their grouping wins a Dec. 11 general election.
WHEAT
Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) set a tender on Monday to buy an unspecified amount of wheat from global suppliers for shipment from Dec. 1-10. GASC wanted to buy cargoes of soft and/or milling wheat from the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Poland, Argentina, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria.
MAIZE
The European Union's crop monitoring service on Monday lowered its yield forecast for this year's EU maize harvest for the third month in a row due to the impact of summer drought which also disrupted rapeseed sowing for next year's harvest.
NON-PERFORMING LOANS
Three or four deals to sell banks' non-performing loans worth an overall 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) are currently under negotiation, PwC Romania director of Financial Services Deals Jonathan Wheatley was quoted saying by Ziarul Financiar.
SWISS FRANC LOANS
The government has challenged at the Constitutional Court a bill that converts Swiss franc loans into the leu currency at historical rates, its spokesman told state news agency Agerpres on Monday.
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Surging coking coal prices to hit Japan steelmaker earnings
By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Surging prices for coking coal will likely drive Japan's top two steel producers to miss their earnings forecasts for this financial year, but will help suppliers of the steelmaking ingredient such as Mitsubishi Corp , analysts said.
Lower-than-expected profits at Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal and JFE Holdings, already grappling with a stronger yen, could ramp up pressure to raise prices for steel products.
Spot prices for premium hard coking coal <_.PHCC-AUSSI> in Australia, which dominates global exports, this week surged to over $245 a tonne. That took the rally so far this year to more than 200 percent, after China moved to cut overcapacity in its mammoth coal sector.
Five analysts in the last 30 days have cut their recurring profit estimates for Nippon Steel for the year to March 31 by 36 percent on average and for JFE by 49 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S/.
"Their margins will be squeezed in the October-March half as procurement costs of raw materials will rise by about 4,000 yen ($38.30) a tonne from a year ago," said Goldman Sachs analyst Shuhei Nakamura.
He recently slashed his annual recurring profit estimate for Nippon Steel by 14 percent to 106 billion yen and for JFE by 28 percent to 41.8 billion yen, below the companies' forecasts of 130 billion yen and 65 billion yen respectively.
He added, however, that the estimate is based on an assumption of hard coking coal prices falling to $174 per tonne in January-March from $200 per tonne this quarter.
To offset ballooning costs, Nippon Steel is looking for an increase in product prices of 10,000 yen per tonne in total in the second half compared to the year before, President Kosei Shindo said on Monday, adding that soaring raw material prices were a key management concern.
But analysts including SMBC Nikko Securities' Atsushi Yamaguchi think steelmakers cannot pass on the whole burden to customers.
"There is excess (steel) supply globally. Steel prices will only rise, pushed by cost, not pulled by demand. Historically, steelmakers lose money under such condition," he said.
Meanwhile, firmer prices are good news for coal suppliers such as Mitsubishi Corp, which jointly owns 8 mines with BHP Billiton in Australia.
"Mitsubishi benefits most among Japanese trading companies from higher coking coal prices," Macquarie analyst Polina Diyachkina said, predicting profit would come in at 388 billion yen this year, 55 percent above the firm's guidance.
Mitsubishi, which last year booked its first-ever annual net loss due to massive writedowns on a slump in commodity prices, has predicted a profit of 250 billion yen this year.
"If the spot (coking coal) price holds up at the current level until March, there is a further 50 billion yen upside," said Diyachkina.
Anglo American rallies again, output guidance broadly unchanged
By Barbara Lewis and Mamidipudi Soumithri
LONDON/BENGALURU, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Anglo American on Tuesday left output guidance broadly unchanged for most of its commodities, adding market conditions had improved for its diamond business, while it trimmed full-year production expectations for coking coal exports.
Chief Executive Mark Cutifani said in a statement operational improvements were continuing across the portfolio.
Analysts also said the results were solid and Anglo American's share price gained another 3.8 percent by 0748 GMT, adding to a leap of well over 250 percent this year.
The gains have been fuelled by a rally in commodities, notably coal.
Coking coal prices have risen by more than 200 percent, meaning even small changes in output can impact profits and prices.
Anglo American has estimated a $10 per tonne price increase in coking coal creates a $142 million change in pre-tax earnings, while for thermal coal the same increase leads to an extra $54-to-$200 million depending on the region.
Anglo American lowered full-year production guidance for export metallurgical coal to 20.5-21.5 million tonnes from 21-22 million following the completion of the Foxleigh sale in Australia at the end of August.
Full-year production guidance for export thermal coal from South Africa and Colombia was unchanged at 28-30 million tonnes.
Anglo American has said it is focusing on high value core commodities, including platinum group minerals, copper and diamonds.
For its De Beers diamond unit, it said market conditions had improved after a difficult 2015 and output had been increased by 4 percent to 6.3 million carats compared with the third quarter a year ago.
Rough diamond sales increased by 77 percent in the third quarter to 5.3 million carats.
Full-year production guidance remains unchanged at 26-28 million carats, subject to trading conditions.
For copper and platinum, it also said overall guidance was unchanged.
Production from Los Bronces in Chile decreased by 27 percent to 72,100 tonnes due to expected lower grades and in part because of a strike, but it reaffirmed its previous full-year guidance of 570,000 to 600,000 tonnes.
Sunni Arabs forced to leave Kirkuk after Islamic State attack, residents say
KIRKUK, Iraq, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Hundreds of displaced Sunni Arab families have had to leave Kirkuk after an Islamic State attack on the Kurdish-controlled city which authorities suspect was helped by Sunni sleeper cells, humanitarian workers and residents said on Tuesday.
The Sunni families, who had been sheltering in Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk province from the conflict with Islamic State, began moving out after authorities told them on Sunday to leave or face being forcibly expelled, the sources said.
About 330,000 Sunni Arabs have taken refuge in the oil-rich Kirkuk province in the last two years, after Islamic State swept through northern, central and western Iraq in 2014.
Some had fled because of the fighting and others because of the hardline Sunni group's harsh rules and the difficult living conditions in their villages and towns.
Islamic State fighters stormed police stations and buildings in Kirkuk on Friday, killing about 100 security force members and civilians. Sixty-three militants also died in the heavy fighting that lasted until Sunday, when authorities restored control.
The jihadists carried out the operation to relieve pressure on Mosul, the last major city stronghold of Islamic State in Iraq, where the group is fighting off an offensive by Iraqi army units and Kurdish forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition.
The militants are suspected to have come from Hawija, a pocket still under their control west of Kirkuk, but authorities also suspect that they were assisted by sleeper cells hiding among the displaced people or even by Sunni Arab residents.
More than 250 families were counted leaving at a main exit checkpoint on Monday and more were crossing on Tuesday, a local humanitarian worker said, adding that some were heading to other camps for displaced people and others trying to return home.
Spokespeople at the migration ministry in Baghdad and the Kurdish provincial authorities declined to comment.
Kirkuk is the most disputed area of Iraq because of its complex population mix. The Kurds took full control of the province in 2014 after Islamic State overran much of the north of the country and several divisions of the Iraqi army disintegrated.
Arabs complain that Kurds have since flooded to Kirkuk to tilt the demographic balance, while Kurds say they are simply redressing historic wrongs perpetrated by Saddam Hussein, the Sunni Arab leader toppled by the United States in 2003.
Driven to Dhaka by disasters, Bangladeshi girls harassed into marriage
By Liz Mermin and Mushfique Wadud
DHAKA, Oct 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - It was after floods washed away her family's river-front land in Bangladesh's northern Jamalpur district that Brishti Rafiq's widowed father brought her to live in Dhaka.
"We couldn't survive like that. We had no property or anything," she said of her former home.
She was only three or four years old when they came to the city, but her father soon arranged a job for her, as a maid for another family.
As she grew, Brishti hoped to be a doctor. But like many young girls in Bangladesh, she faced a different future: marriage at 13, in a union arranged by her father.
In this South Asian nation, it is illegal for girls under the age of 18 to marry. But despite government campaigns, many parents do not heed the law.
According to data published in 2015 by UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, 29 percent of Bangladeshi girls were married by the time they were 15, the world's highest rate. The figure has since dropped, in part because of efforts to end the practice, but remains at a worrying 18 percent.
Experts, however, fear that growing migration to already overcrowded Dhaka, as climate change pressures exacerbate poverty, could result in a new surge in child marriages.
Early marriage not only deprives girls of education and opportunities but increases their risk of death or severe childbirth injuries if they have babies before their bodies are ready, experts say.
When Brishti was told she would marry, she opposed the match - but her father would not listen.
"He got me married in such a hurry. He didn't ask a lot of questions," said the girl, who is today 14.
"Just like you got a chicken from the market and you have to cook it tonight," she said, matter of factly.
The marriage didn't work out - her husband already had another wife, and Brishti's family couldn't pay the dowry her new inlaws demanded. The couple divorced, and Brishti moved in with her half siblings and an aunt - until a neighbour tried to sexually assault her one night.
Now, divorced and alone at 14, she lives as a lodger in the garment factory where she works each day, one of a growing flood of girls first set adrift by extreme weather and migration, and then trapped by poverty and decisions beyond their control.
Among families who have migrated to Bangladesh's capital from rural areas, often as a result of losing their land or crops to harsh weather, her experience is increasingly common, activists say.
"EVE-TEASING"
The flood of rural families moving to Dhaka's slums is growing as people lose their homes, farms and jobs to river-bank erosion and climate change pressures, such as worsening floods and droughts and more intense storms.
Research carried out among adolescent girls in the southern district of Barguna by the charity Plan International found that, after powerful Cyclone Sidr hit in 2007, a "significant proportion" of schoolgirls migrated to towns to work as maids or in the garment industry.
Most never returned to school - and the number of child marriages surged as well, the report said.
Activists say that, once in crowded cities like Dhaka, girls face an even greater risk of early marriage and sexual violence than they would have in their villages back home.
In a 2015 survey by charity ActionAid, 84 percent of girls and women interviewed in seven Bangladeshi cities reported being the subject of verbal abuse and sexual remarks, while 56 percent said they had been subject to sexual harassment in a public place, known in the region as "Eve teasing".
"The Dhaka I grew up in and the Dhaka of today are worlds apart. It was far safer then," said Shahana Siddiqui, a gender specialist at the James P. Grant School of Public Health at Dhaka's BRAC University.
Today, "getting harassed on the streets is just part of women's lives", she said.
Parents fear their daughters are more likely to be exposed to the advances of men in the city, which could tarnish their reputation. Early marriage is seen as one way of dealing with that problem.
"An unmarried girl getting sexually assaulted becomes an issue of family honour," Siddiqui explained. "Instead of saying the boys shouldn't be doing it, the idea is, 'Let's get the girls married off.'"
Brishti's friend Razia Akter, a migrant from Polbandha village, also in Jamalpur, is now under pressure to marry too. Her father, Mohammed Azim, has already given away his eldest daughter in marriage, and thinks it is now time for Razia, 14, to wed as well.
"If my daughter is walking down the road talking to a boy and someone sees, they will tell everyone my daughter is seeing him. Then your honour is immediately lost," he said.
"As soon as people start thinking this has happened, everything is finished, you will lose face."
According to Bangladeshi human rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), 10 Bangladeshi girls committed suicide in 2015 after suffering sexual harassment, and five were murdered when they protested about being harassed, based on information gathered from newspaper reports.
MILLIONS TO MIGRATE
The stresses dragging girls into early marriage could deepen if - as expected - worsening extreme weather, sea-level rise and riverbank erosion drive increasing numbers of people into Bangladesh's already packed slums seeking work, experts warn.
Saleemul Huq, director of the Dhaka-based International Centre for Climate Change and Development, said that in the past 200 years, Bangladesh experienced an average of one major flood every 20 years. But in the past two decades, he said, the frequency has increased to one every five years.
As Bangladesh's dry season gets longer and its rainy season wetter, Huq predicted some 10 million more migrants would head to Bangladesh's cities in the next two decades. Most will likely end up in Dhaka, swelling its already cramped population of around 18 million, he added.
"Dhaka is the fastest-growing megacity in the world," Huq said.
Efforts by the government and aid agencies are underway to help people adapt to climate change where they are living - from providing fresh drinking water in areas where water supplies are contaminated by salt to conserving water for irrigation in drought-prone areas, and introducing hardier crop varieties.
"Unfortunately it is a losing battle," said Huq. "Climate change is always a step ahead of what we can do in order to combat it."
People living in the most hazardous areas bear the brunt of climate-linked disasters, and "they tend to be the poorest people of the community", he added.
"HOPELESS SITUATION"
After Razia's family lost their home to river erosion, her father worked locally as a farm labourer but couldn't support his wife and three children. He brought them to Dhaka three years ago, where they could at least earn enough to eat.
Razia's parents no longer have the money to send her to school. Back home she was a good student, but her dreams of becoming a teacher - something her former schoolteacher encouraged - are out of reach for now, she says.
Razia does not want to marry for another two to three years - and when she does, she hopes to go back to her village. Her mother agrees it would be better to wait until she is 18 to wed.
But her father said the family was "in a hopeless situation", leaving them with little choice. "Can't you understand? We are poor people. We also need to pay for (Razia's) upkeep. So we are forced to get her married," he said.
Siddiqui questions that argument, particularly because Razia has a job as a maid and contributes to the family income.
"Your daughter is earning, so why do you see her as a mouth to feed?" she asks. "Most of the daughters are earning more than the sons."
DISASTER PLANNING
Heather Barr, a women's rights researcher with Human Rights Watch, said that some families she's come across now even arrange early marriages for their daughters in anticipation of their properties being swept away by river erosion.
"One of the ways you cope with it is by trying to unload your kids," she said. "After this cataclysm happens, you're probably not going to be able to feed your daughter, let alone get her married to someone."
Barr said Bangladesh should aim to give women a bigger role in devising ways to adapt to climate change and manage natural disasters, to help ensure girls stay in school and are not forced into early marriage.
"You have to understand the impact on women, and plan for it - and there is really no way to do that except by including women in the process," she said.
Islamists launch three attacks in Somalia and Kenya in 24 hours
By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar
MOGADISHU, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group rammed a military base with a suicide truck bomb, shot dead an intelligence officer and killed 12 people in a Kenyan border town in a series of strikes over 24 hours, the militants said on Tuesday.
The group, which once ruled much of Somalia, wants to topple the Western-backed government in Mogadishu and drive out African AMISOM peacekeepers made up of soldiers from Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Ethiopia and other African nations.
The attacks mark the build up to elections in coming weeks for the Somali parliament, which will in turn pick a new president to continue slow reconstruction efforts in a nation racked by more than two decades of conflict.
Al Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab said the group was behind a truck bomb that rammed into an AMISOM base in the Somali town of Beledweyne, north of Mogadishu. He said 17 soldiers from Djibouti were killed.
AMISOM, which is battling the Islamist rebels in support of the government, said a vehicle packed with explosives was set off at the base and 10 suspected al Shabaab militants attacked. "The terrorists were all killed," it said on Twitter.
"Reinforcement from a nearby base was rushed to the camp and the situation swiftly brought under control," AMISOM added.
Al Shabaab, whose assessment of casualties often varies from those of officials, typically rams the entrance to a target site with a car or truck bomb so that its fighters can storm in.
The al Shabaab spokesman also said the group shot senior intelligence officer Colonel Abdiasis Araye as he walked to a mosque late on Monday in Mogadishu.
He also said al Shabaab was behind Tuesday's early morning attack on a hotel in Kenya's northeastern Mandera town, killing at least 12 people according to police and 15 people according to al Shabaab's account. [nL8N1CV0UV}
Al Shabaab has often launched attacks in neighbouring Kenya, saying it will continue until Kenyan forces were withdrawn.
Some Indonesians "joining pro-Islamic State groups in Philippines"
By Kanupriya Kapoor and Agustinus Beo Da Costa
JAKARTA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Islamic State supporters from Indonesia are travelling to join forces with their counterparts in the Philippines, raising concerns about cross-border violence, Indonesian anti-terrorism officials said on Tuesday.
Authorities in Southeast Asia have been on heightened alert since a gun-and-bomb attack rocked the Indonesian capital Jakarta in January and stamped Islamic State's presence in the region for the first time.
"Some (Indonesian Islamic State supporters) are training in the Philippines," said A. Syamsu of the Indonesian counter-terrorism agency. "There's no exact number yet but it could be dozens."
Authorities across the region have in the last year cracked down on Islamic State sympathizers attempting to travel to Syria.
That has forced many Indonesian radicals to use sea routes to travel to the Philippines instead making it harder to track their movements, national police chief Tito Karnavian said in an interview last week.
Jakarta-based terrorism expert Sidney Jones, in a report that detailed links between Indonesian, Malaysian and Philippine radical networks, said they are now increasing cooperation, making cross-border violence likely.
"As getting to Syria becomes increasingly difficult for Southeast Asian fighters, Mindanao (in the southern Philippines) may be the next best option," Jones wrote in the report.
In June, militants who claimed to be fighting for Islamic State said in a video they had chosen the Philippines' most wanted man, Isnilon Hapilon, to lead their Southeast Asian faction.
The video, posted on social media, marked Islamic State's acceptance of allegiance from Southeast Asian supporters and called for them to launch attacks in the region.
Hapilon is known to be a member of the Abu Sayyaf group based in the Mindanao region and known for kidnappings and extortion. He has a $5 million bounty on his head from the U.S. State Department for the kidnapping of Americans in 2001.
Authorities in the Philippines say there are a handful of Indonesian and Malaysian militants in Mindanao.
Malaysian police have arrested more than 100 suspected Islamic State sympathizers this year and stepped up security in case fighters try to return from the Middle East in the wake of an ongoing offensive in the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, Iraq.
Norway nuclear reactor leak contained, no injuries sustained -reactor owner IFE
OSLO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A radioactive leak at a reactor in Norway has been contained, with no injuries sustained, an official at the research institute where the reactor is located said on Tuesday.
"The reactor is shut. The leak is contained," Atle Valseth, research director at the Institute for Energy Technology told Reuters.
Iraqi army's elite force pauses advance near Mosul
By Stephen Kalin and Maher Chmaytelli
EAST OF MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq Oct 25 (Reuters) - An elite unit of the Iraqi army paused its week-long advance on Mosul as it approached the city's eastern edge on Tuesday, waiting for other U.S.-backed forces to close in on Islamic State's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.
Seeking to relieve pressure on their forces controlling the northern Iraqi city, Islamic State fighters who have waged counter attacks across the country battled Iraqi troops in the desert town of Rutba, 450 km (280 miles) to the southwest.
On the ninth day of the offensive on Mosul, government forces and allied Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are still fighting their way towards the city's outer limits, in the early stages of an assault which could become the biggest military operation in Iraq in over a decade.
The first to get near to Mosul, advancing to within two kilometres (just over a mile) of Iraq's second largest city, was the elite U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).
CTS troops have moved in from the east, dislodging Islamic State from a Christian region that has been empty of residents since the ultra-hardline Sunni militants took it over in 2014.
The combat ahead is likely to be more difficult and deadly because of the presence of civilians. Some 1.5 million residents remain in the city and worst-case forecasts see up to a million being uprooted, according to the United Nations.
U.N. aid agencies said the fighting has so far forced about 9,000 to flee their homes. U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said Islamic State fighters have reportedly killed scores of people around Mosul in the last week.
Colville said that security forces discovered the bodies of 70 civilians in houses in Tuloul Naser village south of Mosul last Thursday. Islamic State also reportedly killed 50 former police officers outside Mosul on Sunday, he said.
90 VILLAGES RETAKEN
The Mosul campaign, which aims to crush the Iraqi half of Islamic State's declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria, may become the biggest battle yet in the 13 years of turmoil unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A CTS commander said the advance will pause to allow the other military units to make a similar progress and consolidate the front before pushing further into the city.
The Iraqi force attacking Mosul is 30,000-strong, joined by U.S. special forces and under American, French and British air cover. The number of insurgents dug in the city is estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 by the Iraqi military.
About 90 Islamic State-held villages and towns around Mosul have been retaken so far into the offensive, according to statements from the army. The distance from the frontlines to the city ranges from just a couple of kilometres in the east, to 30 kilometres (nearly 20 miles) in the south.
In Khazna, one of the villages recaptured on Monday by the CTS, some of the fighting appeared to have gone from house to house, leaving smoked out buildings with their contents turned upside down, a Reuters correspondent said. A disabled Humvee and the remnants of a car bomb could be seen on a desert path.
Although CTS is a government unit, many of its Humvees fly the Shi'ite flags of Iraq's majority community. Such a display could antagonise Sunnis who make up most of the population in Nineveh province around Mosul.
BATTLE FOR DESERT TOWN
Another battle was raging in the western Anbar province, where Islamic State militants were fighting off for a third day an offensive by the army and Sunni tribal fighters seeking to dislodge them from the border town of Rutba.
Rutba lies on the main highway running west from Baghdad, close to the borders with Jordan and Syria.
The militants expanded the area under their control in the town from a third to about half Monday overnight, forcing the government to send reinforcements.
Anbar has been a hotbed of Sunni insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government and the U.S. forces that overthrew former president Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003.
The attack on Rutba came after an assault on the Kurdish-held oil city of Kirkuk last week, which prompted local authorities to start expelling Sunni Arabs over fears there could be Islamic State sleeper cells in their midst.
Hundreds of displaced Sunni Arab families who had been sheltering in the Kirkuk province from the conflict with Islamic State began moving out after authorities told them on Sunday to leave or face being forcibly expelled, humanitarian workers and residents said on Tuesday.
About 330,000 Sunni Arabs have taken refuge in the oil-rich Kirkuk province in the last two years, after Islamic State swept through northern, central and western Iraq in 2014.
Islamic State fighters stormed police stations and buildings in Kirkuk on Friday, killing about 100 security force members and civilians. Sixty-three militants also died in the heavy fighting that lasted until Sunday, when authorities restored control.
The militants are suspected to have come from Hawija, a pocket still under their control west of Kirkuk, but authorities also suspect that they were assisted by sleeper cells hiding among the displaced people or even by Sunni Arab residents.
Kirkuk is the most disputed area of Iraq because of its complex population mix. The Kurds took full control of the province in 2014 after Islamic State overran much of the north of the country and several divisions of the Iraqi army disintegrated.
Map showing Islamic State counter-attacks across Iraq
http://tmsnrt.rs/2ezSp7I
JetBlue's profit misses as higher costs drag
Oct 25 (Reuters) - JetBlue Airways Corp reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday as aircraft maintenance and labor costs rose, and the U.S. budget carrier's average fare fell about 6 percent.
JetBlue shares were down 5.2 percent in early trading.
Revenue per available seat mile, a closely watched measure that compares sales to flight capacity, fell 3.5 percent in the third quarter ended Sept. 30.
JetBlue is expanding rapidly, adding new flights to Cuba and Florida and planning to enter Atlanta, long dominated by larger rival Delta Air Lines Inc. The company hopes low fares, free snacks and extra legroom will help win over travelers.
However, it is not without challenges. With a U.S. ban on tourism to Cuba still in effect, JetBlue and other airlines have started service to gain a foothold on the communist-ruled island, but without demand to fill all planes profitably.
JetBlue's total operating expenses rose 3.1 percent to $1.38 billion as the airline spent more on maintenance and repair, and incurred higher costs related to wages and benefits.
However, the airline spent less on fuel, paying an average $1.48 per gallon of fuel in the quarter, compared with $1.85 a year earlier.
JetBlue said it expected fourth-quarter unit costs, excluding fuel and profit-sharing, to rise 4.5-6.5 percent. This includes a negative impact from Hurricane Matthew of about half a point.
Capacity is expected to grow 3-5 percent during the period.
The company's net income rose to $199 million from $198 million a year earlier, its smallest rise in the past four quarters, while earnings per share were flat at 58 cents.
Analysts had expected an adjusted profit of 60 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Total operating revenue rose 2.6 percent to $1.73 billion.
The company bought a small stake in private jet company JetSuite Inc on Tuesday as it expands services on the west coast.
U.N. concerned about "collective punishment" of Arabs in Kirkuk
By Samia Nakhoul and Michael Georgy
ERBIL, Iraq, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations voiced concern on Tuesday that Kurdish authorities had forced 250 Sunni Arab families to leave Kirkuk after an Islamic State attack on the Kurdish-controlled city, saying the move could be seen as collective punishment.
Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, also said that the United Nations expects a mass exodus from Mosul - perhaps within the next few days - as Iraqi army prepares to storm the northern Iraqi city which is still home to over a million people.
In the worst case scenario, Grande said it was also possible that Islamic State fighters who have controlled Mosul for more than two years could resort to "rudimentary chemical weapons" to hold back the impending assault.
In Kirkuk, Grande said the United Nations was informed that two days after the Islamic State attack, Kurdish authorities announced they would be expelling Sunni Arabs - who have already been displaced by the conflict with Islamic State.
"Just a few hours after the announcement we understand that around 250 civilian families felt they had no choice but to leave," she said in an interview at a hotel in Erbil, about 75 km (40 miles) east of Mosul.
Authorities in Kirkuk suspect the Islamic State fighters who attacked Kirkuk on Friday were helped by Sunni sleeper cells. Grande said the United Nations had no evidence that the families had helped Islamic State but the timing of the move suggested it was used as a pretext to force them out.
"The United Nations is very concerned about any action that could be understood as collective punishment," she said, adding that she was worried that the move could also set a precedent in a region riven with ethnic and sectarian divisions.
Kirkuk is the most disputed area of Iraq because of its complex population mix.
Kurds took full control of the province in 2014 after the Iraqi army retreated from an Islamic State takeover of much of the north of the country, and Arabs complain that Kurds have since flooded to Kirkuk to tilt the demographic balance in the event of a referendum on the status of the city.
At the same time, over 300,000 Sunni Arabs have sought refuge in Kurdish-ruled Kirkuk from the Islamic State jihadists.
ETHNIC SENSITIVITIES
Kurdish officials have denied allegations they are trying to change northern Iraq's demographics by seizing land.
"Those who are displaced have the right to decide when they return and where they are going to live. They cannot be expelled, this is why we are so worried of this particular precedent," Grande said.
She said the displaced people left Kirkuk and headed towards the nearby provinces of Salahuddin, Anbar and Diyala.
Aside from taking on Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq's Shi'ite-led government also faces the delicate task of ensuring that any victory does not spark sectarian tensions in the predominantly Sunni city and elsewhere.
Iraq has been destabilised by a mostly Sunni and Shi'ite sectarian war, and friction between Kurds and Arabs have deepened tensions.
The humanitarian impact of the anticipated assault on Mosul is also a major concern, with the United Nations bracing for what could be the biggest and most complex crisis in 2016 once the fighting for the city begins.
"Our expectation about when the major attack on Mosul itself will occur, it could be within the next days," said Grande.
About 7,500 people have fled Mosul and towns and villages around it since the campaign began, said Grande.
"We are very concerned because we estimate that there are more than a million civilians inside the city," she said. "And any time there is a major attack there could be a major outflow of people."
Grande and Iraqi officials fear Islamic State could turn Mosul residents into human shields, or force them to move towards advancing Iraqi troops.
There are already some signs of that. Some Iraqis who have fled the Mosul region say large numbers of their relatives have been taken as human shields or hostages as pressure mounts on Islamic State, which recently lost the cities of Falluja and Ramadi.
South Africa's Gordhan faces tough balancing act in budget speech
By Mfuneko Toyana
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 24 (Reuters) - South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan faces a tough balancing act on Wednesday when he announces a midterm budget meant to boost the sickly economy and show his fraud case is not distracting him.
Gordhan has said he plans to reduce government spending, raise taxes and cut the budget deficit to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 2016/17 fiscal year, from 3.9 percent in the previous year.
But closer on his horizon are a Nov. 2 court appearance on fraud charges that he has dismissed as politically motivated, and pressure to provide more subsidies for students who have staged violent protests to demand free university education.
Analysts say any fiscal slippage could trigger credit ratings cuts to "junk", and see little room for manoeuvre in an economy the central bank expects to grow by 0.4 percent this year.
"There is currently no space to loosen fiscal policy, or do much expenditure switching, ahead of 2019 national election," said Maya Senussi, senior emerging markets analyst at Roubini Global Economics.
"With the political machinations, it becomes difficult for Gordhan to put something on the table that says we are re-engineering the economy for a different path," Investment Solutions chief economist Lesiba Mothata said.
Opposition parties and business executives have backed Gordhan over the fraud charges, agreeing that they are politically motivated. President Jacob Zuma has said he is not in conflict with Gordhan and the country's top prosecutor has denied any political motivation over the fraud charges.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Zuma said that fraud charges against Gordhan were "a concern to all of us, including the investor community", and that he had never discussed the case with the state prosecutor.
"As cabinet, we have expressed our full support of the minister while respecting the independence of law enforcement and prosecuting authorities," he said.
The state prosecutor has said that Gordhan, in his previous role as head of the revenue service, cost the tax agency about 1.1 million rand by approving early retirement for a deputy commissioner in 2010 and re-hiring him as a consultant.
SUPPORT FOR GORDHAN
The outpouring of support for the minister, whom edgy financial markets see as a guarantor of stability, also reflects approval of Treasury's commitment to rein in spending and cut debt, currently at 44.3 percent of gross domestic product.
But after losing much ground in August local government elections, including key urban centres, some in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) want him to loosen the purse strings to woo back voters before a 2019 national election.
The main Democratic Alliance party said it would hold a peaceful march to parliament on Wednesday to demand that Zuma's government provide more funding for higher education.
A poll by Reuters last week showed economists expect Gordhan to now target a deficit of 3.4 percent of GDP.
The turmoil around the minister caused the rand to sink by 4 percent, but the currency has since recovered because of the support the minister has received.
Bollore executive says speed a factor in Cameroon derailment
By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic
PARIS, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A train that derailed in Cameroon killing at least 79 people on Friday had recently had its number of carriages doubled and was travelling at twice the normal speed when it crashed, the chairman of the train operator's parent company told Reuters.
Eric Melet, chairman of Bollore Africa Railways, a unit of French conglomerate Bollore Group which owns train operator Camrail, said the train was running at about 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) as it neared the station at Eseka.
"What we can say is that the train, while approaching the station where it derailed, was going at an abnormally high speed," Melet said in an interview.
He said at least 428 people had also been injured in the crash around 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital Yaounde, from where the train had departed with more than 1,300 passengers for the port of Douala. The official death toll is expected to rise.
Melet confirmed that Camrail had recently doubled the size of the train to 16 carriages, with the permission of authorities, to accommodate extra passengers following the collapse of portion of a main highway on the same route.
Camrail usually adds wagons to its regular trains during periods of peak demand, like during school holidays, Melet said. He said the train had been full, but not overloaded.
"Yes, the train was packed due to demand, but the train was within its authorized capacity and in every wagon, there is a regulation for seating and standing space."
The company will carry out an internal investigation on top of the official judicial investigation, he said, adding: "Hopefully, everyday, we'll be able to inform the public on the investigation in coordination with Cameroon authorities."
Cameroon's President Paul Biya on Tuesday signed a decree giving a special investigating commission 30 days to look into the causes of the tragedy.
It will be headed by the prime minister and include the justice minister and other senior government officials. The transportation minister, who has been heavily criticised for his handling of the crisis, was notably absent from the commission.
Another train operated by Camrail derailed in 2009 near Yaounde, killing five people and injuring more than 200.
Bollore Group's local logistics and transportation unit also operates Cameroon's two main ports of Douala and Kribi.
Melet said Bollore "has always invested massively" in Camrail, which will receive five new machines "in the coming days" from South Africa.
Anglo American leads Britain's FTSE higher, Whitbread slides
By Kit Rees and Atul Prakash
LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index climbed on Tuesday, boosted by basic resources stocks, with Anglo American leading the market higher after a production update, though a slew of broker downgrades weighed on UK midcap stocks.
Anglo American shares were up 4.6 percent, taking its year-to-date gains to more than 270 percent and making it the top performing stock on Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index and Europe's STOXX 600 this year.
The UK mining index, up nearly 90 percent this year, rose 3.7 percent to its highest since mid-2015. Shares in other miners including Rio Tinto, Glencore, BHP Billiton and Antofagasta - up 3 to 4.5 percent on Tuesday - have surged between 16 and 174 percent in 2016.
The mining sector also tracked a rally in industrial metals, with prices of copper, aluminium and nickel rising more than 2 percent thanks to a weaker dollar.
"It seems investors are looking past the debt issues that saw mining shares plummet last year," said Jawaid Afsar, senior trader at Securequity.
Anglo American's performance, as well as that of the broader sector, is a marked turnaround from last year when a slowing China and high debt sent investors rushing for the exits. Investors have cheered moves to cut costs aggressively and sell assets to bolster balance sheets.
The FTSE 100 index was up 0.5 percent at 7,017.64 points at its close after slipping in the previous two sessions, also helped by a fall in sterling.
Shares in hotel operator Whitbread fell 3.7 percent and were the top faller on the FTSE 100 index, after the company said sales growth slowed and margins declined at its Costa Coffee chain, overshadowing a better-than-expected first-half profit.
"The strength of Premier Inn and Costa is being tested, not least by the National Living Wage, which has raised staffing costs," said Laith Khalaf, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"If Brexit does precipitate an economic slowdown next year, that will damage the appetite of businesses and consumers to spend money on hotel rooms."
A spate of broker downgrades weighed on the FTSE 250 , which slipped 0.3 percent. The more domestically-focused index is up only 2.6 percent since the vote, once more lagging the blue chip FTSE 100, which is up by around 11 percent since the close of June 23.
Countrywide, Laird, Howden Joinery, Mitchells & Butlers and Aldermore all dropped between 3.3 to 7.9 percent, with almost every brokerage citing concerns about a post-Brexit economic slowdown impacting these businesses.
Jefferies mentioned changes in stamp duty as well as uncertainty following the UK's June vote to leave the European Union as reasons for their downgrade on property services group Countrywide to "hold" from "buy".
Nigerian lawmakers to probe possible railway concession for GE
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Nigeria's lower house of parliament will investigate a railway concession the government wants to grant to U.S. firm General Electric over possible procedural violations by Nigerian officials, lawmakers said on Tuesday.
The government and the GE have confirmed talks on a railway concession deal worth around $2 billion but no details have yet emerged.
Nigeria has been looking for partners to overhaul its ageing railway system, which was mainly built by British colonial rulers before the country's independence in 1960.
Yerima Ahmed, chairman of the Committee on Privatisation, which will probe the potential deal, said the government was not following proper procedures.
"The National Council on Privatisations has not been inaugurated," he said, referring to a body he said should have been consulted under the law for such a sale.
The House of Representatives approved a motion by lawmaker Chukwuemeka Ujam to "investigate the engagement of General Electric of the United States of America in violation of the Public Enterprises Act", lawmakers said.
The lawmakers did not make any allegations of wrongdoing against GE.
The government said earlier this month more talks were needed with GE on the possible concession.
The government, suffering from a slump in crude exports, wants to boost exports of food and other non-oil products but the country lacks roads or functioning railways.
But there is resistance in parliament against government plans to attract investors for Nigeria's outdated refineries, railway system or other public assets to drum up badly needed hard currency and foreign expertise.
"They have illegally launched an attempt to take over our refineries, that was resisted," said Sani Zorro, a lawmaker form the ruling All Progressives Congress, to which President Muhammadu Buhari belongs.
"They are now making attempts to take over our remaining public assets. We call them parasites," he said.
A group calling themselves the AAVA Gangsters has claimed responsibility for the sword attack on two police officers in the Chunnakam market area.
The group said the incident was a retaliation for the death of two Jaffna university students who were allegedly shot the by police.
The group warned the police and the public to expect such incidents in the future as retaliation against activities that were destroying the culture and society of Jaffna.
A rough translation of the poster put up on the walls of Jaffna claimed responsibility for other sword attacks in Jaffna and reasoned that those attacked were violent towards women.
The group stressed that punishment will be meted- out to those engaged in activities that would destroy the social norms and ideas in Jaffna. We, as Tamils cannot witness the destruction of our culture in Jaffna which is considered the land of culture of Tamil Eelam, a rough translation of the poster read.
The group also hinted that Tamil policemen would not be spared if they were to be part of the acts which were considered a detriment to the society. Although there were certain Sinhala Police Officers who supported the tragic incident the Tamil Police Officers played the lead role. According to the orders of Judge Ilancheliyan we will mete out appropriate punishment to all the Tamil Police Officers who carried the shooting under the direction of Sub Inspector Srigajan, the poster said.
The sword attacks were a measure of preventing social evils in the peninsula which saved many villages from robberies and burglaries and many women from violence, the group claimed.
In statement previously, the police claimed the policemen were injured while trying to stop a robbery.(Pradeep Kumara)
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) today claimed that ex-LTTE cadres might be behind the criminal activities taking place in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and called for a total crackdown on the 12,600 of them who were released after rehabilitation.
"The Government should carry out a thorough check on all former LTTEers to determine their current circumstances and activities and arrest if found to be connected to any criminal activities," JHU National Organiser Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe told a media briefing.
He claimed that two underground criminal gangs known as the Aava Group and the Baava Group allegedly led by ex-LTTEers are terrorising people in the Northern Province by indulging in thefts, crimes, kidnapping, extortion and other criminal activities.
Mr. Warnasinghe said they felt that ex-LTTEers who had fought against our security forces with their well-trained skills in the battlefield should not be released after a few months of rehabilitation.
They still have their old attitudes prompting them to carry out anti-social activities. They are violating the peace, law and order in the provinces. Therefore, it is high time for the government to direct the law enforcement to put a stop to this chaotic situation, he said.
Describing the deaths of the two Jaffna University students as unfortunate, he said the law should be enforced in all parts of the country without fear or favour regardless of caste, creed or social status.
Referring to the sword attack on the two Intelligent Service officers in Chunnakam, he said retaliation against the alleged police shooting was unacceptable because the law has to take its course.
Meanwhile, he said the Tamil politicians in the two provinces were responsible for the chaotic situation there because they were falling over each other to gain political mileage from what's happening there. (Piyumi Fonseka)
Chinas 67th founding anniversary celebrations organised in Sri Lanka by AVIC International Hotels Lanka Limited, a subsidiary of Chinese mega incorporation Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the developer of super-luxury condominium project Astoria, was a
great success.
The special feature of the event held at Waters Edge was the participation of children and their parents, diplomats, officials, businessmen and well-wishers many of whom of Chinese descent.
The reception was organised specially for children with some great food, music, fun
and games.
The Sri Lankan children joined their Chinese brethren in celebrating Chinas 67th founding anniversary with full of joy and happiness while extending their warmest greetings on the happy occasion.
The Chinese National Day is celebrated on October 1 every year to commemorate the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.
AVIC International gained prominence within the Sri Lankan real estate industry by stepping into construct Astoria with diaphanously decorated suites covering 1200 sq. ft. 6000 sq. ft., overlooking the Indian Ocean, located in Colombo 3.
Currently undergoing construction adhering to international standards, Astoria will be spanning across an area of 11,000 square meters. The project consists of four towers. With a total of 40 floors, Astoria will offer 608 luxury apartments.
A few weeks back, Time magazine ran a story titled, The Truth Is Out There in 2016. Way Out There. It begins with a vignette about a Donald Trump backer in North Carolina who believes climate change is a hoax, drug cartels control the government and, because it has just popped up as a headline on his so-called smartphone, that Obama has announced plans to seek a third presidential term.
The Trump backer, Allan Thiel, complains that people arent being taught history anymore and theyve dumbed everybody down. As if to prove the point, he elaborates, Our country has never had any problems for the last 200 years. Weve never had a problem with guns or racism until the last eight years.
Wow. The article continues, To simply grade the accuracy of Thiels statements misses the point, because Thiels beliefs do matter. They show up in double digits in national polls and belong to a reality shared by many Trump supporters ... .
Okay, but we still must grade the accuracy of such statements. That a reality is shared does not make it real. Separating fact from fiction can actually be done.
As we head into the final days of a presidential election in which Trump is concocting deliberate lies about the integrity of the electoral system, possibly to incite his followers into insurrection, the truth has never been more important.
We neednt belabor the point that rigging a national election is logistically impossible, as officials of both parties have stressed. It would require thousands of people conspiring to subvert American democracy while somehow concealing their historic crime. Considering that the Clinton campaign cant even keep its emails private, thats a too-heavy lift.
No, what we as a nation must do is insist that truth matters.
Lets start by sticking up for journalism, and for showing a fidelity to facts that would put Trump to shame, were he capable of it. Of course there is bias within journalistic outlets, but also a baseline commitment to getting facts right.
Charlie Sykes, a conservative radio host in Wisconsin and MSNBC contributor, has been eloquent in lamenting how, through decades of demonizing the liberal mainstream media, commentators including himself have destroyed the credibility of any credible (media) outlet. Says he, Weve basically eliminated any of the referees, the gatekeepers.
Now Sykes is weary of dealing with all the crazy stuff out there. How many times can you say that Obama isnt gay or a Muslim or that he wasnt born in Kenya? Knowing that many Americans believe such things, he wonders, How did this happen? And are we complicit by not having pushed back more aggressively?
The answer is yes.
We have allowed truth to become devalued and we need to reinvest. Lets restore respect for media institutions that take pains to get things right. Lets require verification as a prerequisite for belief. And when the gullible and dishonest spout nonsense, lets all say loud and clear: Wrong!
Award is received by the Managing Director of Evolve Technologies (Pvt)Ltd. Mr.Nishantha Pintoe from the Chief Guest Mr.Arjuna Ranatunge the Minister of Ports and Shipping. Marketing Director of Evolve Technologies Mr.Ashan Pintoe is also in the picture.
Leading IT, Software, BPO and Outsourcing Company, Evolve Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, recently walked away with the award for Sri Lankas Best Employer Brand-2016, presented by the World HRD Congress and Employer Branding Institute. The Business Awards together with the South Asian Partnership Summit was held on the 13th of October 2016 at Waters Edge.
Renowned for its mix of innovation, technology, direction and industry solutions to create an excellent experience for customers, Evolve Technologies has earned recognition as a leader in this category for the companys commitment in ensuring that only the very best of HR processes are practiced among its employees. Evolve Technologies also does its utmost to ensure that all employees receive proper training in leading technologies that emerge in the market. This ensures that the company is able to maintain high levels of competency which result in impeccable IT and Software Solutions.
The World HRD Congress and Employer Branding Institute is an organization where senior leaders of several countries in the HR arena may connect with one another and contribute to the concepts of Talent Management, Talent Development and Talent Innovation. The organization sets a platform for the best in the field of Employer Branding and currently includes over 36 countries in its network.
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The recent controversial speech made by President Maithripala Sirisena at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) has become a subject of much debate among the people. The following is a discussion held with the President and what he shared with our sister paper Sunday Lankadeepa .
Commissioners of the relevant Commissions are not subjected to any criticism; they are very honest, dedicated and unbiased
Minister Fowzie is a State Minister of this government. Until he was summoned to court, I was not aware of any investigation against him
Avant Garde was taken into custody over a year ago. Where is the investigation? And where is the analytical report? Now the government has to look after the interests of this vessel, this is a big burden on us and incurs a colossal expenditure
The Director General of the Bribery Commission has also done the same thing that the civil society did
What I said was them being former Navy Commanders, when they are to be questioned, it is imperative thatI should be made aware
Q Your controversial speech made recently has become a subject of much talk among the people of the country. Two groups have emerged opposing and supporting your views. What was the real objective of your speech?
Any individual should first of all try to comprehend the content of my speech. Only excerpts of my 45-minute speech was published in media. Anyone who read or listened to parts of my speech would not understand what I meant to express, or its intent. It is very obvious that those who have made adverse remarks over my speech cling only to parts of it and try to express their own views.
What some media institutes attempted to portray before the people through my speech are in fact quite different from what I meant. For instance I have not criticised the commissioners anywhere in my speech. I know the heads of these commissions, including those of the Bribery Commission; perform their duties with devotion, impartially and honestly. They are former Judges.
I also spoke of CID and FCID. I only mentioned about these three bodies. It is important for those in these Commissions to be aware of the affairs of the government and the country as well as the duties of their offices, when taking decisions. A Degree in political science is not essential for their service. However, even students who are studying in grade seven and eight learned in Civic Studies the importance of maintaining equilibrium among the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary.
This does not mean the subjugation of any institute over another, the adherence to a specific order or the independence of other institutions being thrown in jeopardy. Supremacy of the parliament as well as the independence and supremacy of judicial institutions must prevail. To a certain extent Independent commissions are similar to Judiciary.
On the other hand the President and the Prime Minister of the country together with the Cabinet of Ministers should act with understanding for the betterment of the state, to strengthen law and order in the country and to ensure the citizens right to live in a just society.
"To a certain extent Independent Commissions are similar to Judiciary. On the other hand the President and the Prime Minister of the country together with the Cabinet of Ministers should act with understanding for the betterment of the State, to strengthen law and order in the country and to ensure the citizens right to live in a just society."
Q Do you mean that these three institutions should work in coordination...
Yes, these apply to any organization or individual therein. It is not an issue of the institute but rather an issue of individuals. When an individual acts with discretion ignoring the existence of a State, issues may arise.
When we say existence of State it is not about politics it refers to the republic of Sri Lanka. We should always be concerned with affairs of the country and its people. I believe situations of confusions and unrest will become a threat to the State, and therefore, should not be
allowed to arise.
For instance, Minister Fowzie is a State Minister of this government. Until he was summoned to court, I was not aware of any investigation against him. I agree that these matters should have been dealt with confidentiality and the independence of these bodies should have been maintained.
We are now working towards introducing a new Constitution, in keeping with our promises. This needs two thirds majority votes in Parliament. I was elected by the people. Anything happening to hamper this effort is a problem for both me and the government.
I do not intend to halt investigations carried out against Ministers or members of the government on allegations of fraud and corruption.
However, I dont think anyone in this government would escape the allegations levelled against Minister Fowzie. All members of the government are liable for allegations of this nature. If so, legal action should be taken against the entire Cabinet of Ministers. Minister Fowzie has continued to use the same vehicle he used while he was in his former ministry. The Vehicle has not been robbed nor sold in pieces. The vehicle assigned to him when he was Disaster Management Minister during the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government had been taken with him to be used as a senior minister.
There was a circular issued during the Rajapaska administration which entitles a minister to continue the use of a vehicle in the event he assumes duties in a different ministry, irrespective of the technology and the condition of the vehicle.
After I became President on January 8, 2015, new Cabinet was appointed and again on August 17, another Cabinet was appointed, but the ministers continue to use the vehicle they had been using in the earlier (respective) ministries. That is why I said these charges apply to the entire Cabinet.
This can be argued in different angles. It is my responsibility to maintain the two third majority in the parliament. If certain situations hamper the continuity of this majority, then it is certainly problematic. However, I do not intend to stop legal proceedings against anybody.
There are many investigations carried out against frauds of large scale. But some of these investigations appear to have been suspended for a long time. Yet legal proceedings have commenced over the distribution of T-shirts during the election period and over the distribution of flood relief among the people and even against ministers taking a vehicle from one ministry to another when ministries are changed.
Q Why was the FCID established?
We must first identify the purpose of instituting these bodies and pursue action on direct course rather than get themselves entangled in fruitless matters.
The objective of establishing the FCID is not to mingle in matters of various companies or individuals and to interrogate them. There are several divisions in the police department to handle such matters. There is deviation from the duties assigned to FCID. They should understand their duties and responsibilities. They should focus on Large scale financial frauds.
Last year information was uncovered about large deposits amounting to $ 500 millions by several Sri Lankans in a Bank of a gulf country. An investigation was launched for which they required a letter signed by me and I gave it. These officers had made several visits to the relevant country for investigations and legal action was to be taken promptly. But so far nothing has happened. Why do they delay such big frauds?
What we hear is about cases over stealing flag posts, the transfer of vehicles and distribution of relief items.
Their scope of duties is wide and people and the government expected them to do engage in their duties meaningfully without engaging in trivial pursuit of insignificant incidents. My speech at the SLFI was drawn from my conscience. When the Heads of the Forces are taken into custody, I must be aware of it as the Minister of Defence.
That is what I meant by the balance of the different institutes. Will those investigators take responsibility if these actions caused unrest? It is my responsibility to protect the forces and the honour of the war heroes. The investigations into the fraud and corruption should be done according to the proper procedure. They have full independence, but as the as the Minister of Defence, I should be informed.
When things happen without my knowledge, unnecessary issues crop up in the country and tension mounts up. No person can challenge the authority of law. When we are called upon to act according to the law, how can we secure the institutions that are established to protect the law? As the President, I have a big responsibility. But some look at it with a different perspective.
"When an individual acts with discretion ignoring the existence of a State, issues may arise. When we say existence of State it is not about politics it refers to the republic of Sri Lanka. We should always be concerned with affairs of the country and its people. I believe situations of confusions and unrest will become a threat to the State, and therefore, should not be allowed to rise"
Q Didnt you discuss this matter within the government?
During the past several months, I have addressed these matters within the government and stressed on their credibility. They mention about Avant Garde, the ship in question had been taken into custody and docked at the Galle Harbour for more than one year. Where are the investigations? Where are the analysts reports?
There is no analyst report. The government has now been burdened with maintenance of the ship, which is also an unnecessary expenditure for the government.
They should state that investigations are over and case is to be filed. Just keeping a ship and without filing action is pointless.
I just want to know where are the investigators. It is not my intention to discourage the Independent Commissions, or to back track the investigations, my sole ambition is to strengthen these Commissions and they should be impartial.
These institutions should work in compliance of the law and there should be a proper coordination of the Executive, Legislator and the Judiciary.
Those who speak about my speech, have not read my speech in its entirety, which fact I mentioned earlier, and they have no understanding of the situation I am faced with. They can criticize, hold media conferences and keep on writing. These are not new.
But when you are running a government it is important that you steer forward resolving the internal issues. People who do not have at least basic knowledge are directing a massive attack on me.
I can face these attacks with a smiling face. These are not new happenings. I have completed fifty years in the political arena and gone through these and cannot be jeopardized by these blasts and other noises, because I am honest and dedicated. I sincerely work according to my conscience.
As the President, I have to be impartial and Just. I should respect the law. Therefore people should not cling to the speech I made and try to interpret in a different manner and create a political controversy.
Those who try to portray that this speech had led to a division in the government and its stability are the very people who are attempting to create issues and paint a picture of a division. With todays media freedom they can say anything.
When you witness the series of interviews appearing in papers and other information released through electronic media I wonder what would have happened if these took place during the former regime. They would have had a white van at their doorstep for sure!
I am happy that people are able to freely express their views, take part in Sathyagrahas, protests etc. The peoples right to stage these acts of protests had been now guaranteed. They are making use of what I guaranteed to attack me. I accept these missiles with great pride. I would not tremble at these attacks. These only strengthen me. I am convincing the people slowly but steadily about the truth. I am sorry if anyone hearing my speech had got disturbed. It is plainly due to their ignorance and not understanding the issues.
Q Some are of the view that your speech was aimed at directing your displeasure over certain matters of the Good Governance. Would you like to share your views?
I told earlier about the concept of the good governance. The acts of a certain section shouldnt be taken as the actions of the entire government. We should always think and understand about the dedication of each one who laboured for this concept. Just myself and few others carry the Yahapalanaya board is not going to help.
Everyone in the government should be the ones genuinely involved in putting into practice the Yahapalanya concept. Everybody should dedicate in ushering a good country. I am convinced that the UNP members in the villages are not happy with what I said during the speech. This is because they have not understood this in real form.
Therefore I request them to read my 45-minute speech and try to understand what I actually meant. This would dispel the doubts and other issues created in their minds and would finally realize what I have said. He/she would understand that this is not an issue connected with the yahapalanaya government.
It is something to do with the behavioural patterns of an individual. Therefore it is essential that we go forward strengthening the activities of the government.
"It seems only I and another few are marching ahead carrying the Yahapalana banner. It makes no sense. Every member of this government should do so with Yahapalana concept dwelling in their hearts and act accordingly"
Q You have said that when high officials of the army were taken into custody you were not briefed. Do you stress that they have done this deliberately?
In most of the occasions they stated that they have the legal right. It may be true, but it is prudent on situations where the country or the society is affected they should act in a manner that would not affect the society.
If someone had committed an offence it should be investigated and punished. I have not told at any time not to conduct investigations or find fault with the investigators. I am concerned about how a government should administer.
There is the need to obtain two third majority approvals for a new constitution. There are several targets to be achieved in developing the country. We have a highly skilled army who won the war. These soldiers are highly respected. Their feat shouldnt be undermined.
If anyone had done wrong, there is a correct procedure to follow. The people should be made aware of such situations and avoid charges levelled at us. Some may hold the view that people have given the approval. But the actual verdict of the people may be different. Therefore it is essential that people are convinced on this issue otherwise a different opinion might circulate among the people.
"Civil society bodies should have called me over the phone and clarified about the crux of my speech. Instead they rushed to hold a media briefing without sufficient clarification "
Q The civil society that was with you at the time of your Victory on January 8 held a media briefing and protested against the statement made by you. They stated that your statement is back tracking the promises made to the country. We would appreciate your comments...
The civil society shouldnt have rushed, soon after my speech and hold press briefings. As a movement that worked for my victory could have telephoned and clarified about the veracity of my speech, and if my replies had not been satisfactory they could have gone public and criticised me.
Instead of acting in that manner, what they did was very childish. They as educated people should not have behaved like kids fighting one another. I expected them to have acted with much decorum.
As those who were closely associated with me in the January 8 victory, they should have met me and obtained clarifications on the matters raised by me.
"There are many investigations carried out against frauds of large scale. But some of these investigations appear to have been suspended for a long time. Yet legal proceedings have commenced over the distribution of T-shirts during the election period and over the distribution of flood relief among the people and even against ministers taking a vehicle from one ministry to another when ministries are changed"
Q Soon after your speech, the Director General of the Bribery Commission tendered her resignation. How do you see this?
She has also done the same thing what the civil society did. She was appointed by me, unlike the other commissioners appointed by the Constitutional Council.
What she did was while I was abroad had released a letter to the media. She had the duty to wait until I return, meet me and should have tendered her letter. She could have inquired from me about the speech I made and the reasons for the remarks, and what action we could take to correct the lapses.
Without any of these procedures she hastened to submit a letter to the presidential secretariat tendering her resignation.
I expected her as a literate person to have waited for me, discussed this matter and thereafter submitted the resignation. This I see as inexperience and not fully aware of such situations.
Q In your speech you referred to certain officials of the Bribery or Corruption Commission, CID and FCID as working according to a political agenda. As the Joint Opposition had been highly critical about this position for a long time. Did your speech provide them with a platform to argue about?
I did not say the Bribery Commission works on a political agenda. My speech refers certain officials working in these Commissions. There is a good segment of their duties, where their dedication and skills should be appreciated, but there were instances of serious lapses in their activities. These should be made known to the public.
"The objective of establishing the FCID is not to mingle in matters of various companies or individuals and to interrogate them. There are several divisions in the police department to handle such matters. There is deviation from the duties assigned to FCID. They should understand their duties and responsibilities. They should focus on Large scale financial frauds"
Q The JO keeps repeating that the FCID is illegal and they are bent on punishing those with politically-different views. Do you say this institution is a legal body?
FCID is an institution established under Cabinet decision, taken on the instructions of the Attorney General. Therefore, I cannot say that this is illegal. Those who are calling it is illegal are working with different motives. I do not want to be counted among them.
Charges of such nature are levelled at these institutions due to certain acts by them. If those concerned are working with dedication, honesty and impartiality, such charges would not be levelled against them, nor will they be taken to Courts. Some of these institutions activities look silly. Today it was in the papers that bullet proof vehicles were hidden in a plot of land belonging to MP Kumara Welgama. They had obtained a Court order and dug this land in search of the so-called vehicles.
How insane they were to do this? They only humiliated the government by doing this. Even if I would be criticised for saying, I must say that there are methods of conducting such searches. If they had got a tip off, they should have adopted the modern technology that is available for this.
There are equipment available in several ministries under me or should have sought assistance from the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau in order to locate buried items. After obtaining the Court order, they went there and on their own and tarnished their image. It only brings laughter among people!
Q There were reports saying that you met former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapksa and had a discussion that lasted two hours. Could you share with us what the discussion was about?
No, it is canard and I saw an article in your own English paper to that effect. I refute such allegations.
"Those who speak about my speech, have not read my speech in its entirety, which fact I mentioned earlier, and they have no understanding of the situation I am faced with. They can criticize, hold media conferences and keep on writing. These are not new. But when you are running a government it is important that you steer forward resolving the internal issues"
Q Did you make a statement about taking the former Defence Secretary to Courts?
Never, my statement clearly refers to the former Navy Commanders who were being taken to Courts. That is why I am asking my critics to scrutinise my speech carefully. I did not mention his name.
I expressed my disgust and displeasure over producing the three Navy Commanders in Courts. In the Avant Garde case, conducting the investigations are in order. If the Navy Commanders are involved in this, that would be a different matter, and if there had been any fraud committed,
was also another issue.
What I said was them being former Navy Commanders, when they are to be questioned, it is imperative that I should be made aware of. It is also deemed necessary considering the security situation of the country.
Q In your statement you referred to the detention of officers of the intelligence unit. There are widespread allegations that the intelligence unit would become weaker by detaining these officials...
That is the reason I spoke on all these matters. If someone is taken in for questioning, whether it is one week, one month, six months or one year, there are certain fundamental rights guaranteed to these people by our Constitution and international conventions.
These officers had been in detention for 17 months now and such a long period in remand custody is not something trivial in nature. If the authorities cannot take a decision during such period of time, it shows a weakness on their part.
Justice should be meted out equally to everybody. If someone had committed an offence, he should be brought before Courts and action filed. Simply detaining them in remand prison creates a negative picture not only locally, but internationally as well.
"The objective of establishing the FCID is not to mingle in matters of various companies or individuals and to interrogate them. There are several divisions in the police department to handle such matters. There is deviation from the duties assigned to FCID. They should understand their duties and responsibilities. They should focus on Large scale
financial frauds"
Q People interpret that your speech at this time was purely to attract the voters of your predecessor and also indirectly to woo the MPs in the JO. Your comments on this...
No one can stop this type of interpretations. This is not the actual position. There is good and evil in everything. We need not pursue on these interpretations. When I make a speech as the President, there can be countless interpretations. No one can stop those.
President Maithripala Sirisena, in an exclusive interview with Lankadeepa, said the speech he made at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) with regard to the FCID action on heads of forces was drawn from his conscience.
The objective of establishing the FCID is not to mingle in matters of various companies or individuals and to interrogate them. There are several divisions in the police department to handle such matters. There is deviation from the duties assigned to FCID. They should understand their duties and responsibilities. They should focus on large scale financial frauds.
Last year information was uncovered about large deposits amounting to $ 500 millions by several Sri Lankans in a Bank of a gulf country. An investigation was launched for which they required a letter signed by me and I gave it. These officers had made several visits to the relevant country for investigations and legal action was to be taken promptly. But so far nothing has happened. Why do they delay such big frauds?
What we hear is about cases over stealing flag posts, the transfer of vehicles and distribution of relief items.
Their scope of duties is wide and people and the government expected them to do engage in their duties meaningfully without engaging in trivial pursuit of insignificant incidents. My speech at the SLFI was drawn from my conscience. When the Heads of the Forces are taken into custody, I must be aware of it as the Minister of Defence.
That is what I meant by the balance of the different institutes. Will those investigators take responsibility if these actions caused unrest? It is my responsibility to protect the forces and the honour of the war heroes. The investigations into the fraud and corruption should be done according to the proper procedure. They have full independence, but as the as the Minister of Defence, I should be informed.
When things happen without my knowledge, unnecessary issues crop up in the country and tension mounts up. No person can challenge the authority of law. When we are called upon to act according to the law, how can we secure the institutions that are established to protect the law? As the President, I have a big responsibility. But some look at it with a different perspective, the President said.
AFP: Indias Tata Sons dumped Cyrus Mistry as its Chairman in a surprise announcement yesterday, almost four years after his appointment as the first chief of the conglomerate from outside the Tata family.
Tata Sons today announced that its Board has replaced Cyrus P. Mistry as Chairman of Tata Sons. The decision was taken at a board meeting held here today, the company said in a statement.
Tata Sons is the holding company of the sprawling tea-to-steel Tata Group, which spans more than 100 companies in as many countries.The conglomerate said industrialist Ratan Tata, 78, had been appointed Interim Chairman until a successor was appointed. The search was likely to take four months, the
statement said.
Tata Group is arguably Indias most famous family conglomerate.
Its companies include one of Indias largest IT firms, Tata Consultancy Services, the biggest vehicle maker, Tata Motors, and a ritzy hotel chain including Mumbais Taj Mahal palace hotel. But the groups revenue slipped 4.6 percent for the financial year ended March to about US $ 103 billion, hurt by global economic uncertainty, a crash in commodity prices and volatility in currencies, according to Bloomberg News. And it is currently trying to sell its loss-making British steel assets.
Mistry succeeded Ratan Tata in December 2012 after being announced as its heir more than a year earlier. A string of deals since the turn of the millennium saw the group snap up a clutch of famous names including Tetley Tea, luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover and
steelmaker Corus.
The Mumbai-based Tata brands factor daily in the lives of Indians, with products ranging from salt to trucks to watches.
The group founded under British colonial rule in 1868 has hit headwinds of late however, with lacklustre performances at several companies including Tata Motors, Tata Power and Tata Steel. Ratan Tata, who took over as Chairman of Tata Sons in 1991, is credited with building it into a global behemoth.
Some 75 workers at the Kahatagaha Graphite Mine in Dodangaslanda today launched a hunger strike 1,132 feet underground, against an alleged move by the government to privatize the Kahatagaha Graphite Lanka limited.
The workers said plans are underway to privatize the mine, the Lanka Mineral Sands Limited and the Paranthan Chemicals in guise of restructuring the three institutions.
They said the graphite mine was making profits unlike the other two institutions and therefore, there was no need to privatize it.
Miners claimed that about 45 percent of the Graphite Mine shares had already been acquired by an Australian mining company. (Pushpakumara Jayaratne)
LTL Transformers (Pvt.) Ltd, Sri Lankas leading transformer manufacturer, received the Export Excellence 2016 Silver Award, in the industrial sector - large scale, at the NCE Awards ceremony organised by the National Chamber of Exporters (NCE).
Also, the companys outstanding accomplishments have been recognized with Engineering Excellence Award 2015 awarded by the Institute of Engineer Sri Lanka.
Established in 1982, with the aim of producing indigenous transformers, the company supplies transformers to the Ceylon Electricity Board as well as Lanka Electricity Company, while exporting 60 percent of its production to more than 20 countries including Singapore, Germany, the UK, Australia and African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda and the Middle East countries such as
Dubai, Jordan.
While the production maintains superior quality in conformity with IEC, BS and ANSI international, British and USA standards, LTL Transformers has received quality certifications such as ISO 9001,ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 from
DNV Netherlands.
In a scenario where our big neighbours like India and China are still using ordinary (non-sealed type) transformers, it is a pride that LTL is producing technologically-advanced, galvanized and maintenance-free sealed type transformers.
Although it is a big challenge to produce and export a high-tech transformer from a not so industrialized country like Sri Lanka to the world, we have successfully achieved it with a remarkable foreign income. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude and appreciation to our staff for their dedication and tireless efforts that contributed to all these achievements, said LTL Transformers (Pvt.) Ltd CEO Dhammika Nanayakkara.
The highest ranking Maldivian diplomat in Sri Lanka yesterday asked local companies to invest more in the Maldives in the future, as the Indian Ocean archipelago gears itself up to an economic transformation under its current leadership.
I invite all businesses and investors to join us in our economic transformation process, Maldivian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Zahiya Zareer said.
Speaking at an event organised by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, Zareer noted that there are many opportunities available in, but not limited to, the hospitality, construction, IT, education and health sectors.
She said that the Maldivian economy is expected to grow at 6 percent, where the per capita income is currently around US $ 7,200. Sri Lankas per capita income is around US $ 3,900.
Zareer thanked Sri Lanka for helping her country start its first economic transformation from one of the poorest countries in the world by introducing tourism to the Maldives.
It was in 1972, an Italian tour organiser in collaboration with a Sri Lankan company, Ceylon Tours, that took the first 22 Italian tourists to the Maldives on a chartered Air Ceylon flight. And that was when the magical turn of the tide started to happen, she said.
The country has since managed to turn its products into one of the most expensive and exotic tourism destinations in the world through effective marketing, generating high margins for hospitality investors.
Even though Maldivian Embassy Counsellor Mohamad Ahamed Wahad noted that tourist arrivals will slow down this year due to a sluggish global economy, the outlook for tourism in the future is positive. Zareer noted that except for a few taxes, investors in the Maldives could repatriate most of their profits. Private enterprise, private sector ingenuity and a liberal policy on foreign investments helped us,
she noted.
Currently, the John Keells group and the Aitken Spence group have the two largest foreign-owned resort chains in the Maldives. Recently, several other large conglomerates have also disclosed their plans to invest in resort properties in the archipelago.
Further, companies such as Senok Trade Combine, Sanken Overseas, Nawaloka Construction and Sierra Construction have undertaken infrastructure projects in the Maldives, including buildings and power, water and sewerage system construction.
Zareer said that there are nearly 5,000 Sri Lankans working in the Maldives, especially in the financial and hospitality sectors. While around 4,000 Maldivians are studying in Sri Lankan education institutes, thousands more come to Sri Lanka for shopping and health tourism.
Despite growth in trade of services and investment, Zareer noted that the tradable goods sector has taken a back seat with Sri Lanka shrinking as a market share of Maldivian exports and vice versa. (CW)
The Chief Economist of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Anushka Wijesinha, in an interview with Dailymirror by email, says the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) is an important agreement for Sri Lanka. He says the key ongoing issue in trading with India is the non-tariff barriers. Following are excerpts of the interview:
Q The full potential of the Free Trade Agreement with India is yet to be realized. Then, how do you see the relevance of a broad agreement in the name of ETCA?
This is debatable - how do we know that the full potential of the existing FTA is yet to be realised? The tariff reduction exercise under the existing FTA is pretty much done. Nothing further to do on that count. Its up to business from both sides to utilise it. Of course, the key ongoing issue with trade with India is the non-tariff barriers issue. This is not an unusual issue for bilateral trading partners. But its also too much to expect all that to get resolved from an FTA that both sides signed 15 years ago, when it was the first FTA for both countries. Which is why now the ETCA is important (and the earlier incarnation, the CEPA), because it is through this new process that we can begin to resolve the outstanding issues with non-tariff barriers, mutual recognition of standards, quota removal, trimming the remaining negative list, etc. Without this new process, there would be no progress on it. We are told that as part of the ETCA the SL side would push for an early harvest agreement on these key pain points, and get early commitment from the Indian side to resolve it. We must push for this, as this is the priority. Resolving these can have big benefits for traders on both sides, and increase the overall volume of bilateral trade.
Q How can the fears of local entrepreneurs be allayed in this case?
Local entrepreneurs are not all in fear. There are different groups in the private sector. Many are very optimistic on the new opportunities that deeper trade and investment integration with India can provide. Meanwhile, some are interested, but unsure or uncertain. Others are worried. Each of these groups has its own legitimate reasons for their viewpoint. It depends on their current business and whether they can adapt and compete. it depends on whether they have had, as individual businesses, bad experiences in trading with India. For some others its purely ideological and emotional, and not based on fact. So the government must understand these dynamics, and engage with all groups to ensure that they are well heard. A government cant allay all fears of everybody. Ultimately, a trade agreement depends on implementation in practice. There can be firms that lose in the short-term, but there will be many others who win in the medium to long term. We have to look at the medium to long term agenda in all this, and ask ourselves, will deeper trade and investment integration with our neighbours help create more business opportunities and create more interest among foreign investors?
Q It is learnt that some modes of service trading will be covered under ETCA. How will it impact local economy?
From what the negotiating team tells us, Modes 1, 2 and 3 will be open under the ETCA, and not Mode 4 (which is the free movement of people). Anyway, 1,2, and 3 are open now under BOI rules. So the ETCA brings in an additional framework of rules. I personally believe that very soon the private sector will have to firmly look at Mode 4 as well, in sectors where there are shortages of professionals, in sectors in which we want to grow and compete. In any case, under any agreement there can be rules specifying what kind of professionals, how many each year, what qualifications are recognised by Sri Lanka etc. All of these can be calibrated in a well-written agreement. These are done around the world. In fact, SL is a late-comer in all of this. Goods and services agreements arent futuristic, they are done everywhere. Sri Lanka is simply catching up.
Q In your view, what are the reasons for the failure of the FTA?
I dont believe that there is a failure of the FTA. Sri Lankas has increased the number of product lines it exports to India, under the FTA. Imports from India are largely in items OUTSIDE the FTA.
Refer my answer earlier. What now needs to be done is to go beyond the tariff exercise, to cover NTBs, standards, etc.
Q In general, how important is it to access the Indian market?
Very much. The Indian middle class alone is ten times our entire population. Businesses in Sri Lanka cant succeed by catering to our small domestic market. And we have this growing consumer market right across from us. Moreover, SL is well positioned to attract global operations that want to tap into India but dont want to deal with the hassle of India. We have met many investors who are waiting to see what kind of integration we have with India, so that they can come and invest hear, employ people, and create exports for the
Indian market.
The Police have launched an investigation into the group called the AAVA Gangsters which has claimed the responsibility for the sword attack on the two police officers at the Chunnakam market.
Jaffna Deputy Inspector General Sanjeewa Dharmaratne said today that several police teams are investigating the incident and were collecting information about the attackers.
Police Intelligence Service personnel, Police Sergeant Nawaratne and constable Herath, were hospitalised after they were assaulted with swords by two unidentified motorcyclists on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the AAVA Gangsters who claimed responsibility for the attack have put up posters in Jaffna stating the incident was in retaliation for the death of the two Jaffna university students at a police checkpoint
DIG Dharmaratne said the Police would not allow any person or any group to take the law into their hands.
At the moment we are collecting information on several groups. However, we have to verify the evidence prior to making any arrest, he said. (Darshana Sanjeewa)
There is great disorder under the heavens. The situation is excellent.
(Mao Zedong)
Lenin famously identified three conditions for a revolution. The rulers should feel unable to rule in the old way. The masses should feel unable to live in the old way. There must be a split among the rulers. The Sri Lankan situation shows signs that these three conditions are in, or are coming into existence.
The Presidents speech is but a symptom that the rulers feel that they cannot go on in the old way. It doesnt take a military intelligence report for the President to perceive this. All it must have taken was a look at the recent results from the Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (MPCS) elections from diverse provinces. The UNP is losing ground -- lots of it and quite fast -- to MR and the JO. The official SLFP has neither brought in votes to the coalition nor retained (still less expanded) its own vote base. President Sirisena knows that the vote and the daily eruption of protests are symptoms of the anti-Govt/anti-UNP sentiment surging throughout the Sinhala majority areas. (As the Philippines shows, US military visits cannot deter political nationalism.) He is scrambling to contain the grassroots situation which has reached or passed the tipping point, or at its most optimistic, scrambling to preempt it.
The President is also beginning to realize that the real ruptural Event, the real revolution involving real struggle, real pain, real suffering, real sacrifice, real villains, real heroism and real heroes, was the war, not the January 8 election; that in the national consciousness, an election result cannot equate, still less be larger than or stand against, the legitimacy, historical rootedness and emotional resonance of a great victory in a long war. It can only stand with it, its historical legacy and agency (the military). If it is a choice, it is the election and not the war, the regime and not the war-winning military, which will prove small and ephemeral. President Sirisena knows that Maj. Gen Kamal Gooneratnes book was a social phenomenon, while the books on the Jan. 8 events have hardly left a trace.
Ideological neo-liberals atop and around the UNPs governing elite seem to regard the state machine as its enemy and target. The state is the combination of the bureaucracy, the military and the judiciary. For a government to take on the state machinery and survive, that state apparatus has to have been disintegrated either by internal war or external invasion. Not even popular uprising does the trick, as Egypt found out after Tahrir I and II when the military took over. In Sri Lanka the state machinary has not only NOT been weakened by defeat in war, it won two wars, in the North and South.
The UNP leadership and its civil society proxies have been conducting a McCarthyite witch-hunt against officialdom and the military.The UNP governing elite and its NGO auxiliaries dont seem to understand that the democratic Sri Lankan state is hugely broad based, connected by a million threads with society. Opinion polls over the years have confirmed that the Sri Lankan military is by far the most respected and trusted institution in society, well ahead of political parties and even the judiciary.
The UNP reformists are attempting to purge the state; engage in state cleansing so to speak. It is as if the UNP views the Sri Lankan state through the same lenses that the Tamil parties do. The UNP leadership has proved in 2001-2004 and this time around, that it is not loyal to the state; it is suspicious of the state. The State secretes an ideologythat of statism. The UNP leadership is opposed to this ideology.
What President Sirisena speech does is to remind the UNP in Government that there is such a thing as the state and that it is not to be trifled with. The UNP Govt is temporary, the state is permanent. The elephant cannot disembowel Leviathan. As the wielder of executive power, the minister of defence and the commander-in-chief, President Sirisena has signaled that he represents the State as much or more than he did the Government.
Going by recent pronouncements of the PM and his Parliamentary Secretary,the chief architect of the coming Constitution, Dr. Jayampathy Wickremaratne (one shudders to think of what Colvin or JR would have saidthough one can well imagine it), the executive presidency will be abolished, executive power transferred to the Prime Minister, land and police powers given to the provincial council, the definition unitary dropped and federal avoided, the powers of the Governor vis-a vis the Provincial councils reduced.
An early Minister of Finance of Ceylon, JR Jayewardene concluded that in a small island with a highly competitive political system, sustainable economic growth required the stability that could only be provided by a presidential system and decidedly not the Westminster model. Despite this, the PM is moving forward with the abolition. The PMs camp seems to assume that the President and the SLFP wing that is loyal to him will not perceive a threat (involvinga possible Ranil-MR pincer move), and that intra-government contradictions will not sharpen.
The UNP leadership seems obtuse enough to conclude even after the experiences of referenda in Britain and Colombia that a new Constitution can dispense with the unitary definition and pass muster at a referendum in a country in which 77% of Sinhalese (who comprise 74% of the populace) find the entrenched, explicit unitary definition to be existentially essential. The only blunder that could be worse is to bypass a referendum or try to win by force and fraud adventurism that would trigger a tsunami of blood.
Meanwhile the PM has exhibited his Vibheeshana syndrome. Vibheeshana was of course the treacherous, pro-Ramacollaborator brother of the great Lankan king Ravana (recently deemed a terrorist by Mr. Modi) of Asian mythology. The PM promised to sign ETCA before this year is out. Perusing a draft, I was aghast to find that the subheadings covered every conceivable aspect of this islands economic life, from agriculture, fisheries, plantations to education and educational infrastructure, energy and the mapping of ground water resources.
ETCA would give India access to penetrate and enrich itself as the controlling power in every cell of Sri Lankas economic existence. Given the vast asymmetry of the two economies, ETCA can only convert this island comprehensively into an economic colony of India. Not since British colonialism would we be so totally in the thrall of anotherand it would be worse because Britain was oceans away and in case did not contain a hostile Tamil Nadu! The PM has said that ETCA would give privileged access to Tamil Nadu and South Indian investment and that Sri Lanka would be locked into a common economic grid with South India.
In a scenario in which the surreal is becoming real, the Foreign Minister hopes to introduce international laws with retrospective effect into the new Constitution, establish a Special Prosecutors office bypassing the AGs Dept., set up Special Courts and begin to prosecute personnel of a war-winning, three hundred thousand strong, and very popular military-- with no real backlash from the public, the state apparatus or President Sirisena! It is the height of absurdity to imagine that if it came down to a choice between the governing UNP elite and the war-winning military, the public would not support and defend the latter against the former.
No individual may be above the law but the dynamics of history and the realities of political/politico-military powerultimately override and determine. When it comes to the crunch, the President may choose the military over the UNP and the PM, for either social or electoral survival. A survivalist UNP faction may join him.
Green Bay's city clerk refused to open an early voting location on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus in part because she feared doing so would unfairly benefit Democratic candidates, according to emails released Tuesday.
Student leaders representing a variety of political parties, including Democrats and Republicans, asked Green Bay City Clerk Kris Teske in September to open an early voting location on campus after experiencing long lines in the spring primary election. Emails also show state Rep. Eric Genrich, D-Green Bay, made the same request in August.
Teske told Genrich she was reluctant to offer in-person absentee voting anywhere other than the Green Bay city hall, based on security concerns and budget constraints.
Several days later, Teske emailed David Buerger, staff counsel for the state ethics commission, noting the same concerns: security, budget and staffing issues but introduced a new one.
"UWGB is a polling location for students and residents on Election Day but I feel by asking for this to be the site for early voting is encouraging the students to vote more than benefiting the city as a whole," she wrote. "I have heard it said that students lean more toward the democrats and (Genrich) is a democrat."
Teske cited statutes that prohibit setting up polling places that give an advantage to one political party over another and asked Buerger whether her argument against benefiting Democrats was valid.
Buerger forwarded Teske's email to Nathan Judnic, staff counsel for the state elections commission. In his response, Judnic told Teske that budget, staff and security concerns are "legitimate factors" in the decision not to offer a satellite voting location.
Judnic added he would be "hesitant" to argue a location might advantage one political party without more evidence.
"Additionally, the in-person sites could be used by all residents of the city and wouldn't be restricted to use by students," Judnic wrote. "Finally, if the campus polling location is OK for election day, and there is no 'political advantage' then, I'm not sure what the difference is for in-person absentee voting at that same location?"
A federal judge in July overturned Republican laws that limited in-person absentee voting to one location, limited early voting hours and eliminated weekend voting.
U.S. District Judge James Peterson also overturned laws that increased the residency requirement for voters from 10 days to 28 days, prohibited distributing absentee ballots by fax or email and required "dorm lists" used as proof of residence to include citizenship information.
Peterson also required changes to the ID petition process, by which free IDs are issued, and overturned a provision of the voter ID law banning the use of expired but otherwise qualifying student IDs at the polls.
Reid Magney, spokesman for the elections and ethics commissions, said while the court ruling opened the door for clerks to establish satellite in-person absentee voting locations, most municipal clerks do not have the resources to do that. The elections commission did not participate in the city's "ultimate decision making regarding absentee voting locations," Magney said.
"The Elections Commission staff counsel provided the clerk with guidance on what criteria she and the city council could consider when deciding whether to establish satellite absentee voting locations, and where they might be," Magney said. "It is our understanding that the city of Green Bay looked at a variety of factors in deciding whether to offer alternate absentee voting locations."
The emails released Tuesday were obtained by the liberal group One Wisconsin Institute, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to those changes, and first reported by The Nation.
"Organizations like ours have to be relentless because the right to vote is sacred and the right to vote continues to be under constant assault. Even when we win as big in the courtroom as we did, there are partisans trying to deny voters their access to the ballot box," said One Wisconsin Institute program director Analiese Eicher in a statement.
Teske did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Genrich said Teske never voiced the concern of giving a Democratic advantage to him in their conversations about the issue. After witnessing wait times of 2-3 hours on the UW-Green Bay campus in the spring primary, he said he thought it "made a lot of sense" to put an early voting location on campus.
"Im most disappointed by the conclusion, the fact that we dont have an early vote location on campus, the fact that we dont have extended hours at city hall or weekend voting," Genrich said. "I think weve missed some opportunities to expand access to the polls."
A sergeant attached to the Kilinochchi Police was hospitalised after he was assaulted with a bottle on the face by a drunken man outside the Kilinochchi Hospital this evening.
It was reported a team of police officers had been sent to the location where a group of men were drinking alcohol and behaving in an unruly manner.
When the police officers were attempting to disperse the crowd, a man had hit the sergeant with a bottle injuring his face.
The victim identified as Sergeant Samarawickrama is undergoing treatment at the Kilinochchi Hospital. (Romesh Madusanka)
SriLankan Airlines Engineering division recently commissioned its third parallel Aircraft Heavy Maintenance Line at Colombos Bandaranaike International
Airport (BIA).
As the move would enable SriLankan Engineering to carry out the maintenance work on any customers aircraft, it would also generate more revenue for the company and more foreign exchange for the country out of the billion dollar industry.
There are two sides. One thing, as Colombo has this facility, we dont have to take our aircraft outside, which stops the outflow of money from the country, and the other thing is, by maintaining other aircraft, it brings foreign exchange to the country, the airlines officials said.
In addition to the three Heavy Maintenance Lines, SriLankan Engineering also operates one more light maintenance aircraft maintenance line for back-to-back A checks at BIA on both widebody and narrowbody aircraft.
To share insights on the engineering side and to provide an overview on how the maintenance is carried out on aircraft, the airline recently organised a media tour. The visitors were able to observe the work carried out on an aircraft of Indias IndiGo. One of the Mihin Lanka aircraft was also under maintenance at the time of the visit.
SriLankan Engineering background
For past 30 years, SriLankan Airlines Engineering has been consistent with a staff strength of over 1100, according to the company.
It currently holds approvals from the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL), European Aviation Authorities (NAAs), Civil Aviation Authority - Pakistan, Civil Aviation Authority - Qatar, General Civil Aviation Authority - United Arab Emirates, etc.
Regulations and procedures
SriLankan Airlines Chief Technical Officer Dinnaga Padmaperuma said that the aircraft is a fascinating thing but it is important to know the rule book
of it.
He said as per the European regulations, any commercial passenger aircraft design must be in accordance with the criteria of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) CS25 requirements, along with CS-E (for engines), etc.
He said the design of the aircraft must be carried out by an organisation approved under the rights and privileges of the EASA Part 21J. The manufacture must be done by an organisation approved by the EASA Part 21G.
As an example, Airbus and Rolls Royce have the above approvals to manufacture the Airbus aircraft that SriLankan (SLA) and other airlines use. Also, on our A330 fleet, we have Rolls Royce engines, he said.
He said when the aircraft has fulfilled all requirements and testing, the EASA and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (USA aviation authority) will issue the Type Certificate for the model.
When this happens, he said the authority will allow airlines in their respective countries to use them to carry fee-paying passengers in commercial aviation.
At SLA, we follow the CAASL procedures and both our authority and SLA follow the EASA requirements. Our training school is EASA Part-147 approved to conduct training and they follow the EASA part 66 syllabi and examination methods to quality the technicians and engineers, he said.
He said that their maintenance organisation is CAASL approved and also EAS 145 approved to reform maintenance on the Airbus A320/A330/A350 family aircraft. Our continuous aviation side of the division follows the EASA part M style to implement airworthiness management, he said.
Current status
The current fleet of the airline comprises of A330-200 (six aircraft), A330-300 (seven aircraft), A320 (six aircraft) and A321 (two aircraft).
And it was noted that A321 (x1) - MRD, A320(x1) - MRE and A319 (x1) - MRF will be added to the UL fleet soon.
As SriLankan Engineering has gained a reputation for its expertise in all types of Airbus aircraft, it already serves the aircraft heavy maintenance requirements of Sri Lankas own Airbus and Mihin Lanka fleet.
It is currently expanding its capability to include Boeing 737 next generation aircraft, which are operated by many airlines flying to BIA.
Its customer airlines include IndiGo and Island Aviation of the Maldives and other airlines from the region are to join this list too.
The officials said that at present, they maintain about six aircraft for a month.
SriLankan Airlines Engineering also provides certification for other airlines flying to BIA and has operations overseas in Male, Chennai, Lahore
and Karachi.
Plans are in place to add Dhaka before the end of this year with further regional expansion due in 2017.
Challenges
Padmaperuma said that they face a lot of competition from Malaysia, Singapore, India and the Middle Eastern countries, which have many maintenance, repair and
overhauls (MROs).
The important thing to realise is we have a lot of challenges from the Middle Eastern airlines. They have money; they have a lot of cash cushions. We know a lot of aircraft going empty. They have six A380s going form Dubai to London. Some dont have even 60 percent but they have that muscle power to withstand. We dont have that. So we have to do a lot of things to get a bit of cushion. We have to be very efficient. Price wise, we have to be competitive, he said.
One of the gentlemen from IndiGo told me he travelled from Dubai to Barcelona and for every one passenger in Business Class there were six empty seats. They dont care, they have the cushion to take those shots, which we dont have, he added.
Another aspect he highlighted was the cost. Nothing is cheap in aviation. Each bolt that holds the engine is about US $ 7-8000, he said.
Overall, he said that what they are trying to do from the engineering side is to reduce the cost of maintenance and ownership cost.
(To reduce) ownership cost we want to renegotiate the leases; with regard to cost of maintenance, (we need to) to bring in more third party work, efficient suppliers and increase productivity by using different patterns, he said.
However, brain drain seems to be a challenge, the officials justified that through this, the staff gets a lot of exposure to perform better.
The tour is good. People go for different reasons some for family reasons, some for just travelling. It is always good to see how others do because every organisation has pluses and minuses. I encouraged people when I was in Lufthansa to go to other companies and they always come back. It is good for the system when people do travel. Also, its good so juniors could take up those positions. Otherwise, because there are not many airlines in Sri Lanka, it would hit the ceiling. It is not productive for the company. Its good to relax pressure from the company,
he explained.
Future development and projects
Mapping out the future plans, Padmaperuma said that once the SriLankan Airlines partnership is finalised, early next year, they are planning to have the four-bay hanger. He added that many airlines have shown interest so far, such as from Pakistan.
As they have revenue of about US $ 6 million annually through the MRO, he said that they are looking forward to increasing it up to a US $ 9
million business.
If you put a pin on Colombo and draw a radius, you see the airlines that own 100s of aircraft. IndiGo has about 400 aircraft; Jet Airways has a couple of hundreds. They all cant maintain those. That is enough for us to keep going and make a positive contribution for the airlines, he said.
They also noted that they are looking forward to introduce A321 NEO aircraft and develop the EASA Part 21 capability, which is not available at the moment.
He also said that it is important to keep people working together while focusing on third party businesses and marinating their own aircraft.
We are also implementing the Japanese 5S system under the banner slogan right first-time, to improve efficiency, reduce waste and lost man hours, he said.
We also need to recruit more people for the extra work we are getting, improve our facilities like the workshop facilities, have a proper engineering software and a state-of-the-art software to manage these operations. These are the investment we are looking to do, he said.
The worlds oldest working full-rigged ship, SS Srlandet from Norway, has arrived in Colombo. The ship is on a two-year circumnavigation of the world, with 70 high school students from A+ Academy.
During their stay in Colombo, they will greet the Sri Lankan maritime students and the ship will be part of several events hosted by the Royal Norwegian Embassy. Nicknamed The Pearl of Norway, she is quite a beauty with her 27 sails. She has sailed the oceans of the world for close to 90 years, most of the time as a training ship, hosting students and cadets.
However, her story also has a darker side when she was used as a prison ship during the Second World War.
The visit to Colombo is only one of 44 ports and 22 countries she visits on her two-year circumnavigation.
The 70 students on board are a mix of Norwegian and international high school students attending the on board boarding school.
On Thursday, October 27, they will welcome the Mahapola Training Institute, where the Sri Lankan maritime students will get a real-life and maybe hands on experience of a true sail ship. The students will exchange valuable experiences about the life as a sailor and mariner.
Later, the same day, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo will host a reception on board, anticipating ministers and ambassadors as well as members and friends of the Norwegian-Sri Lankan business environment.
The theme of the night is not surprisingly maritime history, a common heritage to both Sri Lanka and Norway and an important factor of the long-term Norwegian presence in Sri Lanka. The maritime theme continues the next morning when the Embassy co-hosts a seminar together with DNV GL on Maritime Clusters in Sri Lanka, followed by a luncheon on board Srlandet for the maritime industry.
On Sunday, October 30, the Pearl of Norway once again sets sails as she is headed for her next port, the Maldives.
The 17th India-Russia summit in Goa on October 15 was opportune for reviewing bilateral ties as well as regional and global developments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin. Some Russian policies at the regional level are causing India concern and risk eroding mutual trust that has traditionally characterised India-Russia ties.
Summits
While annual summits ensure oversight of the relationship at the highest level, the downside is the political burden they carry to demonstrate progress so that any impression of stagnation or even failure is avoided.
In Russias case, pressure for announcing defence contracts gets build up, as defence remains the core of the bilateral relationship. It is not feasible to announce annually billions of dollars worth of new contracts, especially if it remains a buyer-seller relationship.
Russias willingness to give us access to platforms and technologies that other countries will not no doubt impart a special value to the relationship, but this should not be a reason not to work for its reconfiguration in a way that the Modi governments "Make in India" in defence manufacturing campaign becomes a reality in time.
The summit saw further progress on already known projects, but no new projects were green-lighted.
Inter-Governmental Agreements for the acquisition of five batteries of the powerful S-400 air defence system and four additional frigates were signed. The shareholder agreement for establishing a Joint Venture to manufacture Ka-226T helicopters in India with HALs participation - again a project already assigned to Russia - was inked.
The summits joint statement places this in the context of joint design, development and production of high technology military equipment.
Whether this objective is achieved and production of these helicopters does not follow the familiar pattern of licensed manufacture without adequate transfer of technology remains a question.
This concern may explain why no progress on the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft was announced during the summit.
Moscow's reluctance to point a finger at Pakistan on terrorism , especially after PM Modi begun targeting it with unusual tenacity, is noticeable. (Photo: Reuters)
Sources indicate that decisions to substantially extend the range of the Brahmos missile and lease a second nuclear powered submarine from Russia were taken at the summit. If so, one should welcome them.
In the area of civilian nuclear cooperation site work for Kudankulam (KK) Units 3 and 4 was formally launched by the two leaders.
For KK 5 and 6, the General Framework Agreement and the Credit Protocol are expected to be concluded by end 2016. The second site for Russian reactors in Andhra Pradesh has still not been announced as the Indian side wants to make sure that all seismic studies are completed to full satisfaction before the allocation of the site is officially announced.
Although the joint statement speaks positively about local manufacturing of equipment and components for the upcoming Russian supplied reactors, the reality is that this will take time.
India-Russia cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector has begun to make substantial progress. The joint statement notes that investment in Tass-Yuryakh and Vankor oil fields is the largest equity oil acquisition hitherto by Indian companies.
As against this, the acquisition by Rosneft and associated groups of Essar Oil and Vadinor port is the biggest FDI by Russia, and is in line with the foothold Russia has always sought in this sector in return for opening up its oil and gas sector to India.
Terrorism
Russias seeming reluctance to point a direct finger at Pakistan publicly on the terrorism issue, especially after Prime Minister Modi has begun targeting it on this issue with unusual force and tenacity, is noticeable.
Modi has expressed satisfaction with Russian assurances given privately, but some clear public statement by Putin on cross-border terrorism would have been advisable.
Russias stakes in Pakistan are limited no matter the arguments given to justify arms transfers and military exercises with it.
If the Islamic State (ISIS) is a threat through Afghanistan, pressuring Pakistan that provides safe havens to extremist groups is required, not courting it. Russia has experience of Pakistan's deceit in Afghanistan. The joint statement repeats past formulations on terrorism that have begun to sound platitudinous.
Surprisingly, it does not mention LeT and JeM or mentions support for the designation of Masood Azhar as an international terrorist.
Support
Russia would not have done more than restate the UNSC decisions on LeT and JeM to which it is a party, and on Azhar re-affirm the position it presumably took in the relevant UNSC committee.
Its willingness to allow our side to express "its appreciation for Russias unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist attack on army base in Uri" in the joint statement is, however, a saving grace.
For the rest, Russia has again strongly supported Indias NSG membership, that of APEC and our candidature for UN Security Council permanent membership.
On the vexatious product support issues relating to Russian defence equipment, an Indo-Russian Military industrial Conference will now address them.
To bolster economic ties Russia will be the partner country in the International Engineering Sourcing Show 2017 in India. Some steps to strengthen bilateral diamond trade have been taken.
The setting up of a bilateral investment fund by the National Infrastructure Investment Fund of India and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is a good step.
All in all, the India-Russia summit has showed progress in bilateral relations, but on geopolitical issues gaps that are not in consonance with the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries are appearing and need to be closed.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)
In an editorial recently, The Times of India offered some bizarre advice to the government. It suggested the government should work on battlefield tactical nuclear weapons and deploy them on the border with China.
The editorial on how India can counter Chinas unwavering support to Pakistan, and Russia falling in the Chinese orbit, advised the government to provide Beijing access to the Arabian Sea.
Here is a paragraph from the editorial:
"A route through India would provide the Chinese what they seek - access to the Arabian Sea - while building Indias infrastructure and diminishing the importance of CPEC and Gwadar port. If incentives alone do not work, New Delhi can build some disincentives as well. One could be denial of market access if China continues to support terror groups. Second, India could consider doing to China what China has helped Pakistan do to India: work on battlefield tactical nukes to be deployed on the Chinese border."
As a nuclear-armed state, India has been working on building deterrents against both Pakistan and China. It has a nuclear doctrine in place. But to suggest that the government inflict on China the same pain, adopt the same nuclear blackmailing tactics that Pakistan has been doing to India defies imagination.
But actually it shouldnt. Advice to work on battlefield tactical nuclear weapons for deployment on the Chinese border is in tune with the times.
It reflects the public mood prevailing in the country post the September 29 "surgical strikes" against Pakistan. It reflects the public anger against China for its support to Pakistan. Its also a telling example of the manner in which the public mood is being manipulated by media.
The pervasive mood in the country has crossed the threshold defined by intolerance for non-conforming viewpoints and stifling of dissenting voices. Its more than mere orchestration of ultra-nationalism and calling for test of patriotism.
The atmosphere is of war, without any actual war being fought at the border. It may be called the birth of a militarised society.
The Army has always been looked upon as an institution above reproach and criticism. Neither political parties nor any vocal group of civil society has ever called the Army and its valour in question.
The Armys role in the society, as an organising and overweening force, has never been so valourised. (Photo: AP)
At the same time, the Armys role in the society, as an organising and overweening force, has never been so valourised.
The comparison of the Indian Army with the Israeli army by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this context too is a step towards militarism and militarisation of polity.
"Earlier, one heard about Israel doing such a thing, now the country has seen that the Indian Army is no less," Modi said referring to the surgical strikes at a meeting in Himachal Pradesh.
Most of the strategic affairs writers have interpreted Modis statement by comparing the capabilities of the two armies. In this, they missed one crucial element: the militarisation of the Israeli polity, and yet, its failure to ensure foolproof security for its citizens.
Israel has built a militarised society thats constantly at war with its neighbours and within too. Such is the extent of its militarisation that one often comes across reports of Israeli youth and soldiers cracking under unbearable stress. The Israeli army lives under constant nerve-wracking pressure.
According to The Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), Israel ranks as the worlds most militarised state. The BICC index calculates each countrys investments in defence and compares it with human development sectors, such as education and healthcare to gauge the extent of militarisation.
Outside of the US, the Israeli society is the worst victim of the military-industrial complex phenomenon. As far back as 1961, in his farewell address, US president Dwight D Eisenhower had warned of the increasing danger of "military-industrial complex" on American politics and society.
India is nowhere near the "military-industrial complex" Eisenhower had warned America of. But our national discourse is moving in the direction of creating a militarised society.
An American historian, John Gillis, who edited The Militarisation of Western World, says: "Militarisation is the process by which civil society organises itself for the production of violence. It involves a series of mechanisms that involve the entire social edifice."
In NDTVs Walk the Talk with Shekhar Gupta, RSS and BJPs ideologue Ram Madhav clarified that his "whole jaw for a tooth" remark was not a call for use of overwhelming military force against Pakistan.
It was an all-encompassing use of force - military, diplomacy, economy, politics and culture - to stun Pakistan. Its a mindset that calls for giving no quarter, leaving no room for peace but war.
Its the prevalence of this mindset that prompted some people inside a Goa cinema theatre to assault paralysis survivor, disability activist and author Salil Chaturvedi on a wheelchair for not standing up for the national anthem.
Its because of this mindset that the villagers of Bisada draped the body of Ravin Sisodia, one of the accused in the Dadri lynching case, in tricolour upon his death in jail and called him a martyr.
Its not a surprise, therefore, that filmmaker Karan Johar had to release a video to submit to the call for test of patriotism and declare that he would never hire Pakistani artists for his films.
Such "patriotism tests" have crossed the boundaries of the intolerance debate that raged in the country soon after the Modi government came to power.
Intolerance of other viewpoints, stifling of dissent, test of nationalism and valourisation of the armed forces are essential links in the chain that lead to militarisation of policy, the state and society.
When violence permeates the edifice of society, call for nuclear blackmail of one state by another is normal.
India stands at an inflection point.
Will it turn into a militarised society like Israel, or will it choose a path to strengthen its civil and democratic institutions to create a humane society?
'I'm Not Ashamed' producer ready to sue Google, YouTube 25 October, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |
NASHVILLE (Christian Examiner) The producer of the new film chronicling the short but impactful life of teenager Rachel Scott one of the first to die during the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 has a bone to pick with Google and he may do it in a court of law.
The Washington Times reports Chuck Howard, the man behind I'm Not Ashamed, is considering filing a lawsuit against the search engine giant and its subsidiary YouTube for removing his company's Christian channel for almost a year because it was deemed "offensive" to some.
The offensive content? The trailer for his movie about Scott's life and her confession of her faith just before she was executed by shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris.
The shooting was not shown in the trailer for the film.
The removal of the channel, he claims, resulted in 11 months of lost advertising that would have helped build momentum toward the release of the film. It was finally reinstated when The Hollywood Reporter started asking questions about why the channel was removed.
They have bootleg movies and all this kind of stuff up there, but they take down my site? They have recruitment of ISIS on the site and beheadings, but they take down my video? I can't believe it.
Then Howard received another notice of temporary suspension and a warning that the channel could be removed if more objectionable content was posted.
That has left Howard at a loss for explaining how a movie trailer about a Christian teenager could possibly violate YouTube's policy.
"They have bootleg movies and all this kind of stuff up there, but they take down my site?" Howard told The Washington Times. "They have recruitment of ISIS on the site and beheadings, but they take down my video? I can't believe it."
Howard has hired Birmingham, Alabama, attorneys Massey, Stotser & Nichols, to demand the penalty be removed from the channel, discover why it was shut down for 11 months and to seek a monetary settlement.
To Howard, however, the bigger question that needs to be answered is why the channel is targeting Christian and conservative viewpoints. He wants politicians to take a look at the censorship of views to see if anything can be done.
"It's hard to fathom that we actually live in the United States. I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up and this is like a nightmare," he said.
Howard admits that the election season might not be the right time to get something done, but he hopes Congress will take up the question of Google's policies later.
Google has not responded to the newspaper's questions about the channel promoting the film, which opened Oct. 21.
I'm Not Ashamed stars Masey McLain as Rachel Scott, who wrote often in her journal of her struggle to live her faith amid the daily peer pressures of high school. Scott was often ostracized and bullied for her views, including by Klebold and Harris. The duo disparaged Scott in a video they made before the shooting.
Howard began his career in Nashville as a music producer for stars like Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., and Waylon Jennings, among others. He entered the Christian film industry after becoming a Christian five years ago.
I'm Not Ashamed has opened to mixed critical reviews. Most reviews offered by movie goers have been positive.
Kay Arthur Awarded the 2016 Golden Scrolls Lifetime Achievement Award
Contact: Linda Evans Shepherd, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association ( AWSA ), 303 772-2035
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Oct, 24, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- The Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA), an organization made up of 500 Christian women authors and speakers, awarded best-selling author and Precept Ministries co-founder and Executive Vice President Kay Arthur with their Golden Scrolls Lifetime Achievement Award at her recent Precept Women's conference held October 22, 2016 in Chattanooga, TN.
Photo: Kay Arthur, left, with Cynthia Simmons, high-resolution version available on request.
The 2016 AWSA Member of the Year, Cynthia L Simmons, presented the award to Kay citing her worldwide audience of 75 million for her Precepts for Life radio, television and online teaching as well as her ten million books in print including her award-winning titles A Marriage Without Regrets, The New Inductive Study Bible and Lord, I Need Grace to Make It Today.
AWSA recently awarded Golden Scroll awards to Christian publishing industry publishers, editors and authors including the Publisher of the Year, which went to Worthy Publishing. Andy McGuire was named winner of the Non-Fiction Editor of the Year, Novel Editor of the Year was awarded to Jamie Clarke Chavez. Author Saundra Dalton-Smith was awarded Nonfiction Book of the Year for Come Empty from SonRise Devotionals. The Golden Scroll Novel of the Year Award went to Lynette Eason for Always Watching from Revell of Baker Publishing Group. The Golden Scroll Children's Book of the Year was awarded to Michelle Lazurek for Daddy, am I Beautiful? from Pauline Books & Media.
home Tech iPad Pro 2 release date rumors: Photos of the new iPad Pro 2 leaked; early 2017 launch expected
Apple made news September last year by launching its first 10-inch-plus tablet boasting a 12.9-inch screen, quad speakers, and super quick processor chip. However, the following March brought regret to most of the early adopters of the iPad Pro brand when Apple released a smaller and better 9.7-inch version.
The latest rumor is that the tech company won't update its iPad Pro lineup in 2016. It will instead make up for this by releasing a new size a "an-inbetweener" a in 2017.
As reported in Mac Rumor, Ming Chi Kuo, noted securities analyst, released his research report outlining his expectations for the future of Apple's iPad lineup. Kuo is expecting the release of a 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2, as well as a 10.5-inch iPad Pro and a "low-cost" 9.7-inch model.
Rumors are coming in that all three variants will run on the Cupertino-based company's latest and powerful processor, the A10X chipset.
"We expect three new iPads (12.9" iPad Pro 2, new size 10.5" iPad Pro & low-cost 9.7" iPad) to be launched in 2017," Kuo said, adding, "We estimate the 12.9" iPad Pro 2 and 10.5" iPad Pro will adopt the A10X processor, with TSMC (2330 TT, NT$177.5, N) being the sole supplier using 10nm process technology. The low-cost 9.7" model may adopt the A9X processor, which is also exclusively supplied by TSMC."
Some rumors further claim that Apple wants the iPad Pro 2 to be in line with the 2-in-1 PC tablets like the upcoming Microsoft's Surface Pro 5.
All of these are rumors and expectations so far, but Apple Insider recently released two photos alleged to be iPad Pro 2. The photos came from an anonymous tipster most likely working in Apple's Asia supply chain.
Based on Techradar's post, since there has been no news about an iPad Pro 2 release so far, an early 2017 launch is to be expected.
The Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro is one of four blends making up the Nestor Miranda Collection. In 2014 Miami Cigar and Company celebrated its 25th anniversary. As a part of the occasion, the company decided to revamp most of its Nestor Miranda offerings. As a result, the old Nestor Miranda Special Selection line was been rebranded the Nestor Miranda Collection. In 2014 three blends were launched: the Nestor Miranda Collection Connecticut, Nestor Miranda Collection Habano, and the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro. This year a fourth blend was added with the Nestor Miranda Collection Corojo. Today we take a look at the Nestor Miranda Collecton Maduro in the Robusto offering. Overall, I found this to be another solid offering in this line.
When the revamped Nestor Miranda Collection was introduced, the packaging was changed to have new contemporary art deco bands. The old Nestor Miranda Special Selection Rosado and Oscuro blends were retired. The Nestor Miranda Special Selection Connecticut blend was kept the same and rebranded as the Nestor Miranda Collection Connecticut. The Nestor Miranda Habano, Maduro, and Corojo offerings are new blends.
Without further ado, lets break down the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro Robusto and see what this cigar brings to the able.
Blend Profile
Like the other offerings in the Nestor Miranda brand, the Nestor Miranda Collection is made by the Garcia family at the My Father Cigars factory. The blend for the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro consists of a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper as well as a Nicaraguan binder. It contains tobaccos from three countries for the filler.
Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro (Red)
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Peruvian, Nicaraguan, Dominican
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (My Father Cigars SA)
For completeness, we list the other blends in the Nestor Miranda Collection:
Nestor Miranda Collection Connecticut (Blue)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican, Honduran
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (My Father Cigars SA)
Nestor Miranda Collection Habano (Green)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, Brazilian
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (My Father Cigars SA)
Nestor Miranda Collection Corojo (Yellow)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (My Father Cigars SA)
Vitolas Available
The Robusto is actually a short robusto and is the same size as what was called the Coffee Break in the old Nestor Miranda Special Selection.
Danno: 7 x 56 (Limited Production)
Corona: 6 x 46
Robusto: 4 1/2 x 50
Toro: 5 1/2 x 54
Gordo: 6 x 60
The sizes are consistent across the four blends of the Nestor Miranda Collection with the exception of the Danno which is not available in the Nestor Miranda Collection Corojo offering. The Danno offerings are slightly different blends optimized to the 7 x 56 size.
Appearance
The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper of the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro Robusto had a classic coffee bean color to it. Upon closer examination some darker marbling can be seen on the surface. There was a light coating of oil on this wrapper. This was somewhat of a smooth Broadleaf any visible veins and any visible wrapper seams were on the thin side.
The band of the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro consists its primarily black with fire engine red and chrome colored trim. The Nestor Miranda Colleciton logo consists of an interlocking N and M that also contributes to the shape of the wrapper. Below the logo is the text NESTOR MIRANDA in chrome font. Below that text is the text COLLECTION in a smaller chrome font. To the left of the logo is the text NESTOR MIRANDA COLLECTION in landscape mode which each word on a separate line surrounded by a red pinstripe. To the right of the logo is the text MADURO in chrome font on the red background. also in landscape mode. To the far right siting on the back of the band is a smaller chrome-colored interlocking N and M Nestor Miranda Collection logo.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
As I typically do, I started the cigar experience of the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro Robusto with a straight cut. Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The cold draw was classic Connecticut Broadleaf flavor as I got notes of earth, cocoa, and a very subtle spice. Overall I considered this to be a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to light up the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro Robusto and awaited what the smoking phase would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro began with a short spurt of black pepper. Once the pepper subsided it gave way to notes of earth, cocoa, and maduro sweetness (a combination of natural tobacco and dried fruit). Initially, the earth and cocoa became the primary notes while the maduro sweetness was in the background. Meanwhile the retro-hale produced an additional layer of black and white pepper.
Toward the middle of the first third, the cocoa notes transitioned into more of a classic coffee note joining the earth. From time to time, the maduro sweetness popped into to the forefront, but mostly was still a background flavor. As the coffee note surfaced, there was a subtle bitter component to it. I found the bitter note balanced the sweetness and spice nicely.
During the second third, the coffee notes remained primary. The maduro sweetness was now grounded in the background with the pepper notes. By the midway point, a classic wood note surfaced in the background. It slightly increased in intensity, but didnt quite make it to being a primary flavor.
During the last third, the coffee and earth notes remained primary. The classic wood notes remained in the background. Like the wood notes, the pepper notes increased but didnt quite make it to the forefront. There was also still a touch of maduro sweetness. This is the way the flavor profile came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
The Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro Robusto performed quite well when it came to burn and draw. The cigar maintained a straight burn path and a relatively straight burn line from start to finish. This was a cigar that had a silver-gray color ash that leaned toward the firmer side. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.
The draw was ideal for the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro Robusto. It had a touch of resistance which is something that I normally like.
Strength and Body
From a strength perspective, I found the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro started out medium and progressed to medium to full by the second half. The increase in strength leveled off in the second half. The body followed a similar pattern. The flavors started out medium to full-bodied and by the second half, they had progressed to full-bodied with the increase also leveling off in the second half.
In terms of strength versus body, I gave the edge to the body throughout the smoking experience.
Final Thoughts
Overall the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro Robusto was a satisfying cigar. From a flavor profile standpoint, I didnt find this to be a radically different Connecticut Broadleaf cigar. At the same time the flavors this cigar delivered, it delivered them well. In terms of some of the other sizes in the Maduro blend, I still preferred the tweaked blend in the Nestor Miranda Collection Maduro Danno. This is a cigar I would probably steer to a more experienced cigar enthusiast, but at the same time this is a good cigar for a novice to graduate to something a little stronger, a little fuller and a little spicier. As for myself, this is a cigar that Id smoke again and its worthy of having a five pack in my humidor.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium+
Strength: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Body: Medium to Full (1st Half), Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Very Good
Assessment: 3.0-The Fiver
Score: 89
References
News: Nestor Miranda Collection Revamps Nestor Miranda Line
Price: $7.50
Source: Cigars Provided by Manufacturer
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Stogie Geeks Extra: Nestor Miranda
Stogie Feed: n/a:
Brand Reference: Nestor Miranda
The following companies are subsidiares of Bristol-Myers Squibb: 1096271 B.C. ULC, 345 Park LLC, A.G. Medical Services P.A., AHI Investment LLC, AbVitro LLC, Abraxis BioScience Australia Pty Ltd., Abraxis BioScience Inc., Abraxis BioScience International Holding Company Inc., Abraxis BioScience LLC, Abraxis BioScience Puerto Rico LLC, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Adnexus, Adnexus a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company, Allard Labs Acquisition G.P., Amira Pharmaceuticals, Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Apothecon LLC, B-MS Generx Unlimited Company, BMS Benelux Holdings B.V., BMS Bermuda Nominees L.L.C., BMS Data Acquisition Company LLC, BMS Forex Company, BMS Holdings Sarl, BMS Holdings Spain S.L., BMS International Insurance Designated Activity Company, BMS Investco SAS, BMS Korea Holdings L.L.C., BMS Latin American Nominees L.L.C., BMS Luxembourg Partners L.L.C., BMS Omega Bermuda Holdings Finance Ltd., BMS Pharmaceutical Korea Limited, BMS Pharmaceuticals Germany Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals International Holdings Netherlands B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Korea Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Mexico Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Netherlands Holdings B.V., BMS Real Estate LLC, BMS Spain Investments LLC, BMS Strategic Portfolio Investments Holdings Inc., Blisa Acquisition G.P., Bristol (Iran) S.A., Bristol Iran Private Company Limited, Bristol Laboratories Inc., Bristol Laboratories International S.A., Bristol Laboratories Medical Information Systems Inc., Bristol-Myers (Andes) L.L.C., Bristol-Myers (Private) Limited, Bristol-Myers Middle East S.A.L., Bristol-Myers Overseas Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Israel) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (NZ) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Proprietary) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Taiwan) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (West Indies) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb A.E., Bristol-Myers Squibb Aktiebolag, Bristol-Myers Squibb Argentina S. R. L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Axia Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb B.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Belgium S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Business Services Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada International Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Delta Company Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Denmark Filial of Bristol-Myers Squibb AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb EMEA Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Egypt LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Epsilon Holdings Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Ltda., Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Portuguesa S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb GesmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holding Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings 2002 Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Ireland Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Pharma Ltd. Liability Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Ilaclari Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb India Pvt. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Company Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Investco L.L.C., Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K., Bristol-Myers Squibb Kft., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg International S.C.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb MEA GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Manufacturing Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Marketing Services S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Middle East & Africa FZ-LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Norway Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Nutricionales de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Peru S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (HK) Ltd, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (Thailand) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Holding Company LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Ventures Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Polska Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Products SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico/Sanofi Pharmaceutical Partnership Puerto Rico, Bristol-Myers Squibb Romania S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.A.U., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Service Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Services Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Spol. s r.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Theta Finance Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Trustees Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Colombia S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Costa Rica Sociedad Anonima, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Guatemala S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb/Astrazeneca EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership, Bristol-Myers de Venezuela S.C.A., CHT I LLC, CHT II LLC, CHT III LLC, CHT IV LLC, CR Finance Company LLC, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Inc., Celem LLC, Celem Ltd., Celgene, Celgene A.B., Celgene AS, Celgene Ab (Finland), Celgene Alpine Investment Co. II LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. III LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. LLC, Celgene ApS, Celgene B.V., Celgene BVBA, Celgene Brasil Produtos Farmaceuticos Ltda., Celgene CAR LLC, Celgene CAR Ltd., Celgene Chemicals Sarl, Celgene China Holdings LLC, Celgene Co., Celgene Corporation, Celgene Distribution B.V., Celgene EngMab GmbH, Celgene Europe B.V., Celgene Europe Limited, Celgene European Investment Company LLC, Celgene Financing Company LLC, Celgene Global Holdings Sarl, Celgene GmbH [Austria], Celgene GmbH [Germany], Celgene GmbH [Switzerland], Celgene Holdings East Corporation, Celgene Holdings II Sarl, Celgene Holdings III Sarl, Celgene Ilac Pazarlama ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Celgene Inc., Celgene International Holdings Corporation, Celgene International II Sarl, Celgene International III Sarl, Celgene International Inc., Celgene International Sarl, Celgene K.K., Celgene Kft., Celgene Limited [Hong Kong], Celgene Limited [Ireland], Celgene Limited [New Zealand], Celgene Limited [Taiwan], Celgene Limited [UK], Celgene Logistics Sarl, Celgene Ltd, Celgene Luxembourg Sarl, Celgene Management Sarl, Celgene NJ Investment Co, Celgene Netherlands B.V., Celgene Netherlands Investment B.V., Celgene Pharmaceutical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Celgene Pte. Ltd., Celgene Pty Ltd, Celgene Puerto Rico Distribution LLC, Celgene Quanticel Research Inc, Celgene R&D Sarl, Celgene RIVOT LLC, Celgene RIVOT Ltd., Celgene RIVOT SRL, Celgene Receptos Limited, Celgene Receptos Sarl, Celgene Research Incubator At Summit West LLC, Celgene Research S.L.U., Celgene Research and Development Company LLC, Celgene Research and Development I ULC, Celgene Research and Development II LLC, Celgene Research and Investment Company II LLC, Celgene S. de R.L. de C.V., Celgene S.L.U., Celgene S.R.L., Celgene SAS, Celgene Sarl AU, Celgene Sdn Bhd, Celgene Services Sarl, Celgene Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Celgene Sp. Z.o.o., Celgene Sro [Czech Republic], Celgene Summit Investment Co, Celgene Switzerland Holding Sarl, Celgene Switzerland II LLC, Celgene Switzerland Investment Sarl, Celgene Switzerland LLC, Celgene Switzerland Sarl, Celgene Tri A Holdings Ltd., Celgene Tri Sarl, Celgene UK Distribution Limited, Celgene UK Holdings Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing II Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing III Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing Limited, Celgene d.o.o., Celgene sro [Slovakia], Celmed LLC, Celmed Ltd., ConvaTec Divestiture, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB, Crosp Ltd., Delinia Inc., Deuteria Pharmaceuticals Inc., DuPont Pharmaceuticals, E. R. Squibb & Sons Inter-American Corporation, E. R. Squibb & Sons L.L.C., E. R. Squibb & Sons Limited, EWI Corporation, EngMab Sarl, F-star Alpha, FermaVir Pharmaceuticals L.L.C., FermaVir Research L.L.C., Flexus Biosciences, Flexus Biosciences Inc., Forbius, Galecto Biotech, GenPharm International L.L.C., Gloucester Pharmaceuticals LLC, Grove Insurance Company Ltd., Heyden Farmaceutica Portuguesa Limitada, IFM Therapeutics, Impact Biomedicines Inc., Inhibitex, Inhibitex L.L.C., Innate Tumor Immunity Inc., JuMP Holdings LLC, Juno Therapeutics GmbH, Juno Therapeutics Inc., Kosan Biosciences, Kosan Biosciences Incorporated, Linson Investments Limited, Mead Johnson (Manufacturing) Jamaica Limited, Mead Johnson Jamaica Ltd., Medarex, Morris Avenue Investment II LLC, Morris Avenue Investment LLC, MyoKardia, O.o.o. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oy Bristol-Myers Squibb (Finland) AB, Padlock Therapeutics, Padlock Therapeutics Inc., Pharmion LLC, Princeton Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Receptos LLC, Receptos Services LLC, RedoxTherapies Inc., Route 22 Real Estate Holding Corporation, SPV A Holdings ULC, Seamair Insurance DAC, Signal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Societe Francaise de Complements Alimentaires(S.O.F.C.A.), Squibb Middle East S.A., Summit West Celgene LLC, Swords Laboratories, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Westwood-Intrafin SA, Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals Inc., X-Body Inc., ZymoGenetics, ZymoGenetics Inc., ZymoGenetics LLC, ZymoGenetics Paymaster LLC, iPierian, and iPierian Inc..
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Swisscom AG provides telecommunication services primarily in Switzerland, Italy, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Swisscom Switzerland, Fastweb, and Other Operating. The company offers mobile and fixed-network services, such as telephony, broadband, TV, and mobile offerings, as well as sells terminal equipment; and telecom and communications solutions for large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises. It also provides cloud, outsourcing, workplace, mobile phone, networking, business process optimization, SAP, and security and authentication solutions, as well as a range of services to the banking industry; Internet of Things solutions; digitization services to the healthcare sector; IT systems for health insurance companies; fixed-line and mobile networks by other telecommunication service providers; and roaming to foreign operators whose customers use its mobile networks, as well as broadband services and regulated products. In addition, the company plans, operates, and maintains network infrastructure and IT systems; provides support functions to finance, human resource, and strategy, as well as management of real estate and vehicle fleet; and offers broadband and mobile services, such as telephony, mobile offerings, and broadband services, as well as ICT solutions for residential, business, and wholesale customers. Further, it provides IT and network services; online and telephone directories; and cross-platform retail media and security communication services, as well as builds and maintains wired and wireless networks. The company was founded in 1852 and is based in Bern, Switzerland.
Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through five segments: Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, and Group Development. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. The company also provides mobile voice and data services to consumers and business customers; sells mobile devices and other hardware products; and sells mobile services to resellers and to companies that purchases and markets network services to third parties, such as mobile virtual network operators. In addition, it offers internet services; internet-based TV products and services; and information and communication technology systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions with an infrastructure of data centers and networks under the T-Systems brand, as well as call center services. The company has 242 million mobile customers and 22 million broadband customers, as well as 27 million fixed-network lines. Deutsche Telekom AG has a collaboration with VMware, Inc. on cloud-based open and intelligent virtual RAN platform to bring agility to radio access networks for existing LTE and future 5G networks; and partnership with Microsoft to deliver high-performance cloud computing experiences. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.
Everest Re Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, and internationally. The company operates through Reinsurance Operations and Insurance Operations segments. The Reinsurance Operations segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Insurance Operations segment writes property and casualty insurance directly, as well as through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents in Bermuda, Canada, Europe, South America, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance products; admitted and non-admitted insurance products; and property and casualty reinsurance and insurance coverages, including marine, aviation, surety, errors and omissions liability, directors' and officers' liability, medical malpractice, mortgage reinsurance, other specialty lines, accident and health, and workers' compensation products. In addition, it offers commercial property and casualty insurance products through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers, and program administrators. Everest Re Group, Ltd. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the electric utility, banking, and renewable/sustainable infrastructure investment businesses in the state of Hawaii. It operates in three segments: Electric Utility, Bank, and Other. The Electric Utility segment engages in the production, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. Its renewable energy sources and potential sources include wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave, hydroelectric, municipal waste, and other biofuels. This segment serves suburban communities, resorts, the United States armed forces installations, and agricultural operations. The Bank segment operates a community bank that offers banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses, including savings and checking accounts; and loans comprising residential and commercial real estate, residential mortgage, construction and development, multifamily residential and commercial real estate, consumer, and commercial loans. This segment operates 42 branches, including 29 branches in Oahu, 6 branches in Maui, 4 branches in Hawaii, 2 branches in Kauai, and 1 branch in Molokai. The Other segment invests in non-regulated renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure in the State of Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. was incorporated in 1891 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Under Armour, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the developing, marketing, and distributing performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth. The company offers its apparel in compression, fitted, and loose fit types. It also provides footwear products for running, training, basketball, cleated sports, recovery, and outdoor applications. In addition, the company offers accessories, which include gloves, bags, headwear, and sports masks; and digital subscription and advertising services under the MapMyRun and MapMyRide platforms. It primarily offers its products under the UNDER ARMOUR, UA, HEATGEAR, COLDGEAR, HOVR, PROTECT THIS HOUSE, I WILL, UA Logo, ARMOUR FLEECE, and ARMOUR BRA brands. The company sells its products through wholesale channels, including national and regional sporting goods chains, independent and specialty retailers, department store chains, mono-branded Under Armour retail stores, institutional athletic departments, and leagues and teams, as well as independent distributors; and directly to consumers through a network of 422 brand and factory house stores, as well as through e-commerce websites. It operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Under Armour, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
American Red Cross seeks blood and platelet donors to help restock the blood supply following a significant summer shortage. A blood drive is held from 1:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Madison Fire Hall at 1223 N. Main St. in Madison. (434) 979-7143.
CAR2Vote, an all-volunteer, non-partisan group in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, offers transportation to voting locations on Election Day; to the registrars office for early voting, registration or photo IDs; and delivery of the Virginia Application for An Absentee Ballot to Vote or the Virginia Application to Register to Vote. bit.ly/CAR2Vote (434) 260-1547.
Charlottesville Area Transit accepts entries through Nov. 30 in the 2016 Bus Lines poetry contest with the theme Pick Your Style. Authors are given the choice to write in one of four styles limerick, acrostic, tanka and off-book and up to three poems may be submitted. Winners poems will be posted on CAT buses; winners also will read their work at the Virginia Festival of the Book. Details, rules and applications are available at Charlottesville.org/buslines. (434) 970-3349.
Flu vaccines are available at local health departments including the Charlottesville/Albemarle Health Department at 1138 Rose Hill Drive, (434) 972-6200; Fluvanna County Health Department at 132 Main St. (U.S. 15) in Palmyra, (434) 591-1960; Greene County Health Department at 50 Stanard St. in Stanardsville, (434) 985-2262; Louisa County Health Department at 540 Industrial Drive in Louisa, (540) 967-3703; and Nelson County Health Department at 4038 Thomas Nelson Highway in Arrington, (434) 263-8315.
Greene County Health Department offers same-day appointments for family planning and sexual health services when patients call the health department before 10 a.m. on the first, third and fifth Monday of each month. The health department is located at 50 Stanard St. in Stanardsville. (434) 985-2262.
Halloween Blood Drive is held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday in the JAUNT parking lot on Linden Avenue. (434) 817-3191.
Jefferson Area Board for Aging offers insurance counseling during the open enrollment period through Dec. 7. Appointments are available at JABAs Hillsdale Road office, as well as at mobile units that will be traveling to locations in Charlottesville and Albemarle Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson Ccounties. Details are available at jabacares.org/insurance-counseling and (434) 817-5248.
Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville-Albemarle holds the Education and the Creative Economy Luncheon, featuring public school students and teachers, businesses, government, higher education and local philanthropists discussing local community challenges, from 11:30 to 1 p.m. Thursday at Boars Head Pavilion. Tickets are available at pefca.org. (434) 825-4575.
Tandem Friends School holds the See Us in Action Admissions Event, including tours, visit classes in session, faculty panel discussion and more, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at 279 Tandem Lane. tandemfs.org. (434) 951-9314.
Every fall, the seaside town of Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco is the center of attention as it hosts the annual Pumpkin Festival. In addition to the usual arts and crafts booths and food vendors, there was the weighing in of the pumpkins. Pumpkins from all over the West Coast, the Midwest and even some from the East were shipped to Half Moon Bay for the weigh-in.
This years winner of the contest was Cindy Tobeck from Washington state, who had the heaviest pumpkin. It weighed 1,910 pounds. Tobeck drove all the way from Washington state to Half Moon Bay in an open flatbed truck with the pumpkin safely tied in place for the long journey.
The world record for the largest pumpkin at the Half Moon Bay Festival was 2,624 pounds. If the record is broken, the winner receives $30,000. Otherwise, the person with the largest pumpkin gets $6 per pound. Thus, Tobeck received $11,460 for her pumpkin.
Tobeck, an East Olympia Elementary teacher, named her pumpkin The Beast. She has been growing pumpkins for about six years. Last year, her 11-year-old daughter set a record for junior pumpkin growers with her 1,203-pound pumpkin.
Tobeck is a member of the Pacific Northwest Giant Pumpkin Growers, an organization that is dedicated to creating good will and friendship through the hobby of growing giant pumpkins.
Pumpkins are members of the winter squash family and are unique to the western hemisphere. For centuries before the Europeans came to the Americas, pumpkins were one of the staple foods of the native Indians.
Food historians believe that this vegetable, a member of the squash family, probably originated in Central America. By the 1500s, pumpkins and other squashes were cultivated by the Indians from South America to North America. However, the earliest Indians (1000 to 300 B.C.), who were nomads, dried the pumpkin seeds and used them for food, since they were easy to carry.
As the Indians settled into villages, they cultivated pumpkins and other squashes. Food historians say that squashes were the first of the Indian triad corn, beans and squash to be cultivated.
The Indians boiled or baked their pumpkins. They baked a whole pumpkin by placing it in the ashes or embers of a dying fire. The cooked flesh of the pumpkin was then moistened with animal fat, maple syrup or honey before eating.
The Indians also dried pumpkins by cutting them into rings and hanging the rings up to dry. This gave them a vegetable to use through the winter months. Dried pumpkin also was ground into meal and used the same as cornmeal to make breads and puddings.
The first pumpkins known to Europeans were discovered in about 1540, when some of the scouts of Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado reported that melons (probably pumpkins) were growing in what is today the Southwest. In 1584, French explorer Jacques Cartier reported that he had found big melons (squashes) in the St. Lawrence region (upper New York state). The French word gros melons, however, was translated as pompions (pumpkins).
In 17th-century New England, ripe pumpkins were sliced, then diced and put into a 2- or 3-gallon iron pot to be stewed in the fireplace for most of the day. Periodically, more pieces of pumpkin were added to the pot as its contents boiled down. After cooking all day, the mixture had the consistency of applesauce. A little butter, vinegar and ginger, if available, were added to the mix. This pumpkin puree was served as an accompaniment to fish or meat.
Some of this pumpkin puree was also used by the New England settlers for pumpkin pies strictly an American invention. Even though the English had long been making pastry for meat and fruit pies, and the Indians had been stewing pumpkins, it was the New England colonists who combined the pastry and pumpkin for an entirely different dish. Supposedly, the first pumpkin pie served at the third Thanksgiving meal celebrated by the Pilgrims.
To the mashed, stewed pumpkin, the settlers added milk, eggs, spices and molasses. The mixture was then poured into a pastry shell and baked until the filling was firm but creamy, and the pie crust crisp and golden. In preparing the pumpkin pie filling, the New Englanders were following a basic English custard pie recipe of milk, eggs and sugar. Lacking sugar, however, they used molasses.
Molasses became such an important ingredient to pumpkin pies that, on several occasions, New England towns put off their Thanksgiving celebration for a week or more while awaiting a shipment of molasses from the West Indies.
In the first genuine American cookbook American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, published in 1796 there was a recipe for pompkin pie. Although the book was very small, only 46 pages, it did contain recipes for most of the American culinary inventions to that date.
Today, pumpkins are associated with fall, Halloween and pumpkin-growing contests. Maybe next year someone will win the Half Moon Bay contest with a pumpkin weighing more than 2,624 pounds. I wonder how many cans of mashed pumpkin that would make.
Each year at pumpkin time, I made a Pumpkin Cheesecake, but this year I am making it for Thanksgiving to take along to an invited dinner. The recipe is long, but not complicated, and I have streamlined it. I often got teased for the lack of bourbon in the cake and topping. However, even a little bit is unique.
PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE WITH BOURBON SOUR CREAM TOPPING
Crust:
cup graham cracker crumbs
cup finely chopped pecans
cup packed light brown sugar
cup granulated sugar
stick ( cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
In a bowl combine the cracker crumbs, pecans and sugars. Stir in the melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom and inch up the side of a buttered 9-inch springform pan. Chill the crust for 1 hour.
Filling:
1 cups solid pack pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 teaspoons cinnamon
teaspoons nutmeg
teaspoon ground ginger
cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into bits and softened
cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon
In a bowl whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and brown sugar. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese, and the granulated sugar. Beat in the cream, cornstarch, vanilla, bourbon and the pumpkin mixture. Beat the filling until smooth.
Pour the filling into the crust and bake the cheesecake in the middle of a preheated 350 F. oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the center is just set. Let the cheesecake cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes while making the topping.
Topping:
2 cups sour cream
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoons bourbon
Pecan halves, for garnish
In a bowl whisk together the sour cream, sugar and bourbon. Spread the sour cream mixture over the top of the cheesecake and bake the cheesecake for another 5 minutes. Let the cheesecake cool in the pan on a rack and the chill it, covered, overnight. Remove the side of the pan and garnish the top of the cheesecake with pecan halves.
Jane Dittmar, the Democratic nominee for Virginias 5th Congressional District, has received her biggest endorsement of the campaign so far that of President Barack Obama.
The Democratic candidate is one of several running for the House or Senate across several states who have received an endorsement from the president, Politico reported Monday. The recent batch of endorsements is part of an effort to switch seats held by a Republican to a Democrat, as well as maintain the ones currently held by Democratic incumbents.
In a statement released by Dittmars campaign, the candidate said she is honored to receive the presidents endorsement.
Obama is a generational leader, who led this country through one of our most challenging economic periods, she said. Because of Barack Obama, today we have an economy moving in the right direction for working families. I am grateful for his endorsement and even more grateful for his leadership and service to our country.
In Virginia, in addition to Dittmar, Obama is also endorsing LuAnn Bennett, who is running against incumbent Barbara Comstock, R-10th.
Dittmar is running against state Sen. Tom Garrett Jr., R-Buckingham, for the seat currently held by Robert Hurt, a Republican. Hurt did not seek reelection.
Garrett leads the race in polls released by both candidates, with his campaign showing an 11-point advantage and hers showing him up by six.
STANARDSVILLE Greene Countys sheriff is defending his decision to hold a seminar that some say is promoting Islamophobia.
We do seminars here all the time to educate the citizens, and some people wanted to know more about jihad, Sheriff Steve Smith said Monday after receiving complaints about a Nov. 5 seminar originally titled, Understanding the Muslim Threat.
The title has since been changed to Understanding the Jihad Threat.
The all-day seminar will feature Chris Gaubatz, the son of David Gaubatz, who wrote Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld thats Conspiring to Islamize America; and Charlottesville-area resident Suzanne Shattuck, whose LinkedIn profile refers to her as a nurse, immigration and national security activist and writer.
Attempts to reach Chris Gaubatz and Shattuck for comment were unsuccessful Monday.
Gaubatz appeared in late-June as a witness before a Senate panel about Islamic terrorism and accused the two Muslim members of Congress, Reps. Keith Ellison D-Minnesota, and Andre Carson, D-Indiana, of having attended an event organized by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Smith said he went to one of Gaubatzs seminars in Culpeper a few months ago and found it informative. Everything he said, he could prove. It was true, Smith said. He had the Koran there and other documents. There were actually Muslims in attendance.
Nothing was said about bashing Muslims or anything, the sheriff said. Its an educational tool here for the citizens of Greene.
But some Greene residents are balking at what they see as a seminar with speakers who have extremist leanings. I homeschool my children. I thought it was an opportunity for education, said Jen Linaberry.
That, she said, was until she started researching the speakers.
I found out this is a very Islamophobia kind of network. Im uncomfortable with this, she said of next weeks seminar. I dont think this is appropriate for a public servant.
Smith said thats not the case.
Like I said, were not bashing anyone. Our record speaks for itself, we dont discriminate. Were just trying to educate people. This is the world we live in now, and youd be naive to stick your head in the sand and say it doesnt exist, he said.
Linaberry sees it differently. I feel like hes using a public platform to espouse his own personal beliefs, she said. The conversation needs to be positive.
Smith said he knew the decision to hold the seminar would be controversial.
You have to know whats going on in the world. There are jihadists over there, there are terrorist attacks. Were not saying all Muslims are bad, were just saying that this is what terrorism is jihad. Well educate people on what it is. Thats all were doing, he said. When they start telling me that I cant have it, shouldnt have it or I cant do it, then they control you, and I dont think we have America anymore.
The seminar will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 5 at Piedmont Virginia Community Colleges Eugene Giuseppe Center in Stanardsville.
Due to limited capacity, Smith said, seating priority will be given to Greene County residents. To sign up, call the Sheriffs Office at (434) 985-2222.
RICHMOND Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Monday blamed the political silly season for a Wall Street Journal article that connected his in-state political activity to the FBI investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clintons use of a private email server.
The story circulated widely by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and conservative media centers on $465,700 in donations from McAuliffes political action committee last year to Democratic state Senate candidate Jill McCabe. Her husband, Andrew McCabe, was a high-ranking FBI official at the time who was later promoted to deputy director, which gave him oversight over the Clinton email probe.
Trump and other Republicans seized on the article, suggesting McAuliffes support for Jill McCabe may have led to favorable treatment for Clinton, a close McAuliffe ally who was not charged after the FBI finished its email investigation. Democrats dismissed the front-page story as overblown, arguing the timeline simply doesnt add up because McCabe was recruited to run before Clintons email issue was widely known or under investigation.
The donations came as McAuliffe and state Democrats mounted a furious campaign to flip control of the Virginia Senate by pouring money into a handful of competitive contests. McAuliffes PAC, Common Good VA, gave heavily to other Democrats in close races, donating $803,500 to Alexandria city employee Jeremy McPike, who won a seat in Prince William, and $781,500 to Richmond-area real estate developer Dan Gecker, who lost.
Jill McCabe, a Northern Virginia doctor, was challenging longtime Sen. Richard H. Black, R-Loudoun, who made headlines this year for taking an unusual foreign trip to Syria to meet with and support the war-torn countrys President Bashar Assad.
McCabe failed to unseat Black despite having a wide fundraising advantage, and Democrats did not retake control of the closely divided Senate.
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol after a jobs announcement, McAuliffe said he supported McCabe because she was the best candidate plain and simple.
Its unfortunate sometimes when you read the whole story and find out theres no there there, McAuliffe said.
McAuliffe said efforts to recruit McCabe began in February 2015, before news broke in early March about Clintons use of a personal email account. McAuliffe said the recruitment efforts were led by Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam. The governor said he met with the McCabes on March 7, which he said was the only time he met Andrew McCabe.
So unless I live in a time capsule, if you actually read the story, none of it makes sense, McAuliffe said.
At a rally in Florida on Monday, Trump said the story gives a pretty good idea for why Clinton was not charged, adding: Weve never had a thing like this in the history of this country.
The Republican Party of Virginia announced Monday that it was filing a public-records request with McAuliffes office seeking any emails related to McCabes candidacy. In a statement, RPV Chairman John Whitbeck said McAuliffe jumped at the chance to put a few favors in the bank at the FBI for Clinton Inc.
Black called on Andrew McCabe to resign from the FBI. The agency told the Wall Street Journal that McCabes involvement in the email investigation wasnt seen as a conflict because his wifes campaign had ended before he was promoted to an oversight role.
In a statement, Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker said Republicans were pulling a desperate political stunt to distract from Donald Trumps losing race and inexcusable treatment of women.
In the closing weeks of her campaign, McCabe mentioned her husbands job in a Q&A with Lenny, an online media company launched by left-leaning actress Lena Dunham.
My husband is the associate deputy director of the FBI. I would say its part of why were politically aware. Though, until recently, weve been more focused on national security rather than local politics. McCabe said in response to a question about her daily routine. He has an equally demanding job.
When McAuliffe was pushing to expand Medicaid in Virginia in early 2014, McCabe led the governor on a tour of Inova Loudoun Hospital, where McCabe works as a pediatric emergency room physician.
When McCabe was tapped to run for Senate, another Democrat, Army veteran and attorney Thomas V. Mulrine, had already announced his candidacy for Blacks seat.
In an interview Monday, Mulrine said he chose to step aside after it became clear that McAuliffe and Democratic dollars were lining up behind McCabe. Mulrine called McCabe a very good person, but said she was unknown to many in the Loudoun-centered Senate district.
I had never heard of her, Mulrine said.
He said he doubted Republican claims that McCabes husbands position played a role, but he said it was at least unseemly for the governor to be involved in recruiting and backing one Democratic candidate at the expense of another.
I think the citizens of the county ought to choose who their representatives are and not just have somebody foisted on them by somebody from afar, Mulrine said.
Emily Bolton, a DPVA spokeswoman, said McCabes background in health care made her a candidate who could effectively counter the extreme anti-choice views and rhetoric of Dick Black.
Jill was the strongest candidate for the job in this critical district, Bolton said.
ROANOKE A gunman opened fire at FreightCar America in Roanoke early Tuesday morning, killing one employee, injuring three others and then killing himself, police said.
Police said the deceased victim is a FreightCar employee whose name has not yet been released.
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Roanoke Police Chief Tim Jones identified the shooter as Getachew Fekede, 53, who was from Kenya and lived in Roanoke. He came to Virginia in 2011 through a refugee program and worked at FreightCar until March 2016, when he didn't show up for work and was dismissed, Jones said. Until then, Jones said, he had been a good employee. It's unclear how long Fekede worked at FreightCar.
Jones said he doesn't know what Fekede had been doing since he left FreightCar, but he has had no contact with Roanoke police.
Three people were taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment of gun-related injuries. One had been released by 2:45 p.m., according to Carilion spokesman Chris Turnbull. A second was in serious condition and the third in good condition.
FreightCar America employs a few hundred workers in what is known as Norfolk Southern's East End Shops along Campbell Avenue Southeast.
Police responded to the rail car makers plant on reports of gunfire at 6:08 a.m. Police said there was one witness to the shooting who had been in the restroom.
The shooting happened in a paint shop at the facility. Jones said the gunman fired 10 rounds from a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. The Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is still determining how he got the gun, he said.
It is not clear how many employees were in the building when the shooting happened. There is a shift that begins at 6 a.m., and employees reporting for the 7 a.m. shift found emergency workers and police on the scene.
FreightCar America released a statement around noon following several questions. The company did not respond to questions about the shooter or about security at the facility.
"FreightCar America extends its deepest condolences to everyone affected by the tragic events that occurred at our Roanoke facility earlier this morning," the statement read. "We are working closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement to determine what happened and ensure that our employees are safe. Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, and out of respect for our employees and their families, we cannot provide specific information about the victims at this time."
Norfolk Southern also placed a hold on people going into the yard. By 10:25 a.m., railroad employees were cleared to enter the facility, spokeswoman Susan Terpay said.
Jones said it is believed the shooter turned his weapon on himself. No police were injured, nor did they fire their weapons, he said.
Police evacuated the FreightCar America property and the adjacent Norfolk Southern property and conducted a search to clear the area before allowing employees to return.
Jones said the search and processing of the scene is expected to last for hours and advised people to avoid the area.
Campbell Avenue was shut down Tuesday morning, causing congestion for commuters.
Across the street from FreightCar America, James Overstreet sat outside Chap's Tavern, along with a few people who couldn't get to work because of the street closure. Chap's is a local hangout for FreightCar America and Norfolk Southern employees.
"I was driving home this morning, and I didn't know what was going on, but it took me an hour and a half," Overstreet said.
Community High School, which is on Campbell Avenue just on the other side of Interstate 581 from the FreightCar shops, began calling its 62 students at 7:45 a.m. to notify them that school would be closed.
FreightCar America, based in Chicago, took over Norfolk Southern's idled East End Shops in Roanoke in 2005. The shop closed during the recession in 2009, but reopened in 2011 after NS placed orders for 1,500 rail cars.
In August, FreightCar America said in news releases and SEC filings that it would eliminate 15 percent of its salaried workforce. It said it would also adjust staffing levels for hourly and salaried workers to coincide with production.
The company said it faced unexpected and rising costs for new types of rail cars that it makes, as well as fewer deliveries of them. It already has significantly curtailed operations at an Illinois facility this year.
RICHMOND The Virginia Board of Health voted Monday to remove contested regulations on abortion facilities that they deemed placed an undue burden on abortion access.
The vote was 11 to 4, with board members Bradley Beall, Theresa M. Brosche, Megan C. Getter and Henry N. Kuhlman voting against the changes.
The repealed regulations required facilities that provide five or more abortions a month to meet hospital-like building standards, among other restrictions. Proponents argue the standards keep women safe. Opponents claim they limit abortion access for women.
This afternoons vote signals a victory and the end of a protracted regulatory fight over the future of womens health in Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in a written statement.
I want to thank the Virginia Board of Health for working to repeal onerous regulations designed solely to reduce or outright remove access to essential reproductive health services for women across the commonwealth.
Looming over the boards discussion Monday was the U.S. Supreme Courts decision earlier this year in the Whole Womens Health v. Hellerstedt case, which found that similar hospital standards in Texas placed an undue burden on abortion access.
Cynthia V. Bailey with the office of Virginias Attorney General told the board that in light of the Supreme Courts decision, Virginias regulations would not likely survive a constitutional challenge.
The changes to Virginias regulations were proposed by the states Department of Health, which took into consideration the suggestions of the office of Virginias Attorney General, according to State Health Commissioner Marissa Levine.
The board was originally slated to vote on the regulations in September but that vote was postponed after documents were erroneously posted on Virginias town hall website that suggested the board had already made its decision to repeal the regulations.
Mondays vote which took place at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Eastern Henrico County during a specially scheduled meeting was spurred by the actions of two Virginia governors.
The regulations grew out of a 2011 law approved by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, instructing the Board of Health to regulate the clinics. The subsequent regulations developed by the board, which had a majority of Republican appointees, required existing facilities that perform abortions to comply with building standards for new hospitals.
Critics said the new regulations, in particular the building requirements, were not intended to protect womens health, but to shutter clinics by imposing costly renovations.
Then in 2014, McAuliffe, a Democrat, asked the Board of Health to review the regulations and ultimately remove those guidelines.
All four of those that voted against the changes in regulations were appointed to the board by McDonnell.
Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation, which opposes abortion, said in a statement: While the board is attempting to hide behind a radical interpretation of this years Supreme Court decision regarding abortion center safety and abortion industry talking points, any reasonable Virginian understands that when a board tasked with health care safety votes to eliminate even the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]s minimum standards for infection control, its politics, not health driving that decision.
Some of the regulations the Board of Health removed included those that dictated the necessary width of hallways and the size of operating rooms.
If the Board of Health continued to require those hospital-like building standards of abortion facilities, Levine said that it would be mandating a higher standard than the standards of any other outpatient facility in Virginia at this time.
The vote followed a two-hour public comment period during which proponents and opponents of the regulations largely cited patient safety as their primary concern.
Dr. Serina Floyd, an Alexandria-based gynecologist, said carrying a pregnancy to term is 14 times riskier than a 1st trimester abortion.
During a break in the meeting, Cobb asserted that if the number of alleged safety violations that she said occur at abortion facilities took place anywhere else, federal regulators would be down there in a heartbeat.
After the public comment period, the board members argued over additional amendments to Virginias code on the licensure of abortion facilities, such as whether or not a physician should remain on the premises of an abortion clinic to discharge a patient or whether those clinics should be required to test patients for sexually transmitted diseases.
The meeting lasted from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with three 20-minute breaks. While the room was full at the beginning of the meeting, by the time the board voted only a small group remained.
Cold weather and the winter months are quickly approaching, which can cause an increase of arthritis symptoms due to changing air pressures.
Common symptoms associated with arthritis include stiffness, pain, decreased strength, poor overhead reaching, difficulties with walking and climbing stairs, and problems with fine motor activities like fastening clothing using buttons and zippers. To understand the reason for these symptoms, it is essential to understand what arthritis is and how it affects ones body.
Arthritis can be classified as osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid arthritis. Both have a common definition of joint inflammation that affects one or multiple joints.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form that causes pain and inflammation due to decreased cushioning between bones, especially in joints of the shoulders, knees, hips, spine and hands.
Rheumatoid arthritis includes large and small joints and may even have an effect on the heart, digestive system, lungs and muscles used for breathing.
Many individuals with arthritis experience increased symptoms, or flare ups, during cold weather. These symptoms are thought to be worsened due to an increase in barometric pressure, or weight of the air. This has a tremendous impact on the ability to complete daily activities due to pain, inflammation and stiffness. Obviously, these flare ups substantially affect quality of life and need to be addressed accordingly.
Many people with arthritis tend to resort to using anti-inflammatory medications, such as Ibuprofen or Aleve, to decrease pain and inflammation and avoid movements of the affected limbs. Although these options may temporarily relieve some of these symptoms, they can lead to further dysfunction of the area and even cause detrimental side effects.
Other interventions may be recommended, such as surgeries for joint replacement to eliminate the symptoms to regain function. However, there are additional strategies to avoid surgery and manage the symptoms of arthritis.
An alternative and cost-effective solution to get individuals back to living their lives without limitations is arthritis therapy, which is often led by both physical and occupational therapists.
Arthritis care is one of the many services offered by Columbus Community Hospitals Rehabilitative Services therapists at the Columbus Wellness Center. Our specialized care team provides therapy to arthritis patients that can help reduce pain, increase mobility, improve strength and foster participation in valued activities.
Specific therapy strategies utilized to achieve these goals include using heat and cold therapies to reduce pain and inflammation, stretching and strengthening to improve joint mobility, and the use of an AlterG anti-gravity treadmill to improve strength for walking pain-free. Manual (hands-on) therapy, core strengthening, aquatic therapy and Ai Chi (Tai Chi movements in the water), as well as IASTM (instrument aided soft tissue mobilization) are utilized as well as custom splints and braces, or orthotics.
Therapists also provide education on arthritis management strategies, teach the use of adaptive equipment to reduce stress on joints and perform splinting techniques to prevent joint deformity. The clinical, evidence-based approaches used in the hospitals arthritis therapy services help limit the detrimental effects associated with arthritis and get you back in control of your life without limitations.
Those who have questions or would like to know more about arthritis care and strategies to improve the symptoms should contact Rehabilitative Services at the Columbus Wellness Center, 3912 38th St., Suite A, at 402-562-3333.
Joachim Volhard, known professionally as Jack, of Culpeper, Va., an internationally recognized author and expert on dog training and the training of dog trainers, died Friday, October 21, 2016, at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was 80 and had suffered from symptoms of Dementia.With his wife, Wendy, who survives him, he helped promote the Motivational Method of dog training that emphasized positive rewards for good behavior rather than punishment of bad, an approach that has since been widely adopted here and abroad. Together the Volhards wroteDog Training for Dummies(2001), which is now in its third edition, as well asThe Canine Good Citizen(1997). He also is the author and co-author with his wife of eleven other books, includingWhat All Good Dogs Should Know(1991, with Melissa Bartlett) and what is considered by many a bible for dog trainers,Teaching Dog Obedience Classes: The Manual for Instructors(1986), as well as four instructional videotapes and DVDs and more than 150 articlesfor publication such asOff Lead Magazineand theAKC Gazette. Volhard received five awards from the Dog Writers' Association of America.Joachim Jakob Volhard was born Oct. 15, 1936, in Frankfurt, Germany, and grew up there except during World War II, when he was sent to rural eastern Germany to be safe from aerial bombardments. In 1955 he came to the United States with a scholarship to attend Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C. After high school graduation he attended Georgetown College and graduated from the Georgetown Law School in 1963. He worked at the Federal Trade Commission from 1964 to 1973, the year he was appointed a Federal administrative law judge. He served as a judge hearing Social Security cases in Syracuse, N.Y., until his retirement in 2002. He then moved to Culpeper, Virginia, where he lived until his death.For many years the Volhards were active exhibitors at dog shows, obtaining many American Kennel Club Conformation, Performance, and Obedience titles in the United States and Canada, including Dog World Awards of Canine Distinction with Landseer Newfoundlands, Yorkshire Terrier, Standard Wirehaired Dachshunds, Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherd dogs.A judge professionally, Volhard also served for 35 years as an American Kennel Club judge of obedience trials, in which dogs perform precision routines. He was on the Board of Directors of the Newfoundland Club of America in the 1970s.A skilled and good-natured teacher, Volhard taught weekly obedience training classes for 30 years and also organized and taught weekend seminars on training and instructing. With Wendy he started Top Dog Training School, which starting in 1977 presented seminars all over the country, Canada and Europe and two yearly Instructing and Training camps attended by students from all over the world. Since 2003 the camps have been held at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria, Va.Despite an imposing demeanor amplified by his judicial temperament, Volhard could show sympathy and humor to his sometimes rattled students when they failed to follow his precise instructions regarding footwork and leash handling. His favorite admonition, used more often than one might expect, was, "Not that left foot, theotherleft foot!"In addition to his wife, Wendy, he is survived by abrother, Rudiger Volhard, of Frankfurt; and two sisters, Brigitte Volhard and Gemma Boerner, who are also in Frankfurt.Volhard will be interred in the Frankfurt Cemetery, Frankfurt, Germany in January 2017.Jack's life will be celebrated with a small dinner for close family friends and Volhard Instructors.In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the Rabies Challenge Fund,www.rabieschallengefund.org.An online guest book is available at johnsoncares.com.
***THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW.***
Much has been said about the visuals of DOCTOR STRANGE, so let me add to that chorus; this film, visually speaking, is the most ambitious and beautiful film Marvel Studios has produced to date. With Ditko-esque magic, mind bending kaleidoscopic effects and appearances of other dimensions, forces and even characters that begs you to watch this film in IMAX 3D, if you can.
The story is somewhat formulaic, to use the word that gets used a little too often when it comes to MCU films, but I feel that is somewhat to Doctor Strange's benefit. Having too complex of a plot when trying to introduce audiences to a lot of the new concepts of magic and sorcery such as other dimensions that run parallel to our own but don't intersect with it so magic battles can take place right in our midst without people fleeing for their lives might have overcomplicated things. Mads Mikkelsen is great in the role of Kaecilius, even if his villain is kind of lacking. He's by no means the worst MCU villain, he's probably one scene away from being great, but his motivations and goals always feel a little basic.
All of this seems to have been done to the benefit of Benedict Cumberbatch's Dr. Stephen Strange, as so much time is spent with him as his character develops over the course of the film. And yes, what people have been saying for months now is true; as Marvel prepares to switch out the old guard for the new, Dr. Stephen Strange is absolutely being positioned as the new age Tony Stark / Iron Man, in fact, DOCTOR STRANGE kind of felt like an IRON MAN redux.
Recognition must also go to the rest of the cast, the already mentioned Mikkelsen, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer provides real charm and humour. Chiwetel Ejiofor is frankly brilliant as the devout Mordo (keep an eye on him). Benedict Wong is startlingly brilliant as the bad-ass Wong, an unexpected source of so much of the humour in this film. And Tilda Swinton, oh what more can I say? Her Ancient One is the best mentor character brought to film in the MCU by far. Studio head and producer Kevin Fiege needs to give his casting director a raise.
Director Scott Derrickson has said he felt the tone of DOCTOR STRANGE was closest to CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, but I have to respectfully disagree. There's something about the fantastical elements that's lift DOCTOR STRANGE to another plane, if you'll forgive the pun. Not necessarily a more light-hearted one, as some of the action in this film is visceral and it's theme's dark, but perhaps the very real world threats in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER made it seem more scary to me. Not that DOCTOR STRANGE isn't without it's horror elements, Derrickson being a horror director and all, there are a few simply crafted scares, cheap pops to get the audience to jump out of their seat, all of which I loved.
DOCTOR STRANGE soundtrack is a direct answer to those critics who say the MCU has no memorable music. I've been humming the DOCTOR STRANGE theme in my head for the last 12 hours Michael Giacchino's score is the best of any MCU film. Soundtrack nerds like myself, I urge you to check it out on Spotify.
It's not without it's flaws, at a little under two hours it sometimes felt rushed and I found myself wishing the film was five minutes longer, just to let some of the scenes breathe, but it is a ridiculously fun-filled romp into an realm I never dreamed Marvel would tread. Also, it really feels as though thesoundtrack is a direct answer to those critics who say the MCU has no memorable music. I've been humming thetheme in my head for the last 12 hours Michael Giacchino's score is the best of any MCU film. Soundtrack nerds like myself, I urge you to check it out on Spotify.
Where does DOCTOR STRANGE, Marvel Studios 14th film, sit amongst it's brethren in my estimation? Easily Top 5, but then I did just see it last night. The closest MCU film I can equate the experience of watching DOCTOR STRANGE to is GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. How ever you feel about Guardians, I think DOCTOR STRANGE will match it and then some.
There are two credit scenes, one mid-credits and one at the end. I implore you, please stay in your seats. Both scenes left me so intrigued for the future and one of them was easily my favourite Marvel credit scene to date, without question. You'll know what I mean when you see it.
Written by Nick Whitney, MCU Correspondent -- Click to read Nick's posts
[Editor Note: Nick Whitney saw a special early fan screener in the UK. Stay tuned for our next review which will hit the website on November 2 after we see our local U.S. press screener.]
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may be the first official movie of Marvel Studios' Phase 3, but as far as I'm concerned it'swill forever take the title of the film that took Phase 3 to the next level. Introducing us to a brand new character, and by extension of his origin, there is a whole new sphere to play with in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). We're had Iron Men, Incredible Hulks, super soldiers and alien deities but now we've tapped into something else, the magic ofis such a thrill to see in this cinematic world.
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.
Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier
Those who habitually put items in their recycling bins that don't belong there are the target of the ordinance amendment, not those who make an occasional, accidental mistake, said Public Works Director Jeff Demers.
The state government plans to start with 25 electric buses, however, the number will soon be increased to 50.
Himachal Pradesh is gearing up to address the grave pollution crisis on the Manali-Rohtang Pass corridor. The state has successfully conducted electric bus trials and has now become the first in India to reach the remarkable feat of testing electric buses at 13,050 feet.
Manali-Rohtang section is considered as ecologically fragile and the introduction of electric buses is a directive given to the authorities by the National Green Tribunal. Many news agencies had reported harshly on the pollution issue after the snow at Rohtang-Manali was found to be turning black in colour. Many researches have also pointed towards the fast melting of glaciers as a result of high carbon emissions.
The government has been trying hard to introduce eco-friendly rides for a long time now. Earlier trials had resulted in bursting of tyres. G S Bali, Minister for Transport in Himachal Pradesh on Friday said, "Technical trial of the electric bus was conducted from Manali to Rohtang Pass with 40 people on board. He said all parameters except ground clearance were successfully achieved. For a distance of 50 kms, the bus consumed only 28% to 30% battery."
Ground clearance is the next major challenge that the department wants the auto makers to work on. As majority of electric buses are developed on the low platform designs, the small distance between the axle and the road can lead to frequent bus breakdowns. The minister further said, "Companies scheduled to give trial runs, have been asked to increase ground clearance in view of hilly roads. There is no doubt that electric buses would run smoothly with no carbon emission.
CNG buses were initially a part of the plan but because of the lack of infrastructure to supply CNG gas to such heights, the option was later erased from the plan. The state government plans to start with 25 electric buses, however, the number will soon be increased to 50.
Source: TruckDekho.com
The decision was not deliberate, but was brought up as a residuary item, under the 'any other items' category, listed at the end of every board agenda. Mistry protested to this move at the meeting, calling it an illegal move
Mumbai: In a shocking move on October 24, Cyrus P Mistry was asked to step down as Chairman of Tata Sons after serving four years. Ratan Tata has taken interim charge until the board appoints a successor to the position. The announcement came soon after a Board meeting at Tata Sons on Monday.
The 5-member board committee comprising of Ratan Tata, TVS Group head Venu Srinivasan, Amit Chandra of Bain Capital, former diplomat Ronen Sen and Lord Kumar Bhattacharya will now choose a successor to Mistry within the next four months.
Ratan Tata wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi informing about the new change in top management of the Tata Group. "A new management structure is being put in place and a selection has been constituted to identify the next chairman of Tata Sons," Ratan Tata wrote in the letter.
"The committee has been mandated to complete the process in four months. In the interim, the board has requested me to perform the role of Chairman and I have agreed to do so in the interest of stability of and reassurance to the Tata group," he added.
Ratan Tata was the Chairman Emeritus of the Tata group when he retired on December 29, 2012. He was the successor chosen by JRD Tata in 1991, who led the conglomerate for 21 years in a row.
In a report in NDTV, a board member said that the decision to remove Mistry was not new and was being planned since a few weeks. The decision to sack Mistry was not based on pique but entirely on dismal performance.
Ratan Tata, in a letter to the employees, wrote that he would be returning as the chairman in the interest of stability and reassurance of the group.
The report also quoted an insider saying that the decision was not deliberate, but was brought up as a 'residuary' item, under the 'any other items' category, listed at the end of every board agenda. Mistry protested this move at the meeting, calling it an illegal move
Mistry was also pointed out that, according to the Tata rule book, he was given a 15-day notice period from the Board before bringing up such an item at the meeting.
The Board apparently responded to Mistry that they have a legal opinion in support of the decision and when Mistry asked to see the opinion, the Board reportedly responded that the meeting wasnt a court hearing.
At present, there are no reasons given for the change, but according to several reports, it is believed that Tata Sons was unhappy with Mistrys approach of shedding non-profit businesses, including the conglomerates steel business in Europe.
After being sacked, Mistry was rumoured to move the Bombay High Court on Tuesday to challenge the decision made by the group. However, Cyrus broke his silence later rubbishing the rumours that he will move court challenging Tata's dismissal.
There is no basis "at this stage" for media reports that Cyrus Mistry is contemplating taking Tata Sons to court for abruptly sacking him as Chairman, the Shapoorji Pallonji group said.
"Neither the SP Group nor Mr Cyrus Mistry have made any statement yet. While the circumstances are being studied, there is no basis to media speculation about litigation at this stage. As and when a public statement becomes necessary, it would be made," said a spokesperson of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which is owned by Mistry's family.
Six out of the nine-member Board voted in favour of his removal. Mistry refused to be part of the process as he was the ninth member. However, Mistry still remains a member of the Tata board and continues as a Director of the company.
Update: Family has rubbished claims that Cyrus will move court.
India is the only country among the 190 economies for which the report has a box dedicated to its ongoing economic reforms.
Washington: India continues to rank at 130th position in terms of ease of doing business, with the country seeing little or no improvement in dealing with construction permits, getting credit and other parameters.
In the World Banks latest Doing Business report, Indias place remained unchanged from last years original ranking of 130 among the 190 economies that were assessed on various parameters.
However, the last years ranking has been now revised to 131 from which the country has improved its place by one spot. The government has been making efforts to further improve the ease of doing business and aims to bring the country in the top 50.
Expressing disappointment over no change in Indias ranking in the World Banks index on ease of doing business, Indian government regretted that the report did not take into consideration 12 key reforms undertaken by the government.
When it comes to distance to frontier a measurement of the gap between an economys performance and the best practice score of 100 Indias score has improved to 55.27 this year from 53.93 last year.
India is the only country for which the report has a box dedicated to its ongoing economic reforms. The list of countries in the Doing Business 2017 is topped by New Zealand while Singapore is ranked second. It is followed by Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea, Norway, the UK, the US, Sweden and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Neighbouring Pakistan is ranked 144th in the list. On the basis of reforms undertaken, the top 10 improvers are Brunei Darussalam, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Belarus, Indonesia, Serbia, Georgia, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
A record 137 economies around the world have adopted key reforms that make it easier to start and operate small and medium-sized businesses, the report said.
Developing countries carried out more than 75 per cent of the 283 reforms in the past year, with Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for over one-quarter of all reforms, it added. What we have seen is a remarkable effort on the part of the government to implement business reforms. It looks like we are going to have to wait for another year or so. But the direction of change is fundamentally a very significant one, Global Indicators group director Augusto Lopez-Claros said.
New Delhi: Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das today expressed hope that the Bankruptcy and Insolvency law would become operational by the end of this year, leading to further ease of doing business.
"We have a definite roadmap to implement the Bankruptcy law. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is working on it. The law ministry, the legislative department are also working on finalising the regulation.
We expect therefore the entire bankruptcy and insolvency law will become operational by end of December," he said at an Assocham event here. The government has already set up Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and floated draft norms to take views of the stakeholders.
Earlier this month, draft regulations related to liquidation of insolvent corporate persons, insolvency resolution process for corporate persons and application to judicial authority.
The ministry had issued draft regulations pertaining to registration of insolvency professionals, agencies and model bye-laws. A working group of experts, set up by the ministry, has prepared these regulations.
Views of stakeholders have been sought till October 31 on these draft norms. Notified by the government in May, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code seeks to consolidate and amend laws relating to reorganisation as well as insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time-bound manner.
Meanwhile, IBBI, chaired by M S Sahoo, held its first meeting last Friday and it was addressed by Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal. The board will have 10 members. Apart from the chairman, currently there are four government-nominated members and the rest are expected to be appointed in coming months.
In 2015-16, the revenue of Tata companies taken together stood at USD 103 billion, with total headcount of over 660,000 people.
New Delhi: With Ratan Tata taking over as interim Chairman of Tata Sons after the ouster of Cyrus Mistry, various firms belonging to the conglomerate have informed bourses about the top-level change at the group's main holding company.
Tata Steel, Tata Coffee, Voltas, Tata Chemicals, India Hotels, Tata Communications and Tata Global Beverages today informed stock exchanges about the replacement of Mistry yesterday with immediate effect.
These firms were joined by other companies, including Titan, Nelco, Tata Investment Corporation, Tata Metaliks, Automobile Corporation of Goa, Rallis India, Tata Elxsi, TRF, Tayo Rolls Ltd, Trent, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd in intimating the exchanges that Ratan Tata would be the interim Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd until a new chairman is appointed.
However, some listed group firms such as TCS and Tata Sponge Iron Ltd are yet to make similar filings to the exchanges. Yesterday, two Tata group firms Tata Motors and Tata Power had informed the BSE about the change.
The Tata group comprises over 100 operating companies spread across six continents. In 2015-16, the revenue of Tata companies taken together stood at USD 103 billion, with total headcount of over 660,000 people.
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) claimed on Tuesday that wholesalers are facing about 45 per cent decline in demand of Chinese goods from retailers.
New Delhi: Social media campaign to boycott Chinese goods on Diwali may have a bigger impact than earlier thought. Wholesalers association, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) claimed on Tuesday that wholesalers are facing about 45 per cent decline in demand of Chinese goods from retailers. CAIT said that its estimate is based on inputs received from 20 distribution cities of different states.
In the wake of intensity of social media campaign resulting into a strong patriotic voice, retailers while assessing the mood of the people, are refraining from keeping more stocks of Chinese products and seems quite careful in building inventory for Diwali festival and it has led to a decline of about 45 per cent in demand of Chinese goods in comparison to last year, said CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal.
CAIT said that Chinese products including crackers, series of electric bulbs, kitchen appliances, toys, gift items, electric fittings and electronic consumables, home decoration items, gift articles and idols among others sale may suffer this Diwali. Though boycott of Chinese goods campaign will this time largely affect Indian traders and importers since Chinese goods have already been imported by them some 2-3 months back, said CAIT.
Mumbai: If rumours are to be believed, legendary Hollywood actor Al Pacino will star in Dhanush-Karthiks first untitled film together, where he will be seen playing a crucial part.
Wanderbar Films is also rumoured to extend financial aid to Karthik Subbarajs film with the megastar. News of Al Pacino starring alongside Dhanush has left the latters fans thrilled. Dhanush himself is debuting in Hollywood with The Extraordinary Journey Of The Fakir Who Got Trapped In An Ikea Cupboard opposite Uma Thurman.
This is not the first time that South-Indian film industry has tried to rope in a Hollywood superstar. Director Shankar, for example, was in talks with Arnold Schwarzenegger for his film Enthiran 2 but that deal never materialised owing to various reasons. In fact, Morgan Freeman was also considered for the role which allegedly Al Pacino will now portray.
Dhanush, is shooting for Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta, which is directed by Gautham Menon.
Kangana Ranaut was candour personified during her stint on the couch with Neha Dhupia.
Mumbai: Kangana Ranaut has never been the one to hold back and it's for this very reason that she has her fair share of lovers and haters.
The actress, whose career got a major boost post the release of 'Queen,' helmed by Vikas Bahl, has been on an upward spiral ever since.
Though her very public and very ugly altercation with alleged ex Hrithik Roshan did raise an eyebrow too many, it was the latter's carrer that had to bear the substantial brunt of it.
That hasn't stopped the actress from laying bare her soul, though.
Recently, she found herself on the couch alongside Neha Dhupia, in the latter's podcast, #NoFilterNeha, and dealt with all the verbal volleys being thrown at her with inimitable panache.
During the conversation, she opened up on how she often had found herself way out of her comfort zone for the sake of a film.
"That happens all the time. When you're thrown out of your comfort zone, initially its intimidating. It doesn't really matter if you're a star or not a star," Kangana confessed
She revealed how she'd often have to change in the open without proper vanity services, during the making of Vishal Bharadwaj's dream project, 'Rangoon'.
"It just depends on the kind of project that you choose. For example, for 'Rangoon', we were taken to these remote valleys of Arunachal Pradesh. There were literally no villages, nothing, not even rest rooms."
She also further went on to elaborate, saying, "I was p**ing behind rocks, changing behind rocks. My own people would just cover me. Everyone was, so was Shahid (Kapoor). There was nothing, so what do you do?" she added.
Kangana will next be sene in Hansal Mehta's 'Simran' and Vishal's 'Rangoon' opposite Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor.
Mumbai: Terming it merely a suspension and not a ban, as there was no government intervention, exhibitors on their own had decided to stop the screening of Indian films, following the ban on Pakistani artists and technicians working in India by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) earlier in October, reports the Express Tribune.
This decision comes in wake of the Indian Armys criticism of the MNS penalty of 50 million rupees on Indian films featuring Pakistani actors. Following the losses, exhibitors had gathered thrice since the suspension of Indian films to ponder over the possible consequences.
In the latest meeting, which took place on Sunday, followed by a brief discussion on Monday, all exhibitors had agreed to resume screening effective from Tuesday. According to another cinema owner, The Indian Armys statement is a good enough evidence for the change in perspective on the other side of the border. So is the release of Fawad Khans film in India.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, starring Fawad Khan along with Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is all set to hit theatres on October 28.
A formal announcement will be made by the chairman of Pakistans exhibitors association, Zuraiz Lashari, in Lahore on Tuesday. The owner of a leading distribution company said that the resumption of Indian films had to happen since cinema owners relied heavily on Bollywood movies for their revenue.
In a related development, the ministry of commerce has issued NoCs to both Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ajay Devgns Shivay. Shivay is set to be previewed by the censor board. The secretary of Sindh Board of Film Censors, Razzaq Khuhwar, said The government has issued the NoC for Shivay. We are set to screen today or tomorrow for certification.
The chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification, Mobashir Hasan, said that they will accept and preview Indian films, if and when they are submitted for certification.
Shah Rukh Khan had been shooting for Imtiaz Alis film The Ring opposite Anushka Sharma in Europe for the past few weeks. The team first shot in Prague, followed by Amsterdam, Lisbon and are currently shooting in Budapest. While his leading lady Anushka Sharma has already completed her portions and is back in Mumbai to promote her film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Shah Rukh is still in Budapest perhaps to complete his solo scenes.
Throughout the last few weeks, the superstar has been sharing interesting videos and pictures on social media, and several of them with his son AbRam who has also accompanied him for the shoot. While the father-son duo had worn Spider-Man masks for a video, they were also seen partying on the streets of Lisbon in the one of the other videos.
They also stepped out for another trip to the nightclub, and perhaps after having an enjoyable time the little one dozed off in the arms of the superstar and Shah Rukh shared this picture on Twitter. While the picture might be blurred, the sight of the little one sleeping in his fathers arms is beautiful.
Shah Rukhs caption terming his son a date is another adorable facet of their relationship.
Mumbai: While this couple has always adorned the pages of leading newspapers and magazines with tales of their straight-out-of-a-movie romance and their unruffled marriage, reaching the 25th year benchmark will see them romancing away in a foreign land with their munchkin AbRam.
This power couple will be ringing in their marriage anniversary with a small party on the sets of The Ring with the crew and a couple of friends. Both SRK and Gauri will be spending this memorable day with the youngest Khan scion AbRam somewhere amid the beautiful countryside of Spain.
A wedding cake has been ordered and there will be live musicians to bring in the special day, revealed an insider.
The teenage sweethearts, who dated for six years before finally tying the knot on October 25 1991, will be hosting a grand double party for Diwali and reaching this glorious milestone in their marriage.
Considering King Khans mammoth popularity, it comes as no surprise that fans of this dimple-chinned prince are gathering in Spain from all parts of the world to mark this special occasion in their favourite stars life.
His older kids, Suhana Khan and Aryan Khan will not be present to witness their parents usher in in a new year of togetherness.
Like any other ordinary couple, SRK and Gauri Khan are not immune to marital issues and had faced their share of what we call as a bad phase but have always managed to emerge victorious.
Last year on this same day, Shah Rukh had thanked Gauri for 32 yrs of Patience Perseverance Forgiveness lov & 3 beautiful kids.
Mumbai: In a recent interview, Ajay Devgn bluntly spoke about the clash of his movie Shivaay with one time family friend Karan Johars Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Hinting at the possibility of a war against karan Johar, the actor said he does not indulge in wars with anyone but if he must, his opponent will stand no chance against him.
The animosity is due to personal reasons and not professional. It has nothing to do with our films. There is no war between us. I am above having a war with anyone. I do my work and don't interfere in anyone's life. If I wage a war, no one will be able to stand before me, commented the star on Karan Johars now strained relationship with his wife Kajol who was once a close companion, with the former often referring to her as his lucky charm.
Devgn, who has directed and acted in the action-drama Shivaay, said that he is aware that the audience is bound to get divided with two big films releasing on the same day but is unruffled by it. When I announced the release date, no other film was set to release over the same weekend. Now, the audience is bound to get divided, but the better movie will eventually prosper. My film has action and an emotional connect as well, and I am certain that people will like it," asserted Ajay.
Devgn has even accused Karan Johar of giving 10 lakhs to controversial actor and self-proclaimed critic Kamaal Rashid Khan (KRK) to promote Ae Dil Hai Mushkil on social media and badmouth his Shivaay.
While talking about his family, Ajay revealed that his daughter Nysa has warned him against doing action films as they scare her. But after watching the trailer of Shivaay, the teenager was proud of her father.
She is worried that I may get injuredNysa was very angry when I left for the Bulgaria schedule. I couldn't meet her or Yug (son) for almost a-year-and-half. But after watching the first trailer, she told me that she was really proud of it and didn't mind the long absence.
Both Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay were initially banned in Pakistan after Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) banned Pakistani artists from working in India. The scenario has now changed with both the nations agreeing on releasing these films in their respective countries.
Shivaay and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil will be releasing on October 28.
Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar have worked in several films together.
The Prime Minister of the country Narendra Modi has urged the citizens of the country to send their Diwali wishes to the soldiers in various defence forces through a new website or its app. Some of the biggest superstars of the country, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar have also joined in the initiative and urged their fans to send their Diwali wishes to the soldiers.
Salman wished the soldiers and shared the governments video for the initiative on Facebook.
And Akshay Kumar posted a video where he praises the soldiers and urges everyone to send their Diwali wishes to them through the app.
Ur one wish can be the reason for a lot of smiles this Diwali.Send ur #Sandesh2Soldiers now via https://t.co/bUEI7AuMQc or Narendra Modi app pic.twitter.com/HNJjFAyOpZ Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) October 24, 2016
The superstars respect for soldiers is well-known as during the recent political storm after the attacks in Uri and the subsequent surgical strikes, Akshay was the one who had posted a strong message through a video that we were forgetting the sacrifices made by the soldiers amid the political chaos. He had also contributed financially to the families of the martyrs.
Diwali will be celebrated in the country and worldwide next week.
Mumbai: Anushka Sharma had been shooting for Imtiaz Alis The Ring in Prague, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Budapest in the past few weeks. While her co-star Shah Rukh Khan is still in Budapest and perhaps still shooting for the film, Anushka has wrapped up her part and got on to promoting her upcoming release Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The actress was seen on the sets of a comedy show and at events like the MAMI film festival to promote the film.
The music of the film has been appreciated and songs like the title track, Bulleya, Channa Mereya, The Breakup Song and the recent one Cutiepie have all been appreciated by the masses. Not just humans, even dogs seem to love the songs as in evident in this video that Anushka has shared on Twitter. In the video, Anushka is seen passionately singing Bulleya to a dog and he definitely loves it.
Watch the video here:
After the controversy surrounding the release, Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is finally gearing up for release on 28 October after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the political party protesting the casting of a Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, ended their protest after putting up their demands in front of the producers. The film also stars Ranbir Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
With Pawan Kalyan announcing that his film will release during the upcoming Ugadi festival, it seems that all the big stars are vying with each other in the first quarter of next year. Chiranjeevi and Balakrishnas films are releasing in January during the Sankranti festival, followed by Nagarjunas devotional film, Om Namo Venkatesaya. The Pawan Kalyan release is on March 29, followed by Allu Arjuns film, DJ: Duvvada Jagannatham. Mahesh Babus big-budget film, being directed by A.R. Murugadoss, is set for an April release. Apart from these, S.S. Rajamoulis epic drama, Baahubali 2 have also announced a release date in April. This big-budget film, starring Prabhas and Rana Daggubati is something that people are looking forward to. Most of these films are in the shooting stage right now. With so many big films hitting the screens from January to April end next year, its going to be big trade in for Tollywood.
Washington: A nurse who contracted the Ebola virus while treating the first person diagnosed with the deadly disease in the United States has reached a settlement with the Dallas hospital where she was in a team caring for the man, a statement on Monday said.
Terms of the deal between the hospital's owner, Texas Health Resources, and nurse Nina Pham, the first person infected with Ebola in the United States, were not disclosed.
Pham sued last year, saying that Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital did not do enough to prevent her from contracting the deadly virus and invaded her privacy after she was diagnosed with it.
"Texas Health Resources (THR) and Ms. Pham have resolved the pending lawsuit, and wish the best for each other going forward," they said in a joint statement. They did not provide further details.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in Dallas County, Pham claimed the hospital did not initially provide nurses with proper protective equipment or properly train staff on how to treat the disease. The lawsuit accused the hospital of negligence and deception. It did not specify an amount in damages.
The hospital has denied the claims. Pham was one of two nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who contracted the disease when treating Thomas Duncan, who was admitted in September 2014 and died less than two weeks later.
Both nurses recovered. Duncan contracted the disease in Liberia. Pham, who was 26 then, became a national symbol of hope in fighting Ebola after she recovered and was greeted in the Oval Office by President Barack Obama.
Pham claimed the hospital used her as a "public relations pawn" to improve its plummeting image. While it issued news releases saying her condition had improved to "good," it was having end-of-life conversations with her, Pham alleged in her lawsuit.
Pham said the hospital did not respect her right to privacy. In one instance, she was videotaped speaking to a doctor, and the video was released to the media. Pham said both the taping and the release of the videotape occurred without her permission.
The hospital did not disclose details of Pham's employment status, but the Dallas Morning News has reported that she was kept on the payroll even though she did not return to work.
In an interview with the newspaper last year, Pham said she has suffered hair loss, physical pain, insomnia and nightmares since recovering from Ebola.
Her parents' efforts to find out what happened may have led to her newfound aloofness.
Chennai: A 40-year-old male teacher was arrested on Monday on charges of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old student in neighbouring Tiruvallur district. The suspect has been identified as Srinivasan, an assistant teacher at a Panchayat Union High School, in Tiruvallur.
The horrific incident came to light when doctors examined the girl after she swooned from pain at her residence.
As per the advice of doctors, the parents preferred a complaint with Tiruvallur Police who registered a case under section 354A (sexual harassment) of the IPC and section 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault), 9 (f) (whoever being on the management or staff of an educational institution, commits sexual assault on a child in that institution), and 9(k) (whoever, taking advantage of a child's mental or physical disability, commits sexual assault on the child) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act, 2012.
On October 20, Srinivasan had isolated the student in the pretext requesting her assistance in the staff room, which was at his disposal. He sexually assaulted the child there and threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed it to anyone. The girl kept it to herself and distanced herself from her friends and family.
Her parents' efforts to find out what happened may have led to her newfound aloofness. On Sunday, the child collapsed at her house and was rushed to a neighbouring hospital where the doctors established that the child was sexually assaulted. Subsequently, a complaint was lodged and the suspect was picked up. Srinivasan was being remanded to judicial custody.
Bengaluru: The Jnanabharathi police have arrested a 30-year-old habitual offender in connection with the murder of a 60-year-old security guard, who was bludgeoned to death at the Male Mahadeshwara temple in Nagarabhavi on October 5.
The arrested has been identified as Kumar alias Narayan Raj alias Pilli Kumara (30), a resident of Kalasipalya in the city and hailing from Ramanagara, the police said.
According to police, Kumar was earlier convicted for 5 years sentence in two theft cases and was also involved in a pickpocket case. He was also accused in more than 40 cases where he targeted temple hundis (donation box). He targeted the temples located on the city outskirts and in Mysuru, the police said.
Bludgeoned to death
On October 5, the Male Mahadeshwara temple security guard, Raju Gowda, a resident of Chandra Layout, was bludgeoned to death by Kumar.
He had visited the temple in the afternoon and observed that the temple was an ideal target. In the night Kumar gained entry into the temple to steal the hundi, only to find that the security guard was asleep inside the temple.
Kumar decided to eliminate the security guard. Using a stone boulder he bludgeoned the security guard to death and attempted to break open the hundi, but he could not. A panic stricken Kumar fled the spot.
The Jnanabharathi police had detained over 50 people for questioning and eventually found out that Kumar was the man behind the murder. The police produced the accused before a magistrate on Tuesday to seek police custody for further investigations.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the government does not appreciate catching anyone's neck to contribute whereas Naidu termed the demand as wrong and said the government has nothing to do with it. (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi/Mumbai: The Rs 5 crore demand by MNS from the makers of 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' for Army welfare fund to ensure its smooth release continued to generate heat on Tuesday with two central Ministers disapproving of the deal and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis maintaining he was opposed to it.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the government does not appreciate catching anyone's neck to contribute, making it clear that donation to the Army was "voluntary" while Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu dubbed the MNS demand as "wrong".
Fadnavis, who is facing heat over "brokering" the deal between the film makers including Karan Johar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, maintained that he had opposed the offer of the Rs 5 crore contribution to the Army welfare fund.
Fadnavis, however, defended his intervention to resolve the issue, saying democratic governments at times would even talk to separatists and left ultras for the sake of peace. Johar's film faced protests by workers of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS) for casting Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.
The film's smooth release, later this week, was ensured at a meeting of Film Producers' Guild, producers and Thackeray, mediated by Fadnavis last week.
A key demand conceded at the meeting was Rs 5 crore contribution from makers for the army welfare, which sparked strong reactions from opposition parties and some army veterans
"The concept is voluntary donation and not catching neck of someone. We don't appreciate it," Parrikar told reporters in Delhi on the sidelines of the naval commanders conference.
The Defence Minister said the concept behind the newly created Battle Casualty Fund was to ensure that all those people who wanted to donate voluntarily for welfare of the family of martyrs could do so.
"There will be a scheme managed by MoD with assistance from Adjutant General Branch concerned. It is a voluntary donation and therefore we are not concerned with anyone demanding something to be donated to that," he added.
Naidu while terming the demand as "wrong" said the government has nothing to do with it.
"That was a wrong proposal. We don't agree with their (MNS) proposal. Maharashtra Chief Minister has also clarified that he was not a part of the proposal that was made by some other party," Naidu told reporters in Delhi.
Stressing that the matter was between "some party" and the "producer", he said the government does not "subscribe to that thinking at all and has no to role play".
Thackeray had put three demands, out of which there was no objections to the other two. When the issue of Rs 5 crore came up, I intervened and made it clear to the Film Producers' Guild that they need not have to agree to it. I also told them that the contribution has to be made voluntarily. However, it was producers' decision to accept it," Fadnavis said last evening at his residence 'Varsha'.
"I categorically told that although it is nice that the Guild has decided to stand by the families of our martyrs but it is not a compulsion. Still if they wish to do, they may contribute whatever amount they feel (is) appropriate. This figure of (Rs) 5 crore came from MNS but was not agreed in the meeting and turned down then and there only," he said.
Two Pakistani sisters married to Indian men in Gujarat have gone missing. (Photo: AFP/Representational)
Ahmedabad: Two Pakistani sisters married to Indian men in Gujarat have gone missing along with their two children after they walked out of their homes in Paldi area of Ahmedabad, police said on Tuesday.
Arif Memon and Mohammad Soheb, both brothers, married to Ayeshabibi and Navirabibi, respectively, filed a complaint stating that their wives have gone missing.
"The sisters who are Pakistani nationals and married to brothers from Ahmedabad left their homes in Paldi along with their two children a two-year-old boy and a three-month-old girl on evening of October 23," Paldi police station sub-inspector R D Gojiya said.
"They also carried their passports and marriage certificates. They are untraceable since then," he added.
He said that CCTV footage outside the residences of Memon and Soheb showed the women leaving with their belongings and children.
There is no mention of the reason in the complaint on why the women left their house.
Ayeshabibi had come to India around four years ago, while her younger sister Navirabibi two years back.
"They cannot leave for Pakistan because for that they will have to seek permission from police for visa," Gojiya added.
Mumbai: Under fire over "brokering" a deal between producers of "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has maintained that he had opposed the offer of Rs 5 crore contribution from makers to the Army welfare fund.
Karan Johar's film faced protests by MNS workers for casting Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. Film's smooth release, scheduled to open on October 28, was ensured at a meeting Film Producers' Guild, producers and MNS Thackeray, mediated by Fadnavis last week. A key demand conceded in the meeting was Rs 5 crore contribution from makers for the Army welfare.
"Thackeray had put three demands, out of which there was no objections to the other two. When the issue of Rs 5 crorecame up, I intervened and made it clear to the Film Producers' Guild that they need not have to agree to it. I also told them that the contribution has to be made voluntarily. However, it was producers' decision to accept it," Fadnavis said last evening at his residence 'Varsha'.
"I categorically told that although it is nice that the Guild has decided to stand by the families of our martyrs but it is not a compulsion. Still if they wish to do, they may contribute whatever amount they feel (is) appropriate. This figure of (Rs) 5 crore came from MNS but was not agreed in the meeting and turned down then and there only," he said.
When asked about allegations of "brokering" the deal, Fadnavis said, "Another choice was deploying thousands of police staff outside theatres (when film releases). I would then faced allegations like I have spoiled Diwali holiday mood of police staff. Issues should be solved by talking, and we are a democratic government," he said.
Before intervention, Mumbai Police had already arrested MNS activists, hence there should not be any doubts about government's intentions. Some even called that state government is playing both sides, which is not true, he added.
BJP's ally Shiv Sena has slammed the CM's intervention in the matter and had termed Fadnavis's act as "siding with Pakistani personalities."
On this, the CM said, "Did our governments not talk with separatists like Hurriyat (Conference) or negotiate with Naxal groups for peace? Then holding discussions with a political party, though this is comparatively a minor one (issue), should not be criticised so bitterly. I think, successful mediation has disappointed some people," he said.
He also refuted charges of going soft on MNS and emphasised that there was "no political motive" behind such negotiations.
Chennai: The DMK on Tuesday announced that party president M Karunanidhi had fallen ill due to a drug-injured allergy.
According to a report, DMK said that doctors have advised the party supremo to take rest, and requested people not to visit him.
A statement released from DMK headquarters on Tuesday read: President Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) is ill because of an allergy caused by a medicine he is using and is taking rest.
This development comes a month after AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was admitted in the Apollo hospital on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration.
Apollo Hospital last Friday for the first time said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa "is interacting", a key indicator of improvement in her physical condition.
"The Honourable Chief Minister is interacting and progressing gradually," Director of Medical Services, Apollo Hospitals, Dr N Sathyabhama said in a press release.
She said Jayalalithaa "continues to be under treatment and observation for all vital parameters, respiratory support and passive physiotherapy."
Dr Sathyabhama said the team of experts of the critical care group, senior cardiologists, senior respiratory physicians, senior consultants of the infectious diseases department, senior endocrinologist and diabetologist of Apollo Hospitals, Greams Road, Chennai have been giving treatment and care to her.
Karunanidhi had earlier demanded that AIADMK release photos of Jayalalithaa to assure the public that she was recovering. However, the ruling party had rejected the DMK chiefs demand.
Washington: Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer has agreed to pay $205.5 million to US and Brazilian authorities to settle an investigation of alleged corruption in four countries, including India.
The Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI had filed a case last week to probe the $208-million aircraft deal signed with Embraer during the previous UPA rule.
The agency had accused NRI defence consultant Vipin Khanna of receiving nearly $6-million from Embaer, the world's third largest maker of commercial jets, to broker the deal.
The deal involved the purchase of three aircraft equipped with indigenous radars for Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems. The first aircraft was delivered in 2011 and the remaining two in 2013.
The company said in a public statement that a sweeping internal investigation led by Baker & McKenzie expanded beyond the scope of US authorities' initial inquiry, reviewing hundreds of thousands of documents and conducting more than 100 interviews.
In the process, Embraer said investigators found "the company was responsible for misdeeds in four transactions between 2007 and 2011". These included the sale of three surveillance aircraft to India for an undisclosed sum, among three other deals in Saudi Arabia, Dominican Republic and Mozambique.
Embraer said an internal probe, launched in 2010 after receiving a subpoena in the United States, found evidence of wrongdoing in deals with Saudi Arabia, India, Mozambique and the Dominican Republic in the five years through 2011.
The fine due to US and Brazilian authorities is in line with a $200 million provision Embraer made in July. The company said it is not party to a parallel Brazilian criminal investigation of certain individuals.
The planemaker's shares slipped 0.5 per cent in trading in Sao Paulo after news of the accord, which offers closure in a case that risked prosecution of the company under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Embraer has replaced much of its senior management in recent years, reinforced compliance efforts and curtailed use of third-party sales representatives, who drew suspicion in deals under review.
New Delhi: The armed forces are upset with a letter issued by the Defence Ministry regarding their rank parity vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts prompting Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to personally look into the issue and promising to come up with a solution soon. Defence sources said the issue is likely to be solved within a week.
The circular issued by the Defence Ministry, dated October 18, on rank equivalence between defence officers and armed forces headquarters (AFHQ), and civil service officers, brings the rank of armed forces officers a notch down compared to their earlier status, officers said.
The circular says that the equations are to be followed in service HQs, and "has the approval of the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri" (defence minister).
The order equates an army Major General (rear admiral in the navy and vice-marshal in the air force) to a principal director in the Armed Force Headquarters (AFHQ) Civil Service.
A Brigadier/Commodore/Air Commodore is to be equated with a director, and a Colonel/Captain/Group Captain is to be at par with a joint director in the civil service.
So far, a colonel was equated with a director. A Brigadier did not have a clearly defined equivalence in the civilian hierarchy. However, they were treated at par with a deputy director-general. A major general was treated as the equivalent of a joint secretary.
Parrikar said that while some people were trying to misguide, the issue relates to only functional responsibility (of armed forces) and not status, vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts.
"First of all, these are only for functional responsibilities. Secondly, I have already asked for exact status of earlier. I will see and if I find any reduction in functional responsibility, this is not status, there are some people who are trying to misguide.
"These are functional responsibilities. They (military officers) will be on the same platform as was done earlier. I will check up myself," Parrikar said speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the naval commanders conference.
The Minister said he will take a look at all the previous orders to see if there was any discrepancy.
Parrikar said he and the government were sensitive to the military issues and one should see if the government acts quickly or not whenever such issues come up.
"I can assure you that I am very sensitive to such issues. They moment they are brought out, I act on them. The only difficulty is when it becomes public discussion, I cannot be party to discussion. I will resolve the issue," he said.
Srinagar: A five-member civil society delegation led by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday met hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar in an attempt to break the three-month impasse in Kashmir triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in July.
The delegation led by Sinha called on Geelani at his residence in Hyderpora area of the summer capital in Srinagar.
Before meeting Geelani, Sinha told reporters that they had not come as a delegation.
"We are few people of goodwill who have come here on the basis of humanity. The aim is to share the pain and sufferings of the people. If we can do that, we will consider ourselves as fortunate," he said.
Asked if the team will be meeting other separatist leaders like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, Sinha said they are trying to meet everyone.
In response to a question about timing of the visit, the former Finance Minister said, "That is an eternal question why did you not do it before. We are doing it at a time which is quite appropriate."
Asked if they had been invited by the separatists, Sinha said, "We do not have an invitation (from Geelani). We had requested (for a meeting) and we are going to see him."
The other members of the delegation are Wajahat Habibullah, the former chairman of National Commission for Minorities, Kapil Kak, former Air Vice-Marshal, journalist Bharat Bhushan and Sushoba Barve of Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation.
The delegation is also scheduled to call upon moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq. Mirwaiz was released from Chesma-Shahi sub-jail late last night where he was lodged on August 27.
However, BJP distanced itself from the meeting, saying the party has nothing to do with it.
"It is not a BJP delegation. BJP has nothing to do with this," its National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
Some media outlets have said that it is a BJP delegation which is absolutely wrong, Sharma said, adding Sinha too maintained that he took up the enterprise in his personal capacity.
Geelani, Mirwaiz and JKLF chief Yasin Malik have been jointly issuing weekly protest programmes ever since the unrest started in the Valley.
Hyderabad: The start of the OU centenary year is less than six months away, but the state government has not cleared any component of the development plan proposed by the university as part of the celebrations.
The celebrations committee was formed two months ago, but has done little except holding discussions. Vice-Chancellor Prof. S. Ramachandram submitted a Rs 175-crore proposal for development of the university to Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar two month ago and has heard nothing since.
Prof H. Venkateshwarlu, special officer of the centenary celebrations committee, has in consultation with senior professors, former V-Cs and bureaucrats made two plans. One suggests new initiatives and refurbishment of existing buildings at a cost of Rs 212 crore, six academic buildings for constituent PG colleges costing Rs 5 crore each, a conference hall to hold seminars costing Rs 20-25 crore, renovation and repairs of 100 buildings at a cost of Rs 50 lakh each, refurbishment of the Tagore auditorium to cost Rs 40 crore, restoration of lakes on campus, construction of a 4MW solar plant and construction of a Centre for Telangana Studies.
Prof. Ramachandram said that the plans would be finalised at a meeting scheduled for October 26. To tap other sources of funding the university will launch a website. One alumnus, Deepak Kant Vyas, an entrepreneur in the US, has promised to contribute Rs 1 crore for the celebrations.
The meeting, chaired by Stalin, was boycotted by AIADMK, BJP and all constituents of the four-party People's Welfare Front, comprising MDMK, CPI(M), CPI and VCK. (Photo: Representational Image)
Chennai: An 'all-party meeting' called by DMK on the Cauvery issue on Tuesday urged the Tamil Nadu government to immediately convene the state Assembly to discuss the matter, even as ruling AIADMK and BJP criticised the M K Stalin-led consultations.
The meeting, chaired by Stalin, the DMK Treasurer and Opposition Leader in the Assembly, was boycotted by AIADMK, BJP and all constituents of the four-party People's Welfare Front, comprising MDMK, CPI(M), CPI and VCK.
Both AIADMK and BJP lampooned the DMK, saying Tuesday's meeting was that of DMK and its allies and not an all-party meeting as made out by Stalin.
DMK's allies Congress and IUML, besides G K Vasan-led Tamil Maanila Congress(M) and certain farmer's outfits participated in the meeting.
The meeting adopted a slew of resolutions and alleged that upper riparian state Karnataka was "making a mockery" of federal principles by not implementing the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal on water sharing.
The Central government, "which should advice Karnataka, was instead supporting it for political reasons," it said in an apparent reference to the 2018 Assembly polls in that state.
Such a stand was affecting the Tamil Nadu farmers, it said and urged the state government to convene a session of the Assembly to discuss the matter.
"To show that the Tamil people are united and have no differences (on the Cauvery issue) and to condemn Karnataka and the Centre for not showing the slightest respect to court orders, Tamil Nadu government should immediately convene a special session of the state Assembly," it resolved.
The House should adopt a resolution on constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and the state government should further "exert pressure" on the Centre by leading an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Modi on the matter, it said.
The Prime Minister must be urged to take a 'dispassionate stand' on implementation of the final award of the Tribunal and should also be apprised of 'precedences' where management boards have been constituted in the Krishna-Godavari and Narmada issues, it said.
The meeting also criticised the Centre for reversing its stand on constituting CMB and also demanded that the state government provide compensation of Rs 30,000 per acre for Cauvery delta farmers as they did not get adequate water for kuruvai and samba crops this year.
It also alleged that the report of the High Level Committee that surveyed Cauvery delta areas in Tamil Nadu, besides Karnataka, had "not reflected" the prevailing situation in the state.
The AIADMK and BJP, however, had no kind words for DMK for the meeting convened by Stalin.
"It is not an all-party meeting but a DMK meeting. If their intention was good and if they had really struggled for Cauvery, all would have participated," AIADMK spokesperson C R Saraswathy said.
She charged the DMK with having failed to ensure any solution to the vexed issue, "despite being in power for long".
"DMK did not raise the issue even in Parliament despite being a part of the Central government for 19 years," she said in an apparent reference to the Karunanidhi-led party being a part of various coalitions that formed governments at the Centre.
Senior BJP leader and Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan alleged that the meeting convened by DMK would not benefit farmers in any way.
"This all-party meeting is out and out a DMK alliance meeting. More so, a meeting of those who are desperate to join (DMK-led) alliance," he said without naming anybody.
Meanwhile, Stalin said that he had extended invitations to all political parties, including AIADMK and DMDK.
He recalled that DMDK founder Vijayakant, as Opposition Leader had last year led an all-party delegation (sans AIADMK) to meet Modi on the same issue and had had DMK's support as its Rajya Sabha MP 'Tiruchi' Siva was present.
He denied that the meeting was being held for 'political mileage', an opinion echoed by TMC(M) leader Vasan also.
He said DMK would convene similar meetings in future in a bid to discuss the vexed Cauvery issue.
Rejecting criticism that his party had failed to do anything on the Cauvery issue, Stalin said that the Cauvery tribunal was set up by former Prime Minister VP Singh following "Kalaignar (Karunanidhi's) efforts".
Meanwhile, PWF constituent VCK said that though it had taken efforts to convince its partners to attend Tuesday's meeting, the party itself boycotted it to "avoid" unnecessary confusion ahead of the November 19 polls to three Assembly seats in the state.
Party founder Thol Thirumavalavan in a letter to Stalin said VCK had tried to convince the other PWF constituents to participate in the meeting, but the majority view was against it and that VCK was abiding by it.
PWF's participation in the meeting will give "confusing signals" to party workers ahead of the elections to Thanjavur and Aravakurichi, besides the by-poll to Thiruparankundram, all slated in November.
PWF is not fielding candidates in either of the seats. Earlier, the political circles of Tamil Nadu were abuzz over VCK's willingness to attend the meeting as it was seen as a sign of getting close to former ally DMK.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday made it clear that donation to the Army was "voluntary" and he does not appreciate "holding of someone's neck", amid a row over the MNS diktat asking film producers employing Pakistani actors to pay Rs 5 crore to army welfare fund.
The Army has been upset over being dragged into politics. "The concept is voluntary donation and not catching neck of someone. We don't appreciate it," Parrikar told reporters here on the sidelines of the naval commanders conference here.
The Defence Minister said the concept behind the newly created Battle Casualty Fund was to ensure that all those people who wanted to donate voluntarily for welfare of the family of martyrs could do so.
"There will be a scheme managed by MoD with assistance from Adjutant General Branch concerned. It is a voluntary donation and therefore we are not concerned with anyone demanding something to be donated to that," he said.
He said the Ministry is formulating a scheme through which all families of martyrs will be helped equally.
The controversy erupted after Karan Johar's 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' ran into a storm of protests led by MNS because Pakistani actor Fawad Khan has a role in it.
The film has been allowed to be released after its producers met with three conditions put forward by MNS chief Raj Thackeray, including payment of Rs 5 crore to Army Welfare Fund.
"All contributions (to welfare fund) are voluntary. Extortion is not allowed. We would want people to contribute on their own rather than under any coercion," a senior Army official had said.
Army sources said that they have a system in place to check all contributions and can even reject a contribution made under duress or by any person whom the force does not want to be associated with.
Washington: Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer paid USD 5.76 million to a shell company in connection with a contract it secured to sell the Indian Air Force (IAF) three aircraft for about USD 208 million, the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
Such a revelation came as Embraer, as per a Justice Department announcement, entered into a resolution and agreed to pay USD 205 million to resolve charges of corruption and making bribe payments to foreign nations, including to an agent in India for the IAF deal.
Embraer will pay a penalty of over USD 107 million in connection with schemes involving bribery of government officials in the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia and Mozambique, and millions more over falsely recorded payments in India via a sham agency agreement.
In a parallel resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Brazilian authorities, the company will also have to pay USD 98 million in disgorgement.
Embraer earned profits of nearly USD 84 million on the aircraft sale to India. In 2009, Embraer paid an agent USD 5.76 million pursuant to a false agency agreement with a shell company in connection with a contract it secured to sell the IAF three aircraft for approximately USD 208 million, the Justice Department said.
"Embraer paid millions of dollars in bribes to win government aircraft contracts in three different continents," said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R Caldwell.
"Embraer tried to bribe their way into several profitable aircraft contracts around the world," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge William J Maddalena.
According to court documents, on July 3, 2008, Embraer executed a contract to provide three highly specialised military aircraft to the IAF for nearly USD 208 million.
In connection with the deal, it retained the services of an unknown agent identified in the court as "Agent D" pursuant to a 2005 agency agreement.
"It later paid USD 5.76 million to Agent D pursuant to a false agency agreement signed in or around 2008," federal prosecutors alleged.
Federal prosecutors said in January 2005, Embraer executed an agency agreement with a shell company domiciled in the UK and affiliated with Agent D (although the name never appeared in the agreement).
Under the agency agreement, Embraer agreed to pay the shell company a commission of nine per cent of the value of any defence contracts Embraer obtained in India because it believed the agent could help ensure that any contract would be awarded on a single-source, rather than competitive, basis.
"Embraer personnel thought the agreement with Agent D was illegal under Indian law and thus took steps to conceal its existence, including secreting the sole fully-executed version of the agreement in a safe deposit box in London that could be opened only when both an Embraer employee and Agent D or an associate of Agent D were present," federal prosecutors said.
Less than a month after executing the agency agreement with the shell company, on February 8, 2005, Embraer announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Defence Research and Development Organisation to support the development of a new early warning radar system for the IAF which Embraer believed could ultimately result in it securing a contract for the sale of three Embraer-145 aircraft.
The agreement for purchase of three planes for IAF was signed on July 3, 2008. The very next day, on July 4, 2008, Agent D contacted Embraer employees and demanded payment of the commission pursuant to the contract.
"Agent D continued making demands for payment and, in or around February and March, 2009, an Embraer executive met with lawyers representing Agent D to discuss Agent D's payment demands. Following these discussions, Embraer executives agreed to pay USD 5.76 million to Agent D to settle the claim," court papers said.
To conceal the payment Embraer created a false agency agreement. On November 21, 2009, more than a year after it was awarded the India contract, Embraer through its wholly-owned subsidiary - ECC Investment Switzerland AG - executed an agency agreement with a shell company domiciled in Singapore and affiliated with Agent D for its purported services as an agent in a sale Embraer had made to an unrelated customer in another country that had purchased an Embraer aircraft more than a year earlier in July, 2008.
"The Singaporean shell company never performed any services related to that sale or to the sale to the Indian Air Force," US federal prosecutors alleged.
"The same day that the agency agreement was executed, the Singaporean shell company delivered three invoices to ECC, each for USD 1.92 million. Embraer, through ECC, remitted three payments to the shell company shortly thereafter.
Embraer's books and records did not reflect that this transaction was related to its arrangement with Agent D," the Justice Department alleged.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad police said that no one will be facing charges of murder in the death of the Jain girl who died after fasting for 68 days earlier this month as her death was not a result of a wilful act
Class XIII student, Aradhana was fasting as part of Chaturmas, considered holy by Jains. A child rights NGO Balala Hakkula Sangham wanted the police to file a case of murder under section 302 of IPC as they alleged that the girl was forced into fasting by her family and community members.
The police was asked to submit a report in the case after a complaint was filed the NGO. The Balala Hakkula Sangham had written to the Hyderabad police commissioner that Aradhana was forced to fast by her family and Jain elders.
The NGO has also alleged that the jewellery business of Aradhanas father Lakshmichand Samd-ariya was not doing well because of which, after suggestion by a Jain guru, he forced his daughter to fast to bring luck. Anuradha Rao of the NGO said, It is the duty of society to condemn such practises.
However, Aradhana's grandfather denied the allegations. Aradhana showed an interest in becoming a nun. She was interested to fast for 68 days because there are 68 letters in the Navkar Maha-mantra. We did not force her to fast, he said. Aradhanas BP and glucose levels were not monitored during her fast. She was consuming only water.
Upadaya Ravindra Muni, Jain religious leader, said, "It was an accident, as her body was fine. She wilfully attempted to complete the penance."
New Delhi: India and Russia will on Wednesday hold detailed discussions on deeper military cooperations, especially on joint production of fifth generation fighter aircraft, upgradation of Su-30 MKI planes and firming up the contract for the S400 Triumf air defence system.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu will be arriving in New Delhi tonight and will co-chair a meeting of the Indo-Russian Inter Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGCMTC) here tomorrow with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar.
The two will have restricted meeting followed by delegation-level talks, defence sources said.
It was during a meeting of the commission in Moscow last year that both sides had firmed up plans to acquire the air defence system and other deals which were recently signed onthe sidelines of the BRICS meet in Goa.
Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Rostec State Corporation, a Russian umbrella organisation of 700 hi-tech civilian and military firms, had told PTI that they expect the agreement on fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) to be finalise by this year end.
After a hiatus of nearly a year, India and Russia had in February revived talks on the much delayed FGFA project after a clearance from Parrikar.
Since then, a lot of issues related to work share, IPR and technology transfer among others have been sorted out between the two sides along with the monetary commitments.
Under the new offer, India will have to pay about USD 3.7 billion, instead of USD 6 billion, for technological know-how and three prototypes of the fighters, the sources said.
In 2010, India had agreed to pay USD 295 million towards the preliminary design of the fighter, called in India as Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF).
The two sides are also expected to discuss the upgrade ofSU-30 MKI, India's front line fighter aircraft.
Russia is also eyeing the multi-billion dollar deal for P75-I project of India under which six conventional submarines are to be built with Air Independent Propulsion systems.
With deals over USD 12 billion in kitty this month, including leasing of a second nuclear submarine, Russia hopes to bag more projects as it termed itself as not just a business partner but an "ally" who stood by India in its "darkest hours".
Jammu: At least 2-3 Pakistani armymen are believed to have been killed on Tuesday in retaliatory firing by Indian troops in the Noushera sector of Rajouri district while six female members of a family were injured in R S Pura sector of Jammu district in cross-border shelling.
Heavy exchange of fire, involving use of 82 mm and 120 mm mortar shells besides small arms, was still going on in the evening after it started at around 10 am.
"From 10 am, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control in Noushera sector of Rajouri district by targeting our positions with mortar bombs and small arms fire," an army officer said.
The Indian army gave a "befitting response" to the ceasefire violation from the Pakistani side, he added.
"We have inputs that two to three Pakistani soldiers have been killed in the retaliatory firing by our men," an army officer said.
"The firing is still going on and our side is giving a befitting reply," he said, adding there is no loss of life or injury on our side.
In Jammu district, 6 female members of a family were injured in Suchetgarh sector of R S Pura along the International Border after a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan Rangers exploded in their house this evening.
"They are being given first aid at R S Pura hospital after which they will be shifted to Government Medical College (GMC) hospital here shortly," Deputy Commissioner (Jammu) Simrandeep Singh said.
Srinagar: Chairing a top security meet in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday called for immediate de-escalation of the "alarming" situation along the borders to end miseries of people.
At the meeting of Unified Headquarters (UHQ), comprising top officials of the army, BSF, CRPF, state police and intelligence agencies besides the civil administration, the Chief Minister was briefed about wide-ranging issues including the emerging security scenario in Kashmir valley, situation along the borders and steps taken to address issues arising out of cross-border shelling.
"Ways and means shall have to be explored immediately to bring an end to the sufferings of the hapless people subjected to immense miseries over the past few months because of the continuous cross-border shelling and escalation of violence in the State and the region," she said at the meeting.
She said the "hostile" and "alarming" situation along the borders and LoC should keep reminding both India and Pakistan of the inevitability of sitting across the table to find a just and pragmatic solution of all the contentious issues.
Mehbooba, who also condemned today's terror attack on police training academy in Pakistan's Quetta, said the vicious cycle of death and destruction confronting the region must end at the earliest.
"Whatever (be) the reasons for hardening of stances and attempts by the vested interests to subvert the peace process, there is, however, no substitute to the reconciliatory policy as was done in 2003," she said.
Serious efforts should be made at the political and civil society levels to revive the peace and reconciliation process for the larger good of the people sandwiched in a gory situation, she said.
Condoling the death of a six-year old boy in cross-border firing in R S Pura sector of Jammu yesterday, Mehbooba said, "My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones in the fresh violence, both along the borders and at the Police Academy in Quetta, in which they had no role to play."
She said the senseless violence is the common enemy of the people in both India and Pakistan as the scourge of bloodshed has devoured their lives.
She reiterated her government's stand that only coordinated political effort at the highest levels in New Delhi and Islamabad will eliminate the menace of violence and usher the region into an era of peace and prosperity.
Making a fervent appeal for peace on the borders, Mehbooba said the cross-border shelling has seen a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region with people fleeing their homes and scurrying for safety of their lives.
"This disquieting scenario has to end to facilitate the people live peacefully in their homes and hearths," she said while noting that people in Jammu and Kashmir have always been the worst sufferers in such hostile situations.
She recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement wherein he called on Pakistan to jointly wage a war against poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and infant mortality.
"It is high time that both the countries come together without any further delay and start a final war against violence, terrorism and the social and economic deprivation plaguing the region," she said.
New Delhi: Concerned over corruption instate universities, the Karnataka government on Tuesday said it was working on a new bill that seeks to bring transparency in the functioning of 23 varsities and ensures quality education.
At present, there are 23 universities in the state and each one is governed by a separate law.
"We are almost in the process of finalising the Comprehensive Karnataka University Bill 2016. We will soon move a cabinet note on this," the state Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddi told reporters.
The bill seeks to replace the existing laws framed by each university and aims to curb corruption and bring transparency in the functioning of the universities across the state, he said.
"This would be a uniform and comprehensive bill. It seeks to bring transparency in appointment of vice chancellors, suspension of vice chancellors, recruitments and construction related activities among others," the Minister explained.
He said the new bill will ensure full liberty to the universities in appointment of staff and other related issues but the state government will have powers to control it to check corruption.
Rayareddi was here to attend the 64th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education on 'New National Policy on Education'.
In the meeting, the Minister insisted that the central government should provide 25 per cent reservation for state students in the newly set up IIT Dharwad.
"This demand was turned down by the HRD Minister. But I have raised this issue in the meeting today. I have told only seven students out of 120 were selected from Karnataka. We have given Rs 500 crore worth of land for the IIT and we should be given more quota for our state," he said.
Among recommendations made to the proposed national education policy, the Karnataka government has suggested that the vice chancellor (VC) should focus on academic leadership and be held accountable for outcomes, while the administrative tasks such as construction of buildings and other infrastructure should be hived off to a separate body.
The state has suggested that the process of appointment of VCs should be rationalised, besides a re-think about the present governing structure of the university and phasing out of single-discipline universities, among others.
The state has also recommended that the universities should be encouraged to accredit themselves on a regular basis by globally rated agencies, ensure grant-in-aid funding is linked to performance, mandatory pre-service training for teachers in higher education and review/revamp of recruitment and service conditions of faculty.
New Delhi: Keeping up its attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" release row, Congress on Tuesday said when the state needed a leader, it has got a "broker".
"Maharashtra needs leadership at this very crucial time, and all it got is a broker who is unashamedly pushing the petty electoral agenda of the BJP by mortgaging the valour of our brave Armed forces for a few votes," the AICC said.
In a scathing attack on the Chief Minister, the party said Fadnavis has been "pushed into a corner".
In a commentary posted on its website, Congress dubbed as "strange" statement of Fadnavis that if talks can be held with the Hurriyat and Naxals, what is wrong in talking with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
"Someone should remind him that we also throw leaders of the Hurriyat and Naxal Movement into jail or place them under house arrest for disrupting law and order. In his most learned opinion, should the same be done with the MNS?" the party said taking a jibe at Fadnavis.
It also alleged that the controversy was a part of the "diversionary tactics" of the Chief Minister who has been unable to provide jobs or tackle rural distress, which forced a large number of farmers to commit suicide this year.
"For a party, the BJP, whose own Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, wines and dines with his Pakistani counterparts and invites them to probe their own misdeeds, many have questioned the motives" behind the Chief Minister's move, it said.
Besides, it wondered when the Modi Government has stated that trade relation will continue with Pakistan, then "why has its own Chief Minister allowed people to be held hostage and be extorted on the issue of Pakistani artists performing in the Indian film industry?"
The movie had been embroiled in a controversy over the past few weeks after the MNS opposed the screening of movies featuring Pakistani actors after the Uri terror attack, putting a question mark on the fate of movie, slated for Diwali release on October 28.
The MNS demand that film director Karan Johar donate Rs 5 crore to the Army Welfare Fund to resolve the controversy has led to attacks on the Chief Minister, who has denied that he was party to the proposal. The movie features Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a tribal attire, along with Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Jual Oram waves at gathering at the inauguration of the National Tribal Carnival-2016 in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: Natural resources in forests should not be exploited at the cost of tribals living there, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said, warning those who "snatch" their rights of stringent action.
Inaugurating the first-ever national tribal carnival, Modi said natural resources are mostly in forested areas which are inhabited by tribals and, while pursuing development goals, mineral resources should not be extracted in a way which is detrimental to their interests.
"There is need to extract iron ore, coal but it should not be done at the cost of tribals," he said.
He said no one should get the opportunity to "snatch" away the rights of the tribals, and those who do, will face stringent action.
The Prime minister said, in the past, while iron ore and coal were extracted, tribal people of mineral bearing areas never benefited from it. He said following the introduction of a scheme to impose cess, the money so collected is now being utilised to expand facilities, including infrastructure, to benefit the tribals.
The government, Modi said, is now pushing for advanced technology which ensures that the environment is not severely affected in the process of mining.
Gasification of coal in underground facilities at the excavation sites is helping control pollution and damage to the health of the people in surrounding areas.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister also pitched for start-ups to brand and export tribal goods to domestic and foreign markets.
He said once people start buying goods manufactured by tribals, it would help in their economic empowerment.
Dead bodies of 23 maoist killed in a joint police encounter by Odisha and Andhra police at a forest in Malkangiri. (Photo: PTI)
Bhubaneswar: Security personnel on Tuesday recovered bodies of three more Maoists killed during a joint operation by Andhra Pradesh-Odisha police in Bejing jungle between Ramgarh and Panasput in Odishas Malkangiri district.
The total number Maoists killed in the joint police operation rose to 27. On Monday, the police had recovered 24 bodies.
According to Visakhapatnam superintendent of police (rural), Rahul Dev Sharma, the search operations are still on and the death toll may rise further.
Meanwhile, the Malkangiri superintendent of police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said all the 24 bodies recovered on Monday were identified.
All the bodies recovered on Monday have been identified. The bodies have been kept in the mortuary of the district headquarters hospital at Malkangiri and they will be handed over to their relatives after following due procedure, Mohapatra said.
Andhra Pradesh and Odisha police swooped down on the rebels when they were reportedly holding a plenary session in Bejing jungle in the early hours on Monday. There was heavy exchange of fire between the two sides. One AP Greyhound commando Mahummed Abu Bakar was also killed in the exchange of fire.
The police had seized 20 firearms, including four AK47 rifles, 10 numbers of 303 rifles, three SLR rifles, 1 INSAS rifle, one laptop and Rs 2.16 lakh from the spot.
There have been over 40 ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side since the Indian side carried out surgical strikes inside PoK on September 29.
Jammu: Pakistan on Tuesday violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control in Noushera sector and RS Pura sector on International Border by targeting Indian positions and civilian population with mortars and small arm fire, prompting the Indian side to give a "befitting response".
"From 10 am, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control in Noushera sector of Rajouri district by targeting our positions with mortar bombs and small arms fire", an army officer said.
He said the army was giving a "befitting response" to the ceasefire violation from the Pakistani side.
"The army is giving a befitting response to the Pakistani army," the officer said.
There was no report of any loss of life or the property on the Indian side as the firing from both the sides was still going on, he said.
The Pakistan Rangers also resorted to ceasefire violations by targeting civilian population in RS Pura sector in Jammu district this afternoon, a BSF spokesman said.
"Several rounds of small arms and mortar shells were fired from the Pakistani side targeting our villages in the RS Pura sector", the spokesman said.
He said the BSF was giving a befitting reply to the Pakistani fire and the intermittent firefight was going on.
A 6-year-old boy and a BSF jawan were killed and 10 people including 8 civilians were injured in the shelling on Monday when Pakistan Rangers targeted over 25 Border out Posts in the border hamlets along International Border.
There have been over 40 ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side since the Indian side carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir targeting terror launching pads, post the attack on an army camp in Uri on September 18.
New Delhi: Citing the example of 'Bhasmasur', Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday expressed regret over the loss of lives in the deadly attack on a police training academy in Pakistan's Quetta that left 60 cadets dead, saying such incidents show why one should not create "uncontrollable violence".
He also rejected Pakistan's allegations of India's involvement in the attack, saying India does not believe in violence, lest such kind of violence.
Parrikar clarified that he was not likening any country to any 'sur' (demon in Hindu mythology) when asked about the Quetta attack and said there is a saying in India about Bhasmasur.
Read: 60 killed, scores injured in attack on police academy in Pakistan's Quetta
According to the Hindu mythology, 'Bhasmasur' was a demon who was burned to ashes through his own power that he used to terrorise others with.
"I express grief for any loss of life. We don't believe in violence and this kind of violence. My sympathies are with people who lost their lives. Terrorism anywhere and in any form cannot be justified," he said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the naval commanders conference.
The defence minister said the attack shows the importance of not creating uncontrollable violence.
"You need to control anything that the state does. Non-state actors should not be supported by any country. That is crux of our security doctrine. We have said that non-state actors, who are involved in terrorism, should be curtailed.
Sometimes it can bounce on you also. I think this is one of such event," Parrikar said.
In a brazen attack, 60 police cadets were killed and 118 others injured when three militants wearing suicide vests stormed a police training academy in Quetta city in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province.
Chandigarh: Punjab Congress on Tuesday called Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a 'bhagoda' (escapist), a day after war of words erupted between AAP's national convenerand Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh on Twitter.
"After being forced to cow down before Captain Amarinder Singh's factually substantiated and sharply aimed salvos during their 24-hour Twitter war, the 'bhagoda' (escapist) AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal seems to have decided to sulk," alleged
Punjab Congress in a statement.
PPCC leaders Kewal Singh Dhillon, OP Sonia and RanaGurjit Singh in a statement pointed out that even his remaining scheduled programmes, as part of his three-day visit to Punjab, appeared to have completely "fizzled out", with hardly any takers for "Brand Kejriwal".
"Kejriwal has already disappeared from the Punjab election scene, even before the announcement of the poll dates," said the PPCC leaders, asking the AAP leader, "Have you lost your tongue, or are you simply sulking - a trait you have evidently mastered as Delhi chief minister?"
Just last month, in September 2016, the Congress in Delhi had observed 'Bhagoda Divas' to protest against the chief minister's continued "absence" from the national capital while the people were battling a "virtual epidemic" of diseases, the Punjab Congress said.
Noting that Kejriwal has been "baselessly alleging a nexus between Captain Amarinder and the ruling Badals of Shiromani Akali Dal" they said, he "backed off the moment" he was asked to "prove his charges publicly".
On Monday, war of words between Arvind Kejriwal and Amarinder Singh turned ugly on Twitter after the Delhi Chief Minister accused the Punjab Congress chief of using an Akali leader's "drug money" to fund his election campaign and the latter shot back, saying the AAP leader was "hallucinating" and challenged him to a debate.
New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday recommended that the Central government should rename the HRD Ministry as Education Ministry.
Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister of the Delhi government, asked the Central government to increase the budget for education and proposed extension of the Right to Education (RTE) Act to children who do not fall in the six to 14 years age bracket.
The suggestions were made by Sisodia during the meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), which was attended by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and state Education Ministers.
"It is unfortunate that the country does not have an Education Ministry. We currently have an HRD ministry. The name of HRD ministry should be changed to Education Ministry as HRD is just a part of it," Sisodia said.
The Minister also called for strict regulations restricting engagement of teachers in clerical work such as completion of family registers and survey for voter cards data, among other such things.
Sisodia reiterated his demand for complete scrapping of "no detention policy".
Under the no-detention policy, the students up to Class 8 are automatically promoted to the next class without being held back even if they do not get a passing grade in their examinations.
During the meeting, Sisodia proposed increased focus on early childhood learning and called for setting up of a world class university for the training of teachers.
"As a nation, we have to accept that government schools are the solution and not private schools. We need a road-map at the national level for children from age 3 to 6 as well.
"There is also a need for a road-map to connect skill education with higher education and focus on pre-primary and early childhood learning," Sisodia said.
He also recommended that the states should cut short syllabus and curriculum.
"Cut short your syllabus and curriculum. Just set goals of education. Let teachers and principals develop larger part of curriculum and timelines," he added.
Mallya, who left the country on March 2 and is now in the UK.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya to give complete details of his assets outside India in four weeks, saying it was of the "prima facie view" that he has not made proper disclosure of his assets.
A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman also pulled up Mallya for not giving details of USD 40 million which he had received from British firm Diageo on February this year.
"We are prima facie of the view that the report has not made a proper disclosure in respect of our order of April 7, 2016, directing to make complete disclosure of assests and in particular, the receipt of USD 40 million as when it was received and how it has been dealt till date," the bench said.
It also asked Mallya, who had earlier informed the court about his properties in India, to disclose complete details of his assets abroad in four weeks.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on November 24.
A consortium of banks including SBI had on August 29 told the Supreme Court that Mallya had deliberately not made full disclosure of his assets including the USD 40 million which he received on February 25 from the British firm Diageo.
On July 25, the apex court, after noting the submissions by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, had issued notice to Mallya on the banks' plea and asked him to respond.
Rohatgi told the court that Mallya had provided wrong details of his assets in a sealed cover to the apex court.
AG had further alleged that a lot of information had also been concealed, including a cash transaction to the tune of Rs 2500 crore, which amounted to contempt of court.
Rohatgi had said that the liquor baron had also not agreed to deposit "substantial amount" as part of of Rs 9,400 crore loan due on him to establish his bonafide.
Mallya had maintained that the banks had no right over information regarding his overseas movable and immovable assets as he was an NRI since 1988.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from controversial RJD leader Shahabuddin, sent back to jail by the top court, and Bihar government as to why he should not be shifted out of the state and kept in Tihar Jail from where trial in over 45 cases can be conducted through video conferencing.
A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy granted four weeks to Shahabuddin and Bihar government to respond to two separate pleas filed by Siwan-based Chandrakeshwar Prasad alias Chanda Babu whose three sons were killed in two incidents and Asha Ranjan, wife of murdered journalist Rajdev Ranjan.
Rejecting Shahabuddin's plea for grant of more time to file his response, the bench said "the concept of fair trial is not one-sided. You should be fair to other side also."
Senior advocate Dushayant Dave, appearing for one of the petitioners, said Shahabuddin should give an undertaking that he would "not commit any crime" during his stay in Siwan jail.
The counsel for Shahabuddin vehemently opposed the plea and said that adequate time be given to him for filing reply.
Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Chandrakeshwar Prasad, said trials in over 45 cases against Shahabuddin have been stayed after he filed an application that he has no money and be provided legal aid.
Against this, Bihar government went in appeal in the Patna High Court and consequently, the proceedings were stayed. This is bizarre, Mr Bhushan said.
The lawyers also including Kislay Panday, appearing for the widow of the slain scribe, referred to a previous top court order by which another Bihar muscle-man politician, Pappu Yadav alias Rajesh Ranjan, was shifted out of Bihar and kept in Tihar Jail in Delhi from where trial proceeded through video conferencing.
Shahabuddin's bail was cancelled by the top court last week setting aside the Patna High Court order granting him bail in a murder case, saying the discretion to release him must be applied in "judicious manner" and "not as a matter of course".
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would not reconsider a 1995 judgement in which it defined Hindutva as a way of life and not a religion.
According to reports, the Supreme Court's statement came on a plea filed by activist Teesta Setalvad who wanted the court to reconsider that judgement. In fact, Setalvad wanted the court to ban the use of the word Hindutva in election campaigning, apart from redefining its meaning.
The judgement assumes significance since 5 states go to the polls next year.
We will not go into the larger debate as to what is Hindutva or what is its meaning. We will not re-consider the 1995 judgement and also not examine Hindutva or religion at this stage," a seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said.
"We will confine ourselves to the issue raised before us in the reference. In the reference, there is no mention of the word 'Hindutva'. If anybody will show that there is a reference to the word 'Hindutva', we will hear him.
We will not go into Hindutva at this stage," the bench, which also comprised Justices M B Lokur, S A Bobde, A K Goel, U U Lalit, D Y Chandrachud and L Nageshwar Rao, said.
The remarks were made by the bench when, at the outset of the hearing, some advocates sought to intervene in the ongoing hearing which commenced last Tuesday.
The apex court instead took up a separate plea filed in 1990 whether seeking of votes in the name of religion will amount to a corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act warranting disqualification.
The SC said on Tuesday that it would not examine the larger issue of whether Hindutva means Hindu religion, and whether the use of Hindutva in elections is permissible. The 7-judge SC bench said it is examining a nexus between religious leaders and candidates and its legality under Section 123 (3) of the Representation of the People Act.
The plea was filed after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena used speeches made by Balasaheb Thackeray and Pramod Mahajan in 1990 to seek votes in the name of Hindutva and the Hindu rashtra. Petitions were filed against many winning candidates of Shiv Sena and BJP in 1990, and the Bombay HC disqualified them.
On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the judgments in all but two cases.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear the plea filed by SBI-led consortium of banks against beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya for recovery of more than Rs 6,000 crore from him.
The consortium of banks had approached the apex court seeking its intervention in bringing back Mallya to India and also repayment of money which the beleaguered businessman had taken.
The top court had wanted to know from the Union Government about his whereabouts. The Attorney General informed the apex court that Mallya was in England.
The banks, in their plea, told the apex court that there was an outstanding loan of almost Rs. 9,000 crores against the businessman.
The banks have argued that the business tycoon has not been candid with the court regarding his assets, citing the failure to disclose the severance package he received from Diageo Plc as part of his exit from United Spirits Ltd.
On April 26, the Supreme Court had directed Mallya to disclose his assets to the consortium. The banks also said the disclosures made by Mallya on his Indian and overseas properties were "vague".
The banks also refuted Mallya's allegation that all 17 banks did not reject the three proposals made by him for repayment of over Rs. 9,000 odd crores in instalments.
A villager points to marks made on a wall allegedly from firing from the Pakistan side of the border, at a residential area near the India Pakistan border in Ranbir Singh Pura, about 40 kilometers from Jammu. (Photo: PTI)
Rajouri: In the wake of the continuous ceasefire violation by Pakistan on the Line of Control (LoC) and heavy shelling in residential areas along the International Border, the concerned authorities have ordered the closure of all schools in Rajouri district as a precautionary measure. This decision has been taken to ensure the safety and security of students.
Speaking to ANI, Mohammad Ajmal, a teacher said, "Day before yesterday the students were studying and suddenly from Pakistan's side firing came. They were running here and there because of firing. There were 18-20 kids near the border. I ran and took the students and kept two or three of them in the houses. I took them home. The mortar fell at a distance of 10-15 meters from the school,"
"The children are very scared to leave their homes. Their parents are afraid to send their kids as the firing can happen anytime," he added.
Mohammad. M Hafiz, a student, told ANI, "My school is close to LoC, day before yesterday after heavy firing from Pakistan's side, everyone at school got scared and wanted to reach home safe. We're very scared, firing can take place anytime. We're facing a lot of problem. Schools are, therefore, kept closed as safety measure."
Two BSF jawans have lost their lives in cross-border firing along the Jammu International border (IB) during the past one week.
The locals in Rajouri showed remains of mortar shells fired from across the border during several ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Pakistani Rangers resorted to small arms fire and mortar shelling on at least three places in R.S. Pura and Akhnoor Sectors.
The mortal remains of BSF Head Constable Sushil Kumar were consigned to flames with full military honours at his village in Haryana on Tuesday. (Photo: ANI/Twitter)
Kurukshetra: The mortal remains of BSF Head Constable Sushil Kumar, who was killed in Pakistani shelling while defending the border, were consigned to flames with full military honours at his native Pihowa village in Haryana on Tuesday.
Kumar was killed as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire, resorting to heavy shelling and firing from automatic weapons in several sectors along the International Border in Jammu district on Monday.
A large number of people from the town and the adjoining villages were lined along the road from Pihowa chowk to Kumar's residence on Gulha road to pay homage to the martyr.
Heavy crowd assembled at the main chowk when his body was brought by a team of BSF officers at Pihowa at around 7.30 am on Tuesday.
Kumar's body was brought to his home for sometime and then it was taken to the cremation ground where the last rites were performed as relatives and people lined up to bid a tearful adieu to the slain BSF jawan.
Earlier, Minister of State for Social welfare Krishan Bedi laid wreath on behalf of the state government.
He announced that an ex-gratia grant of Rs 50 lakh would be given to Kumar's family by the Haryana Government.
Hyderabad: Cash-strapped Telangana government is looking at alternative ways to make money to tide over its financial crisis.
With the government struggling to clear arrears of fee reimbursement, crop loan waiver, Aarogyasri etc. and coming under attack from the Opposition and various social organisations, Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma on Monday held a meeting with senior officials of all departments and asked them to immediately give a report suggesting new sources of income.
The CS asked officials to prepare a report on the funds of various departments that have got stuck due to legal cases, revenue that can be earned through sale of lands, plugging of revenue leakages, fund allotment to the government's flagship programmes etc.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao too expressed his ire at the functioning of finance department in the recent Cabinet meeting and mounting arrears of welfare schemes bringing disrepute to his government despite all revenue generating departments witnessing over 30 per cent growth rate over last year. He directed ministers and officials to introspect why this situation arose.
Following the CMs directions, the CS held an emergency meeting with heads of all departments in the Secretariat on Monday.
He directed them to submit complete details on the expenditure incurred by each department on development programmes and welfare schemes, revenues earned by each department and through Centrally-sponsored-schemes.
The CS directed each official to take the responsibility of preparing the reports of at least 3-4 departments. He also sought details about fund utilisation certificates.
New Delhi: Congress om Monday disfavoured any "hasty step" on the issue of triple talaq, insisting that an atmosphere of trust needs to be built for changing personal laws of any community and the matter should not be politicised.
"While we stand for equality and fair treatment for women, no hasty step should be taken which may lead to a feeling of alienation amongst any community," party spokesman R P N Singh told reporters.
He said all progressive steps need to be taken after wide consultation with those "who would be affected and after explaining their viewpoints".
Besides, he said, for changing the personal law of any community, an atmosphere of trust and confidence needs to be built and different views taken on board.
He said the matter should not be politicised.
He said the issue is pending in the Supreme Court and everyone should respect the judgment of the Court.
The Congress' statement comes on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi, breaking his silence on the hugely-contentious issue, denounced the practice among Muslims and deprecated attempts to politicise it.
Lucknow: Notwithstanding the deep divide in his family and party, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday sought to project an 'all is well' image even though he could not commit whether his brother Shivpal would be reinstated in the cabinet of son Akhilesh Yadav who had sacked him.
The "party and family are united", he said in Lucknow at a press conference where he was flanked by Shivpal and three other sacked ministers but Chief Minister Akhilesh was conspicuous by his absence.
"My entire life is devoted for the welfare of the people and he will continue to work for them," he added.
But Mulayams assertion that the party and the family were united and strong did not placate UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavs supporters, hundreds of whom virtually laid siege to the party office in Lucknow.
According to a report, the supporters demanded that Akhilesh be reinstated as the Samajwadi Party chief for Uttar Pradesh, a post that is currently held by the CMs uncle Shivpal Yadav.
Young men, wearing red caps and some even wearing T-shirts with Akhilesh's image embossed on them, climbed up on trees and demanded that Shivpal Singh Yadav be removed as state chief and Akhilesh once again be made the party chief, as was the case before September 13 when Mulayam effected the change.
The police had a tough time controlling the supporters, who asserted that the future lay with 43-year-old Akhilesh rather than his 77-year-old father and uncle.
According to reports, Akhilesh Yadav, despite three meetings with his father on Tuesday, was adamant that his aides and uncle Ram Gopal Yadav, who had been expelled from the party, be brought back and Amar Singh be shown the door. But these demands were rejected, and Akhilesh did not attend Mulayams press conference instead driving to his official 5, Kalidas Marg residence.
Akhilesh is said to have also refused his fathers demand to reinstate sacked UP ministers including Shivpal Yadav.
Meanwhile, Mulayam strongly defended party MP Amar Singh, who is being blamed by the Akhilesh faction for the problems in the family, asking "why to drag him in all this"?
"My family and party are united. All workers are united. There are some conspirators, who do not have any mass base," Mulayam told a hurriedly convened press conference.
"There is not 'matbhed' (difference) or 'manbhed' (ill feelings) among our leaders," Yadav said.
Asked whether Shivpal and other sacked ministers would then be reinstated in the Akhilesh cabinet, he said, "I leave this to CM.... You ask him why he made them ministers and why he sacked them."
Appearing cautious while replying to a questions, Mulayam said, "I will not make any single controversial statement. Whatever you may ask."
To a question whether he would take over the reins of the state from his son Akhilesh, the SP supremo said, "Why will I consider it now when Assembly elections are just few months away."
He said Model Code of Conduct will come into force in November or December and government will not be able to work freely.
About party's Chief ministerial candidate for 2017, the SP supremo said, "Ours is a democratic party. First let us get majority and then elected representatives will select their
CM. Presently, Akhilesh is CM, does anyone have any problem?"
On certain statements by pro-Akhilesh cousin Ramgopal Yadav, who has been expelled from the party, Mulayam said, "I do not give him any importance now."
Sacked ministers Om Prakash Singh, Narad Rai and Sayeda Shadab Fatima were also present, besides tainted minister Gayatri Prajapati.
New Delhi: As one person was killed and two others injured in an explosion in Naya Bazar near Chandni Chowk area in the national capital on Tuesday, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said he came to know about it through the news media, but the Centre would seek a report on it.
"I have not seen any report; I have only seen news, but we will seek a report. We have to be very careful this is the festival time. The government is keeping updates and issuing alerts as well, but people should also bear in their mind that this is festive season and they should celebrate it peacefully without any trouble."
Joint Commissioner of Police Virendra Chahal said prima facie evidence suggested that it was like a firecracker explosion.
Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot after a call was made around 10.30 in the morning.
Meanwhile, crime and forensic teams reached the site to collect samples, while Delhi's anti-terror wing and special cell also rushed to the spot.
Asked if the Yashwant Sinha-led delegation had the government's backing, he said, "We cannot stop something which is voluntary in nature, beyond that I cannot comment."
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha, who led a " high-level delegation" to meet hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and chairman of the moderate section of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on Tuesday said they are "not a delegation" and are in Kashmir for the sake of mankind to reduce pain and sadness of the people of the Valley.
Sinha told the media, "We want to make this clear that we are no delegation. We a few people are people of goodwill, and are here for the sake of mankind and our aim is to reduce pain and sadness of the people in Kashmir. By doing this, we will feel ourselves to be luckiest ones," Singh said.
Samajwadi party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on his way to address the press conference at the party office in Lucknow on Tuesday (Photo: PTI)
Lucknow: There was yet another storm in the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday when party president Mulayam Singh Yadav reiterated that the MLAs would elect their leader if the party got a majority in the Assembly elections.
The high drama that was witnessed on Monday was replayed on Tuesday when supporters of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, once again, created a ruckus demanding that he be named the chief ministerial candidate.
The ruckus continued for more than three hours during which Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother and state party president Shivpal Yadav had to remain inside the party office. Sources claim that with status quo continuing, another round of war is likely to emerge during ticket distribution.
Earlier, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, accompanied by Mr Shivpal Yadav, held a press conference where he read out a brief written note reaffirming his faith in the ideology of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia.
SP supremo rules out taking over as UP CM
There was yet another storm in the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday when party president Mula-yam Singh Yadav reiterated that the MLAs would elect their leader if the party got a majority in the upcoming Assembly elections.
The party supremo refused to respond to allegations levelled by his cousin and expelled leader Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav and said there was no need to drag Mr Amar Singh into the controversy. On whether he would take over as chief minister to salvage the situation, Mr Mulayam Singh said, What is the point of becoming chief minister for two months? Is it only to distribute salaries?
When asked about the sacked ministers being re-inducted, the party president said, I leave it to the Chief Minister.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had put up three demands-he should be given the right to decide on tickets for the assembly polls. He should be made state president again and all his expelled loyalists should be taken back.
A party legislator, who belongs to the Akhilesh camp, said on Tuesday, We remain caught between the proverbial devil and the deep sea. The differences between Mr Akhilesh Yadav and Mr Shivpal Yadav remain unresolved in fact there is greater bitterness between the two now and we do not know whether we will get tickets or not.
BHUBANESWAR/Visakhapatnam: As the gunfight between Maoists and security forces on the Andhra-Odisha Border continued on Tuesday, the death toll of ultras increased to 28. On Monday, the police had recovered 24 bodies from the spot.
Andhra Pradesh DGP N. Sambasiva Rao said on Tuesday that exchange of fire between security personnel and Maoists in Malkangiri forests of Odisha was still on and four more Maoists, two of them women, died in a fresh exchange of fire with AP Greyhounds and Odisha police in Bejangiwada forest between Ramgarh and Panasaput in Malkangiri district of Odisha on Tuesday morning.
Not fake encounter: DGP
Talking to newsmen here in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh DGP N. Sambasiva Rao said so far 28 Maoists, including 13 women and 15 men, had been gunned down.
The DGP claimed that they had taken up a massive sanitisation operation on Tuesday, during which four more Maoists were killed. Replying to a question, Mr Rao dismissed allegations of some activists that it was a fake encounter.
He said that it was not unilateral fire from the security forces but an exchange of fire between the police and the ultras. Speaking on the death of senior commando of Greyhounds, Mohammed Abu Bakar, during the gun battle, the DGP said that few commandos had jumped into the canal while trying to escape the Maoist fire. While others managed to swim underwater and escape, Abu Bakar, who can swim, became unconscious in the water and drowned.
The DGP along with ADG (Operations) N.V. Surendra Babu visited the house of the slain commando in Vizag city and presented a cheque of Rs 40 lakh to his parents. The DGP later flew to Narsipatnam and Malkangiri.
Malkangiri SP Mitrabhanu Moha-patra said, All the bodies recovered on Monday have been identified. The bodies have been kept in the mortuary in the district headquarters hospital at Malkangiri and they will be handed over to their relatives after following due procedure.
Hyderabad: MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday alleged that the BJP was systematically focusing on issues of triple talaq and Ram temple at Ayodhya with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as it was insecure and had nothing positive to talk about.
Interacting with the media at the MIM party office, the MP said that the insecure BJP has no positive agenda for the states going to polls and hence was raking up the Ram Mandir and triple talaq issue.
Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on triple talaq, Mr Owaisi said that the Prime Minister wants to make the two issues as the partys core agenda ahead of the UP elections.
Around 7.36 crore Muslim couples in the country are not divorced. Hardly 1 per cent of Muslims opted for talaq. Modi is making this a tool for political gains in view of the forthcoming elections, the MP said
Mr Owaisi questioned why the PM was not speaking on removal of all marriage laws in Goa and giving agriculture land to all poor women, including Muslims, in UP, and about extending reservations to Muslims.
Why is Modi not speaking about polygamy among Hindus and why are only Muslims being targeted? the MP asked. He also accused the BJP-led NDA government of deviating from secularism.
Hyderabad: General secretary of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Suresh Bhayyaji Joshi on Tuesday said that triple talaq was an internal matter of the Muslim community on which they should give a serious thought.
Triple talaq is also a human rights issue. Muslim women have gone to court regarding the issue. We believe no form of gender discrimination is right and hope that women get justice from the court on the issue, he said.
On the Uniform Civil Code, Mr Joshi said, Any kind of discrimination should be prevented by law. Cultures and traditions should be respected but if they are causing any issue in society which can be resolved through implementation of the civil code, then it should be done.
Mr Joshi was speaking to the media on the last day of the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal Baithak in Hyderabad. On allegations that the BJP government was politicising the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army in the aftermath of the Uri terrorist attack, Mr Joshi said that there was nothing wrong in giving credit to the Central government along with the Indian Army for the surgical strikes because it was the government that had in the first place decided to take action and the Army had executed it bravely.
Casteism, a social problem: RSS
On Indian filmmakers employing Pakistani actors, Mr Joshi said, Why are Indian filmmakers so excited to welcome Pakistani actors when Pakistani actors themselves are taking the decision of not acting in Indian films? Are there no good actors in India? In theory one can argue that there should be no differences when it comes to art, but one has to be practical and take a decision as per the situation.
One of the main focus areas of the RSS during the three-day meeting was on caste discrimination. When asked if the RSS had any change of stand regarding Manu Dharma and the Chaturvarna system, Mr Joshi said, There is no change in our stand. The RSS has never believed in caste by virtue of birth and discrimination on the basis of caste. Casteism is a social problem which needs to be solved by social organisations.
On the issue of genetically-modified seeds, he said, The focus of scientists should not be on just increasing the produce of crops. Decisions in this regard should be taken bearing in mind that Indian farmers are already highly dependent on private companies and they should not be forced to become more dependent. Decisions should also be taken keeping in mind the deteriorating soil quality and traditional habits of the Indian farmers.
Mr Joshi said that the RSS aimed to increase the number of its units in villages to 75,000 villages by March next year, when it would have a meeting in Tamil Nadu, from the present 70,000 villages. The number of shakhas, too, was on the rise in the country with around 27 lakh members currently, he added.
He also said that the Central and state governments should ensure that law and order prevailed in West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where Hindus and members of Hindu organisations were coming under attack.
Hyderabad: Having disappeared from the AP Assembly, the Congress is going to meet the same fate in the Legislative Council by March 2017 when all its seven sitting members, including Leader of the Opposition C. Ramachandraiah, will retire.
The Council was revived by the Congress government in 2007 after it was abolished by the Telugu Desam government in 1985. The present ruling party the TD which supported abolition of the Council on the pretext that it doesnt serve any purpose other than as a rehabilitation centre for rejected politicians, will now dominate the House as a record 22 vacancies in different categories will be filled in biennial polls in February-March 2017.
The Congress has no chance of returning even one member to the Upper House. It will thus disappear in the House till 2019 general elections. However Ms T. Ratna Bai, who was nominated by the Governor in 2013, owes allegiance to the Congress.
Council Chairman A. Chakrapani, who was nominated by the Governor during the earlier Congress rule, will also retire by May 2017. As Chairman that too, Governors nominee he did not officially carry the Congress tag.
After the TD came back to power in 2014, there were attempts to move a no-confidence resolution against the Council Chairman to accommodate a TD nominee in the post. But Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was advised against the move by legislative affairs minister Y. Ramakrishundu.
It remains to be seen whether Mr Chakrapani will formally join the Telugu Desam to get nominated again under the Governors quota or the ruling party will put a fresh nominee for the Chairmans post.
Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to stake claim for one seat as part of its political agreement with TD and has named Yadlapati Raghunatha Babu as its nominee for one of the seven Council members who will be elected by legislators.
Of the seven, given the reduced strength of the YSRC MLAs due to largescale defections to the TD, the Opposition party will get two seats and remaining five will be shared by ruling alliance of the TD and the BJP.
Former deputy chairman of the Council Mohammad Jani, Leader of Opposition C. Ramachandraiah (Congress), former Assembly Speaker Kavali Pratibha Bharathi and Council Deputy Chairman S. Satish Kumar Reddy (TD) are prominent among members retiring by the end of March 2017.
There will be eight vacancies from the local bodies quota on May 1, 2017. Three vacancies from graduates constituencies and two vacancies from teachers constituencies will arise on March 29, 2017. Apart from these, two more vacancies under Governors nomination will arise on May 27, 2017.
The YSRC which has five members in the Council now will gain at least three more and become the main Opposition party in the Council. The TD which has 24 members officially (excluding Congress and YSRC members who joined the party), will be getting a few more seats through various categories of elections.
For a mega project like the steel bridge, which affects the city at large, its people should have been consulted at the very time of conceptualisation. (Representational image)
Even while civic groups and urban experts are crying foul over BDA's claims of consulting the public on the proposed steel flyover project that threatens more of the city's green cover, Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George has succeeded in only creating more rancour at the meeting called to discuss the project with legislators and MPs. What will it take for the government to hold a real and meaningful consultation with the people on the project which many have very real misgivings about.
With the governments so- called consultation with city legislators and MPs on the controversial steel flyover planned between Chalukya Circle and Hebbal on Tuesday ending with the BJP throwing a temper tantrum and minister K J George remaining as adamant as ever, its back to square one as far as the project goes.
The minister, who found the 1,300 protestors against the flyover too small a group to consider, wasnt even willing to pause and wonder if the government might just this time be out of touch with public sentiment. Is it failing to sense the peoples real anguish at Bengalurus steady loss of green cover and the heat island effect this has been creating all around?
And can it afford to dismiss the public outcry as mere politicking by the BJP despite the many relevant arguments being made against the project? Urban planning expert Ashwin Mahesh, clearly believes it cannot. He points out that the very goal of a public consultation is to reach out to people and hear their views with respect. The BDAs consultation for the steel flyover was just a sham. For any public consultation the people should be informed about all details of a project and fliers should be delivered door-to-door telling them about them, and giving details about who is saying what about it, so that the public can decide, he notes, regretting that this process was ignored by the BDA when carrying out its public consultation that received merely over 200 responses and that too not all of them in favour of the steel flyover.
Read | A minister and his friends cant decide on citys development: Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Environment Support Group coordinator, Leo F. Saldanha too observes that under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1962, the public must be involved at the stage of conceptualisation, approval and costing of an urban infrastructure project that involves changes in land use. The plan and budget must be put in public domain and public hearings held to ensure there is no violation of the statutes in any form. The steel flyover proposed by the BDA and being backed by the Chief Minister, is being promoted in violation of this law, although the High Court has on many occasions asked the state government to follow it, he deplores.
With the steel flyover qualifying as an Area Development Project under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2006, it also needs to be approved by the Environmental Clearance Authority, which will demand a comprehensive Environment Impact Assessment and an Environmental Public Hearing to give it, the activist explains.
But the BDA claims the approval of the state Cabinet is sufficient to get going with the project . This is an absolutely wrong presumption. Since the enactment of the Nagarpalika Act, 1992, such projects can only be proposed after due review from the economic, social, financial and environmental angles by the Metropolitan Planning Committee. Only after its approval can they be forwarded by the State Finance Commission to the Cabinet for final approval, pending other statutory clearances, he underlines.
Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Ananth Kumar, has written to Bengaluru Development minister, K.J George urging him not to go ahead with the steel flyover between Chalukya Circle and Hebbal unless a wider consultation is held with citizens groups and experts and an environment impact assessment study is done. The way in which the details of the project are being made public in instalments has given rise to more questions than answers, he noted, adding that people were agitated over the project cost escalation and the urgency the government is showing in executing it.
Public consultation, a main key regulator
Major cities around the world have understood the importance of sustained development and the involvement of people in it. The process of public consultation is duly followed in Commonwealth countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zea land and Australia. It is employed to improve transparency and efficiency, notes Mr Naresh Narasimhan, founding member of the Citizens' Against Steel Flyover.
Detailing the procedure followed by these nations, he says, "It's a three step procedure. The first involves communication of the government's plan. The second sees views of interested and affected groups being gathered in a public hearing. In the next step, the government offers stakeholders a big role in implementation of the project, giving sufficient time to the public to respond. By contrast, the civic activist points out, the BDA gave a little over 48 hours for the public to respond to the steel flyover project and that too via email.
For a mega project like the steel bridge, which affects the city at large, its people should have been consulted at the very time of conceptualisation, he stresses.
Ms P Mahalakshmi, secretary of the Citizens Action Forum recalls that the controversial Peddar Road flyover project in Mumbai was shelved by the government in the face of the wide opposition to it. When the taxpayer's money is going to be spent on such projects, they have every right to know in detail where it is going and how it will benefit them," she contends.
Citizens for Bengaluru meet Governor
Members of Citizens for Bengaluru met Governor Vajubhai Vala on Tuesday and appealed to him in a memorandum to intervene and stop the construction of the controversial steel flyover. Mr Naresh Narasimhan, founding member of the voluntary group,later told reporters that the Governor had promised to study the issue and take the opinion of the Advocate General before taking any action on it. Asked about Bengaluru Development Minister, K J George's statement that no civic group had given him a memorandum against the steel bridge, he retorted, "If Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is aware of our campaign against the flyover, how can Mr George say he is not? We had invited him for a debate on the flyover, but he did not turn up. Every public letter and email was marked to him, but if he is still not aware of our views, we will send him a memorandum.
Hyderabad: While questioning the reasons for not prosecuting those involved in mass copying in SSC and public examinations, the High Court on Tuesday asked the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State Chief Secretaries to file affidavits explaining the steps taken to curb mass copying in public examinations.
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice A. Shankar Narayana was dealing with a PIL by Dr Srinivas Guntupalli of Eluru in AP questioning the inaction of both governments in taking effective steps to prevent mass copying and guided copying.
The bench told the Chief Secretaries of both the states to explain in their affidavits the details of cases registered so far under the Public Examinations Act 1997, how many persons were prosecuted and the number of persons convicted.
Counsel for the petitioner told the court that after filing the PIL, the governments had installed CCTV cameras in certain centres. He said a school in Mallapur in Karimnagar district always got 100 per cent results, but after installation of the cameras it got only 40 per cent results.
Pointing out that percentage had become the only criteria for parents and teachers, the Bench said, We are all well aware what happens in Bihar and the fate of top rankers in that state. TS counsel said the government was taking steps to instal CCTV cameras in all public examination centres.
The AP counsel said the state government was introducing Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation System to weed out the menace of mass copying.
While cautioning that the authorities would be summoned if they failed to file the affidavits, the bench posted the case after four weeks.
Fiat on arrears for society
The High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Hyderabad Exhibition Society to spell out its stand on a petition challenging inaction of the fire services department in collecting `68 lakh arrears from the Exhibition Society.
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice A. Shankar Narayana was dealing with a plea by advocate Khaja Aijazuddin, seeking to direct the authorities to collect the dues.
Mr Aijazuddin alleged that the authorities were dilly dallying in collecting the arrears since a minister was a member in the executive committee of the society.
Mr H. Venu Gopal, counsel for the home department, said that the fire services department had issued notice to the society, which had made a representation to the government seeking exemption of arrears as it was a non-profit organisation.
Report on water harvesting
The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday asked the GHMC and the Telangana government to furnish a report on steps being initiated on the recommendations of the committee constituted to oversee the construction of rainwater harvesting structures.
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice A. Shankar Narayana was dealing with a petition by city resident S. Vaidehi Reddy seeking a direction to the state government and GHMC to enforce GO Ms No 350 dated June 9, 2009, adopted in the AP Building Rules 2012 pertaining to rainwater harvesting structures for all buildings.
When the petition come up for hearing, the ACJ, in a lighter vein, commented that senior counsel D. Prakash Reddy, appearing for the petitioner, that he too did not have a water harvesting pit in his residence yet and it would not be proper for him to hear the case till completion of the pit. However, continuing the hearing, the ACJ sought to know from counsel about the construction and maintenance of water harvesting pits and the agencies involved.
When counsel for the government reminded that it had constituted a committee based on the suggestion of the HC to oversee construction of water harvesting structures, the bench asked him to furnish the action-taken report and the future plan within two weeks.
SRINAGAR: A five-member civil society delegation led by senior BJP leader and former Union finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, on Tuesday met separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani here in an effort to break ice over the three-month-long unrest in the Kashmir Valley triggered by the killing of militant Burhan Muzaffar Wani. The delegation has, however, no mandate from the BJP government at the Centre as was made clear by Mr. Sinha.
We are a few people of goodwill who have come here on the basis of humanity. The aim is to share the pain and sufferings of the people. If we can do that, we will consider ourselves as fortunate, Mr. Sinha told reporters after emerging from a meeting with Mr. Geelani at his Hyderpora residence here.
Mr. Sinha, after the delegations meeting with Mr. Geelani, said, We met Geelani in a cordial atmosphere. We are here to talk to the people. Were here to understand the sufferings of Kashmiri people and we are not representing the government of India.
Asked if they had been invited by the separatists, the former Union minister said, We do not have an invitation. We had requested for meetings with them. The BJP also distanced itself from Mr. Sinhas meeting with the octogenarian separatist leader. It is not a BJP delegation. The BJP has nothing to do with this, said BJPs national secretary Shrikant Sharma.
The other members of the delegation are former chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities and first Chief Information Com-missioner of India Wajahat Habibullah, former Vice-Air Marshal Kapil Kak who is currently associated with the Centre of Air Power Studies, journalist (Editor of Catch News) Bharat Bhushan and Executive Director, Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation Sushobha Barve.
The delegation will be in the Valley for three days to meet as many people it can and also to assess the ground situation. On the first day of the visit, the delegation had separate meetings also with other senior separatist leaders Shabir Ahmed Shah and Prof. Abdul Gani Butt.
Hyderabad: A 36-year-old school principal ended her life due to harassment by a male colleague of the school management in Puppalguda. The victim was constantly stalked by the suspect who asked for sexual favours. The suspect, R. Sridhar, is also a principal in the same school.
The victim, A. Srilatha, a principal of Trident School in Narsingi, hanged herself inside the bathroom of her house on Monday night. After her husband approached the police and filed a complaint, cops arrested the suspect R. Sridhar for abetment to suicide.
According to the victim's family, Srilatha was extremely upset as she was being constantly stalked by her colleague. Sridhar is principal (Administration) and Srilatha was Principal (Education). Sridhar is a member of the school board and had been using that to stalk the victim. He kept on asking her for sexual favours, said a relative.
Srilatha was afraid to go to the police as she feared that she would lose her job and the harassment continued. On Monday night after coming home she entered the bathroom and hanged herself using a sari.
Though her brother broke into the bathroom, cut her loose, and rushed her to hospital, doctors declared her dead. Later, the family informed the police. We have booked a case, arrested the suspect and he is in prison on remand. The investigation is progressing now, said a police officer from Narsinghi.
National Crime Records Bureau has revealed that Karnataka ranks second when it comes to suicides in prisons, next only to West Bengal. (Representational image)
BENGALURU: The recent data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has revealed that Karnataka ranks second when it comes to suicides in prisons, next only to West Bengal. Even in other unnatural deaths category, the state stands fourth.
NCRB data reveals that 1,584 prisoners, including 52 women inmates, died in jails due to both natural and unnatural causes in 2015 in the country. Among these, 1,469 were natural deaths, while 115 were due to unnatural causes. Among 52 women, three died due to unnatural deaths.
Unnatural death are categorised as suicide, execution, murder by inmates, deaths due to assault by outside elements, deaths due to firing and deaths due to negligence / excess by jail personnel. Among the unnatural deaths in prisons, Uttar Pradesh stands first with 21 such cases, and is followed by Delhi (15), West Bengal (12), Karnataka (11), Maharashtra (7) and Andhra Pradesh (6).
Most of the unnatural deaths were in the form of suicides and 77 such cases were reported, followed by uncategorised deaths (19), murdered by fellow inmates (11), deaths due to assault by outside elements (7) and deaths due to execution (1).
In suicide cases, West Bengal topped the chart with 10 cases, followed by both Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh which saw nine cases. While six cases were reported in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, five were reported in Tamil Nadu, and four each in Delhi, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
There were 65 natural deaths, including one of a female inmate in the jails in Karnataka, while 11 cases of unnatural deaths were reported in 2015. Of these 11 cases, nine were suicides, one was murder by inmates and the other was death due to assault by outsiders elements.
As far as suicides are concerned, it is said that lack of counselors in prisons is the major reason for such incidents. An official from the Parappana Agrahara central prison said that the government has not appointed any counselors and only NGOs are doing the job. There is an arrangement where psychiatrists from government hospitals visit the prison once or twice a week. Though NGOs engage counsellors on a daily basis, it is not helping much, as there will be around 4,000 inmates on any given day, he said.
Former DG&IGP S. T. Ramesh, who also has the experience of serving as ADGP of the prisons department, said that suicidal tendency is high among inmates as they are always under tension and anxiety. There should be a proper system where inmates should be counselled when they are admitted to the jail and also while they are released. Even during their stay, inmates with depression should be identified and counselled. When I was the ADG, I had recommended that one counselor should be appointed for every 500 inmates. But it is not implemented even today.
Hyderabad: The TS government has handed over the responsibility of vacating Secretariat departments to six special chief secretaries. Special chief secretaries K. Pradeep Chandra, S.P. Singh, M.G. Gopal, S.K. Joshi, Rajiv Ranjan Acharya and V.K. Agarwal have been allotted five to six departments each.
Mr Gopal was allotted agriculture, cooperation, marketing, animal husbandry, housing and rain shadow area development departments. Mr S.P. Singh was allotted tribal welfare, SC welfare, BC welfare, minority welfare, women & child welfare and youth services and tourism departments.
Some of the top officials were holding meetings with the departments concerned on Wednesday to discuss the plan of action. Heads of department will also participate in these meetings.
The special chief secretaries will take the opinion of the departments also where they want to shift and when. After this, they will submit a report to the Chief Secretary. The state government has decided in principle to shift the Secretariat departments to the offices of the heads of department concerned.
Officials said after AP HoDs shifted to Amaravati, plenty of space was available in their former offices. However, Secretariat departments will be scattered all over the city. Municipal administration department will be moved to the municipal commissionerate.
The planning department will be moved to the Directorate of Economics & Statistics Bureau at Khairtabad, the finance department to Abids and the irrigation department to Errummanzil. Along with some other Secretariat departments, the offices of ministers and the Chief Secretary will be located in the BRK Bhavan.
The government has directed offices located at BRK Bhavan and Hermitage Complex to vacate. The officials said it will take at least 20 days to vacate the Secretariat departments.
Focus on governance: KCR
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday directed officials to concentrate on administration by preparing proposals on government offices to be set up in education, health, agriculture and other sectors in the new districts.
He also directed officials to send the reports to the Centre on departments functioning with Central funds in the districts. Mr Rao said that in every district, Navodaya, Kendriya Vidyalayas and Krishi Vigyan Kendras should be set up.
The incident as per reports occurred on Sunday but the matter was reported to the police on Monday. (Representational image)
Patna: In a horrifying incident, a woman government engineer was burnt to death in Bihars Muzaffarpur district. The incident as per reports occurred on Sunday but the matter was reported to the police on Monday.
The police probing the case have also recovered a note from the crime scene in which the deceased has asked her mother to take care of her two kids. The SSP said houseowner Vijay Gupta was arrested in connection with the incident on the basis of two letters purportedly written by the victim.
Police also suspected that she was tied to a chair and burnt to death in her rented house from where she used to work. Sarita Devi was deputed as junior engineer under the MNREGA scheme. The police further said that the body was badly burnt and they could only recover her skeleton.
Her son was not with her when the incident occurred, he was visiting his grandmother. We have launched an investigation into the incident and have arrested the landlord of the house, senior superintendent of police Vivek Kumar said on Tuesday.
She had separated from her husband ten years ago and used to live alone with her younger son. The police said that, after forensic test of bones which was recovered from the crime scene we will be able to find out who was behind the incident.
When asked how they found out that the skeleton belonged to the junior engineer, the police said, her mother recognised the slipper which was lying near the burnt skeleton.
An Indian army helicopter flies over the army base which was attacked by militants in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir. (Photo: AP)
New Delhi: For the second time in less than ten days, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Tuesday issued a demarche to Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit over Uri attack and confronted him with proofs of cross-border origin of the terror strike.
Tension heightened between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after Pakistan backed terrorists, armed with AK-47s and grenades, killed 18 Indian soldiers at Army base in Jammu and Kashmirs Uri.
The Foreign Secretary called in Basit and told him that the preliminary interrogation reveals identity of one of the slain Uri attackers as Hafiz Ahmed, son of Feroz and resident of Dharbang, Muzaffarabad and also gives details of Pakistan-based handlers, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
"Local villagers in the Uri sector apprehended on 21 September and handed over to Indian security forces two individuals from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who have acted as guides for terrorists and helped them infiltrate across the LOC.
"Their personal particulars are -Faizal Hussain Awan, 20 years, S/o Gul Akbar Resident of Potha Jahangir, Muzaffarabad and Yasin Khursheed, 19 years, S/o Mohammed Khurshid Resident of Khiliana Kalan, Muzaffarabad," Basit was told.
During his interrogation, Awan has deposed to the NIA that they had "guided and facilitated" the border crossing of the group that perpetrated the September 18 Uri massacre, the Foreign Secretary told him.
In another incident on September 23, 2016, one Pakistani national, Abdul Qayoom, R/o Sialkot was apprehended in Molu sector opposite Pakistan's Sialkot sector and has confessed to undergoing three weeks of training with the terrorist group LeT and donating substantial funds to Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, their front organization, Basit was conveyed.
"We are willing to provide the Pakistan High Commission consular access to these three individuals apprehended in connection with terrorist attacks in India," the Foreign Secretary told the Pakistani envoy.
Basit was also told that these apprehensions and subsequent interrogation underline the cross-border infiltration that had been the subject of their previous discussion.
"We would once again strongly urge the Government of Pakistan to take seriously its commitment not to allow terrorist attacks against India from its soil and territory under its control. Continuing cross-border terrorist attacks from Pakistan against India are unacceptable," Jaishankar asserted.
This is the second time since the attack on September 18 that the Pakistani envoy has been summoned over the terror strike which India maintains was carried out by Pakistan-based terror groups.
New Delhi has already offered to provide Pakistan with fingerprints and DNA samples of terrorists killed in Uri and Poonch, if that country wished to investigate these cross-border attacks.
During the earlier summoning on September 21, Jaishankar had also shown Basit the content of GPS recovered from the bodies of terrorists with coordinates that indicate the point and time of infiltration across the LoC and the subsequent route to the terror attack site and grenades with Pakistani markings as evidence of Pakistan's role.
"Following the terrorist attack on the Uri garrison of the Indian Army on 18 September 2016, India had taken up with Pakistan the issue of honouring its January 2004 commitment not to allow its soil or territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India," Swarup added.
Today's summoning comes amidst India weighing the options to hit back at Pakistan in the aftermath of the Uri attack.
After a review of Indus Water Treaty (IWT), the government is also planning to review the MFN status granted by it, unilaterally, to Pakistan.
During the review of IWT, the government decided to take a number of steps including to "exploit to the maximum" the water of Pakistan-controlled rivers, including Jhelum, as per the water sharing pact and suspension of IWT Commission meeting till the atmosphere was "free of terror".
Pakistan has so far rejected allegations of its involvement, and has accused India of prematurely blaming it for the terror attack.
Lashing out at Pakistan at the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday over its support to terrorism, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said nations that aid, finance, arm, shelter and openly flaunt terrorists have no place in the comity of nations and should be isolated, even as she attacked Islamabad for the worst form of State oppression in Balochistan.
The minister also declared that Jammu and Kashmir would remain an integral part of India, asking Islamabad to forget its dream of attaining Kashmir.
Swaraj also raised the Uri and Pathankot cross-border terror attacks, saying India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken steps for friendship with Pakistan but had got the Pathankot and Uri terror attacks in return. She also criticised Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif for making baseless allegations of human rights violations against India, adding that those living in glass houses should not throw stones at others.
Swaraj also named and shamed Pakistan and referred to captured Pakistani LeT terrorist Bahadur Ali, saying: Bahadur Ali is a terrorist in our custody, whose confession is a living proof of Pakistan's complicity in cross-border terror.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has refused to release a prisoner from Kolhapur Central Prison on parole for treatment of a nasal problem as he had violated furlough condition earlier.
However, on humanitarian ground, a bench of Justices Vijaya Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar, in a recent order, allowed the prisoner, Wilson Benjamin Castellino, to undergo reconstruction surgery at a Kolhapur Hospital although he was refused parole leave.
As far as the prayer for parole is concerned, the plea of the petitioner was rejected on the ground that he had violated furlough condition earlier.
The court observed that on November 19, 2010, he was released on furlough for a period of 14 days and was asked to surrender on December 4, 2010. However, the petitioner did not report back on time and ultimately he had to be traced.
He was arrested by police and brought back to prison on October 8, 2012. Thus, there was an overstay of 674 days.
Jail doctor Sanjay Padhye, who is attached to Kolhapur Central Prison, stated that the petitioner indeed has a nasal problem and he can be referred to a hospital for a nasal reconstruction surgery.
Accepting Jail doctor's advise, the court ordered that the petitioner should be referred to C.P.R. Hospital, Kolhapur for undergoing nasal construction surgery if found necessary. In case, the said facility is not available in C.P.R. Hospital, the petitioner may be treated in any other hospital where such treatment was available.
"Needless to state that all necessary medical treatment be provided to the petitioner including surgery," it ruled.
Opposing his plea for parole, the jail authorities apprehended that if the petitioner is released from prison, he will not report back to the prison in time and may abscond.
"Looking into the past conduct of the petitioner, it cannot be said that this apprehension is unfounded, hence, we are not inclined to release the petitioner on parole," the court held.
The bench, therefore, dismissed the petition of Wilson Castellino seeking leave on parole.
The petitioner appeared before the court through video conference facility and urged that the had a fracture of nose and extra growth of flesh in his right nostril which is causing him severe problem in breathing.
Chennai: TNCC chief Su Thirunavukkarasar sought to know why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited Apollo hospitals here and enquired about the health of AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
Averring that in the past it has been the practice of Congress leaders to visit Tamil Nadu whenever the Chief Ministers took ill, Mr Thirunavukkarasar recalled that when AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran was admitted to Apollo hospital, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited him. Similarly, when Ms. Jayalalithaa was admitted to Devaki Hospital following an accident, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited her at the hospital. But, why has Prime Minister Narendra Modi not visited Ms. Jayalalithaa at the hospital? he asked.
Ms Jayalalithaa has been undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals her since September 22. Speaking to reporters here on Monday, he said the Congress supported the all-party meet convened by the DMK on Cauvery issue and called upon all political parties to join hands for common cause. Cauvery water dispute is a common issue. It is for the welfare of farmers. Normally, political parties in Kerala and Karnataka join hands for a common issue and go to Delhi and make a representation to the Centre. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, if all political parties join hands, it will be good for the state, Mr Tirunavukkarasar said.
Dismissing a suggestion that the DMK had called for the meeting on Tuesday with an eye on the elections to three Assembly constituencies, he said, it is not a meeting to strengthen the alliance. Even if you participate in such a meeting it will not harm your alliance considering that the issue is for the welfare of the farmers. His partys legislature party leader K. R. Ramasamy and agriculture wing chief S. Pawankumar would participate in the meeting.
Kolkata: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh has denied allegations that he was trying to destroy the party and said Akhilesh Yadav was a fantastic chief minister, but he needed time to become a mass leader.
"As Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is absolutely fantastic. As a first time administrator his focus on development, agenda for development, is mind-boggling," Singh said at a programme in Kolkata.
"I am not saying he is not a mass leader, but it takes time to become a mass leader. He is still very young. Blending of organisational skill and experience of Mulayam Singh and youth face of Akhilesh is very necessary," Amar Singh said at the programme.
Singh, who was accused by the Akhilesh Yadav camp of trying to destroy the party, thanked Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, and his brother Shivpal Yadav, the state party chief, for standing by him and described Mulayam as the 'core' and 'father' of the Samajwadi Party.
On the crisis in the Samajwadi Party, he said crisis is not a new thing in a vibrant democracy. "What is important is resolution of that crisis," he said and cited the situation of Kerala unit of the CPI(M).
Reacting to allegations levelled against him that he was trying to destroy the Samajwadi Party, Mr Singh said, "These allegations have become irrelevant after the latest statement of our party president. When the ultimate authority has given a statement, these allegations have become irrelevant."
Mulayam Singh Yadav sided with his younger brother Shivpal Yadav and friend Amar Singh, and reprimanded son Akhilesh Yadav at an open meeting in Lucknow.
Mulayam Singh made his support for Amar Singh very clear when he described him as his "brother" and Shivpal Yadav as a "mass leader".
Speaking with news agency Press Trust of India on Monday, Mr Singh had given his best wishes to Akhilesh Yadav and said he wanted to maintain silence over allegations against him as it is the best strategic answer to all questions.
"I give my best wishes to Akhilesh Yadav. I have wished him on his birthday. He is the son of my supreme leader, my best wishes are with him," he said.
New Delhi: Amid the raging internal war in ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi for the first time today participated in a strategy session of Congress leaders from the poll-bound state.
Convened by AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, the hour-long meeting saw Ms Gandhi intensely interacting with the state leaders including PCC Chief Raj Babbar, Congress CM candidate Shiela Dikshit and campaign chief Sanjay Singh.
Party spokesman RPN Singh said that this was for the first time Ms Gandhi participated in such a meeting of leaders from Uttar Pradesh where the Assembly polls are scheduled early next year.
The interaction saw some state leaders suggesting tie-ups with smaller parties like RLD and Peace Party while some pitching for block level meetings to garner support instead of taking out yatras.
The impact of Rahul Sandesh Yatras, currently touring all districts in the state, was also discussed.
At the party briefing, Mr Singh, however, steered clear of the questions whether Priyanka Gandhi would be campaigning outside Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies where she has been restricting her role so far.
"It would be better if the decision is left to her" was the refrain of Mr Singh to such questions. He spoke in similar vein when asked as to why Congress, which projects itself as a democratic party, leaves such a decision to the family.
There have been strong demands from partymen in the state that Priyanka Gandhi play a larger role in campaigning to help revive the organisation in the state. Congress is out of power in the state for 27 long years.
In the last Lok Sabha polls, the party had secured just two seats -Amethi and Rae Bareli in the backdrop of a Narendra Modi wave that saw BJP and its allies secure 73 of the total 80 seats.
In the last Assembly polls, Congress had secured just 28 seats out of 403.
Patna: Expressing anxiety over the infighting in Samajwadi Party, RJD president Lalu Prasad on Monday said SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is capable of solving such problems.
He said if need arises he would go to Uttar Pradesh to lend a helping hand.
"Mulayam Singh Yadav is capable of solving such problems," Prasad said and made an appealed him to end the unpleasant situation in the party at the earliest.
Prasad said he was concerned over the feud within the SP family because he was related to that family.
The RJD chief's daughter is married to Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, MP from Mainpuri and grandson of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Asked if he would go to UP to lend a helping hand, Prasad said "If need arises I will definitely go there to extend a helping hand."
Prasad's son and Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav said in Saharsa that the situation in UP was an internal matter of the SP.
He said his party has extended support to SP in coming Assembly elections.
As a friendly gesture towards Mulayam Singh Yadav, the RJD has decided not to contest the Assembly polls in UP and extend support to the SP.
One of the most famous prayers by spiritually inclined Hindus is: Asato Maa Sadgamaya, Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya, Mrityor Maa Amritam Gamaya. Which means: Oh supreme divine mother please take me from unreal to the real, take me from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge and take me from mortality to immortality. Diwali night is considered to be the darkest night of the year and lighting of lamps and bursting of crackers on this night signifies removal of darkness by light. The light from lamps signifies that however much the intensity of darkness is, it can still be removed by just a small lamp. A 1,000-year old darkness in a cave does not require 1,000 years of efforts to remove it but lighting of a small matchstick is enough to remove that 1,000-year old darkness.
Diwali is traditionally celebrated by Hindus to basically attract wealth by worshipping Goddess Laxmi assuming that she will grant wealth if she is pleased with the glitter and pomp show during Diwali celebrations. What can be bigger ignorance than this that God and Goddesses can be pleased by lighting of lamps, bursting of fire crackers and distribution of sweets? God, Goddesses and celestial beings could be pleased by surrender, devotion and following right path (dharma) in life. The motive of their existence is not to fulfil our desires, passions and greed but to guide us through the right path in life and give us salvation from not only birth and death cycle but from pains, sorrows and miseries of the world attracted out of ignorant living.
Considering wealth alone as the object that bestows peace, happiness and health is a misnomer. The fact is that wealth has always been the creator of rift in relationship, misery and pains in life as well as the main cause for hatred, jealousy, enmity, violence, dacoity, theft, murder and wars. Lord Mahavirs one of the five pillars for Jainism has been Aparigraha meaning non-accumulation. He advocated non-accumulation of anything beyond ones need, be it wealth, clothes or food items. Diwali and Laxmi Puja is not meant merely to pray for attracting wealth nor it is merely a celebration of Laxmis wedding to Vishnu or Rams return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. Its significance is much more beyond these things.
It is for bigger, better and more brighter aspect of life. Darkness signifies ignorance and light signifies knowledge. Diwali, the festival of lights, is basically to be celebrated to renew our life goal to evolve spiritually and overcome the darkness of ignorance by the light of knowledge. Bursting of crackers and lighting the sky signifies our commitment to the world, to the celestial and the supreme divine being that we will fight out the darkness surrounding us. We will light the lamp of inner knowledge. Our prayer to Goddess Laxmi on Diwali night is to bless us with true knowledge.
Xiongmai had rejected the allegations that its webcams, in majority, contributed to the online disruption occurred on October 21.
China-based electronic company Hangzhou Xiongmai has announced to recall its webcams that proved to be a gate way to launch widespread online attack last week.
The incident put major websites across the internet, including Twitter, Spotify, Reddit, PayPal, Pinterest and Fox news offline via DDoS (distributed denial-of service) attack on Dyn website which serves to direct traffic when people type a URL in browser.
During the investigation security experts confirmed that the attack was made possible using home devices with easy-to-guess usernames and passwords. As a result, hackers were able to access these devices because users never changed the default passwords.
Xiongmai had rejected the allegations that its webcams, in majority, contributed to the online disruption occurred on October 21. In a statement to BBC, the company said security issues have become a problem faced by all mankind, industry giants have experienced and so Xiongmai is not afraid to experience the issue in once.
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Washington: With just two weeks left for the US Presidential elections, Republican nominee Donald Trumps campaign has come up with a unique ad to woo Hindu Americans.
According to reports, Donald Trump's new ad borrows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's winning catchphrase in the 2014 national election Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkar.
The advertisement begins by wishing Hindus 'Happy Diwali.'
"Ab Ki Baar, Trump Sarkaar" - the Republican nominee then pronounces slowly before the ad fades to the text: "Great for America, Great for US-India relationship."
The advertisement is an initiative of the Republican Hindu Coalition, the group that organised a fundraiser addressed by Trump in New Jersey over a week ago.
"We love the Hindus and we love India," the controversial candidate had declared in the meeting on October 16. He said he had 'big respect' for Hindus and India-US would be 'best friends' if he came to power.
New York: In 1990s, Donald Trump hosted parties in the suites of Plaza Hotel in New York where illegal drugs and young women were passed around and used mostly by the old, rich men.
According to a report in The Daily Beast, Trump would book suites on the corners of Plaza Hotel, owned by him at the time, with views of Central Park and Grand Army Plaza.
Trump had cocaine, young women and girl as young as 15 years old for 'his wealthy friends' who attended the parties.
The young girls assumed theyd get somewhere by being part of Trumps parties, said a fashion photographer, who was part of some of those parties. Of course, it never happens, he added.
"There were always dramas because the men threw money and drugs at them to keep them enticed. Its based on power and dominating girls who cant push back and can be discarded. Theres always someone to pick them back up. Nobody wants to call home and say 'Help me'."
I was there to party myself. It was guys with younger girls, sex, a lot of sex, a lot of cocaine, top-shelf liquor, the photographer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.
The photographer said that during the parties, Trump would often wander off with a couple of girls. He was getting laid like crazy... He loved the attention and in private, he was a total fucking beast, he said.
Andy Lucchesi, another witness of those parties, confirmed the photographers account. He, however, said that Trump never did drugs.
There was cocaine around. I never saw him do that. Donald Trump does not do cocaine. Hes in control of himself, Lucchesi said.
The United States Army officials said 10 soldiers have formally asked to be recognised as their new, preferred gender. (Photo: AFP/Representational)
Paris: Within weeks of the Pentagon allowing transgender service members to serve openly, the United States Army officials said 10 soldiers have formally asked to be recognised as their new, preferred gender.
The small number represents only those who have publicly said they are transgender, and doesnt include soldiers who may be considering or beginning gender transition or those who dont yet want to make an official paperwork change.
Gen Mark Milley, chief of staff of the US Army, said the key now is to educate the force, particularly commanders who will have to make decisions about soldiers in their units who request a gender change.
Is the army ready? Well, we are educating ourselves, and we are trying to get ready, Milley said in an interview with The Associated Press. Were well-past the issue of debating and arguing about transgender. We are now into execution, to make sure the program is carried out with diligence, dignity, respect.
The Pentagon policy took effect October 1, and army secretary Eric Fanning approved the services new transgender guidelines earlier this month. Defense secretary Ash Carter announced in June that he was ending the ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the military.
Transgender troops are now able to receive medical care and begin changing their gender identifications in the Pentagons personnel system. Next year, the military services will begin allowing transgender individuals to enlist, as long as they meet required standards and have been stable in their identified gender for 18 months.
Were monitoring implementation closely, and everything weve seen so far points to a military organization fully committed to treating everyone equally and providing medically necessary care to all troops, not just some, said Aaron Belkin, director of the California-based Palm Center, an independent research institute. My conclusion, so far, is that implementation has proceeded smoothly and successfully.
Milley and other military leaders expressed concerns that the department was moving too fast.
The issue to do it or not to do it, to me is not an issue the answer is yes, Milley said. The question of how to do it so that it is deliberate, well thought out, executed with professionalism thats a horse of a different colour. Frankly I asked for more time.
Milley said he did a lot of self-education, meeting with transgender individuals, both military and civilian, as well as other groups.
Now, he said, the Army is getting education programs out to the force to make sure troops and commanders know the new rules, process, medical criteria and who has the authority to make decisions on a service members gender change.
Under the new Army guidelines, training must be developed by Nov. 1, and it must be completed throughout the force by next July.
Its going to take a little bit of time, but there are some things I dont think you need to necessarily be trained on, Milley said. Rule One is treat your soldiers, your subordinates, your peers and your superiors as you want to be treated. Treat everybody with dignity and respect. Period. Flat out. Full stop.
Transgender troops currently serving can request that their gender be officially changed, and they can submit required documentation, including medical approval saying the person has been stable in his or her preferred gender for 18 months and a drivers licence showing the preferred gender.
Commanders will have 30 days to respond for active duty troops and 60 days for soldiers in the National Guard and Reserve.
The transgender service members will be able to use the bathrooms, housing, uniforms and fitness standards of their preferred gender only after they have legally transitioned to that identity and its documented in their military personnel records.
The new policy, however, gives military commanders some flexibility, noting that not all gender transition cases are the same. Commanders will have the discretion to make decisions on a case-by-case basis, including on job placement, deployments, training delays and other accommodations, based on the needs of the military mission and whether the service members can perform their duties.
According to the Army guidelines, commanders can allow reasonable accommodations including changes to housing, bathroom and shower use to respect the modesty or privacy interests of soldiers and maintain moral, order and discipline.
But, it prohibits creating transgender-only areas and says that any privacy accommodations that are made must be open for use by all soldiers, not just transgender individuals.
And commanders cant force a soldier to use a bathroom or shower of the persons preferred gender before their legal transition.
According to Carter, a RAND study found that there are between 2,500 and 7,000 transgender service members in the active duty military, and another 1,500 to 4,000 in the reserves.
Milley said the Army numbers so far are low, but the service doesnt track the number of soldiers who may be starting the gender transition process.
We may not know the full scope yet, said Milley. Others that may consider themselves as transgender but havent self-identified publicly may be holding back because they want to see how things progress.
Texas: A 41-year-old man from Texas, United States, faces life time in jail after he killed his wife at her sisters funeral. He is also accused of killing his sister-in-law and her father in order to lure his wife to their funeral.
According to a report in the Independent, Samuel Velasco Gurrolam, the convict, hatched the devious plot with the help of his two siblings to kill his wife Ruth Sagredo, so that she wouldnt testify against him in a sexual assault case.
In 2008, Samuel hired the service of a hitman to kill Ruths father in Mexicos El Paso to lure her to the funeral.
But she stayed away from the funeral, prompting him to plot her sisters death.
Ruth was killed in her sisters funeral procession at El Paso. Samuel, his brother Emmanuel and his sister Dalia are allegedly a part of the criminal gang called the Velasco enterprise and are responsible for a number of extortion and kidnapping incidents in Mexico from 2009 to 2013.
Samuel is set to be sentenced in January.
Mayda Rivera-Juarez, 32, who worked as a cleaner at a freight company, was arrested in Sterling, Virginia, as several of her co-workers fell ill after drinking the toxic coffee. (Photo: Representational Image)
Washington: A disgruntled woman employee has been arrested in the US for allegedly poisoning her colleagues by pouring window cleaner into the office coffee maker.
Mayda Rivera-Juarez, 32, who worked as a cleaner at a freight company, was arrested in Sterling, Virginia, as several of her co-workers fell ill after drinking the toxic coffee.
She has been charged with felony assault after she poured a window cleaning agent into the coffee maker at her job over several weeks, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said.
Colleagues at JAS Forwarding Worldwide, a freight company, claim they suffered severe digestive problems and diarrhoea.
"The employees at this place had been getting sick, didn't quite know what was going on," Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman was quoted as saying by WJLA-TV.
"When she was coming in to get terminated, some of this came to light," he said.
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said Rivera-Juarez was a disgruntled employee and that is why she put cleaning products in a Keurig coffeemaker used by her co-workers.
She lost her job at the company following the allegation and is now being held at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center without bond.
Chapman said some employees were getting sick and did know why until the allegation against Rivera-Juarez came to light.
She is not the first person to be charged with poisoning colleagues using cleaning products.
Earlier this year, Melissa Swift was sentenced to eight years in prison after admitting poisoning co-workers at Goldfield Court care home in West Bromwich, near Birmingham.
The camera mounted on a drone shows a birds-eye view of the target, tracking his Humvee as it strikes the base, causing a massive explosion. (Photo: AP)
Kabul: The Afghan Taliban have released aerial footage of a suicide car bombing in southern Helmand province, marking the first time the media-savvy militant group has used a drone to record an attack.
The 23-minute video shows a suicide bomber ramming a Humvee into a military base in volatile Nawa district, triggering a mushroom cloud of flames and smoke and razing the entire compound.
With pro-Taliban poems playing in the background, the video reported Tuesday by the US-based SITE Intelligence group shows a turban-clad bomber in front of a Humvee, hugging fellow fighters before he departs.
The camera mounted on a drone shows a birds-eye view of the target, tracking his Humvee as it strikes the base, causing a massive explosion.
The video, which could not be independently verified, is the first drone footage released by the Taliban. The Afghan defense ministry in a statement rejected it as a "propaganda".
The Taliban already have a robust social media presence and a website in five languages including English.
Once seen as uneducated thugs, the Taliban have developed a media-savvy PR team who use digital technology to reach out to audiences worldwide.
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, almost all electronic products were outlawed as un-Islamic.
But the Taliban have avidly embraced electronic communication and social media in recent years as a recruitment tool and to promote their propaganda.
Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hit out at the United States on Tuesday, saying he did not start a fight with Washington and it could forget about a military agreement between both countries if he were to be in power longer.
Duterte said he was against the presence of any foreign troops in his country and the United States could "forget" an Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the Philippines, if he stayed longer, without elaborating.
The United States, he said, should not treat the Philippines "like a dog with a leash," adding to confusion about the future the longtime allies' ties.
"I look forward to the time when I no longer see any military troops or soldier in my country except the Filipino soldiers," Duterte said prior to his departure to Japan.
Hong Kong: Filming himself torturing and killing a young Indonesian woman, British investment banker Rurik Jutting veered between boasting, remorse and describing the pleasure he derived from sexually brutalising the first of two victims.
Footage taken from four hours of recordings on Jutting's mobile phone formed the core of the prosecution opening on the second day of a murder trial in Hong Kong that has grabbed global attention.
The 31-year-old Cambridge University graduate has admitted killing Sumarti Ningsih, a 23-year-old single mother, and another Indonesian woman, Seneng Mujiasih, in his luxury high-rise apartment two years ago.
But he has pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, while pleading guilty to the lesser crime of manslaughter.
The four women and five men on the jury clenched their jaws and, at times, diverted their eyes as they endured an opening 20-minute segment of the torture of Ningsih. Tears welled up in the eyes of one middle aged male juror.
Appearing topless, overweight and unshaven, Jutting appeared on camera, at times showing Ningsih's body, and spoke with chilling calm in a series of monologues that he described as "narcissistic ramblings".
While the video was not shown to the public in the courtroom, journalists covering the trial could hear the audio.
"I just killed someone, first person I ever killed, I cut her throat in the bathroom.. .to be precise I cut her throat while she was bending over licking dirty toilet bowl," he said.
Jutting, who had held a high flying job at Bank of America in Hong Kong before his arrest, at one point filmed himself taking cocaine as he explained how he tortured Ningsih.
"I treated her as a non person, a sex object. And that turned me on."
Bespectacled and wearing pale blue shirt, Jutting was flanked by three policemen as he watched what he had done on a video recording a judge said had been found on his iPhone.
Jutting, who had attended Winchester College, one of Britain's most prestigious private schools, shut his eyes, sometimes covering his face with his hand rather than look at the screen in front of him.
British Schoolgirls
Jutting used a belt, sex toys, a pair of pliers and his fists to torture Ningsih over three days before eventually slitting her throat with a serrated-edged knife, according to the prosecution.
On the recording, Jutting spoke in a relaxed, soft voice as he taunted, bullied and mutilated Ningsih, a single mother who had been visiting Hong Kong on a tourist visa.
"It's better than being beaten isn't it? Do not cry, take it like a good girl," Jutting said as he described how he was going to put his fist into her.
Jutting called his victim 'Alice' as he tormented her.
While threatening to cut off her nipples he calmly said: "This doesn't really hurt does it? You deserve some water don't you? Just one more before some water."
After that video, others showing Jutting and Finfish's mutilated, naked body were screened in an open court room.
In one, Jutting spoke of a "fantasy" to kidnap three teenaged girls from Wycombe Abbey, a girls' boarding school in High Wycombe, a town northwest of London.
As he listened to that passage, Jutting shook his head in the courtroom while holding a hand over his face.
In one scene he urinated into a beer glass as he expressed fears of being jailed in Hong Kong, planning to return to Britain to co-operate with authorities.
In another, he played the song Disturb by pop artist Rhianna as he lays out freshly-purchased hardware store "goodies" he plots to use on another victim - a hammer, and nails, pins and sandpaper.
Depressed at Work
Prior to the jury selection on Monday, Deputy High Court Judge Michael Stuart-Moore warned potential jurors that if they were unable to cope with viewing extreme violence they should excuse themselves.
The defense and prosecution were largely in agreement over the physical evidence, Stuart-Moore had advised the jurors on the first day of the trial.
He told them that the outcome could rest on psychiatric and psychological testimony to determine whether it was a case of murder or manslaughter.
Murder carries a mandatory life sentence, while manslaughter carries a maximum of life though a shorter sentence can be set.
The women's bodies were found in Jutting' s apartment after he had called police.
Finfish's remains were discovered in a suitcase on the balcony, while the body of the second victim, 26-year-old Seneng Mujiasih, was found inside with wounds to her neck and buttocks, the prosecutor told the court.
Mujiasih, a domestic helper, was working in a bar when she met Jutting, according to the prosecution.
Jutting, who spoke of his addiction to drugs and alcohol, also alluded several times to paying for sex, and referred to Ningsih as his prostitute. At one point he moved the camera to show his large belly and lowers it to glimpse his genitals.
"Killing her may have been kindness, living with that would have haunted her," he is heard saying.
As he prepared to hide the body in a suitcase Jutting questions whether he has a problem as he feels excited.
Soon after his arrest in November, 2014 Bank of America had said Jutting had worked there until recently, but did not say exactly when or why he left. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday.
Jutting spoke of his role as the bank's vice president and head of Structured Equity Finance & Trading (Asia) and expressed job depression.
During one section Jutting remarks that after killing Ningsih, he felt most guilty about not being in the office to close a "financing deal for a literally soulless project."
Newly unemployed, soon to be unemployed, part time rapist and murderer," he says after musing over future plans to kidnap, torture and rape young girls.
Tokyo: President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday urged foreign businesses in the Philippines worried about his deadly drug war to "pack up and leave", as he launched another anti-American tirade before flying to Japan to attract investments.
Duterte voiced outrage at comments made the previous day by the top US envoy to Asia that his fiery rhetoric and crime war, which has claimed about 3,700 lives in four months, were bad for business.
"These Americans are really crazy. Their style is to walk here. They think they are somebodies," Duterte said, as he held up a newspaper with headlines reporting the criticism from US assistant secretary of state Daniel Russel.
"Russel says 'Duterte comments causing worries in business communities'. Then you pack up and leave. We will recover, I assure you."
Duterte then flew to Japan, one of the top US allies in Asia, for a three-day visit that is partly aimed at building on two-way trade of more than $18 billion dollars last year.
"With Japan as the Philippines' top trading partner, I shall seek the sustainment and further enhancement of our important economic ties," Duterte, 71, said in prepared remarks at Manila airport.
"I look forward to meeting business leaders in Japan. I will tell them clearly that the Philippines is open for business."
Upon arrival in Tokyo, Duterte proceeded to a hotel for an event with members of the local Filipino community.
More than 100 of them waiting outside gave him an enthusiastic welcome, calling his name and waving small Philippine flags. A smiling Duterte approached them and shook hands.
Duterte will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and have an audience with Emperor Akihito during the trip, which follows his headline-grabbing state visit to China last week.
Duterte, a self-proclaimed socialist with close links to communists, announced in Beijing the Philippines' "separation" from the United States, throwing into doubt a 70-year alliance that is anchored on a mutual defence treaty.
He quickly walked back from his comments after returning from China, saying "separation" did not mean he would "sever" ties and that the US alliance would continue.
But his anti-American vitriol also continued.
Duterte said on Tuesday he was not a "lapdog" of the United States, and again voiced anger at American and European criticism of apparent extrajudicial killings on his watch.
"You are a son of a whore," he said referring to his critics.
"Do not make us dogs. Do not. As if I am a dog with a leash and then you throw bread far away that I cannot reach."
Duterte has previously branded US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and told him to "go to hell".
Vienna: In a rare case, Supreme Court overturned the sentence of a 20-year-old migrant arrested for raping a 10-year-old boy at a swimming pool in Austria.
According to a report in the Independent, the judges observed that the accused might have believed that the victim had consented to the sexual act.
The 10-year-old victim was brutally raped by the accused in a swimming pool cubicle at The Resienbad, and was found crying by the lifeguard. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, while the police found the migrant on the spot, amusing himself by diving into the pool over and over again.
On being questioned by the police, he responded saying that though he knew such an act was 'forbidden in any country of the world', it was a sexual emergency as he had not had sex in past four months. He added that he was not always sick as he had a wife and a daughter back home in Iraq.
After his arrest, the accused had reportedly told investigators that though he knew it was a mistake, he committed the act as it was a case of sexual emergency.
The migrant, who worked as a taxi driver in Vienna told the police that he could not help himself as he had excess sexual energy, and that he did not mean to scar the child.
According to official records, the migrant entered Austria through the Balkans last September.
The police did not reveal the details of the rape, which took place in December last, to protect the identity of the victim. But information emerged on Facebook, prompting the police to request sensitivity in matters concerning migrants, as they have been through a lot.
Police in the eastern region of Thuringia said that they searched 13 dwellings in five regions as part of an investigation into a 28-year-old Russian citizen of Chechen background suspected of intending to join the fighting in Syria on behalf of the Islamic State group. (Photo: Representational Image/AP)
Frankfurt: German police say they have searched apartments in five regions as part of an investigation into alleged involvement in extremism by Chechen asylum-seekers.
Police in the eastern region of Thuringia said that they searched 13 dwellings in five regions as part of an investigation into a 28-year-old Russian citizen of Chechen background suspected of intending to join the fighting in Syria on behalf of the Islamic State group. The investigation later developed into a probe of 13 further individuals suspected of financing extremist activity.
Police said all were people of Chechen ethnicity with Russian citizenship seeking asylum in Germany, and whose status has not yet been decided.
Police said there was no concrete danger of an imminent attack. The statement did not say whether anyone was arrested.
Bobokulova was arrested in February as she waved the severed head of four-year-old Anastasia outside a Moscow metro station. (Photo: AP)
Moscow, Russia: A Moscow nanny on Monday pleaded guilty to murdering the four-year-old disabled child in her charge after brandishing the child's severed head on the street.
"I plead guilty; that's what she said," an interpreter said as Uzbek national Gyulchekhra Bobokulova went on trial, Interfax news agency reported.
In a chilling case, Bobokulova was arrested in February as she waved the severed head of four-year-old Anastasia outside a Moscow metro station.
The girl's headless body was later found in the family's flat, which had been set on fire.
The prosecutor at Moscow's Khoroshevsky district court read out the charges that 39-year-old Bobokulova had strangled Anastasia, who had cerebral palsy, and then beheaded her.
She then overturned an oil lamp that set the apartment ablaze and went outside carrying the child's head.
Witnesses said that the nanny paced for around 20 minutes on the street dressed in black, waving the severed head and threatening to blow herself up.
Russia's national television channels refused to cover the grisly killing in a controversial move that the Kremlin defended, saying the subject was "probably too monstrous to be shown on television."
Her trial is being covered by state television, however.
In March, at her first court appearance following her arrest, Bobokulova said that "it was what Allah ordered," speaking in broken Russian.
Bobokulova is being held in custody at a psychiatric hospital within Moscow's ageing Butyrka jail.
She has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and ruled not mentally capable. Prosecutors will ask for her to be incarcerated in a high-security psychiatric facility.
She is charged with the murder of a minor, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, as well as arson and making a false report of an explosion.
Geneva: Describing Pakistan as the "epicentre" of global terrorism, India on Tuesday asked Pakistan to "set its own house in order" and take action against terror groups instead of "ritually" raking up human rights violations elsewhere.
India, exercising the right of reply after Pakistan raised the Kashmir issue during the general debate at the 135th Assembly Session of IPU, asserted that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will remain so for "eternity".
"We deeply regret the misuse of this august body by Pakistan to make tendentious references about internal matters pertaining to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir," Lok Sabha MP R K Singh said.
"Let me make it very clear to Pakistan that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will remain so for eternity. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have been active participants in the democratic processes at both the central and state levels," he said.
He said the "fundamental reason" for the situation in Kashmir is the cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. "Terrorism remains the grossest violation of human rights and Pakistan has the distinction of being the epicentre of global terrorism. In fact, it is the mothership of global terror.
"Internationally proscribed terrorists and terror groups are freely roaming in Pakistan with impunity while the deep State in Pakistan is busy in diverting billions of dollars received as international aid for spreading terrorism globally," he said.
Underlining that the human rights violations in entire Pakistan "cry for the world's attention", he said, "The people of Pakistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have become victims of sectarian conflict, terrorism and extreme economic hardship due to Pakistan's authoritarian and discriminatory policies in complete disregard of human rights."
"Given this state of affairs, Pakistan will be well-advised to focus its energies on setting its own house in order and acting against the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on its neighbours instead of ritually raking up alleged human rights violations elsewhere," Singh said.
"Pakistan has raised the issue of UN Security Council resolutions. We would suggest Pakistan to first fulfil its primary obligation under the resolutions to vacate illegal occupation of Pakistan occupied Kashmir," he said.
"We call upon Pakistan to stop inciting and supporting violence and terrorism in any part of India and refrain from meddling in our internal affairs in any matter," Singh said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday said Ankara could launch a ground operation in Iraq if feel threatened. (Photo: AP)
Ankara: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday said Ankara could launch a ground operation in Iraq to remove any threats to Turkey that may arise.
"If there is a threat posed to Turkey, we are ready to use all our resources including a ground operation... to eliminate that threat," Cavusoglu said in an interview with Kanal 24 broadcaster.
Ankara said this week it had already hit Islamic State group positions with its artillery at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq.
London: The British government approved a new third runway at London's Heathrow airport on Tuesday in a long-awaited decision that comes amid deep divisions and follows decades of debate over the issue.
"The government today announced its support for a new runway at Heathrow, the first full length runway in the southeast since the Second World War," an official statement said after a cabinet meeting.
"A new runway at Heathrow will bring economic benefits to passengers and the wider economy worth up to 61 billion (69 billion euros, $75 billion)."
It said up to 77,000 additional local jobs are expected to be created over the next 14 years, while the airport has committed to create 5,000 new apprenticeships over the same period.
Following Britain's vote in June to leave the European Union, the government said the decision would show commitment to being "open for business now and in the future and as a hub for tourism and trade".
But there is strong environmental opposition to the expansion and the approval process could still delay or even block its execution over the coming years.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Justine Greening are opposed to the Heathrow expansion.
Ministers rejected a rival bid for a second runway at Gatwick airport south of the capital, which was backed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
The decision marks the beginning of a lengthy process before the project can begin in earnest, including a year until the decision can receive full parliamentary approval.
The proposal for a third Heathrow runway was recommended by a government-appointed commission in July 2015 but a decision was put on hold pending further investigation into the environmental impact.
Ministers opposed to the plans will now be granted the rare opportunity to voice their dissenting views, including Johnson, formerly the mayor of London.
Ready to fight
Business leaders, many of whom have long campaigned for a third runway, say London's five existing airports are not keeping up with rising air travel demand, representing a lost money-making opportunity for Britain.
They hope airport expansion will send a strong message on London's economic future amid uncertainties surrounding Brexit.
But environmentalists are fiercely opposed to any airport expansion in the British capital, parts of which already routinely breach EU air pollution limits, and now threaten legal action.
"We stand ready, with four Conservative local authorities, including Theresa May's own council, to bring a judicial review against a green light for a third runway," said Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven.
May's local council of Windsor and Maidenhead, an area to the west of the airport, has protested against Heathrow expansion.
Activists held a protest Tuesday in anticipation of the announcement, blocking a fake runway set up outside parliament.
"People are going to be ready to fight this decision. If you want to honour your commitment to climate change you cannot build new runways," said Annie Wright, of Reclaim the Power, one of the groups staging the demonstration.
London: British Prime Minister Theresa May has said her upcoming three-day maiden visit to India shows the importance of the United Kingdom and India bilateral ties, which will be a true celebration of relations and shared ambition for the future.
Addressing the Indian community for the first time at a Diwali reception in her official residence, May said: "It was here in Downing Street PM Narendra Modi chose to start last year's visit and next month I am delighted to join him in India."
"It will be the first bilateral visit I make outside European Union. I will be going to Delhi and Bangalore and it shows the importance of our relationship between the UK and India and I think it will be a true celebration of relations between our countries and shared ambition for the future," she said.
At the outset, May, Dinesh Pattnaik, India's acting High Commissioner to the UK and Jit Patel from the board of BAPS Swaminarayan Temple lit the lamp, and inaugurated the Diwali celebrations.
"It is a great pleasure and honour to host my first Diwali reception as the Prime Minister. It really shows that the Indian community in the UK is absolutely at the heart of our British society," May said.
Earlier in the day, May announced in the House of Commons that she would be leading a trade delegation to India from November 6 to 8, as her government seeks new relationships after Britain leaves the European Union.
"I'll be visiting India in early November and I'm pleased to say that I will be taking a trade delegation with me. We'll be focusing on small and medium-seized enterprises to try to ensure that we boost the relationships between smaller and medium-sized businesses here in the UK with the important Indian market," she said.
May, who succeeded David Cameron as the new British Prime Minister in July pointed out that "there is a limit to what we can do in terms of entering into a trade arrangement before we have left the European Union, but that does not mean we cannot scope out negotiations and start to have those discussions and indeed we are doing that with a number of countries."
She said she intends to start formal negotiations on leaving the EU by the end of March, putting Britain on course to exit the bloc - and potentially the European single market - by early 2019.
Beirut: Syrian doctors in the besieged eastern half of Aleppo said Tuesday a plan to evacuate sick and wounded residents failed because the United Nations was unable to guarantee the patients' safety.
The United Nations and key medical groups held days of talks aimed at securing the safe passage of the critically injured or ill during a three-day Aleppo ceasefire announced by Russia, to no avail.
The UN on Monday said the plan was aborted for several reasons, "including delays in receiving the necessary approvals from local authorities in eastern Aleppo".
But doctors inside the war-ravaged city said the UN was also at fault.
"Of course we blame the United Nations for not providing a clear plan," said doctor Hamza al-Khateeb, spokesman for nine leading doctors in eastern Aleppo.
"We need guarantees that there will be no arrests or attacks on the sick, wounded, and their companions," he told AFP from inside the city.
"There was no clarity on the meeting points, on which cars would transport them, or on whether they would be searched."
The uncertainty meant the doctors did not provide the UN with the names of candidates for medical evacuation.
The UN's humanitarian coordination agency in Geneva had no immediate comment, but on Monday UN humanitarian aid coordinator Stephen O'Brien accused both regime and rebels of holding up the evacuations.
He said rebels imposed conditions to guarantee the safety of the evacuation while the Syrian government refused to allow medical and other aid supplies into the rebel-held east.
One of east Aleppo's last paediatricians, doctor Hatem, who declined to give his last name, said he and fellow doctors had demanded guarantees evacuees would be safe.
They also sought an end to bombardment, aid deliveries, and reinforcements for Aleppo's exhausted medical staff.
"The UN contacted me as a paediatrician to ask me for children's names. I told them there's no problem as long as you give us the conditions we asked for," he told AFP.
"To each of these conditions, they told us, 'We'll see in the future.'"
More than 250,000 people remain in eastern Aleppo, which has been under government siege since July and faced heavy regime and Russian fire since Damascus began an operation to recapture the city.
Russia's three-day truce was meant to encourage civilians and rebels to leave the east, but only a handful did so.
The powerful Nureddin al-Zinki faction also said it had sought "written guarantees from the United Nations that the wounded and their companions would not be detained, arrested, killed, or insulted."
"Until this moment, we have not received any responses, either positive or negative, on the previous points -- only verbal promises to study the points and respond," political officer Yasser al-Youssef said.
Manama: India and Bahrain on Tuesday denounced terrorism calling it a "hazard" to all countries and said terrorist in one country cannot be glorified as a freedom fighter by another, an apparent reference to Pakistan's praise for Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.
A joint statement, issued after Home Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with and Bahrain Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, said both the countries agreed on their strong stances against all forms of terrorism, saying "terrorism is a hazard to all countries and communities".
Rashid said Bahrain is looking forward to working with India in the fight against terrorism and in strengthening the mutual and regional security.
"India and Bahrain reject the linking of terrorism to any race, religion or culture. Both the countries agreed that a terrorist in one country cannot be glorified as a freedom fighter by another, and the two sides called upon all states to reject the use of terrorism against other countries, to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of the state, and to fight terrorist infrastructure whenever it exists," it said.
The joint statement was issued a day after Singh told Bahrain's top leadership that Pakistan's use of terrorism as "an instrument of state policy" was a matter of concern and the incitement from across the border was the main reason behind the current unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Home Minister, who is on a three-day visit to the Gulf country, yesterday also apprised Rashid about Islamabad's open support and participation to glorify slain Hizbul Mujahideen militant Wani, saying it indicates continued free movement that terrorists and their supporters enjoy in Pakistan.
Bahrain is a key member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in which Pakistan is also a member.
The joint statement said the two sides agreed to actively implement the counter-terrorism agreement for which a joint committee was formed that held its first meeting on the sidelines of the visit.
India and Bahrain decided to hold regular committee meetings, in accordance to the clauses of the agreement.
The two sides also agreed to reinforce cooperation in exchange of information on ongoing terrorism-related investigations, exchange of information of ongoing organised crime investigations, including terrorism and drug trafficking, determine and exchange information on terrorism financing and organised crime sources and confiscation of terrorism money in accordance to the laws of both countries.
They resolved to study youth extremism and the use of the internet and how to tackle the issue, further cooperation in e-security and fight money laundering.
New Delhi and Manama agreed to promote participation in training courses and seminars that are held by the two countries for security officials to exchange expertise on crime fighting and other unconventional threats.
The two sides welcomed cooperation in anti-human trafficking and the fight against emerging security threats of the two countries. The two sides agreed to continue high level communication to reinforce security cooperation.
The Home Minister expressed thanks and appreciation to the Bahrain Interior Minister, hailing the historical ties between the two friendly countries that are based on love and peace.
Singh said Bahrain is a civilised and open society that promotes unity and co-existence and mutual visits will develop bilateral ties.
He said terrorism is a threat to the whole world and that India is ready to reinforce joint counter-terrorism cooperation with Bahrain.
Rashid hailed the first meeting of the Bahraini-Indian Joint Steering Committee as part of the agreement signed between the two sides on counter-terrorism to reinforce security cooperation, especially regional terrorism issues, a statement said.
He highlighted that Bahrain has experienced terrorist acts that caused loss of life and horrific injuries and damage to infrastructure.
The Bahrain Interior Minister said, "We look forward to working together in the fight against terrorism and in strengthening our mutual and regional security."
He said the Joint Steering Committee should look at how "we can work together to address challenges and to follow up the progress of the agreed decision through exchange of visits and expertise and working to achieve common goals".
The two sides agreed that the historical visit of the King of Bahrain to India in February 2014 built a basic foundation toward a strong partnership between the two countries, as well as the creation of opportunities to develop bilateral relations in various sectors.
The two sides also agreed that the exchange of high level visits has contributed to the implementation of important agreements between the two countries.
They discussed the visit of the Bahrain Interior Minister to India in December, 2015, that included the signing of the cooperation agreement on international counter-terrorism and trafficking of narcotics, psychotropic substances and chemical precursors.
Iraqi security forces on Tuesday regained full control of Ar-Rutbah in Al Anbar province of Iraq. (Photo: AP/Representational)
Rutbah: Iraqi security forces on Tuesday regained full control of a western town that was attacked by Islamic State group militants two days earlier, officials said.
Seeking to draw attention away from an offensive to retake the city of Mosul, ISIS struck the town of Ar-Rutbah in the country's western Al Anbar province and Kirkuk in the north in recent days.
"Our forces completely cleared the town of Rutba," Staff Major General Ibrahim al-Mahalawi said.
An AFP journalist who visited the town confirmed that it was fully back in government hands, as did the local official responsible for the area.
The jihadists attacked Rutbah on Sunday, briefly seizing the mayor's office before being pinned back by the security forces but still maintaining control of two neighbourhoods.
The jihadists executed five Iraqis, including members of the security forces, in the town on Monday, army officers said.
On Friday, dozens of jihadist fighters launched a spectacular attack on the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk, killing at least 46 people, mostly members of the security forces.
Iraqi forces are advancing on Mosul, IS's last major stronghold in the country, from three sides after announcing the start of the operation on October 17.
ISIS overran swathes of Iraq in 2014 and 2015, but has since lost much of the territory it seized.
Seeking to draw attention away from an offensive to retake the city of Mosul, IS struck the town of Rutba in the country's west and Kirkuk in the north in recent days. (Photo: AP)
Rutba: Iraqi security forces on Tuesday regained full control of a western town that was attacked by Islamic State group militants two days earlier, officials said.
Seeking to draw attention away from an offensive to retake the city of Mosul, IS struck the town of Rutba in the country's west and Kirkuk in the north in recent days.
"Our forces completely cleared the town of Rutba," Staff Major General Ibrahim al-Mahalawi said.
An AFP journalist who visited the town confirmed that it was fully back in government hands, as did the local official responsible for the area.
The jihadists attacked Rutba on Sunday, briefly seizing the mayor's office before being pinned back by the security forces but still maintaining control of two neighbourhoods.
The jihadists executed five Iraqis, including members of the security forces, in the town on Monday, army officers said.
On Friday, dozens of jihadist fighters launched a spectacular attack on the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk, killing at least 46 people, mostly members of the security forces.
Iraqi forces are advancing on Mosul, IS's last major stronghold in the country, from three sides after announcing the start of the operation on October 17. IS overran swathes of Iraq in 2014 and 2015, but has since lost much of the territory it seized.
Mr Lieberman however said he had no intention of starting a new war in Gaza, which would be the fourth since 2008. (Photo: AP)
Jerusalem: Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview with a Palestinian newspaper Monday that Israel's next war with Gaza militants would be their last "because we will completely destroy them".
Mr Lieberman however said he had no intention of starting a new war in Gaza, which would be the fourth since 2008.
He urged Palestinians to pressure Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, to "stop your crazy policies".
"As minister of defence, I would like to clarify that we have no intention of starting a new war against our neighbours in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, Lebanon or Syria," he said in the interview with Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper.
"But in Gaza, like the Iranians, they intend to eliminate the state of Israel... If they impose the next war on Israel, it will be their last. I would like to emphasise again: It will be their last confrontation because we will completely destroy them."
Lieberman is part of what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history, with several prominent members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition openly opposing a Palestinian state.
But while known as a security-minded hardliner, Lieberman believes in a two-state solution to the conflict based on land swaps.
He reiterated that position in the interview, saying he sees the main settlement blocks in the occupied West Bank remaining part of Israel under a final peace deal.
Lieberman, who took office in May, also criticised Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, accusing him of failing to make tough compromises that could lead to peace.
He predicted Abbas would lose if elections were held, with polls showing most Palestinians would like the 81-year-old to resign.
Such elections could lead to Hamas taking power in the West Bank, where Abbas's secular Fatah party currently dominates, but Lieberman said he believed a different outcome was possible.
"There are enough sensible people in the (Palestinian Authority) who understand the situation and know if there is a choice to make between Hamas and Israel, they think partnering with Israel will be better for them," he said.
Lieberman has recently spoken of trying to bypass Palestinian leaders and reach out directly to communities, and his interview appeared to be part of that effort.
Al-Quds was heavily criticised on social media by Palestinians who say it should not have agreed to an interview with an Israeli official as it amounted to sanctioning "normalisation" with an occupying power.
Before taking over as defence minister, Lieberman made a series of controversial statements, including one directed at Ismail Haniya, Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip.
Lieberman said he would give Haniya 48 hours to hand over two detained Israeli civilians and the bodies of soldiers killed in a 2014 war "or you're dead".
He has since backed off such statements and said he is committed to "responsible, reasonable policy".
Baghdad: Dozens of Islamic State fighters struck at dawn, storming government and security compounds in and around the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk last week, in a coordinated assault more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the front lines of the Mosul offensive.
Over the last two years, the extremists have adopted innovative tactics and launched diversionary attacks along the amoeba-like frontiers of their self-styled caliphate, and many now fear they have more surprises in store as Iraqi forces close in on Mosul, the militants' last urban bastion in the country.
The Kirkuk assault was carried out by more than 50 militants who may have been part of so-called sleeper cells. They struck targets in and around the city, pinning down Kurdish security forces for two days and killing at least 80 people. A similar attack was launched on the western town of Rutba, hundreds of miles from Mosul, over the weekend.
Here is a look at some of the other tactics the group may employ.
Attacks on civilians
As it has suffered a string of battlefield setbacks over the past year, IS has increasingly returned to its roots as a brutal insurgent group, carrying out suicide bombings against civilians, mainly in and around Baghdad.
The group has sought to reassure its supporters that its long twilight struggle will continue, regardless of whether it loses territory. Vastly outnumbered in Mosul, it may respond with attacks on so-called "soft targets" in Iraq or further afield, perhaps seeking to replicate the devastation of the 2015 Paris attacks.
But Iraq is at the greatest risk.
"What happened in Kirkuk might be an introduction to a series of operations, and we cannot rule out the targeting of Baghdad," said Ahmed al-Sharifi, a Baghdad-based military analyst. "There are sleeper cells all over Iraq, particularly in Baghdad."
Divide and Conquer
The choice of Kirkuk likely reflected a strategic calculation on the part of IS to sow tensions within the unlikely alliance arrayed against it. The city has long been at the center of a territorial dispute between the central government and the autonomous Kurdish region, where the Mosul operation has seen federal forces deployed for the first time in 25 years.
The Baghdad government and the Kurds are united against IS, but the Kurds have little interest in Mosul, a potentially ungovernable city with a Sunni Arab majority. The Kurds have long prized Kirkuk, however, and could divert their forces, known as the peshmerga, from Mosul to other fronts in order to defend territory they value more.
Chemicals and Drones
Closer to the front lines, IS may deploy new and unconventional weapons. IS used a homemade drone carrying C-4 explosives to attack French and Kurdish forces in northern Iraq earlier this month, killing two Kurds.
IS is believed to have used crude chemical weapons in both Syria and Iraq, and Iraqi forces have said they are going into battle with protective gear. Last month, an IS rocket containing sulfur-mustard , a chemical agent that causes skin blistering, struck a military base used by hundreds of U.S. troops near Mosul.
No one was wounded in the attack, but Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called it a "concerning development."
Suicide Artillery
Suicide car bombs have featured in Middle East conflicts for decades, but IS might be the first insurgent group to deploy them against conventional forces on the battlefield as a kind of "smart" artillery. The group has already sent more than a dozen armored vehicles loaded with explosives careening toward front-line troops since the Mosul operation began.
Iraqi forces, with the aid of U.S.-led coalition aircraft, have gotten better at blowing them up before they reach their targets, but the weapons still pose a huge risk.
Scorched Earth Tactics
IS deployed another kind of chemical weapon last week when it torched a sulfur plant south of Kirkuk, sending a cloud of toxic smoke across the Ninevah plain that caused breathing difficulties and nosebleeds up to 30 kilometers (18 miles) away. The fumes mixed with the smoke from oil wells in the region that IS has set alight in recent weeks to try to create a smoke screen.
Many fear that as Iraqi forces converge on Mosul, the extremists could destroy factories, oil installations and other critical infrastructure in a scorched earth campaign. They may also seek to use civilians as human shields. Mosul is still home to more than one million people.
Unknown unknowns
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously warned of "unknown unknowns ," things we don't know that we don't know, which somehow captures the challenge posed by evolving militant groups.
The IS capture of Mosul in 2014 - and the fleeing of thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police who were supposed to defend the city in the face of their advance - came as a shock to many people who had never imagined an extremist group could seize a major city. That they have persevered since then, holding onto large swaths of territory despite more than two years of U.S.-led airstrikes and a vast array of forces battling them, also testifies to their dark ingenuity.
"Every time we think we've countered terrorist tactics something new always happens," said David M. Witty, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel and former adviser to Iraqi special operations forces. "There's no end to it."
Viewers of a Turkish television show were in for a shock, as one of the guests confessed to murdering and raping a four-year-old girl to the host.
According to a report in Daily Mail, Himmet Akturk made the chilling revelation on a Turkish show which investigates family drama and had invited him for a episode on Irmak Kupal, a 4-year-old child that went missing in the Alasehir district of western Turkey's Manisa Province.
The show presenter Muge Anli, hosts the show that looks into family dramas and invites everybody related to a particular case and grills them questions.
Anli kept asking Akturk tough questions and subjected him to intense questioning until he finally cracked and confessed to his horrible crime.
The police was called in immediately and Akturk was arrested. He later made an elaborate confession to the cops, giving them details of how he sexually assaulted and killed Irmak Kupal.
He told the police that he strangled Irmak and buried her body in a vineyard, after he had raped her. The police started looking for the body at the location given by Akturk and found the remains of the girl and collected hair and samples of remnant blood for the investigation.
People from Alasehir district were shocked by the news and the local mayor hit out at the accused for the grisly rape and murder.
'This is a very bad incident for Alasehir. I can't even call human the person who did this,' the Mayor Gokhan Karabocan said.
The footage from the television show was used against Akturk in court, however the court is yet to pronounce his sentence.
At least six persons, including three security personnel, were injured on Tuesday in a bomb blast in Pakistan. (Photo: AP/Representational)
Peshawar: At least six persons, including three security personnel, were injured on Tuesday when their vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb in restive tribal belt in northwest Pakistan, political authorities said.
The incident occurred in the hilly area of Mulla Said Banda in Salarzai tehisl of Bajaur Agency.
Officials of the local administration said that vehicle was coming from the hilly Mula Said Banda area to Khar when the bomb planted along the road went off.
After the blast, people of the nearby area and members of the peace committee rushed to the site and took the injured to the hospital in Khar for treatment where their conditions were stated to be out of danger.
Political Agent Bajaur Agency Abdul Amir Khattak along with officials visited the agency headquarters hospital and inquired after the health of wounded people.
Karachi: Exhibitors in Pakistan will be lifting the self-imposed ban on the screening of Indian films on Tuesday, the owner of a leading cinema said.
Terming it merely a 'suspension' and not a ban, as there was no government intervention, exhibitors on their own had decided to stop the screening of Indian films, following the ban on Pakistani artists and technicians working in India by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association ( IMPPA) earlier in October, reports the Express Tribune.
This decision comes in wake of the Indian Army's criticism of the MNS' penalty of 50 million rupees on Indian films featuring Pakistani actors
Following the losses, exhibitors had gathered thrice since the suspension of Indian films to ponder over the possible consequences.
In the latest meeting, which took place on Sunday, followed by a brief discussion on Monday, all exhibitors had agreed to resume screening effective from Tuesday.
According to another cinema owner, "The Indian Army's statement is a good enough evidence for the change in perspective on the other side of the border. So is the release of Fawad Khan's film in India."
A formal announcement will be made by the chairman of Pakistan's exhibitors association, Zuraiz Lashari, in Lahore today.
The owner of a leading distribution company said that the resumption of Indian films had to happen since cinema owners relied heavily on Bollywood movies for their revenue.
In a related development, the ministry of commerce has issued NoCs to both Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ajay Devgn's Shivay. Shivay is set to be previewed by the censor board.
The secretary of Sindh Board of Film Censors, Razzaq Khuhwar, said "The government has issued the NoC for Shivay. We are set to screen today or tomorrow for certification."
The chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification, Mobashir Hasan, said that they will accept and preview Indian films, if and when they are submitted for certification.
Quetta, Pakistan: Militants wearing suicide vests stormed a Pakistani police academy in the southwestern city of Quetta overnight, killing at least 59 people, mostly police cadets and recruits, and waging a ferocious gunbattle with troops that lasted into early hours Tuesday.
The attack was carried out by "Islamic State fighters", the group's Amaq news agency said.
In August, Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on a gathering of mourners at a hospital in Quetta that killed 70 people. But that attack was also claimed by Pakistani Taliban faction Jamaat-ur-Ahrar.
Pakistani officials feared the death toll could rise further, as the four-hours-long siege - one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistan's security forces in recent years - left 117 wounded, some of them in critical condition.
The assault caught many of the recruits asleep in their dorms and forced cadets and trainers to jump off rooftops and run for their lives to escape the attackers.
While most of the casualties were police cadets and others at the academy, some of the army personnel who responded to the assault were also among those killed, said Shahzada Farhat, police spokesman in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
By mid-morning Tuesday, a little known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Hakimullah group, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the assault. But Pakistani authorities, doubting the group's capabilities in staging such a coordinated and spectacular assault, could not confirm the claim. There were also unconfirmed reports the Islamic State group was going to issue its own claim on the extremists' Amaq website.
The attack began at 11:30 p.m. on Monday, said Baluchistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti, with the militants shooting and killing a police guard at the watch tower before storming into the academy, located on the outskirts of Quetta.
There were disparate figures as to the number of attackers. Provincial police chief Ahsan Mahboob said four gunmen were involved in the assault while a military statement later said there were up to six attackers.
About 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff were inside the academy when it was attacked, Bugti said, adding that the gunbattle with the militants lasted for at least four hours.
Once inside the academy grounds, Pakistani media said the gunmen headed straight to the dorms housing the cadets and trainees and opened fire, shooting indiscriminately. Some of the cadets jumped off the rooftops and through windows to try to escape.
"They were rushing toward our building, firing," one cadet told Pakistani Geo TV news channel. "We rushed for safety toward the roof and jumped down in the back of the building."
Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told the station the gunmen shot at whoever they saw. "I ran away, just praying God might save me," he said.
After the attack, Pakistani forces tightened security around the academy and Quetta hospitals were the wounded were taken. Footage aired on local television stations showed ambulances rushing out of the main entrance of the academy as fire engines struggled to put out fires set off by the explosions from the attackers' suicide vests.
Most of those being treated at the city hospitals had gunshot wounds, although some sustained injuries jumping off the rooftop of the hostel housing the cadets to escape the gunmen.
"This war isn't over," said Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. "The enemy is weakened, but not eliminated."
Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force which is primarily responsible for the province, claimed the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighboring Afghanistan. He said they were most likely from the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi militant group affiliated with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Sunni militant group has mainly targeted minority Shiite Muslims whom its members consider to be infidels.
The paramilitary chief spoke before the Hakimullah group's claim surfaced.
Afghanistan condemned the attack and dismissed Pakistan's allegations that the assault was planned from bases inside Afghanistan. "Afghanistan is the biggest victim of terrorism and denounces all terrorist attacks," said Mohammad Haroon Chakhansuri, spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
In a separate statement, Ghani also condemned the attack, saying that "terrorism is a threat throughout the region, which is reflected in the brutal act today in Quetta."
Pakistan maintains that militants fleeing army operations in the tribal regions regularly escape across the border, finding safe havens inside Afghanistan. For his part, Ghani has been deeply critical of Pakistan, saying it has provided safe havens to the Taliban and in particular the violent Haqqani network.
For over a decade, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share in the regional resources. Islamic militants and Sunni sectarian also have a presence in the province.
Pakistan has carried out several military operations against militants in country's lawless tribal regions along Afghanistan border, including a major push that started mid 2014 in North Waziristan, a militant base. The Islamic militants have killed tens of thousands of people in their bid to overthrow Pakistan's government and install their own harsh brand of Islamic law.
An ambulance carries injured officers to a hospital outside a police training school attacked by militants in Quetta, Pakistan. (Photo: AP)
Quetta, Pakistan: Pakistani troops backed by helicopters have launched a major operation against militants who stormed a police academy in the country's restive southwest late Monday, rescuing hundreds of trapped cadets and killing two attackers, officials said.
At least 21 people have so far been injured, meanwhile, with the toll feared to rise.
The attack on the Balochistan Police College, located 20 kilometres east of Quetta city centre, began at around 11:30 pm (1830 GMT), with gunfire continuing to ring out from the site hours later.
According to a military statement "five to six" militants were involved in the attack, with a clearing operation now underway.
"At least 21 people have been injured in the attack," Anwar Kakar, the provincial government spokesman said, while provincial health minister Noor ul Haq Baloch placed the figure at 28 -- most of them cadets.
Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti, the provincial home minister, later tweeted "2 terrorist killed" and "200 plus rescued Alhamdo lillha (by God's grace)".
It was not immediately clear how many cadets were in the building at the time of the attack. Bugti said it normally housed around 700 but "recently there was a batch which graduated so I can't say how many there are now".
As the battle to retake the academy continued, police and civil administration officials at the site said they had heard three blasts, one particularly loud.
The area was plunged into darkness when the operation was launched while security personnel created a cordon and ambulances zoomed in and out, taking the injured to hospitals. Military helicopters meanwhile circled overhead.
A man who identified himself as a police cadet told reporters: "I saw three men in camouflage whose faces were hidden carrying Kalashnikovs. They started firing and entered the dormitory but I managed to escape over a wall."
Unclear motive
No group has yet claimed responsibility but Baloch separatists demanding greater autonomy of the mineral rich but desperately poor region have been waging an on-off insurgency for decades, and the province is also riven by sectarian strife and Islamist violence.
The attack came a day after separatist gunmen for the Baloch Liberation Army on a motorcycle shot dead two coast guards and a civilian and wounded a shopkeeper in a remote southwest coastal town in the same province.
In August, a suicide bombing at a Quetta hospital claimed by the Islamic State group and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban killed 73 people, including many of the city's lawyer community who had gone there to mourn the fatal shooting of a colleague.
Balochistan is also a key region for China's ambitious $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project linking its western province of Xinjiang to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan.
Security problems have mired CPEC in the past with numerous separatist attacks, but China has said it is confident the Pakistani military is in control.
The army has repeatedly been accused by international rights groups of abuses in Balochistan.
Lahore: The Lahore High Court, on Monday, slapped death penalty on a man who was convicted for killing his daughter for not making round rotis.
According to a report in Dawn, the man, Khalid Mehmood, killed his daughter Aneeqa in a fit of rage and dumped her body outside a city hospital, before filing a missing complaint with the local police. He claimed that his daughter had gone out to buy some essential food items, and never returned, alleging abduction.
The crime came to light when the police questioned Khalid and his son, after talking to the neighbours. The duo owned up to assaulting Aqeena following which she died. Khalid has also been fined a sum of Rs 50,000.
Islamabad: Pakistan has said it will take part in the Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan to be held in India despite tension and periodic exchange of fire across the Line of Control (LoC).
Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz confirmed that Pakistan will participate in the Heart of Asia conference.
"Pakistan will attend the Heart of Asia conference," he told media on Monday. However, it was not clear the level of participation by Pakistan.
The key ministerial meeting of the conference - also called the Istanbul process - is scheduled to take place in Amritsar on December 4.
Last year in December the meeting of the Istanbul process was hosted by Pakistan. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had attended the meeting.
It is also not known if there would be any formal interaction between Pakistani and Indian officials.
Pakistan's participation was doubtful due to ongoing tensions and Indian boycott of the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November.
Citing continuous cross-border terrorism from Pakistan following the Uri attack India had said that "in the present circumstances" it was unable to take part in the SAARC summit.
Officials familiar with the development have said that Pakistan has no intention of following the footsteps of India by staying away from the Heart of Asia conference.
"There is a growing sense among the stakeholders that Pakistan should attend the Heart of Asia-Istanbul conference," said a senior government official, adding there was no point in boycotting the conference since it was about Afghanistan.
"As we have stated repeatedly that Pakistan will support every endeavour that contributes towards peace and stability in Afghanistan," he said.
The official said Pakistan's participation in the meeting "would convey a 'loud and clear' message to the world that unlike India, it was in favour of reaching out to its neighbours for bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan".
Foreign ministers from 14-member countries, including Russia, China and Turkey, are expected to attend the day-long conference meant to discuss the current Afghan situation and possible initiatives the immediate and extended neighbours of Afghanistan could undertake to restore long-term peace and stability in the war-torn country.
Officials from 17 other nations, including the US, will also attend the meet to be jointly presided over by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process was established in 2011 at the initiative of Afghanistan and Turkey. Its main objective is to foster efforts for regional cooperation and connectivity with a view to promoting long-term peace and stability as well as progress and development in Afghanistan.
Quetta: At least 61 people were killed, most of them fresh police recruits, and 100 others injured after Islamic State militants attacked a police training college in Quetta late Monday night. Three gunmen from a Taliban-linked group burst into the sprawling academy, targeting sleeping quarters that are home to some 700 recruits, sending terrified young men fleeing. I saw three men in camouflage whose faces were hidden carrying Kalashnikovs. They started firing and entered the dormitory but I managed to escape over a wall, a survivor said.
The attack on the Balochistan Police College, around 20 kilometres east of provincial capital Quetta, began at around 11:10 pm (local time) on Monday, with gunfire continuing to ring out at the site for several hours. Addressing a news conference after the security forces retook control of the police facility from terrorists, Sarfraz Bugti, Home Minister of Balochistan, said that 61 people were killed and more than 120 wounded.
He said that three terrorists, wearing suicide jackets, entered the Police Training College from the rear gate after killing a watchman and held 250 cadets hostage. Mr Bugti said contingents of army, Frontier Corps (FC) and other law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene soon after the attack and launched an operation. Helicopters and drones were also used for surveillance. He said that one of the terrorists detonated his suicide vest before the arrival of the security forces, causing most of the deaths.
The minister said that the attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al Alami group affiliated to Pakistani Taliban. He told reporters the militants were communicating with handlers in Afghanistan and taking instructions from them. All three attackers were wearing suicide vests. Later the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. It said three attackers were deployed for the attack but did not give the motive for carrying out the attack.
Meanwhile, the Balochistan government came under attack over poor security arrangements at the police training academy. Senior security officials said the terrorists managed to enter the facility, that has been previously attacked twice, taking advantage of the the inadequate security arrangements. Despite perceived security threats, the boundary wall of the centre was made up of mud and five-feet high, officials said.
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer paid USD 5.76 million to a shell company in connection with a contract it secured to sell the Indian Air Force (IAF) three aircraft for about USD 208 million, the US Department of Justice said today.
Such a revelation came as Embraer, as per a Justice Department announcement, entered into a resolution and agreed to pay USD 205 million to resolve charges of corruption and making bribe payments to foreign nations, including to an agent in India for the IAF deal.
Embraer will pay a penalty of over USD 107 million in connection with schemes involving bribery of government officials in the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia and Mozambique, and millions more over falsely recorded payments in India via a sham agency agreement.
In a parallel resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Brazilian authorities, the company will also have to pay USD 98 million in disgorgement.
Embraer earned profits of nearly USD 84 million on the aircraft sale to India. In 2009, Embraer paid an agent USD 5.76 million pursuant to a false agency agreement with a shell company in connection with a contract it secured to sell the IAF three aircraft for approximately USD 208 million, the Justice Department said.
"Embraer paid millions of dollars in bribes to win government aircraft contracts in three different continents," said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R Caldwell.
"Embraer tried to bribe their way into several profitable aircraft contracts around the world," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge William J Maddalena.
According to court documents, on July 3, 2008, Embraer executed a contract to provide three highly specialised military aircraft to the IAF for nearly USD 208 million.
In connection with the deal, it retained the services of an unknown agent identified in the court as "Agent D" pursuant to a 2005 agency agreement.
"It later paid USD 5.76 million to Agent D pursuant to a false agency agreement signed in or around 2008," federal prosecutors alleged.
Federal prosecutors said in January 2005, Embraer executed an agency agreement with a shell company domiciled in the UK and affiliated with Agent D (although the name never appeared in the agreement).
Under the agency agreement, Embraer agreed to pay the shell company a commission of nine per cent of the value of any defence contracts Embraer obtained in India because it believed the agent could help ensure that any contract would be awarded on a single-source, rather than competitive, basis.
Under fire over "brokering" a deal between producers of "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has maintained that he had opposed the offer of Rs 5 crore contribution from makers to the Army welfare fund.
Karan Johar's film faced protests by MNS workers for casting Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. Film's smooth release, scheduled to open on October 28, was ensured at a meeting Film Producers' Guild, producers and MNS Thackeray, mediated by Fadnavis last week. A key demand conceded in the meeting was Rs 5 crore contribution from makers for the army welfare.
"Thackeray had put three demands, out of which there was no objections to the other two. When the issue of Rs 5 crore came up, I intervened and made it clear to the Film Producers' Guild that they need not have to agree to it. I also told them that the contribution has to be made voluntarily. However, it was producers' decision to accept it," Fadnavis said last evening at his residence 'Varsha'.
"I categorically told that although it is nice that the Guild has decided to stand by the families of our martyrs but it is not a compulsion. Still if they wish to do, they may contribute whatever amount they feel (is) appropriate. This figure of (Rs) 5 crore came from MNS but was not agreed in the meeting and turned down then and there only," he said.
When asked about allegations of "brokering" the deal, Fadnavis said, "Another choice was deploying thousands of police staff outside theatres (when film releases). I would then faced allegations like I have spoiled Diwali holiday mood of police staff. Issues should be solved by talking, and we are a democratic government," he said.
Before intervention, Mumbai Police had already arrested MNS activists, hence there should not be any doubts about government's intentions. Some even called that state government is playing both sides, which is not true, he added.
BJP's ally Shiv Sena has slammed the CM's intervention in the matter and had termed Fadnavis's act as "siding with Pakistani personalities."
On this, the CM said, "Did our governments not talk with separatists like Hurriyat (Conference) or negotiate with Naxal groups for peace? Then holding discussions with a political party, though this is comparatively a minor one (issue), should not be criticised so bitterly. I think, successful mediation has disappointed some people," he said.
He also refuted charges of going soft on MNS and emphasised that there was "no political motive" behind such negotiations.
A cracker blast killed one person and injured four others in north Delhi's Naya Bazar area today setting off panic among the people in the wake of high alert in the city, even as police ruled out any terror angle in it.
The explosion took place around 10.40 AM when Motalip Mirza, a labourer, was carrying two large packets of crackers.
A CCTV footage of the incident shows that the blast occurred as Mirza put the bags in front of a shop, Saraswati Traders in the Pattewali Gali, police said.
"The cracker blast took place due to high pressure and the huge quantity of crackers. Mirza died in the explosion while four others were injured," said a senior police officer.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is in Bahrain, called Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma to take stock of the situation in the national capital, which is on high alert due to the festive season.
He instructed Verma to take all possible measures to ensure peace in the city.
Several specialised teams of Delhi Police, including forensics, officers from the Special Cell and the SWAT teams, swooped down on the area after the blast to ascertain if there was any terror angle in it.
However, on the basis of preliminary investigation they have ruled out any terror angle.
SBK Singh, special commissioner of police (Law and Order) North, tweeted, "Cracker blast took place in Lahori Gate area when a labour Motalip Mirza was carrying two bags of crackers. Handle crackers carefully."
Mirza was a resident of Murshidabad in West Bengal and was working as a labourer in Delhi for last 15-20 years.
"He had collected the bags from Gali Zakaria Mohalla Fatak Hawas Khana in Lahori Gate. Several bags with similar materials have been found at the address," the officer said.
The injured have been identified as Bhupendra Gupta, Mahesh, Hawa Singh and Murari.
The impact of the explosion shook the buildings and shops nearby. The window panes, fans and other items in the shops were broken.
The Supreme Court today directed beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya to give complete details of his assets outside India in four weeks, saying it was of the "prima facie view" that he has not made proper disclosure of his assets.
A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman also pulled up Mallya for not giving details of USD 40 million which he had received from British firm Diageo on February this year.
"We are prima facie of the view that the report has not made a proper disclosure in respect of our order of April 7, 2016, directing to make complete disclosure of assests and in particular, the receipt of USD 40 million as when it was received and how it has been dealt till date," the bench said.
It also asked Mallya, who had earlier informed the court about his properties in India, to disclose complete details of his assets abroad in four weeks.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on November 24.
A consortium of banks including SBI had on August 29 told the Supreme Court that Mallya had deliberately not made full disclosure of his assets including the USD 40 million which he received on February 25 from the British firm Diageo.
On July 25, the apex court, after noting the submissions by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, had issued notice to Mallya on the banks' plea and asked him to respond.
Rohatgi told the court that Mallya had provided wrong details of his assets in a sealed cover to the apex court.
AG had further alleged that a lot of information had also been concealed, including a cash transaction to the tune of Rs 2500 crore, which amounted to contempt of court.
Rohatgi had said that the liquor baron had also not agreed to deposit "substantial amount" as part of of Rs 9,400 crore loan due on him to establish his bonafide.
Mallya had maintained that the banks had no right over information regarding his overseas movable and immovable assets as he was an NRI since 1988.
Mallya had also claimed that as an NRI, he was not obliged to disclose his overseas assets, and added that his wife and three children, all US citizens, also need not disclose their assets.
The court on April 7 had directed Mallya to disclose by April 21 the total assets owned by him and his family in India and abroad while seeking an indication from him when he would appear before it.
It had asked Mallya, who owes over Rs 9,000 crore to around 17 banks, to deposit a "substantial amount" with it to "prove his bonafide" that he was "serious" about meaningful negotiations and settlement.
The Supreme Court today ruled out re-visiting the famous 'Hindutva' verdict holding Hinduism as a "way of life' making it clear that it would not go into the "larger debate" as the issue did not find mention in the reference made by a five-judge bench.
"We will not go into the larger debate as to what is 'Hindutva' or what is its meaning. We will not re-consider the 1995 judgement and also not examine 'Hindutva' or religion at this stage," a seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said.
The court, to which the issue has been referred by a five-judge bench, is examining the "scope and width" of section 123(3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act which deals with electoral malpractices amounting to "corrupt practices", among other things.
"The appeal by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent to vote or refrain from voting for any person on the ground of his religion, race, caste, community or language or the use of, or appeal to religious symbols or the use of, or appeal to, national symbols..., for furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate" would amount to corrupt practices, the provision says.
Dealing with the reference, the bench said, "At this stage, we will confine ourselves to the issue raised before us in the reference. In the reference, there is no mention of the word 'Hindutva'".
"If anybody will show that there is a reference to the word 'Hindutva', we will hear him. We will not go into 'Hindutva' at this stage," the bench, also comprising Justices M B Lokur, S A Bobde, A K Goel, U U Lalit, D Y Chandrachud and L Nageshwar Rao, said.
The remarks were made by the bench after senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for one O P Gupta who is seeking to intervene in the ongoing proceedings, said that he should also be heard if the bench is going into the question of Hindutva and seeking of votes on the basis of religion.
Social activist Teesta Setalvad had earlier sought to intervene in the matter with an application stating that religion and politics should not be mixed and a direction be passed to de-link religion from politics.
One of the lawyers today told the bench that as per the previous judgement, the seven-judge bench should examine the issue of 'Hindutva'.
To this, the CJI said that the bench would not hear the issue at this stage as nothing of this sort has been mentioned in the reference made to it by the five-judge bench.
During the hearing, the bench also observed, "the whole idea is that religion should be separated from politics."
The remarks came after senior counsel B A Desai, appearing for one of the respondents, told the bench that it has to interpret section 123 (3) of the RP Act.
Another senior advocate Shyam Divan said that one can seek vote under constitutional mandate without using his identity in the name of religion, race, caste, community or language.
"One can't say that I belong to a particular community so vote for me," he said.
Senior advocate Anoop George Chaudhary told the court that garnering votes in the name of religion would "directly affect the secular fabric of the country".
"No one should be allowed to make an appeal in the name of religion. Any such emotive appeal will take away independent choice of vote. That is why it has become a corrupt practice. Parties can get over this easily if everybody is asking for votes in the name of religion," he said.
During the hearing, Desai, when asked by the bench to list out his propositions in the case, said that broadly three issues arise out of the reference.
"Any reference has to be a mix of facts and law. Here, the entire appeal has been referred to this bench," he said adding that the "plank of Hindutva, Hindu and Hinduism" are part of the reference and falls within the scope of section 123 (3) of the RP Act.
The arguments in the matter remained inconclusive and would continue tomorrow.
Earlier, the apex court had asked whether non-contesting spiritual leaders or clerics can be held accountable for "corrupt practices" under electoral law for asking voters to vote for a particular party or candidate.
The bench is hearing a batch of petitions including the one filed by Abhiram Singh whose election as an MLA in 1990 on BJP ticket from Santacruz assembly seat in Mumbai was set aside by the Bombay High Court.
The apex court in February 2014 had tagged Abhiram Singh's petition with others in which the five judge bench had decided in 2002 to re-visit its 20-year old 'Hindutva' judgement for an authoritative pronouncement on electoral laws by a seven-judge bench.
The issue of interpretation of section 123(3) arose on January 30, 2014 before a five-judge which referred it for examination before a larger bench of seven judges.
A three-judge bench on April 16, 1992 had referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench Singh's appeal in which the same question and interpretation of Section 123(3) was raised.
While the five-judge bench was hearing this matter on January 30, 2014, it was informed that an identical issue was raised in an election petition filed by Narayan Singh against BJP leader Sunderlal Patwa and the another Constitution Bench of five judges of the apex court had referred it to a larger bench of seven judges.
Thereafter, the five-judge bench had referred Singh's matter also to the Chief Justice for placing it before a seven-judge bench.
As President Xi Jinping firms up his hold over China's ruling Communist Party with his anti-graft campaign, his backers say Xi's drive netting over a million corrupt officials is necessary to prevent the party meeting a similar fate as the Soviet Union which collapsed in 1991.
The Soviet collapse teaches Communist Party of China (CPC) lessons in party leadership, said a report in the state-run "Global Times" today, highlighting the importance of Xi's anti-corruption campaign in which 1.01 million party officials have been punished in the last three years.
The anti-graft campaign and the party discipline have become buzzword as the CPC started a four-day key meeting here yesterday to discuss major issues regarding strict party governance.
Two documents - one on the norms of political life within the party under the new situation and a revision to an intra-party supervision regulation - will be reviewed at the plenary meeting, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Speculation is rife that the meeting plans to change 1981 rule brought in by the party to stick to collective leadership to avoid concentration of powers in one individual.
The meeting has come ahead of the next year's party congress at the end of the completion of five years of Xi's tenure as leader of the party, military and the presidency.
Ahead of the meeting, 63-year-old Xi was compared with party founder Mao Zedong amid rumours that the plenum is also set to amend the 10 year tenure rule for the leaders to allow Xi to continue beyond 2022.
The CPC is implementing the anti-corruption campaign and intensifying party disciplines as it learns lessons from the collapse of the former Soviet Union (USSR), the report said.
Many Chinese leaders have frequently referenced the ex-USSR and called on the CPC to learn from its historical experience.
For example, during the second plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in February 2013, Xi had said the breakdown in party disciplines led to the downfall of the former USSR's 20 million-strong Communist Party, the daily report said.
If party members did and said whatever they wanted, the party would turn into a mob, Xi had said.
"The CPC resolved to learn lessons from the Soviet collapse - from anti-corruption efforts to reforming the use of government vehicles - especially after the 18th National Congress of the CPC held in 2012. The purpose is to intensify Party discipline," Su Wei, a professor at the Chongqing Committee Party School, told the Global Times.
Pakistan has said it will take part in the Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan to be held in India despite tension and periodic exchange of fire across the Line of Control (LoC).
Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz confirmed that Pakistan will participate in the Heart of Asia conference.
"Pakistan will attend the Heart of Asia conference," he told media yesterday. However, it was not clear the level of participation by Pakistan.
The key ministerial meeting of the conference - also called the Istanbul process - is scheduled to take place in Amritsar on December 4.
Last year in December the meeting of the Istanbul process was hosted by Pakistan. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had attended the meeting.
It is also not known if there would be any formal interaction between Pakistani and Indian officials.
Pakistan's participation was doubtful due to ongoing tensions and Indian boycott of the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November.
Citing continuous cross-border terrorism from Pakistan following the Uri attack India had said that "in the present circumstances" it was unable to take part in the SAARC summit.
Officials familiar with the development have said that Pakistan has no intention of following the footsteps of India by staying away from the Heart of Asia conference.
"There is a growing sense among the stakeholders that Pakistan should attend the Heart of Asia-Istanbul conference," said a senior government official, adding there was no point in boycotting the conference since it was about Afghanistan.
"As we have stated repeatedly that Pakistan will support every endeavour that contributes towards peace and stability in Afghanistan," he said.
The official said Pakistan's participation in the meeting "would convey a 'loud and clear' message to the world that unlike India, it was in favour of reaching out to its neighbours for bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan".
Foreign ministers from 14-member countries, including Russia, China and Turkey, are expected to attend the day-long conference meant to discuss the current Afghan situation and possible initiatives the immediate and extended neighbours of Afghanistan could undertake to restore long-term peace and stability in the war-torn country.
Officials from 17 other nations, including the US, will also attend the meet to be jointly presided over by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process was established in 2011 at the initiative of Afghanistan and Turkey. Its main objective is to foster efforts for regional cooperation and connectivity with a view to promoting long-term peace and stability as well as progress and development in Afghanistan.
India and Bahrain today denounced terrorism calling it a "hazard" to all countries and said terrorist in one country cannot be glorified as a freedom fighter by another, an apparent reference to Pakistan's praise for Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.
A joint statement, issued after Home Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with and Bahrain Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa here, said both the countries agreed on their strong stances against all forms of terrorism, saying "terrorism is a hazard to all countries and communities".
Rashid said Bahrain is looking forward to working with India in the fight against terrorism and in strengthening the mutual and regional security.
"India and Bahrain reject the linking of terrorism to any race, religion or culture. Both the countries agreed that a terrorist in one country cannot be glorified as a freedom fighter by another, and the two sides called upon all states to reject the use of terrorism against other countries, to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of the state, and to fight terrorist infrastructure whenever it exists," it said.
The joint statement was issued a day after Singh told Bahrain's top leadership that Pakistan's use of terrorism as "an instrument of state policy" was a matter of concern and the incitement from across the border was the main reason behind the current unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Home Minister, who is on a three-day visit to the Gulf country, yesterday also apprised Rashid about Islamabad's open support and participation to glorify slain Hizbul Mujahideen militant Wani, saying it indicates continued free movement that terrorists and their supporters enjoy in Pakistan.
Bahrain is a key member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in which Pakistan is also a member.
The joint statement said the two sides agreed to actively implement the counter-terrorism agreement for which a joint committee was formed that held its first meeting on the sidelines of the visit.
India and Bahrain decided to hold regular committee meetings, in accordance to the clauses of the agreement.
The two sides also agreed to reinforce cooperation in exchange of information on ongoing terrorism-related investigations, exchange of information of ongoing organised crime investigations, including terrorism and drug trafficking, determine and exchange information on terrorism financing and organised crime sources and confiscation of terrorism money in accordance to the laws of both countries.
They resolved to study youth extremism and the use of the internet and how to tackle the issue, further cooperation in e-security and fight money laundering.
New Delhi and Manama agreed to promote participation in training courses and seminars that are held by the two countries for security officials to exchange expertise on crime fighting and other unconventional threats.
Mastermind of the Karkardooma court shootout case of 2015 where a Delhi Police head constable was killed has been arrested, police said on Monday.
The accused Mohammad Azeem, 29, is also involved in the murder of a Shahdra-based trader this year. Azeem is also accused of killing the live-in partner of his associate in Gajrola district of Uttar Pradesh in 2012.
A proclaimed offender in three cases, there was a reward of Rs 50,000 on Azeems arrest, said police.
In the October 23, 2015 Karkardooma court incident, Delhi Police Head Constable Ram Kumar who was escorting an under trial Chanu Pehelwan for a hearing in the court was killed, and three others including Pehelwan were injured.
Pehelwan had been in judicial custody and was to give a witness statement in the Metropolitan Magistrate's court. As soon as the head constable entered the court with Pehelwan, four juveniles opened fire at the prisoner. More than six bullets were fired in the shootout.
The four accused were apprehended from the spot, while five others involved in the shootout were arrested later.
However, the mastermind of the incident Azeem managed to dodge the police arrest.
While on the run from police, Azeem was actively involved in the activities of Naseer gang.
On May this year, Azeem along with his accomplices dragged out a trader from his office in Seelampur and shot him dead.
Despite having several teams of Delhi Police on his trail, Azeem, was not only evading his arrest but also recruiting new gangsters and juveniles in his gang.
Sensing the gravity of the case, a dedicated team comprising personnel of Inter State Cell and Crime Branch was constituted. The movement of the gangster and his associates was studies and manual surveillance was activated, said police.
On October 20, information was received that Azeem would come in the area of Farash Khana in Old Delhi.
A trap was laid at Farash Khana, and after some time police spotted a black-colour Scooty coming from Farash Khana side. When the Scooty was signalled to stop, the rider got down from the vehicle and tried to fire upon the police team.
After a brief scuffle he was overpowered, and later identified as Mohammad Azeem.
During his interrogation, Azeem revealed to police that he along with his accomplice Naazim had murdered the latters live-in partner Rubina.
Rubina had information of all the misdeeds of Naazim and was blackmailing him to expose him if he didnt marry her.
To get rid of Rubina, Naazim confided in Azeem and planned to eliminate her. On October, 2012, Azeem and Naazim took her in a car to Amroha in Uttar Pradesh on the pretext of attending a marriage ceremony.
While on the way, they strangled her, and burnt her face with acid to hide her identity. They then threw the body in the bushes near Gajraula in Uttar Pradesh.
It was virtually love at first byte for a Delhi government woman employee who was duped of Rs 18 lakh by a Facebook lover.
The single woman living in north Delhi is now trying to get her money back which police suspect has been swindled by a gang active in a west-north belt from Janakpuri to Rohini.
It took a few months for her to absorb the shock before she sought help from senior officials in the Delhi government who forwarded it to police.
We are investigating the matter and there is suspicion of involvement of foreign nationals who are known to use such a modus operandi, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma.
The gang targets hyper active Facebook using women, who declare their age to be around 40-50 years in their profile, said an investigator from the Special Staff of the district.
The woman deposited Rs 18 lakh in a SBI account opened in Manipur for a piece of jewellery that was promised to be sent to her with affection and love by her Facebook, friend who claimed to be based abroad, said an investigator.
The bank account was shut within four days of withdrawal of the Rs 18 lakh from it, said an investigator.
She is 55 years old and her friend claimed to be 70-year-old foreigner, deeply in love with India and Hindu mythology, said an investigator.
A Delhi government official in Chief Secretary K K Sharmas team said another similar complaint of Rs 14 lakh being swindled from a married woman related to a Delhi government official by a Facebook friend has been brought to their notice.
In both the cases, the complainant was befriended over six months and made to deposit some money in an account by luring them with jewellery item, said an official who forwarded the second complaint to police.
The second woman complainant even attempted suicide after she lost the money saved for her daughters wedding and could not tell her husband about her fraudulent lover on the social media, said an official.
An 'all-party meeting' called by DMK on the Cauvery issue today urged the Tamil Nadu government to immediately convene the state Assembly to discuss the matter, even as ruling AIADMK and BJP criticised the M K Stalin-led consultations.
The meeting, chaired by Stalin, the DMK Treasurer and Opposition Leader in the Assembly, was boycotted by AIADMK, BJP and all constituents of the four-party People's Welfare Front, comprising MDMK, CPI(M), CPI and VCK.
Both AIADMK and BJP lampooned the DMK, saying today's meeting was that of DMK and its allies and not an all-party meeting as made out by Stalin.
DMK's allies Congress and IUML, besides G K Vasan-led Tamil Maanila Congress(M) and certain farmer's outfits participated in the meeting.
The meeting adopted a slew of resolutions and alleged that upper riparian state Karnataka was "making a mockery" of federal principles by not implementing the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal on water sharing.
The Central government, "which should advice Karnataka, was instead supporting it for political reasons," it said in an apparent reference to the 2018 Assembly polls in that state.
Such a stand was affecting the Tamil Nadu farmers, it said and urged the state government to convene a session of the Assembly to discuss the matter.
"To show that the Tamil people are united and have no differences (on the Cauvery issue) and to condemn Karnataka and the Centre for not showing the slightest respect to court orders, Tamil Nadu government should immediately convene a special session of the state Assembly," it resolved.
The House should adopt a resolution on constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and the state government should further "exert pressure" on the Centre by leading an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Modi on the matter, it said.
The Prime Minister must be urged to take a 'dispassionate stand' on implementation of the final award of the Tribunal and should also be apprised of 'precedences' where management boards have been constituted in the Krishna-Godavari and Narmada issues, it said.
The meeting also criticised the Centre for reversing its stand on constituting CMB and also demanded that the state government provide compensation of Rs 30,000 per acre for Cauvery delta farmers as they did not get adequate water for kuruvai and samba crops this year.
It also alleged that the report of the High Level Committee that surveyed Cauvery delta areas in Tamil Nadu, besides Karnataka, had "not reflected" the prevailing situation in the state.
The AIADMK and BJP, however, had no kind words for DMK for the meeting convened by Stalin.
"It is not an all-party meeting but a DMK meeting. If their intention was good and if they had really struggled for Cauvery, all would have participated," AIADMK spokesperson C R Saraswathy said.
She charged the DMK with having failed to ensure any solution to the vexed issue, "despite being in power for long".
"DMK did not raise the issue even in Parliament despite being a part of the Central government for 19 years," she said in an apparent reference to the Karunanidhi-led party being a part of various coalitions that formed governments at the Centre.
Senior BJP leader and Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan alleged that the meeting convened by DMK would not benefit farmers in any way.
"This all-party meeting is out and out a DMK alliance meeting. More so, a meeting of those who are desperate to join (DMK-led) alliance," he said without naming anybody.
Meanwhile, Stalin said that he had extended invitations to all political parties, including AIADMK and DMDK.
He recalled that DMDK founder Vijayakant, as Opposition Leader had last year led an all-party delegation (sans AIADMK) to meet Modi on the same issue and had had DMK's support as its Rajya Sabha MP 'Tiruchi' Siva was present.
He denied that the meeting was being held for 'political mileage', an opinion echoed by TMC(M) leader Vasan also.
He said DMK would convene similar meetings in future in a bid to discuss the vexed Cauvery issue.
Rejecting criticism that his party had failed to do anything on the Cauvery issue, Stalin said that the Cauvery tribunal was set up by former Prime Minister VP Singh following "Kalaignar (Karunanidhi's) efforts".
Meanwhile, PWF constituent VCK said that though it had taken efforts to convince its partners to attend today's meeting, the party itself boycotted it to "avoid" unnecessary confusion ahead of the November 19 polls to three Assembly seats in the state.
Party founder Thol Thirumavalavan in a letter to Stalin said VCK had tried to convince the other PWF constituents to participate in the meeting, but the majority view was against it and that VCK was abiding by it.
PWF's participation in the meeting will give "confusing signals" to party workers ahead of the elections to Thanjavur and Aravakurichi, besides the by-poll to Thiruparankundram, all slated in November.
PWF is not fielding candidates in either of the seats.
Earlier, the political circles of Tamil Nadu were abuzz over VCK's willingness to attend the meeting as it was seen as a sign of getting close to former ally DMK.
The situation of bird flu remained grim in the city with the death toll of birds rising to 64, including six fresh deaths in Deer Park and Shakti Sthal, thus forcing the Development Minister Gopal Rai to cancel his Goa visit starting Tuesday.
While the minister earlier said the strain of virus was not dangerous for humans, the government in a sudden move issued an advisory on the use of poultry products and stay away from sick looking birds in a bid to maintain vigilance.
We have issued a health advisory as we need to increase the vigil. These would include avoiding direct contact with bird secretions, cleaning all feeders, waterers, cages used for birds with detergents (soap/surf), disposing all the slaughter waste properly, refraining from touching dead birds with naked birds.
People are advised to wash hands while dealing with raw poultry products, using masks and gloves at the time of dealing with raw chicken and chicken product and eat completely cooked meat and meat products, Gopal Rai said on Monday.
According to official figures, as many as 17 birds were found dead on Saturday, 10 birds on Sunday and two birds on Monday in the lake at Hauz Khas Park. Four fresh deaths were reported from Shakti Sthal on Monday, taking the toll to 64.
The minister also suggested avoiding the consumption of uncooked chicken and eggs, preventing exposure from sick looking chicken and not keeping raw meet near the cooked one.
He said, the report received from the central lab in Bhopal, confirmed the presence of H5N8 virus among the dead birds.
Infection of H5N8 avian influenza has been confirmed from the two samples. These samples were taken from dead birds found in Deer Park and Sundar Nagar (near the zoo) last week, Rai said.
Directions were also issued to the various departments maintaining water bodies. The decision was taken after a meeting of the officials of Revenue, Health, Environment, DDA, Delhi Zoo, MCDs, NDMC, PWD and CPWD.
A mandatory has been issued to all the departments which have water bodies under them. A 4-feet thick layer of lime is to be laid around the waterbodies. All the departments have been instructed to spray Sodium Hypocholride (an anti-virus spray) on all the birds to control the infection. Additionally, multi-vitamin would be given to birds with the grains which are used to fed them, Rai said.
Alongside, 12 Rapid Response Teams with members of the three MCDs have been constituted, he said, adding, a National Team of Virology from Pune would come to inspect the situation.
Rai said he would meet Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday and request him to expedite the reports coming from the central labs.
Stoking yet another controversy, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took a swipe at an adult film star who has accused him of inappropriate sexual contact, saying "Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before".
Jessica Drake, an adult film star this week became the 11th woman to accuse the 70-year-old business tycoon of inappropriate sexual contact, saying he touched and kissed her in 2006, further damaging the already fragile campaign of the controversial Republican nominee ahead of the November 8 polls.
In an appearance on WGIR radio's "New Hampshire Today," Trump called the accusations against him "total fiction."
"These are stories that are made up, these are total fiction. You'll find out that, in the years to come, these women that stood up, it was all fiction," he said.
"They were made up. I don't know these women, it's not my thing to do what they say. You know I don't do that. I don't grab them, as they say, on the arm," Trump was quoted as saying by CNN.
"One said, 'he grabbed me on the arm.' And she's a porn star. You know, this one that came out recently, 'he grabbed me and he grabbed me on the arm.' Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before," the reality TV star-turned politician said.
Trump rejected all the accusations saying, "It's all lies, it's all lies, it was made up. It's like dripping water."
Drake, who is being represented by attorney Gloria Allred, is one of several women who have accused Trump of unwanted sexual advances in recent weeks. Trump has denied all the allegations against him.
In the interview, Trump called Allred "a third rate lawyer" who supported Clinton.
Drake is at least the 11th woman to publicly accuse the real estate tycoon of unwanted sexual advances since the surfacing of a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump brags about being able to grope and kiss women.
Like many of the women before her, Drake said her decision was sparked by watching a 2005 video of Trump bragging about getting away with assaulting women because of his celebrity status.
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer cannot escape Indian laws just because it has struck a settlement with American authorities over corruption in sale of planes to India and three other countries, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said today.
He said a new blacklisting policy will be finalised next month.
"The CBI investigation into the USD 208 million deal will go by Indian laws on corruption, kickbacks, whatever it is, subject to evidence," he told reporters.
The minister stated that the American laws were different from Indian laws.
"In American law, criminal processes can be compounded (settlement through payment of fines). However, in India, criminal law is not compounded unless the acts are of very minor nature," he said.
On being asked whether the three planes supplied by Embraer to the IAF for Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS) will be grounded, the Defence Minister said there was no question of grounding the planes.
"I can assure you that national requirement is a priority. In fact, I am coming out with a proposal or guidelines for blacklisting. The next Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) will finalise it," he said.
"It cannot be a knee jerk reaction. Proper decision making is required," he added.
The move comes months after the Defence Ministry laid down norms for engaging agents in defence deals. Sources said the new norms will be a mixture of heavy fines, graded blacklisting and other penalties.
The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer has come under the scanner of the US Justice Department after the former admitted to having paid kickbacks for a range of defence deals with many countries.
Embraer has agreed to pay over USD 205 million to resolve charges of corruption and making bribe payments to officials in foreign nations, including USD 5.76 million allegedly being paid to an agent in India, in connection with the sale of three military aircraft for Indian Air Force.
Under the settlement, apart from the USD 107 million penalty to the US Justice Department as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, Embraer must also pay more than USD 98 million in disgorgement and interest to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to the company's admissions, Embraer executives and employees paid bribes to government officials and falsified books and records in connection with aircraft sales to foreign governments and state-owned entities in multiple countries.
Parrikar said the Embraer deal was being discussed and efforts were being taken to fine-tune it.
"The basic concept is that a criminal activity should be punished with a ban. But to what extent the ban should be, will be decided as per the national security. Giving exemption will also be based on national security," he said.
"If I have a platform where a company has been banned, I cannot stop operating the platform, because the company which is now blacklisted had supplied me the platform. Whose loss is it?," he asked.
The Embraer deal was signed in 2008 between Embraer and the DRDO for three aircraft equipped with indigenous radars for AEW&C (airborne early warning and control systems).
The armed forces are upset with a letter issued by the Defence Ministry regarding their rank parity vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts prompting Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to personally look into the issue and promising to come up with a solution soon.
Defence sources said the issue is likely to be solved within a week. The circular issued by the Defence Ministry, dated October 18, on rank equivalence between defence officers and armed forces headquarters (AFHQ), and civil service officers, brings the rank of armed forces officers a notch down compared to their earlier status, officers said.
The circular says that the equations are to be followed in service HQs, and "has the approval of the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri" (defence minister).
The order equates an army Major General (rear admiral in the navy and vice-marshal in the air force) to a principal director in the Armed Force Headquarters (AFHQ) Civil Service.
A Brigadier/Commodore/Air Commodore is to be equated with a director, and a Colonel/Captain/Group Captain is to be at par with a joint director in the civil service.
So far, a colonel was equated with a director. A Brigadier did not have a clearly defined equivalence in the civilian hierarchy.
However, they were treated at par with a deputy director-general. A major general was treated as the equivalent of a joint secretary.
Parrikar said that while some people were trying to misguide, the issue relates to only functional responsibility (of armed forces) and not status, vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts.
"First of all, these are only for functional responsibilities. Secondly, I have already asked for exact status of earlier. I will see and if I find any reduction in functional responsibility ... this is not status ... there are some people who are trying to misguide.
"These are functional responsibilities. They (military officers) will be on the same platform as was done earlier. I will check up myself," Parrikar said speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the naval commanders conference here.
The Minister said he will take a look at all the previous orders to see if there was any discrepancy.
Parrikar said he and the government were sensitive to the military issues and one should see if the government acts quickly or not whenever such issues come up.
"I can assure you that I am very sensitive to such issues. They moment they are brought out, I act on them. The only difficulty is when it becomes public discussion, I cannot be party to discussion. I will resolve the issue," he said.
A meeting of city legislators and Members of Parliament convened today to discuss the proposed construction of a controversial steel flyover remained inconclusive, with BJP staging a walkout, accusing Congress of "threatening" and "scuttling" its voice.
The meeting was convened by Bengaluru Development and Town Planning Minister K J George in an attempt to take public representatives from the city on board, by informing about the actualities of the project, which has been witnessing demonstrations both for and against it.
Alleging that George and Congress MLAs did not allow them make their point, BJP said the meeting was a "drama" and the party's honest attempts to give its suggestions were scuttled.
The Rs 1,761 crore steel flyover to link Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal to improve connectivity to Bengaluru international airport has come in for flak from civic groups and political parties on cost and environmental concerns.
BJP legislators came out of the meeting hall, shouting slogans against the government.
"We had come to give our suggestion. When we were giving our suggestions George and Congress MLAs started shouting with an intention to shut our voice," Former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka told reporters here.
He said whenever they tried to give suggestions, comments were passed. When Suresh Kumar (senior BJP MLA) was speaking, he was called a 'magic box expert' and when Rajeev Chandrasekhar (MP) spoke, they told him to go before the court where he has filed a petition against the project, he said.
Stating that consultants, contractors and even the date for the groundbreaking ceremony has already been fixed, he said the meeting was called to try and cover up the project "that is stinking with allegations of corruption".
Terming the meeting as a "drama", Suresh Kumar said their intention was not to entertain any serious objections or points that would go against their "favourite" steel flyover.
"This government is bent upon going ahead without listening to the sincere concerns of the citizens. We will plan our next course of action."
Earlier, suspended JD(S) MLA Gopalaiah had walked out of the meet, demanding that Bengaluru Development Authority, that is managing the project, to first compensate those who have "sacrificed their property for various developmental works in the city".
On BJP's charges, George said they gave many suggestions in the meeting. "What has happened is they have already decided against the steel flyover. Their leader now is none other than Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Whatever he says, BJP follows it," he said.
On Ashok's charges that government was hiding the cabinet decision to collect toll once the project is completed, he said, "It (steel bridge) is part of a bigger elevated corridor which is about 120 km, this 7 km is part of it."
Stating that government may have to collect toll for 120 km elevated road for finance and funding purposes, George said, "We are not going to toll now (for 7 km), but when we go for 120 km, we will discuss and take decision."
On the high maintenance cost the flyover may require, George said it would be prefabricated and galvanised with a chemical. There was no need for maintenance for 20 years.
Anti-flyover groups under leadership of 'Citizens for Bengaluru' which is galvanising public opinion on the proposed project through online petitions and signature campaigns, have also petitioned the Karnataka Governor on the issue.
Unfazed by protests, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had earlier defended the project, calling it "totally transparent" and had clarified that the escalation in cost was due to two years delay in tender and steep increase in VAT on steel.It is estimated that 812 trees will be felled for the project.
India continues to rank low at 130th position in terms of ease of doing business, with the country seeing little or no improvement in dealing with construction permits, getting credit and other parameters.
In the World Bank's latest 'Doing Business' report, India's place remained unchanged from last year's original ranking of 130 among the 190 economies that were assessed on various parameters. However, the last year's ranking has been now revised to 131 from which the country has improved its place by one spot.
The government has been making efforts to further improve the ease of doing business and aims to bring the country in the top 50.
Expressing disappointment over no change in India's ranking in the World Bank's index on ease of doing business, Indian government regretted that the report did not take into consideration 12 key reforms undertaken by the government.
When it comes to 'distance to frontier' -- a measurement of the gap between an economy's performance and the best practice score of 100 -- India's score has improved to 55.27 this year from 53.93 last year.
India is the only country for which the report has a box dedicated to its ongoing economic reforms.
The list of countries in the Doing Business 2017 is topped by New Zealand while Singapore is ranked second. It is followed by Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea, Norway, the UK, the US, Sweden and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Neighbouring Pakistan is ranked 144th in the list.
On the basis of reforms undertaken, the top 10 improvers are Brunei Darussalam, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Belarus, Indonesia, Serbia, Georgia, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
A record 137 economies around the world have adopted key reforms that make it easier to start and operate small and medium-sized businesses, the report said.
Developing countries carried out more than 75 per cent of the 283 reforms in the past year, with Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for over one-quarter of all reforms, it added.
"What we have seen is a remarkable effort on the part of the government to implement business reforms. It looks like we are going to have to wait for another year or so. But the direction of change is fundamentally a very significant one," Global Indicators Group Director Augusto Lopez-Claros told PTI in an interview.
The rankings are based on ten parameters -- starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
India has improved its ranking with respect to various areas. In terms of getting electricity, the country's position has jumped to 26th spot from 51st place last year.
When it comes to trading across borders, the ranking has moved up one place to 143, and in enforcing contracts the rise is of six spots to 172nd position.
However, with respect to starting a business, the ranking has slipped four places to 155th spot and in the case of dealing with construction permits by one rank to 185th.
As per the report, India's ranking in terms of protecting minority investors dropped to 13th place from 10th position last year.
With regard to getting credit, the ranking has fallen by two places to 44.
Explaining as to why India's reform efforts is not being reflected in the ease of doing business report, Lopez-Claros said it very often takes some time for the reforms implemented by governments about the regulatory environment to be felt on the ground by the business community.
Rita Ramalho, Manager of the Doing Business project said that there were in fact improvements this year.
"There are four areas of improvement this year in India getting electricity, trading across border, enforcing contracts and paying taxes," Ramalho told PTI.
India's ranking is based on the study of the system in the two cities of Mumbai and New Delhi.
"The reason why there is no real movement in the ranking is more to do with the fact that other countries are also moving. In absolute terms India, does improve significantly. There aren't many countries that improved more than India in terms of absolute number," Ramalho said.
The 'Doing Business' project provides objective measures of business regulations for local firms in economies and selected cities at the sub-national level.
The World Bank is emphasising that countries pay attention to what it calls "distance to frontier" which is an absolute metric, Lopez-Claros said.
"There has been actually substantial increase in the last 12 months in India by couple of percentage points, which is quite large," he noted.
Laura Sweet had no idea that she had contracted a virus that would leave her daughter, Jane, deaf by her first birthday. During her second pregnancy, doctors had warned her against alcohol and changing kitty litter. They had said to avoid sushi and cold cuts. But nobody neither her obstetrician, nor her midwife mentioned cytomegalovirus.
Only after a frustrating search lasting months did doctors discover that the girl had been infected in uterus. The infection and the emotional ordeal that followed, Laura Sweet thinks, could have been prevented for the Sweet family, and thousands of others. Its tough to play the what-if game, said Sweet, 37, a consultant for an education nonprofit in Maine. You can drive yourself crazy with that.
The world has been galvanised by the Zika epidemic spreading through the Americas, which has left more than 2,000 infants with severe brain damage. But for pregnant women and their infants in the US, cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is the far greater viral threat.
Every year, 20,000 to 40,000 infants are born with CMV. At least 20% have or develop permanent disabilities, such as hearing loss, microcephaly, intellectual deficits and vision abnormalities. There is no vaccine or standard treatment. But there are now hints that some newborns may benefit from antiviral drugs, a finding that has reinvigorated the debate over whether they should be routinely screened for the infection.
The CMV is the most common congenital viral infection and the leading nongenetic cause of deafness in children. Roughly 400 children die from it annually. By contrast, roughly 900 pregnant women in the continental US have contracted the Zika virus.
Everyone knows about Zika, but its very rare in the US, said Dr Mark R Schleiss, the director of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
The CMV should be every bit as urgent a priority as Zika, he argues. Health officials called for a vaccine decades ago, and there still is not one, partly because of a lack of public awareness about CMV, Schleiss said.
The CMV is a hardy member of the herpes family, and it is transmitted by contact with saliva and urine often from diaper-wearing children to adults. Pregnant women often get it from toddlers, especially those in day care who share drool-drenched toys.
Toddlers are hot zones for CMV, said Dr Gail Demmler-Harrison, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. It is difficult for mothers to protect themselves from a virus carried by the children they care for.
Nearly one in three children is infected by age five, and more than half of adults by 40. The CMV takes up permanent residence in the body and can cause illness again after being dormant. Like the Zika virus, it causes mild flu-like symptoms, or none but can be devastating to a fetus.
Had she known any of that while pregnant, Sweet might have reduced her chances of contracting CMV with diligent hand-washing, especially after diaper changes, and not sharing utensils or food with her son, Henry, then two and in day care. If there was awareness about CMV, at least women working in day care and women with toddlers could potentially modify some behaviour, Sweet said.
But surprisingly few women are warned about this infection. Less than half of obstetrician-gynecologists tell pregnant patients how to avoid CMV, according to a federal survey. By contrast, doctors and public health officials have advised American women to take every imaginable precaution against Zika.
Rebekah McGill, a speech language pathologist in Greeneville, Tennessee, gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Elise, at almost 39 weeks, later discovering that CMV was the likely reason. McGill was inconsolable and angry that she had never been warned about the virus during any of her four pregnancies. Sometimes, I wonder if our daughter would still be alive if I had only known, she said.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists used to encourage counseling for pregnant women on how to avoid CMV. But last year, the college reversed course, saying, Patient instruction remains unproven as a method to reduce the risk of congenital CMV infection.
Some experts argue that because there is no vaccine or proven treatment, there is no point in worrying expecting women about the virus. Instead, Dr Christopher Zahn, vice president for practice at ACOG, said doctors must focus on conditions with proven interventions and let patients dictate the discussion.
There are so many topics to cover during pregnancy that this is often driven by what patients are most worried about, he said.
Education campaigns
But some researchers argue that it is high time to carry out education campaigns and infant screening for the infection, saying that it smacks of paternalism to do otherwise.
Demmler-Harrison, the infectious disease specialist, said she was livid about ACOGs decision. I am baffled why obstetricians do not feel it is important or even worthy to educate pregnant women about CMV, she said. Its a missed opportunity to save a baby from the devastating effects of CMV, including death in the womb and permanent disabilities.
In most states, babies are not universally screened at birth for CMV infection, on the grounds that most will not be injured by the virus and clinicians do not want to worry parents unnecessarily. The consequences of infection are not detected until months after birth.
A common scenario is a child is born who looks completely normal, and who may or may not pass the newborn hearing screening, and then at 6 months or 12 months or older, hearing becomes an issue, said Dr Albert H Park, chief of pediatric otolaryngology at the University of Utah. Now some experts are pushing for routine screening of newborns for CMV. The idea is to identify those who are infected in the first 21 days so that they can be given regular hearing tests, an eye test, a magnetic resonance imaging test of the brain, and perhaps antiviral treatment.
A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine last year found that infants with CMV symptoms at birth who took an antiviral drug for six months had moderately better hearing at two years, compared with newborns who took it for six weeks.
The six-month group also performed better on a test intended to assess cognitive, communication and motor skills. The finding suggests that the roughly 10% of babies born with multiple symptoms of CMV infection, like brain abnormalities and hearing loss, could benefit from antiviral drugs.
The finding does not apply to infected infants without symptoms at birth, experts noted, and it is not yet known whether antiviral medication is safe and effective in babies whose only symptom is hearing loss.
If confirmation was needed that in West Asia nothing can be ruled out, then it came in the form of a failed coup attempt against the democratically elected government of Turkey on July 15. The country is no stranger to coups. Since the Kemalist republic was proclaimed in 1923 after the overthrow of the last Ottoman emperor, Sultan Mehmet VI Vahdettin, the army has carried out three coups in 1960, 1971, 1980 and a soft coup in 1997.
Much like in Pakistan, Turkeys army has been the main powerbroker in the country for most of its modern history. It is the self-proclaimed guardian of the secularist principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is widely seen as the first leader to have brought the armed forces under full civilian control.
What happened on that night in July is now well known: Factions from different branches of the Turkish Armed Forces tried to topple the government, and kill or capture the president. F-16 jets bombed the hotel in the resort town of Marmaris where Erdogan had been holidaying with his family, missing him by minutes.
They failed spectacularly after Erdogan issued his now-famous call using the Facetime app ironical, considering his earlier crackdowns against social media to rally his supporters, who poured into the streets in their thousands, braving bullets and tanks. At least 265 people were brutally cut down in Istanbul, Ankara and other Turkish cities. By daylight, however, it was clear that the coup attempt had been quashed by loyalist factions and people power.
A firm believer in the dictum every crisis is an opportunity, Erdogan unleashed his fury on the supposed followers of his nemesis, the cult leader Fetullah Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, US, since 1997.
About 70,000 soldiers, bureaucrats, judges, professors, and policemen were either detained or suspended. (Many thousands have since been released without charge). Ankara has sworn to tear down the Gulenist parallel structure.
The Turkish government could barely hide its fury at the reaction of its Western partners many of them Ankaras Nato allies to the failed coup attempt. Turkey, which seems to be reassessing its ties with its traditional allies, is clear about what it wants from the US. It used the anti-American sentiment prevalent in the country to demand Gulens extradition and, more importantly, pressed Washington to accept Turkish plans for northern Syria vis-a-vis the Kurdish separatist groups, and IS.
Turkey was also upset by the fact that no EU member state sent high-level delegations to show support in the days immediately following the coup attempt. This was, indeed, an act of startling political misjudgement on the part of the Western powers.
Even Iran a regional rival and one of the strongest backers of Bashar al-Assads regime in Syria, which Turkey is trying hard to topple pipped them to the post by sending its foreign minister for a historic meeting with his Turkish counterpart on August 12. And just three days prior to that, Erdogan surprised the world (and alarmed the West) by visiting Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Policy U-turn unlikely
The Assad dictatorship might be fantasising about using the thaw in Turkish-Russian relations to nudge Ankara to cease all support for the Syrian rebels. However, it is highly unlikely that Turkey will make a complete policy U-turn on Syria. It is too deeply involved now to suddenly backtrack entirely.
But Ankara could still change its policies just enough to appease Moscow, and to an extent, Tehran. It could also cooperate with the two powers on matters of mutual interest on the fight against IS and, (with Iran), on the Kurdish question.
On October 10, Putin met Erdogan in Istanbul, and the two sides signed an agreement for the construction of a major undersea gas pipeline. Turkey needs Russia, which is a huge market for its goods and a major source of tourists, who are key to the Turkish economy. Both leaders want the volume of bilateral trade to go up to $100bn a year. It had peaked to $38bn in 2008, and reached its lowest levels in the first six months of this year $8.5bn, mainly due to the collapse in relations.
Turkey also realises that Russias backing is essential for any solution to the Syrian crisis, given the depth of Moscows military and strategic commitment. Besides, Turkey is also more focussed on fighting Kurdish separatists, an issue on which Iran, too, sees eye-to-eye with. Iran has tried to push Turkey to readjust its policies in Syria, and it seems to be working. Both countries simply want to put to rest any dreams of an independent Kurdish nation in West Asia.
Despite all this, Russia will never replace the Western bloc as Ankaras global strategic partner. As Faruk Logoglu, a former Turkish ambassador to Washington, and until recently a senior lawmaker in the main secularist opposition, put it, The Turkish-American relationship is like a catholic marriage: there is no divorce. Both sides need each other.
(The writer is an editor at The Delma Institute, a foreign affairs research house based in the UAE)
Three chain-snatching incidents were reported in Jayanagar, Siddapur and Rajagopalanagar in the early hours of Tuesday.
In the first incident, a bike-borne person snatched a gold chain from a 56-year-old woman in Jayanagar 3rd Block.
Around 6.45 am, the victim Shantha, was cleaning the portico of her house, when a person barged in and snatched her gold chain and escaped.
In the second incident at 7.15 am, Susheela was drawing a rangoli in front of her hose near Rani Channamma Circle in Siddapur while a bike-borne miscreant snatched her 75-gram gold chain.
In the third incident, two bike-borne miscreants snatched a gold chain from 55-year-old Paravathamma in Srigandhanagar in Rajagopalanagar when she was returning home after buying milk. But Parvathamma managed to hold on to her gold chain and raised an alarm. The miscreants managed to make away with 20 grams of her gold chain while Parvathamma managed to hold on to the rest.
Attempt to break ATM
An attempt to loot an ATM centre on 8th Main in Siddapur was also reported minutes before the chain-snatching in Jayanagar. It is suspected to be the handiwork of a single person.
The police said that around 5.30 am, an unidentified person went into a Bank of India ATM kiosk and tried to break the cash box. The ATM machine sent a message to the Siddapur police, who rushed to the spot. The miscreant noticed the police approaching and escaped. They tried to chase him but in vain. The ATM was damaged but the cash was safe.
We have vital clues and are working to nab the suspect. We are not sure if a security guard was deployed at the ATM, said a senior police officer.
The list of subsidised household items distributed under the state governments Anna Bhagya scheme is set to grow longer beginning next year.
The government has decided to distribute dal (pulse) at a subsidised rate to families below poverty line (BPL) from January. All the 1.03 crore BPL families will get one kg dal each per month, which will cost the government an estimated Rs 360 crore per annum. A kg of dal carries a subsidy of Rs 30 and the government will give any of the dal variety such as tur and moong, depending on their availability in the market and the cost, Food and Civil Supplies Department Secretary Harsh Gupta said.
The government is already spending Rs 2,000 crore per annum on the Anna Bhagya scheme. The beneficiaries get free foodgrains (rice, wheat, ragi, jowar), palm oil at subsidised rates and salt every month under the scheme.
Dal distribution has been planned in such a way that it will not be a burden on the government for at least a year. For, Karnataka was entitled for reimbursement of local transportation cost on foodgrains and 50% commission to be given to fair price shop owners from the Union government under the Food Security Act with effect from 2014.
The Food and Civil Supplies Department recently received Rs 330 crore from the Centre. The entire money is being utilised for dal distribution, sources in the government said. The finance department had initially objected to the proposal as there was no budgetary provision. But it finally agreed when Chief Minister Siddaramaiah directed it to clear the proposal, the sources said.
Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), which is spearheading a campaign against the steel flyover project, has sought an inquiry and urged immediate freezing of work of the proposed six-lane project.
A signed memorandum by CfB, which was submitted to Governor Vajubhai Vala on Tuesday, has termed the project expensive, not serving its avowed purpose, having poor design, lacking in aesthetics and posing a serious ecological threat to the city.
Experts have suggested alternative solutions that are simpler and more effective, far less expensive and friendlier to the environment. Despite intense opposition to the project, the BDA has decided to issue work order to execute the controversial project and indicated the date of November 1 to lay the foundation stone, it reads.
Actor Prakash Belawadi, who was part of the delegation, said that the governor had agreed to support them.
The governor is aware of the issue and has expressed concern over the loss of the citys greenery. He has promised to consult advocates and decide the future course of action, he said. Leo Saldanha from Environment Support Group urged the government to opt for alternatives, instead of felling trees.
HC adjourns hearing
The high court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the public interest litigation (PIL), challenging the steel flyover project. A division bench of Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice R B Budihal posted the matter to November 2 for hearing. The counsel appearing for the petitioners requested the court for an early hearing, since the government was going ahead with the project.
BJP MLAs and MPs on Tuesday walked out of a meeting convened by Bengaluru Development Minister K J George on the steel flyover project.
BJP leaders said the meeting was an eyewash because the government had already decided to implement the project. The ruling Congress ally in the BBMP, JD(S), too was not convinced with the project as its three MLAs made a silent exit from the meeting.
Mahalakshmi Layout JD(S) MLA K Gopalaiah was critical of the BDA, which is constructing the flyover. He protested against the BDAs failure to pay a compensation of Rs 4 crore to Mangala from his constituency, compelling her to consume poison as a mark of protest.
Gopalaiah warned that he would go on a hunger strike if compensation was not paid to the woman. As Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandras-ekhar stood up to speak, George interrupted him, saying that his organisation, Namma Bengaluru Foundation, had filed a case against the flyover in the High Court and being a petitioner, he could not comment.
Chandrasekhar shot back asking him why was he invited then. He said that environmental impact assessment, public consultation and disclosure of project details were not done. He flayed the government and the BDA for the sham public consultation held in June.
P C Mohan, BJP Lok Sabha member from Bengaluru Central, sought to know why the government was averse to developing alternative routes.
Rajajinagar BJP MLA Suresh Kumar took a dig at the government for consulting the opposition, when already a decision had been taken.
Why did you organise this event when you have planned groundbreaking ceremony on November 1? asked Kumar. As he suggested alternatives such as over-bridges and underpasses, George flared up, saying that he would not repeat the magic box kind of blunder committed by the BJP. Infuriated BJP leaders walked out. Later speaking to reporters, George said it was the BJP which mooted the idea in 2010, but later dumped it.
This project was in our manifesto in the 2013 Assembly election. People voted for our projects. A few isolated voices of 30,000 or 40,000 people cannot change our decision, said George.
The feud within the first family of the Samajwadi Party (SP) continues to remain unresolved, though party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Tuesday that the family and party are united.
Mulayam, who addressed a press conference here on Tuesday, again indicated that Akhilesh might not be the partys automatic choice for the post of chief minister in case the SP forms the next government.
The SP supremo, however, said that the party as well as the family were united. A visibly uncomfortable Mulayam was flanked by Shivpal and three other sacked ministers, but Akhilesh was conspicuous by his absence. Mulayam also failed to explain Akhileshs absence despite persistent queries.
Ours is a democratic party...the next CM will be decided by the MLAs after the polls if SP wins, Mulayam said, adding that for now, Akhilesh would remain chief minister.
In a reply to a query, Mulayam said that he was not interested in becoming the chief minister for a few months. In all probability, the model code of conduct will come into force in December and after that the government will not be able to take any important decisions, he added.
On the possible return of the four sacked ministers, including Shivpal, into the Cabinet, he said that it was up to the chief minister to take a decision in this regard. This question should be put before the CM...he must be watching this press conference, Mulayam added.
The SP supremo also made it clear once again that he would not take any action against SP Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh.
In reply to another question, Mulayam said that he no longer gave credence to the remarks of the expelled party general secretary and his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, who had earned his wrath after writing an open letter to the SP workers asking them to rally around Akhilesh.
Dynasty feud spills on to streets
The ongoing feud within the Samajwadi Party (SP) spilled on to the streets on Tuesday, DHNS reports from Lucknow.
Angry supporters of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav virtually held party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav hostage inside the party office here for a few hours in protest against his refusal to declare Akhilesh as the SPs face in the upcoming Assembly polls.
Hundreds of Akhileshs supporters, mostly youths, had gathered in front of the SP office on hearing the news that Mulayam would be addressing a press conference. They raised pro-Akhilesh slogans outside while Mulayam spoke to the media inside.
The supporters started shouting slogans against state unit president Shivpal Singh Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh, when they came to know that Mulayam said that the next chief minister would be decided by the newly elected MLAs in case the SP formed the next government.
The angry supporters laid siege to the SP office, as a result of which Mulayam was unable to leave the venue. His security personnel made two attempts to bring him out of the party office, but did not succeed. Many of them even climbed on to the trees to draw attention of the SP office bearers.
We want Netaji (Mulayam) to listen to us...He must declare Akhilesh as the partys face in the next polls, said Anurag Yadav, who had come from Etawah. According to the sources, the supporters relented only after an emissary of Akhilesh arrived at the SP office and asked them to disperse and allow Mulayam to go home.
Similarly, a large number of supporters of Shivpal also gathered at his official residence here and shouted slogans against Akhilesh.
Security was tightened around the official residences of Mulayam, Shivpal and Akhilesh, while security personnel in strength was also deployed at the SP office.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Tuesday held that triple talaq is an internal problem of the Muslim community, which it must ponder over as there cannot be any bias based on gender.
Speaking on the sidelines of a three-day All India Executive Council meeting of RSS at Annojiguda here, Suresh Joshi, RSS general secretary, noted that it was Muslim women who wanted justice and moved the court. So we can say that any kind of gender based injustice is not good in this modern world. We wish that they get justice. The courts must also consider this issue humanely, Bhaiyyaji Joshi, as he is known, said.
On the ongoing debate on Uniform Civil Code (UCC), he said the RSS has always held that the law must stop any kind of discrimination, taking enough care that it does not disturb the social fabric. There can be issues of traditions but if they are disturbing society, then law must interfere and end it. The Law Commission has already sought opinion of the people on UCC, he noted.
The RSS, while not discouraging Indian producers from employing Pakistani talent in movies, said that it was the artists in Pakistan who are saying that they are not ready to work in Indian films. Then where is the need to bring them here. Dont we have good artists here? This dependency must end, Bhaiyyaji said, adding that RSS believes that art has no boundaries but these are rare conditions and evoke short-term reactions. He also said that Pakistan must deal with home-bred terror.
Distancing RSS from the ongoing family feud in Samajwadi Party and its impact on Uttar Pradesh elections, he said that RSS has no role to play. Yes, Amit Shah was here for the conclave. As BJP president Amit might have thought about it, it is the work of BJP, not RSS. They (BJP) have to win the elections, he said.
Refuting allegations that the issue of Ram mandir has been brought to the fore to gain electoral benefit, Bhaiyyaji said the Hindu community wants Ram mandir to be built in Ayodhya but first all legal issues must be cleared.
Issue will polarise UP voters: Owaisi
Predicting that the triple talaq issue would polarise voters in the Uttar Pradesh elections, All India Majlis E Ittahadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi has said the BJP should focus on development issues, reports DHNS from Hyderabad.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue, Owaisi whose party is contesting the UP elections-- said the PM and his party are making concerted efforts to polarise voters by raking up triple talaq and the Ram mandir issues.
A cracker blast in Old Delhis Naya Bazaar killed one man and injured four others on Tuesday morning.
The huge impact of the blast triggered panic with people initially confusing it with a bomb explosion. Police, however, ruled out any terror angle. A load of crackers being carried by a man in the busy market near Chandni Chowk had burst. Several specialised teams of Delhi Police carried out search and forensic operations after the blast to ascertain if there was any terror angle to it.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Bahrain, also spoke to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma as the first reports came in, and took stock of the situation. He sought a report from the Delhi Police on the incident.
A senior police officer said since the blast occurred in a narrow street, the shock waves couldnt disperse quickly, resulting in the damage and the loud noise.
The deceased was identified as Motalip Mirza from West Bengals Murshidabad district. Mirza worked as a labourer carrying loads in the area.
Around 10.40 am, he was passing through the grain market in Naya Bazaar, carrying two sacks full of crackers on his head. When he placed the bags on the ground, the explosion took place.
Mirza died on the spot while the injured were shifted to different hospitals. All the injured are said to be out of danger.
The incident was caught on CCTV camera. The footage begins with people travelling through Pattewali Gali in Naya Bazar. Mirza is seen making his way through the crowded market. He places the sacks outside Saraswati Traders when the explosion takes place.
The impact shattered the window panes of the adjoining building. The glass and metal doors of several shops were broken. People said they heard the explosion a kilometre away.
Police reached the spot within 10 minutes. We received information about a high intensity blast which took place at Naya Bazar, said S B K Singh, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order, North).
He said several teams, including the bomb squad, were sent to the spot. We cordoned off the area and found that one person was dead while four others were injured, he said.
They had sustained cuts to their faces and eyes and were shifted to various hospitals across the city. The area was searched for any other explosives and once the area was declared safe, the rescue and relief operations commenced, Singh added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is no gourmet, but he took time off on Tuesday for members of the Club des Chefs des Chefs, a club of presidential chefs from across the globe.
The club comprises personal chefs of the heads of state of two dozen countries. The chefs include the personal chefs to US President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, French President Francois Hollande and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The chefs said they were proud to feed the worlds most powerful and influential people in the world. Their Paris-based Association is currently holding its general assembly in India, for the first time. Besides Delhi, the chefs will be visiting Agra and Jaipur as well.
Those who called on the prime minister were led by Montu Saini, executive chef to President Pranab Mukherjee, who is hosting the conference.
Modi was told by the chefs that their aim is to promote local food and healthy eating habits.
The state-run tuberculosis control programme caters to just about half of the total patient load and those infected are not completely cured, a study has found.
Out of the 27 lakh estimated TB patients in 2013, a mere 53% (about 14 lakh) were registered for treatment at the government-run clinics; 45% (above 12 lakh) finished the treatment and 39% (10 lakh) experienced recurrence-free survival after one year.
About 760,000 (in 2013) TB patients never reached government diagnostic clinics and either remained untreated or received poor quality care in Indias private sector, said a six-nation study involving nine researchers (including the Indian council of Medical Research director general Soumya Swaminathan).
Researchers dug into the Indian healthcare system to demonstrate how thousands of patients are missed out despite governments tall claims that at least one TB centre exists in each district.
A cascading effect was observed at each stage, causing the loss of thousands of patients who fail to complete the treatment.
The very first gap in the overall cascade (out of an estimated 2.7 million TB patients in India) is about 760,000 patients or about 25% of all TB patients in India. They are probably getting treated in the private sector, though some of them may remain untreated without any TB care, said Ramnath Subbaraman, a professor at Harvard Medical School, Boston who led the team.
For patients diagnosed in government TB centres but do not get enrolled for treatment, a few studies suggest that only a small percentage of these patients end up in private sector care, so it is likely that many of these patients remain untreated, Subbaraman told DH.
Quality of healthcare
Though more than 500,000 patients were evaluated at the government TB clinics, they were not diagnosed or treated there.
The quality of diagnosis, however, is suspect in the absence of modern tools.
Out of 61,000 multi-drug-resistant TB patients who reached government TB clinics, only 6,413, or 11%, completed appropriate treatment and survived for one year after treatment without experiencing disease relapse.
A key conclusion is that the government needs to address the leaks in the care cascade in the public sector, said co-author Madhukar Pai, from McGill University in Canada.
The findings have been published in the October 25 issue of the journal PLOS Medicine.
The government on Tuesday declared yet again it would not reconsider its plan to build a steel flyover here.
Bengaluru Development Minister K G George made a presentation to city MLAs and MPs about the project, and the meeting turned out to be stormy.
Briefing reporters, he said the project could not be shelved at this juncture.
When reporters reminded him that prominent citizens such as Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Narayana Murthy and Azim Premji were opposing the flyover, George said, The government has a lot of respect for them... They can tell us how to better the project. But nobody can hijack the governments decision.
He sought suggestions on reducing traffic congestion and minimising tree loss. I will not go to people and hear their opinions. They should come to me and give their suggestions, he said.
The project was mentioned in the Congress manifesto and people who voted in the Assembly elections are in favour of it, the minister claimed.
George brushed aside the opposition of 48,000 citizens, who had petitioned him and formed a human chain on October 16.
The BDA had called for suggestions and given five days time. But only 299 opinions came.... There is no purpose in voicing (opinions) now, he said.
George also refused to comment on what details were put out in the public domain when the government had invited feedback.
It's getting longer
George said the steel flyover would be extended beyond the Hebbal flyover, all the way till Columbia Asia Hospital.
In its latest avatar, it ends 200 metres before the beginning of the elevated highway to the airport. Its revised cost is likely to be Rs 2,200 crore.
Artwork and wine benefit Oregons wildlife
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
The 2016 winning artwork of Pallid Bat by Timothy Turenne of Minnesota is featured on the label of Conservation Cuvee Lot 4.
SALEM, Ore - Enjoy wildlife art, wine and music at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Art Show and Duck Pond Cellars Conservation Cuvee Lot 4 wine release party. This free, family-friendly event is Saturday, Nov. 5 from 1 p.m. 4 p.m. at Duck Pond Cellars, 23145 Hwy 99W, Dundee.
Artwork submitted by artists competing for ODFWs 2017 Habitat Conservation, Upland Game Bird, and Waterfowl Stamp contests will be displayed. ODFW will announce the winning entry from each contest which is then used to produce collector stamps and other promotional items with proceeds benefitting Oregons fish and wildlife.
At the art show, Greg Fries, president and co-owner of Duck Pond Cellars will release Conservation Cuvee Lot 4 with the label featuring the 2016 winning artwork of Pallid Bat by Timothy Turenne of Richfield, Minnesota.
Conservation Cuvee Lot 4 is the fourth in a series of Duck Pond Cellars specialty wines that benefit Oregons wildlife. The winery has been partnering with ODFW for several years by crafting unique blends of Pinot Noir and donating $5 for each bottle sold to ODFWs Conservation Program. To date, more than $20,000 has been donated to this program.
Conservation Cuvee can be purchased at Duck Pond Cellars, through the winerys website, and at select restaurants and wine shops.
The partnership, and the work that ODFW does is very special to us, Fries said. This small lot Pinot Noir was crafted using fruit from our familys vineyards in the Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon. A great expression of Oregon Pinot noir, this cuvee is brimming with rich red and black fruit with earthy undertones and a soft, spicy finish, Fries said.
For optimal fruitiness, Fries recommends consuming the cuvee within in the next few years, and those who appreciate a softer, more delicate Pinot Noir should cellar age it. This wine pairs well with Northwest salmon and would make a good partner for any dinner.
Visitors can vote on their favorite artwork for the Peoples Choice Award, enjoy live music by Harvey Brindell and the Tablerockers, and sample complimentary tastings of Lots 3 and 4 of the Conservation Cuvee.
Please dress warmly as the event will be held in the winerys production cellar. Check Duck Pond Cellars website for more information on their conservation efforts.
Habitat Conservation Stamp
This stamp and art prints feature wildlife identified in the Oregon Conservation Strategy as species of greatest conservation need such as the Kit Fox, Western Painted Turtle, Chinook salmon and many others. Revenue helps restore habitats essential to declining or at-risk species of Oregon. Purchase a Habitat Conservation Stamp or art print.
Waterfowl Stamp
This year, artists were asked to feature Common Goldeneye, Black Scoter, Gadwall or Northern Shoveler in their natural habitat. Sales of this stamp fund waterfowl management projects such as population surveys, banding, and wetland management and enhancement. A major marsh rejuvenation and enhancement recently completed at Summer Lake Wildlife Area was funded in part by sales of the waterfowl stamp. Purchase a Waterfowl Stamp.
Upland Game Bird Stamp
Artists were asked this year to showcase Ring-necked Pheasant. The sale of upland game bird stamps funds game bird research, surveys, habitat improvement and conservation projects. Stamp sales are also used to purchase birds for 11 youth upland hunts around the state, to promote game bird hunting opportunities, and to support the Upland Cooperative Access Program in the Columbia Basin.Purchase an Upland Game Bird stamp.
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It's a shame this phone won't be coming to India. With the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 out of the picture, the quest to make the best phablet in the world has begun. Google has the Pixel XL, Apple has the iPhone 7 Plus, and now Xiaomi is throwing its hat in the ring, with its own version of the Note 7. Alas, only in the Chinese market.
However, the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is a device full of declarations. It's Xiaomi's true entry into the big game. And while it won't earn Xiaomi leave from the copycat monicker, it really doesn't feel like one.
In pictures, the phone looks almost exactly like Samsung's ill-fated phablet, save the round camera sensor. Consider, though, that Xiaomi was the one who started this design with its Mi Notes last year. Moreover, the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 does have a personality of its own. It feels thinner and wider than the Note 7, and though it doesn't have a QHD screen, it's still gorgeous. To be clear, I'm not saying that a QHD display wouldn't have made it better, but the battery considerations and price somewhat justifies the ommission. It's also an OLED display, which are expensive in the first place.
Curved glass on the front and back look as good as it did on the Note 7, and in the little time I spent with the Mi Note 2, I'm convinced it's a Xiaomi design. Why? Because it has the same feel as a Mi 5. The Mi Note 2 is light and my palms are stretched quite wide when I'm holding it. It's a device meant for phablet lovers. It doesn't feel compact, as most Xiaomi phones in the past have, barring the Mi Max. Neither does the Note 2 feel overly large. It wants you to notice the display, and you do.
Inside, it has a Snapdragon 821, clocked at its full 2.35GHz capacity. This may affect battery life a bit, but the lower FHD resolution should make up for it. The phone has a 4070 mAh battery to boot! The larger battery is quickly becoming a very "Xiaomi thing to do". The company has routinely been fitting larger batteries in comparatively smaller bodies. It's a win-win for everyone. Xiaomi gets to market innovation, while consumers get an extra few hours of juice on their devices. I'm not quite convinced that the Mi Note 2 will last you more than a full day, but not many other devices would either. The big screen and fast processor always do compromise on battery life.
The specs also include 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 128GB UFS 2.0 storage, along with a 22.56 MP camera. The IMX318 sensor has been used for this one, and honestly, I would have preferred the IMX377 or 378. The Mi Note 2 deserves the best, and there are some compromises that perhaps shouldn't be made. I haven't tested the camera, but in the reasonably well-lit experience zone, the phone seemed decidedly behind other flagships, like the Galaxy S7 Edge and iPhone 7. Of course, the price more than makes up for it, but remember, this is a contender for the best phablet in the world.
Moreover, Xiaomi has always impressed in the camera department, except its 2016 crop of devices. A direct conversion from RMB to rupees puts the Mi Note 2's price at around Rs. 28,000, and I daresay, the OnePlus 3's camera seemed better. That said, the Mi Note 2's camera seems as fast as any flagship out there. Perhaps a new algorithm or a newer sensor would do the trick.
Overall, the Mi Note 2 is a stunner. Its a gorgeous smartphone that ticks almost all the right boxes. And the almost is fine for what Xiaomi is asking. Its a shame that India wont be getting it. Xiaomi VP Hugo Barra explained that the company wants to maintain one flagship a year for the country, and the Mi 5 was it for this year. The Mi Note 2, to me, seems like the phone that would easily have filled the void the Note 7 has left.
Gold exploration and development company KEFI Minerals provided an update on its discussions with the Government of Ethiopia on Tuesday, over various aspects involved in formalising the agreements for the development of the Tulu Kapi Gold Project.
The AIM-traded firm confirmed that in October, the government announced the formation of Ethiopian Mines, Petroleum and Bio-Fuel Corporation, which will be the Ethiopian investing entity.
It said negotiations with the Development Bank of Ethiopia were at an advanced stage and now awaited the appointment of the selected co-lender.
The government's recent policy directive requiring a maximum 50% debt gearing policy for new projects is considered consistent with KEFI's plans because clarifications received from the National Bank of Ethiopia indicate that historic spend on the project of approximately $60m counts as equity in the calculation,2 KEFIs board said in a statement.
The Ethiopian Government experts and the project's social licence advisers are ensuring that calculations and plans comply with Ethiopian law and IFC principles, it added.
KEFI said it is playing a supporting role to the government's efforts and is committed to assist where it can.
Automotive retailer Pendragon s third quarter revenue increased as it said that it had not suffered from any uncertainty in the wake of the Brexit vote and from fluctuating foreign exchange rates.
In an update for the three months to 30 September, revenue grew by 5.7% on a like-for-like basis with used revenue growth increasing 8.3%.
After sales gross profit grew 3.2% like-for-like and used gross profit rose by 0.5%, while new gross profit increased 4.2%.
Overall in the quarter underlying like-for-like profit before tax rose by 6.3%.
Chief executive Trevor Finn: "Despite significant commentary on the potential negative impact of the EU referendum, we have not experienced any noticeable change in our customers' behaviour and we have continued to grow our business.
Based on discussions with the companys franchise partners, it does not anticipate any material effect on new vehicle pricing as a result of foreign exchange rates, since it believes that car manufacturers will try to mitigate this cost to consumers through monthly payments.
Performance levels in the quarter have remained within the companys expectations it expects full year results to be in line with expectations.
Online visits to the companys websites, Stratstone.com and Evanshalshaw.com, increased by 16% in the nine months ended 30 September.
The company, which operates in the used, aftersales and new vehicle sectors, also has a profitable operation in California and a number of support businesses in dealer IT systems, vehicle leasing and parts.
Shares in Pendragon were up 1.26% to 28.10p at 1116 BST.
Shares in AIM-listed value retailer Shoe Zone rose over 15% on Monday as it reported that its full year revenue is expected to increase, while it closes loss making stores.
In a trading update for the year ended 1 October, the company said it traded well in the second half of the year while it expects full year revenue of 160m, up 4% from last year, due to planned closures of loss making stores.
Shoe Zone will end the year with 510 stores as it opened 17 and closed 42.
Pre-tax profit is expected to be broadly in line with expectations and marginally ahead of last year.
At the beginning of October, the net cash balance was 15m, a 5.6% increase.
The company said there has been no significant unexpected changes in its financial position since April, when it reported its interim results.
Chief executive Nick Davis said: "I am pleased with the group's performance in the second half of the year, during which we have seen little impact from the EU referendum while having traded well through the key Back to School period.
We have now opened three big box stores as part of our trial and the early signs are very encouraging. These stores offer customers a different store experience with a wide range of third party brands and the feedback so far has been good."
The footwear value retailer employs about 3,500 people across the UK and Ireland and sells about 20m pairs of shoes per year at an average price of 10.09.
Shares in Shoe Zone were up 15.44% to 164.50p at 0815 BST.
Segro : Barclays keeps at overweight with a target price of 520p.
Howden Joinery: Berenberg downgrades to hold, 450p target.
Standard Chartered: Deutsche Bank reiterates sell with a 574p target.
Cobham: UBS reiterates neutral with a 160p target.
Cobham: Barclays reiterates equal-weight with a 167p target.
Countrywide: Jefferies downgrades to hold with a target price of 180p.
Mitchells & Butlers: Citigroup keeps at buy with a target price of 250p.
Barclays: Deutsche bank stays at hold with a 184p target.
Laird: UBS downgrades to neutral with a 171p target.
Petra Diamonds: Citigroup stays at neutral with a 150p target.
LSL: Jefferies downgrades to hold with a target of 200p.
The former executive, who has not been named, was charged with the embezzlement of KRW 78,103,990 (56,300) and breach of fiduciary duty by the Suwon District Public Prosecutors Office.
The company is currently taking the appropriate measures according to the due process of law in accordance with the case.
The share price fell 0.68% to KRX 1,597,000 at 0940 BST on Tuesday.
Despite falling auto sales in the industry, General Motors reported a profit increase of more than double in its latest earnings report in comparison with last year.
The Detroit automaker posted profit of $2.77bn, or $1.76 per share, while the figure was $1.36bn, or 84 cents per share in the corresponding quarter in 2015.
Revenue hit a record figure of $42.8bn, comfortably defeating analysts' expectations of $39.39bn.
GM's sales in the United States for the quarter fell by 4%, in a movement which matches that of its competitors Fiat Chrysler and Ford Motor, and conforms to prediction from those in the industry that auto sales have peaked.
Strong sales in China and cost-cutting from GM was said to have been the main factor in the strong performance. Europe continues to be troublesome for the company after posting a loss of $142m, and is unlikely to change with fears over Brexit.
On a conference call with investors after the release of the figures, chief financial officer Chuck Stevens said the company was "very pleased with the results".
CEO of television streaming service Netflix Reed Hastings has said that he does not disagree with the proposed acquisition of Time Warner by AT&T , despite claims from lawmakers and competitors that it would damage competition.
Hastings did acknowledge, however, that the deal should not be allowed to create an unfair advantage for the new company if it were to go ahead.
During the Wall Street Journal Live conference on Monday, Hastings was optimistic that the acquisition could provide healthy competition in the industry.
"We want to make sure it doesn't give an unfair advantage to HBO," Hastings said. "If it's open competition, we love that."
"I think AT&T's going to be aggressive about building a national competitor to all of the cable companies like DirectTV has been to the satellite companies and if they pull that off that would be in the consumer's interest," he added.
Hastings was also asked whether Netflix itself would have any interest in purchasing Time Warner, and neither confirmed nor denied. He responded with a long pause before saying "next question. That was not a no."
AT&T agreed to buy Time Warner for $85bn at the weekend, but the merger will be subject to clearance from the United States.
The European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone's bailout fund, gave Greece the remaining 2.8bn of the second loan tranche on Tuesday.
The allocation of the funds followed a commitment made by eurozone finance ministers earlier in October, on the country clearing its net arrears.
The mechanisms financial assistance to Greece now totals 31.7bn, out of the 86bn programme for Greece.
ESM managing director Klaus Regling, said: Todays decision to disburse 2.8bn to Greece is a sign that the Greek people are steadily making progress in reforming their country. The government has completed key milestones in the area of pension reform, bank governance, the energy sector, and revenue collection.
It has also taken further steps in making the new privatisation and investment fund operational. If the government continues to implement the reforms agreed in the ESM programme, growth of the Greek economy could accelerate next year and the government may be able to start issuing bonds again next year.
Of the 2.8bn, 1.1 billion was approved following Greece meeting 15 milestones, which is to be used for debt servicing, and the remaining 1.7bn will be used for a dedicated account for clearing arrears.
I am also pleased to note that the Greek government has fulfilled its commitment to clear arrears, as this will have a positive impact on the countrys economy, added Regling.
Including the 2.5bn today, the ESM and the Financial Stability Facility have released 173.5bn to Greece, making the funds the largest creditor to Greece.
Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, with South Korea coming under pressure amid fresh economic data showing a slowdown in growth on the peninsula.
Japans Nikkei 225 was up 0.76% to a fresh six-month high of 17,365.25, while the broader Topix was up 0.71% to 1,377.32.
The yen was relatively weaker for much of the session, and was last off 0.26% against the greenback at JPY 104.45 per $1.
Major exporters were boosted by the weaker yen, with Mazda Motor up 2.93%, Nissan adding 1.28%, Panasonic rising 0.19% and Toyota 1.43% firmer.
Video gaming giant Nintendo managed to catch a break from its recent share price fall, gaining 2.98%.
The previous two sessions had been brutal for the developer, as investors voiced the disapproval of the upcoming Switch console product, which was partially revealed last week.
Kyushu Railway made its debut on the Tokyo bourse, opening 19.23% higher than its offer price of JPY 2,600, before settling at JPY 2,990 per share by market close.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.12% to 3,132.08, with the Shenzhen Composite rising 0.36% to 2,077.74.
South Koreas Kospi finished 0.52% lower at 2,037.17, with the Korean won also weakening - it was last behind 0.2% against the greenback at KRW 1,133.35 per $1.
Data from the Bank of Korea showed the countrys GDP grew by a seasonally-adjusted 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, marginally ahead of a Reuters-polled forecast for a 0.6% increase.
On a year-on-year basis, however, GDP was up 2.7%, falling well below the 3.3% improvement in the second quarter.
It was a tumultuous quarter for the Korean economy, with a mass strike among workers at Hyundai Motor, the collapse of Hanjin Shipping and the PR disaster that was Samsungs fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
The moderation was broadly expected, which was presaged by the sequential slowdown in industrial production in the first two months of the quarter, said ANZ Asia economist Eugenia Victorino.
There was still enough headroom for the Bank of Korea to go ahead with another rate cut sometime in the January-March quarter, however, Victorino added.
Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index, which had pared back earlier declines in late trading, was right back into the red by the close, losing 0.17% to 23,565.11.
Oil prices were higher in Asian afternoon trading, with Brent crude last up 0.33% at $51.63 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate adding 0.55% at $50.80.
Australias S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.63% to 5,442.80, boosted by the financials subindex and positive gains from the big four regional banks.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group shares were up 0.67%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 0.75%, National Australia Bank rose 0.62% and Westpac stock was 1.08% higher.
New Zealands S&P/NZX 50 rose 0.6% to 7,002.86, with flag carrier Air New Zealand the days best performer, adding 3.8%.
The down under dollars were both stronger in late trading, with the Aussie last ahead 0.39% against the greenback at AUD 1.3087, and the Kiwi strengthening 0.2% to NZD 1.3979 per $1.
The UK government has approved the expansion of London's Heathrow Airport, though Tuesday's decision to give the green light to construction of a third runway is expected to face extensive consultation and possible legal challenges.
The Economic Affairs Transport sub-committee, led by Prime Minister Theresa May, backed the addition of a new runway for Heathrow and said the scheme will be taken forward in the form of a draft National policy statement for consultation beginning in the new year.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling said: "The step that government is taking today is truly momentous. I am proud that after years of discussion and delay this government is taking decisive action to secure the UKs place in the global aviation market securing jobs and business opportunities for the next decade and beyond.
"A new runway at Heathrow will improve connectivity in the UK itself and crucially boost our connections with the rest of the world, supporting exports, trade and job opportunities. This isnt just a great deal for business, its a great deal for passengers who will also benefit from access to more airlines, destinations and flights."
Grayling said the committee, which had to choose between building a third runway or a runway extension at Heathrow or a new runway at Gatwick, backed the Heathrow extension only on the basis of a package of compensation and mitigation worth up to 2.6bn, including "community support, insulation, and respite from noise" to try and balance the benefits and the impacts of expansion.
Heathrow faces opposition
The cabinet is reportedly divided over airport expansion, with education secretary Justine Greening and foreign secretary Boris Johnson opposed to a third runway at Heathrow.
Reports in the Telegraph overnight indicated the foreign secretary would re-open new rifts in the cabinet by opposing Heathrow expansion plans, having drafted a statement that will argue the decision is a "mistake".
Fellow Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith was said to be on the verge of quitting in protest at the decision in order to stand as an independent.
Prior to ascending to her current role, the Prime Minister herself has campaigned against a third runway at Heathrow on behalf of the resident of her Maidenhead consituency due to concerns about noise and air pollution.
Another deleted page from Theresa Mays website: Local people will be devastated by the Governments decision to proceed with a 3rd runway" pic.twitter.com/s0QR0yzcfX Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) October 25, 2016
City expects boost
Analysts in the City said the decision could prove a major boost to the economy and certain companies, but fans of airport queue were warned by some experts not to get too excited as there is expected to be at least a year of consultation following Cabinet's decision and that's before then the effect of legal challenges is factored in.
"London businesses will welcome the decision by the government to add a new runway at Heathrow," said analyst Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets.
"It will be a multi-year boom for the businesses that win contracts to build and serve a bigger Heathrow. As far as blue-chip shares, outsourcing firm Capita is bound to be a huge beneficiary of a new Heathrow runway."
Neil Wilson at ETX Markets said the decision was a signal the UK is open to global trade post-Brexit and will be a major boost to the economy as benefits from the construction sector trickle down through the supply chain.
"Of course we are well short of a firm decision and there could yet be some turbulence for Heathrow to clear before ground is broken. A strong legal challenge could yet derail this project," Wilson said.
A new runway at Heathrow is expected to cost around 18.6bn, around double that for a new runway at Gatwick, while the government said it expected up to 77,000 extra local jobs would be created over the next 14 years with the construction process.
In 2016, 75m passengers were forecast to use Heathrow and it is currently operating at 99% capacity, with both airports handling 45% of Britain's passengers.
Competition to attract business turned off by the idea of a post-Brexit Britain has been hotting up, and Madrid is the latest European hub to throw its hat in the ring, offering affordable property, a highly-skilled workforce and flexible labour laws.
Last week the Spanish capital launched Think Madrid, a campaign from the city's business leaders to attract investment should the UK forfeit its passporting rights when it leaves the European Union.
The campaign was kicked off by president of Madrid's autonomous community, Cristina Cifuentes from the Popular Party.
"We know that Brexit offers great opportunities for many capitals, but also for Madrid," said Cifuentes at the launch near the city's centre-point of Puerta del Sol.
Madrid has not been mentioned in the same light as the likes of Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin, who are seen as the front-runners for companies who will seek to relocate due to Britain's exit from the EU.
Many multinationals have already signalled their discontent with the decision to leave the bloc, with the British Banking Association warning on Monday that several smaller organisations were looking to relocated within months and some big banks poised with "hands quivering over the relocate button".
Spanish fund manager Daniel Lacalle said at last week's presentation that Madrid has the ideal characteristics to take advantage of London's loss.
"You have an abundance of talent here in Madrid that is very well qualified and that can be hired at relatively low cost compared to other business centres," Lacalle said. "And labour laws in Spain are far more flexible than in Frankfurt or Paris."
Think Madrid also launched a promotional video aimed towards attracting foreign investment to the Spanish city, highlighting its "vibrant nightlife" and various other cultural aspects in addition to its business offerings.
Passenger transport operator National Express Group posted a trading update for the three months to 30 September on Monday, with the board reporting strong progress as both revenue and profit grew year-on-year in constant currencies.
The FTSE 250 company said operating profit was up 9% in the third quarter, driven by particularly strong performances in its overseas businesses, through both organic growth and the benefit of acquisitions.
It said year to date, like-for-like group operating profit was 5% higher on a constant currency basis and up 12% on a reported basis, boosted by foreign currency movements on overseas earnings and after a significant increase in the c2c franchise premium.
The group claimed to be on course to at least deliver its targets for profit, cash flow and gearing for the year.
Group revenue was up 11% year-to-date on a constant currency basis and up 17% on a reported basis, supported by underlying passenger growth across the group of 3% with total passenger growth of 6%.
National Express said group profit before tax was up 9% in the period on a constant currency basis and up 5% year to date, despite a significant increase in the c2c franchise premium.
Year to date group profit before tax was up 15% on a reported basis.
The company claimed to remain on target to generate at least 100m of free cash flow for the year, and expected to close the year with gearing within its target range of 2x-2.5x net debt to EBITDA.
Subject to market conditions, National Express said it is planning to refinance its 350m bond shortly, to achieve significant savings in interest costs.
As a result, however, there would be a 'double interest cost' of approximately 2m in 2016.
It wasnt all rosy however, as National Express
In February 2015, the Bavarian Railway Authority (BEG) announced its intention to award National Express the Nuremberg S-Bahn suburban rail contract.
A central aspect of the bid was the introduction of new trains at the start of the contract in December 2018, the board said.
However, the lengthy challenge by the incumbent operator, Deutsche Bahn, has meant that the introduction of these new trains, to significantly improve the service experienced by customers and underpin passenger growth, would be substantially delayed and could also lead to National Express incurring prohibitive additional cost, the board explained in a statement.
We have therefore informed BEG that it is no longer in the interest of National Express and our shareholders to proceed, [and] the authority understands and respects our decision.
National Express said it remained fully committed to the German rail market and was planning to submit a number of bids within the next year.
With two thirds of our earnings generated outside of the UK this geographic diversity, combined with a focus on operational excellence and the deployment of technology, continues to deliver good growth, a strong cash flow and opens new market opportunities, said group chief executive Dean Finch.
We will stick to our fundamental principles of safe and punctual operations at affordable prices with particular emphasis on controlling costs to generate cash and keep fares low.
"The combination of our relatively resilient UK performance together with the strong growth we are seeing from our international operations enables us to selectively invest in growth opportunities subject to our strict financial criteria and continue to deliver attractive and sustainable returns to shareholders.
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October 30, 2022
Holidays are about making memories and there are so many reasons why visiting Walt Disney World during the holidays is a must-do. Now more than ever, in this fast-paced world, its so important to take that time to give experiences to your families because in doing so, you will be creating memories that will last a
Why national Republicans are pinning hopes on Ohio Senate race
While the GOP deals with unpredictable races in states such as Pennsylvania, Republicans hope Ohio will show up for Senate candidate J.D. Vance.
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BOISE, Idaho (AP) A Boise man has been charged with stealing from Treasure Valley roofing companies.
The Idaho Statesman reports that Jared Deveraux is accused of diverting payments intended for the roofing companies into his own account.
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BELLMAWR, N.J. (AP) Federal officials are exploring ways to avoid razing a historic Revolutionary War-era home in New Jersey as part of a $900 million interchange reconstruction project.
The Federal Highway Administration met with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker's staff earlier this month about the Hugg-Harrison-Glover House in Bellmawr, The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill reported.
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The family of Jake Burton Carpenter, founder of Burton Snowboards, donated $150,000 toward the restoration.
By LISA RATHKE
Associated Press
STOWE, Vt. A historic mountaintop stone cabin that was gutted by an accidental fire caused by the sons of a snowboard company founder almost a year ago has been rebuilt and will be ready for guests soon.
The state-owned stone hut was built in the 1930s on Mount Mansfield by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a warming hut for crews working on ski trails on the mountain, the state's tallest. It has been rented out by lottery in the winter, accessible by a chairlift at Stowe Mountain Resort.
. . .
Germany withdraws approval of Chinese takeover of technology company Aixtron
The German government yesterday withdrew its approval for the acquisition of local chip equipment maker Aixtron SE by Chinese firm Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund without giving any reasons for reversing its decision.
Aixtron, based in Herzogenrath, Germany, specialises in manufacturing metalorganic chemical vapour deposition equipment, for clients in the semiconductor industry.
Aixtron yesterday said in a release that the ''German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy has withdrawn vis-a-vis Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund LP, as indirect shareholder of Grand Chip Investment GmbH, its Clearance Certificate issued on September 8, 2016 and announced a reopening of review proceedings in connection with the takeover offer by Grand Chip Investment GmbH.''
In late May, Fujian Grand Chip. 51 per cent owned by Chinese businessman Zhendong Liu, struck a deal to buy Aixtron for 670 million ($728.89 million).
Under the terms of the deal, Aixtron will continue to be based in Herzogenrath, maintain its three technology hubs at its German headquarters, in Cambridge in the UK, and Sunnyvale in the US.
Aixtron's CEO, Martin Goetzeler and COO Bernd Schulte will continue to run the company post acquisition.
As of Friday evening, Grand Chip recieved about 65 per cent of Aixtron shares, well above the 50.1 per cent threshold it had set for completing the deal.
Matthias Machnig, deputy economics minister, told German newspaper Die Welt that the government had withdrawn the approval and will reopen a review of the deal after receiving ''previously unknown security-related information.''
Under German law, the government can block takeovers if it decides that the deal could harm energy security, defence or financial stability.
Chinese companies have recently targeted German companies for their superior technology and had spent around $11 billion on buying German companies this year, breaking the 2014 record of $2.6 billion.
German economy minister Sigmar Gabriel, who is also Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy, has been opposing Chinese takeover of German technology companies and had sought the European Union (EU) approval to give powers to countries in the EU to block or impose conditions on shareholdings of non-EU companies.
Gabriel's opposition to Chinese takeovers of German tech companies after China's Midea Group acquired German robot maker Kuka AG although the deal was opposed by several lawmakers.
Gabriel had even unsuccessfully sought to form an alliance of German or European companies to table a counter offer in order to prevent Kuka being sold to Midea Group. (See: German minister seeks European counter buyout bid for industrial robot maker Kuka)
Some of the recent high-profile takeovers of German companies by Chinese include China National Chemical Corp's $1 billion purchase of KraussMaffei Group, a cutting-edge equipment maker that processes plastics and rubber, a consortium led by Chinese LED specialist MLS acquired Osram's lamp unit for more than 400 million, Beijing Enterprises acquired German waste management company EEW for 1.44 billion, and ChemChina agreed to buy German machinery maker KraussMaffei Group for 925 million.
A Kincasslagh man and his daughter hope to help the people of Haiti rebuild their lives in the wake of a hurricane which ripped through the country in recent weeks.
Hurricane Matthew left behind a trail of destruction, killing hundreds and officials fear that the nation could be facing into a crisis.
Adrian Ward will travel with his daughter, Megan, to Haiti this April. This will be Adrian's tenth journey to the nation which has been hit by a number of natural disasters over the years.
The biggest problem at the moment is food, water and sanitation, Adrian said.
The houses which were built by Adrian, who works with the charity, 'Haven Partnership,' withstood the 145 m/p/h winds of Hurricane Matthew.
We go there to build the houses but we teach them the trades too. It's about educating people about the principles of building and drilling for water. All of this helps, he said.
The well known Kincasslagh man assures those who donates to the charity that one hundred per cent of the money goes to the charity.
I know it's close to Christmas but every euro counts, it all adds up, he said.
If you wish to donate go to the website www.havenpartnership.com.
There's plenty happening this week to entice you away from your cozy fire and telly. And it's all more than worth getting up and moving for!
Female Gothic
Make your way to An Grianan Theatre this Friday for a very special night inspired by classic Gothic literature headlined by hit theatre production Female Gothic at 8pm.
The evening begins from 7pm with a selection of suitably spooky music in the foyer from members of the Donegal Chamber Orchestra. Senior members of An Grianan Youth Theatre will perform extracts from Frankenstein as well as classics from Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickenson to get audiences in the mood for the feature event of the evening: Female Gothic.
Female Gothic is an acclaimed theatre show from Olivier Award winning director Guy Masterson and performed by Rebecca Vaughan of Austens Women fame. Call An Grianan Theatre for more info on 074 91 20777 or go to www.angrianan.com
Doug Allan In The Company Of Giants
Whats it like to face a hungry polar bear and its cubs as they emerge from their den? Or to swim eye to eye with an enormous Southern Right Whale? How do you look for killer whales in vast reaches of the seas around Antarctica?
Big Animals are my passion. Thats how multi-award winning cameraman, Doug Allan (Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Ocean Giants, Wild Cameraman at Work) introduces his new show: In the Company of Giants.
Join Doug for an unforgettable evening of extraordinary animal adventures and unique wildlife film footage. Ask Doug questions about his encounters and travels, and discover what its like to be up close and personal with natures biggest creatures.
Hes at An Grianan Theatre this Thursday 27th October and at the the Balor Arts Centre on the 8th November.
Halloween Shindig
The Halloween Shindig takes place this Friday in Voodoo Vintage, Letterkenny and Im sure therell be lots of quality Halloween themed acts, mainly musical, for your terror and delight. Id take a fair guess that most of the audience will take the chance to dress up too. The fun starts around 10ish.
Django Sur Lennon
A new festival for the diary takes place in Ramelton this weekend, and hopefully itll become an annual event. For more details on the festival, go to www.djangosurlennon.com or check out the festival Facebook page.
One of the worlds top gypsy jazz guitarists, Romane (pictured above) will play a concert in Ramelton Town Hall on Friday. He will also give a guitar workshop there on Saturday . Django Sur Lennon is already being described as the biggest gypsy jazz event in Ireland in 2016. Other top names on the way include guitarists Dario Napoli (Italy), Irene Ypenburg (Amsterdam) and Kourosh Kanani (London).
The festival weekend will feature a series of concerts in Ramelton Town Hall, as well as gigs and acoustic sessions in local pubs. All musicians ,both local and visitors, no matter what level you are at or what instrument you play, are more than welcome to bring their instruments and join in. There will also be guitar and fiddle workshops for both gypsy jazz enthusiasts and players from other genres, including classical and traditional.
The gypsy jazz style is associated with the playing of one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived, Django Reinhardt (1910 53), a Romany gypsy in France. He formed a famous partnership with the jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli.
Weekend tickets for Django Sur Lennon are available at An Grianan Theatre in Letterkenny and on www.angrianan.com, price 55.
Hot Club of Cowtown & Rant
For two decades, Hot Club of Cowtown have been setting stages ablaze with their intoxicating blend of jaw-dropping virtuosity and down-home melodies, weaving together country, ragtime, big band jazz and blues to awesome effect.
Based in Austin, Texas, the globetrotting trio have toured with everyone from Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson to Roxy Music. Oozing warmth and charm, bassist Jake Erwin, guitarist Whit Smith and fiddler Elana James use every trick in the book to get those feet tapping: playing loose with tempos or ratcheting up the intensity with fretboard-blistering guitar licks, virtuosic fiddling and a Rockabilly-tinged slap-bass style. They are in the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny this Wednesday 26th and the show starts at 8pm.
On Thursday night, also at the RCC, Rant, four of Scotlands finest fiddle players, two from the Shetland Islands and two from the Highlands. Bethany Reid, Jenna Reid, Sarah-Jane Summers and Lauren MacColl join forces to create a rich and vibrant sound. Using just their fiddles, they weave a tapestry of melodies, textures, layers and sounds. Known for their work as soloists and with various bands, this is a celebration of the instrument they all have a passion for. Four fiddles = one beautiful sound!
Since the release of their debut album RANT in 2013 which won them critical acclaim, the band has made major festival and concert appearances across Europe. Described by Songlines as An irresistible journey through reels, strathspeys and jigs and by Roots as dignified, deep and profound music, Rant is Scottish fiddle music of the highest order.
Tickets and info from 074 9120777 or www.regionalculturalcentre.com
The Ragdolls
A celebration of the music of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons in the Balor Arts centre, Ballybofey on Thursday, November 3rd.
The Ragdolls take you on a musical journey through the sounds of one of the most successful bands of all time! This full 8 piece live band recreate the iconic sound of The Four Seasons through classic songs such as Sherry, Walk Like A Man, Oh What A Night and many more.
Bookings on 074 91 31840 or balorartscentre.com
A Donegal man took this rare photo of a plane which had to be diverted on a transatlantic flight yesterday.
United Airlines flight UA76 left Belfast International Airport shortly after 11am bound for Newark, New Jersey.
When the landing gear was being retracted, passengers heard a "really loud grinding noise", journalist Lesley-Anne McKeown, who was on board, told the BBC.
It was announced soon after that the Boeing 757, with 121 passengers and 9 crew, was being diverted to Shannon Airport.
The new route took the plane over Portnoo where avid photographer Gerald McHugh caught sight of it in the bright autumn sky.
He told the Democrat, "Planes do not fly over our area in this direction that is what caught my attention".
The captain had to circle up and down Ireland's west coast dumping excess fuel before the flight could land.
After two hours, the plane touched down safely, to applause and cheers from relieved passengers, at Shannon.
A spokesperson for United Airlines said passengers were being accommodated at hotels in Shannon and alternative flights arranged for them.
The Donegal Association Dublin held their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 19th of October in the Regency Hotel, Drumcondra.
The past was another fantastic year when Deirdre McGlone was inaugurated as Donegal Person of the Year. Hundreds attended our Annual Gala Ball to witness this special event in the Donegal Associations annual dinner.
The committee are delighted to welcome new members to the committee including Ailbhe McMonagle, Majella Ellis, Sorcha Ni Ghallchoir and Mary Ellen Murray.
Siobhan Shovlin of the Association said, We are confident our new members will bring many fresh ideas to the table and enable the association to strengthen and grow in the year ahead and into the future.
The search is on for the next Donegal Person of the Year with the closing date for receipt of nominations is 30th of November 2016.
Any individual or any group may nominate a person the main criteria being that the person nominated should have made a significant contribution to the promotion of the county at local, national, or international level. Nominations should set out the reasons for the nomination. Nomination forms may be downloaded from the Associations website www.donegalassociation.ie
Holden will play a broader role in the development of future General Motors vehicles following an $8.7 million investment in the Lang Lang Proving Ground south east of Melbourne.
The upgrading of the emissions laborotaries to the latest Euro 6 standards will see the creation of at least 11 jobs, taking Holden's engineering and design workforce to 300, 106 of which work within the so-called Global Propulsion Systems team.
"This will return our powertrain department function capability to as big as it's ever been," said Holden communications director Sean Poppitt, referring to the mid-2000s when Holden was developing its $1.2 billion VE Commodore as well as the US market Chevrolet Camaro.
The investment was funded by Holden's US-based parent company General Motors.
Holden engineers have now finished work on the planned upgrades to the 2017 Commodores the last to be built in Australia late next year with their focus turned to a raft of models to be sold in markets as diverse as North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Korea, China and Australia.
Incorporating up to 7000 tests each year on 100 models, the work will be done across at least seven of GM's 10 car brands, including Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Vauxhall, Opel, Buick and Holden.
"About 5 percent of GM cars globally [sold] over the last 12 months have GM fingerprints in their calibration," said Poppitt, adding that the investment in the facilities would likely see that increase. "From our perspective a $9 million investment from GM is a big tick for our long-term future here and retaining highly skilled and high technology jobs here in Melbourne."
The manager of the GPS Calibration Group inside Holden's top secret Lang Lang test facility, David Eliott, said stricter emissions regulations and a greater focus on vehicle emissions brought about partly because of Volkswagen's much publicised cheating that was uncovered in 2015 ensured there is no shortage of work.
"There's more [calibration and emissions testing] work than what we can do," said Eliott. "Everyone is hiring; Detroit's hiring, Europe's hiring, we're hiring. We're struggling to do all the work we've got."
Crucially, the upgraded facilities will ensure engineers can test and calibrate vehicles to meet the world's latest emissions standards, known as Euro 6C.
While Holden engineers focus on petrol engines, the Lang Lang facility has the capability to calibrate and test diesel, LPG and hybrid models.
The investment announcement comes two weeks after Holden laid off 270 workers when it ceased production of the Cruze small car and a year before another 1200 are laid off when engine assembly and Commodore manufacturing shuts down by the end of 2017.
Holden's design and engineering presence trails that of Ford, with the cross-town rival employing about 1500 people despite the recent shutdown of manufacturing.
Weve never quite seen anything like the premiere of The Wild Goose Lodge movie declared the manager of Dublins iconic Savoy Cinema Sandra ODonoghue.
The style, the atmosphere and the excitement was just breathtaking.
The brainchild and dream of William Martin, this independent Irish movie had been seven years in the making.
William first heard the true story of the Wild Goose Lodge when he was playing in the fields near his home in Reaghstown, Ardee, back in 1979. It never left him.
The story of the burning of Wild Goose Lodge and the tragic events that surrounded it captures his imagination. He grew up with a burning desire to tell this story to the whole world.
Fast forward to 2009, William is now aged 39. The need to tale of the Wild Goose Lodge has taken over. He gathers a group of friends on the same hillside. He announces that they are going to make a
movie and asks them to help. They knew nothing about movie making, but they learn fast.
Their aim is to have the movie ready by October 2016, exactly 200 years since the original story occurred. They spend 3 years planning, scripting and casting, 2 years filming and a year editing. The
entire community becomes part of the movie. This movie project breaks down inter-generational barriers and bonds the entire community. They work together with a shared sense of purpose to
deliver this movie. Nearly completed, they take the movie to New York for pre-screening. It receives rave reviews from Jim Masters of PBS and Aine Fox Carroll of the Irish Echo. They do all of this with no experience, no funding and no limits just pure determination.
True to his word the movie has been made in time for the 200th anniversary. In fact it opens in cinemas nationwide on 28th October, 200 years to the day since the burning of the Wild Goose Lodge.
The movie stars Dave Duffy of RTEs Fair City who plays the lead role as Fr. McCann. Legendary musician Finbar Furey has scored a beautiful soundtrack to go with this story.
The premiere was attended by nearly 800 people and there was a standing ovation at the end. Met Eireanns Gerry Murphy hosted the event which was attended by high profile personalities such as Mary Kennedy, Gavin Duffy, Nuala Carey,
Niall Stokes, Anna May and Anna Marie McHugh as well as TDs from across the region.
Reading the 'Talking Heads' article by David Lynch in last week's Democrat I was a little surprised to realise that a person of his generation was interested in the tradition of St. Gerard's Novena in Dundalk. He was certainly correct about one thing; this tradition was created by the people of Dundalk and, more especially, those from the Quay area of the town!
When I was an altar boy in St. Joseph's in the 1940s, during the dark days of the Wartime Emergency, there was a great attendance at the Novena to St. Gerard which had only commenced a few years earlier. The new shrine to St. Gerard in the Church had only been completed in July 1939, just before the outbreak of World War 11. The creation of the interest in the Novena at that time was credited to Father John Murray, C.Ss.R., who had preached at the first of the Novena in the previous year. In fact, there used to be a small marble plaque dedicated to him under the light that used to stand on a small island in front of the steps leading to the front door of the Church! Some confusion arose because, on July 9, 1939, the new shrine was dedicated by another Fr. Murray, the Superior General of the Redemptorists Order at the time, Patrick Murray, C.Ss.R.
This ceremony was very important to the development of the present day Novena but it had been nearly fifty years earlier that the devotion to Italian lay-brother, Gerard Majella, which is now described in Wicapedia as 'the greatest festival of faith in Ireland' was created in Dundalk. St. Gerard had been beatified on January 29. 1893 and an entry in the centenary booklet about St. Joseph's Church in 1976 states --- 'In January of the following year a triduum in honour of Blessed Gerard was preached by Fr. Hall. The enthusiasm of the people was remarkable. Despite appalling weather, continual snow and strong winds, they packed the unheated church to its limits, so much so that the procession in honour of Blessed Gerard could not take place.'
St. Gerard was canonised on December 11, 1904, and the centenary booklet goes on to state 'The people of Dundalk took Gerard Majella to their hearts --- and although devotion to him waned for a period, it never disappeared and the yearly Novena was begun in 1938.'
The first shrine of St. Gerard in the Church was blessed on August 17, 1924. Tradition from my time as an altar boy has it that this first shrine was just a picture of the saint which was placed on the wall beside the entrance to the Boys' Sacristy, where local people would come to pray of their own accord, around time the time of the saint's Feast Day on October 16. The devotion of the people of the area so impressed the Fathers living in the monastery that they decided to erect the shrine at its present location and, according to the writer in the booklet, 'The expense was largely covered through local generosity'.
In my time that picture of St. Gerard near the altar rails had been replaced by one of then Blessed Oliver Plunkett but it was not until after the Centenary that the attendance at St. Gerard's Novena really took off, due mainly, I believe, to the preaching of another Redemptorists Father who had himself served as a lay-brother. I will not name him as he is still with us but people who attend regularly St. Joseph's will known to whom I am referring.
The first woman to enter St. Joseph's Monastery
When attending a session of St. Gerard's Novena recently I was somewhat surprised to see that all the altar servers in attendance were all girls. There may have been boys around but I did not notice any!
What a change from the time when I was an altar server in St. Joseph's! Then there were up on forty altar boys and their names were posted on little wooden sticks which slid into a board which had pegs to indicate the duties to which they had to attend over the following week.
Not that the girls are an unwelcome addition to the service in St. Joseph's but it marks a sea-change in attitudes from sixty to seventy years ago! Back then women were not allowed to entry the precincts of St. Joseph's Monastery and I recall that there used to be notices over the doors at various points which read 'Enclosure'. It did not say 'No Women permitted to Enter' but everybody knew it meant just that! Surprisingly women were allowed on to the sanctuary and even the vesting sacristies but I suppose that was because women did cleaning and other duties around the Church.
I was aware that some members of the Redemptorist Order did not entirely agree with this restriction when females visiting the Monastery were restricted to one small parlour. I was surprised, therefore, to read that one woman had been allowed to enter this Enclosure as long ago as New Years Day January 1946. This extraordinary event occurred when An Taoiseach Eamon De Valera visited the Monastery with his wife Sinead De Valera (nee O'Flanagan).
The Superior at the time was Father Patrick Kelly, C.Ss.R., who must have been the one to grant this usual permission for the time. I am told that the reason for the visit was that the de Valeras had a cousin who was a priest attached to the Dundalk Monastery.
A quartet of sharing economy founders have partnered to launch Australias first shareconomy accelerator in Sydney. The Sharing Hub will provide entrepreneurs with education, mentorship and investment opportunities, as well as a space for collaboration and sharing ideas, with the aim being to accelerate the life cycle of shareconomy startups.
To promote the growth of the sharing economy, the accelerator will also work with policy makers from the NSW Government, which last year released a position paper acknowledging the importance of the emerging sector, estimated to be worth $504m in NSW alone.
The Sharing Hub is led by Mike Rosenbaum, the former CEO of Deals Direct and co-founder of self-storage marketplace Spacer.com.au. The leadership team also includes: Steve Orenstein, CEO and co-founder of on-demand express courier service Zoom2u; Alexis Soulopoulos, CEO and co-founder of pet-sitting network Mad Paws; and Will Davies, CEO and co-founder of car-sharing and rental service Car Next Door.
Prior to launch, the founders hosted events to build the community and provide start-ups with an opportunity to network with established shareconomy companies. The accelerator already consists of ten businesses who meet regularly to discuss issues in the sector across varying verticals including caravan sharing, home cleaning and labour hire.
According to Rosenbaum, the growth of Australias sharing economy in recent years has been driven by new technologies and start-ups have endless opportunities to create platforms where businesses and consumers can monetise their skills and underutilised resources.
The sharing economy has facilitated the creation of new markets, and economic activity where some previously never existed, he said.
Its opening up a number of interesting possibilities including on-demand access to goods and services, efficient utilisation of unused inventory of assets and increased employment including the rise of micro entrepreneurs. This sector has immense potential which is why were investing in growing this sector with The Sharing Economy Hub.
Rosenbaum, a leading investor who sits on the board of several peer-to-peer startups, spoke to Dynamic Business about the genesis of The Sharing Hub, the state of Australias shareconomy, how the government can support it and opportunities for new start-ups to thrive.
What fuelled the launch of The Sharing Hub?
Building a start-up can be a lonely place at times and, as leaders of share economy marketplaces across different verticals, Steve, Alexis, Will and I naturally gravitated toward each other for advice and knowledge sharing. What became apparent was that many of the frictions we encounter in our businesses are common and (almost therapeutically) we have been able to lean on each other to help solve operational problems.
Philosophically we are all believers in the value of mutually beneficial sharing and that extends not just to our own business but with our peers; thats why we are launching this accelerator.
On top of sharing significant learnings, we can help other share economy businesses through the initial start-up phase (the hardest part), build infrastructure like IT platforms and call centre, and procure shared services such as legal, accounting or insurance. Some of our investor base is shared, and we are building an advisor network that brings capital, expertise and contacts to other share economy platforms.
Is Australias shareconomy in a healthy state?
Definitely. Australians are very progressive in their acceptance of new business models, with our country being in the top 10 globally for both Airbnb and Uber users despite the small population. New models are emerging out of the region such as Redbubble and 90 Seconds, which have generated great traction and funding support. Recent rhetoric from both federal and state governments demonstrates this is an industry on the rise.
How can government support the shareconomy?
Collaborate consumption is based on trust and lawmakers have an opportunity to remove uncertainty and clear the path for the sector to flourish. We will continue to advocate for clearer regulations and support mechanisms from government agencies in the sector. We also believe there are many assets the governments and councils themselves can utilise in the share economy to boost their own coffers.
What must haves drive shareconomy success?
Scale, exposure and simplicity. Share platforms often involve winner-takes-all competition because being sub-scale means you cannot service an efficient marketplace and you will eventually lose your customer base. Another must-have is being front of mind, and ensuring the initial user experience is a great one, as often you dont get a second chance.
What shareconomy trend is benefitting start-ups?
Its interesting to see the proliferation of ancillary service providers into Airbnb and Uber users. A number of businesses have sprung up which help manage properties for hosts, or lease cars for people to drive Ubers, or provide gap insurance for drivers. These businesses have piggybacked off their success and are an important cog in driving the ongoing success of the share economy.
For more information about The Sharing Hub, contact Mike Rosenbaum on mike@spacer.com.au
See also: New ways for start-ups to thrive in the shareconomy: Ex Deals Direct CEO talks Spacer and Share a ride with Car Next Doors Will and Dave: the duo challenging car ownership
"We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose." - President Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address
Vienna Initiative publishes its NPL Monitor for the CESEE 2H 2016
The NPL Monitor for the CESEE 2H 2016, newly published by the Vienna Initiative, highlights some positive improvements in reducing levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) and developing solutions to better resolve NPLs in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe (CESEE), while also highlighting the scale of the challenges that remain.
As of 31 December 2015, NPLs amounted to 55.5 billion in the region as whole, which equates to around 5.1 per cent of GDP or 7.7 per cent of gross loans in the 18 countries covered by the survey. A further 129.2 billion in NPLs were recorded in Cyprus, Greece and Ukraine as at 31 December 2015.
According to the latest data from the International Monetary Fund the volume of NPLs decreased substantially in 2015 in CESEE, by 6.5 per cent (or 3.9 billion) compared with December 2014. Improvements were mostly attributable to a decreased stock of NPLs thanks to sales (for example, in Hungary and Slovenia) but also to other factors such as the introduction of new legislation (for example in Albania).
The secondary NPL market remained relatively stable for the region, with approximately 6 billion in NPL transactions realised over the last 18 months and comprising over 2 billion in the first half of 2016 alone.
Significant progress has also been achieved in understanding the roots of the NPL issue and in contributions to defining and implementing solutions. International financial institutions, national regulators and the banking industry continue to work together closely and successfully. For example, the European Central Bank has published guidance on NPLs (under public consultation until 15 November 2016) to serve as a basic framework in Europe. And as part of the Vienna Initiative, the EBRD launched a new NPL Initiative website dedicated to the issue in September 2016.
Despite these improvements, NPL ratios remain persistently high, exceeding 10 per cent in 10 of the 18 CESEE countries. Full resolution of the burdensome NPL issue in the region remains a significant challenge. European and national regulators, in cooperation with the industry, must continue their efforts to overcome the remaining obstacles to NPL resolution and sales and to develop robust safeguards against new NPLs.
Key highlights from the NPL Monitor for the CESEE 2H 2016
The steepest year-on-year reductions in NPL volumes were registered in Hungary (2.6 billion or 33.5 per cent), Slovenia (0.9 billion or 22.1 per cent) and Albania (0.2 billion or 19.6 per cent). Year-on-year increases in NPL volumes were recorded in Romania (1.4 per cent), the Czech Republic (1.7 per cent), FYR Macedonia (4.7 per cent) and Bulgaria (20 per cent).
However, the NPL ratio (measured as the proportion of NPLs to total gross loans and advances) on a country-by-country basis continues to vary greatly, ranging from a low of 1 per cent in Estonia to a high of 21.6 per cent in Serbia. Bulgaria, Albania and Croatia recorded NPL ratios of 20.6, 18.2 and 16.3 per cent, respectively.
Three countries saw increases in their NPL ratios: Latvia recorded a marginal increase of 0.04 per cent, while Bulgaria and Serbia recorded increases of 3.9 and 0.1 per cent, respectively. These three countries accounted for 18.2 per cent of all NPLs in the region while accounting for only 8.7 per cent of total gross loans.
Across the region the NPL coverage ratio (measured as the proportion of specific loan loss provisions to NPLs) increased from 59.4 per cent in December 2014 to 60.9 per cent in December 2015. On a country-by-country basis, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia and Latvia had the highest NPL coverage ratios with 90.5, 86.7 and 77.8 per cent, respectively.
The countries with the lowest NPL coverage ratios in December 2015 were Lithuania and Estonia at 33.8 and 29.2 per cent, respectively. The risk associated with this lower coverage is mitigated by the fact that both countries have relatively low NPL ratios of 5.7 and 1 per cent, respectively.
Bulgaria, Montenegro and Romania are some of the most vulnerable countries, with higher NPL ratios and lower NPL coverage ratios than the averages recorded for the CESEE region.
In her recent write-up, lifelong activist and community journalist Shea Howell very clearly articulated the benefits of Proposal A and the lengths schemers will go through in order to get community members to vote it down in favor of Proposal B.
Howell said, Detroiters are being flooded with high priced, deceptive appeals for our vote. Expensive TV and radio commercials, slick flyers, and glossy mailers are all urging us to vote against the one proposal that could actually make a difference in how development happens in our city.
UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada had this to say:
For those who havent followed the story, Proposal A is on Detroits ballot because community members and grassroots organizations mobilized a successful petition signature drive. They were motivated by the chance to create a structure that would allow developers seeking public assets for major construction projects to sit with impacted communities and negotiate an enforceable agreement that could include jobs, affordable housing, educational opportunities and community programs.
Read more from Shea Howell and Cindy Estrada HERE.
It is imperative that voters get on the right side of Proposal A this election season and vote down Proposal B. As is typical with politicians who dont move in the best interest of the people, Scott Benson is on the wrong side of the Community Benefits Ordinance. We must not allow bells and whistles to distract us from voting on the side of the people of Detroit.
Supporters of Proposal A are asking Detroit community members, activists, labor organizers, teachers, artists, anyone who cares about the future of Detroit to attend a CBA Town Hall hosted by Council President Brenda Jones and Council Member Mary Sheffield on Thursday, October 27th from 6pm to 8pm at the AFSCME Council 25 office located at 600 Lafayette.
For more information about the Community Benefit Ordinance and how you can support organizing efforts, visit Rise Together Detroit.
Newsweek is the latest media institution to get caught up in a series of cyberattacks that have targeted major government, political and media organizations, raising suspicions of links to Russia or other foreign adversaries.
The news magazine sustained a massive DDoS attack the day after it published a cover story about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumps business activities in the late 1990s. Officials linked to the real estate mogul allegedly spent tens of thousands of dollars to seek out potential new business in Cuba, amid rumors of a change in U.S. policy during the second term of the Clinton administration.
The expenditures would have violated U.S. law, the article suggests, as it was illegal for Americans to spend money in the country due to a boycott of the Castro regime.
Kurt Eichenwald, author of the Newsweek story, tweeted news of the attack.
News: The reason ppl couldnt read #TrumpInCuba piece late yesterday is that hackers launched a major attack on Newsweek after it was posted.
Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 30, 2016
Eichenwald later tweeted that numerous IP addresses had been identified, with the main ones coming from Russia.
The New York Times this summer was hit by an attack on its Moscow bureau.
There was no evidence that any of the companys internal systems, including at the Moscow bureau, had been breached or compromised, Eileen Murphy, SVP of communications, said at the time.
The two attacks are different in that hackers breached The New York Times in search of information, while the Newsweek attack was a DDoS, noted Jon Clay, senior global marketing manager at Trend Micro.
The similarities are that they are both news organizations, he told the E-Commerce Times. We have seen an increase in attacks against these types of organizations over the past year, which may be due to the nature of the world today. Hackers want information they can use to either sell or exploit for profit, and hacktivists want to disrupt their victims activities or networks.
Device Diversion
DDoS attacks often involve using compromised devices connected to the Internet for example, Web cameras or IoT devices and then flooding the system with targeted communications from them, said Clay.
More traditionally, the actors have recruited other sympathetic users on the Internet to utilize DDoS tools and then coordinate an attack at a specified time frame, he pointed out.
DDoS attacks generally fall into three categories mischief, misdirection or brand damage noted Kevin OBrien, president of GreatHorn.
Mischief attacks, known as lulz, are essentially digital graffiti or hackers having fun at the expense of a victim, he told the E-Commerce Times. Brand damage is essentially a form of disrupting a political or corporate brand by taking it offline. Misdirection attacks use the initial hack to divert essential IT staff from a second more dangerous attack, which usually involves the use of stolen credentials to access more sensitive areas of a target.
Mulling Motives
I would not be surprised to find that the Newsweek DDoS attack was motivated by some form of political activism, in response to their OpEd position in world affairs in general and/or Russian influence on the global stage in particular, OBrien said.
The jury is still out on whether the Newsweek attack was designed to intimidate the magazine or was a random attack designed primarily to embarrass another major U.S. institution, said Rick Edmonds, media business analyst at the Poynter Institute.
Id vote for random mischief, though I am going to have to leave it to the CIA to scope out how coordinated the Russian hacks are and what their purpose is, he told the E-Commerce Times, noting that the Newsweek attack was sort of in the Trump spirit of bite back.
Federal authorities have been investigating reports that hackers targeted the mobile phones of a handful of Democratic Party staffers, according to a Reuters article published last week.
The news follows a series of breaches in recent months that revealed emails and other personal information of party staffers and other Democratic officials.
The FBI has launched an investigation into the attacks, which party officials believe are linked to Russia. Several members of Congress have raised suspicions in recent weeks that Russia might be attempting to interfere with the U.S. elections.
In addition to cyberattacks on Democratic Party operatives, recent breaches of state election systems are suspected of having Russian connections.
Possible targets were asked to turn over their phones so an image could be made of the devices, the latest reports indicated. Data retrieved from Democratic Party staff emails may have been used to access the mobile phones.
CrowdStrike, a Cybersecurity firm that investigated prior cyberattacks involving the DNC and other targets, declined to comment for this story.
The alleged mobile phone hacks reportedly involve malicious software infecting the devices. The data probe could involve photos, contacts, text messages, phone logs and other items.
DNC officials did not respond to our request to comment for this story. FBI officials declined to comment.
High Alert
A variety of means can be used to infect software, said Christopher Budd, global threat communications manager at Trend Micro.
For mobile, the one unique vector is getting people to install what they believe are legitimate apps from spoofed or otherwise misrepresented app stores, he told TechNewsWorld. However, theres no indication that a malicious app was involved in this case. Its a little harder to get malicious software on a mobile device, but it can be done.
News of the investigation adds to the heightened state of alert about the integrity of various U.S. election systems. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, recently released a statement on alleged Russian hacking activity against various systems.
Based on briefings we have received, we have concluded that the Russian intelligence agencies are making a serious and concerted effort to influence the U.S. election, they said. At the least, this effort is intended to sow doubt about the security of our election and may well be intended to influence the outcomes of the election we can see no other rationale for the behavior of the Russians.
The orders for such activity could only come only from very senior levels of the Russian government, Feinstein and Schiff maintained, and they called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to order an immediate halt to the activity.
Shoring Up Defenses
In wake of attacks on election databases in Illinois and Arizona, 18 states have accepted an offer from the Department of Homeland Security to help them make sure their election systems are secure, Secretary Jeh Johnson testified in a Senate committee hearing last week.
In those cases, suspected overseas hackers compromised the personal information of up to 200,000 voter records in Illinois and also attacked the election infrastructure in Arizona. However, no individual records were compromised.
The Illinois breach involved a suspected SQL injection attack, officials confirmed. Arizona election officials have linked the attack there to suspected Russian actors.
DHS last month issued a warning to state election officials about possible threats to their respective systems and offered to provide additional security measures, including cyberhygiene scans of their respective Internet-facing systems, and risk and vulnerability scans by on-site experts.
The public should have confidence in the election system, despite concerns about recent attacks on the DNC and infrastructures in Arizona and Illinois, said Thomas Hicks, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Because of the decentralized nature of the American election administration system, there is no single, uniform national system that would affect the outcome of election results for the November 2016 presidential election, he testified late last month before the Subcommittee for Information Technology for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Suspected Russian hackers, including the teams known as Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear, have been implicated in earlier hacks on the DNC and other federal agencies.
A spearphising attack on Bellingcat, a website backed by a group of citizen journalists involved in the probe of MH 17, carries the hallmarks of Fancy Bear, according to ThreatConnect.
The attacks, which date back to last year, targeted individual emails, and were similar to the attack on White House staffer Billy Rinehart, whose stolen information recently was splashed onto DCleaks, suspected of being a Russian-influenced operation.
There is no way to easily tell the intentions of the hacks targeting Bellingcat and its journalists, said Kyle Ehmke, senior threat intelligence researcher at ThreatConnect.
Certainly there are a range of actions that could be enabled, he told TechNewsWorld, based on the information they are seeking to secure.
Southwest Airlines on Wednesday evacuated a plane in Louisville, Kentucky, after a Samsung Galaxy Note7 began popping and issuing thick smoke.
Samsung last month began replacing Galaxy Note7s globally, following reports of several of the devices catching fire or exploding. It blamed the problem on an isolated faulty battery cell issue.
The device involved in the Southwest Airline incident reportedly was a replacement phone, according to owner Brian Green.
Samsung has said it will verify whether the phone actually was a replacement.
The latest incident throws a pall over the future of the Galaxy Note series, which had been Samsungs flagship line.
Wall Street and some retailers might understand that the problem may not have been created by Samsung, but they will not care, said Larry Chiagouris, a professor of marketing at Pace University.
Consumers will certainly care less, he told TechNewsWorld. All will hold Samsung responsible for its supply chain and as a result, all will now rethink buying anything Samsung.
Samsung officials may be in denial, since they will likely view it as not their fault but they specified the battery and chose the suppliers, and they cannot ignore the lingering impact on the Samsung brand and reputation, Chiagouris said.
No End in Sight
We are still investigating the Southwest Airlines 944 incident, said Tammy Jones, a spokesperson for the United States Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA has issued safety alerts for operators and advisory circulars advising the airlines that they must have procedures for fighting these in-cabin fires, she told TechNewsWorld.
The FAA previously issued advisories to airlines and passengers about the Galaxy Note7 in response to Samsungs recall.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has begun looking into the issue, and has reached out to the FAA and Samsung.
The problem with the Note7 may drag on for several months, said Neil Mawston, a research executive director at Strategy Analytics.
The company has millions of models in many countries to replace, he told TechNewsWorld. Dells big recall of millions of laptop batteries in 2006 took around six months.
As smartphones become more complex, product glitches and recalls will become more common, Mawston predicted. The iPhone, for example, was recently accused of touch disease for a display glitch.
The Fiery Fallout
Airlines have begun telling passengers on all flights that they must shut off their Samsung phones for the entire flight based on government directives, Chiagouris noted.
In effect, the entire flying public is being constantly reminded about Samsungs problems, he said.
Samsung will have to retire the Galaxy brand and Note models and introduce new ones to replace them, Chiagouris suggested. The company also may have to offer longer warranties and rebates to regain consumer trust.
Samsung has two issues to fix, according to Mawston. First, its quality control during design and production needs improving. Second, it needs better contingency plans for product recalls when things go wrong. It was caught on the hop by the Note7 recall.
Samsungs base is now pretty much gone, observed Will Stofega, a research program director at IDC.
The company did its best to get the faulty phoned out of the market prior to the official recall, but this problem will likely hurt their revenue for this quarter, he told TechNewsWorld.
With its recently announced Pixel line, Google has a golden opportunity to take market share from Samsung, Mawston said.
Other Android flagship device makers likely will look to capitalize on Samsungs problems as well, Stofega noted, but the opportunity will be limited for Chinese phone makers, which face distribution challenges in the U.S.
The status of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange grew a bit murky on Tuesday after the group accused the U.S. State Department of pressuring Ecuadorian officials to block him from posting additional emails linked to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
The Ecuadorian foreign ministry on Tuesday acknowledged placing temporary restrictions on Assanges access, saying in a statement that it did not wish to interfere in a foreign election. It also said that it was acting on its own and not in response to any outside pressures.
Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012 to shield himself from two outstanding sex assault charges stemming from a 2010 trip he made to Sweden. He has continued to lead the WikiLeaks organization from there.
WikiLeaks earlier on Tuesday had accused U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry of pressuring his counterparts in Ecuador to crack down on the email leaks during a round of peace negotiations to end the decades-old conflict between Marxist FARC rebels and the Columbian military.
Kerry held private meetings with Ecuador during a sideline period in negotiations with Columbia that began on Sept. 26, WikiLeaks claimed.
The John Kerry private meeting with Ecuador was made on the sidelines of the negotiations which took place pricipally on Sep 26 in Colombia.
WikiLeaks (@WikiLeaks) October 18, 2016
Assange lost his Internet connection at the Embassy at 5 p.m. on Saturday GMT, shortly after the group published Clintons Goldman Sachs speech, WikiLeaks said in an earlier tweet.
We can confirm Ecuador cut off Assange's internet access Saturday, 5pm GMT, shortly after publication of Clinton's Goldman Sachs speechs.
WikiLeaks (@WikiLeaks) October 17, 2016
Code Blue
WikiLeaks initially claimed that a state party intentionally severed Assanges Internet link and that it had activated the appropriate contingency plans.
WikiLeaks also released three tweets called pre-commitment 1: John Kerry, pre-commitment 2: Ecuador and pre-commitment 3: UK FCO. Each tweet included what appeared to be alpha-numeric cryptokeys, more than 60 characters long.
The tweets set off a frenzy of speculation, including rumors that Assange had died. However, that rumor was quickly shot down.
Assange had warned for several months that he would release information that was damaging to Clinton before the November presidential election.
Method and Madness
The method and motivation of the various actors in this most recent drama left Troy Hunt, a Microsoft regional director and MVP, at a loss as to exactly what happened this weekend.
Seems a bit weird to me Ecuador has granted him asylum, he told the E-Commerce Times. Why pull his Internet? And how was the U.S. able to do it when hes holed up in a building in London? Or was it political pressure rather than technical means used by the U.S.?
Kerry had nothing to do with Assanges loss of Internet access, according to State Department spokesperson John Kirby.
While our concerns about WikiLeaks are longstanding, any suggestion that Secretary Kerry or the State Department were involved in shutting down WikiLeaks is false, he said. Reports that Secretary Kerry had conversations with Ecuadorian officials about this are simply untrue. Period.
US Will Strike Back
Assange made headlines earlier this year when WikiLeaks was connected to suspected Russian hacks of emails belonging to Hillary Clinton and her associates, as well as network intrusions of several Democratic Party organizations.
The leaked emails are part of the Russian governments targeted campaign to undermine the confidence in the U.S. presidential election and possibly influence the outcome, according to U.S. government officials and cybersecurity experts.
The Obama administration earlier this month officially accused the Russian government of orchestrating the cyberattacks and promised to deliver a proportional response.
Officials at Ecuadors U.S. embassy referred us to the countrys Foreign Ministry, which did not respond to our request to comment on this story.
WikiLeaks recently released a new batch of emails belonging to longtime Clinton associate John Podesta, who is the current chairman of the Clinton presidential campaign and was chief of staff under President Bill Clinton and counselor to President Barack Obama.
Google last week launched a Fact Check tag to help readers find fact-checking in major news stories published in the United States and the UK.
Readers will see tagged articles in the expanded story box on news.google.com and in the Google News & Weather apps for iOS and Android.
One factor the Google News algorithms consider in determining whether an article might contain fact checks is the Schema.org ClaimReview markup.
Another is whether sites follow commonly accepted criteria for fact checks.
Although theres a slew of biased media reports about the presidential candidates, the Fact Check tag is aimed at all stories, not just political ones, Google said in a statement provided to TechNewsWorld by company rep Maggie Shiels. The tag has just launched, so you will likely see an uptick in the coming weeks.
Applying the Fact Check Label
Google requires that discrete claims and checks be identified easily in the body of Fact Check articles. Readers should be able to understand what was checked, and what conclusions were reached.
Analysis must be transparent about sources and methods, with citations and references to primary sources.
The organization must be nonpartisan, with transparent funding and affiliations. It should examine a range of claims in its topic area instead of targeting a single person or entity.
Article titles must indicate that a claim is being reviewed, state conclusions reached, or simply indicate that the contents consist of fact checking.
Google News may apply the Fact Check tag to content published with fact-checking content adhering to its criteria.
Google may remove sites that dont follow the criteria for the ClaimReview markup from Google News, or ignore the sites markup.
Whats in a Tag
Done well, where valid news stories that report ethically and accurately are used, this could really help journalism and the public, said Lynn Walsh, national president of the Society of Professional Journalists.
For journalists, its just one more validation that their work is trustworthy, she told TechNewsWorld. For the public, it provides a way to cut through the clutter that sometimes exists like articles that dont clearly distinguish between fact and opinion.
However, theres a risk that tagged articles may not be fully vetted, accurate or ethically reported, Walsh warned. With this just launching its too early to tell, but this is something I think journalists and news organizations should watch closely.
Who Watches the Watcher?
It appears that Googles depending on fact checking collectives to police themselves and is then simply utilizing fact checkers that conform to the standards of the collectives, said Michael Jude, a program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan.
This is OK, but Google may face issues unless it makes the quality of its fact checking very clear, he told TechNewsWorld. A disavowal of the accuracy of fact checking seems likely at some point.
Another concern is whether Google is attempting to credential articles and reporters as legitimate, and others as non-legitimate, Walsh said.
Theres a need for legitimizing sources, but this could be a slippery slope, she cautioned. We have a right to publish and speak freely in this country no matter who you are.
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LONDON - An investigation by BBC1's Panorama programme uncovered evidence of a 15-year-old boy working 12 days in a factory ironing jeans which were to be shipped to iconic UK retailer, Marks & Spencer. The programme focused on the growing issue of Syrian refugees working often informally, for below the national minimum wage and in hazardous conditions in Turkey's textile industry. UK fast fashion business ASOS, and Spanish brands Zara and Mango were also cited in the programme.
AMSTERDAM This week's KingPins 2016 Amsterdam Show kicked off with a debate - led by the ZDHC - about the textile chemicals industry, and asked the chemical industry, manufacturers, brands, and industry coalitions whether the "scary part of hazardous chemicals on the way?"
A U.S. appeals court ruled that federal agencies can list species as threatened based on projections of how climate change will impact their habitats.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Oil companies and Alaska natives had challenged the National Marine Fisheries Services decision to list a seal species as threatened because of sea ice loss, but the court upheld the decision.
The service need not wait until a species habitat is destroyed to determine that habitat loss may facilitate extinction, Judge Richard A. Paez wrote.
For a deeper dive:
LA Times, AP, The Hill, Arctic Daily News, Gizmodo, IB Times, Climate Home
For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.
Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from
six states are headed to North Dakota under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a program designed to facilitate state-to-state disaster relief assistance. While this compact has been used in times of riot, its use in peaceful protests or non-violent direct actions seems unprecedented.
On Aug. 19, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple issued a
state of emergency, which is a prerequisite to requesting help under EMAC.
This emergency declaration simply allows us to bring greater resources to bear if needed to help local officials address any further public safety concerns, Gov. Dalrymple said.
But,
according to Jennifer Cook, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota:
The origins of the states overreaction can be traced to a lawsuit filed by the oil pipeline companyDakota Accessagainst protesters in federal court to stop demonstrations near its construction sites. To sway the courts decision and likely public opinion, too, the pipeline company claimed it feared violence from protesters was imminent because of a few vague threats posted on social media and an anonymous email. Protesters have been arrested for pushing through police lines to stop construction equipment, but incidents like these in no way support declaring a state of emergency and militarizing the states response.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others who have been trying to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline have faced numerous police actions:
1. Attack dogs and mace: On Sept. 4, Morton County Sheriffs officers arrested 21 protestors as private security forces hired by Dakota Access LLC used mace and unleashed dogs. An estimated 30 people suffered temporary blindness, while several were attacked and bitten by the dogs.
2. Armored vehicles: On Sept. 29, during a peaceful prayer ceremony at Standing Rock, Morton County police moved in with armored vehicles and riot gear, arresting 21.
3. 126 Arrested: On Oct. 22, 126 people were arrested and charged with rioting and other offenses. Witnesses saw officers pepper-spraying people.
4. Journalists arrested: Democracy Now! journalist Amy Goodman was charged with rioting after her video report of the Sept. 4 incident went viral. The charge was thrown out in court. On Oct. 11, filmmaker Deia Schlosberg was jailed and charged with three felonies. She faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecuting filmmakers for covering protests sends a chilling message,
stated Robert Mahoney, deputy executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. He urged prosecutors to drop all charges.
Police line up against peaceful protestors on Oct. 22. Morton County Sheriffs Department
Justifying the weekends arrests, an Oct. 23
press release from the Morton County Sheriffs office stated that this escalated criminal behavior by protesters calls for additional manpower. Now, increasingly militarized police will be joined by additional forces from Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Indiana and Nebraska.
However, tribal leaders maintain that their protests are non-violent and peaceful. In an email to EcoWatch, tribal historian LaDonna Allard wrote, We dont allow weapons of any kind at the camps.
Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, issued a
statement that said:
The Tribe also supports the right of our citizens and supporters of the Tribe to engage in peaceful, non-violent expressions of their opposition to the pipeline. The Tribe believes that non-violence must be the guiding principle of citizen activism at all times.
But the more than 2,000 Native Americans and non-Natives, many of whom have come from across the U.S. to stand up for the Sioux, are increasingly fearful of police force. Mark Trahant, an independent journalist and a faculty member at the University of North Dakota, asked,
How far will North Dakota go? He stated:
Theyve already tried intimidation, humiliation and the number of arrests are increasing. Pick on protectors, elders, journalists, famous people, anyone who could make the state appear potent. The latest tactic is to toss around the word riot as if saying it often enough will change its definition.
Archambault
called on the U.S. Department of Justice to step in. In a letter Monday to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, he wrote:
To many people, the military tactics being used in North Dakota are reminiscent of the tactics used against protesters during the civil rights movement some 50 years ago. And I believe that there are similarities there. But to us, there is an additional collective memory that comes to mind. This country has a long and sad history of using military force against indigenous peopleincluding the Sioux Nation.
Organizers Kandi Mossett, Tara Houska and Dallas Goldtooth provided an update and call to action on the situation at Standing Rock at the Bioneers 2016 Conference Sunday. Watch here:
[facebook https://www.facebook.com/Bioneers.org/videos/10154807289730757/ expand=1]
Actor
Mark Ruffalo is visiting North Dakota today and Wednesday. He will participate in a press conference and deliver solar trailers to Standing Rock Sioux tribal elders to provide power at the camp. Leonardo DiCaprio also has plans to visit North Dakota in opposition of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Meanwhile, a rally was held in Minneapolis on Tuesday to protest the participation of deputies from Hennepin County.
A new documentary produced and starring actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio premieres in Los Angeles today and will be broadcast globally in 45 languages in 171 countries on the National Geographic Channel starting Oct. 30, timed to air in advance of the November elections.
The film highlights the critical role forest destruction plays in driving carbon pollution into Earths atmosphere and focuses specifically on how the rapid spread of industrial palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia are at the heart of this crisis. The film It is directed by Fisher Stevens who, like DiCaprio, is an Academy Award winner.
Watch the exclusive clip here:
[facebook https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/1326768530669414/ expand=1]
The film captures DiCaprios visit to the Leuser Ecosystem in Aceh, Indonesia, where extremely high rates of forest clearance have exacerbated the climate change dilemma. Indonesia is now one of the worlds top carbon emitting countries, primarily due to the massive deforestation in the region. Before the Flood notes that as it was being filmed in late 2015, man-made fires in Indonesia were spewing more carbon pollution on a daily basis than the entire U.S. economy combined. These illegal fires are an annual occurrence as a method of clearing land for palm-oil plantations. And just more than a week ago, the Indonesian government again declared a national state of emergency due to the severe impacts caused by the out of control fires.
This important film brings much needed attention to the destruction of rainforests for palm oil, which is a huge driver of global climate change. We must aggressively address the deforestation crisis in places like Indonesias Leuser Ecosystem, said Lindsey Allen, executive director of Rainforest Action Network. With palm oil in roughly half of all packaged goods at the grocery store, its up to all of us to demand major global brands like PepsiCo finally do the right thing and break the link between their products and tropical forest destruction.
DiCaprio met with Allen during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) to discuss the urgent situation facing the Leuser Ecosystem and the critical connection between deforestation and global carbon emissions.
Following his conversation with Allen, DiCaprios trip to the Leuser Ecosystem caused an international uproar when the Indonesian government briefly threatened him with deportation following his social media posts that drew attention to the deforestation and destruction caused by palm oil expansion. The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation later committed three years of major funding for local and international efforts to save the Leuser Ecosystem.
Watch the trailer for Before the Flood here:
What is fracking?
Fracking is a process of blasting water, chemicals and frac sand deep into the earth to break up sedimentary rock and access natural gas and crude oil deposits. The fracking industry, which has sought to promote the practice as safe and controlled, has preferred the term hydraulic fracturing.
Fracking emerged as an unconventional, relatively new and extremely popular technique only about 20 years ago in the U.S., after advances in technology gave it an unprecedented ability to identify and extract massive amounts of resources efficiently.
Fracking is one of the most important environmental issues today, and its a prime example of how a new technology that offers immediate economic and political benefits can outpace (often less obvious) environmental and health concerns.
Why is fracking so controversial?
Modern fracking emerged so quickly, faster than its impacts were understood. Just as importantly, once scientists, health experts and the public started to object with evidence of harm it was causing, business and government succeeded in perpetuating a message of uncertainty, that more research was necessary, further enabling the full speed ahead fracking juggernaut.
How does fracking impact the environment?
Frackings supporters have pushed an environmental angle, insisting that natural gas can be a bridge fuel, a cheaper, cleaner option than coal before we have a large-scale transition to renewable energy. This claim has some merit, as natural gas does emit much less carbon dioxide than coal or oil. However, it is still a fossil fuel, adding harmful emissions while the climate crisis worsens. Moreover, fracking wells leak methane, a greenhouse gas more than 25 times more potent than CO2.
Water
In order to break up rock formations one to two miles deep, a fracking operation requires millions of gallons amount of water. After its used, the resulting wastewater, which contains chemicals is pumped back into injection wells, sent to treatment plants, or can be dangerously dumped or spilled.
In 2016 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report skewed friendly to industry in its language: Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas: Impacts from the Hydraulic Fracturing Water Cycle on Drinking Water Resources in the United States. The EPA acknowledged that drinking water contamination was possible, but ultimately came to this conclusion: Data gaps and uncertainties limited EPAs ability to fully assess the potential impacts on drinking water resources locally and nationally.
Earthquakes
According to the U.S. Geologic Survey, disposal of wastewater has caused an increase in earthquakes in the central U.S. Seismologists have reported that frackings initial blasting process can trigger earthquakes.
Air Pollution
In addition to methane, fracking releases many toxic contaminants into the air. EPA has acknowledged the public health threat, but a lack of urgent political pressure has sidelined the agency into advising on ways to control and reduce, rather than eliminate, the danger.
Toxic Chemicals
Fracking fluids contain unknown chemicals and known carcinogens such as benzene. Fracking companies havent been required to disclose their proprietary formulas, however. This is yet another example of how uncertainty serves as an enabling force. The EPA has identified more than 1,000 different chemicals used in fracking fluid.
Wildlife
Fracking can destroy wildlife habitats, pollute rivers and fisheries, poison birds, and use up water supplies that animals need to survive.
How does fracking affect the economy?
The fracking boom made the U.S. the worlds largest producer of oil and gas, reducing its energy imports from 26% to less than 4%. It has lowered oil and gas prices and created thousands of industry jobs. While fracking companies profited greatly at first, as prices dropped their margins collapsed. Many are now going bankrupt.
How is fracking regulated?
Congress has enabled the oil and gas industry to be exempt from such regulations as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Fracking surged during the Obama administration, which moved to protect water from fracking on federal lands in 2015. Subsequently, the Trump administration sought to roll back protections and expand fracking on federal lands.
Key Examples of Fracking in the United States
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvanias Marcellus Shale is the source for about 40% of shale gas production in the U.S.
New York
While the Marcellus Shale also runs through New York, the state has banned fracking.
Texas
Texas produces more crude oil than any other state.
North Dakota
The Bakken Shale in North Dakota has been one of the main sites for the fracking boom and subsequent bust, leaving behind extensive environmental damage.
A recent report found that all 50 states could provide 100% (or even greater) in-state renewable energy.
Other Countries
Outside the U.S., only Canada, China and Argentina have commercial fracking operations. A UN report in 2018 said that other countries were highly unlikely to produce at such a large scale as the U.S., due to political and cultural factors, and existing infrastructure.
The Future of Fracking
While renewables were considered a solution for peak oil only a decade ago, fracking changed the terms of the debate, with a new focus from environmentalists to keep it in the ground starting in 2015.
The Biden administration now stands at a pivotal moment in the climate crisis. Bidens stance on fracking is not yet entirely clear, but he has rejoined the Paris agreement and appears to take climate seriously. At the same time, he is sympathetic to workers in fossil fuel industries, was vice president during the fracking boom years under Obama, and may be more inclined to seek a gradual transition than one fast enough to help solve the crisis.
(Facebook/MadamSecretary)Angola is disappointed with the US in the upcoming episode of "Madam Secretary."
The Dalton administration will be criticized by the international media in the upcoming episode of "Madam Secretary." What will Elizabeth (Tea Leoni) do to avoid further damage to her boss' reputation?
In the episode titled "The Dissent Memo," the synopsis (as per CarterMatt) reveals that a political ally will express dissatisfaction in the Americans' giving a cold shoulder to the growing unrest in Angola. A political rally has been bombed and the Bureau of African Affairs is wondering why the United States is not reacting as expected. The Africans think the other country is not paying the proper attention to the upcoming elections in Angola. A "dissent memo" will be sent to Dalton's (Keith Carradine) administration and Elizabeth must find a way to answer it without ruffling more feathers.
Elizabeth will be dealing with the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, Susan Thompson (Tonya Pinkins). She will have to be very careful, since the U.S. cannot afford having Angola as an enemy. The world has been keeping a close eye on them and getting involved in an international debacle is the last thing it needs. Elizabeth also cannot afford to mess up, especially now that Dalton's chances of winning the elections are not so good. Russell (Zeljko Ivanek) even wants her to help Dalton secure a slot in the ballot from Ohio. Will Elizabeth save the day once again?
Last episode, Elizabeth had to beg the Chinese foreign minister to free several Americans who had been detained for spying. They were environmental advocates who were protesting the damage in the South China Sea. Elsewhere, Henry (Tim Daly) had a suspicion that their family's hacker was his wife's former student. The McCords realized that life still goes on for them and they must not let the stalker curtail their daily activities. They just needed to be extra careful in case the culprit strikes again.
"Madam Secretary" season 3 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
(Photo: REUTERS / Miraflores Palace / Handout via Reuters)Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (L) talks to Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman (R) and Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino (2nd R), as their Chilean counterpart Heraldo Munoz looks on, during a meeting with members of the Union of South American Nations' (UNASUR) at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas in this handout picture provided by Miraflores Palace on April 7, 2014.
CARACAS (Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro's government and Venezuela's main opposition group agreed on Tuesday to begin talks intended to halt the nation's worst political unrest in a decade.
Representatives of the Vatican and South American regional bloc Unasur will mediate, both sides said.
Clashes between security forces and pro-government militants on one side, and hooded opposition demonstrators blocking streets on the other, have killed 39 people since mid-February, according to official figures.
The dead have included government supporters, opponents, and members of the security forces.
Maduro, the 51-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez, led the government team at Tuesday's preliminary talks that were the first sit-down with the Democratic Unity (MUD) opposition coalition since the troubles began.
"We spoke frankly, directly and respectfully. There were moments of tension, but we agreed to start a cycle of meetings," Maduro said after the meeting in a 17th century colonial building that houses the foreign ministry.
"Neither will we try and convert them to Bolivarian socialism nor will they convert us to capitalism," he said, using a reference to Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar.
The formal talks are set to begin on Thursday.
On the agenda will be Venezuela's crime epidemic and economic problems - issues high on the litany of complaints from demonstrators in the streets since early February.
The opposition is also insisting on the release of jailed protest leader Leopoldo Lopez and dozens of imprisoned students.
"DIFFICULT PATH"
Tuesday's meeting, brokered by visiting Unasur foreign ministers, may take some heat out of a crisis that has also caused hundreds of injuries and arrests, and proved a further drag on Venezuela's ailing economy.
But they may disappoint hardliners in the opposition, who had been hoping to inspire a "Venezuelan Spring" and view Maduro's exit as the only solution.
MUD leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said the opposition would ensure that students, who have led the wave of protests, would not be forgotten in the talks.
"We have agreed to the presence of a third party who will help us in this difficult path," he added, referring to the probable involvement of a Roman Catholic Church official.
From jail, Lopez called for a continuation of peaceful protests and expressed skepticism over the incipient talks.
"I believe deeply in dialogue, but in a dialogue of equals, not (with one side) on its knees. For 15 years, we have seen how the dictatorship conducts dialogue," he said in a series of messages posted by his wife on Twitter.
Though there have been no new fatalities for several days, clashes have continued on the streets of Caracas and some other hotspots such as the western city of San Cristobal.
While the students have failed to bring millions of protesters out as they had hoped, they have shown persistence in building barricades on streets and using other nuisance tactics.
Some have been posing naked on social media to protest against the beating and stripping of a student during a melee last week at a university in Caracas.
Maduro accuses the protesters of trying to promote a coup against him similar to a brief toppling of Chavez in 2002.
(Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Ken Wills)
Revamping the way a whole school or district meets students needs requires changing the mindset of educators and experimenting with new approaches that may or may not work.
Over the past four years, the six-year-old Next Generation Learning Challenges grant program has poured millions of dollars into K-12 school models that use technology, personalized learning, and new forms of assessment in an attempt to overhaul the traditional educational process.
Underwritten by organizations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and overseen by education nonprofit EDUCAUSE, the Learning Challenges grant has awarded $40 million directly or through partners to 130 schools, districts, and organizations looking to overhaul and disrupt traditional models to boost college readiness and completion, said Andrew Calkins, the deputy director of the learning challenges grant program. (The Gates Foundation provides support for coverage in Education Week of college- and career-ready standards and the use of personalized learning.)
During that time, grant officials have learned a lot about the challenges, tools, and strategies needed to implement those innovative learning models and evaluate their success. In June, the organization released a report, Measures That Matter Most, which took a closer look at how Next-Gen educators gauge their success.
Calkins spoke with Education Week about the evolution of grantees efforts. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
What is the goal of the Next Generation Learning Challenges?
[Our grants] are intended to surface people, organizations, and schools trying to rethink the entire thing: the nature of learning models, the definitions of student success, the organization and budget models necessary to drive the learning models. Its a little different from just thinking of personalized learningits part of a bigger opportunity to reimagine the entire experience students have in public schools. Personalized learning is a big part of it, but Next-Gen learning incorporates aspects of what is gradually coming to be thought of as personalized learning, as well as competency-based learning, blended or technology-enabled learning, and experiential learning all pitched around these richer, deeper definitions of student success.
What trends are you seeing around personalized learning and the role its playing in pushing the entire Next-Gen model forward?
Districts and schools are working on learner profiles in lots of different ways and figuring out how they can know each student better than they have in the past. Some of those efforts are technology-fueled, and some start as early as kindergarten. Theres the development of individualized-learning pathways for students, going as fast as they can or as slow as they need. Theyre doing this through a mixture of learning modalities, sometimes using individual diagnostic prescriptive software or involving some team-based project work, peer-to-peer tutoring, direct instruction in small groupsa whole set of different kinds of experiences. Almost all of them are doing some form of competency-based student progression. Students are not all proceeding as a cohort in lock step.
How are schools measuring student progress with these new strategies?
All of our models are deeply immersed in experimenting around assessment design. Some are the classic ones that we all recognize as tests, but making them part of a much more comprehensive multimodal set of approaches designed to generate a much more nuanced view of what students need and how well theyre progressing and how they themselves can use the assessment measurement data to fuel and inform their own learning.
So how can these Next-Gen assessments home in on how much an individual student is learning, especially if that student is on a personalized learning path?
A whole bucket of [the assessments] belong to the category of performance-based assessment. A students demonstration of progress or competency happens in the presentation of their work product. Sometimes, that happens in an exhibition or an oral presentation that often includes some form of written work. Sometimes, that happens as part of a team presentation. Sometimes, it is a performance of a certain identified skill set.
Another bucket of assessment is the use of professional observation by teachers. But increasingly, theres interest in peer-to-peer evaluation at the student level and in nuanced perspectives on roles that students have played as part of a team. Another emerging assessment tracks keystrokes. Its diagnostic software that can track exactly where students go when theyre making mistakes and how they go about using the system to address that problem. It tells you about their self-efficacy and their readiness to be an effective learner.
How are these Next-Gen schools and districts assessing their own efforts in the personalized learning process?
They are consumed with the responsibility they feel to report out on their performance against this richer, deeper goal set. Everybody can see the scores on state tests, and thats part of the story, but how they are measuring and articulating on the rest of that, thats very much still an emerging science.
Those converting from existing schools will report out on student behavior, declines in absenteeism and other forms of behavioral issues that lead to suspensions and so on. Many will do self-reported surveys and do a benchmark at the beginning of the year and the end of the year showing interesting differences in student attitudes and student understanding and ability to shape and manage their own learning. Its way too early to settle on any one set of strategies.
Have there been strategies that you have seen that definitely didnt work?
The answer to that is an emphatic yes. We would count all of those kinds of failures as learning points and therefore as successes that are leading schools to improve their approaches. A number have commented on the trickiness and challenge in trying to achieve a level of comparability in doing performance-based assessment. To make sure when youre evaluating many hundreds of student exhibitions or presentations of knowledge, that youre maintaining a central and comparably rigorous set of standards even though there are different people participating in the judgment process. Thats been an issue in portfolio kinds of assessments for some time.
What will be the next big thing in personalized learning and the efforts of the schools you work with?
If there is one big thing, its the recognition of the importance of a full, deep set of competencies for students to be successful, especially in the uncertain world that they are emerging into from high school. If theres anything we know about the jobs that are going to be created over their lifetimes, its that they will be asking for higher-level skills of the kind that our schools generally have not focused on.
A Colorado middle school principal has been chosen as the 2017 National Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Thomas Dodd has been the principal of the 750-student Lesher Middle School in the Poudre district in Fort Collins for the past 11 years.
The NASSP said it was impressed with Dodds focus on equity and his success in changing the school climate at Lesher. The association highlighted his Anchor Down school motto, which emphasizes the role of teachers as stabilizing forces and as advocates for all students. Dodd also expanded the rigorous International Baccalaureate program to include the entire school.
Under his leadership, Lester landed on the MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough Schools list in 2012. It honors high-achieving middle schools that serve large numbers of students in poverty.
Fed up with long rosters of college freshmen who cant handle college-level courses, states are increasingly turning to 12th grade transition classes to build academic muscle to help students skip the remedial courses that can diminish their chances of earning a degree.
From coast to coast, states are bringing together high school teachers and college faculty to design a breed of English and math courses that reflect college expectations. Students who perform well in them can enroll directly in entry-level, credit-bearing courses in their states colleges, rather than wasting time and money on remedial classes.
Brandon Velazquez is a walking example of how the approach works. As a junior at Granger High School in Washington state in 2015, Brandon scored at level 2 on the English portion of his states mandated test, Smarter Balanced. The exam has four levels, with levels 3 and 4 signifying college readiness. Brandon got the message: He took a Bridge to College English course in 12th grade, and its paying off for him this year as a freshman at Eastern Washington University.
I was a little worried when I first got here, but everythings coming pretty easy to me, said Brandon, 18, whos earning As in a credit-bearing English course. That class really helped me.
An Idea Gaining Ground
A few states have long offered 12th grade transition courses. But at least a half-dozen more have joined them in the past few years, haunted by college-remediation rates that show serious academic weakness among graduating high school students. Nationwide, 4 in 10 students at public four-year institutions, and two-thirds of those at community colleges, need remedial classes.
For most of the new transition-courses, its too early to tell whether they boost students college grades or their likelihood of completing degrees.
But some preliminary findings do suggest they can catapult students into credit-bearing coursework.Thats what Washington state was aiming for when it set out to build transition courses in 2012. Instructors from its community and technical college system got together with high school teachers to examine the Common Core State Standards, which guide instruction in Washington, to identify the learning goals most important to college study. Then they assembled courses based on materials that others had already created, said Bill Moore, who oversees the work as director of K-12 partnerships at the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges.
Washingtons Bridge to College course in English offers teachers modules drawn from the Southern Regional Education Boards transition course, Literacy Ready; from materials created by New York state, and from California State Universitys expository-writing course. That course is part of Californias long-standing Early Assessment Program, which allows students to skip remedial work in the Cal State system and in community colleges if they score high enough on a state test or pass specified transition courses.
Washingtons Bridge to College math is based on the SREBs transition course, Math Ready, Moore said.
Washington state piloted its courses in 2013-14 and now offers them in 150 high schools, he said.
The project is part of a larger initiative to smooth out the seams between K-12 and higher education in Washington. The state was the first to persuade all its community colleges and four-year institutions, and nearly all its private colleges and universities to accept college-ready scores from a high school test as evidence of readiness for credit-bearing coursework. Students who score at levels 3 or 4 on Smarter Balanced can skip remedial courses; those who score at level 2 can, too, if they earn a B or better in transition classes.
It was really important for us to reach students who can be marginal, students who decide later to aim for college, Moore said. We wanted to give them a chance at a pathway to college, too.
Smoothing the College Transition
Teachers have found benefits in the transition courses, as well. Susan J. Cedars, a math teacher at Mariner High School in Everett, Wash., said the ongoing meetings with college professors raise her game. She particularly relishes the discussions to examine students work and define, collectively, what constitutes college-level performance.
Having higher ed. in the room during [professional development] gives me a clear idea of what a B should mean, Cedars said. For me, its confirmed that ... Im really giving you a class that will get you ready for college.
Hawaiis community college and high school instructors wrote a math transition course, vetted it with professors at the states university system, and piloted it last year. This year, 15 high schools offer the course, which takes a project-based approach to math. English courses will be available in 2017-18. Hawaiis colleges allow students to skip remedial classes if they score at least a 2 on Smarter Balanced and earn a B or better in the transition course.
Karen Lee, the executive director of Hawaiis P-20 Partnerships for Education, which coordinated the course development, said the idea was to push remediation into the 12th grade when students are captured by their high schools.
A particularly important aspect of the work was having university professors design the course assessments, said Dan Doerger, the Partnerships alignment director. It built confidence among high school and college instructors alike that a B in the class actually connoted college-level skills, he said.
Some studies have questioned the rigor of transition courses. A study released in March by the Community College Research Center, for example, found that a West Virginia math transition course didnt seem to help students pass college-placement tests or perform well in college math. (The state has since replaced that course.)
That question about course rigor was front and center when Tennessee designed its college-transition courses. Leaders of that project felt it was important to bring existing college-remedial classes directly into high schools, instead of writing new ones.
How could higher ed. faculty question whether students had met the requirements [for credit-bearing coursework] if theyre completing the exact same remedial course thats taught in college? said Mike Krause, who oversees the transition-course program, known as Tennessee SAILS, as executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. (SAILS stands for Seamless Alignment and Integrated Learning Support.)
All Tennessee students take theACT, and they qualify for the math course by scoring 18 or lower out of 36 on that portion of the test. Students who pass the course can enroll in credit-bearing courses in the states community colleges. The math course has reached nearly 34,000 students since it debuted in 2012. Remediation rates at community colleges declined 15 percent between 2012 and 2015, and state officials attribute some of that decrease to students who complete the math SAILS course.
The state is still piloting an English transition course.
Early Findings
Preliminary studies of the SREBs courses suggest that they can boost students ACT scores and their performance on college-placement tests. A not-yet-published study on Tennessee SAILS, by researchers from Vanderbilt and Harvard universities, shows that only 16 percent of SAILS students enrolled in remedial math as college freshmen, compared with 46 percent of similarly performing students who didnt take the class.
One of the challenges in the transition-course work is the timing of the tests that determine eligibility. Students in Hawaii, for instance, dont get their Smarter Balanced scores until late spring, after theyve signed up for fall classes. Schools that offer the courses there rely more heavily now on teacher recommendations in counseling 11th graders to sign up for transition classes, then confirm their eligibility once test scores arrive, Doerger said.
Students who score above the cutoff can drop the transition course.
Another challenge lies in the variability of state policy. Most states are administering tests that can measure college readiness, but relatively few have identified a score point on those tests that would signal the need for intervention, according to a March 2015 report by the Education Commission of the States.
Only eight states require that college-readiness interventions be offered for lower-scoring students based on the results of those statewide tests. And only six require students to participate in those programs, according to the ECS.
SREB President David S. Spence, who led the design of Californias Early Assessment Program and, later, the SREBs transition courses, which are being used in 10 states, said states help create the problem by setting too low a bar in general when they define college readiness.
This is such a simple, good idea: Lets take care of the readiness problems while students are still in high school, Spence said. But thats not going to happen unless states realize the extent of the readiness problem.
When the U.S. Supreme Court hears Ehlena Frys case on Oct. 31, the now-12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy will be in the audience, though she no longer requires the service dog at the center of her federal disability-rights case against a Michigan school district. The district refused to allow the animal to accompany Ehlena when she was in kindergarten.
Wonder, a fluffy goldendoodle who helped Ehlena with her mobility for seven years, including several years at a neighboring district that welcomed the dog, will also be in Washington. The retired service dog will perhaps make an appearance outside the Supreme Court after the oral arguments in Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools (Case No. 15-497). (Ehlenas parents and lawyers felt it would be disingenuous to claim that the girl needed the dog in the Supreme Court when she no longer relies on him in school.)
Wonder gave her the mobility support that she needed to learn how to move throughout her environment, Stacy Fry, Ehlenas mother, said here recently. She was able to pull to stand using him. She was able to transfer from her walker to her chair utilizing him as the bridge. Eventually, that working relationship developed into [Ehlena] being able to figure out how to do it on her own.
The central question in the familys underlying lawsuit is whether school officials discriminated against the girl in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 when they refused, aside from a short trial period, to allow Wonder to aid Ehlena in school.
In taking up the case, the justices will address a fairly technical, but important, question arising out of that suit: whether the Fry family must exhaust administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act before they can pursue their suit for damages under the other federal disabilities laws.
We didnt dispute the fact that she was receiving an appropriate education under the IDEA, said Michael J. Steinberg, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which represents the Fry family. That was never an issue here. What we contended was that [Ehlena] was entitled to bring the dog as an accommodation to help her become independent. We argue that we didnt need to exhaust the administrative remedies, which are very time-consuming, emotionally draining, and can be expensive.
District Pushes Back
Neal K. Katyal, a Washington lawyer representing the Napoleon district and the Jackson County Intermediate school district, an educational service agency that serves multiple districts on special education and other matters, says in a brief that Congress struck a balance between the [IDEA] and other laws that protect the rights of children with disabilities.
While the main federal special education law does not limit students rights under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, it does require that if parents seek relief that is also available under the IDEA, they must first attempt to obtain that relief through the IDEAs procedures, the school districts brief says.
A victory for the Frys in the case would mean a revival of their lawsuit and the chance to have the courts declare that Ehlena and other children in her position may bring their service dogs to school.
Such complexities of federal civil rights laws were far from the minds of Brent and Stacy Fry in 2009 as they prepared for then-5-year-old Ehlena to enter school at Ezra Eby Elementary School in the Napoleon district, which is some 30 miles west of Ann Arbor, Mich.
Ehlena was born in India and adopted by the Frys just before her first birthday. As she approached school age, Ehlena received a prescription for a service dog to help with her spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, a severe form of the disease that limits her motor skills and mobility but not her cognitive abilities. A service dog could help steady Ehlena as she moved about with a walker, could pick things up for her, and perform other tasks.
We sought to get a service dog for her so that she could reach a level of as much independence as possible, said Stacy Fry, 38, who recently went back to work in clinical research at the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Michigan.
The Frys had turned to the local community to raise some $13,000 to pay for the 10 days of training that Ehlena and Wonder would have to undergo together. The dog himself, which was donated to the family by an organization called 4 Paws for Ability, had undergone more than a year of training as a service animal.
We were very blessed to have people who donated their time and their energy, said Brent Fry, a soft-spoken 39-year-old former sales manager for Kellogg Co., who is facing his own medical challenge: He is battling a form of brain cancer.
The Frys believed that the Napoleon district would welcome the dog, based on signals from the principal at Ezra Eby Elementary.
But in October 2009, when Ehlena brought Wonder to school for the first time, they met a different reaction. After one day, the parents were told that the principal had received complaints that some students were fearful of the dog. The district told them it needed more time to research the issue.
By December, school officials told the Frys that Ehlena did not need a service dog in school because, under her individualized education program for special education services, she had a one-to-one educational aide who could perform the same tasks as Wonder, court papers say.
School officials were also concerned, court documents indicate, about student or staff allergies to the dog; about disruption in the classroom, especially for children as young as Ehlenas kindergarten peers; and about phobias that some students had of dogs.
Jim Graham, the superintendent of the Napoleon district, declined an interview request via email, citing advice from the districts lawyers. Katyal, a former acting U.S. solicitor general under President Barack Obama, who will argue the districts case in the Supreme Court, also declined to comment.
Francisco M. Negron Jr., the general counsel of the National School Boards Association, which has filed a friend-of-the-court brief on the side of the Napoleon district, said in an interview that schools may have legitimate concerns about how a younger student controls a service dog and whether children will be continuously distracted by the presence of a large animal, or of an animal in the classroom, such that their education may be impacted.
These are all issues that the school district takes into consideration and may be one of the reasons why a school district may opt for not including a service animal but having a one-on-one aide who would perform the same functions and not have, say, for instance, that same kind of distraction or perhaps subject other students to allergies and the like, Negron added.
OCR Investigation
By early 2010, the ACLU of Michigan got involved in negotiating with school officials on behalf of the Fry family, and the district agreed to a trial period for Wonder to come to school that lasted from mid-April until the end of Ehlenas kindergarten year.
The Frys maintain that Ehlena was not allowed to fully use Wonder as a service dog during the trial period. The dog had to remain at the back of the classroom with a handler and was kept from helping Ehlena with tasks such as using the restroom or from accompanying her to recess or the library.
That takes away from the working relationship, Stacy Fry said.
At the end of that kindergarten year, the Napoleon district informed the Frys that Ehlenas service dog would not be allowed to return the next fall.
Thats kind of where we decided to go in a different direction for her education, Brent Fry said.
The Frys home-schooled Ehlena for two years, using an online curriculum. In the meantime, they filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Educations office for civil rights, which investigated.
In May 2012, the OCR issued a determination letter that the school districts (both Napoleon and the Jackson intermediate district) violated the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act by failing to modify their policies, practices, or procedures to permit the students service animal to accompany her to and assist her at school, thus denying and/or significantly limiting the students ability to access the districts programs and activities with as much independence as possible.
The two districts signed an agreement in which they pledged to allow Wonder into school to fully accompany and assist Ehlena throughout the school day. By that time, however, the Frys felt the Napoleon district was not the best place for their daughter.
That fall, Ehlena and Wonder were welcomed into the Manchester, Mich., district, 20 minutes to the east of Napoleon. Ehlena, along with her two older brothers, attended at first under a state school choice program before the Frys eventually moved into the district. (The Frys have five children from ages 3 to 16, three dogs including Wonder, two cats, and an assortment of other animals at their home.)
At Klager Elementary School in Manchester, Wonder was given his own staff ID card and featured in the school yearbook. Jennifer Mayes was principal of the elementary school when Ehlena was there, before both moved to Manchester Middle School last year, where Ehlena is now in 6th grade.
Our district has had two different service animals in the past few years, both at the elementary and the middle school, and we just welcome our students and their service animals with open arms, she said. Having a service animal at school is really nonintrusive. Its not a big deal at all.
Another child at the middle school, who has Type 1 juvenile diabetes, relies on a service dog to alert him to high or low blood-sugar levels.
Wonder, who is now 9 years old, retired just as Ehlena entered middle school last school year.
He allowed her to find her voice, Stacy Fry said of the dog. Before, she often just waited to be told what to do. When she had control and was able to utilize him and she had to be the one in charge to tell him what to do based on what she needed, she developed her voice. That allowed her to socially develop as well as educationally develop.
Back to School
Even though Ehlena is more independent now, Wonder remains a beloved family dog and a member of the Manchester school community.
On a recent fall day, Ehlena arrived a few minutes late to teacher Irene Barnards language arts class, moving steadily with her walker through the halls of Manchester Middle School. After the class worked in groups on a language arts lesson on their Chromebook laptops, Stacy Fry and the dog arrived for a prearranged visit.
Look, its Wonder, said one student. Many of the middle school students had attended Klager Elementary with Ehlena, and they greeted the dog like an old friend.
Ehlena confidently answered questions from other students about her dog.
He opened doors. Turned on lights. He could hit the wheelchair button, she said in response to a classmates question.
The students were happy to learn that, because Wonder was no longer wearing his service vest, they were free to pet him.
Just not all at once, said Barnard, the teacher. Think about how you would feel if 30 6th graders came toward you to pet you.
The one place that Ehlena felt the need to be accepted the most [school], was the one place that denied her that, Stacy Fry said in reference to her daughters elementary school in Napoleon. We want to prevent that from happening to any other family.
As high school graduation rates inched up for the fourth year in a row, to 83.2 percent, President Barack Obama said that efforts to improve education during his tenure have started to pay off.
But experts say its difficult to determine that federal education policy is responsible for the 1 percentage point uptick in graduation rates in the 2014-15 school year.
Whats more, they say, higher graduation rates dont necessarily mean that more students are leaving high school ready for college or the workplace, especially since so many are unable to enroll in credit-bearing courses when they enter college.
Graduation rates have now risen for students overall by 4.2 percentage points from 79 percent in the 2010-11 school yearthe first year all states used the same method to calculate graduation rates for federal reporting purposes. And while big gaps still exist between black, Hispanic, and Native American students and their white and Asian peers, those gaps are slowly closing.
The rates for black students rose even faster than the average for all students over that same period, increasing by 7.6 percent, while graduation rates for Hispanic students grew by 6.8 percent. Whats more, the rates for English-language learners, students in special education, and disadvantaged students also climbed faster than those for students overall.
Rising Tide Minority students from a range of subgroups outstripped their white peers in boosting their graduation rates over the past four years, new federal data show. Source: U.S. Department of Education
Graduation rates increased in nearly every state in recent years. The most-significant increase between the 2010-11 and the 2014-15 school years appears to have been in Alabama, which saw a jump from 72 percentbelow the national averageto 89.3 percent over that period. And all but two states, Arizona and Wyoming, saw increases in their graduation rates of at least 1 percentage point since 2010-11.
Alaska, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Nevada, Utah, and West Virginia had increases of more than 10 percentage points. Iowa, Texas, and Nebraska have consistently had some of the highest graduation rates nationally between 2010-11 and 2014-15. The data do not examine graduation requirements, which differ substantially from state to state.
Who Gets the Credit?
Obama appears to be using this graduation-rate announcement to take a education victory lap. The president gave a speech Oct. 17 at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in the District of Columbia about the impact of his education policies on students from early childhood onward.
Some of the changes we made were hard, and some of them were controversial, Obama said. But the hard work we put in across the country has started to pay off.
By way of example, he talked about the administrations push to increase investments in early-childhood education. He cited the Race to the Top competitive-grant program, which he said inspired states to raise standards.
But experts caution that theres no way to know for sure whether the Obama administrations policies had an impact on graduation rates.
A number of factors could be leading to this, said Laura Hamilton, the associate director of RAND Education, a research organization in Santa Monica, Calif. I do think its good news. Its definitely a trend we want to see.
But she added, We need more evidence before we can attribute it to any particular administration or to state or federal dollars.
In fact, she said, its just as possible that the graduation increase could be a byproduct of the No Child Left Behind Act, which was replaced late last year with the Every Students Succeeds Act. Whats more, its not clear if higher graduation rates necessarily mean that more students are leaving high school prepared for college, Hamilton said.
Lots of kids graduate and go on to postsecondary education and need a lot of remedial coursework, she added.
Preparation Level
A high school diploma doesnt necessarily mean that a student is prepared for postsecondary work, agreed Mike Cohen, the president of Achieve, a nonprofit organization in Washington that helps states set expectations for what students need to know and be able to do to be prepared for postsecondary success. Roughly a third of first-year college students take remedial courses that teach them skills they should have learned in high school, he said. They are half as likely to earn a degree as their better-prepared peers are.
And so-called credit recovery coursesin which students who have fallen behind can earn credit on a compressed time frame by demonstrating their knowledgeappear to have gained in popularity in recent years, Cohen said. But its tough to get a handle on whats happening in them, he said.
Even though the news about graduation rates has been positive, the Obama administrations tenure also saw the first drop in 4th and 8th reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nations report card, in more than two decades.
In a call with reporters, U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. acknowledged that there may be variation in what a high school diploma means from one place to another. But he said a diploma can open doors for students.
And King disputed the contention that the administration is taking credit for graduation rate progress. The credit, he said, goes to teachers, students, and local and state leaders.
New Products Date: 25/10/2016 ams announce Multi-Project Wafer schedule for 2017 ams scheduled its multi-project wafer (MPW) or shuttle run for 2017. The chip prototyping service offered by ams basically combines several ICs designed from different customers in a single wafer. ams is offering this MPW service in the range of 180nm and 0.35m. It also includes recently introduced 180nm CMOS technology (aC18). The aC18 process supports a large number of 1.8V and 5.0V NMOS and PMOS devices (substrate based, floating, low leakage and high threshold voltage options) and fully characterized passives including various capacitors. Area-optimized high-density and low-power digital libraries with gate densities up to 152kGates/mm, updated digital and analog I/O libraries with up to 6 metal layers as well as ESD protection cells with up to 8kV HBM level complete the offering.
ams says its aC18 process targets sensor and sensor interface devices in a range of applications. All 2017 MPW runs in aC18 technology is going to be manufactured in ams state of the art 200mm fabrication facility in Austria where ams assures very low defect densities and high yields.
Addition to this, another four aC18 MPW will also offer four MPW runs in its advanced 180nm High-Voltage CMOS (aH18) technology supporting 1.8V, 5V, 20V and 50V devices. Ams also announced for its 0.35m specialty processes a total of 14 runs are offered in 2017. ams' 0.35m High-Voltage CMOS process optimized for High-Voltage designs in automotive and industrial applications supports 20V, 50V and 120V devices and truly voltage scalable transistors. The advanced High-Voltage CMOS process with embedded EEPROM functionality as well as the 0.35m SiGe-BiCMOS technology S35 are fully compatible with the base CMOS process and complete ams MPW service portfolio.
ams to offer almost all 150 MPW start dates in 2017. Co-operations with its partner organizations such as CMP, Europractice, Fraunhofer IIS and Mosis. Ams adjust its customers located in Asia Pacific region to participate in their local MPW program partners Toppan Technical Design Center Co., Ltd (TDC) and MEDs Technologies.
Complete schedule for 2017 are released and detailed start dates per process are available at www.ams.com/MPW.
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Cargill invests in new premix facility in the Philippines
Cargill is opening a new facility that will manufacture premix feed solutions to expand its animal nutrition capabilities and meet increasing demand from domestic customers.
Located at the First Bulacan Industrial Park in Malolos, Bulacan, the facility will employ close to 50 people from the local community. This will be Cargill's fifth animal nutrition facility in the Philippines and its first dedicated to manufacturing Provimi premix solutions. The facility will serve primarily medium to large livestock farms and feed millers.
"The livestock farming industry is evolving as farms consolidate, become larger and require more sophisticated nutritional solutions. The new facility will significantly increase the number of innovative offerings that will improve the cost and performance of raising livestock or producing quality complete feeds," said Noel Kim, director of Cargill Premix and Nutrition in the Philippines. "It will also provide a broader portfolio of premix solutions to help farmers who need greater flexibility in their animal nutrition requirements or those who are considering the transition from utilising compound feeds to developing their own feed formulations."
The facility enhances Cargill's capability to provide customised nutrition solutions and is designed to deliver 20,000 tonnes of premix solutions per year. Construction started on October 25 and operations are expected to start in the third quarter of 2017. The facility will be built with the highest and strictest standards in both employee safety, which Cargill prioritises in its operations, as well as product quality and consistency.
At a ground breaking event, Mayor of Malolos Christian Natividad, who was in attendance, welcomed the addition of the facility and stated: "We are happy to be the beneficiary of this investment and we look forward to a very good partnership with Cargill."
The Philippines is a key growth market for Cargill's animal nutrition business in Asia, as it seeks to become one of the regional leaders in providing world class applied nutrition solutions to its customers. In addition to this new facility, Cargill is also investing in a new poultry processing facility in Batangas via a joint venture with Jollibee. That facility will employ 1,000 employees and will be the largest of its kind in the Philippines. The opening of both facilities reinforces Cargill's commitment to growing in Asia and strengthens its position as the global leader in nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way.
CoMin committee to look into foodbank dependency
Chief Minister Howard Quayle MHK
The Chief Minister says a more flexible benefits system could help reduce the number of people on the Island who rely on a foodbank.
Onchan MHK Rob Callister asked Howard Quayle what the Manx Government's plans are to help those who depend on the foodbank to feed their families.
In this morning's sitting of the House of Keys, Mr Quayle admitted that it is a concern, and that more needs to be done to understand the root cause of the issue.
Mr Quayle believes the Government must ensure everyone has the chance to provide for themselves and their families.
He added the benefits system could be more flexible to reflect the changing needs of people throughout their lifetime.
The Chief Minister confirmed that the Social Policy and Children's committee of the Council of Ministers will look into the matter further.
1
Tried but failed -- our first night
I am from UK and my wife is from Pakistan. On top of that, I am seven years older than her. I didnt know a lot about her since I never met her. All I had to work with were the stories told by the relatives. By the way, she is my first cousin.
Our first night was so awkward. She was so silent. When we started doing the act, I had to stop because it was too painful for her. And then nothing happened that night, the first night after arranged marriage. But after two weeks, she was already comfortable with me and since then, we always have steamy and sweaty sex.
The stars of Fifty Shades Darker are apparently into a more intriguing and complicated twist of events as they made it into real-life affairs. It has been circulating in the rumor mill since "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie shows off its steamy scenes with Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan that the two leading roles have built a relationship with each other, considering that Dornan is currently married.
Their alleged affair may have continued as the second Fifty Shades franchise started to shoot, with Jamie Dornan already in a hurry of divorcing his wife if the rumored revelation of his secret affair with Johnson will happen on the movie's premier night.
But what will happen if Jamie Dornan's love target had already hooked up with another girl, for this time, with Cara Delevingne? In a recent report by Aussie Network News , Dakota Johnson became very close to Cara Delevingne after the latter broke up with her then girlfriend St. Vincent. Sources revealed that Johnson and Delevingne's friendship may have crossed to the next level and has become more intimate, as the former even celebrated her birthday with latter's company.
Sportsrageous has a veered into the issue and instead reported Jamie Dornan's claim to have an intact married life with Amanda Wagner, even admitting his frustrations of being a hands-on father when he has to work so soon after Wagner gave birth. This will eventually make all the Johnson Dornan affair issue just for publicity and their almost-believable love scenes were just fruits of the production's hard work and the actor's lucky chemistry. But there is still a divorce issue surrounding Jamie Dornan that hasn't been confirmed but may still have a tinge of truth because any wife may have second thoughts on her husband's fidelity resulting in leading stars relationship to "have become increasingly physical."
For fans worldwide, and readers of the sexy trilogy book, they are fantasizing in believing that Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are already turning the fantasy into reality. And with its impending onslaught due to a possible Johnson Delevingne relationship, this may be a good sign for Jamie Dornan to think over with the divorce issue than face a possible rivalry.
By Ryan OLeary, WhiteHat Security
If your company develops web applications, I hope you arent the nervous sort when I tell you that your website is most likely being targeted for hacking as you read this. If youre a security manager, it really shouldnt come as a surprise, though. Web apps are the most exploited means of illicit entry by hackers.
The Verizon 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report says that web application attacks represented 40 percent of all data breaches in 2015. The total global cost of data breaches today is $360 billion and, according to the Ponemon Institute, the average total cost of a single breach is $4 million.
I tell you this not to ruin your sleep but rather to let you know you that there is a solution: hire a good-guy hacker to find vulnerabilities before the bad guys do, and then have your developers fix them.
You and your customers will be spared what could be truly enormous losses. The best way to discover your application vulnerabilities is to hack yourself.
Hiring an Ethical Hacker
However, hiring a competent, ethical hacker on your own isnt the easiest thing to do, because supplies are limited. And you have to be sure they are reputable. After all, hackers are trained in the dark arts, so you need to be confident that not only are they skilled but also that they wont use what they find on your website for nefarious purposes. At the very least, they need to pass a stringent background check, like any security employee.
Ethical hackers are an unusual breed. They have the same skills as bad-guy hackers, but they choose to use those skills for good. And theyre up against a formidable array of troublemakers:
Hacktivists , whose motivation may be politics, exposing wrongdoing or exacting revenge
, whose motivation may be politics, exposing wrongdoing or exacting revenge Organized crime hackers , who want to steal your money, data and computing resources
, who want to steal your money, data and computing resources Nation-state and terrorist hackers, driven by politics or religion
How Does an Ethical Hacker Think?
When I hire potential application security engineers, I look for a certain mindset: How can I break something? The hacker personality likes to figure out how something works and then try to reverse engineer or otherwise subvert it. Its a point of view you cant teach.
I remember once we had a group of hacker applicants in the lobby and one of them whiled away his time figuring out how to hack the lobby soda machine. He was successful and then he put the soda can back, because he wasnt after a free Coke; he just wanted to see if he could do it. I didnt have any hesitancy in picking that guy to hire.
The other vital quality I look for is the drive to learn new things, because being a successful hacker is all about keeping up to date with the latest trends. And there is always something new coming along. Right now potential vulnerabilities include:
Information leakage
Predictable resource location
Directory indexing
Insufficient transport layer protection
Zero-day vulnerabilities such as POODLE, HeartBleed, Shellshock and Java
And there are many potential ways that cybercriminals can exploit those vulnerabilities, such as:
Cross-site scripting
Filter evasion for XSS
Social engineering
Content spoofing
URL redirector abuse
Where to Find an Ethical Hacker
One place to look for good-guy hacker hiring recommendations is a local chapter meeting of the Open Web Application Security Project. Find one, attend and make friends; the application security community is a small but tight-knit and helpful group. There are also companies that will provide safe, certified experts as well as software tools to hunt down the vulnerabilities in your websites and apps.
When the security expert arrives, youll tell him or her your priorities and he or she will get to work, most likely vetting your flagship website first. Once you find out where the vulnerabilities lie and there always are some, in my experience youll develop a plan to fix them. And remember, bugs and vulnerabilities may be lumped together as defects, but vulnerabilities with their greater potential for disaster should get first priority in the repair queue.
Emphasis on Application Security
Going forward, you need to make AppSec an embedded part of the development process. Its much cheaper to fix vulnerabilities in development than in QA. Among other things, that means security and development must become a tightly bonded team.
You may find your developers initially resist or resent the security experts involvement. Developers are all about speed of release and quality of code, and they may have little or no security training or mind set. They often view security experts as roadblocks.
The solution is a companywide emphasis on security and secure coding training for the developers. Its true that security testing will slow down the development process a little, particularly at first before people get used to it. But eventually security is just seen as another part of QA, with everyone striving toward the same goal: a secure product.
Sometimes security managers or their leadership are leery of employing their own good-guy hacker, because they dont want to know the bad news. Its like staying away from the doctor to avoid hearing that you have medical problems. Thats human nature, maybe, but not wise. The hacker mindset, however, is an invaluable addition both to the security team and to the DevOps team the hacker (hopefully) collaborates with.
Remember, each vulnerability you eliminate is one less chance of being hacked. Corny or not, knowledge is power. The more you know, the more you can prevent your organization from experiencing a potentially devastating breach. A good-guy hacker could make the world of difference in your security posture.
Ryan OLeary is vice president of the Threat Research Center at WhiteHat Security. WhiteHat Security combines technology and human intelligence to deliver solutions that reduce risk, reduce cost and accelerate the deployment of secure applications and websites.
Leonid Litra and Ivane Chkhikvadze (The Policy Association for an Open Society)
The European Union is currently struggling with many problems. Financial crisis, unemployment and problems with refugees have changed the whole organization and the vision of it. In spite of this, the EU remains a great hope for many Eastern European states. We are mainly talking about the associated countries, such as Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. What is the prospect of these countries to join the EU and what are the main obstacles?
The first problem is the implementation of EU rules and laws. All three countries have proven that they are able to implement these rules, though their enforcement is problematic. The rea-son is mainly the lack of finance and experience. For each country, there are also more specific reasons and it is obvious that for many politicians it is difficult to even begin discussions about a possible EU membership. In some cases, it is because the country itself is not in a position, in which it could join the EU or the EU does not have too much interest in the integration of this country. Such an example is Ukraine, where the main engine of bringing the country closer to the EU was its former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Despite all the problems with the rapprochement of these countries with the Union, all three of them are still considered possible future EU members, though strong domestic opposition could change this situation at any time. Many Europeans do not see the possibility of the EU mem-bership for Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine very positively. Most resistance can be found in Austria, Luxembourg, Germany and France, where more than 60 percent of respondents are against this idea. Yet, there are also many people who support the EU membership of these countries. In Romania, Lithuania, Malta and Croatia, this support is the greatest. What is inter-esting about the troika of the Eastern European countries is the fact that the support for the EU membership among their citizens is declining, whereby in Moldova, it has fallen even below 50 percent of the population.
In the end, the biggest obstacle is Russia. The Kremlin sees these three countries as a buffer zone between itself and the West and, therefore, the process of bringing them closer to the EU cannot really start without Russian consent. As demonstrated in Ukraine and Georgia, the Rus-sians are not afraid to interfere in the domestic political situation and put an end to the process. Only if there is a rapprochement between the West and Russia, there will also be a rapproche-ment between the EU and these three countries.
The study can be downloaded here
Whenever the mainstream journals discuss the Cambrian explosion, you can expect three things:
They will try to explain the Cambrian radiation using only unguided material causes like oxygen, temperature or chemistry. Mind and intelligence is forbidden. They will use anthropomorphic words or appeal to magic, saying that the Cambrian animals appeared, developed, innovated, arose, emerged, filled new ecological niches, or engaged in an evolutionary arms race. They will completely ignore the argument in Stephen Meyers book Darwins Doubt: that the sudden appearance of the Cambrian animals required vast amounts of information expressed hierarchically in new cell types, tissues, organs, and body plans. Since this is beyond the capabilities of neo-Darwinism, and the only cause we know that can produce this kind of information is intelligence, the Cambrian explosion provides powerful evidence for intelligent design.
The journal Geology just published new research dealing with the Ediacaran period that lazy world of sessile marine animals that preceded the Cambrian. Lets see if they live up to our expectations or have something new to say. Unless they find a gradual neo-Darwinian path from Precambrian microbes to trilobites, appealing to only material causes, without using magic words, we will have to call Strike Three.
Pour Sand, Add Cement, Mix
Derek E. G. Briggs, a Darwin proponent we called out last October, lends his name to a paper by lead author Lidya Tarhan and three others writing in Geology, Exceptional preservation of soft-bodied Ediacara Biota promoted by silica-rich oceans. Tarhans team took a closer look at the type sequence in Australia where the Ediacarans were first identified. Their goal was to understand how such soft creatures could be perfectly preserved as fossils in sandstone. In short, they propose that if you add the right silica cement to the sandy seafloor fast enough, you can get beautiful molds and casts of creatures before they decay.
Here we present evidence from the Ediacara Member of South Australia that Ediacara-style preservation was due to rapid, early-stage precipitation of silica cements, facilitated by the high silica saturation state of the oceans prior to the appearance of prolific silica biomineralizers. An early silicification model provides a coherent, mechanistic and empirically supported explanation for the widespread preservation of soft-bodied organisms of Ediacaran-early Paleozoic age as sandstone casts and molds. The prevalence of early silicification confirms that Ediacara-style fossil assemblages can provide an accurate window into life on the Ediacaran seafloor that can be used to reconstruct critical steps in the development and diversification of early animal ecosystems. [Emphasis added.]
You see right off the bat their focus is on the fossilization process, not on evolution. If you can explain the creatures preservation, they say, you can reconstruct critical steps in the development and diversification of early animal ecosystems. But that doesnt follow. Its only a half-truth. You might open a window on the conditions that existed when they were fossilized, but you cant leap from there to a theory of how animals developed (euphemism for evolved) and diversified (another evolutionary euphemism).
In a nutshell, their premise is that a taphonomic window (opportunity for fossilization) opened in Precambrian days that permitted a unique kind of Ediacaran-style preservation, as can be seen in their beautifully detailed photos of Ediacarans, those mysterious frond-like and pillow-like multicellular colonies illustrated in Illustras film Darwins Dilemma. This taphonomic window persisted for hundreds of millions of years well into the Ordovician.
So why dont we find Ediacarans after the Cambrian explosion? As the story goes, the new critters used up the cement. Modern oceans are undersaturated in silica, thanks to drawdown by diatoms, sponges, and radiolarians. That wouldnt have been the case back in the Ediacaran. With more dissolved silica in the water, the Precambrian creatures could have been cemented in the sand, forming casts and molds before their tissues decayed away. But later, the silica-hungry newcomers broke the molds; thats why the Ediacarans stopped being preserved. Most likely this reflected a global change in the chemistry of the oceans. What are the implications of their model?
Evidence for early silicification across a wide range of tissue types demonstrates the importance of a global and persistent environmental control on fossilization, i.e., high marine silica concentration. Resolving this long-standing taphonomic paradox allows genuine evolutionary signals (e.g., extinction events) to be distinguished from preservational artifacts. An early silicification taphonomic model indicates that the geologically abrupt appearance and subsequent disappearance of the Ediacara Biota is a valid evolutionary signal. It also provides the first empirical support for the contention that Ediacara-style fossil assemblages truly reflect the diversity, trophic complexity, and community-level ecology of Earths oldest fossil animal ecosystems.
Thats not helpful. For Darwinians, that is. They just said that the abrupt appearance and disappearance of the Ediacarans is a valid evolutionary signal. Meyer agrees that the Ediacarans appeared explosively (DD, pp. 86-88), and disappeared before the Cambrian explosion. He would only disagree that this is a valid evolutionary signal. Next.
Signals in the Desert
In a desolate area east of Death Valley, a team of scientists found Two new exceptionally preserved body fossil assemblages from Mount Dunfee, Nevada, USA (Geology). They were hopeful this site would shed light on the Cambrian explosion, because
Evaluation of hypotheses that relate environmental to evolutionary change across the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition has been hampered by a dearth of sections that preserve both the last appearance of Ediacaran body fossils and the first appearance of Treptichnus pedum [an index fossil for the start of the Cambrian] within carbonate-rich strata suitable for chemostratigraphic studies. Here, we report two new exceptionally preserved latest Ediacaran fossil assemblages from the Deep Spring Formation at Mount Dunfee, Nevada (USA). Further, we report these occurrences in a high-resolution carbon isotope chemostratigraphic framework, permitting correlation on a regional and global scale.
Its a significant find. Theyve got the latest Ediacaran all the way to the first Cambrian. In between, they identified a worm world of ichnofossils (trails and burrows), some small shelly fossil traces, and get this the carbon isotope excursion that evolutionists believe indicates a global change in ocean chemistry and the carbon cycle. Their detailed geological cross-sections show this transition across 100 meters of strata. They can correlate some fossils with similar ones from China. Its a perfect setup to refute Darwins Doubt.
The data presented here represent the tightest relationship documented to date between the negative 13C excursion and biological turnover at the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary, consistent with an environmental disturbance eliminating the last of the Ediacaran biota and paving the way for the Cambrian radiation.
Alas, things are not so simple. Once again, they agree that the Ediacarans went extinct before the Cambrian event. That means those weird sessile creatures didnt have anything to do with the new Cambrian body plans. The Nevada site lacks the frond-like and mattress-like creatures for which the Ediacaran period is best known. As for Cloudina, (once considered a small shelly fossil but later reclassified), its classification as a metazoan living in the Ediacaran period seems questionable. It looks like a pile of cups, and has no organs or specialized tissues. It went extinct at the base of the Cambrian, so it cannot have been an ancestor to the new Cambrian phyla. T. pedum is hardly a better contender; its known by its burrows, and probably lacked hard parts.
The teams geological chart shows lots of strata between the first and second fossil assemblages where transitional forms could be hiding, but theyre not there. You have Ediacarans, then blank space, then some tubular things, then the Cambrian index fossil T. pedum higher up. No evolution is obvious. No pre-trilobites. No pre-Anomalocaris. A Darwinian would be batting the air to consider this outcrop helpful for explaining the Cambrian Explosion.
As for that carbon isotope excursion, weve observed that its significance is questionable, since it doesnt correlate tightly around the world. At best it is an effect of the explosion, not the cause of it. Similarly, T. pedum shows up in different places around the world, so its not exactly a precise marker either. Moreover, their correlations of the few worm-like body fossils with similar ones in China appear dubious. And embarrassingly, one fossil they call Conotobus used to be considered an ancestor to Cloudina, but here in Nevada it appears in strata above its descendent! So as noteworthy as the Nevada site is, it leaves the Cambrian explosion completely unexplained. Another strikeout.
Summing Up
The editors of Geology put the best spin on things that they can. James D. Schiffbauer, a geologist from the University of Missouri, reviews the papers in a piece titled, The age of tubes: A window into biological transition at the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary. He recalls his delight at reading Wonderful Life, Stephen Jay Goulds marvelous description of the Burgess Shale. He remembers his astonishment at the newly discovered Ediacaran fauna in 1992, wondering what it meant for evolution. He says that the Ediacaran-Cambrian interval has become one of the most intensively studied time slices in the geological and paleontological records. Then he laments:
The past twenty years have brought significant new data to the table regarding the Ediacaran-Cambrian Earth system and biosphere, but a great many questions remain unanswered. Foremost of which, the pattern(s) of and mechanism(s) for biotic change during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition are still largely unresolved.
Did these two papers offer new hope? Well, they helped rule out some unworkable ideas, like the Cheshire Cat theory that posited the Ediacarans disappeared gradually. No, Schiffbauer admits, we observe that the fossil record of Ediacara organisms was truncated at this transition whether by disappearance of their preservational regime, or by disappearance of the organisms themselves.
As excited as Schiffbauer is about the new Nevada site with its tubular whatzits, he ends with more stories, more magical anthropomorphic talk, and more promissory notes. His last paragraph even discounts some of his own previous publications.
These tubular and other vermiform (worm-like) organisms have recently been implicated in marginalizing and competitively wedging out the classic Ediacaran forms, owing to such ecological novelties as ecosystem engineering and macropredation (Schiffbauer et al., 2016). However, as shown here in direct context with an isotopic record of environmental perturbation, perhaps the combined ecological and environmental stressors provided an insurmountable double whammy, forcing a coda for the classic Ediacarans. While the terminal Ediacaran of the Deep Spring Formation had been previously examined (e.g., Gevirtzman and Mount, 1986; Signor et al., 1987), Smith et al.s new work has served to prop the window open for further refinement of the taxonomy of these tubular forms, as well as detailed investigation of their taphonomy and paleoecology. These wormworld organisms (Schiffbauer et al., 2016) inhabit an important transition, and their continued investigation may yield clarity into the patterns and mechanisms of biotic turnover at the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary.
OK, when he finds said clarity, well be glad to give him another chance at bat. Till then, we must call it as we see it. Strike three.
Photo: Golden spike indicating the base of the Ediacaran period, by Peter Neaum [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons.
Yes, from my experience really nice. A lot of construcion work going on now, couple years ago hardly saw a car go past, now the traffic is pretty bad.
Living wise, it's fine everything is close by and costs of living is fairly cheap although trying getting from sharjah to dubai via 311 good luck with that one in the morning.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
This article on Instagram Stories originally appeared on Media Causess blog
If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Snapchat must be blushing. A few weeks ago, Instagram introduced Instagram Stories, a new format aimed at younger audiences that lets users post quick real-time photos and videos in a vertical format and apply doodles and filters (sound familiar?). The posts last for 24 hours before disappearingessentially a boiled-down version of Snapchats snaps. Even with its limitations, Snapstagram has been embraced by Instagrams community as a way to show unpolished glimpses into a users worldin contrast to the usual Instagram posts, which have become filtered, touched-up and highly produced.
For nonprofits, social good companies and DOTGOV teams who are already active on Instagram, theres no reason not to try Stories. That said, you should go in having a clear plan. For inspiration, here are five of the best social good Instagram story examples weve encountered so far.
Charity: Water
@charitywater, a nonprofit organization that provides drinking water to people in developing nations, used Instagram Stories to give supporters snack suggestions leading up to a film premiere. Its a great example of the right time and place for a bit of lighthearted engagement. Since social thrives on humor and silliness, this is an excellent example of maximizing engagement while driving awareness for an event. Charity: water also used Instagram Stories to introduce the staff and announce a social media internship. The kicker: you have to apply on Instagram using Instagram Stories.
Glacier National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park
@glaciernps and @rockynps are two US National Parks that are using Instagram Stories to make announcements and go behind the scenes as the National Park Service celebrates its 100th birthday. Stunning nature shots are all well and good, but Stories helps put faces to the name and make followers feel like they are part of the action. For instance, Glacier documented a visit from Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, wished the National Park Service a happy 100th birthday, and introduced followers to a park VIP: Bark Ranger Gracie. Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain National Park joined in the celebration with special graphics split across multiple story slides.
NASA
Instagram Stories can also be used as a fun educational tool. Case in point: @nasas visit to their Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. Instead of the standard walk-through tour, NASA planned out a series of story slides about the Orion spacecraft, including a live safety test. This helped give the story a sense of purpose.
Humane Society of the United States
Similar to Rocky Mountain National Park, @humanesociety used Instagram Stories to celebrate a special eventin their case, #NationalDogDay. Instead of using a stale stock photo, they posted in-the-moment video of a group of dogs playing together with doodling and text overlaid. This sort of content can help your channel come alive and not feel so staged.
Goats of Anarchy
@goatsofanarchy is a special needs baby goat sanctuaryyes, its as adorable as it sounds. They use Instagram Stories in an everyday fashion to document whats going on at the property. One day, the team captured the morning stampede for breakfast. While simple, this is a great example of using what you have in front of you, and publishing without much heavy lifting (no long copywriting sessions or creative design time). If you arent out in the field taking care of your proverbial goats, consider tasking someone who is with contributing Instagram Stories to the feed while you handle the traditional content that sometimes requires more polish and planning.
Why All Social Good Orgs Should Give Instagram Stories a Shot
If youre already on Instagram, then Instagram Stories is one more tool in your toolbox. By providing supporters with two different types of content (regular image posts + quick hit and temporary stories), youll deepen and enrich the experience. Whats more, Instagram Stories is relatively new and unexplored by most groups, which means savvy social good-ers have an opportunity to get out in front of the pack and form a tighter bond with their Instagram supporters first using the intimate new format. Finally, since its only visible for 24 hours, you can use Stories as a place to experiment and test out ideas, knowing that the content you publish wont live forever.
That said, some advice: always ask yourself the following question before posting: am I adding value to the channel? If not, hold off. Think of what makes sense on Stories vs. traditional Instagram posting, and even try laying out both separately as you plan out your editorial calendar. As tempting as it may be, try not to borrow content from your Snapchat channel. Be authentic by using what you have around you on any given day and publish only using the features that are native to Instagram. And most importantly, have fun! Instagram Stories is meant to be playful, light and quicknot serious, long-winded or overproduced.
The post 5 Ways Social Good is Embracing Instagram Stories appeared first on AdLibbing.org.
San Antonio-based grocer H-E-B plans to offload a slice of its nearly 50-acre footprint in a growing retail corridor on the citys Northeast Side, the company said Monday.
The citys Planning Commission will vote Wednesday whether to redesignate roughly 5.6 acres from suburban tier intended for low density residential use to regional center, which allows for a mix of multifamily residential and big box retail.
The land is located near the intersection of Loop 1604 and Bulverde Road.
H-E-B spokeswoman Dya Campos said the company needs to rezone the land before it can sell. Its unclear whether the entire 14.26-acre lot is for sale or just the portion that needs to be rezoned.
H-E-B owns roughly 48 acres valued at $9.9 million at the intersections northwest corner, according to Bexar County property records.
The grocer announced plans in July to open a new store next year in Bulverde Marketplace, a retail center being built by local development firm Fulcrum Development on the southwest corner of Loop 1604 and Bulverde Road.
Earlier this year, the grocer said it was selling a 16-acre tract on the citys East Side on the heels of several land purchases made by H-E-B within the past six years.
In 2015, H-E-B bought about 107 acres, including 46 acres on the West Side near Joint Base San Antonio-Lacklands Medina Annex and 39 acres at the corner of Rittiman Road and FM 78 on the Northeast Side.
The grocery chain bought about 250 acres in Bexar County valued at more than $90 million from 2009 to 2014.
Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Earlier this year, H-E-B purchased a 21.7-acre lot near the intersection of De Zavala Road and JV Bacon Parkway about a mile from the University of Texas at San Antonio main campus.
The grocer also bought two plots totaling 1.1 acres in March and April north of the grocery chains headquarters in downtown San Antonio.
jfechter@express-news.net
Twitter: @JFreports
State higher education officials have given Texas A&M University a nod of approval in the flagships efforts to expand into the fast-growing, high-poverty Rio Grande Valley.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board decided last week that the university could begin constructing an academic center on 100 acres of land in McAllen. Construction on the $40 million, 60,000-square-foot building of classrooms, laboratories and offices is expected to begin Dec. 15.
Students will be considered part of Texas A&M University, earning a diploma and an Aggie class ring while taking classes in the remote center. The university said it will begin enrolling students in fall 2017 in a temporary facility during construction of the main center, which it expects to complete by fall 2018.
Within the Valley, theres a lot of students that are really place bound - they need to remain there to continue working and help support their families, said James Nelson, associate vice chancellor and director of special academic initiatives for the Texas A&M University System. We have an opportunity to bring an A&M education to them.
The center will allow Texas A&M University to channel money from the multi-billion dollar state Permanent University Fund into education in the metro area, where the poverty rate is more than double the national average.
The university follows the University of Texas system in this regard. In 2015, UT launched its merged University of Texas Rio Grande Valley from the University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Texas at Pan American. The new institution could similarly use these funds, which come from oil and gas revenue.
Texas A&M University now must ensure that program offerings do not compete with UTs offerings.
Nelson said that the center will offer interdisciplinary engineering courses to prepare students for jobs in emerging fields, such as robotics and automation. Programs in engineering technology and biomedical sciences may also proceed if state and higher education regulators deem these degree plans sufficiently distinct from UTs, Nelson said.
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley president Guy Bailey said he has no objections to Texas A&M University's plans as long as there is no duplication. Applications to the university grew to about 13,332 from last year's 11,030, he said, showing high demand.
There's certainly more room for higher education in the Rio Grande Valley, he said.
Texas A&M University said it will pay for the initial building with student tuition and fees, state appropriations, special initiative funding and gifts. The city and county have pledged to contribute a total of $10 million for infrastructure and utilities, A&M said.
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Apparently, lots of voters had something to get off their chests Monday.
Setting a Bexar County record for the first day of early voting in a presidential election, 35,431 local residents weighed in on the presidential race and other contests.
In a process marred by occasional confrontations at polling sites, turnout here surpassed the high mark for a first day of 30,087 set in 2012, the year President Barack Obama was re-elected. Dallas and Tarrant counties also reported record first-day turnouts.
Mondays figure didnt approach the single-day record of 45,375, set on the last day of early voting in 2012, but it brought a measure of glee to election officials.
Its been a long time since Bexar County has seen voting like this, Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said. That part is really exciting for us.
There were the usual glitches, including disputes over voter registrations and identification requirements, and complaints about inaccurate voting information, lack of parking, and long, slow lines.
And there were some unusual scenes: A sheriffs bomb-detection squad was called to Las Palmas Branch Library after a voter ranted about an impending terrorist attack. And deputies were dispatched to two other polling sites to respond to complaints about emotional, high-stressed voters who were confrontational, Callanen said.
The turnout started strong at several sites, such as the North Sides Brookhollow Library and the Wonderland Mall of the Americas on the Northwest Side. Waits of two hours or more were reported throughout the day as lines grew to more than 200 voters at some locations.
Lighter voter traffic was recorded at some of the suburban polls and at new early voting sites on college campuses.
At several locations, observers used social media to point out problems, including questionable instructions to voters from poll workers and outdated signs pertaining to photo ID requirements. The signs drawing complaints were an old version of information from the Texas secretary of state that included accepted forms of photo ID but did not include court-mandated information about alternative documents, such as bank statements, that can be used to verify identity.
At some polls, workers were berated by voters for the slow pace of operations or when the workers called out voters for violating the Texas Election Code by wearing campaign T-shirts in line.
Outside Castle Hills City Hall, voters reported being insulted by a middle-age Anglo man in the line who spewed derogatory comments about Hillary Clinton, Latinos and others for nearly half an hour.
He started getting louder and louder, throwing racial slurs about Hispanics and using a vulgar term to describe Clinton the c word, voter James Gaines said.
When Gaines asked the man to be more sensitive to the women in line, He said, If you dont like it, you can go (expletive) yourself. Im an American, I can say what I want. If you want to go into the woods and fight it out, Ill kick your butt, Gaines recounted.
When a Latino voter in line verbally chastised the man, he responded, Why dont you eat a taco and go back to Mexico? Gaines said.
Gaines said he wanted to de-escalate the situation, so he didnt alert election officials.
This person was becoming visibly agitated, glaring at people, calling them names, threatening them physically. I thought if I did anything, especially in front of him, it could get someone hurt, Gaines said.
Callanen urged the public to report such incidents to poll officials.
They have to bring it to the election officials attention right then and there, she said.
The 12 days of early voting continue through Nov. 4 at 43 locations in Bexar County. Those seeking to vote by mail, including the elderly and disabled, have until Friday to request a mail ballot, which must be returned by Election Day.
jgonzalez@express-news.net
Twitter: @johnwgonzalez
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A man armed with a rifle and described by police as suicidal was shot and wounded by officers Monday afternoon following a standoff on the Northeast Side.
Police responded at 12:45 p.m. to an auto repair shop in the 10600 block of Nacogdoches Road near Lady Bird Johnson Park, where a man with a rifle was reportedly seen walking in and out of the business and racking the gun, said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.
The man, who police said is in his 50s and works at the shop, was walking in and out of an office at Mannys Mechanic Shop and at one point placed the rifle barrel in his mouth and up to his head, McManus said.
Officers worked for 20 minutes to de-escalate the situation but were unsuccessful, McManus said.
He approached the officers and did not stop, McManus said. They were at a point where they had no more cover. They were compelled to shoot. And one officer fired two shots.
The shots, fired at 1:06 p.m., struck the man in the leg and abdomen, McManus said.
The officers did a good job of trying to de-escalate the situation, but they ran out of time, McManus said. The man gave them no alternative but to take that action.
The injured man was transported to San Antonio Military Medical Center for treatment, but his condition was unknown, McManus said.
He might face assault on a public servant charges pending the investigation, McManus said. It wasnt clear whether the man fired his weapon. No one else was injured, McManus said.
The initial call reporting the incident came from the mans estranged wife, who warned that he was suicidal, McManus said.
twhite@mysa.com
Twitter: @tylerlwhite
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AUSTIN As national polls show Hillary Clinton widening her lead just two weeks before the presidential election, Texas Republicans mostly have gone silent about the candidate at the top of their ticket, presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Trumps Texas campaign chairman, is the only one who seems to be pushing Trumps candidacy much in public. On Monday, he tweeted a get-out-the-vote message to Keep Texas Red with the #TrumpPence16 hashtag at the end.
Other elected officials who earlier were public in their support of the candidate now are circumspect about referring to him, a not-uncommon tactic that political observers say is aimed at protecting down-ballot candidates when the party nominee is running behind in the homestretch.
When a campaign starts, everyone wants to be up there on stage with the nominee to get attention for their campaigns, said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University who has studied campaigns for years. But when things start going south, in politics, you have no friends anymore. Thats what youre seeing with Donald Trump right now.
On Monday, more than a dozen elected officials in Texas who earlier publicly supported Trump declined comment on whether they would be out campaigning for him in the final two weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
That reticence comes as polls have shown Trump and Clinton running neck and neck statistically in one of the reddest states in the country. Most of those Republican politicians stressed that they were focusing on state and local races, not on Trump.
Republican Party of Texas officials have said for weeks that the Trump campaign essentially was operating separate from the state GOP victory campaign for down-ballot candidates. The victory effort is headed by Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush who endorsed Trump, though the nominee repeatedly demeaned his father, unsuccessful rival Jeb Bush, as low energy during the primary season.
Texas GOP spokesman Michael Joyce said the state party is focusing its final campaign push on urging voters to cast a straight-ticket ballot, a move that would benefit all Republicans, including Trump. We have always been focused on winning for all Republicans, and this year is no exception, he said.
At the same time, Gov. Greg Abbott, who endorsed Trump but has not actively campaigned for him, has mobilized his statewide campaign network for Republican candidates up and down the ballot, Abbott campaign officials said.
The governor will be encouraging voters to do exactly as he did today punch one and be done, a campaign statement read.
It made no mention of Trump.
Allen Blakemore, Patricks top political strategist, said Monday that the lieutenant governor has no plans to campaign for Trump because the nominee does not plan to be in Texas before the election. But, yes, he has get-out-the-vote appearances, robocalls and all to get Republicans elected. The message is to vote straight ticket.
Political consultants in Austin said the scarcity of the Trump name in voter turnout efforts across Texas may seem strange, but it is smart politics. Trump is unpopular among some Texas voters, after controversies exploded in recent weeks over his debate performances and allegations of past sexual harassment and advances. Texas candidates do not want to have to address those issues by invoking his name in the final weeks of close campaigns, they said.
To Hispanic Republican incumbents, Trump is a heavy anchor. To suburban Republicans, hes a net negative. And hes not helpful in the 23rd Congressional District race, said Austin Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak, referring to the U.S. House race between Republican Will Hurd of Helotes and Democrat Pete Gallego of Alpine.
Nationally, not a lot of Republicans are running as Trump Republicans because his negatives are so high, and thats true in Texas. This distancing is predictable. This is what happens when you have a nominee who will probably not win.
Other consultants and political scientists said the same distancing by down-ballot candidates happening now in Texas and other states occurred in 1996 when, just weeks before the election, Republican nominee Bob Dole was behind in the polls. He lost to Bill Clinton, but Republicans held their majorities in both the Senate and the House.
Even so, Mackowiak said he finds the current Lone Star State silence about Trump very unusual because Texas is so strongly Republican, a state where most Republican leaders still privately predict that Trump will beat Clinton by as much as six points, though he probably will lose big in major urban areas.
64,940 gather at the 89th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.
INDIANAPOLIS The 89th National FFA Convention & Expo, Transform FFA was hosted in Indianapolis Oct. 19-22, drawing delegates from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The National FFA Foundation announced Oct. 20 on the conventions main stage it had raised a record-breaking $21 million, topping last years record by about $1.5 million.
Funds raised by the National FFA go toward scholarships, recognizing member achievements and supporting national programs, competitions and conferences.
National officers
FFA is a long-standing tradition in Ohio, and from the first set of national FFA officers in 1928 to today, Ohio has been represented at the national level. Leading the nation in most national officers, Ohio has had 33 serve the organization. Next in line is California with 29 and Texas with 25.
This year, Ohios Sydney Snider served as the eastern region vice president.
Originally from Moscow, Ohio, and an agricultural communication major at The Ohio State University, Snider is a former Clermont County Pork Producers Queen, a member of the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow and was a 2015 Ohio State Fair Ambassador for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.
Within FFA, she was the Ohio FFA president, and the president, secretary, reporter, and student adviser of the Felicity-Franklin FFA.
Her supervised agricultural experiences included beef, swine and goat production and work in the Agriculture Education Placement for the Felicity Agriculture Education Department, where she developed and presented lessons on agriculture and FFA and served as a peer mentor.
Snyder gave her retiring address to the convention, See Hope, Be Hope (starting at 2:07 in the recording). You can watch her and other happenings of convention at www.FFA.org/broadcasts.
History
Ohio has had 10 American Star Finalists, just behind Wisconsin with 20 and Oklahoma with 18.
Ohio members have been honored with the American FFA Degree in all 89 conventions they have been awarded. Since 1928, Ohioans have received 6,885 American FFA Degrees; 345 of those were awarded this year Oct. 22.
Pennsylvania has had 11 national officers, the last of which held the office in 2001-02; and seven American Star finalists, the last of which was in 1979.
Pennsylvania nears the top of the list with the second most American Star Farmer winners, tieing Nebraska and Kansas with six and following Oklahoma, which has had nine.
Pennsylvania brings home 46 American FFA Degrees this year; since 1930, Pennsylvania members have been awarded 1,806 American FFA Degrees.
2016 winners
Ethan Kaper, Liberty Union FFA, Ohio, won the National Agriscience Fair in the category of Plant Systems, Division 1.
Joseph Glassmeyer and Jared Hamilton, Felicity-Franklin FFA, Ohio, won the National Agriscience Fair in the category of Power, Structural and Technical Systems, Division 3.
In the national career development events, three local FFAers brought home top honors.
National Agronomy CDE second place was awarded to Ohios Todd Peterson, Garrett Hagler, Cody Clyburn, and Nick Elrich, all of Miami Trace FFA.
National Dairy Cattle Evaluation and Management third place honors went to Ohios Sarah Lehner, Hannah Edelblute, Macee Burke, and Donald Smith, all of Buckeye Valley-DACC.
National Dairy Cattle Handlers Activity first place was awarded to Chase Eller of Northern Bedford FFA, Pennsylvania.
Alumni
Roland L. Fisher, Newton FFA Alumni Chapter, Ohio, won the National Outstanding Alumni Award.
Fisher supports the alumni and local FFA chapters through financial support for fundraising projects, events, travel experiences, and the needs of FFA members.
In addition to receiving the Ohio FFA Alumni Horizon award and the Ohio FFA Alumni Outstanding Achievement award, Fisher was also the vice president of the Ohio FFA Alumni Council.
At a national level, the life member of the National FFA Alumni Association has served a leader and volunteer for the National Days of Service and at the National FFA Alumni booth.
Indianapolis hosted 64,940 FFA members, advisers, sponsors and guests this past week, slightly under the 65,173 in attendance in 2015.
Next years convention is set for Oct. 25-28, 2017.
Ohio National FFA Officers
Lawrence Augustine 1928-29
Ralph Bender, Waldo 1930-31
Bobby Jones, Radnor 1933-34
Stanley Tschantz, Wanye County JVS 1935-36
William Stiers, Twin Valley South 1937-38
Carl Fought, Fremont 1941-42
Philip Shober, Mohawk 1946-47
Glenn Lackey, Berlin Township 1949-50
Dallas High, Van West-Marsh 1951-52
Dale Ring, Wooster 1955-56
Jerome Donovan Jr., Delaware-Willis 1960-61
James Stitzlein, Loudonville 1965-66
Keaton Vandemark, Elida 1966-67
Dennis C. Sargent, Bradford 1971-72
Doug Loudenslager, Ridgedale 1975-76
Richard (Rick) McDaniel, Wynford 1976-77
Rob Hovis, Lakota 1977-78
Mark Sanborn, Grand Valley 1978-79
Susie Barrett, Warrensburg 1980-81
Bruce Kettler 1982-83
Warren Boerger, Fairbanks 1988-89
Dan Schroer, New Bremen 1989-90
Rick Perkins, Sentinel 1992-93
Lee Schroeder, Leipsic 1994-95
Holly Bentley, East Clinton 1996-97
Shannon Wilcox, Upper Scioto 1997-98
Emily Buxton, Riverview 1998-99
Joe Shultz, Indian Lake 1999-00
Katy Poth, Liberty Union 2000-01
Julie Tyson, Hillsdale 2002-03
Anne Knapke, Talawanda 2003-04
Hannah Crossen, Hillsdale 2008-09
Sydney Snider, East Central 2015-16
Pennsylvania National FFA Officers
Malcolm Wilkins, Troy 1930-31
Donald Gantz, Washington 1931-32
George Myers, Conococheague 1934-35
David P. Jameson, Laurel 1944-45
Richard Waybright, Battlefield 1950-51
Victor Cappuci Jr., Tunkhannock 1956-57
Dean Hoffer, Manheim 1959-60
Harold J. Brubaker, Elizatethtown 1966-67
Glenn Weber, Grassland 1968-69
Doyle Waybright, Battlefield 1973-74
Elio Chiarelli Jr., H.G. Parkinson 2001-02
SALEM, Ohio As harvest season winds down for most Ohio and Pennsylvania producers, its no secret that farmers have been less than pleased with commodity prices this year.
At this point, many producers are well into, or finishing up, harvest and have most likely made some decisions on grain storage or outright selling. But some producers may still be deciding whether to sell the crop or store it and wait it out for a better price in the coming months.
Every farm operation is different and has different factors to take into consideration when it comes to storing or selling grain. So what should you do? Answering like a true agricultural economist, Jim Dunn of Penn State University said, it all depends.
You just have to work out the math and see if its worthwhile to pay an elevator to store your grain or store it yourself, said Dunn.
Crop conditions
Soybean numbers are at a more profitable level and, because of this, more farmers are selling their beans instead of storing them, said Jenifer Pemberton, grain merchandiser at Deerfield Farms Service Inc. in Deerfield, Ohio.
Corn, on the other hand, is a tough one, she explained, with prices below the cost of production to break even. Northeastern Ohio farmers are facing some diversity as far as crop conditions go. Farmers north of Interstate 80 are having a better crop and may have more bushels, she said. So the lower price isnt as huge of a factor.
On the flip side, she said producers south of the I-80 line are experiencing poorer crop conditions and lower crop yields. In some case, many of the farmers Pemberton has talked to say they just want to sell it and move on, and hope for better prices in the coming year.
The cost of storing grain
But if you are considering storage, one of the biggest factors to consider is the cost of storing that grain. Scott Anderson, a former wall street investment banker who offers precision grain marketing management tools to farmers, shared a column, 5 Tips to Decide Whether or Not to Store Grain, on his Cash Cow Farmer Blog
The co-op is probably the most expensive option, usually anywhere from 3-7 cents per bushel a month, said Anderson in his column. If the farmer is considering storing and waiting for a better price in July, for example, thats roughly 35 cents per bushel in storage costs lost, he said.
In a state like Pennsylvania, where livestock are more abundant than corn and soybeans, grain storage tends to be a bit cheaper. We dont have the grain elevators like the Corn Belt, said Dunn, so the few elevators and feed mills in central Pennsylvania are often looking for that extra grain to store.
He suggested in a year like this year, when crop yields are low, it is really worthwhile to have storage because you are going to get paid pretty well to store it. It is also worthwhile to have on-farm storage facilities because of your time during the busy part of the year storing yourself versus waiting in line at the elevator, said Dunn.
But, there are also risks in on-farm storage of grain. It may not be reflected in a flat rate, but may be reflected in the loss of grain due to mold, a hot spot getting into the bin, running fans, or damage from loading and unloading grain, said Anderson.
Check the basis
Looking at the basis during harvest is another key consideration for grain storage. Anderson suggests looking at your farms basis for each commodity and determining, based on the average of the past five years, where your farm is at on basis.
Basis is the difference between the current local cash price and the futures price of the contract with the closest delivery month. For example, corn basis in February is usually defined as the difference between the current cash price and the current March futures price, according to Iowa State University Extension.
The main purpose of storing grain is to take advantage of an improved basis later on in the year, he said. But farmers also need to consider the cost of loading and unloading bins, plus storage costs. A huge harvest in the area will bring the basis down, but if the harvest isnt great, due to drought or other poor conditions, the farmer may want to consider selling.
We are dealing with record crops (this year), said Mike Myers, grain marketing manager for Sunrise Cooperative in Fremont, Ohio. We feel the basis is going to get better in the Eastern Corn Belt, he said, but for now its hard to tell if a market rally is in the near future.
In contrast, Dunn expects the harvest prices to be pretty good (in central Pennsylvania) because of the low crop. Dunn said drought inflicted most of central Pennsylvania, causing crop conditions and yield to be poor.
Contracting grain
Deferred contracts are any contracts after harvest and before next years harvest, explained Anderson. Most people are going to be looking at July for corn versus December, he said, sharing an example of the cost of storing for a slightly better price.
If the December contract is trading at $3.30 and the July contract is trading at $3.50, thats 20 cents in holding the grain for six months. Add on top of that, the cost of storage and the potential basis movement, he said. It doesnt make sense to store if theres no carry in the market, and you want to take advantage of that carry when its big, said Anderson.
Somebody who can store grain and understand hedge is going to do all right storing grain, said Myers. But not a lot of folks are that astute in marketing.
Cash flow
At the end of the day, an important question to ask yourself is, Do I have enough cash on hand for my current cash flow needs? Anderson points out that as harvest season comes to a close, prepayments for 2017 seed will be due.
Make sure to have cash on hand in the fall to cover any debt payments and availability to a line of credit (or cash) to prepay for seed, explained Anderson, noting that paying in advance can lead to some deep discounts.
Wrapping it up
Dont put all your eggs in one basket, said Pemberton, who suggested spreading out the risk by selling a little, storing a little and doing some forward contracting. Farmers may also be able to cash in on crop insurance to make up for any loss in yields this year.
Nobody is in the (farming) business to get rich quick, said Pemberton. Its all about managing risk and seeing where you can make some money.
The USDA crop progress report
For Ohio and Pennsylvania, week ending Oct. 23:
Ohio corn is 49 percent harvested compared to a five-year average of 41 percent harvested at this time.
Pennsylvania corn is 50 percent harvested compared to a five-year average of 47 percent harvested at this time.
Ohio soybeans are 79 percent harvested compared to a five-year average of 64 percent.
Nationally, corn is 61 percent harvested compared to a five-year average of 62 percent.
Nationally, soybeans are 76 percent harvested even with the five-year average.
Crop condition ratings are from the Oct. 17 report:
Corn condition for Ohio was rated 7 percent very poor, 14 percent poor, 33 percent fair, 41 percent good, and 5 percent excellent.
Corn condition for Pennsylvania was rated 7 percent very poor, 13 percent poor, 34 percent fair, 38 percent good, and 8 percent excellent.
Soybean condition for Ohio was rated 2 percent very poor, 7 percent poor, 28 percent fair, 51 percent good, and 12 percent excellent.
Focus on Ag: What the worsening drought conditions really tell us
Drought conditions in the Midwest have worsened over the last few months, but Kent Thiesse says the long-term impact of drought isn't always understood.
NFU Feeding the Future report
A new report from the NFU urges Government and research providers to invest in agricultural R&D and to enable British farmers to use the latest technologies. The report, Feeding the Future, Fou...
New figures show a return to growth for retailer Tesco amid anger from the farming industry about how 'fake farm brands' helped fuel the growth.
After a troubled few years, during which the UKs biggest supermarket chain has been hit by scandal and falling profitability under pressure from the discounters, Tesco increased its sales by 1.3 per cent for the 12 weeks ending October 9. This was its first sign of upward growth since March 2015.
The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel show Tesco has grown faster than the overall market, where sales increased by 0.8 per cent on last year.
The retailer attracted a further 228,000 shoppers to help its market share grow to 28.2 per cent its first year-on-year market share gain since 2011.
At the heart of its revival has been the introduction of its fake farm brands, such as Woodside Farm pork products.
'Misleading'
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: Foods including ready meals and produce have been among the fastest growing areas at Tesco, helped by its Farm Brands but also its standard own label lines.
The farming industry has reacted angrily to the branding, accusing Tesco of misleading consumers
The farming industry has reacted angrily to the branding, accusing retailers of misleading consumers and riding on the coattails of the trust UK farmers have built.
The most recent and high profile example is Tescos introduction of brand names such as Woodside Farms and Boswell Farms.
Yorkshire pig farmer and former National Pig Association chairman Richard Longthorp said Tesco appeared to have 'forgotten the lessons about trust it should have learned from the horsemeat scandal.'
Mr Longthorp said: I thought my memory was bad but clearly the memory of the people at Tesco must be somewhat worse or they were being somewhat disingenuous back in 2013. Remember Horsegate?
It wasnt really about horsemeat, it was about trust.
I seem to recall Tesco and other retailers being aghast at what had happened and how trust had been breached and must never be allowed to happen again.
So what are they doing now? They are using tertiary brands (aka flags of convenience) such as Woodside Farms, to trick their customers into thinking that the meat they are buying is British. Well there cant be that many pig farms in Denmark or Holland called Woodside can there?
'A range of countries'
Despite the criticism it is receiving from across the farming sector, including complaints to Trading Standards, Tesco has stood behind its fake farm brands.
A Tesco spokesman acknowledged that the products sold under the brand come from a range of countries.
Every product is sourced from a selection of farms and growers - some are small, family-run farms while others are of a larger scale," the spokesman said.
Tesco customers are among the savviest in the country and they understand that one farm could not possibly supply Tesco given our scale and the vast range of products that they want to buy from us.
Every product is clearly labelled with its country of origin and the Union Jack is prominently displayed on all British produce."
The UK is seeking to lift Welsh Lamb exports to Italy by linking producers with top international chefs and discerning diners.
Italys 6m trade makes it one of the most important overseas markets for Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) expanding export plans for PGI Welsh Lamb.
It seeks to prompt further growth by creatively drawing on the help of Welsh sheep farmers and celebrated chefs to narrate the brands special supply chain story from farm to fork - under the banner headline: Naturale, buono e genuino!
Welsh Lambs sought-after PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) designation is particularly renowned and respected among consumers in Italy, where it places it on a par with other protected-name stellar foods such as Parma ham and Champagne.
One ambassador is Myrddin Davies, a fifth generation farmer from Pandy Tudur, in the Conwy Valley, said: In Wales, it is very easy to find farming families like mine.
Its thanks to this great, centuries-old heritage that Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef obtained the coveted PGI status over ten years ago.
Welsh Lamb is a truly natural product that is bred in the open air. It feeds on green grass, and grows in a healthy and clean environment. Welsh Lamb is tender, sweet and very tasty. It is what it is; there are no secrets, a genuine taste that expresses all its qualities.
Fast forward to Milan, where a group of Italian journalists brought together by HCC recently enjoyed a range of delectable dishes, designed and cooked by celebrated Milanese chef Misha Sukyas, all highlighting the versatility of PGI Welsh Lamb.
Italy is a very important market for our producers, said HCCs Export Development Executive Alex James.
Italian consumers expect a high quality product based on traditional farming practices with the indisputable reassurance of a PGI classification thats where reputable, traditional farmers such as Myrddin Davies are invaluable ambassadors," he said.
The Queen could lose a million pounds in lost farming subsidies every year after Brexit is initiated, estimate Buckingham Palace aides.
The Queen currently receives 700,000 a year in support for her Sandringham estate in Norfolk and 300,000 a year for land around Windsor Castle.
And Prince Charles estates could lose out on 100,000 as a result of Britains decision to quit the EU, with the Crown Estate which manages Royal land also being affected.
A source familiar with Royal finances told the Sunday Telelgraph the Palace is not "losing sleep over" the projected loss of revenue.
The billions of pounds of subsidies will end when Britain leaves the EU, which on current timescales will be by 2019.
The Chancellor Philip Hammond has said he will match the EU funding after Britain leaves the EU but only until 2020.
Currently, only three per cent of Europe's population are farmers while the CAP makes up 40 per cent of the whole EU budget.
'Under pressure'
"I dont think it was a budget-busting concern, it wasnt something people were losing sleep over. But it was something people were conscious of as a post-referendum impact," the source said.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said "Subsidies are open to all farmers; and like others with agricultural interests, subsidies are received on the Queens private estates. We would not comment beyond the detail that is already in the public domain as a matter of record".
They added that the Keeper of the Privy Purse, who looks after the Queens finances, would likely be sounding out Government figures, though no meetings are known to have taken place.
Ministers are now under pressure to break their refusal to provide commitments for post-Brexit Britain and publicly say the payments will be continued.
Brexit-backing former Tory minister Sir Gerald Howarth dispelled fears the EU funds would not be replaced by the Government.
He said: "What we all said during the Leave campaign was that all those currently in receipt of so-called EU money will continue to receive the same money because we will be saving 20billion every year.
"What Brexit does is to give the United Kingdom the chance to fashion a farm price support mechanism designed exclusively for the benefit of British farmers."
In 2015, Sandringham received 665,000, the Royal Farms in Windsor got 298,000, the Duchy of Cornwall was given 129,000 and the Crown Estate got 350,000.
A student at the Elmwood Campus of Scotlands Rural College (SRUC) has been shortlisted for a prestigious award recognising an outstanding commitment to learning.
Andrew Ferguson, who completed an HNC in Countryside Management at Elmwood, is down to the final three from nominations across Scotland now battling it out for one of the SQA Star Awards which recognise the individuals who work towards SQA qualifications.
Andrew, aged 28 and from Monifieth in Angus, has been shortlisted in the College Candidate of the Year category following his nomination from SRUC in recognition for his excellent all round attitude and application.
During his studies he developed an excellent work ethos and secured a vocational role with the Scottish Wildlife Trust on the remote Handa Island in Sutherland involving sea bird monitoring and visitor management while completing his HNC.
'Extra sense of pride'
Andrew said: The last year at SRUC has been extremely enjoyable as well as challenging and often exhausting. The combination of a full-time course, bird-ringing training, regular volunteering and a four month voluntary placement has meant a lot of 5am starts, long days and late nights.
But the validation of being nominated for this award by my tutors has added an extra sense of pride. And then to be shortlisted by a more objective committee is extremely flattering.
Andrew is currently on an internship jointly organised by SRUC and Scottish National Heritage working at St Cyrus National Nature Reserve in Aberdeenshire. It was one of just six such posts available in Scotland.
Victoria Pendry, lecturer at Elmwood, said: During his time at Elmwood Campus Andrew has shown complete commitment to develop both himself and his employability.
It is a testament to Andrewss commitment to his chosen career and the natural heritage that he has been shortlisted for this prestigious SQA Star Award.
The winner of the College Candidate of the Year Award will be announced at the SQA Star Awards ceremony on November 11 at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh.
When it comes to diversification Farmer Copleys is carving out a niche.
The farm, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has been running its annual pumpkin festival for seven years and has seen a rapid rise in popularity every Halloween.
Visitors are welcomed to pick their own pumpkins from a variety of different colours and sizes straight from the field.
Farmers have capitalised on the growing Americanisation of Halloween in the UK
Rob Copley, director of Farmer Copleys, said he got the idea whilst visiting farms in America and has since gone on to create the biggest pumpkin festival in the UK.
The farm has grown 90,000 pumpkins this year from 25 different varieties.
Mr Copley said that they dont wholesale anything with 99 per cent of the crop sold at the farm gate as pick your own and the remaining one per cent being sold through the farm shop.
Diversification never been more critical
From pumpkin picking to Farmageddon, enterprising farmers have capitalised on the US-influenced appetite for all things Halloween and are reaping the rewards.
"While farmers continue to struggle to profit from traditional farming practices alone, more and more are looking to diversify, says James Barker, Associate Solicitor at leading law firm Kirwans.
'For many farmers, looking for alternative sources of income is essential to the viability of the business and diversification takes many forms'
"Halloween offers the perfect opportunity for those who want to dip their toe in the water to create Halloween-related events at their farm without committing themselves fully to year-round activity.
"Whether its spooky fun days, pumpkin festivals, or fright night-type activities, there are lots of ways to explore new opportunities around Halloween.
"However, even farmers staging a one-off event have a responsibility to ensure that the public remain safe, so they should seek specialist advice to make sure that they have the necessary legal and insurance documents in place."
Director of the CLA in Wales, Rebecca Williams, said diversification has never been more critical to the sector.
The agriculture industry has seen some difficult times of late and there are uncertain times ahead, she said.
For many farmers, looking for alternative sources of income is essential to the viability of the business and diversification takes many forms.
Matthew Evans, of law firm Hugh James and co-author of a report exploring diversification on farms, says there are some key areas farming businesses need to consider before investing time ond money.
Uncertainty is, unfortunately, a way of life in the rural economy and, with the EU referendum result and the spread of commodity pricing, that doesnt look like its going to change any time soon, he said.
So, diversification can seem like and often is an attractive prospect, whether thats introducing new technology, launching tourism or retail venture or hosting renewable energy production, for example.
Learning to be entrepreneurial
Results from the Farm Business Survey (FBS) for England has revealed that 61 per cent of all farm businesses had some form of diversified enterprise in 2014/15, up three per cent from 2013/14 and up to ten per cent higher than a decade ago.
And a 2016 Oxford Farming Conferences report has discovered that UK farming is less entrepreneurial than many other industries, but that those farmers who are budding Bransons or Dysons make more profit.
It suggests that whilst some people are born entrepreneurial, those who arent can learn to become so.
Historically farmers were less profit orientated than most businesses, being more concerned with subsistence and survival; this helps to explain why farming demonstrates a lower level of entrepreneurialism than other sectors, said Mr Redman.
Farms are remarkably strong places from which to develop entrepreneurial businesses. They have valuable resources, most of which have been relatively inefficiently deployed, and often have a strong capital base. Of fundamental importance for successful entrepreneurialism on farm, is that the business must remain true to its agricultural roots, and respects the land and home farm as their golden goose which lays the golden egg of entrepreneurialism.
Bird flu: Poultry housing order to be introduced in England
While acknowledging the ACCC's concerns, in the preamble to its undertaking CBH informed the ACCC it "does not agree that its previous conduct in the 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 harvest seasons... has had or would have had any adverse competitive effect in any relevant market".
The key issues that would improve outcomes for businesses and households in the electorate are improved access to fast and reliable internet, good health and aged care services, and opportunity for a quality education close to home, she said.
Mr Hanks said he has parked some cows in other herds, helped out by friends in the industry who realise that the predicament he finds himself in could just as easily have happened to them, and dried out or sold the rest.
It involved more than two years of litigation with more than 10 pre-trial court attendances before a trial part heard in Kununurra and Perth requiring Mr Botha to spend many hours travelling to defend what turned out to be charges which had no merit, she said.
The data produced by Doppler radar has the capability to predict possible heavy rains, thunderstorms and other types of extreme weather patterns (such as the recent devastating frost activity) and allows farmers to make better decisions about on-farm activities and get the most out of every acre they farm, he said.
That faint gobble, gobble youre hearing in the distance can only mean one thing: Thanksgiving is near! Both ACTS and SERVE are gearing up for their holiday programs, and your help is needed.
What does a more efficient Caleb Love look like for the Tar Heels?
Overall Winner
Landscape Photographer of the Year: Collection 10
MATTHEW CATTELL
Starling Vortex
Brighton, East Sussex, England
During the winter months hundreds of thousands of starlings assemble at Brighton Pier to roost for the night. The birds gather in large flocks and perform beautiful aerial displays before dropping down to the relative safety of the structure below. Standing on the pier allows the viewer to witness these murmurations from within as the birds flow and cascade around you. The windy conditions had whipped up the foam on the surface of the sea and I liked the way the motion of the incoming tide mimicked the movement of the birds. Rather than 'freeze' the action I used a longer exposure to exaggerate this vortex of motion. I retained the ruins of the West Pier to help locate the image.
Youth Overall Winner
HANNAH FAITH JACKSON
Mirror Bar
Glasgow, Scotland
Glasgow is a city of two worlds: the relaxed atmosphere of the bar and the vibrant life of the street. I took this photograph just as the dark van approached and the couple appeared deep in the bar. I love the positive and reverse images created by a sea of glass.
THE GREAT BRITAIN #OMGB 'HOME OF AMAZING MOMENTS' AWARD WINNER
MARK GILLIGAN
Finding Gold
Wast Water, Cumbria, England
As landscape photographers we work with the elements and sometimes that combination creates views that are literally jaw dropping. I was talking to my friend who is in the photograph with my back to the event that began to unfold behind me, when his face lit up and he ran off, shouting 'Look at that!' I turned and saw the rainbow forming in a perfect arc over Wast Water. I had my camera to hand. Everything seemed to come together. My friend gave the photograph perspective. The rainbow faded but I felt we had literally found gold.
CLASSIC VIEW ADULT CLASS WINNER
DOUGIE CUNNINGHAM
Shelter from the Storm
Loch Stack, Sutherland, Scotland
This was a once-in-a-lifetime scene. Driving through Sutherland during Storm Desmond, I was passing Loch Stack when the wind whipped up a huge waterspout and I pulled in to watch the wind toying with the waters of the loch. With the glen funnelling the storm towards the loch it was too windy to stand outside, so I repositioned myself in the layby for a good composition and set up the tripod in the back of the van. With the shot framed through the side window, each time a big gust ripped the water from the surface of the loch I'd pop the door open for a couple of seconds in the relative lull that followed its passing ... Then I'd dry my kit and try again with the next gust! This was one of only a handful of frames not spoiled by rain on the filter.
Judge's Choice Steve Watkins
LIVING THE VIEW ADULT CLASS WINNER
MARTIN BIRKS
Chrome Hill
Peak District, Derbyshire, England
The forecast looked good for a misty autumn morning, so I drove across from Lincoln to Chrome Hill in the Peak District. I'd wanted to capture a dramatic sunrise here for a while. It was a stunning view above the fog and there were a group of other photographers who I enjoyed chatting with. This one eventually made his way back down the hill and I liked the scale he added to the scene.
URBAN VIEW ADULT CLASS WINNER
LESLEY SMITH
Demolition
Red Road Flats, Glasgow, Scotland
The original demolition had been scheduled for the opening of Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 but public pressure put this back to 11 October 2015. I took up position at the gate at about 10am, as demolition had been scheduled for 1pm. Crowds started gathering about noon and my tripod and I stood still. Finally, at 3.17pm, the siren went and 10 seconds later there was a huge boom as the flats started to collapse. A minute later it was all over. It was about another minute before I plucked up the courage to look at the back of my camera to make sure I had my shot.
Judge's choice Helen Brocklehurst
YOUR VIEW ADULT CLASS WINNER
TONY HIGGINSON
Shifting Sands
Silverdale, Lancashire, England
Late morning on a sunny day in mid June is hardly a classic time to be photographing the landscape. However, when I arrived at Silverdale beach on the Lancashire coast, the conditions were unusual as the sea was as flat as a mill pond. I noticed that as the water receded from high tide, it was creating amazing shapes like mini estuaries in the edge of the sand. After spending some time photographing the interesting patterns, I decided to use them as the foreground for this wider landscape. I opted to use filters to smooth out what little texture there was in the sea and to give just a bit of movement to the sky, which added to the surreal quality of the photograph.
Judge's Choice Nicholas Crane
CLASSIC VIEW YOUTH CLASS WINNER
JAMES BAILEY
Hoarfrost at Herringfleet Mill
Suffolk, England
Due to a forecast of freezing fog the night before, we left home at 4.30am in the morning to get to Herringfleet for dawn, a location we'd previously discussed as being worth the visit photography-wise. When we got there, there were memorable images everywhere but this picture immediately leaped out - I particularly enjoyed the covering of frost that the grass and the bridge had received. The hoarfrost helps to accentuate the dilapidated nature of the windmill and structures surrounding it.
LIVING THE VIEW YOUTH CLASS WINNER
ROWAN ASHWORTH
Sunset Explorer
Hushinish, Isle of Harris, Scotland
I was allowed to stay up very late to go and photograph the sunset with my Dad. This is my Dad climbing above the sea
URBAN VIEW YOUTH CLASS WINNER
HENRY MEMMOTT
City Lights
Glasgow, Scotland
Taken from a footbridge over the M8 motorway in the centre of Glasgow. I used a long exposure to create light trails with the brake lights and headlights of the cars passing below. I wanted to have mainly red trails to help increase the feeling of movement.
YOUR VIEW YOUTH CLASS WINNER
HENRY MEMMOTT
Floating Feather
Glengavel Reservoir, Lanarkshire, Scotland
This feather is from the Canada geese that inhabit the reservoir and I decided to compose an image in which the feather floated on the surface. With little wind, the water's surface was still, which also allowed for the reflection to be seen.
Peter Jackson is adapting the sci-fi fantasy novel 'Mortal Engines' for the big screen.
Peter Jackson
The acclaimed filmmaker will co-write the script for the movie, based on the book by Philip Reeve and his longtime collaborator Christian Rivers is set to make his directorial debut with the project.
Peter said: "Christian is one of my closest collaborators. The combination of emotion and jaw-dropping visuals in 'Mortal Engines' makes this the perfect movie for his move into feature directing. What Christian intends to do with Philip Reeve's terrific story is going to result in an original and spectacular movie. I wish I could see it tomorrow!"
The book is part of a series of four novels, which also includes 'Predator's Gold', 'Infernal Devices', and 'A Darkling Plain'.
It is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where cities including London are run on engines.
The protagonist of the story is a teenager called Tom Natsworthy, who joins forces with a young woman from an area known as the Outlands, to discover a mystery that could change the world they live in.
MRC and Universal are co-financing the film while Universal will also serve as worldwide distributor.
Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Pictures, said: "Peter, Fran, Philippa and Christian are all visionary storytellers with the gift of turning their passion projects into beloved blockbusters for a worldwide audience. The studio is proud of our longstanding relationship with MRC and these tremendous filmmakers, and we are looking forward to collaborating on this cinematic re-imagination of Philip's bold and fantastical novel."
Production is set to begin in New Zealand next year.
Queen Elizabeth enjoyed a birthday meal at an exclusive men's club last week.
Queen Elizabeth
The 90-year-old monarch - who reached the milestone age in April - visited White's in London with her husband Prince Philip for a belated celebratory lunch, the Daily Mail reports.
Although women are banned from the club, they make an exception for the monarch, whose son Prince Charles and grandson Prince William, are members.
While Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip enjoyed the belated birthday lunch, no doubt her beloved corgis were chowing down on some delicacies of their own as it was recently revealed that the pampered pooches have their own menu.
The monarch's former chef, Darren McGrady - who worked for the royal for 11 years - has revealed the canines are extremely well looked after, so much so he would have to cook up special meals for the mutts on a daily basis.
He said: "When I worked at the Palace, we actually had a royal menu for the dogs.
"It would be chosen and sent to us in the kitchen every month by Mrs Fennick, who took care of all the dogs at Sandringham.
"It would list each day what the dogs were to have. One day it would be beef, the next day chicken, the next day lamb, the next day rabbit and it alternated through those days.
"The beef would come in, we would cook it, dice it into really fine pieces and then we did same with the chicken. We'd poach them, and again chop them really, really small to make sure there were no bones so the dogs wouldn't choke."
Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers Association (BGAPMEA) is planning to launch a testing laboratory next month to help improve the quality of garment accessories manufactured in the country . The association aims to set up the lab in order to provide internationally acceptable and reliable testing facilities for a range of products.
The lab will be set up with the help of Integrated Support to Poverty and Inequality Reduction through Enterprise Development (INSPIRED) project funded by the ministry of industries and the European Union (EU).
The laboratory is expected to strengthen the industrial capacity of the readymade garment accessories sector of Bangladesh, according to Bangladeshi media reports. The president of BGAPMEA, Abdul Kader Khan, said that product testing is a requirement for buyers and can help the sector to meet buyers demands of quality products.
Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers Association (BGAPMEA) is planning to launch a testing laboratory next month to help improve the quality of garment accessories manufactured in the country. The association aims to set up the lab in order to provide internationally acceptable and reliable testing facilities for a range of products.#
Facilities such as moisture meter, touchscreen bursting strength tester, drop tester, crush tester, moisture meter, box compression strength tester, cobb absorbency tester and run tests among others will be provided at the laboratory.
The garment accessories and packaging industry contributed $6.12 billion to apparel exports in the last fiscal, recording a growth of 9.28 per cent compared to $5.6 billion in the previous year, according to a recent research. The accessories used in readymade garments are produced by about 1,400 manufacturers in Bangladesh, which collectively employ 3 lakh people.
BGAPMEA also plans to launch a training institute in Bangladesh. (KD)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
Leading apparel brand Fila Korea is planning to establish an apparel development centre in China to improve the brands awareness in the global fashion market. The firm also plans to bolster the Fila Heritage Line by urging all its units spread across 20 countries to collaborate in the development and launch of new products under the guidance of Fila US.
During the two-day global branding enhancement meeting Fila 20th GCM 2016 held in Seoul, Fila Korea chairman and chief executive Yoon Yoon-soo said the new R&D centre will be established in Jinjang city of China, where the company already has a footwear sourcing centre. This upcoming centre is being set up with a view to facilitate mass sourcing, improve quality and reduce costs and time of manufacturing, according to Korean media reports.
The company also plans to improve its footwear research centre located in Busan, Korea and its design centre in New York. Moreover, all units of the company will collaborate once or twice a year to develop a new product that will be launched across the globe simultaneously. Collaborations to target local markets are also likely to be arranged by the firm.
Leading apparel brand Fila Korea is planning to establish an apparel development centre in China to improve the brand's awareness in the global fashion market. The firm also plans to bolster the 'Fila Heritage Line' by urging all its units spread across 20 countries to collaborate in the development and launch of new products under the guidance of Fila US.#
Fila 20th GCM 2016 meeting was attended by more than 100 representatives from all Fila Korea subsidiary and partner companies from around the world. (KD)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
The powerloom sector in Pakistan is undergoing serious crisis and is on the verge of closure, members of the All Pakistan Cotton Power looms Association (APCPA) said. Due to the government's ineffective policies and the country 's declining cloth exports, about 50 per cent of the factories have already shut down and the rest may close down soon.
Chairman of APCPA Choudhry Abdul Haq said that special rebate should be given to the powerloom industry in order to help them control their financial crisis and improve exports. This industry is currently bearing several direct and indirect taxes along with additional sales tax at multiple stages through petroleum products and electricity bills, according to Pakistani media reports.
Importing shafoon, silk products and cloth from India is also causing a negative impact over Pakistan's exports, said Abdul Haq. This situation is causing unemployment and stopping investment in the sector, thus adding to its woes.
The powerloom sector in Pakistan is undergoing serious crisis and is on the verge of closure, members of the All Pakistan Cotton Power looms Association (APCPA) said. Due to the government's ineffective policies and the country's declining cloth exports, about 50 per cent of the factories have already shut down and the rest may close down soon.#
Abdul Haq demanded immediate measures to address the problems of the sectors that could cause thousands of workers to lose their jobs. (KD)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
Uster Group, the leading instrument manufacturer of products for quality measurement and certification for the textile industry, has unveiled the Total Testing Centre, a quality management system capable of guiding spinning mills towards productivity improvements to transform incoming raw material that fluctuates in quality and cost into a consistent yarn.The Total Testing Centre is now available with the new USTER TESTER 6. The keyword is 'Total' with the integration of laboratory and in-production data across the entire mill. It is one solution, with the essential multi-process coverage that enables intelligent optimisation of each department. From bale laydown to ring spinning and winding, information from each process stage is inter-linked to others, and to the whole.
Uster Group, the leading instrument manufacturer of products for quality measurement and certification for the textile industry, has unveiled the Total Testing Centre, a quality management system capable of guiding spinning mills towards productivity improvements to transform incoming raw material that fluctuates in quality and cost into a consistent yarn.#
The Total Testing Centre aims to bring together all the vital quality data from USTER systems, with the advantages increasing for the spinning mill with each USTER instrument connected to it.The USTER SENTINEL monitoring system will link into the Total Testing Centre to provide analysis of the three-way relationship between raw material, ring spinning performance, and quality data from yarn clearers at winding. Its results will facilitate improvements in several aspects of ring spinning performance, including productivity, and streamlining operative workloads for best use of labour.The latest USTER QUANTUM 3 anniversary edition yarn clearers not only provide a final-stage report on yarn quality by feeding data into the Total Testing Centre, they also link with measurements from the USTER TENSOJET strength tester for yarn performance prediction.In the laboratory, the new USTER TESTER 6 combines data gathered through the Total Testing Centre to provide the prognosis guidance for fabric appearance and weaving performance and additionally predicting the level of pilling which can be expected. USTER TESTER 6 also provides quality comparisons, matching yarn lots and end-uses to highlight any differences. Using USTER STATISTICS figures, spinners can then check that their entire yarn production will achieve the required quality for each application.By linking the USTER AFIS fibre testing instrument to the Total Testing Center, spinners can optimise waste in spinning preparation. This system also helps to fine-tune production and pinpoint quality issues in other areas, such as correcting carding and comber settings. (GK)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.#
The transaction involving a shipment of cotton from Texas, US to Qingdao, China involved two independent banks combining the emerging disruptive technologies of blockchain, smart contracts and Internet of Things (IoT), Commonwealth Bank said.
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.#
The trade involved an open account transaction, mirroring a Letter of Credit, executed through a collaborative workflow on a private distributed ledger between the seller (Brighann Cotton (US)); the buyer (Brighann Cotton Marketing Australia); and their respective banks (Wells Fargo and Commonwealth Bank). The trade introduced a physical supply chain trigger to the terms of the transaction to confirm the geographic location of goods in transit before a notification is sent to allow for release of payment.
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.#
The tracking feature adds a new dimension, providing all parties with greater certainty compared with traditional open account and trade instruments like Letters of Credit, which focus on documents and data.
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.#
The use of blockchain technology creates transparency between buyer and seller, a higher level of security and the ability to track a shipment in real time. The advancement from paper ledgers and manual processes to electronic trackers on a distributed ledger reduces errors and accomplishes in minutes what used to take days.
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.#
The combination of these emerging technologies could eliminate many inefficiencies currently experienced in international trade. The benefits of lower costs and improvements to security through reduction of errors, risk and time, enable a company to achieve greater efficiency and have more predictable working capital, explains Cameron Austin, general manager of Brighann Marketing.
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.#
Michael Eidel, executive general manager of Commonwealth Bank's Cash-flow and Transaction Services, said: Existing trade finance processes are ripe for disruption and this proof of concept demonstrates how companies around the world could benefit from these emerging technologies. We strive to stay at the forefront of disruptive technologies to understand how they can be used to enable greater efficiencies and solve the real world challenges our customers face. The interplay between blockchain, smart contracts and the IoT is a significant development towards revolutionising trade transactions that could deliver considerable benefits throughout the global supply chain.
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.#
In this case, we demonstrated how a new approach to trade could benefit a joint Wells Fargo and Commonwealth Bank customer, Brighann Cotton. This marks another step in evaluating technology that, over time, could support the evolution of trade finance. While significant regulatory, legal and other concerns remain to be addressed with the technology, we are committed to engaging with our partners to explore potential applications within trade finance, said Chris Lewis, head of International Trade Services for Wells Fargo.
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.#
Following the successful completion of this transaction, Commonwealth Bank and Wells Fargo have announced that they will continue to actively collaborate with trade finance clients, financial institutions, fintech companies and consortiums like R3, as well as players in the insurance and shipping industries, to ensure their clients benefit from the changes in technology across the global trade ecosystem. (RKS)
The world's first trade transaction involving shipment of cotton using the efficiencies of a distributed ledger, the Skuchain's Brackets system, for all parties has been undertaken by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton. The interbank open account transaction provides more efficient and effective method for the shipment of goods.#
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
Brussels, 21 October 2016: The President H.E Major General (Ret'd) Jioji Konrote paid a courtesy call on the Acting Prime Minister of Belgium H.E Mr Didier Reynders at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium.
The courtesy call was an opportunity for the President to personally express his sympathies for those that lost their lives following the three terrorist attacks in Belgium this year."We share the sorrow and grief of the Belgian people in the wake of these despicable attacks. Fiji pledges its support for Belgium and the ongoing effort by the global community to combat terrorism, the President told Minister Reynders.The courtesy call also saw the President thank the Belgian Government for working closely with the Fijian Mission in Brussels.Minister Reynders is Belgium's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister. He is acting Prime Minister in the absence of the Prime Minister who is out of the country with the King of Belgium.The President was in Brussels visiting Fiji's mission in Brussels before he travels onto the Middle East to visit Fijian peacekeeping troops stationed there. Early on in the day he paid a courtesy call on the African Caribbean and Pacific group of states secretary general H.E Dr Patrick Gomes.-ENDS-
Fiji's contribution to peacekeeping duties in Iraq has been commended by Iraq's Head of State following a meeting with the Fijian President in Iraq.
His Excellency the President Major General (Ret'd) Jioji Konrote paid a courtesy call on the President of Iraq His Excellency Muhammad Fuad Masum in Baghdad, Iraq.The courtesy call by His Excellency was an opportunity to extend to the Iraqi President, the gratitude of the Fijian people for accommodating Fijian peacekeepers stationed in Iraq under the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq" or UNAMI banner.In welcoming our President to his nation, President Masum said the Government and people of Iraq valued the work undertaken by the peacekeepers and highlighted the close working relations between Fijian peacekeepers and authorities and the people of Iraq.The Iraqi President also congratulated Fiji for its recent gold medal win at the 2016 Rio Olympics and called for closer cooperation between the two nations.The President is visiting Fijian peacekeeping troops based in various parts of the Middle East in his capacity as Commander in Chief of the Republic of Fiji's Military Forces. This is his first foreign visit as President and Commander in Chief.
HON. PM VOREQE BAINIMARAMA'S ADDRESS TO THE FIJIAN COMMUNITY IN AUCKLAND
My fellow Fijians and friends of Fiji,
Bula vinaka and a very good evening to you all.Its wonderful to be here with the great extended Fijian family in Auckland and I bring you greetings from everyone back home.As I told the members of our Australian family in Sydney last weekend, it doesnt matter where we are in the world, we remain forever connected to our island home. And no matter where we go, we take our Fijian values with us. Our yalo loloma or our bada dil the big hearts that we all pride ourselves on having.The first thing I want to do tonight is to thank you all for your big hearted response to the plight of our people back home who were affected by Tropical Cyclone Winston in February. We are still getting over - as a nation and as individuals - the loss of 44 of our loved ones. We are still in the process of getting back on our feet, of rebuilding the thousands of homes that were destroyed. But the burden that so many Fijians faced was considerably lightened by so many people around the world like you the wonderful members of the Fijian community in New Zealand.The way you came together to contribute to the relief effort really touched the hearts of our people. So from your extended family members back in Fiji, vinaka vakalevu to you all.Friends, we are determined to build back better and stronger. Because we know that it is only a matter of time before the fury returns. Climate change is producing more frequent and more intense weather events all over the world. And we have to be prepared for this new and terrifying era. While at the same time doing everything we can to persuade the industrial nations to cut back on the carbon emissions that are causing this crisis in the first place.As you know, Fiji is taking a lead role in this fight. And next month, I will be travelling to Morocco for COP-22, where I will again be pressing for deeper cuts in carbon emissions than we have on the table at the moment.Fiji and the other Pacific countries want global warming to be caped at one-point-five degrees above the pre-industrial age, rather than the two per cent that the world agreed to at COP-21 last year. So we will keep fighting for our position. While we also do everything we can to prepare our people for more cyclones, as well as getting them back on their feet after the last.The sheer scale of the disaster caused by Winston means that it is taking longer to rebuild our homes and schools than we would have liked. But the rebuilding effort is in full swing and we are also exploring more innovative ways of building back better and more efficiently. Including with some Kiwi help.A New Zealand company has put in a tender to rebuild homes and schools using modular units modular technology that is a lot quicker to erect than conventional building methods. They did a lot to house the victims of the Christchurch earthquake and well be looking at this as part of the solution in cyclone-ravaged parts of Fiji.Friends, I intend to take some of your questions after this. But before I do, I just want to give you a brief overview of where we are at in Fiji, including in our relations with New Zealand.As you know, this is my first official visit to the country. And while its no secret that we have gone through some difficult times in our relationship, we are putting all that behind us. In fact, Im coming here at a time when our official relationship has never been better. And I intend to use my face-to-face meeting with John Key tomorrow to bring us even closer together.I like John Key and am really looking forward to our talks and then going to the Bledisloe Cup together tomorrow night. It was great to have him in Fiji back in June and whatever the New Zealand media said about the visit, it was a terrific success and the Prime Minister and I got on very well. Hes a straight shooter and I admire him for his plain speaking and willingness to let bygones be bygones just as I am doing with him and the New Zealand Government.The same applies to Malcolm Turnbull in Australia. So Im doing everything that I can to produce a closer relationship with both countries, in which we collaborate on a whole range of matters in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect.As we come closer together, all sorts of opportunities present themselves. More trade, more investment and closer cooperation on all those challenges we face in the region. Whether its climate change, drug trafficking, people trafficking or any number of other things in which working closer together makes it far more likely that we can find solutions.Friends, just to give you some idea of the big picture as I see it:We need to give Fiji a bigger voice in the world on issues like climate change and the threat to our environment and especially our oceans. The Pacific - like other oceans and seas around the world is in a mess. Overfishing by selfish nations is affecting the catch on which our coastal communities depend. And there is far too much pollution, including all those plastic bags and bottles that the countries on the Pacific Rim are dumping into our ocean and are making their way down to us.Thats why Fiji is joining Sweden to co-host a UN conference in New York next June to start addressing this crisis. While at the same time, doing everything we can to draw global attention to the urgent need to address the challenge of climate change.So on two fronts extreme weather events and rising sea levels and the quality of the waters around us Fiji is taking a strong stand. Because if we cant stay safe and dont have a clean environment, the future for us all looks pretty bleak.Friends, at the same time, we are doing everything we can to grow our economy, raise living standards and provide our people with interesting, sustainable livelihoods. And we are having a tremendous amount of success in doing so. Weve had seven straight years of economic growth the longest in Fijian history. And even with the crushing effect of Cyclone Winston, were still expecting close to three per cent growth this year. Because, thank God, Winston spared our main tourism areas.All this means keeping jobs, more jobs, and better jobs. And with more people employed and more companies making profits, the revenue that the Government gets from taxes is also better. And were able to channel a lot more of that revenue into such things as education and health. And in taking care of the more vulnerable members of our society, such as low income earners, the sick and the elderly.Weve been able to do things that previous generations of Fijians could only dream about. Including free schooling for our young people, more scholarships and a tertiary loans program. Even the most disadvantaged Fijian child now has the chance to get a proper education. And weve established a network of technical colleges across the country to give our young people access to better trade skills and increase our nations skills base. All those things like properly trained plumbers, electricians, carpenters, mechanics and cooks that any country needs to be successful.These new technical colleges plus our existing three universities are giving young Fijians unprecedented opportunities to gain higher qualifications. So they can go out into the world and make a difference.Friends, we have set ourselves the task with our education revolution to become a smarter country. A cleverer country. Because that is the surest way to achieve our overall objective to turn Fiji from a developing country into a modern nation State. To stand on our own feet. To not be dependent on foreign aid. To be a beacon for other developing countries for what is possible if small nations put their minds to it, are disciplined and focused. To make Fiji even greater and more respected than it is now. A voice in the world that is listened to. With a people equipped with skills that are portable and are recognised wherever Fijians travel.Friends, Ive said that I want Fijians to regard themselves as citizens of the world. Taking with them wherever they go - our Fijian values of respect and care for each other, our respect and care for the people of other nations and our respect and care for the planet on which we all live. Whether it is as UN peacekeepers keeping ordinary people safe in areas of conflict, our volunteer teachers and health workers in other Pacific countries, or any Fijian who moves to another part of the world. We can all take our values and our skills with us. And we can all make a difference.Of course, there is little point in educating our young people if we dont provide them with interesting and sustainable jobs. That is why managing our finances and economy is so important. And creating the stability and the incentives for people to invest in Fiji whether it is investment by Fijians or people living overseas.A vital component of my Australian and New Zealand visits have been the Trade and Investment symposiums that we have held in Sydney last week and in Auckland yesterday. Its all about explaining to potential investors the benefits of putting their money in Fiji. Of our educated workforce, our low taxes and easy access to other markets. And creating the jobs and the wealth on which the prosperity of every Fijian depends.We have a growing collection of quality Fijian Made products and services. And I am making it a priority to take those products and services to the four corners of the earth. And to make the Fijian Made brand a byword for quality the world over.Friends, my greatest ambition as Prime Minister is to equip every Fijian child no matter how disadvantaged their background might be with the skills to go out into the world and make something of themselves. And in doing so, to work together with other better educated Fijians to make our mark as a nation. That is our quest. That is our mission as a government. And Im very gratified that it has the support of the Fijian people.Friends, by managing the economy properly, we are also able to provide the Fijian people with a greater level of services than ever before. New and better roads, new airports and more efficient ports, that reduces the costs of the things people buy because our wharves are finally working properly.If you havent been to Fiji for a while, youll be amazed at all the activity going on. As soon as you leave the airport, youll notice the new roads we are building, the new street lights. And when you come to Suva, youll be amazed at the transformation of our capital. Our renovated Government Buildings and the Parliament, The wonderful Grand Pacific Hotel - now grand again - and the refurbished Albert Park and our brand-new Pavilion.Youll also be amazed at how connected everyone is, not only mobile phones but high speech Internet, which is a big draw-card for investment as well. So Fiji is really buzzing and I urge all of you who havent already done so to reconnect with your country of birth.We have people with us on this trip that can help you apply for dual citizenship. You can be both a Kiwi and the Fijian and come and go as you please. We have people who can register you to vote in the next election. And we have people who can register your children in the Vola Ni Kawa Bula, if you are iTaukei.Our indigenous people have never been more secure or better educated than under my Government. Creating a level playing field for every Fijian creating opportunities for all has not been at the expense of any one ethnic group, which was the politics of old. The iTaukei own 91 per cent of the land and that ownership is guaranteed under our Constitution for all time. Along with the protection of the customs and traditions of the iTaukei, Rotumans, Banabans and other groups.In fact, we have strengthened the position of the iTaukei across the board. And weve ensured that ordinary iTaukei are more empowered and are able to get their fair share of the lease monies that are owed to them through their collective ownership of the land. We now have a digital record of the members of each landowning unit. So we have better processes to ensure that the distribution of lease monies is transparent and fair.Above all, Friends, we are producing a fairer and more equal society, using more of our resources to direct assistance to those Fijians who are most in need. Our low incomes earners are benefiting from subsidised electricity and free medicine and water. Our elderly are benefiting from the first pensions to be granted in Fiji. Our women are benefiting from a range of specially targeted programs. And we are finally making the effort we should have always made to enhance the opportunities for disabled people. Building not only a fairer society but a more caring society.Friends, we have made great strides in recent years. But it is vital as we move towards the half-century mark as an independent nation that the reforms that we are making continue. We cannot afford to lose our momentum, especially when it comes to the strength of our economy, on which the prosperity of every Fijian depends. We must continue with the underlying philosophy of my Government, which has brought about socio-economic stability and confidence, created and sustained jobs, produced a conducive environment for investment and a just and fair society. And that is why I am also asking you to support my Government as we move our nation forward.( if theres an interjection )Yes that means you too.Friends, I want to close by saying that you all have a part to play in the new Fiji. And I again urge those who havent already done so to reconnect, to visit Fiji and for those who have the means, to perhaps build a house or start a business. There are some great opportunities for you to do so and I urge you to get all the information you need from our people at Investment Fiji.Friends, vinaka vakalevu for listening. I hope youve been able to learn something and Im now happy to take some questions.
Actor Akshay Kumar has sent out a special video message for the Indian soldiers, wishing them a 'Happy Diwali'.
In the video, which he shared on Monday evening on Twitter, Akshay said, "The best way to celebrate a festival is with your loved ones and the good luck of spending festivals with our families is because of you (soldiers). Without even knowing us, you love us and keep us safe."
"I dedicate this Diwali to all the soldiers...We are because of you. This was my message to the soldiers."
The 49-year-old actor is also urging people to send their special Diwali message to the soldiers. The Airlift actor wrote, "Your one wish can be the reason behind a lot of smiles this Diwali. Send your 'sandesh' to soldiers now via www.mygov.in or the Narendra Modi application and make it a special Diwali for them."
This is not the first time that Akshay has displayed his love for Indian soldiers.
The Baby actor had released a video earlier this month paying a tribute to the martyrs of Uri attack. He broke his silence on the ban on Pakistani artistes and said think about Indian Army and not the ban on artistes!
Disha Patani
Disha Patani is upset that people are only focused on her personal life and not on her professional life.
Link-ups
Disha Patani has been linked up with Tiger Shroff and both of them deny that they are dating each other.
No Remorse
Despite calling their link ups as "rumours" and several other things, people don't buy it!
Disha On The Media
Disha Patani says that the media is focusing more on her personal life and said that it's "more exciting for the media".
Personal vs Professional
Disha Patani is upset that people are more curious to know about her love life than her professional life.
Disha Patani Tiger Shroff
This picture of Disha Patani and Tiger Shroff with a similar backdrop sparked off rumours that the duo are having a secret vacation.
"Rumours"
Disha Patani and Tiger Shroff have not admitted their relationship in the open and have kept it hush hush.
Secret Vacation
Disha Patani opened up about her secret vacation with Tiger Shroff and says she was there only for the shoot of Befikra.
Backdrop Problem
Disha Patani said since she and Tiger Shroff were shooting for the song Befikra, the backdrop remained the same in their pictures.
Laughing It Off
Disha Patani says she reads the news about herself and Tiger Shroff and ends up laughing as she finds it amusing!
According to the latest reports, exhibitors in Pakistan will be lifting the ban on the screening of Indian films including Ae Dil Hai Mushkil & Shivaay, which are one of the biggest Bollywood films of 2016.
Terming it merely a 'suspension' and not a ban, as there was no government intervention, exhibitors on their own had decided to stop the screening of Indian films, following the ban on Pakistani artists and technicians working in India by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA) earlier in October, reports the Express Tribune.
In the latest meeting, all exhibitors had agreed to resume screening effective from Tuesday. According to another cinema owner, "The Indian Army's statement is a good enough evidence for the change in perspective on the other side of the border. So is the release of Fawad Khan's film in India."
According to Hindustan Times, a formal announcement will be made by the chairman of Pakistan's exhibitors association, Zuraiz Lashari, in Lahore on Tuesday. The owner of a leading distribution company said that the resumption of Indian films had to happen since cinema owners relied heavily on Bollywood movies for their revenue.
The secretary of Sindh Board of Film Censors, Razzaq Khuhwar, said "The government has issued the NoC for Shivay. We are set to screen today or tomorrow for certification."
Inputs From Hindustan Times
Prithviraj, the talented young actor is back to work after a short break. He joined the sets of his upcoming romantic drama My Story, which is directed by debutante Roshni Dinaker.
The actor recently flew to the sets of My Story in Lisbon, Portugal and revealed the same through his official Facebook page. The movie will be majorly shot at the various locations of Portugal.
Parvathy, who has earlier paired up with Prithviraj in Ennu Ninte Moideen, will essay the female lead in My Story. The movie will also mark the Mollywood debut of Hollywood actor Roger Narayan.
Prithviraj and Parvathy are playing the characters in Jay and Tara, in My Story. It is the directorial debut of Roshni Dinaker who has been working as a costume designer in movie industry since the last 15 years.
Natty aka Natarajan Subramaniam is the director of photography. Renowned sound designer Biswadeep Chatterjee handles the audiography. Cannes award-winner Priyank Premkumar is the editor.
Shaan Rahman composes the music and background score. Bollywood choreographers Bosco and Caeser are also a part of My Story, which is jointly produced by director Roshni Dinaker and OV Dinaker.
Bigg Boss 10: Day 9 - We had already reported about this week's 'Luxury Budget Task - BB Laundry. The task will be continued on Day 10. Any guess who would win the task?
Well, if you guessed it as Indiawale then you are right. Apparently, the Commoners will win the task. The celebrities will be losing the task with just one point. After this, Indiawale aka Commoners will become Malik, while Celebrities will be back in their Sevak avatar.
According to the latest promo, on day 10, Rohan will be getting into a tiff with Manu.
On day 9, housemates wakeup to the song, 'It happens only in India'. Rohan questioned Akansha and Lokesh whether they had taken anyone's permission before using the bathroom. But, Akansha says that they need not take permission for using bathroom, but for other morning chores. For this, Karan Mehra too agrees.
Also, Mona and Manu were seen flirting. The inmates also pull Manu's leg by saying that Mona doesn't like him and he should stop trying. On hearing this, Mona was seen blushing.
Manu was seen telling Mona that he is an emotional and sensitive person. He adds that he has the ability to get attached to anyone very quickly.
Also, there are reports that Priyanka Jagga might soon return to the Bigg Boss 10 house. We had already reported that she was spotted with the same eviction costume in Lonavala.
According to the latest reports, Priyanka is staying in a hotel, in Lonavala. The makers are planning for her re-entry. Apparently, this is the strategy to raise the TRPs!
Well, it has to be seen if she really re-enters the house. And if she does, what drama will Priyanka create to survive in the house!
Regulatory News:
United Company RUSAL Plc (Paris:RUSAL) (Paris:RUAL):
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.
UNITED COMPANY RUSAL PLC
(Incorporated under the laws of Jersey with limited liability)
(Stock Code: 486)
CONTINUING CONNECTED TRANSACTIONS
PURCHASE OF RAW MATERIALS FOR REPAIRING
Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated 22 December 2015, 27 April 2016, 18 May 2016, 13 July 2016, 1 September 2016 and 4 October 2016 in relation to continuing connected transactions regarding purchase of raw materials for repairing.
The Company announces that on 24 October 2016 a member of the Group, as buyer, and an associate of Mr. Blavatnik, as supplier, entered into the addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract.
THE ADDENDUM TO THE PURCHASE OF RAW MATERIALS FOR REPAIRING CONTRACT
The Company announces that on 24 October 2016 a member of the Group, as buyer, and an associate of Mr. Blavatnik, as supplier, entered into the addendum pursuant to which the buyer agreed to buy and the supplier agreed to supply raw materials for repairing (the "Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract
The key terms of the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract are set out below:
No. Date of addendum Buyer (member of the Group) Supplier (an associate of Mr. Blavatnik) Raw materials to be purchased Estimated purchase volume Unit price (Net of VAT) Estimated consideration payable excluding VAT (USD) Scheduled termination date Payment terms 1 Addendum dated 24 October 2016, which is an addendum to the contract dated 17 May 2016 as announced by the Company on 18 May 2016 Limited Liability Company "Russian Engineering Company" Public Joint Stock Company ENERGOPROM- Novocherkassk Electrode Plant Graphitized electrodes 32 tonnes (+10% option) Up to USD1,500 per tonne 52,800 31 December 2016 Automatic renewal up to 3 years Within 45 calendar days after delivery Total estimated consideration payable for the year 52,800
The consideration is to be satisfied in cash via wire transfer or by set-off.
THE ANNUAL AGGREGATE TRANSACTION AMOUNT
Pursuant to Rule 14A.81 of the Listing Rules, the continuing connected transactions contemplated under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract and the Previously Disclosed Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contracts should be aggregated, as they were entered into by members of the Group with the associates of Mr. Blavatnik, and the subject matter of each contract relates to the purchase of raw materials from the associates of Mr. Blavatnik by the Group.
The annual aggregate transaction amount that is payable by the Group to the associates of Mr. Blavatnik under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract and the Previously Disclosed Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contracts for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 is estimated to be approximately USD28.673 million.
The contract price payable under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract has been determined with reference to the market price and on terms no less favourable than those prevailing in the Russian market for raw materials of the same type and quality and those offered by the associates of Mr. Blavatnik to independent third parties.
The Company invited several organizations to take part in the tender in relation to the relevant required purchase of raw materials and chose the contractor offering the best terms and conditions (taking into account the price offered and payment terms) and then entered into contracts with the chosen party. Accordingly, the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract was entered into.
The annual aggregate transaction amount is estimated by the Directors based on the amount of raw materials to be purchased and their contract price.
REASONS FOR AND BENEFITS OF THE TRANSACTIONS
The Directors consider that the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract is for the benefit of the Company, as the supplier can supply raw materials to the Group at a price more favourable than the prevailing market rate based on tender. The Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract is entered into for the purposes of purchasing raw materials for repair work.
The Directors (including the independent non-executive Directors) consider that the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract has been negotiated on an arm's length basis and on normal commercial terms which are fair and reasonable and the transactions contemplated under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract are in the ordinary and usual course of business of the Group and in the interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole.
None of the Directors has a material interest in the transactions contemplated by the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract save for Mr. Blavatnik who is indirectly interested in more than 30% of Public Joint Stock Company ENERGOPROM-Novocherkassk Electrode Plant. Accordingly, Mr. Blavatnik did not vote on the Board resolutions to approve the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract.
LISTING RULES IMPLICATIONS
Mr. Blavatnik, a non-executive Director, indirectly holds more than 30% of the issued share capital of Public Joint Stock Company ENERGOPROM-Novocherkassk Electrode Plant. Public Joint Stock Company ENERGOPROM-Novocherkassk Electrode Plant is therefore an associate of Mr. Blavatnik and a connected person of the Company under the Listing Rules. Accordingly, the transactions contemplated under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract constitute continuing connected transactions of the Company.
The estimated annual aggregate transaction amount of the continuing connected transactions under the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 is more than 0.1% but less than 5% under the applicable percentage ratios. Accordingly, pursuant to Rule 14A.76 of the Listing Rules, the transactions contemplated under these contracts are only subject to the announcement requirements set out in Rules 14A.35 and 14A.68, the annual review requirements set out in Rules 14A.49, 14A.55 to 14A.59, 14A.71 and 14A.72 and the requirements set out in Rules 14A.34 and 14A.50 to 14A.54 of the Listing Rules. These transactions are exempt from the circular and shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules.
Details of the Addendum to the Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contract will be included in the relevant annual report and accounts of the Company in accordance with Rule 14A.71 of the Listing Rules where appropriate.
PRINCIPAL BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
The Company is principally engaged in the production and sale of aluminium, including alloys and value-added products, and alumina.
Public Joint Stock Company ENERGOPROM-Novocherkassk Electrode Plant is principally engaged in the production of graphitized electrodes.
DEFINITIONS
In this announcement, the following expressions have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires:
"associate(s)" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "Board" the board of Directors. "Company" United Company RUSAL Plc, a limited liability company incorporated in Jersey, the shares of which are listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange. "connected person(s)" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "continuing connected transactions" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "Director(s)" the director(s) of the Company. "Group" the Company and its subsidiaries. "Listing Rules" the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Stock Exchange. "Mr. Blavatnik" Mr. Len Blavatnik, a non-executive Director. "percentage ratios" the percentage ratios under Rule 14.07 of the Listing Rules. "Previously Disclosed Purchase of Raw Materials for Repairing Contracts" the agreements between members of the Group and associates of Mr. Blavatnik, pursuant to which the associates of Mr. Blavatnik agreed to supply raw materials to members of the Group in 2016, as disclosed in the announcements of the Company dated 22 December 2015, 27 April 2016, 18 May 2016, 13 July 2016, 1 September 2016 and 4 October 2016. "Stock Exchange" The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. "USD" United States dollars, the lawful currency of the United States of America. "VAT" value added tax.
By Order of the Board of Directors of
United Company RUSAL Plc
Aby Wong Po Ying
Company Secretary
25 October 2016
As at the date of this announcement, the executive Directors are Mr. Oleg Deripaska, Mr. Vladislav Soloviev and Mr. Siegfried Wolf, the non-executive Directors are Mr. Maxim Sokov, Mr. Dmitry Afanasiev, Mr. Len Blavatnik, Mr. Ivan Glasenberg, Mr. Maksim Goldman, Ms. Gulzhan Moldazhanova, Mr. Daniel Lesin Wolfe, Ms. Olga Mashkovskaya, and Ms. Ekaterina Nikitina, and the independent non-executive Directors are Mr. Matthias Warnig (Chairman), Mr. Philip Lader, Dr. Elsie Leung Oi-sie, Mr. Mark Garber, Mr. Dmitry Vasiliev and Mr. Bernard Zonneveld.
All announcements and press releases published by the Company are available on its website under the links http://www.rusal.ru/en/investors/info.aspxhttp://rusal.ru/investors/info/moex/ and http://www.rusal.ru/en/press-center/press-releases.aspx, respectively.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161024006273/en/
Contacts:
United Company RUSAL Plc
PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French technology firm Safran (0IU8.L, SAFRF.PK) reported that its third-quarter 2016 adjusted revenue for continuing operations was 3.517 billion euros, down 4.1% on a reported basis year-on-year. Adjusted revenue declined 0.8% on an organic 2 basis.
As planned, no M88 deliveries were recognised in third-quarter 2016, whereas 8 engines had been delivered in the year-ago quarter. Civil MRO and helicopter turbine support also put pressure on the top line, the company said.
For 2016, Safran expects, on a full-year basis, organic revenue growth by a percentage rate in the low single digits compared to 2015.It expects adjusted recurring operating income likely to increase by around 5% with a further increase in margin rate compared to 2015.
As a result of decreasing capitalisation and increasing amortisation of R&D costs, expensed R&D is expected to rise by around 50 million euros.
In the third quarter 2016, Aerospace Propulsion recorded revenue of 2.056 billion euros impacted in particular by the delivery programme of military engines for the Rafale fighter aircraft.
The Aircraft Equipment segment reported third-quarter 2016 revenue of 1.208 billion euros, up 3.0% on an organic basis, compared to 1.180 billion euros in the year-ago period.
The Defence segment reported third-quarter 2016 revenue of 253 million euros, down 4.9%, or 4.5% on an organic basis, compared to revenue of 266 million euros in the year-ago period.
On September 29, 2016, Safran entered into exclusive negotiations with Advent International, for the sale of its identity and security activities valued at 2.425 billion euros. The transaction is expected to close in 2017as is the case for the sale of the detection activities to Smiths Group following the April 21 agreement.
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OpenStack Summit Barcelona Keynotes Feature Users Across Diverse Industries Running OpenStack at Scale for Production Workloads
OPENSTACK SUMMIT -- OpenStack deployments are getting bigger. Users are diversifying across industries. Enterprises report using the open source cloud software to support workloads that are critical to their businesses.
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161025005506/en/
These are among the findings in a recent study by 451 Research regarding OpenStack adoption among enterprise private cloud users. About 72 percent of OpenStack-based clouds are between 1,000 and 10,000 cores and three fourths choose OpenStack to increase operational efficiency and app deployment speed. The study was commissioned by the OpenStack Foundation.
The data were previewed at the OpenStack Summit Barcelona, alongside a diverse set of users speaking directly about their experience, including Banco Santander, BBVA, CERN, China Mobile, Comcast, Constant Contact, Crowdstar, Deutsche Telekom, Folksam, Sky UK, Snapdeal, Swisscom, Telefonica, Verizon, Volkswagen, Walmart and many more.
**Find many of these user stories spanning workloads, organization size and geography at the OpenStack User Stories page.**
Key findings from the 451 Research include:
Mid-market adoption shows that OpenStack use is not limited to large enterprises. Two-thirds of respondents (65 percent) are in organizations of between 1,000 and 10,000 employees. 1
OpenStack-powered clouds have moved beyond small-scale deployments. Approximately 72 percent of OpenStack enterprise deployments are between 1,000 to 10,000 cores in size. Additionally, five percent of OpenStack clouds among enterprises top the 100,000 core mark.
OpenStack users are adopting containers at a faster rate than the rest of the enterprise market with 55 percent of OpenStack users also using containers, compared to 17 percent across all respondents. 2
OpenStack supports workloads that matter to enterprises, not just test and dev. These include infrastructure services (66 percent), business applications and big data (60 percent and 59 percent, respectively), and web services and ecommerce (57 percent).
OpenStack users can be found in a diverse cross section of industries. While 20 percent cited the technology industry, the majority come from manufacturing (15 percent), retail/hospitality (11 percent), professional services (10 percent), healthcare (7 percent), insurance (6 percent), transportation (5 percent), communications/media (5 percent), wholesale trade (5 percent), energy utilities (4 percent), education (3 percent), financial services (3 percent) and government (3 percent).
Increasing operational efficiency and accelerating innovation/deployment speed are top business drivers for enterprise adoption of OpenStack, at 76 and 75 percent, respectively. Supporting DevOps is a close second, at 69 percent. Reducing cost and standardizing on OpenStack APIs were close behind, at 50 and 45 percent, respectively.
"Our research in aggregate indicates enterprises globally are moving beyond using OpenStack for science projects and basic test and development to workloads that impact the bottom line," said Al Sadowski, research vice president with 451 Research. "This is supported by our OpenStack Market Monitor which projects an overall market size of over $5 billion in 2020 with APAC, namely China, leading the way in terms of growth."
"Our keynotes this morning highlighted enterprises doing work that matters with OpenStack," said Mark Collier, COO of the OpenStack Foundation. "The research gives an unbiased look into the plans of enterprises using private cloud, and they're telling us that OpenStack is not merely an interesting technology, but it's a cornerstone technology. Companies are using OpenStack to do work that matters to their businesses, and they're using it to support their journey to a changing landscape in which rapid development and deployment of software is the primary means of competitive advantage."
New Enterprise User Case Studies Available Online
Members of the OpenStack community have joined forces to take advantage of the momentum in enterprise adoption. The collaborative effort, dubbed "The World Runs on OpenStack," was launched at the OpenStack Summit Barcelona, using the social media hashtag RunsOnOpenStack. The cornerstone of the campaign is a collection of OpenStack enterprise user success stories that feature many industries, workloads and organizations using the software around the world.
About OpenStack
OpenStack is the most widely deployed open source software for building clouds. In use globally at large and small enterprises, telecoms, service providers, and government/research organizations, OpenStack is a technology integration engine that supports the diverse ecosystem of cloud computing innovation. Current news and alerts signup at: http://www.openstack.org/news/signup.
1 Study examined enterprise use in organizations of more than 500 employees.
2 From "Voice of the Enterprise-SDI," 451 Research.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161025005506/en/
Contacts:
Cathey Communications for the OpenStack Foundation
Robert Cathey, 865-386-6118
robert@cathey.co
or
OpenStack Foundation
Lauren Sell
lauren@openstack.org
HASSELT, Belgium, Oct. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- UgenTec, the Belgian bioinformatics company that is developing universal & intelligent PCR analysis software, has received its ISO 13485 certification. Quickly following the new certification, UgenTec also obtained the CE-IVD label for its first product, FastFinder.
SGS and the Belgian Accreditation Organization (BELAC) granted UgenTec the ISO-certificate for "design, development, manufacturing, installation, and service of in-vitro diagnostic software for analysis and interpretation of real-time PCR data." The company also implemented the harmonized standard IEC:62304 "software for medical devices."
"Obtaining ISO 13485 & the CE-IVD label is important to our company, not only does the certificate prove our expertise & advanced quality, but also gives us a significant competitive edge in today's market," says CEO Wouter Uten.
Besides maintaining its current quality management system, UgenTec is currently in its final stages of another seed funding investment round for the PCR software's development.
About UgenTec
UgenTec is currently developing the world's first intelligent platform to automate PCR data interpretation software that is independent of any device or assay. The company has already acquired 1.4 million in seed funding from several market experts. UgenTec is currently planning European expansion with FastFinder. Current customers include several international diagnostic companies which manufacture PCR assays & European laboratories which want to standardize and automate their experiments.
www.ugentec.com
Public Relations Office Phone: 81-3-5470-3235
TOKYO, Oct 25, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - Showa Denko ("SDK"; TSE:4004) announces that Hideo Ichikawa will resign as President and CEO to become Representative Director and Chairman of the Board, of the Company, and that, Kohei Morikawa, Director, Managing Corporate Officer, and Chief Technology Officer, will succeed Ichikawa, effective January 4, 2017.Morikawa is currently in charge of Electronic Chemicals and Functional Chemicals divisions, Business Development Center, Isesaki and Tatsuno plants, and Corporate R&D Department.The change in the presidency has been decided at SDK's board of directors meeting today.Through generational change in top management, SDK aims to vitalize the organization and pursue further growth opportunities from a new viewpoint.Kyohei Takahashi will resign as Chairman of the Board on January 4, 2017. He will also resign as Director at the ordinary general meeting of shareholders in late March 2017, and assume the post of Advisor.Biographical information on the new President and CEO is attached.Biographical InformationKohei MORIKAWADate of birth: June 6, 1957Education: Graduated from the Department of Synthetic Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, in March 1982Professional career:- April 1982 Joined Showa Denko K.K.; Assigned to Technology Department, Oita Works- June 2003 General Manager, Fine Chemicals Department, Specialty Chemicals Division, Chemicals Sector- June 2005 General Manager, Specialty Chemicals Department, Chemicals Division, Chemicals Sector- January 2010 General Manager, Chemicals Development Department, Chemicals Sector- January 2012 General Manager, Electronic Chemicals Division, Chemicals Sector- January 2015 Corporate Officer; General Manager, Electronic Chemicals Division; in charge of Functional Chemicals Division, Tokuyama, Isesaki and Tatsuno plants- January 2016 Managing Corporate Officer; Chief Technology Officer; in charge of Electronic Chemicals and Functional Chemicals divisions, Business Development Center, Isesaki and Tatsuno plants, and Corporate R&D Department.- March 2016 Director; Managing Corporate Officer; Chief Technology Officer; in charge of Electronic Chemicals and Functional Chemicals divisions, Business Development Center, Isesaki and Tatsuno plants, and Corporate R&D DepartmentNumber of SDK shares held by Morikawa: 4,400 (as of October 25, 2016)About Showa Denko K.K.Showa Denko K.K. ("SDK"; TSE:4004, US:SHWDF) is a major manufacturer and marketer of chemical products serving a wide range of fields ranging from heavy industry to the electronic and computer industries. The Petrochemicals Sector provides cracker products such as ethylene and propylene, the Chemicals Sector provides industrial and high-performance gasses and chemicals and high-purity gases and chemicals for the semiconductor industry, and the Inorganics Sector provides ceramics products such as alumina, abrasive, refractory and graphite electrodes and fine carbon products. Today, the Aluminum Sector provides aluminum materials and high-value-added fabricated aluminum, the Electronics Sector provides HD media, compound semiconductors such as ultra high-bright LEDs and rare earth magnetic alloys, and the Advanced Battery Materials Department (ABM) provides lithium-ion battery components. For more information, please visit www.sdk.co.jp/english/.Source: Showa Denko K.K.Contact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Hideo Ikuno h.ikuno@daiya-pr.co.jp +81-3-6716-5277
TOKYO, Oct 25, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has published its "MHI Report 2016", an integrated report for promoting broad ranging dialog with stakeholders, incorporating information from MHI's Annual Report and CSR Report. It outlines MHI's approach to value creation over the long-term and its main theme is risk management, with initiatives in this area discussed in detail. It also outlines progress towards the company's medium-term business plan, FY2015 financial results and various social and environmental initiatives, all presented in a simple and comprehensive format.The "MHI Report 2016" is the third integrated report produced by the company, and was made in accordance with the International Integrated Reporting Framework, by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). It is divided into four sections, focusing on the company's efforts to create corporate value. These are: "Our Path to Sustainable Growth", "Management Strategies", "Achievements and Strategies for Value Creation through Our Business" and "Building a Framework for Value Creation".The lead section introduces MHI's history and explains the results and challenges of recent business reform efforts, as well as activities to further enhance engineering capabilities and risk management.In the Management Strategies section, MHI CEO Shunichi Miyanaga outlines progress made with the 2015 Medium-Term Business Plan, a three-year plan launched in fiscal 2015, and with various growth and reform initiatives. He also provides background on MHI's approach to growth drivers and risk management measures, explaining the company's commitment to strengthening risk management, improving risk verification skills and resilience at the management level, and increasing MHI's ability to solve problems when they occur.In the CFO's Message section, financial strategies related to medium-term trends in financial conditions, portfolio management, cash flow management conditions and capital policies are presented.For the first time, a message from the CTO is included in the report, in which he outlines his desire to strengthen the engineering business, and the outlook for business applications. The CTO also explains efforts to utilize MHI's strong cross-sectional engineering expertise to overcome challenges and differentiate from competitors.In the section titled Building a Framework for Value Creation, Shunichi Miyanaga (CEO), Naoyuki Shinohara (Board Member, Outside Director and Professor at the University of Tokyo) and Christina Ahmadjian (Outside Director, Audit and Supervisory Committee Member and Professor at Hitotsubashi University) discuss the topic of risk management and its necessity for boosting growth globally. Measures to strengthen corporate governance, development of human resources, and technology are also addressed.About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. ("MHI"; TSE:7011), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading heavy machinery manufacturers. MHI's diverse lineup of products and services encompasses shipbuilding, power plants, chemical plants, environmental equipment, steel structures, industrial and general machinery, aircraft, space rocketry and air-conditioning systems. For more information, please visit the MHI website at www.mhi.co.jp.Source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Contact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Shares of Orange SA (ORAN) were gaining around 5 percent in the morning trading in Paris after the French telecom major reported higher restated EBITDA, a key earnings metric, in its third quarter with slightly higher sales. This was despite weakness in its domestic market. Further, the company maintained its fiscal 2016 forecast of restated EBITDA to be greater than last year, on a comparable basis.
The company also plans to propose the payment of a dividend of 0.60 euros per share for 2016. An interim dividend for 2016 of 0.20 euros per share will be paid on December 7.
Orange Group CEO Stephane Richard said, 'The third quarter was again marked by a strong commercial performance, reflecting the success of Essentiels2020 - our strategy of differentiation through investment in high-speed broadband networks and the reinvention of our customer relationships. This performance can be seen in the accelerated growth of our revenues and restated EBITDA and enables us to confirm all of our objectives for 2016.'
For the third quarter, restated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization or EBITDA was 3.597 billion euros, 1 percent higher than last year's 3.561 billion euros. On a comparable basis, restated EBITDA grew 1.6 percent. Restated EBITDA margin was 34.9 percent, up 0.3 percentage points from the prior year.
Revenues for the quarter edged up 0.4 percent to 10.323 billion euros from 10.284 billion euros last year. Revenues increased 0.8 percent on a comparable basis. Sales grew amid the impact of the decline of national roaming in France and of roaming price reductions in Europe.
The company achieved 845,000 net mobile contract additions and 348,000 additional fibre customers in the quarter. There were 25.5 million 4G customers in Europe as of September 30, and 9.8 million customers of convergent offers, 11 percent higher than last year.
Revenues in France of 4.77 billion euros showed a modest decline of 0.5 percent on a reported basis and 0.6 percent on comparable basis. Mobile services declined 3.8 percent. The total contract customer base of 20.644 million customers as of September 30 recorded year-on-year growth of 2.8 percent. In France, mobile contract net additions remained at a high level, with 187,000 additions.
Europe recorded comparable sales growth of 2.8 percent, with strong 7.8 percent increase in Spain and higher sales in Belgium & Luxembourg partly offset by weakness in Poland. Revenues rose 2.5 percent in Africa and the Middle East.
In Paris, Orange shares were trading at 14.76 euros, up 4.76 percent.
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NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Balabit and Lieberman Software Corporation implemented their joint solution at the Direction Generale des Systemes d'Informations (DGSI), a division of the Security and Economics Department of the State of Geneva, leveraging both companies' industry leading privileged user access and management solutions. DGSI is one Balabit's and Lieberman's joint clients, as a result of their technology partnership since 2011, recently extended with global sales and marketing alliance.
DGSI is responsible, in collaboration with other departments of the state, for developing and setting strategy for information systems and communication of administration and security policy. Recognizing the importance of securing their critical assets and protecting its employees against the growing volume of cyber attacks, DGSI senior management decided to strengthen its security tools by setting up a solution for user access management.
During the vendor selection process, CyberArk, Wallix, Lieberman Software and Balabit products were all evaluated, but the DGSI chose Balabit's Shell Control Box (SCB) privileged user monitoring solution together with Lieberman Software's Enterprise Random Password Manager (ERPM).
The combined solution, recommended and implemented by integration partner I-Tracing, provides:
Monitoring of all privileged user access (systems administrators, etc.) to servers and other systems,
Supervision of the entire IT environment,
Recording of administrators' commands and application launches, and
A tamper-proof, easily interpreted evidence for forensics investigations.
"The secure storage of video records, the transparent operation and the smooth network integration were all important for us. But the decisive point was the fact that SCB was able to do Optical Character Recognition, not only on the titles of the windows, but on all content appearing on the screen of the users," Project Manager, Direction Generale des Systemes d'Information, State of Geneva said.
"We are delighted to be selected by DGSI to secure data for this important government institution," said Zoltan Gyorko, CEO, Balabit. "We have been working very closely with our colleagues at Lieberman Software and we entered the bidding process confident that not only did our integrated solution perform seamlessly, but offer our customer the most secure technology solution being evaluated. We look forward to fully implementing our joint solution for DGSI and to working closely with Lieberman Software on new opportunities."
Deployed in a high availability configuration, Balabit's SCB is integrated with Lieberman Software's password manager to control and record the access of 200 system administrators at almost 3000 hosts (Linux, Windows, VMware virtual machines and KVM SUN Solaris and IBM AIX systems). The solution was integrated with Microsoft Active Directory, which makes authentications of Windows users easy, while Lieberman password vault capabilities manage the shared UNIX accounts.
"The DGSI implementation is interesting on a number of fronts. It marks the first time a government department has combined real-time monitoring and recording of privileged user activities inside the network in a manner that makes an insider attack or breach almost impossible to pull off," said Philip Lieberman, President and CEO, Lieberman Software. "I'm quite pleased that the integration of our Privileged Identity Management technology and Balabit's SCB went so smoothly and that it provided the security and compliance benefits that DGSI needed."
Centralized access policy, reliable two factor authentication and evidence
The implementation of Balabit's SCB together with Lieberman Software's ERPM offers many benefits to the State of Geneva:
Two-factor authentication makes it possible to reliably identify the real user behind a shared account.
SCB monitors and records privileged activities on systems, enabling the organization to investigate IT activities.
DGSI now has the ability to provide strong evidence of the absence of malicious intent in the case of post-incident investigations. For this, the video recordings can be replayed at any time, offering true comfort to DGSI as for the departments of the state.
The architecture based on the Balabit SCB solution applies a centralized network access policy for the State of Geneva.
"We've pioneered a new working philosophy at the local government by introducing a centralized, controlled, and monitored access to our critical systems, replacing an unsupervised, direct access in the past," according to the Project Manager, DGSI, State of Geneva.
About Lieberman Software Corporation
Lieberman Software blocks cyber attacks that bypass conventional enterprise defenses and penetrate the network perimeter. The company provides award-winning privileged identity management and security management products. By automatically securing privileged access -- both on-premises and in the cloud -- Lieberman Software controls access to systems with sensitive data, and defends against malicious insiders, zero day attacks and other advanced cyber threats.
For more information, visit www.liebsoft.com.
About Balabit
Balabit -- founded in Budapest, Hungary -- is a leading provider of contextual security technologies with the mission of preventing data breaches without constraining business. Balabit operates globally with offices across the United States and Europe, together with its network of reseller partners. Balabit's Contextual Security Intelligence platform protects organizations in real-time from threats posed by the misuse of high risk and privileged accounts. Solutions include reliable system and application Log Management with context enriched data ingestion, Privileged User Monitoring and User Behavior Analytics. Together they can identify unusual user activities and provide deep visibility into potential threats. Working in conjunction with existing control-based strategies, Balabit enables a flexible and people-centric approach to improve security without adding additional barriers to business practices. Founded in 2000, Balabit has a proven track record, with 23 Fortune 100 customers and more than 1,000,000 corporate users worldwide.
For more information, please visit https://www.balabit.com/.
Media Contact
Dan Chmielewski
Madison Alexander PR
1-714-832-8716
1-949-231-2965
dchm@cox.net
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Serinus Energy Inc. ("Serinus", "SEN" or the "Company") (TSX: SEN) (WARSAW: SEN) is pleased to provide the following update for its operations for the third quarter of 2016.
Third Quarter Production and Realized Prices
Overall production for Q3 was 1,007 boe/d, 17% lower than the 1,206 boe/d in Q2 2016 and 25% lower than the 1,336 boe/d in Q3 2015. Oil averaged 787 bbl/d, and gas was 1.3 MMcf/d. The decrease vs. the prior quarter was due to pump failures on the CS-3 and CS-1 wells in Chouech Es Saida for aggregate downtime of 78 days as parts had to be sourced from outside the country. CS-3 and CS-1 resumed production in early September and early October respectively. Estimated realized prices during the quarter were $43.17/bbl and $4.53/Mcf.
Production for October to date has averaged approximately 1,214 boe/d, comprised of 889 bbl/d of oil and 1.95 MMcf/d of natural gas.
Note: the volumes and prices referred to above are subject to minor revisions once final allocations and invoices are received.
Outlook
The Company's focus remains on reducing costs wherever possible while maintaining existing production in Tunisia. The 2016 budget will be re-examined on an ongoing basis in the event that management becomes confident that current oil prices can be sustained, and that funding is available to recommence drilling.
In Romania, Serinus will concentrate on moving the Moftinu-1001 discovery into the experimental production phase, pending ratification of the Phase 3 extension of the Satu Mare Licence.
The Company is examining several alternatives for funding the development activities in both Romania and Tunisia.
Executive Change
Aaron LeBlanc, Vice President of Exploration, has left the Company to pursue other opportunities. Mr. LeBlanc was promoted to Vice President in March 2014, and had worked for Serinus since 2011. The Company wishes him all the best in his new endeavors.
Abbreviations
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- bbl Barrel(s) bbl/d Barrels per day ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barrels of Oil Equivalent per boe Barrels of Oil Equivalent boe/d day ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mcf Thousand Cubic Feet Mcf/d Thousand Cubic Feet per day ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MMcf Million Cubic Feet MMcf/d Million Cubic Feet per day ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thousand Cubic Feet Thousand Cubic Feet Mcfe Equivalent Mcfe/d Equivalent per day ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Million Cubic Feet Million Cubic Feet Equivalent MMcfe Equivalent MMcfe/d per day ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mboe Thousand boe Bcf Billion Cubic Feet ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MMboe Million boe Mcm Thousand Cubic Metres ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CAD Canadian Dollar USD U.S. Dollar ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $MM Millions of Dollars $M Thousands of Dollars ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cautionary Statement:
BOEs may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of 6 Mcf:1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.
Test results are not necessarily indicative of long-term performance or of ultimate recovery. The test data contained herein is considered preliminary until full pressure transient analysis is complete.
About Serinus
Serinus is an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company that owns and operates projects in Tunisia, and Romania.
For further information, please refer to the Serinus website (www.serinusenergy.com).
Translation: This news release has been translated into Polish from the English original.
Forward-looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements made as of the date of this announcement with respect to future activities that either are not or may not be historical facts. Although the Company believes that its expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof, any potential results suggested by such statements involve risk and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Various factors that could impair or prevent the Company from completing the expected activities on its projects include that the Company's projects experience technical and mechanical problems, there are changes in product prices, failure to obtain regulatory approvals, the state of the national or international monetary, oil and gas, financial, political and economic markets in the jurisdictions where the Company operates and other risks not anticipated by the Company or disclosed in the Company's published material. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties and actual results may vary materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statement. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in this announcement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement, unless required by law.
Contacts:
Serinus Energy Inc. - Canada
Gregory M. Chornoboy
ector - Capital Markets & Corporate Development
+1-403-264-8877
gchornoboy@serinusenergy.com
Serinus Energy Inc. - Poland
Jakub J. Korczak
Vice President Investor Relations & Managing Director CEE
+48 22 414 21 00
jkorczak@serinusenergy.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Copper Fox Metals Inc. ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: CUU)(OTC PINK: CPFXF) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Desert Fox Copper Inc. ("Desert Fox"), are pleased to provide the results of the recently completed study on the chemistry of six hydrothermal breccia pipes that occur within an area that measures 300 meters ("m") by 400m located at the north end of the Sombrero Butte project. The hydrothermal breccia pipes located in the center of the property were not included in this study due to the lack of geochemical data.
Elmer B. Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox, stated, "This study supports the presence of a buried porphyry system and shows that the breccia pipes acted as a pathway for a complex multi-phase introduction of metals and mineralized granodiorite boulders. In addition to the pipes that contain significant concentrations of copper-molybdenum-gold-silver mineralization, the bottom 500m interval of diamond drill hole ("DDH") SB-23 is interpreted to have intersected the outer portion of a porphyry system commonly referred to as a 'pyrite shell'. The fact that the 2015 Titan-24 DCIP survey ("Titan-24") mapped the mineralized breccia pipes has advanced our interpretation of other chargeability anomalies within the property."
The study focused on the trace elements (molybdenum-gold-silver-arsenic-antimony-tungsten) associated with a porphyry copper system. The analytical results for copper were previously announced by Bell Copper Corporation ("Bell"). The analytical results for molybdenum-gold-silver and associated elements have not been previously announced.
Highlights:
-- Late stage mineralized Gray porphyry dikes (0.48% copper and 0.035% molybdenum) and porphyritic dikes (0.13% copper) cross cut the Magna pipe indicating multiple phases of intrusive activity; -- Mineralized granodiorite boulders occur within the Magna pipe in DDH SB- 23 over the interval from 476 to 484m and averaged 1.61% copper, 0.029% molybdenum, 0.056 ppm gold, and 5.9ppm silver suggest rafting of mineralized granodiorite from depth during breccia formation; -- The breccia material in the Campstool pipe over the interval from 466 to 492m in DDH SB-03 averaged 1.19% copper, 0.013% molybdenum, 0.08 g/t gold and 4.83 g/t silver. The breccia material in the Magna pipe over the interval from 458 to 506m in DDH SB-23 averaged 1.27% copper, 0.04% molybdenum, 0.08 g/t gold and 3.81 g/t silver, suggesting expulsion of metalliferous fluids from a porphyry system; -- The copper mineralization in the Audacious-Rattler pipes is characterized by high concentrations of arsenic (from 1,188 to 10,368 ppm), antimony (from 20.3 to 260 ppm) and tungsten (from 53 to 128 ppm) suggesting a different source for these metals from that in the Campstool and Magna pipes; and -- The Titan-24 survey completed in 2015 by Copper Fox located a number of positive chargeability targets within the property and also mapped the down dip extension of several of the mineralized breccia pipes tested by the 2006-2008 drilling program.
Background:
In, 2006-2008 Bell drill tested a number of breccia pipes located at the north end of the Sombrero Butte property. The drill hole information and analytical results for copper were released in a series of news releases made by Bell from November 9, 2006 to February 28, 2008 (www.sedar.com). The Bell news releases made no mention of either the molybdenum-gold-silver concentrations or the associated elements within breccia pipes.
The Bell drilling programs were carried out under the supervision of Timothy Marsh, P.E. PhD. Bell conducted a quality assurance and quality control ("QA/QC") program on the drill core samples by inserting field blanks, duplicates and certified standards into the sample stream submitted to the laboratory. The samples remained in the possession of Bell employees at the project site and then hand-delivered by the geologist to Skyline Assayers & Laboratories ("Skyline") in Tucson, AZ. Trace-element abundances were measured by inductively coupled plasma ("ICP") mass spectrometry at Activation Laboratories Ltd. ("Actlabs"), in British Columbia, Canada. ICP was used to analyze for Au, Ag, Cd, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pd, Zn, S, As, Ba, Hg, Sb, and W. Samples with copper values in excess of the analytical limit for ICP (10,000 ppm) were automatically re-analyzed by assay techniques. Other samples returning elevated ICP analytical results were also re-analyzed by standard assay procedures of Skyline and/or Actlabs. Both Skyline and Actlabs maintain internal QA/QC procedures for analytical results.
A discussion on the sample security and QA/QC program was included in a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report entitled "Technical Report on the Sombrero Butte Project, Pinal County, Arizona, USA, prepared for Bell Copper Corporation" dated May 12, 2010, R.A. Blakestad, J.D., C.P.G. as Qualified Person (the "Technical Report").
In 2012 Copper Fox Metals Inc. purchased the Sombrero Butte property from Bell in a cash transaction, included in the purchase was all technical data generated related to the Sombrero Butte project.
Copper Fox has reviewed the QA/QC program implemented by Bell and the discussion of the QA/QC set out in the Technical Report to test the validity of the database before completing the recent study.
Geochemical Study:
Drill holes DDH SB-01 to DDH SB-23 were analyzed for a suite of elements, whereas DDH SB-24 to DDH SB-34 were only analyzed for copper. The purpose of the study was to determine if the copper mineralization in the breccia pipes had a single or multiple sources. Threshold concentrations used to determine anomalous values for molybdenum-gold-silver-arsenic-stibnite-manganese were taken from published information on Arizona porphyry copper deposits.
The geochemical associations exhibited in the breccia pipes are interpreted to suggest an evolving porphyry copper system at depth that initially led to formation of the breccia pipes. The study suggests that separate pulses of mineralizing fluid consisting of i) copper, ii) copper-arsenic-antimony-tungsten-manganese and iii) copper-molybdenum-gold-silver were introduced at different times into different breccia pipes.
The presence of late stage mineralized Gray porphyry and porphyritic dikes within the Magna breccia indicates that intrusive activity occurred after formation of the breccia pipes.
Compilation:
A compilation of the Titan-24 (see news release dated September 8, 2015) and the 2006-2008 drilling (Bell news releases) was completed to determine if there is a relationship between the 2015 geophysical results (chargeability/resistivity anomalies) and the breccia pipes tested by the drilling. The drill logs for the 2006-2008 drilling programs were prepared by Bell. The compilation suggests that the pipes join at depth into a single body and that chargeability anomaly (L2IP5) correlates with the mineralized breccia intersected in DDH SB-11 (from 282 to 342m averaged 0.22% copper, 0.004% molybdenum, 0.02 g/t gold and 0.06 g/t silver) and deeper in DDH SB-23 (from 458 to 506m averaged 1.27% copper, 0.04% molybdenum, 0.08 g/t gold and 3.81 g/t silver). The shape of chargeability anomaly L2IP5 suggests that it could be a part of a much larger chargeability anomaly L2IP6 at depth. The Titan-24 also identified the location of several other breccia pipes that have been mapped on surface.
DDH SB-23 was drilled to a depth of 1,230.7m. For the interval from 700m to 1,230.7m, this drill hole intersected weak potassic alteration (K-spar-biotite), weak disseminated and fracture controlled pyrite with trace chalcopyrite and several narrow intervals of weak molybdenite and bornite mineralization in granodiorite. These results suggest that the drill hole may have intersected the outer edge of a pyrite shell. The interpreted pyrite shell in this drill hole is located below anomaly L2IP5 (the down dip expression of the mineralized breccia) and approximately 200m south of anomaly L2IP6.
Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., President of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.
About Copper Fox
Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE: CUU) focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, being Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc. hold the assets listed below:
1. 25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Limited on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia. 2. 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Arizona. 3. 65.4% of the shares of Carmax Mining Corp. who in turn own 100% of the Eaglehead copper-molybdenum-gold project located in northwestern British Columbia. 4. 100% ownership of the Sombrero Butte copper project located east of Mammoth, Arizona. 5. 100% ownership of the Mineral Mountain copper project located east of Florence, Arizona.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Elmer B. Stewart
President and Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information in this news release include statements about the data, observations, and interpretations related to the presence of a buried porphyry system at the Sombrero Butte project including comments on the number of mineralizing phases in the breccia pipes, the interpreted presence of a "pyrite shell", the presence of mineralized granodiorite boulders in several of the breccia pipes, expulsion of metalliferous fluids, the correlation between the Titan 24 results and the 2006-2008 diamond drilling, and the positive chargeability anomalies located by the Titan-24 survey.
In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox and its subsidiaries have made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the geological, financial and economic advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards and the stability of economic and market conditions. While Copper Fox considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies.
Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: the mineralized breccia pipes, the late stage intrusive activity of the Gray porphyry dikes and porphyritic dikes and the mineralized boulders in the Magna breccia pipes, the interval of copper-molybdenum-gold-silver mineralization and the high concentrations of arsenic-antimony-tungsten may not be indicative of a buried porphyry copper system; the exploration of the positive chargeability anomalies located by the Titan-24 survey within the property may not find copper mineralization in significant quantities or at all; the Company may require additional working capital sooner than predicted; the overall economy may deteriorate; uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; copper prices and demand may fluctuate; currency exchange rates may fluctuate; conditions in the financial markets may deteriorate; and uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals.
A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.
Contacts:
Lynn Ball
1-844-464-2820 or 1-403-264-2820
SAN FRANCISCO, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
The globalprepreg marketis expected to reach USD 12.48 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing need for high-performance materials particularly in the automotive, aerospace and sporting goods sectors is expected to have a positive impact on the market over the next eight years. Environmental norms introduced by various agencies including the U.S. EPA and EU, to promote sustainable energy sources as opposed to conventional sources, particularly in North America and Europe, have led to rising number of wind power installations in these regions. This is expected to be one of the major factors propelling product need over the forecast period.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 )
Enhanced mechanical properties including short curing time, longer life span, high strength and superior machinability are expected to have a positive impact on product demand in the automotive as well as the aerospace industries.
Various advantages of prepregs over its counterparts such as low void content, ease of use, high strength, and specific modulus, enhanced corrosion resistance and low thermal expansion coefficient makes it a key product in the manufacturing of numerous aerospace components. The rapid growth of the wind power industry in the Asia-Pacific is expected to fuel prepreg demand over the forecast period.
Browse full research report with TOC on "Prepreg Market Analysis By Fiber Type (Carbon, Glass, Aramid), By Resin Type (Thermoset, Thermoplastic), By Manufacturing Process (Hot-Melt, Solvent Dip), By Application (Aerospace & Defense, Wind Energy, Sporting Goods, Automotive) And Segment Forecasts To 2024" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/prepreg-market
Further key findings from the report suggest:
The global prepreg market was estimated around 260 kilo tons in 2015 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of around 8% from 2016 to 2024
Glass fibers are expected to witness the fastest growth at a CAGR of over 9% from 2016 to 2024 on account of its rising use in the manufacturing of various sporting goods such as bicycle frames and golf shafts
Use of thermosetting resins accounted for over 60% of the overall industry in 2015. Recyclable nature of thermosetting resins is expected to fuel its demand over the forecast period
Solvent dip process accounted for over 25% of the overall industry in 2015. Rising use in the manufacturing of fabric prepregs as it meets performance requirements such as low-temperature curing and good fatigue performance is expected to fuel its use over the next eight years
Aerospace & defense will witness the fastest growth at a CAGR of over 11% from 2016 to 2024 owing to increasing product use in the manufacturing of interior components and aero-engines
The Middle East and Africa currently account for a smaller share but is expected to witness substantial growth over the forecast period. Emerging markets such as Brazil and Mexico are projected to have an increased potential for the product due to rapid industrialization in these economies
and currently account for a smaller share but is expected to witness substantial growth over the forecast period. Emerging markets such as and are projected to have an increased potential for the product due to rapid industrialization in these economies Key companies in the industry focusing on increasing their global presence through plant expansions, new product launches, and mergers & acquisitions. For instance, in September 2015 , SGL Group developed an isotropic non-woven prepreg (ICV prepreg) from recycled carbon fiber and epoxy resin which will help the company in expanding its product portfolio
Browse related reports by Grand View Research:
Earthenware Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/earthenware-market
Carbon Fiber Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/carbon-fiber-market-analysis
Canvas Products Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/canvas-products-market
Abaca Fiber Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/abaca-fiber-market
Grand View Research has segmented the global prepreg market on the basis of product, application and region:
Fiber type outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2013 - 2024) Carbon Glass Aramid
Resin type outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2013 - 2024) Thermoset Thermoplastic
Manufacturing process type outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2013 - 2024) Hot-melt Solvent dip
Application outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2013 - 2024) Aerospace & defense Wind energy Sporting goods Automotive Others
Regional outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons, Revenue, USD Million, 2013 - 2024) North America U.S. Europe Germany UK Russia Asia Pacific China India Vietnam Latin America Brazil MEA
About Grand View Research
Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. Thecompany provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.
Read Our Blogs - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/blogs/specialty-and-fine-chemicals
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STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Sweden's industrial production expanded slightly in November, Statistics Sweden reported Tuesday. Industrial output grew 0.1 percent in November from prior year, reversing a 0.5 percent drop in October. Production was forecast to remain stable. The strongest increase came from the manufacture of basic metals, while the electronics industry showed the largest decrease. Month-on-month, industrial production advanced 1.2 percent, but slower than the expected growth of 1.5 percent. In three months to November, industrial production climbed 3.3 percent from previous three months. Another report from the statistical office showed that orders for industry decreased 3.1 percent in November in contrast to a 5.9 percent increase in October. Orders remained unchanged in November from October, when it grew 1.9 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
HKTDC Communication and Public Affairs Department Joe Kainz Tel: +852 2584 4216 Email: joe.kainz@hktdc.org
HONG KONG, Oct 25, 2016 - (ACN Newswire) - The HKTDC Hong Kong Optical Fair 2016 will open on 9 November and continue through 11 November at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Hong Kong Optical Manufacturers Association, the 24th edition of the fair continues to enjoy strong industry support. The three-day event will feature a record of more than 780 exhibitors from 29 countries and regions, providing a comprehensive trading platform for the industry. There are newcomers from Indonesia, Poland and South Africa while the Chinese mainland, France, Italy, Japan, Korea and Taiwan will mount group pavilions. Both the Hong Kong Optical Manufacturers Association and Visionaries of Style will also set up pavilions to showcase new eyewear products.At today's press conference, Benjamin Chau, Deputy Executive Director, HKTDC, said, "In the first eight months of 2016, Hong Kong's total exports of spectacles, lenses and frames exceeded HK$13 billion, marking a 35 per cent year-on-year increase. This was a result of the strong rebound in demand in mature markets. The United States is Hong Kong's top export market, followed by Italy and the Chinese mainland. Exports to ASEAN have also been remarkable. Hong Kong has always been a key city for promotion and sourcing eyewear, and local manufacturers have been striving to improve the quality and design of products to enhance their competitiveness. By participating in the Optical Fair, exhibitors can gain international exposure and expand their business."This year's Optical Fair features nine zones, showcasing a broad spectrum of eyewear products. The renowned Brand Name Gallery will return to the fair, gathering more than 200 of the world's hottest brands, including CONVERSE, EVISU, JAEGER, Markus-t, Miga, MINIMA, MUZIK, MYKITA, QUIKSILVER, Roxy, Superdry and Tonysame. Also joining the Brand Name Gallery will be Sodamon, a Korean brand that won the Grand Prize of the Good Design Award in both Korea and Australia, as well as German brand KUBORAUM and local design Luisa Leitao, which is an eponymous brand created by the well-known Hong Kong artiste.Other zones at the Optical Fair will display the latest eyewear in different categories, including sporting & professional eyewear, kids' eyewear, reading glasses, eyewear accessories and optometric instruments & machinery. A number eyewear parades will also be held during the fair with models showcasing the latest collections of trendy eyewear brands.Eye care and high-tech eyewearNowadays, people are spending more time using smart devices, and the effects of blue light emitted by digital screens is causing concern, especially for youngsters. As a result, huge market potential is offered by spectacles with protective lenses to block this harmful blue light. To cater to the demand, the Optical Fair will feature a variety of related products, including SWISSCOAT's lens filter, which can minimise eye fatigue while enhancing visual clarity.High-tech solutions continue to be a highlight of the fair. With 3D printing technology maturing, many eyewear brands are using the technology to design and manufacture spectacle frames. One such company is renowned German brand ic! berlin, which has been perfecting the use of 3D printing technology. This year, the company will showcase its "outside skeleton" series, which uses 3D printing technology to create screwless hinges that are stronger and smoother than conventional products.Other high-tech elements like augmented reality (AR) is also applied in eyewear. A Hong Kong company is presenting its Faceme AR Glasses that enable users to "try on" virtual glasses by simply looking at the screen. Meanwhile, Austrian brand Swarovski Optik has designed lightweight binoculars for outdoor enthusiasts. Users can connect a smartphone to the product to easily see and record the views.Hong Kong eyewear competition highlights design talentTo enhance the quality of eyewear designs, the HKTDC has teamed up with the Hong Kong Optical Manufacturers Association to jointly organise the 18th Hong Kong Eyewear Design Competition. The theme of this year's competition is "Uniqueness". Designers competed in two categories, Open Group and Student Group. The competition aims to encourage local designers to unleash their creativity, and promote Hong Kong designs to international buyers. Eight awards were presented at today's press conference. The entries were judged on such criteria as creativity, design, function and market potential.Last year's Open Group Champion, Lai Pui-yan, clinched the title again this year with her design entitled "Note". The work's unique frame design also won The Creativity Award. Inspired by different ways of recording daily happenings, Ms Lai aims to build up a new channel of communication through spectacle frames to deliver messages. The Student Category Champion title went to Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) student Chan Wai-mau, for his work "Recall". The designer found inspiration from the typical folding tables that are used by many families in Hong Kong, and wanted his design to rekindle this unique and warm memory. The Made-to-Sell Award was won by another HKDI student, Lee Cheuk-chung, for his work "Image", which features leather and metal complexes to give the appearance of a simplistic and modern industrial style.Judges who served on this year's judging panel included Joyce Yau, Executive Director, Puyi Group Limited; Richard Li, Executive Committee, Hong Kong Fashion Designers Association; and Dr Alex Lee, Chairman, Chartered Society of Designers (Hong Kong). The judges unanimously agreed that the design and quality of this year's entries were outstanding and possessed immense market potential. All the winning and finalist works will be on display at Hall 1D during the fair, showcasing Hong Kong's design prowess to international buyers. Buyers can also cast their votes to select the winner of the Latest Look Award.Activities for industry exchangeIn addition to eyewear parades, a number of seminars will be held at the Optical Fair to help industry professionals gather global market intelligence. Topics will cover the optical industry's response to economic conditions and the latest trends and business opportunities in emerging markets. Renowned German market research institute GfK will return to the fair to examine the retail and consumption trends in the eyewear industry.The 14th Hong Kong Optometric Conference will be held on day two (10 November). Optometry experts from Hong Kong, Australia, Canada and the US will discuss the Advancement in Ophthalmic Treatments. Speakers include Prof Larry Abel, Associate Professor, Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne and Dr Geunyoung Yoon (US), Professor of David and Ileen Flaum Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Rochester. The speakers will examine a variety of topics, including "Effect of Myopia Control Lenses" and "Recent Development in Refractive Surgeries".Winning works of the 18th Hong Kong Eyewear Design Competition: http://bit.ly/2fbmoXrFair website:http://hkopticalfair.hktdc.com/HKTDC Photo Link: http://bit.ly/2eAUPYeMedia Registration:Media may register on-site with their business cards and/or media identification.Press releases in Chinese at http://mediaroom.hktdc.com/tc.About HKTDCThe Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The HKTDC is the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based traders, manufacturers and services providers. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China and throughout Asia. The HKTDC also organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in overseas markets, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter @hktdc, LinkedIn.Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hktdcTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/hktdcLinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-councilSource: HKTDCContact:Copyright 2016 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese yen continued to be weak against its major rivals in the early European session on Tuesday. The yen fell to a 3-week low of 115.49 against the euro, nearly a 4-week low of 129.03 against the pound and nearly a 4-week low of 106.39 against the Swiss franc, from early highs of 114.81, 127.95 and 105.82, respectively. Against the Australian, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the yen dropped to nearly a 4-month low of 80.64, nearly a 2-month low of 75.44 and a 4-day low of 78.54 from early highs of 79.56, 74.87 and 77.97, respectively. The yen edged down to 105.12 against the U.S. dollar, from an early high of 104.67. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 117.00 against the euro, 132.00 against the pound, 107.00 against the franc, 82.00 against the aussie, 76.00 against the kiwi, 80.00 against the loonie and 107.00 against the greenback. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
ALBANY, New York, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
A rapidly growing population and a subsequently rising demand for food has put pressure on farmers to equip themselves with the latest and advanced mechanized farming techniques. This has resulted in the increased demand for farm tractors in North America and Europe. The market is also supported by favorable government policies encouraging the usage as well as purchase of agro machinery and various farming equipment. Easy access to credit provided by country-specific governments in these two regions has benefited the adoption of farm tractors in Europe and North America.
The North America and Europe farm tractor market is expected to record sales volume of 582.2 thousands units by 2024. By revenue, the market is projected to expand from US$13.6 bn in 2015 to US$17.23 bn by 2024. While the North America farm tractors market will register a modest 3.0% CAGR by value during the forecast period, Europe is expected to exhibit a 5.4% CAGR from 2016 to 2024.
Download PDF Brochure for Market Insights:http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=16091
Europe to Recover from Sluggish Demand to Witness Surge in Shipment by 2024
The North America farm tractor market was pegged at around 245 thousand units in 2015. Despite a declining sales volume across the higher horsepower segment, the market exhibited marginal volume growth from the previous year owing to the rise in demand for tractors below 40 HP. While the sales of farm tractors will continue a positive trend in the U.S., the sales in Canada have been witnessing a downward trend owing to a weak dollar and higher prices of the tractors.
In 2015, the Europe farm tractor market volume was pegged at around 153 thousand units. The market has been recording a decline in year-on-year growth in terms of volume over the last two years owing to a low demand from several European countries, including Germany, France, Turkey, the U.K., and Italy. However, the trend is likely to change in 2017, TMR predicts. "Tractor manufacturers are poised to lower the prices across different horsepower segments so as to attract more sales and recover from the sluggish demand," the lead analyst states.
Browse Regional PR: http://www.europlat.org/north-america-europe-farm-tractor-market.htm
Government Offering Increased Support to Up Usage of Farm Tractors
There has been a growing trend of farm mechanization across North America and Europe owing to the numerous benefits offered, including considerable savings in terms of time and resources, improved efficiency, and increased production. In addition to this, precision farming has driven the need for mechanization among various farm practices, thereby fueling the demand for farm tractors. The shortage of farm laborers in these regions has also propelled the use of mechanized farming techniques and equipment such as farm tractors.
Another significant factor that has boosted the adoption of farm tractors across Europe and North America is the growing demand for agricultural products, brought on by the rising population. "In view of this, governments in these regions have focused their attention on encouraging the usage of mechanized farming techniques by offering subsidies and easy access to credit to farmers," the author of the study notes.
What poses a challenge to the North America and Europe farm tractors market is the implementation of strict emission norms in most developed countries. Regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) have imposed stringent regulations pertaining to the use of diesel engines, particularly in off-road vehicles. Tractor manufacturers are, therefore, forced to incur additional costs to adhere to these norms, thereby restricting the uptake of farm tractors.
The top three players in theNorth America and Europe farm tractor market- Deere and Company, CNH (Case New Holland) Industrial, and AGCO Corporation - accounted for a share of just under 70.0% in 2015, hinting at the rather consolidated nature of the competitive landscape. Among these, Deere and Company alone held a share of over 35% that year, emerging as the clear leader. Transparency Market Research finds that the degree of rivalry among players in the North America and Europe farm tractor market is quite high owing to the strong presence of large and established companies.
Enhancing product portfolio, investing in innovations, and forming strategic alliances are some of the key growth tactics employed by players in this market. In September 2016, market leader John Deere launched a new 450 HP tractor that is specially designed to achieve reduction in fuel consumption. This has enabled the company to reinforce its strategic plan of focusing on innovation.
This review is based on the findings of a TMR report titled "Farm Tractor Market - North America and Europe Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast2016 - 2024."
North America and Europe Farm Tractor Market, by Horsepower
Less than 40 HP
40 HP - 80 HP
81 HP - 120 HP
121 HP - 180 HP
181 HP - 250 HP
More than 250 HP
North America and Europe Farm Tractor Market, by Geography
North America The U.S. Canada Rest of North America
Europe Germany France The U.K Rest of Europe
Related Report by Transparency Market Research:
Agriculture and Farm Machinery Market:
http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/agriculture-forestry-machinery.html
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Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.
Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.
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TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Goldmoney Inc. (TSX: XAU), a financial technology company operating a global, 100%-reserved gold-based financial network, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Goldmoney USA Limited has registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), complying with the Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer standards of a Money Transmitter. The registration will allow Goldmoney to extend P2P gold transfer capabilities to Network users in the United States, enabling them to send and receive title to vaulted gold on the Goldmoney Network via text, email, and other internet-based messaging platforms. The expanded roll out of U.S.-based P2P transfer capabilities and related Network features will continue to occur on a state-by-state basis, and users in approved states will be notified as new features are unveiled.
"We're pleased to expand P2P gold transfer functionality for Goldmoney Personal and Business users in the U.S., enabling more Americans to instantly send and receive any value of gold on our closed-loop network, and efficiently transact globally without unnecessary fees and delays. For the benefit of our Network users and all Goldmoney stakeholders, we are committed to operating the Goldmoney Network at the highest standards of transparency and accountability, including global best practices in account security, regulatory oversight, and compliance," said Josh Crumb, Chief Strategy Officer of Goldmoney Inc. "Effectively connecting fintech innovation with gold, the world's universal and best performing store of value, the Goldmoney Network successfully safeguards users from foreign exchange volatility and the costs and delays of exchanging value globally, while doing so in a safe and transparent environment with appropriate regulatory oversight."
Goldmoney Network users in the U.S. can instantly redeem and settle to a verified bank account in USD within 24 hours, or order physical gold delivery (in cubes, coins, or bars) for one percent of the gold price at redemption. All gold purchased by Goldmoney Network users is 100% allocated, and securely stored and insured without charge in Brink's vaults located around the world.
About Goldmoney Inc.
Goldmoney Inc. (TSX: XAU) is a mission-driven financial technology company that operates the world's largest 100%-reserved gold-based savings and payments network. Goldmoney provides financial services as a trusted third-party, combining the unique attributes of gold with technology-driven innovation. Through the Goldmoney Network, comprised of Goldmoney Personal and Goldmoney Business, anyone with internet access can buy, sell, transfer, earn, or redeem physical allocated gold. Goldmoney Wealth offers bespoke precious metals custody and wealth services, trading and execution, card services, tax-free retirement accounts and independent research to high net worth individual investors and institutions. Goldmoney Inc. has more than 1.27 million user signups from more than 150 countries and $1.8 billion in client assets under administration (as at October 24, 2016). Goldmoney Network is registered with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). Goldmoney Wealth is regulated as a Money Services Business by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. For more information about Goldmoney, visit goldmoney.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains or refers to certain forward-looking information. Forward-looking information can often be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "may", "potential" and "will" or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. All information other than information regarding historical fact, which addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information does not constitute historical fact but reflects the current expectations the Company regarding future results or events based on information that is currently available. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking information will not occur. Such forward-looking information in this MD&A speak only as of the date of this MD&A. Forward-looking information in this MD&A includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: growth of the Company's business, expected results of operations, acquisition of Schiff Gold Inc., and the market for the Company's products and services and competitive conditions.
This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time it was made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: the Company's limited operating history; history of operating losses; future capital needs and uncertainty of additional financing; fluctuations in the market price of the Company's common shares; the effect of government regulation and compliance on the Company and the industry; legal and regulatory change and uncertainty; jurisdictional factors associated with international operations; foreign restrictions on the Company's operations; product development and rapid technological change; dependence on technical infrastructure; protection of intellectual property; use and storage of personal information and compliance with privacy laws; network security risks; risk of system failure or inadequacy; the Company's ability to manage rapid growth; competition; effectiveness of the Company's risk management and internal controls; use of the Company's services for improper or illegal purposes; uninsured and underinsured losses; theft & risk of physical harm to personnel; precious metal trading risks; and volatility of precious metals prices & public interest in precious metals investment; and those risks set out in the Company's most recently filed annual information form, available on SEDAR. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, except as required by law.
Contacts:
Media and Investor Relations inquiries:
Goldmoney Inc.
Jacquelyn Humphrey
Director of Global Communications
jac@goldmoney.com
Goldmoney Inc.
Josh Crumb
Chief Strategy Officer
+1 647-499-6748
CINCINNATI (dpa-AFX) - Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) on Tuesday reported a 4 percent increase in profit for the first quarter from last year on a slight decline in sales. However, both revenue and core earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' estimates.
In addition, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based maker of Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste and Gillette shaving razors affirmed its financial outlook for fiscal 2017.
For the first quarter, net earnings attributable to P&G rose to $2.71 billion or $0.96 per share from $2.60 billion or $0.91 per share in the prior-year period.
Core earnings from continuing operations were $1.03 per share, compared to $0.98 per share last year. On a currency-neutral basis, core earnings per share increased 12 percent.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.98 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Net sales for the quarter were $16.52 billion, down slightly from $16.53 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $16.49 billion.
Sales for the quarter include a negative three percentage impact from foreign exchange. Organic sales increased 3 percent, driven by a three percent increase in organic shipment volume, and increased in all five business segments. All-in volume increased two percent.
Gross margin expanded 30 basis points to 51.0 percent, while operating margin was flat with last year at 22.8 percent.
Looking ahead to fiscal 2017, P&G affirmed its outlook for core earnings per share growth of mid-single digits versus fiscal 2016 core earnings per share of $3.67 and also maintained its projection for organic sales growth of about 2 percent.
P&G expects the combined headwinds of foreign exchange and minor brand divestitures to reduce sales growth for the year by about one percentage point. As a result, the company continues to estimate all-in sales growth of about one percent for fiscal 2017.
Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $3.88 per share for the year on revenues of $66.01 billion.
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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Goldstrike Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: GSR)(OTC PINK: APRAF)(FRANKFURT: KCG1) ("Goldstrike") is pleased to report that all 11 holes from the 2016 drilling campaign at its flagship Plateau property in Yukon, Canada, totalling over 1500 meters, were successful in intersecting the Goldstack zone. The 2016 drilling was focused on expanding the Goldstack zone, one of the many drill targets along the newly discovered, 50 km long, mineralized Yellow Giant trend. PSGS-16-01 was previously reported in the Company's press release dated September 6, 2016. Please see that press release for further details. Drill hole PSGS-16-08 returned the best value from the latest phase of drilling with a value of 2.2 g/t Au over 13 m, including 8.5 m grading 3.21 g/t Au. Drill hole assay highlights from the entire 2016 program are presented below in Table 1.
Drilling indicates that the main control of the mineralized system at the Goldstack zone is a northeast/southwest structure known as the Eldorado Fault. This structure has been mapped for 1 km, remains open along strike in both directions and will be one of the principal targets for drilling next year. The Eldorado Fault hosts the mineralized Goldstack discovery outcrop.
An initial first pass metallurgical test of the Goldstack zone returned a total recovery value of over 98.5% gold. This confirms the coarse nature of the gold observed in this system.
Table 1: Gold assay highlights from 2016 drilling
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To Interval Au Au Hole ID (m) (m) (m)(1) (g/t) (oz/ton)(2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-01 11.00 56.50 45.50 6.05 0.176 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- including ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13.75 26.00 12.25 21.13 0.62 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-02 27.60 63.70 36.10 0.52 0.015 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- including ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30.00 31.00 1.00 3.11 0.091 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-03 55.00 56.00 1.00 0.73 0.021 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- and ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 72.80 74.20 1.40 0.90 0.026 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-04 30.80 68.50 37.70 0.23 0.007 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To Interval Au Au Hole ID (m) (m) (m)(1) (g/t) (oz/ton)(2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-05 65.50 68.60 3.10 11.01 0.321 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-06 67.50 81.50 14.00 0.40 0.012 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- including ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 67.50 71.50 4.00 0.83 0.024 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-07 80.00 83.50 3.50 1.30 0.038 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-08 67.00 80.00 13.00 2.20 0.064 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- including ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 71.50 80.00 8.50 3.21 0.094 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-09 103.00 108.50 5.50 0.36 0.011 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-10 123.20 124.00 0.80 0.20 0.006 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSGS-16-11 177.50 179.50 2.00 0.23 0.007 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: (1)- Down hole length; true thicknesses unknown (2) - Ounces (Troy) / Short Ton
Link to 3D model of the Goldstack gold mineralized hydrothermal breccia and stockwork zone Video link https://youtu.be/WkQTiz93aFM
2016 Completed Exploration Goals:
The 2016 exploration goals for Goldstrike at Plateau included: (1) expanding the known gold mineralization within the Goldstack zone, (2) gaining a better understanding of the widespread nature of gold mineralization on the property, and (3) completing a regional prospecting and staking program to ensure that Goldstrike continues to control the key ground in this new district scale gold system.
Goldstrike has achieved its 2016 goals by expanding known mineralization within the Goldstack zone and by improving its understanding of the geometry and structural controls on the Goldstack/Eldorado mineralized system. Further, a regional prospecting program led to doubling the known strike length of the Yellow Giant Trend from 25 km to 50 km and staking additional ground to control the Trend. Finally, the 2016 exploration program confirmed the prospectivity and potential of the property.
2016 Program Highlights: (all previously reported)
A map and photos of the prospects discussed below is available under the header "What's New" on the home page of Goldstrike's web site (www.goldstrikeresources.com).
Goldback: (New)
Prospecting led to the discovery of the Goldback showing, located approximately 480 m southeast of the Goldstack zone. Assay values from outcrop grab samples yielded a best result of 15 g/t Au. At the Goldback zone it was discovered that gold occurs in quartz stockwork containing arsenopyrite blebs and veinlets similar to the Goldstack zone.
Bonanza: (New)
Approximately 3.5 km northwest of the Goldstack zone, a 30 by 30 m area of outcrop containing widespread visible gold returned a best grab sample value of 436.4 g/t Au. Mineralization at this newly discovered zone, named the Bonanza zone, is believed by Goldstrike's geological team to be hosted by orogenic quartz veins. Channel sampling of this zone yielded a best result of 15.06 g/t Au over 1.13m (see October 3, 2016 Press Release). The Bonanza zone contains the most wide spread visible gold discovered on the property to date, and initial geological reconnaissance suggests many similarities to the Goldstack zone.
Big Bang: (New)
Approximately 13 km along strike northwest of the Goldstack zone is an eight square kilometre area of intense structural deformation with multiple mineralized outcrops. This new zone, named the Big Bang zone, consists of a series of mineralized quartz stockwork veins and breccia. Multiple samples from this zone returned gold values from bedrock, with the best value being 21.2 g/t Au (grab sample). Initial channel sampling of the Big Bang zone yielded a best result of 2.17 g/t Au over 1m.
Goldworks Gold-in-soil Anomaly: (New)
Located approximately 1 km south of the Golddome prospect and approximately 17 km east of Goldstack, a 950 by 450 m zone of co-incident gold-in-soil and arsenic-in-soil anomaly was discovered. This new anomaly was named Goldworks. The best results from this soil sampling program were 568.3 parts per billion ("ppb") gold, and 232.9 ppb arsenic. Outcrop grab samples taken within the anomalous area yielded a best result of 2.15 g/t Au.
Goldbar: (New)
Four kilometres west of the Goldbank West zone, a new 350 by 100 m wide mineralized zone was discovered, the Goldbar zone. This zone returned a best result of 16 g/t Au, from a grab sample taken from outcrop. An additional twelve samples from this zone returned values between 1.12 and 8.66 g/t Au. Goldbar, like the rest of the referenced zones, is part of a mineralized trend that strikes northwest-southeast. Follow-up exploration and ground geophysics are planned in preparation for future drilling.
Bullion zone: (New)
The Bullion zone was discovered 50 km east of the western boundary of the Big Bang prospect. Two grab samples taken from outcrop in this area returned values of 13.66 g/t Au and 1.93 g/t Au, and the zone remains open. The gold mineralization was found in a brecciated fault zone, in an area of abundant quartz veining.
The new discoveries summarized above further confirm the widespread distribution and multiple occurrences of high grade gold mineralization along the 50 km Yellow Giant trend currently being explored by Goldstrike.
Future plans:
The main focus of the next phase of drilling will be on the newly mapped area around the Goldstack zone, along the 1 km Eldorado fault and in the Goldback, Bonanza and Big Bang Zones. Additionally, further exploration is planned for the Goldworks, Goldbar, Bullion and Goldrush zones with the objective of developing drill targets.
Based on the positive 2016 results, Goldstrike has arranged to leave the drill in place at the Goldstack zone providing for significant savings in mobilization costs and to accomodate drilling as early as possible next season. Goldstrike looks forward to continuing to unlock the value within the Plateau property with an expanded drill campaign and exploration program for next season.
Terrence King,President and CEO stated,"We are very pleased with the results from another successful exploration program, which continue to demonstrate the potential of this district scale system. The Plateau project has attracted serious interest from miners and institutions alike, confirming the significance of this discovery, and Goldstrike looks forward to advancing this asset for the benefit of all our stakeholders. We also look forward to the release of the phase two program results from Lucky Strike Property in the White Gold District of the Yukon."
2016 drill sections and an animated 3D model of the Goldstack zone mineralization are available on http://www.goldstrikeresources.com/ under "What's New".
All 2016 holes were drilled with an NTW diameter. Sample analysis and assaying for all of Goldstrike's projects has been conducted by Bureau Veritas in Vancouver, BC, which is ISO 9001 accredited. Soil samples are dried at 60C and 100 grams are sieved to -80 mesh. A 15 gram sample split is then leached in aqua regia at 95 degrees C and analyzed by a 36-element ICP package that includes semi-quantitative gold. Rock and drill core samples are crushed to 80% -10 mesh and a 500 gram sample split is pulverized to 85% -200 mesh. 50 gram charges are then assayed for gold using fire assay fusion and ICP-ES finish with a lower detection limit of 2 ppb and an upper detection limit of 10 ppm Au. In addition, 0.5 mg charges are digested by modified 1:1:1 aqua regia (HCl-HNO3-H20) and analyzed by 36-element ICP-MS that also includes semi-quantitative gold with a lower detection limit of 0.5 ppb Au and an upper detection limit of 100 ppm Au. Selected samples are subjected to 500 gram metallic fire assays, for which the plus fraction is finished gravimetrically and the minus fraction is finished with AA. Rigorous procedures are in place regarding sample collection, chain of custody, and data entry. Certified assay standards, duplicate samples and blanks are routinely inserted into the sample stream to ensure integrity of the assay process.
Note: Grab samples are selective by nature, and are unlikely to represent average grades on the property. Due to the coarse nature of the gold, the Company is using metallics fire assays to capture the gold in the coarse fraction, providing the most accurate representation of the gold mineralization. Historically, regular fire assays have underestimated the grade of gold in coarse gold systems, and metallic fire assays and bulk samples can more accurately represent the true grade because they capture all gold including the coarse fraction, which otherwise could have been discarded.
Tony Gilman, M.Sc., P.Eng, P. Geo., Terrane Geoscience Inc., is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has supervised the preparation of and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Terrence E. King, President and Chief Executive Officer
For new information from this program, please visit Goldstrike's website at GoldstrikeResources.com. For further information follow the Company's tweets at Twitter.com/GoldstrikeRes.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of 5 property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Contacts:
King James Capital Corporation
Jeff Stuart
Investor Relations
(604) 210-2150
jstuart@kingjamescapital.com
NANAIMO, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Troymet Exploration Corp. (TSX VENTURE: TYE) ("Troymet" or the Company") is pleased to report that the diamond drilling program on the Redhill project in British Columbia is complete. Five holes (1,003.5 metres) were drilled to test volcanogenic massive sulphide ("VMS") targets on the Alpha zone. Two holes tested targets on Horizon 3 and three holes tested targets on Horizon 2 (Figure 1). Split core samples have been submitted to ALS Global, Vancouver, for chemical analysis. Results are pending. Troymet's exploration model was confirmed and the Company now has an advanced understanding of the stratigraphy and mineralized horizons in the Alpha zone.
Troymet took advantage of the availability of a survey crew to complete a Volterra borehole electromagnetic ("EM") survey of one hole drilled on Horizon 3 at the start of the program. Results are pending. The Company plans to survey other holes at a later date.
On the Beta zone, Troymet successfully relocated, through EM and induced polarization ("IP") surveys, an untested, 40 mho target located 200 metres south of borehole S83-4 (2.54% copper, 2.78% zinc, 77.0 g/t Ag, and 0.37 g/t Au over 7.75 metres). (British Columbia ARIS (Assessment Report Indexing System) Report #28371). The 40 mho target is located on a 550 metre long EM conductor. Neither the 40 mho target or the EM conductor have been drilled. The Company plans to drill test this target as part of the next drill program.
The gold-in-soil anomaly is aligned along the northeast edge of a resistivity high, in a magnetic low, in a diorite intrusive. Prospecting has identified shearing with local quartz and quartz-carbonate veining along the magnetic low. The soil anomaly was identified by soil sampling on a 200 metre x 50 metre grid with selective in-fill soil sampling (222 samples) conducted on a 100 metre x 25 metre grid. Troymet plans overburden trenching of the better anomalies prior to drilling.
Qualified Persons
All technical data, as disclosed in this press release, has been verified by the Company's qualified persons Kieran Downes, Ph.D., P.Geo., and Ronald H. McMillan, Ph.D., P.Geo. Both are Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Troymet Exploration Corp.
Troymet Exploration Corp. is a junior exploration company with a solid treasury and with projects in British Columbia (Redhill and Golden Eagle), Manitoba (McClarty Lake) and Utah (Wildcat). Troymet operates the Wildcat, Redhill and Golden Eagle projects. Hudbay Minerals Inc. is the operator of the McClarty Lake joint venture and must contribute $1,151,052 in joint venture expenditures before Troymet is required to fund its participating interest. Troymet retains a 2% net smelter returns royalty (NSR) on the Key property, British Columbia, which was sold to New Gold Inc. in 2013.
TROYMET EXPLORATION CORP.
Kieran Downes, Ph.D., P.Geo., President, CEO & Director
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
This news release contains certain forward-looking information. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information in respect of: the Redhill Project, including the possible exploration and development of the Redhill Project; the exploration potential and analogous deposit potential of the Redhill Project; future data analysis, sampling plans and exploration plans on the Redhill Project; the timing for exploration and drilling on the Redhill Project; exploration targets and the potential of such exploration targets; and the ability and the timeframe within which the Redhill Project can be advanced. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information reflects Troymet's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Troymet and on assumptions Troymet believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the current share price of Troymet's common shares and the ability to raise future equity financing, if needed, at prices acceptable to Troymet; Troymet's current and initial understanding and analysis of the Redhill Project; the ability of Troymet to discover viable exploration targets and the results of exploration on the Redhill Project; the cost of exploration, including sampling and drilling, on the Redhill Project; Troymet's general and administrative costs remaining constant; and the market acceptance of Troymet's business strategy.
Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Troymet to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the early stage development of Troymet and its projects, and in particular, the Redhill Project; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; capital market conditions and market prices for securities, junior market securities and mining exploration company securities; commodity prices; the actual results of current exploration and development or operational activities; competition; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents and other risks inherent in the mining industry; lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting Troymet; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. A description of other assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information and a description of other risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in Troymet's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Troymet does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Contacts:
Troymet Exploration Corp.
Investor Relations
250-729-0453
info@troymet.com
www.troymet.com
Expanded Integration with Google Cloud Platform Increases Customer Choice, Reduces Spend and Improves Agility
Veritas Technologies, the leader in information management, today announced that it is expanding its Google Cloud Platform integration with support for Google Cloud Storage Coldline. By combining Information Map, NetBackup and Google Cloud Platform, customers can take advantage of frictionless information governance with complete visibility, insight and greater control of their data.
The number of enterprises using cloud as a backup destination is on the rise and is expected to double by 20181, according to Gartner. As this trend continues, customer choice in cloud storage destinations and the appropriate tiers within those destinations becomes critical to building the right data management and governance strategy. This includes backup and archive to durable, offsite repositories such as Google Cloud Platform. Veritas is advancing enterprise data management through simplified data migration to Google Cloud Platform by automating and optimizing storage lifecycle policies, reducing cost and improving agility.
"Veritas' collaboration with Google underscores our commitment to managing the world's information and helping customers gain accessibility and insights from their data," said Scott Anderson, Senior Vice President of Information Protection Solutions at Veritas. "By extending our support to Google Cloud Storage Coldline, we're enabling our customers with more cloud storage choices to better balance their service level objectives, compliance requirements and spend for data that is necessary to keep, but rarely accessed."
Google Cloud Storage Coldline offers customers an ideal cloud destination for the long-term archiving of backup copies and disaster recovery of cold data with no compromise on latency or availability. Veritas also offered day-one support of Google Cloud Storage Nearline for storing backup data that is accessed less frequently (i.e. less than once a month). Google Cloud Storage integrates seamlessly with Veritas NetBackup Appliances, giving customers a complete solution for managing data through its lifecycle. The NetBackup Appliance offers optimized local storage for critical backup data that needs to be readily accessible for quick restore. As the data ages, it can automatically move through different tiers of storage, including cloud. All of this is managed via a single policy and management console. Veritas Information Map further illuminates unstructured data assets across the global storage environment for complete visibility, easy management, and new levels of insight from which smarter decisions can be made.
Visit Veritas.com to learn more about Veritas information management solutions and Google Cloud Platform.
About Veritas Technologies:
Veritas Technologies enables organizations to harness the power of their information, with information management solutions serving the world's largest and most complex environments. Veritas works with organizations of all sizes, including 86 percent of global Fortune 500 companies, improving data availability and revealing insights to drive competitive advantage. www.veritas.com
1 Source: Gartner, Inc., Magic Quadrant for Data Center Backup and Recovery Software, Dave Russell, Pushan Rinnen, Robert Rhame, June 8, 2016
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161025005268/en/
Contacts:
Veritas Contact:
Text100
Sami Asiri, 415-593-8447
sami.asiri@text100.com
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Panel to consider competitive advantages of moving to the cloud
PROS (NYSE: PRO), the revenue and profit realization company, today announced its participation in the 28th International Air Cargo Association TIACA conference. Scheduled for Oct. 26-28 in Paris at the Porte de Versailles, the event draws more than 3,000 air cargo decision makers from around the world. TIACA provides a platform for the exchange of ideas, views and solutions to the challenges faced by cargo organizations.
At the conference, PROS will showcase its cloud-based PricingPRO and SellingPRO solutions. Companies around the world rely on PROS sales and pricing capabilities to leverage prescriptive analytics that accelerate the process of converting prospects to customers; confidently scale winning pricing strategies to increase margins; and streamline smart decision-making so organizations can realize their revenue growth and profit potential.
"Air cargo companies face a challenging, hyper-competitive market as global macro-economic indicators that drive the industry continue to weaken," said PROS Chief Marketing Officer Patrick Schneidau. "These companies are looking for opportunities to use their capacity to maximize the contributions to their network. At TIACA, we'll showcase how PROS cloud solutions provide smarter, faster pricing in the cloud, and greater agility to drive revenue and profit."
Zeke Ziliak, PROS global director of transportation and travel, will join a group of senior thought leaders for a panel titled "Embracing the Cloud." They will consider how millions of users are securely and successfully sharing and collaborating on billions of documents in the cloud. The panel will discuss the advantages gained by moving to the cloud and the benefits businesses reap:
John DeBenedette, Managing Director, WIN, TIACA Board Chairman
Zeke Ziliak, Global Director of Transportation, PROS
Dean Baxter, General Manager, Youredi
Patrice Belie, Chief Executive Officer, Hub One
Jonas van Stekelenburg, Cargo Director, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Constantin Syridis, Manager, Cargo Technology, IATA (International Air Transport Association)
To learn more, visit the PROS website or follow PROS on Twitter at @PROS_Inc.
About PROS
PROS Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PRO) is a revenue and profit realization company that helps B2B and B2C customers realize their potential through the blend of simplicity and data science. PROS offers cloud solutions to help accelerate sales, formulate winning pricing strategies and align product, demand and availability. PROS revenue and profit realization solutions are designed to allow customers to experience meaningful revenue growth, sustained profitability and modernized business processes. To learn more, visit pros.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the functionality and benefits of revenue and profit realization software to organizations generally as well as the functionality and benefits of PROS software products. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon PROS historical experience with revenue and profit realization software and its current expectations of the benefits of revenue and profit realization software for organizations that implement and utilize such software. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein include the addressability of an organization's revenue and profit realization software needs, the risks associated with PROS developing and enhancing products with the functionality necessary to deliver the stated results and the risks associated with the complex implementation and maintenance of revenue and profit realization software such as PROS software products. Additional information relating to the uncertainty affecting the PROS business is contained in PROS filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements represent PROS expectations as of the date of this press release. Subsequent events may cause these expectations to change, and PROS disclaims any obligations to update or alter these forward-looking statements in the future whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161025005316/en/
Contacts:
Media:
PROS
Yvonne Donaldson, 713-335-5310
ydonaldson@pros.com
AMSTERDAM, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
The Elsevier Foundation provides a three-year $300,000 grant to MSF/Epicentre's Niger Research Center
Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, and renowned international humanitarian-aid organizationDoctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), have agreed to cooperate in fighting the root causes of some of Africa's most vexing health challenges, including diarrhea and infectious diseases, which leave millions of people dying or severely diminished every year.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161025/432178 )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161025/432177 )
As part of the agreement, the Elsevier Foundation has awarded a $300,000 partnership grant to Epicentre's Niger Research Center which was founded in 2009 to produce high-quality and high-impact studies aimed at transforming medical practice. The African-led research center focuses on adapted, concrete responses to diarrheal diseases, malnutrition and malaria. The three-year partnership will support the development of Epicentre's medical and scientific staff training and mentoring and aims to boost the Center's overall visibility through a "Scientific Day" Conference to be held in Niger.
The joint Collaboration Agreement represents a cooperative effort between four organizations: Doctors without Borders, Epicentre (Doctors without Borders' research and training arm), the Elsevier Foundation (Elsevier's corporate charity focused on global health and research capacity building) and Elsevier, which will provide courtesy access to products and services such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, Clinical Key, Embase and Mendeley.
Youngsuk "YS" Chi, President of the Elsevier Foundation, underscored: "Our goal is to support MSF and Epicentre's mission to empower trained local medical staff in Africa to provide high-quality care in their home countries. This work resonates well with the Elsevier Foundation's focus on supporting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals through the development of science, technology and medicine in Africa and across the world."
Jerome Oberreit, Secretary General of MSF, said: "Elsevier's support of our work goes beyond financial support. It will allow our medical teams to have access to scientific, technical and medical information that is essential to improve the quality of humanitarian healthcare MSF provides to the most vulnerable populations in the world."
Ron Mobed, CEO of Elsevier, said: "Both Elsevier and MSF share a commitment to advancing healthcare and research in developing and emerging markets. We hope that providing MSF and Epicentre with essential clinical tools such as ClinicalKey and ScienceDirect will equip them with the timely, accurate knowledge they need to develop treatment protocols for doctors, nurses and epidemiologists tackling epidemics, malnutrition, natural disasters and armed conflicts. In short, the work they do is so critical and we are proud to support it in any way we can."
Read more on Elsevier Connect.
Photos available on request. Contact Elisa Nelissen at e.nelissen@elsevier.com or +31 622 73 50 02.
About MSF
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. MSF offers assistance to people based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation. Ouractions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of neutrality and impartiality. Thousands of health professionals, logistical and administrative staff - most of whom are hired locally - work on programmes in some 69 countries worldwide. http://www.msf.org
About Epicentre
Created in 1986 by doctors from MSF, Epicentre is a nonprofit association, with a two-fold mission: research, contributing to the design and promotion of original operational medical projects in MSF intervention settings, or similar environments and training to support MSF teams in conducting operational response. Epicentre focuses on the most prevalent diseases: malaria, tuberculosis, HIV infection, children malnutrition, as well as diseases with epidemic potential: cholera, meningitis, measles, hemorrhagic fevers (yellow fever, Ebola, Marburg as well as Buruli ulcer, psychological care, sleeping sickness. Epicentre's research departments cover clinical and epidemiological research as well as training. Epicentre has a staff of around 40-people working in Europe (Paris, Geneva and Brussels) and 450 in Africa (Uganda and Niger). http://www.epicentre.msf.org
About the Elsevier Foundation
The Elsevier Foundation is a corporate not-for-profit 501(c)(3), funded by Elsevier, a global provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The Elsevier Foundation provides grants to knowledge centered institutions around the world, with a sustainability focus on innovations in health information, diversity in STM, research in developing countries and technology for development. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than 100 grants worth over $6 million to non-profit organizations working in these fields. Through gift-matching, the Foundation also supports the efforts of Elsevier employees to play a positive role in their local and global communities. http://www.elsevierfoundation.org
About Elsevier
Elsevieris a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Research Intelligence andClinicalKey- and publishes over 2,500 journals, includingThe Lancetand Cell, and more than 35,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries.http://www.elsevier.com
Media contact
Elisa Nelissen
Press Officer, Elsevier
+31 622 73 50 02
e.nelissen@elsevier.com
WEST CHESTER, OH -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) today reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2016.
3rd Quarter 2016 Highlights
Net income of $50.9 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared to net income of $6.7 million, or $0.04 per diluted share in the third quarter 2015
Adjusted EBITDA of $156.6 million increased 31% from the third quarter 2015
Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 10.8% from 7.0% in the third quarter 2015
Solid liquidity of nearly $1.1 billion
AK Steel reported net income of $50.9 million, or $0.21 per diluted share of common stock, for the third quarter of 2016, compared to net income of $6.7 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2015. The company's adjusted EBITDA (as defined in the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section below) of $156.6 million, or 10.8% of net sales, for the third quarter of 2016 increased from adjusted EBITDA of $120.0 million, or 7.0% of net sales, for the year ago third quarter.
"We continue to see benefits from our decision to focus on higher-value products, optimize our footprint and reduce our exposure to commodity products," said Roger K. Newport, Chief Executive Officer of AK Steel. "De-emphasizing commodity products and introducing new products, such as our recently announced NEXMET line of next-generation advanced high strength steels, are examples of our ongoing work to differentiate ourselves in the market today and for the future, and to drive long-term shareholder value."
Primarily as a result of the Company's decision to reduce sales of commodity products, net sales decreased 15% to $1.45 billion for the third quarter of 2016 from $1.71 billion in the third quarter of 2015. Shipments of 1,425,900 tons for the third quarter of 2016 were 24% less than the 1,871,200 tons from the third quarter a year ago. As a result of a better product mix and a more favorable selling environment, selling price per ton increased 11% to $1,016 from $912 for the same quarter a year ago.
The improved product mix, higher average selling price per ton, improved carbon steel market prices, focus on cost reductions and lower raw material costs contributed to the 31% increase in adjusted EBITDA. Results for the quarter included a LIFO credit of $24.2 million, compared to a LIFO credit of $44.8 million in the third quarter a year ago. Costs for planned outages for the third quarter of 2016 were $16.9 million, as compared to $11.8 million from the same quarter a year ago.
The company ended the third quarter of 2016 with total liquidity of $1,079 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents and $1,034 million of availability under the company's revolving credit facility.
Nine-Month Results
For the first nine months of 2016, the company reported net income of $54.6 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, as compared to a net loss of $363.6 million, or $2.05 per diluted share, in the corresponding nine months of 2015. The first nine months of 2015 included an impairment charge of $256.3 million, or $1.44 per diluted share, to fully impair the company's investment in Magnetation LLC.
Sales for the first nine months of 2016 were $4.46 billion compared to sales of $5.15 billion in the same period a year ago. Shipments for the first nine months of 2016 were 4,639,600 tons compared to 5,433,400 tons in the first nine months of 2015. Average selling prices for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 of $960 per ton were 1% higher than our average selling prices of $947 per ton for the nine months ended September 30, 2015, reflecting our focus on a higher-value sales mix, partially offset by lower year-over-year pricing for spot markets and much of our sales under contracts.
The company's focus on higher value steels, improved carbon steel market prices, cost reduction efforts, strong operational performance and footprint optimization improved adjusted EBITDA to $337.0 million, or 7.5% of net sales, for the first nine months of 2016, from adjusted EBITDA of $225.1 million, or 4.4% of net sales, for the same period in 2015. The first nine months of 2016 included LIFO credits of $15.8 million, compared to LIFO credits of $96.7 million in the first nine months of 2015. The company incurred costs of $40.0 million during the first nine months of 2016 for planned outages, compared to $43.6 million during the first nine months of 2015.
AK Steel
AK Steel is a leading producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, and carbon and stainless tubular products, primarily for automotive, infrastructure and manufacturing, construction and electrical power generation and distribution markets. Headquartered in West Chester, Ohio (Greater Cincinnati), the company employs approximately 8,500 men and women at eight steel plants, two coke plants and two tube manufacturing operations across six states (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia) and one tube plant in Mexico. Additional information about AK Steel is available at www.aksteel.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements made or incorporated by reference in this Current Report on Form 8-K reflect management's estimates and beliefs and are intended to be "forward-looking statements" identified in the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "estimates" and other similar references to future periods typically identify forward-looking statements. The company cautions readers that forward-looking statements reflect the company's current beliefs and judgments, but are not guarantees of future performance or outcomes. They are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that are inherently affected by economic, competitive, regulatory, and operational risks, uncertainties and contingencies that are beyond the company's control, and upon assumptions about future business decisions and conditions that may change.
Forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve risks and uncertainties, resulting in the possibility that actual events or performance will differ materially from such predictions as a result of certain risk factors, including reduced selling prices, shipments and profits associated with a highly competitive and cyclical industry; increased global steel production and imports; changes in the cost of raw materials and energy; the company's significant amount of debt and other obligations; severe financial hardship or bankruptcy of one or more of the company's major customers or key suppliers; reduced demand in key product markets due to competition from aluminum or other alternatives to steel; excess inventory of raw materials; supply chain disruptions or poor quality of raw materials; production disruption or reduced production levels; the company's healthcare and pension obligations; not reaching new labor agreements on a timely basis; major litigation, arbitrations, environmental issues and other contingencies; regulatory compliance and changes; climate change and greenhouse gas emission limitations; financial, credit, capital and banking markets; derivative contracts to hedge commodity pricing volatility; potential permanent idling of facilities; inability to fully realize benefits of margin enhancement initiatives; information technology security threats and cybercrime; as well as those risks and uncertainties discussed in more detail in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, as updated in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. As such, the company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only to the company's plans, assumptions and expectations as of the date hereof. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.
AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) (Dollars and shares in millions, except per share and per ton data) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, ---------------------- ---------------------- 2016 2015 2016 2015 ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Shipments (000 tons) 1,425.9 1,871.2 4,639.6 5,433.4 Selling price per ton $ 1,016 $ 912 $ 960 $ 947 Net sales $ 1,452.9 $ 1,709.9 $ 4,463.9 $ 5,150.2 Cost of products sold 1,194.1 1,524.4 3,884.6 4,712.2 Selling and administrative expenses 80.0 65.7 205.7 198.4 Depreciation 53.7 55.5 161.7 166.6 Pension and OPEB expense (income) (5.7) (15.9) (29.5) (48.1) ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Total operating costs 1,322.1 1,629.7 4,222.5 5,029.1 ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Operating profit 130.8 80.2 241.4 121.1 Interest expense 40.3 43.0 124.5 130.4 Impairment of Magnetation investment -- -- -- (256.3) Other income (expense) (7.0) 4.3 (5.6) (10.9) ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Income (loss) before income taxes 83.5 41.5 111.3 (276.5) Income tax expense 14.6 17.2 4.1 39.5 ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Net income (loss) 68.9 24.3 107.2 (316.0) Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 18.0 17.6 52.6 47.6 ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Net income (loss) attributable to AK Steel Holding Corporation $ 50.9 $ 6.7 $ 54.6 $ (363.6) ========== ========== ========== ========== Basic and diluted earnings per share: Net income (loss) attributable to AK Steel Holding Corporation $ 0.21 $ 0.04 $ 0.26 $ (2.05) ========== ========== ========== ========== Weighted-average shares outstanding: Basic 237.5 177.2 210.6 177.1 Diluted 238.4 177.5 211.4 177.1 AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts) September 30, December 31, 2016 2015 ------------- ------------- ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 57.5 $ 56.6 Accounts receivable, net 489.0 444.9 Inventory, net 1,088.4 1,226.3 Other current assets 66.1 78.4 ------------- ------------- Total current assets 1,701.0 1,806.2 Property, plant and equipment 6,565.3 6,466.0 Accumulated depreciation (4,537.7) (4,379.5) ------------- ------------- Property, plant and equipment, net 2,027.6 2,086.5 Other non-current assets 192.2 191.7 ------------- ------------- TOTAL ASSETS $ 3,920.8 $ 4,084.4 ============= ============= LIABILITIES AND EQUITY (DEFICIT) Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 639.5 $ 703.4 Accrued liabilities 248.7 261.5 Current portion of pension and other postretirement benefit obligations 46.2 77.7 ------------- ------------- Total current liabilities 934.4 1,042.6 Non-current liabilities: Long-term debt 2,000.2 2,354.1 Pension and other postretirement benefit obligations 1,131.0 1,146.9 Other non-current liabilities 130.4 136.4 ------------- ------------- TOTAL LIABILITIES 4,196.0 4,680.0 Equity (deficit): Common stock, authorized 450,000,000 shares of $0.01 par value each; issued 238,841,983 and 178,284,137 shares in 2016 and 2015; outstanding 238,269,413 and 177,893,562 shares in 2016 and 2015 2.4 1.8 Additional paid-in capital 2,520.0 2,266.8 Treasury stock, common shares at cost, 572,570 and 390,575 shares in 2016 and 2015 (2.4) (2.0) Accumulated deficit (3,002.4) (3,057.0) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (164.2) (187.2) ------------- ------------- Total stockholders' equity (deficit) (646.6) (977.6) Noncontrolling interests 371.4 382.0 ------------- ------------- TOTAL EQUITY (DEFICIT) (275.2) (595.6) ------------- ------------- TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY (DEFICIT) $ 3,920.8 $ 4,084.4 ============= =============
On September 7, 2016, the Company's shareholders approved an amendment of the Company's Restated Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance from 300,000,000 to 450,000,000.
AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited) (Dollars in millions) Nine Months Ended September 30, -------------------------- 2016 2015 ------------ ------------ Cash flows from operating activities: Net income (loss) $ 107.2 $ (316.0) Depreciation 150.8 155.9 Depreciation--SunCoke Middletown 10.9 10.7 Amortization 14.3 17.0 Impairment of Magnetation investment -- 256.3 Deferred income taxes 6.1 37.8 Pension and OPEB expense (income) (29.5) (48.1) Contributions to pension trust -- (24.1) Contributions to retirees VEBA -- (3.1) Other pension payments (32.6) (1.3) Other postretirement benefit payments (24.3) (32.9) Changes in working capital 37.5 122.0 Other operating items, net 47.5 25.9 ------------ ------------ Net cash flows from operating activities 287.9 200.1 Cash flows from investing activities: Capital investments (81.9) (71.0) Proceeds from sale of equity investee -- 25.0 Other investing items, net 2.2 1.5 ------------ ------------ Net cash flows from investing activities (79.7) (44.5) Cash flows from financing activities: Net borrowings (payments) under credit facility (360.0) (55.0) Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt 380.0 -- Redemption of long-term debt (392.8) (10.1) Proceeds from issuance of common stock 249.4 -- Debt issuance costs (20.4) -- SunCoke Middletown distributions to noncontrolling interest owners (63.2) (69.7) Other financing items, net (0.3) (1.0) ------------ ------------ Net cash flows from financing activities (207.3) (135.8) ------------ ------------ Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 0.9 19.8 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 56.6 70.2 ------------ ------------ Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 57.5 $ 90.0 ============ ============ AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited) (Dollars in millions)
In certain of its disclosures in this news release, the company has reported adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin that exclude the effects of noncontrolling interests and an impairment charge for its investment in Magnetation. EBITDA is an acronym for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. It is a metric that is sometimes used to compare the results of different companies by removing the effects of different factors that might otherwise make comparisons inaccurate or inappropriate. The adjusted results, although not financial measures under generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and not identically applied by other companies, facilitate the ability to analyze the company's financial results in relation to those of its competitors and to the company's prior financial performance by excluding items that otherwise would distort the comparison. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are not, however, intended as alternative measures of operating results or cash flow from operations as determined in accordance with GAAP and are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.
Neither current nor potential investors in the company's securities should rely on adjusted EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA margin as a substitute for any GAAP financial measure and the company encourages current and potential investors to review the following reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA.
Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, ------------------ ------------------ (dollars in millions, except per ton) 2016 2015 2016 2015 ------------------------------------ -------- -------- -------- -------- Net income (loss) attributable to AK Steel Holding $ 50.9 $ 6.7 $ 54.6 $ (363.6) Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 18.0 17.6 52.6 47.6 Income tax expense (benefit) 14.6 17.2 4.1 39.5 Interest expense 40.3 43.0 124.5 130.4 Interest income (0.3) (0.3) (1.2) (0.9) Depreciation 53.7 55.5 161.7 166.6 Amortization 1.1 1.5 4.2 7.5 -------- -------- -------- -------- EBITDA 178.3 141.2 400.5 27.1 Less: EBITDA of noncontrolling interests (a) 21.7 21.2 63.5 58.3 Impairment of Magnetation investment -- -- -- 256.3 -------- -------- -------- -------- Adjusted EBITDA $ 156.6 $ 120.0 $ 337.0 $ 225.1 ======== ======== ======== ======== Adjusted EBITDA margin 10.8% 7.0% 7.5% 4.4% ======== ======== ======== ========
(a) The reconciliation of EBITDA of noncontrolling interests to net income attributable to noncontrolling interests is as follows:
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, ------------------ ------------------ (dollars in millions) 2016 2015 2016 2015 -------------------------------- -------- -------- -------- -------- Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests $ 18.0 $ 17.6 $ 52.6 $ 47.6 Depreciation 3.7 3.6 10.9 10.7 -------- -------- -------- -------- EBITDA of noncontrolling interests $ 21.7 $ 21.2 $ 63.5 $ 58.3 ======== ======== ======== ======== AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION STEEL SHIPMENTS (Unaudited) (Tons in thousands) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, -------------------- -------------------- 2016 2015 2016 2015 --------- --------- --------- --------- Tons Shipped by Product Stainless/electrical 212.2 216.1 663.1 667.0 Coated 758.1 883.4 2,414.6 2,493.2 Cold-rolled 219.3 344.6 777.9 998.2 Tubular 28.0 28.8 88.7 87.9 --------- --------- --------- --------- Subtotal value-added shipments 1,217.6 1,472.9 3,944.3 4,246.3 Hot-rolled 168.7 354.0 573.0 1,046.1 Secondary 39.6 44.3 122.3 141.0 --------- --------- --------- --------- Subtotal non value-added shipments 208.3 398.3 695.3 1,187.1 --------- --------- --------- --------- Total shipments 1,425.9 1,871.2 4,639.6 5,433.4 ========= ========= ========= ========= Shipments by Product (%) Stainless/electrical 14.9% 11.5% 14.3% 12.3% Coated 53.2% 47.2% 52.0% 45.9% Cold-rolled 15.4% 18.4% 16.8% 18.4% Tubular 1.9% 1.6% 1.9% 1.6% --------- --------- --------- --------- Subtotal value-added shipments 85.4% 78.7% 85.0% 78.2% Hot-rolled 11.8% 18.9% 12.4% 19.2% Secondary 2.8% 2.4% 2.6% 2.6% --------- --------- --------- --------- Subtotal non value-added shipments 14.6% 21.3% 15.0% 21.8% --------- --------- --------- --------- Total shipments 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% ========= ========= ========= =========
Contacts:
Media
Lisa H. Jester
Corporate Manager, Communications and Public Relations
(513) 425-2510
Investors
Douglas O. Mitterholzer
General Manager, Investor Relations
(513) 425-5215
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- OK2 Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: OK) (the "Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into an option agreement with Granby Gold Inc., a private BC Corporation, to acquire a 100% interest in two claim blocks; VMS block (1242 ha) and Golden Mickey block (776 ha). Located at the southern end of BC's Golden Triangle, the VMS block adjoins the OK2 Kinskuch property to the south and the Golden Mickey block lies between the Kinskuch and the Dolly Varden silver deposit (see claim map below).
The targets for these claims are copper-gold porphyry as well as volcanogenic massive sulphides and epithermal gold.
Project Highlights:
-- Adjacent to the OK2 Kinskuch property (see OK2 news release dated Aug 16, 2016 for details); -- The combination of the VMS, Golden Mickey, and Kinskuch claims brings the OK2 land package in this area to over 50km2 -- Strategic land package completely surrounded by Hecla Mining Company; -- The VMS claim block has two known areas of gossan with precious and base metal mineralization as well as two areas of mineralized float boulders for which a source has yet to be discovered; -- The Golden Mickey has high grade surface samples with very limited follow up.
The Kinskuch Project is located in the Stikinia Terrane, which hosts a number of large epithermal gold, porphyry copper/gold and volcanogenic massive sulphides deposits in British Columbia. The target areas lie within prospective stratigraphy, including the well documented Stuhini-Hazelton contact, an Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic contact. The geological setting and style of mineralization of the Kinskuch Lake area is similar to the Seabridge KSM porphyry copper-gold deposits as well as the Pretium Brucejack volcanogenic massive sulphides /epithermal deposits in the Sulphurets District.
The VMS claim block has two known gossan zones and two areas of float mineralization. The Main Gossan is a 100 metre thick, one kilometer long altered zone on a sheared contact between andesite and argillite. One historic sample assayed 10.4 g/t silver. The Western Gossan covers an intensely silicified, pyritic shear zone in dacitic rocks 800 metres southwest of the Main Gossan. A historic chip sample collected over 3.0 metres assayed 13.2 g/t silver, 4.51% zinc, 1.39% lead and 0.0665% cadmium.
The Boulder Zone on the VMS property covers an area 70m long and 5 m wide that contains numerous angular boulders of mineralized volcanic tuff. The rocks contain disseminated, semi-massive to massive, banded galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and malachite. The highest grade historic grab sample contained 5.0 g/t gold, 99.7 g/t silver and over 9.99 per cent copper. The Float Zone has historically been described as being below the tip of a glacier and consists of a linear string of massive sulphide boulders in glacial moraine at the toe of a glacier. The glaciers in this area have been rapidly receding so future exploration may have more success in discovering the source of these mineralized boulders.
The Golden Mickey claim block consists of several breccia/shear zones contained in an east dipping sequence of interbedded shale, argillite, siltstone, sandstone, conglomerate, limestone, volcanic breccia and massive to pillowed, aphanitic to porphyritic flows of the Stuhini Group. A shear zone, 2 to 8 metres wide, has been traced by a series of trenches and pits for 200 metres. The zone is mineralized with disseminations, blebs and veinlets of pyrite, chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite with sporadic malachite and azurite in a gangue of grey quartz and calcite. A historic 1.8 metre chip sample assayed trace gold, 137 g/t silver and 2.2% copper.
In addition, a quartz-calcite breccia zone has been traced for 16.8 metres in a trench and a 4.0 metre long adit that was complete in the 1920's. The zone strikes northwest, dips gently northeast and is 1.0 metre wide. A sequence of feldspar porphyritic volcanic, argillite and sandstone form the footwall. Mineralization consists of disseminations and veinlets of pyrite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite and arsenopyrite in a gangue of quartz, calcite and brecciated wallrock. A 1.0 metre long, 0.15 metre thick lens of massive tetrahedrite and arsenopyrite occurs on the hanging wall on the adit. A 40.6 centimetre chip sample from the east wall of the adit assayed 6479 g/t silver and 16.7 % copper. In 2007, previous explorers collected 19 rock grab samples of vein-related mineralization. The best gold assay was 0.919 g/t as well as additional samples that assayed 1.58% copper and 176 g/t silver, in addition to a sample with 1.91% copper, 112 g/t silver and 0.18% zinc.
The samples reported in this news release were collected by other companies and are reported in BC Government Assessment Reports, OK2 Minerals has done no independent sampling to verify these results so these results should not be counted on.
Mike Devji, CEO of OK2 Minerals, states, "We are excited to be adding to our Kinskuch land package. These on-strike and on-trend tenures greatly enhance the geologic model for both gold and copper as well as significant epithermal and VMS style mineralization."
To earn a 100% interest, OK2 Minerals is required to make cash payments of $1.625 million plus complete $1.6 million dollars of exploration staged over a five year period. The VMS-Golden Mickey property is subject to a 2% NSR of which 1% can be repurchased for $1.0 million and advanced royalty payments commencing after the company has earned its 100% interest.
For more information on the Kinskuch property, please visit http://www.ok2minerals.com/properties/kinskuch/overview.shtml
About OK2 Minerals Ltd.
OK2 Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: OK) is a Canadian-based junior exploration company (formerly known as Gold Jubilee Capital Corp.) with two very prospective copper-gold exploration projects, the Pyramid project and the Kinskuch project, both located in northwestern British Columbia on or within the "Golden Triangle".
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF OK2 MINERALS LTD.
Minaz Devji, CEO and Director
This news release was prepared by Company management, who take full responsibility for its content. George Cavey, P.Geo, Director, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure in this release.
This news release contains forward-looking statements including in connection with the timing of future work programs. These statements reflect management's current assumptions and expectations. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements and OK2 Minerals Ltd. undertakes no obligation to update such statements, except as required by law. This agreement is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1073731-F1.pdf
Contacts:
OK2 Minerals Ltd.
Mike Devji
(604) 258-8666
mike.devji@ok2minerals.com
www.ok2minerals.com
Investor Relations
Kin Communications
1-866-684-6730 (toll-free)
ok@kincommunications.com
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Benton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: BEX) ("Benton" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has executed an option to joint venture agreement (the "Option") with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. ("RTEC") (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto) on the Company's 100%-owned Bark Lake copper, nickel and platinum group elements ("Cu-Ni-PGE") project. The Bark Lake project is located approximately 140km west of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Under the terms of the Option, RTEC can earn a 70% interest by incurring $3 million in exploration expenditures and by paying Benton $50,000 cash over 5 years (the "First Option"). After the First Option period, RTEC may either form a joint venture with Benton on a 70/30 basis or, at its election, increase its interest to 80% (the "Second Option") by spending an additional $5 million in exploration expenditures over 4 years and by paying Benton $100,000 cash within 30 days after electing to exercise the Second Option. Upon exercising the Second Option, RTEC may elect to form a joint venture with Benton on an 80/20 basis.
The Company is extremely pleased to have executed this agreement with RTEC.
About Benton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: BEX)
Benton Resources Inc is a well-funded Canadian-based junior with a diversified property portfolio in Gold-Silver, Nickel, Copper, and Platinum group elements.
Clinton Barr (P.Geo.), V.P. Exploration for Benton Resources Inc., is the qualified person responsible for this release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Inc.,
Stephen Stares, President
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements."
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.
Contacts:
Stephen Stares
(807)475-7474
(807)475-7200 (FAX)
www.bentonresources.ca
Investor Relations:
Renmark Financial Communications Inc.
Bettina Filippone
bfilippone@renmarkfinancial.com
(416) 644-2020 or (514) 939-3989
www.renmarkfinancial.com
NEW YORK, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Persistence Market Research analyzes the performance of the globalmedical tapes marketover an eight-year period and provides insights on the key factors and trends likely to influence the market during the forecast period (2016 - 2024). The global medical tapes market is expected to register a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period 2016-2024. In this report, the global medical tapes market is tracked in terms of value and is calibrated to obtain market revenue estimates.
Rising incidences of Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs), product line extensions from manufacturers, increasing innovation, concern about patient safety among clinicians, and development of single patient use tapes are major factors driving the growth of the global medical tapes market currently. Other trends boosting market growth are increasing awareness regarding the use of medical tapes for securement among physicians and patients and rising incidence of wounds, burns, and injuries. In addition, medical tapes manufacturers in the global medical tapes market are focusing on introducing differential products with enhanced safety and applications to increase their market share.
However, adoption of alternative treatment methods, increasing incidence of Medical Adhesive Related Skin Injuries (MARSI), and a lack of guidelines regarding proper selection and usage of medical tapes are expected to hamper the growth of the global medical tapes market.
View and Download Report Table of Contents (TOC), Figures, and Tables:http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/medical-tapes-market/toc
The global medical tapes market is segmented based on product type, application, distribution channel, and region. On the basis of product type, the market has been segmented into adhesive tapes, elastic tapes, silicone tapes, paper tapes, and silk cloth tapes. The silk cloth medical tapes segment is expected to remain the largest segment, registering a CAGR of 5.0% in terms of value over the forecast period. The wider application of silk cloth medical tapes in various healthcare conditions and easier availability is expected to contribute to their growing popularity. The silicone tapes segment is expected to emerge as the most preferred product type for both patients and physicians globally over the forecast period, and is expected to register a CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period 2016-2024.
On the basis of application, the global medical tapes market has been segmented into wounds & injuries and surgeries & securement. The wounds & injuries segment dominated the global medical tapes market in revenue terms in 2015 and is projected to continue to do so throughout the forecast period. The hospitals segment is estimated to account for 44.6% revenue share of the global medical tapes market by 2016 end owing to increased number of hospitalizations.
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On the basis of region, the market has been segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. This report assesses trends driving each market segment and offers analysis and insights about the potential of medical tapes in specific regions. Asia Pacific is estimated to dominate the global medical tapes market with maximum value share of the overall market by the end of 2016. By 2024, the North America and Asia Pacific markets are expected to account for over 60% revenue share of the global medical tapes market. In terms of value, Asia Pacific is estimated to be the dominant market, registering a CAGR of 7.0% over the forecast period.
Competitive landscape:
Some of the key companies covered in the global medical tapes report include 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Paul Hartmann AG, Scapa Group PLC, Andover Healthcare Inc., Ad Tape & Label, and Medtronic Plc. These companies are primarily focused on enhancing their market share by entering new markets and by introducing innovative and cost-effective medical tapes in order to gain a higher market share and to strengthen their respective position in the global medical tapes market.
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MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (http://pyrogenesis.com) (TSX VENTURE: PYR)(OTCQB: PYRNF), a clean-tech company (the "Company" or "PyroGenesis") that designs, develops, manufactures and commercializes plasma waste-to-energy systems and plasma torch products, provides herein a general update on its previously announced additive manufacturing strategy.
Mr. P. Peter Pascali, President and CEO of PyroGenesis, provides this update in the following Q&A format. The questions for the most part are derived from inquiries received from investors, analysts, and potential customers/partners:
Q. Is it correct to say that PyroGenesis can produce powders which can be used in the Additive Manufacturing industry, specifically in 3D printing? If so, can you please elaborate on why your powder is so unique?
A. Most certainly. PyroGenesis has developed, and patented, a plasma-based process, which we call the Plasma Atomization Process (hereinafter referred to as: "PAP"), that can transform wires into powder, specifically titanium wire into titanium powder. The powder produced by this unique method is not only very small, but very spherical and uniform. These three properties - small, spherical and uniform - enable the powder to flow like water and to compact tightly. PyroGenesis' powders are known to be some of the smallest, most spherical and most uniform powders in the world and are highly sought after in the Additive Manufacturing Industry, specifically in 3D printing.
Q. Is this a new business line for PyroGenesis?
A. One might say yes; however it is important to understand that we have done this before. PyroGenesis originally developed this process in the 1990's and, during 2001-2004, was selling titanium powders to the biomedical industry who liked their "flowability". These powders were used in injection molding to make biomedical implants, such as knee replacements. Despite the success, PyroGenesis got out of this business when it became apparent that the biomedical industry was only interested in a particular particle size and were not interested in purchasing all of PyroGenesis' production. Now the reason we decided to get back into the business was due to the increased demand we saw, and are now receiving, within the Additive Manufacturing industry for this exact type of powder.
All this to say, this is not an entirely new business line for PyroGenesis as we have done this before in a commercial environment: we have marketed the product; produced the product; sieved the product, and transported the product.
Q. Since 2001-2004, when you said you were selling these powders to the biomedical industry, have you made any improvements?
A. Most certainly. Last year alone, we invested approximately CAD 2MM into improvements in both production rate and particle size distribution. In other words, by increasing the amount of powder we can produce per hour, and the amount of powder that is within the "sweet spot" used in Additive Manufacturing. These improvements were in fact the very reason we decided to strategically move away from selling powder production systems and decide to enter into the powder producing market ourselves.
Q. Yes, that's true. Almost a year ago to the day, the Company announced that it was moving into producing specialty powder for the Additive Manufacturing industry. Where does this stand?
A. We are proud to say that we are on track to be producing powders in Q1-2017, as previously announced. We have most of the necessary equipment to assemble a PAP system, the balance of which is scheduled to be ordered shortly, all arriving in time to meet the expected Q1 production schedule.
The PAP system will produce highly spherical powder with a narrow particle size distribution (1um to 106um); all while retaining the purity requirements of the Additive Manufacturing industry.
Note, we will initially focus production on Titanium and its alloys, due to increased current customer demand, and more importantly, it being our expertise however we do have plans to adapt the PAP system to meet the demands of the Additive Manufacturing industry, specifially, as it moves towards other metals and composites so highly sought after in the Aerospace, Medical, Automotive, and Military industries. The depth of our plasma expertise here at PyroGenesis gives us a significant advantage in doing so.
Q. You also had a CAD 12.5MM contract to deliver ten (10) systems to an Asian client if I am not mistaken? I understand one (1) was delivered, and the balance was not. Can you elaborate?
A. Our intention was to fulfil the contract and deliver the balance of nine (9) systems however between finishing the first system and commencing fabrication of the other nine (9) systems, three (3) things happened. First, we spent approximately CAD 2MM to improve the first system's production rate and powder size. Second, and given these improvements, we previously announced on October 26, 2015, our strategic decision to move away from producing systems in favour of producing powders. Our internal calculations indicated that what we could expect to make from the powders produced from one (1) system, year in/year out, outweighed that which we expected from the one-time profit made from selling ten (10) systems. Third, a situation arose that enabled us to withdraw the offer to produce the balance of nine (9) systems, which was most opportune since, as much as we would have liked to deliver the nine (9) systems, we were not set up to do both that and enter into powder production.
Q. This must have caused quite a bit of hardship?
A. It certainly did. What company with CAD 6MM in revenues and traditional margins of 40-50% would not suffer from getting out of a CAD 12.5MM contract? The decision was even more difficult given that several months earlier, we had stated that with the downpayment for the next nine (9) systems, the Company was projected to be cash flow positive.
Q. How did you make the decision?
A. It was not easy. There were many external factors that impacted the process; cash requirements, market sentiment, analyst projections, amongst others. Actually, an employee asked me that same question and I responded that, in order to understand what the best decision for the Company is, one must imagine that these external factors do not exist. In other words, what would you decide if you had all the cash you need, investor sentiments were nonexistent, and analysts would understand? Once you figure out what the best decision is, then you can decide whether these external factors are manageable, and that's exactly what we did. We decided that the gain derived from being in powder production sooner, far outweighed the short term pressures from not having the cash or credibility from producing the nine (9) systems.
Q. ...And?
A. And I think we were right. Our six (6) month performance was dismal to say the least; however we now have over CAD 11MM in signed contracts since June 30th, 2016; all of which are paying and cash flow positive, i.e. do not require financing. We believe those who understood the market, appreciated our decision.
Separately, the Additive Manufacturing industry is heating up and the recent announcement that General Electric ("GE") purchased two (2) of the world's top makers of powder machines for metal-based 3D printing - Sweden's "Arcam" and Germany's "SLM Solutions" - for a total CAD 1.4B, underscores that position. I think our investors are beginning to appreciate our decision to provide powders to the Additive Manufacturing industry when we did, as opposed to sitting on the sidelines during this exciting time.
Q. GE's acquisition of Arcam and SLM Solutions for CAD 1.4B is quite interesting on a number of fronts. Can we say there is a powder production element in this acquisition? Could you maybe elaborate on PyroGenesis' capabilities as it relates to this acquisition?
A. Yes of course. In 2014, Arcam acquired Montreal-based company AP&C, a division of Raymor Industries ("AP&C"), for CAD 35MM.(1) AP&C was producing powders using PyroGenesis' proprietary technology under an agreement which precluded PyroGenesis from competing with AP&C until 2012. Since then, PyroGenesis has vastly improved the technology, and such improvements remain the sole property of PyroGenesis.
Q. What does the GE's acquisition of Arcam, and by extension AP&C, mean to PyroGenesis? How do you expect it will impact the Company's strategy moving forward?
A. The acquisition of Arcam by GE underscores the importance and value that the powders produced using our PAP has within the Additive Manufacturing industry, and further validates our strategic decision to get back into powder production, which, in retrospect, was quite timely.
Also, since AP&C is the only company that had rights to PyroGenesis' old technology, this acquisition by GE has actually provided for an increased interest by others in the industry about our capabilities.
Q. On April 7th, 2016, PyroGenesis announced its intention to spin-off its Additive Manufacturing capabilities into an independent entity. Can you provide an update on the status of this?
A. As previously announced, it is indeed our intention to spin-off our Additive Manufacturing capabilities into an independent entity. At the time we press released our decision, the Company had a clear view of what we wanted to do and how we were going to go about doing it; however since such press release, we have received a number of unsolicited offers which has allowed us to revisit our strategy and look at things differently.
While doing so, GE announced the aforementioned CAD 1.4B acquisition, and as we noted, changed the landscape and has allowed for an increased interest in our intentions. All this to say that, our preferred strategy remains to spin-off our Additive Manufacturing capabilities into an independent entity; however these recent events, amongst others, have simply required us to reconsider the timing and method of doing so.
Q. On June 8th, 2015, the Company announced the filing of a provisional patent for an improved powder production process with higher production rates, and better distribution. Can you give us an indication of where this stands?
A. Certainly. As previously announced, PyroGenesis filed a provisional patent for its PAP. This new process enables PyroGenesis to produce metallic powders at higher production rates while, at the same time, allowing for better control of powder size distribution. The need to produce powders of a specific particle size distribution at increasingly higher production rates is driven by the growing demand created by the Additive Manufacturing industry, particularly 3D printing.
Since then, in June of 2016, we have progressed to filing a worldwide patent for the PAP, and have recently filed an application for Taiwan; a country which is not part of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Q. Conclusion?
A. Additive Manufacturing is growing at an incredible pace. The growth will only accelerate as industry-wide standards are ratified. With this growth, many conglomerates, medium-sized companies, and start ups will expand their R&D and production methods to incorporate the advantages of Additive Manufacturing. All this bodes well for those that can produce powders, and can keep pace, as the requirements of Additive Manufacturing for new and improved powders grow.
As our patented process has proven its ability to provide unique powders to this growing industry, come Q1-2017, PyroGenesis will be in a position to produce powders on its own, as opposed to simply selling systems that do just that.
About PyroGenesis Canada Inc.
PyroGenesis Canada Inc. is the world leader in the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced plasma processes. We provide engineering and manufacturing expertise, cutting-edge contract research, as well as turnkey process equipment packages to the defense, metallurgical, mining, advanced materials (including 3D printing), oil & gas, and environmental industries. With a team of experienced engineers, scientists and technicians working out of our Montreal office and our 3,800 m2 manufacturing facility, PyroGenesis maintains its competitive advantage by remaining at the forefront of technology development and commercialization. Our core competencies allow PyroGenesis to lead the way in providing innovative plasma torches, plasma waste processes, high-temperature metallurgical processes, and engineering services to the global marketplace. Our operations are ISO 9001:2008 certified, and have been since 1997. PyroGenesis is a publicly-traded Canadian company on the TSX Venture Exchange (Ticker Symbol: PYR) and on the OTCQB Marketplace (Ticker Symbol: PYRNF). For more information, please visit www.pyrogenesis.com.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "may", "plan", "will", "estimate", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "in the process" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the acceptance of our products by the market, our strategy to develop new products and enhance the capabilities of existing products, our strategy with respect to research and development, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, and uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com, or at www.otcmarkets.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the OTC Markets Group Inc. accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
SOURCE PyroGenesis Canada Inc.
(1) http://advancedpowders.com/news/arcam-to-make-strategic-acquisition-of-metal-powder-manufacturer-to-secure-supply-of-strategic-raw-materials/
Contacts:
P. Peter Pascali
Chief Executive Officer
(514) 937-0002
ir@pyrogenesis.com
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Throughout its history, the Quin hotel has hosted world-renowned artists and musicians, due to its location at 57th Street and Sixth Avenue, diagonally across the street from Carnegie Hall. Now, Quin Arts curator DK Johnston has combined these two artistic forms with a spirited mash-up in a group show featuring 14 exquisitely crafted D'Angelico Guitars -- each reimagined by a different artist. Each of the artists has been an artist-in-residence at the Quin in the past, or is represented in the hotel's permanent collection. From acclaimed street-artists such as ABOVE, Mando Marie and Nick Walker to photo-realist painters such as Eric Zener, artists were challenged to use a D'Angelico guitar as their "canvas," and the stunning results go on view at the Quin starting on November 10th.
D'Angelico Guitars are works of art in their own right, historically having been individually handcrafted in a tradition that began in the early 1900's in New York City. John D'Angelico was born in Little Italy and became an apprentice at age 9 to an expert violin and Mandolin maker, learning the principles that would inform his later career. He went on to open his own shop on Kenmare Street in 1932, and D'Angelico Guitars would come to be known as the finest archtop guitars of the 20th century. D'Angelico's work was celebrated in a 2011 Exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, titled "Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York"
The Group Show at the Quin features the work of 14 acclaimed artists, including: ABOVE (Tavar Zawacki); Alex Yanes; ASVP; Blek le Rat; Eric Zener; Joanne CORNO; Mando Marie; Mindy Linkous; Nick Walker; Pure Evil; Robert Malmberg; SP38; The London Police; and Wulf Treu.
Brenden Cohen, CEO of D'Angelico Guitars, commented, "We're beyond excited to be working with DK Johnston and the Quin. We hugely value partnering with artists whose vision highlights the aesthetic of our guitars -- which are really art-pieces in and of themselves. We can't wait to see what they come up with."
Nick Walker, an acclaimed street artist from the UK who has twice served as artist-in-residence at the Quin, is among the artists participating in the group show. His reimagining of a D'Angelico Guitar blended the conception of musical notes as numbers. Walker commented, "The curves of the numbers really leant themselves to the shape of the guitar and almost resembled notes -- only in number form." After all, he added, "Everything is based on numbers."
Photo-realist painter Eric Zener, who also served as artist-in-residence at the Quin, is represented in the group show with a guitar drawing inspiration from his series of paintings illustrating people or objects submerged in water. Zener referred to the work in the D'Angelico group show as, "The 'sound' of art."
Vincent Vienne, Managing Director of the Quin, commented, "Some of the world's most accomplished musicians and artists continue to make the Quin their home while on tour in New York, so this exhibition, uniting two art forms, is a great inspiration for our guests."
The Quin is managed by Highgate, a premier real estate investment and hospitality management company whose growing portfolio includes more than 100 properties in gateway cities worldwide. For more information on Quin Arts, visit www.thequinhotel.com.
About The Quin
The Quin, New York City's quintessential luxury lifestyle hotel, is located on the corner of 57th Street and 6th Avenue. At the intersection of art, music, and fashion, its privileged Midtown location provides effortless access to Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Museum of Modern Art and Fifth Avenue couture. The Quin melds modern opulence with its rich artistic heritage in each of its 208 thoughtfully appointed guestrooms, including 28 suites. Guests enjoy urbane and intelligent services from the QA, who curate each guest's New York experience, to distinguished amenities such as a state-of-the-art Technogym fitness center, Apple equipped drawing room, Dux beds by Duxiana, and Fresh Spa Products. Guests can also indulge at The Wayfarer, a classic American grille, located adjacent to the hotel. The two-story, 130-seat restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, weekend brunch, and a full, 24-hour, in-room dining menu from Executive Chef Chris Shea for hotel guests, featuring classic American dishes, redefined. Renowned architecture and interior design firm, Perkins Eastman, has transposed a contemporary masterpiece on the classical foundation that was once home to cultural icons like pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski and artist Georgia O'Keeffe. Follow the Quin @thequinhotel. Reservations are available at 1-855-447-QUIN (7846) or http://www.theQuinhotel.com/.
About Quin Arts
Quin Arts brings a global community of artists, patrons, and guests together through an ongoing series of culturally significant events, exhibitions, and performances. This multi-media initiative extends to a substantial permanent collection, along with an artist-in-residence program, digital displays on the lobby's 15-foot abstract video art wall, and intimate salons with participating artists. Curated and co-founded by DK Johnston, previous exhibits include Creative Chaos, a vibrant collection of new large-scale paintings by Corno, an exclusive preview of Eric Zener's land series, which was exhibited at Gallery Henoch, and Heritage -- a collection of iconic photography from Burt Glinn, Erich Hartmann, Dennis Stock, and Elliott Erwitt, presented in partnership with Magnum Photos. Blek le Rat, the "Father of stencil graffiti," created a series of unique lithographs, collectively entitled Escaping Paris, at the New York Academy of Art for the Quin during his tenure as artist in residence. The artist commemorated his residency on the Quin's facade with an image of Andy Warhol.
About Highgate:
Highgate is a premier real estate investment and hospitality management company widely recognized as an innovator in the industry. Highgate is the dominant player in U.S. gateway markets including New York, Boston, Miami, San Francisco and Honolulu. Highgate also has an expanding presence in key European markets through properties in London, Paris, Barcelona, Vienna and Prague. Highgate's portfolio of global properties represents an aggregate asset value exceeding $10B and generates over $2B in cumulative revenues. The company provides expert guidance through all stages of the hospitality property cycle, from planning and development through recapitalization or disposition. Highgate has created a portfolio of bespoke hotel brands and utilizes industry leading proprietary revenue management tools that identify and predict evolving market dynamics to drive outperformance and maximize asset value. With an executive team consisting of some of the industry's most experienced hotel management leaders, the company is a trusted partner for top ownership groups and major hotel brands. Highgate maintains corporate offices in New York, London, Dallas, Chicago and Seattle. For more information, visit highgate.com.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Burns Patterson
Hudson PR
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Email Contact
BOISE, IDAHO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- U.S. Geothermal Inc. (NYSE MKT: HTM), a leading and profitable renewable energy company focused on the development, production, and sale of electricity from geothermal energy, today announced that Dennis Gilles, Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to present at the Sidoti & Company Fall 2016 Emerging Growth Conference in New York, New York on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 9:50 a.m. ET.
The Sidoti & Company Fall 2016 Emerging Growth Conference is scheduled to take place on November 1, 2016 at The New York Marriot Marquis hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The Conference features over 75 presenting companies and over 500 attendees that include institutional investors, high net-worth investors, family offices and investment banking professionals.
About the Sidoti & Company Emerging Growth Conference: The Sidoti & Company Fall 2016 Emerging Growth Convention will focus on companies with market capitalizations of $600 million and less, connecting their executive management teams with institutional and high-net-worth investors while building interest and visibility into the most overlooked, undervalued segment of the equity market.
About U.S. Geothermal Inc.:
U.S. Geothermal Inc. is a leading and profitable renewable energy company focused on the development, production and sale of electricity from geothermal energy. The company is currently operating geothermal power projects at Neal Hot Springs, Oregon, San Emidio, Nevada and Raft River, Idaho for a total power generation of approximately 45 MWs. The company is also developing an additional 90 MW's of projects at: the Geysers, California; a second phase project at San Emidio, Nevada; at Crescent Valley, Nevada; and the El Ceibillo project located near Guatemala City, Guatemala. US Geothermal's growth strategy is to reach 200 MWs of generation by 2020 through a combination of internal development and strategic acquisitions.
Please visit our website at: http://www.usgeothermal.com
The information provided in this news release may contain forward-looking statements within the definition of the Safe Harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned to review the risk factors identified by the company in its filings with US and Canadian securities agencies. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating to the future operating or financial performance of U.S. Geothermal, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding perceived merit of properties; interpretation of the results of well tests; project development; resource megawatt capacity; capital expenditures; timelines; strategic plans; or other statements that are not statements of fact. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from U.S. Geothermal's expectations include the uncertainties involving the availability of financing in the debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of results of well tests; the need for cooperation of government agencies in the development and operation of properties; the need to obtain permits and governmental approvals; risks of construction; unexpected cost increases, which could include significant increases in estimated capital and operating costs; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in U.S. Geothermal's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities and in other U.S. Geothermal reports and documents filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. Forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations, beliefs and opinions on the date the statements are made. U.S. Geothermal Inc. assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if management's expectations, beliefs, or opinions, or other factors, should change.
The NYSE MKT does not accept responsibility for the adequacy of this release.
Contacts:
U.S. Geothermal Inc.
Scott Anderson
Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
208-424-1027
208-424-1030 (FAX)
sanderson@usgeothermal.com
www.usgeothermal.com
VAL D'OR, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Hinterland Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: HMI) ("Hinterland") is pleased to announce that it has identified a high priority drill target for gold mineralization on its 100% held, 34-claim (1,475-hectare) Guyberry property located approximately 95 kilometres northwest of Val d'Or in the Abitibi region of Quebec. In September 2016 Hinterland completed a 26.4 kilometre induced polarization and resistivity survey (the "IP/RES survey") in the northwest corner of the property. This work was funded by La Societe d'investissement dans la diversification de l'exploration ("SIDEX") through a private placement under the "Field Action 2016" program. The mission of SIDEX is to invest in companies engaged in mineral exploration in Quebec.
The Guyberry property covers a volcanic-intrusive contact marked by the southeast-trending, regional scale Chicobi Deformation Zone (the "CDZ"). Previous geophysical surveys completed by Hinterland had identified a narrow resistivity high extending over 1.6 kilometres along this contact coincident to the boundary between two magnetic domains. These surveys also revealed numerous disruptions of the magnetic and electromagnetic patterns, inferred to be high-angle, northeast-trending faults. The IP/RES survey was designed to obtain a detailed image of the 2.0 kilometre section of the CDZ in the area of the high resistivity feature referred to above.
The IP/RES survey clearly defines a narrow, linear resistivity high over 1.3 kilometres, from line 4200mE to 5500mE interpreted to be the trace of the CDZ (see www.hinterlandmetals.com/i/maps/guyberry/RES.pdf). Of particular interest is a 400 metre segment of the resistivity high, from line 4200mE to 4600mE, which is bounded by two crosscutting, northeast-trending faults. This segment is inferred to be a dilation zone within the CDZ. It is well documented that dilation zones along major fault structures allow for circulation of mineral-rich fluids, and are favourable for the precipitation of gold-bearing quartz-carbonate veins, breccias and stockworks. As such, the inferred dilation zone indicated by the IP/RES survey offers an excellent drill target to test for gold mineralization.
Hinterland intends to drill test Guyberry early in 2017, and is currently seeking equity or joint venture financing to fund the drilling. Mark Fekete, President and CEO explains "Our previous work traced the Chicobi Deformation Zone pretty well, but we had no idea where the best place to drill might be along the structure. The dilation zone inferred by the recent resistivity survey provides us with a high-confidence gold target."
Mark Fekete, P.Geo is the designated "qualified person" as defined in Section 1.2 in and for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 that reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from targeted results. Such risks and uncertainties include those described in the Company's periodic reports including the annual report or in the filings made by the Company from time to time with securities regulators. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they are made or to reflect the occurrence of an unanticipated event.
Contacts:
Mark Fekete
President
1-819-354-5244
Zak Dingsdale
Director
1-905-269-0797
info@hinterlandmetals.com
www.hinterlandmetals.com
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- GrowMax Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE: GRO) ("GrowMax" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") has accepted the notice filed by the Company of its intention to make a normal course issuer bid through the facilities of the TSXV.
Pursuant to the notice accepted by the TSXV, the Company may, during the period commencing October 24, 2016 and ending October 23, 2017, purchase for cancellation, through the facilities of the TSXV and at the market price of the Company's common shares ("Common Shares") at the time of purchase, up to 10,976,282 Common Shares, representing approximately 5% of the Company's issued and outstanding Common Shares. The member who will conduct the normal course issuer bid on behalf of the Company is Mackie Research Capital Corporation. The actual number of Common Shares that may be purchased and the timing of any such purchases will be determined by the Company, and will be made in accordance with the requirements of the TSXV.
Management of the Company believes that the present trading price of the Common Shares of the Company is at a significant discount to a figure which is reflective of the Company's value as a whole. This being the case, management is of the view that it is in the best interests of all shareholders of the Company that, from time to time, Common Shares be acquired by the Company and returned to treasury, thus increasing the Company's net asset value per Common Share for remaining shareholders.
About GrowMax Resources Corp.
GrowMax Resources Corp. is a publicly listed Canadian company (Ticker GRO on TSX-V) focused on exploration and development of phosphate and potassium-rich brine resources on its Bayovar concessions, which are located in the Sechura Desert in northwestern Peru. The company's vision is to become a leading producer of phosphate and potash fertilizer products in Peru.
GrowMax Resources Corp. owns approximately 92% of GrowMax Agri Corp., a private company that owns 100% of the Bayovar concessions, which currently cover approximately 227,000 gross acres. The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Limited (IFFCO) and its affiliates own approximately 8% of GrowMax Agri Corp.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable Canadian and US securities laws. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or are not statements of historical fact should be viewed as "forward-looking statements." These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based upon forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. In particular, there is no assurance that the Company will purchase for cancellation any of the Common Shares pursuant to the normal course issuer bid. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements and if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable law.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
GrowMax Resources Corp.
Abby Badwi, P. Geo.
Executive Chairman
+1 587 390 7015
inquiries@growmaxcorp.com
www.growmaxcorp.com
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- MCW Energy Group Limited ("MCW") (TSX VENTURE: MCW), (OTCQX: MCWEF), a Canadian holding company involved in the development of environmentally-friendly oil sands technologies, the production of oil from Utah's vast oil sands deposits, and remediation projects involving extraction of contaminating hydrocarbons, today announced key elements of a working program for Q4-2016 to Q1-2017 between its two lease properties at Asphalt Ridge, Utah.
Encouraged by the upward trend of world oil prices now hovering at the $ 50.00 bbl. price benchmark, MCW has developed a plan focusing on the reduction of production costs and at the same time completing its previously announced increase of production levels from 250 bbl/day to 500 bbl/day capacity. During 2015, MCW produced 10,000 bbl. and sold close to 6,000 bbl. to the Utah market. The average cost per barrel at the MCW plant site in Maeser, Utah is $ 31.00 - $ 33.00 USD (Validated by Nexant, Inc., 2016). MCW's production plan include:
1. MCW will move its extraction plant to the Temple Mountain site. Since the Temple Mountain site is privately owned, having the plant there will cause a reduction in the environmental and regulatory costs. Currently at a 250 bbl/day production level, the relocation of this plant will also save $ 7.60 per barrel on freight/transportation costs. (Validated by Nexant, Inc., 2016). Built in a modular format, the plant can be easily disassembled, then re-assembled within 90 days. 2. After re-assembling at the Temple Mountain site and the augmentation to 500 bbl/day unit, the MCW commercial plant is expected to commence production during the Spring of 2017. Between MCW's two leases there is a mineable total resource of approximately 87 million bbl of oil. (Validated by Chapman Petroleum Engineering, "Evaluation of Prospective Resources, 2015 N/W Asphalt Ridge Area, Utah, 2012)
About MCW Energy Group:
MCW Energy Group Limited is focused on value creation via the development and implementation of (i) proprietary, environmentally-friendly oil sands technologies and remedial tailing ponds projects solutions (ii) expanding production capacities of its extraction plant in Asphalt, Ridge, Utah, and (iii) the formulation of worldwide joint ventures and the licensing of oil sands opportunities with worldwide with private and government entities within countries possessing extensive oil sands/oil shale deposits. MCW's management team is comprised of individuals who have extensive knowledge in both conventional and unconventional oil and gas projects and production, both in upstream and downstream industry sectors.
Disclaimer:
The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, increasing production levels from 250 bbl./day to 500 bbl./day, MCW successfully relocating its plant to the Temple Mountain site, MCW having the necessary funds to complete the foregoing, commercial viability of the technology and the extraction plant" plant performances and future plans and objectives. Any number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although MCW believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, they can give no assurances that the expectations that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, MCW disclaims any intention and assumes no obligationto update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in factors reflecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.
Neither TSX Venture nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
MCW Energy Group Limited
Paul Davey
Communications
(800) 979-1897 (Ext. 3)
Cell: (778) 389-0915
pdavey@mcwenergygroup.com
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Aurora Spine Corporation (TSX VENTURE: ASG) announced today that it will be participating at the 2016 North American Spine Society ("NASS") Annual Meeting, October 26 - 28, 2016 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center Boston, Massachusetts at Booth 1302. The North American Spine Society is a global multidisciplinary medical society that utilizes education, research and advocacy to foster the highest quality, ethical, value and evidence based spine care.
Aurora Spine will be showcasing its Screwless Procedure and highlighting its latest fusion technologies, including the recently patented ZIP MIS Interspinous fusion systems. The Screwless Procedure product portfolio consists of the innovative ZIP ISP Product Line, TiNano Interbody cages, Biologics, and Surgical Tools. All Aurora Spine products are pre-packaged sterile to provide the best products possible for both surgeons and patients alike.
"Aurora's modern spine technology is changing spine surgery for the benefit of patients worldwide," said Trent J. Northcutt, President and CEO of Aurora Spine. "We are excited to demonstrate the Screwless Procedure featuring our TiNano MIS titanium coated interbody cages, our recently patented innovative ZIP MIS Interspinous fusion systems, and the Compass 4D retractor system, all designed to improve spine patient outcomes, drive continued surgeon interests and provide benefits that deliver value to hospitals and patients. We look forward to demonstrating our cutting-edge portfolio to spine surgeons and distributors attending the world's largest spine exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts."
About Aurora Spine
Aurora Spine is an early stage company focused on bringing new solutions to the spinal implant market through a series of screwless, innovative, minimally invasive, regenerative spinal implant technologies. Aurora Spine continues to position itself at the forefront of spinal surgery procedures, focusing on minimally invasive spine surgery technologies. Aurora Spine is changing spine surgery by focusing on disruptive technologies following the Company's commitment to - Simplifying the Complex.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond the control of Aurora Spine, including, without limitation, those listed under "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" in Aurora Spine's final prospectus (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information in this news release includes information concerning the proposed use and success of the company's products in surgical procedures. Aurora Spine cautions investors of Aurora Spine's securities about important factors that could cause Aurora Spine's actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements included in this news release. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and may be forward-looking and may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ unilaterally from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that the expectations set out herein will prove to be correct and, accordingly, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on these forward looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release and Aurora Spine does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.
Contacts:
Aurora Spine Corporation
Trent Northcutt
President and Chief Executive Officer
(760) 424-2004
Aurora Spine Corporation
Eric Fronk
Chief Financial Officer
(760) 424-2004
www.aurora-spine.com
DUBLIN, October 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Automotive Ultracapacitor Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.
The global automotive ultra-capacitor market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 19.24% during the period 2016-2020.
Commenting on the report, an analyst from the research team said: One of latest trends in the market is graphene and carbon nanotubes in ultracapacitor: A breakthrough in electric cars. Carbon nanotubes and graphene are different forms of carbon used in ultracapacitor, which can store high energy. This energy can be stored and used later for quick power outburst demand in a vehicle. To make ultracapacitor more affordable and scalable, companies are moving toward the use of this carbon structure. This will not only reduce the overall cost of the ultracapacitor but will also enhance performance.
According to the report, one of the primary drivers in the market is regulatory push toward efficient vehicles leading to new application areas within automotive industry. There are strict standards set by the governments of different countries worldwide to curb carbon emissions. The use of ultracapacitors is gaining popularity due to their environment-friendly energy storage. As the increased emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) results in global warming, governments are enforcing stricter rules to reduce the same. Although the complete elimination of emissions is not possible, a significant reduction is, however, possible. Automotive manufacturers are shifting from ICE-propelled vehicles to electric energy. Replacing electrolyte batteries in cars by ultracapacitor reduces the carbon emission to the environment significantly.
Further, the report states that one major challenge in the market is low energy density leading to shift of demand toward batteries. The main disadvantage of ultracapacitors is low energy density (i.e., the amount of energy stored per unit weight is much smaller than that of the battery). A battery has an energy density of 20-150 Wh/kg while ultracapacitors have only 5-15 Wh/kg. However, research is being carried out to overcome this shortfall by using different forms of carbons such as activated carbons, carbon nanotubes, and carbon aerogels. Ultracapacitors have higher self-discharge rate than batteries, which makes them harder to replace than batteries.
The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.
Companies Mentioned:
Maxwell Technologies
NEC Tokin
Nesscap
Nippon Chemi-Con
Skeleton Technologies
Ioxus
CAP-XX
Panasonic
Report Structure:
PART 01: Executive summary
PART 02: Scope of the report
PART 03: Market research methodology
PART 04: Introduction
PART 05: Market landscape
PART 06: Market segmentation by application
PART 07: Geographical segmentation
PART 08: Market drivers
PART 09: Market challenges
PART 10: Market trends
PART 11: Vendor landscape
PART 12: Key vendor analysis
PART 13: Appendix
PART 14: About the Author
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/qmhb6m/global_automotive
Media Contact:
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
MONTREAL, February 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
ALGOLD RESOURCES LTD. (TSXV: ALG - the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that the Mauritanian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development has provided a conclusive acceptance and opinion regarding the Environmental Feasibility of the Tijirit Gold Mine Project, a key step in Algold's strategy for 2017.
The acceptance and opinion, represents a significant first step towards the application of a mining lease for Algold's Tijirit Gold Project. Algold CEO Francois Auclair commented, "We thank the Government of Mauritania for helping us quickly advance this project, and look forward to additional collaboration in 2017."
This press release has been reviewed for accuracy and compliance under National Instrument 43-101 by Andre Ciesielski, DSc., PGeo., Algold Resources Ltd. Lead Consulting Geologist and Qualified Person, as defined by NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Andre Ciesielski has further approved the scientific and technical disclosure in the news release.
ABOUT ALGOLD
Algold Resources Ltd. is focused on the exploration and development of gold deposits in West Africa. The board of directors and management team are seasoned resource industry professionals with extensive experience in the exploration and development of world-class gold projects in Africa.
CAUTIONARY LANGUAGE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This news release contains and refers to forward-looking information based on current expectations. All other statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward looking statements (or forward-looking information). The Corporation's plans involve various estimates and assumptions and its business is subject to various risks and uncertainties. For more details on these estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties, see the Corporation's most recent Annual Information Form and most recent Management Discussion and Analysis on file with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, such statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements that are included herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release
Francois Auclair M.Sc., PGeo, President & CEO, f.auclair@algold.com, +1-(514)-889-5089; Alex Ball, MBA, Executive VP Finance & Corporate Development, a.ball@algold.com , +1-(416)-919-2227
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2017) - Power Americas Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PAM) ("Power Americas" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a Letter of Intent (the"LOI") with Red Metal Resources Ltd. ("Red Metal") to acquire on the exercise of three separate options a one hundred percent (100%) interest in the Farellon Property, a one hundred percent (100%) interest in the Perth Property and a one hundred percent (100%) interest in the Mateo Property. The three projects are located 150 km southwest of Copiapo, Chile, in the prolific Candelaria iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) belt of Chile's coastal Cordillera, host to the Mantoverde mine and Lundin Mining Corporation's Candelaria mine.
Option Terms
Pursuant to the LOI, Power Americas can acquire 100% of Red Metal's Farellon, Perth, and Mateo Properties in exchange for aggregate consideration of twenty-five million (25,000,000) common shares of Power Americas Minerals Corp. and a one-time payment of US$250,000.
The completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions including, but not limited to, TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approval.
Power Americas may exercise the first option (the "First Option") to acquire a one hundred percent (100%) interest in the Farellon Property by issuing ten million (10,000,000) common shares in the capital of Power Americas and making a one-time cash payment of US$250,000 to Red Metal within 5 business days of receiving acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") to the transaction.
Provided Power Americas exercises the First Option it may exercise an additional option (the "Second Option") and earn an undivided 100% interest in the Perth Property by issuing to Red Metal ten million (10,000,000) common shares in the capital of Power Americas or ten million (10,000,000) Special Warrants within six months from the date the First Option has been exercised. Each Special Warrant will be exercisable into one common share in the capital of Power Americas without further consideration.
Subject to Power Americas exercising the Second Option it may exercise the final option (the "Third Option") and earn an undivided 100% interest in the Mateo Property by issuing to Red Metal five million (5,000,000) common shares in the capital of Power Americas or five million (5,000,000) Special Warrants within six months from the date the Second Option has been exercised. Each Special Warrant will be exercisable into one common share in the capital of Power Americas without further consideration. There are no work commitments with any of the Property Option Agreements.
The Farellon Property is drill ready for immediate definition drilling and the potential estimation of a mineral resource. Power Americas will focus future exploration drilling on the cobalt ("Co") and silver ("Ag") potential of the property, in addition to the copper ("Cu") and gold ("Au") potential of the property. Cobalt has never been a primary focus of exploration and not all drill holes were analyzed for cobalt. Significant intercepts in drill holes that were analyzed for cobalt include: FAR-96-010 3m @ 1.3% Cu, 0.37g/t Au and 0.55% Co and FAR-11-001 3m @ 6.08% Cu, 0.58g/t Au and 0.13% Co.
Farellon Property
The Farellon Property includes a 100% interest in six claims and an option to earn a 100% interest in two additional claims. Two claims on the Farellon Property have remaining payments of US$75,000 each to the underlying vendors. The property is located 150 km southwest of Copiapo, Chile, and consists of a total of 1,234 hectares in the Carrizal Alto mining district, more precisely 3 km southwest of the historic Carrizal Alto mine. It is easily accessible year-round by dirt roads and is located in close proximity to power, water and a major urban centre, Copiapo, with a readily available mining workforce. The eight mining claims have net smelter royalties ("NSR") of 2.5% registered to a variety of holders, with an option to buy back up to 1.5% of all NSR's for an aggregate payments of US$3,850,000.
Historical records indicate that copper mining commenced at Carrizal Alto in the 1820s and continued on a significant scale, mostly by British companies until 1891 when disastrous flooding occurred and the mines were closed. Historical reports indicate that the larger mines were obtaining good grades over significant widths in the bottom workings at the time of closure. It is estimated that during this period, over 3 million tonnes of mineralized material with grades in excess of 5% copper and widths of 8 m were extracted, including a large quantity of direct shipping mineralized material at 12% copper (Source: Ulriksen, C. (1991), Carrizal Alto Mining District, Vallenar, III Region, Chile, 7 p.).
Work completed to date on the Farellon Property has been focused on a 1.6 kilometre stretch of mineralized veins hosted in a 10 to 25-metre-wide shear zone, a further 2.5 kilometres of this shear zone have been explored on surface and show similar geology and mineralization on surface as the zone that had been previously drilled. A total of 6,992 metres of drilling has been completed in three programs along a 1.3 km strike length. The property has been primarily explored for copper and gold, but there is unexplored potential for cobalt and silver on the property. The following table summarizes some of the best results obtained to date.
HOLE_ID From
(m) To
(m) Length
(m) Cu
(%) Au
(g/t) FAR-96-007 25 34 9 1.05 0.38 FAR-96-009 62 65 3 2.24 0.67 FAR-96-009 72 83 24 1.01 0.57 FAR-96-010 45 48 3 1.3 .37 FAR-96-015 59 79 20 .98 .99 FAR-96-022 29 39 10 1.31 1.53 FAR-96-022 100 108 8 2.49 3.72 FAR-96-023 132 147 15 1.42 0.60 FAR-96-024 33 36 3 2.89 0.94 FAR-96-025 65 85 20 1.22 0.97 FAR-09-B 75 86 11 0.67 1.35 FAR-09-C 77 82 5 4.16 2.57 FAR-11-001 36 49 13 2.51 0.35 FAR-11-001 36 44 8 3.95 0.53 FAR-11-001 37 43 6 5.09 0.64 FAR-11-006 80 112 32 1.35 0.99 FAR-11-006 84 96 12 2.18 2.10 FAR-13-002 47 54 7 2.15 0.28
The table above shows grades and widths of mineralization which are consistent with historic drilling results and have also given valuable geological information showing multiple veins and the potential for wide zones of economic mineralization. The true width of the drill hole intersections cannot be determined from the information available, as it was RC drilling.
In 2014, Red Metal entered into a contract with a Chilean artisanal miner allowing the artisanal miner to mine on the Farellon property in return for a 10% net sales royalty. In January 2015, the artisanal miner began selling mineralized material to ENAMI, a Chilean national mining company, and to date has sold approximately 10,000 tonnes of sulphide mineralized material grading 1.82% Cu, 6.56 g/t Ag and 0.25 g/t Au, as well as 1,813 tonnes of oxide mineralized material grading 1.56% Cu. Silver grades recovered during the mining operations demonstrates the unexplored potential for silver on the property. (Source: RMES Annual and Quarterly Reports).
In April 2015, the artisanal miner received all the necessary permits allowing them to increase their operations from 500 tonnes per month to 5,000 tonnes per month. Continued expansion of the Farellon property's small-scale mining operation, through minimal capital expenditures, could significantly increase revenues and provide important geological and metallurgical information.
Perth Property
The Perth Property consists of 12 mining claims totaling 2,245 hectares in the Carrizal Alto mining district. It is contiguous to the Farellon Property, but geologically different. The property has a 2.5% NSR on it with an option to buy back up to 1.5% of the NSR for aggregate payments of US$1,000,000.
The property has been known to host gold and copper mineralization since the early 1900's when it was part of the Carrizal Alto mining complex. Modern exploration on the property started in 2008 and multiple surface mapping, trenching and drilling programs have been completed. More than 12 mineralized veins have been identified on the property. Significant results obtained from surface channel sampling are listed in the table below.
Sample ID Northing Easting Elevation Length Au g/t Cu % 778 6895914.00 308888.00 772 Reconnaissance 16.50 2.87 1962 6893308.58 308065.74 648 1.10 15.26 0.93 1977 6895153.72 308780.84 714 2.10 14.43 0.72 2938 6895006.00 308352.00 888 0.50 14.00 3.62 1960 6893313.57 308068.57 648 1.10 9.77 1.36 2975 6894308.00 308364.00 727 0.40 8.92 1.84 1903 6892715.11 307888.80 588 0.60 8.52 1.56 1952 6892720.24 307889.38 588 1.50 8.37 2.14 1961 6893307.92 308066.42 647 1.10 8.14 2.83 1923 6893265.79 308261.54 622 0.30 7.60 1.04 1921 6893260.81 308515.88 638 0.40 7.38 2.43 1913 6893501.66 308143.50 687 0.60 6.73 7.16 252 6892373.78 307952.33 581 0.35 6.48 1.32 1821 6896660.00 309450.00 671 1.10 5.86 4.09 1813 6896586.00 310019.00 584 1.30 5.71 2.88 3037 6895254.00 308254.00 901 0.30 5.26 8.76 2951 6894414.00 308406.00 741 0.55 4.89 2.08 1972 6895140.00 308797.00 778 1.20 4.75 1.68 1975 6895151.55 308790.60 757 1.40 4.47 5.90 2007 6897060.00 309956.00 563 1.50 4.07 3.78 1905 6893092.03 308001.35 660 0.80 3.13 3.98
Mateo Property
The Mateo Property is a copper-gold-silver project consisting of mining 7 claims totalling 500 hectares located approximately 10 km east of Vallenar.
The property has undergone limited modern exploration including surface and underground RC drilling and artisanal mining on three separate mine sites, the Irene, Margarita and Santa Theresa mines.
In 2011, Red Metal carried out an in-depth geological mapping and sampling program on the property. A total of 138 reconnaissance samples were collected. The highest assay values returned from reconnaissance samples were 21 g/t Au and 10.3% Cu, with more common values ranging between 1-3 g/t Au and 1-3% Cu. Detailed mapping identified nine significant mineralized zones where further work is recommended.
About Power Americas Mineral Corp
Power America's acquisition strategy focuses on acquiring affordable, cost effective and highly regarded mineral properties in areas with proven geological potential. These areas include historical and currently producing mines with existing infrastructure. This strategy includes acquiring 100% interests in mineral properties, with no payment terms or work program commitments that would threaten a junior mining company's financial stability. The Company believes it can create maximum shareholder value efficiently and cost effectively implementing this acquisition strategy.
The Company believes that the demand profile for Cobalt, Lithium, Copper, and other essential power related materials will be fundamentally led by the growing adaptation of electric vehicles, renewable energy and increased production of super alloys. With a focus on identifying and developing ethically sourced materials within the Americas, the Company intends to address the growing demand for energy metals that are being driven by innovation and the introduction of new technologies.
Power Americas Minerals Corp. is a Canadian-based junior mining exploration company focused on the procurement, exploration and development of cobalt, lithium, copper and other energy metals in North and South America. The Company's shares are listed and posted for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "PAM" and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol "VV0".
This transaction is subject to standard closing conditions including a 60-day due diligence period, the parties completing a definitive agreement and the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approval.
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by James Place, P. Geo., a director of the Company, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
On behalf of the Board of Directors:
"Jeffrey Cocks"
Jeffrey Cocks
President
For more information please contact:
Howard Milne V.P. Business Development
Tel: (604) 377-8994Email:hdmcap@shaw.ca
Website: www.victoryventures.ca
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 25, 2016) - Gunpowder Capital Corp. (CSE: GPC) (CSE: GPC.PR.A) (FSE: YS6N), (the "Corporation") announced today that it has been retained by Advantagewon Oil & Gas Corp., ("Advantagewon") to assist in Advantagewon's proposed going public transaction.
In order to provide Advantagewon with a sufficient public float, GPC will subscribe for up to Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ("$250,000.00") CDN of common shares in the capital of Advantagewon by issuing up to Two Million Five Hundred Thousand ("2,500,000") Gunpowder Capital Corp., common shares to Advantagewon.
As compensation for Gunpowder's services, which will include managing administrative and compliance matters, Advantagewon will pay Gunpowder Capital Corp., Thirty Thousand Dollars ("$30,000.00") CDN. It is anticipated - barring any regulatory delays - that it will take approx., 30 - 45 days in order for Advantagewon's non-offering prospectus to be approved by the OSC. The OSC's approval will then give Advantagewon the ability to apply to the Canadian Securities Exchange ('the CSE") in having its common shares listed onto the CSE.
Upon successful listing of Advantagewon's common shares onto the CSE, Advantagewon will issue Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ("$250,000.00") worth of Advantagewon common shares to Gunpowder Capital Corp.
About Advantagewon Oil & Gas Corp
Advantagewon was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) on July 10, 2013, and is a widely-held privately owned, Toronto-based oil and gas company with a focus on development opportunities in Texas, U.S.A. Advantagewon currently owns two properties in Texas: (i) the Saratoga property located in Hardin County, Texas (the "Saratoga Property"); and (ii) the La Vernia property located in Guadalupe County, Texas (the "La Vernia Property").
Saratoga Property
The Saratoga Property contains 260 acres and is located near the Spindletop oil discovery of 1901. A National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities ("NI 51-101") reserves report, dated November 1, 2013 (the "Saratoga Reserve Report"), indicates gross proved plus probable reserves of 1.61 million barrels of oil and net proved plus probable reserves of 1.20 million barrels of oil on the Saratoga Property.
A well drilled by Advantagewon on the Saratoga Property in May 2014, resulted in an initial production of 100 barrels of oil per day ("bbls/d") from the Cook Mountain Formation Yegua Group. The total current production of that well as of November 17, 2014 is approximately 105 bbls/d. The Saratoga Reserve Report indicates that additional oil reserves are present in other locations updip to wells that watered-out in previous years. Due to the strong water drive flow and pressures of the Cook Mountain formation updip oil from prior oil well producers in this formation was not recovered, leaving several potential drilling locations.
La Vernia Property
The La Vernia Property is a low-risk, low-cost infill drilling development project. Advantagewon is currently acquiring additional land in the area, with a goal of acquiring 6,000 acres. This project is currently not producing.
A NI 51-101 reserves report, dated November 1, 2013 (the "La Vernia Reserve Report"), indicates gross proved plus probable reserves of approximately six million barrels of oil equivalent ("MMBoe") and net proved plus probable reserves of 4.7 MMBoe on all available leases, with potential production coming from shallow (i.e. less than 1100 feet) Cretaceous and Tertiary strata. In addition, potential reservoirs are present at a depth of approximately 1,000 to 3,500 feet. This area is in the heart of the South Texas oil fields (25 miles southeast of San Antonio). Roads and pipeline infrastructure and service companies are excellent, allowing for easy development of the field.
For further information please contact:
Mr. Frank Kordy
Interim CEO & Director
Gunpowder Capital Corp.
T: (647) 466-4037
E: frank.kordy@gunpowdercapitalcorp.com Mr. Paul Haber
CFO
Gunpowder Capital Corp.
T: (416) 363-3833
E: paul.haber@gunpowdercapitalcorp.com
Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although Management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
- 30 -
BELLINGHAM, WA--(Marketwired - October 25, 2016) - eXpWorld Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI) announced today that Darren James, principal of the Baton Rouge brokerage Darren James Real Estate Experts has transitioned his team of agents and brokers over to eXp Realty, the Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage.
"The eXp Realty business model is more progressive and agent-centric than any I've seen in my 15 years in this business," said James. "This is a tremendous opportunity, not just for me and for my family, but for all of the agents who have been great and loyal contributors to my success."
Among James' accomplishments:
456 transactions closed in 2015;
Team ranked #51 among top teams (measured by transaction sides) in the United States by the Wall Street Journal Real Trends report of top REALTORS in 2015;
Recognized in Forbes magazine on the Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies (across all industries) in the United States in both 2015 and 2016;
Number 1 REALTOR in the gulf states region for total production individually in both 2014 and 2015.
"Increasingly, eXp Realty is the destination for top producing teams and for brokerage owners looking to increase profitability, achieve scalable growth across markets, and deliver the opportunity of ownership to their valued agents and team members," said eXp Realty CEO, Jason Gesing. "As a company, we are committed to offering a value proposition that is so strong that it would professionally irresponsible for an agent affiliate with any other brokerage."
James will be introduced to eXp Realty community members during the Company's weekly leadership meeting on Friday at 11am ET/8am PT which can be viewed on the Company's Youtube channel: youtube.com/exprealty.
About eXp World Holdings, Inc.
eXp World Holdings, Inc. is the holding company for a number of companies most notably eXp Realty LLC, the Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage as a full-service real estate brokerage providing 24/7 access to collaborative tools, training, and socialization for real estate brokers and agents through its 3-D, fully-immersive, cloud office environment. eXp Realty, LLC and eXp Realty of Canada, Inc. also feature an aggressive revenue sharing program that pays agents a percentage of gross commission income earned by fellow real estate professionals who they attract into the Company.
As a publicly-traded company, eXp World Holdings, Inc. uniquely offers professionals within its ranks opportunities to earn equity awards for production and contributions to overall company growth.
For more information you can follow eXp World Holdings, Inc. on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, or visit eXpWorldHoldings.com. For eXp Realty please visit: eXpRealty.com.
The statements contained herein may include statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update them. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company's expansion, revenue growth, operating results, financial performance and net income changes. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in forward-looking statements include changes in business or other market conditions; the difficulty of keeping expense growth at modest levels while increasing revenues; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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Investor Relations Contact Information:
Glenn Sanford
Chairman & CEO
eXp World Holdings, Inc.
glenn@expworldholdings.com
360-389-2426
Media Contact Information:
Russ Cofano
President
eXp World Holdings, Inc.
russ.cofano@exprealty.com
573-825-0780
Trade Contact Information:
Jason Gesing
CEO
eXp Realty, LLC
jason.gesing@exprealty.com
617-970-8518
ANAHEIM, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 --Booth #1358 - Today's increasingly mobile workplace has extended to the higher education sector -- with an ever-growing number of faculty and staff needing access to their institution's network and resources while away from their offices and classrooms. This week at the EDUCAUSE 2016 Annual Conference, Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST) is showcasing its newest release of CX-E, which now provides a secure mobile client to all users. AVST's secure mobile client helps faculty and staff manage inbound and outbound calls, messages, contacts, availability, and personal preferences.
With more than 1,200 educational institutions worldwide utilizing its technology for campus-wide communications, AVST knows what it takes to bring secure mobile communications to higher education. The largest public and private universities in the U.S. -- as well as the largest university in Canada -- use AVST solutions.
As faculty have gone mobile, voice remains the communications channel of choice. Picking up the phone is the top option when information needs to be exchanged and decisions need to be made. AVST increases first time call completion so the most critical inbound calls have the best chance to reach faculty and staff no matter where they are located. Through context-based call routing, information is collected from a variety of sources including location, calendar and presence. When a call cannot be answered by a recipient, AVST can deliver a message that explains why. This message can include return date/time information so that callers are able to make an informed decision as to whether they should leave a message or try another person.
"We continuously strive to provide higher education institutions with the applications they need to be efficient and responsive in their interactions," said AVST Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing Denny Michael. "We are pleased to once again attend EDUCAUSE and impart our knowledge of UC best practices."
A nonprofit association, EDUCAUSE is the foremost community of IT leaders and professionals committed to advancing higher education. With over 7,000 attendees, the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference presents a robust, community-generated program that explores the toughest IT issues facing higher education.
For more information about AVST's products for the higher education marketplace, stop by their booth #1358 at EDUCAUSE or visit the company's website at www.avst.com/education.
About AVST
With more than 30 years of continuous innovation, Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST) is a trusted developer of software-based enterprise-class Unified Communications (UC) solutions.
Our mission is to design, deliver and support communications solutions that transform the productivity of individual workers, teams and enterprises while leveraging the value of their existing and evolving IT infrastructure.
Thousands of businesses worldwide rely on AVST to meet their mission-critical communications requirements, align their business with key trends and, with the world-class interoperability and flexibility of AVST's UC solutions, provide a bridge to their digital future.
Headquartered in Orange County, California, AVST maintains facilities in Seattle, Washington, Victoria B.C., Canada and the United Kingdom and has remote sales offices throughout the United States. AVST's UC solutions are sold and supported worldwide by an extensive network of resellers and OEM partners. To learn more about AVST, our products and partners, please visit www.avst.com or you can follow us at Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.
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Media Contact:
Stephanie Olsen
Lages & Associates
(949) 453-8080
Email Contact
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - October 25, 2016) - Travel industry research authority, Phocuswright, announced today the innovators competing at the 2016 Phocuswright Conference. A total of 62 companies take the stage this November -- selected through a rigorous vetting process from hundreds of applications across 11 categories.
"We have tracked and analyzed more than 1300 digital travel startups worldwide over the past decade," said Phocuswright's Douglas Quinby, vice president, research. "For most startups, the entrepreneurial dream encounters a fierce battle for relevance."
According to Phocuswright's Travel Innovation: The State of Startups 2005-2016:
More than US$33 billion has poured into travel startups since 2005
Startups in Asia Pacific attracted more than half of all funding since 2015, up from 25% from 2005-2009
Hotels, ground transport and private accommodation has been the most pursued travel verticals by entrepreneurs and investors
Since 2015, funding has become increasingly concentrated in a handful of late-stage startups across several sectors
"Investment in travel startups continues to grow," said Quinby. "And we're going to see some of the industry's most innovative companies battle it out on stage at The Phocuswright Conference this November."
View the full line up of innovators here.
"We're excited to partner with Phocuswright again as a sponsor of Summit," says Brand USA's vice president, research and analytics, Carroll Rheem. "At Brand USA, we are committed to driving the future of tourism marketing, and through Summit we are able to connect with the best new companies entering the travel innovation arena."
Each group of innovators will vie for a variety of awards. Three Battleground companies move on to take the stage at Summit, a panel of judges -- comprised of investors and travel industry experts -- determine the category winners, audience voting decides the People's Choice winners, Brand USA selects the best tourism marketing innovator, and General Catalyst awards one company with a $100,000 convertible bridge loan.
Phocuswright has also partnered with Virtuoso, the international network of travel agencies to source travel technology startups for its 2017 Incubator Program.
Watch the battle live and gain exclusive interview access to this year's best innovators. Apply for your press pass here.
For ringside seats to this year's travel innovation battle register here.
ABOUT PHOCUSWRIGHT INC. (www.phocuswright.com)
Phocuswright, the travel industry research authority, fosters smart strategic planning and tactical decision-making by delivering primary research on the evolving dynamics that influence travel, tourism and hospitality distribution. To complement its research in North America, Europe and Asia, Phocuswright partners with and produces several high-profile conferences around the world.
ABOUT NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP (www.northstartravelgroup.com)
Northstar Travel Group is the leading provider of business-to-business news, information, data, transactions and custom content solutions for the travel, meetings and hospitality industries. Brands under the Northstar umbrella include Travel Weekly, Travel Weekly China, Travel Weekly Asia, TravelAge West, Business Travel News, Phocuswright, Meetings & Conventions, M&C China, Web in Travel and Inntopia. Northstar is the industry leader in marketing solutions, custom content communications, content licensing and database management serving the travel and meetings industries. The company produces more than 52 face-to-face events, taking place in North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Northstar is based in Secaucus, NJ, and is a portfolio company of Wasserstein & Co.
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Contact:
Phocuswright Media
+1 860 350-4084
media@phocuswright.com
DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Unite Private Networks (UPN), a leading provider of high-capacity, fiber-based communication networks is pleased to announce a network expansion in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro.
The new infrastructure extends throughout Frisco, including Network and Internet Blvd, Frisco Roughriders Stadium, and the Baylor Family Medical area. Business customers will now have access to dark fiber or lit services that are scalable from 100 mbps to 100 gbps, as well as a suite of other products.
Frisco was recently named the fastest growing city in the United States, and according to a WalletHub study, has the highest rate of job growth in the country at 5.32 percent.
"UPN already has a significant presence in Dallas/Fort Worth, spanning nearly 800 miles across the metro," said James Edison, Regional Sales Director at Unite Private Networks. "Frisco is growing at a rapid rate, and as companies continue to move into the area the need for more advanced connectivity options and robust bandwidth grows. Powered by a low-latency carrier-grade network, our metro fiber delivers Ethernet, dark fiber, Internet, wavelengths, and custom-built options to ensure flexible solutions that meets mission critical needs. We're thrilled to extend our network infrastructure into Frisco, and are looking forward to working with the business community."
About Unite Private Networks: UPN provides high-bandwidth, fiber-based communications networks and services to schools, governments, carriers, data centers, hospitals, and enterprise business customers across a 20 state service area. Service offerings include dark and lit fiber, private line, metro-optical Ethernet, Internet access, data center services, and other customized solutions. Headquartered in Kansas City, MO, UPN has been providing customer focused communications solutions since 1998. For more information on UPN, please visit www.uniteprivatenetworks.com, or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Brandi Tubb
816-903-9400
Email Contact
LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - October 25, 2016) - From Gothic cathedrals to the temples, synagogues, chapels and mosques of modern times, do the sacred spaces of the world's faith traditions still hold meaning in an ever increasing secular world? Is there tolerance for religious clothing or does it too often evoke derision and misunderstanding? Scholars and theologians from around the country and overseas -- including Dr. Helen Williams, Dean of the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University -- will discuss these topics at a two-day conference Nov. 3 and 4 at USC.
The "Sacred Space, Sacred Thread" conference is hosted by the John A. Widtsoe Foundation and USC's Office of Religious Life (Full list of sponsors below). Attendance is free but conference-goers are encouraged to register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sacred-space-sacred-thread-tickets-27032978366. For conference information and updates go to www.widtsoefoundation.org/sacred-space-sacred-thread.
During the first day's proceedings, the keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Margaret Barker, a prolific author and British theologian, who has spoken and written widely about the connection between early Jewish temples and modern Christianity as well as Hellenistic and synagogue cultures. Dr. Williams will play a pivotal role in the conference as a respondent to a panel of religious scholars discussing the "Conceptual Creation of Sacred Space in the Bible." These panelists represent a broad spectrum of faith traditions. Her session will be held Friday, Nov. 4 from 9-10:30 a.m. at the Catholic Caruso Center on the USC campus. Dean Williams is a member of the prestigious American Council on Education Fellows Program Class of 2004-2005 and has held senior academic leadership positions at several universities for more than two decades.
Throughout the two-day colloquium, presenters from more than a dozen faith traditions will share their perspectives about the physical and conceptual aspects of sacred spaces and sacred clothing, concluding with a final session about the "constructive tensions" that occur in sacred spaces and sacred clothing.
To maximize audience participation and presenter involvement, the colloquium is designed to elicit dialogue between panels of speakers as well as conference-goers. Proceedings will be carried real-time to points around the globe through live streaming capabilities.
"The historic threads of many faith traditions will be brought together to help the scholars and audience understand the mosaic that religious life creates in the community," said Dr. Larry Eastland, Chairman & President of the John A. Widtsoe Foundation. "Taken together, they are a force for good, compassion and support not just to their members, but to the community as a whole. We invite people from all religious traditions and academic perspectives to join us."
Dr. Varun Soni, Dean of Religious Life at USC, said, "It's a great honor to host this conference on sacred space and sacred clothing at the University of Southern California. There's no better place to bring together scholars and religious leaders to discuss our shared and aspirational beliefs and practices than the city of Los Angeles, the most religiously diverse city in the world."
In conjunction with Dr. Barker's visit, she will share a 13-panel exhibit on the history of sacred clothing and its relationship to Biblical references, colors, customs, and temple worship. The exhibit will be displayed Oct. 8-22 at the Los Angeles Temple Visitors' Center, 10777 Santa Monica Blvd. and the Fishbowl on the USC campus at 835 W. 34 th St. Oct. 24-Nov. 1.
Other conference sponsors include the Academy for Temple Studies, Our Savior Parish USC Caruso Catholic Center, California Missionary Baptist State Convention, Los Angeles Greek Orthodox Community and the Los Angeles Institutes of Religion.
The Widtsoe Foundation
The Widtsoe Foundation is a 501(c)(3) devoted to expanding the global reach of LDS scholarship in association with the Office of Religious Life at USC and becoming a world-class scholarly center for LDS research and publication.
USC's Office of Religious Life
The mission of the Office of Religious Life at USC is to foster a vibrant university community that encourages the pursuit of meaning through spiritual reflection and free inquiry, provides fair opportunities to participate in religious life, advances mutual understanding and respect among differing traditions -- and in all these ways, strengthens students to actively engage in building a just and peaceful world.
Contact:
Jan Hemming
Widtsoe Foundation
801-557-2463
jan.hemming@widtsoefoundation.org
Timothy Conley
USC Office of Religious Life
310-901-8524
tconley@usc.edu
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Fans of Girl Scouts Cookies can rejoice. General Mills Inc. (GIS) has confirmed its plans to launch two cereals inspired by Girl Scout cookies next year. 'The Girl Scouts Cookie cereals will be available nationwide in January. We will provide additional information when we are closer to the launch,' Mike Siemienas, Manager of Brand Media Relations for General Mills, said. However, the sweetened whole grain corn cereals will be available only for a limited time. The cereals will come in two flavors and in boxes carrying the Girl Scouts logo. One of the flavors will be 'Thin Mints,' a cereal that is derived from the popular Girl Scouts' cookie of the same name. The other flavor will be 'Caramel Crunch,' derived from the Caramel deLites cookies, also known as Samoas. The boxes carry the Girl Scouts logo. In June, Pillsbury announced a new partnership with Girl Scouts of the USA to make Girl Scout Cookie flavored baking mixes. The offerings by Pillsbury included Girl Scouts Caramel & Coconut Flavored Cupcake Mix, Girl Scouts Caramel & Coconut Flavored Blondie Mix, Girl Scouts Thin Mints Flavored Cupcake Mix, and Girl Scouts Thin Mints Flavored Brownie Mix. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Signature Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: SGU)(OTC PINK: SGGTF) ("Signature" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results of grab samples of up to 125.28 grams per tonne (3.65 opt) from outcroppings of gold zones at its Lingman Lake gold property in northwestern Ontario.
In the process of mapping/prospecting, 21-grab samples of mineralization were obtained to serve as points of reference for future sampling programs of the zones. Grab samples are spot samples and are typically, but not exclusively, constrained to mineralization. Grab samples are selective in nature and mineralization and grades are not necessarily reflective of the mineralization hosted by the property. They serve as points of reference for subsequent sampling programs.
Due to the samples being early stage exploration grab samples, standards were not inserted in the field. Chain of custody was maintained throughout as the samples were transported from the field by air then by ground courier to SGS's Red Lake laboratory. Assays were performed by the independent laboratory, SGS Canada Inc. at their Red Lake facility, adhering to a Quality Management System that meets, as a minimum requirement, ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 standard. The following results were obtained:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zone/Occurrence Sample Au gpt Au opt ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 200 Occurence(i) 160915BK7 2.62 0.076 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160915BK6 2.44 0.071 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160915BK5 0.48 0.02 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Base Lk Occurrence(i) 160916BK2 0.02 tr ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11650 160913BK3 3.89 0.11 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160913BK4 0.64 0.018 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Zone A 160921BK3 125.28 3.65 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160921BK5 40.77 1.19 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160921BK4 23.73 0.69 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160921BK2 6.08 0.18 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160921BK6 1.23 0.02 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Zone A West(i) 160916BK1 4.03 0.118 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Zone B 160921BK12 15.19 0.44 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160921BK10 2.02 0.06 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160921BK11 0.84 0.03 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- North Zone A 160929BK6 1.35 0.04 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160929BK1 0.47 0.02 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160929BK3 0.16 0.005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160929BK2F 0.06 0.002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- North Zone B 160929BK4 4.79 0.14 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160929BK5 0.03 0.001 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: gpt is grams per tonne and opt is ounce per ton.
(i)New mineralized areas: The 200 occurrence is the new occurrence located 50-meters south of the 11650 zone. The Base Lk occurrence is along the east side of base lake. The South Zone A West is located on strike with the South Zone A, west of a major north-south striking diabase dike.
"We are excited by these, our first assay results obtained from outcrop. The Lingman Lake gold deposit has a history of producing high grade gold values, and these results re-enforce that. We now have points of reference from which to undertake subsequent programs of channel sampling to obtain representative widths to the surface expression of the gold zones", commented Walter Hanych, President and CEO.
Bob Komarechka, P.Geo., is a Qualified Person as defined by NI43-101 and is responsible for the technical information in this release.
The Lingman Lake gold property consists of four free hold patented claims and the twelve staked claims, comprising 606.8 hectares. The property hosts an historic estimate of 234,684 oz of gold(i) and includes what has historically been referred to as the Lingman Lake Gold Mine, an underground substructure consisting of a 126.5-meter shaft, and 3-levels at 46-meters, 84-meters and 122-meters depths.
(i)Cautionary Note. The quantity reported as 'historical' estimate is historic in nature: A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current resource estimate. The issuer is not treating the historical estimate as a current resource estimate. Additional information concerning the historical estimate is contained within the 43-101 filed on www.sedar.com.
To find out more about Signature Resources Limited, visit our website at www.signatureresources.ca.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although Management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such.
Contacts:
Signature Resources Ltd.
Walter Hanych
Chief Executive Officer
705.445.0184
HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Adhere Creative, an award-winning Houston-based B2B brand development and inbound marketing agency specializing in SaaS, Manufacturing, and Business Services, swept marketing awards at the recent 2016 MarCom Awards.
The HubSpot platinum partner agency grabbed two Platinum awards for two categories, namely; Corporate Image Video for their entry "We Are Bluewater Defense" created for Bluewater Defense, and Industry/Trade Publication for their manufacturing magazine entry, "The Workforce Informer" created for Effex Management Solutions.
Other awards won by the agency includes a Gold award for the entry, "HouseCalls: Your Guide To Greater Washington Living" for the category Consumer Magazine Publication, and honorable mentions for a home improvement website homepage for Exterior Medics, and packaging design for White Glacier Arctic Immersion Suits.
Judges in the 2016 MarCom Awards evaluated nearly 6,000 entries from individuals, media conglomerates, and Fortune 500 companies. Adhere Creative's winning entries highlight the agency's strategic and creative approach to B2B marketing campaigns.
"Our designs are marketing strategy-centric. More than the aesthetics, we ultimately look at how these designs contribute to the overall goals -- from brand perception all the way to converting leads into clients. That being said, these awards are not just a win for us, but ultimately for our clients," explained Jon Feagain, Adhere Creative's Art Director. "It's a great testament to the value our designs add to their brands," he continued.
The MarCom Awards is an international competition that recognizes outstanding achievements by marketing and communication professionals. It is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals which oversees awards and recognition programs, provides judges, and sets standards of excellence.
A complete list of Platinum, Gold and Honorable Mention Winners can be found on the MarCom Awards website at www.marcomawards.com and will be officially announced on November 1, 2016.
About Adhere Creative
Adhere Creative is an award-winning HubSpot Platinum Partner and Google Partner brand development and inbound marketing agency based in Houston, TX. The agency specializes in B2B marketing for business services, industrial, software as a service (SaaS) and medical companies in the US. Visit www.adherecreative.com for more information.
Press Contact:
Karen Franco
832-350-4161
Email Contact
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Donald Trump Campaign has accused Hillary Clinton of having directly involved herself in inciting violence at Trump rallies, directed at his supporters. On behalf of the Trump Campaign, Jason Miller, Senior Communications Advisor to Trump, demanded immediate investigation into 'the acts of violence that the Clinton campaign and the DNC incited on American voters.' 'Recent revelations surrounding Hillary Clinton's corrupt campaign further illustrate that she will stop at nothing to secure the Presidency,' Miller said in a statement. The Trump Campaign released excerpts of various media reports based on an undercover video released Monday, which says that Clinton gave the go-ahead for outside groups to have the Republican presidential nominee stalked by operatives in Donald Duck costumes. Project Veritas released video of its undercover reporter, high-level DNC operative Robert Creamer, claiming that Clinton directly approved his plans - an effort to attract media attention and incite violence by dressing an activist in a Donald Duck costume and sending him into Trump events, emphasizing the argument that Trump was 'ducking' releasing his tax returns. Creamer reportedly admitted that they had considered other ideas for a costumed protest, such as activists dressed as Uncle Sam or as Curious George, but decided on Donald Duck because Clinton herself wanted it. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Precipitate Gold Corp. (the "Company" or "Precipitate") (TSX VENTURE: PRG) is pleased to announce results and interpretation of a ground magnetics geophysical survey at the Southeast and South Jengibre Zones within the Company's Juan de Herrera project in the Dominican Republic.
Precipitate has completed a ground magnetic geophysical survey on the Southeast and South Jengibre Zones, both located about six kilometres ('km') southeast of the Company's Ginger Ridge Zone. The primary goal of the magnetic survey is to aid interpretation of the lithological and structural features of the area to efficiently focus the forthcoming induced polarization (IP) survey program. This magnetic survey combined with the recently completed surface rock-soil geochemical sampling programs has successfully outlined priority areas for the current IP geophysics; particularly the Southeast Zone anomalies where a distinct gold and associated pathfinder anomaly coincides with a magnetic low and also a distinct copper geochemical anomaly coinciding with a magnetic high. See the accompanying magnetic-geochemical anomaly compilation map and the Company's website for additional illustrations.
The IP crew is currently completing new surveys to infill and expand the geophysical grid at Ginger Ridge and will move to the Southeast and South Jengibre grids next. This geophysical work at Ginger Ridge is intended to provide final additional drill targeting data for the pending phase 2 drilling program expected to commence as soon as the Ginger Ridge IP survey is completed.
Highlight features of the magnetic / geochemical compilation:
Southeast Zone
-- A linear, northwest trending, magnetic low measuring about 1,900 metres ('m') long by 175 m wide coincident with a surface geochemical anomaly of combined gold and various pathfinder elements; demonstrating characteristics quite similar to the Ginger Ridge Zone; and -- A large northwest trending, magnetic high measuring at least three kilometres in length coincident with a surface copper dominant geochemical anomaly, likely mapping underlying andesitic rocks;
South Jengibre Zone
-- A large surface geochemical anomaly outlined by a loose collection of gold and various pathfinder elements, measures approximately 1.7 km x 0.6 km and is underlain by a subtle northwest trending magnetic low. The area is located only two kilometres south of GoldQuest Mining's Jengibre zone, where past work has identified a noteworthy exploration target and reported highlight continuous channel sampling results of 59.5 metres grading 1.58 g/t gold (see GoldQuest news release of October 7, 2009) and rock samples to 17.7 g/t gold and 1.4% copper.
Jeffrey Wilson, Precipitate's President and CEO commented that, "Regionally within the Tireo Gold Camp, a magnetic low geophysical signature is often a key feature that marks altered and mineralized volcanic rocks subjected to hydrothermal activity. These newly identified magnetic signatures within established geochemical surface anomalies offer a critical second layer of data to our ongoing exploration. We know from other discoveries made previously in the region that coincidental magnetic and geochemical anomalies provide strong targets for follow up ground IP surveying as a final critical step in advance of drill target delineation. With IP geophysical surveying currently underway throughout the project, these new target areas will undergo additional detailed geophysical surveying in the coming weeks. Any chargeability and/or resistivity anomalies identified by the IP equipment within these anomalies would provide the basis for compelling future drill targeting."
The Southeast and South Jengibre target areas are underlain by regionally favoured Cretaceous aged Tireo formation intermediate volcanic rocks; similar to those which host the Company's Ginger Ridge Zone's gold-quartz-pyrite mineralization. Reduced magnetic signatures ('magnetic lows') with coincident surface geochemical anomalies are common features for many of the Tireo Gold Camp notable mineral showings. Rock outcropping are typically sparse, with poor rock exposure in the strongest areas of the Southeast and South Jengibre geochemical anomalies. Precipitate personnel were able to sample some scattered, small exposures in the South Jengibre are which reported gold results from nil to four metres grading 1.25 g/t gold from an exposure of sheeted and stockwork veins accompanied by disseminated pyrite and silica flooding. This and other new mineralized exposures are considered significant as they fit the "Tireo Gold Camp model" and provide further proof of concept in these new areas.
Work on the Southeast Zone has identified two adjoining and parallel target areas: (1) a priority area which has a similar tenor to the Ginger Ridge Zone (on regional strike about 6.0 km to the northwest), possessing a linear, northwest trending, +1,900 m long magnetic low with a coincident surface geochemical anomaly of combined gold and various pathfinder elements (including arsenic, antimony, bismuth and cadmium); and (2) a large northwest trending, magnetic high measuring at least 3.0 km long, coincident with a copper dominant surface geochemical anomaly which together are likely mapping copper enriched andesitic rocks. The gold and magnetic low anomalies are open to the northwest off property, while the copper and magnetic high anomalies are open along strike.
The South Jengibre Zone is marked by a large surface geochemical anomaly characterized by a loose assemblage of gold and other pathfinder elements (including lead, zinc, cadmium with lesser arsenic and antimony), measuring roughly 1.7 km x 0.6 km. The geochemical target area is underlain by a broad transitional magnetic response from low in the south to high in the north, along with a subtle and narrow northwest trending magnetic low.
Magnetic surveying of the Southeast and South Jengibre target areas covered about 30 line kilometres, with data collected at 12.5 metre station intervals over 200 metre spaced grid lines by a GSM-19 version 7 Overhauser magnetometer by company consultants.
This news release has been reviewed by Michael Moore P. Geo., Vice President, Exploration of Precipitate Gold Corporation, the Qualified Person for the technical information in this news release under NI 43-101 standards.
About Precipitate Gold:
Precipitate Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on exploring and advancing its mineral property interests in the Tireo Gold Trend of the Dominican Republic. The Company also maintains assets in northern British Columbia and southeast Yukon Territory and is actively evaluating additional high-impact property acquisitions with the potential to expand the Company's portfolio and increase shareholder value.
Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.precipitategold.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Precipitate Gold Corp.,
Jeffrey Wilson, President & CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Precipitate Gold Corp.'s ("Precipitate" or the "Company") current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Company and on assumptions it believes are reasonable. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Precipitate to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the exploration concessions may not be granted on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the concessions acquired by the Company may not have attributes similar to those of surrounding properties; delay or failure to receive governmental or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation affecting mining; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. Although Precipitate has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Precipitate does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Contacts:
Precipitate Gold Corp.
604-558-0335
Toll Free: 855-558-0335
investor@precipitategold.com
www.precipitategold.com
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- The flu shot receives a lot of attention at this time of year, but remedies for cold and flu season drastically differ depending on your culture and where you live in the world. From the Iranian Honeypot to the French homeopathic remedy Oscillococcinum, there are many innovative ways to calm and minimize flu-like symptoms.
Common flu-like symptoms include fever, chills, body aches and pain. In Mexico and Spain, garlic tea is a go-to solution because of its antibacterial properties; Iranians will use turnips mixed with honey (called an Iranian Honeypot) as an expectorant for respiratory illness; the Greeks have used oil of oregano since the days of Hippocrates for respiratory infections; and for more than 70 years the French have used the flu fighter Oscillococcinum developed by Boiron, the world leader in homeopathic medicines, to shorten the duration an intensity of flu-like symptoms.
"Some of these remedies that are closer to the earth are worth giving a shot," said Dr. Ken Redcross, a board-certified internal medicine physician who runs a concierge practice in New York. "Once a patient gets the flu, physicians are really limited when it comes to recommending anything from traditional medicine. There isn't a cure for influenza, so using some of these tried and true remedies to reduce the effects of flu-like symptoms or even shorten the duration, which can be really helpful."
Redcross always recommends his patients have Oscillococcinum on hand during flu season because it is a low-cost, reliable solution for the entire family and if used within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms, clinical studies have shown it can provide "clear improvement" or "complete resolution" of flu-like symptoms within 48 hours.
"If you get the flu in France, the first thing physicians recommend is Oscillococcinum," said Redcross. "But the key is you have to take it right away for it to have a significant effect. That's why it's important to stock up before flu season wreaks havoc in your home and office."
Redcross says some of his other favorite homegrown remedies he recommends include using honey to calm coughs and soothe sore throats, ginger for nausea and vomiting, and turmeric for body aches and pains. Additionally, staying hydrated, getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night and frequent hand washing with soap and water, as well as getting a flu shot, can help prevent contracting the flu in the first place.
Seasonal flu-related complications result in about 200,000 hospitalizations in the United States each year. Experts say flu season won't likely let up until April. For more flu fighting tips follow Redcross this flu season @DrRedcross or www.drredcross.com and visit http://www.oscillo.com.
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Investing USD200M to Develop 15 New OpenLabs in 3 Years
HANNOVER, Germany, March 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At CeBIT 2017 held in Hannover, Germany, Huawei today unveiled its Global OpenLab Program, outlining its development of 15 new OpenLabs and investment plan for the next three years. The new OpenLabs will enable Huawei to work with various industry partners across the world to create customer-centric and innovative solutions that enable digital transformation, while promoting industry ecosystem development.
Global OpenLab Program with USD200M Total Investment in 3 Years
In 2017, Huawei will build 7 new OpenLabs located in cities including London, UK; Paris, France; Moscow, Russia; and Johannesburg, South Africa. This brings the total number of OpenLabs to 12 and by the end of 2019, Huawei plans to increase this number to 20. Over the next three years, Huawei will allocate nearly 1,000 talents around the world and invest a total of USD200 million in the Program.
Victor Yu, President of Industry Marketing & Solution Department of Huawei Enterprise Business Group, said: "Each OpenLab addresses the needs of its local market, and harnesses local talent and technology assets. For example in Munich, Germany, we are working on joint innovation projects, conducting simulation tests and researching on connected cars with German automotive enterprises. We work with outstanding local companies to integrate their capabilities into Huawei's global value chain and promote these capabilities across the world, helping to enhance the competitiveness of local ICT industries."
Huawei has built and operated OpenLabs in 5 cities including Suzhou, China; Munich, Germany; Mexico City, Mexico; Singapore; and Dubai, UAE. These OpenLabs are facilitating joint innovation and solution launches with more than 400 partners across Smart City, finance, transportation, energy, manufacturing and media sectors. Huawei has established partnerships with nearly 80 overseas solutions partners. Various large enterprises and government departments are implementing solutions developed by Huawei's OpenLabs. For example, Huawei collaborated with Accenture to develop Smart City solutions; Huawei and Altair joined forces to create an enterprise simulation cloud solution that supports customers in the automotive industry as they digitally transform their research and development arm; Huawei innovated with partners such as SAP and Oracle on power IoT solutions, enabling customers to build strong and cost-effective power grids.
Platform + Ecosystem Strategy Accelerates Digital Transformation with Customers and Partners
The Global OpenLab Program is aligned with Huawei Enterprise Business Group's "Platform + Ecosystem" strategy. This strategy centers on collaborating with partners and customers to develop innovative, differentiated and leading industry-specific solutions that enable open, elastic, flexible, and secure platforms to drive enterprise digital transformation. Huawei is focused on facilitating a digital transformation ecosystem to implement joint innovations and expand the ecosystem in terms of industry alliances, business alliances, developer platforms, and open-source communities.
"Challenges within a future smart society cannot be tackled alone, they demand cooperation within the ICT industry and with relevant partners. Initiatives such as the Global OpenLab Program demonstrate Huawei's commitment to providing the building blocks of an ICT ecosystem in this smart society, and driving continuous industrial and social progress through strategic alliances. The Global OpenLab Program will bring together global and regional business partners to boost industry innovation capabilities, and by supporting the greater good of the industry we aim to generate more opportunities for all ecosystem players," added Yu.
Commenting on its collaboration with Huawei, Rolf Schumann, SVP Global General Manager Platform and Innovation, SAP Cloud Platform, said: "Since 2012, SAP and Huawei have established a strategic alliance, which is based on our complementary software and hardware, and we have cooperated to develop SAP HANA joint solutions and go-to-market (G2M) strategies. Huawei has established 5 global OpenLabs that target the enterprise market and have a complete set of equipment to provide potential customers and partners with integrated ICT platforms, enabling joint innovations and proof of concept. SAP believes that these OpenLabs can accelerate cooperation with Huawei in various fields, including Industry 4.0, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and Business-to-Business (B2B) cloud."
Infosys has set up an alliance with Huawei since 2014. Umashankar Lakshmipathy, Senior Vice President and Regional Head-- EMEA, Cloud & Infrastructure Services, Infosys Limited, said: "We have cooperated extensively with Huawei in finance, the IoT and cloud data center solutions, and go-to-market (G2M) strategies. Huawei's OpenLab in Suzhou provides partners with a leading ICT platform that enables joint innovation of banking and smart stadium solutions. We hope that our joint innovations with Huawei can be expanded to the entire world through Huawei's OpenLabs in other regions, such as South Asia and the Middle East."
Huawei is committed to cooperating with its customers and partners in building ICT platforms featuring Cloud, Pipe, and Device collaboration, and orchestrating symbiotic, vibrant, and sustainable ecosystems. Huawei will continue to work with its partners to explore new ways to address digital transformation challenges in the new ICT era.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider.
For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com.
To Drive Adoption, Collaborative Network Supporting Global Payments Needed
Nine out of 10 banking professionals surveyed at large U.S., European and Canadian commercial banks said their company is currently exploring the use of blockchain technology for payments, according to a new report from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). The initiatives are designed to reduce costs, speed payments, reduce errors and drive new revenues.
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(Graphic: Business Wire)
The report Blockchain Technology: How banks are building a real-time global payment network - is based on a survey of 32 top commercial banking professionals that was designed to assess their views on the potential of blockchain technology to transform the payments business. The survey included executives from 11 of the top 20 U.S., Canadian and European banks, by assets, and three of the top five institutions within each geography.
According to the survey:
Thirty percent of banks are in the advanced stages of adopting blockchain technology for payments with executives indicating that they are either "at the forefront of the revolution" (17 percent), or "engaged in production implementation" (13 percent);
Seventy percent of banks are still in the early stages of adoption, with 30 percent "involved in proof-of-concepts with other companies," 27 percent still "formulating a strategy" and 13 percent "looking into the technology."
"Cross-border payments are ripe for innovation using blockchain and distributed ledger technologies," said Richard Lumb, group chief executive Financial Services at Accenture. "The technology could resolve inefficiencies and friction that have long driven up the costs and the time required to move money around the world. Blockchain has proven its scalability to support such infrastructure. And as the industry sets its focus on developing the networks, business processes and standards needed to run these systems, payments could be one of the first major proving grounds for enterprise blockchain adoption."
The survey found the most prevalent use cases for blockchain technology within payments are intra-bank cross-border transfers (44 percent ranked as the number one priority), with a secondary focus on cross-border remittances, corporate payments and inter-bank cross-border transfers. Across the board, the executives surveyed expect that blockchain technology will help lower frictional and administrative costs, create quicker settlement time with fewer errors and exceptions, and provide greenfield revenue opportunities through innovative new products and services based on this transformative technology offered to bank customers.
Regulatory and compliance concerns
Half of the bank executives surveyed say they recognize the challenges associated with integrating and implementing blockchain technology. This is primarily due to regulatory (63 percent) and compliance (56 percent) concerns that have caused internal resistance to blockchain adoption. Nearly one-third of executives surveyed highlighted security as another impediment.
Richard Meszaros, Connected Commerce lead in Accenture Digital and co-author of the report, said: "For many executives, the value proposition for blockchain is not yet clear enough and top decision-makers have insufficient understanding of the technology. Providing education to employees and executives continues to be critical for the near-term. But the broad success of blockchain in payments hinges upon industry collaboration to create supporting networks that include banks and non-banks."
Methodology
During August and early September of 2016, a research agency, working on Accenture's behalf, interviewed 32 commercial banking professionals to learn about the evolution of the global transaction banking markets. Interviews were conducted via telephone with respondents at domestic and international banks in the United States, Canada and Europe. Respondents were asked a series of questions about the potential of blockchain/distributed ledger technology to transform the payments business.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions underpinned by the world's largest delivery network Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 384,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
Accenture Digital
Accenture Digital comprised of Accenture Analytics, Accenture Interactive and Accenture Mobility, offers a comprehensive portfolio of business and technology services across digital marketing, mobility and analytics. From developing digital strategies to implementing digital technologies and running digital processes on their behalf, Accenture Digital helps clients leverage connected and mobile devices; extract insights from data using analytics; and enrich end-customer experiences and interactions, delivering tangible results from the virtual world and driving growth. To learn more about Accenture Digital, follow us @AccentureDigi and visit www.accenture.com/digital.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161025006246/en/
Contacts:
Accenture
Melissa Volin, 1 267 216 1815
melissa.volin@accenture.com
or
Joanna R. Vos, 44 203 626 2407
joanna.r.vos@accenture.com
or
Sean Conway, 1 917 452 7116
sean.k.conway@accenture.com
SUDBURY, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- With stubbornly high unemployment, Sudbury can't afford any more job loss, say laid off Sudbury Hospital Services laundry workers. Following a brief meeting with Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault at a downtown coffee shop last weekend, the hospital laundry staff renewed their appeal for him to intervene and keep jobs local. They will be taking their call for help to keep their hospital laundry jobs, directly to Thibeault's doorstep on Wednesday, November 2 with a rally at the Sudbury MPP's area office.
Health Sciences North (HSN) which owns Sudbury Hospital Service announced recently it was taking its hospital laundry business to an operation in Hamilton. As a consequence, 40 (both unionized and not) Sudbury Hospital Services employees will lose their jobs.
"In many ways we - 40 hospital laundry workers - are the real life faces of unemployment in Sudbury. Regardless how hard he tries to distance himself from his government's plans to consolidate hospital services, it is creating job loss in Sudbury. We aren't just numbers in a quarterly report on unemployment rates. We are real people and job loss is happening to us and our families. But unfortunately it's also happening to countless others in Sudbury. On November 2 we'll be asking Mr. Thibeault to act so that we keep our jobs local instead of down the highway in southern Ontario," says Gisele Dawson who has worked at Sudbury Hospital Services for 21 years.
It's not just Dawson who thinks Sudbury is dealing with high job loss, so does Statistics Canada. According to the agency, Sudbury's unemployment rate is among the highest in the country and throughout the summer, the highest in Ontario. Recent data shows Sudbury has 7.7 per cent unemployment while Hamilton, where the hospital laundry jobs are going, is at just over 6 per cent.
"Our MPP should be more than concerned that there are already 15 more people unemployed in Sudbury per thousand than in Hamilton. That's 24 per cent higher. Yet our jobs are being killed and work moved to Hamilton. It's the provincial government with too low hospital funding and a push to merge services that's fueling job loss here. Families are suffering locally and we are asking Mr. Thibeault to take this on and keep the jobs here," says Sudbury resident and secretary-treasurer of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU), Sharon Richer.
Since 2013, Hamilton has held steady at around 6 per cent unemployment. Compare that to Greater Sudbury unemployment which has consistently increased from March 2014 to March 2016 - just as unemployment decreased in the rest of Ontario.
"These layoffs, courtesy of the Ontario government, will exacerbate that trend," says OCHU president Michael Hurley.
HSN has said that it is severing its contract with Sudbury Hospital Services to comply with the provincial government's directives through regional health bodies to integrate and consolidate services, ostensibly to cut costs.
"We appreciate that it may be painful for Mr. Thibeault to hear that Sudbury's higher than the provincial average local unemployment rate is in part tied to his government's policies. With the loss of the hospital contract, not only are 40 laundry staff losing work, it is highly unlikely that a local business (Sudbury Hospital Services) that has been in operation since 1970 will survive. We think that it should be very sobering for Mr. Thibeault to consider the actual impact of low hospital funding on jobs and businesses in his community," says Hurley who will attend the November 2 rally at Thibeault's Sudbury office.
Contacts:
Michael Hurley
President OCHU/CUPE
416-884-0770
Stella Yeadon
CUPE Communications
416-559-9300
LONDON, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
As the plastics and rubbers world gathers in Dusseldorf this week for the K 2016 trade fair, Roskill highlights some key minerals used in the sector and their trends
A wide variety of minerals are used in the production of plastics and rubbers in the role of fillers and extenders. The application of these minerals improves a number of properties in the final product, such as opacity, brightness, hardness, and resistance to abrasion, but can also reduce production costs by substituting for more costly materials. There is an enormous array of minerals used in the filler market but some of the most important, by volume, are calcium carbonates (ground and precipitated), kaolin, talc, titanium dioxide, feldspar, and aluminium trihydrate. These are supported by a host of other lesser used but essential minerals such as wollastonite, mica, gypsum, barytes and zinc oxide.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150909/264974LOGO )
Perhaps the most widely used filler mineral today is calcium carbonate , ground grades of which are sourced from crushing and grinding a carbonate rock (typically limestone, chalk or marble), and precipitated grades of which are made from calcium feedstocks via various routes including the carbonate, lime-soda, and Solvay methods.
The paper and plastics industries are the largest markets for filler-grade calcium carbonate, accounting for around 39% and 27% respectively of global consumption in 2015. Filler-grade calcium carbonate use has become increasingly concentrated in China where paper, plastics and paint markets are the largest of any country.
Growth in consumption in paper has slowed to its lowest level for two decades as increases in Asian production have been offset by declines elsewhere. The China Paper-Making Industry Association has reported a clear trend towards greater use of calcium carbonate at the expense of kaolin or other filler minerals.
In plastics, filler grades are mainly used in rigid PVC, for which the major market is in construction. Construction is also closely related to the paint sector, as the main market for paint is in architectural coatings - particularly residential. GCC is more commonly used than PCC because of its lower price and greater availability, with the exception of China.
The two other major end uses are rubber and adhesives/sealants, production of which is concentrated in Asia. Most calcium carbonate is used in synthetic rubbers (primarily those made from styrene-butadiene rubber) for non-automotive markets, such as footwear, latex and domestic mouldings.
Global calcium carbonate production capacity is estimated to exceed 115Mtpy, divided between GCC (>92Mtpy) and PCC (>23Mtpy). This also includes at least 5Mtpy of undifferentiated capacity located mostly in China. GCC capacity is highest in China, followed by the USA, Spain, and Norway. Around 60% of PCC capacity is sited in China with another 12% in the USA. A high proportion of PCC capacity is located at satellite plants supplying paper mills.
On the supply side, around half of global capacity is controlled by twelve companies. The three leading producers - Omya, Imerys and MTI - together account for more than 40% of GCC capacity and over 35% of PCC capacity. As has been witnessed in other commodities, the Chinese calcium carbonate industry is undergoing rationalisation to raise productivity and reduce pollution. Producers are seeking to supply ever brighter grades, which have higher production costs but can often reduce the amount of material required. However, achieving such grades means a high investment in processing equipment and use of higher purity raw materials.
Talc
The global talc market has seen some interesting changes in the pattern of demand and production in recent years. Growth in demand for talc-filled polypropylene (PP) in vehicles means plastics could replace paper as the leading talc market within the next couple of years. Paper remained the largest market in 2013 at just under a third of the total, but saw its market share drop by 5 percentage points from 2010. As discussed above, Asian papermakers have followed trends seen in North America and Europe over the past 30 years and switched from talc to granular and precipitated calcium carbonate in paper-filling markets.
The decline in the paper market has been more than offset by increasing demand for talc in PP production. Between 2010 and 2013, talc use in this market is estimated to have risen from just over 20% of the market to nearly 30% of total consumption. This is a result of higher automobile production and increased use of PP in vehicles in order to reduce weight, fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions. The intensity of talc use in PP has also increased as talc imparts the strength, stiffness and other mechanical properties needed to meet lightweighting requirements. The average talc content of a light automobile manufactured in the EU more than doubled from 4.9kg in 2006 to 10kg in 2014.
China continues to dominate the world talc supply, with exports of 625,000t in 2015. Four leading producers, each with capacity of more than 300,000tpy - Aihai Talc, Beihai Industrial, Guangxi Longsheng Huamei and Mianning Xicheng Talc - together represent some 35% of capacity. China's dominance is facing greater competition, however, as output of crude talcs from Afghanistan, India, North Korea and Pakistan ramps up.
Growth in talc production has been led by Afghanistan, where the formation of the Talc Association under the USAID programme in 2010 and investment by private mining companies in subsequent years have led to a substantial increase in talc output. Trade statistics are not reported by Afghanistan, but it is thought most of the country's talc output is exported to Peshawar in Pakistan for sorting and grinding prior to export. Pakistan also suppresses trade data, but inferred exports indicate that Afghan talc production may have increased from 10,000tpy prior to 2008 to more than 300,000tpy in 2015.
Aluminium trihydrate
Speciality aluminium trihydrate (ATH) can be used in various filler applications such as paper and board, adhesives, sealants, paints and coatings, and also in plastics, which together account for around 125,000t of the total ATH market. ATH is a speciality filler and commands higher prices than other white minerals such as calcium carbonate, talc and kaolin. It typically finds application as a niche additive where its high price is outweighed by the superior properties it provides.
In plastics, the main markets for ATH are in thermoplastic polyesters (TPE), especially polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for fibre and soft drink bottles, and the moulding compound polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) that is used as an engineering resin. ATH loading levels vary between 9-50% in PVC wire and cable and can reach as high as 60% in cast acrylic/PE baths.
In the paper market, the conversion from acid to alkaline manufacture, which depressed consumption of ATH in the 1990s, is essentially thought to be complete although some paper mills continue to use this process. However, as a filler the use of ATH in paper manufacture has benefitted in recent years from higher demand for high quality paper with improved optical properties. Other factors include a trend towards faster machine speeds and the use of lighter weight paper.
ATH can also be used in synthetic marble because of its extremely high purity and whiteness as an extender for titanium dioxide and also to some degree as a flame retardant. Indeed, ATH's role as a flame retardant is significant (accounting for 800,000t in 2015) and although it is not technically included under the fillers segment, in this market it provides a dual role as a flame retardant and as a filler.
ATH is the major mineral primary flame retardant in use today and dominates this sector of the market, owing to its relatively low cost compared to its main rival - synthetic magnesium hydroxide. Plastics and rubber applications that use ATH as a flame retardant include thermosets (polyester resin, epoxy resins, phenolic resins, and polyurethane), thermoplastics (PE, PP, PE-copolymers, and PVC) and elastomers (EPDM/EPM, EVA, SBR, BR, IIR, XL-PE, EEA, EMA, silicone rubber and latex). The largest uses are PE, PP and PET, all of which are forecast to grow in excess of 4%py over the next five years.
There are relatively few producers of speciality ATH worldwide. The main producers of grades suitable for filler/extender and flame retardant applications are Alcoa World Alumina Minerals, Almatis, Alteo, Chalco, Huber (including through its subsidiary Martinswerk), Nabaltec, Nippon Light Metals, Showa Denko, Sumitomo Chemicals and TOR Minerals.
Titanium dioxide
Plastics is a key market for titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) pigment, accounting for 26% of global demand in 2016 or some 1.5Mt of pigment. Many plastic products are intrinsically colourless, but for some the resin is opacified and coloured for practical or aesthetic reasons. Rutile pigments are widely preferred and they usually need coating to protect the resin from UV degradation by silica or silanes.
The plastics industry is a growing market for TiO 2 , which is the leading white pigment used. Plastics continue to displace other materials such as wood, metals, glass, board, leather and textiles in a wide variety of applications, and in all countries per capita consumption of plastics is rising faster than per capita GDP. This translates into a growing demand for titanium dioxide pigment in the sector, and by 2025 Roskill forecasts that the plastics industry will account for nearly 30% of consumption.
This new demand will be matched by supply. Over the last 10 years there have been significant capacity expansions, particularly in China, and a series of mergers and acquisitions and latterly rationalisation elsewhere in the world in the form of plant closures. One of the leading Chinese TiO 2 producers, Henan Billions, announced in September 2016 that it would acquire Sichuan Lomon Titanium Industry for US$1.34Bn - making the combined company the fourth largest producer globally. Other leading TiO 2 producers are Chemours (formerly DuPont), Huntsman, Cristal, Kronos, and Tronox.
By 2015 China effectively accounted for 40% of the world's TiO 2 pigment capacity. Still there are several medium-sized and large-sized Chinese pigment producers aiming to install new chloride-route plants, some with the aim of replacing existing sulphate-route capacity. In total, these net changes and other new technology plants will bring about an increase in world capacity. Over the next decade, the changes in individual plant capacities will contribute towards structural changes in the industry, in terms of geographic location, process technology and company ownership of market share.
Roskill Information Services publishes a range of market outlook reports focused on filler minerals, including Ground and Precipitated Calcium Carbonate, Titanium Minerals, Talc, Non-Metallurgical Bauxite and Alumina, Kaolin and Flame Retardants.
Web: http://www.roskill.com
Technavio analysts forecast the global chocolate marketto grow at a CAGR of close to 5% during the forecast period, according to their latest report.
The research study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global chocolate marketfor 2016-2020. In addition, the report provides an analysis of the key competitors in the market. It also discusses the major drivers that influence the growth of the market, the challenges faced by the vendors and the market as a whole, and the key trends emerging in the market.
The number of new product launches, particularly those targeted at the health and wellness category, has been growing significantly. Chocolates are now available with low sugar content, fortified with proteins, and made from organic ingredients.
Request a sample report:
Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.
Technavio food and beverage analysts highlight the following three factors that are contributing to the growth of the global chocolate market:
Introduction of new varieties of chocolate
Innovations in packaging
Premiumization
Introduction of new varieties of chocolate
Market players are coming up with new and innovative flavors and launching different products to cater to the changing consumer demands. Products like low and reduced sugar chocolates and those that use organic ingredients are gaining considerable consumer interest. In July 2016, Milkboy Swiss Chocolate introduced three new flavors. In October 2015, Cadbury launched the new Dairy Milk bar with seven different kinds of fillings. In March 2016, Nestle launched a new variant, combining milk and white chocolate, for its popular KitKat chocolate in India.
In January 2016, Von Geusau Chocolates launched its artisanal range of sugar-free chocolates, available in both milk and dark chocolate. In November 2015, Chocologic introduced its no-added sugar range of chocolates in the UK, which are sweetened using stevia. To cater to the needs of consumers who are concerned about the ingredients used in their chocolate, players in the market are coming up with organic chocolates. In June 2016, Madecasse introduced its new range of USDA certified organic chocolate bars.
Innovations in packaging
According to Manjunath Reddy, a lead analyst at Technavio for food research, "Players in the market are introducing new packaging for their product offerings to increase the shelf life of the products and also to revive consumer interest in their products." In 2015, Cacao Barry introduced new packaging that allows for easier storage, reclosing, and recyclability. In April 2016, rlc Packaging introduced packaging using iriodi pigment for Nestle. The boxes are designed with 14 UV printing inks and uses iriodi pigment for a sparkling finish. Vendors are also selling chocolates in small packs as these packs attract price-sensitive consumers due to their low cost. Also, small packs are ideal for calorie-conscious consumers who prefer consuming smaller quantities of chocolate.
With the governments of many countries implementing regulations to ensure the protection of the environment, vendors in the chocolate market are also packaging their products in biodegradable materials. For example, Barry Callebaut has collaborated with paper manufacturer James Cropper to make environment-friendly wrappers using cocoa husks. In June 2016, Barkeater Chocolates upgraded the packaging of its chocolate bar range from plastic sleeves to paperboard boxes.
Premiumization
The demand for premium chocolates is growing around the world, particularly in countries such as the US and Brazil. Players are positioning their premium chocolates as gifting options. For instance, In India, Mondelez has positioned its Toblerone and Bournville brands as suitable for gifting.
"As part of the drive toward premiumization, players are also offering single-origin chocolate products. These chocolates are made from one variety of cocoa harvested in one region," says Manjunath. In July 2015, Harald and Nugali, two Brazilian chocolate companies, launched their single origin chocolate products in the US market. In May 2016, Haigh's Chocolates launched four new single-origin chocolates from Ecuador, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, and the Dominican Republic.
Browse Related Reports:
Global Cocoa Market 2016-2020
Global Industrial Chocolate Market-Market Research 2015-2019
Global Dark Chocolate Market 2015-2019
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About Technavio
Technaviois a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.
Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.
If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161025005345/en/
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Jesse Maida
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OAKVILLE, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Saint Jean Carbon Inc. ("Saint Jean" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SJL), a carbon science company engaged in the exploration of natural graphite properties and related carbon products, is pleased to announce that the Company has engaged Georgi Doundarov to prepare the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Saint Jean. The Company has completed engineering modeling and enough ground and material studies to allow for the preparation of the report. The report will cover; the economics of possibly mining multiple small pits on our properties for graphite, potentially processing that material to produce concentrate which would then be further processed to produce 99.99% graphite, without the use of harsh chemicals. Then, the further processing of that material to produce spherical-coated graphite for use in applications including lithium-ion batteries.
The PEA will be prepared by Georgi Doundarov M.Sc., P.Eng, PMP, CCP who has 22 years of metallurgical experience in studies, EPCM, commissioning of processing facilities, production ramp up, operations, and closure while acting for the owner and the consultant site. He is a QP under NI43-101 with 17 years experience in Project Management of mining projects, different in terms of commodities, types and stages of development. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Cost Professional (CCP). He has created from scratch Project Management Offices, set up PMI standards and best practices, structuring and optimizing of cost areas. He has also increased efficiency, prepared financial and cash flow analyses, short and long term planning, capital and operating costs estimates and optimizations. This includes environmental work, EIS preparation, working with the Government after submission, Rehab and Closure plans.
Paul Ogilvie, CEO, commented: "After all of our property work, lab work and modeling, it is great to get working on our PEA. The results will prepare us for our feasibility study in the future and help us to better understand our strengths and where more effort has to be placed. We expect to issue the results of the report within a couple of months."
About Saint Jean Carbon
Saint Jean is a publicly traded carbon science company, with interest in graphite mining claims in the province of Quebec in Canada. For the latest information on Saint Jean's properties and news please refer to the website: http://www.saintjeancarbon.com/
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Saint Jean Carbon Inc.
Paul Ogilvie, CEO and Director
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, concerning Saint Jean's business and affairs. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "intends" "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved".
These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances that may cause actual results to differ materially. The forward-looking statements in this news release assume, inter alia, that the conditions for completion of the Transaction, including regulatory and shareholder approvals, if necessary, will be met.
Although Saint Jean believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct.
Statements of past performance should not be construed as an indication of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors, including those discussed above, could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is provided as of the date of this press release, and Saint Jean assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
Contacts:
Information Contact:
Email: info@saintjeancarbon.com
Tel: (905) 844-1200
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/31/16 -- Gran Tierra Energy Inc. ("Gran Tierra") (NYSE MKT: GTE)(TSX: GTE), announces that the Company will release its 2016 third quarter financial and operating results on Monday, November 7, 2016 at approximately 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time (4:00 a.m. Mountain Time). A conference call to discuss the 2016 third quarter results will be held at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Mountain Time) on the same day. Details of the conference call are as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Monday, November 7, 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Mountain Time) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- North American participants call: 1-844-348-3792 (Toll-Free) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outside of Canada & USA call: 1-614-999-9309 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interested parties may also access the live webcast on the investor relations page of Gran Tierra's website at www.grantierra.com. An archive of the webcast will be available on Gran Tierra's website until the next earnings call. In addition, an audio replay of the conference call will be available following the call until November 14, 2016. To access the replay, dial toll-free 1-855-859-2056 (North America), or 1-404-537-3406 (outside of Canada and USA).
About Gran Tierra Energy Inc.
Gran Tierra Energy Inc. together with its subsidiaries is an independent international energy company focused on oil and natural gas exploration and production in Colombia. The Company also has business activities in Peru and Brazil.
Gran Tierra's Securities and Exchange Commission filings are available on a web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov and on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com.
Contacts:
Gran Tierra Energy Inc.
Gary Guidry
Chief Executive Officer
403-767-6500
Gran Tierra Energy Inc.
Ryan Ellson
Chief Financial Officer
403-767-6501
Gran Tierra Energy Inc.
Rodger Trimble
Vice President, Investor Relations
403-698-7941
info@grantierra.com
www.grantierra.com
NEW YORK, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Increasing construction activities, recovering automotive industry and growing industrialization to drive global specialty lubricants market through 2025
According to a recently released TechSci Research report, "Global Specialty Lubricants Market By Type, By End Use, By Region Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2025", the global specialty lubricants market is anticipated to cross $ 81 Billion by the end of 2025. Growing industrialization and expected revival of crude oil prices are expected to influence the demand for specialty lubricants across the world during 2016-2025. Moreover, improving economic scenario, widening base of small and mid-cap industries and growing adoption of advanced machineries are anticipated to positively influence the global specialty lubricants market during forecast period.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663730 )
Globally, automotive sector is the largest consumer of specialty lubricants due to increasing sales of passenger vehicles, expanding vehicle fleet and increasing awareness among automobile manufacturers about the benefits of using specialty lubricants. Globally, automobile production increased from 80 million units in 2011 to 91 million units in 2015. With increasing production of automobile, the demand for specialty lubricants is also expected to rise all across the globe over the next five years.
Browse 10 market data Tables and 170 Figures spread through279 Pages and an in-depth TOC on "Global Specialty Lubricants Market"
https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/global-specialty-lubricants-market-by-type-mineral-oil-based-synthetic-oil-based-bio-based-by-end-user-industry-automotive-cement-chemical-etc-by-region-competition-forecast-opportunities-2011-2025/775.html
The backbone of any economic progress is infrastructure development, which has become synonymous with economic and overall development. As per the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), approximately $3.6 trillion is required by the end of the 2020 to develop the infrastructure of the United States. Similarly, Canadian government has proposed an investment of $852 million for public transit infrastructure by the end of 2016. With increasing government's focus on infrastructural development, construction activities across the world are expected to increase, thereby aiding the demand for cement, globally. Cement industry, being one of the major consumers of specialty lubricants, is anticipated to generate huge demand for specialty lubricants across the globe during forecast period.
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"With changing consumption patterns and increasing competitiveness in the market, the production process and end products are becoming technologically advanced. To meet the business needs and maintain the profitability of business processes, the technological advanced lubrication solutions have become the need of an hour. Specialty lubricants, which are formulated with superior raw materials, are becoming the most preferred type of lubricants across the world.", said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm.
"Global Specialty Lubricants Market By Type, By End Use, By Region Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2025" has evaluated the future growth potential of global specialty lubricants market and provides statistics and information on market size, structure and future market growth. The report intends to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyses the emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in global specialty lubricants market.
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India Phosphoric Acid Market, By Grade (Fertilizer and Technical), By Application (Fertilizers, Pharmaceutical, Food & Beverage etc.), By Region, Competition Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2011-2021
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Iran Oil Refinery Chemicals Market By Type (Merchant Hydrogen, Refining Catalysts, etc.), By Application (Petroleum Conversion, Petroleum Treatment, Water and Wastewater Treatment and Others), Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021
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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) announced today that it has received the third installment of US$41.2 million owing from a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. as part of a strategic co-development agreement under which Zijin acquired 49.5% of Ivanhoe's majority stake in the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery now being jointly developed by Ivanhoe and Zijin in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zijin - through its subsidiary, Gold Mountains (H.K.) International Mining Company Limited - agreed to pay US$412 million for a 49.5% interest in Ivanhoe subsidiary Kamoa Holding Limited that presently owns 95% of the Kamoa-Kakula Project. Zijin paid an initial US$206 million at closing in December last year, followed by the payment of the first two of five scheduled US$41.2 million installments in March and July of this year.
The receipt of the third installment from Zijin has increased Ivanhoe's consolidated working capital to approximately US$395 million (C$529 million). This represents approximately C$0.68 per issued and outstanding common share of Ivanhoe Mines.
The remaining US$82.4 million is required to be paid in two further equal installments, every 3.5 months, with the next installment due on February 8, 2017. The installment payments are secured by a pledge of shares of Kamoa Holding Limited with proportionate releases of the security on the pledged shares following receipt of each installment payment.
About Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines is advancing its three principal projects in Sub-Saharan Africa: Mine development at the Platreef platinum-palladium-gold-nickel-copper discovery on the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex; mine development and exploration at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project on the Central African Copperbelt in the DRC; and upgrading at the historic, high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-lead-germanium mine, also on the DRC's Copperbelt. For details, visit www.ivanhoemines.com.
Cautionary statement on forward-looking information
Certain statements in this news release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, the payment by a subsidiary of Zijin of US$82.4 million in two equal installments of US$41.2 million every 3.5 months. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Ivanhoe Mines to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect Ivanhoe Mines' current expectations regarding future events, performance and results and speak only as of the date of this news release.
Contacts:
Ivanhoe Mines - Investors:
Bill Trenaman
+1.604.331.9834
Ivanhoe Mines - Media
North America:
Bob Williamson
+1.604.512.4856
South Africa:
Jeremy Michaels
+27.82.939.4812
www.ivanhoemines.com
Regulatory News:
aufeminin (Paris:FEM):
The best Nature has to offer from around the world
The result of an intrapreneurial project undertaken within the aufeminin group (aufeminin, Marmiton, My Little Paris, etc.) under the auspices of Marie-Laure Sauty de Chalon, the Group's CEO, et Delphine Groll, Head of Communication, Gretel is part of the Group's diversification strategy of which e-commerce is a pillar (My Little Box, Beautiful box).
Officially launched on 25 October, 2016, Gretel (www.gretel-box.com) offers subscribers the possibility of receiving each month, at home or at work, 5 healthy and original snacks from a selection of 50 products. Brazil nuts, Goji berries, dehydrated mango, Philippine coconut, shelled almonds, Canadian cranberries: various snacks unearthed from around the world, all of them approved by Marmiton for their taste and their originality.
Guilt-free healthy snacks
With these unique snacks and their proven nutritional benefits (hazelnuts, almonds, Goji berries, dried blackberries, pumpkin seeds, grapes, prunes, etc.), Gretel is aiming to change eating habits so that people can at last enjoy guilt-free snacks.
The first customized box with 300 million possible combinations
Gretel is innovating by launching, on the French market, the first 100% customizable box that lets subscribers create their own box. Each month, subscribers can thus choose their 5 favorite snacks from a selection of 50 products. This customizable aspect means that there are more than 300 million possible combinations and, for food lovers lacking inspiration, each month Gretel also offers a "seasonal box" recommended by Marmiton.
Designed with sustainable development in mind, these Gretel snacks come in resealable Kraft paper bags, and can be eaten anywhere and at any time of day: in public transport, at work, out walking, in open-space areas, on the slopes, in the gym, etc.
Over 500 grams (over a pound) of healthy snacks delivered each month for 13.90 euros, thus corresponding to a daily recommended snack portion
Enchanting storytelling associated with the brand
A new brand within the Group aimed at men and women alike, Gretel has its own special universe consisting of a multitude of little characters. Commissaire Pruneau, Casse Noisette, Ginger Catch, Alba Nana, Mika Jou, Amanda Moiselle, Kurt Berry, Miss Cancan, Merlin Pompom characters with wacky stories to create brand loyalty
A world of delicious enjoyable snacks, where you live on almonds alone!
Now there's no need to avoid snacking between meals!
To obtain Gretel visuals (logo, box, characters, etc.), please contact us using the details below.
About Gretel and aufeminin
Officially launched in October 2016, Gretel (www.gretel-box.com) belongs to the aufeminin group, the 1st creator of communities, which includes media brands such as aufeminin, Marmiton, My Little Paris, Merci Alfred, Gifted Agency, Onmeda, Zimbio.com, Livingly.com and Stylebistro.com.
The Group is present in more than 20 countries in Europe, North Africa, North America and Latin America. Leader on the desktop market with a global audience of 42 million visitors a month, the aufeminin group's presence is growing on the mobile market, with 73 million visitors, and tablet market, with 12 million visitors, and is developing its presence on all other platforms, including video, print and social networks (1)
(1) Google Analytics, aufeminin group, no double counting, August 2016
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161025006366/en/
Contacts:
aufeminin
Delphine Groll, Tel: +33 (0)1 53 57 15 52 +33 (0)6 60 25 14 65
Head of Group Communication
delphine.groll@aufeminin.com
HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Asset Campus Housing's extensive experience -- both domestically and internationally -- has helped it take its first steps into the Canadian student housing market as Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors and Campus Suites tap the student housing company to manage Montreal's Parc Cite.
Asset Campus manages 10 other Kayne Anderson properties as part of a five-year relationship between the two companies and their leadership teams. Asset Campus has been operating internationally for three years. After several successful lease-ups abroad, the company has continued to expand its expertise in several other parts of the world. Canada is the seventh international market Asset Campus has entered into.
"We are always looking for opportunities to expand our international presence," said Ryan McGrath, President of Asset Campus Housing. "Parc Cite gives us a chance to build on our partnership with Kayne Anderson and Campus Suites. We are extremely excited to expand our relationship with Kayne Anderson in Canada and for the chance to bring our expertise to that market while working alongside some of the industry's best operators and developers."
Vice President Patrick Flaherty of Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors said Canada features its own set of challenges for student housing companies doing business there. That is especially true of the French-speaking Quebec province, which includes Montreal. Asset Campus has bridged those gaps before, he said, so the company's team knew exactly what to do in terms of understanding local housing laws, communicating with the Parc Cite staff properly and using an onsite coordinator to handle the transition.
"We have a strong relationship with Asset Campus Housing," Flaherty said. "We wanted to expand their presence from the stateside of our portfolio to include the Canadian side as well."
Business operates differently in Canada, he said. Institutional property management can present some unique challenges in Canada, particularly Parc Cite, which is a converted hotel. When the decision was made to start consolidating some of Kayne Anderson's properties with a trusted partner, he said, Asset Campus Housing was the first company that came to mind.
"Bringing Asset Campus Housing onboard with Parc Cite was an easy discussion to have with the team," said Henry Morton, president of Campus Suites. "We knew what Asset Campus brought to the table and about its depth of experience and success in the States and abroad."
The 280-bed Parc Cite serves students attending McGill University, as well as other nearby schools such as Concordia University. The property opened in 2014 and features fully furnished units, a fitness center and study rooms. A Tim Hortons coffee shop is located onsite. The property also includes it own Chefs on Call location that provides students and young professionals with a wide range of competitively priced, quality foods.
About Asset Campus Housing
Asset Campus Housing is a third-party property management firm based in Houston, Texas. It manages a student housing portfolio of over 250 properties and is the largest third-party student housing management company in the nation. With a growing portfolio that includes hundreds of properties across the globe, Asset Campus provides services that include property management, asset management, development, and investment services. Visit http://assetcampushousing.com to learn more.
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has issued a formal notice of investigation to Trilogy Energy Corporation following a pipeline release 16 kilometres northeast of the town of Fox Creek.
Trilogy estimates that approximately 250 m3 of oil emulsion (50 per cent oil and 50 per cent water) was released. The AER investigation will confirm the volume and consider potential enforcement actions. The results of the investigation will be available upon completion.
AER staff remain onsite and continue to work with the company to ensure that all safety and environmental requirements are being met.
The AER issued an environmental protection and pipeline order on October 13, directing Trilogy to suspend operations, contain the release, prevent migration of hydrocarbons to areas outside of the spill site, protect wildlife and the environment, and immediately control access to the affected area.
A copy of the order and details about the incident are posted to the AER's Compliance Dashboard.
Contacts:
AER Public Affairs
Carrie Rosa
780-638-3512
Media line: 1-855-474-6356
carrie.rosa@aer.ca
CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - October 25, 2016) - Advantameds Solutions USA Fund 1, Inc. ("Company") announces the completion of its state of the art investor stock purchase portal https://advantameds.us/squeeze-page-10262753.
The Company appears to be the first structured fund in the "Cannabis Industry" to be registered with the US SEC under Regulation ' A' Tier II. Now any cannabis industry supporter over the age of 18 can become an owner of a piece of cannabis history. As early prospectors in the 1849 "California Gold Rush" became the first to benefit from the gold strike, Advantameds Solutions USA Fund 1, Inc. sees very similar historical attributes.
Even though AdvantaMeds Solutions USA Fund 1, Inc. cannot promise that such results of past events, like the historic California gold strike, are indicative of the cannabis industry future, the Company positioned itself beautifully within this huge growth industry. Now, with the ease of an investment portal, interested parties can take advantage of the Company's offering, and be involved, as such.
The upcoming 2016 U.S Election cycle, some U.S. States have cannabis referendums ranging from medical applications to decriminalization. The changes in attitudes towards cannabis are real, and the Company is very active in this growth industry-cannabis.
The Company's web portal design in itself eliminated one of the biggest challenges for issuers under Regulation 'A' which is the delivery and payment for stock purchases directly from the Company to the participant. Through a secure electronic delivery and signature model, stock purchases go directly to the Company, paying electronically. In turn, the purchasers get back all the necessary proofs of ownership in Advantameds Solutions USA Fund 1, Inc.
The Company is now able to take purchases through the majority of electronic payment solutions, as well as E-checks.
CEO Geoff Thompson stated, "The significance of this investment portal fund to the cannabis industry is monumental... With a culture of millions of Cannabis enthusiasts in the US, individuals and other entities alike can be part of this 'Cannabis Rush.' Our Company's portal, the first of its kind, now allows direct participation, allowing immediate ownership, information, and other Company disclosures in real time."
Social media interactions have ramped up as Advantameds Solutions USA Fund 1, Inc. participates in the legal growth of the cannabis industry.
Nothing herein shall be deemed as an offer to sell securities. "Interested" parties are invited to visit the investment web portal, https://advantameds.us/squeeze-page-10262753, to review the "Offering Circular," which contains an extensive list of significant risks that should be fully understood prior to considering any investment in this Emerging Growth Company or otherwise. Further, it is vital that everyone interested in this industry complete their own independent review of all associated and significant legal, regulatory, economic and market risks.
For additional information about Advantameds Solutions USA Fund 1, Inc. direct investment offering, contact the Company at 1-844-420-Fund (1-844-420-3863) or Rich Kaiser, Investor Relations, YES INTERNATIONAL, 757-306-6090, and yes@yesinternational.com.
Forward-looking Statements:
This news release contains certain statements that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This information includes, but is not limited to (i) The Company's ability to fully raise $50,000,000; and (ii) legal rules in the medical marijuana industry remaining consistent at the time of this release. Although AdvantaMeds Solutions USA Fund 1, Inc. believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because management can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to some factors and risks.
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/10/25/11G119423/Images/amedpot-0b141e1ccd57a9b884a2175d3a9adccd.jpg
Contact:
Rich Kaiser
YES INTERNATIONAL
757-306-6090
Email contact
At OpenStack Barcelona Summit, 99Cloud, China Mobile, City Network and Deutsche Telekom Were Approved for Gold Membership by Foundation Board
The Board of Directors of the OpenStack Foundation approved four members of the OpenStack community as the newest Gold Members of the Foundation, supporting strategic opportunities in public cloud, telecom networks and the Chinese market. The decision was made during the Foundation Board's meeting at the OpenStack Summit in Barcelona. The new members are City Network and Deutsche Telekom in Europe, and 99Cloud and China Mobile in China.
Europe and China are fast-growing markets for OpenStack, the most widely deployed open source software for building clouds. Both markets are growing faster than the U.S., supported by healthy startup communities, large vendor support and a growing network of regional OpenStack Day events at which users and developers gather to exchange best practices and hear from operators of clouds based on OpenStack.
Until recently, growth in OpenStack deployments was chiefly found in the private cloud market, including 99Cloud Inc., which is focused on providing enterprise-level solutions and deploys private cloud in different industries with tailor-made vertical templates in China, including financial services, government and power. The addition of other three Gold Members highlights the emergence of OpenStack-powered public clouds in non-U.S. markets. Public cloud has emerged as a growth driver for OpenStack in Europe and APAC due to factors such as data sovereignty and local/regional presence of data centers.
The two telecoms-China Mobile and Deutsche Telekom-join a growing list of telecoms and operators of large networks who are using OpenStack not only to build public and private clouds but also to take advantage of the strong set of Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) capabilities and ecosystem support that OpenStack offers.
About the Newest Gold Members
99Cloud - 99Cloud Inc. is China's leading professional OpenStack service provider to enterprises. 99Cloud is one of the first corporate members of the OpenStack Foundation and is ranked in the top 10 in OpenStack Community code contribution worldwide. Additionally, it ranks in the top 10 worldwide in contributions to Horizon, Murano, Tacker, Kolla, Senlin, Sahara, Trove and Freezer. 99Cloud is the sponsor and organizer of Trystack.cn, the largest OpenStack community in China and is also China's largest professional OpenStack training institution. 99Cloud Inc. has been approved as one of the first official training partners of the OpenStack Foundation's COA certification worldwide.
China Mobile China Mobile is the leading telecommunications services provider in China and boasts the world's largest mobile network. The company operates one of the world's largest OpenStack public cloud platforms and is building a new, larger private cloud based on OpenStack over multiple locations. China Mobile is focusing on 5G networks, NFV, IoT and cloud computing and has chosen OpenStack as a fundamental platform for NFV and IoT applications. China Mobile is becoming an OpenStack leader through standardization and industrialization.
City Network City Network is a leading provider of infrastructure services in Europe. The company provides public, private and hybrid cloud solutions based on OpenStack from 27 data centers around the world. Its IaaS and global networks make it easy to build solutions that fully exploit the capabilities of OpenStack over multiple locations. Through its industry-specific IaaS, City Network can ensure that customers can comply with demands originating from specific laws and regulations concerning auditing, reputability, data handling and data security such as Basel and Solvency. With the most data centers and features in Europe, and global reach via nodes in APAC and North America, it allows for ease of use while offering complete redundancy and data integrity.
Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies, with more than 156 million mobile customers, 29 million fixed-network lines and around 18 million broadband lines. Deutsche Telekom has announced improvements to its Open Telekom Cloud, first announced at Cebit 2016. At the OpenStack forum in Germany, Deutsche Telekom's business customer division announced further enhancements in Open Telekom Cloud, its public cloud offering, launched in March 2016 at Cebit. Open Telekom Cloud is based on OpenStack and is the company's first public cloud offering running on OpenStack. Deutsche Telekom chose OpenStack in order to keep further development and integration as simple and "open" as possible.
Foundation membership is limited to 24 Gold Members, who vote annually to select eight Board Directors representing the class. In addition to the four new members elected in Barcelona, Gold members are Aptira, CCAT, Cisco, Dell, DellEMC, DreamHost, EasyStack, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Huawei, inwinSTACK, Juniper Networks, Mirantis, NEC, NetApp, Symantec, UnitedStack and Virtuozzo.
"These new Gold Members highlight the ongoing growth and exciting new use cases for OpenStack software," said Mark Collier, COO of the OpenStack Foundation. "Europe, APAC, public cloud and telecom each are proof points that OpenStack is attracting new users and new workloads at a quickening pace. We're looking forward to what the community can learn from these contributors to our project."
About OpenStack
OpenStack is the most widely deployed open source software for building clouds. In use globally at large and small enterprises, telecoms, service providers, and government/research organizations, OpenStack is a technology integration engine that supports the diverse ecosystem of cloud computing innovation. Current news and alerts signup at: http://www.openstack.org/news/signup.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161025006469/en/
Contacts:
Cathey Communications for the OpenStack Foundation
Robert Cathey, 865-386-6118
robert@cathey.co
or
OpenStack Foundation
Lauren Sell
lauren@openstack.org
DUBLIN, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Military Load Carriage Systems Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.
The global military load carriage systems market to post at a CAGR of 3.36% during the forecast period.
The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global military load carriage systems market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report presents the market landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the five major vendors operating in the market. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.
In 2015, the Americas led the market with a share of 36.65%, followed by EMEA with a share of 35.34%, and APAC with a share of 28.01%. Over the forecast period, the European and the Middle East countries are expected to be the fastest-growing market for the military load carriage systems with the major share of expenses made by France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UK.
Introduction of Integrated Load Carriage System will be a key trend for market growth. The Integrated Load Carriage System (ILCS), a patented product line, developed by AttackPAK, comprises of both the backpack and body armor into one unit. This system enables the transfer of the operator's equipment weight onto the hips and legs, off the shoulders and back, of military personnel. This results in the reduction of stress, body pain, and fatigue. This system also enables quick and efficient performance of the soldiers' engagement in military operations, despite carrying heavy loads for long hours.
According to the report, war zones located in rugged and mountainous regions will be a key driver for market growth. Water and food sources are very critical for the sustainment of the armed personnel in the deserted regions, particularly, as the deployed soldiers lose a lot of their body water in the form of sweat during vigorous military training exercises and combat operations. Similarly, the artillery, communication systems, and pharmaceuticals are of equal importance in such regions. This is where the military load carriage systems come into the picture.
Key questions answered in this report
What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?
What are the key market trends?
What is driving this market?
What are the challenges to market growth?
Who are the key vendors in this market space?
What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?
Key vendors
Aegis Engineering
BAE Systems
Boston Dynamics
CQC
Lockheed Martin
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8jdx8h/global_military
Media Contact:
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
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Regulatory News:
In reference to the current report no.9/2016 published on May 4th2016 and current report no. 20/216 published on September 9th 2016 the management board of Arctic Paper S.A. (the "Company") informs investors that on 25 October 2016 (the "Repayment Date") a subsidiary of the Company, Arctic Paper Kostrzyn S.A. (the "Borrower"), repaid the indebtedness referred to below (jointly, the "Indebtedness") under the facility agreement for a facility no higher that the equivalent of PLN 359,000,000 (three hundred and fifty nine million zlotys) dated 6 November 2012, as subsequently amended, amended and restated and most recently amended by amendment agreement no. 7 dated 15 December 2015, entered into between Bank Polska Kasa Opieki S.A. ("Pekao") as security agent and lender, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A. ("BZ WBK") as lender and mBank S.A. ("mBank") as lender, and the Borrower and Arctic Paper Mochenwangen GmbH and Arctic Paper Investment GmbH as guarantors, and the Company as joint and several debtor with the Borrower and as the obligors' agent, under which Pekao, BZ WBK and mBank made available to the Borrower:
1. a multicurrency term loan facility (the "Term Loan Facility"); and 2. an overdraft facility (the "Overdraft Facility"),
on the terms set out in the Existing Facility Agreement, whereby:
a) in respect of EUR-denominated liabilities:
the EUR Overdraft Facility repayment amount (BZ WBK) was EUR 4,223,436.17;
the EUR Overdraft Facility repayment amount (mBank) was EUR 3,620,579.21; and
the EUR Overdraft Facility repayment amount was EUR 4,899,480.76,
therefore, the total EUR repayment amount was EUR 12,743,496.14;
b) in respect of the PLN-denominated liabilities:
the PLN Overdraft Facility repayment amount for BZ WBK was PLN 7,395,271.16;
the PLN Overdraft Facility repayment amount for mBank was PLN 5,663,467.81;
the PLN Overdraft Facility repayment amount for Pekao was PLN 8,335,519.76;
the PLN Term Loan Facility repayment amount for BZ WBK was PLN 39,479,781.03;
the PLN Term Loan Facility repayment amount for mBank was PLN 33,846,688.07; and
the PLN Term Loan Facility repayment amount for Pekao was PLN 45,784,479.07,
therefore, the total PLN repayment amount was PLN 140,505,206.90.
The Company has reported about the conclusion of the above mentioned facility agreement and its subsequent amendments in the current reports no 19/2012 of 6 November 2012, no. 44/2013 dated 20 December 2013 and no. 24/2014 dated 26 October 2014.
The Indebtedness was repaid in connection with a change to the structure of the financing of the Company's Group. In current reports no. 9/2016 and no.20/2016 the Company has informed that centralised financing will enable more efficient management of financial liquidity and flexible adjustment of the level of financing of individual companies.
This information is disclosed pursuant to Art. 17 sec. 1 of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on market abuse (market abuse regulation) and repealing Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directives 2003/124/EC, 2003/125/EC and 2004/72/EC and was submitted for publication on 25 October 2016 at 8:00 pm CET, in reference to Arctic Paper's current report no. 26/2016 filed with the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
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Contacts:
For additional information, please contact:
Per Skoglund, +46 733 21 70 09
acting President of the Management Board of Arctic Paper
FREDERICK, MD -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Welocalize, global leader in innovative translation and localization solutions, is a sponsor and exhibitor at the upcoming Localization World 2016 taking place in Montreal, Canada at the Hotel Bonaventure on October 26-28. Welocalize global team experts will also be presenting and participating in several key panel discussions focused on "Engaging Global Customers" throughout the three day industry event.
As exhibitors, Welocalize globalization and language experts will be hosting a series of topical conversations in the new Welocalize Lounge exhibit space at LocWorld32. They will be meeting with clients and vendors, sharing best practices to help brands expand their global reach.
"Welocalize is delighted to be playing such a prominent role in the Localization World 2016 Conference in Montreal and we look forward to leading the conversation on how to best engage global customers," said Smith Yewell, CEO at Welocalize. "The Welocalize team will be driving discussions across a wide range of key globalization topics and we will be revealing our expanded language service offerings in life sciences, digital marketing, legal and regulatory, language automation, quality validation and more to support the entire globalization journey."
Vice President of Corporate Development at Welocalize, Tuyen Ho, is hosting the LocWorld32 Growth Strategies Round Table, October 26, as part of the preconference program to stimulate discussion around mergers and acquisition activity in the language services industry.
Welocalize will be participating in a new, specially requested preconference session, "Attracting and Developing Talent: A LocWorld Initiative," on October 26. The session examines challenges and solutions for educating professionally trained staff in the localization industry. Welocalize Talent Manager Frederique Froment-Kelleghan will join presenters from the University of Texas at Arlington, PTC, Anzu Global, Cisco Systems Inc., and the University of Maryland.
Welocalize Senior Manager of Solutions Architects, Alex Yanishevsky, is presenting at two sessions at LocWorld. "Open Source in Corporations," takes place Thursday, October 27 with co-presenters Jean Aurambault from Box, Alessandro Cattelan from MateCat and Yan Yu from Spartan Software Inc. Alex's second presentation on Friday, October 28, "Multitasking with Translation Memories: How to Laugh, Cough and Sneeze in Parallel," will cover the entire translation memory life cycle.
Welocalize Senior Client Services Director, Samantha Henderson, will join Katie Belanger from Intuit on October 28 to present, "Localization Models: The Search for the Optimal Linguistic Resource Model."
Welocalize will host their popular client event, LocLeaders Forum 2016 Montreal: The Globalization Journey, on Wednesday, October 26 at Scena, an architectural venue located on the Quays of the Old Port of Montreal. This exclusive event is a unique opportunity for global brands and localization leaders to openly discuss challenges and opportunities impacting their globalization strategies, including transparency, next generation content and the art and science of localization. Erin Wynn, Chief Customer Officer at Welocalize is hosting the event.
"We are delighted to be holding our 2016 LocLeaders Forum event in Montreal and we look forward to welcoming some of the world's largest global brands to take part in some valuable discussions with our team of experts and special guest speakers," said Jamie Glass, CMO and EVP of global service lines at Welocalize. "Welocalize's Brennan Smith, Samantha Henderson and Huw Aveston will moderate discussions with client experts on transformative topics and best practices for supporting their growing business requirements across the entire globalization journey."
For more information about Localization World 2016 Montreal visit https://locworld.com/. Follow Welocalize on Twitter at https://twitter.com/welocalize and with LocLeaders for event updates.
Welocalize, Inc., founded in 1997, offers innovative language services to help global brands reach audiences around the world in more than 175 languages. We provide translation and localization services, talent management, language tools, automation and technology, quality and program management. Our range of managed language services include machine translation, digital marketing, validation and testing, interpretation, staffing and enterprise translation management technologies. We specialize in consumer, technology, manufacturing, learning, oil and gas, travel and hospitality, marketing and advertising, finance, legal and life sciences industry language solutions. With more than 1000 full-time employees worldwide, Welocalize maintains offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Romania, Poland, Japan and China. www.welocalize.com
Media Contacts:
US: Jamie Glass
Email Contact
602.369.5537
Europe/Asia: Louise Law
Email Contact
PALM BAY, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 01/10/17 --Oakridge Global Energy Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: OGES), a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of Lithium-ion smart energy cells for military, civilian and medical applications, is pleased to provide the following General Status Update for the commencement of its 2017 business year.
Since its last series of press releases to the market in September 2016, Oakridge has been working intensively with its major shareholder, Precept Fund Management Group ("Precept"), on a number of highly confidential initiatives for 2017, which due to important non-disclosure obligations imposed on the Company by the various counterparties to these initiatives, the Company has not been at liberty to disclose.
However, in the interests of keeping the market informed, Oakridge can provide the following update as to its activities and what it has planned for 2017 and beyond:
The Company, through its major shareholder, Precept, is currently in the process of closing a significant private placement with a major new strategic investor which will become the Company's second largest shareholder behind Precept, and which, in addition to significant funding, will also bring to the Company major new product distribution and sales opportunities on a global scale;
Precept Group itself has also been working directly with the Company with a view to providing the Company with significant additional working capital funding directly from Precept Group during 2017 to provide the Company with all the capital it needs to fund its business expansion plans for 2017 and beyond;
These two initiatives mean that the Company will not be seeking external funding for its business activities from the capital markets and will be internally funded;
The Company, through Precept, has been working since September to materially expand its network of high level Japanese lithium battery industry relationships, leveraging off Precept's existing network of Japanese relationships, and these new developments include:
1. supply and joint development relationships to facilitate the design and manufacture of the Company's previously announced Generation 2 products, plus additional products that the Company has been working on jointly with its Japanese strategic partners since September 2016;
2. the establishment of a joint venture to manufacture and sell the company's patented thin-film solid state lithium batteries for major new international markets;
1. supply and joint development relationships to facilitate the design and manufacture of the Company's previously announced Generation 2 products, plus additional products that the Company has been working on jointly with its Japanese strategic partners since September 2016; 2. the establishment of a joint venture to manufacture and sell the company's patented thin-film solid state lithium batteries for major new international markets; The approval and finalization of three separate grants and associated financing structures for the funding of the construction of three new state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery manufacturing plants globally as part of the Company's strategy to become a major global player in the industry;
The establishment of new product marketing, sales and distribution arrangements for its products both in the US and globally;
The establishment of a major new corporate and logistics/distribution center on the West Coast of the US for the efficient distribution of its products throughout US and the rest of the Americas;
The establishment of a major new corporate office for the Company in Japan to facilitate the expansion of the Company's important new relationships there, reflecting the fact that from 2017, Japan will become a major strategic center for the Company, both from a technical expertise and also from a product development and manufacturing standpoint;
The expansion of the Company's existing Hong Kong office, which will from Q2 2017, become the Company's global corporate, finance and administrative center, reflecting the fact that as a result of the initiatives the Company started in 2016 following its sale of its stake in Swiss battery manufacturer, Leclanche S.A., the Company's business plan and corporate relationships are now becoming truly global;
The expansion of the Company's Hong Kong presence will also see the appointment of a new international firm as auditor, and is being implemented in conjunction with the finalization of the updating of the Company's financial statements in a way that is consistent both with SEC requirements and with the internationalization of the Company's business that is now underway with the assistance of Precept;
The appointment of a new Defense Industry Advisory Board to facilitate the penetration of the Company's products to the military and defense market in the US and its major Allies.
The planning, with the producers of the financial information show, "New To The Street", of a regular series of globally syndicated TV shows which will track the progress of the Company in the international market as it follows its current path of the globalization of its business, commenced in late 2016.
The Company is not, due to non-disclosure obligations currently placed upon it, at liberty to disclose further details of the above matters at this time, but will be providing specific details on each of these matters when it is at liberty to do so during the coming weeks and months.
About Oakridge Global Energy Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: OGES):
Oakridge Global Energy Solutions, Inc. leads in the innovation, development, manufacturing and marketing of disruptive energy storage technology for military, civilian and medical uses. The company's research & development, and its powerful strategic alliances with leading Japanese industry players has led to the development of some of the world's most innovative Lithium-ion "smart energy cells", all with smart-phone connectivity to monitor status, and representing some of the longest-lasting rechargeable power sources currently available, with a life up to 3 times greater and a 30 percent longer cycle between charges than Chinese-manufactured counterparts. Located in Palm Bay, Florida, the Company is poised to become a dominant player in the lithium-ion energy storage space with its unique "smart energy cells" and is dedicated to bringing manufacturing back to the United States. For more information visit: www.oakridgeglobalenergy.com.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time the statements are made and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainty and other factors that may cause our results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release. This press release should be considered in light of all filings of the Company that are contained in the Edgar Archives of the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
Bill James
Director of Investor Relations
Office: (321) 610-7959 ext. 1008
Direct: (321) 802-9764
bjames@oakg.net
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- The Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network announced the new members of the Board of Directors, which will be led in 2017 by President Alison Beddard of Cushman & Wakefield Commerce. The announcement was made at the 2016 CREW Network Convention and Marketplace, held this year in New York City. Beddard and the other members of the board will officially take office in January, 2017.
Beddard is a Director of Office and Investment Brokerage Services at Cushman and Wakefield Commerce, a regional full service commercial real estate services firm affiliated with Cushman and Wakefield. She has built a successful office and investment brokerage practice representing national and regional companies, institutions and non-profit organizations, in all aspects of commercial brokerage including acquisitions, dispositions, build-to-suits, land acquisition, leasing and sales, closing over $173 million in transactions from 2010 to 2015. In addition, she is a member of the Cushman and Wakefield National Healthcare Practice Group.
She serves on the Advisory Board of Zions Bank Women's Financial Group and on the Salt Lake City Downtown Master Plan Advisory Group. She is a 2016 honoree of Utah Business Magazine's 30 Women to Watch and a 2013 honoree of Utah Business Magazine's Forty Under 40.
New Board Members:
Six members were elected to serve as incoming 2017 CREW Network board positions:
Tara Piurko, 2017 President-Elect, is an equity partner in the Canadian law firm of Blake, Cassels & Graydon in the firm's commercial real estate group.
Gayle Bourdeau, Director, is Vice President and Associate Senior Underwriting Counsel at Stewart Title Guaranty Company Commercial Services office in Boston.
Jeanette Flory-Sagan, Director, is the Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management at Bentall Kennedy LP.
Sharon Herrin, Director, is Owner and President of Herrin Commercial Real Estate, established in 2002.
Gillian Lawrence, Director, is the General Manager of Land Development at Remington Development Corporation, a privately owned full service development company headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Claire Roberts, Director, is an investment broker and a member of the National Office and Industrial Properties Group at the Minneapolis office of Marcus & Millichap.
Returning Board Members:
Members and officers continuing their service on the CREW Network Board of Directors in 2017 are:
Laurie Baker - CREW Network Immediate Past President
Senior Vice President of Fund and Asset Management, Camden Property Trust
CREW Houston
Vicky Gunning - Director
Partner, Locke Lord LLP
CREW Dallas
Holly Neber - Director
CEO, AEI Consultants
CREW East Bay
Social Media Links:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/comre_
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/COMRE1
Blog: http://blog.comre.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/commerce-real-estate-solutions?trk=tabs_biz_home
About Cushman & Wakefield Commerce
Cushman & Wakefield Commerce operates the Cushman & Wakefield business in Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Washington. As part of the Cushman & Wakefield global platform, the firm offers innovative commercial real estate solutions to occupier and investor clients, offering transaction services, capital markets services, occupier and investor services, and real estate advisory. With nearly 300 employees, 9 million sq. ft. of property management and transaction value of more than $2.8 billion, the firm is a leading commercial real estate resource in the Intermountain West region and Pacific Northwest. Learn more at www.comre.com.
About Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield is a leading global real estate services firm that helps clients transform the way people work, shop, and live. The firm's 43,000 employees in more than 60 countries provide deep local and global insights that create significant value for occupiers and investors around the world. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest commercial real estate services firms with revenue of $5 billion across core services of agency leasing, asset services, capital markets, facility services (C&W Services), global occupier services, investment & asset management (DTZ Investors), project & development services, tenant representation, and valuation & advisory. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.
About CREW Network
The CREW Network is the industry's premier business networking organization dedicated to advancing the achievements of women in commercial real estate. CREW Network is comprised of more than 10,000 professionals worldwide who represent nearly all disciplines of commercial real estate -- every type of expert required to "do the deal." Follow CREW Network on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram, and visit CREW Network at www.crewnetwork.org.
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Media Contact:
Tim Rush
Springboard5
+1 801 208 1100
Email Contact
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 25, 2016) - Centurion Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: CTN) ("Centurion", or the "Company") announces it has closed a one-year loan financing for $180,000 from arms' length parties. Proceeds from this financing shall be used to assist the Company in commencing the Ana Sofia, Argentina, agri-gypsum pilot plant operation and for general corporate purposes. The pilot plant will test the efficiency of contract mining and marketable agri-gypsum materials.
In consideration for the loan, the Company has agreed to issue, an aggregate of up to 514,285 bonus common shares, at a deemed price of $0.07 per share and pay interest of 1.5% per month. The loan can be paid off at any time with no penalty to the Company. Finders fees of $12,000 are to be paid on this transaction. The shares are subject to a four-month hold period expiring in February, 2016.
The Ana Sofia project comprises two mining concessions totaling 50 hectares (ha) in size within a larger (approximately 500 ha) exploration permit area. Trenching and test pit sampling work completed by joint venture partner Demetra Minerals Inc. and Centurion identified multiple, high grade, near surface gypsum layers. Small scale producers located in the vicinity are currently extracting agricultural gypsum and selling to fertilizer distributors and farmers. Agricultural gypsum is a valuable plant nutrient and plays a vital role in maintaining soil structure and nutrient balance in South American soils, allowing greater crop yields.
ABOUT CENTURION
Centurion Minerals Ltd. is a Canadian-based company with an international focus on the exploration and development of agri-mineral and precious mineral projects.
On Behalf of the Board,
"David G. Tafel"
President and CEO
For Further Information:
David Tafel
Director
604-683-1991
VANCOUVER, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
(All amounts in US$ unless otherwise specified)
Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") (TSX: CS) today announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016. Operating cash flow before changes in working capital[1] for the quarter was $41.5 million or $0.11 per share, with net income of $11.2 million. Copper production for the quarter totalled 32,027 tonnes (30,939 tonnes of payable copper) at a C1 cash cost[1] of $1.32 per payable pound produced with copper sales for the quarter of 30,359 tonnes at a C1 cash cost[1] of $1.49 per payable pound sold.
Capstone will hold a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time (8:30 a.m. Pacific time) to discuss these results; call-in details and information on associated slides are provided at the end of this release. This release should be read in conjunction with Capstone's consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, which are available on Capstone's website at http://capstonemining.com/investors/financial-reporting/default.aspx and on SEDAR. An updated corporate presentation, including results to September 30, 2016, in addition to the Q3 2016 webcast slides, will also be available at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.
Overview Q3 2016 Q3 2015 2016 YTD 2015 YTD Revenue ($ millions) 139.9 113.0 366.4 328.4 Copper produced (tonnes) 32,027 22,109 84,730 66,886 Payable copper produced (tonnes) 30,939 21,340 81,836 64,560 C1 cash cost per payable pound produced[1] ($/lb) 1.32 1.98 1.50 2.05 All-in cost per payable pound produced[1] ($/lb) 1.65 2.91 1.91 2.97 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound produced[1] ($/lb) 1.75 2.75 2.02 2.92 Copper sold (tonnes) 30,359 24,645 80,893 65,200 Realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb)* 2.18 2.24 2.19 2.45 Adjusted realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb) ** 2.21 2.35 2.26 2.49 C1 cash cost per payable pound sold[1] ($/lb) 1.49 2.16 1.63 2.05 All-in cost per payable pound sold[1] ($/lb) 1.82 2.95 2.05 2.94 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound sold[1] ($/lb) 1.93 2.80 2.16 2.90 Net income (loss) ($ millions) 11.2 (216.0) (15.0) (232.1) Net income (loss) per common share ($) 0.03 (0.44) (0.04) (0.48) Adjusted net income (loss)[1] ($ millions) 7.8 (16.3) (1.2) (23.9) Adjusted net income (loss)[1] per common share ($) 0.02 (0.04) (0.00) (0.06) EBITDA[1] ($ millions) 50.5 (185.4) 91.8 (146.5) Operating cash flow before changes in working capital[1] ($ millions) 41.5 9.2 81.9 47.6 Operating cash flow before changes in working capital per common share[1] ($) 0.11 0.02 0.21 0.12 Cash and cash equivalents ($ millions) 120.4 108.5 120.4 108.5 Net debt[1] ($ millions) 224.2 216.1 224.2 216.1 * Q3 2016 includes a negative provisional pricing adjustment of $1.4 million (2015 - negative $8.0 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to $(0.02) per pound (2015 - $(0.15) per pound) of copper sold during the quarter. 2016 YTD includes a negative provisional pricing adjustment of $12.9 million (2015 - negative $21.6 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to $(0.07) per pound (2015 - ($0.15) per pound) of copper sold during the nine month period. The Q3 2016 and 2016 YTD negative provisional pricing adjustments were predominantly related to assay adjustments. The Q3 2016 figure of ($1.4 million) is broken down as ($0.3 million) related to price adjustments and ($1.1 million) related to assay adjustments. This translates into adjustments of ($0.00) and ($0.02) respectively on a per pound sold basis. The YTD Q3 2016 figure of ($12.9 million) is broken down as ($0.9 million) related to price adjustments and ($12.0 million) related to assay adjustments. This translates into adjustments of ($0.01) and ($0.06) respectively on a per pound sold basis.** Q3 2016 Adjusted realized copper price includes a realized gain of $2.0 million related to maturing forward contracts and nil related to exercised put contracts (Q3 2015 - $5.7 million related to exercised put contracts). 2016 YTD Adjusted realized copper price includes a realized gain of $2.2 million related to maturing forward contracts and $9.6 million related to exercised put contracts (2015 - $5.7 million related to exercised put contracts).
"Operating performance in the third quarter continued to be very strong, setting throughput records at both Pinto Valley and Minto," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "In addition, we received the benefit from a full quarter of processing high grade Minto North ore."
"Our operating cash flow this quarter of $41.5 million has de-levered our balance sheet, even in this low copper price environment, reducing our net debt by $20 million from the second quarter to $224 million," continued Mr. Pylot. "Subsequent to quarter end, we paid down our drawn debt by $20 million. We anticipate taking full advantage of additional free cash flow to further reduce our debt balance over the coming quarters."
Financial Highlights for the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016
Net income of $11.2 million or $0.03 per common share which included: Earnings from mining operations of $27.1 million , Production costs included a $6.5 million non-cash recovery related to the reversal of inventory write-downs, primarily at Minto , A gain on commodity derivatives of $1.0 million , $3.2 million in current and deferred tax expense.
or per common share which included: Working capital increased to$186.1 million at September 30, 2016 from $160.6 million at June 30, 2016 , primarily due to strong cash flows generated from operating activities ( $41.1 million ).
Financial Highlights for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016
Net loss of $15.0 million or $0.04 per common share which included: Earnings from mining operations of $2.8 million , Production costs included a $1.4 million non-cash charge related to the write-down of inventories, primarily at Minto , Share-based compensation expense of $6.5 million , driven primarily by an increase in Capstone's share price, A gain on commodity derivatives of $4.2 million , comprising $2.8 million on copper forward contracts entered into during Q1 2016 and $1.5 million on $2.60 copper puts entered into during Q2 2015, which expired in February 2016 , $7.5 million in current and deferred tax expense.
or per common share which included: Working capital increased to$186.1 million at September 30, 2016 from $162.4 million at December 31, 2015 primarily due to $74.4 million of cash flows generated from operating activities and $15.2 million in proceeds from the exercise of commodity derivatives.
Production and Additional Highlights for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016
Pinto Valley Mine:
Produced 16,658 tonnes of copper in concentrates and cathode during Q3 2016 at a C1 cash cost [ 1 ] of $1.69 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 51,799 tonnes of copper in concentrates and cathode during 2016 YTD at a C1 cash cost [ 1 ] of $1.59 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced. During Q3 2016, copper production continued to be strong as a result of mill throughput above plan, setting a fourth consecutive quarterly record of 57,295 tonnes per day ("tpd"), as well as achieving a monthly throughput record of 58,075 tpd in August and a daily throughput record of 63,900 tpd in September. Higher mill throughput and better than planned copper grade contributed to lower costs on a per pound basis.
Cozamin Mine:
Produced 3,359 tonnes of copper in concentrates during Q3 2016 at a C1 cash cost [ 1 ] of $1.50 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 10,306 tonnes of copper in concentrates during 2016 YTD at a C1 cash cost [ 1 ] of $1.51 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced. During Q3 2016, work continued to advance development, with daily development rates improving steadily as a result of improvements implemented throughout the year. Production was consistent with the Cozamin guidance that was revised at the end of Q2 2016.
Minto Mine:
Produced 12,010 tonnes of copper in concentrates during Q3 2016 at a C1 cash cost [ 1 ] of $0.76 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 22,625 tonnes of copper in concentrates during 2016 YTD at a C1 cash cost [ 1 ] of $1.30 per pound of payable copper produced.
of per pound of payable copper produced. Q3 2016 production continued above plan, reaching levels projected in the increased Q2 2016 Minto guidance. Copper grade averaged 3.16% for the quarter, reflecting a full quarter of processing Minto North high grade ore. The mill recorded a quarterly throughput record, and recoveries were strong due to the lower than expected oxidized content in the Minto North ore.
Open pit mining of the Minto North pit was completed at the end of September 2016 , with the mill now processing high grade stockpile combined with underground ore. Underground mining continued through Q3 2016 and is planned to extend into July 2017 , as additional areas of high-grade underground ore continue to be mined. We are currently reviewing the economics of another stage of mining in the Area 2 pit that could potentially extend operations through 2017. We continue to expect the operation will be temporarily closed in 2017 once underground mining is completed and all the ore from the remaining stockpiles is processed.
Additional highlights:
Total Net Debt/EBITDA was 1.7:1 at September 30, 2016 . With the Total Net Debt/EBITDA ratio falling below 2.0:1, under the revolving credit facility ("RCF") we realized a 25 basis point reduction in interest rates effective mid-October 2016 to LIBOR plus 3.00% from LIBOR plus 3.25%.
. With the Total Net Debt/EBITDA ratio falling below 2.0:1, under the revolving credit facility ("RCF") we realized a 25 basis point reduction in interest rates effective to LIBOR plus 3.00% from LIBOR plus 3.25%. On October 25, 2016 a repayment of $20.0 million was made on the RCF, reducing the outstanding balance to $328.9 million . At the same time, Capstone chose to reduce the credit available under the RCF from $440 million to $420 million , which further reduces the interest rate to LIBOR plus 2.75%.
Operating Outlook
Capstone's consolidated 2016 guidance remains unchanged. The 2016 guidance is to produce 108,000 tonnes (5%) of copper from its Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto mines at a C1 cash cost[1] of $1.45 to $1.55, an All-in cost[1] of $1.90 to $2.00 and Fully-loaded all-in cost[1] of $2.05 to $2.15 per pound of payable copper produced.
Capstone expects to finish the year at the high end of the consolidated production guidance. Consolidated C1 cash cost, All-in cost, and Fully-loaded all-in cost guidance remains unchanged, as lower costs at Pinto Valley and higher volume at Minto are expected to offset higher operating costs at Cozamin.
Conference Call and Webcast Details
Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Time:11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time)
Dial in:North America: 1-888-390-0546, International: +416-764-8688
Webcast:http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1239352&s=1&k=8BAA23C969A4C534E3BE63477AC38ADA
Replay:North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677
Replay Passcode:651862#
The conference call replay will be available until Wednesday, November 2, 2016. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within 48 hours of the call at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.
About Capstone Mining Corp.
Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, focused on copper. We are committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our three producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in Arizona, US, the Cozamin copper-silver mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects; the large scale 70% owned copper-iron Santo Domingo project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned Kutcho copper-zinc project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile and US. Capstone's strategy is to focus on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable, mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at http://www.capstonemining.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This document may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Capstone does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable securities legislation.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect our expectations or beliefs regarding future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production and capital expenditures, the success of our mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses and title disputes. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. In this document certain forward-looking statements are identified by words including "guidance", "anticipate", "planned", "potentially", "expect", "expects" and "expected". By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, amongst others, risks related to inherent hazards associated with mining operations, assumptions related to geotechnical condition of tailings facilities, future prices of copper and other metals, compliance with financial covenants, surety bonding, our ability to raise capital, counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals, use of financial derivative instruments and associated counterparty risks, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation, compliance with governmental regulations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, reliance on approvals, licences and permits from governmental authorities, impact of climatic conditions on our Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto operations, aboriginal title claims and rights to consultation and accommodation, land reclamation and mine closure obligations, uncertainties and risks related to the potential development of the Santo Domingo Project, increased operating and capital costs, challenges to title to our mineral properties, dependence on key management personnel, potential conflicts of interest involving our directors and officers, corruption and bribery, limitations inherent in our insurance coverage, labour relations, increasing energy prices, competition in the mining industry, risks associated with joint venture partners, our ability to integrate new acquisitions into our operations, cybersecurity threats and other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause our results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that our forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.
National Instrument 43-101 Compliance
Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents.
The technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). The disclosure of the Technical Information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Technical Information related to mineral exploration activities has been reviewed and approved by Brad Mercer, P. Geol., Senior Vice President, Exploration. Both are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.
Alternative Performance Measures
The items marked with a "[1]" are alternative performance measures and readers should refer to Alternative Performance Measures in the Company's Consolidated Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 as filed on SEDAR and as available on the Company's website.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors
This news release contains disclosure that has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Without limiting the foregoing, this news release may refer to technical reports that use the terms "indicated" and "inferred" resources. US investors are cautioned that, while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian securities laws, the SEC does not recognize them. Under US standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. US investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of indicated resources will ever be converted into reserves. US investors should also understand that "inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of "inferred resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Therefore, US investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred resources exist, or that they can be mined legally or economically. Accordingly, information concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources contained in this news release may not be comparable to information made public by US companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.
[1]Thisisanalternativeperformancemeasure;pleasesee"AlternativePerformance Measures"attheendofthisrelease.
Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor Relations and Communications, +1-604-637-8157, cburnett@capstonemining.com
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 25, 2016) - Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX: AVL) (OTCQX: AVLNF) ("Avalon" or the "Company") announces that as a result of a review by staff of the Ontario Securities Commission, it is issuing the following news release clarifying the disclosure in its September 27, 2016, news release related to its 100% owned Separation Rapids Lithium Project (the "Project"), Kenora, Ontario. The Company neglected to inform readers that the comprehensive technical report would be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of the date of the news release, prior to November 11, 2016.
The Company clarifies the classification and tonnes of the feldspar by-product in relation to the lithium mineral resource estimate (which was originally reported as 8.0 Mt of Inferred Resources), will be classified in the PEA as 4.03 Mt of Measured Resources and 3.97 Mt of Indicated Resources, as well as an additional 1.63 Mt of Inferred Resources. A table of the resource estimate providing full details and notes is appended below.
This clarification is partially the result of additional quantitative mineralogical work completed since the original estimate was completed. The revised estimate appended below utilizes the same assumptions and parameters with respect to commodity prices, mining method and other factors as given in the news release of September 27, 2016.
Some cautionary language required due to the inclusion of Inferred resources in the economic model was also inadvertently omitted. In compliance with paragraph 2.3(3)(a) of National Instrument 43-101 the Company states that the preliminary economic assessment described therein is preliminary in nature, that it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.
Finally, Paragraph 2.3(1)(b) of NI 43-101 restricts disclosure of an economic analysis on an extrapolation of results beyond the defined mineral resource estimate and the following is therefore retracted: "If additional drilling on untested extensions of the Deposit were to increase the resource and extend the initial 10 year lithium production period, each additional year of additional lithium production could add $200 million in revenues per year and significantly increase the NPV of the Project."
About Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.
Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (formerly Avalon Rare Metals Inc.) is a Canadian mineral development company specializing in niche market metals and minerals with growing demand in new technology. The Company has three advanced stage projects, all 100%-owned, providing investors with exposure to lithium, tin and indium, as well as rare earth elements, tantalum, niobium, and zirconium. Avalon is currently focusing on its Separation Rapids Lithium Project, Kenora, ON and its East Kemptville Tin-Indium Project, Yarmouth, NS. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship are corporate cornerstones.
For questions and feedback, please e-mail the Company at ir@AvalonAM.com, or phone Don Bubar, President & CEO at 416-364-4938.
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the results of the PEA, including the proposed development model and potential economics, the key measures and economics reported in the PEA, timelines, capital and sustaining costs, power and storage facilities, life of mine, social, community and environmental impacts, mineral resource and, mineral reserve estimates, lithium and feldspar markets and sales prices, off-take agreements and purchasers for the Company's products, environmental assessment and permitting, securing sufficient financing on acceptable terms, opportunities for short and long term optimization of the Project, and continued positive discussions and relationships with local communities and stakeholders. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "potential", "scheduled", "anticipates", "continues", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "scheduled", "targeted", "planned", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" or "will not be" taken, reached or result, "will occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Avalon to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. Although Avalon has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to market conditions, Avalon's ability to secure sufficient financing to advance and complete the Project, uncertainties associated with securing the necessary approvals and permits in a timely manner, assumptions used in the PEA proving to be inaccurate, uncertainties associated with Avalon's resource and reserve estimates, uncertainties regarding global supply and demand for lithium and feldspar and market and sales prices, uncertainties associated with securing off-take agreements and customer contracts, uncertainties with respect to social, community and environmental impacts, uncertainties with respect to optimization opportunities for the Project as well as those risk factors set out in the Company's current Annual Information Form, Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such forward-looking statements have been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Avalon does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Reserve and Resource Estimates
The reserve and resource estimates in this news release have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all reserve and resource estimates included in this news release have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects.
Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and reserve and resource information contained in this news release may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by United States companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the term "resource" does not equate to the term "reserve". Under United States standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. The SEC's disclosure standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information concerning "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" or "inferred mineral resources" or other descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not constitute "reserves" by United States standards in documents filed with the SEC. United States investors should also understand that "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" exists, is economically or legally mineable, or will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimated "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies except in rare cases. Disclosure of the amount of minerals contained in a resource estimate is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. The requirements of NI 43-101 for identification of "reserves" are also not the same as those of the SEC, and reserves reported by Avalon in compliance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as "reserves" under SEC standards. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth herein may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with United States standards.
Appendix I
Separation Rapids, Mineral Resource Estimate at 0.6% Li 2 O Cut-off Grade
As at October 21, 2016
Class Tonnes
(Mt) Li 2 O
(%)
Total Feldspar
(%)
Ta 2 O 5
(%)
Cs 2 O
(%)
Rb 2 O
(%)
SG Measured 4.03 1.32 39 0.006 0.017 0.343 2.66 Indicated 3.97 1.26 39 0.007 0.025 0.362 2.67 Measured plus Indicated 8.00 1.29 39 0.006 0.021 0.352 2.66 Inferred 1.63 1.42 39 0.008 0.016 0.360 2.64
Notes:
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Orbite Technologies Inc. (TSX: ORT)(OTCQX: EORBF) ("Orbite", or the "Company") today announced that, further to its press release of October 13, 2016, production activities continue as planned at its high purity alumina ("HPA") plant.
-- Feedstock digestion, which commenced on September 30, is now operating automatically, smoothly and as anticipated, and production times have come down, as planned.14 digestion batches have been completed, and batch production times have decreased to four hours per batch, well within design parameters. -- The digestion liquors continue to be transferred to the crystallisation circuit for the production of Aluminum Chloride Hexahydrate (ACH) crystals, the precursor to High Purity Alumina (HPA). To date, 35 tonnes of ACH crystals have been produced, corresponding to close to 10 tonnes of HPA, once calcined. -- Purity levels of the ACH crystals, produced in the first batches, were in excess of 5N, ahead of expectations. This corresponds to HPA purity levels in excess of 4N5. Recently produced ACH purity levels have increased further and are very close to reaching the levels corresponding to 5N HPA. -- Based on this positive progress, the company will commence decomposer and calciner heat up in the coming days to commence calcination of ACH crystals into HPA.
"Purity of the initial batches of ACH crystals is excellent, and continues to surpass our expectations so soon after start of production," stated Glenn Kelly, CEO of Orbite. "Operations to date clearly validate our technology for the production of ACH and we look forward to commencing the conversion of the ACH crystals into HPA of 5N+ levels. As we intend to be a producer of ultra-high purity alumina, our production sequence is to only transfer ACH crystals to the calcination circuit once the required purity levels have been achieved. While we could have started HPA production with earlier batches, we aim to deliver higher purity and therefore higher value HPA to the market in response to demand from our potential customers."
About Orbite
Orbite Technologies Inc. is a Canadian cleantech company whose innovative and proprietary processes are expected to produce alumina and other high-value products, such as rare earth and rare metal oxides, at one of the lowest costs in the industry, and in a sustainable fashion, using feedstocks that include aluminous clay, kaolin, nepheline, bauxite, red mud, fly ash as well as serpentine residues from chrysotile processing sites. Orbite is currently in the process of finalizing its first commercial high-purity alumina (HPA) production plant in Cap-Chat, Quebec and has completed the basic engineering for a proposed smelter-grade alumina (SGA) production plant, which would use clay mined from its Grande-Vallee deposit. The Company's portfolio contains 16 intellectual property families, including 45 patents and 71 pending patent applications in 11 different countries and regions. The first intellectual property family is patented in Canada, USA, Australia, China, Japan and Russia. The Company also operates a state of the art technology development center in Laval, Quebec, where its technologies are developed and validated.
Forward-looking statements
Certain information contained in this document may include "forward-looking information". Without limiting the foregoing, the information and any forward-looking information may include statements regarding projects, costs, objectives and future returns of the Company or hypotheses underlying these items. In this document, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information are based on information available at the time and/or the Company management's good-faith beliefs with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. These risks uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those described in the section of the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) entitled "Risk and Uncertainties" as filed on March 30, 2016 on SEDAR, including those under the headings "Recent increase in budgeted capital costs will require additional financing and may adversely impact our prospects", "We will need to raise capital to continue our growth" and "Development Goals and Time Frames".
The Company does not intend, nor does it undertake, any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements contained in this document to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.
Contacts:
NATIONAL Equicom
Marc Lakmaaker, External Investor Relations Consultant
416-848-1397
mlakmaaker@national.ca
For Media Inquiries:
NATIONAL Equicom
Scott Anderson, External Media Relations Consultant
416-586-1954
sanderson@national.ca
BAAR, Switzerland, Oct. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Weatherford International plc (NYSE: WFT) reported GAAP net loss of $1.78 billion, or a net loss of $1.98 per share, and non-GAAP adjusted net loss before charges and credits of $349 million ($0.39 adjusted net loss per share) on revenues of $1.36 billion for the third quarter of 2016.
Third Quarter 2016 Highlights
Total revenue declined 3% sequentially and excluding revenue from the now concluded Zubair project, revenue increased sequentially by 1%, after seven consecutive quarterly declines;
North America revenue increased 12% sequentially;
revenue increased 12% sequentially; Both International and North America sequential operating income and operating income margin showed improvement;
sequential operating income and operating income margin showed improvement; Completed 100% of the planned 8,000 reduction in force with realized annualized savings of $504 million ;
; Ceased operations in three manufacturing and service facilities, a year-to-date total of ten, exceeding the nine planned closures for the year;
Closed five additional operating and other facilities, now at 59 year-to-date;
Named oilfield services company of the year at the 2016 Oil & Gas Middle East Awards out of four finalists including Schlumberger;
Recognized for safety and service quality performance on Chevron's operations in Angola and Australia ;
and ; Received the Silver Award for Canada's safest employer in the oil and gas industry category for the third consecutive year and;
safest employer in the oil and gas industry category for the third consecutive year and; Received Top International Business Award out of a strong field of nominees for our 2015 Digital Annual Report.
(In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)
Three Months Ended
Change
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
9/30/2015
Sequential
Year-on-Year
Total Segment Results
Revenue
$ 1,356
$ 1,402
$ 2,237
(3)
%
(39)
% Operating Income (Loss)
$ (111)
$ (66)
$ 80
(68)
%
(239)
% Operating Margin
(8.2)
%
(4.7)
%
3.6
%
(350)
bps
(1,176 )
bps Adjusted Revenue *
$ 1,340
$ 1,333
$ 2,222
1
%
(40)
% Adjusted Operating Income (Loss) *
$ (111)
$ (116)
$ 120
5
%
(192)
% Adjusted Operating Margin *
(8.3)
%
(8.7)
%
5.4
%
48
bps
(1,365 )
bps Adjusted Decrementals (Incrementals) **
(77)
%
26
%
Net Loss
$ (1,780)
$ (565)
$ (170)
(215)
%
(947)
% Adjusted Net Loss *
$ (349)
$ (253)
$ (42)
(38)
%
(731)
%
Diluted Loss per Share
$ (1.98)
$ (0.63)
$ (0.22)
(214)
%
(800)
% Adjusted Diluted Loss per Share *
$ (0.39)
$ (0.28)
$ (0.05)
(38)
%
(619)
%
* Adjusted Revenue, Operating Income (Loss), Operating Margin, Net Loss and Diluted Loss per Share here and elsewhere in this filing are non-GAAP measures and primarily exclude the revenue and charges and credits for the Zubair legacy contract. ** Adjusted Decrementals (Incrementals) here and elsewhere in this filing is calculated by taking the change in adjusted operating income (loss) over the change in adjusted revenue.
Bernard J. Duroc-Danner, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Our third quarter results represent the first period of revenue growth ex-Zubair, following seven consecutive industry-wide quarters of declining activity and pricing. Given that the industry bottomed during the second quarter, the worst of the historical downturn is behind us, and the market is slowly turning.
In North America, revenue grew sequentially by 12% with increased utilization and operating efficiencies. This is the first step towards a recovery. Operators are exhibiting increased willingness to invest in production oriented projects with oil prices at or just above $50/barrel.
Internationally, excluding the Zubair project which has concluded, revenue declined by 4%. Latin America grew sequentially in Mexico, Bolivia and Colombia with the region showing some signs of life. Both the North Sea and Russia were quite resilient while sub-Sahara Africa continued its downward spiral in Angola and Nigeria. In the Middle East/ North Africa/ Asia Pacific region, further slowdowns in activity across Asia Pacific combined with pricing headwinds in the Middle East offset increased activity levels in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.
Leading market indicators continue to show a tightening of the global supply and demand balance, and we anticipate these trends will steadily accelerate.In addition to these fundamentals, potential production discipline by OPEC and Russia should further underpin the strengthening of oil prices, giving rise to increased spending by our customers next year.
We are encouraged by our revenue performance in the third quarter and the fact that our operating income margins improved modestly. With these positive signs, a low cost structure and a repaired balance sheet, we are increasingly confident about our future. Technology and service quality will drive our path forward. Operations is our entire focus. Through innovation, we are further integrating our product line disciplines, which will improve productivity and result in higher capital efficiency.
As we look forward to the unfolding recovery, our vast geographical footprint and highly engineered technology and service offering, along with our ability to aggressively respond to change, will unlock more opportunity and value across our organization. We are engaging and partnering closely with our customers, helping them maximize efficiency and optimize performance. We stand together at the starting point ready to capitalize on the inevitable recovery."
Third Quarter 2016 Results
Revenue for the third quarter of 2016 was $1.36 billion compared with $1.40 billion in the second quarter of 2016 and $2.24 billion in the third quarter of 2015. Third quarter revenues declined 3% sequentially and 39% from the prior year. Adjusted revenue grew 1% with North America growing by 12% and International revenue declining by 4%. Land Drilling Rigs revenue declined 10% sequentially.
GAAP net loss for the third quarter of 2016 was $1.78 billion (net loss of $1.98 per share), compared to $565 million in the second quarter of 2016 (net loss of $0.63 per share), and $170 million in the third quarter of the prior year (net loss of $0.22 per share).
Non-GAAP adjusted net loss for the third quarter of 2016 was $349 million (adjusted net loss of $0.39 per share), compared to $253 million in the second quarter of 2016 (adjusted net loss of $0.28 per share), and $42 million in the third quarter of the prior year (adjusted net loss of $0.05 per share).
After-tax charges, net of credits, of $1.43 billion for the third quarter include:
$719 million primarily from the impairment of long-lived assets, inventory write-downs, accounts receivable and other charges;
primarily from the impairment of long-lived assets, inventory write-downs, accounts receivable and other charges; $683 million of tax valuation allowances, primarily in the United States and other tax charges;
of tax valuation allowances, primarily in and other tax charges; $20 million in severance and restructuring; and
in severance and restructuring; and $9 million in litigation charges.
Negative operating margin of 8.2% for the third quarter deteriorated by 350 basis points sequentially, and by 1,176 basis points from the third quarter of 2015. Adjusted operating margin of 8.3% for the third quarter improved by 48 basis points sequentially, and declined 1,365 basis points from the third quarter of 2015. Sequential adjusted operating income incrementals were 77% on a 1% revenue increase and year-over-year adjusted operating income decrementals were 26% on a revenue decline of 40%.
Segment Highlights
North America
(In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)
Three Months Ended
Change
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
9/30/2015
Sequential
Year-on-Year
North America
Revenue
$ 449
$ 401
$ 824
12
%
(46)
% Operating Loss
$ (95)
$ (101)
$ (54)
6
%
(77)
% Operating Margin
(21.2)
%
(25.2)
%
(6.5)
%
394
bps
(1,470)
bps
Third quarter revenues of $449 million were up $48 million, or 12% sequentially, and down $375 million, or 46%, over the same quarter in the prior year. Third quarter operating losses improved by $6 million sequentially to $95 million (-21.2% margin) and increased $41 million from an operating loss of $54 million in the same quarter of the prior year. The 12% increase in sequential revenue in the region was attributed to the recovery from Canadian spring breakup and the 14% increase in the US rig count. On an overall basis, completion, artificial lift, well construction and pressure pumping operations drove the revenue and operating income growth.
International Operations
(In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)
Three Months Ended
Change
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
9/30/2015
Sequential
Year-on-Year
International Operations
Revenue
$ 809
$ 892
$ 1,227
(9)
%
(34)
% Operating Income
$ 3
$ 52
$ 118
(94)
%
(97)
% Adjusted Revenue *
$ 793
$ 823
$ 1,211
(4)
%
(34)
% Adjusted Operating Income *
$ 3
$ 2
$ 158
128
%
(98)
% Adjusted Operating Margin *
0.5
%
0.2
%
13.0
%
27
bps
(1,257 )
bps
* Adjusted Revenue, Operating Income, and Operating Margin are non-GAAP measures and primarily exclude the revenue and charges and credits for the Zubair legacy contract.
Excluding Zubair, third quarter adjusted revenues of $793 million were down $30 million or 4% sequentially, and lower by $418 million, or 34% compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Third quarter adjusted operating income of $3 million (0.5% margin) was higher by $1 million sequentially and $155 million lower versus the same quarter in the prior year.
Latin America
Third quarter revenues of $255 million were up $6 million, or 2% sequentially, and down $166 million, or 39%, compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Third quarter operating income of $14 million (5.1% margin) was up $13 million sequentially and down 82% compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Incrementals of 215% for the quarter were driven mainly by higher activity with customers in Mexico, Bolivia and Colombia.
Europe /Sub-Sahara Africa/ Russia
Third quarter revenues of $225 million were down $18 million, or 8% sequentially, and down $136 million, or 38%, over the same quarter in the prior year. Third quarter operating loss of $3 million (-1.0% margin) deteriorated by $4 million or 459% sequentially, and was down 105%, when compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Continued rig count declines in offshore West Africa, mainly Angola, and lower customer activity in Nigeria negatively impacted both the revenues and operating loss for the quarter.
Middle East / North Africa / Asia Pacific
Third quarter revenues of $329 million were down $71 million, or 18% sequentially, and down $116 million, or 26%, from the same quarter in the prior year. Operating loss of $8 million (-2.2% margin) was down from near break-even last quarter and down $10 million from the same quarter in the prior year. The sequential revenue decrease was mainly caused by the end of the Zubair project in Iraq with a one-off substantial revenue recognition last quarter reflecting the settlement agreement, coupled with customer activity declines throughout the Asia Pacific region. Adjusted revenues were down $16 million, or 5% sequentially and 27% from the same quarter in the prior year while the adjusted operating loss, increased $8 million from the prior quarter due to pricing headwinds in the Middle East and lower activity across Asia Pacific.
Land Drilling Rigs
Third quarter revenues of $98 million were down $11 million, or 10% sequentially, and down $88 million, or 48%, compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Third quarter operating loss of $19 million (-19.4% margin) was down $2 million sequentially and down $35 million from the same quarter in the prior year. A combination of lower rig utilization due to rig maintenance and delays in equipment and personnel reactivations in Algeria, and lower day rates from the mix of operating rigs adversely impacted both the revenues and operating loss for the quarter.
Operational Highlights
Weatherford achieved successful inaugural runs of the HeatWave' Extreme (HEX) triple-combo logging-while-drilling (LWD) tool string. The first run was completed in early September, on a well in the Gulf of Thailand with a measured depth of more than 14,000 feet and a maximum circulating temperature of 388F (198C). The HEX triple-combo LWD string delivered a complete suite of measurements while drilling. The technology has since been run on five additional wells, with zero downhole non-productive time. Further deployments are planned. The HEX triple-combo technology was jointly developed by Weatherford and its client as part of the second phase of the HEX project, which was first announced in November 2015 . Following the successful deployment of the phase-one HEX service, and recognition at the 2015 Society of Petroleum Engineers Thailand E&P Annual Awards Program, the team turned its focus to applying the high-temperature technology to the full suite of triple-combo LWD measurements.
with a measured depth of more than 14,000 feet and a maximum circulating temperature of 388F (198C). The HEX triple-combo LWD string delivered a complete suite of measurements while drilling. The technology has since been run on five additional wells, with zero downhole non-productive time. Further deployments are planned. The HEX triple-combo technology was jointly developed by Weatherford and its client as part of the second phase of the HEX project, which was first announced in . Following the successful deployment of the phase-one HEX service, and recognition at the 2015 Society of Petroleum Engineers Thailand E&P Annual Awards Program, the team turned its focus to applying the high-temperature technology to the full suite of triple-combo LWD measurements. The Company saw significant market share gains in the UK North Sea. Among our many operational achievements in this region was our first offshore contract for combined Drilling Services and Surface Logging Systems, which included the deployment of the CrossWave azimuthal sonic tool, the SineWave microimager, the PressureWave formation tester and a triple-combo logging-while-drilling (LWD) suite. The technologies delivered a full suite of high-quality LWD and mud-logging data, eliminated the need for wireline deployment, and helped the client reach total depth three days ahead of plan.
Weatherford was awarded a multi-year, $480 million wireline and testing services contract for a NOC in the Middle East . The scope of services will include deployment of our Compact' imaging and formation-testing tools, our industry-leading Raptor' cased-hole reservoir evaluation tool, and several new technologies for heavy-oil fields. In a world where the next step in activity will be dominated by land development, Weatherford is well positioned for outperformance.
wireline and testing services contract for a NOC in the . The scope of services will include deployment of our Compact' imaging and formation-testing tools, our industry-leading Raptor' cased-hole reservoir evaluation tool, and several new technologies for heavy-oil fields. In a world where the next step in activity will be dominated by land development, Weatherford is well positioned for outperformance. Weatherford Russia was recognized as the Best Directional Drilling Company of the Year by Rosneft at the second specialized Exploration and Production Technologies 2016 conference held in Moscow in early October. Rosneft reviewed the performance of several Russian and foreign contractors in the areas of health, safety and environment (HSE) as well as reliability and technology. As a result, Weatherford was recognized for achieving the best results in directional drilling and logging and measurement throughout 2015.
in early October. Rosneft reviewed the performance of several Russian and foreign contractors in the areas of health, safety and environment (HSE) as well as reliability and technology. As a result, Weatherford was recognized for achieving the best results in directional drilling and logging and measurement throughout 2015. Weatherford recently completed production riser installation operations for a super-major operator in the Asia Pacific region. A suite of customized tubular running technologies, including a Weatherford 21-300 Riser Tong and the PowerFrame II tong-positioning system, was fully integrated into the rig. To enhance the quality of connections made up on the rig, the operator will use Weatherford JAM delta torque software, which helps to prevent markings on the pipe and preserves the external coating.
region. A suite of customized tubular running technologies, including a Weatherford 21-300 Riser Tong and the PowerFrame II tong-positioning system, was fully integrated into the rig. To enhance the quality of connections made up on the rig, the operator will use Weatherford JAM delta torque software, which helps to prevent markings on the pipe and preserves the external coating. In Brazil , Weatherford deployed the Microflux control system and the SeaShield below-tension-ring rotating control device to transform a previously abandoned well into an injector through a target zone to an estimated total depth of 18,000 feet (5,486 meters) in a challenging deepwater environment. Together, these technologies provided early detection of kicks and losses, and enabled quick, accurate drilling decisions and precise control of the wellbore pressure profile. Operations were completed with zero non-productive time.
Free Cash Flow
Net cash used in operating activities was $106 million and free cash flow used in operations was $147 million for the third quarter of 2016. Capital expenditures of $62 million were down $69 million, or 53% versus the same quarter in the prior year and increased by $31 million, or 100%, from the second quarter of 2016. Also included in the quarter's free cash flow were $101 million of debt interest payments. Additionally, $38 million of cash severance and restructuring costs were paid this quarter, thereby reducing operating costs going forward. Although working capital generated $65 million of cash, driven by reductions in inventory balances, this was well short of expectations as we saw a large number of customers managing their cash flow actively and further delaying payments to service companies across the board.
Reclassifications
Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation related to the adoption of new accounting standards.
About Weatherford
Weatherford is one of the largest multinational oilfield service companies providing innovative solutions, technology and services to the oil and gas industry.The Company operates in over 100 countries and has a network of approximately 1,000 locations, including manufacturing, service, research and development, and training facilities and employs approximately 31,000 people. For more information, visit www.weatherford.com and connect with Weatherford on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call with financial analysts to discuss the quarterly results on October26, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. eastern time (ET), 7:30 a.m. central time (CT). Weatherford invites investors to listen to the call live via the Company's website, www.weatherford.com , in the Investor Relations section. A recording of the conference call and transcript of the call will be available in that section of the website shortly after the call ends.
Contacts:
Krishna Shivram +1.713.836.4610
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Karen David-Green +1.713.836.7430
Vice President - Investor Relations, Corporate Marketing and Communications
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains, and the conference call announced in this release may include, forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, the Company's quarterly non-GAAP earnings per share, effective tax rate, free cash flow, net debt, forecasts or expectations regarding business outlook, and capital expenditures, and are also generally identified by the words "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "outlook," "budget," "intend," "strategy," "plan," "guidance," "may," "should," "could," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs of Weatherford's management, and are subject to significant risks, assumptions and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements. Readers are also cautioned that forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results, including possible changes in the expected savings associated with prior workforce reduction and prior and ongoing facility closures; and risks associated with the Company's ability to achieve the benefits and cost savings of such activities. Forward-looking statements are also affected by the risk factors described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and those set forth from time-to-time in the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). We undertake no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except to the extent required under federal securities laws.
Weatherford International plc Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
9/30/2016
9/30/2015
9/30/2016
9/30/2015
Net Revenues:
North America
$ 449
$ 824
$ 1,393
$ 2,795
Middle East/North Africa/Asia Pacific
329
445
1,090
1,494
Europe/SSA/Russia
225
361
725
1,196
Latin America
255
421
809
1,370
Land Drilling Rigs
98
186
326
566
Total Net Revenues
1,356
2,237
4,343
7,421
Operating Income (Loss):
North America
(95)
(54)
(324)
(156)
Middle East/North Africa/Asia
(8)
42
(2)
166
Europe/SSA/Russia
(3)
43
(3)
179
Latin America
14
73
59
256
Land Drilling Rigs
(19)
16
(62)
30
Segment Operating Income (Loss)
(111)
120
(332)
475
Research and Development
(33)
(56)
(119)
(179)
Corporate Expenses
(30)
(45)
(107)
(147)
Loss on Sale of Businesses, Net
-
-
(1)
(2)
Other Charges
(771)
(117)
(1,293)
(659)
Total Operating Loss
(945)
(98)
(1,852)
(512)
Other Expense:
Interest Expense, Net
(129)
(114)
(363)
(351)
Bond Tender Premium, Net
-
-
(78)
-
Currency Devaluation Charges
-
(26)
(31)
(68)
Other, Net
(10)
12
(16)
(17)
Net Loss Before Income Taxes
(1,084)
(226)
(2,340)
(948)
Income Tax (Provision) Benefit
(692)
65
(489)
197
Net Loss
(1,776)
(161)
(2,829)
(751)
Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests
4
9
14
26
Net Loss Attributable to Weatherford
$ (1,780)
$ (170)
$ (2,843)
$ (777)
Loss Per Share Attributable to Weatherford:
Basic & Diluted
$ (1.98)
$ (0.22)
$ (3.27)
$ (1.00)
Weighted Average Shares Outstanding:
Basic & Diluted
899
779
871
778
Weatherford International plc Selected Statements of Operations Information (Unaudited) (In Millions)
Three Months Ended
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
3/31/2016
12/31/2015
9/30/2015 Net Revenues:
North America $ 449
$ 401
$ 543
$ 699
$ 824
Middle East/North Africa/Asia Pacific 329
400
361
453
445
Europe/SSA/Russia 225
243
257
337
361
Latin America 255
249
305
376
421
Land Drilling Rigs 98
109
119
147
186
Total Net Revenues $ 1,356
$ 1,402
$ 1,585
$ 2,012
$ 2,237
Three Months Ended
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
3/31/2016
12/31/2015
9/30/2015 Operating Income (Loss):
North America $ (95)
$ (101)
$ (128)
$ (68)
$ (54)
Middle East/North Africa/Asia Pacific (8)
-
6
45
42
Europe/SSA/Russia (3)
1
(1)
38
43
Latin America 14
1
44
59
73
Land Drilling Rigs (19)
(17)
(26)
(17)
16
Segment Operating Income (Loss) (111)
(116)
(105)
57
120
Research and Development (33)
(41)
(45)
(52)
(56)
Corporate Expenses (30)
(34)
(43)
(47)
(45)
Loss on Sale of Businesses, Net -
-
(1)
(4)
-
Other Charges (771)
(269)
(253)
(988)
(117)
Total Operating Loss $ (945)
$ (460)
$ (447)
$ (1,034)
$ (98)
Three Months Ended
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
3/31/2016
12/31/2015
9/30/2015 Product Service Line Revenues:
Formation Evaluation and Well Construction (a) $ 765
$ 806
$ 890
$ 1,087
$ 1,235
Completion and Production (b) 493
487
576
778
816
Land Drilling Rigs 98
109
119
147
186
Total Product Service Line Revenues $ 1,356
$ 1,402
$ 1,585
$ 2,012
$ 2,237
Three Months Ended
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
3/31/2016
12/31/2015
9/30/2015 Depreciation and Amortization:
North America $ 55
$ 58
$ 54
$ 73
$ 87
Middle East/North Africa/Asia Pacific 60
60
61
61
62
Europe/SSA/Russia 45
48
48
46
52
Latin America 56
56
61
63
63
Land Drilling Rigs 22
23
22
26
28
Research and Development and Corporate 4
4
4
6
6
Total Depreciation and Amortization $ 242
$ 249
$ 250
$ 275
$ 298
(a) Formation Evaluation and Well Construction includes Managed-Pressure Drilling, Drilling Services, Tubular Running Services, Drilling Tools, Wireline Services, Testing and Production Services, Re-entry and Fishing Services, Cementing, Liner Systems, Integrated Laboratory Services and Surface Logging. (b) Completion and Production includes Artificial Lift Systems, Stimulation and Completion Systems.
We report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). However, Weatherford's management believes that certain non-GAAP financial measures and ratios (as defined under the SEC's Regulation G) may provide users of this financial information, additional meaningful comparisons between current results and results of prior periods. The non-GAAP amounts shown below should not be considered as substitutes for operating income, provision for income taxes, net income or other data prepared and reported in accordance with GAAP, but should be viewed in addition to the Company's reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Weatherford International plc Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited) (In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
9/30/2015
9/30/2016
9/30/2015
Net Revenues:
GAAP Revenue
$ 1,356
$ 1,402
$ 2,237
$ 4,343
$ 7,421
Legacy Contract Revenue
16
69
16
83
108
Non-GAAP Adjusted Revenue
$ 1,340
$ 1,333
$ 2,221
$ 4,260
$ 7,313
Operating Income (Loss):
GAAP Operating Loss
$ (945)
$ (460)
$ (98)
$ (1,852)
$ (512)
Severance, Restructuring and Exited Businesses
22
51
51
150
164
Litigation Charges, Net
9
114
-
190
112
Impairments, Asset Write-Downs and Other (a)
740
154
26
951
265
Legacy Contracts and Other
-
(50)
40
2
118
Loss on Sale of Businesses, Net
-
-
-
1
2
Total Non-GAAP Adjustments
771
269
117
1,294
661
Non-GAAP Adjusted Operating Income (Loss)
$ (174)
$ (191)
$ 19
$ (558)
$ 149
Loss Before Income Taxes:
GAAP Loss Before Income Taxes
$ (1,084)
$ (664)
$ (226)
$ (2,340)
$ (948)
Operating Income Adjustments
771
269
117
1,294
661
Bond Tender Premium, Net
-
78
-
78
-
Currency Devaluation Charges
-
-
26
31
68
Non-GAAP Loss Before Income Taxes
$ (313)
$ (317)
$ (83)
$ (937)
$ (219)
(Provision) Benefit for Income Taxes:
GAAP (Provision) Benefit for Income Taxes
$ (692)
$ 102
$ 65
$ (489)
$ 197
Tax Effect on Non-GAAP Adjustments
660
(35)
(15)
599
(104)
Non-GAAP (Provision) Benefit for Income Taxes
$ (32)
$ 67
$ 50
$ 110
$ 93
Net Loss Attributable to Weatherford:
GAAP Net Loss
$ (1,780)
$ (565)
$ (170)
$ (2,843)
$ (777)
Total Charges, net of tax
1,431
312
128
2,002
625
Non-GAAP Net Loss
$ (349)
$ (253)
$ (42)
$ (841)
$ (152)
Diluted Loss Per Share Attributable to Weatherford:
GAAP Diluted Loss per Share
$ (1.98)
$ (0.63)
$ (0.22)
$ (3.27)
$ (1.00)
Total Charges, net of tax
1.59
0.35
0.17
2.30
0.80
Non-GAAP Diluted Loss per Share
$ (0.39)
$ (0.28)
$ (0.05)
$ (0.97)
$ (0.20)
GAAP Effective Tax Rate (b)
(64) %
15 %
29 %
(21) %
21 %
Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate (c)
(10) %
21 %
60 %
12 %
42 %
(a) Impairments, Asset Write-Downs and Other primarily include long-lived asset impairments, write-downs of inventory, a note receivable and other assets and supply agreement charges. (b) GAAP Effective Tax Rate is the GAAP provision for income taxes divided by GAAP income before income taxes. (c) Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate is the Non-GAAP provision for income taxes divided by Non-GAAP income before income taxes and calculated in thousands.
Weatherford International plc Selected Balance Sheet Data (Unaudited) (In Millions)
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
3/31/2016
12/31/2015
9/30/2015 Assets:
Cash and Cash Equivalents
$ 440
$ 452
$ 464
$ 467
$ 519
Accounts Receivable, Net
1,414
1,484
1,693
1,781
2,045
Inventories, Net
1,917
2,195
2,302
2,344
2,767
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net
4,708
5,247
5,471
5,679
6,394
Goodwill and Intangibles, Net
3,104
3,182
3,216
3,159
3,224
Liabilities:
Accounts Payable
666
790
934
948
1,015
Short-term Borrowings and Current Portion of Long-term Debt
555
290
1,212
1,582
1,684
Long-term Debt
6,937
6,943
5,846
5,852
5,990
Weatherford International plc Net Debt (Unaudited) (In Millions)
Change in Net Debt for the Three Months Ended 9/30/2016:
Net Debt at 6/30/2016
$ (6,781)
Operating Loss
(945)
Depreciation and Amortization
242
Capital Expenditures for Property, Plant and Equipment
(62)
Decrease in Working Capital
65
Payment for Leased Asset Purchase
(72)
Rig Loss Proceeds
9
Litigation Charges
9
Long-lived Asset Impairments, Asset Write-Downs and Other Charges
436
Inventory Charges
198
Income Taxes Paid
(20)
Interest Paid
(101)
Net Change in Billings in Excess/Costs in Excess
7
Other
(37)
Net Debt at 9/30/2016
$ (7,052)
Change in Net Debt for the Nine Months Ended 9/30/2016:
Net Debt at 12/31/2015
$ (6,967)
Operating Loss
(1,852)
Depreciation and Amortization
741
Capital Expenditures for Property, Plant and Equipment
(136)
Decrease in Working Capital
190
Equity Issuance Proceeds, Net
623
Bond Tender Premium, Net
(78)
Payment for Leased Asset Purchase
(87)
Rig Loss Proceeds
39
Litigation Charges, Net
190
Long-lived Asset Impairments, Asset Write-Downs and Other Charges
566
Inventory Charges
213
Currency Devaluation Charges
31
Income Taxes Paid
(140)
Interest Paid
(362)
Net Change in Billings in Excess/Costs in Excess
52
Other
(75)
Net Debt at 9/30/2016
$ (7,052)
Components of Net Debt
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
12/31/2015 Cash
$ 440
$ 452
$ 467
Short-term Borrowings and Current Portion of Long-term Debt
(555)
(290)
(1,582)
Long-term Debt
(6,937)
(6,943)
(5,852)
Net Debt
$ (7,052)
$ (6,781)
$ (6,967)
"Net Debt" is defined as debt less cash. Management believes that it provides useful information regarding our level of indebtedness by reflecting cash that could be used to repay debt.
Working capital is defined as accounts receivable plus inventory less accounts payable.
We report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). However, Weatherford's management believes that certain non-GAAP financial measures and ratios (as defined under the SEC's Regulation G) may provide users of this financial information, additional meaningful comparisons between current results and results of prior periods. The non-GAAP amounts shown below should not be considered as substitutes for cash flow information prepared and reported in accordance with GAAP, but should be viewed in addition to the Company's reported cash flow statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Weatherford International plc Selected Cash Flow Data (Unaudited) (In Millions)
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
9/30/2016
6/30/2016
9/30/2015
9/30/2016
9/30/2015
Net Cash Provided by (Used In) Operating Activities
$ (106)
$ (139)
$ 134
$ (450)
$ 383
Less: Capital Expenditures for Property, Plant and Equipment
(62)
(31)
(131)
(136)
(542)
Add: Proceeds from Dispositions and Insurance Recoveries*
21
10
6
67
29
Free Cash Flow
$ (147)
$ (160)
$ 9
$ (519)
$ (130)
Adjusted for Litigation Payments (Reimbursements)**
-
-
120
(4)
120
Free Cash Flow Provided by (Used In) Operations
$ (147)
$ (160)
$ 129
$ (523)
$ (10)
"Free Cash Flow" is defined as net cash provided by or used in operating activities less capital expenditures plus proceeds from dispositions and insurance recoveries. "Free Cash Flow Provided by (Used In) Operations" is defined as net cash provided by or used in operating activities less capital expenditures plus proceeds from dispositions and insurance recoveries and adjusted for litigation reimbursements. Management uses the two free cash flow metrics to measure progress on capital efficiency and cash flow initiatives.
*As of September 30, 2016, the $67 million includes proceeds from disposal of property, plant, and equipment of $28 million and $39 million of insurance reimbursements received on a land drilling rig loss.
**As of September 30, 2016, the $4 million in insurance proceeds received in the first quarter 2016 reimburses a portion of a shareholder derivative litigation settlement payment of $120 million made in the third quarter of 2015.
Logo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/19990308/WEATHERFORDLOGO
IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Burnham Benefits Insurance Services -- one of California's premier full-service employee benefits consulting and brokerage firms -- today announced the appointment of new vice president Chris Krusiewicz, whose experience in sales, business development and client management has helped him become an emerging leader in the industry. As a vice president of Burnham, he will be responsible for new business development, attracting and retaining clients, as well as providing high-level consulting.
"Chris is completely self-made, has a stellar reputation in the industry and he sincerely strives to make a difference," says Burnham president and CEO Kristen Allison. "He's a top-notch producer, who is inspired by competition, and is poised to be a key executive at Burnham. We are excited to have him on board."
Prior to joining Burnham, Krusiewicz spent more than seven years as a senior advisor at a boutique employee benefits firm in Orange County, and was responsible for the company's business development and growth. Before that, he spent five years at ADP, the country's leading PEO (Professional Employer Organization) where he was a nationally ranked salesperson every year. With his solid work experience, Krusiewicz has become an expert and trusted advisor on healthcare reform compliance, innovative benefits strategies and analytics. As employers grow out of their PEO framework, Chris excels in navigating the extraction of a high-growth firm from a PEO when the timing and the fit are appropriate.
"Burnham Benefits has always stood out from the competition, and its customers are the most loyal clients in the industry," says Krusiewicz. "With extensive resources at its fingertips and the ability to leverage the industry's best, there's a specialness about Burnham and its people that I am very excited to now be a part of."
A modern, forward-thinking employee benefits and insurance services company, Burnham Benefits has a reputation for applying a unique blend of expert knowledge and unmatched personal service to create proven strategic solutions and promote a culture of wellness for its clients. For more information about Burnham Benefits, please visit: www.burnhambenefits.com.
About Burnham Benefits Insurance Services: Burnham Benefits Insurance Services, Inc. is a privately held, full-service employee benefits consulting and brokerage firm headquartered in Irvine, Calif. The firm is among the largest in the state to specialize solely in strategic employee benefits consulting and brokerage services. With a comprehensive offering of client-first health and wellness programs, Burnham effectively manages over $1.5 billion in premiums for more than 400 clients. A certified Benefits Corporation (B Corp), the firm maintains a more than 95 percent client retention rate and has averaged 25 percent growth annually over the past 10 years. Because Burnham Benefits does not have outside shareholders, it can easily adapt and create customized solutions that fit clients' best interests -- investing in cutting-edge technology and the tools and resources needed to provide the specialized level of service that today's rapidly challenging climate demands. Its team of more than 80 highly skilled industry professionals includes in-house underwriters, compliance officers, healthcare reform consultants, communications specialists and wellness experts. Through a strategic partnership with Burnham Gibson Wealth Advisors, Inc., Burnham also provides retirement planning and wealth management services. Burnham Benefits' footprint currently spans offices in Orange County, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sacramento and San Diego, Calif., as well as a satellite office in the Washington D.C. metro area. Burnham Benefits holds national recognition as Business Insurance's #1 Best Places to Work in Insurance 2013, 2014 and 2015, has been ranked a Best Place to Work by the Orange County Business Journal for six years running. Burnham Benefits president and CEO Kristen Allison earned the Distinguished Founders Award from the Annual Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) in 2016. For more information, visit www.burnhambenefits.com.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Leslie Licano
Beyond Fifteen Communications, Inc.
949.733.8679
leslie@beyondfifteen.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/25/16 -- Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: AVU)(FRANKFURT: 8AM) is pleased to announce that the Company will be participating in the following conferences this fall:
New Orleans Investment Conference October 26-29, 2016 Hilton Riverside New Orleans Booth #311 Precious Metals Summit November 2-3, 2016 Park Hyatt Hotel Zurich Precious Metals Summit November 4, 2016 Hyatt Regency Hotel London International Precious Metals & Commodities Show November 3-4, 2016 MVG Museum, Standlerstrasse 20 Munich Booth #27 Mines & Money London November 28-December 1, 2016 Business Design Centre, Islington Booth G3
President & CEO Paul Kuhn and members of Avrupa's Board of Directors will be available to meet with attendees during each conference. For more information on the Company please visit the website at www.avrupaminerals.com.
Avrupa Minerals Ltd. is a growth-oriented junior exploration and development company focused on discovery, using a prospect generator model, of valuable mineral deposits in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, including Portugal, Kosovo, and Germany.
The Company currently holds nine exploration licenses in three European countries, including six in Portugal covering 3,821 km2, two in Kosovo covering 47 km2, and one in Germany covering 307 km2. Avrupa has three joint ventures, two in Portugal and one in Kosovo, including:
-- The Alvalade JV, with Colt Resources, covering one license in the Iberian Pyrite Belt of southern Portugal, for Zn/Cu-rich massive sulfide deposits; -- The Covas JV, with Blackheath Resources, covering one license in northern Portugal, for intrusion-related W deposits; and -- Avrupa's partner at the Slivovo Gold Project in Kosovo is presently advancing the Project by funding and operating a pre-feasibility study.
Avrupa is currently upgrading precious and base metal targets to JV-ready status in a variety of districts on their other licenses, with the idea of attracting potential partners to project-specific and/or regional exploration programs.
On behalf of the Board,
Paul W. Kuhn, President & Director
This news release was prepared by Company management, who take full responsibility for its content. Paul W. Kuhn, President and CEO of Avrupa Minerals, a Licensed Professional Geologist and a Registered Member of the Society of Mining Engineers, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has reviewed the technical disclosure in this release. Mr. Kuhn, the QP, has not only reviewed, but prepared and supervised the preparation or approval of the scientific and technical content in the news release.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Avrupa Minerals Ltd.
1-604-687-3520
www.avrupaminerals.com
InContext Solutions, a Chicago, IL- and London, UK-based provider of virtual reality (VR) solutions for retailers and manufacturers, closed a $15.2m funding round.
The round was led by Intel Capital and Beringea.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate sales and marketing efforts, expand its geographic presence, and improve its VR product portfolio, including further development of solutions for head-mounted devices.
Led by Mark Hardy, CEO, InContext Solutions provides retailers and manufacturers with the ShopperMX VR platform to visualize, test and deploy new in-store shopper experiences using hyper-realistic simulations of actual retail environments.
that lower risk and improve the bottom line.
FinSMEs
25/10/2016
Shah Rukh Khan has been shooting at Budapest for his upcoming Imtiaz Ali film The Ring and the superstar has been sharing a lot of pictures from there with his fans.
The latest one appeared on his social media account a day before his 25th wedding anniversary with the caption Outside a cold Budapest nightclub, my date went to sleep in my arms. Sigh
The date was not his wife Gauri Khan but their youngest son AbRam Khan.
Shah Rukh Khan shared a picture of the 3-year-old boy sleeping in his arms on a cold night.
Outside a cold Budapest nightclub, my date went to sleep in my arms. Sigh pic.twitter.com/mIH4q9yvUB Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) October 24, 2016
Looks like Gauri Khan joined SRK during the shoot sometime back as a picture of her with AbRam in Barcelona surfaced online.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Khan will soon wrap up the shoot of The Ring and return to Mumbai to celebrate his anniversary with his wife and three children.
The dust is yet to settle from the tremors that were triggered after the sudden sacking of Cyrus Mistry as chairman of the salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Sons. Even as speculations are rife as to who might finally get the responsibility of holding the reins from interim chairman Ratan Tata, the grapevine is equally speculative on what Mistry might do next.
To put an end to rumours flying thick and fast, a statement was issued on behalf of the ousted Tata Group chairman saying that there are no immediate plans to take the legal route to challenge the decision of the Tata Trusts as reported by many media outlets.
The statement, which was published on The Economic Times read:
"Events of the past 24 hours obviously involve an element of sensitivity if not surprise. They need time for being assessed. As and when a public statement becomes necessary, it would be made."
"Neither the SP Group nor Mr Cyrus Mistry has made any statement yet. While the circumstances are being studied, there is no basis to media speculation about litigation at this stage."
Quoting a senior lawyer, The Times of India had earlier reported that Mistry could take the legal course very soon.
"We are getting ready to move the high court as soon as possible could be Tuesday or Wednesday against this illegal decision that violates strict provisions for such sacking under the Articles of Association," said a senior lawyer close to Mistry had told the national daily.
According to a Reuters report, Mistry took over the charge of the Tata Group from Tata in December 2012. Mistry was zeroed in as the successor to company patriarch after a 15-month search. For the ousted chairman the problems were many from a costly settlement with Japanese telecoms operator NTT Docomo to the sale of Tata Steel's loss-making business in Britain.
Despite the problems that the Tata Group was saddled with Mistry at its helm, his unceremonious departure not only stunned the corporate world both India and abroad but also set off a fall in share prices of the company firms indexed on the bourses.
"We have not seen any panic selling in any Tata group stocks so far. There's a broad market weakness currently, and hence we are seeing some downturn in select Tata group stocks. The exit of Cyrus Mistry may not lead to intense selling in any group stocks, as some companies like Tata Steel are facing fundamental problems like weak steel demand in UK and lingering slowdown in Europe, which has hurt the company's prospects for quite some time," said G Chokkalingam, founder and managing director, Equinomics Research and Advisory.
The removal of Mistry from the topmost position of the group was swift.
A statement to this effect that was released on Monday said: "Tata Sons today announced that its Board has replaced Mr Cyrus P Mistry as Chairman of Tata Sons. The decision was taken at a Board meeting held here today.
"The Board has named Mr Ratan N Tata as Interim Chairman of Tata Sons. The Board has constituted a Selection Committee to choose a new Chairman. The Committee comprises Mr. Ratan N Tata, Mr Venu Srinivasan, Mr Amit Chandra, Mr. Ronen Sen and Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, as per the criteria in the Articles of Association of Tata Sons. The committee has been mandated to complete the selection process in four months."
Such was the speed of his dismissal that no trace of the short Mistry legacy was available on the company website post his departure.
A report in The Economic Times said that soon after Mistry's removal as the chairman of the Tata Sons, the link to his first and last interview was removed from the company website.
By Gul Yusufzai
| QUETTA, Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan Militant group Islamic State said on Tuesday that fighters loyal to its movement attacked a police training college in Quetta in southwest Pakistan in a raid that officials said killed 59 people and wounded more than 100.Pakistani authorities have blamed another militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), for the late-Monday siege, though the Islamic State claim included photographs of three alleged attackers.Hundreds of trainees were stationed at the college on the city outskirts when masked gunmen stormed in. Some cadets were taken hostage during the raid, which lasted nearly five hours. Most of the dead were cadets."They just barged in and started firing point-blank. We started screaming and running around in the barracks," one police cadet who survived told media. Other cadets spoke of jumping out of windows and cowering under beds as the attackers hunted them down. Video footage from inside one of the barracks showed blackened walls and rows of charred beds.Islamic State's Amaq news agency published the claim of responsibility, saying three IS fighters "used machine guns and grenades, then blew up their explosive vests in the crowd."Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister of the province of Baluchistan, whose capital is Quetta, said the gunmen attacked a dormitory where cadets rested and slept. "Two attackers blew themselves up, while a third was shot in the head by security men," he said.A Reuters photographer at the scene said authorities carried out the body of a teenaged boy who they said was one of the attackers and had been shot dead by security forces.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army chief General Raheel Sharif travelled to Quetta and took part in a special security meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the prime minister's office said.General Sher Afgun, a senior military commander in Baluchistan, told media that calls intercepted between the attackers and their handlers suggested they were from the LeJ, a sectarian Sunni militant group."We came to know from the communication intercepts that there were three militants who were getting instructions from Afghanistan," Afgun said, adding the Al Alami faction of LeJ was behind the attack.LeJ, whose roots are in the heartland Punjab province, has a history of carrying out sectarian attacks in Baluchistan, particularly against the minority Hazara Shias. Pakistan has previously accused LeJ of colluding with al Qaeda.Authorities launched a crackdown against LeJ last year, particularly in Punjab province. In a blow to the organisation, Malik Ishaq, the group's leader, was killed in July 2015 with 13 members of the central leadership in what police say was a failed escape attempt.
"Two, three days ago we had intelligence reports of a possible attack in Quetta city, that is why security was beefed up in Quetta, but they struck at the police training college," Sanaullah Zehri, chief minister of Baluchistan, told the Geo TV channel.The Hakeemullah Mehsud faction of the Pakistani Taliban also claimed responsibility for the attack in an emailed statement, but when members of the group were asked about the statement, they could not confirm it was authentic.ISLAMIC STATE
Pakistan has improved its security situation in recent years, but Islamist groups continue to pose a threat and stage attacks in the mainly Muslim nation of 190 million.Islamic State, which established a self-proclaimed Muslim caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, has sought to make inroads over the past year, hoping to exploit Pakistan's sectarian divisions.
Monday night's assault on the police college was the deadliest in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed 70 people in an attack on mourners gathered at a Quetta hospital in August. That attack was claimed by IS, and also by a Pakistani Taliban faction, Jamaat-ur-Ahrar.The military had dismissed previous IS claims of responsibility as "propaganda", and last month said it had crushed the Middle East-based group's attempt to expand in Pakistan.A photograph of the three alleged attackers released by IS showed one with a striking resemblance to the picture of a dead gunman taken by a policeman inside the college, and shared with Reuters.Analysts say Islamic State clearly has a presence in Pakistan and there is growing evidence that some local groups are working with it. "The problem with this government is that it seems to be in a complete state of denial," said Zahid Hussain, an Islamabad-based security analyst.The White House condemned Monday's attack, and said the United States would support Pakistan in its fight against terrorism.
HIDING UNDER BEDS
Wounded cadets spoke of scurrying for cover after being woken by the sound of bullets."I was asleep, my friends were there as well, and we took cover under the beds," one unidentified cadet told Geo TV. "My friends were shot, but I only received a (small) wound on my head."Another cadet said he did not have ammunition to fight back.Officials said the attackers targeted the centre's hostel, where 200-250 police recruits were resting. At least three explosions were reported at the scene by media.Quetta has long been regarded as a base for the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership has regularly held meetings there.Baluchistan is no stranger to violence, with separatist fighters launching regular attacks on security forces for nearly a decade, and the military striking back. Militants, particularly sectarian groups, have also launched a campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations of minority Shias.Attacks are becoming rarer, but security forces need to be more alert, said Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan."Our problem is that when an attack happens, we are alert for a week after, ten days later, until 20 days pass, (but) then it goes back to business as usual," he said."We need to be alert all the time." (Additional reporting by Syed Raza Hassan in KARACHI, Saud Mehsud in DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Asad Hashim in ISLAMABAD, and Mohamed el Sherif in CAIRO; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Ian Geoghegan)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Maytaal Angel and Barbara Lewis
PORT TALBOT, Wales - Port Talbot's loss-making steelworks is enjoying a windfall from a weaker pound, higher steel prices and stringent cost-cutting, but the benefit could be short-lived and not enough to persuade its Indian owners Tata Steel they want to keep it.The fate of the century-old steelworks, Britain's largest, has been up in the air since Tata Steel said in March it planned to divest all of its British assets following last year's losses of up to 1 million pounds ($1.23 million) a day.Britain's June 23 vote to leave the European Union, which prompted Tata to say it would also consider a joint venture, has only increased the uncertainty. In the steelworks itself, where industrial chimneys belch steam and molten metal glows at temperatures well over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the focus is on day-to-day survival and convincing Tata that Port Talbot steelmaking can be sustainable.Closure "does not even bear thinking about", said production manager David Meecham, who has worked at Port Talbot since 1984. His wife and daughter work in administrative departments and one of his two sons is an electrician at the plant.In a glimmer of hope for the Meechams, a source close to Tata management told Reuters last week the plant has been turning an operating profit of around 10 million pounds a month since the financial year to March 2016, for which it reported pre-tax losses of 599 million. Earnings have been boosted by a weakened pound following the Brexit vote and by a restructuring that axed 750 jobs, mothballed a nearby rolling mill and cut output, said the source, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press. Tata Steel spokesman Rob Simpson said he could not confirm any earnings figures beyond those officially released. Steel prices have recovered some 30 percent since touching decade lows last year, meaning margins at the plant have widened as it works its way through stockpiles of raw materials bought before this year's price rally in iron ore and surge in coking coal.The source said the restructuring plan had put the works on track to be profitable regardless of short-term price movements."That plan is delivering and everything else in terms of pricing is icing on the cake," the source said.Tata Steel officials speaking publicly have been more cautious, warning of continued volatility and a structural oversupply aggravated by cheap Chinese steel.The Port Talbot works newspaper, Delivering Our Future, congratulates staff on breaking production records but has headlines saying "More to Do" and "We're not out of the Woods".Industry analysts say Tata could be concerned about what will happen when stockpiles run out and it must buy materials with a weaker pound. They also say the company is being tactical as it seeks to negotiate a joint venture with German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp."Possibly, they don't want it to look as if there's any option other than to divest," said Jason Kaplan, analyst at IHS Markit.
The issue of profitability is also delicate as the two companies negotiate how to handle an extremely costly pension scheme Tata inherited when it bought Corus, formerly British Steel, for $12 billion in 2007 -- a burden Thyssenkrupp does not want to take on.Any government rescue plan for the pension could hang on Tata Steel proving that it cannot fund the scheme.BREXIT UNCERTAINTIES
After Britain voted to leave the EU, Tata, which had already sold its operations in Scunthorpe, England, for a reported one pound, suspended the sale process for the rest of its UK operations and said it would also look at forming a joint venture.That plan has made politicians and steelworkers in Port Talbot nervous because they fear it increases the likelihood the Welsh plant could be closed altogether rather than sold. Alan Coombs, head of the local Community union and a 34-year veteran of the plant, voted to remain in the EU, believing it offered the best hope for Port Talbot where iron-making, the precursor to steel, has existed since the 13th century.
Sitting in Bro's Cafe just outside the steelworks, Coombs said unions wanted "a proper business plan", such as guarantees two blast furnaces would continue to operate at Port Talbot.In particular, unions see a threat from Tata Steel's Dutch plant at IJmuiden, strategically located on mainland Europe with easy access to major markets, including the biggest EU economy Germany.There is little economic logic to maintaining both IJmuiden and Port Talbot and there is no question for shareholders which is the better plant, industry analysts agree."The difference between the two is chalk and cheese, unless there is a strategic case for wanting steel, ie you want some sort of resource self-sufficiency," said Bernstein analyst Paul Gait.IJmuiden has historically enjoyed bigger spending as its higher profits have been re-invested. When it released results in September, Tata Steel said it was installing new casting equipment at the Dutch plant, which analysts say costs more than 200 million dollars and improves quality and efficiency.The source close to management acknowledged shareholders favour IJmuiden. "Clearly the company (Thyssenkrupp) has consistently said the consolidation that would be necessary for this merger," the source said."My personal fear is the majority of consolidation would take place in UK. You can't deny the logic from a shareholder point of view, the problem is if you are the one being consolidated."
FAITH IN BREXIT
Voters in the Neath area surrounding Port Talbot returned one of the most decisive anti-EU votes in the referendum. The source close to management who spoke to Reuters was among them."I voted to leave on the basis that we need to take control of our own sovereignty," he said. He said he had hoped to maintain unhindered access to the world's biggest trading bloc. But Prime Minister Theresa May's government appears to be leaning towards a "hard Brexit" which emphasises tighter immigration controls over free trade, likely curbing foreign investment needed to fund Britain's huge current account deficit and raising the prospect of punishing tariffs.Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones, who campaigned to stay in the EU, said a hard Brexit would choke Port Talbot by damaging the much larger manufacturing sector through punishing tariffs on major exports such as cars.Britain's car industry employs some 800,000 people and consumes about a third of the steel made in Port Talbot, which employs nearly 4,000 people directly."A hard Brexit would be a disaster. There's no getting around that," Jones told Reuters as he called in at Port Talbot's Remus bayside cafe.The owner of Bro's Cafe said she was convinced a post-Brexit Britain will be better for the steelworks, which provides 80-90 percent of her clientele. "You have to have a British steelmaker. The government will offer them money or something and they'll be more free to do that outside the EU," she said.Such optimism flies in the face of stated policy, however.The government's industrial strategy available online says that a post-Brexit Britain is "unlikely to begin subsidising failing industries" given it would remain a member of the World Trade Organization, whose rules restrict the use of subsidies. ($1 = 0.8140 pounds) (Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London and Georgina Prodhan in Frankfurt; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Mumbai: Lawyers and activists on Monday hailed the Haji Ali Dargah Trust's stand in the Supreme Court that it will allow female worshippers to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the famous shrine here, calling it a boost to women's rights movement and victory for Constitution.
Gender equality campaigner Trupti Desai termed the decision of the Trust as a "victory of women worshippers and Indian Constitution". The Desai-led outfit Bhumata Ranragini Brigade had started a campaign against gender bias at various religious
places, including Haji Ali Dargah.
"Due to pressure of the Supreme Court and women organisations fighting against gender bias, the trustees of Haji Ali Dargah had to take this decision," Desai told PTI. Human rights activist and lawyer Abha Singh termed the development as "a boost to women's rights movement" and said it is a clear message that women cannot be chained.
"This is a clear message to all misogynistic elements that you cannot chain women anymore. It's a boost to women's rights movement. Haji Ali Dargah Trust, by agreeing to allow women to enter the sanctum sanctorum, has upheld the superiority of Constitution," she said.
"The Bombay High Court had clearly said the entry ban violated Articles 14, 15 and 25 of Constitution which gave women right to equality and prohibited all forms of discrimination," she pointed out. The SC has granted four weeks time to the Trust to make requisite infrastructural and other changes for compliance of the Bombay High Court order lifting ban on women from entering the core area of the renowned Muslim shrine in South Mumbai.
Suhail Khandwani, a trustee of the Dargah, said a meeting of the management and others, including architects and advocates, will be convened soon to facilitate entry of women in the inner area.
Khandwani claimed the shrine's doors were always open for women, but treasury boxes put up near the sanctum sanctorum acted as barriers for their entry. "Women's entry was already allowed with separate entrance and exit for male and female worshippers. A few boxes were placed which blocked the view of the sanctum sanctorum and became missing link between women and the sanctorum. These boxes will be shifted, paving the way for women's entry again," he said.
Khandwani said Islam as well as Constitution speaks about gender equality. The Dargah, situated on an islet 500 metres away from the coast, courted controversy in 2012 when shrine management suddenly put curbs on women from entering the core worship area.
Activists across all faiths, NGOs and Muslim women had launched movements opposing the ban and challenged the decision in the HC.
According to a report in The Telegraph India, the NDA government had told an expert panel earlier this year that the words 'sex' or 'sexual' could not be allowed in its recommendations on adolescent education, which includes sex education for teenagers.
The reason: Words like 'sex' or 'sexual' could offend some people.
The report says that in its initial draft on education in India, the expert panel headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian had included half a page on adolescent education. The original draft had talked about the need to address "the health of adolescents, particularly the reproductive and sexual health needs".
It had also talked about how ignorance and myths among adolescents about sex made them vulnerable to drug abuse and HIV/AIDS transmission.
But the HRD ministry, then headed by Smriti Irani, decided that this entire section on adolescent education needed to be reduced to one sentence: "The Adolescent Education Programme and National Population Education Programme need to be extended to all schools as early as possible."
That's it. All the problems regarding sex, sexual abuse, sexual frustration, drug abuse and the confusion or ignorance among youth regarding sex can obviously be addressed by that one sentence without mentioning the words 'sex' or 'sexual' even once, according to the government.
The rest of this article has been written by following the logic of the government, just to give you an idea of the implications of that logic. Therefore, from this point onwards, all the words that 'some' people will find offensive (according to the HRD Ministry) in this article have been replaced with less 'offensive' words. Here we go:
Let's talk about sex unicorns. This sentence itself could get you into some trouble in schools in India, where the taboo associated with unicorns is so strong that the very mention of the word actually does offend a lot of people, much like how the name of Lord Voldemort He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named spread panic in the fictional wizarding world in the Harry Potter books.
In the books though, the characters eventually overcome their fear of the word. The same, unfortunately, is not true in our country.
This is exactly why sex unicorn education is so important for the teenagers in our country. It is very well known that adolescence is a time of raging hormones and some very crucial physiological changes in the body, which leads to a lot of confusion about unicorns among the youth.
But the state of unicorn education and unicorn awareness in India is very bad.
According to this report by Youth Coalition for Sexual Unicorn and Reproductive Rights (YCSRR), between 42 and 52 percent of young students in India felt they do not have adequate knowledge about unicorns.
More disturbingly, the report said that a study by Unicef and NGO Prayas, which interviewed 12,247 children and 2,324 young adults in 13 states in India, concluded that 53 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 12 were victims of sexual abuse.
In cases of child sexual abuse, "In most cases, children do not share it with anyone and even when they complain, the parents do not know where to take them and avoid going to the police stations," Jaipur Police Commissioner Sanjay Agarwal had told The Indian Express. He added that children were not even aware of the concepts of 'good touch' and 'bad touch'.
A big reason behind the large number of sexual assault cases and the rampant sexism unicornism in a large part of our society is the lack of proper unicorn education.
A lot of the social issues we see today in India like rape or misogyny can be traced back to the fact that children are consuming the wrong kind of information, Nilima Achwal, founder and CEO of Iesha Learning (which offers to teach adolescents about unicorns), had told The Hindu.
The YCSRR report also said that a survey conducted by India Today had revealed that in 11 cities in India, half of the youngsters interviewed did not know enough to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS.
Moreover, parents too have incorrect ideas about unicorn education. The YCSRR report added that parents believe that unicorn education in schools will increase "risky behaviour" among adolescents. But a World Health Organisation (WHO) study showed that unicorn education, in fact, delays the start of unicorn activity and encourages safe unicorn activity.
Despite these crucial facts, the central government of India is not even willing to utter the words which matter. Basically, the government's solution is to solve the problem by not talking about it.
Let's get real.
The government, or any political party for that matter, tends to act on or talk about issues which fetches votes. That is why the government was obsessed with not offending anyone. The truth is that the s-word does offend a lot of people in our society.
But the very denial of the presence of our sexual urges to the extent that we shudder if we utter the word 'sex' is as ridiculous as the usage of 'unicorn' in this article.
And that is the point. Until we get rid of the notion of evil or malice associated with sex, the powers-that-be will keep coming up with ingeniously daft ways to further obfuscate the issue.
New Delhi/Srinagar: Senior BJP leader and former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha is leading a five-member team to Srinagar for talks with separatist leaders in a fresh bid to break a logjam after more than three months of deadly unrest in the Kashmir Valley.
The team includes former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah, who has served in Jammu and Kashmir, ex-Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, journalist Bharat Bhushan and activist Sushobha Barve. Reports said it is an independent outreach programme and that the team is expected to meet separatists.
Sinha confirmed to IANS that he and other "people of goodwill" will try to "meet all" during their visit to the Valley that began on Tuesday. "We came here for humanity. Our motto is to share the grievances and pain (of Kashmiri people)," Sinha said.
He said they have requested many people for a meeting but didn't divulge more details.
Srinagar (J&K): High level delegation led by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha arrives to meet SAS Geelani at his residence pic.twitter.com/iYU4uImS1t ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016
However, informed sources told IANS that the delegation during their three-day stay in Srinagar would meet representatives of the two factions of the separatist Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
Before meeting Geelani, Sinha told PTI that they had not come as a delegation. "We are few people of goodwill who have come here on the basis of humanity. The aim is to share the pain and sufferings of the people. If we can do that, we will consider ourselves as fortunate," he said.
Asked if the team will be meeting other separatist leaders like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, Sinha said they are trying to meet everyone.
In response to a question about timing of the visit, the former Finance Minister said, "That is an eternal question why did you not do it before. We are doing it at a time which is quite appropriate."
Asked if they had been invited by the separatists, Sinha said, "We do not have an invitation (from Geelani). We had requested (for a meeting) and we are going to see him."
The delegation is also scheduled to call upon moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.
Mirwaiz was released from Chesma-Shahi sub-jail late last night where he was lodged on 27 August. Geelani, Mirwaiz and JKLF chief Yasin Malik have been jointly issuing weekly protest programmes ever since the unrest started in the Valley. According to ANI
Srinagar (J&K): Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha led delegation meets Mirwaiz Umer Farooq pic.twitter.com/STxtU0qkjK ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016
They are also expected to meet Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yaseen Malik, who has been moved from jail to a Srinagar hospital after his health deteriorated. And after two months of detention at a guest-house-turned-jail in Srinagar, the Mirwaiz is now under house arrest at his upscale Nigeen residence.
The fresh bid to break ice between separatist groups and the government comes after 108 days of unrest and shutdown that have disrupted normal life in the Kashmir Valley since the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
At least 92 persons were killed and over 12,000 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces. Police have arrested over 7,000 suspected ring leaders of stone throwers. Some have been let off. The Sinha-led delegation is also expected to meet civil society and trade groups including the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) and the Kashmir Centre for Social and Developmental Studies (KCSDS).
They will call on Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Governor NN Vohra.
With inputs from PTI and IANS
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Monday escaped unhurt when suspected NSCN (Isak-Muivah) militants opened gunfire as he was getting out of his helicopter at the Ukhrul helipad, CID officials said. A jawan of the Manipur Rifles was injured in the firing which took place when the chief minister stepped out of the helicopter and was being greeted by government officials, the officials said.
Ibobi Singh was in Ukhrul to inaugurate a government hospital in Hundung and to launch other developmental projects. The chief minister's helicopter immediately took off and left for Chingai but could not land at the remote village due to protests, officials told PTI. Ibobi then cancelled his programme and flew back to the state capital where he called an emergency cabinet meeting, the source said. The incident has however started a war of words between Ibobi and Nagaland bodies.
According to The Sangai Express, The United Naga Council (UNC) and Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) have cried foul and have said that the chief minister stage-managed the entire episode. TNL president Weapon Zimik was quoted as saying by the Newmai News Network that with the huge number of security personnel deployed for the chief minister and his convoy it was not possible for any militant group to ambush. A 24-hour bandh was imposed by TNL protesting against Ibobi's visit to Ukhrul.
The Telegraph also reported saying that the residents of Naga-dominated Ukhrul were opposed to the chief minister's visit.
Calling Ibobi an "anti-tribal" minister, Zimik said his group backed the tribal people of the region and they will protest entry of all anti-tribal people in the hill districts. Seconding Zimik's stand, UNC president Gaidon Kamei said that Ibobi's intention behind visiting the area was to "disrupt the peace" of the region. According to both the leaders, Ibobi was well-aware of how the people of the region feel about him and tribals were boycotting all legislators who are anti-tribal.
Ibobi Singh, in an interview with IANS recently, had said that the law and order situation in Manipur had improved drastically but the chief minister also warned that no part of the state can ever be a part of Greater Nagaland.
With assembly elections not far away, the Congress leader said people in the state no longer lived in fear of the various militant groups, big and small. "In the past, shops and kiosks pulled down shutters by nightfall and people stayed at home. Today people can be seen (on the streets) till late in the night and shopkeepers do brisk business," Ibobi told IANS in the interview. Militants used to sneak into Manipur from neighbouring Myanmar to commit crime and escape, he said.
"We have beefed up security at the border towns with the result that militants cannot make their presence felt now," the chief minister said in an interview. More than 30 insurgent outfits used to operate in the urban areas of Manipur. Police claim a significant fall in insurgency-related violence. But stray bomb attacks continue. "The people who are fed up with the senseless violence of the insurgents provide vital information about them (to the authorities)," said the chief minister.
According to Ibobi, the insurgents cannot find easy shelter even in the hills as almost all the tribal underground outfits have come overground after signing the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact. He however admitted that there were complaints against the activities of some of these groups. Ibobi said: "We are in touch with the central security forces to enforce the ground rules. "We have been drawing the attention of the Centre to the presence of the signatories to ceasefire in Manipur who should be confined to Nagaland only."
The NSCN-K has abrogated the ceasefire pact and resumed attacks against security forces. Ibobi disclosed that several cadres of the two Nagaland-based outfits had fanned out to other states in the northeast although they should be, legally, confined to Nagaland. Despite threats to veto the state government order, Ibobi had on August 12, 2004, lifted the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, from seven assembly segments in Manipur. "In the long run it has helped improve the law and order in the state," the Congress leader said. "There is no immediate plan to lift the Afspa from other segments since we fear that in view of objections from the Defence Ministry, the government move may be vetoed," he added.
Ibobi complained that the state government had got no cooperation from the Centre on Afspa, which gives sweeping powers to security forces. And despite numerous allegations of rights abuses, security personnel were not prosecuted as prior approval of the Centre was a must and no such approval was given, he said. The chief minister also told IANS that he had conveyed to the Centre that there cannot be a redrawing of the map of Manipur which has had a written history of more than 2,000 years.
Votaries of Greater Nagaland have demanded parts of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh to be added to a proposed Naga homeland. Ibobi also said that the provisions of the Sixth schedule of the Constitution, which permits autonomy for hill areas, shall not be extended to Manipur. "Some officials in Delhi who do not know the ground realities had asked me why it cannot be done since it was extended to the Bodo areas of Assam.
"The Bodo Territorial Council is a mere dot in Assam's map. In case of Manipur, which is smaller than any district of Assam, 90 per cent of the territory falls in the hill districts. The non-tribal valley areas constitute just 10 per cent of the territory. "The government is ready to give sufficient funds for development and administrative and financial assistances. The only condition is that the state government shall monitor the mode of spending and implementation."
With inputs from IANS
Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned India's deputy high commissioner and lodged a strong protest against "ceasefire violations" along the Working Boundary, the Pakistan's foreign office said.
Deputy high Commissioner JP Singh was summoned by the director feneral (South Asia and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation).
A strong protest was lodged against the unprovoked ceasefire violations on 23-24 October by Indian forces at the Working Boundary in Phuklian and Chaprar Sectors in which two civilians, including a one-and-a-half-year-old girl, were killed and six others were injured, foreign office said in a statement.
"It was conveyed to the Indian side that it should investigate the incident and share the findings with Pakistan, instruct its troops to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit, refrain from intentionally targeting the villages and maintain peace on the Working Boundary," the statement said.
Pakistan has also lodged a protest with the United Nations Military Observers group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) over the killing of two civilians in 'unprovoked' firing across the Working Boundary, Dawn reported.
"India resorted to unprovoked firing across the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in the Bhimber and Chaprar sectors respectively on Tuesday," Inter-Services Public Relations said.
"The exchange of fire was ongoing," the statement added.
"Protest lodged by Pakistan with UNMOGIP reg unprovoked firing by Indian forces on WB last night that killed innocent civilians," M Nafees Zakaria, spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan, tweeted.
#CFVbyIndia Protest lodged by Pakistan with UNMOGIP reg unprovoked firing by Indian forces on WB last night that killed innocent civilians M. Nafees Zakaria (@ForeignOfficePk) October 24, 2016
Meanwhile, India on Tuesday said Pakistan army violated the ceasefire by targeting Indian Army positions with mortar and small arms fire in Noushera sector of Rajouri district, prompting the army to give a "befitting response".
A six-year-old boy and a BSF Jawan were killed and 10 people including eight civilians were injured in the shelling on Monday when Pakistan Rangers targeted over 25 border outposts in the border hamlets along International Border.
There have been over 40 ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side since the Indian side carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir targeting terror launching pads, post the attack on an army camp in Uri on 18 September.
New Delhi: Natural resources in forests should not be exploited at the cost of tribals living there, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said, favouring stringent action against those who "snatch" away their land and rights.
Inaugurating the first national tribal carnival at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium, Modi said his government has initiated a number of measures for tribal welfare and launched a campaign for providing land rights to them. Insisting that development and preservation of forests can go hand in hand, the Prime Minister called for economic development of tribal areas by setting up a web of over 100 rurban (rural-urban)centres across the country.
He also called for modernising mining techniques to help preserve forests and reduce pollution, while economically empowering the tribals through effective marketing of their produce. "For generations, tribals are protecting forests and fending for themselves while farming on small pieces of land. Neither do they have any document nor lease deeds (to show their ownership), they are living off what their forefathers have given them. But due to changing rules, tribals are now sometimes facing problems.
"Government of India with the support of states is running a campaign and providing land to them. Tribals should get their rights and this is our priority. No one in this country should have the opportunity or the right to snatch their land...the government favours stern action in this regard," he said. Modi said natural resources are mostly in forested areas which are inhabited by tribals and, while pursuing development goals, mineral resources should not be extracted in a way which is detrimental to their interests.
"There is need to extract iron ore, coal but it should not be done at the cost of tribals," he said. The Prime minister said, in the past, while iron ore and coal were extracted, tribal people of mineral bearing areas never benefited from it. He said following the introduction of a scheme to impose cess, the money so collected is now being utilised to expand facilities, including infrastructure, to benefit the tribals.
The government, Modi said, is now pushing for advanced technology which ensures that the environment is not severely affected in the process of mining. He favoured use of modern technology in mining besides gasification of coal at underground excavation sites to help control pollution and damage to the health of the people in surrounding areas. The Prime Minister, who witnessed an enthralling carnival parade, said it was the first time tribal groups from across the country would be in Delhi on Diwali. He said the tribal carnival would showcase the capabilities of the tribal communities.
The Prime Minister said India was a land of great diversity and the carnival offered a small glimpse of that. "India is a country full of diversities. In a vast country like ours, preserving diversity and presenting it as India's unity will help strengthen the nation," he said. The prime minister said the life of tribals was marked by intense struggle, yet they had imbibed the ideals of community living and of living cheerfully despite troubles.
"Tribals have a lot of potential and this needs to be recognised and promoted. We need to help strengthen the economic power of tribals," he said. Modi said he was fortunate to have done social work among tribals in his youth. He recalled that it is difficult to hear a complaint escape their lips and exhorted those living in urban areas to draw inspiration from them.
He said it was former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who created a separate ministry of tribal affairs in the central government. "Through various pro-tribal welfare schemes, our government is working in the direction of taking care of the needs of tribals," he said. The prime minister said change could not come for the tribal communities through a top down approach. He said it was necessary to make the tribal communities real stakeholders in the development process.
Modi also pitched for start-ups to brand and export tribal goods to domestic and foreign markets. He said once people start buying goods manufactured by tribals, it would help in their economic empowerment. He complimented the tribal communities for their role in conservation of forests and said most of our natural resources and forests were found in the same parts of the country, as tribal communities. He said while resources had to be harnessed, exploitation of tribals cannot not be allowed.
Modi said the District Mineral Foundation, envisaged in the last Union Budget, would help channelize funds for the development of the tribal communities. He said this decision would unlock huge amounts of money for development of the mineral rich districts.
Pakistan's tryst with turbulence began at the time of its very inception. The polity, the armed forces, the people and the media are used to uncertainty, bloody coups and counter coups. The jingoism, war mongering, corruption and lawlessness are par for the course for the populace. Having said this, the current times seem more volatile and unprecedented.
As I write this, 60 people have died and over a 100 injured in a massive suicide attack in a police academy in Quetta, Baluchistan. Pakistan claims communication intercepted between terrorists and their handlers was traced back to Afghanistan. Only a few days ago an Afghan Taliban team was in Pakistan for talks. The threat to Pakistan's stability doesn't end there. Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) has rather aggressively threatened to paralyze the nation on the second of November. He intends to hold a march to the Sharif family residence at Raiwind, demanding action against Nawaz Sharif for his role in graft case as exposed by the Panama papers. Imran Khan has also worryingly said that a 'third force' could emerge even as media reports suggest that the JeM and JuD have agreed to support his agitation. The future of Pakistan's polity stands at a precipice.
The stranglehold on Pakistan seems to be tightening from several quarters. Armed forces have been flexing their muscles amid suspense on the future of Army Chief Raheel Sharif. Sharif's acrimony towards India is a poorly guarded secret and that has seen the outlet through attacks like the one in Uri and also explains the Army's visibly hardened stance against the civilian government- punishment for engaging with India perhaps?
This is amply clear after the Army cracked the whip on journalist Cyril Almeida for revealing that Shahbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister's brother and Punjab Chief Minister had asserted his authority against the all powerful DG ISI and had asked him to rein in terrorists and reopen investigations in Uri, Pathankot and Mumbai terror attacks. This is significant as perhaps for the first time in the recent past the civilian leadership has challenged the military. The reaction, however, was on expected lines. The showdown was direct and absolute, thus distancing the government from the military.
That news report by Dawn has stirred the hornet's nest, emboldening the media to stand up and challenge the establishment. With the media, judiciary and the civilian dispensation on one side and the military on the other, Pakistan is clearly a divided house today amid pressure from the principal opposition parties on the government to cave in. Nawaz Sharif and his coterie can not live in isolation as a pariah state and are visibly struggling to remove the stigma of an outcast in the international community. With multiple problems already on the platter, Nawaz has limited options except to draw solace from a pledged Chinese support.
In the meantime, Sindh is also witnessing atrocities over minority tribes as evident from a recent case in Taluka Maula Dad, Jacobabad. With police complicity , internecine tribal clashes involving Saidan, Qambrani and Thaheem tribes are on the rise. Acting with brute force and scant respect for human rights, four tribal women have also been abducted by the police. Asian Human Rights Commission is writing a strong letter to the UN rapporteur to intervene to recover the abducted women and restore peace in Sindh.
Judiciary has once again stalled the resolution of the alleged blasphemy case of Asia Bibi. Two days prior to the hearing of Asia Bibi's appeal in the Supreme Court , fundamentalist organisations and Islamic fanatics published advertisements and video clippings warning the judiciary not to accept Asia's appeal. With memories still fresh of the murders of ex-Punjab governor Salman Taseer and ex-minister for religious affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti for speaking in favour of Asia Bibi, judiciary too is reluctant to award justice to the aggrieved minority. The criminal justice system is infiltrated with Islamic extremism and the trend is very disturbing .
Incidents of oppression against minority may look innocuous and isolated but analysts perceive them to be indicators of a larger malaise in the making which may eventually snowball into more problems for Pakistan- a state that is already fighting scores of enemies within.
As things unfold, it would be of immense interest to watch the future of Army Chief Raheel Sharif, Imran Khan's threat to take on Nawaz head on and media's relentless campaign and courage to speak the truth defying all diktats. If they succeed, Pakistan will be have on its hands problems which in all probability will be beyond its capacity to handle .
If the Quetta training academy terror attacks are any indication then the writing is on the wall look. Pakistan is now afflicted with a terminal disease in Baluchistan which is its own creation- a disease that is incurable till a precise, ruthless surgery is carried out.
The writer is a retired IPS officer and a freelance columnist on security issues. Views are personal
In a serious blow to PM Modis ambitious Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the Federation of LPG Distributors of India (FLDI) has flagged some serious security concerns in the scheme, owing to its "hasty" implementation.
The scheme, launched this year in May, has the aim of providing smoke-free kitchens to poor households by supplying 50 million free LPG connections. The Rs 8,000 crore initiative is being implemented by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and has already covered more than 8 million families in 15 states.
FLDI, in a press conference on Tuesday, while lauding the intentions behind the initiative, said that there are serious concerns about the safety and implementation of the scheme, even before its announcement by the government.
It alleged that the associations repeated requests to the Ministry, to take appropriate measures in order to avoid any unfortunate accidents that could derail the process of the welfare, have fallen on deaf ears.
The PMUY scheme is a good example of 'good intention, bad implementation'. This scheme has the potential of positively changing the lives of millions. However, unplanned and haphazard implementation has not just risked the lives of the poorest of the poor, but has also put them under tremendous financial burden," said Pawan Soni, general secretary, FLDI, while addressing the issue at the event.
"Distributors refuse to take any further responsibility of the PMUY campaign until the ministry addresses the issue raised by the association and we feel that despite the noble cause of the scheme, it should not be extended in its current form, which puts its benefactors and their families at great personal risk, Soni said.
Highlighting a gas leak incident that led to the demise of an entire family in Saharanpur, along with the sole breadwinner of a neighbouring family, FLDI said that the incident could have been avoided had the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and the Ministry paid heed to the suggestions made by the distributors.
Soni further added, We started sending out communications to the Ministry, mentioning the loopholes in the initiative even prior to the announcement of the scheme. However, it seems that the government has missed to acknowledge the same. Today, we hope to get the attention of our honourable Prime Minister, under whose great vision PMUY has been implemented, albeit in a flawed manner."
We are confident that the Petroleum Ministry would be considerate, as always, and wont compel us to resort to any unpleasant route to get our genuine demands addressed concerning the safety of the public at large and the constant physical and mental harassment of the distributors due to operational/financial constraints. By this press conference we aim to get your attention on the severity of the issue or it may lead to great mishaps, Soni said.
The association also declared that if the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas does not call for a meeting, the entire distributors fraternity would go for a pan-India strike.
The association also released several letters written to various officials within the Ministry. In one such letter, written to Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, FLDI stated, Sir, one of the most important aspects in implementation of PMUY, that we all are worried about and are continuously trying to improve by our collective efforts, is the 'safety' of the targeted beneficiaries. All our collective efforts are getting diluted due to the negligence of the people associated with the advertising campaign of PMUY.
It added, The advertising body is not only neglecting the safety parameters of the flagship scheme launched by our honourable prime minister himself but is also making it difficult for the distributors spreading safety awareness amongst the targeted beneficiaries by publishing/showing contradictory photos, videos on social media with hotplate on the floor/spurious rubber hose etc
The role of PSUs such as IOCL, BPCL, HPCL should be investigated. We wonder why these OMCs did not update the Ministry regarding the potential danger in carrying out the scheme in its present unsafe form. Instead, the OMCs started competing with each other and compelled the distributors to meet the preset unrealistic targets. They set the guidelines but never let the distributors follow them. Distributors suffered loss on each and every connection they were compelled to release under PMUY, said PV Rao, president, FLDI.
Some of the red flags identified by the FLDI are:
- More than 90 percent of the households of economically backward targeted beneficiaries fail to meet the safety parameters required for installing an LPG connection due to lack of infrastructure and poor living conditions.
- No safety awareness campaign was launched to create awareness among the targeted beneficiaries.
- Despite repeated requests, OMCs are not providing pilferage-proof cylinders.
- OMCs only provide insurance but no mediclaim policy in case of any unfortunate incident.
The central point of the concerns raised by the federation was that the people who are given the LPG connections belong to the deprived class, are uneducated and in most of the cases, are unaware of the safety measures.
According to FLDI, the hastily implemented scheme ignored or did not pay much attention to safety concerns, leading to incidents like the one in Saharanpur.
Bengaluru: A local court here today directed five persons, including former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, and a firm to together pay an amount of Rs 1,60,85,700 to a Bengaluru-based businessman MK Kuruvilla, with 12 percent interest.
Holding Chandy jointly liable for paying back the money to the petitioner in the case by a firm for a Solar power project which did not materialise, the court said "six defendants, including Chandy and SCOSSA Educational Consultants Private Limited, shall pay the decreetal (ordered) sum Rs 1,60,85,700 to the plaintiff with current and future interest at 12 per cent per annum."
Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge NR Chennakeshava in his order, also said the defendants in the case are "jointly and severally liable to pay the said sum to the firm."
He said the defendants must comply with the order within six months from today failing which Kuruvilla will be entitled to recover the determined amount from the defendants, in accordance with law.
Kuruvilla had filed a petition last year seeking return of Rs 1,60,85,700 deposited with SCOSSA Educational Consultants Private Limited, the first defendent, for setting up a solar power project in Kerala.
According to Kuruvilla, during 2011, he got acquainted with Binu Nair who claimed to be the director of Kochi-based SCOSSA. Nair had approached him for setting up a solar power project.
Nair had claimed that one of the directors, Andrews, was Chandy's first cousin and would be appointed consultant and operate from Abu Dhabi for setting up the project.
Also, he had named another person Diljith and claimed that he too was a director in the firm besides being a youth Congress activist. Nair had claimed that Diljith was the private secretary to Chandy.
Kuruvilla said he gave Rs 1.35 crore to the three persons. After the money was handed over, the trio did not answer to his phone calls and allegedly threatened that his entire family would be eliminated.
The Bengaluru-based businessman, in his petition, had sought Rs 1,60,85,700 with 18 per cent interest per annum on the deposited sum along with court expenses. The court allowed the plea with an interest of 12 percent.
"Since the project did not materialise, and the money remained with SCOSSA Educational Consultants Private Limited, I filed a petition in the court to get back the money," Kuruvilla told PTI here.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled out re-visiting the famous "Hindutva" verdict holding Hinduism as a "way of life' making it clear that it would not go into the "larger debate" as the issue did not find mention in the reference made by a five-judge bench. judgement
"We will not go into the larger debate as to what is 'Hindutva' or what is its meaning. We will not re-consider the 1995 judgement and also not examine 'Hindutva' or religion at this stage," a seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur said.
The court, to which the issue has been referred by a five-judge bench, is examining the "scope and width" of section 123(3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act which deals with electoral malpractices amounting to "corrupt practices", among other things.
"The appeal by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent to vote or refrain from voting for any person on the ground of his religion, race, caste, community or language or the use of, or appeal to religious symbols or the use of, or appeal to, national symbols..., for furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate" would amount to corrupt practices, the provision says.
Dealing with the reference, the bench said, "At this stage, we will confine ourselves to the issue raised before us in the reference. In the reference, there is no mention of the word 'Hindutva'".
"If anybody will show that there is a reference to the word 'Hindutva', we will hear him. We will not go into 'Hindutva' at this stage," the bench, also comprising Justices MB Lokur, SA Bobde, AK Goel, UU Lalit, DY Chandrachud and L Nageshwar Rao, said.
The remarks were made by the bench after senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for one OP Gupta who is seeking to intervene in the ongoing proceedings, said that he should also be heard if the bench is going into the question of Hindutva and seeking of votes on the basis of religion.
Social activist Teesta Setalvad had earlier sought to intervene in the matter with an application stating that religion and politics should not be mixed and a direction be passed to de-link religion from politics.
There is an old Indian saying about a mouse considering himself a grocer after stumbling upon a turmeric root. The imagery best describes the conceit of Arvind Kejriwal, who, after winning a teensy weensy state, has developed delusions of being a towering national leader.
Kejriwal's hubris did the full Monty on Twitter on Monday, revealing itself without a shred of modesty, when he accepted former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's challenge of a public debate and then found an ingenious ploy to chicken out of it.
Yes, my party accepts the challenge; any time, any place, Kejriwal responded. But, he refused to personally debate with a regional leader like Singh, naming some members of his Punjab unit--HS Phoolka, Jarnail Singh, Bhagwant Mann--for the duel, saying he will grant the honor of a verbal duel with him only to "Sonia ji or Rahul ji."
Crudely put, Kejriwal considers it infra dig to publicly engage Singh, a former chief minister and deputy leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha. Only prime ministers or presidents of national parties are Kejriwal's worthy adversaries, in his exalted opinion.
Singh is a doyen of Punjab politics, a veteran of many political wars and witness to most of its modern history. For Kejriwal, a Haryanvi who has entered Punjab via Delhi, a public debate with a heavyweight Punjabi leader would have been a giant of leap of faith. Since discretion is the better part of valour, Kejriwal's reluctance is understandable.
But, his ruse is hilarious. For the past six months, Kejriwal has scoured Punjab's villages and streets in the hope of, it is widely suspected, becoming the state's CM. In a bid to keep the seat warm for Kejriwal, the AAP has connived to keep several challengers out, blocked Navjot Singh's entry and booted out several local satraps. So, it is hypocritical of him to consider himself over and above his principle adversary.
For, the Congress under Singh is giving AAP a tough fight. Only a few weeks ago, as Singh pointed out in his Tweets, AAP seemed to be dominating the race in Punjab. Its leaders claimed in public of winning 100-plus seats and relegating the Congress and Akali-BJP combine to single digits.
Because of a year-long campaign in the hinterland and aggressive posturing on the drug menace, AAP appeared way ahead of its rivals. But, recent incidents of infighting within the party, Sucha Singh Chhotepur's expulsion, Sidhu's humiliation (or volte-face depending on your viewpoint) and Kejriwal's indiscreet utterances after the Indian army's surgical strikes along the LoC have pulled the AAP own from its perch.
The BJP-Akali combine, in spite of creating war hysteria in the state, ordering residents to vacate villages on the Punjab border, have failed to benefit from AAP's slide because of insurmountable anti-incumbency and anger against the Badals. Congress has benefitted from AAP's decline; Singh has emerged as Kejriwal's only rival for the CM's job. So, the putative debate would indeed have been among worthy rivals.
But, Kejriwal is a shrewd operator. Like a shrewd politician, he believes in the adage that success has just one father, himself, and failure belongs to all of AAP. Keeping the suspense around the CM candidate has been part of his ploy to come marching in for the coronation ceremony if the party wins and to distance himself if AAP fails to form the government. So, it suits him to avoid direct comparisons and debates; to keep up the facade of being a national leader.
But, here is the irony of the situation: Today, Kejriwal may not be willing to talk about Punjab with his rivals, claiming himself to be a national leader. Tomorrow, the nation may not be willing to talk about Kejriwal if Punjab does not vote for AAP. And the mouse would realise a root of turmeric never made anyone a grocer.
The similarities are riveting.
Uttar Pradesh is Indias largest state spread across 2.4 lakh km inhabited by of 217 million people, with 80 Lok Sabha seats and 403 assembly seats. The House of Tatas is Indias largest conglomerate with over 100 companies spread across six continents with 6.6 lakh employees, annual revenues of Rs 6.65 lakh crore and market capitalization of over Rs 8.36 lakh crore.
The House of Tatas and the Samajwadi Party, rather serendipitously, witnessed a regime change where the baton was handed over to the next generation around the same time. Akhilesh Yadav, scion of the Yadav parivar became the youngest chief minister at the age of 39 in March 2012. In December 2012, Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, scion of the Shapoorji Pallonji family, then 44 years old, was appointed Chairman of the Tata Group. Doubtless both Cyrus and Akhilesh were stepping into large shoes.
Cyrus was replacing Ratan N Tata, a veteran of many battles who transformed the group between 1991 and 2012 from fiefdoms of satraps to a salt-to-software conglomerate with a global footprint. Akhilesh was taking the reins over from Mulayam Singh Yadav, three-time chief minister, a die-hard socialist with a heightened knowledge of political meteorology and opportunity.
Ratan Tata, anointed by the legend JRD Tata, had waged boardroom battles to oust the likes of Russi Mody of the 16-egg-omlette fame, the redoubtable Darbari Seth, the wily Ajit Kerkar on his way to supremacy. When he took over in 1991, Bombay House was known as the Viceroys Office and the companies were princely states the groups turnover was barely Rs 10,600 crore. Mulayam Singh Yadav, a wrestler of repute, deployed every hold and hook, to fight and consolidate his base migrating from mentor V P Singhs Janata Dal through four different arrangements to ultimately set up the Samajwadi Party.
On Monday, both the House of Tatas and the House of Samajwadis were in turmoil. There was the battle within a family enterprise and there was the boardroom knockout in the enterprise owned by trusts-of-families. The fracas in Bombay House was a private affair followed by public uproar. The brawl in Lucknow was a very public uproar followed by attempts of a private in-camera compromise. Cyrus Mistry was summarily sacked while Akhilesh Yadav has been summarily discounted.
The old guard has returned to roost Ratan Tata was back at the helm while Mulayam Singh Yadav manoeuvered himself to regain control. At the House of Tatas, which bears the motto Leadership by Trust, succession was wrecked by distrust. In the Samajwadi Party the familial quarrels derailed the installation of Akhilesh. Pride and prejudice came together. The bottom line is that the succession plans have come unstuck one has been declared as failed and the other is flailing. If one was a controlled implosion the other promises to take the path of Madame Pompadour who famously said apres moi deluge (after me, the flood). Both Cyrus (the name with Greek etymology means far-sighted) and Akhilesh (roughly means Lord of the Universe) have been left questioning themselves and their one-time-mentors.
Mind you, both were voted in with confidence. Ratan Tata said in November 2011: "The appointment of Mr Cyrus P Mistry as Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons is a good and far-sighted choice. He has been on the board of Tata Sons since August 2006 and I have been impressed with the quality and calibre of his participation, his astute observations and his humility. He is intelligent and qualified to take on the responsibility being offered and I will be committed to working with him over the next year to give him the exposure, the involvement and the operating experience to equip him to undertake the full responsibility of the group on my retirement."
Mulayam Singh Yadav exuded confidence and advised his son, You all have a responsibility on your shoulders. You should try to fulfil aspirations of the people and win their hearts with your behaviour. He then advised him to keep his personal and social life clean. This will be fulfilment of my dreams.
Curiously neither the followers of the Samajwadi Party nor the shareholders of the Tata companies quite know or at least have not been told what caused the upheaval. Such is the systemic opacity in the domain of political parties and in corporate boardrooms that the cause of the consequences has been parked in a black box. While there is some airing of grievances against Akhilesh that suggest reasons, the story of why Cyrus was sacked has been left to the fertile imagination of sources. Typically in India post any conflict the decibel rights are largely with the victor while the vanquished sulks in victimhood.
The air is thick with speculation and the social media abuzz with the high-cholesterol platters of conspiracy. Akhilesh has been blamed for not abiding by the will of the party and the cadre at the core, typically of Indian politics, is the appointments industry. The ouster of Cyrus Mistry similarly is enveloped in allusions and allegations of debatable acquisitions and divestments of loss-making parts of the group that raise questions about levels of due diligence and corporate governance at Tatas. If the ouster of Cyrus is blamed on the many satraps the emaciation of Akhilesh is blamed on the uncle virus.
For sure, these issues populate the landscape of conflict. There is the issue of governance in Uttar Pradesh and performance of the Tata Group. The crux of the problem though is the indefinable issue of personalities and matrix of control. In the case of Akhilesh the assorted uncles and as Mulayam said "sycophants" and in the case of Cyrus his team aka the group executive council which was ousted with him and the entrenched interests of old guard across the group.
Interestingly, both Akhilesh and Cyrus were felled by the operating system of power. The challenge was similar. Both Akhilesh and Cyrus enjoyed executive power but were challenged by the structure of controls. Regardless of the contribution of Akhilesh for the 2012 victory and his anointment, the button for the not-so-nuclear family rested with Mulayam Singh Yadav. At Bombay House, Cyrus Mistry had executive authority but only the penultimate word the last word rested with Ratan Tata who represented the trusts with an iron-clad controlling interest of 66 percent in the group.
Leadership is an individual style and is about the individual but conflicts are not just about the individual. A major factor is the court and company of the individual. Quite obviously Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ratan Tata harboured apprehensions. It is quite possible that they perceived a threat to the value propositions they had nurtured over decades. It is also possible that both Cyrus and Akhilesh did not quite live up to expectations or strayed from the shared vision of the future. Corporates and political parties survive and thrive on the simple principle of market share of votes and value. And the imperative of survival superseded previous covenants.
Indias political and corporate world is yet to come to terms with the need for and the necessity to evolve the mechanics of succession planning. In the political domain there are the examples of the Congress which split post the challenge by the syndicate, the ugly spat that followed the demise of MGR in ADMK, the splintering of the Republican Party of India, the split in the Shiv Sena represent absence of a succession plan. What is also true is that those running one-person-parties and these parties currently account for over 90 seats in the Lok Sabha seem to be disengaged from the idea of the crucial question - what if!
The same is true in the corporate world where bloodline battles have been all too common the landscape is littered with poorly planned succession and resultant feuds. The average life span of companies on the US S&P index has plummeted from 50 years to 15 years in the last five decades. It has been no different in India. The listing history of the Bombay Stock Exchanges Sensex reflects the destruction of ideas and value by the winds of change and by resistance to change. The exceptions to the law of decimation are in the east, mostly in Japan. Their secret: a shared vision of what constitutes value and what the future could be.
The issue is not really about this political party or that corporate house. The issue is legitimately about the preservation of value. There is no running away from the old maxim that power is the most persuasive rhetoric. There is also no escaping that prestige is the shadow of money and power and is difficult to surrender. So there will be ego-centric battles, there will always be differing views or views that differ from ones previously harboured. The challenge, for corporates and political parties, is and will always be aligning ownership of the enterprise with management.
Politics they say is the art of the possible and how to manage the past to a shared future is eventually the art of management.
The author is a political-economy analyst and the author of Accidental India: A History of the Nations Passage through Crisis and Change. He tweets @ShankkarAiyar
Forget the awful optics that hit us all in the eye in Lucknow on manic Monday. And do ignore the irrelevant ranting and raving over an enigmatic Amar Singh, who continues to revel in his stranglehold over the otherwise brilliant old warhorse of Indian politics Mulayam Singh Yadav. For, the boats carrying the Yadav family and the Samajwadi Party are in the doldrums. Make no mistakes: The ruling party in Uttar Pradesh stands defaced and defiled. Almost completely.
Manic Monday was followed by troublesome Tuesday. Mulayam called a press conference at his party office to hammer home the point that his family and party were united. But son Akhilesh wasnt there although brother Shivpal sat by Netajis side. Truce after truce. But peace eludes. And confusion abounds.
On Akhileshs future, the SP supremo said: "How can we say who will be the Chief Minister? Give us a majority first, and then we shall decide. Akhilesh is the chief minister now. Is that creating any problem?
In reply to a question on Amar Singh, he shot back: Why do you drag him into everything. And on Ram Gopals barbs, he said: I dont give importance to small things.
Mulayam didnt answer pointed questions. And he chose to remain vague. I shall not give a single controversial answer, no matter how many probing questions you ask, he said.
Already, the nation in general and media in particular have devoted enough time and space discussing the war within the Yadav family. Enough is enough. Dont you think its time to move on and view UPs overall political picture dispassionately?
Things have changed rather drastically in the past 40 days. The state now looks all set to present a near-straight-contest between the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the ensuing assembly elections this time. The SP and the Congress would, in all probability, be relegated to third and fourth spots.
There are three solid reasons why this would happen: First, Mayawati is in the process of giving party tickets to at least a hundred Muslim candidates. She knows that this minority community is bound to gravitate towards her in a big way in the absence of a strong Samajwadi Party. She also knows that her Dalit vote-bank is intact, thanks largely to the activities of 'gau rakshaks' of the Sangh parivar. Yes, the Dalit-Muslim axis has almost crystalised. Already.
Second, apart from consolidating the upper caste vote-bank, the BJP is now focussing on weaning away over to its side a sizeable sections of OBC voters. Indeed, they seem to have learnt a lot in the aftermath of their Bihar debacle. They know that they cant even think of winning the coming elections if the OBC vote-bank goes against them, like it did in Bihar. What they also know is that for a Hindu backlash to materialise, you need to take along OBCs in a big way. And now that the SP is seen to be disintegrating, Amit Shahs party is looking at the possibility of snatching non-Yadav OBCs from the clutches of Mulayam and Company.
Third, the Congress, which had left no stones unturned to ensure that Brahmins rejoin their bandwagon, is still groping in the dark. Despite massive campaigns by Rahul Gandhi in the countryside, the Congress strategy for revival has so far flopped. Even Rahuls Amethi and Sonia Gandhis Rae Bareli look threatened. Now they are looking at the possibility of joining hands with the strife-torn Samajwadi Party. Lets wait for another fortnight or so for things to take shape on the alliance front. For the moment, things are too uncertain.
What is, however, certain is that the SPs vote bank has crumbled beyond repair. And thats why both the BSP and the BJP are now in a position to battle it out for power in Lucknow.
To the delight of the saffron camp, BJPs poster-boy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is beginning to get into the aggressive mould. Breaking his silence on the issue of triple talaq, Modi thundered at a public rally at Mahoba in Bundelkhand on Monday: "If a Hindu kills a daughter in her mothers womb, that person has to go behind bars. Similarly, how is my Muslim sister at fault if someone just utters talaq thrice over the telephone and destroys her life."
Quoting the Prime Minister, The Indian Express wrote further: "Shouldnt the rights of Muslim daughters be protected? Shouldnt Muslim mothers and sisters be protected? Shouldnt Muslim sisters get equal rights? Some Muslim sisters fought for their rights in court. The Supreme Court asked us what is the stand of Government of India. We replied in very clear terms that no injustice should be done to mothers and sisters, that no discrimination should take place in the name of religion."
You can now get a glimpse of things to come in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. Will it not be a fight between the BSP, which derives its strength from Muslim-Dalit axis, and the BJP, which would continue to raise hue and cry over the issues of Common Civil Code, nationalism and surgical strikes? The Samajwadi Party and the Congress are virtually out of the picture-frame. Like it or not.
By Michelle Nichols
| UNITED NATIONS
UNITED NATIONS Britain and France pushed on Tuesday for the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Syrian government forces blamed for three gas attacks by an international inquiry as Syrian ally Russia said it was still studying the findings.The fourth report from the year-long inquiry by the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a text of which was seen by Reuters on Friday, blamed Syrian government forces for a third chlorine gas attack.The results set the stage for a Security Council showdown between the five veto-wielding powers, likely pitting Russia and China against the United States, Britain and France over how those responsible should be held accountable.The 15-member council is due to discuss the latest report by the international inquiry on Thursday.British U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said that the council, which set up the inquiry, now needs to "make sure there is genuine accountability and that means sanctions."
French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre called for the council to adopt a resolution extending the mandate of the U.N./OPCW inquiry, which expires on Oct. 31, for up to a year and also work on a separate resolution to punish those responsible. "We call for a resolution of the council to sanction the authors of those crimes," Delattre told reporters. "When the use of weapons of mass destruction are at stake, weakness and impunity are simply not an option."U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in a statement on Saturday that the United States wanted to see appropriate accountability for the attacks. She also supported an extension of the mandate of the inquiry.
"Other actors, seeking to terrorize innocents, will be watching to see how the international community responds at this time," Power said.Following the inquiry's third report in August, which blamed Syrian government forces for two chlorine gas attacks and said Islamic State militants had used sulfur mustard gas, Russia said the conclusions could not be used to impose U.N. sanctions.
Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said on Tuesday that Moscow was studying the latest report. The inquiry said that Syrian government forces had used helicopters to drop barrel bombs, which then released chlorine gas. The latest report confirmed a Reuters report in September that the inquiry had identified the 253 and 255 squadrons, belonging to the 63rd helicopter brigade.The inquiry said those "with effective control in the military units ... must be held accountable." (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by James Dalgleish)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Kylie MacLellan and Sarah Young
| LONDON
LONDON Britain on Tuesday backed a $22 billion expansion of Heathrow Airport, ending 25 years of indecision and promising to boost global trade links following the vote to leave the European Union. Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, defeated a proposal from smaller rival Gatwick and will secure the first new full-length runway to be built near London in 70 years after environmental and political protests scuppered previous attempts. Prime Minister Theresa May, a former critic of Heathrow expansion, said she had opted for a plan that would boost the economy, create jobs and provide access to global markets.But her decision put her on an immediate collision course with senior politicians, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who oppose the plan. "After decades of delay we are showing that we will take the big decisions when they're the right decisions for Britain," May told London's Evening Standard newspaper.The decision to jump-start one of Europe's biggest infrastructure projects is one of May's most significant moves since she took office in July and follows her approval in September of a $24 billion nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point.By choosing to build a third runway at Heathrow, which will require rebuilding parts of the motorway circling the capital, May opted for the more expensive and complex option over cheaper plans to extend an existing Heathrow runway or build a new one at Gatwick, south of London. According to a three-year study by Britain's independent Airports Commission, a new runway at Heathrow would create 70,000 new jobs by 2050 and increase gross domestic product by between 0.65 and 0.75 percent over the same period.It will also enable Britain to keep pace with Europe's biggest airports in Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, which boast greater capacity, while Heathrow's established links with emerging markets were seen to strengthen its case in the wake of Britain's June vote to leave the EU.
CITY OF PLANES
But within hours of the decision, politicians were lining up to denounce it. Foreign Secretary Johnson said a third runway was "undeliverable" and "very likely to be stopped" while London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he would continue to oppose Heathrow's expansion.Zac Goldsmith, a lawmaker in May's Conservative Party, was expected to resign over the issue, causing a local election in his constituency near the airport and potentially threatening May's already slim majority in parliament.
Johnson, a former Mayor of London who once proposed building a new airport to the east of the city, said he worried that a third runway would be followed by a clamour for a fourth. "You'd have New York, a city of beautiful skyscrapers, Paris the city of light, London the city of planes," he told reporters. "Is that really what we want for our fantastic capital city?"The 18-billion-pound project is now likely to face legal challenges and a final vote by lawmakers in a year's time, meaning the runway can only open by 2025 at the earliest. Surveys show a majority of lawmakers will back the plan. Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said governments had prevaricated for too long.
"Put simply, it's about time," he said. "Businesses will now want assurances that the final approval process for Heathrow's new runway will be smooth and swift, so that construction can begin as soon as possible. "The time for playing politics with our national connectivity is over."Heathrow is owned by Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial, Qatar Holding, China Investment Corp and other investors, and the bill for expansion will be paid for by the private sector, with the government expected to pay for some of the additional road and rail costs. Engineering firms Arup and U.S.-headquartered CH2M, British construction company MACE and construction and project management firm Turner & Townsend are already working on the early stages of the project. The government said the UK aviation regulator would work with Heathrow and airlines to ensure the new runway was affordable and keep landing charges paid by airlines close to current levels. The government also proposed legally binding noise targets to provide respite for local residents, many of whom oppose expansion due to worries over noise and air pollution. Heathrow will also need to meet air quality rules as a condition of planning approval. "Heathrow stands ready to work with government, businesses, airlines and our local communities to deliver an airport that is fair, affordable and secures the benefits of expansion for the whole of the UK," the airport said. (Additional reporting by William James, Paul Sandle, Costas Pitas and Estelle Shirbon, writing by Kate Holton; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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QUETTA, Pakistan Gunmen stormed a Pakistani police training academy in the southwestern city of Quetta late on Monday night, killing at least 48 people and wounding more than 100, hospital officials said early Tuesday morning. Some 200 trainees are stationed at the facility, officials said, and some had been taken hostage."Forty eight bodies have been brought to the hospital," said Wasim Beg, senior doctor at Quetta's Civil Hospital.
Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister of Baluchistan province, of which Quetta is the capital, had confirmed early on Tuesday that five to six gunmen had attacked a dormitory inside the training facility while cadets rested and slept. An operation to clear the facility lasted five hours.
(Reporting and writing by Mehreen Zahra-Malik; Editing by Michael Perry)
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The media just cannot ignore Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. It isnt only because he is fighting to be the president of the most powerful country but, because his crude statements baffle and shock people everyday.
The most recent in his stream of insensitive comments is what he said about the terminally ill people at a rally in Nevada on Wednesday.
The Independent reported that Trump urged the terminally ill people to stay alive long enough to vote for him in the 2016 US presidential election in November.
"I don't care how sick you are. I don't care if you just came back from the doctor and he gave you the worst possible prognosis, meaning it's over. Doesn't matter. Hang out till 8 November. Get out and vote," he supposedly said in Reno, Nevada.
His arrogance and callousness further prompted him to assure those people that after they are gone, "all we're going to say is, We love you and we will remember you always."
He urged them to "get out and vote, and dont let the other side take this election away from us. Because this is the last chance we get."
Lets not jump to conclusions. He is not as inconsiderate as he may seem to be. He prefaced his speech by saying, "I say kiddingly, but I mean it," according to The Huffington Post.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that moments after Trump went off-script, stumbles returned. He apparently bragged about being able to properly pronounce the states name and proceeded to mispronounce it.
This is not the first time when Trump has made controversial statements during his campaign. He called Mexicans rapists and subsequently received a hostile welcome in Mexico. He was greeted with protests from Mexicans. He also wants a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States.
Trumps comments does not seem to urge voters to "get out and vote". His already infamous image might just repel people and make him appear as an unsympathetic insane person.
By Stephen Kalin and Maher Chmaytelli
| EAST OF MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq
EAST OF MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq An elite unit of the Iraqi army paused its week-long advance on Mosul as it approached the city's eastern edge on Tuesday, waiting for other U.S.-backed forces to close in on Islamic State's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.On the ninth day of the offensive on Mosul, government forces and allied Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are still fighting their way towards the outer limits of the northern city, in the early stages of an assault which could become the biggest military operation in Iraq in over a decade. (See graphic: Islamic State counter-attacks across Iraq tmsnrt.rs/2ezSp7I)The first force to get near to Mosul, advancing to within two kilometres (just over a mile) of Iraq's second largest city, was the elite U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).CTS troops have moved in from the east, dislodging Islamic State from a Christian region that has been empty of residents since the ultra-hardline Sunni militants took it over in 2014.The combat ahead is likely to be more difficult and deadly because of the presence of civilians. Some 1.5 million residents remain in the city and worst-case forecasts see up to a million being uprooted, according to the United Nations. U.N. aid agencies said the fighting has so far forced about 9,000 to flee their homes. But Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, told Reuters that the United Nations expects a mass exodus from Mosul, perhaps within the next few days.In the worst case scenario, Grande said it was also possible that Islamic State fighters who have controlled Mosul for more than two years could resort to "rudimentary chemical weapons" to hold back the impending assault.U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said Islamic State fighters have reportedly killed scores of people around Mosul in the last week.Colville said that security forces discovered the bodies of 70 civilians in houses in Tuloul Naser village south of Mosul last Thursday. Islamic State also reportedly killed 50 former police officers outside Mosul on Sunday, he said.90 VILLAGES RETAKEN
The Mosul campaign, which may become the biggest battle yet in the 13 years of turmoil unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, aims to crush the Iraqi half of Islamic State's declared caliphate in Iraq and neighbouring Syria.Washington has fewer allies on the ground in Syria, where it has supported rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, but Defense Secretary Ash Carter signalled on Tuesday that the fight against Islamic State there may be stepped up, saying he expected the campaigns against the jihadists in Mosul and the Syrian city of Raqqa to overlap.In Iraq, a commander said the CTS advance on Mosul was pausing to allow other military units to make similar progress and consolidate the front before pushing further into the city.The Iraqi force attacking Mosul is 30,000-strong, supported by U.S. special forces and under American, French and British air cover. The number of insurgents dug in the city is estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 by the Iraqi military.About 90 Islamic State-held villages and towns around Mosul have been retaken so far into the offensive, according to statements from the army. The distance from the frontlines to the city ranges from just a couple of kilometres in the east, to 30 kilometres (nearly 20 miles) in the south.In Khazna, one of the villages recaptured on Monday by the CTS, some of the fighting appeared to have gone from house to house, leaving smoked out buildings with their contents turned upside down, a Reuters correspondent said. A disabled Humvee and the remnants of a car bomb could be seen on a desert path.
CTS snipers hid on rooftops at the edge of village keeping watch over the desert areas extending to Mosul. Although CTS is a government unit, many of its Humvees fly the Shi'ite flags of Iraq's majority community. Such a display could antagonise Sunnis who make up most of the population in Nineveh province around Mosul.BATTLE FOR DESERT TOWN
Seeking to relieve pressure on their forces controlling the northern Iraqi city, Islamic State fighters who have waged counter attacks across the country battled Iraqi troops in the desert town of Rutba, 450 km (280 miles) to the southwest.Islamic State attacked Rutba on Sunday, and has been fighting since then for the town, which lies on the main highway running west from Baghdad, close to the borders with Jordan and Syria.
The militants expanded the area of Rutba under their control from a third to about half Monday overnight, forcing the government to send reinforcements. Anbar province, where Rutba is located, has been a hotbed of Sunni insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government and the U.S. forces that overthrew former president Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003.The Islamci State attack on Rutba came after an assault on the Kurdish-held oil city of Kirkuk last week, which prompted local authorities to start expelling Sunni Arabs over fears there could be Islamic State sleeper cells in their midst.Hundreds of displaced Sunni Arab families who had been sheltering in the Kirkuk province from the conflict with Islamic State began moving out after authorities told them on Sunday to leave or face being forcibly expelled, humanitarian workers and residents said on Tuesday. "The United Nations is very concerned about any action that could be understood as collective punishment," the UN's Grande said, adding that she was worried that the move could also set a precedent in a region riven with ethnic and sectarian divisions.About 330,000 Sunni Arabs have taken refuge in the oil-rich Kirkuk province in the last two years, after Islamic State swept through northern, central and western Iraq in 2014.Islamic State fighters stormed police stations and buildings in Kirkuk on Friday, killing about 100 security force members and civilians. Sixty-three militants also died in the heavy fighting that lasted until Sunday, when authorities restored control.The militants are suspected to have come from Hawija, a pocket still under their control west of Kirkuk, but authorities also suspect that they were assisted by sleeper cells hiding among the displaced people or even by Sunni Arab residents.Kirkuk is the most disputed area of Iraq because of its complex population mix. The Kurds took full control of the province in 2014 after Islamic State overran much of the north of the country and several divisions of the Iraqi army disintegrated. (Additional reporting by Saif Hameed in Baghdad, Tom Miles in Geneva and Phil Stewart in Paris; Editing by Dominic Evans)
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Qaraqosh: Iraqi forces were inching to within striking distance of eastern Mosul on Tuesday as defence chiefs from the US-led coalition met in Paris to review the offensive on the jihadist bastion. With the Mosul battle in its second week, French President Francois Hollande called for the coalition against the Islamic State group to prepare for the aftermath and the next stages of the war against Islamic State.
Forces from the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) retook areas close to the eastern outskirts of Mosul, Islamic State's last major urban stronghold in Iraq. "On our front, we have advanced to within five or six kilometres (three to four miles) of Mosul," their commander, General Abdelghani al-Assadi, told AFP.
"We must now coordinate with forces on other fronts to launch a coordinated" attack on Mosul, he said, speaking from the Christian town of Bartalla. Kurdish peshmerga forces are making gains on the northeastern front, but federal forces advancing from the south have some way to go before reaching the outskirts.
Meanwhile, thousands of men from the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary umbrella group dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias were preparing for a push to the west of Mosul. The Hashed leadership has ordered "us to assume the mission of liberating the Tal Afar district", said Jawwad al-Tulaibawi, spokesman for the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, referring to an area west of the mainly Sunni city.
The Hashed's mission will be to "cut off and prevent the escape of (IS) towards Syria and fully isolate Mosul from Syria", Tulaibawi told AFP. "We expect that it will be a difficult and fierce battle," he said. Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Arab politicians have opposed the Hashed's participation in the operation, as has Turkey, which has a military presence east of Mosul despite repeated demands by Baghdad to withdraw its forces.
Tensions have risen between Baghdad and Ankara, whose foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned Tuesday that if there is a threat to Turkey, "we are ready to use all our resources including a ground operation". In Paris, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was meeting coalition counterparts, including Pentagon chief Ashton Carter, to review the war on IS after more than two years of air strikes, training and on-the-ground military advisers.
Besides coordinating their support for the forces closing in on Mosul, ministers will also attempt to iron out differences over priorities in the campaign. France is keen to tackle the jihadists' Syria bastion Raqa, where a large number of French foreign fighters in Islamic State ranks are stationed. As the ministers met, Hollande warned that "the recapture is not an end in itself. We must already anticipate the consequences of the fall of Mosul."
"What is at stake is the political future of the city, the region and Iraq," Hollande said, calling for "all ethnic and religious groups" to have a say in the future running of Mosul.
Washington: US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have won an international diplomatic prize for their part in a historic agreement on Iran's nuclear program, organizers announced Monday.
The two officials, who negotiated the deal face-to-face and together with counterparts from the P5+1 powers (the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany) between 2013 and 2015, won the Chatham House Prize "in recognition of their crucial roles" to resolve "one of the most intractable diplomatic stand-offs in international affairs in the 21st century," Britain's Chatham House think-tank said in a statement.
The agreement aimed at stopping Iran from using its civilian nuclear industry to develop a nuclear weapon in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against Tehran was signed in July 2015 and implemented in January.
The deal that "many thought impossible" sealed "a victory for diplomacy as well as against nuclear proliferation," the prestigious London research center said.
In Washington, the State Department which does not maintain full diplomatic relations with Tehran's Foreign Ministry said Kerry was "grateful for being selected for this prize," stressing that the deal was "a team effort internationally, with the other members of the P5+1, as well as the European Union."
After the deal's signing, rumors circulated about a possible Nobel Peace Prize for the P5+1 group or Kerry and Zarif last year.
The major diplomatic breakthrough helped initiate a tentative thaw in relations between the United States and Iran. However, ties have been further strained recently over Shiite Tehran's part in Syria's conflict and elsewhere in the Middle East, as well as Western banks' reluctance to invest in the Islamic republic.
Recent Chatham House Prize recipients include former US secretary of state and current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the aid organization Doctors Without Borders.
Islamabad: Authorities in Pakistan have frozen bank accounts with more than Rs 400 million of over 5,100 terror suspects, including JeM chief Masood Azhar who is under "protective custody" after the terror attack on the Pathankot air base, officials said.
"Following a request of the Ministry of Interior, we have frozen accounts of all top suspected terrorists, including Masood Azhar, son of Allah Bux," said a senior official of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) who is part of a team monitoring the progress pertaining to this matter.
The interior ministry sent three different lists of thousands of suspects, including kingpins of some proscribed organisations, The News quoted the official as saying. Around 1,200 suspects whose accounts were frozen by SBP were listed in category 'A' of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, a term used for terrorists put on exceptional risk or high risk, the paper reported.
Azhar has been included in the list's top suspects whose accounts were frozen by the SBP, said officials of the Ministry of Interior and SBP. "Azhar's name was listed in category 'A' of the 4th Schedule," the paper quoted officials as saying.
"It happened since the government put the JeM chief under 'protective custody' of security agencies after terrorists attacked the Pathankot Airbase," the officials said. After the attack on the airbase in Pathankot in January, India had in February written to the UN calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the UN Sanctions Committee.
The National Counterterrorism Authority (Nacta) sent around 5,500 names to the SBP earlier this month, they said. National Coordinator Nacta Ihsan Ghani confirmed that over 5,000 accounts of suspects have been frozen by the SBP. "These accounts hold net amount worth Rs 400 million," he said. About Azhar's accounts, Ghani said he would revert with latest updates later this week.
"More than 3,078 accounts of suspects whose accounts were frozen belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, 1,443 from Punjab, 226 from Sindh, 193 from Balochistan, 106 from Gilgit-Baltistan and 27 from the Islamabad Capital Territory," the paper said, adding that 26 suspects belonged to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Accounts of other suspects such as cleric of Islamabads Lal Masjid Maulana Aziz, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat leaders Maulvi Ahmed Ludhianvi and Aurangzeb Faroogi, Matiur Rehman of al-Qaeda, Mansoor alias Ibrahim of Tehreek-e-Taliban and Qari Ehsan alias Ustad Huzaifa and Ramzan Mengal of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were also frozen, the paper added.
Tokyo: Acid-tongued Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte takes his diplomatic roadshow to Japan on Tuesday, days after his apparent tilt towards China raised questions about his strategic intentions.
The Philippines and Japan have long been key US allies in Asia, but Duterte has done a dramatic U-turn since coming to office in late June.
That appeared to culminate last week in Beijing where he declared his "separation" from the United States, played down a maritime dispute with China and pledged to enhance friendship and economic ties.
Back home on Saturday, however, the former mayor seemed to walk back his comments, saying he would not be severing the alliance with Washington.
And on Monday, he went further, telling Japanese media that the US will remain the country's sole military ally.
"The alliances are alive, it is there," he said in a reference to the United States, according to Kyodo News. "There should be no worry about changes of alliances. I do not need to have alliances with other nations."
Other Japanese media including the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun quoted him as saying that all military activities with the US should be halted.
His seesawing has been closely watched in Japan, a major investor and aid donor to Manila that is wary of China's rising influence.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has worked to beef up ties with Manila by providing patrol boats and has supported it in the territorial row with China, as Japan seeks support in its own maritime dispute with Beijing.
Duterte's predecessor took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive claims in the South China Sea where it has built artificial islands capable of hosting military facilities and the Philippines won a resounding victory in July.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper said that improvement in diplomatic relations among "neighbouring nations" is desirable in principle.
"But if they disrespect the rule of law for the sake of narrow bilateral interest, that would be a grave concern for the Asian region," it said in a Saturday editorial, referring to Duterte's Beijing visit.
Duterte told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that his talks with Abe will centre on economic cooperation and "shared interest" in an interview ahead of his three-day visit.
"Now the most important thing there is the shared interest... its about the South China Sea," he said.
Duterte has made a habit of hurling sharp, even profane, verbal barbs at the US and President Barack Obama, which resulted in Washington cancelling talks between them at an ASEAN summit last month.
But Kunihiko Miyake, a former Japanese diplomat and visiting professor at Ritsumeikan University, warned against reading too much into such rhetoric.
"President Duterte is an anti-US nationalist and populist leader, which doesn't necessarily mean he is pro-China," Miyake told AFP.
Still, he noted the need to "watch closely" his future words and actions.
In recent months Abe has criticised China for rejecting the international tribunal ruling, which said Beijing's expansive claims to the waters had no legal basis.
At talks Wednesday, Duterte and Abe are expected to agree on expanding ties in areas of "maritime security and defence cooperation," a Japanese embassy official in Manila told reporters.
Manila: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday reiterated his decision to end the military agreement signed with the US in 2014.
"You have the EDCA [Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement], well forget it," Duterte said in a speech before leaving for a three-day official visit to Japan.
"If I stay here long enough, one day that EDCA will... I look forward to the time when I no longer see any military troops or soldiers in my country, except for Filipino soldiers," Duterte said.
Duterte's statement follows the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in Manila, Daniel Russel, on Monday saying the Filipino President was causing consternation in the US and other countries.
"I am not a tuta (puppet) of any country," Duterte said, calling Russel's comments malicious, and added there is bigotry and discrimination in the US.
Relations between Washington and Manila suffered a setback last week when Duterte, during an official visit to Beijing, announced an economic and military separation from the US.
Since Duterte took office as President in June, the Philippines started distancing itself from the US, one of its greatest allies since 1946 in the aftermath of the World War II.
LONDON Syrian refugee children have been working in factories in Turkey making clothes for British high street retailer Marks & Spencer and online store ASOS, an investigation by BBC Panorama has found. The investigation, broadcast on Monday evening, found Syrian refugees as young as 15 working long hours for little pay, making and ironing clothes to be shipped off to Britain. BBC journalists took photographs of Marks & Spencer labels in the factories. Some Syrian refugees worked 12-hour days in a factory distressing jeans for fashion brands Mango and Zara, using chemicals with inadequate protection, the BBC said.An M&S spokesperson said: "We had previously found no evidence of Syrian workers employed in factories that supply us, so we were very disappointed by these findings, which are extremely serious and are unacceptable to M&S."M&S said it was working with the Turkish supplier to offer permanent legal employment to any Syrian daily workers employed in the factory.
"Mango has zero tolerance towards the practices described in the 'Panorama' programme," a Mango spokeswoman said. The company said it had instructed an urgent and unannounced audit of the concerned facilities after the BBC's notification. "Under no circumstances was the use of child labour of Syrian workers detected," she said.An ASOS spokeswoman on Monday said: "Its a subject we take incredibly seriously. But it would be wrong for us to comment on reporting we havent seen."
A spokeswoman from Inditex, which owns Zara, said the company had investigated Panorama's report. "The factory BBC refers to - Goreteks - is a laundry that had already been audited by Inditex before Panorama's filming took place. It is currently the subject of improvement measures," she said.The Inditex audit process was "a highly effective way of monitoring and improving conditions for workers," she said. "We strongly reject any suggestion to the contrary."
Turkey has been a main entry point for refugees from the conflict in Syria, with three million of them estimated to be living there. Ankara signed a deal with the European Union in March to stem the flow of refugees into the bloc.A Reuters investigation this year also found evidence of Syrian refugee children in Turkey working in clothes factories in illegal conditions. (Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Via The Guardian: Midwife in Haiti tells of delivering babies knee-deep in water by torchlight. Excerpt:
A midwife in Jeremie, GrandAnse, one of the worst-hit towns in Haiti during Hurricane Matthew, has told how she delivered six babies, two boys and four girls, in a blackout during the night of the storm.
Marie-Lyrette Casimir, a midwife at St Antoine hospital, worked by flashlight as the fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade ripped though the south-west tip of the country, killing more than 500 people and causing widespread devastation.
Casimir, who was trapped in the hospital with her patients for hours after the storm, due to rising floodwater, said: During the deliveries, the mothers were saying: Miss Casimir, please save us. Youre going to save us. I was worried a lot, but I tried to calm them down, to be reassuring. I said to them: Even in this desperate situation, you have to play your role, in the interests of the baby.
In a town where 80% of the buildings have reportedly been destroyed, St Antoines maternity unit, housed in one of three buildings that make up the hospital, emerged relatively unscathed. One of the hospitals adjacent buildings was flattened by winds of up to 145mph, the other suffered extensive damage.
Casimir, who works for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), described how windows were shattered and doors wrenched off their hinges during the storm and, amid fears the building itself would collapse, mothers were screaming and crying. There were two nurses in the ward that night, but she was the only midwife, she told the Guardian.
I was very sad and worried At first, the wind wasnt very strong but the hurricane became really strong around midnight.
When a power cut plunged the hospital into total darkness, she carried on using a rechargeable lamp and a flashlight, she said. I was afraid, there was a lot of noise and I was worried I could be injured. But I had to stay my work was to help women give life.
Casimir, 46, said that by dawn the floodwater in the hospital had reached her knees. At one point she had to raise the bed in the delivery room, which was becoming contaminated with floodwater.
But her fears that falling debris or, worse, the collapse of the building, could risk all their lives, went unrealised. Im very proud of what I achieved that night. There were no deaths. The deliveries went well and none of the babies needed to go to paediatric care. Everything was great.
Casimirs story emerged after an assessment by the UNFPA and Haitis ministry of womens affairs revealed the scale of devastation in GrandAnse and Nippes, two of the countrys hardest-hit departments. It found most of the population affected were living in appalling conditions, with 176,000 in temporary shelters. Almost 100% of crops were destroyed in what is one of this impoverished countrys most fertile areas.
Up to 1.4 million people, 40% of them children, are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to a report (pdf) by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), with 806,000 people being at what it described as at extreme-impact level of food security (near-famine conditions), mainly in GrandAnse and Sud. A further million people were at a very high or high level, it said.
By Matthias Blamont
| CALAIS, France
CALAIS, France French workers began demolishing the "Jungle" shanty town in Calais on Tuesday, wielding sledgehammers to tear down makeshift dwellings as former residents - migrants seeking entry to Britain - were moved out.Police equipped with water canon stood guard as hundreds of migrants - some of whom have lived in the scrubland on the northern French coast for months or years - waited for busses to take them for resettlement across France. "The migrants have known for a long time this was going to happen," the Calais region's prefect, Fabienne Buccio, told Reuters after arriving at the camp escorted by between 150 and 200 riot police."We are making sure it is done properly. We define an area, and then we go in."Groups of young men who have fled war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, kept warm around piles of burning rubbish in the camp, a filthy expanse that has become a symbol of Europe's failed migration policies.A large fire blazed at one point, but then appeared to be brought under control, and there was no repeat of the minor skirmishes with security forces seen over the weekend.Officials said the operation was going peacefully.
For many of the migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and other conflict zones, the closure of the Jungle marked the end of a dream to reach Britain, which lies a tantalisingly short sea crossing away. "We know the Jungle is over," said Aarash, a 21-year-old Afghan as he made his way to the hangar where immigration officials were processing the migrants."We will see if we can get on a bus today, but we want a good city, like one near Paris. If we can't go there we will come back to the Jungle."
Social workers and translators sent by the government handed out leaflets around the camp early on Tuesday to convince residents they must prepare to leave the camp. Officials showed some a map of France with a "You Are Here" arrow in English pointing to Calais."Overall the migrants have understood that time is up for the Jungle. They've been receptive," said social worker Serge Szarzynski.Nonetheless, some migrants said that they would resist efforts to resettle them in France."France is a good country but just not right for me and my situation. I am going to stay and I will build another jungle!" said a 32-year-old Afghan who gave his name only as Khan.
London and Paris have been at odds over the fate of about 1,300 unaccompanied child migrants living in the Jungle. The French government last week urged Britain to step up its efforts to resettle them.On Monday, British Interior Minister Amber Rudd said Britain would take in roughly half of the camp's lone children.Six months before a presidential election in France, the camp and border controls with Britain are hotly debated campaign issues. Some right-wing opponents of President Francois Hollande want all the migrants sent to Britain.The far-right National Front party said the current resettlement plan would create mini-Calais camps across France. (Writing by Leigh Thomas and Andrew Callus; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Thanks to FluTrackers for tweeting the link to this report in Al-Watan: 6 cases of Corona impose strict measures at the heart Ahsa. The Google translation leaves much to be desired:
Imposed a committee of the Ministry of Health, in coordination with the General Directorate of Health Affairs in Al-Ahsa 4 precautions tight at the Prince Sultan Center for Cardiovascular Ahsa, until further notice, after evidence of the arrival of a medical condition infected with "Corona" and transmission to 5 cases of patients in the same Center.
Transmission
explained medical sources in the health - Ahsa for "home" yesterday, that the center last week received, patients transferred from one of the Ohads abandonment "away from Hofuf 110 km," was - patient in the hypnosis center sections, and found to be infected Bkorona, was suspected of transition infection to 5 hypnotic cases, was quarantine for all, and transferred to isolation rooms in the medical tower new emergency department adjacent to the King Fahd Hospital in Hofuf application, as were some patients converted to Prince Saud bin Jalawi new hospital "North extruded",
as well as to take all precautionary and preventive measures of HIV transmission to other cases, stressing that these actions to prevent further cases of suspected or injuries, the General Directorate of health Affairs has taken in the province, other measures alternative to receive patients in neighboring outpatient clinics, and predicted those sources that these precautionary measures lifted early next week. precautionary measures,
said the official spokesman for the health of Al - Ahsa Abdulrahman Sudrani for "home", in an exhibition inquiry about it: I hope communicate directly with the Ministry of Health, as all infectious diseases and related procedures is declared by the ministry. as for the four procedures precautionary carried out, the sources said it included the closure of all outpatient clinics, as well as emergency departments for cases of non - critical at the center, and stop receiving cases of hypnosis at the center, as well as prevent the exit of all the patients from the center, and to prevent the visit of all inpatients, and taking vital signs for all attendees the center of the sections of the services on the ground floor.
I gather that Arabic sentences do go on and on. And on. I've tried to make the second one more readable by breaking it into paragraphs. This seems to be the only report so far; several people have linked to it on the #Coruna hashtag that Arabic speakers use, but I don't find any other stories in today's Saudi media. Mike Coston at Avian Flu Diary has the story with some useful context.
I think "hypnosis" is how Google translates "dialysis," but I'm not sure. Kidney patients in hospital for dialysis have tended to be easy targets for MERS.
Ahsa, I learn from Google Maps, is the eastern province of Saudi Arabia; Hofuf is in the northern part of the province.
Xiaomi today unveiled its flagship Mi Note 2 smartphone and its bezel-less Mi MIX smartphones at an event in Beijing. After the event, in an interaction with FoneArena, Xiaomis VP Hugo Barra said that the company has no plans to launch these two smartphones in India.
Last year the company did not launch the first generation Mi Note and Mi Note Pro smartphones in India. It also did not launch the high-end Ceramic back version of the Mi 5 and launched only the base variant at Rs. 24999 earlier this year.
The companys VP said that Xiaomi has plans to setup a Mi Home store in India in future that would allow consumers to experience its products. Xiaomi launched its first Mi Home Store outside China in Singapore recently.
Check out our hands-on impressions of Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX smartphones.
With inputs from Varun
Lauren Templeton is the founder and president of Templeton & Phillips Capital Management, a value investing boutique in Chattanooga, Tenn. She began stock investing at age 7 and lives by the philosophy of "be greedy when the market is fearful." Key to the above-average returns she's achieved over her investment career has been buying into the market when others aren't looking.
Inside Value analyst Rana Pritanjali talked with her about the best temperament for value investors, paying up for quality companies, how the investing landscape might change in the coming years, and more.
Rana Pritanjali: Can you talk about your investment style? How has it evolved over the years?
Lauren Templeton: I am a bottom-up global value investor. When I first launched, the fund was focused strictly on U.S. equities. Experience has allowed me to broaden my universe of securities for potential selection. Also, my strategy was largely quantitative when I began my investment career. My great-uncle, Sir John Templeton, correctly assumed that a young person would not be able to control their emotions very well, and a quantitative strategy removed many of the pitfalls.
Rana Pritanjali: Are you still discovering things about yourself as an investor?
Lauren Templeton: It can be difficult for me to sell a winning position, and I find that it is easy to justify new valuations. I have discovered my bias here over the years, and I am careful to guard against it with an adherence to our estimate of intrinsic value. My learning curve was very steep early on. I launched my professional career as a portfolio manager at the age of 24. Years 24 to 32 were a vertical climb, particularly in terms of the volatility in the markets over that time period. The experience was invaluable, though, as it compressed many years of market environments into a short span of time.
Rana Pritanjali: How much importance do you put on the behavioral aspect of investing?
Lauren Templeton: The behavioral aspect to investing is most important, in my opinion. In my career I have employed several very smart analysts/portfolio managers who were much smarter with better resumes than mine. It is always interesting to me that most of the analysts that claim to be value investors do not possess the temperament to execute the strategy. (1) You have to be comfortable being unpopular (2) You must possess the capacity to suffer (for sometimes long periods of time). (3) You have to be patient (4) You have to be focused on the long term. (5) You have to remain calm and focus on the opportunity in a crisis situation.
Rana Pritanjali: Which valuation tools do you use? Have you found any limitations in them?
Lauren Templeton: We generally use a discounted cash model that forecasts 10 years of fundamentals under three different operating environments. Depending on the firm and industry though, i.e., a financial, we use a different valuation model, such as dividend discount model or residual value model. Still other firms with higher capital intensity may lend themselves to an NAV or replacement value approach. On firms with distinct operations, a sum of the parts and multiple analysis may be more appropriate. There are trade-offs in each of these models, and over time, you learn which ones work best in a given situation.
Rana Pritanjali: Do you think about why a company is mispriced?
Lauren Templeton: Of course. We are always trying to figure out why the stock is mispriced, and we focus on securities where the mispricing appears to be a temporary situation that can be resolved in the next few years, or perhaps longer, depending on the size of the discount. Our average holding period is five years. Often we can identify a catalyst, but in the cases where we have not, this has not always precluded investment. Often a catalyst can unfold over the course of many years due to economic factors, and so most often, the key is patience.
Rana Pritanjali: Do you think excessive conservatism (such as a big margin of safety) can limit your universe of stocks by eliminating high-quality companies that fail a too-rigorous valuation test? And would you pay up for companies that earn superior returns for longer than average?
Lauren Templeton: Of course. It is OK to pay more for a company that earns superior returns for a long period of time. The trick is to keep a "wish list" of securities in your desk drawer, and when there is a market sell-off, refer to that list for purchases. Uncle John went so far as to have GTC limit orders on certain stocks he liked, but at really low prices. It is rare that a broad market sell-off will trigger execution, but it has happened to us once.
Rana Pritanjali: Different investors have different risk appetites. How do you communicate your philosophy to your clients, especially during tough times?
Lauren Templeton: Very carefully. We do a really great job of educating investors on value investing and our strategy. My old office in downtown Chattanooga had the phrase "trouble is opportunity" in big gold letters above the front door, instead of "Templeton & Phillips." If an investor asked, "what does that phrase mean?" I knew it was a poor match.
Rana Pritanjali: Given the technological changes, how do you think the investment industry will evolve in the coming years?
Lauren Templeton: Radically. I think investing will become more machine-driven through the development of computing processes supported by artificial intelligence and deep learning.
Rana Pritanjali: Does that imply that passive investing will be more widely used?
Excursion Coil Spring conversion Sway bar issue
Just about done with installing 2010 Superduty front suspension in my Ex. For some reason the sway bay hits the Coil spring and I can't bolt in the end links to the sway bar. Is 2010 different then 2005?? I could maybe modify the the front mount to move it forward but I am not sure there is enough space, plus it's perfectly centered right now. Any ideas? Doesn't seem to much room to slide the axle back either.
The countdown clock has begun as the exciting and quite frankly, bizarre, presidential election cycle nears an end. In just under two weeks there will be a new resident at the White House, but the question remains: will that be Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?
Both presidential candidates have faced their fair share of scandals and allegations, which has made for some great TV these past few months, and even better material for comedians.
The great thing about the election for comedy, in addition to the characters and the individuals being funny, is that everybody is watching the same events at once, Adam Conover, host of "Adam Ruins Everything," told FOXBusiness.com.
Conovers show on truTV approaches comedy from a different angle.
Its kind of an education comedy show, said Conover. I sort of expose the truth about common misconceptions, or you know, investigate why we do certain things culturally, why we have certain traditions, and ask the question, 'is this really the best way we can be doing things?'
With two scientists as parents, and a nuclear physicist as a sister, its not hard to guess where Conovers unique approach to comedy originates.
Im the only member of my family who didnt get a PhD. So, Im like the failure of the family, cause all I have is a bachelors, like a drop out, said Conover with a laugh.
Conover performed stand-up for about 10 years, but it wasnt until he combined his passion for learning with his talent of comedy, that he noticed people really started to take an interest in what he was doing.
Not only were they laughing, but they were getting something else out of the comedy as well, you know, because they were learning something, said Conover.
Before voters cast their ballot on November 8th, they can catch the "Adam Ruins Everything: Election Special," tonight, on truTV at 10p.m., where Conover "ruins" common topics that continually appear in the 2016 election.
Were talking about the way the election makes people feel. Were talking about the large headline themes, like its all rigged, money and politics, or this is the nastiest election ever, he said.
And what better subject to educate people with humor than an election cycle that, at times, itself resembles a comedy show.
The rise in costs for Obamacare and mounting calls to raise the minimum wage across the country are adding to the financial pressures weighing on business in America. Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ:SONC) CEO Cliff Hudson weighs in how companies are dealing with those financial pressures.
According to Hudson one positive is that issues such as Obamacare and the minimum wage debate do not put any particular industry at a competitive disadvantage.
Well, I think these are some challenges that our industry will be facing, but the fact is we all face it at the same time. In other words, its not a competitive disadvantage for one industry versus another, one concept versus another, so to the extent that its something that we all confront, you know, Id rather have that kind of level playing field, Hudson told the FOX Business Networks Neil Cavuto.
Hudson then responded to concerns a potential doubling of the minimum wage would lead to a doubling of food or other products a company would sell.
Well doubling, I dont know, thats quite a jump in a short period of time but the fact is, over a period of time, theres no doubt over a period of time and it doesnt mean immediate, but over a period of time theres no doubt there will be some adjustments meaning price adjustments to deal with this.
Hudson weighed in on why the minimum wage debate creates tension between employees and business, in particular small business.
It is a challenge. I think its a challenge on the one hand for employees that are looking for ways to increase their hourly income and their overall income. Its also a challenge for small business. I think this is a tension that is inevitable in small business, inevitable in our economy and why is it an inevitable tension, because we as employers are better off if employees have more money in their pocket.
According to Hudson a more gradual increase in the minimum wage would help companies deal with the rise in costs.
I think the key here to the extent that we are able to absorb this over time is that its done in stages over time, but all of us as employers I think had to get more clever about the way we treat our employees, the offering we have to customers, it doesnt make things easier but it is something we are dealing with in many markets and are going to have to deal with even more.
Hudson then made the case for local and state decisions rather than a national mandate on a minimum wage increase.
The fact is allowing regional approaches to that [a national mandate] is important and it is more expensive to live in a major urban area in California than it is in rural Texas as an example.
Image source: iStock/Thinkstock.
It's been a tough year for all bank stocks, including Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Shares of the nation's second biggest bank by assets are off 0.62% since the start of 2016. What's behind the fall? There are three culprits.
BAC data by YCharts.
1. Energy prices
Bank of America's stock fell sharply at the beginning of the year, bottoming out around $11 per share in February. The problem at the time was that low energy prices were fueling higher default rates in its energy portfolio.
As the bank noted in its first-quarter earnings release, its provision for credit losses in its global banking unit leapt by $457 million in the quarter, "driven primarily by increases in energy-related reserves."
Oil prices at the time at time had dropped to the lowest point in more than a decade, dipping below $30 a barrel. This made it difficult for Bank of America's customers in the energy industry to service their loans.
Brent Crude Oil Spot Price data by YCharts.
The good news is that oil prices have since rebounded and are now around $50 a barrel, relieving the pressure on banks to aggressively provision for future loan losses from the sector.
2. Brexit
At roughly the same time that energy prices were dipping below $30 a barrel, it was announced that the United Kingdom would hold a referendum in June over whether to remain in the European Union.
The news sent financial markets into a tailspin. No one knew then, or now, what an eventual separation would mean in terms of global markets. In addition, for banks with a substantial presence in London, like Bank of America, there's reason to believe that they'll have to relocate a portion of their European operations to the continent.
One side-effect of the uncertainty was that Bank of America's institutional investor clients stepped back from the markets. This drove down the bank's trading revenue for the first quarter by 16% on a year-over-year basis.
As time passed, and confidence built that the U.K. wouldn't exit the EU, Bank of America's stock mounted a new ascent. But this climb was brought to a screeching halt in June, when voters in the U.K. voted in favor of leaving the union. The result sent Bank of America's stock tumbling again.
3. Interest rates
Finally, while the two preceding issues served as isolated shocks, the persistently low interest-rate environment has weighed on bank profits throughout the year.
At the end of 2015, the Federal Reserve boosted the benchmark Fed Funds rate by 0.25%, leading analysts and commentators to expect more rate hikes in the near future. But the uncertainty caused by low energy prices and the U.K.'s decision to leave the EU, persuaded the Fed to stand pat.
Effective Federal Funds Rate data by YCharts.
This is bad news for banks, and Bank of America in particular. To put it in perspective, if the central bank were to raise rates by only 100 basis points, or 1 percentage point, the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank would earn $7.5 billion more in net interest income a year. That's a lot of money when you consider that it currently earns less than $5 billion a quarter.
In sum, it's been a tough year for bank stocks. But the good news is that, given Bank of America's bargain-basement valuation, trading as it does for 30% below book value, there's every reason to believe that its shares have a lot of room to grow from here.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America. The Motley Fool recommends Bank of America. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) is set to release third-quarter earnings on Oct. 27. Finding yourself interested but equally worried about drowning in a flood of facts and figures? It's not uncommon during earnings season. Let's prepare by keying in on three things we can expect management to address in its report.
Production rising
When preparing todigthrough a gold miner's earnings, a good place to start is the company's production. Last quarter, gold production was lower than expected. However, on its conference call, management affirmed production guidance for the year: 1.26 million to 1.34 million ounces.
One of the company's three cornerstone mines, Chapada produced approximately 119,000 ounces of gold in 2015 -- an 11% increase over 2014. This -- along with 131 million pounds of copper -- contributed to the $405 million in revenue which the mine reported in 2015. Accounting for 22.2% of the company's revenue last year, Chapada was also the company's most profitable, reporting $145 million in segment income -- a 35.8% margin.
At the end of 2015, management estimated that Chapada would produce between 116,000 and 122,000 ounces of gold in 2016.
Image source: Getty Images.
Because of the mine's unexpected performance in the second quarter, though, management revised guidance downward, forecasting 106,000 ounces of gold production.Look for the company to meet its expectationforthe mine: a daily throughput between 58,000 tons and 59,000 tons.
Debt decreasing
As investors dig further into the earnings report, they should check the company's progress on its long-term debt-reduction goal. Successful in executing its strategy in 2015, the company reduced its debt by more than $286 million -- ending the year with 14% less total debt outstanding than when it ended 2014. Looking ahead, management aspires to improve its balance sheet even further, setting a debt-reduction target of $300 million by the end of 2017.
The company is clearly on its way toward realizing this goal. Shortly after the third quarter ended, Yamana announced that it had completed the sale of its Mercedes mine for total consideration of $178 million. Putting the company ahead of schedule in realizing its goal, the transaction, however, won't be included in the third quarter earnings report. Consequently, investors should seek confirmation that the company is successfully executing another key debt-reduction strategy. According to the company's 2015 annual report, the "organicgeneration of cash flow" will play a pivotal role in the $300 million debt-reduction initiative.
The golden ratio
Further demonstrating the company's circumspect approach to managing its debt, management has set another goal -- achieving a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio between 1.5 and 2.0. Unlike its goal to reduce its debt by $300 million over the next two years, management hasn't specified when it hopes to recognize this leverage ratio by.
Having dug for insight into the company's gold production and debt management, investors should hold on to their shovels a little longer -- seeking to unearth earnings figures, namely EBITDA. Through the first two quarters of the year, the company succeeded in growing its EBITDA year over year. Whereas it reported $252 million in EBITDA through the first half of 2015, Yamana reported $317 million through the first half of 2016 -- a 26% increase. This isn't the only indication that Yamana is on the right track. In terms of EBITDA as a percentage of revenue, Yamana reported 28% in the first half of 2015. Improving upon this, the company reported a 35% margin in the first half of 2016. Look for these trends to continue in the third quarter.
According to management, EBITDA growth -- like the reduction in debt -- will be primarily achieved through the organic generation of cash flow. So in addition to growing EBITDA, investors should look for success in developing the projects in its pipeline -- a predecessor to organic growth of cash flow.
The takeaway
It will be interesting to see if Yamana has bounced back from the unexpected downturn in production at Chapada last quarter. If the mine failed to resume normal operations in the third quarter, it may suggest that compromised profitability is on the horizon -- an inauspicious sign for a company that must report steadily increasing profitability if it hopes to achieve its net debt-to-EBITDA target by 2018.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
Scott Levine has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Image source: Getty Images.
What happened
Shares of Clayton Williams Energy (NYSE: CWEI) rocketed higher on Tuesday, closing up 26%. Fueling the surge was news of the sale of its Giddings Area assets, as well as the hiring of a Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL)senior executive as its COO.
So what
Clayton Williams Energy announced it is selling all of its Giddings Area assets in East Central Texas for $400 million. It plans to use the proceeds to repay some debt, and to fund the development of its Delaware Basin assets.
With this move, the company will have completed a stunning transformation since the start of the year. The company has slowly stepped away from the precipice, and is now a well-capitalized driller, focused on the development of a substantial acreage position in the hottest oil play in the country.
Clayton Williams started the year in disarray, so much so that it's leadership initiated a strategic review to enhance shareholder value -- and to keep it from going under after oil prices plunged in the second half of 2015. Conditions were so tenuous that the company initially only had the financial resources to drill a handful of wells. However, it was able to secure a term loan from a private equity fund, which -- combined with non-core asset sales, an equity issuance, and improving oil prices -- enabled the company to get back on solid ground.
Further, amid all the troubles it was enduring at the start of the year, the company was able to strengthen its position in the Southern Delaware Basin by swapping acreage with Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO). Under the terms of that deal, Clayton Williams traded all of its acreage -- subject to a farm out agreement with Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) -- for additional working interests in leases owned by Concho. The net result was that Clayton Williams increased its working interest in its core acreage, which gave it more operational control, while Concho will work with Chesapeake on those farm-out leases.
Now, the company is planning to retake control of its destiny by reinvesting capital into its prime Delaware Basin acreage to accelerate production growth. To steer that development, the company hired Patrick Cooke away from Noble Energy to serve as its new COO. That is noteworthy because Cooke's previous position gave him direct management responsibility for the development of Noble's emerging Delaware Basin position.
Now what
Clayton Williams Energy has transformed itself from a deeply indebted driller with limited resources into a cash-rich company targeting the best oil growth play in the country. Because of that, the company is poised to deliver substantial production growth as the oil market continues its recovery.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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With the price of gold up nearly 20% year to date, investors are turning their attention to gold-mining stocks. So let's follow suit and turn our attention to a global leader in the gold industry, Goldcorp (NYSE: GG), tosee where its strengths lie, and whether they give the company an edge over its competition.
Staying local
Though it's not necessarily a competitive advantage today, one of Goldcorp's self-proclaimed strengths is that its "asset portfolio is located in politically stable, low-risk jurisdictions in the Americas."
Despite Goldcorp's claim that its assets are in mostly stable regions, this doesn't mean the company doesn't face challenges from time to time. For example, last month, when the company encountered an illegal blockade by a trucking contractor at its Penasquito mine in Mexico. Though operations were suspended for about one and a half weeks, management doesn't believe it will have a material impact on overall production. As inconvenient as this incident may have been for Goldcorp, it certainly doesn't equate to tumultuous relations with the Mexican government.
The security of operating in a stable political environment is not a luxury that every gold miner enjoys. Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC), for example, estimates that 25% of its gold production for 2016 will come from its two mines in Russia. And Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), one of the largest gold miners in the world, had such a turbulent relationship with the Indonesian government that it led, in part, to the company's decision to sell its interest in the Batu Hijau mine.
A skillful balancing act
In a capital-intensive business like mining, which is subject to the whimsical nature of the price of gold, companies must be able to deftly manage their balance sheets. Herein lies one of Goldcorp's strengths. In comparing Goldcorp to its peers, it's easy to see how conservative management is about taking on debt.
ABX Debt to Equity Ratio (Annual) data by YCharts
Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), a leaderin the gold industry, is clearly more willing to take on considerably more risk to finance its operations. Kinross Goldand Newmont, by comparison, appear significantly more conservative. But, more conservative still, we find that Goldcorp's debt-to-equity ratio lies under 0.21, while its debt-to-capital ratio equals 17.3.
Management reinforced its conservative approach to debt and its long-term commitment to Goldcorp's financial health on its second-quarter conference call. According to David Garofalo, Goldcorp's president and CEO, the company is targeting a net debt to EBITDA ratio below 1.0 by 2018.
With such a strong balance sheet, Goldcorp should have no trouble retaining its investment-grade rating from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, Moody's, and Fitch Ratings.
Converting brown to gold
One of the company's self-proclaimed competitive advantages is its "suite of exciting brownfield growth projects." This seems a bit of a stretch, but that's not to say that the projects aren't one of the company's strengths.
With opportunities at its Penasquito, Musselwhite,Red Lake, andPorcupine sites, Goldcorp believes that successful execution of these expansion projects could "provide the potential for low-capital-intensity, low-risk, and high-rate-of-return growth over the next five years."
Image source: Goldcorp corporate presentation.
Management estimates that both the Penasquito Pyrite Leach Project and Musselwhite Materials Handling Project will begin commercial production in the first quarter of 2019. The pipeline, in and of itself, means little; however, if the company proves successful at executing the projects at Penasquito and Musselwhite, it would certainly indicate that the pipeline is an asset which could prove valuable for the company for many years to come.
The takeaway
Although it doesn't retain competitive advantages that greatly distinguish it from other gold-mining companies, Goldcorp does have some strengths that suggest that the company is quite capable of future success. Besides a strong portfolio of mines and projects, Goldcorp's solid balance sheet is worth its weight in gold. It may not be the first company to come to mind when discussions of gold-mining companies arise, but mining the industry for quality companies transcends popularity contests.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
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A theoretical day in the life of a Wells Fargo employee. Image source: iStock/Thinkstock.
Over the past five years, I've probably (and regrettably) written more positive things about Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) than all but a few analysts and commentators in the United States.According to the content management system that we use to edit and publish articles at The Motley Fool, I've mentioned the California-based bank in 644 pieces since 2013 alone.
Yet, it wasn't until the bank's fake-account and employee-retaliation scandals that anyone in its media relations department reached out to me to point out any type of factual error.It was an interesting experience that shines a revealing light on the rot that's permeated the corporate ranks at the once-respected bank.
Why now?
The fact that Wells Fargo hadn't reached out to me until recently doesn't mean that I've been error-free for all these years. While I do my best to avoid mistakes, and I'm confident that I generally succeed at that, it would be naive of me to think that all 644 of those articles were mistake-free.
Even assuming that I got a 95%, which isn't bad given the volume at which I write and the multitude of other responsibilities that I have, that still means that I probably made some type of mistake in 30 or so Wells Fargo-related articles.They were most likely small, immaterial mistakes. But mistakes are mistakes.
Given this, when Wells Fargo did reach out to me over the past few weeks, I was caught off guard.Why now?Not to mention, given the positive way that I had written about the bank for five years, I was taken aback at the exasperated and demeaning demeanor of the two Wells Fargo media relations people that I had substantive conversations with.
The first phone call
On one of the phone calls, complaining about how I interpreted the bank's decision to effectively demote now-former CEO John Stumpf, who will probably be indicted for lying to Congress about when he learned of the fraud, the person spent most of the time criticizing my tone.
I couldn't help but think to myself: Has this person not heard the news? Does this person not know that the bank they work for has defrauded millions of its customers, many of whom are the most vulnerable members of our society? Didn't this person get the memo about Wells Fargo's now-clearly established systematic practice of retaliating against low-level employees who blew the whistle on the fraud?
I also couldn't help but think that this is the exact kind of bullying and intimidation that Wells Fargo's employees face on a daily basis. In addition to the countless media articles that speak to this, I have personally heard from multiple employees in its branches and call centers who all say the same thing.
Fortunately, I don't work at Wells Fargo so they couldn't go so far as to tell me that the only place left for me to work is McDonald's, as they did to employees in their branches.
And I'm also not susceptible to intimidation from people who work in media relations departments. I'm a lawyer who graduated with honors from a well-respected law school and was one of only five people in my class to land a federal clerkship. Media relations people, in other words, are more silly than they are intimidating to me.
They peddle access to their executives in exchange for positive media coverage. It's unethical, but it's what they do. And to be fair to Wells Fargo, this is how media relations people at publicly traded companies tend to operate -- and particularly at companies like Wells Fargo (and, dare I say, Enron) that have something to hide.
The second phone call
On the other call I received, a different Wells Fargo media relations person did his best to express his disdain for my integrity and intelligence for relying on data from a highly respected media outlet.I had written that the person most responsible for the massive fraud, Carrie Tolstedt, would leave Wells Fargo with around $140 million worth of stock.
After very clearly implying that I didn't know how to read a publicly traded company's proxy filings, which is absurd, the Wells Fargo media relations person told me it was closer to $100 million -- after all, the bank's stock had by then lost a considerable amount of market value because of the fraud committed under Tolstedt's watch.
I was taken aback, in other words, that the bank had enlisted its media relations team to defend an executive who got filthy rich by placing an unconscionable amount of pressure on the bank's hourly employees -- i.e., those who don't make enough money to comfortably support a family. The pressure was so great that one employee took to drinking hand sanitizer to deal with it.
What this made me realize is that Wells Fargo doesn't care about its customers. It doesn't care about its low-level employees. And it doesn't care about the fact that some people who write about the bank may, unlike me, be intimidated by the way its media relations team behaves.
The only people that Wells Fargo is even remotely interested in defending are its executives, many of whom have accumulated generational wealth through the exploitation of the media, investors, customers, and its subsistence-level employees.
I mean, think about it, if the people in its media relations department are the ones that Wells Fargo pays to interact positively with the outside world, we can only image how much they demeaned and mistreated the low-level employees inside the bank that ex-CEO Stumpf and new CEO Tim Sloan have repeatedly blamed for the companywide scandal.
The point I'd like to make to Wells Fargo's media relations team is this: It's OK to be decent human beings. It's OK to treat those around you with respect. It may not seem like it to you, but life is about more than working in the media relations department of Wells Fargo. If you don't feel like you can behave ethically and appropriately in that role, then you should work somewhere else.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
John Maxfield owns shares of Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Wells Fargo. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Mercedes-Benz will begin selling a pickup truck next year, and it may come to the United States one day.
The X-Class, unveiled in Sweden on Tuesday in concept form, was co-developed with Nissan and is based on the Japanese automakers global Navarra model. It features unique bodywork and an interior dressed to better fit its premium image.
Mercedes-Benz showed off road and street versions of the body-on-frame truck, which will be offered in a five passenger crew cab configuration with a short bed and a four-wheel coil-spring suspension. Rear and all-wheel-drive models will be available, the 4x4s equipped with a low range transfer case and locking differentials for true off-roading capabilities.
A selection of diesel engines will be available at launch, with a V6 of unspecified size and power topping the range. Mercedes-Benz claims it will have a maximum payload capacity in excess of 2,400 pounds and be able to tow over 7,700 pounds, both on the very high end for midsize pickups.
Along with leather upholstery and real wood trim, the X-Class will have the latest radar and camera-based driver assist and automatic safety systems and an infotainment system accessible via a smartphone app.
While the X-Class will be initially built in Spain and Argentina, and sold in Europe, South America, South Africa and Australia, a Mercedes-Benz spokesman confirmed to Fox News that it is under consideration for the United States, but that no timeline for a decision is available.
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The Mercedes of minivans:
Authorities in New Jersey were investigating the disappearance of a backup dancer for Beyonce who hasnt been seen or heard from since Sunday.
North Bergen police are looking for Shirlene Quigley, 32, who is a professional dancer and a dance instructor. She had previously performed with Beyonce, Rihanna and other pop stars on several television award shows, according to NJ.com.
"The North Bergen Police Department is actively investigating and has received a Missing Person report," police spokesman Phil Swibinski told the paper.
Police said Quigley was last spotted near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan on Oct. 23 around 1 a.m. She was wearing a pink top, blue jeans and high heels. Her landlord told police that she saw her leave in the same outfit hours earlier.
Authorities said that the NYPD had located her vehicle and her cell phone was also recovered. A friend has posted to Quigleys Facebook page saying that she doesnt go more than 12 hours without contacting her father.
Her father Brad Quigley, who lives in California, told NBC New York that his daughter usually calls him around 6 p.m. and immediately became concerned when she didnt call.
Police said the cellphone was located at a bridal store in Chelsea. Her father said that Quigley couldve been there to pick up something for a show.
Brad Quigley added that his daughter made a comment to her friend recently, saying Get ready, it's about to happen and I'm going to need you to sub for me, which sparked some concerns.
Rihanna shared a video of Quigley with a message to fans asking for help in locating her.
Quigleys bio on the Broadway Dance Centers website says Quigley was born and raised in Los Angeles and had recently moved to New York City. North Bergen is located directly across from midtown Manhattan.
"She has performed all over the world at arenas worldwide touring with some of the biggest stars of our generation," the bio says, "dancing on television, commercial, film, and Music videos with artists such as Beyonce, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Destiny's Child, Missy Elliot, Mary J Blige, Jamie Foxx, Ray J, PorcelainBlack, Lil Romeo, Ashanti, Fantasia, Jaheim and many more."
She was also credited with creating the first high heel dance class at a Los Angeles studio and later brought the class to New York.
MORE: Beyonce parody video causes uproar
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Saturday he will sue 11 women who accused him in the last few weeks of past sexual misconduct, calling them all liars.
Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign, Trump said at a campaign rally in Gettysburg, Pa. Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over."
But celebrity attorney Gloria Allred who is representing three of the women, including his most recent accuser, the porn star Jessica Drake -- told FOX411 that some of Trump's accusers could sue the GOP nominee whether or not Trump brings his promised lawsuits.
If Mr. Trump does sue them, I would recommend that they file a lawsuit against him for defamation, Allred told FOX411. However, one or more of the individuals who have accused Mr. Trump of inappropriate sexual conduct may decide to sue him for defamation, even if Mr. Trump does not sue them.
Criminal defense attorney Benjamin Cheeks said any woman who Trump called a liar could have a defamation case if she can prove in court shes telling the truth about Trumps alleged conduct, and that she was damaged by his claims that she lied about it.
If one woman was a doctor, nurse, journalist, or some other profession where credibility a hallmark of their profession, and she started to lose business or trust within the community as a direct result of Mr. Trump calling her a liar, then her slander claim would have merit, he explained.
New York-based Defense Attorney Lance Fletcher agreed. Going on the offense is probably the best option if you are after monetary damages and/or if you have a strong case, he said. Truth is a defense to defamation.
Jill Harth was the first woman to publicly accuse Trump of non-consensual sexual behavior. Harth, who did business with Trump, alleged that from 1992 to 1997 he made sexual advances towards her and groped her under her dress. She even filed a lawsuit in 1997 against him, which ended in a settlement.
Her lawyer Lisa Bloom told FOX411 in a statement that if Harth were to sue Trump again: In that lawsuit I would take the deposition of Trump and all of his enablers, and subpoena his business and personal records as well as any recordings that may exist in which he brags about sexual assault, such as the Access Hollywood recording and potentially, The Apprentice raw footage. I reject Donald Trumps effort to intimidate and silence women.
FOX411 reached out to Donald Trump's personal and campaign reps but did not receive comment.
Justin Timberlake may have broken the law when he snapped a selfie while voting early in his home state.
The pop star posted a pic from a voting booth in Memphis on Monday, encouraging his followers to get out and vote.
The problem? Snaps inside polling locations are not permitted in Tennessee.
In May 2015, Gov. Bill Haslam signed a bill that established that beginning in 2016, voters would be permitted to have their cellphones with them while they vote for informational purposes to assist the voter in making election decisions. However, the law forbids voters in Tennessee from using the device for telephone conversations, recording, or taking photographs or videos while inside the polling place.
A rep for The Shelby County District Attorney told FOX411 Timberlakes photo was under review.
The Shelby County District Attorneys Office was made aware of a possible violation of election law. The DAs office is currently reviewing these allegations.
According to the DA's office, violating the election law is class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a $50 fine or both.
Tennessee Secretary of State spokesman Adam Ghassemi says officials are "thrilled Justin can't stop the feeling" but reminded voters to use their phones inside polling locations only to help them vote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Authorities say a San Francisco filmmaker has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a man Monday.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that police arrested 48-year-old Kevin Joseph Epps on suspicion of homicide and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Authorities say San Francisco police officers who responded to a home Monday afternoon found a man in his 40s suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. The victim, who was not identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A motive in the shooting was not yet known.
Epps is best known for his 2001 movie "Straight Outta Hunters Point," which explored the devastation of the San Francisco neighborhood where he was raised. He made a second movie, "Straight Outta Hunters Point 2" in 2014.
Epps was being held without bail.
Shailene Woodley's emotional defense of environmental issues has gotten the young star noticed for more than her acting roles, and on Saturday night she was honored by the Environmental Media Association for her activism.
ET's Courtney Tezeno caught up with the "Snowden" star at the awards show, held in Burbank, Calif., where she opened up about her fearless support of the environment.
WATCH: Shailene Woodley Pleads Not Guilty to All Charges in Dakota Access Pipeline Arrest
"I don't know if I'm fearless, but I'm definitely one of those [people] who looks fear in the face," the 24-year-old actress tells ET. "We are an environmental issue! Right? We are the environment. We are the soil, we come from the earth. In order to survive we need oxygen."
Woodley said her passion stems from the recognition that action is direly needed now. "For me, it's not about helping the environment or saving the environment. It's about recognizing that if I want my children to know a world where Manhattan isn't all the way under water -- because guess what, ladies and gentlemen, that world is not too distant and it's a reality that we must start facing and waking up to -- [then] we've gotta work our asses off now to make that happen," she explained. "And I'm down for that cause because I love this Earth. I love humanity."
She also gave a heartfelt acceptance speech during the event, receiving a standing ovation in response. "Thousands of people are committed to fighting and winning a battle against corporate greed with nothing but love and compassion," she said. "Live a more compassionate life, because the ripple effect of that is what is going to save our oceans, our planet, and our race."
There was also a sweet moment on the red carpet between Woodley and firiend Nikki Reed, with the two hugging and sharing a few words. Reed, who was at the event with her husband Ian Somerhalder, dished to ET about the moment.
"Listen, I'm [Shailene's] biggest fan," she said. "Shay is -- I've said it before, I'll say it again -- she's my soul sister, and I love what she stands for. I hope she brings some much needed attention to what's going on right now."
Woodley was arrested earlier this month in North Dakota for criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot at a protest against a planned oil pipeline, charges to which she pleaded not guilty.
Also honored at the EMA Awards were Jaden Smith and Moby, while Nicole Richie hosted the event and opened up the night with a humorous speech calling for attendees to "make America green again."
NEWS: Shailene Woodley Breaks Her Silence After Being Arrested While Protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline
"I am calling for a total and complete ban on climate change deniers," Richie said in her speech. "Nobody loves the environment more than Richie does. I was one of the first Young Hollywood board members. Before me, no one drove a Prius, no one took their bags to the market. In fact, I'm pretty sure I invented the concept of smoking weed out of a pen. That's why nobody has a better relationship with the greens than I do."
When ancient humans interbred with Neanderthals, they inherited DNA that may influence modern Europeans' immune systems to this day, a new study suggests.
The research found that inflammation and other immune responses work differently in Africans than they do in Europeans, in part because Europeans have inherited some of their genetic information from Neanderthals, which were at one time the closest living relatives of modern humans.
The study showed that people of African ancestry may have a stronger inflammatory response to certain infections than people of European ancestry. For example, in one experiment, researchers investigated how people's immune cells would respond to Salmonella or Listeria bacteria. They compared these immune-cell responses in 80 African individuals with the immune-cell responses in 95 European individuals. They found that African ancestry was linked with a stronger inflammatory response, which reduced bacterial growth by more than triple the amount compared with the European cells.
But although a strong inflammatory response "can be life-saving in the face of infectious agents," when that response malfunctions or gets triggered at the wrong time, it can damage tissues or cause inflammatory diseases, said Luis Barreiro, a geneticist at the University of Montreal and a senior author of the new study.
"Our results suggest that the immune systems of African- and European-descended individuals have evolved to better respond to the specific needs imposed by their specific environments," Barreiro told Live Science. "What is advantageous in one context is likely to be detrimental in another."
Inflammation & health
Previous research found that, when compared to people of African ancestry, people of European descent may experience infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, as well as autoimmune disorders, such as lupus and psoriasis, up to three times more often.
In the new study, two independent groups of researchers wanted to investigate these ancestry-related differences. The group led by Barreiro, which compared how immune cells from people of African descent and those from people of European descent responded to germs, found that Europeans' and Africans' susceptibility to disease may differ, in part because Europeans inherited genes from Neanderthals.
Barreiro and his colleagues also found that nearly 10 percent of the genes in immune cells called macrophages, which gobble up invaders in the body, responded differently to infections depending on people's ancestry. They also found that hundreds of these ancestry-related differences displayed signs that they evolved recently, suggesting that they helped Africans and Europeans adapt to their environments in some way.
One possible explanation for this weaker inflammatory response in Europeans is that after modern humans migrated out of Africa, they were exposed to lower levels of pathogens, or harmful germs, "which reduced the need for strong, costly pro-inflammatory signals," Barreiro said. The shift toward less inflammation may have been favored because of the negative effects of too much inflammation, he said.
Alternatively, Europeans may have a weaker inflammatory response because pathogens outside of Africa were generally less harmful than the ones in Africa, Barreiro said.
Ancient genes
The scientists also noted that a small fraction of the ancestry-related differences they found were linked to genetic variants from Neanderthals. Recent findings suggest that the modern humans who migrated out of Africa about 60,000 to 120,000 years ago interbred with Neanderthals and other archaic human lineages that had left Africa before modern humans did.
Prior work found that about 2 percent of DNA in people living outside Africa today is Neanderthal in origin. It remains uncertain how those Neanderthal genetic variants may influence the immune differences seen between Africans and Europeans, Barreiro said.
The other research group analyzed how immune cells derived from 200 people of self-reported African or European ancestry responded to flu viruses and to molecules that trigger antibacterial reactions. This group also found that Neanderthals introduced genetic variants influencing responses to viruses into European genomes, said Lluis Quintana-Murci, a population geneticist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and a senior author of this study.
Quintana-Murci and his colleagues also found that a single gene variant seen in Europeans but not in Africans reduced activity in 81 inflammation genes. This finding suggests that Europeans evolved to have this weaker immune response because it had a survival advantage, Quintana-Murci said.
All in all, "these results have important medical implications, since they uncover mechanisms that might explain ethnic disparities" in immune disorders, and could lead to future treatments, Quintana-Murci told Live Science.
The scientists detailed their findings online Oct. 20 in two studies in the journal Cell.
Original on Live Science.
A small shift in the oxygen levels in the air could act as a "reset" button for the biological clock, according to a new study in mice.
Mice in the study that were exposed to a brief dip in the levels of oxygen in the air that they were breathing adjusted more quickly to a new circadian rhythm than mice that received steady levels of oxygen, the researchers found.
In other words, the dip in oxygen levels seemed to help the animals adjust to the mouse equivalent of jet lag, according to the study, which was published Oct. 20 in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The thought of changing oxygen levels may sound scary; however, the oxygen levels to which the mice were exposed in the study were not so low that they were harmful. The levels used in the experiment were similar to the oxygen levels common on airplanes, the researchers, led by Gad Asher, a senior scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, wrote in their study.
The research was aimed at developing a better understanding of a body's circadian rhythm, or biological clock. The clock is found in the brain of all mammals, and it somehow communicates with nearly every cell throughout the body, but scientists have not known how this communication happens.
In mice, oxygen levels in the cells fluctuate throughout the day, according to the study. The researchers proposed that oxygen might be the missing signal.
In several experiments, they found that oxygen levels in the cells of mice appear to increase at night, when they are active, and decrease during they day, when they are at rest.
Next, the researchers set out to determine if changing the levels of oxygen in the air the mice were breathing could also change the circadian rhythm.
In a lab experiment, the researchers changed oxygen levels in the air by 3 percent, and found that they were able to "reset" the circadian clocks of cells growing in lab dishes.
Then, in an experiment in mice, the researchers exposed the animals to either oxygen levels that remained stable at 21 percent (this is the percentage of oxygen in the air we breathe at sea level), or levels that started at 21 percent, dipped down to 16 percent for 12 hours, then rose back to 21 percent, according to the study.
At first, exposing the mice to fluctuating oxygen levels instead of steady levels had no effect on their circadian rhythms, they found.
But when the scientists also added in jet lag by exposing the mice to "daylight" six hours ahead of schedule the difference in oxygen levels played a role. When the jet-lagged mice were exposed to the dip in oxygen, they were able to adjust to a new eating, sleeping and activity schedule more quickly than the mice that didnt experience any changes in oxygen levels, the researchers found.
Because the study was done in cells and animals, it's not clear if the results also apply to humans.
However, the researchers noted that oxygen levels on airplanes are lower than oxygen levels on the ground. Because some people report airsickness due to these lower levels, the aviation industry is apparently investigating an increase in oxygen levels on planes to 21 percent. Given the findings of the study, however, doing so could have a negative impact on jet lag, the researchers wrote.
In future experiments, the researchers would like to see if higher levels of oxygen could also shift an animal's circadian rhythm.
"I believe passengers [on airplanes] might be more enthusiastic to inhale oxygen-enriched air to alleviate jet lag in contrast to low oxygen" air, Asher said in a statement.
Originally published on Live Science.
Robert Herjavec is best known for spotting the next big business idea as one of the sharks on ABC's "Shark Tank, but recently he set out to discover a different set of innovative ideas.
My mom passed away from ovarian cancer in 2007, and it was really a hard time, Herjavec told FoxNews.com. And so this was a chance to get involved with technology that can aid oncology and patient care.
It was through caring for his mother that Herjavec decided to partner with Astellas Oncology and become a judge for their C3Prize program, a contest designed to inspire novel, non-medicine ideas to improve cancer care for patients. In September 2016 at the Stanford Medicine X conference, five finalists were selected to pitch their ideas to Herjavec and a panel of experts.
We saw everything from a ride-sharing program for people with cancer to a light source product, so there was a lot of stuff that really made peoples lives easier, Herjavec said.
One of the first prize winners, Larry Pederson, of Seattle, Washington, co-founded The Litebook Company, which created a light technology to help patients suffering from exhaustion.
When you go through chemotherapy, you get highly fatigued, and it changes your mood and depression, Herjavec said. You hold [the Litebook] to the side of your head, and it gives you radiation and light, and it helps with fatigue, and theres actually a commercial application of it for jet lag.
Diane Jooris, of Brussels, Belgium, was selected as the grand prize winner. She is the co-founder of Oncomfort, a company that designs virtual reality programs to help pediatric cancer patients manage stress and anxiety before, during and after their treatments.
Its very difficult for a child to envision how chemotherapy works into the body, Jooris told FoxNews.com. So the goal of one of our models is really to show to the kids what happens to the body so it de-traumatizes chemotherapy, makes them feel part of the therapy and theyre having fun.
The virtual reality program is viewed through goggles to show kids in a game-like format what cancer is and how the treatment will work.
Its a game that has been designed to help them visualize what happens with chemotherapy through the treatment. So they navigate through the blood vessels, and they send chemo juice to the cancer cells, so they are destroying cancer cells, not the healthy cells, Jooris explained.
Jooris worked closely with mental health professionals and oncology specialists to help make the program optimal and kid-friendly.
Currently six hospitals are using Dianes virtual reality program for pediatric patients in Europe and the United States.
When it comes to spearheading your ideas, Herjavec offered some advice for inspiring innovators.
You have to find something that can actually execute and help peoples lives, he said. Dont start a business, solve a problem.
For more information on C3 Prize challenge, visit c3prize.com
A nurse who contracted the Ebola virus while treating the first person diagnosed with the deadly disease in the United States has reached a settlement with the Dallas hospital where she was in a team caring for the man, a statement on Monday said.
Terms of the deal between the hospital's owner, Texas Health Resources, and nurse Nina Pham, the first person infected with Ebola in the United States, were not disclosed.
Pham sued last year, saying that Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital did not do enough to prevent her from contracting the deadly virus and invaded her privacy after she was diagnosed with it.
"Texas Health Resources (THR) and Ms. Pham have resolved the pending lawsuit, and wish the best for each other going forward," they said in a joint statement. They did not provide further details.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in Dallas County, Pham claimed the hospital did not initially provide nurses with proper protective equipment or properly train staff on how to treat the disease.
The lawsuit accused the hospital of negligence and deception. It did not specify an amount in damages.
The hospital has denied the claims.
Pham was one of two nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who contracted the disease when treating Thomas Duncan, who was admitted in September 2014 and died less than two weeks later.
Both nurses recovered. Duncan contracted the disease in Liberia.
Pham, who was 26 then, became a national symbol of hope in fighting Ebola after she recovered and was greeted in the Oval Office by President Barack Obama.
Pham claimed the hospital used her as a "public relations pawn" to improve its plummeting image. While it issued news releases saying her condition had improved to "good," it was having end-of-life conversations with her, Pham alleged in her lawsuit.
Pham said the hospital did not respect her right to privacy. In one instance, she was videotaped speaking to a doctor, and the video was released to the media. Pham said both the taping and the release of the videotape occurred without her permission.
The hospital did not disclose details of Pham's employment status, but the Dallas Morning News has reported that she was kept on the payroll even though she did not return to work.
In an interview with the newspaper last year, Pham said she has suffered hair loss, physical pain, insomnia and nightmares since recovering from Ebola.
Students at a Chinese university now have the option to test themselves for HIV at their convenience, as they can now purchase affordable testing kits in vending machines.
The urine test kits cost approximately $4.40 and are sold next to instant noodles and other snacks at Southwest Petroleum University in Nanchong City in southwestern China. According to AsiaWire, this move signifies the Chinese governments newfound urgency in battling HIV, which is on rapid rise among the countrys youth. There are over a half a million people living with the disease in China, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
There was a 43 percent year-over-year increase in infection rates among young students and 80 percent of those occurred from same-sex encounters, according to reports citing research from universities in Nanching City, AsiaWire reported.
The increase of HIV is particularly noticeable amongst young men who engage in sex with other men, AsiaWire reported. The Chinese curriculum does not adequately teach HIV and AIDS awareness and HIV-positive patients tend to be shunned by their acquaintances and their families. Patients are even less likely to speak up or seek professional help due to the diseases link to homosexuality.
Pig-Pen and his perpetual cloud of dirt.
It follows him wherever he goes and engulfs whatever he does. The beleaguered character in the comic strip Peanuts cannot seem to rid himself of the dirt, despite his best efforts. At times, he seems oblivious to the cloud. Or in denial.
Remind you of Hillary Clinton? Metaphorically, that is.
The dirt cloud of scandal has followed Clinton incessantly for years. Not just a single, isolated scandal but several. Travelgate, Whitewater, cattle futures, Benghazi, private email server, Clinton Foundation, Wall Street speeches, you name it.
Its one ignominious incident after another. And all of them are of her own making.
Clinton tends to stretch the bounds of propriety, dangling her foot over the legal lines. And her actions beckon political calamity. Thus, the interminable cloud.
But why? Doesnt she ever tire of the swirling dust and dirt? Her critics claim she feels entitled or driven by greed.
Youve heard the other claim: that laws are a mere nuisance which dont apply to her.
Most people shaken by scandal, dial it back. But the hits keep on coming for Clinton.
Shes been likened to a runaway train that cant (or wont) activate its brakes. Whatever her reasons, the non-stop drama of controversies have taken a toll: 67 percent say Clinton is lying about how she handled her emails, and two-thirds believe she is downright dishonest.
Her latest scandal kicks up dirt on the FBI for its bewildering (see also, stupefying) decision to recommend that Clinton not be criminally prosecuted under the federal Espionage Act for mishandling classified documents and jeopardizing national security as Secretary of State. It seems that Clintons close friend shoveled truck-loads of money to the wife of the FBI deputy director overseeing the agencys investigation of Clinton.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe was the money man. Through political groups he controls, he saw to it that Dr. Jill McCabe received more than $ 675,000 for her state senate race, according to The Wall Street Journal. It just so happens that her husband, Andrew McCabe, is second in command at the FBI and, as such, likely played a key role in allowing Clinton to escape criminal prosecution. No one has yet proven that Clintons fingerprints are on the bags of money. But her longtime friend and ally, Gov. McAuliffe, doesnt deny he engineered the cash.
A little history lesson is in order. McAuliffe was Bill Clintons chief fundraiser back in the day.
Hes a guy who had the magic touch with money.
He could conjure up hundreds of millions of dollars without breaking a sweat.
He personally secured the loan so Hillary and Bill could buy their 11 room Dutch colonial in stately Chappaqua, New York.
Since money is the mothers milk of politics, hes a nice friend to have when you get in a jam.
The biggest jam of Hillary Clintons life was (and is) the email scandal. More than 2,000 classified documents were found on her personal server in the very home McAuliffe helped her buy clearly an unauthorized place under the law.
She was facing an indictment for serious crimes which would end her bid for the presidency. Even worse, if convicted she might well be residing in a prison instead of the White House.
Did McAuliffe come to Clintons rescue yet again? Is that what the cash to Dr. McCabe was really for? To influence her husbands investigation of Clinton? Dirtier things have happened in politics.
The FBI issued a statement denying corruption by insisting that McCabe did not begin his oversight of the agencys investigation of Clinton until after his wifes campaign ended.
Really?
We are supposed to accept that when he was head of the Washington field office (and later when he was promoted to the agencys number 3 position) he had nothing whatsoever to do with the criminal probe? Hard to believe.
And even if that is true, what difference does it make that his wifes campaign had ended? She still got the money. She was still beholden or grateful to Clintons close friend and the Democratic party for their financial support of her, wasnt she?
As her husband, Deputy Director McCabe can hardly be described as an indifferent bystander. Spouses tend to support one another. That is exactly why ethics advisers at the bureau told him to recuse himself from public corruption cases during his wifes senate race.
The conflict of interest is glaring. But that conflict does not suddenly and magically end at the conclusion of his wifes campaign.
At the very least, the appearance of impropriety should have been enough for McCabe to disassociate himself from the criminal investigation of Clinton. Moreover, FBI Director James Comey should have demanded it. That they declined to do so adds even more suspicion to those who believe the fix was in not to prosecute her.
At least 5 people received immunity in connection with the case. Others took the Fifth.
Clinton herself couldnt manage to recall much of anything during her relatively brief interview with the FBI. Her name and date of birth seemed about all she could add to the discussion. Its a wonder she even remembered being Secretary of State.
Days later, Director Comey held a news briefing in which he laid out a case of how Clinton was grossly negligent under the Espionage Act (although he called it something else extremely careless), but announced he would recommend to the Department of Justice no prosecution. FBI agents and lawyers were furious, according to reporting by Fox News.
Comeys decision makes no legal sense which only fuels the belief that something or someone else triggered the outcome.
All along Clinton seemed confident she would not be criminally charged. Did she know something we didnt know?
The strange case of the McCabes may hold the answer. Or maybe it is only one of several political machinations that were brought to bear.
The whole sordid episode is just another chapter in the cloud of dirt and scandal that hovers over Hillary Clinton.
It never goes away.
Like Pig-Pen. Without the comedy.
Now only the election remains. In the two weeks that are left, well hear more from WikiLeaks, in spite of U.S. government pressure to shut it down in order to protect Hillary. And Trump will release a few more policy ideas, like his welcome plan to reign in K Street lobbyists. But were in end game and we can begin to make out the outlines of the election, and beyond that to the kind of government well see in the future.
I dont know who will win, but lets say its Hillary. In that case well have elected the head of Americas natural governing party. Well have chosen our leaders not only for the next four years but for the rest of our lives. It wont matter if from time to time the Republicans hold one branch of Congress, given the way in which Obama has shown how a Democratic president can rule as an autocrat.
And why will the Democrats keep the White House? Because the Republican Party of the NeverTrumpers, the party of a narrow right-wing ideology, will have died. It had a good run for 160 years but everything has to come to an end, and the GOP is no exception. But its not Hillary that will have killed it, nor Trump either. Instead, its last gasp was the Romney debacle of 2012.
In 2011 George Will told us that if they lost the election the next year they should get out of the business. He was right, and the 2012 election was the last chance for a party that was faithful to conservative principles but didnt much care for the American people.
In 2011 George Will told us that if they lost the election the next year they should get out of the business. He was right, and the 2012 election was the last chance for a party that was faithful to conservative principles but didnt much care for the American people.
Donald Trumps victory in the 2016 primaries was simply the last nail in the coffin. And the divide between the different wings of the Party is so great that its unlikely that anyone can put it together again. What wed be left with is a one-party state, with the Republicans playing the role of designated loser -- the Washington Generals to the Harlem Globetrotters.
Thats not going to make everyone on the left happy. As a first order of business, expect the Democrats to betray the Bernie Sanders left, by a party now firmly allied to Wall Street.
Dont believe the condemnations of corporate greed. Believe instead the private speeches Mrs. Clinton gave to Wall Street bankers, as revealed by WikiLeaks.
When it comes to writing effective financial regulations, she said, The people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry. Some on the left will complain about this. Most will be only too happy to join in the gravy train.
For the rest, however, expect a party that governs like Mexicos PRI in the bad old days: complacent, corrupt and quick to partner with anyone who has lucrative offices to trade or money to pay.
Compared to the rest of the First World, we have a less than sterling reputation for political integrity today, and things wouldnt get any better were the Clinton Cash machine to move into the White House.
Corruption is the silent killer of the economy, and wed all be paying for it.
Expect further a party that will move to silence anything that looks like the germ of an opposition, especially those subsidiary institutions that Tocqueville so admired.
Today, one in six patients is cared for in a Catholic hospital, but we cant permit that to continue, given what Democratic insider John Halpin calls that religions severely backward gender relations. Expect the same fate for Mormon hospitals and adoption agencies, blessed by a Supreme Court with a more progressive understanding of the First Amendments Establishment Clause.
Weve seen how, under Obama, government departments such as the IRS and the EPA suppressed political opposition, and how a compliant FBI winked at Mrs. Clintons misdeeds. Can anyone doubt that we see much more of that, with her in the White House?
Wed doubtless have some new campaign finance reforms, from the person who took the Citizens United movie personally. It was all about her, after all, and its not surprising that shell want a newly-formed Supreme Court to revisit our free speech jurisprudence.
Wed not be seeing the kind of reforms that might rein in crony capitalism, however, the barriers to the revolving door between the Hill and K Street that Trump has proposed. Instead, wed see a purely partisan attack on the scandal of Republican money in politics, and criminal prosecutions of political enemies.
And, after all of that, wed also observe some of the more vocal NeverTrumpers discovering the hidden virtues of Democratic rule. Others would voice their surprise at how things turned out. But that will come a bit late.
After all, they asked for it.
Ever wonder how Mary and Joseph felt two months before the birth of Jesus? Two months before Christmas?
See if this sounds familiar.
Mary and Joseph and the people of their day faced insurmountable odds. They were under the rule of a tyrannical King Herod who despised his own. He charged the people exorbitant taxes, had little tolerance for their religion, and did not believe in the sanctity of life. Cost of living was high, job opportunities were low. Scandal in the courtrooms and government was commonplace.
The Jews felt harried and harassed. Hopeless and not heard.
That wasnt all.
Along the roads to and from the Judean cities, brutal attacks often broke out with no cause or care for humanity. At the same time, Israel and its government had been infiltrated by people from another land. Most of them hated the Jews and their way of life. Culture was changing and the people were utterly divided and afraid.
Even the religious people.
Yes, two months before that first Christmas, things were a mess.
And so Mary and Joseph like all Jewish people of the day were waiting for a great leader to rescue them. A deliverer. Someone who could make Israel great again. A ruler to abolish the domination of King Herod and all he stood for.
But the people of Mary and Josephs day had it all wrong.
They were waiting for a human king, a man of this world. In all their longing and looking for change, they wanted a person who could bring peace and power, freedom and order. Someone to fulfill dozens of prophecies, Scriptures like Isaiah 11:4 which says evil and tyranny would not be able to stand before his leadership, and Ezekiel 16:55: The ruined cities of Israel will be restored, under his rule.
Instead they got Christmas.
That baby born in a manger was everything they never knew they needed. Savior of the World. God in the flesh. Redeemer. Prince of Peace. Lord of lords. Everlasting Father.
King of kings.
If anyone understood their plight it was Him.
But only Mary and Joseph and a few others a ragtag forgotten group of shepherds and a trio of wise men from the east believed that the infant boy born in a barn was the ruler the people had longed for.
The one who would set them free.
King Herod was troubled by the possibility that the baby Jesus might be a threat to his heavy-handed ruling. And so he ordered the murder of all baby boys under the age of two.
As if babies were disposable.
But neither the doubts of the people nor the demonic actions of a power-hungry leader could stop the divine rescue God had in mind for His own. No unfair government, nor violent, divided society could do away with the heaven-sent salvation at hand. Two months before the birth of Jesus, the truth was simply this:
Nothing could stop Christmas.
And so it is true today.
Amidst the craziness of our culture and the tumult of our times, all of us are looking for a leader. And like the Jewish people of old, we are tempted to think the answer might come through an election. A person. As if a human could possibly make a lasting difference in this mostly corrupt and cruel generation.
This November I will vote. It is my duty. You should, too.
But with all the bad news, I pray I might hold onto what is eternally good. The words of the Angel of the Lord spoken to a people shaken by fear and division:
Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.
And so two months early Merry Christmas.
You probably know somebody like Jay Wells in your town.
Hes a hardworking family man. He goes to church on Sunday. He owns a small business. Hes an all-around good guy.
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And hes also become a national symbol for the complete and utter failure of President Obamas Affordable Care Act.
Mr. Wells, of Colquitt, Georgia, is facing a massive (and I do mean massive) increase in his monthly health insurance premiums, according to a letter he received from BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia.
Your current monthly premium is $711.83, read the letter. Starting in January, your monthly premium will be $1,872.17.
The sticker shock was shocking.
It was really tough to play the $700 per month, Mr. Wells told me. With this new increase, I dont see any way we can do that.
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BlueCross BlueShield explained that the insurance coverage he currently has wont be offered in 2017 so they found another plan to meet the needs of Mr. Wells, his wife and their three children.
This isnt a Marketplace plan, the letter read. This means you wont get any financial help lowering your monthly premium or out-of-pocket costs if you enroll in this plan.
And that doesnt even take into account the familys $5,000 deductible.
My goodness -- $1,800 thats a deal breaker, he said.
It could be a deal breaker for many American families.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across 39 states served by the federally run online market. Some states could face even steeper increases.
And since many major national insurance carriers have scaled back their participation in ObamaCare, many American families will only be able to choose plans from a single insurer.
The letter we received stated the policy we had had been grandfathered in and all the grandfathered plans were eliminated due to ObamaCare mandates, Mr. Wells said.
Remember the promise made by President Obama?
If you like your health care plan, youll be able to keep your health care plan period, he said.
Thats what he promised to folks like Jay Wells.
Mr. Wells liked his health care plan but because of ObamaCare he wont be able to keep his healthcare plan.
In an Obama administration, well lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year, he said.
But thanks to ObamaCare, the Wells familys premiums will increase by $13,200 per year.
Instead of delivering on his promises to the Wells family, the president handed them and the American people a wheel barrel full of Grade-A fertilizer.
That could be why the policy selected for Mr. Wells is called the POS 5500.
And if you think your insurance premiums are too expensive now, just watch what happens if Hillary Clinton gets the keys to White House.
Thats one of the reasons Mr. Wells plans on voting for Donald Trump on Election Day.
Ive been a lifelong Republican never supported Trump but certainly plan to vote for the Republican nominee, he told me. I think Mr. Trump has a good opportunity here to show this is a legitimate concern for people.
Regardless, fixing ObamaCare is not going to happen overnight.
Its going to be an absolute nightmare and its going to take some time to get this worked out but my goodness weve got to do something, he said.
So before you cast your ballot on Election Day, take a long, hard look at your looming insurance premiums and ask yourself, Who can make Americas healthcare affordable again?
Mr. Wells has already figured out the answer to that question and he plans to vote accordingly.
Hillary Clintons campaign is touting some eye-popping advantages in early voting, in an apparent effort to energize Democratic voters, but preliminary figures suggest the race remains tighter than her aides acknowledge.
The preliminary numbers appear to show Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, with an edge in several of the roughly 10 battleground states that will decide the 2016 White House race.
We're seeing eye-popping vote-by-mail application numbers, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said on Fox News Sunday.
In Arizona and North Carolina, for example, more registered Democrats than Republicans have indeed cast early ballots.
But such numbers are open to interpretation, including how many Democrats in those two states voted for Clinton.
Meanwhile, early data shows Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump with potential advantages of his own in battleground states Florida, Ohio and elsewhere.
Only some of the 37 states that allow early voting make public the number of registered Democrats and Republicans who requested early ballots and voted early, so final numbers wont be known until Election Day.
Still, the Clinton campaign seemed bolstered in recent days by mail-in balloting in battleground Florida, where in-person voting started Monday in a majority of counties.
Early Florida numbers showed about an equal number of Democrats and Republicans had requested a record 3.1 million early ballots, compared with 2008 when Republicans led 49-to-32 percent and President Obama still won the state.
However, registered Republicans now have a slight lead -- 1.8 percentage points -- in the nearly 1 million ballots received by Friday.
Trump, on a swing through Florida on Monday, made another push for supporters to cast their votes now.
You got to get out there. Whos voted already? Trump asked a cheering crowd in St. Augustine. If youre not feeling well on Nov. 8, we dont want to take a chance.
Clinton said in battleground North Carolina on Sunday: From now until Nov. 5, you can vote early. Its a big deal. You get to vote today, right after this event.
Mook also pointed out Sunday that in Nevada, officials saw a record turnout in Democratic stronghold Clark County, which includes Las Vegas.
However, Trump has throughout the campaign appeared to have the support of some potential crossover voters, including Latino immigrants who back his tough message on illegal immigration.
A recent CNN/ORC poll, for example, found 33 percent of registered Latino voters in Nevada support Trump, compared to 54 percent for Clinton.
The Clinton campaign declined Monday to provide details on the states to which Mook and vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine referred Sunday.
Kaine told NBCs Meet the Press that the campaign like(s) the early voting activity and the absentee-ballot requests coming in.
Kendra Stewart, College of Charleston political science professor, said Monday that Kaine and Mook are doing exactly what they should be doing by trying to use this as an opportunity to create enthusiasm within the party in the hopes of a bandwagon effect.
However, she cautioned about the effort perhaps leaving some Democratic voters less motivated to vote if they feel like their candidate doesnt really need them and giving the Trump campaign the opportunity to use the underdog strategy to try to rally supporters to get out and vote.
Elliott Fullmer, a Randolph-Macon College political science professor, suggested either camp could play up select early-vote trends.
I dont think it would be a surprise for a campaign to think any positive momentum would play well, Fullmer said Monday. And the more they can discuss an advantage in early voting, they will.
According to the University of Floridas U.S. Elections Project, roughly 6 million Americans have already cast early votes, which do not include absentee ballots.
More than 46 million people are expected to vote before Election Day -- or as much as 40 percent of all votes cast.
The District of Columbia also allows early voting. Included in the 37 states that allow early voting are Colorado, Oregon and Washington, which have only mail-in balloting.
Clinton holds a 6 percentage point lead over Trump in national polls, according to the RealClearPolitcs average.
Clinton -- who has been the frontrunner for the entire race -- also has leads in battlegrounds states New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Trump leads in battlegrounds Georgia, Iowa, Missouri and Ohio.
Though neither Georgia nor Ohio break down early balloting by party affiliation, Trump appears to have an advantage in both states.
In Ohio, such requests are down 10 percent among black voters, who in recent decades have tended to vote for Democrats. And requests among Ohios increasing white population, a voting bloc in which Trump appears to do well, is up 3 percentage points, to 91 percent.
In Georgia, ballot requests and returns among black voters trail 2012 levels.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Obama administration is trying to calm the panic over soaring ObamaCare premiums by pointing to subsidies many will receive to offset the cost -- but analysts and GOP lawmakers counter that those subsidies nevertheless will stick taxpayers with a rising bill.
With enrollment set to begin Nov. 1, the administration announced Monday that premiums are set rise an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market. Some states, such as Arizona, will see premiums jump by as much as 116 percent.
Department of Health and Human Services officials are stressing that subsidies provided under the law, which are designed to rise alongside premiums, will insulate most customers from sticker shock.
But the rising cost of subsidies, which already totals tens of billions a year, would be passed on to the taxpayer.
Taxpayers are already in for a lot, Tom Miller, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told FoxNews.com. The cost doesnt go away, it just goes into someone elses pocket.
In a March report, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that subsidies given to enrollees in 2016 would amount to $43 billion in 2016, and predicted the cost would rise to $106 billion by 2026. It also said that over 10 years, ObamaCare provisions would reduce the deficit thanks to tax provisions and cuts to Medicare.
That was before the latest announcement by the administration. It's unclear how exactly the looming premium hikes will affect that picture, though Republicans are now seeking new estimates.
Analysts say it's safe to assume taxpayer costs will rise. Miller noted that HHS reported an average subsidy of $291 per month in 2016. A 25 percent increase in premiums would theoretically translate into an extra $73 per month, or about $870 a year per person.
If you assume conservatively that theres 10 million people getting subsidies, thats an extra $8.5 billion in extra costs taxpayers are getting hit by going into next year, he said.
Other experts warned this is likely to continue as long as premiums keep rising.
Its real simple, premiums are going up and up, and subsidies are going to go up with them, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum and a former CBO director, told FoxNews.com.
The Department for Health and Human Services, when asked for comment by FoxNews.com, noted that the laws coverage provisions are set to cost 28 percent less in 2019 than the CBO originally projected, amounting to about $49 billion less than originally predicted when the law was signed in 2010.
A spokesman also said the same office predicted that repealing the law would increase the deficit by approximately $350 billion over 10 years.
Holtz-Eakin urged caution on the administrations analysis.
Its been a mixed pattern, because the enrollments havent been what they expected so it hasnt been as big of an impact financially, he said. The bad news is that spending per person is much higher than anticipated due to subsidy increases because of premium hikes.
One of the biggest ObamaCare costs to taxpayers has been absorbed into the Medicaid budget, paid for by both state and federal governments.
As a sweetener to get states to go along with the plan, the federal government offered to pick up the cost of expanding Medicaid eligibility up to 133 percent of the poverty line. That siphoned low income -- and expensive customers away from ObamaCare exchanges, seemingly contributing to its current solvency. But that cost in the hundreds of billions -- also is borne by taxpayers.
The CBO projected in 2013 that, in part due to ObamaCare, federal Medicaid spending would more than double over the next 10 years, topping $554 billion by 2023. State governments pay another $160 billion toward Medicaid.
Volume has been greater in Medicaid, and per person costs have been much higher than expected, Edmund Haislmaier, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told FoxNews.com.
Sensing a spike in taxpayer costs, the Republican-led House Committee on Energy and Commerce has written to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services demanding how much taxpayer money will be spent subsidizing the cost of rising premiums.
While the Administration continues to focus on premium 'affordability,' it ignores the undeniable fact that federal taxpayers are subsidizing these premium increases through tax credits, the letter from Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., says. "The Committee is concerned that the federal taxpayer continues to bear the burden of subsidizing the growing cost of health care insurance.
The committee is demanding estimates of the amount of money spent covering rising premiums by Nov. 7.
Republicans blasted the White House on Monday after President Obamas administration announced premiums for his signature health care law will rise sharply next year and many consumers would be down to just one insurer.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, while campaigning in Tampa, Fla., emphatically declared ObamaCare over.
Trump added that his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, "wants to double down and make it more expensive and it's not gonna work. ... Our country can't afford it, you can't afford it." He promised his own plan would deliver "great health care at a fraction of the cost."
GERRI WILLIS: OBAMACARE ENDGAME APPEARS
Trumps running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence echoed his partners words, saying on Twitter Higher premiums, less competition & fewer choices lie ahead for ObamaCare. Hillary Clinton wants more of the same.
Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less.
Moreover, about 1 in 5 consumers will only have plans from a single insurer to pick from, after major national carriers such as UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Aetna scaled back their roles.
"Consumers will be faced this year with not only big premium increases but also with a declining number of insurers participating, and that will lead to a tumultuous open enrollment period," said Larry Levitt, who tracks the health care law for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
OBAMACARE COLLAPSING BEFORE OUR EYES, SAYS REP.
Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., accused Democrats of only wanting to double-down on ObamaCare instead of fix it and vowed that Republicans would replace it with real, patient-centered solutions that fit your needs and your budget.
The president recently compared ObamaCare to a Samsung Galaxy Note 7, and he's right: this disastrous law is blowing up. But at least you can return the phone, Ryan added.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., urged the White House to admit that the health care law wasnt working.
"Weve reached this point because ObamaCare is built on the lie that Washingtons bureaucrats are smart enough to plan health care for millions of Americans. At every turn -- whether its CO-OPs collapsing, premiums skyrocketing, or big insurers bailing -- the American people have paid the price. More spin wont solve this -- its time for the White House to admit that this law isnt working."
HHS essentially confirmed state-by-state reports that have been coming in for months. Window shopping for plans and premiums is already available through HealthCare.gov.
Administration officials are stressing that subsidies provided under the law, which are designed to rise alongside premiums, will insulate most customers from sticker shock. They add that consumers who are willing to switch to cheaper plans will still be able to find bargains.
"Headline rates are generally rising faster than in previous years," acknowledged HHS spokesman Kevin Griffis. But he added that for most consumers, "headline rates are not what they pay."
The vast majority of the more than 10 million customers who purchase through HealthCare.gov and its state-run counterparts do receive generous financial assistance. "Enrollment is concentrated among very low-income individuals who receive significant government subsidies to reduce premiums and cost-sharing," said Caroline Pearson of the consulting firm Avalere Health
But an estimated 5 million to 7 million people are either not eligible for the income-based assistance, or they buy individual policies outside of the health law's markets, where the subsidies are not available. The administration is urging the latter group to check out HealthCare.gov. The spike in premiums generally does not affect the employer-provided plans that cover most workers and their families.
Overall, it's shaping up to be the most difficult sign-up season since HealthCare.gov launched in 2013 and the computer system froze up.
Enrollment has been lower than initially projected, and insurers say patients turned out to be sicker than expected. Moreover, a complex internal system to help stabilize premiums has not worked as hoped for.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An influential conservative group is urging the Republican-led House to postpone its looming leadership vote, potentially offering House Speaker Paul Ryan a chance to get his house in order at a time when his detractors are renewing threats to oust him in the aftermath of the chaotic 2016 election.
The Tea Party-tied FreedomWorks sent a message Monday to the House Republican Caucus telling members to wait until December to decide on a speaker.
FreedomWorks leader Adam Brandon said Tuesday the push does not reflect support for Ryan; only a call for members to reassess and reflect after a historically long, chaotic election cycle.
This is not a pro-Ryan or anti-Ryan, he told FoxNews.com. Theres just no reason to rush. Its a delicate process. Take your time and get it right.
Brandon also said his group is very close in mind to the House Freedom Caucus, a leading critic of Ryan since the chamber elected him speaker in fall 2015.
But any delay in the speaker nomination could give Ryan extra time to mend a divided conference and even deliver on conservative wish list items in the lame-duck session.
Brandon urged Ryan to fight for fiscal sanity and conservative priorities upon returning to Capitol Hill, especially when it comes to a government spending bill -- suggesting Ryans political future should be tied to those results.
The House leadership has given no indication it would even consider postponing such a vote. Newly elected members customarily join sitting members in November in a private session to casts the leadership votes, then have a full floor vote in January when the new Congress convenes.
Republican strategist Rob Carter on Tuesday downplayed the call for a delay from FreedomWorks.
Theyre trying to gin up contributions. I get it. But as for the substance of it, I cannot take it seriously, he said. The House Republican Conference will hold its leadership vote like it always does. Paul Ryan does not lack for support from Republicans with the exception of a handful trying to disrupt.
Ryan still faces a restive chamber upon his return, after a presidential race that divided Republican lawmakers and saw Ryan distancing himself from presidential nominee Donald Trump. And the challenges he confronted upon becoming speaker in October 2015 remain.
As recently as last month, before Congress broke for the elections, Ryan agreed to a so-called continuing resolution to keep the government open past Dec. 31.
However, he needed votes from Democrats upon losing support from the House Freedom Caucus and other fiscally conservative Republicans in the chamber, in large part because such a resolution maintains spending levels instead of cutting them.
In addition, the final bill failed to include a measure to halt President Obamas plan to accept Syrian refugees or cut Planned Parenthood money in exchange for more funding to combat the Zika virus.
John Boehner, the House speaker before Ryan, was effectively run out by conservatives for similarly cutting deals with Democrats to pass legislation.
Ryan splitting with Trump after an audiotape surfaced of him bragging in 2005 about kissing and groping women has only increased the rift with some House members.
The 30-member Freedom Caucus held a mid-October conference call in which members reportedly discussed backing an alternative to Ryan for speaker.
North Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Meadows, a Freedom Caucus member, later told a local radio station the effort to replace Ryan is picking up some steam.
"A lot of people who believe so desperately that we need to put Donald Trump in the White House -- they question the loyalty of the speaker," he said on WAAV Radio.
Rank-and-file House Republicans are trying to help Ryan in case of a revolt.
California Rep. Devin Nunes recently made a proposal to stop any member from trying to oust the speaker with a procedure called a motion to vacate the chair. The motion results in a vote of no confidence that the speaker must defeat with a majority. The Nunes proposal reportedly would require majority support for the motion to be filed.
Ryan has, meanwhile, continued to fulfill his promise to help Republicans this election cycle keep control of the House and Senate, while not campaigning for Trump. Supporters say Ryan remains in high demand across the country.
He has so far this month attended at least 75 events across at least 17 states in support of GOP House incumbents and challengers and reportedly raised $50 million this year, with more than half going to the National Republican Congressional Committee.
And in the final four days of the 2016 campaign, Ryan is expected to visit an additional four states and join incumbent GOP Sen. Ron Johnson on a bus tour across their home state of Wisconsin.
Ryan will have visited 21 states from October through early November in support of House and Senate candidates.
A data analysis firm hired by a voter registration group said on Tuesday that Indiana's voter database is riddled with errors, including thousands of people over the age of 110 who would likely be deceased but are still on the registration list.
TargetSmart conducted a review of the state voter file on behalf of Patriot Majority, a voter registration group with deep ties to the Democratic Party that says it was trying to register black voters. Patriot Majority has been the focal point of a state police probe of possible voter fraud. The group said the discovery of numerous problems in the voter database does not necessarily mean this was the result of fraud.
Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson's spokeswoman Valerie Warycha said there is a simple explanation for why some voters might be listed as over the age of 110. She said some people, including judges or those who have taken out orders of protection, have their dates of birth listed in the year 1900 as a means of protecting their identities.
TargetSmart said it also found 837,000 voters with out-of-date addresses when compared to the United States Postal Service address database, or roughly one-in-five of all Indiana registered voters. The review found 4,556 duplicate registrations, 3,000 records without dates of birth and 31 records of registered voters too young to cast a ballot. More than 2,500 people on the rolls were listed over the age of 110.
The analysis comes after Lawson's office last week raised the possibility that "thousands" of changes to voters' first names and dates of birth could be voter registration fraud. She later acknowledged that many of the changes could be voters updating their online information ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
"There is clearly bad, missing and incomplete data," said Tom Bonier, the CEO of TargetSmart, which is affiliated with the Democratic Party. "So if you're seeing a lot of names changing or dates of birth changing, that's likely because the information she had on the file is incorrect."
State police launched the investigation of Patriot Majority in August after a county clerk flagged roughly a dozen suspicious registrations.
Since then the issue has been highly politicized, with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, raising the possibility of a "rigged" election without offering proof.
Experts say cases of actual voter fraud are few. Warycha said inconsistencies with the database will not prevent anyone from voting.
"Having inaccuracies in the database doesn't mean you have fraud ... at the polls. People have to show up to vote," said Myrna Perez, deputy director of the Brennan Center's Democracy Program at New York University.
Perez said it's hard to tell if the inaccuracies found by TargetSmart make Indiana worse than other states. Clean voter rolls are important to ensure elections are viewed as fair, she said.
Indiana state police Superintendent Doug Carter said in an interview last week with RTV6-TV that he believes "there's voter fraud and voter forgery in every state of America." Thus far, both Carter and Lawson have declined to release specifics, including any confirmed cases of voter registration fraud or how many suspicious cases they have found in the review, which spans 56 Indiana counties.
Carter, a former Republican sheriff elected in Hamilton County north of Indianapolis, served as a GOP county commissioner before Pence appointed him to the state police job.
A state police spokesman did not respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday.
TargetSmart's analysis also identified inconsistencies in the state's voter file over the last year, including names, middle initials and dates of birth that either appeared or disappeared after an update.
Warycha said the secretary of state took control of maintaining the state's voter database in 2014 and launched a campaign to get voters to update their records. Warycha said individual counties previously were in charge of updating voter files, but not all regularly did so. By federal law, Warycha said purging out-of-date registrations takes at least four years.
"We've been very proactive in making sure that Hoosiers' voting information is up-to-date," she said.
This is not the first time Indiana's voter database has come under scrutiny.
In 2006, the state reached an agreement with the Justice Department to bring the state into compliance with the National Voter Registration Act by purging those who had died or were listed more than once. That agreement came after the Justice Department found Indiana had hundreds of thousands of ineligible voters on its registration lists, including possibly 29,000 dead people, and 290,000 duplicates.
Two voter watchdog groups, Judicial Watch and True the Vote, sued Indiana in 2012, accusing the state of failing to maintain clean voter registration lists. The two groups dropped their suit in June 2014 after state lawmakers approved changes to Indiana's election laws the groups had sought.
In May 2014, a month before the suit was dropped, Lawson announced that her office had started a postcard drive to identify invalid voter registrations in an effort to help restore "integrity" to the state's voter rolls. She said at the time that "it is estimated that at least one in eight voter registrations (nationwide) contains inaccurate information."
Donald Trump's campaign has ended fundraising events meant to support the Republican Party's get-out-the-vote efforts in next month's elections.
Aides to the Republican nominee told Fox News on Tuesday that Trump Victory, the joint fundraising committee for the GOP and the campaign, held its most recent fundraiser on Oct. 19 and no more such events were scheduled.
The move, which was first reported by The Washington Post, cuts off a key money source for Republicans hoping to keep hold of both houses of Congress.
"Weve kind of wound down," Trump national finance chairman Steven Mnuchin told the Post. "But the online fundraising continues to be strong."
By contrast, the Post reported that Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign has scheduled 41 fundraising events between now and Nov. 4. The former secretary of state was scheduled to make her last personal fundraising appearance Tuesday in Miami.
Mnuchin told the paper that the real estate mogul was focusing on making his final pitch to the voters at a campaign events rather than raising money in the final two weeks of the race.
"We have minimized his fundraising schedule over the last month to emphasize his focus on political [events]," Mnuchin said of the candidate. "Unlike Hillary, who has been fundraising and not out and about, he has constantly been out and about."
According to the Post, the Republican National Committee had collected $40 million through Trump Victory as of Sept. 30.
RNC spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the organization "[continues] to fundraise for the entire GOP ticket."
Meanwhile, Politico reported Tuesday that the Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC with ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was putting $25 million into seven Senate races deemed crucial in determining the balance of power on Capitol hill.
Fox News' Carl Cameron contributed to this report.
Click for more from The Washington Post.
Donald Trump said Tuesday he has no interest in a "Trump TV" media venture should he lose the election, a notion that has persisted this week after a television-like alternative to the network nightly news programs began streaming on his Facebook page.
The inaugural "Live From Trump Tower," an online program hosted by Trump campaign surrogates Boris Epshteyn and Cliff Sims, directly competed Monday with the ABC, CBS and NBC national newscasts and their increasingly gloomy assessments of the Republican presidential candidate's chances of winning the upcoming election.
TRUMP CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES NIGHTLY NEWS SHOW
The program, expected to air eight more times before the election, is collaboration between the campaign and a fledgling company that has been streaming Trump's campaign rallies online for more than a year. Some see it as a precursor to a future Trump media company, although the candidate threw cold water on the idea in an interview with Cincinnati WLW radio interviewer Scott Sloan.
"I have no interest in Trump TV," Trump said. "I hear it all over the place. You know, I have a tremendous fan base. We have the most incredible people. But I just don't have any interest in that. I have one interest, that's on November 8th."
The Trump TV possibility was fueled earlier this month by a report in The Financial Times that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had a conversation about it with a friend at an investment bank that specializes in media deals. Trump's campaign is being run now be Stephen Bannon, who was head of the conservative Breitbart News operation. For all his current poll troubles, Trump is a proven ratings magnet: two of the three most-watched presidential debates ever were between him and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump and his supporters have had a complicated relationship with Fox News Channel, long the favorite network for conservative viewers. Fox faces its own uncertainties in the first post-election period without former leader Roger Ailes.
On a small scale, there already is a Trump TV: the Alabama-based Right Side Broadcasting Network that has streamed the Trump rallies and appearances on a YouTube channel since the summer of 2015.
Right Side was asked by the campaign to help produce a Facebook Live telecast from the spin room following the third presidential debate. The Trump campaign pronounced it a success, saying it generated $9 million in campaign contributions. A few days later, Right Side was asked to help with a nightly show, Joe Seales, the company's founder, told The Associated Press in an email.
"Live from Trump Tower" is set to run Monday through Thursday for 30 minutes, he said. Timing is fluid; it is expected to immediately precede or follow Trump campaign rallies, he said.
"This is our campaign, and most importantly our candidate, speaking directly to our voters," Epshteyn said during Monday's stream. "We're so excited to be bypassing the left-wing media."
During the show, they sat at a table in what they said was a campaign "war room," with flat-screen televisions, an American flag and a giant poster of Trump's face on the walls behind them. Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and GOP strategist Sean Spicer were interviewed, and there was a commentary from Blaze TV host Tomi Lahren.
"We're going to have a hard fight," Lahren said. "They're not going to hand it to us. They don't want to drain the swamp."
Their only break was for Trump campaign commercials.
Part of the screen was filled by a steady feed of Facebook comments, many from viewers who proudly called themselves deplorables. "Nobody takes my guns," one commenter said. "Vote early, vote often," said another.
A graphic on the screen indicated how many people were watching live, and held around the 35,000 range. By Tuesday afternoon, Facebook said there were some 1.4 million clicks on the video, live and after-the-fact. That's nowhere near the roughly 24 million people who watch a network newscast each night, but respectable for online.
No one in the Trump campaign has approached Right Side about being part of any Trump TV venture in the future, said Seales, who commands a self-described ragtag band of media outsiders that believes most news organizations tilt left. He wants to give people the chance to see campaign appearances and speeches all the way through.
"We have no knowledge of what, if anything, Mr. Trump plans to do after the election regarding any kind of media ventures," he told the AP. "If at some point he were to ask us to be a part of anything he may do in the future, we would be foolish not to listen, as Mr. Trump is an incredibly successful businessman."
Right Side plans a program of Election Night analysis and is looking to air more shows in the future. Besides the rallies, Right Side airs programs featuring conservative personalities Pastor Mark Burns and Wayne Dupree. Seales said his eventual goal is to offer a full day of programming online.
"Our focus will turn to making this thing into a real network," he said.
The earliest known stone inscription of the 10 Commandments is available to the highest bidder on Nov. 16, but dont dust off your mantel at home just yet: this relic has to be shown off in public.
The stone is presented by Heritage Auctions in the properties of the Living Torah Museum Auction, and will be auctioned in Beverly Hills, California. It is believed to have been carved sometime between 300 and 500 CE, and is assumed to be from a synagogue that was either destroyed by Romans between 400 and 600 CE or by 11th-century crusaders.
It is described as a square, white marble slab, weighing roughly 115 lbs. and inscribed with 20 lines of text. Each line contains between 11 and 15 characters of Paleo-Hebrew, or Samaritan, dialect.
Nine of the 10 commonly-known Commandments from the book of Exodus adorn the stone, but it swaps Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for a Samaritan commandment that worshippers raise up a temple on Mount Gerizim, which served as the holy mountain for the Samaritans.
Although Dead Sea Scrolls dating to the 1st century BC containing the Commandments on papyrus and parchment paper have surfaced in the past, there are only four known examples of stone inscriptions, according to Art Daily.
The stone first surfaced in 1913, as excavations were made for a railroad station near Yavneh, Israel. It then served as flooring for a private owners courtyard, where, over time, foot traffic wore out portions of the tablets writing. In 1943, a man named Y. Kaplan acquired the stone and had it studied. It was then purchased in the 1990s by Robert Deutsch, an antiquities dealer.
The stone is considered a National Treasure of Israel, but in 2005, the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) approved its export to the U.S. and the care of Rabbi Saul Deutsch of the Living Torah Museum on the condition that it be displayed in a public museum, according to Heritage Auctions.
"There is nothing more fundamental to our shared heritage than the 10 Commandments," said David Michaels, Director of Antiquities for Heritage Auctions, in a statement, "and Heritage Auctions is honored and privileged to be entrusted with the sale of this remarkable piece of Biblical history."
Interested bidders will also have to comply with the artifacts National Treasure status by proving it will be displayed for the public once purchased, according to Heritage Auctions.
Bidding starts at $250,000.
Sixty-eight may not seem that old, but for Snooty the manatee, it's a world record.
Snooty is now the world's oldest manatee living in captivity, the Guinness World Records recently announced. The sea cow was brought to South Florida Museum as an 11-month-old calf in 1949. Now 68 years old, Snooty has earned the world record title.
"We felt it was important to apply on Snooty's behalf, because we wanted people to understand that manatees can live for a long time," Marilyn Margold, director of living collections at South Florida Museum, said in a video for the Guinness World Records. "Taken proper care of, paying attention to their habitats, those things can help with their longevity. They are hearty animals overall." [Marine Marvels: Spectacular Photos of Sea Creatures]
Though they may look hearty, most manatees living in the wild die before they reach the age of 10. Algae blooms, fishing debris and boat strikes threaten these gentle giants, which are listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which monitors manatee populations, the oldest wild manatee in Florida was 59 years old with the next oldest having reached 48 years of age.
Snooty's longevity is credited to the fact that he lives in a controlled environment, a 60,000-gallon pool he shares with two other manatees at South Florida Museum. Jessica Schubick, communications manager at the museum, said that while Snooty doesn't seem to mind his pool-mates and other manatees, he's more interested in people. When Snooty turned 67 in July 2015, the marine mammal received birthday cards from fans around the world congratulating him on his incredible age.
The manatee breeding program at the museum offers visitors an educational opportunity to see that manatees do have personalities and a level of intelligence, Margold said.
"I would say that he's intelligent, he's very personable, he has the staff well trained, Margold said of Snooty. "He's just entertaining and calming at the same time."
Original article on Live Science.
The genetic codes of people living in a region of the Pacific called Melanesia have given researchers a clue: their DNA suggests the presence of an extinct hominid ancestor.
On Oct. 20, Ryan Bohlender, a statistical geneticist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, presented findings at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics that took a deep dive into the genes of the people of Melanesia, according to Science News.
Members of the population, which hails from the South Pacific, and encompasses Papua New Guinea and its surrounding islands, carry genetic evidence that does not come from typical Neanderthal or Denisovan ancestry. Instead, it comes from an unknown third party.
Bohlender said that while the new ancestor hails from the same hominid family tree as Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestors, it is currently considered an extinct third cousin, according to Science News.
Although many Neanderthal fossils have surfaced throughout Asia and Europe over time, the only evidence of the Denisovan species to date comes from DNA that was identified through a finger bone and stray teeth found in a cave in Siberia.
Bohlender is not alone. On Oct. 13, Eske Willerslev, an evolutionary geneticist at the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, and his team, published results in Nature from a DNA study of 83 aboriginal Australians and 25 people from native populations in Papua New Guineas highlands.
The team found that its subjects carried Denisovan-like DNA. However, the DNA is genetically distinct from Denisovans, and where it exactly comes from remains a mystery.
They could be Homo erectus or the extinct hominids found in Indonesia known as Hobbits, he told Science News.
The discovery that humans mixed with Neanderthals is not yet a decade old, and Europeans and Chinese people, for example, are estimated to carry around 2.8 percent of Neanderthal ancestry.
Mattias Jakobsson, an evolutionary geneticist from Swedens Uppsala University, told Science News that he wouldnt be surprised if other groups of extinct hominids mingled with humans. Modern humans and archaic humans have met many times and had many children together, he said.
The claim of two scientists that they may have found evidence of intelligent aliens is raising some astronomers' eyebrows.
Appearing in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the pair's study reports that 234 stars (out of over two million surveyed) have signals in the form of light pulses they say are best explained by intelligent ETs from far away.
After discussing a couple of explanations for what could be causing the signals, the study states: Finally, we consider the possibility, predicted in a previous published paper, that the signals are caused by light pulses generated by [extraterrestrial intelligence] to makes us aware of their existence. Whats more, these signals have exactly the shape that the scientists would expect to see from intelligent aliens, according to the study.
Related: Investigator claims 'UFO wreckage' is evidence aliens visited the Earth 250,000 years ago
But the Berkeley SETI Research Center says not so fast.
...[E]xtraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, the organization wrote in a statement. It is too early to unequivocally attribute these purported signals to the activities of extraterrestrial civilizations.
Related: Are aliens avoiding Earth?
The organization said that they will observe some of the stars in question using a nearly 8-foot optical telescope called the Automated Planet Finder, and that they look forward to consulting with the scientists behind the controversial claim, which they said doesnt yet seem persuasive.
Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, told Astronomy magazine that he was quite skeptical of the hypothesis.
Apparently several more than three or four referees have been disinclined to see this published, he said in an email to Astronomy.
The controversy comes on the heels of new data about a strange star that's been dimming in recent years, leading some to speculate about an "alien megastructure."
When New Zealand professor Christoph Bartneck received an invitation to submit a paper to the International Conference on Atomic and Nuclear Physics in the US, he was skeptical given he has "practically no knowledge" of nuclear physics.
So he decided to use his iPhone's iOS autocomplete function to help him write a paper by feeding it a word like "atomic" or "nuclear" and then randomly tapping one of the suggested next words, he writes in a blog post.
(Bartneck demonstrates how on YouTube.) Sample line: "Physics are great but the same as you have been able and the same way to get the rest to your parents." Bartneck then submitted the nonsensical paper under the fake name Iris Pear (think "Siri Apple").
He received a reply three hours later telling him the abstract was approved for presentation at the Nov. 17-18 conference in Atlanta. Registering to attend, however, costs $1,099, reports the Guardian.
Bartneck declined to move forward. This isn't the first story of its kind. One paper that simply repeated the phrase "get me off your f---ing mailing list" ad nauseam was accepted by the open-access Journal of Advanced Computer Technology in 2014.
In this case, Bartneck may have simply scammed a scam; one commenter on his blog says the conference isn't legit and only exists to "phish larger conference fees." The Christian Science Monitor agrees that, "Between its poorly designed website, open calls for abstracts, and vague location, the conference smacks of a scam." Bartneck says it does indeed smell like "a money-making conference with little to no commitment to science," but he's tempted to ask for the reviewers' comments for a laugh.
(One study finds issues with open-access journals.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: He Wrote a Gibberish Paper via Autocomplete, Found Success
More From Newser
Sir Richard Branson has a new name for his forthcoming cruise ship line, Virgin Voyages .
The first sailing is planned out of Miami in 2020 to the Caribbean.
The vessels are being built by the Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri with a capacity of at least 2,700 passengers, considered midsize by the cruise industry.
Speaking by phone following a Miami press conference about the cruises, Branson promised that Virgin Voyages would create boutique experiences for travelers that are as "magical" as those offered by his other enterprises, which include Virgin Atlantic airline, a Chicago hotel and a game reserve and lodge in South Africa. The company is also developing spaceship tourism through the Virgin Galactic venture.
Branson said Virgin Voyages will be the first major cruise line to adopt a new clean energy technology called Climeon Ocean that transforms waste heat from ship engines into electricity for onboard use.
Asked if the ships would sail to Cuba, Branson noted that Virgin has been flying to Cuba from London for years and that he "definitely" hoped to include the island on Virgin Voyages itineraries.
Amidst reports that occupancy rates at Trump Hotels have slipped this election season, the company says that new brand hotels will no longer bear the Trump name.
The newest line of luxury hotels, geared towards millennials, will be called Scion.
We wanted a name that would be a nod to the Trump family and to the tremendous success it has had with its businesses, including Trump Hotels, while allowing for a clear distinction between our luxury and lifestyle brands, Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger said in a statement.
Although Trump Hotels has said the new name has nothing to do with the eponymous businessmans presidential campaign, empty rooms at the hotels have caused officials to reduce rates during the peak season," according to New York Magazine.
Nightly rates at the newly-opened Trump International Hotel in D.C. plummeted below $500 while practically every other five-star property was sold out for the International Monetary Fund conference two weeks ago. And after his remarks about Mexican immigrants, two celebrity chefs backed out of their contracts to open a restaurant in the hotel.
According to Hipmunk, bookings at Trump Hotels plummeted 59 percent during the first half of 2016 and data from Foursquare shows a 17 percent drop in foot traffic at Trump properties since June 2015, when the reality TV star announced his presidential bid.
Trump Hotels, however, refutes the analysis.
Our business at Trump Hotels is stronger than ever and we are incredibly excited about the future of Scion, the newest brand in our hotel portfolio, Ivanka Trump, who is the executive vice president of development and acquisitions for the brand, said in a statement.
The data reported by both Hipmunk and Foursquare is manipulated to appear meaningful, when, in reality, the information is inconsequential and does not provide an accurate representation of our performance, a Trump Hotels spokesperson told Travel + Leisure.
Scion is expected to open as a four-star lifestyle brand in cities and resort towns. The press release announcing the brand repeatedly mentioned creating a sense of community and engaging visitors in a social club-like atmosphere, in the vein of Soho House.
This article has been updated with comment from Trump Hotels.
A current or former employee shot one person to death and wounded three others before apparently killing himself at a rail car plant in Virginia early Tuesday, authorities said.
Officers responded to a report of an active shooter just after 6 a.m. at FreightCar America, located in an industrial area near downtown Roanoke, said Police Chief Tim Jones.
Two people, including the shooter, were found dead at the facility, Jones said. Three others with gun-related injuries were taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. One patient was in serious condition, and the other two were in fair and good condition, respectively, the hospital said in a statement.
Jones said police believe the man had once worked for or was still an employee of the facility. Authorities have not identified him or the victims.
One witness hid inside a bathroom during the shooting and police will get statements from him and others, Jones said.
Police sent out a tweet later Tuesday saying they searched the facility, which includes several buildings over several acres, and determined there were no other threats.
Chicago-based FreightCar America opened the facility in 2005 on land leased from Norfolk Southern. It builds railroad cars at the site and has other manufacturing facilities in Cherokee, Alabama, and Danville, Illinois.
Officers fatally shot a man and woman on a motel balcony Tuesday when they refused to drop handguns they had raised toward police who were there to serve warrants, Maryland State Police said.
No officers were hurt during the confrontation Tuesday at the New Eastern Inn in Elkton, a city of 15,000 about 45 miles northeast of Baltimore, state police spokesman Greg Shipley said. Investigators were trying to learn if the people killed were those named in the warrants for felony possession of firearms stemming from a shooting earlier this week in Delaware.
"The Delaware State Police had contacted Maryland State Police yesterday, requesting assistance in the location of these two fugitives," Shipley told reporters. "And the state apprehension team took that investigation over and tracked them to this location."
He said uniformed officers from two agencies went to the motel about 10 a.m., knocked on the door of the second-floor room and announced themselves as police officers.
As they shouted at the room's occupants to surrender, one of the officers saw through a window that a man was approaching the door with a handgun, Shipley said. He said the officers retreated from the door but the man came out and refused to obey their commands. The man raised the gun at officers and they fired, Shipley said.
He said the woman came out a few seconds later with a handgun that she raised. She was also shot after refusing to drop the weapon, Shipley said.
He said investigators don't yet know which officers fired the fatal shots or how many times they fired.
The shooting brought a large number of police to the area and prompted road closures. Reporters at the scene could see what appeared to be a body on the balcony, covered by a yellow sheet.
Delaware State Police Cpl. Jeffrey Hale said his agency had asked Maryland State Police to help find a man and woman, both 25, of Dover, who were wanted in connection with an incident on Oct. 18. The man had fired one round from a handgun into the air after threatening to shoot someone, Delaware State Police said in a press release Sunday.
The press release said officers had found about 2,100 small bags of heroin and more than two pounds of marijuana at the man's home, along with $2,700 in cash, a .22-caliber rifle and three handguns, one of which had been reported stolen in 2016.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont says the conduct of a white man accused of distributing Ku Klux Klan recruitment fliers to two minority women last year is protected by the First Amendment.
Authorities say William Schenk passed out the fliers to a black woman and a Hispanic woman in Burlington last October. He pleaded no contest in April to disorderly conduct.
Schenk has appealed his case to the state Supreme Court. He's argued his speech was protected by the Constitution because he was trying to recruit new members.
ACLU attorney Jay Diaz argued in court papers that the state is attempting to criminalize political speech and needs to prove the speech is threatening.
Prosecutors say Schenk's actions aren't protected because he targeted women of color.
A billboard, sponsored by the Lincoln Atheists and which read, "The Good Life Without God? It's possible," has been taken down by the advertising company after local residents threatened to boycott businesses in the area.
Atheist Billboard in Nebraska Removed After Residents Complain https://t.co/oVczFmpFtH pic.twitter.com/HxIsCKN1Oa Julian (@crossmaker316) October 24, 2016
The signage was to stay up at Subway-Phillips 66 in Lincoln, Nebraska, until Nov. 10, according to the contract the Lincoln Atheists signed with Lamar Advertising, but it was brought down earlier this week, Lincoln Journal Star reported.
The billboard was taken down after several residents threatened to stop doing business at the gas station and store, whose space the advertising company used for the signage.
The advertising company says it has to respect what the landowners, upon which the company leases space, want. "At this point, we're just going to refund them all of their money, even though they got some display time," Scott Morton, general manager of Lamar's Lincoln branch, was quoted as saying.
"We are grateful for the work Lamar did for us and with us, but we are disappointed that we don't get an equal platform to share ideas," Shawn Capler, marketing director of the atheist group, was quoted as saying. "I think a group like ours is necessary because not everyone is religious, but I think everyone needs a community. We'd like to think that we provide community for those without any religious beliefs."
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Tufts University has sent out a letter that is sure to spook Greek life students ahead of Halloween weekend.
Students involved in fraternities and sororities at the Massachusetts school are being told to not wear anything that could offend others during Halloween celebrations or risk getting investigated by campus police and being slapped with serious disciplinary sanctions.
HORROR AS RANDOM TEEN 'FLASH MOBS' ASSAULT STUDENTS AT PHILLY UNIVERSITY
The order came in a note written by the leaders of the four Greek life councils on campus. It contained few specifics.
The costumes that people choose to wear have an effect on everyone around them whether they realize it or not, the letter says.
BERKELEY PROTESTERS DEMAND 'SPACES OF COLOR,' HARASS WHITE STUDENTS TRYING TO PASS
It goes on to state that outfits relating to tragedy, controversy, or acts of violence are also inappropriate. We need to set a precedent that peoples customs cannot and will not be our costumes.
Tufts was far from the only university calling out costumes it deemed offensive. The University of Florida offered counseling for students "troubled" by incidents involving Halloween costumes. And the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Bias Incident Team last year claimed some students' "Three Blind Mice" costumes mocked the disabled.
The Dean of Student Affairs at Tufts, Mary Pat McMahon, is urging people who feel offended to file reports to campus authorities.
The range of response for students whose actions make others in our community feel threatened or unsafe, or who direct conduct towards others that is offensive or discriminatory, includes OEO and/or TUPD investigation and then disciplinary sanctions from our office that could run a wide gamut depending on what is brought to our attention and the impact of these actions on others, she is quoted as saying in the letter.
The existence of the letter was reported by Students Advocating for Students, an organization advocating for free speech on college campuses.
A Pennsylvania woman accused of torturing her toddler son by burning him with cigarettes and the boyfriend accused of laughing about it have entered guilty pleas in the case.
Anna Russell and Enrique (en-REE'-kay) Soto pleaded guilty Tuesday in Allegheny County to aggravated assault, child endangerment and related crimes.
Authorities say at least 15 burns were inflicted Aug. 1 on the now-2-year-old boy and were discovered a week later when his grandmother took him to a hospital.
Police say the boy's 3-year-old sister told them Russell burned him while Soto watched and laughed.
Russell and Soto are scheduled to be sentenced in January.
Russell's attorney says a Family Court hearing is scheduled in December on whether to terminate the couple's parental rights to the children.
An Oklahoma woman convicted of pushing her husband out of a window at their Tulsa high-rise apartment in 2011, killing him, was found dead in her prison cell Monday, but a relative on Tuesday rejected claims that she killed herself.
Amber Hilberling pushed her husband, Air Force veteran Joshua Hilberling, out of the window in June 2011 after a heated argument in which she claimed she feared for her life. She also said her husband had abused her.
Prosecutors said there was no sign of struggle in the apartment, KOTV reported. A court sentenced her to 25 years in prison in 2013.
The medical staff at the correctional facility in McLoud is treating her death as a suicide, although they have not said how, with family members expressing their doubts.
Bryan Whitlock, Hilberlings stepfather, told KTUL there was no way his stepdaughters death was a suicide. He said when he talked with Hilberling Sunday night, she seemed excited that a local television station had offered to interview her, and she wanted to tell her story.
She also was getting college credit while incarcerated and spoke to her infant son daily, Whitlock added. Hilberling reportedly was 7 months pregnant at the time she killed her husband.
Oklahomas Department of Corrections Inspector General reportedly launched an investigation into her death.
Despite an overwhelming public outcry against warehouses, the West Pennsboro Township supervisors Monday reaffirmed their earlier decision to grant a rezoning request made by Allen Distribution.
The supervisors voted unanimously to re-advertise an ordinance that would change the Shover and Bock tracts from residential to industrial on the township zoning map.
The decision was made over the objection of a crowd of mostly township residents who had gathered at the local fire company to voice further opposition to the proposal.
More than a dozen individuals testified during a two-hour hearing against the rezoning, saying it would lower property values, worsen air pollution and harm the quality of life of not just the neighbors but all township residents.
As a government body, the supervisors are required to balance the interests of the applicant with the neighbors most affected by the rezoning and by what is beneficial for the township in general, Supervisor Chairman Gerald Barrick said.
While there have been a lot of questions raised over noise, light, air quality, ground water and disruptions with construction, the township planning commission would have the ability to address those concerns when the developer applies for conditional use and submits a land development plan, Barrick said.
He added the proposed Allen Distribution site presents less of a traffic nightmare than similar zoning and warehouse projects on the other end of the township. What is being proposed on the Shover and Bock tracts ties into the Rt. 465 corridor, according to Barrick. Supervisors Richard Adler and Daniel Martin offered no comment prior to voting.
Mondays decision by the supervisors cleared a huge obstacle blocking Allen Distribution from moving forward with its plans, said Nathan Wolf, attorney for Karl Smith, a township resident living across from the proposed development site.
This is a big step for the developer because it reaffirms the choice that was made in June, Wolf said. It gives them essentially what they needed to move on.
The decision also solidifies a key argument in the zoning change appeal Smith has made to the Cumberland County Court that the township supervisors are not doing enough to investigate whether the proposed Allen Distribution development would violate the environmental rights of neighboring property owners, Wolf said.
The supervisors had originally voted in July to rezone 133 acres as industrial, which would allow Allen Distribution to develop two warehouses covering 725,000 square feet each.
The warehouses would be across the street from Smith while the development site would border 40 other homes
The Latest on the fatal workplace shooting inside a rail car manufacturing company in Virginia (all times local):
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10:30 a.m.
Police believe the shooter who killed one person and himself at a rail car manufacturing company in Roanoke was an employee or ex-employee of the company.
Roanoke Police Chief Tim Jones said at a news conference Tuesday that the shooter took his life after shooting several people at FreightCar America, located in an industrial area near downtown Roanoke. He says the identities of the victims and suspect aren't yet known.
He says one witness hid inside a bathroom during the shooting and they are waiting to interview him.
Jones says police are searching the facility, which includes several buildings, to ensure there are no other threats.
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10:30 a.m.
Hospital officials in Virginia say they've received three patients with gun-related shootings from a rail car manufacturing company where police say a gunman fatally shot one man and killed himself.
Carilion (ka RIL lee on) Roanoke Memorial Hospital said in a statement on Tuesday that one of the patients brought in from FreightCar America is in serious condition, and the other two are in fair and good condition, respectively.
The patients were taken to the hospital early Tuesday morning from the company, which is located in an industrial area near downtown Roanoke.
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9:30 a.m.
Police say a man fatally shot someone and wounded several others inside a rail car manufacturing company in Virginia before apparently killing himself.
Roanoke police spokesman Scott Leamon says the shooting took place around 6 a.m. Tuesday at FreightCar America, located in an industrial area near downtown Roanoke. He says authorities are working to identify the shooter and determine whether he was connected to the company, which has an overnight shift and was open at the time.
Leamon says less than five others were injured. He says he doesn't yet know whether they were shot, but their injuries are not considered life-threatening.
He says officers are searching the facility, but they don't believe there is any threat to the public.
A motel owner in Burlington, Iowa, has surprised the elementary school he attended by writing a $700 check to pay overdue school lunch fees for dozens of kids.
Iowa man donates about $700 to cover overdue lunch balances for 89 students at local elementary school https://t.co/2MbSMSzEs9 pic.twitter.com/FHTw77Zlzf ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) October 25, 2016
I myself positively affected 89 students today. I gave them extra money in the account so that every kid at Grimes Elementary School wont be hungry the rest of the school year. Now its your turn to do something good for your fellow man, Jerry Fenton commented on his Facebook page last week.
VIRGINIA TEEN SAYS HE'S WRONGLY ACCUSED OF THEFT OF 65-CENT MILK
Fenton said the money would be used to cover bills for children who haven't been able to pay for meals but receive lunch anyway, the Des Moines Register reported.
Fenton said he read a story online about a boy who brought two lunches to school so he could give one to a friend who wasn't able to pay his lunch bills, and decided to go a step further.
SUPERINTENDENT DISPUTES CAFETERIA WORKER'S 'SHAMING' CLAIMS
When I saw that, I thought it was a nice gesture, and I thought, Hey, I can do that too, Fenton told KCCI.
School district food service director Alan Mehaffy said unpaid lunch bills weren't a major problem at Burlington schools, but sometime caused tension between parents and teachers when the school sent home reminders about the bills.
Fenton, who owns the Arrowhead Motel in Burlington, received lots of publicity on social media after writing about the donation on his Facebook page.
"I don't want to tell people what to do ... but it's always nice when people do nice things," he said, adding that he hoped the donation would inspire people to do something generous for others.
Mehaffy said gifts like Fenton's donation were "extremely rare." He said he could only remember one other similar donation to the school, when a school food service employee had died and asked for memorial donations to be directed to the overdue lunch bills.
$400 will be used to pay off overdue lunch fees, with the rest of the donation going to future bills, according to Fenton.
"It made a big impact," Mehaffy said. "It was a very generous offer."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A converted Muslim's federal lawsuit accuses a private security company of discrimination by rejecting her for employment because of her faith and her traditional religious headscarf.
The lawsuit filed in St. Louis on Zahraa Imani Ali's behalf against Securitas Security Services seeks class-action status.
Ali alleges that during an October 2015 telephone interview with a Securitas recruiter, Ali asked if there'd be any issue with her wearing a hijab headscarf on the job.
Ali says she was told about two weeks later she was rejected for the job. The lawsuit claims a regional Securitas employee told the recruiter by email that "I would personally sidestep this one."
A message seeking comment Tuesday from Securitas was not immediately returned.
The lawsuit doesn't specify the amount of damages it seeks.
A masked carjacking suspect is dead after being shot by a St. Louis County police officer.
Police say 19-year-old Aaron Ballard pointed a gun at the officer after a chase ended in a crash Monday night. The officer shot Ballard, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say a loaded gun was found next to him.
Police had been searching for a gold Mercedes stolen around 2 a.m. Monday in Affton. An officer spotted the car in Jennings and began a chase that ended with the crash in St. Louis.
The driver and two other men ran away. Police are still searching for them.
The 28-year-old officer was not injured. The officer is white; Ballard was black, as are the three men who ran away.
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Potential jurors have arrived at an Ohio courthouse in the murder trial of a white former university police officer charged with killing an unarmed black man during a traffic stop for a missing front license plate.
A large pool of potential jurors reported Tuesday morning to the Hamilton County Courthouse for orientation sessions and to fill out 25-page questionnaires that will be studied by the defense and prosecutors before they start questioning candidates in court Oct. 31.
Twenty-six-year-old Ray Tensing has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter in the shooting of 43-year-old Sam DuBose near the University of Cincinnati last year.
There was increased security in place inside the courthouse. Outside, faith leaders and social activists formed a circle to offer prayers for justice and healing.
A Dallas-area middle school teacher has been arrested and charged with capital murder in the killings of two men in Fort Worth.
A Fort Worth police statement says Cary Joseph Heath was arrested Monday at Permenter Middle School in Cedar Hill, where he was a first year teacher after serving 13 years in the Air Force.
Police haven't released much information on the shootings, which happened about 4 a.m. Sunday. Officers arrived to find two men dead on the driveway of a house. Officials have not formally identified the men, and a possibly motive was unclear.
The two men killed were neighbors of Heath, KXAS reported.
"From my understanding, the guy had an assault rife. From the looks of it, due to the shell casings, he unloaded the whole clip and killed two of the people who lived next door," Jordan Milner, who lives across the street from the two men, told the news station.
The Star-Telegram reported that Heath's profile stated, I am excited to be at Permenter to provide structure and discipline for your student. My goal as an educator is to provide a quality education while focusing on success in our global marketplace.
Bond has been set at $1 million.
No attorney is listed in jail records for the 35-year-old suspect.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Thousands of Christians from cities representing more than 90 countries around the world gathered in New York City Tuesday for the opening of the Movement Day Global Cities conference where they tackled issues under the banner of disrupting cities with the Gospel globally.
THE ONE THING CHRISTIANS MUST DO THIS ELECTION SEASON
"We are gathering this morning, 95 nations from around the world. We are so thrilled that you are here. You and our being together really is a miracle," declared the Rev. McKenzie "Mac" Pier, founder and president of The New York Leadership Center in welcoming the multiethnic, multiracial gathering.
"If there is one message for Movement Day, it's simply this: The speed of the Gospel in a city is a proportion to the depth of unity in the same city in the body of Christ. This is a unity rooted in a common vision for our city, deeply rooted friendships, across racial, denominational lines and a passion for the next generation," he said.
Movement Day, which was launched in 2010, is an initiative of The New York City Leadership Center, a nonprofit ministry focused on training Christian leaders to impact their cities.
Pier said 95 countries were represented at the conference which will end on Thursday, and conference officials said nearly 3,000 registered guests were expected for the conference and walk-ins could swell that number.
CHURCH APOLOGIZES, ASKS FORGIVENESS FOR BANNING FAT PEOPLE FROM WORSHIP TEAM
"God is bringing the revival of Christianity from the global south to the global north. The question for us is this: Do we understand our cities well enough to interpret how God is choreographing nations into our cities? Do we have the cultural agility to identify, celebrate and collaborate with our new neighbors? God wants to disrupt the world with the Gospel through our communities. The only antidote to the chaos of complexity of cities is simply the unity of the body of Christ. We are one loaf," Pier told the gathering.
The event, he said, took three years of planning with the help of global partners forged through decades of relationships.
"This week you're gonna hear this theme about how God is disrupting cities around the world with the Gospel. God has been disrupting New York City. New York City is being disrupted by the Gospel. It is not a new story. We just passed a month ago the 159th anniversary of the Fulton Street revival that began near Wall Street. And that revival spread across the United States. Within two years, 3 percent of all the people who lived in the United States were converted. Emerging from that great revival was a spiritual awakening we call the evangelical social awakening that lasted from 1865 to 1920. The Gospel disrupted our city and nation by mobilizing the Church to care for the poor and disenfranchised," explained Pier.
"The credibility of the Gospel was so strong that more freed slaves became Christian between 1865 and 1900 than any other ethnic group in the history of North America. The Gospel disrupted our nation. For the past 25 years in Manhattan, we have seen evangelical Christianity grow by 500 percent. What is God up to in all of our cities? We live in a world needing to be disrupted by the Gospel because we live in a world of chaos," he said.
Pier made the case for an increased focus on urban ministry by citing rapid population growth in these areas.
"Cities are growing at a breathtaking speed, 1.5 million people are moving into cities every week. This represents a new Singapore or a new San Francisco every month. All over the world. Cities in China and Africa and Latin America are exploding. The world will grow 20 percent in 20 years to more than 9 billion people, 70 percent of those persons will be living in sizable cities.
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Russia could shoot down a U.S. aircraft if a no-fly zone were imposed over Syria, National Intelligence Director James Clapper said Tuesday.
"I wouldn't put it past them to shoot down an American aircraft if they felt that was threatening to their forces on the ground," Clapper said, speaking with CBS' Charlie Rose at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York about several national security issues.
Russia has deployed a very advanced and capable air defense system in Syria and would not have done that if it wouldn't use it, Clapper said.
The Obama administration has refrained from setting up a no-fly, or safe, zone for civilians in Syria partly because of the complexity in staffing and enforcing it and the potential for direct military confrontation between the U.S. and Russia. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has called for a no-fly zone over parts of Syria. Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence has also called for a no-fly zone over Syria, but Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, has yet to take a firm position.
On North Korea, Clapper said he thought that the U.S. policy of trying to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons is probably futile. Perhaps the only thing the U.S. could get would be limitations on North Korea's nuclear capabilities, he said.
"I think the notion of getting the North Koreans to denuclearize is probably a lost cause," Clapper said.
"They are under siege and they are very paranoid, so the notion of giving up their nuclear capability, whatever it is, is a nonstarter with them."
The Obama administration has consistently demanded that North Korea agree to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. That is the goal of six-nation aid-for-disarmament negotiations that have been stalled since the North pulled out of the talks in 2009. The U.S. says resumption of those talks, which were hosted by China, requires North Korea to recommit to denuclearization. The government of young leader Kim Jong Un, however, appears intent on retaining and increasing its nuclear arsenal.
North Korea has conducted two nuclear test explosions this year, and more than 20 missile tests, deepening concern that it is moving closer toward having a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the American mainland. It is also believed to be producing more fissile material for bombs. U.S. experts estimate that North Korea has between 13 and 21 nuclear weapons and could have as many as 100 by 2020.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday there had been no change in U.S. policy toward North Korea.
"We want to continue to see a verifiable, denuclearization of the peninsula. We want to see a return to the six-party talk process, and that means we need to see the North show a willingness and an ability to return to that process which they haven't done yet," Kirby told reporters in Washington.
Clapper also was asked about the Obama administration's claim that recent hacking of political sites was orchestrated by top Russian officials. The U.S. response might not come in the form of a reciprocal cyberattack on Russia, Clapper said.
Pressed on the subject, Rose, the interviewer, noted that there is a sense that the Russians were not paying any price for the hacking.
"Maybe not yet," Clapper replied.
"Maybe after the election?" Rose asked.
"I'm not going to pre-empt," Clapper said.
Earlier this month, Vice President Joe Biden told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the U.S. would respond "at the time of our choosing. And under the circumstances that have the greatest impact."
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Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington contributed to this report.
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The fatal shooting of a gorilla in its enclosure is still drawing attention but hasn't significantly affected attendance, the director of the Cincinnati Zoo said.
The 17-year-old gorilla, Harambe, was killed in May when a 3-year-old boy scampered away from his mother and got into the animal's enclosure. The shooting sparked outrage among some people, but zoo officials said they had no choice, given the danger the animal posed to the child.
"We need to bring closure to the Harambe incident," Commissioner Todd Portune said. "We've got to put this to rest because our constituents have asked us to."
Hamilton County commissioners said Monday they're satisfied with the zoo's response but want to see any internal reports or analyses about what went wrong, The Cincinnati Enquirer (http://cin.ci/2eBFWAr) reported.
Director Thane Maynard said officials will provide that to the commissioners, who must approve a zoo levy before it appears on the ballot.
Attendance at the zoo remained comparable to 2015 with about 1.2 million visitors this year, according to Maynard.
The zoo has since reopened its gorilla exhibit with a reinforced barrier that is 6 inches higher than the previous one.
"It was an adequate barrier, but it wasn't adequate to that test," Maynard said of the incident. "No one expected this to happen."
Each barrier at the zoo was inspected and changes were made where needed.
Maynard said the zoo and its staff are doing their best to adapt to the post-Harambe world.
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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com
The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility Tuesday for a massacre at a police training center in southwestern Pakistan that left 61 dead -- but a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed its fighters launched the attack.
Pakistani officials feared the death toll could rise further, as the four-hours-long siege -- one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistan's security forces in recent years -- left 123 wounded, some of them in critical condition.
ISIS UNLEASHES 'HEAVY RESISTANCE' OUTSIDE MOSUL, PENTAGON REPORTS
Most of the dead were police cadets and recruits. The initial attack led to a ferocious gunbattle with troops that lasted from Monday night into the early hours Tuesday.
The assault caught many of the recruits asleep in their dorms and forced cadets and trainers to jump off rooftops and run for their lives to escape the attackers.
ISIS, which is waging war in Syria and Iraq where it has declared a self-styled caliphate, posted a claim on the group's media arm, the Arabic-language Aamaq news agency. It said three ISIS fighters killed 60 police recruits in Quetta but the claim was not confirmed by Pakistani officials and ISIS did not offer any previously unknown details about the assault.
Earlier, a little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Hakimullah group, also issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. Pakistani officials, doubting the group's capabilities in staging such a coordinated and spectacular assault, also could not confirm that claim.
Some of the army personnel who responded to the assault were also among those killed, said Shahzada Farhat, police spokesman in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
YAZIDIS GUARD RAVAGED HOME, EVER WARY OF ISIS' CHEMICAL ATTACKS
The attack in Quetta began at 11:30 p.m. on Monday, said Baluchistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti, with the militants shooting and killing a police guard at the watch tower before storming into the academy, located on the outskirts of Quetta.
Baluchistan officials had earlier received "intelligence reports that some terrorists have entered the province" but had no indications about possible targets.
"We had tightened security, which is why they could not do it in the city and chose a target on the outskirts," said Baluchistan's chief minister, Sanaullah Zehri.
There were also disparate figures as to the number of attackers. Provincial police chief Ahsan Mahboob said four gunmen were involved in the assault while a military statement later said there were up to six attackers.
About 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff were inside the academy when it was attacked, Bugti said, adding that the gunbattle with the militants lasted for at least four hours.
Once inside the academy grounds, Pakistani media said the gunmen headed straight to the dorms housing the cadets and trainees and opened fire, shooting indiscriminately. Some of the cadets jumped off the rooftops and through windows to try to escape.
"They were rushing toward our building, firing," one cadet told Pakistani Geo TV news channel. "We rushed for safety toward the roof and jumped down in the back of the building."
Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told the station the gunmen shot at whoever they saw. "I ran away, just praying God might save me," he said.
After the attack, Pakistani forces tightened security around the academy and Quetta hospitals were the wounded were taken. Footage aired on local television stations showed ambulances rushing out of the main entrance of the academy as fire engines struggled to put out fires set off by the explosions from the attackers' suicide vests.
Most of those being treated at the city hospitals had gunshot wounds, although some sustained injuries jumping off the rooftop of the hostel housing the cadets to escape the gunmen.
"This war isn't over," said Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. "The enemy is weakened, but not eliminated."
Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force which is primarily responsible for the province, claimed the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighboring Afghanistan. He said they were most likely from the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi militant group affiliated with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Sunni militant group has mainly targeted minority Shiite Muslims whom its members consider to be infidels.
The paramilitary chief spoke before the Islamic State and the Hakimullah group's claims surfaced.
Afghanistan condemned the attack and dismissed Pakistan's allegations that the assault was planned from bases inside Afghanistan. "Afghanistan is the biggest victim of terrorism and denounces all terrorist attacks," said Mohammad Haroon Chakhansuri, spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
In a separate statement, Ghani also condemned the attack, saying that "terrorism is a threat throughout the region, which is reflected in the brutal act today in Quetta."
Pakistan maintains that militants fleeing army operations in the tribal regions regularly escape across the border, finding safe havens inside Afghanistan. For his part, Ghani has been deeply critical of Pakistan, saying it has provided safe havens to the Taliban and in particular the violent Haqqani network.
For over a decade, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share in the regional resources. Islamic militants and Sunni sectarian also have a presence in the province.
Pakistan has carried out several military operations against militants in country's lawless tribal regions along Afghanistan border, including a major push that started mid 2014 in North Waziristan, a militant base. The Islamic militants have killed tens of thousands of people in their bid to overthrow Pakistan's government and install their own harsh brand of Islamic law.
Later Tuesday, a roadside bomb killed a police official escorting a polio team that was travelling in northwestern Pakistan as part of a vaccination campaign, according to Furqan Bilal, a police superintendent in Peshawar. Militant attacks on polio teams are common in Pakistan as Taliban and other extremists denounce such vaccination campaigns as a Western conspiracy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto says he could have done a better job handling a controversial Aug. 31 meeting with Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Pena Nieto said in an interview with Mexico's Channel 11 television station that "we could have done things in a better way, that must be recognized."
The president came under criticism in Mexico for not demanding an apology from Trump, who has suggested many Mexican immigrants are criminals or rapists.
Pena Nieto defended the decision to invite both U.S. presidential candidates, saying he was "looking out for Mexico's interests."
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton did not accept the invitation.
Pena Nieto acknowledged in the Sunday interview that Trump's visit was "polemical" and that the political costs influenced the resignation of his trusted confident, Finance Secretary Luis Videgaray.
A Ugandan official says two opposition activists were arrested outside the U.S. Embassy Tuesday while demonstrating their support for Donald Trump.
Emilian Kayima, a spokesman for Ugandan police, said the two men are likely to be charged with the offense of unlawful assembly for demonstrating without prior authorization of the police.
The men are members of Uganda's Democratic Party, one of several opposition groups.
The local Daily Monitor newspaper reported the two arrested were part of a larger group that carried placards including one saying "A Vote For Trump Is A Vote Against African Dictatorship!"
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has held power here for three decades.
Following disputed elections in February, Kizza Besigye, the main opposition figure, was charged with treason.
Residents in a town on Italy's Adriatic coast are blockading a hostel to prevent the arrival of 12 female migrants, one of them pregnant, who were to be housed there, in a sign of growing tension amid persistent migrant arrivals.
The impasse in the town of Goro came after new government figures showed migrant arrivals have surpassed the same period last year, with 153,632 so far. That compares with 153,846 for all of last year.
And while the pace is shy of the 2014 record of 170,000 migrants, Italy has tightened its borders under pressure from its European partners, meaning greater numbers are remaining in Italy than in the past.
The prefect of Ferrara province, Michele Tortora, on Tuesday called the blockade "disconcerting." He said that the women have been placed in nearby towns and that he will meet later with the mayor of Goro one of a handful of towns in the province of Ferrara that currently are housing no migrants.
Unidentified residents told Sky TG24 that they would maintain their blockade as long as it takes. They said they needed the hostel for tourism and that they were concerned about public safety.
Tortora said officials had canvassed the province looking for hotels and other buildings in which to place migrants, and had requisitioned the hostel after being repeatedly told that all buildings were fully booked. "All this touristic turnover at the end of October and November seems improbable to me," he said.
The head of an organization helping to coordinate migrant placements, the Rev. Armando Zappolini, said the barricade in Goro "confirmed a fact that is increasingly evident: the normality of xenophobia in our country."
An Afghan official says a militant attack on a police checkpoint in eastern Nangarhar province has killed eight officers.
Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Afghan interior minister, said on Tuesday that the attack also wounded four other police officers.
He says the assault happened late on Monday night in Mohmand Dara district, located near border with Pakistan.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban have recently stepped up their attacks against Afghan security forces across the country.
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A German aid group urged the European Union on Tuesday to reconsider its plans to train Libyan forces to conduct sea rescue operations after a vessel labeled as belonging to the country's coast guard attacked a dinghy full of migrants last week. Dozens of people were feared dead in the incident.
Sea-Watch, a privately-funded group that operates a rescue ship in the Mediterranean, said the attack early Friday showed it was important for the EU to scrutinize who exactly it was training and giving equipment to.
"We have called on them (the EU) to reconsider the training missions," said Ruben Neugebauer, a spokesman for the Berlin-based group. "We fear that in the course of this cooperation (with the Libyan coast guard) much more terrible things will happen."
Sea-Watch said it received a call from the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center in Rome on Friday alerting it to a vessel in distress. When its rescue ship arrived at the scene it found a large inflatable boat crowded with about 150 people on board, said Neugebauer.
Photos released by the group show what appears to be a Libyan coast guard vessel with 15 crew on board some armed intercepting the rescue operation. In one picture a man in uniform is seen walking through the packed dinghy while another shows the alleged coast guards manipulating the front of the fragile boat.
Neugebauer said the dinghy ruptured shortly afterward, resulting in panic as migrants tried to reach the rescue vessel. About 120 people were rescued alive, while four bodies were recovered, he said.
While it wasn't clear what the Libyan crew were trying to do and which faction of the country's many armed groups they belonged to, their actions couldn't be interpreted as a bungled rescue attempt, said Neugebauer.
Sea-Watch said satellite tracking data show the incident happened almost 3 nautical miles outside Libya's territorial zone in international waters.
It said a court in Palermo, Sicily, has opened an investigation into the case after the survivors mostly migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were brought ashore.
The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that the number of migrants who died trying to cross the Mediterranean has reached 3,740 during the first ten months of the year. In all of 2015 a total of 3,771 deaths were recorded.
The Geneva-based agency said the death toll in 2016 was much higher than last year relative to the number of crossings, which were down by two-thirds, because more migrants were coming across the central Mediterranean route between Libya and Italy.
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Follow Frank Jordans on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wirereporter
An immensely important Christian shrine, thought to be on the site where Jesus Christ spoke to the prophets Elijah and Moses, was robbed and vandalized in a brazen attack, officials announced Tuesday.
Valuable chalices and donations were stolen from the Church of the Transfiguration, and communion bread was thrown on the ground, AFP reported.
The church, located on Mount Tabor near the Sea of Galilee in Northern Israel, is a popular pilgrimage site for Christians.
The structure itself suffered no marks of graffiti or other signs which would point to religious extremists, according to Wadie Abunassar, a spokesman for bishops in the Holy Land. He said the attack unfolded sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning.
Police officials added that the incident appeared to be a criminal matter without any religious motivations according to the Times of Israel. It reported less than $100 in donations was stolen.
Authorities are still searching for suspects and have not made any arrests.
Construction of the church finished in 1924. It was built on the ruins of an ancient Byzantine church, the Times added.
German police commandos and investigators staged raids across five states on Tuesday morning, targeting about a dozen Russian citizens suspected of supporting terrorism, police said.
The authorities raided 12 apartments in Hamburg, Thuringia, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony and Bavaria, according to state criminal investigators in Thuringia.
An investigation launched by a state prosecutor in the east German state targeted in 2015 a 28-year-old Russian citizen of Chechen background, who wanted to join Islamic State as a fighter in Syrias civil war, police said.
A further 10 men and three women, also Russian citizens with Chechen roots, emerged as suspects during the investigation, the police said. The group is suspected of financing terrorism, but there were no concrete plans for an attack, according to police.
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While President Obama was busy last week telling Hillary supporters how dangerous he perceives Donald Trump, real danger quietly passed through the English Channel when Russian warships made their way toward the quagmire that is the war in Syria.
About a half million deaths ago, Obama and Hillary might have prevented the Syrian crisis had they taken preemptive measures, says U.S. Naval War College and Harvard Extension School professor Tom Nichols, who wrote in the Federalist, Syria looks as it does in 2016 because of the Obama administrations response to the use of chemical weapons was to outsource U.S. security management to Vladimir Putin.
Outsource they did. But now its time to sound presidential, so during the final debate Hillary called for a no-fly zone over Syria to thwart the mess she helped create. A no-fly zone would threaten to start an air war over Syria between the United States and an ill-disciplined nuclear-armed Russia.
Green party presidential candidate Jill Stein thinks thats a bad idea and recently voiced she has serious reservations about Hillarys Syria plan saying, Under Hillary Clinton, we could slide into nuclear war very quickly and said Hillarys policies are much scarier than Donald Trump, who does not want to go to war with Russia.
Thanks to Hillarys failed Russian reset which she once defended as a brilliant stroke, Russia is now resurging as a world power. Obamas mockery of Mitt Romney in 2012 was juvenile in the extreme when he said: The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the cold wars been over for 20 years.
Enter: Cold War 2.0.
Besides Syria, this not-so-dynamic duo have lost two wars, respectively in Iraq and Afghanistan and our embassy in Libya. Their foreign policy failures have even empowered the man-child over in North Korea.
Most dangerous, though, is the resurgence of Iran, thanks to a nuclear deal so one-sided its ridiculous. Although in 2008, Hillary said it was irresponsible and frankly naive to talk to Tehran without preconditions, she admitted in her memoir, Hard Choices, that she began closed door talks through the sultan of Oman.
Its a little hard to comprehend how everyday Americans benefit from a deal that helps a terrorist state perfect its intercontinental nuclear weapons which could reach our shores in the next fifteen years.
I know, at least they got Osama bin Laden. Well, sort of. Clinton and Obama happened to be at the right place at the right time, thanks to the astonishingly capable military they inherited from George W. Bush.Fact is, if Hillarys political housemate, Bill, was as interested in bin Laden as he was in blue dresses he couldve taken him out and the Twin Towers would still be standing. The 9/11 report identifies nine opportune moments during Clintons presidency where bin Laden might have been taken out if he made the right call.
Even actress Susan Sarandon understands that Hillarys record proves that a lifetime of political experience means absolutely nothing if you make poor decisions which costs lives. During an interview with The Young Turks, Sarandon said Hillary is more dangerous than Trump. She did not learn from Iraq, said Sarandon, and she is an interventionist, and she has done horrible things and very callously. I dont know if she is overcompensating or what her trip is. That scares me. I think well be in Iran in two seconds.
Sarandon said voters were being fed a line that Trump is dangerous.
Common sense tells you that understanding how government works means little to those who live above the law and think its okay to cover their failures by deleting emails and evidence and lying about lying about their lies.
But Donald Trump is dangerous?
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Hungary's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador over reportedly disparaging remarks on Russian state media about Hungary's 1956 anti-Soviet uprising.
The ministry said Tuesday it wants to clarify that Hungary does not tolerate anyone talking "in a humiliating manner about the revolution and its heroes."
The Foreign Ministry said Russian state media described the Hungarian revolt as a "pogrom" and as the first of the "color revolutions," like Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" in 2005, implying that the United States was behind the uprising.
The opposition party Politics Can Be Different had urged the ministry to react.
Hungary is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the brief but bloody revolt, during which over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed and which prompted 200,000 Hungarians to flee their country.
As Iraqi forces edge closer to the last remaining ISIS stronghold in the country, cooperation and support from civilians trapped inside is a key to the operation's success.
Despite the Islamist terror armys well-documented atrocities, it's not a given that citizens will rise up against them. When Iraqi Forces encircled the village of Tel Kaif on Sunday, "waves of civilians" walked toward them, according to a military official. Although they appeared to be fleeing and praised the liberators, it may have been a trap. ISIS fighters moving behind them used the citizens to mask a bloody ambush.
"It's a human shield in some ways," one official said. "But it also shows the depths of the ideology. ISIS will go, but the ideology is a much harder war to win."
SNIPER OF MOSUL TERRORIZES ISIS
Tel Kaif -- also known as Tel Keppe -- is a historically Christian farming town located just northeast of Mosul. As of 2004, its population was half Christian and half Muslim, but the former gradually declined in the ensuing years. In early August 2014, ISIS overran the region, prompting the remaining Christians to flee or face slaughter.
Civilian support for ISIS isn't isolated. Large pockets of Arab areas and Sunni villages around Mosul still view ISIS as a better alternative to Iraq's Shia government.
Over the weekend, the oil-rich city of Kirkuk lit up with gunfire after an ISIS sleeper cell was activated, as snipers and would-be suicide bombers stormed the streets. It was quickly revealed that almost all participants in the cell were from neighboring Arab villages, and had come to the Kurdish-controlled territory claiming to seek asylum from the conflict.
"This is a big problem for us; even we were surprised by the support," said Adnan Kocher, senior adviser to Lahur Talabani, head of intelligence and counter-terrorism for Kurdistan. "This kind of ideology is a disease. We have been dealing with it for years now."
INSIDE ISIS' TUNNEL SYSTEM
However, Baghdad is working overtime in an effort to convince residents in and around Mosul -- in areas still monopolized by the black-clad jihadist army -- that the government will be their just protectors, and that the jihadists will not evade punishment.
"Warning: for all Iraqis who are involved with ISIS, ISIS is over and there is no return," reads a leaflet obtained by FoxNews.com, which was dropped from the sky by Iraqi Forces and features the national flag on one side and harsh words of caution to terrorists on the other. "For those who are seeking mercy and amnesty, they have to capture an ISIS, either Arab or foreigner, and turn him into the hands of security forces or else you will be killed.
ISIS brought destruction to your sweet cities," the flier adds. "Your government is more merciful and Iraq is the one who takes care of you."
The Israeli military says an Israeli man has been shot and wounded by gunfire emanating from neighboring Egypt.
The military provided no further details about Tuesday's incident. Israeli Army Radio said the man was shot while working on a border fence Israel is erecting along the frontier with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 and the border between the two countries is generally quiet. Across the frontier in Sinai, Egypt's security forces are battling an Islamic militant insurgency.
In Egypt, witnesses said there had been a shootout between gunmen and security forces near the border, suggesting the gunfire was spillover and not aimed at the Israeli man. There was no immediate confirmation by Egyptian officials.
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A Kenyan official says 12 people were killed in an extremist attack targeting non-Muslims in Mandera County near the Somali border.
Mohamed Saleh, Mandera's regional commander, said Tuesday that gunmen from Somali -based extremist group al-Shabab are suspected of carrying out the attack on the Bisharo Guest House.
Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops into Somalia since 2011 to fight the militants who are waging an insurgency against Somalia's weak, Western-backed government. Kenyan security forces have managed to stop the wave al-Shabab's attacks in major cities in Kenya that have killed hundreds.
However, Mandera County remains a volatile area. Al-Shabab militants hijacked a bus in Mandera on November 2014, and killed 28 non-Muslims on board. In December 2014 they killed 36 quarry workers.
Montenegro's prime minister has suggested that Russia was involved in an alleged coup attempt on the country's election day.
Milo Djukanovic said Tuesday there was "a strong connection of a foreign factor" in the Oct. 16 vote, which was marked by the arrest of 20 people including a former commander of Serbia's special police forces suspected of planning armed attacks against Djukanovic and his supporters after parliamentary election results were announced.
Russia has strongly opposed Montenegro's bid to join NATO. Opposition leaders have made frequent visits to Moscow.
Djukanovic says authorities will investigate the extent of the involvement in the alleged coup attempt both by Russia and Serbia.
Djukanovic's party has won the vote, but will need coalition partners to continue ruling.
An international prosecutor has charged a group of Kosovo Albanians and Serbs, including a former lawmaker, with organizing a crime ring involved in money laundering, bribery, fraud, abuse of power and tax evasion.
The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo made the indictment Tuesday. In a statement it said 39 defendants, headed by a former lawmaker known to be Azem Syla of the governing Democratic Party of Kosovo, cooperated "to deprive Kosovo of socially owned properties through criminal activities including the falsification of verdicts and of other official documents, fraud and corrupt behavior."
Syla, 65, was arrested in April. He was a top commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army during the 1998-99 separatist war against Serbia. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Belgrade still rejects.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Western outrage over a Russian bombing campaign in the Syrian city of Aleppo is hypocritical because Western governments are carrying out a similar operation in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Lavrov said Tuesday that "the American coalition in Mosul is calling on residents to leave exactly like we did in Aleppo."
Russia ordered a pause in the bombing of rebel-held areas of Aleppo last week and set-up humanitarian corridors out of the city. However, few local residents or fighters left.
Also Tuesday, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused the United Nations and other international groups of not delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo when they had the chance.
Iraqi-led forces are currently attempting to re-take the city of Mosul from Islamic State militants.
Islamic extremist gunmen from neighboring Somalia killed 12 people in an attack on non-Muslims in Kenya's northern Mandera County, an official said Tuesday.
Somalia's al-Shabab rebels claimed responsibility for the early-morning attack on the Bishaaro Guest House, saying its fighters targeted Christians, according to the group's Andalus radio station.
The gunmen used grenades and homemade explosives to break into the guest house and then stormed in with guns, said Mohamed Saleh, Mandera's regional commander.
Survivor Veronica Wambui, an actor with a group touring Mandera to showcase textbooks in schools, said they were asleep at around 2:30 a.m. when they heard explosions at the main gate.
The attackers went room to room shooting and killing her colleagues, she said. She said she and others hid in a storeroom and the attackers set off another explosion which made the wall collapse on her.
"I could see the lights from the torch (flashlight) when they were checking out the room, but the collapsed wall had covered me," said Wambui, speaking from her hospital bed where she was being treated for a bullet wound in her left hand and injuries to her legs.
Two weeks ago, a watchman was killed at the guest house and there were rumors that the lodging was being targeted.
Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops to Somalia since 2011 to fight the extremists, who are waging an insurgency against Somalia's weak, Western-backed government.
Al-Shabab extremists hijacked a bus in Mandera in November 2014 and killed 28 non-Muslims on board. In December 2014, they killed 36 quarry workers. This year, six people were killed in July when gunmen shot at buses. On Oct. 6, al-Shabab gunmen killed six at a residential compound housing non-Muslims.
Al-Shabab's campaign targeting non-Muslims has had a devastating impact on education in Mandera. Many non-Muslim teachers have asked to be transferred from the region, causing a shortage of teachers.
Spain's King Felipe VI is expected to call on conservative acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to try to form a government after two days of talks with political party leaders aimed at ending 10 months of political deadlock.
The king meets with Rajoy on Tuesday afternoon, following which Parliament is expected to announce the date for the first of two likely investiture votes this week.
Two inconclusive elections since last December have left Rajoy running a caretaker government. His Popular Party won both elections, but lacks a parliamentary majority and needs outside support to form a minority government.
Rajoy has all but secured his candidacy's success following the rival Socialist party's decision to no longer reject his bid and abstain in a second parliamentary vote.
Troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena unveiled Tuesday a restructuring plan that will include new management, thousands of job cuts, hundreds of branch closings and the disposal of soured loans in a bid to entice investors to inject up to 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in new capital.
CEO Marco Morelli said the bank is looking for a new "anchor shareholder" to participate in the capital-raising, which had been announced under the previous management team after Italy's third largest lender was the worst performer in a stress test of EU banks this summer.
Morelli, who took over in September, said negotiations would begin immediately and there have already been contacts from interested shareholders.
Under the new three-year plan, the capital increase will be conditional on the disposal of 28.5 billion euros ($31 billion) in bad loans, the bulk of which will be bundled in a separate fund at a price equal to 33 percent of current value.
"The targets are clearly achievable in our opinion. We are confident the transaction will go to fruition," Morelli said.
Both the capital increase and the bad loans disposal are to be completed by the end of 2016, "assuming market conditions are there," Morelli said. It would be the bank's third recapitalization in three years as the bank seeks to recover from losses on complex investments and soured loans.
Some 2,600 jobs will be cut and 500 branches closed.
Shareholders are to vote on the plan on Nov. 26, a week before Italy's critical constitutional referendum on streamlining bureaucracy, which could unsettle markets if it fails. Analysts have said the failure of the referendum could hurt Monte dei Paschi's ability to raise capital.
The bank forecasts net income of 1.1 billion euros in 2019. In the first nine months of this year it lost 849 million euros, mainly due to 750 million euros in provisions for loan losses.
Shares in the bank, which rallied ahead of the new plan, surged by as much as 20 percent, to 0.41 euros, before being suspended for excessive volatility. More than 2.5 percent of the bank's capital exchanged hands in the frenetic trading.
"Donald Trump Campaign Contractors Confess Election Fraud!"
Would national news organizations withhold such a headline if there's video evidence?
Would it be ignored by major media if two employees of groups working for Trump resigned after these videos hit the internet?
If Trump is accused of making rude comments to a woman involved with a drug cartel boss, accused of driving a boyfriend hitman's getaway car, threatening the life of a judge and having sex on live TV, which of these activities would make the news: the rude comments or the incredible behavior of the former Miss Universe?
Obviously, Trump's rude comments. Never mind the behavior of this woman Hillary chose to be a political surrogate. We'll just ignore Hillary's competency at recruiting admirable spokespeople.
Trump is a rude, crude misogynist. That's still no excuse for the mainstream media to ignore Team Hillary leaders at Democracy Partners and Americans United for Change who are on video describing how they commit voter fraud and instigate violence at Trump rallies.
We hear talk about voter fraud and then let the conversation float away like an ebbing tide. When you hear a Hillary campaign leader describe how he arranges for people to cross state lines to vote illegally, does it pique your interest just a bit?
Do you think it would make for an interesting news story to learn that political operatives then have the "employees" use their own personal cars or drive cars rented by the fake company because using a bus could make it easier to prosecute this voter fraud by a State Attorney General?
The best part for the news reporters is that the names of these Hillary campaign operatives are already known and their words are recorded on hidden video, in much the same manner as 60 Minutes on CBS used to bust crooked operations.
Now that key leaders at both Democracy Partners and Americans United for Change have resigned due to their exposure in alleged criminal activity by Project Veritas, the story is even more attractive as political news.
Still, James O'Keefe of Project Veritas has a mixed record with the press and the Democrats maintain an offensive posture against his operation, often calling his reporting "heavily edited."
That's a misleading term, as even a news story about a car crash will be "heavily edited."
They key is whether or not the video is edited to change the meaning of the content. In the context of these videos, it would be a gargantuan task to create such editing.
These political operatives make it absolutely certain that they know what they are doing is illegal, that the Clinton Campaign knows exactly what they're doing and they do it in such a way as to provide "plausible deniability."
Busted.
Then, there's the hidden video of Scott Foval, National Field Director for Americans United for Change.
Foval makes it perfectly clear who he's working for.
"We are contracted directly with the DNC and the campaign both," Foval says. "There's a script of engagement."
"Sometimes the crazies bite and sometimes the crazies don't bite," Foval continues., "The key is initiating the conflict by having leading conversations with people who are naturally psychotic. I mean, honestly, it's not hard to get some of these ... to pop, off. It's a matter of showing up, to want to get into the rally, in a Planned Parenthood t-shirt. Or, Trump is a Nazi, you know... you can.... draw them to punch you."
Foval explains that his organization has a centralized training program for violent agitators and were proudly responsible for the bloodshed at the Chicago Trump Rally riot.
No matter how it's edited, these sentences say it all.
Connecting the dots from the Wikileaks emails and the videos, the sequence of events is this: get Hillary's friends in the media to popularize Trump, pump him up, tear him down with violent agitators at his rallies and move illegal voters across state lines to vote for Hillary.
Too bad Trump's inability to articulate this in debates and then his own behavior aids and abets Hillary's criminal campaign and her media cohorts.
Rick Jensen, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate, is Delaware's award-winning conservative talk show host on WDEL. Email him at rick@wdel.com.
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Britain's government will reveal how it plans to expand London's airport capacity, more than a year after a special commission recommended a third runway at Heathrow.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling will inform Parliament of the government's decision around midday London time. Other options include extending an existing runway at Heathrow and building a second runway at Gatwick Airport.
The decision is only the first step, though. The government's recommendation will be studied further and Parliament will vote in about a year.
Most analysts expect the government to back one of the Heathrow options, despite concerns about air pollution, noise and the destruction of homes. Opponent Neil Keveran plans to fight on. He says, "I think legal challenges, and if necessary direct action, will prevent the growth of Heathrow."
Fuddruckers To Unveil Its Third Fast Casual Restaurant In Colombia At Bogota's New Plaza Central Mall With Franchise Partner Grupo Char's
HOUSTON - Oct. 24, 2016 // PRNewswire // - Fuddruckers, a world famous restaurant brand from Texas, and South American franchisee Grupo Char's are nearing the completion of their third fast casual restaurant in Bogota, Colombia. Slated to open on October 27, the approximately 3,300-square-foot eatery will be located in the premier, new Plaza Central mall, one of the largest shopping centers in the country, encompassing more than 800,000 square feet with 2,680 parking spaces, over 330 retail spaces, eight movie theaters, a supermarket, department stores and numerous sustainable features. Accessible via three main avenues Ave. 68, Calle 13 (Ave. Centenario) and Ave. Americas Fuddruckers will also enjoy a prime spot on the mall's restaurant terrace.
Fuddruckers and Grupo Char's introduced Fuddruckers to Colombia one year ago with a restaurant in the bustling Pepe Sierra area of Bogota.
According to Peter Tropoli, Chief Operating Officer of Luby's, Inc., "We are proud to bring juicy, tasty, delicious burgers to another prime spot in Bogota, which has quickly embraced our dynamic dining experience, ideal for a gathering of friends and family, business lunch or date night. Grupo Char is an exceptional partner to grow our footprint in South America."
About Fuddruckers
Since 1980, Fuddruckers has been obsessed with making the world happier, one great hamburger at a time. Grilled-to-order burgers feature always fresh and never frozen, 100% USDA premium-cut beef with no fillers or additives. Delicious, sesame-topped buns are baked from scratch on-site throughout the day to achieve the perfect combination of crisp crust and melt-in-your-mouth texture.
And while burgers are the signature, the engaging menu offers variety for many tastes with an array of sandwiches, platters and salads. No matter what they choose, customers can customize their meal with a trip to the legendary Build Your Own produce bar, which features fantastic fixings like sun-ripened tomatoes, lettuce, sliced onions, dill pickles, pico de gallo and classic cheese sauce.
About Luby's, Inc.
Luby's, Inc. (NYSE: LUB) operates restaurants under the brands Luby's Cafeteria, Fuddruckers and Cheeseburger in Paradise and provides food service management through its Luby's Culinary Services division. The company-operated restaurants include 91 Luby's Cafeterias, 74 Fuddruckers restaurants, eight Cheeseburger in Paradise full service restaurants and bars and one Bob Luby's Seafood Grill. Its Luby's Cafeterias are located primarily in Texas. In addition to the company-operated Fuddruckers locations, Luby's is the franchisor for 111 Fuddruckers franchise locations across the United States (including Puerto Rico), Canada, Mexico, Panama, Italy, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Luby's Culinary Services provides food service management to 24 sites consisting of healthcare, higher education and corporate dining locations.
SOURCE Fuddruckers
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Dear Editor:
The question is, why does Hillary Clinton have such high praise for Margaret Sanger, Saul Alinsky, George Soros?
Lets look at Margaret Sanger. Sanger was a birth control activist who opened the first birth control clinic. Her 1921 article stated the need to discourage the fertility of the mentally and physically defective. She wrote that the feeble-minded should not be allowed to propagate. Sanger was an outspoken eugenicist which paralleled the Nazi Germany belief that inferior genes should not reproduce. She opposed charitable groups which only perpetuate inferior groups.
She drew direct attention to the black race when she spoke at a KKK rally in New Jersey. In the 1940s she spoke of ways to solve the Negro Problem. One of her pamphlets was titled, Family Limitation. Sanger strongly promoted the idea of segregation of the unfit and forced sterilization. Over 60,000, mainly blacks, were sterilized in the 30s and 40s.
Today, nearly half of black pregnancies are aborted. The progressive liberals, as they cleverly always do, have totally turned things around. They convinced African Americans that Sanger is a wonderful person who looked out for them but, in reality, she and Planned Parenthood target the vulnerable.
Sangers pamphlet, Family Limitation, pushed for laws requiring a man and a woman obtain a government permit to have a child. These are the same proposals being mentioned today by the U.N. in their one world vision.
Try googling the following: Saul Alinsky, Van Jones, George Soros, Agenda 21, Kevin Ives and Don Henry, Congressional Record 1-10-63, pp. A34-35.
Kenneth Swomley
Dillsburg
With no legislative items on the agenda, the Farmington City Council meeting on Monday featured reports from three departments in the city.
Finance Director Michelle Daniel reported the city posted the highest ever sales tax receipt total at the end of September.
According to Daniel, nearly $4.04 million in sales tax receipts was collected that month up 6.4 percent over the previous year.
Farmington City Administrator Greg Beavers said the total marks the first time the revenue for the city has gone over the $4 million mark. About 11 percent of those total receipts go back to tax revenue sharing agreements.
All-in-all, were seeing that our retail economy is strengthening here in Farmington, he said. Consequently, if you look at employment numbers those are being helped by that.
Beavers said although there has not been a study done to support this theory, the city believes some of the retailers coming into the market area the past year have broadened the market area for Farmington bringing more shoppers.
We hope there is some ancillary benefit to other surrounding businesses because of some of those (additional shoppers), he said.
Farmington City Clerk Paula Cartee gave the council a report on the citys personnel. Farmington currently has 134 full-time employees, and during seasonal and summer months hires an additional 175 part-time employees.
Most notable in her report was the low turnover rate for employees. The rate for turnover in the city is at 7.4 percent nearly half of the 15 percent average for the Midwest, Cartee explained.
One of the factors contributing to the employee retention rate is the benefit package offered. Read more specifics about the employees in the city in this weeks edition of the Farmington Press.
Also during the meeting IT Director Dr. Floyd Massey gave a report on the citys extensive IT system.
One of the most important things to us is to make sure we have the systems securities in place because we have numerous contact information and critical and vital life information we have to safeguard very well, Beavers said. In addition, we have to make sure that our system and system architecture is robust enough that we can always continue to maintain the service if someone were to hack into one of our critical operating systems.
Im confident in the consistencies we have, with the redundancies that we have in place if someone hacked into one side of the system, that we have backup capabilities ... where we could pick up and start operating through a couple of different ways.
Floyd has done a great job making sure the system architecture is the way it needs to be to not only safeguard the data, but also safeguard our operations.
On another technology topic earlier in the meeting, Ward IV Councilman Mark Kellogg asked the city administrator to explain the possible use of utility poles for 5G expansion in the future.
The expansion of telecommunications networks often means you have more towers, Beavers said. There are federal and state statutes that provide some protection to the telecom industry in how they use city infrastructure.
The most recent expansion includes 5G networks which Beavers said operate on a narrow bandwidth using densely-located steel poles located throughout a community.
Requests for the construction of the 100-foot poles have been brought to the city. However, zoning regulations in the city require special-use permits for telecommunication towers brought before the Planning and Zoning commission.
The immediate concern, Beavers said, is the possibility of future legislation put in place to protect the telecommunication industries that would not allow cities to place requirements on the placement of towers.
Its a catch-22. We all want great access but in the course of doing that we dont want to have a 100-foot steel pole on the right-of-way in front of our homes, Beavers said. Its going to take some action on the Planning and Zoning commission. Well work in partnership with the telecoms to the extent we can. So far, they have been very cooperative and we understand their position.
Its just another issue we need to watch.
Laura Hicks Mills Phelan, 87, this beautiful angel, went to be with the Lord at her heavenly home from Mary Washington Hospice to be reunited with her family and friends. She was born in Rome, Georgia on Friday, April 12, 1929 and resided in Fredericksburg, Va. all of her life, until her passing on Friday, October 21, 2016.
She was widow to Lloyd Mills and John Phelan.
She is survived by her two daughters, Bonnie Mills Barnes and husband Michael and Melanie Mills and life partner D. Sue Cripe; sister Gabriella Pribble; and four nieces and two nephews and their families.
Laura worked a variety of jobs throughout her life. After retirement, she enjoyed traveling and entertaining. Her greatest joy was that of being a mother to her two daughters. Her happiest times were loving the Lord, loving her daughters, and loving her family and friends.
Laura was a church member for over 70 years and stayed active in all aspects of the churchs mission until she fell ill and could no longer attend. Laura loved reading the Bible and her favorite verse was 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 and her life was a reflection of that scripture the greatest of these is Love.
So long as we can love each other and remember the true feelings of love that we have had, we can die without really going away. That is to say, all the love and memories that you have created throughout your life are still here. Death ends a life, not a relationship. You live on in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.
The family will receive friends on Thursday, October 27 at Mullins and Thompson Funeral Service, Fredericksburg from 4-6 p.m. A funeral will be officiated by Pastor Mark Dunn, Chancellor Christian Church, on Friday, October 28 at the funeral home at 2 p.m. Interment will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Alzheimers Association, http://www.alz.org/join_the_cause_donate.asp
Online condolences may be sent at www.mullinsthompsonfredericksburg.com.
Bambini Infant Wear Celebrates 25 Years And A Vision Towards The Future
Bambini looks over the past 25 years of business with a vision towards the future and a new division launch
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Bambini is an Infant Clothing company based out of Orange County, California. Bambini has been in business for over 25 years! Bambini offers an array of infant layette garments and accessories, including gift packs, and sleep safe boxes. Bambini has numerous satisfied customers and an excellent customer service reputation.
The most consumer focused businesses start like Bambini did, as a family business.
Bambini Timeline. Over 30 years ago, "Elephanten" shoe company was brought over from Germany. Then, the name Bambini was launched, partnering with Elephanten to offer shoes for children in the USA. Later, in 1992, the name Daydreamers was incorporated in the family to sell baby clothing and accessories. In 1996, the business went online, when online shopping was new to everyone! The mother of the family launched her company called Baby Miracles which sold baby shower gift baskets and Layette garments to mothers direct. In 2007, the launching of another subdivision of Bambini called Infant Blanks began, which offers blank garments for promotional information to be added for hospitals maternity wards. In 2013, BabyStarterSets.com was created, and expanded to sleep safe boxes. Over the years, holding family meetings was very important for the survival of Bambini! Nowadays, Bambini has grown to hiring office staff and sales representatives.
Bambini's current mission. Nowadays, Bambini wants to follow the Finnish tradition from the 1930s and expand it to the United States with the product of Sleep Safe Boxes with Baby Starter Sets. This product is the perfect gift for a new mother because of the meaning behind it...safety. Parents want what is best for their child, and this is a significant and meaningful way to show the message.
Why? The mission of Bambini is to help reduce the incidence of infants dying due to unsafe sleep by providing a product to prevent infant deaths. The Sleep Safe Box is portable. Therefore, the baby can sleep anywhere. Back in the 1930s, many families did not have the means to afford cribs for every child. Back then, women had many children and would put the baby to sleep in an open dresser drawer on the floor, in Finland, it was boxes. In the United States, mothers are sleeping with their babies, or putting them to sleep in unsafe areas, leading to infant deaths.
Bambini is ready to follow the Finnish tradition with their boxes, along with the awareness and prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). What better way than to provide the parents with Sleep Safe Boxes with Baby Starter Sets. The American Academy of Pediatrics still recommends babies sleep in a removed dresser drawer, like the 1930s, if there is not a crib available. So, why not a box? The Sleep Safe Box is an alternative approach to safe sleep for infants because it is recommended that babies sleep close to their parents, in a crib or bassinet for the first few months of life on their backs.
What is the Sleep Safe Box? The Sleep Safe Box gives parents a safe place to put their baby to sleep. A portable solution with comfort and safety in mind.
The Box includes: - Lid for storage - A firm fitted mattress (1) - Waterproof mattress cover (1) - Cotton Fitted Sheet (1)
What are the Baby Miracles Starter Sets included in the Sleep Safe Boxes? The starter set does just that, starts the journey of parenthood, providing mothers and fathers necessary items to care for their new baby throughout the first year. It includes garments like bodysuits, lap shirts, baby bibs, baby blankets, hooded towels, infant robes, mittens & booties and much more. The garments are made of 11 Rib 100% Cotton, and the Bambini line also consists of 100% Cotton Interlock, Micro Fiber, Fleece, and Thermal, Organic Cotton. Bambini is in full compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, with positive reviews from countless customers.
For more information, please visit http://www.bambinilayette.com
Contact Info:
Name: Bradley Berzack
Organization: Bambini Infant Wear
Address: 2137 S Grand Ave
Release ID: 140622
For more information visit r
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KLUS LED Lighting Products On Display At The LED Specifier Summit Midwest
Held On November 15th, 2016, at Chicago's historic Navy Pier, the LED Specifier Summit Midwest features product displays from the world's leading LED lighting manufacturers.
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For only one day, November 15th, the world's leading LED lighting manufacturers will present the latest in residential, commercial, architectural, and decorative LED lighting systems. In addition to the many products on display, attendees will be able to attend a variety of educational seminars and network face to face with other LED lighting professionals.
KLUS is pleased to announce that they will be a participating in the LED Specifier Summit, and look forward to meeting with architects, engineers, designers, energy consultants, facility managers and other lighting professionals.
KLUS Design is a manufacturer of aluminum LED extrusion designs and component systems that integrate flexible LED lights into everyday living spaces. As a leader in the LED extrusion technology industry, KLUS company representatives travel all over the world to showcase these unique, beautiful, and highly functional designs.
KLUS Marketing manager Zofia Stebnicki commented. "We are excited to take part in the LED Specifier Summit this year. We have a variety of new products that we've just released and look forward showing summit attendees how our new LED lighting products can be integrated into their homes, buildings and designs."
FEATURES OF THE LED SPECIFIER SUMMIT SHOW
- Panel discussions and seminars by industry experts
- Focused LED lighting exhibits
- Hands-on product demonstrations
- Peer-to-peer networking
- One day of information and knowledge that can be applied immediately to projects, product selection and making the right lighting decisions.
For more information about the LED Specifier Summit Midwest show, visit: http://www.ledspecifiersummit.com/midwest/
For more information, please visit http://www.klusdesign.com/
Contact Info:
Name: Zofia Stebnicki
Organization: KLUS LLC
Address: 2501 27th Ave, Suite F-10 Vero Beach, FL 32960
Phone: 772 321 2260
Video URL: https://youtu.be/e6ScHF__O6A
Source: http://marketersmedia.com/klus-led-lighting-products-on-display-at-the-led-specifier-summit-midwest/140234
Release ID: 140234
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Lighting Expo Introduces Custom Residential And Commercial Solutions
The company is providing personal guidance for home and business owners who want to add style and warmth to their property, reports http://lightingexpo.com.
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New Jersey-based Lighting Expo recently announced the introduction of their residential and commercial lighting solutions. The company provides customized guidance and advice for home and business owners who are looking to add some style and warmth to their indoor spaces or outdoor property.
A representative of Lighting Expo stated "Lighting is one of the most essential design elements for any space. Not only does it fulfill a functional requirement, but it can also add a bit of style and flair to an indoor or outdoor environment. However, we understand that most home and business owners are not design experts and prefer having the guidance of an experienced professional at their fingertips when making such important decisions about the look and feel of their space. We want them to know that our team here at Lighting Expo stands ready to provide that guidance at their convenience."
Purchasing Lighting from Lighting Expo is as easy as visiting the company's website. There, customers can browse their massive lighting collection and gain a sense of the styles and manufacturers that will best fit their needs. The Lighting Expo team reports they have provided online shoppers with extensive guidance in the form of written tips for every room from the kitchen to the bathroom as well as advice on landscape and outdoor lighting. Those who would like more personalized advice are free to call or email the company to be connected to one of their lighting experts.
As the representative continued, "We recognize that lighting choices are personal, and we believe it's important that we let our customers know that we can take care of their unique needs. We carry lighting from over 200 manufacturers and yet we know that every product isn't going to be right for every design context. Our team is eager to help home and business owners find the solution that's just right for them and will help them create a space that's both functional and inviting."
About Lighting Expo:
Lighting Expo was founded over 25 years ago. From handmade wooden lamps on flea market tables to a small store on Rt. 23 in Wayne to being one of the largest retailers of lighting and decorative accessories in New Jersey with three beautiful designer showrooms, 35,000 sq ft of retail space, and thousands of products from over 200 of the top manufacturers, Lighting Expo's mission has always been the same: to offer a wide selection of product at a fair price every single day. The company believes in personalized service that exceeds customer expectations both in-store and online and has extensive experience in providing the best lighting solutions for both residential and commercial applications.
For more information, please visit http://lightingexpo.com
Contact Info:
Name: Lighting Expo
Organization: Lighting Expo
Phone: (973) 696-2185
Source: http://marketersmedia.com/lighting-expo-introduces-custom-residential-and-commercial-solutions/140689
Release ID: 140689
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The representative of a Moline, Illinois, company that owns two local quarries recently reappraised at a substantially higher market value by St. Francois County Assessor Dan Ward is responding to comments made recently by Ward about the process involved in determining the figures. Ward had explained the process while giving a report at a recent St. Francois County Commission meeting.
Brian Dockery, vice president of public relations and community affairs of the quarries parent company, RiverStone Group Inc., d.b.a. Knox County Stone, contacted the Daily Journal to state his case in response to the reappraisals of the Central Stone Co. quarries, one located on Route H and the other on Route DD. In a matter of fairness, after meeting with Dockery the Daily Journal also reached out to Ward to discuss the matter further.
In the spring of 2013, we received in the mail a form from Mr. Ward asking us to fill out a bunch of confidential information, Dockery said. It asked for basically all of our financials. The process that he tried to use on us was with proprietary information to value the business, then make several assumptions and rollback to the value of the real property.
We didnt think that was a proper way, plus it was our confidential information and Mr. Ward was going to send it to a guy in Arizona to retain it. Are we valuing the business or are we valuing the real property? One property went from $59,340 assessed value to $518,450. The other property that we werent happy about went from $21,330 to $448,160.
According to Ward, he had corrected the method of appraisal used to determine the market value of all the quarries in St. Francois County to reflect the method he contends has been used for decades in the Leadbelt by Iron, Reynolds and Ste. Genevieve counties for quarries and lead mines.
Why was he singling out our industry? Dockery asked. Why wasnt he asking for the same information from Walmart or the bank downtown? If theyre going to start assessing real property value based off the profitability of the company, we wouldnt have a claim if they did it to everyone in the county.
Ward explained, As assessors, we are to determine as close as we can to market value. It is state statute. Quarries are definitely unique and determining their value isnt the same as a brick and mortar building like Walmart or a bank. Those are buildings that are built on land parcels and they can be sold and occupied by almost any business and the building is bought and sold, not the business.
A working quarry is bought and sold for what is being removed from the ground how many tons can be dug up and how much is it selling for. Thats what a buyer and a bank making a loan would want to know market value. Our county had been valuing the land as agriculture and the buildings as commercial. Sounds right, but it doesnt give true market value, which is what a willing seller would sell it for and a willing buyer would pay. There is no way they would sell it for the price of the land and buildings.
They were trying to put a value on Central Stone to back into a value of the real property of Knox County Stone through equipment that Central Stone pays personal property tax on. Im not denying that the county receives some benefits from going to the tax commission. I mean its probably a wash to them in general, everybody combined but none of it is really from us.
Ward noted in response to Dockery that quarries are exempt from sales tax on equipment and machinery.
After receiving notice of the increase in market value, the company took its case to the Missouri Board of Equalization (BOE) to review Wards valuation.
In our proposed values at the BOE, the property the assessor had at $518,000 a 2,001 percent increase was ground thats an old part of the pit, Dockery said. We agreed that it was a little low the previous year. We proposed to the board $74,000. The other increase was 774 percent. We said the assessed value should be $42,694.
According to Dockery, the board said it understood the quarry companys argument and somewhat agreed with it. It then sent the case on to the state tax commission to make a final decision on the matter.
So, thats when we headed off for the state tax commission, Dockery said. We had to file within 30 days by statute of the board of equalization, so that started the process. We paid 100 percent of our taxes off of the inflated numbers in protest. What everybody agreed to at the end of the day was $59,000 and the other one was $42,000.
So, we came back to the original numbers real close to what we presented to the BOE. So we went through this long, litigious and expensive exercise to end up where we said we should have pretty much been in the first place. Were taxpayers, too. On average in St. Francois County between our personal property tax, or real property tax; sales tax; and employee tax we pay $200,000 to $250,000 a year.
Dockery also complained that Ward used a geologist from Arizona and an attorney from Michigan.
The local county attorney didnt handle this, he said. Thats where the $149,900 in bills came from. I also have a concern with the school districts Bismarck, Farmington and Mineral Area College jumping into the fight when they were going to be the benefactors.
In response, Ward said, For the defense of appeals against values we establish, specialists in that field are necessary. The geologist and attorney hired were specialists in the field of mining and quarries and have had years of experience in our area even though they are from different states. Both assisted Iron, Reynolds and Ste. Genevieve counties with appeals for many years.
The cost of hiring them was created because the quarry refused to work with our office. Appraisals had to be done and testimony exchanged. There was a cost and I asked the school districts who would receive the largest portion of the tax dollars if they were willing to voluntarily assist and they agreed. The tax dollars received far exceeded the cost of the appeals to the benefit of our schools and county. As our auditor, Bret Burgess attested, We did not find any wrongdoing on that part at all from Dans office.
Ward contends that Knox County Stone has made large financial contributions to his opponent in the upcoming November election, as well as a Political Action Committee (PAC). As far as our involvement in the assessor campaign, we can contribute to whomever we choose," Dockery said. "We did contribute to his opponent and we did contribute to a PAC. Where that money goes is up to the PAC."
Dockery stated that he was also involved in the passage of a bill in the Missouri Legislature.
As far as legislation, yes, I was involved," he said. "House Bill 2381 passed the House and the Senate with a large majority and was signed by the governor. So, its in place. Basically what that says is, if the propertys available, bonded and permitted, they can be assessed as a commercial business. All the other parts that you own, if its not available for extraction, bonded and permitted, its to be treated as what it is whether its timber, ag, residential.
Dockery insists that his company isnt asking for special treatment, it simply wants to be treated fairly.
We just want to be a local business, he said. We try to make a little money doing it. Ironically in this scenario, if we would have lost we would have had to increase our prices. Our biggest customers are local government whether county or cities. Well, with the way the levy is broke up, they might have received 10 percent of the increase, but they probably would have borne 80 percent of the cost increase.
We have operations in three different states and probably 50 counties, and this is the first time weve ever encountered anything like this. My experience is that this isnt typical in the Midwest. It may be typical in Arizona for precious metals, but its not typical in the Midwest. I think that at the end of the day if everyone sits down and uses common sense like our numbers that we presented to the BOE this should have never cost the taxpayers the amount of money it cost them.
In response, Ward said, We can discuss this until the cows come home, but the bottom line is this I wanted to do the right thing. And from discussions Ive had with surrounding assessors who have been assessing this way for decades, I did the right thing.
"We are asking the quarries, as we ask every other business and homeowner in St. Francois County to pay their fair share as everyone says they want to do. If we work together, we are all winners by supporting our schools, county and other taxing entities that make up our county."
Up Your Rank Expands Their Service Offerings
The company has added SEO audits, consultancy, and white label solutions to their suite of services, reports www.upyourrank.co.uk.
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Up Your Rank, Northampton's longest-standing SEO agency, has recently announced the expansion of their service offerings. In addition to performing free SEO audits for business owners, the company has now added SEO consultancy and white label solutions to their current suite of design and marketing services.
"While search engine optimisation can be a viable way for companies to boost traffic to their website and bring in new business, it's often a confusing and time-consuming task for business owners," said Katrina Stroud of Up Your Rank. "We realize that climbing the search engine rankings and getting noticed by a target audience is a skill that many business owners are in need of, and the new services we offer are here to fill that need."
Stroud continued, "We start business owners off with free SEO Audits at no cost to them, reviewing the status of their on-page and off-page optimisation, sizing up their competition, and revealing their opportunities for improvement. For business owners who want to take things a step further, our new SEO Consultancy service will allow us to guide them through the long-term optimisation process and give them the precise tools they need to rank higher for relevant keywords and attract leads and sales."
In addition to providing free SEO audits and consultancy, the Up Your Rank team has also launched a White label SEO service. This service is aimed at helping marketing and IT firms offer SEO services to their clients without having to learn a new set of skills or deal with the hassle of service delivery. The white label service also allows business owners to provide an excellent solution under their own name and branding.
As Stroud went on to say, "We want business owners to know that they don't have to miss out on the benefits that come with high search engine rankings. Our firm has a proven track record of success with digital marketing, and we are now able to put that expertise at the fingertips of every local business owner. We look forward to being able to help companies finally see a return on the investment they've made in marketing their products and services online."
Business owners who are looking to take advantage of Up Your Rank's new SEO services can visit upyourrank.co.uk for more information.
About Up Your Rank:
Up Your Rank are Northampton's longest standing, oldest SEO agency that works with multiple clients in several niches worldwide and seeks to provide support to ecommerce and service-led companies.
For more information, please visit https://www.upyourrank.co.uk
Contact Info:
Name: Katrina Stroud
Organization: Up Your Rank
Address: 12 Henry Northampton Northampton, NN4 8GA, UK
Phone: 01604 930250
Source: http://marketersmedia.com/up-your-rank-expands-their-service-offerings/140691
Release ID: 140691
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New Austin TX Roof Repair Service Launched By Elite Roofing Contractors
For information about roof repair contractors in the Austin Texas market visit the company's Service Locations page at: http://eliteroofingcontractors.net/locations. For some very good background information visit http://www.consumerenergycenter.ca.gov/residential/construction/roofing.html.
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Elite Roofing Contractors is celebrating the launch of the company's new website promoting roof repair contractors in the greater Austin Texas area by sending out 700 social media posts and Tweets. Further information can be found about this new service at https://eliteroofingcontractors.net.
In a slightly different approach to launching its new local home repair service, Elite Roofing Contractors has decided to mark the occasion by unleashing a social media promotional blitz, and this new service is expected to be available to start taking service calls beginning October 26th 2016. Where most businesses tend to merely place an ad in a local paper, this company has decided to be a little more creative and modern with the start of its new roofing repair and replacement service because having a leaking roof is a huge issue.
Michael Ryan, the owner, says: "The company wanted to be modern and a take creative approach with the launch of this new local service website because the goal is to reach as many potential clients as possible that will need such an important service, and reach them in the most effective manner available.
It should be really worthwhile and Elite Roofing Contractors is hoping this launch raises awareness of a service that is vitally needed, especially after property has experienced damage from a rain storm or other weather based damage."
Elite Roofing Contractors has always made it a point of being the company that stands out when compared to other roofing contractors in the Austin TX area. This launch celebration is just one of the many ways the company does so.
This is a great chance for local Austin TX residents to be made aware of an important new home improvement service available to support the community in times of need."
Michael Ryan also said: "Elite Roofing Contractors may not be the only business offering this type of service, yet local residents are choosing the services because the company will always put the customer's needs and satisfaction above everything else."
When asked about the new roofing repair services the company is providing, Michael Ryan said: "It's going to be a big deal because when a client is dealing with roof damage it normally means that person will need a local company like https://eliteroofingcontractors.net who can answer the call immediately".
For more information, please visit https://eliteroofingcontractors.net
Contact Info:
Name: Michael Ryan
Organization: Eliter Roofing Contractors
Address: Austin TX
Release ID: 140694
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The HOTH Announces Adtech NYC Attendance
The company will be exhibiting their products and services at the conference for the second year in a row, reports https://www.thehoth.com.
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The HOTH, a premier white label link building and SEO service provider, has recently announced their attendance at this year's adtech conference in New York City. The company will be exhibiting their products and services at the conference for the second year in a row. This year's adtech NYC Conference will take place November 2nd and 3rd at the Javits Center in Manhattan.
The HOTH offers a powerful suite of tools that help business and website owners boost their rankings and get more traffic. In a crowded online marketplace with millions of competitors vying for attention, the HOTH team has used their expertise to help some of the largest businesses and SEO agencies in the world stand out in front of their target audience with effective link-building, content creation, and local marketing strategies.
"Exhibiting at the industry trade shows is critical to theHOTH's success. It allows us to meet our customers face to face," said Marc Hardgrove of The HOTH.
Adtech is the original industry authority for marketing and media technology, where marketing, technology and media communities assemble to share new ways of thinking, build strong partnerships, and define new strategies to compete in an ever-changing marketplace. For the last two decades, adtechNYC has been the go-to event for the entire online advertising community, including brands, agencies, publishers, and tech providers. Being a part of this event as an exhibitor gives The HOTH team an opportunity to join the worldwide discussion about the new era of advertising and marketing technology.
In September of 2016, the HOTH embarked on a world tour, hitting the road with some surprises up their sleeves. The tour has included four of the best and most well-attended worldwide conferences. Adtech NYC will be the final trade show for theHOTH World Tour in 2016, following Brighton SEO, Pubcon & SMX East. Attendees can expect the company's unique style and flair to be on full display throughout the course of the conference.
"As usual we will be bringing a steel briefcase full of two dollar bills to pass out. Please stop by theHOTH booth to get some," said Gregg Webb.
About The HOTH:
The HOTH is a white label link building and local SEO company. They aim to provide the best reseller SEO program for agencies, affiliates, and consultants. They offer affordable packages and plans for link building, local SEO, and more.
For more information, please visit http://www.theHOTH.com
Contact Info:
Name: Clayton Johnson
Organization: TheHOTH
Phone: (877) 720-4684
Source: http://marketersmedia.com/the-hoth-announces-adtech-nyc-attendance/140711
Release ID: 140711
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All Architectural Hardware Stock Japanese Made Kawajun Designer Door Hardware
All Architectural Hardware today announced that they have added Kawajun designer door hardware products to their list of merchandise. The Kawajun designer door product line, is available through the company's website at www.aahardware.com.au, is considered a premium brand with unsurpassed quality.
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All Architectural Hardware has today announced that they have added Kawajun designer door hardware products to their already growing list of merchandise. The new Kawajun designer door product line, which is available immediately through the company's website located at www.aahardware.com.au, is considered a premium brand with unsurpassed quality.
With the introduction of the Kawajun brand, which first arrived on the product hardware industry in 1998, is a testament of All Architectural Hardware's commitment to providing a platform for innovative designs and quality products.
According to the company's spokesperson and marketing manager Minh Ta, the Kawajun line provides total category coverage, and has become an accepted product choice for discerning professionals in Japan, and now Australian.
"All Architectural Hardware take pride in providing quality products and fantastic customer service so it makes sense that we partner with a superior brand like Kawajun for our designer door hardware" said Minh.
Noting that with their more than 70 dedicated designers who continue to explore the newest trend in the industry, Minh said the new Kawajun designer products have consistently display its characteristically Japanese attention to details.
"Their surface finish of Kawajun products for example," noted Minh, "is considered an integral part of the design so substantial resources have gone into developing dedicated colours that complement other interior products on the market."
With army of growing customers, who are primarily architects or builders who want to offer premium solutions to their clients, All Architectural Hardware are also seeing tremendous growth for home owners who want to upgrade their architectural hardware to not only be functional but also looks unique.
According to Minh, the Kawajun products are not only designed to look good, but they are also designed to last as long as the property they are being installed in.
"For example, Kawajun test their case lock products for durability even after 1 million uses while other competitor's products are tested to 200,000 uses," assured Minh, who takes pride in offering the best products at the best prices.
The company's friendly customer service representatives are easily accessible by phone, fax or email from Monday to Saturday, whether its product information, an update on orders or any general queries customers may have. "We are here to help," said Minh.
With All Architectural Hardware huge selection of building supplies, consumers can now access everything from kitchen drawer knobs to fire rated commercial door closers. Besides, All Architectural Hardware offers a vast selection of hardware items used in both the residential and commercial door markets.
For more information, please visit http://www.aahardware.com.au
Contact Info:
Name: Minh Ta
Organization: All Architectural Hardware
Address: PO Box 264 Marrickville NSW 1475 Australia
Phone: 488022445
Release ID: 140665
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Prefair Selects Visual 2000 as it's Omni-Channel Software Provider
Visual 2000 International Inc. is pleased to announce that Prefair has selected the Visual 2000 suite of omni-channel AFA software to manage its army-surplus clothing & equipment business, from end-to-end.
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Montreal, Canada - October 30th, 2016 - Visual 2000 International Inc. is pleased to announce that Prefair has selected the Visual 2000 suite of omni-channel AFA software to manage its army-surplus clothing & equipment business, from end-to-end.
35 years ago Imrico Ltee founded Sail Plein Air and over the years carved itself a place in Quebec's retail industry. Today, Imrico Ltee is headed towards new challenges with Prefair, a clothing and equipment wholesaler specialized in offering quality products for security, law-enforcement, military, correctional and construction professionals.
Prefair showed an expedited growth and is now operating from a 80 000 square feet warehouse divided in three division: tactical, working wear and military surplus.
After long and extensive research, Prefair carefully selected Visual 2000 to be a partner in their transformation. Visual 2000 was selected as Prefair's end-to-end software provider based on its extensive knowledge in the apparel and accessories industry. Specifically, it was able to offer Prefair the possibility to oversee multiple sizes for each product, connect seamlessly with suppliers using salesforce automation, merge the online store using e-commerce integration and provide an extended data management system.
Despite increasing demand, Prefair aims to become more efficient and reduce the replenishment lead time for clients. Within the upcoming months, Visual 2000's flexible and integrated CRM solution will enable a seamless customer experience across all channels, but also automate crucial processes within the product lifecycle and inventory management.
Ultimately, Prefair aims to meet growing demand and improve overall operation processes without having to compromise on it's flexibility or agility. The Visual 2000 suite of software will be a key component of this strategy.
About Visual 2000 International Visual 2000 provides End2End software to apparel, footwear and fashion accessory companies. More than 500 companies around the world take advantage of Visual 2000?s advanced ERP, PLM, supply chain management, warehouse optimization and business intelligence software.
About Prefair
PREFAIR operates on two levels: on the one hand, buyers purchase the surpluses in bulk and resell them all over Europe and America; on the other hand, Prefair sell products directly to customers from the warehouse in Beloeil. Increasing demand for surplus inventories has convinced management to offer Prefair merchandise online by means of silent auctions to satisfy the various needs of consumers. These online auctions enable individuals and businesses to benefit from a huge selection of surplus products at the lowest possible price. Whether buying a single item or in bulk, everyone, consumer or reseller, gets something out of it!
For more information, please visit http://www.visual-2000.com/
Contact Info:
Name: Julien Belisle
Email: julien@visual-2000.com
Organization: Visual 2000 International Inc.
Address: 8960 Av du Parc, Montreal, QC H2N 1Y8
Release ID: 140620
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Official Opening Of Laugh-Masters Academy Melbourne - Laugh-Masters.com.au
Laugh Masters Academy announces the official opening of new improv and sketch comedy school in Melbourne.
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Laugh Masters Academy, a Sydney-born comedy school specialising in Chicago-Style Improv and sketch comedy, announced the official launch of their unique curriculum in Melbourne.
On the company's expansion into Victoria, Laugh Masters Academy's Executive Producer Eran Thomson said,
"We did one of our very first workshops in Melbourne back in 2012, and it was a huge success. Ever since then it's been a dream to come back, and we're finally here - with an incredibly talented roster of teachers ready to share their in-depth training and knowledge gleaned from the top schools in the USA."
Australian Comedy Legend, Dan Pavatich, will be LMA Melbourne's Artistic Director.
"My vision for LMA is that continue to be known as the school that helps performers and comedians find their voice, as well as giving them the tools and experience they need to create great work - no matter what the medium."
The instructors teaching improv and sketch at Melbourne's LMA include:
LMA's new Artistic Director - Daniel Pavatich, a longtime veteran of Melbourne's comedy scene and frequent performer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Fringe and more.
Justin Porter - An alumni of the USC Film School, and i.O. West, both in Los Angeles.
Vidya Rajan - Has trained extensively as an improvisational performer with Perth based companies Just Improvise, The Big Hoo-Haa (Perth) and at iO Chicago and is currently completely a Masters of Writing for Performance at VCA, and is a 2017 Melbourne Theatre Company Connect ambassador.
And David Evans - An actor and performer who is a regular participant on Improv Planet's weekly Improv Stand-Up Showcase and whose Australian TV credits include appearances on Neighbours, Offspring, House Husbands and the ABC2 series The Worst Year of My Life, Again.
Recent Level 3 graduate, Bogdan Constantinescu, found more than just the funny when it came to his experience at LMA:
"It's no exaggeration to say that LMA changed my life. I've found myself becoming more open, more kind to others. I feel safe speaking what lies in my heart, and am learning how to say it so that I am understood, and I am forming more meaningful relationships with those around me."
Other LMA students also found the classes be useful outside of strictly comedic context, including Alan Hong who said,
"I highly recommend LMA to anyone and everyone! The skills you learn will serve you well in any career, social or relational pursuits. If you want to be successful, confident, funny, charismatic and the life of the party, yet, warm, understanding and supportive, then LMA is the best way to do that!"
About Laugh Masters Academy:
Laugh-Masters Academy (LMA) is the home of "Chicago Style" Long Form Improv and Sketch Comedy in Australia. LMA now offers world-class improv courses in Melbourne.
LMA Instructors have the highest pedigree and come with experience from training centres in Hollywood - and Chicago, the official birthplace of Improv and Sketch comedy.
For more information, please visit http://laugh-masters.com.au/
Contact Info:
Name: Eran Thomson
Organization: Laugh-Masters Academy
Address: Sydney & Melbourne
Phone: 02 8007 4367
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZgXkS_EgBg
Source: http://marketersmedia.com/official-opening-of-laugh-masters-academy-melbourne-laugh-masters-com-au/140280
Release ID: 140280
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Richard S. Frankowski To Speak At National Investor Town Hall Meeting In San Diego, CA
Attorney Richard S. Frankowski to present at National Investor Town Hall Meeting about rights of investors who have been victimized by broker negligence or fraud.
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Richard S. Frankowski, founder of The Frankowski Firm, will speak as part of a panel at the National Investor Town Hall Meeting in San Diego, California on October 29, 2016. The event is co-hosted by the Alliance for Investor Education and The PIABA Foundation.
"It is crucial that investors understand the risks they face," said attorney Richard Frankowski. "We consistently see investors who have put their trust in the hands of unqualified, negligent advisors and brokers - simply because they don't know enough about investing and because they trust stock brokers to protect their life savings. They find a brokerage through word of mouth, or see a commercial on television, or recognize the name of a firm, and they assume their investments are safe, and that any discrepancies are due to market fluctuations. This is not always the case, and it's important that investors understand they have options available to them if they are the victims of broker fraud or negligence."
The National Investor Town Hall Meeting "will provide valuable insights on investing from both perspectives--risk and reward--in a lively day-long series of presentations." The event is free and open to the public, and offers four plenary sessions regarding specific risks and challenges investors face. Mr. Frankowski will be part of a panel of speakers talking on the topic: "Investment Fraud and What to Do If You Are a Victim."
Richard Frankowski and PIABA Foundation
The PIABA (Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association) Foundation promotes "investor education by providing the public with information about abuses in the financial services industry and the securities dispute resolution process." Richard Frankowski sits on the Board of Directors for The PIABA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity with a core mission of educating investors to prevent investment abuse. He regularly presents at PIABA-sponsored events and annual conferences on issues affecting investors.
Mr. Frankowski is nationally recognized for his work representing investors in FINRA arbitration. An award-winning attorney, Mr. Frankowski has written two books, The Practitioner's Guide to Securities Arbitration and The Investor's Guide to Protecting Your Financial Future. The Frankowski Firm is one of the few law firms in the country that focuses on representing investors who have sustained losses because of broker mismanagement, negligence or fraud.
The Frankowski Firm maintains offices in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Nevada, and California, and represents clients in FINRA arbitration throughout the country. The firm's attorneys offer comprehensive counsel for clients in the areas of:
o FINRA arbitration
o Stockbroker and securities fraud
o Investors rights
For more information, please visit http://www.frankowskifirm.com
Contact Info:
Name: Richard Frankowski
Organization: The Frankowski Firm, LLC
Address: 2126 15th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL
Phone: 205-390-0399
Source: http://marketersmedia.com/richard-s-frankowski-to-speak-at-national-investor-town-hall-meeting-in-san-diego-ca/140574
Release ID: 140574
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Veterans Offered Free Teeth Whitening in Participating Dental Offices With Smile Perfected Special Offer
U.S. military veterans can take advantage of a free teeth whitening treatment from partnered dental offices on Veterans Day (Nov 11th, 2016), Smile Perfected has announced.
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Smile Perfected, the company behind the popular Smile Perfected 20-Minute Whitening System, has announced U.S. military veterans who visit a participating dental office on 11 November (Veterans day) can get a complimentary whitening treatment. The nationwide campaign is the company's way of giving a heartfelt thank you and express their gratitude to the service men and women who have risked their lives in defense of American freedom, values and security.
Veterans are encouraged to visit their nearest Smile Perfected partnered office and make the front office staff aware they are their for whiter teeth courtesy of Smile Perfected. Available nationwide in partnered offices, the company will reimburse dentists and practice owners for the whitening product used to provide the veterans their whitening.
Dental offices who would like to learn more about the Smile Perfected 20-Minute Whitening System(TM) and how to participate can visit: http://www.smileperfected.com/direct-sales/
"We've been wildly successful since our founding," stated Dr. William Balanoff, founder and CEO, "none of which would have been possible without the sacrifice and service of the military through the years."
"We provide a sensitivity free, effective, professional teeth whitening product for dentists which patients love and can powerfully increase hygiene revenue for the office," added Dr. Balanoff, "So it made sense to give back in this way, and we expect it will be a huge event with many veterans taking advantage of the opportunity."
The company counts hundreds of dental offices across the country who offer their 20-Minute teeth whitening product as well as some of the largest group dental service organizations in the nation.
But what about dentists who are not currently offering Smile Perfected to their patients?
What about doctors, dental practice managers and hygiene teams who would like to participate in this Veterans day special? Doctors and practice owners who wish to participate are encouraged to contact the company for more information about participating right away, in order to receive their system before the deadline.
"Our gratitude is overwhelming to our veterans, and we are and will remain their staunch supporters. This is just a small token of our esteem," added Dr. Balanoff.
About Smile Perfected:
Smile Perfected was established in 2014 by Dr. William Balanoff. Dental products include the Smile Perfected 20 Minute Whitening System(TM), designed to fit seamlessly into an offices current patient process after a prophy. Imagine a patient getting a quick, noticeably whiter smile with a non-invasive dental service... no drilling, no shots... just whiter teeth in 20 minutes.
For more information, please visit https://www.smileperfected.com
Contact Info:
Name: Dr. William Balonoff, DDS, MS, FICD
Email: wbalanoff@smileperfected.com
Organization: Smile Perfected(TM)
Address: 3000 Ravenswood Road, Suite #1A, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33312
Phone: 877-624-6674
Source: http://marketersmedia.com/veterans-offered-free-teeth-whitening-in-participating-dental-offices-with-smile-perfected-special-offer/140927
Release ID: 140927
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New Relationship Advice eBook By Tania Berlin (School of Love) Launches Today
Tania Berlin is launching her brand new book, "Genuine Love and Happiness" (batteries not included), available online now, targeted at fans of the personal relationship world. More information is available at the website: http://www.schooloflove.ca/
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Emotional logic counselor Tania Berlin is launching her brand new book, "Genuine Love and Happiness" (batteries not included). The book is set to go live today, available online and is expected to become a big hit with fans of the personal relationship world.
More information on the book can be found here: http://www.schooloflove.ca/
This is the first book Berlin has authored. The book was written with the aim in mind to help individuals realize their full potential by understanding why loving themselves first is vital to help prepare for any future relationship and build existing relationships. There's also particular excitement about this launch because it is the authors much anticipated first release.
Genuine Love and Happiness sets its main focus on helping people interested in their own development to understand themselves at a deeper personal level. Readers will likely find a particular interest in the various scenarios (offered as choices) regarding how a young woman deals with her husbands disappointing day, and the outcome of each technique. The book's cover art was created by Pixel Studios and Genuine Love and Happiness is being released by Tania Berlin.
Tania Berlin has a background in positive psychology. This helped shape the creation of the book because as a fiercely independent thinker, Tania refused to listen to old wives tales and instead chose to think things through logically, drawing on her extensive research for each question she needed answers to.
When asked about why she wrote the book, Mrs. Berlin said: "To help others gain a better understanding of self love and how being kind and forgiving is the real path to true happiness "
Mrs. Berlin has hopes that the book will help introduce those with a kindred spirit to her School of Love where her School of Love information awaits those interested in self development and personal awareness. This positive outlook from the author is certainly a testament to their optimism considering some of the mishaps during its creation. At one point the first few chapters had to be scrapped and re-written to capture its essence.
In a recent interview, the author made a point of thanking her son for his helpful suggestions and her best friend in Kiev for the Luule Viilma book series she was presented with, for their part in the creation of the book, saying: "she wanted to thank her husband Dwain for believing in her and encouraging her to make this message available"
Those interested in learning more about the book can visit here: http://www.schooloflove.ca/
For more information, please visit http://www.schooloflove.ca/
Contact Info:
Name: Tania Berlin
Organization: EmoLogic Inc
Address:
Release ID: 140584
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The Forest of Deans wild boar population could rise to 10,000 animals in a few years, posing a disease risk to the UK pig industry, a trade association has warned.
The National Pig Association (NPA) is calling for more concerted effort to control wild boar, viewed by members of the local farming community as a time bomb.
A survey in March 2016 found numbers had grown by 50% between 2015 and 2016 with the estimated population currently at 1,562.
See also: Pig farmers call for wild boar cull
African swine fever
These pigs are gaining access to waste food when they root around in household bins and at picnic sites.
We need to be mindful that in Eastern Europe wild boar have been integral in the spread of the deadly African swine fever (ASF) virus, said NPA chief executive Zoe Davies.
If an exotic disease such as ASF got into the UKs wild boar population, it would become almost impossible to prove that the disease had been stamped out.
If an exotic disease such as African swine fever got into the UKs wild boar population, it would become almost impossible to prove that the disease had been stamped out Zoe Davies, National Pig Association chief executive
This would wreck our burgeoning export market, now worth 350m/year, with devastating consequences for the industry.
The NPA has revealed it is joining forces with the Deer Initiative a partnership group dedicated to ensuring a well-managed deer population to host a wild boar summit in January, where the worsening situation will be discussed.
Forestry Commission
They are concerned a recent cull of more than 400 animals by the Forestry Commission appears to have had little impact.
As the owner of a significant proportion of the forest, they want the commission to step up efforts to control numbers.
The wild boar population is expanding because the conditions warm winters, plentiful food and no natural predators are ideal.
The Deer Initiative predicts the population could reach 10,000 by 2020 unless proper controls are put in place. That would not be in anybodys interests, said Dr Davies.
Time bomb
John Childs, a pig farmer with 400 rare breed pigs on the edge of the forest, said while he had not seen any of the feral boar on his own ground he had heard there had been sightings nearby.
The fact that the animals were so close was a worrying biosecurity risk.
Farmers are not allowed to feed household scraps but there are not even signs up in the forest warning people of the risks [if they drop food]. We are sat on a time bomb, he said.
All agricultural land in Northern Ireland should be subject to a one-off, publicly-funded GPS soil sampling and analysis survey, according to an ambitious land management strategy report delivered to ministers.
Improving the health of North Irelands agricultural soils has the potential to transform the performance of the livestock sector, says the report, compiled by an expert working group consisting of farmers, environmentalists, officials and food processors.
The Sustainable Agricultural Land Management Strategy highlights that grass utilisation in Northern Ireland is significantly below optimal levels: less than 10% of farmland has an up-to-date soil analysis and 64% of soils are not at optimum pH.
See also: MPs call for policy changes to improve soil health
Sixty-three percent of NI water bodies also fail to meet the good or better status required by the EU Water Framework Directive, and only one of its 49 European Priority Habitats is at favourable status.
One of the central conclusions of the report is that healthier soils would deliver better yields of crops and grass that are higher in quality. This would help to reduce reliance on imported concentrates and increase farm productivity and profitability.
The report calls for a publicly-funded soil sampling and analysis survey of all agricultural land, with the results provided directly to farmers.
Four-year plan
It also recommends that support should be provided to translate the soil analysis results into a four-year nutrient management plan.
We are convinced that it is impossible to address soil health without a major increase in soil analysis at both individual farm and regional levels, it says.
Soil analysis is the basis for good nutrient management planning. Those who apply nutrients to their land without soil analysis do so blindly and are unlikely to be making the most appropriate interventions.
The benefits of soil analysis for agricultural productivity have been known for many years, but not implemented by the large majority of farmers.
Dr John Gilliland, chairman of the expert working group, said the report sought to empower farmers with very farm-specific, detailed information on their productivity, their soil fertility, their water and habitat quality.
Only then can they make the right decisions for their own land, which will build an inherent resilience in their farm businesses.
Story Highlights Gallup has not found a lower level of support since 57% in 1972
Support peaked at 80% in 1994
Less than half of Democrats now favor the death penalty
PRINCETON, N.J. -- As voters in several states prepare to vote on death penalty initiatives, 60% of Americans say they are in favor of the death penalty for persons convicted of murder. This figure is similar to the 61% average since 2011 but down from 66% support between 2000 and 2010 and the all-time high of 80% in 1994. Support for the death penalty has not been lower since it was 57% in November 1972.
California, Nebraska and Oklahoma are the latest in a series of states to reconsider their death penalty laws. Voters will decide on the legality of the death penalty in those states in Election Day referenda.
The latest results on Gallup's basic death penalty question are based on Gallup's annual Crime poll, conducted Oct. 5-9. Gallup first asked this question in 1936 and has measured it 47 times in total, including at least annually since 1999.
Americans' current level of support for capital punishment is similar to what Gallup measured in 1936, when 59% favored the death penalty and 38% opposed it. These attitudes have fluctuated a great deal over the 80 years since.
Support for the death penalty increased to 68% in a 1953 survey conducted shortly after Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and executed for their crimes. Americans' support for the death penalty then declined for the remainder of the 1950s and throughout much of the 1960s. During this time, legal experts debated whether the death penalty constituted "cruel and unusual punishment." Several successful legal challenges to various aspects of state death penalty laws led to a decade-long moratorium on U.S. executions from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.
In 1966, more Americans were opposed (47%) than in favor (42%) of the death penalty, the only time that has occurred in Gallup's trend. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all state death penalty statutes because of concerns of arbitrary sentencing.
Support for the death penalty recovered in the 1970s as states rewrote their statutes to address the Supreme Court's concerns and the new laws generally passed court muster. By 1976, less than a year before executions resumed in the U.S., two-thirds of Americans expressed support for the death penalty.
The percentage of Americans favoring the death penalty increased to 72% in January 1985 and stayed above 70% through 1999. This included the peak of 80% in 1994, a time when Americans overwhelmingly mentioned "crime" as the most important problem facing the U.S.
The year 2000 brought about renewed questions regarding the manner in which certain states applied the death penalty. Illinois adopted a moratorium after several death row inmates were exonerated of their crimes. In February 2000, 66% of Americans were in favor of the death penalty, with support holding at about that level through 2010. Eight states, including Illinois, have abolished the death penalty since 2007, and four others have moratoria in place.
The recent decline in U.S. support for the death penalty is mostly attributable to a decline in the percentage of Democrats favoring the practice. Democratic support has now dropped below the majority level, to an average 47% over the last five years from 55% in the prior decade. Independents have shown a smaller decrease over this time, with virtually no change among Republicans. Eight in 10 Republicans, and 61% of independents, favor the death penalty.
Recent Changes in Support for the Death Penalty, by Political Party 2000-2010 2011-2016 Change % % (pct. pts.) Democrats Favor 55 47 -8 Oppose 39 49 +10 Independents Favor 64 61 -3 Oppose 30 35 +5 Republicans Favor 80 79 -1 Oppose 16 17 +1 Gallup
In stark contrast to now, in 1994 there were small party differences in death penalty support. Back then, 75% of Democrats, 80% of independents and 85% of Republicans said they favored capital punishment.
Half in U.S. Say Death Penalty Applied Fairly
Critics of the death penalty often argue it is applied unfairly in the U.S. For example, crime statistics show blacks are much more likely than whites to receive death sentences. Americans as a whole are more inclined to say the death penalty is applied fairly (50%) than to say it is not (44%). However, the percentage saying the death penalty is applied fairly is the lowest in Gallup's 17-year trend, although there have been several other readings near 50%.
Since 2011, an average 52% of Americans have said the death penalty is applied fairly. From 2000 to 2010, the average was 57%. That matches the five-percentage-point decline in the percentage of Americans who favor the death penalty.
When asked about the frequency with which the death penalty is used, the largest proportion of Americans say it is not used often enough rather than used too often or used about the right amount. But the percentage of Americans who believe the death penalty is not imposed often enough has decreased in recent years. From 2001 to 2010, an average 48% of Americans said the death penalty was not used enough; over the past five years, the average is 41%. At the same time, 25% in this decade -- compared with 21% in the prior decade -- say the death penalty is imposed too often.
Implications
Americans historically have been more likely to favor than oppose the death penalty, and a solid majority of 60% still endorse it. But support has slipped in recent years and is the lowest Gallup has measured since 1972, when the Supreme Court invalidated capital punishment laws.
This is reflected in, or perhaps the force behind, changes in death penalty laws in recent years, with a total of 12 states abolishing the death penalty or imposing a moratorium in the last decade alone. Although there are exceptions, most Democratic-leaning states have abolished the death penalty, whereas most Republican-leaning states, particularly those in the South and West, continue to allow it.
In several states, including Nebraska, California and Oklahoma, voters this fall will attempt to decide the future of the death penalty in their state. Nebraska legislators abolished the death penalty in 2015, and this year voters will decide whether that action will stand or be turned back. California voters will determine whether the death penalty remains legal in their state. And Oklahoma voters are deciding on a measure that would formally add language to the state's constitution to recognize the death penalty as a legal form of punishment.
Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Survey Methods
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 5-9, 2016, with a random sample of 1,017 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.
Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.
View complete question responses and trends.
Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
'How To Get Away With Murder' Season 3 Spoilers, Latest News & Update: Frank, Bonnie In Complicated Romance? Annalise Keating Suffers Depression?
Basing on the last aired episode of "How To Get Away With Murder" season 3, viewers might get a glimpse of an unraveled and clearly troubled Annalise Keating. Frank is also getting the back story that his character rightfully deserves and viewers can expect a lot of revelations related to Frank in upcoming "How To Get Away With Murder" season 3 episodes.
'How To Get Away With Murder' Season 3 - Frank And Bonnie Love Story?
The possibility of Bonnie and Frank ending up as lovers in "How To Get Away With Murder" season 3 is remarkably palpable in the last aired episode. Intimate tension sparked when Bonnie and Frank spent time in a motel room.
However, Bonnie had other things in her mind, primarily trying to convince Frank to return to Philadelphia in "How To Get Away With Murder" season 3. Frank is clearly not ready to go back to Philadelphia, as he is still mulling over the death of Mahoney. The two eventually end up sleeping together, but their live story might have another pothole as Frank disappears in the morning, leaving Bonnie alone once again.
'How To Get Away With Murder' Season 3 - The Woes Of Annalise Keating
After being suspended from her job in the university, Annalise Keating decides to take some time off and loosen up. She takes the suspension as an opportunity for some serious "me-time" and a chance to catch up with old friends.
Annalise Keating also mustered up the courage to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting but got the shock of her life when she saw President Hargrove there. The heroine in "How To Get Away With Murder" season 3 is seem trying to do away with all the demons in her life, starting off with alcohol.
"How To Get Away With Murder" season 3 spoilers predict that viewers might get to see the reckless and wild side of Annalise Keating as she suffers withdrawal symptoms which might even lead to depression. Stay tuned to GamenGuide for more "How To Get Away With Murder" season 3 spoilers and updates!
Nintendo Switch Release Date, News & Update: Will Nintendo Live Up To The Hybrid Console Hype?
The Nintendo Switch was recently unveiled, garnering mixed reactions among gamers and investors. According to Nintendo, there are more details about the Nintendo Switch to reveal early in 2017.
Wall Street Journal reported that company's stock value actually went down by 6.5 percent, one day after the Nintendo Switch was revealed. The drop was even bigger compared to the 5 percent decrease that Nintendo went through after announcing the Wii U in 2011.
It generally means that some investors are still doubting whether the Nintendo Switch would appeal to a wide audience. Other analysts stated that it is too early to determine whether the console would be a huge success or flop.
The Telegraph stated that some were impressed with the Nintendo Switch's concept, which is a hybrid between a home and handheld console. The device can be linked to a television for home play or to the tablet portion for mobile gaming.
The Nintendo Switch also features the modular controller that can split into two mini-controllers for multiplayer gaming. The company is apparently creating a hybrid console that will stand independently from the Wii and Wii U. Other specifics like touchscreen and VR capability will be answered in the near future.
Potential Nintendo Switch players are also asking about the price, longevity on mobile mode, and available titles, among others. The Nintendo Switch reportedly features NvidiaTegra technology, which will contend with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
In the meantime, the company's objective is to introduce its two-in-one gaming approach. Many gamers have responded well to the concept at present, so Nintendo will have to come up with great specs to maintain their interest until the official Nintendo Switch launch date.
Nintendo will have an advantage by featuring some of its best titles at launch, such as "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" and "Super Mario." It can also include some of the most popular games like "NBA 2K17" and the remastered "Skyrim."
The reveal trailer showcased some of the possible titles that will launch with the Nintendo Switch, particularly catering to young adults. More updates and details on the Nintendo Switch are expected soon.
Xbox Latest News & Update: Games With Gold November 2016; New Free Titles & Backwards Compatibility Coming
Microsoft has taken another step forward for Xbox players this week as they have announced impending games with Gold November 2016 update as well as five titles which now have backwards compatibility. Those games with backwards compatibility are set to be announced anytime this week although there has been no confirmation as to when exactly the update will be released.
Express reports that unlike previous months, there have been absolutely no leaks before the release of the titles with Gold lineup and it is currently not clear as to which titles will make it to the list. In November of last year, players were treated to a free release of "Knight Squad" and "Pneuma: Breath of Life" on Xbox One.
An improvement was seen for the Xbox 360 lineup which included "Dirt 3" and "Dungeon Siege 3," and these titles were made available to the Xbox One through backwards compatibility. Some fans hope that Microsoft will ride the popularity surge of the recently announced "Red Dead Redemption 2," which might push the company to give it away.
This could really be a popular move and great timing and if actually done, players will have a lot to thank Microsoft for. It was previously noted that with October about to end, Xbox gamers have free new games to look forward to for the next month. Although nothing has been officially announced, this could all change in the days to come.
Last October, Microsoft treated Xbox gamers to four free games and seven titles which support backwards compatibility. These included "Puzzle Quest," "Silent Hill: Downpour," "Eat Lead," "Tour de France 2011," "Jurrassic Park" and "Dragon's Lair."
While there are still no news as to what titles players will be treated to, sources have predicted some titles that are very likely to come out. King's Quest could be a fitting title although it could depend on which instalment Microsoft would decide to offer since the fifth one is coming out very soon.
Another good option would be a previous installment from "Battlefield" to anticipate the upcoming release of "Battlefield 1" on the Xbox which has had a lot of fans raging over it. Stay tuned to GamenGuide for more updates on your favorite games and consoles!
'Half-Life 3' Release Date, Latest News & Updates: Valve Clues, Hints Troll or Accident? Fans Seek More Answers on Game
"Half-Life 3" has been a sad idea to many fans for the longest time, and all hopes have seemingly been put to waste. Fans have always kept a keen eye on what can and might happen in the future for Valve's franchise, but all such observations became speculations almost instantly.
As some fans of the power company may know, Valve has created a fortune in the form of their first-person shooter masterpieces, namely "Counter-Strike," "Team Fortress," "Left 4 Dead" and of course, "Half-Life." That being said, it is a natural craving for fans of Valve to look for the continuity of such games, as majority of the aforementioned have ended their streak after the second installment. This leads to the conclusion of "Half-Life 3" being a mere myth.
According to Gamespresso, "Half-Life 3" may be seemingly impossible to envision for the moment, but fans may have consistently seen the flaws of Valve in the past. Most of the errors which fans claim to be the source of these anomalies include the scrambled files found within their games, specifically "DOTA 2."
Reports stated that "DOTA 2" was recently found with a file containing the code "HLVR" which is speculated to be "Half-Life 3" in Virtual Reality setting. This, however, has been clarified to be a universal code at most, found in other games such as "Destination" and "DOTA 2" -- a message saying that the HLVR will make the player speak. Given that the lead character of the franchise, Gordon Freeman, does not talk, it is said to not be him anymore despite circulating rumors.
At this point, fans of the series may not be able to determine fact from theory around "Half-Life 3" and they could just be stalled away from the reality of Valve's plans. Valve has not ruled out the idea of a third title, but as of the moment, time is of the essence for the company and they cannot do a whole lot of things at once.
Will "Half-Life 3" finally surface soon? Or will Valve simply keep the rumor mill turning? Stay posted for more news here at GamenGuide.
LG V20 Release Date, News & Update: 60K Endurance Tests Prior Official Launch Proves Flagship Unbeatable? [BUT] Camera Glass Too Fragile?
LG V20 has reportedly passed through the 60,000 validation tests prior to its official launch. Reports claim that the device is currently becoming a tech darling among the premium phones in the market. However, the spot has not been easily earned as it has to endure the said tests.
The several numbers of tests done to LG V20 were due to the goal to pass the drop-test standard test of the US Department of Defense - the MIL-STD-810G military certification requirements. The testing procedure involves different versions of drop tests to make sure that the desired endurance level is reached. According to reports, the LG smartphone was placed onto a steel bar, after which a steel bar got dropped into the device.
LG's intensive level of inspection for the V20 device is believed to be an apparent effort to prevent the same issues experienced in Samsung Galaxy Note 7. With that, reports suggest lower possibility of vulnerabilities like an overheating battery, considering the number of tests done. The company also boasts of the handset's refined and optimized features to address the effects of one-meter drops, especially in the aspects of structural integrity and hardware stability.
LG V20 is reported to be the first smartphone to perform on an Android 7.0 Nougat. The device is also powered by a 2.15 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, with a 4GB of RAM, including a 5.7-inch 2,560x1,440 Quad HD display. The flagship device is already available for pre-order at various US carriers and likely shipping on Oct. 28, according to report.
Meanwhile, a recent report indicates a number of LG V20 buyers claiming to have experienced some minor issues. Among these include the camera glass that appears to be a little fragile. Several users on Reddit and a test conducted by a YouTuber named JerryRigEverything complain about the glass camera that shatters easily when the flashlight LED is on for a bit too long. Another user also reportedly claims that the glass on the back of the device broke for no apparent reason.
LG V20 does not come with a sapphire glass, which means it may scratch but not too easily. However, reports suggest that when a scratch happens, the glass immediately gets shattered, causing much concern for the buyers, 9to5Google reported. Watch video about LG V20 Scratch Test - Bend Test - BURN test - Durability Video!
Kim Kardashian Latest News: This Is What Paris Robbery Did To Her; Caitlyn Jenner Steps In For What?
Kim Kardashian West is reportedly living a quiet and confined life after a dreadful incidence in a hotel in Paris that left her begging for her life. She also had a low-key birthday and made a surprising announcement after the Paris robbery. Her loved ones like Caitlyn Jenner are reportedly comforting her in these times.
Kardashian is said to be having a difficult time trying to recover from the robbery in Paris. Kardashian had been staying in No Address hotel when five masked men dressed as policemen came in, stole her jewelry worth millions, covered her in duct tape, all while being held at gunpoint. Moreover, Kardashian had an intense fear that she would be raped although she had not.
Apparently, the "Keeping up with the Kardashians" celebrity allegedly has no desire to resume her old life, People reported. The mother of two is trying to recover in her Los Angeles home with her kids. Kardashian West is the wife of Kanye West who is currently in Saint Pablo to continue his concert tour but would eventually fly back to L.A. in between his shows.
In the meantime, Kardashian is staying with her "mother" Kris Jenner with daughter North, 3 and son Saint, 10 months. Furthermore, the famous star kept a low-key birthday last Oct. 21 and surprised her husband by announcing that she was done with expensive gifts and would not want anything with a price tag on it. On that note, Kanye dug up childhood videos of Kardashian and crafted a five minute home video that put tears in Kardashian's eyes.
In other news, Caitlyn Jenner is said to be trying her best to be a good mom to Kardashian after her traumatic experience in Paris, US Magazine reported. Caitlyn had been checking up on her daughter to see how she was holding up. On Kardashian's birthday, she also shared a snapshot of herself with a fresh-faced Kardashian.
Kardashian opted to be silent on social media ever since she left Paris. Kardashian also declined to appear at Hakkasan Las Vegas Nightclub set on Oct. 28. Kardashian reportedly no longer leaves her home without a bodyguard to keep her safe during the rare times that she goes out on important matters. Watch video about Kanye West's birthday video to Kardashian Kardashian on Twitter
The tech giant, Sony might reveal the PlayStation Plus November 2016 lineup this week. They haven't officially confirmed it, but it has been their pattern over the past few months, and their silence means a lot.
Since November is a busy month for gaming, fans have been anticipating exciting titles to be released. Sony most likely will release it on Wednesday, Oct. 26, the Express reports. The Playstation Plus selections in 2015 release includes Magicka 2 and The Walking Dead: Season 2 on PS4, Beyond Good & Evil and Mass Effect 2 on PS3. It also includes Dragon Fin Soup and Invizimals on PS Vita.
Rockstar also revealed that PS4 fans will soon enjoy their time in the Wild West. PS4 wrote in their blog: "For the past 20 years, Rockstar have continually redefined the concept of open worlds. From the record breaking Grand Theft Auto series, the Midnight Club racing games, the schoolyard comedy Bully, to the breakout hit Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar has consistently delivered on a level that few have managed to match."
The Red Dead Redemption 2 Trailer went live and the new titles from Rockstar Games seems to be a prequel although it is yet to be confirmed. A new deal has been settled between the two companies to allow some online content to go live on PS4 as confirmed by Sony.
On the other hand, it has been confirmed that the Skyrim Special Edition on PS4 and Xbox One doesn't come with mods pre-loaded. Pete Hines, the Studio's VP of marketing said in a Q&A that they don't make mods. Fans do by uploading them and then they pick a platform. Asked whether they will be able to make cheat mods on Fallout Four, he replied, "I don't see why know. Drop crates in the world packed with whatever you want. Drop items all over the place."
PlayStation Four or PS4 is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
OnePlus 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Battle of 2017 Premium Smartphones; Will the Flagship Killer Surpass the True Flagship Phone? Specs, Features
Despite the Samsung Note 7 fiasco, Samsung's Galaxy lineup is still arguably the best Android smartphone range. However, for years now, OnePlus dares to challenge this claim, so we now look at their 2017 flagships - the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the OnePlus 4.
Display
There is no doubt that Samsung reigns supreme in the display department. Their Super AMOLED quad-HD display in previous Galaxy phones always slay the competition. For the S8, however, the resolution will be upgraded to 4K, as well as the innovative edge display. It will be coming in two variants, a 5.1 and a 5.5-inch version.
OnePlus then intends to catch up, as they are reportedly integrating an Optic AMOLED display with quad-HD resolution. This display would then be able to output 4K content, as well as 3D video output. It is also perfect for VR headsets due to its display technology.
Hardware
Both smartphones are set to sport the upcoming Snapdragon 830. This powerful chipset has a clock speed of up to 3.2GHz. As the OnePlus 3 already has 6GB of RAM, the successor is expected to sport 8GB. The Samsung Galaxy S8, meanwhile, will be sporting a 6GB of RAM setup. Both phones will have a base internal storage of at least 64GB, although expandability still remains unconfirmed.
Camera
Again, this is a department where Samsung already dominates. The Samsung Galaxy S8 will do nothing but improve on the 12MP f/1.9 aperture rear camera of its predecessor, along with the 5MP front camera.
Meanwhile, the OnePlus 4 will be playing catch up, and may be overcompensating through the various camera technologies. This will be including a dual-lens setup, a 28MP rear camera, and a 21MP selfie snapper.
Price
Where OnePlus truly triumphs is the unbelievable value for money they offer with every smartphone. They are offering premium specs for a fraction of the price as compared to what Samsung offers. This year, the OnePlus 3 was slapped with a $400 price tag, while the Samsung Galaxy S7 costs around $670.
'Outlander' Season 3 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Claire, Jaime Reunion in Print Shop 'Emotional,' Says Roberts; More Plot Details Revealed
Starz's "Outlander" Season 3 will pick up right after the series left off: Claire (Caitriona Balfe) finds out that after returning to her normal life in the 1940s, the love of her life, Jaime (Sam Heughan) survived the Battle of Culloden. The new season will explore how the star-crossed lovers navigate through the aftermath of their separation and their struggle to lead normal lives without each other, haunted only by the memory of the other.
If that's not too emotional enough, the show's executive producer, Matthew Roberts, said fans should expect a tearjerker scene in "Outlander" Season 3. Though he refused to dish out more details about this certain scene, he cryptically told fans that he wouldn't put his favorite scene in "print." Reports are already speculating that Roberts was referring to the Print Shop scene in Diana Gabaldon's book "Voyager," on which "Outlander" Season 3 was based on.
'Outlander' Season 3: the Print Shop
For those who wish to know what the Print Shop scene was about and how it would relate to "Outlander" Season 3, spoilers ahead: in her quest to find Jaime again, Claire walks into a print shop where Jaime was. Initially, he doesn't recognize her when she called out to him, but eventually realizes it was Claire when she touches his broken nose. Jaime then faints after realizing Claire was real.
What to expect from 'Outlander' Season 3
Aside from their reunion, "Outlander" Season 3 will also look at Fraser, the young pickpocket boy whom Jaime and Claire treated like their own, grow up to be a dashing young man with impeccable sense of propriety, The Hollywood Reporter said. He will be played by Cesar Domboy, and will be joined by newcomer Lauren Lyle. Lyle, on the other hand, will be playing Laoghaire's daughter, who will do everything in her power to get what she want, reputation be damned. Will the two find their way to each other in "Outlander" Season 3?
No official announcement yet on "Outlander" Season 3 release date. So, stay tuned for more details.
Days of Our Lives Spoilers for Oct. 29 - 21: What Made Aiden Change His Mind?
The town of Salem will be a witness to a renewed Salemite relationship as things will turn for the better; at least on some of the characters on "Days of Our Lives." This week on DOOL spoilers show how Aiden (Daniel Cosgrove) will have a change of heart towards Hope (Kristian Alfonso).
For months now, Aiden tormented Hope about his capability of exposing her secret. Hope on the other hand remained positive that somehow, Aiden will not expose her, as long as she cooperates with him. As the new district attorney of Salem, Aiden said to Hope that he's now capable of exposing her involvement in the death of Stefano (Joseph Mascolo).
Now as she finally finds the courage to confront him, Aiden shows a side of him that even Hope didn't know he had. Aiden will leave for Oregon, leaving Hope to build a new life with Rafe (Galen Gering). Meanwhile, according to the CelebDirtyLaundry, "Days of Our Lives" spoilers reveal that, Dr. Valerie Grant (Vanessa Williams) will return to Salem to perform surgery on former flame Abe (James Reynolds). It should be a happy but subtle reunion, but Theo (Kyle Pettis) will see it differently. DOOL spoilers reveal that, Theo will see Dr. Grant as a threat to his relationship with Abe.
"Days of Our Lives" spoilers also reveal that Deimos (Vincent Irizarry) will start to have trust issues on Nicole (Arianne Zucker). After she allegedly cover up on Chloe's (Nadia Bjorlin) pregnancy, Deimos is positive, she can't trust Nicole anymore.
As for the Kiriakis, "Days of Our Lives" spoilers begin with Victor all set to pass the leadership on Titan to the next generation. His choices will be questioned and many in the Kiriakis family will try and get a hold of the company. DOOL spoilers reveal that, this is just the start of the long standing feud in the family.
For more "Days of Our Lives" spoilers, make sure to read us here on GameNGuide.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Latest News & Update: Samsung Offers Special Galaxy Note 8, S8 Upgrade For Korean Note 7 Customers
Samsung has come up with a special upgrade plan for select Korean customers who exchanged their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone units. As a customer retention program, the tech company is offering its upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and S8 units to eligible consumers.
After the massive recall of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone devices, the South Korean conglomerate is looking to retain its customers with a special mobile phone unit upgrade program. In a statement released on Oct. 24, Monday, obtained by Reuters, Samsung announced that eligible Korean customers can participate in the said trade-in program.
Korean Note 7 phone users who will trade in their units for a Samsung Galaxy 7 (S7) smartphone can opt to get either a Samsung Galaxy 8 (S8) or a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 when the said units are released next year. However, interested customers will need to pay for the S7 replacement at half its original price, according to the company's announcement. The S7 discounted purchase is a required step for customers to avail of the free S8 or Note 8 upgrade in the coming year.
At this time it is still unclear if the said upgrade promotion will be offered in other countries. The deployment of a similar upgrade plan will be "dependent on the situation in each country," as indicated in the report.
The company has also had to step up advertising and marketing activities for its other Galaxy S product line due to the Note 7's safety issues. Critics and market analysts have shared that Samsung may need to come up with other retention rewards and incentives to affected consumers as a way to protect its customer-base.
In other news, another Samsung Galaxy phone exploded but not a Note 7 unit. An employee working at one of the U.S.' big wireless carriers shared an incident where a customer handed in a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge smartphone that exploded.
In an email sent to Phone Arena, the employee recounted the customer's S7 Edge experience whose phone got damaged after charging it overnight with an OEM charger. The said customer only had the said unit for two weeks after having received it in exchange for a Note 7 phone.
Samsung has yet to comment on the latest S7 Edge smartphone explosion incident. Meanwhile, learn more about the Note 8 in the clip below:
2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Air Date, News & Update: Angels Are Officially Going To Paris; Here's Everything We Know So Far
It has already been officially confirmed that the next Victoria's Secret Fashion show will be taking place in Paris for the first time ever. The teaser shows the models who will be participating in the said fashion show receiving text messages that they have to pack their bags already as they learn that they are about to go somewhere for this year's big event.
E! Online reports that although the show's location would excite a lot of fans, there are still a lot of questions that surround the yearly big event. Fans are wondering if they will still be able to see their veteran favorites like Adrianna Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio, or which Angel will be sporting this year\s multi-million dollar bra?
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show has always been known to be held in New York City but it took place in London in 2014. The show also took place in Cannes sixteen years ago which means that this is not actually the first time that the show takes place in France, although it is still the first time that it takes place in Paris.
According to US Magazine, the announcement that the fashion show will be taking place in Paris was made on Monday, October 24. The annual lingerie and swimsuit presentation, which has always been hailed as one of the biggest fashion shows, has been hosted before in Miami, LA, NYC and Cannes.
This time, fans can expect to see some of the most popular Angels which include Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Elsa Hosk, Lily Aldridge, Martha Hunt and a lot of newer delightful faces walk the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. As usual, viewers will be treated to an all out showcase from behind-the-scenes shoots, pink carpet interviews and a lot more that takes in between the events at the show.
While the venue has already been confirmed and as some Angels have already confirmed their attendance, fans are still raving to know what this year's theme is and who is going to be the featured performer. Last year, viewers were treated to performances by Selena Gomez, The Weeknd and Ellie Goulding while Angels were strutting the ramps and it was Lily Aldrige who wore the $2 milllion Fantasy Bra.
Rotary got started in Long Beach in 1917 when seven local businessmen met with a New York Rotarian who talked about his club there.
Carolyn Rawles says she has been going to libraries pretty much every day since I was 17 years old. It was hard to keep me away.
Rawles, who got her start working at a Sacramento, California, library when she was in high school and who has been in library administration for 34 years, is retiring Nov. 1 after more than 18 years as director of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library.
Its been a very satisfying career, she said Monday. Im sad, actually. I really liked being a librarian. I have the best job in the city. I love what I do. It was hard for me to pick a major in college but after working in high school at a library I realized it was the right job for me. I mean, I read the whole encyclopedia.
The library business has changed dramatically since Rawles got involved professionally after getting her masters in library science at Indiana University. Computers. Electronic databases. Ebooks. The decline of bookstores.
Automating the library and getting library circulation systems on line was a huge task, Rawles said. And it took longer for it to happen at smaller libraries.
In the early days of the changeover, computers were all behind the counter and customers had to request online searches in a manner not unlike the way card catalogs were used by students doing research for term papers. But as the computer industry matured, higher speeds and lower costs came, and computers moved out into the middle of the library.
Also in the days before the internet, library personnel would take phone calls from people looking to resolve bar bets. Now, they can look up the population of Corvallis in 1910 on their smartphones. (The answer: 4,552.)
Another issue that has ebbed and flowed has been the patrons challenging library materials as inappropriate. Some years, Rawles said, challenges came in at the rate of one a month. This year there have only been one or two.
Whether an item is appropriate for children is the most common complaint and that makes sense, Rawles said. Movies produce a surprising number of the complaints, Rawles said.
Rawles said the library never has taken out an item because of complaints, but they have moved materials around, say from a youth section to an adult section.
Im glad that people express their views, Rawles said. Thats what were all about.
Libraries often have been key players in battles over access to information. Rawles recalled that when the Patriot Act passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, librarians were in the front lines, resisting government efforts to gather information on people based on items that they checked out at the library.
Certain things havent changed at all, Rawles said. Its all about access to information and a service orientation.
And its also all about kids and their parents..
One of the most important things we do is playing a role in the educational process for youth, Rawles said. We do work with at-risk youths, we have an early literacy coordinator who works with parents and we offer lifelong learning for adults.
We have three programs a day countywide for kids. There is always something for them to do here. And we like to say that when you go to the library its the one place you can take your kids in which they wont bug you about buying something. You can take books home for free.
Running the main Corvallis library plus the Bookmobile and branches in Philomath, Alsea and Monroe is a complex task, aided by the joint city-county funding arrangement, Rawles said. She has 58 employees (approximately 43 FTEs) and more than 200 volunteers. Adding support is the Friends of the Library, which works on online book-selling, library book sales, special events and equipment.
The librarys foundation, meanwhile, works on fundraising for long-term projects, including the Complete the Block campaign, which raised more than $600,000 to purchase the law office that occupies the lone parcel of land on the block not occupied by the library itself.
That is one of our greatest accomplishments since Ive been here, Rawles said. It was a one-time opportunity and it gives the flexibility to expand in the future.
A building consultant will be studying the matter in the new few months. There are two likely options:
One would be to move administrative and office functions into the law building, opening up more space in the library.
A second option involves demolishing the law building and adding on to the library.
Option two would be far more costly, said Rawles, who said that a bond measure likely would be required to move forward.
Its time for someone new to bring some new energy and fresh perspectives, Rawles said. Weve hired a lot of younger librarians lately. They are so smart and so creative. Its so neat that they are interested in a library career.
Rawles, meanwhile, plans to use her retirement to do a lot of traveling. In recent years she has traveled to India, Chile, Australia and Morocco, and she is planning another trip to India as well as a visit to Mexico.
The urge to travel coincides with her reading interests, which she said tend toward travel books and other nonfiction books about different cultures and different places.
Currently on her nightstand are The Last Jews of Kerala, by Edna Fernandes, a book about the Jewish experience in India, and The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman, the second volume by John Perkins about his experiences working on economic development in foreign countries.
It was time, she said of her retirement. Ive been wanting to travel more, and I wanted more flexibility with my schedule. But I wont stop coming to the library. Its hard to keep me away.
Dec. 5, 1920 Oct. 21, 2016
George VanLeeuwen, 95, of Halsey died in Albany at the Mennonite Village Rehab unit of age-related causes.
He was born at home near Jamestown, North Dakota, and moved with his family to Oregon in 1936. George lived most of his life on the VanLeeuwen farm west of Halsey, except for 1945-1956 during which time he attended and graduated from Oregon State Agricultural College and married Liz Nelson of Lakeview, Oregon.
He leaves behind his wife of 69 years, Liz VanLeeuwen; daughter Mary LeQuieu of Rio Rancho, New Mexico; three sons, Charles VanLeeuwen of Mountainair, New Mexico, and James VanLeeuwen and Tim VanLeeuwen of Halsey and their spouses; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, Eugene VanLeeuwen of Scio.
He briefly taught vocational agriculture before becoming a farm loan officer, and then in 1956 returned to Halsey to rent the family farm.
George touched many lives with his kind, intelligent, good-hearted spirit. Many will remember him for his warm, friendly smile. He leaves behind an impression of gentleness, caring and faith. George was a second father to many who looked up to his example and wisdom. He truly was one of the last good men left in the world, says Dutch cousin Paul Rutgers.
A viewing will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, at Fisher Funeral Home. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at Brownsville Baptist Church. Private interment will be at Pine Grove Cemetery.
Contributions may be made to Adult and Teen Challenge of Shedd, PO Box 108, Shedd, OR 97377 (http://www.teenchallengepnw.com/wvmc); or Ag in the Classroom, 200 Strand Ag Hall, OSU, Corvallis, OR 97331 (http://oregonaitc.org/).
Online condolences for the family may be posted at www.fisherfuneralhome.com.
The Philomath Outdoor School Program has been running consecutively for 28 years. This year will be the seventeenth year of my directorship.
Over 3,000 sixth graders have traveled through this program (myself included). Many of these sixth graders return to the program as high school cabin leaders and/or college field study leaders. Several of these former sixth graders have graduated college and returned as professional volunteers leading lessons in their fields of employment such as forestry, stream ecology, agriculture, geology, and botany.
I was dismayed at the editorial position of the Gazette-Times regarding Measure 99 mostly because it failed to recognize how Outdoor School Programs are directly tied to Oregons present and future economic development.
I recognize that many people have not experienced Outdoor School because programs have become virtually nonexistent. Philomath has been gifted with a community that has emphatically supported our Outdoor School program and a school district and faculty that recognizes its academic and leadership value.
Some things to consider:
The timber industry Outdoor School programs usually create curriculum based on regional relevance. For example, the Philomath program utilizes educational outreach provided by Starker Forests while the Tamarack program at Suttle Lake educates students on forest fire ecology. Both provide ample information on forest management and fosters knowledge and interest in the past, present, and future regarding Oregons timber industry.
Land management Outdoor School curriculum can implement concepts of land use planning, understanding of water treatment facilities and landfills, and what factors contribute to a healthy and sustainable community involving a diversity of stakeholders (ranchers, farmers, housing developers, business owners, timber industry, schools, families).
Agriculture Through partnerships with local farms and ranches, outdoor school students gain a more comprehensive sense of local food production. Students are eager to plant seeds, learn how to determine soil quality, explore worm bins, and gain an understanding of composting and the mechanics of profitable food production. Students can assist kitchen staff with dinner preparation, teaching the elements of safe food preparation.
Outdoor recreation Recreational activities during Outdoor School allow students to explore ways to play in the Oregonian natural environment. Canoeing, hiking, angling, archery, and basket weaving are just a few examples of activities students can engage in.
I can pinpoint the moment I fell in love with Oregon: camping and fishing with my grandparents. Many students today do not have the opportunity to get outside and connect with our state. If people do not connect with the natural environment, they are less likely to engage in Oregonian recreational activities and/or visit recreational equipment companies throughout the state.
Measure 99 is not a short-term economic idea. Its a long-term economic investment that will allow students throughout the state an opportunity to engage in outdoor, hands-on learning along the way. A quality Outdoor School program curriculum introduces students to a wide array of topics that spark knowledge and interest in the various systems that feed directly into Oregons economic development. The leadership growth that occurs for staff can contribute to job skill and competency. I encourage the Gazette-Times to reconsider its position.
Thank you for reading!
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IoT Zombies By now, you've heard about the hacking attack on Friday that took down the internet. Well, the internet is fine. But for several hours, three separate attacks clogged up the network, to basically make it impossible to reach web sites from Paypal to Twitter. The culprit? A malware code called Mirai that infected IoT devices including DVRs and security cameras, getting them to send messages by the hundreds of thousands. We'll break this down later today, and explain how you can try and protect your own devices from becoming zombies.
New MacBooks At the Apple event this week on Thursday, the company is expected to pull back the curtain on new MacBooksbut iMacs and displays? Not this year. However a 15-inch MacBook Pro is reportedly on the table with a Retina display and Touch ID. Other details, including the butterfly keyboard, are also expected. (Via MacRumors)
Sweden: Camera Drones No-No Sweden has said that camera drones are surveillance equipmentand therefore banned. The only people who can use them are essentially crime fighters such as police officers. Many in Sweden are, understandably, not thrilled and have warned the Supreme Administrative Court (which made the ruling) that this could harm the industry. (Via Aftonbladet)
Drone Down In the U.S., police actually shot at drones used during a protest in North Dakota on Sunday. The drone was one of several used by those who are protesting the Dakota Access pipeline. But officials said the drone had threatened a helicopter flown by an officerand shot at the flying device instead as they felt scared. (Via Associated Press)
Top Tech Toys For Teens Looking for a present this year sure to slick a smile on your teen and tween? We've got you covered. We culled the IoT toys our teen reviewers gave the thumbs up to, to make your holiday season a little simpler.
New Years Eve attacks : Criminal psychologist contradicts NRW Interior Minister
Dusseldorf The dimension of the attacks in Cologne on New Years Eve was recognizable, says one of Germanys most famous criminal psychologists. Police were completely overwhelmed and under-equipped.
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One of the most famous criminal psychologists in Germany has surprisingly contradicted the state government in an examination of the massive assaults on New Years Eve in Cologne. Wiesbaden scientist Rudolf Egg was called as a witness before a commission of inquiry in the state parliament. While North Rhine Westphalias (NRW) Interior Minister Ralf Jager said the massive assaults by a mob of young migrant men only became clear on January 4th, Egg disagreed. The numbers speak against that, he said. 22 percent of complaints had already been filed on New Years Day.
As a consultant to the committee, Egg evaluated over 1,000 assault complaints filed. Almost half of them were sexual assaults. Apparently, many cases were not handled with sensitivity and according to Egg, a predominant number of the victims were migrants themselves. Most of the women had to report the attacks to male police officers. 62 percent of the sexual offenses were written up by men. Egg also added that most of the complaint reports filed were kept very brief.
According to Egg, Cologne police were overwhelmed and under-equipped. It was from the outset too few, he said. The state had turned down a request from Cologne for another 38 police officers. Because steps were not taken at the first signs of an emergency situation, it got completely out of hand. The attacks were not an entirely new crime phenomenon and not the result of a criminal conspiracy. The escalation that night was rather a consequence of social contagion because the police had not intervened. It allowed a hunting mood to develop, described the criminal psychologist. From his perspective, a zero tolerance policy would have been necessary.
During the hearing, emergency calls recorded on New Years Eve were played back for the first time. There was ample information from citizens about a state of emergency and out of control situation at the Cologne Cathedral and central train station far before midnight. At 11 p.m., an obviously distraught woman called, saying men were groping under dresses and the police were not doing anything.
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Drugstore chain DM : Organic food proves popular
BONN A drugstore chain is getting a big boost from its own brand of organic foods. Bonn customers have a healthy appetite for the market.
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It seems Bonn residents have taken a big liking to organic food products. Martina Bender is regional director for 32 stores of the drugstore chain DM in the Bonn area and on Monday, she presented the annual figures. With earnings of 135 million euro, they showed an increase of 6.3 percent over the previous year. Alluding to the growing consumption of organic products, she said, Many well-informed customers live here and many students.
The chain now offers more than 1,000 organic food products to its customers, 350 of them are a DM brand. Products from organic brand Alnatura are seen less and less on the shelves and by 2016, they should no longer be in the inventory. There have been several related court cases between DM founder Gotz Werner and Alnatura head Gotz Rehn. Bender commented, Of course there are many locations with Alnatura fans.
B9 in Oberwinter : Truck driver killed in crash
Oberwinter A truck driver was killed in a serious accident on Monday morning. The B9 was closed off for six hours while traffic backed up.
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A deadly accident occurred on Monday morning on the B9 in Oberswinter. At around 9:50 a.m., a truck was traveling from Remagen towards Bonn when it veered off the road to the right, crashing into parked cars and then thrown into the opposite lane and finally plunging down a four meter deep embankment. The truck landed in a liquid gas tank which had been stored next to a house. Suffering serious injuries, the 50-year-old truck driver was taken to hospital, where he died of his injuries a short time later.
Around 30 members of the fire department were called to the scene of the accident. Because of the difficulty in recovering the damaged truck and cars, police had to close off the road completely for six hours. Traffic backed up in both directions, all the way to Mehlem and also towards Remagen.
The fire department reported that there was a danger of explosion due to the liquid gas tank. A nearby Catholic kindergarten, Arche Noah had to be evacuated while the gas was pumped out of the tank. Kindergarten director Christa Uhrmacher said It was purely a preventative measure and that all had gone without a hitch, and the children were picked up later by their parents.
Four parked cars were damaged in the accident; after being hit by the truck they were pushed into each other. Some of the cars were a total loss. The truck had been carrying a load of wash machines and was contracted to a delivery firm. A special crane was brought in to remove the truck from the crash scene.
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Protecting the worlds oceans an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy
The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs.
5 Features to Expect From UPCOMING Huawei Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro Features oi -Prajith The year 2016 is all about dual camera setup and dual-edge display and reportedly Huaweis Mate 9 Pro will be no exception.
The year 2016 has been all about dual camera setup and dual-edge display technology on smartphones. Though Samsung has been using the dual-edge curved display tech for a while now, Chinese smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi and Huawei have started opting this tech very recently.
Rumours are abuzz that the upcoming Xiaomi Mi Note 2 will tout a curved dual-edge display and apparently, the latest smartphone purported to join the bandwagon is Huawei's Mate 9 Pro.
SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge brilliantly fills the gap created by Galaxy Note 7
Evan Blass (otherwise known as @evleaks) a popular leakster shared renders of what could be the Huawei Mate 9 Pro revealing a dual-edge curved display.
SEE ALSO: 5 Simple Tricks to Search YouTube Videos Like a Pro
He has also revealed a few other features to expect from the standard Huawei Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro smartphones. Let's take a look at them one by one.
Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals
A QHD display to complement the dual-edge curved design Complementing the dual-edge curved design, the Huawei Mate 9 Pro will rock a 5.9-inch QHD display (1440x2560 pixels). Whereas the standard version - the Mate 9 will feature a Full HD display. Evan Blass attributes the considerate bump in the resolution of the Mate 9 Pro to the Google's Daydream VR support. Powered by in-house Kirin 960 SoC Apart from the variations in display resolution, there are not many differences between the two smartphones. At the heart of the Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro will be an in-house 64-bit octa-core Kirin 960 chipset. This high-end chipset is expected to be paired with at least 4GB of RAM (possibly 6GB RAM on the Pro variant) and 64GB of storage space with it reaching as high as 256GB (64GB, 128GB, 256GB). Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box? According to someone familiar with the company, only the Pro variant will offer Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box with the standard Mate 9 running the Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Click Here for New Android Smartphones Best Online Deals Dual camera setup co-engineered by Leica Akin to the one on the company's previously released flagship, the Huawei P9, the Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro will feature dual camera setup at the back co-engineered by Leica. The pixel count, however, appears to be bumped up to 20 MP. Additionally, the camera is speculated to support OIS, the one that was missed by the company on P9. Pricing and availability The Huawei Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro are tipped to launch on November 3 at an event hosted by the company in Germany. The Pro variant is speculated to be priced at USD 1,300 which roughly translates to around Rs. 87,000 and the standard Mate 9 is rumoured to bear a price tag starting at USD 480 (approximately Rs. 32,000).
Best Mobiles in India
Generate the Jio Offer Code
Firstly, you will have to generate the Jio offer code by installing the MyJio app like you'd do otherwise.
Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals
Visit the nearest Reliance Digital or DX mini store
Once the barcode is generated, pay a visit to the nearest Reliance Digital or DX mini store along with the documents mentioned below.
Provide the ID card issued by your college/school
One of the most important documents you've to carry while visiting the Reliance Digital store is a photocopy of the ID card issued by your current school/college/university.
What other docs will I need if Im below 18 years of age?
In addition to a valid ID card issued by your institute, you'll have to provide the address and ID proof of your parents (in most cases Aadhaar card will do) just to make sure that you're taking the SIM card under your parent's supervision. Also, carry your own ID card (apart from college ID card) and address proof along with a passport size photo.
Get additional Wi-FI data benefits
Under the Student SIM scheme, Reliance Jio is offering 25% additional Wi-Fi data benefits on every recharge you make. For those who are not in the know, Wi-Fi data is nothing but the amount of internet you can use while you're connected to a public Jio Hotspot.
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Lack of Support from Rivals
The major problem with the Reliance Jio is that other telecom services aren't providing much support and as a result, there is nearly 10 crore call drops daily, which is underwhelming. A recent report claimed that the call drops on Airtel dropped from 75 percent to 57 percent.
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Weak Customer Support
To match with its rivals, Reliance Jio must develop a better customer support to respond and escalate the issues quickly. As of now, the customer support doesn't even respond to the emails or Twitter messages.
Need to Interconnect With Others
As said earlier, Bharti Airtel, earlier blamed Reliance Jio for nearly 2 crore call drops due to interconnection issues. Having said that, the telecom major also claimed that the Jio is responsible for this, but not Airtel.
To Increase Number Base
At the time of its launch, Mukesh Ambani quoted that they are looking for 100 million users by the end of this year. And, the new entrant already has over 16 million of users in just a month, which is an insane achievement.
If the company won't achieve their estimated target by the end of this year, then they will look at the offer expansion until sometime next year.
Lack in Real-life Operation
The Jio 4G service is good in terms of network quality, but the company's way of operation need to change. Some Reliance Digital stores say that they don't have SIM cards.
What, Seriously? This is making several users fuming over the internet. All said and done, Mukesh Ambani's words a the AGM were just words and they don't reflect in real life.
All these reasons suggest that the service will likely be extended to early 2017 as well, which might be applicable for the welcome offer as well.
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Coalition Strikes Hit ISIL Terrorists in Iraq, Syria
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 24, 2016 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Strikes in Syria
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted four strikes in Syria:
-- Near Raqqah, two strikes engaged two ISIL supply routes and destroyed an oil pumpjack.
-- Near Manbij, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.
-- Near Palmyra, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.
Strikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter, remotely piloted and rotary wing aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 10 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:
-- Near Rutbah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed five vehicles.
-- Near Bashir, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb and a vehicle.
-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units, two rocket systems, two anti-aircraft artillery systems and two staging areas; destroyed 19 fighting positions, 17 vehicles, 10 heavy machine guns, nine mortar systems, eight command and control nodes, six repeater towers and four tunnels; and damaged four fighting positions, two vehicles, a mortar system and a tunnel.
-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIL bunker.
-- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit
Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
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Carter, Inherent Resolve Commander Brief Operations in Iraq, Syria
By Cheryl Pellerin DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2016 Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Army Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, updated reporters yesterday on operations in Iraq and Syria during a news conference in Irbil, Iraq.
On this week's international trip, Carter also is visiting Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, France and Belgium to meet with key partners in the campaign to deliver the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant a lasting defeat, and to participate in the fifth NATO defense ministerial conference of his tenure as defense secretary.
In Irbil, Carter met with troops, praising them for excellent work in the current phase of the military campaign, supporting Iraqi security forces in their battle to liberate the city of Mosul from ISIL control.
Taking Mosul
"That plan in this phase starting just a few days ago calls for the envelopment and capture of the city of Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq and one that was captured by ISIL," Carter told reporters. "That battle has begun, and it's proceeding on plan."
The secretary met earlier in the day with Masoud Barzani, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region since 2005, congratulating him and his forces on their critical role in carrying out the Mosul campaign.
Carter also visited the joint operations center in Irbil, where coalition members work with Iraqis and Kurdish peshmerga forces and coalition forces.
"They are not only working here in Iraq, but also in Syria," he said, "as we plan and then carry out support of operations there, including the envelopment of Raqqa, the would-be capital of the would-be caliphate."
In his remarks, Townsend said he'd received a preliminary report Barzani about considerable success by the Kurdish peshmerga in a fight at Bashiqa, a city in the Mosul district of northern Iraq.
"If you think about Mosul as a hard center and then a softer middle and then a very hard crust," the general said, "Bashiqa is one of those villages that ISIL has emptied of civilians and fortified for the past two years. We think it's heavily [booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices], probably tunneled as well [and] very fortified."
When forces punch through the hard crust, Townsend added, that will be the next phase of the approach.
"We're still on the approach -- the isolation, choking down the cordon around Mosul and getting through that hard external crust," he explained. "Bashiqa is a part of that hard external crust."
Countering ISIL
Townsend addressed recent ISIL attacks at the Iraqi town of Rutbah in western Anbar province and the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
"We know and the Iraqi security forces know and the government of Iraq is expecting spoiling attacks [by ISIL] to try to draw our attention from Mosul," he said. "The government of Iraq is handling [the complex attack at Rutbah] without a lot of coalition assistance, and that's necessary so they can keep their eye on the main objective here in Mosul."
On targeting high-value members of the ISIL leadership, Carter said such external operations are the coalition's highest priority.
"We are getting better and better at that, [and] it helps in several ways," he added, noting first that the coalition gets more information about how ISIL operates, and with that comes new opportunities to attack external plotters.
External Operations
The terrorist army also gets squeezed down in its territory, more concerned about their own security and less free to orchestrate complex attacks against Iraq or externally, including the United States, the secretary said.
Townsend added that there's an overlap at the top tier of ISIL leadership between leadership in Mosul, leadership in Raqqa and external operations. "The top-tier leaders are involved in all of those things," he said, "so by killing those individuals, we affect both sides of this theater, and external operations as well."
Targeting mid-tier leaders causes confusion in the ranks of defenders in Mosul, Townsend said. "Both [top- and mid-tier] efforts have been successful, and I think they're going to pay off here in the coming weeks ahead," he added.
Dismantling the Caliphate
Carter said it's essential that the Iraqi security forces destroy ISIL in the cities of Mosul and Raqqa, but pointed out that doing so doesn't end the campaign.
"We know that ISIL will take to other lesser locations in the countryside in Iraq, to take the Iraq example," he said. "And we're all planning to help the Iraqi security forces consolidate their control over all of Iraqi territory." Defeating ISIL in Iraq and Syria is essential but not sufficient, the secretary added.
"That's why -- whether it's Afghanistan or Libya or anywhere else -- we and our coalition partners have a campaign wherever ISIL may pop up, and every time we eliminate overseas an external plotter, we contribute to the protection of the homeland," the secretary said.
Every time the coalition gathers intelligence, he added, "we're able to share that with our law enforcement and intelligence partners back home so we can interdict anybody who might be trying to plan or conduct attacks in the United States."
After victory in Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria, Carter said, the fight will become more of a counterterrorism effort when ISIL's physical caliphate is dismantled.
"They will not have the fiction any longer that there is an Islamic state based upon this ideology," he said. "They will not have territory from which to plot freedom of action [or] any kind of territory of this size to operate from. And we'll learn more and more about [ISIL's leadership] so we'll know more [about] how to eliminate their leadership, and that makes them more vulnerable."
Townsend echoed the secretary's point. "You can't be a caliphate without territory," he said. "So in one way, the fight has been clean -- at least we know where the enemy is as long as he has territory. But at the same time, that's balanced by the fact that he's then just an idea, an ideology and terrorist insurgent organization."
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U.S. Department of Defense
Press Operations
News Release
No. NR-378-16 October 24, 2016
Readout of Secretary Carter's Meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates met today in Abu Dhabi to discuss a range of regional issues. The meeting at the Emirates Palace took place on the heels of the secretary's visits to both Turkey and Iraq.
Secretary Carter and the crown prince began the meeting with a discussion of the campaign against the Islamic State and the battle for Mosul. The conversation then turned to U.S.-UAE cooperation on countering terrorism and defending freedom of navigation around the Arabian Peninsula.
Both parties emphasized the importance of the U.S.-UAE strategic partnership and reiterated the shared commitment to ensuring a stable and secure Middle East. With both noting the already strong bilateral security cooperation, Secretary Carter and the crown prince agreed to deepen defense ties going forward.
http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/984401/
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USS Detroit Commissioned in Namesake City
Navy News Service
Story Number: NNS161024-01
Release Date: 10/24/2016 7:38:00 AM
By By Lt. j. g. Joey Seymour, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West
DETROIT (NNS) -- The crew of USS Detroit (LCS 7) brought its ship to life before a crowd of nearly 6,500 in front of the iconic General Motors building at the Port of Detroit.
The ship was officially placed in commission by Adm. Phil Davidson, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, who remarked, "When a ship is commissioned she is placed in service of the American people and is given the charge to do one thing: to execute the Navy's mission - to be prepared to conduct prompt, sustained combat incident to operations at sea."
U.S. Navy ships are rarely commissioned in the city for which they are named, as such, the state of Michigan was well represented during the event by Michigan's Governor, Rick Snyder; Mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan; and U.S. Senators, Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow.
Stabenow noted the commissioning was taking place, "on a pure Michigan day" and thanked USS Detroit's crew for the years of hard work leading up to the culminating event.
Davidson acknowledged the ship's crew and recognized that everybody involved with the ship have a connection to something bigger than themselves.
"Today is about service. The service of this fine ship, those who designed and built her, those who will support her throughout her lifetime and the Sailors and officers who will make it realize its full combat capability."
"It is the totality of this idea of service, that together, we as Americans and your Navy make the United States Navy ready to fight and win," Davidson affirmed.
The ship's sponsor, Barbara Levin, a Detroit native and wife of former U.S. Senator, Carl Levin, gave the order to, "man our ship and bring her to life."
The excited crowd cheered as members of the crew ran aboard the ship, manned its rails and brought it to life. The commissioning ceremony capped off a week of events including public tours, a media day and even participation at a Detroit Red Wings game.
The ship's electronic materials officer, Lt. Christina Danai, noted the enthusiasm that the ship's namesake displayed during commissioning week. "This city has been overwhelming accommodating and a class-act.
"They've treated our crew with kindness. It's exciting for the city and the crew has come together to make sure the public has a great experience. More than 1,000 people toured this ship this week."
USS Detroit (LCS 7) is the sixth United States ship to be named for the city of Detroit. Her predecessors were USS Detroit (1813), USS Detroit (1869), USS Detroit (C-10), USS Detroit (CL-8) and USS Detroit (AOE-4). The captain of LCS 7 is Cmdr. Michael P. Desmond who stated, "USS Detroit is truly blessed to have the opportunity to commission in its namesake city. The ship and the city of Detroit have already established a relationship that will last decades."
A fast, agile and high-technology surface combatant, Detroit, like the other ships in her class, will serve as a platform for launch and recovery of manned and unmanned vehicles.
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) can swap out mission packages adapting as the tactical situation demands. These ships feature advanced networking capability to share tactical information with other Navy aircraft, ships, submarines and joint units.
Detroit's modular design will support interchangeable mission packages, allowing the ship to be reconfigured for antisubmarine warfare, mine warfare or surface warfare missions on an as-needed basis.
The 378-foot Detroit was constructed at Marinette Marine Corporation, Marinette, Wisconsin.
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USS Mount Whitney Arrives in Piraeus, Greece
Navy News Service
Story Number: NNS161024-06
Release Date: 10/24/2016 9:25:00 AM
By Seaman Ford Williams, USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) Public Affairs
PIRAEUS, Greece (NNS) -- U.S. 6th Fleet command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) arrived in Piraeus, Greece, for a scheduled port visit, Oct. 24.
Mount Whitney's port visit provides Sailors an opportunity to meet with naval counterparts in order to strengthen bonds for an enhanced partnership.
Quotes:
"The USS Mount Whitney is conducting a port visit to Piraeus, Greece as part of the longstanding security relationship between the United States and the Hellenic Republic, which dates back to the end of the second World War. We are grateful for the opportunity and the support of our hosts." - Capt. Carlos A. Sardiello, commanding officer, USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20)
Quick Facts:
Strengthening alliances during the port visit to Piraeus, Greece, demonstrates the shared commitment to promote safety and stability within the region, while seeking opportunities to enhance interoperability with NATO allies and partners.
Mount Whitney is currently operating in the Mediterranean Sea, working with allies and regional partners to help develop and improve maritime forces, maintain regional security, and work towards mutual goals in order to advance security and stability in Europe.
Mount Whitney is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe.
U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.
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China will never allow US to run amok in South China Sea: People's Daily
People's Daily Online
(People's Daily Online) 09:48, October 24, 2016
China will never allow the US to run amok in South China Sea waters, the People's Daily asserted in a commentary on Sunday after a US Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Decatur, sailed through the waters of the Xisha Islands on Friday without the Chinese approval.
What the US did, driven by its hegemonic mentality, cannot increase its influence in Asia-Pacific region, the article said, adding that such acts to stir up enmity and make troubles will only result in the accelerated decline of its global influence.
The Chinese government resolutely opposes such provocative behavior and takes a series of effective counter-measures, added the commentary under the byline of "Zhongsheng".
The following is the translation of the article:
A US Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Decatur, sailed through Xisha Island waters, part of the South China Sea as Chinese territorial waters on Friday without the approval of Chinese authorities. The Chinese government resolutely opposes such provocative behavior and will take a series of effective counter-measures.
In the statement of the Chinese government on the territorial sea baseline issued in May 1996, China clarified the baseline of the Xisha Islands. The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone and other international laws also stipulates that all foreign warships need to gain approval from the Chinese government before entering Chinese waters.
The illegal entry of US warships into Chinese waters without permission seriously violates China's sovereignty and security interests, breaches both Chinese and international laws as well, and poses threats to peace, security as well as order in the relevant waters.
What the US did aims to encroach upon the sovereignty, security and maritime interests of regional countries in the so-called name of a "freedom-of-navigation operation." But such provocative acts once again expose the negative energy of its "Rebalance to Asia" strategy, and at the same time verify the US' role as a real trouble-maker in the South China Sea.
The so-called patrol launched by the US this time came just as China and the Philippines, a country immediately concerned with the South China Sea issue, were restoring their ties. During Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's state visit to China, the two countries inked a series of cooperation agreements.
This US provocation in Chinese territorial waters, at a time when the improvement of ties between China and relevant countries is pulling the South China Sea issue to a encouraging solution, proves that the US has been destabilizing the South China Sea by playing up tensions.
By launching the so-called patrols, the superpower is telling the world that it can tolerate neither a tranquil South China Sea, nor a peaceful and stable Asia-Pacific. Since it cannot find a puppet troublemaker any longer, the exasperated Washington has to create a disturbance by itself.
President Duterte pointed out in a speech that "the US feels a little anxious over China's sound ties with the Philippines," and his remarks revealed the complicated psychology of the US. Its peremptory provocation, as a matter of fact, can be regarded as a way to release its depression and an inertia to maintain its hegemony.
Washington has to realize that it is rightly this hegemonic mentality that has resulted in its declining global influence and inability to provide public goods with positive energy. It also has to admit that the era when one country can dominate an alliance network by creating tensions with lies will never come back.
No one wants to weaken the US' influence in the Asia-Pacific region, but such influence must be based on a positive dedication to common development of the whole region. Its outdated hegemonic mentality is by no means accepted by regional countries who aspire for peace, cooperation and shared progress.
It is well-known that "freedom-of-navigation," often cited by the US as a pretext, is actually a falsehood to allow the country to pursue "absolute freedom" of its own security. But the US should bear in mind the ultimate consequences of seeking absolute security as the country has paid enough bitter prices for its arrogance and ignorance.
The arbitrary decision will certainly bring the country to deadlock, and such a stubborn country may obtain some hard power, but never soft power and smart power.
If the US really wants to be a world power, it can never resort to guns, firearms, separation or fishing in troubled waters. Efforts to expand interests can be shared by all countries. Highfalutin words but obstinate and aggressive deeds will win no respect and trust from other countries.
Over the past years, in a bid to cement its maritime hegemony, the US has been destabilizing regional peace and stability by meddling in the South China Sea, challenging China and alienating ties between China and the Philippines.
Washington has not realized that those tricks cannot overturn the regional trend of peaceful development. As the Philippines once appealed, "We can't be US' 'little brown brother' forever." Its choice to adjust diplomatic policies and reinforce cooperation with China also proves that an unjust cause committed to by the US finds little support.
What's more, the US should not bear any fantasy in terms of the South China Sea issue as this is not its first head-to-head game with China. China has a rock-solid determination to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity. China will not ask for anything not belonging to itself, but it will fight for every inch of its territory within its sovereignty.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the gathering commemorating the 80th anniversary of the conclusion of the Long March (1934-36), urged the entire military to remain vigilant and be aware of its responsibilities, stressing that the modernization of national defense and armed forces must advance in a bid to safeguard the country's national sovereignty, security and development interests.
The US' consolidation of hegemony with military actions will only highlight China's necessity to strengthen defense, and activate China's resolution to improve its capability to safeguard its own interests.
The Chinese army will definitely safeguard China's national sovereignty and security by stepping up patrols based on demand and optimizing its defensive capabilities. China will never allow the US to run amok in the South China Sea, an issue concerning principles.
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Nasrallah demands joint efforts to help Lebanon presidential election
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 6:31PM
Secretary General of Hezbollah resistance movement, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, has called upon all Lebanese political parties to join forces and put a favorable end to the 30-month presidential void in the Arab country.
During a meeting with the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement and presidential hopeful, Michel Aoun, in Beirut on Sunday night, Nasrallah stressed the need for concerted efforts in order to direct the upcoming presidential vote in Lebanon toward a good conclusion, Hezbollah said in a statement released on Monday.
The Hezbollah chief also exchanged viewpoints on the latest regional developments and internal issues of Lebanon, particularly the election of the country's president, with Aoun.
Aoun, for his part, expressed his gratitude to Nasrallah over his efforts to facilitate an end to Lebanon's presidential vacuum.
"We are here tonight to thank Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah for helping us resolve the obstinate presidential election problem, and for providing all facilities to solve this issue. Thanks God, we've reached a happy ending," the Free Patriotic Movement founder said.
He also praised the Hezbollah leader for his support and tolerance concerning national issues.
Addressing people in a Sunday afternoon speech marking a week since the killing of Hezbollah military commander, Hatem Hamade, in Syria, Nasrallah said, "Everything can be solved through dialogue. We do not impose any decision on our allies. Each of us has his own approach."
He emphasized that Hezbollah's members of parliament would vote for Aoun to become president of Lebanon during the next parliamentary session.
Lebanon has been without a president for more than two years, when the term of last president, Michel Suleiman, came to an end in May 2014.
The Lebanese parliament has so far been unsuccessful to pick a president because the two-third quorum needed to hold a vote has yet to be gained. Parliament will convene on October 31 for the 46th session to elect the president.
Hezbollah has accused Saudi Arabia of opposing political initiatives and obstructing the election of a president in Lebanon.
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US protests Philippine president's 'separation' from Washington
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 4:41PM
The top American envoy for Asia has expressed deep concerns over Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's statements against the United States and its leadership.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affair Daniel Russel pronounced the concerns in a meeting with the Philippines' defense and foreign ministers on Monday at the Department of Foreign Affairs in suburban Pasay, south of Manila, the Philippine capital, days after Duterte announced a break with the United States.
During a visit to China last week, President Duterte announced a "separation from the US," saying it applied to military and economic cooperation between Washington and Manila.
However, a day later, Duterte walked back slightly from the statement, saying he did not mean total "separation" from Washington.
Last month, Duterte insulted US President Barack Obama with vulgar and undiplomatic language.
Russel said he told Philippine officials that many people around the world were concerned about Duterte's fiery rhetoric.
"The succession of controversial statements, comments and a real climate of uncertainty about the Philippines' intentions have created consternation in a number of countries," Russel told reporters in Manila.
"Not only in mine and not only among governments, but also growing concern in other communities, in the expat Filipino community, in corporate boardrooms as well. This is not a positive trend," he stated.
Russel said he also conveyed to Philippine ministers American concerns about Duterte's handling of the deadly crime war, including alleged extrajudicial killings of drug dealers.
"I also reiterated the importance that we place and that others place on due process and respect for the rights of citizens as an important part of protecting our communities as well," Russel said.
Analysts say the United States is very worried after President Duterte's pronouncement of his country's "separation" from the US and deepening alliance with China.
"We see a very great change in Philippine policy. Instead of serving as a military base for the United States to attack China, I think they are going to reduce their military ties to the United States, and expand their economic ties with China, and as a result, I think, the US will eventually lose one of their key military outposts controlling China's trade on the South China Sea," American writer James Petras told Press TV on Friday.
"I think this is a major blow to US imperial ambitions in Asia," stated Petras, who has written dozens of books on American foreign policy.
Last month, the forthright Filipino leader harshly criticized the US and President Obama, and said he was not a "puppet" of America. "I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people."
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Gunfire erupts between UN peacekeepers, armed men in Central African Republic
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 3:21PM
Hundreds of protesters in the Central African Republic (CAR) have called for the departure of United Nations peacekeepers from the country, amid a reported gunfire exchange between the UN forces and an armed group.
The protesters gathered near a major roundabout in the CAR capital of Bangui on Monday, holding anti-UN posters and throwing stones at the troops deployed in the area.
"We have seen that their mission has no use and it's just better that they leave," said a participant in the rally.
Herve Verhoosel, the spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in the CAR (MINUSCA), also said a brief firefight had erupted earlier in the morning when unidentified armed men opened fire on a UN patrol.
He said that he was unaware of the probable casualties in the attack, adding that the situation was under control and calm had returned to the area.
The CAR, one of the world's poorest countries, plunged into turmoil in December 2013, when Christian armed groups launched coordinated attacks against the mostly-Muslim Seleka group, which itself had toppled the government in March that year.
Clashes have forced MINUSCA to deploy some 12,000 troops in the resource-rich African country.
In July 2014, Seleka and anti-Balaka representatives signed a ceasefire agreement in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville, but the country has not yet emerged from its bloody past.
According to the latest UN estimates, the conflict in the CAR has left thousands of people dead and internally displaced 399,000 people. The conflict has also forced hundreds of people to flee to neighboring countries.
The call for the departure of the UN peacekeepers comes as MINUSCA has been dogged by dozens of allegations of sexual abuse in the CAR.
Last December, a study by independent experts accused the UN of failing to respond to "gross institutional failure" to abuse allegations.
It said that children as young as nine were encouraged to have sex in exchange for food or money in the country.
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Border firing from Indian Kashmir kills 2 civilians: Pakistan army
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:49AM
Pakistan's army says Indian troops have opened fire and killed two civilians, including an 18-month-old girl, across the two countries' de facto border in the disputed region of Kashmir.
A military statement said Monday that the "unprovoked" firing, which came overnight from three sectors near the Sialkot district in Pakistan's Punjab Province, also wounded seven Pakistani villagers.
The shelling hit Harpal, Pukhlian and Charwah sectors along the disputed "working boundary," which separates Pakistan's Punjab Province from Indian-controlled Kashmir's Jammu region, it said.
The Pakistani military also said its troops responded to the attack.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that an Indian soldier was also killed due to cross-border shelling on Sunday night.
Relations between the two countries have plummeted in recent months, with India blaming Pakistan for a raid on an army base in its part of disputed Kashmir in September that killed 19 soldiers.
Delhi responded with what it called "surgical strikes", infuriating Islamabad.
Sunday night's incident comes days after Indian border security forces said they shot dead seven Pakistani soldiers in retaliation for a ceasefire violation, with Pakistan refuting the claims.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan, but claimed in full by both, since the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947.
The restive region has witnessed an increase in mass protests and violent attacks since early July, when Burhan Wani, a top figure in a pro-independence group, was killed in a shootout with Indian troops.
As many as 55 people have so far been killed and several thousands of others injured during clashes between protesters and Indian security personnel.
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Agrarian newcomers claim victory in Lithuania runoff elections
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 7:24AM
The Lithuanian political party representing farmers and environmentalists has claimed victory in runoff parliamentary elections, which saw voters reject the ruling Social Democrats.
The Peasants and Green Union is expected to win over one-third, or precisely 54 seats, in the 141-member house of parliament after the second round of voting, according to preliminary results provided by the Central Electoral Committee on Sunday.
Electoral experts say this is the biggest victory by a single Lithuanian party in 20 years.
The second-place went to Homeland Union-Christian Democrats with 30 seats, while the incumbent ruling party, the Social Democrats, would take 18 seats. The rest went to several smaller parties.
The new coming party, headed by millionaire farmer Ramunas Karbauskis, said it would start negotiations with the center-right Homeland Union and center-left Social Democrats over forming a coalition government on Monday.
Our major challenge is "to stop citizens fleeing Lithuania," Karbauskis, the party's chairman, told reporters.
In the weeks leading up to the election, the agrarian bloc's leaders had vowed to stop the flow of emigrants to richer parts of the European Union by reviving the country's economy.
"Our government will be transparent, responsible, professional and resolute," announced Saulius Skvernelis, who led the party's election campaign and is expected to serve as prime minister in the next government.
"I think people got fed up" with the incumbent government, Skvernelis said.
Meanwhile, observers say it is difficult to predict whether the new government, which is expected to take over in December, will lean towards the right or left.
"It's hard to predict what path the new government will take because the Peasants and Greens' manifesto is full of contradictions," said Ramunas Vilpisauskas, head of the Vilnius Institute of International Relations and Political Science.
Since Lithuania joined the EU in 2004, an estimated 370,000 people have left the country to work elsewhere across the bloc.
Lithuania was hit hard by the global economic recession in 2009-2010. Like its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia, the country regained independence after splitting from the Soviet Union in 1990.
At the beginning of last year, it adopted the EU's common currency, euro, which has sharply increased prices while wages and pensions remain among the lowest in the bloc.
The EU is passing through a critical period due to the current refugee crisis, international terror threats, struggling economies and a division among its members.
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70 Daesh-aligned terrorists killed in Egyptian air raids
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 12:59AM
At least 70 Takfiri terrorists have been killed and 70 more wounded in Egyptian Air Force raids in the country's restive Sinai Peninsula.
During a series of predawn attacks, Egyptian fighter jets hit positions held by the Daesh-aligned Velayat Sinai terrorist group in the village of Bolus, said Egyptian security forces on Sunday.
Several vehicles belonging to the terrorists were also destroyed in the attacks, which were among the most extensive ones since the Egyptian armed forces launched a massive operation against the militants in northern Sinai in 2015, following coordinated terrorist attacks on several army checkpoints that claimed the lives of 21 soldiers in July the same year.
The sources noted that Egyptian troops also foiled a terrorist bombing plot after discovering four explosive devices at a communications post in the region.
The Egyptian raids came one day after a senior Egyptian army officer, whose base of operations was in Sinai, was gunned down on the outskirts of the capital Cairo. Brigadier General Adel Raga'i, a commander of the Egyptian army's armored division, was shot to death near his home on Saturday.
Velayat Sinai Takfiri terrorist group -- previously known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis -- which pledged allegiance to the Daesh terrorist group in 2014, has been responsible for most of the attacks in the Sinai Peninsula as well as Cairo.
Such attacks have increased since the 2013 ouster by the military of Egypt's first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi. Raga'i was the most senior military official to be assassinated since the toppling of Morsi.
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South African Opposition Party Challenges Gov't ICC Decision in Court
Sputnik News
18:44 24.10.2016
The Democratic Alliance, the main opposition party in South Africa, filed its founding affidavit for direct access to the Constitutional Court, in order to challenge the constitutionality of the South African Government's notice to initiate the process of withdrawing from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party in South Africa, filed on Monday an affidavit to the constitutional court, to challenge the constitutional merit of the government's notice to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), following the South African government last week notice to the United Nations requesting in it, the withdrawal from the Roman Statute of the ICC to the United Nations.
"The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today filed its founding affidavit for direct access to the Constitutional Court, in order to challenge the constitutionality of the South African Government's notice to initiate the process of withdrawing from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)," DA said in a statement.
According to DA, the government has acted without consulting the parliament regarding delivery of the notice to the United Nations, which they say is the only body capable of issuing a mandate to withdraw from the ICC considering the consequences that such a decision might have on domestic legislative system.
The party added that the government's step decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC would harm the rights of the citizens in South Africa.
South Africa has submitted a notice on Friday to the United Nations secretary-general requesting to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC, making it the first country to give notice to withdraw its membership from the court since it was created in 1988.
South Africa's decision to quit was reportedly spurred by the ICC's request that South Africa turn in Sudanese President Omar Bashir during his visit to Johannesburg in 2015.
South Africa's complete withdrawal will come into effect one year after the notification has been issued.
Sputnik
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Kyrgyzstan's Ruling Coalition Splits After Presidential Party's Withdrawal
Sputnik News
11:32 24.10.2016(updated 11:41 24.10.2016)
According to statement, president of Kyrgyzstan's Social Democratic Party has withdrawn from the governing parliamentary coalition.
BISHKEK (Sputnik) The president of Kyrgyzstan's Social Democratic Party (SDPK) has withdrawn from the governing parliamentary coalition, SDPK said in a statement on its website Monday.
"The SDPK faction in the Jogorku Kenesh [Supreme Council] of the Kyrgyz Republic declares its withdrawal from the coalition of the parliamentary majority created on the basis of the November 2, 2015, coalition agreement and, accordingly, the termination of its activities due to the loss of parliamentary majority," SDPK said.
President Almazbek Atambayev's party said long-standing disagreements among rival lawmakers have been exposed in an ongoing bid to amend the Central Asian state's constitution.
"The SDPK faction calls on the lawmakers to create a more stable coalition, to continue constructive work to implement the strategic objectives facing the country, and expresses its readiness to cooperate with all political forces in parliament that share the policy of sustainable social and economic development on the path of democracy," it added.
Sputnik
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Residents of Kunduz in Afghanistan Fear Another Taliban Attack
By Ayesha Tanzeem October 24, 2016
A bulldozer was busy clearing up the burnt remains of a shop destroyed during more than a week of fighting. Nearby, a man sold vegetables on a cart amidst heaps of charred bricks. Almost two weeks after the Afghan government, with NATO support, managed to fend off a Taliban attempt in early October to take over Kunduz city, residents were trying to get their lives back together.
Even though the Taliban failed to take over the city the way it did for a few days in 2015, the fighting, and the subsequent looting, destroyed many businesses. Residents complained of the high costs that war had imposed on them.
"A loaf of bread has shot up from five to 30 Afghanis. One liter of gas has gone up 50 to 80, so gas is now 300 Afghanis," Shafiqullah, a resident of Kunduz, protested.
In the city square, a traffic policeman blew his whistle to direct the unruly traffic as bicycles weaved their way in and out of rows of cars and rickshaws; three-wheeled taxis popular in the region.
The main bazaar was full of pedestrians. Carts selling roasted corn or other snacks blocked the footpaths. Smoke, along with the appetizing whiff of roast meat, rose from a shop selling kebabs, a staple Afghan dish.
A casual glance on the streets gave an impression that things were usual, but locals said they continued to live under a cloud of fear and uncertainty. Few seemed to have confidence in the government's ability to protect them against the Taliban.
"They can come anytime they want," said Mohammad Idrees, speaking in local Dari language. "All entrances to the city are open. My house is in danger at night. No one is here to stop them. There is no police, nobody to stop them entering the city."
His concerns seemed legitimate. It looked like most of the security - the Humvees, the tanks, the trucks, the personnel - were concentrated in the city center, with little presence towards the outskirts.
The road that the VOA team took from nearby Baghlan province to Kunduz last Friday afternoon also seemed to have little security presence. Convoys of destroyed trucks and trailers every few kilometers provided evidence of Taliban attacks, but most of the police checkposts, several of them half destroyed from past fighting, were vacant.
Taliban militants are known to randomly set up illegal checkpoints on that and other roads leading to Kunduz, especially early mornings and after dark, to stop traffic going into or coming out of the city.
It seemed easy for them to do so. The districts surrounding Kunduz city still have heavy Taliban presence with areas considered sympathetic to it. An illegal checkpoint could mean something as simple as a couple of Taliban members walking or driving up to the road on their motorbikes from a nearby village and waving their AK-47s to stop traffic.
Afghan government and its NATO allies seem confident the Taliban would not be able to run over Kunduz, but that has done little to reassure the population.
"People's shops are destroyed, businesses have shut down, people are living in fear," said Musa Jan describing life in Kunduz. "People think there will be more attacks and the city will collapse again."
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Philippine President's Pro-China Shift Faces Test at Home
By Ralph Jennings October 24, 2016
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte faces a political test at home as he expects legislators, Cabinet members and the public to accept his controversial proposals for switching allegiance from the country's historic benefactor the United States to a less familiar China.
On a state visit to Beijing Thursday, Duterte announced he would "separate" from the United States, his country's former colonizer and staunchest military ally, and align instead with China, which he called the "only hope" for economic support. Those pledges followed a string of harshly worded anti-U.S., pro-China statements since the tough-talking Duterte took office June 30.
Domestic skepticism could slow or dilute those initiatives, possibly ending in action that covers some of the president's ambitions while incorporating the opinions of a population that remains largely pro-American.
"Our problem with President Duterte is his style. He doesn't have a 'group think,' as I call it, before he makes those pronouncements," said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Philippine advocacy group Institute for Political and Electoral Reform. "It's the other way around."
Cabinet members are waiting to be briefed on details of what's next for China and the United States before taking action, analysts say. They say department heads need clarity on how to change ties with Washington and follow up agreements with Beijing.
The four-day Beijing visit produced a Chinese offer of $13.5 billion in economic deals for the largely impoverished Southeast Asian country and an agreement to discuss rights to a contested tract of the resource-rich South China Sea.
"(Duterte) issues a statement and then everybody else among his cabinet who is affected suddenly tries to second guess what he's really trying to say or modify it," Casiple said. Some wrongly thought the president would sever formal diplomatic ties with the United States. "At the end of that process, the president himself clarifies what he really means."
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay was quoted Monday saying the Philippines would not cut U.S. ties and instead uphold agreements with the United States. He said the Philippines wants a more "independent" foreign policy after years of being largely U.S.-driven.
Officers in the Philippine military may be hard to sway toward China as they have looked to the U.S. for aid since the 1950s to shore up their own forces.
Washington and Manila signed a Mutual Defense Treaty in 1951 obligating each side to support the other if attacked by a third party. Two years ago they reached an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement aimed at helping Manila stop Chinese vessels from entering a 370-km (200-nautical-mile) exclusive ocean economic zone off the Philippine west coasts.
"Most military officers are graduated from West Point," said Sean King, senior vice president with the New York political consultancy Park Strategies, in reference to the U.S. Military Academy. Abandoning a defense treaty, he said, would "leave the Philippines open to territorial grabs by China without that defense agreement in place.
"I put those odds of 50-50 for a meaningful break in U.S. relations," King said.
Philippine lawmakers have been quoted saying they doubt Duterte is serious about his comments in Beijing. At least one worried about depending on Beijing in the context of the South China Sea dispute, which drove Duterte's predecessor to seek a world court arbitration ruling. In July, a tribunal decided in Manila's favor.
Other legislators were quoted as suggesting the Philippine government engage China and its rival superpower the United States equally. That foreign policy approach would follow the examples of Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam all of which value China but fear over-dependence on its $11.4.trillion economy.
Senators from the influential minority Liberal Party issued a statement asking for a review of the deals reached in China.
Military aid agreements with the United States require legislative approval in Manila to scrap them. The president can decide how to execute the deals and ask for renegotiation. Duterte has said joint military exercises with the United States earlier this month were the last.
"Definitely there will be opposition. Whether (lawmakers) can block it depends on the nature of the action taken by Duterte," said Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at University of the Philippines. "Right now it's all just public statements and controversial rhetoric. The Senate can't act unless it's an official policy paper or something they can respond to."
Most Filipinos say they still support U.S. military aid, though some want to give China a chance because it has a record of offering smaller countries investment in factories and infrastructure.
About three quarters of Filipinos place "much trust" in the United States and 22 percent have the same level of trust in China according to a recent survey by the Metro Manila-based research organization Social Weather Stations.
The powerful Catholic Church in the Philippines has kept quiet on Duterte's foreign policy and is unlikely to voice a view unless the issue touches on human rights, analysts say.
Duterte's shift away from U.S. support risks "alienating" his Cabinet, as department heads try to play down anti-U.S. statements and risks a loss in investment plus defense aid from the United States, said Carl Baker, director of programs with the U.S. think tank CSIS Pacific Forum. Duterte should seek "feedback" from Filipinos, he said.
But it's "premature" to say what Duterte will ultimately do, Casiple believes. "What we see now is the normalization of relations with China rather than anything else," he said.
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Venezuela Congress Says Maduro Government Staged a Coup
By VOA News October 24, 2016
Venezuela's Congress declared Sunday that the government staged a coup by blocking a referendum effort that could have led to the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro.
During an emergency session, the opposition-majority legislature passed a resolution proclaiming the "breakdown of constitutional order" and "a coup d'etat committed by the Nicolas Maduro regime."
Majority leader Julio Borges of the Democratic Unity Roundtable said "A continual coup d'etat has been perpetrated in Venezuela, culminating in the decision to rob us of a recall referendum. We're here to officially declare the regrettable and painful rupture of the constitution."
Legislators also proposed to replace Supreme Court judges and other national elections officials.
Lawmakers in favor of the Maduro administration accused the opposition of exploiting a situation to stage a coup.
"Don't try to take advantage of these hard times to finish off our nation," deputy Earle Herrera said.
In the day's agenda, Congress also wanted to vote to put Maduro on trial, but legislators were stopped after protesters in favor of the government entered the heavily secured building.
Opposition spokesman Jesus Torrealba said what happened on the Congress floor was an example of how democracy has been struggling in the country.
"The fact that lawmakers elected by 7.5 million people were silenced by 300 thugs sums up the situation better than any speech could," he said.
The legislature's resolution, however, is mostly symbolic as the Supreme Court declared the lawmakers in favor of the resolution in contempt of court for challenging the order.
The high court has blocked most bills passed by Congress since the opposition won control in January.
But the opposition is still urging Venezuelans to build pressure in the streets and vowed to lead a nationwide protest Wednesday called "the taking of Venezuela."
In the meantime, Maduro is touring the Middle East to push his plan for major oil producers, like Venezuela, to increase cooperation and slash oil output.
On Saturday, several thousand women marched on the streets of Caracas to protest the suspension of the referendum effort.
The protesters, led by Lilian Tintori and Patricia Gutierrez - wives of jailed political leaders and well-known voices against the current government - closed a lane of a major highway to show their dissatisfaction the administration of Maduro.
"We're here to demand respect for the constitution, for Venezuelans to have elections to escape dictatorship," human resource worker Nayiber Bracho said.
Venezuela's electoral officials put a stop to the referendum effort Thursday after nearly a year of opposition campaigning.
Officials alleged fraud had taken place in the signature-gathering process for a referendum on the socialist leader.
"We can't handle this anymore, there is no food, there is no medicine, there is no future for my grandchildren nor for any Venezuelans," 65-year-old Maria de Guevara said.
"Of course, they have the right to request for the referendum, but they are also forced to comply with the constitution and the law. And we have the right to defend brother Nicolas Maduro, because I voted for Maduro, and I want Maduro to finish his term," said Diosdado Cabello, a lawmaker with the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
Former Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said he and seven opposition leaders have received a court order blocking them from leaving the country.
"What we saw yesterday [Thursday] was a coup," Capriles told reporters. "We'll remain peaceful but we will not be taken for fools."
Public opinion polls indicate that at least 80 percent of Venezuelans want Maduro out of office.
Recalling Maduro would push the Socialist Party out of power and trigger an early presidential election.
The recall effort had run into opposition from the election board, which imposed restrictions early on and argued that it would take until 2017 to put the proper conditions in place.
Thursday's ruling was followed by another decision after the electoral council suspended for 6 months gubernatorial elections that were scheduled for later this year.
The Socialist Party decided to put off elections indefinitely.
Venezuelan officials blame the opposition for the timing, saying the coalition took three months to reach a consensus on the referendum and that fraud was committed in a preliminary signature drive.
Countries like the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Chile and Uruguay released statements expressing concerns over the government blocking the referendum and placing travel restrictions on opposition leaders.
These countries urged Venezuela to respect human rights, find measures to assure a peaceful dialogue, and aimed the Venezuelan government to reach for "long-standing solutions in favor of democracy and social stability.
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Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of Meetings of NATO Defence Ministers
NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
25 Oct. 2016
(As delivered)
Good morning.
It has been just over one hundred days since NATO's landmark Summit in Warsaw in July.
And in July at the Summit, the Heads of State and Government of NATO took a series of decisions to boost our deterrence and defence and to project stability in our neighbourhood.
Over the next two days, NATO Defence Ministers will take stock of our progress and map out the road ahead.
From early 2017, NATO will have four multinational battalions in the eastern part of the Alliance.
This is credible deterrence.
Not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent conflict.
Concrete proof that NATO can and will deploy thousands of forces to support our Allies. And a clear demonstration of our transatlantic bond.
Tomorrow at our meeting, the framework nations, the nations which are responsible for leading the four different battalions, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States will set out their plans for the battalions they will lead.
And other Allies will confirm their contributions. And tomorrow I will be able to tell you more about the contributions from different NATO Allies to the four battalion.
We will also take forward plans to strengthen NATO's presence in the Black Sea region.
We will assess the infrastructure we need in Allied countries to enable rapid movement of our forces in Europe.
And we will assess the growing role of cyber defence in our operations.
Our second session will be devoted to Projecting Stability in our wider neighbourhood.
Because when our neighbours are more stable, we are more secure.
As part of this effort, NATO is stepping up in the fight against ISIL.
We have already trained hundreds of Iraqi officers in Jordan in areas including military medicine and defusing improvised explosive devices.
And we will expand our support into Iraq itself in the coming months.
All Allies are members of the Global Coalition fighting ISIL.
The Coalition's success has been enabled by the ability to work together, developed through decades of NATO missions and NATO exercises.
And NATO itself is now offering direct support with our AWACS surveillance aircraft.
Providing surveillance to improve the Coalition's air picture.
And making the skies safer.
And I can announce that the first NATO AWACS flight in support of the Coalition fighting ISIL took place last week, on the 20th October.
We are committed to sustaining the Coalition's momentum.
So that ISIL can be defeated once and for all.
Tomorrow, we will also consider the future of our deployment in the Aegean Sea.
And take decisions on a NATO role in the Central Mediterranean, which could support the EU's Operation Sophia.
Illustrating how we are strengthening our cooperation with the European Union.
On Thursday, we will meet with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini to discuss how to deepen NATO-EU cooperation.
The relationship between NATO and the European Union has never been closer.
But we want to do even more.
Including on hybrid and cyber defence, maritime security, and exercises.
We have a full agenda ahead of us.
And in an unpredictable world, NATO is adapting for the future with determination and with purpose.
And with that, I'm ready to take your questions.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much. I would just ask you first to identify yourselves before you ask your question. We'll start over here with Reuters please.
Q: Thank you Secretary General. Robin Emmett, Reuters. NATO has been watching the Russian battle groups move through the English Channel over the last few days, can you give us any update on what you've learned, how many fighter bombers on board or any idea of whether your initial idea of the battle groups trajectory is correct? Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG (NATO Secretary General): So Russia has the right to operate battle groups, naval ships like this in international waters and we have seen this battle group being deployed before also to the Mediterranean. So that is something which has happened before and we are monitoring the deployment and movement of this battle group in a normal way in a measured and responsible way as we always do. What is different this time is that the battle group may be used to increase Russia's ability to take part in combat operations over Syria and to conduct even more airstrikes against Aleppo and this raises serious questions and concerns over Russia's commitments to working to a political solution to the conflict in Syria and more airstrikes by Russian planes will exacerbate the humanitarian suffering in Aleppo and therefore we call on Russia to contribute to a political solution to implement a ceasefire and to stop the bombing of Aleppo. So, the concern is that the Kuznetsov carrier group can be used as a platform for increased airstrikes against civilians in Aleppo.
MODERATOR: Go to the second row here please.
Q: (inaudible). So, in the light of what you just said how would you comment on the fact NATO allies supplying the Russian ships?
JENS STOLTENBERG: Well it is for each nation to decide whether these ships can get supplies and fuelling and be fuelled in different harbours along the route towards the Eastern Mediterranean. But at the same time we are concerned and I have expressed that very clearly about potential use of this battle group to increase Russia's ability and to be a platform for airstrikes against Syria and this is something I have conveyed very clearly before and I repeat those concerns today and I believe that all NATO allies are aware that this battle group can be used to conduct airstrikes against Aleppo and Syria.
MODERATOR: We'll go to NPR please.
Q: Thank you Mr. Secretary General, Teri Schultz with NPR. I'm interested in finding out what you know and how much you've been asking about the number of Turkish diplomats and military officers who are no longer here in headquarters, whether you've followed up on this issue with Turkey, if you're concerned about it. Just today Human Rights Watch has put out a new report saying that people being held in detention there are being tortured and if you could also say something about your new Intelligence Chief, in an unrelated matter. Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: First on the Intelligence Chief,, or Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence - NATO has been working for a long time on how we can further strengthen our work on intelligence, how we can do even more when it comes to sharing intelligence and one of the important tasks for NATO is to share intelligence; is to enhance the way we do intelligence cooperation within the Alliance. And therefore we, therefore we decided to establish a new division to coordinate and to strengthen our intelligence work. This division is now being established and I just a couple of days I appointed a new Assistant Secretary General to be responsible for this new division and all of this is about strengthening the coordination and the work inside the Alliance on intelligence and intelligence sharing and I'm looking forward to work with the new Assistant Secretary General from Germany on strengthening our focus and the way we work on intelligence in the Alliance. Then on Turkey, I visited Turkey in August, I will visit Turkey again in November and I met with President Erdogan, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and many other political leaders in Turkey when I when I visited Turkey in August. And of course Turkey has the right to prosecute the perpetrators; those behind the failed coup attempt in July. The important thing is that this is done in accordance with the rule of law and this is of course something I have discussed with my interlocutors in Ankara several times and I also welcome the cooperation between Turkey and the Council of Europe because I know that the Council of Europe is very focused on how they can work with Turkey making sure that prosecution of those responsible for the failed coup is done in a way which is in full accordance with the rule of law. Then we have seen a number of changeovers of Turkish military personnel at NATO, at different NATO headquarters. I'm certain that Turkey will continue to be able to provide Officers to NATO headquarters and we are in close dialogue with Turkey on this and that's also one of the issues I expect to discuss with my Turkish interlocutors when I travel to Turkey later on this fall.
MODERATOR: Thank you, we'll go to Al Arabiya in the fourth row in the aisle please.
Q: Noureddine Fridhi from Al Arabiya News Channel. Mr. Secretary General you received the Iraqi Foreign Minister last week. I imagine you discussed the war against DAESH. I would like to know what is specifically NATO is providing to Iraq and to allies, its contribution in the war against DAESH. And I don't know if you're, what is the assessment of your experts if the DAESH fighters in Mosul are now fleeing Mosul to Syria or just the opposite side because some reports are suggesting that they are being joined by DAESH fighters from Syria to Iraq. Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: NATO provides support to Iraq and the global coalition fighting ISIL in Iraq in many different ways. All NATO allies are part of the coalition and of course it is a great advantage for the coalition - the inter-operability, the ability to work together - forces from many different nations that has been developed through NATO exercises, through NATO standardization programs and through NATO operations where NATO allies but also NATO partners have participated over many, many years and this interoperability is something which is very useful now for the counter ISIL coalition in their fight against ISIL both in Syria and Iraq. So, NATO has provided a platform for many of the activities, the way the coalition is now working in Iraq and Syria. Then on top of that NATO provides direct support to the coalition. We have started to provide support with our surveillance planes, our AWACS planes and the first flight took place or happened last week on the 20th of October and we will continue to provide AWACS support for the coalition. We have trained the Iraqi officers in Jordan for a time but we are now moving into also training Iraqi officers inside Iraq and we will start that training in the near future so we can do even more to help the Iraqi forces. And the whole idea is that NATO of course has to be ready to deploy forces in big combat operations as we've done in Bosnia, in the Balkans and in Afghanistan before. But we are more and more focused in NATO on how we can project stability without deploying large numbers of combat troops and the best way to do that is to train local forces, to build local capacity and that's exactly what we are contributing to, by training Iraqi forces because we believe that in the long run it's a much more viable and sustainable solution to enable local forces to fight terrorism themselves, to stabilize their own country instead of NATO doing the combat operations fighting their wars and therefore we will train and we will step up our efforts to help the Iraqi forces. When it comes to the operational situation in Mosul, that's something I've discussed with both the Iraqi Foreign Minister; I discussed it with the Presidential envoy Brett McGurk when he visited NATO last week and I discussed it also recently with Prime Minister al-Abadi but I will not comment on the operational situation, the current operational situation in Mosul because I leave that to those directly responsible for the operations in Mosul.
MODERATOR: Thank you. We'll go to the front row in the far left please.
Q: Nash Dziennik, Poland. Mr. Secretary General could you comment on proposed substantial increase of Russian military and defense expenditures; also general economic situation of Russia is declining. Is it the issue that NATO and the West are maybe concerned about?
JENS STOLTENBERG: We have seen a significant military buildup in Russia over many years and defense spending has tripled since the year 2000 in real terms. And this has enabled Russia to invest in new capabilities, in new weapon systems, to do more exercises and to significantly increase their military capability. Combined with the fact that Russia has also been willing to not only invest in their Armed Forces but also to use their Armed Forces against neighbours has we have seen in Crimea, Ukraine - this is the reason why NATO is responding and this is part of a pattern which has triggered a response from NATO. And that's exactly why NATO has implemented the strongest or the biggest reinforcement of collected offense since the end of the Cold War. We are in the process of deploying forces in the Eastern part of the Alliance, the four battalions. We have established eight new small headquarters in the Eastern part of the Alliance and we have increased our ability to reinforce if needed with the new High Readiness Joint Task Force and by tripling the size of the NATO response force. We are also now in the process where we see a shift in defense spending within NATO because after many years of decline in defense spending, especially among European NATO allies, 2015 was the first year where we saw an increase in defense spending across European NATO allies; and 2016 we expect to see an even further increase in defense spending. So after many years of decline we now have seen the first increases in defense spending among European NATO allies. I welcome this and this shows that NATO is able to respond, NATO is able to adapt to a more assertive Russia and the increased military presence of Russia close to our borders But, but let me underline what NATO does is proportionate, it is defensive and it is fully in line with our international commitments and we are responding in a measured and responsible way because we don't want a new cold war, we don't want a new arms race and we continue to strive for a more constructive and cooperative relationship with Russia. So we keep the channels for political dialogue open with Russia because we strongly believe that it is in the interest of both Russia and NATO to avoid a further increase in tensions but to try to find ways to reduce tensions and to avoid a new arms race.
MODERATOR: We'll go to Europa Presse.
Q: Thank you. Ana Pisonero from the Spanish News Agency Europa Presse. Quick first question on the AWACS, how many are deployed, and will they have any kind of support role in the operation of, to liberate Mosul? And my second quick question Secretary General you just mentioned that allies would be taking a decision on support to Sophia. Will NATO take on board the three tasks that Sophia is currently doing meaning intel, well getting intel where the traffickers are operating or how they do and also in training the Libyan Coast Guards. And finally, as well to enforce the arms embargo in Libya, will NATO take on board the three roles? And just if you can really tell us where are we on the new NATO operation in the Mediterranean, is that on? We know already all the tasks, thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: First on the AWACS, there will be several flights. We started last week and we will progressively increase the number of flights. So we will provide significant support with AWACS to the coalition with several flights providing support. This support is important because it helps the coalition to get a better picture, air picture and also provides surveillance and information for the coalition air forces. The importance of that is obvious because we see all the difficulties; we see the complex and complicated situation both over Syria and over Iraq. I cannot comment on the exact operational details but I can say that the AWACS planes will not be part of combat operations but they will provide information, surveillance and air picture for the coalition forces which is important for them and which increases air safety for the coalition forces. Then on Operation Sophia and Sea Guardian, I expect Defense Ministers to make decisions - the final decisions on the establishment of the new NATO security mission in the Mediterranean, the Sea Guardian, on the meeting which starts tomorrow. And then also to make decisions on providing support for Operation Sophia, and after those decisions have been taken tomorrow and the day after tomorrow I can give you more details. But of course we are looking into how we can help Operation Sophia conducting the tasks they are conducting especially in areas of sharing information and logistics helping them to conduct and to do what they do in Operation Sophia. Hopefully I'll be able to provide you more details after the meetings which start tomorrow. And I think that was all.
MODERATOR: We'll go the third row in the far left please.
Q: Daniel Brossler, Suddeutsche Zeitung. I'd like to follow up on Teri's question on the Intelligence Chief. Why was it necessary to create a new division here? Is it due to the new security environment or is it just that intelligence sharing within NATO headquarters was not sufficient so far? Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: The reason is that NATO should always be able to adapt and we see a more complex security environment, we see a more dangerous security environment, we see different kinds of threats, we see a more assertive Russia to the East, we see the violence to the South with ISIL, Iraq, Syria on NATO borders. So we have Ukraine bordering NATO, we have we have Georgia bordering NATO and then of course we have Syria and Iraq bordering NATO; and then we have the situation in the Mediterranean and North Africa. All of this is close to NATO, all of this poses different kinds of challenges for NATO and then linked to the terrorist threats and the threats related to foreign fighters and also returning foreign fighters there is a need for more sharing of intelligence and better procedures for how to coordinate intelligence work inside NATO and across NATO allies. And we also decided at our Summit in Wales in 2014 to do more intelligence sharing especially related to foreign fighters and to contribute to the fight against terrorism. So, based on all this we came to the conclusion that the best way to make sure that we improve our intelligence work is to establish a division where the different strands of intelligence: the civilian intelligence inside NATO, the military intelligence inside NATO come together and then this new division with a new Assistant Secretary General would be an added tool to strengthen coordination sharing of intelligence among NATO allies.
MODERATOR: Go the Wall Street Journal please in the middle of the room.
Q: Julian Barns, Wall Street Journal. In the most recent American Presidential debate Donald Trump said NATO allies signalling out Germany are not paying enough for U.S., the U.S. defense contribution. He also noted that NATO countries have increased defense spending and suggested that that was a result of his critique. So, should NATO countries pay the U.S. for its defense contribution to Europe and are Mr. Trump's criticisms on target and does he deserve credit for the turn-around in defense spending?
JENS STOLTENBERG: I'm not going to be part of the U.S. election campaign. It is for the people, the voters of the United States to decide who's going to become the next President of the United States. But what I can do and as I've done before is to clarify what matters for NATO. And it has been a very clear message from NATO over many years that European - especially European NATO allies - should increase defense spending and I strongly welcomed that after our decision in 2014 we have seen a shift that after years of decline in defense spending there's now an increase in defense spending among European NATO allies. But this is not something that was caused by the U.S. election campaign because we made a decision in 2014; it has been on top of my agenda in all my meetings with European leaders and we saw the first increase in defense spending already in 2015 and we see further increase in 2016 and that's not because of the election campaign in the United States but it is because 28 Heads of State and Government in NATO made a decision in 2014 and now we are implementing that decision. Second, I would like to underline that NATO's security guarantees are not conditioned; they are absolute, they are unconditional. So NATO is there to defend and protect all allies against any threat and that is essential for stability in Europe. We do not say that if you don't pay we don't protect you; we protect all allies against any threat and that is essential to keep stability and to prevent conflict. The NATO security guarantees are important for Europe but they are also important for United States. Strong NATO is good for Europe and good for United States. We have to remember that the only time we have invoked Article 5 - our collective security clause - was after an attack on the United States, 9/11. Then NATO provided AWACS surveillance planes for the United States and NATO has been responsible for our biggest military operation ever in Afghanistan where more than a thousand soldiers from non-U.S. NATO allies and partner countries have paid the highest price - have lost their lives in a military operation defending the United States. So I'm saying this just to underline that collective defense is important for Europe but it's also important for the United States. NATO has played a key role, has been on the front line in the fight against terrorism for many, many years with our operation in Afghanistan, training Iraqi officers, supporting Tunisia and Jordan and in many other ways. So, as I've stated many times the adaptation of NATO where we focus more on intelligence we step up our efforts to fight terrorism where we increase defense spending is not related to the U.S. election campaign; it's the implementation of decisions made by Heads of State and Government in NATO.
MODERATOR: Thank you, we're going to go to Norwegian media in row three.
Q: Yes, I'm Alf Johnsen, VG Newspaper. Mr. Secretary General ten days ago you expressed concern about that the deployment of the Iskander Missiles in the outskirts of NATO. Is this an enhanced threat to European security and would there be a forceful or will there be any NATO response to the deployment in the short term?
JENS STOLTENBERG: The deployment of the Iskander Missiles to Kaliningrad is yet another example of a Russian military buildup close to NATO borders. Also with dual capable capabilities like the Iskanders because they can carry conventional warheads but they can also carry nuclear warheads. And of course we are concerned about the Russian military buildup close to NATO borders and we see it in the East but we also see it in the South in the Eastern Mediterranean and in Syria close to Turkey, NATO ally. We are responding in a measured and responsible way and that's the reason why we have over a long time now gradually increased our collective defense. With the increased deployment of forces in the Eastern part of the Alliance, with the establishment of the new High Readiness Force - the VJTF - able to deploy rapidly if needed to reinforce and with the tripling of the size of the NATO response force to 40,000. So we are responding but we are responding in a measured and responsible way and what we do is defensive. So it's always this importance of responding but not over-reacting and that's also what we're doing when it comes to the deployment of Iskander which is only one element of a broader picture.
MODERATOR: Thank you we'll go to European Pravda please.
Q: Sergiy Sydorenko, Ukraine. More recently you met Ukrainian President Poroshenko and he stated after that visit and after that meeting with you that he expects NATO to help Ukraine push on Russia to fulfil Minsk obligations. Do you see how can NATO push on Russia? Do you see some ways probably with cooperation with Europe with some other measures and to probably you have some new data about Russian presence in Donbass. Thank you very much.
JENS STOLTENBERG: I very much appreciate the frequent meetings I I've had with President Poroshenko. We met in September in the U.N. and then we met last week here at NATO headquarters and that reflects the very close partnership between Ukraine and NATO. I assured him that NATO will provide strong political support and strong practical support for Ukraine. We provide practical support through our different programs, trust funds and I also encourage all NATO allies to provide support on a bilateral level, training of Ukrainian forces. NATO provides other kinds of support through our trust funds. And we will step up our support. We just made decisions at the Warsaw Summit to establish a comprehensive package for Ukraine. Then we support Ukraine by calling on Russia to make sure that the Minsk Agreements are fully implemented, and Russia has a great responsibility because Russia continues to support the separatists in Donbass, they continue to be present and therefore they have a special responsibility to make sure that Minsk Agreements are fully implemented which means full respect for the ceasefire, withdrawal of their weapons and then access for the international monitors so they can monitor - without being threatened - the implementation of the ceasefire. NATO also strongly supports the initiative by Germany and France - two NATO allies - working on how to implement the Minsk Agreements and also the meeting in the Normandy format and the agreement to try to establish a roadmap, how to step by step implement the Minsk Agreements. So I can assure you that we will continue to call on Russia to seek a peaceful negotiated solution based on the Minsk Agreements and we will continue to support Ukraine and we will continue to support all efforts to implement the Minsk Agreements.
MODERATOR: We'll go the front on the left please.
Q: Thank you. Slovakia Daily Prada. My question regarding propaganda and hybrid warfare. NATO has StratCom, E.U. has own task force, now Czechs are also establishing an anti-propaganda centre. Would you like to see some more cooperation among various actors we have? And the second one I'm following up on a question about Mr. Trump. Many observers are saying that Russia would be happy having Mr. Trump as a U.S. President. Do you agree with this assessment? Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: First on the propaganda. We see that Russia is providing a lot of, is supporting different groups trying to influence domestic debate in different countries in Europe and we see a lot of propaganda. But NATO will not counter propaganda with propaganda. Our message is that in the long run the truth will prevail so the best answer to propaganda is not more propaganda but the best answer to propaganda is facts, the truth and open democratic debate. And therefore we will continue of course to support the provision of facts of the truth because we are certain that in the long run that's the best way to counter propaganda. We do that by our own efforts in NATO but we work also together with the European Union on the staff level to see how we can improve routines, exchange of information so we can help each other with getting the facts straight. I also welcome very much efforts by different NATO allies on this issue. And the Czech Republic and other countries have done a lot and I welcome that. I will also underline that of course the main responsibility for taking part in the different debate and discussions in different NATO allies lies in the different NATO allies. We cannot do all this from Brussels. What we can do in Brussels is to provide facts, is to help, is to coordinate but the discussions, the countering of the propaganda has to take place in the ifferent member States.
MODERATOR: I'm afraid that's all we have time for. I apologize if I didn't get to you there were far more questions than we were able to get to this time but there will be several more
JENS STOLTENBERG: I forgot one.
MODERATOR: I'm sorry.
JENS STOLTENBERG: Yes, as I said I'm not going to be part of the U.S. election campaign. I just very clearly stated what matters for NATO and that is that the NATO security guarantees are absolute, they are unconditional. We do not say that if you don't pay we don't protect you, we protect all NATO allies and at the same time I welcome that more and more European NATO allies actually are increasing defense spending and that's a result of decisions taken by NATO back in 2014 and I welcome that these decisions are now being implemented.
MODERATOR: Thanks. I'm afraid that is all we have time for. There will be several more opportunities over the coming two days. Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: Thank you.
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USS Key West Returns from National Tasking
Navy News Service
Story Number: NNS161025-08
Release Date: 10/25/2016 10:52:00 AM
From Commander, Submarine Squadron 15 Public Affairs
SANTA RITA, Guam (NNS) -- Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Key West (SSN 722) returned to its homeport of Apra Harbor, Guam, Oct. 25, following a 4 1/2-month, forward-operating period to the Western Pacific.
Key West, under the command of Cmdr. David Coe, is returning from the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility where the crew executed the Chief of Naval Operations' Maritime Strategy in supporting national security interests and maritime security operations.
"My crew has done some incredible work these past months, defending the homeland and conducting other missions vital to national security," said Coe. "I am immensely proud of each and every one of my Sailors, who have proven time and again their dedication and professionalism while operating forward at the tip of the spear. They have more than earned some time at home with family and friends. It's great to be back in beautiful Guam, U.S.A."
Key West conducted routine patrols throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and operated in conjunction with other Navy ships to conduct maritime security operations that promote stability and peace, while developing key partnerships with allies across the region.
Key West conducted brief port visits in Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan.
"It's exciting visiting new places," said Seaman Aron Nichols. "This is my first deployment and first time out of the United States. It was great trying sushi from Japan."
The crew of Key West celebrated various achievements in professional development.
"Our crew has accomplished some incredible things this underway, both professionally and personally, and I couldn't be more proud of them," said Master Chief Petty Officer Eric Baker, Key West chief of the boat. "We had 12 Sailors become submarine qualified, 20 crew members frocked, three chief petty officers pinned, and eight officers promoted."
Key West was commissioned Sept. 12, 1987, and is the third ship of the U.S. Navy named for the city of Key West, Florida. Measuring more than 360 feet long and displacing more than 6,900 tons, Key West has a crew of approximately 140 Sailors. Key West is capable of supporting various missions including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Key West is a member of Commander, Submarine Squadron (COMSUBRON) 15, which is located at Polaris Point in Apra Harbor, Guam. COMSUBRON 15 staff is responsible for providing training, material and personnel readiness support of four Los Angeles-class attack submarines stationed in Guam. Submarines and submarine tenders USS Frank Cable (AS 40) and USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) are maintained as part of the U.S. Navy's forward-deployed submarine force, and are readily capable of meeting global operational requirements.
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US tells Philippines: We are still your ally
People's Daily Online
By Mo Jingxi (China Daily) 08:31, October 25, 2016
A senior US diplomat said on Monday that Washington supported Manila's blossoming ties with Beijing, but he assured the Southeast Asian nation that Washington remained its trusted ally.
Daniel Russel, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said after meeting with Philippine Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay in Manila that Washington welcomes improved relations between the Philippines and China, although it should not come at the expense of the United States.
"We don't want countries to have to choose between the US and China," he said.
Russel's two-day visit came after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte concluded his first state visit to China, during which he announced his country's "separation" from the US and growing ties with China. But Duterte clarified that he only meant a more independent foreign policy and not "severance of ties" with the Philippines' closest friend.
Su Hao, a professor of Asia-Pacific studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said Russel's comments showed the typical logic of the US that the interests of regional countries should conform to those of Washington.
"This is what Duterte's predecessor had done, but Duterte has realized that this does not help the Philippines and decided to make an adjustment," he said.
Xu Liping, a senior Southeast Asian studies researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Washington understands Manila's willingness to conduct practical cooperation with Beijing.
"However, alliance is the core interest of the US; it will never give it up," he added.
Duterte was expected to begin a visit to Japan on Tuesday. During the visit, Tokyo might ask Manila to resume close relations with Washington, perhaps using economic aid as a condition, Su said.
Reuters and AP contributed to this story.
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Yemeni protesters denounce UN 'complicity' in Saudi war
Iran Press TV
Tue Oct 25, 2016 1:35PM
Hundreds of demonstrators have staged a mass protest in Yemen's capital Sana'a, denouncing the United Nations' "complicity" in Saudi Arabia's deadly campaign against its impoverished neighbor.
Large crowds of protesters, who gathered outside a Sana'a hotel where UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was staying, accused him of "sympathizing with Al Saud."
"Leave, leave Yemen," the demonstrators chanted. "The UN and the Security Council are complicit in the killing of Yemenis," read one of the banners at the protest.
The protesters, dressed in shirts showing pictures of the victims of an October 8 Saudi airstrike on a funeral in Sana'a, blamed the UN for inaction in the face of the Saudi aggression.
"Yemenis are massacred and we hold the UN responsible for the actions of Saudi Arabia, America, and Israel," shouted the protesters.
On October 8, in one of the deadliest attacks on Yemen, Saudi warplanes bombarded a funeral hall packed with mourners in Sana'a, killing at least 140 people.
Washington has been providing logistic and surveillance support for Saudi Arabia in its bloody campaign.
Witnesses said the mass demonstration ended peacefully as the UN envoy was to leave the hotel for Sana'a airport.
A statement published by local Yemeni media said the demonstrators "condemn the UN envoy's intentional obstruction of the [peace] talks" and his "silence on the crimes and massacres committed by the Saudi aggressors" against Yemenis.
Despite renewal calls by the UN envoy, a 72-hour ceasefire ended on Saturday. The truce had been brokered by the UN to allow aid to reach families trapped in areas cut off by the war in Yemen.
More than 10,000 people have been killed since the regime in Riyadh launched its campaign in March 2015. The military aggression was meant to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstall Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh who has resigned as Yemen's president.
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US Navy to Deploy F-35-Ready USS Wasp to Japan Next Year
Sputnik News
22:52 25.10.2016(updated 23:06 25.10.2016)
To maintain its presence in the region, the US Navy will deploy the ship, capable of operating the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, to Japan to relieve the USS Bonhomme Richard.
Last Friday, the US Navy announced that the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) will join the USS San Antonio for anti-terror operations. Once this mission is complete, however, the Wasp will take a brief respite before making its way to the other end of the world in the fall of 2017.
"As part of the rebalance strategy to increase the Navy's presence in the Pacific Fleet, USS Wasp will move from Norfolk, Va., to Sasebo, Japan," reads a news release from the US Navy.
"USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) will relocate to San Diego, Calif. to undergo modernization."
The Wasp was recently upgraded to accommodate the F-35B, the US Marine Corps' Short Take-off Vertical Landing variant of the fifth-generation fighter jet. The aircraft will likely be deployed along with the amphibious ship. The vessel has also had a number of its weapons systems modernized.
"Wasp has also received upgrades to the combat systems suite to include upgrades to MK 2 Ship Self Defense System, SPQ-9B horizon search radar, MK 57 NATO Sea Sparrow Missile System, and upgrades to the shipboard local area network (LAN) and data link capability," the statement reads.
"The rotation is the latest move in Navy's ongoing Pacific rebalance, a plan to put the most advanced and capable units forward in order to support the United States' commitments to the defense of Japan and the security and stability of the Indo-Asia Pacific region."
Japan recently received its own batch of F-35 fighters.
"The F-35A has a remarkably advanced system. This highly sophisticated 5th generation fighter will bring a great development to air operations as a game changer," said Gen. Yoshiyuki Sugiyama, Japan's Air Self Defense Forces Chief of Staff, according to a statement from the plane's developer, Lockheed Martin.
The Pentagon's activities in the western Pacific Ocean have primarily revolved around the South China Sea, where Beijing has a constructed a series of artificial islands. Conducting what it calls "freedom of navigation" operations, the US Navy has sailed within the 12-mile territorial limit of these land reclamation projects, despite warnings from Beijing.
A highly-contested region through which roughly $5 trillion in international trade passes annually, most of the South China Sea is claimed by China, though there are overlapping claims by Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, and Taiwan.
Neither the United States nor Japan have any territorial claims in the region.
Sputnik
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NATO Increases Baltic Presence as Norway Approves US Marines at Vaernes Base
Sputnik News
22:10 25.10.2016(updated 23:06 25.10.2016)
As Norway prepares to allow foreign troops on its soil for the first time since World War II, NATO will also meet in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss plans to boost its military presence along the eastern flank.
"This is credible deterrence," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, according to Stars and Stripes.
"Concrete proof that NATO can and will deploy thousands of forces to support our allies. And a clear demonstration of our transatlantic bond."
NATO defense ministers will address the plan to keep rotational forces in the Baltics and Poland as part of an effort to deter "Russian aggression."
This comes as Norway has agreed to allow 330 US Marines to be deployed to Vaernes military base, roughly 600 miles from the Norwegian-Russian border.
"The United States is our most important ally and we have a near bilateral relationship that we wish to develop. The defense of Norway is dependent on allied reinforcement and it is crucial for Norwegian security that our allies get the knowledge required to operate in Norway, together with Norwegian forces," Defense Minister Ine Eriksen said in a statement.
"Their decision is certain to galvanize our relationship with the Norwegian Armed Forces and improve our collective capabilities," Maj. Gen. Niel Nelson of Marine Corps Forces Europe added, according to Stars and Stripes.
This military increase has been criticized, in particular, as many note that the presence of US troops could send "negative signals eastward."
"What we risk is that the North will be a confrontation area," retired commander Jacob Borresen told Norwegian state-owned broadcaster NRK.
"What the government is doing now is outsourcing the responsibility for our security to the US Marines," Liberal leader Trine Skei Grande added.
While in Brussels, leaders also intend to discuss the US-led campaign against Daesh in Syria, and the training of officers in Iraq.
"We have already trained hundreds of Iraqi officers in Jordan in areas including military medicine and defusing improvised explosive devices," Stoltenberg said.
"And we will expand our support into Iraq itself in the coming month."
Sputnik
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US Conducts Four Airstrikes Against Daesh Positions in Libya's Sirte
Sputnik News
17:22 25.10.2016
US air forces hit five Daesh fighting positions near the Libyan city of Sirte, according to US Africa Command (AFRICOM).
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) US forces conducted four airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) positions near the Libyan city of Sirte on Monday, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a press release.
"Thisbrings the total number of airstrikes in support of Operation Odyssey Lightning, which began Aug. 1, to 341," the release stated on Tuesday.
The release noted the airstrikes hit five enemy fighting positions.
Africa Command said the airstrikes, conducted in support of Libya's Government of National Accord, will help deny the Islamic State a safe haven in Libya from which it could attack the United States.
The Daesh gained a foothold in Libya in the turmoil following the 2011 ouster of the country's longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. The Daesh is outlawed in the United States, Russia and other countries.
Sputnik
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Al-Shabab Attack Kills 12 in Kenya
By VOA News October 25, 2016
An extremist attack targeting non-Muslims along Kenya's northeast border with Somalia on Tuesday has killed 12 people, according to a Kenyan official.
Militants belonging to the Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab attacked the Bisharo Guest House, a lodging in Mandera County that hosts out-of-towners, with grenades and IEDs, Mandera County commander Job Boronjo said.
"It is true there was an attack. Rescue efforts are ongoing," he said.
Al-Shabab immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in a message posted on its telegram messaging channel. The group says the attack targeted "Christian workers."
The attack Tuesday marks the latest in several cross-border attacks attributed to al-Shabab since Kenya intervened in Somalia in 2011.
In Somalia, a suicide bomber detonated a truck bomb Tuesday at an African Union peacekeeping base, killing at least four African Union peacekeepers and two civilians, security sources told VOA's Somali Service. The attack occurred in Beledweyne, 300 kilometers north of the capital Mogadishu.
"A suicide bomber speeding a truck full of explosives drove into the front gate of Djibouti peacekeepers' base in Hawlwadag district in the town," Yuusuf Ahmed Hagar, the governor of the region told VOA's Somali Service.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, also claiming it had killed 17 peacekeepers.
Commander of the Djibouti forces in Somalia, Colonel Hassan Jama Farah only confirmed the death of two soldiers. He said the militants disguised the truck as a vehicle carrying farm produce.
"The truck was carrying vegetables, it was driving past the base when the driver suddenly turned it towards the checkpoint," he said. "Soldiers fired upon the truck killing the driver; then the truck turned left and right and exploded about 20 meters from the base."
He said after the explosion about 10 gunmen emerged from the neighborhood and attacked the base, adding that peacekeepers responded, killing some of the attackers.
"They wanted to stage a repeat of the attacks in Mogadishu by storming the base but they failed," he said.
Al-Shabab has been fighting since 2006 to overthrow the Somali government and establish a state based on the group's strict version of Islamic law.
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Duterte's US-China Policy Pivot Adds to ASEAN Uncertainties
By Ron Corben October 25, 2016
Philippine President Rogrigo Duterte's shifts in policy on China and United States is adding a fresh layer of uncertainty to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The 10-nation group, set to mark its 50th Anniversary next year with the Philippines occupying the chair, is already beset by divisions focused on China's rising influence and the United States' strategic role in the region.
During a recent official visit to Beijing, Duterte announced the "separation" with long time strategic partner the U.S. in favor of China, only to retreat from the position upon his return to the Philippines.
"I said separation what I was really saying was separation of a foreign policy. In the past and until I became President we always follow what the United States would give. Separation of my foreign policy that it need not dovetail the foreign policy of America that's what I meant. Sever is to cut separate is just another way of doing it," Duterte said.
Philippines reassures US
Philippine Foreign secretary, Perfecto Yasay moved to reassure the international community by telling visiting U.S. Assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Daniel Russel, that Duterte had "already walked back" his comments.
But analysts say uncertainties over Dutere's policy shifts will have a wider impact within ASEAN.
Carl Thayer, a defense analyst with the University of New South Wales in Australia, said Duterte's unilateral comments may affect ASEAN regional stability as the President fails to prior consult other ASEAN members.
"The uncertainty in the region by unilateral actions is something that Duterte's going to need to address because shortly the Philippines becomes the chair of ASEAN starting next year," Thayer said.
South China Sea tensions
But Thayer said a positive outcome to Duterte's visit to China is the likely easing of regional tensions over conflicts over the South China Sea. Former Philippine President, Benigno Aquino unilaterally challenged China's maritime claims in the South China Sea. In July an arbitral tribunal ruled against China, a verdict rejected by Beijing.
"The South China Sea is no longer the issue that it was when the arbitration case was pending and the way Duterte is handling it. It has taken the sting out of that issue and provided China with the incentives to pick up [Duterte's] diplomatic initiative," he said.
Long term impact
He said a less assertive China in the region is to be welcomed by other ASEAN members.
But Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Bangkok-based Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), said Duterte's uncertain policy shifts may impact ASEAN over the longer term.
"This is going to spell long term implications for ASEAN because Manila/Philippines is a long term treaty ally of the United States and Thailand is the other ally. So two allies of America in South East Asia are relatively estranged now. This is going to be a dramatic tipping point for China-U.S. relations in the region," he said.
Thitinan added that another risk is the future of President Obama's pivot to Asia policy, leaving the U.S. to adjust its regional policies.
China's growing influence
He says recent events further highlight Beijing's growing influence over Southeast Asia's mainland nations -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
"This means that ASEAN is going to be in Beijing's orbit next year much more than Washington and Washington will have to really think about what to do in the long term. This is detrimental for ASEAN because ASEAN wants a balance between Washington and Beijing not to be too much one way or the other," he said.
Diplomatic efforts within ASEAN to set a unified policy over China and the South China Sea have been seen to be undermined as Beijing countered with diplomacy to isolate individual countries.
Ashley Townsend, a research fellow at Australia's Sydney University, sees increasing difficulties for ASEAN in finding a common position over issues such as island reclamation and militarization of the South China Sea.
"Duterte's comments and not just his rhetoric, but his very uncertain movement between the United States and China or apparent movement makes it very difficult for other ASEAN countries that are used to a much more stable direction in their region's foreign policies to really gauge where the Philippines under Duterte is likely to go," Townsend said.
ASEAN stability shaken
But he warns a "divided foreign policy" in the Philippines will leave ASEAN as an organization "in limbo when it comes to these big regional strategic questions about policy towards the South China Sea or ASEAN's place, vis-a-vis the U.S. and China."
Others, such as Dennis Quilala, an associate professor at the University of the Philippines, remain cautious but see Duterte's China policy as being in the "best interests of the Philippines" by easing regional tensions.
But Quilala still holds concerns over the possible impact of the president's policy shift.
"I am really afraid if it's just a shift of who our new masters will be. That's what I'm afraid of. I hope that the policies really are able to successfully work with both superpowers and be able to think about our interests. I hope that this will end that way because I really don't think that our interests is just going all the way to China," Quilala said.
He said to understand the Philippines' foreign policy under President Duterte it is best to wait for the policy pronouncements "coming out from the bureaucracy that is the safest way to understand [Duterte] I guess."
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India Delays Launch of Dedicated South Asia Satellite Amid Tension With Pakistan
Sputnik News
16:38 24.10.2016(updated 16:42 24.10.2016)
India's launch of a satellite on behalf of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was announced two years ago by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the SAARC summit in Kathmandu. However, the launch date has been postponed indefinitely due to disagreements between India and its neighbor over ongoing violence in Kashmir.
New Delhi (Sputnik) The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says it won't be possible for it to carry out the much-anticipated launch of the SAARC satellite as scheduled in December. Instead, it plans to launch its ambitious Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III. An ISRO official told Sputnik that it is certain that the launch of the South Asian satellite will be delayed by more than a month, although the exact date for the launch of GLSV Mark-III remains to be finalized.
The dedicated satellite was designed by India and will serve the needs of the eight SAARC countries, providing a range of public services. The two metric ton satellite has 12 Ku band transponders; each is dedicated to providing communication, education, telemedicine, disaster monitoring and other need-based services to one country in the region, according to ISRO. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed offering the use of the exclusive satellite to other countries in the region; India is the only one among them which possesses the ability to build and launch satellites for communications, earth observations and space research.
Meanwhile, the postponement of the satellite launch also coincides with heightened tension between India and Pakistan, necessitating the cancellation of the group's annual summit, which was to be hosted by Islamabad. Islamabad was already against the launch of the satellite, as it wanted it to be brought under the purview of the SAARC, while India wanted to reserve certain rights. Afghanistan also has reservations regarding the satellite. All other member countries of SAARC have ratified the proposal to launch the satellite.
SAARC was formed in 1985: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were its seven original members but it was subsequently expanded to include Afghanistan.
Sputnik
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China's Anti-Corruption Drive Forges Ahead as Political Reshuffle Looms
By William Ide October 24, 2016
At a closed door meeting of high-level Communist Party members this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping will make it clear his expansive anti-corruption drive is far from over and that controls will continue to tighten before a major political reorganization late next year.
But even as Xi tries to grow his influence over the party, his heavy-handed approach is sparking resistance, analysts note.
"Xi had a tremendous amount of things that he wanted to accomplish and the means through which he wanted to accomplish those was fairly draconian," says Andrew Mertha, a political scientist at Cornell University. "It was really only a matter of time before there was some backlash."
The opening of central committee plenum Monday, marks the beginning of a high season of political activity for China. The meeting will be brief and only last four days this week, but comes at the start of a political transition process that culminates late next year with the 19th Party Congress.
At that meeting, Xi will seek re-election and try to appoint his own people to the powerful Politiburo Standing Committee, a top decision making body that will replace five of its seven members next year. Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, a man that Xi does not always see eye to eye with, are expected to remain.
Zhang Lifan, a political commentator and historian says that while no one would dare to challenge Xi openly, soft resistance is not going away.
"The next year will be a challenging period for him and the key questions and things that he cares the most about are whether he can be successfully re-elected at the 19th Party Congress, and whether his authority as the core of the party can be consolidated so his clique can take over completely."
Powerful leader
Xi is seen as one of China's most powerful leaders since Mao Zedong and his assertive efforts to raise the country's international profile, including the recent shift of allegiance by the Philippines to Beijing, has helped him win praise at home.
But he is also facing huge problems as well. Unlike his predecessors, he is navigating a political transition at a time when the economy is slowing for the first time in more than a quarter of a century. He has also had less time to groom his own proteges and build up his own power base, analysts say.
Many of the central committee members who are meeting this week are faction members of Xi's predecessors, Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, notes Willy Lam, a veteran analyst of Chinese politics.
"They have been very much alarmed by the personality cult which Xi Jinping is building for himself and also the very aggressive power grab undertaken by Xi Jinping to aggregate more and more powers to himself," Lam says, adding that efforts to enforce tougher rules during the meetings could invite a big pushback from members of both camps.
Since assuming control of the party in 2012, Xi Jinping has launched a crackdown on civil society, lawyers and the internet. He has issued regulations that prohibit party members from meeting alone or criticizing the party, and his expansive drive against graft has already seen more than one million party members punished for corruption.
In the run-up to this week's meetings, state television broadcast a series on the anti-corruption crackdown that highlighted the extent of the campaign and praised Xi for his efforts.
The point of the series and its release so close to the meetings says David Zweig, a political scientist at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is to send the public a message, to help people be emotionally and mentally prepared for the fact that people are behaving badly and the party will continue to nail them as it has been doing "at a pretty fast clip."
"The message in general is for people to rally around him [Xi], for the next party congress or he can make just about everybody go on TV and eat humble pie," Zweig says.
Soft resistance
Although the public in general has been supportive of efforts to tackle abuse of power and wanton waste of public funds, the drive has been so intense that many in local governments have been driven to "inaction."
"What worries the central [government] the most is that the institutional government machine has slowed down on its operation or even stopped running," Zhang says. "Many feel that no action leads to no mistakes or the more you do, there's more wrong."
And it is not just local governments, but moderate elites are also feeling the pressure and venting their discontent on social media.
In a recent article that was circulated widely online, well-known political scientist Jin Canrong, a professor at Renmin University noted what he called nationwide "soft resistance" to Xi's policies and an increase in political tensions, which he says are showing no signs of going away and are having an impact on the economy.
"There are two engines to China's economic rise, one is markets and the other is local governments. During the past 30 years, local governments have played a key role in economic development," he wrote. Adding that "now it is clear that at least one of those engines has shut down."
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Djibouti base not for military power: PLA Daily
People's Daily Online
(People's Daily Online) 15:45, October 25, 2016
Chinese State military media has slammed Western media's hyping of the Chinese facilities in Djibouti as military base, re-emphasizing that the facilities are meant for supply missions.
The Djibouti base has long been the focus of Western media outlets, which often refer to it as a base intended for military use, featuring weapons stores and even some Chinese forces.
"The West should not be so sensitive to this issue, as China has no intention of turning the logistics center in Djibouti into a military base," said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Daily on Oct. 25.
According to a contract signed in December 2015, the base will be able to hold 10,000 people, charged with protecting the region's economic and business interests. It cannot, however, harbor any military ships, and it falls short on target, function and scale for being a military base, PLA Daily said.
China's Ministry of National Defense admitted in February that China had begun construction on a logistics facility in Djibouti to support troops in the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali coast, Global Times reported.
Twenty-four missions have been dispatched to the Gulf of Aden since 2008. The basic food and oil supply for those missions relies on resupplying on land after communication with governments in the region, making the process difficult and time-consuming, according to PLA Daily.
"Therefore, the logistics facility will greatly enhance the efficiency of resupplying ships, and can even help with international peacekeeping as it can enhance the measures available to be taken in case of emergency," the newspaper added.
"[The base] is of great significance for Chinese troops as they perform their international obligations to safeguard international and regional peace and stability," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November 2015.
Meanwhile, PLA Daily pointed out that China reserves the rights to establish overseas military bases, but denied that the decision to exercise this right constitutes a threat. The article compared China's Djibouti base to overseas bases belonging to the U.S.
"Even if China wanted set up overseas bases for military purposes, the bases would still be in line with China's peaceful strategy of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs We will work to guarantee that our base is just and legitimate," the article promised.
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North Korea Blasts US, Japan, South Korea for 'Destabilizing Northeast Asia'
Sputnik News
13:39 23.10.2016(updated 14:20 23.10.2016)
The North Korean Foreign Ministry has issued a statement condemning the joint US, Japanese and South Korean naval drills taking place in the Korean Peninsula over the weekend, warning that such maneuvers "constitute a threat to the DPRK (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and the whole of Northeast Asia."
On Saturday, US, Japanese and South Korean naval forces kicked off large-scale two day drills near South Korea's Jeju Island. The drills involve a destroyer equipped with the Aegis Combat System, as well as several dozen other ships, helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft from the three countries.
Rodong Sinmun, the official press organ of North Korea's Workers' Party, issued an official response from the country's Foreign Ministry, cryptically suggesting that the US-led alliance "is no longer a mere specter, but takes on a concrete form as a key force for the implementation of US strategy in the Asia-Pacific region."
Last week, in defiance of the international community, Pyongyang conducted testing of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, the latest in a series of missile and nuclear tests initiated in quickening succession since the beginning of the year.
In its statement for Rodong Sinmun, the North Korean Foreign Ministry accused Washington, which it said has been "increasing their military pressure on North Korea," of "full responsibility for the deterioration of the situation in Northeast Asia." In these circumstances, the Ministry noted, the DPRK "will continue to further strengthen the nuclear deterrent, to ensure peace and security on the Korean Peninsula."
Indeed, amid the North Korean nuclear buildup, the US and its allies have substantially increased large-scale military drills in the area, including near contentious maritime boundaries between the DPRK and South Korea in the Yellow Sea. The latest drills in the area kicked off just last week, and involved the USS Ronald Reagan, along with dozens of other ships and submarines, and included practicing contingency plans for eliminating the North Korean leadership in the event of war.
Meanwhile, diplomats from Japan, South Korea and the US will meet in Tokyo next week to discuss joint measures against Pyongyang following the latest rocket launch. Last week, the UN Security Council issued a statement condemning North Korea's unsuccessful missile launch.
"This attempted launch is a grave violation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's international obligations under UN Security Council resolutions," the Security Council said.
The UN has issued a number of resolutions prohibiting North Korea from activity related to the development of nuclear weapons and the missile delivery capabilities associated with them. In recent weeks, members of the UN have discussed a draft resolution providing for tougher sanctions against Pyongyang, in response to its latest, fifth nuclear test, which was conducted last month. North Korea has rejected the Security Council resolutions, citing its right to self-defense against what it says is aggressive US policy in the region.
While consternated by North Korean behavior, Beijing and Moscow have also grown increasingly concerned over the US decision to deploy its THAAD anti-ballistic missile system on South Korean territory. Washington and Seoul have sought to justify the deployment by citing the North Korean nuclear threat, but China and Russia see the deployment as a threat to regional security. Beijing, in particular, sees the deployment as a possible first step in an effort to cripple the Chinese nuclear deterrent.
Sputnik
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KCNA Blasts U.S. Moves to Knock into Shape Triangular Military Alliance
Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)
Pyongyang, October 24 (KCNA) -- The U.S. is now working in real earnest to knock into shape a triangular military alliance aimed to realize its ambition to dominate the world.
Shortly ago, the U.S. together with riff-raffs of Japan and south Korean puppet military held a "meeting of joint chiefs of staff" in the U.S. at which they were closeted over the proposal for bolstering up the extended deterrence under the pretext of the "nuclear and missile threat" from the DPRK.
This was part of the U.S. moves to build the triangular military alliance with Japan and south Korea under the pretext of the "threat" from someone and seize military hegemony by containing China and Russia in the region.
By extended deterrence the U.S. means dealing counter-blows by using various combat capabilities including nuclear umbrella on the same level as that when its mainland is exposed to attack in case its allies come under serious threat including nuclear strike.
The U.S. promised the offer of extended deterrence to south Korea in June 2009 and has since made every effort to round off the triangular military alliance.
It is the sinister scenario of the U.S. to put south Korea and Japan within the framework of the triangular military alliance and use them as a shock brigade in realizing world domination in a bid to fish in troubled waters.
To this end it concluded a contract on sharing information in 2014, used it as a springboard and a legal basis for forming military nexus among the three parties. At the 4th meeting of vice-foreign ministers of the U.S., Japan and south Korea the U.S. sought measures for boosting cooperation among them.
In a recent period, the U.S. staged a missile alert drill together with Japan and south Korean puppet forces in the waters off Hawaii for the first time in history. Most recently they held joint drill called "naval interception operational drill" in the open sea east of Jeju Island.
The U.S. moves to deploy THAAD in south Korea are a product of its hegemonic scenario to hasten the formation of the triangular military alliance and thus build a missile shield in the Asia-Pacific region.
Viktor Poznikhir, first vice general director of the General Operation Bureau of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, said that the purpose of THAAD deployment is to neutralize the two countries of Russia and China, adding that the "U.S. decision is not to cope with the missile threat from the DPRK. The decision is aimed to seize military edge over Russia and China".
The appearance of NATO of Asian version with the triangular military alliance involving the U.S., Japan and south Korea as a parent body has become a reality and now it is impossible to avert a new arms race and a new Cold War in Northeast Asia.
The U.S. is the arch criminal wrecking global peace and stability as it is talking about "extended deterrence" under the watchword of "preemptive nuclear attack."
The international community is called upon to be vigilant mainly against the U.S. dangerous hegemonic scenario. -0-
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DPRK Permanent Mission to UN Issues Press Statement
Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)
Pyongyang, October 24 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Permanent Mission to the United Nations issued a press statement on Oct. 21. It said:
The Permanent Mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the United Nations issues this press statement with regard to the continuing forced adoption of the anti-DPRK "sanctions resolutions" of the UN Security Council, which do not carry legality, morality and impartiality at all.
The anti-DPRK "sanctions resolutions" adopted so far in the Security Council are all illegal criminal documents fabricated by arbitrariness of the United States encroaching upon the UN Charter and other recognized international laws.
It is heart of the issue that the UN Security Council is continuing to fabricate those anti-DPRK "sanctions resolutions" under the pretext of its determination that DPRK's nuclear tests and satellites launches pose "threats to international peace and security".
If our nuclear tests and peaceful satellites launches pose threats to the international peace and security, then why has the UN Security Council never taken issue with the nuclear tests and satellites launches conducted by other countries?
Does the UN Security Council has any authority to prohibit nuclear tests and satellites launches whosoever conducted by them?
If the UN Security Council has the authority to prohibit nuclear tests and satellites launches whosoever conducted by them, here is the question raised again why the Security Council has never prohibited the nuclear tests and satellites launches of other countries until now.
There are already relevant international treaties pertaining to the nuclear tests and satellite development, and therefore sovereign states can strictly join in these treaties fully on a voluntary basis.
The DPRK requested the UN Secretariat to clarify legal basis of the anti-DPRK "sanctions resolutions" imposed by the UN Security Council, but the Secretariat has not answered yet to these questions.
Unless these questions are addressed, none of the UN member states could accept or implement any of the "sanctions resolutions" of the UN Security Council.
UN member states should pay primary attention to the reason of why discussion on having fundamental reform of the UN system centered on power countries is not yet making any progress, although it came a long way of discussion.
If the UN member states tolerate and blindly follow the acts of arbitrariness of power countries who are misusing the Security Council, the Council then will merely turn into a ground where the power countries go rampant and behave as an emperor more than ever before.
In the 17th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement held last September and in the G-77 Ministerial Meeting held on the margin of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, there were adopted the Final Document and Declaration respectively opposing and rejecting both the UN Security Council "sanctions resolutions" and unilateral sanctions of the U.S. and western countries against the DPRK. This opposition and rejection is an answer and the voice of justice of the international community to the questions raised above. -0-
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Indian forces kill at least 24 Maoist rebels
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 7:23AM
Police forces in India have killed at least 24 Maoist rebels in a remote jungle region in the eastern state of Odisha.
Police said on Monday that they had tracked the rebels to the forested area, where a gunfight broke out shortly after midnight.
Dharua had earlier confirmed 18 deaths but said that the toll could rise.
Odisha police chief K.B. Singh separately explained that police acted on a tip-off that around 30 rebels had gathered close to the border with Andhra Pradesh State. He said there was no immediate information on police casualties.
"It was a joint operation by Andhra and Odisha police conducted last night... The operation is still going on," Singh said.
The operation inflicted one of the heaviest casualty tolls this year on by the rebels, who have been fighting a decades-long war against the Indian state from jungle hideouts across eastern and central India.
Maoist rebels accuse the Indian state of plundering the mineral-rich and underdeveloped east and central regions of the country at the expense of the poor and landless, among whom they retain some support.
In July, Maoists killed at least 10 members of an elite Indian police force in the south of Bihar State.
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India to Test-Fire Brahmos, World's First Supersonic Cruise Missile, in February
Sputnik News
17:02 24.10.2016(updated 17:06 24.10.2016)
The Indian Air Force is set to become the first to possess a cruise missile capable of breaking the sound barrier, with the successful integration of its Brahmos rockets with Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.
India will test fire the air-launched version of its Brahmos cruise missile, considered the world's most formidable, in February next year. The 2.5 metric ton Brahmos air-to-ground missile will be fired from an IAF (Indian Air Force) Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft that has undergone modifications to accommodate the new weapon. A successful preliminary trial has already been carried out, and two more dummy trials are in the pipeline before the actual test, according to sources from the country's Defense Research Laboratory.
The successful integration of the Brahmos with the Sukhoi-30 MKI marks a paradigm shift in the capability of the Indian Air Force, enabling it to destroy vital enemy installations from stand-off ranges. It will allow the country's air force to attack targets protected by powerful air defense systems, within and beyond the pilot's visibility range.
An Indo-Russian joint venture between Brahmos Aerospace, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and the Indian Air Force has been working to achieve this technological feat, which will go down in history as the first time a supersonic cruise missile has been integrated for use with a long-range fighter aircraft.
Other countries with Sukhoi-30s have been keenly monitoring the development, as they hope to acquire missiles of their own to pair with the Russian-made warplanes.
Sputnik
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Rouhani: Adopting new technology, an aim of nuclear deal
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Arak, Markazi prov, Oct 24, IRNA -- President Hassan Rouhani has said one of the objectives of July 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was to gain the world's new technology.
President Rouhani made the remarks Saturday evening in this central Iranian province while addressing the war veterans, Ulema and elites here.
With the JCPOA, Iran was to get its rights and reach an agreement with the world in order to open the global doors to the country's economic move, the president said.
Rouhani, who is now in Markazi province on his 32nd provincial tour, added that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution has also stressed importance of adopting state-of-the-art nuclear technology.
Also, he said, the South Pars gas field in south of the country needs modern technology.
Rouhani further stressed importance of getting familiarized with the new technologies in line with exploiting rich oil resources in the country.
About the country's relations with the world, the president called for constructive interactions with the world which can help the country make progress and at the same time relying on the Islamic Revolution, ethics, culture, religion and principles.
He further said the late Imam Khomeini did give us the lessons of resistance, self-reliance and glory, and brought freedom and independence to the country.
1483**1771
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Iran president says any foreign intervention 'very dangerous'
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 1:48PM
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the Islamic Republic pursues a very transparent stance in combating terrorism in the Middle East, warning of the "very dangerous" consequences of any act of foreign intervention in the internal affairs of other countries.
"We regard as very dangerous [acts of] intervention by foreign countries without any coordination with the host country and believe that [for any foreign measure,] the Syrian and Iraqi governments must request help and demand that another country act against terrorism inside their territories," Rouhani told reporters at the end of his visit to the central Iranian province of Markazi on Monday.
"This [regulation] is based on international principles and [any move] contrary to it will exacerbate insecurity," he added.
He said the Middle East has been grappling with the problem of terrorism for years and added that Western powers are not interested in the elimination of this phenomenon in the region despite being plagued by the scourge and its consequences.
"Some big powers are toying with terrorist groups in line with their own illegitimate goals and despite overflowing the region with tools and equipment, they are not carrying out any positive measure against them [terrorists]," the Iranian president stated.
He urged regional countries to respect the territorial integrity of other countries because "shifting borders is very dangerous."
Rouhani's remarks came as thousands of Iraqi army soldiers, fighters from pro-government Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga forces are taking part in the military operation to retake the northern city of Mosul, the last major stronghold of the Daesh Takfiri group in the Arab country, from the terrorists since October 17.
Turkey is adamantly insisting that it wants to play a military role in the recapture of Mosul despite Iraq's opposition, triggering a serious diplomatic row between the two neighbors.
Ankara has deployed troops to a base near Mosul, claiming that they were there to train Kurdish militants for the battle against Daesh.
Addressing a forum of Muslim scholars and politicians in Baghdad on Saturday, the Iraqi prime minister called on Turkey and Saudi Arabia to stop interfering in the domestic affairs of his country.
"We want the good of Saudi Arabia and Turkey provided that they do not interfere in the domestic affairs of our country," Abadi said.
He added that Turkey had sent troops without the Iraqi government's request and emphasized that Ankara is not battling Daesh but is trying to expand its outreach.
The Iraqi premier emphasized that Ankara did not help Baghdad when it was requested.
For more than a year, Turkey has maintained a contingent of its troops in northern Iraq, alleging that it is training local forces in their fight against Daesh Takfiri terrorists.
However, tensions have escalated after the beginning of the major offensive to liberate Mosul.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on October 12 that the country's military forces will continue their presence in northern Iraq regardless of Baghdad's repeated protests and escalating tensions between the two neighbors.
"Turkey's presence in Bashiqa (military camp) is legitimate. We will continue our presence there as long as it is needed," Kurtulmus said.
Following Turkey's deployment of its forces to northern Iraq, Syria condemned the "flagrant" move and said Ankara has repeatedly violated Syrian territorial integrity and is supporting militant groups fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkish troops are also deployed to northern Syria, a move condemned by Damascus as a violation of its sovereignty.
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Jahangiri: Iran's missile power main factor in its deterrence capabilities
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Tehran, Oct 25, IRNA -- First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said Iran's missile power is one of the major factors contributing to its deterrence capabilities.
Addressing a gathering of senior defense ministry officials here on Tuesday, he referred to sanctions as one of the reasons for the progress of Iranian defense industries.
He said Iran should retain its missile capabilities to make enemies stop daydreaming about attacking the country.
He said Iran could play a constructive and effective role in the region only when it enjoys good defense power.
Thanks to the defense ministry activities and achievements, he said, Iran is now considered as a country with high degree of security and stability in the region.
1424**1771
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Iraqi forces recapture more villages around Daesh-held Mosul
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 4:57PM
Iraqi army soldiers, backed by fighters from pro-government Poplar Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, have retaken more villages from Daesh Takfiri terrorists as part of a massive operation to liberate the northern city of Mosul.
Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced in a statement on Monday that the 15th Division of the army and security personnel wrested control over Khafsan village and nearby thermal power plant, and raised the national Iraqi flag over several buildings there.
The statement added that security forces were now advancing on Munira village, which lies south of Mosul.
A Nineveh provincial police source also told Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network on condition of anonymity that Iraqi security forces had recaptured the village of Zalhafa northwest of the town of al-Shoura, which itself is situated some 30 kilometers south of Mosul.
On Monday afternoon, Iraqi security forces marched through the heart of Karamlis district east of Mosul. The JOC said government forces will seize full control of the terrain within the next few hours.
Additionally, Iraqi counter-terrorism units liberated the villages of Khaznah, Khaznah al-Tabbah, Tob al-Zawah, Muwafaqiyah and Tahrawah on the outskirts of the recently-liberated Christian-majority town of Bartella, located about 21 kilometers east of Mosul.
Earlier on Monday, Iraqi forces drove Daesh extremists out of the villages of Ayn al-Namroud and al-Na'amaniyah south of Mosul.
Iraqi army kills over 700 Daesh militants week into Mosul battle
Meanwhile, Iraq's Joint Operations Command said on Monday that armed forces have killed 772 Daesh militants and freed 74 villages in the first week of the operation to retake Mosul.
It added that 23 Daesh members have been detained, two bomb-making workshops uncovered, 397 improvised explosive devices detonated and 127 booby-trapped vehicles destroyed during the same time.
No agreement between KRG, Turkey over Ankara's role in Mosul offensive
Furthermore, the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has stressed that there is no cooperation between the semi-autonomous northern Iraqi region and Turkish government concerning the operation to liberate Mosul.
Turkey has been adamantly seeking a role in Mosul recapture, rejecting Iraq's opposition to the deployment of its forces to the Arab country's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region at the same time.
On Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi opposed the US push for Turkey's participation in the Mosul offensive, stressing Iraqi forces will accomplish the task themselves.
"I know that the Turks want to participate, we tell them thank you, this is something the Iraqis will handle and the Iraqis will liberate Mosul and the rest of the territories," Abadi said following a meeting with visiting US Defense Secretary Ash Carter in Baghdad.
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Iraqi Troops, Peshmerga Advance On Three Sides of Mosul
RFE/RL October 24, 2016
Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces are poised on three sides of Mosul after a weekend in which they seized villages and towns to the south, east, and north of the Islamic State (IS) stronghold in northern Iraq.
Peshmerga fighters and Iraqi Army troops, backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes, have been coordinating their efforts -- with Peshmerga fighters seizing eight villages on the northeastern flank on October 23 and advancing within 9 kilometers of Mosul.
Masud Barzani, president of the Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region, told U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter that Kurdish Peshmerga also seized control of the strategic town of Bashiqa, about 24 kilometers northeast of Mosul.
The top U.S. Army commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, said his own information "suggests that President Barzani is right, that there has been a considerable success at Bashiqa."
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkish tanks and artillery were supporting the Peshmerga -- despite calls from Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi in Baghdad for the Turkish forces in the area to stay out of the battle.
CNN Turk quoted Yildirim as saying the Peshmerga "have mobilized to cleanse the Bashiqa region" from IS militants and "had asked for help" from Turkey's military.
Ankara's latest involvement in northern Iraq could further increase tensions with Baghdad.
The town of Bashiqa has been a front line position between IS militants and Peshmerga fighters since it was seized by IS in August 2014.
Some 500 to 1,000 Turkish troops have been positioned to the east of the town since late 2015 at a military base known as Camp Bashiqa where they have been training Sunni Arab tribal militia fighters and Peshmerga troops for the fight against IS.
The offensive to recapture Mosul began a week ago, with Peshmerga forces first advancing from the east before pivoting during the weekend to positions on Mosul's northeastern flank.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Army forces over the weekend seized the strategic town of Bartella, 12 kilometers due east of Mosul.
Bartella controls access to Iraq's Highway 2, which links Mosul with Irbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish region.
Iraq's army also seized control on October 22 of the historically Christian town of Hamdaniyah, which controls the strategic crossroads to the southeast of Mosul.
Iraqi forces also hold blocking positions to the south of Mosul and, early on October 23, entered the last settlement on the northern approach to the extremist-controlled stronghold -- the village of Tall Kayf, which is 5 kilometers due north of Mosul.
However, reports early on October 24 suggest IS militants still controlled territory to the west of Mosul -- including positions along Iraq's Highway 2 leading into Syria.
Western leaders have expressed concern that IS fighters will try to blend in with civilians fleeing westward from Mosul.
But military analysts say they think most foreign IS fighters within Mosul will stay to fight from positions within the city.
As the Iraqi-led offensive has been advancing to positions that put its tanks and artillery within range of the city, IS militants have tried to counter the offensive against Mosul by launching their own attacks further to the west and to the southeast of Mosul.
An IS attack on October 23 against government forces at Rutba, a town in the far western part of Anbar Province on a highway leading to southern Syria, has led to calls from local officials for reinforcements from Baghdad.
Two days earlier, on October 21, Iraqi security forces repelled a major attack by IS militants on the oil-producing city of Kirkuk, about 175 kilometers southeast of Mosul.
With reportng by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/iraq-mosul-offensive- peshmerga-/28071183.html
Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Iraqi Army Kills 772 Daesh Fighters, Frees 74 Villages Week Into Mosul Offensive
Sputnik News
14:59 24.10.2016(updated 18:41 24.10.2016)
74 villages were freed and 772 Daesh terrorists were killed during the Iraqi army campaign to retake Mosul, according to official statement.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) Iraqi armed forces freed 74 villages and killed 772 Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) militants in the first week of the campaign to retake Mosul, the army command said Monday.
The Iraqi government launched an offensive on October 17 to reclaim the Daesh stronghold with air support from the US-led coalition. The operation involves Kurdish forces and Sunni tribal fighters.
Twenty-three Daesh militants have been captured, the operations center said as cited by Shafaq News. Iraqi security forces seized two bomb-making factories, detonated 397 improvised explosive devices and destroyed 127 booby-trapped vehicles.
The US special presidential envoy for the anti-Daesh coalition, Brett McGurk, said Monday that all objectives have been met so far. He added the US-led coalition launched more airstrikes on the Daesh terror group in the past week than during any other seven-day period of the war.
Sputnik
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US Scrambles to Contain Flaring Turkey-Iraq Tensions
By Jamie Dettmer October 24, 2016
U.S. officials are scrambling to contain flaring tensions between Ankara and Baghdad after Turkish officials announced their troops Sunday shelled Islamic State positions near the Iraqi city of Mosul - an artillery barrage, the Turks say, requested by Kurdish peshmerga commanders.
A dispute between Baghdad and Ankara over Turkey's insistence on participating in the retaking of Mosul has simmered for months, prompting Western alarm over yet another complication in a highly complex military campaign involving an unruly alliance of many rival forces to oust IS militants from Iraq's second largest city.
In the run-up to the Mosul offensive, launched a week ago, U.S. officials struggled to resolve disputes between anti-IS allies - Iraqis, Shi'ite militias, the Kurdistan Regional Government's forces and local Sunni tribesmen. One of the thorniest disagreements has revolved around Turkey's demand that it play a role in ousting the jihadists from Mosul and its insistence on having a "seat at the table" when it comes to how the city is governed after the militants' ouster.
Last week, a former U.S. envoy to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, warned of a possible clash of arms between Iraq and Turkey, writing in a U.S. foreign policy magazine of there being a "danger of a war within a war that could damage the prospects for retaking and stabilizing Mosul."
Agreement 'in principle'
On Friday, U.S. officials thought they had found a solution to the smoldering disagreement between Ankara and Baghdad, following a three-day trip to the region by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter. He said he had brokered the outlines of a deal between the Turks and Iraqis regarding the involvement of Turkish forces in the military offensive. Although he acknowledged the details still needed to be finalized.
"I think there's agreement there in principle," Carter told reporters. "Now we're down to the practicalities of that... and that's what we're working through."
U.S. officials acknowledged Monday to VOA that the bid to contain the Ankara-Baghdad flare-up has been made much more difficult by Sunday's shelling, which was announced by Binali Yildirim, the Turkish prime minister. He said Turkish troops deployed outside Mosul had provided support for peshmerga forces "with artillery, tanks and howitzers."
On Monday, Baghdad was further infuriated when Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told reporters that four Turkish F-16 fighter jets were on standby to provide air support for the peshmerga.
The dispute between Ankara's Sunni leadership and Baghdad's Shi'ite government was first sparked in December 2015 when Turkey deployed more than a thousand troops to a base near the town of Bashiqa, 24 kilometers from Mosul, to train a 3,000-men-strong Sunni militia led by a former governor of Mosul, Atheel al-Nujaifi, who is at odds with Baghdad.
Turkish officials see the Sunni militia being trained as a counterweight to Iran-influenced Shi'ite militias Baghdad has depended on in the fight against IS militants.
Turkish officials insist their troops are only in northern Iraq with one aim in mind: to prevent Mosul, a traditional Sunni Arab city, from coming under the sway of Shi'ite militias once the city has been retaken from the Islamic State terror group. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made a series of incendiary speeches in recent weeks emphasizing that he won't stand by and see Mosul controlled by Shi'ites and has adamantly rebuffed Baghdad's demand to withdraw Turkish forces from northern Iraq.
In one television interview he said: "But there is a major question, who will then control the city? Of course, Sunni Arabs, Sunni Turkmen and Sunni Kurds."
Turkish presence
Baghdad considers Turkey's presence on its soil a violation of sovereignty and has appealed to the United Nations to compel Turkey to withdraw from Iraq. Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's prime minister, has warned that the standoff risks "triggering a regional war."
Ankara's ambitions in northern Iraq seem to be much greater than just ensuring Mosul remains a Sunni city, some analysts say. What is driving Ankara is fear of growing Iranian influence on Iraq - an influence it wants to reduce by encouraging the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to break away from Iraq and form an independent Kurdish state.
"After its liberation, Mosul will become the theater if it isn't already for the Turkish-Iranian regional competition for influence," says Merve Tahiroglu, an analyst with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank.
"And here is where the KRG comes in: Turkey has continuously used the KRG to protect its interests in Iraq at times of trouble with Baghdad, including the justification for the military camp in Bashiqa, and has used the KRG as leverage," says Tahiroglu.
The relationship between the KRG and Ankara has grown in leaps and bounds as Iraqi Kurds have become increasingly economically dependent on the Turks. The resumption of Ankara's war with Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, last year tested Turkish-KRG ties. But the government of Masoud Barzani in Irbil shares Ankara's anxieties about the ambitions of the PKK in Syria and Iraq, says Tahiroglu.
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In Smoke and Ruins, Iraqi City Celebrates IS Defeat
By Heather Murdock October 24, 2016
"We can't even wash our hands because there is just barely enough water to drink," says Intisar, leaning on her tin door frame in the city of Qayyarah, Iraq. She is surrounded by her three daughters their clothes, faces and hands all blackened with oil residue.
Overhead loom massive plumes of black smoke from burning oil fields. Five days ago, Islamic State fighters were launching attacks, including re-igniting the oil fields, about 300 meters from her front door. A month ago, they controlled Qayyarah.
Just north of the city, fumes from a sulfur plant set alight by IS fighters have killed at least two people in recent days, and sent about 1,000 to the hospital.
Intisar's daughter, Haibat, who looks about 10 years old, puts on a paper hospital mask. Officials have told people to wear the masks to protect them from the poisons. After a few minutes, Haibar removes the mask.
"The oil has been burning so long, people have gotten used to it," her mom says.
Destruction
Here in Qayyarah, locals say most of the bombed-out buildings were crushed by coalition airstrikes. A makeshift memorial on the main street lists the names of those killed by IS.
"At first, IS fighters didn't care about the people; they only wanted to control the city," explains Obayda, who returned to Qayyarah after IS was pushed out a month ago. "They didn't even bother families of Iraqi Army soldiers."
Now Obayda works at a falafel shop on the city's main drag, where most of the businesses are closed and buildings have shattered windows and bullet holes. A Sunni Muslim, he also serves with one of the Shiite militias, a joint Sunni-Shiite operation.
As months of IS rule dragged on, he says, militants in this area appeared to grow more nervous, slaughtering former police officers, soldiers and government workers. Obayda finally swam across the river six months ago because the bridge had been bombed, and escaped to a refugee camp in the Kurdistan region.
"They were treating people like dogs," he says. "We couldn't leave our homes. There was no work and no money."
Regardless of the destruction, the smattering of local people that remain or have returned appear to be thrilled with the Iraqi Army's presence in the area, cheering military vehicles as they pass.
Graffiti litters many buildings, expressing support for the army and anger at IS. Some reads, "Long live Iraq. Death to Daesh."
Protecting the people
Army officials say they are winning the war against IS, but protecting the people is their biggest challenge.
When Iraqi and Kurdish forces get to Mosul, Iraq's second-biggest city and the largest IS stronghold in the country, IS is expected to use civilians' lives for protection, according to Major-General Najim al-Jibouri, the Iraqi Army's commander of the operation to take back Mosul.
"The big challenge is the people in the villages and the cities," he says, "ISIS uses them like shields."
Inside Mosul, he adds, IS has told people to fear the oncoming forces, and locals are already terrified of airstrikes.
The militants have also laid booby traps and mines in the villages that have been recaptured, and built escape tunnels. And while a million people are expected to escape the city as soon as they can, the surrounding area is reportedly also laden with landmines.
"We must be very careful not to hurt the people," al-Jibouri says. "If the battle was just between us and ISIS, it would be very easy for us to defeat them."
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Iraqi Forces Shell Area East of Mosul
By Chris Hannas October 24, 2016
Iraqi forces shelled areas outside of Mosul Monday, as their offensive to retake the country's second-largest city from Islamic State militants entered its second week.
The attacks were focused near Bartella, about 15 kilometers east of Mosul. Iraqi forces as well as Kurdish fighters have been moving through small towns to the east and south of Mosul as they work their way closer to the city itself.
Brett McGurk, special envoy for the U.S.-led coalition that has been conducting airstrikes against Islamic State targets for two years, posted Monday on Twitter that after the first week "all objectives met thus far."
Also Monday, Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into an airstrike last week that killed at least 13 people at a mosque near the city of Kirkuk. That strike came during an assault by Islamic State fighters believed to be aimed at distracting Iraqi troops from the battle around Mosul.
The rights group said the evidence it examined was consistent with an airstrike, but also noted that the area was within shelling range of Kurdish and Islamic State positions.
U.S. military spokesman Col. John Dorrian said the coalition had "definitively determined" its forces were not responsible for the airstrike. The Iraqi government said it was investigating the attack.
Kurdish commanders claimed major advances Sunday in Bashiqa, located just north of Bartella, including saying their fighters had entered the town. Journalists, however, were not allowed entry, and the status of the town had not been confirmed by early Monday.
Carter in Irbil
The advances occurred as visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter held talks in nearby Irbil with Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani and key military commanders.
Carter was later quoted as saying "they [peshmerga] fight extremely well. But because they're fighting hard, they suffer ... casualties."
After separate talks Saturday in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Carter also said Washington is prepared to provide additional support for the Iraq-led coalition if requested by Iraq and U.S. commanders.
Carter, who met Friday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is seeking to ease rising tensions between Ankara's Sunni leadership and Baghdad's Shi'ite government.
The two governments have been feuding over the presence of more than 1,000 Turkish fighters deployed near Bashiqa late last year to train Sunni and Kurdish fighters in the push against Islamic State. That Turkish force provided artillery cover for the Peshmerga advance on Sunday.
Turkey-Iraq border
The December 2015 deployment was also widely seen as an attempt by Turkey to ensure that its border with Iraq remains largely controlled by Sunnis and Iraqi Kurds rather than by Iran-backed Shi'ite militia currently fighting alongside Iraqi forces to retake Mosul.
For its part, the Baghdad government has repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of all Turkish forces from the country, a demand that Turkey has so far ignored.
The verbal standoff peaked Saturday when Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi formally rejected a demand by Turkey to participate in the military push to recapture Mosul.
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Iraqi artillery fire now hitting Daesh inside Mosul
Iran Press TV
Tue Oct 25, 2016 6:25AM
With the start of the second week of operations aimed at liberating the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh, Iraq's top anti-terror commander says military forces have started targeting the terror outfit's positions inside the city with artillery fire.
Abdul-Ghani Asadi, the commander of the Iraqi army's anti-terrorism contingent, made the announcement on Monday.
Iraqi forces have, meanwhile, liberated more than 70 percent of the territory lying to the south of the Daesh-held northern city of Mosul, and are weeding out explosives planted by the terrorist group on their way to the city proper.
On Tuesday, the joint military and volunteer forces liberated three more villages, located to the city's south, from Daesh, the country's war news media reported, with Tweeter pictures showing children rejoicing after the areas' liberation.
Assisting the liberation operations, Turkish Peshmerga fighters also retook three more villages, namely Khoursabad in the Narwan region, Batnaya in the Tel Kaif district, and Assaf, all located around Mosul.
Security forces also took back a gas plant in Tal Kaif and entirely liberated the heart of the district.
Mosul-based Daesh militants have, meanwhile, filled up trenches with oil and set them on fire in order to block the overflying aircraft's field of vision. In one incident, they threw nine of their defectors in one of the burning trenches in Mosul's al-Arabi neighborhood, killing them.
Footage also showed a military Abrams tank ripping through a bomb-laced Daesh vehicle, which had been left at one entrance to the city to block the forces' advance.
Overwhelmed by casualties, the Takfiris threw 40 bedridden patients, most of them elderly, out of the Mosul General Hospital, filling its aisles and emergency ward with their own wounded members, Iraq's al-Sumaria TV network reported.
Locals, meanwhile, said the bodies of most of the victims of the city's clashes had been taken to the al-Qabat district, situated in the city's east.
On Monday, Iraqi forces were engaged in a push toward the center of the strategically-important al-Hamdaniya district in the northeast of Iraq's Nineveh Province, of which Mosul is the capital, as part of the larger-scale push to retake Mosul.
Large numbers of the terrorists are, meanwhile, reported to have fled Mosul as the group is said to have lost the power to confront the advancing Iraqi forces.
The Takfiri terror group has declared the city its so-called headquarters in Iraq. The city has been under Daesh control since 2014, when the terror outfit started ravaging the country.
Also on Tuesday, a Kurdish journalist captured footage of a jet fighter destroying a Daesh car bomb north of Mosul as it was heading toward the Peshmerga forces in Nawaran.
Reports of horror emerging
The UN human rights office said it had preliminary reports about scores of mass killings by Daesh around Mosul in the past week.
UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a regular UN briefing in Geneva that the bodies of 70 civilians with bullet wounds had been discovered by Iraqi security forces in the Tuloul Naser Village on October 20, and 50 former police officers being held outside the city had also reportedly been killed.
Fifteen civilians were killed and their bodies thrown into the river in the nearby Safina Village, while six men were tied to a vehicle and dragged around the village, the official said.
He said there were reports that Daesh fighters had also shot dead three women and three girls and wounded four other children because they were lagging behind during a forced relocation due to one of the children's disability.
A Turkish "if"
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Ankara could launch a "ground operation" in Iraq if it is threatened.
"If there is a threat posed to Turkey, we are ready to use all our resources, including a ground operation..., to eliminate that threat," Cavusoglu said in an interview with Kanal 24 broadcaster.
He did not explain what could constitute a "threat" to the Turkish state. Kurds, including those in Iraq, have long been considered by Ankara to be "terrorists." Turkey has been hitting their positions, as well as those of Kurdish forces in Syria, with airstrikes for some time.
Daesh, too, may be a source of such a threat. Ankara said this week it had already hit Daesh positions with its artillery at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq.
But Cavusoglu's remarks may also be directed at the Iraqi military. Officials in Baghdad, who are engaged in a war of words with the Turks over unauthorized Turkish military deployments to their territory, recently said the Iraqi military may target the Turkish forces if the latter interfere in the ongoing battle for Mosul.
Area freed in Anbar
Meanwhile, Suhaib al-Rawi, the governor of the vast western Iraqi province of Anbar, has also said that security forces have fully liberated the province's al-Rutba district, raising the national flag over the district governor's building there
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UN: Fresh Reports of Extrajudicial Killings by Islamic State
By Carla Babb October 25, 2016
The United Nations said Tuesday it has preliminary reports of extrajudicial killings and summary executions by Islamic State fighters around the northern city of Mosul, including the militants using civilians as human shields.
U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva the reports have not been fully verified, but include Islamic State killing 50 former Iraqi police officers they had been holding in a building outside Mosul, and in the village of Safina fighters killing 15 civilians and throwing their bodies in a river.
Colville said there also were reports of Iraqi forces finding the bodies of 70 civilians with bullet wounds in an area south of Mosul, but it was unclear who was responsible for the killings.
He reiterated calls for Iraq and allied forces to make sure their fighters to act according to international humanitarian law.
On Monday, U.S. officials said Iraqi forces had regained more than 800 square kilometers of territory from Islamic State since the fight to retake Mosul began last week.
Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis says the significant gains include Bartella, about 30 kilometers east of Mosul's city center, which is now in the process of being cleared.
"This is probably the point on the map you could say is closest geographically [to Mosul]," Davis told reporters Monday at the Pentagon.
Iraqi forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters have been moving through small towns to the north, east and south of Mosul as they work their way closer to the city itself.
Brett McGurk, special envoy for the U.S.-led coalition that has been conducting airstrikes against Islamic State targets for two years, wrote Monday on Twitter that after the first week all objectives of the campaign had been met thus far.
U.S. officials caution that progress will be slow and deliberate, however, with fighting expected to intensify the closer Iraqis and Kurds get to the city.
Islamic State diversions
Despite the gains around Mosul, Islamic State has carried out several attacks across the country over the last few days. U.S. officials are calling these attacks diversions meant to take the focus away from Mosul.
"This is to be expected," Davis said. "We know that as they feel the pressure on Mosul they will try to divert attention as best they can by hitting elsewhere."
On Monday, Islamic State attacked the northern town of Sinjar, where local media say Kurdish forces have since repelled the assault. Other IS attacks over the last few days targeted Rutba in the country's west and Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
The terror group also poured oil into a sulfur-dioxide pit south of Mosul and set it on fire, releasing toxic gas in the area. The Pentagon said the gas is not considered lethal in the concentrations U.S. forces are seeing. Iraqi forces now have control of the sulfur-pit area and are trying to put out the fire, officials said.
Iraqi officials in Baghdad also said a series of small bombings in the capital killed nearly a dozen civilians Monday. No one claimed responsibility, but the Islamic State often has targeted areas in the Iraqi capital.
Airstrike investigation
Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into an airstrike last week during the IS attack on Kirkuk believed to be aimed at distracting Iraqi troops from the battle around Mosul.
HRW said the strike likely killed at least 13 people at a mosque near the city, but also noted the area was within shelling range of Kurdish and Islamic State positions.
U.S. military spokesman Col. John Dorrian said the coalition had definitively determined its forces were not responsible for the airstrike. The Iraqi government said it was investigating the situation.
Turkey-Iraq tensions
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter held talks over the last few days with Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani in Irbil, and in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
Carter, who met Friday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has sought to ease rising tensions between Ankara's Sunni leadership and Baghdad's Shiite government.
The two governments have been feuding over the presence of more than 1,000 Turkish fighters deployed near Bashiqa, Iraq, late last year. That Turkish force provided artillery cover for the peshmerga advance Sunday.
The December 2015 deployment was widely seen as an attempt by Turkey to ensure that its border with Iraq remains largely controlled by Sunnis and Iraqi Kurds, rather than by Iran-backed Shiite militia fighting alongside Iraqi forces to retake Mosul.
Baghdad repeatedly has demanded the withdrawal of all Turkish forces from the country, a demand that Turkey so far has ignored.
Chris Hannas contributed to this report from Washington.
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UN Special Envoy Highlights Importance of Building Unified Libyan Army
Sputnik News
17:02 25.10.2016(updated 17:15 25.10.2016)
UN secretary-general and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya said that Building a unified Libyan army is a must in order to build a secure Libya.
CAIRO (Sputnik) Building a unified Libyan army is a must in order to build a secure Libya, Special Representative of the UN secretary-general and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Martin Kobler said Tuesday.
"More importantly right now is to form a united Libyan army, whose leadership and formations are decided by the Libyans, to be responsible for the security in the country, because a unified Libyan army means a unified Libya," Kobler said at a press conference in Cairo.
Kobler is currently in the Egyptian capital holding talks with Secretary General of the Arabic League Ahmed Aboul Gheit and African Union High Representative for Libya Jakaya Kikwete, to help facilitate dialogue between Libyan parties in order to reach a political solution for the Libyan crisis.
Libya has been ripped apart since 2011, when a long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown. The country was subsequently contested by two rival governments the internationally-recognized Council of Deputies based in Tobruk and the Tripoli-based General National Congress.
The United Nations helped to bring about a ceasefire in late 2015 and on March 31, the UN-backed unity government took office in Tripoli. The government has so far failed to unite the country.
Sputnik
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Myanmar army forces about 2,000 Rohingyas from homes
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 7:12PM
The Myanmar army has forced about 2,000 Rohingya Muslims to abandon their homes in a village, as part of a crackdown on the religious minority following the recent attacks on border security forces.
Sources said border guards on Sunday went to Kyee Kan Pyin village, in the central region of Mandalay, and ordered about 2,000 villagers to evacuate it, giving them just enough time to collect basic household items.
The villagers were forced for a second night to stay and hide in rice fields without shelter.
"I was kicked out from my house yesterday afternoon, now I live in a paddy field outside of my village with some 200 people including my family, I became homeless," said a Rohingya man from the raided village.
"After the soldiers arrived at our village, they said that if all of us didn't leave, they would shoot us," he added.
Witnesses and Rohingya community elders have confirmed the report.
A Myanmar government spokesman said the government was unable to contact anyone in the area because it was a militarily-operated "red zone."
The move is believed to have been prompted after Myanmar police officials announced that attacks on three police posts along the country's western border with Bangladesh on October 9 had claimed the lives of at least two officers while six more remain unaccounted for. An assault that was later blamed on the minority group.
Rakhine, home to around a million members of the minority Rohingya Muslim community, has been the scene of communal violence since 2012. Many of the Muslims have been killed while tens of thousands have been forced to flee as a result of attacks by Buddhists. The Rohingyas are largely living in camps in dire situations.
The Rohingyas have no militant faction to fight for them but police in Myanmar and Bangladesh have blamed a number of attacks in the past on the Muslims.
Over 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar face discrimination, including controls on their movements, family size and access to jobs.
Myanmar denies full citizenship to Rohingya population in the country. According to the United Nations, Rohingya Muslims are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
The violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar has triggered an influx of refugees into neighboring countries, namely Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
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Renewed Violence Puts Rohingya, Rakhine on Edge
By Katie Arnold October 25, 2016
More than 3,000 Rakhine Buddhists have been driven from their homes in Maynamar's Northern Rakhine state after a series of attacks by a group of suspected militants raised the possibility of another sectarian conflict.
Deaths of 9 policemen
Nine policemen died after a group, said to be 250 strong, raided their posts in Maungdaw township, a Muslim area in North West Myanmar, where the majority of the population are from the stateless Rohingya minority.
While eight of the militants died during the attack, the rest escaped with 51 weapons and 10,000 rounds of ammunition stolen from the local armory.
Several videos have emerged featuring a group of armed men making demands, in the Rohingya language, of the government of Myanmar also known as Burma.
Attack is blamed on a Muslim group
The office of President Htin Kyaw has attributed the violence to a previously unknown Rohingya group called the Aqa Mul Mujahidin, which they say has connections to foreign Islamic organizations.
No evidence has been provided to substantiate the claim and a government spokesman later said the statement was based on a preliminary investigation and has not been confirmed.
No civilian deaths have been recorded among the Rakhine community. But the attacks come only four years after a bloody outbreak of inter-communal violence between the state's Muslim and Buddhist populations left over 100 dead.
Violence has caused Buddhists to flee
With these memories still raw, thousands of Buddhists have fled Maungdaw with many seeking refuge in monasteries across the state.
"Before they only set fire to our house, now they have guns it would be easy for them to attack again," said Ma Nyo from Kan Tha Yar village. "We do not know how long we are going to have to stay here, we want to go back to our homes, but if we do, then we will be attacked by Muslim terrorists."
The Myanmar military claims to have killed 30 assailants in a counter insurgency operation launched over a week ago. With the entire "operation zone" on lock down, human rights groups have not been able to verify the statement and many fear it conceals the true impact that their mission is having on the Rohingya population.
"We can't be sure, but I think a lot more have died than government have said... And we know civilians are being killed, " said Chris Lewa from the Arakan project, an advocacy group with a network of sources across Maungdaw.
Thousands of Muslim Rohingyas living in Rakhine State
About 120,000 Rohingya have been living in IDP camps across Rakhine state since the last outbreak of violence in 2012. With the government releasing so few details about their operation in the North, rumors are spreading around the camps that a state wide crack down on the Rohingya is imminent.
"I've heard that the police are attacking Rohingya, burning their houses and killing people and now they want to search us too. There is already a curfew in the camps, so I think the conflict will come here soon," said Maung Maung from Baw Du Pha IDP camp.
The displaced Rohingya deny any association with the attackers in Maungdaw. "There are no terrorists here," asserted Kyan Thin.
The violence has disrupted medical services
Nevertheless, humanitarian assistance to the camps was temporarily suspended after the attacks amid security concerns.
This may have come at a grave expense for Sobaya. She was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. Shortly after the attacks in Maungdaw, an abscess on her left breast burst and became infected. Without medication, the infection has spread and Sobaya has developed a fever.
"For two weeks I have not been able to visit a clinic or get any medicine. Because of this, my wound is getting worse and will not stop bleeding" Sobaya says, as her neighbour mops her moist brow. "If I cannot get medicine then I think I might die and I will have to pass my child's future over to Allah."
Humanitarian assistance is slowly resuming in the camps. But with the militants still at large, the threat of another attack is possible. If the violence escalates, the fragile relationship between the Muslim Rohingya and the Buddhist Rakhine could take a long time to recover.
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Gunmen kill at least 59 Pakistani police cadets during academy raid
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 10:12PM
At least 59 Pakistani police cadets and trainers have been killed and more than 100 others wounded after militants attacked a police college in the restive Balochistan province.
The Takfiri Daesh group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the overnight attack in Quetta after authorities said the attackers belonged to a militant group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban.
It was one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistan's security forces in recent years, sparking a ferocious gunbattle with troops that lasted into early hours Tuesday.
According to security officials, the attackers were killed following a four-long-hour siege. Officials said all three assailants were wearing explosive vests while they entered the facility.
"I saw three men in camouflage whose faces were hidden carrying Kalashnikovs," one cadet told reporters. "They started firing and entered the dormitory but I managed to escape over a wall," he added.
Hundreds of cadets were evacuated from the center when troops arrived to repel the attack.
Chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan Major General Sher Afgan who led the counter-operation said communications intercepts showed militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban were behind the attack.
"They were in communication with operatives in Afghanistan," he said, noting that the group itself has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
Daesh, however, said the attack was carried out by its "fighters", according to the group's Amaq news agency.
In August, Daesh claimed responsibility for an attack on a gathering of mourners at a hospital in Quetta that killed 70 people but that attack was also claimed by Pakistani Taliban faction, Jamaat-ur-Ahrar.
Provincial Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti noted that two of the attacker died after the detonated their explosives while the third was killed by security forces, adding that most of the casualties were the result of blasts.
Pakistan has been battling al-Qaeda-linked terrorists and pro-Taliban militants for years, especially after the US-led invasion in neighboring Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent spillover of militancy into the region.
In June 2014, the Pakistani army intensified its anti-militancy efforts by deploying some 30,000 troops near the border with Afghanistan to wipe out militant bases in the tribal area and bring an end to the bloody militancy.
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IS Claims Attack on Pakistan Police Training Center
By Ayaz Gul October 25, 2016
lslamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that targeted a police training center in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 61 recruits and wounding more than 120 others.
The assault began just before midnight in Quetta on Monday, with three assailants entering the hostel for recruits inside the complex and spraying occupants with bullets.
On Tuesday, Islamic State, via its Amaq news agency, released pictures of the three attackers, with machine guns and explosives strapped to their bodies.
Witnesses say the attackers quickly seized a number of hostages before Pakistani troops and commando units surrounded and entered the facility to confront the gunmen.
Battle to clear complex
The battle to clear the complex lasted several hours. Two attackers blew themselves up while a third was gunned down in the exchange of fire with security forces, ending the siege just before dawn on Tuesday, said a provincial official.
"They (the victims) were all unarmed trainees who are normally at that time of the night either retiring to their bed or engage with their smart phones or other phones in their private leisure time. So, they took them by surprise," provincial government spokesman Anwar-ul Haq Kakar told VOA.
Kakar said authorities have yet to determine the number of attackers, adding that he saw the body of one of them. A preliminary probe concluded the assailants were Uzbek militants.
Allegations of Afghan, Indian involvement
The spokesman alleged that Afghan and intelligence operatives from rival India jointly facilitated the deadly assault like some previous terrorist acts hitting his province.
"We are quite clear about this that they were being handled by Afghanistan and they were Afghan nationals as far as initial assessment is concerned,"Kakar asserted.
Dawa Khan Minapal, a deputy spokesman for Afghan president Ashraf Ghani, said, "The Afghan government condemns the attack on the police training center in Quetta and rejects any suggestion that Afghanistan was involved in the attack."
US condemns attack
The United States has also condemned the terrorist attack in the capital of Baluchistan province.
"We stand with the people of Pakistan and Government of Pakistan at this difficult hour, and we will continue to work with our partners in Pakistan and across the region to combat the threat of terrorism," said State Department spokesman John Kirby in Washington.
For its part, the Afghan government accuses the Pakistani spy agency of covertly supporting the Taliban and its ally, the Haqqani Network that have staged similar attacks on its side of the border.
Border challenges
U.S. Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan General John Nicholson this week again acknowledged the nearly 2,600-kilometer long frontier posed challenges to both the countries.
"It's still a very porous border region and we do see insurgents moving both ways across the border, some from Afghanistan to Pakistan and then of course the Haqqanis and the Taliban moving from Pakistan into Afghanistan," the general told NBC.
He said there is a need for Afghans to increase the number of border posts on their side and both the neighboring countries also need to increase their coordination procedures.
The Pakistani province, particularly Quetta, has lately seen a spike in militant attacks. A suicide blast in early August just outside a hospital in the city killed more than 70 people.
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Russia Develops New Satellite Communication System for Military Use
Sputnik News
17:48 23.10.2016
Russia has started the development and engineering of a unified satellite communication system for military use; when completed the system will give the country's Ground Forces considerable superiority over the communication technologies of the ground forces of leading foreign states, according to Gen. Maj. Alexander Galgash.
It will be a multi-echelon system, Galgash told Life Zvuk radio broadcaster.
The major echelons will be space, aerial and ground.
He further explained that while the ground forces are involved in operations on the ground, the communication services, taking into account the physics of the process, use all the echelons from the ground to aerial and space.
There is currently development and engineering work going on within these echelons, which will provide ground forces with a unified third generation system of satellite communication in the space echelon (the system currently in use is of the second generation, the Gen. Maj specified).
There will also be orbital and ground groups which will provide communication in any part of the world.
In the aerial echelon it will be provided by rebroadcasting transmitters which will be mounted on various flying and lifting devices including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), helicopters and aircraft. By using the physics of allocation process and radio-wave transmission they will increase the transmission range and ensure the command of troops operating in different areas.
The ground echelon is the basis of the field component in the operative strategic system, Galgash said. It will consist of mostly "Redoubt" mobile communication complexes, a basic set of hardware connections and hardware communication control tools.
"Redoubt" allows a combination of different means of communication in a single radio network. The complex provides a reliable and uninterrupted communication with a wind speed of 30 m/s and at a temperature from 50 degrees C to +55 degrees C with remote antenna control, automatic control system, communication security and information protection.
"Redoubt" is equipped with an efficient life-support system, which makes its use more comfortable for the crew of the complex.
The complexes will provide communication for high ranking officials, successfully blocking the network from external unauthorized use, videoconferencing, telephone communication, data transmission and automated command of troops.
According to Galgash, this would bring up the percentage of cutting-edge communications technology in the Ground Forces to 45 percent, which is scheduled to go further up to 70 percent by 2020.
Sputnik
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Russia to conduct observation flight over Turkey
People's Daily Online
(Xinhua) 11:01, October 24, 2016
MOSCOW, Oct. 24 -- Russian inspectors will start on Monday an observation flight over the Turkish territory under the Open Skies Treaty to monitor compliance with the treaty, said a senior Russian defense official said on Monday.
The observational flight, which was canceled by Ankara in February, "will be carried out between Oct. 24 and Oct. 28 with the maximum range of 1,900 kilometers using the Eskisehir air base (In Turkey) to refuel," Russian news agency TASS quoted Sergey Zabello, acting chief of the Defense Ministry's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, as saying.
The Russian flight will use an An-30B aircraft with Turkish specialists on board, he added.
The flight is part of the confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War under the international Open Skies Treaty, which establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its 34 state parties, including Russia and most members of North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The treaty was signed in March 1992 and took effect at the beginning of 2002.
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Russia renews support for oil freeze plan
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 5:40PM
Russia has voiced a strong support for a plan to freeze oil output by key producers for the stabilization of global oil markets.
The announcement was made by Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak after a meeting with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo in Vienna.
Novak emphasized that there is an urgent need to rebalance the oil market and help ease price volatility.
"Probably by winter we will see considerable overkill of supply over demand. Therefore there is an acute and urgent need to speed up the rebalancing," AFP quoted him as telling reporters.
The Russian energy minister also said that he had discussed specific mechanisms of a possible deal between Russia and OPEC in his meeting with the Organization's chief Barkindo.
Options other than output freeze were considered as well, he added.
Novak further emphasized that he was confident that Moscow would reach an agreement to cooperate with OPEC on oil markets, Reuters reported.
The talks in Vienna were aimed at discussing coordination on oil markets after OPEC last month agreed modest oil output cuts. OPEC's goal is to cut production to a range of 32.50-33.0 million barrels per day, the news service added.
Prior to his Vienna visit, Novak attended a ministerial meeting of Persian Gulf oil producers in Riyadh on Sunday.
Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters after the meeting that Russia and Saudi Arabia had found a common ground over a plan to stabilize oil prices.
"The current down cycle is nearing an end... We are optimistic that oil prices will continue to improve in the future," al-Falih said after the meeting.
"We [Saudi Arabia and Russia] have managed today... through a common meeting to reach a common notion to what we can reach in November," Russia Today quoted the Saudi minister as saying in a report on its website.
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Typhoon-K: The Perfect Weapon for the Fight Against the Jihadists
Sputnik News
21:55 25.10.2016(updated 22:20 25.10.2016)
Russia's Western Military District has received another dozen brand new Typhoon-K mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) assault vehicles. Commenting on the delivery, independent military analyst Sergei Cherkasov suggested that the new vehicle is perfectly suited for the fight against terrorists.
Last week, the Russian military reported the delivery of the 21-ton, 19 person-capacity armored vehicles to special forces units stationed in the Tambov and Pskov regions.
The vehicles, built on a Kamaz-63968 chassis, have a 450 horsepower engine, automatic transmission, a hydropneumatic suspension providing for variable ground clearance, and are capable of highway cruising speeds up to 80 km/h. The cab of the vehicle is equipped with an on-board information and control system, providing data regarding engine operation, tilt, speed, and location, as well as real-time video readout of the vehicle's surroundings.
More significant is the Typhoon's integrated ceramic and steel armor and mine protection, including specially-made energy absorbing seats for crew and passengers, as well as a unique v-shaped underbody to improve the vehicle's ability to withstand blasts of up to 8 kg of TNT. Cabin protection gives the vehicle's crew the ability to withstand even a direct hit by armor-piercing incendiary rounds from a distance of 200 meters. The vehicle has roof hatches for emergency evacuation in case of roll, and is equipped with an air filtration system protecting occupants against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
Commenting on the deployment in an article for the independent news and analysis resource PolitRussia, military analyst Sergei Cherkasov suggested that at first glance, it's not clear why the Russian army needs the new vehicles, given the existence of equipment like the BTR-82A heavily armed and armored APC.
Indeed, the analyst noted, "the Typhoon is dissimilar to [traditional] Russian APCs created for waging a full-scale warThe Typhoon's armament is also very uncharacteristic for the Russian army [featuring only an optional] remote-controlled machine gun module; usually our equipment bristles with twin barrels of very serious firepower."
"At the same time, the new Russian armored vehicle looks similar to US APCs, such as the RG-33L or Cougar MRAP; they too aren't exactly small, but light, and are also armed only with machine guns."
"American APCs are quite a curious thing," Cherkasov noted. "In the course of the US military's [post-Cold War] rearmament, it was equipped with light, fast, roomy vehicles batted down as much as possible from underneath. The purpose of this equipment is obvious: it is meant for war against a weaker opponent i.e. irregular units, where the first priority among threats comes from a mine blast, rather than an artillery shell. Preference was given to small-caliber weapons, with threats such as grenade launchers to be defeated via absolute superiority in reconnaissance."
Russia, the analyst noted, is finally getting around to creating its own class of equipment for battle against lightly-armed militants and terrorists.
The Typhoon is actually an entire class of modular armored transports, "maximally unified in their construction, but each having a different purpose." The vehicle class was designed in cooperation with dozens of companies, but is built by two truck companies Kamaz and Ural. The series has five variants in total.
In addition to the Kamaz 63968-based Typhoon-K, there is the Typhoon-U, built on the Ural-63095 truck platform. Like its Kamaz cousin, this vehicle can be fitted for a number of uses, from 16-person secure troop transport to command post, engineering unit and ambulance. A similar vehicle, a Typhoon-U, built on an Ural-63099 platform, features a unified cabin-body design, and can transport 12 fighters plus two crew. A Kamaz version of the unified cabin-body design also exists, based on the Kamaz-63969.
Finally, there's the Kamaz-53949, diminutively called the 'Typhoonenok' (i.e. 'Little Typhoon'), a 4x4 capable of carrying seven soldiers and three crew.
"For now," Cherkasov noted, "only the Kamaz-63968 Typhoon-K and the Ural Typhoon-U have begun production, with about 100 and 30 units of each produced, respectively. In a couple years, the production of the Typhoonenok is set to get underway."
"The main advantage of the Typhoon-K is its capacity, of 16 men and three crew members, or four tons of cargo. Even the Americans known as the biggest fans of armored vehicles, have not achieved such characteristics" (the Cougar has a 12 person capacity, while the RG-33 holds 10 personnel).
"The second advantage of this APC is its excellent protection. This is something of the kind our army truly has not seen before. Given its dimensions, its capacity and its 20 ton weight, the designers succeeded in providing protection which is far superior to Soviet APCsThe vehicle's mine resistance rates the fourth level of protection according to NATO's STANAG 4569 standard, thus providing protection against mines weighing up to 8 kg, which is outstanding for this class of machine. For example, the US recently began production of the International MaxxPro armored fighting vehicle, whose protection is only 7 kg."
"In other areas too, the Typhoon's protection corresponds to the fourth level of the NATO standard. The side of the vehicle easily withstands fragmentation from 152-mm shells exploded at a distance of 25 meters. When exploding from two meters away, splinters get stuck in the armor, but do not pierce through."
All-round, the vehicle is resistant to armor-piercing heavy machine gun fire up to 14.5 mm caliber. The front of the vehicle is strengthened to protect even against 30 mm chain gun fire. Special mats provide for protection against shape charges, preventing the formation of a cumulative jet to pierce the inside of the vehicle.
Ultimately, Cherkasov noted that the Typhoon is a perfect addition to the Russian military. "It has no place at the front in a major war for that we have the Kurganets IFV/APC, and the Boomerang AFV. This vehicle has another purpose: to combat poorly organized terrorist gangs, who may not be equipped with heavy armament, but are no less insidious. And this means that our army is keeping in step with the times, responding to emerging new threats in a timely manner."
Sputnik
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Russian Aerospace Forces Ready to Strike Militants on Syria-Iraq Border
Sputnik News
18:03 25.10.2016(updated 18:25 25.10.2016)
The Russian Aerospace Forces are on duty on the Syria-Iraq border and are ready for an immediate attack on terrorists, the Russian General Staff said Tuesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) According to Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi, chief of the Russian General Staff Main Operational Directorate, Russia is monitoring the situation in Mosul. There has been no evidence of the US-led coalition's significant successes in liberating the city from the Daesh militants.
"The Russian Aerospace Forces are monitoring the situation on the Syria-Iraq border around the clock using drones and other reconnaissance devices. The Russian planes are on duty in the sky, ready for immediate strikes against terrorists," he told a briefing.
On October 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of a military operation to recapture Mosul from Daesh, a jihadist group outlawed in Russia, with the help of airstrikes by the US-led international coalition. Ambassador Sanaei said the Iranian government stood by Iraq and believed a strong government in Baghdad benefited the entire region.
"The outflow of Daesh militants from Iraq to Syria continues. According to our information, some 300 Daesh militants have arrived in Deir ez-Zor from Mosul," Rudskoi said.
Sputnik
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Saudi officials warn bankruptcy looming
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 2:57PM
Two senior Saudi officials have warned that the kingdom could go bankrupt in three years unless serious cuts are implemented to trim the public sector which they have described as inefficient and overstretched.
Minister of Civil Service Khaled Al-Araj told a live TV debate that civil servants in the kingdom barely put in one hour a day in the office. The civil servants, he added, also have little incentive to work.
The kingdom's public sector, which employs more than 70 percent of the workforce, is extremely unproductive and its employees have a poor work ethics, Al-Araj was quoted as saying by media.
The system is so badly run that wages are paid to government employees even if they had left their jobs, the UK's The Times newspaper quoted him as saying in a report that was also carried by the arabianbusiness.com.
Al-Araj warned that the poor performance of the public sector could soon blow out of proportion.
"It directly and negatively affects governmental institutions," he was quoted as saying by the media.
Saudi Arabia is struggling with falling revenues what has been caused by low oil prices. The kingdom's deficit was nearly $100 billion last year.
Saudi Arabia's deputy economy minister Muhammad al-Tuwaijri, speaking during the same TV debate, also warned that government's finances will come under severe pressure unless austerity measures are enforced.
"If oil prices keep declining and the Saudi government does not take action with economic and austerity measures . . . bankruptcy in the kingdom is inevitable within three to four years," he said.
Last month, Saudi Arabia announced it would cut the salaries of cabinet ministers by 20 percent. It also said that it would scale back financial perks for state employees. Both plans, official said, were part of austerity measures to plug the kingdom's widening budget deficit.
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Syrian army liberates strategic hilltop in militant-held parts of Aleppo
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 2:13PM
Syrian government soldiers, backed by fighters from popular defense groups, have managed to liberate a strategic high ground in the city of Aleppo from the clutches of foreign-sponsored militants amid attempts to flush the extremists out of the strategic northwestern city.
Military sources told the official news agency, SANA, that the government troops took the hilltop of Bazo on the southern edge of Aleppo, near military bases, on Monday.
Sources said after the government forces captured Bazo, they shelled the nearby militant positions.
A video footage released by the Syrian army showed tanks and cannons pounding militants' positions in the troubled area.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also confirmed that government troops have captured a strategic high ground in the militant-held parts of Aleppo.
SANA, meanwhile, said that militants shelled the areas under government control in Western Aleppo. The shelling killed at least one person and wounded seven others.
Clashes between Syrian government forces and militants erupted in the divided city of Aleppo after a unilateral ceasefire announced by Russia and the Syrian government came to an end.
The ceasefire expired on Saturday evening, after a one-day extension on Friday. The truce was aimed at permitting civilians and foreign-sponsored militants to leave the eastern areas of the city.
Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, has said that Russia is not considering any extension of a ceasefire in Syria's northwestern city of Aleppo.
"The question of renewing the humanitarian pause is not relevant now," Ryabkov told Interfax news agency, adding, "Over the last three days, what was needed did not happen."
"In order to resume it, our opponents need to make sure the anti-government groups behave properly," the Russian diplomat said.
Aleppo has been divided between government forces in the west and the Takfiri terrorists in the east over the past few years.
The Syrian army has vowed to press ahead with its counter-terror operations and drive terrorists out of their major positions.
The Takfiri militants operating in Syria have suffered major setbacks over the past few months as the Syrian army has managed to liberate more areas.
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Russia not mulling extension of Aleppo truce: Deputy FM
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 11:25AM
Russia says it is not considering any extension of a ceasefire in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, where Moscow and Damascus had introduced a "humanitarian pause."
"The question of renewing the humanitarian pause is not relevant now," Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, told Interfax news agency.
The unilateral ceasefire was aimed at permitting civilians and militants not affiliated to terrorist groups to leave the eastern areas of Aleppo. It expired on Saturday evening after a one-day extension on Friday.
Ryabkov also stressed, "Our opponents must ensure appropriate behavior by the anti-government groups that in particular sabotaged the medical evacuation that was intended during the humanitarian pause" in order for the truce to be extended again.
Russian and Syrian Air Force fighter jets had even stopped bombing the militant-held neighborhoods in Aleppo on Tuesday two days ahead of the truce.
Russia said the militants prevented the residents of Aleppo from leaving the city through the eight humanitarian corridors that had been set up.
Ryabkov also censured the US-led coalition purportedly targeting the Takfiri terrorist group of Daesh in Syria because he said it was not "really exerting influence on the opposition, the rebels" and instead was slamming Damascus and Moscow.
"Over the last three days, what was needed did not happen," he said.
Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, has been divided between government forces and the militants since 2012. In an attempt to free the trapped civilian population and to end the militants' reign of terror in the east, the Syrian army, backed by Russian fighter jets, began a major offensive on September 22.
The Syrian army has continued to make advances against the Takfiri militants in the southwestern countryside of Aleppo on Monday.
Syria's official news agency, SANA, reported that the Syrian forces managed to take Talet Bazo to the southwest of the Military Academies from the Takfiri Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.
Also on Monday, the militant groups fired rockets at the neighborhood of Salahuddin in Aleppo, leaving a girl child killed and wounding 15 other people.
Syria has been grappling with a deadly militancy that it blames on some Western states and their regional allies since March 2011.
More than 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to an estimate by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
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Syrian Air Force Drops Leaflets With Last Call on Militants to Leave Aleppo
Sputnik News
18:28 24.10.2016
The Syrian Air Force dropped leaflets in eastern Aleppo calling militants to exit the area, according local source.
DAMASCUS (Sputnik) The Syrian Air Force has dropped leaflets in eastern Aleppo calling on militants to take a last chance for a safe exit from the city, local source told Sputnik on Monday.
"This is your last chance. If you don't quickly leave these areas, you will be destroyed. We have left you a safe corridor. Hurry up with a decision, save yourselves. You know that everybody has left you, nobody's here to help you," the leaflet's text says.
Syrian National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar said earlier in the day that the militants in eastern Aleppo had prevented civilians from leaving the city and refused to leave themselves.
The Russian and Syrian governments announced a humanitarian pause last week to allow civilians and militants willing to leave their weapons behind flee the war-torn northern city. The ceasefire came into being on October 20 and was extended until late October 22.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Monday that exits from the eastern part of the city had been under attacks from militants throughout the "pause." Continued shelling prevented humanitarian agencies from delivering relief aid to those in need, Peskov stressed.
Sputnik
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UK to resume militant training in Syria: Defense minister
Iran Press TV
Tue Oct 25, 2016 8:29AM
UK Minister of Defense Michael Fallon says British special forces will soon resume training "moderate" militants in Syria to bolster the fight against the Daesh (ISIL) Takfiri group.
Fallon made the announcement on Tuesday, before meeting with defense ministers from a US-led coalition which has been striking purported Daesh positions in Iraq and Syria since 2014.
"Daesh are on the back foot. The RAF [Royal Air Force] is already playing a leading role in the air, hitting them hard in Iraq and Syria," the top military official said.
"Now we're stepping up our support to moderate opposition forces in Syria, through training them in the skills they need to defeat Daesh," he added.
Under the new program, Fallon said the Defense Ministry would send 20 more of its personnel to the Middle East "to provide vetted members of the moderate Syrian opposition with the skills they need."
Britain's decision came in response to a request by the US, according to The Independent. British and American military forces had carried out similar militant training programs in Jordan.
The new effort would be an extension of an expensive program by the Pentagon that was supposed to "train and equip" up to 5,000 militants every year. However, it was discontinued in November last year, after failing to attract enough volunteers.
The $500 million program's few trainees were no good as most of them either deserted or surrendered their arms to other terror groups.
This time, however, Fallon said "strict vetting procedures" were awaiting the trainees in order to prevent similar problems.
"Trainees will be security and medically screened prior to the start of the training and will be assessed during and monitored after the training," he noted.
The UK's Special Air Service (SAS) forces have reportedly played a role in selecting the new recruitment.
The efforts to promote militancy in Syria come at a time when the West, mainly the US and the UK, have come under fire for openly seeking to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power.
Russia, which has been pounding Daesh across Syria upon a request from Damascus, says the Western-trained militants' only use is to oust Assad.
Syria has been grappling with foreign-backed militancy since 2011. The conflict has killed more than 400,000 Syrians, according to UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
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Pentagon Rules Out Russia's Participation in US-Led Coalition's Raqqa Operation
Sputnik News
19:06 25.10.2016(updated 19:31 25.10.2016)
The United States has begun planing an offensive to liberate Raqqa from Daesh, and Russia will not be a member of the operation, US Defense Secretary Carter said.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) Russia will not take part in the planed operation by the US-led coalition to retake Raqqa, the Daesh's stronghold in Syria, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday
"Russia is not a participant in our Raqqa plan," Carter stated. "We do deconflict our coalition operations with Russia through a very professional military-to-military channel. That channel is active every day, and everyone behaves themselves very professionally on both sides in that channel."
The US-led coalition is planning an offensive to free the Syrian city of Raqqa from Daesh and expects the operation to overlap with the offensive to retake Mosul, Carter said.
"We have already begun laying the groundwork with our partners to commence the isolation of Raqqa," Carter stated. "There will be overlap [with Mosul operation]. That is part of our plan and we are prepared for that."
The secretary pointed out that "capable, motivates" local Syrian forces will lead the offensive on the city.
Last week, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said the Pentagon expects to see success in Mosul and Raqqa in the coming months.
Daesh, which is outlawed in Russia and other countries, seized Mosul in 2014 and Raqqa in 2013 along with a number of other cities and towns in the two countries.
Sputnik
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Turkey's Syria offensive claims 100 civilian lives: Group
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 4:26PM
At least 100 civilians have been killed in a two-month military operation by Ankara and Turkish-backed forces in northern Syria, a monitoring group says, as pressures grow on Ankara to stop the drive which many suspect is really meant to battle militants.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that Turkish airstrikes and shelling as part of the assault have killed 96 civilians, including 22 children, since it was launched on August 24.
The Britain-based group said the operation, dubbed the "Euphrates Shield", has mostly affected Kurdish people in areas under the control of Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in northern Syria. It added that the attacks are carried out by Turkish-backed militants while Turkey's military lends them heavy firepower -- mostly airstrikes and artillery fired from Turkish soil.
The head of the group, Rami Abdel Rahman, said the attacks have also claimed the lives of several members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Arab alliance of fighters dominated by the People's Protection Units (YPG), a group backed by Western powers but fiercely opposed by Turkey.
Turkey began the military push despite opposition by the Syrian government and even a Western coalition claiming to fight Daesh in Syria.
Ankara has defended the offensive as a countermeasure against attacks by militants on its soil. Turkish officials have not denied that the military and allied militants also target Kurdish fighters, but they insist that the main objective behind the offensive is to attack Daesh positions.
Ankara has yet to comment on the Monday report by the monitoring group but Turkish officials have in the past rejected accusations of civilian deaths in the campaign.
For more than a year, Turkey has been gripped by a domestic insurgency which it blames on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). A massive military operation against suspected PKK positions southeast of Turkey has claimed many lives, with rights campaigners and pro-Kurdish political parties accusing the military of indiscriminately targeting the civilians.
Ankara says it has managed to clear an area of 1,000 square kilometers along its borders inside Syria and that the operation will continue to create a 5,000-square-kilometer safe zone in the Arab country. The Turkish-backed militants have recaptured two cities of Jarablus and Dabiq from Daesh during the two-month offensive.
Turkey is also involved in a similar military intervention in the north of neighboring Iraq, where the Arab country's military and allies are busy battling Daesh in the city of Mosul. Iraqis have repeatedly called on Ankara to withdraw its contingent of troops from a camp north of Mosul, but the plea has fallen on deaf ears.
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Over 30 Turkish diplomats, families seek asylum in Germany
Iran Press TV
Mon Oct 24, 2016 1:57PM
Nearly three dozen Turkish diplomats and family members have claimed asylum in Germany over alleged affiliation to the network of US-based opposition leader Fethullah Gulen, whom the government in Ankara claims to have masterminded the failed July 15 coup attempt.
German Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth announced on Monday that 35 Turkish diplomatic passport holders have formally applied for asylum.
He, however, did not provide any information about the asylum seekers' identities, positions or status of their applications.
Dimroth noted that the actual figure of the asylum seekers could be higher since diplomatic status is not generally part of the application.
The report comes as the Turkish Foreign Ministry recalled hundreds of diplomats in the wake of the botched putsch in the country.
Turkish authorities arrested Gurcan Balik, who served as the chief advisor to former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during the latter's tenure as foreign minister, on August 18 for suspected links to the Gulen movement.
On the same day, Tuncay Babali, a former ambassador to Canada, and Ali Findik, a former ambassador to Costa Rica, were detained in the Turkish capital city of Ankara on the same charges.
Turkish nationwide television news channel NTV, citing Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, reported on Sunday that security forces have arrested more than 35,000 people over alleged links to Gulen movement.
Bozdag went on to say that Turkey's government is going to arrest another 3,907 individuals.
The senior Turkish official noted that some 82,000 people have so far been investigated in connection with the failed coup, and tens of thousands of them been suspended, dismissed or jailed.
A section of the Turkish military declared itself in charge of the country on the night of July 15. Renegade military personnel made use of battle tanks and helicopters to fight loyalists to the incumbent government in Ankara and Istanbul.
The coup attempt was later extinguished as tens of thousands of people flooded streets across Turkey to support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party.
At least 246 people lost their lives and more than 2,100 others sustained injuries in the botched putsch.
The 75-year-old Gulen has censured the coup attempt and strongly denied any involvement in the violence.
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Total of 35 Turkish Diplomats Apply for Asylum in Germany Since Failed Coup
Sputnik News
15:52 24.10.2016
A total 35 people with diplomatic passports from Turkey made requests for asylum in Germany since a failed military coup attempt in Turkey, according to German Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth.
BERLIN (Sputnik) A total of 35 Turkish nationals with diplomatic passports have applied for asylum in Germany since a failed military coup attempt in Turkey, German Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said Monday.
"According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, a total of 35 people with diplomatic passports have made requests for asylum. It is not a statistics or a final figure yet," Dimroth told reporters.
According to the spokesman, this figure includes diplomats and members of their families.
On October 7, media reported that at least three Turkish diplomats had sought asylum in Germany in the wake of the failed military coup.
On July 15, the military coup attempt took place in Turkey, killing more than 240 people and injuring over 2,000. The coup attempt was suppressed the next day. Ankara has accused dissident Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in the US state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his followers of playing a key role in the coup.
Following the coup, thousands of people, mostly officials, legal and educational workers, were detained or dismissed over alleged ties to Gulen's movement.
Sputnik
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Turkey Notifies US of Possible Measures Against Syrian Kurds in Manbij
Sputnik News
17:11 25.10.2016
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's foreign minister said that Turkey warned about possible steps against the self-defense forces of Syrian Kurds, if they do not leave the Syrian city of Manbij.
ANKARA(Sputnik) Ankara has warned Washington about possible measures against the self-defense forces of Syrian Kurds, if they do not leave the Syrian city of Manbij, Turkey's foreign minister said Tuesday.
"As the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] does not represent Turkish Kurds, the self-defense forces do not represent the Syrian Kurds. If they do not leave Manbij to the East of the Euphrates, then let the United States not take offense", Mevlut Cavusoglu told the Kanal 24 TV channel.
On August 24, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield aimed at freeing the territory of 1,931 square miles from terrorists and creating security zones for accommodation of refugees.
Turkish forces regularly come into confrontation with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its military wing People's Protection Units (YPG) operating in Syria, which Ankara considers to be an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey.
Meanwhile, the United States consider the self-defense forces of Syrian Kurds to be an ally in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group, banned in Russia, and support them.
Sputnik
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Four Malaysian mobile operators say they have agreed to use the governments state-owned 5G network, paving the way for an increased rollout in the country.
English Finnish
Nokia Corporation
Stock Exchange Release
October 25, 2016 at 17:25 (CET +1)
New expiration date announced for Nokia's public buy-out offer for Alcatel-Lucent securities; Squeeze-out expected to occur on November 2, 2016
Espoo, Finland - The French stock market authority (Autorite des marches financiers, "AMF") announced today the continuation of the timetable of Nokia's public buy-out offer (the "Public Buy-Out Offer") followed by a squeeze-out (the "Squeeze-Out", together with the Public Buy-Out offer, the "Offer") for all remaining securities of Alcatel-Lucent.
Accordingly, the Public Buy-Out Offer period will end on October 31, 2016 and the Squeeze-Out will be implemented on November 2, 2016, in accordance with the General Regulation of the AMF.
The legal challenge filed before the Paris Court of Appeal on September 30, 2016 against the AMF's clearance decision regarding the Offer dated September 20, 2016 is still pending and the Court is expected to issue a decision during the first quarter of 2017. Nokia believes that the Offer complies with all applicable laws and regulations and that the legal challenge is without merit.
In connection with the continuation of the timetable, as a precautionary measure until the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal, Nokia has committed in particular to deposit into blocked accounts (i) a sum equal to the difference between the price of the Offer and the price requested by the claimants in the legal challenge, multiplied by the total number of Alcatel-Lucent securities that were targeted by the Public Buy-Out Offer, and (ii) the securities which have been and will be acquired as part of the Offer. Nokia also committed to maintain the integrity of the entity Alcatel Lucent S.A. In the event that the AMF's clearance decision would be nullified or amended by the Paris Court of Appeal, Nokia undertook in particular to (i) return the Alcatel Lucent securities acquired as part of the Offer to the former holders of securities who would make such a request, (ii) file a modified public buy-out offer to be followed by a squeeze-out which would comply with applicable French laws and regulations and the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal, and (iii) pay the difference between the initial offer price and the modified price, as the case may be, to all holders of securities acquired by Nokia in the context of the Offer.
Documentation relating to the Offer, which includes Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent's joint offer document (note d'information conjointe) and Nokia's and Alcatel-Lucent's respective "other information" documents, is available on the AMF website (www.amf-france.org), on Nokia's website (http://company.nokia.com/en/investors/financial-reports/filings-related-to-the-alcatel-lucent-transaction), and on Alcatel-Lucent's website (www5.alcatel-lucent.com).
Media Enquiries:
Nokia
Communications
Tel. +358 (0) 10 448 4900
Email: press.services@nokia.com
Investor Enquiries:
Nokia
Investor Relations
Tel. +358 4080 3 4080
Email: investor.relations@nokia.com
About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader in the technologies that connect people and things. Powered by the innovation of Nokia Bell Labs and Nokia Technologies, the company is at the forefront of creating and licensing the technologies that are increasingly at the heart of our connected lives.
With state-of-the-art software, hardware and services for any type of network, Nokia is uniquely positioned to help communication service providers, governments, and large enterprises deliver on the promise of 5G, the Cloud and the Internet of Things. www.nokia.com
Microsite details
Further information on the transaction can be found at: www.newconnectivity.com
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF THAT JURISDICTION
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This stock exchange release contains forward-looking statements that reflect Nokia's current expectations and views of future events and developments. Some of these forward-looking statements can be identified by terms and phrases such as "expect", "will", "believe" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to: the legal challenge against the AMF's clearance decision filed before the Paris Court of Appeal, the expected timetable of the Offer, including the expected implementation date of the Squeeze-Out. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of future performance, taking into account the information currently available to us. These statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and views of future events and developments. Risks and uncertainties include: AMF's regulation of the Offer, the outcome of the litigation before the Paris Court of Appeal as well as other risk factors listed from time to time in Nokia's and Alcatel-Lucent's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
The forward-looking statements should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included elsewhere, including Nokia's and Alcatel-Lucent's most recent annual reports on Form 20-F, reports furnished on Form 6-K, and any other documents that Nokia or Alcatel-Lucent have filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements made in this stock exchange release are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments anticipated by us will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, us or our business or operations. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This stock exchange release relates to Nokia's Public Buy-Out Offer followed by a Squeeze-Out for all of the ordinary shares and OCEANE convertible bonds of Alcatel-Lucent. This stock exchange release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or exchange, or a solicitation of an offer to sell or exchange, any ordinary shares or OCEANE convertible bonds of Alcatel-Lucent, nor is it a substitute for Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent's joint offer document (note d'information conjointe) filed by Nokia with, and which received visa No. 16-438 from the AMF on September 20, 2016 (as amended and supplemented from time to time, the "Offer Document"). The Public Buy-Out Offer followed by a Squeeze-Out is being made only through the Offer Document.
INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE OFFER DOCUMENT AND ALL OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT NOKIA OR ALCATEL-LUCENT MAY FURNISHED OR FILE WITH THE SEC OR AMF WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISION REGARDING THE PUBLIC BUY-OUT OFFER FOLLOWED BY A SQUEEZE-OUT.
The information contained in this stock exchange release must not be published, released or distributed, directly or indirectly, in any jurisdiction where the publication, release or distribution of such information is restricted by laws or regulations. Therefore, persons in such jurisdictions into which these materials are published, released or distributed must inform themselves about and comply with such laws or regulations. Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent do not accept any responsibility for any violation by any person of any such restrictions.
The Offer Document and other documents referred to above, if furnished by Nokia or Alcatel-Lucent with the SEC, will be available free of charge at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov).
Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent's joint offer document (note d'information conjointe) which received from the AMF the visa No. 16-438 date September 20, 2016 and contains detailed information with regard to the Public Buy-Out Offer followed by a Squeeze-Out, as well as Nokia's and Alcatel-Lucent's respective "other information" documents relating in particular to their legal, financial and accounting characteristics, are available on the websites of the AMF (www.amf-france.org), Nokia (www.nokia.com) and Alcatel-Lucent (www.alcatel-lucent.com).
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Friends and relatives have paid tribute to motorcyclist Shaun Payne who died as his mum and brother raced to be by his side after a motorbike crash on the outskirts of Newent.
The former Newent Community School was riding home from work at the same time as his mother Francine Payne was driving herself and brother Max, aged 17, back, not far behind him.
The three said goodbye in the car park at Morley Roofing and Severnside Scaffolding in Gloucester, where the two brothers worked together, before heading off home to Foley Road in Newent, but Francine was told a motorbike had crashed as she waited in a jam at temporary traffic lights at the roadworks on the B4215 at Rudford.
She raced up the road as members of the public and paramedics battled to bring the popular young man who passed his motorbike test on his 16 birthday back to life.
Francine said: "I was following Shaun and he was about 15 cars in front so went through the traffic lights first. The traffic lights stopped and the highways told me it was a bike.
"Me and his brother we ran, we ran as fast as we could but he was gone.
"His dad and his grandparents arrived and we were there to hold his hand when they stopped CPR. There is no answer to what happened, no-one knows, but our world ended at 5.13pm.
"We've lost the energy to our soul and he left doing what he loved most, riding his bike back to us all."
One behalf of the whole family she added: "What can I say about our soldier "Bill", he was a ball of energy and the centre of our world.
"Our family name for him was Bill because from the minute he could walk he would run around like Billy Whizz."
"He lit up every area he entered and we can't grasp his bike isn't going to pull onto the drive, we are all waiting, even his dog."
Dad Michael said he'd had the Yamaha bike since March and was building another in the shed.
"He loved biking and passed his test on his 16 birthday," he said. "He would go to all the meets.
"He bought himself a car and but he ended up selling it because he said he didn't feel safe and preferred being on his bike.
"Shaun was a grafter and you needed something doing he would do it. He worked hard and if his grandparents needed anything doing he would be straight there. He made us proud and I was very proud of him."
Francine added: "Our family name for him was Bill because from the minute he could walk he would run around like Billy Whizz.
"He just ran everywhere. He was vibrant, energetic, loud and full of life. He was like a tornado. He always wanted to go into the army had just been offered an assessment day.
"It's what he'd always wanted to do since he was a little boy but he really enjoyed his job and had just got together with his girlfriend Ella, so in the end he decided not to go."
"When I got told that you had fell off your bike, I broke down into a million pieces. I had to keep telling myself it was all a lie and that you were fine."
Shaun was part of a very close knit family and two years ago the whole family, including both sets of grandparents, went on holiday to America where they visited San Francisco, had a helicopter ride in the Grand Canyon and visited Alcatraz.
"He loved Alcatraz because he was fascinated with history and liked hearing about his great grandfather," said his grandmother Jenny Payne.
She recalled: "We used to say he was a bag of sugar with legs because a bag of sugar is 2lbs and he was 2lbs 7oz when he was born.
"He always wanted to be in the army and when he was small he would dress in army gear with his little wooden rifle. He may have been an 18-year-old man but to us he was still our little soldier. We loved him and it may sound soppy in this day and age, but we told him that all the time.
"He was so vibrant and full of life we can't believe he's gone. The only comfort we have is that it happened quickly and he didn't suffer."
Shaun's girlfriend Ella White, 18, also paid tribute to him.
She said: "When I got told that you had fell off your bike, I broke down into a million pieces. I had to keep telling myself it was all a lie and that you were fine.
"But now that everything has come to realisation nothing is the same without you. You made a huge impact on everybody's life and made people see everything in a positive frame of mind.
"All you wanted was for everyone to be happy and to have a great time and I really can't thank you enough for everything that you've done. You are a phenomenal boy and your great company will be missed beyond words. R.I.P. Shaun. I love you and miss you always. Shine bright up there. You will always be in my heart."
"Funeral arrangements are not something you normally discuss with your son so we don't really know what he would want. We have asked all his friends to come up with ideas."
His grandparents Fran and Sandra wrote further tributes. One said "Love you forever billy Bob boo love grandad fran" and his other grandparents wrote "Our firstborn grandson - gone but never forgotten love nanny Jen and grandad pizza".
After the collision with a car on Tuesday night youth workers opened the Chill Out Zone in Newent so around 30 shocked teenagers had somewhere to congregate.
"We went down to see them and it was packed," said Francine who has been moved by so many messages of support.
"I thanked them all for coming and asked for their help. Funeral arrangements are not something you normally discuss with your son so we don't really know what he would want. We have asked all his friends to come up with ideas."
"I will love Shaun forever and always. My best friend for life. He was that one person who I knew would be there for me. I love you Shaun. My Bro and My best friend. I love you."
Numerous tributes have been paid to the fun-loving teenager who cheekily insisted on calling his alsatian Spark by the name of Boris to tease his parents.
His friends are planning "a meet" with bikes and cars in Gloucester on Sunday as a tribute to the smiling young man with his trademark cheeky grin.
Dan George, 18, said: "Shaun was like my brother from another matter. I will love Shaun forever and always. My best friend for life. He was that one person who I knew would be there for me. I love you Shaun. My Bro and My best friend. I love you."
Relatives say they have been upset about Facebook speculation about the cause of the accident and want people to stop playing guessing games online.
But they have also been heartened by the kindness of strangers who have sent messages of support and are grateful to the man and woman who stopped to give CPR at the scene and 'Pete' from highways who cared for them so gently.
"He was amazing," said mum Francine. "He took me down to where he was so I could hold his hand and then looked after us afterwards. We all want to thank him because he could not have been kinder."
Danvilles crowded mass transit building will be expanded to accommodate an increase in the number of people who work there.
Built in 1988 for the 21-person mass transit staff, the building now also houses Danville Public Schools transit needs as well of those of the parks and recreation departments senior transportation services more than 120 people using what the citys director of transportation, Marc Adelman, said consists of two large rooms that are jammed full of desks, administrators, dispatchers, bus drivers and other staff.
It is difficult to do any type of training, Adelman said, since the already-crowded room is punctuated by the constant ringing of phones and crackling of radios that connect bus drivers to dispatchers.
The new addition will cost about $925,000, with state and federal grants picking up 96 percent, leaving the city to pay about $37,000.
Construction is expected to begin this month and be finished next summer, Adelman said.
Once its done, Adelman said, there will be room for offices for various staff members, training space and a room for bus drivers to use to process their paperwork.
Right now we have multiple people in the same space and no room for drivers to prep, Adelman said. This will support the existing number of people in the building the employees are all very happy.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct. 25, 2016) - Copper Fox Metals Inc. ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CUU)(OTC PINK:CPFXF) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Desert Fox Copper Inc. ("Desert Fox"), are pleased to provide the results of the recently completed study on the chemistry of six hydrothermal breccia pipes that occur within an area that measures 300 meters ("m") by 400m located at the north end of the Sombrero Butte project. The hydrothermal breccia pipes located in the center of the property were not included in this study due to the lack of geochemical data.
Elmer B. Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox, stated, "This study supports the presence of a buried porphyry system and shows that the breccia pipes acted as a pathway for a complex multi-phase introduction of metals and mineralized granodiorite boulders. In addition to the pipes that contain significant concentrations of copper-molybdenum-gold-silver mineralization, the bottom 500m interval of diamond drill hole ("DDH") SB-23 is interpreted to have intersected the outer portion of a porphyry system commonly referred to as a 'pyrite shell'. The fact that the 2015 Titan-24 DCIP survey ("Titan-24") mapped the mineralized breccia pipes has advanced our interpretation of other chargeability anomalies within the property."
The study focused on the trace elements (molybdenum-gold-silver-arsenic-antimony-tungsten) associated with a porphyry copper system. The analytical results for copper were previously announced by Bell Copper Corp. ("Bell"). The analytical results for molybdenum-gold-silver and associated elements have not been previously announced.
Highlights:
Late stage mineralized Gray porphyry dikes (0.48% copper and 0.035% molybdenum) and porphyritic dikes (0.13% copper) cross cut the Magna pipe indicating multiple phases of intrusive activity;
Mineralized granodiorite boulders occur within the Magna pipe in DDH SB-23 over the interval from 476 to 484m and averaged 1.61% copper, 0.029% molybdenum, 0.056 ppm gold, and 5.9ppm silver suggest rafting of mineralized granodiorite from depth during breccia formation;
The breccia material in the Campstool pipe over the interval from 466 to 492m in DDH SB-03 averaged 1.19% copper, 0.013% molybdenum, 0.08 g/t gold and 4.83 g/t silver. The breccia material in the Magna pipe over the interval from 458 to 506m in DDH SB-23 averaged 1.27% copper, 0.04% molybdenum, 0.08 g/t gold and 3.81 g/t silver, suggesting expulsion of metalliferous fluids from a porphyry system;
The copper mineralization in the Audacious-Rattler pipes is characterized by high concentrations of arsenic (from 1,188 to 10,368 ppm), antimony (from 20.3 to 260 ppm) and tungsten (from 53 to 128 ppm) suggesting a different source for these metals from that in the Campstool and Magna pipes; and
The Titan-24 survey completed in 2015 by Copper Fox located a number of positive chargeability targets within the property and also mapped the down dip extension of several of the mineralized breccia pipes tested by the 2006-2008 drilling program.
Background:
In, 2006-2008 Bell drill tested a number of breccia pipes located at the north end of the Sombrero Butte property. The drill hole information and analytical results for copper were released in a series of news releases made by Bell from November 9, 2006 to February 28, 2008 (www.sedar.com). The Bell news releases made no mention of either the molybdenum-gold-silver concentrations or the associated elements within breccia pipes.
The Bell drilling programs were carried out under the supervision of Timothy Marsh, P.E. PhD. Bell conducted a quality assurance and quality control ("QA/QC") program on the drill core samples by inserting field blanks, duplicates and certified standards into the sample stream submitted to the laboratory. The samples remained in the possession of Bell employees at the project site and then hand-delivered by the geologist to Skyline Assayers & Laboratories ("Skyline") in Tucson, AZ. Trace-element abundances were measured by inductively coupled plasma ("ICP") mass spectrometry at Activation Laboratories Ltd. ("Actlabs"), in British Columbia, Canada. ICP was used to analyze for Au, Ag, Cd, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pd, Zn, S, As, Ba, Hg, Sb, and W. Samples with copper values in excess of the analytical limit for ICP (10,000 ppm) were automatically re-analyzed by assay techniques. Other samples returning elevated ICP analytical results were also re-analyzed by standard assay procedures of Skyline and/or Actlabs. Both Skyline and Actlabs maintain internal QA/QC procedures for analytical results.
A discussion on the sample security and QA/QC program was included in a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report entitled "Technical Report on the Sombrero Butte Project, Pinal County, Arizona, USA, prepared for Bell Copper Corp." dated May 12, 2010, R.A. Blakestad, J.D., C.P.G. as Qualified Person (the "Technical Report").
In 2012 Copper Fox Metals Inc. purchased the Sombrero Butte property from Bell in a cash transaction, included in the purchase was all technical data generated related to the Sombrero Butte project.
Copper Fox has reviewed the QA/QC program implemented by Bell and the discussion of the QA/QC set out in the Technical Report to test the validity of the database before completing the recent study.
Geochemical Study:
Drill holes DDH SB-01 to DDH SB-23 were analyzed for a suite of elements, whereas DDH SB-24 to DDH SB-34 were only analyzed for copper. The purpose of the study was to determine if the copper mineralization in the breccia pipes had a single or multiple sources. Threshold concentrations used to determine anomalous values for molybdenum-gold-silver-arsenic-stibnite-manganese were taken from published information on Arizona porphyry copper deposits.
The geochemical associations exhibited in the breccia pipes are interpreted to suggest an evolving porphyry copper system at depth that initially led to formation of the breccia pipes. The study suggests that separate pulses of mineralizing fluid consisting of i) copper, ii) copper-arsenic-antimony-tungsten-manganese and iii) copper-molybdenum-gold-silver were introduced at different times into different breccia pipes.
The presence of late stage mineralized Gray porphyry and porphyritic dikes within the Magna breccia indicates that intrusive activity occurred after formation of the breccia pipes.
Compilation:
A compilation of the Titan-24 (see news release dated September 8, 2015) and the 2006-2008 drilling (Bell news releases) was completed to determine if there is a relationship between the 2015 geophysical results (chargeability/resistivity anomalies) and the breccia pipes tested by the drilling. The drill logs for the 2006-2008 drilling programs were prepared by Bell. The compilation suggests that the pipes join at depth into a single body and that chargeability anomaly (L2IP5) correlates with the mineralized breccia intersected in DDH SB-11 (from 282 to 342m averaged 0.22% copper, 0.004% molybdenum, 0.02 g/t gold and 0.06 g/t silver) and deeper in DDH SB-23 (from 458 to 506m averaged 1.27% copper, 0.04% molybdenum, 0.08 g/t gold and 3.81 g/t silver). The shape of chargeability anomaly L2IP5 suggests that it could be a part of a much larger chargeability anomaly L2IP6 at depth. The Titan-24 also identified the location of several other breccia pipes that have been mapped on surface.
DDH SB-23 was drilled to a depth of 1,230.7m. For the interval from 700m to 1,230.7m, this drill hole intersected weak potassic alteration (K-spar-biotite), weak disseminated and fracture controlled pyrite with trace chalcopyrite and several narrow intervals of weak molybdenite and bornite mineralization in granodiorite. These results suggest that the drill hole may have intersected the outer edge of a pyrite shell. The interpreted pyrite shell in this drill hole is located below anomaly L2IP5 (the down dip expression of the mineralized breccia) and approximately 200m south of anomaly L2IP6.
Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., President of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.
About Copper Fox
Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE:CUU) focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, being Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc. hold the assets listed below:
25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Ltd. on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia. 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Arizona. 65.4% of the shares of Carmax Mining Corp. who in turn own 100% of the Eaglehead copper-molybdenum-gold project located in northwestern British Columbia. 100% ownership of the Sombrero Butte copper project located east of Mammoth, Arizona. 100% ownership of the Mineral Mountain copper project located east of Florence, Arizona.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Elmer B. Stewart
President and Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information in this news release include statements about the data, observations, and interpretations related to the presence of a buried porphyry system at the Sombrero Butte project including comments on the number of mineralizing phases in the breccia pipes, the interpreted presence of a "pyrite shell", the presence of mineralized granodiorite boulders in several of the breccia pipes, expulsion of metalliferous fluids, the correlation between the Titan 24 results and the 2006-2008 diamond drilling, and the positive chargeability anomalies located by the Titan-24 survey.
In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox and its subsidiaries have made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the geological, financial and economic advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards and the stability of economic and market conditions. While Copper Fox considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies.
Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: the mineralized breccia pipes, the late stage intrusive activity of the Gray porphyry dikes and porphyritic dikes and the mineralized boulders in the Magna breccia pipes, the interval of copper-molybdenum-gold-silver mineralization and the high concentrations of arsenic-antimony-tungsten may not be indicative of a buried porphyry copper system; the exploration of the positive chargeability anomalies located by the Titan-24 survey within the property may not find copper mineralization in significant quantities or at all; the Company may require additional working capital sooner than predicted; the overall economy may deteriorate; uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; copper prices and demand may fluctuate; currency exchange rates may fluctuate; conditions in the financial markets may deteriorate; and uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals.
A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct 25, 2016) - Benton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:BEX) ("Benton" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has executed an option to joint venture agreement (the "Option") with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. ("RTEC") (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto) on the Company's 100%-owned Bark Lake copper, nickel and platinum group elements ("Cu-Ni-PGE") project. The Bark Lake project is located approximately 140km west of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Under the terms of the Option, RTEC can earn a 70% interest by incurring $3 million in exploration expenditures and by paying Benton $50,000 cash over 5 years (the "First Option"). After the First Option period, RTEC may either form a joint venture with Benton on a 70/30 basis or, at its election, increase its interest to 80% (the "Second Option") by spending an additional $5 million in exploration expenditures over 4 years and by paying Benton $100,000 cash within 30 days after electing to exercise the Second Option. Upon exercising the Second Option, RTEC may elect to form a joint venture with Benton on an 80/20 basis.
The Company is extremely pleased to have executed this agreement with RTEC.
About Benton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:BEX)
Benton Resources Inc. is a well-funded Canadian-based junior with a diversified property portfolio in Gold-Silver, Nickel, Copper, and Platinum group elements.
Clinton Barr (P.Geo.), V.P. Exploration for Benton Resources Inc., is the qualified person responsible for this release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Inc.,
Stephen Stares, President
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements."
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct. 25, 2016) -
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Callinex Mines Inc. (the "Company" or "Callinex") (TSX VENTURE:CNX)(OTCQX:CLLXF) is pleased to announce that it has signed a term sheet with Sprott Private Wealth LP and one of its affiliates (collectively, "Sprott"), as finders, to complete a $5.0 million non-brokered private placement (the "Offering"). The Company anticipates that a fund managed by Rick Rule, President and CEO of Resource Capital Investment Corp., an affiliate of Sprott, will be a direct subscriber in the private placement. The proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund the Company's new zinc and gold rich VMS discovery where drill hole 284-3-93-DPN intersected 10.3m grading 13.1% Zn Eq. containing 6.0% Zn, 1.8 g/t Au, 60.4 g/t Ag, 0.7% Cu and 0.4% Pb near Flin Flon, Manitoba (See News Release Dated October 18, 2016) and for general working capital.
Max Porterfield, President and CEO, stated, "We are pleased that Sprott recognizes the potential for our new discovery at the Pine Bay Project, located near existing infrastructure in Flin Flon, Manitoba. Furthermore, we believe the addition and support of Sprott will be a significant value-driver for our existing shareholder base as we proceed with ongoing exploration."
It is anticipated that there is significantly more demand than will be available under the terms of the Offering. The Offering will consist of 8,000,000 non-flow through units (the "Units") at a price of $0.50 per Unit and 1,820,000 flow-through shares ("FT Shares") at a price of $0.55 per share. The Units will consist of one common share and one-half common share purchase warrant, each warrant exercisable at a price of $0.75 for a period of three years, subject to an early acceleration provision if shares trade above $1.00 for 15 consecutive days.
All securities issued under the Offering will be subject to a four-month hold period from the date of completion. It is expected that the Offering will be completed on or before November 22, 2016 and a 6% finder's fee of gross proceeds will be paid.
About Callinex Mines Inc.
Callinex Mines Inc. is focused on discovering and developing zinc and copper rich mines within prolific Canadian VMS mining jurisdictions. The Company is actively exploring its Pine Bay Project, located in the Flin Flon mining district of Manitoba, which hosts significant historic VMS deposits that are within close proximity to a processing facility. The larger project portfolio hosts three significant zinc rich mineral resources including the Point Leamington, Nash Creek and Superjack Projects located in Eastern Canada.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, the ability to complete contemplated work programs and the timing and amount of expenditures. Except as required under applicable securities laws, Callinex does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
Recently, Target announced its decision to pull clown costumes from its shelves during this Halloween season in response to the spate of creepy clown incidents popping up across the country.
"Given the current environment, we have made the decision to remove a variety of clown masks from our assortment, both in stores and online," Target spokesman Joshua Thomas said in a statement.
This follows after McDonald's revealed that its Ronald McDonald mascot would be keeping a low profile until the clown hysteria dissipated.
"If a person can avoid these fears or concerns by dressing up as something other than a clown or not wearing a mask, it may be a more enjoyable Halloween for everybody."
What's more, several school districts have banned clown costumes, while some police departments are asking citizens to choose other options this Halloween. In San Diego, Officer Mark Herring told the local NBC News affiliate, "If a person can avoid these fears or concerns by dressing up as something other than a clown or not wearing a mask, it may be a more enjoyable Halloween for everybody."
(We're guessing movie theaters won't be showing a certain cult classic this Halloween, either.)
SEE ALSO: 8 Ways to Save on Candy, Costumes, and Spooky Decor for Halloween
The hysteria began in Greenville, SC in August, when police began receiving calls about clowns trying to lure children into a forested area with money. Since then, police in 37 states and abroad have responded to reports of menacing clowns. Most have been copycats responding to the viral trend, but in Reading, PA, a man in a clown mask stabbed a 16-year-old boy to death. In New York, a clown wielding a knife chased a teenager from the subway.
Readers, what do you think of the creepy clown craze? How do you feel about the actions taken by Target, McDonald's, and others? Share your thoughts in the comments.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct 25, 2016) - Black Sea Copper & Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:BLS) ("Black Sea" or the "Company") is pleased to announce exploration plans for the 100% owned Kalabak copper-gold property in southeastern Bulgaria. A systematic exploration program has commenced including geological mapping, geochemical sampling, ridge-top and grid soil sampling, and ground geophysics to advance this target to the drill testing phase.
Black Sea launched its exploration campaign in Eastern Europe in 2012, and has since completed 4 years of extensive data acquisition and regional targeting. Reconnaissance exploration programs, focused on porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold targets, have been executed throughout Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania. The Company deployed international and local copper and gold deposit experts to review and sample hundreds of mineral occurrences and targets, covering over 2600 square kilometers of prospective ground. The target areas were distilled down into several key land positions associated with previously unrecognized magmatic-hydrothermal centers with outcropping alteration and copper-gold mineralization.
Project Overview. Mineral potential at Kalabak was identified during Black Sea's extensive reconnaissance exploration program in Bulgaria. As a result, the Company applied for and was subsequently awarded the Kalabak license in October 2014. The Kalabak license area (191 km2) lies within an emerging porphyry copper-gold belt in the southeastern sector of the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains. The Eastern Rhodopes region has traditionally been viewed as an epithermal gold belt, however, recent exploration success in the belt by a number of companies suggests this is an emerging porphyry copper-gold camp.
Geological Setting. The Kalabak license is underlain by Tertiary intermediate to felsic volcanic and intrusive rocks (Fig. 1). Tertiary-age porphyry Cu-Au discoveries and project advancements are ongoing throughout the region in western Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia (e.g. Pilot Gold, Euromax and Eldorado Gold). All of these areas are underlain by Tertiary magmatic arc rocks similar to those in the Eastern Rhodopes. Approximately 50 kilometres north-northwest of the Kalabak target area, porphyry copper occurrences are hosted in the Tertiary Spahievo district within Bulgaria.
Mineralization and Alteration. The Eastern Rhodopes metallogenic domain has evolved in recent decades from a base metal vein to epithermal gold camp. These styles of hydrothermal systems can be driven by porphyry-related root zones. Porphyry-style alteration and mineralization at Kalabak were identified by Black Sea geologists in July 2013. This target area contains outcropping quartz vein stockworks with centerline magnetite-pyrite-chalcopyrite, which cut secondary biotite altered quartz diorite porphyry intrusions. The porphyry occurrence lies adjacent to an open-ended, 600 metre by 200 metre quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration zone cut by structurally-controlled base metal bearing veins.
To view Figure 1 please click the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/BLSFigure%201.pdf
Qualified Person. Daniel MacNeil, MSc P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has read and approved all technical and scientific information contained in this news release. Mr. MacNeil is responsible for the Company's project acquisitions and development.
About Black Sea Copper & Gold
Black Sea Copper & Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration company active in the Black Sea region of Eastern Europe. The Company has over 4 years of regional experience both technically and operationally within Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey and Romania, and has established a compliment of local technical, logistical, community and corporate support. Black Sea has demonstrated its ability to identify new copper-gold porphyry and epithermal targets, and believes it has one of the most extensive proprietary geological/exploration databases for Eastern Europe in the industry. The Company is committed to building a robust portfolio of high quality copper and gold projects with the potential to become world-class mining assets.
Vince Sorace
President and CEO, Black Sea Copper & Gold Corp.
For further information regarding Black Sea Copper & Gold, please visit our website at www.blacksea.ca.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Black Sea Copper & Gold believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Black Sea Copper & Gold's ability to raise sufficient capital to fund its obligations under its property option agreements, to maintain its mineral tenures and concessions in good standing, to explore and develop its projects, to repay its debt and for general working capital purposes; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the ability of Black Sea Copper & Gold to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects and if obtained, to obtain such permits and consents in a timely fashion relative to Black Sea Copper & Gold's plans and business objectives for the projects; the general ability of Black Sea Copper & Gold to drill test its projects and find mineral resources; if any mineral resources are discovered or acquired, the Company's ability to monetize any such mineral resources; and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations. Forward-looking statements are based on the reasonable beliefs, estimates and opinions of Black Sea Copper & Gold's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Black Sea Copper & Gold undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
VANCOUVER, October 25, 2016 - Nevada Clean Magnesium Inc. . (TSXV: NVM; Frankfurt-M1V; OTC Pink Sheets: MLYFF) (The "Company") today announced that it will conduct a non-brokered private placement of unsecured convertible notes (the "Convertible Note") in the principal amount of $120,000.
The Principal Amount of the Convertible Note will bear interest at 7.5% per annum, and any accrued but unpaid interest, will mature on the date that is one (1) year following the Closing Date (the "Maturity Date"). Each Convertible Note will be convertible into common shares (each, a "Share") of the Company at a price of $0.05 per Share and any accrued but unpaid interest thereon will be convertible into Shares at the price per Share which is the greater of (i) $0.05 and (ii) the Market Price (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange")) on the date of a conversion notice.
In connection with the private placement, the Company may, subject to regulatory acceptance, pay a finder's fee to certain arm's-length parties on the proceeds raised. It has yet to be determined if any insiders will be participating in the offering.
The securities issued will be subject to a 4 month hold period from the date of issue of, as the case may be, the Convertible Notes, or the Shares. The completion of the private placement and payment of any commission and fees remains subject to the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the Exchange. Proceeds of the Private Placement will be used for working capital.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
About Nevada Clean Magnesium, Inc.
Nevada Clean Magnesium is focused on becoming a major U.S. producer and distributor of primary, high grade, low cost magnesium metal extracted from its 100% owned Tami-Mosi property located in North Central Nevada. Based on the Company's NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Report published in September 2011 and amended in July 2014, the Tami-Mosi Project has an inferred resource of 412 million tonnes with an average grade of 12.3% Mg for a contained metal content of 111 billion pounds of magnesium using a 12% cut-off grade contained within a high purity dolomite block. For more information, please visit www.nevadacmi.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this news release include that we will conduct and close a private placement and that we can become a a major U.S. producer and distributor of primary, high grade, low cost magnesium metal. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, including the Company's dolomite reserves may not be mined because of technical, regulatory, financing or other obstacles, the market price for magnesium may make our resources uneconomic, we may not be able hire and retain skilled employees, and other risks associated with being a mineral exploration and development company. We may not be able to close with interested investors on our intended private placement because of perceived risks or market conditions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release.
To Reach Nevada Clean Magnesium Please Contact:
Edward Lee, CEO at (604) 210-9862
For additional information please visit our website at http://www.nevadacmi.com or view our profile at http://www.sedar.com.
You may also follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
OAKVILLE, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct 25, 2016) - Saint Jean Carbon Inc. ("Saint Jean" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:SJL), a carbon science company engaged in the exploration of natural graphite properties and related carbon products, is pleased to announce that the Company has engaged Georgi Doundarov to prepare the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Saint Jean. The Company has completed engineering modeling and enough ground and material studies to allow for the preparation of the report. The report will cover; the economics of possibly mining multiple small pits on our properties for graphite, potentially processing that material to produce concentrate which would then be further processed to produce 99.99% graphite, without the use of harsh chemicals. Then, the further processing of that material to produce spherical-coated graphite for use in applications including lithium-ion batteries.
The PEA will be prepared by Georgi Doundarov M.Sc., P.Eng, PMP, CCP who has 22 years of metallurgical experience in studies, EPCM, commissioning of processing facilities, production ramp up, operations, and closure while acting for the owner and the consultant site. He is a QP under NI43-101 with 17 years experience in Project Management of mining projects, different in terms of commodities, types and stages of development. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Cost Professional (CCP). He has created from scratch Project Management Offices, set up PMI standards and best practices, structuring and optimizing of cost areas. He has also increased efficiency, prepared financial and cash flow analyses, short and long term planning, capital and operating costs estimates and optimizations. This includes environmental work, EIS preparation, working with the Government after submission, Rehab and Closure plans.
Paul Ogilvie, CEO, commented: "After all of our property work, lab work and modeling, it is great to get working on our PEA. The results will prepare us for our feasibility study in the future and help us to better understand our strengths and where more effort has to be placed. We expect to issue the results of the report within a couple of months."
About Saint Jean Carbon
Saint Jean is a publicly traded carbon science company, with interest in graphite mining claims in the province of Quebec in Canada. For the latest information on Saint Jean's properties and news please refer to the website: http://www.saintjeancarbon.com/
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Saint Jean Carbon Inc.
Paul Ogilvie, CEO and Director
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, concerning Saint Jean's business and affairs. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "intends" "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved".
These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances that may cause actual results to differ materially. The forward-looking statements in this news release assume, inter alia, that the conditions for completion of the Transaction, including regulatory and shareholder approvals, if necessary, will be met.
Although Saint Jean believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct.
Statements of past performance should not be construed as an indication of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors, including those discussed above, could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is provided as of the date of this press release, and Saint Jean assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
(All amounts in US$ unless otherwise specified)
VANCOUVER, Oct. 25, 2016 /CNW/ - Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") (TSX: CS) today announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016. Operating cash flow before changes in working capital1 for the quarter was $41.5 million or $0.11 per share, with net income of $11.2 million. Copper production for the quarter totalled 32,027 tonnes (30,939 tonnes of payable copper) at a C1 cash cost1 of $1.32 per payable pound produced with copper sales for the quarter of 30,359 tonnes at a C1 cash cost1 of $1.49 per payable pound sold.
Capstone will hold a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time (8:30 a.m. Pacific time) to discuss these results; call-in details and information on associated slides are provided at the end of this release. This release should be read in conjunction with Capstone's consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, which are available on Capstone's website at http://capstonemining.com/investors/financial-reporting/default.aspx and on SEDAR. An updated corporate presentation, including results to September 30, 2016, in addition to the Q3 2016 webcast slides, will also be available at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.
Overview
Q3 2016 Q3 2015 2016 YTD 2015 YTD Revenue ($ millions)
139.9 113.0 366.4 328.4
Copper produced (tonnes)
32,027 22,109 84,730 66,886
Payable copper produced (tonnes)
30,939 21,340 81,836 64,560 C1 cash cost per payable pound produced1 ($/lb)
1.32 1.98 1.50 2.05 All-in cost per payable pound produced1 ($/lb)
1.65 2.91 1.91 2.97 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound produced1 ($/lb)
1.75 2.75 2.02 2.92
Copper sold (tonnes)
30,359 24,645 80,893 65,200 Realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb)*
2.18 2.24 2.19 2.45 Adjusted realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb) **
2.21 2.35 2.26 2.49 C1 cash cost per payable pound sold1 ($/lb)
1.49 2.16 1.63 2.05 All-in cost per payable pound sold1 ($/lb)
1.82 2.95 2.05 2.94 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound sold1 ($/lb)
1.93 2.80 2.16 2.90
Net income (loss) ($ millions)
11.2 (216.0) (15.0) (232.1) Net income (loss) per common share ($)
0.03 (0.44) (0.04) (0.48)
Adjusted net income (loss)1 ($ millions)
7.8 (16.3) (1.2) (23.9) Adjusted net income (loss)1 per common share ($)
0.02 (0.04) (0.00) (0.06)
EBITDA1 ($ millions)
50.5 (185.4) 91.8 (146.5)
Operating cash flow before changes in working capital1 ($ millions)
41.5 9.2 81.9 47.6 Operating cash flow before changes in working capital per common share1 ($)
0.11 0.02 0.21 0.12
Cash and cash equivalents ($ millions)
120.4 108.5 120.4 108.5 Net debt1 ($ millions)
224.2 216.1 224.2 216.1
* Q3 2016 includes a negative provisional pricing adjustment of $1.4 million (2015 negative $8.0 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to $(0.02) per pound (2015 $(0.15) per pound) of copper sold during the quarter. 2016 YTD includes a negative provisional pricing adjustment of $12.9 million (2015 negative $21.6 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to $(0.07) per pound (2015 ($0.15) per pound) of copper sold during the nine month period. The Q3 2016 and 2016 YTD negative provisional pricing adjustments were predominantly related to assay adjustments. The Q3 2016 figure of ($1.4 million) is broken down as ($0.3 million) related to price adjustments and ($1.1 million) related to assay adjustments. This translates into adjustments of ($0.00) and ($0.02) respectively on a per pound sold basis. The YTD Q3 2016 figure of ($12.9 million) is broken down as ($0.9 million) related to price adjustments and ($12.0 million) related to assay adjustments. This translates into adjustments of ($0.01) and ($0.06) respectively on a per pound sold basis.** Q3 2016 Adjusted realized copper price includes a realized gain of $2.0 million related to maturing forward contracts and nil related to exercised put contracts (Q3 2015 $5.7 million related to exercised put contracts). 2016 YTD Adjusted realized copper price includes a realized gain of $2.2 million related to maturing forward contracts and $9.6 million related to exercised put contracts (2015 $5.7 million related to exercised put contracts).
"Operating performance in the third quarter continued to be very strong, setting throughput records at both Pinto Valley and Minto," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "In addition, we received the benefit from a full quarter of processing high grade Minto North ore."
"Our operating cash flow this quarter of $41.5 million has de-levered our balance sheet, even in this low copper price environment, reducing our net debt by $20 million from the second quarter to $224 million," continued Mr. Pylot. "Subsequent to quarter end, we paid down our drawn debt by $20 million. We anticipate taking full advantage of additional free cash flow to further reduce our debt balance over the coming quarters."
Financial Highlights for the Three Months Ended September 30, 2016
Net income of $11.2 million or $0.03 per common share which included: Earnings from mining operations of $27.1 million, Production costs included a $6.5 million non-cash recovery related to the reversal of inventory write-downs, primarily at Minto, A gain on commodity derivatives of $1.0 million, $3.2 million in current and deferred tax expense.
Working capital increased to $186.1 million at September 30, 2016 from $160.6 million at June 30, 2016, primarily due to strong cash flows generated from operating activities ($41.1 million).
Financial Highlights for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016
Net loss of $15.0 million or $0.04 per common share which included: Earnings from mining operations of $2.8 million, Production costs included a $1.4 million non-cash charge related to the write-down of inventories, primarily at Minto, Share-based compensation expense of $6.5 million, driven primarily by an increase in Capstone's share price, A gain on commodity derivatives of $4.2 million, comprising $2.8 million on copper forward contracts entered into during Q1 2016 and $1.5 million on $2.60 copper puts entered into during Q2 2015, which expired in February 2016, $7.5 million in current and deferred tax expense.
Working capital increased to $186.1 million at September 30, 2016 from $162.4 million at December 31, 2015 primarily due to $74.4 million of cash flows generated from operating activities and $15.2 million in proceeds from the exercise of commodity derivatives.
Production and Additional Highlights for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016
Pinto Valley Mine:
Produced 16,658 tonnes of copper in concentrates and cathode during Q3 2016 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.69 per pound of payable copper produced.
of $1.69 per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 51,799 tonnes of copper in concentrates and cathode during 2016 YTD at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.59 per pound of payable copper produced.
of $1.59 per pound of payable copper produced. During Q3 2016, copper production continued to be strong as a result of mill throughput above plan, setting a fourth consecutive quarterly record of 57,295 tonnes per day ("tpd"), as well as achieving a monthly throughput record of 58,075 tpd in August and a daily throughput record of 63,900 tpd in September. Higher mill throughput and better than planned copper grade contributed to lower costs on a per pound basis.
Cozamin Mine:
Produced 3,359 tonnes of copper in concentrates during Q3 2016 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.50 per pound of payable copper produced.
of $1.50 per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 10,306 tonnes of copper in concentrates during 2016 YTD at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.51 per pound of payable copper produced.
of $1.51 per pound of payable copper produced. During Q3 2016, work continued to advance development, with daily development rates improving steadily as a result of improvements implemented throughout the year. Production was consistent with the Cozamin guidance that was revised at the end of Q2 2016.
Minto Mine:
Produced 12,010 tonnes of copper in concentrates during Q3 2016 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $0.76 per pound of payable copper produced.
of $0.76 per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 22,625 tonnes of copper in concentrates during 2016 YTD at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.30 per pound of payable copper produced.
of $1.30 per pound of payable copper produced. Q3 2016 production continued above plan, reaching levels projected in the increased Q2 2016 Minto guidance. Copper grade averaged 3.16% for the quarter, reflecting a full quarter of processing Minto North high grade ore. The mill recorded a quarterly throughput record, and recoveries were strong due to the lower than expected oxidized content in the Minto North ore.
Open pit mining of the Minto North pit was completed at the end of September 2016, with the mill now processing high grade stockpile combined with underground ore. Underground mining continued through Q3 2016 and is planned to extend into July 2017, as additional areas of high-grade underground ore continue to be mined. We are currently reviewing the economics of another stage of mining in the Area 2 pit that could potentially extend operations through 2017. We continue to expect the operation will be temporarily closed in 2017 once underground mining is completed and all the ore from the remaining stockpiles is processed.
Additional highlights:
Total Net Debt/EBITDA was 1.7:1 at September 30, 2016. With the Total Net Debt/EBITDA ratio falling below 2.0:1, under the revolving credit facility ("RCF") we realized a 25 basis point reduction in interest rates effective mid-October 2016 to LIBOR plus 3.00% from LIBOR plus 3.25%.
On October 25, 2016 a repayment of $20.0 million was made on the RCF, reducing the outstanding balance to $328.9 million. At the same time, Capstone chose to reduce the credit available under the RCF from $440 million to $420 million, which further reduces the interest rate to LIBOR plus 2.75%.
Operating Outlook
Capstone's consolidated 2016 guidance remains unchanged. The 2016 guidance is to produce 108,000 tonnes (5%) of copper from its Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto mines at a C1 cash cost1 of $1.45 to $1.55, an All-in cost1 of $1.90 to $2.00 and Fully-loaded all-in cost1 of $2.05 to $2.15 per pound of payable copper produced.
Capstone expects to finish the year at the high end of the consolidated production guidance. Consolidated C1 cash cost, All-in cost, and Fully-loaded all-in cost guidance remains unchanged, as lower costs at Pinto Valley and higher volume at Minto are expected to offset higher operating costs at Cozamin.
Conference Call and Webcast Details
Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Time: 11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time)
Dial in: North America: 1-888-390-0546, International: +416-764-8688
Webcast: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1239352&s=1&k=8BAA23C969A4C534E3BE63477AC38ADA
Replay: North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677
Replay Passcode: 651862#
The conference call replay will be available until Wednesday, November 2, 2016. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within 48 hours of the call at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.
About Capstone Mining Corp.
Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, focused on copper. We are committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our three producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in Arizona, US, the Cozamin copper-silver mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects; the large scale 70% owned copper-iron Santo Domingo project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned Kutcho copper-zinc project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile and US. Capstone's strategy is to focus on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable, mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at www.capstonemining.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This document may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Capstone does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable securities legislation.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect our expectations or beliefs regarding future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production and capital expenditures, the success of our mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses and title disputes. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. In this document certain forward-looking statements are identified by words including "guidance", "anticipate", "planned", "potentially", "expect", "expects" and "expected". By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, amongst others, risks related to inherent hazards associated with mining operations, assumptions related to geotechnical condition of tailings facilities, future prices of copper and other metals, compliance with financial covenants, surety bonding, our ability to raise capital, counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals, use of financial derivative instruments and associated counterparty risks, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation, compliance with governmental regulations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, reliance on approvals, licences and permits from governmental authorities, impact of climatic conditions on our Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto operations, aboriginal title claims and rights to consultation and accommodation, land reclamation and mine closure obligations, uncertainties and risks related to the potential development of the Santo Domingo Project, increased operating and capital costs, challenges to title to our mineral properties, dependence on key management personnel, potential conflicts of interest involving our directors and officers, corruption and bribery, limitations inherent in our insurance coverage, labour relations, increasing energy prices, competition in the mining industry, risks associated with joint venture partners, our ability to integrate new acquisitions into our operations, cybersecurity threats and other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause our results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that our forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.
National Instrument 43-101 Compliance
Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents.
The technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). The disclosure of the Technical Information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Technical Information related to mineral exploration activities has been reviewed and approved by Brad Mercer, P. Geol., Senior Vice President, Exploration. Both are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.
Alternative Performance Measures
The items marked with a "1" are alternative performance measures and readers should refer to Alternative Performance Measures in the Company's Consolidated Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 as filed on SEDAR and as available on the Company's website.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors
This news release contains disclosure that has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Without limiting the foregoing, this news release may refer to technical reports that use the terms "indicated" and "inferred" resources. US investors are cautioned that, while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian securities laws, the SEC does not recognize them. Under US standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. US investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of indicated resources will ever be converted into reserves. US investors should also understand that "inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of "inferred resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Therefore, US investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred resources exist, or that they can be mined legally or economically. Accordingly, information concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources contained in this news release may not be comparable to information made public by US companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.
1 This is an alternative performance measure; please see "Alternative Performance Measures" at the end of this release.
SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.
Letter to the editor: We must not allow subjugation of women citizens
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Real issues arose in the third and final presidential debate, not the least of them the future of the Supreme Court, but Donald Trump, in one of many mistakes, was too much like John Kerry. He said he thought the election could be rigged, which is what Kerry has said about the 2004 election he lost to George W. Bush.
Speaking definitively, Kerry, now secretary of state, said it about the vote in Ohio some time after the election, and Trump, with no evidence, is saying it speculatively before an election, suggesting the system is rigged. It may be an excuse for his likely loss, or, in his befuddled thinking, he may really think it is voter fraud that will defeat him instead of his endless, sometimes scurrilous tomfoolery.
But all the business about how this betrays American confidence in our electoral system is still a bit strange considering Kerry's hand-wringing and something more emphatic: the yearslong Democratic wailing about how the Republicans stole the election for Bush in Florida in 2000. Al Gore, the loser, clearly said before the final verdict that there was cheating going on.
Despite the news outlet frenzy on the subject, maybe there is something about the debate that mattered a whole lot more, such as the Supreme Court. The next president will likely get to appoint two, maybe three justices, and they could influence this country mightily for the next two or three decades.
Frighteningly, the court has become a giant. It is easily the most powerful of the three branches of government, overruling the other two not just in individual cases, which is what the founders saw as its job, but in declaring broad, sweeping outcomes nationwide. Trump, though predictably awry in some ways on the issue, said in the debate there is something that ought to hem the court in.
That would be the Constitution. The court's decisions should be based on what it actually says and what the founders and the amenders set forth.
Hillary Clinton thinks differently. She says the court should represent the people. What this means in reality is that the court relies on its own moral judgments and politics, perhaps sometimes kowtowing to the majority mood, which itself can be unjust. This abandons rule of law, and her appointees would almost certainly treat us to a leftist onslaught from which the country might never recover.
Her big concern is the Citizens United case concerning campaign spending. The specific question in that case was whether a nonprofit group could show a movie critical of Clinton, and the government at one point conceded that if it could prevent this, it could also ban books.
The court said yes, the group had had the right air its film, at the same time freeing major corporations to spend lots of money on elections. Clinton, who has outspent Trump on TV ads by $110 million to $19 million, says she wants to shut the corporations up.
Sounding just like Trump, although no one seems to notice, she now seems to agree with Sen. Bernie Sanders that corporately sponsored campaign ads rig the system, and they do if you have a corrupt politician who gives speeches telling donors that her public statements do not necessarily reflect her true thoughts. By the way, has any reporter ever asked her how she feels about banning books? Of course, she avoids news conferences.
Clinton is right about one thing. Trump is unfit to be president. But so is she. She demonstrated as much during the debate with her evasiveness on Clinton Foundation betrayals of the nation and WikiLeaks revelations showing campaign gamesmanship. To mention one other issue, her plan for the debt is a plan for crisis.
She is still almost surely going to be the next president, and the need is for a Republican Senate and House that can help control her. That means voting for GOP candidates in congressional races, but don't do it fraudulently.
Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Contact him at speaktojay@aol.com.
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The following editorial appeared in the Oct. 15 Victoria Advocate:
A voucher system that takes public money from public education and gives it to private schools is not good for Victoria or Texas.
The voucher system essentially would take money away from public schools that in many ways are still reeling from the $5.4 billion in classroom cuts approved by state lawmakers in 2011.
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is proposing a bill to create vouchers to allow public money to be spent by parents to send their children to private schools. If the Legislature approves this bill in the next session, public education, its students and our state will take a direct hit.
Taking public money from public schools is the opposite of where we need to be going at this time. Public schools need funding for more math, science, engineering and technology programs so our students can learn higher thinking skills and be able to compete for more jobs.
It also will hurt the performing and visual arts that provide creative outreaches for all students no matter their economic background.
A good education is the cornerstone of our economy and life. By making an investment in quality education, we are making a long-term investment in the growth and strength of the nation's economy. The cold, hard truth is when we fall behind in education, we fall behind economically.
Texas has long prided itself on leading the nation in economic growth.
Vouchers would halt that success.
Our state's founding fathers knew the importance of public education. They knew it so deeply they guaranteed it in the state's constitution.
To reverse that state constitutional right would take Texans voting to amend the constitution.
Why would we ever want to do that? Our founding fathers had the right idea when they wrote the constitution 140 years ago.
Supporters of vouchers say parents should be able to say where their children attend school.
Parents already have the right to move their children from poor-performing public schools to higher-performing ones.
If parents want to send their child to private school, they also have that right, but at their own expense. Most private schools offer scholarships to students whose parents cannot afford the tuition charged by the schools.
Another area of concern is the lack of public accountability in private schools, who are not governed by elected representatives. If vouchers, made up of public money, are handed over to private schools, the public should have the right to ask how that money is being spent. Private schools definitely have no interest in operating like a public school, yet that is what they must do were they to receive public money. Transparency is necessary when it comes to spending all public money, no matter who is doing the spending.
The only way to keep this really bad bill from becoming law is to let your state representative and senator know it is bad news. It is bad for the state. It is bad for public education, and, most importantly, it is bad for the 5.2 million students who are our state's future leaders. We cannot short-change our future leaders and the state.
Suppose every adult was automatically registered to vote. How many more people would actually cast ballots? Some states will soon find out.Since Oregon became the first to create an automatic voter registration system last year, California, Connecticut, Vermont and West Virginia have all followed suit.Alaska has just joined the list. Alaska residents on Tuesday approved a ballot measure to allow voters to be registered automatically by the state. It is the first state where voters themselves created such a system.Automatically registering people is intended to help more citizens vote. Oregon, for example, has already seen its voter rolls swell by some 250,000. None of the other states, though, had their systems completely up and running in time for the election.Still, the question remains: How many of the people who have been signed up almost by remote control will actually turn out to vote?"The expectations that now everyone will vote, or that there will be a huge increase in voting, are unlikely," said Jan Leighley, a voting expert at American University. "There's not going to be a magic switch that turns over everyone to voting."The idea of registering voters automatically has quickly gained currency, with 29 states considering proposals this year. So far, however, only Democratic governors have signed automatic voter registration bills. Republican Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Bruce Rauner of Illinois each vetoed automatic voter registration bills this year.In states that have passed automatic voter registration, their primary tool is the Department of Motor Vehicles. When a citizen gets a new license or renews an old one, his or her information is automatically entered or updated on the voter rolls -- unless he or she decides to opt out.In Alaska, the main database will be the state's Permanent Fund, which distributes oil royalty money to residents. More Alaskans apply for the Permanent Fund than a driver's license, particularly in rural communities, said Kit Reitmeier, co-chair of the initiative's campaign.The measure took more than 60 percent of the vote. It was backed by a wide range of supporters -- from the Alaska branch of the American Civil Liberties Union to the oil company BP, one of the state's most powerful interests. Although originally pushed by Democrats, the measure was endorsed by both of the state's Republican U.S. senators.By contrast, there was no organized opposition. In fact, the state couldn't even find anyone to write an argument against the measure for the official voter guide.So, thousands more adults in Alaska will soon be registered to vote. But how many of them will turn out in subsequent elections?When states allow Election Day registration, said the voting expert Leighley, it increases turnout by 3 to 6 percentage points. That's not nothing, but it's not a huge uptick in a country where more than half the people choose not to vote. And, she said, same-day registration is actually more conducive to encouraging voting than automatic voter registration."With Election Day registration, they can register and typically cast a ballot at the same place," said Leighley. "That's a two-for-one stop."But with automatic voter registration, people haven't necessarily expressed any interest in voting.Still, registration can be a serious barrier. Many people do not realize they might have to register weeks before an election, or that they need to update their information when they move. Making registration automatic makes it the state's responsibility to ensure that people who are eligible to vote are signed up to do so.The Alaska measure had some $1 million behind it, including six-figure contributions from the New Venture Fund, a Washington-based foundation, and the Alaska chapter of the National Education Association.Despite the lack of organized opposition, the measure did have some critics.Opponents called it a transparent effort by Democratic interest groups to stack the registration lists with their supporters. The few voices speaking out against the measure also raised concerns about voter fraud, although supporters of automatic voter registration in Alaska, as in other states, insist that there are safeguards to ensure that only citizens are registered.Automatic voter registration may not lead to a huge influx of new voters, but it will certainly create the opportunity for thousands of additional citizens.
Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane was sentenced Monday to 10 to 23 months in jail for orchestrating an illegal news leak to damage a political enemy, capping a spectacular downfall for a woman once seen as one of the state's fastest-rising stars."The case is about ego, ego of a politician consumed by her image from Day One," Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy told Kane at the end of a five-hour hearing in Norristown. "And instead of focusing solely on the business of fighting crime, the focus was battling these perceived enemies ... and utilizing and exploiting her position to do it."A tearful Kane pleaded for leniency, urging the judge to consider the impact on her sons."I would cut off my right arm if they were separated from me and I from them," she said. "Please sentence me and not them."But Demchick-Alloy was not swayed. "It's a shame that they had to go through all of this," she told Kane. "But that's a decision you made, not this court."Unable to immediately post $75,000 bail, Kane was led in handcuffs from the courtroom to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville. She was released hours later _ and might not have to return any time soon. She will remain free on bail until she exhausts her state appeals, a process that could take months.Still, the sentencing marked a bitter end to a career that drew national attention after Kane, a political neophyte and Scranton-area prosecutor, in 2012 became the first Democrat and woman to be elected attorney general of Pennsylvania.Over hours on Monday, the judge heard Kane's supporters _ including one of her sons _ extol her accomplishments and describe how devastating her conviction has been.But Montgomery County prosecutors countered by calling to the stand Kane's current and former colleagues, who testified how she let a personal feud and paranoia poison the state's top law enforcement office and plunge it into disarray.Erik Olsen, a top prosecutor, said he was thrilled when Kane won election, thinking her victory would bring a much-needed fresh perspective to an office he said had at times been "misogynistic and mean-spirited."Instead, he testified, "through a pattern of systematic firings and Nixonian espionage, she created a terror zone in this office."Kane's first year was marked by political and public relations successes. She drew attention for her stands in support of marriage equality and gun control and for crippling Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's move to privatize the lottery _ all positions her lawyer cited Monday in arguing for house arrest.But after her star began to dim in 2014, she leaked confidential grand jury material to a newspaper in a bid to embarrass a political enemy, then lied about her actions under oath. The ensuing two years became a bitter war, often played out through legal filings or public statements, that at times entangled government officials, state Supreme Court justices and the Legislature.At a trial in August, a jury found her guilty of perjury, obstruction and other charges. She resigned a day later.In her plea to the judge, Kane did not directly apologize for her crimes but rather for the consequences of her actions, saying she never intended to hurt anyone and was sorry if Pennsylvanians had lost trust in the Attorney General's Office.But her appeal for house arrest was a personal one: A sentence sending a 50-year-old mother in the throes of a divorce to prison could devastate her sons, 14 and 15, she argued.The older boy, Christopher, repeated the sentiment from the witness stand, telling the judge he wanted to testify "because maybe things weren't looking good and I decided I needed to help."Through tears, he said: "I just wanted to say, my mom is like my rock. She is there for me for everything. For her to leave me, that would be ... it'd be bad."Kane's lawyer, Marc R. Steinberg, said Kane's unprecedented fall from grace had been a punishment in itself."She stands a convicted felon subject to public shame and public humiliation," he said.Steinberg also argued that Kane could be in danger behind bars, a prediction echoed by Frank V. DeAndrea Jr., a former Hazleton police chief, who raised the specter of drug gangs ordering a prison hit and told the judge incarceration could be a "death sentence" for the former prosecutor.Demchick-Alloy retorted, "When you unfortunately dirty yourself with criminal behavior, you assume that risk."Prosecutors had sought a stiff prison term, pointing to the impact of Kane's crimes and the office culture of fear and paranoia that developed under her tenure.A former state prosecutor, Clarke Madden, testified that Kane's wrongdoings prompted the state police and the FBI to refuse to cooperate with her office, discouraged victims and witnesses from being helpful to their cases, and led judges and defense lawyers to subject prosecutors to sarcastic and sniggering remarks.Madden, who left the Attorney General's Office last year, said the atmosphere under Kane became one of "abject demoralization that settled like a poison cloud over the office."The poison began when Kane inherited an undercover investigation, begun three years before, that caught five legislators from Philadelphia and a Traffic Court judge on tape accepting money or gifts from a cooperating witness. Instead of prosecuting them or notifying ethics officials, Kane secretly shut down the case.When the Philadelphia Inquirer broke the news of her decision months later, in early 2014, Kane blamed a former top state prosecutor, Frank Fina, who had supervised the sting. Then she sought revenge.She surreptitiously passed the secret grand jury material to the Philadelphia Daily News to fuel a story she believed would reflect badly on Fina by suggesting that he, years earlier, had failed to aggressively pursue a criminal investigation into J. Whyatt Mondesire, a Philadelphia civil rights leader.Mondesire, who was never charged with any crime, died last year.In her presentation Monday, Kane told the judge: "I do feel for Mr. Mondesire ... and I hate that his last days were anything but peaceful and happy."In charging Kane in August 2015, Risa Vetri Ferman, then Montgomery County district attorney, said Kane had pursued her agenda "without regard to rules, without regard to the law, and without regard to collateral damage the battle might entail."For her part, Kane cast herself as a victim of a "good ol' boys club" _ an argument that gained steam after she discovered that her office's email servers had been a hub for the exchange of pornographic emails among prosecutors in her office and their friends elsewhere.But when Kane sought to invoke the porn controversy as a defense in court, prosecutors denounced it as irrelevant to the charges against her. Demchick-Alloy, a Republican and a former prosecutor, barred mention of the issue at the trial. That was a ruling that Kane's lawyers have said would be part of any appeal.Kane chose to not testify at the trial, and her defense lawyers called no witnesses, thinking they could prevail by poking holes in the government's witnesses. But the jury deliberated only 4 { hours before convicting her of every charge _ two felony counts of perjury and seven misdemeanor counts of charges including obstruction and official oppression.After the sentencing Monday, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and fellow prosecutor Michelle Henry told reporters they were satisfied with the outcome."We suggest that is a significant sentence," Steele said. "Nobody is above the law."
Description
GIS - 25 October, 2016: The Government has agreed to the recommendations of the Ministerial Committee set up under the Chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and External Communications, C.G. Xavier-Luc Duval, GCSK, to ensure necessary arrangements to mark the elevation of Archbishop Maurice E. Piat, GOSK, to Cardinal. The Government has agreed to the recommendations of the Ministerial Committee set up under the Chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and External Communications, C.G. Xavier-Luc Duval, GCSK, to ensure necessary arrangements to mark the elevation of Archbishop Maurice E. Piat, GOSK, to Cardinal.
A Ministerial delegation, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and External Communications, will accompany the Archbishop to Vatican, Rome.
Groups proceeding to Rome to attend the ceremony will be exempted from some additional charges, namely: Terminal Expansion Fee, Passenger Solidarity Fee and Passenger Service Charge Fee. The MBC will cover both the Consistory at St Peters Basilica to be held on 19 November 2016 and the Mass on 20 November 2016.
Moreover, an official ceremony will be held at the SSR International Airport on the return of the Cardinal on 24 November 2016.The Government will provide the necessary assistance to the Archbishop in Rome and for the holding of a Mass at Marie Reine de la Paix on the 27 November 2016.
Description
GIS 25 October 2016: The Republic of Mauritius NGO's Directory an online platform which provides an insight of the scope of activities in which NGOs in Mauritius and Rodrigues are involved was launched yesterday at the Caudan Waterfront, in Port Louis.
The event was organised in the context of the celebrations marking the 10 years of the Decentralised Cooperation Programme (DCP) in Mauritius. The DCP is a Programme funded by the European Union (EU) to assist Non-State Actors (NSAs), NGOs, and other civil society organisations engaged in activities to fight poverty at community level and help the needy segments of the population.
A Souvenir Magazine, showcasing the achievements of the DCP in the fight against poverty , was also launched on that occasion. The Magazine brings to the forefront the success stories of NGOs working towards social inclusion and economic upliftment of vulnerable groups in Mauritius. The programme of the day included an exhibition which brought together several NGOs all beneficiaries of the DCP-EU Programme I and II (2006-2010 and 2011-2016) from the Republic of Mauritius.
Mauritius privileged collaborative ties with EU highlighted
In his address at the launching ceremony, the Minister of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment, Mr Prithvirajsing Roopun, emphasised the privileged Mauritius-EU partnership which has accompanied Mauritius in its development process in different sectors: economic, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, good governance, protection of the environment, as well as in the fight against poverty, and recently in ocean economy.
On the social front, the Minister acknowledged the DCPs commitment towards the most vulnerable by providing Rs 1 billion as funding assistance to 125 NGOs that have been privileged collaborators of the EU. Henceforth, he said, Mauritius collaboration with the EU will have to be seen both within the context of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) which englobes 17 different goals, and that of the Mauritius Marshall Plan to fight poverty which has as foundation the 17 SDGs.
For her part, the Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions, Mrs Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo, said that Governments priority remains the improvement of the quality of life of its citizens especially the most vulnerable and called for synergy in social actions that ensure complementarity amongst all partners to help maintain efficiency and efficacy.
As regards assistance, the Minister announced that her Ministry along with the DCP and the UNDP will be working on three actions for 2016-2017 which are: the simultaneous introduction of a National certificate in social work in practice level 2 and the Recognition of prior learning in social work for 250 social workers; a study for the setting up of a Council for social work in Mauritius; and, the introduction of an NGO capacity-building scheme in the form of funding assistance to address specific training needs of NGOs.
In her speech, the Head of the EU Delegation in Mauritius, Ambassador Marjaana Sall, spoke about the work of the DCP in supporting NSAs, civil society organisations, and local agencies in implementing projects for vulnerable groups. During these last 10 years, the programme has funded nearly 400 community-based projects to the tune of Rs 410 million, she pointed out, and more than 200 NGOs have benefitted from grants to implement their projects for vulnerable groups.
The Ambassador, while acknowledging the quality of work accomplished by the DCP team, expressed conviction as regards the pertinence of the DCP to fight poverty and the efficiency of call for proposals as funding means for NGOs.
The DCP
The DCP operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment. The Programme has assisted in project implementation in several priority fields for the EU and the Mauritian Government such as womens and childrens rights, women entrepreneurship, education and health.
DCP-EU works closely with local NGOs to promote and support partnership focused projects that have an impact on poor communities' priority concerns related to poverty.
(TNS) United Airlines is combating technological glitches, like the one it experienced last week, with "sustained, focused investment and wariness, and a little prayer," its chief executive Oscar Munoz said Thursday.During an interview with the, he discussed the industry's overall struggle to modernize an aged IT infrastructure. Munoz said this infrastructure works well, but trying to fix it is like changing a tire on a moving car."You're constantly up and running, so how do you unplug something and plug something back in?" he asked.Over time, he said the airline would like to create two data centers, or two network brain centers, so if one falters the other can kick in automatically. And the two can seamlessly switch back and forth."But that's a ways away," he said. "Not only from an investment perspective. The technology is not all there."
(TNS) -- University of Hawaii researchers have been awarded more than $1 million to test and evaluate technology used to observe aquatic ecosystems, the university announced.The funding for scientists at UHs Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and Department of Oceanography comes through the Alliance for Coastal Technologies, a national collaborative effort administered by the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System and funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.The researchers will help ensure that sensors and instrumentation used to measure nutrients in the ocean are fully operational.HIMBs Coconut Island facility will host extensive laboratory and field testing of nutrient sensors, which will allow international developers to assess and improve components, configurations and designs, according to a UH release.HIMB is uniquely situated and equipped to facilitate the rapid test and comparison of new technologies for observation of coastal ecosystems, activities that underpin decisions with national relevance, HIMB director Ruth Gates said.
City websites still leave much to be desired, according to a new study.Civic website developer OpenCities conducted a benchmarking study of websites of the 3,035 U.S. municipalities with populations of more than 10,000 citizens and found they still lag considerably behind their commercial counterparts.The study found that 32 percent have poor optimization for mobile or tablet devices; 87 percent received a failing grade for encryption; 40 percent failed accessibility tests, and fewer than 9 percent are written at a reading level that average Americans can comfortably grasp.Jack Madans, one of the co-authors ofis a former product growth lead at Code for America, and is the new managing director of the U.S. office of OpenCities, which handles 20 percent of Australian local government websites.The report is our first foray into this space to understand where government websites are lagging behind commercial online sites, he told. We found that there was a significant need in the market for website redesign and a set of tools to make those websites more mobile-first, user-centered and services-oriented.Madans said OpenCities wanted to find out exactly where these websites are lagging behind the commercial space, so it created this yardstick to measure where and by how much.It is important to address why that disparity matters, he said. We believe that the disparity comes with a price. When a citizen can easily buy an item on Amazon.com yet struggles to find a city official or pay a utility bill online, it furthers their belief that governments cant deliver.Madans had the opportunity to interact with city website developers in his time at Code for America, where he worked with Yelp and San Francisco to scale the restaurant inspection data initiative to other cities via the Code for America Peer Network. So some of the benchmark studys findings are not surprising to him.I talked to 80 different cities about how they manage their sites and started to understand some of the organizational pressures cities face. I knew that cities were lagging in mobile responsiveness, he said. What was really the wakeup call in this report is around content readability finding out that only 9 percent of U.S. city websites are written at a grade level that most Americans can easily grasp.The encryption numbers raised eyebrows as well.The fact that 89 percent of city websites we surveyed have no or failing SSL [encryption] is a huge wakeup call, especially when you have browsers such as Chrome and Firefox signaling that they are going to warn users about unencrypted sites, Madans said. That creates a situation where Google is telling you not to trust your city.If mobile responsiveness is going to make a city website irrelevant to anyone trying to look at it on the go, the accessibility issue could be a larger risk management problem, he noted. We are already seeing the Department of Justice and other independent agencies are looking at class-action lawsuits against government websites that are not ADA-compliant.On the bright side, he said, the report shows that more cities seem to understand that they need to move from a department-centric organization of their website to a service-centric orientation. We are seeing more cities are showing top tasks on their home page, he said.Before officially releasing the report, Madans said OpenCities did a soft launch with the National Association of Government Web Professionals to make sure the developer wasn't sending the wrong message.I wanted to be sure that the message is not that we are shaming them in any way, he said. The goal is to try and help the people working on city websites get the resources they need to fix this and to help their high-level decision-makers understand where they stand.Citizens often dont know what their cities do, which is both a challenge and an opportunity, Madans said. The opportunity is if they can go to the website and have a positive, informative experience, it can not only be a tool to more efficiently deliver services, it can also increase trust.He offered this caveat about the report: getting an excellent score down the line on these criteria does not mean you have a great city website. What it means is that you are getting the basics right, he said. No tool or platform can promise a great city website. But it can deliver a sturdy enough platform to connect with residents online.
The Rise of Open Data
Put Data in the Hands of the People
With the worlds volume of data fast growing, organizations are quickly realizing the value of their information. Data is becoming a critical asset in helping organizations understand business performance, customer sentiment and market trends.And the public, in turn, is having a similar epiphany. Citizens now see open data as the key to better understanding the issues they care about the most, be it education, health care or housing.The government sector is working to meet this demand for open data. Earlier this year, the White House even hosted an Open Data Innovation Summit to showcase cutting-edge uses of open data.The idea of open data isnt entirely new; some aspects date back to Bill Clintons administration. But the issue has come to a head during the Obama years as innovations in data analytics have coincided with pressure from the public for transparency.A 2013 White House memo on open data urged federal government agencies to make information resources accessible, discoverable and usable by the public. Doing so, said the memo, can help fuel entrepreneurship, innovation and scientific discovery all of which improve Americans lives and contribute significantly to job creation.Such statements didnt arise from a vacuum; they were driven by technological advances, societal demands and positive examples in business. Just as many businesses have seen a sea change in their decision-making thanks to data analytics, governments are realizing the potential of data as a powerful resource. The two greatest assets of any organization, be it public or private, are its people and its data.Unlike other resources, theres no shortage of data. The challenge is to get the most out of that growing pool of information. The data signifies a potential to advance a well informed electorate; todays citizens are equipped to have a better understanding of the facts that shape their country than ever before.But with great power comes great responsibility. Open data requires some guidelines for the greater good. The following are three aspects of open data for governments to consider as they transform data into insights for citizens.Open data doesnt mean everything gets shared with the public without consideration. Such a data dump would defeat the purpose of open data, creating further mystification. Rather, pertinent data should be selected and highlighted, based on the needs and wants of the public.At each level of government, embracing open data involves helping people answer their questions using data. Are parents seeking further evidence for the effectiveness of testing in schools? Release data on test scores and their efficacy. Are commuters demanding better information on bus and train routes? Release data on current and potential transit maps. Are retirees panicking about their Social Security checks? Release budgetary information on projected funding for Social Security. Needs and demands should determine the forms open data take.Curating data may sound contradictory to open data, but its essential. If you release everything, you reveal nothing. The importance of the human element in open-data sharing is emblematic of a larger truth: Despite fantastic advances in technology, data will never speak for itself. Data comes alive when citizens can access it and interact with it.Thanks to powerful data analytics tools, were past the days of static charts that allowed for no further questions. We can now share information in ways that are visually intuitive and highly interactive.Just as businesses use data analytics to empower their management, employees and customers, governments can empower their citizens. Often this empowerment takes the form of data blending. Rarely does one data set tell a complete story on its own. But when blended with other sources social media data, geographical data, economic data and so on fresh insights and a fuller picture emerge.Government can release pre-blended data of meaningful metrics while also enabling citizens to create their own blends. This kind of interactivity makes a static spreadsheet feel like a stone tablet.This is a huge improvement over static charts of years past. People can now interact with the data, slicing and dicing as they see fit, and asking their own questions.Open data is open, but it doesnt mean its the Wild West. No one wants the government releasing personal information on citizens or data that would jeopardize national security.Government agencies mustnt reveal too little or too much. Strike and maintain the right balance and youll earn the publics trust.Explaining security protocols and the reasons why some data sets are not available should become habitual for governments. Transparency isnt just about revealing data; its also about being up front about what cant be revealed.From policymaking to business decisions, data is becoming an increasingly important part of our lives. And with the open-data movement growing, more and more citizens will be empowered to leverage data in their daily decision-making.As more people join the data-informed conversation, the goal of open data should be to build a healthy ecosystem that consists of data advocates, producers and users. And government agencies should implement platforms that not only allow citizens to consume the data, but also help them share their data-backed ideas and collaborate with the insights they uncover.
Excited to once again be doing good work with good people, now as Director of Product for The OpenGov Foundation. https://t.co/1FIoXoghgM Aaron Ogle (@atogle) October 24, 2016
It's been an amazing run, but it's time for me to leave @PhiladelphiaGov. It's disappointing that I may be the last Director of #CivicTech. Aaron Ogle (@atogle) March 24, 2016
Philadelphia Civic Tech Director Aaron Ogle has left his position with the city for a new opportunity, taking over a role with an organization that holds similar goals.Ogle has agreed to serve as director of product for the OpenGov Foundation (OGF), a civic tech group working to further transparency in state and local legislatures, and narrow the void between governments and their citizens.He sent this tweet early Monday morning:As a part of former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutters government technology team, Ogle was in charge of overhauling the citys website . After Jim Kenney was elected mayor in January of this year, the project was turned over to Kyle Odum, the citys Web and data delivery manager.Upon leaving, Ogle expressed skepticism as to whether the city would hire another civic tech officer.He now finds himself among company as passionate about civic tech as himself. According to a release from OGF , Ogle will lead, product efforts [in creating] open, effective and inclusive legislatures we need, with not for the real people living and serving and solving real civic problems in real communities across America.The same release hinted that his job would be connected to local and state legislatures. Referencing the eroding trust between government and citizens, Ogle will design products that open up public operations and hopefully result in the strengthening of the democratic process.
(TNS) -- Suffolk County, N.Y., police are planning to install dozens of license-plate readers across Brentwood in response to a rash of gang-related killings of mostly teenagers that have shaken the community.More than 50 cameras will be placed at about 20 locations at Brentwoods major gateways, officials said providing key intelligence to investigators as they seek to solve crimes in the hamlet, where police in the last month have discovered the bodies of six people fatally beaten by gang members.Suffolk Police Commissioner Timothy Sini said in an interview Thursday that he envisions the technology as a major deterrent to gangs and other criminals and a chief component of the departments strategy to clamp down on gangs since last months fatal assaults on Brentwood High School students Nisa Mickens, 15, and Kayla Cuevas, 16. Mickens was killed Sept. 13 and Cuevas body was found the next day.This is the first time well have an entire community strategically policed by LPRs, said Sini, referring to the license-plate readers. Were going to let everyone know law-abiding citizens and criminals about this strategic plan that will prevent crime.Sini said the department hopes to install them in the coming months.The cameras represent a heavy reliance on technology that law enforcement agencies have in recent years integrated with historical policing tactics. License-plate readers, which supply law enforcement with a plethora of data to mine for trends and clues, have emerged as a key tool in solving crimes especially patterns like robberies and burglaries and for years have been used by both the Suffolk and Nassau police departments, as well as those in Hempstead, Long Beach and other communities.Suffolk police have used license-plate readers since 2006 and have about 30 on police cars used to catch drivers with expired vehicle registrations. Others are at fixed locations that police wont specify for strategic reasons.The police are paying for the cameras in Brentwood with $1 million in state funding secured by Assemb. Phil Ramos, the deputy majority leader of the Assembly who represents parts of Brentwood, Bay Shore and Central Islip.I know how difficult it is when you have a crime such as the murders that took place and youre starting from scratch, with no information, no leads, said Ramos, a retired police officer. He said residents were tired of lip service from government officials after the slayings. Bringing in this technology would give the police department a cold hit on a crime in which theres no other information, he said.Ramos and Sini are planning a series of community meetings to explain the camera system to residents and address concerns over privacy and other issues, with both officials stressing that buy-in from the community is paramount.The American Civil Liberties Union has raised concerns about potential abuses, including invasion of privacy, from the systems.The Brentwood network of cameras wont be monitored live to catch traffic scofflaws or to surveil the community, Sini said. Investigators only will pull data from the cameras based on individualized suspicion that a vehicle description could be connected to a crime.Its not a fishing expedition, Sini said. Were not mining the data unless its connected to a specific incident, or were looking for a specific individual for a crime.Sini said the department has rules and procedures to prevent inappropriate use of data from the readers, but will examine its protocols in light of the extensive network it is building.We audit the system, so we hold our officers accountable for using the system, Sini said. If theres a violation of the rules and procedures, theyll be held accountable.Sini said he will measure the success of the license-plate readers by crime reduction, higher clearance of cases and an increase in arrests.Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said he would guarantee county funding for maintenance and other upkeep for the camera network.This is a vital tool moving forward on the law enforcement front, and I will make sure we have the resources to keep it going, Bellone said.Sini, who became commissioner in February, has stressed federal law enforcement partnerships as key to tackling the gang problem on Long Island.Asked whether the current gang problems could be tied to the past decision by now-jailed Chief of Department James Burke to remove police detectives from an Islandwide federal gang task force, Bellone said the removal was a major, major failure. But, he added, the current troubles couldnt be attributed to any one source.Sini, a former federal prosecutor, put detectives back on the task force and has worked to re-establish the relationship with federal law enforcement.While the six recent homicides have been jarring, police officials point to statistics showing violent crime in Brentwood is down in a recent 28-day period and year-over-year.According to department statistics, total violent crime including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault fell 75 percent in the 28 days after the Mickens and Cuevas killings, from Sept. 18 through Oct. 15. Violent crime dropped 29.4 percent this year through Oct. 15 over the same time period last year, statistics show. The decrease happened while police flooded the area with more officers after the teens were killed.Homicides in Brentwood compared with last year have risen dramatically, with seven in the hamlet this year through Oct. 15, compared with none in the same time in 2015, according to statistics.Days after Mickens and Cuevas were killed and as police began putting pressure on known gang members, investigators began searching wooded areas on and around Pilgrim Psychiatric Center. Their search yielded the skeletal remains of three missing teenage boys, who they said were all beaten to death.The remains of Oscar Acosta, 19, were found Sept. 16 in an industrial area near the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center. Five days later, the remains of Miguel Garcia-Moran, 15, were found in the same area.The skeletal remains of Jose Pena-Hernandez, 18, known to police as an MS-13 gang member, were found in a wooded area on the grounds of Pilgrim last week.On Oct. 13, Dewann A.S. Stacks, 34, was fatally assaulted as he walked along American Boulevard, near a wooded area. Police believe his killing also was gang-related.The search for missing teens and concerns that gangs could be responsible also has hit Nassau County.Last week, Nassau and state police descended on a wooded area in Freeport known to authorities as a gang meeting place. They were looking for a missing teen boy who had some affiliation with some people that may have been gang-related, said Nassau Det. Sgt. Patrick Ryder, commanding officer of the departments Intelligence unit.Police found nothing but gang tags spray-painted on trees, including those of MS-13, but Ryder said violent crime in areas where theres the most gang activity Roosevelt, Uniondale, Freeport and Hempstead has decreased 7 percent since last year.Shootings, however, are up 14 percent over last year, though Ryder said he could not say whether the uptick is connected to gangs.The day before the Mickens and Cuevas killings, Uniondale High School student Josue Joshua Guzman, 15, was shot dead as he walked with two people about 1 a.m. in the vicinity of the Linden Triangle, the scene of many gang shootings. A source familiar with the investigation said Guzmans death was gang-related.And later that same day, about a mile away, a 20-year-old man, believed by police to be a member of the Crips gang, was shot once in the forehead as he drove a silver 2004 Ford Escape in the area of Terrace and Atlantic avenues. He crashed into several parked cars, police said, and was found sitting outside the car when police arrived. That man survived the attack.Since the Mickens and Cuevas killings, police in Suffolk have arrested more than 35 gang members in an attempt to get information to solve the killings and to stem the rise of gangs.Five of those gang members, whom Sini described as some of the most violent gang members that we know of, were taken into federal custody and are facing RICO charges, Sini said.The arrests of about 30 other gang members on state charges by the departments Gang Unit and the newly created Firearms Suppression Team, some for crimes such as trespassing or marijuana possession, can bear fruit, Sini said.It may be a minor arrest trespass, marijuana possession, cocaine possession, weapons possession, Sini said. But every time we arrest someone, we debrief them. So thats an opportunity to gain intelligence. They may flip. They may provide a little bit of information, or a lot of information.Joseph Giacalone, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and a retired NYPD sergeant, applauded the camera plan as a proactive move, but said uniformed cops should create a temporary command post in Brentwood in addition to flooding the area.The fear factor in Brentwood has to be extremely high, Giacalone said. You dont have to worry about the bad guys knowing youre coming for them thats not a secret. So you have to have that uniformed and marked car presence.Giacalone said the license-plate readers wouldnt help if the gang members werent driving when they committed crimes.Theres got to be an omnipresence there, Giacalone said. If you want to send a message, there has to be warrant sweeps. You pick these guys up and you start shaking the trees. You have to do some proactive policing here because the public isnt going to help you. Theyre too afraid. Yeah, you can do your clandestine operations, but you have to show the gangs youre in charge.Sini said his department has done just that, deploying officers from several commands, including precinct cops, and officers from K-9, Highway Patrol, the Aviation Unit and the Emergency Services Unit. Sini added that Brentwood residents also may see more helicopters in the sky.We are strategically patrolling certain areas to reassure the public of their safety and suppress crime, the commissioner said.
The Supreme Court today put on hold till further order the execution of Vikram Singh alias Vicky and Jasbir Singh, both sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of Abhi Verma alias Harry, a student of Hoshiarpur's DAV School, in February 2005.
A 3-member Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra passed the order after hearing arguments on fresh petitions by the 2 convicts, contending that the evidence against them should be re-appreciated in the light of an apex court judgment allowing admissibility of electronic evidence. The Bench, which included Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan, reserved its ruling.
Arguing for Vicky, senior counsel KTS Tulsi said a recorded telephonic conversation pertaining to the ransom demand had confirmed the voice of Jasbir, not of his client, and as such it could not be used against him. He also pleaded that Vicky's fingerprints on a car used for kidnapping Abhi should not be relied upon as it was his car and was supposed to have his fingerprints. Also, there was confusion over the colour of the car identified by witnesses.
Additional Advocate General V Madhukar and complainant's counsel Abhishek Singh, however, pleaded that there was no apparent error in the verdicts of the Supreme Court, High Court and lower courts and even if the 3 objections raised by the convicts were allowed, other available evidence was sufficient to justify the death penalty.
The SC had rejected the convicts' appeals, besides their review and curative petitions. Subsequently, the President rejected their mercy pleas, prompting them to approach the SC with new reasons. In Patiala, the jail authorities had made arrangements for executing the death warrants (for October 25) with Meerut jail hangman Pawan reaching the city a few days ago.
Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana HC has deferred till November 3 hearing on a petition for commuting the convicts' death sentence.
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Source: tribuneindia.com, October 25, 2016
(TNS) -- Internet-connected devices are more frequently found in households covering everything from thermostats to toys, blu-ray players to baby monitors but there are security trade-offs that come with the convenience of being able to turn on your home air conditioner from work or watch your children on camera while you dine at a restaurant.And hackers are using those devices to launch massive cyberattacks against big internet firms, most notably in an attack Friday that disrupted the availability of such popular websites as Twitter, Netflix and PayPal.John Zachary, chief executive officer and founder of Threat Trace, a Baton Rouge startup company based out of the Louisiana Technology Park on Florida Boulevard, said one problem is there are no consensus or security standards for the Internet of Things a reference to devices that connect to the internet. The average North American home contains 13 internet-connected devices, according to the research firm IHS Markit.These devices are designed for convenience first, security second, if even at all, said Zachary, who has more than 15 years of experience in cybersecurity research and development. There are no firewalls, no antivirus software you need to update.According to Zachary, hackers built a network of more than 500,000 compromised Internet of Things devices worldwide. About 10 percent of those devices were used in the attack Friday that was launched against the server infrastructure of Dyn Inc, he said. Dyn, based in New Hampshire, provides the domain name services that translate the numerical internet addresses into human-searchable destinations such as "twitter.com."The connected devices threw massive amounts of data at Dyns servers, overwhelming its ability to do tasks like find internet addresses.While frustrating people by limiting their ability to view Twitter or Netflix are pretty low consequences, Zachary said there are some frightening possibilities. At some point, you could be able to control these devices remotely and you can tell them, instead of keeping a thermostat at a certain level, you should turn the temperature up, he said.The biggest thing consumers and business owners should do is treat all internet-connected devices like they would a PC, laptop or smartphone.Change your passwords and use strong passwords, he said. Make sure you update the software for the device regularly.Making sure your Wi-Fi network is secure and has a strong password is important, since most of these devices tap into office or household Wi-Fi. Hiding the Wi-Fi network is also a good idea, Zachary said.And if youre using Bluetooth to connect gadgets such as fitness trackers or speakers to other online devices, make sure to shut down the link when youre not using it.
(TNS) -- The huge cyberattack that crippled the Internet and disabled dozens of websites Friday appeared to be the biggest attack of its kind that the world has ever seen.But it may not hold that title for for long.What made last weeks Internet takedown so effective and, some would say, sinister was how the attackers weaponized everyday devices like security cameras, digital video recorders and baby monitors.By exploiting the devices Web connections, hackers could infect them with malicious software and use them to paralyze huge portions of the Internet with a barrage of junk data in what is known as a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack.For many, the breach was a stark demonstration of just how insecure the Internet remains. To some, it also felt like a call to action.At a time when everything from televisions to refrigerators to kids toys are being equipped with an Internet connection, experts and legislators said, something ought to be done to ensure the security of these devices.Yet there is little consensus around who should bear that responsibility.There arent just one or two types (of Internet of Things devices), there are tens of millions, said Jeremiah Grossman, SentinelOnes chief of security strategy. So what we can expect going forward is a lot more of the same. ... Look out election day. Look out Cyber Monday.The Internet of Things encompasses a wide array of electronics: smart washing machines that will text you when your clothes are done, refrigerators that can order more groceries, wearable tech that can monitor your biorhythms, and talking toys that respond to words uttered by children.Every year, more and more appliances are being made that connect to the Internet. Securing them is often an afterthought, experts said.Many consumers, for instance, dont see the danger in leaving a default password on a smart microwave, said Brian White, the chief operating officer for security firm RedOwl Analytics.This is the attitude hackers bank on. If they can crack into a device using an easy-to-guess password, they can turn an everyday DVR into a zombie device enslaved to malicious software that can be used in attacks such as Fridays assault. We are putting an enormous amount of compute capability in the average home, and it is very difficult for the average consumer to ensure their home is securely networked and their devices are updated, White said.Companies have long been held accountable for securing their own websites banks, for instance, have security systems in place. But Internet of Things manufacturers are not required to guarantee a base level of security in the devices they create.And when the priority is making the most inexpensive device possible, Grossman said, makers often skimp on things like security features.Information security people have been screaming bloody murder about this for years, Grossman said. Everything from cameras to toasters, refrigerators, microwaves. And because theres no regulation, the manufacturers dont need to make sure these devices ship with any security whatsoever.No single government agency oversees the devices or practices of the Internet of Things, though several have limited authority over parts of it.Since Fridays Internet blitz, some legislators have begun calling for greater government intervention.Not only does this kind of attack limit access to important information, delay financial transactions, and disrupt our nations commerce flows, but it also points to significant vulnerabilities in our national security, Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, said in a statement Saturday.Fridays attack targeted Dyn, an Internet infrastructure firm that, among other things, provides domain name services and online traffic management to hundreds of companies, including Amazon, CNN, GitHub, Twitter, Netflix, PayPal, Reddit, Zendesk and the New York Times, among many others.In a DDoS attack, hackers typically deploy a botnet, or a network of compromised computers, to send phony traffic to a specific site or server with the intent of overwhelming it so it cannot respond to queries from real people.What made the attack different was that it used a botnet seen only once before last month in a record-size attack against cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs website . The botnet, known as Mirai, used infected cameras spread across the world to send waves of traffic at Dyns DNS system at unprecedented rates.Mirai continually scans the Internet for devices and then attempts to gain access to them by using a known default password or exploiting a weakness in outdated software.Kyle York, Dyns chief strategy officer, said in a statement Saturday that the company was able to mitigate the first two waves in a matter of hours and fended off a third without customers seeing an impact.But Dyns attackers may not have been using the full brunt of Mirais force.Level 3 Communications, an Internet service provider based in Colorado, began monitoring the Mirai assault in the midst of its attack on Dyn. Level 3 reported that only about 10 percent of devices compromised by Mirai were deployed in Fridays attack.There needs to be a much greater awareness among the public, among manufacturers, White said. This may have been a wake-up moment, but as with most things in the cyber realm, it may take a few more times for it to sink in.It has not yet been determined who was behind Fridays attack, which came at Dyn in several waves beginning about 4 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. But because the code behind Mirai was leaked after the attack on Krebs, it could have been anyone.Mirai is a DDoS-for-rent environment, Dale Drew, Level 3 Communications chief Internet security officer, said in a video posted on Periscope. Hackers charge others for access to compromised machines, making it hard to determine the actual force behind a given attack.The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI continue to investigate Fridays cyberattack, though they have not yet identified a party responsible.Activist hacker groups Anonymous and New World Hackers said they were responsible for the cyberassault on Dyn late Friday, telling several news organizations that it was an act of solidarity and retaliation over the Ecuadoran governments decision to cut off WikiLeaks founder Julian Assanges Internet connection.Twitter was kind of the main target. It showed people who doubted us what we were capable of doing, plus we got the chance to see our capability, a New World Hacker member who identified himself as Prophet told the Associated Press on Saturday via a Twitter message.The hacker said the groups next target would be the Russian government in response to the cyberattacks Russia has allegedly launched against the U.S. this year.But security experts and U.S. officials said they had their doubts about the groups boasts.No evidence over the weekend could link either group to the Dyn attacks, and both have taken credit for high-profile attacks in the past when they, in fact, were not involved.If they were just trying to prove a point, they would have done it briefly, rather than kept a series of sustained attacks going a number of times throughout the day, Grossman said. I mean, its possible. But its not plausible.
Iranian authorities hanged 5 prisoners early Tuesday morning for alleged drug related offenses, but Iranian official sources are silent about these executions.
5 prisoners were reportedly hanged early morning on Tuesday October 25 for alleged drug related offenses. Close sources say the execution sentences may have been carried out at either Karaj Central Prison or nearby Ghezel Hesar Prison.
Iran Human Rights is aware of the names of 3 of the prisoners: Saeed Pourhassan, Mehrshad Kalhori, and Milad Beigdeli.
These 3 prisoners along with the other 2 were reportedly transferred to solitary confinement cells at Karaj Central Prison on Saturday October 22 in preparation for their execution.
"If they gave us until 2 in the afternoon, we could have stopped Saeed's execution. [Mehrshad Kalhori and Milad Beigdeli] had claimed to authorities that Saeed was guilty, but they wrote a letter retracting their claim stating that their confessions were false and given out of spite. They thought if they gave the names of others to the authorities that they all would be issued light prison sentences. We gave the letter to authorities and pleaded with them to postpone Saeed's execution for several hours. But, they threw the letter away and even attempted to run us over with a car," the brother of Saeed Hassanpour tells Iran Human Rights.
Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been silent about these 5 executions.
4 Executed for Drug Trafficking, Murder
2 prisoners with drug related charges were reportedly hanged at Salmas Prison (West Azerbaijan province, northwestern Iran) and 2 prisoners with murder charges were reportedly hanged at Sepidar Ahwaz Prison (Khuzestan province, western Iran).
According a report by the the state-run news site, Rokna, 2 brothers charged with murder were hanged at Sepidar Ahwaz Prison on the morning of Monday October 24. The report identifies the prisoners as "Hassan" and "Mohsen".
According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network and information received by Iran Human Rights, 2 prisoners, identified as Bakhtiar Khaledi and Shoresh Mizrapour, were hanged at Salmas Prison on Monday October 24 for alleged drug related offenses.
3 Prisoners Executed in Southern Iran
3 prisoners were reportedly hanged in Shiraz on kidnapping and rape charges. The exact location of the executions is not known at this time.
According to a report by the Judiciary in the Fars province, the executions were carried out on the morning of Monday October 24. The report says one of the prisoners was initially arrested on drug related charges.
The report identifies the prisoners as Reza N., Mohammad A., and Hashem P. Their execution sentences were reportedly issued by branch 4 of the criminal court in Fars and were confirmed by Iran's Supreme Court.
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Source: iranhr.net, October 25, 2016
The first real praise about Pirelli's all-new bigger and wider tyres has finally emerged.
Until now, although the aim is to make next year's tyres faster, grippier and more durable, the drivers doing the testing have been offering mixed reviews.
Now, the reason for that may have emerged.
Auto Motor und Sport said that Ferrari's modified 2015 test car is not producing any more detail than its 2016 machine, and the Maranello team is too focused on 2017 to improve it.
Mercedes' offering, meanwhile, is only a few per cent better than its title-winning 2016 machine.
But the modified 2015 Red Bull is reportedly producing up to 11 or 12pc more downforce.
At the wheel at the most recent test session in Barcelona was Pierre Gasly, and team boss Christian Horner seemed impressed with the results.
"Despite high temperatures and fast laps in a row, they did not overheat and the laptimes were pleasingly consistent," he is quoted as saying.
(GMM)
Max Verstappen may have won the popular vote, but a spotlight is also being shon on another bright performance in Austin last weekend.
The young Dutchman won the official 'driver of the day' fans' vote after the US grand prix, but the Red Bull driver actually had a troubled race.
Bosses Christian Horner and Helmut Marko were actually openly angry with Verstappen for his unnecessary pitstop.
"We have 80 engineers and strategists, but it's all useless if a driver decides alone to come into the pits," Austrian Marko told Bild newspaper.
It was actually a driver in the Red Bull family who finished sixth on Sunday who really got praised.
"I think with performances like Austin, and many other messages he has sent this season, Carlos has a very long future in F1," Spanish pundit Antonio Lobato told El Mundo.
He is talking about Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz, whose famous father with the same name was also impressed.
"I think it was his best race since he has been in F1," Sainz snr is quoted by Marca.
Red Bull supremo Marko, who did not allow Sainz switch to the works Renault team for 2017, agrees: "It was the best race I've seen him do in F1."
The highlight was Sainz's duel with his friend and hero Fernando Alonso, causing the Spanish daily AS to say the 22-year-old is a "worthy successor".
"I think Fernando is still the best driver on the grid," Sainz said, "but I'm also very happy because I think I put everything I have and more into our fight."
(GMM)
Warrant for public execution in Saudi Arabia
A warrant for a public execution in Saudi Arabia has emerged, shedding rare light on the death penalty in the country just days before the government hopes to be re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council.
The document, published on Twitter this morning (Tuesday), is marked top-secret, and contains instructions for the execution of a prisoner. It has since been reported that the execution went ahead.
The warrant shows the Saudi authorities ordering a doctor to be present at the execution, for the corpse to be taken to a hospital, and for medics to sign a document confirming that the prisoner is dead. It reads:
Urgent top secret: To the manager of health in the Qurayyat governorate, it has been decided to carry out the execution of a prisoner (discretionary death sentence) at 9am in Retribution Square on Tuesday 24/1/1438 [Islamic calendar]. Therefore, please inform Qurayyat General Hospital to carry out the necessary procedure upon receipt of the prisoner's corpse from the municipality and to commission the forensic doctor to be present for the execution and to sign the minutes of the execution after confirming that the sentenced is dead [lit: until life is gone].
[Signed] Director of the Qurayyat Police, Brigadier-General Mufdhi bin Abdallah al-Khamees
Executions in Saudi Arabia are typically shrouded in secrecy. Warrants and details of the procedure surrounding executions rarely make their way into the public sphere, with beheadings usually carried out with no prior notification to the accused or their families.
Saudi Arabia is one of the worlds most prolific executioners. Research last year by human rights organization Reprieve found that, of those facing execution in the Kingdom, some 72% were arrested for non-violent offences, such as alleged drug crimes and political protest. Many of those arrested on drugs charges are foreign nationals, including migrant workers who were trafficked from countries such as Pakistan.
Several juveniles have been executed in Saudi Arabia this year, including Ali al-Ribh, who was arrested in school in 2012 for allegedly attending a protest. Three juveniles Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher are currently awaiting execution on similar charges, having been tortured into confessions and sentenced to death in secretive trials. Reprieve has urged the UK government to ask the Saudi authorities to commute their death sentences.
The leaked execution warrant comes days before Saudi Arabia hopes to be re-elected onto the UNs Human Rights Council this Friday. Last month, it emerged that Saudi Arabia had misled the UN over its practice of executing juveniles, falsely telling UN child rights experts that it did not execute those who were arrested as children.
Commenting, Maya Foa, a director at Reprieve, said: It is chilling to see the Saudi execution procedure laid bare. The gruesome details contained in this warrant only serve to highlight the shocking abuses that continue in the Kingdom. Many of those facing execution are exploited migrant workers who were arrested on non-violent drugs charges. Others including juveniles like Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon, and Abdullah al-Zaher await beheading for the so-called crime of political protest. Countries that are close to Saudi Arabia, including the UK, must urge the Saudis to commute the sentences of these juveniles, and end the sweeping use of the death penalty in the Kingdom.
The warrant can be seen here, while an official notice confirming that the execution took place is here.
Reprieves research on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia is available here.
Concerns over the role of international counter-narcotics programmes were reported last weekend in the Observer, here.
More detail on the cases of Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher is available on the Reprieve website, here
Background on the Saudi government's claims to the UN, last month, can be seen here.
'Gruesome' execution warrant casts light on Saudi death penalty
An execution warrant in Saudi Arabia was published to social media on Tuesday, providing a rare insight into how the death penalty is implemented in the secretive kingdom.
The warrant, posted to Twitter, ordered an unnamed prisoner to be executed in "Retribution Square" in the northern town of Qurayyat at 9am (0700 GMT).
The order was signed by the local police chief Mufdhi bin Abdallah al-Khamees and it instructed the Qurayyat General Hospital to "carry out the necessary procedure upon receipt of the prisoner's corpse" after the execution had taken place.
A doctor was also ordered to be present at the execution, which in Saudi Arabia is typically a public beheading carried out by a masked executioner with one blow to the neck with a long curved silver sword.
The doctor was required to attend the beheading to confirm the prisoner's death.
British human rights group Reprieve said they had information the execution was carried on Tuesday as ordered.
Reprieve said the publishing of the execution warrant exposed the nature of human rights abuses in the kingdom.
"It is chilling to see the Saudi execution procedure laid bare," Reprieve director Maya Foa said in a statement. "The gruesome details contained in this warrant only serve to highlight the shocking abuses that continue in the kingdom."
Prior to the latest executions, Human Rights Watch reported on 19 October that Saudi authorities have executed 134 prisoners so far in 2016.
Many of those executed in Saudi Arabia are convicted of drug charges, while other crimes that carry the death penalty include murder, and less commonly apostasy, adultery and homosexuality.
Earlier this month Saudi authorities executed a prince for the 1st time in over 40 years, after the royal had been convicted of murdering another man during a brawl.
The execution of Prince Turki bin Saud bin Turki bin Saud al-Kabeer brought praise in some quarters within the kingdom, with government supporters stating the sentence demonstrated no one is above the law in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism for abuses as the kingdom stands for re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
As well as highlighting a lack of women's rights, Human Rights Watch said on Monday that Saudi Arabia should not be allowed to sit on the council because of its ongoing war in Yemen, where its military has been accused of committing an array of war crimes.
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Source: Reprieve, October 25, 2016Source: Middle East Eye, October 25, 2016
No, I have not "trivialized life" because I do not believe an unviable fetus is a human life. I understand you believe differently. The two differences being:
1) My view comes from two thousand years of human intellectual progress. Your view comes from a book written two thousand years ago. I can't think of any scientific idea from 2,000 that has not been modified and improved upon in the intervening years. Do you think we should go back to how medicine was practiced 2,000 years ago? I don't think we should even go back 50 years ago.
2) I don't think the government has any place trying to force my belief on you. You feel differently.
Iceland's Pirate Party prepares for power as polls suggest election triumph
With Brexit and Trump winning the Republican nomination in the United States, 2016 has been marked by political upheavals. Now the Pirate Party is on the verge of winning power in Iceland
The party that could be on the cusp of winning Icelands national elections on Saturday didnt exist four years ago.
Its members are a collection of anarchists, hackers, libertarians and web geeks. It sets policy through online polls and thinks the government should do the same. It wants to make Iceland a Switzerland of bits, free of digital snooping. It has offered Edward Snowden a new place to call home.
And then theres the name: in this land of Vikings, the Pirate Party may soon be king.
GREENSBORO Making his second North Carolina appearance of the day, Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence gave a rousing defense Monday of GOP ticket topper Donald Trump to the cheers of a Greensboro Coliseum gathering of Trumps true believers.
Echoing remarks he made earlier in the day in Salisbury, the Indiana governor told the sign-pumping, Trump-chanting, predominantly white audience that the upcoming election found the United States at a fork in the road.
This really is not a choice between two people. Its a choice between two futures, the silver-haired Pence told his at-times boisterous audience.
They could trust Trump because of his steely determination to get the nation back on track and they could trust, conversely, that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would put the nation on a downhill slide to mediocrity or worse, Pence said.
He did not mention the recent controversies that have dogged Trump over his treatment or mistreatment of various women sparked by a videotape of him speaking about sexual conquest in exceedingly coarse and vulgar terms.
But another elephant in the room drew several mentions in Pences 40-minute speech; a series of polls in recent weeks that suggest the Nov. 8 general election could be a relatively easy win for the Democratic ticket.
Pence urged his listeners to ignore such surveys, blaming the national media for putting undue emphasis on such polls while ignoring or downplaying potentially damaging information about Clintons alleged misconduct over the years ranging from her private email server while secretary of state to alleged favoritism for donors to the Clinton Foundation led by her husband and ex-President Bill Clinton.
You have nominated a man for president who never quits, who never backs down, Pence said of Trump.
If voters go for Trump-Pence, the nation will rise to greatness again, be more prosperous, reinvigorate the military, restore confidence in America among its allies and regain the wary respect of its enemies, he promised.
If the race goes to the Democratic ticket, Pence promised, the nation will get more of the same, which he said translates into weak foreign policy, a ho-hum or tanking economy, open borders that fan new waves of illegal immigration, and pay to play government where only connected insiders get ahead.
We will rebuild our military, Pence pledged. We will restore the arsenal of democracy.
They tell us that this economy is the best we can do, but you here in North Carolina know its not the best we can do. Its the best they can do.
A crowd of about 500 turned out to hear Pence in a large meeting room, and before he took the podium, state and local Republican leaders urged support for the partys 2016 standard bearer.
Members of the audience held aloft, Women for Trump and Make America Great Again placards. They chanted Lock her up! Lock her up! when Pence mentioned Clintons alleged misdeeds.
Pence arrived to speak at the Greensboro arena after giving similar remarks in a late afternoon rally at Catawba College in Salisbury. His speeches in North Carolina represent further evidence the state is one that could go either way Nov. 8.
Its a 1-percent race here in North Carolina, Pence asserted. The race is on.
Pences visit came a day after Clinton spoke at an outdoor event at UNC-Charlotte, and several days before she returns to the state for a joint appearance Thursday at Wake Forest University with First Lady Michelle Obama.
Another leading Democrat well-liked by younger voters, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, is scheduled to make pro-Clinton campaign stops in the Raleigh area today.
Meanwhile, Trump is scheduled to return to the state Wednesday for a 7 p.m. event at the Kinston Jet Center in Lenoir County.
Pences coliseum remarks came in the midst of what appeared to be the Republican tickets declining fortunes. Both national polls and surveys in a number of states once thought safe for Republican presidential candidates show Clinton leading or too close to call.
Before Pence arrived on stage a little after 7 p.m., several Republicans prominent on the state and local levels warmed up the crowd.
Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes urged the audience not to be dispirited by the polls giving Trump an extremely small chance of prevailing.
Who believes the polls? How many of you have ever been called for a poll? Barnes asked. Some polls show Trump up, some show him down, and some show its tied.
Then he invoked New York Yankee great Yogi Berra: It aint over till its over.
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Alexander Soule / Hearst Connecticut Media
The Hartford Financial Services Group is establishing a new office in Norwalk, with a spokesman declining to provide information on what functions it will encompass.
The Hartford (NYSE: HIG) is taking space on the ground floor of 101 Merritt 7, which also serves as the headquarters for the data backup services firm Datto and for HEI Hotels & Resorts. The Hartford has major Connecticut offices in Hartford and Windsor.
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In a strategic plan published late last week, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development laid out its vision in supporting arts institutions statewide, while acknowledging it will have to do so with scarcer resources than in years gone by.
DECD laid out a strategy that includes everything from annual town halls and a statewide arts summit to strengthen relationships between artists, organizations and patrons, to rekindling enthusiasm for the arts among youngsters with an eye on developing future support as they grow older.
The report includes an index of arts vibrancy drivers that compares Connecticut counties on nearly 30 criteria, ranging from dollars supporting the arts sector to the concentration of bars that provide venues for musicians. Fairfield County ranked highly for the number of arts associations and independent artists in its midst, and lower than other parts of the state for federal grant dollars received.
There are significant challenges facing cultural producers in Connecticut: staffs are spread too thin, space to produce and present is expensive and hard to come by, organizations often need resources that arent readily apparent, stated Kristina Newman-Scott, DECDs director of culture, in a prologue to the report. But ... (from) our museums, theaters and dance companies to our design studios, schools and innovation centers, great art continues to happen.
Norwalk has examples of both extremes, with the Western Connecticut Visitors & Convention Bureau office having been shuttered this past July due to funding shortfalls, while several blocks east work is underway on construction of the proposed Wall Street Theater that will add a new venue to downtown Norwalk.
Theres the example of an entrepreneur seeing an opportunity (in) a fantastic old real estate asset that could be brought up to 21st century standards and engage the full range of possibilities of the arts, said David Green, director of programs and management for the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, which has its office in the same building where the visitors bureau had been on West Avenue. They really are focusing on new technologies and new ways of presenting the arts.
Green said the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County participated in DECD-organized focus groups to gather feedback from people who support or participate in the arts scene in its territory covering Greenwich to Shelton.
It was very valuable just getting all those people together, Green said. Funding is a huge issue, a continuing issue. The arts are incredibly important to the community and we have to learn to work together more. We work hard already, but we are all pretty small and understaffed, and we are trying to do the best we can.
Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-354-1047; www.twitter.com/casoulman
Historian and Yale professor Paul Freedman specializes in the history of cuisine, and his latest book, Ten Restaurants That Changed America, examines the dining establishments that have defined our country's appetite.
Freedman narrowed down his list of hundreds of thousands of restaurants to the 10 that he believes have been the most important over the years. Click through to check them out.
White Gold butcher Jocelyn Guest. Photo: Melissa Hom
Is the Upper West Side ready for a whole-animal boutique butcher-shop-cum-all-day-restaurant whose idea of bar snacks includes puffed tendons and chicken chicharrones? Well find out on Wednesday when April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman unveil the retail butcher arm of White Gold, along with a few takeout snacks including housemade hot dogs, their brioche buns toasted on one of those Euro-style electric bun spikes; beef-pork-lamb-and-duck-bone broth served, as the current fashion dictates, in paper cups like coffee to go; rotisserie chicken with green sauce; and kombucha on tap. On November 1, the restaurant will open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Until then, heres a White Gold talking-points cheat sheet, and a first look at some of the food.
1. White gold is butcherspeak for delicious grade-A fat. Old-school butchers would say look at all the beautiful white gold in this piece of meat, says Friedman.
2. The staggering amount of burgers that Bloomfield and Friedmans restaurants produce (an estimated 75,000 per year at the Spotted Pig alone) sparked the idea of White Gold. Friedman explains: Selling a ton of burgers is good and bad. Good because we can fund other things, or even lose money on other dishes; bad because we get all these young hotshot chefs and culinary-school grads that come to the Spotted Pig wanting to work at a Michelin-star restaurant, and end up flipping 150 burgers between midnight and 2 a.m. So we thought, if the burger is our signature dish, lets really go for it. Find a farmer that raises the cattle the way we want, and butcher and grind the meat ourselves. Now, White Gold, which sources its beef from an upstate farm, will supply all the burger meat for the Spotted Pig, Salvation Burger, and the Lobby Bar at the Ace Hotel.
3. Funny, then, that one thing you cant get at White Gold is a burger. Everyone, we suppose, has his or her limits. But you can get a version of a chopped cheese, the hyperregional cheesesteak-like sandwich said to have originated in the bodegas of East Harlem.
4. Butchers and co-owners Jocelyn Guest and Erika Nakamura dont have favorite cuts of meat; they have favorite cuts within cuts, which they call favorite bites: the flat end of the flat iron; the top corner of the bottom round that attaches to the aitchbone; the tail of the tri-tip, and, of course, the ever-popular meaty bits behind the eye sockets of a braised pig head.
5. Whole-animal butchers are smart, artistic, and funny. Nakamura was once a sculptor. And before Guest began carving animal carcasses for a living, she did a stint as a comedy writer at the Upright Citizens Brigade. Everyone I work with is hilarious, she says. And most of them have masters degrees or used to be teachers.
6. Practically everything at White Gold is made in-house not only the deli meats, sausages, rillettes, terrines, pates, and Cornish pasties, but the sourdough bread for the restaurant (20 loaves of which will be sold retail daily), plus all of the condiments (kimchee, relish, mustard, sauerkraut, pickles) except the ketchup, which, by law, has to be Heinz.
7. The green sauce for the rotisserie chicken is a nod to the excellent signature condiment at the Peruvian chicken chain Pio Pio.
8. On the (frequently changing) dinner menu: Meaty options run to New York strip steak, smoked beef cheeks, beef tartare, and crispy pork lettuce wraps. Bloomfield, the author of A Girl and Her Pig but also A Girl and Her Greens, is not one to neglect her vegetables, hence the mushroom toast with horseradish-kefir cream, radishes with bone-marrow butter, smoked beans, and long-cooked kale.
9. Sandwiches! For breakfast: housemade-bacon-egg-and-cheese and housemade-sausage-egg-and-cheese. For lunch: smoked-tofu banh mi with herbs, pickled carrots, daikon, and white-miso compound butter. A pastrami Reuben. Roast beef with horseradish cream and beef drippings. A lamb gyro. And rotisserie porchetta with ricotta salata, pickled red onion, Bibb lettuce, and mayo.
10. Dinner theater: A meat rail is positioned smack dab behind the marble meat counter, in view of the dining room, so customers can watch a butcher disassemble a whole hog or a side of beef while they tuck into their grilled beef heart with chimichurri, or smoked vadouvan-rubbed lamb ribs. Shouldnt people know a little bit more about where their food comes from? asks Friedman.
11. Still, you neednt be Fergus Henderson or an aspiring expert on off-cuts and nasty bits to enjoy a visit to White Gold. You wont find many challenging slabs of meat at the butcher counter but rather familiar things like rib eyes, strip steaks, skirts, hangers, and tri-tips. Any proselytizing about eating the whole animal will come from your waiter, not your butcher. Well introduce diners to steaks they may never have heard of by cooking them perfectly rather than yammering on about them at the display case, says Nakamura.
All the beef comes from At Ease Acres farm in Berne, New York. Photo: Melissa Hom
Chicken on the Rotisol rotisserie. Photo: Melissa Hom
Roasted-mushroom toast with horseradish-kefir cream. Photo: Melissa Hom
Little Gem lettuces with creamy lemon dressing, celery, and pistachios. Photo: Melissa Hom
Short ribs of beef. Photo: Melissa Hom
Aged New York strip steak with chicories in anchovy vinaigrette. Photo: Melissa Hom
Fermented-pickle plate. Photo: Melissa Hom
Radishes with bone-marrow butter and shaved daikon. Photo: Melissa Hom
LEBANON Former City Manager John Hitt faces incumbent Jason Bolen in the race to represent Ward 3 on the Lebanon City Council.
The two each say their experiences working for the city of Lebanon are what sets them apart and why voters should make each their choice.
Bolen, division chief for the Lebanon Fire District, said in his case, he'd like to stay working on city issues he's already helped to accomplish, such as the comprehensive master plan.
Also, he said, he believes he has developed a proven track record of being responsive to citizens and asking tough questions.
"I first ran for council because I was frustrated with the disconnect between the citizens and our elected officials," he told the Democrat-Herald. "I vowed to never ignore a citizen's complaint, and to be available to hear their concerns as much as I possibly could. I'm proud to say that I've done that, and I will continue to listen to the people of Lebanon and vote with their wishes and best interests in mind."
For his part, Hitt said he appreciates the job the current council has done and respects Bolen's efforts. However, he said, he feels he has the broader, deeper background the city needs moving forward.
In addition to 13 years as Lebanon's city manager, Hitt served as both mayor and a member of the City Council in Duarte, California, in the mid-1980s. After retirement, he served as the executive director of the South Coast Development Council in Coos Bay. He said he believes that gives him experience in economic development that Lebanon needs.
"My primary advantage is my experience, both as a councilor, city manager and as an economic developer," he said.
Both Bolen and Hitt named economic development as a continuing challenge for the city.
Bolen pointed to recent achievements, including the expansion of both the Linn-Benton Community College Advanced Transportation Technology Center and the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest, as evidence that Lebanon is on the right path.
Those, plus housing growth and several new business startups are, he said, "a direct result of the city's Community Development and Engineering departments' strong work to make the planning, construction and expansion process within the city as easy and smooth as possible for business owners and developers."
He said he sees the role of the council to ensure that responsible growth and development continues to be achievable through practical polices for both economic development and aging infrastructure.
Hitt agreed progress has been good but compared the city to being halfway through a U-turn.
He was visiting with friends recently, former residents who had moved away, and asked them whether they'd ever consider coming back. Surprised to hear a quick, "No," he asked why, only to have them point at nearby rundown buildings bordered by piles of junk and talk about the lack of town amenities.
"We definitely have some derelict properties and some things we could do to enhance our amenities," Hitt said.
He said he favors an in-depth look at the city code to see whether it needs any changes or updates, then "a much more proactive code enforcement approach," possibly through partnerships to assist and support property owners.
Then, he said, he'd encourage the city to evaluate its strategic plan to see how it can be prioritized and resources allocated to recruit businesses that provide more of the things "a younger, more upwardly mobile, more highly educated population looks for."
Hitt said he's also interested in looking at property taxes. He has lived in Washington and California as well as Oregon, and said unlike Oregon, both states tax city residents at a city rate and county residents outside of the city at a county rate, but not both. He'd support working with the League of Oregon Cities to see whether the property tax system could be changed so that urban areas aren't double-taxed.
Bolen said he also sees crime, particularly drug issues, and a steadily rising homeless population as challenges facing the city. He said he thinks the Police Department is doing "a fantastic job given the massive call load that they face on a daily basis" and would continue to push for staffing increases through either the budget or alternative funding methods such as grants.
He'd also like to see better coordination between nonprofits and other support systems to make resources more available to the homeless.
"Coordinating that game plan will be a monumental effort, and the city is already hitting the issue straight on by bringing in a national expert on homeless situations and solutions to meet with our homeless population and help the city and local agencies design a plan to help them improve their situations," he said.
Barf. Photo: David Lodge/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Its never a good day for Subway when its incarcerated former pitchman dominates a news cycle, but today promises to be especially lousy: In a new lawsuit, Jareds ex-wife Katie McLaughlin now claims the chain was aware he was a creep as early as 2004 for 11 years, in other words and shrugged off at least three complaints about his depravities.
The suit charges that the company failed every test of corporate responsibility by putting children at risk basically just so it could keep raking in billions of dollars in profits. The safety of kids was not a priority but Subways bottom line was, it argues. McLaughlin adds shes suing really for no other reason than she has questions that someday my children will ask me and to which I have no other way to get answers. Questions like, What did Subway know and when did they know it?
The document lists three specific incidents one from 2004, four years before McLaughlin started dating Fogle, when the chain allegedly received a complaint about him propositioning a young girl in Vegas for a sex act. Second is the now-infamous 2008 conversation Florida franchisee Cindy Mills says she had with Subways CEO, where she warned that Fogle really liked them young and was pressuring her to prostitute herself. Third is the serious 2011 complaint Subway got from journalist Rochelle Herman-Walrond, who spent four years secretly recording her conversations with Fogle for the FBI.
McLaughlin argues that, despite all of this, Subway kept paying him loads of money; it created a Tour de Pants in 2008 that literally put Fogle (and that giant pair of jeans) inside scores of elementary schools, then later tried rebranding him as a family man. The suit contends Fogle was so inextricably linked to Subways fortunes that the chain was willing to brush off allegations that Jared was a pedophile, and is now demanding unspecified damages for its alleged negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and the extreme stupidity of depicting Fogle as a family man.
After Fogles arrest, Subway did conduct an internal investigation that involved reviewing more than a million online comments and interviewing dozens of past and current employees. It claims nobody knew enough about their pitchmans sexual proclivities to have stopped him. The company isnt commenting on McLaughlins actual complaint since its pending legal action.
A Timmys on every corner. Photo: Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star via Getty Images
What do Americans not need right now, in an era where there are already 30 billion K-cups consumed annually, pre-ground McCafe bags crowding the supermarket, and soda companies diving into coffee, but increasing evidence that the precious commodity is going extinct? Probably, for starters, enough brand-spanking-new Tim Hortons locations to accurately describe the chain as everywhere in America.
Alas, that seems to be exactly the goal that parent company Restaurant Brands, also the owner of Burger King, has for Canadas top coffee-and-doughnut chain. Restaurant Brands quarterly earnings came out this week, and they left little to be desired; to show investors theyve still got a fire in their belly, CEO Daniel Schwartz walked them through a big Tim Hortons expansion. Per Bloomberg:
Since Burger King bought Tim Hortons in 2014, the chain has been accelerating growth abroad to help drive sales. In August, it said it would be pushing into the U.K. through a master-franchise joint venture. Closer to home, Tim Hortons is focused on expanding into new U.S. territories and adding stores in markets such as Minneapolis and Cincinnati.
We think the Tim Hortons brand should be everywhere in the U.S., Schwartz said. Were always focused on finding new markets.
Its worth noting that the chain has been in the midst of a big U.S. expansion for a while, though not anything aiming for such ubiquity. Saying it now is sort of strange timing, too, considering Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts which together comprise about 20,000 American stores believe the future will boil down to who gets the most third-wave-y. Because Timmy Hos is a place where doughnut burger gets uttered and the mochas consist of Espresso, frothed milk and cocoa mix.
The lamb bazlama flatbread with spiced ground lamb, pickled red onions, golden raisins, shaved radishes, and parsley. Photo: Melissa Hom
This Friday, after four years of searching and setbacks, Alamo Drafthouse will finally bring its brand of dinner with a movie to New York. The Texas-based chain arrives in Downtown Brooklyn via the new City Point complex, and enters a dine-in-cinema scene thats more crowded than when it first announced plans to expand to the city. (At that time, it was Nitehawk or bust.) Located on the fourth floor of 445 Gold Street, it will have a cocktail bar called House of Wax for pre-film drinks, and seven theaters with reserved seating and, most important, actual food.
Like at Nitehawk, food is ordered directly to your seat so you can eat your lamb bazlama while watching Army of Darkness. The menu goes well beyond Milk Duds and chicken tenders, without getting overly fussy. (This is the movies, after all.) Snacks include popcorn, of course, simply buttered or in flavors like herb-Parmesan, plus hot and Thai wings, chips and queso, and baked pretzels with beer-cheese sauce.
If youre in the mood for a full meal, there are salads like a blackened-chicken Caesar and something called the Asian salmon, as well as a steak sandwich, lamb burger, and ropa vieja, or pulled-skirt-steak tacos. Youll also have plenty of options for boozin, if youre so inclined. Cocktails range from White Russians to Old Fashioneds, theres a lengthy beer list featuring the likes of Singlecut and Radiant Pig, and spiked milkshakes include one inspired by the Ramos Gin Fizz. Oh, and there are M&Ms.
The all-beef Brooklyn Dog comes with whole-grain mustard, sauerkraut, and cucumber relish. Photo: Melissa Hom
It wouldnt be the movies without popcorn. Photo: Melissa Hom
The steak sandwich with fontina, arugula, chimichurri, and fries. Photo: Melissa Hom
Boozy shakes include the Black & White Cookie White Russian with vodka, Kahlua, sugar-cookie crumbles, and vanilla ice cream. Photo: Melissa Hom
Alamo Drafthouse, 445 Gold St., nr. Dekalb Ave.; 718-513-2547
Menu [PDF]
Amongst all the chatter about the Google Pixel phones, one popular topic of discussion was Googles decision not to make the Pixel phones totally waterproof. While they do carry a rating of IP-53, the certification doesnt guarantee any kind of full submersion.
Rather, the IP-53 rating only covers sprays and splashes that come in contact with the phone up to 60 degrees from the top. Meaning youll be fine if youre caught in a rain storm while actively talking on the phone.
So why are other phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the iPhone 7 fully submergible while the premium-priced Google Pixels arent? According to WIREDs David Pierce while participating in the Gadget Lab Podcast. Pierce discussed his interaction with the folks that made the phone over at Google. He asked why the phone wasnt made waterproof to which they basically replied that they ran out of time.
Google had been planning to make these phones waterproof for a long time, but when 2016 rolled around, they had to start all over again which calculates to about 9 months between starting over and launching the Google Pixels, which is quite a time crunch indeed, even for a huge company like Google which still needed to collaborate with HTC.
Even if the Pixel phones were somewhat rushed, the overall positive reception is still a good sign for Google. That paired with a void left where the Samsung Galaxy Note7 once stood might be reason for many to even consider Googles G-Phone among the other alternatives for Note7 buyers.
Source (33:00) | Via
Today Google is announcing a new device, which basically looks like its answer to Microsoft's Surface Hub. The latter is a touchscreen PC (available in two sizes, the smaller of which is 55") running Windows 10.
Google's offering is called Jamboard, and it's running Android. It's got a 55-inch 4K touchscreen, and will come with a special whiteboard app preinstalled. As with the Surface Hub, the Jamboard is aimed at businesses, in this case those who already use G Suite (that's what Google Apps are now called).
The screen can handle 16 simultaneous touch inputs, and comes with a stylus, a camera, Wi-Fi, and built-in speakers. G Suite users will be able to create "Jam" sessions on it, collaborating on documents, as well as drawing or typing over them while engaged in Hangouts calls. The Jamboard even lets you "wipe" off things from it with your fingers. Additional tools include sticky notes, stencils, and handwriting recognition. All that said, Google hasn't shared any details about the Jamboard's innards.
It can be mounted as a TV or used on a stand with wheels (that you can see in the images above). This will make moving it within your company hassle-free. The Jamboard will become available at some point next year for "under $6,000". That makes it significantly cheaper than Microsoft's Surface Hub, which starts at $8,999.
Source | Via
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Kris Asleson is more than halfway to his goal of funding 50 "Farms in a Barrel" for his nonprofit corporation, thanks to a little help from the Albany Kiwanis Club.
The 28-year-old Santiam Christian alumnus, son of Jim and Elke Asleson of Albany, now lives in Portland. He's founder and executive director of Truth x Vision, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) he began at the age of 16.
With an overall goal of fighting poverty and hunger worldwide, Truth x Vision concentrates on two main projects: Farm in a Barrel, which debuted in Ghana three years ago, and Village Drill, which started last year.
A third project, Mission Month, invites volunteers to travel with Truth x Vision representatives, joining in on a project firsthand.
More about all three initiatives, as well as information on how to contribute, is available on Asleson's website, https://truthxvision.org.
Farm in a Barrel offers everything a farmer would need to set up a tiny chicken ranch: framework and wire for a 6-by-6-foot coop, a feeder system, a nylon cover, tools for assembly and the 55-gallon barrel itself for water. Each pen holds up to 30 chickens, which farmers buy locally, along with their feed.
Members of the Albany Kiwanis Club invited Asleson to talk about Truth x Vision at their Oct. 20 meeting. The club gave $700, which covers the $600 cost of a barrel and helps with the shipping cost.
"Our club was very impressed with Kris' report on his organization and how receiving a Farm in a Barrel can change a family's life for the long term," explained Kiwanis member Ann Boyce.
The donation paid for the 30th of Asleson's 50-barrel goal. Eventually, he said, Truth x Vision would like to establish a production base for the barrels in Ghana itself, both to cut shipping costs usually about $1,000 and provide local jobs.
In the meantime, the group is concentrating both on providing more barrels and on its newest initiative, Village Drill. Donations of $3,000 pay for a manual drill, powered by a team of local entrepreneurs, that can reach clean, safe drinking water 280 feet underground.
The team has drilled only two wells so far, but working full time, it could drill 20 to 40 wells per year, Asleson said. The goal is to get up to full capacity.
Growing up in Albany, Asleson said he doesn't remember a particular moment when he suddenly decided he wanted to help end world hunger. It was more of a growing awareness and a sense he could and should be doing something.
It's a sense he wants to pass on to future generations, so that young people growing up now will join the effort to eradicate poverty.
"I'm a numbers person, and I couldn't believe in this world of space exploration and wi-fi, we have a billion people who don't have access to clean water," he said. "I'm trying to do my part."
Haiti - News : Zapping politics...
Famni Lavalas takes the street
Monday thousands of Lavalas activists and supporters have taken the streets of Port-au-Prince against the organization of the second round of presidential elections January 29, 2017 and to require compliance with the Constitution of 7 February 2017 for the Supreme inauguration at the head of the country. They demanded the advancement of the holding of the second round. Senator Nenel Cassy, candidates of Fanmi Lavalas for reelection in Nippes, denounced a clear desire to delay the vote.He is convinced that it is a planning of a ertain sector to prevent the organization of the forthcoming elections to bar the way to the return of Fanmi Lavalas in power.
FNE : $135M taxes collected
As part of National Fund for Education (FNE), of Universal Schooling Program Free and Compulsory (PSUGO), the collected revenues from June 15, 2011 to October 24, 2016 amounted to over 135 million US dollars ($135,053,508.93) including 13,078,525.51 from Natcom, 117,014,810.30 from Digicel and 4,960,173.11 from Comcel. These amounts do not include the tax of 1.50 dollars collected on remittances from the diaspora.
A French team of medical specialists
unday, two physicians precursors of a French medical team of 7 doctors (surgeons, anesthesiologists, emergency physicians and nurses) arrived in Port-au-Prince. At the disposal of the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) and PAHO / WHO, they are deployed in hospitals of Les Cayes and Jeremie. Their first response will focus on major surgeries in polytraumatologie to the benefit of wounded patients during the passage of Matthew.
Pierre Esperance disagree
Pierre Esperance, Executive Director of the National Network Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) rejects the resolution of the judges of the Court of Cassation, noting that even before the amendment of the 1987 Constitution, it was not the judges of the Court of Cassation who claimed themselves the Power.
Stefano Manservisi believes in the post-election stability
Monday, Stefano Manservisi, Director General for International Cooperation and Development of the European Commission declared "We expect in the electoral process that the country reaches stability after the elections. The reconstruction needs not only of physical and financial resources but also a stable political framework, inclusive and consensual."
UNDP is committed to supporting town halls
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP Haiti) met with the Association of Mayors from Grand'Anse (AMAGA) to discuss the response to the recovery and reconstruction of the departments hit by Matthew. The UN organization has undertook to support the strengthening of town halls for a real development of their communes.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Published on 2016/10/24 | Source
Added new poster for the upcoming Korean documentary "Obedience" (2016)
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Directed by Kim Dong-min, Lee Joo-hoon
Narrated by Choi Kang-hee, Choi Soo-jong,...
Synopsis
Dingidi Village is where people who were hurt from the Uganda Civil War live together. The children who watched their parents get brutally murdered by the rebels suffer from a trauma. Missionary Kim Eun-hye looks after them with love and care. However, she can't help but resent her father who abandoned his family to poverty and took care of the Dingidi Village people instead.
Meanwhile, Ali can't stand the mass massacre of his village people by the terrorist group ISIS. He shuts himself from the world and spends everyday missing his mother. He lives with fellow refugee friends and one day meets Missionary Kim Yeong-hwa and his life starts to change
Will their wounds be healed?
Release date in Korea : 2016/11/17
Published on 2016/10/25 | Source
Added episodes 17 and 18 captures for the Korean drama "The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop" (2016)
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Directed by Hwang In-hyeok
Written by Koo Hyeon-sook
Network : KBS
With Lee Dong-gun, Jo Yoon-hee, Shin Goo, Kim Young-ae, Oh Hyun-kyung, Cha In-pyo,...
Sat, Sun 19:55
Synopsis
"Suited Gentlemen In Yanggye-dong" is based on a traditional tailor's with history. The drama depicts the tears, friendship, success and romance of four men.
Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2016/08/27
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Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby.
09:44, 30 OCT 2022
ALBANY POLICE
Car prowl, stolen guitar 7:56 p.m. Sunday, 2700 block Pacific Blvd. S.E. A car was broken into and a guitar worth approximately $800 was stolen.
LINN COUNTY SHERIFF
Felon with a firearm 4:10 p.m. Saturday, Linn County Jail. Matthew James Saunders, 37, of Salem, was arrested on charges of felon in possession of a firearm, second-degree criminal trespass, and criminal trespass while possessing a firearm. He was released from jail without posting bail.
Domestic assault 8:06 p.m. Saturday, 38700 block Finndrew Lane, near Lebanon. A caller reported that a man threw a woman to the floor and was throwing glasses around a residence. James Fielding Morgan, 76, of Lebanon, was arrested on charges of felony fourth-degree assault. His initial bail was set at $50,000.
DUII crash 1:29 a.m. Sunday, 39100 block Highway 164, near Jefferson. A caller reported a car in the ditch and a man standing by who appeared to be intoxicated. Jonah Seth Anderson, 32, of Albany, was booked, cited and released on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving. He was scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 30.
Pursuit, arrest 4:16 p.m. Sunday, Walmart, 3290 S. Santiam Highway, Lebanon. A suspect believed to have been connected to a shoplifting case fled from police at a high rate of speed in Lebanon and later near Albany. Speeds in Lebanon reached 80 mph and police terminated the pursuit not once but twice. The Linn County Sheriffs Office picked it up on Grand Prairie Road at about 4:30 p.m. and the pursuit ended in the 1000 block of Queen Avenue S.E. in Albany. The Albany Police Department also assisted in the case. Michael John Chance, 21, of Jefferson, was arraigned in Linn County Circuit Court on Monday afternoon on charges of felony fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, failure to perform the duties of a driver when property is damaged, reckless driving and two counts of recklessly endangering another person. Few other details about the pursuit were available on Monday afternoon.
LEBANON POLICE
Sex abuse warrant 10:31 a.m. Friday, 300 block S. Eighth Street. Michael Eugene Tenbusch, 42, of Lebanon, was arrested on a Marion County Circuit Court warrant for three counts of first-degree sex abuse. A no-bail hold was placed on him at the Linn County Jail. The Stayton Police Department asked local officers to arrest Tenbusch.
Stolen car 11:39 a.m. Saturday, 3100 block Columbine Street. A light blue 1994 Honda Accord was reported stolen sometime during the previous night.
Car prowls 8:53 a.m. Sunday, 400 block E. Vine Street. Sometime during the previous night, the windows of three cars were shattered. Money was taken from inside the cars. The loss value was about $900.
Car vandalism 2:32 p.m. Sunday, 1000 block Grove Street. A caller reported that three vehicles in his neighborhood were vandalized last night.
CSB says poor safety culture led to fatal explosion in 2013 at Louisiana petrochemical plant
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released its final report into the 2013 explosion and fire at the Williams Olefins Plant in Geismar, Louisiana, which killed two employees. The report concludes that process safety management program deficiencies at the Williams Geismar facility during the 12 years leading to the incident allowed a type of heat exchanger called a "reboiler" to be unprotected from overpressure, and ultimately rupture.
The Williams Geismar facility produces ethylene and propylene for the petrochemical industry and employs approximately 110 people. At the time of the incident, approximately 800 contractors worked at the plant on an expansion project aimed at increasing the production of ethylene.
The June 13, 2013, incident occurred during non-routine operational activities that introduced heat to the reboiler, which was offline and isolated from its pressure relief device. The heat increased the temperature of a liquid propane mixture confined within the reboiler, resulting in a dramatic pressure rise within the vessel. The reboiler shell catastrophically ruptured, causing a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) and fire, which killed two workers; 167 others reported injuries, the majority of which were contractors.
The CSB investigation revealed a poor process safety culture at the Williams Geismar facility, resulting in a number of process safety management program weaknesses. These include deficiencies in implementing Management of Change (MOC), Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR), Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) programs, and procedure programs causal to the incident:
* Failure to appropriately manage or effectively review two significant changes that introduced new hazards involving the reboiler that ruptured(1) the installation of block valves that could isolate the reboiler from its protective pressure relief device and (2) the administrative controls Williams relied on to control the position (open or closed) of these block valves.
* Failure to effectively complete a key hazard analysis recommendation intended to protect the reboiler that ultimately ruptured.
* Failure to perform a hazard analysis and develop a procedure for the operations activities conducted on the day of the incident that could have addressed overpressure protection.
CSB Chairperson Vanessa Allen Sutherland said, "The tragic accident at Williams was preventable and therefore unacceptable. This report provides important safety lessons that we urge other companies to review and incorporate within their own facilities."
The CSB case study on the accident at Williams notes the importance of:
* Using a risk-reduction strategy known as the hierarchy of controls to effectively evaluate and select safeguards to control process hazards. This strategy could have resulted in Williams choosing to install a pressure relief valve on the reboiler that ultimately ruptured instead of relying on a locked open block valve to provide an open path to pressure relief, which is less reliable due to the possibility of human implementation errors;
* Establishing a strong organizational process safety culture. A weak process safety culture contributed to the performance and approval of a delayed MOC that did not identify a major overpressure hazard and an incomplete PSSR;
* Developing robust process safety management programs, which could have helped to ensure PHA action items were implemented effectively; and
* Ensuring continual vigilance in implementing process safety management programs to prevent major process safety incidents.
Following the incident, Williams implemented improvements in managing process safety at the Geismar facility. These include, among others, redesigning the reboilers to prevent isolation from their pressure relief valves, improving its management of change process to be more collaborative, and updating its process hazard analysis procedure.
Investigator Lauren Grim said, "Williams made positive safety management changes at the Geismar facility following the accident, but more should be done to improve process safety and strengthen the plants process safety culture. Our report details important safety recommendations to protect workers at the Williams Geismar facility."
To prevent future incidents and further improve process safety at the Geismar plant, the CSB recommended that Williams strengthen existing safety management systems and adopt additional safety programs. These strategies include conducting safety culture assessments, developing a robust safety indicators tracking program, and conducting detailed process safety program assessments.
The CSB also identified gaps in a key industry standard by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and issued recommendations to API to strengthen its "Pressure-relieving and Depressuring Systems" requirements to help prevent future similar incidents industry-wide.
Chairperson Sutherland said, "Most of the accidents the CSB investigates could have been prevented had process safety culture been a top priority at the facility where the incident occurred. These changes must be encouraged from the top with managers implementing effective process safety management programs."
The CSB is an independent, non-regulatory federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.
The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labour groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.
This report can be accessed on the CSB website: www.csb.gov
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gin Group CEO Richard Branson once said, Its always been my objective to create businesses with a defined purpose beyond just making money.
Purpose has become quite the buzzword for most organisations and has even gained enough traction to warrant a discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos while a study done by Oxford University and Ernst and Young showed that public dialog on purpose has increased five-fold between 1995 and 2016.
Yet despite all the attention purpose is getting, researchers from Harvard University and New York University said no study has yet been done on the kind of business results purpose produces, until now.
Most companies have mission and vision statements, but those tend to communicate very little about a companys purpose, said researchers George Serafeim and Claudine Gartenberg at Harvard Business Review.
They all use the same words, such as respect, teamwork and innovation but a recent study found that corporate jargon about values has absolutely no relationship with firm performance.
Using a sample of more than 400 US companies, the researchers conducted a survey of 450,000 employees from all levels by asking them to rate their level of agreement to certain statements.
They said that the actual purpose of the organisation is not important, rather they focused their study on how much employees buy into the companys purpose.
With this, they were able to identify two types of companies with purpose.
The first, high purpose-camaraderie organisations, included companies that scored high on purpose as well as workplace camaraderie.
At these organisations, employees highly rated statements such as, This is a fun place to work or There is a family or team feeling here.
The second type, high purpose-clarity organisations, showed employees rating high on statements pertaining to management clarity, e.g. Management has a clear view of where the organisation is going and how to get there.
Of the two types, they found that it is the latter that exhibited superior accounting and stock market performance.
They also said that middle managers and professional workers were key drivers of communicating the organisations purpose to lower level workers.
This last finding underscores the absolute importance of fostering an effective middle manager layer within firms: managers who buy into the vision of the company and can make daily decisions that guide the firm in the right direction, they said.
tralians are struggling to fit in with the core values, attitudes and collective behaviours which are inherent in organisations.Indeed, 63% of Australian workers are leaving their job due to poor cultural fit, according to new research by Robert Walters.A good cultural fit is particularly important given employers say the benefits lead to greater retention of staff (81%), improved job performance (83%) and greater job satisfaction (79%).A staggering number of Australian employees are leaving their jobs every year because company culture does not match their own values, said Robert Walters, managing director ANZ , James Nicholson.While employers may know that workplace culture is important, an alarming number are failing at it in the eyes of their employees.In fact, staff turnover costs in the form of hiring and training can reach as high as 50-60% of an employees annual salary.Mismatches in cultural fit highlight the importance for a company to define and imbed cultural fit throughout all workplace processes, added Nicholson.The hidden cost of cultural fit forms part of a new whitepaper Are you culturally fit? from Robert Walters that examines its impact on both employees and employers.It found that financial indicators are no longer the main draw card for prospective employees with 70% of workers choosing their job due to non-financial cultural indicators including how performance is managed, level of teamwork and workplace flexibility.The age of the remuneration package as the key selling point is behind us. More important to prospective employees are the conditions of their employment, Nicholson said.A company with a strong workplace culture has gone from a nice to have to something that is now widely viewed by the marketplace as a competitive advantageFurther findings include: 96% of employees believe cultural fit is an important factor when weighing up career opportunities However, 53% of Australian workers are misled about company culture during the recruitment process 60% of employees have seen poor cultural fit lead to conflict within their organisation Employees in larger workplaces (68%) value cultural fit more than those employed in SMEs (62%) Women (71%) value culture fit more than men (66%)
Firefighters are responding to a wildfire burning along Old NC 105 (Kistler Memorial Hwy / SR 1238) near Linville Gorge, north of Lake James in Burke County, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The Paddys Creek Fire was reported Monday afternoon in the Grandfather Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest.
The fire is located near the south end of Linville Gorge, adjacent to the Wilderness Area. The total size of the fire is currently estimated at 10 acres. Firefighters worked through the night yesterday to construct containment lines and hold the fire during strong winds. A helicopter will be on scene today. No structures are currently threatened.
In order to protect public safety, the NC Department of Transportation has closed Old NC 105 north of Paddys Creek Rd. to the intersection with Forest Service Road (FSRD) 106. The public is asked to heed closures and to stay away from the fire area. At this time, FSRD 106 remains open, and can be accessed from the north end of Old NC 105.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, but is suspected to be human caused. The US Forest Service is leading fire response efforts, with assistance from Burke County REACT, North Cove VFD, and NC Forest Service.
The public is encouraged to use extreme caution with outdoor fires this fall. Western North Carolina is currently in a severe drought and fire danger is extremely high. Dry and windy conditions are predicted to remain in the region through early December.
Editors Note: This post has been edited for a correction.
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By Jesse Wood
The young boy who was accidentally run over by his father on Monday morning came out of surgery and appears to be OK, State Highway Patrol Trooper Josh Hodges said on Tuesday morning.
I think hell be OK, Hodges said, adding an as of right now disclaimer.
The six-year-old child was riding his bicycle as the father was moving his landscaping truck from the yard to the driveway on Monday morning. The father never saw the boy ride in front of the truck and ran over the child and the bike, Hodges said.
The father then met the medics en route to the Watauga Medical Center. After arriving at the hospital, the child was then flown out to Johnson City Memorial Hospital in Tennessee.
The incident happened at their residence off of Lucky Lane in western Watauga County near the Tennessee state line. Hodges said that the Highway Patrol would not be releasing the names of those involved at the request of the family.
As of now, everything looks fine, Hodges said, adding that he spoke with the father yesterday after a successful surgery.
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It's one of the more compelling questions in what has become a compelling election season: Will Oregon's mass of new voters, some 250,000 strong, affect any of the races?
We won't know the answers for sure until political scientists and other researchers sift through the data from this year's and future elections. But it's fun to speculate.
Oregon's voting ranks have swelled thanks to the state's adoption of a "motor voter" program in which voters are automatically registered when they get or renew their driver's licenses. The program kicked in at the start of the year; since then, it has registered some 250,000 voters.
Numerically, that could represent a substantial bloc, considering that the Secretary of State's office reported at the end of last month that about 2.5 million Oregonians were registered to vote. That means roughly about 10 percent of the state's registered voters came from the motor voter program.
Here's the part of all this that has prompted considerable head-scratching among the state's political pundits: Since it was easy to register to vote in Oregon even before the adoption of the motor voter program, these new voters likely are not particularly political, so they may not be particularly motivated to return their ballots.
At least one thing is certain: They are not, by and large, interested in affiliating with any particular political party. (In fact, nearly 90 percent of the new voters have chosen not to declare a party affiliation.)
That means that these voters likely didn't have much impact on May's primary elections, since only voters who announced a party preference got ballots for that party's primary. (The remainder received the very short ballot that goes to nonaffiliated voters.)
The November general election might well be a different story, especially in races that appear to be going down to the wire.
Although, again, no one knows this for certain, there are signs that these new voters are younger (half of them have turned out be younger than 35, according to a weekend story in The Oregonian) and might skew left. If that's the case, those voters could give a boost to candidates such as Brad Avakian, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state, who's locked in a tight battle with Republican Dennis Richardson.
And these new voters could provide the decisive votes on state ballot measures such as 97, the controversial proposal for a tax on sales by certain Oregon corporations, and 99, which would allocate a percentage of state lottery funds to help expand Outdoor School offerings.
But there's a big "if" that goes along with that speculation: It presumes that these new, younger voters are paying attention to races other than the presidential campaign. The Oregonian's story talked to one such voter, who shared his plan to write in the name of Bernie Sanders for president but hadn't been following any of his state or local races.
This is the sort of thing that causes experienced political operatives to pull out their remaining hair: a potentially rich bloc of voters that could prove to be decisive in state politics if anyone knew for sure how to reach out and engage them.
We were happy to see the state enact the motor voter program (as were many officials in Linn County, which has been a leader through the years in lowering bars to voting). How or even if these voters will shape the political landscape in Oregon is an open question. But you can bet plenty of politicos will be searching for answers in the November returns.
Theres obviously been a lot written about Bob Dylan during the last couple of days, not all of which I have found to be very thoughtful. Insights from his fans about the personal importance of particular songs or lyrics have been a big plus, while articles that seek to categorize him in any number of genres that he separated himself from throughout his career have been a minus. So, feeling inspired by the former group, Ive decided to mull over the moment that I fell in love with his music.
I had previously heard Blood on the Tracks back in June of 2008, but it didnt do much for me at the time. It was a few days later, on holiday in Spain, that I really listened to it for the first time. From that moment on, there was no going back. I mean, I had been dabbling with Dylan before that, poking and shimmying my way around Highway 61 Revisited, looking for a point of entry. "Ballad of a Thin Man" had sucked me into that album, but the rest was just too obscure for an 18-year-old whose idea of poetry was "Disposable Heroes" by Metallica. Still, after seeing half of Martin Scorseses documentary on Bob Dylan and reading the first part of his memoirs, Chronicles, I found myself giving Highway 61 another chance. Equally bemused, but far more intrigued, I picked up Blood on the Tracks and Bringing it All Back Home, and then jetted off to Spain.
Early one mornin the sun was shinin
I was layin in bed
Wondrin if shed changed at all
If her hair was still red...
["Tangled Up in Blue" from Masked and Anonymous, 1975]
Hearing an older and wiser Dylan mutter those words paralyzed me. It turned me into a pair of ears and a mind that desperately tried to soak up as much as it could. The rest didnt matter - the blinding heat, the iPod, the vague figures swimming in a pool somewhere nearby. All that mattered was this one voice, this voice that didnt sound like the youthful Dylan that had previously been scolding Mr. Jones so savagely. Now I was suddenly with a Dylan that was a decade older and filled with pain. A Dylan that begins his story with a song titled "Tangled Up in Blue." But blue wasnt the color that I was seeing, laying on that sun-lounger, but instead bright reds and yellows. I was seeing one-eyed undertakers and smoke pouring out of boxcar doors. Roosters crowing and Italian poetry from the thirteenth century.
A parade of images flashed in front of me. A bucket-load of emotions and narrative threads went with them, weaving themselves into the most wondrous tapestry. It was at once crystal clear and unknowable. But this went beyond logic. Never mind that I was only 21, never mind that the author of these tales appeared to have lived at least 10 lifetimes. He was communicating with me on a fundamental level. And this was all before listening to songs like "Maggies Farm" and "Its Alright, Ma (Im Only Bleeding)." Blonde on Blonde came next, followed by an avalanche of poetry and novels that simply had to be examined in the post-Dylan universe.
That point in Spain was the start, and I have marveled over his music ever since. To be honest I regard him as the single most important artistic figure in my life. Why is this, you (probably dont) ask? Well, his exaggerated vocal stylings, repetitive use of rhyme, and sense of humor are three reasons:
Now your dancing child with his Chinese suit
He spoke to me, I took his flute
No, I wasnt very cute to him, was I?
But I did it, though, because he lied
Because he took you for a ride
And because time was on his side
And because I
I want you...
["I Want You" from Blonde on Blonde, 1966]
Another two are his delicious ambiguity and lucid use of imagery:
When youre lost in the rain in Juarez and its Eastertime too
And your gravity fails and negativity dont pull you through
Dont put on any airs when youre down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there and they really make a mess outta you...
["Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" from Highway 61 Revisited, 1965]
How about sheer beauty?
Please see for me if her hair hangs long
If it rolls and flows all down her breast
Please see for me if her hair hangs long
For thats the way I remember her best...
["Girl from the North Country" from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, 1963]
Or biting cynicism and brilliant surrealism?
You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked and you say, who is that man?
You try so hard but you dont understand
Just what youll say when you get home...
["Ballad of a Thin Man" from Highway 61 Revisited, 1965]
These are a few of the reasons that come to mind, and I could quite happily quote many, many more of my favorite lines to further emphasize these points. But really, Dylans importance to me is beyond expression. He illuminates complex thoughts while rendering them even more mysterious. He is playful and deadly serious. He is political and personal, societal and introspective. He is a constant progression that refuses to be pigeonholed. But he always remains challenging, boundlessly creative, and able to write songs that not only connect with individuals, but in a way that makes people think that his secrets are somehow their own.
To compare his songs to the work of artists that are more commonly thought of as writers of literature, as I have seen done a lot since he won the Nobel Prize, is not particularly interesting to me. All I can say is the fact that Dylan performs his work as music makes it no less worthy of serious reflection than the work of a traditional poet. True, you are less likely to study his words on a page than you are with a conventional poet, but does that matter? Dylans words are forever linked with his voice, and are best appreciated when listening to the man sing them. Fans arent likely to read his lyrics on their own when they can recycle them in their mind during any given moment during the day. Or maybe I should speak for myself, as Dylans words continually seep into my head to be pondered and probed. As far as Im concerned, they exist on a plane of their own and are not comparable to the work or words of any other artist.
So yes, I think that Bob Dylan deserves his award. Not that I think it is in any way important to his legacy, which is far bigger than any individual prize. Part of me hopes that his rebellious nature and general skepticism of such awards will rear its head and he will reject it, or, like at the Bill of Rights Dinner in 1963, he will prove to be an uncooperative recipient. Still, his acceptance of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, despite insisting to wear sunglasses and a poker face, leads me to believe he wont prove to be too awkward. Either way, I think Bobs earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants.
22/10/2016: Bob Dylan has since made no public announcement about receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature. The only form of acknowledgement was a brief comment on his website that was soon after removed. In response to Dylans silence and a series of unanswered phone calls made to him by the Swedish Academy, one academy member has labelled Dylans behavior as impolite and arrogant. Another member was less surprised, saying: He is who he is. It is currently unknown if Dylan will travel to Stockholm on 10 December to receive the award.
Dan Anderson is a freelance copywriter and wordsmith who moved from London to Helsinki in 2013. Passionate about literature and somewhat obsessed with jazz music, Dan's ramblings can be read on datadervish.wordpress.com.
The EU wants to reduce the unauthorised movement of asylum seekers from one country to another during the asylum process by harmonising decision-making and the conditions in reception centres. Moving from one country to another makes it difficult to process asylum applications, he writes in a recent blog entry .
Finland is in favour of taking action to prevent the unauthorised movement of asylum seekers within the European Union, says Timo Kurri, the director of immigration at the Ministry of the Interior.
The European Union, he estimates, is under immense pressure to overhaul its asylum system after last year's unprecedented influx of asylum seekers exposed the shortcomings of the current regulatory framework. The European Commission has duly presented a total of six proposals to overhaul the Common European Asylum System.
The reforms must be fundamental, stresses Kurri.
Perhaps the most important proposal deals with the so-called Dublin Regulation. The current system proved inefficient as the number of asylum seekers increased to record-high levels last year. The new system must be able to guarantee that the same rules are applied all across the union. That is currently not the case.
Kurri also draws attention to the significance of registering asylum seekers upon their first arrival in the European Union. He gauges that both new incentives and obligations are needed to ensure the country of first arrival recognises its responsibility and registers all asylum applicants instead of letting them pass through its borders.
The European Commission is seeking not only to limit the unauthorised movements of asylum seekers but also to develop a mechanism for distributing asylum seekers evenly among the member states.
A number of member states have expressed their opposition to obliging member states to share the burden of asylum seekers, while others have voiced their concerns about the efficiency of a mechanism based on voluntary co-operation.
Aleksi Teivainen HT
Photo: Martti Kainulainen Lehtikuva
Source: Uusi Suomi
A 34-year-old Dublin man has appeared before Dublin District Court charged in relation to an alleged tiger kidnapping.
He also faces separate firearms charges.
Jeffrey Melvin, of Hillcrest Lawns, Lucan, had been extradited from Spain earlier in the day. Melvin left Ireland in 2012 while on bail for his alleged involvement in a tiger raid in the capital in January 2010.
A European Arrest Warrant was then issued for his arrest.
Cash
This bench warrant was executed in court yesterday.
He is accused of robbing 140,000 cash from Brinks Allied employee Reginald Shannon and also falsely imprisoning him, Angela Shannon and a child at a property in Dublin's Bath Avenue.
Yesterday, Melvin was remanded in custody to appear before Cloverhill Distrrict Court at a later date.
Mr Shannon's elderly mother and an eight-year-old child, believed to be his niece, were held on January 4, 2010, while the Brinks Allied employee was sent to intercept a cash-in-transit van making a delivery at the Bank of Ireland branch on O'Connell Street.
The females were later released unharmed.
Arrest
Melvin was arrested in Spain at the start of this month and had been held in a Spanish jail since that time.
Gardai from the Extradition Unit accompanied Melvin on a flight from Spain, which landed in Dublin at lunchtime yesterday.
Spanish police said the warrant out for Melvin was based on an "indictment for an alleged crime of robbery, three counts of illegal detention, six counts of illegal possession of firearms and an alleged crime of membership of a criminal organisation".
Ross Hutch make a speedy exit after a city court hearing where a judge was told his life would be in serious danger if he had to sign on at a garda station every day.
Hutch has been repeatedly warned that his life is under threat since his father Eddie (58) was gunned down by the Kinahan cartel at his home in the north-inner city in February.
Hutch (24), who won 33,000 in cash and prizes on RTE's Winning Streak last year, is accused of stealing a man's iPhone worth 875 at Marino Mart on Sunday.
Hutch was brought before Dublin District Court yesterday after he was arrested on Sunday.
Garda Sharon Kavanagh told Judge Anthony Halpin that the father-of-two with an address at Portland Place, in Dublin 1, made no reply when he was charged.
Bail
Judge Halpin was asked to throw out the case. Defence solicitor Declan Fahy argued the court should make "no order".
He said the legislation under which Mr Hutch was charged stated he should have been brought before the next court sitting and had his case called before 12 noon yesterday.
However, it was not heard until 2.15pm. The judge heard the charge sheet was lodged in court at 10.10am.
However, Judge Halpin said he understood that the law stated that the accused must be brought "as practicable" to the next sitting of the court.
Refusing the defence application, he said the circumstances did not allow for the case to be heard earlier because the court was dealing with quite a number of custody cases and prison officers were only able to bring three or four to the courtroom at a time.
He noted there was no objection to bail but he agreed to impose a condition sought by the garda to bar Mr Hutch from the Clontarf, Fairview and Marino areas.
During the short hearing, Hutch stood with his hands behind his back listening intently to proceedings. He remained quiet during the sitting, but became animated when signing-on at a garda station was raised by the prosecution as a condition of bail.
Security
In relation to that application, the defence said that Hutch has "huge personal security difficulties".
Judge Halpin agreed ordering him to sign on may jeopardise his security and refused to make that a condition of bail.
Hutch has not yet indicated how he will plead to the theft charge. He was bailed pending directions from the DPP and was ordrered to appear again in the New Year.
The nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch appeared on Winning Streak in September 2015 but, since then, the family has been struck by several incidents, starting with the murder of cousin Gary in Spain in 2015.
His father, Eddie, was shot dead in February.
He was close by when his cousin Gareth Hutch was shot dead in Dublin last May.
Another cousin, Jonathan Hutch, survived an assassination attempt in Majorca earlier this year, which resulted in an innocent man, Trevor O'Neill, being shot dead.
Jonathan's father Johnny Hutch also survived a gun attack at his own home in the north-inner city last month.
BRISTOL, Tenn. Darkness draped East Hill Cemetery several nights ago like a veil on a corpse. Nothing moved. No one blinked.
Until
Have you seen your vampire flying around here? said Tom Vaughan, moments after a bat flew menacingly by. Wait a second. Hell come back around again.
Vaughan portrays the ghost of Evan Shelby as part of the Ghost Walk at East Hill Cemetery in Bristol, Tennessee, on Oct. 28 and 29. Just as the last of the blood drops from the sun and night falls upon the aged cemetery, he and 10 other ghosts from Bristols past will return.
Call em spooks with stories.
Park in the Slater Center parking lot, said John Pappy Hawthorne, who will portray Rev. Wilson G. Barker. Theres no parking in the cemetery.
Hawthorne paused, grinned and continued.
You might run over a ghost, he said.
Tours begin at 7 p.m.
Tours start every 15 minutes, Hawthorne said.
Vaughan as Shelby chimed in.
If you want a more intimate experience with the spirits, take a later time, he said. Its darker.
Hawthorne looked up. A smile slowly crept to life on his face.
If you can walk through this cemetery without feeling something, youre not normal, he said. Ive been up here after dark and its
Hawthornes smile broadened.
eerie, he said.
Patrons will enter the cemetery just as darkness descends upon the dead. A lantern-carrying guide will greet and lead them on the tour. They will meet characters such as the aforementioned Rev. Wilson G. Barker, as played by Hawthorne.
His biggest claim to fame was that he started the Buffalo Male and Female Institute, which later became Milligan College, Hawthorne said. Hes got one little bitty tombstone here.
Hawthorne, dressed in period attire of funeral black breaches, matching brogans, coat and hat pointed down to where the long late reverend has rested since1905. Hawthorne clutched a Bible in his left hand. A walking stick extended from his right hand.
On this night and several to come, he was Rev. Barker.
I was born on Christmas Day in 1830, Hawthorne as Barker said.
Several feet away, Vaughan as Shelby stepped forth.
I am Evan Shelby, he said in an undeniably booming voice.
Shelby, whose final resting place sits upon the apex of a hill at East Hill, was born in Wales in 1720.
I was in the Revolutionary War and the French-Indian War, Vaughan as Shelby said. I was one of the founders of Bristol. I put Bristol on the map. Fort Shelby (located atop the hill where such businesses as Ferguson Animal Hospital and Weaver Funeral Home now sit) was a trading post, a central supply post for people as they migrated west.
Vaughan paused for a moment. He cast his aged eyes out upon the city of Bristol, which spreads out below East Hill Cemetery.
This, he said, was the frontier.
Tom Cox and Don Droke play Confederate privates from the Civil War. They each rest within a few steps from where Shelby has long called home.
I play William Boyd, Cox said while gripping a period-specific rifle. He was a private in Company G, 60th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. He was captured by the north. Later on, he lived in Bristol for a while. He was in Lebanon, Virginia, in about 1911 or 1914 when he died.
Droke fills the boots of James Keeling.
I am, Droke as Keeling said, the Southern Horatius.
Horatius Cocles, an officer in the service of the ancient Roman Republic, defended a bridge from an invading army.
Keeling was a private, Hawthorne said. He was guarding the bridge at Strawberry Plains near Knoxville. He was not about to let them take the bridge.
Droke adjusted his Civil War-era hat in the looming darkness, then replied.
He was outnumbered 18 to one, Droke said.
Fierce battle ensued all around Keeling. They fought, fiercely.
He got most of his hand cut off, Cox said.
Yet Keeling persevered.
When he recovered, Droke said, he fought the rest of the war with half of a hand.
Keeling died in 1895. Buried amid East Hills Confederate section, hes slept in Bristol for 121 yearsexcept for when he ascends for a stroll and a stretch throughout the reputedly haunted cemetery.
I only scare the northerners, Droke as Keeling said, tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Theyre not werewolves.
Vaughan as Shelby ever so slightly turned his head, lifted a brow above an eye and slowly replied.
No? he said.
Frankenstein?
Definitely not, he said.
Vampires?
No, Vaughan as Shelby drolly said, we dont have any blood left.
Ah, but when the light drains from the sky, be sure to range wide with eyes apt to see most anything during the Ghost Walk.
Theres boogers in here for sure, Cox said. Maybe some zombies.
Hawthorne as Barker clutched his Bible, perhaps for added comfort amid the creeping and creepy shadows.
We are ghosts, he said by way of reminder.
Cox as the Confederate Boyd motioned to Hawthorne, the black-cloaked Rev. Barker.
We play poker sometimes, Cox as Boyd said. That preacher, youve got to watch him.
Ahhh, yes, Vaughan as Shelby replied.
You can see right through him, he said.
Again, Hawthorne as Barker applied a squeeze to his Bible.
People swear they hear kids running around up here at night, he said, and they hear things jingling.
Bones rattling, perhaps? Could be.
Most of all, folks are invited to come along for the Ghost Walk to enjoy and learn a bit about Bristols past from a series ofspooks who long ago roamed the land in life. Its an exhibition of history.
Most of the early residents of Bristol are buried right here in East Hill Cemetery, Hawthorne said.
History, as Bristols long renowned historian Bud Phillips would say, is vital to know if one wishes to know the town in which they reside.
Besides that
If you dont know the past, Droke said, youre doomed to repeat it.
Or perhaps bump into a ghost from Bristols past who still, at least once per year thanks to the Ghost Walk, go bump well into the night.
Who knows what lurks behind these tombstones? Hawthorne said.
The days are shorter, but not the list of things you can do.
Transcription
1 THIS REPORT CONTAINS ASSESSMENTS OF COMMODITY AND TRADE ISSUES MADE BY STAFF AND NOT NECESSARILY STATEMENTS OF OFFICIAL U.S. GOVERNMENT POLICY Required Report - public distribution Date: GAIN Report Number: HO1401 4/15/2014 Honduras Sugar Annual 2014 Approved By: Lashonda McLeod, Agricultural Attache Prepared By: Ana Gomez, Agricultural Specialist Report Highlights: Sugar production and exports for Honduras are projected up for marketing year 2014/15 on improvement in yields and the industry s efficiency capacity. The 2007 Law for the Production and Consumption of Biofuels has sparked the Government of Honduras and investors interest in installing an ethanol production plant.
2 Executive Summary: In Honduras, the production, commerce, and distribution of sugar are controlled by the private sector. Cane sugar production is carried out on 55,000 hectares of land. The sugar mills own around 60 percent of the land and the remainder is owned by independent producers. Sugar production is projected up at 567,000 metric tons (MT) for marketing year (MY) 2014/2015. The increase is based on improved agricultural yields and efficiency, in addition to increased refining capacity. The MY 2014/15 sugarcane production is estimated up at 5.8 million MT on improvement in farm management practices. Domestic sugar consumption is forecasted up at 319,000 MT in MY 2014/2015. The sugar industry is represented by the Honduran Sugar Producers Association (APAH). All seven sugar mills are members of APAH. These mills sell their production to the Sugar Miller s Central (CISA), which is owned by APAH. CISA distributes the sugar nationwide. CISA has developed marketing programs for new brands and improved packaging. Marketing year 2014/15 sugar exports forecast is expected up at 248,000 MT, as APAH foresees an enhancement of sugarcane yields, milling technology, and new investments to increase exports. The free trade agreements with the European Union and Taiwan have opened new markets. Honduras complies with shipping its full tariff rate allocation to the United States and the World Trade Organization. According to the Central Bank of Honduras preliminary data, sugar exports reached $66 million in The sugar mills produce the energy that used during the November May harvest months. The excess energy generated is sold to the GOH s National Enterprise of Electric Energy (ENEE). The sugar mills supply about 20 percent of the renewable energy produced in Honduras. The energy sold to ENEE is cheaper than the market price; however, from June to October there is no sugarcane harvest, which limits energy production. Honduras saves about $360 million per year using the energy generated by sugarcane bagasse. Commodities: Sugar Cane for Centrifugal Sugar, Centrifugal Production: Sugarcane Sugarcane is grown on 55,000 hectares (ha) in the northwest, central, and southern parts of Honduras of which 60 percent is owned by the sugar mills and independent producers own 40 percent. Among the independent producers, 55 percent are small producers (1-18 ha.), 22 percent medium producers (18-53 ha.), and 23 percent large producers with more than 53 hectares. Independent sugar producers have
3 increased their area of production gradually after the 1992 Agricultural Modernization Law which limited land expansion of sugar mills. Sugarcane MY 2014/15 production is estimated up to 5.8 million MT. The increase foresees an enhancement in practices to obtain higher yields, assistance to independent producers, and the evaluation of seeds and technical assistance developed in sugar mills. The technicians at the mills are also members of the Association of Central American Sugar Technicians. Through this association, members share information and technological advances. The areas planted and harvested in MY 2014/2015 are forecasted up from the previous year. Sugar mills are expected to improve yields and equipment investment to meet export opportunities resulting from the new trade agreements. The forecast looks forward to the legal compliance of land security. In order to have land security for sugar production, dualities in the Agrarian Reform of 1970 and the Agricultural Modernization Law of 1992 need to be analyzed. Land tenure lawyers have stated that there are dualities in both laws. This will guarantee further incentives to investment in agricultural and milling improvement. Sugar Sugar production is in hands of the private sector. The sugar industry is comprised of seven processors (sugar mills) and 11 warehouses for sugar storage. Production for MY 2014/15 is forecast at 567,000 MT, as there are improvements in agricultural yields and the industry s efficiency capacity. Marketing year 2013/2014 decreased production was due to the effects of floods and land invasions. During the land invasions sugarcane was not given enough irrigation and fertilizer. (Please refer to Honduras 2013 Sugar Annual GAIN report for additional information.) Sugar mills are working at percent of their productive capacity. The mills are investing in response to the demand for sugar in the market. The recovery rate of sucrose from sugarcane is between 9 and 10 percent. From the area harvested, 96 percent of the sugarcane enters into production and 4 percent is kept for research and replanting. In recent years, the sugar industry in Honduras has been investing in infrastructure and equipment, thus increasing refining capacity and improving efficiency. The main factors that affect sugar production in Honduras are rains, floods, droughts, insecurity, land tenure, and access to credit. Independent producers were affected by the financial crisis and bank requirements that reduced available credit. Producers are faced with a high-risk classification that banks give to loans to the agricultural sector because of a lack of collateral and bad credit history within the sector. APAH and the Sugar Producers Federation (FEPROCA) have organized a Committee. The objective of the Committee is to provide support to independent producers to have access to credit with banks and provide them opportunities to take advantage of their potential. In 2005, the sugar mills created the foundation FUNAZUCAR. FUNAZUCAR develops programs to deliver incentives to sugarcane workers and assist the communities where the sugar mills are located. They implement literacy programs for young people and adults, trainings to micro enterprises, health care, school meals, educational material. Also, computers and solar panels have been installed in the
4 some schools. The sugar mills provide independent producers harvesting equipment, road maintenance, in addition to teacher salaries. Credit for small enterprises is also provided in the communities where the sugar mills are located. APAH s initiative and the FUNAZUCAR contributed to abolishing child labor. This was accomplished by including in producers contracts the prohibition of hiring children and by placing signs in buses and public areas about this prohibition. Consumption: Domestic sugar consumption in Honduras is raised to 319,000 MT for MY 2014/2015. The consumption of alternative sweeteners will have minimum impact. The consumer price for the domestic market is unchanged since The Ministry of Industry and Trade (SIC) must authorize any change, as sugar is considered a basic commodity that affects the cost of living. Per capita sugar consumption is estimated at 80 pounds per person of which 51 percent is for beverages, candy factories, and baked goods. The remaining 49 percent is for direct use. Average Sugar Prices for Plantation White (Standard) and Refined Sugar Honduras, 2013 US$/pound Sale place Plantation white Refined Wholesale Consumer Source: Honduran Sugar Producers Association Additional information can be found at the Honduran Producers Sugar Association website: At present, 1.00 US Dollar equals Honduran Lempira. Trade: The forecast for sugar exports for 2014/2015 is estimated to 248,000 MT due to the sugar industry s investment to improve sugarcane yields, milling technology and refining capacity. APAH foresees that sugar mills will expand and there will be new investments to increase exports. This is due to the entry into effect of new Free Trade Agreements (FTA s) which opened new markets for Honduras with the European Union and Taiwan in It should be noted that countries of the Central American region cannot export or import raw sugar to their region. This is an agreement within the Central American Customs Union (CACU). All the raw sugar surplus of CACU members is exported out of the Central American region. The main destinations for Honduras's sugar exports were the United States, Canada, Haiti, United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago and Taiwan. The volume of imports increased in 2013 compared to the previous year. The import tariff for raw sugar and plantation white (standard) is 40 percent (consumption tax is not charged). The import tariff for refined sugar is 15 percent plus a 12 percent consumption tax. By law, quality restrictions require Vitamin A to be added to sugar for human consumption, which is done by the Honduran sugar industry. The import tariff for raw sugar averages US$0.20 per kilogram. The import tariff for refined sugar is US$0.18 per kilogram, according to APAH s estimate based on average U.S. sugar contract #16 prices.
5 Honduras - Sugar, Centrifugal Exports, 2013 Country Metric Tons United States 33,208 Canada 19,453 Haiti 16,813 United Kingdom 13,110 Trinidad and Tobago 12,295 Taiwan 10,025 Jamaica 9,362 Dominican Republic 5,109 Yemen 3,000 Saint Vincent & Grenadines 2,613 Congo 2,528 Granada 2,499 Cameron 2,178 Others 8,076 TOTAL 140,269 Source: Central Bank of Honduras. Preliminary data. Honduras - Sugar, Centrifugal Imports, 2013 Country Metric Tons United States 105 Others 200 TOTAL 305 Source: Central Bank of Honduras. Preliminary data. NOTE: The exports and imports data in the production, supply, and distribution (PS&D) tables differ from the above export and import matrices. The difference is because of the manner of calculation of sugar export statistics by APAH and the Central Bank of Honduras: APAH export statistics include sugar which has been contracted for export, while the statistics of the Central Bank of Honduras only include sugar which has already been physically exported from Honduras. Stocks: Stocks are owned by seven processors (sugar mills) and their sugar is stored in CISA warehouses that are located in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. Stock levels are expected to remain at normal levels in MY 2014/2015. Honduras has new free trade agreements (FTA s) which opened markets for sugar with the European Union and Taiwan. The country complies with shipping its full tariff rate allocation with the United States, World Trade Organization, the European Union (EU) and Taiwan quotas. After these markets have been supplied, the sugar mills will then proceed to export to the rest of the world. The FTA with the EU approved sugar tariff rate quotas (TRQ) of 19,464 MT annually with an increase of 262 MT
6 each year. Exports to the EU began in the middle of The FTA with Taiwan provided a TRQ of 10,000 MT in 2013, with an increase to 50,000 MT annually beginning in According to the Central Bank of Honduras, sugar exports reached $66 million in The FTA with Mexico has been ratified, but sugar TRQs were not negotiated; however, there was an agreement that Honduras will have preferential access to ten percent of Mexico s no-supply quota. The FTA with Canada will bring a 2,500 MT sugar TRQ when ratified. Honduras does not have export taxes: they were eliminated in order to follow WTO recommendations. Policy: The GOH does not have an overall policy related to sugar. The Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock, the Secretariat of Industry and Trade, sugar mills, and independent producers created the National Sugar Council through the 2005 Decree The objective of the National Sugar Council is to regulate matters between independent producers and sugar mills related to land tenure and technical assistance. Honduras does not currently have a program to divert raw material to non-sugar uses, such as direct conversion to alcohol; however, APAH worked and lobbied the Honduran Congress for the approval of the 2007 Law for the Production and Consumption of Biofuels. The law provides fiscal incentives, such as exemptions from customs tariffs, income tax, and other related taxes for 12 years. The regulations for the implementation of the law have been written and they will make clear the percentage mix of ethanol with gasoline. The sugar industry foresees ethanol investment in Discussions between the Government of Honduras (GOH) and private investors are taking place for the installation of an ethanol production plant. One sugar mill completed a study of the infrastructure and funding requirements to build an ethanol processing plant. According to data from 2008, the cost would be about around $40 million if the plant were installed in an existing sugar mill. If a new sugar mill and ethanol processing plant were built, the cost would be between $ million. Honduras does not have policies regarding development of competing commodities. Sugar mills produce the energy that they use during the November May harvest months through the use of bagasse, generating 128 Megawatts per hour (Mwh) with a potential of 344 Mwh of electricity. The excess energy generated is sold to the GOH s National Enterprise of Electric Energy (ENEE). Sugar mills supply about 20 percent of the renewable energy produced in Honduras. APAH indicated that the sugar mills sell the energy for US$0.07 per Kilowatt versus the US$0.25 per Kilowatt provided by other energy companies provide. The price the sugar mills sell the energy to ENEE is less expensive than the market price. From June to October, however, there is no sugarcane harvest, which limits energy production. Honduras saves about $360 million per year using the energy generated by sugarcane bagasse. The seven sugar mills sell their production to a central warehouse, Sugar Miller's Central (CISA), which is owned by APAH and has 11 warehouses in the country. CISA distributes the sugar nationwide. CISA has developed marketing programs for new brands and improved packaging. CISA has also increased its distribution areas in the northern region of the country. It was using one quintal bags (equivalent to kilograms, or 100 pounds). CISA has changed, however, to 50 kilogram bags to
7 bring Honduras in line with neighboring countries. It also has small packages to offer to restaurants and hotels, as well as at the retail level. Production, Supply and Demand Data Statistics: (1000 MT) Sugar, Centrifugal Honduras 2012/ / /2015 Begin: Oct 2012 Begin: Oct 2013 Begin: Oct 2014 Beginning Stocks Beet Sugar Production Cane Sugar Production Total Sugar Production Raw Imports Refined Imp.(Raw Val) Total Imports Total Supply Raw Exports Refined Exp.(Raw Val) Total Exports Human Dom. Consumption Other Disappearance Total Use Ending Stocks Total Distribution TS=TD Sugar Cane for Centrifugal Honduras 2012/ / /2015 Begin: Sep 2012 Begin: Sep 2013 Begin: Sep 2014 Area Planted Area Harvested Production 4,757 5,046 4,995 5,439 5,814 Total Supply 4,757 5,046 4,995 5,439 5,814 Utilization for Sugar 4,757 5,046 4,995 5,439 5,814
8 Utilization for Alcohol Total Utilization 4,757 5,046 4,995 5,439 5,814 TS=TD 0 0 0
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One of the many protests against the TTIP and CETA trade deals, this on in Berlin
'Final Death Blow' to CETA as Delegates Hold Firm Against Pro-Corporate Deal
"It's time for a fundamental shift toward international agreements that put people and the planet before corporate profits. That's the message from Europe today."
Dealing what campaigners say is the final "death blow" to the pro-corporate Canada-European Union trade deal, negotiations collapsed on Friday after representatives from the Belgian region of Wallonia refused to agree to a deal that continues ignore democracy in favor of multi-national corporations.
Canada's International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland reportedly walked out of talks with the Wallonia delegation, which had ruled to maintain their veto against the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) after the parties reached a stalemate over the controversial Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system.
"We made new significant progress, especially on the agriculture issues, but difficulties remain, specifically on the symbolic issue of arbitration, which is politically extremely important," Wallonia president Paul Magnette told the regional parliament. ISDS permits companies to sue governments over perceived loss of profits due to regulations or other laws.
Magnette had told reporters Thursday that the delegation had particular concerns over "matters affecting U.S. companies in Canada which will benefit from the system."
Friday's talks were held as a last-ditch effort to save the trade deal. After they fell apart, an emotional Freeland told reporters, "I've worked very, very hard, but I think it's impossible," referring to the impasse. "It's become evident for me, for Canada, that the European Union isn't capable now to have an international treaty even with a country that has very European values like Canada."
In our coverage recently of the European mass protests against the so-called "free trade" agreement TTIP, and its demise , you may have noticed another trade deal mentioned alongside it, something called CETA, the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement. CETA is a "trade" deal being negotiated between Canada and the European Union. As you can see from the image above, those mass protests in Europe targeted both deals, not just the one (TTIP) involving the U.S. Even though it doesn't involve us, doesn't mean the Europeans are any more in favor of it. They're not.As you know if you clicked the first link above, TTIP is basically dead. TTIP is one of the three cornerstone corporate-friendly deals the U.S. corporate elite is using their well-funded office-holders to enact, the other two being TPP (the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal) and TiSA, the Trade in Services Agreement , which is actually the real killer. (TiSA, for example, would force the fast-tracking of imported non-union, very-low-wage foreign labor. Picture, if you will, the rapid demise of construction unions under TiSA.)The death of CETA, if it holds, strikes another blow at the heart of the pro-corporate globalist project. This means that of three "trade" deals the Europeans are involved in, two have been killed. This leaves only TiSA, and while that one is much less further along, it's looking more and more possible that the Europeans will do us a favor and kill it too leaving only TPP standing. Regarding TPP, we may be on our own.From Lauren McCauley atSeems even with a Canadian "trade" deal, the problem the Europeans have is what it allowscompanies to do. Still, the obviously pro-corporate Canadian negotiators tried to push it through. And when they failed, they blamed the Europeans for not being "capable" of "having an international treaty."There's more in the article about the deep and widespread objection across Western Europe to each of these deals. All good news.Assuming the deals involving the Europeans fail, there's only two more to go NAFTA and TPP and both have Withdrawal clauses . Clinton in 2008 promised to renegotiate NAFTA using the threat of withdrawal.If she was sincere, the same would apply to TPP, which she has recently announced she opposes. I'll be interested to see how all this plays out. At the moment, though, the citizens appear to be winning.GP
Labels: Barack Obama, CETA, European Union, Gaius Publius, Hillary Clinton, TPP, trade policies, TTIP
NEWTON The Catawba County School (CCS) Board officially swore in Dr. Matthew Stover as its new superintendent of Catawba County Schools during a Monday meeting.
The board made its choice of a new superintendent in September after a five-month search.
District 25B Superior Court Judge Nathaniel Poovey presided over the swearing in of Stover, who officially starts the job on Nov. 1.
Stover has a career in public education spanning more than 15 years in North Carolina. He will be leaving Lincoln County Schools, where he most recently served as an associate superintendent.
In other business, CCS Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Chris Gibbs brought before the board a new state proposed Merit Bonus Plan for school employees that was part of North Carolina House Bill 1030.
It provides funding in the 2016-17 state budget for one-time based bonuses to be given to all state funded school based administrators, central office staff and non-certified personnel, Gibbs said. State funds are for locally funded employees.
Educators are not eligible, a Department of Public Instruction (DPI) summary of the Bill says. The DPI also established a new range in step increases for teachers in June.
The state has set aside more than $17 million dollars for the bonuses, but is leaving it up to the individual school districts to decide how to distribute the bonuses.
The legislation does not establish a deadline for the distribution for this bonus," Gibbs said. "It just has to be paid this particular school year."
The state Department of Public Education did give some guidance to school systems on key points in their individual policies.
It has to list the amount to be awarded," Gibbs said. "It has to give a payment date and special conditions in breaks of service or if youre transferring between different LEAs (local education agencies) or leave of absences.:"
He added the state alluded there doesn't have to be a board policy, a plan of action would be enough.
CCS has nearly 445 employees who would qualify for a bonus.
Thats the challenge most districts are going to face," Gibbs said. "One, youre trying to be fiscally responsible. Youre trying to be fair with how you do that.
"Child nutrition for example, we have 196 under the current plan would not be eligible by the state guidelines. Now with child nutrition we have 23 of those employees who are paid out of local funds too. They might be child nutrition and a bus driver, so those individuals would qualify.
He then described how a teachers assistant paid out of Title 1 funds wouldn't qualify.
The challenge is how do you make this equitable and fair, Gibbs said. Across the state, everybodys plan is going to look different.
Gibbs said he would like to discuss different approaches for CCS with the rest of the administration -- including Stover -- and then bring a plan to the board at its November meeting. The state has set a deadline for Dec. 20.
Other actions by the board included approving an amended charter bus company list and approval of the 2016-18 school improvement plan process for Catawba Elementary, St. Stephens Elementary and Maiden Middle schools.
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Kashmir is on the boil. It has been that way for decades now. After Burhan Wanis death on July 8, and the consequent actions and reactions to it in the Valley, it feels as if someone has turned up the volume.
And now suddenly there is some buzz about a video by Wanis possible successor, young Hizbul Mujahideen leader Zakir Rashid Bhat. Newspaper reports claim that he has invited the other Kashmiris the Pandits to the Valley. He has also asked Sikhs seeking revenge for Operation Blue Star to join forces with him. Its a strange bundling of invitations.
It is worth noting that Bhat, who is all of 22-years-old, is inviting the Pandits who were forced out of the Valley 26 years ago.
Read | The home that was: Kashmiri Pandits on rehabilitation
The whole Kashmir movement is a jihadi movement for a Sharia-based Islamic republic. With world opinion strongly against the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, the separatists and terrorists are now trying to find ways to disguise the same as a freedom moment of all Kashmiris and not only Kashmiri Sunni Muslim. Calling the Pandits back to the Valley will make the whole fight look secular, says Amit Raina, a leading voice in the Pandit community and an activist with Roots in Kashmir, a youth initiative for Kashmiri Pandits. Raina was 14 years old when he left the Valley.
The Hizbul invite is like a black widow spiders invitation be nice, entice and annihilate once trapped. It was the same Hizbul that had assured the Pandits at Wandhama before selling them out to the Lashkar-e-Taiba leading to death of 23 Pandits. So the invitation can be ignored without a second thought, he adds.
The context of Bhats invitation is in the ignominy of Hindu genocide in the Kashmir valley. This invitation is a desperate attempt to look and sound civilised, says Sushil Pandit, an activist.
Read | Posters warn Kashmiri Pandits to leave Valley or face death
Bhat is reported to have said, They [Pandits] should look at those Pandits who have been living in the Valley. Did they face any problems here? Kashmiris in the Valley are living through horrific times. These invitations which are sometimes given a secular flavour and otherwise a nationalist note make a mockery of the Pandits, and their suffering.
When Arvind Gigoo left the Valley in 1990, he was teaching in a college in Anantnag. Return is next to impossible. No Kashmiri Pandit will go back. Bhat has an agenda. Nobody takes us seriously, we are a useless community, says the retired professor in a bitter tone.
My father, Chaman Lal Sapru, also a retired professor, recounts those days before the exodus. How can one forget the headline in Alsafa [a weekly magazine] KPs should leave in 10 days, or the cries of rallev, challev ya mariv (Become part of us, run away or die)! says the octogenarian. Farooq Abdullah and his family ran away to London. He did nothing to stop the Pandits.
Read | Separatist Geelani meets group led by Yashwant Sinha over J-K deadlock
Time and the way many Pandits look at this are relative. For those who were forced to leave the Valley the events of 1990 seemed like they happened just yesterday. The intensity of the pain has not diminished.
But for many born outside the Valley, Kashmir is just a familiar word. Lenesh Matoo, a 24-year-old TV actor in Mumbai, has only been to Kashmir thrice. He would like to visit home, but doesnt want to go there to live and earn a living.
So the message to Bhat, or anyone who from time to time comes with special promises for Pandits, is simple: Leave it alone, the time for all this has passed.
For the Pandits, Kashmir is always home. It will be, irrespective of where we are. And to return home, we dont need to support anyones agenda.
asapru@hindustantimes.com
An influential educational lobby group wants English out of educational institutions. Total fidelity to Indian languages is capable of reshaping frameworks of thought and transforming India. All patriots must support the project. Heres how it should be done.
The RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN) has told the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) that the English language should gradually be removed as a medium of instruction at all levels of education in India, both in public and private institutions. According to the Indian Express, the SSUN wants the new education policy to prioritise Indian languages and urges that IITs and IIMs must immediately introduce education in the vernaculars.
The organisation also says that foreign languages should not be offered as an alternative to any Indian language and that the University Grants Commission must only sponsor research work that fulfils national requirements. Any references that insult Indian culture, tradition, sects, thoughts and eminent personalities must forthwith be expunged from all textbooks.
This is a grand intellectual enterprise designed to close India off from foreign influences. The idea behind removing all references that insult our culture is that students can from now on, without being challenged, be told that plastic surgery and genetic science both existed in ancient India. We can accept as truth the view that our venerable scientists discovered the Pythagoras theorem but that we very gracefully allowed the Greeks to take the credit, as minister for science and technology Harsh Vardhan once told us. India also knew beej ganit long before the Arabs but we very selflessly allowed it to be called algebra. Similarly, students can be told to read ancient Sanskrit texts to build indigenous aircraft as Captain Anand Bodas, a retired principal of a pilot training centre, told the Indian Science Congress in 2015.
The idea to get rid of English is particularly revolutionary, since it stems from the right assumption that blocking foreign languages is to deny or curtail access to other knowledge systems, their distinctive possibilities of meaning and their technical repertoire. Culture minister Mahesh Sharma has already promised to purge India of western influences and once foreign languages are blocked, total fidelity to Indian languages (and content) can potentially reshape our frameworks of thought. If this is the audacious plan then there really is no moment to lose.
But the RSS-affiliates ambition in this regard is, unfortunately, limited and disappointing. When the idea is to totally takeover the Indian mind, why start only with schools? Atal Bihari Vajpayees tenure as Prime Minister was, mind you, a wasted opportunity for the RSS cultural agenda. If we focus mainly on schools now it could be 15-20 years before we see a true vernacular restoration in the country. Why not adopt a more radical approach with an India-wide intervention across sectors, where all patriotic Indians can contribute to the cause of the disappearance of the English language?
The RSS must, to that end, press the Narendra Modi government to try these five ideas:
First, the revolution must begin at home, by example. The RSS should ensure that all BJP politicians, from the village level to the Union Cabinet, sign a pledge that they will enrol their four-year old children and grandchildren in only Hindi-medium or regional language institutions. It is not fair to ask the others without first having a go yourself, innit? Children of BJP leaders who are already enrolled in English-medium institutions must come up to speed with Hindi in a couple of years and switch schools or and those keen on the sciences should try and enrol in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi Vishwavidyalaya in Bhopal which offers engineering courses exclusively in Hindi but currently has all or almost all seats vacant, as there are few takers for the degree.
Two, the real trick is to quickly end the Indians fascination with English a surgical strike on the language so to speak since thats the new language for everything from Pakistan to black money. Since we are very good at banning films, books and plays we dont like, why not ban students from taking the TOEFL, SAT, GRE, GMAT and IELTS as these tests are mainly about getting Indians to leave the country and study more English in foreign universities. Imagine the gall of Western civilisation to make us learn their English language and then test our proficiency in it. Can there be a greater illustration of our (daily) cultural subjugation and humiliation? How dare we allow the imagination of our youth to be entirely dominated by this language in the process of training for it? All revolutions begin with the ruthless excision of elites. Stop those trying to escape the country; the rest will follow.
This is a particularly auspicious moment to try this move. Since we are now habitually testing the patriotism of fellow Indians, it is now time to call all non-resident Indians home and convince them that making a living through the use of English in the English-speaking world is total haram. The ones really needing shuddikaran are those who are yet to come back to India. The Prime Minister has already called on the diaspora to come back and avail of new opportunities in India, so this would be a good time to honour him.
And in the spirit of testing patriotism of others and figuring out how big the problem is, the government of India should do an extensive social audit and have a national register of all the politicians, industrialists, bureaucrats, and film stars etc who have their children studying abroad in foreign universities. And they must all be volunteered by their parents to atone for the error of their English-speaking vocations and return to the vernacularised treasure trove that is India. Not only that, all those with children studying abroad must be immediately disqualified from being given a Padma or any national award. Surely, having a child abroad studying in a Western university is the cultural equivalent of nurturing a sleeper cell that will eventually harm India.
Four, the role of the media in developing new discourses and initiating cultural change. All TV programming during the day should here on be in Hindi or in regional languages. English content will be provided 11pm onward alongside other adult material. Some nationalist English news anchors will unfortunately have to move to the 11pm slot or switch to Hindi but either way it will be worth the effort for transforming India.
So there you have it: If all school-going children of BJP leaders study exclusively in Hindi or regional languages, if middle-class children are prevented from taking entrances tests in English to go abroad, if there are sanctions for elites who send children to English-medium institutions here or in foreign countries and if vernacular programming dominates on TV, Indias language revolution could be just years away. This approach, based on paranoia about English, is a lot easier for governments rather than collaborating with (liberal) academics in cultural projects aimed at increasing the use of vernaculars.
One other matter remains. Societies usually frame laws and policies that favour the powerful at the expense of the marginalised. The prescriptions for the former usually differ from those for the latter. A politician like Mulayam Singh Yadav, for example, will recommend Hindi to his constituents but send his son Akhilesh to study environmental engineering in Australia. The situation can now fortunately be flipped. Once the Indian middle class and elites begin to embrace and discover the exclusive joys of Hindi and other vernaculars, marginalised groups like Dalits, Muslims, tribals and women should be encouraged to learn English and persist with that language so that they have zero professional prospects in the future. In other words, marginalised Indians should stick to English and live with the indignity of being influenced by the world, not just India.
So go for it then, MHRD. Ignore the Chinese who are educating millions in English to try and dominate the world. Save our souls from that very language instead.
(The views expressed are personal. The author tweets at @SushilAaron)
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Later this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be making a state visit to Japan. Over the past few years Tokyo has emerged as the most important capital in Asia for New Delhis long-term strategic interests. This relationship has two fundamental but inter-related pillars. One is the rising importance of Japanese investment and the ability of this investment to provide the competitive manufacturing sector that India needs for genuine economic take-off. The other is a strategic relationship that is fundamentally about finding means to constrain the dangerously nationalistic strains of Chinese foreign policy.
Read: India, Japan urge Beijing to respect tribunals ruling
Beijing became more assertive after it came to see the 2008 financial crisis as the beginning of the end of US global influence. It then reasserted or used military pressure to aggravate largely dormant territorial disputes along the Indian border, over the Senkaku Islands off the coast of Japan, and, most blatantly, lay claim to the entire South China Sea. China has faced strong resistance and even severe economic costs following the first two claims. But its attempt to snatch and grab the South China Sea has proven remarkably successful. The Southeast Asian nations have been unable to put up a united front against Beijing. Most strikingly, an isolationist Washington initially looked the other way.
Read: Malabar-16: India, US, Japan to play war games from Friday
India has faced a dilemma on how to respond to Chinas snatch-and-grab of the northern half of the South China Sea. Beijings actions are a breathtaking violation of international law. New Delhi understands that such violations, in which might makes right, undermine the international order that it both supports and benefits from. Beijing seems to have concluded that legal agreements reflect power realities and when the realities shift, so should the agreement even if unilaterally. But the other reality New Delhi faces is a lack of military and economic strength to project power into the South China Sea. It has thus criticised China indirectly by upholding general principles like freedom of navigation and the United Nations law of the sea. Overall, it has been cautious not to overstretch its limited security resources. India struggles to defend Mumbai and would be guilty of hubris if it thought it could do a better job protecting Malaysia.
Read: China spy ship shadows Indian, US, Japanese naval drill: 5 things to know
Therefore, Indias priority must be to build up its own capabilities both in terms of economic and military heft but also in the way of relationships with countries with similar concerns regarding China. Japan is the only one in Asia that can both massively enhance the countrys economic base while contributing to strategic balance as well. Tokyo is not a perfect partner: it is geographically far-off and its pacifist tendencies mean that simple things like buying military equipment are extremely difficult. Japan has its own complaints regarding India, especially on the investment side. The China challenge provides an existential impetus to overcoming such problems which the two governments must address post haste.
The relationship between the armed forces and civilian bureaucrats in the defence ministry has not been satisfactory for many years. One reason for this is the status of superiority of the civilians over the service officers. This relationship has been deteriorating year after year. When Pranab Mukherjee was defence minister, he had tried to satisfy the armed forces officers, who were agitated after the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. He had assured them that the working relations between the two the armed forces officers and civilian bureaucrats would not change. The particular letter (referred to the Hindustan Times report), after the report of the Seventh Pay Commission, is going to have an adverse impact on the morale of the service personnel.
Read: Will correct discrepancies in military-civilian officers rank equation: Parrikar
The impression one gathers from this is that the government is deliberately trying to lower the status of the armed forces officers vis-a-vis those of the civil services officers. This is one of the issues raised by the three chiefs when representing against the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. It is sad that such a letter, which will have a serious impact on the armed forces at a time when all other Indians are praising the armed forces, has been issued by the defence ministry. On the one hand, the Prime Minister is praising the armed forces, and on the other hand the ministry of defence has issued a letter lowering the status of the armed forces officers and their functionality, thus affecting their morale.
Read: Govt downgrades ranks of defence officers, civil-military rift may widen
From my own experience I can say that the armed forces personnel are always more conscious of their social status and it is society and the backing of the government that make them give their best in war and peace.
I hope that the defence ministry and the Prime Minister realise the serious adverse impact it will have on the morale of the armed forces. It is going to impact the functioning and working relationship both between the armed forces headquarters and the ministry of defence as well as within the armed forces headquarters.
Gen. VP Malik is a former chief of the army staff
The views expressed are personal
The feud in the Samajwadi Party seems to have turned electoral arithmetic on its head in Uttar Pradesh.
A few days back, the competition seemed even the SP was battling a damaging power struggle, the BSP had been hit by desertions and the Congress despite a month-long campaign to woo farmers was still struggling to be taken seriously. That should have made the BJP leaders happy but they werent.
Making a comeback in the countrys most populous state is big on the BJPs agenda but for that, it needs help from the SP as well as Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party to split the Muslim vote.
A divided Muslim vote translates to poll gains for the BJP while a consolidation will spell trouble, as minorities play a crucial role in at least 125 of the 403 constituencies in the state that goes to the polls in early 2017.
But with the messiah of Muslims Mulayam Singh Yadav choosing brother Shivpal Yadav and friend Amar Singh over his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav, the community is looking for alternatives.
They know the divide in the Yadav family is beyond repair. No amount of hugging will undo the bitterness of the ugly spat on Monday -- Shivpal called Akhilesh a liar as party cadres watched on.
Read: Weakened Samajwadi Party now open to a grand alliance
The BSP has managed to hold on to its Jatav supporters -- a sizable section among Dalits who account for 21% of the states population. The SPs hold over Yadavs and Muslims, however, is slipping.
As things stand, Muslims are likely to choose the BSP over the SP.
Somehow I feel the family will unite ahead of polls, says Maulana Arif, who runs a modern madarsa in Bahraich, highlighting the dilemma the community faces.
In Devipatan division which has 18 seats, Muslims will prefer to go with Akhilesh, whether he with the SP or leads an independent party. However if the SP dumps him, then most of them will go with the BSP and some to the Congress.
But, the same cant be said of central UP. The triple talaq issue is bringing the community together. As the Congress is weak and the SP is engaged in family battle, the BSP will be their next best option, says Maulana Nasir Fakhiri of Allahabad.
Read: The SP battle is a rerun of the old story of syndicates
Mayawati knows it and has been concentrating on 125-odd Muslim majority constituencies, with close aide Naseemuddin Siddiqui meeting community leaders. She has also promised a substantial chunk of tickets to Muslims.
Javed Mohd of Welfare Party of India, too, feels its advantage BSP. Akhilesh, he says, should break away but should move quickly as the election is not too far.
But, there is no such ambiguity for Khurshid Naqvi, another community leader in Allahabad. He is clear: Muslims are moving away from the SP, including Akhilesh, as it has failed to keep poll promises. Their next choice is the BSP.
Mufti Zulfikar of Muzaffarnagar, which was rocked by communal violence three years ago, says Muslims will be forced to vote for the BSP if the SP fails to come together. Mulayams support for Amar Singh, too, is a worry.
For the SP, the 2017 battle is all but lost, a truce or not.
Read: Akhilesh Yadav on his own? How he might shake UP politics
There are around 1,800 start-ups in Vietnam. Photo by AFP
The fund is part of a bigger plan to support 2,000 new projects in the next five years.
Ho Chi Minh City plans to launch a startup support fund worth nearly $45 million next month as it aims to get thousands of projects off the ground soon.
The citys Science and Technology Department said at a meeting on Monday that it will introduce guidlines for startups to access a support fund of VND1 trillion ($44.8 million) in late November.
HCMC aims to support 2,000 startup projects in the next five years and has received funding requests from 200 projects.
The fund will be opened for projects from a wide range of sectors mechanics, electronics, chemicals, food production, finance, banking, insurance, commerce, transport, tourism, logistics, post and communication, real estate, healthcare, education and technology.
Each project will receive a maximum VND2 billion ($90,000) that can help it sustain until the product trial phase.
Nguyen Thanh Phong, the city mayor, said it will also set up an entrepreneurship center to connect startup businesses with investment funds.
More than 20 foreign venture funds have expanded in Vietnam, which has 1,800 startups in operation.
Related news:
> Should the Vietnamese government invest in start-ups?
> Vietnam to scrap controversial online business rule
Almost 14 years ago, in a historic ruling of Shamim Ara v State of UP [(2002 (7) SCC 518] the Supreme Court declared arbitrary triple talaq invalid. It meant that even if the husband said triple talaq orally, over phone, email or fax, it would not dissolve the marriage. The woman continues to be his wife and can claim her right of maintenance or residence under the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), the same way women from other communities who faces desertion do. Sadly the ruling did not receive the publicity it deserved.
Read | Womens rights a development issue, dont politicise triple talaq: Modi
Now, various individuals like Shayara Bano, Afreen Rehman, and organisations likw the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) and Bebaak Collective have approached the apex court to ban triple talaq.
According to the Bebaak Collective, a ban will put an end to the problem once and for all. Muslims for Secular Democracy feels that invalid is too mild a term; make it a criminal offence and send all husbands who pronounce triple talaq to jail. Lalitha Kumaramangalam, NCW chairperson, in an interview to Al Jazeera said: A ban will resolve the problem because women do not have resources to go to court.
So what do those clamouring for a ban hope to achieve? Let us assume that the Modi government bans instant triple talaq through an act of Parliament. Beyond the rhetoric, how will this play out on the ground? Women will have to approach the police station to register a criminal complaint. Thereafter, the case will proceed as per the rules of the criminal justice system.
Read | Owaisis stand against scrapping triple talaq disservice to women
A poor woman, who lacks resources to access the judicial system, will have to depend on police officers, public prosecutors and judges to endure the rigours of a criminal trial to prove her case.
Way back in 1983, the womens movement demanded a criminal provision to address domestic violence, but soon realised that punishment is not the answer married women were seeking. Thirty years later we got the DVA, a law with civil relief that can be used by both married and divorced women from all communities. But what has been learnt from that experience seems to be forgotten in this high-pitched demand for a ban.
What is even more frightening is how will this sword of criminalising instant triple talaq be used in the current atmosphere where anti-minority feelings are heightened.
It would be prudent to create awareness that instant triple talaq is invalid and ensure that we have trained and sensitive lawyers to help all women access their rights rather than the current short-sighted approach, which may look good on paper but has very little practical use for women.
Audrey Dmello, is programme director, Majlis Legal Centre
The views expressed are personal
Two plastics factories were gutted in a devastating blaze that broke out in Bhopals Hanumanganj locality early on Monday morning. Thirty fire engines took around eight hours to douse the flames even as locals accuse the firemen of arriving an hour late.
According to the police, the fire could have spread from a blaze in a nearby garbage dump or due to short circuit. No casualties were reported in the incident. A case has been registered in the matter and nearby building evacuated.
The total losses are estimated to be around Rs 1.2 crore.
Locals told reporters that the fire broke out early on Monday around 2.15 am near a plastics bottle and basket manufacturing unit and engulfed it and a nearby plastics granule manufacturing factory in no time.
They said the fire could have been tamed before it engulfed the factories had the civic body not snapped water supply to the area. The Bhopal Municipal Corporation had stopped water supply to Hanumanganj locality four days ago citing tax dues.
Eyewitness Shanu Bhai said: First, we saw the fire in a garbage heap near the plastic bottles and basket manufacturing factory, which eventually spread out to engulf the factories. We could not douse the fire then because there was no water in our housesIf there was water in the locality then we could have stopped the fire from spreading.
Initially, the locals tried to douse the fire. The Dial 100 emergency services were informed around 3.10 am (but) the first fire engine arrived around 4.15 am.
The eyewitnesses also claim that water of the first fire engine was exhausted within a few minutes and the backup reached around 5.30 am.
If the first fire tender had arrived in time, then the second factory could have been saved from being gutted, another local said.
Abdul Shafiq, owner of the plastic granule manufacturing factory, told Hindustan Times that their repeated request for installation of a fire sub-station in the area to tackle any emergency had been overlooked by the authorities for long. I have incurred around `60 lakh losses, Shafiq said.
We were not late, says fire official
As locals accuse the BMC fire department of laxity and delay, senior officials refuted the charges as baseless.
Sajid Khan, an official of the fire department of BMC, said: We received the information around 4.15 am and the first fire engine reached the spot at 4.20 am. The engines became empty within minutes as we were releasing about 4,000 litres of water at a pressure of about 7 kg per minute. At this speed, the water of the engine is consumed within two minutes.
Trust Bollywood to take the lead when it comes to sending Diwali wishes to Indian soldiers. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his fellow countrymen to show gratitude to Indian soldiers by sending them Diwali greetings, some of the most prompt responses have come from Bollywood: While Akshay Kumar recorded a video message for the soldiers on Tuesday, both Salman and Aamir Khan shared the PMs video with their wishes for the Indian army.
This Diwali, let us remember our courageous armed forces who constantly protect our Nation. Jai Hind. I sent my #Sandesh2Soldiers. You could also do the same. Your wishes will certainly make our forces very happy, Modi had written in his Facebook post on Monday.
Wishing a happy Diwali to all, Dabangg star Salman Khan shared his #Sandesh2soldiers on Facebook.
Akshay Kumar shared a video on his Facebook page in which he lauded PM Modi for the initiative and thanked the soldiers for doing their job. The best way to celebrate a festival is with your loved ones and the good luck of spending festivals with our families is because of you (soldiers). Without even knowing us, you love us and keep us safe, he said in the video.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Akshay has taken the lead in sending his wishes for Indian soldiers. Earlier this month, the Baby actor released a video to pay his tribute to the martyrs of Uri attack. He was also among the few Bollywood A-listers who spoke on the controversy around banning Pakistani artistes in India, and said we should think of the Indian Army and not the ban on artistes.
Appreciating the intiative by PM Modi, Aamir Khan shared the video and thanked soldiers.
The stars are leading the way, have you sent your wish for the soldiers yet?
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An actor par excellence and a forever beauty, Sharmila Tagore says Delhi holds a special place in her heart. We caught up with the 71-year-old Bollywood veteran at an event in the Capital.
I was born in Kanpur and have travelled across India. But Delhi is special for me. Its like my sasuraal (in-laws home). Ive been living here since 1984. I raised my kids here, they did their schooling here. Also, its quite near to Pautadi (a place close to my heart), says Tagore, mother of actors Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan and jewellery designer Saba Ali Khan.
What are her plans for Diwali? Ill run away to Pataudi as it gets very noisy where I live. I prefer a peaceful and calm place, says Tagore, who believes in a cracker-free Diwali.
The festival is about Diyas, decorations, pooja and meeting family. Im not a cracker person. My husband (late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi) had lung disease and I dont want people to suffer because of pollution. We celebrate Diwali without causing pollution, concludes the actor, known for her roles in films such as An Evening in Paris (1967) and Amar Prem (1972).
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It was an inspiring evening for the young guns of Delhi as they listened to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap doling out advise and snippets from his struggling days at the recent Josh Talks Leap 2016 at Thyagaraj Stadium. Kashyap said, Before graduating from a top college in Delhi, I was planning to be a scientist. Options zyada hote hi nahi the tab, ya to scientist ban jao ya UPSC clear karlo. (There werent many options then. One could either become a scientist or clear the UPSC). But I decided to go to Bombay (Mumbai), and all I had was a bag full of books and clothes, though I knew no one in the city.
Students were rapt as Kashyap recounted his early days in the industry when he used to do odd jobs before he finally managed to claim fame with the film Satya (1998). He said, I started working with Prithvi Theatre in Bombay, and would sweep the stage. I got to know that people volunteered to do all kinds of work, and I too started writing. It was my biggest skill and I could write 100 pages in a day then, today I cant. But those days, I wrote for free and didnt ask for either money or credit. Satellite TV had just come in and they didnt know how to create content for daily soaps. From Shanti to Swabhimaan, I was part of everything but you wouldnt see my name. Then finally someone gave me credit for an entire film. It was Satya.
It was evident that the crowd enjoyed every minute as the auditorium erupted in applause. Every choice has a consequence. I have made choices and faced consequences be it making Bombay Velvet or putting out a tweet, referring to the recent incident when he put up a screenshot of his conversation with a journalist on his Twitter account and received quite a bit of flak.
Actor-writer Zeeshan Quadri shared that he had started working at a call centre after completing his schooling. (Rajesh Kashyap/HT Photo)
Kashyap was joined by fellow industry insider, Zeishan Quadri (both associated with the film Gangs of Wasseypur). Zeishan, too, caught the fancy of students when he revealed that his beginnings were quite modest. I started working in a call centre in Delhi, which was the easiest way to earn money in those days, said the writer-actor, referring to his years after school.
Growth aapki tab hoti hai jab aap question puchne se ghabrate nahi ho... Hum log sochte hain mazak udega isliye sawaal nahi karte. (You can only grow when you dont shy away from asking questions. People think they will be mocked at if they ask.) Mai kabhi nahi ghabrata and thats how I got to learn everything about cinema by asking questions, Quadri said.
He clearly connected to the his listeners when he shared that his father persuaded him to pursue an MBA, when, in fact, he wanted to establish himself in Bollywood. He said, My father wanted me to do MBA and kept repeating each time I called up home that Im being fooled by people in Bombay and that I should go back to studies. After several attempts, when Wasseypur released and was selected in Cannes, I phoned papa and said Papa soch raha hun MBA kar loon. My father replied, Beta jahan baithe ho wahin baithe raho. Sahi chal rahe ho (Stay where you are. You are on the right path).
Sonam Wangchuk
Sonam Wangchuk is said to be the inspiration behind the character Phunsuk Wangdu in the film 3 Idiots. (Rajesh Kashyap/HT Photo)
Another hit of the evening was the man said to be the inspiration behind Aamir Khans character, Phunsuk Wangdu, in the film 3 Idiots (2009) Sonam Wangchuk. He, however, refutes this connection with the film, and says, Im tired of answering the question of whether the character of Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots was based on me.
Wangchuk, who is from Ladakh and is known for his innovative ideas in education, says, I am Sonam and not Phunsukh Wangdu. I met Aamir Khan at an event in Mumbai and Im a big fan of his film Taare Zameen Par. I suggested that he make a film on the issue of a small land in Siachen which exhausts Rs. 5-7 crores of public money every year. I asked him if its possible to start a public revolution if the film shows that the dispute between two countries can be solved through public talks.
Wangchuk didnt pursue the topic further but soon after 3 Idiots was released, he was flooded with mails from people asking about his connection with the film. At the event where I met Aamir, he did a documentary on my work. But I cant say that thats what inspired him. After the films release, I didnt write to him immediately because I was afraid that he might think that Im writing to ask for money. I waited for two years and then wrote to him, but havent received a reply yet, he said, adding I leave it you to decide if the films character was based on me!
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Exhibitors in Pakistan will be lifting the self-imposed ban on the screening of Indian films on Tuesday, the owner of a leading cinema said.
Terming it merely a suspension and not a ban, as there was no government intervention, exhibitors on their own had decided to stop the screening of Indian films, following the ban on Pakistani artists and technicians working in India by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) earlier in October, reports the Express Tribune.
This decision comes in wake of the Indian Armys criticism of the MNS penalty of 50 million rupees on Indian films featuring Pakistani actors. Following the losses, exhibitors had gathered thrice since the suspension of Indian films to ponder over the possible consequences.
In the latest meeting, which took place on Sunday, followed by a brief discussion on Monday, all exhibitors had agreed to resume screening effective from Tuesday. According to another cinema owner, The Indian Armys statement is a good enough evidence for the change in perspective on the other side of the border. So is the release of Fawad Khans film in India.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, starring Fawad Khan along with Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is all set to hit theatres on October 28.
Shivaay and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil are likely to be screened in Pakistan too.
A formal announcement will be made by the chairman of Pakistans exhibitors association, Zuraiz Lashari, in Lahore on Tuesday. The owner of a leading distribution company said that the resumption of Indian films had to happen since cinema owners relied heavily on Bollywood movies for their revenue.
In a related development, the ministry of commerce has issued NoCs to both Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ajay Devgns Shivay. Shivay is set to be previewed by the censor board. The secretary of Sindh Board of Film Censors, Razzaq Khuhwar, said The government has issued the NoC for Shivay. We are set to screen today or tomorrow for certification.
Anushka Sharma in a still from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
The chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification, Mobashir Hasan, said that they will accept and preview Indian films, if and when they are submitted for certification.
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National Award-winning actor Vidya Balan is ready to be more active on social media than ever before. After signing up on Twitter and Instagram a few years ago, she will join Facebook today (October 25). She feels the Internet not only allows one to stay in touch with people, but is also a great medium to express ones views on political and social issues. Here, Vidya talks about the power of social media, where she draws the line when it comes to technology, and more.
You are joining Facebook now. What kept you away from the platform for so long?
Finally! I was reluctant to join any social media platform, although I joined Twitter earlier. My sister (Priyamani Balan) has been goading me to join Facebook. She is active on it. People feel they are part of her kids lives, as they read her posts on Facebook about them. I guess thats the power of social media. It allows you to connect with people. Interacting personally with so many people at the same time is not humanly possible. I love talking to people, whether it is at a shoot, an event or a social function. Im already active on Instagram, as I love taking photos and sharing them. I have some experience with Twitter, and now I am also going to be on Facebook. I like the fact that I can say all I want to on Facebook, as it doesnt have limited space for posts. Now, I will be more active on social media.
Innocent until ... proven guilty?!! A video posted by Vidya Balan (@balanvidya) on Oct 21, 2016 at 1:06pm PDT
Today, smartphones and technology seem to have taken over our lives, as people are always tuned into their phones
Technology is fabulous, as it allows us to stay in touch with not just friends and family on a daily basis, but also long-lost friends, neighbours, school and college friends, ex-colleagues, etc. But, how much you use it, is up to you. I get fed up of my phone sometimes. Its perpetually on silent as it rings non-stop. On Sundays, I dont respond to messages. Once Siddharth (Roy Kapur; husband) and I are at home, I dont respond to messages. During meetings, my phone is kept face down. Otherwise, you keep looking at your phone. We have to decide what our priorities are. People get obsessed with social media, but we have to decide the extent of its usage.
Breathing fire or breathing light ?!! . Just a difference of perspective,i guess !! A photo posted by Vidya Balan (@balanvidya) on Aug 15, 2016 at 3:32am PDT
Have you been trolled online?
Not yet, thankfully. I am someone who believes that if you have something nice to say, say it. But, if you dont, then dont be mean either. Trolls hide behind anonymity, and can cross the line. Anonymity gives people the power to say things that they cant say otherwise. Social media is a great platform to talk about political and social issues. However, one shouldnt get personal or attack someone.
Since i was shooting for a hair commercial,here's my very own..the brand being BA(A)LAN ...haha!! A video posted by Vidya Balan (@balanvidya) on Oct 14, 2016 at 11:26pm PDT
The poster of your upcoming film, Kahaani 2, has gone viral
It has received amazing reactions from people across all sections. My nephew and nieces nanny received a call from her cousin, who spotted the poster and said a person who looks like me is kidnapping kids. Even my maids brother sent her a photo of the poster, and she felt I was being wrongly accused. So, its being noticed by people across the board, which is great.
A photo posted by Vidya Balan (@balanvidya) on Oct 18, 2016 at 6:24am PDT
The shock removal of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of Tata Sons has put the spotlight on the Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SPG), the single largest stake holder in the company outside the Tatas.
Founded in 1865 as Littlewood Pallonji, the Groups first projects was construction of pavements in Mumbai. The Group has grown since then to emerge as a pioneer in the field of engineering and construction making it a $4.2 billion company. The Group is currently steered by Pallonji Mistry as chairman. His sons are Cyrus and Shapoor.
The association with Tatas began in 1935, when Shapoorji Pallonji bought a company called FE Dinshaw and Co., which had 12.5% stake in Tata Sons.
Over the years this stake has increased. At present, SPG through Sterling Investment Corporation and Cyrus Investments hold 9.2% stake each in Tata Sons. In his personal capacity Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry holds 0.03%.
Simply put, SPG holds the largest stake in Tata Sons outside the family, which would lead many to believe that the company would have a say on the affairs of the latter. But the sudden ouster of Cyrus Mistry has the grapevine buzzing about a possible feud between the Mistrys and the Tatas.
Pallonji Mistry, the fifth riches Indian according Forbes, has for long held the title of The Phantom of Bombay House for his influence at Tatas storied colonial headquarters in south Mumbai. He gave up his seat on Tata Sons board in 2006 to make room for Cyrus.
The SPG group is involved in businesses ranging from textiles to real estate, hospitality to business automation. The major companies under SPG group include Shapoorji Pallonji Engineering and Construction, Afcons Infrastructure, Forbes Textiles, Gokak Textiles, Eureka Forbes, Forbes and Co, SP Construction Materials Group, SP Real Estate and Next Gen etc.
Apart from their business interests in engineering and construction, the world of cinema also caught their fancy. Pallonji Mistry was one of the financier of Mughal-e-Azam, the 1960 historical drama directed by K.Asif. But the arduous process of making this film, that took over 12 years, perhaps put the Group off cinema production.
The role of bank mitras, who played a big role in chalking out the success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, has come under the scanner, in the wake of the alleged fraud relating to the scheme. A report sent to the finance ministry by public sector lenders on the issue suggested that several bank mitras deposited R1 into these accounts to push more individuals into opening accounts and keep them active.
There are 1.26 lakh bank mitras in India.
A bank mitra works like an agent, bringing banking activities to the doorsteps of many individuals, especially those who are unbanked. Retired army personnel, government officials or teachers can work as bank mitras. Public sector banks have been engaging thousands of bank mitras to help unbanked individuals come under the formal banking net. Bank mitras get a fixed remuneration package from banks along with incentives, depending on their performance. The package varies from bank to bank.
While the government said that the number of zero balance accounts reduced drastically, news reports in September suggested that R1 was deposited in several accounts to show that these were operational and active.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who held a review meeting with public sector banks on September 16, sought a report from banks on the issue.
The report has come..it suggests that some bank mitras have deposited R1 in these accounts, we will take steps to ensure that this does not happen, GC Murmu, additional secretary, department of financial services of the finance ministry, told HT. The banks are not in any way directly involved in this.
Over 25 crore accounts have been opened under PMJDY and a total deposit of R44,480 crore have come into these accounts.
We will ask banks to do the needful and ensure that this (kind of a situation) does not repeat. But this also does not mean that the scheme is faulty... after all in such a short time period, the government has managed to bring all Indian households under the formal banking net, said another senior government official, who did not wish to be identified.
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Leading SUV maker Mahindra & Mahindra is rebooting its loss-making two-wheeler business, shifting focus from the mass-market segment to focus purely on niche and premium motorcycles, and will also launch once iconic motorcycle brands BSA and Jawa.
Mahindra Two Wheelers currently sells the Centuro and Mojo motorcycles, and the Gusto scooter in India. While these products will continue, it is cutting down marketing spends on the Centuro and Gusto to focus on the Mojo.
We will continue with Centuro and Gusto, but with lesser marketing activity. We have reduced our marketing spends overall as a business by about 80%. As we ramp up production of the Mojo, you will see more of it in marketing campaigns, said Rajesh Jejurikar, president, farm equipment and two-wheeler business, M&M, said.
The company plans to launch four variants of Mojo over the next two years, which Jejurikar hopes will give the business much-needed momentum.
The move comes amid mounting losses in the two-wheeler business. In 2015-16, Mahindra Two-Wheelers reported a loss of Rs 615 crore on gross revenue of Rs 704 crore.
The focus will now shift to Frances Peugeot Motorcycles, which it acquired last year. Peugeot scooters are largely sold in the European market, but M&M is launching them in Indonesia and Vietnam.
Earlier this month, Classic Legends Pvt Ltd, in which M&M holds a 60% stake, acquired British motorcycle maker BSA Company for about Rs 28 crore. Separately, it also has licensing rights to manufacture and sell Jawa motorcycles, which used to ride Indian roads till the early 1980s.
New products under both BSA and Jawa are expected to be launched in two years, said Jejurikar. BSA motorcycles will be launched globally, but not in India, due to a legal dispute over the brand here. Jawa will be launched in India and a few neighbouring markets like Sri Lanka.
M&M entered the two-wheeler business by acquiring a stake in Pune-based Kinetic Motor in 2008. But it has not had much success in the business dominated by HeroMotoCorp, Honda Motorcycle and Bajaj Auto among others.
Over 2015-16, Mahindras two-wheeler sales declined 13% to 1.33 lakh units.
The company has halved its workforce in the two-wheeler business over the past 18 months, Pawan Goenka, executive director, M&M said, without disclosing specific numbers. While some of it was due to attrition and others were absorbed in other Mahindra Group companies. The company had also given VRS to about 250 staff.
Overall in the business, Mahindra Two-Wheelers plans to invest around Rs 300 crore in capital expenditure over the next two years.
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Vinamilk products are displayed for sale at a Fivimart supermarket in HanoiVietnam on October 7, 2016. Photo by Reuters/Kham
The government's investment arm SCIC is set to sell a 9 percent stake in the dairy giant this year.
Vinamilk, the countrys largest company by market value, has posted a 27.6 percent jump in January-September gross profit to VND9 trillion ($403 million), the company said in its quarterly financial statement.
The dairy giants revenue in the first nine months increased by 17.6 percent from the same period last year, to VND35 trillion ($1.6 billion), according to the statement.
The Vietnamese government, in its latest privatization push, has decided to sell its entire 45 percent stake in Vinamilk.
Vietnam has just removed the 49 percent cap on foreign ownership in Vinamilk, paving the way for foreign investors to acquire more shares.
The State Capital Investment Corp., better known as SCIC, said the state-owned stake at Vinamilk, worth more than $800 million at the current market price, would gradually decrease through several public offerings.
According to SCIC chairman Nguyen Duc Chi, the governments investment arm has fixed the timeline for the first sale of a 9 percent stake this year.
SCIC has already picked Morgan Stanley as the lead consultant on the sale. The team of advisors also includes Saigon Securities JSC and VinaCapital Corporate Finance Vietnam Ltd.
Morgan Stanley has accepted a fee of $25,000 for helping SCIC evaluate options for the $800-million sale of shares, according to the Financial Times, which compares the deal with Morgan Stanleys record $120 million worth of fee for advising Monsanto on its $66 billion takeover.
The reason for Morgan Stanley accepting such a low fee is because of the potential to earn brokerage fees from the deal, the Financial Time cited a banker as saying.
[Morgan Stanley] will make nothing from the issuer, said the banker, explaining that brokerage fees will be charged on the buyer of the Vinamilk shares, not the issuer.
The banker also estimated that brokerage fees, which are a fraction of the transaction, could be as high as 1 percent of a deal, equivalent to more than $8 million to be shared between the three advisers.
The government has a 45 percent stake, they are only doing 9 percent now so there is more to come, added the banker.
Commenting on how the government is about to divest from Vinamilk, the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors said by selling Vinamilk shares through several small offerings, the state will earn $1 billion less than putting up for sale the whole 45 percent stake.
Big investors are not interested in buying minority stakes in state-owned enterprises because they will not have much saying in corporate governance or have enough power to push through reforms, said the association.
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As Narendra Modi lays the foundation for the east India gas pipeline, this is perhaps the most ambitious step that any government has taken in moving towards replacing the liquid fuel as the preferred choice for transportation and in the kitchen.
With an investment of 12500 crore, this 2500 km gas pipeline that was announced on Monday will connect West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and UP to the national grid. The project will be undertaken by GAIL, where the centre will fund 40% of the cost of the project. The project is envisaged to be operational in the next two years. Once completed this pipeline will carry clean fuel from the Dhamra port in Odisha to 40 districts and over 2000 villages. But the question remains: where is the gas?
Top sources in the government say that while domestic production of gas is dwindling, but a sharp increase in global production of gas and its subdued price has ensured that it has helped Indias imports. Global production of LNG (liquefied natural gas) is set to rise from 250 million tonne to 400 million tonne in the next five years. Energy is a critical input for development. Even if we are not self-sufficient in gas production, for the first time a step is being taken towards creating infrastructure for storage and distribution of gas, says a top source in the government, who did not wish to be named.
Keeping cooling global price of LNG (liquefied natural gas) in mind, India has already renegotiated its long-term gas purchase deal with Qatar. 45% of Indias gas requirement is imported and any sharp spike in the prices will cost the country precious foreign exchange.
But analysts disagree. The mood of the market does not show any sign of a sharp increase in prices in the next five to six years, said Anish De, partner and head of oil and gas in KPMG.
The tilt towards a gas-economy is necessary when India is committed towards reducing its dependence on coal and oil as part of the climate change programme. Gas is accepted as a cleaner fuel and it is cheaper.
Buoyed by RILs discovery in the Krishna-Goadavari (K-G Basin) basin, a step towards this was taken during the turn of the 21st century. But a decade later, litigation, arbitration and policy paralysis has taken the steam out of the gas sector. In the last two years the government has done a credible job as far as making the right policy moves are concerned, this will bring back investment into the sector. You cannot undo what past governments have done, said Anish De.
The big difference this time is that the government is looking at identifying new customers for gas. From power and fertilizer plants we are no targeting customers in cities for use as CNG in cars and as a fuel for cooking, said a top source in the government, who did not wish to be named.
But critics will always be there: India pays about $6.5/mmBtu for importing LNG but pays around $2.5/mmBtu to domestic producers. Increase in the domestic pricing will give a huge fillip to private investment in the gas sector, said RS Sharma, former CMD of ONGC.
Oil minister, Dharmendra Pradhan in an earlier interview with HT had countered this point and said, Our motto is minimum government, maximum governance. Any natural resource policy should have only one intent: focus on the 1.2 billion Indians.
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The Shapoorji Pallonji group, the largest individual and a non-Tata shareholder of Tata Sons, on Tuesday ruled out any move to contest the decision by the salt-to-software conglomerate on Monday to remove Cyrus Mistry as its chairperson in court.
The Pallonji family also negated recent speculative reports about having made any statement.
Neither the SP Group (Shapoorji Pallonji) nor Mr Cyrus Mistry have made any statement yet. While the circumstances are being studied, there is no basis to media speculation about litigation at this stage. As and when a public statement becomes necessary, it would be made, a spokesperson for the group said.
On Monday, some television channels reported that the Shapoorji Pallonji group would challenge Mistrys ouster and that the group had termed his removal from Tata Sons as illegal.
Mistrys ouster came as a surprising. Only last month he had outlined his long-term vision for the group.
Mistry is the son of Pallonji, who controls nearly 18% of the equity in Tata Sons directly and through trusts. That makes him the single largest individual shareholder of the salt-to-software conglomerate.
Shares of Tata Group companies tumbled on Tuesday morning following the surprise decision of Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, to remove Mistry and bring back Ratan Tata as the interim chairperson.
The group gave no reason for removing Mistry but reports suggested the board wasnt happy with the way he was dealing with non-profit businesses.
Tata Sons has said a selection panel has been formed and mandated with the task of finding a new chairperson in four months.
The Tata group filed multiple petitions on Tuesday to pre-empt any one-sided court order against the sacking of chairman Cyrus Mistry, even as its patriarch Ratan Tata moved swiftly to rally senior CEOs, telling them to stay focused on their work.
Tata Sons, the $103-billion behemoths holding company, filed caveats in the high courts of Delhi and Mumbai and at the National Company Law Tribunal, a day after Mistry was sacked in a move that stunned corporate India. Caveat, a Latin word meaning beware, is a court application to prevent an order without hearing the defendant.
Tatas legal move elicited a terse statement from the Pallonji group that ruled out a courtroom battle -- for now.
Tatas have filed caveats seeking notice from Cyrus Mistry, fearing legal action. Cyrus has not filed any caveats, said a statement from Mistrys office.
He has already made a statement that such concerns are misplaced at this stage.
Mistry, 48, is the son of Pallonji Mistry, the single-largest individual shareholder in Tata Sons, who took over from Ratan Tata as chairman in 2012. There is speculation the Shapoorji Pallonji group might challenge the sacking in court.
The boardroom coup sent shares in some of Tatas listed companies lower on Tuesday, shaving off about Rs 10,700 crore from the groups market capitalisation. Separately, Tata Sons reported a 40% fall in revenues for 2015-16, compared to the year ago, filings with the Registrar of Companies showed on Tuesday. Net profits fell 67% during the same period (See box). Tata Sons receives dividends on its shares in the group companies.
Read: Steel to salt: Key facts about Indias largest conglomerate Tata Sons
BATTLE OF PHILOSOPHIES
Whether such plunge in revenues and profits weighed on the decision to fire Mistry is in the realm of conjecture, but many analysts found the abruptness of his departure uncharacteristic of the Tata group.
Eventually, they say, the battle might have boiled down to the differing business philosophies of Ratan Tata and Mistry. The latter seemed more focused on improving bottom lines, rather than pursuing the expansionist strategy of his illustrious predecessor.
Another reason might have been that Mistry was trying to shake-up the conglomerates management structure to draft in new faces for senior positions, sources said.
Mistrys tough calls on disposing of some Indian Hotels overseas properties and flipping over its UK steel operations also did not appear to sit well with the 150-year-old Tata brands global aspirations.
In particular, Mistrys handling of a $1.17-billion arbitration with Japans NTT DoCoMo and other non-profitable businesses might have also added to a sense of leadership deficit, the sources said.
The Tata board gave no reason for removing Mistry as head of Indias largest conglomerate, which operates a wide array of industries -- from table salt, IT, steel, power plants and a slew of shopping chains to tea, mobile telephony, luxury cars and hotels, among others.
FINDING A SUCCESSOR
But Ratan Tata, 78, sought to assuage investor and employee concerns at an unscheduled meeting on with group CEOs at Bombay House, the headquarters of the group that runs 28 listed companies and more than 100 subsidiaries in six continents.
The (group) companies must focus on their market position vis-a-vis competition, and not compare themselves to their own past. The drive must be on leadership rather than to follow, Tata said.
This will be for a short time. A new permanent leadership will be in place, he said, referring to a selection panel to choose a new chairperson within four months.
In 2010, it took the group more than two years to come up with a list that reportedly included Ratan Tatas half-brother Noel Tata and Pepsico chairperson Indra Nooyi, before Mistry was picked.
Media reports suggest potential full-time replacement of Mistry include Nooyi; N Chandrasekaran, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS); former Vodafone boss Arun Sarin; family scion Noel Tata; and Ishaat Hussain and B Muthuraman from Tata Group.
The choice could, however, eventually veer to a Tata family scion, touts media reports.
Tata Sons said in a statement late on Tuesday that it added TCS Chandrasekaran and Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth to its board.
Full coverage: Cyrus Mistrys exit
(With agency inputs)
A US federal judge on Tuesday approved Volkswagen AGs record-setting $14.7 billion settlement with regulators and owners of 475,000 polluting diesel vehicles.
The German automaker said it would begin buying back the vehicles in mid-November.
The action by US district judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco marked the latest development in a scandal that has rocked VW since it admitted in September 2015 using secret software in its diesel cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests and make them appear cleaner than they really were.
Under the settlement, Volkswagen agreed to spend up to $10.033 billion on the buybacks and owner compensation and $4.7 billion on programs to offset excess emissions and boost zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and other clean vehicle projects.
The affected vehicles emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution levels. Volkswagen may also be allowed to repair vehicles if regulators approve fixes.
In total, Volkswagen has agreed to date to spend up to $16.5 billion in connection with the diesel emissions scandal, including payments to dealers, states and attorneys for owners. The scandal rattled VWs global business, harmed its reputation and prompted the ouster of its CEO.
The worlds second-largest automaker still faces billions more in costs to address 85,000 polluting 3.0 litre vehicles and US justice department fines for violating clean air laws. It also faces lawsuits from at least 16 US states for additional claims that could hike the companys overall costs.
For 18 days in June, two Islamic State recruits with explosives lurked around the Aurangabad office of the Anti-Terrorism Squad. Their mission, plant the bomb inside the complex; their target, a superintendent of police.
The plot ended with a whimper when a police team travelled 190km to the sleepy town of Parbhani, walked into the house of 66-year-old Abubakar Yafai Chaus who runs the Grand Corner hotel and arrested his son Naserbin Abubakar Yafai on July 11 for being a part of the plan.
From Nasers interrogation, the ATS learnt the attack was planned to avenge the killing of Khalil Khilji, 20, a member of a Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)-Indian Mujahideen (IM) module in Madhya Pradesh. Khilji was killed in a 2012 encounter at Himayat Baug in Aurangabad.
ATS officials went on to arrest Shahed Khan, Iqbal Ahmed Kabir Shaikh and school teacher Mohammed Raisuddin Siddique believed to be the brain behind the module from Parbhani. The ATS charge sheet said the four men used internet tools to encrypt and destroy messages and had manuals on hiding identity.
But most importantly, the charge sheet mentioned finding a list of people the ISIS would target in India a kill list of 280 people. Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday that 70 of the targets were from Maharashtra.
It is unclear who indoctrinated the four men and when, but police officers monitoring terror across the country said banned outfits such as SIMI, which operate under different fronts, have tried to influence pockets in Pune, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Parbhani, Nanded, and Beed.
What makes these cities ideal scouting grounds?
A senior police inspector, HT spoke to at Parbhani in August, said SIMI and IM, which once had a stranglehold over the Marathwada belt, still have some members there radicalising young men. When one looks at the profile of Abu Jundal or Fayyaz Kagzi, who hail from Beed, you get a sense of the influence SIMI or IM has had in those areas.
Jundal was convicted in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case and faces trial in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack; Kagzi is believed to be working as a teacher at a Saudi Arabia madrassa and is on a most wanted terrorists list.
An extreme level of polarisation in the area over the years only makes their work simpler.
In a town like Parbhani, with just 3.5 lakh people, the split is evident. On August 23, for instance, a local cleric led a rally to protest against the acquittal of Maruti Keshwaroa Wagh, Yogesh Ravindra Deshpande, Sanjay Vittal Chaudhari and Rakesh Dhawade arrested for blasts outside the Mohamadiya mosque in Parbhani in 2003.
If after 13 years, we cannot arrest the right accused for the blast in Parbhani, then it is obvious the investigation agency did a shoddy job. If the government wants to instil confidence in us, the case should be probed again by the CBI or NIA, said Maulana Rafiuddin Ashrafi, who led the protest. Ashrafi said certain organisations with vested interests were engineering the polarisation.
The divide between the communities deepened after the ATS picked up the four Muslim men, Ashrafi said. Today, Hindus in Parbhani are a little scared to interact with Muslims, after youths from our community were arrested for their alleged association with ISIS.
Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre For Study of Society and Secularism, said, Muslims youth today feel alienated when they hear things like ghar wapasi. Once they are alienated, it is very easy for them to fall for the jihadi bend of Islam that the ISIS propagates through the Internet. They fall for such propaganda because they feel empowered.
Engineer added, But one has to give credence to India and its community leaders that only a small number joined ISIS. We need to propagate the composite culture India is known for, where people from all communities coexist. It is the only way forward, said Engineer.
That China has professed displeasure over a recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh by Richard Verma, the US ambassador to India, is both unsurprising and irrelevant. Beijing is merely effecting to be hopping mad, when it has no leg to stand on.
Resorting to classic 1950s Communist Party vernacular, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang pronounced that Beijing was firmly opposed to Vermas visit to Tawang how does one oppose something that has already happened? on the highly dubious grounds that it might damage the hard-earned peace and tranquillity of the China-India border region. Lu told a press briefing in Beijing that any responsible third party should respect efforts by China and India to seek peaceful and stable reconciliation, and not the opposite. He went on: We urge the United States to stop getting involved in the China-India territorial dispute.
Read | Stop sabotaging border talks with India: China tells US
One imagines he wagged an admonishing finger as he spoke.
For all the faux umbrage, Lus argument is bunkum. The travel plans of a foreign envoy, even one from the US, represent no material threat to relations between India and China. Nor does Vermas visit to Tawang in any way compromise his governments respect for India-China peace. Lu knows this, and its not the point: Although the scolding was notionally directed at Verma, the message was meant for the Modi government. Beijing knows the ambassador would not have made the trip without New Delhis knowledge and blessing.
What China is reminding India, with all the subtlety of a giant dam across the Yangtze, is that it will not renounce its claims to the swath of Arunachal Pradesh it calls South Tibet. If India thinks allowing ambassadors to visit might change the status quo, then it is sorely mistaken.
Read | Nothing unusual about US envoy Vermas visit to Arunachal: India
But theres nothing to suggest this was Indias calculation New Delhi views the status quo in Arunachal Pradesh quite differently. Its reaction to Lus pouty posturing was as bland as it was blunt: The US Ambassador visited Arunachal Pradesh, a state which is an integral part of the country to which he is accredited. There is nothing unusual in it, said Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs.
Swarup is an accomplished novelist (he wrote the book that became the movie Slumdog Millionaire) and it cant have been easy to restrain himself from using much more colourful language and from exercising an entirely different finger gesture.
Were he not shackled by diplomatic considerations, he might have mentioned that if the hard-earned peace and tranquillity along the India-China border is being damaged, it is not by the scheduled and advertised visit of the American envoy, but by the clandestine infiltration along the frontier by Chinese troops. There were 350 such transgressions last year alone. Indias restraint in this matter has been remarkable.
Read | US navy challenges Chinas claims in South China Sea, Beijing cries foul
Swarup might also have pointed out that China is a fine one to preach about the need to tread carefully on disputed territory, when its soldiers have been spotted in border posts in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir: Earlier this year, Chinese officers were seen in the Nowgam sector, close to the Line of Control. Imagine the hyperventilating in Beijing if Verma had been accompanied by a handful uniformed US army officers!
Other soldiers from the Peoples Liberation Army have made their presence felt near the Tangdhar sector. The ostensible reason is the construction of a hydel project there by a Chinese company, but thats not much of an excuse: Either Beijing doesnt trust its ally, the Pakistani military, or the soldiers are there for another reason.
There will be many more excuses for a growing Chinese troop presence in PoK in the months ahead. Beijing is literally bulldozing a highway, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, through areas India regards as its own. CPEC, a $46 billion project that seeks to connect the Chinese province of Xinjiang to the Pakistani port of Gwadar, will pass through Gilgit-Baltistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj have expressed New Delhis reservations about this to Beijing, with little effect.
Read | ITBP deploys women personnel at China border for first time
Nor has Beijing been especially accommodating of the claims of other nations in the South China Sea littoral, where international arbitrators have ruled against its spurious proclamations of ownership. China has opposed India-Vietnamese oil exploration in the area, and maintains, without explanation, that there are no parallels between its presence in PoK and Indias commercial pursuits in the South China Sea. Whats more, operating on the principle that possession is nine-tenths of the law, China is building islands in disputed waters with the sole purpose of turning its claims into a fait accompli.
Two can play that game. Having dispensed with Beijings blather over the American envoys North-Eastern trip, the MEA should now consider building metaphorical islands in Arunachal Pradesh. The area is ripe for tourism, especially of the environmental kind favoured by many Westerners and a growing number of Indians. An economic corridor in Arunachal Pradesh would be welcomed by locals for the jobs and opportunities it would bring.
In the meantime, the Modi government should encourage more foreign diplomats to visit Tawang individually, and in groups. After all, as Verma tweeted after his trip, it is a place of stunning mountains and wonderful people.
Better yet, why not hold an international event there, inviting ALL foreign envoys currently in New Delhi? Yes, Chinas too.
(Bobby Ghosh is editor-in-chief of Hindustan Times. He has spent over two decades covering international affairs, including long stints as correspondent and editor in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the US. He tweets as @ghoshworld)
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A firecracker blast in old Delhis Naya Bazar killed a 35-year-old man and injured four on Tuesday morning.
At least 15 establishments, including houses and shops, were affected; causing damages to walls, door and window glasses, by the blast that rocked the narrow alleys of the wholesale food grain market in Lahori Gate.
The Delhi Police ruled out the possibility of any terror link behind the blast, although they are still waiting for the final report from the forensic experts that collected samples of explosive materials from the blast site. Sleuths from Special Cell, the anti-terror wing of Delhi Police, also visited the blast scene. Their report is also awaited.
The deceased, identified as Motalip Mirza from Murshidabad in West Bengal, worked as a load-carrying labourer. Mirza lived in a rented room at Tilak Bazar in Khari Baoli, barely four hundred meters away from the blast site. The four injured were identified as Bhupendra Gupta, Mahesh, Hawa Singh, and Murari. They are undergoing treatment at Bara Hindu Rao Hospital.
A CCTV camera footage showed Mirza carrying two heavy jute bags full of crackers on his head when he tripped on a narrow road and fell because of the heavy load. The impact triggered a chemical reaction in the crackers and they exploded, killing him on the spot. Two persons present in a food grain wholesale shop outside which the explosion took place were injured, while the other two injured were standing close to the site.
SBK Singh, special commissioner of police (law and order), said, The blast seems to have taken place due to pressure in the bags of cracker and the damage was due to its large quantity. A case under Explosive Substance Act and culpable homicide note amounting to murder besides other relevant sections of IPC was registered at the Lahori Gate police station.
The firecrackers that caused explosion belonged to a local firecracker trader, Mukhtar Ahmad. Police learnt that the crackers were earlier stored illegally at a godown at Fatak Hawas Khana in Lahori Gate. They raided the godown and seized several such bags that were full of crackers. Mirza was carrying the two bags to Ahmads three licensed shops at Qutub Road, around 400 metres away from the godown.
Panic grips area
After the blast, the locals panicked and started running away for their safety. They said that they only heard the high-intensity sound, but couldnt figure out if it was a cylinder or a cracker blast. Some thought it was a terror attack. Resident said they were scared when the incident took place. Two shops near the blast spot were severely damaged.
I didnt get a chance to move away from shop. There was lot of smoke outside and we were not sure if it was a cracker blast, said Pawan Mittal, manager of Paras Sales Corporation.
Mittal said it was unbelievable that a blast caused by crackers can cause this much damage. All the traders had closed their shops and opened only after police lifted the barricades from the spot.
Some said that the police had lied about the blast. It was an attempt of anti-social elements to destabilise the peace in the area. Crackers dont burst in one go and engulf an area up to 300 meters, said Rajesh Verma, a local.
People in the national capital inhaled very poor air on Tuesday, a dangerous marker in the air quality standard that could make even healthy adults sick.
A strong breeze until noon kept the quantity of air pollution a little down, but the level of fine particulate matter or PM2.5 crossed the 300-microgram mark by evening as the wind eased and tens of thousands of people joined the Diwali shopping rush.
Exhaust fumes from cars crawling on clogged streets put the air quality back on the very poor side.
The forecast is more alarming because foul air will continue to engulf Delhi until Diwali, the festival of light when pollution levels exceed all parameters as revelers burst millions of firecrackers.
The city of about 20 million, which ranks among the worlds top cities with foul air on a WHO list, has been struggling to clean up its air that contains a toxic cocktail of dust, smoke and gases from vehicle and factory exhausts and coal-fired power stations.
The condition worsens every autumn and winter as the city, buffeted by farmers burning crop stalks in neighbouring states and atmospheric changes, records higher levels of air pollution.
Rising pollution levels is a regular winter trend. Things will get worse around Diwali, an environment department official said.
The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) recorded 353 microgram of PM2.5 for a cubic metre of air at its Pusa monitoring station. Other stations registered similar figures, way exceeding the safe upper limit of 60 microgram. PM2.5 dust can cause grave respiratory disorders.
But one of the citys most polluted corners, Anand Vihar, showed PM2.5 levels at 60 micrograms, according to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee. The good part was blighted by PM10 levels at 658 micrograms, when the permissible limit is 100.
PM10 dust is a bit bigger than PM2.5, but equally dangerous. People were advised to avoid outdoor activity, especially the elderly and young children, and use anti-pollution masks, health experts said.
By next Diwali, Delhi will have eight new air quality monitoring stations. The air pollution data in the capital is currently taken from 13 monitoring stations six run by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and seven by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
According to a Delhi government official, the process to have seven fixed and one mobile station in place by next year has started, even though the sites are yet to be finalised. These will help us get a comprehensive picture of air pollution in Delhi, especially during winter, when the citys air quality worsens, the official told HT.
Read: Tuesday starts with poor air quality, wind may save the day
The city of about 20 million people, which ranks among the worlds top cities with foul air on a WHO list, has been struggling to clean up its air that contains a toxic cocktail of dust, smoke and gases from vehicle and factory exhausts. The condition worsens every autumn and winter as the city, buffeted by farmers burning crop stalks in neighbouring states and atmospheric changes, records higher levels of air pollution.
A senior environment department official said once these eight more monitoring stations are in place, they will help in area-wise micro handling of air quality in the city.
Air quality is not the same all over the city and monitoring fixed points wont help us get a thorough view. For example, Anand Vihar with heavy vehicular traffic is one of the most polluted corners of the city. Compare this to Jor Bagh in the heart of the city and the pollution levels are well under control. More monitoring stations will help us keep an eye on more spots in this vast city, the environment department official told Hindustan Times.
Read: China on track but Delhi still on a death wish every Diwali
The mobile air quality monitoring unit will be capable of real-time sampling, analysis and control of air pollution from sources and would be equipped with a number of innovative technologies that should enhance the Delhi Pollution Control Committees air quality monitoring capabilities.
At present, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee has just six monitoring stations at Anand Vihar, Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh, RK Puram, IGI Airport and Civil Lines. Seven manual monitoring stations are being operated by CPCB at Pitampura, Janakpuri, Siri Fort, Nizamudin, Shahzada Bagh, Shahdara and Traffic Intersection (BSZ Marg) areas. Air pollutants like Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), PM2.5 and PM10 are being monitored regularly at all these locations.
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A day after the Delhi Police busted a casino set up for Diwali at a south Delhi farmhouse, investigators have learnt that the seized roulette machine, gambling tables, casino token and card decks were procured from a shopping portal. They have learnt that all such casino-related items were procured from China, Hong Kong and Nepal allegedly by Kunal Chandra, the main organiser, who is absconding. Some of the items had symbols of dragons on them.
A senior police officer said that they interrogated the four arrested sub-organisers about the source from where they procured the casino equipment who said that Chandra was the one who arranged everything.
The four initially tried to mislead us saying all the gambling items were purchased from local Delhi markets. When we asked them to take us to those shops, they refused to do so. When interrogated further, they disclosed that the items were purchased online and shipped to India from China, Hong Kong and Nepal, the officer said.
The four, however, could not provide details of the online shopping sites through which the casino equipment was ordered, saying it was all done by Chandra. The four are certainly hiding facts from us and blaming Chandra for everything. We will make them say all this in front of Chandra once he is arrested, the officer said.
Senior police officers claimed they had reasons to believe that the arrested people had organised such casinos in the past as well.
When the south Delhi Police received a tip-off about a gambling den in Sainik Farms area, they had no idea that while raiding the farmhouse they will stumble upon a full-fledged casino that was being run professionally.
Apart from 20 gamblers (players) from Delhi and NCR, the police caught 16 dealers, managers, cashier, bartenders, waiters, bouncers, chefs and parking attendants, all trained in operating casinos. Four of them were women, two belonging to Nepal. The police recovered four walkie-talkies that they were using to communicate.
Two of the four arrested, both brothers, worked at different casinos on Goa. They were hired by Chandra and his associate Harender Kaushik, owner of the farmhouse who is also absconding, for operating the casino. The four were promised a handsome salary, besides commission in the earnings, said the officer.
The two women from Nepal allegedly were trained casino operators and worked at casinos in Nepal before coming to Delhi. The police are now looking for the contractor for whom the women worked. The organisers had hired the women on contract basis.
Outsiders were not allowed
The arrested persons, which include four women, were a close knit group to which entry was by invitation only and they relied on word of mouth. To maintain secrecy, the group steered clear of web-based communication and even kept away from secure messaging platforms.
This gambling ring was limited to friends or friends friends. The minimum entry fee was R5 lakh, said additional DCP (south) Nupur Prasad.
The confirmation about the invites was given at the eleventh hour. The players were given a secret code, which they had to reveal at the entry gate. The attendants at the entry point were given names of the players and registration numbers of the cars. The cars were allowed in the parking lot only after verification. The bouncers were using walkie-talkies to communicate, added the officer.
Action and drama in court
While 29 were let off on bail on Sunday from the police station itself, the remaining seven arrested were granted bail by a Delhi court on Monday after they furnished a bail bond of R15,000 each.
Out of 36 arrested, 11 people including four girls were arrested under Gambling Act and Delhi Excise Act under which there is maximum imprisonment of three years. The remaining were arrested under Gambling Act.
The counsel for the accused contested that no gambling racket was being run and all these people were friends, acquaintances and family members. However, the counsel could not establish the claims.
Bui Thi Le, wife of Nguyen Van Ha, one of the fishermen, from the central province of Ha Tinh, bursts into tears on seeing her husband again. She said Ha had phoned home just three or four times in the past four years, and there was no way for her to contact him.
National-level Kabbadi player Rohit Chillar, accused in the dowry death case of his wife, was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Tuesday by a Delhi court.
Rohit Chillar was arrested on October 21 from Colaba in Mumbai where he works with the Indian Navy, three days after his wife Lalita committed suicide. He was brought to Delhi on October 23.
Chillar was on Tuesday presented before a metropolitan magistrate who remanded him in judicial custody till November 8 after his two-day police custody ended.
On October 21, Rohits father Vijay Singh was also remanded in judicial custody till November 4.
A notice was served on Chillars family on Thursday evening to join the police investigation but they went away after locking their house.
Lalita, 27, was found hanging by a sash by her father Karan Singh on October 17 evening in Delhi. She was staying alone while her in-laws stayed in Kanjhawala in Delhi.
Her marriage to Chillar in March last year was her second. Lalita had accused her husband and her in-laws of harassment.
She left a two-hour audio message and a suicide note in which she wrote: I am not strong enough to survive this, I have decided to quit.
A case of dowry death was registered against Chillar and his parents on a complaint of Karan Singh.
The body of a student from the northeast was found in a hostel room in Jawaharlal Nehru University on Tuesday, police said.
The deceased identified as J R Philemon, native of Senapati district in Manipur, was found dead in room no 171 of the Brahmaputra Hostel, police said.
He was pursing his PhD on the subject of West Asia and he hadnt been seen for the last three days, a senior police officer said.
When a foul smell started emanating from the room, the student in the neighbouring room called other students and security and forcefully opened door. He was found dead in the room, he said.
Further investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of death.
It is no secret that Indias primary education system --- the public version ---- is not in the pink of health. The key issue: While enrolment of children in schools has gone up, the quality of learning is abysmal. Going by the current trend, a Unesco report said recently, India will be half a century late in achieving its global education commitments and the country needs fundamental changes in the education system, if it wants to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The report added that there is an urgent need for greater headway in education and the sector needs a major transformation to fulfil the needed potential and meet the current challenges facing humanity and the planet.
Successive governments have poured money into primary education but forgot to focus on the quality so much so that even the Right to Education (RTE) law has no provision to assess how much children are learning. So it was heartening to hear that finally the State is keen to address the problem.
Read: India could be late by 50 years in achieving education goals: Unesco report
In an interview to a national daily, HRD ministry, Prakash Javadekar, said many states and people feel we have seen deterioration in education quality because in the RTE Act there was no mention of learning outcomes, and so the government is keen to bring learning outcomes under the RTE rules.
A meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education held in Delhi on Tuesday had improvement of learning outcomes, rationlisation of posting of teachers in rural areas, joyful learning and co-location of anganwadis near primary schools on its discussion agenda.
Read: One solution too many for Indias education issues
The CABE meeting, which was attended by Mr Javdekar and other senior functionaries, is especially important as it comes at a time when the government is working on a New Education Policy.
The low learning levels and lack of teachers is pushing many State school students, especially in rural areas, to private English-medium schools. These schools are not better than the State-run ones but seem to earn the confidence of parents, even though they have to pay a tidy sum, for several reasons: Better infrastructure, availability of teachers and English education.
Read: Technology the way forward for Indian education
The crisis in the education system is real and well known; the State must act quickly so that our children dont come out of schools barely literate.
Following a well-worn track of symbolic action, the Pakistani government has frozen the bank accounts of Masood Azhar, the titular head of the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and over a 1,000 other terror suspects. The most likely motivation for this was the blunt warning by the US that it would not hesitate to take unilateral action against terrorist targets if Pakistan did not. This has followed a number of congressional hearings and US reports about the Taliban and other Islamicist militants attacking US troops in Afghanistan from safe havens across the border.
It would be delusional to think that the Pakistani military, which helped create the JeM, has had a change of heart. Rawalpindi has had a long history of putting Azhar and other terrorist leaders under protective custody or seizing their assets when the US has wagged a finger. For a few months such attacks cease and the instant Washingtons attention is diverted elsewhere, even these minor actions are rescinded. At no point are Azhar and his ilk ever put on trial or punished. Worse, the camps and other infrastructure of such groups are rarely shut down.
Read: Pak freezes bank accounts of 5,100 terror suspects, including JeM chief Azhar
With a new US president due in office in less than three months, Pakistans actions are even more shallow and meaningless than normal. The true test remains, as India has repeatedly argued, in the dismantling of the physical, financial and ideological underpinnings of these terrorist groups.
Pakistan, which believes it has another source of geopolitical blank cheques in China and is even being wooed by Russia, has no reason to believe it needs to change its ways. With Kashmir once more simmering and New Delhi giving up on its photo-op diplomacy with Islamabad, the incentives for Pakistan to change its rogue ways are seemingly minimal.
The most obvious reason why the generals should reconsider their support of jihadis is the damage this policy is doing to the fabric of their own society. The militant rampage at a police academy in Quetta late on Monday should be a reminder to Rawalpindi that the State-sponsorship of terror is a double-edged sword.
Read: Quetta attack: 59 dead, Pak military say gunmen from al Qaeda faction
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the group blamed for the attack, is not unlike Jaish in having its origins in support of elements of the Pakistani system. The then motivation was to curb Shia revivalism after the Iranian revolution. But the group has since spun out of control and has become a free agent, spreading mayhem within Pakistan and has defied all attempts by the government and the military to wipe it out.
Read: India should continue its focus on highlighting terror coming from Pakistan
This should be a lesson for Pakistan as to the ultimate danger of its use of terrorists to further State policy. Sadly, there is no evidence that this lesson has even been considered.
The provision of no detention, compulsory board examination in Class 10 and mainstreaming of children who drop out of school are among the issues that the states and the Centre will discuss in the high-profile Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meet on Tuesday.
HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and education ministers of the states will be present in the meeting of CABE which is considered the most important educational advisory body of the government.
Read more: Class 10 Board exams to be revived from 2018, says CBSE chairman
According to the meetings agenda, improvement of learning outcomes, rationlisation of posting of teachers in rural areas, compulsory board examination in Class 10, joyful learning and co-location of anganwadis near primary schools are among the issues to be discussed.
The CABE meeting is especially important as it comes at a time when the government is working on a New Education Policy.
The high number of teachers vacancies in schools and the issue of bringing into mainstream children who drop out of school will be also be pondered over.
Read more: Govt likely to make optional Class 10 board exam mandatory again
Improving infrastructure of government schools, enhancing skill and technical education, extension of RTE to pre-school and secondary education are the other issues on the agenda of the CABE meeting which will be attended by top government functionaries.
Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday proposed that the name of the ministry of human resource development (HRD) should be changed to the ministry of education.
Sisodia also asked the central government to increase the budget for education.
Sisodias proposals came during the meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education, which was attended by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and education ministers of many states.
It is unfortunate that there is no Union education ministry in our nation. We currently have an HRD ministry. The name of HRD ministry should be changed to education ministry as the HRD is just a part of it, Sisodia said.
Read more | Make sports a compulsory subject in schools: Sports minister
In the meeting, Sisodia also proposed extension of Right to Education (RTE) Act to children who do not fall in the six to 14 years age bracket.
The RTE Act provides free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of six to 14 years as a Fundamental Right.
Sisodia reiterated his demand for complete scrapping of no detention policy.
Under the no-detention policy, the students up to Class 8 are automatically promoted to the next class without being held back even if they do not get a passing grade in their examinations.
Read more: Govt to discuss compulsory Class 10 board exam, no-detention policy today
During the meeting, Sisodia proposed increased focus on early childhood learning and called for setting up of a world class university for the training of teachers.
The Madhya Pradesh government is planning to impose a dress code on undergraduate students in the states colleges, higher education minister Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya has said, drawing mixed responses from students.
Dress code is an effective thing and brings uniformity among students. We are thinking over a plan to implement dress code in colleges, Pawaiya said at a programme of National Services Scheme (NSS) on Sunday.
Principal secretary of higher education department, Ashish Upadhyaya said the Janbhagidari Samiti of every college will be deciding on the matter. But now, there could be state-wide dress code for all the colleges, he said.
Janbhagidari Samiti is a body representing public in the college and helps the institution in getting financial aids.
Welcoming the dress code, Mayank Yadav, a BCom student, said, Dress code will be a good decision as it will end all kind of differences among students in colleges. Sometimes, an inferiority complex develops among students from weaker background because of clothes. I would be very happy if the dress code is implemented in colleges.
However, student unions feel that the decision would be a diktat, if taken without the consent of students.
ABVPs Bhopal district president Harsh Chandel said students should be given the freedom to wear clothes of their choice, adding that the final decision should be taken with the assent of students.
Before implementation, student voices should be heard by the higher education department. The government is unnecessarily trying to take
control of things by implementing such rules, said Vivek Triptahi, spokesperson of NSUI.
The Patna high court on Tuesday observed that the Saidpur hostel complex of Patna University was unfit for even animals to live.
Taking serious note of the matter, the court asked the Bihar chief secretary, vice-chancellor of the university and the managing director of state educational infrastructure development corporation, among others, to appear before it on October 28.
The division bench of Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh and Justice Nilu Agarwal was hearing a PIL initiated suo motu on media reports after the recovery of bombs from the hostel.
Dwelling upon the pitiable condition of Saidpur hostel, the judges remarked that it was not even fit for animals and wanted to know why the state was not revamping the hostel.
Recalling the glorious past of the institute, the judges said the university was once known as Oxford of East and it was unfortunate that now such a situation was prevailing.
The judges also asked the officials concerned to visit the Saidpur hostel before coming to the court on the next date of hearing.
The judges also took serious note over the complaint that the construction of a boundary wall of the hostel had not been undertaken despite the state government releasing funds for it long ago.
The Brexit referendum and British prime minister Theresa Mays tough stand on student visas and reports that her government will see where visa rules can be tightened, does not augur well for Indian students. As it is, the numbers of Indian students travelling to the UK have fallen sharply in recent years, according to International Consultants for Education and Fairs Monitor figures. Between 2013-14 and 2014-15, this number fell by 10%, making the US displace India as the second-largest non-EU source market for international students. About 22,385 Indian students came to the UK in the 2012/13 academic year and just 18,320 in 2014-15 year, as per the UK Council for International Student Affairs data.
Jack Moran, who is associated with the QS Intelligence Unit, says there are two primary policies by which the UK government could attract more Indian students. The first thing that the UK government needs to do is establish how it is going to reconcile its desire to maintain the UKs status as an open destination with a prevalent public desire to see reduced levels of immigration.
Foreign secretary Boris Johnsons proposed Commonwealth Visa which would allow Indian graduates to stay and work in London for two years after completion of their degree, irrespective of salary, if implemented, would certainly provide one incentive to Indian students, highlighting the UKs specific desire to encourage the nations talented students to study and research in the country, says Moran.
Study options available for Indians in the UK and the cost of living
Johnson has also proposed the introduction of a targeted work visa aimed at STEM students, which would allow them to spend up to two years working in the UK after graduation. Though this would not be restricted to graduates of a specific nationality, it is probable Indian students, who statistics show are more likely to opt to study a STEM subject, would respond positively to this policy, adds Moran. Hoping to attract more Indian students, the government and universities in UK are mulling new visa schemes, expanded budget plans, financial grants and other initiatives. The UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) will be extended for another five years from 2016. So far, UKIERI has supported over 1,000 partnerships between the UK and India, benefitting 35,000 academics.
This year, UK Visas and Immigration introduced the Priority Visa service to students, which allows them to get a visa decision in three to five days for an extra charge. This has proved hugely popular with students applying this year. After China and the USA, the UK issues more student visas to Indian nationals than any other country and 9 out of 10 Indian students who apply for their student visa get one, says a UK Home Office spokesperson.
Moran says UK institutions offer a range of scholarships, while the UK government also has an extensive scholarship scheme allowing top international students to study in the country without excessive financial burden. These include Chevening, Marshall and Commonwealth Scholarships.
However, these scholarships tend to be more widely available for postgraduates. If the UK wishes to attract more top Indian undergraduate students, it would be well-advised to ensure that its scholarship schemes for undergraduates is as extensive, he says.
Under this years Great Britain Scholarship initiative, 291 new scholarships will be offered, worth over 1.5 million, in partnership with 45 universities. About 59 undergraduate and 232 postgraduate awards will be offered for a range of subjects ranging from engineering and law to art and design and information technology across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The UK government also committed last year to expand the number of international students. A statement (part of the governments Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015) said the UK government was committed to strong growth in students from outside the European Union (EU). It dedicated to its 30 billion education export target by 2020 and stated that the number of students from outside the EU at English universities was expected to rise by 55,000 by 2020.
India is the largest benefactor of UK scholarships worldwide. Indian students continue to emphasise engineering, followed by business and management, computer science and IT. These preferences are coherent with the high demand for these subject offerings among domestic students, he says.
Data on student satisfaction from 2014 shows that, overall, 86% of students from India would recommend their UK experience to others, and 92% expressed satisfaction with their UK student experience overall. International students, including those from India, make an enormous contribution to the UK, academically, culturally and economically. This is a growth area, says a Universities UK spokesperson.
Read more: Brexit impact: change wont happen overnight, UK universities assure students
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Its one thing to design the entire wardrobe for a film, a collection to go on the runway, and, another, to dress up a cast of over 500 to help the audience time-travel to another era. Designer Manish Malhotra tells us about his experience of dressing the cast of Feroz Abbas Khans Mughal-e-Azam, an ongoing epic drama on a Mumbai stage.
How different it is to create designs for a stage epic, from designing creations for films and for the runway?
In my 26 years of experience, I have had the opportunity to work with actors for the stage, allowing me to understand the nuances of designing costumes for both platforms. Silver screen is not as challenging because photography and editing helps enhance the glam-factor. But, for theatre, it is different. Outfits need to bring in the drama and reality and making them look extravagant becomes a little demanding. For me, it wasnt that challenging as lately all my designs have been focussed on reviving style and embroidery, a blend of old-world charm on modern silhouettes.
Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Manish Malhotra and Sridevi at the theatrical productions premiere.
550 is a staggering number! How many people were involved in the production and how much time did it take?
Creating 550 costumes was a mammoth task. So much so, that production for the label was put on hold to focus on the outfits for the play. Weve thoroughly researched the functionality aspect through rehearsals, understanding the choreography and movements so that each garment allows absolute comfort and mobility. It took us three months to create the entire wardrobe.
The costumes took three months to produce post months of research.
What kind of research was involved?
I remember the characters of Anarkali, Prince Salim and Bahar. As a child, Ive been extremely intrigued by their opulent costumes. So when director Feroz Abbas Khan approached me to create outfits for this adaptation, I was ecstatic. We reinterpreted the outfits, using antique elements with newer embroidery forms and texture. We went through an extensive research process. The kalidars have more flair and all pieces have a signature touch of elegance. Lots of Banarasi and handloom brocades in jewelled tones helped to heighten the essence of these characters.
Historical references from the Mughal era made an integral part of the costume styling. (Arijit Sen/HT Photo)
What happens to the costumes once the production is over?
We created them exclusively for the play and now they are the property of the production house. We sincerely hope that the play is loved.
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He took more than $430,000 in bribes to approve visas for 59 people from the Philippines and Vietnam.
Australia has increased the jail term of an immigration officer who took more than $430,000 in bribes to give visas to dozens of Filipinos and Vietnamese over an eight-month period.
Alex Escala Allan, 53, was found guilty of approving general-skilled migration visas to 59 people who did not satisfy the requirements to enter Australia, the Australian Associated Press reported.
The report said Allan gave the first 17 visas to family and friends in the Philippines.
Minh Huy Lam, a Vietnamese acquaintance, bribed him to do the same thing for 42 people from Vietnam, threatening to expose his crime if he refused to do so. Most of the Vietnamese were farmers who did not speak English but were granted visas usually given to skilled workers like accountants.
An investigation found the crime went on for eight months until March 2014 when an immigration officer at Brisbane Airport noticed the language skills and occupations of two Vietnamese workers did not match their visa requirements.
Allan was sentenced to eight months in jail last year, but the Commonweath Director of Public Prosecutions argued that the punishment was inadequate and successfully appealed to increase the penalty to 15 months.
Of the money he received, more than $108,000 is yet to be recovered.
Allans case has been described as the largest corruption scandal ever to hit the Australian Immigration Department, prompting a major overhaul of the visa approval process.
In August last year, former U.S. diplomat Michael T. Sestak was sentenced to 64 months in prison for accepting more than $3 million in bribes to process fraudulent visas in Vietnam.
Related news:
> Away from home: More Vietnamese leaving for richer countries
> Vietnam ends tax breaks on car imports for overseas Vietnamese
To help promote local artisans and weavers across the country, an exhibition here seeks to encourage larger use of Khadi - a fabric that has transformed from being a symbol of Indias freedom struggle to become a style statement.
Titled The Khadi March: Just Five Meters, the solo show by Shelly Jyoti at India Habitat Centre in Delhi underlines the importance of khadi portraying the fabric as a mark of self-purification, self-reliance and independence.
The show is a call to action that challenges people who live in urban cities to grant dignity to the rural brethren and to rethink our engagement with the spinners, weavers and people who work with handicrafts in the villages.
It is designed to be a study for those who want to understand what the khadi movement stands for, and what it has been able to do, says Jyoti.
According to the artist, following Mahatma Gandhis proposition of buying five yards of khadi each, Indias urban population can transform the lives of rural artisans and enrich their livelihoods.
Five meters of cloth is an individuals necessity to cover themselves. So, I wanted to explore the 300 million urban population for whom buying just 5 meters of khadi is not a big thing but their efforts can change the life of millions in the rural areas, she says.
One of the installations titled, The Yarn Wheel has been made up of 1000 handspun cotton yarns to capture the meditative process of spinning the wheel in stark contrast to machine made thread.
Jyoti has worked extensively with Ajrakh artisans from Kutch and with kantha embroiderers from West Bengal for the show that features several khadi installations, 20 Ajrakh textile artworks, a multi-media spoken poetry art and a documentary on Ajrakh textile process.
While working with those who have inherited these textile traditions and are passing them on to the next generations, I have been able to see through the critical relationship between an artisan as a creator and an artist as a visualizer, she says.
Using khadi as the ground for processes of traditional dyeing and embroidery, Jyotis images employ symbolic forms with decorated surfaces to highlight aspects of Indias long and complex history. Khadi is such an eco-friendly, comfortable and vibrant fabric. It can become a fabric from our freedom struggle to a fashion statement in the present world, she says.
Utilising printing blocks that are two to three hundred years old, Jyoti says her individual pieces draw attention to a shared history whose preservation is currently threatened by the forces of globalization.
Traditional Bengali artform of Kantha Stitch also finds place is some of her creations. She explores the creative space of women in Bengal who have migrated to Northern India in the past decade.
I engage these women to give them small jobs and explore their inherent talent. Running stitches also have a decorative and aesthetic appeal, she says.
The artist was also part of a recent event organised by Yes Institute at Bikaner House here. Titled Poetics of Khadi: Cutting across Time and space, the discussion focused on the idea of khadi as a visual expression of national identity.
I am trying to explore the role of clothing in a movement of social change, while exploring khadi as a commodity in 21st century to give spinners and weavers a more organized source of livelihood. The idea of consumption of hand-woven handspun cloth by urban people is to establish connect between urban and rural brethren, she says. Another site specific installation,
Just Five Yards made up of 9 khadi hand bags, is inspired from Gandhis khadi bulletin published in 1931, that propagated the ideal of swadharma. The idea was that rather than giving ones money to the British industry, one should contribute to the livelihood of local villagers and thus become a moral consumer building a national community, she says. The exhibition is on view till October 26.
Owners of China Bazaar, the famous store in Sadar Bazaar area that sells gifts and household items, have renamed the shop Bombay Bazaar a decade after they gave it the first name. The move comes in the midst of calls by various citizens and traders unions to boycott Chinese products in light of the Uri attack.
The store was renamed a week ago to shed any appearance of affiliation to China. The two-storey store is popular among visitors to Sadar Bazaar, but its owners admitted that there has been a dip in sales after public mood turned against Chinese products.
Sales waned after public sentiment turned against China. Many customers asked if the products were made in China. More than 60% of our products were Indian, but their sales were also affected so we decided to rename the shop. Now, we have only Indian goods, said Mohammad Vakil Siddiqui, one of the three owners of Bombay Bazaar.
No one has forced us to change the name and to shun Chinese products. We are Indians and are just following public sentiments, he said.
Siddiqui said the shop was named China Bazaar a decade ago as a majority of products were imported from China. Now they have opted for the name Bombay Bazaar as most of their products are brought from Mumbai. We also get goods from markets in Delhi, but a majority of our supply is from Mumbai as the quality of those products is better, he said.
Sumran Pawar, one of the co-owners of the store, said Chinese products largely comprised battery operated toys that are much cheaper as compared to their Indian counterparts. Chinese battery operated toys start from Rs. 50 while the price of a similar toy that is made in India starts from Rs. 200, said Pawar, adding that they are not selling battery operated toys anymore.
Other shopkeepers are also shying away from referring to products as made in China. Some city traders who had placed orders for Chinese products months ago, anticipating Diwali sales, are now facing a fall in demand.
Some stocks of toys, gifts, and decorative items have been delivered. There is mixed reaction among the public towards Chinese goods, but the demand has been adversely affected. Now, shopkeepers are avoiding Chinese goods, said Bablu Gupta, president, Haryana Vyapar Mandal, Sadar Bazaar.
Gupta said markets are flooded with Chinese products ranging from eatables to clothes and toys to household items. He said Indian products are better in quality but the Chinese products are cheaper.
People are now weighing the economic and strategic losses of buying Chinese items, he said.
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Maan Singh, husband of 34-year-old Pinki Devi who was killed by a stalker at MG Road Metro station on Monday morning, entered the emergency ward of Gurgaon civil hospital, and glanced at his wifes body. He then moved towards the accused, Jitender Kumar, 26, lying on a stretcher nearby.
Kya kiya yeh tune. Samjhaya thaa tujhe ki dur rehna usse. Maar diya usko (What have you done? I told you to stay away from her. You have killed her now), Singh cried out loud at Kumar. Unabashed, Kumar instead asked Singh what proof he had that he (Kumar) killed his wife?
Singh could have assaulted Kumar but police escorted him away to record his statement and asked him to complete the medical formalities. Singh said his wife knew Kumar as she often hired his autorickshaw to reach the metro station when she travelled to Rohini in Delhi where she worked at a beauty parlour.
I came to know about Kumar about two months ago when he barged into our house at Sirhaul and started searching. When I enquired, he said he was looking for his family and threatened me, Singh said.
Read more: Gurgaon: Stalker stabs and kills woman at MG Road metro station
Singh said that was the only instance when Kumar came to their house. After that incident, Devi often complained to Singh about harassment from Kumar. The couple, however, never lodged a police complaint.
He threatened her on phone and sometimes called me too. He used to caution me that he would rob me of money and everything I had, Singh, who works as an office assistant in Gurgaon, said.
Singh said he never suspected that things might take such an ugly turn.
Singh recalled that Devi was a person with a positive attitude and wanted to live a happy life with him. Singh was her second husband after she divorced from her first marriage.
Shocked at the way Kumar attacked his wife, Singh suspected he might be under influence of drugs. He was a drunkard and often abused me over phone, he said. The post-mortem examination report said there were 30 injuries on the victim form a sharp-edged weapon .
A police official close to the investigation said, primarily the matter seemed to be one of infatuation or a one-sided attraction but something could be confirmed only after recording statement of the accused, who was undergoing treatment at civil hospital. Police booked Kumar for murder under section 302 of the IPC.
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Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger wishes he would have been able to run for the US presidency this year.
The Terminator actor, who was governor of California for eight years until 2011, is unable to contest for the position because he was born in Austria but thinks it would have been the right time to campaign for the Republican candidacy if he had been able to, reported Female First.
Arnold, who recently revealed he wont be voting for Republican Donald Trump, who is contesting for the Commander-in-Chiefs role with Democrat Hillary Clinton, said, If Id been born in America, I wouldve run. Because now? This was a very good time to get in the race.
As proud as I am to label myself a Republican, there is one label that I hold above all else - American. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/biRvY8S3aZ Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) October 8, 2016
But the 69-year-old star admitted he doesnt love politics. I didnt love politics, but I love policy, he said.
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Doctor Strange, the latest superhero to dominate the big screen, is taking Walt Disney Cos Marvel universe in an unconventional direction, lead star Benedict Cumberbatch said on Monday.
Cumberbatch plays surgeon Stephen Strange, who harnesses mystical magic powers drawn from Eastern cultures. The actor said the new film intentionally takes a different path to Marvels other cinematic superheroes such as Iron Man, Captain America and Ant-Man, who draw power from technology.
It was a real left turn for the comic universe, let alone the cinematic one, Cumberbatch told Reuters of the original 1960s Doctor Strange comics at the films London premiere.
It was very dark and mischievous and psychedelic and otherworldly and to try and replicate that in modern cinema is one of the great challenges, he added.
Doctor Strange, out in theatres on November 4, follows Strange, a cocky and brilliant surgeon - much like the billionaire Iron Man playboy Tony Stark - whose glamorous New York life is taken away from him when his hands are crippled in a car accident.
Stranges desperation to heal his main assets lead him to Nepal, where he encounters the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and discovers how to harness mystical powers to heal and fight with, as the world faces threats from a menacing otherworldly being.
Its toying with a lot of new things like parallel universes and kind of philosophical ideas and working on a deeper level ... the metaphysical is just a whole new world thats opened up for Marvel, co-star Rachel McAdams said.
The movie has received positive early reviews, with critics praising the plot, the visuals and the performances.
It does feel like a new chapter for Marvel and its definitely a new direction for me and I definitely enjoyed playing this character so if people are enjoying it then weve done something right, Cumberbatch said.
Doctor Strange is the first mainstream leading role for the 40-year-old actor, who developed a steady following through his lead role as BBCs Sherlock, and in his Oscar-nominated performance in 2014s The Imitation Game.
Cumberbatch and his wife Sophie Hunter announced last week that they are expecting their second child, and the actor said he was over the moon.
Those are moments that you never ever forget - I remember it very clearly and obviously it was early on and so I couldnt say anything and just yeah theres nothing like, its kind of beyond words. Its difficult to explain, he said.
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Orlando Bloom has given us another reason to love him. The British actor, who is currently shooting in China, rescued an abandoned dog from the streets of Shanghai.
The 39-year-old star spotted the stray dog with a bloody wound on her back, and made sure she was given help, reports People magazine.
Bloom took to social media to document how he went about it, giving the canine a new start by posting each stage of the rescue onto his Instagram story.
The series of posts showed the wounded dog being taken to the vet for attention. The Pirates of the Caribbean star even helped the doctor shave the dog and kept her calm by constantly calling her good girl. After the cleanup, the dog got some much needed rest.
Presumably, the pup will be joining the actors furry best friend, 13-year-old Sidi.
On the work front, the Lord of the Rings star will next be seen in Smart Chase: Fire & Earth and recently starred in the Netflix series Easy.
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At least two-three Pakistani armymen are believed to have been killed on Tuesday in retaliatory firing by Indian troops in the Noushera sector of Rajouri district, an official said.
Six female members of a family were also injured in R S Pura sector of Jammu district in cross-border shelling.
Heavy exchange of fire, involving use of 82 mm and 120 mm mortar shells besides small arms, was still on in the evening after it started at around 10am.
From 10 am, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control in Noushera sector of Rajouri district by targeting our positions with mortar bombs and small arms fire, an army officer said.
The Indian Army gave a befitting response to the ceasefire violation from the Pakistani side, he added.
We have inputs that two to three Pakistani soldiers have been killed in the retaliatory firing by our men, an army officer told PTI in Jammu.
The firing is still going on and our side is giving a befitting reply, he said, adding there is no loss of life or injury on our side.
In Jammu district, six female members of a family were injured in Suchetgarh sector of R S Pura along the International Border after a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan Rangers exploded in their house this evening.
They are being given first aid at RS Pura hospital after which they will be shifted to Government Medical College (GMC) hospital here shortly, Deputy Commissioner (Jammu) Simrandeep Singh said.
Read| Pakistan summons Indian envoy over ceasefire violations
Facing criticism over reportedly brokering a deal between producers of Bollywood movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has said he opposed the condition that filmmakers will have to contribute Rs 5 crore to an army welfare fund.
Two central ministers too disapproved of the deal. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said the government did not appreciate catching anyones neck to contribute, making it clear that donation to the army is voluntary. Information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu dubbed the MNS demand as wrong.
Karan Johars film faced protests by MNS workers for casting Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. The films smooth Diwali release, later this week, was ensured at a meeting of Film Producers Guild, producers and the MNS. It was mediated by Fadnavis last week.
Makers agreed that under-production films featuring Pakistani actors will pay Rs 5 crore to the army fund as penance. The producers also agreed to include a tribute to Indian soldiers at the start of Johars film, as the so-called compromise triggered outrage with many describing Thackerays monetary condition as extortion.
Apart from the opposition, ruling coalition partner Shiv Sena slammed Fadnaviss intervention in the matter, terming it an act of siding with Pakistani personalities. The army too appeared uncomfortable with the penance.
Read | Army uneasy with politics over KJo film, officers say forced donations not okay
Fadnavis, however, defended his intervention to resolve the issue, saying democratic governments at times will even talk to separatists and left ultras for the sake of peace.
...When the issue of Rs 5 crore came up, I intervened and made it clear to the Film Producers Guild that they need not have to agree to it. I also told them that the contribution has to be made voluntarily. However, it was producers decision to accept it, Fadnavis said on Monday evening at his residence, Varsha.
I categorically told that although it is nice that the Guild has decided to stand by the families of our martyrs but it is not a compulsion. Still if they wish to do, they may contribute whatever amount they feel (is) appropriate. This figure of (Rs) 5 crore came from MNS but was not agreed in the meeting and turned down then and there only, he said.
Read | Shiv Sena heckles BJP over Ae Dil Hai Mushkil issue in Saamana editorial
India and Pakistans heightened tensions since an attack on an army base in Uri, Kashmir, have resulted in increasingly acrimonious barbs even between its usually friendly film industries.
Another choice was deploying thousands of police staff outside theatres (when film releases). I would then face allegations like I have spoiled Diwali holiday of police staff. Issues should be solved by talking, and we are a democratic government, Fadnavis said.
Read | Uddhav slams Fadnavis-Raj extortionist deal for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
For his part, Union minister Naidu told reporters in Delhi: That was a wrong proposal. We dont agree with their (MNS) proposal. Maharashtra chief minister has also clarified that he was not a part of the proposal that was made by some other party.
Stressing that the matter was between some party and the producer, he said the government did not subscribe to that thinking at all and has no to role play.
Read | Ae Dil Hai Mushkil: We are living in hard times, says Ranbir Kapoor
Five months after his return to the Samajwadi Party that expelled him in early 2010, Amar Singh has emerged stronger in a current turmoil in its top brass by simultaneously settling old scores within the fold.
SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav now calls the 60-year-old returnee a brother, much to the setback of leader Ram Gopal Yadav a once-trusted lieutenant of the party patriarch.
The turn of events in the feud-riddled SP during last 24 hours shows a rising clout of Singh, who is likely to emerge as the partys face in the national capital. This can strongly work against Mulayams cousin Ram Gopal, who is the other prominent SP face in Lutyens Delhi amid the accusation of his hobnobbing with the rival BJP that rules the Centre.
Singh is with Mulayams brother Shivpal Yadav, who is the SPs state chief. Together, they are fighting a common rival: chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, whom they accuse of sidelining them.
In 2010, when Singh was removed from party posts, the move was at the behest of Akhilesh, the son of Mulayam.
For Singh, it is now time to hit back at Akhilesh, 17 years younger to him. One target in the mission is Ram Gopal, who was instrumental in propelling Akhilesh to the CMs post and in the process turning into the partys chief strategist.
Read | Friends over family: Why Amar Singh scores better than son Akhilesh for Mulayam
Today, Singh, who has stayed away from meetings of senior SP leaders, has managed to stay afloat amid the war in the Yadav family. On Monday, Mulayam threw his weight behind Singh, calling him a brother who helped him during troubled times.
Mulayams support to Singh came a day after SP workers stomped on the 76-year-olds picture and burnt his effigy in some districts, including Lucknow and Agra, blaming the veteran for all the troubles in the party.
Often, Mulayam used to recall only two persons stayed glued to me during my times of crisis. One, he would say, is late socialist MP Janeshwar Mishra and the other is Amar.
Singh joined the SP two decades ago when the 1992-founded party was trying to create an identity for itself on the national level. The SP was also, reportedly, starved of funds. Singh, who was known for his acumen as a negotiator and mediator in the corridors of power and business at the national level, came in handy for the party.
Till then, the SP was a regional party and Mulayam a master-politician in his native Uttar Pradesh. Singhs 1996 entry into the SP broadened the partys political canvas and the stature of its founder. Soon, on June 1 that year, Mulayam became the defence minister in the United Front government.
Singh was later instrumental in mediation between his party and the Congress and played a key role in the SPs support to the two successive UPA governments from 2004.
Then, in 2010, Singh had to exit the SP. That paved the way for the entry of Ram Gopal as the partys chief strategist in Delhi.
That had not been very fruitful for the party, many believe, saying that the SP has been isolated at the national level. Political observers cite this as a probable reason for Mulayam not currently backing his cousin.
For more on the Yadav family feud, click here.
Expressing confidence that by 2030 India would lead the world in almost every category, US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma said on Tuesday people are excited about the India-US partnership which is poised to strengthen further.
I look out into the future in India...just take 2030. By 2030, India will lead the world in almost every category...
You will have the most people, largest middle class population, college graduates, patent holders, massive investment in infrastructure, urbanisation and discoveries, he said while interacting with the students of IIT and IIM at the Government Engineering College.
Thats why people are so excited about Indias rise and whats happening here. Thats why I am excited about the partnership we have with you (India)...we cant agree on every issue, but we can get really a lot of important things done, he added.
Verma termed the last two years as the best period in the relationship between the two countries. He said US President Barack Obama wants India to be a strong, prosperous and a successful global power.
We changed, India has changed...We were on two separate tracks for many a decade. Those tracks are now coming together. If you ask (US) president about how he feels about India, he would say he wants India to be strong and prosperous, he said.
Speaking about various fronts on which both the countries have collaborated and succeeded, he stressed that the two countries broke records in several categories last year.
We had the highest two-way trade between the two countries ever of $110 billion. The US was the largest export market for India.
About 1.1 million visitors from India travelled to the US and equally, one million Americans visited India last year which was an all-time high. Last year, 1.40 lakh Indian students were studying in America. The highest defence trade number last year was $15 billion, he said.
Verma, however, said the two countries can do a lot more on peace, prosperity, climate change, defence and strategic affairs which he feels will have big impact on people.
Expressing hope that the ties between the two nations, would strengthen, he said, If I look ahead to the future, Im really optimistic and really excited. I dont think our relationship (will be) on roller coaster. I dont see it going down, I only see its going up.
He also noted that the visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have strengthened ties between the two countries.
He quoted Modis speech at the US Congress earlier this year, where the PM had said they have overcome the hesitation of history and India is on course of making the US its indispensable partner.
The US envoy also stressed the role India and the US can play in ensuring peace and harmony in the world.
Four-year-old falls to her death from high-rise building in central Vietnam
The girl has been left alone and unsupervised at home.
A four-year-old girl died after falling from the eighth floor of a high-rise building in Vietnam's central province of Binh Dinh on Sunday.
Initial investigations show that the accident happened at around 7 a.m. at a residential apartment building in a downtown district in the coastal town of Quy Nhon.
The girl fell from the balcony window from an eighth-floor apartment where she had been left alone and unsupervised at home.
Police said that on Sunday morning, the victims father had left for work early and the mother had gone out to buy breakfast for the girl from a nearby market. She returned to find her daughter on a second-floor balcony.
The girl was dead before the emergency crew arrived.
Local authorities said the victims family had only moved into the new 12-story apartment building last week.
There have been a number of incidents involving children climbing onto balconies or climbing onto sofas placed near open windows.
Police have warned parents not to leave windows open or place objects near windows or balconies that children could use to climb out. They also stressed the need to install grilles and secure windows to prevent similar accidents.
In July, a six-year-old boy in the Linh Dam residential area in the southwest of Hanoi died after falling from a balcony on the 11th floor after being left home alone.
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> Tragic child death in Hanoi points to unchecked transport of dangerous items
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, accused in a disproportionate assets case along with others, on Tuesday claimed in Delhi high court that CBI cannot on its own decide to probe offences outside Delhi without the consent of the concerned state.
His counsel told justice Vipin Sanghi that in the instant matter, the alleged offence was committed in Himachal Pradesh as the disproportionate assets were located there and hence the police of that state should have been probing it.
CBI cannot investigate matters outside Delhi without the consent of the state concerned. Where disproportionate assets are located, that is where offence is committed, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Singh, said.
Sibal argued that it was not a case of corruption where office of a public servant is relevant. It is a case of disproportionate assets where location of assets is relevant.
He said CBI cannot be used as an instrument of oppression by going after matters in other states.
He also questioned why an FIR was not lodged in Himachal Pradesh. Nobody stopped registration of FIR in Himachal Pradesh. What prevented them from lodging FIR there?
CBI or the central government cannot arrogate to itself the power that whatever happens in a state, it will investigate. That will destroy the federal structure of government, Sibal said.
He said if the probe by state police was found to be unsatisfactory, then the court could have been approached to monitor the investigation or to order a CBI probe.
The court listed the matter tomorrow when it will hear arguments on behalf of the state government on whether its consent was required for CBI to probe the case.
Singh had earlier claimed before the court that CBIs FIR against him was premature as it was based on the proceedings of Income Tax department, which was still pending.
He had said that CBI had lodged a preliminary enquiry (PE) in October 2012 which was later closed, but the agency registered a second PE on June 17 last year based on the same facts which were already investigated by it.
Singh had also claimed in court that the way in which probe was conducted showed an element of enthusiasm on CBIs part, which indicated an element of malafide.
CBI had told the high court that its probe in the DA case against Singh and others was complete and it wanted to file the charge sheet in the matter.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court in an interim order on October 1, 2015, had restrained the agency from arresting, interrogating or filing a charge sheet against Singh in the case without its permission.
The matter, in which Himachal Pradesh HC had passed the interim order, was transferred by the Supreme Court to the Delhi High Court, which on April 6 this year had directed CBI not to arrest Singh and asked him to join the probe.
The direction had come when the court was disposing of CBIs application seeking vacation of the Himachal Pradesh High Court order, which the agency claimed had seriously held up its investigation in the case.
On November 5 last year, the apex court had transferred Singhs plea from Himachal Pradesh HC to Delhi HC, saying it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, but simply transferring the petition in interest of justice and to save the institution (judiciary) from any embarrassment.
CBI had moved the apex court seeking transfer of the case here and setting aside the interim order granting protection from arrest and other relief granted to Virbhadra.
A DA case was lodged against the Chief Minister and others by CBI under sections 13(2) and 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 109 (punishment for abetment) of the IPC.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday called on Jammu and Kashmir governor N N Vohra in Srinagar and asked him to impress upon the Centre to open doors to dialogue and political engagement for ending the political stalemate in the state.
There can be no alternative to a political initiative and New Delhi should not waste any further time and engage with stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah told the governor, a statement issued by the party after a meeting said.
The former chief minister was accompanied by party general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, former minister Mian Altaf Ahmed, provincial president Jammu Devender Singh Rana and state spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu.
Abdullah also apprised Vohra of systematic and planned efforts to persecute and disempower the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities as well as minorities in Jammu Province and alleged divisive forces were making concerted attempts to disturb communal harmony in the state, it said.
Expressing serious concerns over continued political uncertainty and stalemate in the state, Abdullah said the Central Government should take concrete, visible and meaningful measures to engage with stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the political issue.
An absence of a political outreach from the highest levels in New Delhi had sent out a negative message of confrontation and hostility when reconciliation and engagement was required to douse the fire in the Valley, he said requesting the Governor to impress upon New Delhi to initiate a political process to deal with the unrest.
The former chief minister also highlighted the alleged apathy and indifference of the administration towards victims of cross-border shelling and firing along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) especially in frontier areas of Poonch, Rajouri, Hira Nagar, R S Pura, Kana Chak, Kathua, Suchetgarh, Abdulllian, Kupwara and Uri.
Gujjar and Bakerwal communities form an integral part of the states diverse and harmonious demography and their rights cannot be violated under the fig-leaf of reclaiming forest land.
Gujjars and Bakerwals are a part and parcel of our society and form a positive part of the ecosystem in areas where these communities have been traditional nomadic dwellers, Abdullah said.
He said the Administration cannot dislodge and selectively target Gujjars and Bakerwals by uprooting them and launching an assault on their rights to live a life of dignity.
Members of the nomadic communities are being persecuted and harassed under an elaborate plan to sow seeds of fragmentation and communal animosity within the state.
Our social fabric is our most vital asset and any nefarious plan to target a particular community is an assault on the state as whole, Abdullah said in the meeting.
He alleged victims of cross-LOC and cross-border shelling have not been compensated and what is even worse, the administration has not even made an attempt to assess losses and damages suffered by the residents.
Shopkeepers have been robbed of their livelihood and private property has suffered the brunt.
While promises were made to construct bunkers that would be used as safe shelters during shelling, nothing has been done on the ground, the former CM alleged.
He said that promises to allot plots to the residents living close to the LoC and IB have also not been converted into visible action on the ground.
People living in these areas are suffering and living in constant fear and anxiety and the Government was not paying heed to their misery, he said.
Conveying his apprehensions to the Governor over conspicuous and concerted attempts to vitiate communal and regional harmony in the state, he alleged that the state Governments brazen patronage to certain overtly communal organisations was a dangerous approach and could wreak havoc in the state.
Armed marches by certain known communal organisations in various areas of Jammu are being carried out with the motive of intimidating and harassing minorities and people belonging to a particular community.
This is a very dangerous trend and should be nipped in the bud. Our legacy of brotherhood and amity is invaluable and needs to be protected at all costs, Abdullah said.
The National Conference President said the party was alarmed at the state governments approach of politicising education and examinations and said this was tantamount to gambling with the future of our children.
This issue is far more important than egos in the current dispensation and should not be made a point of prestige.
The students have not been able to complete their curriculum and have been victims of an atmosphere of uncertainty and anxiety that has persisted over the last more than three months.
Seven-year-old Gaurav Kumar is one of the several small children writing his examination in the lawn of Bal Kisan Academy in Fatehpur Brahmana village under Ranbir Singh Pora tehsil of Jammu district.
I get scared by the sound of mortar explosions. My parents sent me to school because of the half-yearly exams, Gaurav Kumar, a student of Class 2 of the state government-recognised middle school, said.
Pakistan Rangers have been pounding Fatehpur Brahmana, which is barely 1.5km from Zero Line along the Line of Control, and other border villages with mortars and heavy machine gun fire since last week. The Hindustan Times team also witnessed two big mortar explosions in nearby Abdullian village on Monday morning.
While the state government has claimed that all schools on the border have been closed until normalcy returns, children of Bal Kisan Academy were writing their exams amid flying mortars.
School headmistress Sonam Sharma said that neither the chief education officer nor anyone else from the government has asked her to close the school.
... half yearly exams had to be conducted and that is why they were asked to attend the school, Sharma said.
We are not at any fault because none in the administration asked us to close the school, she added.
At least 25 Indian posts and over 18 villages were targeted along the international border in RS Pura, Kanachak, Arnia, Akhnoor and Pargwal sectors of Jammu district.
A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan and a six-year-old boy were killed while a BSF officer and another jawan were among six others injured in the attack by the Pakistan Rangers late on Sunday. The shelling also left 35 cattle dead and over 200 injured.
A man cleans his house which was damaged from alleged firing from Pakistan in RS Pura. (Nitin Kanotra/HT Photo)
The high-intensity attack came barely three days after the BSF said it had killed seven Pakistan Rangers personnel and a terrorist in firefights through the day across Bobiya area of Hiranagar in Katuha district, Samba in Samba district and Pargwal in Jammu district.
The BSF retaliation had followed the death of constable Gurnam Singh in a sniper attack in Bobiya.
Jammu region has hundreds of schools on the Indo-Pak border and during tense relations between the two countries, small school children could be sitting ducks for the trigger happy Pakistan rangers, Mohan Lal, a villager, said.
It was right to question the school headmistress but she, too, had not been informed by anyone from the government. This is how this government treats the people along the border, he said.
Pakistan has violated the ceasefire agreement twice in the past one day and 39 times since Indias surgical strikes on September 29.
Amid the flare up along the borders, BSF has foiled three infiltration attempts in the past six days.
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A spat between a former Bihar chief minister, two deputy chief ministers former and current and the health minister has just turned ugly. BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday advised former chief minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasads younger son, current deputy chief minister Tejashwi, to chart his own path.
You will have to come out of the shadows of Lalu Prasad, Modi said, pointing to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who had chosen to dare his own father, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, and uncle Shivpal Yadav.
Look at Akhilesh to learn, Modi said, not missing that Lalu and Mulayam are relatives.
Read | Lalu Prasads son Tejashwi Yadav heralds a new beginning
Modis remarks were linked to matrimonial choices before the two young Yadav brothers, with Tejashwi receiving 44,000 marriage proposals on a WhatsApp contact number that he had provided for complaints on bad roads.
Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son and health minister, had told reporters that the deputy chief minister being senior in the hierarchy should marry first.
Modi apparently seized the opportunity to trigger a junior-senior controversy, to which the RJD responded angrily.
Read | Bihar women spam road construction ministry number with texts for Tejaswi Yadav
Lalu himself has created a situation akin to the Samajwadi Party in the family, choosing to make his younger son the deputy to Nitish Kumar, wait and watch the BJP leader said.
Tejashwis riposte was Modi is unstable. Tej Prataps was even more caustic, asking Modi to take care of his sons and get them married.
Lalu Prasad, the patriarch, lost his cool too. Modi has gone awry. His mouth is itching. He must have consumed ol (a tuber known to trigger mouth itch), he said.
The BJP was not reacting, though.
Read | Feud like that in Mulayam family brewing in Lalus family:Sushil Modi
There is no matbhed (difference of opinion) or manbhed (ill feelings) in the Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh satrap Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Tuesday, as he struggled to contain an acrimonious family feud that has pushed the party to the brink of a split.
Mulayam and his brother Shivpal addressed a press conference in an apparent show of unity but the absence of chief minister Akhilesh raised more questions than the party patriarch answered.
Shortly afterwards, Akhilesh brought down the facade of unity once again when he is understood to have said that he will neither take back Shivpal into his cabinet nor agree to work with Amar Singh, blamed by a section in the party for the crisis.
Amar Singh to blame. He is misusing my fathers trust, a TV channel quoted Akhilesh as saying. The chief minister also said he will not split the party but fight till the end.
Read | SP split wide open: Akhilesh sacks Shivpal, Mulayam removes Ramgopal
Akhilesh had met Mulayam earlier during the day but the family strains appeared to have remained.
Mulayam, a former defence minister, defended Amar Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP who returned to the SP recently.
Why do you drag him (Amar) into all this? said Mulayam, who read out his answers from a piece of paper, indicating that he had come prepared to handle uncomfortable questions.
Mulayam also sparked anger among Akhileshs supporters on Tuesday by refusing, for the second time, to name his son as the partys chief ministerial candidate. Angry workers tried to storm the party headquarters demanding in protest.
We are a democratic party. People voted for me in (the) 2012 assembly elections but Akhilesh was appointed CM with the consent of all senior party leaders. I am sure the people would vote for us again and the elected legislators would decide who would be their CM, Mulayam said.
A wrestler-turned-politician, Mulayam had publicly abused Akhilesh on Monday, pointedly dismissing his son as an insignificant entity in UP politics who could not win an election without his support.
Read | No move to split party, says Akhilesh after sacking uncle Shivpal and 3 others
Shivpals elevation as the state SP president replacing Akhilesh last month sparked the ugly power struggle in the family, threatening to derail the ruling partys prospects in the assembly polls due early next year.
The partys senior leadership led by Mulayam was seen as tilting towards Shivpal, who has taken a harsh stand on anyone backing Akhilesh.
Akhileshs rebellion is being read as his attempt to shake off the hold of Mulayam and other leaders who are known to pull the strings in the party and the government.
Mulayam, however, insisted that the party and family were united.
Our family is united, the party is united...We stand united with full strength, Mulayam said in the hurriedly-called media conference, his first since Akhilesh sacked Shivpal from the cabinet.
Mulayam, who was also accompanied by three sacked ministers, skirted a question on whether Shivpal would be re-inducted into the government.
It is up to the CM to decide and I am sure he must be listening to what you people are asking, he said.
Also read | Yadav family feud: Damage irreversible, now SP govt at stake
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Pushed into political oblivion for six years, Rajya Sabha member Amar Singhs rehabilitation in the Samajwadi Party has not only reinstated him as Mulayam Singhs confidant, but torn the party apart.
The events of the weekend have revealed the seemingly insurmountable differences between the Yadav family party chief Mulayam, his son and state chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, and his brother Shivpal Yadav have been locked in an ugly battle that leaves little room for reconciliation. The crux of the issue Akhilesh is steadfast in his criticism of Amar Singh, and Mulayam will have none of it.
Read | Mulayam, Akhilesh engage in shouting match; SP meet ends in acrimony
First battle
Shortly after the 2009 Lok Sabha election result, Amars relationship with many party leaders soured and this eventually led to his ouster from SP for six years.
A month before Amars expulsion, SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav had said: I accept his resignation with a heavy heart.
Amar had resigned from all party posts, including that of the national general secretary, in January 2010.
Even as Amar broke ties with the SP, Mulayams feelings for him seemed like Amar Prem (eternal love). It did not wane even when Amar spewed venom against top party leaders and attacked Mulayam a couple of times in the run up to 2012 UP assembly elections.
Amar floated a party, Rashtriya Lok Manch, which fared poorly in assembly polls.
By the time the results of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections were out, Mulayam started inviting Amar to his public and private events. The two were back together.
Sensing the inevitable, the anti-Amar lobby started making efforts to prevent his return. Mulayam had expelled Amar by bucklling under pressure from party leaders, mainly his cousin and SP national general secretary, Ramgopal Yadav.
Read | Akhilesh camp attacks outsider Amar; Shivpal says take everyone along
However, when it came to execute Amars rehabilitation, Mulayam turned a deaf ear to all the hue and cry in the party. He not only ignored SPs Muslim poster boy Azam Khan and Ramgopal but also his son Akhilesh.
Mulayam revived Amars party membership in May. A few days later, he was elected to Rajya Sabha as SP candidate.
After some time, Mulayam named Amar as a member of SPs national executive, amid growing clamour within the party to throw the outsider out of the party.
But ignoring all the voices of dissent, SP supremo eventually on September 20, made Amar national general secretary in the national executive, the position he held before his ouster from the party.
Why is Amar so important to Mulayam?
In Mulayams own words, Amar has been with the leader through his most trying times.
There were only two persons stayed glued to me during my times of crisis one is Janeshwar Mishra, who is no more, and the other is Amar.
Amar joined the party in 1996 when it was trying to create its national identity. The party was also, reportedly, starved of funds. Amar Singh, who was known for his skills as a negotiator and mediator in the corridors of power and business at the national level, came in handy to the party.
Mulayam headed a regional party and had emerged as a master politician in Uttar Pradesh. Ahead of his entry to SP, Amar began making Mulayam and his politics count at the national level.
Eventually, Amars entry into the party fold coincided with Mulayam becoming the defence minister in the United Front government.
Amar was instrumental in mediating between the Congress and the SP and played a key role in the SPs support to the UPA governments.
Read | Yadav family feud: Amar Singh survives at Ramgopals expense
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh recently highlighted the role of Amar Singh and Mulayam in the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and Amar was close to Mulayam when Trinamool Congresss Mamata Banerjee pulled the rug from under the UPA government. Mulayam had then saved the Manmohan government.
It was through Amar Singh that Mulayam began interacting with the Ambanis or Godrej. It was due to his effort that Mulayam as a chief minister hosted the former US President Bill Clinton in 2006.
In re-anointing Amar as the national general secretary, Mulayam made clear that his friend would have a role in the 2017 UP assembly poll campaign and would help in strengthening the party.
Amar is a native of Mulayams Lok Sabha constituency, Azamgarh, and holds influence in the area. He is the only Thakur face of the party.
After Amar was expelled from the party in 2010, Mulayam tried to promote his senior associate Mohan Singh as a Thakur face, but to no avail. The party also tried to project Akhileshs team member, Arvind Singh Gope, but found no public acceptance.
Amar was the one who brought Bollywood stars close to the SP. He made Jaya Prada contest and win the election from Rampur. SP had finalised Sanjay Dutts ticket from Luckow in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, but due to the Supreme Court order, he had to withdraw his candidature.
And it was Amar who turned around the rural festival, Saifai Mahotsav, into a glitzy affair.
(This story was first published on September 21, 2016, a day after Amar Singh was made the Samajwadi Partys national general secretary.)
Also read | Samajwadi leaders hold Amar Singh responsible for Yadav family feud
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At a Thursday haat in Awapalli village in the heart of the largely-tribal Maoist violence-hit Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, almost everything comes at a price. You get roosters for cockfights for Rs 1,000, mahua liquor for Rs 5 a glass and Rs 10 a bottle and red ants to make chapura (chutney made with red ants crushed with garlic, ginger and chilli) for Rs10 a fistful.
But health checks and medicines are for free, courtesy a travelling clinic and medical staff who often hail from the community.
Chhattisgarhs travelling clinics go where no doctors have gone before. Dr Shailendra Kumar, block medical officer at Usoor block bordering Telangana, runs a makeshift clinic under a mahua tree at village haats (market) such as this one each week with a health assistant, a staff nurse, an auxiliary nurse midwife and two volunteers in tow.
They take healthcare to people too scared to go to government hospitals and clinics because of real or perceived left-wing extremism (LWE) threats against using state-run hospitals, schools and civic services. Their fears arent unfounded. Among all Indian states, Chhattisgarh is the worst affected by Maoist violence. Till September 30 this year, 845 incidents of LWE violence claimed 226 lives in India. Of these, 85 people died in 313 attacks in Chhattisgarh, with Jharkhand being a close second with 265 incidents and 71 deaths.
Many villagers still go to traditional medicine men for cure and dont get the free health services available to them, says Dr Kumar. When people dont come to us, we go to them. They come to haats with their families, this is the perfect place to vaccinate the children and treat those who look ill.
Read: On call movies in theatres: Perks of being a doctor in Maoist-hit areas
Shot of health
Sitting under a tree where tribals gossip and haggle over roosters, goats, food and chattel, doctors and nurses from the Usoor Primary Health Centre (PHC) screen pregnant women, vaccinate children, treat boils, skin lesions and diarrhoea, and treat people for malaria. Those who need tests are referred to the closest primary or community health centre.
Visibly pregnant Sunita Yalam, 28, was buying a bucket when she was brought to the makeshift health camp for an ante-natal check. She has a difficult pregnancy history she had a miscarriage last year and though she is eight months pregnant, shes not had a single health check when she should have had at least three. Dr Kumar gives her iron and folic acid and asks her to come to the PHC for a sonography later that week to check the development of her unborn baby.
We vaccinate children, screen pregnant women, treat people for infections and use a rapid test to diagnose malaria, which is common in this region, and give medicines to treat it, says Kumar, who treats around 70 people between 10am and 4pm in his makeshift camp each week. Over the last two hours, of the dozen people with people with fever, five have tested for the more deadly malaria falciparum and two for vivax malaria.
Camps such as the one at Awapalli haat have become a mainstay for healthcare delivery in a region where government hospitals (both PHCs and community health centres) have been under-utilized for decades because of missing staff, poor infrastructure and people scared of Maoist or distrustful of the government.
In the absence of private hospitals there are no private hospitals in Bijapur and Sukma districts , only tribal medicine men and unqualified bengali doctors makeshift clinics are set up at each week at different haats across the affected districts, says Bijapur district collector Ayyaj Tamboli. We have to build peoples trust so that people use government health systems instead of going to the unorganised sector where they are overcharged for services that are often unreliable, said Chhattisgarh health minister Ajay Chandrakar.
Its vital that these services (health, education and other social services) should be seen as a humanitarian non- political activity of the state administration, says Dr Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India, which is partnering with the state government to take healthcare to the people.
What also kept people away was the absence of services. We need to offer people quality services to get them to trust state services with their lives and the lives of their families. If government doctors cure them once, they will come back because now they know they will get treated well, says Chandrakar.
Read: Why doctors are choosing to work in Chhattisgarhs Maoist-affected areas
Localising care
Helping integration with the community is the hiring of medical staff from the community, who not just speak the language but also have a stake in local development. Tribal girls are being trained and hired so each PHC gets an additional ANM (auxiliary nurse midwife), and the target is to have 50% PHCs running 24x7 in six months, beginning with the ones furthest from a district hospital or primary health centre, says Subrat Sahoo, principal secretary health, Chhattisgarh.
To upgrade facilities, a policy draft to outsource dialysis and radiology, including CT, MRI and X-ray is district hospitals is ready and tenders will be issued to have the units running by April 1, 2017.
Hiring professional healthcare consultants to free up doctors to do clinical work is also on the cards at the district hospital level, as is setting up a public health cadre to manage hospitals. Over the next six months, we plan to have an infrastructure policy where we will outsource diagnostics, dialysis and hospital administration to free up doctors to staff hospitals and health centres, Chandrakar told HT.
The real challenge, of course, is ensuring that the localised success is replicated in other remote and LWE-affected districts in India. Scaling up health services in these difficult areas is possible if trust of the communities is won through sustained attention to their health needs and confidence is built up among healthcare providers that their work is highly valued by both the people and the government, says PHFIs Dr Reddy.
*Till September, 2016; Top five states according to the attacks in 2016; Source: Ministry of Home Affairs
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Even as the five accused in the ink attack on BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini were granted bail by a Kurukshetra court on Monday, khaps and Jat groups continued protests against Saini, demanding action against him for his anti-Jat statements.
The five accused, identified as Harikesh, Parveen, Saurav, Jitender and Sandeep, all residents of a village in Hisar district had been booked under Section 307, 120B, 353, 323 of the IPC and SIT had been formed to look into the ink attack on Saini on October 16.
The police had on Friday dropped Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC in the case in the wake of protests by Jat bodies and khaps in various parts of the state. During investigations, the police found that it was an ordinary ink without any chemical in it and it was not an assault to murder Saini.
On Monday, All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) national president Yashpal Malik supported the ongoing indefinite dharna by representatives of 12 khaps at Narnaund town in Hisar.
Meanwhile, as the dharna entered the fifth day, the khap representatives threatened to hold a mahapanchayat of khaps on October 27.
Suresh Koth, who is leading the dharna, said, If the government does not take any action against Saini till October 27, we will call a mahapanchayat of khaps across the country to decide the future course of action of our agitation
The khaps are also demanding action against Saini for allegedly getting the youths who threw ink on him thrashed by the police.
We are also planning to hold a protest on November 1 in Gurugram during the inaugural function of the year-long celebrations of states golden jubilee, Koth said.
He said Satrol khap, Rogi khap, Binyan khap, Nain khap, Dalal khap, Chapol khap, Malik khap, Panchgami khap, Daran khap, Nougama khap, Dhull Khap and Barah Khap were supporting the dharna.
Talking to HT, AIJASS president Malik said, The Haryana government must take action against Saini for his repeated statements against the Jat community. The government should register a case against him as he ordered the police to thrash the youths who threw ink on him.
Malik said Jats would not vote for BJP in the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Punjab if the Haryana government failed to take proper action against Saini.
In Rohtak, Jat groups gathered at Mansarovar Park on Monday and demanded action against Saini.
Having already forced Saini to cancel his rally in Charkhi Dadri on Saturday, they demanded that the MP be booked under sedition charges for his comments against the Jat community.
The protesters burnt the effigy of the government and warned of a stir if action against the MP was not taken soon.
Besides, the Jats demanded that supporters of the MP who allegedly thrashed the Jat youths soon after they hurled ink on him be arrested and action be taken against police officials who allowed Saini supporters to have a free run.
Jat leader Atmanand Deswal said the Kurukshetra MP had been bad mouthing about the Jat community and was the sole reason behind the violent quota stir in February that claimed over 30 lives.
Pakistan violated truce deal yet again, and opened fire from automatic weapons on Indian posts and border villages in the districts of Rajouri and Jammu on Tuesday.
The attack, also using mortars, was continuing across the Line of Control and the international border in Naushera sector and Suchetgarh area of RS Pura sector, defence sources said.
Since 10 am, Pak army has been firing intermittently at Indian posts and forward villages, an official said. They are using automatic weapons and firing mortars as well. The army is responding in equal measure.
The sources said the exchanges were initially intense. By afternoon, Pak troops were opening fire intermittently.
The areas being targeted by Pak troops are Baba Khori, Kalsian and Kalal.
BSF Jammu frontier DIG Dharmender Pareekh said Pak rangers opened unprovoked fire in Suchetgarh area of RS Pura sector for an hour till midday.
A scribe from RS Pura informed HT that Pak rangers fired three mortar shells that exploded in the field without causing harm.
The number of Pak violations since Indias September 29 surgical strikes has gone up to 41.
Pakistan had, through Sunday night, pounded 25 Indian posts and over 18 villages from north of Suchetgarh in RS Pura to Chenab River in Akhnoor in Jammu sector. It killed a BSF jawan, Sushil Kumar of Pehova in Haryanas Kurukshetra, and Vicky, a six-year-old son of a labourer from Bihar.
Eight others, including two BSF personnel, were injured in that skirmish that lasted till 6 am on Monday. At least 50 cattle died and 182 others were also wounded on the Indian side.
On Monday, security forces smashed a militant hideout in Rajouri district and recovered a rich haul of arms and ammunition.
A search operation was carried on Monday night, a police official said. The hideout was smashed from where we recovered three IEDs (improvised explosive devices) weighing 21 kg, one AK-56 rifle, 97 AK rounds and five kg of explosive powder.
Read: Children in Jammu write their exams amid mortar explosions
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Tuesday said he told BJP leader Yashwant Sinha that the government should release all separatist leaders and others arrested during an ongoing unrest as a precursor to beginning negotiations on how to solve the Kashmir issue.
Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday led a five-member team to Kashmir to meet separatists, including Geelani and Hurriyat chairperson Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
A statement issued by the Hurriyat faction led by Geelani said the high level delegation called on the octogenarian leader at his residence soon after Sinha and the others landed in Srinagar.
The conversation took place in a cordial atmosphere and Geelani demanded that all people and leaders should be released and the cases against them withdrawn so that, after consultation, a common and collective point of view can be put forward over the Kashmir issue, the statement said.
The Sinha-led team includes former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah, who has served in Jammu and Kashmir, former air vice-marshal Kapil Kak, journalist Bharat Bhushan and activist Sushobha Barve.
The delegation members made it clear that they did not represent the government and were visiting the Kashmir Valley on their own initiative.
The visit is aimed at breaking a logjam after 108 days of unrest and shutdown that have hit normal life in the Kashmir Valley.
At least 92 persons have been killed and over 12,000 injured in clashes between protestors and security forces.
Police have arrested over 7,000 persons, who are suspected to be stone throwers. Some have been let off.
People getting off a boat at a boat station on the Mekong river in the southern city of Can Tho. Nearly 40 percent of Mekong Delta could be wiped out due to climate change by the end of this century, according to an updated scenario by the environment ministry. Photo: AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam
Nearly 40 percent of the Mekong Delta could be wiped out.
Several coastal areas in Vietnam are likely to become the victims of climate change and be under water by the end of this century, according to Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Scenarios for Vietnam released by Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on Tuesday.
If the world does not act upon reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by the end of the century, sea levels could rise by nearly 1 meter. Under this scenario, 38.9 percent of the Mekong Delta, 17.8 percent of Ho Chi Minh City, 16.8 percent of the Red River Delta and 1.47 percent of Central Vietnam will be submerged.
The most vulnerable areas in the Mekong Delta, which currently accounts for half of Vietnams rice production, are the provinces of Hau Giang (80.62 percent at risk of being submerged), Kien Giang (76.86 percent) and Ca Mau (57.69 percent).
The Mekong Delta is already struggling to survive from drought and saltwater intrusion.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the countrys economic hub, 80.78 percent of Binh Thanh District and 36.43 percent of Binh Chanh District are forecast to be under water by the end of this century.
In the central region, Thua Thien Hue is the most vunerable province with 7.69 percent at risk, while Nam Dinh, Thai Binh and Quang Ninh are the most at risk from rising sea levels in the north.
In addition, parts of some islands including Van Don in Quang Ninh, Con Dao in Ba Ria Vung Tau and Phu Quoc in Kien Giang are likely to be lost. The Paracels Islands, which are claimed by Vietnam but controlled by China, are more exposed to rising sea levels than those in the Spratlys, according to the report.
The ministry recommended that vulnerable locations focus on building irrigation systems that can lower the projected damage and adapt to rising sea levels and climate change.
The United Nations has warned that if sea levels rise by one meter, Vietnam will face a loss of $17 billion each year; one fifth of the population or some 18 million will be homeless and 12.3 percent of farmland will disappear.
Even if the world manages to keep temperature increases within 1.5 - 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels as agreed in Paris last December, Vietnam would still face a rise in sea level by around half a meter. That means the country will see 6.7 percent of the Red River Delta, 4.5 percent of the Mekong Delta and 11.4 percent of Ho Chi Minh City under water.
Vietnam is considered one of the countries most at risk from climate change, with annual losses averaging $1.9 billion or 1.3 percent of gross domestic product as a result, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung told a conference in Hanoi on Tuesday.
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Security forces shot dead three more Maoists in the Jantri forests of Malkangiri district in Odisha early Tuesday, taking the toll in one of the biggest encounters with the outlawed extremist outfit to 27.
According to information reaching here, the gun battle, which began on Sunday evening continued till Tuesday, as the special police forces of Andhra and Odisha, supported by anti-Maoist police commandos Greyhounds, chased the fleeing Maoists deep into the Jantri forests abutting Balimela reservoir.
Police sources said the bodies of three Maoists were discovered some time after the encounter resumed on Tuesday.
Twenty four Maoists, including some top leaders and eight women were killed in the encounter on Monday. A Greyhounds commando, who was injured along with another colleague, also succumbed while being shifted to Visakhapatnam.
The post-mortem of all the 24 Maoists killed on Monday was completed at Malkangiri government hospital on Tuesday morning. The police said the bodies would be shifted to Visakhapatnam and would be handed over to their families.
Except two of them, who belonged to Chhattisgarh, all the others belonged to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. So far, identity of 14 slain Maoists has been established and the remaining bodies are yet to be identified, police said.
The site of the encounter in Malkangiri district of Odisha is about 10km from the Andhra border. The Maoists are said to have met for a plenary meeting.
Police seized an assortment of weapons and ammunition including four AK-47 rifles, two SLRs and two INSAS from the site of the encounter on Monday.
Maoist emissary and revolutionary writer P Vara Vara Rao alleged that the shooting was stage-managed, and demanded that bodies be handed to their relatives after autopsy.
The Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, a human rights group, moved a petition in the high court challenging the killing of 24 Maoists. The court ordered the post-mortem examination in Visakhapatnam, but police said it would be done in Malkangiri since shooting happened in Odisha.Andhra Pradesh police chief N Sambasiva
Rao dismissed allegations that the Maoists were killed in cold blood. He said the rebels were gunned down in an exchange of fire with security forces.
Chairing a top security meet in Srinagar on Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti called for immediate de-escalation of the alarming situation along the borders to end miseries of people.
At the meeting of Unified Headquarters (UHQ), comprising top officials of the army, BSF, CRPF, state police and intelligence agencies besides the civil administration, the chief minister was briefed about wide-ranging issues including the emerging security scenario in Kashmir valley, situation along the borders and steps taken to address issues arising out of cross-border shelling.
Ways and means shall have to be explored immediately to bring an end to the sufferings of the hapless people subjected to immense miseries over the past few months because of the continuous cross-border shelling and escalation of violence in the State and the region, she said at the meeting.
She said the hostile and alarming situation along the borders and LoC should keep reminding both India and Pakistan of the inevitability of sitting across the table to find a just and pragmatic solution of all the contentious issues.
Mehbooba, who also condemned todays terror attack on police training academy in Pakistans Quetta, said the vicious cycle of death and destruction confronting the region must end at the earliest.
Whatever (be) the reasons for hardening of stances and attempts by the vested interests to subvert the peace process, there is, however, no substitute to the reconciliatory policy as was done in 2003, she said.
Serious efforts should be made at the political and civil society levels to revive the peace and reconciliation process for the larger good of the people sandwiched in a gory situation, she said.
Condoling the death of a six-year old boy in cross-border firing in R S Pura sector of Jammu on Monday, Mehbooba said, My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones in the fresh violence, both along the borders and at the Police Academy in Quetta, in which they had no role to play.
She said the senseless violence is the common enemy of the people in both India and Pakistan as the scourge of bloodshed has devoured their lives.
She reiterated her governments stand that only coordinated political effort at the highest levels in New Delhi and Islamabad will eliminate the menace of violence and usher the region into an era of peace and prosperity.
Making a fervent appeal for peace on the borders, Mehbooba said the cross-border shelling has seen a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region with people fleeing their homes and scurrying for safety of their lives.
This disquieting scenario has to end to facilitate the people live peacefully in their homes and hearths, she said while noting that people in Jammu and Kashmir have always been the worst sufferers in such hostile situations.
She recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modis recent statement wherein he called on Pakistan to jointly wage a war against poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and infant mortality.
It is high time that both the countries come together without any further delay and start a final war against violence, terrorism and the social and economic deprivation plaguing the region, she said.
With a decisive mandate at his back, Modi has the process of reconciliation in the sub-continent and emerge as a man of peace in the region, the J&K chief minister said.
She said the prevailing challenging situation along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir necessitates the urgency of reviving the composite dialogue process, sooner the better.
We in Jammu and Kashmir understand better what the ordeal of violence is, as it has been our fate to live through and survive its frightening hazards, Mehbooba said.
She expressed the hope that the dark shadows of pessimism cast over the peace process will not jeopardize the regions security and stability as any such scenario would have disastrous and colossal consequences for the people living in the region.
For the people of Jammu & Kashmir, peace along the borders and within the mainland is of immense significance and I hope the political leadership of the two countries treats it with the same spirit, she added.
She called for a political dialogue within the state for the resolution of the internal dimensions of the problem.
She also urged upon the security agencies to conduct their operations keeping in view the safety of the people.
She stressed the need for following a humane approach while dealing with law-and-order situations on ground.
While asking the security agencies to exercise maximum restraint, the chief minister asked them to avoid any civilian casualties and damage to private and public property.
Expressing shock over recent reports of various school buildings being gutted in mysterious fire incidents, Mehbooba said it is a loss to the entire society.
She asked the police to investigate these fire incidents and maintain vigil to prevent such unfortunate events.
The Chief Minister instructed the security forces that rather than static deployment, focus should be on area security.
She urged the police and security forces to hand-hold the misadvised youth who have joined militancy or are indulging in violence, with compassion, and help them bring back to the mainstream through persuasive influence.
Mehbooba also directed that training and skill development programmes should be organized for such youth by way of sustainable livelihood support.
With regard to situation along the borders, she directed Divisional Commissioner and IGP Jammu to ensure safety and security of the life and property of the border residents.
The chief minister called for enhanced vigil and asked the administration to provide shelter and all basic facilities to the people displaced at the time.
Underlining the need for ameliorating the sufferings of the people, Mehbooba said the civil administration, with active support of police and other agencies, should try to resolve problems of common masses.
Information and Broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday termed as wrong the MNS demand of Rs 5 crore from film director Karan Johar for resolving the controversy over his movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (ADHM) and said the government had nothing to do with it.
That was a wrong proposal. We dont agree with their proposal. The Maharashtra chief minister has also clarified that he was not a part of the proposal that was made by some other party..., Naidu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.
Stressing that the matter was between some party and the producer, he said the government do not subscribe to that thinking at all and has no role to play.
The minister was reacting to Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena asking Johar to donate Rs 5 crore to the army for casting Pakistani actor in his movie ADHM.
He also underscored that it was the state governments duty to provide security as the law and order was a state subject.
Maharashtra CM Fadnavis has taken the initiative to amicably resolve the problem through discussion, he added.
The government wants good relations with all including the neighbours but the neighbour too has to behave like a good neighbour, he said while hitting out at Pakistan without naming it.
Aiding, abetting, funding and training terrorists is not acceptable at all. They want to subvert the country. Why are you doing this? This will be ruinous for you also. Let us join together...why this kind of activity? Terrorism is the enemy of humanity, Naidu said.
On the eve of the 70th anniversary of Jammu and Kashmirs accession to India, Rajya Sabha MP Karan Singh said his father Hari Singh, the then Maharaja of the state, and other Dogra rulers have not received much credit for extending the northern frontier of India.
Maharaja Hari Singh had signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947 in exchange for help from the Indian Army to fight tribal raiders from Pakistan who were invading Kashmir.
My fathers main concern was how to save Kashmir, the Congress leader told Hindustan Times.
He, however, regretted that negative historical accounts have been written about his father and other Dogra rulers.
There has been a lot of misinformation with regard to my father. I think he was a very enlightened ruler. When he first came, he said, I have no religion, my religion is justice. Then he took a large number of social welfare measures. Abolished that obnoxious practice of begar (forced labour), brought about reforms and built colleges, the former Union minister said.
Singh credited Maharaja Hari Singh for progressive decrees, such as ordering all the temples to be opened to who were then called Harijans ( Dalits) in 1929.
There was a deliberate attempt to try and be-smudge his image. I am not saying feudalism does not have its weaknesses, he said, referring to the alleged inadequacy in highlighting the role of the Dogra rulers, from the time Maharaja Gulab Singh (who founded the rule).
The man (Gulab Singh) started as a foot soldier in Maharaja Ranjit Singhs army and grew by the sheer dint of merit and bravery. He was made the Maharaja of JammuHe never received much credit for building up the state; and for not only stabilising, but extending the Northern frontier of India, Dr Singh said.
He pointed out that if Jammu and Kashmir had not existed, perhaps Indias frontiers would have been at the Pir Panjal. And all those vast Himalayan regions that were conquered by Dogra troops would not have been part of India, he said.
Underlining the valour of the Sikh and the Dogra rulers, Singh said: Rana Pratap and Chattrapati Shivaji, were great people, but they all fought within the territory of India. It was only the Sikhs under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Dogras under Maharaja Gulab Singh who extended the frontiers of India.
At a time when tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated, Singh said his fathers only concern at the time of signing the accession was to save Kashmir from plunderers.
Commenting on the terms of the accession, he said it was signed on three principles-- that only foreign affairs, defence and communications would be handled by the Centre, and the rest will be under the states control.
We were in Srinagar and my father was holding the Dusshera Durbar when news came that tribals had launched an invasion from Pakistan. [Over the] next two-three day, they were sweeping into the valley, Singh told HT.
He recalled how the Maharaja, after advice from the government of India, agreed to sign the accession deed to be able to get military help, even as state forces under Rajinder Singh, managed to hold up the invaders near Uri for a crucial 48 hours.
Singh dubbed the present turmoil in Kashmir as extremely tragic. He said civil society in India needs to show more sympathy for the Kashmiris even if they do not approve of their actions.
Everyone looks upon Kashmir as a political problem. It is a political problem, but it is also a great humanitarian problem...Politically people think, they (Kashmiris) have been doing this (demand for self rule) so they deserve it, that is not an acceptable attitude, he said.
As the one-year deadline to complete internal elections in the Congress gest closer, there is no clarity if the party will seek further extension of the cut-off date or go for organisational changes before December 31 this year.
The congress working committee (CWC), the partys highest decision-making body, had on September 8 last year extended the date of completion of the organisational elections by one year.
With it, the term of Congress president Sonia Gandhi was also extended by a year.
The party had then informed the election commission of its decision. A political party is required to inform the poll body of the mode and periodicity of organisational elections at different levels.
Congress sources did not rule out the possibility of a CWC meeting next month to take a call on the organisational elections, which seem unlikely at this juncture in view of the upcoming assembly elections in five states and the fact that the leadership is busy campaigning. Apart from Uttar Pradesh, assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur in February-March next year.
A senior Congress functionary told HT that since party vice-president Rahul Gandhi is busy campaigning in the poll-bound states, there are little chances that the present arrangement will be disturbed. That means, Sonia Gandhi will get another extension.
She already holds the record of having served as the Congress president for 18 consecutive years after taking over the reins of the party from Sitaram Kesri in 1998. Sonia Gandhi was re-elected as the Congress president for a record fourth time in a row on September 3, 2010. At its December 2010 plenary in Delhi, the party had increased the term of its president from three to five years.
But in last years CWC meeting, the party proposed an amendment in its constitution to reduce the tenure of Congress president from five to three years.
The last elections to the CWC were held in 1997 when Sitaram Kesri was the party chief. However, a keen contest was witnessed for the post of the Congress president in 2000 when Sonia Gandhi defeated Jitendra Prasada. That was the last time elections were held for any post in the party. Since then, all appointments are being made through nomination.
For his part, Rahul Gandhi has stressed the need to end this nomination culture and promised to hold regular elections at all levels from the CWC to district and block committees. On many occasions, he had expressed concern over the increasing trend in the party to boost numbers through fake membership. In the past, there have been allegations that leaders manipulate figures by dubious methods to outsmart their rivals and influence the outcome as happened in Youth Congress elections.
The Congress also had to extend its nationwide membership drive 4-5 times since it was launched on October 16, 2014 in view of poor response.
On the other hand, the BJP claims to have enrolled 10.42 crore members across the country within a year after coming to power in May 2014, smashing the Chinese Communist Partys world record of a membership of 6.48 crore.
For their part, Congress managers insist that the extension of Sonia Gandhis term does not necessarily mean that Rahul Gandhi will have to wait for another year to take over the reins of the party.
A senior Congress functionary said the decision on timing of the change of guard has to be taken by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. He further explained that the CWC resolution on Sonias extension is a technical requirement that will have no bearing on the timing of Rahuls elevation to the top post in the party.
As the one-year deadline to complete internal elections in the Congress gets closer, there is no clarity if the party will seek further extension of the cut-off date or go for organisational changes before December 31 this year.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the partys highest decision-making body, had on September 8 last year extended the date of completion of the organisational elections by one year.
With it, the term of Congress president Sonia Gandhi was also extended by a year.
The party had then informed the election commission of its decision. A political party is required to inform the poll body of the mode and periodicity of organisational elections at different levels.
Congress sources did not rule out the possibility of a CWC meeting next month to take a call on the organisational elections, which seem unlikely at this juncture in view of the upcoming assembly elections in five states and the fact that the leadership is busy campaigning.
Apart from UP, assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur next year.
A senior Congress functionary told HT that since party vice-president Rahul Gandhi is busy campaigning in the poll-bound states, there are little chances that the present arrangement will be disturbed. That means, Sonia Gandhi will get another extension.
She already holds the record of having served as the Congress president for 18 consecutive years after taking over the reins of the party from Sitaram Kesri in 1998. Sonia Gandhi was re-elected as the Congress president for a record fourth time in a row on September 3, 2010. At its December 2010 plenary in Delhi, the party had increased the term of its president from three to five years.
But in last years CWC meeting, the party proposed an amendment in its constitution to reduce the tenure of Congress president from five to three years.
The last elections to the CWC were held in 1997 when Sitaram Kesri was the party chief. However, a keen contest was witnessed for the post of the Congress president in 2000 when Sonia Gandhi defeated Jitendra Prasada. That was the last time elections were held for any post in the party.
Read| Rahul running Cong ably, will become chief soon: Ambika Soni
Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Indias deputy high commissioner and lodged a strong protest against ceasefire violations along the Working Boundary, the Foreign Office in Islamabad said.
Deputy high commissioner JP Singh was summoned by the Director General (South Asia and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation).
A strong protest was lodged against the unprovoked ceasefire violations on October 23-24 by Indian forces at the Working Boundary in Phuklian and Chaprar Sectors in which two civilians, including a one-and-a-half-year-old girl, were killed and six others were injured, Foreign Office said in a statement.
It was conveyed to the Indian side that it should investigate the incident and share the findings with Pakistan, instruct its troops to respect the Ceasefire in letter and spirit, refrain from intentionally targeting the villages and maintain peace on the Working Boundary, the statement said.
Pakistan has also lodged a protest with the United Nations Military Observers group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) over the killing of two civilians in unprovoked firing across the Working Boundary, Dawn reported.
India resorted to unprovoked firing across the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in the Bhimber and Chaprar sectors respectively today, Inter-Services Public Relations said.
The exchange of fire was ongoing, the statement added.
Ceasefire violations by India Protest lodged by Pakistan with UNMOGIP regarding unprovoked firing by Indian forces on Working Boundary last night that killed innocent civilians, M Nafees Zakaria, Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan, tweeted yesterday.
Meanwhile, India today said Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire by targeting Indian Army positions with mortar and small arms fire in Noushera sector of Rajouri district, prompting the army to give a befitting response.
A six-year-old boy and a BSF Jawan were killed and 10 people including 8 civilians were injured in the shelling yesterday when Pakistan Rangers targeted over 25 Border out Posts in the border hamlets along International Border.
There have been over 40 ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side since the Indian side carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir targeting terror launching pads, post the attack on an army camp in Uri on September 18.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remark on triple talaq, BSP president Mayawati said he should not interfere in the matter and allow Muslims to solve the issue through consensus.
In a press communique, Mayawati attacked the Prime Minister for politicising the issue for electoral gains.
PM should know that unity in diversity is the main identity of our country. Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees the citizens freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion. Instead of Constitutional provisions, the PM is trying to implement the RSS agenda, she said.
The BSP is trying hard to strengthen its grip over Muslim votes after family feud gripped the ruling Samajwadi Party.
Addressing a rally in Lucknow recently, Mayawati had called upon Muslim voters not to waste their vote on SP as only BSP could stop BJP from coming to power in UP.
Mayawati hopes Muslim votes will swing towards BSP in view of the crisis in Yadav family. The triple talaq issue has also come in handy for the BSP to woo Muslims.
Addressing Mahaparivartan Rally in Bundelkhand on Monday, Modi has condemned the practice of triple talaq. It is anti-women and central government will protect their rights, he said.
Making a scathing attack on Modi, Mayawati said saffron brigade was trying to terrorise the Muslim community.
Earlier, they raised the issue of cow protection and love jihad. Muslims were attacked and killed in various parts of the country. BJP is raking up triple talaq issue to polarise voters before UP assembly election. BSP will oppose any attempt by the NDA government to meddle with Sharia law, she said.
Member of All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIPLMB) Khaild Rasheed Faranagi Mahali said the central government was trying to interfere in Muslim personal law and the Board would oppose the move.
Read| For or against triple talaq? Signature war erupts in Muslim community
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President Pranab Mukherjee asked world leaders on Tuesday to come together to defeat the menace of terrorism, which has no ideology and only believes in wanton destruction of humanity.
Terrorism, the President said, has assumed such proportions as are difficult for individual nations to tackle.
Terrorism has no ideology except the wanton destruction of humanity. We need to deal with this menace in order to leave a safer world for the coming generations, the President was quoted in an official statement as saying at the function organised by Asian Forum on Global Governance, an outfit formed by former Union minister Shashi Tharoor.
The President said global governance is not just about maintaining peace as here were many challenges that needed to be tackled.
Manifold challenges are staring at us such as poverty, hunger, disease and exploitation of the resources of mother earth, he said, adding global governance is a concept that has come to acquire increasing significance today.
Poverty eradication, environmental preservation of our planet, maintenance of peace, social inclusion etc. are at once the objectives of global governance and challenges to overcome.
Global governance can acquire greater legitimacy through institutions that are more open and which find new and innovative ways to address issues, he said while advocating restructuring of United Nations which was required so that it reflects our times and rises to current challenges.
The President said two important documents have been concluded by the global community in the recent past - the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on countering climate change.
These two documents signify that the global community has agreed that it must be our common endeavour inter-alia to eradicate poverty and to develop and grow sustainably, he said.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will take over the reins of party president from his mother Sonia Gandhi soon, senior leader Ambika Soni said in Shimla on Tuesday.
Rahul Gandhi is going to become the party chief very soon. Though I dont have a crystal glass to predict this but he will take over the mantle shortly...
He takes important decisions and also consults the Congress president where he feels like. He calls leaders when he feels the need to talk to them. He is running the Congress very ably, Soni, who is the Himachal Pradesh party affairs in-charge, told reporters.
Soni said a formal decision to elevate Rahul could take place once Sonia, 69, recovers from a shoulder injury. Sonia had to cut short a road show in Prime Minister Narendra Modis Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on August 3 after she felt dizzy and was later hospitalised in Delhi with a fracture in the shoulder.
On Rahuls sister Priyanka, Soni said:...I have seen her working backstage in the last Lok Sabha elections for all constituencies, not just (Nehru-Gandhi family bastions of) Amethi and Rae Bareli. With elections nearing, the party would like to see her in an active role.
The house which is under probe for double homicide in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Xuan
A 48-year-old woman died of suffocation and her son succumbed to head injuries.
The wife and son of a government official in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province died on Monday in what appears to be a horrific homicide.
Bui Xuan Thuong, a senior official in the province's Chau Duc District, arrived at 4 p.m. on Monday to find his wife barely breathing on the first floor. The 48-year-old woman died from suffocation on the way to hospital.
His neighbors found the body of his son, 17, tied up in a pool of blood in the storehouse.
Forensic tests found the boy had been hit over the head.
A local said he saw a young man leaving the house on a motorbike at about that time. The motorbike was the only thing found missing from the 1,000 square-meter villa, which does not have security cameras.
Thuong has one daughter who is married and lives elsewhere, and another who is studying in Ho Chi Minh City.
Police are investigating further. A senior police officer said the case is extremely serious.
Vietnam reported 1.51 intentional homicides per 100,000 people in 2011, up from 1.25 in 2008, the New York Times reported in August, using a World Bank database that cites figures from the United Nations.
But that was still below the average of two per 100,000 people reported across the Asia-Pacific region in 2012, the closest year for which data was available, the Times said.
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The Bombay high court has held that the state chief information commissioner has powers under Right to Information Act (RTI) to transfer State Information Commissioner from one region to another for the purpose of ensuring that the Commission functions in a smooth manner.
This significant ruling was delivered by a bench headed by Justice V M Kanade, who recently held that the State Chief Information Commissioner has such powers under section 15(4) of RTI Act to transfer State Information Commissioners from one region to another.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by a Pune-based journalist Vijay Kumbhar challenging transfer of Ravindra Jadhav, State information Commissioner posted at Amravati, to another place.
Jadhav did not challenge his transfer but Kumbhar filed a petition challenging the transfer of Jadhav from Amravati to another place on the ground that the State Chief Information Officer had no powers under RTI Act to transfer State Information Commissioners.
The high court was satisfied that the petitioner was a responsible public activist and hence it permitted him to file this petition as a PIL.
In our view, the State Chief Information Commissioner has powers under section 15 (4) of RTI Act to transfer State Information Commissioners from one place to another to ensure smooth functioning of the Commissions in the State, the bench ruled.
If there is any curb on his authority, the very aim and object of having the State Information Commission would be rendered nugatory and would be defeated. We do not see any substance in the petition, said the bench.
The petition is therefore dismissed and the interim order passed earlier stands vacated, the bench uled. It has to be remembered that the RTI Act was passed in order to ensure that there is transparency in the functioning of the Governments and their instrumentalities. In a democratic country, citizens are required to be informed about the manner in which the governments and their authorities function so that there is no scope for arbitrary action and also to contain corruption and lastly to hold governments and their instrumentalities accountable, the bench further observed.
Indians have become more generous with a larger number of people lending a helping hand to others during last year, according to a new study on generosity that ranks more than 140 countries.
The World Giving Index 2016 that was released on Monday ranked India at 91 - an improvement from last years 106th - and is placed just above Pakistan and Bangladesh.
However, it still scores significantly lower than some of its neighbours like Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal.
About 43% Indians reported helping someone they didnt know in 2015, up from 37% in 2014, in the global poll by market research firm Gallup and commissioned by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).
According to Gallup, it interviewed 3,000 Indians between April 3 and May 14, 2015, in 11 languages - Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Malayalam, Odia, Punjabi, Assamese. The survey excluded those living in the northeast states and on remote islands.
Myanmar was once again ranked first in the combined rankings having held the top spot on its own in 2015 and jointly with the United States in 2014. Myanmars 2016 overall score is 70%, improving on the record high of 66% it achieved last year.
The US ranked second, making it the most generous nation in the West, followed by Australia.
China came last in the overall rankings with a score of 11%.
World Giving Index
Since its inception in 2010, the CAF has been measuring the World Giving Index by looking at three measures of giving: the percentage of people who have helped a stranger, donated money to a charity or volunteered their time in the last one month.
At least 1,48,000 people in 140 countries were surveyed last year.
Here is the complete breakdown of the points scored under the three heads by different countries.
A compromise eludes the feuding Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh, three months since the dispute germinated.
All contentious issues remain unresolved, though party leaders pompously claim truce, which is nothing but a farce. Protests outside party offices speak volumes about the growing dissent.
But one message which is loud and clear is that Mulayam Singh Yadav is supreme in the Samajwadi Party and he alone would take all decisions.
The problem is acute, much more than what meets the eye. Akhilesh Yadav is a popular leader and the government is doing fine, then why these hesitations in projecting him as the CM face, or giving him his due credit? Who can understand conspiracies of the palace (referring to Mulayams large family)? remarks Prof Manoj Dixit of Lucknow University.
Mulayams son and chief minister, Akhilesh, could have resigned or forced Presidents rule in Uttar Pradesh, where assembly polls are due next year, the professor says, commenting on the CMs public humiliation, which is perhaps the first in Indian history.
Shivpal Singh Yadav addressing a press conference along with other sacked minister from Akhilesh Yadav cabinet at Samajwadi party on Sunday. (Deepak Gupta / HT photo)
The problem was simmering since early June, but took a serious turn on September 12 when Akhilesh sacked controversial ministers Gayatri Prajapati and Rajkishore Singh. Next day, he removed chief secretary Deepak Singhal. He was doing his fathers bidding all along, but hell broke loose last month. Patriarch Mulayam removed Akhilesh from the partys state president post and openly supported blood brother Shivpal Singh Yadav and political brother Amar Singh, despite growing dissent against the latter among the Samajwadis.
The fathers message to son: learn to live with both uncles. Akhilesh is perhaps left with little option but to accept Amar, eating his past remarks that he would never call an outsider his uncle.
Allahabad-based socialist leader Vinod C Dubey, who knows 76-year-old Mulayam since his youth, says the family is tarnishing its own image and that of Akhilesh too.
Read | All is well in SP, says Shivpal Yadav day after showdown with nephew Akhilesh
Mulayam Singh Yadav is still the top boss in the party (PTI)
Among the unresolved issues are who will be the partys chief-ministerial candidate in the 2017 polls. Senior leaders take Akhileshs name, but Mulayam insists legislators will elect the new leader after the elections. Apparently, Shivpal is forcing his elder brothers hand.
Another tricky issue is party ticket distribution. Akhilesh has repeatedly demanded a say in selecting poll candidates. But Mulayam wishes to keep complete control over who to give tickets to contest as an SP candidate. Shivpal as state president will have a major say as Akhilesh loyalist and Mulayam cousin, Ramgopal, is now in no position to veto names. He has been expelled.
Ramgopal is unlikely to return, as are youth leaders from team Akhilesh who were given the marching orders before. Shivpal has remained stubborn to revoking expulsions. Mulayam is silent.
Akhilesh called the 2017 polls a test for the party and himself. He has planned a yatra or political march to start the campaign. But he needs uncle Shivpals support as he controls the party organisation.
Above all these, stands Mulayam. People now wonder what happened to his legendary political acumen.
Read | Akhilesh Yadav on his own? How he might shake UP politics
Seven smuggling cases were detected at the Mumbai International airport in 48 hours by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU). The articles smuggled include gold, foreign currency and smartphones.
In four cases, passengers were intercepted with gold, while gold bars were found abandoned in an aircraft in another case. One passenger was intercepted with foreign currency, while another was caught with 176 used Apple iPhones.
AIU officials said a passenger, Drastamat Vardanyan, travelling on an Armenian passport, arrived from Dubai carrying a 1,227-g gold chain valued at Rs33.98 lakh, which was seized. He has been arrested. In another case, one Sajid Yakub, holding an Indian passport, arrived from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was found carrying 176 used iPhones valued at Rs16.63 lakh. The phones were seized and a case was filed, said a high-ranking AIU officer, on condition of anonymity.
WATCH: 7 smuggling attempts busted in two days
Another passenger, Kaiser Khan, who arrived from Dubai, was found carrying two gold bars valued at Rs6.42 lakh. In another case, Amiruddin Khan, who was leaving for Dubai, was found carrying $5000 and 8,750 UAE Dirhams. Another passenger, Ramesh, was found carrying four diamond-studded gold rings valued at Rs6.20 lakh.
AIU also intercepted Nafisa Mohamed Abubakar, who arrived from Dubai and holds an Indian passport. We found three gold bars valued at Rs7.97 lakh concealed in the rectum, said the officer.
In a case, officers rummaged an aircraft at a remote bay and found six gold bars valued at Rs19.38 lakh. An unclaimed seizure case was made of the gold, which was cleverly concealed inside the cavity of the horizontal pipe frame below the passenger seat, said the officer. Investigations are on about who concealed the gold.
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Officers from the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai customs on Monday found a bag containing six gold bars, worth Rs 19.38 lakh, inside an aircraft at Mumbai airport. The bag had been cleverly concealed inside the cavity of the horizontal pipe frame below a passenger seat, said an officer. AIU has launched an investigation.
It was the second such discovery at Mumbai airport in the past few days; on Thursday, AIU officers found an unclaimed bag full of gold bars at the international airport. The bag contained 12 gold bars of 10 grams each, worth Rs 38 lakh in all. Officials suspected that a smuggler may have left the gold for someone else to pick up.
Customs officials have in the past arrested loaders, cleaners, trolley handlers and others who work at the airport in smuggling cases. A source such staffers have passes that allow them to move around freely within the airport and thus help smugglers.
A source said that one method involves a smuggler concealing gold bars under his seat and leaving them there for a cleaner to pick up and smuggle out of the airport in a dustbin.
AIU officials have in the past found gold bars in bags hidden inside plane toilets, in lifejacket pouches, tissue paper holders, under seats, in toilets near immigration counters and even inside oxygen mask cavities in plane toilets.
AIU investigations have revealed that most of the gold smuggled into India comes from Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore, Colombo, Muscat, Kuwait, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Madagascar, Mauritius and Nairobi. Some of these places are free ports, where there is no scrutiny.
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The Mumbai police on Monday raided gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawlis Dagdi Chawl and arrested one vegetable vendor who was considered to be a close aide of the gangster. He was found to be in possession of Rs 11 lakh cash. Police sources said they were probing whether Gawli has any connection with the cash.
Gawli is currently out on parole, which was granted to him by the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court from October 21 to November 2 to attend his ailing wife, who is undergoing surgery today.
A close aide of the gangster, the vendor, Anil Pisal,48,was initially arrested under section 41(D) of criminal procedure code (CrPC) and was subsequently booked under section 124 ( Possession of Property of Which No Satisfactory Account Can Be Given) of Maharashtra Police Act.
Senior police inspector Ashok Sarambalkar from Agripada police station confirmed that they are investigating Gawlis role in the matter and said, We are investigating the case very thoroughly and necessary arrests shall be made, if anyone is found involved.
The officers from the Agripada police station had on Sunday received information that Pisal had collected a huge amount in cash from someone, and has four serious criminal cases registered against him.Following this, a raid was carried out in his house at Dagadi chawl.
After being brought to the police station, Pisal could not give proper answers during the inquiry. He claimed that he had earned the money from selling vegetables which is not believable, so he was arrested, added an officer from Agripada police station.
Police sources said that the accused would have collected extortion money on behalf of the gangster, and the investigation is being conducted on those lines .
Pisal was earlier booked in four serious offences, including kidnapping, grievous hurt and rioting back in the 90s. However, he got acquittal in all the cases.
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The Mumbai civic body wants a replacement for Dory, the Humboldt Penguin that died on Sunday, but this is likely to take time.
Officials from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a central government statutory body to fight organised wildlife crime in India, told HT they visited the Byculla Zoo on Tuesday to talk to the authorities about how lengthy the process to import another penguin will be., as this would need approvals from the Centre and state.
The officials also checked the upkeep of the other seven penguins brought from Seoul in South Korea.
On Monday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had blamed the private agency that brought the penguins and sought a replacement. We told the zoo authorities they cannot get another penguin without valid documentation, said M Maranko, regional director, WCCB.
He added the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) an international agreement between governments of 175 countries including India requires the BMC to get a no-objection-certificate (NOC) from the chief wildlife warden, Maharashtra state forest department, the union environment ministry and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA).
After the environment ministry clears the plan, the recommendation will be submitted to the director general of Foreign Trade with the Ministry of Commerce. A similar procedure will be carried out in South Korea, said Maranko. Only after we receive all clearances will we allow the import of another penguin.
Experts also said the CITES law is strictly monitored internationally, especially after cases of incidents during cross-country wildlife trade. There have been some cases where countries acquiring new animals have, on purpose, infected a small number and demanded a replacement of all animals as per the initial agreement. CITES stops this from happening, said Jose Louies, head of trade control, Wildlife Trust of India. Hypothetically, if another eight Humboldt penguins were brought to the Byculla zoo, which is in a shambles, it would be a catastrophe.
WCCB officials, however, said on checking penguins from outside the quarantined area, they appeared to be healthy. We dont know if the infection has been passed on to the other penguins, but they seem cheerful, said Maranko.
City zoo officials called it a routine check. The remaining seven penguins are fine and we will follow the procedure, said Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director, Byculla Zoo.
Meanwhile, in a bid to stop the procurement of another penguin, city-based NGO Plants and Animals Welfare Society - Mumbai (PAWS) wrote to the CZA on Monday and will write to the state chief wildlife warden about Dorys death. Before any clarity on whether other penguins are infected, BMC wants to replace the penguin that died. The central government needs to look into the matter seriously, said Sunish Sumbramaniam Kunju, secretary, PAWS.
CZA had warned Byculla Zoo about getting penguins to India in 2014
After activists had strongly protested against the idea of importing Humboldt penguins in 2014, the Central Zoo Authority wrote to activists and the zoo that the proposal was not advisable. In a technical committee meeting of the Central Zoo Authority, it was intimated the proposal to acquire penguins by the Byculla Zoo was not advisable from the point of view of animal welfare issues, negative publicity, economics and difficulty in creating naturalistic conditions and experts need to be consulted, read the document signed by Inder Dhamija, the then deputy inspector general, CZA.
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Deepika Padukone, who is currently awaiting the release of her Hollywood debut xXx: Return of Xander Cage, will present an award at MTV Europe Music Awards in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
#cantwait #6thNov #mtvema A photo posted by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) on Oct 24, 2016 at 9:10pm PDT
The 30-year-old star expressed her excitement on social media with fans, saying she cannot wait for the star-studded night.
The actress shared a poster of herself, announcing the news by captioning it, Deepikapadukone. Cant wait. #6thNov #mtvema.
The award ceremony will air in India on November 7 on Vh1.
Follow @htshowbiz for more
Sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar will be in India in December for a six-city tour to promote her new album, Land of Gold.
Starting from Chennai, Anoushka will perform in Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad on December 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 respectively.
Land of Gold is an amalgamation of electronics and cross-genre collaborations, and is her fervent response to the humanitarian trauma of displaced people fleeing conflict and poverty.
Land of Gold is the culmination of my journey to the interior, channeling my distress at the situation in a constructive way, exploring the stories of the voiceless and dispossessed.
The central message of Land of Gold is the recognition of the resilience of the human spirit and of our capacity to find the place where enduring hope resides, Anoushka said in a statement.
A follow up to her 2015s classical album Home, the album is an innovative, cutting-edge programme addressing themes of movement, asylum, refugees.
For the album, Anoushka has collaborated with Bjorks musical director, Matt Robertson, Sri Lankan rap star MIA, American jazz bass dynamo Larry Grenadier, Austrian percussionist Manu Delago, dance legend Akram Khan and English actress/activist Vanessa Redgrave.
The tour, curated by Alchemist Marketing Solutions, will be the artists fifth country-wide solo tour.
Her new production, Land of Gold, is an amalgamation of electronics and cross-genre collaborations. (Twitter)
The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) cadre in Gurgaon are distributing local-made earthen diyas and urging people not to buy Chinese goods. They started the drive of distributing diyas door-to-door on Saturday and will continue till Diwali.
The cadre are urging residents to say no to Chinese diyas, firecrackers, lights etc and buy Indian products only. Earlier, several traders associations and labour unions in Gurgaon are boycotting Chinese products.
Along with 20 diyas in every household, the cadre are also distributed a pamphlet carrying the message of the importance of buying local made products and reasons for shunning Chinese goods. In two days, they claim to have distributed more than 3,000 diyas in several areas of old Gurgaon.
Other local branches of the Sangh are also planning to distribute diyas from Monday onwards. An RSS cadre from Arjun Nagar, Amarjeet, said they would distribute diyas in morning and evening.
Read more: Ahead of Diwali, here is why this village in Ghaziabad is having a blast
Through this drive we want to support the Indian industry. There are emotional reasons too, as China is supporting Pakistan which is sending terrorists into Indian territory. We are making people aware about the long-term economic and strategic drawbacks of buying Chinese goods, said Parthsarthi Sharma, co-convener of social media cell of Gurgaon city RSS.
Sharma said there is no need to buy Chinese products as most of them are made in India as well. He said the government is considering the ill-effects of Chinese crackers, but people should also say no ti Made in China products.
A number of Residents Welfare Associations have also appealed to the residents through social media groups to boycott Chinese products. Several local labour and workers unions have also given decided not to buy Chinese goods.
China is supporting Pakistan, the country which is constantly attacking India. Buying Chinese products means our money is being used for terrorist activities. We will continue the campaign to make people aware of this fact, said Kuldeep Janghu, general secretary Maruti Industry Workers Union.
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The stench has driven customers away from lakeside cafes and restaurants.
People living in the Van Quan residential area have been enduring an almighty stench that has been coming from a local lake for more than five years.
Bach Thi Minh Hanh said she has to keep all the doors and windows shut day and night but the smell remains unbearable.
Water levels in the 2,000-square-meter Van Quan Lake have been falling over the past few days because of the hot weather, and this has exposed sulphur compounds on the lake bed that have made the foul odor even worse.
The smell of rotten eggs is particularly strong on sunny and windy days, local people have complained.
The smell from the lake has become worse over the past week, and a thick layer of blue-green algae and dead fish have appeared on its surface.
People cant open their windows or go outside due to the stink, said Pho Duc Tuan, a senior resident.
"The smell is so strong it can give you a headache and make you want to vomit," he added.
For the past week, there has been a disgusting smell coming from the water, said Le Hieu, who lives about 50 meters from the lake.
He added he has taken to wearing a face mask outdoors or holding his breath to avoid the unpleasant smell.
Local shops said they can't run their businesses when the pungent smell hanging over them because nobody wants to go out.
Things get worse when it is hot. The air circulating in the restaurant and getting up customers noses definitely isnt fresh. Everyone feels like they can hardly breathe, said Nguyen Gia Sinh, a 61-year-old security guard at a restaurant on the edge of the lake.
We've lost business because of the horrendous smell from the lake," said Tuan, a waiter at a coffee shop. "We used to have fresh air and people loved coming here to have diner. But now, they just simply walk away after one whiff of the smell.
Pham Van Quan, head of a local community group, said local residents have been living with the intense odor from the lake for the past five years and this year has been particularly bad.
Quan blamed a massive amount of untreated waste water discharged directly into the lake by thousands of households for the serious pollution.
Photos by Ngoc Thanh
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The two had been in love, but fear of society led them to elope. Shortly afterwards, the young Muslim couple returned to their village, where elders held their wedding at a Hindu shrine.
Amid nationwide surge in religious intolerance, Mohammad Sohan, 25, and Nuresha Khatun, who is five years younger to the groom, married in a Shiva temple at Bhimnagar village of Supaul district in northeast Bihar bordering Nepal.
The nikah last weekend was attended by hundreds of people from Hindu and Muslim communities. Maulvi Mohammad Jaffar, who read out kalma to the couple, said the decision was taken to make people realise that one thing which always wins is love.
Added panchayat head Sudhir Kumar Singh, who was behind this organising the marriage with a difference: Its a nikah that was solemnised at the verandah of Shiva temple. We hope this will send a strong message to those who are spreading hatred among communities in the world.
Both Sohan and Nuresha, who are natives of Bhimnagar panchayat along the Indo-Nepal border, were in love for over five years. During the Dussehra festival, they eloped to Delhi travelling no less than 1,200 km, only to return to their village on Friday.
Soon after, local people convened a panchayat, which was attended by members of both the communities. They unanimously decided to solemnise the pairs nikah at the Lord Shiva temple in Bhimnagar, 240 km from state capital Patna.
The Maulvi noted that it was really wonderful to see a nikah being performed in a mandir. I dont know whether this will succeed in spreading worldwide the message of love. But I can say this will certainly strengthen our unity here, he said.
A beaming Nuresha said the couples love has finally won.
We will return to the temple every year to celebrate our marriage anniversary, she added.
Rift in the local unit of Congress came to the fore again on Monday when loyalists of former Union minister Manish Tewari refused to fill the form while applying for contesting in the upcoming municipal corporation elections to be held in the third week of December.
Most of the candidates who applied for the ticket are loyalists of former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.
Manish Tewari (HT File Photo)
As Monday was the last day for submitting the application forms, around party 125 candidates applied, but Tewari loyalists said this was not the way as they were asked to apply for second to time, that too with loyalty affidavit. Earlier, the Tewari group had demanded 11 ticket.
Chander Mukhi Sharma, a Tewari loyalist, said, What is the guarantee that they will not ask for application for the third time. We have brought this wrong practice to the high commands notice and they have assured us to look into the matter.
Another Tewari loyalist former UT Congress vice-president, Gurbachan Singh said, We have never seen such thing in the party in the past five decades. We have spent entire life serving the Congress and now they are asking us to prove our loyalty to the party. This is hurting us.
Chandigarh Congress unit president Pardeep Chhabra said, We have just sought the consent of those who want to contest the election. Now have told the serious candidates to fill application forms. This time, the UT Congress has replicated the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) form for accepting the application from candidates seeking party ticket. Winnability will be the only criterion for selecting the candidates.
Councillors apply
Among sitting Congress councillors who applied for the ticket were Subhash Chawla, Gurbax Rawat, Sheela Devi and Harphool Chander Kalyan. Among former Congress councillors who applied for ticket are HS Lucky, Devinder Singh Babla and Kamlesh Banarsi Dass. Other Congress leaders who applied for ticket are Shashi Shanker Tewari and Meenashkhi Chaudhary.
In the current House, of 26 elected councillors, the Congress has nine and the SAD-BJP alliance has 15 members. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has one councillor while there is one Independent member.
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As a few politico-religious personalities did not shy away from giving credit to the Badals for the spruced-up heritage street to the Golden Temple, both chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal termed it a sewa at gurus adobe.
The CM, who opened the stretch on Tuesday along with the Golden Temple Plaza, also refrained from political speech. Lauding the effort of Sukhbir and his team, the CM said: The credit for this project doesnt go to me, Sukhbir or the government. This is all about sewa at guru ki nagri.
Also read | Amritsars makeover: Golden grandeur with a heritage tinge
Badal, who walked through the heritage street along with other Akali leaders and religious personalities, said the state government was building memorials to ensure that the future generations know about their history, culture and tradition.
CM Parkash Singh Badal addressing the gathering at the inauguration of heritage street near Golden Temple in Amritsar on Tuesday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT Photo)
Speaking on the occasion, Sukhbir said: I thank the almighty for blessing me with the good fortune to do this sewa. He even sought an apology for any shortcoming in the project.
Terming the interpretation centre in the basement of the plaza the highlight of the place where Sikh history, religious philosophy, ethos and culture would be showcased, Sukhbir urged people to come and see the wonderful place.
Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh appreciated the efforts put in by the CM and Sukhbir for the project and urged the Sikh sangat to give another chance to the Badals not only to make the Guru ki nagri extremely beautiful place but also make Punjab as beautiful as Paris.
Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal talks to his father, CM Parkash Singh Badal, at the inauguration function. (Gurpreet Singh/HT Photo)
Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma also exhorted the Sikh community across the globe to visit the place and witness the marvellous makeover.
Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, state BJP chief Vijay Sampla, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjit Singh GK, state cabinet ministers, MLAs and representatives of Sikh bodies were also present.
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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor Satish Kainth, who was elected on Congress ticket in December 2011 and was Chandigarh deputy mayor for two consecutive terms, is controversys favourite child.
Kainth switched loyalties to the BJP in 2015 citing ideological differences with the Congress. Residents of ward 20 comprising Sector 29, Industrial Area Phase-1, Sanjay Colony and Colony No 4 which he represents in the municipal corporation House accuse him of ignoring their areas.
Son of a tailor, he first contested the MC election in 2006 from ward 23 comprising Ramdarbar, Hallomajra and Faidan village against BJP candidate Ram Lal and lost.
Kainth claims to have carried out several developmental works, but core issues of the ward remain unresolved. The long-pending demand of residents for a dispensary and e-sampark centre in Sector 29 were not met with, leaving them disgruntled. While sanitation is a major issue in Colony Number 4, Industrial Area and Sanjay Colony, he got the re-locatable toilets in the area fixed. Parking chaos tops the list of problems in Industrial Area, Phase 1.
An additional block was added to the dispensary in Phase 1 but it is yet to be inaugurated. Though he claims that green belts have been developed in Sector 29 their maintenance is far from satisfactory. Street lights are non functional in the ward due to recurring incidents of theft of devices.
Kainth, who joined the Congress in 1990, was in jail for three months for allegedly grabbing land of a widow but managed to settle the issue by using what his rivals call money power. He, however, claims to be a victim of political rivalry in the land grab case.
He was booked in March on the complaint of Bimla Devi, a widow hailing from Faridabad, alleging that he had illegally occupied her five-marla plot in Hallomajra. He surrendered in June after remaining on the run for months.
The first-time councillor, who has had several brushes with the law and has remained embroiled in controversies one after another, is considered close to city mayor Arun Sood.
He has been involved in cases that involved assault, rioting, locking a chief engineer in his room, pelting the Manimajra police station with stones, taking up fights with the district education officer and registration and licensing authority officer.
The new dispensary building at Industrial Area Phase 1, Chandigarh awaits inauguration. (Karun Sharma/HT Photo )
I come from a very humble background. It was unfortunate that I got involved in controversies, says Kainth, adding that he started working for the Dalit community in the nineties by setting up a youth federation.
I joined politics to give the Dalit community a voice, says Kainth, himself a Dalit.
He also was among the councillors whose honorarium was cut for taking along their family members on a study tour to Chennai, Kolkata and Port Blair in 2014.
He along with seven persons booked for rioting and attempt to murder after they allegedly pelted police with stones at Colony Number 4, leaving assistant superintendent of police (ASP East) Parvinder Singh injured among others.
The incident took place after residents were agitated when police failed to trace a four-year-old girl who had gone missing in April 2015. She was later found raped and murdered.
In February 2015, two residents of Hallomajra village had accused Kainth and his brother-in-law of assaulting them. The matter came to an end after Kainth offered his apology.
Tomorrow: Ward 21 Heera Negi (BJP)
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Accusing the municipal corporation of failing to curb the outbreak of dengue, chikungunya and other viral diseases in the city this year, the district Congress committee (urban) took out a protest march and laid siege to the civic body office at Ranjit Avenue here on Monday.
Led by district unit president Jugal Kishore Sharma, hundreds of party workers gathered near the shopping complex at Ranjit Avenue B-Block around 2pm, from where they started the protest march. Amid sloganeering against the Akali-BJP government and civic body, the procession was concluded at the MC office.
Outside the office, all the protesters sat on a dharna and started shouting slogans against mayor Bakshi Ram Arora
and municipal officials. Addressing the party workers, leaders slammed the MC officials for poor sanitation conditions.
Residents health is on a high risk as dengue cases are rising in number. This is because the civic body didnt take necessary measures to bring the situation under control. First, it delayed the purchase of chemicals required for fogging. The ongoing fogging is also not satisfactory in absence of modern equipment, said Sharma.
He said sanitation and sewerage system are out of order in the city. The walled city is in a pathetic condition, where heaps of garbage are a common site, he said.
Accompanied by senior party leaders, including Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) secretary Mandeep Singh Manna, Ashwani Kumar Pappu, Vikas Soni, Upkar Singh Sandhu and Jatinder Sonia, Sharma also sought strict action against officials who are negligent in their work.
The Congress leaders also submitted a memorandum addressed to chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to municipal commissioner Sonali Giri, seeking requisite action in this regard.
The execution of two death-row convicts, who were found guilty of kidnapping and killing a Hoshiarpur boy Abhi Verma in 2005, was stayed by the Supreme Court on Monday a day before their hanging.
A special three-judge bench of Justices Dipak Misra, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan while hearing a petition for reviewing death sentences of Vikram Singh and Jasbir Singh stayed the execution while reserving the judgement.
The two were to be executed at 9 am on Tuesday and the Patiala central jail administration had made all arrangements and even brought a hangman from Uttar Pradesh. We have received the courts stay order and the execution has been put off, said Bhupinderjeet Singh Virk, superintendent of Patiala central jail.
Talking to HT, the counsel of two accused Balwant Singh Billowria, who had filed the latest review petition, said he had pleaded that there is need to revisit the decision of death sentence as the trial court has overseen some evidences.
Abhi, 16, son of a goldsmith, was kidnapped and murdered by Jasbir Singh, his wife Sonia and her brother Vikram Walia in February 2005 for a ransom of Rs 50 lakh. He died with an overdose of anaesthesia.
On December 21, 2006, the Hoshiarpur district and sessions judge had awarded death penalty to the three accused. The Punjab and Haryana high court had upheld the sentence but the Supreme Court had commuted Sonias sentence to life imprisonment. Jasvir and Vikram had filed a mercy petition with the President after a three-member bench of the apex court had rejected their review petition in August 2015.
The Punjab and Haryana high court has also deferred hearing of the convicts petition seeking commutation of their sentences to November 3.
Just over three months ahead of the assembly polls, the Punjab government on Tuesday decided to regularise 30,000 employees hired on contract, ad hoc, daily wage, temporary or work charge basis by the education, health, medical education and local bodies departments.
In another significant decision, over 15,000 contractual employees hired through private outsourcing agencies or contractors, will now become government contractual employees a move that will keep the door open for the outsourced staff to become regular employees later.
The decision taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal comes into force with immediate effect, said a government spokesperson.
The outsourced staff will now be eligible for benefits available to other contractual employees, the spokesperson said.
In another populist step, the government decided to protect the existing salary of the regularised staff. This means if the fixed salary after being regularised is lower than the present salary of the contractual employee, he/she will continue to get the higher last salary drawn for the next three years.
The employees to be regularised belong to Group A, B, C and D services who have completed three years of continuous service, fulfilled educational qualifications and age limit at the time of initial appointment and were recruited in a transparent manner.
The cabinet nod is significant in the backdrop of legal remembrance (LR) cautioning against regularising these employees. The LR had told the government that the law proposed to regularise the employees should not amount to backdoor entry or cause injustice to those who seek front-door entry.
Sources say shortly the government will promulgate an ordinance to give legal sanctity to this mass-scale regularisation drive by keeping it out of the ambit of judicial scrutiny.
This pre-poll bonanza will benefit around 11,000 employees of education, 7,000 of health, 4,000 of local government and 700 of the medical education departments, besides employees of various boards, corporations and societies in the state.
The immediate financial impact of this decision will be over `200 crore as the government pays only basic salary to regular employees for first three years. After three years (2019), when these employees will be eligible for regular pay scale, the annual financial liability will shoot up to around `1,000 crore.
We are working out the exact financial impact of these decisions, government sources say.
On Monday, the cabinet-sub-committee chaired by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had cleared the proposal. The government claimed that it had also regularised 45,000 contractual employees during its 2007-2012 tenure.
these contractual employeeshad been working diligentlyThey have gained precious experience which cannot be allowed to go in vain, the government official said justifying the decision.
Better late than never: Amarinder
Chandigarh: Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh hailed the regularisation of contractual employees by the Punjab government. Better late than never, said Amarinder in a statement issued here, describing the state cabinet decision as long overdue. I had promised to regularise all contractual employees as soon as I come to power, but I am happy to see that they have been given their due just a few days before Diwali.
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As alls set for the inauguration of the stretch from Town Hall to Golden Temple in its beautified heritage look on Tuesday, Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal unveiled the spruced-up street and the Plaza to the media here on Monday evening.
Sukhbir led the scribes to show galleries that will take the pilgrims through the history of Golden Temple and stream live the rituals inside the shrine through countrys first 3D-printed models.
As around 40,000 pilgrims will visit the galleries daily, a narrative-based multimedia interpretation centre built at a cost of Rs 50 crore in the basement of the Plaza will brief the visitors about the Sikh religion and its humanitarian philosophy.
HT Special | Amritsars makeover: Golden grandeur with a heritage tinge
The first gallery narrates through projections and laser images how Sikhism took birth and transformed from the time of Guru Nanak Dev to Guru Gobind Singh.
Another gallery features a 3D model of the Golden Temple and its precincts. The visitors will get to see live the activities going on inside the shrine on large overhead screens.
The last gallery has holographic and video projections, along with reproduced, artistic interiors of the Golden Temple on its walls, and narrates the philosophy and wisdom of Sikhism.
As the deputy CM guided the mediapersons around, they were mesmerised with the look of the area under fancy lights. The road displays art and heritage of Punjab. There is statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, artificially-lit flame outside Jallianwala Bagh, statue of Dr BR Ambedkar and more.
Earlier, Sukhbir inaugurated the entry gatea domed structure supported on four cusped arches resting on four piers in each corner built at a cost of Rs 9.5 crore.
The Heritage Stretch and the Plaza basement will be inaugurated by the chief minister on Tuesday.
Inner streets to have heritage look too
The stretch from Town Hall to Golden Temple that has been beautified at a cost of Rs 160 crore in the first phase of the project. Sukhbir said in the second phase, all streets leading to Darbar Sahib will be given a heritage look.
He also announced that in the next five years, the whole city will be given a facelift to give it a heritage look.
Facade of buildings cant be changed
The deputy chief minister said a special committee has been formed for the upkeep of the stretch with a dedicated fund of Rs 30 crore. As the entire stretch has a uniform heritage look, Sukhbir said nobody can change the facade of the buildings.
This stretch is not under the MC and the committee will look after the cleaning and upkeep of structures in this area, he said.
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A two-storeyed grocery store was gutted at Bauhri Wala chowk in the wee hours of Monday.
Store owner Sanjeev Kumar said he got a phone call at 4.15am, informing him about the fire. When I reached there, fire had engulfed both the floors. I along with other people threw bucketsful of water to douse the flames, but to no avail, he said.
By the time a fire tender reached the spot from Amritsar, the fire had subsided. It is being suspected the the fire broke out due to a short circuit. Sanjeev said grocery items worth Rs 17 lakh were destroyed in the fire.
Residents irked over absence of fire station
Residents blamed the absence of a fire station in the district for the huge losses faced by the shop owner. Earlier, businessmen suffered losses in crores when a major fire engulfed a three-storeyed showroom of hosiery and cosmetic items in the main market at Patti.
Non-availability of fire tenders is a common problem in all new districts. Even if tenders are made available, we will face problem in operating and maintaining these in absence of trained staff, Tarn Taran deputy commissioner Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal told HT.
Dhaliwal said the district authorities had written to the state government seeking setting up of fire station. We will send a reminder again, he said.
Residents in the vicinity of the upcoming plywood plant in Dolowal village, 10km from here, are up in arms against the formaldehyde and resin units that will be set up inside the plant premises.
On Monday, they held a protest on Dasuya Road near the factory site saying their lives could be endangered in the event of a chemical leak.
Villagers said they were not opposed to the plywood factory but a chemical unit could jeopardise their lives. They fear that emissions from the plant will pollute the air and water.
We were kept in the dark about the chemical plant. We came to know of it after a public hearing was conducted before the administration, they alleged.
Panchayats of Dolowal, Bassi Maruf, Baghpur, Sataur, Bassi Mudda, Ghasipur, Mehndipur, Bassi Kaso and other villages have resolved to put up a united fight.
Plant head Himanshu Shah said it was just like any other resin plant made with formaldehyde (methanol) as a base ingredient.
Due to its intensive use in MDF, we are planning to manufacture the synthetic resin in our own premises to make it more cost effective. We have applied for the governments sanction and will go ahead if we get the clearance, he said.
Shah said the management could explain the actual picture if the protesters had approached them. We are thorough with the rules and regulations. People are misinformed, he added. He claimed that the upcoming unit will generate employment opportunities for locals besides promoting agro-forestry.
Deputy commissioner Anindita Mitra said the concerns of the villagers were noted and they will be forwarded to the ministry of environment and forests.
What is it all about?
The Rs 440-crore medium density fibreboard (MDF) manufacturing unit is being set up by Century Plyboards (India) Ltd on 32 acres of land and will be completed shortly. MDF is an alternative to plyboards in furniture making. The plant will have an annual capacity of 1.98 lakh cubic metres of MDF and 17,000 cubic metres of initial capacity to produce plywood and block board units.
The exhibition house cost only $1,800 to build, including labor costs.
A house built from bamboo and palm leaves and without a single nail in the northern province of Hoa Binh won an award at the American Architecture Prize this month.
The house won a silver prize, behind gold and platinum, in the cultural architecture category at the annual awards, which are one of the most respected in the industry. The piece also won an award at the American Bamboo Society Arts and Crafts Competition in September.
Students and architects from Hanoi built the house for exhibition purposes. The design team said the main idea was to highlight the value of bamboo and create an easy and cheap way for everyone to build a house.
Students and architects from Hanoi spent three months building the house with the help of local men in the grounds of a Muong minority museum situated 80 kilometers from Hanoi.
The construction cost just over VND40 million ($1,800), and most of that was used to pay the workers.
The 350-square-meter complex is made from natural materials: bamboo, rocks and palm leaves.
The house is supported with bamboo ladders. A transparent plastic rooftop allows a lot of sunlight into the house.
Palm leaves were carefully selected and woven tightly from the rooftop downward.
Small bamboo dowels connect the big poles together.
There is a lot of space for exhibitions.
Some items on display were recovered from the fire that burned down the last communal house of the Muong ethnic group in Vietnam in 2013.
The house blends in perfectly with the surrounding nature.
Photos by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh
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What if famed 15th century Italian explorer Christopher Columbus landed in Kolkata in 2016? How would he navigate his way back through the city and most importantly, what would he discover in the 21st century? A new Bengali film seeks to take viewers on a journey to unravel the mysterious time warp.
In Colkatay Columbus, writer and director Saurav Palodhi has shown how everyone, from the ordinary person to a legend, is in search of something.
The story unfolds through an encounter of Columbus and two boys in Kolkata. When Columbus somehow lands up in Kolkata in 2016, he is surprised to see that everyone is in search of something. He is in search of roads that would lead him back home while the boys are in search for Columbus to get him to offer tips on attaining success, said Palodhi.
Columbus is credited with introducing the Americas to Western Europe during his four voyages to the region between 1492 and 1502.
Columbus starts doling out suggestions to the boys but is also put off by the competition.
We have shown in our film (based on facts) that Columbus couldnt bear competition. He was disheartened to see that he was not the only explorer. Everyone had something they want to find, said Palodhi.
Audiences will see Columbus in a smart avatar in the film, courtesy a bit of a makeover to adapt to city life, said Palodhi, adding his sojourn through the city takes him to iconic spots in the eastern metropolis.
The film by Mojo Productions releases on November 11.
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The 29th edition of the Tokyo Film Festival opened on Tuesday with Stephen Frears Florence Foster Jenkins starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant. Frears -- who gave us, Philomena (2013), that brilliant take on Irish nuns and how they separated a mother and newborn son and gave him away in adoption to a family in America -- presents a biography this time.
Frears sketches the life of Florence, a soprano, who despite being tone deaf, was so ambitious and was so passionately fired by her love for music that she kept singing. On October 25 1944, as the American and Japanese forces fought one another in the Pacific, Florence sang at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York to a packed audience of 3000 people.
But by the end of the concert, it was clear that Florence had no talent whatsoever, and she stood humiliated with most people in the audience unable to stop laughing at her screeching voice which she passed off for singing.
Her husband, Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) -- a failed actor kept protecting her throughout, and even at the concert, tries to bribe The New York Posts music critic into writing good things about Florence. But he rips her apart, and in spite of Clairs best efforts, Florence manages to read the review. She is completely shattered.
The movie is based on a biography by Jasper Rees, and has some scandals to narrate. Florences love for potato salad, her syphilis (which she contracted from her first husband when she was barely 18) and some of her eccentricities like carrying her will all the time in a brief case have all be highlighted with mock seriousness.
The daughter of a wealthy Philadelphian and actually a piano prodigy who lost the use of her fingers after she contracts the sexual disease, Florence dies soon after reading the nasty review -- a life that remained largely unfulfilled. She could not even consummate her relationship with Clair because of the fear of passing on her infection. So Clair kept a separate apartment where he met his mistresses (one of them in the movie is played Rebecca Ferguson).
Frears actually underlines an important message in his work: he is critical of all those critics and others who chastise those who try hard but fail. Florence was a great example. And Streep is just compelling as a woman treated unfairly by life, and it is quite possible that her performance would fetch her 20th Oscar nomination.
Matching quite up to her is Grant, who plays a character whose intention is unclear. Does he truly love Florence? Or, is it her money that he is after, a rich woman that she is, having inherited her fathers huge wealth. Frears leaves us with this tingling doubt, but Grant is extremely convincing as a man who fights to keep his wifes terrible lack of talent hidden from the world -- assuring her all the time that she is brilliant.
In way, there are strong similarities between Philomena (where Judi Dench plays an unhappy and unfulfilled woman having lost her new-born son) and Florence Foster Jenkins. Both works talk about distressed women and their vain struggles. In Philomena, Denchs title character waits for 50 years before embarking on a search for her son. But she never meets him. Florence keeps looking for that fame which eludes her all her life.
(Gautaman Bhaskaran is covering the Tokyo International Film Festival.)
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Clutching a radio in his hand on a barren hill surrounded by desert peaks, Sahil prepares to guide a pilot flying low overhead toward his training target the third car in a convoy below.
Under pressure from the Taliban, Afghanistans military is increasingly relying on the countrys young air force, and, together with Western allies, is speeding up its training of pilots and ground controllers in order to strike the enemy.
Once a strong flying power supported by the Soviet Union, Afghanistans air force was decimated by the civil war of the 1990s and the turbulent period of Taliban-rule.
By the time Western forces started rebuilding it in 2007, there were only a handful of MiG fighters left.
There are currently 78 trained and available aircrews in the Afghan Air Force, says Capt James Smith, spokesman for the US 438th Air Expeditionary Wing, which is responsible for training the Afghans.
New Afghan Air Force pilots attend a class with flight simulators at the air force university in Kabul. (AFP)
But there is still a long way to go. The AAF now has around 100 aircraft, including 27 MD-530 attack helicopters, and about 20 small support aircraft, such as the Brazilian built A-29 Super Tucanos used against drug traffickers in Latin America. It also has approximately 50 Russian Mi-17 transport helicopters.
With the three main bases in Kabul, Kandahar and Shindand, the bad guys know (the AAF) can strike anywhere in the country, says Smith. I have been in an MD-530 when firing a rocket and believe me, its no joke.
The bad guys the Taliban have stepped up their insurgency to record levels following the withdrawal of foreign combat troops in 2014, inflicting more than 5,000 deaths on government forces last year.
Collateral damage
Along with training pilots, NATO is trying to ensure there are enough skilled Afghan Tactical Air Coordinators (ATAC) on the ground.
Hence the exercise in this desert base in Logar, 40 km south of Kabul, to test the abilities of young pilots and future ATACs the eyes and ears on the ground, according to one of the five being trained that day.
When you are in flight its very difficult to tell whos on the ground you need to have someone who tells you who is who, explains Air Force Col Andrew Jannsen, the man overseeing the training.
Twenty-two year old Akram, considered by his trainers to be among the most promising, is critical of Sahils performance despite the fact he helped the missiles hit their target using a handheld laser device.
They talk too much, it (took) too much time, he says.
There are three key points the controller must convey: his own position, that of the enemy, and any civilians in the area.
NATO-led US army Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) tech and Afghan army tactical air controllers review coordinate points during an airstrike training mission on the outskirts of Logar province. (AFP)
But the growing strength of the AAF has been accompanied by a rising number of unintended deaths: according to the UN, 133 civilians have been killed and 159 injured in air strikes since January 1, a 72% rise on the same period in 2015 with Afghan crews responsible for two-thirds of casualties.
It is a statistic that Maj Gen Wahab Wardak, commander of the air force, regrets.
Unfortunately, Taliban often hide in homes. We issue orders to avoid bombing residential zones but these things happen in war, he says.
Background checks
To mitigate civilian casualties the ATAC is the bigger factor, says Janssen. And the pilots themselves can call off the mission if they dont find themselves comfortable.
He insists that the officers are also briefed on ways to reduce casualties unlike in the Soviet-era when, according to Janssen, the mantra was to strike first, ask questions later.
Flying is a dream for many young Afghans. Some 1,800 to 2000 apply for each batch of the Afghan Air Force Academy in Kabul, says its commander Col Naqitullah Woror.
Of this number, around a hundred 18 to 26-year-olds get picked in the first selection. Each recruit is subject to intensive background checks by Afghan intelligence, and must be sponsored by two officers to attest they have no links to the enemy.
So called green-on-blue attacks in which Afghan troops turn their weapons on coalition partners have been a frequent occurrence in recent years, with two Americans dying in such an incident near Kabul last week. This has never happened with us, says Woror.
New Afghan air force pilots attend a class at the air force university in Kabul. Six women are currently at the academy, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Capt Niloofar Rahmani, the countrys first female pilot. (AFP)
Six women are currently at the academy, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Capt Niloofar Rahmani, the countrys first female pilot who graduated in 2013 and finished her training in Arkansas.
Piloting an aircraft in a flight simulator, female recruit Shamin, 22, says she joined the academy with the blessing of my family, despite living in a society that is often reluctant for women to take on such roles.
An explosion hit the car park of a commerce building in the southern Turkish region of Antalya on Tuesday injuring at least 10 people, local media reported.
Antalyas mayor Menderes Turel said 10 to 12 people were slightly injured by flying glass in an interview with NTV broadcaster as several ambulances attended the scene. The cause of the blast was not known.
A British Airways flight from San Francisco to London was diverted to Vancouver after members of the cabin crew became unwell, the airline said on Tuesday.
British Airways spokeswoman Michele Kropf said that 25 crew were admitted to local hospitals as a precaution but had now been discharged. She said no customers were taken to hospital. Kropf said the crew had not been treated for smoke inhalation as reported earlier by CBC News.
BA did not comment on the cause of the problem.
The flight from San Francisco diverted to Vancouver after members of the cabin crew became unwell. The cabin crew were checked as a precaution at local hospitals before being discharged, BA said in an emailed statement.
The airline said in a statement that its Vancouver staff had arranged hotel accommodation for affected customers and will book them on alternative flights as soon as possible.
The diverted flight landed in Vancouver on Monday at around 11:30 p.m (0630 GMT Tuesday), said Vancouver Airport spokesman is Chris Devauld, who referred questions about additional details to the airline.
The aircraft landed safely and British Airways is now working with passengers, he said.
Some 400 senior leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC), provincial chiefs, military officers and academics have gathered behind the thick walls of the Soviet-style Jingxi Hotel in Beijing for a crucial four-day meeting that could results in decisions with far-reaching impact.
In Communist jargon, its the 6th Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the one which has been ruling China since the end of 2012 with party general secretary Xi Jinping apparently in fine form at the helm.
In less technical terms, this is an annual gathering of the high and mighty within the CPC. And this years meeting is crucial because it is the final plenum before next years mid-term CPC Congress, where there is a good chance that the new leadership for 2022 will be unveiled.
Historically, important decisions have been announced at the end of plenums. They have included, as Bloomberg pointed out, the launch of Deng Xiaopings economic reforms in 1978 and the removal of leaders following the crackdown on pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989.
At the end of the 2015 plenum, China announced it was formally ending the one-child policy after decades of using it curb population.
The ongoing meeting, which began on Monday, will focus on internal discipline as President Xis anti-corruption campaign keeps rounding up officials across the country on charges of graft and violating discipline.
The plenum in Beijing will include the delivery of a work report to the CPC Central Committee by the Political Bureau, review of key issues concerning the comprehensive and strict management of the party, writing the norms of intra-party political life under the new situation; and a revision to an intra-party supervision regulation, said a recent statement by official Xinhua news agency.
The state media has offered some staggering numbers for the anti-corruption drive.
Over 1 million members of the CPC have been given disciplinary punishments since 2013 when the party launched a crackdown on corruption. The authority has handed over 1 million cases related to discipline violations to the procuratorate authorities during the past 3 years and nine months. 708,000 similar cases have been closed, involving some 1 million party members, state media reported, quoting statistics from the Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC), China's anti-corruption watchdog.
But will the plenum be only about intra-party discipline and tightening rules for better CPC management?
It's clear from state media coverage of the sixth plenum that the emphasis is on unity within the party, and unity around the leadership of Xi Jinping. One of the most important catchphrases we are seeing right now is: To govern the nation, we must first govern the party; in governing the party, we must be strict,"said David Bandurski, a researcher at the University of Hong Kong's China Media Project.
It is around the all-powerful figure of Xi that the unity of the CPC has to be forged.
The message here is that the senior leadership will not tolerate division and dissenting opinion within the party over the direction of the country. Xi Jinping expects loyalty and unity, Bandurski said.
Joseph Fewsmith, who focusses on Chinese domestic politics at the Boston University, told Hindustan Times: There is unlikely to be any public discussion on moving away from collective leadership (which has not been much in effect the last four years anyway), but the political implication will be to strengthen the Xi Jinping line. All this is likely to strengthen Xi's hand as we go into the 19th Party Congress next year.
Victor Shih, a China expert at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, is closely following the plenum to see if new rules of behaviour are announced.
The most interesting thing to watch for is whether even more draconian policies will be enshrined to dictate the behaviour of party members and party officials. Already government officials cannot travel overseas without permission, and they cannot have both their spouses and children live overseas. I wonder if further restrictions will be imposed, such as limitation of family members to own any overseas assets, Shih said.
The US-led coalition is laying the groundwork for the isolation of Raqa, the Islamic State group stronghold in Syria, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday.
We have already begun laying the groundwork for our partners to commence the isolation of Raqa, Carter said after meeting coalition defence ministers in Paris to discuss the aftermath of the planned capture of Mosul from IS in Iraq.
Today we resolved to follow through with that same sense of urgency and focus on enveloping and collapsing ISILs control of Raqa, he added, using another acronym for IS.
Carter said the coalition would rely on capable and motivated local forces that we identify and then enable to wrest the city from the Sunni extremists.
That is our general strategic approach. We are seeking a lasting defeat of ISIL and a lasting defeat cant be achieved by outside.
It can only be achieved by those who live there, he said, adding: These will be Syrians enabled by us.
Carter was among a dozen ministers from coalition members attending the talks, which come a week after Iraqi forces backed by Kurdish fighters launched a major operation to retake Mosul, Iraqs second-biggest city.
Addressing the gathering French President Francois Hollande reiterated warnings about IS fighters in Mosul fleeing across the border to Raqa.
He also urged vigilance over the risk of foreign jihadists returning home from the battlefield.
Sixty cadets were killed and 120 injured in a terror attack on a police training centre in Pakistans restive Balochistan province that was claimed by the Islamic State.
Officials said the three attackers who stormed the Quetta Police Training College in the Balochistan capital late on Monday night were getting instructions from Afghanistan. The provincial home minister blamed Indian intelligence agencies for the strike but did not give any evidence to back up his claim.
The IS said on Tuesday its fighters were responsible for the attack. The Amaq news agency, often used by the IS to claim attacks, described the strike as a three-man suicide raid.
It said fighters from the terror groups Khorasan chapter used machine guns and grenades, then blew up their explosive vests in the crowd. Amaq posted a photo of three fighters who purportedly carried out the attack on social media.
Balochistan home minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti said 60 cadets were killed. He said two attackers blew themselves up and the third was shot dead by security forces.
Maj Gen Sher Afgan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan, said, The attack was over in around three hours and the terrorists were communicating with their handlers in Afghanistan.
He said the attackers belonged to the Al-Alami faction of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban.
Read | As it happened: Gunmen storm police training centre in Pakistans Quetta
Police officials said the attackers headed straight for the hostel where recruits were sleeping after entering the training centre located 13 km from the heart of Quetta city. They first targeted a sentry in a watch tower and killed him in an exchange of fire before entering the sprawling compound.
Bugti told reporters at the site early on Tuesday that the three militants were wearing suicide jackets. He said the compound was housing some 700 recruits at the time of the attack, and hundreds of them were rescued.
Bugti blamed Indian intelligence agencies for coordinating the attack. They are doing this to weaken us, he alleged.
Analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi told the media that the attack came at a time when China is establishing a multi-billion dollar economic corridor which would run through Balochistan province. This is being done to create a scare and possibly sabotage this project, he said.
In August, a suicide bombing at a Quetta hospital claimed by both the Islamic State and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban killed 73 people, including many of the citys lawyers who had gathered to mourn the fatal shooting of a colleague.
Read | Timeline of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Pakistan
The British governments decision on Tuesday to clear a third runway at Heathrow prompted the resignation of a ruling Conservative MP and exposed divisions within the cabinet, but Indians living around the busy airport hailed it.
Successive governments postponed a decision on the sensitive issue for more than a decade, but the Theresa May government said it opted for Heathrow instead of Gatwick or other London airports to send the message that it was open for business after the June 23 vote to exit the European Union.
As political parties and stakeholders reiterated their known positions for and against the third runway, Indian community leaders said they saw it as an employment opportunity for the large Indian and Asian community living around Heathrow.
Many members of the Indian community are already employed at various levels in Heathrow, one of the worlds busiest airports.
Welcoming the decision, Harsev Bains of the Indian Workers Association told Hindustan Times: The Indian diaspora, historically located in Southall, west London due to the proximity of Heathrow, have come to rely heavily on key employers at Heathrow airport after the demise of manufacturing industry under years of Tories rule under the premiership of the late Margaret Thatcher.
Local businesses and religious institutions will benefit from increased tourism in the area, Bains said.
Priti Patel of Gable Stores and Post Office poses for a photograph at Harmondsworth near Heathrow airport in west London, Britain, on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Senior Labour MP Virendra Sharma said: Ive changed my mind on the Heathrow expansion for the simple reason that Heathrow have engaged, listened and changed their plans. Now that Heathrow has accepted the Airports Commission conditions, west London can say yes to the jobs, apprenticeships and investment that expansion will bring.
He added: Heathrow is the backbone of the west London economy and now that there is appropriate mitigation and compensation in place for local communities, Im pleased that the government have made the right decision.
Arguments against the third runway at Heathrow revolve around pollution, noise and the flattening of some nearby villages to make way for Britains first major runway since World War 2. London mayor Sadiq Khan is among those who opposed the project.
Arguments for the extra runway at Heathrow are mainly commercial and economic: that it would add hundreds of billions of pounds to the British economy, that Heathrow is currently operating at full capacity amid greater demand, and that new technology makes flights less noisy and less polluting a claim dismissed by critics.
Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative MP for Richmond and a long-standing opponent of the third runway, was scheduled to announce his resignation from parliament and contest the ensuing by-election as an independent.
Foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who famously announced he would be the first to lie before a bulldozer if the runway was to be laid at Heathrow, insisted he would continue to oppose the project even while holding a seat in the cabinet that cleared it.
Residents of villages that will be flattened to make way for the runway said they would continue to oppose it, while activists said legal and others challenges to the project would mean it will be years before it materialises.
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Almost 2,000 migrants rode buses out of the Calais Jungle on Monday as French authorities kicked off an operation to dismantle the notorious camp that has become a symbol of Europes refugee crisis.
Bye Bye, Jungle! one group of migrants shouted as they hauled luggage through the muddy lanes of the shantytown where thousands of mainly Afghans, Sudanese and Eritreans had holed up, desperate to sneak into Britain.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said 1,918 migrants had left Calais on buses bound for 80 reception centres across France under a heavy police presence.
A migrant carries bags with his belongings as he walks past the Calais city limit sign on the eve of the evacuation and transfer of migrants to reception centers in France, and the dismantlement of the camp called the "Jungle" in Calais, France. (Reuters )
"Jungle" migrants of Calais are interviewed inside an orientation center on October 24, 2016 in Nogent-le-Rotrou, France. Almost 2,000 migrants rode buses out of the Calais "Jungle" on October 24th as French authorities kicked off an operation to dismantle the notorious camp that has become a symbol of Europe's refugee crisis. (AFP Photo)
So-called "Jungle" migrants of Calais arrive at an orientation facility on October 24, 2016 in Nogent-le-Rotrou, France. (AFP Photo)
Migrants gather near fires that burn at the end of the first day of the evacuation of migrants from the "Jungle" in Calais and their transfer to reception centers in France, October 24, 2016. (Reuters)
Sparks fly from a fire as migrants sit near for warmth at the end of the first day of the evacuation and transfer to reception centers of migrants living in the "Jungle" in Calais, France on October 24. (Reuters)
People warm themselves with a fire in the makeshift migrant camp known as "the jungle" near Calais, northern France on Monday Oct. 24, 2016. (AP Photo)
Migrants with their belongings line up as their evacuation and transfer to reception centers in France, and the dismantlement of the camp called the "Jungle" in Calais, France starts. (REUTERS)
Located on wasteland next to the port of Calais, the four-square-kilometre (1.5-square-mile) Jungle has become a symbol of Europes failure to resolve its worst migration crisis since World War II.
More than one million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa poured into Europe last year, sowing divisions across the 28-nation bloc and fuelling the rise of far-right parties.
Those seeking to smuggle themselves into Britain, believing it offers better chances of work and integration than France, have been converging on Calais for well over a decade. The first makeshift camp on the site of the Jungle dates back to 2002.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Tuesday claimed India was trying to implode Pakistan and sabotage moves against corruption.
The 64-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman also accused Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of being a security risk to the country.
A new doctrine has originated in India which aims to implode Pakistan because they have failed to defeat us militarily, Imran told reporters outside his residence in Islamabad before leaving for Quetta, where ISIS militants attacked a police training centre.
...to make Pakistan descend into chaos without any reforms, he said, adding that India did not want an inside political reform movement to succeed.
Whenever we plan to launch a reform movement against corruption in the country such terror attacks happen, he added.
Noting that corruption and militancy funding in Pakistan run side by side, Imran also called Sharif a security risk for the country as the prime minister was only interested in saving himself from the accountability in the wake of the Panama Papers leaks.
His only aim is to save himself from the repercussions of the revelations regarding his corruption in Panama leaks, he said and demanded the government to highlight the names of those officials who were involved in leaking the crucial information regarding a high-level security meeting here.
He went on to add that when Balochistan Chief Minister is saying that India was involved in sabotaging law and order in the province then why does our prime minister not raise his voice on the issue on global forums.
Iraqi forces, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes, battled Islamic State militants for a third day on Tuesday in a remote western town, hundreds of kilometers to the south
of the operation to retake Mosul, US and Iraqi officials said.
The clashes underway in Rutba, in Iraqs western Anbar province, are apparently part of the extremist groups tactics to divert attention as well as Iraqi and coalition resources from the battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants.
Fighting is ongoing in Rutba, which is still contested, said col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the US-led coalition.
The coalition continues conducting strikes to support the Iraqi security forces response efforts, including one against a Daesh convoy that was attempting to flee the area, he added, referring to IS by an Arabic acronym.
Brig. gen. Yahya Rasool, an Iraqi military spokesman, said the situation was under control and there were no IS fighters in the town. But Rajeh Barakat, an Anbar provincial councilman who sits on the security committee, said IS fighters were still clashing with security forces in two southern neighborhoods of Rutba.
The clashes are still ongoing, he said. We have reports saying the militants killed some civilians and members of the security forces, but we dont know how many.
IS launched a complex attack on Rutba on Sunday, almost a week into the operation in Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi forces are waging a wide-scale offensive to drive the militants from Iraqs second-largest city.
Last week IS launched a similar assault in and around the northern city of Kirkuk, some 170 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Mosul. The wide-ranging assault ignited gunbattles that lasted two days, killing at least 80 people.
Read|Wave of strikes as IS puts up tough defence of Mosul
Near Mosul, the fighting was still underway on Tuesday in a belt of villages and towns to the north, east and south of the city. major general Haider Fadhil said the Iraqi special forces had reached a village located 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the eastern edge of Mosul.
The US-led coalition said it carried out several airstrikes in support of the Mosul operation, including five on Monday that destroyed 22 fighting positions, eight tunnels and nine vehicles, one of which was rigged with explosives.
The US is also providing ground support for the Mosul operation, with more than 100 American soldiers embedded with Iraqi units and hundreds more working in staging bases. A US soldier was killed by a roadside bomb last week.
The line of cars flying white flags kept on coming Tuesday as Iraqi forces began to evacuate residents of the last villages near the Islamic State group bastion of Mosul.
And it was not just people. Some vehicles had animals perched on piles of blankets amid foam mattresses and plastic buckets of clothing.
Units of Iraqs elite counter-terrorism force were just half a dozen kilometres (four miles) from Mosul, where IS two years ago proclaimed its caliphate and which is now being targeted by Kurdish and Iraqi forces backed by the international coalition.
The advance on Mosul, Iraqs second city, has been rapid so far.
Villages emptied of their populations since the arrival of the jihadists in mid-2014 were quickly retaken.
Just a few inhabited villages lie ahead of them now, and they are evacuating the people who live there.
People like Essam Saadou, a 22-year-old student at the wheel of a car crowded with three women and two children.
Weve brought nothing with us. We took to the road despite all the dangers. We have just the car and the clothes were wearing, Saadou told AFP at a Kurdish checkpoint where families were being put on buses to nearby camps constructed recently on the plain.
The counter-terrorism people brought us here and handed us over to the peshmergas, and theyll take us to a camp. We will see what happens, he said.
Amal Mohammed, a 20-year-old Sunni Kurd, is sitting in the back.
She has thrown back the black face veil the jihadists made her wear after they appeared in one day in the village of Topzawa, near Mosul.
They controlled our lives completely: we had to wear the niqab, the abaya (full veil and a long black robe), she said.
Everything was forbidden
We couldnt go out of the house to see those closest to us. Even going upstairs to the roof terrace was not allowed, said the young mother, a baby girl asleep in her arms.
Everything was forbidden under IS rule, she added.
They have now been able to leave IS-controlled territory, but the ordeal of the hundreds of people waiting for hours under a burning sun Tuesday for a hypothetical transfer to a camp is far from over.
The UN refugee agencys chief said on Monday that the UNHCR would soon be ready to accommodate 150,000 people displaced by the battle for Mosul.
The preparations are proceeding well... UNHCR is going to have in two or three days 30,000 tents in Iraq, enough for 150,000 people, Filippo Grandi told reporters in Jordan after visiting Iraq.
He said that 7,500 people have already fled the outskirts of Mosul and that around 1,000 have crossed into Syria.
Concerns are mounting for the UN-estimated 1.5 million people in the wider Mosul area.
A million people could be displaced by the assault on the city, sparking an unprecedented humanitarian emergency in Iraq which already has more than three million displaced, more than a third of them in the autonomous Kurdish areas.
Between cars at the checkpoint on Tuesday, as they kept an eye on children playing by the roadside, small groups of men, some with their heads covered with a traditional scarf, discussed the situation.
Women and children were the first to board the bus to a huge camp just a few hundred metres (yards) away, beyond the checkpoint.
The men dont yet know if they will be able to go too.
The Islamic State said on Tuesday its fighters were responsible for an attack on a police training centre in the Pakistani city of Quetta that killed 60 people and injured 120.
The Amaq news agency, often used by the IS to claim attacks, described the attack as a three-man suicide raid. It said the IS fighters from the terror groups Khorasan chapter used machine guns and grenades, then blew up their explosive vests in the crowd.
Amaq posted a photo of the three fighters who purportedly carried out the attack on social media.
IS' Khorasan Province Claims Killing 60 in Three-Man Suicide Raid at Police Training Center in #Quetta #Pakistan https://t.co/JATwywU8UA pic.twitter.com/ZQrlu3koAq SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) October 25, 2016
Before Amaq published the claim on social media, Maj Gen Sher Afghan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan, told the media that the attack was carried out by the Al-Alami faction of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Intercepted calls between the attackers and their handlers suggested there were three militants who were getting instructions from Afghanistan, he said.
In August, the IS had claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Quetta hospital that killed 73 people, most of them lawyers. However, that attack was also claimed by the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of Pakistani Taliban.
Hundreds of police cadets were at the centre when masked attackers stormed the compound on the outskirts of Quetta late on Monday. Some cadets were taken hostage during the raid, which lasted nearly five hours.
Militants came directly into our barrack. They just barged in and started firing point blank. We started screaming and running around in the barrack, one cadet who survived told the media.
Other cadets said they jumped out of windows or cowered under beds as the attackers hunted them down.
Pakistani troops deploy outside the Police Training Academy in Quetta on Monday after an attack that was claimed by the Islamic State. (Reuters)
Balochistan home minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said two attackers blew up themselves up and a third one was shot in the head by security forces. A Reuters photographer at the scene said authorities carried out the body of a teenage boy who they said was the attacker who was shot dead.
The LeJ has its roots in Punjab, Pakistans most populous province, and it once had deep connections with the security establishment. It often carried out attacks in Balochistan that targeted the minority Shia Hazara community.
The IS has tried to make inroads in Pakistan since it announced the formation of its Khorasan chapter in January 2015. Pakistani authorities have dismissed previous IS claims of responsibility for attacks.
The IS has attracted hundreds of jihadis in Pakistan and Afghanistan and has a presence in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, where the leader of the Khorasan chapter, Hafiz Saeed Khan, was killed by a US drone on July 26.
(With inputs from agencies)
The Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawah cancelled plans to hold funeral prayers on Tuesday for a terrorist who was purportedly involved in the attack on an Indian Army camp at Uri after the matter was reported in the Indian media.
Posters had appeared in Gujranwala town of Pakistans Punjab province that announced the LeT would hold ghayabana namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayers in absentia) for local resident Muhammad Anas alias Abu Siraqa, who was killed during the Uri attack.
The posters were the first hard evidence for Indian allegations that the attacks were carried out by a Pakistan-based jihadist group, The Indian Express reported. The posters invite people to join the prayers for Anas, described as a lion-hearted holy warrior who killed 177 Hindu soldiers.
The posters, which bore the image of LeT founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, said the prayers would be held at Bada Nullah, near Girjakh, in Gujranwala.
JuD offering Ghaibana Namaz-e-Janaza of one LeT attacker of #UriAttack in Gujranwala today. Picture via @aliarqam pic.twitter.com/Sxr0jHcmlu Saleem (@memzarma) October 25, 2016
After the matter was reported in the media, the JuD and LeT cancelled the prayers, at least two sources with knowledge of the matter told Hindustan Times. The decision to call off the prayers was made on Tuesday morning, one source said.
The posters and banners were also removed in Gujranwala, sources said.
Gujranwala reporter says JuD had scheduled a funeral prayer for Uri attacker, but canceled after @praveenswami story this morning. Asad Hashim (@AsadHashim) October 25, 2016
Further reports posters for the event have been torn or taken down across the Ganda Naala neighbourhood where event was scheduled. Asad Hashim (@AsadHashim) October 25, 2016
This is not the first time the LeT has held such prayers for a member who was killed in a cross-border attack. Soon after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the LeT and JuD had organised similar prayers in Okara district of Punjab province for the nine attackers who died in the assault on Indias financial capital.
The event was hastily called off after the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers threatened it would take action against anyone involved in organizing such prayers. At the time, the Pakistan government had not acknowledged Ajmal Kasab the only attacker captured alive in Mumbai as its citizen. Kasab was subsequently convicted by an Indian court and executed.
The LeT has a presence in the Gujranwala region. In 2008, Afghan security agencies identified a suicide attacker who rammed an explosives-laden car into the Indian embassy in Kabul as LeT operative Hamza Shakoor, a resident of Gujranwala.
Soon after the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, the UN Security Council named the JuD as a front for the LeT. The US has offered a $10 million bounty for Hafiz Saeed but he lives openly in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.
The fourth meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission will focus on implementing bilateral agreements against the backdrop of India-funded projects running into rough weather.
The joint commission is the highest mechanism to review the gamut of bilateral ties and chart the future course of ties.
The meeting will make a comprehensive review of bilateral ties, Nepal's foreign minister Prakash Sharan Mahat said on Tuesday. We want to see tangible progress on India-funded projects in Nepal and want the early execution of pending works in such projects.
The meeting of the joint commission in New Delhi on Thursday will be preceded by a meeting of the foreign secretaries on Wednesday. The commission was formed in 1987 and its last meeting was held in Kathmandu in July 2014 after a gap of 23 years. The upcoming meeting will review progress on issues that figured at the last meet and other high-level exchanges.
Nepal and Indian recently formed a joint mechanism to expedite projects funded by New Delhi that have not made tangible progress.
Mahat said bilateral issues such as India-funded roads, cross-border connectivity through rail, roads and bridges, water resources, security matters, boundary problems, completing the project report for the Pancheshwor Development Authority are some of the key items on the agenda.
The Indian side is keen on taking up security-related matters such as signing an extradition treaty and an agreement on mutual legal assistance and curbing the activities of criminal elements in border areas.
Mahat said other key issues are constructing integrated check posts on the border, power trade, implementing the Mahakali Treaty, and construction of a cross-border petroleum pipeline.
A Pakistani man has been handed down the death penalty by a court in Lahore for killing his 12-year-old daughter last year because she did not make gol roti.
An additional district and sessions judge gave the death penalty to Khalid Mehmood, who murdered his daughter and then dumped the body outside a hospital.
Additional district and sessions judge Asghar Khan, after hearing arguments from both sides, stated on Monday that such an individual cannot be pardoned who murdered his daughter in cold-blood over a minor dispute.
According to the prosecution, the convict registered an FIR, claiming his daughter might have been abducted as she had gone out to buy some food but did not return.
Later, the Shadbagh police learnt the girl found dead outside Mayo Hospital was actually killed by her father for not making gol roti (round bread), the Express Tribune reported.
Police arrested the girls father and brother Abuzar after interrogating their neighbours. The suspects confessed they had thrashed the girl, who died of her injuries. The men admitted they dumped the body and filed a false case of kidnapping.
After hearing all arguments and examining evidence, the sessions judge announced the decision to award the death penalty to Khalid, who was also fined Rs 500,000.
Khalid and his son kept shedding crocodile tears to hoodwink the police but the mother took off the lid on how brutally they beat the 12-year-old to death, a senior police official had said at the time of their arrest, according to Dawn News.
Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday urged foreign businesses in the Philippines worried about his deadly drug war to pack up and leave, as he launched another anti- American tirade before flying to Japan to attract investments.
Duterte voiced outrage at comments made the previous day by the top US envoy to Asia that his fiery rhetoric and crime war, which has claimed about 3,700 lives in four months, were bad for business.
These Americans are really crazy. Their style is to walk here. They think they are somebodies, Duterte said, as he held up a newspaper with headlines reporting the criticism from US assistant secretary of state Daniel Russel.
Russel says Duterte comments causing worries in business communities. Then you pack up and leave. We will recover, I assure you.
Duterte then flew to Japan, one of the top US allies in Asia, for a three-day visit that is partly aimed at building on two-way trade of more than $18 billion dollars last year.
With Japan as the Philippines top trading partner, I shall seek the sustainment and further enhancement of our important economic ties, Duterte, 71, said in prepared remarks at Manila airport.
I look forward to meeting business leaders in Japan. I will tell them clearly that the Philippines is open for business.
Upon arrival in Tokyo, Duterte proceeded to a hotel for an event with members of the local Filipino community.
More than 100 of them waiting outside gave him an enthusiastic welcome, calling his name and waving small Philippine flags. A smiling Duterte approached them and shook hands.
Duterte will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and have an audience with Emperor Akihito during the trip, which follows his headline-grabbing state visit to China last week.
Duterte, a self-proclaimed socialist with close links to communists, announced in Beijing the Philippines separation from the United States, throwing into doubt a 70-year alliance that is anchored on a mutual defence treaty.
He quickly walked back from his comments after returning from China, saying separation did not mean he would sever ties and that the US alliance would continue.
But his anti-American vitriol also continued.
Duterte said on Tuesday he was not a lapdog of the United States, and again voiced anger at American and European criticism of apparent extrajudicial killings on his watch.
You are a son of a whore, he said referring to his critics.
Do not make us dogs. Do not. As if I am a dog with a leash and then you throw bread far away that I cannot reach.
Duterte has previously branded US President Barack Obama a son of a whore and told him to go to hell.
Survivors of an overnight attack that killed 61 people at a Pakistani police academy described chaotic scenes of gunfire and explosions, with militants shooting anyone they saw and cadets running for their lives and jumping from windows and rooftops.
A Taliban splinter group and an affiliate of the Islamic State group made competing claims of responsibility for the four-hour siege late Monday at the Police Training College on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta.
Most of the dead and the 123 wounded were recruits and cadets, said Wasay Khan, a spokesperson for the paramilitary Frontier Corps. Of the three militants who carried out the attack, two blew themselves up with explosive vests and the third was killed by army gunfire, he added.
As the nation reeled and sought to understand how militants were able to carry out such violence, many Pakistanis were reminded of a bloody 2014 attack by the Taliban on an army-run school in Peshawar in which more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed.
Broadcasters on Tuesday showed the aftermath of the attack on the Quetta academy: scorched windows and floors littered with the shoes of the dead and wounded.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army chief General Raheel Sharif rushed to the scene to meet with survivors, who spoke of the horrors of the surprise attack on about 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff that began about 11.30 pm.
Cadet Asif Hussain said he had been asleep when gunshots broke out.
We hid ourselves beneath cots. We had in our mind that if we didnt lock ourselves inside the hall, they will kill us, he said.
Read | As it happened: Gunmen storm police training centre in Pakistans Quetta
People walk out of the Police Training College in Quetta on Tuesday. (AP)
The attackers kicked at their door but failed to open it, Hussain said. The gunmen instead fired on them from a window, wounding two cadets before moving to a nearby dorm.
Shortly after entering, one of the attackers detonated his vest inside a hall after firing at cadets.
In the chaos, cadets and trainers ran for their lives, jumping through windows and off rooftops to try to escape.
Troops arrived and it gave us confidence that we are safe now, Hussain said.
Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told a TV station that the gunmen shot at anyone they saw.
I ran away, just praying God might save me, he said.
Another witness, Faisal Khan, said he had been chatting with friends when the shooting began.
We closed the main door and switched off lights, he said.
While most of the casualties were from the academy, some of the soldiers who responded to the assault also were killed, said Shahzada Farhat, a police spokesperson in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
The Islamic State group posted a claim of responsibility on the groups media arm, the Arabic-language Aamaq news agency. The claim was not confirmed by Pakistani officials and IS did not offer any previously unknown details about the attack.
A little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, called the Hakimullah group, also claimed responsibility.
In addition, Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force that is primarily responsible for Baluchistan province, said the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighbouring Afghanistan and were most likely from the banned militant group Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The Sunni militant group has mainly targeted minority Shia Muslims whom its members consider to be infidels.
Read | Quetta attack shows ultimate danger of using terrorists to further State policy
Pakistani officials said they had received intelligence reports that militants had entered Baluchistan province, but there was no indication of possible targets.
Earlier, interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, without naming Afghanistan, said enemies of Pakistan were planning attacks in Pakistan from a neighbouring country.
Kabul condemned the attack and dismissed the allegations that the assault was planned from bases inside Afghanistan.
Pakistani volunteers rush an injured person to a hospital in Quetta on Monday night. (AP)
Afghanistan is the biggest victim of terrorism and denounces all terrorist attacks, said Mohammad Haroon Chakhansuri, spokesperson for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
Ghani himself also condemned the attack, saying, Terrorism is a threat throughout the region, which is reflected in the brutal act today in Quetta.
Pakistan maintains that militants fleeing army operations in its tribal regions regularly flee over the border and find safe haven in Afghanistan. For his part, Ghani has criticized Pakistan, saying it has provided shelter to the Taliban, and in particular, the violent Haqqani network.
For over a decade, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share in the regional resources.
Pakistan has carried out several military operations against militants in its lawless tribal regions near Afghanistan, including a major push that began in mid-2014 in North Waziristan, a militant base. The militants have killed tens of thousands of people, seeking to install their own harsh brand of Islamic law.
Later Tuesday, the flag-draped coffins of the slain cadets and troops began being moved from Quetta to their families for burial.
One of the dead, army Capt. Rooh Ullah, was given Pakistans fourth-highest military award for killing one of the militants before he was slain. Sharif, the army chief, attended a service for him in Quetta before the body was flown to his hometown in the northwest.
Ullahs father told a local TV station that he was proud his son died a martyr.
In Islamabad, minority Christians lit candles for those killed. They chanted slogans condemning violence and vowing to support the victims.
Read | India should continue its focus on highlighting terror coming from Pakistan
At least 59 police trainees were killed in an overnight raid by militants on a police academy in southwest Pakistan, authorities said early on Tuesday after a military counter-operation was finished.
Balochistans top health official, Noor Haq Baloch, said at least 117 people were wounded mostly police trainees and some paramilitary troops. Haq said many of the trainees died when the gunmen detonated explosive vests.
But the home minister of the restive Balochistan province, Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti, put the death toll at 20. ...this figure isnt final -- well confirm it in the morning, he told reporters at the site of the attack.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Major General Sher Afghan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, told reporters that the attackers appeared to be in contact with handlers in Afghanistan. He said the attackers belonged to the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi group, an Islamic militant group affiliated with al Qaeda.
Pakistani troops had earlier launched a major operation, which lasted more than four hours, against the militants who stormed the Balochistan Police College, located 20km east of Quetta city centre, around 11:30 pm (1830 GMT).
According to a military statement, five to six militants were involved in the assault.
Home minister Bugti tweeted 2 terrorist killed and 200 plus rescued Alhamdo lillha (by Gods grace).
A Reuters photographer at the scene said authorities carried out the body of a teenaged-boy who they said was one of the attackers and had been shot dead by security forces.
Bugti said the building normally housed around 700 trainees, but recently there was a batch which graduated so I cant say how many there are now.
Government spokesperson Anwarul Haq said about 250 trainees were in the centre at the time of the attack.
As it happened: Gunmen storm police training centre in Pakistans Quetta
The area was plunged into darkness when the operation was launched while security personnel created a cordon and ambulances zoomed in and out, taking the injured to hospitals. Military helicopters, meanwhile, circled overhead.
A man who identified himself as a police cadet told reporters: I saw three men in camouflage whose faces were hidden --- carrying Kalashnikovs. They started firing and entered the dormitory but I managed to escape over a wall.
Another trainee told Geo television: They were rushing toward our building firing shots. So we rushed for safety toward the roof and jumped down in the back to save our lives.
A Pakistani volunteer and a police officer rush an injured person to a hospital in Quetta on Monday after two separate attacks in Pakistan. (AP)
Restive region
Baloch separatists demanding greater autonomy of the mineral rich, but desperately poor region have been waging an on-off insurgency for decades, and the province is also riven by sectarian strife and Islamist violence.
The attack came a day after separatist gunmen for the Baloch Liberation Army on a motorcycle shot dead two coast guards and a civilian and wounded a shopkeeper in a remote southwest coastal town in the same province.
In August, a suicide bombing at a Quetta hospital claimed by the Islamic State group and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban killed 73 people, including many of the citys lawyer community who had gone there to mourn the fatal shooting of a colleague.
Balochistan is also a key region for Chinas ambitious $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project linking its western province of Xinjiang to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan.
Security problems have mired CPEC in the past with numerous separatist attacks, but China has said it is confident the Pakistani military is in control.
The army has repeatedly been accused by international rights groups of abuses in Balochistan.
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Russias foreign minister said Tuesday that US support of Iraqi efforts to recapture Mosul from jihadists was equivalent to Moscows backing of a Syrian government offensive to seize rebel-held eastern Aleppo.
They are preparing an operation to liberate Mosul from terrorists, Russian news agencies quoted Sergei Lavrov as saying.
And in Aleppo, the city needs to be freed from terrorists. With the exact same plea as we made in Aleppo, the American coalition is appealing to residents in Mosul, calling on them to leave. Just like in Aleppo, humanitarian corridors have been set up.
Lavrov said that his American counterpart John Kerry had assured him that the situation in Mosul was completely different from that in Aleppo.
In Mosul we planned in advance, while in Aleppo, you didnt plan and civilians are suffering, Kerry said, according to Lavrov.
The West has accused Moscow of perpetrating potential war crimes in Aleppo through indiscriminate bombing in support of a Syrian government offensive to retake total control over the city.
Nearly 500 people have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded since the Syrian army, backed by Russian airpower, launched an operation to recapture eastern Aleppo on September 22.
A ceasefire meant to allow civilians and armed combatants to leave rebel-held eastern Aleppo ended at the weekend, with Moscow on Monday ruling out an extension of the truce for the time being.
Russian officials have repeatedly criticised the US-led coalitions support of the Iraqi offensive on Mosul. On Tuesday, Iraqi forces were inching to within striking distance of the citys east.
Russias defence ministry last week urged the coalition not to drive terrorists from Iraq to Syria during the offensive, warning it against the risk of freely roaming gangs of jihadists from the Islamic State group in the Middle East.
President Vladimir Putin earlier this month called on the US-led coalition to avoid civilian casualties in the Mosul offensive, as Moscow faced growing criticism over its bombing of Aleppo.
Turkey has effectively written a blank cheque to security services to torture people detained after a failed military coup attempt, a U.S.-based rights group said on Tuesday, citing accusations of beatings, sleep deprivation and sexual abuse.
A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) said a climate of fear had prevailed since Julys failed coup against President Tayyip Erdogan and the arrest of thousands under a State of Emergency. It identified more than a dozen cases raised in interviews with lawyers, activists, former detainees and others.
A Turkish official said the Justice Ministry would respond to the report later in the day; but Ankara has repeatedly denied accusations of torture and said the post-coup crackdown was needed to stabilise a NATO state facing threats from Kurdish militants as well as wars in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW, said in a statement it would be tragic if two hastily passed emergency decrees end up undermining the progress Turkey made to combat torture.
By removing safeguards against torture, the Turkish government effectively wrote a blank cheque to law enforcement agencies to torture and mistreat detainees as they like, he said.
Erdogan reined in police use of torture especially in the largely Kurdish southeast, seat of a militant rebellion, when he first came to power in 2002. But the battle with Kurdish militants has become more fierce since the breakdown of a ceasefire last year and drawn accusations of rights abuses.
HRW said it had uncovered allegations that police had used methods including sleep deprivation, severe beatings, sexual abuse and the threat of rape since the failed coup. Cases were not limited to possible putschists, but also involved detainees suspected of links to Kurdish militant and leftist groups.
Turkey has arrested more than 35,000 people, detained thousands more and sacked over 100,000 people over their suspected links with Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric blamed for orchestrating the coup attempt. Gulen denies the charge.
The government says the widescale crackdown is justified by the gravity of the threat to the state on July 15, when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighters jets, bombing parliament and killing more than 240 people.
Erdogan declared a state of emergency days after the failed putsch, allowing him and the cabinet to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms as they deem necessary.
Emergency decrees have since extended the period of police detention without judicial review to 30 days from 4, allowed the authorities to deny detainees access to lawyers for up to five days, and to restrict their choice of lawyer.
HRW said it had found 13 specific cases of alleged abuse in its report, which was based on interviews with more than 40 lawyers, activists, former detainees, medical personnel and forensic specialists conducted in August and September.
The US and China are holding talks on advancing their still limited cooperation on counterterrorism.
The US state department said the two sides were discussing on Tuesday regional terrorist threats, aviation security, information sharing, border security, safeguarding human rights, and countering violent extremism.
The US side is led by the departments acting coordinator for counterterrorism Justin Siberell. Chinas delegation is led by its foreign affairs assistant minister Li Huilai.
The dialogue has been held annually since 2014, but faces criticism from human rights groups.
China blames a spike in militant attacks in its restive far west on a group called the Turkestan Islamic Movement. Rights groups say China plays up the threat of militancy by its ethnic Uighur minority to justify abusive law-enforcement policies and religious restrictions.
The Vatican on Tuesday published guidelines for Catholics who want to be cremated, saying their remains cannot be scattered, divvied up or kept at home but rather stored in a sacred, church-approved place.
The new instructions were released just in time for Halloween and All Souls Day on Nov. 2, when the faithful are supposed to pray for and remember the dead.
For most of its 2,000-year history, the Catholic Church only permitted burial, arguing that it best expressed the Christian hope in resurrection. But in 1963, the Vatican explicitly allowed cremation as long as it didnt suggest a denial of faith about resurrection.
The new document from the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith repeats that burial remains preferred, with officials calling cremation a brutal destruction of the body. But it lays out guidelines for conserving ashes for the increasing numbers of Catholics who choose cremation for economic, ecological or other reasons.
It said it was doing so to counter what it called new ideas contrary to the churchs faith that had emerged since 1963, including New Age-y ideas that death is a fusion with Mother Nature and the universe, or the definitive liberation from the prison of the body.
To set the faithful straight, the Vatican said ashes and bone fragments cannot be kept at home, since that would deprive the Christian community as a whole of remembering the dead. Rather, church authorities should designate a sacred place, such as a cemetery or church area, to hold them.
Only in extraordinary cases can a bishop allow ashes to be kept at home, it said. Vatican officials declined to say what circumstances would qualify, but presumably countries where Catholics are a persecuted minority and where Catholic churches and cemeteries have been ransacked would qualify.
The document said remains cannot be divided among family members or put in lockets or other mementos. Nor can the ashes be scattered in the air, land or sea since doing so would give the appearance of pantheism, naturalism or nihilism, the guidelines said.
It repeated church teaching that Catholics who choose to be cremated for reasons contrary to the Christian faith must be denied a Christian funeral.
The new instruction carries an Aug. 15 date and says Pope Francis approved it March 18.
The author of the text, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, was asked at a Vatican briefing if Francis had any reservations about the text, particularly the refusal to let family members keep remains of their loved ones at home.
The dead body isnt the private property of relatives, but rather a son of God who is part of the people of God, Mueller said. We have to get over this individualistic thinking.
While the new instruction insists that remains be kept together, Vatican officials said they are not about to go gather up the various body parts of saints that are scattered in churches around the world. The practice of divvying up saints bodies for veneration a hand here, a thigh bone there was a fad centuries ago but is no longer in favor.
Going to all the countries that have a hand of someone would start a war among the faithful, reasoned Monsignor Angel Rodriguez Luno, a Vatican theological adviser.
A current or former employee shot one person and wounded three others before apparently killing himself at a rail car manufacturing plant in Virginia early Tuesday, authorities said.
Officers responded to a report of an active shooter just after 6 am at FreightCar America, located in an industrial area near downtown Roanoke, said Police chief Tim Jones.
Two people, including the shooter, were found dead at the facility, Jones said. Three others with gun-related injuries were taken to Carilion (ka-RIL-ee-on) Roanoke Memorial Hospital. One patient was in serious condition, and the other two were in fair and good condition, respectively, the hospital said in a statement.
Jones said police believe the man had once worked for or was still an employee of the facility. Authorities have not identified him or the victims.
One witness hid inside a bathroom during the shooting and police will get statements from him and others, Jones said.
Police sent out a tweet later Tuesday saying they searched the facility, which includes several buildings over several acres, and determined there were no other threats.
Chicago-based FreightCar America opened the facility in 2005 on land leased from Norfolk Southern. It builds railroad cars at the site and has other manufacturing facilities in Cherokee, Alabama, and Danville, Illinois.
The Chinese jailbreak development team Pangu seems to be playing a waiting game with Apple for the release of its iOS 10 jailbreak tool. The company has just rolled out the fifth beta for iOS 10.1 which is the first major update for the mobile Operating System.
Apple is working on the release of small replication of the software from the previous months and Pangu is getting close to the launch of the iOS 10.1. On the other hand, there is no specific release of any jailbreak tool for this OS yet and Pangu is remaining silent about it. This move is making jailbreak users worry now.
Various reports suggest that the new Pangu iOS10 jailbreak is all set to release as soon as apples new update. At the moment, Apple has previously released two updates namely 10.0.1 and 10.0.2, for its current iOS. However, the company ensures that both updates were made to fix minor bugs while no major changes have been made. iPhone maker has already promoted iOS10 in WWDC 2016 event.
Recently Apple has stopped signing iOS version 9.3.5. That means the individuals who have upgraded their devices to iOS 10 will not be able to go back any longer. They are now stuck with the current version, and the only option is to upgrade it to wait for the next release. Also the tech giant also stopped signing iOS 10.0.1, that means the devices that are currently running on the iOS 10.0.3 version can only go back a single version i.e. 10.0.2.
It is also rumoured that Pangu is waiting to formulate the right tools and tweaks for the security measures employed by Apple on the iOS 10 and its updates. iPhone maker has been releasing small updates such as the iOS 10.0.1 and iOS 10.0.2, and the iOS 10.0.2.These rollout may have put a temporary stop in terms of the jailbreaking, Reports MobiPicker.
While the Yiada says that, the Pangu's move to wait until the iOS 10.1 is released first may be its plan all along as the hacker group will manage to avail an iOS 10 jailbreak. The hackers can circumvent all these jailbreak-cancelling tweaks that Apple had used.
The perfectly unaltered jailbreak is meant to last longer than usual. Some rumours are saying that the jailbreak tool has skipped iOS 10. The next jailbreak can only be expected from Pangu, while the hackers like iH8sn0w and Luca Todesco are famous for not making their jailbreak public.
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Samsung Gear S3 is a good-looking but fully multi-functional smartwatch. Users can go for the Samsung Gear S3 Classic for a timeless and formal look while the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is for the adventurers who have rugged lifestyles. With both Gear S3 designs being water and dust resistant.
Samsung Gear S3 Specs
The Gear S3 specs is both outstanding and unbelievable. The smartwatch has a built-in GPS, speedometer, altimeter, heart rate sensor and even barometer. The Gear S3 specs also include 4G LTE, WiFi and Bluetooth.
The Samsung Gear S3 specs include dual-core 1.0 GHz processor with 768 MB RAM and 4 GB internal storage. The new 380 mAh battery is said to be able to survive 3 to 4 days of non-stop use.
Samsung Gear S3 Display and Rotating Bezel
The Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and Gear S3 Classic both have an always-on 1.3 inch 360 x 360 Super AMOLED round display with Gorilla Glass SR+ and an improved Rotating Bezel.
The Rotating Bezel has been exemplary in Gear S2 but it has been upgraded in Gear S3, nonetheless. The Rotating Bezel can now read messages, set timers, snooze an alarm, adjust volumes, answer or cancel calls, and zoom and scroll to any app.
Samsung Gear S3 OS Tizen
Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and Gear S3 Classic run on the new OS 9 Tizen. The new OS Tizen gives users access to more than 10,000 apps in the Tizen Store.
Samsung Gear S3 Gear VR control
The Samsung Gear S3 specs, which has been hidden by Samsung is the control for Gear VR. The South Korean tech giant is said to be developing an app to easily control VR experiences.
Samsung Gear S3 Price
Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and Gear S3 Classic have been unveiled by Samsung at the IFA 2016. However, neither design are already available in the Samsung Store.
However, pre-order is now available in Mobile Fun UK and Best Buy Canada. Samsung Gear S3 price is 349 ($400-$450) in UK and $469 in Canada.
Samsung Gear S3 Release Date
Samsung Gear S3 release date or shipping date for both Gear S3 Frontier and Gear S3 Classic is on November 18, as per Best Buy Canada. However, Official Samsung Gear S3 release date is yet to be announced.
Moscow is apparently getting bolder with its intentions. Warships from the Russian Federation have caused great concern as the fleet heads off toward the Middle East probably to beef up Putin's forces in Syria.
The battle-ready sea vessels will sail across the North Sea and the English Channel or West of Ireland.
According to one diplomat, the armada is the biggest naval positioning since the Cold War.
This contingent, which is believed to be a joint task force from Russia's Baltic, Black Sea and Northern fleets, will join other ships that are already stationed off the Syrian shoreline. Within this context, it is possible that the main flotilla is already in place near Damascus.
Proceeding through the northern waters of Europe, the battle group is spearheaded by the recently-restored aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. Peter the Great, a huge nuclear cruiser, is among the surface ship escorts protecting the Russian Navy's flagship.
While the move is seen as Vladimir Putin's show of might, it cannot be denied that this development is a political statement aimed at hitting Russian detractors following anti-Moscow sentiments related to helping the Al-Assad regime in Syria.
It is expected that the UK's Royal Navy will monitor Russian activities at sea together with its NATO partners. Initially, the destroyer HMS Duncan joins the HMS Richmond in shepherding the foreign warships in heading south. Meanwhile, the HMS Dragon is also due to shadow a couple of Russian corvettes that were sailing north.
The Admiral Kuznetsov, which carries around fifty aircrafts including helicopter gunships and warplanes, is on its primary military assignment. A tug boat is on hand to assist the 31-year old carrier which has been hampered by mechanical difficulties in the past.
Although the participation of the Russian Navy in the Syrian conflict is minimal, it is highly-anticipated that more strikes from ships based in the Mediterranean and the Caspian Sea will be seen as the flotilla reaches the Middle East.
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Brad Pitt has been once again gleaning the limelight as rumor mills are churning that he has recently criticized liberals and finally recognized Donald Trump for this presidential election.
However, it has been maintained that Brad Pitt has never publicized any such claim and all the assumptions regarding his opinion for the presidential candidacy is nothing, but a sham.
Brad Pitt has not endorsed this year's 2016 Republican candidate Donald Trump in this election, nor has verbally "blamed liberals" for taking his money.
The news came in as a shock to Brad Pitt himself and for many of his followers. Many of his liberal supporters were "shocked" as Brad Pitt was rumored to have been voicing his support in favor of Donald Trump. Being a Democrat, the speculations were thought to have been stemmed from baseless reports.
Pitt reportedly said, "We need more and more jobs. Unemployment is way up here. He's hired more employees, more people, than anyone I know in the world.
I believe in him first of all because he's a businessman. I think jobs are badly needed ... Hollywood star, Brad Pitt is usually catching some heat through supporters of President Obama after calling his agenda "anti-Christian."
Pitt talked out about his own Christian beliefs during the 1999 interview. During the interview, he shared his story of how he or she uncovered religion. As other celebrities live a liberal and free life-style, Pitt has explained that he is proud of his religion. Because of this, Brad has finally come out in support of Donald Trump and his run for the Presidency.
Rendering it groundless and untrue, Snopes established that the false articles provided no accurate source or background with the added details. No interviews, videos, audio links or other genuine material was added, thus, leaving minimal possibility of it being true.
The fake news articles were not only filled with grammatical mistakes but also published speculations regarding Denzel Washington.
Many Hollywood prodigies are often associated with liberalism and are thus Democrats. The news has definitely given a hard blow to many of the Republicans as they might be expecting Brad Pitt's support in the approaching presidential election.
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Following the mechanical troubles involving the battery of the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung is keen to recoup its loss. With this in mind, the South Korean tech manufacturer is already on its way to unveil a new unit in the first quarter of 2017.
The power issues involving the Note 7 will definitely have a big impact along the production lines of the next Samsung device. Speculations suggest that a removable battery will be included in the company's next flagship smartphone.
In line with this, the South Korean manufacturing giant looks to tap several battery suppliers for the Galaxy S8. Currently, the group is looking to partner with another Korean organization. Having worked with Samsung in the past, LG is a prime candidate to produce the S8's energy component. Previously, the LG Innotek camera systems have been installed on a number of smartphones produced by the Seoul-based organization.
Significant adjustments in manufacturing the S8 battery are expected. One of these will most probably involve the use of polycarbonate materials. Although the item came under heavy scrutiny due to its substandard status, it is likely that Samsung will keep it removable just so fresh replacements can be instituted when necessary.
With this in mind, there may be a need to re-design the Galaxy S8 in order to accommodate the interchangeable power item. Although the classy glass frame will still be manufactured, a modular outline, which the LG G5 portrayed, is needed to fit in the new battery.
Based on reliable leaks, the S8 will possess a curved-display model. This is not really a surprise since Samsung has contemplated that the Galaxy S series will have a curved edge design. No less than the group's mobile head has declared that the 'S' line will keep the edge display as its identity.
Moreover, rumors are swirling around that the S8 will be equipped with VR components which mean that this device will be pitted against Google's Daydream project. Considering the unit's VR compatibility, it is perceived that the S8 will be featuring a 4K resolution with a super AMOLED display.
In addition, the new Galaxy product will be powered by the next generation Exynos 8995 processor. Its 18 to 24-megapixel ranged camera will possess an f/1.4 aperture on a 1/1.7'' CMOS sensor.
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The tax codes preferences for real estate have been justified on the grounds that they help Americans purchase homes and improve the quality of the nations housing stock.
The U.S. housing and commercial real estate stock has been shaped by the variety of real estate preferences, which cost about $836 billion over 5 years. The home mortgage deduction accounts for $420 billion of the total preference. As with the tax subsidy for health insurance, this preference is practically impossible to eliminate, because people are used to it.
Although these preferences are clearly distortionary, encouraging Americans to invest more in housing than they would in the absences of the preferences, international travelers see that these benefits have succeeded.
American homes are lavish compared to those in other countries. Average homes benefit from large refrigerators, so people can go shopping once a week without food spoilage. Americans have large washers and dryers that actually dry clothes, so most do not have to hang clothes outside to dry the way many people have to do in other countries. Even in England, known for its wet weather, it is common to see clothes hanging outside to dry in expensive neighborhoods. U.S. homes feature multiple bathrooms with high-pressure showers and a high share have air conditioning as well as heating.
A better solution would be to lower tax rates and broaden the base, getting rid of as many of these preferences as is politically possible. Republican candidate Donald Trump has proposed lowering the corporate tax rate to 15 percent and trimming many preferences, with details to be worked out in negotiations with Congress. However, no one can deny that these tax preferences have made life easier for Americans, especially American women.
American women are the ones who have been able to move into the workforce in large part because of the labor-saving devices that modern homes provide. Working mothers know better than anyone the convenience of tossing a large load of laundry not only into the washer, but also in the dryer afterwards. Such appliances are included in the value of the home and so their purchase price is subsidized by various preferences for real estate.
What are these preferences, and how much do they cost?
Mortgage interest deduction. Homeowners can deduct mortgage interest and mortgage insurance premiums on their primary or secondary residences from their federal income taxes. Around a quarter of taxpayers claim the mortgage interest deduction. Taxpayers must itemize in order to claim it, and only businesses filing as individuals (i.e., not under the corporate tax code) may claim the deduction.
According to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the deduction for mortgage interest will cost $419.8 billion over five years, making it one of the most expensive tax expenditures in the tax code.
Deduction of real estate taxes. Taxpayers can deduct state and local property taxes if those taxes are assessed uniformly at a like rate on all real property throughout the community. The JCT estimates that this deduction will cost $184.5 billion over five years. This deduction acts as a subsidy to high property tax states such as California, New York, and Maryland, because the federal government effectively pays a portion of these taxes.
Exclusion of capital gains on sales of primary residences. Capital gains of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for married couples from the sale of an individuals primary home are not taxed. According to the JCT, this provision costs $149.9 billion over five years.
Like-kind exchanges. The Internal Revenue Code allows property ownersregardless of tax statusto exchange one property for another and defer capital gains taxes on the sale of property under certain conditions. Cash and other assets may be part of the exchange. The properties must be similar (i.e., like-kind) and must be used for business or investment purposes. This enables sellers to avoid the transactions costs, including taxes, that come from the sale of real estate.
Real estate investment trusts (REITs). These are essentially mutual funds for the real estate industry. However, they are exempt from corporate tax if they distribute more than 90 percent of their taxable income to shareholders as dividendsan extremely valuable exemption. These dividends are also qualified dividends, meaning shareholders may pay the lower capital gains tax rate (20 percent top rate) instead of the ordinary income tax rate (39.6 percent top rate) on dividend income from REITs. An NBER paper by William Gentry, Deen Kemsley, and Christopher Mayer found that the tax preferences for REITs have a positive effect on the REITs value.
Low-income housing credit. Owners of buildings which rent units to low-income households can claim the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). Tax credits may be used for the acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction of low income rental housing, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Households with income below a set percentage of the median income in their area qualify as low-income. Rent for these households is capped. The exact numbers vary, as states have wide discretion to design their own LIHTC programs.
The JCT pegs the five-year cost of the program at $43 billion, with the vast majority of that claimed on corporations tax returns (not individuals).
Americans are encouraged to invest more in real estate than they would otherwise. Americans do get something for the preferencesfar better housing than is seen in the rest of world. Yet it has to be acknowledged that these preferences come at a costsome empty office buildings and some second homes that have lost value. As with other tax preferences, the tax expenditure could better be put to use by lowering individual and business tax rates, encouraging work and investment in other areas.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow and director of Economics21 at the Manhattan Institute. Follow her on Twitter here.
Interested in real economic insights? Want to stay ahead of the competition? Each weekday morning, E21 delivers a short email that includes E21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington. Sign up for the E21 Morning Ebrief.
CBS popular sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" Season 10 is moving to a new timeslot and the upcoming sixth episode will mark the said shift. From Oct. 27, the show will air on Thursdays at 8.00 p.m. instead of Mondays.
This shift in timing is not just what makes "The Big Bang Theory" Season 10 episode 6 remarkable. It will also be significant for Howard (Simon Helberg) and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) as the couple will feel their baby's kick for the first time, reports Parent Herald.
Titled "The Fetal Kick Catalyst," it will see Howard in the panic mode as he is anxious about the prospect of becoming a father and to deal with the anxiety, he makes an impulse purchase.
As for Bernadette, the pregnancy has brought in cheers for the microbiologist because things are turning interesting for her. There is a perceptible evolution in her character and it is a delight to see her becoming a mother. Her pregnancy storyline is sure to introduce copious doses of humor and fun as Season 10 progresses ahead.
Meanwhile, speculations about Season 10 being the last in the sitcom series have started doing the rounds, reports Morning News USA. This is because the cast members have not confirmed a renewal for Season 11. Also, Kaley Cuoco aka Penny has indicated that the current season might be the end of the show but it looks more of a case of Cuoco not returning for "The Big Bang Theory" Season 11.
"The Big Bang Theory" is a popular show on CBS and enjoys huge ratings, claims Aussie Network News. Also, the television network shares a great relationship with showrunner Chuck Lorre and therefore, there are very low chances of the show not getting renewed.
There might be some problems with actors regarding salary hike as the contract negotiations are on but it definitely seems unlikely to be headed for an end.
It is worth mentioning here that Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, and Kaley Cuoco make million dollars per episode from the show while Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar draw in $900,000 each. The estimated cost of production for each episode of "The Big Bang Theory" hovers around $9 million.
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The campaign to reclaim Mosul is underway.
Two years after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) captured Iraq's second largest urban area, a rejuvenated Iraqi government is standing firm on Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi's declaration that the city's liberation is near.
The atmosphere inside Mosul is a mixed one. Food and related resources are being stashed away in preparation for months of heavy fighting. Walls have been vandalized with resistance slogans.
Meanwhile, Islamic State (IS) officials and fighters are busy fortifying the group's covert tunnel linkages. The extremist faction is very much concerned about the drone attacks being employed by American military advisers.
Months of reconnoitering and positioning have prepared Iraqi troops to engage the ISIL and free the million-plus dwellers in the city. Artillery bombardments begin to fall a few miles from the urban location. Armored cars and trucks inch within striking distance.
Although the ISIL has been reeling from multiple attacks on its fronts, it cannot be denied that Mosul's perimeter continues to be under heavy restrictions. With the security tight, residents find it hard to escape out of the city. People caught leaving or resisting are either beheaded or end up being fined that amounted up to a million dinars.
According to Reuters, around 58 individuals have met their doom in connection with the botched plan to overrun the rule of an official close to IS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi earlier this month.
Meantime, the US military has cited that about 3,000 to 4,500 fighters are scaling the city walls. The situation inside is tense considering that more and more residents are rebelling against the extremist organization.
The cruel rule under Al-Baghdadi's group has spearheaded most of the population to fight back. This present approach is in direct contrast to what happened in Mosul last June 2014 when a small band of ISIL rebels had been welcomed by the Sunni dwellers. At that time, the Islamic State has been viewed upon as savior who will eradicate abuse caused by the Shiite-controlled government.
However, the dominance of the rebels will eventually lead to a chaotic administration that saw the lives of common Iraqis turn for the worst. Islamic directives, which include summary executions against political foes, whippings over missed prayers and the destruction of historical artifacts, have driven many residents to flee Mosul at their own risk.
According to Omar Fadil Al-Alaf, head of the resistance faction Suraya Rimah, revenge against the extremist rulers is on the minds of many who suffered heavily under ISIL rule.
Further compounding the troubles in Mosul is the economic difficulties where basic services such as electricity and water are being denied to many Iraqis. Even the morale of IS fighters have plummeted due to the enforcement of pay cuts.
Weeks of airstrikes from Coalition forces have been welcomed by the city dwellers. The campaign has been effective considering that senior officers in Al-Baghdadi's circle are being targeted.
According to Lise Grande, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, the Mosul operation will be a complicated event since a million civilians will need to flee from their homes.
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NASA recently announced the apparent reason behind the unsuccessful landing of European Space Agency (ESA) lander "Schiaparelli" on Mars. The claim made by the American space agency is based on its discovery of the crash site of the lander on the surface of the red planet.
Schiaparelli, or ESA lander, is a part of ExoMars probe. The mission was initially idealized to specifically look for evidence of alien life on Mars. Just before its landing on the red planet, the lander lost its contact with the communication systems on Earth.
At the time of landing, the probe or the lander gets six minutes to slow down its speed by firing thrusters at the time of descent and then open the parachute for safe landing. However, the ESA lander did not follow the normal landing path and NASA believes that it exploded due to impact just before landing, according to Nature World News.
The scientists at ESA and India both confirmed that they lost contact with the ESA probe just before it touched down on Mars. However, why the probe lost its contact with Earth just before it landed still remains a mystery.
NASA believe that the lander exploded just before landing. According to NASA's Reconnaissance Orbiter, a violent collision occurred, which made ESA lander lose contact with Earth. The space agency has even released a picture showing the potential crash site of the ESA lander.
On the other hand, conspiracy theorist Scott Waring of the ufosightingsdaily.com has a different story to tell. According to Waring, NASA intentionally "shot down" the ESA lander because it did not want it to gather evidence of alien life on Mars.
Waring states that NASA wants to be the first agency to reveal facts about alien life to the world. This is the reason why it wants to prevent Mars mission launched by other agencies to find out evidence related to alien life on Mars.
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Xiaomi adds-on another smartphone to the tech market, Xiaomi Mi Note 2 with a dual-edge curved display. Curved display smartphone reminds about the major flagship of Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. Xiaomi Mi Note 2 takes on the rival smartphone Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge which has placed an impression in the tech market.
Display: The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 features a 5.7-inch dual-edge full HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. Xiaomi has also added sunlight display pro mode to its Xiaomi Mi Note 2 for legibility under direct sunlight.
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge features a slightly smaller 5.5-inch Super AMOLED Quad HD display having a resolution of 2560x1440pixels. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has added an always-on display where a part of the screen lights up to display the time, date, notifications and more.
Processor and Storage: The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor with a clock speed of 2.35GHz. A RAM of 4GB with 64GB of internal storage or 6GB of RAM with 128GB storage. The smartphone does not come with a slot for storage expansion and runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is powered by Exynos 8890 64-bit Octa-core processor together with 4GB of RAM. Also, the smartphone is equipped with 32GB of internal storage with an option of expansion using a microSD card. The Mi Note 2, however, does not feature any slot for storage expansion. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge comes with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS. The current reports depicts that Android 7.0 Nougat will soon arrive in the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
Camera: The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 comes with a 22.56MP rear camera and 8MP front camera. The Smasung Galaxy S7 edge comes with a 12MP rear camera and 5MP front camera.
Fingerprint scanner and Battery: The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 has an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner in the front. Samsung Galaxy S7 edge features an oval fingerprint scanner found beneath the home button. The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 has a 4,070mAh battery and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is equipped with 3600mAh battery.
Colors and Price: The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is available in two color options; glacial silver and piano black and is reported to be priced at 410 USD for 4GB RAM with 64GB storage and 515USD for 6GB RAM with 128GB storage.
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge comes in Black, White, Gold, Silver, and Pink Gold color options priced at 780USD. The prices of the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge may vary in different tech markets of the world.
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A garage in the prime central London district of Marylebone - which is the size of a small studio flat - is set to go under the hammer with a guide price of 135,000.
The 320sq ft garage is part of the ground-floor of an end-of-terrace building in Devonshire Street, close to the manicured green acres of Regent's Park in W1.
Garages in London rarely come to auction. In fact, only seven have been listed for sale in the past five years through estate agent Savills. As such, they can sell for up to double the guide price. Earlier this year in Chelsea, a single-storey garage with a guide price of 180,000 attracted a flurry of offers and eventually fetched the staggering price of 360,000.
Parking costs up to 13 an hour in Marylebone so, if the new owner isn't looking for secure parking for their own car, the garage could become a nice little earner.
However, the lease, which currently stands at 61 years, will need to be extended. Notice hasn't yet been served, which means there is no estimate as to how many thousands this will cost, so potential buyers will need to do their homework.
Getting all the legal paperwork checked ahead of an auction is generally good practice as properties can have legal issues which may affect the value of the property and the ability to raise finance. Many solicitors will check the auction legal pack for a nominal fee prior to bidding and if successful this fee is usually deducted from the final bill.
Other unusual lots in next week's auction include a one-bedroom house in south east London's Hither Green with a guide price of 100,000, and a 'loft-space' with planning consent to build a one-bedroom flat for 150,000 in west London's Hanwell...
The Savills property auction is being held at The Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, W1k 6JP; 1 November 2016 at 9am; the garage is listed as lot number 114.
I t would be reasonable to think that the lower your travelcard zone number, the faster your journey to central London but a new study by Hamptons International proves youd be wrong.
London has grown by steadily swallowing up neighbouring towns and villages, explains Hamptons research analyst David Fell. Ruislip, Harrow, Barking and Croydon were all once distinct towns that now find themselves part of the capital.
Their history means they have direct rail links into the heart of central London which cut straight across Londons inner suburbs. These connections mean its quicker to get home to some Zone 6 suburbs from central London than it is to many parts of Zone 2.
In Zone 6 the choice includes positively rural Elstree & Borehamwood, leafy New Barnet and the increasingly affluent commuter hotspot of Surbiton.
The Zone 6 homes hotspots where you can get to central London in less than 30 minutes
Station Operator Zone Minutes into Zone 1 Zone 1 destination Average price 12 month price growth Surbiton South West Trains 6 24 Vauxhall 525,160 11.8% Elstree & Borehamwood Thameslink 6 24 Kings Cross St Pancras 569,235 9.2% Rainham c2c 6 24 Fenchurch Street 312,522 13.1% Upminster c2c 6 24 Fenchurch Street 452,768 19.2% New Barnet Great Norther 6 25 Old Street 486,243 14.8% Enfield Lock Greater Anglia 6 25 Liverpool Street 334,854 12.7% Sanderstead Southern 6 25 Victoria 374,567 11.1% Romford TFL Rail 6 26 Liverpool Street 270,320 14.1% West Drayton Great Western Railway 6 27 Paddington 314,660 14.4%
In Upminster, the top performer in this zone, prices have grown a huge 19.2 per cent year on year, to an average 452,768. Journeys to Fenchurch Street take 24 minutes.
In Surbiton, Reuben Heward-Mills, operations director at Greenfield Estate Agents, says twenty- and thirtysomething City professionals are his main clientele and they buy two-bedroom period conversions or purpose-built flats for about 500,000. For families a four-bedroom house would cost about 700,000.
425,000: a two-bedroom flat near Surbiton station (Zone 6). Call greenfield (020 8012 2391)
Surbiton is more vibrant than you would think, he adds. There is very much a cafe culture, there are bistros and wine bars, and there is also green space and some very quiet areas.
I used to live in Tooting and it is quicker to get into Waterloo from here. The train link is fundamental to Surbitons appeal. We have people who would rather live in Surbiton than Kingston because it has a faster train link into work.
The 10th Anniversary of the World Luxury Hotel Awards and this years annual gala ceremony will be a
celebration of legendary proportion. The World Luxury Hotel Awards event will offer hoteliers the unique opportunity to savour and celebrate their achievements of the past year with their industry peers. The World Luxury Hotel Awards is a recognized global organization providing luxury hotels with recognition for their world-class facilities and service excellence provided to guests. Awards are presented to luxury hotels in over 50 different categories on a country, regional and global basis. Public vote selects all winners, reflecting real recognition for the hard work and dedication of hotel staff and hotel standards.
Gala Ceremony Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with the leaders of the hospitality industry
as well as media representatives. We will also be conducting one on one video interviews.
This event is organized by World Luxury Hotel Awards Head Office
For more information please contact Michelle Snyman
+27 87 232 7930
Having recently returned from the European Foodservice Summit in Zurich I was reminded of the fact that the restaurant sector is one where entrepreneurs are still able to challenge the 'big players'. Creativity and innovation are thriving and those that are willing to take risks are being rewarded by customers who flog to those new restaurants in search for 'the next big thing'. London, it seems, remains one of those global 'hot-spot' for up-and-coming restaurants. Robin Rowland, CEO at YoSushi! described the city's food scene at the conference as "unique, sizzling and exciting".
Reflecting on this on my way home to the UK, I decided to connect with Corrado Accardi. Corrado is one of those London entrepreneurs who took the plunge and who left a corporate career in order to become the founder of Pizza Rossa, a by-the-slice Italian eatery. I was keen to talk to him about entrepreneurship and leadership, financing a start-up and the challenges represented by changes in consumer behaviour as well as his views on industry disruptors in particular third party delivery companies and social media. Not wanting to stereo-type, but Corrado's passion and love for food shun through in our conversation and it consequently went on for a while. Here is the first part of his story:
From left to right: Luca Magnani (co-founder) and Corrado Accardi (founder/CEO) Photo by Aethos Consulting Group
Corrado, you are an engineer by background what inspired you to start your own restaurant business? Yes, I initially built a career in construction and project management with AECOM and Gardiner & Theobald across Europe so nothing to do with restaurants! I subsequently developed Adina Aparthotels in Germany and later decided to obtain an Executive MBA from London Business School the idea was to move into real estate finance but I quickly realised that this was not my thing! During my studies, though, I honed in on entrepreneurship and an idea which had been festering for a long-time suddenly appeared feasible. When I moved to London 15 years ago I had always difficulty in finding a good, quality lunch place like you would find in my home country. The ones that I liked were in the wrong locations. So I saw an opportunity in the restaurant business and started working on a more concrete business plan for a scalable, Italian-inspired quick service restaurant concept.
The European Foodservice Summit labelled "Burgers, Pizza and Sushi" as the three pillars of the (fast) casual dining segment. You yourself have chosen to develop an Italian restaurant concept and opened the doors to your first Pizza Rossa in 2014 can you tell us a bit more how this came about? Well, I am Italian from Sardinia so food-wise I really did want to stay close to my routes! But jokes aside, there is actually more substance behind it then that I saw a market gap in the UK for a quality, healthy Italian grab-and-go restaurant concept. Capitalising on a central kitchen would ensure consistency in product quality and I'd be able to use retail rather than dedicated restaurant units, thus saving on rent and fit-out costs and facing less competition from the 'big guys' in the restaurant scene ('rent' and 'access' are certainly key issues in highly competitive markets such as London). First, though, I had to fix the problem in producing fresh pizzas off-site for on-site consumption without affecting quality of the food by reheating it. I took a course in pizza making back in Italy and then did some undercover work in a pizzeria with a by-the-slice concept (as well as a lot of research by eating out!). I then amended and perfected the process to generate more scalability of production and spoke to countless restaurateurs on the operator and owner side, as well as those in catering and food production. A couple of years down the line, having found the right partners to work with and after a lot of sweat and tears, Pizza Rossa's first outlet in Leadenhall Market opened!
Starting a business from scratch can be daunting talk us through some of the challenges you faced. Challenges there were certainly plenty but I would say my top three centre around the topics of:
Securing finance,
Overcoming cultural differences;
Staying relevant.
For example, at the beginning I spent a lot of time talking up investors. Yet, securing funding was extremely difficult and banks requested guarantees which would have broken my neck! Luckily for me, crowdfunding had started to make some headlines. I decided to give it a go I did not want to give away a big slice (and hence control) of my company to one single shareholder. But I was happy to give very small portions of the business to a lot of different individual shareholders! Shareholders, who would have a personal vested interest in spreading the word for Pizza Rossa Having put together a video pitch and an award-winning business plan, we launched it on CrowdCube and secured GBP 440,000 in only 17 days a record across Europe for a start-up for equity-based crowdfunding.
I would also rank "cultural differences" as one of the bigger obstacles that we had to overcome. For example, our second site in Moorgate, which was only a takeaway joint with four stools altogether, had massive problems at attracting more clientele than the ever present Italians and it really did hit us hard. It came down to UK consumers being unfamiliar with the concept of a healthy and light by-the-slice pizza concept for takeaway as a lunch option. Mostly, the Brits eat pizza in the evening or at the weekend and, as a consequence, more likely than not in a social context so they regard pizza as a sit-down meal. But if you go for by-the-slice pizza, it tends to be for fast consumption. Brands such as Domino's and PizzaHut are certainly market leaders here but theirs are a lot heavier pizzas so our consumers were confused when they were served our healthy pizza starting from 200 calories per slice. This all resulted in us doing only 30% of our business from takeaway and 70% from eat-in customers but this had a massive negative affect on our turnover and clashed with our business model which was centred around a quick-service model with fast turnover and making most of our money through takeaway in the approx. 1-2 hours of "lunch rush hour". Rectifying the problem was thus a question of educating the consumer about our product and the concept and reframing our focus to encompass the market of the large corporate deliveries.
Lastly, there is the question of how you stay relevant in such a dynamic sector as the restaurant business. We operated for a while a kiosk in London's Shoreditch and served our food at a festival we even did a trial with Roadchef motorway service areas. All this formed part of a continuing exercise to push boundaries and find out what works where and how. Over time, we also questioned ourselves whether or not our limited menu might deter repeat customers would they continue coming back without a broader choice of food items? We have now gradually introduced new items such as pasta, risottos, paninis and salads and we have even introduced full main courses into our menu. Whilst this helps us to keep on attracting a large enough and diversified clientele, it poses in itself another challenge: Our USP includes the control of every single aspect of the production process, allowing off-site preparation but on-site consumption without compromising quality. So we put a lot of effort and research into making sure that we can live up to that expectation!
For their book "The Loneliness of Leadership", my colleagues Keith Kefgen and Jim Houran, Ph.D., have interviewed industry CEOs to reveal many of the unspoken lessons for leadership success. It appears all of them have had in some shape or form a 'personal board of advisors'. Did you seek out similar support? Yes, most definitely doing it on my own would have been a very different experience. Right from the very beginning I was fortunate enough to have had a lot of support. When I wrote my business plan I most definitely used my wife as a sounding board she has a business mind and an investment banking background. She was and still is one of the first people I run ideas by. However, I should also mention Luca Magnani Pizza Rossa's co-founder! Luca has a background in sales, marketing, branding and media we complement each other quite nicely! Dan Einzig, an early supporter of the business, added branding expertise. Then there is Robin Walker, a seasoned executive with a ton of experience in food management/production, Ruy Ribeiro, a banking and investment professional who now runs his family's network of restaurants in Brazil, Alberto Bonetta, a former colleague from the London Business School and high flying executive with focus in the Far East all three sit on the board as non-executive directors and are adding a lot of value. I have learned a lot from their past successes and mistakes. There are of course also numerous individuals and faculty from London Business School who have formed part of my personal 'advisory board' all of them were keen to help and I really did have a lot of access to their brains and thoughts!
In your opinion, what are the most rewarding things about being an entrepreneur and business leader? And, how do make sure to choose the best team to surround you with?Starting to see the business picking up and how customers are accepting and embracing your new concept is extremely rewarding. Also, one of my restaurateur career 'high-points' was when we did the catering for an event with approximately 2,000 people in the City of London this was a big win for the business but also a massive logistical challenge organised in just over 36 hours. In the end, everything went smoothly and it was down to the team that we were so successful. It is when I see things like that happening, when I notice that the team has pulled through and overcome challenges on their own that I feel most proud. For me, successful leadership means that you have created an environment in which staff is equipped with the right knowledge, tools and attitude and when it is empowered to deal with tough situations on the spot. Every successful team wants to feel that it is able to contribute something tangible to the business so I see it as my responsibility to foster creative thinking. In fact, a lot of our new menu items come directly from ideas suggested by our front line staff members! But, how do I make sure that I choose the right staff to surround myself with? For me, it is down to attitude, gut-feeling and shared values. One of my business partners, Luca Magnani, is in fact the brother of one of my wife's best friends and a guy with huge corporate experience and a great willingness to put it on the line to start something new. We never really connected upon until that serendipitous day when at a kids' party I told him about my idea and he got it straight away. The reason why we work as a team is that we share the same vision and attitude towards business!
Stay tuned for Corrado's views on industry disruptors and social media.
Leora Lanz (for AETHOS)
LHL Communications
AETHOS Consulting Group
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Everyone is a chatty customer in the world of social media. It's no surprise therefore that brands are no longer created or its perceptions managed by marketers, but rather by consumers. And these talkative consumers now include your employees. Welcome to the new reality of transparency courtesy of the 500-pound social media gorilla called "Glassdoor."
Glassdoor in concept
Founded by former Expedia veterans in 2007 and backed by Google Capital, the website offers a two-sided "marketplace" for employees to anonymously post salaries, interview questions and reviews of their employers. Similar to Linkedin, such information is often used by job seekers eager for insider information on those employers they are contemplating applications. Simultaneously, the platform also permits employers to respond to content, as well as post jobs and try to fill them with the best candidates. Glassdoor claims more than 7.5 million reviews and other information posted on more than 340,000 companies. It also claims 27 million members from 190 countries, with 25% of traffic coming from outside the U.S.
Harnessing The Power And Prejudice Of Glassdoor | By Andrew Hazelton Photo by AETHOS Consulting Group
Glassdoor in action
More than 2,000 employers pay to use the site's services and about 31,000 have signed up for free accounts where they can publicly respond to reviews and get access to Glassdoor's analytics. It boils down to this an increasing number of companies are realizing they neither can ignore Glassdoor reviews, nor should they.
In particular, companies can leverage Glassdoor in several key ways:
Mining employee feedback to supplement Associate or Employee Engagement Surveys , in order to promote engagement and positive company change;
, in order to promote engagement and positive company change; Turning negative reviews into positive outcomes, by gaining insights into how employees feel the company is doing and why they might be losing talent this can be invaluable information to augment exit interviews. And from a potential candidate's point of view, it makes a potential hire generally more informed;
this can be invaluable information to augment exit interviews. And from a potential candidate's point of view, it makes a potential hire generally more informed; Allowing companies to know about and address "false or misleading statements" by disgruntled employees or those merely trolling, which can damage a company's brand equity;
by disgruntled employees or those merely trolling, which can damage a company's brand equity; Establishing greater and more diverse social media presence in the market along with Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter to openly and actively engage the market for PR and brand awareness campaigns. Remember, consumers are the new brand marketers.
Glassdoor clearly speaks to both accountability and opportunity for companies in their quest for internal culture-building and external brand awareness and equity, especially for those organizations that strive to treat employees as customers. Indeed, Glassdoor is a successful proof-in-concept, as the metrics clearly demonstrate that employees share their experiences online if they feel valued and well-treated. Of course, the flipside is true as well companies must be prepared for the good, bad and ugly. And job seekers use all of this feedback much like Amazon rating systems to guide their selections of employers. Choosing employers is now about individuals committing to purposeful affiliations with brands. This is why employees can serve as the best advocates any brand can have and it's arguably a low cost approach.
Glassdoor in your company's corner
J.D. Powers, Gallup and the like are now old school consumer satisfaction surveys, whereas Millennials are being dubbed the "Glassdoor Generation." Companies often set lofty PR and marketing goals for itself as part of a scorecard approach to measuring its overall performance and impact. For instance, a decade ago most companies of the Fortune 500 wanted to be ranked among the "Best Places to Work" or earn the coveted "Employer of Choice" moniker.
It is critical to understand that top talent of the millennial generation and beyond look to social media metrics instead. Here is where Glassdoor can work for you now and moving ahead. It may surprise you how many hospitality-leisure companies are recognized by Glassdoor's analytics, which can companies can and should be leveraging in a myriad of ways to appeal to and attract the best of the new talent pool. For example, below are metrics that catch the millennial eye:
Top Companies for Cultural and Values: Walt Disney Company #17
Best Places to Work : #1 Airbnb, #13 In-N-Out Burger, #16 Expedia, both beat out such iconic companies as Apple and Twitter
: #1 Airbnb, #13 In-N-Out Burger, #16 Expedia, both beat out such iconic companies as Apple and Twitter Top 25 Work-Life Balance : Orbitz Worldwide
: Orbitz Worldwide Highest Rated CEO's: Lynsi Snyder, In-N-Out Burger, #17, Dara Khosrowshahi, Exepdia, #21
Those are celebrations, but the metrics also reveal market weaknesses and opportunities. Two cases in point, first no hospitality-leisure company was among the "Top 25 for Compensation & Benefits." Instead, the companies on this list were dominated by the technology industry. Perhaps then, the hospitality-leisure industry needs to re-examine the way it incentivizes and retains its talent.
Second, our industry failed to break the list for "Top Companies for Career Opportunities" the top three were Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company. Think about it "compensation/benefits and career opportunities" are critically important to all incumbents and applicants at all employment levels, so this information should give pause to every organization not on the list and arguably motivate some self-reflection on what tactics, strategies and overall philosophy companies are using to gain and retain top talent now and in the future.
Real-time information and connection to the market that defines and shapes brand perceptions. This access can give companies lift and leverage when used thoughtfully, or left unchecked and unharnessed, it can bring deflation and negative impacts that arguably compare well to being at the mercy of the crest of the dark tsunami of social media. That is the power and prejudice of Glassdoor, and it is only the beginning.
Recommended further reading: Forbes Magazine, Wall Street Journal, "Entrepreneur" and ERE Media.
Leora Lanz (for AETHOS)
LHL Communications
AETHOS Consulting Group
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Siem Reap Province SOKHA, the most dynamic and only Cambodian hotel group, proudly announce today the launch of their "Sokha Culinary Graduates Program" start from its two portfolio hotels in Siem Reap before continue to the next property within their group across Cambodia.
Chef Nicolas James Anderson has over 20 years of culinary experience in five-star international hotels and elite luxury cruise ships: Seaborn, Holland America Line, Radison Seven Seas & Renaissance Cruise Line to name a few. His years of experience as Culinary Instructor in Les Roches International School of Hotel Management are the perfect recipe for Sokha Culinary Program.
"We plan to install confidence, as we train competence in a range of technical skill, promote awareness and understanding of cultural differences", said Chef Anderson; currently is an Executive Chef of Sokha Phnom Penh Hotel & Residence.
Group Director of Sales & Marketing, Ms. SOK Chanthy stated: "The program aims to promote and provides insight knowledge about the five-star cooking method & technique to the young Cambodian Chefs within Sokha Hotels & Resorts and we are very delighted to have Chef Anderson onboard with us." This program also coincides with the launch of our new Lemongrass Restaurant in Sokha Siem Reap Resort & Convention Center where the chef's table concept will be introduced.
For dining reservation at the Lemongrass Restaurant, please contact [email protected] or via mobile number: 096 61 61 444
About Sokha Hotels & Resorts
The Sokha Hotels & Resorts also known as Sokha Hotel Group is based in Phnom Penh and it is also Cambodian owned company which is under the Sokimex Investment Group. The company was founded in 2004 by Neak Oknha Sok Kong. Today, Sokha Hotels & Resort has five (05) hotel properties located in four (04) main cities and provinces in Cambodia.
As the largest Cambodia Hospitality Operator, SOKHA is well known of its 5-star Cambodia service a Cambodia proud. Our success is driven by our people and their commitment to reach the mission of providing guests the most memorable experience and unforgettable smile of Cambodian.
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Briteny Li Marketing Communications
[email protected]
Hang Vannak
Acting General Manager
(855) 63 961 999
Sokha Siem Reap Resort & Convention Center
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Doris Greif returns to Dubai to take up the new role of Senior Vice President Operations Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), with Katie Benson replacing her as Regional Vice President for Europe, in addition to her role as General Manager of Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London. In August, Jumeirah announced that Graham Kiy had moved from his position as General Manager of Jumeirah Vittaveli in the Maldives to take up a new dual role of Regional Vice President of Greater China and General Manager of Jumeirah Nanjing, a new China hotel due to open 2017. Doris Greif, who has worked in hospitality for more than three decades, has held a number of senior positions since joining Jumeirah in 1999. She returns to Dubai from Europe having relocated in 2014 to her native Germany to take up the role of Regional Vice President Europe as well as General Manager of Jumeirah Frankfurt. Doris has considerable experience gained from working in a number of senior positions across the Group including Executive Assistant Manager in charge of rooms at Jumeirah Beach Hotel, General Manager Jumeirah Beach Club Resort & Spa, General Manager Operations and General Manager Jumeirah Emirates Towers. Doris left the company in 2008 to take on the role of Chief Operating Officer - City Operations at DIFC Investments LLC before re-joining Jumeirah in 2010 to become General Manager of Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, where she successfully led operations at the Jumeirah Groups award-winning property in Abu Dhabi.
In mid-October, the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member countries met in Tashkent, Uzbekistan to find new ways to promote peace and prosperity, and fight radicalization and reign in violent extremism.
In the belief that education is an important tool to promote peace and economic development and to combat the ideology of terrorism and violent extremism, the dignitaries adopted the theme Education and Enlightenment: The Path to Peace and Creativity. To facilitate the process of countering violent extremist ideology online, the Organization also launched the Center for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding.
The ministers adopted the Tashkent Declaration, which, among other goals, strives to promote peace and combat violent extremism by addressing problems caused by under-performing economies and high unemployment, through increased investments in human capital, training and quality education. Such investments should result in a well-educated populace that values and works toward achieving democracy and toward modernizing and improving their home countries.
The theme of this year's ministerial -- education and enlightenment -- appropriately focuses on the solution to many of the ongoing challenges facing OIC members and the international community, said Acting U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Arsalan Suleman.
Education and innovation are the currency of the modern global economy. A well-rounded education is what has enabled our global civilization to achieve such great advances in all areas, from technology and health to tolerance and pluralism. It is what helps us break down the mental barriers that divide us.
We must work together more closely to jointly address global challenges like the refugee crisis and climate change. We must also recognize the urgent need to enhance global efforts to protect the rights of minorities, including religious minorities, said Special Envoy Suleman.
[The United States is] proud of the progress in advancing U.S.-OIC cooperation in a number of areas, including on political crises, humanitarian affairs, health, countering violent extremism, women's rights, entrepreneurship, and human rights. We look forward to working with all of you to further enhance US-OIC partnerships and cooperation.
In this newly created role, Mr. Alderman will be responsible for executing the Companys previously-announced 'ESA 2.0'asset merchant strategy, including development of the Companys next-generation product through new construction and franchise sales, and asset management of the Companys existing real estate portfolio.
Extended Stay America, Inc. (NYSE:STAY) (Extended Stay America) announced tyesterdayday that Jim Alderman will be appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Asset Merchant of Extended Stay America and its subsidiary, ESH Hospitality, Inc.
In this newly created role, Mr. Alderman will be responsible for executing the Companys previously-announced 'ESA 2.0'asset merchant strategy, including development of the Companys next-generation product through new construction and franchise sales, and asset management of the Companys existing real estate portfolio, including sales and acquisitions, ongoing maintenance, and future renovations. Mr. Alderman will report directly to Gerry Lopez, President and CEO, and function as a member of the Companys executive leadership team.
Mr. Alderman served most recently as Chief Development Officer with Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, after prior leadership positions with other industry leaders such as Wyndham Worldwide and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. He brings over 30 years of experience in commercial real estate, with a broad background in hotel and restaurant development, private equity fund investment, management contracts, franchises, public/private partnerships and investor relations.
Gerry Lopez said, Jims vast experience and well documented track record of success makes him uniquely qualified to lead our future growth and development efforts. He is a terrific addition to what I believe is the best leadership team in our industry. Furthermore, hiring an executive of Jims caliber is a great example of the progress we have made since sharing our vision and plans for growth and value creation with the investment community last summer.
Mr. Aldermans appointment is effective November 7, 2016.
Extended Stay America, Inc., the largest owner/operator of company-branded hotels in North America, owns and operates 629 hotels in the U.S. and Canada comprising approximately 69,400 rooms and employs over 8,400 employees at its hotel properties and headquarters. The Companys core brand, Extended Stay America, serves the mid-priced extended stay segment.
Small Screens, Big Opportunities for Travel Brands in 2017
Mobile has weaved itself into almost everything we do, so it makes sense that everyone is using mobile while traveling. Technology is changing more quickly than in perhaps any other time in history, and those travel brands and professionals that fail to innovate and adapt risk losing out to the competition, decreased profits or even worse, extinction. Just look at the likes of huge brands like Blockbuster, Polaroid, Xerox, MySpace - the list goes on. All steamrollered by technology innovations in the marketplace and changing consumer expectations.
Recent studies show that the travel industry boasts over 50% growth year-over-year in mobile, yet many travel suppliers and advisors still view mobile as merely an extension of online experiences. However, the real value of mobile lies in the idea that it extends, enhances and transforms the entire travel experience. This means that mobile engagement has moved from a nice to have to a have to have as more and more travelers increasingly turn to their mobile devices to stay connected and simplify all aspects of their daily lives. So much so that 60% of travelers globally say they would be unwilling to go on vacation without a mobile device. Travelers now consider it to be the single most indispensable item they carry with them when they travel, ahead of their toothbrush, deodorant, and drivers license. In fact, the same study revealed that 72% of Millennials and 64% of all business travelers use mobile devices to check travel itineraries one or more times a day during trips. Google, who is recognized as always on the forefront of the next big thing, has announced the launch of a new smart travel app, Trips, that makes it easier to plan trips and search for information when on the go. When asked about their latest venture in the travel space, a company spokesperson was quoted as saying that, We love to travel and are hard at work dreaming up new ways to make the travel experience hassle-free.
In the highly competitive travel marketplace, it is crucial to be unique and offer differentiative products or services. Consumers today are texting, talking, communicating, buying, searching, watching videos, and taking photographs all on their mobile devices. Its clear that technology waits for no man or company and ignoring the potential of mobile is a surefire way to lose out to eager competitors who are itching for an opportunity to shine. One of the best strategies to stand out and attract more customers is to provide increased value, build relationships and share expertise in real-time. According to Phocuswright, travelers' use of mobile messaging has risen dramatically, and the impact on travel from shop and book to experience and share will only grow. Nearly 50% of U.S. travelers used text messaging, and more than three in 10 used chat apps to share their travel experiences in 2015, while 55% of consumers say they would like to receive real-time notifications and text message alerts. This confirms that the market opportunity for collaboration and engagement solutions between travel companies and travelers is enormous, but still largely untapped. Being the first one to offer new and more useful products on the market is an advantage that can be profitable.
In 2017, Travel professionals need to focus on ways to offer streamlined and personalized travel experiences, leveraging mobile technology to generate incremental revenue and engage with their customers, creating continuous connections and relationships. From inspiration and organization to collaboration and ultimately transacting, smartphones and tablets are now the preferred touchpoints for consumers. For travel companies, the implications of this shift are clear: mobile should be at the heart of every interaction to connect with travelers and enhance the customer experience across the entire travel journey. Businesses that are in alignment with changing traveler habits are creating profitable, recognizable brands.
The stats on mobile usage in travel are revealing, and its clear that mobile is here to stay. Umapped has released an infographic titled Small Screens, Big Opportunities for Travel Brands in 2017 with some compelling facts to help travel companies of all sizes understand why they need to meet the demands of todays tech-savvy travelers to stay competitive and stay in business.
Click here download the free infographic, or go to https://goo.gl/l7OVpy.
About Lisa Isrealovitch
As the co-founder and CEO of Umapped, Lisa is a visionary entrepreneur with a love for travel and growing businesses that solve big problems. With over a decade of experience in the hospitality and real estate industry, her experience ranges from large public companies to building start-ups from a promising idea into a million-dollar success story. Her last adventure took her to Belgium. Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn.
About Umapped
Umapped is the groundbreaking collaborative itinerary management and experience platform used by leading global travel brands and travel professionals to engage with their customers throughout the entire travel lifecycle. The Umapped platform is white labeled for travel brands and consolidates bookings, curated content, and real-time context-sensitive information into a social and mobile tool for travelers.
To learn more visit http://www.umapped.com. Connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ or subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
Last week, hoteliers arrived at Googles NYC headquarters for The 2016 Travelers Mindset Conference: Using Smart Data Marketing to Drive Direct Bookings and Lower Distribution Costs. Speakers from HeBS Digital & Google discussed the various ways hoteliers can use data to build a digital marketing plan that reaches the right people, at the right time, on the right device to win the booking.
Integrating Smart Data Marketing into the hoteliers strategy is so important because it helps close the 360-degree customer engagement, retention and acquisition cycle. While retaining past guests, frequent guests, and loyalty members is imperative, hoteliers that are not utilizing real-time in-market targeting that reaches potential guests travelers who have expressed intent to travel now or in the near future to the hotels destination are missing serious revenue opportunities to expand and replenish their existing customer base on an ongoing basis.
HeBS Digitals Website Revenue Optimization Consultants have a deep understanding on how to integrate both Google products and other digital marketing formats to utilize both past guest data and intent-to-travel data to drive direct bookings and high returns. This expertise was demonstrated in the case study series, a key part of the lineup for the day.
Topics addressed during the days presentations included:
Direct is Always Better: How to Boost Direct Bookings, Lower Distribution Costs and Increase Bottom-Line Profits presented by Max Starkov, President & CEO of HeBS Digital.
During this session, Starkov covered the state of the industry as well as market projections for 2017. In addition to a rather bleak picture projected for the hospitality industry, with occupancy rates flatting and even declining along with Airbnb stealing demand share from hotels, the direct booking ratio has declined 40% since 2011 (Kalibri labs).
How can hoteliers grow profitability? What are the top 6 cost-drivers for hoteliers, and what is the one they have control over? How can hoteliers heal the distribution cost self-inflicted wound? The answers to these questions, along with some ideas on creating a Direct is Always Better strategy, were covered in Max Starkovs presentation.
Smart Data Marketing Workshop presented by Margaret Mastrogiacomo, Senior Director, Creative Strategy at HeBS Digital
What is Smart Data Marketing? A term coined by HeBS Digital, Smart Data Marketing is the balanced utilization of CRM data and Intent Data points to make the most of past, present, and future customer data to generate the highest number of bookings and returns and ultimately reach your best guest.
Smart Data Marketing serves as a bridge between the hoteliers digital marketing efforts and its revenue management goals by successfully reaching the best guests and driving direct bookings.
Mastrogiacomos presentation culminated in a video which summarized her presentation, bringing the power of Smart Data Marketing to life:
Case Study Series: Smart Data Marketing Success Stories
Dynamic Rate Marketing Drives Bookings at Higher ADRs for The Lotte New York Palace: Kristen Amore, Senior Account Executive at HeBS Digital, walked the audience through a Dynamic Rate Marketing campaign that generated over 5,500% Return-on-ad-spend. By targeting business-class travelers who showed an intent to travel to NYC in a specific time period, HeBS Digital partnered with Sojern to serve ads to these travelers that featured real-time rates and availability for the property. Review the case study here.
Kristen Amore, Senior Account Executive at HeBS Digital, walked the audience through a Dynamic Rate Marketing campaign that generated over 5,500% Return-on-ad-spend. By targeting business-class travelers who showed an intent to travel to NYC in a specific time period, HeBS Digital partnered with Sojern to serve ads to these travelers that featured real-time rates and availability for the property. Review the case study here. Classified: How the Watergate Hotel Re-Launched its Hotel Digital Strategy: Anna Samuels, Director of Digital Marketing for the Watergate Hotel and Jason Price, Executive Vice President of HeBS Digital talked about how the re-opening digital strategy for the Watergate Hotel led to a 55% increase in online revenues. With a number of active projects in the pipeline for the D.C. area, its imperative that the Watergate Hotel focus on driving direct bookings and steal as much market share as possible. By first determining the propertys business goals, then launching a Limited-Time Offer to reach its target markets (using both CRM data and Intent data), the property saw great results.
Anna Samuels, Director of Digital Marketing for the Watergate Hotel and Jason Price, Executive Vice President of HeBS Digital talked about how the re-opening digital strategy for the Watergate Hotel led to a 55% increase in online revenues. With a number of active projects in the pipeline for the D.C. area, its imperative that the Watergate Hotel focus on driving direct bookings and steal as much market share as possible. By first determining the propertys business goals, then launching a Limited-Time Offer to reach its target markets (using both CRM data and Intent data), the property saw great results. Building a Hotel Brand through Smart Data Marketing: Jackie Maloney, Account Supervisor at HeBS Digital, walked the audience through the evolution of the RLHC brand online, how the brand effectively merchandises to communicate value, and the different audiences the brand needs to reach online. By using Smart Data Marketing to target both past guests and intent-based travelers, RLHC has seen returns of upwards of 5,000% from its multichannel marketing campaigns.
Digital as a Strategic Asset - presented by Camila Borda Kaul, Industry Manager Travel, Google New York
With every travel booking influenced by 19 touchpoints, and more than two billion travel searches per month globally (Google), Camila discussed how travel marketers can reach consumers through each micro-moment of their travel planning journey. Google is seeing an acceleration of travel and hotel queries (+20% YoY in July), with this growth fueled almost entirely by mobile (98% of total growth has been mobile growth).
The best content in the world doesnt matter if travelers dont see it. Camilla reiterated the importance of using intent-based marketing to the audience, and talked about how using data can help hoteliers influence the path to purchase to reach the right person, at the right time, on the right device.
As an official Google Partner, HeBS Digital enjoys access to unique tools and insights, along with a direct connection to Google itself. HeBS Digital earned its Google Premier Partner status by passing a series of Google advertising certification exams, adhering to best practices, and delivering consistently strong results for its client portfolio.
Contact success@hebsdigital.com if you would like information concerning upcoming HeBS Digital and Google co-hosted events.
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.
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CITS American Express Global Business Travel 2016 China Business Travel Barometer indicates the majority of organizations are continuing to invest in, and improve, their business travel programs to grow business and support employees
CITS American Express Global Business Travel today announced the results of its 2016 China Business Travel Survey (the Barometer) during the twelfth annual China Business Travel Forum (CBTF), held in Shanghai.
Earlier this year, it was widely reported that expenditure on business travel in China has overtaken the United States to be the country with the largest business travel spending globally*. According to the Barometer's findings, average growth for travel and expense (T&E) budgets in China in 2016 was 4.86%, consistent with 4.8% growth in 2015, and also with the 4.42% that had been anticipated in the 2015 survey.
Of the surveyed organizations, 52% maintained stable T&E budgets for the last 12 months and 61% indicated they will not increase their budgets in 2017. The uncertainties of the current economic environment are clearly impacting enterprises, but the majority of organizations surveyed indicated that travel is a core business function and they will continue to invest in and improve their managed travel programs. Thirty-six percent (36%) indicated they will need to find smarter ways to spend their budgets to support travel activities, and 29% will try to find ways to increase travel to further accelerate business growth.
In terms of air travel spending, the proportion of international spending against domestic air travel has decreased this year compared with 2015. The domestic portion this year is an average of 73% (up from 66% in 2015) and international is 15% (down from 19% in 2015)**. The contraction of international travel compared with domestic spending is likely to be the result of a number of different trends including a sharper focus on growing businesses domestically as China continues to grow, albeit at a slower rate, and a more conservative approach to business expenses leading to fewer internal meetings abroad.
"Our research indicates that because of continued economic uncertainty companies are cautious when it comes to increasing their business travel spending. They do, however, recognize the importance of travel as a contributor to revenue growth and as such are trying to find smarter, more innovative and efficient ways to manage their business travel programs. Further, in keeping with increased disruption and instability globally, business leaders are more focused than ever before on supporting their travelling employees from a duty of care perspective," said Marco Pellizzer, Vice President of American Express Global Business Travel, Mainland China and Hong Kong.
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This year's Barometer highlighted that enterprises' focus on improving travel management is not only on saving money and achieving compliance objectives, but is also firmly set on supporting their valuable employees. The Barometer indicates the top three priorities in formulating business travel policies include: 'employee safety', 'employee's mental and physical conditions' and 'work efficiency of the employee during and after the business travel'. Among the companies that have actually changed policies during the last 12 months, 28% did so in response to the need to enhance processes and policies in relation to their duty of care to their employees. Regarding the actual policy changes, 57% implemented feeds to security service providers, 47% mandated air bookings with a designated agency, and 32% mandated hotel bookings with an appointed agency.
The Barometer found that nearly 30% of organizations said they would consider updating their business travel policies in future to address the needs of travelers, mainly to take into consideration the use of enhanced safety measures.
Sixty percent 60%) of enterprises reported allowing to varying degrees the use of sharing economy services - 7% higher than in 2015 indicating a trend towards being more accommodating of traveler preferences. Sharing economy solutions for travel and accommodation in business programs is expected to continue to grow: 56% of respondents are expecting to adopt shared economy solutions in the next 12 months.
Not only is ensuring the safety of travelling employees a key concern, the Barometer also shows that 35% of respondents consider an organizations' travel program a key business driver and point of differentiation as an employer - an increase of 16% from 2015. As competition for talent in China continues to increase, the trend of leveraging better employee travel schemes for the purpose of retention and recruitment is expected to increase.
Continued quest for efficiencies and consolidation in business travel management
The Barometer demonstrates a significant year-on-year increase in enterprises achieving compliance with travel policies as a result of better business travel management. Among the interviewed enterprises in the 2016 Barometer, 75% achieved travel policy compliance at a rate of more than 50% - a significant increase from 53% in 2015.
In 2015, there was a considerable movement away from the practice of using multiple travel management companies (TMCs) or agencies. There has been no further significant year-on-year change when it comes to using multiple TMCs, however, nearly 59% of multi-agency users surveyed are considering pursuing a consolidation to fewer agencies to either optimize cost or simplify processes. This further supports the trend over the past few years among local and multinational companies based in China to simplify the operational aspects of their travel management programs, in recognition of the benefits that economies-of-scale can bring, and the disadvantages of resource duplication. The top three reasons cited by organizations choosing to work with one external travel management service provider, were: 'high-quality customer service', 'competitive pricing' and 'improved control of travelers behavior and duty of care".
The Barometer also indicates an increased focus on financial reporting and controls being put into place. Firms obtaining business travel expense reports through business travel management companies and cost management systems account for 50% of those surveyed, an increase from 43% in 2015. As companies are experiencing better management of travel expenses with the use of business travel management services, it is expected more companies will choose these services in the future.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of organizations surveyed undertook projects involving enhancement of their travel technologies solutions during the last 12 months, indicating a continued desire to search for and employ new technologies to improve the business travel programs and provide a better experience for their travelers.
"Regardless of economic cycles, experienced business leaders are seeking new revenue opportunities and business travel goes hand-in-hand with these. However, it is important that an organization's managed travel program is designed and executed with overall business objectives and efficiencies in mind. Further, an employee's safety, productivity and wellbeing are integral to business success, and travel policies can make a significant difference in attracting, retaining and motivating them. Enterprises should invest in knowledge and innovation, and fully leverage the expertise of TMCs, to benefit their overall business travel program," said Pellizzer.
The Barometer is an annual report detailing the current status of, as well as forecasts for, China business travel. The 2016 Barometer surveyed executives from 200 companies in China ranging from small enterprises with fewer than 100 employees to large companies with well above 500 staff. The organizations are located in major economic areas in China, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and various secondary cities. The top industries represented within the survey respondents were manufacturing, technology, financial services and pharmaceutical.
* According to the GBTA BTI Outlook China 2016 H1, a report by the GBTA Foundation.
** The remainder was spent on air travel to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan
'He is the Nickelback of Presidents'
Jimmy Kimmel's 'Mean Tweets' segment features celebrities reading negative comments posted on Twitter. This week, U.S President Barack Obama took a stab at responding live to some of the tweets.
Among the comments, Republican candidate Donald Trump shares his feelings on how Obama has managed the country. He claims Obama will go down as the "worst president in history."
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For Obama's response, watch the clip below!
This past weekend in Malibu, Chris Martin, Beck, Jakob Dylan, E Street keyboardist Roy Bittan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith came together to perform a bunch of covers at a benefit concert for the Boys and Girls Club. Smith posted a video from the gig on Instagram, joking that he had formed a "new boy band." The covers included Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA," Springsteen's "My Hometown," and Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."
The gig quickly became a family affair, as Martin brought his children Apple and Moses onstage for some more modern covers. Apple did her best Ariana Grande with a rendition of "Just a Little Bit of Your Heart," while Martin's son Moses chose Twenty One Pilots' "House of Gold."
Lucky for us, the audience did their part to document the gig on YouTube. You can watch four videos from the concert below.
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The Governments of the United States and India held the Fifth U.S.-India Cyber Dialogue in New Delhi on September 28, 2016.
The U.S.-India Cyber Dialogue reflects our nations' broad engagement and long-standing cooperation on important bilateral and global issues. The Cyber Dialogue is a forum for implementing the Framework for the India U.S. Cyber relationship, in particular exchanging and discussing international cyber policies, comparing national cyber strategies, enhancing our efforts to combat cybercrime, and fostering capacity building and Research and Development, thus promoting cybersecurity and the digital economy.
The U.S.-India Cyber Dialogue is deepening bilateral cooperation on a wide range of cyber issues and strengthening the U.S.-India strategic partnership by exchanging information on cyber threats and issues of mutual concern, and discussing possible cooperative measures. It also promotes bilateral cooperation on law enforcement and cybercrime by creating a mechanism for cooperation, including setting up appropriate sub-groups and affirming common objectives in fighting international cyber crime. These include the application of international law to state behavior in cyberspace, the affirmation of norms of responsible state behavior, and the development of practical confidence-building measures.
This whole-of-government Cyber Dialogue, fifth in the series, was led by the U.S. National Security Council Senior Director for Cyber Policy Samir Jain and by Shri Santosh Jha, Joint Secretary for Policy Planning and Global Cyber Issues, Ministry of External Affairs. The Department of State Coordinator for Cyber Issues Christopher Painter and the National Security Council Secretariat Joint Secretary Shri Abhimanyu Ghosh co-hosted the Dialogue.The U.S. government interagency delegation included representatives from the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Commerce, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Indian government was represented by Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Ministry of Communication, Ministry of Home Affairs, Computer Emergency Response Team, National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre, Central Bureau of Investigation and Defense Research & Development Organization.
The two countries decided to hold the next round of the Cyber Dialogue in Washington in 2017. Cyber security is essential to the safety and economic well-being of the modern world. The U.S. will work with its partner India and other nations to achieve a safe and secure internet for all nations and peoples.
Rapper Jay-Z is set to headline a concert to promote voter mobilization in Cleveland, Ohio. The concert is set for November 4th, with only four days to the election. The event is specifically directed at young black voters, a demographic that has been hesitant to support Clinton due to her past endorsement of her husband Bill's crime bill.
While Jay-Z himself has not recently endorsed Clinton at the same level as he did President Barack Obama, Beyonce attended a Clinton fundraiser earlier in 2015. Unlike her husband, however, she has not performed for the Clinton campaign.
With this new concert, Jay-Z joins an expanding list of celebrities who have publicly endorsed the Clinton campaign. In an effort to secure the youth vote, the campaign has earned the support of Miley Cyrus, John Legend, and Katy Perry. On the music side, Jon Bon Jovi plans to play in support of Clinton in Pittsburgh this week, and The National will return to their hometown of Cincinnati to play a gig for the campaign on November 2.
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Drug abuse and sex - John Cale resurfaces with music of the revolutionary art-rock band.
One of the founding members of The Velvet Underground, Welsh musician John Cale, has announced three special shows rocking the music from The Velvet Underground & Nico.
It has been 50 years since the release of the band's debut album and its controversial subject matter. The band is known for their experimental performance, and ultimately, their influence on the late 1960's art-rock movement. John Cale and founding member, Lou Reed, explored the depths of rock and created music completely unheard of before. Songs like 'Heroin' and 'Venus in Furs' comprise the track listing created by Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker and Nico.
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Cale will play The Velvet Underground & Nico in full in New York, Paris, and Liverpool in 2017 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the album. Tickets for the May 26 performance at Liverpool Docklands are on sale now.
Metropolis has just announced the stage times and venues for this year's festival.
DJ Shadow will headline the opening night at the Shelbourne Hall on Thursday , playing after Mount Kimbie and Kormac Live AV.
The Friday night will see Groove Armada headline the Shelbourne with a DJ set, while Berlin duo Moderat will headline the Main Stage. The Main Stage will be packed to the brim with great acts on Friday as SBTRKT, Jack Garratt and Badboynotgood take to the stage after a set from Irish duo White Collar Boy.
Saturday night will be the big one, as Grace Jones headlines the Main Stage. She will follow after Paul Kalkbrenner and The Sugarhill Gang. There will also be talks in the Concert Hall on the Saturday which will feature appearances by New Jackson and Krystal Klear who will discuss how to make it in the Irish music industry.
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Available tickets include the opening party for 39.50, day tickets at 79.50, weekend tickets at 145 or a full ticket for 164.50.
Netflix does horror films.
Netflix has released a trailer for their original horror film, I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House. It's about a live-in nurse and a scared-looking elderly horror novelist living in a house together, stalked by an unknown horror. You know, standard horror story stuff.
The film releases in three days on the 28th. Check it out on Netflix.
The University of Houston was quick to sue for trademark infringement when a small local law school adopted the name "Houston College of Law."
But the university's fervor for protecting intellectual property went cold when a freelance photographer sought payment for an image used by the university in web and print publications without his permission.
The university not only used the image, a photo of the Houston skyline, but even removed the credit of the photographer, Jim Olive. When Olive sent a bill for $41,000 - $16,000 for its frequent use of the photo and $25,000 for stripping off the credit - the university, which has a $1.6 billion operating budget, refused to pay. And when Olive threatened the legal action, the university, a public institution, said it would claim sovereign immunity, a well-established legal principle that protects a state from getting sued.
"It doesn't seem quite fair, does it?" said Olive's lawyer, Dana Andrew LeJune. "You can't sue them, but they can sue others."
Olive's dispute with the University of Houston is another example of the lengths artists, writers and photographers must go to defend their rights in the age of the internet, when pictures, videos and stories are downloaded, posted, shared and otherwise reproduced with little attention or concern to copyright and other intellectual property laws.
They're not free
Freelance photographers and other creative professionals often earn their livings by licensing their work for use by others. The problem, Olive said, is people assume that anything online is in the public domain and they can use his photos as they wish. "They think: 'They're on the web. They're free,' " he said.
Olive, 71, specializes in skyline photos, which require him to rent a helicopter for as much as $2,500 an hour and sit sidesaddle out the open door as the chopper climbs high above the city's tallest buildings. Olive knows that many local organizations use his striking images of the city without his permission or payment, so he hires a scanning service to find out who is using his pictures and then checks to see if they have licensed the photos. If they haven't, Olive sends a letter warning that they are violating his copyright; most organizations pay up then.
Several months ago Olive followed the same routine in contacting the University of Houston about its use of his aerial photos in marketing materials, including a photo of Houston's skyline that the university provided to a national magazine for a story about the school's academic ranking. The university used the same skyline photo to advertise economic forecasting luncheons sponsored by its Bauer College of Business.
When the letter and request for payment didn't work, Oliver threatened legal action, only to learn that the university would claim sovereign immunity. In order to take the university to court, he would have to convince the Texas Legislature to pass a bill allowing him to sue.
In August, the University of Houston offered Olive a $2,500 settlement, according to a copy of the offer letter from University associate general counsel Eric Bentley. Olive turned that down.
Bentley declined to comment, referring questions to Michael Rosen, the university's executive director of media relations. Rosen said the university would not comment on an ongoing legal matter.
During this period, the university sued the South Texas College of Law for changing its name to the Houston College of Law and adopting similar red and white school colors. The University of Houston won a preliminary injunction last month, but U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison has not issued an order requiring any specific changes by the law school.
For now, the Houston College of Law continues to use the name, although it added a note on its website that it is not affiliated with the University of Houston. The law school declined to comment.
Steven Mitby, a Houston lawyer who specializes in intellectual property, said an institution like the University of Houston, which has an office to license its logo, as well as another to license technology and other intellectual property developed by its faculty, would be sensitive to the rights of others. He added that government institutions should not be above the law.
"Your ability to protect your property shouldn't depend on who is trying to steal it," he said.
If this were a different type of case, say, if Olive were hit by a university- owned vehicle, he could sue the university in state district court. Or if the university wanted to take real estate Olive owned to expand its campus, he would have a constitutional right to file a claim in court.
A possible opening
There may be an opening for Olive and others who have run up against similar sovereign immunity claims involving state institutions. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with raisin farmers who argued they shouldn't be forced to give up part of their crop each year to the government under a program designed to maintain price stability for agricultural products.
The court agreed with the farmers who claimed their raisins were personal property and protected by the same constitutional principle that protects real estate owners.
Some scholars have suggested the same argument can be used for patents, trademarks and copyrights, said Matthew Festa, a law professor at the Houston College of Law who specializes in land use and state and local government. If courts someday agree, he said, government agencies would have to pay for creative works much like they pay for land.
But Festa and other legal scholars will have to wait for another case to test the raisin argument. With little chance of winning his sovereign immunity claim, Olive doesn't see much reason to pay lawyers to litigate a case he seems likely to lose.
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The city councilman who represents Sunnyside is calling on residents, city leaders and urban planning experts to come together to make a plan for invigorating the neighborhood while keeping rampant development in check.
Councilman Dwight Boykins, who grew up in nearby South Union, cited improved policing in area parks and other public spaces, programs aimed at curbing illegal dumping and increasing homeownership among the elderly, and the potential for a tax increment reinvestment zone established a year ago as among the tools to help the historic, traditionally African-American neighborhood south of Loop 610.
He called a community meeting to discuss the emerging strategies Monday night, a month after a Houston Chronicle article on Sunnyside in which fair-housing advocates said decades of concentrating subsidized affordable housing there harmed it and other predominantly low-income neighborhoods. Community leaders at the time released a new report outlining how this history affects current realities.
Citing a "lack of community amenities and resources" such as grocery stores, parks and single-family homes, Boykins said it's time for Sunnyside to live up to its potential.
"Sunnyside is a neighborhood of opportunity," he said.
At the same time, he added, new development should not displace existing residents or radically alter the community's character. For example, he warned against letting the community be overtaken by high-priced townhome and condominium projects that have proliferated in other gentrified neighborhoods.
Boykins said the tax increment reinvestment zone, which freezes property tax revenue at a base level and allocates the surplus for community improvements, could yield dividends eventually. In the meantime, he said, the Houston Police Department has received money for additional patrols in local parks during peak after-school hours. HPD representatives said crime is down 6 percent in the area this year.
Last month's report on Sunnyside, prepared by the Texas Organizing Project and Texas Low Income Housing Information Service, argues that public services were systematically denied to the neighborhood and other minority communities in Houston. It says over the last century, the area became a dumping ground for landfills and incinerators and a concentration of government-subsidized housing projects, while receiving fewer public services than white, more affluent communities.
Boykins agreed that the prevalence of government-subsidized affordable multifamily-housing units needs to be addressed. He said the city's goal is to continue targeting blighted properties that can be revitalized and transformed into affordable homes.
Andy Icken, the city's chief development officer, said in a recent interview that the shift will to look toward communities like Sunnyside, the Fifth Ward and Acres Homes to convince development to move that way.
Half a dozen neighborhoods are being identified from a larger set in which the city can encourage new development, potentially through the use of economic development tools, Icken said.
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SAN FRANCISCO - The huge cyberattack that crippled the internet and disabled dozens of websites Friday appeared to be the biggest attack of its kind that the world has ever seen.
But it may not hold that title for for long.
What made last week's internet takedown so effective - and sinister - was how the attackers weaponized everyday devices like security cameras, digital video recorders and baby monitors.
Taking advantage of the devices' web connections, hackers could infect them with malicious software and use them to paralyze huge portions of the internet with a barrage of junk data in what is known as a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack.
For many, the breach was a stark demonstration of just how insecure the internet remains. To some, it also felt like a call to action.
At a time when everything from televisions to refrigerators to kids' toys are being equipped with an internet connection, experts and legislators said, something ought to be done to ensure the security of these devices.
Yet there is little consensus around who should bear that responsibility.
"There aren't just one or two types (of Internet of Things devices), there are tens of millions," said Jeremiah Grossman, SentinelOne's chief of security strategy. "So what we can expect going forward is a lot more of the same ... look out Election Day. Look out Cyber Monday."
The so-called Internet of Things encompasses a wide array of electronics: smart washing machines that will text you when your clothes are done, refrigerators that can order more groceries, wearable tech that can monitor your biorhythms, and talking toys that respond to words uttered by children.
Every year, more appliances are being made that connect to the internet. Securing them is often an afterthought, experts said.
Many consumers, for instance, don't see the danger in leaving a default password on a smart microwave, said Brian White, the chief operating officer for security firm RedOwl Analytics.
This is the attitude hackers bank on. If they can crack into a device using an easy-to-guess password, they can turn an everyday DVR into a zombie device enslaved to malicious software that can be used in attacks such as Friday's.
Companies have long been held accountable for securing their own websites - banks, for instance, have security systems in place. But Internet of Things manufacturers are not required to guarantee a base level of security in the devices they create.
And when the priority is making the most inexpensive device possible, Grossman said, makers often skimp on things like security features.
Information security "people have been screaming bloody murder about this for years," Grossman said. "Everything from cameras to toasters, refrigerators, microwaves. And because there's no regulation, the manufacturers don't need to make sure these devices ship with any security whatsoever."
No single government agency oversees the devices or practices of the Internet of Things, though several have limited authority over parts of it.
Since Friday's Internet blitz, some legislators have begun calling for greater government intervention.
Friday's attack targeted Dyn, an Internet infrastructure firm that, among other things, provides domain name services and online traffic management to hundreds of companies, including Amazon, CNN, GitHub, Twitter, Netflix, PayPal, Reddit, Zendesk and the New York Times, among many others.
In a DDoS attack, hackers typically deploy a botnet, or a network of compromised computers, to send phony traffic to a specific site or server with the intent of overwhelming it so it cannot respond to queries from real people.
What made the attack different was that it used a botnet seen only once before - last month in a record-size attack against cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs' website. The botnet, known as Mirai, used infected cameras spread across the world to send waves of traffic at Dyn's DNS system at unprecedented rates.
Mirai continually scans the Internet for devices and then attempts to gain access to them by using a known default password or exploiting a weakness in outdated software.
Kyle York, Dyn's chief strategy officer, said the company was able to mitigate the first two waves in a matter of hours, and fended off a third without customers seeing an impact.
But Dyn's attackers may not have been using the full brunt of Mirai's force.
Level 3 Communications, an Internet service provider based in Colorado, began monitoring the Mirai assault in the midst of its attack on Dyn. Level 3 reported that only about 10 percent of devices compromised by Mirai were deployed in Friday's attack.
It has not yet been determined who was behind Friday's attack. But because the code behind Mirai was leaked after the attack on Krebs, it could have been anyone.
Activist hacker groups Anonymous and New World Hackers claimed they were responsible.
But security experts and U.S. officials said they had their doubts about the groups' boasts.
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After more than 18 months of exhaustive media coverage, two grueling nomination fights and three combative debates, voters in Harris County and across Texas lined up in record numbers Monday to cast early ballots in the presidential election.
Monday's turnout of 67,471 in-person voters shattered the county record of 47,093 set in 2012 for the first day of early voting. Another 61,543 mail ballots had been returned as of Monday, bringing the total number of early voters so far to 129,014 in Texas' most populous county.
Records were also broken by substantial margins in counties such as Dallas and Tarrant, which reported first-day turnouts of about 43,000 each. Bexar and Travis counties reported about 30,000 first-day voters apiece.
For many in Harris County and across the state, a complex mix of factors drew them to the polls on opening day in an historic, bitterly fought presidential campaign between Democrat Hillary Clinton, the first female nominee, and Republican Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman who has made mass deportations of undocumented immigrants the hallmark of his campaign. The contest has been so negative and seemingly endless that some in line may simply have wanted to fulfill their duties as citizens and move on.
On HoustonChronicle.com: See who's turning out to vote early in Harris County
"We just want to get it over with," Sam Tabb said as he stood in line at a polling station in Pasadena. "We will be glad when this whole thing is over. It's just been a real zoo. In my lifetime, it's probably the worst election ever."
Brandy Holmes, a 31-year-old engineer who said she'd marked Monday on her calendar weeks ago, echoed that sentiment. "Let's just get this over with."
Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart said he'd expected a record-breaking turnout of as many as 55,000 voters, but that even he was surprised by the number who actually came out.
Stanart said his office did receive numerous complaints about long lines at early-voting spots. He recommended that those planning to vote this week check the turnout numbers by location at HarrisVotes.com and head to a spot with low turnout to avoid long lines.
Elections officials will be sending extra laptops to select locations on Tuesday in order to speed up the process, Stanart said.
READ MORE: Where do Clinton, Trump actually stand on the issues
The lines started forming early and stayed long throughout the day, snaking around buildings at polling places at several locations. By the afternoon, Harris County election officials said voters were casting 6,000 votes per hour. As the polls closed, people were still in line at some places.
"This is tremendous," said Ronald McCulloch, a veteran poll worker and staff election judge for Stanart, as he watched the queue wrapped around the inside of the Trini Mendenhall Community Center in Northwest Houston. "I've never seen anything like this before."
He recalled long lines at polling places, but not on Day One of early voting.
At the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center on West Gray, typically among the county's most popular polling spots, a line of voters stretched out the door and across the patio even before the doors opened at 8 a.m.
James Tan, a 62-year-old teacher's aide, dropped his children off at Carnegie Vanguard High School a few blocks away, then drove to the early-voting spot he'd patronized for 15 years. He was surprised to find the parking lot full, so he parked across the street and waited in a line longer than he'd ever seen there.
READ MORE: Houston Trump fans fear a 'rigged' election, too
Many voters said they turned out early because they felt the stakes were too high.
"If this polling place is any indication of what the others are doing, we're going to be looking at a great turnout," said state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, who had gathered at the location with a cohort of local Democratic officials.
Another recalled the heavy turnout for Barack Obama's historic 2008 presidential campaign. A record 15 million-plus Texans are registered to vote this year, up from 13.6 million in 2012.
"It's been like when Obama first ran," said John Smith, a safety representative at a refinery, as he stood in line at the Northeast Multi-Service Center on Tidwell Road.
In Pasadena, dozens of people were already in line when a poll worker opened the doors of the Kyle Chapman Annex and hollered, "Good morning Texas!" An hour later, hundreds had lined up a surprise to Pasadena voter Cathy Crate.
"I always early-vote because I don't like standing in line, but there's a line and this is awesome," she said. "This is great. This is inspiring."
Crate said the Nov. 8 general election amounted to "a choice between freedom and socialism."
READ MORE: Texas congressman says "sometimes a lady needs to be told when she's being nasty"
Other Republican voters stressed the importance of electing a president who would nominate conservatives to the U.S. Supreme Court. Contractor Calvin Frank, 54, said he felt like "our classic American values are at stake."
By 10:30 a.m., retired minister Michael Bingham arrived at the Chapman annex to find almost 20 vehicles waiting to park and a line of voters that he estimated would take him "five hours" to get through, so he decided to cast his ballot another day.
Voters who identified themselves as Democrats said their primary motivation for turning out early was to keep Trump out of the White House a possibility they repeatedly described as "dangerous."
Others cited a variety of apprehensions, mostly centered on the presidential race.
Kathy Newsom, 63, a retired legal secretary, said securing Social Security topped her list of concerns. Teresa Velazquez, a 51-year-old homemaker, said it was increasing funding for schools and teachers. Mark Riner, 26-year-old student, wants to see better management of the national debt. Keuna Morris, a 22-year-old student, said she wants to see a reduction in gun violence, especially random public shootings. Richard Garza, a 62-year-old chemist, called public safety and border security his chief concern.
The sense of urgency even drew 83-year-old Cecilia Covarruias out to vote for her first time. Born in Texas to an American mother and a Mexican father, she said she felt that people of Hispanic heritage would be treated badly under a Trump administration.
Linda Andersson, a 69-year-old retired teacher, said she stopped watching television because she didn't want to hear about it any more. She made up her mind to vote for Hillary Clinton about a year ago and described the continuing election coverage as "annoying."
"Let's just do this thing," she said while waiting in line.
READ MORE: New UH poll bodes well for Harris County Democrats
Local Democratic leaders, eager to see the predictions for a local Democratic surge materialize, held a news conference Monday morning at the West Grey center.
At the press conference, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee cited the historically narrow gap between Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton in Texas, now within the margin of error in several recent polls, and a reason for Democrats to turn out to vote.
"We can win this," the Democratic congresswoman said.
Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker also told the crowd, "I think this is the year that Harris County turns blue."
The latest polling from the University of Houston has shown a surge in local Democratic voters, which pollsters said could amount to a significant leftward swing for the region after this election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
When people look at Johnny Carrabba, they no doubt see an engaging, successful restaurateur whose family name adorns nearly 250 Carrabba's Italian Grill marquees throughout the country.
When Carrabba looks at himself, he sees something much different. "I still see myself as an Italian immigrant," the co-founder of Carrabba's said. "When you look at my family, it's hardworking people who run a business. It's what we do. It's in my chemical makeup."
Carrabba isn't an actual immigrant, but his blood courses with the Italian immigrant experience on both his mother's side (the Mandolas) and his paternal Carrabba clan - both iconic branches in the city's rich restaurant family tree. Still, no matter his successes, Carrabba remains in his heart a boy from the East End of Houston; a Sicilian kid whose grandfather ran a grocery store at Canal and 74th where Grandma was the cashier and Dad was the butcher.
It's against this humble background that he sets "With Gratitude, Johnny Carrabba" (published by Carrabba's Family of Restaurants, $50, available at carrabbascookbook.com or amazon.com). Carrabba's first cookbook is set for release Nov. 1. The cookbook - part Carrabba's family history, part love letter to his staff, associates and customers - contains about 100 recipes from the original Carrabba's as well as his newest restaurants, Grace's and Mia's.
It's an oversize-format cookbook, befitting the larger-than-life story of the Carrabba family. Carrabba ladles out deep admiration for his family, business partners and employees throughout the book. Without them, he said, he wouldn't be where he is today. He deliberately chose not to put himself on the book's cover. "(The book is) for everyone that made the 30-year journey with us," he said.
Carrabba would contend that that journey actually started with his great-grandparents. The Mandolas came through Galveston from Sicily. The Carrabba side of the family hailed from a little Sicilian town called Corleone. Sacrifices were made, work was hard, everyone wanted something better for the next generation.
The story of Carrabba's restaurant, however, is a more modern tale. Thirty years ago, his uncle Damian Mandola, who operated the successful Damian's in Midtown, persuaded him to partner in a new concept - a casual Italian restaurant with an open kitchen, wood-burning stove and big bowls of pasta. There was a hitch, though: No bank would finance the project. After 10 banks turned them down for a loan, they finally secured financing after Carrabba's father, John Charles Carrabba Jr., put up $100,000 in collateral. Carrabba's opened in a 3,000-square-foot building on Kirby that formerly was an adult bookstore. Two years later, Carrabba and Mandola opened a second location at Woodway and Voss.
"It was a new wave," Carrabba said of the two original restaurants. "Damian put the thing together. He was ahead of his time. Nobody had an open kitchen 30 years ago. You never saw a pizza coming out of a wood-fired oven. The place was fun. The servers had a lot of personality. It was the place to go. It was like a party every night."
More Information 'With Gratitude, Johnny Carrabba: Celebrating 30 Years of Recipes, Stories and Family' By Johnny Carrabba, Carrabba's Family of Restaurants, 288 pp., $50 See More Collapse
The party kept gaining steam. In 1993, the partners were approached by Outback Steakhouse, which saw the possibility of growing the company in a major way. Carrabba and Mandola entered a joint venture with Outback to launch a chain of Carrabba's, and a franchise was born. Though Carrabba still maintains an interest in the chain, his focus today is on the two original and family-owned restaurants. (His partner Mandola, who lives in Italy, is no longer part of the day-to-day operations at Carrabba's.)
Though Carrabba's has lavished love on his newbie restaurants - Mia's (opened in 2012) and Grace's (2014) - his heart belongs to Carrabba's. Sure, he's intent on growing the Mia's brand, as well as Common Bond, the upscale French-style bakery he bought in January. But Carrabba's on Kirby is where he finds joy, especially in his staff.
"Not to sound corny, but I look at all the people who work for me as my family, and the father of the family provides. When I wake up each morning, I still have to provide for the people - my employees who really made Carrabba's," he said. "That's what I love doing."
The cookbook, he says, is simply a reflection of that love, which he fully intends to keep doling out.
"I think our best years are head of us," he said. "We still have a lot of work to do. It's not about getting bigger, it's about getting better."
Maw Maw Dollie's Sunday Suga Rigatoni
From "With Gratitude, Johnny Carrabba"
Makes 10-12 servings
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 pounds country-style pork ribs, whole or cut into pieces
2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large yellow onion, chopped
12 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
20 basil leaves, chopped, divided use
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can (28 ounces) tomato sauce
2 cans (15-ounce) tomato puree
1 gallon water
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoons black pepper
1 pounds rigatoni pasta
Instructions: In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and sear all sides of the meat, about 5 minutes total. Set aside.
In a large stockpot, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and add the onion and garlic and saute for about 2 minutes. Stir in 10 of the chopped basil leaves. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato puree, water, salt, pepper and seared meat and allow to come to a slow boil.
Reduce the heat to medium and allow the mixture to simmer covered for about 3 hours, or until the meat starts falling apart easily. Once the sauce has finished, remove the meat from the sauce to a large bowl. Set aside and keep warm. Cook the rigatoni per package instructions and add it to the meat sauce. Mix well. This is served "family style" the meat in one bowl and the sauce in another. The bowls are passed, and each person creates his own portion.
Note: If the pot is not big enough to hold a gallon of water, add 2-3 quarts at a time and allow it to reduce.Pasta Carrabba
Makes 4-6 servings
3 chicken breasts (6-8 ounces each), boneless, skinless
Kosher salt for seasoning
Black pepper for seasoning
4 tablespoons butter
1 pound fresh white mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped yellow onion
tablespoon finely chopped garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
teaspoon white pepper
2 cups heavy whipping cream
cup frozen peas
1 pound fresh fettuccine pasta
1 cup grated Romano cheese (may substitute Parmesan)
Instructions: Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Grill or saute until cooked thoroughly and cut into 1-inch-long strips. Set aside.
In a large skillet, melt the butter and add the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Saute for about 3 minutes, until the mushrooms have lightly browned. Add the salt, white pepper and whipping cream and heat until it begins boiling.
Add the chicken strips and peas and incorporate them into the sauce. Lower the heat a little and prepare the pasta.
Add the pasta to the pan and stir to mix well. Add the cheese.
Stir until it melts. Serve immediately.
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Sylvia Casares thinks of herself as a frontera girl - a typical Mexican-American child of Brownsville who grew up in a home that her paternal grandmother and her mother filled with love and no small measure of homestyle Mexican food.
Houston knows her, however, in a more regal context as the city's Enchilada Queen, whose three restaurants offer daily testament to the power of the most exalted player in the Mexican food canon.
Now Casares is cementing her position in the Tex-Mex dining scene with "The Enchilada Queen Cookbook" (St. Martin's Griffin, $27.98, Nov. 1), which is poised to trumpet her reign to a larger audience. Written with Dotty Griffith (a former editor and restaurant critic for the Dallas Morning News), Casares' new book features more than 80 recipes, including those for the sauces that have come to define her enchilada empire, and those passed down by madres and abuelas through the generations along the border towns of the Rio Grande.
When she decided to give up her a corporate career - with a home economics degree from the University of Texas, she worked in food science and recipe testing for Uncle Ben's and later in sales for Kraft - to open a restaurant, Casares turned to the food she knew. She opened her first Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen in 1998. And though her menu has grown, Casares remains focused on the enchilada, which she says is the food most emblematic of rich Tex-Mex traditions.
More Information Upcoming appearances Nov. 1: Sylvia Casares will talk about her cookbook and conduct a signing at 7 p.m. at Blue Willow Bookshop, 14532 Memorial. For information, call 281-497-8675. Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen food truck will be parked in front of the store offering samples of food from the cookbook. Nov. 4: Casares will conduct a cooking class from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Central Market Cooking School, 3815 Westheimer. Registration, $55 per person, is required. See centralmarket.com or call 713-993-9860. Nov. 5: Casares will do a cooking demonstration and book-signing from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Texas Book Festival in Austin. Festival information: texasbookfestival.org 'The Enchilada Queen Cookbook: Enchiladas, Fajitas, Tamales, and more Classic Recipes for Texas-Mexico Border Kitchens' By Sylvia Casares with Dotty Griffith, St. Martin's Griffin, 240 pp., $27.99 See More Collapse
"Tex-Mex is a beautiful blend of cuisines and cultures. Sometimes people tell me they love my food because it isn't Tex-Mex. They're mistaken, because what I cook is Tex-Mex, made the way people make it all along both sides of the border," she writes. "Some of my dishes may be more Mexican, others more Texan, but they are most always Tex-Mex, at least as I know it."
That knowledge is fundamental to every enchilada, taco, tamale, salsa and side-dish recipe in "The Enchilada Queen Cookbook." The book's recipes, when properly followed - her background in food research makes Casares insistent on measuring everything precisely with strict adherence to the ingredients and methodology - will yield the very food that she writes about with such passion.
"We make enchiladas the way they were made 50 to 70 years ago," she said. "It's like stepping back and tasting the flavors of my grandmother."
Her family is recognized throughout the book as the people who have nurtured, encouraged and emboldened her. The 63-year-old Casares said she wrote the book out of love. "I'm talking about the love that goes into cooking the timeless recipes of my heritage," she said.
And a love to pass on those recipes. "In my tamale-making classes, there are people who want to continue their traditions but have lost their mother, their grandmother or aunts who were good cooks who had those recipes. The line was broken."
Even though she was sure her cookbook would restore that line for many, she wasn't taking any chances when she flew to New York to pitch it to publishers. For her meeting with St. Martin's Griffin she traveled to Manhattan, with a cooler full of her original chile gravy, salsa verde and mole sauce. She used a break room with a microwave to assemble plates of food for the editors. "They went ga-ga," she said.
And then she followed up by sending them tamales for Christmas: "Maybe they needed a snack."
She got the green light.
"I don't have any half-way buttons," Casares said, laughing. "With me, it's 100 percent or nothing."
Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Gravy
From "The Enchilada Queen Cookbook"
Makes 12 enchiladas
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, plus 1 cups for garnish
12 flavored and softened corn tortillas (recipe for Chile Sauce for Flavoring Tortillas and method follows)
5 cups Classic Tex-Mex Chili Gravy (recipe follows), warm
1 cup diced onion (optional)
Instructions: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 9-by-11-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Place about /3 cup of the cheese in the center of a tortilla. Roll and place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until all the tortillas are filled, arranging them in baking dish with an inch in between.
Pour cup sauce over each enchilada, and sprinkle evenly with grated cheese and onion, if desired.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly. Garnish with a little more cheese. Serve immediately.
Enchilada Queen Secret Chile Sauce for Flavoring Tortillas
7 guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed
2 chiles de arbol, stems and seeds removed
Instructions: Rinse chiles with cool water.
In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine the chiles and 1 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside off the heat for 10 minutes.
In a blender jar or work bowl of a food processor, process the cooked chiles and their liquid until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour the pureed chile mixture through a fine strainer into a small bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.
Cover the sauce and put in refrigerator to chill, then use to flavor tortillas. The flavoring sauce may be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 6 months.
To Flavor and Soften Corn Tortillas
Chile Sauce for Flavoring Tortillas (see recipe)
1 cup vegetable oil
Instructions: Dip each tortilla in the chile sauce (can flavor up to 24 tortillas). Drain off excess liquid. Stack the spiced tortillas on a plate. Cover with plastic wrap or foil. Refrigerate overnight or use immediately.
When you are ready to assemble enchiladas, heat a skillet over medium heat and add oil; heat until it shimmers or about 375 degrees.
Using a nonstick spatula, slide one flavored tortilla at a time into the hot oil and cook for 2 to 3 seconds then turn over. When the tortilla is pliable (after another 1 or 2 seconds), remove from oil so tortilla doesn't crisp. Tortillas should remain pliable for rolling. The total time in the oil should be nor more than 5 seconds.
Stack the softened tortillas on a plate and continue dipping in hot oil until all the flavored tortillas are softened. Cover softened flavored tortillas with plastic or foil. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Fill, roll, and bake enchiladas.
Classic Tex-Mex Chili Gravy
Makes about 5 cups, enough for 10 to 12 enchiladas
1 cups chopped white onions
5 garlic cloves, smashed
cup ground beef, crumbled
3 cup vegetable oil
3cup all-purpose flour
2 cups beef broth
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons Tex-Mex Holy Trinity (recipe follows)
8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions: In a blender jar, combine the onions, garlic and cup water. Process on high speed for 1 minute, or until smooth.
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the crumbled beef, 2 cups water, and the processed onion and garlic. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Using a large spoon, skim the frothy substance that rises to the surface; discard. Repeat 2 or 3 times during the cooking time. Also use the spoon to break up clumps of meat for a smooth consistency. Set aside off the heat.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Lower the heat. Stirring continuously, add the flour and cook until the flour turns a light golden color. Set aside off the heat. In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat the broth and 1 cup water until steaming hot, almost boiling. Meanwhile, in a small bowl or container with a lid, combine the chili powder, salt, Holy Trinity and cayenne pepper, whisking or shaking to blend. Stir the combined spices into the hot broth mixture, blending until smooth.
Gradually add the cooked beef and chili powder-broth mixture to the cooked flour, stirring constantly to remove lumps. Stir and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, or until it's almost as thick as ketchup. Set aside off heat for at least 10 minutes to allow flavors to mellow before serving.
The Tex-Mex Holy Trinity
Makes about 4 teaspoons
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoons whole black pepper
Instructions: Combine garlic, cumin, peppercorns, and 1 tablespoon water in a molcajete, mortar and pestle, or spice or coffee grinder. Process until the garlic is a smooth paste and the spices are finely ground.
Sylvia's Sopa de Fideo Makes 6 servings
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (5-ounce) box vermicelli pasta
cup chopped white onion
1 cup coarsely chopped tomato
4 cups chicken stock
cup chopped green bell pepper
cup tomato sauce
2 teaspoons Tex-Mex Holy Trinity (see recipe)
teaspoon salt
1 to 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (optional)
Instructions: In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the vermicelli and cook, stirring frequently, until light golden brown.
Place the browned pasta in a large saucepan or stockpot.
Using the same skillet over medium heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is transparent. Set aside off the heat.
In a blender jar or using a mini-chopper, process the chopped tomato with cup water for about 30 seconds, until smooth.
To the large saucepan or stockpot with the browned pasta, add the broth, onion, processed tomatoes, bell pepper, tomato sauce, Holy Trinity and salt.
Over high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside off the heat, uncovered so the pasta does not overcook, for 5 minutes.
Stir in the chicken before serving, if desired.
Ceasar Salicchi quietly and peacefully passed away Friday morning in his home at the age of 89. Ceasar was born to Cesare and Nella (Puccinelli) Salicchi on October 16, 1927 in Elko, Nevada. He grew up on the Salicchi family ranch in Lamoille, NV where he attended school. After serving in the Army he returned to the family ranch. In 1950 he married Jeanine Hawkins and together they began a family. In 1952, Ceasar contracted Polio and shortly after Tuberculous of the bone which rendered him unable to work on the family ranch. He moved to Reno and attended Business College. Upon graduating he returned to Elko and was employed at DeVore Chevrolet, A.W. Hesson Hardware Store, and then at Elko General Hospital. In 1965, his son Ceasar Raymond had an accident at the ranch leaving him with stem brain damage. In 1969, his wife Jeanine passed away. He continued to raise and care for their 3 children in Elko. In 1970, Ceasar ran for and was elected to his first term as Elko County Treasurer. In 1984, he married Darlene Gilbert and they were later divorced.
Having to overcome physical disabilities and watching his son struggle with brain injury inspired Ceasar to become an advocate for all people with disabilities. His own sons disability inspired him to help establish the Elko Association for Retarded Children in 1969, now called Ruby Mountain Resource Center. Ceasar helped with many other organizations and served on four governor-appointed committees for the Developmental Disabilities Act and the Employ the Handicapped Act. He received many honors and awards for his work in the field.
In 2003, he was awarded The United States Congressional Honor by Senator Harry Reid. After serving as Elko County Treasurer for 36 years, he retired in 2006. He remained in Elko and enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. In 2013, he was recognized by the University of Nevadas Board of Regents as a Distinguished Nevadan.
Ceasar was preceded in death by his parents, Cesare and Nella Salicchi; wife, Jeanine (Hawkins); Son, Ceasar Raymond; and Brother, Alfred Salicchi. He is survived by his daughters, Judy Trotter (Lanny) and Tina Snow (Sam); Step-children, Chet Gilbert (his daughter Torie) and DeeDee Shatto; Sister, Giuliana Murphy; Granddaughter Jeanine Hoskins-Vaglivielo (Dave) and two Great Grandchildren Jeffrey and Nella Vaglivielo. He is also survived by many other family members as well as many adopted family members that he loved, and claimed as his own. Ceasar is loved and will be missed by all.
The family would like to thank Dr. Greenhouse, Doctors Brad and Elizabeth Burlew, The Elko Dialysis Clinic, and Genesis Home Health. Special thanks to his caregivers, Shelly, Philomena, Reed, Jennifer, and Carla.
A mass celebrating his life will be held on Friday, October 28th at St. Josephs Catholic Church located at 990 Highland Drive in Elko Nevada at 10:00am. A Rosary and viewing will be conducted at Burns Funeral Home on Thursday, October 27th at 6:30pm. In Lieu, of flowers donations may be made in Ceasars memory to The Ruby Mountain Resource Center, The Elko Senior Center, or any charity of your choice.
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Adriana Alaniz swipes her hand over the zinc-top dining room table in the middle of her Heights store.
"It's my No. 1 seller," she says proudly of the handmade furniture with its on-trend top, a cool gray with rivets down the middle.
There was a time when she sold more rustic-looking furniture, with heavy drawer pulls and knobs. If she were still selling that merchandise from her Barrio Antiguo store today, Alaniz admits, she likely wouldn't be in business.
Some of her inventory, such as bright Talavera pottery, Moroccan tin, three-dimensional stars and Dia de los Muertos skulls and embroidered items, are always popular.
The Mexican holiday now coincides with All Saints Day, and many Americans celebrate Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, as heartily as they do Halloween.
Although Halloween revelers put away their masks and pumpkins after the holiday passes, many who collect Dia de los Muertos figurines and other decor keep it out year round.
After all, why hide things that are so festive and pretty 11 months of the year?
More Information Barrio Antiguo 725 Yale Hours: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays- Saturdays See More Collapse
Fist-size decorative skulls that serve as maracas, ceramic figurines, zippered pouches with embroidered Day of the Dead faces and fluffy pillows bearing the face of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo are scattered throughout Barrio Antiguo. In between are nightstands, shelving units, tables, sideboards and chairs to go with those dining tables.
Alaniz's parents, Francisco and Ana Sada, started the shop 25 years ago almost as a hobby, when her father bought and sold architectural salvage, such as old doors and ironwork, all over Houston.
At the same time, they'd buy merchandise at auctions and ship it to Mexico for sale at outdoor markets. As their business in Mexico dwindled, their American store took shape as a more permanent venture. Eventually, their daughter became the heart of the business.
As more transitional and modern styles grew more popular, Alaniz stepped up. Her furniture, usually made of knotty alder, became sleeker and finishing options trended to more neutral colors, such as gray and tan. She added sheets of copper and zinc on table tops, and now her crew of three is busy all of the time.
"The change came in by the demand of clients," she said. "They would say they like this or that, but they wanted it darker or lighter, taller or shorter. They wanted different finishes."
"My customers are people who are tired of mass production. They're looking for a hard-to-find piece that fits perfectly in their home," she said.
As customers describe what they want, Alaniz will often draw a sketch. She'll show boards with various paints and how different antiquing glazes and hand distressing can change the color and the final look.
So while her store still has plenty of pieces you can buy off of the floor, at least half of her business comes from custom orders made by homeowners, interior designers and restaurant owners.
She describes her work now as anything from industrial modern to farmhouse style. You'll find her furniture in Little Woodrow's, Tacos A Go Go, El Tiempo and even Ninfa's.
Local interior designer Pamela O'Brien of Pamela Hope Designs uses Barrio Antiguo for custom work. She incorporated nightstands and dressers - jazzed up with Swarovski crystal knobs - into the bedrooms of a recent project in Kingwood. She also used turquoise barstools in the home's kitchen.
Meanwhile, O'Brien ordered those same barstools for two other projects - in orange for a corporate client, without the antiquing and distressing she used in the Kingwood home, and another homeowner's bathroom.
"All of these homes are very different styles," O'Brien said. "You can show Adriana any design concept and she can make it to your specifications. Customers get a kick out of having a hand in the design and that it's made locally and they can go and see it being made."
For people who have plenty of furniture but would like a few accessories to make their room pop, O'Brien has advice for them.
She suggests a brightly colored and embroidered pillow for an accent on a chair or even with solid-color pillows on a sofa. And something with Kahlo's image works just about anywhere.
"Frida Kahlo is a trend that's a constant. There's always something interesting about her," O'Brien said.
Vintage wooden Batea bowls, also called "dough bowls," can work in a home's entryway, or on a table to hold seasonal decor.
"Right now you could put small pumpkins or gourds in (a Batea bowl) or even put Halloween candy in it," said O'Brien. "If it's not completely your taste, having a piece here and there is fun, eye catching and a bit of a conversation piece."
State higher education officials gave Texas A&M University a nod of approval last week in the system flagships efforts to expand into the fast-growing, high-poverty Rio Grande Valley.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board said Thursday that the university could begin constructing an academic center on 100 acres of land in McAllen, Hidalgo County. Construction will begin on the $40 million, 60,000-square-foot building of classrooms, laboratories and offices in December.
Students will be considered part of Texas A&M University, earning a diploma and an Aggie class ring while taking classes in the remote center. The university said it will begin enrolling students in fall 2017 in a temporary facility during construction of the main center, which it expects to complete by fall 2018.
Within the Valley, theres a lot of students that are really place bound they need to remain there to continue working and help support their families, said James Nelson, associate vice chancellor and director of special academic initiatives for the Texas A&M University System. We have an opportunity to bring an A&M education to them.
The center will allow Texas A&M University to channel money from the multi-billion dollar state Permanent University Fund into education in the metro area, where the poverty rate is more than double the national average.
The university follows the University of Texas system in this regard. In 2015, UT launched its merged University of Texas Rio Grande Valley from the University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Texas at Pan American. The new institution could similarly use these funds, which come from oil and gas revenue.
Texas A&M University now must ensure that program offerings do not compete with UTs offerings.
Nelson said that the center will offer interdisciplinary engineering courses to prepare students for jobs in emerging fields, like robotics and automation. Programs in engineering technology and biomedical sciences may also proceed if state and higher education regulators deem these degree plans sufficiently distinct from UTs, Nelson said.
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley president Guy Bailey said he has "no objections" to Texas A&M University's plans -- as long as there is no duplication. Applications to the university grew to about 13,332 from last year's 11,030, he said, showing high demand.
"There's certainly more room for higher education in the Rio Grande Valley," he said.
Texas A&M University said it will pay for the initial building with student tuition and fees, state appropriations, special initiative funding and gifts. The city and county have pledged to contribute a total of $10 million for infrastructure and utilities, A&M said. Construction is set to begin on Dec. 15.
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The Gulf of Mexico is a pretty crowded place.
A new report released Tuesday illustrates that point by mapping previously undiscovered migratory paths of several species of fish, birds, turtles and whales.
For example, there's whale sharks, the largest fish in the ocean.
They are frequently observed in the summer off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and the offshore banks of Louisiana and Texas.
Their route between the two destinations has been a bit of a mystery until now, however.
By using electronic devices to track their movements, scientists have mapped the whale sharks' long, ambling path across the Gulf.
That migratory path is one of several mapped in the report, which draws upon the work of more than 100 scientists from the United States, Cuba and Mexico.
"If we could peel back the surface of the Gulf, we would see heavily traveled marine pathways rivaling some of the Earth's great terrestrial migration routes like the Serengeti," said Bob Bendick, director of The Nature Conservancy's Gulf of Mexico Program. "While we have known for many years that billions of birds fly across and around the edge of the Gulf in the spring and fall, this report illustrates that a huge number of species migrate through its waters as well."
The report also underscores a point most of us are pretty familiar with by now: the Gulf of Mexico is a treasure trove of ecological diversity.
And officials with the Nature Conservancy say that if we want to protect the Gulf, it's a good idea to think about migratory corridors, not just spawning and nesting grounds.
Among the recommendations in the report: Increase monitoring, particularly in the Gulf's "dead zone," make monitoring data more available, and increase international cooperation.
"Existing research shows that we don't yet fully understand all of the factors that pose a threat to trans-Gulf migrations, but what we do know for certain is that very few of the areas within this incredible migratory network are protected," said Jorge Brenner, the study's Houston-based lead scientist. "We hope this information will lead to further research and eventually, new conservation measures to protect this incredibly important marine ecosystem."
A multimillion-dollar renovation at West End Baptist Church, a more than 110-year-old campus at 802 Shepherd Drive in Houston's Rice Military Area, is complete and set to make its official debut next month.
The most noticeable change is glaring. Now known simply as West End Church, a new neon sign mounted to the facade of the campus' historic sanctuary highlights the yearlong project that resulted in a blending of modern worship services with a traditional church environment.
The name was shortened to West End Church since the property is no longer Baptist-affiliated. Established in 1895, it is now a part of River Pointe Church, a three-campus nondenominational Christian ministry based in Fort Bend County. River Pointe merged with West End Baptist last year, with the nondenominational ministry absorbing the Baptist church's small congregation and deteriorating three-building property.
The merger prevented River Pointe from having to spend upward of $40 million to construct a new house of worship from scratch within Houston's Inner Loop. It also stopped the Baptist church's 17 members from having to come up with millions to renovate a sanctuary in need of a total overhaul. River Pointe spent approximately $6.5 million to bring the building "back to life," said pastor Patrick Kelley, who founded River Pointe in Richmond in 1996.
"It is amazing," he said. "We kept the traditional look of the building and mixed in modern components. We didn't want to lose the history of West End."
A new center isle was created in the sanctuary. Roof repairs were needed, and the building's electrical, plumbing and air conditioning systems were updated. The original brick was restored. Wooden pews were refurbished. The lobby was expanded. New restrooms were installed. The ceiling was raised. A stained glass window depicting Jesus with a flock of lambs was made more vibrant and visible. Also, stage lights, audio equipment and high-definition video monitors were installed.
A two-story building at the site was converted into an educational center. A courtyard was created between the educational center and the sanctuary. A corner stone saved from the church's original 1985 building destroyed in a storm in 1900 is embedded in the courtyard grounds. Custom-made fountains also were installed in the courtyard.
"The bones of the church were still strong," Kelley said. "We maintained the architectural integrity of the buildings as much as possible."
A third building was to be turned into a community cafe. However, funding ran out, Kelley said. That project is on hold until an unspecified time.
When River Point hosts a Nov. 6 grand opening of its new West End Church, guests will not just see a renovated church campus, they will hear it.
"The Baptist church had a chorus, and the (sanctuary) building was designed for that," Kelley said. "We are bringing a little bit of rock 'n' roll to the church."
That means the building's congregational area had to be made acoustically sound for drums, bass and electric guitars. West End's congregation has gotten a taste of the visual and auditory changes as church services are already being held Sundays in the renovated sanctuary.
Anzeo David is River Pointe's new worship pastor. He oversees the musical direction of all three of the ministry's campus bands. Although the music at West End is quite different for its former Baptist congregation, he tries to mix in traditional choir hymns into the modern and often high-energy worship music River Pointe is known for. During a recent worship segment David calls "the soul moment," he took four of his favorite hymns that his grandmother used to sing to him when he was a child and mashed them together and remixed them for a modern church audience.
"We kept some of the traditional elements of the building while making it more modern," David said.
History of the Church
The original campus was known as Brunner Baptist Church until it was destroyed by a storm in 1900. Six years later, the charter members of the church reorganized in 1906 and renamed it West End Baptist Church. The oldest building on the campus was constructed in 1924 and replaced in 1964. The main sanctuary was built in 1954. During the church's heyday in the 1960s, the sanctuary often didn't have enough spaces in its pews for the roughly 2,000-member congregation.
Many pastors, teachers, lay ministers and Christian got their initial training and development at West End Baptist, but the often changing makeup of the surrounding neighborhood resulted in a gradual membership decline.
Before the merger with River Pointe, West End Baptist was the spiritual home to about 17 people. Many of the church's stained glass windows had been boarded up for some time when a little more than two years ago Kelley first started scoping out Houston's Inner Loop for possible places to lease as a satellite campus for River Pointe. He drove by West End Baptist and thought the boarded-up windows meant it was abandoned. The size of the sanctuary, he said, made it a great contender.
After some research, however, Kelley discovered the church still had a congregation. He reached out to West End Baptist's part-time pastor, Michael Quintanilla, to see if its members would be interested in leasing the sanctuary to River Pointe. After several weeks of talks, leaders of the two churches couldn't come to an agreement.
River Pointe eventually entered into a short-term lease with St. Thomas High School on Memorial Drive, to use its Moran Fine Arts Center for Sunday worship services. Nine months later, Kelley checked back with Quintanilla and learned that the congregation was ready to work out a deal. West End's campus had become a blessing and a curse to its small group.
"They really couldn't do any meaningful ministry because they were taking care of this big place," Kelley said in a December 2015 interview.
West End Baptist's leaders were worried that they would eventually lose the legacy of their historic church. Quintanilla said the Baptist church's members all had an equal say in the decision to merge with the nondenominational River Pointe. The decision wasn't easy.
"We prayed about it and talked a lot about it," Quintanilla said during an interview conducted last year before the renovation project began. "The merger allowed us to keep the mission of the church, the core values of the church that its founders had worked so hard to establish over the years."
After more than 18 months of exhaustive media coverage, two grueling nomination fights and three combative debates, Harris County voters joined others across Texas and lined up in record numbers Monday to cast early ballots in the presidential election.
Monday's turnout of 67,471 in-person voters shattered the county record of 47,093 set in 2012 for the first day of early voting. Another 61,543 mail ballots had been returned as of Monday, bringing the total number of early voters so far to 129,014 in Texas' most populous county.
Records were also broken by substantial margins in counties such as Dallas and Tarrant, which reported first-day turnouts of about 43,000 in each. Bexar and Travis counties reported about 30,000 first-day voters.
For many in Harris County and across the state, a complex mix of factors drew them to the polls on opening day in an historic, bitterly fought presidential campaign between Democrat Hillary Clinton, the first female nominee, and Republican Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman who has made mass deportations of undocumented immigrants the hallmark of his campaign. The contest has been so negative and seemingly endless that some in line simply wanted to fulfill their duties as citizens and move on.
"We just want to get it over with," Sam Tabb said as he stood in line at a polling station in Pasadena. "We will be glad when this whole thing is over. It's just been a real zoo. In my lifetime, it's probably the worst election ever."
More Information Turnout in Harris County 67,471 Monday set a record for first day of in-person early voting. 47,093 Previous record for first day of in-person early voting, in 2012. 6,000 Number of votes being cast per hour on Monday afternoon. See More Collapse
Brandy Holmes, a 31-year-old engineer, who said she'd marked Monday on her calendar weeks ago, echoed that sentiment. "Let's just get this over with."
Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart said he'd expected a record-breaking turnout of as many as 55,000 voters, but that even he was surprised by the number who actually came out.
Stanart said his office did receive numerous complaints about long lines at early-voting spots. He recommended that those planning to vote this week check the turnout numbers by location at HarrisVotes.com and head to a spot with low turnout to avoid long lines.
Elections officials will be sending extra laptops to select locations on Tuesday in order to speed up the process, Stanart said.
The lines started forming early and stayed long throughout the day, snaking around buildings at polling places at several locations. By the afternoon, Harris County election officials said voters were casting 6,000 votes per hour.
As the polls closed, people were still in line at some places.
"This is tremendous," said Ronald McCulloch, a veteran poll worker and staff election judge for Stanart, as he watched the queue wrapped around the inside of the Trini Mendenhall Community Center in Northwest Houston. "I've never seen anything like this before."
He recalled long lines at polling places, but not on Day One of early voting.
Line formed early
At the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center on West Gray, typically among the county's most popular polling spots, a line of voters stretched out the door and across the patio even before the doors opened at 8 a.m.
James Tan, a 62-year-old teacher's aide, dropped his children off at Carnegie Vanguard High School a few blocks away, then drove to the early-voting spot he'd patronized for 15 years. He was surprised to find the parking lot full, so he parked across the street and waited in a line longer than he'd ever seen there.
Many voters said they turned out early because they felt the stakes were too high.
"If this polling place is any indication of what the others are doing, we're going to be looking at a great turnout," said state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, who had gathered at the location with a cohort of local Democratic officials.
Another recalled the heavy turnout for Barack Obama's historic 2008 presidential campaign. While more than 13.6 million Texans registered to vote in 2012, a record 15 million are registered for this election.
"It's been like when Obama first ran," said John Smith, a safety representative at a refinery, as he stood in line at the Northeast Multi-Service Center on Tidwell Road.
In Pasadena, dozens of people were already in line when a poll worker opened the doors of the Kyle Chapman Annex and hollered, "Good morning Texas!" An hour later, hundreds had lined up - a surprise to Pasadena voter Cathy Crate.
"I always early-vote because I don't like standing in line, but there's a line and this is awesome," she said. "This is great. This is inspiring."
Crate said the Nov. 8 general election amounted to "a choice between freedom and socialism."
Other Republican voters stressed the importance of electing a president who would nominate conservatives to the U.S. Supreme Court. Contractor Calvin Frank, 54, said he felt like "our classic American values are at stake."
By 10:30 a.m., retired minister Michael Bingham arrived at the Chapman annex to find almost 20 vehicles waiting to park and a line of voters that he estimated would take him "five hours" to get through, so he decided to cast his ballot another day.
Motivated by concerns
Voters who identified themselves as Democrats said their primary motivation for turning out early was to keep Trump out of the White House - a possibility they repeatedly described as "dangerous."
Others cited a variety of apprehensions, mostly centered on the presidential race.
Kathy Newsom, 63, a retired legal secretary, said securing Social Security topped her list of concerns. Teresa Velazquez, a 51-year-old homemaker, said it was increasing funding for schools and teachers.
Mark Riner, 26-year-old student, wants to see better management of the national debt. Keuna Morris, a 22-year-old student, said she wants to see a reduction in gun violence, especially random public shootings. Richard Garza, a 62-year-old chemist, called public safety and border security his chief concern.
The sense of urgency even drew 83-year-old Cecilia Covarruias out to vote for her first time. Born in Texas to an American mother and a Mexican father, she said she felt like people of Hispanic heritage would be treated badly under a Trump administration.
Linda Andersson, a 69-year-old retired teacher, said she stopped watching television because she didn't want to hear about it any more. She made up her mind to vote for Hillary Clinton about a year ago and described the continuing election coverage as "annoying."
"Let's just do this thing," she said while waiting in line.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
As a Sunday ritual, onetime Houston school board member Larry Marshall would ride his bike to the home of his political campaign treasurer, Joyce Moss-Clay, to eat dinner and talk shop.
Each had a consulting business. Moss-Clay said she saw Marshall as a mentor and regularly paid him a majority cut of the fees she received from clients, according to court records. In 2009 alone, she paid Marshall more than $59,000.
On Monday, a Houston jury heard conflicting descriptions of the payments.
Jonathan Brush, Marshall's attorney, said the payments were the result of a legitimate business relationship between the school board member and Moss-Clay.
However, Kelly Greenwood Prather, an attorney for a local construction company suing the pair, alleged that the payments were part of a bribery-and-kickback scheme, an attempt to steer contracts to certain vendors in the Houston Independent School District.
The statements came during the first day of a trial stemming from a December 2010 federal lawsuit filed by the Gil Ramirez Group. The upstart construction firm, run by Gil Ramirez Jr., alleged that it lost out on $2.3 million in Houston school district work because it did not participate in the alleged pay-to-play ploy.
In opening statements to the jury, the attorney for the Gil Ramirez Group described Marshall as a well-connected trustee who also worked as a consultant for school district vendors or potential vendors dating back some two decades. Marshall, a former teacher and high-level administrator in HISD, served on the school board from 1998 through 2013.
"Obviously we cannot depend on trustee Marshall to protect the billion dollars," attorney Prather said, referring to the school district's budget.
Marshall's attorney, Brush, asked the jury to focus narrowly on whether Marshall harmed the Gil Ramirez Group. Brush described the company as having sour grapes for losing work after ranking poorly in the district's bid evaluation process.
"This case is a business dispute," Brush said.
"There is no bribery here," added Moss-Clay's attorney, Wendle Van Smith.
The case has dragged on for six years during appeals, repeatedly raising questions about the fairness of the competitive bidding and contracting process in the nation's seventh-largest school district.
Although Marshall left the board at the end of 2013, the trial kicks off at a time when the school district continues to be plagued by allegations of corruption.
Richard Patton, HISD's former chief auditor, filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the district in August, alleging the school board suspended him for reporting problems with construction contracting and other suspected illegal activity to law enforcement.
Patton is expected to be called as a witness in the trial, although he has said he does not know specifics about the case because he was not promoted to chief auditor until 2014. The lawsuit focuses on bidding and contracting from 2008 through 2010.
As part of the case, the Gil Ramirez Group also is suing two competing construction contractors, RHJ-JOC and Fort Bend Mechanical. Both companies were among Moss-Clay's clients. The Houston school district was dismissed from the case because it is protected as a governmental entity.
Court records and sworn testimony show that Marshall took a free trip to the Super Bowl in Florida in 2009 thanks to Fort Bend Mechanical executive David "Pete" Medford. Marshall also failed to disclose a $25,000 political campaign contribution that he received from Medford.
Medford's attorney, Brooks Harrison, said in court this month that Medford would exercise his Fifth Amendment right not to answer some questions during trial because he had a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice. Harrison declined to discuss the nature of the agreement.
The Houston Chronicle reported in 2013 that federal authorities had launched a criminal investigation related to the lawsuit, but any potential targets were unknown. The status of any federal probe is unclear.
A potential juror asked one of Marshall's attorneys, Richard Morris, on Monday whether there were any criminal proceedings against Marshall. Morris said no.
A gray-haired Marshall, 84, wore a dark suit and tie and sat expressionless with his attorneys in U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison's courtroom. Moss-Clay was physically unable to attend, her attorney said.
Attorneys said the trial should last at least two weeks and likely will feature testimony from several current and former district officials, including ex-HISD Superintendent and U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige.
Charging that the run-up to the 2016 presidential election resembles the darkest days of pre-civil rights America, leaders of a new progressive association of religious leaders Monday called on Houston voters to reject candidates whose campaigns have been marked by the "rhetoric of hate and violence."
The call for "moral voters," issued on the steps of City Hall, came as area polls opened for the first day of early balloting. While they stopped short of naming candidates who should be opposed, members of the recently formed Faith Leaders Coalition of Greater Houston expressed disapproval of aspects of Republic presidential candidate Donald Trump's bid for office.
"This has been a contentious election season, one that has been marked with the language of exclusion and fear, especially over the social media," said the Rev. Jonathan Page, coalition president and pastor of First Congregational Church. "As faith leaders, we unequivocally condemn Islamophobia, racism, sexism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism in all its forms."
The group's vice president, the Rev. Lisa Hunt, pastor of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, charged that the "moral authority of faith leaders has been co-opted by political parties which seek to leverage our numbers and influence for their consolidation of power. The parties encouraged focus on narrow wedge issues of the culture wars, so that the voices of faith leaders have been drowned out. The Faith Leaders Coalition of Greater Houston arises to say 'no more.' "
Progressive policies
Page said the coalition consists of 50 religious leaders, representing a wide spectrum of mainstream Protestant traditions. The group also includes Catholics, Humanists, Muslims and Reform and Conservative Jews. He characterized coalition members as "liberal to moderate."
Notably absent from the organization are Southern Baptists and other evangelical Protestants.
Trump actively has courted white evangelical voters, and a recent Public Religion Research Institute poll reports that almost 70 percent of that group favors his candidacy. Only 15 percent indicated support for Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Page said his organization, which will continue to advocate for progressive social policies after the election, will reach out to local evangelical leaders in the near future.
He said the new coalition coalesced around such issues as 2015's heated political battle over Houston's equal rights ordinance. The city ordinance, which would have for the first time barred discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, was opposed by some evangelical clergy and rejected 2-to-1 by voters.
"I thought it got twisted unfairly," he said of the anti-ordinance campaign, which presented the measure's gender identification aspects as an opportunity for sexual predators to access women's restrooms.
'Same kind of fears'
Hunt told those gathered at City Hall that the coalition will "work together for the wholeness of our citizens in areas including the environment, housing, health and education. While our individual members may not agree on every issue, we will work together to form a more equitable, just and peaceful city."
Also speaking was coalition member Mustafa Carroll, executive director of the Houston chapter of the Muslim advocacy group, Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Quoting Mississippi civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, he said, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."
The current political climate resembles that of pre-civil rights Mississippi, he said.
"The same kind of fears are being stoked," Carroll said. "Maybe it's in our DNA, but I know our DNA is better than that. Vote, but we want you to be politically active. Vote at all times. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said, we're at a point of time that we should live together as brothers and sisters or we shall all perish as fools."
Monday's announcement was attended by approximately 20 coalition members, but received little attention from pedestrians at City Hall.
ELKO The City of Elko staff will ask the council for final acceptance of the Cedar Street reconstruction project Tuesday.
The work was completed early October after approximately five months.
The project was awarded to Great Basin Engineering in April for about $1.8 million, according to City documents.
There was a quantity bid savings of $4,235.76 for public works and $7,976.56 for water, said Dennis Strickland on the City agenda, delineating the project included seven change orders in the public works, water and information technology departments for a total of approximately $1.9 million.
The council may also allow Police Chief Ben Reed to accept a Nevada Office of Traffic Safety Grant of approximately $39,000 for costs associated with electronic, hand-held citation devices.
The council meets at 4 p.m. at City Hall at 1751 College Ave.
Other items the City may accept:
A grant, bargain and sale deed transferring the Masons and Odd Fellows Cemetery to the City
Give direction to staff to continue adopting the new building and fire codes
Donating an old scoreboard from the parks department to Ruby Mountain Little League in Spring Creek
An amendment to the exclusive franchise agreement between the City and Elko Sanitation Company as the company projects the cost of service for tipper cart and bins will increase by 1.94 percent, following the Citys increase in its per ton disposal fee from $31 to $34
Postponing the Nov. 8 meeting due to its conflict with the 2016 General Election
Police are searching for two men who are accused of robbing and pistol-whipping a Bestop groceries employee.
According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, two men robbed the Bestop grocery store in the 11100 block of Aldine Westfield in north Harris County.
WASHINGTON - Liane Golightly has finally decided who she'll vote for on Election Day. Hillary Clinton is not a choice the 30-year-old Republican would have predicted, nor one that excites her. But the former supporter of Ohio Gov. John Kasich says it's the only choice she can make.
"I kind of wish it were somebody else, somebody that I could really get behind 100 percent," said Golightly, an educator from Monroe, Mich. She's voting for Clinton, she said, only because she can't stomach "childish" Donald Trump.
Like Golightly, many young voters are coming over to Clinton in the closing stretch of the 2016 campaign, according to a new GenForward poll of Americans 18 to 30.
Driving the shift are white voters, who were divided between the two candidates just a month ago and were more likely to support GOP nominee Mitt Romney than President Barack Obama in 2012.
In the new GenForward survey, Clinton leads among all young whites 35 percent to 22 percent, and by a 2-to-1 margin among those who are likely to vote. Clinton held a consistent advantage among young African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanics in earlier GenForward polls, as she does in the new survey.
The new poll also suggests enthusiasm for voting has recently increased among young African-Americans, 49 percent of whom say they will definitely vote in November after only 39 percent said so in September. Just over half of young whites, and about 4 in 10 Hispanics and Asian-Americans, say they will definitely vote.
GenForward is a survey of adults age 18 to 30 by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The first-of-its-kind poll pays special attention to the voices of young adults of color, highlighting how race and ethnicity shape the opinions of a new generation.
Overall, Clinton leads Trump among young likely voters 60 percent to 19 percent, with 12 percent supporting Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and 6 percent behind the Green Party's Jill Stein. If Clinton and Trump receive that level of support on Election Day, Clinton would match Obama's level of 2012 while Trump would fall short of Romney's.
The poll also provides evidence that Trump's behavior toward women has hurt him among young voters, while Clinton's characterization of a large portion of the New York billionaire's supporters as "deplorable" did not damage her candidacy.
The GenForward survey included interviews both before and after the release of a 2005 recording on which Trump brags about sexually assaulting women. But support for Trump didn't shift among young voters overall or among young whites after the tape was released, suggesting the shift in young whites to Clinton came first.
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GOFFSTOWN, N.H. - Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump each launched fresh attacks against the other on Monday, signaling that harshly negative closing arguments may dominate the final two weeks of the campaign.
Clinton's campaign tried to build on its case that Trump doesn't respect women, while Trump again questioned the integrity of the election process - this time asserting that polls showing Clinton ahead across the country are "phony" and "rigged."
Perhaps the most intense rhetoric of the day came from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., one of Clinton's top allies, who said Trump's disregard for women would be his undoing in the election. As Trump continued to suggest that he might not accept a Clinton victory on Nov. 8, Warren seemed to revel in the role that women may play not only in defeating him but also in electing the first female president in the nation's history.
"I've got news for you, Donald Trump," Warren said, standing on stage alongside Clinton and U.S. Senate candidate Maggie Hassan - and riffing on Trump's reference to Clinton as a "nasty woman" during their third presidential debate. "Women have had it with guys like you. And nasty women have really had it with guys like you. Yeah, get this, Donald: Nasty women are tough, nasty women are smart, and nasty women vote."
Although the Clinton campaign has been working for weeks to portray Trump as a misogynist, allies and surrogates jumped on his latest utterance to continue the effort. Pop star Katy Perry wore a T-shirt emblazoned with "Nasty Woman" while knocking on dormitory doors at George Mason University in Virginia. Other merchandise, including cross-stitch pillows and mugs, popped up for sale on the internet.
"He thinks because he has a mouth full of Tic-Tacs that he can force himself on any woman within groping distance," Warren said Monday, referring to a 2005 video in which Trump lewdly described forcing himself on women and then took the breath mints as he explained he liked to kiss women without asking permission.
With just 15 days left until Election Day, Trump spent Monday in Florida, telling supporters that the national media has deliberately skewed polls to undermine his candidacy and that he is actually winning.
During a discussion with farmers at Bedner's Farm Fresh Market in Boynton Beach, Fla., Trump devoted nearly half of his seven-minute public remarks to criticizing the news media.
"I believe we're actually winning," he said, speaking in a thatched-roof structure adorned with decorative gourds. He asserted that the majority of public opinion polls, which show Clinton leading nationally and in most battleground states, reflect the "crooked system, the rigged system I've been talking about since I entered the race."
"What they do is they show these phony polls where they look at Democrats, and it's heavily weighted with Democrats, and then they'll put on a poll where we're not winning, and everybody says, 'Oh they're not winning,' " he added.
His campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, acknowledged Sunday that her candidate trails Clinton, saying, "We are behind." But Trump said Monday that he trusts the two polls that have shown him leading - Investor's Business Daily and Rasmussen - as more reliable.
Trump then turned his fire on Clinton's use of a personal email server while secretary of state. He said the FBI and Justice Department had inappropriately let her off the hook.
"We have to investigate the investigation, folks," Trump said.
Trump on Monday also addressed the latest accusations of inappropriate sexual contact made against him, saying of the accuser, an adult film performer, "Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before."
Calling into WGIR radio's "New Hampshire Today," Trump characterized the allegations against him as "total fiction," including the behavior alleged by Jessica Drake. On Saturday, she accused Trump of grabbing her and kissing her without permission and offering her money to go up to his hotel room about a decade ago.
"She's a porn star," Trump said. "You know, this one that came out recently, 'he grabbed me and he grabbed me on the arm.' Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before."
Clinton and her backers sought to capitalize on Trump's declining poll numbers by lifting up candidates lower on the ballot this fall. The appearance with Warren was also designed to promote the candidacy of Hassan, the current governor of New Hampshire who is challenging Sen. Kelly Ayotte.
Warren's appearance was part of the Clinton campaign's effort to flood swing states with high-profile endorsers as the campaign comes to a close.
But mostly Warren, whose lines got louder applause than Clinton's, was there as the best provocateur the Clinton campaign can field against Trump. He has engaged in fierce attacks on Warren, often via Twitter.
"She gets under his thin skin like nobody else," Clinton said at the start of her remarks.
L
For the first time ever, the Houston firefighters' pension board agreed Monday to accept benefit cuts for current workers and retirees, potentially paving the way for a solution to a 15-year-old crisis that has threatened to bust budgets and weaken the city's financial stability.
By a 7-2 vote, the firefighters panel joined the police and municipal pension boards in agreeing to give up some benefits in exchange for certainty in a complex deal that would eliminate underfunding of Houston's three retirement systems in 30 years.
The reform package, which Mayor Sylvester Turner heralded as a "historic turning point," heads to City Council for approval on Wednesday, then to the Legislature, which controls city workers' retirement benefits.
Although passage of the reform in Austin is far from a foregone conclusion, Turner was optimistic the deal would survive any legislative turbulence.
"For the first time ever, all three pension systems have been willing to work with the city in a very productive manner. We're all on the same page and moving forward as a united front," Turner said at a press conference. "We are closer than ever to solving what no one else has been able to solve over the last 15-plus years. The finish line is certainly within reach."
The mayor's declarations were firmer than those of fire pension chairman David Keller.
"I think it substantially moves it forward, but there's still a lot of road to go," Keller said. "It's certainly no end. It's kind of a beginning."
A statement released by the fire fund after the vote called the agreement a "non-binding framework," and no trustees elected by active or retired firefighters appeared at Turner's press conference.
The city's firefighters had never agreed to benefit cuts, whereas the police and municipal boards did so in 2004 and 2007, after benefit increases approved in 2001 led pension costs to spike.
The 2001 changes created a crisis that has burdened the city budget and which has only worsened, in large part because the city has since failed to keep up with its payments into the funds.
The deals approved by the three retirement systems would eliminate Houston's pension underfunding in 30 years, avoid billions in future costs via benefit cuts and limit similar future crises by mandating benefit reductions if the market tanks.
Specifically, the funds would assume more realistic investment returns 7 percent rather than 8 percent to 8.5 percent which increases the city's total pension underfunding from $5.6 billion to $7.8 billion.
To dig back out of that hole, the funds would reduce benefits primarily through cost of living adjustments and employee payroll contributions enough to slash the underfunding by roughly a third, or $2.5 billion. To narrow the remaining gap, Turner would issue $1 billion in pension obligation bonds.
"It is a delicate balance. If you shift it around, it does not work. That's why this is the deal," Turner said. "And what I've said to them if there's any attempt to unravel it, I will not support it. This is the deal."
Nearly 100 active and retired members attended the fire pension board meeting in varying states of angst. Houston Retired Firefighters Association President Nick Salem said his members are displeased with the vote.
"There are certain legal advisors saying that the entire agreement could be unconstitutional due to the fact that retirees were promised benefits and the agreed on promises are being reneged on," Salem said. "I think most retirees would probably hope that this agreement didn't make it and that a substitute, more fair agreement would come out of the next few weeks or the next few months."
Questions of the deal's constitutionality also dominated the fire trustees' discussion of the motion they would vote to approve. Some members openly grappled with the finality of their actions, acknowledging that Turner would be able to describe their vote as final even as they insisted on caveats requiring that any legal hurdles found in translating the agreement's terms into legislation be reported back to the board.
Asked about the tentative nature of the board's discussion, Turner said, "It was 7-2. I think the vote speaks for itself."
The uncertainty was spurred by attorney Andy Taylor, who, along with law partner George Hittner and Tony Essalih of Cornerstone Government Affairs, has joined the fire fund's payroll as a lobbyist, though none of the three appears to be registered, per Texas Ethics Commission filings.
Keller said he invited the trio to speak Monday as a counterpoint to the view of the fund's longtime lobbyist, Robert Miller, who has argued the firefighters are better off dealing with Turner than risking it in Austin.
"As long as you put forward a good plan, they're going to get behind it," Essilah said of the Texas Legislature.
Taylor echoed that, and was interrupted five times by applause when as he argued the fund's leverage would increase if members pushed back against Turner, drawing on the "reservoir ... of goodwill" for Houston firefighters and the fund's "legally and financially" stronger position over the police and municipal funds.
Taylor's advice to delay action ultimately was not heeded, as several board members who supported the reform vote said they did so drawing on months of conversations with lawmakers. Many firefighters walked out immediately after the vote, many with the word "screwed" on their lips. Those who remained debated whether Miller or Taylor was closer to the truth long after the meeting adjourned.
The end of the meeting also did not squelch debate on Taylor's assertion that the deal could face legal hurdles.
"If you cut a deal that disproportionately affects the group who's played by the rules, you're going to get lawsuits," he told the pension board and audience.
Taylor declined to elaborate after the meeting on which provisions he believed may not pass legal muster.
City Attorney Ron Lewis, who has been central to the negotiations, said all parties will work through problems as the bill is drafted, but he largely dismissed Taylor's view.
"If there were such patent defects in our approach, they wouldn't be, I don't believe, at the table, or have reached that judgment. In this respect, talk is always cheap," Lewis said. "I'm not aware of a reason to think, at present, that somehow all of those players in the drama have missed something obvious."
Former city attorney David Feldman, who has litigated pension issues in Houston and Dallas, said Taylor has no basis for constitutional claims.
In fall 2003, Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment blocking cities from cutting pension benefits already earned by public workers, but former Mayor Bill White got 72 percent of Houston voters to exempt the city from that amendment in May 2004, clearing the way for the 2004 and 2007 reforms.
"Their (pension) system is based purely on what the Legislature wants to do because Houston opted out. It's moot," Feldman said. "There is no constitutional basis to attack it."
AUSTIN - As national polls show Hillary Clinton widening her lead just two weeks before the presidential election, Texas Republicans mostly have gone silent about the candidate at the top of their ticket, presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Trump's Texas campaign chairman, is the only one who seems to be pushing The Donald's candidacy much in public. On Monday, he tweeted a get-out-the-vote message to Keep Texas Red with the #TrumpPence16 hashtag at the end.
Other elected officials who earlier were public in their support of the candidate now are circumspect about referring to him, a not-uncommon tactic that political observers say is aimed at protecting down-ballot candidates when the party nominee is running behind in the home stretch of a presidential election.
"When a campaign starts, everyone wants to be up there on stage with the nominee to get attention for their campaigns," said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University who has studied campaigns for years. "But when things start going south, in politics, you have no friends anymore. That's what you're seeing with Donald Trump right now. He doesn't have a lot of friends left."
On Monday, more than a dozen elected officials in Texas who earlier publicly supported Trump declined comment on whether they would be out campaigning for him in the final two weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
That reticence comes as polls have shown Trump and Clinton running neck and neck statistically in one of the reddest states in the country. Most of those Republican politicians stressed they were focusing on state and local races, not on Trump.
In fact, Republican Party of Texas officials have said for weeks that the Trump campaign essentially was operating separate and apart from the state GOP victory campaign for down-ballot candidates. The victory effort is headed by Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, son of unsuccessful Trump rival Jeb Bush and never a big public supporter of the New York tycoon.
That victory effort was in Houston on Monday, helping state Rep. Sarah Davis, a moderate West University Place Republican who has never been on the Trump Train.
Texas GOP spokesman Michael Joyce said the state party is focusing its final campaign push on urging voters to cast a straight-ticket ballot, a move that would benefit all Republicans, including Trump. "We have always been focused on winning for all Republicans, and this year is no exception," he said.
At the same time, Gov. Greg Abbott, who endorsed Trump but has not actively campaigned for him, said Monday that he has mobilized his statewide campaign network for Republican candidates "up and down the ballot," including a Tuesday appearance in Houston to ensure that GOP judges are re-elected, Abbott campaign officials said. "The governor will be encouraging voters to do exactly as he did today - punch one and be done," a campaign statement read.
It made no mention of Trump.
Allen Blakemore, Patrick's top political strategist, said Monday that the lieutenant governor has no plans to campaign for Trump because the nominee does not plan to be in Texas before the election. "But, yes, he has get-out-the-vote appearances, robocalls and all to get Republicans elected. The message is to vote straight-ticket."
Smart politics
Political consultants in Austin said the scarcity of the Trump name in voter-turnout efforts across Texas may seem strange, but it is smart politics. Trump is unpopular among some Texas voters, after controversies exploded in recent weeks over his debate performances and allegations of past sexual harassment and advances. Texas candidates do not want to have to address those issues by invoking his name in the final weeks of close campaigns, they said.
"Look, to Hispanic Republican incumbents, Trump is a heavy anchor. To suburban Republicans, he's a net negative. And he's not helpful in the 23rd Congressional District race," said Austin Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak. "Nationally, not a lot of Republicans are running as Trump Republicans because his negatives are so high, and that's true in Texas. This distancing is predictable. This is what happens when you have a nominee who will probably not win."
Other consultants and political scientists said the same distancing by down-ballot candidates happening now in Texas and other states occurred in 1996 when, just weeks before the election, Republican nominee Bob Dole was behind in the polls. He lost to Bill Clinton, but Republicans held their majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the House.
Even so, Mackowiak said he finds the current Lone Star silence about Trump "very unusual" because Texas is so strongly Republican, a state where most Republican leaders still privately predict that Trump will beat Clinton by as much as six points, even though he probably will lose big in major urban areas, less so in the suburbs and win big in rural areas.
"We haven't seen anything like Trump, a nominee who is attacking our candidates and who shows no loyalty for the party and little in return," he said. "What's really going on here is, Trump and party are kind of handcuffed together, jumping off a cliff, and hoping that the other one lands first so it will soften the blow for the other."
'He's radioactive'
For many Texans, including more than a dozen who were touring the Texas Capitol on Monday, the absence of Trump's name in the final campaign days is a blessing.
"Unfortunately, even though he's right about a lot of things, especially about needing to throw out the political establishment in this country, no one wants to hear from him now because he's radioactive," said Sharon Ridener, a San Antonio resident who says she will vote for GOP candidates but will not cast a ballot in the presidential race. "As much as I hate to say this, Hillary Clinton has won. Let's move on."
Voters lined up by the thousands on the first day of early voting in Harris County, but the folks waiting to cast their ballots didn't hear applause for their civic duty or last-minute pitches from down-ballot candidates. Instead, they probably heard an election volunteer warning them to turn off their cell phones.
In case you didn't know, it is against Texas law to use a phone or other wireless communications device within 100 feet of a voting station.
What's next? Taking off your shoes and TSA-style pat downs?
The "no cell phones" rule was passed in 2007 to bolster pre-existing restrictions on using photographic and recording equipment in polling places.
So if you want to take a ballot selfie, or double-check www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/endorsements to make sure you've voting for qualified district judges and constable candidates, be prepared to get booted out the door.
About 40 percent of people get their news online. Social media is playing a growing role in citizen activism. It is time for Texas law to reflect this reality and allow people to use their cell phones while voting.
Yes, there should be some restrictions on how people use recording devices at polling stations. We don't want bad actors trying to sneak peeks at other people's ballots or standing outside with cameras trying to intimidate voters. But Texas laws cast a wide net that entangles troublemakers and honest voters alike.
In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union is challenging similar voting laws across the nation, arguing that these cell phone bans infringe on freedom of speech.
The First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed the ACLU a major victory last month and struck down a New Hampshire law that prohibited voters from sharing photos of their completed ballots.
"Digital photography, the internet, and social media are not unknown quantities - they have been ubiquitous for several election cycles, without being shown to have the effect of furthering vote-buying or voter intimidation," the court wrote.
Some might scoff at posting pictures direct from the voting booth - as if democracy were on par with an Instagram of overpriced eggs benedict. But promoting the act of voting and one's political preference is a powerful form of speech that deserves full protection under the law.
It doesn't matter whether you're trying to "Make America Great Again" with a Facebook post or using Snapchat to tell your fam that "I'm With Her." The Legislature needs to bring our laws up to date with the reality of voting.
Gerrymandering
Regarding "Voting under vigilant watch" (Page A1, Saturday,) in all of the stories in which Donald Trump claims the election is "rigged," little attention is paid to the truly rigged elections in which Republicans retain huge majorities in Congress and state legislatures because of the absurd way they are allowed to gerrymander districts.
Voters do not choose their representatives. Representatives choose their voters, and the lines are drawn to assure Republicans get more seats with vastly fewer votes. This system is unconstitutional, yet the Supreme Court under Justice John Roberts keeps its thumb on the scale.
Even if all the illegally purged voters nationwide cast their ballots for Democratic candidates, the lines are so drawn that they would only add more votes to the totals of safe Democrats rather than dislodge encrusted Republicans.
Bruce Ellis, Houston
ADA lawsuits
Regarding "Wave of ADA lawsuits assailed as 'shakedowns' (Page A1, Sunday), compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act regulations is a serious matter, but there seems to be an unrecognized opportunity in this situation.
Instead of being "serial lawsuit filers" and primarily enriching attorneys, James Van Winkle and other activists for the disabled could form a consulting company to inspect businesses and give the owners a list of deficiencies directly.
For the business owners, it would be cheaper to pay their fee compared to being hit with lawsuits. The new inspection firms would provide jobs for the disabled in which individuals could earn more than the small cut the law firms give them now. Today's middlemen are the only losers.
Claudia Hackbarth, Bellaire
Paddling
Regarding "CPS seeks to hire on 800 new employees" (Page A3, Saturday), it's great that CPS is calling for 800 new employees because of thousands of children at risk of abuse and neglect in Texas.
If we are really concerned about the abuse of children, corporal punishment should be abolished in our schools. School paddlings leave big bruises on children's buttocks, which is clearly child abuse. Thirty-one states have put away the paddles, but Texas is among the 19 that still allow this child abuse in schools.
Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Legislature need to act on this in the 2017 legislative session.
Jimmy Dunne, Houston
Belief
Regarding "Separate is never equal" (Page F3, Sunday), as a great grandmother, much older than this young female writer, I am so grateful for her explanation in her article on "a doctrine called complementarianism - the belief that God created men and women 'complementary in function' with different roles and responsibilities, rather than simply equal."
It is such a relief to see a reason why church was never a comfort to me. As she points out later in her article, "Make no mistake: Separate is never equal."
How I wish I had known this vocabulary as a little girl.
Pat Dansby, Pasadena
In its trademark satirical style, The Onion nailed it with its stunningly prescient story titled, "Trump Maps Out Plan For First 100 Days Of Not Conceding Election."
Deliciously, the imagined post-election press release from the floundering Republican presidential candidate detailed: "Within my first 10 days, I will introduce a comprehensive plan for my disgruntled supporters to march on the White House, and by day 30, I will submit a formal petition demanding (Hillary) Clinton's immediate removal from office." The spoof concluded by saying that Trump "looks forward to fiercely disputing the legitimacy of a Clinton presidency for the next four years."
You'd be forgiven for accidentally believing this was a legitimate statement from Trump, who has managed to suck so many people into his reality distortion field that even normally level-headed people are getting out of whack.
For those of us who believe in the strength of a two-party system in which the loser of an election peacefully concedes to the victor and works harder to win next time, things look grim. Trump's insinuations of rigged elections and his call for his supporters to monitor polls for fraud - mostly in communities of color, it turns out - are eroding what little public trust in government is left.
Meanwhile, Americans are reporting election-related anxiety that includes real symptoms like difficulty sleeping, irritability and heart palpitations due to the unprecedented bile of this campaign. The American Psychological Association's most recent survey found that 52 percent of American adults say the 2016 election "is a very or somewhat significant source of stress."
Many of these people are looking forward to the relief of the election being over. Unfortunately, a lot of us are even more worried about what happens after Election Day, because the forces that have been unleashed aren't going to make newly normalized hatred magically go away.
In mid-September, several women were targeted in a series of fire attacks in New York City - a 14-year-old boy was arrested in one incident, accused of attempting to set a teen girl's shirt on fire. Other women, some of them in Muslim attire, had their skirts set ablaze with lighters in the same vicinity.
Hispanic children have been bullied and taunted in school about border walls, and adults have been asked for their "papers" by people with zero authority to do so. Women have reported feeling targeted as "pearl-clutchers," i.e. too sensitive, after revelations of Trump's degrading remarks about women thrust "locker room talk" into the public discourse. African-Americans have been reduced to stereotypes of victims living in the so-called hell of inner cities, Jews have experienced an uptick in anti-Semitism, and on and on. The "Trump Effect" examples are endless.
And they are pervasive.
New York Times investigative reporter Michael Luo recently described a woman cursing at him and his family as they were leaving church. "Go back to China. Go back to your (expletive) country," he said the woman yelled to him.
Luo, in front of his children and his church, was reduced to yelling back, "I was born in this country!"
This is what life feels like for anyone with an ethnic-sounding name or non-white outward appearance in the waning days of our first African-American president's second term in office.
Before the Trump candidacy, "microaggressions" - subtle slights of one's ethnicity or other cultural characteristics - were the day-to-day concern of the nonwhite population. It's safe to say that for the 40 percent of America that is nonwhite, microaggressions have given way to plain old aggression from people who are looking to blame "bad hombres" - the term Trump used at Wednesday night's debate - for tarnishing America's greatness halo.
And we'd better prepare ourselves for the anger and resentment to persist after Nov. 8, regardless of who wins the election.
Cepeda's email address is estherjcepeda@washpost.com.
ELKO The State and defense will make their closing arguments in the Eduardo Estrada-Puentes trial today in the Elko County Commission chambers.
The evidentiary portion of the trial concluded Friday, following more than two dozen witnesses and three days of testimony.
Estrada-Puentes, 34, is charged with open murder in the 2011 death of his estranged wife Stephanie Gonzalez.
It is believed she was strangled following a brief altercation, when she returned to the Garcia Lane residence where Estrada-Puentes was staying with the couples two younger children, Kiawna and Andres.
Following the June 25 killing of Gonzalez, her family and authorities began to look for her as well as attempt to locate her vehicle a black Yukon Denali SUV.
This led into the initial missing persons investigation.
Authorities were also looking for the Chevrolet Malibu Estrada-Puentes borrowed from Aubrey Clack in Tucson, Arizona, because the air conditioning in his vehicle was out. During the questioning of Clack who was in a relationship with Estrada-Puentes brother Ricardo the defendants state of mind was inquired about.
Clack said Estrada-Puentes was in Arizona because he and Gonzalez were not getting along. However, the witness said the defendant told her if Gonzalez wanted to work things out, he would drive back to Elko. Additionally, he felt Gonzalez may not have cared anymore because of the length of his stay in Tucson, supposedly without an attempt to make things better.
Clack said she believed Estrada-Puentes was seeing one or two other women in Tucson due to his having hickeys on his neck.
Estrada-Puentes did not express the intention to harm Gonzalez, said Clack to the defense during cross examination. She said she did not detect anything sinister in his borrowing her Malibu.
Sgt. Mark ODell of the Pima County Sheriffs Department was asked by Elko authorities to speak to Clack and Ricardo Estrada. According to his testimony, Clack told him Gonzalez normally initiated reconciliation and Estrada-Puentes said she would only not do so if she was seeing someone else.
On the morning of Gonzalezs death, several witnesses confirmed it looked like Estrada-Puentes had walked to different locations, including his neighbor on Garcia Lane and Raul Becerra Haro.
Becerra, who was dating Estrada-Puentes cousin as the time, was asked and agreed to drive Estrada-Puentes that Saturday morning to the Salt Lake City airport.
He said Estrada-Puentes pants looked dusty upon his arrival to the Georgia Avenue residence.
Detective Rick Moore was made the lead detective on the case following former Elko Police Detective Kevin Blues move to the Salt Lake City Police Department.
He discussed finding the Chevrolet Malibu at the Sunrise Apartment Complex on Metzler Road. Both Blue and Moore discussed the reclined position of the drivers seat after finding both vehicles.
Moore said the apartment complex is approximately one mile from Garcia Lane; Georgia Avenue, off Last Chance Road, is approximately two miles from the Metzler Road location.
These are within walking distance.
Blues testimony included a myriad of subjects, including phone and airplane records, finding Gonzalezs body, Lidia Cortes telling him about a drawing Kiawna made, statements recorded by the childs aunt and uncle after her mothers death, and why Estrada-Puentes came back to Elko.
The latter point included testimony, where Blue was initially told by Estradas mother he came back because the children wanted to. She later stated Gonzalez took out divorce papers and possibly posted about it online.
While documenting the residence on Garcia Lane, Blue said he did not see signs of forced entry or signs of a struggle.
Blue, who attempted to interview Kiawna, also interviewed Dsrey who said her father told her he believed Gonzalez was seeing other men. Estrada-Puentes also elaborated on the relationship by explaining he still loved her but he knew they were not going to get back together.
Blue said the defendant described his mental state to the then 10-year-old in that he wanted to commit suicide but he wouldnt because of the kids.
A verdict is expected to be handed down by the jury today.
Mayor Sylvester Turner has had a very busy first 10 months. It started with fixing potholes, then he tackled the city budget and now he is pushing forward on pension reform, an issue of great concern to the Greater Houston Partnership. As the region's leading business organization, we work directly with a wide range of stakeholders and they all agree: We need a long-term pension solution in order to protect employees, put the city on solid financial footing and, ultimately, improve services. After two years of study, the Partnership developed and shared six principles meant to guide any comprehensive effort to reform the city's pension plans. Based on what we know to date, the mayor's plan is largely consistent with those principles.
Principle 1: Fully funded plans
The mayor's proposal will ensure that the plans are well-funded in two ways. First, the proposed "corridor" mechanism will make pension debt payments a statutory requirement - thereby forcing the city to stay on schedule. Second, a closed amortization schedule will place the pension debt on a real path to elimination over no longer than 30 years.
Principle 2: Investment assumptions must be realistic
Right now, the city's plans have some of the highest rate-of-return assumptions in the country - as high as 8.5 percent. These will be reduced to no more than 7 percent going forward, which will allow for a more accurate accounting of the magnitude of the city's pension debt. After lowering the discount rate and reflecting recent investment performance, the city's unfunded liability increased to almost $8 billion, in line with Partnership's and other expert estimates.
Principle 3: City employees should be in savings-based plans
In the pension reform process, a common approach is to place new employees into a defined contribution plan, a savings-based approach broadly adopted in the private sector and in many cities that have achieved comprehensive pension reform.
Mayor Turner's proposal does not include a defined contribution option. Instead, the mayor's plan takes a new approach: It creates a target range for the city's pension contributions. If the city's pension payments stay within the range, employees will continue to contribute at the same rate. If, however, the city's contributions go too high, employees may be required to contribute more or benefits may be adjusted.
This range of city contributions, which is being referred to as the "thermostat" or a fiscal "corridor," is a key part of the mayor's plan because it will force the city to constantly manage its pension payments and it will cap the city's contributions each year. This feature will reduce the city's risk relative to almost any other municipal defined benefit plan in the country.
Principle 4: Benefits for current employees must be addressed
At the mayor's direction, all three pension systems formulated their own benefit reductions affecting current employees, which will reduce the city's pension debt by approximately $2.5 billion in total. This step was absolutely essential to comprehensive reform. Many of these benefit reductions will deal directly with the changes made in 2000 and 2001 that increased costs dramatically.
Principle 5: Complete transparency
Reaching this agreement required an unprecedented level of cooperation between the city and the pension systems. Actuaries on both sides of the bargaining table agreed that the proposed changes would have the intended effects. The agreements stipulate a similar degree of data sharing going forward.
Principle 6: Good governance
Good governance is the final step in any reform plan. This essentially means creating a sustainable structure that will protect taxpayers and public workers in the future. The "corridor" mechanism addresses some of these concerns, but we need to learn more here. For example: Will there be independent oversight of investment returns? Have we eliminated conflict of interest fears?
Obviously, there's still work to be done, but the mayor has made great progress. It's a new idea with great potential to solve a 15-year old problem in Houston. And, if the "corridor" mechanism is airtight and works as intended, it could become a case study for cities across the country.
Watts is chair of the Greater Houston Partnership's Municipal Finance Task Force.
The Texas County Soil and Water Conservation District (TCSWCD) will host a chili supper at 6 p.m. Friday at the First Christian Church (202 E. Highway 17).
The guest speaker will be Jake Wilson, soil and water conservation program environmental specialist from Jefferson City, who will discuss the Parks, Soils and Water Sales Tax, (Constitutional Amendment 1) and the positive effects its passing would have on Missouri and Texas County.
Since the tax started in 1983, Texas County had 2,459 claims with a total amount of $5,818,556.94 in district cost-share payments. TCSWCD officials say the program has greatly benefited area landowners by helping them implement practices that prevent or control excessive erosion and improve water quality.
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Nevada taxpayers, beware. The federal government is quietly implementing a massive taxpayer-funded bailout for special interests. Not only that, this bailout will allow the Affordable Care Act to continue wreaking havoc in your state for years to come.
So which special interests are getting your money? Health-insurance companies.
Six years ago, health insurers were some of the Affordable Care Acts biggest fans. They lobbied for the law because they thought it would be a financial windfall it literally forces Nevadans to buy their product.
But instead of finding gushers of cash, theyre drowning in red ink. Health insurers in Nevada and across the country lost $3.2 billion in 2014 and over $10 billion in 2015. This years losses will be even higher.
Many insurers are now abandoning the law. So far, one has pulled out or will pull out of Nevada between 2016 and 2017, and the remaining four may soon follow suit. Nationwide, well over 100 insurers have already fled the laws exchanges.
Thats where the taxpayer bailout comes in.
President Obamas legacy is directly tied to his signature law, so hes trying to stop the exodus at any cost. But insurers will only stay if someone subsidizes their losses.
The government has already tried. The Affordable Care Act contains two programs that shift money from profitable insurers to unprofitable ones, known as reinsurance and risk corridors. But the administration never expected so many companies to lose so much money. As a result, insurers have only received 12.6% of what theyve requested.
The administration has nonetheless said that it views these payments as an obligation and that its explor[ing] other sources of funding. But the only other source is taxpayers wallets.
This bailout could take three forms all of which Congress can and must stop.
The first bailout is already happening. The laws plain text requires the Obama administration to deposit $5 billion from the reinsurance program into the U.S. Treasury. Instead, it sent the money to insurers a blatant theft from taxpayers. The Government Accountability Office, a federal agency, declared this move illegal.
The second bailout involves Congress. Lawmakers have wisely required the other program, risk corridors, not to spend a cent of taxpayer money. But the White House wants Congress not to renew this provision after the election. This would put Nevada taxpayers on the hook for tens of billions.
If this doesnt work, the Obama administration has one last option. Many insurers have sued the federal government claiming theyre owed reimbursement for their losses. The presidents own Department of Justice rejects this argument, but the White House doesnt care. Its trying to settle the lawsuits and pay nearly 200 insurers using an obscure account funded by taxpayers designed to cover federal legal expenses. Once again, the Government Accountability Office ruled this move illegal.
The White House is moving forward anyway. Yet any bailout will only use billions of taxpayer dollars to prop up the Affordable Care Act at a time when Nevadans can least afford it. The states average premium hikes for 2017 are on track to be nearly 12%. Theres also dwindling competition, narrower networks, and sky-high deductibles of up to nearly $7,000 for the cheapest plans.
Between now and December, Congress must block any further bailouts and recoup the $5 billion thats already been funneled to health insurers. Nearly 60% of voters agree.
No wonder: A taxpayer bailout for special interests is bad enough. A bailout that ignores the need for real health-care reform and allows a crumbling law to do ever-more harm to Nevadans is even worse.
In an open letter to governor Zhu Xiaodan in Guangzhou, China, 50 Chinese animal groups are urging him to take action to close an aquarium at the Grandview Shopping Mall exhibiting some 500 species, including a polar bear called Pizza who made global headlines when photos emerged of the inadequate conditions in which he and others are being kept. The groups are asking that the animals, including arctic fox, walrus and beluga whales, be rehomed as soon as possible. They are also appealing to the nations industrial and commercial sectors to help stop Chinas growing trend of displaying captive wild animals at shopping malls as a way to entice customers back from online shopping.
The Chinese groups are adding their voice to the international outrage at the polar bears fate, as new video footage is released by Humane Society International and its Chinese partner group VShine, showing the polar bear exhibiting worrying stereotypical behaviours such as head swaying and repetitive pacing, evidence of frustration and mental decline. HSI also joined with Care2 and Born Free Foundation in collecting 500,000 petition signatures calling for the closure of the malls animal exhibits which, in addition to the 500,000 signatures previously collected by Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation, brings the total to one million global petitioners.
Donate to help us protect wildlife.
Last month, Yorkshire Wildlife Park in the United Kingdom offered to give the polar bear a home in its 10-acre enclosure. However, it is understood that the Chinese authorities have refused the offer, stating that Pizza will not leave China. The Grandviews general manager was also reported by AFP news agency as stating that there is no need for foreign organisations to get involved. Not to be deterred, Chinas own animal groups have therefore taken up the campaign to show the local government that calls to close the Grandview malls animal exhibits will be heard loudly in China too.
Mdm Qn from Capital Animal Welfare Association said: The appallingly inadequate way that this polar bear is being kept at the Grandview is a shameful stain on China that must be swiftly corrected. A shopping centre is no place to be keeping any wild animal. Pizza can never be released to the wild, but at the very least mall operators should let him live out the rest of his days in a facility where he can breathe fresh air and see the sunlight. If it has been decided that he will not leave China, then lets find him the best new home inside China, but we cannot stand idly by and let this once magnificent bear languish in this depressing state.
Hongmei Yu, founder and president of Vshine Animal Protection Association, said: We welcome the one million petition signatures from concerned citizens around the world, as they have helped to raise much needed awareness about the animals at this mall who deserve so much better than being enclosed in a glass box to attract shoppers. There is a worrying trend in China of wild animal exhibits in shopping centres, with another one reportedly being considered right now in Shijiazhuang, Hebei. It shows a complete lack of regard for their welfare. If the mall thinks foreign groups are not needed, let them meet with us Chinese groups instead, because we too care passionately about these animals and want to give them a better life. There are no more excuses left for not taking action.
Dubbed the worlds saddest zoo, the animals are kept in small, barren glass-fronted enclosures without natural light or air, lacking any stimulation and unable to engage in natural behaviours.
Humane Society International/UKs veterinary adviser, Professor Alastair Macmillan, viewed the HSI/Vshine footage and said: This polar bear is showing classic stereotypical behaviour, including head swaying and repetitive pacing, induced by frustration and poor welfare. This is the animals attempts to cope with stressful, aversive situations such as barren enclosures, boredom and constant disturbance by visitors. The conditions in which he is being kept are completely unsuitable, vastly removed from anything approaching his natural habitat, and if something is not done then he will likely slip further and further into mental decline.
Chris Draper, associate director for Animal Welfare and Care, Born Free Foundation said: The problems associated with keeping polar bears in captivity are well-known, which makes the barren and inadequate conditions for the polar bear named Pizza at the Grandview shopping centre aquarium all the more appalling. It is abundantly clear that this bear needs, among other things, far more space, natural light and significantly improved opportunities for natural behaviour as a minimum. If this cannot be provided at Grandview aquarium, then the only responsible action to take would be to move the bear to another facility with better conditions. We are calling on the authorities to work with the animal protection community as a priority to find a better life for Pizza.
Media Contacts:
UK: Wendy Higgins, whiggins@hsi.org, +44 (0)7989 972 423
US: Raul Arce-Contreras, rcontreras@humanesociety.org, +1 301.721.6440
A troubling report revealing claims of sexual assault, harassment and bullying inside the Calgary Police Service (CPS) is being addressed, but those behaviours are not the norm, the police association says.
A spokesman for the Calgary Police Association (CPA) told Global News that while some of the allegations have occurred, it's not a widespread issue.
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"I deal with these situations and they do occur and we assist our members through them, but I wouldnt say that this is a widespread problem, CPA president Howard Burns said.
But it is a serious problem that the service does need to address."
The internal audit, conducted in 2013 and obtained by Postmedia, said officers are sometimes fearful to report harassment and bullying.
Both men and women reported they did not bring these concerns forward in any formal way because the culture is one of intimidation and retaliation," the report said.
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As well, some women reported they felt as though they were being punished for becoming pregnant often being assigned to duties below their abilities.
A few women said they were accommodated in a safe environment that allowed them to continue their work, an independent auditor wrote.
But the majority of women were told the only placements were at front counters, which has a "negative stigma," or were offered less challenging or "not particularly safe" tasks.
"To say I was disappointed is to put it in very mild terms. - former CPS chief Christine Silverberg
Unwanted lewd pictures
The report, commissioned by former police chief Rick Hanson, interviewed 65 CPS employees and found more than 60 complaints, including allegations of sexual harassment.
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One officer told the Calgary Herald that she's received unwanted pictures of seven different co-workers' genitals. Another said she's had her head shoved into the lap of a co-worker and told to "do something useful."
Former Calgary police chief Christine Silverberg said she was "shocked about all of it."
"After what I read in, to say I was disappointed is to put it in very mild terms," Silverberg told the Calgary Sun.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi echoed her sentiments.
"It certainly is very troubling, very, very troubling," he said in an interview with the Calgary Herald.
"But I also note that it was a report that the police themselves commissioned and it was three years ago, and theyve been working very hard on addressing these issues."
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CPS superintendent Nina Vaughan told CTV News they are working with the University of Calgary gender studies program to better understand workplace issues. As well, CPS has created a department to receive and process complaints related to workplace culture.
"We aren't under the illusion that there is a quick fix to a problem of changing culture, that takes time, it takes a commitment from everybody, from all our employees, it takes a commitment from people to participate in the processes and programs so that we can address workplace behavior that isn't appropriate," said Vaughan.
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The loonie stands to gain big from a Hillary Clinton presidency.
The Canadian dollar's value could grow by as much as 10 per cent if the Democratic candidate takes the White House, says a report by the Brookings Institution.
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The institution derived its conclusion from looking at currency market activity on Sept. 26, when Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump tangled in the first Presidential debate.
Polls showed that Clinton was widely believed to have won the debate. And that optimism for her victory was reflected in currency gains.
"The debate led to particularly sharp appreciations of the Mexican Peso and the Canadian dollar the United States' nearest neighbours and partners in NAFTA," authors Justin Wolfers and Eric Zitzewitz said.
The value of the Canadian dollar grew by 0.58 per cent between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. on the night of the debate, while the Mexican peso grew by 1.76 per cent in the same time frame.
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Loonies laid over a map of Canada in this stock photo. (Photo: CP)
The authors then extrapolated this data to see what would happen if Clinton won the presidency.
They estimated that the Canadian dollar's value would grow by 9.7 per cent, and the peso's by 29.3 per cent.
But the Peso and the loonie weren't the only winners from Clinton's debate performance. Stock markets in the U.S., U.K. and Asia also grew, as did the price of crude oil.
This isn't the first report to suggest financial markets have a negative correlation with a possible Trump presidency.
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The Mexican Peso has tracked Trump's poll results, having grown steadily since the Sept. 26 debate, Scotiabank FX strategist Shaun Osborune told The Huffington Post Canada last week.
Elsewhere, Ireland-based betting company Paddy Power is so confident of a Clinton victory that it's already paid out $1 million to bettors who put money on the Democrat winning.
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If you're a dog owner (or lover), you've probably let Fido smother you in kisses a.k.a. tongue licks. And sure, you probably know it's not the best idea (bad bacteria and all that) but you don't care because you love your dog.
However, there's new reasons why you really shouldn't let your pooch lick your face. The New York Times reported this past weekend that licks from your dog can increase your risk of disease transmission, including diseases humans can't handle.
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Dr. Neilanjan Nandi, an assistant professor of medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, told the Times that most animals' mouths are host to "an enormous oral microbiome of bacteria, viruses and yeast.
While he notes that a dog's saliva has proteins that may help heal its own wounds, he also points out that "There are some organisms unique to dogs that we were simply not meant to tolerate or combat."
These organisms include zoonotic bacteria, which can be passed on from animals to humans, causing disease. Some of the common bacteria include clostridium, E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter, which can cause gastrointestinal disease, according to Dr. Leni K. Kaplan a lecturer of community practice service at Cornell Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine.
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This doesn't mean you shouldn't let your dog lick you at all.
When dog saliva touches intact human skin, especially in a healthy person, it is extremely unlikely to cause any problems, as there will be very little absorption through the skin, Dr. Kaplan told the Times.
However, he notes you should avoid letting a dog lick your nose, mouth and eyes, as a dog's saliva and pathogens can be absorbed more easily in these areas. And, obviously, never let an animal lick a cut or open wound.
John Oxford, a professor of virology at Queen Mary University of London, told The Hippocratic Post that he wouldn't let a dog lick any part of his face because a dog's muzzle is "full of bacteria, viruses and germs of all sorts" as a result of having their noses in and around other dog feces and other harmful waste on the ground.
And, don't forget, not all dogs want to be thisclose to their humans. An article in Psychology Today pointed out that dogs don't usually like to be hugged or kissed by people because it stresses them out.
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So, word to the wise: tell your dog to stay away from your face.
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In recent years, fashion-themed Halloween costumes have definitely been a popular choice.
In 2014, Kim Kardashian took a break from her usual racy costumes and went as Anna Wintour. She even took things one step further and dressed up then 16-month-old daughter, North West, as Vogue contributing editor, Andre Leon Talley, whose outfits are memorable, to say the least.
These fashion-themed costumes, however, are surprisingly easy to achieve. Most of them can even be found within your own closet. If youre looking to go as someone more daring, the thrift store is your best friend, not to mention easy on the wallet.
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This was an exciting year for fashion, so why not forgo the sexy bunny costume in favour of one of these folks famous for their style?
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have their own unique styles that could be called something along the lines of "bag lady chic." The former child stars may be billionaires, but that doesnt mean you cant recreate their look for Halloween.
Layering is key, along with oversized clothing if you want to mimic the designer duo behind The Row. If you can get a pal or a sibling in on this costume, make sure you both have their signature blond tousled hair and sunglasses.
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The pampered furball of Karl Lagerfeld is a true beauty and popular choice for Halloween costumes. Find your white cat attire and accessorize with a Chanel necklace. Of course, Choupette doesnt travel without her iPad or team of cat nannies. You can even convince a friend to go as a maid attending to your every feline whim.
You can pretty much go as Vogue Japan editor-at-large, Anna Dello Russo if you throw on every statement piece you own. Bold colours, clashing patterns, fuzzy accouterments and embellishments are all part of the Italian fashion icons appeal. Shes also a lover of wild hats, so make sure you have an outrageous topper to really capture the essence of Anna.
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If you already have red hair, all you have to do is fashion it to resemble Grace Coddingtons very recognizable hairdo. If not, off you go to the costume store for a big red wig.
Coddingtons actual outfits are not hard to replicate. She often opts for all black or one solid pop of colour, like a blue blazer accessorized with hoop earrings and a bold lip.
He has proclaimed himself a god within music and now the fashion community, so we felt a Kanye West costume deserved a place here.
West is known for wearing what is essentially worn-in streetwear in exclusively neutral tones like cream, olive, black and white. If you have an old sweater, joggers or a bomber jacket on its last legs, cut a few holes in it and call it day.
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Famed street style blogger, Susie Bubble, is well known for her eclectic style, heavy fringe and bouncy topknot. Your costume may not ring a bell with your non-fashion pals, but those who do follow her will appreciate your attempt to think outside the usual fashion-themed costumes.
Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid skyrocketed to fame together. The besties often walk the same runways and are seen paling in Hollywood at the most exclusive parties and restaurants. It simply wouldnt work if you went as just one of them because KenGi is a package deal.
Their signature style is typical model off-duty, favouring crop tops, skinny jeans, funky sunglasses and fresh kicks. If you really want everyone to know who you are, a pair of angel wings would make the perfect addition as the models walked their very first Victoria's Secret fashion show last year.
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If any fashion designer stood out in 2016, it would have to be Balmains Olivier Rousteing. Perhaps it was due to the French designer's close friendship with the Kardashians or his collaboration with H&M, but regardless, he went from under-the-radar to front and centre.
If youre amongst fashion friends, theyll know exactly who you are. Black pants, a satin blazer and a low V-neck are his staple items. Like the Kardashians, he also enjoys heavy countouring and slicked back hair.
The founder of Chanel is often overlooked as a costume idea in favour of Karl Lagerfeld. However, her classic look is probably easier to achieve.
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A fitted black dress, a bevvy of pearls and a 1930s hairstyle is all you really need to transform yourself into the always iconic, Coco Chanel.
The senior fashion icon is not someone you would ever miss in a crowd and that quality usually makes for a good costume. Iris Apfels style is unapologetically loud without being obnoxious. She thrives on wearing bold colours and patterns, but what shes talked about a great deal is her love for accessorizing.
If you want to do her look justice, make sure you have at least 20 pieces of jewelry on and, of course, her signature oversized glasses are non-negotiable.
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We know, its been done, but dressing the part of the most famous Vogue editor-in-chief of all time never gets old. Wintour has established a look thats easily recognizable across the globe with her fringe bob, sunglasses and matching tweed jacket and skirt.
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Your 10/20/16 editorial (Ballot has 5 questions, we have 4 answers) is commended for opposing Question 2, the full legalization of commercial marijuana in Nevada. The editorials conclusion was thoughtfully put: we think selling marijuana to raise money for schools makes about as much sense as selling child porn to raise money for day care.
However, the editorial was overly pessimistic about the expected voting outcome. An October 4 survey of 800 voters commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal found Question 2 too close to call. 47% said they would vote yes and 46% opposed the measure.
As people learn more about it, there is growing opposition (the Elko City Council is congratulated on their unanimous vote to oppose). It is noteworthy that opposition is bipartisan Senator Harry Reid said he is very,very dubious and concerned about Question 2. Governor Brian Sandoval is categorically opposed. Both of Nevadas U.S. Senate candidates, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto and Dr. Joe Heck, are No on 2. So are respected former Governors Robert List (Republican) and Richard Bryan(Democrat).
Newspaper editorial opposition is growing as well. Nevadas two largest newspapers, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Reno Gazette Journal, are opposed to Question 2. Other northern Nevada newspapers have joined in opposition as well the Nevada Appeal (Carson City); the Lahontan Valley News (Fallon) and the Elko Daily Free Press.
Question 2 is wrong for Nevada.
Jim Hartman
President
Nevadans for Responsible Drug Policy
Genoa, NV 89411
A man in Maine was arrested on Monday for blocking traffic.
Oops, forgot to mention he was
This tree blocked traffic on Congress Street. Witnesses say they thought it was an art project since so many people were taking pics! pic.twitter.com/POABLePqvf Kattey Ortiz (@KatteyOrtizTV) October 24, 2016
Asher Woodworth was apparently studying downtown traffic patterns in Portland while in his leafy costume, the Associated Press reported.
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Police said he wanted to see how his act would impact "people's natural choreography," according to WCSH6.
The 30-year-old has been charged with obstructing a public way.
A journalist at the scene said Woodworth was initially warned by police, but he was arrested after he blocked traffic again.
Police have arrested a man dressed as tree for blocking traffic on Congress Street...as God is my witness. pic.twitter.com/VUFQY6Vyv0 TVTEDDY (@TVTEDDY) October 24, 2016
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He did not respond to any questions. A friend tells us he was studying the city's traffic patterns. pic.twitter.com/imJA5ygWky TVTEDDY (@TVTEDDY) October 24, 2016
A story like this is almost destined for Internet fame, and it got plenty of pun-tastic reactions on Twitter:
They arrested him because he wouldn't leaf. https://t.co/JKvvkCnyf8 Kyle Madson (@KyleAMadson) October 24, 2016
Have to commend the officers for arresting the man before he branched out into more serious crimes. https://t.co/XVmIKO1ckf Ryan Talbot (@RyanTalbotBills) October 24, 2016
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A 67-year-old U.S. man is dead after he contracted an infection from a deadly flesh-eating bacteria while wading in the water.
Michael Funk became infected with vibrio vulnificus last month after cleaning crab pots near his summer home in Ocean City, Md. that he was packing away until next year, according to Ocean City Today.
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"He didnt (usually) get in the water, that was the only time all summer," his widow, Marcia Funk, told the outlet.
The couple had been preparing to pack up and head back to their other home in Phoenix, Ariz., according to Ocean City Today.
Michael Funk was 67 when he died from a flesh-eating bacteria infection in September. (Photo: WJZ/Baltimore)
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Michael had an open sore on his leg when he entered the water on Sunday, Sept. 11, and by Tuesday, he started throwing up, Marcia told CBS Baltimore.
He then started experiencing severe pain in his leg and ended up in hospital. His legs swelled and his kidneys began to fail.
Doctors knew the cause vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria found in warm ocean water.
He was flown to a shock trauma centre in Baltimore. Doctors amputated his leg, but the infection continued to spread and he was taken off life support.
He died Sept. 15, just four days after he was infected, according to the Daily Times.
Marcia told the outlet she thinks there is little information in Ocean City about the bacteria.
"It's like something out of a horror movie."
"I really feel they kept it quiet because it's a tourist resort," she said.
"It's like something out of a horror movie."
Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is looking into the incident, a spokesman told the Daily Times. But infections stemming from the bacteria aren't unheard of in that area or in the U.S.
Vibrio species sicken about 80,000 people in the country every year and kill 100, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
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The bacteria can also be contracted by eating raw or undercooked oysters or shellfish.
Michael and Marcia Funk spent happy summers in Ocean City, Md. (Photo: WJZ Baltimore/Screenshot)
But infections from the vibrio vulnificus strain are very rare. Health officials in Florida, where it killed 78 people between 2008 and 2015, warn beachgoers not to enter the water with open cuts.
Marcia told Ocean City Today she's still shocked by how quickly she lost her husband.
The surgeon said if you get this, you will be an amputee in 24 hours and if that doesnt work youre going to be dead in 36 hours and thats exactly what happened, it was on the money, she said.
He loved his crabs, he loved his boat and he loved the waters here. Its what took his life and I still cant get my head wrapped around it, its a nightmare.
You can see more on the story in the video above.
A Conservative MP who led the charge to bring Yazidi victims of genocide and sex slavery to Canada delivered an emotional tribute Tuesday to a woman whose remarkable courage continues to spur action.
Michelle Rempel rose in the House of Commons to honour Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi woman who escaped enslavement at the hands of the so-called Islamic State.
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MP Michelle Rempel and ISIL survivor Nadia Murad are shown in the House of Commons on Oct. 25, 2016. (Photo: Parlvu screengrab)
Murad, a United Nations Goodwill ambassador and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, now advocates on behalf of members of the Kurdish-speaking religious minority facing death, rape, and torture in Iraq and Syria.
Murad was watching from the gallery.
Rempel began by referencing a Yazidi prayer about being led out of darkness, something of which Murad and her people have seen too much.
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But she has not been consumed by it, Rempel said. Shes instead been the spark of light that has born the hope of her people, awakening the world to our moral obligation to protect, preserve, and bring justice to victims of genocide.
"Nadia, we honour you and we heed your call not only because we must but because it is you that brought light to darkness."
Murads oppressors couldnt break her and that strength will be their undoing, Rempel said.
Canada will answer her call to provide refuge for victims and push other nations to stand for what is good, just, and beautiful, Rempel said.
Nadia, we honour you and we heed your call not only because we must but because it is you that brought light to darkness, the Calgary Nose Hill MP said before choking up.
After question period, House Speaker Geoff Regan invited members of Parliament to applaud Murad, who rose from her seat with quiet grace and mouthed thank you.
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MPs unanimously vote to provide Yazidis refuge
Minutes later, 313 MPs unanimously voted for Rempels opposition motion calling on the government to acknowledge the genocide against the Yazidi people and provide asylum to Yazidi women and girls within 120 days.
Immigration Minister John McCallum announced Monday that Liberals would support the motion. However, he also conceded that it will not be easy to bring Yazidis to Canada because many are currently in combat zones that are far from refugee camps in Syria and Turkey.
My department has sent an expedition out to the terrain and we are committed to bring them in within, as the motion says, 120 days or less,'' McCallum said in the House.
Trudeau: 'I'm pleased to see Nadia again today'
Earlier in question period, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked interim Tory Leader Rona Ambrose for her leadership on the file, but offered no specifics on how many Yazidi women and girls will come to Canada in the next four months.
Canada will always be an open country willing to step up and support people in need from all around the world, Trudeau said.
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Im pleased to see Nadia again today and reassure her that in the coming months we are committed to bringing in vulnerable Yazidi refugees.
Ambrose said she appreciated the prime ministers verbal commitment, but added: we wont rest until we see action.
With a file from The Canadian Press
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Shoppers Drug Mart is officially jumping into the medical marijuana game, in a move that appears to set the stage for retail sales of the drug once the federal Liberals have legalized pot.
The Loblaw Co.-owned pharmacy chain says it has applied to the federal government to distribute medical marijuana. Spokesperson Tammy Smitham said the company is applying for a producer licence, but intends only to distribute marijuana.
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We believe that allowing medical marijuana to be dispensed through pharmacy would increase access, safety, quality and security for the thousands of Canadians who use the drug as part of their medication therapy, she said in a statement emailed to The Huffington Post Canada.
But in order to sell marijuana at its 1,700 locations, Shoppers Drug Mart would need a change to the current medical marijuana rules, which only allow medical marijuna producers to sell by mail, or for patients to grow their own, or designate someone to grow it for them.
"We are hopeful that the Government of Canada will revise the current regulations to allow dispensing at the pharmacy in the near future," Smitham said.
The Liberals have said they plan to introduce marijuana legalization legislation in the spring of 2017.
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Shoppers Drug Mart says it has applied to the federal government to distribute medical marijuana. (Photo: CP)
Its no secret that Canadas pharmacy retailers want in on the medical pot business, presumably with an eye on much larger sales once the Liberals have legalized the drug for recreational use.
The Canadian Pharmacists Association changed its stance on medical cannabis earlier this year, saying pharmacies should be front-line marijuana dispensaries. It argued there is a lack of clinical oversight in medical marijuana distribution.
Were an industry that is extremely effective at managing controlled substances, Galen G. Weston, president of Loblaw Co., told reporters in May.
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The Liberals plan to move forward with marijuana legalization in the spring of 2017. (Photo: Getty)
Under rules introduced by the previous Conservative government, medical marijuana users were prohibited from growing their own. But a Federal Court judge struck down that rule in February.
The federal government announced new rules in August that allow patients to grow a limited amount of their own supply.
Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott has said the Liberals will move forward with legalization of marijuana in the spring of 2017.
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Medical Marijuana Users Share Secrets See Gallery
Editor:
I write in opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana in Nevada, and urge my fellow citizens to vote "No" on Question 2. Here are a few of my reasons.
First, Question 2 is being driven by pot companies, which will be the only true winners if it passes. The proponents of this measure have not even attempted to dispute this point. (If you don't believe me, read the Voter Information Pamphlet compiled and distributed by Elko County.)
Second, here are several other points against Question 2 that have not even been disputed by the proponents:
Studies show that teenagers who regularly use marijuana have lower IQs, and do worse on college entrance exams.
Studies show that THC, the psychoactive component in today's marijuana, has devastating effects on the developing teenage brain.
Fatal accidents involving marijuana-impaired drivers have more than doubled in Washington, where marijuana has been legalized.
In Colorado, which has also legalized pot, marijuana use by youth is now ranked 56% higher than the national average.
Third, consider the term "recreational marijuana." Do we seriously want to validate marijuana use as an acceptable form of recreation? Think of the multitude of wholesome recreational activities available to us in our communities, including hunting, fishing, sports, attending concerts and many others. Marijuana use is compatible with none of these activities. It is not simply another form of recreation; it is an activity that would, at best, tend to exclude its participants from more wholesome forms of recreation, and at worst, endanger the lives of others, all while damaging the brains of the marijuana users themselves. We cannot, in good conscience, grant the label of "recreation" to the use of a damaging substance.
I have seen the polls, and I am disappointed that many Elko County residents seem ready to support Question 2. Perhaps it is because they believe that government should stay out of our lives. But I view this issue much differently. This is we, the people, voting on whether or not to support a product and activities that will make everyone less safe, damage the developing brains of our youth, and invite a culture that is inconsistent with our values and incompatible with healthy social structures in our communities. Please, please reconsider, and vote NO on Question 2.
Adam Neff
Ruby Valley
PATRICK DOYLE via Getty Images People participate in the The 100% Possible Climate March on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on November 29, 2015. Some 150 leaders, including US President Barack Obama, China's Xi Jinping, India's Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, will attend the start of the Paris conference, which is tasked with reaching the first truly universal climate pact, with the goal to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), perhaps less, over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by curbing fossil fuel emissions blamed for climate change. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK DOYLE / AFP / PATRICK DOYLE (Photo credit should read PATRICK DOYLE/AFP/Getty Images)
Yesterday, 99 students and youth were arrested on Parliament Hill calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reject the Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline. You might be asking yourself, why would young people with their whole lives ahead of them risk arrest?
First, there's the obvious fact that there is perhaps no more clear and pressing danger to young people than climate change's promise of adulthood in a hellish dystopian future. Second, civil disobedience is a powerful way for youth to counter the immense lobbying power the fossil fuel industry is bringing to bear on Justin Trudeau's government.
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Over the course of a month, during the lead up to the Paris climate talks, Suncor met with the government 12 times. Last October, before the dust had even settled from the election, TransCanada had three separate lobby meetings with Canada's ambassador to the US.
To date, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers - the same organization directly linked to the gutting of Canada's environmental protection regime - has recorded more than 70 meetings with the Liberal government. Kinder Morgan has met with the government 35 times and Enbridge has recorded 86 meetings, something raising more than just eyebrows as Justin Trudeau seems to be walking back his commitments to a tanker ban on the BC coast and pipeline review overhauls.
It doesn't stop there. The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association has recorded 57 lobby meetings. TransCanada has logged 45. Imperial Oil, the Canadian name for Exxon - currently under fraud investigation for lying to public about climate change - recorded 57 meetings with this government. To put that into perspective, that's more than a meeting a week during this government's first year in office.
Of course, it could be entirely possible that this government has been sitting down with these lobbyists, having coffee and plainly explaining to them that their expansion plans don't fit with the science of climate change. But, when you look at the policy progression that has followed this string of lobbying, it tells a different story.
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During the 2015 election campaign, Trudeau's government made a suite of promises on climate change and Indigenous rights. It included overhauling the National Energy Board and redoing pipelines reviews, implementing a tanker ban on BC's North Coast, developing new, more ambitious climate targets for Canada and adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Since taking power they have adopted Stephen Harper's climate targets, targets that Trudeau described as reflecting a government with "no desire to actually be responsible on the environment". They have persisted with the NEB reviews of both the Kinder Morgan and Energy East pipelines, albeit with some cosmetic changes. They have described the implementation of UNDRIP as "unworkable" and "a political distraction", and ducked questions on their plans to implement a tanker ban on BC's north coast.
On their promise to renew a nation to nation relationship with Indigenous Peoples, this government has approved two major energy projects in BC opposed by Indigenous peoples -- the Pacific Northwest LNG project and the Site C dam. Credit where it's due, they announced plans to implement a carbon price, albeit one that alone will do little to bring Canada in line with the Paris climate commitment.
The world only has so much carbon left to burn if we are committed to the 2C target the world agreed to in Paris. There is even less left if we are to hit the 1.5C target that Canada pushed the world to strive for in that same agreement. If Justin Trudeau approves the Kinder Morgan pipeline, he'll be putting Canada on track to burn up to of that remaining carbon. For a country that makes up .005% of the world's population, that would, frankly, be kind of a dick move.
That's why 99 youth were arrested yesterday in Ottawa, for what was one of the largest acts of climate civil disobedience in Canadian history. Because, the world needs Canada to actually lead on climate, and climate leaders don't build pipelines.
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Climate leaders take bold action to keep fossil fuels in the ground and harness the immense potential of renewable energy that exists from coast to coast to coast in Canada.
Climate leaders listen to the science and those whose generation will inherit the mistakes of current leaders, they don't listen to the same fossil fuel companies who knew about climate change in the 1970s and lied to the world about it. Bottom line, a real climate leader will reject the Kinder Morgan pipeline come December.
World Vision is asking Canadians to help farmers overseas to feed their families this Halloween. "Carve a Heart" in your pumpkin, and post to social media using hashtag #carveaheart. Photo: World Vision
Our Toronto neighbourhood goes big on Halloween. And I do mean big.
Several houses transform into something resembling the Bates home from the movie Psycho. One neighbour plays Michael Jackson's Thriller video on a giant screen, over and over again. One lady dresses as a witch, and offers "severed finger" cookies to the kiddies.
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It's wonderful to see everyone involved. But I have to admit, it can be a bit overwhelming.
When my boys were little, they were afraid to go trick-or-treating for more than a short time. You just never knew which jump scare was coming next. We were new to the block, and wanting to meet neighbours. It was sad to know we wouldn't recognize any of them the next morning.
I found myself missing my first childhood Halloween days in Canada. We were immigrants from a place that didn't celebrate Halloween. My parents were yearning to make new friends in the neighbourhood. Halloween was the perfect time to embrace a new tradition, while going door-to-door to introduce themselves.
Memories of Halloween love
Our early Halloweens were a time of love and closeness. My dad, who mainly stood back from our activities, put his engineering expertise to work on our costumes. We were Rubik's Cubes. Star Wars characters with glowing eyes or wiggling ears. Muppet characters complete with Miss Piggy noses and Gonzo beaks.
Things moved more leisurely in those days. There were fewer neighbours to visit, and most people had time to chat. I still remember other parents offering mine a drink, while we kids munched candy on the front porch. And we never left before collecting some change to help children overseas, a critical part of our Halloween tradition.
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Photo: World Vision
This year, try to put some of the love back into Halloween, while continuing to have fun too. Here are a few suggestions:
Link up with a neighbour: I know two families who cook dinner together every year on Halloween. They sit together on one front porch with an after-dinner coffee, handing candy to the children. It's one of the highlights of their year, and helps keep the friendship strong. Visit someone in need of joy: One year, I saw the elderly residents of our local retirement home sitting in the lobby, waiting for children to come. They had their big bowl of candy ready, but got very few visitors. Visiting is now an annual tradition for us. It takes just ten minutes right after dinner, and you should see their smiles! Make your home a haven: Why not have coffee on the porch for parents who've had a long day, and put out a few chairs? Even the most zealous trick-or-treater will likely agree to hang out for a bit -- if they're allowed to eat some of their candy! Have water on hand for those who are thirsty. Think of other cultures: Not every faith group embraces Halloween, and its different traditions and symbols. You might know a family whose children stay home from school on the day, or at home in the evening. Why not wrap up your festivities a little early, and offer to drop by with a non-Halloween dessert to share? Carve a Heart in your pumpkin: Collecting coins for children in need was always an important part of our Halloween growing up. This year, World Vision is asking you to "Carve a Heart" for families overseas who don't have food to eat, let alone candy to enjoy. Here's how to help:
Take a picture of your loving pumpkin!
Post a picture on social media, using hashtag #carveaheart
Tag us at @worldvisionca to help share the love
Text 41010 to donate $10 for crop seeds for famers overseas
Photo: World Vision
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Mark Blinch / Reuters Syrian refugees arrive at the Pearson Toronto International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
By Roula El-Rifai
Welcoming over 30,000 Syrian refugees to Canada in the past year is a reflection of the shared values and generous spirit of Canadians and communities, businesses and governments across this country.
Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reinforced the country's commitment at the UN General Assembly when he announced that the Government of Canada will increase humanitarian assistance by 10 per cent this fiscal year. In addition, the prime minister announced more than $64.5 million in new multi-year funding to support people affected by humanitarian crises around the globe.
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Now that Syrian newcomers have arrived safely in Canada, they can start building their new lives. As the focus shifts from managing the large number of arrivals to integrating families, particularly youth, we see a critical need for more collaboration, research, and knowledge sharing of best practices in Canada and around the world. Delivering real opportunities for refugee success requires a solid understanding of the obstacles refugees face and the best way to address those challenges.
More than half of the newly-arrived Syrian families in Canada are composed of five to eight members, and 56 per cent of arrivals have been children 14 years old or younger. From what we know already, the profile of these newcomers indicates that they could face challenges finding jobs and housing, accessing education, and integrating socially.
More knowledge is required to address issues such as employment and skills development, women's isolation at home, and youth social alienation. Above all, researchers in Canada are saying that we need a longitudinal study to link education and health data to provincial and federal data, as well as a more coordinated approach to research to measure and track the needs and progress of these newcomers.
Societies benefit from welcoming refugees as strong contributors to the growth and strength of communities.
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has long supported research on refugee and immigration issues. In our formal and informal consultations with researchers, policymakers, practitioners and members of the diplomatic community, it has become clear that meeting refugee needs requires international collaboration, a rapid response approach and local community engagement.
IDRC is assessing how it can contribute to global efforts and support local capacity to manage the refugee crisis in Lebanon and Jordan: where Syrian arrivals have increased the population by 20 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. These and other host countries in the Middle East need innovative ways of providing refugees with basic services, improving conditions in camps and crowded homes, giving refugees a voice and a role in their own development and jumpstarting economic growth. The aim is to partner with other donors to support programming that brings citizens and Syrian refugees together to develop their communities.
IDRC is already supporting a project to improve the accessibility and quality of learning for refugee and host community children in and outside the classroom using digital learning innovations. Designed to be flexible and easy to deploy, these digital education tools and resources will be developed and tested initially in 25 schools in Lebanon and Jordan.
Societies benefit from welcoming refugees as strong contributors to the growth and strength of communities. A collaborative approach that positions evidence as the cornerstone will help Canada and the international community move beyond tackling a crisis towards sharing the responsibility of upholding human dignity.
Roula El-Rifai is Senior Program Specialist at the International Development Research Centre. She is an expert on the Palestinian refugee issue, the Middle East peace process, and reform processes in the Arab world.
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The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CCIC or its members.
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Ki Price / Reuters U.S. musician Bob Dylan performs during on day 2 of The Hop Festival in Paddock Wood, Kent on June 30th 2012. REUTERS/Ki Price/File photo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Bob Dylan's recent win of the Nobel Prize in Literature has raised eyebrows and has come with mixed feelings within the literati community. There are persons who see the academy's decision to award Dylan this coveted prize as "misguided and questioned whether songwriting, however brilliant," deserves to be ranked at the same standard as literature.
In The New York Times article, "Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize, Redefining Boundaries of Literature," the writers commented that the selection of Dylan to receive such a prestigious award is perhaps the most radical choice in a history since 1901. They further note that: "In choosing a popular musician for the literary world's highest honor, the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, dramatically redefined the boundaries of literature, setting off a debate about whether song lyrics have the same artistic value as poetry or novels."
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Seemingly, the writers, like many others have overlooked the significance of music's influence on literature. As such, the concept of music as an aesthetic form for literature is not a new phenomenon. Therefore, the boundaries of literature have been long redefined. This idea has been documented in critical works, specifically, texts that look at classical music and its influence on literature from the eighteenth-century to the present.
Werner Wolf's book The Musicalization of Fiction: A Study in the Theory and History of Intermediality, comprehensively codified a formal theory of musicoliterary aesthetics, and it gives attention to the rise of music in Anglo literature from the start of the 18th century. Wolf starts off with a comparative analysis, which discusses the similarities and differences between music and literature. The book also offers a general theory of intermediality or "the participation of more than one medium of expression in the signification of a human artefact."
Indeed, it was not uncommon for creative writers to have integrated musical aesthetic into their work in order to challenge traditional European literary structures and to establish their own native voices. For instance, Indian writer and composer Rabindranath Tagore who became the first non-European writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, was known to fuse his songs into his literary work. Gitanjali, the book of poems for which Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, was essentially a collection of songs.
Similarly, the Harlem Renaissance writers relied on a jazz aesthetic to express a distinct "Negro" voice from the canonized Euro-American literature that had little or no regards for black folk culture. And in his efforts to express the folk tradition of the Afro-Cuban populace and at the encouragement of writer Langston Hughes, Cuban poet Nicolas Guillen drew from the organic base of the Cuban son; a musical tradition characterised by Afro-Cuban folk sounds and percussion along with the Spanish cancion.
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Without a doubt, music has always served as a donor to radicalized literary expression.
Later 20th century writers such as James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and Ismael Reed continued to express the realities of the everyday folk via an informed jazz aesthetic. In fact, Toni Morrison has often pointed to the influence of black music in her work. In several interviews, she comments that in her own family "music was everywhere and all around" and how "they played music in the house all the time." Her maternal grandfather played the violin, her mother sang opera and jazz and was a pianist in silent-movie theatre and her oldest son is a flutist and guitar player.
Moreover, a more current music aesthetic emerging into literature is reggae. In his ground-breaking book Natural Mysticism: Towards a New Reggae Aesthetic, Professor Kwame Dawes examines the influence of reggae music on Caribbean creative writers such as Kamau Brathwaite and more contemporary ones like Lorna Goodison. Dawes argues that reggae in the early 1960s was the primary source of artistic expression that successfully captured the ethos of the Jamaican people. In this way, he cites that this aesthetic value can also be identified in the works of poets and fiction writers throughout the Caribbean region.
And of course, we cannot ignore the value of literature courses that are devoted to the study of musical lyrics in some universities across the globe. For example, "Reggae Poetry" is a literature course currently being taught at The University of the West Indies in Jamaica. In this course, students are given the opportunity to recognise the correlation between literary and song-text, as well as "gaining an understanding of the socio-historical context out of which the music emerges from." Some of the songwriters and performers studied in the course are Jimmy Cliff and the legendary Bob Marley.
Without a doubt, music has always served as a donor to radicalized literary expression. And applying an interdisciplinary approach to judging what constitutes literature can only continue to break down the hierarchal structures of high versus low culture and the one-dimensional way some perceive literature to be.
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William Peyton Hubbard, the son of American slaves who in 1837 fled Virginia via the Underground Railroad to take up farming in Canada, was Toronto's first black elected city councillor, representing one of the city's wealthiest and whitest wards and often presiding over council as acting mayor.
Recently, as dignitaries including Mayor John Tory, Dub Poet Lillian Allen and Hubbard's descendants gathered to name an elegant park in his honour, the strongest message was that Hubbard's most enduring legacy was not that he broke the colour bar, but that he used his status to fight for public ownership of Toronto's water and hydroelectricity services, and advocated for wronged citizens, whatever their ethnicity.
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In 1842, Hubbard was born in a cabin close to Toronto, where a small Black community lived peaceably but not equally, with some public facilities such as hotels and restaurants refusing to admit them. W.P., as he was known, attended the non-segregated Toronto Normal School but became a professional baker and not a teacher.
Later, to accommodate the needs of his business, he invented and patented a portable, "practically fire-proof" and much smaller commercial oven to replace the massive brick ovens used in large establishments. The oven was a hit, and sold throughout Canada and the U.S.
At the time married to his childhood sweetheart, Julia Luckett, and inspired by his father`s mantra of self-improvement, Hubbard earned his living baking cakes and was an astute businessman. He changed careers 16 years later after his uncle pleaded with him to join his livery business because it was so difficult to find sober drivers.
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One day, as he manoeuvred his hansom along a treacherous winter road, Hubbard spotted an overturned cab and a man in need of assistance near the icy Don River. He leapt down to help, a charitable act that would transform his life and set him on the trajectory to public office.
The man he had rescued was the renowned George Brown, a Father of Confederation and a founding member of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada, whose members had helped fugitives using the Underground Railroad to reach Canada. Brown was also a passionate reformist politician and owner-editor of the powerful Globe and Mail newspaper. Brown was so struck by Hubbard`s reformist beliefs, intelligence and energy that he urged him to run for political office.
In 1893, aged 51, Hubbard took the plunge and ran in the municipal elections for Ward 4, an enclave of fine homes and mansions, and lost by a mere seven votes. Encouraged, he ran again in 1894 and won the first of 15 elections to Toronto City Council. His elite constituents had just elected Toronto`s first black politician.
Hubbard, however, celebrated his election less as a victory for black progress than as an opportunity to press for the causes he had long espoused. "I have always felt that I am a representative of a race hitherto despised, but if given a fair opportunity would be able to command esteem," he confided to his best friend, Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott, Canada's first black physician, whose daughter married his son, Frederick Langdon Hubbard.
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And command esteem he did, impressing his fellow councillors with his impeccable research and eloquence, as well as his fearless attacks on corruption. Thanks to his association with George Brown, Hubbard also understood the value of enlisting the press to help further his political goals.
Even with his family, who speak wryly about his interminable "speechifying" at the dinner table, Hubbard did not refer to himself as a champion of black rights. His measure of a good society was equality and fairness, and he sought to shape Toronto in that image.
He supported the House of Industry and Social Improvements, modeled on humane principles quite unlike the poverty-punishing Victorian workhouses it replaced. Hubbard advocated for Jews, demanding that "steps be taken to prohibit attacks being made on the Jewish religion," and he rallied to help Chinese small laundry owners facing the vitriol and vengeance of more powerful commercial interests.
Hubbard's legislative legacy includes 100 initiatives for improving city services and infrastructure, including acquiring land for parks, but his most significant and far-reaching accomplishment was to champion a policy of public ownership of Toronto's water and hydro facilities. The cost of these services in the hands of private companies was prohibitive, he argued, though this stance cost him more than one election because his constituents strongly supported and in some cases were owners or associates of those private companies.
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Hubbard persisted. He used his appointment to the Toronto Board of Control, the city's executive, to campaign to make it an elective body. He then won subsequent board elections and was named its vice-chairman. And in the city where such posh venues as the Royal York Hotel still rejected black guests, Hubbard presided as acting mayor when the mayor was absent.
In his personal life, Hubbard was a devout Anglican, and a member of black community groups such as the Home Service Association and the Musical and Literary Society of Toronto. In politics, he forged strategic alliances, notably with Adam Beck, mayor of London, Ontario and a member of the provincial legislature, because Beck shared his vision of publicly owned utilities.
Together, Hubbard and Beck succeeded in creating the Toronto Hydro-Electric System and the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. For this and other endeavors, Beck was knighted. Hubbard, whose work on behalf of fairer consumer pricing had cost him several elections, was named a Justice of the Peace for York County.
In 1913 Hubbard, then 71, was re-elected to council but soon retired to care for his ailing wife. He remained in their home, a splendid brick house very near Hubbard Park, until his death in 1935, when at 93 he was Toronto's "Grand Old Man" and its documented oldest native-born citizen, and so admired that public buildings flew their flags at half-mast in mourning. Eight decades later, William Peyton Hubbard's legacy has again been honoured in the city he did so much to improve, and that Dub Poet Lillian Allen described as "an experiment gone grand."
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Christopher Chan via Getty Images The Twelve Apostles landmark off Australia's Great Ocean Road at sunrise.
Winter seems to have already kicked in here in Saskatchewan. We had whiteout conditions back on October 5, and it's been cool and grey since. By all accounts, it's going to be a long, cold winter for most of Canada. I am one of those bizarre souls who adore winter. But I'm thinking this winter might be too much even for me. It's time to start dreaming about a vacation to a warm, sunny locale.
There are so many options out there, and many of them are economical choices. If you're just after a warm, sandy beach, then sure, go for the budget choice. But what if you've always dreamed of visiting some place that isn't known for being economical, like Australia? Should you throw caution to the wind and just go?
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Yes. Go. Really, what did you expect me to say? I'm the girl who consciously chooses joy. Live each day like it's your last. Do what makes your heart happy. Go.
Sydney Opera House
Image courtesy of fam-goehring at pixabay.com
Still, unless you just won the lottery, you might need to be a little creative in order to get your sweet self down to Oz. Below are some tips to help keep your trip affordable.
Timing
Flexibility helps a lot. December through February are Australia's summer months, and the high season as far as flight costs go. If you can get away in November (there's still time!), the memories of your bucket list trip will keep you going on those -40C days. On the other hand, if you go in March, the planning and anticipation will put pep in your step even when you're wearing ice grips on your boots.
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Flights
There are several apps that make it super easy to find economical airfare. And if you can be flexible with your travel dates, sites like airfarewatchdog.com will email you when great deals pop up.
Getting around Australia
Despite looking tiny down in its corner of the globe, Australia is actually the sixth largest country in the world. Road tripping it really isn't a feasible way to explore. While staying in one major centre for the entire trip is most economical, there are a number of options for exploring the country, and some are quite reasonably priced.
Domestic travel fares will vary based on type of transportation, carrier, date of travel, and date of booking; as well, some travellers may be fortunate to stumble across sales, voucher codes, or coupons. But for the sake of comparison, I did some quick research on the cost of travel from Sydney to Melbourne on March 15, 2017.
While it's not the cheapest or fastest way to travel, it's possible to take a cruise between most major Australian centres. At $549 (double occupancy) on my hypothetical March 15 travel date, a cruise between Sydney and Melbourne includes two nights of accommodations, as well as meals, making the overall cost seem somewhat more reasonable.
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Image courtesy of heju at pixabay.com
However, on the same date, for travel between Sydney and Melbourne, Greyhound bus tickets start at $189; Google Flights lists a number of flight options for less than $100; and train tickets start at a very reasonable rate of $45.
Potentially the most budget-friendly of all, campervan rentals are quite popular in Australia. While rental rates start at $65/day for my hypothetic trip on March 15th, don't forget that campervans provide accommodation as well, and can be a significant cost saving. It is also well worth looking into "relocating" campervans. When travellers rent a vehicle in one city, and then end their journey in another location, the vehicle needs to be returned to the rental company. If you're able to do this, it's possible to rent a campervan for $1-5/day, and also be reimbursed for (some) gas costs. This site has great tips on how to make this option work.
Accommodations
If you've done any kind of budget travel up until now, you'll know how to source deals on accommodations. Hostels, Airbnb, and hotel coupon sites are popular ways to keep accommodation costs low.
Food
Being on vacation doesn't have to mean eating out for every meal. Some accommodations have food prep options included (like hostels, Airbnb rentals, and campervans), making it easy to cook your own meals. When shopping for food, make sure you check out farmers' and produce markets for fresh, local eats. For those times you do want to dine out, use apps like UrbanSpoon and Yelp to find well-reviewed restaurants within your budget.
Activities
As with any vacation, there is plenty to do and see in Australia that is low-cost or free, including visiting national parks and beaches; going to museums and other places of cultural interest; taking part in local festivals; exploring churches; doing self-guided walking tours; and just plain old people watching. While this link lists twenty things to do for free in Sydney, a little research will help you find free/low-costs things to do in the locations you plan to visit.
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Bondi Beach
Image courtesy of HannahChen at pixabay.com
The more I think about it, the more feasible a trip to Oz becomes. Now, who wants to be my travel buddy?
These two web articles were invaluable in my research; check them out for more hints and tips on how to keep your travel costs low when you take that bucket list trip to Oz:
http://www.drinkteatravel.com/travel-australia-on-a-budget/
Chris Wattie / Reuters Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a meeting with members of the China Entrepreneur Club with at Willson House in Chelsea, Quebec, Canada, October 18, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie
Congratulations, Canada, you just filled Jesse Brown with pride.
In himself.
The Canadaland founder recently penned a column for the Guardian titled, "Think Canada is a progressive paradise? That's mooseshit."
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Its aim was to hack away at the idea that Canada is some kind of Edenic alternative to the United States, in the unlikely event of a Trump victory.
Like a lumberjack at a rotten tree, it chopped away at Canada's paradisical reputation, and especially our prime minister, the "heat-seeking empathy missile" Justin Trudeau.
The piece certainly found an audience -- at over 40,000 shares and more than 1,400 comments, there's no doubt it struck a nerve.
And Brown was only too happy to boast of its success.
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There is nothing wrong with countering a country's "sunny ways" narrative, or suggesting there's more to our prime minister than his Crest-white smile.
But Brown's column is yet another sign of a mistake-prone media critic who is perilously short on self-reflection. And, as someone who considers himself the conscience of Canadian media, needs to do better if he wants to be taken seriously.
Let's start with Brown's take on the 2015 election. Brown says we "dared to open our eyes (just a peek) to the neglected, remote indigenous communities where suicide rates are shockingly high and access to untainted drinking water is shamefully low."
Much of the above is true -- and, as he says, shameful. But the idea that Canadians meaningfully opened their eyes to these issues is naive at best.
The idea that Indigenous matters received even a modicum of the attention they need, makes me wonder whether we were watching the same election.
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But all of this was a simple segue way for an attack on Trudeau, whom he claims has taken Canada "right where Stephen Harper left us."
He initially claimed that Canada is the world's third-largest arms dealer -- a fallacy that was corrected at the bottom of the piece -- and that we're basing our economy on fossil fuel extraction and cutting $36 billion out of health care.
His argument that Canada is relying on fossil fuel extraction is flawed at best -- and at worst, convenient to his narrative.
And it's not completely true, if you look at this graph from March.
But let's return to Brown's broader point, that Trudeau has kept Canada right where Stephen Harper left us.
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He would have us forget that Trudeau cut taxes on the middle class; that he instituted a non-taxable, income-based child benefit, replacing Harper's taxable family benefit that doled out the same money to everyone, no matter how much they made; that he restored the long-form Census; that he overhauled the process by which people are appointed to the Senate.
In other words, it was silly to claim that Canada is the same place it was under Harper.
"For someone who demands so much internal reflection out of Canadian media, he is perilously short on his own."
Now I'm not saying Trudeau doesn't deserve scrutiny.
His government was dishonest in its handling of a Saudi arms deal; he lowered the age of eligibility for Old Age Security, a decision with serious financial implications for millennials; and his government has reportedly breached the Indian residential school settlement agreement by allowing lawyers to limit survivors' compensation claims.
But Brown did a half-assed job of criticizing him. And that's status quo for the Canadaland founder, who repeatedly fails to learn from his mistakes.
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This is someone who, in reporting the Jian Ghomeshi story, sent an email to a "Q" producer requesting comment and promised "complete anonymity" without talking to his investigative partner first, according to Kevin Donovan's book "Secret Life."
He once published a ridiculous story claiming that Ghomeshi's lawyer was in a conflict of interest; he said CBC's decision not to host a leaders' debate in the 2015 election (without the then-prime minister) had "disgraced" it "beyond anything in recent memory," including the Ghomeshi scandal.
And he published another story saying the Ottawa mayor's chief of staff had "leaked" Canadaland a memo when he hadn't.
"Canada needs someone who can tell the world that we're not as perfect as we think we are. But that's no excuse to go about it halfway -- and then brag about it."
But all of these mistakes have been masked by a bigger one: The time that he sloppily (and patronizingly) reported that women were "fleeing" the Globe and Mail.
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Many were, it turned out, leaving for better opportunities.
Brown apologized for the story. But he was hardly repentant when he invited author Scaachi Koul on to his show, in an effort to hold himself accountable.
Koul rightly accused him of using "condescending" language in the piece.
But instead of listening, he justified himself throughout, before agreeing to publish a piece noting how many men had left the Globe and Mail in a similar time frame.
"Listen to me, don't argue with me," she pleaded, laughing.
"I need to be a dick to do this job," he later said.
I suppose we can praise Jesse for holding himself to account.
But Canadaland has had many transgressions follow this one. All the mistakes mentioned above, save for his missteps on the Ghomeshi story, happened after his piece on the Globe.
In short, he seems to have learned little from his experience on that story.
Canada needs a media critic; but it already has better ones, in James Bradshaw, an outstanding reporter with the Globe and Mail, and Sean Craig, an excellent Financial Post journalist (and Canadaland alumnus).
What they do isn't quite the same as what you find on Canadaland. But they nevertheless provide a model after which Brown can pattern himself.
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Because for someone who demands so much internal reflection out of Canadian media, he is perilously short on his own.
Canada needs someone who can tell the world that we're not as perfect as we think we are. But that's no excuse to go about it halfway -- and then brag about it.
It's a cliche to say you're your own worst critic. But Jesse Brown is.
He can do better. He needs to.
CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this blog stated that Jesse Brown went behind his investigative partner's back in reporting the Jian Ghomeshi story. The blog has been updated to show that Brown sent an email to a "Q" producer without talking to his reporting partner beforehand, as is written in Kevin Donovan's book "Secret Life." In a message to the author of this blog, Brown said he had free reign to investigate and no protocols regarding anonymity or clearing inquiries with Donovan were set out ahead of time.
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The festering Israel-Palestine conflict and the continued tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir is sometimes painted as a conflict of Islam with Jews and Hindus. Both are economic and political conflicts. Yet, there are Muslims who wish to revive the domination of past Caliphates and the inegalitarian treatment of dhimmis (non-Muslim citizens of an Islamic state). However, we have to move past fanciful Empires and reject the pitiful view of perpetual victimhood.
The worldview based on salvific exclusivism and cosmic conflicts must be replaced by mutual cooperation and radical inclusion. It should not always be how we are oppressed by the world but what we can contribute to it. This necessitates addressing the supremacist tropes in our respective faiths. Only Jews can do this in Judaism, Hindus in Hinduism and Muslims in Islam.
There are Muslims who employ supremacist tropes to put down Hindus and view Jews through the lens of conspiracy theories. They believe that Muslims possess the perfect faith and have nothing to learn from others who have gone astray. They make fun of Hindus for worshiping elephant and monkey gods. With respect to Jews, they can marshal texts that condemn them as apes and pigs or even the more scary ones that call for the murder of Jews.
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A vast majority of Muslims do not make much of such texts. However, such texts allow hateful supremacists to perpetuate a bastardized theology. A huge overhaul is required in Muslim theology on doctrines related to polytheism, apostasy, and blasphemy, each of which has led to persecution, especially of minority Muslim denominations, in Muslim countries.
The existence of difficult texts cannot be denied but there are many juristic techniques to drastically curtail the relevance of such texts. One technique is that of specification. For instance, the definition of Jews referred to in the scathing texts is confined to a specific location and time. Another is to convincingly reject the hateful stories from the secondary Muslim literature that have been added to the Islamic tradition. Yet another strategy is to give precedence to the universal Meccan verses over the specific Medinese verses. There are even Muslims who view Qur'anic verses in support of the state of Israel.
However, the more effective strategy is to perhaps highlight the mutual cooperation between Jews and Muslims through the Prophet's friendship with Rabbi Muhayriq who died fighting side by side with Muslims. It is important to emphasize how the Prophet stood up in respect for the passing funeral of a Jewish person, how his shield was kept in trust by a Jewish man Avi Shachm, and how through the constitution of Medina, Jews were included as equal members of the ummah (community).
While originally Christians and Jews were considered as People of the Book, some Muslim jurists recognize Hindus and others from the dharmic (Indian) faiths as such. Indeed, verse 22:40 mentions the Muslim role to protect churches, temples and synagogues. Muslim scholar Omar Salem even mentions that without Christian and Jewish neighbours, our faith goes untested, therefore, Heaven lies beneath the feet of Jews and Christians. He also writes:
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Whether one is Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, Christian, Jew or Muslim, one should be looking to one's own traditions to draw the best morals and ethical values, then strive towards such values and help others to strive towards their own good morals, ethics, virtues, traditions, and values.
One Muslim scholar, in his defense of interfaith marriages of Muslims, has written:
When it comes to Hindus, you might benefit from learning more about them and their religion ... Check out what the "Nirguna Brahman" concept is. If you are so strongly defensive of monotheism, it is possible that this interpretation might be very attractive to you since it is even more rigid than the normative Islamic interpretation on unicity.
There are numerous examples of Muslim, Hindu and Jewish neighbours watching over one another. Muslims have saved Jews during the Holocaust and Jews have saved Muslims from genocide in Bosnia. Muslims and Jews have opened up their holy places for each other in distress, warded off bullies, patrolled for safety and respected each other's traditions.
There are incredible stories from the 1947 partition of India, in which Muslims rescued Hindus from Muslim mobs in Pakistan and vice versa. There are also examples of Hindus fasting with Muslims and Muslims not slaughtering cows out of respect. As Muslim parents have supported their daughter, who won a contest on the Hindu scriptures, a Hindu father has raised a Muslim son abandoned by his birth parents.
In contrast to the naysayers, Hindus and Muslims have also shown a remarkable capacity to pray together. This is especially true in the case of Jhuley Lal, also known as Shaikh Tahir in Sindh, Pakistan. Lal is deemed as a Sufi saint by Muslims and as the incarnation of the god Varuna by Hindus. The current spiritual master at Jhuley Lal's shrine has mentioned:
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"Shaikh Tahir is our pir (spiritual guide). He saved the Hindu dharma in Sindh."
Perhaps, the way forward is in the intimate realms of both spirituality and sexuality. This may happen when we break down the barriers of religion by emphasizing our common human bonds through inter-faith and intra-faith marriages. The least we can do, however, is to share each other's sorrows and joys and to honour each other by celebrating our holy festivals together.
It is for this reason that Muslims of all stripes and their allies have come together to wish their Jewish brothers and sisters prosperity as they end observing their High Holidays and to wish their Hindu brothers and sisters a Happy Diwali, as they begin to celebrate the festival of lights.
*This is the 5th video in the Allah Loves Us All series.
I had the pleasure of moderating a debate -- actually, more of a discussion -- among six candidates for the Conservative Party leadership recently at the York Club. Present were Kellie Leitch, Brad Trost, Erin O'Toole, Andrew Scheer, Michael Chong and Maxime Bernier. Kevin O'Leary, the TV guy, who has not committed and so was not eligible to participate, lurked at the back of the room. I kept hoping he would at least ask a question. He just lurked.
I went into the evening unenthused about the contest to replace Stephen Harper. I was more aware of the candidates who had ruled themselves out (Jason Kenney Peter McKay, Tony Clement) than of those who had declared. I'm more interested now having seen these six in action. There is serious talent in the field, if not much in the way of household names. And it's a long race so they'll all get better if they can hang in (fundraising is difficult if you're not a household name).
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Kellie Leitch is the strongest personality of the bunch.
A moderator is supposed to be neutral and I am, in fact, neutral, at the moment. I nonetheless formed some impressions.
Kellie Leitch is the strongest personality of the bunch. A smart, determined woman. She is going to matter in Canadian politics for a long time. Not sure that she has the broad appeal to win this thing, although I thought the same about her last boss (strong personalities matter). Three things impressed me. She is from my home province of Alberta. She brought her father to the event which (as the father of a daughter) warmed me to her. And she is funny.
Brad Trost is a social conservative, which made him the Antichrist to many in the room. He pretty much had to crash the event. Good on him. Held his ground with a grace and forthrightness that I found admirable even though I'm not a social conservative. Trost has strong, clearly articulated positions on everything. He'll make a great pundit when he tires of the political racket.
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Andrew Scheer is young, the youngest of a young bunch of candidates. (Most are in their early 40s -- Bernier, 53, is the oldest -- which bodes well for the future of Conservatism). I thought Scheer would have a tough time standing out in this crowd and he did until the very last question. He demolished the Trudeau carbon tax. Out of the park (or, at least, out of the friendly confines of the York Club). Received the biggest applause of the night as well as sincere congratulations from Bernier and others.
Erin O'Toole can claim a unique combination of private sector, public sector and armed forces experience. Has a very likeable, everyman quality that will carry him a long way. Radiates thoughtfulness and sincerity. His policies didn't seem as crisp as those of some opponents but he only announced his campaign a couple of days before this event. That will change. He has upside.
I worry that he's too sensible, too reasonable to win this sort of contest.
Maxime Bernier is good. Very good. I had preconceptions about him, rooted in that scandal from 2008 when as minister of foreign affairs he left sensitive documents at the home of his girlfriend. The girlfriend, Julie Couillard, wrote a book. I interviewed her for Maclean's. The scandal thus loomed larger in my mind than anything else about Bernier. I now find I have seriously underestimated him. Smooth, personable, easily the most charismatic of the candidates. Great political skills and instincts, and a clear set of free-market policies that he can defend with intelligence and geniality. If I was running, I'd fear him most.
Michael Chong has integrity. He resigned from Stephen Harper's cabinet over Harper's decision to recognize the Quebecois as a nation within a united Canada. He stood up at the York Club and made a nuanced argument on carbon taxes in front of a black-and-white-minded audience. He leaves you feeling that a Chong-led government would be low-key, sincere and capable, if unspectacular. I, personally, would enjoy that. I worry that he's too sensible, too reasonable to win this sort of contest.
A version of this blog originally appeared on LinkedIn.
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lzf via Getty Images young asian woman open arms on the shopping street
My father repeated the same mantra, 'do anything you'd like, just make it a business'. After flitting through an arts degree and learning graphic design, I was fired at 24. As I was being consoled by a friend over a piece of pie, I resolved to follow my father's advice.
I'd once lived above a nail place in New York, and I was perpetually unsatisfied with both the high-end inefficient spas, and low-end and unclean nail bars. That night I wrote my business plan, signed a lease in Toronto's up-and-coming Queen West neighbourhood without financing (!), and went to the bank for a Canadian small business loan. A few short months later The Ten Spot Beauty Bar was born.
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Our accomplishment is rare at 10 years and 20+ locations, when half of businesses don't make a five year anniversary, and rarer still for women. Our anniversary has given me pause to celebrate and think about how very grateful I am. Entrepreneur-ing has given me something special, and I'd argue the opportunity is or could be available to a far broader reach of women than it is today.
Looking at the S&P 500, where only 4.4 per cent of women make the list of CEOs of the top firms of the country. It is incredibly easy to think on hundreds of male titans, from Jack Welch to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, and even business thinkers like Peter Drucker or Michael Porter. On the S&P the most recognized woman on the list, Marissa Mayer, is top of mind not for her immense success, but because she's embattled as CEO at Yahoo. Similarly another CEO who currently makes the most news is Elizabeth Holmes at Theranos. Initially an incredible innovation in lab testing, today's headlines are about her company's false claims. Both CEOs are brought up for reasons other than success (and Hillary Clinton too, who will likely reach the White House, but won't do so without being maligned in the extreme).
Further, Canadian data on women entrepreneurs also tells us that only 17 per cent of businesses have women owners. I admire Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, with it's emphasis on women needing to be forward and not diminutive, but it would be a mistake to read her as saying the ball is entirely in our court to change the situation by our behaviours.
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Back to my earlier point that it's hard to bring to mind a prominent, successful female CEO, I searched long to find the infrequently mentioned and amazing story of Martha Matilda Harper, my favourite historical person, who I read about in Jane Plitt's biography.
Born near where I live today, outside of Toronto, Canada, in 1857, Harper was put into service as a domestic worker in a relative's home. 50 years later she had invented the very concept of 'franchising' and had built a 500 location strong business of beauty salons. Her impetus for doing this was to lift marginalized women out of poverty. As I've spoken about and written elsewhere, what I think is most striking about Harper's story is that she tapped into something fundamental about how entrepreneurial business can level elements of the playing field for women.
Harper women were empowered to travel to new markets to launch their franchise. Unlike the other capitalists of her day, Harper was generous in the sharing of wealth with her followers. Plitt summarizes Harper's accomplishments: 'thousands' of low-income women had their lives improved, and at the time of her death, Harper 'had achieved an equality with successful men.' (Here's a great YouTube on her amazing story).
Martha Matilda Harper's story also tells us it doesn't take a singular talent to be able to run a business. Harper found literally hundreds of uneducated women and taught them the fundamentals. Looking at the Province of Ontario's secondary business curriculum, entrepreneurism is well-covered. That said, I am curious the degree to which entrepreneurship is presented as a realistic opportunity.
Despite our best efforts, I fear many students are still headed to university's most generalist programs without any sense of how they will ultimately contribute to the economy or build their own wealth. As a Philosophy grad from Western, I don't in any way disparage the Arts. That said, I hear time and again from young people 'if I'd only known x was a viable career opportunity...' Young women in particular need extra emphasis on entrepreneurship where our large institutions and long-existing businesses have evident glass ceilings.
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Franchising, like entrepreneurism, is under-discussed. When speaking to groups, I often give this advice: If you are living your plan B, or have a dream that could be your plan A, why not give it a shot? In the worst case scenario the likely worst outcome is that you return to living your plan B, but in the best case you succeed at your dream. This advice applies to any kind of business risk, but with franchising there is less risk where the likelihood is someone in franchising is probably already several steps ahead in terms of developing a turn-key business.
If you align with the company's approach, vision, and values, and their financials check-out, it might be one of the quickest routes to opening the business you've always wanted to run. Because of franchising many other young women now share in my dream to own a trendy beauty bar in a great neighbourhood.
I know I'm so beyond privileged, an unlikely owner and creator of an unlikely success. At the 10-year mark, what's most important to me is a deep belief that raising awareness of entrepreneurship as a viable career for women will lead to more opportunities for equality. I'm not naive to other economic and social barriers women may face, and I am not saying that every woman has the opportunity or is cut-out to be a business owner. But I am saying women's ideas and capabilities are equal to a man's so let's get out in the market in greater force!
Romano van der Dussen spent time in seven Spanish prisons over the course of 12 years. EDWIN WINKELS (ATLAS)
What price would you put on your freedom if you had spent years in prison for crimes you didnt commit if, say, you had been robbed of the chance of having children and a decent job? Dutchman Romano van der Dussen has come up with the sum of 6 million. That is the figure he is seeking in compensation for the 12 and-a-half-years he was locked away; money that may go some way to making up for the psychological and physical toll his time inside have taken.
Van der Dussen suffers from incontestable psychological damage, both acute and chronic Jose de Miguel Pueyo
Van der Dussen suffers from incontestable psychological damage, both acute and chronic Jose de Miguel Pueyo
Soon after he entered prison, Van der Dussen was beaten up so brutally he spent three weeks in the prison hospital. Unable to guarantee his safety, guards then placed him in solitary confinement for 18 months, during which time he spent 23 hours a day completely alone. He went on to spend the rest of his sentence being transferred from one prison to another, always in secure units for child molesters and rapists.
While Van der Dussen was behind bars his mother died. He also became an uncle without ever meeting his nephews, and his family grew divided over his guilt, with his younger sister, who is a police officer, refusing to believe his innocence, arguing that in Europe it was impossible for somebody to be locked up for a crime they did not commit.
Romano van der Dussen with his father in Amsterdam, 12 years after being imprisoned.
But his conviction was based solely on an identity parade, with no physical evidence linking him to the rapes. The fingerprints found at the three crime scenes were not his, and neither was the DNA. In fact, Spanish police had been aware since 2007 that the real culprit was probably Londoner Mark Dixie, already in prison for murder and rape.
However, it wasnt until last year when a DNA sample definitively proved Dixie had committed at least one of the rapes that Spains High Court finally moved to revise Van der Dussens sentence.
On the surface of things, it looks as though Van der Dussen is coping with life on the outside. Since his release eight months ago, hes rented a flat, written a book with the Dutch novelist Edwin Winkels due out soon, and for three months he held down a job as a receptionist in a hotel in Palma de Mallorca. But on closer examination, it is clear that his experience has taken a devastating toll on his mental health. He trips over his words when he speaks and hes highly-strung. He needs anti-depressants, he has panic attacks and suffers from agoraphobia, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
It would be reasonable to think that Van der Dussen might want to leave Spain and its associations behind him when he finally got out. But a love affair that blossomed with a prison volunteer during his sentence has kept him in Mallorca. The two are now in a stable relationship, one that helps anchor him to normal life.
Romano van der Dussen travels to Holland for the first time since his release.
It is his girlfriend, a university graduate, who has motivated Van der Dussen to find work and establish routines that allow for a more balanced existence. But it is a slow and painful process. While working as a receptionist, it appeared as though he was on track, but signs of anxiety and stress in front of the guests prompted his dismissal.
Perhaps I wasnt ready to work, he says. But I felt good. I felt good when I showered and shaved in the mornings and when I got the bus looking smart with all the other people going to work. It also made me feel good to be using my German, Dutch and English languages I speak well to deal with guests from those countries. I felt as though I was fitting back in and that was really great after spending 12 and-a-half years in jail. But theres no doubt that I got extremely stressed if 20 people turned up at reception at once and something went wrong. Its a long time to be away from the world.
Everything in prison is scheduled, says Van der Dussens girlfriend, who prefers to remain anonymous. Its all routine and the prisoners always know what is going to happen, which is why its so hard when you come out into normal life and have to deal with surprises.
During Van der Dussens years behind bars, he would dream of strolling along the beach, imagining it was the only thing he needed to be happy. Now he realizes its not so easy to adapt to ordinary life, says his girlfriend. In some respects, things are going really well. Hes started to make friends and build a social life but he gets depressed a lot. He needs therapy, medical attention and a clear structure to his life.
In a bid to overcome his anxiety, Van der Dussen has recently started to meditate and attend relaxation workshops that he says help him appreciate his achievements. At least Ive managed to get a few of the basics sorted, he says. My flat is clean, the fridge is full, I iron all my clothes. When my girlfriend comes over, everything seems okay. I buy her flowers and plants and make food. I love her so much. And though I dont really want to, Im going to start seeing a psychiatrist.
Psychiatrist Jose de Miguel Pueyo, who assessed Van der Dussen for his compensation claim, speaks about incontestable psychological damage, both acute and chronic () that interferes with his daily life.
In prison everything is routine, which is why the surprises of normal life are so hard when you come out Van der Dussen's girlfriend
De Miguel states that Van der Dussen suffers from panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and anxiety conditions that, according to his assessment, began and developed during his imprisonment, becoming acute in the last two or three years.
While inside, Van der Dussen was picked on by other inmates for being a rapist, an unacceptable crime according to prison ethics.
Beatings and insults led to six prison transfers and spells of isolation for his own safety. He had an impulsive personality to start with, but his ordeal has generated high levels of anxiety due to post-traumatic stress, says De Miguel. He hasnt just had his freedom taken from him, he has also suffered at the hands of prison justice for being a rapist. This additional punishment came in the form of death threats, beatings and isolation. So now hes always on the move, always on high alert.
The damage is huge, adds De Miguel. On top of it all, he has missed out on opportunities at a critical period of his life, both personally and professionally. His life has been compromised and its going to take a great effort to get back to normal. Right now, his relationship with his girlfriend is helping him to survive.
Since the High Court has only absolved him of one of the three rape convictions, Van der Dussen is still fighting to clear his name concerning the other two which were committed the same night, at the same time, and in the same area. Mark Dixie claims not to remember committing these other two attacks as he suffers from blackouts. Meanwhile, Van der Dussen can only seek compensation for the rape he was absolved of.
The Ministry of Justice still has to evaluate Van der Dussens compensation claim. The largest figure awarded in Spain for a miscarriage of justice to date is the 1 million paid to Cadiz resident Rafael Ricardi, who spent almost 13 years in jail for crimes he didnt commit the sum he sought was 10 million.
Romano van der Dussen is now waiting to see how Spains courts measure the value of the jobs he was unable to take, the relationships and children he was unable to have and the strolls along the beach that were denied him.
English version by Heather Galloway.
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Many people dream of becoming an entrepreneur. After all, you're in total control of your career path, you have a flexible work schedule, and your salary is a direct reflection of your efforts. With automation tools, outsourcing platforms, digital marketing channels, and turnkey e-commerce options that are affordable and accessible, it's never been easier to start your own enterprise. Thanks to the internet, you have the potential to reach audiences across the globe.
Foregoing the traditional nine-to-five for a life of entrepreneurship is clearly more than a trend, as self-employment surged by more than 50,000 people in September according to a report by Statistics Canada. Last year, nearly 2.8 million Canadians considered themselves to be self-employed, a 9.7% increase in the past decade.
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While the lure of being your own boss can seem all too enticing, not everyone is meant for the entrepreneurial life. So if you're wondering if you've got what it takes, here are five things to consider to see whether or not you're cut out for the (self-employed) job.
You've got skills.
It's one thing to start a business, it's another to actually make it successful. Whether you're creating a completely new market or opening a coffee shop, you have to know what makes your company unique, and furthermore be able to explain it to someone in less than 30 seconds.
You're okay with taking risks.
Leaving the security of a full-time position can be terrifying for many, and rightfully so; whether you have a mortgage, a family, or student loans you need to pay off, the idea that sales could stop coming in could put your financial and relationship status in ruins.
Before you make any rash decisions, do your research. Speak to other entrepreneurs in the industry who can provide solid advice. From small business loans to incorporation fees, they'll be able to shed light on expenses you may have never considered.
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You can ignore the haters.
When you start telling your network that you're starting a business, there will inevitably be one or two people who will tell you it's a terrible idea. These naysayers will try to discourage you from taking the leap, even dissect your capabilities or insult your concept. When this happens, do you retreat and start questioning your idea? Or does it ignite a passion to prove them wrong and only confirm that you want to move forward? How you react will be a good indicator of whether you're ready to take the first entrepreneurial step.
You're technically ready -- literally.
No matter what kind of business you open, your digital presence should be at the forefront of your business plan. From website design to the user experience to social media presence, your brand's digital footprint has to be on point in order to attract and engage your target audience. This is definitely not the area to skimp or 'get to later'. Make sure you have the resources in place to build these effectively.
You've got a little cash.
Though some businesses can be started with minimal financial investment, you need to have some money saved before you take the leap. The beginning phase is always the hardest. It takes time to start building a steady customer base, so ideally you should have a minimum of 6 to 12 months of living expenses saved. You want to be able to live comfortably without adding further stress to your plate, so start with a little nest egg before you make the jump.
While the life of an entrepreneur can be extremely rewarding, it's definitely not for everyone. Paid vacation, extended health, and job security are all perks not to be taken for granted, especially since it may be years until you experience them again. However, if these challenges make you feel determined rather than deterred, than you may have just what it takes to be your own boss.
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Chris Wattie / Reuters Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands after speaking at a mosque to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada September 12, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie
As the Harper era ended and Trudeau's term began in late 2015, a collective sigh of relief could be heard from ethnic communities all across Canada, especially from Muslim Canadians. From opposing niqabs at citizenship ceremonies to setting up a hotline for individuals to report the "barbaric cultural practices" of their fellow Canadians -- which would have undoubtedly targeted Muslims and those believed to be Muslim -- Steven Harper's Conservative government proved to be highly intolerant of certain minority communities and certainly aided in the heightening of tensions against ethnic and religious groups in the country.
It is no surprise then that Trudeau's comparatively progressive stances and charismatic personality have been so enthusiastically embraced by Muslim Canadians. As a Muslim Canadian myself, I have witnessed the raw enthusiasm within the community over our new prime minister. I can't tell you the number of times my Muslim friends have posted selfies with our "dreamy" prime minister on social media. Many others have either proudly shared posts of the PM doing some pretty quirky things, like practicing yoga moves on a desk or showing off his Bhangra dancing skills.
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A year has gone since Trudeau first came into office, offering a welcome message of change throughout his campaign. Yet, although Trudeau has had some accomplishments in office so far, Muslim Canadians must remain skeptical of his government and must be prepared to hold him accountable on issues that directly or indirectly impact our community. If we make the mistake of idolizing him, we risk granting him the freedom to disregard our interests. And many of his actions do indeed deserve to be critiqued.
As Muslim Canadians, what we need from Trudeau is substantive action, not just encouraging words.
On the question of Islamophobia, for example, many Muslims like me were initially encouraged when Trudeau publicly condemned hate crimes against Muslim-Canadians. Following the surge in incidents of racial abuse towards Muslims after the Paris attacks in late 2015, Trudeau stated, "These recent acts of intolerance have no place in our country and run absolutely contrary to Canadian values of pluralism and respect."
However, the Trudeau government has been slow to take meaningful actions that live up to our PM's words. It is true that Liberal MP Frank Baylis sponsored a Parliamentary petition against Islamophobia, which garnered almost 70,000 signatures -- more than any other Canadian petition on this issue. However, it was NDP leader Thomas Mulcair who introduced the motion in Parliament on October 6. Given that it was a Liberal MP -- Baylis -- who sponsored the petition, it is quite puzzling and rather disappointing that it was not Trudeau who introduced the motion at the House of Commons.
"Progress" on Islamophobia by Trudeau at the federal level has been far outpaced by measures, albeit mostly symbolic, taken by provincial parties. For instance, an NDP private members's bill was recently unanimously passed by the Ontario legislature, making October Islamic Heritage Month in that province. Furthermore, a resolution condemning all forms of Islamophobia was initiated by the Liberal party in Ontario and was later passed successfully just this past summer.
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Yet, the Liberal party has failed to raise a similar motion at the federal level. Trudeau's federal Liberal party has thus proven to be slow to act on issues of Islamophobia. As Muslim Canadians, what we need from Trudeau is substantive action, not just encouraging words.
The Trudeau government's relationship with Saudi Arabia should also give pause to Canadian Muslims. The Liberal government continues to carry on a "business as usual" attitude with Saudi Arabia despite horrific human rights abuses. In addition, with its $15-billion arms deal with the Saudis, the Trudeau government enabling violence against Muslims abroad must not be overlooked, either. Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion's signature gave the contract the final approval necessary for it to be finally implemented.
I'm not suggesting that Trudeau has failed the Muslim-Canadian community.
Unsurprisingly, Saudi Arabia has a history of using Western-provided arms in attacks against Muslims in the region. In one poignant example, fragments of American-manufactured bombs were recently discovered at the horrific scene of a Yemeni funeral that was targeted in Saudi Arabia's latest bombing campaign.
Instead of fawning over Trudeau's "Eid Mubarak" video messages, Muslim Canadians should be outraged by our government's nonchalant dealings with a country that has so little respect for human rights. Given the Middle East origins of many Canadian Muslims, we understand the ruthlessness with which such arms may one day be used against the broader Muslim community.
Finally, we cannot forget that Trudeau supported the Conservative government's intrusive "anti-terrorism" bill, known as Bill C-51, despite public protests. Let's face it: this law mostly targets Muslims and Middle Eastern people -- the main groups accused of terrorism in the West. Despite Trudeau's promises to make substantial amendments to this bill, he has yet to do so. While the PM may have many other pressing issues, we must keep a close eye on this bill that disproportionally affects the Muslim community.
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I'm not suggesting that Trudeau has failed the Muslim-Canadian community. He has shown great openness when it comes to reaching out to communities formerly marginalized by Harper's government. However, as Muslim-Canadians, we must be wary to hold our prime minister accountable, or risk being taken for granted by Canada's federal Liberals.
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Roberto Machado Noa via Getty Images TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA - 2016/06/04: Contruction boom in real estate market. The housing market is hot in Toronto provoking a construction boom in the city. Construction crane next to the building. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)
By Lydia McNutt
If you're lucky enough to own a small slice of the GTA's pricey property pie, you could find yourself among those vehemently opposed to any new development in their neighbourhood. After all, established Toronto hot spots like The Annex, Bloor West Village and Mount Pleasant are full, right? And you like your cozy little neighbourhood just the way it is.
But here's the problem with the NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) mentality.
The average detached home in Toronto now costs about $1.3 million. Want to rent a small place in the city instead? Urbanation reports that average Toronto condo rents hit a new high of $3.10 per square foot, or $2,145. Add to this a population that's expected to increase by 100,000 every year. Opposition to infill development is only making the affordable housing problem worse. Furthermore, NIMBYism could be detrimental to the neighbourhoods you so love -- and the value of your own real estate.
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Here are five reasons why NIMBYism is bad for business, your own property investments and the local economy as a whole.
1. People can't afford to buy homes.
If you've chatted with a Millennial lately (or you happen to be one), you've likely heard (or said), "I'm going to rent forever. I just can't afford to buy a place of my own." The GTA's population is rising, along with demand for homes. According to the Toronto Real Estate Board's September sales stats, the average detached home in the GTA (including the 905) is $1.01 million.
Meanwhile, supply is sinking, due in part to resistance to development projects. The "low supply, high demand" scenario has created some serious competition that young homebuyers simply can't contend with. So, where will the next generation of homebuyers go if infill development stops? Scroll on...
2. People who can't afford to buy real estate in the GTA will buy elsewhere.
We all have to live somewhere. I love the famous quote from Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come," as it applies to real estate in the GTA. This is true not only for homebuyers, but employers as well.
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Take Hamilton as an example. This once-sleepy and inexpensive city just outside of Toronto has in the last few years become a hotbed of activity in terms of industry, economy and housing. Big business has moved in, the job market is jumping and home values have surged. This sounds like a golden opportunity, and new housing is popping up everywhere to support the city's current and future population growth, which brings us to our third point...
3. If you're not moving forward, you're falling behind.
New development creates new housing and job opportunities for new buyers, but let's not forget that it also keeps old neighbourhoods fresh, forward-thinking and ultimately, in high demand. An old neighbourhood with an aging population will not support growth.
4. Development doesn't stop at high-density homes.
Existing residents in communities under development will also reap the rewards of new businesses, services, schools, community centres and hospitals, which often accompany these new housing communities. What also comes with more homes -- and more homeowners -- is more property tax, which is collected and used to repair Toronto's crumbling infrastructure. Maybe we'll finally get Bayview and Dufferin off CAA's annual "Worst Roads" list. And all that construction on the Gardiner? You wouldn't want to foot that bill alone.
5. The GTA's greenspace is on the line.
How much do you love those sunny Sunday drives to the country? Ten years ago, the Government of Ontario introduced the Greenbelt and Growth Plan in an effort to protect that greenspace from urban sprawl. The plan mandated that 40 per cent of new homes be built within existing communities, and that these new infill developments use less land to accommodate more people as the GTA population continues to grow by about 100,000 people each year.
There's some food for thought, and perhaps five pretty good reasons to make you say yes to development in your backyard.
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For more great stories like this, visit YP NextHome.
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Drazen Vukelic via Getty Images Homeless in sleeping-bag on the street[url=file_closeup.php?id=15050670][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=15050670[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=25003291][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=25003291[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=25001705][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=25001705[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=18526941][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=18526941[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=18480169][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=18480169[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=25064683][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=25064683[/img][/url]
"It was supposed to be a two week visit, but it turned into seven years."
Joseph came to Vancouver seven years ago to visit his mother. Family ties persisted, and he decided not to return to northern B.C. -- instead, he wanted to build a life in Vancouver, where he believed work opportunities would help him get ahead. The passionate artist and handyman found a job and rented an apartment. But the excitement did not last long.
"You can't work minimum wage and pay $1200 in rent," he notes, shaking his head at the problems facing many of Vancouver's working poor. With challenges from his mother's alcoholism and the discouragement of barely making ends meet, holding a steady job became difficult. Eventually Joseph found himself living on the street without any support.
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Photo: Joseph, East Vancouver (October 24 2016)
Volunteers for the city of Vancouver identified 1,847 homeless residents this year, though experts estimate that the actual number is much higher. The homeless counts don't consider the other side of housing displacement, either - that long-term residents are forced to move out of their neighborhoods and cities because of affordability.
"Unless you are family, it is hard to track people once they have been displaced from the community," notes Rick McGowan of Burnaby's Metrotown Resident's Association. McGowan's primary concern centers around demovictions, which have already displaced hundreds of mid and low income families in the Metrotown area.
McGowan recalled the case of one senior who wasn't able to find a place to live by eviction day. He had to be relocated to Chilliwack. Current plans could yield losses of up to 3,000 more units in exchange for luxury high rises in Metrotown alone. For many, housing security simply doesn't exist anymore.
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Saturday's #letstalkhousing event for residents of Vancouver-South and Vancouver-Granville attracted hundreds of concerned citizens, and there too, fears over housing security were brought up several times. When one resident implored MPs to recognize housing as a residence instead of a commodity to be traded, the room erupted in applause. The meeting closed with remarks from MP Jody Wilson-Raybould, who acknowledged the link between safe housing and human rights.
Photo: #letstalkhousing Town Hall for residents of Vancouver-South and Vancouver-Granville (October 22 2016)
The United Nation's declaration on housing as a basic human right includes protection against forced evictions, protection against the demolition of one's home, security of tenure, and equal and non-discriminatory access to adequate housing. It also includes rights to affordability.
But despite Canada's commitment to following the United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the federal government, province of BC, and the city of Vancouver have all failed to write such fundamental rights into law, pass enough legislation to protect residents, and adequately fund housing.
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Recognizing housing as a fundamental human right could be viewed as a dangerous proposition for many who treat housing as a business. It opens the door for lawsuits against both businesses and governments who fail to take the issue seriously.
Back in 2007, UN special rapporteur Miloon Kothari called attention to Canada's housing crisis and implored all levels of government to address the issue. Vancouver was identified as a major area of concern, with special attention called to the influence of the Olympics on real estate development. Nine years later, the situation has only worsened.
It is important to remember that the housing crisis didn't simply emerge along with the UN report in 2007. In the early 1990s, the federal government awarded responsibility for managing social housing to the province of BC. The province decided whether to build new co-ops, fund new subsidies, update their existing rental stock, and implement legislation to protect vulnerable residents from issues such as demovictions.
The results from that transfer of responsibility were two decades of underfunding, almost no new co-ops, prioritizing developers over residents, courting outside money, and pretending housing wasn't an issue until demonstrations in 2015 shone the spotlight on the issue. The problem was still ignored until housing dominated headlines in 2016 and became an election issue.
Metro Vancouver's housing crisis won't go away until the basic right to housing is treated as such. It isn't simply a need to implement a "Housing First" program for the homeless. Housing security for both middle and low income families needs to be addressed comprehensively. Residents need to feel there is hope, and that they all have access to safe, secure, long-term housing.
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Like many of Vancouver's homeless, Joseph moves between shelters, his mother's apartment, and his tent in a park. He is industrious, explaining in detail how he likes to build things. This enthusiasm led Joseph to turn his tent into a little workshop, where he builds trailers out of discarded wood and scrap metal. He is currently constructing a miniature "workshop on wheels" so that he has a dry place to continue his endeavours. Joseph doesn't want pity, he just wants a safe, secure place where he isn't at the mercy of thefts and weather.
This week, as the city ponders the right to adequate housing and hosts an international housing summit, the concept of housing as a basic human right should be on everyone's mind. This time is also an important moment for pressing the issue provincially.
As the BC Greens, the Liberals, and the NDP prepare for BC's 2017 election, now is the time to push the agenda. We need citizens to implore all provincial parties to both recognize housing as a basic human right and disclose plans to adequately address it.
Zarah Tinholt is a human rights advocate specializing in refugees and the Syrian crisis, a community volunteer, and housing spokesperson for the BC Green Party.
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The phoney peace is over.
When Theresa May assumed the prime ministership, one of the first trips - not for now a foreign visit - she made was to Edinburgh for talks on Brexit with First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
Now it's Sturgeon's turn to come to London for talks with Mrs May along with the leaders of the Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies.
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When May went to Scotland it was all smiles and emollience from the new Tory leader -a wise move given Scots had voted to remain in the EU by a much wider margin than England and Wales voted to leave in the referendum a few weeks before.
It was no secret that many supporters of independence would now push for another Scottish referendum to prevent their country being dragged out of the EU against its will.
Twenty six months ago - yes time does fly - at the time of what was known as the Indyref, the supporters of Scotland staying in the Union with England had argued the country could only ensure it stayed in the EU if it remained in the UK.
Many at the time, including myself, thought this was a hostage to fortune.
Prime Minister Cameron had already committed to hold the vote on Europe if he won the 2015 UK general election - and - as we've now seen - he could not guarantee an EU referendum would see a victory for what would become known as Remain.
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The Scottish National Party had also foreseen this possibility and kept their options open on holding a second independence referendum by running for the Scottish parliament elections in May this year on a manifesto reserving the right to call a second referendum in event of a vote to leave the EU.
So when May met Sturgeon in Edinburgh she promised to listen and consult over Brexit, while Sturgeon largely kept her powder dry taking a wait and see approach to how the new UK leader would handle Brexit.
Two months and a Conservative Party conference later, it is clear Theresa May is veering towards a comprehensive break with the EU - hard Brexit - with pledges to restrict immigration and no guarantee of continued preferential access to the single market or possibly even the customs union.
There also seems to have been precious little listening and consultation with the Scottish Government either, despite strong legal arguments that Holyrood needs to consent to the repeal of the 1972 European Communities Act.
Offering the leaders of the devolved administrations a "hot line" to the Brexit Minister, David Davis, is likely to bring an answer along the lines of 'we'd prefer a line to the organ grinder and for her to take our countries' interests seriously'.
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In response to London's seeming intransigence, and probably reluctantly - despite what the London media and Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson might say - Nicola Sturgeon has started the process to legislate for another vote in Scotland on the whether to end the Union with England.
Number 10 sources have made clear May will block this.
The 2014 Scottish vote was legislated for by Westminster following an agreement between David Cameron and then First Minister, Alex Salmond, and clearly Cameron's successor thinks she can veto another vote by refusing to pass the necessary legislation.
Mrs May might think this would be legally sound, but unless she wants to boost support for independence in Scotland and provoke a constitutional crisis it wouldn't be a wise course of action.
And the spin ahead of this week's meeting in London, with May in danger of sounding patronising, is unlikely to help her convince Scots she really takes their concerns seriously.
The change from the cuddly rhetoric of listening and consulting to the 'we'll make the decisions on Brexit' and dismissal of the SNP's democratic mandate to consider calling a second referendum also indicate something else Scots are unlikely to miss.
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It seems Theresa May doesn't consider The Union a true union of equals - flying in the face of the rhetoric from London ahead of the Scottish referendum and the history of how the two countries came to form the UK in the eighteenth century.
But one thing is clear - the gloves are off and we seem set on course for a showdown over whether Scotland remains in the EU rather than the UK.
The unionist media in London and Scotland already seem to believe this is coming and have settled upon Ruth Davidson as the leader of the anti-independence campaign when the next indyref comes.
She is being given extensive coverage, much of it fawning, on the back of leading the Tories to second place in the Scottish election in May.
I'm not sure this is either justified or wise.
Yes, she led the Tories to their best ever result at a Scottish parliament election with 22% of the vote, but only seven of her MSPs were directly elected from constituencies rather than via the proportional vote for the regional lists.
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It's also worth noting she ran by downplaying her Tory credentials and the Conservatives only won one seat in Scotland at the 2015 UK election
Pro-independence supporters are also already exposing Ms Davidson's Achilles heel - she is the leader in Scotland of the party that called and lost the Brexit vote which, as things stand, will take Scots out of the EU against their will.
On her side, First Minister Sturgeon is also on less than ideal political ground.
She has made clear she would not want to have another independence vote until it was clear she would win it and, at the moment, the limited opinion polling that's been done since June 23rd doesn't suggest a big shift has yet occurred since 2014.
It is very possible that once Article 50 is invoked and talks between London and Brussels get under way - probably next spring - the long-term economic damage from leaving the EU will be clearer and it will focus Scottish voters' minds.
But Article 50 imposes a timetable on Sturgeon not of her choosing.
A second independence referendum would need to be held before the UK leaves the EU to improve the chances Scotland could remain with the minimum disruption.
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All of this means tension between London and Edinburgh will intensify and a second indyef becomes a good bet.
Given the demographics of the first vote and the continued vibrancy of the pro-independence movement, it was already likely there would be a second bite of the cherry for supporters of Scottish independence.
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Letting Heathrow expand is the climate's worst nightmare. But the government seems desperate to feed big, greedy, carbon-guzzling monster businesses instead of boosting simple things that would benefit lots of people's lives.
It will come as no surprise to anyone that Friends of the Earth not only opposes the expansion of Heathrow but also any airport expansion anywhere.
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This is not because we are tree-hugging hippies who don't believe in human progress. Far from it. In fact technology is going to play a massive part in tackling climate change and the other big environmental crises we face.
But there are three key factors which mean the government is wrong to give the go ahead to airports like Heathrow to expand.
The first of these is climate change. The pragmatic government Committee on Climate Change (CCC) suggests that by 2050, emissions from air traffic in the UK should have returned to the levels they were in 2005. But they allow for a huge 60 per cent growth in flights during this time.
We don't think these numbers stack up because they assume that the UK will successfully clean up every other part of its economy in order to create space for air travel to expand so much and that airplane technology will improve massively.
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Planes are quieter and more fuel efficient than they were, but the technological change required to allow a 60% increase in flights while reducing total emissions would probably need us to re-write the laws of physics, or rely on substitute fuels, which in fact lead to more emissions elsewhere in the world.
The second reason why it's daft to allow Heathrow or Gatwick to continue growing is that as well as harming the global environment, more flights mean more misery, noise and air pollution for people on the ground.
I live with my wife and seven-year-old son in a flat in Hammersmith, west London, directly under Heathrow's flight path. Compared to places like Richmond and Hounslow, the planes are relatively high when they pass directly over our roof. But even so, you can't open your windows on a summer's morning because the jumbos and the giant airbuses start arriving from 4.30am.
And our truck with Heathrow is as nothing compared to those who live closer or the residents of 800 or so houses that will have to be bulldozed to make way for a new runway.
The third reason airport expansion defies logic is because it belongs to the domain of national willy-waving rather than intelligent strategy. It will benefit the owners of the airports and the egos of the politicians who are seen to strike down the objections of local 'NIMBYs' in favour of a big solution to a problem that no-one except Heathrow and Gatwick can quite put their fingers on.
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The UK desperately needs investment in its infrastructure and with Brexit looming will no doubt need lots of economic boosters, but why not start small, at a level that will benefit lots of people and save families hundreds of pounds per year rather than with grand projects for the wealthy elite.
A really good example is home insulation. Lagging lofts and filling wall cavities does not of course conjure up images of our Victorian ancestors and their civil-engineering feats, but it would help millions of families cut fuel bills for good and improve their health and wellbeing. It would also create thousands of jobs all over the country.
The government should be applying its collective genius to the challenge of insulating the homes of four million low income families by 2020 rather than massaging the egos and bank balances of big businesses like Heathrow Airport.
Another is unleashing the potential of electric cars. The places in which we live will be cleaner and quieter if we can transform the traffic on our roads, but there needs to be at least one location to charge an EV on every street in every village, town and city in the country.
The government has no plans to do this.
I could add faster internet connections, more on-site renewable energy for homes and small businesses and investment in technology to store power so that our grid can better iron out the peaks and troughs of wind and solar. All of these things are in our grasp and would make our lives and environment better. Instead, May's mackled-together cabinet is foisting fracking companies such as Cuadrilla on people in Lancashire and filling the belly of already bloated beasts like Heathrow.
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Most of us fly sometimes and many of us fly once or twice a year. And few want to give up a holiday in the sun (though alternative and often more enjoyable ways of getting to warm locations are available).
Most of us don't, however, fly from Heathrow and 15% of people account for 70% of all air travel.
Rather than take monumental risks with climate change and visit further misery on millions of people living close to airports, the government should be shifting from air passenger duty, which hits everyone, to a levy on frequent flyers (see http://afreeride.org/), which increases with each journey.
BrianAJackson via Getty Images
Last week at PMQs, Jeremy Corbyn challenged Theresa May over the Conservative's record on mental health spending. He was referring to a report produced by The Kings Fund, who estimated that around 40% of mental health trusts have faced year-on-year budget cuts since 2011. Research conducted by the BBC confirmed that between 2011 and 2015, mental health trust budgets were cut by 8.25% across the country, while at the same time, demand for mental health services has increased by around 20%.
The figures are damning but even more so are the real stories of people affected by the cuts. Take, for example, the experience of Sascha, a 16-year-old girl kept in an adult psychiatric ward for three months recently due to a lack of beds in Cornwall, surrounded by terminally ill patients and people suffering from dementia. There has been a 10% increase in the past year of children like Sascha being forced to stay on adult mental health wards due to a lack of beds.
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The usage of section 136 powers - which allow the police to detain people under the Mental Health Act - has also increased by 50%in the past 10 years, as people who are mentally unwell are increasingly being kept in police cells at risk of further harm until a bed becomes available. In Exeter, a 26-year-old homeless woman who had been the victim of a sexual assault was held by police in Exeter over the weekend awaiting transfer. In another case in 2015, also in Exeter, a man was kept in prison for nine months due to a lack of beds available in the south-west of England. He had been diagnosed as needing immediate psychiatric care by the two doctors who examined him shortly after his arrest.
Hospitals, already overwhelmed with physical health demands, are dealing with an increase in mental health admissions due to a lack of other services available. People suffering from a mental health condition are three times more likely to present at A&E than the general population. But the Care Quality Commission found in 2015 that A&E departments are not fit to cope with people experiencing a mental health crisis and that current responses are 'unsafe' and 'unacceptable'.
At the same time, researchers at Oxford and Liverpool Universities have established clear links between the changes to out-of-work disability benefits under the Tories and an increase in the number of cases of mental illness. They estimate that the fit-to-work tests highlighted in the new Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake have resulted in 590 additional suicides and 279,000 cases of mental illness across the country.
These additional cases, while being completely avoidable, have received no extra funding from the Conservative government. In fact, the government has been doing the opposite - cutting community mental health by 4.9% under David Cameron's leadership and reducing local authority spending by 200m last year. Despite the government's pledge to place mental health on an equal footing as physical health, FOIs conducted by the charity Mind found that local authorities are allocating on average only 1% of their public health budgets going towards preventing mental illness. That is despite mental health problems accounting for 23% of all disease in the UK.
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The most worrying pressures are upon CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). The number of children and adolescents affected by mental health problems is a growing concern; with the NSPCC alone dealing with 92,981 cases last year, of which 5,644 also involved abuse or neglect. Children experiencing depression or who are self-harming are some of our most vulnerable members of society, but increasingly they are finding that the mental health services which should support them are oversubscribed. Research conducted by the NSPCC found that 1 in 6 children referred to CAHMS services were turned away last year. These children, whose care needs are being ignored by the government, are far more likely to turn to substance misuse, criminal or suicidal behaviour.
Much of the investment which could reduce the number of instances of mental illness in children is being reduced under the Conservatives. The Early Intervention Grant, for example, is set to be cut by 60% by 2020 under the government's existing plans - it has already been cut by over 50% since it was established in 2010. An independent report carried out in 2011 argued that Early Intervention was "low in cost, high in results ... [and] has significant implications for levels of physical, emotional and mental health, individual achievement and violent crime." Over 750 Sure Start centres which were also aimed at giving people the best start in life have also been closed since 2010.
These cuts are taking place against a backdrop of increased numbers of cases of child abuse and neglect. Self-harming figures have doubled in the past 10 years, which NHS England believes is linked to social pressures and body-image fears, as well as children being subjected to sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Tragically, many of these children won't survive their traumatic experiences. One in four young people experience suicidal thoughts, and suicide is the single largest killer of men under 45 in the UK. What is also clear is that it is society's most vulnerable people who are most affected, with young people from BAME and LGBT groups disproportionately at risk of self-harm or suicide.
Contrary to the government's claims of investing in mental health, austerity measures have contributed to the creation of a mental health crisis. Due to year-on-year budget cuts across impatient and community services, as well as a decrease in funding aimed at prevention such as the Early Intervention Grant and Sure Start, mental health services have become overwhelmed and are now failing to provide safe and adequate care across the country. The sufferers of mental illnesses are being increasingly left to deal with their conditions on their own instead of being offered the medical treatment which they desperately need.
In 2009 I broke my back and my pelvis in a serious car accident that left me wheelchair bound for 3 months. Less than four years later I was backpacking around South East Asia and three years on from then, I now have a life I could never have imagined 7 years ago.
When I started University I had my future pretty much planned out... I would get a job, save some money, go travelling, return home and embark on my busy corporate career. Of course I would also get a mortgage (because I'm British and we have this obsession with home ownership, even if it leaves us with crippling levels of debt).
Half way through my second year of university I had my car accident and although my body has never really been the same since, it didn't affect my mind-set in the way many people think something like that would. The only thing it really brought home is that you're only here once, so make the most of it; let's say it cemented my travel plans.
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As it turns out, it was travel that would have a profound impact on my life. It completely changed my outlook on just about everything and in a way that I could never have imagined before I went away. My friends in the UK will tell you how different I am - I don't know if they really get why, some do, but it's one of those that's hard to understand unless you've experienced it yourself. One of the many things I love about backpacking is that you can instantly connect with fellow travellers over shared experiences and changed perspectives, even if you've never met before.
Why Did Travel Change Me?
If I told you I knew when the exact 'Oh My God, what am I doing with my life?' moment happened, I would be lying. I can't pinpoint one thing that made me realise I wanted to live my life differently, it was more the whole experience. Lots of little things tugged at my conscience, forced me to ask 'why?' more often, made me realise just how lucky I am and taught me that experiences and the people you share them with, are far more valuable than any material possessions.
It's not that my personality is any different, although I've learnt to go with the flow a little more, I'm still as loud and opinionated as ever. But my values have certainly altered and so have my goals in life.
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On our first big travelling adventure my boyfriend and I started off camping in Europe before flying to New Delhi and spending a month in India. Well, what a month that was! India is one of the most amazing places I have ever been to but it also delivered a big fat slice of culture shock. Seeing children search through a rubbish dump as high as the brand new shopping mall right next to it, makes you reassess a lot of things. Extreme poverty was juxtaposed with bright and shiny consumer brands. My planned career was to be a top level marketer for these big brands and encourage even more people to buy things they likely don't need. Something that, if I'm honest, made me feel a bit vacuous. I realised I could be using my skills to do much better things than being part of those multi-billion dollar brands whose environmental and social responsibility clearly didn't stretch that far.
After India we spent a few weeks in Thailand before visiting Cambodia for a month. I've since been back to Cambodia four times and can safely say it holds a special place in my heart. Despite the scars left by the Khmer Rouge, and so many of the population living in poverty; the Cambodian people have an amazing attitude to life. Some of the people I met here really made me appreciate that it's not what you have, but who you're with and what you do, that makes you happy. I'm definitely less of a whiner now.
Not everything I learned was quite so deep and philosophical, I also came to realise that I can, in fact, live quite happily without 50 pairs of shoes. I actually found the lack of choice pretty refreshing and after a month or so was very content living out of a backpack. I've always had an obsession with fashion and although I still love it dearly, I've significantly curtailed my spending on clothing. I've even managed to have a few clear outs and my bank balance has certainly noticed a difference.
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Travel and Pain Relief
A combination of both travel and the after effects of my car accident have been a driving force behind the shift in my lifestyle. I suffer from a chronic pain disorder that affects my nerves and my muscles. It turns out that travel and my pain are strangely linked... The compensation I received from the car accident is what allowed me to travel in the first place and it also turns out that my condition is far better when I'm travelling. Nine to five at a desk is probably the worst thing for my pain - everything locks up and I just can't do excessive computer work, not ideal when you're a digital marketer!
The UK climate doesn't suit me either and I'm in far less pain when I'm exploring in warmer climes. Travelling provided the inspiration and motivation to set up Backpacker Bible; a purely digital, responsible travel guide, and also a small but fast growing marketing company. These allow me to work anywhere in the world and find a healthy balance between time on the computer and time to exercise, which keeps my pain at bay.
Wondering Whether You Should Travel?
My advice: stop wondering and do it. I can honestly say that first trip was the best thing I ever did. If I hadn't had that experience I would have continued to be confined to an office 5 days of the week, a rat, trapped in the race - a thought which now terrifies the life of out me! Instead, I'm just about to fly to Bangkok to embark on another four month adventure; researching for Backpacker Bible whilst continuing to build and grow my freelance marketing company.
Travelling provides new perspectives and broadens horizons. Mark Twain summed it up pretty well with these words; "Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
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The quote is taken from the novel 'The Innocents Abroad' and although it was first published in 1869 it seems to have particular relevance to our world today.
Pascal Rossignol / Reuters
This week the demolition of the camp in Calais has dominated the headlines. Along with Jeremy Corbyn, I visited the camp earlier this year. Anyone who saw the conditions that people were living in, children in tents, and at this time of year in sub-zero temperatures at night, the mud, the raw sewage, the fear of sexual and physical assault - anyone who saw these things would be ashamed.
They would be ashamed because this is not a refugee crisis, it is a crisis of Western governments failing to recognise their moral and legal responsibilities.
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These governments do this in our name.
This situation is a test of our humanity and our principles and we are failing. One example is the reaction around Lily Allen and Gary Lineker visiting Calais. It was extraordinary that the press turned against them just for showing common humanity in relation to refugees. But this is no surprise. This Tory government has overseen the longest fall in living standards ever recorded and right-wing governments throughout history have always stood by, or directed blame at 'the other' for their failing policies. This has been the reality of austerity in Britain.
Not only is this government responsible for these catastrophic economic outcomes and the plight of millions, but it also happens to be one of the most racist governments that I have experienced as a Member of Parliament in nearly 30 years. I sat in a chamber in the House of Common listening to a Home Office Minister justify the fact that the government was going to spend less money saving people from drowning in the Mediterranean. His justification was if you saved fewer people from drowning, fewer would attempt to cross the Mediterranean. Death as a disincentive to global migration. That was Tory thinking.
What commentators have to understand is that nobody would leave their home, cross the Sahara or the Mediterranean, risking their lives, if they were not desperate. And I have to say that I am ashamed of being a British person when you have British Members of Parliament suggesting you should treat refugees like cattle, and test their teeth. What has this country come to? Great Britain has a proud history of being a sanctuary for those who have fled persecution. These people have gone on to contribute immensely to British society.
Since the Brexit vote there are now over a thousand hate crimes recorded each week. Although I know some progressive people campaigned for Brexit, the reactionary element chose to run a crudely anti-immigrant campaign. Who can forget Nigel Farage standing in front of a poster of black and brown migrants implying that these people posed a threat to this country?
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But again this is no surprise as Britain is being led by those that brought you the "go home" van. Everything we are seeing and hearing reflects Theresa May's thinking and actions on immigration whilst Home Secretary. At the Tory party conference we had Jeremy Hunt saying we were going to train all these British doctors and essentially make the NHS a foreigner free zone. Then Amber Rudd briefing that British companies would be made to produce a list of foreign workers. Even Tories were horrified. It suggests a government that is so wedded to its anti-immigrant rhetoric that it does not care how much damage it does to British society, British public services and British business. And that is a frightening thought.
aelitta via Getty Images
A recent study by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has suggested that nurses lack the necessary skills to treat transgender patients. In fact, this usually forward thinking and politically correct organisation is surprisingly critical of the nursing care afforded to transgender patients in the UK.
The survey was carried out among more than 1200 nurses and it was found that 87% of those who had directly cared for trans patients, felt untrained and unprepared to meet the patients' needs. This is despite the fact that 76% of nurses had encountered trans patients during their nursing roles and 56% had cared directly for trans patients.
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But the lack of care experienced by members of the trans community is not exclusive to nurses and the points raised in the research shine a spotlight on the way in which the wider medical profession treats non gender conforming patients.
Gender Identity Clinics are mostly run by psychiatrists and endocrinologists, but the word 'transgender' doesn't appear in the training curricula for these specialties. It is however briefly touched upon in the GP curriculum.
At least the RCN has tried to resolve the situation by producing its own educational document, published in June 2016 and entitled: Fair care for trans patients - an RCN guide for nursing and health care professionals.
This guidance, however, has not been replicated in other areas of the medical profession. Trans patients are still being laughed at in GP surgeries, told that 'it is just a phase' or that 'they will grow out of it'.
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Kirsty Cass a trans woman who works as a nurse, has further fuelled the debate by openly talking about her own experiences as a patient, where she was consistently misgendered, frequently referred to as a him/he and even taken on to a male ward by the theatre porter, following surgery for possible cancer.
The RCN document is a breath of fresh air and provides the following advice:
Be positive and proactive in your approach to welcoming trans patients to your care
Always treat trans patients in a respectful way, as you would any other patient or client
If you are unsure about a person's gender identity or need more clarity about how they would like to be addressed, then ask politely and discreetly
Avoid disclosing a patient's trans status to anyone who does not explicitly need to know
Discuss issues related to a patient's gender identity in private and with care and sensitivity
King Felipe VI (l) met with IU leader Alberto Garzon on Monday. Chema Moya (EFE)
Spain will experience a cycle of protests due to the social discontent that will result from the next Popular Party (PP) administration, a leftist leader warned King Felipe VI on Monday.
Alberto Garzon, head of the United Left (IU) a coalition that includes the Spanish Communist Party and green groups also informed the monarch that IU will actively participate in these protests.
If the political will is there, Spain could have a great future ahead of it
Acting PM Mariano Rajoy
Leftist forces have called for a march against the illegitimate government and the coup detat allegedly about to be perpetrated in Spain.
They are referring to the fact that the second most-voted force at the last general election, the Socialist Party (PSOE), has decided to allow acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to form a government after a stalemate that has lasted nearly a year.
By deciding to abstain at an upcoming vote to choose the nations new prime minister, the PSOE will let Rajoys PP govern from a minority position.
The PP won the most votes at the original election of December 20, then again at the repeat election of June 26. But the conservatives fell short of a congressional majority both times, and failed to secure enough support from other parties to form a government.
The interim chief of the PSOE, Javier Fernandez, supports abstention to let Rajoy take office. EL PAIS
For nearly a year the PSOE refused to support Rajoy despite mounting pressure to do so for the sake of the country. Attempts at building an alternative leftist governing coalition failed, due mostly to insurmountable differences between the PSOE and the anti-austerity Podemos.
The agonizing decision has split the Socialists, whose leader Pedro Sanchez resigned in early October over the issue. The new interim leadership wants all 85 Socialist deputies to abstain at the upcoming investiture vote, while some high-ranking officials are suggesting that only 11 should do so those arithmetically necessary to let Rajoy win the investiture vote.
If the PSOE does not abstain which is now looking like a very remote possibility indeed Spain will be pushed into a record third election sometime in December, with polls forecasting low turnout and a new PP victory.
A betrayal
But leftist groups are blaming the Socialist Party for betraying its own voters. IU leader Garzon said on Monday that the PP will introduce new social cuts to meet Brussels demands, and warned that as a result there will be a radicalization within Spanish society.
In a press conference following his meeting with the king part of a round of talks that Felipe VI is holding with all political leaders ahead of the investiture vote the 31-year-old sought to blame the PSOE for these future events, and said that the citizen Felipe VI was calm in the knowledge that there is going to be an investiture.
Garzon says the PP will introduce new social cuts to meet Brussels demands
Garzon also reiterated that IU will join a protest march against the illegitimate government by an illegitimate regime, as the hypothetical PP administration is being described by the march organizer, a group called Coordinadora 25-S.
But other political leaders who met with the king expressed a desire to get a new government up and running after nearly a year of deadlock.
This will not be a difficult term, but rather one of opportunity, said Ana Maria Oramas, the deputy for the Canaries Coalition, alluding to the fact that the minority government will have to seek bill-by-bill support to get legislation passed.
Meanwhile, Rajoy made a statement of his own on Monday to praise the PSOEs decision to support him, taken on Sunday at a special meeting of the Socialist Federal Committee.
I have read the [PSOEs] resolution and there are good things in there that we can discuss in future, he said. If the political will is there, Spain could have a great future ahead of it.
English version by Susana Urra.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Have you heard about the Yazidi people? This is a question I've been asking a lot over the last couple of months - to family, friends, work colleagues, waiters asking me what I'm working on as I sit huddled in cafes, stealing every spare moment I have in order to email MPs, campaigners, anyone to help in my quest to raise awareness and come up with a plan. So far the answer, pretty unanimously, has been "no". At first, I would relish this opportunity to educate and inform people on who the Yazidis are and what they are currently facing but recently I have been getting more and more frustrated by vacant looks and confused head shakes - how do you not know? Why have you not heard?
Yazidism is one of the world's oldest religions combining elements of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. It's a peaceful faith which rejects the idea of sin and the devil yet Yazidis are repeatedly targeted by extremists for the seemingly complex nature of their faith and are considered infidels and 'people without book'.
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I came across a petition of British-Yazidi campaigner, Rozin Khalil after I attended Women of the World festival in March this year. Having heard harrowing stories of what Yazidi women and girIs are going through at the hands of so-called 'ISIS' - mothers and children being separated as ritual, girls as young as 7 being raped 10 times a day as part of ISIS 'law', women and girls being blind-folded, chained and sold at market like cattle, burning alive those who refuse or resist rape - I was determined to do something to help, so I contacted her in the hope that she could speak at a parliamentary meeting I've organised with my local MP. Rozin's petition calls on the UK government to provide support to the women and girls kidnapped by ISIS. So far the petition has gained over 270,000 signatures but our government is still yet to act.
Everyone has heard of ISIS by now, so why then has one of their most brutal atrocities gained such little public attention? As stated by Nadia Murad, Yazidi survivor and recently appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking - "the world remained silent".
In the summer of 2014, ISIS entered one of the largest communities of Yazidis - the peaceful, holy town of Sinjar, Northern Iraq. What followed was a chilling ultimatum: convert or die. Families were separated. Men and boys over 12 who refused to convert were killed. Women deemed too old or not attractive enough to be sold into sexual slavery were also killed. Young boys were kidnapped to be forcibly trained as jihadi fighters. And the women and girls, considered 'spoils of war', were enslaved, systematically raped, beaten, and sold at slave markets (virgins fetch the highest price).
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What ISIS has done and is still doing to these women and girls is unimaginable. I sometimes wonder whether one of the reasons people turn away from this issue is because the horror is just too much. It's certainly too much for the many who have committed suicide to escape the humiliation, pain and daily torture. Many have managed to escape with the help of smuggling networks. 6000 Yazidis were kidnapped by ISIS in 2014 and a UN report has confirmed that over half are still being held captive. Most are believed to be held in Mosul and now with coalition forces closing in on the city there are worries that the women and girls are being taken further underground and being used as human shields.
Nearly two years after the Sinjar massacre the UN finally confirmed, in June 2016, that genocide had been committed against the Yazidi people and called for international support for survivors and the mass displacement of the community. Currently only Germany has provided substantial, specialist support in the form of a Special Quota Project in which it rescued and provided safe housing and medical care to over 1000 of the most vulnerable Yazidi women and girl survivors of sexual slavery. According to the International Office of Migration there are more than 1.3 million internally displaced people (IDP) from locations in Northern Iraq targeted by ISIS. Many of the most vulnerable are now living in unsafe camps, unable or too scared to return to their homes and in desperate need of medical attention. This is a group that should be, without question, prioritised for resettlement in our country.
Campaigners have so far hit a brick wall with the government due to the fact that Yazidis living in camps in Northern Iraq are considered IDP and not refugees (despite being homeless with the threat of attack still a constant source of stress and unable to return without a promise of guaranteed protection). They cannot, as policy currently stands, register with UNHCR and be considered for refugee status within the UK. There are however 30,000 Yazidis in camps across Turkey, Greece and Syria who are eligible to register with the UNHCR but are being told they have to wait for as long as seven years before their application will be considered. This is simply not good enough.
On Tuesday 25th October my local MP, Stella Creasy, will be hosting a meeting to discuss what the UK government can and must do in order to support women and girls who have escaped and are in ill physical and mental health. Speaking at this meeting will be British-Yazidi campaigner, Rozin Khalil; prominent campaigner and founder of British charity Road to Peace, Sally Becker; journalist, Vanessa Altin; and director producer of Channel 4's Escape From ISIS, Edward Watts.
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We are hoping that as many MPs as possible will attend and help us plan substantial support for this desperate situation. The UK has a legal and moral obligation to help victims of genocide and femicide. We must keep to our promise of providing greater support and protection to survivors of sexual violence and offer asylum to the most vulnerable refugees who need our help. We know that the UK is already playing a lead role in coalition to defeat ISIS. We also know that there are apparently two trauma centres being funded by the UK in Iraq but no further detail has been provided and there seems to be no evidence that UK aid is reaching those who need it most.
As a rule, I tend to the nitty-gritty of my daily life separate from my writing. But, a recent experience reminded me of an issue that doesn't really make it into the mainstream media nowadays - Brexit, Trump and Putin in Syria leave very little space for anything else. The issue is LGBT rights in immigrant and ethnic minority communities.
You could say that there isn't much to talk about, since it's no longer an issue. David Cameron settled it once and for all with his marriage equality bill. Sure if you were born to white university-educated parents, this is probably the case. But for some people homophobia is a daily experience. Especially, if you were born into an ethnic minority family, who happen to hold dear their conservative social values.
What makes it worse is the blindness - or indifference - of the white British institutions and media. It is one thing to pass laws and make statements affirming equality for all. Enforcing it is something entirely different. As I found out, even at university - an open and safe environment in principle - we are bound to be confronted by homophobia. That is, unless we want to sever the ties with our cultural roots completely.
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I accept that it might be a little far-fetched to expect a positive response to your coming out from every single student - not that this should stop you. What I do not accept is being singled out by someone in a position of power at a union society.
This is exactly what happened to me as I stood waiting for someone outside a language class of the society in question. One of the student-teachers walked out with a group of students and, standing not too far from me, remarked: "Yes, that is the gay guy". Had I seriously thought that homophobia in that country would translate to homophobia in the language classroom, I would have stuck to French.
Now, I don't make a secret out my orientation, but my relationship with him was professional to the point of non-existence. He only knew because he once saw me talk with his gay course mate - apparently talking to a gay person means you are one too.
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If this happened to somebody else of an ethnic minority background - as it often does - the abuse would have been lost in the vicious circle of silence. The fear of being outed prevents most ethnic minority LGBT+ from seeking help through official channels.
Most silently hope that these attitudes will change with time. Not that it seems likely, given that more than 50% of British Muslims currently support criminalising homosexuality. Greater media coverage would be a step in the right direction. All the projects that engage with homophobia in ethnic-minority and migrant communities now suffer from a lack of funding. They also receive little coverage in the mainstream press, as was the case with My Brother the Devil - a brilliant film by the British-Arab director Sally El-Hosaini.
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A raging debate over whether refugees have been lying about their age in order to enter the UK has prompted right wing parties and the media to speculate about refugees' intentions when they land on our shores. As our government is taking children in first, age has become an awkward symbol of a measured immigration policy, polarising politicians and the public.
One particular statistic is causing a lot of trouble. It suggests 65% of refugees who had their age checked were found to be over 18. But the figure doesn't relate to the entire refugee population, just a selection of individuals pulled aside who may have looked like adults. We also don't know how old those verified to be adults actually were, but we do know that some were only a few months over the age of eighteen. Turn the statistic on its head, and you get a much more interesting picture. It tells us that authorities carrying out age checks are wrong 35% of the time - a huge margin of error, which could be symptomatic of a subconscious bias in those monitoring our borders. It's a bias we can't seem to shake.
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Conservative politicians recently voiced concerns about age checks for refugees applying for asylum in the UK. The call for dental checks of refugees claiming to be children was set aside by Immigration Minister, Robert Goodwill. Dental checks are known to be unreliable, often inaccurate by up to five years. It is also illegal to force people to have a dental check to verify their age. It wasn't just the Immigration Minister who was less than impressed with the proposal - howls of disagreement could be heard in the House of Commons Chamber as the request was made.
Whilst the UK gets ready to take in 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next five years, the dismantling of the refugee camp in Calais has prompted the UK to start processing children's applications for asylum. Over 80% of children in the camp are not accompanied by an adult. The youngest of these is just eight years old. It's also estimated that around 90% of the children in the camp are young men, a figure which has caused alarm and one which politicians have latched on to in order to spread more fear and prejudice amongst the British public. It's only logical that a significant proportion of children escaping from war and travelling thousands of miles would be teenage men - the sheer distance, and journey conditions alone would make the route impossible for younger children without families willing or able to take them.
The government has confirmed that it will be looking to offer refuge to the most vulnerable children in the first phase of asylum applications. According to Citizens UK, there are just under 1,300 unaccompanied children in Calais. Of those, only around 387 child refugees may have a legal right to come to the UK.
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Initially, the government will prioritise asylum for children with existing family connections in the UK. Under the Dublin Regulation a child is considered to be someone under the age of 18. EU Member States also have a responsibility to process applications through the Regulation's hierarchy which places family considerations at the top of the list. Section 67 of the Immigration Act, often referred to as The Dubs Amendment, will allow children without family connections to enter the UK.
Once here, these children will either be placed in the care of their families or the Local Authority, who will then be responsible for their welfare. Many of these children will be suffering with war-related mental health difficulties, like PTSD and may be unable to form relationships easily. Some may seek comfort in drugs or alcohol. Whilst social services have been tasked with assessing things like age and wellbeing, it's not clear just how informed social work teams are about war related trauma, or how to spot it. This knowledge is vital to ensure that these children are given the support they need.
A record number of refugees applied for asylum in 2015 - 1.3 million people, all displaced, many of them children, have had to leave their countries in order to escape some of the most terrible conflicts imaginable. Conflicts which have exposed children to the horror of watching their parents die, and seeing their homes destroyed. Conflicts which our government has created through failed foreign policy, greed and an insatiable desire for power.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
They say you can get used to anything if you have to, and maybe that's true. But should you have to? With something like the calamitous situation in Syria, people have had to get used to far too much, far too young.
Farida, an obstetrician from Aleppo demonstrates the point. The last woman doing her job in the whole of the besieged eastern half of the city, she's trying to do what she can for 275,000 people trapped by Syrian government forces while she and her husband also look after their eight-year-old daughter. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph recently, Farida talks about how she wants her daughter "to live like other children":
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"Sometimes she tells me, I want to eat a potato. And there is no potato. Sometimes she wants an ice-cream and there is no ice cream. She wants to go to school and most of the days the schools are closed because the warplanes are bombing. I just want her live like other children in the world."
Instead she's living like other children in east Aleppo. There are something like 100,000 children in her situation. So, apart from the comparatively well-known children - like Omran Daqneesh, "the boy in the ambulance", or Bana Alabed, the girl live-tweeting from Aleppo - that's a huge number of incredibly vulnerable young people whose stories very few people know.
In just one recent four-week period (mid-September to mid-October) something like 120 children were killed by the barrel bombing and air strikes in east Aleppo. That's an average of four or five children killed every day. In just east Aleppo. It's an absolute tragedy and nothing can justify it. The wider situation for children in Syria is beyond bleak. Thousands have already been killed (there don't even seem to be accurate figures), around 2.7m are not going to school (there have been thousands of attacks on school buildings), and something like eight million children have been growing up knowing nothing but conflict. What a generational disaster.
It's this sheer, unforgivable horror that has prompted the latest round of desperate rallies and demos like last Saturday's Rally for Aleppo in London, with teddy bears piled up outside Downing Street calling for greater governmental action to stop the slaughter. Similarly, there were blood-stained teddy bears in Berlin a couple of days before. People just want this to stop.
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With those 120 east Aleppo children killed in four weeks (not to mention some 280 or so adults also killed), the overwhelming majority (about four-fifths) of the attacks that killed them were carried out by Russian war planes. It's Russia not the Syrian government that has recently been pulverising east Aleppo. Russia's record of indiscriminate bombing in Syria, including of hospitals and other medical facilities, is now widely documented. So quite what the bombed and desperate people of east Aleppo make of Sergei Lavrov's talk of Russia's "goodwill gestures" concerning so-called humanitarian corridors is ... anyone's guess.
Meanwhile, what is the average resident of east Aleppo likely to think of the Syrian army using loudspeakers to broadcast this message?:
"We guarantee a safe exit. Seize the opportunity and save yourself. An appeal to our people ... we will extend every help from shelters to hot dishes and facilities that offer you medical treatment."
Save yourself. All the more threatening because it comes in the guise of a goodwill message, this chilling warning seems to presage a further onslaught of even greater proportions.
And this may indeed be coming. As the analyst Shiraz Maher points out, Russia's strategic commitment to Syria suggests it will stop at nothing to get what it wants in this conflict. Its endgame is likely to be some kind of "total victory" where Bashar al-Assad retains power and each village, town and city is gradually - month by grinding month - brought under the control of the Syrian army or its proxies. Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has been talking about "just two options: Assad sitting in Damascus or the Nusra [Jabhat al-Nusra/Jabhat Fateh al-Sham] sitting in Damascus".
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What this all means for Syria's civilian population, including its children, is frightening. Depressingly enough, it feels as if there could be a lot more suffering to come.
When I first saw this video I cried.
Our perception of beauty and desire to be 'seen' starts when we are little.
It is a learned behaviour, moulded by what society and our mainstream media portrays as beautiful or desirable.
I see it in children, I see it in my three year old god-daughter. Disney is a powerful influencer from such a young age.
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After my own engagement, I quickly noticed that any depiction of bridal beauty was almost always aligned with your classic Cinderella. Gorgeous but limited. It was one of the reasons I started writing Nu Bride and it was this "love letter to the wedding industry" I wrote that inspired the talented team Viva La Wedding to produce this incredible shoot with a fresh spin on Disney Princesses using real women, from various ethnic backgrounds, to tell a modern day fairytale.
RAPUNZEL
I interviewed Manchester based, Jo from Viva La Wedding to find out more about the inspiration behind the shoot:
"Nova's work has inspired me many times, but when she wrote about feeling excluded when planning her own wedding, because she couldn't find any representation of women like her in the magazines and blogs, that gave me an idea. What if we created a series of styled bridal shoots that would depict women of various ethnicities as fairytale princesses, photographing them on location in stunning wedding venues and capturing iconic moments from each fairytale?
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Princesses are the ultimate beauty icon and as they are so often depicted as being white, I thought it would be empowering to subvert that and show beautiful princesses of different ethnicities."
SLEEPING BEAUTY
"Nova mentored me throughout. Finding models was actually the easiest part of the process. Tammy (Sleeping Beauty at Ordsall Hall) and Sabbi (Rapunzel at Whalley Abbey ) were good friends of mine. Gifty (Snow White at Towneley Hall) worked in my local supermarket and Wendy (Cinderella at Carlton Towers) was a former customer. I was pretty nervous about approaching them. It was almost like asking them on a date, but fortunately they were all keen to take part!
Finding venues was more tricky, but after a lot of trawling though Google images we found the perfect locations"
SNOW WHITE
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"The shoot was a labour of love and took over a year to intricately and sensitively facilitate. Working alongside Viva La Wedding was a team of exceptional vendors; including Pamella Dunn and who transformed the spaces into these iconic fairytale scenes and Aimee Akbar whose fabulous hair and makeup made our princesses truly shine.
Four UK venues and designers also dedicated an immense amount of their time and talent for no motivation other than to make a change, to contribute to making the wedding industry more visually inclusive and to shift the standard of bridal beauty by simply representing more women.
CINDERELLA
Jo of Viva la wedding says using non-models for the shoot was deliberate:
"If I could call upon four friends and acquaintances of different looks and ethnicities and ask them to participate in a shoot, then the bridal industry could try a bit harder to include women of colour, because we all deserve to be princesses, especially on our wedding day!"
When your message starts to resonate with people outside of your sphere, there is great potential to contribute to change. That's the thing about striving for equality, for us to be able to make positive change, instead of disassociating, we have to embody the issues as our problem too, and not just "theirs".
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I'd buy a magazine with any of these beauties from our real princesses shoot on the front cover.
Ultimately their race should be irrelevant and I look forward to the day when it truly is and you can see a gorgeously eclectic range of beauty on the front of any bridal publication!
In August a committee of MPs reported that universities and small businesses stood to gain from improved, more effective working relationships. To many working in this sector, this was not news. However the report was received as a welcome confirmation of the importance of universities adapting their services to the needs, priorities and culture of independent small to medium enterprises.
In particular, universities are well positioned to support the productivity enhancement and leadership development of SMEs and this takes place in a number of forms: tackling local skills issues through partnerships tailored to needs of the local economy; providing a new market for trading among small and medium-sized businesses; and providing access to key assets such as space for premises, knowledge for research and development, and marketing support.
However, on the face of it, a partnership between a university and a small business may not be the most obvious of pairings. For anyone who has worked in both environments, the contrasts can be quite stark. On the one hand, small businesses are extremely varied and need different things; they are often dependent on the personality of the owner-manager and characteristics of the market in which the business operates. On the other hand, universities are fairly homogeneous and tend to follow a particular, now well-established, organisational model. The workforce is fairly interchangeable, and individuals have less of a bearing on organisational personality or culture.
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Another difference is the perception that universities are not particularly flexible or responsive to the changing customer needs that nimble and agile SMEs experience. This perception can be reinforced by a number of factors, whether that is a predominance of heavily academic language or an excessive focus on expert, book-based knowledge rather than the sort of learning-by-doing that is essential to entrepreneurship. Small businesses need to be innovative to survive, universities less so.
However, existing partnerships between universities and SMEs show that the benefits greatly outweigh the risks. It is therefore vitally important for universities to continue to find ways to engage with the small business community.
A good example of this in practice is SEC2U (Startup Europe comes to the Universities), an initiative of the European Commission that operates through the Startup Europe University Network (SEUN). This week over 30 universities across Europe are holding events to present and promote the good work being done between universities and small business. This demonstrates the commitment of universities to create a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation not just in the UK but across the continent.
Markedly the partners in this initiative are not just universities and small businesses - Europe as a whole stands to gain. For example a SEC2U event at GSM London brought together business start-ups, entrepreneurs, business associations and chambers, university staff and students, incubators, accelerators, innovation hubs, government representatives, and local development corporations.
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By bringing this community together it was possible to integrate multiple perspectives on the start-up, rethinking what this might mean from the ground up. Listening to the views and experiences of local start-ups enables the effective re-thinking and re-formulation of policies, services, and environment for small businesses within the local area.
And when the exchange of lessons and findings from all the participating institutions are combined during the SEC2U week, support networks can be strengthened across Europe, enhancing the recognition of how universities, startups and local communities can work more closely together for the benefit of all.
The UK is currently navigating the post-referendum business landscape but I see no reason why this movement towards closer collaboration should not continue. The UK's proposed withdrawal from the European Union will undoubtedly create challenges to facilitating this collaboration over time but, as SEC2U demonstrates, goodwill combined with proactive approaches can bring far-reaching benefits.
2016 is turning into one of the most politically explosive years in living memory. It is also the year that, if some pundits are to be believed, we lost our ability to even briefly consider an opinion that clashes with our own. In the wake of Brexit and amid the ruckus of the presidential election, it seems we are cutting ourselves off from dissenting voices online, preferring the company of likeminded people and consuming news from outlets whose sensibilities mirror ours.
It might not be an entirely conscious decision; as in all aspects of modern life, algorithms play a role here. Eli Pariser is CEO of Upworthy, aka the ground zero of cliched clickbait. He knows a thing or two about the kind of content that does well on social media, and has coined the term "filter bubble" to describe the phenomenon of a news feed offering up more and more of the stuff you like.
"What most algorithms are trying to do is increase engagement, to increase the amount of attention you're spending on that platform. So it makes sense that they're sharing articles you think you're going to like, read, and share," he told NPR in a recent interview. "It's helpful, but the danger is that increasingly, you end up not seeing what people who think differently see, and in fact not even knowing that it exists."
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Which might go some way towards explaining why so many Remain supporters were blindsided by the result of the EU Referendum in June. If we're surrounded by people who think the same way as us, it's easy to forget that the rest of the world doesn't follow the same pattern. "I don't know a single Trump supporter," says Pariser, "and that's a problem, because even if the current polls are correct, 4 out of 10 people are voting for Trump. So it illustrates to me the importance of finding a way to build media that does bridge some of those divides."
So how can users break out of this bubble? "There's the algorithmic side of this, and then there's the behavioural side," says Pariser. In other words, while a left-leaning Twitter user can choose to follow a conservative blog like Breitbart, that doesn't necessarily mean they are going to read the articles, because it's still not the kind of content they want to engage with.
Rob Owers, Head of News and Government Partnerships at Twitter, believes it is "unhealthy" to limit your online exposure to one narrative. By that token, users should be encouraged to be promiscuous in their interactions, and to broaden their worldview by engaging with different people on different platforms.
But is this phenomenon even real? "I think our real lives are echo chambers," says Nic Newman, lead author of the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2016. "Social media might, in fact, be less of a reinforcing mechanism."
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And he's not alone; Professor Jeff Jarvis at the City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism doesn't buy the argument that we're all falling into silos which entrench our views. "That is a presumption about the platforms -- because we in media think we do this better," he says. "Newspapers, remember, came from the perspective of very few people: one editor, really. Facebook comes with many perspectives and gives many; as Zuckerberg points out, no two people on Earth see the same Facebook."
And as the current fragmented political landscape indicates, no two people hold identical views, either. Far from thinking along traditional "left vs. right" lines, the 'Dead Centre' report from research firm Opinium has actually identified eight distinct "tribes" in the UK. These groups span the entire political spectrum, varying and overlapping on myriad issues; ripe ingredients for debate, surely, not consensus.
If these bubbles of agreement do exist, are they the indirect result of a design flaw in the platforms themselves? Facebook had to hand control of its Trending Topics feature back to algorithms after it was revealed that the human editors' own political leanings were influencing what users saw -- pretty damning, considering Facebook is a primary news source for 6 out of 10 millennials, according to Pew Research. But even algorithms aren't immune to prejudice; they soak up the unconscious biases of everybody involved in the development process.
This has some rather grim implications when you consider the homogeneity of your average team of software engineers -- and the tech world at large. Until recently, Elon Musk followed zero women on Twitter, and that industry leaders Tim Cook and Bill Gates weren't doing much better. "These men are shaping the products and services that influence our lives, and they're choosing to build an echo chamber of other men," writes Caroline O'Donoghue at The Pool. Such a lack of diversity means conversations can very quickly become circular, and without fresh new voices breaking in with solutions, the same old problems can be bandied about for years. When you exist in a self-perpetuating space, adds O'Donoghue, "you miss opportunities to create things for an audience that isn't you."
So how do we design a more inclusive social media experience? Are more holistically conceived algorithms needed, to challenge cloistered thinking and confirmation bias? Does the answer lie in crowdsourced human curation? Perhaps some combination of the two can be implemented to create a tool akin to Twitter's Moments, pulling together a plurality of voices on news stories and encouraging users to think about issues in a different way. Instead of simply dismissing an all-informed tweet, wouldn't it be nice if instead there was a way to direct people to the right resource with a single click? Of course, not everybody would take kindly to such a feature.
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There have been some very thoughtful examinations of how our online interactions can serve to further entrench our existing views. There have been less nuanced pieces claiming that younger generations are incapable of critical thinking. But what these commentators often fail to acknowledge is that, in many cases, blocking, muting and un-friending is a necessary act of self-care. Not because the people having these conversation are delicate cry-babies, but because all too often, they are interacting with trolls whose anonymity allows them to harass and threaten, and because lax conduct policies allow even the most civil of conversations to devolve into abuse.
Obviously, however networks choose to approach the echo chamber, be it through creating neutral spaces for debate or using AI to play matchmaker with political opposites, it would have to be done in such a way that filters out abusive language and provides a considerate environment for users to explore all of the different perspectives; weeding out the trolls will be outcome-critical. Twitter and Facebook are commercial companies, after all, and it's in their interests to make the user experience safe.
So once the personal insights and experiences going into making these new algorithms are truly diverse, and Twitter and Facebook have become more democratic in the content served up to users, what sort of positive effect might we see in users' lives? It is entirely possible that such a tool would build empathy and understanding, make people less quick to pass judgment, and foster a more respectful approach to discourse.
Or at the very least, people will be less bloody shocked when the election doesn't go their way.
Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
It's less than four days since the Liberal Democrats came a stunning second in the Witney by-election, slashing the Tory majority in one of the Government's safest seats. Yet pundits and commentators have been all too willing to pour cold water on any rumblings of a Lib Dem revival.
To claim that the hard times are over and we are out of the electoral doghouse for good would be to overstate our achievements, but whichever way you slice it, the Lib Dems really are back.
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Doubtful? Who could blame you. With a dearth of national coverage and the needle refusing to move from 7/8% in national polls, it's easy to believe reports of the death of the Lib Dems. Yet dig a little deeper and there is strong evidence to suggest our revival is indeed underway. Take, for instance, recent Council by-elections. From places as far apart as Cornwall and Redcar the Liberal Democrats have increased their vote share and won seats. All other parties have had net decreases. In fact, in 2016 so far we have gained 21 seats, whilst the Tories have lost 13, Labour 7 and UKIP 2. We are winning again in places we have traditionally done well and we are building in places we have rarely targeted before. Across the country, Lib Dem membership is soaring. We are now at our highest membership in over a decade. That's more members than joined during our protest of the Iraq War and more than during the heights of Cleggmania.
Some of this support can be attributed to general protest vote, especially in the face of a UKIP decline. Many choose to support a 'third' party to register a form of protest with what the government and main opposition are doing. And in this political climate, who could blame them? A Labour party veering rapidly to the left and more interested with fighting themselves than the government, and a Tory party helmed by an unmandated leader happy to swallow up the UKIP playbook to appease internal nationalist extremists? Hardly an inspiring dichotomy to the average, centrist, reasonably-minded British voter. It is little wonder that people are increasingly turning to the Liberal Democrats.
However there is also evidence to suggest that it is our stance against an aggressive withdrawal from the EU which is proving attractive. In the Witney by-election, many voters stopped our activists to congratulate our great candidate Liz on standing up against a hard Brexit that nobody, certainly not the liberal-minded, remain-voting Oxfordshire constituency, asked for.
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That anecdote seems to have proved anything but an isolated incident as the Witney results saw our vote share soar from around 7% to over 30% whilst the Government's majority crumbled to a mere fifth of what Mr Cameron had previously garnered. Our campaign was even praised as 'incredibly impressive' by Daily Mail journalist Isabel Oakeshott.
Some have called our position undemocratic. But what could be more democratic than standing in a fair election with a clear policy and a clear choice for voters? The British public may have indicated a preference to move in the direction of Brexit, but few could argue there is full mandate for the deconstruction of our financial sector, derailment of our economic recovery and hyper-nationalist policies such as keeping tabs on foreign workers. There was no vote on whether or not to leave the single market. We must make the case for the best deal possible and the least possible damage from Brexit.
The British electorate are not Trump fanatics. There is no desire among the majority in this country to throw up a wall. And whilst Brexiteers may have spouted nonsense about 'taking back control', it is high time a political party stood up with a clear vision of how to get us out of the tailspin we seem to be trapped in.
Lib Dems have continued to lead in Parliament as well, refusing to allow the government to rest on their laurels just because the Labour party aren't up to the task of opposition. Whether it is my EU Citizens (Right to Stay) Bill, Nick Clegg's invaluable expertise in scrutinising David Davis' Brexit Department, Tim Farron's fight on child refugees, the efforts of peer John Sharkey in fighting for the pardon for gay and bisexual men convicted under long-abolished sexual offence laws or the work of Norman Lamb in fighting for a new deal for our NHS. Liberal Democrats are standing up for the important issues and leading from the front in making the case for positive change.
If the Witney swing from Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats was repeated across the country in a general election, our party would win by some calculations as many as 70 seats, more than wiping out the current Conservative majority. And whilst that is a tall order to say the least, there is little doubt our activists are ready for the challenge.
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So to those who were quick to announce the strange death of Liberal Britain it is time perhaps for a reassessment. By any metric, the Liberal Democrats are still breathing, still fighting and winning again. As our Leader Tim Farron put it we are back in the "political big time".
Ukip is embroiled in its second leadership election since last month and things have already become extremely ugly. With the amount of venom the party produces, it seems more like a snake pit than a credible political movement.
This current battle is the result of Diane James, who won a leadership election in September, deciding 18 days into the job that it would not be possible to make changes within the party she felt were necessary.
Disturbingly reminiscent of an abduction victim scrawling HELP on a window, James wrote the Latin for "under duress" on an Electoral Commission document that was meant to formalise her position of leader.
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As a result of James escaping the role, Nigel Farage, who has quit as leader more times than the party has elected an MP, had to return as interim leader.
When asked about James' resignation, Farage told Huff Post: "We're all a bit surprised, but look, it's a rotten job. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy." This statement makes the viciousness of the current leadership battle seem even more peculiar.
The current favourites for the leadership are Paul Nuttall, Suzanne Evans and Raheem Kassam. Another favourite, Steven Woolfe, has withdrawn after allegedly being "tussled" unconscious as a result of an altercation with Ukip colleague Mike Hookem. Some regard Raheem Kassam as the frontrunner. He is editor of the UK branch of Breitbart News, a right-wing website known mainly for stirring up controversy and supporting Trump.
Farage leapt to Kassam's defence on Sunday morning after Suzanne Evans suggested he is attempting to shift Ukip to the far-right. She had said on The Andrew Marr Show: "I don't see a groundswell of opinion in this country for more far-right wing policies." Marr then asked if she thought Kassam is taking the party in a "far-right direction", to which Evans replied: "Yes, absolutely, I don't think there's any doubt about that". She also described Ukip as "toxic".
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An angry looking Farage rebuked Evans shortly afterwards on Peston on Sunday, stating: "For her to talk about the party being toxic, for her to already declare one of the candidates who is running, Raheem Kassam, as far-right, I don't view this as being a very good start."
Kassam himself played down the accusation, telling Sky News that he doesn't consider himself to be far-right and said Evans' comments were "just politics". I found it extremely interesting that he glossed over it in that way, as throughout my life to call someone far-right would be an exceptionally damning thing to say. I'm sure most prospective politicians would be visibly outraged.
Having said that, as a moderate person who enjoyed growing up in a multicultural country, Breitbart does seem rather far to the right to me. The content feels xenophobic, and antagonistic towards immigrants, Muslims and feminists especially.
Breitbart's most famous commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, an attention hungry embittered college failure, received a life-long Twitter ban this year after a series of tweets attacking actress Leslie Jones. He had called her "barely literate" and "a black dude" and others then joined in with foul racist abuse. In a statement following the ban, Twitter referred to inciting or engaging in targeted abuse or harassment.
Raheem Kassam might argue that he is responsible for Breitbart content but not Yiannopoulos' abusive outbursts on Twitter - although any respectable 'news' outlet would take action against tweets that would bring the organisation into disrepute. But this is the key point, despite tweets that can clearly be seen as racist and misogynistic, fans of Yiannopoulos find his puerile poison desirable. It is as though he and Breitbart are a mouthpiece for vile and impotent people, therefore such antics drive traffic to the site.
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If Kassam does become Ukip leader, he will have to find a way to distance himself from material that less extremist Ukip supporters would find offensive. However, he cannot distance himself from his own material, for example a tweet from June in which he suggested SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon's mouth should be taped shut, which seemed misogynistic enough, but he also proposed that her legs should be taped "so she can't reproduce".
When challenged about this at the weekend, he called an SNP MP Stewart McDonald a Nazi. When it was pointed out to him that Nicola Sturgeon has had a miscarriage he claimed he didn't know about that and accused the MP of "trying to score points off a tragedy."
The first week of meetings for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has just concluded--and there has been pleasant progress so far!
Straight away, Committee I tackled the global problem of trade in pangolins, about which I've written before. These scaly mammals are popularly considered to be the most heavily traded mammals in the world, at a rate of approximately 100,000 per year. Sought after for their scales in traditional medicines and their meat in luxury markets, the four species in Africa and four in Asia are likely to go extinct without swift action. Six of the species were approved for uplisting without confrontation. Only two of the Asian species received any pushback (from Indonesia). But, when the votes were cast, there were 114 in favor, five abstentions, and just the lone "no" vote. This is a massive conservation success and I sincerely hope that ending the commercial pangolin trade will save the species.
Parties also successfully beat back attempts to dismantle an important decision from the CITES meeting in 2007 to stop the inexplicable scourge of tiger farming in Asia. They decided that only tigers in approved conservation breeding programs should be in captivity--NOT intensive breeding of tigers for commercial trade in their parts. China has worked since then to undermine this decision and tried to have it deleted this week. They failed resoundingly. At a time when there are more tigers in captivity in China (or the U.S., for that matter) than in all of their historic wild range, governments everywhere must do all they can to stop tiger trade, eliminate demand, and protect tigers in the wild: where they belong.
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But, the big fight behind the scenes and in official working groups is over lions. Niger, Togo, Chad, and other lion range states want CITES to list lions on Appendix I, thereby cutting off trade that is for primarily commercial purposes. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and others want no restrictions--because of the robust trophy hunting industries they propagate and because of the grotesque canned hunting industry in South Africa, which also results in a massive commercial export of lion bones.
The battle has been intense: which countries warrant an Appendix I listing? Which should stay on Appendix II (allowing commercial trade freely)? Should there be a specific annotation that prohibits commercial trade in wild lions but allows some trade from South Africa from captive ones? Three days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and we are not done yet. The Working Group meets again Saturday night. The CITES meeting reconvenes Sunday morning.
Born Free USA will do all we can to persuade Parties to take a precautionary approach and save lions while there is still time.
There are discussions to be finalized on wild dogs and, indeed, on lions. There is debate to come on rhino horn trade from Swaziland and whether to allow Namibia and Zimbabwe to trade in elephant ivory once again.
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It's a strange position to be in halfway through the meeting. By Wednesday afternoon, we'll actually know the fate of entire species and whether some of the world's most imperiled animals will be around for future generations.
Last night, I paid for my dinner and gave the restaurant manager a Born Free USA t-shirt. He told me that he was going to a nearby wildlife reserve with his family this weekend, and that it was tragic to think that his grandchildren may inherit a world without rhinos. As a South African, he was appalled at the thought. So am I. And, hopefully, so, too, are the government representatives who have the chance to cast a vote FOR wildlife. Mike at the restaurant gets it. CITES Parties should, as well...
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
A male bison named Sauron was found decapitated in Valdeserrillas (Valencia).
An investigation into the death of two bison at a nature preserve in the Valencia region has taken a new turn.
After initially investigating whether the herd may have been deliberately poisoned by unknown attackers who also cut off the animals heads, Spanish prosecutors have now charged the preserve director with animal abuse on suspicion that the bison starved to death.
The second animals head simply decomposed on its own, the vet report states
Valdeserrillas preserve director Carlos Alamo walked into court on Tuesday to provide a statement as a suspect in the case.
Veterinary reports released on Monday state that the animals died from lack of food and were later decapitated.
They were part of a herd of European bison that lived inside the animal sanctuary in Benageber (Valencia).
In mid-September, the herd leader, an 800-kilogram alpha male named Sauron, was found dead on the premises. Its head was missing.
Preserve director Carlos Alamo (with glasses) arrived in court on Tuesday to provide testimony as a suspect in the case. Manuel Bruque (EFE)
A second decapitated bison was located a week later. Two more animals reported missing were found alive.
Investigators found a ball that may have contained poison, which was said to be a possible explanation for why the rest of the herd was suffering from diarrhea.
But authorities now suspect Alamo himself or an accomplice may have planted the ball of poison and beheaded the animals in order to simulate an attack by hunters seeking trophies.
The government delegate in the Valencia region, Juan Carlos Moragues, said that the bison did not have enough food and that they were beheaded after death.
One of the decapitations was a botched axe job that anybody could have done, suggesting that the head was not taken away for purposes of mounting and displaying, as was initially suspected.
The second animals head simply decomposed on its own, the vet report states.
Sources at the Valencia government confirmed that the first line of investigation, regarding the possibility of poison, is still open despite the new report.
The Valdeserrillas preserve, which spans 365 hectares, is located on public land owned by the Valencia government and run by a private company on a 20-year lease. It serves as a sanctuary for bison and other species including deer, mouflon and birds of prey, and offers tourists photo safaris.
The herd of Bison Bonasus, considered an endangered species, arrived in Spain between June 2015 and May 2016 after two years worth of paperwork with the European Union.
English version by Susana Urra.
Back in the mid-1980's I was a commentator on ABC's "Good Morning America" in a month-long series on the devastating job lay-offs in Michigan's steel industry. I asked these workers, blue collar high school graduates with families to support, what choices they wanted: relocation or retraining for new jobs. Their answer was neither. They balked at anything else. All they wanted was to continue their lives like their fathers before them: life-long secure work in the same company. Saddened, I realized that their resistance would only lead to days spent commiserating in bars with cronies, drowning their despair.
We sent a second crew out to interview the wives now forced to find jobs to pay mortgages and buy groceries, jobs that they had had before marriage: bank tellers, retail sales, or waitresses. I bet that they would be grateful for the paycheck but they would grow dissatisfied with such meager income and routine. They would soon seek better opportunities through training. In the process, they would develop self-confidence and take over the reins of their families, wither encouraging their husbands or divorcing them. They did all that, as we found out later. It was a strong marker signifying the end of the second phase of The American Dream for security and comfort: a guaranteed life-long job, a traditional family with wife at home, a mortgage and savings for children's college.
At the same time manufacturing corporations flattened. People, particularly women stifled in dead-end jobs, moved out to start their own businesses. Entrepreneurialism flourished for those willing to take on risks. Business studies became the hot major in college and graduate school, outpacing liberal arts and science.
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But just as people began the luxury of questioning what they wanted to be and do, markets tanked when the banking and real estate corruption ate up savings and security.
Several years later, I witness how people are adapting. I have recently been interviewing drivers for Lyft and Uber. Some are students saving for tuition. Some are artists in need of cash. One driver told me that he had just retired from the city sanitation department at only 42 with a monthly pension of $6000, the same amount he had earned working full-time. He was now driving several days a week to support his other vocation: flipping houses. He laughed at how life had worked out for him. "It's the American Dream," he beamed to me in his rear-view mirror.
Not so for another driver, a younger man, whose immigrant father had saved all his tips delivering ethnic food from restaurants to buy one apartment building after another over the course of years. He asked his son to learn property management to take over the business. But the son doesn't want to. He doesn't know what he wants to do. He drives, but he doesn't want that either. What should he do? He asks me. I advised him to take his father's offer and learn the business until he figures it out.
The American Dream is unique. No other country has been founded on a vision of self-determination. It certainly lives on but it changes over time. The Dream in our first century of nationhood was based on freedom from religious intolerance, from divine rule, from landless serfdom or imprisonment, from imposed regulation of a monarchy to self-rule. After fighting for independence, dreaming for security was a natural second phase.
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We have now entered our third phase in our third century. We no longer dream from but to. The promise of security has vanished. Guarantees of jobs are gone, replaced by the unforetold impact of technology and cheaper work overseas. The internet has taken hold and nothing feels the same. Housing is expensive. Boundaries of marriage are being reinvented. Investments are unstable. College and graduate school has tripled in cost; even PhD's struggle to find academic positions. The professions such as publishing, journalism and medicine are experiencing drastic change. When big business doesn't hire us, we learn to freelance or join small teams, gigs. We train for up and coming industries: technology, health, service of all kinds.
We invent and re-invent our lives. We learn by adapting to this evolving world by developing new skills and networks, and by sharing our spaces and concepts. We question again and again how to live better together and search for new ways. Our American Dream has always been fulfilled by the process of innovation. We are still at it.
Well America, once again the lessons taught in Ghostbusters II are coming to the forefront. If we continue on this path of acknowledging and entertaining the rage-filled-diatribes pursued by so many of our citizens, a giant ocean of pink slime will rise up to terrorize us all. Weird art-restorationists will become our overlords and Vigo the Carpathian will replace Andrew Jackson on the twenty-dollar bill.
Because, here's the thing. No matter what any rant-filled talking head will have us believe, come November 9th we will all need to look each other in the eye again. As rally signs sail down in the wind and pundits look for new jobs, we will have to return to our lives. The angry cousins that we blocked on Facebook will still be related to us and the Twitter war we had with that one guy we knew for five minutes in 1998 will be forever archived on the Internet.
We will need to return to being the America we were before leaked pervy video's, discussions of emails, late-night Twitter rants and musings on kitty cats (a-hem) dominated our lives. And I am worried for our collective mental health.
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Election years tend to bring out our most passionate voices. Everyone wants a seat at the table and we all feel it is our right to be heard. Yet, we get stuck trying to maintain a balance between having an informed, intellectual discussion and a culture which encourages us to talk in sound bites, 140 characters, viral posts and memes. Sure, some memes created in good fun are fine. Who doesn't love a snarky quote pasted over an image of Chuck Norris or Willy Wonka? The problem is that this election has been dominated more by glib statements, heavily repeated rediculousness and terse quips than it has been a smart discussion of the issues.
Let's consider the example of sexual assault, a topic which has become a cornerstone of contemporary elections. Four years ago we watched, horrified, as a conservative from Missouri declared that there is such a thing as "legitimate rape", a super-natural force field deployed by women's uterus during a rape to "shut down" pregnancy. How many ladies had to listen to or read statements questioning whether our bodies carry some special hormone which we can deploy as birth control at will? I felt then, and I continue to feel now, that I may go crazy if I have to listen to one more person with an opinion and vocal cords explain to me what rape is. Conversations about consent are omitted and, sadly, those of us who have dedicated our activism and/or research to the topic of violence against women are used to watching debates about sexual violence happen with little expert input. Late-night comedy shows such a Full Frontal, The Daily Show and Last-Week Tonight are certainly doing their part to demonstrate this hypocrisy, but even their contributions are reduced to momentary pieces of click-bait. Forget about including scholars or world-wide experts on violence against women. Any sort of intelligent life-forces are ignored in favor of inflammatory opinions. (To be fair, I think many news folks are sick of the mounting pressure by their overlord bosses to give a microphone to the next person with a crazy conspiracy theory. See this video of CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin and this SNL video mocking of the second debate.)
Such slight-of-hand tricks mean many issues which should get a proper unpacking during an election year are ignored. Instead, groups like Black Lives Matter are reduced to defining the word "life." Organizations supporting the rights of transgender people are spending their time explaining who should be allowed to use which bathroom. People whose passions rest in saving natural resources have their work redacted until all that remains is the question "Is global warming a thing?" In my city, needed conversations about security and guns after the Pulse shooting are given away to focus on profiling. Meanwhile, meaningful discussions of racism, transphobia and environmentalism (to name a few) are being tossed aside. Sound bites become a dangerous distraction from actually communicating ways to solve our problems. All of this seems to be happening at sky-high levels this year. Substance hasn't just taken a back seat, she is mashed on the floor of the luggage compartment with her friends common-sense and general decency.
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An election year should be the time when we hear our leader's share their plans to help build a better country. Sure, my preference would be that these plans are laid out for us as a Hamilton-style cabinet rap battle. But, I will take thoughtful disagreements between people in any form I can get.
There are at least half a dozen different explanations why millions of Americans still hail Trump -- and hence just as many recommendations for what President Hillary Clinton will need to do to cure the toxicity infused in American politics and society. Globalization, unemployment, poor wages, misogyny, and a loss of traditional values are on the list. You do not need to choose among them; they all may be true, though different Trumpists are clearly driven by various combinations of several of these motives. As I see it, one should not overlook yet another motive: that the government increasingly does not serve the people but is captured by special interests. Democrats like to think about the government as a provider of Social Security and Medicare, the guardian of national parks, and the place you get your passport. However, many see daily examples of a government serving special interests at the cost of the public. There follows a recent example.
An opioid epidemic had begun in 2004; the supply of prescription painkillers was growing and overdose deaths were up by 15 percent from the previous year. In response, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) began filing civil cases against wholesale companies whose drugs were ending up illegally on the streets through pill mills, places where powerful drugs are given or prescribed inappropriately. This marked a shift in the DEA's approach, which had previously been focusing on pharmacies and doctors rather than distributors. In response, drug companies hired former officials from the DEA, who pressed for much less stringent enforcement measures.
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According to a report in The Washington Post, Frank Younker, a former DEA supervisor in Cincinnati, said the distributors could have taken measures to ensure these addictive pills did not end up on the black market had they wanted to. "They were doing the bare minimum. Why would you want to cut off a customer that's paying you $2 million a year? They have sales reps and sales quotas and bonus structures and employees of the month. Everyone was making a lot of money."
In 2012 the deputy attorney general of the US Department of Justice held a meeting with Joseph T. Rannazzisi, who headed the DEA's Office of Diversion Control, about a case involving two major drug companies. According to Rannazzisi, "That meeting was to chastise me for going after industry, and that's all that meeting was about" reported The Washington Post. Rannazzisi was not dissuaded from continuing to hold companies accountable. However, the number of cases filed dropped significantly after officials at DEA headquarters began to block enforcement measures. In 2013, lawyers at the DEA raised the standard of proof necessary for a case to proceed. Between 2011 and 2014, the number of suspension orders issued by the DEA dropped from 65 to nine, according to the same Washington Post report. In 2014 Chief Administrative Law Judge John J. Mulrooney II wrote that "There can be little doubt that the level of administrative Diversion enforcement remains stunningly low for a national program."
Meanwhile, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses had reached a record high in 2014: from over 47,000 cases, opioid painkillers were one of the main causes of death. Rannazzisi was replaced in 2015. A new relationship has been forged between the Justice Department and the pharmaceutical industry in an effort to "strengthen partnerships."
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Anyone who follows the news will find such a report at least once a week. One week it is about a bank that opened millions of bank accounts for people who did not need them, want them, or knew about them. The bank was fined -- a fraction of the profits it makes. The other week it is about a corporation that purchased the right to market a medication, already fully developed and thus not requiring expenditures for research, and then raised the cost from $13.50 to $750 per pill, an increase of over 5,000%. Another week, it is about arms manufacturers that made campaign contributions to members of Congress, who then authorized the purchase of arms neither the Pentagon nor the White House believes the U.S. needs. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have raised this issue, but it is much more pervasive than even they suggest.
President Hillary Clinton will face the daunting task of seeking to tackle many of the issues that trouble scores of millions of Americans, including but not limited to Trump supporters. Curbing the influence of special interests in Washington belongs high on that list, and no better place to start is working to repeal the Court ruling that legalized bribery, Citizens United.
Kingston NY...The Woodstock Film Festival's Oct. 15 Maverick Awards Ceremony celebrated 17 years of film presentations, panels, concerts and events with a Hollywood-style party attended by industry movers and shakers including Academy Award winning director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who presented the Festival's Trailblazer award to David Linde, executive producer of Inarritu's Oscar-winning film, Biutiful, and CEO of Participant Media.
Photo Credit: Ben Caswell
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Meira Blaustein and David Linde
Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Oren Moverman received this year's Fiercely Independent Award from presenter Ben Foster, who starred in Moverman's 2009 film The Messenger. The prolific writer, director and producer went on to direct Rampart, Time out of Mind and the upcoming film starring Richard Gere, The Dinner.
Documentary filmmaker and Woodstock local Leon Gast received the Lifetime Achievement Award from filmmaker/director Barbara Kopple. Gast's award-winning documentaries, including the Oscar-winning, When We Were Kings, about the Foreman/Ali "Rumble in the Jungle," span a wide array of subjects, including bikers, Dead Heads and papparazzi. His newest film, Woodstock: A Love Poem closed the four day festival Oct. 16.
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South African film, Shepherds and Butchers, directed by Oliver Schmitz and starring Steve Coogan took home the award for Best Narrative Feature. The film, a prison/courtroom drama, is set against the apartheid divide of the late 1980s.
Matthew Millan's Stronger Than Bullets won the award for Best Documentary Feature. The film reveals the defiant and electric music scene Millan discovered when he arrived in Benghazi to document the revolution.
The festival, created by Israeli-born Meira Blaustein, is the best pretext in New York for getting out of the city to view the fall foliage and visit one of the most charming towns in America. There are an array of houses for weekend rental, some -- like the one I rented this year -- offer amazing views of the golden woods.
The festival annually presents films ranging from Hollywood fare to obscure international indie features. This year opened with Blind, starring Alec Baldwin, who was present for a Q & A after the film. The film was directed and written by Michael Mailer and John Buffalo Mailer, respectively, Norman Mailer's sons. Other high-profile films included Chilean director Pablo Larrain's Neruda, starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Cannes sensation Loving, about an interracial couple who married in the 1950s and who took their forbidden love all the way to the Supreme Court.
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Photo Credit: Naomi Schmidt
The Adams Family: John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser
Two students in my Journalism in a Free Society class sent me emails on the same evening recently. Each message contained a disturbing video depicting a racist incident, but from two widely divergent points of view.
One of the students is a white female who leans conservative. The other is a mixed race African/Native American male who leans liberal. She is voting for Trump; he's not voting this year. They had engaged in a respectful but insistent exchange in class that day, voicing opposing viewpoints about racial intimidation.
What struck me about the tone of their emails, as well as the tone of the earlier wide ranging discussion by the entire class about race, politics, free speech, and the role of the news media, is how civil it all was. Various students were passionate about their points of view, but no one accused those they disagreed with of being bigoted, stupid, idiotic, etc.
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Without any interference from me, the students maintained an invective-free zone.
The liberal-leaning male student had talked in class of a racial incident in which Black Lives Matter protestors had been harassed by a white man in a gorilla mask. The conservative-leaning female student related a personal anecdote about when she and a male companion were verbally assaulted on a public street by a group of black men shouting epithets such as, "We're going to kill white people."
He said there are more established white supremacist groups who intimidate blacks. She said the individuals who verbally accosted her were evidence that racism exists on both sides.
No one yelled. No complaints of hurt feelings. No whining.
That night, each of them sent me links to stories that supported the points they were making in class. The young man sent me a video that has been viewed widely on social media. In September, East Tennessee State University campus police arrested Tristan Rettke, a white freshman, on a charge of civil rights intimidation.
According to press accounts, Rettke wore a gorilla mask and overalls, carried a rope in a bag, and tried to hand out bananas at a campus Black Lives Matter gathering.
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Rettke told protestors standing peacefully around a fountain and holding signs, "I identify as the gorilla. I'm just supporting my people." Police report that Rettke said he was trying "to provoke the protesters," who recorded the incident but did not retaliate.
My female student sent a video of members of the Hebrew Israelite movement, a group of African Americans who believe they are descended from ancient Israelites. She suspected the black men who had communicated verbal threats to her and her male companion were part of this movement, the extremist fringe of which the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled as "black supremacist."
In the video, black men on a sidewalk hold up a poster depicting "The White Man's Destiny," showing whites in slavery. A man shouts to white passersby, "All the atrocities that were done to our people are going to be done to you, times two."
The video has been posted and touted by a number of conservative websites as evidence of black racism.
In this ideas-centered journalism class, we discuss a wide variety of topics, ranging from historical incidents such as Watergate and the Pentagon Papers, to contemporary issues concerning WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden, to press coverage of police shootings and Black Lives Matter marches. And of course, the weirdness of the 2016 election.
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The young man and woman involved in the disagreement sit within four feet of each other in class, and neither has chosen to move elsewhere in the room. They greet each other every class day. No trolling on social media, no violations of the Honor Code.
Issues of race have always been on America's agenda, even more so of late. It seems we've stopped listening to one another, stopped caring who we hurt.
[The Thai popular uprising of Oct 14, 1973 against the military dictatorship./ Source: Wikipedia]
By AsiaToday reporter Jina Koh - On October 6, 1976, scores of students who protested against the return from exile of former military dictator Thanom Kittikachorn were brutally killed by Thai state forces inside the campus of Thammasat University.
After 40 years, Thailand barred entry to Hong Kong 'Umbrella Revolution' leader Joshua Wing, who was scheduled to speak in Bangkok about the student massacre.
Democracy is at the crossroads in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
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Thailand's army, which seized power in coup in 2014, is violating the fundamental rights of the people, while Indonesia's President Joko Widodo (also known as Jokowi) is showing a careful attitude towards the mass killings of 1965-1966. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is stamping on human rights with his brutal war on crime.
Although an memorial ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the student massacre took place on Oct. 6 in Thailand, no explanation for the past affairs has been offered by the country's current junta. This tragedy is not mentioned in Thailand's history books, since the military has conspired with successive governments to hide the truth about the massacre.
Just like Thailand, it seems that Indonesia doesn't want to reveal the brutal massacre. Indonesian government has not yet given any official apology for the massacre of more than half a million people between 1965 and 1966 by the Suharto regime. Although being the first President to be elected by popular vote, Jokowi has not yet shown an enthusiastic attitude concerning the eyes of the military which still exercises its influence.
In a political column for The Diplomat, Global Voices editor Mong Palatino pointed out that the military rulers of Thailand and Indonesia are aware of the past, but they remain silent in order to control the people's views about the past.
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In some countries, historical revisionism is being done like in the Philippines today where the government is denying corruption under dictator Ferdinand Marcos regime and his fear tactics, and even praising him instead.
[The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is established to try the most responsible members of the Khmer Rouge./ Source: Wikipedia]
These countries are focusing on economic stimulation in an attempt to hide the wounds of the past and conciliate their people. Indonesia's economy is on the rise with its steady investment in infrastructure, tax amnesty policy, and growing foreign investment. Indonesia's economic growth will reach 5.1% this year, 5.4% in 2017, and 5.5% in 2018, according to a recent release by Nikkei and Japan Center for Economic Research.
Philippine President Duterte visited China on Oct. 18-24 and secured around $24 billion worth of economic cooperation. He is seeking for cooperation with his Japan visit on Tuesday, and his plan to visit Russia this year. Although his scare tactic is criticized by the international community for violating human rights, many Philippine people are giving him support for his feisty pace.
Along with economic growth however, clarifying the truth about the past is also one of the challenges that should be resolved by politicians. The establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) under the agreement between Cambodia and the UN is a good example. The court convicted Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, the two most senior surviving leaders of brutal Khmer-Rouge regime where nearly 2 million people were brutally killed, guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced them to life in prison in 2014.
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Indonesia has also held a conference to seek reconciliation and testimonies for the 1965-66 massacre in April this year. In May, the government formed a team to investigate mass graves that are suggested as evidence of the massacre.
Well yes, folks. I took my fabulous self to Soca Brainwash after deciding that I wasn't going to party much for Miami Carnival. This party was the one party I could not miss for this short season. The reviews last year were so good; I hyped myself up and made an effort to take time away from precious sleep and attend. I said to myself that I needed to enjoy life a little and at least get into the swing of things before I hit the road Sunday for mas.
My friends were coming from out of town. I met up with my other good friends that live in Miami too, whom I never see, and it was looking like it was going to an epic night of good friends and good times. And don't get me wrong, it was great to see my partners and them. The ole talk was good but Soca Brainwash did nothing to add to the experience. In fact, I do not hesitate to say, it was incredibly disappointing.
Why you ask? Well because I didn't do my research and so I didn't know the $74 entrance fee was just that, an entrance fee, it didn't include drinks or food. Now, I did not expect the price to include food, but I did expect drinks. Albeit, not premium drinks but drinks nevertheless. You cannot imagine my surprise as I approached the bar, like a dum-dum ready to order my vodka and orange juice, and the bartender ask me for a chit. A chit. What chit? I asked confused as hell. I was then informed that I had to purchase a chit of no less than 20 USD to purchase drinks. Immediately, I commenced cussing myself for coming to this party and getting played, cussing myself for not actually reading the Instagram post and assuming at that price, that drinks were included.
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I stomped over to the chits tent and purchased the chits. If nothing else, to drown my anger in the drinks and try to have a good time. Bad idea. If anything, it only made me angrier. I remember giving a bartender a piece of my mind and telling anyone that would listen about the ridiculous premise of this fraud of a party. I even tweeted DJ theifin' Ryan about his greed. The party didn't even have a performer, nothing to warrant such a price.
I am so tired and disillusioned by all this money-is-everything vibe for carnival. All these party brands are being built by social media on false pretenses and images that it's fun. It's all deceptive and I wish the people will wake up and stop letting these greedy folks rob them. If you went last year, why hasn't anyone said that yeah, the party was alright, but they rob we money. I mean, be honest and stop contributing to them robbing more people. Why are we, the people, allowing it to happen?
One of the random people I was complaining to responded to my complaint with, well you paying for the experience: this is how he rationalized it. When I countered that with, what exactly about this experience is worth $74, he just smiled and moved along. But is it the experience we pay for? Vale fete at $100 plus is an experience because they have food and drinks (champagne too) included, maybe a performer or two and the novelty of partying with your good friends while the sun rises. How does that experience compare to Soca Brainwash Miami edition?
I am still puzzled about why we as patrons accept this deplorable disrespect to our quality of party just to be able to say we went Soca Brainwash. I suspect it's to fit in, again. I suspect it's so we could tell people, "Gyul, I went to Soca Brainwash and it was gooood." As if to say, since I was there, I was therefore part of the accepted crowd because of course, everyone knows that those tickets are hard to come across and we got one. So we must be special, more special than those that did not.
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I am not delusional though. I know these events are to make money, but I am sure they can make money and give people something worth their money, something of value. The people are so content with these insane prices which will invariably go up each year, and say nothing; we just shut up and take it. This mentality has given this party brand and others like it the leeway to do such an abominable thing: ripping folks off so brazenly and knowing nothing will be done.
Although they can't cast a vote and don't call the United States home, many non-Americans feel personally invested in the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Outside the U.S. and throughout the world, it seems as if everyone is following this election.
The 2016 presidential race is unlike any other we've seen before. As an American, it's difficult to imagine how people outside of the U.S. perceive the election, and what foreigners must think of the entire spectacle. No other country spends nearly as much time or money in electing its head of state as the United States does. And no matter who wins when Americans head to the polls on November 8th, many of us will simply be relieved that the whole ordeal is finally over.
Some Americans worry that Donald Trump's antics mar our national reputation and diminish the U.S. in the eyes of the world. Is there truth in that perception? What does the world make of Donald Trump?
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We do know that Trump angered members of NATO back in July, when he told The New York Times that under his leadership, the United States' decision to protect the Baltic republics against Russian aggression would be dependent on whether those countries "have fulfilled their obligations to us." Unsurprisingly, Trump's statement drew a negative response from leaders in the U.S. and abroad, as well as from citizens in Baltic countries.
Many politicians and business leaders have distanced themselves from the U.S. election, put off by Donald Trump's proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, his insults directed at Muslims, women, disabled people, and POWs (to name a few), and his promise to force Mexico to pay for a new wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Here's what prominent non-Americans are saying about the 2016 election:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
"During political campaigns, I never say a word. The people are sovereign. I would only say, study the proposals well, pray and choose with your conscience."
-- Pope Francis, addressing American Catholics.
"Look, America is like the best idea the world ever came up with, but Donald Trump is potentially the worst idea that ever happened to America."
-- Bono, in an interview for CBS This Morning
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"Did anybody watch the debate last night? Oh my f-king God...I feel sorry for you, really."
-- Adele, during a performance in Washington, D.C.
"He's [Donald Trump] worse than Voldemort."
--JK Rowling via twitter.
"Mr. Trump has declared that he's ready for the full restoration of Russian-American relations. Is there anything bad there?"
-- Vladimir Putin
British Physicist Stephen Hawking called Trump "a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator," during an appearance on the United Kingdom's ITV network.
"There is no point in interfering and it's not smart to interfere."
-- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (in response to being asked about the election).
"Once Trump is your president, you'll wish you'd been friendlier to me."
-- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe
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"I'm not going to pick a fight with Donald Trump right now. But I'm not going to support him either, obviously."
-- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
President Barack Obama's foreign policy of "Don't do stupid s[tuff]" has been turned on its head in Iraq. The stupefying stupidity of our continuing military involvement featuring more than 5,000 American soldiers ranks with our carnival of imbecilities during the Vietnam War.
We have no definition of victory.
We are defending a Shiite government dominated by Iran, at war with Israel, hostile towards Iraqi Kurds, opposed by a NATO ally (Turkey), and brimming with corruption.
Iraq is an artificial country. Its boundaries were drawn a century ago from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire by Great Britain and France eager for the spoils of World War I and wedded to divide-and- conquer. To weaken political opposition, the British drew them to include Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, and Turkmen who aligned more with their respective tribes than with the nation.
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Britain established an Iraqi monarchy that endured from 1921-1958. The overthrow of King Faisal II in 1958 ushered in a succession of military strongmen until we ousted President Saddam Hussein by military force in 2003.
A unified Iraq is a pipedream without a tyrannical government. Iraq will unravel like Yugoslavia as soon as we depart. It is already half-way there with the Kurdistan Regional Government asserting sovereignty over oil within its boundaries. Massoud Barzani, president of Iraq's Kurdistan region, declared in 2014 that, "[t]he goal of Kurdistan is independence," and that Iraq was already "effectively partitioned."
Iraq's fate, however, is irrelevant to the liberties and welfare of Americans. Just as Otto von Bismarck taught that, "The whole of the Balkans is not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier," the whole of Iraq is not worth the blood of a single American soldier. Iraq-whether unified or fragmented--will always sell us oil, directly or through middlemen, because of the profit motive. The short-lived embargo on direct oil sales to the United States by the Arab members of OPEC in the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War accomplished nothing. Our oil supplies remained undiminished. Oil is an international commodity, and any OAPEC diversion of oil away from the United States to other nations freed up new sources of for us.
The absurdity of our military involvement in Iraq is highlighted by the witches' brew of forces currently seeking to expel the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from Mosul. Over the objection of Iraqi Shiite Prime Minister Haider al-Abaidi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dispatched Turkish troops to Iraq to participate in the battle for Mosul, to train Iraqi Kurds and Sunni militias for the fight, and to protect Iraqi Turkmen. President Erdogan asserted, "We have a historical responsibility in the region," and insinuated that changing Iraq's borders by force was his ambition. Prime Minister al-Abaidi retorted that if Turkish forces intervene they will not "be in a picnic. We are ready for them." Shiite militias operating independently of the Prime Minister have stated they will also enter the fray in Mosul if Turkey is fighting.
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Turkey is overwhelmingly Sunni. Under the Ottoman Empire, Shiites were marginalized or oppressed. Turkey will invariably seek to weaken or destabilize an Iraq dominated by Shiites acting in alliance with Iran. Thus, the battle to oust ISIS from Mosul will be no different than out of the frying pan into the fire. The victors will immediately turn on themselves: Turks and Turkmen against Shiite militias and the Iraq National Army; Sunni militias against Shiite militias, the Iraq National Army, and Kurds; Kurds seeking independence against all. The Battle for Mosul has all the portents of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu and Black Hawk Down.
The United States stupidly invaded Iraq in March 2003 for the juvenile thrill of flexing our military muscles to intimidate the world. But we also made Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism, stronger by destroying its chief nemesis, Saddam Hussein. Thirteen years after our invasion, we stupidly remain in Iraq without any idea of why we are there beyond killing for the sake of killing.
That is the very definition of stupid stuff that President Obama professedly derides.
"RU."
"Return Undesired."
Piles upon piles of pebbles line the block that stretches in front of me. Each one fuses with the next, reaching onwards until stopped forcefully by towering trees that line the forest's edge. The little rocks are stripped of description, just like my grandfather and the thousands who slept upon straw mats atop those stones not so long ago. They, too, had to subsist by blending into the next, their humanity reduced to numbers as the arms that bore those digits were forced through camp after camp. Each time, they were one step closer to death. These people straddled the line between survival and an existence that barely resembled life.
23. The square slab of cement marks the row where Jakob slept for three months as the war neared its end, where he lay awake among piles of bodies crammed into bunkers and where he wolfed down whatever meager scrap he was given in order to awake again. I trace the outline of 23, my fingers brushing this tangible concrete connection to him. Tiny bumps protrude from the surface. The cement refuses to be completely smooth, each miniscule bump claiming its space in the universe, unwilling to conform.
I never knew that he lived in block 23. I didn't know that his daily task was to dig tunnels or that he was herded to the Alps as winter descended upon the world and hope crept eastwards in the form of Allied trucks. Then, wind probably raged and snowflakes obscured the sky, shielding prisoners and captives alike. Today, a vast blue sky blankets my three friends, Bernd and me.
Bernd: the guide who I met today but who voluntarily began mapping out my grandfather's murky past before I set foot in Dachau. Jakob scarcely spoke about his time in concentration camps during his life. Berndt has physically handed me maps and dates, routes and figures: the puzzle pieces that construct an identity my father could not fully unravel while his father lived, nor throughout the 25 years that have marked his absence.
Face-to-face with row 23, I choose to believe that one's identity can evolve but cannot vanish. Violence, terror and fear can crumple someone's sense of self. But even such demons cannot completely erode it. Souls cannot disappear, but perhaps may become lost for a time until allowed to exist freely. Experiences do not erase us, but they can break and form us again.
As stones crunch under my footsteps, I am overcome by the unlikelihood of Jakob's survival. Statistically, he should not have made it. So many chances of death shaped his daily life -- more chances than the few that engendered his endurance. As a result, here I am.
Inside the museum, Bernd explains that each prisoner's file was meticulously documented and sorted within the room in which we stood. Every single prisoner walked upon these bricks. Unlucky files were marked with "RU."
"Return Undesired." Jakob's documentation made it clear that his survival was unquestionably undesired.
Even when humanity closes its eyes, identity is the interminable matter that endures, hidden in cellars and masked by skinny bones, kept alive by some burst of tenacity that allows me to walk this earth. Every number reminds me that my existence is a function of grit and luck, that I am meant to demand positive change from the world and to implement it, and that I have an obligation to make my life one lived well.
"Never again" is carved everywhere on these grounds. It is scratched into rocks and etched upon plaques. Every person's return to his or her home upon this earth should be desired.
~ ~ ~
Bernd studied history long before he began offering tours at Dachau. He has visited concentration camps and Holocaust museums all over the world and served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the German military post World War II. Dachau's story remains close to him.
As we continue to walk, Bernd speaks. Before Europe descended into chaos, German Jews had been granted a fleeting chance to exit Germany. Thousands flocked to Switzerland, where their safety was initially less uncertain. Switzerland soon grew overwhelmed with refugees who quickly comprised over ten percent of the population. Shortly thereafter, the neutral country closed its borders. Though cruel on the surface, Bernd defended this act as self-preservation: by accepting more refugees, Switzerland might trigger Nazi aggression and become increasingly susceptible to invasion.
Images flit through my mind of Syrian refugees paddling across the seas of Europe. Of headlines splattered across newspapers announcing certain nations had secured their borders to limit the influx of people pouring in, clinging to a single tattered string of hope. Of children who fled their homes in Darfur and Rwanda. A single grating voice shouts over crowds, ringing in my head.
"We're going to build a wall."
"They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists."
"A total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."
Bernd explained how Hitler slowly and deliberately tested the bounds of his power, stretching the will of man. One month, Jews could not use typewriters. The next month, they could not use public bathrooms. Bernd emphasized that Hitler never established death camps in Germany; these dark places were relegated to others' backyards instead. Hitler had insisted that Germany "was not ready."
Bernd presented a Nazi propaganda poster picturing a well-dressed man with bulging muscles. He is pictured hoisting a bar above his head with two physically disabled men sitting on top. Nazism emphasized the conception that people with developmental or cognitive disabilities represented dead weight on the economy, failing to contribute while continuing to take the fruits of others' dogged labor. In Hitler's world, the burdens of the weak depended on the strong man's might. And this needed fixing.
I wish I could say that today's world is more forgiving.
Bernd tells us that hundreds of German students regularly visit Dachau. Visits to concentration camps comprise a mandatory component of the German curriculum. Germany has been forced to hold a magnifying glass to its blemishes.
On the contrary, America holds a foggy mirror to our scars. When American students learn about slavery, we absorb one succinct textbook chapter summarizing hundreds of years of captivity. Our lessons are quick to contextualize and excuse our story. We grow up learning that ownership of human beings and waving a confederate flag were a part of the times -- now retrospectively condemnable.
Forcing my grandfather into tunnels to dig trenches while extinguishing his mother, father and four brothers was the contextual fabric of his time. This is now retrospectively condemnable.
Unlike South Africa, America has not conducted any type of Truth and Reconciliation Commission to process our atrocities. As a nation, we are not good at delivering apologies because apologies demand acknowledgement and accountability. Our society relentlessly tries not to look back -- as though Genesis 19:26 has warned that we, too, will become pillars of salt. But each racial protest and fatal shooting reminds us that we cannot flee our shadow.
Selective memories make for a selective history, penned and primed by those who have a seat at the table. History teachers seldom emphasize that the US government forced Japanese-Americans into internment camps as Axis powers herded Jews into cattle cars. We are quick to forget that Franklin Delano Roosevelt turned away the MS St. Louis, which held over 900 Jewish refugees, under the justification that refugees threatened national security. He sent them back to Europe as American troops fought through Europe's ravaged battlefields. I wonder if it is easier to be blind in one's own backyard.
Each day, I remember my ongoing disappointment in the world's failed commitment to "never again."
My friends and I approach the memorial's exit as Bernd turns towards us. "You are the future," he says suddenly, punctuating the afternoon's quiet stillness. His eyes roam ours, searching deeply. "You must make sure it never happens again." No matter how many times I hear these words, their visceral impact never lessens.
"In Germany, we do not understand Donald Trump's attitude," Bernd says. His words hang in the still September air. Throughout the afternoon Bernd had shared his insights and knowledge freely, but he had not yet offered unsolicited opinions. "We do not understand how Americans permit his racist comments and plans."
His brows are knit tightly, his voice flat and his conviction matter-of-fact. "This has happened before. We are deeply concerned. We have seen this before."
Each tour of Dachau reminds Bernd that racism can crumple fragile souls and wash over their resolve. To this graying veteran, the parallel between Trump's rhetoric and his nation's past is obvious. The foreshadowing is simple and the warning incontrovertible.
On the way out, we walk past a boy who is about seven or eight years old. He tugs on his father's coat. "I don't understand, Dad. Why did Hitler do all of this?" the boy asks. A long pause lingers, with no response. The boy repeats his question.
The father kneels, facing the boy. "Because he could, son," he answers in a crumpled voice. "No one stopped him. They let him do it."
Dachau tries desperately to never let humanity forget that bigotry triumphs when fear means turning the other cheek and looking away. When self-preservation tramples compassion and leaves appeasement in its wake. When people grow complacent and choose not to care.
We have seen this before.
~ ~ ~
15 days lie in front of us.
As votes roll in on November 8th, everyone's life will change. Americans. Foreigners. Students. Women. Jews, Christians, Muslims and Hindus. Immigrants. Union workers and millionaires. The outcome of November 8th could irrevocably unravel our world order, regardless of the political party to which anyone traditionally belonged. Chaos and fear mongering know no boundaries. In 15 days, we are all presented with the opportunity to play a role in our future, to not be complacent and to care: in the form of a ballot.
At least one urgent connection to November 8th exists within each of us. Think on a large scale in broad terms. Perhaps you want a steady economy with consistent job growth, or think that greenhouse gas reductions need to be curbed as climate change accelerates, or remain steadfast in your conviction that America's criminal justice system needs reform.
We also can think intimately, bringing issues close to home. Perhaps piles of college loans weigh upon your conscience because your parents have sacrificed their lifestyles to open doors for you. Maybe you have a friend who was sexually assaulted and want to know that our nation's leader does not regard her as an object to be fondled by men as they please. Or you want to rest assured that your brother -- the lovable boy whose brain works differently and who struggles to function independently -- will not be mocked by the leader of our country because of the way he looks or acts.
Everyone must turn inwards, search deeply and find that individual anchor.
If you fear you are not educated enough to cast a vote, then search the Internet. People are willing to travel for hours to hike a mountain although the breathtaking view at the top is temporary. They spend hours waiting in line at the Apple store to purchase the newest phone. College students trek to the regional Consulate for the visa required to study abroad. We choose to invest time when we deem that the result warrants our effort. There is no excuse for failing to dedicate the time in order to weigh in on a decision that will dictate the remainder of your life.
If you choose not to cast a ballot and simply let the cards unfold, you forfeit your right to criticize our political system for the next eight years. You can no longer comment on social issues about which you are passionate or complain about financial policies that burden your life. You should not critique laws, pass judgment on your political representatives over lunch or write impassioned editorials.
If you do not vote, you become complicit in a cycle of indifference. Elie Wiesel reminds us that the opposite of love is not hate; it's indifference. We have seen indifference before. We have watched people stand aside without enough courage to communicate and act upon their mercy. We know what happens.
My grandfather and the thousands beside him in block 23 would have traded their skin and bones to cry out before their world began tumbling and humanity eroded. They would have given anything to have just one voice to shout their collective suffering before lives disappeared. It feels so futile -- so wasteful -- when people willingly silence their voices with uncast ballots. Thousands, millions and billions of voices.
Bernd reminds us: we have seen this before.
In 15 days, you will be able to cast a ballot. I beg you to care about something that connects you to November 8th.
Because when people stop caring, the world falls. And millions vanish.
Never again should anyone's existence or return be undesired.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the United Nations.
More information Pena Nieto admite su error con la visita de Trump
Mexicos President Enrique Pena has admitted he made a mistake when he invited Donald Trump to visit his country in August, describing the decision as hasty.
In an interview with Mexican daily La Razon, the president whose popularity ratings continue to fall as he approaches his final two years in office, hitting a new low in September of 23% says that in hindsight, he would have done things differently.
Pena Nietos decision to speak out now is related to Trumps falling popularity
Pena Nieto faces mounting problems: last week, the governor of the state of Veracruz, Javier Duarte, a member of the ruling (Institutional Revolutionary Party) PRI, fled after the United States issued a warrant for his arrest on racketeering charges. Investigations are also underway into several other senior members of the PRI related to drug trafficking and corruption.
But Trumps visit was a particularly embarrassing moment, and not just for Pena Nieto but also for the whole nation. The Republican presidential candidate not only refused to apologize for his innumerable insults about Mexicans during the US presidential campaign or his plans to build a wall along the USMexico border, he turned the meeting with Pena Nieto into just another campaign stunt. Hours after returning to the United States he spoke at a rally in Arizona, telling the crowd: Mexico will pay for the wall: 100%. They dont know it yet, but they will pay for the wall.
The fallout was toxic. Pena Nieto came forward immediately to try to limit the damage, giving interviews and writing articles for leading publications. Trump is a huge threat and I cannot stand by and do nothing: my obligation is to defend Mexico, he said.
In the days that followed the visit, splits emerged in Mexicos cabinet. The foreign minister and the interior minister both made it clear they hadnt supported the idea, and media reports soon placed the blame for the invitation on finance minister Luis Videgaray, who was obliged to resign.
Trumps visit was embarrassing not just for Pena Nieto but the whole nation
Now, almost two months after the affair, and with Trump trailing in the polls, Pena Nieto has decided to fully accept the blame. This should never have happened and I accept full responsibility for it, he told La Razon. I think I made a very hasty decision. It was very controversial; today it would probably be different. I have already explained many times why I sought a meeting with both candidates, and it was to look after the interests of Mexico and the Mexican people, he said.
In his defense, Pena Nieto pointed out that at the time of the invitation, Trump and Hillary Clinton were almost neck and neck in the polls. He said that Trump replied immediately to the invitation. The reply was yes, I accept the invitation and I am on my way to Mexico. It was very much a take it or leave it situation. I said, what Im looking for is a meeting, and whats more, I dont agree with the Republican candidates position, and I think we need a better understanding of the importance of the relationship between Mexico and the United States.
It seems clear that Pena Nietos decision to speak out now is related to Trumps falling popularity. With Clinton looking like shes heading for a landslide win, Mexico needs to move forward and leave the mistakes of the past behind. Pena Nieto is also running out of time: the country goes to the polls in July of 2018. His party is losing ground, as was shown in recent local and regional elections, with voters punishing the PRI for one corruption scandal after another, as well as the governments failure to tackle drugs cartels, symbolized by the murder of 43 students in Ayotzinapa in 2014, for which nobody has yet been held to account.
Jockeying has already begun within the PRI among the presidential hopefuls in 2018, but in keeping with the long-standing tradition of the PRI, it is the outgoing president who has the final say on who will succeed him. And once Pena Nieto has done that, he knows that he is a lame duck. So now is the time to make amends for past mistakes, and Trumps visit is a good place to start.
English version by Nick Lyne.
U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton smiles as she greets the crowd at a fundraiser in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had a mixed week in the polls. Some states strengthened for both candidates, and some states weakened. For the most part, though, the race remained essentially unchanged.
I should point out that most of the polling has not yet reflected any shifts in public opinion from the final debate. It takes time for such shifts to show up, so by next week any such change should be a lot more apparent.
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As both Clinton and Trump look to shore up their support in the states they think they have a chance in, one thing is becoming clear: Hillary Clinton is free to make a play for states previously in the Republican column, while Donald Trump has almost completely failed in his effort to flip previously-Democratic states. Trump looks like he'll pick up Iowa this time around, and possibly Ohio -- but both of these states have traditionally been swing states, not Democratic locks. Clinton, on the other hand, has locked up Virginia, and is leading in Florida, North Carolina, and Nevada (all previous swing states). But now she's also investing campaign resources in places like Arizona, Utah, Georgia, and even Texas. None of those four have been considered anything but solid Republican in a long time. Clinton looks like she'll have her best shot at Arizona, and possibly Georgia.
The fact she has been able to redraw the map while Trump has only picked up Iowa shows that the basics of the race haven't changed this particular week: Clinton is still the odds-on favorite to win. Let's take a look at the overall totals, which is how the Electoral College would vote if all the polls were correct and the election were held today. The graph measures Electoral Votes (EV), with Clinton's blue starting at the bottom and Trump's red starting from the top. Whichever line crosses the midpoint line will win.
[Click on any of theses images to see larger-scale versions.]
Hillary Clinton actually lost a little ground overall this week, as Ohio went to being tied, and then flipped over to Trump's column. She also briefly lost Arizona, but had regained it by the end of the week. Georgia briefly flipped to Clinton, but then flipped back to Trump by the end of the week.
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Clinton's margin over Trump fell a little this week, but not all that much. She now has 62 percent of the Electoral College votes, to Trump's 38 percent. Last week, those numbers were 65 percent and 35 percent, respectively. Clinton is doing better now than Barack Obama was doing in 2012, but not as good as Obama did in 2008, to put this into perspective.
Let's take a deeper look at both candidates' relative strengths, using (as always) both the raw data and the category definitions from Electoral-Vote.com. First, a look at Trump.
[Definition of terms: "Strong" means 10 percent or better in the polls,
"Weak" means five percent or better, and "Barely" is under five percent.]
Donald Trump had some good news from three states this week, and some bad news from two others. He also briefly flipped Arizona, but it flipped back to Clinton soon after.
The best news Trump got this week was seeing Ohio flip from Barely Clinton to Tied and then to Barely Trump. This moved 18 EV into his overall total, which improved from 186 EV last week to now stand at 204 EV. The other good news Trump got this week was seeing Indiana and Iowa improve from being Barely Trump to now being Weak Trump.
While all this was going on, however, Utah fell from Strong Trump down to Weak, and Georgia became a true coin-toss, as it moved from Weak Trump to Barely Clinton before flipping back to Barely Trump at the end. This could force the Trump campaign to spend time and resources on states which they really should already have in their pocket by now.
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Trump's Strong numbers fell from 87 EV to 81 EV with the loss of Utah, while his Weak numbers improved from 29 EV to 36 EV. In Barely, Trump also improved for the week, from 70 EV up to 87 EV. As always, though, I find it most instructive to track the "Strong Plus Weak" line on the graph, so let's take a look and see how Trump is doing when stacked up against Mitt Romney's 2012 run and John McCain in 2008.
This is where you can really see how badly Trump is doing. His Strong Plus Weak number dropped down to a paltry 106 EV during the week, before slightly recovering (as Indiana firmed up) to 117 EV. John McCain, in 2008, ended his race with only 132 EV in Strong Plus Weak, which shows how horrendous this standing is for Trump. At this point in the 2008 race, John McCain had 152 EV in Strong Plus Weak, while Mitt Romney had 180 EV.
All of this points to a historic landslide for Hillary Clinton, so let's take a look at how her numbers are doing this week.
Clinton's chart certainly looks a lot healthier than Trump's, that's pretty obvious even at a glimpse. This week Clinton got good news from four states, bad news from another four, and saw three states wobble before returning to where they started.
Arizona wobbled from Barely Clinton to Barely Trump before returning to Barely Clinton at week's end. Florida wobbled the other direction, from Barely Clinton up to Weak Clinton, but then back down to Barely Clinton again. Polling in Florida is constantly going on, so it may continue to wobble in the next two weeks as well, but at least this week it was wobbling in the right direction. Georgia also briefly wobbled into Clinton's column, but then wobbled right back to Trump.
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Clinton saw three states firm up from Weak to Strong this week: Minnesota, New Jersey, and Virginia. That last one is the most important, since Trump really needs it to have any decent shot at winning. Trump continues to campaign in Virginia, even though it has quite likely completely slipped from his grasp. Clinton pulled money out of the state a month ago, which is starting to look like a smart move.
Clinton's best news, however, came from another swing state that Trump has had his eyes on, as New Hampshire went from Barely Clinton up to Weak Clinton before finishing in Strong Clinton. The reactions from the first two debates are likely driving this strong movement towards Clinton.
Clinton had bad news from four states, but none of it was really all that much to be concerned about. Michigan and Oregon both slipped from Strong Clinton to only Weak Clinton, but Hillary will quite likely easily win both states in the end. Just as last week ended, one poll put Nevada into the Weak Clinton category, but it flipped right back to Barely Clinton to start this week, which is where it ended up.
The worst news for Clinton was the loss of Ohio from Barely Clinton to Tied and then to Barely Trump. Trump seems to be fireproof in Ohio, as his numbers have actually strengthened here during all the debates. Clinton can afford to lose Ohio and still win the White House, though, while Trump cannot.
Overall, Clinton's numbers slid from 352 EV to 334 EV, with the loss of Ohio's 18 EV. However, Clinton continued to improve her Strong category, adding four states while losing two others. Clinton's Strong number went from 184 EV up to 218 EV, but then fell back to finish the week at 202 EV with the loss of Michigan down to Weak. Once again, Clinton finishes the week with almost the same amount in her Strong column (202 EV) as Trump has in all his categories combined (204 EV). That's a pretty notable comparison.
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Clinton's Weak numbers bounced around a bit, from 91 EV at the start up to 104 EV before falling back to 71 EV. While Clinton has been doing a great job of moving states from Weak to Strong, she hasn't been doing as well moving states from Barely into Weak. Clinton's Barely numbers also fluctuated from 77 EV down to 54 EV then back up to finish at 61 EV.
Let's take a look at how Clinton is doing in the Strong Plus Weak category, when measured against Obama's two races.
It's kind of hard to see Clinton's line on the chart this week, because it is so close (273 EV) to the 270 reference line. Clinton continues to do better than Obama was doing in 2012, when he had only 237 EV with two weeks to go. At one point during the week, Clinton even managed to spike up above Obama's 2008 number, when she hit 298 EV (to Obama's 289 EV), but then she slipped back again to slightly trailing Obama's historic 2008 run. Two weeks out, Obama had 289 EV in 2008, which is 16 EV more than Clinton now has. Still, she's running a lot closer to Obama's 2008 line than his 2012 line, and she's got more votes than she needs to win the race in Strong Plus Weak alone. That's a pretty good place to be, with two weeks left in the campaign.
My Picks
As always, my picks are not solely based upon just polling, but also on gut feelings about how the race is going in each state. Last week I was rather optimistic, but most of these calls have been proven to be realistic. I only had to shift a few states around from last week, some of it due to more-recent polling.
So here's my map for this week, as always provided by the folks at 270toWin, where you can easily make your own map if you disagree with any of my calls. Oh, one technical note before we start, I've added a new list of data at the very bottom of the data section (scroll all the way down to see it), where I identify not only the states which haven't had anything more than internet polling, but also the states which have not been polled at all in October, meaning their data might be somewhat stale.
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Likely States -- Clinton
Safe Clinton (21 states, 236 EV)
I moved two states out of the Safe column for Clinton this week, and moved two others in. Polling has weakened somewhat in both Michigan and Pennsylvania, so they both dropped to Probable Clinton for now. Wisconsin, however, strengthened for Clinton, so it moves up from Probable to Safe Clinton. But the biggest news for Clinton here was New Hampshire, which moves all the way up from Leans Clinton to Safe Clinton. New Hampshire was teetering on the edge, earlier in the race, but the last few weeks have pushed it strongly over into Clinton's column.
Probable Clinton (2 states, 36 EV)
Wisconsin had been the only state in Probable Clinton last week, and it moved up to Safe Clinton this time around. Michigan and Pennsylvania moved down to take its place. I was a little too optimistic about these two states last week, it seems.
Likely States -- Trump
Safe Trump (15 states, 87 EV)
No change this week. All of Trump's strongest states remained right where they were this week.
Probable Trump (5 states, 39 EV)
There was a lot of movement both in and out of the Probable Trump category, however. Three states (Indiana, Iowa, and South Carolina) moved up from Leans Trump this week. Indiana and Iowa showed stronger polling for Trump, but I have to admit I'm moving South Carolina on gut instinct alone. There hasn't been any polling from South Carolina for the past month, but I just don't think Clinton has a chance there. If she did, we'd be hearing a lot more about it in the news, and more polling would be happening. So at this point, I have to say it is Probable Trump. But while three states moved into this category, three others moved out. Texas and Utah can no longer be considered even Probable Trump, so they both moved down to Leans Trump this week. Even worse for Trump, Georgia moves all the way down to Too Close To Call. So while Indiana, Iowa, and South Carolina join Alaska and Missouri in Probable Trump, the number of EV in this category fell sharply with the loss of Texas.
Tossup States
Leans Clinton (3 states, 50 EV)
New Hampshire rose out of this category this week (all the way up to Safe Clinton), but the other three states remain unchanged. Polling for Clinton in Florida, Nevada, and North Carolina all remains positive, but not positive enough to say she's locked any of them up yet (although she does seem to be getting close to doing so in Nevada).
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Leans Trump (2 states plus one district, 45 EV)
This category turned completely over this week, as all three previous Leans Trump states (Indiana, Iowa, and South Carolina) all moved up to Probable Trump. Moving down to take their place were Texas and Utah. Utah will be a real three-way race, with fringe candidate Evan McMullin polling as high as the two major-party candidates in some polls. It's really anyone's guess what the outcome will be, but for now Trump still seems to be leading both Clinton and McMullin, so it has to be seen as leaning in his direction for the moment. Also, I'm moving that single district in Maine back to Leans Trump, as I dug out what polling exists for the north woods, and it all seemed pretty positive for Trump -- so it can't really be classified as Too Close To Call anymore.
Too Close To Call (3 states, 45 EV)
Arizona and Ohio stayed complete tossups this week, with Arizona flipping for one day to Trump then flipping back to Clinton, while Ohio went from Clinton to tied to Trump. Such frantic movement means it's impossible to predict precisely what will happen two weeks from now. I also had to add Georgia to the Too Close To Call category, as it swung even more between Trump and Clinton (and then back to Trump). While Ohio prides itself on being the swingiest of the swing states, who would have thought we'd be sitting here two weeks out wondering who is going to win Arizona and Georgia?
Final Tally
While a few states moved around within Hillary's Likely category (between Safe and Probable), none of them fell down to only Leans Clinton this week. And she added New Hampshire's 4 EV to the mix as well. Hillary's Safe state total fell from 258 EV down to 236 EV this week, as Michigan and Pennsylvania were replaced by Wisconsin and New Hampshire. Her Probable number jumped from 10 EV up to 36 EV, though, which means that she now has a total of 272 EV comfortably in her corner. Astute observers will have noticed that that is two more votes than she needs to win the race -- without counting any of the states leaning towards her and without any of the tossup states at all.
Donald Trump held onto his core base this week, retaining all 15 states in his Safe category. But the loss of Texas from his Probable category meant a net loss of 34 EV in this category. Utah and Georgia also moved out of being likely states for Trump, while Indiana, Iowa, and South Carolina moved in. But Texas has 38 EV, which left Trump with the same number of Likely states (Safe plus Probable) that he had last week -- 20 in all -- but with only 126 EV between them (down from 160 EV last week). This is less than half of what Clinton can count on, and it is far short of where it needs to be to have any realistic shot at victory. Trump has to pick up an enormous 144 EV from the states which are close to win the race. And that gap has been steadily growing, not shrinking, meaning Trump is moving in the wrong direction.
The gap between the two candidates (in their Likely column) continues to grow, as well. Clinton now has 146 EV more than Trump, when counting states that are reliably going to vote for either candidate. The trendlines are getting worse for Trump, and he's running out of days to do anything about it.
Eight states are in the Tossup grouping this week -- three for Clinton, two for Trump, and three that are truly Too Close To Call. As noted, Clinton already has enough EV in her Likely states to win, but if you add in the states leaning towards her, you get an even more impressive 322 EV victory. This is the same total as last week, in fact. If Trump picks up both states leaning his way, he improves to 171 EV, still almost 100 EV away from victory. Adding in all the Too Close To Call states only gives Trump 216 EV -- also unchanged from last week. What has changed is that even if Trump swept all his Lean states, all the Too Close To Call states, and Clinton's Lean states, he'd only have 266 EV -- four short of the goal.
There's only one thing that could save Trump now, and that is if public opinion shifted massively towards him because of the final debate. This doesn't seem very likely to happen, but you never know. Absent a major post-debate movement towards Trump, though, it looks like this election is pretty much over. Because the margin of victory is still so close for Clinton, though, I still cannot make the claim that she has locked the race up entirely (which, indeed, I was doing for Barack Obama, eight years ago). But she's pretty close to that point, and I really don't see that changing all that much in the next two weeks. The smart money now would be to bet on Clinton to win -- if anyone's even still offering odds on it, at this point.
[Electoral Vote Data:]
(State electoral votes are in parenthesis following each state's name. Washington D.C. is counted as a state, for a total of 51.)
Hillary Clinton Likely Easy Wins -- 23 States -- 272 Electoral Votes:
Safe States -- 21 States -- 236 Electoral Votes
California (55), Colorado (9), Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (20), Maine (3), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), Minnesota (10), New Hampshire (4), New Jersey (14), New Mexico (5), New York (29), Oregon (7), Rhode Island (4), Vermont (3), Virginia (13), Washington (12), Washington D.C. (3), Wisconsin (10)
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Probable States -- 2 States -- 36 Electoral Votes
Michigan (16), Pennsylvania (20)
Donald Trump Likely Easy Wins -- 20 States -- 126 Electoral Votes:
Safe States -- 15 States -- 87 Electoral Votes
Alabama (9), Arkansas (6), Idaho (4), Kansas (6), Kentucky (8), Louisiana (8), Mississippi (6), Montana (3), Nebraska (5), North Dakota (3), Oklahoma (7), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), West Virginia (5), Wyoming (3)
Probable States -- 5 States -- 39 Electoral Votes
Alaska (3), Indiana (11), Iowa (6), Missouri (10), South Carolina (9)
Tossup States -- 8 States -- 140 Electoral Votes:
Tossup States Leaning Clinton -- 3 States -- 50 Electoral Votes
Florida (29), Nevada (6), North Carolina (15)
Tossup States Leaning Trump -- 2 States (plus one district) -- 45 Electoral Votes
Maine (1), Texas (38), Utah (6)
Too Close To Call -- 3 States -- 45 Electoral Votes
Arizona (11), Georgia (16), Ohio (18)
Polling data weaknesses:
Unlike in 2008 and 2012, polling data does exist for all 51 states (adding in Washington D.C.). What follows are two lists of states: one where the polling data is rather suspect, since the only polls which have been conducted were all conducted only on the internet; and one where no data has been available during October. The internet-only list stayed the same this week, but we're adding the second list of states which have not yet been polled in October, to put their data in the proper perspective.
Internet-only polling (with dates last polled) -- 7 States
Alabama (9/1), Hawaii (9/1), Kentucky (9/1), Mississippi (9/1), South Dakota (9/1), Washington D.C. (5/31), West Virginia (9/1)
No polls since September (with dates last polled) -- 8 States
Arkansas (9/17), Connecticut (9/5), Delaware (9/28), Maryland (9/30), Nebraska (9/27), North Dakota (9/17), South Carolina (9/26), Wyoming (9/11)
-- Chris Weigant
Cross-posted at The Huffington Post
"He's overweight. If he doesn't care about himself, he doesn't care about his work." "She doesn't sound like she is from around here, how will she fit in?" "He's leaving early to pick up his kid again? He's not as committed to his career as I am." "I can't believe she isn't on Twitter. How can she keep up with our technology at the office if she can't even keep up with something every kid knows how to do?"
Hopefully, we never hear these things but, chances are someone may be thinking them. Nagging, judgmental voices, every day people judge and devalue their office colleagues, whether we say it out loud or simply think it.
But why do we think such things about our colleagues? Psychologist Joseph LeDoux notes that we make daily evaluations about others' appropriate or inappropriate characteristics based on physical, emotional or background attributes. It's not that we mean to be mean. Yet, we make assumptions about people, and those assumptions are not always appropriate.
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It is more than words and judgmental statements about others. Our devaluation of others extends to our emotional reactions to and behavioral treatment of them as well, and that includes stereotyping, dislike, exclusion or discriminatory treatment and can make the targeted person feel persecuted, ashamed, angry and despondent. Does this sound like a person who is going to produce great work?
Numerous studies have shown that devaluation can lead to turnover intentions, job dissatisfaction, poor performance appraisals; negative advancement opportunities, emotional conflict, social isolation, feelings of disrespect, and low self-esteem. We live and work in a time that supposedly values diversity and inclusion. However, there is ample evidence that workers often feel excluded and devalued by others and that leads to many negative outcomes.
If Only You Were More...
We most commonly judge others based on physical attributes. We not only perceive attractive and unattractive coworkers differently, or those of a different race or gender, we act on those perceptions in ways that are hurtful to people personally and professionally. Social psychologists and management academics have conducted research that show physical characteristics such as race gender age, physical unattractiveness, disability, chronic illness, speech impediments and weight cause devaluation in the workplace.
Julie Chen, co-host of The Talk, revealed that she underwent eyelid surgery early in her career after she was told that she would never sit on the anchor desk because she looked too Chinese. Chen's career was important to her, so she made the decision to change her looks. Her career took off, but she confessed, "I wondered, did I give in?"
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Unattractiveness often plays a role in the devaluation of others. A study published in Human Performance showed that unattractive people are more likely to be bullied at work. Researchers Timothy Judge and Brent Scott found that physical attractiveness plays at least as big a role in how a person is treated at work as personality. Even if an unattractive person is gregarious and open to new ideas, he or she is likely to be the subject of rude, uncivil and even cruel treatment by coworkers.
While most research has focused on the devaluation of individuals with easily identifiable physical characteristics, devaluation can be associated with any form of individual difference or diversity. Non-visible attributes also provoke devaluation in the workplace, too, including religion, education, sexual orientation, mental illness, substance abuse, long periods of unemployment, values and beliefs, and political affiliation. The less likely the characteristic is to be noticed, the less likely the person is to be devalued. No wonder people often hide such attributes to avoid discrimination or other negative responses. A Muslim female may not wear a hijab. A manager with diabetes may hide her daily insulin injections from her employees. A gay coworker might not display photos of his partner on his desk. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, while never denying he was gay, just recently felt comfortable publicly coming out. Cook hopes his announcement will help reduce discrimination against gays.
Sometimes, the workplace itself can foster devaluation, such as diminishing workers who seek flexible work arrangements. It may be an acceptable practice, even a popular and lauded one, yet employees who take advantage of flex time often feel penalized, such as being overlooked for promotions or not invited to important meetings. And it isn't confined to child-bearing women and parents, but also includes grown children caring for elderly parents, or employees requiring regular medical or dental attention over a long period of time. Which means it affects a large percentage of the workplace. Just look at articles such as The Stigma of a BlackBerry User, which highlights the "mockery and derision" aimed at people who use a BlackBerry in an era of iPhones and Androids.
Let's Just Stop This, Shall We: Simple Steps We Can Take Right Now.
We have the power to prevent or end devaluation in ourselves and others. There are several common forces at play when we judge others and there are steps we can take daily to mitigate them.
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1.Establish clear expectations of sensitivity and tolerance. Not only can we recognize the voices in our heads and thus work to deactivate those voices, we can act to prevent people from being devalued by developing practices that promote acceptance of differences in others and showing strong disapproval when others are devalued. Strong leaders set clear expectations for themselves and others to foster a culture of sensitivity and tolerance and one that minimizes devaluation. Promoting a culture that maintains professionalism, respect and high levels of emotional intelligence at all times can help employees work together without the negative effects of devaluation.
2.Raise awareness to your biases. We've long known that similarity makes people like and identify with each other. So, it is important to be aware of our bias or unconscious mindset against people who are different from us or who have a characteristic with which we don't overtly identify. As an example, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity commission found unconscious biases and perceptions about African Americans still play a significant role in employment decisions in the federal sector. Professor Judge notes: "If we recognize our biases and are more open and honest about their pervasiveness, we'll be in much better shape to combat the influence." When you hear that voice in your head judging others, notice it. Be aware of what you are thinking. Most people don't even realize they are thinking negatively about someone, which means they can't act to combat any resulting actions.
3.Look for the positive. Research on the neuroscience of happiness indicates that we more often think negative thoughts than positive ones. While your mind might jump to the negative about someone, you can redirect your thoughts in a more positive direction. It can be as easy as looking for something nice to say, and saying it. And, of course, heed common advice: If you can't find something nice to say, don't say anything at all.
4.Try to minimize stereotyping. We all use stereotypes to pigeonhole or typecast people, which forms a basis for our judgements, our words and subsequent behaviors. No one wants to be stereotyped. Stereotypes create negativity and block possibilities. So the next time you think about saying something funny about a blonde coworker, or a "stuffy" man in a suit, or an aging Baby Boomer, stop and recognize stereotypes and work to avoid it. Approach the person as just another person, someone whose interests may match your own, or who may need your advice, or who might turn out to be an interesting colleague or friend. Research suggestions that through practice, we can weaken our own mental links to negative stereotypes.
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As November 8 and the end of presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump nears, the political heat is rising. In a battle of extremely low standards, there is one element that seems to be playing a significant role on the final decision of the American people.
Past incidents from Trump's life--along with statements he made and allegations against him--helped shape a profile that can only be summarized as fundamentally misogynistic and sexist. This, especially when Trump's opponent is a woman, may be the determining factor in the final result. And we can, of course, consider Hillary Clinton having the de facto support of female American voters.
The truth is though, that the November 8, race may be close, contrary to the opinion polls results. And that's because Hillary has a lot of dirty deeds attributed to her, a lot of situations that upset public opinion and repel a lot of people from supporting her. These include mishandling classiffied information as Secretary of State, her close relations with certain financial interests, and support of the sex scandal-tarnished past of her husband and former U.S president. I dare say that Hillary Clinton is the only possible candidate which could potentially lose to such a bad opponent as Donald Trump.
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The Obamas may prove to be the most vital support for Hillary and the Democratic Party. After a successful eight-year Obama administration, the powerful couple is a significant ally for Clinton's race and especially Michelle Obama.
But let's examine what would happen in case of a Trump victory. Some may say there's little chance of this, yet it is still possible. What policies his administration would follow and what consequences these would have not only for U.S but for the rest of the world is as unpredictable as he is. Many of us, however, are certain of one thing: these will be disastrous on all levels.
Thinking ahead to four years from now, November 2020, and the next presidential elections to which a huge part of the electorate will obviously pin their hopes and await to see the defeat of Donald Trump who, four years earlier, had beat Hillary Clinton. At that time, millions of people will await the end of a catastrophic four-year Trump administration. Who will be the right candidate to take him down?
Only one name comes to mind: Michelle Obama.
The First Lady has everything necessary. Indisputable moral values. An untarnished image as a mother and a wife that she's not afraid to step outside the box and play with the urban rules. Also an important factor is that she seems so approachable to the ordinary person. And, of course, she will have at her side a man who, in the years to come, will be recognized as one of of the greatest American presidents of all time. Let's talk a bit about this.
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During the eight years of the Obama administration, unemployment has dropped to the lowest levels since the Great Crash of 1929. Barack Obama managed to reduce the number of homeless people in U.S. by about 20 per cent and finally offered social secure services for the weaker citizens. He also managed to close the gap between upper and middle classes. Moreover, in foreign policy, he managed to resolve diplomatic issues that had been pending for years (Cuba, Iran). This and much more are making Trump's motto "Make America Great Again" sounds like the biggest lie.
Returning to Michelle Obama and the scenario that I am outlining, her strongest argument will be the continuation of her husband's legacy. Of course, anyone can understand that she will have the de facto support of certain social groups as the Afro-American community and women. But most of all, she will have something that Hillary lacks: reliability and trustworthiness.
CALAIS, FRANCE -A OCTOBER 25: French security officers are seen after some refugees have set fire to their homes so as not to let the authorities destroy them in'Calais jungle' near Calais, France, an informal place of temporary refugee settlement near the route to the United Kingdom, where many inhabitants seek to continue their lives, on October 25, 2016. The camp has been demolished by the French authorities under heavy police protection. Workers are presently destroying temporary shelters inside a perimeter guarded by police. (Photo by NnoMan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
The President of the French Republic promised that the dismantling of the eerily-named "jungle" of Calais would happen. And so, on Monday morning, the evacuation began. Even if we can rejoice in the fact that for once, the president delivered on his word, the fact remains that this latest development raises many questions.
First of all, there's the communication plan: Nearly 700 journalists were accredited for the event. That's a ratio of one journalist to every two families. It doesn't get more cynical than that. By allowing such media density, the government has created a "Big Brother" of misery, where we can watch, with voyeurism, the trajectory of migrants and refugees who have fled horror to find themselves faced with the unknown. There are as many routes as there are vagabonds of war.
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If the president and the government had set to work sooner, thinking about more than just the next election, the situation would have been settled differently.
The humanitarian situation had become a dire concern of the highest priority. In that sense, the dismantling of the "jungle" is a good thing. But one must wonder how in France, the land of human rights, such a place could have thrived for so long.
Now dispersed throughout 450 reception centers, the migrants can escape the dreaded criminal networks that have profited off of their weakness for a shameful business. But for how long? Will there be another "jungle"? Another Calais? Probably, since the management of the entire affair has been so short-sighted.
It would have been more sensible to propose a system of municipal-level voluntary homes, connecting local officials via large national associations. These latest orders are symbolic of a fictitious public power that has grown desperate: they are symbolic of the government's inability to negotiate, preferring to avoid trades and proposals.
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The government's imposition may again stoke fears of immigrants and embolden the extreme right.
Obviously it would have taken more time, and such negotiations would have been difficult, but if the president and the government had set to work sooner, thinking about more than just the next election, the situation would have been settled differently. Moreover, French people would have been more involved in the decisions -- decisions that are not at all trivial. The government's imposition may again stoke fears of immigrants and embolden the extreme right. Mayors are left with no choice but to reassure their people.
Moreover, once the dismantling of the jungle is complete, the government will have to assume a clearer political line on immigration, otherwise the situation will not be sustainable. This critical issue can't be left in the fog. Specifically, asylum seekers who are eligible for permanent homes will be welcome in France, while all others will be returned without delay to their countries of origin. Priority will be given to refugees from the Syria-Iraq zone, unless they prefer to join Britain, in which case new border negotiations should be conducted, particularly now with a legitimate Brexit. This is the only way to ensure a migration policy that will be understood by the French and manageable by France.
However, special attention should be paid to unaccompanied minors. It is of course unthinkable that we would not protect the most vulnerable, namely children. Nevertheless, the government has left the departments to fend for themselves on that subject. But the departmental councils don't have the means to enact any effective public policies. They have neither the money nor the control they need to protect these minors, and it is endangering the country's entire child protection regime.
France undoubtedly has a moral duty to welcome these distressed, uprooted people, but this effort must be shared in a fair and equitable proportionality with all our European partners. The European Union can not fail to face the challenges posed by migration, otherwise its credibility and even its survival will be threatened. But France has lost considerable diplomatic power in recent years. Not just on immigration, but on agriculture and the economy as well. France has become sluggish, enclosed in a staggering silence. We have gone from being a founding member to a mere European observer. But we cannot resign ourselves to this gradual disintegration. The next president of the republic must restore a strong foundation to uphold our interests and help us shine once again in Europe.
Calais is a real commando operation of the French government. More than the dismantling, the outcome of this operation will reveal its fundamental elements. Unfortunately, we cannot expect anything more of leaders whose sole trademarks are improvisation and chaos.
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Parenting is a balancing act. We don't want our children to think of us as tyrants, nor do we want to be so permissive that we allow them to get into trouble, like Regina George's mom on Mean Girls.
Image via MTV
And there's no balancing act more difficult and nuanced than knowing how to handle our children's use of technology. As a mother of two teenagers, I deal with this struggle constantly.
On one hand, movies like Cyberbully make me want to never let my kids touch a computer, and ceremoniously burn their smartphones.
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On the other hand, who am I to tell them how to use the internet? After all, they grew up with it -- I didn't. In fact, sometimes they impress me so much with their tech savvy that I feel like they should be putting parental controls on me . . .
I'm not the only parent who's faced this dilemma. Technology writer and speaker (and mother of two) Alexandra Samuel has faced the same battle with her kids.
Samuel noticed that her friends and peers seemed to have very different attitudes about their kids' use of technology. Some were very restrictive, and others were very lenient -- but all of them were confident that their way was the best.
So, determined to find out which way was truly the best, Samuel conducted a survey of over 10,000 parents about their kids' technology use. She'll be giving a talk about her results during her presentation at INBOUND, hosted in Boston from November 8 - 11 by HubSpot, but here's the gist of what she found.
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When it comes to monitoring and patrolling their kids' use of computers and smartphones, there are three main types of parents:
1. Enablers: These parents take a laissez-faire attitude towards their children's use of technology. They take their cues from how they see other families use technology, and don't intervene much in what their kids do online.
2. Limiters: In contrast to enablers, limiters try to minimize their kids' use of technology. Worrying about the impact of technology on their children's brains and social development, they try to minimize or even eliminate their use of phones and computers.
3. Mentors: A happy medium between enablers and limiters, mentors set limits on their children's use of technology, but with the goal of guiding, rather than minimizing. These parents try to work together with their children to help them become effective users of technology.
So: which is the best? "There are a range of indicators -- which kids get into more trouble, which kids end up being more compulsive in their use of technology -- which suggest that the mentorship approach seems to work best," Samuel reports.
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She also notes that the mentorship approach is the most stable: whereas enablers tend to be parents of teenagers, and limiters tend to be parents of younger children, mentors maintain their role as providers of guidance throughout the entire trajectory of their children's growth.
Ultimately, according to Samuel, mentoring our children's use of technology is helpful in multiple ways. Not only can we help them build hard, technical skills -- children of mentors are more likely to have a blog and know how to code -- but we can also help them with "soft skills," such as understanding what it means to be respectful online. (After all, nobody wants to raise a cyberbully!)
Misplacing or losing your iPhone is the worst, but there are ways to find it even when the power's off.
As Islamic State fighters advanced on her village two years ago, Alima decided it was time to leave. Pausing only to grab her identity papers, she fled along with her family and neighbors. She had lived in her home, near Mosul in northern Iraq, since 1944.
When Iraqi forces recently pushed Islamic State fighters out of her village, Alima went back. But when she entered her house, she found it ransacked and occupied by soldiers, who told her to go. "It is hard to live 70 years in a place and then someone says 'this place does not belong to you anymore,'" she says.
Alima is one of 3.4 million Iraqis who have been chased out of their homes since the start of 2014. Thousands more are at risk now the military operation to retake the city of Mosul has begun. Families often leave with little more than what they can carry, expecting to return in a few days or weeks. But wars can stretch on for years, and once they end there is often little left but rubble.
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For the world's 40.8 million internally displaced, like Alima, made homeless within their country's borders by war and persecution, the average period of displacement is 23 years. Many never manage to return home.
The media often reports on the issue from temporary camps, against a backdrop of makeshift tents and soup kitchens. But most refugees and internally displaced people don't live in refugee camps. They tend to live in urban areas; the towns and cities of middle-income countries like Jordan, Turkey and Kenya, which border warzones.
The root cause of today's unprecedented crisis -- the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes is at its highest level today than since the end of the Second World War -- is conflict. And many of these conflicts, raging in places such as Syria, Somalia and Libya, appear intractable, at least in the short term.
Although it may not be possible to bring an end to such wars, there are practical measures that can be implemented to help people, like Alima, who have been forced from their homes.
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The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which has been responding to the world's worst humanitarian crises since 1933 and currently operates in 40 countries, finds that one of the most effective ways to help those displaced by violence and conflict get back on their feet is cash relief.
Cash relief is similar to relief goods like food or blankets, except provided in the form of money so refugees can purchase the things they need most urgently. Funds are often transferred onto a debit card or paid out by a bank, allowing refugees the freedom to decide what to spend the money on.
Overwhelming evidence shows that emergency cash relief transfers can reach people in need faster and at lower cost than other forms of emergency assistance, such as food or clothing.
FANNE ANKACHI 50, SHOWS THE PHONE SHE USED TO RECEIVE UNCONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFERS FROM THE IRC IN WALLADE III, FAR NORTH CAMEROON. TYLER JUMP/IRC
What is more, when people have the power to make choices for themselves, they have improved health, their children receive a better education, they are safer, and they are better able to focus on their long-term wellbeing. Cash relief also affords people dignity and respect, allowing them to make their own choices about their lives.
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Alima's family first received a one-off payment of $360 in emergency cash from the IRC. The initial amount was followed by $270 for two more months to help the family settle. Alima and her daughter, Sara, collected the funds from local money transfer agents. The IRC provides emergency cash relief without conditions on how or where recipients spend it, which means that households can use the money on whatever they need most.
Alima used IRC cash relief to repair the electricity in the house in which she and her family now live, in a part of Northern Iraq free from the Islamic State. The money also helped pay for members of her family to visit a doctor.
A 2014 IRC study of cash transfers to 87,700 refugees in Lebanon found that cash relief enabled households to meet the needs they prioritized most, reduced negative coping strategies such as child labor and improved access to schooling for children. Additionally, each dollar of cash assistance spent by beneficiaries generated $2.13 of GDP for the Lebanese economy. Researchers found no evidence beneficiaries wasted their cash on vices.
Cash relief isn't a panacea for the world's refugee crisis. In war zones, traditional forms of emergency aid continue to play a crucial role in helping fleeing civilians. But cash relief is one of the best ways to help the millions of long-term refugees and internally displaced people with few prospects of returning home. It also helps them to integrate into their new communities, and supports the economies of host countries.
Over the next five years, the IRC is committed to delivering 25% of its humanitarian assistance through cash relief, up from 6% in 2015. The IRC also plans to have active cash transfer programs in 75% of its country offices.
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Recent L.A. cultural news and events bring to mind the lovely, tongue-in-cheek expression that "one can never be too rich or too thin", to which I would like to add that "one can never have too many museums" either. Here's what I mean. Since I came to L.A. three decades ago, the number of museums here has doubled, if not tripled, and still continues to grow.
The Broad Museum, which opened in downtown last year, is proudly celebrating its first birthday. And proud it should be. Every time I'm passing by, I see a long line of visitors waiting for admission. Initially, the annual attendance was expected to be at about 300,000 people, but at the end of its first year, the actual number is three times higher.
There is no doubt that free admission is an important factor in the Broad Museum's popularity. But add to that its public-friendly hours, when on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, it's open until 8pm. No other museum in L.A. has such friendly hours -- with the exception of the Hammer, which is also free and open late not three, but four days a week.
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Last year, the Petersen Automotive Museum went through a dramatic overhaul. Its new facade of silver metal ribbons over red-colored walls is impossible to ignore -- especially at night, when it reminds me of the flow of red and white lights on a busy freeway. The new exhibition there, "the Art of Bugatti", is focused on a particular brand of exquisitely designed luxury cars, the type you won't see parked very often, even on Rodeo Drive.
These cars are not just gorgeous creatures; they have plenty of personality. Take a look at some photos I shot at the exhibition's opening. In Sunset Boulevard Norma Desmond famously said, "We had faces!" Looking at these Bugattis, one wants to say that yes, these cars do have faces. The exhibition also introduces visitors to three generations of the Bugatti family and their works as sculptors, painters, and decorative artists.
The new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which will be across from the Petersen, was initially scheduled to open in 2017, but now it has been moved to 2018. So, in a little bit more than a year, the gigantic glass sphere of this museum, designed by Renzo Piano, will greet its first visitors. The Miracle Mile along Wilshire Blvd. will become even more glamorous... But wait. There is another museum scheduled to open next year on Wilshire Blvd., just a couple of miles east. Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation will move into the 100,000-square-foot former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, which is undergoing renovations by L.A.-based architectural firm wHY.
And here's something particularly close to my heart, and hopefully to yours as well. The former Santa Monica Museum of Art, which closed its headquarters at Bergamot Station last year, has renamed itself the Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles -- ICA LA, for short. Lucky for the museum, its new eye-catching logo was designed by Mark Bradford, one of the best-known L.A. artists. Next year, the Institute of Contemporary Art will open in downtown L.A. on East 7th Street, in a former textile manufacturing plant which will be redesigned by L.A. architect Kulapat Yantrasast and his firm wHY Architecture -- the same firm responsible for turning the Masonic Temple into a public museum. Can you think of any other American city where new museums pop up one after another, like they do here in L.A.?
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To learn about Edward's Fine Art of Art Collecting Classes, please visit his website. You can also read The New York Times article about his classes here, or an Artillery Magazine article about Edward and his classes here.
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It's been almost two years since I wrote an "Open Invitation to Lisa Ling and CNN." Interestingly enough, one of the people I wrote about in my "letter," contacted me about six months ago after he read my blog post, and we have spoken every day since.
In the documentary that CNN/Ling did about the "Supersmart Sperm Bank," (called "The Repository for Germinal Choice"), she located parents who used this bank for various reasons. Whether they went to this particular bank because they were highly intelligent but experiencing difficulties having children of their own, and wanted to "stack the deck in their child's favor," or because it was an inexpensive alternative to other facilities... the reasons ran the gamut. Ling especially wanted to meet the now, 30-ish year old kids who were born from this particular sperm bank simply because she was curious what it meant for kids to be highly gifted.
Covering only parts of how corrupt that sperm bank was, in general, she went on to document where they ended up and what they're doing today. As I mentioned in my previous blog post about this, there were certainly some mastermind pianists, athletes, and businessmen/women. There was also a "roofer," a now-adult with hardly-functioning Autism disabilities, and a few other brief mentions about some different unanswered questions the progeny had - like wondering "where did I come from."
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My blog post raised the point of the difficult demands of gifted children, which I called "the darker side of giftedness." My hope was for Ling to do a follow up documentary about how being "smart" isn't an easy "problem to have" and it certainly doesn't stack the deck in your favor if you happen to have a high IQ or come from "intelligent" lineage.
When I first got the message from "Tom," I was confused. He said "I'm the roofer from the sperm bank and your daughter reminds me, of me." Most people in my position would never respond, possibly picturing their worst horror film whilst deleting their social media accounts and changing phone numbers- but I had a gut feeling that we had things to chat about. He responded to an article I wrote two years ago, I bravely replied, and now we talk daily.
"Tom" told me his real name, and all the reasons why he used an alias. That's not what this post is about, though. Nick Isel, the "alias Tom," has been an invaluable resource for me regarding my kids, and we have started other projects together as well.
Because Nick is a brilliant progeny from the Repository of Germinal Choice... Our main project at this moment, is getting the FDA to regulate sperm banks more carefully so these kids of donors can find out who they are, in short. Those of us who were born in a more "traditional way" can pick up the phone and call mom or dad to find out if a heart problem or mental illness runs in the family.
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Nick didn't find out who he was until he was sixteen ... and that was seven years too late for him to access his records. Currently the FDA only requires sperm banks to keep records for ten years, and of course there are disclaimers galore, like in the event of a fire, sorry... records are gone. Good luck to you and yours.
No doubt, Nick is brilliant. Sometimes on the phone I find myself searching far and wide in my mind for the largest vocabulary I can retrieve and keep up with his knowledge on pretty much everything. It's a lost cause for me, but one thing that isn't, is our passion for helping children with budding or already existing mental illnesses, which, I had a hunch that there might a connection with profoundly high IQ's ... these children grow up to be adults. In our communities. Some cases are simple, and some aren't. SO many criminals are brilliant. Many comedians, authors, artists and countless other occupations are held by mentally unstable people who may eventually lose in their struggle and either take their lives, or take the lives of others.
It always baffles me when people are "surprised," that someone who seems so happy and funny, or artistic and successful, could be DEPRESSED. Oftentimes these successful creatives are brilliant, and simply don't know how to cope. This is a huge loss in many ways - and since most government officials only look at "the bottom line," then sure, we can talk money.
If you've ever calculated the cost of NOT helping people with mental illness, well... it's shocking. According to the USA Today, in an article called "The Cost of Not Caring," the most direct costs to our country were estimated, on the low side, at $444 BILLION per year, due mainly to loss of productivity and paying disability, instead of just supporting these people with the help they need. Getting mental help in this country is difficult even for the super-successful. Imagine the "regular" person walking around struggling on a daily basis. This article also cites that 90% of all suicides relate back to mental illness.
"We have replaced the hospital bed with the jail cell, the homeless shelter with the coffin."
So how does this all relate back to Nick Isel, and my article on the Supersmart Sperm Bank?
Viatcheslav Wlassoff, PhD, explains it pretty well in an article titled, "The positive association between high IQ and depression and other mental disorders."
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The fascination with genius and an obsession with finding a positive link between high intellectual potential and depression and other mental disorders dates back to the time of Hippocrates in the 4th century B.C. Sigmund Freud explored the idea and modern-day researchers have expanded on it. In a study on children with IQ levels above 130 -- regarded as superior to very superior intelligence -- researchers found that 65 percent of the subjects had major depressive disorder.
Several studies attempt to correlate the occurrence of depression in gifted individuals with the peculiar mental makeup that stems from their high levels of intelligence. People with high IQ tend to have fertile inner lives where they recreate the world to fit their dreams and preferences. They also have more intensified and enduring reactions to stimuli than their less-gifted counterparts. This means that when reality clashes with their perception of what is "real," they feel at a loss and are unable to cope.
There are many problems our country needs to fix with regards to mental illness. Detecting it early in children and getting people support is the very least we should be doing. Also, helping people understand that what they're struggling with in this particular situation, is most oftentimes, not their fault. Whether we need better training for schoolteachers to show them that this is a real issue, or scientists need to go back to their labs and study each "spoke in the wheel of life" on federal and state levels, Nick and I get that it's a daunting task. It's also a situation that has personally affected both of us in different ways.
With regards to sperm banks, however, the problem we need to fix right now is the FDA's record retention laws:
Currently, the FDA requires ten years of maintenance for record retention as an effort to stop the spread of communicable diseases. While not traditionally accepted as a "communicable disease," Autism, Down Syndrom, and certainly mental illness, could be mitigated by, and increase help for these progeny of sperm banks.
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Nick and I think Fifty years is a reasonable request for the FDA's future regulations of sperm bank record retention, and if I were a parent seeking "super smart" sperm, I would want my future child to have all the knowledge and empowerment available to help them to be a happy and productive member of society. I would support that number. You would think the government would want that as well, simply considering the loss of these people's potential productivity in dollars alone - since that's usually what federal officials, schools and regulators pay the most attention to.
One way you can support this before we meet with the FDA in the Spring of 2017, is by signing this petition. And if I've successfully sparked your curiosity about Nick Isel... he can be seen in a Canadian documentary coming out in the next six months covering these topics and more.
He's also been written about by Harvard Professor David Plotz, in a book called "The Genius Factory," and has been the subject of many studies regarding IQ and sperm bank progeny.
I received my master's degree in "Byzantine" history and during my studies I never questioned the legitimacy of "Byzantine" in describing or distorting the history of the Greeks after their forced conversion to Christianity in the fourth century of our era. Greece had been a Roman province since 146 BCE.
Emperor Constantine, for reasons unfathomable to this day, dumped the many gods Greco-Roman civilization for the one Jewish-Christian god. He triggered that civilization earthquake in his new capital, Constantinople, now Istanbul.
But neither Constantine, later emperors, nor Christian Greeks and Christian Romans would imagine their empire was Byzantium or that they were Byzantines. They considered themselves Roman.
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I prefer Medieval Greece to Eastern Roman Empire because, starting in the seventh century, most emperors were Greek and the language of the state was Greek. This Medieval Greece included the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire: Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Asia Minor and Italy. It lasted for more than 1,000 years.
The conquest of Medieval Greece by the Turks in 1453 was a result of centuries-long enslaving of the peasants, the loss of young men to monasteries, the abandonment of national armies for mercenaries, and the hostility between Greek East and Latin West. In 1054, the Eastern and Western Christian churches excommunicated each other. This civilization schism was followed by the fourth crusade. In 1204, Venetians, Germans and French sacked Constantinople, slaughtered its residents for days, burned its libraries, and dismembered Greece.
The Greeks recaptured Constantinople in 1261 but they remained vulnerable to powerful enemies. The Europeans exploited them. This was ideal for the Turks. They stepped into the power vacuum the Westerners had created in Medieval Greece.
There was a silver lining to the fall of Medieval Greece. Its scholars rushed to Padua, Venice and other great cities of the West. They carried with them the culture of ancient Greece. They translated into Latin key Greek scientific and philosophical texts, which triggered the Renaissance.
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A few European scholars also saw the value of editing Medieval Greek texts, thus inaugurating the study of Medieval Greek civilization. One of those scholars was Hieronymus Wolf, a sixteenth-century German intellectual who edited Medieval Greek historians. Wolf coined the term Byzantium for the Eastern Roman Empire. He and other European scholars thought "Greek" ought to be reserved for ancient Greece. As for "Roman," it was out of the question since the West had its own Roman emperors.
Wolf's "Byzantium" triumphed in the scholarly community, at great cost to the integrity and understanding of Medieval Greek history and culture. Few people understand that under "Byzantium" there are centuries of Greek history, not ancient Greek history, but Christian Greek history, which is Greek history nevertheless. "Byzantium" and "Byzantine" obscure the contributions of Medieval Greece to this very day.
"A Short History of the Byzantine Empire" (I. B. Tauris, 2015) by Dionysios Stathakopoulos demystifies Medieval Greek history. The author, lecturer at King's College London, is an experienced teacher who realizes the pitfalls of standing by a misleading name, Byzantium. But he works for a discipline that holds tight reign on history.
Nevertheless, this short history is, as he says, "a straightforward and sober account" unfolding in the context of European and Middle Eastern Middle Ages. It highlights the political, economic, agricultural and intellectual developments of a complex and lasting civilization. It is a riveting and important story.
Its narrative throws light on the effects of Christianization: "a constant but also gradually intensifying set of prohibitions and exclusions: withdrawal of imperial support for pagan cults, stripping temples of property, bans on sacrifice, first in public, then also in private, closure of temples to any ritual actions.... There were bouts of violence... between Christians and pagans... in 415, the brutal lynching of the philosopher and mathematician Hypatia by a Christian mob in Alexandria."
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The beneficiaries of Christianization were the emperors, a landowning elite that enslaved the peasants, and the clergy. To their absolute power, the emperors added Jesus as their coequal. The church acquired enormous wealth and power. In fact, the church became the largest landowner, a condition it still has in modern Greece. Christianity created a grand edifice of monasteries, churches, palaces, landed estates, and high officials acting like princes.
The sixth century was especially harsh on the losers, the pagans. Emperor Justinian terrorized them. In 529, he shut down the Platonic Academy of Athens, which for about 900 years was the greatest university of Greece.
The seventh century was an era of perpetual warfare, massacres of Christians, massive refugee migrations, plagues, political and religious instability, suppression of pagans, depopulation, and fear of the coming of the end of the world.
Christian Greeks saw Islam as an avenging sword for their sins. In fact, Islam became an existential threat to Medieval Greece. It was full of holy wars, conquering Palestine, Syria and Egypt, about two-thirds of Greek territories.
Stathakopoulos says Islam triumphed because it divided the world into the Muslim faithful, House of Islam, and unbelievers, House of War. Muslims made holy war, jihad, against non-Muslims their chief priority and duty. Islam's vision then, as it is today, is to convert all non-Muslims to Muslims.
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Stathakopoulos emphasizes that despite the anti-pagan policies of church and state, they made room for the survival of important Greek texts by agreeing they become required school textbooks. These texts later fuelled and boosted science and civilization in the West.
Medieval Greece protected Europe from the Turkish menace for centuries; Medieval Greece civilized Russia and Eastern Europe.
These are great achievements that shaped Western civilization. In fact, they continue to influence our lives. Present tension between East and West has its origins in Medieval Greece that refused to side with East or West.
Former Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Monsignor Emil Paul Tscherrig on Monday. EFE
More information La intervencion del Papa abre la via del dialogo en Venezuela
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and members of his government are to meet with the countrys opposition forces later this month as both sides endeavor to end a worsening political and economic crisis under the auspices of international mediators that include Vatican envoys.
The dialogue has begun said Emil Paul Tscherrig, the Vatican representative dispatched by Pope Francis to try to bring the two camps closer together, after meeting with Venezuelas opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
The talks will take place on Margarita Island on October 30 under the auspices of the Vatican and the Union of South American Nations, said the Apostolic Nuncio to Argentina, announcing the negotiations. Their aim will be to promote a mechanism for peaceful coexistence, he said.
Tscherrig, who refused to take questions on the upcoming talks, said their structure would be based on the plans drawn up by the former presidents involved in the process: former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and the former presidents of Pamana and the Dominican Republic, Martin Torrijos and Leonel Fernandez respectively.
The announcement by the Popes representative came in the wake of news of a surprise visit to Pope Francis by Maduro who visited the Vatican after a whistle-stop tour of the Middle Easts oil capitals.
Opposition forces have kept silent on what impact they think the talks will have
During the private audience with Maduro, the pontiff urged both parties to show courage in pursuing the path of sincere and constructive dialogue, to alleviate the suffering of the people, particularly of the poor, and to promote renewed social cohesion, which will allow the nation to look to the future with hope, said the Vatican in a statement.
However, with Venezuela embroiled in a severe political crisis, it remains to be seen what the Vatican will be able to achieve.
Opposition forces, who are in the majority in Venezuelas Congress, and who accuse Maduro of driving the once-prosperous oil nation into political and economic ruin, have scheduled a session on Tuesday in which they will look at the constitutional status of President Nicolas Maduro as they eye possible impeachment procedures against him.
The pressure is mounting on Maduro after the National Electoral Council (CNE) decided to indefinitely suspend the recall referendum against Maduro that the opposition has been organizing.
In Parliament on Sunday, the opposition called this suspension a coup detat and a break with the constitutional order. It accused the government of placing constant hurdles in the path of a recall vote that is encoded as a right in the Venezuelan Constitution. Angry pro-government protesters then responded by storming the parliament in a bid to disrupt the session.
The Vatican says the goal of the talks is to promote a mechanism for peaceful coexistence
To date, opposition forces have made no public declarations as to what impact Papal intervention might have on Venezuela in terms of Tuesdays parliamentary session or a series of street protests planned for this week.
But in what could be read as a coded message to more radical elements of the opposition, MUD secretary general Jesus Torrealba said: Dialogue is a space for all Venezuelans who are looking for a peaceful solution to the situation.
English version by George Mills.
I'm Fred Raillard, Creative CEO, Co-founder and Creative Chief Officer with Farid Mokart of FRED & FARID, a social, content, tech solutions for brands company based in New York, Paris and Shanghai. #FredinChina is an essential social media podcast to know and understand the world's largest economy.
I fell in love with China, and live in Shanghai with my wife and three sons since September 2012. With my teams at the FRED & FARID Shanghai agency we monitor, analyze and decrypt this ultra-connected China with nearly 800 million netizens by sharing what we see, hear and read on Weibo, WeChat, Huaban, Youku. I prepare this column with Zhuomin Qin from FRED & FARID Shanghai.
Thanks to Zhuomin Qin, Feng Huang, Jalila Levesque, Jules Chaffiotte, Radouane Guissi, Yi Zhang, Ying Zhang, Aliou Maro, Tina Liu, Louis Caudevilla, Dushan Karageorgevitch, Jing Qian, Jonathan Roy, Maxime Aubanel and Antoine Robin for their participation to this chronic.
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Click here to listen to all the podcasts.
Alibaba wants to go for youth and technological revolution in commerce
The HotBrand this week is 'Alibaba'. There was a very important speech made by founder Jack Ma on October 13th, about the technological revolution in commerce. The first thing he said was that e-commerce was not killing traditional commerce, and that they are both complimentary. He went on to insist that in the future, all innovation would come from young people under the age of 30. So every Government should do everything possible to support and promote companies with young people. He then said that this notion of e-commerce was dead, which is just amazing as he is the leader of e-commerce!
He went on to say that Alibaba would not use this notion anymore, and that people need to understand 5 things:
1. New retail: all offline companies have to go online, and all online companies should go offline and use big data.
2. New production: for years people were manufacturing and standardizing products. This is dead now, as we are entering an era of ultra-personalization and customization of products. We are moving from 'B to C', to 'C to B'. He pushed this very far by saying that consumers today are like Gods, and everything should be about those new consumers.
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3. New finance: the old system is dying, and new finance will bring a fairer system to young people. By leveraging big data and the Internet, people will find new ways to finance their projects. A new credit system will be born on a global level, so entrepreneurs will be able to finance their projects without going through the traditional banking system.
4. New technology: old PC chip sets will be replaced by mobile chip sets, and the old operating systems will be replaced by mobile operating systems using Artificial Intelligence.
5. Big data: this is replacing oil, petroleum and coal.
These were all very strong points of view from Jack Ma, who is presenting himself as a great visionary of China and this new world.
China to dominate space within 10 years
The HotTopic this week is 'Shenzhou 11', which made 600 million views and 200,000 media impressions.
So it's about the launch of this new rocket on October 17th, with two Chinese Astronauts inside. These two guys are going to a space station, which arrived in space on September 15th., and will stay there for a month. This is enormous, and is actually double the amount of time they spent on their previous mission.
The event was naturally followed by the whole of China, and broadcasted on all types of channels and social media platforms Although we have talked more about Elon Musk's space conquest recently, a lot of Chinese pride was felt by everyone, and the Chinese were happy to see that their Government and Institutions were also working on sending people to space.
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Now the two astronauts will stay in space for one month, working on installing new pieces into the orbital station. More new pieces will be sent in 2018, and the station will be completed in 2022.
There was a lot if discussion on the Internet, and two things were very funny. First there was a comparison between the Chinese engineers for the same mission in 2003 who were all old men in suits. The Chinese people were very proud that this time, the picture featured young engineers who are the face of modern China. Secondly, there was a bit of criticism from young people about the design of the Chinese NASA, which is called CASIC (China Aerospace Science Industry Corporation). Lots of young Chinese asked for CASIC to hire NASA to do the art direction! Thus is something that we are seeing more often, with young Chinese demanding a better design and branding of their institutions.
Chinese millennials expect their institutions to be more creative in branding and design
The HotPost this week is about the design of the Nobel Prize. Young people in China noticed that the design of all their diplomas is still very traditional, full of red and gold. This week, young Chinese people discovered the design of the Nobel Prize, which is very inspiring. They were stunned by the creativity and artistry of the design. For the Physics prize in 2014, you have this kind of drawing inspired by DNA cells. In 2013 there was an old engraving with an interesting filter, and for Literature in 2012, there was an abstract painting with blue, gold and white. So the Chinese just realized that diploma designs don't need to be boring. Overall, we are also seeing that the young in China expect their institutions to make an effort in branding and design.
I recently read an account of one man's experience with Southwest Airlines. His daughter had recently flown home from college on the airline for a holiday visit. When she arrived at the terminal and went to collect her checked luggage from the luggage carousel, she discovered that the handle of her bag had been damaged. The father took the bag to customer service. Within a minute or two, a friendly agent was helping him. The agent offered a choice. Southwest would either reimburse the cost of repairing the luggage or replace the suitcase. After choosing the latter option, the man was led to a room filled with luggage and allowed to select a comparable suitcase. The man signed a receipt for the replacement and the transaction was done.
In contrast, similar experiences during the man's 30 years of travel had been a far cry from the hassle-free exchange with Southwest. He had encountered employees who were apathetic, simply going through the motions of having him fill out the paperwork to get reimbursement for the repairs. The man was so impressed by the customer experience with Southwest that he praised it in an article in a major national publication.
A quick search on Google will turn up many accounts of customers touting great experiences with Southwest, which exemplifies what has become known as the experience economy. The notion is that companies no longer win simply by providing great products or services. Competitive differentiation - and customer happiness - is all about giving customers a great experience with a company. Providing that superior experience takes people. People either make or break the experience.
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Each action reflects on your company
As you would expect, I think about the role of people in customer experience a lot. In my job at SAS, I get to do some pretty cool things. One of the most important things I do is think of ways to make our customers happier or how to get better at supporting them.
I've come to the conclusion that customer experience is the sum total of all the individual actions of each and every employee. We're all connected to one another more today than we've ever been. Our actions influence, and even change, the experience of everyone we come in contact with. For example, the attitude of the Southwest customer service employee mattered a lot when it came to giving the man and his daughter an amazing experience. The way one employee treated the man influenced, and likely even changed, his perception of the entire company.
So, if I'm running a company, an important question I have to ask is, what is the frame of mind of my employees? When someone answers a phone call, sends an email or ships a product, what do their actions say about the company? It's on me to make sure the workplace supports employees and gives them the leeway to delight my customers. Otherwise, they will pass their frustration through to customers. In the experience economy, that's bad business.
As employees, we need to remember that we are a physical representation of the company. We might as well wear a T-shirt every day proclaiming, "I am Company X." The daily contact we have with a customer, no matter how small, could be pivotal. One action by one person could be the very thing that causes a customer to think that the company is either great to work with or one to avoid.
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Take my experience with a company I'd frequented for years. I'm still smarting from one particular encounter - my last with that company. I'm a "diamond member" at a hotel chain that shall go unnamed. I was an extremely loyal customer that used to rack up 50 to 60 stays a year. In this instance, I'd had a stay booked, but my travel plans changed on the day of my arrival.
When I called to ask about canceling, the hotel reservationist read me the policy: "No cancellations within 24 hours." It didn't matter how I pleaded my case or that I had 50 stays on record. And that diamond status? Worthless. I gave the employee every chance, even asked if a supervisor or manager might be able to help. The unapologetic answer was: no cancellations, no exceptions. Period.
The issue was likely a combination of a management style that failed to empower the employee to make a judgment call about this particular situation, and an employee with an unhelpful mindset as a result. Regardless, the upshot was that I paid the hotel bill for that night. And the hotel probably turned around and sold it again. But that one encounter cost the hotel chain the 50 stays I would have booked each and every year in the future - not to mention my referrals.
Golden rule
The scary thing is, you might have that kind of impact and not even know it. Most companies have several streams of business going on at all times, and those streams touch customers. The unreasonable customer you are dealing with today in contracts might be the ideal customer that product development needs for a beta project tomorrow. It's the old golden rule, to treat a person the way you would like to be treated. Try to do right by the customer, and you'll never be wrong.
Mr. Donald Trump validates anger. He claims his "secret" strategies to defeat ISIS will be more effective than the CIA's efforts. He wears his inexperience on his sleeve, claiming that as an outsider, he will offer the country a fresh perspective.
Euphemistic as he is, most Americans realize that fresh really means ill-equipped, and private strategies likely equate to topics that Trump contemplates while using the toilet.
Trump's policies are certainly embraced for their hateful spirit. The United States is, after all, experiencing some bumps in the road. And although many have the ability to look far enough outside their own yards to see hardships in other countries, in other decades in America's history, there are some who weep with the belief that America has lost its greatness, and thus give their support to the man who promises to bring it back.
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Trump supporters think the United States needs to improve, that it is in such a state of disarray, that its politicians should work towards dismembering its constitution, stripping the country of everything that enables it to claim unity and democracy as its guiding truths. Incidentally, the majority of Trump supporters are uneducated.
According to a PBS article that cites an analysis of voters with regards to their education level in states where exit/entrance polling is available, almost half of those with a high school education or less claim Trump as their candidate of choice. A little over 40 percent of voters with an incomplete college education give their support as well. Following this trend, non-college graduates constitute the fourth largest demographic of the Trump base, overlapping with a saturated number of supporters who identify as conservatives and earn less than $50,000 a year.
The appeal of Trump, it would seem, is not only his radical remarks that come at a uniquely vulnerable time in America's life, but also the way he communicates those remarks, and the very specific dialect he has given his campaign.
In the annotated versions of the first two presidential debates, Trump uses the word "disaster " twenty times. He says "Mexico" six times, and "wrong" sixteen times. He never employs these words in the context of a larger substantiated idea. Rather, he uses them in order to convey a biased and base generalization: "She is wrong, "Wrong. Wrong." "Obamacare is a disaster," "Iraq was a disaster," "Hilary Clinton has been a disaster. A disaster."
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His redundancy extends to the way he talks about his policies, often choosing to ignore the question at hand and opting to follow his own agenda, which includes the regurgitation of the same issues, over and over, reinforced through the same anecdotes. "Our country is in deep trouble." "We need to build a wall." "Our jobs are going to Mexico. "Ford is leaving." "Ford is leaving." "Ford is leaving."
Nevermind that foreign policy has a lot more to it than Mexico, or that issues with the economy have bigger contributors than Ford leaving (which, by the way, Ford immediately rebutted). But Trump's strategy doesn't involve telling the whole story, or even the true story. Rather, it consists of telling a mutated version whose narrative, no matter its dishonesty, Trump hopes will intensify the more it is spewed.
J.T. Cachiappo and Richard Petty, two researchers on the topic of consumer persuasion, conclude that moderate repetition in speech can lead to an enhanced audience empathy with the commentator. Overuse, however, can have adverse affects, leaving an audience less convinced who would have otherwise fallen prey to this echo effect. Trump's audience, however, is anything but an average audience. And though Trump certainly overuses repetition, his bandwagon has proven that prerequisites of its support do not include fact, historical precedent, or any real intellectual inquiry, and thus, this regurgitation of claims do nothing to shake its blind endorsements.
Repetition is often seen as a sibling to parallelism, which uses a similar syntactical structure in a series of successive phrases. "That is why every woman, every man, every child, every family, and every nation on this planet does have a stake in the discussion that takes place here," says Hillary, in her Women's Rights are Human Rights Speech. Parallelism, however, is subtler, and requires a certain level of cognitive effort on the part of the audience to detect the symmetries between the subjects of each phrase. Trump understands his audience. In fact, he pointedly bragged after winning Nevada's state caucuses that he "loves the poorly educated." He therefore knows that asking what constitutes the majority of his supporters to think, to call upon reason and logic, would eliminate one of the aspects they find so appealing about his campaign: that absolutely no thought is required.
The good faith that so many place in Trump is tantamount to the completion of a research paper using Wikipedia as the sole source. Content is edited late at night by bored high school kids who can't sleep, and facts are adjusted with such subtlety that, to the uneducated eye, they still appear real. Donald Trump is this false singular source. His supporters witness his theories, his speeches, his impassioned gesticulations and his ever-convincing, "believe me," that he spits at the conclusion of every offensive conjecture, and they are sold. Here it is, they think, "international policy framed in a way I can understand," or otherwise, the Idiot's Guide to American Politics.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Oct. 8 that the situation between the U.S. and Russia today is more dangerous than it was during the Cold War. As he put it, "It's a fallacy to think that this is like the Cold War. The current times are different and more dangerous." Since most of us think of the Cold War as by far the most dangerous time we have known, Steinmeier's view is startling. It is important to understand what he is saying, not simply because he is the foreign minister of an important country, but because he is a smart man.
On paper, the United States remains committed to the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, while the Russians are protecting it. There is now combat in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria. Russian and Assad regime forces seem to be trying to take control of the city. The United States sees Aleppo as a bastion of anti-Assad forces and doesn't want to see it fall. The U.S. has the option to try to block the Russian and Assad advance. Russia has to decide whether to stand and fight or withdraw. Neither side is confident it knows the other's intentions, but both believe that Aleppo is a critical if not decisive battle. The chances of intentional conflict are real, as is the possibility of an unintended clash escalating.
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At the same time, Syria is not essential to the national security of Russia or the United States. It is not without importance, but a defeat or capitulation there will not change the balance of power between them at all. It would of course affect psychological and political perception, but in the long run, perception ultimately comes down to substantial military and economic power. The United States can afford to back off. The Russians will find it more difficult, but can contrive reasons for slowing or halting the attacks.
In Ukraine, the issue is fundamental to Russia and secondary to the United States. Therefore, it is far more dangerous than Syria. For Russia, a Ukraine dominated by a third power, with forces deployed in Ukraine, represents a fundamental threat to its national security. For the United States, it is a secondary issue that can rise to a primary one.
As I have written, the foundation of U.S. foreign policy since World War I was preventing any single power from dominating Europe and Russia, as their combined strength in technology and resources would threaten American interests. Therefore, Russia returning to its prior position, with the potential to dominate the European Peninsula, would rise to a primary issue. If Russia invaded Ukraine and used it as a base to threaten its former satellite states, this would begin escalating to a primary level. But that is several steps from happening, and if it did, it would still not constitute a direct threat to the entire European Peninsula.
The Cold War focused on the center of Germany, and the possibility of a Soviet seizure of Western Europe did not appear far-fetched. Since the U.S. was defending Western Europe at a distance, its conventional forces facing the Soviets appeared to be inferior. Therefore, part of U.S. strategy, at least officially, was the use of nuclear weapons, both strategically and on the battlefield, to stop a Soviet offensive. That meant that should the Soviets have chosen to undertake an offensive, or if they detected a U.S. offensive, they had to go nuclear at the earliest possible moment.
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This is what kept the Cold War from turning into a shooting war. The Soviets and the Americans, along with their allies or subordinates in Europe, saw themselves in an existential crisis. The deterrence against conventional war in Europe, as opposed to proxy wars elsewhere such as Vietnam or Afghanistan, was nuclear war. Wars that did not involve primary and overwhelming interests did not involve the risk of nuclear war. There was no military target worth a nuclear strike in either country, nor would either country risk immolation over Vietnam or Afghanistan. Therefore, these wars could take place.
I think this is Steinmeier's point. The confluence of extremely critical fears and interests paradoxically reduced the chance of conflict, because it increased the chance of nuclear war. Today, none of the friction points between the United States and Russia are of primary interest to both countries. Syria is at best secondary to both, and Ukraine really matters only to Russia. This cannot result in nuclear war, and therefore, each side will take greater risks than they would have in Central Europe during the Cold War.
Therefore, the situation is more dangerous now precisely because the stakes are lower. In lowering the stakes, the risks decline and the possibility of serious conflict between U.S. and Russian forces rises. That direct clash did not occur during the Cold War, at least not on any significant scale. That means that the risk of nuclear war is diminished, but the risk of direct conflict is higher. This would not be proxy wars, but direct war. Undisciplined crises are the most dangerous.
For the past four years, Chicago has forced food trucks to live under ridiculous rules. But depending on the outcome of a case now before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Anna Helen Demacopoulos, the Chicago Way may have to change.
The anticipated Dec. 5 court ruling - and the hope it could change things for the better - couldn't come at a better moment for food trucks. In recent weeks, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been coming after these small-business owners. But they've faced the city's wrath for years, even after City Council passed rules "legitimizing" the industry in 2012.
Vendors who want to operate in the city:
Can't sell within 200 feet of a brick-and-mortar business that sells food (including anything from McDonalds to CVS)
Have to be on the move every two hours (it takes about this long just to set up and tear down for the day)
Plug in a GPS tracker to let the government know where they are (creepy)
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Food trucks can park legally by just 3 percent of curbs in the Loop, the city's busiest weekday lunch district, according to analysis from the Institute for Justice, an Arlington, Va.-based litigation group that represents food truck owners in the lawsuit against the city.
Food trucks have become an easy target for politicians and insiders because they threaten the status quo. For many years, the restaurant industry has propped up friendly politicians with campaign cash and support. In return, restaurants get preferential treatment.
Restaurants, and groups and individuals affiliated with them, gave total campaign donations worth $180,926 to Chicago aldermen in 2015, according to Illinois State Board of Elections data compiled by the Chicago watchdogs at Project Six. This figure doesn't include some restaurant owners or lobbyists, who likely donate under other names or entities.
Chicago's failure to fully embrace food trucks is a shame, because the burgeoning industry is a bright spot of entrepreneurship in the city. After years of the same old options, people working downtown can pop outside to get an empanada, fried chicken or an organic salad. The options are expanding all the time as more food entrepreneurs move in to meet growing demand.
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"The people obviously want food trucks and line up for us. They want more," said Jacob Rush, co-founder of Bruges Brothers food truck. "But to think that every business is looking over their shoulder every day for another beat cop to put a boot on a truck, waiting for a new regulation, waiting for a new license fee or tax that could hamper our business ... it's baffling."
And while owners scrimp and sweat to make ends meet, they're met at every turn with animosity.
"It's clear based on comments by the aldermen that the laws exist to protect certain businesses," said Rush, who has operated his business in Chicago for two years, and now has three full-time and several part-time staff.
"Some of my employees have kids, and they depend on us," he said. "But the laws here are constricting the businesses so much that it puts 10-12 trucks out of business every year."
Abortion
Woods wants to pass a personhood abortion ban, making all abortion illegal, even after rape or incest.
Zenzinger is pro-choice, favoring the option of abortion for women.
Guns
Woods opposes criminal background checks for gun purchases at gun shows and elsewhere, and she wants citizens to be allowed to openly carry a gun in public.
Zenzinger backs laws requiring criminal background checks prior to gun purchases, and she opposes open carry.
Education
Woods backs vouchers, allowing parents to use public tax dollars to pay for private schools for their kids. (And Woods has been endorsed backed by ousted Jeffco school board member Julie Williams.)
Zenzinger opposes vouchers.
Planned Parenthood
Woods proposes de-funding Planned Parenthood, forcing the organization to turn away about 1,000 patients in Arvada.
Zenzinger supports federal funding of Planned Parenthood.
Teen pregnancy
Woods voted against a successful teen-pregnancy prevention program.
Zenzinger backs the teen pregnancy prevention measure.
Same-sex marriage.
Woods opposes same-sex marriage.
Zenzinger supports it.
The Paris climate agreement got some new teeth today when more than 450 women age 65 and older submitted a legal petition to force the Swiss government to take stronger action on climate change. The complaint alleges that weak climate policies are violating their constitutional rights by failing to limit warming to politically-agreed safe levels.
Greenpeace Switzerland is supporting the new group of women, called KlimaSeniorinnen ("Senior Women for Climate Protection"), in their quest to hold their government accountable for climate inaction.
Older women are among the most vulnerable groups in a warming climate. Studies of heatwaves in Europe show they are more likely to get sick or die of dehydration, heatstroke, cardiac and circulatory problems.
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While the women of KlimaSeniorinnen have initiated a legal challenge to protect their own lives, they are also doing it for the good of future generations. Without decisive action by all governments, generations to come will have to cope with the disastrous effects of future heatwaves, droughts, water shortages, crop failures, and extreme weather events.
According to the world's top scientists, human influence on the climate has more than doubled the probability of heat waves happening in some localities. Heat-related deaths have already increased in some regions. Sadly, we should count on heat waves occurring more often and lasting longer in the future.
By holding their government to account for failing to guarantee the basic human right to a safe climate, these elders are helping all of us in our fight to spark the real action needed to overcome the climate crisis.
This is not the first, and it will definitely not be the last lawsuit that uses the Paris Agreement as both a legal hammer and a beacon of hope to challenge governments and fossil fuel companies.
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The Swiss elders join a wave of people-powered climate challenges that have sprung up to close the gap between what was committed to in Paris and actions that fly in the face of the aim to limit the increase in average global temperatures to 1.5C.
Just last week, Greenpeace Nordic and the NGO Nature & Youth filed a lawsuit challenging the Norwegian government's newly assigned licenses for oil and gas drilling in the Barents Sea.
In the Netherlands, nearly 900 citizens and the Urgenda Foundation won a case against the the Dutch government, forcing the Dutch state to make more stringent greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2020.
U.S. youth, with the support of Our Children's Trust, are charging ahead with their federal case that seeks science-based emission reductions in order to protect their fundamental right to a stable climate.
The Conservation Law Foundation launched the first legal action against ExxonMobil aiming to hold it accountable for climate denial.
Farmers and children in Pakistan and Peru are standing up to governments and fossil fuel companies in the courts as well.
Disaster survivors, community organisations and Greenpeace Philippines successfully petitioned the Human Rights Commission to launch an investigation into the responsibility of fossil fuel companies for human right impacts resulting from climate change.
The Swiss initiative shares the same aim as the investigation in the Philippines - the protection and empowerment of those most vulnerable to climate change. Among the petitioners in the Philippines are representatives from communities that have been devastated by super typhoons - like Tacloban in 2013, the world's strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall.
All of these legal battles have one thing in common: people are standing up to protect their right to a stable climate. They are fighting for radical climate solutions prescribed by science. They are willing to take bold steps now because there is no time to wait.
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But it's not going to be easy. Despite the Paris Agreement, some governments are still going to fight very hard to do as little as possible. Companies that have long profited from extraction of oil, coal and gas will send in armies of lawyers.
That's why Greenpeace is proud to stand with the modern-day heroes leading these climate challenges. The people won't be deterred. Who do you stand with, our grandparents and children, or with those still blocking the action we all need to protect our climate from the threat of fossil fuels?
Along with the Haymarket and Sacco and Vanzetti trials, the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg during the McCarthy-era stands as among the gravest miscarriages of justice in American history.
In the last few months, the Rosenberg family has amassed over 13,000 signatures (http://www.rfc.org/ethel) calling on President Obama to issue an executive proclamation nullifying the guilty verdict for Ethel modeled after what Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts did on the 50th anniversary of Sacco and Vanzetti.
The Rosenberg trial, Ethel's grand-daughter Jennifer Meeropol said in an interview last week, was a "farce" in which "government prosecutors manufactured evidence, using my grandmother as leverage against her husband, thinking he would cooperate with authorities [and name some fellow co-conspirators]. However, it didn't work out that way and the bluff was called."
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According to Jennifer, the kind of tactics used by government prosecutors "cannot be allowed to stand in a functioning criminal justice system and democracy," giving urgency to the petition. "The manipulation of evidence for political purposes," Ethel's son Robert Meeropol said, "is incompatible with a free society and reflective more of totalitarian justice systems."
The Meeropols' campaign to exonerate Ethel Rosenberg has gained momentum following a 60 Minutes broadcast on October 16th which Robert called "a breakthrough" in allowing the family to present its side of the story on national network television. The shows' producers, he said, did a great deal of research and "a really good job of summarizing details in the case that have come out over decades."
The petition was first conceived following the release in July, 2015 of grand jury testimony from David Greenglass, Ethel's brother, confirming Ethel's innocence.
The transcripts show that Greenglass, the main prosecutorial witness who worked for the army weapons lab at Los Alamos, changed his story about Ethel having typewritten David's handwritten notes that accompanied a sketch of a cross-section of the atomic bomb and having persuaded his wife Ruth to recruit him into a spy ring led by Julius in order to protect Ruth from prosecution.
Ethel's only crime it appears was to protect her husband. She was never given a code name, and according to KGB agent Alexander Feklisov, "never worked for us," a fact the U.S. government knew.
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On 60 Minutes, historian Ronald Radosh suggested Ethel may have been "an accessory to spying by helping [to] identify people, urging people to be recruited, suggesting that her own brother be recruited," in short "aiding and abetting those who are spying."
Robert Meeropol believes, however, that Radosh said nothing "to contradict our claims about the trial and [in essence] says he knows better than the KGB. He relies on fourth or fifth hand snippets of information based on a report allegedly given by Julius Rosenberg to some KGB agent translated into Russian and then encrypted, decrypted, and hand-copied that was found in the Soviet archive which was only open briefly. There is no independent verification of the accuracy of the report and none of the information was presented at Ethel's trial and [it] would not be admissible in court today....if the allegations weren't so serious, the evidence presented by Radosh would be laughable."
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were a young Jewish couple living on the lower East Side of Manhattan who like many of their generation gravitated to leftist and communist ideals because they had experienced the harshness of the capitalist system during the Great Depression, and as Robert put it, "wanted to make the world a better place."
Described by the New York Times as a "little woman with soft and pleasant features" Ethel, Robert said, "saw people being thrown in the streets and evicted, and it was the communists helping the people to get their homes back.... They were heroic." She became a dedicated political activist who organized strikes before her 20th birthday and also sponsored blood drives and knit socks for soldiers on the front fighting against fascism during World War II.
Julius shared his wife's political commitments while working as an Army Signal Corps engineer, testifying at his trial that the Soviet government had improved "the lot of the underdog...made a lot of progress in eliminating illiteracy, built up a lot of resources [such as dams]... and contributed a major share in destroying the Hitler beast who killed six million of my co-religionists [Jews]."
Julius' main reason for collaborating with the Soviets was to help defeat the Nazi army. He gave Russian agents information on technology used for the development of jet fighters, radars and detonators, however nothing directly on the atomic bomb as declassified VENONA transcriptions of KGB files confirm.
A supposed meeting in September 1945 with Greenglass involving Ethel could not have occurred as Julius had been suspended from all ongoing activities because the KGB feared the U.S. had discovered his spying.
In December 1945, Greenglass through his wife Ruth provided the Russians crudely drawn sketches of a cross-section of the bomb related to high explosive lenses, though these were considered by experts to be "unimpressive," to display "naive misunderstandings," and to disclose "ludicrously little" about a complex program Greenglass was minor to. (Holding a low-grade security clearance, he only had a high school degree and had failed eight classes at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute).
In June 1961, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover declared: "Who, in all good conscience could say that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the spies who delivered the secret of the atomic bomb into the hands of the Soviets, should have been spared when their treachery caused the shadow of annihilation to fall upon all of the world's people."
The evidence from the case, however, shows these comments to be untrue, like with the preposterous claim of Judge Irving Kaufman that the Rosenberg's caused the "communist aggression in Korea, with resultant casualties exceeding 50,000" and of Dwight Eisenhower that by "immeasurably increasing the chances of atomic war, the Rosenberg's may have condemned to death tens of millions of innocent people all over the world."
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Robert Meeropol points out that the main reason the feds went after Julius was because he was the "recruiter who got others involved [in giving information to the Soviets]." Julius was "the idealistic head of a politically generated group who remained true to his beliefs...He was asked to turn in all his comrades, which he refused to do."
Robert says that as a child of the 1960s, he does not have the same politics as his father and recognizes his parents made some mistakes. However, he can understand why they would believe the government was "lying about Stalin when they were clearly lying about what the communists were doing in the United States."
Though he might have been personally upset, Robert feels the case could have been settled if Julius was given "maybe five or ten" years in prison instead of the death penalty. The bias of the trial was epitomized by the fact that Ray Cohn, the assistant district attorney and an aide to Joseph McCarthy, discussed the case with Judge Irving Kaufman by phone from the courthouse lobby.
Robert and his older brother Michael were raised by supporters of the Rosenberg's, Anne and Abel Meeropol, and in 1990 founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children, a non-profit organization now run by Jennifer, which has awarded over $6 million in helping the children of political activists facing legal problems. (http://www.rfc.org/aboutus)
Currently, the Fund is assisting children of organizers with OUR WALMART (a labor rights group) in California who were fired after protesting working conditions at the retailer; a young Black Lives Matter activist in Massachusetts who was repeatedly targeted for arrest and harassment by police; and children in a family that has received death threats and whose family dog was poisoned as a result of the parents working to protect and restore a river basin in Louisiana.
The Meeropol's experience gives them keen insights into the contradictions of American democracy, which in theory "wants everyone to participate in it," but deals rather harshly, as Robert points out, with those "who take on entrenched interests, oppose racial discrimination and militarized police forces and take on the multi-national corporations that are destroying our planet."
Robert added that "when someone sticks their head out above the crowd and powerful forces want to lop it off, we [Rosenberg Fund for Children] come to their aid...One goal [of the foundation] is to encourage ordinary people with family concerns to keep engaging in society."
The petition to exonerate Ethel fits well with the Rosenberg Fund's mission. Its importance is magnified in a political climate where the Democratic Party presidential candidate accuses the Republican candidate of being a Russian agent and where the Republican has proposed reinstituting loyalty oaths and was mentored by the Rosenberg's prosecutor, Roy Cohn.
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In our interview, Jennifer cited a speech by President Obama repudiating calls to ban Muslim immigrants in which Obama acknowledged we "had gone through moments in history when we acted out of fear," saying this was a "shameful part of our history."
The act of exonerating Ethel would help transcend this shameful past, and is something valuable Obama can do before he exits the presidential stage.
I awake each morning at six to surf political websites before stumbling into the shower. I check for new polls, six, seven, eight times a day. I click on big data guru Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight site morning, noon and night.
Why, I can't help but wonder, has Donald Trump's chances of winning risen a tad to 13.9 percent in the last several days? Why does Silver's big data analysis give Trump a significantly better, if still slight, chance of winning this election than the "New York Times" Upshot (7 percent) or the Princeton Election Consortium (3 percent)?
I mean, isn't a 3 percent chance of a Trump emerging victorious scary enough?
To me, Donald Trump exemplifies everything bad about America.
Roger Cohen put it eloquently in The New York Times last weekend in a column titled Trump, the Anti-American: "The America of 'Sure' is a stranger to Trump. His is the angry America of 'shove it.' He would threaten to undo what America is."
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Others, too, have weighed in forcefully about the danger and degradation implicit in Donald Trump and his campaign. And they are right.
Wrote The Times Nicholas Kristof: "Trump has advocated policies that are confused or senseless -- deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants en masse, banning Muslims from entering the country, undermining NATO, slashing taxes on billionaires while raising them on single parents, capitulating to Russia on Crimea -- yet these don't get him into deep political trouble. Instead, his vulnerability seems to be something more elemental: He's a jerk."
Toward the column's end, he added, "Trump's comments may be brutal, but his policies would be infinitely more so."
No question.
Let's not forget either the flock of women who've now come forward to tell harrowing stories alleging uninvited gropes and assaults at the hands of this man who believes he can take what he wants, when he wants and how he wants. Or his across-the-board xenophobia and savage attacks on virtually anyone, Democrat or Republican, who dares to disagree with or confront him.
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And yet Donald Trump won't fade from the headlines, this hateful, selfish, bullying man; this race-baiting misogynist; this ignorant and erratic boor. Just look at Nate Silver's statistics.
So I worry. Why does such a large slice of America admire him? Is the life of his supporters so bad that they'll embrace any con man who offers them "something different," as incoherent and dishonest as that something might be? Are we that hateful a people by nature? And what does it say of our future, now that at every turn he undermines our democracy by roaring to his brainwashed minions that this election has been "fixed?" (Meanwhile, I quietly hope, given Russia's hackers, that no shenanigans will take place on election day to tilt things in his favor.)
Yes, I am nervous about Nov. 8. The more it seems that Hillary Clinton is emerging as a sure-shot, the more nervous I become. And I know I am not alone.
I see similar concerns in posts from friends on Facebook. Is Hillary too cocky? Is the confidence of the pundits misplaced? Does Trump have a massive hidden vote among the downtrodden and angry masses?
Wrote one friend on Facebook:
"ARE HILLARY SUPPORTERS BEING FOOLISH?
I hope not, but I'm very concerned about their being over-confident as a result of recent polls. Two things to keep in mind -- first, that many Trump supporters probably refuse to participate in polls because they see pollsters as part of the elite, thus causing misleading poll results. Second, until the last minute, polls in the UK predicted that "remain" would win in the Brexit vote. You know what happened there. Let's not let it happen here."
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Then, in this Sunday's New York Times Review, two writers (one the son of a close friend) analyzed the data of Google searches to sort out: "Are voters misleading pollsters? Are there hidden Donald Trump supporters who could throw the election his way?"
Though they never exactly say, the answer appears to be, "well, maybe." ( "Mr. Trump is such an unusual candidate that he makes it difficult to interpret any data," they write, "but there are a couple of indicators that Mr. Trump may be doing better than polls suggest in some states.")
Gulp.
Meanwhile, the drip-drip of Wikileaks' email dumps dribble out stories that potentially could rally Hillary Clinton's enemies and give pause to the last undecided voters drifting toward the Democratic side.
So, while most pundits are pondering what will happen if Clinton wins and Trump refuses to concede, I sometimes lie awake, staring skyward at 3 or 4 a.m., wondering what will happen if Trump surprises everyone and wins. What then?
I am the son of an immigrant who fled Germany in the mid-1930s. My father often repeated a piece of advice to my brother and me growing up: Keep your passport current and close by, just in case you need it. I understood why he gave that advice, though never before have I felt in this country a need to possibly heed it.
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Today, I'll instead offer different advice to you and my children: VOTE this Nov. 8. Laziness, or a stubbornly idealistic refusal to vote for someone you may perceive to be an imperfect alternative to Trump, could cost you the land you love.
I don't say this out of blind partisanship. Nor am I trying to be hyperbolic.
There's a clear choice on the ballot in two weeks: In one column is a very smart, if sometimes too slick politician with a world of experience. She would become the first woman ever elected president. In the other column is a sleazy con operator, a cruel narcissist who cares about no one but himself and who could quickly emerge as the man who dissolved American democracy.
Sungevity co-founder Danny Kennedy
delivering a keynote address at the
Bioneers Conference.
San Rafael, CA, October 23--Solar industry entrepreneur Danny Kennedy, co-founder of Sungevity--the nation's largest privately held solar company--gave an upbeat assessment of the solar industry's future to a packed auditorium of social change and environmental advocates at the 2016 Annual Bioneers Conference in Marin County, north of San Francisco.
Solar energy's exponentially declining cost, Kennedy said, has enabled it to become a globally disruptive technology that now attracts more investment capital than traditional fossil fuel industries.
Like solar panels, lithium-ion batteries are also on a steeply declining cost curve, and in conjunction with cell phones, have already disrupted the telephone industry. Kennedy predicted that they will also disrupt the automotive industry by largely replacing internal combustion engines for cars and light trucks.
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America has installed more than a million solar roofs, and solar panels produce one percent of U.S. electricity, Kennedy said. Although that may not seem like much compared with the 33 percent still produced from coal power, or the nearly 20 percent produced by the nuclear industry, Kennedy pointed out that the solar industry has increased its manufacturing volume sevenfold in the past 15 years.
On average, each doubling has reduced costs by 20 percent, Kennedy stated. If manufacturing volume continues expanding at the same rate for another 15 years--something Kennedy doesn't see as plausible--then 100 percent of the country's power would be produced by solar at that point, he noted.
Given the environmental benefits of solar over fossil fuels, "it's madness to burn buried sunlight instead of taking it fresh from the source every day," Kennedy told the audience.
Kennedy, a former Greenpeace and Project Underground activist, was introduced by California Energy Commissioner David Hochschild, who helped launch a $100 million initiative to put solar on public buildings in San Francisco.
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Hochschild reminded the audience that California is now legally committed to get half its electricity from renewable power sources by 2030. "Ultimately, the state and world are going to go to 100 percent renewable energy," he predicted, But it won't be enough to halt environmental damage from energy use. "We're going to have to go beyond stopping doing harm to [restoring] what was broken."
Like Hochschild, Kennedy acknowledged the state's official 50 percent renewable power target for 2030, but predicted that, "California will probably be 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030." As the managing director of the new nonprofit California Clean Energy Fund, he is in a position to help support that growth.
Pivoting to international renewable energy development, Kennedy said that coal use in China will peak next year as China continues to ramping up the installation of wind and solar power plants. "China's doing more solar this year than was installed on Earth until 2012," he observed.
Kennedy also pointed out that the solar power industry accounts for more employment than the coal industry or the oil and gas industry in the U.S. The solar industry now provides 208,000 jobs nationwide. By contrast, the coal industry, including railroad workers operating trains hauling coal, only provides 133,000 jobs.
Even as it is setting a global example as a pioneer of economy-wide energy efficiency policies and an ambitious goal-setter in renewable energy, California is the fifth largest economy in the world and has built some of the world's largest businesses, notably Google, Facebook, and Twitter.
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Thus, far from handicapping California's economy, the renewable energy industry has been good for the state, creating new companies, like Sungevity, as well as a growing supply of new jobs. Powerhouse, an Oakland, CA based solar energy business incubator and accelerator that Kennedy started, is flourishing and spurring further solar industry innovation and growth.
While the solar industry's progress has encouraged those concerned about climate change, Kennedy clearly believes that the clean energy revolution isn't happening fast enough to halt it. "We need to get to 1.5 to stay alive," he observed, referring to the global goal--now unlikely to be met--of holding the world's average temperature gain to a maximum of 1.5C.
STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH
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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
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There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur
EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay
An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".
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The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022
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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
"Grounded" is the first word that comes to mind when I reflect back on my conversation with Microsoft's Chief Storyteller, Steve Clayton. Grounded not in the traditional sense of a child learning the boundaries under parental care, but grounded in the sense of "never forgetting his roots."
His professional achievements are stellar - he may live in Redmond, Washington, today, traversing the power corridors of Microsoft. He may have won awards like Microsoft Circle of Excellence awards - three times.
Yet, the first thing he shared with me was his story as a youngster growing up in Liverpool, England. He revisits whenever he can - to give back, mingle with people he grew up with and support Liverpool FC on the Kop.
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Today, he shares the dais with Satya Nadella - even hosting the first interview with Satya when he became CEO. Stage productions, as Steve calls them, for product launch demonstrations are among the many things he does/done at Microsoft. And his journey to his unique job had an unusual start.
Accidental Storyteller
In his words, " I have been with Microsoft for 19+ years. I started off as a technical sales guy. In my early years, after customer visits, I often returned with one recurring feeling - there is more to Microsoft than what the majority of the world perceived. I decided to do something about it in my own small way. I enjoy writing. I shared stories that took readers behind the veneer of our colossal company - as blogs. This personal after work escapade continued for a few years.
One fine Tuesday night, I distinctly remember in February of 2010, I was home in London with my wife when the phone rang. The guy at the other end opened with "Hi Steve, I am Frank Shaw from Corporate Communications, I would like to talk to you about your blogs."
My first reaction was a sinking feeling, "Ouch, today I am going to get fired for the blogs?" I mustered my courage and asked, "what would you like to know Frank?"
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Frank said, "I like your blogs and you have a passion for stories, I would like you to move to Seattle and do it full time for the company."
And that brought Steve to Seattle.
By this time in our conversation, Steve was on a roll. He shared with great enthusiasm the great strides within the spectrum of storytelling in the last 6 years -experiments that roll back the clock with science fiction books, experiments that are futuristic like immersive stories with virtual reality and many more.
As he spoke, his innate enthusiasm permeated through the phone. What was clearly visible - he was getting paid to pursue his hobby as his full time profession and he was relishing with delight.
"Any bumps along the way?" I casually asked. He paused a moment. His response stuck with me- "Six months into my job, I was ready to pack up and move back. It is one thing to be a well-understood technical sales guy, it is quite another to be in a job that is nascent and hard to define. In 2010, many did not get what I did for a living and it was hard to be taken seriously.
Surmounting many challenges, I was on the verge of publishing the first collection of stories on a brand new company page dedicated to stories. Some well meaning colleagues counseled me to get multiple internal approvals. That was the last straw.
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At that point, I distinctly remember sharing with my wife that night - "I think this may be a mistake, this is not what I signed up for."
I expressed the same to Frank over a beer, a few days later.
He looked me in the eye and said "Just hit the publish button, you tell great stories and that is why I invited you and your family here."
My own memories, in my own living room.
Steve belted this nugget of raw experience like an animated water cooler conversation in his natural, casual undertone. While I was hearing his emotion packed narrative, my memories unpacked and transported me to my own living room.
In the background, Josh Groban was singing a song on YouTube. My 8 year old and 4 year old daughters, standing in front of the TV, join the chorus to this song (3.14 minutes in the song). The whole setting enthralls me. Every time.
Those powerful words in the echo of my daughter's voices capture the essence of many positive feelings I saw in Steve's story.
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I was so moved by Steve's narrative that I sent an unsolicited note to his boss.
"Thank you Frank for plucking a technical sales guy with passion for storytelling and backing him up when his first six months were up. I was glad he pressed the publish button after his conversation with you. You make the belief in humanity stronger. Thank you for believing in people and backing them up. Sitting afar, I appreciate what you have done."
His response - he did take the time to reply!
"Thanks for the note Karthik! Steve is a great talent, and I love working with him. I am so lucky to have him on the team!"
Here I was, feeling driven to let Frank know that he brings a glow into this world. He, in return, gently reflected the glow back on Steve and made it all his own.
In Frank's words to Steve and in his note back to me, I see something that is rare in this world - an implicit belief in others both in thoughts and acts. Whether we consciously acknowledge it or not - it is something most of us yearn for, in our own life stories. Steve found it in ample measure in his boss. This is a hero's journey, the hero is Frank X Shaw.
Summary - "Frank, You Raise Me Up." Why this Microsoft story Matters
My original intent on reaching out to Steve was to share his success story as a storyteller. Steve's intent to start blogging was to share Microsoft's story in the belief that he could help the company. Through his journey, he built a solid team with varied, impeccable backgrounds - journalists, speechwriters, artists and many more. His overarching passion - bring Microsoft stories to the world at large.
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Yet, in narrating his own, simple interactions with Frank, he may have shared what is the best-hidden gem of Microsoft.
On paper, what draws talent to companies is great technology, positive buzz and awesome teams. Deep in the hearts of people, the anecdote rich, water cooler stories are magnetic draws that create grander legacies for companies.
That makes Steve's story among the best, long lasting story Microsoft can strive for. And in Frank, the world has a great mascot - an unwavering belief in the indomitable human spirit.
"Lucky" may have been Frank's choice of word in his response. I feel lucky to stumble upon the best story of Microsoft.
I was busy. As a business owner, married mother of three, daughter, and professional speaker, I was the friend who didn't acknowledge a text until a week after you sent it. I would cuddle my youngest, willing myself not to think about the looming deadline I would work on after he fell asleep. I was known to cry on the way home from vacation because I was sad to return to my hurried life. Coffee in the morning, red wine in the evening and a steady stream of adrenaline were my drugs of choice. They helped me hang on. I didn't want to live that way, but I didn't know how to change it.
Until a doctor delivered some bad news. My vocal chords were bleeding and the initial remedy was to dramatically reduce the amount of talking I did. Running a virtual business and facilitating a steady stream of workshops made that difficult. I tried, but five weeks later the news was worse. I needed surgery, and to make a full recovery I would have to be silent for three weeks.
As jarring as it was, I planned as I always did to make the time go quickly. A weekend trip to an old friend's, a wedding and big Labor Day party would prevent me from feeling isolated. But a couple of people suggested I take some time away by myself to heal. So, I spent five solitary days in silence in Park City, Utah. It was a trip that changed my life.
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Here are five lessons I learned about the value of silence:
Silence makes you vulnerable. I had to tell our clients I'd be unavailable to present or talk for six weeks (the second three weeks I could use my voice only sparingly as I rehabbed). They were so supportive. Clients postponed speaking engagements and project kickoffs, and I got over 100 well-wishing emails. Talk about humility. I realized that the people in my life didn't expect or even want perfection. They wanted me to be happy and healthy. Alcohol and caffeine keep us from listening to our bodies. I had to give them up because they impacted my vocal chords, but as important, they prevented me from listening to my body's needs. There were warning signs that, if I'd paid attention, may have prevented my health crisis. My need to push farther, faster kept me reliant on the drugs. But without them, without talking, came observation. Observations of others, of social dynamics, of my own body. When you listen to yourself, you can act in ways that are healing and self-sustaining. Silence helps you connect with others. I used to connect to others through talking. Now I connect with others by remaining still and being present. Through my morning sitting practice, I connect with myself first, so that my interactions are based on the peace and silence and grounding I felt when I sat silently. That silence stays with me throughout the day. I sit still rather than react in an uncomfortable situation. I enjoy listening. I feel compassion and forgiveness for myself and others. I speak and work from that compassion. During my weeks of silence, I had amazing conversations with others. I laughed and felt connected without ever speaking a word. Noise and busyness are distractions. Succumbing to others' schedules and demands wears us down and keeps us from remembering who we are. Living up to others' expectations, not setting boundaries, and being 'always on,' robs us of our experience of ourselves. Being silent helps us reenergize and remember our own desires. I came out of silence speaking my truth instead of acting based on other's truths. I realized I was carrying too big a burden because I wanted people to be happy. When I realized my responsibility to myself, I started to create a life where I can be happy and in turn be a better mother, leader, spouse, daughter, etc. You have to make room for silence. It won't just happen in our busy world. I started setting a daily intention, so that as the busyness of my day creeps in, I can recall my intention and get back to my grounded self. When faced with an uncomfortable situation I know now not to react. Instead I am learning to stop, sit, listen, then act. It sounds like it would take a lot of time but it doesn't.
Ecommerce sales are on the rise this year. Most online retailers expect the 2016 holiday season to be their busiest yet. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' predictions, there's an expected 10% increase in holiday sales over 2015, along with an incredible 25% growth in digital sales.
What does this mean for retailers? In this quickly changing marketplace, it may seem daunting to prepare for the holiday season. Companies depending on low prices, promotions and sales to attract their customers may be losing ground to brands that offer differentiated experiences and products. As Michael Klein, a retail strategy director at Adobe, points out, "consumer expectations are at an all-time high, and retailers are preparing to set themselves apart, over and above price and discount."
Let's look at some of the top marketers and thought leaders in ecommerce who have weighed in on how brands will differentiate themselves this holiday season.
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Reaching New Customers
During the holidays, consumers often branch out from their typical buying habits. When buying gifts for others, they come into contact with unfamiliar brands and with subject matter they may have little knowledge about. Marketers who can take advantage of these special circumstances have opportunities to reach new audiences and to spread awareness of their brands.
Google is, unsurprisingly, one of the first tools most online consumers use. Jessi Carr, an SEO specialist at Inseev Interactive, recommends that retailers should not forget about their organic search rankings while they focus on holiday-specific campaigns: "These consumers who don't have an in-depth knowledge of what brands to buy from will generally turn to online search, making high organic search rankings absolutely essential for those who are looking to capture those holiday sales."
Curated lists and best-of gift guides are also popular sources for holiday shoppers seeking unique gifts. Casandra Campbell, content marketing lead at Shopify, suggests, "Getting your products into these gift guides can make a big difference when it comes to exposure. Make a list of top, well-read guides that come up in your online search, and approach the person who runs the website or wrote last year's list. Send a personalized email explaining why your product would be a good fit." This can be especially useful for startups and small businesses that might not have the budget or resources for a full-blown holiday marketing campaign.
Creating Guided, Personal Shopping Experiences
Niche market growth is perhaps the most interesting revelation of the current shopping season. Rod Sides, vice chairman of Deloitte LLP, notes in their holiday forecast, "retail competition won't come from the big box down the street or major ecommerce players; it's likely to be the small and midsized retailers that focus on niche products and experiences. This group has been collectively stealing share from large, traditional retailers to the tune of $200 billion in annual sales over the last five years."
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Small, niche websites address the trend towards a more guided shopping experience, says Richard Brown of Expertly Chosen. "Gifting is an area where buyers really crave guidance. Consumers want more than the usual gifts for him/her, which rely on generic stereotypes, and actually want gifts that match someone's personality," he says.
Personalization can also significantly increase customer conversions, and as tools improve it becomes easier to segment audiences and personalize in a meaningful way -- which can have a big pay off. Maricor Resente, head of marketing at Bounce Exchange, recommends, "Listen to your consumer -- identify your highest LTV [lifetime value] customers. What high-intent behaviors are they exhibiting and how can you reward those behaviors to nudge them deeper into the conversion funnel? Work with your internal team to create incentives for the different groups of traffic interested in your business, including first-time buyers, high LTV customers, discount purchasers, etc."
The personalized shopping experience of 2016 is also being shaped by the futuristic tool of artificial intelligence. According to Chris Monberg, co-founder and CTO of Boomtrain, "Artificial intelligence (AI) should act as a personal shopping assistant for individuals this holiday season as they swiftly move between modes of gift-giving and shopping for themselves. Much like an in-store salesperson would try to help you pick out a gift for your niece while simultaneously understanding and upselling you on your personal interests, AI can help marketers be situationally empathetic and help ascribe purchase decisions."
Intelligently targeted content can create a more subtle personalized experience. Sitecore's senior vice president of product management, Ryan Donovan, observes, "Think about the major categories of merchandise that people have bought, such as mobile phones. An ecommerce site owner can create personalization rules such as 'Users who bought iPhones within last 2 years' and target accessories for iPhones, as they probably aren't ready for a new phone. A similar rule could be created for 'Users who bought iPhones over 2 years ago' -- and start enticing them with an upgrade. The possibilities are truly limitless. Similar principles can also apply to abandoned carts, which is currently a multi-billion dollar lost opportunity. Combined, an online seller has a recipe for dramatically increasing conversion rates over the holidays."
Engaging Past Customers
In the holiday rush, brands also need to re-engage loyal customers. According to Forrester, 30% of ecommerce repeat purchases come from email marketing. Dimira Teneva, from the ecommerce analytics platform Metrilo, notes, "We see more and more sellers using last year's data to engage existing customers early on. This means they look at last holiday season's customers and send them tightly related (but new) offers via email. It's a cost-effective and low-risk tactic because these people are familiar with the brand."
That said, as retailers ramp up the volume and frequency of email, segmentation becomes critical. As Aaron Beach, one of SendGrid's data scientists, reports, "When you double the number of emails to a recipient, you don't double their engagement, but you more than double their likelihood of an unsubscribe or spam-report. Around the holidays, focus higher volume email sends on customers who are already engaging. These are the customers who are most likely to act." Also include an option for subscribers to "see fewer" emails as an alternative to unsubscribing completely.
Social media continues to be a major influence, especially with millennials who distrust traditional advertising. Doug Heise of CoreMedia elaborates: "Though social shopping isn't a new idea, the convergence of content and transactions is influencing more and more shoppers to purchase an item based on what they are processing via social channels like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and SnapChat. This takes the consumer out of the rigid site structure of the online store and puts them into a relatable story that then provides a reason to buy."
Loyalty programs offer another highly effective tool to engage existing customers. Erin Raese, a senior vice president at Aimia, notes, "If used effectively during the holiday season, loyalty programs and data analytics which help retailers better know their customers can be a competitive differentiator and can drive customers to make more or larger purchases in-store or online. Loyalty programs -- and the important consumer data that come from them -- can help humanize and personalize online shopping around the holidays as well. Retailers can look beyond online shopping behaviors of consumers to provide them with an experience that will delight them -- and further strengthen existing loyalty."
Preparing for a Successful Season
Perhaps less glamorous, but nonetheless critical to a successful holiday season, is the backend of your ecommerce operation. Are your development and fulfillment teams ready to support the holiday onslaught? While dramatic Black Friday websites crashes are mostly a thing of the past, sluggish website performance can still mean lost sales. And because it's an election year in the US, many consumers traditionally get a late start on holiday shopping -- making for a more intense shopping peak.
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To prepare your website, work with your development team to identify peak holiday traffic days from previous years and prepare by stress testing your website, locating any website performance bottlenecks and optimizing the site for speed (especially important for those mobile shoppers).
On the order fulfillment side, customer expectations are higher than ever. Bill Kong, executive vice president of CommerceHub, says, "Increasingly consumers have been conditioned to expect immediate delivery at no additional cost. In fact, CommerceHub data reveals that on average, order conversion rate (OCR) increases by 4.3% for every day a retailer can shave off of its delivery promise.
"In order to meet aggressive delivery windows, retailers must ensure the backend of their ecommerce operations are in check first. Elements like accurate product data, such as the amount of stocked inventory and product location are key for retailers to actually fulfill orders on time."
Being Savvy about Mobile
The most striking trend of the holidays for 2016 may be the growth of the mobile market. According to Adobe Digital Insights, 50% of shopping visits and 27% of online sales were driven by a mobile device in 2015, and these percentages are expected to grow for 2016.
Marissa Tarleton, CMO of RetailMeNot, explains, "Over the past several years, as we've seen consumer attention shift away from other traditional means to mobile, we've understood that mobile content is influencing purchasing decisions on desktop, in-store and on mobile. That's shifting again as mobile transactions are on the rise. This holiday season is predicted to be one where mobile commerce will be the biggest driver of ecommerce growth. The most progressive retailers are now developing their content and marketing strategies with mobile first." These changes stem from both improved technology and changes in customer behavior.
The commonly accepted wisdom used to be that customers would browse on mobile but ultimately buy on desktop -- but that era is coming to an end. Hal Lawton, senior vice president of North America at eBay Inc., points out the shift: "We continue to see a rise in the use of mobile to buy gifts, particularly with 16- to 34-year-olds. At eBay, more than half of transactions have a mobile touchpoint. Consumers are shopping at the moment of inspiration, moving from mission-based shopping to browse-based shopping."
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Michael Klein, Adobe's director of Industry Strategy, Retail, also notes, "Expect to see increased conversion rates for mobile shopping on iPhone, especially with the recent iOS 10 updates that now embed Apple Pay into both Safari and iMessage for one-click purchase."
Creating a Seamless Experience
Consumers' growing comfort and reliance on mobile is blurring long-standing divisions in the retail space. Customers often use their phones for comparison shopping and product research within the brick and mortar stores themselves. This presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for retailers. "The rise of mobile search, especially within physical stores, requires a retailer to optimize their mobile web, search and display activities. Retailers will also increasingly utilize mobile to showcase last-minute deals and launch promotions to remain top of mind-for holiday shoppers on the go," says Klein.
This crossover is created not just by customers bringing technology into stores, but also by brands utilizing new technologies to help with the holiday rush. For example, Mikhail Naumov, president of DigitalGenius, notes: "Especially in a shopping season, the traditional contact center is taxed to its limits, with customers calling in or reaching out through messages about their purchases. A contact center reinforced with a layer of artificial intelligence is much more resilient and capable of handling such spikes in volume through a combination of human and machine intelligence. Customers get their answers quickly, alleviating their anxiety, while brands can maximize this exciting time in their business."
Klein also predicts that brick and mortar stores will see a digital influx. "More physical store locations [will] utilize additional digital merchandising or technology capabilities in an effort to improve the customer experience. Some of these will be apparent (faster checkout, inventory access, improved product information) while others will be somewhat invisible to the consumer (store associate applications, electronic training of associates, staffing)."
Some take seamlessness even a step further. Jamie Anderson, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of SAP Hybris argues that it extends to the functioning of the business itself: "Customer engagement needs to become a more holistic process, especially during the holidays when there is an influx of promotions and new customers. To provide a seamless experience, customer service, marketing, commerce, sales and billing departments mustn't be resigned to separate silos, rather they should all be working from the same data. For instance, marketing shouldn't be pushing promotions on products that are sold out and departments like customer service will become integrated throughout the entire shopping journey."
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Final Takeaways
During this holiday season, there are more ways than ever for sellers and stores to reach out to consumers. These methods can range from the tried and true, such as SEO and email marketing, to the cutting edge technologies like AI. However, the focus should always be on creating a unique, personalized and seamless shopping experience -- with an emphasis on the rapidly increasing role of mobile.
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A pedestrian walks past a polling station during early voting in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young
by Adrian D. Pantoja, Ph.D.
As his campaign heads toward defeat, Donald Trump has intensified claims of a rigged and fraudulent election. One of his most outlandish claims is that undocumented immigrants "pour into the country so they can go and vote." This type of statement has the potential to undermine voters' faith in the integrity of the electoral process. Trump's call to monitor polling places adds to worries of voter suppression, as minority voters may face intimidation from "monitors" or have poll workers question their eligibility to vote.
The issue of minority voter suppression has been an ongoing controversy since African Americans were afforded the right to vote in 1870 with the passage of the 15th Amendment. Throughout American history, there have been periods when electoral barriers kept African Americans and other minorities away from the polls and eras in which those barriers were diminished. Today, barriers to voting are on the rise and Trump's statements are adding to concerns that minority voters could face significant obstacles that prevent them from casting a vote in this presidential election.
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Political scientists find that the voting process is not uniform across states and precincts. These differences can have a profound impact on determining whether the process of voting is easy or difficult. For example, states with strict voter ID laws have witnessed a decline in turnout among minority voters. Barriers also include the rolling back of early voting, elimination of same day registration, purging of voter rolls, and changes to absentee and provisional ballot requirements.
The quality of precincts can also be an obstacle to voter turnout. A research study by Barreto, Cohen-Marks and Woods found that minority voters were more likely to reside in areas where polling places were not easily accessible or where poll workers were not as knowledgeable on voter rights, which depressed turnout in those areas. In short, there are a myriad ways voting can be suppressed. To what degree have Latino voters been affected by such barriers?
In Week 6 of the Latino electorate tracking poll undertaken by Latino Decisions, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Education Fund and Noticias Telemundo, we investigate the degree to which Latinos have faced barriers to voting. Specifically, respondents were asked, Thinking over your experience with registering to vote and voting in prior elections, have you ever had any of the following problems/factors/when registering to vote or voting? Respondents were presented with seven potential issues they may have faced. Figure 1 presents the findings.
The most common hurdle reported by 27 percent of respondents is experiencing long wait times at the polls. In focus groups I have conducted, it is not uncommon to hear Latino participants say that they decided not to vote if there were long lines of people at the polls. Given family and work obligations, the act of voting can become a secondary priority if it becomes a time-consuming process. Efforts to roll back early voting directly affects the time one has to cast a vote. Shockingly, 18 percent of respondents were simply told by a poll worker they could not vote. Seventeen percent of respondents did not know the location of their polling place.
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Other barriers include being told that their registration had expired (16 percent); an absence of bilingual materials or poll workers (16 percent); having their names missing from the voter file (15 percent); or having an ID card rejected (11 percent). Many of these barriers could be eliminated if polling places were accessible and if poll workers were adequately trained. On the other hand, we should not rule out the consequences of voter restrictions enacted by state legislatures or that poll workers deliberately mislead voters. Clearly the data show that Latino voters have faced a wide-range of obstacles at their polling places that can dissuade many from voting. In the context of this election, an additional barrier Latinos may confront is the possibility of voter intimidation or heightened surveillance by poll workers.
Over the course of the tracking poll, we have observed that over three-quarters of Latinos say they are "almost certain" they will vote in this election. Seventy-two percent say that the 2016 election feels more important than previous elections. Despite this enthusiasm and willingness to vote, a significant number of Latinos may be unable to cast a vote because of some of the electoral barriers identified in this poll.
The 2016 election has two countervailing forces that will impact Latino voters. On the one hand, the presence of Donald Trump is mobilizing Latinos to turnout and vote against him in record numbers. On the other hand, Trump's claims of voter fraud could dilute the power of the Latino vote as a result of voter intimidation or heightened barriers at the polls. Latino antipathy toward the Republican Party is reaching historic heights; in week six of our tracking poll, 78 percent of respondents say the GOP is being hostile or doesn't care too much about Hispanics.
If Republicans want to repair the damage done by Trump's campaign and make inroads with Latinos, it is critical that they challenge the rhetoric and policies that are discouraging Hispanics from casting a vote on Election Day.
Adrian D. Pantoja, Ph.D., is senior analyst at Latino Decisions and Professor of Politics at Pitzer College.
What's a fast and easy way to get a break and get your blood and fluids moving again? Yoga. Let's clear our minds from the typical mental image of "yoga" that you are thinking about right now--likely, a yoga studio filled with women wearing colorful spandex. And let's think of yoga as the Sanskrit word meaning "connection." Think of yoga as a series of movements and stretches to connect your mind, breath, and body, so that you end up refreshed and clear headed. Here are three reasons why office yoga works.
Sitting is bad for your health. Think about your work day. How do you feel after sitting and working for long periods of time? Chances are, not that great.
Many offices are working hard to change this sitting while working culture. Growing tech companies emphasize having offices stocked with healthy snacks, open plan workspaces, and couches where people can work on laptops. Although this refreshing space change can have some benefits, it doesn't change the fact that most people sit while they work. And these days, people work constantly. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2015, adults spent almost 9 hours at work or doing related activities in the typical day, significantly more time than all other activities, including sleeping.
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Moving is good for your health. When we are sitting, everything in our body moves less: Blood flow and circulation fluids in our joints, spine and brains slows. These fluids are responsible for several functions, such as moving oxygen and nutrients around our bodies, removing wastes, and circulating hormones and chemicals. A key, and often under-appreciated, side effect of sitting at a desk for long periods of time is that brain function tends to slow, which can result in feeling "foggy."
Yoga makes sitting healthier. Asana, or physical yoga poses, were designed to help monks sit quietly and meditate with focus for longer periods of time, and is the ideal movement system for today's office worker. Work psychologists have noted that changing environments (and thus, moving around) are associated with creativity and innovation. By taking a short break during the day to move into a new space to practice movement and meditation, you are clearing your mind and undoing a lot of the damage that comes from sitting.
As the founder of an office yoga company, my first recommendation is to have a skilled teacher with experience working in offices come in to the workplace, at least once per week. If it is within the company's budget, twice weekly is even more ideal. However, not all workplaces have the budget for in-office services. In this case, it is up to the individual to take it upon themselves to learn a few poses that feel good in your body that you can commit to doing on a regular basis. If you can, move to a different space to do these poses, and get a mind refresher.
And if you have one minute, try these easy one minute yoga sequences:
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Survey Monkey's newly released Electoral College Map currently shows Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leading in enough states to win 307 electoral votes and defeat Donald Trump in the race for president (it takes 270 electoral votes to win).
The interactive map is based on 41,569 interviews conducted over the past eight days as part of SurveyMonkey's ongoing Election Tracking survey. Results will be updated regularly over the final two weeks of the campaign (scroll down on the map for a description of its functions).
Clinton continues to lead Trump in the national popular vote measured by our ongoing tracking survey that exceeds President Barack Obama's four percentage point margin over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in 2012. As reported by our partners at NBC News, our most recent week's data (October 17-23) show Clinton leading among likely voters by 5 percentage points (46 to 41 percent) on a 4-way choice featuring third party candidates, and by 6 points (50 to 44 percent) on a two-way choice between just Clinton and Trump.
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While Clinton's lead currently exceeds Obama's 2012 margin of victory at the national level, the look of the electoral map is very different. Clinton leads narrowly in Florida and Pennsylvania, two key battlegrounds won by Obama, but she currently trails in Ohio and Iowa, two battleground states that Obama won twice. The margins in other midwestern states, like Michigan and Wisconsin, are currently closer than the results from 2012.
On the other hand, Clinton is leading in North Carolina, a state that Obama lost narrowly in 2012. Perhaps most remarkably, Trump's edge as of this writing is just a percentage point or two - a margin we classify as a toss-up - in Georgia and Arizona, states that Mitt Romney and John McCain won by wide margins. Even a state like South Carolina, which Romney won by over ten percentage points, is remarkably close in our tracking.
How can this be?
The pattern in the state results reflects what has been a consistent story throughout the 2016 campaign: a shift in voter preferences by level of education. Republican presidential candidates have won among college educated white voters for decades. Exit polls have shown Republican nominees winning white college graduates by margins of 4 points or better since 1996, with Mitt Romney winning this subgroup in 2012 by a 14 percentage point margin. This year, however, Clinton is poised to soundly defeat Trump among white registered voters with a college degree. She currently leads Trump in our national tracking by a 16 point margin (51 to 35 percent) among these voters.
In contrast, Trump leads Clinton by an even bigger 27-point margin - 56 to 29 percent - among white registered voters without a college degree. However, that lead is roughly the same as the 26-point lead Mitt Romney enjoyed among non-college whites in 2012, according to exit polls.
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A simple conclusion emerges from these details: Clinton is running far stronger among college-educated white voters than Democrats have done in recent elections, while Trump is doing only modestly better among non-college whites.
That combination helps explain why Clinton is struggling in midwestern states like Ohio and Iowa and seeing narrower margins than 2012 in states like Wisconsin and Michigan. These are states with relatively higher levels of non-college white voters.
Meanwhile, she is running far stronger than Obama did in 2012 battlegrounds like Colorado, Virginia and North Carolina, and even in previously reliable red states like Georgia, and Arizona - states where college-educated white voters are more predominant relative to non-college whites.
In previously red states, these trends are compounded by Obama's poor previous showings. As The New York Times' Nate Cohn recently explained, "there's a lot of room for Mr. Trump to fall among well-educated voters [in many red states], and little room to gain among white working-class voters."
Finally, a tip for how to take potential survey error into account while watching the results on our map update over the next two weeks. Each state result is based on a survey, which is subject to error, some random and some attributable to any imperfections in our ability to match our sample to the people who will cast ballots on Election Day (more details on our methodology are available here).
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The random part is easier to quantify. For example, from week to week we often see apparently random shifts of 2-3 percentage points, sometimes more, on the margins separating Clinton and Trump. That's a simple explanation of why we classify any state a "toss-up" where a candidate leads by fewer than three percentage points. But don't be surprised if individual state estimates move around a bit over the next two weeks.
Again, given the current national standings, the important story is not about the precise margin in any one state, but about the larger pattern: Hillary Clinton is heading into the home stretch of the election with a lead in more than enough states to win the Electoral College. Stay tuned between now and Election Day for a lot more explanation and analysis of the results from our Electoral Map.
This SurveyMonkey Election Tracking survey for October 17th, 2016 through October 23rd, 2016 was conducted online among a national sample of 35,001 registered voters. Respondents for this survey were selected from the nearly 3 million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day.
Since a 2009 military coup against the democratic government of President Mel Zelaya, Honduras has become the most dangerous country in the world for environmental and human rights activists. On October 17, two more prominent rural organizers, Jose Angel Flores and Silmer Dionisio George, were assassinated in Colon. Flores was the president of the Unified Campesinos Movement of the Aguan Valley (MUCA), and George was a well-known leader from the same organization.
This follows the October 9 assassination attempts against Tomas Gomez Membreno, the general coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), and COPINH community leader Alexander Garcia Sorto.
Unfortunately, this continuing wave of political violence has a lot to do not only with the corrupt, repressive government that rules Honduras, but also with the United States government. Washington played a major role in consolidating the 2009 military coup and continues to supply tens of millions of dollars of military and security aid annually to the government.
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On March 2, Berta Caceres, the former general coordinator of COPINH and winner of the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, was murdered. She had been organizing, with some success, against a number of environmentally destructive projects that proliferated after the 2009 coup. One of them was the Agua Zarca dam, which threatens the environment and rights of the indigenous Lenca community. The movement that she helped organize forced the largest dam producer in the world to pull out of the project, and has halted construction since last year.
A Honduran soldier subsequently told the media that Berta had been targeted by the military for assassination.
The murder of Berta Caceres provoked so much international outrage that 42 members of the US Congress have cosponsored the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act (HR 5474). It calls for the suspension of all US military and security aid to Honduras so long as the Honduran government fails to protect social activists and so long as the country's security forces continue to perpetrate human rights violations with impunity, among other conditions.
To the consternation of human rights advocates in Honduras and the US, on September 30, the State Department certified that Honduras had met the human rights conditions attached to their 2016 military and security aid, against all the violent evidence to the contrary. Without this certification, Honduras would have lost half of this aid.
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This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Business Journal on October 24, 2016, and was authored by Mary Leslie, president of the Los Angeles Business Council, Nadine Watt, president of Watt Companies and chair of the Los Angeles Business Council, and Deborah Kallick, vice president of government and industry relations for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Health Systems.
Significant investments in new housing and an accelerated expansion of our relatively nascent public transit system are crucial to the Los Angeles of the future. Without such investments, we can expect to encounter an increasingly unhealthy mix of escalating rents that drive residents further and further from their jobs as well as an exhausted infrastructure that cannot handle more cars and traffic.
These investments could make the difference for job-producing companies evaluating whether to locate or expand in the region. On the plus side, businesses are attracted to our talented and creative workforce, proximity to world-class international trade infrastructure, sizable consumer marketplace, and leading universities.
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Businesses, however, are also grappling with increasing challenges faced by employees, more of whom are finding themselves stuck on congested highways - forced to commute farther distances due to rising housing prices near their workplaces.
Today, Los Angeles holds the dubious honor of the city with the worst traffic in the country. People on average experience 81 hours of delay on our freeways a year, or two full weeks of work. This is not only bad for residents, it's terrible for business.
Without seeing meaningful improvement in workforce housing and the region's transportation system, job-producing companies might well opt for more inviting environs that offer fewer sunny 72-degree days, but a better quality of life for employees.
There is no question that the jobs-housing imbalance near employment centers will take years to fix, which underscores the need for meaningful transportation investments now.
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Measure M on the November ballot, if passed, will continue the substantial investment in transportation infrastructure that began with Measure R eight years ago. Measure R was a game-changer and we are still reaping the benefits. Because of the expansion of the regional transportation system since then, nearly a quarter of L.A. residents now live close to public transit, and 40 percent of jobs are now accessible via Metro.
But there is more work to do. Expanding the Metro system on an expedited schedule will boost mobility and connectivity among communities and job centers, which is fundamental to L.A.'s ongoing efforts to enhance quality of life for residents. This expansion is also a crucial economic development tool for retaining and recruiting job-producing businesses.
Transportation investments work. Look no further than the Expo Line extension to Santa Monica that opened earlier this year. Ridership is far exceeding original projections because workers find it a superior alternative to traffic-choked streets and freeways.
A "Yes" vote on Measure M will provide a long-term financial tool to accelerate investments in our regional transportation system. Expanding rail routes will reap the same benefits that commuters have experienced where these transit options already exist. Supporting Measure M will also set aside $2.4 billion in long-term funding for "first mile-last mile" connections, expanding the reach of public transit to many more commuters in Southern California.
Data provided to the Los Angeles Business Council by UCLA researchers indicate the real potential of these local connectors: 1.24 million people live within one mile of a rail stop in Los Angeles County - six times the number that live within a quarter-mile. Also, past LABC studies have concluded that transit corridors provide some of the best opportunities for the production of desperately needed workforce housing. By bringing more housing to these underutilized corridors, transit ridership is sure to rise even more.
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Ultimately, creating a fully integrated transportation system has the potential to provide meaningful relief to workers who face daunting daily commutes today. Instead of facing hours stuck in traffic in the future, the investments made by Measure M will enable workers to have a comfortable and productive commuting option. That's great for quality of life and crucial for employers in the region.
While the war in Donbas in Eastern Ukraine is slowly turning into a frozen conflict, the socio-political situation in Ukraine is entering a phase of calm, with short-term prospects for political upheavals and popular discontent present but rather low. Yet longer-term evolutions do not bode well for the stability of the country, as several factors need to be taken into consideration.
Could early parliamentary elections take place in the coming months? Everyone in politics agree that the Rada needs to be relaunched in order to take in the recent political evolutions. However, only Yulia Tymoshenko's party Fatherland (BuYT) and the Opposition Bloc, to a lesser extent, are currently pushing for the organization of early parliamentary elections. Only the BuYT is today adamantly sure to score higher than the 2014 elections: according to a recent poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), Fatherland would come in first with 15.4 percent of the votes. Nevertheless, about 60 percent of voters are still undecided - but the tendency is there. Early elections would considerably change the political landscape inside the Rada, with the risk of making it ungovernable and without the possibility to create a majoritarian alliance between party factions, as political pluralism is likely to increase. In this, the presidential party Bloc of Poroshenko (BoP) would only score 14.5 percent today, and would therefore lose some of its 143 seats at the Rada. Most importantly, elections would mean the complete and total political disappearance of the Popular Front of former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk: with no chances for his party to pass the 5 percent threshold for representation in the Rada, the Popular Front would lose all its 81 MPs.
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With the virtual disintegration of the post-Maidan political coalition in the Rada, the two-faction coalition of the BoP and the Popular Front barely hold together a fragile majority (and need the support of other factions for almost every single vote). Early elections would be a catastrophe for them. Other political formations present in the Rada (Samopomish, Radical Party, Vidrozhennia, etc.) would score more or less the same, making early elections a potentially dangerous bargain. A political "hot spot" will take place in April 2017, when Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman will have to present the results of the Cabinet before the Rada: depending on oligarchic alliances, a vote of defiance is not completely excluded - and would therefore plunge the country in political chaos.
A moving political situationThe Ukrainian political landscape tremendously evolved since the end of Maidan and voters are today increasingly disappointed by politicians - about 60 percent of them declare so. New parties have been created, such as the Russian-funded populistic Za Zhitya ("For Life") or the Dmytro Yarosh Initiative (DIYA), born from the remnants of Right Sector. Populism and populist rhetoric have today become the baseline of political talk in the opposition: it represents a traditional tool used by opposition parties to systematically denounce the Cabinet and the President. Parties such as the Radical Party, Svoboda, or the BuYT are even competing for the monopoly on populism, with Yulia Tymoshenko surfing the wave better than anyone. Popular demands for political change are genuine but the results remain contrasted. Since early 2016, the newly-created liberal-leaning Democratic Alliance party - gathering a mix-and-match of reformists, civil society activists, Poroshenko disappointed and Europtimists at the Rada - is experiencing the full force of a political war waged by President Petro Poroshenko. This is not an isolated case, as the emergence of a new generation of politicians is systematically thwarted by the power with the use of administrative resources. Any attempts at changing the system and reforming Ukraine are seen as a potential threat to the government: in these conditions, progressive forces are unlikely to emerge anytime soon.
Regime consolidation around President PoroshenkoThe calculated destruction of political discontent needs to be analyzed in parallel with the clear-cut consolidation of powers in the hands of President Poroshenko since his accession to power in 2014. By placing his cronies at top governmental positions and sacking reformists, Poroshenko is ensuring a new kind of "vertical of power". Not one led by fear and repression as during the Yanukovych era but one of cronyism and personal allegiances. In this, Poroshenko represents the best of the "old" rule of power in Ukraine. Since nobody else would want to take his place at the moment (except maybe for Yulia Tymoshenko), he is free to arrange the political sphere and State institutions as he pleases, provided the oligarchic equilibrium are respected.President Poroshenko's relationship with Prime Minister Hroysman is increasingly tense and a competition seems to have settled between both men. Considered "Poroshenko's man", Hroysman is learning to be a national political player and wants to leave his personal mark in Ukrainian politics. His breathing room remains limited since he owes his nomination to an oligarchic choice engineered by Poroshenko. But that does not stop him from criticizing Poroshenko's decisions and adopting different positions once in a while. Aware of the growing competition, Arseniy Yatseniuk is currently reaching out to Hroysman in order to influence him against Poroshenko...
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During this election season, candidates for all levels of office are debating the merits of policies to expand job growth and boost the American economy. One simple, pro-growth reform that candidates from both parties should champion is the launch of a start-up visa for immigrant entrepreneurs who want to build their companies in America.
Entrepreneurs create new firms, and new firms drive job growth in the U.S. Despite this, the American economy lacks a straightforward visa option for foreign entrepreneurs ready and willing to bring their business ideas to our country. This hurts American workers who would benefit most from these new jobs.
All signs point to Congress reigniting the immigration reform debate in 2017 after a new Congress and president are ushered in. Lawmakers should immediately seek to move forward on a start-up visa and remove the unnecessary restrictions preventing job creators from coming to America.
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Other countries around the world, including Canada, Australia, and Germany, have adopted startup or entrepreneur visas to help fuel economic growth. While these nations benefited from the extension of legal migration opportunities for entrepreneurs, the impact in the U.S. could be even larger considering the huge network of dynamic city centers home to business creation.
A start-up visa has been introduced multiple times in Congress by a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Analysis of these bills suggests that such a visa could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs within the first decade after launch. Research suggests more recent proposals could create over 3 million jobs in that time.
However, until Congress decides it's time to move on immigration reform, a start-up visa will remain in the category of great ideas that lacked needed political push. But the silver lining is that some solutions to the issue of immigrant entrepreneurs have sprouted up since the startup visa failed last time on Capitol Hill.
Universities in Massachusetts, Colorado, Alaska, and New York have begun to use their H-1B visa cap exemption to employ foreign entrepreneurs in graduate programs. These entrepreneur in residence (EIR) programs retain foreign students in the U.S. and keep their company on our shores. Such programs lead to growth in both low and high skilled jobs in local areas. Until a startup visa is adopted broadly, these programs should be expanded with more schools and more cities.
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Last month, the Obama Administration also announced a new rule aimed at offering parole to international entrepreneurs. The policy change is narrow and complicated, but marks a positive step forward in the overall reform of high-skilled immigrants.
But the type of comprehensive reform needed to give international entrepreneurs a real option in coming to the U.S. must be approved by Congress, and that won't happen in 2016.
Restricting immigrant entrepreneurs from working in the U.S. doesn't help the American workers looking for jobs which can be offered by start-ups, and certainly doesn't benefit potential consumers of the innovative products and services those startups can provide.
Those looking to "put Americans first" in our globalized economy should recognize that relying on foreign job creators does just that. Our history is rife with examples in which the U.S. economy infused new ideas and products from immigrants to power our economy.
For proof of this, look no further than the short-list of immigrant-founded companies includes Google, AT&T, eBay, IBM, McDonald's, Boeing, Home Depot, and Budweiser.
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Immigrants are more than twice as likely to start new companies than natives and those companies creates more jobs along the way. Attracting and retaining the best talent from overseas should be a top priority for all policymakers.
This aspect of economic reform has largely been absent, despite its potential bipartisan support. Let's reform our strict high-skilled immigration restrictions and allow the smartest and most forward-thinking entrepreneurs from around the world to innovate and generate wealth here in the most productive country, creating jobs for the American people along the way.
Bagrat Asatryan: Armenia is on the verge of civil war (video)
There are frank and straightforward assessments in the new government program, a former chairman of the Armenian Central Bank said on October 25. As far as I remember, the previous governments programs did not touch upon the problem of emigration. Armenia is facing a deep crisis. The domestic political situation also remains unstable, and we are on the verge of a civil war, which is another reason for serious contemplations. We also have a problem in the foreign policy, Bagrat Asatryan said today. He says the new government has a lot of problems to solve and is expected to fill numerous gaps. The current situation requires a deep study and analysis. A monopoly is an evil that undermine the market economy. The government must take measures to fight against monopolies, Mr. Asatryan said. At the same time, he reminds that the previous governments also presented realistic programs, but none of them became a reality. For example, the cabinet led by Tigran Sargsyan promised paradise, and rise in the salaries of teachers. The economist advises revealing the reasons behind the failure of previous governments to implement their programs. "Perhaps, I am to blame, perhaps, corruption is to blame, and it should receive adequate attention. The former president of the Central Bank is concerned by the statement of Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan who said that any person [in Armenia] can import goods. Robert Kocharyan said the same thing connected with the import of petrol. His friends began to import petrol shortly after Kocharyans statement. I do not approve of this idea, he said.
Refugee men and fence. Refugee concept
Last month, Senator Ted Cruz sought answers to a question that has been vexing some opponents of the Syrian refugee resettlement program: where are the Syrian Christian refugees?
Christians made up ten percent of the Syrian population at the start of the Syrian conflict, but constituted only two percent of the resettled refugees. Cruz argues that this is proof the Obama Administration prefers resettling Muslim refugees and is actively trying to keep out Syrian Christians.
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The explanation for the disparate resettlement rates is much more innocuous than Senator Cruz believes. Human Rights First investigated this facet of the resettlement program, ultimately finding "no indication of any efforts to limit resettlement of Christian refugees from Syria."
On the contrary, the number of Christian refugees resettled in the United States is proportional to the number of Christians registered as refugees by the United Nations.
This indicates that few Syrian Christians are seeking refugee status, although it is true that hundreds of thousands of Syrian Christians have been displaced by the chaos of the Syrian conflict, similar to other Syrian refugee populations. But being displaced is not the same as being a registered refugee. So why is it that Syrian Christians are not looking to acquire refugee status?
There are three main reasons.
First, as Department of State official Simon Henshaw explained last month, many Syrian Christians do not flee their country for refugee camps outside Syria. Instead, they opt to seek safety in some government-controlled regions of Syria.
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Second, many of the Syrian Christians that do flee the country go to nearby Lebanon, home to a large Christian population. They tend to settle within these Christian communities, rather than in the refugee camps where the UN predominantly registers refugees.
Moreover, American refugee processing capabilities are notoriously weak in Lebanon, compared to more robust processes in Turkey and Jordan. For those Syrian Christians in Lebanon that do seek refugee status, the modest U.S. infrastructure restricts processing capacity. The limited resettlement capabilities squeeze refugees slowly through a system not prepared to handle high numbers.
Third, Syrian Christians also have a number of alternative legal pathways to enter the United States outside the refugee system, including: coming as students or as workers, or to reunite with family.
Furthermore, Human Rights First reports that some Christians in Syria have been coerced by ISIS to pay jizya, a religious tax, or face death. Often times these payments show up in the rigorous American screening process that checks refugees, resulting in denied claims for refugee status for having provided "support" to ISIS.
Ultimately, there is no grand conspiracy or single cause driving the low resettlement numbers of Syrian Christian refugees. But that does not mean there is nothing to be done to ensure that all potential refugee populations have access to resettlement programs.
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As Human Rights First explains, the United States can and should expand its resettlement program in Lebanon. Also, it ought to support NGOs to help identify and assist vulnerable Christians who might slip through the United Nation's system.
The Obama Administration is not actively discriminating against Christian refugees from Syria. False and misguided accusations of discrimination undermine the American refugee resettlement program and hurt the important work done by the United Nations and the U.S. resettlement agencies to provide safe haven to the most vulnerable refugees across the globe.
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On a recent trip to St. Louis Public Schools, I had the opportunity to spend time with a group of students who were either rising seniors or matriculating college freshman. Many of these kids are students of color or the first in their family to attend college. One particular conversation with a young woman stands out.
She shared the story of when and why she first decided to pursue a career in STEM. She told me that as an eighth grader, she wasnt sure which path she hoped to pursue as an adult, until she attended an after-school program for girls interested in STEM, hosted by Washington University in St. Louis. It was that experience, she acknowledged, that encouraged her to opt for the more difficult AP classes in school and to take risks she might not have otherwise taken. One day in biology class, her teacher posed a question: Was the myth true that humans only use a small fraction of their brain? That question has led her on a journey. She will dedicate her life to finding the answer and major in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology an interdisciplinary program that provides an opportunity to examine the mind from different perspectives at Washington University.
I am often asked how the collective education community can spark curiosity and interest in STEM fields as it did with this student and among underserved and underrepresented students. Too often, advocates tend to put themselves in one of two camps: community enrichment or core content. However, in my experience, Ive learned it is not an either/or solution. The real power in sparking curiosity and nurturing student confidence in STEM lies in the synergy of enrichment programs afterschool activities, summer programs, science fairs, etc. and rigorous classroom content.
The benefits of after-school activities and summer enrichment programs are limitless. Unlike many traditional classroom models that rely on daily lectures, these programs typically feature highly interactive, hands-on learning experiences for students. They are designed to make learning exciting, not intimidating. Students realize its okay to struggle with rigorous content and that its normal to not initially grasp new skills. There are no grades to post and no exams to pass, so students feel energized, not beholden. Consequently, when they return to the classroom, students will be more likely to pursue, and excel at, rigorous coursework such as AP or other college-level classes designed to prepare students for the challenges that await them after graduation. As one instructor said to me, They realize its okay to take academic risks and to jump into the deep end of the pool.
The challenge, then, is to continue these hands-on learning experiences as students transition to classrooms through project-based learning in an outdoor classroom, laboratory, or makerspace. Schools and educators who embrace this approach know students must continue to be nurtured and engaged, both inside and outside of classroom walls. Its only half the battle to spark their interest in math or science, engineering or technology. That spark must be kept alive and flamed to become an inferno.
Teachers, too, must be given the support they need to allow this type of learning environment to thrive. They must have time and resources to develop both content knowledge and pedagogical skills to succeed.
Teachers have also found success placing more onus on their students to lead the learning, affording them the chance to build foundational skills and to teach those skills to their fellow students. Subsequently, students will gain self-confidence, direction, and a sense of purpose traits that will help the always-difficult transition to adulthood.
During that same visit to St. Louis, I was struck by how many of these intelligent and ambitious students spoke about the impact after-school activities or summer enrichment programs had on their decision to study STEM-related subjects or, at a more basic level, the impact it had on their love of learning. More importantly, the students each spoke of an individual school champion a guidance counselor, teacher, or success counselor who simply may have asked a thought-provoking question or pointed the way to these life-changing experiences. Between the two camps, it was not an either/or.
Since my return, I have often wondered, What if that curious middle school student did not have the chance to attend that Washington University program? And what if she was not asked that life-altering question in biology class?
Fortunately, she was.
Originally published by the World Bank Group: https://blogs.worldbank.org/health/uruguay-giant-leap-prevent-tobacco-assisted-suicide
Tobacco is arguably one of the most significant threats to public health we have ever faced. Since the publication of the landmark U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Tobacco and Health in 1964, that provided evidence linking smoking to diseases of nearly all organs of the body (see graph below), the international community slowly began to realize that a century-long epidemic of cigarette smoking was causing an enormous, avoidable public health catastrophe across the world.
History is not linear. The road to progress tends to be circuitous and full of uncertainties, and even more than a few steps backwards. In spite of this reality, at certain points in time, we have to admire those individuals and countries who have stepped in to shine the light to allow us all to move forward.
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Recently, Uruguay, a small country in South America, offered us a good example of how a government that is committed to protecting the health and wellbeing of its people was able to withstand for more than 6 years the pressure of litigation from a giant multinational tobacco company, whose annual revenues of more than US$80 billion exceed the country's gross domestic product of close to US$50 billion. As discussed in detail below, Philip Morris started proceedings in February 2010 claiming that the comprehensive tobacco control measures adopted by the Government of Uruguay since 2003 violated obligations under international trade and investment arrangements.
We are heartened by the resolve of leaders in Uruguay, which reflects the "garra charrua" or the "resourceful, daring, and never to give up attitude" of the Uruguayan people. Perhaps in this case is apt to paraphrase the words of Apollo 11 astronaut, Neil Armstrong, after he stepped onto the lunar surface for the first time in 1969, to describe Uruguay's victory as "one small step for a country, one giant leap for global tobacco control."
Although cigarettes are "legal" goods that are produced, traded, and sold across the world, it is an indisputable fact, as one of us can attest as a specialist in vascular disease, that tobacco acts in a number of direct and indirect ways to cause damage to our blood vessels, heart and brain. Over time, these injuries raise blood pressure, reduce ability to tolerate exercise, and increase risk for blood clots and cancer.
Image courtesy: Science
Indeed, the bleak truth is that tobacco is the only "legal" product that kills when used as advertised. Despite decades of accumulated epidemiologic and experimental evidence on the causal relationship between tobacco smoking and lung cancer and other diseases, as well as significant progress achieved in reducing tobacco use globally since the adoption in 2005 of the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), smoking remains one of the largest causes of preventable disease and death, with nearly 80% of the world's one billion smokers living in developing countries. Data from the 2015 Global Burden of Disease study show that tobacco-attributable deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost have continued to rise across the world because of increases in population and aging that overwhelm declines in both exposure and risk-delated rates of related disease burden. In 2015, more than 7.1 million people died due to all tobacco smoke-related cases, up from 6.8 million people in 2005.
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The lawsuit by Philip Morris, the biggest tobacco company in the world, against Uruguay argued that the country's rules on tobacco packaging negatively impacted its intellectual property rights and sales in violation of the terms of a bilateral investment treaty between Uruguay and Switzerland, where the tobacco company has its headquarters. At its core, the lawsuit opposed provisions in two tobacco control measures adopted by the Government of Uruguay for protecting public health from the adverse effects of tobacco promotion, including false marketing that certain brand variants are safer than others, even after misleading descriptors such as "light," "mild," "ultra-light" were banned, and to increase consumer awareness of the health risks of tobacco consumption and encourage people, particularly the youth, to quit or not to take up smoking. Ordinance 514 issued by the Ministry of Public Health in 2008 requires each cigarette brand to have a "single presentation" and prohibits different packaging or "variants" for cigarettes sold under a given brand. Presidential Decree 287 of 2009 mandates an increase in the size of prescribed health warnings of the surface of the front and back of the cigarette packages from 50% to 80%, leaving only 20% of the cigarette pack for trademarks, logos and other information. The application of these provisions forced Philip Morris to withdraw most of its brands (such as Marlboro Red, Marlboro Gold, or Marlboro Green) from retail stores in Uruguay.
On July 8, 2016, however, the International Center of Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an independent arm of the World Bank Group, dismissed the lawsuit in its entirety and ruled that Uruguay should be awarded compensation for all the expenses and costs associated with defending against these claims. In essence, the ruling accepted the claim made by the Government of Uruguay that its anti-tobacco measures were "about protection of public health, not interference with foreign investment." We should be clear, as Uruguay's President, Dr. Tabare Vazquez, an oncologist, stated in a televised address to the country after the ruling, the ICSID award reinforces that "it is not acceptable to prioritize commercial considerations over the fundamental right to health and life."
This landmark international ruling came at just the right time, as India prepares to host in early November 2016, the Conference of the Parties (COP7), bringing together 180 Parties, which includes almost every country in the world, as well as regional economic integration organizations like the European Union, for reviewing the implementation of the WHO's FCTC and the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
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At COP7, the victory of Uruguay needs to be highlighted echoing the words of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an international public health champion, who provided financial support to help Uruguay deal with the litigation: "No country should be ever be intimidated by the threat of a tobacco company lawsuit, and this case will help embolden more nations to take actions that will save lives." Indeed, countries across the world have now an important precedent to follow for the benefit of their people.
A wave of anger stormed Egypt, following a video of a Tuk-Tuk driver that went viral on Wednesday, October 12. In a program on Al Hayah TV, a correspondent was gathering opinions about the country, and this driver burst his feelings out about the poor conditions he's living in; bashed with a choky voice how the situation has deteriorated; yelled about how ridiculous the prices of everything have hiked; and addressed the illiteracy that the authority should be responsible for.
"You watch the [national] TV and find Egypt like Vienna. You go to the street and you find it like Somalia's cousin," said the driver.
The genuineness and the reality-check of his words touched thousands of social media users, and the video was considered one of the fastest videos to ever spread like that in Egypt.
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Al Hayah TV, which is pro-government, of course took the video down although it had spiked already. And the authority and its militia, as expected, twisted the content of the video and took it to a whole another level.
Neglecting every word the driver addressed and ignoring the rage that ignited in thousands of people as they watched the driver that presented them, authority pages on social media started spreading that the driver belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood, and/or that he was lying about being a Tuk-Tuk driver.
And to be honest, the excuse of "he's part of the Muslim Brotherhood" has existed for three years and it has now become outdated and very, very lame.
Let's say the driver wasn't being honest about his real job, or let's say he really was from the Brotherhood... Weren't his words powerful? Didn't he speak on behalf of thousand others? Didn't his words quake the social media because they hit hard in the face and brought our attention to the black reality?
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Is everyone now, including those who even took it to the streets against the ousted-Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi, belong to the MBs? Can't it simply be that these people really have used up all and any hope they had for the country? Can't it simply be that they can't live like this anymore? Can't it not be a crime to have other ideologies, even if I or you or anyone else disagree with?
People are starving on the streets. The existence of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is spiraling out of control. The U.S. Dollar has reached almost 15 Egyptian pounds in the black market. The members of parliament and ministers almost do nothing at all to help the people, to the extent that they now can barely find and afford simple necessities as rice and sugar, as the driver mentioned. The Interior Ministry is working with all its might, to oppress people and spread lies and force teenagers and other youth to serve their lives in prison. Young Egyptian army soldiers are getting killed at the borders every now and then for nothing, because the regime is too busy oppressing and stealing and destructing, instead of taking care of the soldiers.
Isn't it about time to stop pretending Egypt is fine when everything in it is very obviously cracking down?
The situation hasn't just become bad; it's ugly. Horrible. Shaming. And terrifying. Egypt shouldn't be like this and it sure as ever doesn't deserve to be ruled by a regime that is as filthy as the one ruling now.
So is the authority, and of course topped with the president, ever going to learn to respond properly? Isn't it time to start working harder to feed those who are starving? Isn't it time to stop lying and pretending Egypt is fine when everything in it is very obviously cracking down? Isn't it time to face reality and address the issues that will be the reason to the destruction of this country? Isn't it time to, at the very, very least, loosen the oppression and release those who are spending their lives in the unjust prisons?
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The question "what makes a family" seems to pop up frequently on the evening news, but Cory Garrett Rose and Jeffrey Harrison Rose could be an example for many to follow. Raising daughter Beverly together in the town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, they are an active part of a vibrant beach town that melds both the heterosexual and LGBT parts of the community almost seamlessly. Making Beverly their top priority, yet keeping their own distinct interests, Cory and Jeffrey sat down for a chat with me to talk about the joys of parenthood, and what it's like to raise their daughter in the community of Rehoboth Beach. Most of all, Cory and Jeffrey show one of the biggest keys of parenthood is, in their own words, "a happy parent is a good parent".
What was it like when you and your husband first decided that you would take the plunge into parenthood? Was it a hard or a long drawn out decision?
It was more a coincidence of timing and fate, really. We went to a party, talked with a friend who revealed to us he was expecting a child via egg donation and surrogacy. His success motivated us to call Jesse Skalitzky of Pink & Blue Surrogacy, in Wisconsin. The phone number was literally placed into our hands. It was a now or never kind of feeling. That time in our lives was perfect. Thirteen months after making the initial call, Beverly was born.
What is it like raising your child in an LGBT community like Rehoboth Beach? Do you think it would be difficult in a less accepting community of just different?
The acceptance in a place like Rehoboth Beach makes it much easier. We like living here because two guys raising a child together isn't much of a novelty, or oddity as it may be in a more isolated community.
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Is parenthood everything you expected or different? How so?
We anticipated parenthood to be tough at times, but it is more challenging than expected in that it's a lot of constant effort which offers very little downtime. It continues to be a wonderful experience for us both, and we love sharing our lives with this precious child who we created, together.
How do you and your husband balance a social life with friends with the responsibilities that come with parenthood?
We've balanced our social lives with the responsibilities that come with parenthood by making Beverly a part of them. We take turns, compromise, and have a supportive family who love to help with Beverly when needed or not. As long as we get our gym time in, and at least one night out with friends, we're happy! A happy parent is a good parent, you can't be a prisoner of your child. It is important to retain part of your individuality, and frequently revisit yourself.
What are some of your favorite things about being dads?
Her innocence, and how she trusts us to protect and take care of her. The giggles, and her little voice when she says "I love you, Daddy, and Poppy!" But more so the creation of life and watching that life unfold and mature. It's the shared experience that all parents have, you just have to go through it.
Ok now is the time to gush about your gorgeous daughter; have at it!...
Everyone believes their child is special. I don't know where to start. It's an honor to know her, let alone be her fathers; she brings out the best in us.
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What is it like to see LGBT parenthood become part of the lexicon and part of the conversation now? It is much more common and accepted than it used to be.
The lexicon is slowly changing. While much more common, it's still awkward. Some people are still making ignorant assumptions, and ask very inappropriate questions like "How did you get a white one?" "Whose sperm did you use?" "Who plays the Mommy?" We try not to judge, but rather educate. The understanding of what a family is, and the ways a family can become is still beyond some people's capacity for respect. For a gay couple to have a baby requires PERMISSION, takes time, thought, and money. Some people just have a one night stand, others, like us, undergo psychiatric analysis.
What does "pride" mean to you and your husband? And how do you pass that down to your daughter?
We all know what pride means. I think it's the matter and importance of having pride than of how one interprets the word. For us, we're proud to be part of a family, regardless of whether it's same sex, opposite sex, single parent, adoption, IVF/surrogacy, whatever. Love is love, be an example.
It certainly isn't controversial to assert that one of the responsibilities of society is to educate children. Indeed, article IX of the constitution of my home state of Washington begins with the following: "It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex."
It shouldn't be any more controversial to assert that those in charge of making educational decisions for a community be elected by members of that community and/or have some expertise in educational matters. Unfortunately, ever since 1929, this basic principle has been legislatively inoperative in Scotland.
By law each of Scotland's 32 local education committees, the equivalent of local school boards in the United States, must have one member appointed by the Church of Scotland, one by the Catholic Church, and yet another chosen by members of the local council to reflect local religious beliefs. I'm pleased to report that a petition has been submitted to the Scottish Parliament to change the law and eliminate this requirement.
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As the petition explains, the education committees have significant power over local educational issues:
Education Committees control a larger part of Council budgets than any other Committee. They are the ultimate employers of School Principals and teachers, as well as being represented on senior teacher selection panels. They decide on the opening and closing of schools, and whether a school should be denominational or non-denominational, and control local practice in such matters as religious education, religious observance, and instruction about sex in human relationships.
There are many reasons why a law of this sort is inappropriate and undemocratic, and you can read most of them in the petition, but rather than focusing on those aspects of the situation, I want to address the potential for serious problems associated with science education. As we have seen in far too many instances, some with deeply held fundamentalist beliefs, beliefs that are well out of both the religious and secular mainstream of society, feel compelled to promote their narrow perspective rather than the consensus of the scientific community. These extreme views are almost always at odds with the religious beliefs that are held just as deeply by the vast majority of the religious community.
What are some of these views? We need to look no further than the creationist organization Answers in Genesis to find that the Earth was created approximately 6,000 years ago, that all of Earth's geology and biogeography must be explained by a world-wide flood that occurred approximately 4,350 years ago, and that humans and dinosaurs comfortably coexisted prior to that flood. Promoting these ideas in science classrooms and laboratories obviously does great damage to science education, but it is equally troubling from a religious perspective.
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Given who some of the religious appointees to local education committees have been, these are not idle concerns. One example will make my case. Dr. Nagy Iskander has been a long-time member of the South Lanarkshire Education Committee, appointed via the current law. Ken Ham, the founder and head of Answers in Genesis, described him as follows: "Dr. Iskander is a good friend of AiG and one of Europe's most active creationists." That's not surprising given that Dr. Iskander can be heard on an Answers in Genesis webpage proclaiming that the literal truth of Genesis is foundational to Christianity and that "the cause of the Gospel will be won or lost in the classroom." He can also be found on another of their pages asserting that he is "convinced that creation material based on a young-earth perspective is essential for transforming the church in the Arabic-speaking world."
I hasten to add that the call for the Scottish Parliament to amend the law should not, in any way, be seen as being anti-religious. As I recently explained in a letter I wrote to the Scottish Parliament,
there is absolutely nothing wrong with any particular religious leader serving on a Local Authority Education Committee, if that is the will of the community. As citizens, religious leaders should have all the rights that every other member of the community has. But mandating seats on the Committees for religious leaders simply because of their religious beliefs is unfair and runs the risk of severely compromising the very nature of the education the Local Committees were established to protect.
The Clergy Letter Project, the organization for which I serve as the Executive Director, consists of more than 15,000 members of the clergy who have come together to clarify issues of just this sort. Members believe that scientific knowledge does not conflict with their religious faith. And, equally important, they believe that it is inappropriate to promote any particular religion in a state-sponsored school. The Clergy Letter Project, quite obviously, cannot be construed as having an anti-religious agenda.
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One of the several types of signs that can be found on subways, in airports, and in public places in the United States, urging civilians to "report suspicious activity." Photo courtesy of Mass.Gov
Last July, just four days after the attacks on Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, I was about to leave Boston Logan Airport for a trip overseas with a layover in Istanbul. With the recent airport attack and the host of attacks that had occurred over the preceding months, I was a bit uneasy and a lot more aware of my surroundings. While waiting for my flight at Logan Airport, I kept hearing announcements about a security awareness program called SAFE (Security Awareness for Everyone), which urges passengers to report any suspicious behavior. As a Middle Eastern woman of color, I tend not to engage in these vigilante programs because people of my ethnicity and race are disproportionately considered "suspicious" and are typically the victims of such initiatives. But with all of the recent attacks in mind, I decided to scan the crowd at Boston Logan looking for anything or anyone that looked like a possible threat.
While searching the crowd for potential terrorists, I saw an older man with brown skin wearing a long heavy coat. I got nervous for a minute. Who wears long coats in the summer? Is he hiding something? Moments later, I looked back at him again and saw that he had small children and that he had nothing under his coat. I sighed with relief, but then I made a troubling realization: Because of my fear, I had deemed an innocent man a potential threat solely based on the color of his skin and his attire. I had racially profiled and made stereotypical assumptions, allowing my fear to dominate my perception of an individual who looked like my family, my community, and me.
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A group of individuals protesting a counter-terrorism initiative in New York, which has been believed to racially profile Muslims. Photo courtesy of Reuters.
There's no denying that programs like SAFE disproportionately target individuals of Middle Eastern descent and Muslims. In July, a Muslim man was removed from an American Airlines flight because the flight attendant thought his name was "suspicious." A Muslim Pakistani couple was also removed from a Delta Airlines flight in July for looking "suspicious" simply because the wife was wearing a headscarf and her husband was sweating. These are only some of a long list of examples of brown, Middle Eastern, and Muslim people being profiled on flights, but this suspicion goes beyond airports. Individuals of color, especially those who look Middle Eastern, are targeted in subways, public places, and on the street.
However, when the facts are examined, more Americans have been killed by American shooters than by jihadist terrorists over the last ten years. In 2015, toddlers were involved in 52 shooting deaths in the United States compared to 19 by Islamic terrorists. This is not to say that there has not been an increase in the attacks committed by Islamic extremists. However, the media systematically labels Muslim attackers as terrorists while failing to describe similar attacks by other groups as acts of terror. White males have committed 64% of shootings in the U.S. since 1982, but white men are never called terrorists. They are called lone wolves and/or their mental health is evaluated. White supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine African Americans at a church in South Carolina in order to start a "race war" and Robert Lewis Dear shot 11 and killed three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood. Despite the political and horrific nature of these attacks, the media never referred to these white men as terrorists or to all white men as national security threats. Conversely, the media continues to stress that brown people are suspicious and are more likely to be terrorists.
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In designing SAFE, MassPort, the port authority that manages airports and other transportation facilities in Massachusetts,
Engaged the airport community in focus groups to learn employees' security concerns and what motivates people to be vigilant, and to design the most effective reward system. [They] learned that intrinsic motivation is the most powerful motivator, which is why the program does not use monetary incentives.
According to MassPort, this "intrinsic motivation" of fear is what allows the program to run without having to monetarily reward participants. How can a program built on people's fears and intrinsic motivations lead to rational and prudent outcomes?
SAFE and other "See Something? Say Something" programs perpetuate a culture of fear. Fearing fellow passengers, passersby, or community members and assuming the worst about them isn't healthy or productive. This culture of fear singles out individuals and certain groups of people, contributing to the xenophobia, Islamophobia, and ultra-nationalism that terrorist groups, like the self-proclaimed Islamic State, are using to their advantage. Islamophobia fits these groups' narrative about the West, particularly the United States, hating Islam, and it isolates targeted individuals. According to an article by The Nation, Islamophobia "provoke[s] Western governments into clamping down on their own Muslim populations, [...] driv[ing] them into ISIS's arms."
Therefore, programs like SAFE, which exacerbate fear and perpetuate xenophobia, are not effective in ensuring the safety of civilians. While it's important to be aware of one's surroundings, falsely accusing our neighbors, members of our communities, and fellow Americans of being "suspicious" based on the color of their skin, their religion, the language they speak, or their ethnicity is not going to put an end to terror; it has and will continue to make it worse.
" I intend to vote for Hillary Clinton in the California primary for one fundamental reason. It has to do with race. My life since 1960 has been committed to the causes of African Americans, the Chicano movement, the labor movement, and freedom struggles in Vietnam, Cuba and Latin America. In the environmental movement I start from the premise of environmental justice for the poor and communities of color. My wife is a descendant of the Oglala Sioux, and my whole family is inter-racial.
What would cause me to turn my back on all those people who have shaped who I am? That would be a transgression on my personal code. I have been on too many freedom rides, too many marches, too many jail cells, and far too many gravesites to breach that trust. And I have been so tied to the women's movement that I cannot imagine scoffing at the chance to vote for a woman president. When I understood that the overwhelming consensus from those communities was for Hillary--for instance the Congressional Black Caucus and Sacramento's Latino caucus--that was the decisive factor for me."
If you work in the healthcare industry, it is important to consider different security challenges that can risk your data and how to mitigate them. For many businesses in the healthcare industry, there is strong likelihood that that at some point, your data will be breached. However, you may never even know that this has been the case.
While you may not always be aware that your data has been breached, having an understanding of security challenges your company may face is important.
1) Health Care Data:
In 2015 alone, 112 million patient records were breached, about 35% of the US population. This information is valuable to criminals who are accessing patient records that detail the health history of often people's entire lives. This information can be sold to others who use it for various purposes.
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2) Shifting Towards a Culture of Data Security:
The healthcare industry has not had a culture of data security in the past and therefore moving towards one can include significant obstacles. While the technology itself may not be difficult to integrate, there is the question of ensuring that best security practices are maintained and all personnel are properly trained to upkeep these practices.
3) Organization-Wide Security Intelligence:
Everyone working at a given company or institution in the healthcare industry should have a strong understanding of best practices for security. By ensuring that personnel at different organizations are trained and fluent in these security practices, greater confidence can be found in overall security maintenance. Without organization-wide security intelligence, someone may unwittingly cause a security breach with significant consequences.
4) Investment in Modern Technology:
As technology changes rapidly, as do threats to security. Therefore, not only should companies shift towards. a culture of data security and ensure all staff are trained but they should also ensure they have technology and data professionals who can keep up with the latest trends.
5) Plan of Attack:
It is important for companies to have a plan for each identifiable risk to their data so that any threat can be quickly mitigated. Without a plan of attack, a company is not adequately prepared to deal with a security threat that could have disastrous consequences. By having a course of action readily available for deployment, companies position themselves to tackle challenges as they arise.
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6) Towards Cloud-Based Storage Systems and SaaS Applications:
Companies without cloud based storage systems for their data may find themselves more susceptible to data security threats. By shifting towards these types of storage systems, companies in the healthcare industry are working with vendors that have legal intelligence, large budgets and staff trained to tackle security threats.
Technology changes at an exponential rate and therefore those working in the healthcare industry with significant amounts of sensitive data need to invest in various risk management courses of action. Without these courses of action, those in the healthcare industry leave themselves easily susceptible to security threats. Shifting the entire culture of an organization may be difficult in the short term. However, the long-term benefits are more important.
Approximately five thousand Baha'is attended the dedication of the Baha'i House of Worship that took place from October 13 - 16, 2016 in South America. These joyful hearts gathered and were taken on a journey of remembrance and appreciation for Baha'u'llah.
The realization of this temple was a hopeful foreshadow 97 years ago in the Andes Mountains which boasts the highest peaks. On July 22, 1919, one Baha'i arose to 'Abdu'l-Baha's call and traveled to South America. She didn't come from money and paid for her travels by writing. Martha Root at age 47, proclaimed the Faith in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Panama and Cuba.
'Abdu'l-Baha wrote Martha Root when she returned from South America:
"Thou art, in truth, a herald of the Kingdom and a harbinger of the Covenant. . .. Thou art truly self-sacrificing. Thou showest kindness unto all nations. Thou art sowing a seed that shall, in due time, give rise to thousands of harvests. Thou art planting a tree that shall eternally put forth leaves and blossoms and yield fruits, and whose shadow shall day by day grow in magnitude.' [1]
The Baha'i community of Santiago, Chile prepared a memorable dedication allowing each believer the opportunity to walk the footsteps imprinted by Martha Root. They provided ten mini Baha'i prayer booklets in each canvas tote so that the beauty of Baha'u'llah's teachings would be shared. Most importantly to invite the people of Chile to partake in visiting a place where they can meditate and pray regardless of religion, color and race.
Representation of Baha'is from over 150 nations attended the dedication in Santiago whose primary language is Spanish. To honor Martha Root's selfless efforts almost 100 years ago, Nightingale Tours provided soil from Martha Root's grave located in Honolulu, Hawai'i to it's tourists. This trip to Santiago was Nightingale Tours launch of its religious and spiritual tours. To view their website and insights on the tour please visit www.nightingaletours.com. To read about the teaching efforts during the dedication please visit Baha'i Travels.
The Baha'i House of Worship of South America (Penalolen, Santiago, Chile) is now open to all peoples of the world. For more information pleas visit this site.
Source: 1 Baha'i World, vol. V, pp. 48-49.
What is the Baha'i Faith?
Baha'is believe that all humanity is one family; that men and women are equal; all prejudices must be extinguished; individuals must investigate truth independently; science and religion are in harmony; economic problems are linked to spiritual problems the family and its unity are crucial; there is one God and all major religions are sent from God and World peace is vital!
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For more information about Baha'is, please visit this site.
STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH
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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
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Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair
Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan
I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General
I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox
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There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur
EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay
An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".
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The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022
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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
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Girl (6-7) looking through otoscope, female doctor smiling background
Aspiring doctor Makeiya Randall
By Crystal Emery
By some accounts there are more than 62 million girls around the world who are not in school -- half are adolescents. The results are too often tragic. As part of the Let Girls Learn initiative, which seeks to increase access to education for girls who are locked out of that future by the customs of their community or the circumstances of their birth, First Lady Michelle Obama recently hosted a screening of CNNs We Will Rise documentary. This film focuses on the struggle of girls as they fight for their right to education amidst the forces of poverty and societal pressure.
I was inspired to see such a film garner mainstream recognition, as it is in direct alignment with a passion project of my own. Black Women in Medicine is a multimedia project and educational initiative I designed to inspire young women, and particularly young Black women, across the United States to pursue careers in medicine and allied health fields.
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In order for our daughters around the world to gain access to careers in science, medicine and engineering, girls and women need to be exposed to many more positive media images that open their eyes to the world of possibility. As Dr. Joycelyn Elders, our nations first African-American Surgeon General said, You cant be what you cant see. The strong media presence of female role models in traditionally male-dominated careers is essential in empowering the next generation of women to achieve their full potential.
The author Crystal Emery with young aspiring doctors
The power of media cannot be denied. Film and videos are now ubiquitous and have a tremendous influence on society, both positive and negative. From D.W. Griffith's creation of stereotypes in Birth of a Nation to Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, films have arguably been used to covertly and overtly impact the way we see the world, particularly those of other religions or cultures.
Media infiltrates almost every moment of our waking hours and has the utmost influence on the way we view ourselves and others. However, the concentration of media in overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly male hands, and their reluctance to present more balanced images, continues to be problematic.
Despite the success of talented writers and producers such as Neema Barnette and Ava DuVernay, negative imagery of Black people, and particularly Black women, in media is not contained. The far reach of American culture arguably allows it to inform and influence other cultures around the world.
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Imagine how our world would change if instead of reinforcing negative stereotypes through media, it sought to empower. Imagine a day when young Black women will be able to look to the media for inspiration, rather than rejection and discouragement. Imagine what it means to a young Black girl to for the first time watch footage of a Black woman performing open heart surgery and think one day that could be me. This is the sort of media that empowers and can open doors to previously inaccessible career realities.
The mainstream acknowledgement of films that promote positive media and imagery such as We Will Rise and Black Women in Medicine is remarkable. Projects like this alongside other empowering initiatives such as Let Girls Learn and International Day of the Girl give me great hope.
I imagine a day when we will no longer have to fight to ensure the existence of positive media images of women who are breaking ground in their own fields. I imagine a day when girls and women everywhere, regardless of their skin tone, will have access to education and be empowered to reach their full potential. This is why I made the film Black Women in Medicine, and this is why, even though the journey is long and hard, we are making progress.
Namaskar,
Crystal Emery
NYWIFT member Crystal Emery is a filmmaker and writer. Her latest documentary, Black Women in Medicine, premieres nationally this fall on American Public Television.
Creative Commons via Wikimedia Commons, photo by Smatprt, 2009
*This is a short story I wrote in 2011 that symbolizes the difficulty and horror and madness of what it means for a rational man to be religious and believe in the irrational.
Madness is I.
Yes, a sickness has come over me, one I can neither fathom nor explain. What is happening to me is almost beyond words and sentences, verging on unbelievability, even by I who am being most affected by this obscure occurrence. I am trying to think of how to describe this accursed sickliness without sounding like I belong in a madhouse. Yet, there is no medium that I know of where a rational man can say the world is flat and act accordingly on the repercussions of such an understanding and not expect society to incarcerate him into some institutional euphemism of oppression. Still, I must speak about this phenomenon that is haunting me, even if it leads to the wrath of men or to the banishment of my person from my present commonwealth.
Initially, I thought this thing but a physiological matter only: something in my bloodstream, an undiagnosed disease, a virus making its way through my muscles and tissues, a contagion yet to be articulated. But it was not like any ailment I had ever heard of or felt. I have been gravely sick before, but most assuredly never like this. It gave my form a strangeness, something so odd I seemed to have no reference point of comparison when attempting to give it a description to myself. The novelty of this malady left me more concerned at first than frightened. I felt like I was with a horrible fever save I had no rise in bodily temperature: I felt always dreadfully nauseous and expected to spew out my innards at any moment, but never once did I do this: I felt thirst beyond quenching but desired no water. And because no genuinely commonplace physical symptoms ever surfaced I never sought out an animal-biologist for diagnostic investigation.
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Soonvery soonI came to believe it was something in my mental workings, something not of my physique but something of my psyche. I began to accept that I definitely had a sicknessbut one that was affecting my thoughts. And while I quickly should have sought out a son of Freud, I never did: partly for fear of what he might have told me, partly for the self-shame of such an undertaking, but mostly because of a cowardly tenacious false pride. If I were the problem, then surely I could be the remedy, or so I thought. Yet, the vagueness of this disorder almost forbids me from elaboration on what this thing does to my thinking processes. Still, I must confess to what is happening to my perceptions of reality, even and especially if it be implausible. For sometimes the not plausible is more in accordance to what is real than what is not real.
Yet before I travel with you to how this surrealism is altering the universe I exist in I must mention an important oddity to this whole affair:
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The genesis of my mind-sickness I have ascertained originates from our dead moon. This I discovered gradually and very reluctantly. My infirmitywhile overall incrementally increasing and intensifyingwould ever so slowly get worse and then peak, and then ever so slowly reduce in strength and then eventually nearly disappear. Soon I realised my alien feelings and thoughts only came late at night, and I soon came to notice that they correlated themselves with the phases of our lifeless moon. As it waxed my sickness increased, reaching its zenith on the night of a full moon; and as it waned, so my sickness waned, being its weakest when the moon above had all but vanished. I know this sounds demented to express and might be another form of derangement in and of itself.
Yet it is happening, even if it cannot be occurring.
Because of this impossible abnormalityor maybe it was an integral aspect of this abnormalityI became obsessed with learning everything essential about our closest satellite, even ridiculously believing that knowledge of this cold sphere of ours would somehow bring me back to my senses and maybe rid me of this confounded monstrosity. I passionately studied its size, shape, weight and mineral compositional make-up in great detail. (I honestly doubt anyone alive can say they understand more about the geological formation of the moon more than I.) Then I examined intensely and unrelentingly its gravitational effects upon our globe, especially paying acute attention to how it supposedly had a maddening impact on certain people when it was at its luminous brightness. (I felt like a madman doing autopsies on lunatics to avoid his lunacy!) And not only was this endeavour a neutral in helping me, but it seemed to make things frustratingly worse, even though it probably did not.
Yet, something about our sun of the night hypnotised me, forcing me into being a seeker of its more mystical nature. I even came to see all the theology and spiritual history of our queen of the dark as being paramount to my understanding of my problem. For months I feverishly sought out all knowledge about our white goddess. Anything to do with the holy and the spiritual as it related to the night globe soon came to possess me. I searched for the truth behind this lamp in our blackness from anywhere I could find it, even in forbidden occult books that one should never gaze upon. Sometimes I would reach a trancelike state as I examined our living moon and all its effects on our supernatural beliefs. It is astounding the number of lunar gods and goddesses there are, although our celestial body is almost always thought to be feminine, I learned. From the Greeks and the Romans to the Hindoos and the Chinese, it seemed almost every culture had a cult committed to venerating this silver entity. An archaeologist could dedicate her life to searching all the myriad ways our eye of darkness has been worshiped. From Christianity to the Moslems, from nature-worshipers to tribalistic fertility dances. It was and is a part of almost all our major and minor religious faiths. Actually, the moon is almost a religion unto itself. And even though all this knowledge about our animate orb did not alleviate my unwholesomeness, still this particular type of wisdom gave me a relief, a soothing of contentment I did not even know existed.
The Moon is God.
At least that is how I felt after my becoming so intimate with it, and especially when the moon was past its gibbous state and becoming full as the transformation would begin. For it was this changing of I into a beastial thing that most affected me to becoming a devotee of the star without flames. And how do I describe the metamorphosis? At its worst, late at night on a completely rounded moon, it would occur. The sickening of my mind and body would increase a hundredfold, stabbing at me like a thousand daggers. All my senses would come alive, like I was an animal just born into this hostile cosmos. I could hear sounds of the tiniest creatures crawling upon the ground, peer into the night and clearly see through the emptiness as though it was daylight, and I could smell things no other human was meant to smell. (Several times I nearly became unconscious due to the delirium caused by my olfactory senses alone.) And my blood would boil and my muscles would twitch, like I had to hunt down a prey and tear her to pieces. It gave me the sensation of being alive only a man with a rope around his neck could swear of. And O the demoniac rage and anger! And even though every time it occurred it was worse, still I knew the change was not complete. That had yet to happen.
And because of all this impossibleness I have come to believe that I am now in the latter stages of becoming a man of wolf. Yes, a wolf-man, a beast of beasts that must destroy the world in an orgy of violence, a folkloric mortal that changes into an animal of terror, a thing of abomination, a hideous myth of lore.
A lycanthrope!
Yes, a lycanthrope!
How this is happening I do not know, and why this is happening I do not know. But still it is happening.
Yet, I grasp how this cannot be occurring.
Vampirism and werewolfism and witchcraft are dead! Such hallucinations no longer exist, cannot exist. Fairy stories are not true, cannot be true. For I am not living in Europe during the black era of medieval times in the age of feudalism. Werewolfery exists only in a child's imagination. This moon-sickness cannot be, I say and know. But if it is, then am I to be a monster that attacks because of the moon? Are cannibalism and mutilation and murder to be my fate? And will society hunt me down like in the days of yore and burn me at the stake for being a direct manifestation of the Devil? Or will the brethren of my blood simply torture me relentlessly and unmercifully until I admit to being in league with some sorcery and all the forces of evil?
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This should not be!
I am not a peasant in Russia during the reign of the Romanovs, I am not an illiterate villager within the Holy Roman Empire, and I am not a herdsman of sheep in Spain when the Moors were in power. I know about the world, from our unimportant place in this accidental chaos to the way everything is materialism and naught else. If I were an ignoramus who knew nothing of logicality or the empirical ways of learning, maybe then such foolishness could be taking place. But I am not such a person. The old piety and all its superstitious nonsense has long since been dead to one as I. The spirit world and the fables beyond the senses and all the intoxication of the things of invisibility have disappeared to me, even as a hypothetical possibility.
And because of this, all this should not be, cannot be.
And yet, this changing is forcing me to begin to see our world differently. This transformation is not just tearing apart my physical and mental self, it is also altering my conception of what is real and what is not real outside myself. I see how it is nearly impossible to talk about such a thing without resembling madness personified. Yet, these heightened senses have made me hypersensitive to my existence. Not only has my form changed but so has my consciousness. (Or is it the other way around?) To be honest, I do not want this illness, this hex, this horror. (Actually, I cannot conceive of any living thingconscious or barely consciousthat would long for such a cursing.) Still, it teaches me of a sensation that goes beyond pleasure or pain, of a wiseness of how I am on fire and cannot be extinguished by the things of man. It is as though the whole of Western civilization is crashing down before my very eyes, all and everything, and left is but the unbearably raw condition of our being. It is as though I am no longer part of my limited world of sensory experience and reason, no more connected to the divisionism and reductionism and false facades of empiricism. I understand my feeblemindedness and how it is impossible to utter all these statements without thinking my pathology an obvious mental unbalance. Still, I cannot say otherwise. And maybe it is because of this very fact that language and linguistics now fail me in my attempt to paint my condition as anything less than a misty abstract portrait of visceral irrationality.
Like all men, I thought I could escape the clutches of this fiendish thing. All of my breathing has been a dedication to the life of living, not to spectres beyond the grave and to the demons that never were. And similar to most people I lived a life of important triviality of time and place and person, conscious of my transparency yet accepting of my personal minutiae as being the core of my existence. Yes, the finite of nothingness was enough for me, both with its pointless hedonism and meaningless nuances of joyful agony. It is amazing how the ordinary and superficially uneventful life is so much of a thing to be desired. Most men do not want to existit is anathema to our nature. This world was enough for meand now the madness is threatening to demolish it.
Unless you have not surmised it yet, I am speaking all these words in haste as the goddess of white above is now full and about to complete this transmogrification of me. Yes, now the moon is high and round and full.
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It is coming!
Again, I do not want its ecstasy, its horror, its agony. Yet, it is coming, and with it, all the wretchedness of its meaning. Would I stop it if I could? Yesno. Noyes.
It is coming!
If only something or someone could save me from this ultimate terror. Alas, I am doomed. Maybe if I took my life before the transmutation was completed. Maybe then...
It is coming!
Somehow I try to deny its arrival, prevent its coming. Yet it is no use.
It is coming!
The powers of the moon are unavoidable, undeniable, unquenchable.
AND THEN IT COMES!
The metamorphosis is agony incarnate.
It is not a thing of beauty and bliss and joyit is a tearing asunder of everything wonderful and beautiful. It is the torturing of all, the fulfillment of sorrow, the destruction of any hope for humanity. It is the searing of my flesh and the scalding of my bones. It is the unimaginable horror made real, the thing no man should want and yet cannot escape from occurring. It is the execution of the I against the death of everything. It is a grotesque monstrousness, a thing of evil beyond evil. And it is above all else a madnessan insanitya lunacy.
Yet, it is the true essence of ourselves. It is not a lie, but a veracity that must be screamed in terror. And it leaves me alone and against the world. And it also leaves me with a longing not for the love of my fellow-man, but for the death of everyone who has ever been born.
Now I am one with the ancients of old.
No longer am I of this world of learned men calmed by reason and logic and pacified by sensations of shallow carnality. The world of my upbringing is now a castrated corpse to me, a myth created by a fictional reality. I am now a Bedouin under the constellation of Providence, a seer trying to find Noah's ark, a mystic attempting to unveil the universe in a grain of sand.
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And now I am a beast-man to my malevolent contemporaries: A Moslem murdering pagans to death by sword in the glorious name of Allah, a Christian burning a heretic who says man grew from the limbs of an ape, a tribalistic shaman practising the craft of the witch against the white devils, a Hindoo disemboweling a man for denying his caste duties. Yes, I am the monster that you fear, the irrational that is, the demon seed spewed upon the world. And like a rabid dog I now have fangs to rip at your soft meat, claws to slash at your timidly gentle society, jaws to devour your lost children, and animal muscles to reduce to ruins all that you value as secularly sacred.
Insisting that Syrian refugees are "the great Trojan Horse of all time," Donald Trump has proposed "extreme vetting" for incoming refugees. Trump, along with many other legislators and pundits have characterized immigrants and refugees from war torn countries as threats to "law and order." The xenophobic rhetoric appeals to Americans who believe that foreigners take jobs, increase crime, and more recently, perpetrate acts of homegrown terrorism like the mass shootings in Orlando or San Bernardino. More than the fact that immigrants have a lower crime rate than native born Americans, the "Trojan Horse" narrative is dangerous because it contributes to bigotry and hate crimes, misdirects national priorities, and importantly, makes us less safe by obscuring the more significant threat of gun violence in America.
Undoubtedly, certain individuals want to harm Americans in acts of terrorism, but what constitutes "terrorism" is open to interpretation. While the term describes various acts, groups, and ideologies that endorse violence to achieve political ends, in the United States it has been made synonymous with foreign and dark skinned people. Type "terrorist" into Google image search and you see bearded men of dark complexion invariably wearing a head scarf. Americans fail to conceive of terrorists as white American men like Timothy McVeigh and Dylann Roof. This is despite the fact that since September 11, 2001, nearly twice as many people have been killed by white supremacists, antigovernment fanatics, and other non-Muslim extremists than by dark skinned Muslims.
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This bigotry justifies an array of costly programs run by numerous federal agencies organized around fighting "foreign" enemies. The differing perspectives show the lack of consensus around what precipitates acts of mass violence in the United States. What causes mass shootings is complex and derives from several factors. Some of my own research highlights the harmful understanding of masculinity, which commonly justifies violence as a means of settling disputes and a way to enact a sense of manhood. Mental illness, white supremacy, misogyny, and fundamentalists who call for violence are also factors. Crucial to understand is that we still do not have an understanding of what motivates an individual (of any race) to become radicalized to the point of conducting mass violence. According to the Intercept, a 2012 FBI study (which corroborates scholarship) found that it is nearly impossible to predict future violent acts because there is no coherent pattern to "radicalization."
Nevertheless, we know very well that guns kill people. While ISIS dominates headlines and government priorities, we continue to kill ourselves in far greater number than any foreign-born enemy does because of the lethality and proliferation of guns in the United States. Everyday within the US, we lose more than 90 Americans to gun violence. When more guns abound in a particular region or context, there are higher rates of suicide, homicide, and unintentional shootings. Even police officers are also more likely to be killed when there are higher rates of gun ownership in that region.
Moreover, Americans must recognize is that even though domestic terrorism is not new, especially for non-white Americans, it is new for Americans to experience domestic terrorism in the age of assault weapon proliferation. 9/11 was orchestrated with impeccable planning, organization and resources by a highly trained group, whereas the Orlando nightclub shooting was relatively basic given that for one person with few resources and training, killed dozens because of easy access to guns. Mass shootings have become more common in the United States because guns are so lethal and relatively easy to access. Consider a recent report by a journalist who needed all of seven minutes to procure an assault weapon. In addition, as New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi discovered in her interviews with fighters who joined ISIS, the group in fact knows that our gun laws are "dumb" and that ISIS has "a great advantage in the U.S." In Europe ISIS must search for recruits with criminal backgrounds whereas in the US, it's easier to do harm because of the easy access to guns.
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A concern with homegrown terrorism is understandable, but if "law and order" and our safety are truly our concern--not xenophobia and bigotry--we must see that we are far less safe when people have such easy access to guns. The terrifying randomness of terrorism using guns can be quickly reduced if we understand terrorism not as a threat from a refugee or brown skinned person with a Middle Eastern sounding last name, but rather, as a relatively easy horror to pull off within a gun saturated society.
Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during a rally in St. Augustine, Florida, U.S. October 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Has it been only five paranoid, divisive, dishonest, self-pitying, conspiracy-filled, societally degrading days of Donald Trump since Wednesday night's debate? Hard to believe. For Trump has made the last two weeks feel like an excruciating journey to a country we should never be.
The comprehensive damage he has inflicted on our national spirit is unprecedented in a presidential candidate. As sordid as it is, his behavior toward women is but a symptom of his pervasive contempt for the traditions of decency and civility which bind us together as Americans. Still, it is well to start there, for his disdain for women epitomizes his disdain for everyone and everything but Donald Trump himself.
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Despite his mendacious whining, through videotape and interviews Trump painted his own self-portrait as an emotionally stunted serial groper who forced himself on women, intruded on naked beauty contestants, and saw attractive females as prey. As of this writing, eleven women have now come forward to allege that Trump is precisely the tongue-thrusting, genital-grabbing Peeping Tom he boasted of being.
Their accounts are detailed, credible and, in several cases, conform to what they told friends at the time. Trump's response is pathological: everyone involved is a liar -- not only all eleven women but Trump himself. This is worse than unbelievable, though it is surely that. Our would-be president is claiming that, when describing himself as a sexual predator, he was lying to enhance his image.
Equally demented, he has threatened the women with lawsuits and intimated at rallies that two of his accusers are too plain for his predation. Of one, he said, "she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you"; after calling the other a "liar", he added, "Check out her Facebook, you'll understand." To this he added a sexist jibe at Hillary Clinton: "And when she walked in front of me [at the second presidential debate], believe me I wasn't impressed."
Finally, having humiliated his wife, he pushed her in front of the cameras to recite his storyline: his boasts were false; his victims are lying; the media is "so dishonest and so mean." A phrase better used to describe her husband.
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Another woman, Michelle Obama, spoke for countless others. Trump's self-description, she said, "has shaken me to my core... It's like the sick, sinking feeling you get when you're walking down the street minding your own business and some guy yells out vulgar words about your body, or when you see that guy at work that stands a little too close, stares a little too long so you feel uncomfortable in your own skin."
Her candor and eloquence reminded us of how unthinkable it would be to replace the Obamas with the Trumps. And, perhaps, made it a little easier for women to cope with, and speak of, their experiences with men like Donald Trump.
But our national experience with Trump is hardly over, and it is coming at a very high price. Unhinged by adversity -- a disqualifier in itself -- he is turning the death throes of his campaign into a scorched earth attack on our civil society.
Instead of reaching out for voters, he is rallying his base with lies, vitriol and paranoia. In Trump's account he, and they, are victims -- of the government, the media, minorities, a crooked electoral system, a corrupt international conspiracy to advance Clinton, an American elite which views his followers with contempt, any woman who accuses him of sexual assault, and every American who does not see the world as they do. All critics of Trump are lying to them; they can believe no one but Trump. He is no longer advancing an argument; he is shredding our social fabric.
Every fusillade of lies is like a Rorschach test, meant to separate his true believers from the rest of us. The New York Times -- having reported on his accusers -- is a cog in the conspiracy to elect Clinton run by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. In his telling, this evil cabal will stop at nothing:
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Anyone who challenges their control is deemed a sexist, a racist, a xenophobic and morally deformed. They will attack you, they will slander you, they will seek to destroy your career and your family, they will seek to destroy everything about you, including reputation. They will lie, lie, lie, and then again they will do worse than that, they will do whatever is necessary. The Clintons are criminals, remember that. They're criminals.
There is no lie so misshapen that Trump will not utter it. The most corrosive of these is his attack on our electoral process.
The vapor trail of his incitements is like a field guide to mass insanity: Hillary Clinton should take a drug test before the final debate. Clinton "meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich those global financial powers..." -- a gamy resurrection of anti-Semitic tropes. His accusers have made up stories fed them by the conspirators. The conspiracy presumably includes the CIA: despite the fact that intelligence professionals briefed him on Russian hacking, Trump says "maybe there is no hacking."
But there is no lie so misshapen that Trump will not utter it. The most corrosive of these is his attack on our electoral process.
In-person voting fraud is so rare as to be statistically nonexistent. Numerous studies have shown this. As the Washington Post reports: "One of the most comprehensive investigations into voter impersonation found found only 31 possibly fraudulent ballots out of over out of over 1 billion votes between 2000-2014."'
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Despite this, Trump and his campaign inflame his followers by repeating a series of enormous lies:
Trump asserts: "Of course there is large-scale voter fraud happening on or before election day. Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on?" His campaign claims without evidence that there are "recent voting irregularities across the country from Pennsylvania to Colorado and an increase in unlawful voting by illegal immigrants." Trump again, throwing in a dollop of racism: "I hear too many stories about Pennsylvania. Certain areas. We can't lose an election because you know what I'm talking about. So... go check out areas."
More Trump: "People that have died 10 years ago are still voting. Illegal immigrants are voting. So many cities are corrupt, and voter fraud is very, very common." Newt Gingrich: "To suggest that... you don't have theft in Philadelphia is to deny reality." Trump yet again: "It's one big fix. This whole election is being rigged." All this in the service of his insinuation that hordes of minority voters will commit election fraud.
Thus he focuses his fictions on cities with substantial African-American populations. One day before the debate, he proclaimed: "Voter fraud is all too common, and then they criticize us for saying that. But take a look at Philadelphia, what's been going on, take a look at Chicago, take a look at St. Louis. Take a look at some of these cities, where you see things happening that are horrendous."
This is grotesque. The Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-check site PolitiFact rates Trump's lying as "Pants on Fire": "More people are struck by lightning or attacked by sharks than are accused of voter fraud." Ohio's Secretary of State, a Trump supporter, says flatly: "Any time your comments draw into question the legitimacy of the elections process, they cross the line. Particularly if you can't back it up with evidence."
Trump does not even try. But his naked lies have made his followers believe that voter fraud is rampant -- as do, polls show, a majority of Republicans. When Trump loses, millions of Americans will believe that he was cheated out of victory. This is exactly what he intends: to de-legitimize Hillary Clinton as president -- as he once tried to do, through the birther movement, to Barack Obama. But this time not before, quite possibly, inciting race-based intimidation or even violence at the polls.
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So where was the leadership of the Republican Party? In hiding, mostly. They no doubt fear Trump and his legions, to whom he described Paul Ryan as "weak and ineffective." So Ryan confined himself to a tepid statement expressing confidence in our electoral process; Mitch McConnell said nothing. So much for leadership -- or integrity.
But then Trump was piggy-backing on shabby falsehoods that the GOP concocted long ago. For it is Republicans, not minorities, who have tried to rig the vote -- by excluding minorities. How? By advancing bogus claims of voter fraud to justify voter ID laws calculated, as a Court of Appeals recently held, to target "African-Americans with almost surgical precision." Trump is not an aberration; he is the GOP's hideous offspring, turned back against them at the head of a peasant army of rebellious Republicans.
By and large, the party's erstwhile leaders are a pitiful sight. Willfully ignoring Trumps' character, they imagined that he could be tamed. Now they cower in the face of his excesses. The most recent, most pathetic, examples were the officeholders who abandoned Trump over his abuse of women, only to crawl back on board when the base howled in protest. Like the evangelical eunuch Mike Pence, they dare not speak for decency, or even for themselves.
Trump is not an aberration; he is the GOP's hideous offspring, turned back against them at the head of a peasant army of rebellious Republicans.
Barack Obama got this precisely right: Republicans are now caught in the "swamp of crazy that has been sold over and over and over and over again"; Trump is the nominee you get when your appeal is "based on lies, based on hoaxes." He should know. Some of their lies and hoaxes -- including Trump's -- were directed at America's first black president.
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Now they are his vehicle for degrading our national life. In the Washington Post, Michael Gerson described his party's nominee and where he is taking us. Trump is "frighteningly unstable under pressure." He is "easily baited -- hyperbolic and vengeful." His advisors are "feeding his manias." He is "completely unmoored from restraining influences, and would be as president."
He is the champion of "crackpot conservatism -- an alt-right rage against a vast, scheming establishment that includes the liberal media, global financiers and a growing list of women making accusations of sexual assault." He "has no commitment to the American political system." He "is perfectly willing to delegitimize democratic institutions as a campaign tactic, squandering a civil inheritance he does not value." His "descent into ideological psychosis has tainted the reputation of all who were foolish enough to associate with him."
What else did the GOP expect from an obvious bully, narcissist, ignoramus, liar and cheat, a man for whom nothing -- and no one -- exists but himself. It created the fever swamp in which he has thrived. Now, day by day, he is degrading our political life and, by his example, our society. In the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, he has made America "define deviancy down" to accommodate his worst instincts -- and nourish ours.
So Wednesday's debate, moderated by the estimable Chris Wallace, represented a final reckoning. For Trump, it was one more chance to call Clinton sickly, incompetent and corrupt in front of a massive audience. But in return Trump would have to respond in real time to hard questions about real issues. In short, this debate was sanity's last shot.
Thanks to Wallace, sanity prevailed -- until, thanks to Trump, it didn't.
For a good while, Wallace's skillful questioning produced the miraculous, a debate involving Donald Trump which seemed almost normal. Issues materialized from nowhere: the Court, nuclear weapons, taxes, the economy, Syria, ISIS. While woefully uninformed, for a while Trump hit his right-wing talking points like a kid reciting from memory. One could not help but think that his mom, Kellyanne Conway, was beaming with pride.
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Still, there was no missing the adult in the room. Issue upon issue Clinton was confident, crisp and comprehensive -- a president in waiting. At times, she dodged uncomfortable subjects like emails and her position on free trade. Nonetheless, with respect to substance she was clearly winning on points, the predictable outcome of a cage match between a policy wonk and an incurious dunce.
But Clinton was not content. Like the heroine of a political revenge movie she turned on her thuggish tormentor, sticking sardonic soundbites like witches shafts into his very thin skin, served with extra relish.
When she was helping black kids in South get better schooling, she reminded him, the government was suing Trump for racial discrimination. When he was building Trump Tower, this enemy of illegal aliens exploited undocumented workers. When he built his signature hotel in Las Vegas, this proponent of a trade war with China used Chinese steel. This wall-building enemy of NAFTA and exporting jobs shipped jobs to Mexico. This master of the universe constantly whines that everything -- even the Emmy awards -- is rigged against him.
When Clinton was involved in taking out bin Laden, Trump was hosting Celebrity Apprentice. When the Clinton Foundation was combating AIDS, the Trump Foundation "took money from other people and bought a six-foot portrait of Donald" -- a dart to which Clinton added, "I mean, who does that?" Under Clinton's plan to fortify Social Security, "my payroll contribution will go up, as will Donald's -- assuming he can't figure out how to get out of it."
At this, the erstwhile ubermensch -- the very same guy who called her criminal, incompetent, corrupt and a liar; the same guy who brought several women to the prior debate to highlight her husband's indiscretions -- snapped "such a nasty woman." Given that she had previously catalogued his alleged serial abuse of women, this rejoinder was, to put it mildly, ill-considered.
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Trump had already elicited gasps from the audience by claiming: "Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Nobody." One could only share their amazement: By then he had labelled nine women's detailed accounts of sexual predation as lies "probably started by [Clinton] and her sleazy campaign"; denied the slighting comments about two of them immortalized on tape; asserted -- falsely -- that the women's accusations had been debunked; and claimed -- incredibly -- not to know anyone on a list of accusers which included women he had previously admitted knowing.
But given 90 minutes Trump can lie a lot. He lied about suggesting that Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia should have nuclear weapons. He claimed that the United States was inundated with ISIS operatives from Syria. He falsely asserted that "Hillary Clinton wants to double your taxes." Despite having been briefed by our intelligence agencies, he denied knowing about the Russian hacking of the DNC and the Clinton campaign.
So far, so squalid -- the numbing new normal to which Trump has reduced us. By this time, I was developing a certain fascination with the split screen. I have a novelist's sensibility, I'll admit. But the close-up of Trump struck me as a merciless psychic x-ray. With every look of anger and contempt, every moment of thin-lipped, squint-eyed fury, I imagined his gargoyle soul becoming graven on his face.
A flight of fancy, perhaps. But then he turned his pathology on America's civic traditions, political precedents and rules of presidential behavior
Citing Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud, Wallace asked whether he would accept the result of the election. Unlike any major candidate in our history, Trump refused to commit.
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"What I've seen is so bad," he asserted, claiming that there were "millions of people that are registered to vote that shouldn't be registered to vote." He then blamed the media for stacking the election against him having, for good measure, charged that Clinton "should never have been allowed to run for the presidency based on what she did with emails and so many other things."
Reminding Trump with obvious incredulity that one of the "prides of this country is the peaceful transition of power," Wallace asked again, "Are you saying you're not prepared now to commit to that principle?" Dismissively, Trump replied, "What I'm saying is that I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense, O.K.?'
There it was. In a single moment, Trump had illuminated the depth and danger of his pathology -- a nihilistic contempt for everything that matters.
For values: Truth. Integrity. Principal. Decency. Civility. The rule of law.
For others: Women. Minorities. Muslims. The physically challenged. His fellow citizens. His own family. Anyone -- and anything.
Even his country.
Never before had a candidate challenged the legitimacy of a presidential election before it was held. As Michelle Obama said, Trump "is threatening the very idea of America itself."
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So what happened next?
His base applauded. His party cowered. Ryan and McConnell remained silent. Pence contorted himself in support. In the wake of their cowardice, for the first time millions of Americans questioned the honesty of our electoral process. And our sense of decency and community, to which Trump has already done such grievous harm, diminished still more.
Last Wednesday night my wife and I threw away the hottest tickets to America's favorite new blood sport, the Presidential debates. We turned off our TVs and went out to dinner with a friend who was in town taking part in the Global Empowerment Summit at the local university. For the entire evening, no one talked about the dreadful state of our polarized politics. Instead we spoke of simple pleasures. We laughed. We turned our attention to the summit and the speakers who will be addressing global issues on economic empowerment, social justice, and women's rights.
The next morning, while reflecting back on our conversation I realized that what has been lost in this ugly, bloodthirsty quagmire is the issue of women empowerment. While many parts of the world have had the opportunity to experience women in leadership positions, no women in the US has risen to power to lead the free world. The closest America will come to this reality will be on November 8th. As I further pondered the reasons on why has this single important issue been lost in this debate, it occurred to me that we live in a man's world.
Embedded in the historical subconscious of our species is the image of the evil women. According to Greek mythology, Pandora, the first woman to be created, introduced trouble to the lives of men. As she opened the box containing all the evils of the world, she allowed them all to escape. This act earned women the designation of troublemakers. This myth was further reinforced in the recesses of our minds by the man-led Abrahamic religions and the single story of how Eve's so called original sin had forever sentenced us to death and suffering. Redemption fell squarely on the shoulders of men.
Michelangelo's painting of the sin of Adam and Eve from the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Photo credit https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Original_sin
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It must have been noble men who fought wars against other noble men to deliver us from the evil of women. The destruction of our planet was our destiny because Eve's original sin condemned man to a genocidal destiny. If there's a new biblical narrative to sum up our brief history on this planet, it will be something like this: The egocentric bloodthirsty male plundered and killed and he saw that it was good. Then came the men of the high priesthood, who ordered society according to the vision of man and they saw that it was good. Then came the men of science who interpreted all life on earth in linear logical data, and man saw that it was good. Then came the waning. All the good that man has done has put us on par with the Gods of destruction and on to a path that has placed us squarely on the cusp of the sixth mass extinction. Man should be so proud of this monumental accomplishment since all five previous mass extinction events were, in biblical terms known as acts of God.
As man waits for all of humanity to be sucked into the vortex of destruction, has he thought of handing the wheel over to the other half of humanity? Would the rising power of women leaders around the world save us from ourselves? Would some one like Hillary Clinton be the catalyst that changes our destructive path? And if so, why is she being demonized by so many?
I put that question to our friend Jean Houston, the founder of the Human Potential Movement. Dr. Houston recalled a conversation she had with her anthropologist friend Margaret Mead before she died. It gives us a glimpse on to why the Hillary Clinton archetype is loathed by so many. Mead told Dr. Houston "One of the stupid things that is happening today is that women are modeling themselves along male lines in order to get ahead. They are becoming second-rate men and they are going to stay in second-rate jobs this way." Mead went on to explain, "You'll see. Soon women will be both the priests and the presidents. Why? Because women's resourcefulness and resolve increases as circumstances become more difficult."
photo credit EMTV Online http://www.emtv.com.pg/tag/women-empowerment/
The circumstances for the survival of our species have never been more difficult. Would the man made sixth extinction be reversed or should we quietly accept our destiny on the hands of men? On November 8th I will give the other half of humanity the chance to begin to fix man's shortcomings and restore our existential balance. On November 8th I will honor my mother. I will honor my wife. I will honor my two daughters. I will honor the essence of a new phase of global leadership that will shatter the glass ceiling so our granddaughters can live in a world where the masculine and the feminine can finally come to balance. I do that with a full understanding that the first women president in the US has been shaped by a brutal system dominated by men.
On August 11, 2016, the Russian military held naval war games on the Black Sea, and placed its troops in Crimea on "combat alert." Russia's military escalation immediately followed Kremlin allegations that Ukrainian commandos had killed 2 Russian servicemen in Crimea. As the Russian Defense Ministry recently expanded Russia's Black Sea military deployment to 40,000 troops, many Western policymakers have expressed concern about further Russian territorial annexations in Ukraine.
Predictions of imminent Russian territorial expansion are premised on a misinterpretation of Russian foreign policy conduct. Based on my extensive research on Putin's strategic thinking, there is compelling evidence that Russia's military escalation is primarily motivated by domestic political consolidation, rather than empire-building.
My doctoral research at Oxford focuses extensively on the changing foundations of popular legitimacy for Putin's government. One major conclusion of my research on the domestic drivers of Putin's foreign policy is that Russia's recent economic decline has caused Putin to rally the Russian public around a belligerently anti-Western foreign policy. Putin's aggressive conduct has cultivated great power status perceptions amongst the Russian public. These status aspirations have caused Russia to assume a leadership role in international crises to highlight Russia's diplomatic influence on the world stage.
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In the context of the Ukraine crisis, Putin has emphasized Russia's leadership role in resisting the Ukrainian government's belligerent efforts to recapture Crimea and Donbas. In his recent speeches, Putin has argued that the Ukrainian government's sponsorship of "anti-Russian terrorism," and refusal to hold free elections in Donbas necessitate a Russian military response. This argument has expanded domestic and international support for Russia's conduct in Ukraine and has entrenched Putin's authority in four main ways.
1) The Linkage Between Putin's Military Escalation in Ukraine and Sanctions Relief
Even though EU sanctions were imposed against Russia for its aggressive conduct in Ukraine, Putin's recent justification of Russia's military efforts on defensive grounds is a covert attempt to undercut the EU's rationale for anti-Russian sanctions. Putin is seeking to rally normative support for his arguments on Ukraine from German business elites opposed to EU sanctions against Russia, and from European countries at odds with the EU establishment, like Greece and Hungary.
The Kremlin views the increased willingness of some European policymakers to consider the removal of sanctions against Russia, as evidence that Putin's "small-scale" military escalations on Ukrainian soil have been successful. Statements from former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and a recent Belgian Parliament resolution on lifting sanctions against Russia have been widely praised in the Russian state media.
Cordial rhetoric from some European policymakers towards Moscow has convinced Putin that a military escalation in Ukraine can highlight the security threat posed by the Ukrainian government's conduct to EU officials without risk of blowback. Putin has also used EU leaders' statements to convince the Russian public that sanctions relief on Moscow's terms is a realistic option.
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If Russia can regain access to European investments without conceding Crimea or Donbas to Ukraine, Putin believes that public confidence in his leadership will dramatically increase. Rising pro-government nationalist sentiments could counter discontent created by Russia's anemic economic performance enough to prevent a repeat of the 2011-12 election protests during the 2018 presidential election cycle.
2) Putin's Ukraine Campaign Guarantees the Loyalty of the Military Establishment Putin's aggressive self-defense policy in Ukraine has appeased members of Russia's military-industrial complex, who fear that Russia's deteriorating economic conditions could result in defense cuts. As Olga Kryshtanovskaya and Stephen White noted in their 2003 article on civil-military relations in Russia, the siloviki security establishment make up 25% of Russia's political elites.
The extensive influence wielded by Igor Sechin and FSB head Nikolai Patrushev over Russian decision-making demonstrates that the siloviki faction's loyalty to Putin is vital for his retention of power. Adopting an interventionist foreign policy in Ukraine reassures members of siloviki faction of their continued influence in Russian policymaking, and strengthens Putin's domestic position considerably.
3) Putin's Defensive Justification for Military Intervention Keeps Russians in Civilian Industries from opposing him
Even though Russia's military modernization efforts fly in the face of traditional economic logic during a period of economic recession, Putin's uptick of Russian military activity in Ukraine strikes a delicate balance between the interests of the military and civilian sectors. As the defense sector remains the leading growth engine of the Russian economy and is an increasingly important source of employment, many Russians view Putin's military buildup in Ukraine favorably.
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To Russian workers in civilian industries frustrated by cuts to social welfare programs, Putin has used the NATO threat to justify high levels of defense spending. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Associate Eugene Rumer noted in our recent interview, Putin has rallied the Russian public around his belligerent policies by emphasizing that Russia's military spending the minimum necessary to ensure Russia's security interests are maintained.
4) Putin's Ukraine Campaign Rallies Moderate Russian Nationalists Around his Rule
Putin's emphasis on the defensive nature of Russia's military buildup distinguishes his policies from those of extreme Russian nationalists, like Alexander Dugin. Since the mid-2000s, Dugin has called for a complete Russian military annexation of Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine as a prerequisite for a full-scale push for Kiev.
By distancing himself from Dugin's support for unilateral aggression, Putin has been able to co-opt Russian middle class moderates into his coalition. Even though Putin retains firm control over the Russian electoral process, Putin's United Russia Party needs to appeal to moderate Russian nationalists to achieve durable electoral success and prevent middle class Russians from defecting to liberal nationalist parties.
In short, Russia's role in the recent escalation of the Ukraine conflict should be analyzed through the prism of domestic politics. As Russia seeks to rally nationalist sentiments around Putin's government and present a more rational image of Russian international conduct to the international community, Putin's alternation between dialing up or defusing tensions in Ukraine will remain an enduring feature of Russian foreign policy for years to come.
The first decade of our marriage, my husband Glenn and I had one niece and one nephew. It made it very easy to begin a tradition that would eventually become unsustainable. Our siblings started to procreate willy nilly starting in the mid 1990's, and we now have a total of 13 wonderful nieces and nephews. But for a while there, in the late 80's and early 90's, Rachel and her brother Dave were the only show in town.
We began to host them for a week each, in the summer. We began calling it Camp Thomas, and we'd schedule vacation days to devote our full attention to our charges. We would try and tailor the week around them, and what they liked to do. We did lots of field trips to zoos, museums, the State Capitol, and Fort Snelling. We'd go roller-skating around the lakes or take in a Twins game at the old Metrodome. It was kind of like entertaining an out of town client, who happens to be in grade school.
Since they lived in Fargo-Moorhead, and we live in the Twin Cities, we made sure to take advantage of what this larger metro area can offer. Occasionally we'd choose something that might edify or educate. It's important to balance the learning with lots of fun, and we learned the hard way that we had to back off and pick more kid friendly options when our nephew Dave wouldn't try a hot fudge malt we were offering him, because he thought we were trying to trick him into eating something healthy.
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As the years passed our income grew a bit and expenses were manageable, so we thought we'd plan for a really memorable Camp Thomas. By this time, Rachel was 14 and Dave was 12, so we allowed them to each make a list of a few places they'd like to travel to in the continental United States, and together we'd help them each make their final choice. David planned to go to the Los Angeles area and out into the desert and 29 Palms. Rachel's top pick was New York City, because she wanted to see Late Night With David Letterman.
I'm glad we were able to steer Rachel to NYC, since her second choice was going to Kentucky to look for professional wrestler Miss Elizabeth. A fan magazine had written a story about her living in Kentucky, with her horse. Rachel assumed if we flew to Kentucky, we'd be able to find her.
Memories are such fallible things. I remembered few details of our New York City trip, but thanks to my niece Rachel, I am now able to describe a trip that had in many ways faded from my memory. Not because of anything bad, but perhaps because the trip was fun and not threatening. Or maybe I had forgotten so much because it was a long time ago, and I didn't write down the details. Or maybe it was because I put most of the photos we took during that trip, into a scrapbook for Rachel. Then I put what photos I kept into a massive plastic bin in my basement. That bin lurks in my laundry room, waiting for me to sort through and organize the last few decades of my life. Not today. Maybe tomorrow.
After a talk with my niece, I remembered so many details. We spent our first night in NYC at the Barbizon Hotel, in a room the size of a postage stamp. The next few nights we stayed at the Hotel Edison with a larger room and a view out of our window. Getting up early on our first day, we had Rachel put a 20 dollar bill in her shoe, in case we got separated, so she could take a taxi to the hotel and wait for us there. That day, we all waited in line for several hours, in front of the Ed Sullivan theatre, hoping to get a few last minute tickets to be in the audience for Late Night With David Letterman. A couple of people way up in front were able to get tickets, but they probably woke up before the crack of dawn to stand in that line.
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When we didn't get tickets for Late Night With David Letterman, we decided to wait a few more minutes to see that days guests arrive. We waited with a small crowd until a limo pulled up and Keanu Reeves walked past. Then Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter-Cash arrived, and walked the line. They all seemed nice, but they didn't linger.
After we watched celebrities walk into the Ed Sullivan Theatre, we decided to go see the new movie Speed, starring Keanu Reeves which had just opened. According to Wikipedia, Speed premiered June 10th, 1994. The movie theatre was right near Times Square. We got to watch Speed on a huge screen, in a big city, with the star of the movie himself walking on a sidewalk nearby, and it was thrilling.
The following day Rachel and I went to lunch at the Russian Tea Room. It was a somber atmosphere, dimly lit, with male waiters who wore formal attire and held samovars. I ordered some caviar for us, thinking that would be a sophisticated choice, but Rachel didn't want to try it. I tried it and it was not tasty, it was salty. I carefully and discretely spit it into my napkin and then went into the bathroom to wipe my tongue off with a paper towel.
We went to see STOMP in the East Village, and afterwards we spotted Melanie Hutsell of Saturday Night Live fame, on the street right in front of the theatre! We walked up and said hi, and even chatted with her a little bit. She was so nice to us, and let us take a photo with her. There were no digital cameras for us back in 1994, so each photo taken was considered carefully, and then you'd bring the film to the drug store, wait a few days for it to be processed, and then when you picked up your developed photos you were finally able to see pictures of your trip. Luckily the celebrity shot of Melanie Hutsell turned out! The following day we went to the Statue of Liberty and when it started raining, umbrella salesmen sprouted everywhere.
Our last day we took the elevator to the top of the Empire State building, and when we looked down we saw lots of moths flying around, near the top. But then we realized they weren't moths, they were cigarette butts that people had flicked off the building and because of the wind gusts, they didn't fall, they just floated and flocked in the air. I wonder if there's fewer cigarette butts floating there these days.
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I'm in favor of trade. I don't know anyone opposed to trade. A better question is, "How should we manage globalization?"
We should rethink our approach to globalization if we hope to restore trust.
Strike one for trust in "free trade" - gains go to the top
Under our trade policies since NAFTA, the gains from trade have gone to a few at the top, while workers and communities have lost out - even after counting the cheaper goods we buy from low-wage countries.
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The US has lost millions of good jobs, and entire industries have disappeared from our economy. This would be OK if we had created millions of new good jobs. But we haven't.
Workers in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Colombia are still waiting for their gains from trade. NAFTA, CAFTA and other trade deals disrupted their economies. Millions of workers lost their jobs, their social support structures were weakened, and violence increased. Thousands of workers and unaccompanied minors were forced to leave their villages and migrate in search of work.
The issue is not workers in the US versus workers in Central America. The issue is workers in every country versus the 1% in every country.
Strike 2 for trust in "free trade" - bad power relationships
Mistrust reflects the bad power relationships in the policies we've chosen to manage globalization. Our trade policy helps global corporations move jobs and production from the US to Mexico. The same dynamic then applies when workers in Mexico see their jobs going to lower-paid workers in China. Workers in China worry about their jobs going even lower-paid workers in Vietnam. Workers everywhere lose bargaining power.
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Global investors understand the power of institutions. Decades ago, they created the WTO, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the post-NAFTA dispute settlement systems - global institutions dedicated to investors and global companies.
In our domestic economy, we have legal and political institutions that balance public interests with investor interests. This evolved over generations. In 1905, the Supreme Court decided that government played no legitimate role in regulating labor conditions in the economy. No unions, no minimum wage, no overtime, no unemployment insurance, no Social Security.
In the 30's, the Court reconsidered the legitimate role of government in managing the economy. The Court said government could regulate markets if the regulation was reasonable, served a legitimate public purpose, and was not a complete "taking" of the business' value. This standard balances power between investors and civil society. But for the Court's reversal, America would be a very different place today.
Trade deals gave corporations a clean sheet of paper to take back power they had lost to civil society. Trade deals create new rights and set new standards favorable to global corporations. Decades of trade tribunal decisions make it clear that the tribunals pay no attention to our domestic legal tradition of balancing public interests with investor interests.
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Provisions in trade deals to protect workers and the environment are illusory and have never been enforced.
Strike 3 for trust in "free trade" - economic integration is not trade
Many accounts of globalization use the terms "trade" and "economic integration" interchangeably. This should be a huge red flag for anyone with a passing grade in an economics class in international trade.
"Trade" takes place between countries that retain their national identities and values, pursue their national interests, and manage their national economies. China, Japan, Germany, and Korea are good examples.
We are also familiar with economic integration - the 50 states of America are integrated. Europe's economy is integrated. Economic integration works best when social cohesion and political legitimacy are strong.
Economic theory says "trade" brings mutual gain. That theory assumes capital investment and technology stay inside the US, and everyone has a good job, and we export as much as we import, so it all balances out.
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Economics teaches an opposite condition, which applies to economic integration. That condition can be win-lose.
For instance, a company can close its air conditioner factory in Indiana, and moves that work to Mexico for lower wages and weaker labor and environmental standards. Then, investment and technology flow out, our workers lose jobs and bargaining power, and we run a large chronic trade deficit. With bad power relationships, we get a race to the bottom.
Jeffrey Sachs is an influential economist. He assumed our President, Congress, and trade negotiators would makes policies where globalization's winners would compensate the losers. He is slowly recognizing that the point of having power is to win, and the point of winning is to win, not compensate losers.
Key to restoring trust
History shows that successful economic integration requires political integration in parallel with economic integration. Public trust in globalization will come from a legitimate accountable political system, and from seeing our own interests reflected in the way we manage globalization.
In American history, our original 13 colonies were economically integrated under the Articles of Confederation, which went into effect in 1781. Too weak. We ditched that in 1789, going to a stronger political system - Federalism - with checks and balances, separation of powers, and individual rights. Constitutional power relationships have evolved steadily for the next 200+ years.
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Before Europe integrated, Europeans voted on a Constitution, and created two governance institutions - the European Parliament, and a Commission (whatever that is). Europe invested in higher living standards in Ireland, Portugal and other weaker economies, before integrating them.
The Brexit vote and the euro crisis tell us that the European Union may need even stronger political institutions to maintain legitimacy.
Rethinking globalization
"Trade is good" is often mistranslated as, "All trade is good; maximum possible trade." Harvard economist Dani Rodrik calls this "hyper-globalization." It is quite possible that the optimal level of trade is less than what we have now.
Economic integration requires a strong political system in parallel with the economic system. Instead, our failed TPP-like approach gives us corporate-dominated global governance without a global government. Corporate-dominated global institutions serve investor interests, not public interests.
TPP won't work. The process that gave us TPP won't work. TPP would lock in bad policy for a generation or more. That approach has lost legitimacy and it has lost trust.
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We can trade, retaining our national interests, our own values and standards, and relying on our own legal and political systems. That could restore trust if it serves the broader public interest.
Or we could integrate - building new institutions that represent civil society at the global level.
For example: Should we fix the NAFTA-TPP dispute settlement system by making global institutions that represent civil society (economic integration), or abandon the dispute settlement system, and use our domestic legal systems (trade)?
By Helen Branswell
When you're a patient in a hospital, you'd like to think the doctors, nurses, or orderlies standing at your bedside had recently washed their hands, wouldn't you?
You'd also probably be glad to hear that hospitals in recent years have pushed for more hand-washing stations -- part of an effort to cut down on the spread of bacteria that thrive in hospitals, further compromising the health of people who are already sick.
There's a problem here, however. Those sinks have been implicated in the spread of dangerous bacteria.
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In a devilish case of unintended consequences, sinks have been linked to a number of outbreaks of serious infections in hospitals from Baltimore to Shanghai and many places in between in recent years. In one notable case, a hospital in the Netherlands took sinks out of the patient rooms in its intensive care unit in a bid to slow the spread of bacteria. (It worked.)
At a time when concern is mounting about antibiotic resistance, and when the specter of untreatable infections threatens the advances of modern medicine, finding ways to slow the development and spread of drug-resistant bacteria is a major preoccupation of infection control teams. As a result, evidence that hospital sinks could exacerbate the problem presents health care specialists with a quandary.
"The thing about the sinks is that they're the cornerstone of infection control policy. ... All of the [hospital] guidelines in the developed world talk about having sinks -- the ratio of sinks per beds and where they are and that sort of thing," said Dr. Michael Gardam, director of infection control at University Health Network, an institution comprising four Toronto hospitals.
When it comes to hospital sinks, there are two major issues.
First, the water coming into them can contain bacteria. That's true of any sink, anywhere; municipal water treatment systems don't produce sterile water. But a bug that isn't a risk for a healthy person can be dangerous for someone whose immune system is suppressed to prevent rejection of a donor organ or who is recuperating from a serious operation.
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The other problem is that sinks, particularly the pipes that drain them, are ideal places for bacteria to proliferate. The bugs form what are known as biofilms - colonies where they gang together and attach to a surface. These water-dwelling bacteria especially like p-traps, the U-shaped bend in pipes that drain the contents of a sink.
Getting rid of biofilms once they form is, well, pretty much impossible. There are cleaning tricks hospitals try, but even those generally only lower the bacterial count for a while.
"Once you have the biofilms in there, short of ripping the sinks and the piping out, it's impossible to get rid of. And in fact, even if you do that, it frequently comes back," said Dr. Alex Kallen, a medical officer in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's division of health care quality promotion.
He said it's not entirely clear how much of a risk biofilms in hospital sinks pose. These bacterial colonies are generally -- though not always -- found in the pipes leading away from sinks, so people using the sinks shouldn't, in theory, have contact with them.
In fact, to see if bacteria from biofilms in sinks drains could find their way back up to contaminate hands, the CDC ran an experiment where it had people wash their hands in sinks with contaminated drains. It saw no evidence of bacteria transferring from sinks to hands.
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But Kallen said more experiments are underway because of the number of reports that put sinks squarely at the heart of hospital outbreaks.
Gardam has firsthand experience with an outbreak caused by a sink. It was a bad one. Three dozen patients in intensive care contracted a drug-resistance bacteria; an investigation after the fact said five died because of the infection.
Figuring out how the patients were getting infected took sleuthing, but eventually suspicion fell on some sinks in the ICU. They had gooseneck faucets that directed water straight down into the drain. The pressure created back splash, with tiny droplets of bacteria-laced water spraying onto nearby porous surfaces where medical staff prepared tubing and other equipment used in patient care.
Gardam ordered staff to stop using the sinks, going so far as encasing them in garbage bags. There were no new cases after that.
The hospital subsequently made a number of changes, which have been adopted elsewhere as well, Gardam said.
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"Some of the stuff we've learned ... is: Don't have the gooseneck (faucet) drain directly into the drain; have it drain off the side of the bowl. Don't allow it to splash. Make sure it's deep enough that it can't splash on you and splash on your clothing. Make sure that the stuff around [the sinks] is waterproof."
Exacerbating the problem is the fact that biofilms that develop in hospital sinks may house really bad bugs - bacteria that are resistant to key antibiotics. That's because sinks aren't just used to wash hands. Staff sometimes use them to dispose of patient specimens - urine, for instance - or to drain the dregs of an intravenous bag of antibiotics.
"It's just like: How do you use your kitchen sink? You dump your disgusting stuff down there and then you wash your hands," said Dr. Trish Perl, an infection control expert who is chief of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Hospitals should have clean sinks -- for hands -- and dirty sinks, for disposing of patient specimens, said Kallen. But some health care workers would argue it's safer to tip a specimen into the nearest sink rather than walk down a hallway with something that might spill.
"There does seem to be at least anecdotal evidence that if you discard patient specimens down sinks, then you can contaminate the drains with the things that are in those specimens -- which, if they're in the hospital, are more likely to be multidrug resistant [organisms]," said Kallen.
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"Now whether or not that's a true source of transmission to other patients is controversial. But you certainly can contaminate the sink that way."
As problems with sinks have become apparent, experts have been working to design better and safer sinks.
But even there it's important to look for unintended consequences. For instance, a couple of studies, including one done by Perl, looked at bacterial accumulation in electronic eye faucets -- the no-tap sinks where water flow is activated by placing hands in front of a sensor.
The suspicion is that sinks without taps would actually reduce the risk that freshly washed hands would be recontaminated by turning off taps. But some appear to be more likely to accumulate bacteria, Perl said, explaining they have multiple internal valves and more surfaces on which biofilms can form.
It's an important lesson, she said: New sink designs need to be tested, in the way drugs are, to ensure they are actually better.
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"We need to start insisting on studies so that we understand the implications of introducing novel technologies before we do it," she said.
Health care specialists say concerns about hospital sinks have provided them with another lesson: Use alcohol gel. Some people still believe it dries out their skin, and it's not effective on its own if a health care worker's hands are soiled.
But there's no doubt that it can help curb the spread of bacteria. And it is, in fact, what the CDC recommends when hands need to be cleaned but aren't soiled with a contaminant that gel won't remove.
Quito lights up for Habitat III. Alexei Trundle, Author provided
The New Urban Agenda was officially adopted in Quito, Ecuador in the last plenary of the Habitat III conference.
The agenda provides a 20-year "roadmap" to guide sustainable urban development globally.
The text of the New Urban Agenda itself was agreed well before Habitat III at the UN General Assembly in September, during an extraordinary informal negotiation session that lasted for more than 30 hours.
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This allowed the focus in Quito to shift towards commitment and action. Under the banner of the "Quito Implementation Plan", commitments ranged from the development and enhancement of national urban policies, to integration between different levels of government.
The conference also saw announcements of new sources of international development assistance for countries to provide better access to housing and shelter for millions more people worldwide.
Sustainable urban development for all
More than half of the world's population now lives in cities. So it makes sense that the New Urban Agenda will significantly shape the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The 2030 agenda is built around a series of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Most relevant to the New Urban Agenda is SDG 11, which aims to "make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable". However, the New Urban Agenda has been criticised for lacking direct links to the targets set out within Goal 11.
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Unlike their predecessors the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs apply to all UN members states equally.
While most of the world's rapid urban growth is in the Global South, challenges abound in the cities of Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and East Asia. In these regions, upgrading existing infrastructure and avoiding "carbon lock-in" - where old, carbon-intensive structures prevent the adopting of lower carbon alternatives - will require significant transformative efforts.
Much of Habitat III focused on the application of new technologies and the harvesting of big data, particularly in these established urban centres. Under the umbrella of Smart Cities, using open data networks for better urban planning provided an optimistic, technology-based future for cities. However, questions about the security, ethics, and oversight of large-scale information gathering remain largely unanswered.
Alexei Trundle
Also included in the New Urban Agenda are renewed efforts to help developing countries urbanise. These build on earlier work under the Millennium Development Goals and Habitat II. Related commitments focus on emerging concepts, such as urban resilience and inclusive public spaces.
Commitments from individual countries under the Quito Implementation Plan were underwhelming. Instead, civil society and academia led the way with a range of commitments to new initiatives. This included a new $15 million Terwilliger Centre for Innovation in Shelter funded by Habitat for Humanity, and $2.3 million by the C40 Cities Finance Facility to upscale urban climate action. A full list of commitments to the Quito Implementation Plan can be found on the Habitat III website.
Despite references to Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States in the agenda, support for sustainable urbanisation in areas such as the Pacific was limited. As noted by one Pacific delegate:
There are not enough people talking about the Pacific, and the Pacific's problems with urbanisation. We don't have the means, but we are the ones being heavily impacted by disasters and climate change.
The role of partnerships between city authorities and universities in the Global South and their more developed neighbours was also strongly emphasised. UN-Habitat is soon to release a Higher Education Action Plan.
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Bernhard Barth, UN-Habitat
Was Habitat III a success?
Views on the success of the conference varied among Habitat III's 36,000 participants. This was perhaps inevitable given the contested nature of cities and urban space.
A clear highlight was the participation of countless young Quito residents. Many attended side events and UN-Habitat's Youth Assembly. The continued growth in the role of civil society, mayors and advocacy groups is a positive trend that should be supported.
Bernhard Barth, UN-Habitat
The parallel Alternative Habitat forums provided a platform for challenging some of the consensus-based narratives.
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Bridging these official and unofficial events was the launch of the Quito Papers. Authored by a trio of world-renowned urban experts, The Quito Papers provide an alternative vision for cities of the future.
Unlike the Charter of Athens, which likened cities to machines, the Quito Papers consider cities as adaptive and evolving open systems. These papers urge decision-makers to give cities back to the people that inhabit them, and promote equality and socially interactive spaces.
Towards Habitat IV
All countries will need to step up their commitments if the aspirations set out in Habitat III are to be achieved. Key concepts, such as integrated planning and models for local-national government cooperation, will need further work.
Although Habitat IV will not take place until 2036, a four-yearly review process has been agreed upon, building on the biannual World Urban Forum.
Also included in the New Urban Agenda is a review of UN-Habitat's role in its implementation. It is not yet known whether a new "UN-Cities" entity will emerge when the review concludes in 2017.
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From a planning perspective, 20 years is a short space of time to change the trajectory of global cities. However, the unplanned changes in our cities over the next two decades are almost equally unimaginable.
With the New Urban Agenda as a road map, it is hoped that we can rise to the challenge of creating more liveable, resilient and sustainable cities. Because without global urban transformation, we cannot achieve sustainable development as a whole.
James Warlick emphasizes talks over final status of Nagorno-Karabakh (video)
The U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group does not rule out that Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev might meet in the near future. I think the two presidents will have an opportunity to meet in the near future. I think we can arrange the meeting any time, when the two presidents express readiness to meet, James Warlick said on Tuesday during a meeting with reporters in Yerevan. The U.S. diplomat says determination of the status [of Nagorno Karabakh] is one of the most important issues of the negotiation process. It can cause different interpretations, but we are talking about the final version, about a referendum, he stressed. James Warlick welcomes Aliyevs decision to start discussions on the status of Nagorno Karabakh. We should all commend [the move] and start a frank discussion to determine Karabakh's future status. The positions of the two sides may not coincide but it is important to present the issue to the people of both countries. We welcome Aliyevs statement not because it was a final word, but because he made the issue a topic of discussion, he said.
War, what is it good for? In America, the answer is that, much of the time, you'll probably never know what it's good for -- or, in some cases, even notice that we're at war. Right now, the U.S. is ever more deeply involved in significant conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya, and increasingly Yemen -- at least five ongoing wars in the Greater Middle East. Yet, in the midst of Election 2016, with the single exception of the long-proclaimed, long-awaited Iraqi-Kurdish offensive against Islamic State militants in the city of Mosul (with U.S. advisers on the frontlines and U.S. Apache helicopter crews in the air), the rest of our spreading military actions might as well be taking place on Mars.
The Taliban has recently attacked two Afghan cities and is gaining ground nationwide; Afghan military casualties have been soaring; and American planes and advisers have been let loose there in a fashion unseen since 2014. Neither presidential candidate has offered a peep on the subject, nor has there been a question about that now-15-year-old war in any of the "debates." (They must be rigged!) In Syria, the U.S. air campaign continues, largely unnoticed, while Washington tries to broker a deal between the Turks and the Kurds (think Hatfields and McCoys) for an offensive to take ISIS's "capital" Raqqa. (Good luck on that twosome working together!)
The New York Times recently described the expanding but under-the-radar American war against the al-Shabab terror movement in Somalia this way: "Hundreds of American troops now rotate through makeshift bases in Somalia, the largest military presence since the United States pulled out of the country after the 'Black Hawk Down' battle in 1993... It carries enormous risks -- including more American casualties, botched airstrikes that kill civilians and the potential for the United States to be drawn even more deeply into a troubled country that so far has stymied all efforts to fix it."
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As for Libya -- oh, yes, Washington is in action there, too, even if you never hear about it -- the U.S. Air Force (drones, jets, and helicopters) has doubled its air strikes against ISIS militants in the last month: 163 of them. And, of course, there's Yemen where the U.S. seems to be stumbling directly into a new war without the slightest notice to Congress or the American people. American destroyers have been responding to "missile attacks" that -- shades of the Tonkin Gulf incident of the Vietnam War era -- may or may not have happened by firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at targets in territory occupied by the Houthi rebels. This in a country already under siege from a brutal American-backed Saudi air campaign, significantly aimed at its impoverished civilian population, and wracked by an expanding al-Qaeda operation. Even what those destroyers are doing so close to the Yemeni coast is never discussed.
Crossposted from UN Women.
Nahla Valji, Deputy Chief of UN Womens Peace and Security Section
About the author Photo: International Peace Institute
Nahla Valji, Deputy Chief of UN Womens Peace and Security Section, has led the organizations policy and programmatic work, including with the UN Security Council, on peacekeeping, peace negotiations, transitional justice and rule of law, and countering violent extremism. Recently, she headed the Secretariat for the Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325, a comprehensive study requested by the UN Security Council for the 15-year review of women, peace and security. She has close to 20 years of experience in the United Nations and civil society, founded and managed the International Journal of Transitional Justice and is currently a co-editor of the Oxford Handbook on Gender and Conflict. Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Valji worked in South Africa, where she led the regional transitional justice work of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and managed the African Transitional Justice Research Network. She has a Masters degree from York University, Canada.
This week, as the United Nations Security Council holds the annual Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security to discuss protection of women and girls in conflict and womens leadership in preventing, resolving, and recovering from conflicts, the war in Syria enters its sixth year, contributing to a global refugee crisis. Iraqi forces enter Mosul amidst a dire humanitarian situation, and peace remains uncertain in countries such as South Sudan and Colombia. The global political landscape is volatile, challenging and increasingly complex. The number of people in need of international assistance has tripled over the past decade and 80 per cent of them are affected by armed conflict [1]. In 2015 alone, the global cost of violence and conflict was estimated at more than USD 13.6 trillion [2]. Violent extremism and terrorism is on the rise, and the fragile gains on womens rights are under attack.
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It is within this context, that the United Nations undertook three separate reviews on peace and security last yearon peace operations, the UNs peacebuilding architecture and on fifteen years of women, peace and security. I had the privilege of heading the review on women, peace and security, which concluded with the Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), authored by Radhika Coomaraswamy. The study drew upon global consultations and new research and emerged with one key findingwomens meaningful participation is the most important and overlooked ingredient for sustainable peace.
The study showed, backed by data, how womens participation would increase the reach of humanitarian assistance, accelerate economic recovery and reconstruction, improve the effectiveness and credibility of our peace operations, and help prevent and counter violent extremism. For example, we now know that the probability of a peace agreement lasting at least 15 years is 35 per cent higher when women are included [3]. However, our actions and policies are yet to respond to this evidence.
What can be done to change this? The study listed more than one hundred recommendations and ideas, including quotas, earmarks, targets and other temporary special measures that are still under-utilized or used as aspirational benchmarks. If countries were to act upon these recommendations, we could realistically remedy the gender imbalances currently undermining our peace and security response.
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One of the recommendations of the global study, calling for the creation of a new mechanism in the UN Security Councilthe Informal Expert Group on Women, Peace and Security (IEG)has been fulfilled. The IEG began its work in February, shortly after the launch of the study, co-chaired by the United Kingdom and Spain and with UN Women as its Secretariat. In just eight months, through this forum, the Security Council has heard directly from the UNs senior leadership on the ground and received quality gender and conflict analysis that would be otherwise absent from its regular reports and deliberations.
Apart from examples of extreme violence against womenan issue that has finally gained more visibility in the last two decadesthe Council is now hearing examples of extreme political marginalization and exclusion of women in key peace and security processes and the gender dynamics that fuel or mitigate conflict. For example, Council experts heard detailed new research from Mali showing that the strongest factor pulling former combatants away from the battlefield and back into their communities were female family members; and that social media was being used to target urban youth in the north with anti-womens rights language in order to lay the foundations for radicalization. It heard that in Iraq, there was not a single woman in the four command cells administering the return of population to liberated areas; and in Central African Republic, since the end of the transition, womens representation in national institutions has dropped again, down to single digits in the parliament.
This information is already being used to strengthen UN programming on the ground and by civil society representatives advocating for peace. The IEG, like many other policy processes, will not lead to overnight changes in the lives of women in conflict-affected countries, but we fully expect it to improve the response of the UN and other international actors. At the very least, the Security Council cannot hear only once a year that womens leadership and participation is a missing ingredient in crisis response and stabilization efforts. It must hear it all year-round, directly from the people it deploys on the ground, and act upon it.
Notes
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[2] UN Peacebuilding Fund Pledging Conference, 21 September 2016, New York.
No matter where you turn, the news can be maddening. This election cycle has been the source of great distress for many: name-calling, taunts about a rigged system and media bias, constant Wiki-leaking, coded and outright declarations of racist and sexist ideologies, divisive language and targeting of immigrants and religious minorities. And this unreal circus is being conducted on a very real backdrop of a broken criminal justice system, police brutality, widening economic disparities, backlash against historically marginalized groups, and wars in so many areas of the world that it is hard to keep track. And just this past week, news broke about potential violence at election polls, fears of gerrymandering and cyber-attacks causing a massive outage that rolled across the country affecting everything from Twitter to Etsy.
I know it's easy to get on the dystopian-future bandwagon. I've been tempted myself. Fear, anger and despair are always lurking about. I noticed them most during the debate season. Bracing myself for the first debate, I put out an SOS to my friends pleading for someone to hold my hand as I watched. I furiously tweeted throughout the entire ninety minutes, extolling the virtues of Hillary and the viciousness of Trump. It was exhausting. However, when the second debate came around, I decided to keep my hands idle. Instead of the fury I held during the first debate, I decided to get centered and quietly hold onto a feeling of hopefulness. I was sure that something about what I had done -- the change in my own energy -- made the last question of that debate possible. Do you remember the question regarding what the candidates admired about each other? It was so unexpected and it immediately softened the disposition of the candidates, the mud seemed to evaporate and the energy in the debate hall changed.
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It was a rare and hopeful moment -- one that showed the humanity still left within the candidates even as they continue their battle. There have been so few moments like this and the last debate was more of same dehumanizing sparring. But that moment of sanity in the second debate made me realize that all the tweeting and posting and arguing and demonizing we are doing still has many of us disheartened about the possibility that our country and its citizens can rise to their highest selves.
So, as a deeply hopeful person whose lifework is about making the world fairer and more just for everyone, I began asking myself what we can do not only to survive the last days of this election, but to move forward with more grace and more decency in these turbulent times generally. I have decided on a new strategy, a course correction, to get through these next few weeks. I have decided "no more" -- no more being tossed back and forth and up in down with every news story, tweet, poll or leak. I have decided to commit to a course of action based on my belief that we don't need more rancorous engagement, fact-fighting, demonizing and hatching of escape plans.
What we need in the next few weeks and to start the healing process in the election's aftermath is more consciousness, more courage, a ton of compassion and above all, grace. Yes we need to continue to work, take care of our families, vote, get the vote out, and stand up and fight for social justice. AND I am also committing to Ten Radical Acts of Grace. I truly believe that, though this may seem foolish to some, it is the only way for me (and hopefully some of you) to help raise the energy that unites rather than divides. So if you are tired of being dragged through the territories of fear and worry, or if you are so disgusted or overwhelmed that you have decided to put your head in the sand, please consider joining my call to action.
Ten Radical Acts of Grace
1.Resist FEAR -- no matter how many hysterical doomsday predictions are generated;
2.See ALL humans as worthy of love and compassion -- yes even those with whom we disagree;
3.Stay curious and evaluate even my deepest held opinions and perspectives;
4.Look for opportunities to serve others, ushering in their greater good;
5.Use my words only to elevate not do denigrate;
6.Believe and speak to the highest possibilities not the worst case scenario;
7.Breathe -- stay grounded and resist the feeling to flee or grow apathetic and hopeless;
8.Reach beyond my comfort zone to connect with others I don't know rather than to isolate myself or hide;
9.Nurture myself through relationships with those who are committed to love rather than hate; and
10.Stay close to the source of my peace, excellence and fulfillment and limit my exposure to the sources of agitation, scare and mediocrity.
Even the U.S. military, possessed with so many brave, self-sacrificing individuals, has not been immune from a handful of its recruits perpetrating some very awful cases of cruelty. In recent years, authorities charged a U.S. Marine couple living at Camp Pendleton in California with shattering their dog's legs and binding his mouth with rubber bands for days. In Fort Bragg, North Carolina, law enforcement charged a soldier, who had a history of domestic violence, with slitting the throats of two dogs and then dumping their bodies in trash bags. In another well-publicized case in El Paso, Texas, a Fort Bliss soldier and his wife adopted two dogs and just two weeks later, one dog was dead and the othera puppyhad suffered a broken leg that hardly seemed accidental.
The soldiers were charged with animal cruelty by the local sheriffs' offices but had these offenses happened on a military base anywhere in the world, there would have been no action taken against them because U.S. state cruelty laws cannot be applied internationally.
Recently, President Obama signed an executive order closing this loophole in our anti-cruelty laws. The new provision under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) will now apply anywhere in the world where the military is stationed and will be on a par with states' animal cruelty statutes. Violations will be separated by "abuse, neglect, or abandonment of an animal" and "bestiality." The maximum punishment will include bad conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and jail time ranging from up to one year to up to five years, depending upon the offense.
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This is a significant advance from the prior circumstance when animal abuse was classed under a general provision with other "disorders and neglects" to be addressed with a general, special, or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense. The HSUS's Sherry Ramsey worked diligently for five years to see this new policy adopted. We're also grateful to Representative Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., for leading a letter cosigned by a bipartisan group of 13 of his colleagues, urging the Administration to amend the UCMJ to include the specific crime of animal cruelty.
The FBI recently started to track animal cruelty crimes in its National Incident Based Reporting System, and it's good to see the military join the movement within the federal government to treat animal cruelty with the seriousness that it deserves. This reflects a now widespread recognition about the close link between animal cruelty and violence toward humans.
We also hope that the adoption of the UCMJ provision will provide Congress with an additional reason to close other existing loopholes in our federal government, by passing the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (S. 2293/H.R. 1831) pending in Congress.
The PACT Act would empower the FBI and U.S. Attorneys to prosecute animal abuse cases that occur in interstate commerce or on federal property, and it's a common-sense piece of legislation. There's no meaningful opposition to it, and a raft of support. It would be an easy matter to take this up in the lame duck session of Congress and do something good for the country, delivering a blow to the worst offenders of animals everywhere.
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'It is not possible to say that all of those who have joined the attempt belong to that community...'
This statement comes as a response by Umit Dundar to the question of a parliamentary deputy in Turkish capital last week, as part of the work to investigate the coup attempt that traumatised Turkey in July 15.
Dundar is a four-star general who as the commander of the 1st Army of the Turkish Armed Forces - located in Istanbul-, emerged as one of the key figures behind its failure.
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With the 'community' he was referring the 'Gulenists', a description of those who are followers of Fethullah Gulen, a reclusive cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, USA.
Dundar was summoned, among some others, to testify before the cross-party parliamentary commission in Ankara last week, and his statements did not fully disperse the question marks swirling around the hours that shattered Turkey, pushing it further into havoc from July 16 on.
If what happened hours before and during the coup attempt is a puzzle, as many cool-headed analysts agree, it remains a puzzle, which refuses itself be solved.
''What happened that night, it looks to me, like the murder which was committed in Agatha Christie's book, The Orient Express, and my party, the CHP, acts like Hercule Poirot. You know, at the end of the novel, everybody had somehow taken part in that murder. July 15 is the Orient Express of Turkey''' said Aykut Erdogdu, who is a main-opposition member of the four-party commission.
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''Some underdogs may prove to be putschists, and some putchists may emerge as underdogs.''
In an inteview with the leftist daily, Birgun, Erdogdu points out, that 'reasonable' questions like 'Was there a negotiation that night?' and 'Was the coup known to be coming?' were still kept unanswered.
He complains that the commission may very well end up failing in its pursuit of the truth:
''We could not not accomplish anything. It is as if a secret hand obstructs our work. This secret hand may in the coming days cover up some things while pushing forward a fictive scenario as the reality. We should be prepared for the effects of a counter-coup.''
He may be right. Three months have passed and the bloody coup attempt, with its deaths and destruction that shattered Turkey, is still wrapped in mystery.
What happened during the night of July 15th until the middle of the following day?
We know enough about the citizen resistance to the putschist troops blocking bridges and roads, F-16 jets flying at extremely low altitude with seemingly endless sonic booms over Istanbul and Ankara, the troops shooting at the crowds and, later, the lynching of many soldiers.
As of the evening of the day after, the overall picture of Turkey would be best described as a ruin.
And many major questions remain:
Who masterminded the coup?
Who pushed the 'button'?
If successful, who would be sitting on the military junta?
Was it a 'pure' Gulenist coup attempt or does it point out to a larger picture, of broader engagement of the top army ranks? What does its flawed orchestration tell us about the reasons for total failure?
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The now up to 90% pro-government Turkish media obstinately, without any scrutiny, focus on the role of Gulenist officers, who have been depicted as the sole culprits and demonised as FETO (Fethullah Terror Organisation).
It reports, copy-paste style, only the official narrative, accusations many western observers see falling short of concrete evidence.
Any attempt to display scepticism and dig into the underlying reasons and actors behind the coup is taboo. Journalists are discouraged from doing so and those who ask rational questions do so with the risk of being branded.
"You doubt, therefore you must be part of FETO plot," is a common accusation in Turkey, where fear and paranoia rule.
But, nothing will make the bold questions go away.
CHP deputy Aydogdu accuses the ruling AKP.
'They can not clarify what happened that night' he says.
He then offers his analysis:
'There are dark holes during the day and night of the coup. It is said that an officer went to MIT (Turkish Secret Service) Headquarters already 11 a.m. that day. Thereafter, first the Deputy Director of MIT goes to the Chief of Staff Headquarters , soon to be followed by the director himself. The Director leaves the Chief of Staff around 9 p.m. and 'disappears': neither the President nor the Prime Minister could reach him. It was said that he had gone to visit the Director of Religious Affairs. At those hours we had started to hear the calls for prayers from the mosques all across the country. The president says that he had heard about the coup from his brother-in-law. Soon after Hakan Fidan (the Director of MIT) leaves the army headquarters, a putchist Special Forces unit invades the place. Statements about the night are contradictory. Was the Top General, Hulusi Akar, arrested there and then, or was he taken to the Aknc Air Base (epicenter of putchists)? There were many officers who vouched for General Akn Ozturk (arrested for belonging the group which masterminding the coup, yb). Was he really a putschist, or somebody appointed to negotiate to block it? There are severe inconcistencies between the statements, 'confessions' of the putschists and what has been told to the public.''
When looked carefully into the complicated, messy orchestration of the events of July 15th, what emerges is a series of mysterious acts by AKP figures and top army officials in the hours preceding the coup attempt.
According to fragmentary official statements and confirmed data, the secret service of Turkey, MIT, had already been informed about "activity" inside the army headquarters and barracks at about 3pm or 4pm on July 15th. It is also known, by official statements, that the head of MIT, Hakan Fidan, entered the army headquarters in Ankara and was reported to have informed Erdogan at those hours about the mutiny apparently brewing.
From that point on, the sequence of events is wrapped in mystery.
Akar was reported captured about 9-10pm as the putsch unfolded. So were the commanders of the branches of the military, the narrative goes.
One of them was General Abidin Unal, commander of the air force, who was the guest of honour at a wedding in Istanbul together with the country's number two general. Both men were taken prisoner as the wedding hall was assaulted by masked officers, causing general havoc.
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A key figure in ensuring the coup failed was the 1st Army, based in Istanbul, Umit Dundar, had appeared at an early stage of the coup attempt on TV and distanced himself from it in clear terms.
He was later promoted to deputy chief of the General Staff.
If MIT had informed the top generals, then how on earth did they end up being arrested about six hours later?
How come the civilian government was caught by a big surprise late on Friday?
What happened in those critical six hours, between afternoon and midnight?
And what happened before the top commanders re-emerged free the next day?
In the aftermath of the attempt, another major element is puzzling analysts:
160 generals are held in detention, dismissed from their duties. This number roughly corresponds to 40% of the top echelon of the Turkish military.
That all of them, as accusations indicate, had belonged to the Gulenists awaits to be addressed properly, seriously with concrete evidence.
So far, it has not.
Bits and pieces put together do not, as concluded by sharp-minded colleague Umit Kivanc, appear convincing that it was a coup undertaken purely by the Gulenist flank of the army.
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"For their own, different motives, many flanks at the top echelons seemed to be involved," he wrote in a blog for P24 website, adding that the pattern that day shows series of deceit, divisions, changed minds, panic, "suicidal acts", such as bombing the parliament building and, the day after, modifying the narrative on the sequence of events to save themselves.
Another colleague, Ahmet Sk, who had suffered a lengthy detention that he blames in the Gulen movement, offered his analysis - which I agree with fully based on my research - that the putschists acted on a much broader, looser base.
In a recent panel discussion at Weatherhead Center at Harvard, he argued that between the time the plot was uncovered and the time the rebellious officers began to move on Istanbul and Ankara, there were negotiations between the Turkish intelligence services, the civilian government and nationalist officers who were part of the coup alliance:
The coup failed not because it was poorly planned or because civilians took to the streets to oppose it but, rather, because the Turkish government successfully broke the alliance between the non-Gulenist officers and those affiliated with the movement. One of the crucial pieces of evidence, or lack thereof, is the fact that no organisational chart or plan for a military junta has surfaced since the coup was foiled. Such a chart has been a crucial part of every other coup plot in Turkish history.
According to Sik, this is evidence the Turkish government is trying to cover up the extent of the coup and the specific officers involved.
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Yevgeny Kutik and Timos Andres at National Sawdust, October 19, 2016
Photo provided by Christina Jensen Artists
By Christopher Johnson, ZEALnyc Contributing Writer, October 25, 2016
Yevgeny Kutik tells a revealing story about his teacher Roman Totenberg: "When I was first starting college [at Boston University]," he writes, "I had a particularly disappointing lesson and while packing up my violin, poured out to him my frustrations about my playing, lamenting how I was practising over five hours every day, but without the progress I expected. To my consternation, Professor Totenberg, who was soft spoken and had a deep voice, simply stared at me silently for what felt like several minutes and then said one word: 'Listen'."
Back in the late 1960s, when I was at BU, the music and theatre divisions of what was then called The School of Fine and Applied Arts were jumbled together on the fourth floor of a vast Beaux-Arts structure that originally housed the swankiest Buick-dealership in Boston. Roman Totenberg strode those long halls like a god, and when he passed through the lobby between classes, crowds parted before him, and even proto-hippie acting-students who had no idea who he was had to stifle an overpowering impulse to genuflect. Only a fool blows off Totenberg, and Yevgeny Kutik is no fool.
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There was a lot of listening going on at National Sawdust Wednesday night. In fact, the most impressive thing about the evening, which included two world premieres and introduced the latest of Kutik's very fine recordings, was the degree to which Kutik and Timo Andres, the up-and-coming composer-pianist, seemed to be attuned not only to one another, but to some third presence that spoke to them out of the air. You don't see the real thing all that often. This was the real thing.
Like Kutik's new recording, the program was built around Hans Christian Anderson's adage that "where words fail, music speaks." This may be something of a truism, but it made for a fascinating recital. The most substantial of the new pieces--Michael Gandolfi's Arioso/Doloroso/Estatico, for unaccompanied violin, and Andres's Words Fail, for violin and piano, both commissioned by Kutik--take off from the plaintive four-note motif that opens Mendelssohn's Song Without Words, Op. 19, No. 1. Gandolfi develops it melodically and through variation, paying homage to Bach's partitas for solo violin with lots of implied counterpoint, while Andres opts for a loose, shifting canonic elaboration exploiting nearly the full range of both instruments. Both pieces are cast in simple ternary form, rising to a crisis and then subsiding. After that, words (as they say) fail, and analysis is just irritating: these are substantial pieces that command and hold attention, amply justifying their upwards-of-nine-minutes' duration. Better yet, they reward repeated hearing.
The third premiere was Andres's arrangement of a characteristically gnomic little movement from Janacek's On an Overgrown Path, also called "Words Fail!", which Andres said he felt almost compelled to do after finishing his own piece and then discovering that Janacek had beaten him to the title by nearly a century. The arrangement is both thoughtful and clever, and makes the piece feel substantial out of all proportion to its brevity. Kutik and Andres played it beautifully, shifting gears every couple of bars with a breathtaking combination of spontaneity and precision.
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Andres and Kutik have performed together only once before, but they make a wonderful pair. Andres, whose prose and whose taste in lifestyle-features can seem a touch airy, is all business onstage: focussed, transparent, naturally expressive. Kutik, who seems a model of controlled passion on disc, becomes almost abandoned in performance--not unduly so, but he looks and sounds like someone perfectly willing do anything, whatever it takes, to tell you what this music is saying to him, and the occasional wooly attack or lapse of intonation be damned. Their ensemble was nearly perfect, and the way they tossed thematic elements and inner voices back and forth--naturally, fluently, without Making A Point or analyzing out loud--was sometimes thrilling.
These guys are good. Watch out.
Yevgeny Kutik / Timos Andres. Photo provided by artists.
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Yevgeny Kutik, violin, and Timo Andres, piano, in recital on Wednesday, October 19, at National Sawdust, 80 North 6th Street, Brooklyn, New York.
MENDELSSOHN (arr. Friedrich Hermann) Songs Without Words, Op. 19, No. 1, and Op. 67, No. 2
GANDOLFI Arioso/Doloroso/Estatico (premiere)
ANDRES Words Fail (New York premiere)
JANACEK (arr. Andres) Words Fail (premiere)
MUHLY Compare Notes
STRAVINSKY Suite Italienne
Christopher Johnson writes frequently for ZEALnyc about classical music and related performances.
Fewer than one in 10 Americans will be receiving insurance payouts in the event of a major earthquake, according to a 2016 report from Swiss Re . More than 90% of the country chooses to go uninsured for this major risk, even in high frequency areas like Oklahoma or high severity ones like California.But new technology attempting to forecast seismic tremors could be key in addressing at least some of the reasons behind this underinsurance.Seismologists have repeatedly said they cannot predict when earthquakes will strike, and the art of quake forecasting remains controversial. But, experts in the field also know that 50% of all large quakes are preceded by smaller ones and that makes the muddled science slightly more precise.Its also giving rise to increased discussion of quake risk on social media, the LA Times reported last week. The Salton Sea quake swarm a series of more than 200 earthquakes in quick succession along the San Andreas fault increased the chances of a 7.0 or greater quake along the fault line from one in 6,000 in any given week to as much as one in 100 during that particular week.Like last years New Yorker article detailing the effects of a major earthquake on Washington state, the Salton Sea quake swarm struck fear into the hearts of many and prompted a social media frenzy of sharing information on the risk.And while insurance companies dont use the information in modeling quake risk Its too much like gambling, says Swiss Re Chief Property Underwriter Monica Ningen it can serve to educate the public on just what theyre letting go uninsured.From a human standpoint, the increased amount of activity in California makes people pay attention just a little bit more, Ningen told Insurance Business America. An uptick into people looking into insurance is always a good thing as generally, theyre simply not aware of the risk.Ningen said that terminology like a one in 100-year event can be confusing for property owners, who may interpret it to mean a quake will not happen in their lifetime when, in fact, it could strike as soon as the next year or even earlier. Coverage on events like the Salton Sea quake swarm does much to dispel that.Unfortunately, there is also some evidence to suggest that risk awareness alone will not lead to higher levels of coverage. After the New Yorker article, Karl Newman, president of the Northwest Insurance Council, noted that while inquiries into quake insurance rose in Washington state, actual business did not. High premiums and even higher deductibles scared off many would-be policyholders, Newman said, and the situation is unlikely to be any different in California.There is also a lack of options in the market, noted Joe Woods, vice president of state government relations for the Property Casualty Insurers Association.I think private insurance pulled back after Northridge, and is just afraid to take the risk, Woods told IBA. They lost multiple years worth of premium in a single event. Theyre pretty gun shy right now and will stay gun shy.Related Stories:
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The two candidates faced off at Berkshire Community College Monday night.
Senate Candidates Handle Slew of Questions During Debate At BCC
PITTSFIELD, Mass. Most of the questions at Monday's state Senate debate were on the ballot questions, with each of the two candidates taking slightly different views on them.
Republican Christine Canning-Wilson and Democrat Adam Hinds are both seeking election to the state Senate seat being vacated by Benjamin Downing. The two faced off at a debate Monday night sponsored by the Pittsfield Gazette and Berkshire Community College and moderator Dan Dillon said while the ballot questions are going to voters, the candidate's answers do reflect where they stand on hot topics in the state.
He started off with the question of expanding charter schools. The ballot question would allow for a dozen more to open in the state. Canning-Wilson said she was "neutral" on the topic while Hinds opposes the expansion.
"Charter schools would be fabulous in the eastern part of the state," Canning-Wilson said.
The longtime educator and administrator says in the Level 4 or 5 school districts, charter schools open an opportunity for parents. But in the Berkshires region, where there are no schools at those levels, she said the funding of charter schools poses a challenge to local districts, districts that can't deny certain children enrollment or expel students.
"Public schools don't have the option of who they get, charter schools can pick in choose in some instances," she said.
Canning-Wilson said traditional public school districts need to have the funding to put toward special education, which is mandated.
Hinds, on leave as director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, said before even thinking about more charter schools, the Chapter 70 foundation formula needs to be sorted out.
"We need to make sure our public schools are as strong as they can be," Hinds said. "We need to get the financing part right before we talk about expanding more charter schools."
He added, "There is no way we can take ourselves seriously if we don't have the best schools around" and that he already convened a group of educators to discuss how to change the foundation funding formula and fix the funding shortfalls in the public schools.
The two did have a disagreement over whether or not it was Chapter 70 or Chapter 71 that is the foundation formula with Canning-Wilson saying 70 was for regional school transportation and Hinds saying transportation was 71. Hinds was correct in that argument. But nonetheless, they both voiced similar concerns.
A followup on that was whether St. Joseph Central High School, which the Diocese of Springfield just announced will close at the end of the school year, could be a charter school. Hinds said there do not seem to be people "clamoring for another charter school" so he doesn't expect that to be much of a threat. But, the closure does mean another vacant downtown building that will need to be addressed.
"The reality is the diocese should have been more transparent," Hinds said of the pending closure.
Canning is a St. Joe graduate and has joined in the movement to try to keep it open. She, too, doesn't think the building is fit for a charter school because of needed capital repairs. The closure, however, has a number of impacts on the city from the loss of 24 jobs to 68 students looking for faith-based education.
Meanwhile, "they are building a $50 million plus Catholic school in Springfield" that is likely too far for local families to travel for faith-based education. She believes the way the closure was announced was "unfair to families."
On the question of legalizing marijuana for recreational use, Hinds took a more moderate stance while Canning-Wilson definitively supported passing it.
Canning-Wilson, who exhumed plenty of laughs and chuckles throughout the night with her quick wit and humor, said "long live Cheech and Chong" and her eyes lit up with possibilities for economic growth with the legalization. She said the Berkshires and the state should go right after the hemp market, growing it, selling it, and making products with it. She said hemp can be used in many, many products and that will create jobs, business growth, and tax revenue.
"My opinion on this is that we take it and tax it because people are more ready to buy the clean stuff than the dirty stuff on the street," Canning-Wilson said.
She countered the arguments that it would enhance a drug problem saying, "The amount of people who actually use marijuana are people who are 45 years old and up. The new generation doesn't want it, they are into synthetic drugs."
Hinds said, "I have no problem with adult use of marijuana" and that he had supported medical marijuana and the decriminalization of it, saying the "war on drugs has been a failure."
But, he is also working with the community coalition on preventing substance abuse among the youth, which gives him pause. He doesn't want marijuana to have an impact on developing brains and vowed that if elected, he'd work with the other legislators to put in restrictions to prevent it from getting into the hands of youth.
Further, he said there is also a lot to do when it comes to making sure authorities can test for driving while under the influence of marijuana as well as concerns with the money flow since the federal government still has laws against it. Much of Colorado's legal pot industry is handled in cash, for instance.
Dillon questioned the tax revenue, saying casinos haven't yet brought in the expected boon that proponents had been expecting. Both candidates expressed concern about gambling in the state as well, particularly with gambling addiction.
"The odds are rigged against you," Canning-Wilson said.
She said with casinos there comes problems such as sex trafficking and other problems. She doesn't want to see that element locally though she suspects a casino may be wanting to come here and would fight to ensure there is proper oversight and prevention of any negative consequences.
Hinds said that while adults should have the ability to make the decisions on how they want to spend their money, "there is a lot of folks who have problems with gambling." He said any casino proposal would need to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
Another ballot question is that of treatment of farm animals. The question sets certain restrictions on how animals being raised for food are treated such as allowing a cow to have a stall large enough so that it can turn around.
Canning-Wilson's economic development philosophy focuses on taxes. She is calling for an elimination of state taxes to help attract businesses. That is particularly important in the Berkshires where businesses can opt to go just over the border into New York and operate for 10 years tax free.
"We can promise you jobs and float these ideas out like they've been doing for 24 years, but the problem is our tax system," she said. "We need to lower our taxes so we can increase small business. We know, and you know, small business attracts jobs."
She also is calling for the elimination of the state tax on estates, so when a someone dies the family gets the money. To compensate for any loss of revenue with tax reductions, she is calling for stricter oversight of various state programs to reduce fraud in the system.
Canning-Wilson also attempted to separate herself from party affiliations.
"I am not Donald Trump. I have very little in common with Donald Trump," she said of her party's presidential candidate.
She said she is the byproduct of a liberal father and conservative mother. Her loyalty isn't to a political party but to the people. She got into the race because she "saw corruption, nepotism" while the district wasn't seeing progress.
"I am going to be there for you, I always have been and will always be," Canning-Wilson said.
Hinds got into the race because "I don't want to do politics as normal. I don't want to get into the bitter, negative approach we see on the national level." Instead he wants to inspire others to craft and fulfill an agenda that will help the district.
He said his grandfather moved from England at the age of 17 and took his first job sweeping floors for his local Boys Club of American. And 55 years later, he retired as the national president.
But now, "it's not easy to rest assured in the idea that if you work hard, keep your head down, and follow the rules and you'll be secure," Hinds said. And that's what he wants to bring to the seat.
Early voting has begun for the first time in Massachusetts with polls open during business hours and limited times this Saturday at city and town hall. The election is on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Vicki Coates of state Health Connector, left, and Ecu-Health Care Executive Director Karen Baumbach talk about the importance of obtaining affordable health insurance at Greylock Works on Tuesday. Eric Conroe, assistant site foreman at Greylock Works, talks about the multi-million dollar renovation of this 'Hidden Gem.' Mayor Richard Alcombright joined the kickoff in support of the effort. PreviousNext
Health Connector Launches Insurance Enrollment Drive in North Adams
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Health Connector officials are urging citizens to explore their health insurance options during this enrollment season.
Open enrollment runs from Nov. 1 through Jan. 31. With expected rises in health insurance premiums under the federal Affordable Care Act, it behooves people to look over their plans and update their accounts.
The word from the Health Connector is it's the time to shop for the best plan.
"A lot of time people think there's not an affordable option because they read the press like that, but there actually are very affordable options," Vicki Coates, the state Health Connector's chief operating officer, said. "It's best for everybody that they try."
Staging enrollment promotions at "Hidden Gems" around the state, Coates, Ecu-Health Care Executive Director Karen Baumbach and Mayor Richard Alcombright kicked off the Western Massachusetts swing at Greylock Works on Tuesday morning.
The former Greylock Mill was selected for the Berkshires promotion because of its history, heritage, and future. The former textile mill has parts dating back to the 1830s and is undergoing an $18 million, multi-year restoration into an artisan food production facility, hotel, residential and hospitality space.
"We have over 500 people that are insured today through the connector in the North Adams area and we hope to increase that," said Coates, standing in the massive open Shed portion of the mill, and overall, about 250,000 people across the state.
"We're still going after the last bit of uninsured in Massachusetts," she said. "There's still about 4 percent uninsured and there's a lot of new residents coming into the state and we want to make sure they know their options."
Baumbach said some 300 letters have been sent out to clients warning of premium increases and Ecu-Health Care is reaching out to individuals who may be losing tax credits in 2017.
"In our area, specifically, those in Health New England and CeltiCare plans will experience some dramatic increases in those premiums," she said. "As these individuals are faced with making changes regarding their health plans due to costs, Ecu-Health Care is available to assist with new plan enrollment."
Plans range in average from zero to $300 a month, with the lowest income individuals seeing from zero to about $140 a month. Coates and Baumbach said many people may be able to lower their costs by stepping down a plan, or qualify for more subsidies just by updating their income information.
Samvel Alexanyan is a great humanist - Republican lawmaker (video)
Republican lawmakers know whom opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan meant when he announced in the National Assembly on Tuesday that the traces of the murder of two Armenians in Moscow take to the Armenian parliament. Pashinyans words were apparently addressed to Samvel Alexanyan, a lawmaker from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK); the murdered Armenians used to work for Alexanyan. Hamlet Harutyunyan, another lawmaker from the same party, says he does not expect Alexanyan to have ordered such a thing. because he[Alexanyan] is a great humanist, says Harutyunyan. That same humanist once had problems with Armen Israelyan, one of the killed Armenians. The latter blamed the businessman for keeping him hostage in his factory. If he [Alexanyan] had kidnapped him [Israelyan], he could have killed him. Why didnt he do it? says Hamlet Harutyunyan. Mr. Harutyunyan does not even pay attention to the fact that Alexanyans name is often linked to different criminal stories. Do brawls matter here? Armenian men are always involved in brawls, he adds. Republican Vahran Baghdasaryan warns Pashinyan that he will have to answer for the accusations he levels against Alexanyan. Baghdasaryan does not expect such a thing from Alexanyan either. They take every opportunity to settle political vengeance against their colleagues, says the head of the HHK faction. Vahran Baghdasaryan does not exclude that if things continue in the same way, the traces of assassination of Lenin and Kennedy will also take to the Armenian parliament. I think Samvel Alexanyan knows how to respond to Pashinyan's accusations with humour and philosophy. Edward Sharmazanov will wait for the answer of law enforcement agencies. He does not feel bad that the name of his partymate is linked to the murder of two Armenians. If you follow debates between Trump and Clinton you will see that even in the most democratic country of the world the two presidential candidates blame each other for different things, says the Vice-Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly. At the same time, Sharmazanov reminds Pashinyan of the presumption of innocence that is applied in democratic countries.
Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI), Hondas automobile business unit in the Philippines, bagged six major awards at this years Auto Focus Peoples Choice and Medias Choice Automobile of the Year Awards held last October 13, 2016 at the Valle Verde Country Club in Pasig City.
The Honda City, HCPIs only locally manufactured model in the Philippines, won the Peoples Choice Award for Subcompact Sedan of the Year. The Honda City is an excellent choice for customers looking for a stylish, feature-packed, and fuel-efficient subcompact sedan. As a treat, HCPI even launched a Limited Edition variant of the Honda CityThe New City 1.5 E Limited Edition. The New City 1.5 E Limited Edition comes with exclusive Daytime Running Lights (DRL), Door Visors, Speed-sensing Auto Door Lock, Key Fob with Panic Button, and a Limited Edition emblem. The Honda City remains to be HCPIs best-selling model.
The All-New Civic, launched last April, took home both the Peoples Choice Award for Compact Sedan of the Year and the Medias Choice Award for Best Engine Performance in the Compact Sedan segment. The sporty compact sedan is also a significant contributor to HCPIs sales, showing that its features continue to win over customers. In the month of September alone, a total of 602 units of the All-New Civic were sold. HCPI is committed to release more and has already delivered 1,443 units of the All-New Civic in Honda dealerships nationwide from June to September. The All-New Civic is now available for interested customers.
The New Accord bagged the Peoples Choice Award for Midsize Sedan of the Year. Its refreshed version, released last May, now carries a more premium look with aerodynamic garnishes. It is also equipped with Cruise Control, Remote Engine Start Function, and Intelligent Dual-Zone Climate Control System for maximum convenience.
In the Luxury segment, the New Legend and the New Odyssey earned the Peoples Choice Awards for Luxury Large Sedan of the Year and Luxury Van of the Year, respectively. Such recognition further cements HCPIs presence in the luxury segment. As HCPIs flagship model, the New Legend is Hondas most powerful car to date thanks to its high-output and fuel-efficient hybrid system that combines one engine with three electric motors, resulting in maximum power and torque. Meanwhile, HCPIs New Odyssey now has an EX Variant that offers a spacious 8-passenger seating capacity, new front and rear bumper designs, new prominent grille and 16-inch alloy wheels. Both the New Legend and the New Odyssey effectively combine luxury, state of the art technology, and versatility for customers to enjoy.
These awards prove the publics continued appreciation for the Honda brand. They also reinforce Hondas commitment to relentlessly deliver high-quality vehicles with top-notch features to satisfy the needs of the market.
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New Research: Impact of Social Connections on Overseas Citizens Voting in the 2014 General Election
Alexandria, Virginia - New research released by the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) examines the extent to which absentee voting by (non-military) U.S. citizens living abroad is affected by the level of social connectivity to other U.S. citizens residing in the same country.
Previous voting research indicates that having more social connections (friends and family) is associated with a greater likelihood of voting in-person on Election Day, due to both motivation and information effects. Due to the complexities of voting absentee from outside of the United States, it has been unclear how the dynamics of social connectivity apply to Americans living abroad until now, FVAP Director Matt Boehmer said. Thanks to our innovative methodology, we were able to survey this difficult-to-reach population and estimate the relationship between social connectivity and the likelihood of successful voting. We now know that for these Americans, it's the quality - not quantity - of social connections that increases voting success.
For U.S. citizens overseas, the process of voting is very different and contains more obstacles than voting domestically. As such, accurate knowledge and information about the absentee voting process are crucial to voting successfully from overseas. One way that overseas citizens can obtain absentee voting information is through the transfer of knowledge from other overseas voters.
Key findings from this research:
Though the total number of overseas Americans one knows is unrelated to voting propensity (i.e., likelihood of returning absentee ballots), the characteristics of ones connections influence the likelihood of successful absentee voting.
Rather than having a motivational effect, social connectivity facilitates voting primarily through the transfer of information.
Overseas citizens who know other Americans in their country of residence who successfully voted are themselves more likely to vote successfully.
There is a strong positive relationship between connections to procedurally informed voters and the likelihood of successful absentee voting.
U.S. citizens located in certain countries (Mexico, parts of Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia) tend to have more social connections who are knowledgeable about the absentee voting process.
Those with more than 50 informed connections are more than twice as likely to have voted as those with a similarly large, but less informed, social network.
FVAP leveraged these findings for the 2016 election and conducted pilot outreach programs to reach potential voters through their overseas workplaces, specifically overseas affiliates of U.S. owned companies. FVAP will expand this outreach strategy and develop further targeted information campaigns for overseas voters who can help share key absentee voting information with those in their social networks.
Governor and First Lady Honor Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan
Sacramento, California - On behalf of all Californians, Governor Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown honor Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, who bravely gave his life in service to our state and nation. The Governor and First Lady extend their deepest condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.
Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, 34, of Anaheim, CA, died October 20 in northern Iraq, from injuries sustained in an improvised explosive device blast. He was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three. Chief Petty Officer Finan was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
In memorial, Governor Brown ordered that flags be flown at half-staff over the State Capitol. Chief Petty Officer Finan's family will receive a letter of condolence from the Governor.
Governor Brown Statement on Death of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sergeant
Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement regarding the death of Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Sergeant Alfonso Lopez:
Sergeant Lopez dedicated more than half of his life to serving his community with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department and on behalf of all Californians, Anne and I extend our deepest condolences.
Sergeant Lopez, 47, of Glendora, was involved in a single-vehicle crash today in Compton while assisting with the pursuit of a stolen vehicle. He was pronounced deceased at a local hospital. Preliminary information suggests Sergeant Lopez suffered a medical emergency during the pursuit.
Sergeant Lopez was a 26-year veteran of the department and is survived by his wife, daughter and son.
In honor of Sergeant Lopez, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.
CDFA hosts federal officials for produce tour ahead of implementation of Food Safety Modernization Act
Sacramento, California - On January 4, 2011, President Obama signed landmark legislation the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the most sweeping reform for food safety laws in over 70 years. FSMA aims to create an integrated food safety system and improve the quality of food products to the public by reducing foodborne illness. Implementation of FSMA for the Produce Safety Rule will begin January 2018.
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross, Dr. Stephen Ostroff, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, and stakeholders participate in round table discussion.
The California Department of Food and Agricultures (CDFA) Division of Inspection Services hosted a three-day produce industry tour earlier this month for officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to learn about Californias diverse farming operations, and to meet with producers. The tour brought together a team from the FDA led by Dr. Stephen Ostroff, Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, and also included CDFA Secretary Karen Ross, state partners from the California Department of Public Health, and industry representatives.
California Strawberry Commission President Rick Tomlinson and Dr. Stephen Ostroff, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine.
The activities kicked-off in Fresno, beginning with a tour of a stone fruit and table grape operation, a citrus orchard and packing house, and an almond processing operation. That same day, tour participants joined a round table discussion that included a presentation by the California Farm Bureau Federation and focused on Californias water systems and infrastructure. In light of the states continued drought, water use efficiency is critical and farmers are focused on using every last drop in the most effective manner. The water round table provided FDA officials first-hand information on Californias complex water system and the many challenges faced by agricultural producers and the impacts as a result of FSMA.
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross, Dr. Stephen Ostroff, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, and Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement CEO Scott Horsfall.
The second day of the tour was spent in the Salinas Valley visiting a leafy green growing operation and observing a mock food safety audit. After observing harvesting in the field, the tour continued to a processing facility, and then to a strawberry grower. The Salinas Valley tour brought together many stakeholders and provided for a robust round table conversation about food safety, the importance of maintaining an ongoing dialogue with our FDA colleagues, and sharing best practices currently being implemented by farmers.
The tour concluded in San Francisco with a visit to the Golden Gate Produce Market, a wholesale market offering a variety of produce grown throughout California as well as other regions of the world. The market provides a wide array of produce to retailers, foodservice professionals and the public.
The CDFAs California Produce Industry tour provided FDA officials a small glimpse into Californias diverse and complex farming operations and gleaned first-hand information about the challenges and opportunities for California producers in light of FSMA reforms.
Fulbright Arctic Scholars Convene in Washington, D.C. for Fulbright Arctic Week
Washington, DC - Seventeen Fulbright Arctic Scholars from the eight Arctic Council nations will convene in Washington, D.C., October 25-27 for Fulbright Arctic Week. As a culmination of their 18-month program, the scholars and two co-leaders will participate in several public events to present their findings about the impacts of climate change on the Arctic, including water, energy, health, and infrastructure issues.
Fulbright Arctic Week begins with an open house on Tuesday, October 25, at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, where Arctic scientists will engage with the public to discuss the challenges the region faces due to a changing climate. On Wednesday, October 26, an Arctic Policy Dialogue will take place at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. On Thursday, October 27, the National Academy of Sciences will host a public Fulbright Arctic Symposium. Officials from the U.S. government, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Arctic Executive Steering Committee, and U.S. Arctic Youth Ambassadors will join the Arctic Scholars at events throughout the week.
Zambia National Day
Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I congratulate the people of Zambia on the 52nd anniversary of your nations independence.
"Our countries have long enjoyed a warm bond rooted in our shared respect for democracy, peace, and individual freedoms. The United States appreciates your commitment to responsive and representative governance and applauds your regional leadership, particularly in providing much-needed food assistance to neighbors hit hard by drought this fall. In the year ahead, we look forward to continued collaboration to promote inclusive growth, wipe out the scourge of HIV/AIDS, and fight corruption.
"On this special day, I offer best wishes to all Zambians for a happy and prosperous future."
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken Travel to China
Washington, DC - After stops in Tokyo and Seoul, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing on October 29 to meet with Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui to conduct the third interim Strategic Security Dialogue, continuing discussions between the two sides on strategic security issues including DPRK and maritime issues.
The Deputy Secretary will also meet with other Chinese government officials to discuss a range of issues.
On the Occasion of Austria's National Day
Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I am pleased to congratulate all Austrians as you celebrate your national day on October 26.
"The relationship between the United States and Austria is rooted in the interests and ideals we share, including our support for democracy, our respect for human rights, and our joint commitment to building a world that is peaceful, prosperous, and guided by the rule of law.
"My government values its ability to work with Austria to achieve progress toward common goals: the defeat of violent extremist groups, the prevention of nuclear proliferation, the preservation of the global environment, and security from the threats posed by organized crime. Your country can take particular pride in its role as host to important multilateral organizations and negotiations. I am personally grateful for the hospitality I received during the many days I spent in Vienna seeking agreement on such important measures as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. Our friendship is demonstrated, as well, through the many people-to-people exchanges and contacts involving our students, businesspeople, tourists, and other visitors.
"On this special day, I offer my best wishes to you for a happy, safe, and successful year to come."
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From Ken Bone to Chewbacca Mom, 2016 has been chockablock with viral content, both good and bad. Who can tell what will do the rounds on Twitter/Facebook next?
Some media outlets are hoping theyve found this years answer to the infamous black/blue/whatever Dress in a recently resurfaced photo.
Three years ago, the Facebook page Reasons My Son Is Crying posted a photo of a baby crying next to a Hollywood star dressed in orange.
Which movie star is it, though? Speculators believe it to be either Tom Hanks or Bill Murray. But which one? The answer may surprise you. Even shock you. Perhaps, even enlighten you.
As pointed out by TIME, the caption - submitted by Laura R - points to Bill Murray. Some corners of the internet are debating this, Yahoo saying the likeness to Tom Hanks is certainly uncanny.
The BBC, meanwhile, have been investigating the situation. They believe it to definitely be Bill Murray because Tom Hanks was almost certainly in New York when the photo was taken (the photograph's uploader claims it was taken in Scotland). People and US Weekly both also concluded the photo shows Bill Murray.
Tom Hanks movies Show all 9 1 /9 Tom Hanks movies Tom Hanks movies Forrest Gum Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump for which he won a best actor Oscar Tom Hanks movies You've Got Mail Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Nora Ephron's 90s romcom Tom Hanks movies Da Vinci Code Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou in Ron Howard's 2006 thriller The Da Vinci Code Rex Tom Hanks movies Charlie Wilson's War Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson, left, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gust Avrakotos, right, 2007 AP Tom Hanks movies Cloud Atlas Halle Berry and Tom Hanks in 'Cloud Atlas' Focus Features Tom Hanks movies Toy Story Tom Hanks as cowboy Woody Rex Features Tom Hanks movies Saving Mr Banks Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson star in Saving Mr Banks Tom Hanks movies Captain Phillips Tom Hanks stars in Captain Phillips Tom Hanks movies Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Thomas Horn and Tom Hanks in the post-9/11 drama Francois Duhamel
Glad we got to bottom of that one. In the real world, Tom Hanks recently hosted Saturday Night Live, helping Alec Baldwin mock Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton.
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Things have been quiet for Peter Jackson after finally completing work on The Hobbit trilogy, which unfortunately faced a hurried journey to screen and a lukewarm reception from both fans and critics.
Jackson, however, has decided once more to return to the world of fantasy; The Hollywood Reporter states he will write and produce an adaptation of Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines series of books, a quartet which focuses on a steampunk vision of London, now a monstrously huge machine which rolls across the landscape in search of the planet's dwindling resources.
The director will work once more with Fran Walsh, his wife as well as co-writer and co-producer on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, alongside frequent collaborator Philippa Boyens; production is slated to start in spring in New Zealand, though Jackson and Walsh have been quietly working on the adaptation since 2009, when he opted the rights to the books from Scholastic.
He won't be taking the director's chair, though; handing over the reins to Christian Rivers, another New Zealand talent who has storyboarded all of Jackson's films since Braindead. After working as Second Unit Director on Pete's Dragon, Rivers has also long been attached to Jackson's other project, a remake of 1955 British war film The Dam Busters.
Rivers also worked as Visual Effects Supervisor on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, even winning an Oscar for his work on 2005's King Kong, which Jackson also directed.
Air New Zealand's Hobbit safety video
"Christian is one of my closest collaborators," Jackson said of the announcement. "The combination of emotion and jaw-dropping visuals in Mortal Engines makes this the perfect movie for his move into feature directing. What Christian intends to do with Philip Reeves terrific story is going to result in an original and spectacular movie. I wish I could see it tomorrow!"
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Lydia Hernandez was probably hoping for a gold metal band for her engagement, but instead she got a black metal one.
The Californian and her fiance John Awesome (genuinely seems to be his name) were posing for an engagement photo shoot (I didnt know that was a thing people did either) in picturesque Orange County woodland, when they spotted Coldvoid taking photos nearby.
The bands shoot was a little different, involving less puppy dog eyes and more flaming candelabra.
[The couple] wanted part of their photoshoot to be an ode to John Awesomes favorite movie, Forrest Gump, photographer Janet Wheeland explained. We had a Bubba Gump hat for him, a flower crown for her, and of course a box of chocolates.
This darling theme quickly changed when we ran into a black metal band named Coldvoid in the middle of the dark forest. They had nails, bullets, a noose, and a black candelabra that dripped like red blood when lit. Coldvoid was preparing to do promo photos for the band since it was a full moon that night.
A Cdoldvoid member added to BuzzFeed: It was a completely random encounter.
We were there taking photos for our band and our drummer Zacks girlfriend took our photos. The couple approached us with their photographer and we chatted for a bit, and then they asked to take a photo and we were happy to do it.
The couple were only too happy to collaborate, Awesome having himself previously been in a metal band, and Coldvoid clearly felt the same way - theyve since changed their Facebook cover photo to the picture (above).
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Allowing Heathrow to expand will create a serious obstacle to meeting the UKs commitments on climate change and reducing air pollution, a leading scientist has warned.
Environmental groups expressed dismay at the Governments decision to give a third runway at the airport the go-ahead and Greenpeace vowed to challenge it in the courts.
Activists also signalled they would launch a campaign of direct action by locking themselves together on a mock runway outside the Westminster Parliament.
The Government said it believed a new runway at Heathrow could be created while still meeting the UKs obligations to cut carbon emissions.
But an analysis of official figures by the Carbon Brief website found that the rising demand for flights could mean aviation could emit up to two-thirds of the maximum amount of greenhouse gases that the whole of the UK can produce by 2050 if it is to stick to its commitments on climate change.
This would mean drastic cuts in emissions produced by other sources, particularly from power stations, transport and heating systems. One expert who backed the decision to expand Heathrow rather than Gatwick, said other sectors of the economy would have to reduce greenhouse gases by more than 80 per cent by 2050 to comply with the UK Climate Change Act.
But Professor Joanna Haigh, co-director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, said she thought the Government had made a mistake.
Expansion at Heathrow, or any other airport, will create a serious obstacle to the UK meeting its greenhouse gas and air quality targets, she said.
Increased flights, more traffic on roads in and around the airports, and emissions from the new construction will add to an already woeful situation, particularly in London and the South East of England.
Protest against Heathrow and Gatwick expansion staged outside parliament
While I appreciate that current business projections suggest the need for more flights, by the time new runways are operating, they could look seriously outdated.
Rolling out of the best quality telecommunications networks to all businesses, including fast and reliable internet on trains, could benefit business productivity whilst reducing pollution by greenhouse gases and particles.
She said the Government should have supported research into green alternatives to existing transport systems.
Instead of expanding airports, I feel it would be better to redirect funds to accelerate research and development in clean transport and telecommunications and to prioritise the UKs responsibilities to air quality and environmental health, Professor Haigh said.
Dr Marc Stettler, of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London, said Heathrow was in a better location to serve the growing demand for air travel than Gatwick.
It has better transport links to and from the rest of the UK and it currently offers a larger variety of long-haul destinations that will be important in a post-Brexit Britain, he said.
Recommended Read more We will continue to fight against airport expansion
If the number of flights was going to increase, Dr Stettler said cuts in greenhouse gases would have to be made elsewhere.
In terms of climate change, growth in aviation will mean that other sectors of our economy will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80 per cent by 2050 to meet the Climate Change Act, he said.
This reiterates the need for an integrated national transport strategy that balances a growth in aviation with reductions in emissions from other forms of transport.
Greenpeace launched an appeal for funds to help pay for a judicial review of the decision.
John Sauven, Greenpeace UK's executive director, said: A third runway at Heathrow would be a waste of time, money and lives.
It would make Londoners air more dangerous to breathe, contributing to an air pollution crisis that already kills thousands. And it would load the atmosphere with as much extra carbon as some entire countries pump out.
We stand ready to take the May government to court on this, side by side with Conservative west London councils. This runway has been defeated before and can be defeated again.
In its statement about the decision, the Government said: Todays announcement follows an unprecedented UN global agreement achieved earlier this month to combat aviation emissions.
Under the deal, airlines will offset their emissions with reductions from other sectors to deliver carbon neutral growth for the aviation sector from 2020. The Government believes that a new runway at Heathrow can be delivered within the UKs carbon obligations.
However Dr Doug Parr, Greenpeace UKs chief scientist, tweeted: Government believes new runway at Heathrow can be delivered within UK carbon obligations. Nobody who understands thinks so.
In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Show all 22 1 /22 In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Inside one of the terminal tents in 1946 The year the airport opened. Comfortable armchairs and flowers try to distract from the conditions Graham Bridges collection In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow An aerial view of the airport in 1949 Construction of the runway layout and Central Area are under way In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow A Pan Am crew checks out the Boeing Stratocruiser N1029V Clipper Golden Eagle in 1954 During the early 1950s, Pan Am and American Overseas Airlines operated Statocruisers into London Airport in direct competition on the North Atlantic route operated by BOAC In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow One of the first official London Airport guidebooks C.1953, priced 1s In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow In 1950 a permanent concrete terminal building was built This replaced the tents previously used at London Airport North and is seen still in use for charter and cargo flights in this 1959 view via Graham Bridges In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow BOAC check-in desk in 1954 Inside the new London Airport North terminal building, just before the move to the Central Area Graham Bridges collection In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Air traffic control tower in the 1960s Inside the visual control room CAA Archives via Pete Bish In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Rear cover of the 1956 guidebook Showing a plan of the airport at the time, with entrance prices to the spectators viewing terraces and for airport coach tours In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Spectators in 1958 How close can you get? As soon as the Central Area was open, spectators were afforded unprecedented views of the airliners In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Terminal 3 was opened as the Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961 It was built to handle flight departures for long-haul routes. Renamed Terminal 3 in 1968, it was expanded in 1970 with the addition of an arrivals building In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Inside Terminal 3 in 1969 Check-in desks for BOAC and QANTAS airlines In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Plane spotting on Heathrows viewing terraces in the 1960s Wrap up warm, take your spotting logbooks, pen and binoculars and get your mum to pack your sandwiches In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow No 1 Passenger Building Also called the Europa Building. In this photo, taken on 22 June 1963, flags of the many airlines it serves are flown Lee Holden In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Luggage-trailer-towing Routemaster buses When BEA and BOAC merged to form BA on 1 April 1974, both fleets had to be repainted in the new livery, but so did all the ground support equipment In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow The entrance to the traffic tunnel in 1974 A Lufthansa Boeing 737 is seen on the runway In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow A 40 per cent scale model of Concorde In September 1990 it was erected on the roundabout at the entrance to the tunnel that passes under the northern runway at Heathrow Airport. It was built in four main parts, with an 80ft-long central fuselage section, to which the wings and tail fin were attached. The completed model was placed on the roundabout in September 1990 and was monitored by CCTV and surrounded by an infrared perimeter alarm that was connected to the local Heathrow police station to ensure it was not vandalised In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Heathrow Airport's 50th anniversary On 2 June 1996, Heathrow marked its anniversary with a flypast of representative airliner types that have served the airport over the years. This culminated in a formation flypast by Concorde with Hawks of the RAF Red Arrows aerobatic team In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow The roof of Terminal 3s car park One of the last bastions for plane spotters and spectators was here. This is the unfriendly notice that greets anyone who attempts this today Richard Vandervord In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow On 24 October 2003 BA withdrew its Concordes from service The final scheduled commercial flight was BA002 from JFK operated by G-BOAG. Here we see three of the Concordes parked together outside the BA hangar on 8 November 2003 following withdrawal John Hughes In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow The new control tower Costing 50 million to construct, it gives controllers an excellent 360-degree panoramic view NATS photograph In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow The new Terminal 2 The Queens Terminal In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Looking due west down Runway 27L
Activist groups vowed to continue the fight against the third runway.
Stephanie Nicholls, of Reclaim the Power, said: We can honour our commitments to tackle climate change, or we can build new runways we cant do both.
Aviation expansion anywhere is irresponsible, and globally will impact the most on the people whove done least to cause the problem. Climate change is already hitting poorer communities in the global south, who are the least likely to ever set foot on a plane.
When the Government wont follow its own rules, its time for normal people to step up and take action.
Following todays announcement climate activists, council leaders and local residents will be standing together to make any new runways undeliverable. If the Government thinks they can override local opinion, climate science and their own commitments, theyve got another thing coming.
Shona Kealey, a spokesperson for Plane Stupid, said: Two weeks ago, enough countries agreed to ratify the Paris Agreement for it to come into force. Last week, the Governments climate advisers issued a report saying reducing aviation emissions should be a priority if were going to honour the Climate Change Act.
And now, with todays announcement, our Government proclaims to the world that were a dishonest and unreliable nation who cant be trusted to keep to our international agreements or even follow our own laws, just as were about to renegotiate trade agreements with the whole world.
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Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has slammed designers for selling overpriced clothes - while selling a $1,195 coat on her own website.
In a recent interview with Fast Company, she said: "I find, as a consumer, that the price points of some of my favourite designer clothing is so exorbitantly expensive."
She went on to tout her company Goop's 'direct-to-consumer' model where high-quality products are sold for smaller mark-ups.
Goop Label's Gwyneth Soft Crombie Coat will set you back $1,195
But the website's line-up is far from cheap - with a $1,195 crombie coat, $595 dress and $695 blazer.
Gwyneth says that Goop Label clothing is made in the same Italian factories that manufacture for high-end brands like Proenza Schouler and Dries Van Noten.
Goop Label's Classic G.Tote is a steep $285
The line is being released as a monthly capsule collection, with up to five items being introduced at a time.
Gentlewoman Style Show all 13 1 /13 Gentlewoman Style Gentlewoman Style Paul Smith Jumper 135 paulsmith.co.uk Gentlewoman Style Church's Brogues 400 net-a-porter.com Gentlewoman Style Marie Marot Diana Stripe Ruffle Cotton Shirt 210 brownsfashion.com Gentlewoman Style Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick 26 chanel.com Gentlewoman Style Marie Marot Check Pocket Shirt 210 brownsfashion.com Gentlewoman Style Paul Smith Trousers 230 paulsmith.co.uk Gentlewoman Style Cos Necklace 39 cosstores.com Gentlewoman Style Diamond Print Silk Shirt 145 whistles.com Gentlewoman Style Bella Freud Signature Perfume 85 bellafreud.com Gentlewoman Style APC Jeans 154 apc.fr Gentlewoman Style & Other Stories Coat 145 stories.com Gentlewoman Style & Other Stories Sweatshirt 40 stories.com Gentlewoman Style Shinola Watch 475 selfridges.com
Despite the high cost, the capsule collections have proven popular, selling out within a matter of hours.
In the interview, Gwyneth was also keen to deal with the rumour that she would be distancing herself from the lifestyle brand.
Speaking to the 2016 Sage Summit earlier this year she said: 'In order to build the brand I want to build, its scalability is limited if I connect it to the brand.
The Altieri Shawl Collar Dress costs $595
So I always think how can I grow the brand, how can I separate myself from the brand and I think it's going to be more its own brand.
She claims that her comment was misunderstood and meant that: When I think about true scale, the less the brand has to leverage me, the more it can achieve true scale by itself, she says. Somehow that became that I was leaving.
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Simon Segars, the chief executive of Britains biggest technology firm, has warned the Governments plans to clamp down on immigration from the European Union in the event of a hard Brexit would damage his business.
In the wake of Britains vote to leave the EU, the Government has hinted it is headed for a so-called hard Brexit which means leaving the single market and an end to freedom of movement.
But Arm Holdings chief executive said putting a limit on the number of foreign workers could hamper his companys plans for growth.
Recommended Read more ARM deal could ignite UK takeover frenzy
Speaking to the Financial Times, he said: We have 300 people in Cambridge right now from mainland Europe, and more could start tomorrow.
If there was some law enacted that said every employee has to be from the UK, the business would fail.
He emphasised that access to people was crucial for his business.
There are a finite number of [UK] engineers with the right skills we can hire, we have to be able to play unencumbered on a global playing field, thats really important for us.
Arm Holdings is set to fall into foreign ownership after the company accepted a 24.3bn offer from Japanese group SoftBank in July.
The deal is the biggest takeover of a British company since the Brexit vote and comes after the pound fell against the Japanese yen.
SoftBank pledged to keep ARMs headquarters in Cambridge and to at least double employee headcount in the UK in the next five years.
Corbyn says Brexit has been 'chaotic' and needs a more 'grown up approach'
Mr Segars said it remained unclear whether the negotiations between the EU and the UK would endanger that target, but warned that it could slow down Arms hiring process.
If we have to go through some form of visa process to get the skills that we need, that will slow us down, Mr Segars said.
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
His comments come after Prime Minister Theresa May faced fresh criticism from senior conservatives for her Brexit strategy.
Andrew Tyrie, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, said in the Commons on Monday, the Prime Ministers reticence was in danger of creating considerable cost to the UK as businesses planned for the worst when it came to investment.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also accused the Prime Minister of staging a chaotic Brexit on Monday, while the Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon said Brexit talks in Westminster this week had been deeply frustrating.
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Benedict Cumberbatch has expressed regret over comments he made about the refugee crisis and said he got carried away.
The 40-year-old actor, who is known for his roles in Star Trek and The Imitation Game, regularly appealed for members of the audience to leave donations to help Syrian refugees after his critically-acclaimed performances of Hamlet at the Barbican Theater in London.
Cumberbatch, who is an outspoken campaigner for the refugee crisis, reportedly cursed the Government during a plea for donations. He is said to have rebuked the utter disgrace of the British Government for not doing enough to help those affected by the crisis before saying: F*** the politicians.
Appearing on LBC on Tuesday, Cumberbatch suggested that he should not have said "some of what" he said and suggested that he could have tackled the issue in a better way.
People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015.
Maybe I got carried away, maybe I shouldnt have said some of what I said. All I was trying to do was shine a light on an issue that was at certain times being overlooked.
I fully stand by what I did. Maybe the way I did it could have been better, he later added.
The actor explained that it was the image of Syrian toddler, Alan Kurdi, whose body washed up on a beach in Turkey just over a year ago, that appalled him and spurred his anger.
As a new parent, I think I was particularly susceptible to the image of Alan being picked up from the surf of a beach where people would casually be playing with their children on holiday. I dont know anybody who wasnt touched by that, he said.
Cumberbatch said he thought it was important to use his platform to raise awareness for those that need it.
Politically, I know Ive got myself into trouble in the past by speaking out of turn, he said. I know Im a white, privileged actor, but I also have a profile and a lot of attention on me, and I gladly shine a spotlight on those who need that attention.
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Chris Hemsworth has taken matters into his own hands after tabloids threw false claims about his marriage to Elsa Pataky around.
On Tuesday, the Thor actor shared a picture of himself and his wife of six years on Instagram mocking reports which suggested their marriage was in trouble.
Looking for a new wife according to @womansdayaus and other misleading outlets! Honey you still love me right?! #thanksfortheheadsup, he wrote accompanying a picture of him and Pataky enjoying each others company on a boat.
The latest issue of Womans Day which is Australias best-selling weekly magazine has a headline on its front page which reads: Chris & Elsa Living Apart: What Went Wrong?
Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Show all 11 1 /11 Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Jay Z and Beyonce Affair rumours a-plenty there may have been, but after almost a decade of dating, Beyonce and Jay Z got married in secret in 2008, welcoming baby Blue Ivy in January 2012. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Tom met Rita on the set of Volunteers in the 80s. By 1985, they were married. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell Goldie and Kurt met on the set of Swing Shift in 1983. They've now been together for 31 years. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith Jada met Will when she auditioned to be his girlfriend on The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air in 1990. She didn't get the part, but she did get herself a boyfriend, who became a husband and a father to their two children. Rumour has it the secret to their success lies in their 'open' approach to marriage. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan They met on the set of Family Ties, married in 1988, have stayed together throughout thick and thin and welcomed four children. Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan's relationship has definitely stood the test of time. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Denzel Washington and Pauletta Pearson Washington Dating since 1977, married since 1983. Four children. Respect where its due to Denzel Washington and Pauletta Pearson Washington, who met on the set of TV biopic Wilma. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick This pair have been married since 1988. That's 26 years. And two children. And they're both in the business. Their success? Keeping their private lives private and balancing work and family life. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick These two were introduced by Sarah's brother at the Naked Angeles theatre company in 1995. They wed in 1997, and have three cherubic children together. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Victoria and David Beckham Brand Beckham first became one in 1997, after the former Manchester United footballer player met VB at a charity football game. They married in 1999 and still fawn over each other in interviews today... Four children later. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule Sir Elton John & David Furnish Sir Elton met David at a dinner party in 1993. They began dating, and entered into a civil partnership in 2005. The pair will also become husband and husband when gay marriage is legalised in the UK. Does anyone stay together in Hollywood? The couples who disprove the rule John Travolta and Kelly Preston They were rocked by divorce rumours, and struggled to come to terms with the tragic death of their 16-year-old son Jet, but Travolta and Preston are as strong as ever, even though they first married in 1991.
An article published on their website on Monday asks whether the two will be Hollywoods next big split? and suggests friends are fearing the couples fairytale romance is on the brink.
Pataky also reaffirmed that her marriage is doing just fine by sharing another picture of the couple and their dog captioned: Always and forever in English and Spanish, her native language.
The couple married in 2010 and have three children together. Their daughter India Rose was born in 2012 and they have twin sons Tristan and Sasha who are two-years-old.
Representatives for Womans Day did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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It turns out Donald Trump is not the only member of the Trump family who could suffer from the string of sexual assault allegations launched against him, which he has strenuously denied, or his now notorious p***y-grabbing comments. Ivanka Trumps business could potentially be damaged by the debacle too.
Increasing numbers of women have said they will boycott his daughter's clothing and accessories line Ivanka Trump Collection and are using the hashtag #grabyourwallet (a reference to the Republican candidates leaked sexually aggressive 2005 hot mic comments) to raise awareness about their protest.
Many of these women are refusing to shop at retailers who stock the Republican candidates daughters fashion line until they discontinue it. The shops include Macys, Nordstrom, Amazon, Lord & Taylor, Marshalls, Zappos, TJ Maxx and more.
Shannon Coulter spearheaded the boycott and first created the hashtag, which has since picked up growing steam, on Twitter on 11 October. Coulter has shared a public Google Document of the steadily-growing list of the shops she is boycotting on her Twitter account.
What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Show all 9 1 /9 What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Mr Trump denying claims from a number of women that he sexually assaulted them This is all fiction, all fictionalised, probably or possibly started by her and her very sleazy campaign. I didn't even apologise to my wife who is sitting right here because I didn't even do anything Getty What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Mr Trump claiming the Russian leader had no respect for Mrs Clinton She doesn't like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her every step of the way. He has no respect for her. He has no respect for our President." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Mr Trump interrupting Mrs Clinton with one of his most scathing personal attacks yet as she explained her policy on social security Such a nasty woman Getty What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Mr Trump claiming Mrs Clinton shouldn't have been allowed to run for presidency and that the election is rigged She should never have been allowed to run. Shes guilty of a very very serious crime. She should not be allowed to run. And just in that respect, I say its rigged. Getty What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Mr Trump voicing his pro-life stance during the abortion debate Based on what she's saying ... you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day, and that's unacceptable Getty What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Mrs Clinton suggesting this is not the first time Mr Trump has claimed results against him have been rigged There was even a time when Trump didn't get an Emmy for his TV programme three years in a row and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged Getty What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Mrs Clinton responding to Mr Trump's lewd comments about women Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger. He goes after their dignity and self-worth Getty What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Mrs Clinton implying Mr Trump is a puppet of Russian president Vladimir Putin He'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States Getty What did Donald Trump say during the third presidential debate? Mrs Clinton comparing her political experience to Mr Trump's former television role On the day I was in the situation room monitoring the raid that brought Osama Bin Laden to justice he was hosting the Celebrity Apprentice Getty
Coulter, who is a technology and media marketing specialist based in the Bay Area of San Francisco, estimated that more than 50,000 respondents have voiced support for her campaign and at least 2,000 have said they will participate. As the boycott has picked up momentum, supporters have called respective stores to explain they will no longer be shopping there.
My Tweets about #GrabYourWallet have been seen 668,819 times today, so just imagine how many times yours have! Keep it up! she tweeted on Monday.
When she [Ivanka] continued campaigning for Donald after the Trump Tapes I could no longer shop at stores that profit from her products either, she added.
I'll say it every day. For them & for myself, I will not shop at any store that profits from Donald or Ivanka Trump products.
Ivanka has condemned her father's leaked lewd and derrogatory comments from 2005 as "inappropriate and offensive" but has played a prominent role throughout her father's presidential campaign and gave a primetime speech during the Republican National Convention.
'If Ivanka Trump had distanced herself from the campaign I would not be boycotting her. But something changed for me when that tape was released, Coulter told The Guardian.
She explained that when she heard Mr Trumps leaked sexually aggressive comments, she was reminded of a time she said she was sexually harassed by a male colleague at work.
When I heard Donald Trump talking on that tape, I recognised in his words the same feeling that I had that day of being nothing more than an object. No matter how smart you are or how hard you work, they can do that to us.
Mr Trump initially dismissed his lewd comments as locker room talk but then apologised for his remarks in a 90-second apology. Nevertheless, he continued to repeatedly describe the remarks as locker room talk when probed during the second presidential debate.
A representative for Ivanka did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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Kim Kardashian West has settled a defamation lawsuit against a tabloid website who published allegations she lied about being the victim of an armed robbery in Paris.
The reality TV mogul was bound and gagged by two masked men who allegedly held a gun to her head after breaking into her luxury accommodation in Paris on 3 October. French police said the suspected thieves made off with millions of pounds worth of jewellery.
In the week after the robbery, Kardashian West filed a lawsuit against the tabloid website MediaTakeOut and its founder Fred Mwangaguhunga over several stories they ran which the suit claimed accused without any factual support whatsoever, that Kardashian faked the robbery, lied about the violent assault then filed a fraudulent claim with her insurance company to bilk her carrier out of millions of dollars.
Kim Kardashian Robbery Show all 10 1 /10 Kim Kardashian Robbery Kim Kardashian Robbery Kim Kardashian West and her husband Kanye arrive back at their town house in New York City last night Rex Kim Kardashian Robbery Kris Jenner is surrounded by security as she leaves the New York residence where her daughter Kim Kardashian West is staying in New York, after her robbery ordeal in Paris, France. AP Kim Kardashian Robbery Security cars and media surround Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's town house in New York City. Rex Kim Kardashian Robbery Media and security personnel are gathered in front of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's town house in New York City. She flew out of France on a private jet on Monday after being questioned by police about the robbery. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery Security cars and media surround Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's town house in New York City. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery A close-up on the 'Rue Tronchet' street sign where Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint by masked men during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery A french police car is seen outside Kim Kardashian's Luxury Apartment after being robbed at gunpoint by masked men during Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2017 in Paris, France. Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery Journalists stand in front of the entrance of a luxury residence on the Rue Tronchet in central Paris, France, where masked men robbed U.S. reality TV star Kim Kardashian at gunpoint early on Monday, stealing jewellery worth millions of dollars, police and her publicist said. Reuters Kim Kardashian Robbery Getty Kim Kardashian Robbery French police officers exit the residence of Kim Kardashian in Paris Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Kim Kardashian was unharmed after being robbed at gunpoint of more than $10 million worth of jewelry inside a private Paris residence Sunday night, police officials said. AP
On 24 October, the website published a retraction under the headline: Kim Kardashian Was In Fact ROBBED In Paris!!!
Recommended Read more Kim Kardashian West sues website for claiming she lied about robbery
MediaTakeOut regrettably published a series of false stories about Kim Kardashian West suggesting she faked the robbery in Paris, lied to authorities and then filed a $5.6million fraudulent insurance claim for her stolen jewellery, the statement said. MediaTakeOut knows that Mrs Kardashian West was in fact robbed in Paris. We have permanently removed from our website any and all posts that suggested she staged the robbery, lied about it to the French police and committed an insurance crime.
We sincerely apologise to Mrs Kardashian West and her family for the false stories we published and regret suggesting that what happened to her in Paris was anything less than horrific. We are pleased that this matter has been resolved to satisfaction of all the parties.
The 36-year-olds lawyer said that, following the retraction, they have voluntarily dismissed the legal action.
The matter has been resolved to the parties mutual satisfaction. Consequently, we voluntarily dismissed the action today, her lawyer Andrew Brettler said.
Kardashian West's publicist told The Independent the lawsuit was settled, not dropped.
Kardashian West's high-profile status ensured interest in the story was colossal. However, since the robbery, she has kept a low profile and has not been seen in public nor updated any of her social media channels including her subscription-based app since. Family members have said she is not doing great since the incident but has a large support system around her and is spending lots of time with her children.
A representative for MediaTakeOut did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
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In the space of a year, Nadiya Hussains life has changed beyond recognition.
The 31-year-olds world as she knew it transformed after winning over the hearts of millions with her beloved anxious facial expressions and wedding cake showstopper in the Great British Bake Off. Newly established as a national treasure, she was even asked to bake the cake for the Queens 90th birthday celebrations.
When we meet, the former stay-at-home Mum is enjoying food cooked for her in a plush central London hotel suite where she is taking a short break in the middle of her book tour. She mentions the major role reversal that has taken place now that Abdal, her husband of 11 years, largely works from home so he can care for their children.
Its bemusing to think the woman who gave a trembling victory speech in a final watched by over 13 million people, vowing to no longer let her crippling self-doubt deter her from anything again, is the same self-assured, confident woman sat in front of me.
Dressed in bright colours and a bright smile, Hussain is as charming and polite as you would expect from her GBBO performance, so much so that her publicists laugh awkwardly when they realise she has offered me a drink and some food before they have.
Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Show all 12 1 /12 Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Rav The 28-year-old could be a comforting presence in the Bake Off tent. With his job supporting students at City University London and his experience of volunteering for charities such as Victim Support, Rav may be the first one to lend a hand to a fellow contestant in need of a shoulder to cry on. Rav lives in Kent with his parents and enjoys using unusual ingredients, taking inspiration from far eastern cuisine and vegan baking. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Benjamina The 23-year-old teaching assistant, who lives in south London, recently gained a first in economics and is known as a straight-A student. She could be her own strongest critic as she is not happy when things do not turn out right. Her other critic is her twin sister, who gives her feedback on her creations. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Val Like Jane, former primary school headteacher Val has a long history of baking. The 66-year-old took over the family baking aged 15 and says she can make the classics with her eyes closed. Now semi-retired, she works two days a week so will find plenty of time to practice her bakes. Originally from Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, but now living near Yeovil, Somerset, she could bring a more unusual touch to the Bake Off tent as she likes to do aerobics in her kitchen while waiting for her jams to boil. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Kate The farmer's daughter from Norfolk could gain an edge by bringing in seasonal fruits and produce gathered from her parents' farm. The 37-year-old mother-of-two has said she thrives on nurturing others and working as a nurse, so she could be a comforting figure in the tent. Sugar craft is her particular strength. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Andrew Originally from Northern Ireland, Andrew lives with friends in Derby and works as an aerospace engineer for Rolls-Royce, designing jet engines. His scientific background could lead to some very precise and beautiful bakes, with creations including a baguette Concorde. The 25-year-old will likely make use of the secret recipes passed down by his mother and grandmother. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Lee The oldest contestant in this year's competition, 67-year-old Lee has gone through many changes in his life - starting his career as a builder before changing direction in the 1980s and studying theology. He has worked as a pastor for the past 30 years and lives in Bolton, and will have the support of his two children and four grandchildren. He first caught the baking bug in 1984 while recovering from a back injury picked up playing cricket. He enjoys traditional flavours such as hazelnut, vanilla and chocolate. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Louise The 46-year-old's piping and icing skills are sure to be spot-on as she loves to decorate her cakes with elaborate designs. Originally from Merthyr Tydfil, she now works as a hairdresser in Cardiff and has developed her love of baking over the last 10 years. She is sure to have the stamina for long days in the tent as she loves mountain walks and has completed a four-day trek in the Andes. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Michael Bake Off viewers are sure to see the influence of Michael's Cypriot heritage in his baking, as he loves to make Greek pastries with his grandmother. The 20-year-old, from London, is studying politics and economics in Durham, where he handles sharing a kitchen with four friends by baking late at night or in the early hours. He may shine in the Showstopper round as he enjoys making "big grand cakes" and combining unusual flavours. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Selasi Long hours working as a client service associate in a financial institution may leave Selasi with little time to practice, but the 30-year-old has impressed his colleagues with the cupcakes he makes for charity bake sales. Originally from Ghana, he moved to the UK 15 years ago and now lives in London. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Jane With a grandfather who owned a bakery and a father who loved to cook, 61-year-old Jane will draw on a long family history of creating breads and cakes. The garden designer, from Beckenham, south-east London, likes to start early, getting her bread in the oven at 5am most mornings. Expect a strong showing in the technical challenges as she knows her classic cakes, biscuits and pastries. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Tom The 26-year-old grew up in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, but now works in London as a project engagement manager for The Royal Society of Arts. Having lost 30kg, he enjoys his bakes but believes in eating them in moderation. Tom makes his own cheese and salami from scratch, so judge Mary Berry is unlikely to scold him for cutting corners. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Candice The 31-year-old was inspired to bake by her grandmother and hopes to follow in her footsteps - aiming to be "even half the lady she was". She grew up in the pubs her parents ran and now lives in Bedfordshire, working in pastoral care and PE teaching at a secondary school. PA
My life has just snowballed, she says. I didnt expect anything to come out of Bake Off, you know, I was happy to go home and just go back to my children. Stuff just started to happen. I was like, wow. I didnt expect it, it was all unlikely for me for me, so I think thats why Im enjoying it so much because I didnt expect it.
Now highly media trained, Hussain looks back at me with a smile as a prompt to continue when she has finished answering each question. Earlier this month she was even rumoured to be transitioning to Channel 4 along with GBBO and Paul Hollywood. Instead, shes done a Mary Berry and signed on to further projects with the BBC.
She has also written a childrens cookbook-come-story book consisting of 15 childhood tales all finished off with a recipe ranging from a goats cheese tart to gingerbread men. The idea to fuse a recipe book with a story book came as a result of a lightbulb moment when she was struggling to balance time in the kitchen and time with her children.
You know, they [her children] love reading and they love cooking, baking, being in the kitchen, and more often than not I would be in the kitchen, really busy, doing something and one of them will come up to me and say, 'Mummy can you just read that before bedtime?' [...] you're like 'Ohh really, do I have to,' so I would have to stop everything, sit down and read this story to them, and it was like a light bulb moment.
Other projects she has filled her time with since the show's ending included a two-part BBC documentary, The Chronicles Of Nadiya, which saw her trace her roots back to Bangladesh and also explore other parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka, for the first time. Part of the success of the show was undoubtedly Hussains candidness; she spoke openly about the day of her arranged marriage as being one of the worst days of my life and was shown chatting with her cousin about why they wear the hijab the significance of the latter being it was televised at the time all eyes were on France after they outlawed the Burkini in the south of the country (which I was requested not to ask her about).
Recommended Read more Nadiya Hussain recounts Islamophobic abuse
What Hussain does tell me is she is aware of her relatively solitary position of being a hijab-wearing Muslim woman in the public eye, partly because she is often reminded by fans hailing her as a good role model.
I didn't expect any of that to happen, she says. I only ever aimed to be a good role model to my children. So, for other people to say that I am a role model for them, you know, grownups older than me. I get emails from 70-year-old English men saying, 'Thank you for doing whatever it is that you did' and that is an amazing thing. You know, I didn't go on there to touch lives. I went on there just to find my confidence because that is what I had lost in the ten years I had been at home. And I found my confidence, and with that there are loads of people who have said, you know what you are a role model. And that is a good thing, I think.
Despite the new-found role model and national treasure status, Hussain says she still has to endure racist abuse because she chooses to wear a headscarf.
"It just [means] outwardly you can tell I am a Muslim and then there are nasty people out there who feel the need to voice their opinions. And you know, I accept that people have opinions. So yeah, it is still there. The difference now is I have to hear those things through social media. But I don't respond because there's a dignity in silence and there is no need to validate negative comments by responding to them.
Another reason she will not respond to the racist abuse, which she has said before has included being pushed and shoved, is because of her determination to protect her children.
I have got three children to raise and I always maintain that I have got three beautiful, very happy, very rounded human beings and they are going to have to experience the world like I have. And it will be different for them, but what I don't want is for them to have a chip on their shoulder. I have had to experience some very horrible things but I do not let that define who I am and I need my kids to know that those negative people are in the minority and they live in a lovely place. Britain is home for us and they should be proud of that and I want them to be proud of that. I am.
Her decision to be open about her religion, arranged marriage and the abuse she has faced comes down to her own realisation of the obstacles she has overcome, she says.
Being a Muslim, being Bangladeshi, being British, all of those things. Being a stay at home mum, you know. I have had to jump so many hurdles to get where I am right now [] and I think sometimes it is really important to talk about it, because there is somebody, somewhere out there who will say, 'I get what she's talking about'. You know, maybe it will give somebody the confidence to say: 'I can do something'. I think that is really important, so I don't believe in just shutting myself away and hiding, hiding myself.
Time is yet to tell whether the next Bake Off winner will reach the same levels of success achieved by Hussain. My son reminds me very often, hes like you do realise youre not the winner of Bake Off anymore, youre the winner from 2015, so my feet are firmly on the ground."
Any advice for this year's winner? When we spoke she had her eye on Selasi (who broke the nations heart by exiting after the semi-final) and Andrew who will go up against Jane and Candice on Wednesdays final.
I hope they enjoyed it because they are never going to do that again, she says smiling. That experience does not come back again [] At the time, it feels so stressful and you feel like you are not enjoying it and if I could tell myself that last year: Enjoy it, I think I would have enjoyed it a little bit more.
Bake Me A Story is available now.
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Suge Knight, the former executive of Death Row Records, is suing Dr Dre for $300 million and accusing him of hiring a hitman to kill him.
Mr Knight claims that Dre hired the hitman shortly after he sold Beats to Apple Music in 2014, in an effort to evade a lifetime management agreement that entitles Mr Knight to 30 per cent of his earnings, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Show all 10 1 /10 Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures Dr Dre receives Best Rap Video at the MTV Awards, presented by Madonna in 1995. Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures On stage as he collects the Legend Award at the 2000 Radio Music Awards. Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures At the launch of new radio station Shade 45 with 50 Cent and Eminem in 2004. Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures With Lady Gaga at the launch of her collection of headphones for Beats in 2009. Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures Seated with wife Nicole Threatt at the 2011 Grammy Awards. The couple have been married since 1996. Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures Eminem and Dre perform on stage at the 2011 Grammys. Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures With fellow businessman Richard Branson at Clive Davis and the Recording Academy's 2012 pre-Grammy Gala. Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures Performing with long-term collaborator Snoop Dogg at Coachella 2012. Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures On stage at Coachella in 2012. Dr Dre In Pictures - The Rise Of Hip-Hop's Richest Man Dr Dre Rise In Pictures Pictured with Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine and company COO Luke Wood in 2013.
The lawsuit claims that the contracted killer is the same man who shot Mr Knight seven times outside a pre-MTV VMA party at 1 Oak nightclub in West Hollywood.
Another suspected assassin was run over and killed by Mr Knight that happened to be on the set of the N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton.
Issuing a statement to CNN, Dr Dres attorney Howard King claims that Mr Knight and Dre have had zero contact between each other since 1996.
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America in the time of Trump often seems an angry and unstable place. Todays anxieties however pale beside the passions and radical fury of the 1960s. And no-one more perfectly personified the turmoil of that era than Tom Hayden.
Hayden, who died on Sunday in Santa Monica at the age of 76, was a giant of the New Left and the 60s counterculture, deeply involved in the struggle for civil rights and a leader of trotest against the Vietnam War. Later, as a state legislator in California, he worked to change the system from within, rather than without. But he never lost sight of his orginal ideals.
Born in 1939 in Detroit, Hayden was of Irish descent and a Catholic upbringing that instilled in him a social conscience and a deep awareness of the have-nots and discriminated against of American society. The nascent radicalism took shape at the University of Michigan, where in 1961 he helped found the activist group SDS, Students for a Democratic Society.
A year later, he was a freedom rider in the South, beaten up and jailed in Mississippi and Georgia, before being prime mover behind the Port Huron Statement, an eloquent and enduring manifesto of frustrated youth, drawn up by the SDS. Lamenting the racial prejudice, poverty that bedevilled America, it called for participatory democracy, to overcome the indifference of most citizens to what was happening,
With the start of the Vietnam war and the growing violence in the South, the countrys divisions only deepened and Haydens initial ambition of being a journalist gave way to something greater. Instead od merely writing about change, he decided, why not create change? The conversion catapaulted him onto the front lines of the later battles of the 1960s, above all Vietnam.
In 1965, he went to North Vietnam for the first time, a 10-day trip that led the State Department to temporarily withdraw his passport, and the FBI to step up a surveillance of Hayden that would ultimately produce a file 22,000 pages thick. In 1967 he was back in Hanoi, for a trip that ended in Cambodia, from where he accompanied home three US prisoners of war released by the Viet Cong.
Haydens anti-war activism reached a climax on the streets outside the infamous 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. Thousands of police and National Guardsmen attacked protesters, among them Hayden, who was subsequently charged and tried as one of the Chicago Eight accused of conspiracy to incite a Riot.
Hayden and six others were convicted and sentenced to five years in jail, but were ultimatedly freed on appeal without having served a day behind bars. Rarely, if ever, in American history has a generation begun with higher ideals and experienced greater trauma than those who lived fully the short time from 1960 to 1968, he would write.
In fact, trauma of Vietnam continued, with Hayden as always in the forefront of the protest. It was at an anti-war rally in Michigan in 1971 that he met the actress and fellow activist Jane Fonda. The couple married two years later, and had a son, the actor Troy Garity, Haydens only child. They divorced in 1990.
Thereafter Haydens efforts to change society became more conventional. In 1982, proclaiming himself a born-again middle American, he was elected as a Democrat to the California state legislature where he served, effectively if less spectacularly than before, for 18 years.
Notable deaths in 2016 Show all 42 1 /42 Notable deaths in 2016 Notable deaths in 2016 Debbie Reynolds was an American actress, singer, businesswoman, film historian, and humanitarian. She died on December 28 in Los Angeles Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Actress Carrie Fisher died on December 27 aged 60 Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Comedian and Actor Ricky Harris died on December 26 aged 54 Rex Notable deaths in 2016 British singer George Michael died on 25 December aged 53 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Rick Parfitt OBE was an English musician, best known for being a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist in the rock band Status Quo. He died on December 24 in Marbella, Spain Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Lord Jenkin of Roding died at the age of 90 on the 21 December PA wire Notable deaths in 2016 Rabbi Lionel Blue died on the 19 December Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Zsa Zsa Gabor died on December 18 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Leonard Cohen died on 7 November Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Grand secretary of the Orange Order Drew Nelson died on 10 October aged 60 after a short illness PA Notable deaths in 2016 Aaron Pryor, the relentless junior welterweight died Sunday, Oct. 9, at the age of 60 at his home in Cincinnati after a long battle with heart disease AP Notable deaths in 2016 Polish Director Andrzej Wajda died on October 9, aged 90 Reuters Notable deaths in 2016 Stylianos Pattakos has died following a stroke on 8th October. He was 103 years old. AP Notable deaths in 2016 Dickie Jeeps, was an English rugby union player who played for Northampton. He represented and captained both the England national rugby union team and the British Lions in the 1950s and 1960s. He died on 8th October. He was 84 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Duke of Westminster Billionaire landowner the Duke of Westminster, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor has died on 9 August, aged 64 Rex Features Notable deaths in 2016 Christina Knudsen Sir Roger Moores stepdaughter Christina Knudsen has died from cancer on 25 July at teh age of 47 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Caroline Aherne The actress Caroline Aherne has died from cancer on 2 July at the age of 52 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Christina Grimmie Christina Grimmie, 22, who was an American singer and songwriter, known for her participation in the NBC singing competition The Voice, was signing autographs at a concert venue in Orlando on 10 June when an assailant shot her. Grimmie was transported to a local hospital where she died from her wounds on 11 June Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Kimbo Slice Former UFC and Bellator MMA fighter Kimbo Slice died after being admitted to hospital in Florida on 6 June, aged 42 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Muhammad Ali The three-time former heavyweight world champion died after being admitted to hospital with a respiratory illness on 3 June, aged 74 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Sally Brampton Brampton who was the launch editor of the UK edition of Elle magazine has died on 10 May, aged 60 Grant Triplow/REX/Shutterstock Notable deaths in 2016 Billy Paul The soul singer Billy Paul, who was best known for his single Me and Mrs Jones, has died on 24 April, aged 81 Noel Vasquez/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Prince Prince, the legendary musician, has been found dead at his Paisley Park recording studio on 21 April. He was 57 Notable deaths in 2016 Chyna WWE icon Joan Laurer dies aged 45 after being found at California home on 20 April Notable deaths in 2016 Victoria Wood The five-time Bafta-winning actress and comedian Victoria Wood has died on 20 April at her London home after a short illness with cancer. She was 62 Notable deaths in 2016 David Gest The entertainer and former husband of Liza Minnelli, David Gest has been found dead on 12 April in the Four Seasons hotel in Canary Warf, London. He was 62-years-old PA Notable deaths in 2016 Denise Robertson Denise Robertson, an agony aunt on This Morning for over 30 years, has died on 1 April, aged 83 Notable deaths in 2016 Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Hadid, the prominent architect best known for designs such as the London Olympic Aquatic Centre and the Guangzhou Opera House, has died of a heart attack on 31 March, aged 65 2010 AFP Notable deaths in 2016 Ronnie Corbett British entertainer Ronnie Corbett has passed away on 31 March at the age of 85 2014 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Imre Kertesz Hungarian writer and Holocaust survivor Imre Kertesz, who won the 2002 Nobel Literature Prize, has died on 31 March, at the age of 86 REUTERS Notable deaths in 2016 Rob Ford Rob Ford, the former controversial mayor of Toronto, has died following a battle with a rare form of cancer. The 46-year-old passed away at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto on 22 March Notable deaths in 2016 Joey Feek Joey (left) passed away in March after a two-year cancer illness. She was part of country music duo, Joey + Rory, with her husband Rory (right) Jason Merritt/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Umberto Eco Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco died 19 February 2016 aged 84 EPA Notable deaths in 2016 Harper Lee Harper Lee, the American novelist known for writing 'To Kill a Mockingbird', died February 19, 2016 aged 89 2005 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Vanity Vanity, pictured performing in 1983, died aged 57 REX Features Notable deaths in 2016 Dave Mirra The BMX legend's body found inside truck with gunshot wound after apparent suicide aged 41 Notable deaths in 2016 Harry Harpham The former miner became Sheffield Labour MP in May after many years as a local councillor. He died after succumbing to cancer, at the age of 61. Notable deaths in 2016 Dale Griffin The Mott the Hoople drummer died on January 17, aged 67 REX Notable deaths in 2016 Rene Angelil Celine Dion's husband and manager Rene Angelil has lost his battle with cancer on 14 January, aged 73 2011 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Alan Rickman Legendary actor Alan Rickman has died on 14 January at the age of 69 after battle with pancreatic cancer. He is largely regarded as one of the most beloved British actors of our generation with roles in Love Actually, Die Hard, Michael Collins, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and an illustrious stage career 2015 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Maurice White The Earth, Wind & Fire founder died aged 74. The nine-piece band sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and won six Grammy awards Notable deaths in 2016 Lawrence Phillips Former NFL star found dead in prison cell on 13 January in suspected suicide, aged 40 AFP/Getty Images
Like other radicals who have gone mainstream, he was caught in a cleft stick, seen by many former comrades on the barricades as having betrayed the cause, but still regarded by the right as a seditious extremist and menace to his country. Even so, he continued to fight for his beliefs, often chiding fellow Democrats for their lack of commitment.
Higher office eluded Tom Hayden: in the 1980s and 1990s he ran for a US Senate seat, the governorship of California and finally mayor of Los Angeles, losing each time. But his passion, intellectual drive and ability to communicate his ideas made him the most effective and important politician to emerge from the New Left. And in movements from Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter Haydens spirit lives on today.
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The brains of paedophiles who have never attacked a child are different to child sex abusers, according to a new study.
Scientists used an MRI scanner to study the minds of 40 child abusers and 37 people who are paedophiles but have never sexually assaulted a child, along with 40 healthy non-offending people used as controls.
They found they could tell who the non-offending paedophiles were by the activation patterns in certain parts of their brain, which they believe are involved in controlling the impulse to abuse a child.
The researchers, led by Dr Christian Kaergel, of University of Duisburg-Essen, suggested their research could help lead to new treatments for paedophilia.
In the community, paedophilia is often equated with child molestation but it is evident that paedophilia is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition to engage in child sexual offending, Dr Kaergel said.
This means that not all individuals with a diagnosis of paedophilia commit child sexual offences, just as many persons who sexually offend against children are not paedophilic.
Our finding of differences in the neuroimaging profile during the assessment of a response-inhibition task underlines the importance to distinguish between paedophilic hands-on offenders and those who have not sexually offended against children in terms of separate clinical entities.
The researchers found what they called inhibition-related activation of two areas of the brain, the left posterior cingulate and left superior frontal cortex, in the non-offending group.
Both areas showing distinct activation pattern among paedophiles play a critical role in linking neural networks that relate to effective cognitive functioning, they wrote in the journal Human Brain Mapping.
Data therefore suggest that heightened inhibition-related recruitment of these areas as well as decreased amount of commission errors is related to better inhibitory control in paedophiles who successfully avoid committing hands-on sexual offences against children.
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
Dr Boris Schiffer, a co-author of the paper, said the results of their research improve our understanding of the mechanisms that may promote or preserve paedophiles from becoming a perpetrator.
Such information is important in order to develop and evaluate effective abuse-preventive interventions, in particular for paedophiles who already engaged in child sexual offending or those at risk, he added.
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A Birmingham mother has set up the worlds first Islamic online toy store.
Nazia Nasreem launched the Ibraheem Toy House in 2014 and now sells toys to Muslim parents all over the world.
Part of her range include Muslim Barbies - dolls that come with headscarves, Quran cards, colour prayer mats and Arabic letter building blocks which help young children learn about their religion through play.
In total she sells around 200 toys, games and other products and has an annual turnover of 30,000.
Ms Nasreem told The Times that she set the business up after she struggled to find Islamic toys for her own children but she hoped the educational value of the toys could help in the battle against extremism.
She said: A lot of times children learn the wrong things and that's where the extremism kicks in. If the right educational toys and books are provided from a young age, we can instil the correct Islamic ethos and values in our children.
I want children to grow up being proud of their religion and heritage and knowing the truth about Islam.
UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty 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
We teach what any other religion would how to pray, spirituality, sharing so from day one they have the core belief. Then they know who they are and no one can misguide them.
The 31-year-old now hopes to open her own bricks and mortar store one day and design her own toys.
She said her biggest markets are in Britain and the US and she has had a lot of success capitalising on Muslim parents desire to make Eid celebrations fun for their children.
Her business is just one of the growing number of businesses tapping into the power of the so-called Muslim Pound.
A report by the Muslim Council of Britain in 2013 found that British Muslims had an estimated 20.5bn spending power and they contributed more than 31bn to the UK economy.
Ms Nasreem was just one of 130 businesses exhibiting at the Muslim Lifestyle Expo in Manchester this weekend.
Last year the event saw scores of female entrepreneurs showcasing non-alcoholic mocktails, greetings cards for Muslim celebrations, luxury prayer mats and Halal food and cosmetics.
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Paul Beatty has won the Man Booker Prize with his novel The Sellout.
The win makes Beatty, 54, who teaches at Columbia University, the first American to be awarded the prize in its 48-year history.
Born in Los Angeles, California in 1962, Beatty left home at 17 to study at Boston University, later persuing creative writing and poetry at Brooklyn College, New York.
The Sellout, set in LA and which includes the fallout from the unjust shooting of an African-American at the hands of the police, was described by judges as a "novel of our times".
They added it "takes aim at racial and political taboos with wit, verve and a snarl".
The New York-based writer has previously told the Paris Review that he was "surprised" that everybody keeps calling The Sellout a comic novel, adding: "I'm not sure how I define it."
Published by independent publishers Oneworld who also won in 2015 with Marlon James' A Brief History of Seven Killings The Sellout was also handed the National Book Critics Circle Award.
It is Mr Beatty's fourth novel, following on from Slumberland, Tuff, and his 1996 debut The White Boy Shuffle, which explores gang culture in LA.
He has also published two books of poetry, Big Bank Take Little Bank and Joker, Joker, Deuce and in 2006 edited an anthology of African-American humour Hokum.
Mr Beatty was not the favourite to win the prize, with Madeleine Thien's Do Not Say We Have Nothing and Graeme Macrae Burnet's His Bloody Project tipped to win.
Additional reporting by Press Association
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On Saturday, Britain witnessed its first White Lives Matter protest, organized by a far-right group that called on supporters via a Facebook page to march through the southeastern seaside town of Margate. But they were greeted by an even larger counter-protest in a town that had mobilized against the neo-fascist activists.
Margate is over 95 per cent white and yet a third of the children live below the financial poverty line, 30 per cent of neighborhoods are in the poorest 10 per cent of those in the country, the group said on its Facebook page. The lives of these white people matter.
In a YouTube video used to promote the event, a punk rock song declares, We'll never be enslaved by a Zionist master plan, with white pride iconography running in the background. In the United States, a White Lives Matter organization has been deemed a hate group.
The All Lives Matter slogan a controversial response to the Black Lives Matter movement is perhaps a more euphemistic way of making a similar point.
The British contingent, about a few dozen strong, trudged through Margate on a sunny day, surrounded by throngs of police officers and crowds of counter-protesters, who jeered at the neo-fascist Nazi scum and waved banners saying refugees are welcome in the Kent town.
The White Lives Matter Twitter hashtag #WLM was hijacked by opponents to read We Love Margate and otherwise heap scorn on the far-right event.
Across the pond, there's a deeper history of far-right movements being physically confronted by leftist anti-fascist (or antifa) groups.
Earlier this month, Sadiq Khan, London's first Muslim mayor, commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street in which Irish laborers, Jews and others in East London skirmished with police and eventually forced the cancellation of a planned British fascist march into their neighborhood.
The legacy of the incident which occurred before the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust is being channeled by those seeking to oppose today's xenophobic populists in the West.
Far right and anti-fascists clash in Dover, January, 2016 Show all 6 1 /6 Far right and anti-fascists clash in Dover, January, 2016 Far right and anti-fascists clash in Dover, January, 2016 Dover Police separate anti-fascists and right-wing protesters PA Far right and anti-fascists clash in Dover, January, 2016 Dover Right-wing protesters and anti-fascist demonstrators clash PA Far right and anti-fascists clash in Dover, January, 2016 Dover Anti-fascists break through police lines PA Far right and anti-fascists clash in Dover, January, 2016 Dover Far-right protesters march on the streets of Dover PA Far right and anti-fascists clash in Dover, January, 2016 Dover Diane Abbott MP speaks to anti-fascists in Dover PA Far right and anti-fascists clash in Dover, January, 2016 Dover Police hold back far-right demonstrators PA
Its so important to recognize that history tells us there are people who would divide our communities and history tells us the roadmap to defeat them, Khan told the Jewish News, on the sidelines of an event hosted by the London Jewish Forum.
Solidarity, people coming together, building bridges rather than walls. Some of the people we met today were there and we should recognize the huge contribution to London as we know it now.
Copyright Washington Post
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The Government has backtracked on cuts to apprenticeship funding after warnings they would have a devastating effect on working class youngsters in deprived, mostly inner-city areas.
The plans, originally snuck out during Parliaments summer recess, would have seen the Skills Funding Agency (SFA)s apprenticeship budget for 16 and 18 year olds slashed by 30 per cent with even sharper cuts falling in deprived areas.
Industry bodies warned that an apprenticeship desert would open up in some disadvantaged inner-city areas were the changes to go ahead, while an analysis by the sector magazine FE Week suggested some of the most popular apprenticeships like construction would be heaviest hit.
The cuts were announced around the same time as Theresa May upped her rhetoric in favour of social mobility promising to turn Britain into a great meritocracy.
The planned cuts, which would have taken effect from May next year, however prompted 55 MPs representing mostly inner-city deprived areas to accuse the Government of a direct attack on social mobility.
After campaigning by the further education sector and its supporters in Parliament, the cuts appear to have been reversed, however.
Today in a written statement the Education Secretary Justine Greening however said the Government would introduce an additional 20 per cent payment for the training of 16-18 year olds and retain a separate support system that boosts funding in disadvantaged areas.
FE sector sources say the latest announcement effectively reverses the worst effects of the cuts which have received no parliamentary scrutiny thus far. Multiple sources have confirmed that an announcement was widely expected on Monday it was ultimately delayed until Tuesday, with the Heathrow expansion announcement dominating the news agenda.
Justine Greening quietly announced the U-turn (PA)
The funding changes came alongside the introduction of a new apprenticeship levy for larger businesses with an annual pay bill of over 3m.
Tottenham MP David Lammy, who organised Septembers critical letter and is organising a debate in Parliament on the issue, accused the Government of damaging the life chances of working class kids.
UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty 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
It is nothing short of a disgrace that the Government published their original cuts of up to 50 per cent during summer recess, without any parliamentary scrutiny or even a formal statement, the former Labour skills minister said.
Todays U-turn shows that the Government has begun to listen to the further education sector and to the strong opposition from the Labour Party, particularly when it comes to protecting funding for 16-18 year olds and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Apprenticeships have always been seen as the poor relation of higher education, but if this Government is serious about social mobility they must stop damaging the life chances of working class kids by slashing support for apprenticeships and skills training.
Gordon Marsden, Labours Shadow Minister for Apprenticeships, described the policy change as "major U-Turn".
It is a credit to the new Minister that he recognised that this needs to be done preserve any credibility for the Governments social mobility position. We need to see the detail though and whether a year of transitional funding for disadvantaged areas will be enough," he said.
"There still remain big question marks over the Governments apprenticeship targets and policies. We will continue pressing them strongly for urgent answers on the digital service, the Institute for Apprenticeships, resources and capacity."
The Education Secretarys statement said: The new apprenticeship levy, which we are introducing in April 2017, will put the funding of apprenticeships on a sustainable long-term footing so we can support opportunities for all. The levy will be set at 0.5 per cent of pay bill and only employers with a pay bill of more than 3 million will have to pay the levy. Employers that are not eligible to pay the levy will continue to receive government support towards the costs of apprenticeship training and assessment.
The levy applies to all UK employers but apprenticeship funding policy is devolved. It is for the Devolved Administrations to decide how they use their levy income. This statement sets out how we will fund apprenticeships in England to help build an economy that works for everyone.
Labour MP for Tottenham, David Lammy, has organised opposition in Parliament (Micha Theiner)
To do that we are not only introducing the levy but also reforming the way we fund apprenticeships, introducing a dedicated register of approved apprenticeship training providers and launching the employer-led Institute for Apprenticeships. These changes will ensure apprenticeships are high quality, meet the needs of employers and provide opportunities for millions more people.
After extensive discussions with employers and training providers we are today publishing the final funding policy for May 2017 onwards and details of the new register of apprenticeship training providers. The adjustments we have made to the funding policy since our proposals in August will help ensure that the reforms benefit more employers, providers and apprentices.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: "This is far from a u-turn - it's exactly how good policy should be developed. We said back in August that we would listen hard to feedback on the apprenticeship levy proposals and that is exactly what we have done.
"What's important is that we now have a system which means anyone who wants it gets the opportunity to learn the skills they need to get the job they want. Apprenticeships are essential in a Britain that works for everyone which is why we will continue to work with employers and others to make sure we have a system that works for everyone."
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The French Ambassador to the UK has said that since the EU referendum her country's citizens have suffered abuse in Britain and feel like foreigners where they once felt at home.
Sylvie Bermann said many of the 300,000 French nationals in the UK, including highly-skilled workers, are now reassessing their future in Britain.
It comes after the Home Office recently confirmed that hate crime spiked in the wake of the Brexit vote.
Speaking to a House of Lords committee, Ms Bermann said: "In the aftermath of the referendum some French nationals were subjected to negative or aggressive language.
"They were not used to this sort of abuse in a country where many of them have lived for decades and which they regarded as a success story in terms of dynamism and respect for others.
"And some of them now view Britain in a different way and are ready to change their plan in the short run."
The Ambassador was speaking as the Government is yet to confirm the rights of EU nationals living in the UK. It is expected that their rights will be confirmed at the same time that member states guarantee the rights of British citizens living in their countries.
Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell
Speaking of French citizens living in the capital, Ms Bermann said: "Some of them told me that before the 23rd of June they felt like Londoners and now they feel like foreigners, which is different. A lot express a sense of sadness and of course are waiting for answers."
Earlier this month the Romanian Ambassador appealed to the Government not to pile bureaucratic hurdles in the way of his country's people living here, claiming that they feared administrative harassment even if they are eventually given permission to stay.
Home Office statistics confirmed that in July, the month after the referendum, the number of hate crimes leapt to 5,468, some 41 per cent higher than the same time the previous year.
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Some of Britains 12bn foreign aid budget will be switched to help win post-Brexit trade deals, the International Development Secretary has suggested.
Priti Patel caused fresh controversy about her plans for Britains legal duty to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid while on a visit to Kenya.
She repeated her threat to cut funding to global organisations such as the World Bank, unless they could show they would provide better value for money.
However, Ms Patel also went further, suggesting aid should be used to secure new trade deals and win badly-needed allies in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to prepare for EU withdrawal.
In an interview with the BBC, Ms Patel said: Our focus is poverty reduction but that doesnt mean we should exclude the whole area of trade and trade opportunities.
British soft power is exactly where DfID [the Department for International Development], and our aid and other relationships around the world, come together to deliver in our national interest and deliver for Britain when it comes to free trade agreements but also life post-Brexit.
The comments were condemned by Kate Osamor, Labours shadow International Development Secretary, who said: Priti Patel has no mandate or evidence to fundamentally change the way UK aid is distributed.
She seems fixated on imposing her dogma of the free market over the clear evidence that UK aid is the most efficient and effective in the world. It reaches the people who need help, including many young girls and women.
Ms Patel who once called for her department to be abolished was speaking on her first visit to Africa since she was appointed.
She saw humanitarian aid being delivered via a payment card that gives Kenyan women 20 a month from the British taxpayer, to buy the food they need to survive.
Ms Patel said: We have to make sure that our aid works in our national interest and also that it works for our taxpayers much more openness, much more transparency and much more accountability.
The governments approach is focused on ensuring that we drive taxpayer value so when it comes to multilateral organisations, focus on performance agreements.
If they are not performing then obviously well look at the contributions that we give to them. We need to be challenging.
The International Development Secretary is about to publish a review of the work of big multinational aid organisations that spend money on behalf of the UK which could lead to funding being cut if spending and waste targets are not met.
Agencies such as the World Bank, the European Union and other smaller bodies collectively spend 40 per cent of the UKs aid budget.
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The EU may be politically motivated to give Britain a worse deal over Brexit, Chancellor Philip Hammond has suggested.
Eurosceptics have long claimed that the EU will treat Britain favourably in exit talks because refusing to give the UK single market access would cause them economic damage.
However Mr Hammond said that economics alone would be unlikely to dictate the outcome of negotiations.
Pro-EU politicians and commentators have previously warned that EU nations number one priority would be to prevent other countries from leaving the bloc which would require Britain to not get any advantages from leaving.
Our intention is to get the very best deal that we can, with our neighbours in the European Union to allow access for our companies to trade their goods and services into the European Union, Mr Hammond said at Treasury Questions in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
But I would just caution you that looking at the economic arguments alone is to miss a very important point.
Theres a political debate going on here in Europe where European politicians are very conscious of the impact of Britains departure on their political project.
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
I don't think we can be certain that economics alone will dictate the course of this negotiation.
The intervention comes days after the former civil servant who negotiated the EUs opt-out accused the Brexit Secretary David Davis of living in cloud cuckoo land.
Sir Brian Unwin, a former Treasury mandarin who was part of Margaret Thatchers budget rebate negotiation team, said ministers had a horrific job ahead of them.
Sir Brian suggested that Mr Davis, the Secretary of State of Leaving the European Union, was subject to a misreading of the situation and that unconstructive talk by top UK figures was jeopardising a good deal.
Theresa May has said she will trigger Article 50 to leave the European Union in the first quarter of 2017. Two years or more of negotiations will follow, after which time Britain will leave the EU.
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A former Tory leader has said the Government should guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK now without waiting for other European states to reciprocate.
Michael Howard urged the Government to "lead by example" and tell EU citizens already in the country that they will be allowed to stay, work and live here after Brexit as they have before.
It comes after the French Ambassador this morning said that people from her country living in the UK had suffered abuse since the referendum and now felt like "foreigners".
Until now Theresa May has signalled it is likely that the rights of EU citizens will be guaranteed, but has refused to do so until she is sure the rights of British citizens abroad will also be safeguarded. At least one Cabinet minister has suggested they be used as a bargaining chip in Brexit talks.
Speaking at an EU Justice Sub-Committee, Lord Howard said: "I think the Government should make it clear now that those EU citizens who are currently living in this country would be allowed to stay in this country, would be allowed to carry on working in this country, would be allowed to carry on studying. I don't think we should wait for any question of reciprocity.
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
"Lord Cormack said we should be leading by example. I entirely agree with that. I entirely accept what the French Ambassador has said about the dreadful uncertainty this will inflict on millions of people.
"Although I'm confident good sense will prevail on all sides, it is certainly my view that we shouldn't wait for that."
However, Lord Howard said it would be "perfectly reasonable" for the Government to say that those coming after any announcement would not enjoy the same rights as those here already.
French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann told peers today that people who once felt like "Londoners" have been left feeling like "foreigners" since the EU referendum.
Polish woman booed on BBC question time for saying Brexit makes her feel unwelcome
She said: "In the aftermath of the referendum some French nationals were subjected to negative or aggressive language.
"They were not used to this sort of abuse in a country where many of them have lived for decades and which they regarded as a success story in terms of dynamism and respect for others."
Ministers have been accused of using the 3.6 million EU citizens currently in the country as bargaining chips in the Brexit talks after Trade Secretary Liam Fox described them as "one of our main cards".
What experts have said about Brexit Show all 11 1 /11 What experts have said about Brexit What experts have said about Brexit Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond The Chancellor claims London can still be a world financial hub despite Brexit One of Britains great strengths is the ability to offer and aggregate all of the services the global financial services industry needs This has not changed as a result of the EU referendum and I will do everything I can to ensure the City of London retains its position as the worlds leading international financial centre. Reuters What experts have said about Brexit Yanis Varoufakis Greece's former finance minister compared the UK relations with the EU bloc with a well-known song by the Eagles: You can check out any time you like, as the Hotel California song says, but you can't really leave. The proof is Theresa May has not even dared to trigger Article 50. It's like Harrison Ford going into Indiana Jones' castle and the path behind him fragmenting. You can get in, but getting out is not at all clear Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Michael OLeary Ryanair boss says UK will be screwed by EU in Brexit trade deals: I have no faith in the politicians in London going on about how the world will want to trade with us. The world will want to screw you that's what happens in trade talks, he said. They have no interest in giving the UK a deal on trade Getty What experts have said about Brexit Tim Martin JD Wetherspoon's chairman has said claims that the UK would see serious economic consequences from a Brexit vote were "lurid" and wrong: We were told it would be Armageddon from the OECD, from the IMF, David Cameron, the chancellor and President Obama who were predicting locusts in the fields and tidal waves in the North Sea" PA What experts have said about Brexit Mark Carney Governor of Bank of England is 'serene' about Bank of England's Brexit stance: I am absolutely serene about the judgments made both by the MPC and the FPC Reuters What experts have said about Brexit Christine Lagarde IMF chief urges quick Brexit to reduce economic uncertainty: We want to see clarity sooner rather than later because we think that a lack of clarity feeds uncertainty, which itself undermines investment appetites and decision making Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Inga Beale Lloyds chief executive says Brexit is a major issue: "Clearly the UK's referendum on its EU membership is a major issue for us to deal with and we are now focusing our attention on having in place the plans that will ensure Lloyd's continues trading across Europe EPA What experts have said about Brexit Colm Kelleher President of US bank Morgan Stanley says City of London will suffer as result of the EU referendum: I do believe, and I said prior to the referendum, that the City of London will suffer as result of Brexit. The issue is how much What experts have said about Brexit Richard Branson Virgin founder believes we've lost a THIRD of our value because of Brexit and cancelled a deal worth 3,000 jobs: We're not any worse than anybody else, but I suspect we've lost a third of our value which is dreadful for people in the workplace.' He continued: "We were about to do a very big deal, we cancelled that deal, that would have involved 3,000 jobs, and thats happening all over the country" Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Barack Obama US President believes Britain was wrong to vote to leave the EU: "It is absolutely true that I believed pre-Brexit vote and continue to believe post-Brexit vote that the world benefited enormously from the United Kingdom's participation in the EU. We are fully supportive of a process that is as little disruptive as possible so that people around the world can continue to benefit from economic growth" Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Kristin Forbes American economist and an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England argues that the economy had been less stormy than many expected following the shock referendum result: For nowthe economy is experiencing some chop, but no tsunami. The adverse winds could quickly pick up and merit a stronger policy response. But recently they have shifted to a more favourable direction Getty
Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Tom Brake said: "When even arch-eurosceptic Michael Howard says EU nationals should be guaranteed the right to stay, its clear Theresa May is on the wrong side of the argument.
"These are peoples spouses, neighbours and friends, they must not be used as hostages in the Brexit negotiations. The Prime Minister must give all EU citizens who have made Britain their home the certainty they will be allowed to remain."
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The practice of filibustering to stop new laws has left some MPs ashamed and the House of Commons bleeding credibility, a senior Conservative MP has warned as the Government considers a proposed crackdown on the tactic.
Under archaic parliamentary rules MPs can talk out debates by making speeches that go on for hours until the time allotted for a discussion runs out meaning no vote can be held on the proposal.
The tactic is ineffective against laws proposed by the Government, which usually has the power to overrule the manoeuvre. But bills proposed by backbench MPs on are almost always blocked by the tactic usually by the same small group of right wing Conservative MPs.
Recommended Read more Tory MPs filibuster NHS Reinstatement Bill by talking for 4 hours
Bills blocked by the strategy in recent months include a plan to abolish NHS hospital car parking charges for carers, a bill to give first aid training to children in schools, and a plan to require rented homes to be fit for human habitation. Many of these bills had cross-party support.
Parliaments influential Procedures Committee recommended earlier this month that the practice be stymied by giving the Speaker new powers to call a halt to debates and extra time to debate backbench laws. The Government on Tuesday said it was considering the bill and would respond before the end of the year.
In my evidence to the Committee I said the Government was considering the report and intended to respond in detail within the normal two month timeframe, David Lidington, the leader of the House of Commons said.
Conservative MP Philip Davies deploys filibustering tactic to block a proposed law to introduce free hospital parking for carers
Clearly we will need to both consider his recommendations and have collective responsibility in the Government before publishing his response and that is what we will do.
However Charles Walker, the Conservative chair of the Procedures Committee, warned of the urgent need for reform.
Too often on Fridays when we have Private Members Bills this house bleeds it bleeds credibility and it bleeds standing. The Government front bench is well aware of this fact, he said.
The truth is that without will on behalf of the Government to change Fridays we will still have too many days when we leave this place downcast and somewhat ashamed of the proceedings that have one before us.
He thanks Mr Lidington for listening and said he hoped changes would be made to the process.
Over 50,000 people signed a petition on the Parliament website earlier this year calling for the end of filibustering.
In an official response, the Government said the issue was a matter for the Speaker.
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A third runway at Heathrow will be stopped, Boris Johnson predicted as he made clear his continuing opposition the project.
The Foreign Secretary given special dispensation by Theresa May to speak out for a limited period used a television interview to brand it undeliverable.
However, Mr Johnson did not repeat his celebrated pledge to protestors to lie down with you in front of those bulldozers and stop the building, stop the construction of that third runway.
Instead, speaking at Heathrow, he insisted: The day when the bulldozers appear is a long way off, if indeed they ever materialise.
Mr Johnson predicted the proposal would be "snarled up" in legal cases pointing out Tony Blairs government approved Heathrow a decade ago adding: I think it very likely it will be stopped.
We have been here before and we are going to see an inevitable fight in the courts and I think the chances of success for the proponents of the third runway are not high.
Mr Johnson also predicted a third runway at Heathrow would bring inevitable clamour for a fourth, saying: No other great city would do this to its inhabitants.
New York is going to be the city of beautiful skyscrapers, Paris the city of lights and London in the future, if we go ahead with this project, will be known as the city of planes.
"We have been here before and we are going to see an inevitable fight in the courts and I think the chances of success for the proponents of the third runway are not high."
The second high-profile Heathrow opponent in the Cabinet, Education Secretary Justine Greening, issued a statement saying she was extremely disappointed.
I will continue to represent the views of my constituents, not least during the forthcoming public consultation on the draft National Policy Statement, she wrote.
Because MPs will not vote on the expansion for at least a year, there is no immediate threat of any Cabinet resignations.
In the Commons, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling hinted that Conservative MPs will be given a free vote when the time comes, saying the government won't force MPs with long-standing principles into line.
Meanwhile, Labour which is also badly split on Heathrow declined to say whether it backed expansion, instead setting four tests for the project.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, whose West London constituency lies under the flightpath, issued his own statement, also insisting the third runway would never be built.
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Fifty years of prevarication is over. Now we know. There will be a third runway at Heathrow. Probably. Construction will begin in 2021. Maybe. It could even be open by 2026. Possibly. And Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was despatched to the house to tell everyone that this was a big deal. This is one of the most important messages we can send to the world about Britain being open for business, he said.
The world may, however, get mixed messages, not least as the Foreign Secretary has promised to lie down in front of the bulldozers to stop it being built. That said, as far as the world's view of Britain is currently concerned, the spectacle of the Foreign Secretary engaged in direct action against the government's flagship policy would hardly be off message.
On his part, Johnson has already sought to clarify the comments, telling Sky News that what he in fact said was not that he would lie down in front of the bulldozers, but that he would lie down the side. And he never actually said bulldozers, he said bus.
Still, if the Prime Minister wants to assure people that she will do what she says shes going to do, she picked the right man to deliver the news. In his last job at the Ministry of Justice, many of Chris Graylings policies, like banning prisoners from reading books, were in place for a full six weeks before Michael Gove overturned them.
But on Heathrows third runway, its clear Grayling means business. There have been suggestions in the media that this process has been slowed down or somehow delayed, he said. Evidently the eruptions of laughter from both sides of the house, the press gallery, the public gallery and even, it appeared, the speakers chair, put him off his stride a little bit. In fact, Mr Speaker, he continued, the opposite is not the case! If nothing else, it was true.
Next he assured MPs that, Even with expansion, fewer people will be affected than today. Yes, thats right. The only way to reduce the impact of Heathrow is to expand it. Leave it the same and the problem will only get worse. Hey. It's 2016 after all, this sort of stuff barely troubles the mercury on the ridiculometer.
But one man, above all, was not convinced. Two rows behind, stroking his chin, his face set in a stony mask of moral certitude, his hair seemingly having grayed overnight too, was Zac Goldsmith. This, he knew, and the house knew, was an issue over which he had pledged to resign and force a by-election, a pledge that, unfortunately, around a hundred TV interviews's worth of desperate jokes spread over the last twelve months, about how much he wished hed never made it, had not appeared to have got him out of.
There was not exactly a frisson of excitement when Goldsmith stood up. Even less so when he sat down, around thirty seconds later. It was hard to know where to place his anti-Heathrow peroration in the pantheon of commons resignation speeches. Jeffrey Howe and Robin Cook already had two distinct advantages, in that both of theirs had been audible from a distance of more than three feet, and they had also actually remembered to resign during them. Goldsmith didnt manage that until three hours later, finally finding his convictions through the medium of an email from the Treasury, advising that he had been appointed Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern, which happen to be just south of High Wycombe and slap bang on the Heathrow flight path. So he resigned from that job minutes later too.
Goldsmith is a chap who had thought nothing of leafleting the Sikhs of South London with news that Sadiq Khan was planning on stealing their family jewellery, a course of action that caused his own sister to publicly disown him, so it wasnt unreasonable to hope he might have more to say on this, his career-defining issue, than: I place my strong opposition on the record, before sitting down again.
His main points, too were ill-considered. The third runway, he said, will be subject to constant delay, constant anger, and is almost certainly not going to be delivered. Has he not realised that is precisely what government policy in 2016 is meant to be?
Detail remains light, but no one expects the third runway to be finished for at least ten years, and no one expects it to cost less than 17bn. Some people have been brave enough to wonder out loud why rolling out a long strip of Tarmac should take so long. Longer, for example, than the M25, and cost twice as much as all the Olympic infrastructure, but with his final words, Grayling had an answer: The third runway will be built with British steel.
Now that really will send a message to the world, and the one they've come to expect, too.
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The Treasury faces a black hole of up to 16bn in its finances this year, a leaked document has revealed.
The briefing which was marked sensitive also showed an extra 700m bill from a 25.9 per cent hike to Britains contribution to the EU.
Obtained by Labour, it blamed a severe worsening in the public finances on the failure of tax returns to come in at the level expected.
It was seized on by shadow Chancellor John McDonnell as evidence of the Tory failure on the economy, ahead of a crucial autumn statement to reset policy next month.
Mr McDonnell said: It refers to a run of disappointing data and the unlikelihood of getting deficit reduction back on track, officially confirming the Tory failure on the economy.
Now weve had it from the official civil servants, its time the Tories came clean.
They should drop the spin and admit the truth they are failing on the public finances and working people are paying the price.
In George Osbornes March 2016 Budget, he pencilled in a 20bn fall in borrowing to 55bn in the current financial year after repeatedly failing on his borrowing targets in the last Parliament.
Phillip Hammond announces new government measures designed to protect the economy pre-brexit
But the document says borrowing has been higher than expected, stating: Six months in, the deficit is only 2bn lower than in the same period a year ago.
Borrowing was actually higher year-on-year in September, part of a continuing a run of disappointing data.
For the year to date, the deficit is 2.3bn lower than last year; at a fall of 4.8 per cent, well behind the 27.0 per cent reduction forecast, the document said.
Tax receipts are back-loaded, so should pick up as the year progresses, but are unlikely to bring deficit reduction entirely back on track.
It added: Media commentators are likely to double the effect on borrowing for the year-to-date as we are now halfway through the year, which would imply a severe worsening in the public finances.
For instance, this would imply overshooting the PSNB forecast for 16-17 by 15.9bn.
Chancellor Philip Hammond has insisted that, although the Government will not now seek a Budget surplus by 2020, it remains committed to fiscal discipline.
The document was issued to officials but apparently posted on the Governments website in error.
A Treasury spokesman said: The Chancellor has been clear that, while the deficit has been cut, it is still too high.
The Government is committed to balancing the books over a sensible period of time, in a way that allows space to support the economy.
The Treasury also flatly denied EU budget increases in the leaked document were related to the referendum result.
A spokesman said: The EU asked for a smaller share of our total 2016 contributions in the first three months of the year than in previous years.
Our total contribution for the year is not affected, as the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] set out in their March forecast.
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Theresa May faces a daunting fight on several fronts to secure a third runway at Heathrow after the long-awaited go-ahead sparked a Tory civil war today.
Business groups and trade unions reacted with delight to what one cabinet minister called the truly momentous decision to expand Heathrow, after decades of dithering and delay.
But Zac Goldsmith, the defeated Conservative candidate for London Mayor, told his local party he would resign and refight his nearby Richmond Park seat branding the decision catastrophic.
The Conservatives said they "disagreed" with Mr Goldsmith, but announced they would not run a candidate against him.
The move will also give the Liberal Democrats a by-election opportunity in a pro-EU seat that overwhelmingly voted Remain.
Boris Johnson given special dispensation by Theresa May to speak out for a limited period made clear his continued opposition to expansion, predicting it will be stopped.
However, the Foreign Secretary did not repeat his celebrated pledge to protestors to lie down with you in front of those bulldozers and stop the building, stop the construction of that third runway.
Instead, he suggested the proposal would be "snarled up" in legal cases, insisting: The day when the bulldozers appear is a long way off, if indeed they ever materialise.
The legal challenge is planned by four Conservative-run local authorities, who have already instructed lawyers to prepare a case in alliance with Greenpeace.
Significantly, the group worked together in 2010 to win a High Court battle over the plans by Gordon Browns government to expand the west London hub.
Furthermore, to the discomfort of the Prime Minister, one of the four is her local council of Windsor and Maidenhead whose cause she used to support.
Opponents of expansion dug out a 2009 statement in which Ms May warned that many of her constituents in Maidenhead would be devastated by the go-ahead for a third runway.
The pages on Ms May's website which now appear to have been deleted included a statement from herself, declaring: I am clear that we must say no to a third runway at Heathrow.
Asked what had changed, the Prime Ministers spokeswoman said she was backing a bigger Heathrow in the national interest, saying: This is not a decision about a constituency.
Friends of the Earth condemned the planned expansion, saying: Local communities now face more noise, more air pollution and more misery from a quarter of a million extra flights each year.
And Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, said the decision puts a wrecking ball through the Governments claim to be concerned about climate change.
But Paul Drechsler, president of the Confederation of British Industry, led business groups in welcoming an enormous relief to firms in every corner of the country.
He added: It will create the air links that will do so much to drive jobs and unlock growth across the UK, allowing even more of our innovative, ambitious and internationally focussed firms, from Bristol to Belfast, to take off and break into new markets.
And the British Chambers of Commerce said: Building this runway will not only boost business confidence, it will also help firms access export opportunities, and attract investment from both UK and overseas businesses.
The Government hopes to bring down the curtain on almost 50 years of airport indecision by backing the third runway, which will not open fully until 2030 at the earliest.
The move will end, at least temporarily, Gatwicks bid for a second runway, in a move that could also trigger a High Court challenge.
Heathrow expansion will be dependent on a ban on night flights, a legal block on any fourth runway, guarantees on the expansion of domestic flights and more passengers using public transport, to cut pollution.
The Government will also urge Heathrow to cut the cost of the 17.6bn scheme, much of which will fall on taxpayers for huge transport improvements around the airport.
Today Transport Secretary Chris Grayling repeatedly refused to say what the Governments bill might be for work likely to involve moving the M25 motorway.
The expansion plan could also run into opposition from Heathrows biggest airlines, which fear the massive cost of the third runway will price out passengers.
Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic warned that landing charges are already the highest in the world, insisting a further hike is not an option.
It raises the possibility of major airlines pulling out of a three-runway Heathrow and expanding elsewhere unless the airport guarantees to cap passenger fees.
As well as a looming by-election, the Prime Minister has yet to decide how to manage the split in her Cabinet, other than to allow Mr Johnson and Education Secretary Justine Greening to oppose expansion for now.
She has yet to say whether Conservative MPs will be granted the extraordinary licence of a free vote when the decision reaches the Commons next year.
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Theresa Mays Conservatives have announced they will not fight a by-election against Zac Goldsmith after he quit as one of the partys MPs in protest at Heathrow expansion.
The Tories said it was because Mr Goldsmith had been a hard working champion for his seat, but taking him on brings the risk of an embarrassing loss for Ms May to either the anti-Heathrow campaigner or the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Goldsmith announced he would resign as MP and stand in the ensuing by-election as an independent candidate, after Ms Mays Cabinet approved plans for a third runway at Heathrow.
A Conservative spokesperson said: We disagree with Zac about the need for a by-election in light of this decision, but understand his position.
He has been a hard-working champion for the people of Richmond Park, as we know he will continue to be if they re-elect him as their Member of Parliament, so we will not be putting up a candidate against him at this by-election.
Earlier in the day Mr Goldsmith made a statement reminding his constituents of a promise he made to quit and trigger a by-election if his party ever approved Heathrow expansion, something he branded as catastrophic.
Zack Goldsmith says by-election 'must be a referendum on Heathrow expansion'
He said: Today I must honour my promise. And so I have resigned as your Member of Parliament.
And I will be standing in the by-election as an independent candidate. I know there will be some who see today not as an outrage, but as an opportunity to advance their party interests. But this by-election must be a referendum on Heathrow expansion.
But despite the Conservatives failing to stand, the anti-Heathrow candidate may face a strong challenge from the Liberal Democrats who held the seat until 2010.
Mr Goldsmith supported Brexit in the recent referendum on the UKs membership of the European Union, whereas his constituency was staunchly pro-Remain, by a ratio of 72 per cent to 28 per cent. He also fought a City Hall campaign that saw him accused of racism in some quarters over the way he attacked Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Third runway at Heathrow cleared for take-off - MPs react
If the Lib Dem's achieved a similar swing in Richmond from the Tories, as they did in the recent Witney by-election, they would steal the seat from Mr Goldsmith.
Party Tim Farron said: "We are looking forward to building on our result in Witney and taking the fight to the Tories in Richmond Park as Britain's one truly pro-European party.
"A victory for the Liberal Democrats would put huge pressure on Theresa May to abandon her plans for an economically disastrous hard Brexit.
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A third runway at Heathrow Airport was officially given the go-ahead by the Government today, ending weeks of speculation.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling confirmed Britains worst-kept secret in an announcement on the governments website, following an earlier decision by a Cabinet sub-committee.
Zac Goldsmith, the Richmond Park MP and defeated Conservative candidate for London Mayor, announced his immediate resignation in protest branding the decision catastrophic.
How the new runway at Heathrow could look
That means a tricky early by-election for Theresa May, with hints the Conservatives may not even run a candidate.
And Boris Johnson will re-state his opposition to Heathrow expansion in a TV interview later today, although the Prime Minister has banned him from actively campaigning against the decision.
Because MPs will not vote on the expansion for at least a year, there will not be any immediate Cabinet resignations with Education Secretary Justine Greening also a fierce opponent.
Mr Grayling said: The step that government is taking today is truly momentous.
I am proud that after years of discussion and delay this government is taking decisive action to secure the UKs place in the global aviation market securing jobs and business opportunities for the next decade and beyond.
A new runway at Heathrow will improve connectivity in the UK itself and crucially boost our connections with the rest of the world, supporting exports, trade and job opportunities.
This isnt just a great deal for business, its a great deal for passengers who will also benefit from access to more airlines, destinations and flights.
The government hopes to end almost 50 years of airport indecision by backing the plan for a third runway, which will not fully open until 2030 at the earliest.
The move will end, at least temporarily, Gatwick's bid for a second runway, in a decision that could trigger a High Court challenge.
Protest against Heathrow and Gatwick expansion staged outside parliament
Heathrow expansion will be dependent on a ban on night flights, a legal block on any fourth runway, guarantees on the expansion of domestic flights and more passengers using public transport, to cut pollution.
The government will also urge Heathrow to cut the cost of the 17.6 billion scheme, much of which will fall on taxpayers for huge transport improvements around the airport.
The Liberal Democrats and green campaigners quickly condemned expansion, with Tim Farron pointing to evidence that the Prime Minister had covered up her own earlier opposition.
He said: The turbulence in the Conservative Party is nothing compared to the anger felt by those they have betrayed by giving up their commitment to the environment and communities in West London.
"Theresa May used to make this case, now she has ripped those words down from her website and scrubbed them from history.
Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith immediately resigned over the decision, triggering a by-election in Richmond Park (Getty Images)
The Prime Minister's own local council, in Windsor and Maidenhead, confirmed that it was preparing to issue legal papers to block Heathrows expansion.
Friends of the Earth said: Local communities now face more noise, more air pollution and more misery from a quarter of a million extra flights each year.
And Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, said the decision puts a wrecking ball through the Governments claim to be concerned about climate change.
But the decision delighted business groups. CBI President Paul Drechsler said it came as an enormous relief to firms in every corner of the country.
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He added: A new runway at Heathrow is really fantastic news, especially as the country has waited nearly 50 years for this decision.
It will create the air links that will do so much to drive jobs and unlock growth across the UK, allowing even more of our innovative, ambitious and internationally focussed firms, from Bristol to Belfast, to take off and break into new markets.
The decision means a proposal to expand an existing runway at Heathrow has been rejected, as well as a second runway at Gatwick.
But it could also run into opposition from Heathrows biggest airlines, which fear a multi-billion pound expansion of the hub will price out passengers.
Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic warned that landing charges are already the highest in the world, insisting a further hike is not an option.
It raises the possibility of major airlines pulling out of a three-runway Heathrow and expanding elsewhere unless the airport guarantees to cap passenger fees.
As well as a looming by-election, the Prime Minister has yet to decide how to manage her Cabinet split, other than to grant special dispensation to Mr Johnson and Ms Greening to oppose expansion for now.
She has yet to say whether Conservative MPs will be granted the extraordinary licence of a free vote, when the decision reaches the Commons next year.
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Tory MP Zac Goldsmith has quit after the Government said it would push ahead with what he called a "catastrophic" expansion of Heathrow Airport.
The Richmond Park MP had already made a public pledge to resign and stand as an independent candidate in his seat if the decision was taken.
After expansion was confirmed by the Cabinet, Mr Goldsmith took to Twitter to say: "Following the Government's catastrophic Heathrow announcement, I will be meeting my constituents later today before making a statement."
It then emerged that Mr Goldsmith had already contacted his local party association to confirm his intention to fulfil his promise.
Tory MP Tania Mathais, whose Twickenham seat is also one of the most affected, said on Twitter: "Terrible decision by Govt. I will continue to fight against 3rd runway at Heathrow. I am confident there will never be expansion at Heathrow."
Protest against Heathrow and Gatwick expansion staged outside parliament
James Berry, the Tory MP for Kingston and Surbiton, said: "Just heard Heathrow has been chosen over Gatwick. I'm very disappointed."
Theresa May, who already has only a small majority in the Commons, now faces a potentially difficult by-election and losing one Tory seat in South West London.
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Residents, charities and police are calling for a controversial billboard that encourages undocumented immigrants facing deportation to find a sugar daddy to be taken down immediately.
The large billboard, placed over a highway in Austin, Texas, says: "Undocumented immigrant? Before you get deported, get a sugar daddy".
The words are placed beside a picture of a young girl with the colours of the Mexican flag behind her.
CNN reported that an undercover sergeant with the Austin Police Departments human trafficking vice unit said the advert is "dangerous".
"I was very disgusted by what I was seeing," the officer said.
"To think that somebody would do that is just a very low life individual who would put that up there.
"These young ladies, maybe they haven't been in American that long and they don't know how it goes, and seeing that on the billboards and going hey, maybe that's something I ought to look at trying to do, and the next thing you know, they're in a world they can't get out of."
The advert is from a company called ArrangementFinders.com, a website that facilitates physical intimacy for money.
The undercover officer said the women who typically approach the website are young and vulnerable, and could be threatened with sexual assault or murder.
Steven Phenix, PR director for The Refuge, an organisation that fights human trafficking in Austin, told The Independent that the billboard has been up for several weeks and is "pure exploitation".
"They are taking advantage of people and exploiting people who are in a bad shape. They are defacto pimps," he said.
The Refuge has worked alongside police sting operations and has seen phone lines linked to backpage adverts explode within minutes, therefore he said it was very likely that many women have called the website since the billboard went up.
Ruby Life, a third-party marketing company in Toronto, has said it was responsible for the advert. It will be taken down, as reported by KXAN.
According to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, the number of minors being exploited through these websites has gone up 800 per cent in the last five years.
The same organisation found that one in five missing children is most likely to be a victim of human trafficking.
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All 25 British Airways crew on board an Airbus A380 "SuperJumbo" were taken to hospital after the captain declared a medical emergency and diverted to Vancouver. Initial reports suggested they were being treated for smoke inhalation, though this was denied by the airline.
Flight BA286 from San Francisco to London was at 37,000 feet over the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, about two hours into its flight, when a decision was taken to divert the jet. A FlightAware record of the flight shows that the aircraft initially changed course and headed for the nearest big airport, Calgary, before switching to Vancouver. It is not known if poor weather at Calgary, or the lack of facilities for handling the A380 Superjumbo, was responsible.
The plane was on its way to London when it diverted (Flight Aware ) (Flight Aware)
The flight made an emergency landing in Vancouver at 11.35pm on Monday. Images showed emergency vehicles surrounding the plane on the Tarmac.
Laura Kohli, a spokeswoman for Vancouver Coastal Health hospitals, initially told Canadian broadcaster CBC that 25 people had been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
Ten patients went to Richmond Hospital, another 10 went to the Vancouver General Hospital, and another five went to the Delta Hospital.
A passenger on board, Liz Keller, tweeted: Passengers on #ba286 pretty much totally in the dark about what happened on board or what comes next.
Not reassuring to see firefighters with respirators walking aisles and only be told the crew was taken ill.
The Airbus A380 had left San Francisco at at 7.13pm on Monday evening, local time, and was due to arrive at Heathrow at 1.40pm on Tuesday.
BA said it was investigating the cause of the incident.
At the moment we dont know the cause of the incident and are carrying out an investigation... We dont at this stage know it was a fume event, a statement said. Passengers have been put up in hotels and will be rebooked on other flights.
Vancouver Coastal Health spokesman Gavin Wilson told the Associated Press that 25 crew members were taken to three Vancouver hospitals as a precautionary measure, assessed and released.
British Airways has confirmed they were all crew members, he said. No passengers were taken to the hospital.
He said initial reports that the crew had been treated for smoke inhalation were being revised.
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The decriminalisation of recreational cannabis use in California could be a milestone towards ending the drugs prohibition nationally, it has been suggested.
Alongside the presidential election, California will vote over whether to make recreational marijuana use legal on 8 November.
If approved, as polls suggest it will be, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) will allow adults aged over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and cultivate up to six plants for personal use, the National Organisation of the Reform of Marijuana Laws explains.
Legalisation of recreational cannabis has already taken place in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, but experts believe decriminalisation in California could present a strong challenge to the federal governments cannabis ban.
Gavin Newsom, the lieutenant governor of California and former mayor of San Francisco, told the New York Times: If were successful, its the beginning of the end of the war on marijuana.
If California moves, it will put more pressure on Mexico and Latin America writ large to reignite a debate on legalization there.
David Bienenstock, head of content for High Times magazine, which gives information about marijuana and psychedelic drugs, told Business Insider he viewed the California vote as a tipping point towards national decriminalisation.
Massachusetts and Maine also have votes over initiatives to legalise cannabis due in November, while Arizona and Nevada are set to vote on recreational marijuana next month.
Currently, the federal government and its Drug Enforcement Administration classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, which are defined as having a high potential for abuse and are not an accepted medical treatment. Heroin is also classed as a Schedule 1 drug.
According to recent polls, the marijuana vote is likely to pass in California. Sixty per cent of Californians suggested the drug should be legal compared to 34 per cent who opposed the idea, according to Ballotpedias average of polls.
Cannabis around the world Show all 13 1 /13 Cannabis around the world Cannabis around the world Morocco Farmers destroy cannabis plantations under Moroccan police supervision in the northern Moroccan Larache region, pictured here in 2006 AFP/Getty images Cannabis around the world Colorado Growing business: Cannabis on sale at River Rock Wellness Sam Adams Cannabis around the world Oakland Oaksterdam in Oakland, California, is the world's only university dedicated to the study and cultivation of cannabis Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images Cannabis around the world Seattle A cannabis smoker marks the start of the new law by the Space Needle in Seattle Getty Images Cannabis around the world China Cannabis growing wild in China, where it has been used to treat conditions such as gout and malaria Cannabis around the world Uruguay Uruguay has voted to make the country the first to legalize marijuana AFP/Getty Cannabis around the world Colorado A groundswell of support from the public led to full legalisation in Colorado Getty Images Cannabis around the world Berlin A man smokes licenced medicinal marijuana prior to participating in the annual Hemp Parade, or 'Hanfparade', in support of the legalization of marijuana in Germany on August 7, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. The consumption of cannabis in Germany is legal, though all other aspects, including growing, importing or selling it, are not. However, since the introduction of a new law in 2009, the sale and possession of marijuana for licenced medicinal use is legal. Sean Gallup/Getty Images Cannabis around the world UK The UK latest figures show 2.3 million people used cannabis in the last year AP Cannabis around the world Amsterdam Tourists visiting Amsterdam will not be banned from using the citys famous cannabis cafes Getty Images Cannabis around the world Merseyside These 25 cannabis plants, seized in Merseyside police, could have generated a turnover of 40,000 a year Cannabis around the world San Francisco April 20, 2012: People smoke marijuana joints at 4:20 p.m. as thousands of marijuana advocates gathered at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. The event was held on April 20, a date corresponding with a numerical 4/20 code widely known within the cannabis subculture as a symbol for all things marijuana. Reuters Cannabis around the world Spain A cannabis users' association will pay the town of Rasquera more than 600,000 a year for the lease of the land
California is seen as a landmark state for marijuana legalisation due to its economic footing.
According to World Bank data, the state had the equivalent of the sixth largest economy in the world in 2015 and legalisation would allow the state to tap into the lucrative marijuana market.
Sales of marijuana will begin on 1 January 2018 if the vote is passed and are estimated to add an additional $1.5 billion into the marijuana market - bolstering an already thriving medicinal marijuana market.
Let it Bern! Sanders Touts Cannabis Decriminilization in Wisconsin
By 2019, this figure could rise to nearly $3 billion and nearly $4 billion by 2020 if the vote passes, the Business Times reports, citing a report from New Frontier Data and ArcView Market Research.
Both the recreational and medicinal marijuana markets are predicted to swell to $22 billion in four years from $7 billion this year if California approves the legalisation, according to the Arcview Group, which links investors with cannabis companies.
This is the vote heard round the world, Arcviews chief executive, Troy Dayton, told the New York Times. What weve seen before has been tiny compared to what we are going to see in California.
There has been a significant increase in the number of Americans using cannabis, rising from 21.9m in 2002 to 31.9m in 2014. The number of regular users doubled over the same period to 8.4m.
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The American Bar Association (ABA) commissioned a report into Donald Trump baselessly suing people before refusing to publish it because they were afraid he would sue them, lawyers who worked on the document have claimed.
The report into Mr Trumps litigation history, by a committee of media law experts, concluded he was a libel bully who had filed many meritless suits attacking his opponents, but had never won in court.
Instead of releasing the report, the organisation asked for changes to the title and tried to eliminate the conclusion that was "the point of the report", researchers told The New York Times.
In internal communications seen by the US newspaper which has itself been threatened with legal action by the Republican presidential candidate the organisation cited the risk of the ABA being sued by Mr Trump as a reason to make changes.
ABA leaders did not appear to dispute the actual conclusions of the report, but objected to some of the language used, including the key term "libel bully".
On 19 October, James Dimos, the association's deputy executive director, said in an email that changes were needed to address the legitimately held views of ABA staff who are charged with managing the reputational and financial risk to the association.
According to The New York Times he said: While we do not believe that such a lawsuit has merit, it is certainly reasonable to attempt to reduce such a likelihood by removing inflammatory language that is unnecessary to further the articles thesis.
Honestly, it is the same advice members of the forum would provide to their own clients.
Charles Tobin, a former chairman of the media-law committee, suggested the ABA's stance was hypocritical.
Its colossally inappropriate for the ABA to sponsor a group of lawyers to study free speech issues and at the same time censor their free speech, he said.
ABA spokeswoman Carol Stevens denied that fear of a libel suit had played any role in the association's objections. She told The New York Times the ABA had only minor and routine objections to the articles tone because the ABA was strictly non partisan the report did not adhere to this policy.
We thought it was an insightful article, and we asked them to consider minor edits, she said.
But the media law committee said this was not accurate.
The article was titled: Donald J Trump Is a Libel Bully but Also a Libel Loser. The bar association proposed making a significant change and calling it: Presidential Election Demonstrates Need for Anti-Slapp Laws," The New York Times reported
SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. In states with Anti-Slapp laws defendants can sometimes seek early dismissal of libel and similar suits, and recover their legal fees.
The media-law committee decided to bypass the ABA and on Friday, the Media Law Resource Centre, a trade association of law firms and media companies, published the report on its site.
Susan Seager, a former journalist and lawyer who has worked extensively on free speech cases, prepared the report. She said she did not think any of the claims made were libellous.
Its based on court records, all of it, Ms Seager told The New York Times.
She found seven free speech-related lawsuits filed by Mr Trump and his companies. They included ones against an architecture critic and his newspaper; a book author and his publisher; a political commentator; a former student at Trump University; two labor unions; a network executive; and a beauty contest contestant.
The report concluded that Mr. Trump had lost four suits, withdrawn two and obtained one default judgment in a private arbitration when a former Miss Pennsylvania failed to appear to contest the matter.
Donald J. Trump is a libel bully, the report concluded.
Like most bullies, hes also a loser, to borrow from Trumps vocabulary.
The bar association sought to remove that conclusion, which Ms. Seager said was the point of her report.
I wanted to alert media lawyers that a lot of these threats are very hollow, she said.
Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Show all 16 1 /16 Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump E Jean Carroll Author Carroll alleges that Trump pinned her against a wall and forced himself upon her in the changing rooms of a Manhattan department store in the mid-90s Getty Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Kristin Anderson Anderson alleges that Mr Trump touched her genitals while at a club in the early 1990s Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Jessica Leeds Leeds told the New York Times that Mr Trump groped her on an airplane in the 1980s BBC Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Natasha Stoynoff Stoynoff alleged that Mr Trump forcefully kissed her before an interview at his Mar-A-Lago estate in 2005 Everipedia Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Karena Virginia Virginia alleges Mr Trump groped her in 1998 outside of the US Open tennis tournament BBC News Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Temple Taggart Taggart claims Mr Trump gave her a kiss without consent during a rehearsal for a 1997 Miss USA pageant Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Summer Zervos The former Apprentice contestant alleged that Mr Trump kissed and groped her at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2007 Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Alva Johnson A former staffer for Trump's campaign, Johnson alleges that Trump forcibly tried to kiss her after a rally in August 2016 MSNBC Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Jennifer Murphy The former Apprentice contestant said Mr Trump "surprise kissed" her - but she said it did not bother her Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Jill Harth The makeup artist accused Mr Trump of "attempted rape" while in his daughter's room in 1997 Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Mindy McGillivray McGillivray alleges Mr Trump groped her at Mar-A-Lago in 2013 AP Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Rachel Crooks Crooks says that kissed her on the cheeks and mouth when she introduced herself to him in 2005 Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Mindy McGillivray McGillivray claims that Trump grabbed her backside at Mar-a-Lago in 2006 CNN Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Cassandra Searles The former Miss Washington alleges that Trump repeatedly grabbed her backside and invited her to his hotel room Getty Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Jessica Drake Drake claims that when she and two other women arrived to Trump's hotel room at his invitation, he arrived at the door in pyjamas and tightly hugged and kissed each of the woman without permission Getty Every woman to make sexual assault claims against Donald Trump Ninni Laaksonen The former Miss Finland claims that Trump squeezed her behind before they appeared together on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2006 EPA
On Saturday, Mr Trump caused outrage by threatening to sue the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. He also threatened to sue The New York Times for publishing their allegations, as well as his his tax returns.
Ms Seager said the bar associations behaviour showed that Mr Trumps threats work.
The ABA took out every word that was slightly critical of Donald Trump, she said.
It proved my point.
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The Justice Department has swapped around the team investigating the death of unarmed black man Eric Garner in 2014 as the current FBI agents and federal prosecutors have refused to bring charges.
As reported by the New York Times, attorney general Loretta Lynch made the move to speed along a case that is more than two years old, by bringing in FBI agents and federal prosecutors from outside the state, who could bring the case to a grand jury in Brooklyn.
Many people were shocked to see the footage in July 2014, captured by a bystander, of Garner, a father of six, being put into a fatal chokehold by officer Daniel Pantaleo after he was accused of selling illegal cigarettes.
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"I cant breathe," were the 43-year-olds last words, prompting national protests against racial injustice.
Officer Pantaleo was kept on desk duty while criminal investigations dragged on. The death was ruled as a homicide but a federal jury in Staten Island cleared him of charges two years ago.
The case centres around whether the officer intended to violate Garners civil rights.
The outgoing team claimed the video supported their opinion not to bring charges, while the Justice Department disagreed.
Stuart London, a lawyer for officer Pantaleo, insisted to the Times that his client had simply acted upon his NYPD training to subdue an individual.
"If it is true that the Justice Department is rejecting the recommendations of seasoned FBI agents and assistant United States attorneys, this is a gross miscarriage of justice," he said.
"In our system of justice, politics should never take the place of the rule of law."
The new investigation team could be hampered by the fact the team's former colleagues who were taken off the case did not see evidence to bring charges, and the defense team of Pantaleo could even use them as witnesses.
It is notoriously difficult to prosecute a police officer.
Previous cases opened up the Justice Department since Garners death in Ferguson, Minneapolis, North Charleston, South Carolina, and Cleveland, Ohio, were all closed, except one officer was charged with shooting an unarmed man in the back as he ran away in North Charleston.
Garner's family reached a settlement with New York City last summer for $5.9 million.
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A dog has been praised for helping to save a womans life from a house fire by protecting her from the flames.
Che was found lying on the owners chest in the Philadelphia house by firefighters who responded to an emergency call.
The Red Paw Emergency Relief Team (RPERT), which works alongside the Philadelphia Fire Department, said that Ches barking in the night woke up the neighbours and alerted them to the emergency.
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Early this morning we were called by the Philadelphia Fire Department for a dog from a fire, RPERT posted on 23 October.
When we arrived [at the] scene we were told that neighbours were alerted of the fire due to the dog barking.
Neighbours stated that it [was] unusual for him to be barking at that time and that is what woke them.
When neighbours looked out the window they saw his house on fire. They are saying that the dog saved everyone!
The post continued: We were also told on scene that Che was found in the fire dwelling by firefighters on top of his owner trying to protect her!
Che and his owner are currently both hospitalised. Che is being treated for smoke inhalation and is stable but guarded. Che's owner is in critical condition. Please keep her and everyone affected in your thoughts.
Neighbour Adele Butler told WFTV: The dog stayed on her chest the whole time, which prevented her from being burned totally.
Ches owner remains in critical condition in hospital.
A firefighter that helped to rescue the dog and its owner made a surprise visit to Che, who is recovering with the Red Paw team.
The staff at the centre said the dog was still on oxygen to help him breathe but he would most likely be released after a couple of days.
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The former New York City mayor has finally revealed why he did not laugh when Hillary Clinton was poking fun at him during the Alfred E Smith dinner.
Rudy Giuliani, who sat scowling with lopsided glasses, told a Philadelphia radio show that he was picturing the democratic nominee in prison.
On Tuesday Mr Giuliani was asked by 1210 WPHT Philadelphia radio host Dom Giordano what his reaction was to Ms Clintons jokes and whether he was going to "take out a pair of handcuffs and hold them up at that point".
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"Well, I was US attorney and assistant to the US attorney for too many years to laugh at Mrs Clinton," Mr Giuliani replied.
"When I see her, I see her in an orange jumpsuit, I'm sorry, or at least a striped one. I'd have prosecuted her a year ago and probably convicted her by now."
"I think you would have," replied the host, laughing.
Many allies and supporters of Donald Trump advocate the imprisonment of Ms Clinton, claiming she should not be allowed to run for president and that she got off too lightly over the misuse of her personal email server when she was secretary of state.
"Lock her up" is one of the most common chants at Trump rallies.
Mr Trump also said at the second presidential debate that if he was elected he would instruct the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to "investigate" Ms Clinton.
Mr Giuliani has spent several months on the campaign trail for Mr Trump, attending rallies and making speeches in support of the Republican mogul.
He said Mr Trump was a "genius" for managing to avoid paying federal income tax over almost two decades by carrying a loss of $950 million forward.
Ms Clinton played on this theme at the dinner last week in New York, where the presidential candidates took to the stage to mock each other and their allies, just 24 hours after the final presidential debate.
"Many dont know this, but Rudy actually got his start as a prosecutor going after wealthy New Yorkers who avoided paying taxes," she said.
"But as the saying goes, if you cant beat em, go on Fox News and call em a genius."
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
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A man who has been charged with a hate crime for attacking a Sikh man outside a restaurant said he had a constitutional right to take direct action in defense of the United States.
David Hook allegedly threw liquid on Balmeet Singh on 30 September because he appeared to be of a different religion or race, according to a press release by the Kern County district attorney in California.
Mr Hook told Bakersfield Now that he had heard Mr Singh speaking on his mobile phone outside a restaurant in English and in a foreign language, and allegedly heard him "say something about a bomb". Mr Singh wears a turban and a beard and is a member of the Sikh faith.
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When asked why he did not call 911, Mr Hook said he had a "constitutional right" to take action.
"If you see something, say something," he replied.
Mr Hook is facing two counts of misdemeanour charges and one count of interference with the exercise of a civil right and one count of battery, which fall under the hate crime category.
Mr Singh, a 30-year-old real estate agent and health clinic administrator from Ohio, said Mr Hook confronted him while he was wishing his 13-year-old cousin a happy birthday.
Mr Hook allegedly yelled at him: "Youre gonna blow up this country", and threatened to kill him.
Mr Hook then allegedly threw a cup of soda on Mr Singh, said some racial slurs and left.
"Not a single person came up to me, and not a single person said anything to me," said Mr Singh. He added there were at least a dozen witnesses.
In a video recorded by the Sikh Coalition, Mr Singh said he wanted to remind people to be "safe and vigilant".
"That situation could easily have escalated, and Im fortunate it did not," he said.
His message, contrary to Mr Hook, was: "If you see something happening, do something, dont just sit there, as it could be your grandfather, your grandparents, your father, your child."
If Mr Hook is convicted of the charges, he could face up to one year in jail and a fine.
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Betting on elections is one way to add a bit of spice to a results night, particularly if you get bored of an endless stream of commentators saying much the same thing on your TV screen/radio/website of choice.
The eccentricities of the US system make for an unusually wide range of markets, some of which are quite unique.
Without further ado heres a look at some of the best of them, with a few choice suggestions as to where to put your money.
Where possible Ive used the forecasts made available online by the excellent FiveThirtyEight.com which uses polling and other data to produce a percentage chance for each candidate in each state, as well as a forecast for the overall result.
These have been compared to the percentage chances implied by the betting odds.
I looked to find any incidences where the bookies prices are out of whack - the state of Utah is a particularly glaring example.
The betting odds are otherwise largely very similar to the odds implied by FiveThirtyEight, so your betting will have to be based more on your opinion as opposed to a more or less scientific analysis of where the value lies.
Where possible Ive used oddschecker.com to find the best prices, which were correct at the time of writing.
Who will win, Clinton or Trump?
The obvious starting point, which Ive put in even though, as a gambling medium, it wouldnt appear to be terribly exciting as things stand.
Hilary Clinton is the red hot favourite. Even Donald Trumps campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has admitted that we are behind, not that its stopped her candidate from tweeting outlier polls showing him ahead whenever they appear.
In the absence of Julian Assange getting back his internet access and disclosing some really incendiary information through his Wikileaks, the Presidency would appear to be Hilary Clintons to lose.
She is a shade off being a 1-5 favourite with the bookies. Some might consider that an attractive price, and more of an investment than a gamble given her opponents appetite for (self) destruction.
As I revealed in The Independent last week, the betting patterns on the US election have looked frighteningly to those seen in the run up to the EU referendum in the UK, with lots of small bets in for Trump. Oddschecker lists a Trump victory as the most popular bet on the site.
However, the leaders of the Brexit campaign were far more disciplined than Trump is, even though they blew many of the same dog whistles. And there was nothing like the revelations about Trumps attitudes towards women to muddy the waters of their campaign.
Interestingly Bwins best price of 19-100 (nearly 1-5) on Clinton implies a chance of victory of just over 83 per cent while FiveThirtyEight puts her chances at 86.3 per cent based on polling. This suggests that Bwin is offering a modest value for money bet. But youre never going to get rich backing 1-5 chances and FiveThirtyEights polls plus model, incorporating historical and economic data in addition to polling, is in more line (83.9 per cent chance of Clinton victory) with the betting odds.
Donald Trump's campaign admits for the first time that he is losing
The electoral college
Now this is where it gets interesting. Sporting Index has a spread of 325-335 electoral college votes for Clinton (it is the college that decides the winner not the popular vote), which would represent a landslide victory on a par with the one Barak Obama scored over Mitt Romney in 2012. He secured 332 votes.
How does that spread spread stack up against the exhaustive analysis that FiveThirtyEight conducts to produce its state by state forecasts?
If it has called all the states correctly using polling data, Clinton would win 354 votes in the college making buying the spread the clear choice. However, included in that tally are some toss ups such as Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Ohio and North Carolina which between them account for 56 votes.
Clinton could lose that lot and still come up, erm, trumps with 298 college votes (she needs to secure 270). But buyers of the spread would be left nursing a nasty loss.
If Clinton takes North Carolina it gets us to 313, within sight of the spread. Arizona takes us to the edge of it and Ohio would all but seal the deal.
Thats where things get just a little sticky. Ohio is a toss up, and the polls plus model calls Arizona for Trump.
Mind you, were Clinton to take one or two of the states called for Trump by FiveThirtyEight then your winnings on this market would be considerable. The Washington Post, for example, has moved even deep red Texas from a Trump certainty to leaning Republican. Texas! Well, it does have a substantial Hispanic population. Those who feel spread betting is too rich for their blood might like to take the 2-1 on Clinton to get 330-359 electoral college votes with SkyBet. That looks a decent bet to these eyes.
Utah
There arent that many interesting betting opportunities when it comes to individual states because there arent that many states in play. One that shouldnt be in any normal election is Utah.
However, it is because, by contrast to evangelicals like Jerry Falwell who have been backing Trump despite the revelations about his personal conduct, many followers of the mormon faith arent that pleased with what they have seen in him. There are a lot of mormons in Utah and turnout among them tends to be high.
Voting for Hilary Clinton is beyond the pale for most them, but Evan McMullen, a co-religionist and former CIA operative who is running as an independent, is polling strongly in the state as a handy none of the above candidate. Yet FiveThirtyEight still rates Trumps chances of winning in Utah at better than 77 per cent and better than 82 per cent using polls plus. That makes the best price 6-5 on Trump to take this state available with Coral (implying a chance of winning 45.5 per cent) look like real value.
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
Ohio
FiveThirtyEight says Clinton has a better than 59 per cent change of winning this state but if there is one swing state that Trump might capture its this one.
The polls plus model cuts Clintons chances to 53 per cent (see above) and the best priced 13-8 on Trump with William Hill represents value given how close the polls say the race is in a part of America where Trumps message on jobs and trade has been resonating.
If youre thinking of buying the spread, it wouldnt be a bad idea to hedge your position by backing Trump to win Ohio with Hills.
Specials
There are any number of these kicking about. My favourite is whether Trump will accept the election result or not. The 11-4 available on no looks like value to my eyes. The same bookie also offers 11-4 on Clintons share of the popular vote coming in at between 47 and 49.99 per cent.
That also looks worthy of a wager based on FiveThirtyEight forecast for Clinton to take 49.5 per cent or 49 per cent using polls plus.
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A woman found walking with a human skull on a stick has led police to a site containing human remains in a city in California.
Sacramento police were alerted to the woman last week as she walked down Connie Drive.
A picture of the women captured at the time shows her wearing a pair of patterned trousers and a red hooded jacket while holding the stick in front of her.
There was a transient female walking down the 2900 block of Connie Drive. She actually had a skull in her possession, Sacramento Police Sergeant Bryce Heinlein told KTXL.
Police caught up with the woman, who is believed to be homeless, in front of an abandoned house on the same street and she took them to the area where she had found the skull. Police were led to a site at an abandoned homeless encampment where they located a decomposed body. It is unclear why the woman was walking in the streets with the skull on a stick.
Authorities spent two days at the scene and are investigating what caused the death. It is not known if the body has been identified.
A call like this is not something that happens every day. We hope we can get down to the bottom of what caused this person to be deceased, Sergeant Heinlein said.
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Three infants have been beaten to death in Burma during an exorcism, it has been reported.
A three-year-old boy, a two-year-old girl and an eight month old baby were killed by a man purporting to be a healer after telling their families that they were possessed by evil spirits, Bangkok Post reports. Police records reportedly state that the childrens bodies show evidence they were punched, kicked and stamped on prior to their deaths which took place in a village in Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Local lieutenant-major Kyaw Naing Soe told AFP that the man put the villagers in a trance and then killed the children in front of them as they watched. He said: On the night of the 18th, the three-year-old boy was beaten to death and the culprit threw him in the Twante canal. On his return, he continued to beat the three young girls and two of them were killed.
The uncle of the dead boy told media that relatives had been put in a trance by the man who fed them blessed water: Because of what he did everyone was out of their mind. He added that the relatives are ashamed to show their faces in public.
The father of one girl in the exorcism took her to a hospital for treatment after she was beaten in the ceremony, which alerted authorities to what was happening.
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 burial of at least one of the children has taken place in an unmarked grave.
Police have reportedly charged the man accused of conducting the ceremony with murder, grievous bodily harm and hiding a dead body.
He is being held in prison while he awaits trial.
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Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte has claimed the US can forget signing a mutual defence deal as long as he remains in office.
The controversial politician, who has presided over the extrajudicial killing of thousands of people, said he will not honour the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement which allows the US to post its troops on Filipino soil.
Early this month he ordered 28 military exercises which were being carried out at the time to be called to a halt and said the 107 American troops must leave the country ending 65 years of military cooperation.
Mr Duterte said the US should not treat the Philippines like a dog with a leash amid further heightening of tensions between the two allies.
Since Mr Duterte assumed office at the end of June, Manila's relations with the Washington have been strained over his harsh policies aimed at cracking down on the drug trade.
The US has condemned the policies which have seen police hunting down and killing suspected members of the drugs trade, as well as groups of suspected vigilantes.
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
According to official estimates, 2,300 people have been killed since the start of the Drug War with a further 700,000 people officially surrendering to authorities as drug pushers to avoid execution.
Last week, Mr Duterte met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to renew relations between their countries after years of tensions over the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
In a departure from the policy of his predecessors - and despite Beijing rejecting a decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration recognising the Manilas superior claim to the islands in July - Mr Duterte said a close economic partnership with China was the countrys only hope for the future.
In the speech he announced his separation from Barack Obama - who called a son of a bitch in September.
In a previous speech he had threatened to humiliate Mr Obama, the European Union and the United Nations.
He said he was open to an investigation by the UN Commission on Human Rights into the extrajudicial killings but only if he was allowed to have his opinion heard.
I'll play with you. I'm very sure they cannot be brighter than me. I will ask five questions that will humiliate you he warned,Watch out for that, it will be a spectacle.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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Isis has claimed responsibility for an attack on a police academy in the Pakistan city of Quetta, in which masked gunmen killed at least 61 people and wounded more than 100.
The group's Amaq news agency said three Isis fighters used machine guns and grenades, then blew up their explosive vests in the crowd. It also published a photo claiming to show the attackers.
Militants wearing suicide vests stormed the police academy overnight, killing mostly police cadets and recruits and waging a ferocious gun battle with troops until the early hours of Tuesday.
Pakistani officials feared the death toll could rise further, as the four-hour siege one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistans security forces in recent years left 123 other people injured, some of them in a critical condition.
The attack caught many of the recruits asleep in their dorms and forced cadets and trainers to jump off rooftops and run for their lives.
While most of the casualties were police cadets and others at the academy, some of the army personnel who responded to the assault were also among those killed, said Shahzada Farhat, police spokesman in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.
A little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Hakimullah group, also issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack.
Pakistani authorities, doubting the groups capabilities in staging such a coordinated and spectacular assault, could not confirm the claim.
The attack began at 11.30pm local time on Monday, said Balochistan home minister Sarfraz Bugti, with the militants shooting and killing a police guard at the watch tower before storming into the academy, located on the outskirts of Quetta.
Two attackers blew up themselves, while a third one was shot in the head by security men, Mr Bugti said. Earlier, officials had said there were five to six gunmen.
About 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff were inside the academy when it was attacked, Mr Bugti said.
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
Once inside the academy grounds, Pakistani media said the gunmen headed straight to the dorms housing the cadets and trainees and opened fire, shooting indiscriminately. Some of the cadets jumped off the rooftops and through windows to try to escape.
They were rushing toward our building, firing, one cadet told Geo TV, a Pakistani news channel. We rushed for safety toward the roof and jumped down in the back of the building.
Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told the station the gunmen fired at whoever they saw. I ran away, just praying God might save me, he said.
After the attack, Pakistani forces tightened security around the academy and hospitals where the wounded were taken.
Major General Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force which is primarily responsible for the province, claimed the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighbouring Afghanistan.
He said they were most likely from the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami militant group affiliated with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Sunni militant group has mainly targeted minority Shia Muslims whom its members consider to be infidels. The paramilitary chief spoke before the Isis and Hakimullah group claims surfaced.
In August, Isis claimed responsibility for an attack on a gathering of mourners at a hospital in Quetta that killed 70 people. But that attack was also claimed by Pakistani Taliban faction Jamaat-ur-Ahrar.
Additional reporting by agencies
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The demolition of the Calais Jungle camp has begun as a team of workmen and riot police began dismantling empty tents and huts in a small section of the shantytown, amid fears that many of the residents who remain are unwilling to leave the camp.
A group of members of the CRS (French riot police force) and a team of around 40 workmen wearing helmets and overalls entered the Jungle at around 3pm on Tuesday, as social workers went from door to door encouraging people to leave.
Meanwhile the processing of refugees for departure was reportedly slower than it was on Monday, with the queues for queues for registration stopped during the afternoon, prompting concern that many of those remaining in the camp will not go to register and are unwilling to leave.
According to the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, 1,636 people were processed and moved to alternative accommodation on Tuesday. Among them were 1,264 adults who left the camp on buses to reception centres in nine different French regions, and 372 minors, who were moved to the temporary shipping container shelters in the camp while their cases are processed.
In total, 3,242 adults and 772 minors have been processed and left their makeshift home in the French shantytown since the start of Monday.
One trusted volunteer working on the ground said things were peaceful for the moment, but warned that there is a lack of communication informing refugees when their homes will be demolished, risking clashes when it does happen.
Calais refugee camp evacuation Show all 15 1 /15 Calais refugee camp evacuation Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees run past a fire in the makeshift migrant camp known as 'the jungle' in Calais, October 2016 AP Calais refugee camp evacuation French authorities say the closure of the slum-like camp in Calais will last approximately a week in what they describe as a "humanitarian" operation, October 2016 AP Calais refugee camp evacuation A painted message saying 'Bye Jungle' on a tent in the camp in Calais, October 2016 Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees set rubbish bins alight as a protest in the makeshift camp 'the Jungle' in Calais, France, October 2016 EPA Calais refugee camp evacuation French riot police advance through tear gas and smoke from a fire to disperse refugees throwing stones and lighting fires at the Jungle migrant camp Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation French CRS riot police secure an area on the eve of the evacuation and transfer of refugees to reception centers in France Reuters Calais refugee camp evacuation Journalists run away from smoke during clashes near a makeshift refugee camp known as 'the jungle' in Calais AP Calais refugee camp evacuation French CRS riot police secure an area on the eve of the evacuation and transfer of refugees to reception centers in Franc Reuters Calais refugee camp evacuation Migrants queue for transportation by bus to reception centres across France, from the 'Jungle' refugee camp in Calais Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees line-up to register at a processing centre in the 'jungle' near Calais, northern France, as the mass exodus from the migrant camp begins PA wire Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees 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 Calais refugee camp evacuation French far-right Front National (FN) party's member of parliament Marion Marechal-Le Pen (L) delivers a speech next to a banner reading "They arrive in Vaucluse, no migrants in our place" as she attends a rally against the hosting of refugees in La Tour d'Aigues Getty Images Calais refugee camp evacuation French police forces secure the area near the 'Jungle' refugee camp in Calais Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees carry their belongings and transfer to reception centers in France
The volunteer, who asked not to be named, told The Independent: "Around one third of people have gone from the camp, but registration was a lot slower today.
People still in the camp are fairly relaxed at the moment. Theres no plan as to which areas will be demolished first, so they're not feeling pressure. The authorities should be giving the refugees proper notice so they can prepare for their departure. Theres a real lack of communication.
Police have so far played a passive role. But tomorrow will be an important day, because as the demolition continues people will start having to leave, and some will not want to. The walk up to the registration tent is difficult for many of the people here. It feels like a walk of shame to them, because they wanted to get to the UK but haven't managed to.
There are also fears that refugees have begun to seek refuge in areas surrounding the camp, in order to continue their pursuit for the UK after the demolition is complete.
Recommended Read more The Calais Jungle should never have existed
A spokesperson for Doctors of the World, Pippa Hatton, told BBC news: Weve seen people before who have escaped into the forest where they won't be seen. I think people will try and disappear, at least at first, and then maybe go onto other places like Normandy that have ports close by.
As the demolition crews and the CRS entered the camp to begin the dismantling of the camp, charities expressed concern about the safety of the refugees still on the site, particularly the children.
In a public statement, Help Refugees, a charity working in the camp, wrote: "We are concerned about the presence of a water cannon, particularly considering there are still young children on site.
We hope the authorities carry out their planned work today with respect for the residents, many of whom still remain in the camp as instructed as they await their turn to register and leave.
Many of the residents are vulnerable and will have experienced forced displacement at least once in their lives before so this will be a stressful time for them as they see the homes and community they have built destroyed.
The first group of under-13-year-olds residing in the Jungle who had been identified as eligible to come to the UK under the Alf Dubs amendment boarded UK-bound buses during the afternoon on Tuesday, taking the number of children who have been brought from Calais to the UK since 17 October to 217, according to the French Minister.
While the move prompted relief from charities in the camp and the processing of unaccompanied minors appeared more organised than the chaotic situation on Monday, there were still concerns that many youngsters were still unaccounted for as the demolition began.
Refugee Info Bus, a charity working within the camp, said an unaccompanied minor approaching him who had been turned away from registering. In a Facebook post with an unidentifiable photo of the child, the charity wrote: We found this unaccompanied minor earlier who queued to register from early this morning but was then turned away.
He didn't know where he would sleep tonight, but thanks to our volunteers he has now been registered by OFII (the French Office for Immigration and Integration).
On Tuesday morning it was reported that unaccompanied minors were made to sit on the floor while waiting to register.
Global charity Doctors of the World wrote in a tweet: Unaccompanied minors in Calais are made to sit on the wet, muddy floor and wait to register so they can sleep in containers rather than tents.
Two fires broke out within the camp during the course of the day, but they were said to be caused unintentionally from bonfires created by refugees in an attempt to keep warm.
Women and girls living in the Jungle, who have so far remained largely out of the public eye during during the evacuation process, made a stand during the afternoon, protesting for their rights and asking for more support from the UK.
Before the demolition crew began their operation, teams of volunteers are reported to have removed useful structures and materials from the Jungle, which they hope to transfer to refugee camps in Greece.
Mr Cazeneuve issued a statement on Tuesday thanking those involved with the operation, adding that it had taken place methodically and calmly and will continue over the following days.
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The first group of under-13s in the Calais Jungle who have been identified as eligible under the Alf Dubs amendment are set to leave for Britain on Tuesday.
Around 35 unaccompanied children aged 13 and below who do not have family ties in the UK were processed by the French authorities on Tuesday morning, and are currently waiting with packed bags on the fringe of the camp for a bus that will transport them away from the shantytown were they have been residing.
The news comes after the registration of unaccompanied minors was halted on Monday when a queue designated to children became overrun by other refugees and youngsters were left confused and fretting that they wouldn't get the chance to register.
Help refugees, a grassroots humanitarian response to the crisis in Calais, confirmed the registration of around 35 children eligible under the Dubs amendment - meaning they are unaccompanied but do not have links to the UK - had been completed and that the children would soon be leaving.
Josie Naughton, of volunteer aid group Help Refugees, told The Independent: "We are delighted to see the most vulnerable demographic - the under-13s and the girls - finally being brought to safety, and we hope to see as many unaccompanied children registered as possible.
"We now hope to see all unaccompanied children provided with appropriate accommodation and access to legal services so that they can finally begin their lives."
The Immigration Act amendment, proposed by Lord Dubs, who himself came to Britain as a child refugee from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia under the Kindertransport scheme, means the UK must accept vulnerable unaccompanied child refugees who do not have ties to the country.
Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK Show all 9 1 /9 Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK A coach carrying the first group of unaccompanied minors from the Jungle migrant camp in Calais to be brought to Britain arrives at an immigration centre in Croydon, south London Reuters Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK A Catholic priest chats to Muslim Imans as they wait for the arrival of the coach carrying the first group of unaccompanied minors from the Jungle migrant camp in Calais to be brought to Britain arrives at an immigration centre in Croydon, south London Reuters Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK Fourteen migrant children from the 'Jungle Camp' in Calais are due to arrive in the UK today to be reunited with relatives Getty Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK Young men are escorted after stepping off a coach at the Home Offices Lunar House Getty Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK A boy is escorted after stepping off a coach at the Home Offices Lunar House after arriving from the Calais 'Jungle Camp' Getty Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK UK Border Force staff escort the first group of unaccompanied minors from the Jungle migrant camp in Calais to be brought to Britain as they arrive at an immigration centre in Croydon, south London Reuters Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK A young boy arrives on a coach at the Home Offices Lunar House after leaving the Calais 'Jungle Camp.' Fourteen migrant children from the 'Jungle Camp' in Calais are due to arrive in the UK today to be reunited with relatives Getty Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK British former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, center, flanked by Bethany Gardiner-Smith, left, from the Citizens UK charity and Bishop of Croydon Jonathan Clark speaks to the media about the 14 migrant children who will be resettled in the UK, outside Croydon Minster church in Croydon, south London AP Calais Refugee Children arrive in UK Asif Khan whose brother Aimal Khan was one of fourteen migrant children who arrived in the UK, speaks to the media outside Lunar House in Croydon, south London. The 25-year-old chef has been living in the UK for 11 years, having fled Afghanistan himself. His brother Aimal Khan, 14, also from Afghanistan, had been stranded in the Jungle for six months PA
Over the weekend the first group of unaccompanied children arrived in the UK under the Dubs amendment, including many young girls. Previously all the young refugees who had arrived in Britain had been brought under the Dublin regulations, which require the children to have family resident in the UK.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said several hundred more children will arrive in Britain from the Jungle camp in the next three weeks. She told MPs earlier this week that they would be in addition to the 200 children who had already arrived.
The latest census by Help Refugees shows there are 49 unaccompanied children in the Jungle who are 13 years old or under, all of whom are eligible under the Dubs amendment for resettlement in the UK.
The census also found there are many unaccompanied girls remaining in camp who are eligible to come to the UK but were not registered over the weekend.
Meanwhile it has today been revealed that one in four local authorities in the UK - including Theresa May's constituency - has not agreed to take in unaccompanied minors arriving from the Jungle by taking part in the Government's voluntary National Transfer Scheme for minors.
The second day of the evacuation of the Jungle is said to so far be "fairly calm", although a scuffle reportedly broke out as unaccompanied minors were separated from the main queue for registration and taken to the front.
On Monday, 400 unaccompanied minors were registered in the camp and stayed in shipping containers, where they will be processed throughout the week. Conditions in the containers are said to be good, but Ms Naughton said there was a lack of adequate services.
She told The Independent: "Unaccompanied children were housed in the containers last night, which adult refugees left yesterday. But there is a problem in that there aren't nearly enough social workers to support them and assist the process."
Calais refugee camp evacuation Show all 15 1 /15 Calais refugee camp evacuation Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees run past a fire in the makeshift migrant camp known as 'the jungle' in Calais, October 2016 AP Calais refugee camp evacuation French authorities say the closure of the slum-like camp in Calais will last approximately a week in what they describe as a "humanitarian" operation, October 2016 AP Calais refugee camp evacuation A painted message saying 'Bye Jungle' on a tent in the camp in Calais, October 2016 Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees set rubbish bins alight as a protest in the makeshift camp 'the Jungle' in Calais, France, October 2016 EPA Calais refugee camp evacuation French riot police advance through tear gas and smoke from a fire to disperse refugees throwing stones and lighting fires at the Jungle migrant camp Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation French CRS riot police secure an area on the eve of the evacuation and transfer of refugees to reception centers in France Reuters Calais refugee camp evacuation Journalists run away from smoke during clashes near a makeshift refugee camp known as 'the jungle' in Calais AP Calais refugee camp evacuation French CRS riot police secure an area on the eve of the evacuation and transfer of refugees to reception centers in Franc Reuters Calais refugee camp evacuation Migrants queue for transportation by bus to reception centres across France, from the 'Jungle' refugee camp in Calais Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees line-up to register at a processing centre in the 'jungle' near Calais, northern France, as the mass exodus from the migrant camp begins PA wire Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees 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 Calais refugee camp evacuation French far-right Front National (FN) party's member of parliament Marion Marechal-Le Pen (L) delivers a speech next to a banner reading "They arrive in Vaucluse, no migrants in our place" as she attends a rally against the hosting of refugees in La Tour d'Aigues Getty Images Calais refugee camp evacuation French police forces secure the area near the 'Jungle' refugee camp in Calais Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Calais refugee camp evacuation Refugees carry their belongings and transfer to reception centers in France
Some 1,918 residents packed their bags and were taken by bus to 80 accommodation centres on the first day of the mass exodus, according to the French Interior Ministry.
Since the start of today sixteen buses have so far today picked up 656 migrants and set off to six different French regions, while 139 minors have been placed in the shipping container accomodation, according to a statement released by the Prefecture of Calais this morning.
The statement affirms that since the start of Monday, 3,113 of the camp's residents have been placed in alternative accomodation.
A further 85 buses are expected to arrive on Tuesday and Wednesday with officials saying the entire operation should be finished by the end of the week.
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Detainees have been beaten, sexually abused and threatened with rape by Turkish police, Human Rights Watch has claimed.
In a 43-page report published on Tuesday, the human rights group said a "climate of fear" had prevailed since July's failed coup against President Tayyip Recep Erdogan and the arrest of thousands under a state of emergency.
It said Turkey had effectively written a "blank cheque" to security services to torture people.
Turkey's Justice Ministry has repeatedly denied prisoners are ill-treated and said a unit had been established to investigate all claims. Ankara said the post-coup crackdown was necessary to stabilise a Nato state facing threats from Kurdish militants as well as wars in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters
HRW said it had uncovered 13 alleged abuse cases, ranging from the use of stress positions and sleep deprivation to severe beatings, sexual abuse and the threat of rape. The cases were not limited to possible supporters of the coup but also included detainees suspected of links to Kurdish militant and leftist groups.
Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW, said in a statement it "would be tragic if two hastily passed emergency decrees end up undermining the progress Turkey made to combat torture."
"By removing safeguards against torture, the Turkish government effectively wrote a blank cheque to law enforcement agencies to torture and mistreat detainees as they like," he said.
Turkey has arrested more than 35,000 people following the coup, detained thousands more and sacked over 100,000 over their suspected links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric Mr Erdogan blames for orchestrating the coup. Mr Gulen denies the charge.
Turkey's President Erdogan defends government action
The government has said the widescale crackdown is justified by the gravity of the threat to the state on 15 July, when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets, bombed the country's parliament and killed more than 240 people.
Mr Erdogan declared a state of emergency days after the failed putch, allowing him and the cabinet to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms as deemed necessary.
Emergency decrees have since extended the period of police detention without judicial review from four days to 30, and have allowed the authorities to deny detainees access to lawyers for up to five days, and restrict their choice of lawyer.
Eight of the cases reported to HRW took place in the immediate aftermath of the coup, before the emergency decrees were published, while five took place after they were adopted.
In one, a lawyer told HRW several detainees had been forced to undress and left out in the baking sun for hours. She said the police then severely beat them and threatened to rape them with a baton.
In a statement to the prosecutor seen by HRW, one detainee described how he was blindfolded and then beaten by police. The police chief who detained me began to slap me in the face and eyes, he said. They beat me on the soles of my feet, on my stomach, then squeezed my testicles, saying things like theyd castrate me. He went on to describe a series of beatings on other parts of his body.
It also quoted one police officer telling a detainee: "Because of the state of emergency, nobody will care if I kill you. I will just say I shot you while you tried to run away." It said those words were overheard by the relative of another person in detention.
HRW called on the authorities to "immediately rescind those provisions of the emergency decrees that enable abuse".
People kick and beat a Turkish soldier, who participated in the attempted coup, on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge (AP)
It said the government has "the right and even the obligation to protect the public, investigate crimes committed during the attempted coup, including murder and causing bodily harm, and to hold those responsible to account.
"However, declaring a state of emergency does not give the government a carte blanche to suspend rights."
Amnesty International previously said it had received credible evidence of detainees being subjected to beatings, torture and rape in the immediate aftermath of the failed coup.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag tweeted on Sunday to say there is no ill-treatment or torture in Turkey's prisons, and argued Turkey was being unfairly accused. he said a special unit was established to investigate all claims.
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A gang of men and boys who raped a 14-year-old girl in a brutal attack before leaving her partially naked and unconscious in freezing temperatures will avoid jail, it has been reported.
Prosecutors in Hamburg, Germany, are appealing a decision to give the convicted attackers suspended sentences. A spokesperson for the lawyers told broadcasters NDR the sentence is a mild verdict and called for it to be reviewed so the group receive jail time.
The four men, aged between 14 and 21 were convicted of getting the girl drunk in February, before raping her and leaving her outside in freezing temperatures, The Local reports. The court was reportedly told the group threw her away like garbage after the attack. When she was found, she was suffering from hypothermia and required treatment in intensive care.
The 21-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison because he was tried as an adult.
However, under local laws the minors could not be tried as adults and so have instead received suspended sentences as juvenile law recommends education and reform before punishment. Some are currently attending therapy and have shown remorse, the court was reportedly told.
The sentences have provoked backlash locally, amid concerns they are too lenient. A petition started online calling for the judges decision to be reviewed has received more than 66,000 signatures at the time of writing. It urges: It cannot be that a four-person gang rape of a 14-year-old ends with a suspended sentence. In particular, when the girl was then left like a piece of meat and half-naked in the cold.
The sexual self-determination and integrity of a woman must have more weight here than worrying about the offender.
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. 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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. 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Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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Germanys rape laws have recently come under scrutiny following attacks in Cologne on New Years Eve in which dozens of women claimed they were attacked by gangs of men. Under local laws, alleged victims must prove that they verbally and physically resisted sexual contact, prompting concerns the attacks would not be prosecuted. In July, Germanys parliament passed No means no laws to make it easier to prosecute assaults even if an alleged victim did not resist physically but gave verbal resistance.
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Thousands of female employees across Iceland walked out of workplaces at 2.38pm on Monday to protest against earning less than men.
Iceland is the best country in the world for gender equality, yet women still earn on average 14 to 18 per cent less than their male colleagues. According to unions and women's organisations, this means in every eight hour day women are essentially working without pay from 2.38pm.
In the Nordic country's capital, Reykjavik, thousands of women gathered in central Austurvollur square when they left the offices, shops, factories, and schools where they were supposed to be working. Similar but smaller protests are thought to have taken place around the country.
The action had precedent: on 24 October 1975 Icelandic women took a "day off". An estimated 90 per cent of the female population participated, leaving work and refusing to cook or look after children to draw attention to their importance in society, but lack of political power and equal pay.
In 2005, women left work at 2.08pm the minute they began working for free.
In 2008, it was 2.25pm.
In eleven years, less than three minutes has been gained anually towards eliminating the gender pay gap, English-language Icelandic news site Grapevine reported.
If progress continues at the same rate, it will take 52 years to eliminate the disparity between men and women's earnings in Iceland entirely.
Gylfi Arnbjornsson, president of the Icelandic Confederation of Labor, told the country's official national broadcaster RUV, that for 60 years it has been illegal in Iceland to discriminate on the basis of gender. Wage contracts can take into account education level and type of job, but not whether someone is male or female.
No one puts up with waiting 50 years to reach a goal, Mr Arnbjornsson said. It doesnt matter whether its a gender pay gap or any other pay gap. Its just unacceptable to say well correct this in 50 years. Thats a lifetime.
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Unfortunately, despite the large wage gap, women in Iceland actually fare quite well in the workplace compared to female workers in many other parts of Europe. According to a recent survey which placed the wage gap in Iceland at only 14 per cent, women in the UK are earning nearly 20 per cent less than their male counterparts. This means women in Britain are essentially working for free everyday from 19 October until the end of the year.
A 26-year-old from Reykjavik who took part in the action pointed out how disheartening the statistics are.
She told Refinery29: We know that no country in the world has reached gender equality, but today reminds me that not even the country that's supposed to have the most equal rights pays women the same as men".
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A radioactive leak has occurred at a nuclear reactor in Norway, authorities have said.
The reactor at the Institute for Energy Technology in Halden, southern Norway, spilled radioactive iodine isotopes on Monday, according to the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NPRA).
"The radioactive leak was due to a technical failure during treatment of the fuel in the reactor hall. Emissions are low, the NRPA said.
Staff at the facility were evacuated immediately after the incident but the NPRA was not informed until the following day.
The leak has now been contained and is not thought to pose a health risk to anyone outside the facility. Staff working on the reactor did not receive any radioactive doses of significance, the Institute said.
The Halden Reactor, which was built in a mountain cave in the 1950s, was closed for maintenance at the time of the accident.
"We will investigate how this could happen and why we were not warned until the following day," the NPRA said in a statement.
Its head of safety, Per Strand, added: "We need to gather more information ... But we are not happy with the situation, that we were not warned immediately. We will investigate further.
Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Show all 12 1 /12 Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman stands near the grave of her brother, a "liquidator" or an emergency worker who fought the blaze at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, during a commemoration ceremony on the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster at the Mitino cemetery in Moscow Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Belarussian soldiers of an honor guard carry wreaths during a memorial service for the victims of the Chernobyl disaster in Minsk EPA Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman holds a portrait of her relative, a victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as she visits the memorial during a commemoration ceremony in Kiev Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lays flowers during a commemoration ceremony at a monument to "liquidators", emergency workers who fought the blaze at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman puts flowers to a monument to Chernobyl liquidators at Mitino Cemetery in Moscow AP Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Nataliya Khodemchyuk, 64, from Ukraine, a widow of Chernobyl liquidator Valery Khodemchyuk, sits at his grave at the Mitino Cemetery in Moscow AP Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman holds portrait of her relative, a victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as she visits the memorial during a commemoration ceremony in Kiev Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Ukrainians light candles and lay flowers at the memorial for 'liquidators' who died during cleaning up works after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, during a ceremony in Slavutich city EPA Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A rescue worker which served during the Chernobyl nuclear disaster visits a memorial during a commemoration ceremony in Kiev Reuters Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Women hold portraits of their lost husbands near a monument honoring people who were killed during cleanup efforts after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, during a memorial ceremony in Kiev EPA Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman lays flowers at the Chernobyl victims' memorial in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev Getty Images Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster A woman holds a photograph of her husband who died following the clean-up operations for the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion, at the Chernobyl's victim monument in Ukraine's capital Kiev AP
A senior official at the regulator said the incident would most likely be rated a 1 on an International Nuclear Event Scale ranking from 1 to 7, where 1 is an anomaly and 7 is a major accident, such as Chernobyl or Fukushima.
"There is no danger to health. The radioactive dosage they have received is low," said Atle Valseth, Research Director at the Institute of Energy Technology.
No employees required hospital treatment, he added.
The reactor is close to the border with Sweden but the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority says it had not detected any radiation as result of the incident and did not expect to do so based on the low levels of radiation in Halden.
It comes five years after tsunami damage to a nuclear power station in Fukushina, Japan, led to three nuclear meltdowns and the release of radioactive material. It was the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl plant in modern-day Ukraine.
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Russia has promised asymmetric retribution if the US imposes new sanctions on Moscow over its bombing campaign in Syria
Russian jets have been pounding the city of Aleppo in recent weeks in support of forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. Hundreds of civilians, many of them children, have reportedly been killed in air strikes, leading the US and the EU to consider tightening sanctions on Moscow.
Now Russia has said it is prepared for further punishment and promised to introduce a series of measures should it face tougher sanctions.
Speaking to the international affairs committee of the Federation Council the upper house of the Russian Parliament the countrys Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said: The sanctions policy of the US towards Russia has continued for a long time."
"We have used this period to conduct certain research and prepare a series of measures that will be applied in an asymmetric way should the sanctions be toughened further.
It comes as the US refused to rule out further restrictions on Russia over its military support for President Assad. John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, has alleged crimes against humanity were being carried out every day in Aleppo and warned the threat of sanctions would remain on the table while Russias bombing campaign continues. This is likely to include asset freezes and travel bans for individuals and organisations believed to be linked to the bombing of Aleppo.
Mr Kerry re-iterated his concerns in a phone call with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, on Monday, according to the US State Department.
"They talked about the importance of the continued multilateral discussions in Geneva and how ... to get a meaningful cessation of hostilities and the delivery of humanitarian aid, a spokesman said.
In pictures: Aleppo bombing Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: Aleppo bombing In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Smoke rises after airstrikes on the rebel-held al-Sakhour neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family runs for cover amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al-Qatarji in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man reacts as he stands on blood stains at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Fardous district, Syria, April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damage of the airstrikes in the rebel-held area of Aleppo on April 28 Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damaged the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed al-Quds hospital after it was hit by airstrikes, in a rebel-held area of Syria's Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians evacuate an injured man amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on a rebel-held of Aleppo on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man leads a woman in tears and child out of the scene after airstrikes hit Aleppo AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Civil defence members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported air strike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike in the Bustan al-Qasr rebel-held district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers evacuate people from a damaged building following a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tareeq al-Bab in the northern city of Aleppo
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says around 2,700 people have been killed or injured in Aleppo since Russian-backed Syrian forced launched a new assault on the city in September.
The EU last week backed down on tightening sanctions after Italy opposed a British, French and German proposal to issue a further warning of new restrictions on Moscow if current atrocities in Syria continue.
Instead, European leaders adopted a vaguer text announcing they are "considering all available options should the current atrocities continue.
In response to earlier sanctions Russia suspended a deal with America on reprocessing weapons-grade plutonium. Mr Ryabkov said this freeze could be continue for an unlimited time because of US policy towards Moscow.
Any extension of the deal would require the US to end its sanctions and decrease its military presence in Europe, he added.
The US Magnitsky Act was introduced in 2012 and bans a number of senior Russian officials from entering the US. It came shortly before Russias military annexation of Crimea, which previously belonged to Ukraine, prompted the EU to also adopt economic sanctions against Moscow.
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Around a dozen people have been injured in an explosion in the tourist resort of Antalya in southern Turkey.
Mayor Menderes Turel said the cause of the blast, inside a car parked outside the Antalya Trade and Industry Chamber, was not immediately known but added that it may not have been the result of a terror attack.
About 10 or 12 people were hurt by flying glass, but none of the injuries were serious, he told NTV television.
Officials investigate the site after an explosion in Turkey's Mediterranean resort of Antalya. The explosion of a car in the parking lot of the local chamber of trade on lightly injured about a dozen people (DHA via AP)
The blast damaged at least four cars in the parking area and shattered glass panels inside the Antalya Trade and Industry Chamber, which is located on the outskirts of Antalya.
Mr Turel and the chief of the trade chamber said the blast may be the result of an accident - an explosion inside a car running on liquefied petroleum gas - and not necessarily an act of terror.
People stand by damaged cars near the site of an explosion in Antalya (Turkey OUTIHLAS NEWS AGENCY/AFP/Getty Images)
The explosion occured as employees were arriving at the building for work, hours before the trade chamber was scheduled to hold a meeting to be attended by the mayor.
Police sealed the trade center's perimeter in case of a second explosion.
As with previous explosions, authorities imposed a temporary media blackout on the coverage of the incident, citing safety and public order concerns as well as the integrity of the investigation
World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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Antalya is a major tourist resort on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. In August, two rockets hit a commercial facility near a resort town in the province, but caused no casualties.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for that attack, but Kurdish and far-left militants have staged similar attacks, mostly against the security forces, in the past.
Earlier this month three rockets, believed to have been fired by Kurdish militants, hit a fishing company depot near Antalya. No-one was hurt in the attack.
Turkey has been hit by a series of deadly bombings this year, some of which have been blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and some on Isis militants.
In August a suicide bomber killed at least 50 people in an attack on a wedding party in the southeastern city of Gaziantep.
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Ashes of cremated Catholics can no longer be kept at home, scattered, or divided among family members, the Vatican has ruled.
The new instruction, handed down from the top of the Catholic Church, said ashes must instead be kept in sacred places such as cemeteries.
It also stressed that it preferred burial to cremation, saying it was the most fitting way to express faith.
The Vatican has permitted cremation since 1963 but has always frowned on the practice.
It is not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way, nor may they be preserved in mementos, pieces of jewellery or other objects, the instruction said.
The ruling came from the Congregation for the Doctrine Of The Faith (CDF), a Vatican department, which warned practices "contrary to the Churchs faith" that had become "widespread".
Speaking at a Vatican news conference, German Cardinal Gerhard Muller, Prefect of the department said that in recent decades there had been a huge increase in the practise of cremation rather than burial, and in the domestic conservation of the ashes of the deceased.
We come from the earth and we shall return to the earth, Cardinal Muller said, re-affirming the churchs preference for burials.
Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness Pope Francis: 'Live and let live.' GETTY IMAGES Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness Pope Francis: 'Proceed calmly" in life' AFP/Getty Images Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness Pope Francis: 'Be giving of yourself to others' AFP/Getty Images Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness Pope Francis: 'Even though many parents work long hours, they must set aside time to play with their children' AFP/Getty Images Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness Pope Francis: 'Sunday is for family' AFP/Getty Images Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness Pope Francis: 'Respect and take care of nature' OSSERVATORE ROMANO/AFP/Getty Images Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness Pope Francis: 'Stop being negative' AFP/Getty Images Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness Pope Francis: Respect others' beliefs' AFP/Getty Images Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness Pope Francis: 'Peace sometimes gives the impression of being quiet, but it is never quiet, peace is always proactive' FP/Getty Images Pope Francis gives life advice: in pictures Pope Francis' guide to happiness AFP/Getty Images
The church continues to incessantly recommend that the bodies of the dead be buried either in cemeteries or in other sacred ground.
In memory of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord, burial is the most appropriate way to express our faith and hope in bodily resurrection, he said. Yet Cardinal Muller said cremation would not be banned.
Pope Francis had already approved the guidelines, the Vatican said.
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An Iranian author and human rights activist has been jailed for writing an unpublished novel about stoning.
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee had returned home after being convicted by a revolutionary court for insulting Islamic sanctities when her house was violently raided.
Instead of being issued a summons, as is required by law, law enforcers were sent to break through her front door on Monday, before taking Ms Ebrahimi Iraee to Evin Prison in Tehran.
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The authors story describes a young woman who burns a copy of the Quran after watching the film The Stoning of Soraya M, a true story about the stoning to death of a woman for adultery.
Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said of the case: Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee is the latest young writer and activist to be caught up in Irans relentless crackdown on artistic expression.
Her imprisonment for peacefully voicing her opposition to stoning is a terrible injustice and an outrageous assault on freedom of expression.
It is also a shocking and deeply disturbing display of support for the cruel and inhuman punishment of stoning,
The Iranian authorities must break this cycle of injustice and immediately and unconditionally release Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee. We also urge them to ensure that her conviction is quashed.
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 Iraee was sentenced to six years in prison after two brief court sessions by an Islamic Revolutionary Guards court in Tehran with no legal representation earlier this month.
Her first lawyer was put under pressure by intelligence and security officials to withdraw from the case, it was reported, while a second was barred from reading her case or representing her.
According to Amnesty, she had been unable to speak in her own defence because the first session was focused on her husbands activism. Ms Iraee was in hospital recovering from a major surgery during the second.
Despite providing the court with her medical records a request to adjourn the hearing was rejected.
Her husband, student activist Arash Sadeghi, is already serving a 15-year sentence at the same prison and has vowed to begin a hunger strike to protest his wifes imprisonment.
According to Amnesty International he was arrested for his human rights activities, convicted of spreading propaganda against the system, gathering and colluding against national security and insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Iran Vice President told to resign over claims she shook man's hand
Both Mr Sadeghi and Ms Iraee were arrested at work on 6 September 2014 by apparent Revolutionary Guards, who did not have a warrant, and after searching their home officials found the short story which has been used to convict her.
Mr Sadeghi was moved to Evin prison while Ms Iraee was sent to a secret location and detained. She was then moved to Evin Prison for 20 days without access to her family, a lawyer or a court, and spent three days in solitary confinement.
In detention Ms Iraee suffered extended interrogation, was blindfolded and told she could be executed for insulting Islam, while in the next cell her husband could be heard being threatened and verbally abused by interrogators.
He has since said he was punched in the head, kicked, slapped and choked while in custody.
Earlier this month, Ms Iraee said she had received a phone call from the Centre for the Implementation of Sentences ordering her to present herself at Evin Prison and threatening that otherwise she would be picked up from the street or her house would be raided.
They havent issued a written summons she told The Guardian earlier this month. They called me using the telephone of one of my friends, Navid Kamran; they had gone to his shop to arrest him and they called me from there to summon me.
Despite international pressure Iran has retained the practice of stoning to death, which Amnesty describes as tantamount to torture.
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Iraqis living under Isis in and around Mosul have been subjected to horrific treatment by increasingly volatile fighters and are being used as human shields as US-backed Iraqi coalition forces draw closer to the city, the UN has said.
The international bodys human rights office said on Tuesday that preliminary reports have emerged of mass executions. Between 20 to 50 ex-police officers were shot on Sunday, spokesperson Rupert Colville said, as Isis attempts to quiet any signs of rebellion ahead of what is likely to be heavy fighting for control of Mosul.
Around 70 civilians who died from bullet wounds were discovered by security forces in the village of Tuloul Naser on 20 October, and 15 more were killed and their bodies thrown into a river in Safina, 30 miles (45 kilometres) south of Mosul.
The UNs sources also said six men in Safina related to a tribal leader fighting against Isis were reportedly tied to the back of a vehicle and dragged around the village until they died.
Three women and three girls were shot and four more children injured because they did not move quickly enough during a forced relocation, the UN said, as one of the children had a disability.
Similar tactics have been used by Isis in their struggle to retain territory in Syria and Iraq in recent months.
The massive operation to retake Mosul held by the jihadis since 2014 began last Monday. While allied Sunni tribal fighters, Kurdish Peshmerga, Shiite militias and the Iraqi army have made steady gains towards the city on three fronts, retaking around 80 villages, their progress has been hampered by Isis suicide bombers, landmines, and counterattacks in Kirkuk, Rutba and Sinjar designed to draw focus and resources away from the main battle.
Aid agencies have warned that in a worst case scenario fighting could displace up to one million people which humanitarian groups on the ground are not adequately prepared to cope with thanks to a severe funding shortfall.
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An Israeli citizen has reportedly been killed by gunfire near the Egyptian border, an Israeli Defence Force (IDF) spokesperson has said.
The private contractor employee was carryingout out maintenance work on behalf of the Defence Ministry on the border fence near Mount Harif on the southern border in the Sinai when he was shot on Tuesday.
The man was evacuated to hospital in Beer Sheva by helicopter but died of his wounds shortly afterwards. An investigation into the shooting has been launched, the IDF said.
Egyptian security officials said that the man may have died as a result of crossfire between Egyptian border police and a drug smuggler nearby, rather than in a deliberate attack.
Israel began construction of a giant security barrier along the 150 mile (240 kilometre) border following the political unrest which has troubled Egypt since 2011. The Sinai desert in particular has become a breeding ground for violent extremism, including groups such as Isis.
The latest violent incident follows a gunfight in February 2015, when two smugglers were killed during an battle with Israeli troops on the border.
In September 2012 an Israeli soldier was shot and killed when Egyptian militants opened fire on a group doing construction work, and in March of the same year, two smugglers - one Israeli and one Egyptian - were killed nearby.
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Tensions are flaring between Ankara and Baghdad after the Turkish foreign ministry has said that all military options - including ground operations - are on the table in the fight to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Isis.
When asked about Turkeys security, If the threat against us increases, we will use all our resources... to end the threat against us and that is our most natural right, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview on Tuesday.
Mr Cavusoglu said on Monday that Turkish artillery fire killed 17 Isis fighters east of Mosul, in what was the first Turkish foray into the nine-day-old US-backed coalition offensive, although the Iraqi prime minister said that the incident had not taken place.
Ankara currently has a small number of Turkish trained Sunni tribal fighters and Turkish support troops at a base north of the city, despite strong objections from the Iraqi government, which sees their presence as an incursion of Iraqi sovereignty.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as well as Isis, is also in Turkeys crosshairs. Speaking on Monday Mr Cavusoglu said that the Kurdish fighters had been crossing the border to carry out a string of recent attacks in Turkey, which outlaws the group as a terrorist organisation. In neighbouring Syria, a Turkish operation to drive Isis out of the border region with a secondary aim of curbing any Syrian Kurdish appetite for expansion has been largely successful.
In pictures: Mosul offensive Show all 40 1 /40 In pictures: Mosul offensive In pictures: Mosul offensive A doctor carries an Iraqi newborn baby at a hospital in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi girls play at a yard of a school in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017alal Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A woman on crutches who is a relative of men accused of being Islamic State militants is seen at a camp in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq July 15, 2017. Picture taken July 15, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A displaced girl, who fled from home carries a doll at Hamam al-Alil camp south of Mosul, Iraq July 13, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi federal police members and civilians celebrate in the Old City of Mosul on 9 July 2017 after the government's announcement of the "liberation" of the embattled city. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said he was in "liberated" Mosul to congratulate "the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the achievement of the major victory" AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken on 9 July 2017, shows a general view of the destruction in Mosul's Old City. Iraq will announce imminently a final victory in the nearly nine-month offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, a US general said Saturday, as celebrations broke out among police forces in the city. AFP In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of the Iraqi federal police raise the victory gesture as they ride on a humvee while advancing through the Old City of Mosul on 28 June 2017, as the offensive continues to retake the last district held by Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Smoke billows as Iraqi forces advance through the Old City of Mosul on 26 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district held by the Islamic State (IS) group. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi man wearing the green scarf of the Shi'ite faith kisses an Iraqi Army soldier on safely reaching the Iraqi forces position as Iraqi civilians flee the Old City of west Mosul where heavy fighting continues on 23 June 2017. Iraqi forces continue to encounter stiff resistance with improvised explosive devices, car bombs, heavy mortar fire and snipers hampering their advance. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken from the inside of an Iraqi forces armoured vehicle shows residents walking through a damaged street as troops advance towards Mosul's Old City on 18 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district still held by the Islamic State (IS) group. Military commanders told AFP the assault had begun at dawn after overnight air strikes by the US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces. They said the jihadists were putting up fierce resistance. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi Army soldiers advance in a destroyed street after an Iraqi forces airstrike targeted an Islamic State sniper position 17 June 2017 in al-Shifa, the last district of west Mosul under Islamic State control. IS snipers, as well as car and suicide bomb attacks continue to hinder the Iraqi forces efforts to retake the final district. A series of airstrikes by Iraqi helicopter gunships attempted to hit multiple Islamic State sniper positions in al-Shifa. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier frisks a displaced Iraqi man at a temporary camp in the compound of the closed Nineveh International Hotel in Mosul on 16 June 2017 which was recovered by Iraqi troops from Islamic State group fighters earlier in the year. A screening centre set up in the compound's fairgrounds sees a constant stream of Iraqis fleeing the battle for Mosul, awaiting their turn to be checked by the Iraqi forces who are searching for suspected Islamic State (IS) group members. The small fairground lies at the end of a pontoon bridge across the Tigris recently opened to civilians that is the only physical link between the two banks of the river. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis staying at the al-Khazir camp swim in a river near the camp for internally displaced people, located between Arbil and Mosul on 11 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi government forces drive on a road leading to Tal Afar on 9 June 2017, during ongoing battles to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi policeman carries a poster bearing an image of Mosul's iconic leaning minaret, known as the "Hadba" (Hunchback), on 22 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis stand in line to receive food aid in western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood on 7 June 2017, during ongoing battles as Iraqi forces try to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. Living conditions in Mosul have again deteriorated since the start of the Iraqi government's offensive on the city in October in which they retook a large part of the west of the city. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced Iraqis carry lightbulbs and sacks as they evacuate from western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood as government forces advance in the area during their ongoing battle against Islamic State (IS) group fighters on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) flashes the victory gesture as he patrols in western Mosul's al-Islah al-Zaraye neighbourhood on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi army soldiers from the 9th armoured division on a truck flash the sign of victory as they drive back from Mosul to the town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya) Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of Iraqi forces flash the sign of victory on their vehicle as they advance towards Hammam al-Alil area south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi security forces gestures in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi children, one flashing the sign of victory, greet Iraqi army's soldiers from the 9th armoured division in the area of Ali Rash, adjacent to the eastern Al-Intissar neighbourhood of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Peshmerga forces look at a tunnel used by Islamic State militants near the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier takes a photograph with his phone as his comrade stands next to a detained man, whom the Iraqi army soldiers accused of being an Islamic State fighter, who was fleeing with his family in the Intisar disrict of eastern Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iranian Kurdish female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK) hold a position in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometres north east of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families, who fled their homes in Hamam al-Alil, gather on the outskirts of their town Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced people walk past a checkpoint near Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families who were displaced by the ongoing operation by Iraqi forces against jihadists of the Islamic State group to retake the city of Mosul, are seen gathering in an area near Qayyarah In pictures: Mosul offensive A boy who just fled Abu Jarbuah village is seen with his family at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi child eats a pomegranate upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive People who just fled Abu Jarbuah village sit as they eat at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A couple who just fled Abu Jarbuah village are escorted by Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Women carry a boy over a wall as civilians flee their houses in the village of Tob Zawa, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier and a civilian ride a motorbike as smoke rises behind them, on the road between Qayyarah and Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces, wearing a skull mask, waits at a checkpoint for people fleeing the main hub city of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier sits at a checkpoint in an area near Qayyarah Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi men prepare food portions for Iraqi forces deployed in areas south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi forces celebrate upon the arrival of vehicles bringing food to them Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi childen smoke cigarettes upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces distributes drinks to children in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty
A Syrian Kurdish commander told reporters in Paris on Tuesday that Turkey had massively attacked Kurdish forces trying to advance on Isis de facto capital of Raqqa.
Also on Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said that the Mosul and Raqqa campaigns are expected to overlap, further complicating the already complex relationships between the coalition forces battling Isis. The comments from Mr Carter come after his weekend warnings that Turkey and Iraq must settle their in-fighting in order not to jeopardise the success of the wider operation.
A 30,000 strong coalition of Sunni fighters, Shiite militias, Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi army troops are involved in the battle to free Mosul from the group, who took over the city in 2014. They have made steady progress despite Isis suicide bombers, landmines and counterattacks elsewhere in Iraq, and are in places only four miles away from the citys outskirts.
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At least 59 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed a Pakistani police training academy in the southwestern city of Quetta and took hostages, government officials said on Tuesday.
More than 200 police trainees were stationed at the facility when the attack occurred late on Monday, officials said. Some cadets were taken hostage during the attack, which lasted five hours. Most of the dead were police cadets.
"Militants came directly into our barrack. They just barged in and started firing point blank. We started screaming and running around in the barrack," one cadet who survived told local media.
Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister of Baluchistan province, of which Quetta is the capital, said the gunmen attacked a dormitory inside the training facility while cadets rested and slept.
"Two attackers blew up themselves while a third one was shot in the head by security men," Bugti said. Earlier officials said there were five to six gunmen.
A Reuters photographer at the scene said authorities carried out the body of a teenaged boy who they said was one of the attackers and had been shot dead by security forces.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but one of the top military commanders in Baluchistan, General Sher Afgun, told media that calls intercepted between the attackers and their handlers suggested they were from the sectarian Sunni militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).
"We came to know from the communication intercepts that there were three militants who were getting instructions from Afghanistan," Afgun told media, adding that the Al Alami cell of LeJ was behind the attack.
LeJ, whose roots are in the heartland Punjab province, has a history of carrying out sectarian attacks in Baluchistan, particularly against the minority Hazara Shias. Pakistan has previously acussed LeJ of colluding with al Qaeda.
Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Show all 11 1 /11 Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani Army Major General Sher Afgun speaks to journalists as Balochistan's provincial interior minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti looks on after an attack by suspected militants at a police training centre in Quetta, Pakistan EPA Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani troops deploy outside the Police Training Centre after an attack on the center in Quetta, Pakistan Reuters Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan An ambulance carries injured officers to a hospital outside a police training school attacked by militants in Quetta, Pakistan AP Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Medical workers treat an injured policeman at hospital after militants attacked the Balochistan Police College in Quetta Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan A police cadet from the Police Training Centre lies in the hospital after being injured after an attack on the center in Quetta, Pakistan Reuters Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Relatives of police cadets wait for word outside the Police Training Center after an attack on the center in Quetta, Pakistan Reuters Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani men take care of injured relatives at a hospital in Quetta Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan The death toll from an overnight attack on a police academy in southwest Pakistan has risen to 58 people with dozens more wounded Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani soldiers pass through the entrance to The Police Training College in Quetta Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani rescue workers transport an attack victim in Quetta Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani security personnel stand guard as an ambulance carrying the coffins of attack victims drives past in Quetta Getty
Authorities launched a crackdown against Lashkar-e-Jhangvi last year, particularly in Punjab province. In a major blow to the organisation, Malik Ishaq, the group's leader, was killed in July 2015 alongside 13 other members of the central leadership in what police say was a failed escape attempt.
A home ministry official said it was unclear what motive the group would have in attacking the police academy.
"Two, three days ago we had intelligence reports of a possible attack in Quetta city, that is why security was beefed up in Quetta, but they struck at police training college," Sanaullah Zehri, chief minister of Baluchistan, told the local Geo TV channel.
WELL-COORDINATED ATTACK
Monday night's assault was the deadliest in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed 70 people in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in Quetta in August.
The bomber struck as a crowd of mostly lawyers and journalists crammed into the emergency ward of the hospital to accompany the body of a prominent lawyer who had been shot and killed in the city earlier in the day.
Monday night's attack also appeared well coordinated, with senior law enforcement agencies saying that assailants had fired at the police training centre from five different points.
Later, the attackers entered the centre's hostel where around 200 to 250 police recruits were resting, security officials said. At least three explosions were reported at the scene by local media.
Quetta has long been regarded as a base for the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership has regularly held meetings there.
The Afghan Taliban's new leader Haibatullah Akhundzada openly taught and preached at a mosque outside Quetta for 15 years, until May this year. Akhundzada's predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a U.S. drone strike while travelling to Quetta from the Pakistan-Iran border.
Baluchistan province is no stranger to violence, with separatist fighters launching regular attacks on security forces for nearly a decade and the military striking back.
Militants, particularly sectarian groups, have also launched a campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations of minority Shias.
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Russia has unveiled its biggest ever nuclear missile which is said to be powerful enough to almost destroy an area the size of New York state with a single blast.
President Vladimir Putin wants to replace the countrys ageing arsenal of SS-18 Satan weapons, which were originally commissioned by the USSR in 1974, with a new generation of RS-28 Sarmat super-missiles.
The new weapons will come with up to 16 nuclear warheads according to pictures released by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau.
The missiles, which will go into service in 2018, will make the bombs which killed at least 129,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War look like popguns, according to one expert.
Dr Paul Craig Roberts, former assistant secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, said in a blog post that the new class of missiles would be powerful enough to wipes out three-fourths of New York state for thousands of years.
In a statement alongside the pictures, the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau told state controlled news agency Sputnik International: In accordance with the Decree of the Russian Government On the State Defense Order for 2010 and the planning period 2012-2013, the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau was instructed to start design and development work on the Sarmat.
In June 2011, the Russian Ministry of Defense signed a state contract for the Sarmat's development.
The prospective strategic missile system is being developed in order to create an assured and effective nuclear deterrent for Russia's strategic forces.
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
It comes as tensions between Russia and the West are at their worst since the end of the Cold War over Russias conduct in Syria and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Russian government launched a nationwide civil defence training exercise to ensure the country was prepared for a nuclear attack from the West.
Zvezda TV, a news channel run by the countrys Defence Ministry, warned: Schizophrenics from America are sharpening nuclear weapons for Moscow.
Over three days the exercise run by the Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) involved the participation of 200,000 emergency personnel and 40m Russian civilians.
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A panel of judges for this years Student Accommodation Awards has refused to select a winner in protest over unaffordable rent prices.
In a letter addressed to prize ceremony organisers, the group of student judges said they could not award any of the named candidates because their rents were too high.
The 10-judge panel, made up of students from across the UK, were invited to assess a number of entries of student accommodation service providers for the category of Student Experience.
Instead, the judges slammed the entrants for putting shareholder satisfaction above student satisfaction and blamed them for causing social cleansing in education.
The letter said: We regret to inform you that the panel could not come to a decision to award any of the entrants.
Unfortunately, none of the entrants could demonstrate that they are meeting the urgent need of students to live in accommodation that will not force them into poverty.
We are not satisfied knowing our student debt is lining the pockets of millionaire shareholders.
Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Show all 12 1 /12 Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week House glass floor Glass floor provides dramatic views onto the grand reception room below Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Ground floor The lower ground floor has a large reception and entertaining space with views of the dramatic atrium space above Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Bedroom The three bedroom pad is part new build, part refurbishment, cleverly created behind the Park Lane street front Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Living room The luxurious furnishing and dressing scheme was created by Milc, the award winning design house established in 2004 Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Kitchen To one side of the reception room is the open plan fully fitted designer kitchen and 10 seat dining area Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Bathroom The newly completed, architect designed, triplex property is result of an 18 month construction project by property company Criterion Capital Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Bedroom The luxury pad is complete with air conditioning, underfloor heating and 24-hour concierge Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Floating within this dramatic atrium is a cantilevered glass staircase with glass balustrades and Oak treads The lower ground floor has a large reception and entertaining space with views of the dramatic atrium space above Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Master suite The master suite opens onto a spacious private roof-terrace overlooking Hyde Park Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Roof-terrace The 0.7 mile (1.1km) road runs from Hyde Park Corner to Marble Arch and overlooks the 350 acres of Hyde Park Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Wetherell Inside Park Lane townhouse: The student flat that costs 4,000 a week Entrance The entrance on Park Lane is through a 10 ft. high solid Oak door, framed by frosted glass and bronze feature windows Wetherell
Average rent in student accommodation in the UK is 146 per week, according to National Union of Students (NUS) figures, a rise of 18 per cent in the past two years.
The group pointed out that many of the entrants charged rents of more than 300 per week far beyond that covered by standard student maintenance loans, on top of administration fees of up to 400.
The student group also claimed that one of the accommodation providers listed had been found charging hundreds of pounds to act as a student guarantor, profiting from the inability of migrants, poor or estranged students to provide details of a guarantor as needed to secure a room.
This term, students from 25 university campuses around the UK attended a series of workshops on how to hold a rent strike at their university.
Widespread interest in withholding rent follows a high-profile rent strike won by UCL students last year, where hundreds of students refused to pay their accommodation fees over a lengthy dispute with accommodation officers.
The NUS has since called for a system where at least one quarter of university rooms are offered to first-year students at 50 per cent of the maximum amount of the maintenance loan available, in a bid to make the cost of university more affordable.
Speaking to Student Accomodation Awards organisers, the student judges made a number of recommendations, including urging the sector to lower profits, reduce rents and support the call for greater financial support for students.
Jenny Killin, Welfare Officer at the University of Aberdeen Students' Association and panel member, said: It is time the student accommodation sector got a wake up call: students are not happy about their despicable exploitation.
The real 'student experience' is too often a choice between paying bills or buying food. We are getting into huge levels of debt, only so private businesses can make huge profits.
Asking us to hand out an award when so many students are being pushed into poverty makes a mockery of what is a very real crisis.
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Bordeaux has been named the worlds best city, according to Lonely Planets Best in Travel 2017 list.
Known for its occasionally left-field choices, Lonely Planet highlighted the French citys new wine-themed visitor experience, the Cite du Vin, its gastronomic revolution and forthcoming high-speed rail line as reasons it had been bestowed the title.
Second on the list was Cape Town, thanks to new cultural attractions such as the forthcoming Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, while in third place was Los Angeles, which has undergone a subway expansion and has almost 50 new hotels in the works.
The top 10 cities, according to Lonely Planets Best in Travel
2017:
1. Bordeaux, France Find Hotels
2. Cape Town, South Africa Find Hotels
3. Los Angeles, US Find Hotels
4. Merida, Mexico Find Hotels
5. Ohrid, Macedonia Find Hotels
6. Pistoia, Italy Find Hotels
7. Seoul, South Korea Find Hotels
8. Lisbon, Portugal Find Hotels
9. Moscow, Russia Find Hotels
10. Portland (Oregon), US Find Hotels
Bordeaux's gastronomy and new transport links earned it the top spot (Shutterstock)
Lonely Planet also lists the top 10 countries, with Canada, Colombia and Finland took the top three spots.
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Airports and airlines responded swiftly to the Governments choice of Heathrow as the location for a new runway, rather than Gatwick.
Gatwick's chief executive, Stewart Wingate, said he was disappointed at the Government's choice and claimed that it was not the right answer for Britain. In an indication that Gatwick will challenge the decision, he said: We look forward to studying the full reasons behind the Government decision in detail.
The challenges facing Heathrow have not changed. Our message today is that Gatwick stands ready to proceed when the time comes.
Gatwick is the main base for Britains biggest budget carrier, easyJet which lobbied strongly against a second runway at the Sussex airport, and in favour of expansion at Heathrow.
The airline has already outlined plans for a big base at Heathrow Terminal 4, with links to a range of UK and European destinations.
But easyJets chief executive, Dame Carolyn McCall, said the move was contingent on the right charging structure and the right infrastructure for our efficient model a warning that her airline expected to be assigned a coherent package of slots and gates, with charges not too far out of line with other airports. At present Heathrows fees per passenger are typically three times higher than at other UK airports.
British Airways has most to lose from the arrival of low-cost competition, but the chief executive of its parent company, IAG, said he was pleased that a decision had finally been made, and that weve wasted 10 years talking. But speaking to BBC News, Willie Walsh demanded that charges at Heathrow must be capped at their present level.
Third runway at Heathrow cleared for take-off - MPs react
Craig Kreeger, his counterpart at Virgin Atlantic, said: We support expansion, provided it delivers for our customers.
Between now and the delivery of a new runway, the capital will face a serious capacity crunch. Nick Barton, chief executive of Luton airport, said: The Government must now focus on how to meet the already growing demand for air services during the 10-15 years it will take to deliver the new runway. Passenger numbers continue to be way ahead of forecasts and so there has to be a much higher utilisation of existing runway capacity at other airports.
Charlie Cornish, chief executive of Stansteds owner, Manchester Airports Group, said: The short-term priority for Government must be to make the most of the runways we already have.
Many of the answers are already staring the Government in the face, including faster rail services to Stansted and reducing aviation taxes to encourage new long-haul connections from Manchester.
Stansted is the main base for Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost airline, Its dhief executive, Michael OLeary reiterated his call for new runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, saying: This piecemeal approach to runway infrastructure in the South-east is damaging British tourism and the competitiveness of London airports.
He also said that the sensitivities of local communities should be overruled: We cant allow the future of London to be held up by people who knew there was an airport there when they bought their house.
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The EU referendum was one of the excuses used by David Camerons Government to delay a decision on a new runway in South-East England. Yet now the poll result has spurred a decision that, given the decades-long dithering, looks positively swift.
The Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, confirmed the Governments support for a new third runway to the north-west of the existing pair at Heathrow the recommendation of the Davies Commission. Mr Grayling said: Weve thought long and hard about this. There were three very good options on the table.
This is about taking the right decision for the United Kingdom, its about best doing whats right for all the regions, with the best connectivity, saying Britain is open for business post-referendum.
The announcement marks the start of a year-long consultation, which will be followed by a vote in the House of Commons.
The long-awaited decision will trigger a host of legal challenges. Local authorities whose residents will be affected by additional noise and air pollution have already said they will seek to have the plan overturned. In addition, proponents of the alternative schemes the Heathrow Hub, involving a longer northern runway, and a second runway at Gatwick, may challenge the basis for the decision.
Mr Grayling said: Gatwick remains an important part of the British transport system.
The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, said the decision was wrong for London, wrong for Britain.
Zac Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park and Mr Khans opponent in the recent mayoral election, has resigned his seat, triggering a by-election. He has been a long-standing opponent of expansion at Heathrow.
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Clearing long-suffering people out of a stinking, unhealthy, cold and unsanitary encampment with little security or protection from the coming winter is, at the risk of over-simplifying a highly complex situation, a good thing.
It is in nobodys interest that refugees, including children, who have crossed a continent to escape war, torture and persecution, are left to be brutalised by people traffickers and miscellaneous criminals in a place beyond the law and human rights.
It is true, as has often been remarked, that it would not be tolerated on British soil, and it is an astonishing indictment of the callousness of so many in Europe that it has been allowed to fester at Calais for so long.
There has been a camp of would-be migrants at this port for so long on and off since the start of the millennium that the presence of the so-called Jungle, an ugly name for an ugly place, has been taken for granted by governments on both sides of the Channel. Indeed, the presence of the Jungle as a makeshift solution for two nations unwilling to allow refugees and migrants to settle in their respective counties even had its attractions to ministers in London and Paris. In the end, though, the squalor, the lawlessness and the disgraceful exploitation of children has forced the authorities hand.
Lorry drivers and the residents of the town will be pleased: the refugees will be much more worried about their futures, post-Jungle.
The problem with dismantling the migrant camp is that what follows may be still worse. If past experience is anything to go by, that is usually what eventually transpires. The French have pledged to offer all those there a place in a more civilised transit camp, with the offer of asylum for those who qualify for it. That is not an unreasonable position, and yet it is, in reality, one that has been open to the refugees for some time. The truth, bewildering to some in Britain, is that so many of them have no wish to live in France. They prefer to come to the UK. That is why they are in Calais rather than, say, Strasbourg or Toulouse. Some speak English better than French; others have family or community links that will help them settle in; there is the perception, at least, that jobs are easier to come by in the UK; very few, in truth, have gone through what they have been through, risking their very lives, simply to sponge some Jobseekers Allowance.
The fundamental attractions of Britain as a destination will not diminish simply because the bulldozers have moved into the shanty town outside Calais. Some of these migrants may decide to return home, if their homelands are judged safe enough to take that risk. Many more, it can be safely predicted, will drift back to the attempt on the English Channel, whether they take up the French offer to settle or not. Others may try for other countries. Yet the expectation must be that something like the Jungle will eventually be established once again at Calais or some other port. If the French cancel the Le Touquet accord, as some presidential hopefuls on the make are promising, that that could be very well be translated into pressure at the English ports.
It will happen again because the wars and reigns of terror that surround the European continent, from Syria to Eritrea and Mali, show no sign of abating, and the thousands of people escaping the bombings and the gassings will not be deterred. Getting rid of the Jungle makes precisely no difference to what is happening in Aleppo and Mosul.
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Northern Ireland occupies a peculiar place in the UK, both geographically and conceptually. Were a tiny corner of the country, the breadth of the Irish Sea away, with brisk accents, bewildering politics and a confusing constitutional status. When it comes to UK-wide politics and news, the Northern Irish are used to being sidelined; either forgotten about altogether or mentioned only as a rushed, apologetic aside beneath a paragraph on Scottish Independence.
For the most part, this is something we begrudgingly accept. However, in the case of Brexit, the arrogant recklessness with which Northern Ireland has been, and continues to be, treated is nothing short of terrifying. Since 23 June, Brexiteers ignorance of Northern Irish politics has spiralled from being merely insulting to actively dangerous.
As the only part of the UK to share a land border with another EU country, in the form of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland should have been front and centre in Brexit discussions yet hardly merited so much as a mention as various English men slugged it out between each other for both sides in the pre-referendum debates.
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
Question marks loom large over the future of the 310-mile-long frontier between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is still unknown how freedom of movement and free trade will be affected. Entire villages straddle the border between North and South, with families on either side now unsure if they will be blocked off from their loved ones. Many students from the North study at universities in the South, and now face uncertain futures over everything from tuition fees to their right to remain.
Any physical border would not merely be a practical inconvenience that could cripple business trade between the two and ruin the lives of families living with relatives on either region. The psychological impact of any border restrictions is impossible to overstate, less than two decades after the end of a bloody war over the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Memories of military checkpoints and custom posts at the dividing line prior to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement continue in the memories of local communities and there is little appetite to return to them.
It recently emerged that the British Government is seeking to move UK borders into Ireland and require the Irish police to implement British immigration restrictions at Irish docks and airports. This not only makes a mockery of Leave campaign designs to take back of control of our borders through Brexit as it hands them to a foreign state, but also risks replicating the colonial attitude of Britain viewing the island of Ireland as an outhouse to do its bidding. The assumption that Ireland will take on the financial and administrative burden of policing British immigration policies to make Brexit run smoothly is a remarkably naive and tone-deaf view.
In question too is the future of EU funding for cross-community projects between nationalist and unionist communities, known locally as peace money. Northern Ireland received almost 2.5bn from the EU in the last funding round that money will now almost certainly cease. At no point did the Leave campaign appear to factor the burden on the British Government of plugging this funding gap when calculating the cost of EU membership. Even if Westminster does fund the projects after EU withdrawal, some projects may struggle for political reasons to accept money from British sources while they were happy to accept it from the EU, which is seen as a largely neutral body.
The appearance of the EU as faceless bureaucracy may have angered many English voters, but was a notable benefit when it came to posing as a neutral force in Northern Irelands complex community relations.
Corbyn says Brexit has been 'chaotic' and needs a more 'grown up approach'
This weekend it also emerged the UK is considering cutting corporation tax for EU negotiations. This would be a major blow to Northern Ireland, which has been negotiating for years to get its own corporation tax cut to a lower rate in order to give it a competitive edge over Dublin and London. After prolonged and complex talks, it had finally received confirmation the rate could be cut by 2018. If the UK slashes its rate for negotiations, any benefits to Northern Ireland will in effect vanish. Yet again, Northern Ireland appears to have been considered at no stage in Brexit plans.
Above all, the biggest irony in Brexiteers chillingly arrogant ignorance of Northern Ireland is this: the Leave campaign was built on a case of the little man taking back sovereignty and control from faceless, ignorant institutions blindly enforcing policy from overseas. In sidelining and ignoring Northern Ireland in Brexit plans, they are embodying and amplifying those very attributes to parody-like proportions.
In the absence of any plans or due diligence from the Leave side, what this means for the stability of Northern Irelands peace process, politics and economic stability can only remain to be seen.
Bertie Ahern (right) and John Bruton pictured appearing before the European Union Select Committee in the House of Lords in 2016
Former taoiseach John Bruton has warned that Brexit could increase smuggling along the border in Ireland.
The ex-European Union ambassador to the US said he does not envisage passport checks on routes in and out of Northern Ireland once the UK completes the split.
But in response to a direct question at the House of Lords EU Select Committee on whether Brexit could be abused and become a smugglers' charter, Mr Bruton said: "Yes is the answer to that question too."
Mr Bruton joined former taoiseach Bertie Ahern to set out their biggest concerns for the Irish and Northern Irish economies and communities post-Brexit.
A recent suggestion that Irish ports and airports would become proxy points of entry into the UK and a type of frontier for British immigration checks was dismissed out of hand by Mr Ahern.
"I quite frankly just found that unbelievable," he said.
"To put that suggestion forward is a total lack of understanding of how people think, north and south, of either tradition. It just would not happen."
The idea was floated in recent weeks with the UK's Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire saying that governments in London and Dublin would work to strengthen the Republic's external borders after Brexit.
The opinions of the former taoisigh were sought as part of the parliamentary committee's inquiry into the impact of Brexit on UK-Irish relations, the peace process, the return of a hard border and how the common travel area between Britain and Ireland could be affected.
Mr Ahern urged the government to appoint a dedicated minister to deal with Brexit.
The 310-mile border between both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland is set to become a frontier between the UK and the EU.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has said there should not be a hard border after Brexit, but Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has voiced scepticism over the reassurances.
It is estimated 40,000 people travel back and forth over the Irish border for work every day.
Mr Bruton and Mr Ahern raised concerns about the cost of increased trade tariffs for businesses on both sides of the Irish border with about 1.5 billion of goods going back and forth a year.
They also discussed the importance of the Good Friday Agreement which created the conditions for power sharing at Stormont.
"All of these uncertainties ... I'm not suggesting they lead to disorder or community troubles or anything like that, I just don't see that," Mr Ahern said.
"But it does lead to tensions within the Executive, the Assembly, north and south.
Mr Ahern added: "I think the Executive and the Assembly and generally the Irish Government and political system on the whole island of Ireland are just hoping. Nobody is happy. I don't know anybody really that is happy that the United Kingdom is pulling out of Europe. I can't think of one person.
"I think it's the uncertainty with the issues. I really can't see any violence or related problems."
Mr Bruton said it should not be forgotten that prison officer Adrian Ismay died after dissident republicans targeted him in a car bomb attack in Belfast in March this year.
"We shouldn't forget that that has happened, even this year. So we have to be very, very careful," he said.
Mr Bruton also said questions remained over whether disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland could suffer from a fall in funding agreed with Europe under the peace process.
The committee was told there is confidence the common travel area between Ireland and Britain will survive Brexit.
But Mr Ahern said he had huge concerns about a border being created which would hit the free movement of people.
"I really think that us opening up a border, if we have customs and tariffs, bad enough, but if we start building it around people in any form you can see the difficulties and t hat would be a huge concern I'd have in what is a good peace process but how you could start undermining that," he said.
"You don't have to go too far back to know how customs posts were used in the 50s and 60s as targets."
The committee was told existing institutions such as the North South Ministerial Council, the British Irish Council or the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference should be tasked with trying to promote issuing affecting Ireland and Northern Ireland during Brexit negotiations.
It also heard cross border agreements on access to health and education and agreed cross border standards on veterinary issues, animal, plant and food standards would also have to be ironed out.
The hearing went ahead as the chairman of Tesco warned f ood prices are "very likely" to rise as a result of Brexit,
John Allan said the plunge in the value of sterling would have a knock-on impact on customers.
Asked about whether Brexit would increase the price of food, Mr Allan told BBC Radio Four's Today programme: "I think it's probable, it obviously depends on currency, where the pound settles. If it stays where it is, it is likely."
Mr Allan insisted he wanted to protect customers as much as possible after Tesco had a high-profile dispute with a supplier who tried to use the fall in the pound to increase prices.
Former Taoiseach John Bruton has warned that Brexit could increase smuggling along the border in Ireland.
The ex-European Union ambassador to the US said he does not envisage passport checks on routes in and out of Northern Ireland once the UK completes the split.
But in response to a direct question at the House of Lords EU Select Committee on whether Brexit could be abused and become a smugglers' charter, Mr Bruton said: "Yes is the answer to that question too."
Mr Bruton joined former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to set out their biggest concerns for the Irish and Northern Irish economies and communities post-Brexit.
A recent suggestion that Irish ports and airports would become proxy points of entry into the UK and a type of frontier for British immigration checks was dismissed out of hand by Mr Ahern.
"I quite frankly just found that unbelievable," he said.
"To put that suggestion forward is a total lack of understanding of how people think, north and south, of either tradition. It just would not happen."
The idea was floated in recent weeks with Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire saying that governments in London and Dublin would work to strengthen the Republic's external borders after Brexit.
The opinions of the former taoisigh were sought as part of the parliamentary committee's inquiry into the impact of Brexit on UK-Irish relations, the peace process, the return of a hard border and how the common travel area between Britain and Ireland could be affected.
Mr Ahern urged the Irish government to appoint a dedicated minister to deal with Brexit.
The 310-mile border between both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland is set to become a frontier between the UK and the EU.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said there should not be a hard border after Brexit, but Dublin's Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has voiced scepticism over the reassurances.
It is estimated 40,000 people travel back and forth over the Irish border for work every day.
Mr Bruton and Mr Ahern raised concerns about the cost of increased trade tariffs for businesses on both sides of the Irish border with about 1.5 billion of goods going back and forth a year.
They also discussed the importance of the Good Friday Agreement which created the conditions for power sharing at Stormont.
"All of these uncertainties ... I'm not suggesting they lead to disorder or community troubles or anything like that, I just don't see that," Mr Ahern said.
"But it does lead to tensions within the Executive, the Assembly, north and south.
Mr Ahern added: "I think the Executive and the Assembly and generally the Irish Government and political system on the whole island of Ireland are just hoping. Nobody is happy. I don't know anybody really that is happy that the United Kingdom is pulling out of Europe. I can't think of one person.
"I think it's the uncertainty with the issues. I really can't see any violence or related problems."
Mr Bruton said it should not be forgotten that prison officer Adrian Ismay died after dissident republicans targeted him in a car bomb attack in Belfast in March this year.
"We shouldn't forget that that has happened, even this year. So we have to be very, very careful," he said.
Mr Bruton also said questions remained over whether disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland could suffer from a fall in funding agreed with Europe under the peace process.
The committee was told there is confidence the common travel area between Ireland and Britain will survive Brexit.
But Mr Ahern said he had huge concerns about a border being created which would hit the free movement of people.
"I really think that us opening up a border, if we have customs and tariffs, bad enough, but if we start building it around people in any form you can see the difficulties and that would be a huge concern I'd have in what is a good peace process but how you could start undermining that," he said.
"You don't have to go too far back to know how customs posts were used in the 50s and 60s as targets."
The committee was told existing institutions such as the North South Ministerial Council, the British Irish Council or the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference should be tasked with trying to promote issuing affecting Ireland and Northern Ireland during Brexit negotiations.
It also heard cross border agreements on access to health and education and agreed cross border standards on veterinary issues, animal, plant and food standards would also have to be ironed out.
The hearing went ahead as the chairman of Tesco warned food prices are "very likely" to rise as a result of Brexit,
John Allan said the plunge in the value of sterling would have a knock-on impact on customers.
Asked about whether Brexit would increase the price of food, Mr Allan told BBC Radio Four's Today programme: "I think it's probable, it obviously depends on currency, where the pound settles. If it stays where it is, it is likely."
Mr Allan insisted he wanted to protect customers as much as possible after Tesco had a high-profile dispute with a supplier who tried to use the fall in the pound to increase prices.
British Prime Minister Theresa May shares a joke and clasps hands with Taoiseach Enda Kenny during a group photo at the EU leaders summit in Brussels. Photo: Reuters
Enda Kenny returned from an EU leaders' summit yesterday with the air of a man who is 'going nowhere anytime soon'.
There is a growing buzz around Leinster House that the Taoiseach is in no rush to quit Government Buildings or the Fine Gael leadership.
There is a line of argument that the pressure is really on the would-be successors: Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and Frances Fitzgerald. Each of these has their hands full right now, and the longer they struggle, the better for the Taoiseach.
And the Taoiseach very probably felt better about his political lot looking at those around him at the two-day leaders' summit, which really only further sketched the myriad problems surrounding Brexit. In the margins of these jumbo EU set-piece meetings, there is always an air of convivial glad-handing and backslapping.
Sometimes it has taken on the air of a mutual admiration society. But not these days, as very many of the EU's national leaders are facing into very tricky times.
Take the once invincible German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. After a series of regional elections reverses she is battered by a rising right-wing, and her party is preparing for next year's federal election amid an anti-migration backlash.
'Mama Merkel' has been in power for 11 years and has yet to declare whether she will seek a remarkable fourth consecutive term.
She has known many better days in politics and a survey in late August for the 'Bild am Sonntag' newspaper showed just 42pc of Germans favoured her continuing and 50pc were against.
In France, President Francois Hollande is likely to be staring at the end of his political career.
His poll ratings have been lamentable for very many months and an opinion poll earlier this month showed him in 12th place among a list of likely next presidents.
Many in his Socialist Party want to ditch him in favour of his Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, who has a better public image.
In Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi came into power three years ago promising a new era of political efficiency and stability. He has staked his future on a political reform referendum due on December 4, at one stage saying he would quit if it was rejected.
In Italy, as in Ireland and elsewhere, political leaders do not always get an answer to the political question they put in a referendum.
Many colleagues and allies have been less than committed in their support for his plans to slim down the decision-making process.
The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, probably wins the dubious accolade for being in the most parlous political situation. He has been in office as caretaker Prime Minister for almost a year and might still be looking at fighting a third general election since December 2015.
Rajoy's party actually won the two inconclusive elections but failed to get a majority. Tomorrow, the Spanish Socialist Party will meet to decide whether they will agree to at least abstain and allow Rajoy more room to govern. That would at least postpone another election in Spain. Enda Kenny could surely offer some pointers here.
Then there is the case of British Prime Minister Theresa May, who came into office in extraordinary circumstances last July.
Looked at dispassionately, she would appear to have operated extremely cleverly, backing the EU stay campaign in a very desultory way. Then she got elected Prime Minister without a contest in the wake of the June 23 shock Leave vote.
Ms May marked 100 days in office at the EU leaders' summit by having to wait five hours before she could address her "future former colleagues" for just five minutes.
But that is as nothing compared with what is to come and her longer-term tenure as Prime Minister is far from assured.
Critics can well point out that all of this amounts to coming at the argument from the wrong end. True, seeking out cases of people faring worse than you, is hardly the height of ambition.
But sometimes politics is just like that.
Only a long-term contract paying close to 40c/l, without any links to manufacturing prices would tempt Peter Farrell to reconsider his decision to exit year-round milk production.
Peter farms with his father David at Kilmessan near the Hill of Tara in Co Meath and supplies liquid milk to Glanbia under contract. David was a member of the Glanbia Board until last year.
However, Peter, who will be among the speakers at the IFA National Liquid Milk Rally which opens in Portlaoise tonight, decided to move away from autumn calving because the returns from winter milk were just about covering the additional costs incurred.
"We are being paid a liquid bonus of 8c/l for the six months from October to March but our costs are working out at 7.53c/l.
"That is leaving me just 0.47c/l for the extra management costs, extra young stock groups, the extra labour costs and all the additional work," Peter explains.
While Peter says he would consider offers to remain in liquid milk, he is adamant that any new deal would have to be both attractive and structured differently to past contracts. "The liquid milk price should not be tied to manufacturing milk, they are two separate businesses," Peter says.
"Any new contract would have to be a long-term one, with an annualised fixed price of around 40c/l," he adds.
Peter and David run 190 cows on the milking platform and while he says the changeover to 100pc spring calving means the workload is more intense for the early months of the year, he says the system is more lifestyle friendly than year-round milking.
Costs involved in Winter Milk:
Extra concentrate costs 2.2c/l;
High quality forage/maize costs 1.73c/l;
Extra hired labour/milkings costs 2.9c/l;
Fertility aids costs 0.7c/l.
Ahead of tonight's rally, IFA president Joe Healy warned that liquid milk farmers were voting with their feet and leaving the business.
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"In 2015, the number of autumn dairy calf births fell 16pc, while the number of dairy births for the whole year rose 8.5pc. We are seeing this trend continue this autumn, with dairy births for September to mid-October already back 15.8pc on last year," Healy says.
"Fresh milk produced and sold in the Republic is worth 400m to the dairy sector - that's 13pc of our dairy export earnings, and it is worth nurturing. In the context of Brexit, it would be foolish to damage our national capacity to supply our domestic fresh milk market by pushing all producers into export-oriented spring milk production," he maintains.
The Irish Government will soon be seeking approval for the continued availability of the Nitrates Derogation to Irish farmers.
Suggestions that some leeway may be granted to farmers on the rules governing the spreading of slurry have gained currency following comments in the Dail by the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Simon Coveney.
Minister Coveney, whose department has responsibility for legislation governing the slurry spreading rules, urged farmers who had not gotten an opportunity to empty slatted sheds to contact the Department of Agriculture in circumstances where there was "a risk to animal welfare due to circumstances outside the farmer's control."
Farmers who chose low-emission slurry spreading as an action in GLAS received their annual declaration and claim form in recent days.
The completed forms must be returned to the Department of Agriculture before November 15.
Farmers must provide information on the method of spreading, the volume of slurry used, the date of application and name and address of a contractor (if one is used).
The Department of Agriculture says farmers 2016 GLAS payment cannot be processed until this form is returned and approved for payment.
It warns that failure to return this form may result in you becoming ineligible for payment for the Low-emission Slurry Spreading action and/or the Scheme itself.
Requirements of Low-emission slurry spreading
1. All of the slurry applied on the farm (produced and/or imported) must b e spread by one or a combination of the following methods for each year of the contract;
a. Band spreading;
b. Injection systems;
c. Trailing shoe.
2. All slurry must be spread in compliance with Statutory Instrument Number 31 of 2014 (Nitrates Regulations).
3. Provide documentary evidence to confirm; the spreading method used and the volumes spread on the holding. For example, a calculation of slurry produced, imported and spread and/or a receipt from the contractor or other evidence as required.
4. To be eligible for this action, the minimum volume of slurry that must be applied on the holding each year of the contract using one of the above listed methods must be at least 50 cubic metres per annum.
5. Farmers must indicate on the annual slurry declaration return, the LPIS parcels where the slurry was spread.
The EIB can invest in a variety of projects across the European Union but typically matches funds raised in the private sector
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is launching a "stream-lined" loan facility for Irish businesses to speed up its lending process, the Luxembourg lender said yesterday.
Vice-president Anthony McDowell, Enda Kenny's former economic adviser, said the EIB wants to help plug the funding gap that he says still exists from the crisis years.
Firms here are being encouraged to tap into the 315bn investment plan drawn up by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
"What we want to do is send a signal that the EIB is here to do business directly with mid-size corporates in Ireland and to address that financing gap that still exists," he told the Irish Independent.
"Obviously the Irish commercial banks are healing, but that process isn't complete. There are still significant market gaps that exists for financing innovative growth orientated companies in Ireland and we want to fill that gap."
Mr McDowell later told a gathering of university and business representatives that the EIB would be launching a "stream-lined loan facility" targeting Irish companies in the coming weeks.
He was speaking at an event in Dublin attended by representatives of Irish universities, business associations and life science companies, including Irish med-tech investor Malin Corporation.
It tapped the EIB for a 70m loan earlier this year, as part of a wider 300m fund to invest in research and development (R&D) focused life sciences startups.
According to papers filed as part of the application to the EIB in March, Malin is promoting the project which aims to finance investment into innovative R&D intensive early stage companies.
Mr McDowell said 40m of the 70m has been approved to be drawn down. It is EIB's first private sector loan.
A spokeswoman for Malin said that the 70m EIB facility will be applied "across Malin's European life sciences innovation ranging from early stage drug discovery, medtech and later stage commercial innovation".
The EIB can invest in a variety of projects across the European Union but typically matches funds raised in the private sector.
Over the last five years, the EIB has provided 3.8bn for investment across Ireland, mostly for infrastructure projects in education, transport, energy and water.
The EIB is also opening its first Irish office before the end of the year.
Mr McDowell has said total EIB exposure to Ireland remains below the European average, indicating scope to ramp up investment here by the European Union-owned bank..
The operating profit at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin - which was sold recently to Spain's Riu Hotels group for 92m - jumped 50pc to 4.5m last year as revenue climbed 15pc to 16.1m from 14m a year earlier.
The performance underscores the overall improvement in the capital's hotel sector, with a shortage of rooms leading to near full occupancy for many operators, as well as rising rates.
Directors at the iconic hotel noted that trading so far in 2016 has been "very strong" and "is out-performing both budget and the prior year".
The hotel was sold by Nama this year.
It was owned by Precinct Investments, which was controlled by builder Bryan Cullen.
A number of bidders had tabled bids for the property.
Riu, which is 49pc-owned by German travel group TUI, has named the Gresham one of its Plaza hotels.
The price paid by Riu Hotels was seen as steep by some operators, but the Spanish group has insisted it did not overpay for the property.
Accounts just filed for the Gresham, for 2015, note that its performance last year was boosted by a number of international events and conferences held in Dublin during the year.
They also show that the property generated revenue of 11.4m from its rooms during the year, with the cost of those sales amounting to 2m. That left the rooms generating a gross profit of9.4m.
It has 323 rooms and suites, 20 function rooms, a restaurant and a bar.
Food and beverage sales at the hotel amounted to 4.4m, with the cost of those sales hitting 3.8m, leaving a 652,000 gross profit for that segment of the business.
The accounts also show that the Gresham paid 1.3m in commissions last year, up from 1.1m in 2014.
It also nearly doubled its advertising and promotion spend in 2015, to 249,000 from 129,000 the year before.
Salaries, wages and staff keep costs totalled 4.6m last year compared to 4.4m in 2014.
The Gresham is managed by Windward Management, a hotel group of which Patrick Coyle is the owner.
The accounts note that the Gresham paid a management fee of 282,000 last year, which was up from 260,000 in 2014.
Directors of the Gresham Hotel Company were paid a total of 332,000 last year.
Pre-tax profits at the iconic hotel soared to 41m in 2015 from 3m after it reversed 30.4m of intercompany receivables.
Riu Group has called the Gresham Hotel the "perfect addition" to its global group of properties. It's the first hotel the group has here.
Chief executive Luis Riu has previously said that the group might even look at further purchases in the capital.
"Its tourism industry is booming, demand for rooms rising and the city is putting a lot of money into its infrastructure," he said in September when the acquisition was completed.
"We are extremely pleased with the purchase of this hotel in one of the most beautiful European capitals," Mr Riu added.
The head of the semi-state company behind Irish Water is to stand down.
Michael McNicholas has decided to step down from his role as group chief executive of Ervia, the State -utility company responsible for Irish Water and Gas Networks Ireland.
Hell remain in the role until May next year, and the board of Ervia will now begin the process of seeking a suitable candidate to succeed him.
Commenting on the CEOs decision, the Chairman of Ervia, Mr. Tony Keohane said: While we respect Michaels decision, we very much regret losing someone of his calibre from our organisation. Michael has played a key role in the establishment of Ervia and has led the company through its complex and demanding evolution from its origins as Bord Gais Eireann.
"That journey involved the sale of the Bord Gais Energy business, the formation of Gas Networks Ireland and the creation of Irish Water. Under Michaels leadership, Ervia has built a high quality team that has continued to develop the States gas network and made very significant progress towards the required transformation and rehabilitation of the Irelands water and wastewater infrastructure.
"We thank Michael for his enormous contribution to the company and appreciate that he is keen to ensure a planned transition and an orderly handover to a new Group CEO.
The decision to leave Ervia has not been an easy one. While my time at the company has been very challenging it has also been very rewarding. I have had the privilege of working with exceptional people who have given everything they can to make this company successful. Indeed many have gone far beyond what is reasonable to expect, and I and the Board of Ervia owe each of them a debt of gratitude, Mr McNicholas said.
He will be standing down after four years in the post, which he took on in May 2013. Prior to joining Ervia, then known as Bord Gais, Michael was chief executive officer at NTR plc.
Revenues at a group that operates two five-star hotels in Co Kerry rose by 27pc to 17m last year.
However, hefty non-cash depreciation charges of 6.5m resulted in Killarney Hotels recording a pre-tax loss of 4.9m.
Killarney Hotels runs the award-winning five-star The Europe Hotel & Resort and the five-star 102-bedroom Dunloe Castle Hotel, along with the four-star Hotel Ard na Sidhe.
Accounts just filed by the Swiss-owned firm to the Companies Office show the group recorded a pre-tax loss of 4.9m last year. However, after recording a corporation tax credit of 4.6m the firm recorded a post-tax loss of 349,056.
Turnover at the group has increased by 100pc since 2011 when revenues of 8.49m were recorded. The directors' report for 2015 said they "consider the performance of the company to be unsatisfactory, although in line with expectation".
The directors said while Irish tourism enjoyed double-digit growth in 2015, the industry is going through change.
The directors stated: "It is more and more consumer-led and digital technologies are shifting the balance of power further towards the consumer. Killarney Hotels have to continue to evolve in order to compete in a digital world of increasing demanding international guests."
Remuneration for the directors, listed as Michael Brennan, Gerry Browne and Adrian Stehr, jumped to 552,443. This included 28,408 in pension contributions. The average numbers employed by the group increased from 151 to 175.
The directors stated that although the company made a loss of 349,056m, the directors have continued to prepare the statements on a going concern basis as they have received assurances from the company's parent, Library Hotels AG.
The firm's shareholder funds at the end of last year totalled 9m.
The figures show that the group generated 16.6m of its revenues through its hotels and 407,020 through the operation of a 200-acre farm.
The Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) has brought an appeal against decisions it is potentially liable for claims brought against collapsed insurer Setanta.
The MIBI compensates victims of road traffic accidents caused by uninsured and unidentified vehicles. A seven- judge Supreme Court is hearing its appeal.
As all motor insurers operating here must be members of the MIBI, the decisions by the High Court and Court of Appeal effectively mean all insurers entering the Irish market must undertake an "enormous potential liability", Paul Gallagher SC, for the MIBI, said.
"That cannot be correct," he told the opening day of the appeal.
A priority hearing of the appeal was granted by the Supreme Court due to the implications of last May's decision by the Court of Appeal rejecting the MIBI's arguments it should not be held liable. The liquidator of Maltese-registered Setanta says the cost of claims could run to about 90m.
The Law Society is opposing the MIBI appeal and contends that the MIBI agreement envisaged it would pay out if a member became insolvent. The appeal continues today.
Americas biggest pilot union will drop its opposition to Norwegian Airlines Internationals plans to use Ireland as a base to serve the United States, if the carrier formally tells the US Department of Transportation (DOT) that it will only hire crew on either US or Irish contracts.
Speaking in Dublin Union President Tim Canoll told Independent.ie: Theyre willing to say that to the Irish people, so they should be willing to say it to the US DOT.
The union Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is also the worlds biggest pilot union, with over 53,000 members.
Dublin-based Norwegian Air International (NAI) a subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle has publicly committed to using only US or European crew on its NAI transatlantic services in an effort to appease concerns in the US that it would hire Asia-based crews, or offer staff less lucrative contracts than they would if they were employees of NAIs parent.
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They just need to tell that to the DOT in a filing so that theyre committed to it, said Mr Canoll, who claimed that ALPA has made attempts to encourage NAI to make that commitment, but that NAI has refused.
ALPA has opposed NAIs plans to use Ireland as a base to avail of the Open Skies agreement that exists between the European Union and the United States. That agreement allows airlines from the EU to fly to any destination in the US, and vice versa.
NAI initially plans to launch transatlantic services from Cork to Boston and New York. It had hoped to launch the Boston service during the summer. Norwegian Air Shuttle already flies from Europe to the US.
I want to Norwegian Air International to succeed and go forward, said Mr Canoll. I think competitions a great thing. US airlines compete very well.
For three years, the US Department of Transportation has been sitting on a application from NAI to secure a foreign carrier permit that will allow it to operate between the EU and the US.
The DOT indicated in April that it intended to grant the permit, but it has still not been issued and its likely to be some time before it is.
Vast amounts of personal data is stored on mobile devices including financial information, personal photographs and even location history (Stock photo)
Ireland is to become chief regulator of online security in some of the biggest companies in the world, including Google, Apple, eBay and Microsoft.
Banks, airlines, IT giants and utility companies based in Ireland will have to report breaches of cyber security to the Government under new laws to be introduced.
Communications Minister Denis Naughten will today brief the Cabinet on the establishment of a National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) which will be charged with protecting some of the leading companies in global industry.
It comes on foot of a Cyber Security Directive from the EU which will require particular utilities and businesses to report cyber incidents on a mandatory basis and to meet particular security standards.
The State will also police a new regulatory regime on so-called Digital Service Providers (DSPs), including cloud providers, search engines and online market places.
Ireland already has responsibility for dealing with data protection issues at some multinational companies based here.
"Business confidence will be somewhat dependent on the State's ability to implement this directive in a pragmatic manner that respects EU obligations," a source said.
"Significant resources will be required and primary legislation will need to be passed by May 2018." A public consultation process will launch shortly.
Mr Naughten's department will also shortly start the process of recruiting eight staff for the NCSC and is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure on a secondment programme for staff from other departments.
Attacks
A number of global websites including Twitter, Spotify, PayPal and Reddit were inaccessible on Friday after hackers unleashed a series of attacks on a company that acts as a switchboard for the internet.
Ireland will now be charged with mitigating attacks of that scale for major companies on a pan-European basis.
Meanwhile, gardai have warned that 2.3 million people in Ireland using smartphones could be at risk of having their personal information compromised in a malware attack.
Vast amounts of personal data is stored on mobile devices - including financial information, personal photographs and even location history.
Gardai have warned that information on smartphones is a target of cybercriminals.
The proportion of web traffic on phones in Ireland is almost one-third higher than the European average, and one-quarter higher than the UK.
The Garda Cyber Crime Bureau is advising phone users that passwords on online bank accounts may be at risk if their phone is subjected to a malware attack.
Xavier Broseta, executive vice president for human resources and labour relations at Air France, is evacuated by security after employees interrupted a meeting at the airlines HQ in October 2015
Just over a year since Air France workers stormed a management meeting and stripped shirts from executives, the airline's chief executive and chairman, Frederic Gagey, is planning to leave his role to move to the parent firm, Air France-KLM.
His imminent move comes as talks with Air France unions are set to get under way again, with a new strategic plan poised to be unveiled next week.
Three months after taking over at Air France-KLM, chief executive and chairman Jean-Marc Janaillac said earlier this month that the loss-making airline has big problems, including high costs, an unwieldy corporate structure and a lack of trust among different parts of the company. "What is striking is the fact that we are working in an industry that is growing and we are not growing at the pace of the industry," he said. The airline has been battling to compete with rivals including cash-rich Gulf carriers.
Mr Gagey is leaving Air France to become chief financial officer at Air France-KLM. He was at the meeting that was stormed last year, but escaped unharmed.
Five Air France union members were charged with aggravated assault and went on trial in September. They are awaiting verdicts.
Patrick and Roxanne Farrington grew up in the US but their biological parents are Irish
TV3's successful documentary series Adoption Stories is back with another harrowing episode.
In Wednesday nights episode of Adoption Stories on TV3, we meet Patrick and Roxanne Farrington, an adoptive brother and sister who were both born in Ireland and sent to the US for adoption by a British father and Irish mother when they were just toddlers.
Growing up the siblings always felt loved and wanted and had, for the most part, a happy and content childhood. They had always been aware that they were adopted as their parents refused to keep the truth from them.
Roxanne found her natural family in Carlow ten years ago and discovered she was the youngest of seven siblings. To her delight, some of her brothers and sisters remembered her. From her experience of searching, she helps her adoptive brother Patrick as he travels to Ireland in search of his natural family.
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Patrick Sean Farrington was born Patrick Keating in the Rotunda Hospital Dublin on St. Patrick's Day in 1960. After his birth he was placed in a childrens' hospital run by a Dublin adoption agency. When he was just two years of age his adoptive parents travelled from the States to Ireland to bring him to his new home in the US.
Patrick had a great relationship with his adoptive parents and although he always wondered about the circumstances of his birth, work, life, marriage and the birth of his two sons meant that any attempt to try to start searching was constantly put on the back burner.
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Unlike most other adopted Irish children, Patrick's travel and adoption to the US meant he had access to his original birth certificate which had the name of his natural mother on it; this basic information is kept from adopted people in Ireland as a result of strict guidelines on privacy and data protection under the current adoption legislation.
We follow Patrick as he returns home to Ireland in search of his natural family with his adoptive sister Roxanne by his side, helping and guiding him every step of the way. While on his travels, Patrick is shocked to discover that he may be an illegitimate child as documentation shows he was put up for adoption by his mother and father who were both married at the time.
While it comes as something of a shock to Patrick, as he had always assumed his mother was unmarried and unable to keep him, the discovery and more documents lead him to siblings he never knew he had.
Adoption Stories airs on Wednesday, October 28 at 8.30pm on TV3.
Shirlene Quigley, a former backup dancer for Beyonce and Rihanna who was reported missing on Monday, has been found.
Sources tell TMZ she showed up in New Jersey and is currently under doctors' care in hospital.
Shirlene was reported missing after friends and family became concerned when they couldn't locate her, and police officials found her car outside a Hertz facility in New Jersey and her phone was found at a bridal store in Manhattan.
Rihanna joined those urging people to help find the missing dancer. She posted an emotional plea on Instagram on Monday night.
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The Umbrella singer, who counts Quigley among her close friends, shared a video of Quigley and wrote: "This beautiful soul, and former dancer of mine is MISSING!!! My heart aches thinking of how heavy this is on all who love her! If anyone has seen or has any information on@shirlenequigley's whereabouts .....PLEASE CONTACT the North Bergen Police Department."
Missy Elliott also used her social media to encourage her fans to get involved in the hunt for Quigley, writing: "URGENT Message*** PLEASE If anyone has seen or heard from Shirlene Quigley @shirlenequigley please contact the North Bergen police... If you have any information please come forward. Please share and help us find her!! #shirlenequigley amazing SWEET CARING SPIRIT who is LOVED by MANY! I NEED Y'ALL TO REPOST get this info out there! Please help with any information."
According to NBC, Quigley was last seen getting onto a bus at New York's Port Authority at around 1am. It's reported that she was wearing a pink top, blue jeans and high heels. Her landlord told police that she saw her leave in the same outfit hours earlier.
The site reports that her mobile phone was found at a bridal store in the upscale Manhattan neighbourhood of Chelsea; her father believes she was there to pick up something for a show but the reason she was there has not been confirmed.
Her father, Brad Quigley, told the the New York Post that he didn't think she was there to pick up a wedding dress for herself. He was unaware of any possible wedding plans or that his deeply religious daughter was even in a relationship.
Whats really odd is that, if she got married, she would so want me and her mother to be there, he said. I dont know whats going on.
He told police that she usually calls him at 6pm and he became concerned when he didn't hear from her. He told the newspaper that before she vanished she was acting 'euphoric'.
Her friends have said that the celebrity dancer was acting out of character in the days leading up to her disappearance. She reportedly posted a cryptic message to a friend which has caused concern among her circle.
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"Get ready, it's about to happen and I'm going to need you to sub for me," she allegedly said. Another friend reported that her car is also missing.
"Shirlene is a responsible and successful professional dancer and beloved dance teacher who has been missing since her phone was found and turned in to the police on Friday evening.
This beautiful soul, and former dancer of mine is MISSING!!! My heart aches thinking of how heavy this is on all who love her! If anyone has seen or has any information on @shirlenequigley's whereabouts ..... PLEASE CONTACT the North Bergen Police Department 201 392 2100 !!!! A video posted by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Oct 24, 2016 at 5:37pm PDT
"She was last seen early Sunday morning at Port Authority and may be disoriented and in need of medical attention. Her car, at this time, is also missing,' the friend said.
According to her website, Quigley was born and raised in Los Angeles, California but moved to New York City to work as a dancer.
"She has performed all over the world at arenas worldwide touring with some of the biggest stars of our generation," the bio reads, "dancing on television, commercial, film, and music videos with artists such as Beyonce, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Destiny's Child, Missy Elliot, Mary J Blige, Jamie Foxx, Ray J, PorcelainBlack, Lil Romeo, Ashanti, Fantasia, Jaheim and many more."
Quigley's career kicked off when she appeared in Beyonce's Crazy in Love video in 2003. On Monday, Rihanna posted a message on Instagram asking people to help locate the celebrity dancer.
"This beautiful soul and former dancer of mine is missing," she wrote. "My heart aches thinking of how heavy this is on all who love her."
Commuters have been warned to expect delays on all DART services as a truck hit a bridge at 7am this morning.
Irish Rail said delays are particularly affecting all southbound services through Tara Street as a second accident occurred at approximately 9am.
Update: DART & Commuter operating with delays up to 15 mins due to earlier vehicle hitting bridge & a customer requiring medical assistance. Iarnrod Eireann (@IrishRail) October 25, 2016
Services through Tara Street were suspended for up to 10 minutes as a customer required medical assistance.
Both incidents have been cleared but all DART commuters are warned to expect delays of up to 15 minutes.
One of seven Dubliners charged with murdering a man, who was beaten to death, said he had hit him because the deceased had pulled a knife on him and stolen his sisters phone.
A jury in their Central Criminal Court trial was yesterday hearing evidence of garda interviews conducted with one of the accused, David Burke, who said he had tried to stop others assaulting the deceased.
Dale Creighton was assaulted on New Years Morning 2014 at the footbridge over the Tallaght bypass between Saint Dominics Road and Greenhills Road. The 20-year-old died in hospital the following day.
A woman and six men, who are in their 20s and from Tallaght, have all pleaded not guilty to murder.
They are 23-year-old Aisling Burke and 28-year-old David Burke, both with a current address at Beechpark, Collinstown, Co Westmeath; Graham Palmer (26) with a current address at Park Avenue, Portarlington, Co Laois; Ross Callery (23) currently of Gortlum Cottages, Brittas, Co Dublin; James Reid (26) currently of Glen Aoibhinn, Gorey, Co Wexford; Jason Beresford (23) with an address at Coill Diarmuida, Ard a Laoi, Castledermot, Co Kildare; and Gerard Stevens (27) currently of Grosvenor Square, Rathmines in Dublin.
Each accused also initially pleaded not guilty to violent disorder at the footbridge. However Jason Beresford later changed his plea and pleaded guilty to the violent disorder charge.
Garda Sinead McCormack testified that she arrested Mr Burke at an address in Tallaght on the evening of January 2nd that year. He was interviewed a number of times at Rathfarnham Garda Station.
He said that he was on his way home from a club that New Years Morning, when he saw a number of males running around a corner. He said his sister then ran around the corner, screaming that they had her phone.
I chased one of them, he said. He pulled a knife on me so I backed off.
He said that other people were chasing him too and that he later saw commotion on the footbridge.
They had him held so he couldnt go anywhere, he said.
He said that more people arrived, but he found out that the male he had chased didnt have the phone.
I legged it out of there. I didnt want anything to do with it, he said, denying in the early interviews that he had hit the deceased.
They were all jumping in there to get at it, he said. I was saying to stop.
He said that nobody apart from Mr Creighton had a weapon and said that the deceased was sitting and wasnt that bad when he left.
He was then shown CCTV footage of the fatal assault and he identified himself holding a steel rod or pole.
I threw that little steel yoke I had off the bridge at him, he said. The only reason I had it going onto the bridge was to protect myself.
Did you assault him there? he was asked at one point.
Yeah, I gave him a dig or two, he replied.
I hit him a dig for pulling a knife on me and robbing my sisters bag, he said later.
He was asked if he had kicked him.
I kicked him in the leg as well, he said.
He was later shown footage of Mr Creighton being lifted up and asked if the injured party looked ok there.
Not at all, but thats what Im trying to say, he replied. I was trying to stop them. I picked him up about four times. You can see from the CCTV, I tried to keep everyone away from him.
He said he was in shock and lost it when someone threw Mr Creighton down the steps of the bridge.
He said in his final interview that he was sorry that he didnt stop the assault.
I tried. You can see in the video, he said. I didnt murder him. I didnt want him to get hurt.
Garda McCormack agreed with his barrister, Giollaiosa O Lideadha SC, that he had identified himself on the screen as trying to stop the assault, including when Mr Creighton was lying on the ground.
She agreed that the memos of his interviews were handwritten notes and could not be a full version of what was said. The barrister had used the videos of the interviews to add in certain omissions and read these out to the jury.
The trial continues before Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy and a jury of six men and six women.
DNA found on a pair of gloves that had firearms residue on them matches that of a man accused of a fatal shooting, the Central Criminal Court heard today.
James 'Jimmy' Lammon (44), of Cardington Way, Athy, Co Kildare has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 22-year-old Jason Doogue in the Green Hills area of Athy on August 21, 2015.
Kristen O'Connor, a scientist with Forensic Science Ireland, told prosecuting counsel Kerida Naidoo SC that she found Mr Lammon's DNA on a pair of latex gloves.
The trial has previously heard that the latex gloves were found by gardai searching the fields around Mr Lammon's home following the shooting. Yesterday Dr Thomas Hannigan of Forensic Science Ireland told Mr Naidoo that he found traces of firearms residue on the same latex gloves.
Ms O'Connor said the chances of the DNA matching another person chosen randomly would be one in 1,000 million.
Ms O'Connor also found Mr Lammon's DNA on two cloths that have previously been shown to have firearms residue on them. The cloths were found in a house in Carbury Park that belonged to Paul Day - the partner of Mr Lammon's sister, Rebecca Lammon. Mr Day has told the trial that on the afternoon of the shooting Rebecca Lammon handed him a bucket, a bottle of WD40 and a black toolbox which he put in his own home. Gardai found the cloths in the black toolbox. Dr Hannigan said the cloths also tested positive for firearms residue.
The prosecution closed its evidence today before defence counsel Mary Rose Gearty SC called Mr Lammon's brother, Johnny Lammon.
Johnny Lammon told her that he lives with his brother at Cardington Way in Athy and that they own a number of dogs. He said the day before Jason Doogue was shot he and his brother went to a man to have one of the dogs put down. He said James was present when the dog was shot and he was wearing a pair of green latex gloves and a black top.
Mr Lammon also spoke about Shaw's Wood, a woodland area about 750 metres from Cardington Way where gardai found the gun that was used to kill Mr Doogue. Mr Lammon said a lot of people would go in and out of the wood, including hunters and dog walkers.
Speaking to Mr Naidoo, he said he had not previously mentioned the shooting of the dog to gardai because they didn't ask him. He also said that he hadn't discussed the trial with his brother.
Ms Gearty then called a neighbour of the Lammons, Anthony Keogh, who said that he saw Jimmy Lammon in his own yard on the evening of the shooting. The prosecution says Mr Doogue was shot shortly after 5pm.
Justice Paul Butler told the jury that the evidence in the case has now ended and that the prosecution and defence counsels will give their summaries of the trial tomorrow.
It is more likely that a man was drunk rather than sleepwalking when he allegedly raped his friend, a jury has been told.
In its closing speech to the jury, the prosecution rejected the 29-year-old defendant's claim that he was suffering from sexsomnia at the time, a rare condition that causes people to carry out sexual acts while asleep.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of raping the woman at an apartment in Dublin in the early hours of September 28, 2008.
The woman told the trial she was sharing a bed with the man after a night out when she woke up to him having sex with her.
Patrick McGrath SC, prosecuting, said there were two options which were more likely than sexsomnia. First, that the accused had lowered inhibitions because of the amount he drank that night.
Counsel said it was an obvious possibility that alcohol caused him to rape the woman and told the jury this did not count as a defence. Offences committed because of the consumption of alcohol were still offences.
Counsel said the second possibility was that the accused knew exactly what he was doing, but regretted it later and tried to justify it by saying he was sleepwalking.
The prosecution said the accused's actions during and after the incident formed a significant weakness in the case.
The woman told the trial she woke to find the accused had pulled up her tight skirt and pulled her underwear aside before having sex with her.
She alleged she asked him if he was wearing a condom. He replied that she could get the morning after pill. There was further discussion of the pill after she pushed him off, she said.
Mr McGrath said these words and actions were evidence of complex, sequential, goal-orientated acts which showed the accused was conscious and therefore guilty of rape.
His words were miles away from mutterings and gibberish which are what you would expect from a sleepwalker, counsel said.
Mr McGrath asked the jurors to imagine they were in the room that night and witnessed the incident and the conversations between the man and woman.
If there had been no introduction of sleepwalking, what would have happened would have been obvious. It would have been rape, he said
Referring to defence evidence that the accused groped and grinded against his girlfriend and friends in the past while asleep, counsel said these instances were very different to the alleged rape because no attempted sexual intercourse occurred during them.
Mr McGrath also noted that while there were text conversations between the accused and the victim in the days after the incident, he didn't mention sleepwalking until three days later.
In his closing speech, defence counsel, Hugh Hartnett SC, said he had the greatest sympathy for the victim.
What happened on that night was a terrible thing, it should never have happened, he said. But this is not a case of making it up to her.
He said the jury must decide on the accused's state of mind during the incident and must rely on expert evidence it had heard about sexsomnia.
He said the defence had called two witnesses with 30 years experience each in the field who both said it was likely the accused was acting in his sleep.
In contrast, the prosecution called a psychologist who hadn't worked in a sleep clinic since 1985 and was not an expert in the area, Mr Hartnett said.
He said the defence had shown that subjects could carry out complex actions during sleep. This was a result of a fracturing between the upper and lower parts of the brain causing motor action to occur without intent.
He addressed a contention by the prosecution expert, Dr Harry Kennedy, that it seemed physiologically impossible for someone to get an erection during normal deep sleep. He said his client was in an abnormal deep sleep.
Mr Hartnett cited the bible of psychological conditions, the DSM 5 handbook, which states sexsomniacs can engage in a variety of sexual behaviour including intercourse.
He told the jury it was up to the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this wasn't a case of sexsomnia.
The trial continues tomorrow when Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy will address the jury of eight men and four women.
A Central Criminal Court jury has been told that there is ample evidence in respect of the charge against a man accused of murdering a fellow Cork Prison inmate.
Mr Tim OLeary SC, prosecuting, this morning gave his closing speech in the trial of Brian Veale (31) of Dominic Street, Cork who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murdering Graham Johnson at Cork Prison, Rathmore Road in Cork City on May 16, 2015.
Counsel told the jury that there is a deceased man in this trial and they would have to look at the facts as dispassionately as they can.
The court heard there was ample evidence" in respect of the charge of murder in this case.
Given the relative brevity of this case you should remember all the facts. We have had effectively three days of evidence and that is very fast in a murder case, he said.
Addressing the jury, Mr O'Leary said there are eye witness accounts of what was heard and seen and consequently they do not have to speculate on what went on in the kitchen of Cork Prison on May 16.
Although it may be distasteful, you have to engage with the facts of what happened that day in Cork Prison. There isnt a great disparity or conflict to what the facts are in this case. Its relatively straight forward in terms of what actually happened, he said.
The barrister told the jury that if they look at this case in any reasonable way there could be no doubt that a killing occurred.
Mr OLeary told the court that what caused Mr Johnsons death was not in dispute saying: We know Mr Johnson was alive shortly after 5pm and then declared dead shortly after 6pm. We also know from the post-mortem conducted by Dr Marie Cassidy at Cork University Hospital that this man died from a single stab wound to the front of the chest.
The court heard that the evidence was all one way and Mr Veale was the person who stabbed Mr Johnson which resulted in him dying.
One of the witnesses said Mr Veale approaches Mr Johnson, turns him around and plunges the knife into his chest. The knife goes so far in that it goes through the heart and hits the vertebrae in his spine. We saw the size of the knife so it is not an issue who caused Mr Johnsons death or who killed him unlawfully, he said.
Mr OLeary will continue his closing speech to the jury this afternoon.
Earlier in the morning the prosecution called Detective Garda James OReilly, who was involved in interviewing Mr Veale at Mayfield Garda Station on May 22, to give evidence.
Detective Garda James OReilly told Mr Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that Section 18 (1) a of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2007, was invoked in two interviews with Mr Veale.
This section allows a court or jury to draw inferences from an accuseds failure or refusal to account for an object, substance or mark, or any mark on such object, found on his person, on his clothing, in his possession or in the place of arrest.
Det Gda OReilly agreed with Mr Cooney that the accused man replied no comment when he was asked to account for the blood-stained knife and the blood on his own clothing, shoes, left hand and forearm.
The court heard that Mr Veale also replied no comment when gardai asked him to account for his blood-stained kitchen clothing which were discarded in the bin of his cell.
Malak Thawley, who died in Holles Street Maternity Hospital last May, pictured with her husband Alan
Vascular clamps that control blood loss were not available to doctors treating a pregnant woman who suffered a punctured blood vessel during surgery at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin, an inquest was told yesterday.
Senior counsel Liam Reidy was speaking at a preliminary hearing into the death of Malak Thawley (35), of Brusna Cottages, Blackrock, Co Dublin, who died in the hospital in May while undergoing an operation to remove an ectopic pregnancy.
An internal report by the hospital into her death left her husband Alan in a state of "shock and horror", Mr Reidy told coroner Myra Cullinane.
"We have a situation where once the problem was identified there was a delay in getting a consultant to the operating theatre," Mr Reidy told Dublin Coroner's Court.
He noted that there was external assistance from a vascular surgeon and an obstetrician.
The report said a nurse contacted another hospital to provide some vascular equipment during the emergency response to Ms Thawley.
It also said one doctor contacted another, saying "vascular and thoracic" instruments were "en route" from Hospital B.
Mr Reidy asked that the 18 doctors, nurses and other staff involved in Ms Thawley's case who gave statements to the report's inquiry team give evidence to the inquest.
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The coroner said she would review all of the statements and decide who would make a deposition to the inquest.
The coroner's office has already requested eight statements, seven of which have been provided to the court to date.
The case was put back until January next year and a full hearing is due to take place in February.
Speaking after the hearing, Caoimhe Haughey, the family's solicitor, said it was a matter for the coroner what witnesses to call.
The hospital report said that Ms Thawley, who was undergoing a simple keyhole operation, had died after one of her main blood vessels was accidentally injured by a sharp-pointed instrument which was used to create an opening early in the surgery.
Read More: 'Why did my beautiful wife, my best friend, die?' asks grieving husband
But it was not recognised for several minutes and, even when the accident was discovered, it took another 15 minutes before she received emergency treatment.
Ms Thawley, a teacher originally from Syria, was seven weeks' pregnant with her first baby.
Consultant Pathologist Dr Thomas Crotty at St Vincent's Hospital carried out an autopsy and gave the cause of death as a tear in the abdominal aorta during the course of laparoscopic therapy due to an ectopic pregnancy in the right fallopian tube.
The Coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane, will review all of the 18 statements before finalising the list of those witnesses to give evidence at a full inquest hearing.
The final statement is due imminently, barrister for the hospital Dr Simon Mills said.
A full inquest hearing into the circumstances surrounding Ms Thawley's death will take place early next year.
Mr Thawley has previously spoken about the loss of his "beautiful wife, my best friend".
He said he is an "emotional mess".
"I am trying to find a way to put one foot in front of the other," he said.
Geraldine and Louise Ann Clancy and Susan Gleeson (right)
A student charged with dangerous driving causing the death of a mother and daughter last Christmas will go on trial next month.
Susan Gleeson (21) was remanded for trial before Cork Circuit Criminal Court with a hearing date not to be scheduled before November 15.
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She did not speak during the brief hearing before Judge Sean O'Donnabhain.
Judge O'Donnabhain made orders for all witness statements and case documents to be disclosed.
Ms Gleeson was remanded last July for trial before the autumn sitting of Cork Circuit Criminal Court by Judge Brian Sheridan in Fermoy District Court.
Ms Gleeson of Kilworth, Co Cork faces a single charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Cork mother, Geraldine Clancy (58), and her daughter, Louise Ann (22), on December 22 last.
Judge Sheridan had granted free legal aid for Ms Gleeson on the application of defence solicitor John Brooks and allowed two counsels.
He also allowed an engineering report given that the matter involved a road traffic issue.
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The young woman, who is a university student, was remanded on continuing bail in her own bond of 500.
A Cork Coroners inquest last April heard that the mother and daughter both drowned after their car ploughed into a flooded ditch following a collision with another vehicle.
The accident occurred near Ballyderown on the Fermoy-Kilworth-Ballyduff Road.
Coroner Dr Michael Kennedy agreed to adjourn the inquest under Section 25 (1) of the Coroners Act, 1962 after Gardai said the proceedings were ongoing.
Cork farmer Noel Clancy, who lost his wife and daughter in the tragedy, was one of the first people to attend the accident scene shortly after 11am on December 22.
The accident occurred less than 1km from the Clancy family farm with the mother and daughter the only occupants of the family's Ford car.
Tragically, despite emergency services racing to the scene, both Geraldine and Louise Ann Clancy were pronounced dead before they could be rushed to hospital.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster conducted post mortem examinations on both at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on December 23.
Dr Bolster confirmed to the inquest that both mother and daughter died from acute cardio-respiratory failure due to drowning.
Heavy rainfall and flooding of the River Blackwater had left the dyke beside the Kilworth-Fermoy road full of water to a depth of almost 120cm (4ft) last winter.
Local fields were also heavily flooded.
Louise Ann, who had autism, had successfully defied her condition to study first at Loreto secondary school in Fermoy and then at University College Cork (UCC).
She had only arrived home days before the tragedy from her Erasmus Scholarship placement at the University of Sussex in the UK to spend Christmas with her family.
Louise Ann was a prolific writer and published numerous blogs on living and working with autism.
Special tributes were paid to Louise Ann earlier this year to mark World Autism Awareness Day.
Up to 250,000 teenagers will be locked out of school on Thursday as secondary teachers press ahead with plans for a one-day strike.
Dual-union schools are asking teachers to sign a declaration about their availability for work on Thursday before making a final decision about whether to open or close.
About 500 schools are in the process of telling parents that they cannot open because of the stoppage by members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI).
It means that about two in three second-level schools will be forced to close as the ASTI holds out for a better deal on post-austerity pay restoration than that accepted by other unions.
According to the ASTI, a "significant gap" remained between the sides after about four hours of talks yesterday with Department of Education officials.
The sides meet again tomorrow, but no one is holding out any hope that Thursday's stoppage can be averted.
The 380 schools in the voluntary secondary sector - generally those under the control of the religious, where the ASTI is the union representing teachers - are definitely closing.
Many dual teacher union schools will also have to shut, as they have significant numbers of ASTI members on their staff.
Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS) general secretary Eileen Salmon said the vast majority of the 97 community and comprehensive schools would be closing. Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) general secretary Michael Moriarty estimates that about 30 of about 60 community colleges in that sector will close.
There are another 210 schools in the ETB sector that will be unaffected because the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) alone represents teaching staff.
With a general acceptance that Thursday's stoppage will go ahead, what is causing more concern is the prospect of about 500 schools not reopening after the Halloween break if the ASTI row is not resolved.
On the day schools are due to re-open - November 7 - ASTI members have threatened to withdraw from supervision and substitution work, forcing most schools to close because of lack of cover.
The Department of Education is meeting school management bodies today to discuss contingency plans, but accepts that widespread schools closures are inevitable.
The contingency plan - involving the recruitment of external supervisors - seemed to be doomed from the beginning.
This is because the ASTI would not allow its principal members to help with the process and did not give sufficient time for schools to recruit, train and vet external supervisors.
Even if schools were in a position to recruit, it would take until the end of November to complete the process.
Bottoms up women are drinking more than ever before (Stock picture)
Women across the globe are catching up with men in their drinking habits and it is affecting their health, a new study has shown.
Researchers pooled data from 68 relevant international studies - including research in Ireland - published between 1980 and 2014.
The drinking trend, known as 'sex convergence', is most evident among young adults, the findings in BMJ Open show. They said that historically, men have been far more likely than women to drink alcohol and to consume it in quantities that damage their health, with some figures suggesting up to a 12-fold difference between the sexes.
But now evidence is beginning to emerge that suggests this gap is narrowing. Men born between 1891 and 1910 were twice as likely as their female peers to drink alcohol - but this had almost reached parity among those born between 1991 and 2000.
It said the same trends were evident for problematic use. The gender gap fell by 3.2pc with each successive five-year period of births, but was steepest among those born from 1966 onwards.
It comes as the Government's Public Health (Alcohol) Bill goes before the Seanad tomorrow with the aim of introducing minimum pricing and other measures such as segregation of alcohol in shops.
Other provisions include health labelling of alcohol products, the regulation of advertising and sponsorship, and the regulation of the sale and supply of alcohol in certain circumstances.
TDs and senators have faced strong lobbying from drinks and retail sectors to oppose the measures.
Health Minister Simon Harris said he was meeting Oireachtas members from across all parties today to address outstanding concerns.
"I understand there are some concerns and I want to listen to and work with colleagues on all sides to progress this important public health measure," he said.
A regional hospital have banned visitors after an outbreak of the Novovirus vomiting bug.
Sligo University Hospital said today only relatives visiting patients who are in a critical condition will be allowed into the hospital this week.
"Visiting restrictions will remain in place all this week at Sligo University Hospital due to the presence of Norovirus (vomiting bug) in a number of wards," said a hospital spokesman today.
"No visiting is allowed, except for End of Life situations and other exceptional circumstances, as agreed with the specific ward manager in advance of visiting.
"We would encourage the public to contact their GP or GP Out-of-Hours service in the first instance and not to attend the Emergency Department unless absolutely necessary."
Marc O Griofa (right) underwater with a Nasa colleague during his time living under the sea with six colleagues.
The first Irish 'aquanaut' made sure he had his tea bags from home - while he was 200m under the sea developing new technologies for future missions to Mars.
Meath scientist Dr Marc O Griofa made history during the summer when he was chosen by Nasa to live at the bottom of the sea with six others for eight days.
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Dr O Griofa, who is advising students to always reach for the stars, described the experience as "the adventure of a lifetime".
"Here we were planning the next steps to go to Mars and, at the same time, everyone's drinking Barry's Tea," he said.
An expert in telemedicine, Dr O Griofa collected samples from each crew member to evaluate the impact of the underwater environment on the body.
His research will be used for further study into conditions such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons and Muscular Dystrophy.
Dr O Griofa was always passionate about space - and ended up in Nasa after studying medicine and a PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Limerick.
Noreen Murray moved to Australia for "better pay and quality of life"
An Irish recruitment company has received an overwhelming response to an advertisement for roles in a Sydney hospital.
The company was asked by the expanding hospital to seek out Irish nurses to fill their list of vacancies with many nurses being lured by the better pay and working conditions Australia has to offer.
Last week, a team of Australian nurse managers arrived in Ireland to start a two-week recruitment trip.
They are currently in Dublin meeting their potential new hires for interviews, and will also visit London, Edinburgh and Manchester.
We have many nurses from the UK and Ireland working with us already, said Vicki Manning, Director of Nursing and Midwifery Services at St. George Hospital, Sydney.
They are an integral part of our hospital, so with the expansion we hope to offer some of our new roles to nurses who want to further their career with us, she said.
Speaking about the motivation behind Irish nurses wanting to move to Australia, ICE Jobs Director, Margaret Cox, believes they arent offered much incentive to stay in Ireland.
Our experience is that Irish nurses are realising they can have a better quality of life, with more suitable pay and work conditions along with a manageable work load, she told Independent.ie.
They can experience a new culture while also improving their careers in an environment that respects the nurses role. Irish nurses are highly sought after in Australia, and we consistently receive glowing feedback from those who have made the move in previous years, she said.
One Irish nurse who moved to Australia thirty years ago says she hasnt looked back.
Noreen Murray came home for a brief period to work in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, but says her three years previous experience working in Australia was not recognised when it came to securing a contract and improved pay.
After only being offered a temporary contract, she realised she would struggle to get a bank loan or a lease for a house, and returned to Australia.
It broke my parents heart when I came here, said Cork native Noreen.
My salary doubled when I came to Australia and I found the conditions much better.
In Ireland you would work seven twelve-hour night shifts in a row and get a week off. You were like a zombie at the end of that working week and it would take you two to three days to recover. In Australia, we work four ten-hour nights as a rule, which is much more conducive to health and wellbeing, she said.
When asked if she would ever consider coming back home again, Ms Murray says there would need to be an extreme overhaul of the current system.
There needs to be a complete overhaul of nursing and midwifery conditions in Ireland. The pay needs to be increased dramatically to bring it in line with the international professional levels.
The rostering system and staffing ratios also need radical address.
Nursing and midwifery is a fantastic profession but they are disenfranchised for choosing it as a profession in terms of their livelihood and wellbeing. This is not right, she added.
The mother of missing Amy Fitzpatrick has revealed that she was fooled into believing that a gangland hitman murdered her daughter.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Star the mother-of-two, whose son Dean was killed by jailed husband Dave Mahon, now concedes that Eric 'Lucky' Wilson did not murder her 15-year-old daughter.
Tragic Amy vanished in the Spain on New Year's Day 2008.
In 2012 Audrey claimed in her book that she and Dave were told by an underworld figure who told them that Wilson, who is serving a 23-year-sentence for the murder of Englishman Daniel Smith, was responsible for the disappearance.
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Gardai and Spanish police had both ruled out the possibility and now Audrey (48) has conceded that this is the case.
"I think we might have been hoodwinked into making him out to be the big bad guy," Audrey told the Irish Star.
"I personally think now that someone might have had a grudge against him and used us as the big thicks."
She continued: "Everyone was searching for Amy so they put his name out there and of course we grabbed it."
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Mahon was sentenced to seven years in jail in April for the manslaughter of his stepson Dean Fitzpatrick.
The killer was reportedly assaulted in the shower area of Wheatfield Prisons gym.
The Dubliner, who was jailed for seven years, was recently left with a fractured jaw after an incident at Wheatfield Prison.
He claimed that he slipped and fell in the shower, but a source told the Sunday World that he is refusing to tell officers who assaulted him.
A young mother, who suffered severe injuries during a night out and woke up from a coma three weeks later with no memory of what happened, has appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
Primary school teacher Siobhan Geraghty (35) took a taxi to her home at the Lohunda Dale estate, in Clonsilla, from Harcourt Street at around 3.40am on Sunday, May 8, this year.
But the mother-of-one never made it to her door after she was hit by a car that failed to stop at the scene.
Now she has said she wants to know what happened and find who was responsible.
She had been in the city with friends for dinner and drinks, before the incident.
We left the nightclub, the Black Door and I remember leaving. I have no recollection of anything after that, until I was woken up from a coma approximately three weeks later in Beaumont Hospital," the Dublin mum told RTEs Crimecall tonight.
She said when she woke up she didnt understand what had happened and was asking loads of questions.
Very tragic that my son had to go through what he went through, she said.
Her injuries were life-threatening and she was described as very lucky to have survived the incident.
It was a long time that it took me to recover and it was a slow enough process, I was in a wheelchair for a little over a month and on a walking stick and just tried my best to build up the strength I needed to go back into my profession, she said.
Ms Geraghy said, while she was making a recover, she wants to know what happened.
I would love to know just exactly what happened. Just to be able to put words on what it was that I went through, she told the programme.
If anybody knows anything I would just love them to come forward and say what it is that actually did happen that night, she said.
Anyone with any information has been asked to contact gardai on 1800 40 50 60.
People queue for food and clothes being distributed at a shelter in Port-Salut, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on October 9, 2016, days after the passage of Hurricane Matthew through Haiti. Picture: Getty Images
An NGO has been awarded 125,000 by the Irish government for its relief effort in Haiti, following Hurricane Matthew.
Over two million people, including 894,100 children, have been affected by the hurricane which ripped through the island nation earlier this month.
The funding has been awarded to ActionAid and will be used to provide emergency sanitation and training for the prevention of cholera; equipment and training for the reconstruction of buildings; and direct support for rebuilding livelihoods, particularly for women.
Yolette Etienne, CEO of ActionAid Haiti, said the NGO is "deeply concerned about the risk of cholera" with several deaths reported already.
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"It is a race against time to supply communities with food, water and potentially life-saving hygiene kits to guard against the spread of disease. We are particularly concerned for women and girls, who are especially vulnerable in the wake of a disaster like Hurricane Matthew.
Siobhan McGee CEO of ActionAid Ireland said: We are very grateful to Irish Aid for supporting our relief effort in Haiti. ActionAids grassroots programmatic work, which prioritises the most vulnerable communities, is the basis for our humanitarian response.
"Rebuilding the lives of the poorest and most marginalised in a sustainable way will be fundamental to our approach in Haiti, as will our efforts to support women and girls in the aftermath of this disaster.
The NGO has been working in Haiti for 20 years and was among the first to respond after the hurricane hit on October 4.
Tragic brothers: Daniel (left) and William McCarthy. Photo courtesy of the Deaf Heritage Centre
Ireland's sign language community has been rocked by a fourth tragic death in the space of a month.
Tributes were paid last night to Kenneth Daly, who was deaf and a sign language user, after he was discovered dead at his home in Castlelyons in north Cork.
Mr Daly was just 44 years old. His death brings to four the number of sign language users who have died in Ireland over the past month, several in tragic circumstances.
Elderly brothers Daniel and William McCarthy were discovered dead on October 4 in their south Dublin home. The Kerry-born brothers had apparently lain dead in the property for some time before being discovered.
Their deaths prompted calls for greater resources and supports for Ireland's sign language community.
In a separate and unrelated case, a young man, also a sign language user, died in tragic circumstances two weeks ago.
The fourth death involved Mr Daly who was discovered in his Castlelyons home on Sunday. The death is not being treated as suspicious and it is believed Mr Daly may have died from a heart attack.
Councillor Frank OFlynn paid tribute to Mr Daly and said the entire community was shocked by the death of such a young man.
I want to extend my sympathies to the Daly family, he said.
It is so desperately sad that this should have happened just as the Irish sign language bill is at its second phase in the Oireachtas.
This is legislation which I believe is very important and should be accompanied with better resources for Irelands deaf community, he added.
Tributes to Mr Daly also flooded in to social media sites last night. One friend wrote: The entire Cork deaf community is heartbroken.
Mr Daly will be buried today after 2pm Requiem Mass at St Nicholas Church in Castlelyons.
He will be buried at Castlelyons new cemetery.
In a gesture of solidarity with the Irish deaf community, his parents, Denis and Frances, and five siblings have asked that mourners make a donation to the Cork Deaf Club rather than bring funeral flowers.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald at the head of the Cabinet table for its first meeting. Picture Credit: MAXWELLPHOTOGRAPHY.IE
The Cabinet has reached agreement on the issue of this weeks bill on abortion.
As part of the compromise, the Government will put forward a reasoned amendment to the bill being proposed by left wing TDs Ruth Coppinger and Brid Smith.
This will see the bill being rejected with the Independent Alliance siding with Fine Gael.
Sources say at todays Cabinet meeting, Taoiseach Enda Kenny stood firm that there would be no free vote on the bill when it comes before the Dail on Thursday.
The compromise will ensure that a row between Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance is avoided.
The Coppinger/Smith bill proposes to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which gives equal status to the rights of the mother and the unborn.
In a statement, a Government spokesperson noted that there are differing views within the Government on the issue of the Eighth Amendment.
"The Government is moving this Reasoned Amendment because this Bill pre-empts the work of the Citizens Assembly, the agreed, independent process set out in the Programme for Partnership Government for dealing with this issue and approved by both the Dail and Seanad, the statement said.
Junior ministers are furious that they are being left to fork out up to 200 a night for hotels in Dublin, while backbench TDs get an overnight allowance.
The issue has surfaced behind closed doors as part of the debate over whether politicians should get pay restoration along with other public and civil servants, the Irish Independent can reveal.
A number of ministers of state have confirmed that there is "great anger" in their ranks and both Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe have been made aware of the disquiet.
TDs get a Travel and Accommodation Allowance (TAA) worth between 9,000 and 34,000, depending on the distance between Leinster House and their home. This is to cover mileage and overnight stays in the capital.
However, this is not available to ministers, who instead get mileage on the same basis as civil servants but no accommodation allowance.
Backbenchers are also entitled to vouched expenses up to a maximum for 20,350, compared to 16,000 for a minister.
"It's an injustice. Everybody, even in the media, accepts it's wrong," said one minister.
"Nobody will do anything about it, though, because they are afraid of the backlash."
The difference in basic pay between a TD and minister of state is 34,381.
Another minister argued that a rural backbencher who qualifies for one of the higher bands of TAA and holds the chairmanship of an Oireachtas committee now stands to make more than a junior minister. A committee chair gets an extra allowance of 8,740.
Sources said the issue of overnight allowances has "grated" on many ministers of state since they were scrapped by former public expenditure minister Brendan Howlin.
However, the decision by his successor Paschal Donohoe to stop pay restoration for junior ministers has caused renewed tension over the issue.
Fine Gael currently has a record 15 ministers of state.
Next April, TDs will be allowed to take a 2,700 hike to their salaries under the Lansdowne Road Agreement.
But Mr Donohoe has told ministers he will use an "administrative device" to ensure ministers' take-home pay does not change.
One minister hit back at the move, and said: "If this was a few years ago people could cope because hotel prices were lower, but now it's a real expense."
Another minister paid 600 to stay in Dublin four nights last week.
The three-star O'Callaghan Mount Clare, which is a regular overnight location for TDs, is quoting 197-a-night for tonight and tomorrow.
"Every civil servant, driver, councillor or anybody else who comes up to Dublin for a night to work would get their overnight bill paid," said one minister.
"They haven't the courage or the guts to do the right thing for junior ministers because it would be unpopular."
The issue of politicians' pay is set to stay on the Dail agenda in the comings days with Sinn Fein to place a private members' motion seeking to stop any pay restoration for TDs.
However, they will be met with opposition from Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who argue it should be a decision for each individual TD.
Both parties are also likely to heap pressure on Sinn Fein to be more transparent about what happens to the salaries of its TDs.
The party's representatives only take the average industrial wage of 35,000, but the remainder does not go back to the State.
Nama is housed in the Treasury Building in Dublin. Photo: Steve Humphreys
A senior National Asset Management Agency (Nama) official suggested there may have been a way for the original bidder of the Project Eagle loan book to remain in the sale process despite the emergence of fixer fees.
The explosive revelation was contained in notes of phone conversations between senior Nama staff and US investment firm Pimco - the company lined up to buy the agencys controversial Northern Ireland portfolio.
However, Pimco pulled out of the 1.2bn sale after it emerged Frank Cushnahan, who previously worked for Nama, sought a success fee from the US firm for his work on the project.
Nama has always maintained Pimco was left with no choice by the State agency but to leave the sale process after the so called success fees emerged.
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However, in the notes given to the Public Accounts Committee, Namas then head of assets Ronnie Hanna is recorded asking Pimco if it had considered other options after the alleged success fees for Mr Cushnahan emerged.
Tom Rice, a solicitor working for Pimco, asked Mr Hannah what other options would be available.
In response, Mr Hanna suggested the deal could be shaped differently and the success fee could be withdrawn.
Appearing before the PAC, Alan Stewart, the senior Nama solicitor who took the note, said the comments related to a previous conversation with Pimco.
Pimco previously revealed it was to pay a success fee of 5 million each to Mr Cushnahan, Northern Irish firm Tughans and US lawyers, Brown Rudnick as part of the Project Eagle deal.
Pimco left the sale process when the firm realised such as payment was in breach of its legal obligations.
A report commissioned by a Sinn Fein MEP has called for a Commission of Inquiry into media ownership in Ireland.
The report on the concentration of media ownership in Ireland was commissioned by Sinn Fein Dublin MEP Lynn Boylan.
It was carried out by two legal firms, based in London and Belfast.
The study raised concerns about the level of media ownership by businessman Denis O'Brien and the influence of RTE which gets State funding.
It claimed Ireland has "one of the most concentrated media markets of any democracy" and says it is "imperative that urgent action is taken, and seen to be taken, to reassure journalists, media organisations and the wider public".
The report highlights that Mr O'Brien is a shareholder in the publishers of this newspaper, Independent News and Media (INM), and owns the commercial radio group Communicorp.
It said that he has been involved in a number of legal cases against media outlets and suggests the current defamation laws have a "chilling effect".
A spokesperson for Mr O'Brien declined to comment last night.
The National Union of Journalists said: "Central to that debate is the issue of ownership and control but we also need to examine wider issues, including access to employment, barriers to diversity in journalism, the gender pay gap, the precarious nature of employment within the media and the specific issues confronting local media organisations.
"The vast majority of Irish journalists behave in an ethical manner.
"They work hard in extremely difficult conditions," Irish secretary of the NUJ Seamus Dooley said.
The Central Bank was not aware of the detail of the first-time buyers' grant scheme despite assurances from Finance Minister Michael Noonan that it had "full knowledge".
Governor Philip Lane has revealed that he was consulted "only on the specific issue" of whether a tax rebate could be used to form part of a mortgage deposit under Central Bank rules.
The revelation in a letter from Mr Lane to Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein comes after the Government altered its Budget Day announcement at the request of the bank.
The Governor wrote to the two Opposition parties' finance spokesmen outlining the risks and potential that he sees in the scheme.
Under the plan a first-time buyer can get a tax rebate worth 5pc of the price of a newly-built house up to the value of 600,000.
However, the maximum rebate from the State is 20,000.
It has now emerged that the Central Bank was in the dark about these parameters and was not asked for a view on how they might affect the market.
The letter is likely to heap pressure on Mr Noonan who told the Dail's Budgetary Oversight Committee on September 20 that the Central was fully aware of his plans.
A spokesman for Mr Noonan said the minister was referring to the macro-prudential mortgage element of the scheme.
But a transcript of Mr Noonan's comments to the committee shows he stated: "Anything we are doing we are doing with the full knowledge of the Central Bank. It knows exactly what I have in mind and it approves of it."
"It's crystal clear from the governor's reply that the Central Bank was only consulted on one very narrow aspect of the Help-To-Buy scheme, naming the macro-prudential mortgage rules," Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath told the Irish Independent.
"The Central Bank was certainly not consulted on the wider impact of the scheme on property prices or financial stability."
Mr McGrath also noted that there has been "no impact assessment whatsoever" of the scheme, and added: "I would have thought they would tread lightly when it came to any intervention relating to the property market."
In his letter, Mr Lane said a help-to-buy scheme based on a subsidy system runs the risk "of displacing activity that would still occur in the absence of the same".
He also said that if developers do not respond with a sufficient level of new building, "raising demand in a given segment of the housing market will just tend to put upward pressure on prices, with the sellers of properties effectively gaining more than the recipients of the subsidy".
On the other hand, he said the easing of the financial burden on first-time buyers "may support a greater level of construction of new homes".
Mr Lane said a comprehensive assessment of the scheme would require a "full-scale evaluation project, including quantitative analysis of its impacts on demand and supply conditions in the housing sector".
He said this kind of review fell outside the remit of the Central Bank, stating it is "up to the political system to make the relative assessment of the distributional impact of this scheme".
109th Bn Contigent Commander Lt Col Stephen Howard at the parade in Donegal Town prior to their departure for Lebanon. (North West Newspix)
Minister of Defence Paul Kehoe TD inspects the troops of the 109th Infantry Batallion as they march past in The Diamond, Donegal Town, Co. Donegal, ahead of the troops deployment to Lebanon as part of UNIFIL.
A soldier who died weeks before he was due to on peace-keeping duties in Lebanon will be with his comrades in spirit,his commanding officer has said.
Cpl Gavin Carey drowned off a beach near Bundoran, Co Donegal, in August.
He had been at nearby Finner Camp on a training exercise.
Yesterday 131 personnel of Cpl Careys 109th Infantry Battalion paraded through Donegal Town ahead of their deployment to south Lebanon at the end of the month.
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The soldiers mother Patricia was joined by other family members as he was remember by Defence Minister Paul Kehoe in his address to the troops.
The UN mission is being led Lt Col Stephen Howard, his fourth tour to Lebanon.
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On an emotional day for the defence forces personnel, Lt Col Howard said: Cpl Carey may no longer be with us but he was certainly here today in spirit.
It was a really, really emotional day for all of us. We were at the start of our training when he died and it has had a deep effect on us but more importantly on his family and we wanted them to be here with us today.
He will be with us through our tour of duty in the Lebanon because Gavin Carey remains part and parcel of the 109th Battalion.
Minister Kehoe was accompanied by the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM.
I attended the funeral of Cpl Carey in Mullingar in August and I know the troops are going without their colleague. He would have been here today but it wasnt to be, so it was important that he was remembered and is remembered by all of us, said the minister.
Among those on their first overseas mission is Lt Grace Fanning (33) from Carlow who married fiance Cork nurse Carol Brady in May.
The naval officer is travelling as a military policewoman on the mission.
I will definitely miss my wife, said Lt Fanning.
Ive been on the high seas with the naval service for 15 years but this is my first overseas deployment and its very exciting.
I am a bit of an action woman so I volunteered for this deployment and I am really looking forward to my role in the Lebanon.
The deployment of the 109th Infantry Battalion will see the Irish contribution to the UNIFIL mission increase from its current level of 220 to a total of 370, including UNIFIL HQ appointments, representing Irelands largest current overseas deployment.
Once deployed, the 109th Infantry Battalion will assume command of the multinational IRISHFINNBATT, which includes a company of soldiers from Finland and an Estonian platoon.
The personnel travelling with the 109th Infantry Battalion represent 24 counties across Ireland with the main contributing unit being the 28 Infantry Battalion which is based in Finner Camp and has 59 personnel on the mission.
The next three largest units are the 7th Infantry Battalion from Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin with 32 personnel, the Naval Service from Haulbowline, Cork with 21 personnel and Cpl Careys 6th Infantry Battalion from Custume Barracks in Athlone with 19 personnel.
Hundreds of family members and members of the public lined the streets around The Diamond in Donegal Town for yesterdays parade.
It was a homecoming with a difference as a US Navy officer proudly returned to the Irish port from which his grandfather emigrated 96 years earlier.
Executive Officer (XO) John Tobin, second in command on the multi-million-dollar destroyer USS Porter, admitted it was a visit with a very special meaning for him in Cobh, Co Cork.
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His grandfather, also called John, emigrated from Cork to Rhode Island in the United States in 1920.
It is believed he sailed from the same Cobh dockside alongside which the USS Porter berthed on Sunday evening. The family later moved to Chicago where Mr Tobin hails from.
"Yes, it is a proud moment to be able to visit Cork like this," he said.
"We are very proud of our Irish connections in my family and I visited Ireland five years ago with my wife, Susan, and did some touring of the country.
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"All Americans who have Irish roots in their family are very proud of them."
Mr Tobin and the 280-strong crew of the USS Porter are based in Spain, where they form part of a four-destroyer detachment for the US Navy's Sixth Fleet.
USS Porter, commanded by Captain Andria Slough, is berthed in Cobh as part of a four-day goodwill visit.
Captain Slough paid tribute to the Irish Naval Service and said that, while USS Porter had not yet worked with Irish vessels, she hoped to do so sometime in the future, possibly on humanitarian support missions.
"We have not engaged with them yet, but that does not mean we won't sometime in the future," she said.
As part of the goodwill visit, Naval Service officers visited the ship for courtesy calls.
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A key element of the USS Porter's deployment is to foster good relations and co-operation with European navies.
Prior to visiting Cork, the destroyer had undertaken exercises with European navies including vessels from the UK, Spain, France, Germany and Norway.
During its Irish visit, the crew will be allowed to undertake tours and cultural exchanges in Cork.
These ranged from shopping trips in Cork city to visits to Blarney Castle, Fota Island and the Jameson Heritage Centre in Midleton.
Ensign McKenzie Anderson said the crew were delighted to be able to visit Ireland.
"It is great to see new countries," he said.
The USS Porter is an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, built in Mississippi, and was commissioned as the 28th vessel in its class.
More than 100 destroyers of the type have been built over the past 40 years.
The ship, named after US Navy officers Commodore David Porter and Admiral David Dixon Porter, was commissioned in 1999 and boasts one of the most active careers of any US ship.
The destroyer was involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, anti-piracy missions off Somalia, Arctic patrols with the Canadian navy and patrols of the Persian Gulf.
Boasting a crew of 280, the ship is capable of 30 knots.
It is equipped with two helicopters, with its primary armament being Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The destroyer can also launch Harpoon anti-ship and anti-armour missiles.
Its air defence system revolves around the powerful AN/SPY radar and a battery of missiles and 54mm and 25mm guns.
The destroyer is based in southern Spain and normally undertakes a four-month deployment in either the North Atlantic or the Mediterranean.
The families of the ship's crew are also based in Spain.
Jose Mujica, the former president of Uruguay, drove a 1987 baby blue Volkswagen Beetle during his time in office. He also declined to live in the presidential palace, preferring the simple pace of the farm on which he cultivates chrysanthemums with his wife.
Known as the "world's poorest president", Mujica, who stepped down last year, donated 90pc of his salary to charity and regularly picked up hitchhikers.
His time in prison shaped his outlook on consumerism. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was part of the Tupamaros, a guerrilla group of armed Marxist insurgents.
Due to his involvement with the group, he spent 14 years in prison during the military dictatorship, much of it in solitary confinement.
Mujica reflects on his time in jail, and what incarceration taught him about life, in the documentary, Human, which was released last year.
"I spent over 10 years in a solitary confinement cell... I spent seven years without opening a book. It left me time to think," he explains.
"This is what I discovered: either you're happy with very little, without overburdening yourself, because you have happiness inside... Or you'll get nowhere.
"We invented a consumer society... which is continually seeking growth...We invented a mountain of superfluous needs. You have to keep buying... throwing away.
"It's our lives we are squandering. When I buy something, or when you buy it, we're not paying with money. We're paying with the time from our lives we had to spend to earn that money. The difference is that you can't buy life."
It's one of those epiphanies that hits you right between the eyes; a simple, yet profound, idea that forces you to rethink your perspective.
We can easily get behind the old adage 'time is money', especially when we want to pound our chests and feel terribly important.
Yet the turnaround, 'money is time', forces us to contemplate the true value of everything we earn.
Imagine paying for a new-season handbag with four day's work (not to mention the week of your time spent waiting for the next pay cheque).
Imagine logging into a time account where you could see how many minutes you have left in a day, after work and sleep.
Money and time will always be interrelated - to save one you generally have to spend the other - yet we tend to value money over time, when it should be the other way around.
Because time isn't tangible - we can't feel it coming out of our wallets or see it leaving our bank accounts - we tend to overestimate how much of it we actually have. Meanwhile, we tend to underestimate our capacity for accumulating money.
In other words, we spend money as though it's finite, and time as though it's infinite.
As Steve Jobs once mused: "My favourite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time."
Time is a priceless resource too. If you squander a fortune, you always have the chance of getting it back. If you squander your time, it's gone forever. Time is money? Say that to someone who has very little time left.
While the former proverb, coined by Benjamin Franklin, makes the wheels of capitalism move faster, the perspective 'money is time' makes us slow down enough to wonder if the society we live in is leaving us short-changed.
Those who think of time as money rarely even know what their time is worth. When working out your real hourly wage, remember to allow for your commute, breaks and any work you do outside of official hours.
Once you know how many hours you're really working, you can work out how much of your time an item or service really costs - or if it's worth spending three days of your time on a dress you'll only wear once.
It's also worth considering how much time you squander when you try to save money. Does a cheap flight really represent good value if you have a four-hour layover?
As for those planning to travel to the North for a Brexit bargain, does the saving justify spending a day of your time travelling back and forth? The trouble is that we're more inclined to think of 'opportunity cost' - the value of the next best thing - in financial terms.
We also overlook what is known as the time-money-energy triangle. As a general rule, you'll only ever have two of these resources, at varying stages of your life, so it's best to plan accordingly.
Our relationship with money often mirrors our relationship with time. As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: "Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time."
Meanwhile, those that manage their time well tend to manage their money well too. They spend what poet Carl Sandburg called 'the coin of your life' - "the only coin you have" - prudently.
When we think of money as time, and not the other way around, we remember that we're using the very resource we all want more of to pay for the things of which we'll never have enough. Spend wisely.
Ryanair will require all customers booking on its Irish website or app to join 'My Ryanair' from November 1.
From the beginning of next month, all customers using the Irish Ryanair.com website and Irish mobile app will be required to auto sign-up to the 'My Ryanair' programme before completing flight bookings, the airline announced today.
'My Ryanair' is free to join, and customers can sign up at anytime.
After November 1, anyone seeking to book a flight on the website or app will be asked to provide an email and password for auto sign-up at the payment stage.
They will not be able to complete bookings without doing so.
The move is the next step in an increasingly personalised customer experience, and will also make it easier to sell ancillary products - from coffee to car hire.
Most of Ryanair's Irish customers are already 'My Ryanair' members, the airline says, with more than 15 million voluntary sign-ups across Europe.
The change will make it "faster and simpler" to book services, increase security and make it more difficult for 'screenscraper' websites to sell on Ryanair fares - "a rising source of complaints'', according to Kenny Jacobs, its Chief Marketing Officer.
'My Ryanair' members can also create their own personal profile, store payment and passport details and set their individual travel preferences.
Ryanair's auto sign-in feature will be rolled out across all markets and Ryanair.com websites before the end of 2016, it says.
The news comes hot on the heels of other recent tweaks, including a shortening of its online check-in deadline unless passengers pay extra for allocated seating, and a new requirement for adults travelling with children to buy reserved seats.
Other airlines such as easyJet and Virgin have already made it compulsory to have an account in order to book a flight, Ryanair pointed out.
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Donald Trump is not consistent on many things, but he always sticks by Vladimir Putin. Even when forced to concede that Putin might have done something bad, such as ordering murder, he qualifies it.
He goes in for bogus moral equivalence ("Well, I think our country does plenty of killing"). Hillary Clinton, he said in the TV debate last week, is a "nasty woman". But the fact that Mr Putin is a nasty man seems to hold a sort of allure for Mr Trump. Putin "outsmarts" Mrs Clinton, he jibes.
How have we got to the point when a Russian leader can be a role model for someone who might become president of the US? Partly because of American weakness. In the 2012 presidential campaign, the Republican nominee Mitt Romney challenged the incumbent, Barack Obama. When Romney described Russia as a hostile power, everyone smart laughed. What a preposterously Cold War mentality he was exhibiting! Didn't he realise we live in the 21st century?
President Obama and the rest of the West, have done very little in response. His main foreign policy initiatives have been to do with apology - particularly to Muslims - rather than action. If he has intervened, he has usually proved readier to do so against friendly powers. He told the British how to vote in the EU referendum, and has tried to interfere in Israeli elections in order to get more Arabs on the register.
He misunderstood the Arab Spring, let the Syrian disaster happen, and created a vacuum in the Middle East, making space for Isil as well as Russia. This has weakened Western interests in Lebanon, Jordan, the Gulf States and Turkey, pushing some of those countries to seek other partners.
This, in turn, has led to human flight, producing demographic trouble in Europe and the consequent spread of instability across our continent.
Putin happily exploits all this, not just because he is an adventurer, but because he really does not believe in the post-Cold War settlement. In the 1990s, we in the West felt it had all ended happily once, with Russian co-authorship, "Helsinki" human rights and national democratic freedoms had been guaranteed across the formerly Communist Eastern bloc. Putin's Russia rejects this vision. It claims it was forced to accept it in a moment of weakness.
The Russians' view of the world is quite different from ours. They seek a system like that constructed by the Yalta agreement of 1945, in which the globe is carved up into spheres of influence. Within its sphere, Russia would be free to oppress its subject peoples (in Estonia, Ukraine, perhaps Poland) as it saw fit. Putin has challenged the post-Cold War settlement so fiercely that you could almost say there isn't one any more. The rules of the international system have broken down.
In the West, we do not fully understand this. So we either excuse Putin - as do Trump, Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage - as a means of attacking leaders, or we condemn him - as do Boris Johnson and Theresa May - without a clear sense of what to do about it. According to James Sherr of Chatham House, the key thing to grasp is that: "We can't repair the partnership: we must intelligently manage the antagonism."
Sixty years ago this week, Soviet tanks entered Budapest. After a few days of pretending to treat with the anti-Communist Hungarian revolution, they crushed it. Thousands died. This horrible event helped sow the seeds of a resistance which, thanks to Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II and brave dissidents in the East, eventually liberated the Warsaw Pact countries in 1989.
What the invasion of Hungary did not do, however, was create inter- and transcontinental instability. Hungary was in the Soviet sphere, and so the Nato allies were not obliged by treaty to intervene. But in 2016, if Putin decides to invade the Baltic states or Poland, or indeed, Hungary, we are. In this sense, the situation now is more dangerous than it was then.
The Russians can see that we don't know what we would do if they attacked a Nato ally. Putin may conclude that our indecision is so great that he could get away with it. That, after all, is what he has clearly decided about Syria.
Perhaps guessing that Trump will not win the election and that President Hillary Clinton will be tougher against him than Mr Obama, he seems to be going all out to grab what Russia calls "useful Syria" right now. By the time she is inaugurated at the end of January, he will have got what he wants.
The breakdown of the international system is made more noxious by the Russian mood. There is resentment against the West, supported by massive propaganda at home, conveyed in American accents abroad. Perverse though it may sound, this chimes with discontents in the West. Groupings as apparently various as the Front National in France and the Stop the War Coalition in Britain tap in to Putin-esque anger, a process which the Russians actively assist.
In the US, Mr Trump raises this to a degenerate political art-form, in which one of America's bitterest enemies is presented as some sort of inspiration for American patriots. I do not know whether it is true that Putin money and cyber-technology are helping the Trump campaign. If not, and Mr Trump is doing the Russian leader's work for free, he is an even more peculiar customer than he seems. His threat this week to contest the democratic result would make any oligarch proud.
The West has no policy towards Russia, beyond protest at Putin's actions. It cannot have a policy without a strategy, and that strategy cannot be normalisation. It should be more like the old policy of "containment", not seeking to change Russia within, but setting limits to her ambitions by protecting our friends and allies.
One of the few things that has always worried me about Britain leaving the EU is the fear it will help Putin get what he wants. I do not believe that it will do so, however, because the EU cannot stop him anyway. It is ill-suited to conducting a great-power foreign policy which can link the military and political dimensions. The Cold-War experience, which we are being forced to revisit, tells us that this is best done by a strong Nato.
Now that Mrs May has become a Leaver, she would be a fine spokesman to press this thought upon the next president of the US.
Seven years ago, I attended one of the best weddings I've ever been at. Two gay friends got hitched in Belfast. After the civil partnership was over, we made our way round to the magnificent Merchant Hotel for the reception.
Everything that followed was pure sophistication and class.
It was a joy to behold compared with some of the tacky, tawdry straight weddings I've been at. The speeches, the music and the food were perfection.
A splendid cake, topped with two grooms, took pride of place at the banquet.
My then 18-month-old daughter, Alanna, had to be stopped from making an excited dive to devour the elaborate edifice.
Ashers wouldn't have baked that cake for my friends, and I think they'd have been mistaken and narrow-minded to refuse the order.
Expand Close Colin, Karen, Daniel and Amy McArthur of Ashers Baking Company speaking to the media outside Belfast High Court yesterday. Photo: PA / Facebook
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Yet I will strenuously defend their right to do so despite what the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.
This puts me on the 'wrong' side of the argument, many liberals and gay rights' activists tell me. I'm standing with the bigots and bible-bashers.
Well, I'm standing with Peter Tatchell too, the most courageous campaigner of his generation who blazed a trail for gay rights long before it became fashionable.
His activism extends beyond wrapping a rainbow flag around himself at a Pride parade. He bore the bruises for attempting a citizen's arrest of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. He was punched and nearly knocked unconscious during a gay rights protest in Moscow.
Mr Tatchell says yesterday's ruling has set "a dangerous, authoritarian precedent" and, as usual, he is spot on. It is a serious defeat for freedom of expression.
For those who see Gareth Lee as a champion, and the McArthurs as the baddies, imagine this scenario. A gay person is working in a Belfast bakery when a customer comes in and orders a cake for an evangelical Christian function.
He asks that it be decorated with a marzipan man and woman and the slogan, 'Oppose gay marriage'. The shop assistant politely declines. He says he can't, in conscience, fulfil the order. He is hauled before the courts on discrimination charges.
Those now denouncing Ashers would hail that gay shop assistant as a hero. That's the hypocrisy at the heart of this whole matter.
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They'd say it didn't matter what any court ruled, that morally the shop assistant had done the right thing.
He had taken the hard, but rewarding, road. He'd stood up for his principles.
I support gay marriage wholeheartedly. If Northern Ireland ever has a referendum like the Republic's, I won't need to read any literature to know I'm voting 'Yes'. But forcing another human being to produce a political slogan with which they disagree is just plain wrong. There are no 'ifs' or 'buts' about it.
A Catholic worker should never be ordered to ice a cake saying 'Support Orange marches'. A Protestant worker should never be forced to ice a cake honouring the hunger strikers.
Most of us instinctively know that mandating staff in either scenario would be undemocratic and unjust. And that's why many people can't celebrate this verdict. The activists backing this case may have notched up two courtroom victories but they have lost my sympathy, and respect, in the process.
For the record, I wouldn't ice a cake in support of fox-hunting. And I find it disturbing that gay rights activists have championed a course of action which would force me to legally do so.
Pop star Justin Timberlake may have run afoul of Tennessee election law when he posted a photo of himself in a polling station on social media.
Timberlake, 35, posted the photo on Monday and said in the caption that he had traveled from Los Angeles to his hometown of Memphis to take part in early voting ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
"Get out and VOTE! #exerciseyourrighttovote," Timberlake said in part of the photo's caption, which was posted on Instagram, a social media site where he has over 37 million followers.
The problem for Timberlake is that Tennessee law prohibits voters from recording or taking photographs or videos while inside a polling station.
The Shelby County, Tennessee district attorney's office on Tuesday said it was aware of a possible violation of state election law and was reviewing the matter.
A person convicted of the violation can be sentenced to up to 30 days in jail and fined $50, the office said.
A representative for Timberlake did not respond to requests for comment.
The proliferation of cellphone cameras and social media has created conflicts in states that have laws against the taking of photos inside polling booths and sharing photos of marked ballots.
The laws, which in some cases predate the social media age, are intended to prevent voter intimidation and any slowing of the voting process.
On Monday, a federal court sided with a Michigan man who said the law there that bans voters from taking pictures of their marked ballots and sharing them on social media violated his constitutional right to free speech. In response, the court halted enforcement of the law.
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In Colorado, two voters filed a federal lawsuit on Monday seeking to overturn a state law there that criminalized the showing of a completed ballot to others, arguing that the ban was unconstitutional.
Former Eggheads star CJ de Mooi will "continue to co-operate with the Dutch authorities" after a failed attempt to extradite him to the Netherlands over an alleged killing.
The ex-quiz show panellist said in his autobiography that he punched a man who approached him with a knife, then threw him into a canal in Amsterdam in 1988.
On Monday, Dutch authorities reportedly abandoned an attempt to extradite 46-year-old de Mooi, whose real name is Joseph Connagh, back to the Netherlands to face questioning.
His manager said in a statement: " CJ is obviously very pleased with the result of today's hearing, and will continue to co-operate with the Dutch authorities until this matter is finally concluded.
"He would like to thank the tens of thousands of people who have contacted him via social media and in person, for their lovely words and support during this traumatic time for him; he really does appreciate each and every one of the kind messages he has received."
The actor, who lives with his husband in Caldicot, south-east Wales, was detained under a European arrest warrant at Heathrow Airport in September, after landing at Terminal 3 from a business trip in South Africa.
Rosanna Davison and Irish designer Paul Costelloe walk down the runway at the Paul Costelloe fashion show as part of London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2005 at the BFC Tent, Duke of York's HQ, Kings Road on September 23, 2004 in London. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and Princess Charlotte attend a ceremony to mark their departure at Victoria Harbour seaplane terminal in Victoria during the Royal Tour of Canada.
The Duchess of Cambridge arrives at County Hall on the Southbank in London, as they mark World Mental Health Day.
Irish designer Paul Costelloe was less than impressed with Kate Middleton's Vogue cover.
Irish designer Paul Costelloe has said that he was less than impressed with Kate Middleton's Vogue cover.
The Duchess of Cambridge appeared on the June cover of the fashion bible in casual, country-style attire that had mixed reactions around the world, with some saying it was underwhelming.
Irish designer Paul Costelloe, who was personal designer to Princess Diana from 1982 to 1997, agrees with this statement.
"I was very disappointed with Kate's Vogue cover," said the famously outspoken designer to Independent.ie.
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"It wasn't like Princess Diana at all."
Costelloe, whose work has been shown at London Fashion Week since 1991, feels that the cover didn't do the mother-of-two justice.
"She's still stunning, but they could have done a lot more for the cover," he said,
"Kate's not as individual as Princess Diana. She's not offering the excitement, unexpectedness and vulnerability that Princess Diana did."
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"She's filling the perfect daughter-in-law role," he added.
Costelloe (71) believes that Kate's mother, Carole Middleton, is a huge influence in her daughter's life.
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"She's her mother's daughter, and it's clear her mother plays a very important role in her life, which is good."
"Kate has a very different background to Princess Diana. Diana's mother was an aristocrat while Kate's was an air hostess."
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"She's very obedient."
While Costelloe worked closely with Princess Diana, he hasn't yet worked with the Duchess, although it is something he would like to do.
"It would be amazing if she could wear my collection, although she has worn Orla Kiely and we should be very proud of her," he said, speaking of the Irish designer fondly.
As for Princess Charlotte and Prince George, Costelloe agrees that the children are "absolutely gorgeous."
Expand Close Rosanna Davison and Irish designer Paul Costelloe walk down the runway at the Paul Costelloe fashion show as part of London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2005 at the BFC Tent, Duke of York's HQ, Kings Road on September 23, 2004 in London. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) / Facebook
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Whatsapp Rosanna Davison and Irish designer Paul Costelloe walk down the runway at the Paul Costelloe fashion show as part of London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2005 at the BFC Tent, Duke of York's HQ, Kings Road on September 23, 2004 in London. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
"It's almost as if they're too perfect."
Paul Costelloe is celebrating the launch of his eighth jewellery range, The Phoenix Collection. The Phoenix Collection is made up of over 50 feminine pieces and features rose gold and yellow toning.
A Pakistani volunteer and a police officer rush an injured person to hospital in Quetta (AP)
A total of 61 people have been killed after militants wearing suicide vests stormed a police academy in the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta, sparking a four-hour gun battle.
The siege - one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistan's security forces in recent years - also wounded 123, mainly police trainees but also some paramilitary troops, according to Wasay Khan, a spokesman for the elite Frontier Corps.
Some of the wounded were reported to be in critical condition.
The assault caught many of the recruits asleep in their dorms and forced cadets and trainers to jump off rooftops to escape the attackers.
Pakistani troops responding to the assault said all three suicide bombers involved in the attack were dead - one being gunned down while two others blew themselves up.
There were conflicting reports over which militant group was responsible. Islamic State (IS) said three of its fighters killed 60 police recruits in Quetta but the claim was not confirmed by Pakistani officials, and IS did not offer any previously unknown details about the assault.
Earlier, a little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Hakimullah group, also issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack.
Pakistani officials, doubting the group's capabilities in staging such a coordinated and spectacular assault, also could not confirm that claim.
While most of the casualties were cadets and others from the academy, some of the army personnel who responded to the assault were also among those killed, said Shahzada Farhat, police spokesman in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
The attack began at 11.30pm local time on Monday, said Baluchistan home minister Sarfraz Bugti, with three militants shooting and killing a police guard at the watch tower before storming into the academy, located on the city's outskirts.
Baluchistan officials had earlier received "intelligence reports that some terrorists have entered the province" but had no indications about possible targets.
"We had tightened security, which is why they could not do it in the city and chose a target on the outskirts," said Baluchistan's chief minister, Sanaullah Zehri.
There were initially also conflicting police and military statements about the number of attackers involved. About 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff were inside the academy when it was attacked, Mr Bugti said.
Once inside the academy grounds, Pakistani media said the gunmen headed straight to the dorms housing the cadets and trainees and opened fire, shooting indiscriminately. Some of the cadets jumped off rooftops and through windows to try to escape.
"They were rushing toward our building, firing," one cadet told Pakistani Geo TV news channel. "We rushed for safety toward the roof and jumped down in the back of the building."
Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told the station the gunmen shot at whoever they saw. "I ran away, just praying God might save me," he said.
After the attack, Pakistani forces tightened security around the academy and Quetta hospitals were the wounded were taken.
"This war isn't over," said Pakistani interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. "The enemy is weakened, but not eliminated."
Maj Gen Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force which is primarily responsible for the province, claimed the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighbouring Afghanistan.
He said they were most likely from the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi militant group affiliated with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Sunni militant group has mainly targeted minority Shia Muslims whom its members consider to be infidels.
The paramilitary chief spoke before the IS and Hakimullah group claims surfaced.
AP
A man stands amid the debris at the scene of an attack in the town of Mandera (AP)
Twelve people have been killed in an extremist attack targeting non-Muslims in Mandera County near Kenya's border with Somalia.
Mohamed Saleh, Mandera's regional commander, said that gunmen from Somali-based extremist group al-Shabab are suspected of carrying out the attack on the Bisharo Guest House.
Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops into Somalia since 2011 to fight the militants who are waging an insurgency against Somalia's weak, Western-backed government.
Kenyan security forces have managed to stop the wave of al-Shabab's attacks in major cities that have killed hundreds over the past few years.
However, Mandera County remains a volatile area. Al-Shabab militants hijacked a bus in Mandera on November 2014, and killed 28 non-Muslims on board. In December 2014 they killed 36 quarry workers.
Scientists have heard hugely unusual messages from deep in space that they think are coming from aliens.
A new analysis of strange modulations in a tiny set of stars appears to indicate that it could be coming from extraterrestrial intelligence that is looking to alert us to their existence.
The new study reports the finding of specific modulations in just 234 out of the 2.5 million stars that have been observed during a survey of the sky. The work found that a tiny fraction of them seemed to be behaving strangely.
And there appears to be no obvious explanation for what is going on, leaving the scientists behind the paper to conclude that the messages are coming from aliens.
We find that the detected signals have exactly the shape of an [extraterrestrial intelligence] signal predicted in the previous publication and are therefore in agreement with this hypothesis, write EF Borra and E Trottier in a new paper. The fact that they are only found in a very small fraction of stars within a narrow spectral range centered near the spectral type of the sun is also in agreement with the ETI hypothesis, the two scientists from Laval University in Quebec write.
The research has been accepted for publication in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, under the title 'Signals probably from Extraterrestrial Intelligence'.
But they make clear that further work will need to be done to confirm or deny that hypothesis. That will need to be done by watching for the same signals on different equipment so that all other explanations can be discarded.
Breakthrough Listen an initiative set up this year to look for alien life and supported by people including Stephen Hawking and Mark Zuckerberg said that the message was promising. But they said that further work will have to be done before they can be unequivocally attributed to aliens.
The one in 10,000 objects with unusual spectra seen by Borra and Trottier are certainly worthy of additional study, the team said in a statement. However, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
It is too early to unequivocally attribute these purported signals to the activities of extraterrestrial civilizations. Internationally agreed-upon protocols for searches for evidence of advanced life beyond Earth (SETI) require candidates to be confirmed by independent groups using their own telescopes, and for all natural explanations to be exhausted before invoking extraterrestrial agents as an explanation.
Careful work must be undertaken to determine false positive rates, to rule out natural and instrumental explanations, and most importantly, to confirm detections using two or more independent telescopes.
(Independent.co.uk)
In this image made from video, rescue personnel stand by the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Australia. Four people died after a malfunction caused two people to be ejected from their raft, while two others were caught inside the ride at the popular theme park on Australia's east coast. (Channel 9 via AP)
In this image made from video, rescue vehicles are parked outside Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Four people were killed while on a river rapids ride at the popular theme park on Australia's east coast. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)
In this image made from video, rescue vehicles are parked outside Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Four people were killed while on a river rapids ride at the popular theme park on Australia's east coast. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)
EmEmergency services personnel can be seen near a ride inside the Dreamworld theme park at Coomera on the Gold Coast, Australia, after a number of people were reported killed on a ride at Australia's biggest theme park. Picture: AAP/Dan Peled/via REUTERS
Emergency services personnel can be seen near a ride inside the Dreamworld theme park at Coomera on the Gold Coast, Australia, after a number of people were reported killed on a ride at Australia's biggest theme park. Picture: AAP/Dan Peled/via REUTERS
Emergency services personnel can be seen near a ride inside the Dreamworld theme park at Coomera on the Gold Coast, Australia, after a number of people were reported killed on a ride at Australia's biggest theme park. Picture: AAP/Dan Peled/via REUTERS
Emergency services vehicles can be seen outside the Dreamworld theme park at Coomera on the Gold Coast, Australia, October 25, 2016 after a number of people were reported killed on a ride at Australia's biggest theme park. AAP/Scott Bailey/via REUTERS
Queensland Emergency Services personnel are seen at the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Australia. Four people died after a malfunction caused two people to be ejected from their raft, while two others were caught inside the ride at the popular theme park. (Dan Peled/AAP via AP)
Emergency services personnel can be seen near a ride inside the Dreamworld theme park at Coomera on the Gold Coast, Australia, October 25, 2016 after a number of people were reported killed on a ride at Australia's biggest theme park. AAP/Dan Peled/via REUTERS
Police and paramedics are on the scene (Picture: 9News.com.au)
Police have confirmed that at least four people have been killed in an accident at a theme park on the Australian Gold Coast.
Two men and two women died while on the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld, a popular attraction on the Gold Coast, Queensland state police officer Todd Reid told reporters.
A malfunction on the ride, which whisks people in circular rafts along a fast-moving, man-made river, caused two people to be ejected from their raft, while two others were caught inside the ride, said Gavin Fuller, an officer with the Queensland Ambulance Service.
He did not know if the two victims who were caught in the ride were trapped underwater, or caught up in the machinery.
Four people have been critically injured at #Dreamworld. There is nothing further we can confirm at this stage. QPS Media Unit (@QPSmedia) October 25, 2016
Park staff administered first aid to the victims, but their injuries proved fatal, Mr Fuller said.
The victims were in their 30s and early 40s, he added.
Mr Reid said he was not aware of any previous problems with the ride.
Dreamworld chief executive Craig Davidson said the park was working with police to try to determine what went wrong.
"We are deeply shocked and saddened by this, and our hearts and our thoughts go out to the families involved and to their loved ones," he said..
The theme park was closed following the accident.
Police will address the media shortly in relation to a major incident at Coomera this afternoon. https://t.co/vezIqR8abh QPS Media Unit (@QPSmedia) October 25, 2016
ABC Australia is reporting that Paramedics and Fire and Rescue units are at the scene, as well as Workplace Health and Safety officials.
It is understood that the accident happened on the Thunder Rapids ride which is described on Dreamworld's website as a "moderate thrill".
Shocked Dreamworld visitors are streaming out of the theme park after ride incident. @abcgoldcoast pic.twitter.com/jAg87oPqxy Tom Forbes (@tomforbesGC) October 25, 2016
In a statement Queensland police said they were investigating an incident that occurred at the theme park.
"Police were called to the site at Coomera around 2.20pm following reports that a number of people had been injured by a conveyor belt.
"Four adults have been confirmed as being deceased.
"Police and other emergency services remain on the scene and no further information can be released at this stage."
Lia Capes told Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) she was just about to go on the ride when she saw people running out, crying.
"We saw [a] little girl and we believe it was her mum because it was just her and her little sister that was an infant," Ms Capes said.
"I was speaking to one of the guys and he said it was the raft or the boat thing in front of him, the whole thing flipped and everyone was screaming."
Ms Capes said Dreamworld staff quickly evacuated the area.
"The little girl that was crying, they asked us to take her because we distracted her, she was balling her eyes out," she said.
"[Then] people that worked here took her and her little sister away."
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said there would be a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the accident.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate paid tribute on Facebook:
A Canadian nurse has been charged with murdering eight patients
A nurse has been charged with the murders of eight elderly people at nursing homes in Canada over a seven-year period.
Woodstock Police chief William Renton said Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer, 49, was charged with first-degree murder in the killings that took place in south-western Ontario between 2007 and 2014.
"The victims were administered a drug. We're not in a position at this time to comment further on the specifics of the drug as it forms part of the evidence that is now before the courts," Ontario Provincial Police detective Dave Truax said.
Mr Truax would only say that a number of drugs were stored and accessible in the nursing homes where the suspect worked.
Police said Wettlaufer appeared in court on Tuesday morning and remained in custody. The investigation is ongoing and officials said more charges could be brought in the future.
Woodstock Police said they did not know whether Wettlaufer was represented yet by a lawyer.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne called the alleged murders by a nurse "extremely distressing and tragic".
Wettlaufer, of Woodstock, was employed by Caressant Care Nursing and Retirement Homes, which operates 15 facilities in small Ontario towns.
Police said seven of the victims died at a Caressant nursing home in Woodstock, a community of 37,000 people about halfway between London and Hamilton, Ontario.
She was also employed at the Meadow Park facility in London, where the other victim died.
The victims have been identified as James Silcox, 84; Maurice Granat, 84; Gladys Millard, 87; Helen Matheson, 95; Mary Zurawinski, 96; Helen Young, 90; Maureen Pickering, 79; and Arpad Horvath, 75.
Police said they believe Wettlaufer also worked at other long-term care facilities in the province but could not specify which ones, nor would they speak about a possible motive.
Records from the College of Nurses of Ontario show Wettlaufer was first registered as a nurse in August 1995 but resigned on September 30. She is no longer entitled to practice as a registered nurse.
Caressant ,a private nursing home chain, said in a statement that one of its former employees is the focus of a police probe.
The company said it is co-operating with police and remains in contact with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care regarding the matter.
AP
Even as the demolition process began, the fate of about 1,300 unaccompanied child migrants remained uncertain.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve urged Britain last week to step up efforts to identify and resettle child migrants.
London has given priority to children with family ties and discussions are underway with Paris over who should take in minors with no connections.
Britain's Home Office said yesterday it had reluctantly agreed to suspend the transfer of more children, on the request of the French authorities.
For now, children will be moved to converted shipping containers at a site on the edge of the Jungle before they are interviewed by French and British immigration officials, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency in Geneva said.
"It's cold here," said one Sudanese teenager who identified himself as Abdallah. "Maybe we'll be able to leave in a bus later, or next week, for Britain."
Armed police earlier fanned out across the Jungle as the operation got underway.
Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said that authorities had not needed to use force and that the large police presence at the camp yesterday was just for security.
Aid workers went from tent to tent, urging migrants to leave the camp before heavy machinery is rolled in to start the demolition.
The hundreds who volunteered to move on were each given two destinations to choose from before being bussed to the reception centres.
There they will receive medical checks and, if they have not already done so, decide whether to apply for asylum.
The far-right Front National party said the government plan would create mini-Calais camps across France.
Officials expected 60 buses to leave the camp yesterday and the government predicted the evacuation will take at least a week.
Many tents and makeshift structures that had housed cafes, bakeries and kiosks lay abandoned.
On the side of one wooden shack, a message to British Prime Minister Theresa May had been scrawled in spray-paint: "UK government! Nobody is illegal!"
Despite the calm, charity workers expect hundreds will try to stay and cautioned that the mood could change later in the week when work begins on razing the camp.
"There's a risk that tensions increase in the week because at some point the bulldozers are going to have to come in," said Fabrice Durieux from the charity Salam.
Others warned that many migrants who remained determined to reach Britain would simply scatter into the surrounding countryside, only to regroup in Calais at a later date.
"Each time they dismantle part of the camp, it's the same thing. You're going to see them go into hiding and then come back. The battles will continue," said Christian Salome, president of non-profit group Auberge des Migrants.
French riot police began pushing thousands of migrants out of the notorious Calais migrant camp yesterday before they tear down its sprawling network of makeshift homes and shops later this week.
Migrants carrying suitcases and bundles of possessions began queueing up in the early morning darkness at the official meeting points for transportation to reception centres across France.
The major three-day operation will clear the sprawling shanty town near the Calais port - a symbol of Europe's failure to resolve its migrant crisis - of its estimated 6,000-10,000 occupants.
Riot police came under attack overnight from migrants protesting the camp's closure, who hurled rocks and lit fires.
French police have also warned that a group of British anarchists are attempting to disrupt the operation.
"Considering activists from hard-left group No Borders have arrived in the Calais area and have set up home in squats, there is a high risk the activists have penetrated the camp with a view to influencing the migrants as they did in March," a police spokesman for the Calais region said.
Police have set up 12,000 homes for migrants around the country, though they estimate the camp's current population to be around 8,000 people. Aid workers said it could be far higher.
Police vans and fire engines had gathered close to the rat-infested slum as migrants and refugees queued in the dark to register for accommodation centres elsewhere in France after being told they must leave the camp or risk arrest and deportation.
People in the queues said they had no idea where they were going but many seemed resigned to leaving the sprawling camp, where demolition work is expected to begin today.
Shortly before midday yesterday, at least 50 armed riot police marched in to control the crowd as people started to push and shove at the front.
Crowds of migrants who were ready to leave the camp gathered their belongings and waited for buses to pick them up and take them to other asylum centres dotted around France.
However, a recent study by the Refugee Rights Data Project indicated that up to 70pc of migrants wanted to stay put in the camp. It was feared that would lead to violent clashes between migrants and police if attempts to demolish tents and move people out of the camp were resisted.
Marta Welander, the project's founder, said: "No human should live in the squalid conditions experienced in the Calais camp.
"But any policy which seeks a quick-fix to these problems, without addressing the complex underlying dynamics beneath, is bound to fail."
As officials and charity workers spread out across the Jungle over the weekend distributing flyers about the impending demolition, some were still clinging to hopes of a new life across the Channel.
"They'll have to force us to leave. We want to go to Britain," said Karhazi, a young Afghan among many of the migrants who had their hearts set on Britain, believing it to offer better prospects.
"We have yet to convince some people to accept accommodation and give up their dream of Britain. That's the hardest part," Didier Leschi, head of the French immigration office, said.
Yesterday, migrants explained why they did not wish to leave the camp. Most of those in Calais were said to be from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Africa.
Mohammed (36), who served as a major in the Afghan army, stayed in the caravan that has been home for him, his wife and two sons aged nine and seven, for the past 10 months.
"We've been told we can stay here until Wednesday," he said.
"We will try to stay in the Calais area. We have close relatives in Manchester, my wife's mother and brother. They are British citizens and we are determined to join them. Britain is better than France for our family."
Mohammed said they fled Afghanistan because the Taliban threatened to kill them unless he agreed to take suicide bombers into the army base where he worked as an instructor.
"We've tried to get to Britain 35 times but every time the police stopped us," he said.
Ashran (24), also from Afghanistan, said he would not leave Calais.
Sipping a plastic cup of coffee in a clearing among tents, he said: "I'm not getting in any bus. I want to go to England," he said in fluent English.
"You see these people getting on the buses today? In a couple of weeks they'll be back in Calais, maybe not in this jungle but in another one."
Ashran said he had managed to reach Britain but was arrested and sent to Italy, the first European country he entered, where he was fingerprinted.
"I've been inside trucks, on top of trucks. But every time they catch me."
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
The alert focuses on an ice rink in the city
Residents in the south-west German city of Ludwigshafen have been told to stay indoors after an ammonia leak.
Officials warned people living within half a mile of an ice rink to keep their doors and windows shut and avoid going outside.
A notice on the city's website said public buses and trains were being diverted. It urged people who experience respiratory problems to seek medical help.
Ammonia is commonly used in liquid form in the refrigeration system of ice rinks.
The strong-smelling chemical becomes a gas when released and can cause lung damage if people are exposed to high concentrations for extended periods.
The extent and cause of the leak were not immediately clear.
Ludwigshafen was also the site of a recent explosion at a BASF chemical complex.
AP
Kendall Jenner at the world premiere of Zoolander 2 in New York in February - a man has been cleared of stalking her (AP)
A jury has cleared a man of stalking model and reality TV star Kendall Jenner but convicted him of trespassing at her secluded Hollywood Hill home.
A jury of seven women and five men in Los Angeles returned the verdict against Shavaughn McKenzie after a seven-day trial in which Jenner described her fear at finding McKenzie lurking in her driveway and banging on her car window in August.
"I've never been so scared in my life," the 20-year-old testified, saying she had recognised McKenzie as the same man who twice accosted her while she was driving outside her former home.
Jenner said his refusal to leave her Hollywood Hills property prompted her to make panicked calls to friends for help.
"I definitely don't feel safe in my own house any more," she testified.
A defence lawyer had urged jurors to reject the stalking charge, saying there was no evidence showing McKenzie intended to cause Jenner fear.
McKenzie is scheduled to be sentenced on November 10 on the trespassing charge. He could face up to six months in jail but will probably be released because of credits for good behaviour.
His lawyer Taylor Shramo said he hopes to secure mental health treatment for McKenzie, a Florida native who travelled from Georgia to Los Angeles last year and started hanging around outside Jenner's former home.
The verdict marks the second time this year that a Los Angeles jury has rejected a stalking case involving a celebrity.
In February, a jury acquitted an Ohio man of stalking Gwyneth Paltrow after deciding he did not intend to cause her fear by repeatedly sending letters to her.
In the Jenner case, Deputy City Attorney Alex Perez said in court that McKenzie, 25, had tracked Jenner's whereabouts for 15 months before his arrest.
He noted that McKenzie has never said how he learned that Jenner had moved to the hilltop home tucked away from the street and accessible only after driving through a 13-foot gate.
Mr Perez said McKenzie followed Jenner's car on to the property and only left after she backed out of the driveway and three of her friends arrived to detain McKenzie until police arrived.
He said he was disappointed by the verdict and hoped McKenzie would receive treatment.
Mr Shramo urged jurors earlier on Monday to reject the case, saying McKenzie merely wanted to talk to Jenner and posed no danger to her. He accused Mr Perez of emphasising Jenner's celebrity status to try to gain a conviction.
"He wants you to be star-struck," Mr Shramo said.
The incident has caused Jenner distress as she pursues a modelling career and appears on her family's show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
"She doesn't want to be surrounded by security," Mr Perez said. "And she certainly doesn't want to be stalked."
A forensic psychiatrist hired to evaluate McKenzie testified that he was delusional and his efforts to locate Jenner were part of his mental illness.
McKenzie's mother June Osavio told jurors she repeatedly tried to get help for her son, but he refused to take his medication. He disappeared in March 2015 after they moved to Georgia, she said.
Jenner is the younger sister of Kim Kardashian West. In court, Jenner shyly recounted her career, which has included doing a cover photo for Vogue magazine and modelling for top fashion lines.
AP
Iraqi refugees who fled violence in Mosul, Iraq, ride a pick-up truck upon arrival in al-Kherbeh village, northern Aleppo province, Syria Photo: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters
Syrian government forces and their allies captured strategic high ground in Aleppo yesterday as Russia - a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad - said it was not planning more "humanitarian pauses" in the city's eastern, rebel-held districts.
Fighting resumed in Aleppo over the weekend, following a days-long lull announced by Moscow that was meant to allow rebels and civilians to leave the eastern districts. The rebels rejected the Russian offer and none of the civilians left.
Government troops launched a fresh offensive and yesterday took the hilltop of Bazo on the southern edge of Aleppo, near military bases, and shelled the rebel neighbourhoods, according to opposition activists.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Bazo was taken. Both the Observatory and the Aleppo Media Centre, an activist collective, reported government shelling in eastern parts of the city.
A video released by the Syrian army showed tanks and cannons pounding rebel positions.
The state-run Sana news agency, meanwhile, said rebels shelled government-held neighbourhoods in western Aleppo, killing one person and wounding seven.
A pro-opposition media outlet circulated footage of a powerful Islamist rebel coalition known as Jaish al-Fatah announcing that the campaign to break the government's siege of the city's east would begin "within hours".
Iraqi forces fought their way into two villages near Mosul yesterday as the offensive to retake the extremist-held city entered its second week.
Iraqi special forces began shelling Isil positions before dawn near Bartella, a historically Christian town to the east of Mosul, which they had retaken last week.
With patriotic music blaring from loudspeakers on their Humvees, they then pushed into the village of Tob Zawa, about 9km from Mosul, amid heavy clashes.
After entering the village, they allowed more than 30 people who had been sheltering in a school to escape the fighting.
The Iraqi Federal Police, a military-style force, pushed into a small village in the Shura district south of Mosul, where they fired a large anti-aircraft gun and rocket-propelled grenades as they battled Isil militants. They later appeared to have secured the village and handed out water and other aid to civilians.
The US-led coalition said it carried out six airstrikes near Mosul on Sunday, destroying 19 fighting positions and 17 vehicles, as well as rocket and mortar launchers, artillery and tunnels.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into last week's purported airstrike in northern Iraq that struck the women's section of a Shiite mosque in the town of Daquq.
The strike happened amid a large Isil assault on the nearby city of Kirkuk that was meant to distract the Iraqi forces and their allies from the massive operation around Mosul, the country's second largest city.
The Isil attack on Kirkuk, some 170km southeast of Mosul, lasted for two days and killed at least 80 people, mainly members of the Kurdish security forces, who assumed control of the city in 2014 as Iraqi forces crumbled before an Isil advance.
Human Rights Watch said Daquq residents believe Friday's attack was an airstrike because of the extent of the destruction and because planes could be heard overhead. The New York-based watchdog said at least 13 people were reported killed.
The US-led coalition and the Iraqi military, which are waging the offensive to drive Isil from Mosul, are the only parties known to be flying military aircraft over Iraq.
Col John Dorrian, a US military spokesman, said the coalition had "definitively determined" it did not conduct the airstrike that killed civilians in Daquq, and had shared its findings with the Iraqi government, which is carrying out its own investigation.
"The Coalition uses precision munitions and an exhaustive process to reduce the possibility of civilian casualties and collateral damage because the preservation of civilian life is (of) paramount importance to us," Col Dorrian said.
Iraqi Brig Gen Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the Joint Military Command, declined to say whether Iraqi or coalition planes were flying in the area at the time.
As in Kirkuk, Isil launched an attack on the western Iraqi town of Rutba, hundreds of kilometres from Mosul, on Sunday. Brig Gen Rasool said the situation there "is completely under control" and Isil militants have no presence inside the town.
But Col Dorrian said: "Iraqi forces continue to attack the enemy with coalition air support" in Rutba and that "operations are ongoing". He said coalition airstrikes destroyed five Isil vehicles and killed a "significant" number of militants.
The Isil-run Aamaq news agency posted a video online that it said showed fighters attacking a military position north of Rutba. It said several groups of fighters had infiltrated the town, setting off two car bombs, while other militants attacked the perimeter. Those claims could not be independently confirmed.
In Baghdad, a series of small bombings killed 11 people and wounded another 35, according to police and hospital officials.
In this Friday, Oct. 21, 2016 photo provided by Kari Feinstein, surfer Federico Jaime poses for a photo from his hospital bed in Wailuku, Hawaii. (Kari Feinstein via AP)
Jaime says he's grateful to be recovering in after a shark bit him even though the attack forced him and his wife to postpone their honeymoon. (Federico Jaime via AP)
Surfer Federico Jaime, center, is helped after being bitten by a shark near Paia, Hawaii, on the island of Maui. (Matt Meola via AP)
Surfer Federico Jaime has told how he fought back when he was attacked by a shark at a Hawaii beach causing him serious injuries.
The 36-year-old said he was grateful to be recovering in hospital - even though the attack forced him and his wife to postpone their honeymoon.
It was the second shark attack in the US in a fortnight, while there have been three in Australia's New South Wales state in a month.
Mr Jaime was surfing on Friday at a beach close to his Paia home when he felt a shark bite his left arm, he recalled on Monday from his Maui hospital bed.
Expand Close Jaime says he's grateful to be recovering in after a shark bit him even though the attack forced him and his wife to postpone their honeymoon. (Federico Jaime via AP) / Facebook
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Whatsapp Jaime says he's grateful to be recovering in after a shark bit him even though the attack forced him and his wife to postpone their honeymoon. (Federico Jaime via AP)
"It just came out of nowhere," he said. "I saw the shark right in my face. It grabbed my arm- my left arm. It was really violent."
He knew he had been bitten: "I could see my arm was pretty much destroyed. I hit it with my hands and my legs. I don't know what I did."
Then, he said, he felt something pull on his left leg. At the time, he did not realise the shark had bit him a second time.
Mr Jaime, who had planned to leave for a Tahiti honeymoon on Saturday, started screaming. Nearby surfers helped get him to shore. One of them used a surfboard leash as a tourniquet.
Professional surfer Matt Meola was on the beach when he saw the surfers suddenly paddle toward Mr Jaime, who he recognised as a regular at Hookipa Beach Park.
He said: "I just ran down with my phone. I saw that he was probably going to survive. I probably wouldn't have filmed if he was dying. But I thought he was going to be OK so I started filming."
Expand Close In this Friday, Oct. 21, 2016 photo provided by Kari Feinstein, surfer Federico Jaime poses for a photo from his hospital bed in Wailuku, Hawaii. (Kari Feinstein via AP) / Facebook
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Whatsapp In this Friday, Oct. 21, 2016 photo provided by Kari Feinstein, surfer Federico Jaime poses for a photo from his hospital bed in Wailuku, Hawaii. (Kari Feinstein via AP)
He continued filming as Mr Jaime calmly rinsed in a shower before paramedics arrived "freakishly fast" and whisked him into an ambulance.
"He was pretty excited to see the footage I got," Mr Meola said.
Mr Jaime said with a laugh that he watched it "a thousand times" adding: "I'm really lucky. I'm super positive."
The reef shark bit Jaime when he was about 50 yards from shore at a surf spot known as "H-Poko".
Mr Jaime said he knows that October accounts for the greatest number of Hawaii shark bites.
University of Hawaii researchers say this may be because female tiger sharks migrate south from the Hawaiian Islands to give birth. An influx of hungry pupping sharks may boost the likelihood of a bad encounter with a human.
The attack will not diminish his passion for surfing, said Mr Jaime, who moved to Maui from Argentina about six years ago.
After three hours of surgery on Friday, he can move all his fingers and can feel his forearm muscle working. But he will need another operation on Wednesday to repair a tendon.
He and his wife - married for about a year - will go on their honeymoon when he is feeling better.
Two weeks ago a shark attacked surfer Joseph Tanner off the Oregon coast, but he survived after swimming to shore and instructing others how to tie a tourniquet around his injured leg.
A surfer suffered a thigh injury when he was bitten by a shark at Byron Bay in New South Wales on Monday, close to Ballina where another man was attacked on October 12.
A third surfer was bitten by a shark at Ballina on September 26, while a Japanese man was killed there last year.
The courthouse in Woodstock, Ontario, where 49-year old nurse, Elizabeth Wettlaufer, appeared before a judge, October 25, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Power
The Caressant Care Woodstock Long Term Care Home, where police accuse nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer of killing seven elderly patients, is seen in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada October 25, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Power
A nurse has been charged with using drugs to murder eight elderly patients in long-term care facilities in an alleged killing spree that ran for seven years.
Elizabeth Wettlaufer, 49, is accused of killing five women and three men in the Ontario towns of Woodstock and London between 2007 and 2014. The dead ranged in age from 75 to 96.
"The victims were administered a drug," Woodstock Police Chief William Renton told a televised news conference, declining to give further details. Wettlaufer appeared in court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody.
The criminal case is the largest in Ontario since 2006, when five men were charged with murdering eight biker gang members. They were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Renton said officers began probing the deaths in September after receiving a tip.
"We are confident at this time that all of the victims have been identified," he said.
The Canadian Association of Retired Persons said it was shocked by the tragic nature of the alleged crime. Mass killings are uncommon in Canada.
"For nurses and staff to be part of a violence problem, we think this is rare... it is extraordinary, and thankfully so," spokesman Anthony Quinn said from Toronto.
In 1997 a Canadian doctor was charged with murdering a terminally ill cancer patient. A judge later threw out the case.
Seven of the dead lived in a Woodstock facility run by Caressant Care. The firm said Wettlaufer had left her job in 2014.
Doris Grinspun, head of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, said she was devastated.
"An event like this is most, most, most unusual, the first actually in all my 20 years at the association... these things are horrifying to all of us. They are the exception, the very rare exception," she told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
People residing in the same apartment building as Wettlaufer described her as a pleasant person who lived alone with her dog.
"We would chat and have laughs. She seemed like an everyday, normal kind of person," Derek Gilbert told CBC.
A LinkedIn profile in the name of Elizabeth Wettlaufer said she was a nurse who worked at the Woodstock home from June 2007 to March 2014. "Administering medications" was listed as one of her responsibilities.
In March, Italian police arrested a 55-year-old nurse on suspicion of murdering 13 elderly patients in the intensive care ward where she had worked for decades.
Caressant Care in Woodstock (pictured) and Meadow Park in London, Ontario were the care homes affected. Pic:Google
A nurse has been charged with the murders of eight elderly people at nursing homes in Canada over a seven-year period.
Woodstock Police chief William Renton said Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer, 49, was charged with first-degree murder in the killings that took place in south-western Ontario between 2007 and 2014.
"The victims were administered a drug. We're not in a position at this time to comment further on the specifics of the drug as it forms part of the evidence that is now before the courts," Ontario Provincial Police detective Dave Truax said.
Mr Truax would only say that a number of drugs were stored and accessible in the nursing homes where the suspect worked.
Police said Wettlaufer appeared in court on Tuesday morning and remained in custody. The investigation is ongoing and officials said more charges could be brought in the future.
Woodstock Police said they did not know whether Wettlaufer was represented yet by a lawyer.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne called the alleged murders by a nurse "extremely distressing and tragic".
Wettlaufer, of Woodstock, was employed by Caressant Care Nursing and Retirement Homes, which operates 15 facilities in small Ontario towns.
Police said seven of the victims died at a Caressant nursing home in Woodstock, a community of 37,000 people about halfway between London and Hamilton, Ontario.
She was also employed at the Meadow Park facility in London, where the other victim died.
The victims have been identified as James Silcox, 84; Maurice Granat, 84; Gladys Millard, 87; Helen Matheson, 95; Mary Zurawinski, 96; Helen Young, 90; Maureen Pickering, 79; and Arpad Horvath, 75.
Police said they believe Wettlaufer also worked at other long-term care facilities in the province but could not specify which ones, nor would they speak about a possible motive.
Records from the College of Nurses of Ontario show Wettlaufer was first registered as a nurse in August 1995 but resigned on September 30. She is no longer entitled to practice as a registered nurse.
Caressant ,a private nursing home chain, said in a statement that one of its former employees is the focus of a police probe.
The company said it is co-operating with police and remains in contact with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care regarding the matter.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton holds a baby during a rally at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, on Sunday Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
Hillary Clinton is so far ahead of Donald Trump in the race for the presidency that she no longer even feels the need to pay attention to the Republican nominee.
Buoyed by a double-digit lead in some national polls, Mrs Clinton has said she is now looking past Mr Trump entirely, and will no longer counter allegations made by her rival.
Expand Close GOP candidate Donald Trump removes his hat to fix his hair at the end of a campaign rally in Naples, Florida, also on Sunday Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters / Facebook
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Whatsapp GOP candidate Donald Trump removes his hat to fix his hair at the end of a campaign rally in Naples, Florida, also on Sunday Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
"I don't even think about responding to him anymore," Mrs Clinton said when asked about Mr Trump's charge that American media outlets are in cahoots with her presidential campaign.
"He can say whatever he wants to. He can run his campaign however he wants to, he can go off on tangents, he can go to Gettysburg and say he's gonna sue women who've made accusations against him," she added, referring to a speech given by Mr Trump the previous day.
"I'm going to keep talking about what we want to do."
A top adviser to Mr Trump acknowledged on Sunday the Republican presidential candidate was lagging behind his rival.
Kellyanne Conway, Mr Trump's campaign manager, said Mrs Clinton had "tremendous advantages," including a large campaign war chest that had allowed her to spend millions on television ads.
"We are behind," Ms Conway said on NBC's 'Meet the Press'. But she added the Trump campaign was looking to sway undecided voters not ready to support Clinton.
She also insisted Mr Trump could still win.
"The fact is that this race is not over," Ms Conway said. "He's not - we're not giving up. We know we can win this."
With only 16 days until the election, two separate polls have given Mrs Clinton a 12-point lead over Mr Trump, with the real estate mogul's support tanking among key voter groups.
An ABC News/'Washington Post' poll corroborated the findings of a study published by the Monmouth University Polling Institute which showed Mrs Clinton leading Mr Trump 50pc to 38pc in a four-way contest with two minor party candidates.
Mrs Clinton's long-held advantage with women has increased to 20 points following allegations that Mr Trump sexually harassed multiple women, according to the most recent ABC/'Washington Post' poll.
The study also suggested the former first lady was leading for the first time among men, although the four-point advantage was within the margin of error. However, Robby Mook, Mrs Clinton's campaign manager, said he was "not taking anything for granted".
But sources inside the operation have said Clinton strategists are quietly considering the possibility of a landslide victory.
In a sign of that confidence, Mrs Clinton told journalists this week that her campaign was shifting its attention to trying to take back control of a Republican majority congress, by helping Democratic politicians get elected in state races.
"We're going to be emphasising the importance of electing Democrats down the ballot,' Mrs Clinton said.
The Clinton campaign is, for example, pouring $1m (920,000) of its funds into Indiana and Missouri. This is not because Mrs Clinton believes she can carry these reliably Republican states at the presidential level, but because she hopes it will help Democrats win senate and governor's races there.
The strategy has even been embraced by Barack Obama.
Already a key ally of Mrs Clinton, the US president will now also intervene in the state senate races, endorsing approximately 150 candidates across 20 states, according to Politico, the American political news site.
The endorsements, which will come along with a variety of robocalls, social media, mailers, and photos of Mr Obama with the candidates, represent the most involvement in down-ballot races by any president in living memory.
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Rihanna has issued an appeal for information over the dancer's disappearance
Pop star Rihanna has made an emotional plea for information after a dancer who performed onstage with her went missing.
Shirlene Quigley, 32, was seen by her landlord leaving her North Bergen residence in New Jersey on Sunday, police said.
Another person reported seeing Ms Quigley near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan early on the same day.
The dancer, who has also performed with Beyonce and Missy Elliot, has been reported missing by her father.
Ms Quigley's car and mobile phone have been found by New York City police.
Rihanna posted on Instagram: "This beautiful soul, and former dancer of mine is MISSING!!! My heart aches thinking of how heavy this is on all who love her!"
Missy Elliott wrote that Quigley was wearing "a pink jacket and 3-4 inch heels" when she went missing and urged people on Instagram to call police with any information on her location.
Ms Quigley's father told reporters she left a message with a friend which states, "Get ready, it's about to happen and I'm going to need you to sub for me."
In the video also posted by Rihanna, Ms Quigley speaks about treating each other as family.
"Imagine if we treated each other like we all really came from the same family," Ms Quigley says.
"I know people probably think I'm crazy because I'm always telling everyone 'I love you! I love you!' Because the minute that I meet somebody I do love them because I know in my heart and in my spirit that that's my brother and my sister, that's my neighbour."
AP
Pope Francis was the Jesuit superior in Argentina during the country's 1976-1983 dictatorship
The Vatican and Argentina's Catholic Church are to make their archives from the time of the country's brutal "dirty war" available to victims who have long accused the church of complicity with the former military dictatorship.
A joint statement said the process of cataloguing and digitalisation of the archive is now complete, and procedures for victims to access the information will be forthcoming.
The decision to open the archives of the Vatican, its Buenos Aires embassy and the Argentine bishops' conference was taken "in the service of truth, justice and peace", the statement added.
Pope Francis had pledged to open the archives when pressed by relatives of the "desaparecidos", or disappeared, particularly the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.
Francis was the Jesuit superior in Argentina during the country's 1976-1983 dictatorship.
No date has been set for the release of the information.
About 13,000 people were killed or disappeared in a government-sponsored crackdown on leftist dissidents during Argentina's "dirty war", according to official estimates.
Human rights activists believe the real number could be as high as 30,000.
Many senior clerics were close to Argentina's military rulers at the time and human rights groups have accused them of complicity with the regime.
Francis himself was criticised for not speaking out publicly about the atrocities, but he has also been credited with saving the lives of several people, providing sanctuary in the seminary and helping spirit them out of the country.
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke stressed that for now the archives would only be open to people directly involved in the war, and not to academics. He suggested a broader opening could come later.
AP
KANNAPOLIS Dole is one step closer to moving a division to Kannapolis and the mayor hopes it's another step closer to bringing the company's headquarters to the N.C. Research Campus.
Kannapolis City Council approved a $100,000 one-time incentive grant to Dole Food Company, Inc., to attract the company to relocate their East Coast Fresh Fruit Sales Division to Kannapolis. The grant was approved during the councils Monday night meeting.
Dole Food Company looks to spend $882,000 to relocate to the city, and Kannapolis Mayor Darrell Hinnant hinted that the move could lead to more developments from Dole in the community.
We believe that this is the first step toward a succession of steps that will hopefully have Dole Foods located with their corporate headquarters right here in Kannapolis, which would be a wonderful opportunity for all of us, to know we have a corporate headquarters from a global corporation here in downtown Kannapolis, Hinnant said. This is a right step in the right direction.
Dole officials plan to occupy 6,800 square feet in the David H. Murdock Core Laboratory on the North Carolina Research Campus site, according to a press release.
Kannapolis City Manager Mike Legg said the types of employees that look to be at the facility include administration, sales, marketing and a nutritionist. Legg also said he believed a senior VP for food safety would be among the mix of employees here.
Really a good move to have that position here in Kannapolis to collaborate with the universities and other private companies on campus, Legg said.
The move means transferring/hiring 19 employees with salaries ranging from $50,000 to more than $100,000. Total compensation for the employees would be about $2.7 million a year.
Our growth in Kannapolis in downtown is really a lot of the investment city council has made but it also has to do with what happens on the research campus and how it continues to grow, Legg said. We think growth on campus is going to be in incremental stages of 20 to 30 to 50 employees at a time and this is keeping with that.
Legg said that Dole was actually considering other areas to relocate and the deciding factor was the incentive grant, along with their relationship to the North Carolina Research Campus. David H. Murdock, the billionaire owner of Dole Food Company, developed the North Carolina Research Campus.
They had, quite honestly, other options they were exploring that could have been less expensive options for them, Legg said. So, the incentive is critical to make this deal happen.
The Guilford County Sheriffs Office is searching for a missing infant.
The missing child is Joseph Richardson Pearson. He is 2-months old and described as a white male, approximately 20 inches tall and weighing 7 pounds.
He has brown hair and brown eyes.
Authorities said the infant is believed to be with Jimmy Ray Pearson and Allissa Corrinne Fink. Fink is described as a 24-year-old female, 59 weighing 120 pounds. She has brown hair and green eyes.
Pearson is described as a 28-year-old white male, 5;4 and weighing 140 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes.
They were last spotted in Greensboro and they drive a white 2000 Ford F-150 with North Carolina license tag number PBJ-2697.
If you have any information regarding this abduction, call the Guildford County Sheriffs Office at 336-641-6691 or call 911.
HARRISBURG- A local Boy Scout needs the communitys help to build something beautiful and useful for Harrisburg.
Blake Robinson, a Life Scout in Troop 198 based at St. Luke's Catholic Church in Mint Hill, wants to build a gazebo for the Veterans Park outside of Harrisburg Town Hall for his Eagle Scout project. But he needs donations to make this project a reality.
Robinsons mother mentioned that he should build something in the empty area and they settled on a gazebo.
I asked the people at town hall and they thought it was a great idea, Robinson said.
To complete the gazebo Robinson needs to raise $7,500 and he has set up a GoFundMe account so people can make donations. So far the site has raised $1,495.
Robinson said the gazebo will be approximately 25 ft. across and an octagonal shape. He hopes it will be used for summer concerts, Easter egg hunts and as a place for Santa Claus to meet children.
Work has already begun on the gazebo and the footings were dug by Richard D. Suggs Construction. Robinson said his troop helped with site prep under the supervision of Jim and Sandy McKeon.
"My contributors who have either already provided materials or services have their name on our construction banner and will also be listed in the dedication program when we finish the gazebo," Robinson said. "I will do the same for any other donor services or material."
Robinson also needs help with labor and donations for hardware to assemble the structure, a metal roof and metal railings. He is also asking for volunteers to help finish the donated concrete slab to create an accessible handicap ramp.
"If I have to pay for all of this I will need to hit my goal of $7,500. If I am able to get the materials or labor donated then my target will be closer to $3,000 to $5,000," Robinson said.
He hopes to complete the gazebo before Thanksgiving.
"I was originally targeting having the gazebo completed so it could be dedicated on Veterans Day but since that is only 17 days away that chance is slim," he said. "My revised date, if I can't hit Veterans Day will be before Thanksgiving so it can be used for the Christmas tree lighting for a place so Santa can sit."
Anyone interested in making a donation for Robinsons project can visit https://www.gofundme.com/74u3guxv.
CONCORD- A Cabarrus high school student was arrested last week after police said he assaulted an officer and brought a weapon to school.
Cameron Alexander Stevick, a student at Concord High School, was arrested on Friday, Oct. 21 after a report that he assaulted an administrator and a police officer at the school, according to Concord Police.
According to a representative from the Concord Police Department, Stevick was in the process of being disciplined by a school administrator for misbehaving when he escalated the situation to the point where law enforcement was needed.
A report from the Concord Police Department says Stevick cursed at school administrators and law enforcement officers and assaulted them with his hands and feet.
A box cutter was also found in Stevicks book bag, police said.
Stevick was charged with simple assault on a police officer, simple physical assault on a school official, having a weapon on school grounds and resist, delay obstruct a public officer.
SALISBURY- A teenager was airlifted after he was hit by a car in Salisbury on Monday night.
According to our news partner WSOC-TV, a 13-year-old was hit by a car while riding his skateboard Monday evening, Oct. 24.
The station reported the teenager suffered injuries to the torso, leg and head.
No arrests have been made and the incident is still under investigation.
The accident happened in the 1800 block of Harrison Road.
However, recently, there were reports about how Drashti had spooky experiences and even an injury during the shoot of the show. And just when we think, that's about it and finally the actress can relax... there comes the news of her being stalked in Austria! According to a news daily, Drashti came across an uninvited person in the country.
It is endearing for the millions of fans when the actors post their daily updates on their social media profiles, this establishes a connect between the stars and the fans. However, unintentionally, this also becomes a source of tracing the whereabouts of the celebs, which can be frightening at times.
A fan in Austria followed Drashti to her shoot location and even back to her hotel in Vienna. Drashti also chose to ignore it when she was getting clicked by this fan.
However, things went out of hand, when the same person was sitting right across the table when Drashti and Arjun were sitting and dining at a restaurant and the person started clicking photos of her.
Realizing that this is getting over the top, Drashti informed Arjun about the same, who, being the gentleman he is, went and confronted the stalker. After a talk, the stalker apologized for his behaviour.
Arjun mentioned that he was glad that the person understood that he was invading Drashti's privacy and was even apologetic about it.
Drashti mentioned that though she loves to interact with her fans, but getting stalked is certainly not a good experience. She also said that she was glad that Arjun was able to resolve the issue and that the team was supportive too.
Phew! It's a relief that things did not escalate and that Arjun came to Drashti's rescue.
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It seems the woes for actress Drashti Dhami did not end while she was in Austria. The actress finally returned to India after a long shoot in Austria for her upcoming show, ' Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil ' co-starring Arjun Bijlani
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A new B in town
Where: Indianapolis, IN
Venue: The Old National Centre
On: 7:32 Off: 10:30
Crowd: A seasoned audience of old school funk fans
Observations: Blue eyed soul has a way of being attractive to everyone regardless of color.
You dont come to a funk show in shoes you cant dance in. The lesson of day. The opening act of Morgan James crooned the audience like they were pouring a fine wine. A quaint band of 5, they set the stage perfectly for the headliner Brian Culbertson. Belting out one soul ballad after another the crowd was charmed by Morgans girl next door demeanor and infectious vocals. A siren no doubt.
A quick pause to turn over the stage and the lights go low casting a dramatic glow upon the instruments.
Bump bump bump. The drums thump, the lights swirl and the crowd hollers.
Against an all star band, Brian Culbertson delivers a performance that was awe inspiring and electric. Beyond the distraction of his spiked hair hes a true musical talent. Arrangements that paid homage to everyone from the Isley Brothers, to Prince summoned the audience to their feet. Couples swayed. Gal pals boogied down and those who came solo found dance partners in the strangers left and right.
Under the incandescence of the stage and the aura in the room, music was the great equalizer to a mixed crowd. Women yelled we love you B as the virtuoso wowed us playing the piano and the trombone. And the fellas had no problem shaking a tail feather.
Song after song the Chicago native left the room astounded. Quickly sharing his origin story, Brian detailed how his career took a turn from jazz piano to funk. And I think everyone in the crowd was fine with the transition. Playing non stop nearing two hours the band gave us a slice of sweetness presenting an entire 7 minute solo dedicated just to horns that had to have blown out a window or two in the theatre. Hands down, the standout deliveries that bookended the night were the solos by Patches Stewart on the trumpet and Brian on piano. Patches led us down a dream like the Pied Piper himself, beautifully whisking away under the sound of his meticulous tonal manipulations.
Rounding out the night Culbertson brought the audience to its knees with something beyond genius when he played the piano backwards without disruption or error.
A standing ovation in tow, they ended but the crowded cheered the band into an ever so appropriate encore.
Play that funky music white boy.
Pipeline backers were lobbying the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers long before the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was told of the route. CEO Kelcy Warren is a top donor to Republican Donald Trump, who has vowed to ease "roadblocks" for large infrastructure projects like Dakota Access.The backers of the Dakota Access Pipeline are spending more money on lobbying firms and on politicians, a sign of the high stakes battle over the $3.8 billion project.
Energy Transfer Partners spent $790,000 on two Washington, D.C., firms in all of 2015, according to disclosure reports. But so far this year, the expenditures have jumped to $950,000 -- and there's still one more quarter in 2016 to go.
When lobbying fees for Sunoco Logistics Partners , another Dakota Access entity, are included, the tally grows even higher. If the spending continues at the current pace, pipeline backers will exceed the $1.25 million they paid in 2015.
The increase is not a coincidence. It comes as the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is engaged in its own lobbying effort to defeat the costly pipeline , which comes within a half-mile of the reservation and threatens sacred sites, burial grounds and water resources.
Two firms in Washington, D.C., have been paid $950,000 so far this year to lobby for the Dakota Access Pipeline. Source: Senate Office of Public Records
But while the #NoDAPL movement has widespread support in Indian Country, Dakota Access has clearly won the lobbying race. So far this year, the tribe has only spent $80,000 on one firm and that figure includes expenditures on issues besides the pipeline, according to disclosure reports.
Dakota Access in fact has been lobbying the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for years -- long before the tribe was made aware of the route. According to the reports, AUX Initiatives, LLC has been hired for the sole purpose of ensuring "compliance" with agency policy.
Compliance apparently is costly -- AUX Initiatives was paid $380,000 in 2015 and has been paid $590,000 so far this year to lobby the Army Corps. The agency's role has become extremely important because a key easement remains under review -- without it, the pipeline can't transport oil along the current route.
But Dakota Access hasn't put all of its crude in one basket. Daryl Owen Associates, Inc has been hired to lobby another branch of the U.S. government -- Congress.
The same two lobbying firms were paid $790,000 in 2015, before Indian Country rallied behind the #NoDAPL movement. Source: Senate Office of Public Records
According to the reports, Daryl Owen has been focusing on legislation that could have put a crimp in the project. Late this summer, as the #NoDAPL movement gained steam, Democrats were trying to include anti-pipeline amendments to the Water Resources Development Act, a national water bill.
The $360,000 spent on Daryl Owen so far this year appears to have paid off. Republicans refused to add the #NoDAPL amendments to H.R.5303 and S.2848 and both bills passed the House and the Senate , respectively, last month.
And when it comes to elections, Dakota Access is winning the money race there too. Energy Transfer Partners has formed a political action committee (PAC) as well as a "527" organization , which can raise unlimited funds, all in an effort to influence who gets to serve in the House and the Senate.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics , a non-partisan group, Energy Transfer's PAC has spent almost all of its money on Republican politicians so far in the 2016 election cycle. Recipients include Republicans who serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee , the committees with authority over the Water Resources Development Act.
In comparison, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has spent $80,000 on one lobbying firm in 2016, a figure that includes expenditures on issues other than the Dakota Access Pipeline. Source: Senate Office of Public Records
In the 2014 cycle, the PAC spent nearly 80 percent of its money on Republicans, including Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), who at the time was seeking a second term in office. He received $1,500, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and is now one of the biggest defenders of Dakota Access.
Cramer is running for a third term and his Democratic opponent is Chase Iron Eyes , a Standing Rock citizen who has made Dakota Access an issue on the campaign trail.
As with the lobbying spending, Dakota Access political expenditures in the 2016 cycle are on track to meet or exceed those from 2014. Those efforts appear largely to be funded by executives from Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco.
Energy Transfer's CEO Kelcy Warren too has poured millions of dollars of his money into elections. According to the Center for Responsive Politics , he donated a whopping $6 million to a political action committee that supported Rick Perry , a former governor of Texas and two-time failed Republican presidential candidate. Energy Transfer is based in Texas
The Energy Transfer Partners political action committee donates mainly to Republicans, represented in the bar graph in red. Source: Center for Responsive Politics
But with his candidate out of the race, Warren is now supporting Donald Trump . He is one of the Republican presidential nominee's top five wealthy donors, according to Capital Research Center
In his first 100 days in office , Trump has vowed to remove the Obama administration's "roadblocks" to large-scale infrastructure projects like Dakota Access.
"We have roadblocks like you have never ever seen: environmental blocks, structural blocks," Trump said in Pennsylvania on Saturday . "We are going to allow the Keystone Pipeline and so many other things to move forward."
"Tremendous numbers of jobs, and good for our country," Trump added as the crowd applauded, echoing arguments advanced by backers of Dakota Access.
Forbes places Warren's net worth at $3.8 billion , making him number 150 on the list of 400 wealthiest Americans.
Dakota Access Pipeline Lobbying Disclosure Reports for 2016:
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Scientists at Philip Morris are experimenting and searching for cigarettes that are not life threatening! Well it is a good news that researchers are actually looking for alternatives of tobacco that are not harmful and will be known as IQOS an acronym for "I quit ordinary smoking".
Though IQOS is already a big hit in Japan and some parts of Europe, it basically smoothly heats the tobacco without burning it, producing a warm, nicotine-laced vaporizer. The product is expected to reach America next year, though it might not claim that it is safer than regular cigarettes.
IQOS will have to pass one more hurdle with the Food and Drug Administration before it can be marketed as safer.
rapgenius.com
The taste and nicotine intake of IQOS closer to that of ordinary cigarettes than e-cigarettes, the company says.Andre Calantzopoulos, the chief executive officer of Philip Morris International told that quitting old-fashioned smokes wont be easy for tobacco companies or their stakeholders. Philip Morris turned out 850 billion cigarettes last year, generating net revenue of about $74 billion.
All that tobacco pays off handsomely for global investors: Counting dividends, the companys stock has returned roughly 70 per cent over the past five years.
huffpost.com
Mitch Zeller, director for the FDAs Center for Tobacco Products said, We are aware of the history of the tobacco industry, but our job is to take the sciences they have submitted and objectively evaluate what their data is and how far it goes to addressing the mandatory statutory standards,
Philip Morris is certainly not alone in this race. BAT, Reynolds, Altria Group and Japan Tobacco are all working on a variety of products. The race is not money, but time, Andre Calantzopoulos, the chief executive officer of Philip Morris International revealed.
www.gannett-cdn.com
Philip Morris campus in Switzerland is even trying hard to first make it's campus smoke free to project a post-cigarette image.The main building has three sections: Earth, Wind and Air. Fire is missing. Indeed, e-cigarettes and IQOS have caught on among the companys former smokers. Jacek Olczak, the chief financial officer, said iQOS helped him quit regular cigarettes.
Im extremely happy, he said. My company solves my own problem, and I can make money off of it.
Almost everyone in the industry knows the fact that the road ahead for Big Tobacco will be long. Public health officials, and many ordinary people, are very much aware of the industry and its intentions.
This change wont be that easy but we should be happy with the fact that someone is trying hard to make this world a better place to live!
As much as 10,000 schools in India will now have free access to unlimited data, all thanks to the IT@School project. The project runs in association with the state-owned BSNL to set free Wi-Fi services across schools with unlimited data and the speed of 2Mbps.
gyanasthali
The project will start facilitating in all government and aided schools from this academic year.
Officially kick-starting on 1st of November, the project has been providing free services to 5,000 schools and educational offices since 2007.
"With the addition of broadband internet provision to primary section, the state's school internet network (with 100% coverage and over 15,000 connections) would become the largest of its kind in the country," said K Anvar Sadath, executive director of IT@School.
The information and technology training for all the teachers will start from Tuesday, allowing them to understand the nitty-gritty of the subject. Furthermore, the institute also plans to introduce a comprehensive digital content collection, exclusively developed for primary schools.
urbannewsdigest
The lower classes will now have an additional book to study, the Kalipetti. ( For class 1-4)
"This step would mark the beginning of improving IT infrastructure in primary section, as an extension of the High-Tech School programme through which classes from 8 to 12 are being upgraded with the aid of information and communication technology (ICT) tools," said education minister C Raveendranath.
All the installations will be completed by the end of March, and as much as 40% by the end of December 2016.
indiapalette
And not just that, the institute also plans to set up a call centre for all the issues related to the installation and functioning of these services in the school.
"The BSNL is keen to empower students through digital networks and we have embarked on the journey with the IT@School project in 2007. This time we are offering the lowest rate - Rs 5,000 per year including service tax," said R Mani, chief general manager, BSNL (Kerala circle).
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is on the boil once again following the mysterious disappearance of Najeeb Ahmed a first-year biotechnology student who has been missing from Mahi Mandavi Hostel since October 15 allegedly after being thrashed by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
Nine days have passed, but there is no information on the whereabouts of the 27-year-old from Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh who had joined the hostel a fortnight ago.
The varsity administration did not even file a case with the police in this regard or even find it necessary to inform his local guardian.
Cops took up the matter for investigation after the students mother Fatima Nafees, lodged an FIR on October 16 at PS Vasant Kunj North police station under section 365 IPC (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person).
To trace the missing student, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising over a dozen different police teams have been formed and dispatched to different locations. The police have also increased the cash reward for giving information/clue about the missing student from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
We have flashed WT Messages for all India information of police, uploaded details on ZIP Net, circulated Hue & Cry Notice, informed NCRB and CBI/Missing Section and informed Doordarshan and newspapers for publicity, said Ishwar Singh, deputy commissioner of police, South District.
The prestigious university earlier hit headlines for wrong reasons in February 9 this year when controversial slogans were allegedly raised during an event which according to the university was organised to commemorate the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Here are eight controversies that prove JNU under siege in recent past:
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
The then JNU Students Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested on sedition charges for taking part in the controversial event that held at the university campus on February 9 evening against capital punishment.
The event was held despite the university administration withdrawing permission for the event shortly before it was due to begin, due to protests by members of the ABVP.
The event saw clashes between various student groups. A small group of individuals, whom a later investigation described as outsiders to the university wearing masks, shouted anti-India slogans. The slogans were criticised by many individuals, including political leaders and students of JNU.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
Three other students Rama Naga, Anant Prakash and Ashutosh Kumar were also charged with sedition for allegedly taking part in the controversial gathering but they were not arrested.
The arrests drew heavy criticism from many sections of the society on the grounds that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was attempting to silence political dissent.
Thousands of students, faculty and staff protested the arrest at JNU, and classes at the university were stopped for several days. The arrest was also criticised by a number of prominent scholars internationally.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
Amidst then raging JNU row, a BJP MLA stoked controversy by alleging that the premier university is a hub of sex and drugs where over 3,000 used condoms and 2,000 liquor bottles are daily found.
Gyandev Ahuja, BJP MLA from Ramgarh in Rajasthans Alwar district, alleged that those studying in JNU were indulging in all these illicit activities.
More than 10,000 butts of cigarettes and 4,000 pieces of beedis are found daily in the JNU campus. 50,000 big and small pieces of bones are left by those eating non-vegetarian food. They gorge on meat... these anti-nationals. 2,000 wrappers of chips and namkeen are found, as also 3,000 used condoms the misdeeds they commit with our sisters and daughters there. And 500 used contraceptive injections are also found.
Besides this, 2,000 liquor bottles as also over 3,000 beer cans and bottles are daily detected in the campus, he claimed. Who drinks it? Takes a guess, he said.
The BJP MLA went on to claim that ...the students in JNU indulge in peace protests in the mornings and during the nights, they perform obscene dance.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
3. JNU, a den of organised sex racket, says a dossier
A dossier called JNU a den of organised sex racket was submitted to the university administration allegedly by a section of professors last year.
The 200-page document, which was prepared by a group of 11 JNU teachers in 2015, was reportedly released recently to a few journalists.
Students have also demanded the administration to take immediate action against a section of teachers who were allegedly involved in circulation of the dossier that spread discrimination against students from North-East and female activists at the campus.
The administration should stop protecting hate campaigners who distribute anti-Dalit, anti-women, and anti-minority dossiers at the university premises, Pandey said, adding strict actions should be taken against them.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
4. Restrictions on public meetings
The JNU administration in the aftermath of the February 9 event had introduced new rules for students who want to organise events to ensure JNU ki reputation badnaam na ho (JNUs reputation is not harmed).
The new rules formulated by the Dean of Students (DoS) says all students who are interested in organising public meetings or other events in the campus would be required to ensure that all participants provide their details including their name, the institution to which they belong, their mobile number and address.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
In addition, the entire proceeding of each programme would be video recorded and the JNU security would be empowered to check identity cards of all participants.
The organisers would be required to provide a list of participants with details in the DoS office and the IHA (Inter Hall Administration) after the completion of the programme.
While Associate DoS Buddha Singh said the new rules have been introduced to ensure JNU ki reputation badnaam na ho, the students community slammed it alleging it is an outright attempt to curb the debate culture of the university. The administration is trying to strangle the democratic culture of free debates and discussions in JNU, said Rama Naga, former general secretary of the JNUSU.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
5. Proposal for short-term yoga and culture courses
Following various communications from the HRD Ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC), the JNU had last year circulated a draft of three courses among its various schools and departments for their feedback.
According to the proposed draft, the course on Indian culture aimed at expounding the importance of the countrys culture as well as exploring the etymological, social, spiritual, cultural and mythological aspects and establishing Indian values in the world.
The course states the draft will contain the texts, thoughts and traditions of different cultures and include things like religious systems in Indian culture among others. Besides, it will have portions from Vedas and selections from epics and Jatakas and suggestions on readings of Hindu epics like the Ramayana.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
There will be basic study of Indian culture to establish Indian rituals and values in the world and derive ways from these sources to make human life better, it said. The document further said Indian culture cannot be understood without the help of Indian literature, which are generally written by sages.
It also suggested reading of the Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita from Gita Press Gorakhpur (a press in Uttar Pradesh that prints Hindu religious texts), Acharya Jaidevs Vedic Sanskriti, Ramdhari Singh Dinkars Sanskriti ke Char Adhyaya, among others.
But the proposal was rejected for the second time by the Academic Council (AC), the universitys statutory decision making body, in on October 9.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
6. Burning of Manusmriti copies
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, including those who had left the ABVP after the February incident, burnt copies of the Manusmriti to protest against derogatory verses in the Hindu religious text on March 9 on the eve of International Women's Day.
The students said they wont tolerate derogatory references made against women in the Manusmriti. Some of the points they mentioned included: (2/213) It is the nature of the women to seduce men in this world, for that reason the wise are never unguarded in the company of females and (2/214) Women, true to their class character, are capable of leading astray men in this world, not only a fool but even a learned and wise man. Both become slaves of desire.
The students raised slogans such as Manuwad ho barbad, Brahmanwad ho barbad and Jatiwad ho barbad.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
A group of students associated with Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI) burnt the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and others, including yoga guru Ramdev, this Dussehra which mark the victory of truth over evil and Indiatimes was the first to report the same.
The students had depicted Modi as Ravan, the symbol of evil. The students also carried a placard with slogans reading: Truth shall prevail over evil. They had also set the effigies of cow vigilantes on fire in the campus, prompting the university administration to issue them a show cause notice and set a probe committee.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
8. Notice Raaj
The university administration has roughly served hundreds of notices to the students so far since the February 9 incident for indulging in different dissenting activities and registering their protests in no-violent manner.
Saying, Tum kitne notice bhejoge?, the students groups have called the handing down of show cause notices and inquiries initiated against them by the JNU administration a Notice Raj in the campus.
Tarique Anwar/Indiatimes
We dont accept such farmans (diktats) and defeat this agenda of the Sangh to turn our universities into prison houses, said Umar Khalid.
Shooting off a letter to the chief proctor appealing him to take serious cognisance into the matter and stop targeting students, JNUSU President Mohit Pandey said, Any attempt to scuttle students right to protest or to shrink democratic spaces by the administration will not be tolerated.
He said the administration should immediately stop sending notices to students for holding protests.
A senior commando of Andhra Pradesh greyhounds, Mohammed Abubakar, who was injured during the gun battle between Greyhounds and Maoists on Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border on Monday morning, succumbed to injuries in a Visakhapatnam hospital today.
DW news
Visakhapatnam (Rural) Superintendent of Police, Rahul Dev Sharma told PTI that the commando succumbed at a hospital here. The deceased Abubacker, along with another senior commando, was injured in the exchange of fire with ultras in Malkangiri district of Odisha on early Monday morning.
Though both injured were brought to hospital in a helicopter from the encounter site and rushed to King George Hospitals, but despite trying their best doctors couldnt save Abubakar whereas the other commnando is still battling for life.
PTI
Abubakar, who hails from Gajuwaka near Visakhapatnam died while undergoing treatment.
Earlier on Monday, 21 Naxals were killed in firing with troopers in a major operation launched by security forces on Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border.
After a gap of nearly five years, women will be permitted to enter the inner sanctum of Haji Ali dargah in Mumbai, albeit through a separate entry. The dargah trust has informed the Supreme Court its decision.
BCCL
"It'll take two more weeks to make structural changes for separate entry and enclosure near the inner sanctum for women," the trust's counsel, senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, said.
The move is seen as an important marker for gender equality after a high court order led to a ban against women entering the sanctum sanctorum of Shani Shingnapur temple in Nashik being withdrawn.
Protests have been lodged against restrictions at other religious places with regard to women on various grounds such as menstruation. Quoting the holy Quran to explain its decision, the Haji Ali dargah trust said in its affidavit, "Islam believes in equality among men and women."
Also Read:'Women Bending To Pray May Show Breasts' - Haji Ali Dargah's Bizarre Argument For Banning Women
Reuters
A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices D Y Chandrachud and L N Rao recorded Subramaniam's submission and disposed of the appeal filed by the trust challenging Bombay HC's August 26 order allowing women to enter the dargah's sanctum sanctorum which houses the tomb of Iranian saint Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari.
Though the trust acceded to the SC's request for taking a "progressive" stand on the issue, submissions made by it could have a bearing on the petitions filed by Muslim women seeking equality for women and requesting the SC to ban unilateral divorce given by men through pronouncement of triple talaq. The women have questioned the claim that triple talaq has the sanction of religious law.
BCCL
The October 11 resolution of the trust said, "The trustees believe in complete equality of men and women as envisaged in Islam and to give effect to the said principle of equality have decided that both men and women shall be allowed to enter the room which houses the sanctum sanctorum of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari right up to the sanctum. However, neither men nor women shall be allowed to touch sanctum sanctorum of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari."
Subramaniam showed to the court the map drawn by an architect engaged by the trust to make structural changes in entry and exit for women into the inner sanctum of the dargah. The court said since it was not interfering with the HC order, it would record the trust's submission and leave it to the HC to ensure compliance of its orders.
The trust requested the court to grant two weeks "to grant access to ladies (sic) into the inner sanctum. Further, a period of four months will be required to redesign the flooring of a part of the area which houses the sanctum sanctorum".
The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it won't reconsider its 1995 judgment in which it defined Hindutva a "a way of life and not a religion."
The SC's statement came on a plea filed by activist Teesta Setalvad who wanted the court to reconsider that judgment even as five states head to the polls next year.
Her plea was to not only redefine Hindutva, but also to ban its use in elections.
AFP
Setalvad's plea also came in the context of the top court already examining a politically explosive question arising out of a separate plea filed in 1990. That question is - Will a religious leader's appeal to his followers to vote for a particular political party amount to electoral malpractice under Section 123 of the Representation of People Act.
BCCL
The SC said today it is not examining the larger issue of whether Hindutva means Hindu religion, and whether the use of Hindutva in elections is permissible. The 7-judge SC bench said it is examining a nexus between religious leaders and candidates and its legality under Section 123 (3) of the Representation of People Act.
The ambit of Section 123(3) of the Representation of People Act, provides for the disqualification of a candidate, if he, or any one on his behalf, is found "promoting or attempting to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of India on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language, for furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate".
templeindia/Representational Image
The 1990 plea the SC is considering is to do with the Maharashtra assembly polls where Shiv Sena and BJP candidates allegedly used two speeches by Bal Thackeray and Pramod Mahajan - both now deceased - to seek votes in the name of Hindutva and the Hindu rashtra. Petitions were filed against many winning candidates of Shiv Sena and BJP in 1990 and the Bombay HC disqualified them.
On appeal, the SC reversed the judgments in all but two cases. One was later dismissed but the other was kept pending.
In a bestial act, a 22-year-old man from Delhi was caught red-handed by locals while he was having sex with the carcass of a pregnant bitch at Shastripuram in Mylardevpally.
The offender confessed to have killed and then had sex with the canine along with another man.
siasat
On Monday Jahangir, a resident of Shastripuram saw Aslam Khan having sex with the carcass of the dog in the bushes of an open plot. Jahangir and the locals thrashed the man and handed him over to police.
Also Read: A Pregnant Stray Dog Was Thrashed, Hung From A Tree And Blinded Using Machetes In Mohali
"Aslam Khan, a resident of Delhi, confessed that he and another man had throttled the dog before performing the sexual act. We have sent the carcass of the pregnant canine to the government veterinary hospital at Rajendranagar for post mortem," Mylardevpally sub-inspector (SI) J Nagachary said.
dogsaholic/representational image
Aslam Khan told police that he came to Hyderabad two days ago from Delhi to meet his friends, who were working as labourers at local factories in Sri Ram Nagar, Pahadisharif.
On Sunday night, Aslam and 10 others consumed liquor at a shop at Katedan. After consuming liquor, they slept near the liquor store.
Also Read: This Heartless Man Allegedly Ran Over A Stray Dog Because It Peed On His Car Tyres!
While other members of the group returned to Sri Ram Nagar for work on Monday morning, Aslam and another man from Bihar went to Shastripuram to fulfil their carnal desires. "Aslam claimed that the other man killed the dog and had sex before him," the SI said.
dollarbail/representational image
Cops shifted Aslam Khan to a government hospital for medical test and registered a case against him and the other man under sections 429 (mischief by killing or maiming an animal) and 377 (unnatural offence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
An angry Supreme Court slammed loans defaulter Vijay Mallya for not making a full disclosure of his foreign assets, as per its order, and gave him an additional four weeks to do so.
BCCL
The Supreme Court specifically asked Mallya to disclose what he did with the $40 million (about Rs. 265 crore) he received from Diageo, a British company, that bought the liquor baron's United Spirits Ltd (USL).
"We dont find answer from your reply on 40 million dollar(s). We are not happy with the way you filed the statement," the court said.
"We are prima facie of view that Mallya has not made proper disclosure of assets as per our order, his response is vague," the court added.
Reuters
The amount was paid to Mallya as part of a larger payout deal signed in February this year, according to which he was to receive $75 million over a five-year period in exchange for stepping down as the non-executive chairman of USL. Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi said today that Mallya had stashed the money in a Swiss Bank.
Mallya, who owes over Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India, left India this March. He's currently said to be in the UK, and has defied several court orders to return home.
Pakistani authorities have frozen over 5,100 accounts of terror suspects, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), local media reported.
AFP
According to officials, these accounts carry a net amount of over Rs 400 million.
"The names of around 1,200 of these suspects, whose accounts were frozen by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), were listed in category 'A' of the ATA, a term used for terrorists who pose an exceptional or high risk," officials said.
"Masood Azhar's name was listed in category 'A'," officials said. The officials said the Pak government had put Azhar under "protective custody" after terrorists attacked the Pathankot airbase in January.
AFP
"Following the request of the ministry of interior, we have frozen accounts of all top suspected terrorists, including Masood Azhar, son of Allah Bux," the officials said.
The King in the North finally meets the man who drinks and knows things.
We have been blessed with new photos from Game of Thrones's shooting schedule in Spain and it's becoming difficult to contain our excitement! For the Dothraki have arrived in Westeros; Jon and Tyrion have shaken hands; allies have been made.
Basically people, 'The Song of Ice and Fire' is finally being sung. FINALLY!
THERE. THEY. ARE!
vantagenews
Surrounded by the Dothraki contingent, this scene was long time coming!
xposurephotos
The Starks, the Lannisters, and the Dothrakis - ready to take the fight to the throne!
vantagenews
With Ser Davos, discussing some possible strategy?
xposurephotos
You can't miss Snow wearing glasses!
xposurephotos
Khaleesi's men arrive. Where's their Queen?
vantagephotos
Snow arrives! From where, though? Again, where's Khaleesi?
xposurephotos
Battle-ready Snow examines an Arakh!
xposurephotos
Aaaaaaand...wait for it...THERE SHE IS!
The Sun
All cast members in one frame.
Look Press/Avalon
Winter is coming.
At a time when trust has become a rare entity in the world, we seldom come across people who are quite generous, even to strangers. Now think about Iraq, as a country and as a civilization, the place and its people, who have seen Baghdad, Mosul and Tikrit being destroyed several times by the foreign invaders. The resilient Iraqis rebuild their cities and begin their lives afresh after every catastrophe. Another thing that they do - not stopping their belief in humanity and being nice to the strangers. This is what a new global index of charitable giving has revealed.
Iraq is the world's most generous country towards strangers in need. Yes, you read it right about the war-torn country.
Al Jazeera America
In a global poll commissioned by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), eighty one per cent of Iraqis reported helping someone they didn't know.
Iraq is followed by another another country facing civil war - Libya - where people still believe that helping strangers should not be forgotten, even if you are facing a national unrest for almost a decade. Surprisingly, Somalia, that has been engaged in a civil war for the last 25 years in the fourth state in the list.
It is interesting to note that unperturbed by suffering, instability and violence, Iraq has twice been ranked top in terms of helping strangers.
Orange County Register
"I think that the lesson here is societies are incredibly resilient and that large scale disasters tend to activate a collective humanitarian response," Adam Pickering, international policy manager at CAF, told Reuters.
The survey has also found out the Myanmar is at the top in terms of donations to charity. Nine out of ten surveyed people said that had they given during the previous month.
Myanmar also retained its position for the third year at the top of the World Giving Index - a combined measure of respondents reporting help to strangers, donations of money and time spent volunteering.
The report said the generous giving reflected the practice of "Sangha Dana", where the Myanmar's Theravada Buddhist majority donate to support those living a monastic lifestyle.
siddhimedan.com
Meanwhile, the US ranked second on the combined measure of generosity. The World Giving Index is based on data collected form a global poll conducted in 140 countries by market research firm Gallup.
While the Indians crib about our posts not being delivered timely by the Indian Postal Services, the Australia Post took more than 50 years to deliver a postcard and now they have apologised for the inconvenience.
Australiapost
Australia Post has apologised for the inconvenience after delivering a postcard from a South Pacific island a over a 50 years after it was sent.
A couple living in Adelaide found the postcard from the French Polynesian island of Tahiti in their letterbox, postmarked 1966. According to The Adelaide Advertiser, the slightly faded postcard was addressed to Robert Giorgio from Chris in 1966.
The postcard also has a scene from the Papeete waterfront, including the distinctive Bloc Donald building, which was the main feature in many Australian postcards in 1950s. featured on many postcards of the 1950s.
Australiapost
Chris wrote: enjoying myself greatly, despite the very humid weather. The stamp on the postcard cost 13 francs.
Tim Duffy, the resident of Wattle Park found the postcard beneath a water bill on Monday and believed Giorgio may have been the propertys original owner.
It is clear something went wrong 50 years ago after the postcard was posted in French Polynesia, and we apologise for the inconvenience, an Australian Post spokesman told the Advertiser. Australia Post takes great pride in the timely, safe and efficient delivery of mail and we are confident that the vast majority of mail and parcels arrive on time.
Pleased with the Indian army slamming the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, cinema owners in Pakistan said they plan to lift their self-imposed ban on the screening of Indian films, the owner of a leading theatre told The Express Tribune.
AP
"Indian Army's statement is a good enough evidence for the change in perspective on the other side of the border. So is the release of Fawad Khan's film in India," said one cinema owner who attended a meeting of theatre owners held on Sunday.
Also Read: Army Officials Upset Over Politics Over ADHM And MNS Charging Rs 5 Crore For Pak Actors
The person quoted was referring to the film 'Ae Dil hai Mushkil', which stars Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. Mumbai police and Indian government officials assured the film's director Karan Johar that his movie can be released safely.
Alissa Everett Photography/representational image
Pakistani theatre owners had suspended screening Indian films after the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA), earlier this month, banned Pakistani artists and technicians from working in India. IMPPA's decision followed last month's cross border Uri terror attack that killed 19 soldiers.
AFP
The owner of a leading distribution company told The Express Tribune that resuming the screening of Indian films is something that had to be done because Pakistani "cinemas relied heavily on Bollywood movies for their revenue."
The Lagos State Police Command on Monday arraigned a 41-year-old businessman, Olawunmi Oladele, at an Ikeja Magistrates Court for allegedly fighting and beating two policewomen.
Oladele, residing at Fagba area of Lagos, is being tried for breach of peace and assault.
The Prosecutor, Insp. George Nwosu, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Oct. 12 at Iju in Agege, near Lagos.
He alleged that the accused and one other person now at large, unlawfully assaulted two policewomen Insp. Patricia Okhide and Sgt. Funmilayo Adeamo, fighting and beating them while they were performing their lawful duties.
Nwosu told court that the accused allegedly obstructed the complainants from arresting one Mrs Kemi Saka now at large.
The complainants were controlling traffic when they arrested Saka for blocking the road with her car and prevented other road users to have right of way.
They ordered Saka to follow them to the station but the accused who was only a passerby, stopped and interrupted, telling Saka not to obey their instructions.
In the process, Saka escaped with her car and the accused was arrested but he resisted arrest and was beating and fighting the police women in order to avoid arrest.
Nwosu said the offences contravened Sections 166 and 172 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The section 172 prescribes four-year jail term for offenders if found guilty.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.
The Magistrate, Mr A.A. Adesanya, granted the accused bail in the sum of N50, 000 with two sureties in like sum.
Adesanya adjourned the case till Dec. 7 for mention.
A leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa State, Mr. Bello Bina, has lambasted some anti-Governor Seriake Dickson politicians for alleging that he was romancing with the All Progressives Congress.
Bina, who declared his loyalty to the PDP and Dickson, said his presence during the last weeks inspection tour by the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, to Brass Local Government Area, had nothing to do with romancing with the APC.
Bina, who is the Chairman of the local government, said his presence at the tour of the minister was purely to point out the breach of protocol of her visit by neither informing the Governor nor the council.
He stated that the claims of those involved in the campaign of calumny against his administration of the council were frivolous and born out of bellyaching.
Bina, who spoke at a news conference in Yenagoa on Sunday, said his open expression of displeasure to the minister was meant to affirm the superiority of Dickson as the Chief Security Officer of the state.
He stated, The PDP is in charge of the state and the local government area. I have taken charge of Brass LGA as a PDP chairman and the achievements I have made so far were because of the exemplary support of the state governor.
Maybe some of the anti-PDP forces linking me with the APC are expecting me to kill the opposition before they will confirm my loyalty. As a council chairman, I am their father in Brass. These people dont like the present peace I have brought to reign in Brass. I keep saying it that the PDP has brought development to Brass.
These politicians, involved in campaign of calumny, stay in Government House and spread false rumour. It is because I was not nominated by them and that Governor in his wisdom found me worthy and appointed me.
I am just like a single stick standing in the forest. If anyone has anything to say against me, they should come to Brass and show their popularity.
Source: Punch
The Resident Doctors Association, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital chapter, has called off its strike.
The chairman of the association, Dr. Ade Faponle, in an interview with our correspondent in Ilorin on Monday said the members called off the strike following interventions by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; the Emir of Shonga, Dr. Haliru Yahaya; and other prominent and well-meaning Nigerians.
He said that Saraki and others had assured them that their grievances and demands would be looked into.
He added that the strike was also called off in the interest of patients who had been suffering as a result of the impasse.
He stated that the strike was called off on Monday while members of the association would resume work on Tuesday (tomorrow).
Faponle said, We called off the strike because of the intervention of the Senate President and other prominent Nigerians such as the Emir of Shonga and others; and also for the sake of the patients.
We are hoping that what is ours will come to us. We have received assurances from the high quarters that we will get our due. The strike was called off today (Monday). We will resume work from tomorrow (Tuesday.)
We have just got assurances, particularly from the Senate President. There has been no tangible offer yet.
Source: Punch
How will Black Sea Situation Play Out Long Term? Banghart Properties - Mon Oct 31, 9:16PM CDT How high or low will the grain markets go from the Black Sea Situation?
Cotton Settles Red on Monday Barchart - Mon Oct 31, 4:45PM CDT A wide ranged session from +133 points to -168 points ultimately settled with Dec cotton 11 points in the red at 72 c/lb flat. The other front months traded similarly, but closed weaker with losses of... CTZ22 : 73.53 (+2.12%) CTH23 : 73.14 (+2.09%) CTK23 : 73.28 (+1.99%)
Cattle Close Weaker on Monday Barchart - Mon Oct 31, 4:45PM CDT October fat cattle futures dropped $3.60 on Monday to expire at $146.77. The other front months closed firmer with losses limited to 52 cents. Feeder cattle closed Monday down by 25 cents to $1 in the... LEZ22 : 152.475s (-0.34%) LEG23 : 155.825s (-0.32%) LEJ23 : 159.075s (-0.09%) GFX22 : 177.625s (-0.14%) GFF23 : 179.450s (-0.51%)
Mixed Monday for Hog Market Barchart - Mon Oct 31, 4:45PM CDT Lean hog futures ended the Monday round of trading with a 40 cent loss in Feb and a $1.17 loss for December. The other front months closed with $0.85 to $1.02 gains. That widened Aprils premium to Dec... HEZ22 : 84.925s (-1.36%) HEJ23 : 93.600s (+0.97%) KMZ22 : 95.475s (-0.68%)
Double Digit Gains for Corn Barchart - Mon Oct 31, 4:45PM CDT Corn futures worked lower off their initial strength out of the weekend to close the gaps. July futures met their objective but the nearby contracts left just a little room on their daily charts. The afternoon... ZCZ22 : 692-2 (unch) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.8247 (+1.57%) ZCH23 : 697-0 (unch) ZCK23 : 696-0 (unch)
Soy Futures Gain on Monday Barchart - Mon Oct 31, 4:45PM CDT Beans closed the first trade day of the week with double digit gains of at least 1% in the front months. November got above its $14/bu mark for the closing bell on a 1.39% gain. Meal futures faded back... ZSX22 : 1420-0 (+0.92%) ZSPAUS.CM : 13.7181 (+1.75%) ZSF23 : 1433-0 (+0.95%) ZSH23 : 1440-6 (+0.93%)
Guardian Storage, which operates 15 self-storage facilities in Colorado and Pennsylvania, hosted a ground-breaking ceremony on Oct. 19 for its new property in Robinson Township, Pa. Company representatives were joined by city officials and guests. Slated to open in June, the facility will be the operators 15th location in the greater Pittsburgh area.
The site at 401 Coraopolis Road was a former A-1 Self Storage facility. Guardian Storage President Steve Cohen was approached about acquiring the property more than a year ago, according to a company press release. The original plan was to continue renting storage space and complete renovations over time, but Guardian found the 40-year-old structures werent properly maintained and didnt meet current building codes and standards.
The company demolished the existing buildings in September after relocating the facilitys nearly 400 tenants. Rather than hauling tons of debris to a landfill, almost all of the materials have been recycled on site to be used in the construction of the new buildings, the release stated.
As Guardian Storage continues to grow, we remain committed to delivering the same high-quality storage solutions at new locations like Robinson, Cohen said. Part of that commitment is creating storage spaces that are not only attractive, but also efficient and environmentally friendly through sustainable building practices.
All of the concrete slabs were crushed on site, reducing the product to a size that could be re-used as a base material for utility bedding and asphalt pavement. This approach saved the excavation and hauling of hundreds of tons of limestone from a quarry. In addition, bituminous pavement was crushed to be used as base material for the new pavement throughout the property, while dead, overgrown trees were chipped to be used as mulch throughout the project.
Previous attempts to bring a Guardian Storage property to Robinson Township did not work out, so were very glad the third times the charm in this case, Cohen said. Were excited about the location because of the rapid and recent growth in the area as well as its high visibility along [Interstate] 79 and [Pennsylvania] Route 51.
The new facility will include one three-story building comprising 75,700 square feet and a two-story building totaling 43,640 square feet. Itll be Guardians first facility to offer climate-controlled drive-up units, the release stated. Customer amenities will include a meeting room, free Wi-Fi, and a business center with a fax machine and copier services.
We go above and beyond when it comes to customer service to ensure an easy, convenient and supportive experience for each and every customer, Cohen said.
Local organizations, financial institutions and government leaders involved in the project included Bridges Construction, Desmone Architects, First Commonwealth Bank and the Robinson Township Council and administration.
Established in Pittsburgh in 1987, Guardian Storage operates 12 facilities in Pennsylvania and three in Colorado. It began construction last month on a large expansion project at its property in Monroeville, Pa., and has another facility under development in Hampton, Pa.
Participants at the ground-breaking ceremony included (left to right): Doug Keeter, membership
director, Pittsburgh Airport Chamber of Commerce; Jeffrey Silka, township manager, Robinson
Township; Rachel Susko, assistant township manager, Robinson Township; Nancy Cohen; Steven
Cohen, president, Guardian Storage; John Clingan, vice president and senior commercial real
estate lender, First Commonwealth Bank; Bill Krahe, development partner, Guardian Storage;
and Jeff Michelson, LEED green associate and project designer, Desmone Architects.
Metro Storage LLC, which operates 120 self-storage properties in 12 states, has purchased a parcel of land for $5.2 million in Carlstadt, N.J., on which it plans to build a three-story facility. The nearly 4-acre industrial site at 765 Route 17 is in Wood-Ridge, a borough in Bergen County. It was formerly occupied by ENER-G Rudox, a company that makes generators. The existing building will be demolished, according to the source.
The seller, Janard Management Services Inc., considered marketing the property for other uses, including industrial, multi-family and retail, but self-storage seemed the best fit, according to David Thurston, a director in the Saddle Brook, N.J., office of commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap. Thurston represented both parties in the transaction.
The deal reflects a growing interest in redevelopment along New Jersey Route 17 in South Bergen, Thurston said. Land for development is scarce in Paramus, another borough in the county, forcing developers to look elsewhere for larger opportunities to build, he told the source.
ENER-G Rudox was founded in 1949 as Rudox. It merged with ENER-G, a British company, in 2013. The company recently moved to a new plant in East Rutherford, N.J., which serves as its North American headquarters.
Headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., Metro Storage is a privately owned, fully integrated real estate operating company specializing in the acquisition, development and management of self-storage facilities nationwide. Its facilities comprise more than 8.1 million square feet of storage space.
Founded in 1971, Marcus & Millichap employs more than 1,500 investment professionals in offices throughout Canada and the United States. The firm closed more than 8,700 transactions in 2015 with a value of approximately $37.8 billion.
The Vernon Township, Pa., Zoning Hearing Board unanimously denied a variance appeal from property owner Wayne Karastury that would have enabled self-storage to be built at 13211 Conneaut Lake Road. Karastury had proposed a 10-building project comprising 435 units, but the plan required a zoning variance because self-storage isnt listed as a permissible or conditional use in the district.
Ashley Porter, president of Porter Consulting Engineers, presented Karasturys case to the board, arguing the property was poorly suited for other uses. Board members were presented with several letters from neighboring property owners who supported the project, the source reported. With the absence of public sewer, youre limited in what you can do with the property, Karastury told the board, describing the lot as an open field with a bunch of weeds.
Two self-storage operators spoke against the variance, arguing it would provide an unfair, competitive advantage since they had been denied similar project requests. I am not against additional self-storage development. Were not trying to keep self-storage out of the area, said Bill Kingzett, who owns Meadville Self Storage in Vernon Township and Conneaut Lake Self Storage in Sadsbury Township, Pa. What were against is somebody entering into the market on a different playing field than what we were required to do.
Jennifer Bryer, who co-owns AmeriStorage Self Storage, which has locations in Vernon Township and Woodcock Township, Pa., told the board her company recently sold a piece of property similar to Karasturys because zoning didnt allow self-storage. Were off of a side road because we had to be, Bryer said.
The board ruled that the variance denial wouldnt cause Karastury an unnecessary hardship, according to the source. He has 30 days to file an appeal with the Crawford County Court of Common Pleas.
Interest from big players like BlackRock and TPG could help to create more robust metrics around socially responsible investing.
Theresa Whitmarsh knows that measuring an investments sustainability or social impact is easier said than done.
Whitmarsh is executive director of the Washington State Investment Board, which two years ago approved an investment belief asking portfolio companies and external managers to improve their disclosure of climate-related impacts on performance. Since taking this step toward evaluating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, the $108.5 billion retirement system has worked with other institutional investors to find and develop reliable metrics. But progress has been slow, Whitmarsh admits: We have to tread carefully so that we can keep our fiduciary responsibilities and investment goals aligned.
Growing institutional interest in socially responsible investing (SRI), which takes ESG factors into account, could speed things up. Through their ESG teams, blue-chip asset managers like BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors have started playing a bigger role in industry groups that push for better standards, a move that will help to set benchmarks, Whitmarsh predicts.
In September it was reported that TPG Growth, the $7 billion venture capital arm of private equity giant TPG Capital, is joining forces with global impact investing firm Elevar Equity to launch the Rise Fund. This new vehicle, which will make socially responsible investments and work with a partner network to establish metrics, aims to allocate as much as $1 billion.
I think we are absolutely at an inflection point, says Yovanka Bylander, Americas head of ESG solutions for Institutional Shareholder Services, the worlds largest provider of corporate governance and responsible investment solutions. Our clients are getting questions on SRI/ESG every day now, Bylander adds. That to me is indicative that were moving in a certain direction.
After seeing the WSIB and other institutions pressure companies to be more transparent, the Securities and Exchange Commission included sustainability factors in its recent proposal for changes to corporate disclosure, she observes. The regulator is considering asking businesses to report on potential risks related to climate change, resource scarcity, and human rights, among others.
There are now big discrete allocations being made to SRI/impact, which is a change from a few years ago, says Elevar co-founder and managing director Sandeep Farias. His outfit has attracted money from venture capital firms like Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital and from foundations such as the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and the Omidyar Network.
Elevar may want to make the world a better place, but it also intends to make money. Within the SRI space you often hear of funds that are impact-first, which we totally understand, Farias says. Elevar prefers to look for companies that deliver both impact and commercialization: If we see trade-offs between the two, we tend not to make those investments.
The firm is more likely to invest in, say, a community bank focused on low-income individuals than in a fully commercialized company that donates to a cause. Its ideal target has created a tailor-made product or service that is scalable. We want to find those entrepreneurs who really understand their business and what they want the outcomes to be, Farias explains.
With that in mind, measuring a deals likelihood of commercial success and positive social impact is crucial. Elevar is reportedly collaborating with TPG Growth and Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit advisory firm whose expertise includes impact investing, on a metrics and monitoring process for the Rise Fund.
One of the challenges with the metrics for these investments is how do you create benchmarks that can be applied universally? Farias says. There are industry-specific issues; there are geographical issues its not one size fits all.
Risk factors related to the environment and social responsibility are harder to quantify than governance risks, so metrics for them are less developed. So far, the WSIB has played to its strengths as a founding member of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII), an association of pension funds that presses companies to govern themselves better.
Thats why our climate investment belief is focused on disclosure, because we are too far removed from the underlying assets to fully know what the environmental impact is, the WSIBs Whitmarsh explains. Climate is just one example. We could talk about labor issues in the supply chain or inclusive capitalism or any number of concerns.
ISS Bylander believes the key to success in SRI will be for managers and investors to take an incremental approach. Some managers have run into trouble because they rushed to respond to a request for a product but lacked the resources to maintain it, she says. Or when investors try to dive into SRI all at once and dont fully understand the massive culture shift that requires, then it becomes overwhelming.
Whitmarsh agrees. There is a big push from the active management industry to come to market with products, and some institutions have invested so that they can say they are aligning with SRI/ESG principles, she says, noting that the WSIB prefers to think long-term. Ultimately, what we want to be able to do is incorporate the evaluation of SRI/ESG principles into our fundamental investment analysis so it becomes part of our standard process, but we arent there yet.
The Treasury has appointed a new director general for its financial services division, effective immediately, it was announced today.Katharine Braddick becomes the most senior advisor to the Chancellor on the financial services and insurance industry, which makes up 8% of the UK economy, as the UK negotiates a new deal with the European Union in the wake of the Brexit vote.As the new director general, Braddick will be responsible for all issues relating to financial services, the financial system and financial stability at the Treasury, it said in a release today.Braddick takes the helm after joining the department on secondment from the Bank of England in 2014, and leaves her current role as director for financial services (International and EU).As director of financial services she led on the development and negotiation of financial services policy in the EU and international fora, and the international competitiveness of the UK in financial services, the Treasury said.Braddick won the position after beating external competition, and was appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commissioner and with the approval of the Chancellor.She replaces Charles Roxburgh, who was appointed Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury in June.Related Stories:
Cost containment and maintaining adequate cash flow are among the main concerns of businesses in the Asia Pacific, a recent report by a global provider of trade credit insurance, surety, and collections services has revealed.According to Atradius , businesses in Asia Pacific, a region expected to retain its position as a leader of global growth in the coming years, focus on protecting their receivables portfolio from customers late payment.The Atradius Payment Practices Barometer for Asia Pacific report showed that around 40 per cent of the suppliers surveyed in the region anticipate increasing the use of credit management tools to protect against the late payments of B2B customers over the next year, and about 50 per cent plan to increasingly monitor their customers creditworthiness and payment history.The report revealed that some 90 per cent of respondents in Asia Pacific have experienced late payment of invoices. Due to this, 34 per cent of respondents said they had to take specific measures to correct cash flow and 33 per cent said they had to pay their suppliers late. Twenty-five per cent tapped banks and other sources to gain funds for paying their own creditors, and 22 per cent requested for bank overdraft extension.Said Atradius, this may explain why 20 per cent of respondents in Asia Pacific believe that cost containment and maintaining adequate cash flow will pose the greatest challenges to this years business profitability .Andreas Tesch, chief market officer of Atradius, commented: "Global growth, which is set to expand 2.4 per cent this year (steady with last year) continues to be held back by low commodity prices, insufficient consumer demand in advanced markets, Chinese economic rebalancing, uncertainty surrounding global monetary policy, and geo-political risks. All this gives rise to concerns about increasing debt and deteriorating credit quality, being very likely to cause an increase in corporate bankruptcies in many emerging markets, especially in those depending on trade with China and/or commodities."Eric den Boogert, managing director of Atradius Asia, commented: "Credit conditions across most emerging markets continue to tighten in response to elevated regional and global economic uncertainty. Although economies in Asia Pacific show decent economic growth compared to rest of the world, a record number of companies have seen delayed payments which is also supported by our own claims data.
Exxon Mobil Corp. is headed to a courtroom in New York for the first time to try to block the states demand for accounting documents about how climate change will affect its finances.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, probing whether the company and its accountants tried to hide the risk from investors and the public, sued Exxon and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on Oct. 14 in a bid to force them to comply with a subpoena issued in August. Oral arguments are scheduled for Monday before Justice Barry Ostrager in state court in Manhattan.
Schneiderman seeks files related to PwCs audits of Exxon, including documents about accounting and reporting of oil and gas reserves, evaluation of assets for potential impairment charges or write-downs, energy price projections and projected carbon cost estimates, according to court papers.
The probe was triggered by questions surrounding Exxons decision to forgo a write-down on the value of oil fields during a global collapse in prices. The price drop prompted other producers around the globe to write down the value of assets by about $200 billion since 2014, according to Schneidermans filing.
The attorney general argues investors may have been misled in violation of state law. Exxon is the only major producer that has declined to take impairment charges or write-downs, Katherine Milgram, a lawyer for the attorney general, said in the filing.
Texas Law
Exxons lawyers say adhering to Schneidermans demands would violate the rule protecting accountant-client confidentiality under Texas law, and that New York law cant be applied to the case. Schneiderman argues no such protection exists, according to court papers.
Any resolution by this court will have significant impact on accountants and their clients in the state of Texas, Exxon lawyer Theodore Wells, of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, said in an Oct. 20 filing responding to the suit.
Idalia Hill, a spokeswoman for PwC, said the company has been complying with the original New York subpoena since it was issued last year. While court documents show Exxon has turned over more than 1.2 million documents to New York since then, that cooperation has fizzled in recent months, the attorney general said.
PwC has cooperated with this investigation since first receiving the subpoena, Hill said in a statement. The firm has responded promptly to the request and will continue to do so.
The subpoena is related to larger questions posed by several states over whether Exxon knew decades ago about climate change and failed to alert investors to the financial risks it could pose to the worlds biggest oil explorer by market value. The dispute also triggered a political fight between Schneiderman, a Democrat, and House Republicans who reject climate-change science and seek to use federal authority to derail the probe.
Massachusetts Sued
Exxon sued Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey in federal court in Texas in an effort to block a parallel investigation in that state, claiming she was biased in favor of environmentalists before the probe started. The judge in that case is weighing Exxons demand to add Schneiderman as a defendant to block New Yorks investigation too.
Exxon has so far viewed its untapped oil and gas assets as immune from write-downs because the company expects them to yield value over the long term, Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for the Irving, Texas-based explorer, has said in response to the investigation. The company has said its accounting is in accordance with regulatory standards.
The states want to know if Exxon misled investors by burying internal reports that warned global warming would damage the U.S. economy and the companys assets. The probe is also looking at whether Exxon ignored how global and domestic regulations, such as a carbon tax, might prevent it from tapping valuable reserves that are listed on its books, and whether Exxon has accounted for changes to the industry that will be required under the Paris accord on climate change.
The case is People of the State of New York v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 451962/2016, Supreme Court of the state of New York, County of New York (Manhattan).
Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Topics Texas New York Energy Oil Gas Climate Change
At the American Society of Workers Compensation Professionals (AMCOMP) Fall Meeting held recently in New York, Mark Walls, vice president of communications and strategic analysis at Safety National, and Kimberly George, senior vice president at Sedgwick, discussed a lack of uniformity around state workers compensation that has become an increasing source of concern for the industry.
We need to be asking ourselves what we need to do to mitigate some of these holes and gaps in workers compensation, George said during the panel discussion. It doesnt appear as though a community of the industry is coming together to have that discussion, and we believe this is something that we should all be partaking in and have a voice.
The primary source of concern, the panelists said, is the legal disparity from state-to-state with no one standard for compliance. This has led to an increase in litigation and a lack of clarity around which workers compensation laws are considered constitutional, Walls said.
One of my biggest concerns around workers compensation right now is the types of issues these state courts have found unconstitutional, he said. There are various elements presented in numerous workers compensation statutes around the country, and what all of this litigation has done is laid a road map for attorneys in other states to offer up similar challenges to the constitutionality of workers compensation in their states.
We need to be asking ourselves what we need to do to mitigate some of these holes and gaps in workers compensation.
One reason Walls believes this is a concern is that when a section of the law is declared unconstitutional, it can result in retroactive changes to statutes that have been operating under certain rules and regulations for a number of years, he said, adding to the confusion and complexity of the laws in each state.
All of a sudden, they have to flip the switch and go back and change the rules for claims they have already collected premiums on, and they cant go back and re-collect those premiums, he said.
This can also lead to issues in terms of how workers compensation claims are addressed, he added.
The way employers are defining the scope of employment is blurring dramatically, he said. Theres this question of who is an employee. You can have two employees working for the same company and doing the same job in two different states, and one of them is considered an employee eligible for workers compensation and one isnt. The blurred line between when someone is within the scope of employment and when someone isnt is something that has to be addressed heavily from the regulatory side.
Regulators are beginning to take a closer look at the issue from a federal level, panelists said. In 2015, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a report criticizing state workers compensation systems, Walls said. Additionally, a number of federal lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives issued an open letter last year to U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez urging the Department of Labor to take a critical look at state workers compensation programs. Walls said during the discussion that he believes all of this seems to be gearing the workers compensation industry up to be more closely regulated on a federal level.
There has been talk around coming up with some type of minimum standards for states and penalties for noncompliance, he said. If youre wondering if the federal government will get involved in workers compensation, the answer is probably yes. The next step will likely not happen until after the election, because with two months left in the year, they cant really get started on this. But this is where theyre headed theres no question about it.
That said, George added that additional uniformity in how workers compensation claims are handled can come from changes at the employer level as well.
Employers need to be thinking about benefits as a way to achieve talent attraction and retention and show they care about employees, she said. That can translate from an employee being engaged in health to an employee being engaged at work.
Because employee health is tied to productivity, employers need to be thinking about the best workers compensation model for their company to deliver the best medical care possible to injured workers, she said.
Companies need to shift away from this environment of checking the boxes to being empathetic, listening to employees and focusing on helping injured workers understand the conversation around medical treatment, the pay process and the claims process, she said. There are some ways in which claims are evolving to place much more focus on holistic care. Its difficult to say that when somebody hurts themselves on the job, their mental health and well-being isnt also impacted. Companies need to be more aware of this idea of holistic care, because I dont think it is going away.
Topics USA Legislation Claims Workers' Compensation Talent
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., the worlds second-largest insurer by market value, is undervalued by as much as 45 percent, a senior executive at the company said.
The $94 billion company, whose businesses span insurance, banking and asset management, is trading 25 percent to 45 percent below analyst estimates using a sum-of-the-parts valuation, according to Chief Insurance Business Officer Lee Yuan Siong. Lee said that while integrated finance companies have fallen out of favor in developed markets, the conglomerate discount applied to Ping An has been excessive as Chinas booming internet usage makes it easier for the insurer to acquire new clients and cross-market products.
The conglomerate discount has been too big and significantly underestimates the real value of Ping An, Lee said in an interview from Shanghai. If the market can evaluate us more reasonably and fairly, our market value should increase quite a lot.
Its rare for executives at Asian companies to comment publicly on their valuations. Yet Lees bullish view on Ping An shares is shared by analysts, who assign it the highest consensus rating among regional insurers valued at $10 billion or more. The average price target of HK$51.41 is 26 percent above Mondays closing price.
Ping An rose as much as 1 percent in Hong Kong and traded 0.4 percent higher at HK$40.85 as of 9:57 a.m. local time, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 percent. Its Shanghai-traded shares climbed 0.2 percent.
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Ping An trails only Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in market capitalization. Its shares have fallen 5.1 percent this year in Hong Kong, compared with a 7.5 percent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
The shares are trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.4, about one-third of the level of Hong Kong-listed insurer AIA Ltd. and lower than the average price-to-earnings ratio of 16 for Asian insurers. Its ratio of share price to embedded value, a gauge commonly used to value insurers, is 1.06, compared with 1.22 for the group.
HSBC Holdings Plc last month removed a long-standing 20 percent conglomerate discount on Ping An and raised its share-price targets after a two-year reappraisal. HSBC analysts led by Hong Kong-based James Garner updated Ping An to buy from hold in a Sept. 14 report, and raised the price targets for its Shanghai and Hong Kong-traded shares to 47 yuan and HK$56.
Tangible Benefits
The analysts cited the rapid development of e-finance in China, which has bolstered the case for one-stop shop financial services, as well as tangible benefits that the Chinese companys model has generated. Thats different from the scenario in developed markets, where shares of pure-play banks and insurers have outperformed financial conglomerates, who are burdened by added complexity but have failed to deliver the much-touted benefits, according to HSBC.
Ping An reported an 18 percent increase in net income in the first half of this year, compared to a 54 percent slump in Chinese insurers combined profits during the period, as growth in premiums and banking revenue helped offset the impact of stock-market declines that have hit rivals. The Shenzhen-based insurer, set up in 1988, has in recent years built internet platforms including peer-to-peer lender Lufax, health-care portal Ping An Doctor, and online property unit Ping An Haofang with an aim of providing services anywhere, any time theyre needed, according to Lee.
Bundling Services
The internet has made it easier for Ping An to bundle services and manage customers across multiple business lines, while data collected from its almost 300 million online users can help it provide personalized pricing, extend customer analysis and target marketing, according to HSBC.
The 6.4 million new clients converted from Ping Ans internet platform users in the first half of this year alone is larger than the 5.7 million entire population of Singapore, where Lee is from. The insurer has seen its financial-services client base expanding by more than 10 million a year in the past three years, about two Singapores a year, he said.
Ping An has also upgraded almost 60 percent of its 120 million existing financial-services clients onto its mobile internet platforms and plans to move more of them online, enabling it to cross-sell products in a less costly and more efficient way, Lee said.
When lots of clients are using our mobile internet platforms, we believe the average number of products for each will rise significantly, he said, adding that its high-net-worth clients own an average of 10 Ping An products.
Lufax, which was set up in 2011 and has become among the largest online peer-to-peer lenders by some measures, completed a round of fundraising in January that valued it at $18.5 billion. Ping An Doctor, created less than two years ago to provide health management and mobile medical services, had its first round of fundraising in the first half valuing it at $3 billion.
While declining to predict if valuations of the two units will rise further, Lee said both Lufax and Ping An Doctor have been delivering stronger performances than promised to investors since their latest fundraising. Ping An is also incubating a few new internet platforms, with two being overseen by himself, Lee said without elaborating.
The internet platforms value in the future will be huge, he said. Their contribution to the groups value has only started.
Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Topics Carriers China
President Barack Obama has signed a disaster declaration for 11 Kansas counties hit hard by last months severe storms and flooding.
The declaration means federal funding is now available for state and eligible local government and some nonprofit organizations.
The White House said in a news release that the eligible counties are Cheyenne, Cowley, Ellis, Graham, Greenwood, Kingman, Norton, Rooks, Russell, Sedgwick and Sumner.
The storms and flooding occurred from Sept. 2-12.
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Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Windstorm Kansas
The U.S. government and the countrys largest life insurer are set for a rematch in a U.S. appeals court on Monday over how federal regulators decide a company is too big to fail, one of the most significant reforms to come out of the financial crisis.
The heart of the fight is whether the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), made up of the heads of U.S. financial regulators, should have designated MetLife Inc. a systemically important financial institution.
The label indicates MetLifes collapse could devastate the financial system, and it triggers tighter oversight. MetLife would also have to set aside capital to ensure it would not need a government bailout during a crisis.
In March, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer struck down the designation, saying the council used an arbitrary and capricious process in assessing MetLifes vulnerabilities. She also said the government should have analyzed costs and benefits to MetLife, the likelihood it would fail and possible counterparty losses.
Most of the arguments before the three judges on Mondays appeals panel will revolve around the steps the FSOC took, with the U.S. government saying Collyers requirements are not found in any laws and the government cannot assess the likelihood of a companys failure or counterparty losses.
MetLife was designated too big to fail in 2014. It says the FSOC decided first that it was too big to fail and then created a justification for the label.
MetLife will also argue the FSOC should have followed an alternative process known as the activities-based approach, that it says is less costly and better suited to insurance. In that approach, the FSOC would decide a certain activity poses a risk and then regulate it across all companies.
The FSOC has said it does not have authority to designate an activity under statute. In April, however, it announced it would use the activities-based method to assess risk in asset managers and mutual funds, leaving MetLife to call its fairness into question.
Collyers decision was considered a blow to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, one of the most important pieces of legislation passed during President Barack Obamas tenure, and which has been under attack from Republicans in Congress.
The law authorized the council to designate nonbank companies in response to the $182 billion government bailout that insurer American International Group received during the 2008 financial crisis. AIG and Prudential Insurance are also labeled systemically important.
Two of the judges hearing Mondays arguments, Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett, were appointed by Obama and the third, A. Raymond Randolph, by former President George H. W. Bush, a Republican.
A decision could come before next year. The losing side may ask the full court for a review or may appeal to the Supreme Court.
Many familiar names from the crisis filed briefs supporting the governments appeal of Collyers decision, including former Senator Chris Dodd, former Representative Barney Frank and former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, made up of the industrys state regulators, supports MetLife.
The company says it recently decided to break up its business in response to the regulatory environment.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Topics USA
The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) elected new officers to its board of governors this week during the associations annual meeting. John Barbagallo, commercial lines group president, Progressive Insurance Group, was elected PCIs chair; Kurt Bock, CEO, Country Financial, was elected first vice chair; and Pete McPartland, chairman of the board, president and CEO, Sentry Insurance, was elected second vice chair.
Barbagallos career at Progressive spans more than 30 years and includes management positions in claims, sales, operations, product and development and marketing.
Country Financials Bock joined the Illinois Agricultural Association (IAA) family of companies in 2003 as chief executive officer of the IAA Credit Union. Bock was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance in 2015.
McPartland joined Sentry in 2010. Prior to joining Sentry, McPartland served in a variety of executive positions with Firemans Fund, General Casualty, and Golden Eagle Insurance. He currently serves on the board of the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
PCI is composed of nearly 1,000 member companies, writing more than $183 billion in annual premium, 35 percent of the nations property/casualty insurance.
A lobbying group representing older Americans sued the Obama administration on Monday claiming regulations for programs designed to rein in employee health care costs will subject workers to invasions of their medical privacy.
Rules released in May by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will force workers to choose between hefty financial penalties or revealing sensitive health information to employers, AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, said in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington.
Wellness programs have become increasingly popular among employers in recent years. They can take many forms including companies providing incentives to workers to quit smoking, lose weight or undergo preventive health screenings. Workers who participate in the programs are often asked to divulge confidential medical information, which is typically illegal otherwise.
The EEOC rules, which take effect next year, say employers can offer workers incentives worth up to 30 percent of the cost of their cheapest individual health insurance plans, or 60 percent for couples, to participate in wellness programs without violating federal anti-discrimination laws.
But in Mondays lawsuit, AARP said such incentives are really penalties for workers who are leery of sharing their medical information and render the programs involuntary in violation of federal law.
Congress enacted these protections to prevent employers from discriminating and to combat stigma in the workplace against individuals with disabilities, AARP said in the lawsuit.
The EEOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AARP said it was suing on behalf of the one-third of its nearly 38 million members who are employed or looking for work.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act allowed U.S. employers to increase the incentives they offer to employees to participate in wellness programs. But in a series of 2013 lawsuits against employers including Honeywell International Inc, the EEOC claimed incentive-based wellness programs were illegal.
The commission came up with the regulations amid criticism from businesses and Republicans in Congress and after a federal judge in 2014 dismissed the lawsuit against Honeywell, saying the EEOC had not made clear how employers could offer the programs without breaking the law.
But some trade groups were still not satisfied with the rules and said they conflicted with regulations put out by other federal agencies.
The case is AARP v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:16-cv-02113.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and David Gregorio)
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Topics Lawsuits USA Legislation Commercial Lines Business Insurance
The Arkansas Supreme Court has overturned a mans driving while intoxicated conviction, agreeing with the state Court of Appeals that it resulted from an unconstitutional sobriety checkpoint.
Justices reversed Jeremy Whalens 2014 conviction that followed his arrest at an Arkansas State Police checkpoint in 2012.
Justices ruled that the state failed to show there was a pre-existing plan for the checkpoint and that officers had unfettered discretion to establish and conduct the checkpoint.
The attorney generals office asked justices to review the Appeal Courts December ruling striking down Whalens conviction, saying the decision would set a precedent for law enforcement agencies to deal with more red tape in setting up sobriety checkpoints.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Personal Auto Arkansas
South Carolina Department of Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers says crops in some areas of the state may have sustained as much damage from Hurricane Matthew as they did from last years historic flooding.
The Herald-Journal reports Weathers provided an update on the storms impact on state farms Thursday during a stop in Spartanburg at Fairforest Elementary School.
Weathers says state officials are still trying to assess the extent of the damage to farms. He says the task is more difficult this year because the damage is more localized.
Weathers says some of the damage along Interstate 95 toward the coast is equal to damage sustained last year from floods.
Farmers are currently surveying crops to see what is salvageable.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Flood Hurricane Agribusiness South Carolina
Officials say two people were killed in a house explosion in Newton County.
Coroner Danny Shoemaker tells The Clarion-Ledger that an 81-year-old man and 78-year-old woman died in the explosion Saturday night.
Irven Skinner, a fire official, told WTOK-TV that it was a very large explosion and the house was blown completely flat.
Skinner says the explosion was likely caused by a propane leak around the fireplace.
The two victims were husband and wife
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Mississippi
A severe drought spreading rapidly across Alabama is forcing conservation measures and worrying farmers, and forecasters said Thursday there wasnt much relief in sight.
The latest federal assessment said an extreme drought covers the northern two-thirds of Alabama, and the northeastern counties are driest. Forecasters said no drought-busting storms were predicted through this week.
With lake levels falling and some streams slowing to a trickle, Birminghams water system will soon start charging extra for excessive water use, and cattle ranchers are watching pastures dry up in north Alabama.
The Alabama Forestry Commission, which has banned outdoor fires, said more than 900 wildfires have burned more than 11,000 acres statewide in the last month. Gov. Robert Bentley declared a drought emergency for 46 of the states 67 counties.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, compiled by the National Drought Mitigation Center, said all 4.7 million of the states residents are affected by the dry weather.
In north Alabama, Colbert County cattle farmer Steve James said the grass he normally feeds his herd is parched.
It looks like February in my pastures, James told the TimesDaily of Florence. The grass is just gone. I had hay in good shape, I thought, but I had to start feeding early.
The states rainfall situation is far worse than one year ago, when only about a quarter of Alabama was experiencing a drought. Federal statistics show about 98 percent of Alabama is now in a drought.
The Birmingham Water Works said it will implement stage three of its drought management plan, which includes a surcharge of 200 percent for residential and other customers for excessive water use. Al.com reported the utilitys drought plan calls for surcharges to go into effect on Nov. 19.
Only .03 of an inch of rainfall was recorded in October in northwest Alabama as of Oct. 21, according to the National Weather Service office in Huntsville, and Septembers rainfall total only reached half an inch. Much of central Alabama hasnt had substantial rain since August.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Alabama
Forget civility. Just hours after an appeal was dropped in James Woods $10 million defamation lawsuit against an anonymous individual who tweeted the actor was a cocaine addict, Woods expressed joy about what had occurred.
The slime who libeled me just dropped his appeal contesting my victorious SLAPP motion, tweeted Woods. Perennial loser @LisaBloom isnt yapping so much now.
That caused Lisa Bloom, the defendants attorney, to publicly reveal what had led to the voluntary withdrawal of an appeal that came after a L.A. Superior Court judge in February allowed the case to move forward over a First Amendment-based objection.
Hi James, Bloom replied to Woods. As you surely know, my client died. Have a nice day and stay classy!
It didnt stop there. After others expressed outrage at Woods, the Once Upon a Time in America actor wrote that he hoped the defendant died screaming my name, adding, Learn this. Libel me, Ill sue you. If you die, Ill follow you to the bowels of Hell. Get it?
Woods later deleted the tweet.
This all could be chalked up to the trolling nature of social media these days except for the fact that it comes in the midst of litigation that explores the very topic.
Woods filed his complaint on July 30, 2015, targeting the Twitter user, Abe List, whose social media profile suggested the defendant was a Los Angeles-based, Harvard-educated partner in a private equity firm. Through the lawsuit, the actor aimed to send a message.
AL, and anyone else using social media to propagate lies and do harm, should take note, stated the complaint. They are not impervious to the law.
Woods didnt know the true identity of Abe List, and he attempted to push Twitter to produce records. The social service rejected the efforts in a letter, writing, Attempts to unmask anonymous online speakers in the absence of a prima facie defamation claim are improper and would chill the First Amendment rights of speakers who use Twitters platform to express their thoughts and ideas instantly and publicly, without barriers.
Then came the defendants motion to strike premised on Californias anti-SLAPP statute, meant to deter injuries to ones First Amendment rights at an early stage of litigation. The defendant argued that his cocaine addict tweet was a constitutionally protected political insult, the type made routinely by Woods as a well-known part of Twitters culture of political hyperbole.
Judge Mel Recana denied the anti-SLAPP motion, writing that it is clear that any reader of the AL False Statement could and indeed must view it as a statement of fact. ALs use of a prenomial characterization (i.e. cocaine addict) followed by a proper noun (i.e., James Woods) is a well-established linguistic structure widely used to characterize people with shorthand factual information.
This led to an appeal, but before a California appeals court got the opportunity to address whether insults on a frequently hyperbolic platform could be capable of defamatory meaning, Woods attorney Michael Weinsten was informed that the anonymous defendant had died.
The $10 million defamation case will now continue nevertheless. Woods intends to proceed and hopes the dropped appeal means hell finally learn defendants identity, a source in his camp tells THR. The case eventually could explore whether the deceased defendant has already admitted malice through previous statements and arguments.
However, according to Kenneth White, the defendants other attorney, theres no intention to immediately reveal defendant. He hints that the case could be headed to some kind of default that could be governed by probate code.
White adds his client died of natural causes. He was brilliant and combative. Were trying to protect his identity. Were concerned about his family being harassed and [theres good reason] based on how much they are gloating over his death.
Topics Lawsuits
Liberty Mutual issued a statement today addressing a Portland, Ore. shooting over the weekend reportedly involving co-workers at the insurance company who knew each other.
Portland police are investigating whether a homicide at an office building is connected to a suicide that happened about a mile away.
Sgt. Pete Simpson said 51-year-old Jimmy Morgan of Gresham shot himself as police approached his sedan Saturday in northeast Portland. The officers were responding to a report of a man with a gun sitting in a vehicle.
Hours later, police found 36-year-old Mitra Mehrabadi dead at an office in northeast Portland. An autopsy determined she had been shot multiple times.
Homicide detectives have learned that Morgan and Mehrabadi were co-workers at the Liberty Mutual office and knew each other.
Our heartfelt thoughts go out to the families and friends of those deceased and to our employees who worked closely with them in our Portland, Oregon office, the statement issued today by Liberty Mutual media relations office reads. In the wake of this tragic event we have decided to close the Portland office today. We will have on-site employee assistance resources in Portland tomorrow and have established an 800# available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any employee who may wish to receive support.
Liberty Mutual media relations in the statement said the company wont have more information to share at this time since there is an ongoing investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Topics Oregon
The Los Angeles area continues to be a drag on Californias overall workers compensation costs, according to a study out today from the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau.
The WCIRBs study on regional differences in California workers comp claim costs and frequency is titled: The 2016 Study of Geographic Differences in California Workers Compensation Claim Costs.
The study, which controls for wage level differences and industrial mix, includes nine maps illustrating regional differences. Click here to be taken to a portal where the map can be downloaded.
Key findings of the study include:
The Los Angeles/Long Beach area continues to show higher indemnity claim frequencies than the rest of California, while the Silicon Valley region continues to show lower indemnity claim frequencies.
The median permanent disability rating is higher in northern regions of California than in the central and southern regions.
The Los Angeles/Long Beach Area is the most litigious region in California. Medical legal costs are over 2.8 percent of total incurred costs on indemnity claims in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area compared with 2.0 percent statewide.
Pharmaceutical spending as a percentage of total medical costs also varies by region.
Even after controlling for wage level and industrial mix, significant differences among California regions were observed in the study.
Indemnity claim frequencies in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area were 24.0 percent higher than statewide, while indemnity claim frequencies were 25.8% lower than statewide in Silicon Valley.
The Los Angeles/Long Beach area has the highest share of indemnity claims, 39.0 percent, compared to a statewide average of 35.2 percent, and the highest share of all claims that are cumulative trauma, 8.3 percent, compared to a statewide average of 5.2 percent at first report, the study states.
Topics California Workers' Compensation
If risk is like a smouldering coal that can spark a fire at any moment, then insurance is our fire extinguisher. The institution is as old as human existence with the first insurance policy being written in ancient times on a Babylonian obelisk monument with the code of King Hammurabi carved into it. It was practiced by early Mediterranean sailing merchants and Chinese traders who sought methods to minimise risks.
The concept of insurance has expanded and become more refined over the ages, its successes and travails have become more symmetrical to a countrys economic growth (or lapse). Because of the peculiarity of insurance and its relevance to an economy, the Nigerian government has put a lot of effort into making the insurance industry what it is today. These efforts are showcased by the implementation of numerous Acts over the years such as the National Insurance Commission Act 1997 and the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers Act 2003 (which is to ensure the proper administration and functioning of the insurance sector), as well as the passing of several reforms.
However, amendments made in the Companies Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2007 (CITA) have created changes within the sector that have led to an unwelcome higher tax burden for insurance companies, which has in turn led to a fall in the number of businesses operating in the industry.
Disappearing companies
Nigerias insurance sector has undergone two rounds of recapitalisation over the past 14 years to restructure a company's debt and equity mixture, most often with the aim of making a company's capital structure more stable.
The first round of recapitalisation happened in 2003 when the Insurance Act was passed, which required insurance companies to increase their capital bases from:
NGN20 million ($65,000) to NGN150 million for life businesses, which are companies that protect against the loss of income that would result if an insured individual died. In this circumstance, the named beneficiary would receive the proceeds and would thereby be safeguarded from the financial impact of the death of the insured;
NGN70 million to NGN300 million for non-life businesses, which are companies that are typically involved in any insurance that is not determined to be a life insurance policy but that provides payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event; and
NGN150 million to NGN350 million for reinsurance businesses, which is a company that accepts a portion of the potential obligation in an insurance contract in exchange for a share of the insurance premium, in order to reduce the likelihood of an insurance company paying a large obligation resulting from an insurance claim.
The 2003 changes led to the liquidation of 14 Nigerian insurance companies out of 117 registered in the jurisdiction.
In September 2005, another capitalisation requirement was announced to increase the capital base to NGN2 billion for life businesses, NGN3 billion for non-life businesses and NGN10 billion for reinsurance. This again resulted in numerous consolidations that led to the number of liquidating insurance companies falling from 103 to 49. In the first quarter of 2014, the total assets and liabilities of insurance companies was NGN517.2 billion.
A diminishing asset base
The asset base has continued to dwindle every year for the industry because of sections in CITA that penalise it. These sections have compelled insurance companies to pay out their capital in the form of a minimum tax because they are almost always in a never-ending refund cycle with the tax authorities. Originally, the CITA was meant to amend and simplify controversial aspects in its policy, instead it has made it more obscure particularly for the insurance sector.
As with any other business, the tax liability of an insurance company is based on figures contained in its annual published accounts and it is subject to similar assessment and collection procedures by the tax authorities. However, certain special features arising from the nature of the industry mean that profits are taxed slightly different than other sectors.
Simply put, in section 16(2)(a) of the CITA, the profits of a life business insurance company are calculated by taking management expenses, including commission, subject to subsection (8)(b) of the Act from gross income (investment income and revaluation surplus).
For non-life businesses, section 16(1)(b) states that profits will be calculated for tax purposes by deducting the reinsurance cost and a reserve for unexpired risk (the premium corresponding to the time period remaining on an insurance policy), subject to subsection (8)(a) of the Act from a gross premium, interest and other income receivable in Nigeria.
The relevant subsections of CITA are listed below:
(8) An insurance company, other than a life insurance company, shall be allowed as deductions from its premium the following reserves for tax purposes:
(a) for unexpired risks, 45 percent of the total premium in case of general insurance business other than marine insurance business and 25 percent of the total premium in case of marine cargo insurance;
(b) for other reserves, claims and outgoings of the company an amount equal to 25 percent of the total premium, so that, after allowance under the Second Schedule to this Act as may be restricted, has been allowed for in any year of assessment, not less than amount equal to 15 percent of the total profit of the company for tax purposes.
(9) An insurance company, in respect of its life insurance business shall be allowed the following deductions from its investment incomes and other incomes:
(a) an amount which makes a general reserve and fund equal to the net liabilities on policies in force at the time of an actuarial valuation;
(b) an amount which is equal to 1 percent of the gross premium or 10 percent of profits (whichever is greater) to a special reserve fund and accommodation until it becomes the amount of the statutory minimum paid-up capital;
(c) all normal allowable business outgoing, except that after allowing for all the outgoing and allowance under the Second Schedule to this Act as may be restricted under the provisions of this Act for any year of assessment, not less than an amount equal to 20 percent of the gross incomes shall be available as total profit of the company for tax purposes.
For both life and non-life insurance businesses, the basis for computing minimum tax seems punitive at 20% of gross income and 15% of total profit, correspondingly. To compound the tax burden little solace was given to the industry when they suffer losses.
A thorough review of subsection (8) in the CITA Act exposes the inadequacy of parts (a) and (b). The former imposes a limit on unexpired risk while the latter restricts the deductibility of expenses. Section 16 (9) (c), in the case of life insurance business, introduces a new basis for minimum tax. In practice, the newly introduced minimum tax usually exceeds the minimum tax provisions of section 33 in the CITA. This puts the insurance industry in an unfair situation of paying a higher minimum tax than their peers in other industries in cases when the loss or a total loss of profits result in no tax being payable, or a tax charge that amounts to less than the minimum tax.
The insurance industry has long campaigned to correct this anomaly but it is yet to yield the desired result.
Reforming the CITA
Between 2009 and 2010, the Nigerian Insurance Association (NIA) and KPMG worked with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Federal Ministry of Finance and National Assembly to discuss the dire effects of the CITA 2007. It established regulatory amendments that intended resolve the problems. Unfortunately, the necessary amendments are yet to be passed into law while a tax reform bill, which would enact the amendments, continues to be debated in the National Assembly.
Taxation of losses
Section 16(7) of the CITA restricts insurance companies to carrying forward tax losses for a maximum of four years. Losses that are not fully relieved after four years by an insurance company cannot be carried forward. Companies are made to pay taxes irrespective of the losses accumulated from preceding years.
Similarly, the restriction of deductibility for operating expenses that are 25% of the total premium of a company, regardless of the expense passing the wholly, reasonably, exclusively and necessarily (WREN) test, is counter intuitive. It also violates the principle of fairness and equity in taxation because the WREN test would have sufficed to deduct all operating expenses for companies in other industries.
Furthermore, the tax authorities expose part of the insurance companies unearned premiums to tax. This stems from limitations placed on provision for unexpired risks to 45% of total premium for general insurance and 25% for marine insurance businesses. Consequently, if the total amount of claims from the unexpired risks during the fiscal year exceeds provisions made for tax purposes, the insurance company bears the burden as it receives neither a refund nor a credit.
Another issue which is hindering relief is that the profits referred to in subsection 9(b) are not defined. Because of this, profits could be interpreted as the total taxable profit, assessable profit or profit before tax. Clearly, the resulting figures from using any of these bases will differ.
International comparisons
At the risk of stating the obvious, to justify the reasons why the government needs to address the sections of the tax laws which burden the insurance industry, a comparison of global markets is apt.
The US
In the US, the Internal Revenue (IR) Code successfully created a more friendly terrain for its insurance industry that permits growth and expansion.
Firstly, there is no minimum tax that applies to insurance companies. However, there is an alternative minimum tax (AMT) that applies across all industries. The AMT can result in an AMT credit, which can be used to reduce regular tax where it exceeds the AMT in a future accounting year. Moreover, the tax credit does not expire because the credit relates to taxes already paid and the entire credit represents a component of the deferred tax asset. The AMT regime in the US means that insurance companies are not unduly disadvantaged, upholding the principle of equality in taxation.
Secondly, the IR Code treats the period of recovery from loss differently. A company that loses money in a particular year experiences what is known as a net operating loss (NOL). No corporate tax is due when a company has a NOL because they do not have profits. In addition, a NOL can be carried back and deducted from up to two years taxable income. The company is then eligible for a refund equal to the difference between previously paid taxes and taxes owed after deducting the present years loss. If the loss is too large to be carried back, it may be carried forward for up to 20 years and used to reduce future tax liabilities. Under this rule, insurance companies can only carry back losses for three years and carry forward losses for 15 years. Nonetheless, several proposals such as the camp proposal, call for life insurance companies to benefit from the same loss tax treatment as other companies.
As a result, allowing for the carry back of losses reduces the distorting effects of taxation on investment and, in turn, increases economic efficiency. The government, by allowing NOL carry backs, effectively enters into a partnership with taxpayers to share both the return to investment (tax revenue) and the risk of investment (revenue loss). When companies have losses, past and future tax liabilities are reduced through loss carry backs, reducing risk. The further back in time that losses can be carried, the less distorting taxation becomes on investment. It is simply fair. Additionally, the ability to carry back losses encourages equity by helping to prevent two firms that earn the same amount over a given time period, but differ in the timing of when the income is earned, from paying different amounts in taxes.
Thirdly, the US provides a special deduction for qualifying small life and non-life insurance companies equal to 60% of their income computed without regard to the deduction. This and many more measures capture how a developed economy sets a healthy environment, based on tax laws, for the domestic insurance industry to thrive.
South Africa and Brazil
A cursory look at the tax laws of selected emerging economies reveals that for both South Africa and Brazil, there are no restrictions placed on provisions for unexpired risks, provisions for other reserves, claims and outgoings, and periods for the recovery of losses. Both economies also do not have a minimum taxable profit for their insurance companies.
India
Meanwhile, India has no restrictions on provisions for unexpired risks, but does apply a minimum tax on the profits of insurance companies on provisions for other reserves, claims and outgoings. The country also places a restriction on the period of recovery of loss but it still provides eight years, compared to the four years offered in Nigeria.
Nigeria needs to act now to save the sector
Taking a cue from these countries, the Nigerian government needs to act fast to save the insurance industry.
Nigeria does not follow best practices and the insurance industry gets severely short-changed as a result of the tax treatment. It is further at risk with countries such as the US, Brazil, South Africa and India that are actively competing with Nigeria for the worlds foreign direct investments.
When a potential foreign investor compares the Nigerian insurance industry index with that of a fast developing economy, the hostile tax laws governing the industry could work against Nigeria.
Imposing taxes is not the problem, especially considering it is pivotal to the functioning of the machinery of government. However, what should not be celebrated but quickly redressed is an unfair tax system. Its negative ripples are immeasurable. If the US could resist the huge tax subsidy received by the East India Tea Company from British government (against small American companies) then taxpayers and stakeholders in the insurance industry should persist until the government sees the positives in this line of thought for the industry and economy at large.
Reform should be pushed to fairly place insurance companies with other Nigerian companies and to align with what applies in developed economies setting the pace among peers and other developing economies positioning our economy to be more competitive.
If restrictions are successfully removed and losses are carried forward in perpetuity, it will relieve the insurance companies of all undue tax burdens, improve their profit takings and grow their capital. A healthy insurance industry will strengthen the Nigerian economy as it pushes for a place among the worlds top 20 economies.
Niamh Keogh, of counselT: +353 1 614 5000E: nkeogh@mhc.ie Robert Henson, tax partnerT: +353 1 614 2314E: rhenson@mhc.ie
The bill includes proposed changes to the tax treatment of Section 110 companies, and a new regime for transactions involved in Irish real estate funds. Robert Henson, partner, and Niamh Keogh, Of Counsel at Mason Hayes & Curran, break down these tax developments in the bill.
Section 110 companies
In September, Irelands Minister for Finance released draft legislation to charge tax on profits arising from Irish loan portfolios and related transactions to overseas investors. The proposed measures were not intended to impact bona fide securitisations, but concerns were raised by many professional advisors and stakeholders that the draft legislation would have an impact on unintended transactions. Thankfully, the provisions on the measure in the bill include some welcome changes to clarify that most normal securitisation transactions and market loan origination transactions will not be impacted by the changes. Section 21 of the bill amends section 110 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (Section 110).
By way of background, Section 110 includes favourable provisions for qualifying special purpose companies (SPCs) that hold and/or manage, or have an interest (including a partnership interest) in qualifying assets, which includes loans and debt obligations. The provisions within Section 110 charge SPCs corporation tax at a rate of 25%. However, critically, the return paid on certain profit dependent loans (PDLs) is tax deductible. The use of such SPCs has made Ireland a key location for cross-border structured finance transactions.
The draft legislation included in the bill targets the use of Section 110 qualifying companies holding and/or managing specified mortgages. For this purpose, a specified mortgage means a loan that is secured on Irish land or an arrangement (e.g. a total return swap) which, in both circumstances, derives its value or greater part of its value (directly or indirectly) from land in the Republic of Ireland.
Profits from such activities are to be treated as a separate business and the bill seeks to limit the availability of a tax deduction for profit-dependent returns and non-arms length returns relating to such business, unless the beneficiary of the return meets certain criteria. When the profit dependent element of the return is not tax deductible, a charge at 25% for the SPCs arises.
The bill includes welcome amendments to ensure the changes should not impact on:
Collateralized loan obligations (CLO) transactions;
Commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) and residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) transactions; and
Loan origination businesses.
This applies in circumstances where the Section 110 company carries on no other activities other than incidental to the above.
For those Section 110 companies that are within the scope of the proposed legislation, interest payable relating to such activities should continue to be fully tax deductible where:
The beneficiary is an individual within the charge to Irish income tax;
The beneficiary is a person who is or will be within the charge to Irish corporation tax;
The beneficiary is an approved Irish or European Economic Area (EEA) pension fund;
The beneficiary is a resident of an EU or EEA member state (other than Ireland) provided that: (a) the investor is subject to tax in their country of residence without any reduction computed by reference to the amount of such interest or in respect of any deemed or notional deduction; (b) the holding of the PDL is not part of a tax avoidance scheme; and (c) in the case of a company, it carries out genuine economic activities in the EEA relevant to the holding of the PDL.
On creation of the PDL, the return represents no more than a reasonable rate of commercial return for the use of that principal and the return is not dependent on the results of the SPC; or
Irish withholding tax has been deducted from the payment.
The proposed changes will take effect from September 6 2016 once enacted.
Irish regulated funds
The bill also targets the use of Irish regulated funds, known as qualifying investor alternative investment funds (QIAIFs) which are often structured as ICAVs under the Irish Collective Asset-management Act 2015, holding investments in Irish real estate assets.
Before the bill was published, Irish regulated QIAIFs were exempt from Irish tax on all income and gains. Further, all payments, such as distributions and redemptions made to non-Irish investors and certain exempt Irish investors, were not subject to any withholding or exit tax.
Under the draft legislation in the bill, QIAIFs will now be obliged to operate an exit tax at 20% on the occurrence of certain taxable events, namely the making of a relevant payment to the investor or on redemption of the investors units in the QIAIFs to the extent that the amount of the redemption is attributable to profits derived from Irish real estate activities.
The changes target QIAIFs involved in the acquisition and development of Irish real estate, rents derived from Irish real estate and short-term capital appreciation gains on the holding of Irish real estate.
QIAIFs are only within the scope of the proposals if 25% of the value of the relevant fund (or sub-fund) is derived from Irish real estate assets or if it would be reasonable to assume that the purpose or one of the main purposes of the fund was to acquire Irish real estate or engage in the development of Irish real estate.
Importantly, for QIAIFs involved in long-term capital appreciation strategies, the redemption proceeds paid to an investor should not be subject to the exit tax of 20% where the proceeds relate to a capital gain arising to the QIAIF on the disposal of property it acquired at market value and owned for a minimum of five years, provided the disposal is to a person unconnected with the fund or any of its investors. Payments to certain categories of investors, including pension funds and, other Irish and EEA regulated funds are also exempted.
The new regime will apply to accounting periods commencing on or after January 1 2017. However, if the QIAIFs accounting period was changed after October 20 2016, the new rules will apply to accounting periods commencing on or after October 20 2016.
The draft legislation may be amended before it is passed into law, which is expected to be in December.
It's not easy to see things in the middle, rather than looking down on them from above or up at them from below, or from left to right or right to left: try it, you'll see that everything changes.
-- Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus
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Mr Colleran will give master classes to ULs Journalism and New Media students as part of his new role.
The one thing young student journalists need to set aside is the cloud of fear that has hit the media industry over the past 10-15 years because of the massive disruption caused by digital. Technology is merely a delivery vehicle; the basic human demand for stories doesnt change at all, he said.
Whether its stone tablets from Mount Sinai; gossip at the end of the medieval village; print; telephone; television or digital; it is immaterial. People are still interested in stories about people and the world around them.
The delivery vehicles may alter, but there are certain basic standards that need to be upheld: accuracy and integrity; and the need to challenge and question. That sort of rigour needs to be encouraged, Mr Colleran continued.
I would encourage students to be platform agnostic while constantly keeping an eye on the prize and the prize is a more decent, open, democratic living society, unafraid of vested interests, power centres and elites, he added.
Mr Colleran is a graduate of University of Limerick where he received an MBA in 1993 and Harvard Business School in Boston. The well-known journalist and television presenter is currently in his second year of law studies at Kings Inns.
Mr Colleran co-authored a book on the Kerry babies case and previously worked as editor of The Kerryman newspaper.
A TV3 presenter and newspaper columnist Mr Colleran played a central role in the political negotiations on the new Defamation Act.
Speaking about his new appointment Mr Colleran, whose daughter is also a UL graduate, said he had "decades-long admiration for the University of Limerick. I completed an MBA there and I have an association with the college through family.
Professor Tom Lodge, Dean, Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Limerick said the appointment of Mr Colleran will significantly expand the range of experience that UL can offer its journalism students.
We aim to prepare our students for careers in a field that has been changing more rapidly than almost any other kind of employment. Ger Colleran has been at the forefront of the struggle to maintain basic professional integrity in the industrys efforts to embrace the changes that have been the consequence of new kinds of communication technology and we are delighted to welcome him to the faculty, he said.
Mary Dundon, senior lecturer in Journalism at UL, has also welcomed the appointment.
We are delighted that Mr Colleran has been appointed Adjunct Professor of Journalism at UL. He is one of Irelands most experienced national newspaper editors and he will bring a wealth of journalistic experience to the master classes he will deliver to our students, she stated.
RTE presenter Bryan Dobson is a current Adjunct Professor of Broadcast Journalism at UL. Previous Adjunct Professors of Journalism include former Irish Times Editor Geraldine Kennedy and Sunday Times journalist Justine McCarthy.
Shingrix is viewed by analysts as among the British companys most promising experimental products, since it has shown greater protection among older recipients than Mercks rival shot Zostavax.
GSK itself highlighted Shingrix as one of its top near-term pipeline hopes last November, during its first research and development day in more than a decade.
The company, which will see Emma Walmsley take over as chief executive in 2017, is seeking to revitalise a drug portfolio hit by falling sales of best-selling inhaled lung treatment Advair.
In clinical trials, GSKs vaccine remained 90% effective in people over age 70, even four years after injections. Zostavax efficacy, by contrast, varies between 18% and 70%, and it declines noticeably in older people.
People who are 70 years or older are often most at risk from shingles, a painful, itchy rash that results from the reactivation of latent chickenpox virus.
The impressive trial results should put Shingrix in a strong competitive position, analysts believe, even though it requires two doses, against just one for Zostavax, and it is also linked to more injection site reactions.
Analysts, on average, predict that worldwide sales of Shingrix will reach $1.05bn in 2021, according to forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Sales of Zostavax, the only shingles vaccine on the market at present, totalled $749m in 2015.
GSKs vaccine contains a component from US biotech firm Agenus, which is entitled to royalties on future sales.
GSK said it planned to file Shingrix for European and Canadian approval before the end of this year, with Japan following in 2017.
GSK shares which were 0.5% lower in London trade have nonetheless gained almost 22% this year.
Separately, GSK is involved in the race to find protection against the Zika virus.
The prospect of a blockbuster vaccine against a mosquito-borne virus has accelerated the pace of development and attracted the interest of big drugmakers, including Sanofi and Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
Although Zika infections are mild or asymptomatic in most people, demand for a vaccine is expected to be strong.
Specialist officers warn that Irish people are particularly exposed given our use of mobile phones to access the internet is almost a third higher than the European average.
The Garda Cyber Crime Bureau is urging people to protect financial and personal information on their smartphones from so-called mobile malware malicious software used to target mobile devices like phones and tablets.
The Garda is supporting Europol, the EU police agency, in the Pan-European Mobile Malware Awareness Campaign this week, as part of European Cyber Security Month.
Garda Keith White of the Cyber Crime Bureau said that while incidents were low in the rest of Europe, people in Ireland use a lot more mobile data.
I expect to see a big rise in this. We see it coming down the tracks said Garda White.
I expect to see more attacks this year and more complex and targeted attacks.
Figures show at least 70% of Irish people use smartphones, amounting to some 2.3 million devices. In addition around 1.7m people have a tablet device.
The bureau says that web traffic on phones here is almost a third higher than the European average, and a quarter higher than the UK.
Garda White said that vast amounts of personal data is now being stored on mobile devices, including financial information, banking transactions, emails, personal history and location history.
He said in one case of CEO fraud in Ireland, a businessmans mobile was hacked and cyber criminals accessed his email account as well as other personal data.
Posing as the businessman they sent an email to a colleague, requesting that money be sent someone.
A large sum of money, thought to be more than five figures, was sent as a result.
Garda White said it is similar to other phishing methods, including ones where a persons email is accessed and requests for money, typically after some purported crisis like a robbery, is sent to all his friends seeking money to get home.
We have seen money change hands, said Garda White.
He said eight to nine banks in the UK had been targeted recently, in which customers thought they were accessing the banks websites, but there was an overlay website, taking the bank details.
Bureau tips: n Only install apps from a trusted source, if your bank or financial institution has an official app use it. n Ensure your mobile device software is up to date and jailbreaking or rooting a device seriously compromises its security. n Make sure you have a recent back up of your device, as an attack may render it useless, resulting in the loss of all your contacts, personal photos and files. n www.europol.europa.eu/content/mobile-malware
At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Tom ODonnell said he was appalled at the behaviour of Tania McCarthy, aged 29, for using her son in the double theftlast year.
In June 2015, the married mother of four was jailed for four months for the thefts . However, she hasnt served any time as she appealed the term to the circuit court.
Yesterday, Judge ODonnell said she had used her child as a form of shield in this particular matter.
However, after hearing Ms McCarthy has not re-offended, the judge said he was prepared to give her a chance and suspended the four-month term.
The matter first came before Judge ODonnell in June where he described the escapade as absolutely and utterly reprehensible. Ms McCarthy had employed her son not once, but twice to help her steal two baskets of clothes from Penneys in Ennis.
State solicitor for Clare, Martin Linnane, told the court that on January 6, 2015, Ms McCarthy was seen filling clothes, valued at 248, into a basketand leaving her son to drag it out of the shop. Mr Linnane said Ms McCarthy was seen following her son out and they were at the main shopping centre entrance when stopped by security. The items were returned.
On January 15 Ms McCarthy was arrested for the theft and CCTV found that two days prior to the January 6 theft, Ms McCarthy and her son were involved in a similar incident.
They went undetected that day and the goods were not recovered.
Yesterday, solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client, along with her husband and four children, were homeless at the time of the offences.
Ms Godfrey said the thefts were a feature of terrible difficult circumstances.
Judge ODonnell warned if Ms McCarthy re-offends over 12 months, he would activate the suspended term.
Globally averaged concentrations of carbon dioxide, the main manmade greenhouse gas, reached 400.0 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere for the first time on record and were 44% above levels before the Industrial Revolution, it said. The relentless rise contrasts with accords by almost 200 governments to start reining in emissions, led by the Paris Agreement last year to phase out fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy in the second half of the century.
The year 2015 ushered in a new era of optimism and climate action with the Paris climate change agreement. But it will also make history as marking a new era of climate change reality with record high greenhouse gas concentrations, the World Meteorological Organisation secretary-general Petteri Taalas said in a statement.
The key issue here is to go from this kind of political will to concrete action, he told a news conference in Geneva. So far we havent seen a major change in the behaviour.
An observatory at Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the main measuring station with records back to 1958, predicts that carbon dioxide concentrations will stay above 400ppm for the whole of 2016 and not dip below that level for many generations, the World Meteorological Organisation said. Carbon dioxide levels will continue rising unless the world stops burning fossil fuels and starts planting trees, said WMOs atmospheric environment research chief Oksana Tarasova.
The technology is there. Its just human will. If we want we can do it. You can bend the curve. If you take an action and you sign a treaty and everybody follows their commitments. Its not magic, she said, recalling Europes successful efforts to combat acid rain by tackling sulfur and nitrogen emissions. Mr Taalas said consequences of climate change, such as weather-related disasters, were set to continue even if emissions start to come down.
We could see improvement in the 2060s if we start reducing emissions now, he said. Manmade warming is blamed for causing heatwaves, downpours, droughts, and rising ocean levels.
Worldwide in 2015, average levels carbon dioxide were at 400.0 ppm, up 2.3 ppm from 2014, the WMO said.
A powerful El Nino weather event, which warms the eastern Pacific Ocean, was also probably driving global rises in 2016. The El Nino is linked with more droughts and wildfires in the tropics, meaning less vegetation to absorb carbon dioxide.
A UN panel of climate scientists estimates that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are at their highest in at least 800,000 years.
The real elephant in the room is carbon dioxide, which remains in the atmosphere for thousands of years, said Mr Taalas.
Several rail lines may be closed around Ireland due to an Iarnrod Eireann funding shortfall, according to reports.
In the rail review, which has yet to be made public, it allegedly states that Iarnrod Eireann needs more than 600m over the next five years in ensure its financial stability.
It found that large sections of the rail network will have to close, leaving only the Dart, Dublin and Cork commuter routes and inter-city services from Dublin to Cork, Belfast and Limerick intact.
Mr Ross received a rail review, compiled by the National Transport Authority and Irish Rail some time ago, but has yet to make it public despite calls to do so.
I have already asked Minister Ross to publish the report in full so that we can have a frank and honest debate about the future of our rail network.
Unfortunately the minister has refused to publish the report to date, said Fianna Fail spokesperson for transport Robert Troy.
He seemingly has a complete disregard for our transport system and has no vision for the future, he added.
Mr Troy also asserted that the minister needs to get to grips with his brief and called on him to publish the review immediately.
Minister Ross had the opportunity to discuss this report when he appeared before the Oireachtas Transport Committee last month. His failure to do so is deeply disappointing but not surprising, Mr Troy said.
There are growing problems across the transport sector including long delays on the M50 and the prospect of bus service withdrawals in certain areas.
Minister Ross needs to get to grips with his brief and meet these challenges head on, he added.
A spokesperson for the minister yesterday told the Irish Examiner that he would bring the report to Cabinet next week.
As indicated at the Oireachtas Committee on Transport on October 5, last, Minister Ross recently received a copy of the Rail Review conducted by the National Transport Authority and Irish Rail, which examines the funding parameters required to support our rail network now and into the future.
It is his intention to bring the report to Cabinet next week and to arrange very shortly for its publication and commencement of a public consultation process, said the spokesperson.
In the meantime, decisions on Budget 2017 provide for additional funding of over 50 million to Irish Rail next year aimed at increasing investment in maintenance and renewal of the network and the rolling stock, and also to provide more funding for safety projects, added the spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy yesterday released a statement on traffic congestion in the capital and in it, she referred to the need for an audit of our public transport system.
Following the closure of emergency departments (EDs) at St Johns Hospital, Limerick; Ennis in Clare; and Nenagh in Tipperary, all medical emergencies are catered for at UHL, with serious head trauma cases transferred to Cork University Hospital.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has estimated up to 350 nurses are required in Limerick city. However, the HSE has said just 62 posts need to be filled, excluding temporary vacancies arising from maternity leave. A plan to recruit 100 more nurses to work out of a new ED in Limerick which is expected to be completed next May, is continuing.
Trolley figures at UHL reached an all-time high last month, hitting the mid-50s.
Responding to nurses calls for bed closures at UHL, Simon Harris said: Were going to address this by carrying out a bed capacity review, where we are going to look at all of our bed stock right throughout our hospitals, and indeed throughout our community primary healthcare settings.
The minister said increased funds for health, outlined in Budget 2017, does provide for an additional 1,000 nurses within the health service in 2017, and he said nurses pay would rise between 1,000-1,500 from January.
UHL said the numbers presenting at its ED continue to increase year-on-year and of those presenting, the proportion requiring admission, including many frail elderly patients, has also increased.
The overall nursing staffing deficit at present is 62 vacant posts across the group. This figure does not include temporary vacancies arising from maternity leave. The number of vacancies will reduce with the employment of pre-registered nurses commencing throughout October 2016.
Meanwhile Mr Harris has admitted it is very likely that temporary accommodation planned to alleviate chronic overcrowding at South Tipperary General Hospital wont be in place until next year.
A 40-bed patient hotel proposal was announced for the Clonmel-based hospital, which is regularly among the most over-crowded acute hospitals in the country, in September by independent TD Michael Lowry but it has since emerged that the project would be subject to planning and procurement processes.
During a visit to the hospital yesterday, Mr Harris said that a decision on what option to take to provide temporary relief at STGH will be taken by the end of the year.
Asked if it would be 2017 at the earliest before new accommodation was in place, the minister replied: I think thats likely, I think thats very likely.
The accolade puts south Kerry on a footing alongside the Azores, an ancient site in Peru, and southern Australia, and is likely to increase calls on the Office for Public Works to extend the visitor season on the Unesco world heritage site of Skellig Michael to meet demand.
The Skellig Ring is described as perhaps Irelands most charismatically wild and emerald stretch of coastline in Lonely Planets Best in Travel 2017.
Glimpsed at the end of The Force Awakens, Skellig Michael will play a bigger role in this years sequel and local businesses are gearing up for the expected visitor bump, it states.
While the guide recognises that nothing beats actually landing on Skellig Michael and climbing the 600 treacherously steep stone steps to reach the intriguing, beehive-like chambers, the string of villages from which the boats depart also offers a host of distractions from cosy pubs and Blue Flag beaches to historic ruins, it says.
Between mid-May and mid-September of this year, some 13,500 people had visited Skellig Michael, 1,000 more than the whole of the previous season, the OPW said.
Boatmen want a return to pre-2007 arrangements which saw the island open from April to the end of October.
Seanie Murphy, who operates from Portmagee, said 74 days are lost because of the shorter season. In September, over two weeks were lost because of bad weather preventing the boats operating on the 12km sea crossing.
It doesnt just affect the boatmen to the Skeillig, it affects everyone hotels, guesthouses, bars, in Killarney and all over the area, said Mr Murphy.
The Star Wars film, while undoubtedly leading to more US visitors, makes no real odds to boat business: There is always more demand than can be met, said Mr Murphy.
The OPW has previously rejected calls to extend the season, citing bad weather in October and the need to protect the fragile island from too many visitors.
Meanwhile, TripAdvisor has given accolades to the culinary delights of Dingle, with three of the towns restaurants earning plaudits.
Idas Restaurant in the town has come second in the fine dining category for Ireland, with two other restaurants, The Chart House and The Global Village, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 2016 Travellers Choice Awards.
The winner is the Mulberry Garden in Dublin.
Chief Supt Ger Dillane, who is in charge of policing that region, said some incidents had occurred recently which led gardai to believe a gang is watching banks.
He said people who had withdrawn large sums of cash had put the money into the glove compartment of their cars after leaving the banks. When they later stopped at a petrol station or shop, the gang got into the car and stole the money.
The garda said they are liaising with banks and looking at CCTV footage in an effort to identify the culprits.
He told a meeting of the Cork County Joint Policing Committee (JPC) that car owners are being lax about locking their vehicles as thefts from cars were up nearly a third in the past three months, compared to the same period last year.
Reported theft of property from vehicles increased from 137 to 177.
Chief Supt Dillane said when he arrived for yesterdays JPC meeting in County Hall he noticed a car left in the car park which had all four doors open and a lot of valuable items inside.
Chief Supt Michael Finn, who is in charge of policing Cork City, said he had been alerted by a neighbour about a four-man gang who were trying to steal from unlocked cars in his own estate.
The men were subsequently arrested for a spate of thefts from unlocked vehicles in the Douglas and Glanmire areas.
Chief Supt Dillane said people needed to be more careful and ensure their car doors are locked at all times.
He said the gang was simply walking into estates and trying car doors, many which were left open, even at night.
Theft of vehicles was down from 71 to 56 over the comparable periods and interfering with a vehicle dropped from 18 to 11.
Burma Burma Army Forces Hundreds of Rohingya Villagers from Homes
Burma Amy troops on patrol in Maungdaw Township on Oct. 16, 2016. / Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy
RANGOON Hundreds of Rohingya villagers are facing a second night hiding in rice fields without shelter, after the army on Sunday forcibly removed them from a village in a crackdown following attacks on border security forces.
Four Rohingya sources contacted by Reuters by telephone, said border guard officers went to Kyee Kan Pyin village on Sunday and ordered about 2,000 villagers to abandon it, giving them just enough time to collect basic household items.
The move marks an escalation in violence which has destabilized Burmas most volatile state located in the remote northwest. In Arakan State, also known as Rakhine, relations between the Rohingya and majority Buddhists have hit their lowest point since hundreds of people were killed and thousands displaced in ethnic and religious violence in 2012.
The government, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has said the army and police in Arakan are fighting a group of at least 400 insurgents, drawn from the Rohingya Muslim minority, with links to Islamist militants overseas.
While officials say the army has been conducting carefully targeted sweeps against the group behind attacks on police border posts on Oct. 9, residents have accused security forces of killing non-combatants and burning homes.
I was kicked out from my house yesterday afternoon, now I live in a paddy field outside of my village with some 200 people including my familyI became homeless, said a Rohingya man from Kyee Kan Pyin village contacted by Reuters by telephone.
After the soldiers arrived at our village, they said that if all of us didnt leave, they would shoot us, he said.
Another witness and two Rohingya community elders based in Maungdaw who are collecting information from across the area have corroborated the account, estimating a total of about 2,000 villagers were removed from homes.
Some were able to find shelter in neighboring villages, but hundreds spent last night hiding in the rice fields. They are still stranded and are facing another night without shelter.
U Mynt Kyaw, a government spokesman, said the government was unable to contact anyone in the area because it was a militarily-operated red zone.
A Muslim man called me this morning as they were being forcibly removed from their homes, but I was not able to confirm that information, said U Mynt Kyaw.
The military did not respond to a request for comment.
Videos uploaded on social media by Rohingya rights activists showed men and women speaking Rohingya language carrying their belongings and livestock to other villages or waiting out the crackdown in paddy fields.
Areas of Maungdaw Township, near the border with Bangladesh, are under military lockdown and journalists and aid workers have been barred from visiting them.
Burma First Group of Burmese Refugees in Thailand Repatriated
Burmese refugees in Thailands Mae La refugee camp photographed in Sept. 2013. / J Paing / The Irrawaddy
RANGOON The first group of Burmese refugees sheltering in Thailand was repatriated by UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, and Thai authorities.
Dozens of refugees were voluntarily resettled in places including Myawaddy, Kawkareik, and Kyainseikgyi townships in Karen State, according to Karen States chief minister Nang Khin Htwe Myint.
Refugees being resettled in Karen State will cross the Myawaddy-Mae Sot Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge on Tuesday and Karen State government officials will be visiting them on Wednesday, she told the Irrawaddy.
Other refugees being resettled in Tenasserim Division will be sent through another border crossing.
We will welcome them tomorrow, said Nang Khin Htw Myint. We heard that there are 58 refugees being sent through the Myawaddy-Mae Sot crossing.
She added that most of them come from the Nu Po refugee camp and that the UNHCR had arranged their repatriation.
Iain Hall, a senior field coordinator at the UNHCR told Reuters that the returnees made their own decision to return home after family members in Burma provided information that it was safe to do so.
The Myanmar government came over and issued certificates of identification saying these people are their citizens, Hall told Reuters, adding that the repatriation is a milestone.
The move is the first official group repatriation from the more than 120,000 registered Burmese refugees living in Thailand for over 20 years. Most of the refugees, who fled home to escape civil war, are from ethnic Karen communities who faced persecution by the Burma Army.
News Presidents Office Rejects UN Call for Action on Alleged Rights Abuses in Arakan State
Burma Army troops on patrol in Maungdaw Township on Oct 15. / Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy
RANGOON Burmas President Office spokesperson has denied accusations of human rights violations being carried out by security forces in northern Arakan State, saying, we havent done anything lawless.
His responses came after United Nations human rights experts called on the Burmese government to take action against alleged arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings and burning of mosques and homes by authorities during manhunts in Maungdaw and surrounding areas for suspected attackers against border guard outposts earlier this month.
What troubles me most is the lack of access for a proper assessment of the true picture of the situation there at the present moment, said UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma Yanghee Lee in the statement.
The blanket security operations have restricted access for humanitarian actors with concerning consequences for communities ability to secure food and conduct livelihood activities, the expert emphasized.
The UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions, Dr. Agnes Callamard, also said in the statement that the government should investigate and prosecute the perpetrators in a court of law and not with violence.
Reports of homes and mosques being burnt down and persons of a certain profile being rounded up and shot are alarming and unacceptable, she stated.
The Presidents Office Spokesperson U Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that reports of security forces carrying out extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and village burnings were just accusations.
He said that it was the governments security forces who tried to put out fires after suspected militants set ablaze houses where they had hidden guns, before running away in an effort to abandon any evidence.
The security forces havent arrested anyone without evidence. The arrests we made so far are based on the testimony and information we got through investigation of the attackers we have arrested, U Zaw Htay said.
When asked about killings, the spokesperson said that security forces acted in response to people trying to harm them during the manhunt for suspects. We have already released information about it, he added.
Including the initial attack on three police border posts on Oct. 9, nine police officers and five soldiers have been killed during the manhunt for the attackers. A total of 32 alleged attackers have also been killed by government forces with 51 arrested as of Monday.
U Zaw Htay also denied a Reuters report of the Burma Armys forced eviction of Muslim Rohingya villagers in a crackdown following attacks on border security forces, saying villagers had simply run away when the security forces came in.
We are even encouraging them to stay at their homes rather than fleeing, as it makes more difficult to find the suspected attackers who are hiding among them.
News Rangoon Electricity Tender Awarded to Murky Consortium
Women cycle past a gas power plant in Thaketa Township of Rangoon. / JPaing / The Irrawaddy
RANGOON A consortium with links to a Burmese company previously on the US blacklist and including an international energy company affiliated with the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will work to alleviate Rangoons electricity woes.
A consortium led by National Infrastructure Holdings won tender to generate an extra 300 megawatts of electricity for five years to prevent the citys frequent blackouts, announced Electric Power Generation Enterprise (EPGE), a state-owned utility under the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, on Oct. 13.
The consortium is made up of four companies: National Infrastructure Holdings Co. Ltd., MCM Pacific Pte. Ltd, APR Energy Plc. and ACE Resources Group Pte. Ltd.
Registered in Burma in 2015, National Infrastructure Holdings has an affiliation with Asia World Co. Ltd., run by Steven Law a.k.a U Htun Myint Naing. Both Asia World and Steven Law were blacklisted by the US government from 2008 until earlier this month.
Steven Laws late father Lo Hsing Han, a warlord with close ties to Burmas military, was described by the US Treasury as one of the worlds key heroin traffickers.
The Holdings current director U Maung Kyay is a close associate of Steven Laws. According to state-run newspaper reports dating back to 1997, U Maung Kyay was previously one of the senior members of Asia World.
In a New Light of Myanmar story published in Oct. 2001, he was mentioned as the director of Asia World, who accompanied the then Minister for Health Maj-Gen Ket Sein on an inspection tour of the construction of Yangon Psychiatric Hospital, which the company was building.
Due to Asia Worlds murky background, the director is believed have set up new companies under different names to act as fronts for doing businesses with western companies.
This is how National Infrastructure Holdings came to be in 2015. The following year, in partnership with Dutch energy giant Shell, the Holdings opened a road trial project near Naypyidaw International Airport.
Based in Jacksonville, Florida, APR Energy primarily supplies government utilities in developing nations with power plants that can be erected quickly to deal with a countrys short-term lack of supply.
The company has been in Burma since 2014, deploying gas power modules at a power plant in Kyaukse Township in Mandalay Division.
Madeleine Albright, who chairs Albright Capital Management (ACM), has been a shareholder of APR Energy since Aug. 2009 and materially increased that investment in March 2011. ACM was among the members of an investor consortium who acquired APR and took the company private early this year.
The first woman to become a US Secretary of State, she was part of a 1995 US diplomatic contingent that warned Burmas generals the country would face continued isolation if the leaders of the military junta did not take steps toward greater political freedom and democracy.
Burma has been facing power shortages, especially during the hot season of March-May, since the late 1990s due to underdeveloped infrastructure, ageing power plants, and insufficient investment.
Hydropower stations, one of the countrys main electricity sources, become idle in the hot season as reservoirs dry up.
More than half of the countrys population still has no access to electricity but the country is facing annual growth of 400 megawatts in demand as more people are connecting to the national grid, according to EPGEs estimation.
In July, the enterprise invited tender to supply electricity for Rangoonthe countrys business hub that takes the lions share of the countrys electricity.
The consortium led by National Infrastructure Holding was selected out of two finalists this month to generate electricity at the cheapest price, according to the announcement.
We have issued a letter of acceptance to the winner and are discussing the power-purchasing agreement to generate electricity by the coming [hot season], said EPGE when the tender winner was announced.
News Residents Flee as Military Tensions Flare in Eastern Shan State
Soldiers of the United Wa State Army, based in Shan State. / JPaing / The Irrawaddy
RANGOON Several dozen residents in the town of Mongyang, including government workers, have fled south to Kengtung, the administrative capital of eastern Shan State, fearing the outbreak of fighting as tensions flare between the Burma Army and the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
Fears have mounted after the deadline of an ultimatum delivered by the Burma Army to the UWSAto withdraw its troops who had occupied several bases belonging to a supposed ally, the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), in the autonomous Chinese border enclave of Monglapassed on Monday without action.
The seizure of the posts in early October was reportedly carried out to shore up the UWSAs strategic position against a potential Burma Army offensive, and was prompted by growing mistrust of its longtime junior partner, the NDAAmore popularly known as the Mongla Groupafter the NDAA displayed a willingness to engage with the Burmese governments peace process that was out of step with the UWSAs cautious approach.
According to local sources, government staffers employed at a hospital and in schools in Mongyang town of eastern Shan State have fled south to Kengtung. Other local residents have sought sanctuary across the nearby Chinese border.
However, so far there have been no visible signs of an offensive by the Burma Army, which has a considerable presence across eastern Shan State, with Triangle Command headquartered in Kengtung. Mongyang is located between Mongla and the town of Mongpauk, a UWSA stronghold.
On Friday, the UWSA responded to a letter from the National Reconciliation and Peace Centerthe Burmese government body charged with facilitating the peace processasking them to withdraw their troops and requesting a meeting.
The UWSA said that reports that it had commandeered posts from the NDAA were based on a misunderstanding of the facts on the ground; they were merely conducting military exercises in a region belonging to their allies, and any concerns had been cleared up with the NDAA, with whom they preserved brotherly relations.
In the letter, the UWSA said they had ordered their troops to de-escalate tensions, and that the organization was committed to restoring peace and maintaining unity in Burmaand would not provoke conflict. They also turned down the request for a meeting.
Both the UWSA and the NDAA developed out of units of the Communist Party of Burma when it imploded in 1989, and signed ceasefires with the Burmese government more than 25 years ago, since which relations with the Burma Army have been peaceful.
News UEC to Conduct Door-to-Door Voter List Update for By-Elections
The election commission chief meets with political party representatives in Naypyidaw on Monday. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy
NAYPYIDAW Burmas Union Election Commission (UEC) is to conduct a door-to-door update of the voter list in 19 constituencies where by-elections will be held on April 1.
U Hla Thein, the chairperson of the UEC appointed by the National League for Democracy government in April, spoke to representatives of 67 political parties at the UEC headquarters in Naypyidaw on Monday.
We will go door-to-door and check with heads of households whether any amendments need to be made. If anyone is found to be absent from the voter list, we will add him or her with the approval [of household heads], he said.
A countrywide voter list was prepared from scratch, using individual household lists stored in ward and village tract government officers, starting in early 2015, in preparation for the general election held in November that year.
The voter list, when displayed for public scrutiny at various stages in the run-up to the 2015 election, attracted substantial criticism for its errors and omissions, butafter corrections were madethe list did not cause significant problems on polling day.
The UEC announced on Oct. 11 that by-elections would be held to fill 18 vacant seatsboth in the Union Parliament and in state and divisional legislaturesfor constituencies in Rangoon, Sagaing and Pegu divisions, and Shan, Karenni, Mon, Chin and Arakan states.
The seats were left open due to ministerial appointments, which require selected lawmakers to vacate their seats, two deaths, and the cancelation of constituencies due to armed conflict during the 2015 electionin Kyethi (Kesi) and Mong Hsu townships of central Shan State.
An additional constituency, Nyaung Shwe-1 in the Shan State parliament, was added to the by-election roster after the death of the lawmaker last week.
Candidate names must be submitted between Nov. 28 and Dec. 7. After scrutiny, the UEC will announce the definitive candidate list on Jan. 2.
U Han Shwe, the vice chairperson of the National Unity Party, welcomed the door-to-door initiative, stressing that it must cover all villages, since voter list data had previously been collected at the village tract level.
U Kyaw Kyaw Htay, the secretary of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, Burmas largest opposition party, promised that they would collaborate to have a fair election. He recommended some changes in polling procedure, such as marking ballots by pencil rather than using stamps, and displaying names on the updated voter list in family groupings, rather than alphabetically.
The decision to arrange voters names in alphabetical order during public display periods in wards and village tracts in the run-up to the 2015 election had caused confusion and annoyance to the public, since the absence of family names in Burma meant that members of the same family were found in disparate parts of the list.
However, the UEC chairperson responded that stamps would continue to be used in polling booths, and no other changes to the electoral process would be made.
Dr. Aye Maung, the chairperson of the Arakan National Party, who was present at the Naypyidaw meeting, told The Irrawaddy that he welcomed the release of the by-election schedule, and believed there was adequate time for candidate registration prior to Dec 7.
He confirmed his party would be contesting the Lower House seat of Ann Township, the only seat in Arakan State up for grabs in the by-elections.
He said most of the comments made by political party representatives in the Naypyidaw meeting related to the accuracy of the voter listmaking sure that those who are eligible are on the voter list, and enjoy their right to vote.
Dr. Aye Maung pointed out that there was no mention of when the updated voter list would be put on public display at the local level, but expressed confidence that the UEC would ensure the accuracy of the list, and had sufficient time to do so.
During the meeting on Monday, political parties also requested that they have party representatives present when ward and village tract election sub-commissions go door-to-door with the voter list.
Additional reporting by Nyein Nyein.
Tuesday, October 25th, 2016 (9:42 am) - Score 1,397
Telecoms giant BT has announced a new partnership with Intersection (LinkNYC) and advertising company Primesight that will enable them to deploy free ultrafast (up to 1Gbps) public WiFi, free UK landline / mobile phone calls and a range of other digital services across Londons major high streets.
The new LinkUK service will be delivered via specially designed kiosks called Links (pictured) and funded by the revenues from advertising on the kiosks large 55 HD digital displays. As part of the deal Primesight will also be able to sell advertising on nearly 17,500 BT payphone kiosks across the UK.
Furthermore the Links, which are set to replace hundreds of BTs existing phone boxes across the capital, are expected to support mobile device charging (two USB charging ports) and access to maps, directions and local services via a touchscreen tablet.
On top of that the kiosks will feature special sensors, which can capture real-time data relating to the local environment, including for example, air and noise pollution, outdoor temperature and traffic conditions. This could provide some useful information for local councils and communities etc.
Gerry McQuade, CEO of BT Wholesale and Ventures, said: Were evolving the phone box to make it relevant in the 21st century by offering people ultrafast Wi-Fi and a range of digital and information services entirely for free. London is one of the greatest cities in the world and its entirely fitting that it becomes the first UK city to benefit from the Links. But we will be rolling out many more Links to the other great cities across the UK over the coming months as we look to transform the look and functionality of our public payphones.
The new kiosks take up less space on the pavement and will be installed in smaller numbers than the existing payphones they replace, which BT views as helping to reduce the amount of clutter on the street.
Apparently up to 100 Links are expected to be installed in the London Borough of Camden alone, with the first ones due to appear sometime in 2017. Overall at least 750 Links will then be installed across central London and in major cities across the United Kingdom over the next few years.
Tuesday, October 25th, 2016 (10:27 am) - Score 1,446
Residents of a rural village in North Yorkshire (England), Cowling, have complained about the fiasco of Openreachs (BT) response after some were left without broadband connectivity for around 2-3 weeks, which started when a car crashed into one of the operators local FTTC cabinets.
At this point we should say that the picture accompanying this article is actually from the aftermath of a similar accident that occurred in Bourne End (Buckinghamshire) last year. We dont have a picture of the latest incident, but street cabinets often need to be completely replaced after such events.
Otherwise the latest incident in Cowling began on 29th September 2016 after a vehicle travelling near to Lane Ends on the A6068 ended up smashing into one of Openreachs local FTTC (VDSL2) based fibre broadband street cabinets. Sadly the problem wasnt completely resolved for another 2-3 weeks and some residents werent at all happy.
Alan McEwen, Local Business Owner, said (Keighley News): Its been a nightmare. Obviously accidents do happen. However, this collision resulted in many small, local businesses, tradesmen and hill farms being without Internet. Ive been run ragged on the phone speaking to people from the Highlands to Belfast trying to get it sorted out. The most local person I could find to speak to was someone in Blackburn, who didnt have a clue where Cowling was. I consider the BT service to be appalling and not fit to operate as a service provider.
In fairness weve seen similar accidents in the past and some of those have taken a lot longer than 2-3 weeks to resolve. On top of that the loss of broadband, while obviously very important, will always come secondary to any resultant police investigation and of course the potential for loss of life or serious harm during the incident itself.
Once the police work is done then the engineers can finally get to work, but such things are rarely an easy fix. Openreach cant simply throw a new cabinet on top and they may need additional permissions or support from other groups (power companies etc.) in order to conduct the necessary repairs.
The problem may also be exasperated if the IDC connections and other cables have been damaged, both in the cabinet and going down into the ducts underneath, none of which are a quick fix.
However in this case it was noted that part of the reason for the repair taking 2-3 weeks was because, according to a staff member at BTs retail ISP, Openreach were awaiting delivery of a component. This suggests that their local division might not have had enough replacement kit in-stock for this sort of eventuality.
A Spokesperson for Openreach said: We were first aware that there was a problem with this fibre broadband cabinet due to a road traffic accident late at night on September 30. Our first priority was to make the cabinet safe as it has power running to it, which happened in the early hours of the next day. Unfortunately we were faced with some technical and engineering challenges to get the cabinet fully up and running again and the service was restored on October 17. We apologise for the delays and the inconvenience this caused to people in the local community.
Clearly one area where situations like this could be improved is on the communication front. At present Openreach passes information about such incidents to ISPs and they in turn relay a softened version to customers, but it would be handy if Openreach also operated a central service status database that could be accessed / searched by the public.
A further bit of digging suggests that some people were actually able to get back online within 3-5 days, although its not clear if they were FTTC or ADSL subscribers.
2017 and Beyond: How Digital Innovation Will Impact the World
According to the findings of a Cognizant study on how businesses and jobs need to evolve in the digital era, the economic impact of being behind your peer group in digital is huge. For large enterprises, this laggard penalty, as the study calls it, can result in hundreds of millions of dollars of lost economic opportunity just over the next few years.
In an email interview following the release of the study, dubbed The Work Ahead: Mastering the Digital Economy, Paul Roehrig, global managing director of the Center for the Future of Work at Cognizant, provided some valuable commentary. A particularly keen insight came in response to my question about what the focus of students just beginning their university studies should be in order to become as well-equipped as possible to help their companies master the digital economy:
If you want to master the digital economy, be a better human. As noted in the studys findings, it may sound counterintuitive, but in a world of more pervasive technology, activities that humans do well will be even more important in 2020 than today. Analytical thinking, communication, and learning skills are all critical now, but in the digital economy these very human activities things we do naturally, but AI systems struggle with will become even more essential in our personal and work lives, and for our businesses.
Roehrig said that while the revenue impact of all this will vary by industry, every sector will be affected:
The study focuses on several industries retail, banking, insurance, manufacturing, and life sciences that collectively generate more than $60 trillion in revenue today (roughly the scale of about 40 percent of world GDP). What we found is that the impact of digital transformation on these industries between 2015 and 2018 alone could be up to $20 trillion. That number may sound too big to be true, but when you break it down, it seems a lot more realistic.
Leaders from 2,000 companies across the globe think that within three years digital will, on average across all industries studied, influence more than 10 percent of all revenue. In gross revenue terms, this equates to around $2 trillion across the organizations we surveyed. Thats hardly chump change. While the revenue impact will vary by industry, all sectors will be affected. The trend is most pronounced in retail, where the impact of digital on revenue will rise by more than 39 percent. For retailers, its already a life-or-death imperative to excel in digital, because customers simply will not tolerate mediocre experiences.
As for which industries are lagging furthest behind, Roehrig said the study found that life sciences and insurance companies are currently the least digital sectors:
That means they currently attribute the least amount of their revenue to new technologies and digital experiences, invest less, etc. In many cases, leaders feel like regulation or a lack of clear ROI may be preventing innovation, but those arguments wont last for long, as were starting to see real technology-fueled innovation in those sectors. Also, its interesting to see that leaders in life sciences and insurance expect revenue to be impacted by more than 30 percent over the next three years. This is simply a massive shift in how they plan to create value.
I asked Roehrig which information technology jobs that are currently considered to be in high demand are destined to become obsolete the fastest. He indicated that its more a question of how technology will change jobs, rather than how technology will make them disappear:
The impact of technology on jobs is a really important question, and its on a lot of peoples minds. In fact, around 77 percent of senior leaders globally said they were concerned that automated technology (robots) will take jobs from people I care about (and maybe me). Even though there is concern about automation taking jobs away, senior leaders saw the positives in technology enabling work. For example, the study found that more than 60 percent of leaders said technology would help them be more creative and help them serve customers better; around 87 percent said new technologies would improve their productivity. The vast majority of leaders believe, as we do here at Cognizants Center for the Future of Work, that it would be a mistake to short human imagination. As we have throughout history, we will continue to find plenty of work for human hands and brains.
When we think about impact on jobs, its helpful to look at the kinds of work being done that make up a job. In fact, we believe that many many more knowledge jobs will be altered by technology, rather than simply being automated away. Even so, the new machines will make some work less relevant in the digital economy. If a specific job is made up of highly repetitive, data-intensive tasks that dont require much human judgment or empathy, it could be a candidate for process automation.
Given that Cognizant is a major offshore outsourcing services provider, I asked Roehrig how the offshore outsourcing model will change to adapt to the future digital economy. His response:
Throughout history, how we work how we share labor, the tools we use, and so on defines our societies as well as our specific industries and companies. From the Stone Age to the Iron Age to the Industrial Revolution, this has been the case. When the Internet a new machine became accessible to many, knowledge work could be done wherever there was a smart person with a connection. This new technology opened up opportunities to distribute work in a new business model. It was similar to when physical work like manufacturing was able to be distributed globally once the labor and shipping costs got low enough to make economic sense.
These shifts have always resulted in massive value creation, and this wont change as we move into the digital economy. What will matter most in the digital economy will be having the right skills to create value and innovate based on new machines AI, algorithms, bots, big data and new business models aligned to digital and physical products and services. And that can happen anywhere.
Finally, I asked Roehrig whether privacy is likely to become more of a casualty or more of a benefactor of the future digital economy. He said there are no easy answers:
Given all the news about hacks, phishing, and too much information on Twitter and Facebook, its not surprising that 87 percent of global leaders said privacy was a major concern about our digital future. The fact is that there will be a digital dark side, and it will be a bumpy ride for all of us as we decide how to manage privacy in a world where everything can be shared. There are no easy answers, but we are already learning how to make this work. We know this because this is happening around us now, and smart leaders are adapting to our digital environment at a remarkably rapid rate.
Security breaches are now expected, and often not fatal. In fact, as we shared in our findings, the targets of the biggest macro-hacks paid a steep price, but virtually all are still open for business. Our definition of privacy and what we expect will certainly change. Its already happening. While we cant stop this, we can steer it. Our decisions, ethics, and even optimism will be even more essential in the new digital economy than ever before.
A contributing writer on IT management and career topics with IT Business Edge since 2009, Don Tennant began his technology journalism career in 1990 in Hong Kong, where he served as editor of the Hong Kong edition of Computerworld. After returning to the U.S. in 2000, he became Editor in Chief of the U.S. edition of Computerworld, and later assumed the editorial directorship of Computerworld and InfoWorld. Don was presented with the 2007 Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity by American Business Media, and he is a recipient of the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for editorial excellence in news coverage. Follow him on Twitter @dontennant.
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10 Steps to Smarter IT Ticket Management
Most IT service desks are reactionary. Somewhere in the enterprise an event occurs that generates a job ticket that someone on the IT staff then investigates. The length of time it takes to perform that investigation is usually in direct proportion to the amount of frustration the end user winds up directing at the IT department while waiting for the issue to be resolved.
Looking to make IT service desks much more proactive than they generally are at the moment, Kaseya revealed today an alliance under which its monitoring tools will automatically be able to generate job tickets within a help desk system developed around a workflow management service delivered via the cloud by TeamDynamix.
Mike Puglia, chief product officer at Kaseya, says that the Kaseya VSA platform, announced at the EDUCAUSE 2016 conference, can identify potential IT issues before they impact end users.
The IT staff can then proactively address those issues like any other job ticket generated in the TDX service desk delivered as a cloud service by TeamDynamix. The only difference is there isnt a bunch of annoyed end users involved in the process.
To accomplish that integration, Puglia says the two companies collaborated to standardize everything from application programming interfaces (APIs) to single sign-on capabilities.
Andrew Graf, vice president of sales support and customer success for TeamDynamix, says that instead of reinventing the IT monitoring wheel, it made more sense for TeamDynamix to partner with Kaseya to create a best-of-breed solution aimed specifically at the higher education market. That vertical segment of the IT market is especially challenged because of both the transitory nature of end user community and the vast amounts of sensitive data higher education institutions handle.
There are a whole range of compliance issues involving everything from credit cards to grades, says Graf.
Longer term, Puglia says, Kaseya will leverage this work to integrate with other IT service desk platforms as well.
We want to make our platform as extensible as possible, says Puglia.
Hopefully, as that integration work continues, the number of IT incidents that end users will directly experience will start to decline.
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Phone maker giant Samsung Electronics Co. has delayed the development of the Galaxy S8 by two weeks, in order to have more time to investigate the cause of the Galaxy Note 7 fire, which has become the worst nightmare of the South Korean company since it was decided to recall the mobile device.
Delaying The Galaxy S8 Could Be A Humiliation
For many analysts, this situation might represent a huge humiliation for Samsung, considering that what happened with the Note 7 has been so disastrous that the biggest objective should be to avoid any kind of links between this model and the Galaxy S8, so this phone could be launched to the market without the users prejudge that it could also explode. In fact, it was rumored that the new model could be released faster than expected, but this decision buries the possibilities of this to happen.
According to Tech Radar, the Note 7 fiasco may have cost to the company $1 billion, and this new situation will definitely have a consequence on when the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Edge are launched, but it is unclear if it will push back the announcement, which was expected to come just before the Mobile World Congress, which runs from February 27 next year.
The Cause Could Have Been Known
The most incredible detail about this issue is that the cause of the Note 7 fire could have been known if Samsung hadn't rush to launch its own recall a second time without reportedly waiting for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissions formal process. In fact, this agency will investigate if the phone maker company notified about the risk posed by the phone, as reported by the International Business Times.
Giving this whole picture, it seems that the Galaxy S8 is not the only thing that is delayed, but also the Samsungs chances to recover the users' trust, since this is probably the most important element that the Note 7 fiasco has damaged. Meanwhile, many other phone makers companies are looking to taking advantage of Samsungs fall.
The Fairy Tail chapter 505 was foreseen if Natsu had indeed reveal his transformation into E.N.D. But, the portion of the popular Japanese manga paints the affairs of the epic battle between the Fairy Tail and the merged forces of the Alvarez Empire and the Spriggan 12.
The latest chapter of the highly popular Japanese manga Fairy Tail confirming Natsu's so-called transformation into Strongest Demon/Dragon Slayer Etherious Natsu Dragneel or E.N.D. In addition, addicts were restlessly waiting to see how the newly transfigured and very powerful Natsu would face his friend-turned-arch-foe Gray Fullbuster.
Given Natsu's anomalous and enormous power, fans had all but assumed Gary's death. However, rather it will reveal how the epic battle between the demon slayer and Gary ended, as Reddit users presaged, mangaka Hiro Hashima varied his focus entirely to a extensive battled waged by the Alvarez Empire and the Spriggan vs Fairy Tail Guild.
As if the sheer leg number of Alvarez Empire soldiers isn't sufficient, the powerful female of the Spriggan 12, Irene Belserion, has directed to enhance their powers. Using her "Berserker," Irene raises the strength and abilities of the Alvarez Empire's footmen. The improved soldiers are now stronger, faster and much more deadly in the battle, which puts the mages at a great drawback.
The Slayer band members are already fighting an uphill battle owing to the large number of fighter they are facing. Yet, the fact that Irene's powers have made the soldiers totally painless, is truly an impassable challenge, particularly when the soldiers do not feel at all when hit by the likes of Erza.
Rather than getting hurt or reversion, the soldiers simply keep on attacking the Guild members. Their only frailty is their complete incompetence to think and act on separately. Predictably, the magical powers that make them strong and impenetrable to pain, also make them "lose their minds," asserts Irene.
Early chapters, Makarov has been shown compensating the Fairy Tail Guild members with kindness and sympathy. In the current chapter 505, Makarov says it is very excruciating to watch his "children" suffer and bleed at the hands of Irene's Berserker infantry. He adds that he won't mind losing his life to save them as he contemplates it to be "small price to pay."
Though Mavis keeps goading Makarov not to use the Fair Law, and adds there are other ways the Guild could arise victorious, the recent, calmly ignores her and liberates the full power of the spell. When the dust subsides, the entire battleground is seen covered with the dead soldiers of the Alvarez Empire.
President Tran Dai Quang greets Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith (Photo: VNA)
The President hailed the participation of the PM and the high-level delegation of Laos in the World Economic Forum on Mekong (WEF Mekong), the 8th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Summit (CLMV 8) and the 7th Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy Summit (ACMECS 7) in Vietnam.
It illustrates Laos special attachment to cooperation in the Mekong Subregion, said the President.
He congratulated Laos on the successful organisation of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and relevant meetings as Chair of ASEAN in 2016.
The expansion of relations with foreign countries, especially neighbouring ones, has helped Laos increase its position in the region and around the world, he said, adding that he believes Lao people will fulfil the targets of the Resolution adopted at the 10th Party Congress and the eighth five-year socio-economic development plan in 2016-2020.
President Quang also expressed his pleasure at the growing ties between the two countries across the fields thanks to regular high-level delegation exchanges, particularly the recent official visit to Laos by National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in September, which has contributed to tightening the bilateral traditional friendship and special solidarity.
He suggested the two countries governments continuously make it easier for the implementation of the joint investment projects and key ones in energy and transport, including the construction of Hanoi - Vientiane highway and oil and gas pipeline project from Hon La port (in Vietnams central Quang Binh province) to Lao Khammouan province.
He recommended enhancing bilateral collaboration in defense, security, culture, education, human resources training, health, and people-to-people exchanges.
For his part, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said he was honoured to lead senior officials from Laos to attend the regional summits.
He also expressed his pleasure to be informed that President Tran Dai Quang will visit Laos to partake in activities to mark the 55th founding anniversary of their diplomatic ties and 40th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam - Laos Amity and Cooperation Treaty in 2017./.
A group of scientist at University College London (UCL), the University of Sheffield and the University of Pennsylvania, has developed an Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) "judge" who would be able to predict the outcome of human right trials by analyzing case text using a machine learning algorithm.
Cases In The European Court Of Human Rights
According to the International Business Times, the study conducted by the researchers at these academic institutions showed that the A.I. system has predicted the outcome of hundreds of cases heard at the European Court of Human Rights with 79 percent accuracy. Although this is not precisely a bad number, the scientist explained that the machines wouldn't replace judges or lawyers.
"We don't see A.I. replacing judges or lawyers, but we think they'd be useful for rapidly identifying patterns in cases that lead to certain outcomes. It could also be a valuable tool for highlighting which cases are most likely to be violations of the European Convention on Human Rights," lead researcher from UCL's department of computer science, Dr. Nikolaos Aletras, told to the media.
How The A.I. "Judges" Worked
According to the Daily Mail, the scientist looked at case information by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in its accessible database, identified English language data sets for more than 500 cases relating to the articles 3, 6, an 8 of the organization, and applied an A.I. algorithm to find pattern in the text.
Also, the A.I. "judges" had to analyze an equal number of violations and non-violations cases in order to prevent bias and mislearning. Apparently, the results showed that language, topics and the circumstances mentioned in the case text were the most reliable facto for predicting the courts decision.
"Previous studies have predicted outcomes based on the nature of the crime, or the policy position of each judge, so this is the first time judgments have been predicted using analysis of text prepared by the court. We expect this sort of tool would improve efficiencies of high level, in-demand courts, but to become a reality, we need to test it against more articles and the case data submitted to the court," UCL computer scientist Dr. Vasileios Lampos said.
Scientists from Germany, the United States and Colombia, discovered the new termite species and has been officially named as Proneotermes macondianus. This newly discovered remained undiscovered over the past 100 years.
Termitologists Robin Casalla, Freiburg University, Germany, and Universidad del Norte, Colombia, Dr.Rudolf H. Scheffrahn, University of Florida, USA, and Prof Dr. Judith Korb, Freiburg University, discovered a termite species and described it as new based on its unique shapes and colors, as well as its genes. The new termite is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.
According to Nature World News, the newly discovered species is is the third species of the termite genus Proneotermes. The researchers classified the termites living in the dry forests of Colombia as a new species based on its unique shape and color.
The given name of the new termite species is named after the fictional town Macondo from the Novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Macondo stands for a forgotten microcosm in the history of Colombia with unimaginable events. According to the story, the magical realm was eventually wiped off the map by gigantic storms of the Caribbean as a form of divine punishment for the violation of the biblical laws of genetics, incest.
P. macondianus may have been one of those characters playing in the novel during the destruction of Macondo, remaining unrecognized until today," comments lead author Robin Casalla.
The soldiers of this species are characterized by their elongated, rectangular heads, about 5 7 mm long. Their colors range from color from black at the tip of their heads to ferruginous orange at their back. P. macondianus has a voracious appetite for drywood, especially thin branches of less than 2 cm in diameter, and lives in small colonies of about 20 individuals.
Based on its characteristics, the termitologist added the new termite species under Drywood. Although few drywood termites are considered pests in some urban areas, P. macondianus lives only in the wild and prefers tropical dry forests.
Over 527 South Koreans who bought the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 wants more compensation from the fire-prone device. Rumors then started flying that Samsung will likely give the previous owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge the new Samsung Galaxy S8.
According to a written article at Yahoo, in South Korea, a group of 527 South Koreans who bought the infamous Note 7 filed a demand against Samsung to compensate them for the costs to visit shops to exchange their phones, for the hours they had to wait while transferring data and for the psychological harm using a hazardous product. The group is said to be seeking 500,000 won ($442) compensation per person.
One of the people who filed the case recalls how he lost thousands of pictures from a family vacation. Another one recalls of how he had to spend nearly $100 on gas and highway tolls just to return the Galaxy Note 7 after the first recall. He also stated that he had to drive 300 kilometers from his home in Cheonan to Busan, where he had bought the Galaxy Note 7.
Though such situations were experienced by the victims, sadly, South Korean courts do not award punitive damages. But it is reported that Samsung has prepared alternative plans to compensate the victims.
Samsung earlier offered 30,000 won ($26) worth of coupons to all Note 7 users and 70,000 won ($62) worth of coupons for those who want to switch to other Samsung phones. But according to another source, Sam Mobile, a new compensation program will be launched. This program is said to give the previous owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Now, about that rumor, not everyone is happy about that. First and foremost, the people in South Korea were not asking for an S8, let alone another Samsung product. What they were asking is 500,000 won ($442) to compensate for the struggles they had to endure.
Now with that in mind, how long will it take for the S8 to be released? And plus, what will be the public's reaction for the S8?
If a company created a product that has cause harm or in any way poses a threat to the owner and his/her loved ones, there is a very high chance that the owner will not accept a new product given by the same company. There is already that fear imprinted in the mind of the owners which the company will have to erase, and it will also take time for them to win back the trust they lost.
Even if the rumor of the S8 is true, it will still be a tough battle for Samsung. And plus, if their plan fails, they will stop producing phones for a while or maybe change their brand name.
Mark Zuckerberg will probably have to face a major clash with Silicon Valley until the U.S. Presidential elections, because of the tech center's political stance against Donald Trump and the decisions that the Facebook leader made in the last few days. Inciting controversy, Zuckerberg supported Peter Thiels position in the company and allowed the Republican Nominee to write anything on his post, regardless if it could be considered as hate speech.
The Thiel Situation
When the Paypal co-founder announced his support for Trump and the donation of $1.25 million to his campaign, the entire world were incredibly surprised, giving the fact that hes the only tech center member who have openly endorsed the conservative candidate. Of course, Silicon Valley response was fast and aggressive against Thiel, to the point where some members ended up insulting him through social media.
Also, Project Include, an organization that aims to increase diversity in Silicon Valley, cut its relations with the start-up accelerator Y Combinator - a company in which Thiel is one of the most important members - because of Thiels links with Trump. Project Include's co-founder Paul Graham, who openly supports Hillary Clinton and has compared the Republican nominee with Hitler, initiated the separation.
Although it would be extremely more difficult to take this kind of actions with a much more powerful company such as Facebook, the tech center set a precedent in which it was clearly showed that they will be against any company where one of its main members has a different political stance.
However, everyone expected Zuckerbergs response to be in concordance with his political views, that he also would stand against Trump, and removes Thiel from Facebooks board. Far from taking this decision, the CEO wrote a short missive to the company employees in which he expressed his support for the long-term board member, saying that "We can't create a culture that says it cares about diversity and then excludes almost half the country because they back a political candidate," as reported by Fortune.
Deciding To Allow Trumps Racist Statements
The next situation for Zuckerberg was even more controversial, since he not only faced Silicon Valley's disapproval, but also his employees, some of which threatened to quit the company. This case was his decision to allow the publication of Trumps Facebook post, even if they could be easily considered as hate speech.
His reasons were that censoring a presidential candidate could be too drastic, and that some of the statements could be important to public interest, even if they violate Facebooks standards. This was something that many people criticized, since it could be considered as a greenlight for the Republican nominee to tell whatever he wants, and it looks like an incredible policy change to the social media platform.
In fact, an important media as The Guardian claimed that "Mark Zuckerberg is officially the editor-in-chief of the world's largest news organization, though he may not know it yet. Two news items on Friday suggest that Facebook is instituting editorial standards analogous to those of a newspaper - and that Zuckerberg has the final say in matters of editorial judgment."
Mark Zuckerbergs Possible Strategy
Analyzing his both decisions in the last days, it is clear that Silicon Valley showed its extremism on the Peter Thiel case, considering that anyone can support the political candidate they want, and make any kind of donation as in amounts as large as they want. Although Zuckerbergs decision and justification were perfectly right, it represents a little bit of danger, giving the tech center strong position against Thiel.
On the other hand, letting Donald Trump write what he wants could be extremely dangerous for Facebook CEO, considering that this has been an unpopular decision, and every time the Republican Nominee write a statement that could be easily considered as a hate speech, Zuckerberg will be in the spotlight, and Silicon Valley will not look at him with soft eyes.
However, what no one seems to notice is that this decision could actually be an intelligent strategy to harm Trumps image, by letting everyone knows every time he commits a serious flaw, because even when is right to censor the Republican Nominee when he says something racist, it wouldn't b so harmful for him if that statement isn't published.
Also, this decision would allow Facebook to have more viewers and users than ever, considering that the few weeks before the elections will be extremely intense. Of course, the risk of a struggle with the tech center could happen, and is difficult to conclude which candidate would benefit Zuckerbergs interest more.
If Hillary Clinton wins, it would undeniable that there will be no trouble for Facebook, but it would be an unpredictable scenario if Trump becomes the new president, giving the fact that Zuckerbergs doesn't support him, Peter Thiel is an important member of the company, and Silicon Valley is totally against the Republican and his supporters.
A major clash with the tech center, the media and his employees, could be the price to pay for one of the most powerful member of the tech industry to achieve his objectives. From now on, every statement that Donald Trump made on Facebook, will be more controversial than ever.
Not less than 1 month, Galaxy Note 7 exploded from different places in the world. It comes to the point that Samsung halted the production of their flagship smartphone. But now, another user has reported that his Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge exploded while on charge.
An unnamed employee at one of the four big wireless carriers in the U.S. contacted PhoneArena after a customer brought in a Galaxy S7 Edge which had "exploded." The user of the Galaxy S7 Edge was charging his phone with an original Samsung charger overnight when his phone caught fire automatically. The tip included two photos of the melted phone. Adding insult to injury, the owner of the charred S7 Edge only had it for two weeks after he traded in his Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
According to Computer World, two days earlier, Canadian Elisha Loewen posted pictures of his melted Galaxy S7 Edge after it burst into flames as he was driving. At first, he did not expect. He said that something smelled like it was burning and he originally thought it was his engine. He wrote, Then I notice smoke coming from my console under my radio where I keep my phone. I picked it up and it was extremely hot, then threw it out the car window. I pulled over and covered it in snow to snuff the flame.
Samsung wanted pictures and the four he posted show extensive damage. Loewen wrote, I just want a refund so I can buy a phone thats not a Samsung.
Another news, back in September, a Galaxy S7 Edge owner in the Philippines posted pictures on Facebook after her phone caught fire while her daughter was allegedly using it.
One more instance has happened earlier this year. A Galaxy S7 Edge reportedly caught fire in a man's pocket and caused third-degree burns.
It's not only the Galaxy S7 Edge, because in September, a teacher from Essex, England had her Galaxy S7 catch fire while she was in a busy restaurant.
Just this month, the Korean company sent pop-up messages to customers reassuring them that their Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones were safe and that there was nothing to recall for mentioned models. However, in the light of this incident, it may soon become important for Samsung to change strategies in evaluating and reassuring their phones use.
Elon Musk has been making headlines all over the web because of the man's desire to transform the human race into a multi-planetary species. And this isn't just a passing fancy for the billionaire, no.
Musk is completely adamant about this concept. So adamant, in fact, that initiatives are currently being carried out to make this plan into fruition.
Domes and Glass Panes To House Humans Colonizing Mars
He has given multiple talks regarding this concept, the latest being was at the International Astronautical Congress held in September. Following this, he has given an "Ask Me Anything" over at the SpaceX subreddit where he answered questions from hundreds of space enthusiasts, said Mirror.
One question asked was how is he going to make life habitable for humans in the red planet's harsh environment? "Initially, glass panes with carbon fiber frames to build geodesic domes on the surface, plus a lot of miner/tunneling droids.
"With the latter, you can build out a huge amount of pressurized space for industrial operations and leave the glass domes for green living space," wrote Musk. When asked about when will he reveal designs about this habitable area, Musk wrote that SpaceX will release a mock-up of it in "maybe a year or two."
Initial Missions To Mars Will Mainly Focus On Cargo; Astronauts At High Risk Of Fatality
As for the initial step for colonizing the red planet, the business magnate said that early missions will mainly focus on cargo and will be unmanned. It will also be used to provide further data regarding landing technology, testing water extraction, and equipment drop-off.
In 2012, Musk said that the first manned mission to Mars will have fewer than ten people, reported Inverse. However, it seems that that number has increased to 12. The billionaire said that these volunteers will start building and troubleshooting the propellant plant and what is Musk calling "The Mars Base Alpha" power system.
It's also important to remember that this voyage poses a lot of risks to the men and women who will be going on these missions. Musk himself said that the fatality is very high and people who will journey to the red planet will go there knowing that it will probably be a one-way trip.
The spacecraft that would be ferry these heroes is being called as the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). But Musk said in the Reddit AMA that it needs a new name offering acronyms like the BFS and the BRS.
Regardless of what it's called the spacecraft will be capable of carrying up to 100 people to the red planet - a voyage that could last 180 days. The rocket that will boost the craft itself into orbit will stand 400 feet tall - the largest ever designed - and will be reusable for future missions.
Most Facebook employees have argued that Donald Trump's posts on the social network should be addressed as hate speech. They are also demanding that the speech mus be removed.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Donald Trumps posts calling for a ban on Muslim immigration to the United States
It is obvious to anybody the hatred [among Muslims] is beyond comprehension, Mr. Trump said. Where this hatred comes from and why, we will have to determine. Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.
It had triggered an emotional debate inside Facebook over enforcement of the companys community standards. Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook CEO, ultimately ruled against deleting the posts because he believed that this would amount to censorship of a political candidate.
"There are many reasons a person might support Trump that do not involve racism, sexism, xenophobia or accepting sexual assault," Zuckerberg wrote in the post. "It may be because they believe strongly in smaller government, a different tax policy, health care system, religious issues, gun rights or any other issue where he disagrees with Hillary."
But still, according to The Verge, Facebook has since been repeatedly hammered for editorial missteps.
A BuzzFeed analysis this week charted in ugly detail the way Facebook has been used this year to spread inaccurate and outright false stories to millions of readers.
So, deleting a presidential candidates posts from the site, no matter how provocative it is, could have had terrible implications for Facebook. The companys connect-the-world ethos requires political neutrality whenever possible, or liberals or conservatives leave it for an exclusive alternative.
In 2015, the highest level of carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere has been recorded reaching 400 parts per million (ppm), according to the World Meteorological Organization. Now, a new threshold has been crossed marking 2016 as the first full year to surpass this worsening climate change.
El Nino Event Significant In CO2 Level Increase In The Atmosphere
The 2014-2015 carbon dioxide rise was partially attributed to the strong El Nino phenomenon in the Pacific. That phenomenon has persisted until this year where increased in temperature has been felt across the globe.
The drought caused by the event left large areas of vegetation in tropical regions unable to absorb CO2 effectively, reported BBC. The dry conditions also started fires contributing to the carbon emissions.
The world's longest established atmosphere monitoring station situated at Mauna Lona, Hawaii anticipate that CO2 concentration in our atmosphere will remain above the 400 ppm number for the whole year and will further increase. The last time that level of CO2 was present above us was three to five million years ago.
This 400 ppm means that for every one million molecules in the atmosphere 400 of those is carbon dioxide. The report doesn't just point out continuous rising of CO2 but other greenhouse gasses as well including methane and nitrous oxide, said The Guardian.
Paris Agreement Should Be Fast-Track, Said Expert
Experts warn of the consequences that this new CO2 threshold brings and said that it would take generations before it would go down again. That is, of course, initiatives would be carried out and maintained in the coming years.
One such initiative, called the Paris Agreement, has been recently agreed by 200 countries. In November, the nations involved in the agreement will meet again in Morocco to discuss the next phase of the initiative.
"It is therefore of the utmost importance that the that the Paris agreement does indeed enter into force well ahead of schedule on 4 November and that we fast-track its implementation," said Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the WMO. While the El Nino phenomenon did cause a significant spike to the rising of CO2 levels, the major cause of the increase is blamed at the industry and agriculture which contributed 37 percent to the warming effect on the planet between 1990 and 2015.
Levels of CO2 in the pre-industrial era only stood at 278 ppm, a number which the WMO said represented a natural balance on Earth. "Without tackling CO2 emissions, we cannot tackle climate change and keep temperature increases to below 2 degrees C above the pre-industrial era," said Taalas.
The record for the most shark attacks has recently been broken in 2015, scientists found. According to the study, there were 98 reported attacks last year.
That's an 11 percent increase compare to the previous record in the year 2000 where 88 people have been mauled by sharks, and a 69 percent increase in the past decade. The aggression of the apex predators, however, isn't blamed on the animals but rather on its victims.
Six Countries Have Experienced The Most Shark Attacks In Recent Years
According to scientists, humans encroaching on coastal areas, pollution, and tourism activities like scuba diving and surfing are partly responsible for the shark attacks. 84 percent of these mauling occurred in just six regions: USA, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, the Bahamas, and Reunion.
Of these six territories, the U.S. have experienced more than half of the said attacks with the state of Florida seeing the most aggression. Dredging and pollutants disrupting the sharks' habitat and feeding patterns are reported to play a significant role in these incidents, reported iNews.
The construction of a new port in Recife, Brazil resulted in the sharks being forced to move closer to human territories as their natural habitat has been compromised. "Unprovoked shark bite was virtually unheard of in Recife prior to the construction and operation of the Suape Port," said Blake Chapman and Daryl Mcphee, the researchers who helmed the study.
"However, due to environmental changes displacing local shark species and the presence of increased shipping activity, Recife is now renowned for having one of the highest rates of shark bites in the world," added the researchers. An upsurge in tourism and changing of certain laws also contributed to the rising number of attacks.
Shark Population Increased To Protect Profits Brought By Tourism
In the Bahamas, for instance, the shark population have seen an increase in number after officials placed a ban on commercial shark fishing in 2011 to protect the lucrative venture of shark dives for tourists. While there is no direct data linking the banning to an escalation of shark bites, probability dictates that future attack will be more likely, according to the Independent.
In the Indian Ocean of Reunion, officials were forced to ban swimming, surfing, and bodyboarding on more than half their coast as new regulations on shark hunting resulted to an upsurge of the shark population. Experts also warn that despite rare incidents happening in British waters, the most dangerous areas that attacks are likely to happen are popular destinations among tourists.
The reported attacks in the said six regions have been mainly attributed to three of the most aggressive sharks in the world: the bull shark, tiger shark, and the great white. However, researchers argued that this aggressive behavior is mainly the result of human actions, with the most blame being pointed at climate change.
Hours away from its scheduled October 26 event and one of Microsoft's most awaited releases finally has an official name. The Surface Studio, which has been claimed as the name for the company's All-In-One desktop, is expected to wow audiences and the public. Along with its impressive design and features, the device should properly showcase the power of Windows 10 Redstone 2.
According to a report by The Trademark Ninja, Microsoft first filed a trademark application for a "Surface Laptop" on October 14, as well as another trademark for "3D Paint." While these do not come as surprises, as it has been well accepted that the company is updating its Paint feature. However, the publication then goes on to claim that the Redmond-based company might be responsible for the trademark filings for "Surface Studio," "Surface Dial" and "Dial" as well.
Apparently, an unknown Slovenian company has applied for these, along with one for "Surface." All the applications run under on one computer software or hardware. What really ties Microsoft to the Slovenian company, however, is the law firm that represents it. The company has been responsible for applying the Microsoft's trademarks in the past.
This recent report only coincides with another from ZDNet, which claimed that the Surface All-In-One desktop could turn a user's desk into a studio of some sort. This modular device would reportedly run on Windows 10 would be a consumer-friendly version of the company's Surface Hub. Furthermore, the AIO desktop would use Perceptive Pixel Screen technology, which is at the core of Surface Hub.
This is all speculation at this point, but the waiting time from now until the official release of the Surface All-In-One Desktop - now also called the Surface Studio or the Surface Cardinal - will be a brief one. Microsoft's event will be held in New York on October 28. Though the Surface Studio is expected to blow audiences away, the event will heavily focus on the updates that have been made to Windows 10.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Thailands Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak (Photo: VNA)
That was agreed by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Thailands Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak during their meeting on the sidelines of ACMECS 7, CLMV 8 and WEF-Mekong in Hanoi on October 25th.
The two countries will actively coordinate with other ASEAN members to maintain the blocs unity and promote its central role and common voice in regional and international issues, they said.
On behalf of the Vietnamese Government, PM Phuc sent his condolences to Thai people on the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and said it is the great loss to Thailands country and people.
He noted that ACMECS 7, CLMV 8 and WEF-Mekong allow the countries to discuss programmes and projects that are suitable for their respective potential and seek solutions to improving the efficiency of cooperation and raising bilateral trade value to USD20 billion by 2020.
He highly valued Thai-invested projects in Vietnam and pledged optimal conditions for Thai businessmen.
The two countries should step up cooperation in labour, he said, suggesting the Thai Government support Vietnamese laborers working in Thailand.
He also suggested the two countries work towards the signing of cooperation deals on creativeness, science and technology, and the establishment of a hotline on fisheries to tackle issues arising at sea.
The Thai Deputy PM showed his delights at intensified bilateral cooperation across sectors, especially since the countries set up strategic partnership in 2013.
He said Thai investors in Vietnam are leading enterprises in Thailand and his Government always reminds them of respecting the host countrys law.
He noted that more Thai businesspeople are expected to pour money into finance, banking, thermo-electricity, and oil refinery in Vietnam and pledged to assist Vietnamese businesses operating in Thailand./.
Buick has broken into the top three of Consumer Reports' list of most reliable cars. This the first time since reliability survey was started that the American car band made it this high in the list.
Consumer Report ,a popular American magazine that talks about different consumer products, has conducted the Annual Auto Reliability Survey since the early 1980s. This is the first time in the survey's history that an American brand reached the third spot.
Consumer Reports director Jake Fisher said that Buick's accomplishment is "commendable and sure to be a wake-up call to other manufacturers".
"One reason why the brand has been able to leapfrog others in the General Motors' stable has been its limited vehicle lineup," Fisher continued. In a report, Fisher also said that he believes the negative reception of Cadillac and Chevrolet's pickups and truck-based SUVs pave the way for Buick to overtake them.
Buick is owned by General Motors, a US company.
Lexus and Toyota, who are at one and two in the list, respectively, have managed to stay on top of the annual study in the last four years. Audi falls down one spot to number four while Kia improves to claim the fifth spot. Mazda, Hyundai and Infiniti grabs the next three spots while BMW and Honda rounded out the top ten.
Subaru and Tesla dropped out of the top ten. Tesla is currently embroiled in a bit of controversy after some issues with their autopilot or autonomous driving feature.
There are 29 car brands today and seven of them that made the top ten were from Asia.
The rankings are based on a survey conducted by the magazine with the help of their subscribers. The subscribers describe their experiences with their new cars over the past three years to determine the vehicles' reliability.
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) apologized to Australia on Tuesday, after it explained that the shutdown of the Australian governments census website this year - blamed on a distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attack- could have been prevented if it had switched a router off and on again.
The Australian Government Is Embarrassed
According to Reuters, the breach was an humiliation to the government, considering that that it made a huge and millionaire effort to impress voters with its cybersecurity credentials. In fact, the company -which was awarded a $9.6 million contract to host the online Australian census in August- was called to provide evidence to a Senate committee inquiry, and IBM Australia and New Zealand Maning Director Kerry Purcell apologized for the inconvenience, explaining that the firm would do things different if the situation repeats.
"If we had our time again we would have tested a hard power it off, power it on that router, that would have discovered earlier that we had that reboot and configuration loading problem.We did, during the lead-up to the census, test the impact of a failure of that router and ensure that a fail of the mechanism through the rest of the site worked effectively. We tested that router failure by simulating it, which is relatively easy to do in repeatable fashion," Purcell told.
Financial Compensation For The Australian Census Incident?
According to the International Business Times, Purcell also said that IBM is negotiating a financial compensation because of the Australian census issue with Treasury chief John Fraser. The only good news about the cyber strike, was that no citizen data was compromised, neither was any other sensitive information, according to the Government.
"The one thing that is absolutely crystal clear is that there was no penetration of the ABS website. What you saw was the denial-of-service attack or a denial-of-service attempt which, as you know, is designed to prevent access to a website as opposed to getting into the server behind it. Some of those defenses failed, frankly, " Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull explained.
Although the Australian census incident was unexpected, this nation has been frequently targeted in cyber strikes, just as the attempted hacking of the weather bureau last December.
Scout, the software created by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will be allow scientist to look at asteroids closer and timelier. It can also calculate the path of dangerous asteroids before it possibly attacks Earth.
Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California said, "These are objects that observers have reported, and they suspect them to be asteroids. They are most likely asteroids, but they need to be confirmed by other observers."
Astronomers used a website by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) posts information about interesting space objects, however, they are required to constantly check the accuracy of the data especially that information are posted from different time zones and may not get updated right away.
"Some near-Earth asteroids are potentially hazardous to Earth and their properties need to be better understood in order to inform impact mitigation strategies," NASA said.
There are websites reporting that a big asteroid is coming towards Earth and is very deadly, and is said to have an impact and capacity of a nuclear bomb 3 million times. One of these websites, Metro UK, noted that a Chinese Astronomer from a space observatory in Nanjing, Zhao Haibin, spotted the killer asteroid. However, the report also said that the killer asteroid which was named 2009ES has already passed through Earth at a 18.8 lunar distance.
Scout would now check the website automatically on a ten-minute interval and would calculate the path of newly posted objects, so that when it detects a possibly dangerous asteroid, it informs astronomers by text or email.
After an asteroid is identified, Sentry, another program, would start monitoring the orbiting space rock. These automated warning systems greatly help space agencies for any possible disasters. Observers around the globe can then head to their telescopes, track the object, and post updates on MPC's page.
Astrology 2016 has been updated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In the recent news, NASA revealed the mathematical computations that lead to changes in the astrological Zodiac Signs. The 13th sign that was revealed to complete the revised Zodiac Signs is named Ophiuchus.
Here are the 3 reason why NASA opted to add another Zodiac Sign.
NASA Jjust) Did The Math
"We didn't change any zodiac signs, we [just] did the math," said Laurie Cantillo to BBC News.
According to NASA, there were thirteen constellations in the Zodiac. The Babylonians, who lived 3,000 years ago and who divided the circle into twelve parts to make a whole astrological system, picked Ophiuchus to leave out among the rest of the signs. They remove the 13th sign to fit in the 12-month calendar based on the phases of the moon.
"To make a tidy match with their 12-month calendar, the Babylonians ignored the fact that the sun actually moves through 13 constellations, not 12. Then they assigned each of those 12 constellations equal amounts of time," NASA wrote in a post on Tumblr.
Ophiuchus Has Been Around The Whole Time
According to New Scientist, the 13th sign, Ophiuchus, has been around thousands of years ago since the Greeks identified the constellation. It just has been ignored by the astrologers that are why it is known by many.
The 13th zodiac sign should have been added since 1970 after Stephen Schmidt proposed for it. However, since the nature of the report is quite controversial and might stir the public, they opted to just continue with the 12 Zodiac signs.
Astrology is not science unlike Astronomy
"This is just another attempt by scientists to discredit astrology," Steve Judd told Lifestyle magazine. A number of astrologers are upset with the NASA's new 13 Zodiac signs.
However, for NASA, astrology is not science, so the astrologers' complaint will not matter. They believe that Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects such as star, comets, planets and galaxies, and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere. While Astrology is a system of beliefs, where a person's character is based on the position of the stars, meaning more like a fortune-telling study.
Therefore, in relation to Astrology 2016, there 3 reasons why NASA opted to add another zodiac sign. Do you think their reasons are valid?
Giving up an old cell phone number for a new one may seem harmless. But for Lyft customers, it can potentially expose their accounts to complete strangers.
That's what happened to Lara Miller, a media relations specialist living in California. Earlier this month, she discovered two credit card charges made in Las Vegas, over 400 miles away.
"I thought it was legit fraud on my debit card," Miller said.
But in reality, another woman had accidentally taken over her old Lyft account. It happened because the phone company had recycled the cell phone number Miller had canceled back in April -- opening the door to the hack.
The problem involves Lyft's login process. The ride-hailing app does away with the hassle of usernames and passwords, and instead signs up customers with their smartphone's cell number.
That phone number, however, can remain tied to the account, even if it changes subscribers. Miller eventually realized this and called Elysia, the woman who now owns her old cell phone number.
Elysia declined to have her last name published. But she too also realized that something was off with the Lyft account she thought was hers.
Martyn Williams
"I got this new number around the fourth of July," Elysia said. "So I was already getting so many text messages meant for her (Miller) from old friends. From Airbnb."
When Elysia signed up for Lyft, she also saw that a pre-existing payment card had been stored into the account. "The app wouldn't let me change the profile," she said. "There was no way to make a new account. They didn't have the option there."
Elysia tried to substitute her own credit card on the account. However, when she was in Las Vegas, she took two rides with Lyft, both of which still charged Miller's payment card.
Miller and Elysia said they find the whole case disturbing. "Now I hope no one is using my old Lyft account from my old phone number," Elysia said.
However, Lyft said problems like this are rare. The company relies on a "variety of signals" including third-party sources, the Lyft account and the device to verify the user's identity.
"In cases where it appears the user may not be the same, we ask them to verify their identity or to create a new account," Lyft said. "In rare cases this process doesnt work as intended, and we use those learnings to improve our algorithms going forward."
Nevertheless, other publications have also reported on the problem. Users on Hacker News have also complained.
"So there's a creepy guy taking Lyft rides in San Francisco with my account," wrote one user over a year ago. "The best part is that I can't remove the credit card from that account because I no longer have that phone number."
Lyft, however, has said that users can cancel accounts by contacting its customer support.
To prevent the problem, companies should offer customers stronger forms of two-factor authentication, and not merely rely on a phone number to confirm a user's identity, said Edward Amoroso, former chief security officer of AT&T and CEO of security consultancy TAG Cyber. .
"Unfortunately, however, the industry will probably not shift to improved validation methods unless users decide that they will no longer accept this kind of risk," he said.
Miller is concerned the ride-hailing app hasn't done more to fix this problem. Lyft offered an apology, and claims it refunded the charges from her bank account last week. Miller said she finally received the refund Tuesday.
"I'm just annoyed and I want more people to know about this," she said. "I think it's a pretty big flaw in their security."
Although Lyft has suspended Miller's old account, that's left Elysia with no access to the ride-hailing service.
"Now I can't even log on to Lyft," Elysia said.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomes his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith on October 25th (Photo: VNA)
The talks were held on the occasion of the Lao PMs participation in the seventh Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS 7) Summit, the eighth Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Cooperation (CLMV 8) Summit, and the World Economic Forum on the Mekong Region (WEF-Mekong) in Hanoi.
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the Lao PMs presence will contribute to the success of these events.
He congratulated Laos on its successful organisation of the 28th - 29th ASEAN Summits as ASEAN Chair, expressing his belief that the Lao Government will fulfill the set tasks and the Resolution of the 10th Congress of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party.
He also welcomed PM Thongloun Sisouliths recent dialogue with Vietnamese businesses and his pledge to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese investors in Laos.
The two government leaders agreed to task the two ministries of industry and trade with devising solutions for boosting bilateral trade and better implementing the Vietnam-Laos border trade agreement.
They also pledged to urge Vietnamese enterprises to carry out projects, particularly those on hydropower and mining, in Laos on schedule.
For his part, PM Thongloun Sisoulith extended condolences to the Party, State and people of Vietnam on the heavy damage inflicted by flood on the central region.
He applauded Vietnams initiative to organise the WEF-Mekong and thanked Vietnam for its support of Laos in fulfilling the role as ASEAN Chair in 2016 and in successfully organising the ASEAN Summits last September.
The Lao PM noted that Vietnams investment is on the rise in Laos and has considerably contributed to local socio-economic development, underling the fact that Vietnam currently ranks third among foreign investors in his country.
The Vietnamese and Lao leaders agreed that the two Governments will set up a committee for organising activities marking the 55th founding anniversary of the countries diplomatic ties and 40 years since the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Cooperation Treaty.
They also agreed to set up a specific mechanism for their meetings and attending sessions of the Inter-governmental Committee on cooperation so as to swiftly tackle problems in bilateral relations./.
Fernando Alonso says he is eager to assess how much McLaren-Honda has improved since last years Mexican Grand Prix, one of the toughest race weekends in an already difficult campaign.
Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button both took hefty engine grid penalties at the renovated Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez 12 months ago before the Spaniard had to retire on the opening lap with a loss of power.
Travelling to Mexico on the back of a strong fifth-place finish in Austin, Alonso eyes another competitive outing this weekend.
[Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez] poses a very different set of challenges to many other circuits because of the compromise you need between good downforce on the fast straights and also strong balance in the twisty stadium section and then theres the altitude, which affects performance in itself.
It will be difficult to bring all of the elements together to get the best out of a lap, but Im looking forward to seeing where our package compares to last year.
Given how tough the race is on our cars, I hope we can achieve good reliability and enjoy a better result on track this time.
Button, who did not even take part in qualifying before struggling to 14th in Mexico last year, adds that McLaren-Honda will need to maximise the final sector of the reconfigured venue to further increase its 2016 points tally.
I really enjoyed driving on this circuit last year. It wasnt an easy track for us, but its a really rewarding layout for a driver, said the 2009 world champion.
Although the famous banked Peraltada wasnt included in the re-profiled design, the mixture of the very high-speed straights and the infield section at the end of the lap does give you a bit of everything and it really puts a smile on your face.
We were definitely strongest in the final sector around the stadium so well need to put those strengths to good use if were to give ourselves a fighting chance next weekend.
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Pressed by a deadline to seal the deal, Belgium turned down a historic free trade deal between the European Union (EU) and Canada. The rejection shocked anew the European Union, which earlier suffered a big setback when Britain opted out of the union via the Brexit vote last June.
After a meeting with the Belgium's key leaders, Prime announced that they were not able to arrive at a consensus approving the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) as proposed. To approve the CETA deal, all of the 28 EU members must endorse the trade deal which is designed to link the EU with Canada, the world's 10th biggest economy.
Many feel that time has run out for CETA to be approved in Belgium. While Flanders, the German community and federal government approve the trade, the French community and Wallonia, the city government in Brussels are definitely not in favor.
Wallonia wanted more time to negotiate terms of the deal and eventually threw out the proposal for lack of time to do so. EU council president Donald Task had earlier set the timeframe within which Belgium can approve the deal since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was to attend the CETA signing in Brussels by Monday.
The head of Wallonia parliament, Andre Antoine said that it was vital to set the deal right since it can be considered groundwork for future trade negotiations with other countries like China and the United States. More studies must be made how trade deals can come in conflict with the laws of EU member countries
Anti-globalization groups are opposing CETA which can pave the way for the passing of a EU-US trade proposal which they also view with disfavor. Non-government entities in Europe like Greenpeace support the stand of Wallonia and can complicate matters even more.
Meanwhile, Canada must be furious with Belgium for its rejection of CETA.
This is a day of mourning for the science community as Gordon Hamilton, climate scientists, passed away on a snowmobile accident.
Hamilton, who was 50 years old, was known for studying ice sheets. He was a part of the U.S. Antarctic Program that studies thet ice shelves stability in the McMurdo Station, a research center on Ross Island that's located 2,500 miles south of New Zealand.
He and his colleagues were mapping the McMurdo shear zone, the place where Ross and McMurdo ice shelves meet when the accident happened. The snow machine his riding hit a crevasse and fell 100 ft. into the ice, Chicago Tribune reported.
Peter West, NSF spokesperson, explained that the there are things that needs to be known about the accident. He explained that there are parts of the crevasses that were covered in snow.
This make it difficult to found on the ground. West said that Hamilton has colleagues were developing robots to detect this crevasses, it is just sad that he didn't get to use this device.
Kelly K. Falkner of the National Science Foundation said that the death of their colleague is a reminder of the risks of field research. She stressed that no matter how they mitigate field research the risk is still there, New York Times reported.
Susan J. Hunter from the University of Maine explained that Hamilton's glaciological research around the world is second to none. She explained that his research focus on the impact of our warming climate on the sea levels.
"The ice sheets contribute to the rapid sea level rise. It is important to study understand how ice sheets behave to know how much sea level is going to rise in the upcoming century," Hamilton said in a 2013 interview.
"I can't think of another job I would rather be doing," he stressed in the video.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. Members of Congress and veterans leaders on Monday called for federal action to absolve the debts of nearly 10,000 California soldiers who have been ordered by the Pentagon to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after they signed up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lawmakers from California expressed outrage, including Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer; House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican; and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat.
Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers said the California National Guard is working with members of Congress to reintroduce legislation that, if approved and signed by the president, would order the National Guard Bureau to clear the debts of soldiers who were wrongly told they were eligible for bonuses of $15,000 or more.
The total amount given out in bonuses is not clear, but $22 million has been recovered so far, The Los Angeles Times reported.
"This is how you destroy all faith in a Pentagon that is supposed to have your back," Brian Duffy, head of the national service organization Veterans of Foreign Wars, said in an emailed statement. "Instead of seeking repayment, the Pentagon owes them a debt of thanks and an apology for insulting their honorable service to our nation."
The Guard offered the bonuses and student loan aid to re-enlist at the height of the two wars in the 2000s.
The Pentagon demanded the money back after audits revealed overpayments by the California Guard under pressure to fill ranks and hit enlistment goals. If soldiers refuse, they could face interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens, The Los Angeles Times reported .
Soldiers told the newspaper that they feel betrayed by having to repay the money. They can apply for a federal review of their debt, but that appeals process does not guarantee it will be waived.
"Our military heroes should not shoulder the burden of military recruiters' faults from over a decade ago," McCarthy said in an emailed statement.
His statement said the House would investigate the reports, but spokesman Matt Sparks declined to comment on what that would entail.
In California, four people were convicted of fraud over the improper bonuses.
At least 54 members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, as did Republicans in the California Legislature, asking that he halt the collections and provide further information.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also said she was appalled by what she described as a mistreatment of veterans and called for legislation.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Defense Department spokesman, encouraged service members to appeal the debt and said the department would work with the Army, National Guard Bureau and California Army National Guard to "strengthen efforts to respond to this situation."
"We take doing right by our service members very seriously, and the senior leadership of this department is looking very closely at this matter," Davis said.
A federal investigation in 2010 found thousands of bonuses and student loan payments were improperly doled out to California Guard soldiers. About 9,700 current and retired soldiers received notices to repay some or all of their bonuses with more than $22 million recovered so far, the Times reported.
The California Guard's former Bonus and Incentive Manager, Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, pleaded guilty to fraud for misappropriating the funds and was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2012. Jaffe gave out $15.2 million in bonuses and loan repayments that she knew soldiers were ineligible to receive, federal prosecutors said at the time.
Three additional officers pleaded guilty to the fraud.
Beevers said the California Guard also fired one general and two colonels. The Guard punished more than 100 other soldiers following the incident; most of them are no longer in the service.
"Folks who are in leadership now are the ones who have spent several years correcting that issue," spokesman Capt. William Martin said.
ROANOKE, Va. A gunman opened fire at FreightCar America early Tuesday morning, killing one employee, injuring three others and then killing himself, police said.
The deceased victim is a FreightCar employee. The assailant is thought to be either a current or former employee, according to Roanoke Police Chief Tim Jones.
Three victims were taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment of gun-related injuries. One was in serious condition, said Carilion spokesman Chris Turnbull. The other two were considered in good and fair condition.
FreightCar America employs a few hundred workers in what is known as Norfolk Southern's East End Shops along Campbell Avenue Southeast.
Police responded to the rail car makers plant on reports of gunfire at 6:08 a.m. Police said there was one witness to the shooting who had been in the restroom.
It is not clear how many employees were in the building when the shooting happened. There is a shift that begins at 6 a.m., and employees reporting for a 7 a.m. shift found emergency workers and police on the scene.
About a hundred people in hardhats stood outside while police moved in and out of the plant throughout the morning.
FreightCar America released a statement around noon following several questions. The company did not respond to questions about the shooter or security.
"FreightCar America extends its deepest condolences to everyone affected by the tragic events that occurred at our Roanoke facility earlier this morning," the statement read. "We are working closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement to determine what happened and ensure that our employees are safe. Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, and out of respect for our employees and their families, we cannot provide specific information about the victims at this time."
Norfolk Southern also placed a hold on people going into the yard. By 10:25 a.m., railroad employees were cleared to enter the facility, spokeswoman Susan Terpay said.
Jones said it is believed the shooter turned his weapon on himself. No police were injured, nor did they fire their weapons, he said.
Jones said investigators need to interview a witness who was using a bathroom at the time of the shooting.
Police evacuated the FreightCar America property and the adjacent Norfolk Southern property and conducted a search to clear the area before allowing employees to return.
Jones said the search and processing of the scene is expected to last for hours and advised people to avoid the area.
Roanoke police plan to hold a news conference at 3 p.m.
Campbell Avenue has been shut down Tuesday, causing congestion for morning commuters.
Valley Metro transit services are detouring off Campbell Avenue via Williamson Road to Tazewell Avenue onto 10th Street, then back to Campbell Avenue. The affected routes are Route 31 and Route 32. Operations will resume to normal once Campbell Avenue reopens.
Across the street from FreightCar America, James Overstreet sat outside Chap's Tavern, along with a few people who couldn't get to work because of the street closure. Chap's is a local hangout for FreightCar America and Norfolk Southern employees.
"I was driving home this morning, and I didn't know what was going on, but it took me an hour and a half," Overstreet said.
Community High School, which is on Campbell Avenue just on the other side of Interstate 581 from the FreightCar shops, began calling its 62 students at 7:45 a.m. to notify them that school would be closed.
FreightCar America, based in Chicago, took over Norfolk Southern's idled East End Shops in Roanoke in 2005. The shop closed during the recession in 2009, but reopened in 2011 after NS placed orders for 1,500 rail cars.
Staff writer Luanne Rife contributed information to this story.
CHARLOTTE PayPal has given back a handmade oak bowl given to the company by North Carolina after it canceled a planned expansion in the state over a new law about who can use what bathrooms in public buildings.
The bowl was made from an oak tree struck by lightning last year on the capital grounds and was meant for companies coming to North Carolina, N.C. Commerce Secretary John Skvarla told the Charlotte Observer.
"We reached out to them and said, 'Give us the bowl back.' That is a North Carolina artifact from the North Carolina state capitol made by North Carolina artisans for companies that are coming into North Carolina," Skvarla said.
The state made about 340 bowls from the fallen oak. Other bowls have been given to CSX, which recently announced plans to open a new intermodal terminal in Edgecombe County, and Charter, which has the largest apprenticeship program in the state.
In March, PayPal announced plans to open an operations center in Charlotte that would have added at least 400 jobs. However, PayPal canceled the expansion days after the passage of House Bill 2, which requires people to use restrooms matching their birth certificates in schools and many public buildings.
CEO Dan Schulman said the law "perpetuates discrimination, and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal's mission and culture."
The state auctioned off the bowl for an unknown amount, Skvarla said. It's unclear who owns the bowl now.
State Reps. Ed Hanes, D-Forsyth, and Craig Horn, R-Union, have formed an ad-hoc, bipartisan committee of 12 legislators who will meet to discuss and propose legislation to improve police and community relationships statewide.
Hanes and Horn announced the committee Monday, five weeks after the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black man killed in Charlotte on Sept. 20.
The committee will be made up of six Democrats and six Republicans, which Hanes and Horn selected from the N.C. House and N.C. Senate, Hanes and Horn said in a news release.
We want folks to know that it is not all acrimony in the General Assembly, Horn said.
Hanes declined to identify the legislators who will serve on the committee, saying that the group is an ad-hoc committee and not an official committee of the General Assembly.
This is a very sensitive matter, Hanes said. Some of the legislators on the committee have expressed concerns about the reaction from (their) home (counties).
Hanes said he and Horn may identify the committee members after the Nov. 8 election. Their meetings will be open to the public.
The committee will meet twice after the elections and before the General Assembly reconvenes in January.
One thing I have learned since I have been in state House is that the General Assembly can do whatever the General Assembly wants to do, Hanes said. Its all about want to. Its not about can we. I believe that we have a group of 12 legislators who want to, and thats a heck of a start when talking about enhancing police and community relationships.
Hanes said he hopes the committee will consider tweaking a state law that declares police video isnt a public record and will require a judicial order for its release. The law, HB972, went into effect Oct. 1.
The law passed by the Republican-dominated state legislature runs counter to a nationwide trend in which some cities are trying to show greater transparency by releasing videos soon after a police-involved shooting.
During the demonstrations following the shooting in Charlotte, protesters demanded that officials release police body camera and dashboard video of the confrontation between Scott and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers. The demonstrations turned violent on two nights.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney released video footage on Sept. 24 related to Scotts death. Putney initially delayed releasing the footage, saying that it might have a negative effect on the investigation. Scotts family saw the footage and asked that it be released immediately.
The committee may also consider additional money to equip law enforcement agencies with body cameras, Hanes said. Legislators have allocated $5 million for that measure for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
Hanes said he hopes the committees work will prevent further social unrest in North Carolina following future officer-involved shootings. He and Horn are looking forward to discussing ways to improve police and community relations.
The conversations will not be easy, but we are going to have those conversations, Hanes said. We are going to bring people to the table.
Horn also said that committee is the right approach.
I have a mentee who is an accomplished educator and has become increasingly aggravated by what he perceived to be unfair treatment of African-American citizens by law enforcement, Horn said. It was a frustrating moment because I could feel the tension in the air.
I see officers trying to do their jobs and citizens trying to understand, but bad things seem to keep happening, Horn said. Im all in for trying to come up with some reasoned solutions that everyone can embrace.
Bishop Todd Fulton, the president of the Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity, said the ad-hoc committee is a positive step in building bridges between police and local communities.
I want to make sure they reach out to African-American clergy and community leaders when they start having their discussions, Fulton said. As a whole when it comes to the criminal justice system and the legislature, we dont need to criminalize the black community.
Lets talk about offbeat news: We humans get ourselves into some interesting situations, to put it mildly. The first one made me laugh out loud. I felt bad for the cop, but lol. Read moreSmith Says: Deputy uses taser on K9 unit that attacked cow
Popular services like Snapchat and Skype are falling short on privacy protections for their users [press release], Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] said in a new report [text, PDF]. The report, released Friday, ranked the 11 companies that provide the most popular services, including Facebook and Apple. The analysis gave the companies a rating between 0 and 100 based on how well they score in five categories [infographic, PDF], although a major focus out of these categories was the end-to-end encryption factor, providing the most protection for users privacy and freedom of expression. Snapchat received one of the lowest total scores, with Microsofts Skype coming in just above. Facebook and Apple received the highest scores. AI is calling on companies [report summary] to apply end-to-end encryption as a default. It is also calling on technology companies to clearly inform users of the level of encryption applied to their messaging services.
The privacy of individuals [JURIST op-ed], and the use of technology by law enforcement, are important and evolving topics in the 21st century. Earlier this month the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights [advocacy websites] and 50 other interest groups, sent a letter [JURIST report] urging the US Department of Justice [official website] to investigate the increasing use of facial recognition technology. Swiss voters in September voted to approve [JURIST report] a new surveillance law allowing their national intelligence service broad powers to spy on terrorist suspects and cyber criminals, as well as the ability to cooperate with foreign intelligence agencies. Also in September USA Today, the Associated Press and Vice Media filed a federal complaint [JURIST report] against the FBI [official website] seeking to learn how the government was able to overcome Syed Farooks [CNN backgrounder] iPhones encryption allegedly without Apples help. After Apples refusal to unlock the phone [JURIST report], the FBI used a third-party tool to accomplish the task. Now the media outlets seek to know what third-party tool was used, to what extent it may be used in the future and what security vulnerabilities the tool takes advantage of. In August a United Nations (UN) rights groups criticized [JURIST report] the US Investigatory Powers Bill, stating it could threaten freedom of expression and association.
According to a report [Reuters report] on Monday, the Burundi Interior Ministry issued an order last week withdrawing permits from a prominent human rights group and four other non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH) [advocacy website, in French], a major human rights group in the area, as well as the other NGOs and various rights and development groups, lost their permits due to claims of siding against the government. Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, leader of the APRODH and prominent human rights activist [HRW profile], has criticized President Pierre Nkurunziza [BBC profile] for seeking a third term. Mbonimpa and others have also accused security forces of human rights abuses. In a separate order, the government suspended the activities of five other organizations for similar reasons.
Earlier this month the National Assembly of Burundi [official site, in French] voted to withdraw [JURIST report] from the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] amid criticism the court only prosecutes African nationals. The vote drew concern [JURIST report] from the president of the ICCs governing body Sidiki Kaba, who stated that such a withdrawal represent[s] a setback in the fight against impunity and the efforts towards the objective of universality of the Statute. Violence in Burundi began in the wake of Nkurunzizas announcement that he would seek a third term of office, to which he was elected [JURIST report] last year. Last month the United Nations (UN) Independent Investigation in Burundi (UNIIB) [official website] stated their grave concern [JURIST report] about the current human rights situation in Burundi. In August UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein expressed concern over increased violence and rights violations in Burundi and called for an inclusive political dialogue [JURIST report] to end the ongoing struggle.
The government of Cambodia formally exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) [party website, in Khmer], after the cabinet ordered the nations immigration officials to prevent him from entering the country. Rainsy has lived in self-imposed exile [TIME report] in France since 2015 and is wanted for defamation, forgery, and incitement charges in Cambodia. In response, Rainsy insisted [Khmer Times report] that he will return to Cambodia and claimed that Prime Minister Hun Sen [official website, in Khmer] does not want him to participate in political process. He also argued that the governments move violates international law as well as their constitution.
The lack of transparency in the Cambodian legislature and contention between political parties have caused international concern. In August the prime minister of Cambodia filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] alleging defamation against Rainsy. In June the Cambodian parliament voted [JURIST report] to allow the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to open an investigation into opposition leader Kem Sohka regarding his alleged involvement with a prostitute. Last November the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Rhona Smith, warned [JURIST report] that the increasing polarization of the political parties in Cambodia is reaching a breaking point. That same month Rainsy was removed [JURIST report] as a member of the countrys National Assembly. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern [JURIST report] over the organized attack on opposition politicians in Cambodia the previous month.
An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed [Reuters report] former president Mohamed Morsis 20-year prison sentence. The prison sentence arose from a conviction for the killings of protesters during 2012 demonstrations. In addition to Morsi, several other senior figures from the Muslim Brotherhood were charged in April 2015 for kidnapping, torture, and the killings of the protesters. Morsi has also been sentenced in three other cases, including a death penalty and a life sentence.
Morsi was elected President of Egypt in 2012 following the Egyptian Revolution [JURIST backgrounder]. After only a year in power, Morsi was deposed by the military in July 2013 and criminal charges were first raised [JURIST reports] against him in September of the same year. In August 2014 the Supreme Administrative Court in Egypt banned [JURIST report] the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsis political party, from the country. An Egyptian appeals court acquitted [JURIST report] Morsis former prime minister, Hisham Qandil, in July of that year. Morsis trial in Cairo was adjourned [JURIST report] in February 2014 after a brief appearance in court. Following the initial charges of incitement to murder, Morsi was also charged [JURIST report] with espionage and terrorism in December 2013.
[JURIST] A federal judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction [order, PDF] blocking Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson [official profile] from enforcing a ban against ballot selfies on election day. The state statute [text, PDF] made the act of posting and displaying ones ballot a misdemeanor offense, thereby prohibiting state residents from taking pictures of ballots for social media. Earlier this month the statute was challenged [Fox News report] under the argument that such prohibition violates the First Amendment freedom of speech. In granting injunction, the court stated that the interests in the integrity of the electoral process can be secured in a more reasonable manner than the blanket prohibition on citizen photography. Nonetheless, the state has continued to support the ban, stating that the long-held law prevents voter intimidation and coercion. The state further warned that challenging the law may compromise the upcoming election. Johnson has requested that the court freeze the order to allow an appeal. Should the request be granted, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] would need to rule before election day arrives.
Voter rights continue to plague this election cycle. Last month the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit [official website] struck down [JURIST report] a similar New Hampshire law that banned ballot selfies. Last week the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] denied an emergency motion [JURIST report] from North Carolina counties to extend the hours of early voting. Earlier this month a district court judge ruled [JURIST report] that Ohio must allow most unlawfully purged voters to vote in November. In September a district court judge granted [JURIST report] a motion blocking Illinois from allowing voter registration on election day in the states most populated counties. Also in September the US Supreme Court [official website] denied a motion to reinstate [JURIST report] North Carolinas recently overturned law that limited early voting to 10 days and required voters to present approved identification cards
[JURIST] A Pennsylvania judge on Monday sentenced former attorney general Kathleen Kane [official website] to 10 to 23 months in jail after she was found guilty of perjury and abusing her position. Kane resigned [JURIST report] from office in August after being convicted of leaking grand jury materials to discredit a political opponent and lying about her actions under oath. Her seven misdemeanor charges and two felony charges called [NYT report] for a maximum sentence of 12 to 24 years incarceration. Kane pleaded for probation or house arrest, asking the judge to consider the well-being of her children and the loss of her career and law license. Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy, however, stated that a jail sentence must be imposed to show the seriousness her crimes. Kane was released on bail [AP report] shortly after her sentence and expressed her intention to file an appeal.
Kane, 49, was elected in 2012, becoming the first Democrat and the first woman to become attorney general since the post became elective in 1980. In February Pennsylvanias Supreme Court refused [JURIST report] to reinstate Kanes law license while investigations proceeded into her alleged leak of grand jury materials. In August of 2015 prosecutors filed criminal charges [JURIST report] against her for allegedly leaking grand jury documents to the media to embarrass a critic, and then giving false testimony to a grand jury to cover up her actions. In May 2015 a state judge appointed a Special Prosecutor to investigate allegations that statewide, confidential grand jury information may have been leaked to the media. After a seven-month investigation, the investigating grand jury recommended criminal charges against Kane. A criminal complaint [text, PDF] had also been filed against one of Kanes aids. Kane previously refused to resign, claiming that a resignation would be an admission of guilt.
Owner of Ukrlandfarming agricultural holding Oleh Bakhmatiuk is mulling the possibility of attracting investors for a majority stake to improve the company's financial condition.
"I understand that to attract investors is the only possible way. It was difficult for me to make the decision and sell the majority stake. I wanted to conduct an IPO, but seeing the problem with the National Bank, I understand that Bakhmatiuk is now a problem for Ukrlandfarming and the company cannot develop," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the businessman, he is currently in talks with Chinese companies and investors from the Middle East.
"We are ready to sell the majority stake if the issue with the creditors is resolved. We need to reduce debt burden and maintain the company's development. These are the key points I focus on in negotiations with the investors," he added.
Bakhmatiuk explained now the main issue that remains unresolved is the dispute with the National Bank regarding the financial debt of his banks and companies.
"Valeriya Gontareva [the head of the National Bank] is doing everything to destroy it [the company]. But the company has future, it is a great platform, and it's a pity if it is destroyed," the businessman said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Monday called into question Tunisias use of house arrests [press release] under a November 2015 state of emergency decree. According to the release, at least 139 people have been put under house arrest in what the government has called a means to fight against terrorism. Human rights advocates are concerned with the stigmatization of those put under house arrest, denial of access to education and work, and failure of the government to provide for the livelihood of the person placed under house arrest. Amna Guellali, the Tunisia director at HRW said [s]tates of emergency do not give governments a blank check to curb rights, and added, [t]o be legitimate, exceptional measures such as house arrest need to be subject to appeal and time limits. Some of those interviewed by HRW said they were provided only a vague explanation for their house arrest and forced to sign notification of their house arrest without being provided a copy. As those challenging administrative orders need to provide a copy of the order they are seeking to challenge, many of these individuals have found it difficult, if not impossible, to challenge their house arrest. The string of house arrests over 2015 and 2016 stem from Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsis declaration of a state of emergency following a suicide bombing killed 12 presidential guards and injured 20 others.
Tunisia has previously been criticized for human rights violations, and many hoped they would be remedied by the passage of a new constitution [JURIST report] in January 2014, which offered more expansive freedoms of speech, conscience and religion. The new constitutional rights guaranteed by the constitution compelled HRW to ask [JURIST report] for further action in the release of prisoners convicted under human rights violations in February of that year. However, the practices that HRW denounced remained in place after the passing of the constitution. In January of last year HRW reported [JURIST report] that Tunisia had failed to bring to justice those responsible for the use of excessive force by police during the uprising four years ago. Also last year HRW criticized [JURIST report] the Tunisian government after it sentenced blogger Yassine Ayari to three years in prison for posting criticisms of government officials on Facebook.
Trustees of Haji Ali Dargah [website], a mosque in Mumbai, India, told the countrys Supreme Court [official website] on Monday that they will begin to allow women to enter the inner sanctum of the mausoleum. The court permitted [Indian Express report] the mosque a period of four weeks to make the change, which the trust says is needed for structural changes to grant women entry. The trust banned women from entering the mosque in 2011, claiming that allowing women near the tombs was a sin. Advocacy group Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) [advocacy website] challenged the ban in the lower court, arguing [AFP report] it violated the constitutional right to gender equality. The Mumbai High Court sided with BMMA in August and the Haji Ali Dargah trust appealed.
Both Muslim and Hindu women in India have challenged bans to religious temples in recent years. In January hundreds of women marched [BBC report] in the city of Pune, led by the rights group Bhumata Brigade, hoping to end the ban against women at the Shani Shingnapur shrine. In 2015, a petition was filed [Times of India report] to lift the ban on women between the ages of 10 and 50 from entering the Hindu Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. Currently, other temples in Nashik, Pushkar, and Kolhapur also bar women from entering.
[JURIST] South Korean President Park Geun-hye [BBC profile] proposed on Monday to amend the countrys constitutional provision that restricts presidents to one term in office. In a speech to the legislature, she called for [Korea Times report] a special committee of the National Assembly [official website] to debate the issue. Currently, South Korean presidents can only have a single five-year term, and Park finishes her term in office in February 2018. She claims [Reuters report] that the change is necessary to better maintain policy continuance and to more effectively engage in foreign policy. The opposition has accused Park of using the proposal to distract from recent governmental corruption.
South Korean Senior Prosecutor Jin Kyung-joon was indicted[JURIST report] in July on charges of bribery. Jin has been accused of accepting more than USD $11 million from an executive at the online-game company Nexon [corporate website] during collusive stock transactions over a nine-year period. Jin is the highest ranking official in recent history to face a corruption scandal.
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Coal stocks in the warehouses of thermal power plants (TPP) of Ukraine from October 16 until October 23, 2016 increased by 3.5%, from 1.528 million tonnes to 1.581 million tonnes, Ukrenergo has reported.
In particular, anthracite coal stocks rose by 2.8%, to 685,000 tonnes (including 91,000 tonnes at Luhansk TPP), while gas coal and long-flame coal stocks grew by 4%, to 877,000 tonnes (including 167,000 tonnes at Burshtyn TPP).
Ukrenergo said energy consumption in the morning of October 24 was 20.998 GW, while 31 coal power units and four turbine generators at the TPPs generated 5.784 GW. Nuclear power plants (NPPs) showed a capacity of 10.894 GW, hydroelectric power plants 2.460 GW, combined heat and power plants 1.571 MW and alternative energy units 289 MW.
Exports from the Burshtyn TPP energy island on October 23 stood at 376 MW and 144 MW to Poland. No exports to Belarus, Moldova and Russia were reported.
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Poroshenko: New intel chief to give fresh impetus to military intelligence in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has introduced newly appointed chief of the Main Intelligence Department of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine Major-General Vasyl Burba to the department's personnel, the president's press service reported Monday.
"I have no doubt that this appointment will give a fresh impetus to the activity of military intelligence in Ukraine," Poroshenko said during the introduction.
The Ukrainian president noted that military intelligence's performance had significantly improved in the past two years. He also pointed to drastic change in the quality of information provided by intelligence officers, the press service said.
Poroshenko also noted an improvement in interaction between the military intelligence directorate and other local security agencies, namely the SBU Security Service of Ukraine. He also said that the data exchange between respective agencies of Ukraine's partner states had become better.
What is more, Poroshenko stressed the importance of boosting intelligence activity in support of the effective work of both the Ukrainian military and diplomats.
He also spoke about the importance of expanding secret intelligence capabilities and increasing the potential of radio electronic intelligence.
Poroshenko separately touched on the priority of social security for families of military intelligence officers.
Burba, 38, was appointed to head the Ukrainian military intelligence directorate on October 15, 2016.
The major-general graduated from the SBU National Academy, majoring in law. He has worked for the Security Service of Ukraine for a long period. Burba has participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donbas.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched the program 'Decentralization Offering Better Results and Efficiency' (DOBRE), with a budget of $50 million, in Ukraine, U.S. Ambassador in Kyiv Marie Yovanovitch said.
The program, due to be launched today, will help 75 united communities in seven Ukrainian regions, she said at the opening ceremony for the DOBRE program in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, for his part, thanked the United States for its support of the decentralization reform in Ukraine.
The initial stage of the program involves 25 communities: six from Ternopil region, six from Dnipropetrovsk region, four from Ivano-Frankivsk region, three from Mykolayiv region, three from Kherson region, two from Kharkiv region and one from Kirovohrad region.
"With us today are first 25 newly consolidated communities selected - through a competitive process - to participate in the program. I congratulate each of you. You were among the first communities that voluntarily consolidated. Despite uncertainty and concerns about the outlook for reforms, you took a bold step forward," Yovanovitch said during the presentation of the project on Tuesday.
Another 50 united communities will be selected for this project in 2017.
The program will help the communities to improve the quality of state services, reinvigorate the local economy, crack down on corruption, as well as give people better opportunities to contribute to the development of the communities themselves.
DOBRE is USAID's five-year program with a budget of $50 million. Its goal is to support the united communities' efficient governance, help citizens and civil society to constructively interact with the authorities, as well as ensure transparency and the high quality of services.
It was reported that on October 19, USAID launched a project to issue loans to Ukraine's small-sized and medium-sized farms and agricultural enterprises in rural areas via credit unions. The project is expected to continue from 2016 to 2020.
U.S. extends for two years ban on flights for its air carriers over Dnipro, Simferopol
U.S. aviation authorities have extended until the end of October 2018 the prohibition against flights in Simferopol and Dnipro for all U.S. air carriers, reads a statement by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The extension of the ban will come into force on October 27 this year due to the continuing unstable situation in the east of Ukraine.
As reported, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration from December 29, 2014 prohibited civil aviation flights over Simferopol and Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro).
"This action extends the area, in which flights of the persons, defined by Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) No. 113, are prohibited, including the entire area of in-flight responsibility of Simferopol and Dnipropetrovsk," the then report read.
The document applies to all U.S. air carriers, U.S. commercial operators, persons exercising the privileges of a U.S. airman certificate, except when such persons are operating a U.S. registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier, and operators of U.S. registered civil aircraft, except when such operators are foreign air carriers.
Later, on October 27, 2015. this ban was extended for a year.
Ukraine's Health Ministry will buy antiretroviral drugs made in Ukraine if they meet the ministry's technical requirements, acting Health Minister Ulana Suprun has said.
"Everything that is bought using budget funds and passes the ministry [the Health Ministry] will go through international organizations that open tenders for everyone who can meet our technical requirements. Ukrainian manufacturers will have access to public procurement if they meet technical requirements," she said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
She also said that Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers could take part in procurement tenders held by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
"The Global Fund has their own tender process and they are convincing us that Ukrainian manufacturers will be attracted to the process," she said.
Deputy Head of the national council for fighting Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Dmytro Sherembei said that the WHO prequalification requirement making by international organizations during procurement of HIV/AIDS drugs was lodged by patients 12 years ago.
"The prequalification requirement is a requirement lodged by patients 12 years ago, as then it was the only quality protection system in Ukraine. Only products bought under AIDS program require the WHO prequalification. This system was introduced in the world to protect patients. Then it was the minimum quality standard," he said.
Sherembei said that there are pharmaceutical companies in Ukraine passing the WHO prequalification now.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) deliberately refused to sign an amicable agreement with bank Financial Initiative (Kyiv) that later was announced insolvent, former 100% beneficiary of the bank Oleh Bakhmatiuk has said.
"The removal of bank Financial Initiative from the market was a personal whim of Mrs. Gonatareva (NBU Governor Valeriya Gontareva]," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that attempts to solve the issue with other representatives of power were in vain.
"All meetings we held in the presidential administration, with the prime minister, ended just the opposite: all support us at the meetings, and then Mrs. Gontareva comes 'with the IMF badge' and acutally makes steps to destroy my company [Ukrlandfarming]," he said.
He said that especially cynic were NBU steps after bank Financial Initiative was declared insolvent.
"In the times of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak proposed that I buy government bonds for UAH 2 billion. Then we sold these bonds to the NBU at the even money. Actually I made a kindness to the government, but Gontareva when she introduced temporary administration to the bank set the value of these bonds one third less than they cost. She created a lack of liquidity. Moreover, we voluntarily paid one-to-one sums to depositors in addition to payments of the Deposit Guarantee Fund. However, the NBU blocked payments for us: we cannot pay to people for three months," he said.
At present the situation around the bank is developing only in court. No talks are being held with the NBU as there is no understanding what the central bank intends to do.
"If the NBU wants to change the conditions, I am ready to find a solution. I it wants to increase collateral, I am ready to speak about it. As it was said earlier, we are ready to take liabilities for seven years without discount [the amicable agreement]. I announced this in public and at the president's room, prime minister's room, but the NBU head insists that it is not interesting to her," he said.
Kyiv's appeal court on September 27 rejected a counterclaim of the NBU and upheld the ruling of Kyiv's Pechersky District court dated May 26 lifting the arrest of Bakhmatiuk's property imposed on May 12. The property was arrested under a claim of the NBU to collect a debt to pay a UAH 4 billion stabilization loan issued to bank Financial Initiative.
On October 11, Kyiv's administrative court of appeals upheld the ruling of the court of a lower instance that the NBU's accusations of passivity in applying measures to protect the interests of depositors and creditors of VAB Bank 86.778% shares of which belonged to Bakhmatiuk.
VAB Bank operated on the Ukrainian financial market from 1992. On March 20, 2015, the NBU decided to liquidate the bank.
Bank Financial Initiative was established in 2005. Its sole shareholder as of March 2015 was Invest-Service LLC. The full beneficiary is Bakhmatiuk.
The NBU placed the bank to the list of insolvent banks on June 23, 2015.
The newly appointed Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) at a first meeting on Tuesday elected Bohdan Danylyshyn its head, the regulator has reported on its website.
According to the report, Tymofiy Milovanov elected deputy head of the NBU Council.
Danylyshyn said that the Council's work will aim at providing macrofinancial stability, social and economic development of Ukraine.
As reported, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has appointed former Economy Minister of Ukraine academician Bohdan Danylyshyn and President of Kyiv Institute of Banking Doctor of Economics Vasyl Furman members of the NBU Council.
Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada on July 7, 2016 formed its quota of four members of the NBU Council: economic theory department chairman of Ternopil National Economic University Viktor Koziuk was appointed for seven years, former director of the chief monetary and credit policy department at the NBU Olena Scherbakova for six years, member of the editorial staff of VoxUkraine website Tymofiy Milovanov for five years and former deputy NBU governor Vira Rychakivska for four years. The Council has nine members.
The NBU Council's meeting is valid if at least six members are present.
Losses from ASF outbreaks in Ukraine estimated at UAH 25 mln since early 2016
Since early 2016 some 9,100 pigs were killed in Ukraine due to African Swine Fever (ASF) and this resulted in a loss of UAH 25 million, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) has said.
According to the Tuesday press release of UCAB, it could be 100-110 outbreaks of ASF in 2017, and each fourth outbreak could be recorded at farms.
The Ukraine's State Service for Food Safety and Consumers' Rights Protection asks the Verkhovna Rada and government to foresee some UAH 200 million to monitor the anti-epizootic situation.
The draft national budget foresees UAH 56.8 million for anti-epizootic measures next year.
"We will not be able to fight those risks we have in the cattle and pig breeding sector in Ukraine with this financing," Service Head Volodymyr Lapa said at the press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
He said government and lawmakers understand the situation with financing at the agency.
The agency intends to send these funds to fight ASF, lumpy skin disease (LSD), rabies, cattle leucosis and other things.
KEARNEY Charles Moncooyeas first visit to Nebraska fills him with mixed feelings.
Coming to Nebraska is kind of an emotional experience because I can feel somewhere along the way some of our tribal leaders and warriors came and hunted in this area, he said. They probably skinned buffalo or deer in this area. We still hold these animals in high esteem when we dance.
Moncooyea, vice president of the Otoe-Missouria tribe, is one of 132 tribal members visiting central Nebraska for the Dancers of the Plains Exhibition Powwow Celebration and Cultural Learning Experience today (Saturday) at Great Platte River Road Archway. Parking for the event will be at Viaero Event Center where free shuttle buses will run between the two venues.
Moncooyea sees events such as this as a way to impress the importance of culture upon younger members.
We try to put our kids in moccasins as soon as they can walk, he said.
Dancing is one way to help define the culture of the tribe. The regalia speaks to the importance of dance to the Otoe-Missouria.
Its hard to put a good outfit together, said Moncooyea. They run from $1,000 to $2,000. A lot of the outfits are handmade. For the younger generation, all of the outfits have to made over and over again because the children continue to grow.
The tribe, he said, stresses the importance of culture.
My parents and my grandparents pushed it on me, he said.
Tribal Secretary Barbara Childs-Walton danced for several years when she was a teenager. After she married, Childs-Walton lived in places around the world while her husband was in the U.S. Air Force.
We traveled a lot, Childs-Walton said. Our children didnt know their relatives. They probably didnt even know they were Indian. Now, since weve settle back in Oklahoma, we all try to participate.
While Moncooyea regards the powwow as a gesture of goodwill, he also understands the dark history of the tribes relationship to Nebraska. The tribes annual summer encampment honors the 130 anniversary of the Otoe-Missourias forced removal from this area. The event is July 14-17 in Red Rock, Okla.
Were a proud tribe, Childs-Walton said. We have a lot of people who work and make their way in this world. Theyre proud of their heritage. I know Im proud of mine even though I didnt know too much about it before returning and settling in Oklahoma.
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OMAHA -- It was the last stand for Anthony Garcias defense team in their battle to persuade jurors to find him not guilty.
The seven witnesses who testified Monday capped the defenses 3 days of testimony that sought to poke holes in the prosecutions evidence.
Some witnesses were more compelling than others and one couldnt remember anything.
Prosecutors fought back by calling three experts to the stand to rebut the defenses arguments.
The quadruple-murder trial that was expected to last up to six weeks shifts to closing arguments Tuesday morning, after about three weeks of testimony.
Then, the jury will decide Garcias fate.
The defense spent much of Monday day 15 of the trial trying to chip away at four key elements of the prosecutions case:
The time of death of Roger and Mary Brumback. The couples bodies were found on May 14. Prosecutors say they were killed shortly after speaking with their daughter two days earlier, on Mothers Day.
Dr. Francisco Diaz, a forensic pathologist for the defense, said that based on the stiffness and decomposition of the bodies, the Brumbacks were not killed between 3 and 5 p.m. May 12, as the prosecution contends.
My opinion is that time frame is not feasible based on post-mortem findings, Diaz testified.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine contrasted how Diaz had said its nearly impossible to provide a specific time of death yet somehow was able to rule out that two-hour time span.
For the state, Dr. Michelle Elieff testified again that post-mortem conditions can vary greatly and shouldnt be the only clue to determine a time of death.
Its a factor, it has to be used with other factors, she said.
It is possible that the Brumbacks were killed on that Sunday afternoon, or later that night, she said.
Garcias lawyers have questioned how someone could have shot the Brumbacks on a beautiful Mothers Day and no one heard it. They called three more neighbors, in addition to two last week, who said they didnt hear any loud noises or gunshots that afternoon.
Prosecutors had countered with a neighbor who did hear three shots that Sunday afternoon.
That a fifth homicide wasnt connected. The defense contends that the November 2007 killing of Joy Blanchard was related to the March 2008 Dundee slayings of Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman. Prosecutors say that claim is baseless.
Defense Attorney Robert Motta Sr. and Chief Deputy County Attorney Brenda Beadle clashed on whether the defense could introduce photos of the Blanchard killing.
Judge Gary Randall ultimately allowed it.
Diaz testified that the Blanchard fatal stabbing was similar to the Dundee slayings. Knives were left in all three victims necks.
It is suggestive that there was the same perpetrator or perpetrators, Diaz testified.
Omaha police officers investigated the link between the homicides but ultimately determined it to be unfounded. Blanchards nephew, Charles Simmer, is awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge in connection to her death.
Prosecutors pointed out differences. A banister spindle was used as a weapon in the Blanchard case. And Blanchards carotid artery and jugular vein were not severed as with both of the Dundee killings.
Kenneth Langhorst, Blanchards longtime boyfriend, gave tearful testimony about when he came upon Blanchards body.
He also said he didnt know Sherman or the Hunter family. Nor did he know a former boyfriend of Shermans daughter whom defense attorneys attempted to pinpoint as a killer.
The idea that Garcia was the only one who could have killed.
The defense repeatedly brought up the former boyfriend of Shermans daughter, whom Sherman had a protection order against.
Elizabeth Stiles, a friend and next-door neighbor of Shermans, testified that she received a strange phone call from the boyfriend on the day of the killing.
A ladder appeared outside the back of Shermans home soon after, and remained for a couple days, Stiles testified, which she found odd.
The ex-boyfriend bothered Sherman, Stiles said.
Of little value to the defense was the ex-boyfriends supervisor in March 2008. He couldnt recall whether the ex-boyfriend was at work on the day of the Dundee killings.
That the magazine clip found at the Brumbacks house could match a pistol that Garcia purchased.
Prosecutors called their gun expert to counter testimony from the defense on the magazine found near the front door of the Brumbacks house.
Last week, Richard Renz offered his opinion for the defense that the scratched magazine would match a gun worn and used daily for eight to 10 months. Garcia purchased his handgun two months before the Brumback killings.
Omaha police senior crime lab technician Dan Bredow said any perceived wear on the magazine was from crime-scene investigators applying chemicals and dusting it for fingerprints, not from extended use.
Theres no way to determine a magazine usage by wear, Bredow said. Its not possible to do.
However, Garcias lawyer Jeremy Jorgenson pointed out that Renz based his determination on the blemishes and nicks to the steel on the magazine, not on how dirty it was.
The day also was notable for the witnesses the defense didnt call.
Forensic scientist Karl Reich had testified last week before the judge but outside earshot of the jury that Garcia couldnt have left skin cells on doorknobs at the home of Dr. Chhanda Bewtra.
Jorgenson hoped to call Reich again Monday to testify to that fact with the jury present.
Such a move could have allowed prosecutors to counter Reichs testimony by introducing DNA results that they say connect Garcia to the doorknobs much more convincingly. Prosecutors say Garcia attempted to enter the Bewtra home on May 12, 2013.
As he has remained for much of the trial, Garcia stayed silent and didnt take the stand.
His choice to not testify wasnt a surprise.
It was his opinion that based on three years of incarceration, and 23 hours per day of isolation, he was in no position to get on the stand, Robert Motta Jr. told Randall on Monday while the jury was not present. It was solely his decision.
The BlackBerry Argon is shown in a handout photo. BlackBerry released its second smartphone designed and built externally, the latest development in the company's push away from manufacturing handsets as it focuses more on its security software. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-BlackBerry MANDATORY CREDIT
The HealthCare.gov 2017 web site home page as seen in Washington, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The Obama administration is confirming that premiums will go up sharply next year for health insurance sold to millions of consumers through HealthCare.gov. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Some 109 Ukrainian citizens are held hostage as of today, while 495 people are reported missing, adviser to the chief of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine Yuriy Tandit has said.
"As of today, 109 persons are listed as hostages, they are illegally kept in occupied areas in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and another nine people are in Russia. And it is important to not to forget about the 495 missing who we will be seeking. In any case it is very important to find them all," Tandit told journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Joel Watanabe is chef-owner of Kissa Tanto, which has been named Canada's best new restaurant by enRoute magazine. The Vancouver eatery features a blend of Italian and Japanese cuisines. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO
The SBU Security Service of Ukraine has interrogated Member of Parliament from the Batkivschyna parliamentary faction Nadiia Savchenko as a witness in criminal proceedings related to infringement on Ukraine's territorial integrity and the creation of terrorist organizations, ZN.UA reported with to the SBU's official statement.
"SBU agents have been carrying out a pre-trial investigation as part of criminal proceedings concerning the infringement on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine and the creation of terrorist organizations," the SBU said in response to an inquiry submitted by ZN.UA regarding the questioning of Savchenko after her statements about an informal visit to the occupied territory of Donbas.
At the same time, the SBU did not give any details about what Savchenko had reported to them during the interrogation, citing secrecy of the investigation.
Neither did the SBU answer to the question whether they were trying to track possible connections between Savchenko and leader of the "Ukrainian Choice - People's Right" movement Viktor Medvedchuk.
As reported, Savchenko said on Channel 112.Ukraina on October 12 that she was keeping in touch with people residing in occupied territory in Donbas.
Also speaking at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, she said she had visited the militant- occupied areas in eastern Ukraine.
On October 17, Savchenko said she had testified to the Security Service of Ukraine regarding her visit to the occupied Donbas.
No Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone in Donbas in the last day, however, six soldiers were wounded, Defense Ministry speaker for ATO issues Andriy Lysenko has said.
"There were no killed in action among Ukrainian military, six were wounded in action," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
"The intensity of fighting tends to decline" in the Luhansk sector, he said, adding that clashes were seen only in Stanytsia Luhanska and Novooleksandrivka where the hostiles fired mortars and grenade launchers. Three violations of the truce were seen in that area over the past day, including one by use of heavy weapons, he said.
According to Lysenko, the hostiles used heavy weapons in the Donetsk area - mortars and cannons were fired near Luhanske, Zaitseve and Avdiyivka. In all, 230 large-caliber munitions were fired on Ukrainian army positions. Thirteen violations of the truce were observed in the Donetsk sector over the past day, including ten using heavy weapons.
As to the Mariupol sector, fighting was ongoing near Maryinka, Hranitne and the Pavlopil-Shyrokyne sector. A total of 24 shelling incidents occurred over the past day, and mortars were used in nine cases.
The investigation of all the criminal proceedings into crimes against Euromaidan activists in February 2014 will still be conducted by the Special Investigations Department of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine and its head Serhiy Horbatiuk, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said.
"Not a single investigator, not a single criminal case has been taken from chief of the Department [of special investigations] Serhiy Horbatiuk. All Maidan cases from the first to the last day have been and are under his control," Lutsenko said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
The prosecutor general noted that he expects tangible results of two and a half years of work on these cases.
"I think, the public is also interested in finally bringing to justice the actual murderers who caused serious injuries to our people on the Maidan and the organizers of these atrocities and crimes against humanity," Lutsenko said.
The prosecutor general said that Horbatiuk should ensure that the Maidan cases end up in court. He said there can be no delay with the inquiry into ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych's economic crimes.
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Classic rock music lovers who think they dont like poetry, and literary purists who think they dont like popular music, may have been equally baffled to hear that Bob Dylan is a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. As an unrepentant English major, Im delighted.
I cant remember a time when Dylans music wasnt a part of my growing up, from the rebelliousness of the anti-Vietnam era to the bittersweet maturity of Tangled Up in Blue, my all-time favorite.
When you think about it, any time you listen to a song a current popular hit, a 1950s oldie, or a centuries-old ballad like Greensleeves youre listening to poetry, only with a tune. In ancient times, before most could read or write, people turned stories into poetry and sang them because rhyme and melody made the stories easier to remember and retell. Much of rap music is poetry (often crude, but still poetry) with complex use of rhyme and assonance, and the musical element reduced to a backdrop of pounding rhythm.
Poetry set to music can convey any and all human emotion. Love, of course. Jealousy absolutely. Just pick a musical genre, and theres a hit song about jealousy. In pop music, Taylor Swifts Blank Space lets her revel in her psycho side. In country music, Carrie Underwood graphically explains in Before He Cheats what can happen when a woman wants revenge on her faithless lover, and takes it out on his car. And the still-creepy Every Breath You Take, the 1983 classic rock hit by The Police, blurs the fine line between devotion and obsession.
Then theres the universal human experience of grief. There was a time when every parent expected to lose a child, or more than one, because children often died from pestilence and poor sanitation. When my daughter Alexandra died unexpectedly at the age of five months, I couldnt decide which was worse thinking that I wouldnt survive, or being horribly afraid that I would.
During the years of savage grief that followed, I often thought about a poem I had read first when I was in college. It wasnt exactly comforting, because nothing truly eases the pain of losing a child except the merciful passage of time. But Ben Jonsons simple words, written in 1598 after the death of his first daughter, proved that others had lived through the same experience. This is the poem, which Alexs father read at her funeral:
Here lies, to each her parents ruth,
Mary, the daughter of their youth;
Yet all heavens gifts being heavens due,
It makes the father less to rue.
At six months end she parted hence
With safety of her innocence;
Whose soul heavens queen, whose name she bears,
In comfort of her mothers tears,
Hath placed amongst her virgin-train:
Where, while that severed doth remain,
This grave partakes the fleshly birth;
Which cover lightly, gentle earth!
Several years later, Eric Claptons four-year-old son Conor died in a terrible accident, leading Clapton to write the song Tears in Heaven. The deceptively simple lyrics pose profound theological questions. Every subsequent tragedy involving the deaths of children from the 19 who died in the Oklahoma City bombing of the federal buildings daycare center, to the massacre of first-graders in Newtown, and the ongoing carnage in Aleppo brings back to mind for me Jonsons poem and Claptons music. Across the centuries, they unite parents who have become unwilling members of a club that no one wants to join.
One day at the hospital, I went to the preoperative area to examine my next patient, a middle-aged woman who looked angry and unhappy before I even introduced myself. In anesthesiology, we often encounter patients who are anxious about their upcoming surgery, but this womans emotions were different. In the course of doing my preoperative evaluation, I couldnt figure out what was the problem. Her overall health was good, and the planned surgery wasnt serious.
Finally, I said, Please forgive me. But it seems as though something is terribly wrong. Is there anything I can do to help? The patients eyes filled with tears, and she said that her son had died a month before. After a long moment, I said, I lost a daughter too, years ago. The sorrow never goes away. But it does get easier to live with over time. And with that, she relaxed, and the anger dissipated. The chain of connection continued, from Ben Jonson and Eric Clapton to me, and now to my patient.
Poetry and music tell stories of universal experiences, and unite people who, at least superficially, have little in common. To me, the lyrics of Bob Dylans songs are just as truly poetry as are the sonnets of John Donne. Dylans scratchy voice has the remarkable ability to tell a story and evoke a mood in a few short lines. His lyrics contain a wealth of literary allusions, whether or not many listeners notice or care. If the Nobel committees award can illuminate the fact that poetry is everywhere, and isnt inaccessible at all, then the committee members will have done a great service.
Karen S. Sibert is an anesthesiologist who blogs at A Penned Point.
Image credit: Shutterstock.com
The European Union does not believe the espionage charges that Russia brought against the Ukrainian journalist Roman Suschenko, the head of the EU delegation to Ukraine, Hugh Mingarelli, said.
The EU condemns the detention in Moscow of the correspondent Suschenko who is being accused of espionage, and does not believe these accusations, Mingarelli said during a conference on journalists' safety in Kyiv on Tuesday.
On October 3, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that its officers in Moscow "arrested Col. Roman Suschenko, an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, during a spy operation." The FSB opened a criminal case under Article 276 (espionage) of the Russian Criminal Code, an inquiry is underway.
The Lefortovo court in Moscow placed Sushchenko under a two-month arrest. His defense team has appealed against the arrest. On October 7, it emerged that Russian investigators had charged Sushchenko with espionage.
Kyiv called the arrest a provocation on trumped-up espionage charges.
Do you need money for unexpected medical and long-term-care expenses, funeral costs, or a local charitable endeavor? Maybe it's time to turn to one of a growing number of personal "crowdfunding" sites and ask the public for small donations.
Thats what Laura Van Noy did in July when her uncle, Kenneth Egbert, a builder from Riverton, Utah, was suffering from brain cancer. Her aunt, who had taken off work to care for him, was struggling to pay medical bills, the mortgage and utilities. "I wanted to help," says Van Noy, 33, who lives in Logan, Utah. "I could give a little bit, but I couldn't make a dent."
Within a week after setting up a fundraising page for her aunt at the website YouCaring, Van Noy raised more than $5,500 from 95 donors. Her target is $20,000. "I'm pretty pleased, but a lot still needs to be done," she says. Her uncle died on July 31 at age 56.
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While crowdfunding is often associated with business start-ups, many people are finding it a fruitful way to raise money for personal needs. Sites such as YouCaring (opens in new tab), GoGetFunding (opens in new tab), GoFundMe (opens in new tab) and GiveForward (opens in new tab) have helped individuals raise hundreds of millions of dollars to help pay bills for medical care, funerals, education, volunteer missions and veterans' needs.
But it's not enough to set up a page and wait for the cash to roll in. Kelsea Little, spokeswoman for GoFundMe, says "it's a common misconception" that good-hearted strangers are browsing websites in search of good deeds to do. Expect most donations to come from friends and familyand their friends and family. "It's up to the organizer of the campaign to share the link with their network via social media," such as Facebook (opens in new tab), Twitter, texts and e-mail, Little says.
Pull Out All the Stops
Be prepared to spend three to five hours a week promoting a campaign, says Sandip Sekhon, chief executive officer of GoGetFunding. Besides using social media, fundraisers should consider tapping business connections, seeking out relevant online communities and contacting local media outlets, Sekhon says. "The effort needs to be continuous throughout the campaign," he says.
Last December, Ed Kane and his friends began a multi-pronged campaign on GoFundMe to raise money for a nonprofit Kane founded that distributes wheelchairs, walkers and other durable medical equipment to people who cant afford the devices. Kane, a former banker in Chicago who had ALS and was a quadriplegic, died September 6 at age 64. He had used $30,000 of his 401(k) to pay for his wheelchair. The money the site raises goes to Devices 4 the Disabled to help others, says Bob Shea, a member of the group's board.
The nonprofit's website directs donors to Kane's GoFundMe page. And more than 250 Facebook users have linked to the pageexpanding the reach of the campaign. A local TV station broadcast several stories on Kane's fundraising and mentioned the GoFundMe page. "We send people to the [nonprofit's] website, and then they can connect to crowdfunding," Shea says. In eight months, more than $89,000 has been raised toward a $500,000 goal. Shea says the GoFundMe page will continue to raise money for the nonprofit.
Before you launch a campaign, browse several crowdfunding sites. Be sure the site provides step-by-step instructions on setting up a page and posting updates, photos and videos, says GoGetFunding's Sekhon. Supporters also should be able to easily link your page to their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Ask exactly how you get the money that is pledged. You or the website typically sets up a PayPal (opens in new tab) or WePay (opens in new tab) account to accept donations. You should be able to easily transfer the funds to your bank account.
Compare the fees, too. GoGetFunding charges a 4% fee for using its platform, while GoFundMe charges 5%; the fees are deducted from your take. YouCaring advertises that it does not charge fundraisers a platform fee, but it tacks on about 5% to donor costsunless the giver opts out. In addition, the websites typically charge a 2.9% card processing fee.
Poroshenko says simplified taxation system should be preserved for now
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said the simplified taxation system should be preserved in Ukraine.
"It is very important to us at present to preserve the simplified taxation system," Poroshenko said at a meeting of the National Reforms Council in Kyiv on Tuesday.
The president also noted the importance of establishing tax payer electronic cabinets (account), as a principal anti-corruption factor.
"What is a tax payer electronic cabinet? This is the next stage of the Center for Providing Administrative Services," Poroshenko said.
(Adds context)
PANAMA CITY, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Panama's economy grew 3.91 percent in August, a faster pace than the month prior due to growth in sectors including electricity, mining, and transportation, the government said on Monday.
The August growth rate was higher than the 3.04 percent growth posted in July, but lower than the 4.30 percent rate reported in the same month last year, according to a report by the Comptroller General of Panama.
The development of mega-projects including the urban renovation of the Colon Free Trade Zone and an additional metro line in the capital of Panama City also pushed up construction activity, the report added.
The United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimates economic growth of 5.4 percent in Panama this year, one of the highest expansion rates in the region.
(Reporting by Elida Moreno; Writing by Natalie Schachar; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Schaeuble says monetary policy has reached its limits
BERLIN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - There is a growing international consensus that monetary policy has reached the limits of its possibilities, German Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble told a group of government officials in Berlin on Tuesday. Schaeuble also said that he believed that there was an excess of liquidity and excess of indebtedness internationally.
(Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Andrea Shalal)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
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HANOI, Oct 25 (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 0427 GMT.
Oct 25 Oct 24 USD/VND mid-point 22,033 22,032 USD/VND interbank 22,305/22,370 22,310/22,325 USD/VND unofficial 22,350/22,360 22,350/22,370 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 35.46/35.72 35.46/35.71
Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.3-0.9 0.3-0.9
1 week 0.3-0.9 0.4-0.9
1 month 1.3-1.8 1.35-2.2
3 months 3.2-3.7 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)
* Focus on whether Wednesday's measures can boost economy
* Anglo American Platinum and peers rally
* MTN biggest blue-chip gainer
(Adds closing share prices, latest rand and bond levels)
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 25 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed on Tuesday as concerns Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will be forced to quit over fraud charges eased and market focus turned to his medium-term budget speech on Wednesday.
Stocks rose slightly as phone operator MTN and platinum miners gained.
At 1505 GMT, the rand traded at 13.8375 per dollar, 0.49 percent firmer from its New York close on Monday.
Gordhan unveils a midterm budget on Wednesday meant to boost the sickly economy and show his looming fraud case is not distracting him. "All eyes on the embattled finance minister this week who faces a tough task balancing out a measured MTBPS (Medium Term Budget Policy Statement), with weak economic fundamentals all around this won't be easy," Standard Bank trader Oliver Alwar said.
Gordhan is due in court on Nov. 2 to face fraud charges that he has dismissed as politically motivated. President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday the charges were "a concern to all of us, including the investor community".
In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 was down 1 basis point to 8.79 percent.
On the bourse, stocks closed in the black as platinum mining firms rallied on higher prices and after Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) reported strong third quarter production.
Shares in Amplats rose 4.9 percent to 338.21 rand.
The benchmark Top-40 index was 0.15 percent firmer at 45,201 points while the All-Share index rose 0.13 percent to 51,749 points.
MTN was the biggest gainer among the blue chips, advancing 5.3 percent to 115.37 rand.
"MTN had a good day, with yesterday's trading update filtering through," said Cratos Capital equities trader Greg Davies.
Trade was muted with around 195 million shares changing hands, compared with last year's daily average of 296 million, according to preliminary bourse data.
(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and TJ Strydom; Editing by Joe Brock)
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By Kitsap Sun Staff
BREMERTON Secretary of the Navy Ray Maybus presented U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer with the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award during an event Friday at Kitsap Conference Center.
The award, given to people with an exceptional record of public service to the Navy or Marine Corps, is the highest honor a civilian not employed by the Navy can receive.
"I'm proud to fight for our service members, the DOD civilians who support them and our veterans," Kilmer said. "Frankly, I received this on behalf of our amazing community who step up to support the men and women who serve every single day, and I look forward to continuing to be their partner."
Maybus said the award was for Kilmer's advocacy for the resources needed to maintain a strong Navy and Marine Corps.
Kilmer, of Gig Harbor, routinely speaks out about the need to end the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration, which caused the furlough of many civilian defense workers. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, he's fought to support a fleet of 11 aircraft carriers while fully funding the Ohio-class submarine replacement program. He has also secured funding for construction at key local military installations such as Naval Base Kitsap.
Kilmer successfully obtained a two-year extension on overtime pay for local shipyard workers who travel to Japan to conduct nuclear maintenance on the U.S. aircraft stationed there. He has led a bipartisan effort to roll back DOD cuts to per diem rates for employees who have to do long-term travel for work. After the Office of Personnel Management data breach that left millions of federal employees and their families vulnerable to identity theft Kilmer successfully passed provisions into law to help. Kilmer also passed an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill that ensures that furloughed civilian employees don't lose their security clearance as a result of financial pressure from sequestration.
Gateway Christian School in Poulsbo third-grader Michael Beaty, 8, listens to another student through the voice tube last week on the bridge of the USS Turner Joy in Bremerton. With him is tour guide John Kieft, a Vietnam veteran. The Bremerton Historic Ships Association gave tours and taught a STEM class aboard the retired destroyer.
LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN
SHARE Gateway Christian School and Crosspoint third-graders and their chaperones prepare to board the USS Turner Joy in Bremerton. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN Crosspoint third-grader Flint Howard, 8, (left) and Gateway Christian School third-grader Elijah Wiktorek, 9, watch toy boats sail under candle power as part of a STEM project on the USS Turner Joy in Bremerton. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN Gateway Christian School third-grader Preston Madson, 9, (center) looks over the bridge during a tour of the USS Turner Joy. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN Kelly Zenz, operations manager of the USS TurnerJoy, gives Crosspoint and Gateway Christian School third-graders a tour of the boat. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN
By Christina Henry of the Kitsap Sun
BREMERTON Last week inside the mess hall of the USS Turner Joy, third-grader Madalyn McGraw and her friends from Gateway Christian Schools watched a tiny tin boat with a small candle inside putter across a tub of water.
"The heat makes steam and the steam makes it move," Madalyn explained, quickly catching on to the engineering of the small craft, which had a tiny tailpipe to draw in water for the steam.
"It's cool how the energy moves the boats," she said. "I love science."
That's the reaction folks from the nonprofit Bremerton Historic Ships Association want in students they bring aboard for tours of the decommissioned Vietnam-era destroyer Turner Joy, a floating museum on Bremerton's waterfront.
The Turner Joy has been hosting school groups since June, adding a twist to the usual ship tour and history lesson: hands-on lessons in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The program has grown in popularity since summer, and the Turner Joy is booked out two or three months for school tours.
The new opportunity for Kitsap's private and public school students results from a partnership between the Navy and the Naval Historical Foundation in Washington, D.C., along with local sponsors' support.
John Hanson, Bremerton Historic Ships Association president, was invited in April to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, for training through the academy's STEM Center for Education and Outreach. The program is geared to address an "urgent national need for more young people to pursue careers" in STEM fields.
Hanson, a retired Navy officer with a background in reactors, learned hands-on experiments like the putt-putt boats he showed the Gateway students alongside educators from around the country.
"We didn't understand what STEM was," Hanson said. "STEM is hands-on science technology learning."
Hanson and others who took the training quickly became versed in STEM education techniques through lesson plans developed by the Naval Academy. Hanson introduced the Gateway students to principles of thermodynamics using glass vials of colored liquid. The students held the vials in their hands, the heat from which made the liquid inside bubble, a lesson in transfer of heat energy.
"You watch their faces, you see how they react to science, and you're just taken by it," Hanson said. "It's not a job. It's something that's really enjoyable."
The Naval Historical Foundation has been instrumental in getting STEM programs in Navy museums like the Turner Joy across the country. The foundation has grants to help defray training expenses for educators and contributed to travel expenses for Turner Joy officials.
The Turner Joy is one of three historic Naval ships on the West Coast to add STEM education to their mission, according to Hanson. The others are the aircraft carriers USS Hornet, in Alameda, California, and the USS Midway, in San Diego. Turner Joy officials, including Hanson, took follow-up STEM training in both locations, as well as Port Hueneme, California.
The Puget Sound Navy Museum in Bremerton and the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport also partner with the Navy on STEM education.
Materials for the Turner Joy's STEM classes are provided thanks to grants and sponsors, including the Kitsap Community Foundation, Port Madison Enterprises, Kitsap Bank and Allstate Insurance. The Chapple family, of Montana, provided the putt-putt boats at a discount.
The Bremerton Historic Ships Association also contributes funds to support the program, keeping costs minimal for schools. More sponsors and individual donations are welcome, Hanson said.
During the Gateway Schools' visit, students not engrossed in experiments toured the ship in small groups. Kelly Zenz, the association's operations officer, led one group up narrow, steep stairways, onto the bow, where he described the ship plowing through heavy seas.
They visited the bridge, the radar room and the radio room. In one part of the ship, ceiling tiles were painted with the names of Navy chief selects, candidates for promotion, who spent time aboard the Turner Joy doing service work.
Student Alex Ralston, 8, and mom Sarah were excited to see the name of Alex's dad, Jacob O. Ralston, on one of the tiles, from his service last summer. Chief Ralston serves aboard the USS Louisiana Gold, stationed at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor.
Asked what he thought of the ship and the tribute to his dad, Alex said, "It's cool!"
To make a donation or book a school group STEM tour, call the Turner Joy gift shop at 360-792-2457.
The USS Turner Joy is a destroyer. Incorrect information was given in the original version of this story.
Vehicles move down the lanes in May as they board the Cathlamet for a sailing to Fauntleroy at the Southworth ferry dock.
MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN FILE
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By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun
SOUTHWORTH Customers are being asked to help repair a broken ferry run.
Washington State Ferries officials Monday night visited Sedgwick Junior High in the first of three "listening" sessions about problems with the Southworth-Vashon Island-Fauntleroy route. Many of the troubles can be traced to a dysfunctional Fauntleroy terminal, where crews can't load and unload vehicles fast enough. Boats depart before they are full in an attempt to keep a schedule that might no longer be workable.
"You're the users, and I want you to help us make this work," WSF Director Lynne Griffith told about 20 riders. "We're now in a support role, and the communities are in the driver's seat."
The route is among the worst in the system for on-time performance. Last year, 8.1 percent of boats left the dock more than 10 minutes after their scheduled departures, mostly because of "heavy traffic." That means there were too many vehicles to get off and on punctually.
Regardless of Fauntleroy loading jams, the route still would battle the schedule, which hasn't been updated in years. One 124-car boat has replaced an 87-car vessel and another will do so next year. It takes time to load and unload the 37 extra cars per boat, time that hasn't been built into the schedule. It would mean fewer sailings, which riders don't want to give up.
The route also suffers when boats elsewhere in the system break down. One of its regular ferries gets replaced by a smaller, slower one or none is available and it's forced to operate on a two-boat schedule.
Griffith and riders agreed Monday that Fauntleroy loading is a physical problem that can be fixed. At the dual-destination terminal, cars trying to board a Southworth-bound boat get blocked by those waiting for a Vashon ferry. The boat often leaves with space still available.
"We've got to get these people out of line, get them down and around and on that boat," Mark Shepherd, of Manchester, said.
He and wife Kim, both commuters, suggested that the boat captain radio an employee in the staging area with how many more cars he can take. The employee can pull them out of line and send them to the ferry.
Ferries tried to create a bypass lane for pre-ticketed customers in May, using colored paper to show the car's destination. It made loading take longer, customers said, and was quickly abandoned.
"We've tried to do a number of short-term fixes to make it better and were actually making it worse," Griffith said.
Participants gathered around stations for Fauntleroy, Vashon and Southworth, discussing problems at each terminal and posting suggestions on sticky notes. Among them were more direct sailings between Southworth and Fauntleroy instead of having to concede the majority of vehicle spaces to Vashon, more slots for Southworth on boats that are shared, a larger dock with more lanes at Fauntleroy and better coordination with buses so more people can walk on instead of driving.
Some are nonstarters. Griffith said any solutions probably will have to be accomplished within the existing budget. And, as it has been for decades, Southworth would have to fight with Vashon for any increase in service.
Listening sessions will be held Wednesday at Vashon and Thursday at Fauntleroy. A task force of ferry advisory committee members and stakeholders, such as schools, transit agencies and businesses, will be formed.
"If we're going to do this right, there's got to be more than one sit-down," Griffith said. "We're going to really have to roll up our sleeves."
The ferries systems hopes to implement any changes with the summer schedule that starts in June.
U.S. Navy photo Navy and local firefighters train to fight simulated fires on board Navy vessels using the shipboard fire training center located at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor.
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Firefighters from Navy Region Northwest Fire and Emergency Services assigned to Naval Magazine Indian Island, along with East Jefferson Fire Rescue recently joined forces to train on a simulated shipboard fire at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor.
The intense heat coupled with a warm daytime ambient temperature added to the live fire scenario, firefighters explained at the debriefing following the training. Firefighters used the Navy's shipboard fire training facility on Bangor for the first time in a collaborative manner.
Navy Region Fire Chief Troy Whitmore called the joint training such a success that more training has been scheduled. Under a mutual aid agreement, Navy firefighters are available to help the local community outside the base and local firefighters are sanctioned to assist the Navy on base as necessary.
"This is great for crew integrity," Whitmore stressed. "This training ensures we speak the same language and are working from the same playbook when the call goes out."
The training included working on a simulated shipboard, engine room and kitchen fire. The shipboard fire training center boasts a three-story replica of a Navy ship including a submarine hatch at the top. Firefighters used the national incident command system to coordinate the work on scene. The shipboard fire training center is one of only three in the Navy said Navy Fire Capt. Mike Foreman. Bangor's shipboard fire training center heats up to 500 degrees to give firefighters the realization of fighting fire inside a Navy ship.
Fire Lt. Chris Kauzlarich, East Jefferson Fire Rescue said the training at Bangor helps his firefighters complete mandatory annual live fire training. Without the use of the Navy's shipboard fire training center, local firefighters would have to travel about 2.5 hours to North Bend, home of the Washington state fire training academy.
"Our fire station is in Port Townsend," Kauzlarich said. "We have fishing vessels tied up at the docks in Port Townsend year round. This shipboard training is a perfect fit for our firefighters."
The Navy's shipboard training center allows firefighters to start a scenario, back out and discuss techniques, and then go right back in and continue the firefighting exercise. The shipboard training center uses propane for the fire and a fire control room which can start and stop the fire at the push of a button. This allows each firefighter to train working the fire hose nozzle without too much down time.
Foreman said the enhanced ship board training helps all firefighters when catastrophe strikes. Foreman stressed the mutual aid agreement gives local firefighters a taste for shipboard fires.
"A fire on board ship is a different animal all together," he said. "Ships and submarines have confined space and the heat is intense."
Navy firefighters also train on ships assigned within their area of jurisdiction.
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By Seabury Blair Jr., Special to the Kitsap Sun
I may have figured out how to recruit more people in the effort to reduce human impact upon climate change. I believe I've found the ultimate Warm and Fuzzy.
For years, the problem has been that not all of the critters given the mantle of Warm and Fuzzy really are all that warm or fuzzy.
Some are downright cold and dangerous.
For example, a federal judge ruled last summer that the wolverine should be considered as a threatened species after the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service removed it from the list in 2013. But it's facing an uphill battle for recognition largely because it is one ugly, mean animal.
Wolverines weigh about 40 pounds and live in alpine areas where lingering summer snowpack seems to be essential to their survival.
Conservationists argue that warmer temperatures will reduce the snowfields and threaten wolverines with possible extinction.
The problem is, wolverines are butt ugly, mean and vicious. They are capable of bringing down an elk with claws and teeth, and have been known to drive off attacking bears and wolves.
My point: it's hard to feel love for an animal that would just as soon chew off your face as run away. Wolverines don't rate very high on my Warm and Fuzzy scale.
Other mammals that might be threatened or endangered also suffer from suspect reputations, such as grizzly and polar bears. Sure, their cubs are lovable and cute, and you might think they're neat until one treats you like an hors d'oeuvre.
Likewise, wolves are such powerful symbols of our disappearing wilderness that they draw crowds of tourists to places like the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone. But they also eat cattle and sheep on occasion, and it's difficult to convince a rancher that wolves are either warm or fuzzy.
What we need is an animal that you just can't help but love. A critter so cute and cuddly that upon seeing one, Isis terrorists would lay down their arms and swear to never kill again.
I'm talking about the American pika. Ochotona princeps, for those of you who like to impress others by spouting scientific names.
If you've never laid eyes upon the warmest and fuzziest creature on our planet, it may explain why you're so cranky in the mornings.
Google "pika" and check out the images, or visit pika-rich Sunrise on Mount Rainier next summer.
These micro-rabbits live in mountain rock fields, spending most of their days gathering grasses and piling mini haystacks to dry. They don't hibernate, but live under the rocks and insulating snow in the winter.
In short, pikas send the Warm-Fuzzy-Meter off the scale. To top it off, they're farmers AND vegans.
It appears that they also might be in danger of extinction as a result of a warming earth. They can't survive in temperatures above 77 degrees.
Several studies suggest that pika populations are declining, although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to protect them in 2010 under the Endangered Species Act. That's too bad, because you can't find a better icon to symbolize our climate change battle.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has stressed that creating a favorable investment climate is no less important for Ukraine than strengthening its defense sector.
"Along with the international support and the defense and security sector, the investment climate is a matter of life and death for Ukraine. Ukraine cannot and will not exist only at the expense of tranches from the IMF, the World Bank, the macro-financial assistance from the EU," he said at a meeting of the National Reforms Council in Kyiv on Tuesday.
According to the president, the international financial assistance is "a financial cushion for implementation of reforms." "Our reforms will be judged in terms of the number of direct international investments," he added.
The Ukrainian forces' positions in Donbas have been shelled by hostile armed formations 12 times since this Tuesday began, the anti-terrorist operation press center said.
In the Luhansk area, there was no shelling; eight shell attacks took place in the Mariupol area, four in the Donetsk, near the town of Avdiyivka where the enemy simultaneously used large-caliber machineguns, various grenade launchers and mortars of the 120 millimeter caliber, the press center said.
In the Mariupol area, small arms, machineguns, grenade launchers and sniper fire were used near Starohnativka and Maryinka; mortars of the 82 millimeter caliber, near Krasnohorivka and Vodiane, according to the statement.
Interfax-Ukraine to host press conference 'OJSC Zaporizhiaoblenergo's personnel on the verge of strike. Open address to President and NSDC'
On Wednesday, October 26, at 12.30, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference by the Independent Energy Workers Trade Union on the subject: "Personnel of OJSC Zaporizhiaoblenergo on the Verge of Strike. Announcing an Open Address by the Independent Trade Union of Energy Workers of Ukraine to the President of Ukraine and the National Security and Defense Council."
The participants will include Chairman of the Trade Union Valeriy Pohorely, Chairman of the Trade Union's local organization at OJSC Zaporizhiaoblenergo Mykola Bakin, acting Director General of OJSC Zaporizhiaoblenergo Yuriy Lisniak (8/5a Reitarska Street). Admission requires press accreditation.
By Choi Sung-jin
Twenty years ago Tuesday, the Korean government signed an agreement to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The nation's economic size has sharply expanded over the past two decades but the quality of life here remains at the lower end and growth has all but come to a standstill, as some experts see it.
According to the OECD and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance Monday, Korea's gross domestic product has grown 2.3 times, from $598 billion in 1996 to $1.376 trillion last year. Its per capita gross national income increased 2.1 times, from $13,077 to $27,340.
But in terms of quality of life, the nation seems to have regressed. Nothing shows this better than its suicide rate. In 1996, Korea's suicide rate was 16th among OECD members with 15.2 per 1,000 people. But the rate soared to 29.1 in 2014, by far the highest in the club of relatively rich countries.
Also, the nation spends $17,578 on public education per student, only 77 percent of the OECD's average of $22,825. On the other hand, private tutoring accounts for 2.75 percent of Korea's GDP, more than three times the OECD average of 0.91 percent.
Some private economists are concerned that Korea might have stumbled right before joining the ranks of advanced countries because of its inefficient economic structure and slowing growth. Korea's economic growth rate tumbled from second place (7.6 percent) when it joined the OECD to 13th (2.6 percent) last year. Its employment rate also has remained little changed, rising from 58.5 percent in 2000 to 60.3 percent in 2015.
"Korea's GDP growth rate fell from the yearly average of 4.25 percent from 2001-2011 to 2.75 percent thereafter," the OECD said in its recent report on the Korean economy. "The country should speed up regulatory reforms to enhance productivity and improve the dual structure of the labor market by easing discrimination between regular and non-regular workers."
This is a far cry from what Korea promised the OECD as recently as four years ago.
"The OECD's report is a compass that presents the sea route for Korea Inc.," said Bahk Jae-wan, former strategy and finance minister under President Lee Myung-bak, in April 2012 when he received a Korea report from OECD Secretary-general Angel Gurria. "Korea will try to be a model student who neatly completes the homework the OECD has assigned us."
It was praise for what most Koreans saw as the club of advanced countries and the expression of determination to become a core member by crossing the threshold to it and moving far beyond.
Korea's entry into the OECD has allowed Koreans to have a taste of what life in advanced countries is like. A case in point is the five-day workweek. When Koreans thought it was natural to work on Saturdays, they labored 2,637 hours a year, compared with 1,400-1,500 hours in most industrial countries.
The nation still has a long way to go to keep the promise Bahk made four-and-a-half years ago. Koreans' satisfaction with their quality of life still stands at 5.8 points out of 10, or 27th among the 35-member club, and far lower than the OECD average of 6.68. The time parents and children spend together a day is just 48 minutes and the total fertility rate is 1.19 -- both at rock bottom.
Some experts say Korea needs to set a new relationship on the 20th year of its joining the OECD, presenting a new development model and winning recognition from the international community.
"In 2010, Korea established a partnership with the OECD in terms of global policy renovation by presenting the new development model of green growth," said Young Soo-gil, who heads the Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN)-Korea. "By accumulating such examples, the nation will be able to develop a horizontal partnership with the OECD."
Critics of the government were harsher in assessing the two decades of membership, noting that Korea is at the bottom in most of the good rankings and at the top in bad ones. They have called for more substantive ties with the organization to rectify these problems.
Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, forefront, apologizes with the CEOs of the group's 23 main units, during a press conference at Lotte Hotel, downtown Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Retail-focused conglomerate pledges to invest 40 trillion won, expand hiring
By Lee Hyo-sik
Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin said Tuesday that the conglomerate will set up an ad-hoc committee to oversee business practices of its units to become a more transparent and socially responsible entity.
Shin said he will try again to have the shares of Lotte Hotel listed on the local bourse to improve the group's governance structure, as well as downsize the group's control tower and give more leeway to heads of each of the company's subsidiaries.
Shin also promised that Korea's fifth-largest family-controlled conglomerate will invest 40 trillion won ($35 billion) over the next five years and hire 70,000 new workers.
His remarks at a press conference at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul came days after he was indicted on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.
The Lotte chief issued an apology, adding that he will do whatever it takes to overhaul the retail- and chemical-focused business group. The CEOs of the group's 23 main affiliates were also present for the press conference.
"I am really sorry for causing grave concern to customers, business partners and Lotte employees," Shin said. "I feel responsible for Lotte being subject to the prosecution investigation. I also hold myself responsible for not being able to more actively execute all the reform measures that I previously pledged."
The chairman said he will do his best to transform Lotte into a company that conforms to social values and meets high ethical standards, adding that the group will abolish its cross-shareholding structure and establish a holding company to achieve transparent governance.
This was the second time Shin issued a public apology following one on Aug. 11, 2015, when he apologized for causing controversy over the unprecedented family feud with his older brother Dong-joo.
On Oct. 19, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office indicted Shin on charges of embezzling 175 billion won and breach of trust, concluding a four-month probe into Lotte Group. They also indicted Shin Kyuk-ho, the chairman's father and Lotte founder, and Dong-joo, on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement.
With Shin Young-ja, the chairman's sister, and Seo Mi-kyung, the founder's common-law wife, indicted on similar charges, a total of five members of the Lotte founding family will face trial.
In a bid to get the group back on track, the chairman pledged to set up a compliance committee, bringing in figures from outside the company to supervise the business practices of all subsidiaries.
"Lotte will focus more on fulfilling its corporate social responsibility and pursue socially sustainable growth as it aims to become one of Asia's top 10 business groups," Shin said. "We will pay more attention to sharing growth with our business partners and community members, instead of blindly pursuing profits."
He also pledged to downsize the group's control tower in which about 300 people have held various roles since October 2004.
"We will drastically reduce the control tower's role so that each unit is responsible for its own fate," the chairman said. "We will try again to take Lotte Hotel public and turn it into a globally competitive hotel and duty free store operator. We will also list the shares of other group units to improve our corporate governance structure."
As well as the added investments and new hires, he added that the group would make 10,000 contract workers regular employees over the next three years. He also pledged to end the ongoing family dispute over control of the group as quickly as possible.
Nam Si-kyung, left, managing director of POSCO Daewoo, stands with Prof. Hwang Seon-yeop of Seoul National University, center, and Yangling Chen, president of the SFSC International Training Center, after signing a MOU at SFSC's headquarters in Shanghai, China, Monday. / Courtesy of POSCO Daewoo
By Lee Jin-a, Park Si-soo
POSCO Daewoo has formed a partnership with Seoul National University (SNU) and Shanghai Foreign Service Company (SFSC) to export online Korean language classes and textbooks produced by SNU to China.
The nation's biggest trading company recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the two organizations. Under the deal, POSCO Daewoo will sell the online classes and textbooks for the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) in China, and SFSC will promote and market them.
TOPIK, launched in 1997, is a Korean proficiency test administered by the Ministry of Education. TOPIK scores are necessary for foreigners to study in Korea or work at Korean companies' overseas offices.
In 2015, nearly 206,000 people took the test in 70 countries, with the accumulated number of test takers surpassing 1.7 million.
"Through the deal, we created a new business model which exports intangible cultural content," a POSCO Daewoo official said. "We would like to contribute to Hallyu (the Korean Wave) by developing more educational materials and exporting them to other countries."
Korean actor Park Bo-gum frowns at local fans who tried to grope him at Mactan Cebu International Airport in the Philippines. / Courtesy of Twitter
By Hong Dam-young
Korean actor Park Bo-gum is usually depicted as someone who rarely drops a smile from his face.
But recent photos released on the Internet show him frowning at "rude" fans who tried to grope him at Mactan Cebu International Airport in the Philippines.
Park, 21, had left Seoul for Cebu on Oct. 21 with co-stars and crew from the KBS TV hit drama "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds." The vacation was a reward for the drama's high viewership, which reached 22.9 percent for its last episode on Oct. 18.
At the airport, he had to curl up his body to protect himself when overly enthusiastic fans put their hands into his clothing and touched him. Even smiley Park couldn't help but express discomfort at those who crossed the line.
The photos went viral on social media, with netizens commenting, "That's too rude, even as fans," and "He must have been really uncomfortable with those groping hands, considering his mild personality."
When the show hit the 20 percent ratings, Park and co-stars including Kim Yoo-jung held a fan event at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul on Oct. 19. About 500 people showed up.
South Korea's economy grew at a slower pace in the third quarter than three months earlier, on decreased demand and facility investments, central bank data showed Tuesday.
In the July-September period, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) increased 0.7 percent from the previous quarter, decelerating from a 0.8 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
From a year earlier, Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 2.7 percent.
The central bank data showed government spending grew 1.4 percent in the third quarter, compared with a 0.1 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier, while private spending went up 0.5 percent on-quarter, decelerating from a 1 percent on-quarter gain during the same period.
Output in the manufacturing sector posted a 1 percent negative growth in the third quarter, shifting from a 1.2 percent growth a quarter earlier.
Chung Kyu-il, director of the Economic Statistics Department at the BOK, said Samsung Electronics Co.'s decision to terminate the production of Galaxy Note 7 smartphone and the strike by Hyundai Motor Co. were mainly to blame for the contraction of the output by the manufacturing industry.
Samsung Electronics halted production of the flagship Note 7 smartphone earlier this month after some of the devices caught fire.
Unionized workers of Hyundai Motor downed tools from mid-July to late September, costing the largest South Korean carmaker about 3.1 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) in lost production, according to the company.
The central bank data also showed that facility investments fell 0.1 percent on-quarter in the July-September period, compared with a 2.8 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier.
Exports, a major pillar of growth for the South Korean economy, grew 0.8 percent from the previous quarter, while imports increased 2.4 percent.
Gross domestic income, on the other hand, went down 0.3 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, compared with a 0.2 percent decline three months earlier, the BOK said. (Yonhap)
By Choi Ha-young
The Seoul High Court upheld Tuesday a lower court ruling that acquitted a former Korean soldier of raping a female American soldier, saying sexual relations between the two did not involve a physical attack or threats.
The Korean soldier, 22, whose name was withheld, was serving as a sergeant in the Korean Augmentation Troops to the United States Army (KATUSA) in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, when he allegedly raped the U.S. soldier, 19, in December.
He was in charge of educating American soldiers new to Korea, and he and his accuser began seeing each other frequently and engaged in sexual relations from last October. However, on one occasion, while kissing at his barracks, the man told her he wanted to have sex and she refused. He then said he would not let her leave the room, and forcibly had sex with her anyway.
During sex, he asked her if it was rape, and as she said yes, he then stopped, and knelt down to apologize. She accepted his apology but later reported it as rape to the military police.
Even though the assailant partially admitted it was rape during the investigation, the lower and high courts did not recognize it as such.
"Although sexual intercourse occurred against the woman's will, she said there was no physical attack, swearing or anything threatening," the high court said. "She did not call for help or resist, but rather she undressed on her own volition," it added.
By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo
Is President Park Geun-hye a remote-controlled puppet?
Her critics stoked such speculation when an influence-peddling scandal surrounding her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil surfaced last month.
Presidential aides have called it an "absurd imagination that was hard to think of even in the feudal era." But such defensive voices seem to be cracking following cable channel JTBC's exclusive report Monday night that fired a direct salvo at President Park and her aides with what the report said was undeniable hard evidence.
According to the report: Choi has been kept informed of Park's secret decisions and public speeches through emails sent to her from the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae. The controversial emails reportedly contained nearly 200 classified presidential documents, including 44 drafts of presidential speeches. Choi is believed to have edited the speech drafts and sent them back to Cheong Wa Dae for Park to read. Choi is also believed to have interfered in the government's personnel management and other internal affairs by taking advantage of her closeness to the President.
Choi, 60, is the daughter of Park's mentor Choi Tae-min and ex-wife of Park's former secretary Chung Yun-hoi.
Many questions remain unanswered, including who helped Choi keep informed of secretive presidential affairs; whether Choi actually peddled influence with President Park, and how Choi was able to earn the power to control Park despite being an "outlier" who has never worked in the present government.
The JTBC report is believed to have laid bare the secretive ties between Choi and Park, which made it possible for Choi to control state affairs behind the scenes and disrupt the government's chain of command.
Speeches allegedly found on computer in Choi's office
According to JTBC, the 200 documents related to the presidential office, including the 44 presidential speech drafts, were saved on a computer allegedly used by Choi, which was secured by the broadcaster. The computer was found at one of Choi's offices in Seoul.
Among the speech drafts was Park's speech in the German city of Dresden, which was praised by the international community for showing her vision for the unification of the two Koreas.
Park delivered the speech on March 28. But according to the report, its draft saved in the computer was opened one day earlier.
A draft of a presidential speech is considered top secret, so the draft's existence in the computer reflects a critical loophole in the security of confidential information involving the President.
According to JTBC, the version saved on Choi's computer had red marks in some of the phrases that were later revised when the President made the speech.
The copyedited dates on the documents varied from an hour to four days, with some of the documents' final revised ID confirmed as Yoo-yeon, the former name of Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra.
Other documents included unpublished logs of Cabinet meetings and personnel reshuffle information.
The presidential office seems to be shocked by the news, but was trying to look calm.
"We are confirming the exact detail," presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk told reporters Tuesday morning, breaking the silence he had kept since the report Monday night. He did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, a Gallup Korea poll, released Friday, found that only 25 percent of respondents approved of Park's job performance -- the lowest since she took office in February 2013. Her endorsement has been declining since the scandal was reported last month.
Foreigners who sign a lease on a house and register alien certificates with the address have the same protection under the law as Korean citizens, according to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. / Korea Times file
By Lee Jin-a
Foreigners who sign a lease on a house and record the address in their certificate of alien registration have the same protection under the national housing law as Korean citizens, the Supreme Court said Tuesday.
According to the court, a U.S. permanent resident surnamed Park rented an apartment in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul, in February 2009 with a deposit of 450 million won ($396,000) and lived there with her family, who are U.S. citizens, for six years. In January 2012, her husband and children registered their alien certificates with the address of the leased apartment.
But a problem emerged when the landlord took out a loan from MG Community Credit Cooperatives using the apartment as security. He borrowed 494 million won in 2010 and 1.2 billion won in 2012 but did not repay his debt.
In January 2013, the apartment was auctioned and sold for over 1.3 billion won. The court said Park could not get any of her deposit back, while the bank took about 98 percent of the money and two other creditors the rest.
Park filed a suit against the bank claiming she should get her money back before the lender. According to Korean law, if a renter has registered his or her residency with the address of the leased apartment, they have a right to be reimbursed before other creditors. But there was no indication that foreigners had the same right with alien registration certificates.
In the first trial, the court said Park had a right to be reimbursed first as she had reported her temporary place of residence in Korea with the address of the leased apartment. But at the second trial, the court overruled the verdict, saying having alien registration certificates and reporting the temporary place of residence are not equally effective as registering residency.
Reversing that verdict, the Supreme Court said Park should be reimbursed first because alien registration and reporting the temporary place of residence have the same effect as residence registration.
"We have decided to consider alien registration as equally effective as residence registration because we want to protect foreigners who are not able to register residency in Korea under the law," the Supreme Court said.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, seventh from left in the first row, stands with members of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council during a meeting at Seoul City Hall last year. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
By Kim Se-jeong
For the last 15 years, 25 internationally renowned global business leaders have gathered in Seoul every year to propose policy recommendations to the Seoul Metropolitan Government addressing problems facing the capital.
Issues that the Seoul International Business Advisory Council (SIBAC) members have touched upon vary, from boosting the tourism industry to dealing with the fast-aging population and making Seoul attractive to foreign investors.
Most of the recommendations were well received.
According to the city government, out of 279 recommendations, 239 have found their way into the city's policies.
Seoul Bio Hub is the most recent example.
It was a recommendation two years ago from Dominic Barton, managing director of McKinsey & Company and chairman of SIBAC. He said that facing the fast-growing population, the city government should look closer into biotechnology.
The bio hub will be a cluster of biotechnology research institutes, private companies and hospitals in northeastern Seoul, scheduled to open next June. Everything from basic research to manufacturing will take place there.
Taking in a recommendation by Roland Busch, a member of Siemens' managing board, who highlighted education for the elderly, the city poured in extra funds to expand senior education services, opening Dosim 50 Plus Center which helps senior citizens find jobs or engage in other activities.
A recommendation by Marco Tronchetti, the CEO at Pirellie & C. S.p.A., highlighted integration and innovation, which led to Seoul Innovation Park in northwestern Seoul. The park supports new startups and social companies.
In 2014, Antoine Frerot, the CEO of Veolia Environment in France, recommended that the city government take full advantage of its strong IT infrastructure in solving issues related to aging. Based on that, the city started providing the elderly with computer education.
This year's SIBAC meeting will take place on Thursday and Friday in Seoul.
Under the theme of "Attracting Global Trend R&D and Creative Industry," the 25 participating members are expected to share their views and policy recommendations.
"The number of foreigners who are looking for job opportunities and who want to start their own businesses is increasing," Mayor Park Won-soon said. "SIBAC's recommendations will help the city government attract talented people and make the city more attractive to do business."
SIBAC is an advisory committee organized to give the city government policy recommendations on various issues, such as business, urban infrastructure and culture.
Members are mostly high-profile business leaders, such as Forbes Publishing Company Vice President Christopher Forbes, AIG Global Consumer Insurance CEO Kevin Hogan and Sanjeev Gandhi, a member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF responsible for the China and Asia-Pacific region.
The morning session on Friday will be open to anyone interested. For more information, visit economy.seoul.go.kr/archives/74123.
By Kim Hyo-jin
A group of lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party called for a National Assembly audit or an investigation by an independent counsel, Tuesday, into power abuse allegations swirling around Choi Soon-sil, a longtime confidant of President Park Geun-hye.
The move came after broadcaster JTBC reported Monday that Choi had access to presidential speeches before they were delivered to the public, aggravating the already worsening public sentiment following a series of influence-peddling allegations.
The call coming from Saenuri Party members was viewed as distancing the ruling party from Cheong Wa Dae amid concerns of a possible backlash ahead of the presidential election next year, according to pundits.
"Choi Soon-sil gate is a betrayal of politics and contempt for the country's democracy," Rep. Kim Yong-tae said in a press conference. "We need to appoint an independent counsel, leaving no sanctuary from the investigation."
The call was echoed by fellow lawmaker Ha Tae-keung. "A regular probe by the prosecution cannot handle the situation now that we have physical evidence that central figures in the presidential office are possibly connected to Choi," Ha said.
Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil, a potential presidential candidate for the ruling party, added his voice, calling for an Assembly investigation.
"We should not seek a defensive stance. We need to put our utmost efforts into getting to the bottom of the allegations and bring those at fault to justice. Here, the President is no exception," he said in a Facebook post.
Distancing itself from a previous cautious attitude, the party leadership also directed its criticism at Park, joining lawmakers from an intra-party faction not aligned with the President.
"With media reports (about Choi's power abuse) continuing, I, as a member of the ruling party's leadership, am deeply sorry," said floor leader Chung Jin-suk.
Chung called on the prosecution to conduct a thorough investigation of Choi, and for it to track down her whereabouts as soon as possible.
Prosecutors launched an investigation last week into two foundations accused of been used as fundraising vehicles by Choi. But they remain unable to question Choi as her whereabouts are still unclear.
"If the investigation is viewed as insufficient, the party will consider all possible additional measures," Chung added.
JTBC reported Monday that it gained access to Choi's personal computer, which she asked a concierge in her office building to dispose of, and found that 44 copies of Park's speeches had been stored before the dates of their actual delivery. It also found that changes were made on the original copies, raising suspicions that Choi gave the President her own suggestions for the speeches.
The law on the management of presidential records bans all unauthorized access. According to lawyers, those who access them without permission could be brought up on criminal charges with up to a seven-year prison term and a 20 million won fine. Those who receive the records or order access can be charged as an accomplice or abettor.
"The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story" written by Lee Hyeon-seo
By John Redmond
The British Chamber of Commerce in Korea (BCCK) will host a talk by North Korean defector Lee Hyeon-seo at Aston Hall in the British Embassy in Seoul, Oct. 27.
The event will be moderated by the Wall Street Journal's Korea Bureau Chief Alastair Gale. It is part of the BCCK's new "Interview Night" series, which features interesting speakers on a range of important Korea-related topics.
Lee is known for her book, "The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story," which recounts her life and escape from North Korea and made the New York Times Best Sellers list in August 2016.
"Over 8 million people have viewed her TED Talk (including the cross-posting on YouTube) about her life in North Korea, her escape to China and struggle to bring her family to freedom. Oprah called it the most riveting TED Talk ever,'" the event organizer said in a press release.
The author has also given testimony on human rights in North Korea in front of a special panel of the U.N. Security Council in 2014 and at the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women in 2016.
Along with questions posed by Gale, Lee will focus on her life story and escape from North Korea, including her life in North Korea, the story of her family and why she decided to leave.
Lee will also speak about her experience in China after leaving North Korea, including how she had to adapt to a foreign culture to survive and the plight of North Korean defectors in China.
The author will also comment on life in South Korea after leaving China, including her rise to fame as one of the few North Korean defectors to speak out against the North Korean government.
The event is from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and costs 40,000 won for BCCK members, 45,000 won for nonmembers. A light dinner buffet will be available for attendees. The talk will be followed by an audience Q&A.
Kia Motors Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Management Team Choi Chang-mook, center, poses with around 200 locals during a completion ceremony of a middle school in the Ethiopian city of Gwanghwa,
on Sept. 2. / Courtesy of Kia Motors
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea's carmaker duo, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, have carried out a series of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in Africa as a part of efforts to pave inroads into the region, considering it as an alternative market for the future.
Facing a slowdown in global sales due to market saturation in existing markets, domestic carmakers as well as foreign car brands understand the continent as the next untapped market that has yet to be explored. And the nation's largest carmaker and its sister brand believe CSR activities are the best approach in the world's fastest-growing economy.
Africa perspectives
Business researcher McKinsey Global Institute described African economies as "lions on the move" in the 2010-2015 period, and they are "still moving forward" despite the collapse of global commodity prices and political shocks that have slowed growth in North Africa.
"Africa is expected to have the world's largest working-age population of 1.1 billion by 2034. In recent times, it has also had some success in creating jobs 21 million new stable, formal and wage-paying jobs over the past five years and 53 million over the past 15 years," it said.
Sirasingja, one of the first graduating students of the Green Light School in Lilongwe, receives a diploma
from Malawi's education ministry senior inspector Mr. Katona, Aug. 8. / Courtesy of Kia Motors
African Development Bank (AfDB) also paid attention to the resulting purchasing power in Africa.
"The number of middle-class Africans has tripled over the last 30 years to 313 million people, or more than 34% of the continent's population," AfDB report said.
"The reasons for the increase in size and purchasing power of the African middle class include strong economic growth, and a move towards a stable, salaried job culture and away from traditional agricultural activities."
CSR Activities
Hyundai Motor and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) jointly opened the Hyundai-KOICA Dream Center in March 2013.
The world's fifth-largest carmaker built the three-year education technical high school, the first of its kind in Africa, in a bid to help resolve education inequality and create future jobs for youths.
Likewise, Kia Motors has also carried out another CSR project, the Green Light Project, since 2012, to help the needy in various places in Africa.
In July, a total of 25 Kia Motors employees left their jobs behind in order to participate in 10 days of volunteer services in Salima and Lilongwe in Malawi under the project.
They carried out various education programs, including education infrastructure improvement, opening pop-up and home-visit classes and building various social amenities like libraries and improving the housing environment.
They also held the first graduation ceremony for the Green Light school education program with a total of 100 local residents in Lilongwe during their visit.
Then in September, Kia Motors built a middle school in Ethiopia as a part of its CSR activities under the program.
It is the fifth of its kind the carmaker has built in Africa, and the school is located about 400 kilometers from the capital city of Addis Ababa in an area where most local people engage in agricultural activities.
Along with the middle school, Kia Motors also provided a school bus for student living far away as well as one pick-up truck for local residents. The carmaker also promised to support the area for the next five years to help them get on their own feet financially.
"The CSR activities in Africa are a part of our mission to introduce better opportunities for their lives under the motto of We are Family in the Global Village," an official said.
"We will continue our footsteps in CSR operations to expand our project into other parts of the worlds."
According to a Kia Motors official, it is carrying out the Green Light Project at nine areas in six countries Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda and Ethiopia. The carmaker has opened a total of five schools, two public health centers and two auto mechanic training centers there.
Sales operation
The Korean carmaking duo's sales performance peaked in 2012 with a total of 260,000 cars sold but since declined for three years 245,000 cars in 2013, 238,000 in 2014 and 207,000 in 2015.
According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), likewise, Africa's car market volume has also declined to 1.03 million cars from 1.25 million during the 2012-2014 period, contrary to the rosy reports on the region's economic development.
However, an official said that the market is still important considering its future purchasing power.
"I believe the downturn in Africa's car market was temporary because of the political conversion of the Jasmine Revolution in the northern part," he said.
"If political disturbance settles down and moral democratic regimes take positions in the region, Africa's car market will be even more lucrative where Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors would expect huge sales performance with their affordability and performance."
Hyundai Motor's i10 and Accent sedan are the bestselling models in the carmaker's lineup while Kia Motors' Pride small-size sedan and Sportage SUV are its most popular.
There are currently 42 Hyundai Motor and 44 Kia Motors dealerships in Africa.
LG Electronics Vice President Lee Chung-hak, second from right, takes a look at an artificial limb with medical staff at Kikuyu Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, in this February 2016 file photo. The company has been running a prosthetic limb donation project there for ten years since 2006. / Courtesy of LG Electronics
By Lee Min-hyung
LG Electronics is enlarging its footprint in Africa, as part of its aggressive bid to find its next revenue sources amid market saturation in Asia's economic powerhouses, China and India.
Most multinational technology companies here and abroad have yet to tap deeper into this lucrative new growth area, due to its relatively weak investment climate and poor technology infrastructure. But with the world's second most populous continent growing at a rapid pace with the rise of its middle class and their growing purchasing power, some of the world's tech giants, including LG, are turning their eyes on the relatively untapped yet lucrative continent.
Sub-Saharan Africa is especially perceived as the world's fastest-growing market. Global market researcher Euromonitor forecasts consumer spending there to exceed some $1 trillion (113.4 trillion won) in 2020. Since 2000, Africa has grown rapidly at an annual rate of four percent in customer spending.
Understanding the importance of the lucrative market, LG Electronics is one of the first companies to move there, holding a series of aggressive marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns. In particular, the company has two production corporations and seven sales corporations in the Republic of South Africa.
As a result of its expansion strategy in the nation, its sales in the Middle East and Africa increased by 10 percent in 2015, compared with that in 2013, the company said.
World Vision Kenya director Catherine Omenda, second from left, poses with LG Electronics' Kenya branch officials after the company donated solar powered refrigerators to help local health centers store vaccines at the proper temperature. / Courtesy of LG Electronics
Localization strategy
The company is seeking to differentiate itself from its rivals by adopting a specific localization policy in Africa.
LG considers the weak technology infrastructure in Arica as a big opportunity to introduce more localized products by taking advantage of its technological expertise.
The company especially developed "Battery TV Plus," seeing that some parts of the continent are suffering from unstable power supplies. The device ensures that users can enjoy watching TV even after the electricity is interrupted. The company said a long-lasting battery, equipped in the TV, gives a 90-minute backup, allowing users to continue to enjoy TV without having to seek alternative power sources as generators.
The company also developed a localized refrigerator that can operate for up to seven hours even in a power outage. LG said the device was designed to reflect the continent's scorching heat and weak power infrastructure.
An inverter air-conditioner is another energy-friendly device which the firm believes will become a big hit in the African continent, as its industry-leading inverter technology can help maintain a comfortable temperature in a more energy-efficient way.
Another noteworthy localized product includes an air-conditioner that will deter deadly mosquitoes known to spread parasites causing malaria. The device uses ultrasonic waves of frequencies between 30 Kilohertz (kHz) to 100 kHz known as the best bandwidth to deter mosquitoes, according to the company.
LG also introduced a dual woofer audio highlighting low-pitched sounds to satisfy its African customers' appetites for music.
To guarantee a more customer-friendly warranty service, the company is running its Care & Delight home warranty program for its products in Africa, with LG employees visiting customers upon their service request.
CSR
The company aims to leave a good impression on the African continent by starting a series of CRS campaigns.
In particular, LG has been running a prosthetic limb donation project in Kenya for ten consecutive years. More than 700 patients there, suffering from the aftermath of a civil war and terrorist attacks, have been given the artificial limbs.
The company has also spared no effort in helping the poor and elderly by donating solar powered refrigerators for local health centers to store vaccines at the proper temperature.
Under the partnership with World Vision Kenya, the company has donated five solar powered refrigerators to major healthcare facilities there. So far, twenty refrigerators have been offered to such countries as the Republic of South Sudan and Tanzania.
As part of its bid to help better educate children in Africa, the company also provides school supplies for free for some schools in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Kibera is one of the largest urban slums in the world.
The company has also been renowned for its contribution to put an end to the spread of cholera in Ethiopia since 2010. By teaming up with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), LG has been running a joint vaccination campaign to help protect local residents from the infectious diarrheal disease, as part of its group-wide efforts to resolve disease and poverty issues across the world.
The company said the LG-IVI joint project is a large-scale healthcare initiative conducted through partnerships with groups of medical manpower and institutions across the world.
Finance and Strategy Minister Yoo Il-ho delivers opening remarks at the 2016 Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Ministerial Conference held at the Grand InterContinental Hotel in southern Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap
KOAFEC meeting boosts bilateral partnership
By Kim Tae-gyu
Korea plans to offer $5 billion for 61 projects in Africa over the next two years, the country made the agreement Tuesday at the 2016 Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Ministerial Conference.
In a joint statement, the two sides selected major areas of cooperation such as agricultural revolution and energy development. Toward that end, a $10 billion package will be created in four years and half of them will be channeled in the first two years.
Specifically, an agricultural-industrial complex will be built in Ethiopia and litigation infrastructure will be placed in Kenya. Also included is development of a power grid in Tanzania and energy infrastructure financing in Egypt and Botswana.
Toward that end, officials of 41 African countries and major African regional institutes convened in Seoul, also as part of efforts to elevate partnership between the potential-rich continent and Korea.
This marks the fifth edition of the biennial KOAFEC meeting, which was set up in 2006 through multilateral efforts involving Korea's Finance and Strategy Ministry and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The 2016 meet-up theme is "transforming Africa's agriculture through industrialization and inclusive finance."
"We will capitalize on all means available to boost collaboration with Africa like KOAFEC funds, knowledge-sharing programs and economic cooperation development fund (ECDF)," Finance and Strategy Minister Yoo Il-ho said.
ECDF is Korea's representative aid fund, which has helped a flurry of emerging economies to expand their infrastructure and accelerate development since its foundation in 1987.
The knowledge sharing program was launched in 2004 to provide experiences and expertise of Korea, which has chalked up exponential growth during the past few decades.
High-fives
Yoo said that Korea would underpin the five priorities of the AfDB, which was drawn up as part of Africa's 10-year transformative agenda when its President Akinwumi Adesina inaugurated a year ago.
Included in the five areas, dubbed the "high-fives," are to light up and power Africa, feed Africa, integrate Africa, industrialize Africa and improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.
Under the ambitious scheme, the AfDB strives to galvanize development of the continent so as to reduce poverty and improve people's livelihood.
"Korea will proactively take part in several projects, which would take place in line with the high-five' initiatives," said Yoo who doubles as deputy prime minister. "The $10 billion package created in this year's meeting would also cover them."
The $10 billion package would be forged for the following four years through a variety of channels including the knowledge-sharing programs and EDCF.
Enhanced partnership
Yoo noted that the 2016 KOAFEC gathering where 300-plus representatives including 20 chief executives of private companies took part will further strengthen teamwork of Korea and Africa.
"Korea and Africa has advanced hand in hand to achieve practical economic development and secure the joint growth platform. Over the next 10 years, our partnership will improve to an unprecedented level," he said. "Let's move together for forward-looking alliance of Korea and Africa."
His remarks are in tandem with those he delivered at the opening dinner of the event held at Grand InterContinental Hotel in southern Seoul, Monday.
"We need to clearly remind ourselves that Africa is the continent of unmatched potential and ample opportunities. Its young population, abundant natural resources and enhanced private sector competitiveness can be a big push for Africa's economy in the near future," he said.
"All of us are here to be better partners for each other just like a gathering of individual trees make a beautiful and dense forest. I believe that the three-day KOAFEC Conference will provide us with a great opportunity to deepen our friendship."
The KOAFEC, which was established in 2006, has played a pivotal role in beefing up the partnership between Korea and African countries as amply demonstrated by elevated bilateral cooperation.
In the past decade, Korea's Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Africa jumped six times while its direct investments in the continent also rocketed seven times.
As a result, the ODA to Africa amounted to $332.7 million as of 2014, carving out around a fourth of the country's total contributions.
In addition, Korea's cross-border transactions with African countries stood at $18.2 billion in 2015 while the former's investment in the latter was $146 million in the same year.
New Zealand Ambassador to Seoul Clare Fearnley, center, speaks during a breakfast talk sponsored by the Kwanhun Club at the Press Center, Tuesday. The panelists, from left, are Segye Times international department editor Cho Nam-kyu, Korea Times chief editorial writer Oh Young-jin, KBS digital news department chief Lee Kang-duk and YTN deputy managing editor Lee Dong-won. / Courtesy of Kwanhun Club
By Oh Young-jin
China often serves as the whipping boy for anything going wrong with North Korea.
South Korea and the United States blame China for not being cooperative enough to give teeth to the international sanctions on Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile programs. Others say that it is a troublemaking bully trying to bump the U.S. in a fight for hegemony.
But New Zealand Ambassador to Seoul Clare Fearnley projected a more positive view of Beijing, saying that it shares the same goals as other regional players in the peaceful resolution of the North Korean problem.
"I take what China says at face value," Fearnley told a breakfast panel discussion sponsored by the Kwanhun Club, a fraternity of reporters, at the Korea Press Center, Tuesday. "China says that it wants peaceful management and the resolution (of the North Korean challenge) through dialogue."
Calling Beijing the beneficiary of Pax Pacificana a peaceful era in the region she said, "Without peace and stability, no prosperity is possible and that should be part of their calculation."
Regarding conflicting views on China's stance, she was generous attributing it to "different interpretations" that depend on the different interests of the parties involved.
Fearnley is a China expert, having studied in China and served as consul general in Shanghai. She has served in various positions in New Zealand's foreign ministry dealing with Asia affairs.
Asked whether the current "sanctions-only" policy toward the North is viable since it appears only to have hardened the North's stance, she pointed out the many years taken to bring Iran to the negotiating table and more years to reach an agreement on the freezing of its nuclear program.
She acknowledged that with the North, things are moving more quickly with the advanced stage of development of its weapons of mass destruction but suggested that it was part of efforts to start "meaningful discussion."
She also objected to seeing the changing dynamic between China and the United States only through the context of competition. Noting that China has grown to be the biggest trading partner to an increasing number of countries, she pointed out its cooperation highlighted by the agreement in Paris to fight climate change.
On the bilateral front, the ambassador said that the New Zealand-Korea free trade agreement has produced lopsided benefits in Seoul's favor a 25 percent increase in Seoul's shipments to New Zealand and 3 percent rise the other way around.
The Korean wave or hallyu food, drama and K-pop is also popular in New Zealand.
"I went back to New Zealand recently to see five different kinds of kimchi available in a small town supermarket," she said. "Two years ago, when I came to Korea, there were none."
She was amazed by the cultural contagion, saying that some young people in New Zealand have taught themselves Korean to understand dramas and pop songs.
By Ku Yae-rin
After the first World War, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson went forth with his grand vision of a new world order based on liberal principles, which led to ratifying trade and military treaties with other countries and inadvertently creating opportunities for weaker countries to grow rapidly even so far as to begin questioning the American-led world order. Since then, the distribution of wealth has gradually become more unequal, and as more people become enlightened and exposed to income disparity, their resentment towards the current global system creates more augments.
Although there has been tremendous progress on poverty reduction and improved human development overall due to smarter government spending, such progress also allows for people to question whether the current system is the best there can be. Especially since developing countries' populations are projected to increase in the coming years, whereas developed countries are already feeling burdened by the lack of young workforces, the rise of a new hegemonic state seems likely. China will now jump at the first opportunity to replace the United States as the new hegemonic power, and despite becoming a member of various international organizations, mostly to take advantage of the open market, the country now feels the need to stretch further to meet the expectations of its own people.
Realizing the potential threat from China, the United States set out to forge mega treaty deals among certain countries through TPP and TTIP. While the United States' lethargic output has left the country with few options besides firmly holding onto its current position in the world and strengthening its influence in Asia, China now has relatively more cards on the table to choose from as countries have economic, environmental, territorial and historic links with China. Whether countries like it or not, China is a necessary counterpart to tackle regional and global problems. The reason the United States seems "less inclined to consider offensive action and more concerned with defending the existing balance of power from threats by their more powerful opponents" is because it "perceives costs of taking the offensive too high and do not justify the expected benefits" according to Mearsheimer.
The existence of nuclear weapons has changed the whole dynamic of the world order as well, and the likelihood of a major war between China and the United States has decreased substantially. Still, weapons are consistently developed and deployed in these countries as a form of deterrence. As Immanuel Kant said, a hegemon will always hope for a stable world where there is absolutely not even the slightest potential threat of a new rising state. For quite some time the United States has been that hegemon, and as long as it is unwilling to relinquish its hold over Asia, China will vie for power in the region.
Historically, China has been the regional hegemon in Asia, and due to its deep historical roots, the Chinese people highly value nationalism and community, which contrasts with Americans values emphasizing individualism. Thus, it is unlikely that China will back down in the contest for regional power without a fight. China has now returned to power and is referred to as one of the G2 nations along with the United States. Should China seize this chance and wisely take advantage of capitalism and free trade that the world has to offer, institutions that are both alike and different from that of the status quo will be born and headed by countries that side with China.
Ku Yae-rin is a student at Kyung Hee University majoring in international relations. Write to realyepuda@hotmail.com.
By Choi Sung-jin
"What a bad president! How can he think of only elections when most people are reeling from economic hardships?"
So said then opposition leader Park Geun-hye in January 2007 when former President Roh Moo-hyun proposed to revise the Constitution, from the present five-year single-term presidency to a four-year two-term system, like the United States.
In her speech at the National Assembly, Monday, President Park did exactly the same thing for which she lambasted the late leader nearly a decade ago, albeit she stopped short of elaborating on how.
Granted, politicians are the types who regard other people's affairs as adultery and their own as love stories. Moreover, about two-thirds of lawmakers and a similar percentage of the public think the Constitution, last revised in 1987 mainly to prevent the long-term seizure of power by one person, needs another amendment, if opinion polls are right.
Yet Park should be the last one to raise the issue for more than a few reasons.
Above all, it was the President herself who opposed even the discussion of the constitutional revision, saying it would absorb all other important issues, including economic recovery and national security, like a "black hole," since she took office almost four years ago. Why now, then? As Moon Jae-in, Park's opponent in the 2012 election, put it, the chief executive seems to need the "black hole" direly to divert public attention from her ugly scandal.
Park's five predecessors under the present Constitution have taken the same path turning into a lame duck toward the latter years of their tenures because of corruption scandals involving their children, relatives or close aides. Koreans thought the unmarried president would be free from such ignominy, but Park has some long-term friends with ties that are reportedly "thicker than blood." One such friend is a woman named Choi Soon-sil, 60, who has been at the side of Park in good times and bad for the past four decades.
Choi, suspected of using her relationship with the President to twist the arms of businesses to donate up to 80 billion won ($71 million) to two foundations she was believed to control, allegedly forced the nation's most prestigious women's university to bend the rules to extend preferential treatment to her daughter, and even copyedit presidential speeches. Not only Park's political opponents but most media outlets, even conservative ones, have called for the President to stop defending Choi and her coterie and let them be judged by the law. The chief executive denied any involvement or even knowledge of it, though.
All Park did was to call for an investigation into the "diversion of the funds," not how and why Choi collected the money in the first place, sending a virtual guideline, as she has done so many times, to politicized prosecutors. Park did not even mention a word about the scandal during her parliamentary address, surprising few but disappointing most Koreans. Since the establishment of the South Korean government in 1948, there have been 10 constitutional revisions, all of which, except the last one, were aimed at prolonging the dictatorial rule. If successful, the 11th one, which people may nickname the "Choi Soon-sil revision," will likely follow the example of the first nine.
According to reports, Cheong Wa Dae and the governing Saenuri Party want to change the governance structure into the "semi-presidential system," like that of France, in which the president conducts foreign policy and the prime minister takes care of domestic affairs, diluting the "imperial power" of the president. That may be a tempting idea for the conservative camp, which sees little chance of remaining in power after nearly nine years of misrule in almost all aspects of economy, diplomacy and democracy. If the duo of retiring U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a would-be premier from the pro-Park faction makes it, the incumbent leader will be able to exert considerable influence even after she leaves Cheong Wa Dae.
That must end up as little more than wishful thinking, though.
Park and her followers want to finish the entire process in the next 16 months at the latest and under the President's own initiative. Not only her political opponents but even some presidential hopefuls within the ruling party and a majority of people will not allow her to do so. Nor should they.
Whenever the issue of constitutional revision emerges, I can't help but think which is more important the system or the people who operate it?
We Koreans have flattered ourselves for democratizing and industrializing the nation in just one generation. What's going on in this society now tells otherwise. Yes, political power changes hands every five years but that's almost all we have. We cannot have what Britain, France and America have struggled to attain over 200 years in just 70 years, let alone 30.
As long as political leaders and the establishment remain unchanged, the four-year two-term presidency will only extend the dogmatic rule by three years, the parliamentary government system will lead to more frequent changes of power than in Japan and the semi-presidential system will cause conflicts between the president and prime minister.
In Korea, most institutions ranging from political leaders and law enforcement authorities to the bureaucracy and even academic institutions are not abiding by the most basic rules in pursuit of only power and money. Even common sense is hard to find among them, let alone the fundamental democratic values of freedom, equality and fraternity. Revising the nation's constitutional law must start by reviving these spirits and reexamining the meaning of equal opportunities, fair competition and the rule of law.
The constitutional revision should not be a hasty change of power structure but a years-long process starting with the review of people's basic rights. It should begin in the early years of a new president, not in the later years of the outgoing one.
President Park's job is to clear up the mess she has made in the economy and national security. If Park sticks to the politically motivated process, she will become not only a really bad president but a never-forgiven one.
Choi Sung-jin is The Korea Times' senior writer. Contact him at choisj@ktimes.com.
By Anne-Marie Slaughter, Elizabeth Weingarten
WASHINGTON, DC Erin Saltman saw a disturbing trend. For months, the senior counter-extremism researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue had obsessively tracked the profiles of more than 130 Western women who had joined the Islamic State (ISIS). Saltman and her team noticed that instead of journeying through Turkey to reach ISIS headquarters in Syria, the women were heading straight to Libya. Because women's roles within ISIS are related mostly to reproduction and consolidating territory, Saltman was able to deduce the reason: "ISIS wasn't just looking to have combat forces in Libya, but also to build statehood there," she explained. "We flagged and highlighted that before security forces were aware of it."
To Saltman, investing time and money to think about the differences between men's and women's movement in ISIS wasn't "about gender equality. It was about having a better grasp on the security issues at hand."
It's a radical idea. Considering the divergent ways men and women might act, think, or respond is not just ticking a politically correct box. It can actually help us craft better policy and identify emerging threats.
Yet many policymakers in the United States and around the world still don't seem able to grasp that examining the behavior of women and men alike can improve their
analysis and their proposed measures.
New America recently conducted unprecedented research to find out whether and how, after nearly two decades of research, data, and advocacy has crystallized
the crucial linkage between gender and national security, U.S. officials consider it when formulating policy.
The short answer is: they mostly don't. Gender blind vs. gender specific That's akin to a nearsighted person choosing to forgo glasses when surveying a new landscape. Ignoring the impact that gender differences have on policy effectiveness
is reckless and risky. Many countries, including the U.S., pay lip service. Nearly 80 countries have adopted a National Action Plan to implement United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1325, which sets forth a blueprint for engaging women in all aspects of security policy. But action plans have not translated into active consideration of the gender-differentiated effects of policies.
According to our research, policymakers think they are overcoming their gender blind spot because more women are sitting around the table. Including more women on decision-making teams, it is assumed, will automatically integrate gender considerations into policy.
That assumption has yet to be proved. Quite the contrary. Consider Germany's refugee and immigration policies. Although Germany has a National Action Plan, is 11th on the Global Gender Gap Index (which ranks countries on levels of gender equality), and has a strong female chancellor and its first-ever female defense minister, it still failed at first to consider how its policy might have different effects on men and women.
For example, most government refugee shelters didn't provide gender-exclusive toilets and showers, a disaster for women from conservative Islamic backgrounds. Likewise, the intensive language program the government required for migrants didn't account for women's inability to attend class without childcare. Ultimately, such failures made those policies less effective for the entire population, and could lead to long-term security consequences for Germany.
Our interviews also suggest that some policymakers still regard gender- blindness positively: not thinking about the possible gender-specific effects of policies, they believe, contributes to an atmosphere of greater gender equality. But decades of research have shown that inclusion and equality should not mean ignoring differences between underrepresented groups. "The consequence of policy is often the same for men and women," one respondent told our research partners
at POLITICO Focus. "Hearing myself say that gives me pause. I have no idea what that conclusion is actually based on am I just regurgitating the company line?"
In fact, the consequence of policy often isn't the same for men and women, in part because they tend to have unequal access to opportunities and resources. But policymakers often claim an absence of data about different impacts, particularly data that can be mapped onto national security objectives.
"It's difficult to break things down by gender impact," one person said. "Human rights and aid organizations are better at this; our [national security] tools aren't that granular. And oftentimes, you're measuring success anecdotally when it comes to things like gender and education data."
But plenty of research cements the gender and security connection. Data2X, WomanStats, and Inclusive Security are just a few of the many organizations that have made it their mission to gather in global databases this kind of gender-differentiated data and research, providing irrefutable and empirical proof that women's status is inextricably linked to state power, stability, corruption, prosperity, and many other indicators.
In other words, weak, unstable, corrupt, and poor states are states where women's status is low. Most policymakers would draw the conclusion that strengthening and cleaning up government and promoting economic growth will improve the status of women. But what if the causal arrows run in the opposite direction?
Unlike our policymakers, ISIS is not waiting for more data. It actively exploits gender inequality to aid recruitment and operations. In societies where women are treated like second-class citizens, ISIS has an easier time recruiting women with its quasi-female empowerment propaganda, like one image that shows a woman clad in a burqa with the words "Covered girl...because I'm worth it." Once
women have committed, they may be able to avoid suspicion and pass through security checkpoints more easily; security officials and policymakers still overwhelmingly view women exclusively as non-threatening victims of violent conflicts.
International policymakers need to think about gender, too, in the fight against ISIS and across all other national-security and foreign-policy contexts. It is certainly important to have women at the table. But it is equally important that all policymakers discuss the women who aren't there and never will be.
Anne-Marie Slaughter is president and CEO of New America. Elizabeth Weingarten is the director of the Global Gender Parity initiative, a project of the Better Life Lab, where she is also a senior fellow. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate.
The railway strike is nearing one month, having already broken the longest walkout record last week. But the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) and its labor union have yet to find even a clue to an agreement, while passengers feel greater inconvenience and cargo transport faces increasing disruptions. Most worrisome is that concerns about big accidents are rising as the protracted strike prompts replacement workers to feel more fatigued.
Union rail workers went on strike on Sept. 27 in protest of the government's plan to expand a performance-based salary system. Union members in the public and finance sectors have already ended their walkout after going on strike for the same reason. Given that many companies private and public alike are already implementing the merit-based system and state corporations are often criticized for lacking competition, it's doubtful the public sympathizes with the rail workers' strike.
The state-run railroad company also deserves blame for sticking to its hard-line stance without having dialogue with the union over the key bone of contention. The government, for its part, is sitting on its hands, only reiterating its desire for an end to the ongoing strike.
While labor and management have conflicting arguments concerning the legitimacy of the walkout, there have been growing concerns that the prolonged strike might lead to calamity. In fact, there have been three safety accidents in the Seoul metropolitan area over the past week as trains operated by replacement engineers stopped suddenly.
The string of accidents may be blamed on malfunctioning engines. In most cases, however, the accidents were caused by the replacement engineers who were deployed to replace the striking workers without proper training. Not surprisingly, the replacement engineers mostly soldiers and retirees are less skillful in running the trains and respond poorly to emergencies. The shortage in the workforce also makes it hard for trains to receive proper maintenance.
The prolonged railway strike has also caused major disruptions in cargo transport. While the overall operation rate of KORAIL trains remains above 80 percent, that of freight cars has fallen to 45 percent. So the state railway operator is hitting a snag in transporting cement and other cargo.
The biggest problem is that it's difficult to forecast when the ongoing walkout would end because labor and management are poles apart over the merit-based wage system.
Against this backdrop, the most important thing is to ensure safety even as the strike continues. KORAIL needs to consider giving replacement workers enough time to rest by lengthening the interval between trains despite greater inconvenience to citizens.
President's words have lost all credibility
Allegations have been exploding in recent weeks about the undue influence of President Park Geun-hye's longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil. The most hideous of them is that this middle-aged woman who holds no official title in Cheong Wa Dae routinely received advanced copies of Park's speeches, according to a recent report by JTBC, citing details found on a discarded computer allegedly used by Choi.
JTBC reported that 44 transcripts were sent to Choi by a Cheong Wa Dae aide that included some of Park's signature speeches, such as her 2014 Dresden Declaration on unification, and remarks during Cabinet meetings and other important Cheong Wa Dae gatherings, as well as her presidential campaign statements. Choi is said to have not only received advance copies but also edited them. It would not have been possible for any of these things to have happened without the knowledge of Cheong Wa Dae staff and the President herself.
The report refutes an earlier explanation by Park's chief of staff Lee Won-jong during a National Assembly hearing only last week that an outsider meddling with presidential speeches is out of the question, underlining that there was no room for an individual to intervene under the current system of drafting presidential speeches.
A presidential speech has a specific purpose to deliver the vision, philosophy and goals of a head of state not only to his or her people, but also to the outside world. In particular, the speech of a South Korean president on issues such as unification receives global attention. Therefore, there is no question that all presidential speeches should be carefully researched, measured, and delivered with the utmost sincerity. Now many people are beginning to understand why Park, who is not known for her communication skills, has often proved to be an unimpressive speaker, faltering at various public speaking occasions with the wrong information or unusual wording.
It is against security laws, not to mention common sense, for someone like Choi, with no official status, to see and edit what President Park says in public before it is delivered.
Choi's meddling with Park's speeches has thrown the nation into shock and utter disbelief. The JTBC report is more than enough for people to feel a huge sense of betrayal from the President. From the people's point of view, it is absolutely unacceptable that their President has let a corrupt figure like Choi toy with state affairs. The ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Lee Jung-hyun further fueled public rage Tuesday by making inappropriate remarks that were seen as supporting the President, saying he also asks friends and other acquaintances to review texts before speaking publicly. The public sentiment toward the President has become so negative that on the day of the JTBC report, many angry netizens were looking up terms such as impeachment on major search engines.
The President offered a rare public apology Tuesday, saying that Choi is a personal friend who has helped her reflect public opinion in her speeches before she became President. This explanation does not satisfy the people's call for the full truth. She should provide a proper explanation and duly punish those involved in the leaks of presidential speeches.
The United States is campaigning hard against proposed U.N. General Assembly resolution banning nuclear weapons, pressuring treaty allies like South Korea, Japan and NATO members to vote against the resolution, a new report said.
The resolution, led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, calls for the formal launch of negotiations on a nuclear ban in 2017. The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on the resolution as early as next week and proponents expect it to pass easily, according to the Foreign Policy magazine.
But the U.S. is against the resolution, arguing that the increasing belligerence of China and Russia, as well as the advancing pace of North Korea's nuclear weapons development, make it untenable for the U.S. and its allies to support such a far-reaching commitment to scrap their nukes, the report said.
"Washington has pressured treaty allies, including Japan and South Korea, and fellow NATO members Norway and the Netherlands, to vote against the resolution," the report said.
It also quoted an unidentified senior European diplomat as saying that Washington has warned countries considering voting in favor of the resolution that "a ban could jeopardize defense arrangements with allies around the globe."
Opposition to the ban runs counter to President Barack Obama's initiative for a nuclear-free world, it said. U.S. officials were quoted as arguing that the proposed ban would do nothing to further global disarmament because it wouldn't include the nuclear powers. (Yonhap)
File Photo: Jia Jinglong
Jia Jinglong is to be executed anytime soon, after he and his attorney were reportedly informed of the Supreme People's Court's approval of his death sentence.
We are not in the position to call a halt. Yet we feel strongly that the order must not be carried out. Not because social media are rife with cries against the ruling. But because the circumstances are anything but normal, and there are some outstanding questions that need to be properly answered. Legal experts, from professors to lawyers, deem the sentence problematic.
Jia shot and killed the head of his village in 2013, and he was convicted of murder. His death sentence is controversial, though, for the murder was a reaction to the ruthless, illicit forced demolition of his home that the victim allegedly masterminded.
Legal professionals have argued that Jia qualifies for a lesser sentence, a reprieve for instance, as he tried to turn himself in and confess to police afterwards.
Considering both the judicial authorities' new emphasis on prudence in applying the death penalty, and the reasonable doubts surrounding the sentence, we urge the court to demonstrate discretion, and avoid the double tragedy to which we are dangerously close.
Whatever happens, Jia's case should not be allowed to slip away as if it were just another regular criminal offense. Because it is not. Outside the courtroom, there are pricey lessons to be learnt.
"I am a victim...from the very beginning," Jia told the first-instance court in self-defense. "I would not have embarked on such a road of no return had there been a way out."
The murder took place months after his home was demolished by force. He called the police in the vain hope of stopping the demolition. He tried to negotiate for compensation afterwards. He lodged complaints to local authorities. He found himself helpless, hopeless, with no way to have justice done.
As in many similar cases, Jia used to be an ordinary citizen concerned primarily about living a normal life. Like others who ended up desperate, vengeful and hurting themselves and others to have their injustices noticed, Jia would probably not have acted as he did if his loss had been properly taken care of.
When residents are victimized by those who have power in their hand, they should not be deprived of the hope of having their wrongs addressed and justice delivered.
"Shopping King Louis" episode 9 reunite Louis with his grandmother, but he was fainted as he saw Ma-Ri entered the room. Louis and Bok-Sil also kissed for the second time in this episode.
Louis finally met his grandmother who had been searching for him since his return from France. But he hasn't completely regained his memories, and he was fainted at the moment Ma-Ri entered the room. Later on, he was pictured to have completely gained his memory back.
"Shopping King Louis" episode 9 also marked second kissing scene between Louis and Bok-Sil, who finally found out the real name of a man whom she thought was a bump. Louis real name is Kang Ji-Sung, the heir of Gold Group trading company.
The second kissing scene is much better than the first one in episode 7 which has gained many viewers' attention according to Donga News. In the second kissing scene, Ji-Sung prepared a red carpet just for Bok-Sil.
Another shocking news is the finding from detective Ji-Hyuk, who suspected the victim who died in the car crash might be Bok-Sil's long lost brother Bok-Nam. He broke the news to Bok-Sil who was really surprised and unable to speak upon hearing the news.
The drama "Shopping King Louis" had its shooting location in the city of Busan. Yonhap News Agency reported that Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) supported the drama to promote Busan tourist attractions such as Dongbaek Island, Gwangan Bridge, Marine City and Bupyeong Night Market.
Busan is located in the southeastern part of South Korea and the second largest metropolitan city in South Korea. The city is known as the center of South Korean shipyard and maritime industries, and also the nation's financial center as the headquarter of Korea securities exchange. The port of Busan is the fifth businest port in the world after Shanghai, Singapore, Shenzen and Hongkong.
The story of "Shopping King Louis" is closely related to Busan and its trading industry. The Gold Group is a trading company which shipped its product all over the world. It is very reasonable to have the company;s headquarter to be situated in Busan.
Watch the second kissing scene between Louis aka Jisung with Bok-Sil in the "Shopping King Louis" episode 9 below:
The seven-member boy group Infinite was the host for "SNL Korea" last Saturday. Like any other episodes of "SNL Korea", this one was very hilarious even during the opening.
According to Soompi, during the opening sequence, a cast of "SNL Korea" jokingly said that there is a member of Infinite that is much much older than what he says he is. Then, they reveal each graduation pictures of the members. When it was Sunggyu's turn, his middle school graduation photo, made the studio laugh. After that, the cast members Shin Dong Yup and Yoo Se Yoon start bowing their heads to Sunggyu. Shin Dong Yup even commented that the picture looked like it was taken in the 50's. Another cast member added that it looked like it was from the Second World War.
SBS reported that the Infinite members became a "3-minute Boyfriend", which is a popular sketch of the show. The first one was L who was branded as the "oppa" who does everything with his face. At first everything seems fine but then, he literally did everything with his face. Second one was Woohyun, he was branded as the "Trustworthy Boyfriend", but it turns out that he was the exact opposite if that brand. It turns out that he is a leader of "Woohyun" cult.
Next is Sunggyu, who is the "Genius Boyfriend". At first the girlfriend thought he is really smart but it turns out that his definition of "genius" is completely different. Next to Sunggyu was Dongwoo who is the "Oppa Who Play". He is literally like a child who loves playing games. After Dongwoo was Hoya. He is just branded as "Hoya Oppa". However, it was wrong and he really is a host.
Last one was Sungyeol. He is the "Oppa That Only Looks At Me" and he literally just looks at the girlfriend for hours. He even tried to hide himself and cosplay as a plant and a stuff toy just to look at her. Sungjong appeared in the end like some lemon man and also annoyed the hell out of the girlfriend.
The viewers and fans alike really enjoyed this episode. Watch them below and make your day a happy one!
Rainbow Bridge World has announced that Mamamoo will also be coming back next month with a new mini album. They have posted on their social media accounts that Mamamoo will be coming back with fourth mini album "Memory" including their free single "New York" and their unit songs "Angel" and "Dabdab".
According to Soompi, Mamamoo is added to the list of November comebacks. Rainbow Bridge World has announced that Mamamoo is finished with the preparations and their album is all set. They will be facing groups like Blackpink, BAP, EXO-CBX and VIXX which will also be having their comeback early November. They will be coming back with the title track "Decalcomania". They will release the music video and the full mini album on November 7.
Mamamoo's previous album, which was a full one, "Melting", was released nine months ago. Their title track for that album, "You're The Best" was very Mamamoo-like in terms of concept and song. This time, however, there were rumors that "Decalcomania" will be a bit different from their usual goofy and hyper selves. They have not releases any other information aside from the date and the title track. There are no teaser pictures or videos yet but RBW will definitely release them in the coming days.
Mamamoo is known for their superb vocals and amazing live performances. They are one of the best girl groups when it comes to stage presence and they are not seen as rookies when they first debuted because of their skills. They are also known for their "beagle-like" image as the members like to goof around with each other.
Fans love them for who they are and what they do. This comeback will definitely be another hit even though they have some fierce competition. Moomoos have been Mamamoo since they are not performing on music shows so this is definitely a great news!
US tells Philippines: We are still your ally
A senior US diplomat said on Monday that Washington supported Manilas blossoming ties with Beijing, but he assured the Southeast Asian nation that Washington remained its trusted ally.
Daniel Russel, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said after meeting with Philippine Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay in Manila that Washington welcomes improved relations between the Philippines and China, although it should not come at the expense of the United States.
We dont want countries to have to choose between the US and China, he said.
Russels two-day visit came after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte concluded his first state visit to China, during which he announced his countrys separation from the US and growing ties with China. But Duterte clarified that he only meant a more independent foreign policy and not severance of ties with the Philippines closest friend.
Su Hao, a professor of Asia-Pacific studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said Russels comments showed the typical logic of the US that the interests of regional countries should conform to those of Washington.
This is what Dutertes predecessor had done, but Duterte has realized that this does not help the Philippines and decided to make an adjustment, he said.
Xu Liping, a senior Southeast Asian studies researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Washington understands Manilas willingness to conduct practical cooperation with Beijing.
However, alliance is the core interest of the US; it will never give it up, he added.
Duterte was expected to begin a visit to Japan on Tuesday. During the visit, Tokyo might ask Manila to resume close relations with Washington, perhaps using economic aid as a condition, Su said.
Reuters and AP contributed to this story.
Director General of Laos-China Railway Company Zhao Xiang (R, front) shakes hands with a representative of China's Sinohydro Corporation Ltd. in Vientiane, capital of Laos, Oct. 24, 2016. Tender contracts for the second phase of China-Laos railway project was signed Monday in Lao capital Vientiane. The signing included 11 contracts on civil engineering, construction supervision and third-party testing. (Xinhua/Liu Ailun)
VIENTIANE, Oct. 24 -- China-Laos railway will be built to become a demonstration project in "Go Global" strategy, said Chinese companies participating in a symposium held in the Lao capital of Vientiane on Monday.
At the symposium, Zhao Xiang, Director General of the Laos-China Railway Company provided relevant information on Lao taxation, project investment, visa processing, personnel issues, among others.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Laos-China Railway Company Huang Difu put forward specific requirements for units involved in construction of the China-Laos railway.
Chen Shiping, Director General of China Railway International Group vowed to send skilled personnel, use advanced construction technology and management models in order to complete the project with high quality, making China-Laos railway a demonstration project in China's "Go Global" strategy in railway sector and the "Belt and Road" initiative.
Meanwhile,signing ceremony of tender contracts for the second phase of the China-Laos railway project was held in Vientiane. The signing included 11 contracts on civil engineering, construction supervision and third-party testing.
The China-Laos railway has a total length of 414 km, linking Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos and capital Vientiane. Operating speed on the route is designed at 160 km per hour. Kicking off in late 2015, construction of the project is scheduled for five years with investment of about 37.4 billion Chinese yuan. The China-Laos railway is an important project in the "Belt and Road" initiative proposed by China.
Chinese universities are recruiting ever more foreign students as they seek to improve their positions on the list of world's top schools. However, favorable policies for overseas recruits have garnered rising complaints from local students.
Graduating students take pictures in front of the landmark gate of Tsinghua University on July 2. Photo: IC
For Chinese students, getting through the ultra-competitive application process to gain admission to top schools like Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University is more than just difficult. It requires students to not only achieve top scores in their high school curriculums but also to have a healthy dose of luck when taking the annual college entrance exam, the feared gaokao.
Described by the BBC as "China's toughest test," the gaokao is the only way for the majority of Chinese students to get into college.
In 2016 alone, nearly 9.4 million students took the gaokao, according to the Ministry of Education (MOE), however, China's top five universities only took in around 23,000 new students, with Tsinghua admitting just 3,000.
International students have a much easier and less competitive path into China's top universities, a situation which has frustrated some in China who believe that Chinese students with foreign nationality are getting an unfair advantage.
Green light for international students
On September 27, Tsinghua's online application system for international students formally opened for those looking to start a course in 2017. Unlike in previous years, applicants will not have to take an academic writing test this year.
According to this year's admission requirements, prospective undergraduate students who hold a foreign passport can apply for Tsinghua without taking any standardized written tests, reported the Beijing Youth Daily on October 8.
Tsinghua's new application process simply involves submitting the relevant documents and having an interview.
However, even previously, the tests for international students did not provide as much of a barrier to entry as the gaokao.
Kevin Wen, an ethnically Chinese student born in the US who has long been attending school in Beijing shared his experience on Q&A website Zhihu this June, writing "Personally, I think Tsinghua's test for science students is not difficult, apart from the last question, the math test doesn't require much thinking."
Another test taker named Ban Shiqin, who has a similar background to Kevin, concluded on another Zhihu post that the written tests for international students in China's top universities are quite easy.
"In general, anyone in our school can get good scores in these tests. As ethnic Chinese, we are taking advantage of the tests. And more importantly, the test is much less competitive than the gaokao," Ban said.
Liu Zhen, the Dean of the Admission Office told Beijing Youth Daily the further relaxation of entry requirements and a focus on interviews rather than tests is an attempt to make applying to Tsinghua more similar to applying to other top international schools.
As part of the government's drive to attract more students from overseas to come to China, apart from the easier application process, international students can simultaneously apply for multiple scholarships, including a Chinese Government Scholarship and Beijing Government Scholarship.
Strategically promoting China
In recent years, China has been working hard to increase its "soft power" and enhance its international influence.
Apart from actively joining global groups like the G20 and AIIB to expand economic clout, the UN Climate Change Conference to have a greater say in environmental protection as well as multiple forums for maintaining regional stability, China has also been busy exporting its culture and education.
Officially published by the China Scholarship Council in December 2015, the Chinese Government Scholarship for an undergraduate provides a minimum of 59,200 yuan ($8,743) per year, which can cover all the spending of a student, including tuition fees, medical insurance, living expenses and accommodation fees.
Programs like the Confucius Institute and the rising numbers of scholarships targeting international students have already helped boost Chinese colleges' reputation.
In the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings published in September, Tsinghua's overall ranking has rocketed from 47 to 35, second in China only to Peking University, and ahead of many prestigious Western universities like the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and King's College London.
Cooperation with other countries has also helped Tsinghua boost its reputation internationally. For example, the recently established Schwarzman Scholars, co-founded by Tsinghua and the founder of financial firm the Blackstone Group Stephen Schwarzman, attracted over 100 world famous scholars to Tsinghua in 2016, raising its world reputation rank to 18 in this year's Times Rankings.
Due to favorable policies toward international students, and the rising status of Chinese universities in many ranking lists, the number of overseas students in China has grown steadily in recent years.
Gabby (pseudonym) was born in China but moved to Australia in her teens, and is now on the second year of a master's program in Tsinghua.
"I came back to study in China because I feel China has more possibilities as it goes through the process of developing. And I think Western countries are now stepping into a bottleneck period, I think Eastern culture will be crucial for the world's future development," she explained.
"China is not currently the first choice of many international students, however, by offering them scholarships and lowering the admission requirements, China can attract more talents to come and study," Gabby added.
Mak (pseudonym), 21 years old, is a Malaysian student pursuing her bachelor's degree at the Renmin University of China.
When asked why she chose China, she told the Global Times "I was thinking of studying aboard after graduating from high school, China is a good place to go, and I can apply with my Malaysia Unified Examination Certificate and get scholarships, so I came."
In the 2016 academic year, Renmin University of China admitted 763 international students from over 80 countries, 352 of whom were undergraduates, according to the university's official website.
According to statistics published by the MOE, nearly 400,000 international students studied in China in 2015, and with South Korea, the US, Thailand, India and Russia supplying the most students each.
Unfairness of education
While this plan and the benefits it gives to international students has official support, it has struck as unfair many local students who have to work much harder to get into top schools.
Many have questioned the reliability and validity of Tsinghua's new application process. After relying on test scores as the ultimate assessment method for decades, Chinese students are finding it hard to approve of a more holistic application process.
A netizen using the name Rangkazhafeiafei commented on Sina Weibo "Wanna go Tsinghua and Peking universities? Please emigrate to Equatorial Guinea or Eritrea first, spending millions to get a passport from the-middle-of-nowhere, then you can go Tsinghua and Peking University without taking tests."
XieKG also complained on Weibo, "As long as you are rich and can get a Green Card, you can go directly into Tsinghua, it's even easier than getting a concert ticket."
However, those ethnic Chinese students who are targeted think differently.
Shan (pseudonym), is a Chinese Canadian student studying in Tsinghua University. Her family emigrated to Canada when she was 2 years old and moved back to China several years ago.
Though she admits that in her university, some overseas Chinese students are indeed taking advantage of these favorable policies to get into a school they could not get into in other circumstances, she said that the majority of ethnic Chinese students deserve their place in Tsinghua.
"I understand why Chinese people think it's unfair, if an ethnic Chinese student who is not even qualified for a community college but gets admitted by Tsinghua easily it is unfair, however, for those who have already got a certificate from prestigious schools in US, Canada, studying in Tsinghua is more about learning about Chinese culture and Chinese society, instead of just getting a degree from Tsinghua," Shan told the Global Times.
"Many of my friends at Tsinghua have degrees from prestigious universities in the West, an additional degree from Tsinghua or Peking University may not add a huge benefit to our job hunting or resume. Studying at a Chinese university is a way to integrate into local society better. A way for us to improve our Chinese and receive more local information," she added, while mentioning she had to turn down an offer from The University of Hong Kong and The London School of Economics and Political Science to come to Tsinghua.
Gabby also thinks it's not right to blame international students for how hard it is to get into top schools.
"The admission policy for international students has nothing to do with the fierce competition of Chinese students getting into Tsinghua, whether there are international students or not, getting admitted to Tsinghua is difficult for local students anyway," Gabby told the Global Times.
Shan's opinion is also shared by Mak, who said that only students who rank the first one or two among all international students in a grade have the chance to apply for the Chinese Government Scholarship, and the percentage of scholarship winners is "extraordinarily low."
According to a report published by the MOE this April, 40,600 of the nearly 400,000 overseas students in China received the Chinese Government Scholarship.
Worldwide dilemma
The discussion of double standards in education for local students and international students is not only limited to China.
In Japan, the increasing number of overseas students in universities has also attracted a lot of attention.
Local newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported in September that top Japanese universities are now filled with Chinese students who failed in China's gaokao, and these universities are becoming a "resurrection place" for them.
With their experience of living in China and abroad, Gabby and Shan both think critically of the new admission requirements. They also mentioned that universities in US and Australia offer more lax requirements for international students in order to attract investment and benefit from international students by charging them several times more than domestic students.
"China is now opening up to the international world, it is an inevitable process," Shan added.
A man from Lees Summit received a seven-year prison sentence three weeks ago after a jury convicted him of sexually assaulting a woman. If his conviction is upheld, however, Spencer Salm, 24, eventually could serve only four months in prison, however, after completing a 120-day substance abuse treatment program.
The jury trial was in August before Greene County Circuit Judge Tom Mountjoy. Salm is appealing his conviction for second-degree sodomy and is free on bond.
On Nov. 22, 2013, Salm was visiting friends who attended Missouri State University. The jury heard he and the victim went to a club, began dancing, and then kissed each other. Salm and the victim ended up alone in the back seat of a car in the parking lot of an apartment complex near MSU.
The victim testified that she was comfortable kissing Salm but told him she would not go further. As Salm began making sexual advances, she said she repeatedly told him no and stop.
The victim testified Salm had sexual intercourse and deviate sexual intercourse with her without her consent. Afterwards, she contacted a friend to get a ride. The friend testified the victim was hysterical and kept repeating, I told him no. When they returned to their dormitory, they notified MSU staff, police and medical providers.
Salm could have faced a prison sentence up to seven years for second-degree sodomy. Prosecutors sought the maximum sentence, specifically noting Salms failure to take responsibility for his actions or express any remorse. During the sentencing hearing, the victims father told the judge about the impact that this crime continues to have on her and her family.
Stacie Bilyeu, Salms attorney, requested Salm be placed on probation. After sentencing Salm, Judge Mountjoy set an appeal bond of $10,000. Salm posted that bond the same day and remains free while the case is considered by the Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals.
China is becoming increasingly vigorous in international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and this year has become the world's largest acquirer.
Under the "going out" strategy, China's outbound mergers and acquisitions has continued to heat up.
The first 9 months of 2016 saw Chinese companies complete 521 overseas M&A deals worth 67.4 billion USD, which exceeded last year's annual transaction amount.
In the same time period, China's outward direct investment in the non-financial sector had hit 134.2 billion USD, an increase of 12.8 billion USD compared to last year's total.
China's big outward purchases this year have included HNA's 6.3 billion USD acquisition of Ingram Micro and Haier's 5.4 billion USD bid for General Electric's appliances unit.
German companies have been very popular among Chinese acquirers.
Around 200 German companies have been acquired by Chinese enterprises so far this year, according to the German Federal M&A Association.
Chinese public companies are the main acquirers in outward M&A deals with Germany.
The German "entrepreneur" magazine editor Stephen Genzna said Chinese companies were previously interested in Germany's automobile and mechanical manufacturing industries, but now they are also keen on electronics and injection molding industries.
Daily Economic news reported that the reason Germany became the focus of China's overseas acquisition was because economic recovery in Germany had slowed down since 2011.
Many German companies had to go bankrupt.Chinese public companies have traveled to Germany to seek potential M&A targets in groups since 2012, and their purchasing power has been overwhelming.
German companies have also increasingly started to purchase Chinese companies, and 164 Chinese companies were bought out by German companies in 2016.
Marcus Kapust, General Manager of German's Strategic Communications of VPC Group, said there had been concerns from Germans that Chinese rich acquirers might buy up all the German companies, but these concerns are unnecessary.
China's Midea Group Co's started to make an effort to buy out German industrial robot maker Kuka in May this year. This caused a furious debate over Chinese outbound M&As in Europe, and some German politicians have appealed for tougher restrictions.
The deal passed through the anti-trust scrutiny of the European Union and the outcries have died down gradually.
People transfer an injured personnel to a hospital in southwest Pakistan's Quetta, on Oct. 24, 2016. At least 20 people including policemen and security personnel were injured and over 200 others held hostage by unknown militants in an attack in Quetta, southwest Pakistan on Monday night. (Xinhua/Asad)
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 25 -- At least 59 people were killed and 117 others injured in an overnight terrorist attack on a police training center in Pakistan's southwest city of Quetta, local media reported on Tuesday morning.
Local Urdu TV Channel Samaa, quoting hospital sources, said the death toll rose after more bodies were recovered from the training center after the security forces announced to have concluded the military operation against the attackers; however, no official has confirmed the reports yet.
Earlier, Provincial Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said over 20 people were killed and 109 others injured in the attack on the police training center located at the Saryab Road area of Quetta, capital of Pakistan's southwest province of Balochistan.
According to the reports, 117 injured were shifted to different hospitals in the city, including 78 to Civil Hospital, 32 to Bolan Medical Complex and seven to Combined Military Hops ital.
According to Chief of the paramilitary force Frontier Corps, Major-General Sher Afgun, the incident took place when a group of three terrorists armed with suicide vests, automatic guns and hand grenades sneaked into the center from the backyard after killing a guard at a watchtower at around 11:05 p.m. (local time).
The terrorists occupied a hostel of the police training center and made around 200 policemen hostage in the dining hall of the hostel.
Afgun said the operation against the terrorists was concluded after the three terrorists were killed during the four-hour gunfight.
Following the attack, personnel of Pakistani army and Frontier Corps reached the site and cordoned off the training center and launched the operation.
Exchange of intense firing was heard after the contingents of security forces entered the training center and started the operation to neutralize the terrorists.
"One of the terrorists was killed by the security personnel's firing, while two others exploded their jackets near the captives after they were cordoned off by the army commandos, which caused sharp rise in death toll," said Bugti.
An eyewitness police trainee said, "We were sleeping in our room when we heard firing, we rushed out, I saw two terrorists were firing at another room, I ran to the roof of the hostel and from there I managed to come out."
According to police, around 500 to 700 police personnel including trainees and instructors were present in the center when the attack took place.
Authorities have declared a state of emergency in all hospitals in Quetta and appealed to the public for blood donations.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and said the terrorists cannot demoralize the nation with such coward attack and that the country's ongoing war on terror will be taken to a logical end.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet; however, Major-General Sher Afgun claimed that the terrorists belonged to a banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Almi and they were receiving instructions from their handlers based somewhere in Afghanistan.
Getting diagnosed with breast cancerany canceris scary. Its hard to avoid thoughts of what if, especially when there is a lag between diagnostic appointments and procedures. Yet breast cancer is survivable for many, and getting regular check ups increases those odds tremendously.
Early detection often means early stageand early stage means treatable. Its reassuring to know statistics are in your favor. Did you know that 80% of breast cancer diagnoses are detected in the early stages, giving these women a 97% five-year survival rate?
In honor of breast cancer awareness month, schedule a mammogram at Prowers Medical Center. PMC offers both screening and diagnostic mammograms.
Screening mammography can help find breast cancer early, when it is easier to treat. Diagnostic mammography is performed when there is a potential abnormality found on the screening mammogram or if a new palpable breast lump or mass is detected, said Shelley McSparrin, Imaging Manager for PMC.
Dont skip a mammogram because of fear
Its easy to put off getting a mammogram but rest assured, the mammography suite at Prowers Medical Center is private and comfortable. The exam takes less than 30 minutes. A registered mammography technologist performs each mammogram.
Sometimes mammograms spark a second looklikely a diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound or a biopsyif a mass of any kind is found. Knowing that second looks usually result in a non-cancer outcome helps. Diagnostic mammography services are provided at PMC on Wednesdays from 9:00am 2:00 pm.
According to the American College of Radiology extensive scientific research shows a 40 percent reduction of breast cancer deaths with regular annual screening mammography, McSparrin said.
PMC offers screening mammograms Monday Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm. A board-certified radiologist is on site to read your mammogram. Youll receive results in 30 days or sooner if theres a concern. If you come for a diagnostic mammogram the radiologist reads your findings and discusses them with you during your visitsparing you time to worry. The same is true if you need an ultrasound or breast biopsy.
We provide same day ultrasound breast biopsy exams to expedite a definitive diagnosis and to reduce the fear and anxiety that a patient may experience, McSparrin said.
If you have a family history or personal concern, ask your doctor if its wise to start getting mammograms before age 50 and more frequently than every other year as is now recommended.
The most lives saved and the most life years gained occur with yearly mammography starting at age 40. There is no established age for women to stop screening mammography. Women should continue as long as they are healthy and desire to remain so, McSparrin said.
Prowers Medical Center offers support for women with breast cancer. Dr. Jessica Swanson, PMC General Surgeon, performs mastectomies at PMC and Dr. Michelle DeWing, Breast Surgeon from UCHealth in Colorado Springs, comes to the PMC Specialty Clinic once a month for consults and follow-up care with local patients. PMC also has a visiting oncologist, Dr. Hoyer, who guides chemotherapy treatments at the infusion center.
In addition, all of our providers perform a clinical breast exam during womens wellness visits. We encourage women in the community to call and schedule this month in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, says Dawn Watts, PMC Clinic Practice Manager.
To schedule a wellness or other appointment with The Womens Health clinic call 719-336-6767 or 719-336-3179. To schedule a screening mammogram, call 719-336-6762.
Chris Frost: 719-336-2266, cfrost@lamarledger.com
We are in a very volatile election cycle. Many are weary of the constant barrage of information designed either to exonerate one candidate or destroy an opponent. The purpose of this article is not to promote a particular candidate or party. Rather, I am hoping to share what God s Word teaches about what real leadership should look like, and it is not what you might think.
Jesus, in His last weeks, was instructing His disciples on issues and principles which they needed to understand. In the process, He confused them because they were expecting one thing while Jesus was preparing them for another. Basically, the issue was how the kingdom of God was to come upon the earth. On one hand, Jesus demonstrated to them that He was king and that
the kingdom was near (Matt. 16:28). On the other hand, He sought to prepare them for His coming death (Matt. 17:22, 23). Was He to be king or was He to die?
The disciples, like typical politicians, are rebels, wanting to support their own agenda. To do so, they were arguing about which one of them should be greatest in the kingdom (Matt. 18:1).
Apparently, they were not taking Jesus announcement about the cross seriously. Upon hearing their argument, Jesus set a little child in front of them and declared that unless they were to become like this little child, they would not enter the kingdom, much less be great in it (Matt. 18:2- 4). Three grave warnings are connected to this instruction.
First, to enter Gods kingdom, one must turn and become like children (Matt. 18:3). This turning is repentancea renouncing of ones former life and adopting a drastic new way of life, a life of following Jesus (Matt. 16:24-28). This is not an exercise of decision and discipline. No one is able to do this without a work of divine grace, which is connected to the new birth explained in John 3:1-15. The result is a radically altered disposition reflecting qualities of humility, purity, and guilelessness (simple honesty). Ones natural response is not to take Jesus seriously.
Adults disregard the character of children in the course of adult life. Indeed, adult things are hidden from them so as not to corrupt them. Keeping child stuff out of the adult world is how most think it should be. Its all about self-preservation.
Second, Jesus warned that to receive such a child (one who has repented and turned) in His name was to receive Him (Matt. 18:5). The world tends to despise Christians. That is a great mistake.
Jesus is the King of kings and the Judge of all the earth. A day of reckoning is coming. Beware.
In fact, Jesus went on to warn that if one causes a little one to stumble, a better choice would have been to take swimming lessons with a millstone (Matt. 18:6). Jesus goes further and declares that taking radical action against ones natural tendencies is necessary in order to avoid penalties for tempting His little ones (Matt. 18:7-9).
Third, Jesus warned that the little ones (Christian believers) have guardian angels ready to act at the Fathers behest with regard to their welfare (Matt. 18:10-14). It is not the Fathers will that any of His little ones should perish. In fact, the Father will go to great lengths to rescue one straying lamb. Woe to anyone who promotes an agenda designed to harm one of Jesus little ones. Somehow, I dont think the rulers of this world will be impressed with these warnings.
[Photos taken by Luo Yongbin for China News Service]
On Oct. 24, adult giant pandas Aoyun and Yunyun arrived in Shennongjia, Hubei province, marking the first time giant pandas have resided in Shennongjia in more than a century.
That morning, escorted by researchers from a Shennongjia Nature Reserve and Chinas Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas, Aoyun and Yunyun left Chengdu by air, arriving at their new residence by evening. The pandas were in good health and boasted stable moods at their time of arrival. Born in 2008, Aoyun and Yunyun are in their physical prime.
A researcher from the nature reserve explained that Aoyun and Yunyun still need some time to get accustomed to their new environment after the long trip. Researchers will look after them carefully to help them adapt. They are expected to available for public viewing after a period of segregation and quarantine.
The newly built panda residence occupies over 7,000 square meters. Its supporting facilities and surrounding natural environment ensure the pandas comfort and security, as well as fulfilling the requirements for public showings and scientific research.
Historical records show that Shennongjia used to be a paradise for giant pandas. However, the animals gradually disappeared from the area due to human activities and a changing climate.
In September, experts pointed out that Shennongjia shared a similar ecological character to Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan province. Additionally, Shennongjia has a solid track record in the conservation and protection of golden monkeys, which are considered another national treasure of China.
The biological diversity of Shennongjia, a UNESCO world heritage site, is acknowledged all over the world.
Giant panda arrives at new residence
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary
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PRESS RELEASE
Fighting Resumes in Aleppo After Rebels Blocked Civilian Exit
Oct. 24, 2016 (EIRNS)In Aleppo, Syria, full-scale fighting seems to be returning. Reuters reported yesterday afternoon that the fighting in Aleppo had intensified, with air strikes, ground offensives, and shelling. There was fighting between government forces and jihadis along the southwest approach to the city and, according to the Syrian Observatory, shelling by the jihadis into the government-held Hamdaniya district. The opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) claims to be preparing for a big attack to try to break the siege of eastern Aleppo (again), and is warning civilians to stay away from Syrian government military buildings for their own safety.
This morning, however, Sputnik reports that the Syria's government and its allies are gaining the upper hand in the southwest. A source in a government-allied militia said that government forces have taken control of several hilltops around the 1070 housing project, and are moving on Hikma Hill, which has been a strategic position for the jihadis, enabling them to maintain fire over government forces trying to move into the 1070 area. Syrian forces are also targeting the road to Khan Touman, farther to the southeast. These offensives, if they succeed, will enable Syrian forces to widen the corridor into the western side of the city that they currently control.
Meanwhile, in the countryside to the northwest of the city, Turkish-backed FSA units and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) are fighting each other. The Kurds shelled the rebel-held town of Mare for several hours on Sunday while Kurdish engineers stiffened the Kurish Syrian Democratic Forces ditches and defensive line along the Azaz-Mare axis, reports Al Masdar. Kurdish reconnaissance units also reported Turkish tanks leaving Mare, probably to participate in the drive to Al Bab. The Turkish military said in a statement this morning, that, as part of its Euphrates Shield operation, strikes by "fire support vehicles" (probably meaning self-propelled artillery) hit 27 Islamic State targets and 19 belonging to the YPG, leaving both groups "without maneuvering capacity."
After Moscows recent declarations of support for the government in Damascus, Hassan Nasralla followed suit, yesterday, vowing in a televised speech, that Hezbollah would not leave Syria until it could "defeat the apostate project."
"Our choice of going to Syria was very well studied after observing the regional developments that began in Tunisia and reached Syria," Nasrallah said, adding, "Time has revealed that the battle in Syria is aimed at making existential changes on the ground as well as to the political map of the region."
"We will continue this battle until the end, and we are proud of our martyrs in Syria, and whoever bargains on our tiredness will lose," he said, emphasizing that the security "we are living in now is not the outcome of agreements or mere prayers," but it is the outcome of efforts made by martyrs and their blood.
Elsewhere in Syria, Syrian forces pushed ISIS farther away from key oil fields in eastern Homs province, and the Syrian air force hit ISIS in Deir Ezzor with 20 air strikes yesterday. Syrian forces are also expanding their area of control in the Ghouta area of rural Damascus province, after the jihadis were forced to evacuate several districts of the capital.
PRESS RELEASE
Brexit Time Bomb Is Ticking: British Bankers Warn of Financial Breakdown; Fear Grows of U.K. Constitutional Crisis and Breakup
Oct. 24, 2016 (EIRNS)Over the weekend, the Observer posted an alarmed and threatening op-ed by British Bankers Association (BBA) CEO Anthony Browne, warning that "Brexit Politicians Are Putting Us On a Fast Track to Financial Jeopardy." The United Kingdom and Europe need to remember that banks in the U.K. have some $1.35 trillion-worth of loans out to European Union countries and companies, "keeping the continent afloat financially." If European Union governments dont agree to let Britain stay without restrictions in Europes integrated financial market after Brexit, "there is a real risk of disruption to Europes financial markets," he warned.
Browne may be threatening, but with panic, too: "Banker colleagues in other EU countries all agree that disrupting the free trade in financial services would be self-inflicted damage. The top regulators in the U.K. and EU also agree that we must retain the integrated financial market. If we left it all to the regulators, we would have a relatively quick and rational economic solution. But politics trumps economics and it will be the politicians who decide,"
he wrote.
"If the Brexit is a hard one, there could be a cliff edge for banks.... Much of the 20 billion a year cross-Channel trade in financial services will be thrown into, at best, legal doubt; at worst, it will just become illegal, with banks losing, overnight, regulatory approval to provide services."
In its news article on Brownes op-ed, the Observer admits that the breakdown of the Canada-EU free trade accord is a sign of what could happen on the financial Brexit negotiations.
Simultaneously, the potential for a breakup of the United Kingdom itself out of Brexit is back on the front burner. Prime Minister Teresa May hosted a meeting on Monday of the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC)with First Ministers of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Irelandto start working out an agreement on how Brexit will be negotiated.
As they met, Londons Institute for Government published a report warning that May could face a constitutional crisis if no consensus is reached soon. No quick consensus is in sight. Scotland and Wales are demanding that the decision to invoke Article 50 to withdraw from the EU should be the subject of a vote in all four U.K. parliaments and assemblies.
Michael Russell, Scotlands Brexit minister, told BBC Radio 4s Today program on Monday that "that it would be a strange world if special access to the single market was secured for bankers, but not for Scotland," the Telegraph reported. He added:
The photo shows "Tian Jing Hao" from CCCC Dredging, Inc, Asias first and the world's third most powerful self-propelled cutter suction dredger. [File Photo]
China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), a State-owned infrastructure group, recently signed a contract with the Philippines' Mega Harbour Port and Development Inc. to conduct a 208-hectare land reclamation project in Davao's harbour. The reclamation is expected to finished by the end of 2019, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Oct. 24.
CCCC Dredging will undertake the project in Davao, which is located on Mindanao Island in the southern part of the country. By moving sediment from the seafloor to a reef, four islands will be built along the 8-kilometer coastline of Davao Bay. The artificial islands will be used for government offices, businesses, residences, ports and industrial land.
Established in March 2015, CCCC Dredging is the largest dredging company in China in terms of capacity and installed power. The company previously carried out a large-scale cooperation with the parent company of Mega Harbour Port and Development Inc., construction company R-II Builders.
Zhou Jingbo, chairman of CCCC Dredging, remarked that the project will elevate cooperation between China and the Philippines port construction companies to a new height. Zhou expects the project to become a model for future cooperation between the two nations.
You can almost set your watch by it: Every year, when new premium rates for the Affordable Care Act exchange plans are published by the government, critics proclaim that the law has failed Americans by failing to rein in prices. This year, the cries are sure to be even louder, because premium increases nationwide are averaging about 25%.
Thats the average in the benchmark silver plan (the second-cheapest silver plan in any region) for states using the federal healthcare.gov marketplace, according to government figures released Monday. The benchmark plan is the one on which the premium subsidies available to the vast majority 84% of Americans who purchase their insurance on the ACA exchanges are based. In fact, the average 40-year-old non-smoker earning $30,000 a year a typical subsidy-eligible insurance buyer will face no premium increase at all for the benchmark plan, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Some will even have lower costs.
But to capture those savings, they may have to switch plans. Theres the rub; its an element of Obamacare that has turned the yearly open-enrollment period into an annual chore for many people. Open enrollment runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 this year for coverage to start on Jan. 1.
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These details underscore why so many Americans are skeptical about Obamacare, if not downright dissatisfied, and why the programs critics, chiefly Republicans, are still claiming that Americans lives will be improved if its repealed.
Theyre wrong. Lets take a closer look at the premium spike to see why.
This years premium increases have contributed to the impression that the ACA has failed to stem the rise in healthcare costs, and even contributed to a quickening of price hikes. Insurance customers also blame the law for rising deductibles, which can make medical treatment hard to afford even for those with coverage.
Healthcare experts have been forecasting a premium spike of 25% or so for some time. Thats partially because insurers, uncertain about the characteristics of the ACA exchange buyer but eager to capture a decent share of the market, underpriced their policies in the first two years of exchange enrollment, 2014 and 2015. Some also faced a population of new enrollees who were sicker than they anticipated, or who packed years of personal deferred medical maintenance into the first few months of new coverage.
The mismatch of costs and revenues sent some insurers screaming into the hills, notably United Health Group, which had little prior experience in the individual market and didnt have the stomach to wait out a shakedown experience. In 2017, United Health will be exiting most ACA markets where it had participated.
Yet even the 2017 hikes will place premiums close to where experts predicted they would be at this stage. In November 2009, the Congressional Budget Office projected that single coverage premiums for a benchmark silver plan would average $5,200 in 2016. The average for those plans in states using the federal healthcare.gov exchange will be $5,586 next year, in line with the CBOs annual projected growth rate.
By some measures,, 2017 premiums will be lower than they might have been without the ACA, even after the price spike. That was the conclusion of Loren Adler and Paul Ginsburg of the Brookings Institution, who reckoned that rates came in so low in the first years of the ACA exchanges that even with a 25% hike, they havent caught up to the pre-ACA trendline.
Moreover, the ACA does appear to have helped reduce overall expenditures on healthcare. According to a recent study by the Urban Institute, while Americans will be spending more in 2020 than they are now, the rate of increase looks to be significantly slower than anyone expected. In raw numbers, the new expectation is that 2020 spending will come to about $4 trillion, compared to the $4.6 trillion projected at the time of the acts enactment.
The slowdowns impact can be seen in rates for employer-sponsored insurance, which is the coverage source for 153 million people, or nearly half the U.S. population. This year, the average family premium rose 3% compared to 2015, while the increase for single coverage was barely noticeable.
That hasnt kept many workers from feeling squeezed by higher costs, and blaming Obamacare for the pain. But whats really happening is that employers are shifting a larger share of their healthcare costs to their employees. The trend isnt related to Obamacare, but reflects the same impulse by employers to shift costs that also has produced the demise of defined benefit pensions and the disappearance of annual raises in many industries.
The Kaiser Family Foundations annual survey of employer coverage documents this history. Since 2006, premiums for employer-paid family coverage have increased by a total of 58% but worker contributions have risen 78%. Much of this shift has been achieved by raising deductibles on employer coverage: The foundation found that deductibles have been on the rise since at least 2006, four years before enactment of the ACA, with 51% of all covered workers facing deductibles of $1,000 or more this year, compared to only 10% in 2006.
This shows that many trends commonly based on Obamacare are artifacts of the American healthcare system that remain outside the laws reach.
That brings us back to ACA exchange premiums, which certainly fall within the laws jurisdiction. The rates cited by the Department of Health and Human Services on Monday show immense regional variations, ranging from a leap of 145% in Phoenix for a 27-year-old to a reduction of 12% in Indianapolis. These are pre-subsidy figures, so most exchange customers wont be hit with major increases. The department also calculates that 76% of all enrollees in healthcare.gov states could save money by switching plans.
Beyond that, its hard to put ones finger on a single explanation for the geographic variations. A reduction in competition seems to play a large role the number of insurance providers in Phoenix will fall from eight this year to only one next year. In Indianapolis, two insurers are exiting but four remain, evidently enough for competition to thrive.
For all that, the coming rate hike does point to aspects of the ACA that need fixing, but thats not news for its supporters. On the presidential campaign trail, Democrat Hillary Clinton has advocated extending and expanding ACA tax subsidies so they cover more families and help more with deductibles and co-pays. She also pledges as president to press the last 19 states still resisting the programs Medicaid expansion to join in, which would provide coverage to more low-income residents and take some pressure off exchange insurers. Republican Donald Trump, by contrast, advocates repealing the ACA, but hasnt offered a coherent plan to replace it.
The outcry over the 2017 premium increases wont help move Republicans and Democrats closer to an accord on fixing what still needs to be fixed in Obamacare. In part because it obscures the programs successes bringing coverage to 20 million Americans who couldnt obtain it before, reducing the growth rate in healthcare costs, and protecting millions of Americans from the abuses and inequities imposed before the ACA by insurers operating in a market without consumer protections.
Obamacare, as Jonathan Chait observes in New York Magazine, remains a policy triumph and a political failure. The triumph can be extended by Congress, if it wishes; the failure may be with us for some time to come.
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.
Bank regulators have started to investigate the sales practices and compensation policies of many of the nations large and mid-sized banks, something they had promised to do in the wake of the unauthorized accounts scandal at Wells Fargo & Co.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees most of the nations big banks, earlier this month started sending letters to banks requesting information about their sales practices, Deputy Comptroller Bryan Hubbard said Tuesday.
The OCC is reviewing sales practices related to consumer, small business and wealth-management accounts and services tied to employee incentive pay, he said. The agency is requesting information from most banks it supervises that have at least $10 billion in assets.
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There are 62 banks that are supervised by the OCC and meet that minimum, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The review had been expected since the head of the OCC promised to take such action at a Sept. 20 hearing that the Senate Banking Committee held on Wells Fargo. Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said his agency would assess whether banks have controls in place that would prevent the kind of practices uncovered at the San Francisco bank.
The OCC, along with the L.A. city attorneys office and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, last month reached a $185-million settlement with Wells Fargo after finding that workers at the bank created as many as 2 million accounts for customers without their authorization, all in the name of meeting unrealistic sales goals and trying to either earn additional pay or simply keep their jobs.
In some cases, customers paid fees on accounts they never asked for. In others, bank workers issued credit cards to customers without their authorization, potentially affecting those customers credit scores.
Most banks use a combination of sales goals and incentive pay to encourage workers to offer accounts and services to customers. In reviewing those practices, regulators will likely focus on how goals and incentives are structured, and whether there are ways for workers to game sales systems in ways that harm customers.
The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that the sales system at Wells Fargo may have been easier to game than the systems at other banks.
For instance, former Wells Fargo workers said that they would get sales credit for opening a credit card account for a customer, regardless of whether the customer ever used the account. At Bank of America, workers only get credit if a customer uses the card.
Wells Fargo also offered sales credit for employees who opened more than one of the same type of account two savings or checking accounts, for instance for the same customer. At JPMorgan Chase, workers would not get credit for such accounts.
Hubbard would not disclose the specific information the OCC has requested from banks and would not say how long the agencys review of sales practices might take.
He said the agency is coordinating with other bank regulators, specifically the Federal Reserve, the CFPB and the FDIC.
james.koren@latimes.com
Twitter: @jrkoren
The Central City Assn., an influential downtown business advocacy group, has named a new chief executive to replace long-time head Carol Schatz, who recently retired.
Taking the helm will be Jessica Lall, the executive director of a business improvement district in the South Park neighborhood, an area surrounding Staples Center that is awash in construction.
Lalls appointment was announced Tuesday and will become effective Jan. 3.
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Jessica has been a strong champion for Downtown and understands the importance of Downtown to the regions economy, said AEG executive Martha Saucedo, the boards chairwoman, in a statement. She is a proven advocate for business, having revitalized the South Park BID and transformed the district into one of LAs most desirable and sustainable neighborhoods.
Lall, 32, previously served under former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as senior policy director in the Department of Economic and Business Policy. She was also communications director for businessman Austin Beutner, when the former Los Angeles Times publisher ran for mayor in 2012.
Jessica Lall has spent her career working on behalf of our citys residents and businesses both at City Hall and as head of the South Park Business Improvement District and I know she will do an excellent job in her new role, Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement.
Lall said she looks forward to building on the associations legacy of creating a favorable business climate for the region.
As we move forward, promoting further job growth and more livable and sustainable communities will require a strong vision for Downtown and the region, she said in a statement.
Schatz retired on Sept. 30. She spent more the 25 years with the downtown organization, during which time she helped guide the areas revitalization.
andrew.khouri@latimes.com
Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter
The $1-billion Oceanwide Plaza development, under construction in downtown Los Angeles, will include a luxury Park Hyatt hotel, underscoring the resurgence of the city center.
The Hyatt Hotels Corp. brand is in just 38 locations worldwide and currently has no locations in Los Angeles. Its arrival across from Staples Center could help the Oceanwide condo and hotel project stand out in a neighborhood awash in construction.
Nearby, Chinese developer Greenland Group is underway on another $1-billion condo and hotel project known as Metropolis that will include a 350-room Hotel Indigo, a hip boutique brand operated by InterContinental Hotels Group.
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Other big projects include a 900-room InterContinental hotel inside the nearly completed Wilshire Grand skyscraper and a proposal for a W Hotel that would replace the Luxe City Center Hotel across from L.A. Live.
Every major hotel brand needs to have a presence downtown, said Alan X. Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group. Fifteen to 20 years ago people were exiting downtown. Its sort of night and day.
Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings and Hyatt announced their plans Monday.
The 184-room Park Hyatt hotel, with 34 suites, is set to open in early 2019 along with the rest of the mixed-use project.
In addition to the hotel, the three-tower development will include roughly 500 condos and nearly 170,000 square feet of retail space. There will also be a massive LED screen wrapping the west-facing side of the project overlooking Figueroa Street.
Thomas Feng, chief executive of the Oceanwide subsidiary building the project, said the development will deliver a distinct lifestyle that is both urban in design and serene in experience.
Hyatt, which previously had a Park Hyatt in Century City, did not reveal room rates for its Oceanwide property. But Reay said prices are likely to be on par with L.A. Lives Ritz-Carlton, where rooms top $400 a night.
Oceanwide Plaza is one of several mega-projects underway from Chinese builders, including the Metropolis project down the block.
Since 2014, Chinese developers have been involved in at least seven of 18 land deals downtown in excess of $19 million, according to real estate firm Transwestern.
That includes the $104 million that developer Shenzhen Hazens paid in 2014 to purchase the 2.5-acre site, where it plans to build a W Hotel and condos.
andrew.khouri@latimes.com
Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter
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Birdcages. Boxes. Shrines.
Eyes, keys, dice, cotton and clocks.
Washboards, chains, ships.
Betye Saar works with materials that have long metaphorical half-lives and with metaphors that she assigns striking material form. It's tempting to liken her to a chemist handling potentially toxic substances, but most of the found objects in her assemblages are familiar and ordinarily benign. She releases their potency and reactivity through isolating and recombining them. She is more like a poet who takes everyday language, spikes it with terms obsolete and retrograde, and invests it with new resonance through the tools of disjunction, recontextualization, concentration and enjambment.
Saar, 90, is what the Japanese would term a living national Ttreasure. Any opportunity to see her work is a privilege, one that promises to wrench, incite and nourish. The work oscillates between toughness and beauty and typically fuses the two.
Roberts & Tilton's current show is divided into two parts that opened on staggered dates but now present as a single, selective survey. The 28 works span from 1964 to the present and include sculptures, installations, mixed-media paintings, drawings, collages and a single print. It's not the 80-work overview underway at the Prada Foundation in Milan, Italy, nor the 135-piece retrospective that traveled earlier this year from the Netherlands to Arizona. It doesn't pretend to capture the L.A. native's breadth, but it more than hints at her depth.
Betye Saars The Destiny of Latitude & Longitude, 2010, mixed media assemblage, 54 by 43 inches. (Brian Forrest / Betye Saar and Roberts Tilton) (Test)
The show also demonstrates that Saar has not yet exhausted her vocabulary of forms and ideas. Several recent pieces have just as much emotional texture, vigor and relevance as those that established her reputation decades ago. "Serving Time" (2010) nimbly links today's incarceration epidemic among African American men to earlier patterns of segregation and oppression. Inside an old, standing birdcage festooned on the outside with padlocks and keyrings are three crudely caricatured black male figures, a clock and a crow figurine, Saar's ominous, oft-used reference to Jim Crow.
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In "The Destiny of Latitude & Longitude," also from 2010, a tall billowing dome of a cage encloses two miniature ships, another recurring motif for Saar, as is the notorious diagram of enslaved Africans packed in a ship's hold. One vessel here dangles beneath a wire moon, and the other sails on a sea of gray tresses. Three antique wire glove forms press imploringly against the cage's mesh walls. The feet of a little bird are bound by wire, a small globe rests in the mouth of a metal shoe, and a padlock fastens a long gray braid to the wall of the cage. By juxtaposing images that operate on such different scales, Saar invokes continuity between the intimate and the more broadly social: captive soul, captive body, captive culture.
Throughout, secondhand objects dense with their own histories suggest larger historical narratives, forces and fates. The destiny of these discards, it seems, was to serve as building blocks in a poetry of yearning, praise and lament.
Roberts & Tilton, 5801 Washington Blvd., Culver City. Through Dec. 17; closed Sundays and Mondays. (323) 549-0223, www.robertsandtilton.com
Kenneth Morehouses Impressions of Stone, 2015, digital photographs back-printed on plexiglass, 94 by 94 inches. (MIM Gallery) (Test)
Provocatively installed just inside MIM's gallery door, Kenneth Morehouse's "Impressions of Stone" reads at once as a collection of photographs, a section of flooring, a riff on Carl Andre's metal plate grids and a reverberant poke at what constitutes truth in representation.
All of the 16 plexiglass tiles (each measuring 94 inches by 94 inches) are back-printed with a grid of photographs of paving stones and concrete incised to mimic them. The piece marries traditions rooted in the late '60s minimalist sculpture and conceptual photography, especially the work of Kenneth Josephson to land irreverently, unavoidably, at today's doorstep, setting the mind aflutter with its self-referentiality and layers of surrogacy.
Morehouse's work ushers us into the group show, "Number Six," whose participants all put photography to some sort of unconventional use emphasizing materiality. Despite some simplistic work, the show has plenty of piquant moments to compensate.
In her two "Memories" pieces, Shadi Yousefian gathers hundreds of tiny photo-portraits, slips each like a specimen into its own plastic or glassine bag and nails them to a wood panel in a tight grid. Intimacy meets detachment in this personal archive.
Sasan Abri's "Conjunctivitis" series of large inkjet prints invokes the condition's symptom of compromised sight. The pictures are blurred, their colors bleached. They intrigue in direct proportion to what they withhold.
Zachary Roachs Tablet 1, Tablet 2" and Tablet 3, 2016, concrete, photo emulsion, each 26 inches in diameter. (MIM Gallery) (Test)
Zachary Roach prints photographs on 26-inch-diameter relic-like concrete in "Tablets"; two lean against the wall, and one lies cracked apart on the floor. The images are distorted, incomplete portraits, yellowed as if from the distant past, and that elusiveness clashes marvelously with the palpable physicality and daunting weight of their support.
MIM, 2636 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. Through Oct. 29; closed Sundays and Mondays. (424) 299-8223, www.mim.gallery
Tom Knechtels Tempelhof (4), 2015, ink on paper, 11.5 inches by 16.5 inches. (Tom Knechtel / Marc Selwyn Fine Art) (Test)
"I Stand in the Mess of Myself," the working title for Tom Knechtel's deeply stirring show at Marc Selwyn Fine Art, was borrowed from one of its 30 ink drawings. What became the show's final title, "Astrolabe," is a reference to an antiquated navigational tool and a nod to his overall enterprise: seeking orientation in that curious mess of the self, that made-to-fail engine of multiplicity, simultaneity, wonder and contradiction.
Knechtel's work of more than three decades has largely seized upon the montage nature of experience, and two large paintings here evoke that temporal, sensory stew. The notebook-sized drawings deviate into the zone of singular focus portraits and self-portraits, primarily but often prove more complex.
Tom Knechtels Bobs Feet (4), 2015, ink on paper, 8 by 11-1/5 inches. (Tom Knechtel / Marc Selwyn Fine Art) (Test)
"Bob's Feet (4)" ripples outward from tender, direct observation to meditation on mortality, humility, reverence. Knechtel draws the feet of his reclining husband from below, looking from the soles upward, a perspective that speaks at once of the intimacy of the bed and the chill of the morgue, reverberating all the while with the echo of Andrea Mantegna's famously foreshortened "Lamentation Over the Dead Christ" (circa 1490).
A companion show of the artist's prints and drawings at CB1 Gallery makes this a season to feast on Knechtel, and what exquisite nourishment he offers. From the ink-pooled circles under his eyes in a piercing "Tempelhof" self-portrait to the alien creature he finds between his legs in the jarring, luminous little painting "Salamander," Knechtel is ever rendering nakedness itself, and not just as a matter of bared skin.
Marc Selwyn Fine Art, 9953 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. Through Oct. 29; closed Sundays and Mondays. (310) 277-9953, www.marcselwynfineart.com
Kay Sekimachis Untitled Basket, 1976 grass twine, split-ply braiding 8.5 x 16 x 11 inches (M. Lee Fatherree / Craft & Folk Art Museum) (Test)
Kay Sekimachi works in an astonishing range of materials: paper, wood, paint, ink, dye, shells, leaves, hornet nests. But she is primarily known as a fiber artist, relegated to that condescending sub-category reserved for those who use tangible lines, as opposed to those (just plain artists) who draw and paint them.
Raising again and again such hierarchical assignations can, admittedly, get tiresome, but sometimes the discussion spits out new, irrepressible questions.
Kay Sekimachis Nagare I, 1967; black nylon monofilament, wood beads, plastic tubing; double, quadruple and tubular weave; 69 inches long, 13 inches diameter. (M. Lee Fatherree / Craft & Folk Art Museum) (Test)
"Simple Complexity," a handsome and at times breathtaking show at the Craft & Folk Art Museum, touches down lightly across the range of Sekimachi's nearly 60-year output. A 1960 woven room divider introduces the Bay Area artist's inventive lyricism within conventional, functional formats. Flax fiber bowls from 2008 are pure suspended fluidity, the plant's hairs alone defining the vessel form's swirling momentum.
Two hanging monofilament sculptures are marvels of technical ingenuity, the multiple woven planes flowing together and apart as permeable membranes, akin to the undulating, bulbous, crocheted metal forms of Ruth Asawa. Sekimachi's work talks richly with the work of others, and not just fiber artists, another reason to dissolve those hierarchical barriers and embrace instead a more democratically diverse art history.
"100 Views of Fuji" (1981) is a small, double-woven linen accordion book, transfer-printed with pale violet silhouettes of the sacred mountain. It pays elegant tribute to the woodblock printer Hokusai. Three small square wall pieces, woven linen fields with lines and dots accentuated in dye and marker (2011 and 2014), are direct homages to Agnes Martin, who was influenced by weaving. These beautifully reductive grids speak in a shared language, as if pages of their private correspondence.
Craft & Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Through Jan. 8; closed Mondays. (323) 937-4230, www.cafam.org
Kay Sekimachis Homage to AM: Dots II, 2011; linen, textile dye, permanent marker; plain weave. (M. Lee Fatherree / Craft & Folk Art Museum) (Test)
Follow The Times arts team @culturemonster.
You can get to know the downtown Los Angeles arts and culture scene better Saturday at Grand Ave Arts: All Access, a daylong soiree presented by institutions clustered between Temple and 6th streets.
Free, family-friendly events have been planned within walking distance of one another by the Broad museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Center Theatre Group, the Music Center, Grand Park, the Colburn School, L.A. Opera, the L.A. Philharmonic, the L.A. Master Chorale, REDCAT and the L.A. Central Library.
Heres a sampling of six ways to spend the day:
Get a dance lesson. Faculty from the dance department at the Colburns Community School of Performing Arts are welcoming children and adults. No dance experience is necessary. Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave. 2 to 3 p.m.
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See Day of the Dead altars. Sneak a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the making of Grand Parks 35 Dia de los Muertos altars and art, which were created by local artists and will be on display through Nov. 6. The altars share the artists personal stories of grief, triumph and more. Grand Park, 200 N. Grand Ave., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Hear music. Audience members can chime in on beloved folk songs sung a cappella by composer Moira Smiley and members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Disney Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave. The first performance runs from noon to 12:20 p.m., the second from 1:30 to 1:50 p.m.
Browse art for free. See a magnificent collection of contemporary art including works by Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko and Jean-Michel Basquiat as MOCA offers free admission for the day. The museum will provide gallery tours of its permanent collection, and NTS Radio will feature three live DJ sets and broadcast live from MOCAs outdoor plaza. 250 S. Grand Ave. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Go backstage. The Music Center is leading free 30-minute guided tours backstage at Disney Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre. Tours of Disney Hall run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; get a timed ticket in front of the hall. Tours of the other venues run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; get a timed ticket in front of each venue.
Take the kids to a movie. Treat the little ones to a screening of selections from the 2016 International Childrens Film Festival. These include animated and live-action short films from around the world. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., noon to 4 p.m.
More information and a full schedule: (213) 972-8500, grandavearts.tumblr.com
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Even in the midst of a construction boom, with cranes crowding the skyline and investment dollars pouring in from around the world, what remains perhaps most striking about the landscape of downtown Los Angeles is the sheer amount of emptiness. A remarkable number of huge parcels in seemingly prime locations, many the remnants of postwar urban-renewal campaigns, hold only dirt or parked cars.
The piece of land between Hill Street and Broadway, across the street from The Times, has been among the most conspicuous of these vacant mega-blocks since a state office building there was demolished in 2007. Though an important urban linchpin downtown, a site with some allegiance to both Bunker Hill and the Civic Center, it languished as plans for a federal courthouse were knocked off track by funding disputes in Congress and then a change of architects. I remember watching a family of ducks splash in one of the giant puddles that collected there during one of L.A.s last rainy winters.
Now that the building is finally complete, with judges moving in this month, the delay is somewhat easier to overlook. The $350-million, 633,000-square-foot courthouse, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is an unusually polished work of civic architecture especially by the standards of Los Angeles, where well-wrought public buildings have been comparatively rare in recent decades.
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1 / 14 Downtown Los Angeles new federal courthouse includes a particularly effective feature: edges that are lifted off the ground, making the glass cube seem to float in midair. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 14 The serrated facade of the new federal courthouse is just one of the buildings striking elements. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 14 Skylights at the new federal courthouse downtown create a bright environment. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 14 Catharine Opies photographic series Yosemite Falls is on display inside the federal courthouse. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 14 The glass walls of the federal courthouse make for an open, light-filled space. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 14 Los Angeles City Hall is reflected in the windows of the new 10-story federal courthouse downtown. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 14 People gather in the jury assembly room during opening ceremonies for the new federal courthouse downtown. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 14 The cube-like federal building, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, has 10 stories and encompasses 633,000 square feet. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 14 The serrated facade is just one of the new federal courthouses striking elements. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 14 The federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 14 Sky bridges are placed on each level of the 10-story federal courthouse. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 14 A rooftop cactus garden softens the surfaces of the new federal courthouse in downtown L.A. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 14 An atrium rises 10 floors through the center of the building. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 14 A reflecting pool stands outside the entrance to the new federal courthouse in downtown L.A. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Ten stories high, with broad shoulders and careful posture, it takes the form of a cube sheathed in walls of glass. As architect Craig Hartman (who led the SOM design team alongside Michael Mann, Paul Danna and Jose Palacios) told me during a tour a couple of weeks ago, the symbolism of the cube is meant to be impossible to miss, a representation of solidity, constancy and the rule of law. The largely unadorned materials concrete and glass on the exterior, terrazzo and white oak inside reinforce the same message.
If the designs interest in symbols ended there, the courthouse (built to replace a 1938 facility on North Spring Street) might be little more than a trite expression of familiar virtues. Luckily the architects have managed to explore a very different set of qualities including flexibility and even deference in framing the buildings relationship with its urban context and its sloping site.
Rather than coming down all the way to the sidewalk, the outer edges of the cube are lifted one full floor above it. This gesture gives the impression that the building is floating above ground level and that the hillside itself has been allowed to flow across its base, just below the outer facade.
Its also a move that turns the buildings detachment from the city around it from a liability into a surprising asset. In the years since the attacks on the Oklahoma City federal building (1995) and the World Trade Center (1993 and 2001), courthouses and other government buildings have had to follow strict setback requirements that pull them 50 or even 75 feet back from the outer edges of their sites. This almost always means that they feel anti-urban, standing aloof from their surroundings.
The downtown courthouse, like the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters across the street from The Times in the other direction, is no exception. It shrinks back from the sidewalk on three sides. (The fourth edge, along 2nd Street, contains a strip of land earmarked for a federal office tower.) Polished metal bollards embedded along the sidewalk in front of the courthouse add another protective layer.
The decision to lift the edges of the cube off the ground doesnt fight this sense of retreat but in a powerfully counterintuitive gesture extends, underscores and ultimately wrings some architectural strength from it. Theres no drama in a building that pulls back from the sidewalk. But theres plenty in one that seems to float in mid-air.
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I dont want to oversell the architectural gymnastics here. This isnt some L.A. version of the Rainier Tower that Minoru Yamasaki designed on 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle in 1977, a building that stands on its exceptionally narrow base like a pencil balanced on its tip. Nor does the SOM design try to match the extroversion or exuberance of Walt Disney Concert Hall.
This is a building that wants to look respectable and rational but not staid, one that is fairly conventional on the horizontal plane and takes a significant if measured chance on the vertical one. Still, its a chance that pays off.
The other gesture of clever accommodation in SOMs design is a response to geography instead of topography, the map instead of the slope. It comes in the triangular glass forms that make up the buildings unusual serrated skin.
As anybody who has looked closely at a map of downtown Los Angeles knows, the Civic Center is not laid out on a cardinal grid but is skewed nearly 40 degrees, a vestige of the citys Spanish origins. Maximizing the use of daylight inside a building, on the other hand, means aligning it on a precise north-south axis.
The architects use the courthouse facade to reconcile those competing grids, allowing the building to rise parallel to First Street while also taking full advantage of southern exposure to help light courtrooms and public spaces inside the building. On the sections that get direct sun, the peaked floor-to-ceiling windows are opaque on one side, blocking the most intense light, and transparent on the other, opening up views of surrounding buildings, including Disney Hall and City Hall.
The roof is covered in a solar array expected to generate more than half a million kilowatt hours of electricity on an annual basis, or roughly the amount of energy required to power 50 homes for a year. A storm water cistern big enough to hold 105,000 gallons is hidden beneath the building.
Inside, the courthouse restates the themes expressed on the exterior in a range of ways. Like the facade, the brightly sunlit interior is rational and symmetrical from side to side and more dramatic from bottom to top.
The buildings 24 courtrooms fill two stacks separated by an atrium rising 10 floors through the center of the building. This open space is crossed by sky bridges on each level.
The courtrooms are outfitted in marble and white oak, and all but one are filled with natural light from two directions: from a wall of windows behind the bench and clerestory windows on the opposite side. The north side of the atrium features a superb series of large-scale photographs, Yosemite Falls by Catherine Opie.
Like all new federal courthouses, the construction of this one was overseen by the General Services Administration. In 1994, the GSA launched an initiative called the Design Excellence Program in an effort to lift the architectural quality of new federal buildings across the country.
In the years since it has awarded commissions to some of architectures most accomplished firms, including Richard Meier & Partners (courthouses in San Diego, Long Island and Phoenix), Morphosis (Eugene, Ore.) and Thomas Phifer & Partners (Salt Lake City).
The downtown L.A. courthouse, as part of the program, went initially to Perkins + Will, which proposed a 17-story tower with a curving, sail-like facade along Broadway. Funding fell into limbo after the project was attacked as wasteful by members of Congress. After (most of) the money came back, the GSA changed course and gave the job to SOM and Clark Construction Group, this time following the design-build method, which aims to be both faster and less expensive than typical construction.
The Design Excellence Program has a generally strong track record. If the buildings have a common flaw its a certain tone-deafness about climate and context, a tendency to drop cleaned-lined modernist buildings onto their sites as if theyve been produced in a factory and parachuted in. The worst offender in this regard is probably Meiers courthouse in Phoenix, which features a huge glass atrium that makes little sense in the Arizona heat.
At first glance, the SOM courthouse looks similarly standoffish; its cubic form seems to owe more to some Euclidean ideal of architectural symmetry than to a careful study of its surroundings.
That reading of the building falls apart pretty quickly once you make an effort to understand its design on its own terms. I find its Broadway edge, dominated by a giant parking entrance, disappointing at sidewalk level. But on the whole this is a work of architecture surprisingly sensitive to and keen to engage the city around it.
christopher.hawthorne@latimes.com
Twitter: @HawthorneLAT
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In a spacious Modernist villa designed by Irving Gill and set on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Art Center of La Jolla opened its doors in 1941. Over the decades, that single building, once owned by Ellen Browning Scripps, has slowly expanded into what is now the La Jolla branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
And, on the occasion of the museums 75th anniversary, it is set to grow yet again.
For the record: A previous version of this post misstated the size of challenge grant offered by Joan and Irwin Jacobs as $35 million. The grant was for $20 million.
Last week, the museum formally launched expansion plans that have been in the works for several years. An extension and renovation, conceived by New York architect Annabelle Selldorf, the designer behind thoughtful upgrades at New Yorks Neue Galerie and the Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts, will add 30,000 square feet of gallery space quadrupling the museums exhibition areas.
As part of last weeks launch, MCASD also formally kicked off a capital campaign of $75 million to fund construction and buttress the endowment. Already, the museum has raised $56.7 million some of it through a $20-million challenge grant established by Joan and Irwin Jacobs, whose son, Paul Jacobs, the former chief executive of Qualcomm, is now president of the museums board.
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By every measure we are in a good position, says Hugh Davies, who is overseeing the expansion and capital campaign for the museum. And we still have naming opportunities in the new building.
As part of the transition, Davies, who had served as the museums director for more than three decades, has handed the reins to Kathryn Kanjo, who had previously served as deputy director. Now Davies is fully focused on completing fundraising and breaking ground on the project.
The expansion, which will double the size of the museum to a total of 102,000 square feet including galleries, administrative areas and other public spaces will finally allow MCASD to show its collection in a permanent way. (Currently the museum has only 10,000 square feet of gallery space, which allows for the display of only one exhibition at a time.)
Its been this great frustration to have this great collection and not be able to show it, Davies says. We will be able to show all of the major movements of American and to some degree European and Latin American art throughout the 20th century.
Retiring director of MCASD Hugh Davies, who will be focused on fundraising for the museum expansion. (Misael Virgen / San Diego Union-Tribune )
The museum, which has more than 4,700 objects in its holdings, is particularly renowned for its collection of minimalist and light and space works which includes pieces by figures such as painter Agnes Martin and installationist Robert Irwin, known for ambient installations that toy with vision and perception.
MCASD also has significant holdings in works created by Mexican artists, in particular work from Tijuana. We can tell the history of that city, says Davies. Thats been a priority all along.
Architecturally, the expansion will finesse the jumble of buildings that have grown on the spot over time from the original villa designed by Gill in 1915, to the additions created in later decades by architects Robert Venturi and Robert Mosher.
Selldorf, who is known for her perceptive approaches to existing architecture (last week she was also named the architect for a renovation at the historic Frick Collection in New York City), is also working on the whole complexs relationship to its greatest asset: the Pacific.
Annabelle is taking advantage of our site, says Davies, creating these terraces where you can look at the ocean and then you can go back in and look at art.
Davies estimates that the construction will run about $55 million, with the extra $20 million going to the institutions endowment (which currently stands at $40 million). The increase in the endowment is essential for the museum for additional maintenance and security and additional art handlers, he says. Its a prudent and conservative plan.
During construction, the La Jolla site will remain closed and exhibitions and other programming will take place in MCASDs downtown San Diego branch on Kettner Boulevard. Davies estimates the La Jolla project will break ground in late 2017.
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Find me on Twitter @cmonstah.
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Justin Timberlake is getting a little more attention than he bargained for when he posted a selfie as he voted in Tennessee and encouraged people to vote early in the upcoming election.
Turns out the state has a law, new this year, that prohibits using a mobile device to take a picture in a voting booth.
Hey! You! Yeah, YOU! I just flew from LA to Memphis to #rockthevote !!! No excuses, my good people!, Timberlake wrote in a caption showing him notching his preferences at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Germantown, Tenn. There could be early voting in your town too. If not, November 8th! Choose to have a voice! If you don't, then we can't HEAR YOU! Get out and VOTE! #excerciseyourrighttovote.
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Timberlake made it to Tennessee a day after the Sunday premiere of his new movie, Trolls, in Los Angeles.
Were thrilled Justin cant stop the feeling when it comes to voting so much that he voted early in person and is promoting voting to his millions of fans, said Adam Ghassemi, a spokesman for Secretary of State Tre Hargett, on Tuesday. In Tennessee, using electronic devices inside polling locations to take pictures, videos or make calls is not allowed.
We hope this encourages more people than ever to vote, he added, but Tennesseans should only use their phones inside polling locations for informational purposes to assist while voting, like our free GoVoteTN mobile app. If polling officials discover someone violating this law they will ask the voter to put their phone away.
A spokesman for the Shelby County district attorney told the Commercial Appeal on Tuesday that the office had been notified of a possible election-law violation and that the matter was under review, but later told the newspaper that while the office was aware of the allegation, it had not been presented anything by an investigative authority to look into.
The law which was cosponsored by a state senator from Germantown made it a misdemeanor to take a cellphone photo in a voting booth. The law gives people statutory protection to use their mobile devices to assist them in voting, but also makes this kind of selfie-taking a misdemeanor punishable by a $50 fine and up to 30 days in jail.
One problem raised with the bill back in 2015 was a concern that voters not be afraid to use their phones to record fraud. Astonishingly enough, a failed amendment to the law that would have allowed some polling-place smartphone photography didnt address the possibility of a celebrity-selfie public service announcement.
Memphis-born Timberlake didnt stop at that selfie, by the way. He also posed for pictures with a few people outside the polling place.
"I said, 'I know youve done it a lot, but Id appreciate a picture with you.' Someone was going to take it for me, Suzanne Jones, a candidate for the Germantown school board who got a picture with Timberlake, told the Commercial Appeal.
But he said, 'No, I can take it. I do have gorilla arms, since I do this a lot.'"
Follow Christie DZurilla on Twitter @theCDZ.
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UPDATES:
8:45 a.m. Oct 26: This article was updated with revised information from the district attorneys office.
This article was originally published at 2:50 p.m. Oct. 25.
No one will ever know what drove Florida newscaster Christine Chubbuck to shoot herself in the head on live television in July 1974. Whether fueled by mental illness, anguish over personal issues, anger over professional setbacks or as a form of radical media critique, Chubbucks action has the feeling of a statement, even as her meaning remains opaque.
Christine, now playing in Los Angeles, creates a portrait of Chubbuck that attempts to both unravel and respect the mysteries of her life and death, drawing a sharp portrait of 1970s workplace culture, the tension between ambitions and abilities and her personal specifics. Directed by Antonio Campos from a screenplay by Craig Shilowich and featuring Rebecca Hall in the lead role, the film manages a tricky push-pull of giving viewers insight into the ways Chubbuck grew increasingly troubled, a cauldron with a tight lid finally boiling over, without providing overly pat explanations.
For the record: An earlier version of this post referred to actress J. Smith-Cameron as J. Cameron Smith.
Everything I want to know about Christine Chubbuck, the real Christine Chubbuck, goes to the grave with her, said Hall, who lives in New York City, during a recent interview in Los Angeles. When someone is going through whatever she was going through, there is no accounting for how much she internalized and how much she showed the world.
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I dont feel like I know the real Christine Chubbuck, said Hall. I feel like I know the one that I created very well.
Portraying Chubbuck on-screen has brought Hall the 34-year-old British-born actress with an impressive resume that includes Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, The Town and Iron Man 3 arguably the best reviews of her career. The Times Justin Chang described Hall as brilliant and New York Times critic Manohla Dargis called the performance humanizing while noting how the actress builds her slow-burning performance with both subtly fluctuating expressive details and larger physical gestures.
By a coincidence of chance, fate or something in the cultural ether, when Christine premiered earlier this year at Sundance, also at the festival was Robert Greenes documentary Kate Plays Christine, featuring actress Kate Lyn Sheil in an investigation of Chubbuck and the difficulties of depicting her story.
What both films underscore is that for all the hard work of understanding the details of Chubbucks personal and professional life, as well as the contextual specifics of her time and place, she remains unknowable.
There is a mystery to her that I felt like we had to maintain. I wanted to be able to be in her head and then be out of her head, said Campos in a recent interview. It was important you have the difference between the way she felt and the way that she appeared to other people.
Justin Chang reviews the new drama Christine, directed by Antonio Campos and starring Rebecca Hall and Michael C. Hall. Video by Jason H. Neubert.
In an era before widespread home video, the live event of Chubbucks on-air shooting she died hours later is believed to have been seen by perhaps a few hundred people. (A tape of the event is now known to exist, but is not in public circulation.) An August 1974 article in the Washington Post by Sally Quinn was long the best record of Chubbucks life and death.
The origins of Christine began when screenwriter Shilowich was admittedly just wasting time on the Internet while working on something else. It was there he came across the barest details of Chubbucks story on a morbid list of shocking deaths. Yet something about her story pulled him in. Having gone through his own personal issues with depression, he felt an emotional connection to Chubbuck that grounded the story as it took on additional layers.
I related to where she was, and how she was wrestling with herself, Shilowich said. Being a woman, being a woman in the 70s, being a newscaster, figuring out how to reconcile all that with my own personal experience was tricky, but just being in touch with her not knowing how to relate that to other people and wanting so desperately to have people help you and then not letting them in when they reach out, that was very familiar to me.
Campos previous features, Afterschool and Simon Killer, were both chilly portraits of wounded masculinity. When Hall was first sent the script to Christine, she was skeptical of the project, concerned that a male writer and male director were making this movie very much rooted in a womans experience.
There are many ways to tell this story, this is the version that I think is a film about sensationalism that isnt sensationalistic, said Hall. When I read the script I was struck by what was an important feminist critique in it apart from anything else. So I was like, why is this being made by two men?
There are ways in which she is this harbinger; her story is fascinating on so many levels because it doesnt elicit a simple response, added Hall. You go out wanting to talk about all sorts of things that were not very good at talking about: suicide, mental health, how we view women in positions of power and authority, how we expect women to act feminine.
Rebecca Hall and Antonio Campos at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 25. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times )
The film features strong supporting performances from Tracy Letts as Chubbucks boss, J. Smith-Cameron as her mother and Maria Dizzia, Timothy Simons and Michael C. Hall as co-workers. Halls husband, actor Morgan Spector, also appears briefly as a doctor.
Nobody in the movie knows whats wrong with Christine. Nobody knows really what is going on with her, said Letts of playing opposite Hall in the film. Youre just not aware of who this person is that youre dealing with. And so for the rest of us the challenge in some ways was to overlook just how screwed up this person is that youre playing the scene with. And the truth is we do it in our lives every day.
Halls last day with the production on-set was her last scene in the movie, Chubbucks shooting. Within a few days she was working on a very different movie Steven Spielbergs family-friendly The BFG and the abruptness of the transition forced her to quickly leave the character of Chubbuck behind.
But there was something else, as performing Chubbucks very public last act became a kind of exorcism, or at least a point of finality, but also highlighted the fragility and empathy that Hall felt toward the character and the real person she was portraying. Having gone deep inside to create the character, Hall found herself unexpectedly stepping outside herself.
I suddenly was aware of Rebecca looking at it and going, Dont do it, Hall said. I knew that the film was working because everyone was feeling that, there was a weird sort of somber silence on the set. Everyone had been living with her and we all knew we had come to the day when we were going to have to kill her. And nobody wanted to, myself included. You have a moment where you go, please dont do it.
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Mark.Olsen@latimes.com
Follow on Twitter: @IndieFocus
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(File photo)
A woman has been sentenced to death by a court in Ningbo, Zhejiang province after she hired a hit man to murder her daughter-in-law, driven by jealousy over the young woman's relationship with her son.
The woman, surnamed Zhang, admitted before the trial that she wanted to kill her daughter-in-law, surnamed Zhao, because she felt that Zhao had stolen her son from her, local media reported. Unable to move past her grudge, Zhang decided to hire a killer to get rid of the young woman.
In February, Zhang paid two killers 150,000 RMB to stab Zhao to death, which they did on Feb. 26. Zhang helped the killers to familiarize themselves with the residential compound where Zhao lived, even providing them with a knife and gloves. Zhao was stabbed several times in the stomach and died of traumatic hemorrhagic shock. The killers fled the scene after covering up the body, Thepaper.cn reported.
Along with the victims parents, Zhangs son and grandson also pressed charges, demanding a total of 500,000 RMB in compensation. Zhang was asked to shoulder 300,000 RMB of the total compensation.
The two killers were also sentenced, one to death with reprieve and the other to eight years in prison.
Karen Elson advocated mixing up her friends from fashion, beauty and music at the Chateau Marmont on Thursday night, a concept that melded with the philosophy held by her new employer, Jo Malone London.
As the scent of red rose mixed with lime basil and mandarin throughout the bungalow, the new Jo Malone London Girl mingled with Poppy Delevingne, Fuschia Sumner, Mary Charteris, Marie-Lou and Chloe Bartoli, Jessica Joffe, Asia Chow, Lily Oakes and others. Delevingne took on double duty as the first Jo Malone London Girl and as the evenings hostess welcoming Elson to the British fragrance company.
Its all about experimenting and bringing changes, Delevingne said. A fan of Jo Malone Londons Red Roses cologne since she was 18, the towering blonde said she opted for its Tuberose Angelica scent that night. Its a little sexier. Whenever you go to Chateau Marmont, you have to be a little sexier, she said, showing off her long legs in a black romper.
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Elson relished the opportunity to follow her olfactory whims, which took her full circle to Los Angeles. She received her first Jo Malone London bag of goodies from a friend years ago when she visited the city. She started the day smelling like a bluebell, then became enamored with the combination of incense and cedar. To accent her red velvet dress for dinner, she picked Velvet Rose and Oud.
Ive been the face of fragrances before. This is a different experience to be a cultivator, she said. Its been really fun to bring the really amazing women that I know together to just collaborate on this. So in a way its a dream gig.
Those women included Tennessee Thomas, who mixed songs under silver sequin-sealed nails. Liz Goldwyn reminisced of the project she and Elson undertook two years ago to raise more than $100,000 for Dress for Success from the sale of their vintage clothes that were reworked by designers such as Marc Jacobs, Gregory Parkinson and Rodartes Laura and Kate Mulleavy. Weve been talking about expanding it to more ready-to-wear projects, she said.
Goldwyns other endeavor involves the spring launch of her third book and a new podcast, both about sex, health and consciousness. Shes also made time recently for vintage shopping in Milan with Elson. We never fought over anything, she said. We intersect on the Twenties and Seventies. My go-to is the Fifties and Id say hers is the Thirties.
Dita Von Teese has her own fashion friend in none other than the Duchess of Cambridge. For Von Teeses burlesque tour starting in February, shell visit new stops such as Toronto and Detroit with costumes designed by Jenny Packham, the British designer who is a favorite of Kate Middletons. I know, Von Teese said when asked about how two women from different walks of life merge onto the same aesthetic. I like cuts and styles that are quite elegant, she said. I like the thrill of the reveal. I can see why we both like [Packham].
For the night, Von Teese served as the muse for John Demsey, executive vice president at the Estee Lauder Cos. Inc., who rushed over to brandish his phone, which popped with red, black and tan illustrations of the dancer. Im going to have my powder room with my Dita Von Teese wallpaper designed by Donald Robertson surrounded by Jo Malone scents, he beamed.
Meanwhile, Jean-Guillaume Trottier, global brand president of Jo Malone London, assumed the role of patron of the evening, greeting guests here to celebrate our two English roses.
On the other hand, Liberty Ross stood out as perhaps the sole Brit who missed a spritz from the British perfumery. I havent been offered any, she opined. I need to get some.
Rain Phoenix, who was one of the 20-odd members of Citizens Band alongside Elson, looked forward to sniffing the Jo Malone London Girls house in Nashville come December, when Phoenixs band with Frally Hynes is set to perform with Rufus Wainwright and Emmylou Harris at the Ryman Auditorium. Shes going to have the most lovely smelling house in Nashville, Phoenix said. Having released an album titled Brother, Son over the summer, Phoenix and Hynes are in tune with each other when it comes to activities involving ear and nose. Im always a fan of tuberose, Phoenix said, and anything with lavender. Or vetiver, Hynes said. Regarding the opportunity to conjure a perfume for their band, Phoenix said, we would love to an interplanetary scent to match their moniker, Venus and the Moon.
After a British-inspired dinner of roasted chicken, Dover sole, peas, carrots and sticky toffee pudding, Phoenix and Hynes serenaded the guests with a trio of ballads. A strong whiff of cannabis floating from outdoors blended with all the various scents in the unseasonably warm air. Its very L.A., Phoenix said.
From a new West Hollywood restaurant by a Mexican culinary superstar to a chocolate shop in Silver Lake, heres whats happening in the Los Angeles food and drink world:
From Baja to WeHo: Diego Hernandez, one of the most celebrated chefs in Mexico, is opening a restaurant in West Hollywood this winter. The chef has partnered with Select Hospitality & Design (the same team behind Hinterland in Santa Monica) to open Verlaine restaurant in the former Dominicks space on Beverly Boulevard. Hernandez, who is the chef and owner of Corazon de Tierra in Baja, listed among the top restaurants in Latin America by Worlds 50 Best Restaurants, br plans on a menu that incorporates Mexican, Mediterranean and Japanese influences. 8715 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood.
Silver Lake gets sweeter: Chocolatier and chef Valerie Gordon and partner Stan Weightman Jr. will open a Valerie Confections boutique in Silver Lake, next to the original Valerie location on 1st Street. The 1,000-square-foot shop will house Gordons retail operations while the cooking will continue to take place in the original space. The full Valerie chocolate line will be available at the shop, along with preserves, marmalades, granola, almond toffee and sugar cookies. There will also be a selection of housewares. 3364 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, www.valerieconfections.com.
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Union Stations new crepes: Cafe Crepe, the Santa Monica French restaurant, has opened a new location at Union Station in downtown L.A. The cafe is located in the stations waiting area and includes outside seating as well. The menu includes savory and sweet crepes, a full breakfast menu, pasta and grilled panini. The restaurant joins a growing list of new restaurants at the station including Green Bowl 2go and Oto Oto. 800 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles, cafecrepe.com/welcome.
The Abbeys new chapel: David Cooley, owner of the Abbey in West Hollywood, has opened the Chapel at the Abbey, which includes two new bars adjacent to the original Abbey. The bars continue the Abbeys church theme with gothic lighting, religious-themed statues and a DJ booth inspired by a pulpit. One bar is called Steeple Bar, the other Chapel Bar (both are inside the Chapel). The 40-foot Steeple Bar overlooks the patio and includes seven bar stations and two draft beer towers. The Chapel Bar overlooks the dance floor with three bar stations. The Chapels patio features its own fireplace and dancer stages between the tables. The Chapel bars are open, but new additions are coming, including a 48-foot tall steeple. 969 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, www.theabbeyweho.com.
Making a move to the beach: Marche Moderne, a regular on Jonathan Golds 101 Best Restaurants list, will move from its current location inside South Coast Plaza to Crystal Cove Shopping Center next year. Chef Florent Marneau will continue the restaurants French, market-inspired menu, with signature dishes such as foie gras, coq au vin and grilled octopus. The new location is slated to open next spring. 7862 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Beach, www.marchemoderne.net.
Pasta pasta: Avner Lavi, the chef behind the Cento pasta pop-up in downtown L.A., is also at Birch in Hollywood with a new lunchtime pop-up called Andare. Every weekday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., Andare will be open with Cenots pastas, along with sandwiches, salads, desserts and larger entrees. Andare will also host Monday dinners once a month through a ticket system and feature new dishes from Lavi with wine pairings. Delivery from Andare will be available beginning Nov. 7. 1634 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles.
Still hungry?
Laurel Point, a new sustainable seafood restaurant, is open in Studio City. Aaron Mitrano is the new executive chef at the Anchor on Main Street in Venice. Blaze Pizza has opened at Staples Center. Salazar in Frogtown has started serving brunch on Fridays. Michael Bryant is the new executive chef at Cliffs Edge. Nekter Juice Bar has opened in Redondo Beach. Sugarfina will open a flagship location at the Americana at Brand in Glendale. 21 Square Bar + Kitchen, a new restaurant featuring coastal comfort food, is opening in Torrance in November. Ozu East Kitchen is open for brunch in Atwater Village.
Love a good scoop? (Im talking about ice cream). Follow me on Twitter & Instagram @Jenn_Harris_
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He roamed the streets of Sacramento for six years, raping women as they walked to work or headed home from parties in the dark.
To keep them from fighting back, he smashed their heads with rocks and wrapped his hands around their necks. Sometimes he threatened them with a gun.
Police became frustrated, unable to identify him even though they had his DNA from the crimes. Desperate for a break, they checked a database of convicted felons, but came up empty-handed.
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Finally, they searched for a partial match to see whether he had a relative in the database. They got lucky the man had a brother in custody, which led authorities to the assailant.
The Roaming Rapist is one of a handful of cases that California authorities have quietly solved in recent years using a controversial technique that scours an offender DNA database for a father, son or brother of an elusive crime suspect.
The states early success using familial DNA searches to identify the so-called Grim Sleeper serial killer led Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck to predict that the method would change the way policing is done in the United States. Civil liberty groups expressed alarm, saying the searches raised significant ethical and privacy concerns. Some questioned their legality.
Since then, familial DNA has made more modest progress than Beck predicted but has also gained wider respect. Eight other states have followed Californias lead, formally embracing the technique as a crime-fighting tool. And though many opponents still express concerns, Californias approach has won over some previous skeptics who say they are impressed with the states strict policies limiting its use and the measured successes.
Using the method helped detectives in the state identify two murderers, including the Grim Sleeper, and five men wanted for sexual assaults, according to the attorney generals office.
Early last year, authorities arrested a San Diego County man accused of sneaking into childrens bedrooms and cutting holes in their pajamas before molesting them. A few months later, a Vacaville man was arrested on suspicion of raping and sodomizing a woman along a bike path.
A Santa Cruz County judge in 2013 sentenced a man to life in prison for raping a coffee shop employee then barricading her inside a walk-in refrigerator.
Lab officials look for a relative by scanning genetic profiles in the offender database and looking for DNA samples that match with a suspects along several, but not all, markers. From there, Californias testing method focuses on part of the Y-chromosome passed down along the male line, identifying father-son or full brother relationships.
As more genetic markers for peoples DNA are entered into offender databases, the technology will become more precise, said geneticist Frederick Bieber, a professor at Harvard Universitys medical school and a leading authority on the technique. That could help officials identify more distant relatives and track down criminals who arent in the system, he said.
The technology is powerful...theres demonstrable success, Bieber said.
Britain pioneered the use of familial DNA for crime solving more than a decade ago.
In one of the earliest cases, detectives reopened the 1988 killing of a 20-year-old woman in Wales and compared DNA from the assailant to genetic profiles in Britains database of known offenders. In 2002, they got a partial match to a 14-year-old boy. The teen wasnt alive at the time of the slaying, but detectives used the clue to focus on his uncle, who eventually pleaded guilty to the murder.
Despite that conviction and others, the technology took some time to catch on in the U.S. and was used only sporadically. Among its earliest uses was the 2005 Kansas arrest of Dennis Rader, the BTK serial killer, which came after officials subpoenaed a tissue sample from his daughters Pap smear taken at a medical clinic.
By 2007, an impassioned debate on the technology was percolating at the Capitol in Sacramento.
Gov. Jerry Brown then the states attorney general began fielding letters and visits from prosecutors, urging him to consider using familial DNA. His advisers, however, were concerned approving the method might cause federal judges to shut down the whole database on constitutional grounds.
In 2008, Brown enacted a comprehensive familial DNA policy making California the first state in the country to do so.
Under the policy, familial DNA is only to be used as a last resort when all other investigative angles have been exhausted. So far, the state Department of Justice has run 156 familial searches, many of them repeat queries, such as in the Grim Sleeper case.
An initial search turned up nothing, but state officials ran another scan in 2010. A partial match came back to a man added to the database after a 2008 arrest for firearm and drug offenses. Detectives zeroed in on the mans father, Lonnie Franklin Jr., who lived close to where many of the victims bodies were dumped in South L.A.
Detectives believe Franklin killed at least 25 women over more than two decades. He was sentenced to death in August.
Nabbing Franklin changed things for now-UCLA Law School Dean Jennifer Mnookin, who once condemned using DNA to find suspects by searching for relatives. Mnookin argued that the method invades privacy rights and is racially discriminatory because African Americans and Latinos are disproportionately represented in DNA databases.
Although she still worries about the racial disparity, she said her view shifted after seeing the effect on big cases, such as Franklins, and how infrequently the technology is used.
If its helping us solve big cases, Mnookin said, it seems like a worthwhile trade-off.
Eight other states Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, Michigan, Texas, Wyoming, Utah and Florida have protocols for the use of familial DNA, and the technology has also been used informally by agencies elsewhere.
But the growing popularity of the technique has raised alarms for some privacy advocates, such as Steve Mercer, chief attorney for the forensic division of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. Mercer successfully lobbied for his states formal ban on familial searches. Washington, D.C., is the only other jurisdiction to prohibit them outright.
Searching for relatives through partial matches is intrusive, he said, and raises concerns about the 4th Amendments prohibition on unreasonable search and seizure.
It is a slippery slope, he said.
Critics also warn that partial matches can point authorities to innocent people. In 2014, the technology led police in an Idaho city to wrongfully suspect a New Orleans filmmaker of committing a notorious 1996 murder.
Police homed in on him after examining an online database of genetic profiles. One profile, which was a near match to DNA left at the crime scene, belonged to a man who had donated his DNA years earlier to a hereditary studies project conducted by the Mormon church. An ancestry research company purchased the programs database, making it publicly available.
Idaho Falls police obtained a court order compelling the company to turn over the identity of the man, who detectives thought could be related to the killer. Once they had his name, they scrubbed his family and focused on the mans son, Michael Usry.
Detectives flew to New Orleans and interrogated him for more than three hours, before ordering him to provide a cheek swab. Usry asked whether someone he knew had committed a heinous crime. No, the detectives told him, they were looking at him.
He waited anxiously for a month, wondering whether hed be wrongfully arrested. Finally, an email came.
Mr. Usry, it read, your DNA did not match with our case. Sorry for the inconvenience.
The science is complicated and his experience shows it isnt the perfect system some supporters make it out to be, said Usry, now 37 and living in Colorado.
Im still just scratching my head, he said. Civil rights are being taken from us at an alarming rate.
Still, supporters of familial DNA searches point to its successes.
Sacramentos Roaming Rapist, Dereck Sanders, spent 14 years on the loose, attacking women in the late-1990s and early-2000s. He sexually assaulted 10 victims, including two teenagers,14 and 15, who sneaked out one night to meet up with friends.
Officials ran his DNA and began trailing Sanders, whose brother a convicted rapist was in the offender DNA database. Sacramento sheriffs deputies followed him to a McDonalds drive-thru, where he ordered a Happy Meal, and then to a park where he ate and threw away his trash. Detectives retrieved the garbage and took it back to the countys crime lab. There, officials tested the DNA from a straw Sanders had used.
It was a match.
That was one of the happiest meals we ever had, said Rob Gold, the supervising deputy district attorney who prosecuted Sanders. It would not have been solved without familial DNA.
Sanders 14-year-old victim, who is now 33, said the rape destroyed her for years.
She obsessed over maintaining control in all situations and felt paranoid. She watched until her girlfriends walked into their homes and shut the door behind them, but still found herself texting them to double-check that they were safe. (The Times generally does not identify victims of sex crimes.)
She got counseling and tried to understand the different ways the rape had affected her. Still, the same two questions often came to mind. Is he hurting anyone else, she wondered? Will I ever get the chance to look him in the eye?
The answer came in the fall of 2014 at Sanders trial, where she testified against him. He was convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault and sentenced to life in prison.
To her, the question of whether to use the technology is almost silly.
Its out there, its available, she said. Do it.
Authorities in California have used familial DNA searches to solve several murder and sexual assault cases:
Lonnie Franklin Jr.
The Grim Sleeper serial killer prowled the streets of South L.A. for more than two decades. After getting a partial DNA hit to his son in 2010, authorities charged Franklin with killing nine women and a teenage girl. He was convicted earlier this year and sentenced to death.
Elvis Garcia
A man sexually assaulted a barista in a Santa Cruz coffee shop in 2008, threatening her with a knife and barricading her inside a walk-in refrigerator. In 2011, a partial hit to the assailants father led police to Garcia, who was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to 65 years to life in prison.
James Brown
The 1978 slaying of a 26-year-old woman in an Orange County parking lot remained unsolved for three decades until familial DNA helped lead authorities to Brown, who died in 1996 and had been cremated. Forensic scientists used a DNA sample from his son to confirm Brown was the killer.
Dereck Sanders
Beginning in the late 1990s, the Roaming Rapist sexually assaulted women and girls across Sacramento County. Sheriffs deputies arrested Sanders in 2012 after a crime lab got a partial hit to his brother, a convicted rapist. Sanders is serving life in prison.
Michael Simpson
In 2002, a man raped and beat a 55-year-old woman behind a store in Sunnyvale. Using a familial DNA search, police identified Simpson as a suspect. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Gilbert Chavarria
During a heat wave in the summer of 2013, when many people left their windows cracked open, a San Diego County man snuck into the bedrooms of six children and cut holes in their pajamas before molesting them. Authorities said a familial DNA hit ultimately led them to arrest Chavarria. He has pleaded not guilty.
Jeremy Delaunay
In the summer of 2014, a teenager in Vacaville sexually assaulted a woman along a bike path before stealing her jewelry. A year later, authorities arrested Delaunay. He is serving six years in prison after pleading guilty to rape.
marisa.gerber@latimes.com
For more news from the Los Angeles County courts, follow me on Twitter: @marisagerber
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A 25-year-old man was found guilty Monday of trespassing at the Hollywood Hills home of model Kendall Jenner.
But jurors in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom acquitted Shavaughn McKenzie of a misdemeanor stalking charge, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Los Angeles police arrested McKenzie on Aug. 15 at Jenners home in the 1600 block of Marmont Avenue, according to jail records.
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Jenner had pulled into her driveway that evening and spotted McKenzie, who tried to talk to her, the Associated Press reported at the time.
Jenner, 20, called police and McKenzie was later taken into custody on suspicion of stalking.
Defense attorney Taylor Shramo told jurors Monday in his closing argument that McKenzie did not want to scare Jenner when he showed up at her gated home.
The lawyer argued that McKenzie just wanted to speak to Jenner.
Jenner the daughter of Kris and Caitlyn Jenner and the younger sister of Kim Kardashian West testified during the trial that she recognized McKenzie from two previous confrontations in Westwood.
Ive never been so scared in my life, she said.
McKenzie faces up to six months in jail for the misdemeanor trespassing charge.
matt.hamilton@latimes.com
Twitter: @MattHjourno
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A passenger in a speeding vehicle was killed Tuesday when the car slammed into three Oakland police cruisers parked at the scene of a shooting.
The crash occurred at 12:58 a.m. as officers were investigating the shooting in the 2500 block of 35th Avenue, according to Joe Wolfcale, a spokesman for the Oakland Police Department.
Thats when they saw a red Chevrolet Impala barreling toward them.
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The Impala was speeding south on 35th Avenue, where the street lanes were blocked at Brookdale Avenue for the investigation.
The vehicle crashed into three Oakland police cruisers and two parked cars.
A 27-year-old male passenger, a Hayward resident, died at the scene. Three other passengers were taken to area hospitals and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver, a 27-year-old Oakland man, suffered serious injuries and was also taken to a hospital.
Police said alcohol, as well as speed, played a role in the crash.
veronica.rocha@latimes.com
For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.
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Thought Obamajam was over? Think again.
President Obamas motorcade will course through the streets of Los Angeles on Tuesday for what could be the last time before his term in office comes to an end.
This weeks two-day trip to Los Angeles began Monday afternoon when Air Force One landed at Los Angeles International Airport.
From there, he stopped at Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Hollywood, where he read mean tweets about himself.
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The president later went to the home of Marilyn and Jeff Katzenberg for a fundraiser benefiting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties.
On Tuesday, Obama is scheduled to appear at the Beverly Hills home of Scream Queens creator Ryan Murphy and David Miller for a roundtable discussion to benefit the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Co-hosted by Jennifer Perry and Andy Spahn, the event is $33,400 per person.
Officials on warned of possible traffic problems in Los Angeles around the following areas and times:
Sunset Boulevard between Woodburn and Palm drives between 10 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
The 405 and 10 freeways between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
South Centinela Avenue between Ocean Park Boulevard and West Pico Boulevard between noon and 1:00 p.m.
In Beverly Hills, the eastbound and westbound lanes of Sunset Boulevard between North Whittier and North Bedford drives will be closed to vehicular traffic between 10:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
As the president closes out his second term, Angelenos will always remember Obamajam:
Cops at every corner, I'm parked ten minutes from here, and I'm running while screaming, how far away is the president?! #ObamaJam Sarah Watson (@SarahWatson42) October 24, 2016
#ObamaJam. Always a traffic nightmare for al Angelenos. Yeyen Ong (@Yams) October 25, 2016
At this point in the election, whichever candidate promises not to come to LA every two months has my vote.#obamajam2016part7214 #ObamaJam Michelle Field (@_michellefield) October 25, 2016
veronica.rocha@latimes.com
For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.
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It was a mystery that lingered for months: five bodies found in a fire-gutted home set amidst orchards and vineyards in semirural Temecula.
The Aug. 29 fire was suspicious but there was little clue as to the fates of the victims, all of them residents of an adult day-care facility for the developmentally disabled.
Authorities now say the deaths appear to have been the result of a quadruple murder followed by a suicide.
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A statement released by Riverside County sheriffs officials Monday said that four of the five men who died inside the facility suffered gunshot wounds and that the fire appeared to be arson. Authorities that did not identify which victim was the alleged gunman,
All five were residents of the facility known as the Renee Jennex Small Family Home, which served severely disabled adults.
The dead were identified as James Jennex, 50, the facilitys operator; Milford Battison, 37; Richard Driskill, 37; Jared Prudhomme, 26; and Miguel Ferreyra, 31.
The property had been licensed to care for four developmentally disabled people since 2003, according to California Department of Social Services records. The facility was inspected in 2011, 2012 and most recently, in November 2015. No deficiencies were observed at the time of the inspections, according to records.
According to the most recent inspection report, the facility was outfitted with smoke detectors and was conducting monthly disaster drills with its patients.
The Renee Jennex facility served some of the most severely disabled individuals in the state those with deficits in self-help skills, and/or severe impairment in physical coordination and mobility, and/or severely disruptive or self-injurious behavior, according to state records.
Clients lived in a small, three-bedroom house that sat next to a larger, two-story home on an extensive horse property surrounded by barbed wire on rolling hills dotted with vineyards and orchards.
In interviews after the fire, a number of neighbors said that they had no idea that such a facility was in the area and that they saw only the owner or his wife outside.
Since 2011, the home has received nearly $900,000 through the Inland Regional Center, a nonprofit agency that is reimbursed by the state for providing services to the developmentally disabled, said Nancy Lungren, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Developmental Services.
Joseph.serna@latimes.com
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
Times staff writers Paloma Esquivel and Ben Poston contributed to this report.
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The State Department appears headed for a showdown with Congress over the departments decision to approve more than $50 million in aid for Honduras despite the Central American nations poor human rights record.
The money is part of a $750-million aid package for Central Americas so-called Northern Triangle Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala allocated under an Obama administration initiative.
Tens of thousands of families from the region have moved up through Mexico and sought asylum in the United States in recent years. The White House has said the financial package is necessary to reduce the crime and poverty spurring the migrants.
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For Honduras to receive its portion of about $55 million, however, it had to prove to U.S. officials that it was meeting several conditions, including improvements in human rights, law enforcement and justice. The other countries also had to meet those conditions.
Honduras record on those issues is abysmal, according to domestic and international human rights organizations, diplomats, free-press activists and judicial experts.
One notable abuse is the still unresolved shooting death early this year of Honduras most prominent environmentalist activist, Bertha Caceres, with state security personnel suspected of involvement. The Honduran government has resisted offers of help from outside investigators.
Early this month, another prominent Honduran lands-rights activist and an associate were assassinated, and Caceres organization says it is receiving death threats. Amnesty International declared Honduras a perilous no-go zone for many activists.
The State Department certified on Sept. 30 that Honduras had taken effective steps in meeting human rights criteria, however.
Members of Congress, especially those who wrote the conditions that Honduras was required to fulfill, did not agree.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said that the State Department certification makes a mockery of the law and that he could not support release of the funding.
Over the past 25 years, the United States has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Honduras, with little to show for it, Leahy said in a statement to The Times.
The conditions in our law are intended to prevent a repeat of past failures, when official corruption and impunity were ignored or excused, and to hold the government accountable. Virtuous rhetoric and half-steps are not enough, he added.
State Department spokesman John Kirby defended the decision to approve aid to Honduras, but said the administration would not turn a blind eye to egregious abuse.
We are deeply concerned about the continued problems in Honduras from crime, corruption and impunity and we always review our programs as a result of it, Kirby said Friday.
As we stand here today, we are comfortable in the certification that we made, he added.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Honduras served as a launch pad for U.S. forces in a war against the leftist Sandinista government in neighboring Nicaragua. The U.S. government also supported the right-wing government of El Salvador, which was fighting its own uprising led by leftist guerrillas.
The wars are officially over, but violence led by gangs and drug traffickers now stalks El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, where political repression and fights over land fuel the toxic mix.
The three countries have some of the worlds highest homicide rates. (Nicaragua remained relatively immune to the gang violence and is not part of the Northern Triangle initiative.)
The violence, coupled with endemic poverty, helped propel tens of thousands of children and families to journey north to the U.S. border in mid-2014, overwhelming the Border Patrol and local authorities.
In an effort to stanch the flow, the White House announced the Alliance for Prosperity for the three Northern Triangle countries, put Vice President Joe Biden in charge of it, and last year asked for $1 billion. Congress approved $750 million.
One-fourth of the money was released automatically. Another quarter was dispersed when the countries met conditions involving migration that were drafted by House members most interested in stopping the migrant flow.
The final 50% was tied to 12 rights-related conditions drafted by Leahy, who is a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Aware that his countrys reputation has suffered, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez recently appointed a special envoy to Washington to foster greater dialogue and cooperation.
The envoy, former Foreign Minister Arturo Corrales, said in an interview that his government is making progress in meeting the U.S. conditions for aid.
Corrales noted that Honduras has accepted Honduran deportees from the United States even though they are returning to a country that suffers from widespread violence.
For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter
UPDATES:
5:45 p.m.: This article has been updated to reflect Sen. Leahys remark that he could not support release of the funding for Honduras.
The article was first published at 1:20 p.m.
After a series of high-profile disputes between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, the nations top military official in the Middle East moved Monday to ease tensions in one of Americas most enduring, yet perplexing alliances.
Gen. Joseph Votel, head of the U.S. militarys Central Command, began a series of one-on-one meetings with leading members of the House of Saud royal court, hoping to find common ground and clear up past grievances.
The U.S.-Saudi relationship has sharply deteriorated in recent months over a range of security-related issues and a reshuffling of the diplomatic order in the Middle East, factors that have opened a gulf of suspicion between the two nations.
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The first thing we are trying to do is listen to what they are telling us, said Votel, who dashed from one lavish palace to the next. Its important to maintain confidence in the relationship.
A root cause of the friction has been the Obama administrations overtures to Iran, Saudi Arabias archrival in the region. The war in Yemen, pitting Saudi-backed forces against Iranian-backed rebels, also emerged recently as another irritant.
This month, the Obama administration publicly ordered an immediate review of its support of the Saudi-led military coalition, which has carried out daily bombing runs in Yemen blamed for thousands of civilian deaths.
That came just weeks after Congress passed a law that allows relatives of Sept. 11 victims to seek damages from Saudi Arabia over claims that government officials aided some of the hijackers.
There was also an effort in the Senate last month to block a $1.2-billion arms deal with the kingdom, raising questions about the future of the 73-year alliance between the two nations, long built on the U.S. demand for Saudi oil and the Saudis need for American weapons.
Since 2009, the Obama administration has offered Saudi Arabia more than $115 billion in tanks, attack helicopters, missiles and training, according to data compiled by the Center for International Policy.
Saudi mistrust of Washington grew out of last years landmark arms-control deal with Iran, brokered by the U.S. and other world powers, that curtailed Tehrans ability to build nuclear weapons. Saudis complained that the deal legitimized Irans ability to continue nuclear research for peaceful purposes, while doing nothing to tackle its other bad behavior, such as promoting terrorism and developing ballistic missiles.
Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shiite-controlled Iran are the regions archrivals and are willing to fight proxy wars, like the one in Yemen, to assert power and influence.
Saudis also took great umbrage when Obama, in an interview this year with the Atlantic Magazine, said that Saudi Arabia and Iran would have to learn to share the neighborhood. The Saudis saw this as part of Obamas broader animus toward the desert kingdom, which he has frequently referred to as Americas so-called ally.
The administration the White House is thoroughly fed up with the Saudi government, said Simon Henderson, a fellow at the Washington Institute on Near East Policy who specializes in Arab Gulf states. And the feeling is mutual, he added.
The Saudis want to see the back side of the Obama administration, Henderson said. They dont mind too much whether its Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, as long as its no longer Obama.
Added to the precariousness of the U.S.-Saudi relationship is uncertainty over what may shape up as a succession struggle in the Saudi monarchy. King Salman is 80 years old. His heir apparent, Crown Prince Mohammad ibn Nayif, is not in the best of health and is being aggressively overshadowed by the deputy crown prince and the kings favorite son, Mohammad ibn Salman.
Prince Ibn Salman is only 31 years old and is extremely PR-savvy in what is traditionally an opaquely ruled royal kingdom. He is also considered less friendly to Washington, going so far as to lecture Obama last year over the failings of U.S. foreign policy. The ambitious young prince has been one of the movers behind Riyadhs shift to its own more assertive foreign policy less reliant on the United States, and he was on the list of people Votel was meeting with Monday.
Votel met separately with Ibn Salman and Ibn Nayif to discuss their security concerns in the gulf region.
It was Ibn Mohammad who last December announced a 34-nation coalition to fight terrorism, seen as a challenge to U.S. dominance of that struggle. (Some of the members of the coalition later said they hadnt even been consulted.) And he is a chief architect of Saudis 19-month-long involvement in Yemen, despite his own lack of military experience something that may explain the ill-fated trajectory of the battle.
By most accounts, the Yemen fight against Shiite Muslim Houthi rebels is not going well for Saudi Arabia, leading to billions of dollars in costs, many soldiers deaths and international opprobrium over a Saudi bombing campaign that has included the documented use of cluster and incendiary munitions that are outlawed by many of the worlds governments.
The U.S. military never formally joined the kingdoms offensive and instead opted to provide intelligence, munitions and midair refueling to the Saudi coalition, as well as advice to mitigate civilian casualties.
The White House pledged the support in part because it wanted Saudi Arabia to go along with the Iran nuclear deal. But once that was implemented this year, it became difficult for the administration to ignore evidence that the Saudi-led air campaign had resulted in devastating bloodshed after hospitals, homes, schools, public facilities and open-air markets were bombarded.
The final straw for the White House came Oct. 8 when Saudi warplanes repeatedly struck a funeral for the father of a high-ranking minister in the Yemeni capital, Sana, killing more than 140 mourners, including children, local officials and pro-peace Yemenis, and injuring several hundred others.
The next day the National Security Council released a statement calling for the immediate review of cooperation.
U.S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check, said NSA spokesman Ned Price. Even as we assist Saudi Arabia regarding the defense of their territorial integrity, we have and will continue to express our serious concerns about the conflict in Yemen and how it has been waged.
Fewer than five U.S. military personnel are now attached to the planning cell to coordinate U.S. support for the Yemeni conflict. The U.S. has also reduced refueling of Saudi fighter jets, limiting their ability to fly in Yemeni airspace.
We have been uncomfortable with the the prosecution of the war in terms of the civilian casualties, a senior administration official said, speaking anonymously in keeping with protocol. The strike on the funeral was really, really hard to swallow. We thought that that was particularly egregious.
The Saudi-led coalition later said the attack on the funeral was the result of bad information supplied to it.
Apparently blaming the Americans, Houthi rebels reacted by lobbing missiles at a U.S. destroyer in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, and the U.S. Navy responded with a barrage of cruise missiles. The Obama administration insisted it would not be dragged into the Yemen war.
william.hennigan@latimes.com
tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com
Hennigan reported from Riyadh and Wilkinson from Washington.
For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter
The California National Guard told the states members of Congress two years ago that the Pentagon was trying to claw back reenlistment bonuses from thousands of soldiers, and even offered a proposal to mitigate the problem, but Congress took no action, according to a senior National Guard official.
The official added that improper bonuses had been paid to National Guard members in every state, raising the possibility that many more soldiers may owe large debts to the Pentagon.
This is a national issue and affects all states, Andreas Mueller, the chief of federal policy for the California Guard, wrote in an email to the states congressional delegation Monday. Attention had focused on California because it was the only state that audited bonus payments at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he added.
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US defense chief orders Pentagon to stop seeking repayments of enlistment bonuses from California National Guard members
In the email, Mueller reminded members of Congress that the Guard had informed them about the issue two years ago. Whether members of Congress understood the scope of the problem at the time is unclear.
The Times reported Saturday that the Pentagon has been demanding repayment of enlistment bonuses which often reached $15,000 or more from thousands of California Guard soldiers, many of whom had served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Audits completed last month concluded that 9,700 California Guard members were not entitled to the payments or that there had been errors in their paperwork.
Pentagon officials acknowledged Monday that the problem probably extends beyond California.
We know that the majority [of cases] is out of California. However, there may be other states involved, said Laura Ochoa, a Pentagon spokeswoman. We do not have a list of those states at this time.
The senior leadership of the department is looking very closely at this matter, Ochoa said. We take doing right by our service members very seriously.
The possibility that more soldiers will have to repay large bonuses paid years ago, when the Pentagon relied heavily on the Guard to supply troops for two wars, may increase pressure on Congress to act.
In an interview, Mueller said a provision in a defense bill that has passed the House would have cured at least part of the problem by establishing a 10-year limit on how long the Pentagon could recover bonuses that had been paid improperly.
Final passage of that provision had been uncertain because of the money it would cost. Now, Congress may decide to go further.
On Monday, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying that Congress should pass legislation to halt the Pentagon debt recovery as soon as we gavel back into session after the Nov. 8 election.
These brave Californians were willing to give everything to serve our country, and they earned every penny and benefit given to them, Pelosi said. The over-payment of enlistment signing bonuses by the Department of Defense should not be the responsibility of our service members or veterans to pay back, years after the fact.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California sent a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter insisting that the Pentagon had the legal power to forgive the soldiers debts without action by Congress.
These men and women voluntarily reenlisted with the understanding that they would receive substantial bonuses, the letter said. The Department of Defense should use its existing authority to waive the repayment of these enlistment bonuses and help those service members who have already fully or partially repaid these incentives.
California House members, led by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter Monday to Carter asking that further attempts to retrieve outstanding debt be halted.
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump also weighed in on the controversy.
Clinton, in a statement, said she was appalled by the news that the Pentagon was trying to take back the bonuses and said Congress should swiftly pass legislation to right this wrong.
These troops deserve our support and our deepest gratitude; they served admirably and upheld their part of the bargain. It is unacceptable to now subject them and their families to undue financial burdens thanks to mismanagement from the California National Guard and rigid bureaucracy on the part of the Pentagon, Clinton said.
Trump, at a rally in Florida, called the case another example of wrongdoing in a corrupt political system.
This can only happen with these incompetent people we have, he said. No common sense. Theyre incompetent.
California Guard officials say they do not have the legal power to waive repayment. Soldiers can appeal to the National Guard Bureau, the Pentagon agency that oversees state Guard organizations, and to an Army Board for Correction of Military Records. In some cases, they say, those entities can waive some or all of a soldiers debts.
Unfortunately, the CalGuard has no ability to relieve debt, only the Army or Congress can short-circuit this process, Mueller said in the email to lawmakers.
The Pentagon appeals process was a bottleneck that often takes more than a year and obviously creates extreme frustrations with the soldiers and their families, he added.
Mueller said the California Guard had previously recommended that Congress speed up this Army process and had sent draft legislation to do so to each California congressional office in 2014. In the interview, he said Congress had not acted at the time because of the cost.
In 2010, after reports surfaced of improper payments, a federal investigation found thousands of bonuses and student loan payments had been given erroneously to soldiers who did not qualify for them or were approved despite incomplete paperwork.
Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, the California Guards incentive manager, pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false claims of $15.2 million and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Three officers also pleaded guilty to fraud and were put on probation after paying restitution.
Thousands of our service members are paying the price for mistakes made by California National Guard managers, some of whom are now serving jail time or paying restitution for their crimes, Feinstein and Boxer said in their letter. It is outrageous to hold these service members and their families responsible for the illegal behavior of others.
Former soldiers tell stories of bonus repayments to Pentagon On Now Anatomy of a story | Behind the National Guard enlistment bonus investigation On Now 'I felt like the wind got knocked out of me' | Ex-California Army National Guard captain recounts her student loan repayment nightmare 2:10 On Now After he fought for the country, the U.S. is asking him to give back his enlistment bonus On Now Video: Susan Haley, a former Army master sergeant who served in Afghanistan On Now Video: Retired California National Guard Master Sgt. Bill McLain On Now Video: Christopher Van Meter, former California Army Reserve captain and Iraq veteran
david.cloud@latimes.com | Twitter: @davidcloudLAT
sarah.wire@latimes.com | Twitter: @sarahdwire
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(A PLA ship arrives at a port in Saudi Arabia for supply missions on May 1, 2012. Photo/81.cn)
Chinese State military media has slammed Western medias hyping of the Chinese facilities in Djibouti as military base, re-emphasizing that the facilities are meant for supply missions.
The Djibouti base has long been the focus of Western media outlets, which often refer to it as a base intended for military use, featuring weapons stores and even some Chinese forces.
The West should not be so sensitive to this issue, as China has no intention of turning the logistics center in Djibouti into a military base, said the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Daily on Oct. 25.
According to a contract signed in December 2015, the base will be able to hold 10,000 people, charged with protecting the regions economic and business interests. It cannot, however, harbor any military ships, and it falls short on target, function and scale for being a military base, PLA Daily said.
China's Ministry of National Defense admitted in February that China had begun construction on a logistics facility in Djibouti to support troops in the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali coast, Global Times reported.
Twenty-four missions have been dispatched to the Gulf of Aden since 2008. The basic food and oil supply for those missions relies on resupplying on land after communication with governments in the region, making the process difficult and time-consuming, according to PLA Daily.
Therefore, the logistics facility will greatly enhance the efficiency of resupplying ships, and can even help with international peacekeeping as it can enhance the measures available to be taken in case of emergency, the newspaper added.
"[The base] is of great significance for Chinese troops as they perform their international obligations to safeguard international and regional peace and stability," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November 2015.
Meanwhile, PLA Daily pointed out that China reserves the rights to establish overseas military bases, but denied that the decision to exercise this right constitutes a threat. The article compared Chinas Djibouti base to overseas bases belonging to the U.S.
Even if China wanted set up overseas bases for military purposes, the bases would still be in line with Chinas peaceful strategy of non-interference in other countries domestic affairs We will work to guarantee that our base is just and legitimate, the article promised.
Another dusk had arrived amid the Great American Clown Scare of 2016 and Bob Perchetti was none too pleased.
We dont need this , he said. We just dont need it.
Perchetti is the owner of the Clown Motel in Tonopah, a tiny desert town plopped somewhere between Las Vegas, Reno and a Twilight Zone episode. Its been a motel of some note and notoriety in recent years, where guests check in at the main office under the watchful eyes of small clowns sitting on shelves, big clowns slouched in chairs and one wild-eyed clown in a cage resting above the cash register.
The clowns dont move allegedly. And not all of them reach the levels of Stephen Kings Pennywise in creep factor. Still, TVs Ghost Adventures thought the place surreal enough to film an episode here. It made its way into the Call of Duty video game as a part of an apocalyptic landscape. And a man recently set up a Kickstarter campaign to spend 30 days in the motel despite his affliction with coulrophobia the fear of clowns.
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Perchetti is good with all this; fans of creepy clowns pay the bills just the same as those who like happy ones. Hes owned the motel for more than two decades, and it draws all kinds of visitors from all over the world.
What he and his staff are not good with is the recent spate of clown scares that has put the nation on edge.
There was the Bay Area woman who claimed a clown tried to take her infant and she had to fight him off. Two clowns held a man at gunpoint in Texas and, also in the Lone Star State, teens were arrested for dressing as clowns and chasing people with sticks. Wisconsin had a man in a clown mask arrested after he ran around and was discovered to be carrying a concealed weapon. And a small town in Mississippi has banned residents from dressing as clowns until after Halloween.
And on it goes.
Its gotten so bad that McDonalds announced recently it would lower the profile of Ronald McDonald and retailer Target took the step of removing Halloween clown costumes from its shelves. Parents have posted on social media bemoaning how their kids are terrified as clown talk has swept across playgrounds and into their nightmares.
Marie Bruhn, who works the front desk, shook her head.
Dear Lord, she sighed. As if we dont have enough going on in this country.
The Clown Motel hasnt been touched by the scare, but guests are hyper-aware of it.
Dan Carlin, 37, works out in the mountains doing mining survey jobs and spent a few nights at the motel.
Carlin wasnt worried about checking in (I had a buddy who graduated from clown college), but said when his parents wanted to come out from the San Francisco Bay Area and visit, they were adamant about not staying in a motel with clown pictures hanging on the walls in each room. As if the clowns in the framed pictures would suddenly move or something.
I put them up at the Mizpah, Carlin said, referring to the Mizpah Hotel a few minutes south on Highway 95. Its 109 years old and boasts of being one of Nevadas first luxury hotels though it didnt add gambling to the mix until the 1940s.
He laughed. Though they say that is haunted too.
Bruhn said its unclear whether the Clown Motel is actually harboring spiritual guests. Troubling to some, however, is the neighboring graveyard that some guests can see from their rooms, which run about $50 a night. She said its not uncommon for some brave souls to walk out their rooms, across the parking lot and wander the cemetery.
But she said there arent clowns buried there. Its mostly miners and their families, many who settled Tonopah. A few guests have told stories of ghostly clowns showing up, but the descriptions are vague. Was it wearing large shoes? A wide tie? Squirting flower?
Ghosts, she said, are one thing.
She closed the door on a vacant room and watched the last glow of orange fade into the desert night and a few headlights cruised past the large, grinning clown sign next to the roadside. On this night, about a third of the 32 rooms were filled.
She walked to the main office, its Open sign glowing red in the window.
Bruhn was exasperated. People dressed as clowns terrifying people was no good. Bad for business, bad for people and really bad for clowns.
Knuckleheads, she said.
david.montero@latimes.com
Twitter: @davemontero
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Clashes, arrests and fears North Dakota pipeline protest at a boiling point
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Robby Romero and his fellow Native American activists have drawn a clear line on the cold North Dakota ground.
This is our stronghold, Romero said. They will not cross this line.
The line is North Dakota Highway 1806, which runs through the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, near where the Fortune 500 company Energy Transfer is building a $3.78-billion. 1,172-mile-long crude oil pipeline on lands adjacent to the reservation.
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Since August, the tribes assertion that sacred tribal sites have been desecrated and fears that the pipeline could contaminate the nearby Missouri River have galvanized American Indian tribes and their supporters more than any struggle in decades.
Native peoples from across the United States and Canada, and as far away as Central America and Norway, along with thousands of nonnative supporters, have flocked to a series of encampments along the Cannonball River. They gather adjacent to the reservation, mostly on lands controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers but which were awarded to the Dakota and Lakota peoples in an 1851 treaty, then taken away.
The Standing Rock tribe has attempted to block construction in federal court, but on Oct. 9, an appeals court in Washington denied the tribes petition. The next day construction on the pipeline resumed despite a request from the Obama administration for a voluntary halt. Though the administration has suspended permission for now for the pipeline to cross under the Missouri River, Energy Transfer and the state of North Dakota appear determined to build right up to the waters edge.
A federal judge is set to deliver a key ruling on the four-state Dakota Access pipeline that has drawn thousands of protesters to a construction site in North Dakota in recent weeks. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said he will rule by the end of
Romero says native peoples are determined to take back the lands in the path of the pipeline, which could transport 570,000 barrels a day from the Bakken oil field in northwestern North Dakota to southern Illinois more than the daily output of Ecuador, a member of OPEC.
Over the weekend, with construction crews a mile or so from Highway 1806, the protesters, who prefer to be called water protectors, began moving teepees and tents directly into the path of the pipeline on private land.
This is sacred ground, said Romero, in a beret, with a short graying ponytail and sunglasses. He pointed to the growing new encampment, now dotted with about 14 teepees and several dozen tents on land that was nearly vacant two days earlier. We are claiming eminent domain.
On Saturday, during what activists say was a peaceful prayer meeting at the encampment, North Dakota police arrested 126 people, using Mace and batons to disperse the group, and shot down a drone protesters were apparently using to scout authorities, according to numerous witness accounts. Since Aug 10, police have arrested 269 protesters, according to official figures.
The protests are in fact riots, says Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney, who is coordinating the police response. When you have that many people engaged in that kind of behavior, inciting others to break the law, cheering others on as they do break the law, refusing to leave when theyre asked to leave, thats not a protest, Laney said at a recent news conference.
The response from North Dakota officials has been forceful. Gov. Jack Dalrymple called in the National Guard. Sheriffs deputies have been brought in from as far as Wisconsin. Police man a concrete checkpoint north of the protest sites. Demonstrators are regularly met with dozens of police in riot shields, along with police vans and armored personnel carriers.
Authorities said they could have arrested thousands of protesters had officers not exercised unbelievable restraint.
It is because of the behavior of the state that these tensions are heightened, countered Standing Rock Chairman David Archambault II, who called on the Justice Department to intervene.
They put the blockade up. They have low-flying planes theyve brought in. And theyre the ones who use the terminology terrorist. So if theres a heightened level of confrontation, its not because of what the demonstrators are doing when they walk down that road to protest the construction thats going on.
On Monday afternoon on Highway 1806, as a yellow helicopter and a light plane circled above the camp, another clash between police and demonstrators appeared imminent.
Organizers rolled hay bales and dragged heavy logs onto the road, fearing convoys of police that their new surveillance drone had apparently scouted. But then another organizer yelled at the group to remove the blockade and redirect their energies to a gravel road where police forces were said to be approaching from the west.
But on this day, no advancing conveys appeared. Yet for some, the worry generated by weeks of surveillance is taking its toll.
In the beginning, we felt really welcome, said Paige Restoule, 29, who drove 24 hours nonstop with her two cousins from the Dokis First Nation reserve in northern Ontario, Canada.
But when police came Saturday, Restoule said she watched as demonstrators on the front line were sprayed with Mace. They were begging them to stop. It is a little bit horrifying.
Authorities used the pepper spray sparingly and defensively after protesters breached our line, said North Dakota Highway Patrol Capt. Brian Niewind. A camp medic, however, said some of the protesters who had been sprayed did not appear to be resisting arrest.
The resolve of the water protectors appears strong, even if the estimated 1,200 camp residents down from a high of 5,000 in the summer are small compared with the force that North Dakota could ultimately employ.
But you cant fight prayer, Restoule said with a smile. Thats what keeps us together. We are not alone.
Just ahead, on a hillside, two young men, one Lakota and one Dakota, sat still on horseback, facing west. They were security scouts and would identify themselves only as spirit riders. One of them gazed through his binoculars at a pipeline work crew slowly making its way east toward the highway.
Were trying to protect our future, he said.
Tolan is a special correspondent.
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(Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel)
Two fundraising developments Tuesday highlighted the vulnerability of down-ballot Republican candidates with two weeks to go before election day.
Donald Trump cut off a major cash source for the Republican Party, while a super PAC dumped $25 million into six races in the hopes of preserving the GOPs majority in the Senate, according to two reports published Tuesday.
All this points to the predicament that Republicans face as polls show their presidential nominee likely to lose and potentially dragging down vulnerable GOP candidates with him.
A Trump advisor told the Washington Post that the candidate was done raising money for Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee between the party and the campaign. This was the group that raised six-figure checks from donors, with the bulk of the money going to the national and state parties that are tasked with the get-out-the-vote operation.
Steven Mnuchin, Trumps national finance chairman, said Trump Victory held its last fundraiser on Wednesday before the third and final presidential debate in Las Vegas.
Weve kind of wound down, Mnuchin told the Post, saying that the campaign wanted to free up Trumps time so he could focus on campaigning, and would still be raising money online.
The GOP standard-bearers online fundraising has broken records, but far less of the money he raises online goes to party coffers.
A super PAC is stepping up to supplement the partys efforts in six crucial Senate races, a move that was first reported by Politico. The powerful Senate Leadership Fund raised $25 million to try to hold on to a majority in the Senate. The money will be spent over the next two weeks defending Republican-held Senate seats in Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana, New Hampshire and Missouri.
Were going to go out guns blazing, Steven Law, the super PACs president, told Politico.
A decade ago, the Pentagon wrongly awarded substantial bonuses to thousands of people to induce them to enlist in the National Guard. Now, the department has realized its mistake and wants the money repaid.
But that demand is unfair to the soldiers who served in good faith. It should be dropped.
The problem arose after auditors looked at the records of 14,000 enlisting soldiers in California who got bonuses or tuition assistance to join. They found problems in the cases of 9,700 people, but the California Guard was able to resolve issues in about 4,000 of those cases leaving 5,700 people owing money to the government. Some of these people are still in the Guard and some are not.
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US defense chief orders Pentagon to stop seeking repayments of enlistment bonuses from California National Guard members
Many of the payments were $15,000 or even more and were awarded at a time when the Guard was short of soldiers and under pressure to recruit. Bonuses were bestowed for various reasons such as an agreement to serve for a set period of time or in a certain type of job. While there were soldiers in the Guard in other parts of the country who were found to have received payments improperly, the largest number of affected soldiers is in California. Some are already having their wages garnished.
The problem was that the bonuses were supposed to go to soldiers taking high-demand assignments. But in fact they were handed out much more liberally. In most cases, soldiers were not aware that any rules were being violated.
Col. Peter Cross, director of public affairs for the California Guard, said that over $100 million was improperly distributed and that the Pentagon has recouped about $22 million. Given that $100 million is a very small amount of money in the context of a defense operations budget that is more than $570 billion, and given that the vast majority of soldiers accepted payments in good faith, the Pentagon should forgive these debts.
There has been an outpouring of bi-partisan outrage over this situation, even though some members were alerted to it back in 2014. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) as well as Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer have said the Department of Defense should waive the repayments. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said she was appalled at the demand for repayment. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) has asked Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to stop collection action for the rest of the year.
Even California Guard spokesman Cross calls the situation tragic. The problem is that the Guard does not have the authority to unilaterally waive the payments. Only the federal government does. The guard is urging Congress to pass the National Defense Authorization Act which has a provision that would provide relief to soldiers facing the repayment order.
These men and women were promised financial incentives to serve the U.S., often under dangerous conditions. Bad management on the part of the Guard or the Pentagon is no excuse to demand repayment now.
Former soldiers tell stories of bonus repayments to Pentagon On Now Anatomy of a story | Behind the National Guard enlistment bonus investigation On Now 'I felt like the wind got knocked out of me' | Ex-California Army National Guard captain recounts her student loan repayment nightmare 2:10 On Now After he fought for the country, the U.S. is asking him to give back his enlistment bonus On Now Video: Susan Haley, a former Army master sergeant who served in Afghanistan On Now Video: Retired California National Guard Master Sgt. Bill McLain On Now Video: Christopher Van Meter, former California Army Reserve captain and Iraq veteran
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If you think 2016 will stop being weird come Nov. 8, please look at your calendars: This whole election process actually lasts almost an additional two months beyond that. But just because its been a weird year, that doesnt mean it has to end badly. Theres reason to hope.
Consider independent write-in candidate for president Evan McMullin. He has virtually no chance of winning the election on Nov. 8, but he does have a shot at becoming president by the end of December.
Its a long shot. Very long. But if McMullin managed the greatest upset of all time, it would be a very good thing, and not just because so many of us would rather see someone other than Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the White House.
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McMullin, whom Ive met several times, is an earnest, patriotic and brave man who spent nearly a decade serving his country undercover in the CIA. He was until recently the chief policy director of the House Republican Conference. He would not be my or his own! first choice for president under normal circumstances. But that horse long ago left the barn and then got hit by a truck.
Polls show McMullin surging in his home state of Utah, where his fellow Mormons God bless em are particularly repulsed by Trump.
The McMullin scenario works like this: If no candidate manages to win 270 electoral votes, the electors i.e. the actual people who cast electoral votes on Dec. 19 hand the whole thing over to the House of Representatives to decide, as they did in the election of 1824.
Under the 12th Amendment, the members of Congress then must choose from the top three finishers in the Electoral College. So even if Libertarian Gary Johnson gets more of the popular vote, hes not likely to have any electors because he wont win any state. Meanwhile, polls show McMullin surging in his home state of Utah, where his fellow Mormons God bless em are particularly repulsed by Trump. If he wins there, hes got a ticket to the Electoral College Ball.
So, if Clinton and Trump fall short of the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch admittedly a massively huge if given that projections show Clinton grabbing as many as 341 electoral votes the decision goes to the new House of Representatives elected next month. It will likely remain Republican, but less so than it is now. Also key in this scenario: Each state votes as a single bloc so California and Rhode Island alike get one vote each.
I think I can skip a few steps and just assert that many representatives will refuse to ever vote for Trump or Clinton.
But what about McMullin? Here the vanilla rule might apply. Vanilla is one of the most popular flavors in America, not because its everyones favorite, but because it is the least objectionable to the greatest number of people. There are probably no Democrats who wouldnt prefer McMullin to Trump. There are almost certainly no Republicans who wouldnt prefer McMullin to Clinton. Picking the least objectionable option is often the essence of statesmanship. If 26 state delegations pick the least-bad option, McMullin becomes the first Mormon president.
Some would complain that this isnt very democratic. So what?
By our contemporary standards, the founders distrusted democracy. But they had good reasons. If you think all questions should be settled democratically, lets scrap the Bill of Rights, which elevates our most fundamental priorities out of the reach of voters pretty much forever.
Sometimes democracy steers us in bad directions. For the founders, the solution to such wrong turns wasnt despotism, but constitutionalism and when required, statesmanship. Imagine that in the next few days WikiLeaks releases even more information about Clinton and Trump that truly disqualifies each from higher office but they still get millions more votes than McMullin because of early voting and blind partisanship.
Personally, I wouldnt mind if the Electoral College rejected them both and just picked McMullin out of conscience. But lets say they toss the decision to the House. The statesmanlike and bipartisan option is the least-worst alternative to a terrible situation. Providing such an alternative is why McMullin decided to run for president in the first place.
Obviously, the election experts are 99.99% sure this scenario will never come to pass. The only reason for hope: 2016 laughs at the experts.
jgoldberg@latimescolumnists.com
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Last week, my email inbox and Twitter feeds were flooded with hateful messages impugning my integrity. The source of this invective was a shadowy organization called Canary Mission, which maintains what it hopes will function as a blacklist of professors and students it accuses of promoting hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on college campuses. My public criticism of Israels policies of military occupation and apartheid its unequal treatment of Palestinians has earned me a spot on the list, there being no distinction, apparently, between criticism of the policies of a foreign power and hatred of an entire ethnic group.
Were I a more junior professor, or untenured or a student the charges it levels, although they are untrue, could be damaging. And that is the point: In language only recently excised from its website, Canary Mission makes explicit its intention to ensure that todays radicals are not tomorrows employees. Daniel Pipes a prominent member of what the Center for American Progress calls the Islamophobia misinformation experts writes approvingly of the project: Students should understand that attacking Israel can damage future careers.
Targeting students from a position of cowardly anonymity is only the latest and ugliest stage in the well-funded project to shield Israel from criticism on campus, and it fits into a larger pattern. Last spring and this month, lurid posters appeared on the UCLA campus naming specific students and accusing them of supporting terrorism because they are members of student groups that dare to criticize Israeli policy. David Horowitz ironically named Freedom Center claimed responsibility for the posters.
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Attacks on academic freedom, in which Israels defenders have played a disproportionate role, are all too common on campuses across the country.
These sorts of attacks on academic freedom, in which Israels defenders have played a disproportionate role, are all too common on campuses across the country, with devastating results. They have led to the intimidation of students, the silencing or firing of faculty and the cancellation of classes (as at UC Berkeley, where a class on Palestine and settler colonialism was reinstated only after faculty outrage).
The poisonous atmosphere on campuses is the subject of a new report by the writers organization PEN America: And Campus for All: Diversity, Inclusion, and Free Speech at U.S. Universities. Of primary concern, according to PEN, is the idea that students need to be shielded from exposure to ideas that make them feel uncomfortable, that certain kinds of speech can and should be prohibited through administrative or legislative fiat. As PEN warns, an environment where too many offenses are considered impermissible or even punishable becomes sterile, constraining, and inimical to creativity.
Such warnings are not new. The presumption that students need to be protected rather than challenged in a classroom is at once infantilizing and anti-intellectual, the American Assn. of University Professors noted in 2014. It makes comfort a higher priority than intellectual engagement. The association in that instance was being critical of trigger warnings, a call for professors to warn students of material that might cause an emotional reaction (including the kind of reaction that philosophers of past epochs Edmund Burke comes to mind went out of their way to praise as the sublime).
Like the university professors association, PEN takes a very skeptical view of such warnings to students. At the very least, the report argues, trigger warnings should not be imposed by administrators to ensure that every possibly upsetting encounter with course material is averted.
The report takes a similarly skeptical view of another recent idea, the creation of safe spaces on campuses. It is neither possible nor desirable for the campus to offer protection from all ideas and speech that may cause a measure of damage, the report notes. Insisting that the campus be kept safe from all these forms of harm would create a hermetically sealed intellectual environment where inhabitants could traffic only in preapproved ideas.
Whats worse, the report adds, is the way in which these claims of the need for protection are feeding into the rampant discourse of consumer rights and choices that universities themselves are fostering by treating students as though they are customers in a shop, paying for good service and satisfaction rather than academic challenge or even God forbid that intellectual shock which in former ages was called learning.
Of course, as the PEN report makes clear, the tricky part of free speech is that even malign calls for its suppression are entitled to be heard within reason.
In order for universities to fulfill their mission which is precisely to expose students to the whole universe of ideas messy and contentious debates, advocacy and arguments will continue. What we urgently need, however, are ways to distinguish between feelings of discomfort caused by exposure to new or even shocking ideas, and actual vulnerability caused by a campaign that singles out individuals explicitly, intending to cause them harm. Policing ideas and regulating speech on campus is one thing; shielding the ivory tower from true harassment is another.
The posters that have gone up at UCLA targeting students by name accused them of Jew hatred. The attacks have been swiftly, correctly, countered by the university. UCLAs vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, Jerry Kang, called the posters a focused, personalized intimidation that threatens specific members of our Bruin community. Uncomfortable ideas are not just welcome, they are also necessary on university campuses, but all points of view need to be expressed without fear of blacklisting and ad hominem character assassination.
Saree Makdisi is a professor of English and comparative literature at UCLA. His most recent book is Reading William Blake.
To read the article in Spanish, click here
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To the editor: Hearing of Donald Trumps policy speech in Gettysburg, Pa., on Saturday, I opened my Sunday Times to read about it. What I found was an article buried on Page A12 giving almost no detail. (All of these liars will be sued when the election is over: Donald Trump denounces accusers, Oct. 22)
The article characterized the speech as a rehash of old information, laced with familiar charges of a corrupt media, threats against the women accusing him of sexual misconduct and allegations of a rigged election. Of course, the article did not mention the main text of the speech and his commitment to the voters and glossed over some of the new points outlined by Trump.
I found the full text of the speech elsewhere and realized it was an excellent summary of his game plan for his first days as president. People have been complaining about lack of substance; this speech had it, but it was not reported by The Times.
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Whether you love him or hate him, Trump is correct: The election is rigged and the media are corrupt.
Bob Nolan, Mission Viejo
..
To the editor: Trump stated in his Gettysburg speech on Saturday that all of these liars will be sued when the election is over, referring to the growing group of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. His running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence had previously promised to provide evidence casting doubt on the accusers claims before the day is out.
In a previous speech, Trump labeled the allegations pure fiction, all fabricated and outright lies. He said, We already have substantial evidence to dispute these lies and it will be made public in an appropriate way. Did I miss something?
Why doesnt Trump release his evidence now? Time is of the essence if Trump has any hope of salvaging his sinking boat of a campaign.
As a female voter who personally experienced sexual abuse as a young woman, Id find the information most enlightening. Of course, there is still the video, but as his wife Melania Trump said, its just boy talk.
Jan Jay Judah, Torrance
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[File photo]
Several officials in Xian, Shaanxi province have been arrested for falsifying air pollution statistics, as the deteriorating air quality might have jeopardized their careers, local media reported on Oct. 25.
One of the officials, surnamed Li, allegedly withheld the key to a local air quality monitoring station, and also copied the code of the stations computer system. Li, along with other employees, repeatedly sneaked into the monitoring station without authorization, shielding the sensors with cotton to alter their air quality readings, reported Chinese Business View, a Xian-based daily newspaper.
The air samplers should be exposed to the air to collect accurate data. Using cotton to cover them actually filters the pollutants, leading to fake data, an anonymous insider told Chinese Business View.
The forged statistics soon came to the attention of the China National Environmental Monitoring Center, which carried out a thorough investigation and found the cause of the anomaly. Li, along with several other officials, is now in custody.
If local air quality drops, the officials who were previously in charge are likely to be punished accordingly. Those officials falsified statistics in order to avoid being disciplined, another anonymous source told Chinese Business View.
Due to the severe air pollution in China, air quality stations have been established all across the nation to detect pollutants. Placed mostly in large cities, the stations monitor ozone, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and meteorological parameters. The data is used by the countrys environmental protection authorities to understand the causes of air pollution and monitor improvement.
To the editor: The Pentagon demanding that enlistment bonuses for nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers be paid back is yet another instance of us doing wrong by our military. In what other workplace would people be hired, paid an upfront bonusand then be told 10 years later, Oops, our bad, turns out you werent eligible for that bonus; return it now or we will sic our dogs on you? (Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war, Oct. 22)
No, the bill should be sent to the four officers who pleaded guilty to this scheme. Our soldiers upheld their end of the contract, and weve reneged on our part of it. When will we get it right and treat our soldiers and veterans with respect?
Ive written to my congressman to learn what he is doing to address and correct this; I encourage others concerned about this to write to their representatives as well.
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Kathleen V. Williams, Los Angeles
..
To the editor: There are private colleges that are failing at an alarming rate, leaving students and ultimately U.S. taxpayers footing the bill. Students at the schools have hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that may be forgiven by the U.S. government.
So when I read about members of the U.S. military who accepted bonus money in good faith and are now being asked to repay it, I am incensed. A student who got a $25,000 associate degree from a failed private university may get an apology and loan forgiveness, but a soldier who reenlisted and went to war has to get a second mortgage to pay the government back?
If the law doesnt allow the the U.S. armed forces to forgive this debt, change the law.
Thomas Sexton, Huntington Beach
..
To the editor: There is a reason that 75% of the soldiers who have been told to return their bonus money have not replied or refuse to cooperate: Their jaws are still stuck on the floor from disbelief.
They cant believe the gall of the government reneging on a written contract the United States government, trying to undo its promise to those who risked their lives for our country.
Steam is coming out of my ears because of this injustice. Im surprised Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump hasnt jumped on this, as he could legitimately get mileage out of a government military program gone wrong.
I know no one in the military, but I know when something is wrong. This is really wrong.
Christine Goonetilleke, Santa Ana
..
To the editor: Anyone surprised to learn of more fraud connected to President George W. Bushs deceitful push to fight a war of discretion?
Several years into that disastrous conflict, our militarys dwindling ranks needed replenishment, so the Pentagon leaned on the California National Guard to recruit more canon fodder. From 2006-08, the California Guard proceeded to sign up some 14,000 enlistees by offering them sizable bonuses, about two-thirds of which were unauthorized.
In 2010 several Cal Guard officials pleaded guilty to making fraudulent bonus payments. But their convictions havent brought full restitution, so the Cal Guard now seeks reimbursement from recruits who unwittingly accepted fraudulent bonuses.
Back off, generals those soldiers already have paid a high price. Try tapping the generous government benefits afforded Bush and his war-crazed cabal. Their deceit was the ultimate fraud.
Kendra Strozyk, Cameron Park, Calif.
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Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa endorses marijuana legalization initiative By Patrick McGreevy Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday endorsed a marijuana legalization initiative. ((Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) ) Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday became the latest high-profile politician to endorse an initiative on next weeks ballot that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in California. Villaraigosa is considering whether to run for governor in 2018 amid a field that already includes Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading proponent of Proposition 64. I took my time on this measure because I wanted to make sure it included protections for children and public safety, Villaraigosa said in a statement. In evaluating the measure in its entirety, I am convinced there are enough safeguards to make it a workable proposition. The Proposition 64 campaign welcomed Villaraigosas endorsement at a time when one recent poll indicated slightly fewer than half of Latino voters support the measure. Were glad to have it, said Jason Kinney, a spokesman for the campaign. Facebook
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Conservative group spends $3.5 million on Central Valley race once considered safe By Sarah D. Wire The Congressional Leadership Fund is pouring another $1.5 million into the race between Rep. Jeff Denham and Democrat farmer Michael Eggman. The group, which is endorsed by House Republican leaders, and works with the American Action Network, has now spent $3.5 million in the race. The race was initially viewed as an easy win for Denham (R-Turlock), but has become increasingly uncertain in recent weeks. The district is being closely watched as an indicator of how Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump might affect down-ballot candidates. Democrats have spent more than $6 million in the district. The Congressional Leadership Fund and American Action Network have spent $45 million in 32 districts nationwide so far and have aired ads in other California House races, including in the nearby 21st District race between Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) and attorney Emilio Huerta and the 7th District race between Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones. The groups newest ad in the 10th District race begins running on television Tuesday. It calls Eggman, an almond and bee farmer, an extreme liberal and a rubber stamp for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) because he supports the Affordable Care Act. It previously ran an ad against Eggman that used news footage from the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack. ------------ FOR THE RECORD 2:14 p.m.: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the Congressional Leadership Fund as the Conservative Leadership Fund. ------------ Facebook
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The Rev. Al Sharpton and civil rights leaders hold rally in support of Proposition 61 By Christine Mai-Duc The Rev. Al Sharpton kicks off a rally and march in support of Proposition 61, the California ballot measure that seeks to lower the price state agencies pay for prescription drugs. The Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders gathered at a rally Monday morning to support Proposition 61, the ballot measure that seeks to lower the price state agencies pay for prescription drugs. Sharpton appeared alongside black community leaders, including Marc Morial, former New Orleans mayor and head of the National Urban League, and Kevin Sauls, pastor of a South L.A. church. This issue is very simple, Sharpton said to a crowd of about 40 supporters. Its about the right of people to afford what they need, and they need to have accessibility that is affordable with prescription drugs. He likened the issue of prescription drug affordability to a civil right, and recycled the well-known Yes We Can slogan from President Obamas 2008 election to urge voters to pass Proposition 61. Sharptons appearance came a day after he and Morial stumped for the measure at seven different churches in South Los Angeles and the Bay Area. The significance of bringing in people of color is that we are the ones who disproportionately are impacted by the prices and impacted by the need for healthcare, Sharpton said in an interview afterward. I think its a civil right for people to be able to afford healthcare in the wealthiest nation in the world. Appearance of Sharpton, New Orleans mayor Marc Morial and LA pastor follows Sharpton's visits to two South LA churches Sunday for Yes on 61 pic.twitter.com/redBvU8WWZ Christine Mai-Duc (@cmaiduc) October 31, 2016 In a statement, No on Proposition 61 spokeswoman Kathy Fairbanks pointed to support for the opposition campaign from groups like the California NAACP, and the California League of Latin American Citizens. Higher drug prices resulting from Prop. 61 will decrease access to care, Fairbanks said. Thats a policy step in the wrong direction. The Rev. Al Sharpton at a Yes on Proposition 61 rally in downtown Los Angeles. (Christine Mai-Duc / Los Angeles Times) Facebook
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Voters are being asked whether they want to cast more votes in future elections on big public works projects By John Myers (Russel A. Daniels / Associated Press) Voters casting a ballot for Proposition 53 on election day are, in effect, choosing more voting on more propositions in future elections. The ballot measure, bankrolled by a wealthy Stockton agribusiness owner, seeks to force voter approval of a particular type of borrowing for large public works projects. Its most likely impact, in the near future, would be ballot measures on a landmark water project and on Californias high-speed rail effort. The propositions backer, Dean Cortopassi, argues its all about more transparency when it comes to government debt. His critics suggest theres more to it than that. Read More Facebook
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This congressional race could be one of the Republicans worst nightmares By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Jeff Denham represents the Modesto area in Congress and is up against Democratic beekeeper Michael Eggman, the same man he beat just two years ago by 12 points. Denham first won his seat in 2012 even as a majority of his constituents voted for President Obama. When Denham (R-Turlock) started this latest campaign, most observers thought he would probably win. But some now wonder if Denhams 10th District race will be an example of what Republicans fear across the country. Will conservatives expected to win actually lose because voters arent excited about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump? Read More Facebook
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Rep. Loretta Sanchezs day on the campaign trail: Two ribbons cut, one candle lit, and jabs made at her Senate rival By Phil Willon U.S. Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez shows Clifford Young, president of the West Valley Water District, where to cut the ribbon for the grand opening on a new water treatment plant Saturday. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) With less than two weeks to go before election day, U.S. Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez bounced from the Inland Empire to Monterey Park on Saturday as she tries to drum up support for her uphill Senate bid. Sanchez, the U.S. representative from Orange, started her day with a gaggle of other Inland Empire politicians at the grand opening of a $23-million water treatment system in Rialto, using the occasion to lay out her record on water issues during her 20 years in Congress. Sanchez told the crowd of about 60 that shortly after she was elected to Congress, two members of a local water board approached her about a way to deal with Californias serious drought. They said, we need to convince people that were going to take toilet water and were going to clean it up enough for people to drink it, Sanchez said. They said, we cant get anyone to champion this for us. Well, no wonder. Sanchez said they won her over, and she helped deliver federal funding for Orange Countys Groundwater Replenishment System to do just that. The system uses treated waste water to recharge the local groundwater basin and provides enough water for nearly 850,000 residents. After the event, Sanchez accused her rival in the Senate race, state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, of having little grasp of the complexities of Californias drought and water crisis. One of the biggest differences between my opponent and myself is that I actually talk about issues, I actually meet with people, I actually try to figure out whats going on, Sanchez said. Ive not seen anything about her. Ive not seen any policy. All I see is commercials on TV. U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange) officially opens the childrens Diwali celebration at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple in Chino Hills on Saturday. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) A few hours later, Sanchez raced over to Chino Hills to open the Kids Diwali Celebration at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple, a family-friendly event filled with carnival rides, booths and food. She thanked festivalgoers, saying they were setting a good example for the rest of the country at a time when the presidential election is filled with such meanness. This is a time where through tradition and through culture you can show Americans the better part of people, Sanchez said. You give the rest of us hope. After listening to Sanchez speak, Kay Mistry, a volunteer at the festival, said he still wasnt sure who he will vote for in the Senate race. He said he was aware that Harris, whose mother emigrated from India, went to a Hindu temple as a child. Im not sure that matters to me, said Mistry, 48, of Chino Hills. Im pretty conservative. Sanchez attends her second ribbon cutting of the day, this time for Halloween in the Park in Monterey Park. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) The Orange County congresswomans final stop of the day was in Monterey Park, where she helped cut the ribbon to open citys Halloween in the Park festival. After the ceremony, Sanchez mingled with the crowd, handing out campaign fliers. Arnold Jeung, 62, stuck the flier in his back pocket. He said he didnt know much about Sanchez or Harris. Im not sure what Im going to do, said Jeung, a Republican. I might not even vote. Facebook
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California Politics Podcast: The lowdown on the states big down-ticket races By John Myers Perhaps more than any other recent election season, races for seats in the California Legislature and U.S. Congress are being reshaped by the broad, national discussion. In short, its the Trump effect. On this weeks episode of the California Politics Podcast, we take an overview of some of states most closely watched down-ticket races. Theres new polling data in the U.S. Senate race that suggests a sizable number of voters will skip casting a ballot. Meanwhile, President Obama had endorsed candidates all the way down to the state Assembly level. Im joined by Marisa Lagos of KQED News and Anthony York, author of the Grizzly Bear Project website. Facebook
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California, your official presidential write-in options include Bernie Sanders and Evan McMullin By Christine Mai-Duc Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is one of five officially certified write-in candidates for president in California. (Christopher Dolan / Associated Press) California Secretary of State Alex Padilla released the names of the five officially qualified write-in candidates for the presidential race in California, along with their vice presidential running mates. Contrary to popular belief, votes for write-in candidates only count when the candidate is officially certified. (That means votes for Mickey Mouse, Giant Meteor, or Chuck Norris will not be counted.) The officially qualified write-in candidates are: Laurence Kotlikoff for president and Edward Leamer for vice president
Mike Maturen for president and Juan Munoz for vice president
Evan McMullin for president and Nathan Johnson for vice president
Bernard Bernie Sanders for president and Tulsi Gabbard for vice president
Jerry White for president and Niles Niemuth for vice president Now, that doesnt mean that Sanders and the other candidates wanted to be recognized as official write-ins. California law only requires that 55 electors sign on to declare a person a write-in candidate, not that the person consent, according to a statement from the Secretary of States Office.
A full list of each candidates electors can be seen here. Write-in votes for these candidates will not be reported until the counties send their final vote certifications after the post-election canvass period, meaning a write-in vote will take longer to count. You might be wondering: Does spelling count? The Secretary of State says election officials will accept a reasonable facsimile of the spelling of a candidates name. For example, Joe Smith and Joseph Smith would both be accepted. Facebook
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Dueling ads aim to persuade Latinos on proposition to legalize marijuana in California By Patrick McGreevy With a poll indicating Latino voters lag in their support for a ballot proposition that would legalize recreation marijuana in California, the campaigns for and against the measure are launching dueling ads aimed at that large demographic. A poll Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California found that Proposition 64 is favored by a majority of likely voters in California, including a majority of all ethnic groups, except Latinos. Latinos support is just under half at 47%. The campaign against the ballot measure will launch its second ad on Spanish language television, titled Asusta or Scary on Halloween. The ad warns if approved, Proposition 64 could eventually lead to radio and television ads for marijuana candy. Federal law prohibits such ads on broadcast stations, and the initiative prohibits television advertising aimed at minors if federal law ever changes. The campaign in favor of the ballot measure said Friday it has launched new counter TV ads targeted to the Los Angeles area, where there is a large Latino audience. One ad, for Spanish language television, labels as falso, or false, the claims that there will be television commercials for marijuana candy. A second ad, in English, features a mother of teenagers saying she appreciates that Proposition 64 has important safeguards for families, like strict product labeling and child-proof packaging of all marijuana products and banning edibles that would appeal to a child. The two sides each claimed Friday that the polls are favorable to their cause. The polls highlight the lack of support by the Latino community because they know their neighborhoods will have to face the problems that recreational marijuana creates, said Andrew Acosta, a spokesman for the opposition campaign. Not true, said Jason Kinney, a spokesman for the Proposition 64 campaign. Polls show that Latino support for Proposition 64 and marijuana decriminalization has been increasing as they learn how communities of color are being disproportionately targeted for marijuana arrest and prosecution, he said. Facebook
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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi endorses ballot measure to repeal the death penalty in California By Jazmine Ulloa (Win McNamee / Getty Images) House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) on Friday announced her support for a proposition that would repeal the death penalty in California, calling the practice cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. Even the most heinous of crimes can be punished without killing, she said. As Pope Francis said in his address to Congress, where he reaffirmed his advocacy for the global abolition of the death penalty: every human person is endowed with an unalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. Pelosi is among a string of top political leaders, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and celebrities to come out in support of Proposition 62, which would replace the punishment with life in prison without parole and apply life sentences retroactively to death row inmates. The initiative is one of two competing death penalty measures on the Nov. 8 ballot. She also is among fewer political leaders to denounce the death penalty itself on moral grounds. I oppose the death penalty because too many defendants have not had access to appropriate legal counsel; because poor people especially in communities of color have been disproportionately charged with capital crimes and sentenced to death, compared with more affluent defendants; and, so many people have been exonerated with DNA evidence. It is time for us to take a moral stand. Read More Facebook
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Obama endorses Emilio Huerta in his Central Valley race against Rep. David Valadao By Sarah D. Wire (Sarah D. Wire / Los Angeles Times) President Obama on Friday endorsed 21st District congressional candidate Emilio Huerta, the Democrats campaign announced. I am proud to endorse Emilio Huerta for the United States House of Representatives, Obama said in a statement released by the campaign. In Congress, Emilio will be a fighter for Central Valley working families. Emilio isnt afraid to take on tough challenges, and hell fight for more and better access to clean water, good jobs with fair wages, and an education system that works for every child. Emilio is the kind of smart leader who will build on what weve accomplished and move our country forward, and thats why I know Californians can count on Emilio Huerta. Huerta, an attorney and son of labor rights icon Dolores Huerta, is challenging Rep. David Valadao in the Central Valley district. Obama had already endorsed six California Democrats. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was in the district Thursday to campaign for Valadao. Hes in the middle of a swing through California to support vulnerable House Republicans. David Valadao is exactly the type of representative Central Valley families and those involved in the agriculture industry need. He understands the issues impacting the area, because thats been his life. David was born in the Central Valley, he grew up there, he went to school there -- and he even met his wife there. In Congress, he has led the fight on water, veterans issues, and education, Ryan said in a statement. Facebook
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Comedian Kathy Griffin pokes fun at tobacco company ads By Liam Dillon The tobacco industry-funded television advertisements against the Proposition 56 tobacco tax increase are ubiquitous. They all generally have the same message: The money from the tax hike would go to Medi-Cal, the states low-income healthcare program, and therefore benefit the doctors and insurance groups that are helping finance the measure. Comedian Kathy Griffin decided to spoof the advertisements follow-the-money message in a video she released on Twitter Tuesday. Hey @YesOn56...I had to get involved! #YesOn56 https://t.co/ZXURPBZYZP Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) October 27, 2016 Griffin highlighted that tobacco companies had funded the advertisement, which is clear when you read the fine print at the end. So in general just be careful of these opposite ads, Griffin said, dressed in a similar gardening outfit as the actress in the No on 56 ad. Or in general white ladies gardening. You can watch Griffins full spoof here: Facebook
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Los Angeles County Bar says expediting the death penalty system will compromise justice By Jazmine Ulloa The Los Angeles County Bar Assn. has joined opponents of a Nov. 8 ballot measure that intends to expedite executions in California, saying it would likely compromise access to justice at all levels of the court system. In a letter released late Wednesday, the organization, which comprises more than 20,000 members, said Proposition 66 would require appellate courts to hear initial death penalty appeals, without providing the roughly $100 million needed to fund additional judges, staff and resources. LACBA opposes Proposition 66 based entirely on its damaging effect on the operation of an already over-taxed judicial system, and most importantly, the resulting lack of access to justice for California citizens, states the letter signed by Margaret Stevens, the associations president. The association said it took no position on the death penalty itself, its effectiveness, morality or social merits. But its opposition to the ballot measure comes as top Los Angeles County officials, including Sheriff Jim McDonnell and Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, have announced their support. Proposition 66 has drawn wide support and funding from law enforcement officials and organizations that argue Californias death penalty must be preserved and reformed. Facebook
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Gov. Jerry Brown launches TV ad against Prop. 53s change to state revenue bonds By John Myers Its a nuanced pitch from Gov. Jerry Brown, asking California voters to oppose an effort that would give them a vote on future big infrastructure projects. But Brown has more than $15 million in campaign cash to make his case against Proposition 53, in a TV ad that began on Thursday. Proposition 53 asks voters to add revenue bonds of $2 billion or more to the list of government borrowing that requires statewide voter approval. Unlike general obligation bonds, which are paid back by taxpayer dollars through the states general fund, revenue bonds are paid back with fees charged to users of projects like bridges, dams and buildings. Brown takes aim in the ad at the fact that 53 is paid for by one millionaire, Central Valley agribusiness owner Dean Cortopassi. In an interview this week, Cortopassi called revenue bonds a blank check to sell debt forward into the future. Proposition 53 could force statewide votes on two high-profile infrastructure projects: Californias plan for a high-speed train system and the construction of twin underground tunnels to divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Southern California. Facebook
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New citizens can still register to vote Nov. 8 even though the California deadline has passed By Sophia Bollag Thomas Macariola, center, fills out a voter registration form after a naturalization ceremony on Oct. 26 in Sacramento, where a cardboard cut-out of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was among the witnesses. (Sophia Bollag / Los Angeles Times) Alex De Leon, a 30-year-old immigrant from Guatemala, was among more than 400 people who became U.S. citizens at a ceremony in Sacramento on Wednesday. After the program concluded, he walked outside and filled out his voter registration papers. The registration deadline to vote in the Nov. 8 election for most Californians was Monday. But a 2012 state law allows people like De Leon, who became citizens after the deadline, to register late. To vote, they must bring proof of citizenship and California residency to show to an official at a county election office. As a precaution against voter fraud, theyre not allowed to vote at a neighborhood polling place or with an absentee ballot. Read More Facebook
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A new poll shows Californians remain ready to legalize the recreational use of pot By Patrick McGreevy (David Zalubowski / Associated Press) A majority of Californias likely voters continue to favor legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, but the level of support has dipped from a reported 60% a month ago to 55% this month, according to a statewide poll released Wednesday night. The latest poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found 38% of those surveyed oppose Proposition 64 and 6% are undecided. But the basic finding is that the initiative would still pass with a majority vote if the election were held today, according to Mark Baldassare, the institutes pollster and president. The numbers have been favorable, consistent, and exactly where we expected and wanted to be at this point, said Jason Kinney, a spokesman for the Proposition 64 campaign. The poll was conducted Oct. 14-23 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4% at a 95% confidence level. Proposition 64 is supported by 66% of Democratic likely voters and 56% of independents, but 60% of Republicans are opposed. Just under half of Latino likely voters (47%) would vote yes, while majorities of other racial/ethnic groups (65%) and whites (55%) would do so, the poll report said. Support is highest, at 78%, among those age 18 to 34. The opposition campaign said the campaign for Proposition 64 has turned voters away from the measure. It is clear that voters are realizing that Prop 64 is a 62-page mess that helps the marijuana industry tap into the California market, said Andrew Acosta, a spokesman for the campaign against the initiative. Those polled were also asked whether they have ever tried marijuana and, if so, if they used it in the last year: 18% said they have tried marijuana and used it in the last year, while 25% said they have tried it, but not in the last year. Updated at 9:30 am to include comments by the campaigns. Facebook
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New poll shows Kamala Harris leading Californias U.S. Senate race by a 2-to-1 margin By Phil Willon U.S. Senate candidates Kamala Harris, left, points a finger toward rival Loretta Sanchez during their debate at Cal State L.A. on Wednesday, Oct. 5. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) With ballots already being cast, State Atty. General Kamala Harris leads by a more than a two-to-one margin over her rival in Californias U.S. Senate race, according to a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. The survey showed that 42% of likely voters supported Harris, compared to 20% who favored her opponent, Orange County Rep. Loretta Sanchez. Among the remainder, 20% of voters were undecided and 18% said they will not vote for either candidate by election day on Nov. 8. The results are dramatically different that those in a PPIC released on Sept. 21, when Harris had just a 7-point lead over Sanchez. But the new poll numbers are closely aligned with results in the June 7 primary, when Harris received 40% of the vote and Sanchez came in second with 19% in a race with 34 candidates on the ballot. In a PPIC poll in July, Harris also had 38% support among likely voters and Sanchez 20%. From the start this has been a race in which Harris, who did very well in the primary, has had a large advantage, said PPIC President Mark Baldassare. Loretta Sanchez hasnt been able to, in any of our polls, get above 25% Unlike the PPICs surveys in July and September, the new poll included the ballot designations for the two Senate candidates, listing Harris as Attorney General of California and Sanchez as a United States Congresswoman. Both Harris and Sanchez are Democrats. There also have been a few major developments in the Senate campaign since Sept. 21, including the Oct. 5 Senate debate at Cal State Los Angeles where Sanchez caused a stir by dabbing as her finale. The following day, U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein endorsed Harris. Both Harris and Sanchez are trying to succeed Boxer, who is retiring after serving four terms in the Senate. According to the new PPIC poll, Harris is favored over Sanchez across all general income and education levels of voters, as well as among both men and women. Harris also leads in these major regions of the state: Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, Orange and San Diego counties, and the Inland Empire. Latinos are the only major cross-section of likely voters who favor Sanchez over Harris, by a margin of 41% to 33%, the poll shows. Harris also gained support from Republicans and independents over the past month, mostly likely from voters who previously said they would not vote. Still, more than a third of likely Republican voters said they would not vote for Sanchez or Harris, and 16% of independent voters also plan to take a pass. The two Democrats are facing off in the highest-profile contest between two members of the same party since California adopted a top-two primary election system. Facebook
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Will the Defense Department fix the National Guard bonus repayment problem? California congressional reps are skeptical By Sarah D. Wire (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press) Some members of Californias congressional delegation arent satisfied with a Defense Department plan to verify whether thousands of California National Guard members fairly received bonuses for enlisting during the height of the Iraq war or must repay the money. They said Wednesday that they want a detailed plan by the time Congress returns in mid-November. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) organized a call so that Californias 53 House members could question the Defense Department about how it plans to fix the problem, which was first reported Sunday by The Times. Members werent sure exactly how many of their colleagues were on the call. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday ordered the Pentagon to pause efforts to claw back the enlistment bonuses. He said the suspension would continue until he was satisfied that our process is working effectively. Congressional members told The Times that Defense officials said they plan to increase the number of employees reviewing the cases and expect all of them will be examined by July. After the call, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village) said she was still outraged and wants a more detailed plan from the Defense Department. There was definitely a level of skepticism that they would move forward on this in a very fair and evenhanded way, Brownley said. Department officials told the delegation there are 13,800 questionable bonus cases in California. Of those, 4,000 have been cleared as properly eligible and 1,200 cases identified as possible fraud, meaning the guard member was not eligible or did not complete the contract. The department still must review the remaining 8,600 cases. (The case numbers relayed to members of Congress on Wednesday differ slightly from those provided to The Times by the department.) Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) said the Defense Department told members its plan is to clear up to 100 cases a day. They will give everybody a chance to go through the panels and make their case, she said, even the 1,200 identified as possible fraud. Brownleys staff said some Guard members were told to pay back more than $60,000. Many of the bonuses were at least $15,000. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said that in many cases, Guard members werent spending money they knew they werent supposed to receive, and that the Pentagon should have the burden of proving the soldier knowingly took a bonus they werent supposed to get. In the vast majority of cases, soldiers accepted these bonuses in good faith, Schiff said. You dont call them up years later and say, We shouldnt have offered that and try to collect. The department will give the California members another briefing when Congress returns Nov. 14. Brownley said several members told the department they would go ahead with legislation to forgive the bonus debt for at least some Guard members if a detailed plan was not ready by then. Facebook
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Latinos in California are motivated to vote against Donald Trump, and that could affect a lot of other races By Sophia Bollag Voters make their way in and out of a polling place at the House of Mercy in Los Angeles in November 2012. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Latinos make up the largest ethnic group in California, but are often underrepresented at the polls. This year, however, experts say they expect good Latino turnout in November, thanks largely to the heated presidential election that is motivating many Latinos to vote against presidential candidate Donald Trump and his anti-immigration rhetoric. They stand to have considerable impact on many down-ballot races in California, as well as on the outcome of many statewide propositions. Read More Facebook
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Tom Steyer is now the biggest donor in the effort to raise the tobacco tax By Liam Dillon Billionaire Tom Steyer is now the largest donor in the effort to raise the states cigarette tax by $2 a pack. With a $3.5-million donation to the Yes on Proposition 56 campaign Tuesday, Steyers total spending on the race has reached $11.3 million. Thats more than a third of the $31 million the primary Yes on 56 committee has raised and more than all the money raised during a similar, but failed, effort to increase the tobacco tax four years ago. Steyer, who is a major donor to state and national liberal causes, is the focus in two Yes on 56 television advertisements. Hes said hes motivated to spend to limit youth smoking and the memory of his mother, a smoker who died of lung cancer. Steyer also is frequently mentioned as a potential Democratic candidate for governor in 2018. The No on 56 campaign, which is almost entirely funded by tobacco companies, has raised $71 million. Facebook
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California congressional reps say they didnt know so many Guard members were being forced to repay enlistment bonuses By Sarah D. Wire Some of Californias members of Congress say Californias National Guard did not explain in 2014 how many guard members were being forced to repay enlistment bonuses. On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter ordered the Pentagon to suspend all efforts to collect reimbursement from the nearly 10,000 California National Guard members who were improperly given bonuses as an incentive to reenlist at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Earlier in the week, a senior California National Guard official said it told the states members of Congress two years ago the Pentagon was trying to claw back reenlistment bonuses from thousands of soldiers, and even offered a proposal to mitigate the problem, but Congress took no action. After The Times first reported the problem Sunday, most of Californias 55 members of Congress signed onto letters to Carter, or House and Senate leaders, asking for an immediate fix. On Wednesday, they praised the Defense Department for halting the clawbacks and said Congress needs to stop the process entirely and refund the Guard members who already have repaid money. Still, some members took issue with the California Guards characterization of what it told the California delegation two years ago. Staff in members offices said the Guard broadly mentioned the clawbacks in a 2014 letter detailing its policy goals for the year, but officials didnt meet with members of Congress in person or by phone, and didnt otherwise tell them about the scale of the issue. Such letters are fairly common from groups working with Congress. If they would have come and said, Youre going to have thousands of combat veterans having their wages garnished and tax liens being put on them, we would have been all over this, said Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine). That was never communicated to us. Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Los Angeles) said neither the Pentagon nor California Guard officials told him about the large number of soldiers ordered to repay bonuses, though his office had received complaints from individual soldiers. I have no record of receiving any formal notice of this widespread issue from any department federal or state. The only record I have is of individual cases of service members who approached my office to get help, and we are working with these individuals who have served our country to make sure they are treated fairly, he said. Several high-ranking members of the delegation said this week they first heard of the scope of the problem from The Times reporting. The California Guard also sent members of Congress a suggested provision that would have allowed debt waivers for the affected soldiers in the 2015 defense authorization bill. Reps. Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) and Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) initially pushed for the provision but later abandoned the effort, and it didnt appear in the final bill. Cook and Denham said they dropped the effort after being told the Pentagon already had the power to waive the debts. Guard officials said they were told the provision was discarded because waiving the debt would have cost the Pentagon money, requiring the estimated costs to be offset with cuts elsewhere in the defense budget. For the record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Denham declined to discuss why he dropped the provision to waive the debt. He dropped the effort after being told the Pentagon already had the power to waive the debt. Facebook
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Ted Cruzs old gang called into action to help California GOP By Phil Willon Ron Nehring, a former aide in Sen. Ted Cruzs presidential bid, chats with visitors at the California State Fair in Sacramento during his 2014 campaign for lieutenant governor. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs presidential bid may be history, but his supporters in California are banding together to help GOP candidates locked in tight down-ballot races. Ron Nehring, the former state GOP chairman who was a top Cruz booster, said the focus will be turning out Republican voters and recruiting volunteers to work on a list of hotly contested congressional and legislative races selected by the California Republican Party. Among those pinpointed are Vista Rep. Darrell Issa, who faces his toughest challenge since being elected to Congress in 2000, and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, who is trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Ami Bera of Elk Grove. It is 100% exclusively boots on the ground, Nehring said. Michael Schroeder, who was co-chairman of Cruzs campaign in California and also served as the state GOP chairman, said Republican turnout in the Golden State is expected to be down because of the controversies surrounding GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. Having Trump at the top of the November ballot also will motivate more Democrats to vote, and that could endanger GOP candidates in close races throughout the state, he said. Trumps campaign is a lost cause in California at this point, Schroeder said. Trump said he was going to drive Hispanic turnout, and I think hes right -- but not in the way hes hoping for. Californias Cruz alumni have a website and on Monday night held a conference call with 75 former Cruz organizers asking them to activate their local political networks to help with the effort, Nehring said. Other Republicans theyll work to protect or elect: Reps. Jeff Denham of Turlock, David Valadao of Hanford and Steve Knight of Palmdale.
Assembly members Catharine Baker of San Ramon, David Hadley of Manhattan Beach, Tom Lackey of Palmdale and Young Kim of Fullerton.
State Senate candidates Mike Antonovich of Glendale, Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita and Ling Ling Chang of Diamond Bar. Facebook
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Central Valley congressional race shifts to a toss-up By Sarah D. Wire (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) The 10th Congressional District race between Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) and Democrat Michael Eggman is now a toss-up, the nonpartisan analysts at the Cook Political Report announced Tuesday. The contest in the heavily Latino Central Valley district had been rated lean Republican, meaning the analysts thought Eggman had a chance, but they expected the third-term Republican to be reelected.The Cook Political Report now lists several California House districts held by Republicans as toss-ups, including Rep. Darrell Issas seat in the 49th District and Rep. Steve Knight in the 25th District. This is the second matchup for Denham and Eggman. Denham won their 2014 encounter with 56% of the vote, but this year, there is the added unknown of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps effect on other races and whether his unpopularity will drag down other candidates. For the record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Rep. David Valadaos race in the 21st District is listed as a toss-up. It is listed as leaning Republican. Facebook
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U.S. Rep. Ami Bera: Soldiers who served our country should not be penalized for the mistakes of others By Sophia Bollag Urging @DeptofDefense today to immediately stop ordering @theCAGuard members to pay back their enlistment benefits. pic.twitter.com/Ti6bzWJias Ami Bera, M.D. (@RepBera) October 24, 2016 U.S. Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) wrote to top Department of Defense officials Monday urging them to stop asking veterans to repay enlistment bonuses. The Pentagon has ordered nearly 10,000 California Guard soldiers to repay bonuses that were improperly awarded to them, The Times reported Saturday. With his letter, Bera joined the chorus of lawmakers who have condemned the action, calling on the Pentagon to waive the soldiers debts. Soldiers who served our country should not be penalized for the mistakes of others, wrote Bera, who faces a tough reelection battle in his Northern California district. I urge the Department to halt the collection of these bonuses at this time to prevent placing more service members in financial hardship. Facebook
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Crime victims oppose the death penalty in Yes on Prop. 62 ads By Jazmine Ulloa In new online ads released Tuesday by proponents of Proposition 62, which seeks to repeal the death penalty in California, crime victims urge voters to end the system and bring peace to grieving families. Proposition 62 would replace the ultimate punishment for murder with a sentence of life in prison without parole, ending a lengthy appeals process that some victims say has interfered with their healing. It is one of two competing death penalty measures on the Nov. 8 ballot. In one of two videos, which campaign officials say are geared toward swing voters, Beth Webb tells viewers she has had to face the death row inmate who killed her sister and seven others in a hair salon almost 50 times in court. Him sitting there, soaking up all of the attention, loving it, its disgusting, she says. The commercials come as proponents of the opposing measure on the ballot, Proposition 66, have released their own ads over the last few days, urging voters to reform the system, not end it. In one of those videos, a murder victims mother says no punishment other than the death penalty is appropriate for the twice-convicted sex offender who abducted her child. Read More Facebook
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Common, Russell Simmons, Shailene Woodley among celebrities pushing to legalize weed in California By Patrick McGreevy Common at the 2015 Academy Awards (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) Top celebrities including Common, Tim Robbins and the author of the Orange is the New Black memoir are joining forces in what they are calling Artists for 64" the effort to legalize recreational use of marijuana in California. A show of force announced Tuesday includes rapper and actor Common; music producer Russell Simmons; Ty Dolla $ign; actors Danny Glover, Olivia Wilde, Tim Robbins, Sarah Silverman, Shailene Woodley of The Divergent series, Jesse Williams of Greys Anatomy and Michael K. Williams of the HBO series The Wire; and Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Womens Prison. Jay Z, who last week put out a video calling the war on drugs an epic fail, also signed on to the effort. In California, the question on whether to legalize marijuana for adult use is a policy change that will have a lasting impact on historically marginalized communities, Glover, the star of films including the Lethal Weapon series, said in a statement posted on Artists for 64. Marijuana laws have been used as a tool by law enforcement to racially profile, harass, intimidate and criminalize mostly young African American and Latino men for decades. I am shocked and saddened by the harm that marijuana criminalization brings, especially for communities of color, Wilde said in a statement. The campaign against Proposition 64 said Hollywood celebrities are not the most credible endorsers, charging they are out of touch with the reality of drug abuse in many communities in the state. Today the No on Prop 64 campaign did a press event in Fresno with faith and community leaders who know that the problems that recreational marijuana creates will impact these communities and neighborhoods across California not Hollywood, said Andrew Acosta, a spokesman for the opposition campaign. In a video produced by Dream Hampton and included on the website, former Golden State Warrior Al Harrington talks about how marijuana helped him overcome pain and inflammation during a staph infection and helped his grandmother with her glaucoma. Im a California voter and Im voting `yes for Prop. 64, he says. Williams spoke from personal experience. Im in recovery and dont use marijuana, and my Christian faith is my rock when it comes to staying sober, he said in a statement. But I dont believe people should be arrested for marijuana anymore. California can lead the country by voting yes on Prop 64. Drug Policy Action, an advocacy group backing Proposition 64 to legalize the drug for recreational use, paid for the site. Facebook
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Californias Congress members knew the Pentagon was trying to get back bonuses from soldiers, official says By David S. Cloud The California National Guard told the states members of Congress two years ago that the Pentagon was trying to claw back reenlistment bonuses from thousands of soldiers, and even offered a proposal to mitigate the problem, but Congress took no action, according to a senior National Guard official. What form that communication took and whether the members of Congress understood the scope of the problem at the time is unclear. On Monday, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying that Congress should pass legislation to halt the Pentagon debt recovery as soon as we gavel back into session after the Nov. 8 election. Other California congressional members, including Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, also sent letters to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter about the matter. Read More Facebook
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Proposition 56 and the great vape tax debate By Liam Dillon (Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP/Getty Images) Turn on any TV in California and you know that all the talk surrounding the Proposition 56 tobacco tax has been about cigarettes. But if the initiative passes next month, e-cigarettes will also be taxed like traditional cigarettes for the first time a huge tax increase that could boost the price of a typical 30-milliliter bottle of e-liquid by $10. Read More Facebook
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State ethics watchdog asks court to force assemblymans campaign to turn over documents for investigation By Christine Mai-Duc Assemblyman David Hadley (R-Manhattan Beach) greets people after participating in a candidates forum in Torrance. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) The campaign of Assemblyman David Hadley (R-Manhattan Beach) has delayed turning over documents related to an official investigation into his campaign practices, according to court documents filed by the state Fair Political Practices Commission. The investigation grew out of a complaint from Hadleys opponent, Democrat Al Muratsuchi, that claims Hadleys campaign was illegally coordinating with an independent expenditure committee that also supported Hadley. In a letter to the FPPC, Muratsuchi claimed Hadleys campaign and Spirit of Democracy, a group funded mostly by Republican donor Charles Munger, Jr., shared consultant Steven Presson during at least part of the primary campaign for Assembly District 66. In court documents filed Oct. 13, FPPC special investigator Garrett Micheels said he initially emailed Hadley Aug. 4, asking him to voluntarily provide certain records to the commissions enforcement division. The records requested included emails, letters and text messages between Jan. 1 and June 7 between Presson and the Hadley campaign, or any other individuals or groups concerning the Hadley race. The next day, Presson responded that the campaign would require a subpoena to avoid possible public exposure to sensitive emails within the Hadley campaign regarding our strategy. After a subpoena was issued on Aug. 12, Micheels said in court documents, Hadley retained attorney Steve Churchwell, who asked for extensions to produce the documents at least three times, but never provided the records. On Sept. 27, Hadley produced some of the documents, court filings say, but wrote to explain that he was withholding his communications with Presson because there are hundreds or thousands of such correspondences that contained sensitive/confidential campaign communications that he said he had not had the time to review. As of Friday, the FPPC says, they have not received the rest of the documents requested. There is only one reason Hadley would conceal documents, and that is because he is guilty and is trying to hide the evidence, said Mike Shimpock, a consultant for the Muratsuchi campaign. A Hadley campaign spokesman declined to comment and Churchwell did not return a request for comment. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday in the Sacramento County Superior Court. Facebook
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New ads urge California voters not to repeal the last defense against killers By Jazmine Ulloa In two new television ads, police officers and prosecutors urge California voters not to repeal the death penalty on Nov. 8, calling it the last defense against killers. The commercials, released late Monday by the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., are part of the No on Prop. 62, Yes on Prop. 66 campaign. The effort aims to defeat Proposition 62, which would replace the ultimate punishment for murder with life in prison without parole, and to support Proposition 66, which would change and limit how and how often death row inmates can appeal. The pro-death penalty campaign has drawn broad support and funding from law enforcement organizations across the state. The Correctional Peace Officers Assn. alone has donated nearly $600,000 since last September. Ive seen what the worst among us can do, killings so brutal families never recover, Sgt. Dan Cabral of the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Assn. tells viewers in one ad. Its why we have a death penalty. The second ad features the case of serial killer Charles Ng, who has spent 17 years on death row for the rape, torture and slayings of at least 11 victims. This is cruel punishment for the families, Sharon Sellitto, one victims sister, says in the video. Read More Facebook
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GOP Rep. Darrell Issa returns fire after President Obama rips his campaign mailer By Phil Willon Vista Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said Monday he was disappointed but not surprised by President Obamas criticism of him for using the presidents photo in a campaign mailer. At a fundraiser in La Jolla on Sunday night, Obama said Issas primary contribution to Congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollars on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere. The president called Issa shameless for using his image in his reelection campaign. Im disappointed but not surprised that the president, in a political speech, continues to deny accountability for the serious scandals that happened under his watch where Americans died overseas and veterans have died here at home, Issa said in a statement released by his congressional campaign Monday. Youd be hard-pressed to find anyone who thinks Ive done too much to hold Washington accountable. Ive worked with the administration on good legislation where it was possible, called out wrongdoing wherever I saw it and will continue to do so. Issa is running his toughest congressional campaign to date, an increasingly nasty race that has been declared a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Issas Democratic challenger in the 49th Congressional District, retired Marine Col. Doug Applegate, has criticized the congressman as a Washington insider and supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. In the political mailer sent out by the Issa campaign, the congressman said he was pleased with the president for signing legislation he co-sponsored that provides victims of sexual assault legal protections in the federal criminal justice system. At the Sunday night fundraiser, Obama ripped Issa as a guy who, because poll numbers are bad, has sent out brochures with my picture on them touting his cooperation on issues with me. Now that is the definition of chutzpah, Obama said. Issa once called Obama one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times. While chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, he led investigations into the Benghazi attack, the Internal Revenue Service scandal, the botched Fast and Furious gun sting and other actions by the Obama administration. Facebook
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California Democrats remember Tom Hayden for pursuits close to home By Michael Finnegan (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) Top California Democrats remembered Tom Hayden on Monday as an influential activist whose pursuit of liberal causes extended far beyond his best-known work leading protests against the Vietnam War. Tom took up causes that others avoided, Gov. Jerry Brown said. He had a real sense of the underdog and was willing to do battle no matter what the odds. Hayden died Sunday in Santa Monica after a long illness. He was 76. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recalled Haydens work negotiating a gang truce in Venice, along with his contributions to an anti-sweatshop ordinance to prevent worker exploitation. Tom Hayden was a giant who never stopped pushing for peace and justice, and inspired a generation of change agents to bring new voices and overlooked perspectives to the decision-making process, Garcetti said. Hayden, classified by the FBI as a rabble rouser in the 1960s, was prosecuted by President Nixons Justice Department in the raucous Chicago 7 trial after violent clashes with police at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. His conviction was dismissed on appeal. He went on to serve in the state Assembly and Senate for a total of 18 years. John Burton, chairman of the California Democratic Party, recalled two measures that Hayden got passed. One allocated $250,000 to buy tattoo removal machines for imprisoned youth so they could cut their gang ties. The other set up a program for parents to use tax-free accounts for savings dedicated to their childrens college education. These bills didnt get a lot of attention at the time, but they have had a far-reaching impact on young peoples futures, said Burton, who led the state Senate when Hayden was a member. The Senates current leader, Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles, said Hayden was well ahead of the curve on issues involving the environment, social justice, gang intervention and urban peace, access to higher education, domestic violence and much more. Hayden, he said, distinguished himself as a paragon of political integrity and a great intellect. Facebook
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Secretary of States office holds voter registration drive at the Capitol on the last day to register in California By Sophia Bollag .@CASOSvote staff are outside the Capitol today to register new voters. Today is the deadline to register in CA. pic.twitter.com/vNovU1jNla Sophia Bollag (@SophiaBollag) October 24, 2016 The Secretary of States office is holding a voter registration drive outside the Capitol today, the last day to register in California before the November election. The offices staff registered about 20 people in the first couple of hours, said Milena Paez, who works in the offices elections division. Many people had also stopped by the booth to ask where their polling place is or check their voter registration status, she said. LaRhonda Sayles-Willis, who recently moved to the Sacramento area, said she saw the booth as she walked down the street and stopped by to see where she was registered. She ended up re-registering to vote to be on the safe side and said shes particularly motivated to vote for Hillary Clinton. I really oppose her opponent. I just dont like the guy, the 56-year-old said. I just dont think hes a good representation of the United States. Ada Avelar, 21, said she decided to register because she recently moved to the United States from Mexico City to attend Sacramento State University. Avelar is an American citizen. She said she saw the booth on her way back from having lunch with a friend and decided to register right there. I was like, its a sign, she said. I have to do it. Facebook
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Assemblywoman Patty Lopez vows not to give up on reelection despite lack of party support By Christine Mai-Duc Patty Lopez watches as ballots are counted in her 2014 race against then-incumbent Raul Bocanegra, who she bested by fewer than 500 votes. ( (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)) On a recent weekend, with just three weeks to go until the November election, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon made a whirlwind tour of five of the most hotly contested races in the state, stumping for Democratic candidates. Assemblywoman Patty Lopez (D-San Fernando), who faces a stiff challenge from former Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, was not one of them. Instead, she spent part of her Saturday walking through a community street festival, handing out fliers with a handful of volunteers. Ive been blocked from my party, but my district knows who is Patty Lopez, she said. Sometimes I feel disappointed, but thats not stopping me from doing what I need to do. In 2014, Lopez shocked many when she eked out a win against Bocanegra by a margin of less than 500 votes. With six Democrats on the ballot in this years primary, Lopez received just 27.2% of the vote, a distant second to Bocanegras 44.4%. Despite this, and the fact that the California Democratic Party has endorsed her challenger, Lopez says she is a woman of faith who believes 100 percent that shell be reelected. Read More Facebook
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Obama says Darrell Issa is shameless for praising him in campaign mailer that is the definition of chutzpah By Sarah D. Wire At a California fundraiser Sunday night, President Obama called Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) shameless for using the presidents photo on a recent mailer and praising him after years of criticizing the Obama administration. Issa is facing an unexpectedly tough race this year as the eight-term Republican squares off against political novice former Marine Col. Doug Applegate. Issas primary contribution to the United States Congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollars on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere. And this is now a guy who, because poll numbers are bad, has sent out brochures with my picture on them touting his cooperation on issues with me, Obama told the crowd, according to a transcript, at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser in the La Jolla home of donor Christine Forester. Now that is the definition of chutzpah. The Vista Republican has been a frequent critic of Obama and has called him one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times. The campaign mailer said Issa was pleased with the president for signing legislation he co-sponsored into law. Issa was one of 40 House members who co-sponsored the legislation, which provides some sexual assault victims legal protections in the federal criminal justice system. The president is in Los Angeles today and Tuesday for a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live and two fundraisers, including a $100,000-per-ticket fundraiser at DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenbergs home tonight that is completely closed to the press. Facebook
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The district where water is more important than all other campaign issues By Sarah D. Wire (Sarah D. Wire/ Los Angeles Times) In Californias Central Valley, the nations most productive agricultural region, the drought drives everything. And the ongoing fight over how much water flows could be the reason Democrats havent been able to win in the 21st Congressional District with a national race even though 47% of registered voters there are Democrats. Heres a look at the role of water in the race between Rep. David Valadao, and attorney Emilio Huerta. Read More Facebook
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What happens if both death penalty measures are approved by voters on Nov. 8? By Jazmine Ulloa (Pat Sullivan / Associated Press) California voters are weighing dueling death penalty propositions on the Nov. 8 ballot, one that seeks to repeal the system and another that aims to speed it up. If both pass with a majority, the initiative with the most yes votes would supersede the other. If both fail to garner the votes, then the status quo remains, a frustrating prospect for many as advocates on both sides of the issue say the system is broken. California has more than 740 inmates awaiting execution, the largest death row population in the country. Their appeals go directly to the state Supreme Court and take 25 years to process. Both capital punishment measures would require current prisoners to work and pay restitution to victims. But Proposition 62 would repeal the death penalty in California for first-degree murder and replace the sentence with life in prison without the possibility of parole. It also would apply retroactively to offenders already sentenced to death. Proposition 66 would designate lower trial courts to take on initial challenges to convictions and limit successive appeals to within five years of a death sentence. It also would require court-appointed lawyers who dont take capital appeals to represent death row inmates. Facebook
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California Politics Podcast: Propositions, polling and parole By John Myers The fact that there are 17 propositions on the statewide ballot has not only made things hard on voters, its been almost impossible for pollsters to sample opinion on so many issues. But one new poll looks at some of the least talked about measures, and its our first topic on this weeks California Politics Podcast. The poll suggests a lot of voters remain undecided about several of these low-profile proposals. We also take a detailed look at one of the most contentious ballot fights, the effort by Gov. Jerry Brown to revamp state prison parole rules through Proposition 57. Im joined on this weeks episode by Marisa Lagos of KQED News. Facebook
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In No on 62, Yes on 66 campaign ad, murder victims mother urges California voters to keep the death penalty By Jazmine Ulloa In three online ads released Friday, Sandra Friend tells California voters they should fix the states death penalty system, not end it. The 43-year-old mother has been a crime victims advocate since Robert Boyd Rhoades sexually abused and killed her 8-year-old son, Michael Lyons, two decades ago. She is now serving as one of the main voices behind a campaign that is working to defeat Proposition 62, which would repeal the death penalty, and in favor of Proposition 66, which seeks to speed up executions. Voters will weigh the dueling capital punishment initiatives on the Nov. 8 ballot. Both would require current death row inmates to work and pay restitution to victims, but would take opposing approaches to what the measures both call a broken system. Rhoades, who abducted Lyons on his way home from school in Yuba City, is one of 740 death row inmates in California. Executions have been on hold since 2006, when the states lethal injection protocol was challenged in court. Friend tells viewers it has been difficult coming to terms with the fact that her son was murdered by a twice-convicted sex offender. I am living a parents worst nightmare, she says. Facebook
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Former state Sen. Ronald Calderon sentenced to 42 months in prison on corruption charge By Joel Rubin Former state Sen. Ronald S. Calderon was sentenced in Los Angeles on Friday to 42 months in prison after he pleaded guilty in a federal corruption case. The Montebello Democrat, who served in the state Senate for eight years ending in 2014, admitted in a plea deal in June that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from undercover FBI agents and a hospital executive in return for official favors. Federal prosecutors had asked for a five-year sentence for a charge where the maximum possible penalty was 20 years. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder, who handed down the sentence to Calderon, said five years was too severe but that a significant prison sentence was needed to punish Calderon and send a message to other elected officials that corruption will not be tolerated. The crime is significant, she said during the court hearing. This is a true public corruption case. Striking a defiant tone throughout, Calderon refused to admit any wrong-doing or to apologize during the court hearing. My goal was always to do the right thing for California, he said. At no point did I intend to break the law. He said he ultimately decided to plead guilty in order to spare his family the ordeal of a trial, but persisted in his innocence, saying he never agreed to any quid pro quo to benefit himself or his family. Unemployed and tens of thousands of dollars in debt, Calderon said professional relationships had been ruined as had his relationship with his brother. My reputation is destroyed, Calderon said. Snyder was unmoved. I did not really hear Senator Calderon accept responsibility or apologize, she said. It was really about himself. Calderon, 59, had pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud as part of a plea in which he admitted to accepting trips to Las Vegas, jobs for a son and daughter, and cash for him and his brother, former Assemblyman Tom Calderon. Tom Calderon was sentenced last month to one year in federal custody for laundering bribes taken by his brother. The Calderon family was politically powerful for decades in California. A third brother, former Assemblyman Charles Calderon, was not implicated in the corruption scandal. Ronald Calderons nephew, Ian Calderon, is a state assemblyman, the last family member in state elected office. He was not alleged to have any part in the corruption scheme. Assistant U.S. Atty. Mack E. Jenkins wrote a blistering brief opposing Calderons request to serve time with home detention or be released for the brief time he already spent in jail. Here, defendants trafficking in his legislative votes (for, by contrast, over $150,000 in benefits) caused a reverberation of negative effects throughout California and put a stain not just on his career, but on the reputation of the state legislature, Jenkins wrote. Read More Facebook
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Accusations fly in the congressional race for this Northern California swing district By Sophia Bollag Democratic U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, left, shakes hands with his Republican challenger, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, after their debate Tuesday in the race for the 7th Congressional District seat. (Jose Luis Villegas / Associated Press) Questions about character have been dominating the congressional race between Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones. Both candidates have been plagued by allegations of wrongdoing. Beras father was recently sentenced to jail for illegally funneling money to two of his sons past campaigns. Jones faces allegations he sexually harassed a subordinate at the Sheriffs Department more than a decade ago, which he denies. Theyre competing in a divided district that leans Democratic, but not by much. In 2014, Bera beat his Republican challenger by less than a percentage point. This race is always one of the closest races in the country, he said. Read More Facebook
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Loretta Sanchez says she got death threats after she voted against the Iraq war By Phil Willon Rep. Loretta Sanchez, after her speech Thursday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) U.S. Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez on Thursday urged ROTC cadets at UCLA to have the courage to challenge politicians who call for ill conceived uses of military force such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq. We need military leaders that understand the limits of our military power, said Sanchez, who has served in Congress for two decades and sits on the House Armed Services Committee. Why is it that every generation and every president has to learn that all over again? The Orange County congresswoman made the comments during an address to ROTC cadets at UCLAs Pauley Pavilion. Sanchez said her experience on the House Armed Services Committee made her question the long-term implications of the Iraq invasion, and whether the U.S. might find itself bogged down in a war in the Middle East. In 2002, Sanchez was among the 133 House members who voted against the authorization of military force against Iraq. It was a lonely time, Sanchez told the cadets. [When] I came back to Orange County, I was spit on. I received death threats. The congresswoman told the cadets the military is just one part of a national security strategy that includes intelligence gathering, diplomacy and the use of the countrys economic strength. Because so much is at stake, the use of our military should always be a last resort, Sanchez said. Sanchez is running against fellow Democrat and state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris for Californias U.S. Senate seat. She says her expertise on national defense and terrorism are among the reasons shes the most qualified candidate. Facebook
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Tobacco companies claim proponents of cigarette tax will use the new revenue to enrich their top executives By Liam Dillon Tobacco companies have unveiled a new claim in their campaign against the $2-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes on the November ballot. In a television advertisement that debuted over the weekend, the No on Proposition 56 campaign contends that the doctors and health insurance groups financing the initiative wrote it to avoid external oversight over the money going to low-income patient care. They even exempted themselves from the new audit requirements, the ad states. They can use the new revenue to enrich their top executives, and theres no requirement to treat even one more patient. The claim rests on a part of the Proposition 56 initiative that creates new auditing rules to govern where the new tax money would go. But it ignores the litany of state and federal auditing requirements to which Medi-Cal, the states low-income health program, already is subject. First, heres a little background about how the money from Proposition 56 would get spent. Assuming fewer people use tobacco because of the tax increase, the tax would raise about $1.27 billion next year, according to an estimate from the Legislative Analysts Office. Of that amount, $710 million about 56% would go to Medi-Cal, primarily to increase the payment doctors and other healthcare providers receive when they treat patients. The remaining dollars go to back-filling current state and local sales taxes and other programs because fewer people will buy cigarettes, doctor and dentist training and anti-tobacco efforts. The initiative kicks in $400,000 a year to audit the agencies receiving the money. Beth Miller, spokeswoman for the No on 56 campaign, said that opponents like that state and local agencies will be audited if the measure passes. The criticism is that the provisions dont go far enough. It would have been nice to have those audit requirements also apply to those end users, so to speak: the hospitals, the insurance companies and the doctors, Miller said. Medi-Cal providers, however, get audited all the time. The states Department of Health Care Services does internal audits and investigations through an entire department of about 700 employees and a $50-million budget dedicated to reviewing the programs under its jurisdiction, including looking at the financial records of Medi-Cal providers. Beyond that, the California State Auditor has issued at least two wide-ranging audits involving Medi-Cal providers in the last five years on the states oversight of managed-care plans. And the federal Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General also audits programs and providers that receive federal dollars for low-income patients. One recent federal audit of California that examined pediatric dental providers happened last May. Miller contended that the audits required under Proposition 56 are more transparent than the existing state and federal programs. Mike Roth, spokesman for the Yes on 56 campaign, said the initiative has plenty of safeguards to ensure the tax money is spent wisely, including the auditing provisions. This is another desperate and deceitful red herring from tobacco companies, and it takes the cake as far as their flagrant lies about Proposition 56, Roth said. Heres the full ad: UPDATES: 3:03 p.m.: This post was updated to include the full video of the advertisement. This article was originally published at 2:00 p.m. Facebook
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Central Valley congressional race that once leaned Republican is now a toss-up, report says By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) The nonpartisan analysts at the Cook Political Report now say its a toss-up whether Republican Rep. Jeff Denham or Democrat beekeeper Michael Eggman will win the 10th Congressional District race. The race had been rated leans Republican since last fall, indicating that the analysts expected Denham to keep the seat, but felt Democrats had a chance. This is the second matchup for Denham and Eggman. Denham won in 2014 with 56.4% of the vote. Democrats have worked for months to tie vulnerable House Republicans to the rhetoric of their presidential nominee, Donald Trump, and this race is one where Trumps effect down the ballot could be most visible. Denham has said he disagrees with Trumps rhetoric, but hasnt backed off supporting him, a move that could prove unpopular in the Central Valley district where at least 40% of the population is Latino. Three Republican-held seats in California are now considered toss-ups. The other two are representing the 25th Congressional District, held by Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), and the 49th Congressional District, held by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista). Facebook
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California Senate leader endorses gun control initiative despite differences with its author, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom By Patrick McGreevy California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, left, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, applaud at Gov. Jerry Browns State of the State speech in January. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Despite political differences with its author, state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) on Thursday endorsed Proposition 63, which would expand Californias already tough gun control laws. Proposition 63 was proposed by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and would outlaw large-capacity ammunition magazines, require background checks for those buying bullets, require lost or stolen guns to be reported quickly, make stealing a firearm a felony and provide a process for newly convicted felons to relinquish their guns. De Leon and Newsom have both been working on gun control issues for years and both have aspirations for higher office. Newsom is running for governor in 2018. Some in the De Leon camp thought when the initiative was proposed last year that it was being used to try to take over an issue on which the senator has been a leader. The two disagreed earlier this year on the best way to achieve gun control aims, with De Leon publicly calling on Newsom to drop his initiative and allow the Legislature to act, and Newsom refusing, charging that the Legislatures proposals were not extensive enough. In the end, the Legislature approved several bills, including one by De Leon that requires background checks for ammunition purchasers, even though a similar proposal is included in the Newsom initiative. The Legislature also mandated that its background-check plan would supersede the one in Proposition 63. On Thursday, De Leon made no mention of the differences. Earlier this year, our Legislature passed the most sweeping and important package of gun safety laws in the nation, increasing nationwide momentum and grass-roots outcries for common-sense safeguards against gun violence, De Leon said in a statement. I endorse Proposition 63 because we must send a powerful and united message to the national Gun Lobby that California will not capitulate to political bullying or compromise the public safety, he added. The differences between the two politicians were highlighted noted by Richard Grenell, co-chairman of the Coalition for Civil Liberties, which is campaigning against the initiative. This is a prime example of why people should trust law enforcement on this question before self-interested politicians, Grenell said. Just a few months ago, de Leon asked Newsom to repeal Prop 63. De Leons statement was released a day after Newsom ruffled some feathers in the De Leon camp when he told the Sacramento Press Club that his initiative accomplishes things that state officials could not. Newsom noted that 11 other states have enacted the requirement that stolen guns be reported. There have been legislative attempts and they have failed multiple times here in the Capitol, Newsom said. The Legislature did approve such a bill this year, but it was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown in July. The political dispute between the two leading Democrats surfaced last year when De Leon acted to slash a third of Newsoms staff, notifying him that two Senate employees who had been on loan to the lieutenant governors office were being reassigned. UPDATED at 1:10 pm to include comment from opponent of initiative. Facebook
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No fight from the business community over the proposed tobacco and income tax hikes By Liam Dillon (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) Business groups often make up a triumvirate with Republicans and taxpayer advocates against tax increases. But on the two tax hikes on the 2016 California ballot, major business leaders are mostly staying away from the fight. They tend to dislike the income tax extensions promised by Proposition 55, but arent campaigning against them. And some are even backing Proposition 56s cigarette tax increases. Read More Facebook
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Almost half a million Californians have already voted by mail, with a surge in some hotly contested races By John Myers (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Early data compiled from local elections officials shows a surge of ballots being returned in the mail, especially in some of the most closely watched races this election season. A report compiled by Political Data Inc. shows almost 408,000 ballots cast in just the first eight days of voting, with more than half of those ballots arriving in local election offices Wednesday. As weve reported before, election day in California is now more like an election month. A majority of the states voters cast their ballots away from traditional polling places, and political professionals can closely monitor which voters in any given race have turned those ballots back in. The report also shows strong early voting in some of Californias most talked about congressional races. In the hotly contested reelection race of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), more than four times as many ballots have been returned so far compared to the 2014 general election. And even though Republicans have an eight-point registration advantage in Issas district, the ballots cast so far have skewed more Democratic. In early voting, the two major parties are almost even in the number of votes cast. Issa, facing a tough race against Democrat Douglas Applegate, recently sent out a campaign mailer trying to appeal to local voters who support President Obama. Compared to the first few days of the 2014 general election, substantially more ballots have also been cast in the Central Valley races featuring Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) and David Valadao (R-Hanford). In both districts, Democratic voters are outpacing GOP voters in early ballot returns. While none of the data offers information on how those ballots were cast -- these are only totals received by county officials -- the early numbers may offer a glimpse at how energized some parts of the electorate are in this contentious campaign season. Facebook
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What will Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom focus on in his run for governor? Aging infrastructure among issues By Patrick McGreevy California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at an event in Los Angeles in April. (Nick Ut / Associated Press) Signaling that his gubernatorial campaign will shift into higher gear after next months election, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that he is working on a plan to double spending on roads and other infrastructure since the Legislature failed to act this year. This is going to be something you will be hearing a lot more from me on over the course of the next number of months, a very aggressive infrastructure proposal, Newsom said in a speech to the Sacramento Press Club. The former San Francisco mayor is running for governor in 2018. He noted that the governor and Legislature did not reach an agreement on a transportation funding program in the face of a $130-billion backlog in state and local road repairs. Legislative Democrats proposed a $7.4-billion plan earlier this year that would raise the gas tax by 17 cents a gallon. Thats about twice the size of an earlier plan by Gov. Jerry Brown. Weve got to more than double our investment in infrastructure in this state, Newsom said, adding the problem has reached code red in California. Plans by the governor to use proceeds from sale of cap-and-trade credits have merits, he said. Separately, Newsom said he continues to support the vision of a high speed rail system for California but said I remain concerned about the finances. He said the private sector must step up to provide more of the money as the project cost has close to doubled from its original $33 billion price tag. Newsom acknowledged that he has work to do to introduce himself to voters outside his home base. I think a lot of the state really doesnt know me yet, he said, adding he sees it as a great opportunity to tell his story. He declined to comment on the gubernatorial candidacy of state Treasurer John Chiang and possible runs by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer. Im not focused on those others, he said. Im focused on what we have before us. Facebook
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L.A. activist is building his AIDS organization into a political powerhouse with two November ballot measures By Christine Mai-Duc (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) When Michael Weinstein launched his AIDS Healthcare Foundation in the late 1980s, he had a coffee can for donations and a $50,000 budget to provide end-of-life care to those dying of the disease. Today, hes grown the nonprofit into a $1.2-billion operation that manages hundreds of clinics and pharmacies globally, and has quickly become a major political player in California, and, he hopes, nationally. AHF, as it is known, is sponsoring two initiatives on Californias November ballot: Proposition 60, which would require adult film actors to use condoms during sex scenes, and Proposition 61, which would bar state agencies from entering contracts to purchase drugs where the price is higher than that paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Thats quite a feat in a state as expensive as California, and in a political year as crowded as 2016. Were doing things on a scale that we havent before, Weinstein said in a recent interview from his office in a Hollywood high-rise. Read More Facebook
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These janitors are giving up sleep to knock on doors for Hillary Clinton By Sarah D. Wire Yamilex Rustrian, left, of North Hollywood, and Leticia Soto of Los Angeles check Las Vegas addresses to visit to encourage voters to support Hillary Clinton. (Sarah D. Wire / Los Angeles Times) Early Saturday morning, Yamilex Rustrian sat with her mother and other janitors assembled at long tables in the old mortuary that is home to the SEIU United Service Workers West. They ate ham, cheese and bean sandwiches as they waited for the final workers to get off the late shift. At least one came still dressed in her blue smock. The group of janitors and their children made a quick trip to Las Vegas over the weekend to knock on doors for Hillary Clinton, and got home Sunday just in time for the late shift. Each had their reasons to join the more than 150 union members who made the trip. Read More Facebook
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Federal prosector seeks 5 years for former California Sen. Ron Calderon in corruption case By Patrick McGreevy A federal prosecutor has recommended that former state Sen. Ron Calderon be sentenced to five years in prison as part of a federal corruption case that rocked the California state Capitol. Assistant U.S. Atty. Mack E. Jenkins wrote a blistering brief urging the federal judge to not show leniency to Calderon, who in June entered a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. Here, defendants trafficking in his legislative votes (for, by contrast, over $150,000 in benefits) caused a reverberation of negative effects throughout California and put a stain not just on his career, but on the reputation of the state legislature, Jenkins wrote ahead of Fridays sentencing date. The prosecutor noted that only one fellow politician wrote a letter of support for Calderon, a Montebello Democrat. In defendants plea agreement, he admitted to participating in two substantial and complex bribery schemes that entailed multiple forms of bribes, concealment and sophisticated money laundering, the prosecutor wrote. Here, defendant sold his vote not just to help pay for the expenses of living beyond his means, but for the more banal and predictable aims of corruption fancy luxuries, fancy parties and fancy people. An attorney for Calderon has asked the judge to sentence the former lawmaker to time already served in jail during his booking or home detention. Jenkins proposed that Calderon be sentenced to five years in custody, one year of supervised release, a $7,500 fine and 250 hours of community service. Facebook
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A new Jay Z video says pot should be legal in California and calls the war on drugs an epic fail By Patrick McGreevy Rapper Jay Z has weighed in to support Proposition 64, which would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in California, calling the war on drugs an epic fail, in a YouTube video, which also describes how the effort filled prisons with young African American and Latino men. Young men like me who hustle became the sole villain, Jay Z says as the video depicts the deterioration of a neighborhood drawn by artist Molly Crabapple. The one-minute video was produced by the group Drug Policy Action from a longer animated video that addressed the general issue of drug prohibition, said Jason Kinney, a spokesman for the campaign. The shortened video, titled The War on Drugs from Prohibition to Gold Rush, ends with a new, written message urging people to vote for Proposition 64, adding, We can stop the harm on Nov. 8. Jay Z agreed to have the video tailored to the Proposition 64 campaign, Kinney said. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who helped qualify the initiative, praised the rapper on Twitter, writing Thank you, Jay Z, for your strong voice for social justice & co-creating this new @Yeson64 video! Facebook
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Bay Area congressman Eric Swalwell got married over the weekend By Sarah D. Wire View Instagram post Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) and Brittany Watts, a sales director at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, got married on Friday. They were married at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland. Before being elected to Congress, Swalwell worked in the courthouse as a prosecutor with the Alameda County district attorneys office. Here is the couples wedding announcement. The congressman also posted an image of the couple cutting their wedding cake on Instagram. Facebook
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Los Angeles top elections officer talks about voter fraud and polling place intimidation in Reddit chat By John Myers The questions posed by Reddit users on Monday to the top elections officer in Los Angeles ranged from small problems over where to cast an early ballot to broader concerns about election security. Dean Logan, Los Angeles Countys registrar of voters, attempted to answer almost all of them during the hourlong online conversation. Asked about intimidation of voters at the polls, possibly inspired by criticisms over comments by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, Logan said the question has been popping up a lot in his office. We, of course, encourage people to observe all elements of the process, but any disruption of voters or intimidation of voters is unacceptable, he wrote. Another Reddit user asked whether all ballots mailed or dropped off at a polling place are counted. Any valid and timely received vote by mail ballot will be counted and included in the certified election results, Logan wrote. I am always surprised by this question. Logan said that officials mailed some 1.8 million ballots last week to Los Angeles Countys permanent absentee voters, with one-time requests for ballots by mail being sent out this week. Asked by one Reddit user about a potential way to commit voter fraud with absentee ballots, Logan said it is important to note that the voter doing so would be signing an oath under penalty of perjury. He also agreed with one questioners concern that voter turnout was too low, and suggested that a new state laws significant expansion of voting by mail may help. I think the model of voting we use is somewhat outdated and unfamiliar to new voters, Logan said. Facebook
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Kamala Harris and her husband made $1.17 million in 2015, according to report on their tax returns By Phil Willon Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris files to run for the U.S. Senate in February at the Los Angeles County Registrar with her husband, Douglas Emhoff. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) The 2015 tax returns filed by U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris and her husband, Los Angeles attorney Douglas Emhoff, show that the couple earned $1.17 million that year, according to reports. Harris tax returns, which were viewed and first reported by the Sacramento Bee, also showed that the California attorney general and her husband paid $450,000 in state and federal income taxes. Harris campaign spokesman Nathan Click said journalists are being allowed to view the tax returns by appointment only. Harris rival in the Senate race, Orange County Rep. Loretta Sanchez, provided her 2015 tax return to the Orange County Register and will not make those tax records available to other journalists until after that news organization publishes its story, said Sanchez campaign spokesman Luis Vizcaino. Harris and Sanchez have net worths that likely run in the millions, according to federal and state financial disclosures. Facebook
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Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum reopens and his daughter and grandson get a tour By Christine Mai-Duc Christopher Cox, grandson of Richard Nixon, talks to reporters during a tour of the newly renovated Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum reopened Saturday, after a 10-month renovation that sought to reframe the narrative of the 37th presidents life and legacy. The $15-million remake brings to a close a more than decade-long effort to bring greater legitimacy to a library that historian and Nixon scholar Stanley Kutler once called just another Southern California theme park whose reality level was slightly better than Disneyland. We wrote about the librarys new exhibits a couple of months ago, and the challenge of building an unflinching portrait of a complicated man. In attendance were Henry Kissinger, Nixons former secretary of State, former California Gov. Pete Wilson and Nixons daughter and grandson, Tricia Nixon Cox and Christopher Nixon Cox. Times photographer Mark Boster attende
The day before his death, Tom Hayden was talking with his ex-wife Jane Fonda in his Santa Monica hospital room when conversation turned to a 1961 Freedom Ride in the Deep South, his initiation into the civil rights movement.
He met activists who were willing to die for what they believed was right, Fonda said Monday. He said that it changed him forever, meeting people like that.
Haydens embrace of civil disobedience in Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi launched his career as one of Americas best-known advocates of leftist causes, most importantly as a top organizer of protests against the Vietnam War.
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In the hours after he died, Hayden allies on a multitude of issues peace in Northern Ireland and gang prevention in Los Angeles among them paid tribute to his doggedness, while his half-century roster of adversaries kept quiet.
If there was a struggle for equality, for climate justice, for peace, or for a stronger democracy, Tom was there and he was leading the way, said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. He understood the links between these struggles and the need to approach them holistically.
Hayden died Sunday at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica after a long illness. He was 76.
To the end, Hayden stayed active in politics. He ran early this year for a seat on the Democratic National Committee, but fell short.
Despite his increasingly frail health, Hayden attended the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in August. He also lobbied in Sacramento for legislation mandating cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat who has worked with Hayden for decades, signed it into law last month.
Tom took up causes that others avoided, Brown said. He had a real sense of the underdog and was willing to do battle no matter what the odds.
Shortly before his death, Hayden, a prolific author, finished writing a book, Hell No: The Forgotten Power of the Vietnam Peace Movement. It will be published in March.
In the early 1970s, shortly after they married, Fonda and Hayden traveled the nation denouncing the Vietnam War.
It was an honor to be at his side when we did that, because I saw up close and personal the work of a man who had spent already 10, 15 years organizing, raising consciousness, mobilizing people, and I learned so much, Fonda said by phone from Colorado, where she is shooting a movie with Robert Redford.
We started at the Ohio State Fair, and we spent three months traveling the country, and we did it again the following year. And shortly after, the war ended, and I think Tom had a big role to play in that, Fonda said.
After the war ended, Hayden embraced mainstream politics. From 1982 to 2000, he represented the liberal Westside in the California Assembly and Senate.
In April, Hayden set off a ruckus among liberals with an essay in The Nation: I Used to Support Bernie, but Then I Changed My Mind. With the California Democratic presidential primary approaching, Hillary Clinton was fighting a stiff challenge on the left from Bernie Sanders. Clinton, Hayden argued, was stronger on racial issues.
My life since 1960 has been committed to the causes of African Americans, the Chicano movement, the labor movement, and freedom struggles in Vietnam, Cuba and Latin America, he wrote. In the environmental movement I start from the premise of environmental justice for the poor and communities of color.
Sanders supporters were furious, calling Hayden, among other things, an establishment shill and liberal sellout.
Hayden ceased to be radical, and relevant, long, long ago, Nation reader Marc Wutschke wrote in the comments section below the essay.
Fonda said Hayden was deeply committed to Clintons election. What he wanted more than anything was to live long enough to see Hillary elected, and he kept communicating to us that he wanted to make sure she was protected from violence, she said.
Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, said Haydens eventful life in pursuit of peace and justice ran the gamut from protesting to legislating, with lots of writing and teaching along the way.
Attacked first by the right as a dangerous radical, then by the left for his willingness to compromise, Tom always marched to the beat of his own drummer, doing what he thought at any given time would advance his lifelong goals, they said in a joint statement.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti remembered Haydens work negotiating a gang truce in Venice. John Burton, chairman of the California Democratic Party, highlighted two bills that Hayden passed as a lawmaker: One distributed tattoo-removal machines to help imprisoned youth cut their gang ties, and another authorized tax-free accounts for parents to save for their childrens college education.
These bills didnt get a lot of attention at the time, but they have had a far-reaching impact on young peoples futures, said Burton, who led the state Senate when Hayden was a member.
Fonda recalled Haydens visit last year to a San Joaquin County fracking site to investigate the safety of the oil and gas extraction method.
Even when he was starting to get very sick, he went to the Central Valley and went into a fracking mine, and I think it helped give him a stroke, she said. But he was still ready to go to places that were not necessarily safe or healthy in order to call attention to things.
michael.finnegan@latimes.com
Twitter: @finneganLAT
ALSO:
The radical inside the system: Tom Hayden, protester-turned-politician, dies at 76
A Republican senators strategy to save his seat in one of the countrys tightest races: Avoid Trump
Republicans fear Trumps woes will flip Senate control to the Democrats and erode the House GOP majority
As Donald Trump maintains his incendiary attacks on the legitimacy of the election, one of his favorite themes has been the claim that the results will be tainted by the votes of millions of people in the U.S. illegally.
They are letting people pour into the country so they can go ahead and vote, he said this month, in a meeting with the head of the union representing border patrol agents.
And believe me, theres a lot going on, Trump said at a rally. People that have died 10 years ago are still voting. Illegal immigrants are voting.
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Part of the Republican-led crackdown on supposed voter fraud, battles over measures to guard against noncitizen voters have percolated for years in election offices, state legislatures and federal courtrooms.
Election 2016 | Live coverage on Trail Guide | Sign up for the newsletter | The race to 270
Records in these fights show that small numbers of noncitizens do end up registered, and a few have cast votes. However, no one has uncovered evidence of thousands of noncitizen voters and no evidence has emerged to support Trumps theory of a coordinated effort to throw an election by stuffing the voting rolls with ineligible immigrants.
What we have seen are errors, said Dale Ho, director of the voting rights project of the American Civil Liberties Union. Theres not a horde of people trying to break into this country so they can vote.
The rule on voting eligibility is simple: Except for a handful of cities that permit noncitizens to vote in local elections, everyone who casts a vote in America is supposed to be a citizen, either by birth or by naturalization. And although the distinction is sometimes lost in the loud debates over undocumented immigration, even green-card holders, who are legal permanent residents, also are ineligible to vote until they become citizens.
In most places in the U.S., the question is handled solely on the honor system. When people register to vote, they check a box attesting that they are U.S. citizens. Election administrators verify identity by looking at drivers license or Social Security numbers, for example, but under federal guidelines, they may not ask for proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport.
Four states Arizona, Kansas, Georgia and Alabama have passed their own citizenship verification rules, but those requirements have been tangled up for years in lawsuits by progressive and voting rights groups, who argue that they present an unfair burden on minority voters. Thus far, they have prevailed, although the battles continue.
Georgia and Alabama havent been enforcing their requirements, but in the other two states, the fights over proving citizenship have led to unusual results. Arizona now recognizes a second class of voters 6,328 for this election who can vote for federal offices, like president, but not for the governor or other state offices, because they havent provided proof of citizenship.
This month, a federal appeals court forced Kansas to accept the registrations of people who had signed up to vote at motor vehicle offices, without providing proof of citizenship. Emergency notices were mailed to these voters, telling them in all capitals to PLEASE DISREGARD prior warnings that they werent eligible to vote.
But nearly 9,000 others, because they signed up using Kansas own form, still are considered ineligible to vote in this election by state officials unless they come up with citizenship proof by election day, Nov. 8. County election officials have scrambled to keep up.
It is a mess, and thats the predicament that the judge ultimately put the election system in, said Desiree Taliaferro, spokeswoman for Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who oversees elections. Its crazy.
Another case on a similar issue is still pending in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Among the leaders of the conservative push for more citizenship checks is lawyer J. Christian Adams. While working at the civil rights section of the Department of Justice, he filed a voter intimidation case against two members of the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia; when the department refused to prosecute most charges, the case became a favorite example among conservatives.
Now president of the conservative Public Interest Legal Foundation, Adams has pushed this year for measures to find and purge noncitizens from the voting rolls.
As one step, hes sought to show that its too easy for noncitizens to register to vote. Eight Virginia counties provided records showing that more than 1,000 people had been removed from the rolls since 2011 because they were not citizens, the foundation said. In Philadelphia, a city that has been a focus of Trumps warnings of potential election fraud, 86 people were removed from the rolls after they turned out not to be citizens, and 40 of them voted at least once.
These are only the people who are caught, Adams said. It frightens me to think what the actual number is in Virginia. Thats the problem here theres no verification after the box gets checked.
The League of Women voters, progressive groups and others counter by saying that the document rules would unfairly keep out many legitimate voters to deter a few noncitizens.
Most people see this for what it is: xenophobia masquerading as election integrity, said Ho of the ACLU.
One elections administrator in Philadelphia also blamed registration drives, where those hired to register voters can, perhaps inadvertently, mislead people who dont know the law.
Some prospective voters are not proficient in the English language, and theyre told out on the street, Yeah, you can register to vote, its no problem, said Tim Dowling, deputy commissioner of elections. If they check theyre 18 and a U.S. citizen, we have to accept that. We err on the side of enfranchising the voter.
Past claims that large numbers of ineligible noncitizens are lurking on the voting rolls have fizzled. In 2012, Floridas Republican governor, Rick Scott, pushed for a purge of noncitizen voters. An initial list of 180,000 names was whittled to 2,600, then sent to county election supervisors to check. But the smaller list also turned out to be filled with errors, and in the end, only 85 people were removed from the rolls.
Trump has cited one study by three Virginia academics that estimated that more than 6% of noncitizens illegally voted in 2008 enough to sway a close election, like the Senate race in Minnesota that year in which Al Franken was elected by a 312-vote margin.
The study arrived at the result by considering responses from a survey of voters, some of whom said they were not citizens. But the findings have been attacked by other researchers, who say they found evidence that many people gave wrong answers to the citizenship question and that therefore the correct number of noncitizens who voted was probably zero.
In any case, experts say, its unlikely that anyone could find enough noncitizens on the voter rolls to challenge the results in a typical presidential election. In 2012, President Obama won Pennsylvania by 310,000 votes and Virginia by 149,000. The closest margin was in Florida, where Obama won by 74,000 votes.
Illegal voting is rarely prosecuted, but it can have severe consequences. Someone in the country illegally who is caught voting would be declared ineligible to become a citizen and could even be deported.
Lori Edwards, elections supervisor in Polk County, Fla., said she rarely encountered such cases in the 16 years shes held the job.
If you were here as an undocumented person, or even someone who has a green card, she asked, why would you risk that status for what would be a minimal benefit?
joseph.tanfani@latimes.com
Twitter: @jtanfani
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Californians weighing how to vote on the gun controls in Proposition 63 may find themselves experiencing deja vu.
Some key issues addressed in the initiative by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, including background checks for those buying bullets and a ban on high capacity magazines, have also been tackled in bills approved this summer by the state Legislature in high-profile actions. That has caused confusion among voters and led some law enforcement groups to oppose the initiative because they prefer the laws already approved by the Legislature.
Newsom, who is a candidate for governor in 2018, said his initiative is an improvement over what the Legislature did because it plugs loopholes in the new laws and addresses issues not tackled by legislation.
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Im fighting to pass Prop. 63 because it will, without question, reduce gun violence and save lives, Newsom said.
At the Get Loaded gun store in Grand Terrace, store managers Jamie Taflinger, left, and Kendyll Murray show customer Cornell Hall of Highland different types of ammo. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times )
Both the legislation and the initiative require background checks for those buying ammunition, but in distinctly different ways that have divided gun control advocates.
The legislation signed by the governor requires people buying ammunition in California to provide an ID card and have their background instantly checked against an existing database of those prohibited from possessing firearms. That would begin in Jan. 1, 2019, and the check would cost $1 each time ammunition is purchased.
Proposition 63 proposes a different process, in which persons who want to buy ammunition would obtain a four-year permit from the state Department of Justice, which would have 30 days to approve it based on a background check. Applicants would have to pay a fee of up to $50 and provide a fingerprint and other identifying information that would be kept in a new database.
Once a permit is granted, it needs to be shown each time ammo is purchased.
The Legislature included a provision requiring its system to be used, even if Proposition 63 passes, but that issue could end up in court, according to Sean Brady, an attorney for the campaign against Proposition 63.
I suspect that Prop. 63 would control if the law is applied faithfully, he said.
Gun rights advocates did not support much of what the Legislature did this year, but they feel the initiative would be even worse, said Brady, counsel for the Coalition for Civil Liberties.
From the gun rights perspective, Proposition 63 threatens to replace the scheme that the Legislature put in place with a more costly, less efficient system that is more onerous for the ammunition purchasers, Brady said.
Another distinction that gun owners oppose: Both the legislation and initiative outlaw ammunition magazines that carry more than 10 rounds, but the new law makes violations an infraction while the initiative allows filing an infraction or a misdemeanor, with tougher penalties.
Dan Newman, a spokesman for the Proposition 63 campaign, said the initiative is better because it extends the requirement for background checks to ammunition sellers, including gun store employees.
Why would making limited progress on the same issue stop people from fighting for much more significant progress? Newman asked.
The difference in backgrounding requirements also has spawned opposition to Proposition 63 from some law enforcement groups, including the California State Sheriffs Assn., the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn and California Police Chiefs Assn.
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Ventura Police Chief Ken Corney, president of the chiefs group, said law enforcement worked with lawmakers to make the new system from the Legislature workable. It includes exemptions for retired law enforcement officers, animal control officers, concealed weapon permit holders and others.
The initiative only exempts current law enforcement officers allowed to carry a gun. The legislation did not mandate that its broader exemptions would supersede Proposition 63, so the initiatives narrower exemptions would apply if it passes.
Unfortunately, Proposition 63 undoes many of the quality laws that CPCA helped enact, Corney said in a statement.
He objected that the initiative creates a new, duplicative database of information on those who get permits to buy ammunition. He also said it could make it harder for agencies to buy ammunition from out of state.
Law enforcement officials also have concerns about Proposition 63s requirement that local law enforcement agencies would have to collect firearms from newly convicted felons. The chiefs supported giving money to the state Department of Justice to send specially trained state agents in large numbers to collect guns from felons.
Instead, the process established by Proposition 63 creates a safety risk for local law enforcement officers by requiring them to repossess firearms from potentially dangerous individuals, Corney said.
Newsom said that by getting the courts to require relinquishment of firearms before felons are sentenced, his initiative provides additional leverage to get guns out of dangerous hands.
That provision has not been acted on by the Legislature.
Other provisions in the ballot measure that were not enacted by the Legislature include:
California authorities would be required to share information with the FBI about dangerous people who are ineligible to possess guns so it can be included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System database. That proposal, not considered by lawmakers, would block California felons from getting guns in other states.
Businesses that sell ammunition are mandated to report if their ammunition is lost or stolen. That also was not considered by lawmakers.
The theft of a firearm would become a felony, increasing the maximum prison sentence from one to three years and making the person convicted ineligible to carry a gun for 10 years. That fixes a problem caused by Proposition 47, which was approved by voters in 2014 and said theft of any item worth $950 or less would be a misdemeanor.
Gun owners would be required to notify law enforcement within five days of the time they knew or reasonably should have known their gun is missing. That provision, which would take effect July 1, 2017, is aimed at keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals.
Newsom noted in a speech last week that 11 other states have enacted the requirement that stolen guns be reported.
There have been legislative attempts [in California] and they have failed multiple times here in the Capitol, Newsom told the Sacramento Press Club.
The Legislature did approve such a bill this year, but it was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown in July.
I vetoed similar measures in 2012 and 2013 because I did not believe that a measure of this type would help identify gun traffickers or enable law enforcement to disarm people prohibited from having guns, Brown wrote in his veto message.
Brown also vetoed a bill that would have put a separate initiative on the ballot to deal with the Proposition 47 issue, noting Newsoms measure had already qualified and there was no need for two initiatives.
Supporters of the initiative, including Newman, say it merits approval by voters.
Anyone who sincerely thinks gun violence is a problem wont hesitate to support Prop. 63 particularly those who previously supported the initiatives policies that failed to make it through the legislative process, he said.
patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com
Follow @mcgreevy99 on Twitter
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Even in this era of early voting, where millions of ballots are being cast in the days leading up to Nov. 8, campaigns and candidates know theyve got to run through to the finish line.
Good morning from the state capital. Im Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers, and the homestretch of this historic election season seems especially long for political insiders and voters.
If theres a final burst of energy, though, this is the time to bring it on.
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TRUMP TARGETS NEWS ON VETS AND VIRGINIA
The challenge for Donald Trump is to find something thats big enough to change the dynamics of the race in the final fortnight.
On a campaign swing through Florida, he lashed out at incompetent government officials after a Times investigation of California veterans being told to repay their post-Sept. 11 recruitment bonuses.
This can only happen with these incompetent people we have, Trump said on Monday. And later that afternoon, our team reported that some members of Congress were notified of the issue as long as two years ago.
Meantime, the Trump campaign used social media to widely share a story first reported by the Wall Street journal making the connection between a top FBI official assigned to the Hillary Clinton email case and the same officials wife who received donations as a legislative candidate from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. While the donations happened before the FBI agent was ever assigned to the case, its the kind of story that Trump backers hope will have some legs for the final campaign dash.
TRUMPS RESPONSE TO A NEW ALLEGATION LIGHTS ANOTHER FIRE
What Team Trump didnt need was another day of stories about an allegation of sexual misconduct. And yet, the candidate went on a New Hampshire radio show on Monday and said this about the accusation made over the weekend by an adult film actress: Now you know, this one that came out recently, He grabbed me and he grabbed me on the arm. Oh, Im sure shes never been grabbed before.
That pretty much assured the story would continue to get oxygen into this next-to-last week of the campaign.
ELIZABETH WARREN RALLIES NASTY WOMEN
One of Trumps insults of Clinton from last weeks debate is slowly becoming a political rallying cry, as evidenced by the Democratic candidates rally with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in New Hampshire on Monday.
We nasty women are going to march our nasty feet to cast our nasty votes to get you out of our lives forever, she said.
THE AVOID TRUMP STRATEGY IN PENNSYLVANIA
Cathleen Decker is in Pennsylvania, where the Trump candidacy is presenting big challenges for incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.
It means the presidential machinery and momentum that are expected to kick in to help Senate candidates like him is utterly absent this year, writes Decker, even as his challenger has the entire array of her party behind her.
Our balance of power chart shows just how big of a deal the Pennsylvania race and a handful of others are in determining who controls the Senate.
OBAMAS SOCAL SWING
Southern California knows all too well what an Obamajam is all about: big-time traffic delays whenever a presidential visit rolls around. Which brings us to the past couple of days.
President Obama began his SoCal tour in San Diego, talking up the need to win big in a speech in La Jolla and then making his way to Los Angeles for fundraising and an appearance on ABCs Jimmy Kimmel Live.
On the show, the president responded to some mean tweets about him. Kimmel also asked whether the presidents staff ever wakes him up in the middle of the night.
For the most part they let me sleep, said Obama. What I dont do is at 3 a.m. I dont tweet about people who insulted me. I try to sleep so that in the morning Im actually ready for a crisis.
Now who might he be thinking of there? Hmmm.
The visit began in San Diego on Sunday night for fundraisers in San Diego, including an event where Obama called Vista Republican Rep. Darrell Issa shameless for using the presidents picture in a mailer for his reelection campaign. The fact that Issa once called Obama one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times may have had something to do with it. On Monday, Issa released a statement saying he was not surprised by the presidents remarks, since Obama continues to deny accountability for the serious scandals that happened under his watch Issa is running in his toughest campaign for reelection to date, so stay tuned.
MEANTIME, THERES THAT LEGACY THING
Obamas last political campaign as president has become about more than just his successor. As Christi Parsons reports, its also become a national referendum on his legacy a legacy that depends on blocking the person whose campaign is premised on taking it all apart.
THE 72-HOUR RULE COULD BE COMING TO SACRAMENTO
Any of us who have watched the work of the California Legislature for some time know well how last-minute wheeling and dealing can end up producing laws that have barely seen the light of day before being sent to the governors desk.
Thats what supporters of Proposition 54 say will change if voters pass the constitutional amendment on election day, by creating a new 72-hour period for all bills to be made public before a final vote in either house. My story looks at examples that are being invoked either as why the ballot measure is, or isnt, a good idea.
PROP. 63 AND EXISTING GUN CONTROL LAW
Californians may find themselves experiencing deja vu when they weigh Proposition 63, the gun control initiative from Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Some key issues addressed in the ballot measure including background checks for those buying bullets and a ban on high-capacity magazines were tackled in bills approved this summer by the Legislature. The result could be confusion among voters and opposition from some in law enforcement who prefer the laws that originated in the statehouse.
THE GREAT VAPE DEBATE
Turn on any TV in California and you know that all the talk surrounding the Proposition 56 tobacco tax has been about cigarettes.
But if the initiative passes next month, e-cigarettes will also be taxed like traditional cigarettes for the first time a huge tax increase that could boost the price of a typical 30-milliliter bottle of e-liquid by $10, Liam Dillon reports.
Dont forget that that you can find more of our coverage of the propositions and other daily politics happenings on the Essential Politics news feed.
And while youre there, check out the 17 ballot measures all explained in wait for it emojis. Yes, its true.
TODAYS ESSENTIALS
Orange County Rep. Loretta Sanchez met with the Redlands Tea Party Patriots and other Inland Empire conservatives on Sunday in hopes of courting their support in her bid for U.S. Senate. Redlands Tea Party member John Berry said the organization is not endorsing Sanchez or her rival, fellow Democrat state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, but that he plans to vote for Sanchez and will encourage other Republicans to do so as well.
Have you seen Trumps new nightly campaign show?
The presidential campaign season has been dominated by allegations of sexual misconduct by both Trump and former President Bill Clinton. Weve put together a list for you to compare and contrast.
President Obama is said to be ready to endorse in as many as 150 down-ticket races nationwide. But there are a few California Democrats hes left off the list, including Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) and Emilio Huerta, whos challenging Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) in the Central Valley.
California lawmakers and others speak out on their memories of Tom Hayden, the liberal activist-turned-lawmaker who died Sunday night at the age of 76.
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger confirms the worst secret in the world: He wouldve run for president if the U.S. Constitution would have allowed.
Did you register to vote by last nights deadline? California state elections officials held a voter registration drive outside the Capitol yesterday, the last day to do so before the Nov. 8 election.
In new television ads released by the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., law enforcement officials urge voters not to repeal the death penalty, what they call the last defense against killers.
Learn more about the state ballot propositions later this month at the SeePolitical BallotCon event in Los Angeles. Its free; sign up here.
LOGISTICS
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Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com.
Too many mothers stop breastfeeding their babies too soon, and a panel of experts says doctors, nurses and other health professionals should do more to change that.
In light of the convincing evidence that breastfeeding provides substantial health benefits for children, primary care providers should discuss breastfeeding with women when they are pregnant, when they are in the hospital to give birth, and after they have gone home with their newborns, according to new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
The governments Healthy People 2020 goals aim to have 81.9% of new mothers try nursing their infants, with 60.6% continuing to do so for six months and 34.1% sticking with it for a full year. In reality, while 80% of new mothers initiate breastfeeding, only 51.4% are still nursing after six months and 29.2% nurse for a full year.
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To shrink that gap, the panel says healthcare providers should start encouraging women to breastfeed even before their babies are born. After delivery, they should offer one-on-one counseling to help new mothers master the mechanics of nursing something that can take a few days or weeks. If mothers need a little boost or some reassurance, doctors, nurses and lactation consultants should step in and offer psychological support.
However, if mothers decide that breastfeeding is not for them, clinicians should respect that choice, the panel says.
The task force, a group of experts appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, came up with this advice after evaluating dozens of medical studies about the pros and cons of breastfeeding. They concluded with moderate certainty that efforts to encourage breastfeeding provide a moderate net benefit for women and their children.
The upside of breastfeeding is greatest for babies. Studies show that babies who nurse are less likely to get ear infections, asthma, gastrointestinal infections and rashes. As they get older, children who were breastfed are less likely to become obese than children who didnt nurse. They also have a lower risk of developing chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Any breastfeeding appears to be more beneficial than no breastfeeding, and longer durations of breastfeeding confer greater benefits than shorter durations, the task force noted in its recommendation statement.
For moms, benefits include a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and a reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes.
The task force did not find convincing evidence that any particular breastfeeding intervention led to any specific health benefit, either for mothers or babies.
However, the panel did determine that some interventions increased the proportion of women who gave breastfeeding a try and helped them stick with it longer. The experts calculated that to get one additional mother to nurse for six months, clinicians would have to reach out to 30 women.
The recommendations do not apply to women and infants who have a clear medical reason to avoid breastfeeding, such as a metabolic disorder.
The task forces new recommendations are in line with the guidance that the panel issued in 2008. They dovetail with advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the World Health Organization, which recommend that mothers nurse exclusively for about six months.
Both the recommendations and the evidence review were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
In an editorial that accompanies the reports, Dr. Valerie Flaherman and Dr. Isabelle Von Kohorn flagged two potential risks in the way the World Health Organization promotes breastfeeding through its Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.
The WHO advises mothers to give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to their newborns because they may make infants less inclined to nurse. Flaherman and Von Kohorn both pediatricians and public health researchers noted that the task force turned up no evidence that pacifier use interferes with breastfeeding. On the other hand, there is some evidence that pacifiers reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, a leading cause of death among babies.
Routine counseling to avoid pacifiers may very well be ethically problematic, they wrote.
The other questionable WHO advice involves the prohibition against giving infants any food or drink other than breast-milk, unless medically indicated, the pair wrote. This oft-repeated advice has been tested in three randomized clinical trials, and none of them showed that it helped mothers nurse for longer than they would have otherwise.
However, this policy can result in significant harm to newborns if a mothers milk production doesnt kick in right away. These babies face a significant risk of dehydration and hyperbilirubinemia, and if they dont get supplemental nutrition, their odds of being readmitted to the hospital are about double, Flaherman and Von Kohorn wrote.
These caveats underscore that when it comes to encouraging breastfeeding, health providers shouldnt follow a one-size-fits-all strategy.
Using clinical judgment individualized for each mother and infant may result in better outcomes than following a rigid system of practices, they wrote.
karen.kaplan@latimes.com
Follow me on Twitter @LATkarenkaplan and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.
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Its time to change architects on a construction project at Top of the World Elementary, the Laguna Beach school board decided Monday.
Trustees unanimously awarded a contract to Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke, a firm with offices in Carlsbad and Riverside, for an amount not to exceed $60,500.
The agreement will save the Laguna Beach Unified School District about $30,000, Facilities Director Jeff Dixon said in a follow-up interview.
Laguna Beach Unified paid the prior firm, Santa Ana-based SVA Architects, about $90,000 of the $194,860 stipulated in an agreement the board approved in January, Assistant Supt. of Business Services Dean West told the school board.
The estimated $2.1 million project, which the board approved last year, calls for crews to replace three existing portables with permanent buildings and adding a music facility at the northeast corner of the property at 21601 Treetop Lane.
In a letter sent last week to SVA, the district said it was ending the contract without cause, an option contained in the original agreement, Dixon said.
District staff requested the change for Ruhnaus superior ability to work with [the Division of the State Architect], according to a staff report.
SVA had not returned a call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.
The project has lagged because of missing paperwork linked to restroom renovations and other campus improvements within the last 20 years, Dixon said.
Inspectors failed to file paperwork with the state architect for the work, thus the agency did not technically close out or certify those projects, even though they were approved and completed, Dixon said.
To prevent such an occurrence from repeating, an inspector will analyze current and past project plans for the site to ensure the work complies with existing fire safety and access requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act, he added.
The state architect provides design and construction oversight for K-12 schools, community colleges and various other state-owned and leased facilities, according to the states website.
Dixon characterized the new buildings as an upgrade from the current portables, which he said have reached the end of their lifespans. The new buildings will have more-efficient heating and air conditioning units and LED lights. They will be stationed on concrete foundations.
The portables house students enrolled in the Community Learning Center, a specialized program for first-through fourth-grade students, which integrates academics with community service, character development and social awareness, according to the schools website.
Top of the Worlds music students in instrumental, strings and choir classes currently practice in three locations.
The new music building will offer enough space for strings and the choir to practice while instrumentals will continue using the multi-purpose room, Principal Mike Conlon wrote in an email.
Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke oversaw design and renovation of the new synthetic field and track at Laguna Beach High.
The district will eventually solicit bids from construction contractors for the physical work, which Dixon hopes will start next summer.
bryce.alderton@latimes.com
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
An Arkansas man arrested in Irvine was charged Monday with pimping and other felonies, according to the Orange County district attorneys office.
Matthew Alexander Rougely, 37, of Jacksonville, Ark., was charged with one felony count each of pimping, pandering and possession for sale of a controlled substance, according to prosecutors.
Rougely was parked at a Circle K gas station in Irvine about 4 a.m. Nov. 5 when a police officer inspected his vehicle. He was arrested on suspicion of illegally possessing oxycodone pills and on evidence connecting him to pimping and pandering a woman, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors contend that between Oct. 30 and Nov. 5, Rougely published sexually explicit advertisements of the woman on a prostitution website, drove her to locations to meet with sex purchasers and took a portion of her money.
If convicted, Rougely faces a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison. Prosecutors asked Monday that he be held on $100,000 bail.
A UC Irvine Foundation trustee is the subject of a sexual harassment and wrongful-termination lawsuit by a former business employee that he says is retaliation for his own lawsuit accusing the employee and a shareholder of defrauding the company he ran.
Bruce Cahill, former chief executive of Pharma Pak in Irvine, has been a UCI Foundation trustee since 2006. The foundation, the leading volunteer organization supporting the university, has a 43-member board.
In May, Cahill and other shareholders of Pharma Pak, a now-closed packaging and labeling company, filed a lawsuit against former employee Olivia Karpinski and minority shareholder Paul Edalat. The lawsuit alleges Karpinski and Edalat framed Cahill in February by planting THC and marijuana in the companys facility on Gillette Avenue in Irvine.
It also alleges the two defrauded the company by spending thousands of dollars of Pharma Pak money on gambling and hotels during trips to Las Vegas that were not for company business.
In a phone interview, Edalat called all of Cahills claims 100% false.
On Aug. 8, Edalat and Karpinski filed a suit alleging that Karpinski, who was hired in June 2015, was sexually harassed throughout her employment and wrongfully terminated in March from her job as executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Their lawsuit and Cahills were filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.
Attorney John Markham, who is representing Cahill, said Karpinskis allegations that Cahill subjected her to sexually charged interactions are unfounded and that Cahill is a highly respected trustee who does a lot of charity work.
Cahill said in a phone interview that he would gladly take a polygraph test.
Olivia has never been sexually harassed or intimidated by anyone, Cahill said.
UC Irvine spokesman Tom Vasich said the university does not comment on pending litigation.
In their lawsuit, Karpinski and Edalat allege they called police when they found THC and marijuana in the Gillette Avenue facility. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is a chemical in marijuana responsible for most of the drugs psychological effects.
Edalat said he went to authorities as soon as he found out about the THC. His and Karpinskis lawsuit claims Cahill found out about their cooperation with police and wrongfully fired Karpinski. Edalat said the police investigation is still open.
Cahill said Karpinski was not fired but rather was let go with other employees for financial reasons. Pharma Pak was dissolved in March, he said.
Cahill said he saw Karpinski and Edalat setting up an operation to produce marijuana vaporizer pens at the Gillette facility in January.
There were never any illegal drugs manufactured there unless it was Paul and Olivia, Cahill said.
Karpinski and Edalat said they never set up a vaporizer pen operation. Edalat said he leases the Gillette facility so it wouldnt have made sense for him to plant marijuana in it.
Karpinski and Edalats suit initially was dismissed by District Judge Andrew Guilford on Oct. 4 because he wanted clarification of their claims. It was refiled last week.
Cahill and other company shareholders then filed a motion for the court to restrain Karpinski and Edalat from posting false and highly damaging matters on the Internet, according to court documents.
Karpinski said the only information she had posted was from public documents.
Cahill and the shareholders also filed a motion seeking to advance the trial date for both lawsuits.
The motions are set for a hearing Nov. 28.
benjamin.brazil@latimes.com
Twitter: @benbrazilpilot
[File photo]
A total of 634 oversea fugitives have been captured in 67 countries and regions since the 2016 fox hunt campaign kicked off in May, aiming to track down corrupt officials who have fled the country.
The campaign, which is an important part of Chinas Skynet operation targeting suspected economic criminals, has already made great achievements in 2016. Of the 634 suspects, 205 are implicated in cases involving more than 10 million RMB. An additional 59 are thought to have been part of cases involving over 100 million RMB. Forty-eight had been on the run for over five years at the time of their capture, while 17 were at large for over 10 years, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Oct. 25.
The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) praised the achievement on Oct. 24 during a meeting in Suzhou, but also stressed the grim situation of Chinas anti-graft campaign.
The ministry promised that, despite the success of the campaign so far, it will not rest on its laurels, and international cooperation will be improved to ensure that all criminals are brought to justice.
Police departments on all levels should take the fox hunt as a priority, working to capture overseas fugitives. We should also strengthen cooperation between police forces and other governmental sectors, including procuratorates and customs, said Meng Qingfeng, vice minister of the MPS, during the meeting.
A longtime neighborhood friend stood in front of the Newport Beach Planning Commission the other night. The subject was whether to allow a high-rise luxury condominium tower to be approved on the land currently occupied by the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA).
This friend has a long and esteemed history in Newport Beach preservation efforts, but when she spoke of this quaint fishing/boating village of a town, I knew we were of two minds. I too am a long-time resident, 42 years, and have been a genuine supporter of efforts to preserve open space and prevent overdevelopment. But I also support the arts, venues for which music and theater have been congregating, for our county, on the lima-bean farm lands of the late Henry Segerstrom, in next-door Costa Mesa. He thought so strongly that a first-class museum should join his two concert halls and South Coast Repertory theater that he donated land for the venture.
Its my understanding that the high-rise residential tower, Museum House, is within the allowed limits of the General Plan, and the Greenlight Initiative of 2006. But all of us with our towns vibrant future in mind realize that high-rise living is the only way a burgeoning population is going to be able to preserve land and scarce water. We need to get over our single-family residences that are sprawled over the Southland, and that force us into our cars for work, errands and recreation.
Museum House is a win-win for the future of our community. We will all gain when OCMA is allowed the space in which to demonstrate its world-class status as a museum of modern and contemporary art.
Karen Evarts
Newport Beach
The writer is a volunteer docent at OCMA.
Council needs to listen to us on Museum House
Dean R. Laws ends his Oct. 23 letter (Museum House is too dense for Newport) objecting to Museum House by wishing the Newport Beach community were more respected by the council. This is what has mystified and angered me since arriving here 22 years ago. Obviously, and according to its charter, this is primarily a residential city. There is no question what the residents want, given letters to the Daily Pilot, surveys and the forest of pitchforks so often brandished in City Hall: it is stability of population and traffic.
So why is this clear wish of the represented sublimely ignored by their representatives? Whatever the answer, heres a golden tip to any candidate for election to the council: Forget the boilerplate and the poetry. Make a single-minded promise that your No. 1 priority will be to preserve the General Plan and do all you can to arrest further development. You will win in a landslide.
Tom Moulson
Corona del Mar
Enjoyed the piece on dining at home
Thank you for publishing the interesting, enjoyable and useful commentary Eating Restaurant-Style at Home (Sept. 30) by Liz Swiertz Newman. I have been reading her well-written columns locally and am quite happy that the Daily Pilot is now included in the L.A. Times delivery in Huntington Beach. This provides the wider audience that such an excellent column deserves.
Troy Miller
Huntington Beach
A century after a genocide that left 1.5 million Armenians dead, thousands of their descendants took the streets of Los Angeles in remembrance on Friday, while also demanding recognition from the perpetrators.
The Armenian Genocide took place between 1915 and 1923 and was carried out by the Ottoman Empire, but the modern-day Turkish government continues to object to categorizing the event as a genocide.
Most of 130,000 people who marched six miles from Little Armenia in Hollywood to the Turkish embassy on the Westside to protest had relatives who were victims in the mass killings or managed to escape.
PHOTOS: Massive march in remembrance of Armenian Genocide ends at Turkish embassy
One of them was Andrea Marootian of San Diego, whose father, Martin Marootian, was part of a landmark insurance case victory that ended in 2004 with New York Life Co. paying settlements to a few thousand Armenian families whose relatives died in the genocide.
His daughter was carrying a sign that depicted a family portrait with the word murdered written in red over family members who perished including Andrea Marootians grandfather.
Despite the court victory, theres still a long way to go in winning recognition of the genocide, she said.
We have our culture, our language, our religion and everything that surrounds us, but theres still this open sore wound where families have been murdered and the murderer wont admit whats been done, she said.
At the march, which was sponsored by the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee Western USA, the trio of the colors that make up the Armenian flag red, blue and orange were hoisted by many of the marchers as well as the flags of other countries that eventually became home to displaced survivors.
Amid the many signs aimed at shaming the Turkish government for its continued denial, several placards bore messages of gratitude toward countries such as Sweden, France and the Netherlands for acknowledging the genocide.
Vatican City was also among the countries thanked after Pope Francis recalled Pope St. John Paul IIs statement that the mass killings of Armenians were the first genocide of the 20th century.
The United States has been reluctant to call the events a genocide mainly because Turkey is a key ally in the Middle East.
President Obama, most recently, didnt use the word genocide in his annual remarks on the mass killings, referring to them as a calamity.
While Marootians family has been in the spotlight in the push for recognition, 75-year-old Garry Gertmenians close relatives mostly shied away from talking about it.
He made the commute from his Duarte home to participate and painted his thick, white mustache the colors of the Armenian flag.
For a lot of the families, it was all or nothing, he said My family was hurt so bad, they didnt want to talk about it. Some of the families, they were hurt so bad all they did was talk about it.
Gertmenians grandfather was killed in the genocide, while his father, who was a teenager at the time, survived.
Moving away from his familys quietness on the matter, Gertmenian said he is being vocal now because he wants Turkey to admit what happened.
I feel that its not just a duty, I just feel that way personally, Gertmenian said.
The annual march was once again peaceful, and there were no reports of disturbances, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
While many chants echoed messages shaming Turkey or exclaiming the unity between Armenians, others targeted Obama for failing to fulfill his campaign promise of recognizing the genocide.
Hagop Nalbandian, a Glendale resident, has participated in the annual march many times. Despite the ongoing challenge of winning recognition worldwide, he said he remains optimistic it will happen some day at the federal level in the United States.
Its a mixed feeling of pride and strength, he said.
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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
Discover the performing arts, costumes and fashions of India on a 12-day tour led by Holly Poe Durbin, a professor in the drama department at UC Irvine.
The tour, From Hollywood to Bollywood, will include visits to Delhi for a city tour and seminar on contemporary Indian theater; Kochi, for a performance at the Greenix Theater of Indian Dance; and Mumbai, for a tour of the textile wing of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum (formerly Prince of Wales Museum).
Other highlights include a Bollywood dance lesson, a live Bollywood performance and a visit to a film studio; demonstrations of Kathakali, a form of Indian classical dance; and a visit to Thrissur, one of the silk capitals of India.
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A pre-tour extension to Jaipur, known as the Pink City, and the Taj Mahal in Agra also is available.
Dates: Dec. 14-23; pre-tour Dec. 11-14. Price: From $3,279 per person, double occupancy. Includes accommodations, all breakfasts and most dinners, entrance fees, ground transportation, drivers and guide. Gratuities and international airfare not included.
Info: From Hollywood to Bollywood, (866) 225-0577
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Canada yes, you heard right: our neighbor to the north, which turns 150 next year has been named the place to go in 2017 by Lonely Planet.
Some fun facts: It contains the garter snake capital of the world (Manitoba) and is the first country to build a UFO landing pad (in Alberta).
Among the top 10 cities, Los Angeles placed No. 3 for being even more accessible to locals and visitors alike. It beat out the only other U.S. city to make the list: Portland, Ore., at No. 10.
The guidebook company Tuesday announced its top 10 countries, cities and places you should go next year in its Best in Travel 2017 guide. Lonely Planets experts point visitors to places that may be underrated and overlooked, a news release says.
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Here are Lonely Planets top 10 countries for 2017:
1. Canada
Jardin Nelson restaurant in Old Montreal. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times )
2. Colombia
Cartagena, Colombia, has a colonial city center with boutique hotels and restaurants in renovated old homes. (Romulo Rejon / Getty Images/Flickr RF )
3. Finland, which will mark 100 years of independence in 2017
Helsinki Cathedral, Finland. (Susan Spana / Los Angeles Times )
4. Dominica
Dominica island. (Carol J. Williams / Los Angeles Times )
5. Nepal
The Buddhist monastery gate at the entrance of the small village of Tengboche, elevation 12,664 feet. (Karin Laub / AP Photos )
6. Bermuda
7. Mongolia
8. Oman
9. Myanmar
10. Ethiopia
The guides top 10 cities include:
1. Bordeaux, France
2. Cape Town, South Africa
3. Los Angeles
4. Merida, Mexico
5. Ohrid, Macedonia
6. Pistoia, Italy
7. Seoul, South Korea
8. Lisbon, Portugal
9. Moscow
10. Portland, Ore.
If youre looking for destinations that are a good deal, Lonely Planet picks Nepal, Namibia and Porto, Portugal, as places where your dollars will go far.
Info: Lonely Planets Best in Travel 2017
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The Somali extremist group Shabab claimed responsibility Tuesday for an attack that killed at least 12 non-Muslims sleeping in a hotel in the northern town of Mandera near the Somali border.
The attack on Bishaaro Guest House was part of a campaign to kill unbelievers in Kenya, the Islamist group said. Shabab, affiliated with Al Qaeda, claimed 15 were killed, while authorities put the toll at 12.
The attackers reportedly used explosives to blow open the metal front doors of the hotel before bursting in and shooting the victims.
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Hours later, the group claimed responsibility for another major attack within Somalia when a suicide bomber with a truck carrying explosives slammed into the gate of a military base of the U.N.-funded African forces fighting Shabab, AMISOM.
The base in Beledweyne, north of the capital, Mogadishu, was occupied by soldiers from Djibouti, an important U.S. ally in the volatile Horn of Africa. Gunmen then attacked the base, a strategy successfully used in past attacks, including an attack against Kenyan forces in El Ade, southern Somalia, in January, which killed some 180 soldiers, Kenyas worst military loss.
Authorities have not announced how many soldiers died in the Beledweyne attack Tuesday.
The Shabab group has repeatedly targeted Kenya because of the countrys military role in Somalia, as well as other countries involved in the force, including Uganda. Kenya invaded Somalia in 2011 after a spate of attacks and kidnappings in northern Kenya.
The victims in the Mandera guest house attack included 11 men and one woman. Ten of those killed in the early hours of the morning were teachers from other parts of Kenya, in Mandera to stage plays for students about books that have been set as part of the high school curriculum, local officials told Kenyan media.
One survivor, teacher Veronica Wambui, told Kenyas Nation Media she heard explosions at around 2.30 a.m. before attackers entered and shot her colleagues.
She was shot at three times, but managed to hide in a storeroom with other colleagues. Another blast went off, and part of a wall collapsed on her and others.
I could see the lights from the [flashlight] when they were checking out the room but the collapsed wall had covered me, Wambui told the Associated Press later, speaking from the hospital. She received a bullet wound in her hand and injuries to her legs.
It was the second attack in three weeks in Mandera, a volatile border town. In an Oct. 5 attack, five Christians were beheaded, with Shabab claiming responsibility.
Shabab, fighting the U.N.-supported Somali government, has staged several major attacks in Kenya in the past, usually questioning people to see if they are Muslims or Christians, and sparing the Muslims. Its worst attack in Kenya occurred in April 2015 at a university in Garissa, in northern Kenya, where 147 people were killed, mostly Christian students from other parts of Kenya. In September 2013, Shabab gunmen attacked the upscale Westgate shopping mall in the capital, Nairobi, killing at least 67 people.
Shabab has lost a series of commanders and has seen some of its followers split off to form a faction loyal to the Islamic State, but it still remains capable of carrying out devastating attacks, as well as drive-by shootings and assassinations.
robyn.dixon@latimes.com
Twitter: @RobynDixon_LAT
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The burgeoning animal rights movement in China may have found a poster child in Pizza, a forlorn-looking polar bear dubbed the worlds saddest.
At a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday, the Humane Society International presented a letter signed by 50 Chinese animal rights groups urging Guangzhou Gov. Zhu Xiaodan to close the citys Grandview Mall Ocean World, where Pizza is among the 500 species exhibited in a shopping center, and secure a better home for the bear.
The groups join several international organizations the Humane Society, Care2, the Born Free Foundation and the Animals Asia Foundation that have collected more than a million petition signatures calling for action.
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In China, activists have seized on the global attention to Pizzas plight as an opportunity to raise public awareness about animal captivity in the country, which has yet to pass animal rights laws.
Pizza is really not the saddest polar bear in the world, said Hu Chunmei of the Chinese Green Development and Endangered Species Fund. He reminds us of the many captive wild animals in China that are worse off.
Three-year-old Pizza was famous even before his despondent countenance was splashed across the Internet. The polar bear has been Grandviews main attraction since its opening in January, with visitors flocking from far and wide to glimpse him in his enclosure a Spartan, blue-walled room with artificial snow, a shallow pool and little else. The enclosure measures 430 square feet; Pizza has only a 33-foot length of concrete to walk on.
But after a social media post about Pizzas seeming desolation went viral, animal rights groups went to assess the facilities. Cao Jinwei, a representative from Beijings Capital Animal Welfare Assn., recounted his August visit to Grandview.
Pizza is a superstar, Cao said. There was a large crowd around his enclosure, and children had their faces against the glass to get a good look at him. But he is a celebrity without freedom.
Representatives from Chinese animal rights groups hold a news conference to speak out against the treatment of Pizza, the worlds saddest polar bear, in Beijing on Oct. 25. (Yanan Wang / For The Times )
A recently recorded video showed Pizza clambering around the pen, occasionally dipping a paw into the pool and lying by a vent in the corner, seeming to peer through it. The last habit indicates an unhealthy mental state, according to Yu Hongmei, an Anhui Agricultural University professor of psychology and business.
Yu noted that Pizza used his front paws to bang on the wall above the vent, as if trying to find what lay beyond it.
The advocacy groups said in their letter that the aquariums high temperatures, small spaces, lack of windows and the rowdy behavior of the malls shoppers are harmful to not only Pizza but also to the other animals on display, such as arctic foxes, belugas and walruses.
In a statement released Friday, Grandview Mall Ocean World disputed these claims.
Grandview Mall Ocean World has always operated with an animals first philosophy, focusing from the outset on animal protection, scientific discovery and education, the statement said.
The aquarium elaborated that its designs and everyday operations were developed under the guidance of scientists, doctors and animal specialists from around the world, ultimately producing an innovative approach toward the protection of endangered species.
Although the aquarium welcomes feedback from the public and other organizations, the statement said, some groups acting on ulterior motives and personal vendettas will be reported to the relevant government authorities, and [Grandview Mall Ocean World] reserves the right to take legal action.
Pizza the polar bear has been Grandview Malls main attraction since its opening in January, (AFP/Getty Images )
Grandview is planning its second phase of development, slated to include a zoo with pandas and tigers. The announcement of the phase was met with public disapproval, but the mall maintains it is moving forward while taking into consideration suggestions from the public.
It is the only shopping mall in China with permanent live animal exhibits, though temporary shows and displays have become popular as online shopping makes customers less willing to trek to physical stores.
Chinese authorities rejected a proposal from a zoo in Britain that offered to adopt Pizza and place him in a large enclosure with other polar bears, stating that Pizza must remain in the country.
While the Ministry of Agriculture has guidelines for how captive animals should be raised, they are broad and vague enough that no legal recourse exists to force Grandview Mall Ocean World to shut down.
So Chinese animal rights activists are targeting public opinion in the hope that the tides of shifting societal values may push new laws forward.
Convincing people of the importance of protecting animals can be difficult in a country where hundreds of millions lived in poverty mere decades ago. Qin Xiaona, president of the Capital Animal Welfare Assn., called for a renewed focus on traditional Chinese values.
Some people say that animal rights are a Western concern, but that dismisses centuries of Chinese history, Qin said. We cant forget the principles that our culture was built on, which is to never do harm to our natural surroundings and value every form of life. Through the vigorous struggles of these recent years, weve sold out our traditions we must return to them.
Wang is a special correspondent.
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6:08 p.m.: This story was updated with the dimensions of the polar bears enclosure.
This article was originally published at 11:35 a.m.
On Tuesday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye stepped to the podium, facing dozens of news cameras and what might be the biggest challenge of her presidency. She made a hastily arranged public apology for a growing scandal that has been roiling South Korean politics for weeks.
The scandal revolves around a close associate of Parks, Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of Parks late mentor, and charges that Choi used her ties to the president to pressure corporations to cough up millions in donations to dubious foundations that Choi allegedly used like a personal ATM. Park has also been accused of blindly following directives from Choi, someone with no job in government or official public profile.
What sparked Tuesdays apology was a report the previous day by a South Korean television network, part of a media maelstrom in recent weeks, which revealed that an old computer hard drive belonging to Choi contained classified documents Park had sent her. In a furor similar to that surrounding Hillary Clintons use of an email server, critics charged that Park was irresponsibly managing official information.
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What is she apologizing for?
In her address Tuesday, Park said that she had sought Chois help with public outreach when she was running for president in 2012. The president did not make any direct mention of the allegations of Chois ties to the foundations; she only apologized for having caused public distress through unspecified acts.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye bows after a public apology in Seoul. (Baek Seung-yul / Yonhap )
Why apologize now?
Until Tuesday, Park had avoided commenting on the scandal, but the report about the computer hard drive apparently made it impossible to her to stay on the sidelines any longer. She is trying to put a lid on the issue, which is threatening to derail the public discourse, said Christopher Green, a researcher in Korean studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands and co-editor of Sino-NK, an online journal of northeast Asian affairs.
This is only the third time Park has apologized for anything as president, the most recent being for the governments botched response to the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking, in which more than 300 people died, many of them high school students.
What was the domestic reaction to her apology?
It didnt take long for Parks critics on social media to pounce on her apology as fodder for ridicule, describing her address as soulless and perfunctory. The line most commenters seized on was Parks contention that her dealings with Choi were carried out with a pure heart.
With a pure heart quickly became the top trending item on Korean language Twitter, as users mocked Parks choice of words, calling it a lame attempt at sounding sincere. If your heart is so pure then obey the law, wrote one user, who also asked, So if I rob a bank with a pure heart, is that OK?
Others wondered whether Parks statement really amounted to an apology at all. If you start by saying what you did was with a pure heart, doesnt that mean youre not really apologizing? asked another Twitter user.
Who is Park?
Even before she became president in early 2013, Park was by far the most recognizable politician in South Korea. Born in 1952, she has been in the public eye since childhood, when her father, military dictator Park Chung-hee, ruled the country.
She assumed the duties of first lady in 1974, when her mother was shot to death during an assassination attempt on her father. Five years later, her father was assassinated by a top official in his government.
Her father left a complicated legacy. While in power, he oversaw South Koreas most dramatic period of economic development, driving the country from postwar poverty to industrialized wealth. Along the way he suspended most civil and political rights, and there is still debate in South Korea over whether he should be remembered as a hero or a tyrant.
Park came into office carrying her fathers legacy as baggage. To some South Koreans, she is the second coming of the countrys proudest era; to others, she represents an unwelcome return of her fathers undemocratic rule, even though she was elected.
What does this mean for the rest of Parks presidency?
As the scandal has dragged on, Parks approval rating has hit its lowest point since she came to office. That may not matter so much, as Park isnt eligible to run for reelection when her term ends in early 2018 (South Korean presidents all serve one five-year term).
On the near horizon, Park likely faces friction with the liberal opposition.
The opposition parties will certainly make the best of the opportunity and frame the scandal as a problem with the conservative side of the spectrum, but whether that strategy resonates with voters is an open question, said Steven Denney, a graduate fellow at the Asian Institute at the University of Toronto and a specialist on South Korean politics.
Borowiec is a special correspondent.
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At least 60 people were killed when three militants armed with automatic rifles and grenades attacked a police training center in the volatile southwestern Pakistani region of Baluchistan, security and rescue officials said Tuesday.
More than 120 people were injured. It was the second major attack in the provincial capital, Quetta, since August.
Security officials said militants shot a guard at the main entrance to the Baluchistan Police College about 9:30 p.m. Monday before entering the compound and taking aim at the dormitories where hundreds of cadets are housed.
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At least two attackers detonated suicide vests while a third was shot dead by paramilitary soldiers, officials said.
Cadets fled the explosions by scaling the walls of the compound, many of them sustaining injuries.
The death toll by Tuesday morning had surpassed 60. Nearly all the dead were cadets, according to a rescue official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
About 700 cadets were usually housed at the facility, about 12 miles outside Quetta, although the numbers were slightly lower Monday because exams had recently concluded, Baluchistans home minister, Mir Sarfaraz Ahmad Bugti, told reporters.
A complete search operation of the sprawling academy has been conducted and it is declared clear, Bugti said after the siege, which lasted about four hours. He said that three militants had carried out the attack, although previous reports suggested the number was as high as six.
Several cadets were injured as they scaled a 10-foot perimeter wall to escape. Survivors told reporters outside the academy that the assailants faces were obscured by masks or scarves.
They were carrying Kalashnikovs and firing indiscriminately on the cadets inside hostels, one cadet said.
The bodies of slain cadets were transported to police headquarters in Quetta for a collective funeral prayer, after which they would be dispatched to their homes in different parts of the province, police officials said.
Baluchistan, a remote province along the Afghan border, is home to a long-running insurgency by ethnic separatists seeking to break away from the Pakistani state.
It has been the site of several recent attacks. The most recent came in August, when a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban a federation of insurgent groups that aim to install sharia law in Pakistan claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 64 people at a Quetta hospital, mostly lawyers who had gathered to mourn a slain colleague.
Pakistani authorities said they had evidence the police academy attack was carried out by militants based in Afghanistan. Maj. Gen. Sher Afghan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Baluchistan, said the assailants belonged to Lashkhar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami, a militant group affiliated with Al Qaida and the Pakistani Taliban that has attacked Pakistani security installations.
We have intercepted communications which showed they were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan, Afghan said.
The Pakistani Taliban issued a statement Tuesday claiming responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for the deaths of its members whom security forces had killed ruthlessly, and it will continue till the complete promulgation of Islam in the country.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which the State Department designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2003, is a Sunni Muslim extremist group that has claimed responsibility for some of the worst sectarian attacks in Pakistans recent history. In 2013, the group said it was behind an attack on a pool hall in Quetta that killed nearly 100 people, mostly members of Pakistans Shiite minority.
In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby condemned the police academy attack and said the U.S. will continue to work with our partners in Pakistan and across the region to combat the threat of terrorism.
The academy has come under attack before, in 2006 and 2008, when attackers fired rockets into the compound.
Baluchistan is Pakistans least-developed province and a key region for Chinas ambitious $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a package of infrastructure projects that aims to link its western province of Xinjiang to the Arabian Sea via a deepwater port at Gwadar.
Concerns have been raised about Pakistans ability to ensure security for construction teams in restive Baluchistan, where the project has faced opposition.
Special correspondent Sahi reported from Islamabad and staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India. Special correspondent Zulfiqar Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
shashank.bengali@latimes.com
Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia
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UPDATES:
10:50 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting, a statement from the Pakistani Taliban and additional background.
7:55 p.m.: This article was updated with a revised death toll, comments from Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan and background about the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group.
6 p.m.: This article was updated with a revised death toll and the Baluchistan governments attribution of the attack to Al Qaeda-linked militants.
5:10 p.m.: This article was updated with revised death and casualty tolls and with more information about the attackers.
This article was originally published at 4:30 p.m.
A 46-year-old Iranian American from San Diego said Tuesday that Iran had sentenced him to 18 years in prison for collaborating with a hostile government, becoming the latest dual citizen to be jailed in a secret trial in the Islamic Republic.
Speaking to The Times from Ninava jail in Gorgan, in northeast Iran, Gholamrez Reza Shahini, who goes by the nickname Robin, said he was visiting his mother and other family members in Iran when he was arrested July 11.
His trial took place last week, and he was convicted Saturday after a three-hour court proceeding, he said.
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Shahinis sentencing comes one week after Iranian American businessman Siamak Namazi and his 80-year-old father, Baquer Namazi, were each sentenced to 10 years on similarly vague charges of collaborating with the U.S.
A growing number of dual nationals have been imprisoned in Iran since Tehran reached an agreement with world powers to end its disputed nuclear program in exchange for eased economic sanctions.
Lets put pressure on the Iranian government so that it will not happen to another citizen. Maybe I am Iranian, but I am also American. Gholamrez Reza Robin Shahini
The deal appeared to herald a thawing of relations between Iran and the U.S., which cut off diplomatic relations after the 1979 Islamic revolution. In January, three Americans jailed in Iran, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, were freed in a prisoner exchange.
Moderate President Hassan Rouhanis government called on dual nationals to return to Iran to help rebuild the economy. But a series of arrests this year signal a power struggle with hard-liners who want to undermine Rouhanis outreach to the West and use the prisoners as bargaining chips in future negotiations.
Shahini, who left Iran as a refugee and emigrated to the United States in the early 2000s, said that prosecutors presented as evidence Facebook and social media posts he wrote in 2009 in support of the Green Movement, the pro-democracy demonstrations that erupted in Iran following allegations of fraud in the reelection of then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
I dont know why they even chose to arrest me, said Shahini, who graduated in May from San Diego State University with a bachelors degree in international conflict resolution.
He said that the day he was arrested by members of the intelligence unit of the elite Revolutionary Guards he was 10 days shy of returning to San Diego. He was due to start graduate school this fall at San Diego State in homeland security studies.
Irans official media has not reported Shahinis sentencing. The State Department did not immediately comment on the news.
For two weeks after his arrest, Shahini said, he was kept in solitary confinement in a small room with a bright light that made it difficult for him to keep track of the days.
His family in Gorgan 250 miles northeast of Tehran, near the Caspian Sea has been able to visit him in prison, and he has been able to make phone calls. But Shahini said he prefers they dont see him because the difficult prison conditions make his relatives emotional.
He said he was in a jail ward with 200 to 300 prisoners, many of whom had been convicted of murder and drug charges. There were eight bathrooms and a handful of showers.
He suffers from asthma and dental problems that have not been addressed even though prison doctors have seen him, he said.
Shahini, who formerly worked at a car repair shop, said he had studied national security to build a bridge between Iran and the United States, but that the hard-line Revolutionary Guards opposed better ties between the countries.
Im a U.S. citizen, Shahini said. Lets put pressure on the Iranian government so that it will not happen to another citizen. Maybe I am Iranian, but I am also American.
He said that once Iranian media outlets announce his sentencing, he will start a hunger strike.
I wont stop unless I am free or die, he said.
Shahini has converted to Christianity, according to family members, which could add to his troubles with the Islamic Republic.
His sister, Fatemeh Shahini, a former nurse who lives in San Diego, said the news of her brothers sentencing was a nightmare.
His girlfriend, Sevil Suleymani, said the swiftness of the proceedings shocked Shahini and his family.
After hearing his sentence, he is in a bad situation, she said. He is really scared. It is shocking for all us. Nobody expected this.
Special correspondent Ramin Mostaghim contributed to this report from Tehran.
shashank.bengali@latimes.com
Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia
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Islamic State claimed responsibility Tuesday for an attack on a police academy in southwestern Pakistan that killed at least 60 cadets, demonstrating the militant organizations ability to create havoc far from its shrinking bases in Iraq and Syria.
The extremist groups mouthpiece, the Amaq News Agency, said its South Asia wing known as Islamic State in Khorasan carried out a three-man suicide raid on the Baluchistan Police College. It was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Pakistan this year.
Pakistani military officials blamed the attack on militants from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami, a Sunni Muslim extremist group that has links to Islamic State in Khorasan. A spokesman for the organization told The Times that it carried out the raid with help from Islamic State, although he did not elaborate.
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We are open to support any organization which would support us, said the spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the extremist group is banned in Pakistan.
Police said three militants armed with automatic rifles and grenades attacked the police training center Monday night in Quetta, the capital of volatile Baluchistan province, taking aim at dormitories where hundreds of cadets ages 15 to 25 are housed. Two of the militants detonated suicide vests, while a third was shot dead by paramilitary forces, officials said.
The death toll by Tuesday morning had surpassed 60. Nearly all the dead were cadets, according to a rescue official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
More than 120 people were injured, including cadets who fled the explosions by scaling the compounds 10-foot perimeter wall.
One hospitalized survivor told reporters in Quetta that he was in his barracks when an attacker stormed inside and began firing indiscriminately.
Everybody was running in the barracks to save his life, the cadet said. I climbed the stairs to reach the rooftop and then jumped from the roof to save my life. I was injured, but I survived unlike many of the others.
Analysts said the support if not direct operational involvement of Islamic State in the raid was likely. While Iraqi forces mount a drive to rout Islamic State from its base in the city of Mosul, the militant groups allies have demonstrated their ability to carry out attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Baluchistan, said Pakistani authorities had intercepted communications that showed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami assailants who have attacked security installations and religious minorities, particularly Shiites were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan.
Islamic State in Khorasan is active in neighboring Afghanistan and shares the Pakistani groups anti-Shiite ideology. Abu Muhammad Adnani, a senior leader of Islamic State who reportedly was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Syria in August, had called on his followers to kill Shiites because they were not true Muslims.
Even if half of Islamic States fighters from South Asia, or one-fourth of them, return to this region, things will get very hot. Abdul Basit, a fellow at the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore
Over the past two weeks, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami claimed to have assassinated four Shiite women in Quetta and a Shiite place of worship in the port city of Karachi, while Islamic State in Khorasan said it carried out an attack on a Shiite mosque in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that killed at least 18 people.
The groups have shared interests in sectarian violence, said Abdul Basit, a fellow at the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapores S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami is one of several cells of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which the State Department designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2003. The parent organization has worked with Al Qaeda, but tensions between the two groups emerged after Lashkar-e-Jhangvi carried out sectarian attacks that Al Qaeda typically opposes, including a 2013 attack on a pool hall in Quetta that killed nearly 100 people, mostly Shiites.
Pakistani militant factions have split apart and formed new alliances over the past two years as counter-terrorism operations targeted the Pakistani Taliban, a loose federation of extremist outfits seeking to impose Islamic sharia law.
Many fighters went underground or sought refuge in Afghanistan, where intelligence officials say some factions have rebranded themselves as Islamic State.
Azaz Syed, an Islamabad-based journalist who covers Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, said the alliance with Islamic State was more pragmatic than philosophical.
LeJ has a history of working in coordination with a bigger organization. It used to work closely with Al Qaeda, and now its working with ISIS, Syed said. This also shows that ISIS is getting stronger in this region, he added, using an acronym for Islamic State.
As Islamic State comes under growing pressure in Iraq and Syria, analysts say some of the thousands of fighters it is believed to have attracted from South and Central Asia are beginning to stream back to their home countries.
Other Pakistani militants are able to cross over from Afghanistan to carry out attacks, raising fears of more sectarian attacks after several years of declining violence.
They lied low for about two years, but now they are returning, Basit said. And they are not just returning from Afghanistan but also coming back from Iraq as well. Even if half of Islamic States fighters from South Asia, or one-fourth of them, return to this region, things will get very hot.
Despite the military crackdown, Pakistans security establishment maintains links to extremist groups that it sees as useful for carrying out attacks inside Afghanistan and rival India. Days ago, Pakistans interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, held a meeting with pro-Taliban religious leaders, including the head of a banned militant group with ties to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, drawing outrage from opposition politicians.
When proscribed groups hold a formal, publicized meeting with government, it becomes clear who is preventing the state from proceeding against them, said Shireen Mazari, senior official with the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
Many experts were aghast at Pakistans failure to protect a sensitive security installation in a province that is of growing importance to China, its biggest ally
Pakistans least-developed province, Baluchistan is a key region for Beijings $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, a series of infrastructure projects that aims to link the western Chinese province of Xinjiang to the Arabian Sea via a deep-water port at Gwadar.
China has expressed concerns about security for its construction teams in Baluchistan, where separatist groups seeking to create an ethnic Baluch state have opposed the project.
As tensions between India and Pakistan grow over the disputed border territory of Kashmir, Pakistani officials accused their rival of carrying out a proxy war in Baluchistan to undermine the China project.
We need to understand that LeJ is being used by intelligence agencies of enemy countries, especially India, as a proxy, said Jan Achakzai, spokesman for the chief minister of Baluchistan. CPEC is definitely a target.
Special correspondent Sahi reported from Islamabad and Times staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India. Special correspondent Zulfiqar Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
shashank.bengali@latimes.com
Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia
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UPDATES:
8:25 a.m.: This article was updated with additional reporting, background on extremist groups and survivor comments.
7:04 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Pakistani officials and a survivor of the attack.
This article was originally published at 5:17 a.m.
Schwarzenegger visited Sanxingdui Museum
On Oct. 24, renowned actor, politician and philanthropist Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Sichuan province and was named as the global ambassador for Sanxingdui culture.
Sanxingdui is an archaeological site now believed to be the site of a major ancient Chinese city existing 4,800 years ago in what is now Sichuan province. It has been praised as the ninth wonder of the world, containing discoveries with huge historical, scientific and cultural value. Sanxingdui already has global influence, but those in charge of promoting the site hope to see its influence expand even further.
In Sanxingdui Museum, Schwarzenegger viewed each cultural relic carefully. He also consulted with the professionals on hand and offered his own opinions about Sanxingdui culture. Schwarzenegger was especially taken by a bronze statue covered with a very thin gold mask. He wondered how people who lived thousands of years ago were able to make it. During the visit, Schwarzenegger said friendly hellos to other visitors and signed autographs for his fans.
Schwarzenegger disclosed his willingness to take on the global ambassador role to Jackie Chan when the two cooperated on a film in Beijing. He said Chan praised the significance of the project, as Sanxingdui is an extraordinary archaeological discovery.
Schwarzenegger will also act in and produce a film for Sanxingdui. The film will utilize photography techniques from Hollywood. James Cameron's team will be invited to manage the film's post-production work.
Schwarzenegger was frank about his fascination with Sanxingdui, expressing his hope that he could bring its incredible culture to the whole world.
[File photo: cultural relics displayed in Sanxingdui Museum]
The human cost of the Mosul offensive and of Islamic States brutal two-year occupation is not yet known. But the Iraqi citys cultural treasures have already suffered a grave toll.
Satellite imagery, eyewitness testimony from escaping civilians and boastful videos from Islamic State have provided clues as to the extent of damage to ancient sites and artifacts in Mosul. But experts say a full reckoning is probably months away, and remaining historical riches are still in danger from fighting.
The world got a dismaying glimpse of Islamic States appetite for destruction of antiquities in February 2015, when the group released online footage of sledgehammer-swinging extremists rampaging through Mosuls central museum, smashing statuary and toppling friezes. Some were replicas, but others were believed genuine and priceless.
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Prior to capturing Mosul, Islamic State had made a regular practice of wrecking historic sites as it seized swaths of Syrian and Iraqi territory taking particular aim at shrines associated with religious minorities such as Christians and Yazidis, or those revered by Shiite Muslims, all of whom Islamic State regards as heretics.
The groups wanton attacks last year on the breathtaking desert ruins of Palmyra coupled with its gruesome murder of the Syrian sites elderly curator also drove home the point that no remnant of past glory was safe in areas under Islamic States sway.
But it was the Mosul museum attack that put the group on the map when it came to large-scale cultural destruction, embodying Islamic States puritanical vision of Islam and symbolizing Western powers inability to protect precious sites and objects in its path.
The big spectacular events that they video are basically propaganda, to give the idea that they can act with impunity, said Amr al-Azm, a professor of Middle East history and anthropology at Shawnee State University in Ohio.
Northern Iraq, a wellspring of successive ancient civilizations including the Assyrian and Akkadian empires, is a trove of antiquities. Nearly 1,800 of Iraqs registered archaeological sites lie in areas that are or have been under Islamic States control.
Experts say the wave of wreckage amounts to cultural cleansing a deliberate bid to erase the traces of centuries of sectarian coexistence, a notion that is anathema to Islamic State.
The destruction is not just of physical structures its the texture of the city and the lives of its different communities, said Bernard Haykel, a professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.
And Islamic State is known to have reaped significant revenue from black-market trafficking in archaeological relics. The group considers antiquities a natural resource, like mining or oil, said Christopher Jones, a Columbia University historian who has documented cultural damage in the region on his blog.
Because Mosul and nearby villages in Iraqs Nineveh province have been largely cut off from the outside world since the group seized control in June 2014, the status of many important sites is not known, but those who work in the field are assuming the worst.
As Iraqi and Kurdish attackers close in on Mosul, Islamic State militants may choose to fight from within areas such as the Old City, which is dotted with historic mosques and structures, said Michael Danti, a Boston University archaeology professor who is in Iraqi Kurdistan for fieldwork.
It is a dense clustering of historic neighborhoods with narrow alleyways and streets I would suspect that Daesh will use this area to hole up and resist the offensive, said Danti, using the Arabic acronym for the group. That has the potential to cause severe damage.
The museum video may have grabbed the most headlines, but Islamic States campaign of cultural destruction in the city began months earlier, almost as soon as the group had seized control.
In the early days of the occupation, ancient books and manuscripts, together with centuries-old Arab scientific instruments, were destroyed or looted. Mosul Universitys library was burned, and the citys main public library was blown up and the ruins razed.
Other targets in Mosul included a mosque dedicated to the prophet Jonah, who in biblical telling traveled to ancient Nineveh to warn of imminent destruction, which was then allayed by the citys repentance. Known in Arabic as Yunus, he was revered by many Muslims as well as Christians. But Islamic State forbade that veneration and made that clear by blowing up the site.
And not all the destruction has been documented. Even in the case of the Mosul museum, the fate of the objects housed in halls not shown remains unknown. The slickly produced five-minute video opens with a Koranic verse on idol worship, before a narrator rails against polytheists and heretics, and the rampage begins.
In the museum video, the militants are also shown attacking the Nirgal Gate, an entrance to Nineveh, on the outskirts of present-day Mosul. At the massive gate, an icon of the wealth and power of the Assyrian empire, Islamic State fighters are seen determinedly smashing half-human, half-animal guardian statues.
The damage was not limited to Mosul and its immediate environs. The fortified city of Hatra, a UNESCO world heritage site 68 miles southwest of Mosul, was overrun by Islamic State fighters in 2014, and video showed the militants directing automatic-weapon fire at sculptures and structures. The site was then repurposed as an ammunition dump.
Looting and outright destruction have caused incalculable losses across Islamic States self-declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria. Irina Bokova, director general of the U.N. cultural agency, has said the groups deliberate campaign of cultural annihilation amounts to a war crime.
The months of occupation of the Mosul area have allowed Islamic State militants to take a leisurely approach to desecration and destruction, returning to some sites again and again, leaving no stone unturned.
Unfortunately, in Mosul, said historian Jones, it could be a matter of running out of things to destroy.
laura.king@latimes.com
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Tensions have been heightening between Russia and the United States, and many fear that World War 3 could be just around the corner, especially given the massive destruction Russia's SS-18 "Satan" missile can bring. An attack is feared to happen before the US elections, scheduled November 8.
Russia's Civic Chamber's member Sergei Markov tells Aussie Network News that he believes tensions between the two superpowers have increased to such an extent, that the situation can worsen anytime. In addition, he says that he is getting prepared for the Third World War, which is likely to happen anytime.
"These are the most serious tensions between Moscow and Washington in decades. The war might begin even before the November elections in the U.S," he said. "I personally plan to stock 200 cans of pork to be ready for a potential war crisis, and I advise everybody to do the same."
On the other hand, Duma Deputy Vadim Dengin tells Morning Ledger, "I cannot understand why the West cannot just leave us in peace," he said. "Americans should realize that it will be their children looking for shelters, too, if they are serious about attacking Russia." The Deputy is hopeful that the war won't happen, but is preparing for the worst.
Warnings have been issued by the United States, Russia and Turkey, and Russia has been preparing for this possibility. Russia recently carried out a nation-wide three-day evacuation drill, as preparation for natural calamities or nuclear fallout. Russia's civil defense department has also practiced evacuating its citizens and cultural relics to safe zones, and checking vital equipment and economic services so that the nation can function amidst any such catastrophes.
In addition, Russia has its 55 Satan missiles, with the deadly capability of leveling an entire area and decimating a large population. A minimum of five of these missiles is believed to be capable of destroying the entire East Coast. If an attack is carried out in New York, according to Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, former assistant secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, up to 4 million people could die.
Russian Premiere Vladimir Putin has been vocal about his support of presidential candidate Donald Trump, as Trump will be more supportive of Putin's strategies and policies, whereas Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State, would get in the way of Putin's plans. If Trump wins, friction between Russia and the US may die down, for now, however, there are reports that DEFCON has been raised from 5 to 3.
Zhang Zhaozhong posts a selfie on his new Sina Weibo account.
A retired military expert and PLA general has been successfully making inroads in Chinas new media landscape, and his latest victory is on Sina Weibo, Chinas largest micro-blogging site.
Zhang Zhaozhong, a 65-year-old retired rear admiral and TV commentator, has already established himself as an online celebrity, carving out a place for himself on many reality TV and Internet platforms. Tapping into this popular sentiment, Zhang created a personal Weibo account on the morning of Oct. 24. Again, he was bombarded with cheers of encouragement, with some netizens cheering, Salute the chief!
Zhang published a post to greet Weibo users on Monday morning, and later a two-minute video he recorded of himself. Within one day, the two posts had collected nearly 400,000 likes and 100,000 comments, pushing Zhangs follower count up to nearly 1 million.
I tried shooting a video of myself several times. At first the automatic filter was on, and it made me appear much younger than 65. I asked someone to help me turn it off. This is what I look like and I want to show that honestly, he said in the video, offering viewers some of his iconic laughter.
Zhangs unpretentiousness and self-deprecation have won him an excellent reputation among Chinas digital generation. He used to be an oft-ridiculed military expert, known for wacky comments in his long career as a talking head on military affairs.
On one broadcast in 2013, Zhang told audiences that ropes used to grow kelp could prevent American submarines from entering the Yellow Sea. The following year, he appeared on TV screens all over China to declare that smog might be a good defense against American laser weapons. These and other misguided statements led the Chinese public to mockingly refer to him as Chief of the Strategic Fool-You Agency.
It was after his retirement in July 2015 that his luck began to change. He continued to popularize military knowledge, but the Internet offered him a broader stage. Since retirement, Zhang has done broadcasts on live-stream video site Bilibili, audio programs on Chinas largest audio app, Qingting FM, and vlogs on news website Ifeng.com. He even shared his extensive weapons knowledge as a video game analyst. Meanwhile, as of late July, more than 600,000 people have subscribed to his public WeChat account.
But despite his versatile and growing social media presence, Zhang hopes above all to remain consistent, fostering a sense of patriotism and love for the army among Chinas younger generations.
China's decommissioned missile destroyer Nanchang will become a military-themed park in Nanchang, Jiangxi province after serving in the Chinese Navy for almost 34 years.
A grand ceremony was held in Nanchang to welcome the "return" of the battleship. The dismantled radars, masts and weapons have all been reinstalled. Many local citizens boarded the ship to take pictures after the ceremony.
Li Huashao, deputy political commissar of the Chinese Navy North Sea Fleet, said that the Nanchang will become a bridge between military and civilian life. It will play an important role in encouraging patriotism and national defence education, he added.
(Xinhua) 17:06, October 25, 2016
HANOI, Oct. 25 -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Business Council (RBC), which was supported by 55 major companies, was launched by the World Economic Forum (WEF) here on Tuesday.
The council's mandate is to promote public-private cooperation on the most pressing issues in the ASEAN, in the context of the fourth industrial revolution and its implication on the region, said a press release by WEF.
The council will focus on building infrastructure, promoting cross-border trade and investment in ASEAN, developing a digital economy, examining the future of jobs and industry in the region and championing the principles of inclusive growth.
In the year ahead, the RBC is expected to launch a number of other initiatives including a strategic infrastructure programme that promotes blended finance.
ASEAN has a large infrastructure deficit that cannot be addressed through public investment alone. Private capital is needed, but many projects fail to secure funding because investors see them as too risky. Blended finance harnesses flows of official development assistance to alleviate these risks while also allowing private capital to be raised, the WEF said.
RBC members will contribute to highlighting ASEAN's accomplishments on the global stage at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos in 2017, the year when the ASEAN will celebrate its 50th anniversary of establishment, said the press release.
Oct. 25 marks the 45th anniversary of the recovery of Chinas rightful seat in the United Nations. Looking back over the past 45 years, China has maintained international order centered on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and also engaged in UN affairs. This history provides the world with a glimpse into the future role rising China will play on the international stage.
Although China was one of the founding members of the UN, its membership was withdrawn by the UN for a long time due to political and historical reasons. The restoration of Chinas legitimate seat boosted the power of developing countries. Whats more, over the past 45 years, the world has witnessed Chinas significant role in maintaining international order, fulfilling its duties as a permanent member of the Security Council and supporting each UN development agenda.
Professor Ford at Oxford University even concluded that, given Chinas influence in and familiarity with the UN, the multilateral organization has become a major platform [from which] China exerts global influence.
A developing China indicates a growing power in support of UN missions. Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that confrontations and injustices in the modern world call for duly observing rather than immediately updating the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
We should support the international order and international system, consolidate the victorious outcome of the World War II, maintain an open world economic system and oppose protectionism in trade or investment, Xi added.
The important statement given by Xi suggests that China does not want to abandon all established rules under new historical conditions. Instead, China hopes to focus on reforming and improving current rules, letting the UN play its role.
Unilateralism and power politics undeniably exist in todays political climate. Moreover, opposition and disagreements occur, posing a threat to UN authority. In such circumstances, China has committed to always protecting the purposes and principles of the UN Charter with concrete actions.
The UN has already seen the highlights of Chinas great diplomacy. President Xi, during the general debate of the UN General Assembly held last September, offered a roadmap for the global community by proposing a new type of international relationship one based on in-depth analysis of politics, security, economics, culture and natural ecosystems.
Based on conclusions from history, the roadmap explained how to implement the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and how to effectively protect and develop the international system with the UN as its core.
There is plenty of evidence that China emphasizes the UN in its diplomacy. For instance, before the G20 Hangzhou summit in September, China listened to the appeals of many different parties, including UN members. The Hangzhou summit was the first one to prioritize development issues under a global macroeconomic policy framework. It was also the first summit to make an action plan for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Some scholars pointed out that Chinas performance during the summit embodies its role as a bridge between the North and the South under the UN system.
The UN is entering a new era. Chinas participation will surely enhance the authoritative role that the UN plays in major international issues, a representative from the Netherlands said when China attended its first post-suspension UN General Assembly. History has since proven the accuracy of those words.
For the past 45 years, China has made historical developments and solidified its resolution to promote world peace and development. In the future, China will actively engage in UN affairs and continue to build world peace, contribute to global development and maintain international order.
This article was edited and translated from
Allentown police were investigating a shooting Monday night that sent one victim to an area hospital, city police said.
It was reported about 8:10 p.m. in the 1000 block of Chestnut Street.
The male victim appeared to have been shot twice in the back, and was taken by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township, police Capt. Bill Reinik said.
The victim was alert and conscious but was "not being 100 percent cooperative" with investigators, Reinik said.
"I'm not sure what we have," he said, as the investigation was just beginning.
Police were looking for two males who may have been involved, but no further description was immediately available.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A man who fatally shot an Easton man during a January drug deal in Allentown reached a plea deal on the lone remaining charge in the case - carrying a firearm without a license.
Ulric Daron McKenzie (Courtesy Photo)
In March, prosecutors dropped homicide and attempted homicide charges against Ulric Daron McKenzie in connection with the killing of Chonce Acey in a supermarket parking lot near 401 Tilghman St.
District Attorney Jim Martin previously said the charges were dropped because evidence showed Acey and another man were assaulting McKenzie with knives and fists before McKenzie opened fire.
That meant McKenzie only faced the firearm charge, for allegedly carrying the gun without a license. Prosecutors said they later learned McKenzie had a protection-from-abuse order out of Texas at the time of the killing, making him a person not to possess a firearm, but McKenzie was not charged with that in the case.
On Tuesday, McKenzie pleaded guilty to the felony count, and was sentenced to eight to 23 months in Lehigh County Jail.
McKenzie is eligible for immediate parole, but cannot be released until he has a verified address for a parole plan, as required by Judge Kelly Banach.
Acey, of the 1400 block of Washington Street in Easton, was found by Allentown police with multiple gunshot wounds in the supermarket parking lot.
McKenzie was arrested Jan. 15 in Bronx, New York, by U.S. Marshals, and was extradited to Allentown.
Authorities said surveillance cameras recorded the shooting. The video shows a white Chevrolet Avalanche parked in the lot, and two men fighting with a man inside the truck. The two attackers were Acey and another man only identified as D.D. in court records.
The video shows Acey and D.D. running as a firearm is fired from inside the truck. Officers found three .380-caliber shell casings in the lot, police said.
A witness told officers McKenzie shot Acey, and that McKenzie was injured in the fight, police said. After the shooting, the witness said McKenzie was dropped off at his apartment.
Police interviewed D.D., who said he went to the lot for the drug deal and was eventually involved in the fight with the backseat passenger, authorities said. D.D. said the passenger fired a handgun several times, and that he was grazed by a bullet on his torso.
Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
An Allentown college will play host to the Democratic vice presidential candidate Wednesday as he makes his second swing through the Lehigh Valley.
Hillary Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine, will speak at Muhlenberg College's J. Conrad and Hazel J. Seegers Union building, 2400 Chew Street, according to event details on the campaign's website. The hourlong event starts at 5 p.m., with doors opening at 3 p.m.
The Muhlenberg College Democrats will co-sponsor a visit by VP Candidate Tim Kaine this Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in Muhlenberg's Seegers Union Event Space. Doors open (with extensive security) at 3:00 p.m. Posted by Muhlenberg College on Monday, October 24, 2016
It was announced Saturday that Kaine would be returning to the Lehigh Valley on Wednesday, but the venue had yet to be determined. In addition to advancing Clinton's message, Kaine will also promote Democrats in down-ballot races, the earlier release said.
It will be Kaine's second time stumping in the Valley -- he gave a speech at Aug. 31 in the Hanover Township Community Center.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was in Pennsylvania on Saturday for a rally in Gettysburg. His running mate, Mike Pence, addressed the Lehigh Valley base Oct. 13 with a speech in Bethlehem.
A schedule of events on Trump's website shows no return to Pennsylvania planned in the immediate future, though it will likely be updated.
Neither Clinton nor Trump has made a Lehigh Valley appearance. Pennsylvania is among the swing states analysts say could be key to victory on Election Day Nov. 8.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Champagne is on the shelves for Wegmans shoppers who want to celebrate in Allentown.
The store at Tilghman Street will be able to sell wine starting Wednesday, one of four Wegmans stores in Pennsylvania that will start selling wine this week. The other three stores are: King of Prussia, Downingtown and Montgomeryville.
The Allentown store's cellar is near the entrance for the Pub at Wegmans, and was carved out of the beer section. The coolers lining the walls are still for six packs, but a smaller cooler will have a few bottles chilled and ready to go.
The Allentown store has dedicated shelves for local vineyards and wineries, as well as a display with wine glasses and corkscrews.
Wegmans has applied for wine permits for all 17 of its stores in Pennsylvania. By Nov. 17, the company's goal is to offer between 400 to 800 wines in each store.
A Wegmans in Mechanicsville launched a pilot program in September with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to sell 80 different wines. With the new legislation signed by Gov. Tom Wolf this past summer, the Mechanicsville store will now sell 800 varieties, according to our sister website Pennlive.com.
"We have wanted this for our customers for so long," Wegmans Sr. Vice President Nicole Wegman said in a news release. "The convenience of shopping for wine and beer in the same place you shop for food, just in time for the holidays, is a win for Pennsylvania consumers."
Charges have been dropped against a 37-year-old Allentown man who had been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in an attic.
Master Andre Edwards (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)
Bethlehem police on Tuesday withdrew charges of rape and aggravated indecent assault charges against Master Andre Edwards, of the 1100 block of West Walnut Street.
A warrant was filed on Monday for the arrest of Andrews at the office of District Judge Antonia Grifo.
Bethlehem Police Officer Sean Maloney, prosecuting the case, stated in court records, "I'm being ordered to withdraw this case as per the Northampton County District Attorney's Office."
Maloney at Grifo's office on Tuesday referred questions to the district attorney's office. Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Casola was not immediately available to provide information.
A woman had reported to investigators at 1 a.m. Saturday that Edwards gave her an alcoholic beverage and then took her to an attic at a city home. The woman claimed to investigators she was then raped by Edwards.
The woman ran from the scene and was later was taken to the hospital.
Police obtained a search warrant and raided a home, where the woman claimed the crime took place. Evidence also was then seized from the attic.
Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
New Bethany Ministries' food pantry often has to turn away donations of fresh produce and meat because it doesn't have the refrigerated storage space.
Overflow donations are stored in a garage the Cathedral Church of the Nativity lets them use. All of the storage constraints limit the number of folks the pantry can help.
That's why the nonprofit has bought a single-family home with a detached garage at 231 W. Fourth St. in South Bethlehem. The house is being renovated into affordable housing. New Bethany wants to turn the garage into a climate-controlled food pantry.
"Our goal is to move away from the emergency food pantry to a place that people can come on a weekly basis if they need to," said Diane Elliott, executive director.
Dana Pollock, left, and Megan Brown unpack food at the New Bethany Ministries food pantry.
The new food pantry is estimated to cost about $245,000 and New Bethany has about half of that committed.
New Bethany applied to the city of Bethlehem for $75,000 of its 2017 Community Development Block Grant award, but the project was not selected. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awards communities the grants each year on an annual basis.
The city is projecting that it will received almost $1.2 million of the grants next year. There are always more deserving applications than available dollars, said Allyson Lysaght, city housing and development planner.
Bethlehem has an internal committee review all of the applications and recommend awards, which Mayor Bob Donchez then endorses. Then the awards go to Bethlehem City Council for review. Council held a hearing on the proposed allocations Oct. 18. but a final vote is not scheduled until Nov. 1.
New Bethany employees and an official from Second Harvest implored city council to review the request and look at what the money could do for the community.
"I really think you need to reconsider this and build up Bethlehem," said Pamela Lewis, case manager of the Restoration House apartments. "That is strengthening up your own community in your own backyard."
This chart shows the proposed allocation of Bethlehem's estimated 2017 Community Development Block grant funding.
Councilman Bryan Callahan said he wants to help New Bethany out somehow and find funding for them.
"It sounds like they are doing great work for the community," he said.
Council President J. William Reynolds noted council has the ability to reallocate the money. He is open to supporting New Bethany's mission. He suggested that perhaps the city could grant a portion of the $75,000 request.
Anything the city supplies would help, Elliott said.
"We know that we have an impact but we are still only meeting a small amount (of the demand)," she said.
The new pantry would allows New Bethany to expand its reach from 350 to 400 families a month, who can come in every 30 days and receive three days of food. The pantry only helps about 10 percent of the Bethlehem's food insecure population, which amounts to 10 percent of the total population, Elliott said.
"The people coming in have faces and feelings and they have stories," said Brandy Garofalo, who directs New Bethany's food insecurity services. "And the bottom line is they are hungry and it is my job to make sure they get fed."
Second Harvest Food Bank Director Paul Lynch said his organization works with 200 different agencies that provide food pantries across six counties. New Bethany is the old pantry open to provide emergency food five days a week, he said.
The expansion would mean reaching more of the city's food insecure, they all said.
"We are seeing more and more working poor," said Elliott, adding the families often have difficulty making it to other pantries with more limited hours due to work.
The current food pantry space will be converted into a community area for group counseling sessions, educational and nutritional classes and offer it as public meeting space.
Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
UPDATE: See how police say they nabbed rooftop bank burglars
A hole was cut into the roof of a Slate Belt strip mall to burglarize a bank branch, authorities said.
Santander Bank at 71 Bangor Junction Road in Washington Township, Northampton County, was discovered the morning of Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, to have been burglarized, with access gained by cutting a hole through its roof, police said. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com)
An employee reporting for work about 8:30 a.m. Monday discovered the break-in at Santander Bank, 71 Bangor Junction Road in the Blue Valley Plaza in Washington Township, according to township police.
It is believed the burglary took place between about midnight Sunday and 5 a.m. Monday, police Chief Scott Miller said.
Last open 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, the bank is closed on Sundays. It remained closed Monday due to extensive damage, and it was unclear whether the branch would open Tuesday, Miller said.
A media representative for Santander Bank was not immediately available for comment Monday evening. There was no answer at the phone number for the branch after business hours.
Access was gained onto the floor of the bank branch by cutting holes in the roof and through the internal ceiling, Miller said.
Police were not immediately commenting on any dollar amount or other property taken, Miller said.
The investigation remained ongoing, and police were pursuing leads and other resources in an effort to determine who was responsible, the chief said.
It was not immediately clear whether the burglary was the work of one person or multiple perpetrators, and there was no description or surveillance image to release as of Monday evening of anyone sought, Miller said.
Police ask anyone with information on the burglary to call investigators at 610-588-2040.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
(Xinhua) 18:32, October 25, 2016
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 25 -- At least 60 people were killed and 117 others injured when three armed men attacked a police training center in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city, officials said Tuesday.
Sarfraz Bugti, interior minister of Balochistan province with Quetta as capital city, was quoted by local Urdu TV channel Dunya as saying that the militants launched the attack at about 11:05 p.m. Monday night at the hostels of the cadets.
He said that two of the militants blew themselves up while the third one was killed by security forces during a clearance operation.
The injured people have been shifted to Civil Hospital and Bolan Medical Complex where a state of emergency has been imposed.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but Bugti blamed banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Almi for carrying out the attack, adding that the militants were getting instructions from their handlers in Afghanistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain and leaders of all political parties condemned the attack and vowed to eradicate militancy from the country.
With two high-profile candidates fighting it out to to occupy the most famous building in the world for the next four years, at least Americas White House is very much in the news these days.
But for the hundreds of staff who occupy it, and the hundreds more who study its history, it has a different significance: it is a vivid expression of the progress of the United States from its origins as a rebellious group of colonies to its present-day status as the most powerful nation on the planet.
On Wednesday 26 October, Denis Bergin will look at this iconic building from a unique point of view: how it was planned, designed, built and rebuilt by natives of Ireland and often occupied by descendants of Irish immigrants.
For Denis, who grew up near Durrow but has spent much of the last fifteen years in the US, the central figure in the story is Kilkenny native, James Hoban, an architect and craftsman who was personally chosen by George Washington to create a fitting residence for the chief executive of the new Federal Republic.
The Presidents House (as it was originally called) was rebuilt twice under Irish supervision in 1817 after it had been destroyed by fire in the British attack on Washington, and in 1947, after a piano leg went through a rotting floor during a recital by President Trumans daughter.
Today it is a formal diplomatic centre, a private residence, a museum-like environment where hundred of art and craft pieces are displayed, and (in its east and west wings) a workplace for some of the most influential civil servants and political appointees in the world all set in over forty acres of parkland in the middle of a busy city.
In this informal and illustrated talk, Denis will tell its fascinating story and also document the various influences and incidents that brought him (like James Hoban) from Ireland to Charleston and on to Washington and The White House itself.
Admission to the presentation, which is being mounted in conjunction with the Ireland in Place Project and takes place at Portlaoise Library in Lyster Square at 7 p.m. on Wednesday 26 October, is completely free. Booking is advised at 057 862 2333.
One of the groups, who campaigned against the Maighne Wind Farm, is to hold a public meeting tonight at 8pm in Johnstownbridge.
Kildare Environmental Awareness Group (KEAG) organised the meeting at the Hamlet Court Hotel, to discuss An Bord Pleanala's decision to refuse permission for the 47 turbine wind farm. It will also review the group's next move should another planning application be submitted.
The refusal of the Maighne wind farm has shown that our community can take on a large wind developer and win. Our community will be ready for any reprise by the developer, said KEAG spokesperson, Sheila O'Brien.
Element Power wanted to build the wind farm up the West side of Kildare towards the North of the county covering townlands near Rathangan, Lullymore, Allenwood, Donadea, Carbury, Johnstownbridge and Enfield.
The 169m turbines would have been the tallest turbines in Ireland so far. In the wake of the decision, Element Power said it had to analyse the decision before deciding what action it would take.
The company could lodge another planning application, as it did when the Emlagh Wind Farm was refused in Meath.
It could also appeal the decision to the High Court, but only on the basis of how the decision was reached, and not on its merits.
Councillor Justin Warnock said he is not happy with the answer to his query about how many "real jobs were created in the
Manorhamilton Municipal Area in 2015 and how many of these were supported by the Local Enterprise Office(LEO)?"
The council told the Kinlough politician that 4 part time and 5 full time which is the equivalent of 7 new full time jobs
were created in the north Leitrim area during 2015 and supported by the LEO.
The council also said strategic infrastructural development was also carried out in the development of Manor Hub and FabLab. Other indirect jobs were either created or sustained through delivery of other services such as mentoring, training, business clinics and county initiatives that exist but cannot be directly quantified.
Other supported initiatives include:
Outreach Office operates on the first Tuesday of the month in Manorhamilton
All training courses delivered through LEO are available in a North Leitrim venue subject to numbers available
2015 Winner of Student Enterprise Awards Leitrim at both Senior and Intermediate levels were from St. Clares Secondary School, Manorhamilton
Worked closely with Manorhamilton Enterprise Forum on the Enterprise Expo in May 2015
Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur Competition winner of Best New Idea was from Manorhamilton
Delivery of the Taste Leitrim Food Initiative which includes 14 food outlets in North Leitrim.
All eligible applications received from North Leitrim for financial support to the LEO were awarded funding.
The council official stated that the Manorhamilton Area Department of Social Protection Live Register statistics shows a fall of over 10% between 2014 and 2015. Cllr Warnock was not convinced the drop in the Live Register was due to job creation. He concluded "All I see is houses being closed and emigration."
As expected, the Government has favoured the expansion of Heathrow, over its rival Gatwick.
The Transport Minister will make an announcement at about 12.30pm today, but the BBC reports that the decision was approved by a Cabinet Committee earlier this morning.
The political interest in this will be to see how many Conservatives speak out against the decision. Ministers will be allowed to state their opposition to the plans, but have to get permission from the Prime Minister first these will include Justine Greening and Boris Johnson.
Down in Richmond all eyes are on Zac Goldsmith, the Tory MP for Richmond Park. He has said on a number of occasions that he will resign as an MP if Heathrow gets the go-ahead. He reiterated his promise again last week, and wrote:
There is no doubt that despite huge gains against the Liberal Democrats in west London in recent years, the Conservative Party would be badly damaged in the event that Heathrow gets a green light.
Richmond Park was, of course, held by Liberal Democrats until 2010.
It is widely believed that the airport decision was postponed from before Christmas because Zac Goldsmith was running for London Mayor.
According to some media reports he wont actually resign for another year, and will wait until the final decision is taken by Parliament, but todays Sun claims that he is ready to hand in his resignation today. There have also been reports that he will stand as an Independent and that the local Conservative party has agreed to back him. He is supported by Dr Tania Mathias, the MP for neighbouring Twickenham (formerly Vince Cables constituency)
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
Here is the full text of Tim Farrons speech last night on combating post-Brexit racism, which he delivered at Queen Mary University at an event organised with The Runnymede Trust:
Patriotism has too often been seen as the preserve of the right. And I resent that. Im a patriot. I love my country, but not to the exclusion of others. Thats the difference between a patriot and a nationalist.
I want others to look at Britain as a beacon of hope, independent spirited, community minded, strong, maybe stubborn, but decent and compassionate.
And so, the rise in racist and xenophobic attacks following the referendum, fills me with shame. Those attacks are heartbreaking, they make me fear that my country has been stolen from me, because this is not the Britain I know, the Britain I love, because the Britain I know and love is better than that.
We all knew that the rhetoric of Farage and the Leave campaign could lead to a rise in intolerance.
In the referendum campaign this culminated in the horrific assassination of Jo Cox, a hardworking and dedicated MP whose commitment to openness and tolerance made her a target.
Maybe, that campaign revealed a level of simmering intolerance and hatred but maybe the very tone of the campaign generated new divisions, new fault lines
Since the Brexit vote, this sort of venomous hate and closed mindedness has gained ground, we have seen shocking attacks, such as on the Polish community centre just down the road in West London, or the woman who lost her baby after a racially aggravated attack.
In the face of all that we now need to pull together not apart. In the words of Jo Cox, words that have been memorialized we must remember that we have more in common than that which divides us.
We must be clear that the outcome of the referendum was not a green light to xenophobia.
We are a diverse society, rich in our varied culture, evolving in our culture as we have done for centuries.
Britain did not become Great Britain on fear, isolation and division. Britain did not become Great Britain through short-termist politicians who put the needs of one part of society above the rest.
One of the quirks of Britishness, that sometimes gets us gently mocked by our friends, is that we get squeamish about taking things too seriously. Politically, that makes us averse to extremism and the kind of hate-filled, short termist demagoguery that has plagued others.
Were a country founded on over 2,000 years of immigration, each wave bringing new influences and culture, enriching British life.
Yet, the party leading our beautiful country.the party that should be celebrating our wonderful diversity wants to destroy the very fabric it is made of.
2016 has seen the Conservative Party make move after move that makes Britain a nastier, more divided and more resentful country. 2016 has been a year that has seen the end of David Camerons naive but well intentioned attempts to detoxify the Conservative Party go up in flames.
This spring saw Zac Goldsmiths disgraceful, racist London Mayoral campaign. Rather than celebrating the fact that the son of a billionaire could go head to head with the son of a bus driver in an equal competition based on the merits of each of their politics not their background, Zac chose to concentrate on Sadiqs Muslim faith and Pakistani roots. For that he was rightly punished in the polls.
We then saw a European campaign headed by the man who is now our foreign secretary, based on fear and terror, pitching community against community. The disgraceful breaking point poster, demonising desperate refugees, only one example of a campaign that sought to take back control by forfeiting our nations decency.
And this Autumn saw Theresa Mays Government propose new rules that would force companies to record how many foreign workers they employed. A plan that even UKIP found distasteful.
Its not where we come from that matters, its where were going.
The Conservatives are risking just that with their reckless obsession with overall migration numbers, instead of standing up for whats best for Britain.
These are the actions of a Nasty Party, willing to play on prejudice for their own short-term gain. Some people used to tolerate the Tories being nasty on the assumption that at least they were competent. I am not sure what would now attract people to vote for todays Tory party that seems to be both unpleasant and useless. Remember, the first impression that most international leaders, businesses and observers have of our country is either Boris Johnson or Liam Fox
Well Theresa May once to her credit criticised the Tory Party for being the nasty party, but today, to her shame, she leads it as it gets nastier.
I dread to think whats in store this winter but rest assured the Liberal Democrats will keep fighting against his dangerous and divisive world view.
While 2016 has been a truly shocking year for racial equality and diversity in Britain, I am proud of the steps my party has been taking to ensure we get better at representing the communities we seek to serve.
In the Spring we became the first political party to integrate all disabled shortlists and specifically set aside spaces on target seat selections for people from other underrepresented groups.
In the Autumn, we went further and passed a Conference motion that reserves spaces for under-represented groups in our party committees and also passed a Combating Racism motion
And today, I am pleased to announce that the Liberal Democrats will be conducting an independent review which focuses on the issues and barriers faced by BAME members in the party with work commencing immediately this week.
The partys President, Sal Brinton has been integral to getting this process started, and I am pleased to say that Lord John Alderdice from our Alliance sister party in Northern Ireland has agreed to carry out this review.
John has recently been in Canada, undertaking a review in the Yukon on relationships between the Canadian and regional governments and their BAME and indigenous communities and expects to report back next year.
As you can see from what the party has achieved this year, the Liberal Democrats are serious about combating inequality.
Whether its in our party structures.
In Westminster.
Or in communities up and down the country.
One of Britains great strengths is its mix of cultures, and despite the referendum result, an increasingly right-wing
Conservative government or an ineffective Labour Party too busy fighting its own internal battles the Liberal Democrats are united in fighting to ensure that all citizens are made to feel safe.
And its not just the visible discrimination, like hate crime, that needs challenging.
Sometimes its the invisible discrimination that has an even worse impact on lives.
Thats why were calling for widespread name-blank application forms, mandatory reporting on the BAME pay gap, and an overhaul of the governments Prevent strategy so that instead of singling out specific communities and treating everyone as suspect the millions of funding that this project receives will instead be channeled into more community policing and projects run by grass-roots activists. While all parties agree that Prevent needs to be reformed, only the Liberal Democrats have the courage to say that the brand has become too toxic and only scrapping it will do.
Education also sits right at the heart of what Liberal Democrats stand for. It is the key to freedom and opportunity.
Yet our governments have designed an education system especially at primary school level that is focused not on developing young people for later life, for work or for further study, but on getting them through the wrong kinds of tests.
So while our curriculum has got better at teaching black history there is still room for improvement.
Thats why the Liberal Democrats are proposing an Education Charter that leads to a love of learning and a breadth of learning; that is relevant to what children will need next at school and in their future as adults. Not just for exams.
With less focus on meeting targets and passing exams, the Liberal Democrats would implement a curriculum that is focused on giving children creativity and confidence.
Learning about more about black and ethnic minority historical figures should be part of this, and would help empower children of communities who dont see enough historical achievement from people who look like them, giving them the inspiration to strive themselves.
Talking of history, one group of people who I am sure will be on the wrong side of it are those who are doing nothing for Syrian refugees.
Current hostility towards child migrants, especially in sections of the media, will be seen in the future as embarrassingly small-minded.
Blindness to discrimination is good people doing nothing; standing up to racism and unequal racial outcomes is being on the right side of history.
And as we stand on the edge of those two horrific historic realities: Brexit and a Tory stranglehold on Britain, the biggest risk is that you do not join us.
So lets be absolutely certain of this reality.
The only movement with the desire and the potential to stop the calamity of Brexit and the tragedy of a generation of Conservative majority rule, is this movement, is the Liberal Democrats.
So, you can despair if you want and accept the inevitability of a Tory government for the next quarter of a century.
Or you can recognise that the Liberal Democrats can prevent that inevitability.
We are the real voice of opposition to the Conservative Brexit Government and the only party fighting to keep Britain open, tolerant and united.
Britain is one of the most diverse, sophisticated and innovative nation in the world and, in or out, we need to stay that way.
And we Liberal Democrats will do whatever we can, in Parliament and outside.
To reshape the way the nation works.to bring it back together.
To stay civilised.
To stay united.
To combat racism.
Because, wherever you were born.
Whatever the colour of your skin
No campaign of lies, hate and fear will make you a target in the Liberal Democrats.
I was disappointed that the working group on welfare at the recent Brighton conference decided not to back a Universal Basic Income (UBI). An amendment (defeated) put forward by members from Calderdale called for negative income tax. But actually, fundamentally, a UBI is both far more essentially liberal andin any casethe current societal context and demographic trends demand that we should look far more closely at this, especially as we are a progressive party.
The current welfare system, introduced just after the Second World War, has become complex, bureaucratic, top-down and increasingly intrusivenote that all these descriptors are fundamentally illiberal. Remarkable as it was at the time in terms of its radical policies, and essential in modernising our society, now it is out of date and struggling to cope with 21st century society.
The two huge current issues we cannot ignore are the nature and rate of technological change, and the fact that we have an increasingly ageing society. Though full employment should be the goal of any society, increasingly it is not looking like it will ever be achievable again in the UK in a globalised world, especially the concept of full employment with an adequate, living wage for all workers. This is, at the most simplistic level, mainly because of: outsourcing basic, non-specialist work to cheaper labour markets in emerging economies; and advances in technology which will increasingly automate many forms of work undertaken by people.
Low wages have become a stubborn factor in the UK since the 1990s, and it is difficult to see how these can be shifted upwards anytime in the near future. The gig economy looks like it is here to stay for lots of us, with the accompanying lack of financial stability that it brings to many households.
The RSA has been investigating a UBI for well over a year and its report can be found here. In addition trials have begun in the Netherlands and are expected to begin soon in Finland. In fact the Finnish Government is designing a national Basic Income system to replace large parts of their current welfare system. There was a referendum to introduce a Basic Income in Switzerland in June this year, which though heavily defeated, shows how the idea is gaining currency. Think tanks in the USA, Germany, UK, etc, are increasingly looking at UBI as way to ensure all can lead a decent life in the modern world.
I am not proposing that this should be a policy fix that is magicked up overnight and done to people. This seemed to be one of the reasons for the working group to not include it in their conference motion, as they saw the difficulties with implementation. But in truth, that should not have been a constraint for them. For huge systemic changes to occur, there has to be a conversation with the public that lasts years, probably in this case, decades. There has to be long time for people to get used to the idea and thoroughly understand its benefits, what has changed and why it is needed.
We should be actively encouraging that conversation, and be seen as prime movers and advocates for significant changes in welfare. A poll of members on Lib Dem Voice has already shown that members support the idea of a UBI.
Freedom from being in government can have benefits. We should not longer be content with merely tinkering round the edges. We have to be liberal, think big, and UBI is a great place to start.
* Helen Flynn is an Executive Member of the LDEA. She is a former Parliamentary Candidate and Harrogate Borough Councillor and has served on the Federal Policy Committee and Federal Board. She has been a school governor in a variety of settings for 19 years and currently chairs a multi academy trust in the north of England.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton participate in the third and final presidential debate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States, Oct.19, 2016.(Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 -- The ongoing 2016 U.S. presidential campaign has garnered extensive global attention as it enters the home stretch, with both candidates focusing energy in digging each other's dirt rather than devising solutions to dire challenges facing the country.
From the party conventions, which officially announced their respective nominations, to the three widely-watched TV debates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have relentlessly hurled personal insults at each other, as the public laments that the U.S. presidential politics has descended deeper into the gutter.
While Trump labeled Clinton as a liar and openly called her a criminal, Clinton seems to have spared no effort to blast Trump for dodging taxes and being sexist and racist.
The constant stream of scandals and the pervasive smearing campaign made the 2016 election campaign even racier, rekindling debate that if the United States really lives up to its self-claimed reputation as the "model of democracy."
Negative campaigning is not a new phenomenon in U.S. presidential politics, but it usually appears in the final phase of a competition, especially when the two candidates are in a close race, said Daming Diao, a researcher from the Institute of American Studies, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
Mudslinging tactics dominate this year's presidential campaign because the ongoing race for the top U.S. job is basically a showdown between two least-welcomed candidates, Diao said.
A Gallup poll released before the third and final presidential debate found that neither Clinton nor Trump is particularly well-liked. Only about half of those who view either candidate favorably say they have strongly favorable views. By contrast, most of those who have unfavorable views of the candidates say they are strongly unfavorable.
"This reinforces the idea that for many voters, the 2016 election is a choice between 'the lesser of two evils'," Gallup said.
There are also deeper reasons for the omnipresent debasing between the two candidates, Diao with the CASS said.
Rising political polarization and widening partisan divide determine that neither candidate could be able to present a policy package that is feasible or acceptable to the public, so they choose to solidify their own position by undercutting each other, he said.
In his amateurish touch on policy issues, Trump said if elected, he would build a wall along the border with Mexico to deter inflow of illegal immigrants, and he would also rip up free trade agreement as part of his strategies to bring back jobs to the United States. Such measures, which may sound like what it takes to "restore the greatness" of the United States, actually defy common sense and could hardly achieve their intended goals.
Meanwhile, Clinton, despite her rich experience in politics, has so far appeared to play safe on policy issues, offering only vague ideas in apparent bid to avoid backlash.
Indeed, the most difficult domestic challenges facing the United States, including rampant gun violence and gaping socioeconomic disparity, are results of decades of complex interaction among policy makers, interest groups, and the public, and it is no easy task finding a cure for such malaise.
That said, there's no excuse whatsoever for the two candidates to simply shy away from policy issues and slide further into their carnival of slander, failing expectations of millions of U.S. citizens and beyond.
Tim Farron says the decision is a betrayal of the communities in West London:
The No Ifs, No Buts pledge from the Conservatives has been thrown by the wayside in the rush to bulldoze homes and build a new runway.
Zac Goldsmith has failed Richmond Park on Heathrow and betrayed them on Brexit.
The turbulence in the Conservative Party is nothing compared to the anger felt by those they have betrayed by giving up their commitment to the environment and communities in West London.
Theresa May used to make this case, now she has ripped those words down from her website and scrubbed them from history.
Boris once said he would lay down in front of the bulldozer. Now he will find himself on the slow boat to China anywhere to avoid having to stand up for his principles or stand down from his seat at the cabinet table.
A COUNTY Limerick man who admitted having significant quantities of drugs and illicit cash on farmlands in Montpelier has been jailed for two years.
Kenneth Moore, aged 46, of Portcrusha, Montpelier pleaded guilty, earlier this year, to having more than 70,000 in cash which was the proceeds of crime.
He has also pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis, worth around 37,000, for the purpose of sale or supply.
During a sentencing hearing, Detective Garda Martin McCarthy of the divisional drugs unit, said the drugs and cash were seized when gardai searched the defendants property on June 12, 2013.
He said a large number of cannabis plants at various stages of growth were located in an industrial-sized green container which was found on the lands.
The container, which was fitted with specialist lighting and a full irrigation system, was insulated with heavy-duty insulation.
Limerick Circuit Court was told a further quantity of cannabis plants were located behind a false wall in a second container while more plants were found hidden behind a feeding trough in a stable.
It was an extensive and sophisticated cultivation operation, Det Garda McCarthy told John OSullivan BL, prosecuting.
Moore made admissions at the scene telling gardai he was growing the cannabis to clear a debt he owed to a money lender.
Det Garda McCarthy said agreed gardai were surprised at the level of sophistication of the operation and he agreed with Andrew Sexton SC who said the defendants role was at the lowest end of the chain.
Imposing sentence today, Judge Tom ODonnell noted that Mr Moore was effectively a minder and storage man and that he had been extremely cooperative from the start.
He said the quantity of drugs seized was an aggravating factor and that people who engage in such behaviour must suffer the consequences.
He imposed a four year sentence, suspending the final two years for six years.
There was no reaction from the defendant as the sentence was handed down.
(Xinhua) 18:44, October 25, 2016
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 25 -- Los Angeles residents and city officials held a downtown candlelight vigil Monday night to commemorate the 17 innocent Chinese killed during the Chinatown Massacre that occurred 145 years ago.
"We need to make sure that their lives are never forgotten," Federal Congresswoman Judy Chu told Xinhua. "We must make sure that our voices are always heard, and our hard-fought gains in civil rights must be maintained."
On the evening of Oct. 24, 1871, one of the largest mass lynchings in American history occurred. A mob of about 500 Angelenos entered Los Angeles' Chinatown, looted the residents' houses and stores and assaulted every Chinese person they saw. Within five hours, they had tortured, shot and hanged 17 Chinese residents.
To pay tribute to the victims of this massacre, a wreath-laying ceremony was also held Monday night at the massacre site, namely Los Angeles Street and Arcadia Street in the city's downtown.
All attendees bowed three times at the wreath, following the traditional Chinese funeral etiquette.
The Chinese American Museum, the organizer of the event, emphasized in an announcement that the anniversary vigil is held not only to commemorate those who were killed during the Chinatown Massacre, but also to serve as a warning for future generations, highlighting the importance of racial harmony.
"The clashes between the police and the African American community are very similar to what we (Chinese) had in the past," said Shulan Zheng, honorary president of the Chinese American Museum.
"The only way for this society to move forward is to respect each racial group and to live in harmony."
The childrens book characters that are on Royal Mails new stamps
Apr 28, 2021, 7 AM
Royal Mails collectors sheet for the Mr. Men and Little Miss issue includes all 10 stamps with se-tenant labels showing additional scenes.
Great Britains new Mr. Men and Little Miss stamp issue includes Mr. Tickle, the first Little Men character created by Roger Hargreaves in 1971. The set includes nine other stamps.
Great Britains Royal Mail issued 10 stamps Oct. 20 showing the following Mr. Men and Little Miss characters: Mr. Happy, Little Miss Naughty, Mr. Bump, Little Miss Sunshine, Mr. Tickle, Mr. Grumpy, Little Miss Princess, Mr. Strong, Little Miss Christmas,
By Denise McCarty
Ten characters from the Mr. Men and Little Miss series of childrens books appear on stamps issued Oct. 20 by Great Britains Royal Mail.
The book series is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year.
An Oct. 20 Royal Mail press release announcing the stamps said: Launched 45 years ago, the idea for the first character arose when eight-year-old Adam Hargreaves asked his father, Roger, What does a tickle look like?
The advertising copywriter went on to visualise a tickle in the shape of a small orange man with incredibly long arms, and Mr. Tickle was born.
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Published in 1971 by Thurman Publishing Ltd., Mr. Tickle sold more than a million copies within the first three years, according to the website MrMen.com. It also became the first in the series of more than 80 Mr. Men and Little Miss books written and illustrated by Roger Hargreaves (1935-1988), and later by his son, Adam.
The characters also have been featured in comic strips and in television cartoons.
In addition to Mr. Tickle, the stamps picture Mr. Happy (introduced in 1971), Little Miss Naughty (1981), Mr. Bump (1971), Little Miss Sunshine (1981), Mr. Grumpy (1978), Little Miss Princess (2011), Mr. Strong (1976), Little Miss Christmas (2005), and Mr. Messy (1972). The designs are se-tenant (side-by-side).
Each design includes a silhouette of Queen Elizabeth II in the upper right and 1st in the lower right. The 1st stands for first-class, and these nondenominated stamps are always valid for the domestic first-class rate, currently 64 pence.
Royal Mail also issued a stamp booklet and special panes of the Mr. Men and Little Miss stamps.
The booklet contains the Mr. Happy and Mr. Tickle stamps, plus four nondenominated first-class Queen Elizabeth definitive stamps.
Six of the stamps Little Miss Princess, Little Miss Sunshine, Mr. Bump, Mr. Grumpy, Mr. Happy, and Mr. Messy are available in panes of 10 with se-tenant labels that can be personalized. Royal Mail calls such panes Smilers.
Another product, which Royal Mail calls a collectors sheet includes all 10 stamps with se-tenant labels showing scenes from the relevant stories.
Supple Studio, a branding and design agency based in Bath, England, designed the stamps.
International Security Printers printed them by lithography in panes of 10 (two se-tenant strips of five stamps each).
The stamps are square, 35 millimeters by 35mm, and are perforated gauge 14.5.
Royal Mails other products for the Mr. Men and Little Miss set include first-day covers, 10 postcards reproducing the designs of the stamps, and a presentation pack.
The pack includes a mint set of the stamps and features illustrations and text by Adam Hargreaves, providing background information on his father and the book series.
Hargreaves wrote: I have often been asked why these little books have been so successful, and I think that one of the main reasons is that the stories are each based on human characteristics which we can all identify with and recognise in ourselves. I also believe that a large part of it is due to my fathers sense of humour. I am sure his favourite character is Mr. Silly, as variations on this human trait crop up often in his stories!
Ordering information is available from Royal Mail, Tallents House, 21 S. Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB, Scotland. You can also find it online.
Royal Mails two agencies in the United States are Interpost, Box 420, Hewlett, NY 11557; and the British Stamp Service in North America, 1 Unicover Center, Cheyenne, WY 82008.
Great Britain was not the first to offer Mr. Men and Little Miss stamps. Guernsey issued six stamps May 15, 2009, showing Mr. Happy, Mr. Bump, Little Miss Naughty, Mr. Greedy, Mr. Strong, and Mr. Tickle (Scott 985-990).
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This years Nov. 11 online shopping festival is drawing near. According to predictions made by the China Express Association and Chinas smart logistics network CAINIAO, over 1 billion express deliveries will be made in the course of this years online shopping spree. Such a huge volume of packages will pose a great challenge to Chinas domestic logistics system.
The shopping festival has been held annually for the last seven years. On Nov. 11, 2015, 91.2 billion RMB in transactions and 467 million individual orders were placed on Tmall and Taobao alone. And it is expected that this year the statistics will reach a new high.
According to data released at the 11/11 Online Shopping Festival Service Mobilization Meeting, held by CAINIAO and other express enterprises on Oct. 13, a total of 2.68 million people will be employed by logistics companies for this years festival, a growth of over 50 percent from last year. Meanwhile, road transportation and even air capacity are expected to grow by 59 percent and 40 percent respectively.
Wang Wenbin, chief technology officer of CAINIAO, explained that with the support of advanced data technologies and capital injection, China's logistics industry has been through a comprehensive update in data, service and capacity. This year, consumers will therefore have a better service experience.
For major express enterprises, pieces of infrastructure such as warehouses, equipment and data systems have gone through rapid development since last year's Nov. 11 holiday. However, pressure on the distribution end will remain. Statistics show that a lack of couriers is a common issue for logistics enterprises, but Wang mentioned that courier stations and self pick-up lockers will help ease the pressure this year.
The wedding photo of Huang Jiaguang. (Photo/Hinews.cn)
The wedding photo of Huang Jiaguang. (Photo/Hinews.cn)
Huang Jiaguang, who was imprisoned for 17 years due to an unjust verdict, got married in Haikou, Hainan province on Oct. 24, the hinews.cn reported.
In 1994, 22-year-old Huang was working in Hainans Chengmai County. On July 7 of that year, he returned to his hometown in Qiongshan County because he heard that Huang Hengyong, a local gangster in a neighboring village, had been killed in a gang fight.
My father saw me and said, The young people have all gone--why do you come back? Huang recalled. However, since he didnt think the incident had anything to do with him, he didnt give it much thought. But when people reported him to the police, accusing him of the murder, the police listed him as a suspect.
In the following three years, Huang was arrested three times. In 1998, after he was arrested for the third time, Huang said he could no longer stand the torture and simply chose to confess to the crime.
The police gave me several blank papers and asked me to sign my name. Later, they wrote a confession on the papers and asked me to put my fingerprints on them, Huang recalled. He was sent to prison soon after.
During his stay in prison, Huangs family never gave up on appealing his case. In 2014, the case got a retrial and Huang was finally declared innocent. He received a compensation of over 1.6 million RMB. At that time, he was 42.
I am very grateful to my lawyer, Huang told a reporter after hearing the verdict.
Huang tried to recover his lost youth. With the compensation, he bought several pieces of gold jewelry. Soon, he found a girlfriend and built a new house.
I can forgive other people, but the ones who created the unjust case in the first place should be punished, Huang said. Only when I see those people being held accountable will I truly be able to move on.
Huang Jiaguang in happy tears after hearing that the court would acquit him on Sept.29, 2014. (Photo/Hinews.cn)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.25
By Leman Zeynalova Trend:
Azerbaijan and Croatia have much greater potential for cooperation, head of Croatian Chamber of Economy Luka Burilovic, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan with a business delegation, said in an exclusive interview with Trend and Azernews.
When we talk about the bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Croatia, it is important to say that even though Croatian companies are not unknown to this market and their Azerbaijani counterparts, our mutual cooperation is still small and below the potential level, he said.
One of the reasons why our bilateral trade does not correspond to its real potential could be seen in the lack of information of the business possibilities and conditions for doing business in both of our countries, said Burilovic. Thats why this visit of the Croatian business delegation to Azerbaijan is so important, to give the opportunity to our businesses to get to know each other, make contacts that will hopefully result in some concrete business deals.
He pointed out that economic development of every country can only be greater with political and institutional support.
Thats why we are very grateful to both presidents, Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev and Croatias President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic that this visit of the Croatian business delegation has occurred on the occasion of their official meeting at the highest level, added Burilovic.
I do hope that this visit will also result in an increase of Azerbaijani investments in Croatia, since they have not been significant so far, he said.
One of the goals of this visit is also to send the message to Azerbaijani businessmen and to potential Azerbaijani investors that Croatia is an attractive and favorable country for doing business, being a Central European, Mediterranean and EU member country, offering numerous opportunities for joint projects and guaranteeing stability and the safety of business activities and investments, according to Burilovic.
Further, he pointed out that some of Croatian companies have already established a successful cooperation with their Azerbaijani partners, especially in the field of ICT, shipbuilding, energy sector, food and pharmaceutical industry.
But the potential is much greater. Besides already mentioned sectors, the possibilities for cooperation exist in the field of infrastructure, electro, metal and chemical industry, sectors of energy, oil and gas, construction, tourism, just to name a few, he added.
There are many Croatian companies with an excellent track record on foreign markets that can participate in the modernization and construction of petrochemical plants, railway system, its electrification, signalization, as well as projects of construction of gas and oil networks, hydropower plants, according to Burilovic.
Even though Croatian companies have been oriented to known European and neighboring countries, they are ready and willing to go and do business on other, not so traditional markets like Azerbaijan, he added.
Regarding the investment and business climate, Croatia guarantees by law the same rights to foreign investors as it does to Croatian ones, said Burilovic.
By constantly improving the investment climate, and in addition to benefits provided by agreements for the avoidance of double taxation signed with over 50 countries, Croatia offers numerous incentives for business activities to investors, such as tax incentives, incentives for employment and education, and additional incentives for capital expenses and labor intensive investment projects, he said.
Burilovic pointed out that in its Doing Business 2016 report, the World Bank ranked Croatia 40th among 189 countries in the world.
As the president of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, a modern, professional institution representing more than 110,000 members, I can offer a full support to the Azerbaijani companies in every step they take to the Croatian market, he said. Our tradition lasting more than 164 years is a guarantee that we are a reliable partner to every foreign company wishing to do business in Croatia.
With numerous professional associations, 20 county chambers in Croatia and representative offices abroad, Croatian Chamber of Economy is a reliable source of information for all companies wishing to do business in Croatia being constantly at their disposal by providing business data, services and contacts, according to Burilovic.
We provide investors with all the necessary support before, during and after investing and doing business in Croatia, in dealing with necessary administrative and legal proceedings and in finding them a suitable business partner, he added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
Trend:
The projects of the teachers and students of Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC) won grant competition of the State Fund on the Development of Information Technologies under the Ministry of Communication and Higher Technologies.
The second year undergraduate student of the International School of Economics of UNEC Eshgin Jafarovs Misgar.az Project received a grant in the amount of 15,000 manat, the fourth year student of the School of Technology and Design Fegan Chelebizades TagWishes Project 14,000 manat, the Dean of the School of Business and Management Miragha Ahmadovs Use and Application of Web Resources in improving the Technology Transfer Mechanism Project 12,000 manat.
The TagWishes Project became the winner of the Business Idea Competition jointly held among the students by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Capital Bank OSC and UNEC and Innovative Business Incubator (IBI) and the Misgar.az Project became the finalist of the contest.
The aim of the Competition of Business Ideas Made in Azerbaijan is to support the application of the decree signed by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on January 18, 2016 about the stimulation of the export of non-oil products at the level of higher education institutions and to promote the interest in entrepreneurial activity among the students.
As a continuation of the business idea competition, the winners and finalists have joined the incubation program of the IBI.
A composite image from multibeam sonar scans of the German submarine wreck on the seafloor off the coast of southwest Scotland.
The wreck of a World War I German submarine has been discovered off the coast of Scotland by marine engineers surveying the route of an undersea power cable.
Researchers said they think the wreck is one of two German U-boats sunk by British patrol ships in the Irish Sea in 1918 including one that was supposedly attacked by a sea monster, according to an internet legend.
Marine archeologist and historian Innes McCartney, from Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom, said the submarine wreck was in reasonably good shape, considering it has spent almost 100 years on the seafloor at a depth of 340 feet (about 100 meters). [See Photos of the Submarine Wreck Discovered Off Coast of Scotland]
"When all the other wartime shipwrecks have crumbled down to nothing, the submarines will still be there, because they're made to withstand the [underwater] marine environment," McCartney told Live Science.
McCartney has studied video of the submarine wreck gathered by a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) and geophysical data gathered by instruments on the marine survey ship that located the wreck while charting the seafloor. The ship was helping to plan a route through the Irish Sea for an undersea power cable between southwest Scotland and northwest England.
The wreck was found at the location marked by a black spot during a survey of the route for an undersea power cable from southwest Scotland to northwest England. (Image credit: Scottish Power)
At least 12 British and German submarines are known to have sunk in the area during World War I, but McCartney has been able to identify the latest wreck as a German UB III-class submarine from its external dimensions and fittings.
"The UB III-class was one of the more successful U-boats that that the Germans experimented with during the First World War, to the extent that in many ways it is the design that became the legendary Type VII U-boat of World War II," McCartney said.
Sub wreck detective
McCartney pieced together another clue about the wreck's identity by studying images of the submarine's single deck gun, mounted forward of the conning tower the armored platform near the middle of the U-boat that was used as a lookout and control center when the submarine was on the surface
"The UB III-class had some modifications made to it at the end of 1917, the most important of which was that they up-gunned it from an 88-mm to a 105-mm gun," McCartney said. "For about six months, the U-boats had this gun, but then they realized they'd been losing some U-boats in accidents because the gun was so heavy, so they took it off and went back to the older 88."
Because the latest wreck has a 105-mm gun, McCartney has been able to narrow down the possibilities to two UB III submarines known to have sunk in the area in April 1918. Both submarines had made their way from Germany around the north of Scotland and into the Irish Sea to attack British shipping, according to McCartney.
"We knew where they were because they were chattering on the radio, and we had [radio] direction-finding stations around Britain that would have tracked their movements reasonably accurately," he said. "So that's why there were British patrol craft in the area, and that's why both of the submarines were caught on the surface recharging their batteries."
According to British war records, UB-82 was sunk by two British patrol boats on April 17, 1918, resulting in the loss of all 37 crewmembers on board the submarine. UB-85 was sunk on April 30, 1918, by the British patrol ship HMS Coreopsis, but all of that submarine's crewmembers were rescued before it sank. [Sunken Treasures: The Curious Science of 7 Famous Shipwrecks]
Sea monster tales
McCartney said any further efforts to identify the newfound submarine would probably need to wait until researchers find the wreck of the other UB III-class submarine known to have sunk in the area.
"It would be nice for the other one to show up, which it will do these things are being found so quickly these days," he said. "And then you've got the two, and it may be possible simply by looking at the damage compared to the combat reports from both instances and the positional analysis to be fairly certain."
If the latest wreck does turn out to be UB-85, it's a vessel that has already found its way into legend on the internet, at least.
McCartney explained that a story had circulated on the internet for several years that the captain and crew of UB-85 reported their submarine was attacked by a sea monster, which damaged the vessel and forced it to stay on the surface, where it was spotted by the HMS Coreopsis.
But McCartney's research has found no historic basis for the story, which first appeared online, without any provenance, around 2005. He noted that neither the captain of UB-85 nor any of the crew mentioned a sea monster when they were interrogated by British naval intelligence after their rescue.
The story of UB-85 and the sea monster "falls into a longer trend going back at least to the 1930s of these outlandish sea tales being appended to First World War German submarines," McCartney said. "I don't know why it is, but the first U-boat war just attracts these stories you get haunted submarines, like UB-65 which [supposedly] had a dead crewmember who haunted the boat, and then UB-28 another sea monster is supposed to have attacked that one.
McCartney also ruled out any connection between the fate of UB-85 and Scotland's most famous legendary water beast, Nessie the Loch Ness Monster. "But it's nice to think Nessie was doing her bit for the war effort," he said.
Original article on Live Science.
German ingenuity
(Image credit: Scottish Power)
The wreck of a World War I German submarine has been discovered off the coast of Scotland during a marine survey of a route for a new undersea power cable.
Sonar scans and video from an underwater drone revealed the wrecked U-boat lying nearly upright on the seafloor at a depth of 340 feet (104 meters), about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the port of Stranraer. [Read full story about the German U-boat discovery]
Intimating the future
(Image credit: Public Domain in US)
Marine archaeologist and historian Innes McCartney, from Bournemouth University, has identified the wreck as a German UB III-class submarine, similar to the UB-148 shown in this image.
Almost 100 UB III-class submarines, or U-boats, were built by Germany in 1917 and 1918.
The UB III submarines were one of the most successful U-boat designs of World War I, and influenced the design of the renowned Type VIII U-boat used by Germany in World War II.
Modern and historical meet
(Image credit: Scottish Power)
The submarine wreck was found in the Irish Sea between Scotland and Northern Ireland, at the location marked by a black spot on this map. The wreck was discovered during a marine survey of the route for an undersea power cable from southwest Scotland to northwest England.
Utility company Scottish Power, a partner in the undersea power link project, said the wreck lies many miles from the planned route and will not be disturbed by the cable construction.
Narrowing identity
(Image credit: Scottish Power)
By identifying the caliber of the deck gun on the wrecked U-boat, McCartney determined that it is one of two UB III submarines that were sunk in the area by British warships in April 1918: UB-82 and UB-85.
UB-82 sank with all 37 of its crew onboard, but the crew of UB-85 were rescued before it sank. [Read full story about the German U-boat discovery]
Caught in the act
(Image credit: Public Domain)
The two U-boats were among many ordered to attack shipping around the coast of Britain in 1918, but their radio messages from the surface could be tracked by British radio listening stations around the coast.
British patrols were dispatched to find them, and both submarines were caught recharging their batteries on the surface. The UB-82 was sunk on April 17, 1918, by two British patrol boats. The UB-85 was sunk on April 30, 1918, by the patrol ship HMS Coreopsis, shown here.
Attack at sea?
(Image credit: Public domain)
In recent years, UB-85 has become an internet celebrity, thanks to claims that the captain and crew reported after their rescue that their submarine had been attacked by a large sea monster, which had damaged the vessel and forced it to stay on the surface.
But, McCartney has found no historical basis for such an attack by a sea monster, and he noted that there is no mention of a sea monster in records of the interrogations of the U-boat captain and crew after their rescue.
Detailed view
(Image credit: Scottish Power)
McCartney said a final determination of the identity of the wreck will probably need to wait until the second UB III-class wreck is found in the area, which he hopes may happen eventually.
When the details of both wrecks are known, he said, it may be possible to compare the damage they have suffered in combat to the wartime records of the battle, and perhaps determine which of them is UB-82 and which is UB-85.
Serving the masses
(Image credit: Scottish Power)
When its completed, the undersea power cable will be one of the longest of its kind in the world, running for 240 miles (385 kilometers), from Ayrshire in Scotland to the Wirral peninsula in England.
The 1-billion-pound ($1.2 billion) project is being built to supply homes and businesses in Wales and England with electricity from renewable sources in Scotland, including offshore wind farms and tidal power generation plants. [Read full story about the German U-boat discovery]
A satellite-imaging startup wants to make global change transparent, by capturing every part of the planet every day and sharing those images with the world.
The company, known as Planet, is aiming to make global change visible, accessible, and actionable for everyone, Will Marshall, the startup's co-founder and CEO, said during an address to the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on Sept. 27, 2015. The company has deployed large fleets of small, inexpensive satellites designed solely to capture images of the planet.
"We miniaturized these little satellites, and we put them up [in space] in large fleets in order to image the planet, with their little cameras going around the Earth," Marshall said during a talk at the Bloomberg Technology Conference in June. "We've put up 133 of these satellites. It's the largest fleet of satellites doing Earth imaging in history, and the goal is to image every single point on the Earth's surface every day." [Earth from Above: 101 Stunning Images from Orbit]
The satellites are indeed miniaturized. During the Bloomberg talk, Marshall showed off one of the satellites, which was about the size of a loaf of bread. In comparison, Marshall said, most commercial satellites are about the size of a double-decker bus. Those large satellites are also expensive, and they typically target larger areas or focus on certain projects. Planets satellites currently capture about 9.8 feet (3 meters) of resolution per pixel, and can be refined to be so precise that they track every tree on the planet each day to monitor deforestation in real-time, Marshall said.
Planet's network of tiny satellites is currently photographing half of Earth's landmass every day. The company told Quartz that in September 2016 alone, the satellites imaged 91 percent of the planet's landmass.
Planet has already begun sharing its data with organizations such as Amnesty International, which used the company's imagery to track refugee camps in Syria. The Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project used Planet's images to locate illegal mining and deforestation in Peru. Planet's imagery is also being used to develop new technologies, such as Descartes Labs' project on machine-learning technology that is used to forecast land-use trends for farmers.
Recently, Planet signed an agreement with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the U.S. government's source of geospatial intelligence, the company announced on its blog last week.
"As the resurgence of commercial space continues, we're eager to help commercial companies, humanitarian organizations and organized governments around the world harness the power of space for the benefit of life down here on Earth," Jen Marcus, director of U.S. Government Strategic Partnerships for Planet, wrote in a blog post on the Planet website.
Original article on Live Science.
How did people first settle these tiny islands in the Pacific Ocean that are now together called Oceania? (Shown here, Palau, Micronesia.)
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
Just look at a map of Remote Oceania the region of the Pacific that contains Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa, French Polynesia and Micronesia and its hard not to wonder how people originally settled on these islands. Theyre mostly small and located many hundreds to thousands of kilometers away from any large landmass as well as from each other. As our species colonized just about every region of the planet, these islands seem to be the last places our distant ancestors reached.
A comprehensive body of archaeological, linguistic, anthropological and genetic evidence suggests that people started settling there about 3,400 years before present (BP). While we have a relatively clear picture of when many of the major island groups were colonized, there is still considerable debate as to precisely where these settlers originated and the strategies and trajectories they used as they voyaged.
In new experiments, my colleagues and I investigated how environmental variability and Oceanias geographical setting would have influenced the colonization process. We built computer seafaring simulations and analyzed wind, precipitation and land distribution data over this region of the Pacific. We wanted to understand how seasonal and climate variability in weather and currents might lead to some potential routes being favored over others. How would these factors, including the periodic El Nino and La Nina patterns, affect even the feasibility of different sailing strategies? Did they play a role in the puzzling 2,000-year pause we see in eastward expansion? Could they have provided incentives to migration?
Standing questions about Oceanias settlement
While the archaeological record contains no concrete information on the sailing capabilities of these early voyagers, their navigational prowess is undeniable. Settlement required trips across thousands of kilometers of open ocean toward very small targets. Traditional Pacific vessels such as double-hulled voyaging canoes and outrigger canoes would be able to make these potentially harrowing journeys, but at this point we have no way of knowing what kind of boat technology those early settlers used.
And colonization occurred in the opposite direction of mean winds and currents, which in this area of the Pacific flow on average from east to west. Scientists think the pioneers came from west to east, with western Melanesia and eastern Maritime Southeast Asia being the most likely source areas. But theres still considerable debate as to exactly where these settlers came from, where they traveled and how.
Among the many intriguing aspects of the colonization process is the fact that it occurred in two rapid bursts separated by an almost 2,000-year-long hiatus. Starting around 3,400 BP, the region between the source areas and the islands of Samoa and Tonga was mostly occupied over a period of about 300 years. Then there was a pause in expansion; regions farther to the east such as Hawaii, Rapa Nui and Tahiti were only colonized sometime between about 1,100 and 800 BP. New Zealand, to the west of Samoa and Tonga but located far to the south, was occupied during this second expansion period. What might have caused that millennia-long lag?
Simulating sailing conditions
The goal of our simulations was to take into account what we know about the real-world sailing conditions these intrepid settlers would have encountered at the time they were setting out. We know the general sailing performance of traditional Polynesian vessels how fast these boats move given a particular wind speed and direction. We ran the simulation using observed present-day wind and current data our assumption was that todays conditions would be very close to those from 3,000 years ago and offer a better representation of variability than paleoclimate models.
The simulations compute how far one of these boats would have traveled daily based on winds and currents. We simulated departures from several different areas and at different times of year.
First we considered what would happen if the boats were sailing downwind; the vessels have no specified destination and are allowed to sail only in the direction in which the wind is blowing. Then we ran directed sailing experiments; in these, the boats are still influenced by currents and winds, but are forced to move a minimum daily distance, no matter the environmental conditions, toward a predetermined target. We still dont know what type of vessels were used or how the sailors navigated; we just ran the model assuming they had some way to voyage against the wind, whether via sails or paddling.
One goal of our analysis was to describe how variations in winds and precipitation associated with the annual seasons and with the El Nino and La Nina weather patterns could have affected voyaging. We focused on conditions that would have favored or motivated movement from west to east, opposite to the mean winds, but in the general direction of the real migratory flow.
We also used land distribution data to determine shortest hop trajectories. These are the routes that would be formed if eastward displacement took place by a sequence of crossings in which each individual crossing always reaches the closest island to the east of the departure island.
What did the environmental data suggest?
After conducting thousands of voyaging simulations and calculating hundreds of shortest-hop trajectories, patterns started to emerge.
While the annually averaged winds in the region are to the west, there is significant variability, and eastward winds blow quite frequently in some seasons. The occurrence and intensity of these eastward winds increase during El Nino years. So downwind sailing, especially if conducted during particular times of the year (June-November in areas north of the equator and December-February in the Southern Hemisphere), can be an effective way to move eastward. It could be used to reach islands in the region of the first colonization pulse. Trips by downwind sailing become even more feasible under El Nino conditions.
Though many do believe early settlers were able to sail efficiently against the wind, our simulations suggest that even just following the winds and currents would be one way human beings conceivably could have traveled east in this area. (Moving eastward in the area east of Samoa does require sailing against the wind, though.)
Our shortest-hop analysis points to two gateway islands eastward expansion into large areas of Oceania would require passage through them. Movement into Micronesia would have to go through Yap. Expansion into eastern Polynesia would mean traveling through Samoa. This idea of gateway islands that would have to be colonized first opens new possibilities for understanding the process of settling Oceania.
As for that 2,000-year-long pause in migration, our simulation provided us with a few ideas about that, too. The area near Samoa is marked by an increase in distance between islands. And no matter what time of year, El Nino or not, you need to move against the wind to travel eastward around Samoa. So it makes sense that the pause in the colonization process was related to the development of technological advances that would allow more efficient against-the-wind sailing.
And finally, we think our analysis suggests some incentives to migration, too. In addition to changes to wind patterns that facilitate movement to the east, the El Nino weather pattern also causes drier conditions over western portions of Micronesia and Polynesia every two to seven years. Its possible to imagine El Nino leading to tougher conditions, such as crop-damaging drought. El Nino weather could simultaneously have provided a reason to want to strike out for greener pastures and a means for eastward exploration and colonization. On the flip side, changes in winds and precipitation associated with La Nina could have encouraged migration to Hawaii and New Zealand.
Overall, our results lend weight to various existing theories. El Nino and La Nina have been proposed as potential migration influences before, but weve provided a much more detailed view in both space and time of how this could have taken place. Our simulations strengthen the case for a lack of technology being the cause for the pause in migration, and downwind sailing as a viable strategy for the first colonization pulse 3,400 BP.
In the future, we hope to create new models turning to time-series of environmental data instead of the statistical descriptions we used this time to see if they produce similar results. We also want to develop experiments that would evaluate sailing strategies not in the context of discovery and colonization but of exchange networks. Are the islands along easier pathways between distant points also places where the archaeology shows a diverse set of artifacts from different regions? Theres still plenty to figure out about how people originally undertook these amazing voyages of exploration and expansion.
Alvaro Montenegro, Assistant Professor of Geography and Director Atmospheric Sciences Program, The Ohio State University
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
Trend:
Croatia supports Azerbaijans territorial integrity and considers that the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved peacefully, said Croatias President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic making joint statements for media with her Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Baku Oct. 24.
Common interests of Azerbaijan and Croatia cover a lot of issues, including regional and global security issues, said Grabar-Kitarovic.
Of course, there are such issues, which touch upon joint cooperation in the context of the European Union, NATO, the UN and other organizations, she noted adding that Croatias position in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is quite clear.
She said also that Croatia supports Azerbaijans territorial integrity and considers that the conflict should be resolved by peaceful and political ways.
Croatia also fully supports the Minsk Group process, noted the Croatian president.
With regard to Azerbaijans relations with the European Union, the signing and implementation of the EU-Azerbaijan strategic partnership agreement, Grabar-Kitarovic said that Azerbaijan has a friend like Croatia, which will always support it.
The Croatian president believes that in a period of increasing new challenges in connection with security and simultaneously, the emergence of new opportunities for cooperation in the economic, energy and other fields, as well as in the fields of culture, cultural heritage, mutual understanding between nations and religions, the importance of this agreement will even more increase in order to maintain global security prospects at an acceptable level.
Heavy drinking can lead to brain changes that cause a person to crave more alcohol, research has shown.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
About 17 million adults and more than 850,000 adolescents had some problems with alcohol in the United States in 2012. Long-term alcohol misuse could harm your liver, stomach, cardiovascular system and bones, as well as your brain.
Chronic heavy alcohol drinking can lead to a problem that we scientists call alcohol use disorder, which most people call alcohol abuse or alcoholism. Whatever name you use, it is a severe issue that affects millions of people and their families and causes economic burdens to our society.
Quitting alcohol, like quitting any drug, is hard to do. One reason may be that heavy drinking can actually change the brain.
Our research team at Texas A&M University Health Science Center has found that alcohol changes the way information is processed through specific types of neurons in the brain, encouraging the brain to crave more alcohol. Over time, the more you drink, the more striking the change.
In recent research we identified a way to mitigate these changes and reduce the desire to drink using a genetically engineered virus.
Alcohol changes your brain
Alcohol use disorders include alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence, and can be thought of as an addiction. Addiction is a chronic brain disease. It causes abnormalities in the connections between neurons.
Heavy alcohol use can cause changes in a region of the brain, called the striatum. This part of the brain processes all sensory information (what we see and what we hear, for instance), and sends out orders to control motivational or motor behavior.
The striatum, which is located in the forebrain, is a major target for addictive drugs and alcohol. Drug and alcohol intake can profoundly increase the level of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and motivation, in the striatum.
The neurons in the striatum have higher densities of dopamine receptors as compared to neurons in other parts of the brain. As a result, striatal neurons are more susceptible to changes in dopamine levels.
There are two main types of neurons in the striatum: D1 and D2. While both receive sensory information from other parts of the brain, they have nearly opposite functions.
D1-neurons control "go" actions, which encourage behavior. D2-neurons, on the other hand, control "no-go" actions, which inhibit behavior. Think of D1-neurons like a green traffic light and D2-neurons like a red traffic light.
Dopamine affects these neurons in different ways. It promotes D1-neuron activity, turning the green light on, and suppresses D2-neuron function, turning the red light off. As a result, dopamine promotes "go" and inhibits "no-go" actions on reward behavior.
Alcohol, especially excessive amounts, can hijack this reward system because it increases dopamine levels in the striatum. As a result, your green traffic light is constantly switched on, and the red traffic light doesnt light up to tell you to stop. This is why heavy alcohol use pushes you to drink to excess more and more.
These brain changes last a very long time. But can they be mitigated? Thats what we want to find out.
Can we mitigate these changes?
We started by presenting mice with two bottles, one containing water and the other containing 20 percent alcohol by volume, mixed with drinking water. The bottle containing alcohol was available every other day, and the mice could freely decide which to drink from. Gradually, most of animals developed a drinking habit.
We then used a process called viral mediated gene transfer to manipulate the "go" or "no-go" neurons in mice that had developed a drinking habit.
Mice were infected with a genetically engineered virus that delivers a gene into the "go" or "no-go" neurons. That gene then drives the neurons to express a specific protein.
After the protein is expressed, we injected the mice with a chemical that recognizes and binds to it. This binding can inhibit or promote activity in these neurons, letting us turn the green light off (by inhibiting "go" neurons) or turn the red light (by exciting "no-go" neurons) back on.
Then we measured how much alcohol the mice were consuming after being "infected," and compared it with what they were drinking before.
We found that either inhibiting the "go" neurons or turning on the "no-go" neurons successfully reduced alcohol drinking levels and preference for alcohol in the "alcoholic" mice.
In another experiment in this study, we found that directly delivering a drug that excites the "no-go" neuron into the striatum can also reduce alcohol consumption. Conversely, in a previous experiment we found that directly delivering a drug that inhibits the "go" neuron has the same effect. Both results may help the development of clinical treatment for alcoholism.
What does this mean for treatment?
Most people with an alcohol use disorder can benefit from treatment, which can include a combination of medication, counseling and support groups. Although medications, such as Naltrexone, to help people stop drinking can be effective, none of them can accurately target the specific neurons or circuits that are responsible for alcohol consumption.
Employing viruses to deliver specific genes into neurons has been for disorders such as Parkinsons disease in humans. But while weve demonstrated that this process can reduce the desire to drink in mice, were not yet at the point of using the same method in humans.
Our finding provides insight for clinical treatment in humans in the future, but using a virus to treat alcoholism in humans is probably still a long way off.
Yifeng Cheng, Ph.D. Candidate, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Texas A&M University and Jun Wang, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Texas A&M Health Science Center , Texas A&M University
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
The current night sky is dominated by the white glow of myriad middle-aged stars along the lane of the Milky Way. Interstellar "pollution" from thick dust lanes can be seen threading through the long band of stars. They are interspersed with a few pinkish emission nebulae from ongoing star formation. Thousands of stars appear as pinpoints of light throughout the sky.
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 12:20 p.m. E.S.T. on Thursday, May 24, 2018
The night sky is littered with twinkling lights, evidence that we are just one small planet circling one tiny star in a vast universe.
Though humans have named a few constellations of stars, from Orion to the Big Dipper, in reality, there are many more stars in the universe than could ever be given names.
Just how many is not exactly clear, but it's a lot. A whole lot.
Galaxy quest
One way to get at this number is to figure out the average number of stars in a typical galaxy and multiply that by the estimated number of galaxies in the universe.
Deep-field images from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest there are 10 times more galaxies in the universe than scientists previously thought, with about 2 trillion galaxies in total, according to a study published in October 2016 in the journal Science by Christopher Conselice, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Nottingham in the U.K., and his colleagues. [Video: Our Universe Has Trillions of Galaxies]
About 100 million (or 10 to the eighth power) stars inhabit the average galaxy, according to one of the best estimates, Conselice wrote in an email to Live Science.
But getting to that number was not just a matter of aiming a telescope at the sky and counting up all the twinkly bits. Only the most luminous stars in a galaxy shine brightly enough to be detected by a telescope. In 2008, for instance, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (which maps all observable celestial objectsin one third of the sky), detected about 48 million stars, or just half of the number estimated to exist, according to a 2008 study in the Astrophysical Journal. A star as bright as our own sun in the neighboring Andromeda galaxy would not even be detected by traditional telescopes such as those used by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Space.com reported.
Instead, most people estimate the number of stars in a galaxy based on galactic mass. Because the universe is expanding and galaxies are moving farther apart, the light from other galaxies is, on average, slightly "red-shifted," meaning its wavelength is stretched. But because galaxies are rotating, some parts of the galaxies are actually moving closer to Earth, which means some of the light is "blue-shifted," according to Space.com. By using these light-based measurements, astronomers can make a rough estimate of how fast the galaxy is rotating, which in turn reveals its mass.
From there, scientists have to filter out all the dark matter, or matter that exerts a gravitational pull but reflects no light.
"In a typical galaxy, if you measure its mass by looking at the rotation curve, about 90 percent of that is dark matter," David Kornreich, an assistant professor at Ithaca College in New York, previously told Space.com.
Multiplying the number of galaxies which is about 2 trillion by the 100 million stars in the galaxy suggests there could be about 10 raised to the 20th power stars in the universe, Conselice said.
"But this could easily be a factor of 10 higher," Conselice said.
Jeanna Bryner contributed reporting to this article.
Editor's Note: This story was updated to correct the scientific notation for the number of stars in the galaxy. 100 million is 10 to the eighth power, not 10 to the seventh power. The total number of stars in the universe is therefore 10 to the 20th power, not 10 to the 19th power.
Original article on Live Science.
Visits to the emergency room for alcohol intoxication in the United States have increased by more than 50 percent over the past decade, a new study finds.
What's more, ER visits tied to alcohol are taking up an increasing portion of hospital resources, and are requiring longer hospital stays than in the past, the researchers said.
"These visits place a strain on the U.S. emergency care system and represent a public health problem," the researchers, from The George Washington University's Center for Healthcare Innovation and Policy Research, wrote in the Oct. 7 issue of the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism. There is a need for more attention to efforts to identify and reduce problematic drinking, which could also help to reduce alcohol-related ER visits, they said. [7 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health]
In the study, the researchers analyzed information from a national survey of U.S. hospitals, called the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, which includes information about ER visits. They looked at ER visits in which the patient received a diagnosis of alcohol intoxication or alcohol abuse. In addition, patients were included in the study if the reason for their ER visit was listed as "alcohol-related problems," "adverse effects of alcohol," "alcoholism" or "alcohol detoxification." Such visits could include cases in which a patient was injured because he or she was intoxicated.
From 2010 to 2011, there were an estimated 3.8 million ER visits related to alcohol intoxication. That's up from about 2.4 million visits in the years 2001 to 2002, the study found.
The total number of hours that patients spent in the ER for alcohol-related visits more than doubled during the study period, the research found. As a proportion of total ER hours spent caring for all patients, alcohol-related visits made up 3 percent in 2011, up from 2.2 percent in 2001, the researchers said.
The researchers also found that the use of CT scans or MRI machines for alcohol-related ER visits increased during the study period. During the years 2001 to 2002, 11.5 percent of alcohol-related ER visits used CT/MRI scans, but in 2010 to 2011, that increased to 38.2 percent.
Such scans may be used to check for head injuries in patients with alcohol intoxication, the researchers said, but there is a concern that these scans which can be expensive and time-consuming are being overused. A recent study found that the percentage of CT scans that actually lead to a diagnosis are declining, meaning that doctors are using CT scans more often but aren't detecting more health problems. There is also a concern that exposure to radiation from CT scans can increase the risk of cancer.
The overall length of a stay for alcohol-related ER visits increased by 16 percent, from about 5 hours in 2001 to 2002 to 5.8 hours in 2010 to 2011. This rise is likely due to an increase in the intensity of care that patients with alcohol intoxication received in the ER, said study co-author Peter Mullins, a medical student and public health researcher at The George Washington University.
Factors such as increased use of CT/MRI scans, and IV (intravenous) fluids (which also saw a rise during the study period) can contribute to longer stays in the ER, Mullins said. It's also common for doctors to allow patients to metabolize the alcohol and show they are sober before being discharged, which can also require a significant amount of time in some cases, he said.
Still, "given the number of hours these patients spend in the [emergency department], these visits represent an opportunity for intervention on the part of emergency providers," the researchers wrote.
One tool to reduce problem drinking is called the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) tool, in which a health care provider assesses a patient for risky substance use, engages him or her in a short conversation and provides a referral for patients who need additional treatment.
But this tool is used mostly in primary care offices, rather than the ER. Efforts to improve the effectiveness of the SBIRT tool, and to figure out the best approach for using it in the ER, "are likely to result in a cost-effective intervention," the researchers said.
Other interventions, such as follow-up phone calls to patients after they leave the ER, could help reinforce the counseling they received in the ER and promote follow-up treatment, the researchers said.
The reason for the rise in alcohol-related ER visits is not known. The findings are "particularly striking," given that previous research has found a decrease in binge-drinking behavior in the United States during the same time period, Mullins said. Future research could study more specifically why these patients are ending up in the ER, he said.
Original article on Live Science.
Astronauts may have no trouble moving heavy objects in the weightlessness of space, but that doesn't mean that the experience isn't hard on their backs. Astronauts on long-duration spaceflights routinely report back pain, both during and after the flight. Now doctors think they know what's causing this.
In a new study, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to observe the spines of six NASA astronauts before they landed, at the time of landing and about two months after they had spent upward of seven months on the International Space Station. The researchers found that the prolonged exposure to weightlessness weakened the muscles supporting the astronauts' spines.
The discovery runs counter to the theory that the astronauts' back pain is caused by the swelling of their spinal disks, the shock-absorbing cushions between the vertebrae, the researchers said. The findings, which were published today (Oct. 25) in the journal Spine, suggest that special back-strengthening exercises, including yoga, could help astronauts minimize or avoid back pain, the researchers said. [The Best Back Exercises for Preventing Injury and Reducing Pain]
Astronauts face numerous health hazards in space, from cosmic radiation to the effects of weightlessness on just about every bodily function. NASA and its partners have used the International Space Station as a laboratory to study the health of astronauts, who may live on the ISS for months at a time. NASA said that understanding the health risks of being in space is crucial to the agency's efforts to protect astronauts during far-longer forays into the solar system, such as a three-year mission to Mars.
Previous studies have found that more than half of U.S. astronauts report back pain during their mission. Upward of a quarter of those astronauts describe the pain as moderate to severe, and the majority said that the pain is in the lower back. Studies have also shown that astronauts have a 4.3-time higher risk of a herniated disk, compared to military aviators and the general population.
This pain had been attributed to swelling of the intervertebral disks, which are pads of fibrous tissue that lie between the vertebrae in the spine. After all, the human body is about 60 percent water, and those water molecules will float off in all directions without the constraint of gravity. Weightlessness causes swelling in other parts of the body, from the feet to the eyes.
However, the MRI scans of the six astronauts revealed no disk swelling. What was apparent, though, was a nearly 20 percent loss of mass in the paraspinal muscles, which help support and prevent misalignment of the spine and enable twisting movements.
"These findings run counter to the current scientific thinking about the effects of microgravity on disk swelling," said Dr. Douglas Chang, chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation service at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and first author of the study.
Chang said that core-strengthening exercises, such as those recommended for "regular" patients with back pain, might be a useful addition to the astronaut exercise training program while they are in space. He also said that yoga might be a promising approach, especially for addressing spinal stiffness and reduced mobility. [7 Everyday Things that Happen Strangely In Space]
The astronauts in the study regained some of their paraspinal muscle mass after they were back on Earth for several months, the study found.
Astronauts can grow 2 to 3 inches taller during long spaceflights, and the reason remains a mystery, Chang told Live Science.
"Given the fact we observe no disk height [or swelling] change, we speculate the change is due to loss of normal spinal curvature in an unloaded environment," he said. In other words, it could be that weightlessness allows the components of the spine to relax and float slightly apart without gravity squishing them together, Chang said. [The Human Body in Space: 6 Weird Facts]
Astronauts slowly lose the height they gained in space once they're back on Earth, but on a journey to Mars, the spine lengthening has implications for the design of spacesuits, seats and compartments, Chang said.
"Further studies will be needed to clarify the effects on disk height and determine whether they contribute to the increase in body height during space missions and to the increased risk of herniated disks," Chang said. "However, it's information like this that could provide helpful information needed to support longer space missions, such as a manned mission to Mars."
Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
Trend:
Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 18 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, said Azerbaijans Defense Ministry Oct. 25.
Armenian army was using large-caliber machine guns.
The Azerbaijani army position located in the Gushchu Ayrim and Gaymagli villages of the Gazakh district were shelled by the Armenian army positions located in the Voskevan, Barekamavan villages of Armenias Noyemberyan district.
The Azerbaijani army positions also took fire from the Armenian positions located near the Chilaburt village of Azerbaijans Tartar district, Shikhlar village of the Aghdam district, Horadiz, Ashagi Seyidahmadli villages of Fuzuli district, as well as from the positions located on the nameless heights of the Goranboy and Jabrayil districts.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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Over 600 Senior Citizens Took Advantage of Free Health Services & Resources at 2016 Golden Gathering Senior Health Fair
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: October 25 2016
More than 600 seniors citizens turned out for Senator Todd Kaminskys 2016 Golden Gathering health fair.
Residents also had a chance to meet Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul who joined the Senator at the event.
Rockville Centre, NY - October 21, 2016 - More than 600 seniors citizens turned out for Senator Todd Kaminskys 2016 Golden Gathering, a health fair that offered free flu vaccinations, blood pressure screenings, and seniors ID cards, among a variety of other helpful resources from local community organizations. Residents also had a chance to meet Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul who joined the Senator at the event.
Ensuring that senior citizens have access to health and community services is essential,
said Senator Kaminsky. Today, we did just that and more. I certainly hope residents have walked away with information and resources that will keep them healthy and improve their quality of life. Id like to thank everyone who helped make todays event possible, and Lieutenant Governor Hochul for joining us.
"Governor Cuomo and I are committed to making sure that the more than 3 million seniors in the State of New York are able to live independently and find support when they need assistance," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. "I commend Senator Kaminsky for hosting today's event and bringing essential services directly to Long Island seniors."
Our seniors play a significant role in our community and ensuring that they have the resources available locally to help them age better is critical, commented Mayor Francis X. Murray. I encourage our senior citizens and their families to take advantage of this free program to access health care and medical services to help them stay healthy.
Senator Kaminsky extends his thanks to all of the local organizations and business that graciously donated their time and resources to make this such a successful event.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Ilhama Isabalayeva Trend:
A delegation led by Baroness Emma Nicholson, the UK special trade envoy for Azerbaijan, Iraq and Turkmenistan, will visit Azerbaijan in late 2016, the UK Ambassador to Azerbaijan Carole Crofts told reporters Oct. 25.
Crofts said that the delegation will include representatives of about 20 English companies.
She also noted that the second session of the Azerbaijan-UK intergovernmental commission will be held in 2017 in Azerbaijan.
The ambassador recalled that the first session was held in 2016 in London.
The UK closely cooperates with the Azerbaijani government, various meetings are organized, added Crofts.
Family & Parenting, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Hot Spots & Night Life, Seasonal & Current Events
By Chris Boyle Published: October 25 2016
Old Westbury non-profit hosts frighteningly fun haunted house fundraiser for third year running.
No matter how long youve been attending and reviewing haunted houses, every now and again one comes along and really takes you by surprise. The HorseAbility Haunted Hay Barn is easily one such attraction, Im happy to report.
If HorseAbility may sound like an odd title for a haunted attraction, perhaps some explanation is in order- HorseAbility is a center for equine facilitated programs located on the grounds of SUNY Old Westbury. They work with children and adults with special needs and they offer programs with horses from therapeutic riding to hippotherapy to a summer day camp; they also have dementia care programs and work extensively with veterans.
This year represents the third Halloween in a row that HorseAbility has held their Haunted Hay Barn attraction in their facility at SUNY Old Westbury, working in collaboration with former members of the staff of the famed Bayville Haunted Firehouse, which unfortunately closed after suffering catastrophic damage at the hands of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Jamie Thomas-Martin, director of operations for HorseAbility and co-chair for the Haunted Hay Barn, said that the idea for the not-for-profit to hold their own haunted attraction came to her one day while walking with her co-chair Rae Natale - who had previously been involved with the Bayville Haunted Firehouse - through the HorseAbilitys striking hundred-year-old stables.
I was walking through our horse stables one day and I asked her what she would think about doing something here, she said. Since Bayville would always donate some of their proceeds to HorseAbility, I asked Rae if she thought that any of the people from there would want to work here. It turned into the two of us, a handful of people from Bayville who helped with the audio/visual and makeup, and many volunteers.
One hundred percent of the proceeds raised by HorseAbilitys Haunted Hay Barn go back into the program the upkeep of their facilities, so going there is not only a great thing to do for a good scare, but it serves a good cause as well.
Given the huge leg-up that HorseAbility has over many other haunted houses on Long Island namely, already having an authentically creepy setting to stage a haunted house within - Thomas-Martin noted that they had to do for surprisingly little in order to get it in shape in time for Halloween.
We put up some walls and we have a handful of animatronic props, but for the most part anything built into the sets is handmade and handcrafted, she said. We do our best to make it special and unique, especially since there are so many haunts on Long Islandwe wanted to find a way to set ourselves apart and we are really proud of our set design. Plus, the setting is creepy as anything and our actors - again everyone is a volunteer - are so passionate and committed to what they do.
HorseAbility consists of 19 separate rooms, ending in a small carnival area with a photo booth, concession stand, and games of chance that award fun and spooky little prizes for participants.
Now, I'm a veteran horror fan, and I've seen my share of haunts. At this point, it's hard for me to come away greatly impressed from just about any run-of-the-mill attraction, and that's where HorseAbility really surprised me. First of all, the setting is fantastic; it reminded me of the advantages that places such as Old Bethpage Village Restoration and Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia have over the competition in the haunted house scene. These are all very authentic, old, and naturally creepy buildings to begin with, well before they're ever filled with actors, lights, mist, and props.
HorseAbilitys century-old stables, once filled with the aforementioned components, creates a truly frightening and unique take on the haunted house theme. The types of rooms involved visit of wide variety of Halloween tropes, including clowns, zombies, and takes on popular horror movie characters; in addition, there are some more some more uncommon and imaginative rooms/creatures as well. All the actors involved are made up convincingly and seem to take their parts very seriously, providing great immersion for attendees.
As for the value - and this may be the first time Ive ever said this - but I personally think HorseAbility could actually get away with charging MORE than their current fee of $13 and it would still be considered a bargain. The length of the haunt is exceptional, and you're not rushed or hurried through it all.
The host, if you will, makes sure that there's enough space in between groups that you can afford to dwell on the horrors within...if you dare. Many of the rooms offer some degree of interactivity and there are truly some innovative ideas going on inside.
A word of warning... HorseAbility itself can be slightly difficult to find on the darkened, nighttime SUNY Old Westbury campus. Just look for the big signs and the arrows pointing you to the Campus Center, where attendees can park their car and take a shuttle over to the HorseAbility location nearby.
It's an incredibly professional set-up and the with the proceeds supporting a wonderful not-for-profit organization, I quite honestly can't recommend HorseAbility Haunted Hay Barn enough for anyone seeking a truly quality haunt in what's becoming a rather crowded Halloween scene on Long Island. I look forward to seeing what they have in store in the future!
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: October 25 2016
The Long Island Commission for Aquifer Protection (LICAP) held its third and final public hearing in Riverhead on Thursday, October 20.
Riverhead, NY - October 24, 2016 - The Long Island Commission for Aquifer Protection (LICAP) held its third and final public hearing in Riverhead on Thursday, October 20 to solicit public comment on the Commissions draft State of the Aquifer report, a comprehensive analysis of both quality and quantity issues impacting Long Islands groundwater.
LICAP will continue to accept written comments on the report through Thursday, November 3.
Comments or questions about the document can be sent via email or mailed to LICAP at 4060 Sunrise Highway, Oakdale, NY 11769.
Residents, civic organizations, environmental groups and elected officials from both Nassau and Suffolk Counties were given the opportunity to address the Commission and discuss the contents of the first-of- its-kind document. The initial hearing took place in Smithtown on October 13, followed by a meeting in Mineola on October 17, before concluding in Riverhead on Thursday.
We feel weve provided a thorough document that will pave the way for the protection of our most precious natural resource, our aquifer system, said LICAP Vice-Chairman Stan Carey.
The tremendous input weve received from the public at the hearings should only serve to strengthen the report.
Were very grateful to the public for taking the time to come to the hearings and let us know their thoughts on the report and the health of the aquifer system that provides all of our drinking water, said Suffolk County Water Authority Chief Executive Officer and former LICAP Chairman Jeffrey W. Szabo. The best strategy to ensure the protection of our aquifer system is increased collaboration between water quality professionals and the general public, and these hearings were certainly a great step toward furthering that goal.
The State of the Aquifer report is a comprehensive analysis of the current state of Long Islands sole source aquifer, including quality and quantity conditions and topics such as land use impacts, source water protection, testing and regulation, as well as reader-friendly information about the formation of the aquifer and how the aquifer system functions.
The report, which will be updated annually, is available at liaquifercommission.com.
Steve Colabufo, Water Resources Manager at the Suffolk County Water Authority and the State of the Aquifer reports chief editor, provided an overview of the report at each hearing prior to public comment.
This is an excellent, up-to-date snapshot of our groundwater recourses. All the professionals who contributed to this effort are to be commended, said Dr. Henry Bokuniewicz, director of the Long Island Groundwater Research Institute at Stony Brook University. The report is welcomed and long overdue.
New York State Assembly Members Joseph Saladino and Michelle Schimel and Suffolk County Legislators Sarah Anker and Al Krupski were among those who testified during the public hearings, providing comment to the commission.
A final version of the report is scheduled to be released this December.
The Long Island Commission for Aquifer Protection is a bi-county entity formed to address both quality and quantity issues facing Long Islands aquifer system and to advocate for a coordinated, regional approach to groundwater resources management. It was created in 2013 with unanimous support from the Nassau and Suffolk Legislatures.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: October 25 2016
Over 50 volunteers gathered at the Long Island Portuguese Club in Brentwood to pack over 8000 meals that would be delivered to several shelters.
Brentwood, NY - October 24, 2016 - On Saturday, October 15th, Pronto of Long Island, Inc. (Pronto), a not-for-profit, Community Outreach Center serving the most vulnerable children and families living in Brentwood, Bay Shore, Central Islip and neighboring communities, and the Brentwood Rotary Club hosted a Feeding the Hungry Meal Packaging Event.
Over 50 volunteers gathered at the Long Island Portuguese Club in Brentwood to pack over 8000 meals that would be delivered to several shelters. The packages contained easily prepared meals for those without access to formal cooking facilities.
At Pronto were always trying to find different ways of helping the community, said Kathy Bennett, President, Pronto. Im proud of everyone who joined with us Saturday and hope that we can continue to grow our outreach efforts, she continued.
Pronto of Long Island, Inc.
Pronto of Long Island, Inc. is an outreach center whose mission is to feed the hungry, clothe the needy, welcome the stranger, and provide healing and hope to everyone who walks through their doors. Pronto opened in 1969 from the vision of a group of committed lay people and clergy at St. Annes Roman Catholic Church. Since then, it has gone through several reincarnations resulting in unique partnerships with Catholic Charities, food distributors and local markets, as well as health, welfare, benefit and educational providers. Partnering with the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce and volunteers, Pronto will expand their outreach to a greater population and assist those whose may not have access to formal cooking facilities. Pronto has been able to flourish based on contributions of clothing, furniture, household items and monetary donations. As always, this vision is fueled by prayer and the hard work of committed volunteers, and with these two powerful elements, Pronto cannot help but succeed. Pronto is a nonprofit partner of the United Way of Long Island.
Pronto of Long Island, Inc. is a member of the Family of FREE Network, which collaborates with a variety of diverse 501(c)(3) nonprofit partners on educational, vocational, rehabilitative and a myriad of other creative initiatives to enhance the local communities and the lives of more than 25,000 people that reside within them. Each of the valued partners of the Family of FREE Network have a unique mission, vision and strategic goals that are aligned in purpose, and embody the spirit of the meaningful work we do every day.
Family & Parenting, School & Education, Local News, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: October 25 2016
Matt Varvaro, candidate for New York State Assembly in the 16th District, released his plan to reform our public education system.
Port Washington, NY - October 24, 2016 - Matt Varvaro, candidate for New York State Assembly in the 16th District, today released his plan to reform our public education system.
Having attended Port Washington public schools K-through-12, I know how exceptional our school system is, Varvaro said. However, given the quality of parents, students, and teachers in our community, our goal should be to make Long Island schools the best in the world.
Varvaro continued, We live in a 21st-century information economy that puts a premium on skills, knowledge, and creativity. Our state needs to bring our public education system into the 21st century to ensure that our students are getting the high-quality education that they deserve.
When Matt gets to Albany, he will work to improve the quality of education by:
Reforming Common Core. The rollout of Common Core was nothing short of atrocious. Our federal and state governments did a very poor job communicating to our teachers, parents, and students exactly what was being expected of them under these new standards. While we should maintain high educational standards, we need to reform Common Core by making its rollout slower and more manageable, releasing all of the previous years test questions, and increasing the amount of input from teachers to ensure that test questions are age-appropriate.
Promoting technology in the classroom. Technological innovation has revolutionized virtually every industry in this country. Its time to bring those revolutions to our public education system. In this day and age, students process information by interacting with technology, like iPhones, iPads, and computers. While teachers will and should always be the center of the learning process, technology can be an extremely valuable tool in helping students learn. New York should invest in technology in the classroom to help our education system catch up to other industries that have benefited from innovation.
Enacting common-sense tenure and compensation reform. Our district has an excellent school system, and the overwhelming majority of our teachers are great at what they do. In fact, we should identify those great teachers, reward them with better compensation, and hold them up as examples for others to follow. For that small group of teachers who arent getting the job done, we should give them the training and support that they need to improveand, if the results dont improve over a substantial period of time, our schools should be able to replace them with excellent teachers. If students are going to get the outstanding education that they need and deserve, school districts need the flexibility to put the best and most qualified teachers in the classroom at all times.
Stopping the raid of Long Island school funds. Too often, the state uses Long Island schools as a piggybank to fund other programs in other parts of the state. Long Islanders hard-earned tax dollars should stay on Long Island and be used to educate our students.
Making college more affordable. The cost of college has risen very rapidly because the value of a college education is higher than its ever been. In our information economy, college graduates make about twice as much as non-college-graduates. Given the value of a college education, we should do everything we can to ease the financial burden of this important investment. For example, we should transition to income-based loan repayments, so that your loan obligations are proportional to the income you earn. We should also promote more competition in our higher education system by increasing transparency in our colleges and universities, and by expanding access to online educational opportunities.
Varvaro is the only candidate in this Assembly race discussing the issues. He previously laid out detailed plans to reform ethics and grow New York's economy, and will be releasing his proposals on other important issues in the weeks ahead.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: October 25 2016
The Missing Persons Squad is investigating a High Risk Missing male that was last seen on Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 1:00 am in Baldwin.
Brandon Clarke, 18, of Baldwin, is missing. Detectives request anyone with information regarding this missing person to contact Missing Persons Squad at 516-573-7347 or call 911. All callers will remain anonymous.
Update - October 25, 2016 - The listed missing person has been located.
The original alert is below.
Baldwin, NY - October 25, 2016 - The Missing Persons Squad is investigating a High Risk Missing male that was last seen on Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 1:00 am in Baldwin.
According to detectives, Brandon Clarke, 18, is described as a African American autistic male, 6 tall, 200 lbs., dark skinned. He was last seen wearing white sneakers, a black hooded sweatshirt and a dark camouflage jacket.
Detectives request anyone with information regarding this missing person to contact Missing Persons Squad at 516-573-7347 or call 911. All callers will remain anonymous.
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
Student delegation from Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (National Research University) paid a visit to Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS). The visit of 10 persons of Gubkin University SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Student Chapter was initiated by Fahmin Husuzadeh, BHOS student and a member of BHOS SPE Student Chapter, and was arranged with support provided by the Higher School and SPEs Azerbaijani branch.
The Gubkin University students visit to Baku was officially launched at a meeting at BHOS led by Prof. Rena Mustafayeva, Head of BHOS Postgraduate Education Department. They also met with BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov, who provided detailed information about study opportunities and learning process at the Baku Higher Oil School. He invited the guests to visit BHOS new campus.
The Gubkin University students also met with SOCARs President Rovnag Abdullayev and SOCARs Vice President for Field Development Yashar Latifov, a graduate from the Gubkin University. They also had a meeting at the Institute of Petrochemical processes.
During their visit, the students went on a tour of the Sangachal terminal and attended a technical presentation session at BP-Azerbaijan office. A series of Baku tours were also arranged including excursions to Icheri Sheher (Inner City), Maiden Tower and National Flag Square. In the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan, the Gubkin University students learned about Azerbaijani history, culture, arts and literature as well as about oil and gas industry development in the country. Having visited the Akhundov national Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, they watched Seven Beauties Azerbaijani ballet. In addition, at the invitation of BHOS rector Elmar Gasimov the Gubkin University students visited the new campus of the Baku Higher Oil School.
Bakcell, The First Mobile Operator and the Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan, and Unibank, one of the leading retail banks in Azerbaijan, are pleased to announce the additional advantages of the new co-branded nameless debit card ALBUKART. Within the frames of this campaign, any person (18 years of age or older) who purchases ALBUKART will be able to enjoy the following benefits:
Connecting to SMS-banking service free of charge
Cash-out commission fee of only 1%
50 free minutes from Bakcell for on-net calls to the number attached to the card upon the first purchase
30 free minutes from Bakcell for on-net calls for every 5 AZN topped-up by means of ALBUKART to the balance of Bakcell number attached to the card
A wide range of additional services provided by the card, as well as up to 6% annual deposit interest on amounts placed on the card by personalizing the card in any of the branches of Unibank
20% cashback
The ALBUKART nameless debit card is a revolutionary and the first debit card in the market that allows you to benefit from various financial transactions anonymously even without opening a bank account. This card will relieve you from the burden of paying in cash in all points of sale in any country of the world that accept plastic card payments as well as provide numerous advantages. In order to top-up your card balance you can use Unibank cash-in ATMs as well as eManat payment terminals.
ALBUKART can be purchased for only 3 AZN in any branch of Unibank or Customer Service Centers of Bakcell. To enjoy the bonuses from Bakcell the ALBUKART must be connected only to a Bakcell number.
In order to get more detailed information about ALBUKART, please, follow the link: http://www.bakcell.com/az/albukart
Bakcell, The First Mobile Operator and the Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan, offers a variety of products for modern mobile communications customers. Bakcell provides class leading 3G and 4G mobile internet experience in the country under the Su[email protected] brand name.
With more than 5300 base stations Bakcells network covers more than 99% of the population and 93% of the land area of the country (excluding occupied territories). Bakcell is a leader in innovation and it focuses on bringing the best of the mobile internet to Azerbaijanis through new partnerships and its Su[email protected] services. Bakcell 3G service is available in all regions of Azerbaijan and covers 93% of population.
For more information about Bakcell products and services, please visit www.bakcell.com or call 555.For press releases please see www.bakcell.com/az/news (or www.bakcell.com/en/news for press releases in English).
If you are not a Bakcell subscriber, but wish to find out about Bakcell and its services, please call 055 000 05 55
Unibank CB OJSC was established through the merger of the then two advanced commercial banks of Azerbaijan MBANK (est. 1992) and PROMTEKHBANK (est. 1994) on 15 October 2002. Unibank is now one of the biggest banks in the country. The bank has hundreds of thousands of corporate as well as retail customers right now.
Unibank was the first bank in Azerbaijan to have EBRD among its shareholders. Among the shareholders is also the German investment company called DEG.
The international rating agencies have invariably passed commending assessments of Unibanks performance. Both Moodys Investors Service and Fitch Ratings have the stable outlook on the ratings of the bank.
Unibank has a large branch network serving the citizens of the country in the capital city as well as up country right now. The branches of the bank work from 09:00 to 17:00 without lunch-breaks five days a week. On Saturdays, Unibank is open from 10:00 to 14:00.
Unibank is one of the leading banks in the country. Its role in the market has repeatedly been praised by various international finance institutions and mass media. For instance, the special expert panel of The Banker, one of the highest-reputed international finance magazines, declared Unibank the Best Retail Bank of Azerbaijan in 2014 on consideration of the financial performance, innovative activities and development strategy of the bank. It should be mentioned also that Unibank was given the UGUR Award for supporting the growth of the real economic sector of Azerbaijan in 2015.
For more details, please call (012) 117 or visit either the Banks website (www.unibank.az ) or its Facebook and twitter page (www.facebook.com/unibank.az , https://twitter.com/unibank ).
The Islamic States Khorasan province claimed these three suicide bombers executed the Oct. 24, 2016 suicide attack on a police academy in Quetta, Pakistan.
The Islamic State and a Pakistani Taliban faction based in Quetta both claimed responsibility for yesterdays suicide attack at a police academy in Quetta that killed at least 60 people and wounded more than 120. Pakistani officials claim another jihadist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al Alami carried out the assault.
At least three fighters armed with assault weapons, grenades, and suicide vests attacked the dormitory of the police academy after 11pm Monday evening as cadets were sleeping, according to Dawn. Two of the suicide bombers detonated their vests, causing the bulk of the casualties, and the third was shot by security personnel.
Pakistans Frontier Corps said that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al Alami executed the attack and claimed that the suicide assault team communicated with handlers based in Afghanistan.
The Islamic States Khorasan province, which operates in South Asia, also took responsibility for the attack. In a statement released on Amaq News Agency, an Islamic State propaganda arm, the group named three attackers: Obaidah al Khorasani, Omar al Khorasani, and Talha al Khorasani, and also released a photograph of the fighters.
The Karachi faction of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan also claimed credit for the attack. In an email received by The Long War Journal, the group said four of its suicide fighters executed that attack, which was carried to avenge the martyrdom of our mujahideen.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al Alami is a branch of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an anti-Shia terror group that has integrated with al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistans tribal areas. The group has claimed major attacks in Lahore in 2010 and Kabul in 2011 but has largely been dormant since. It re-emerged this year and claimed credit for targeted killings in Wah Cantt and Quetta.
The Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic State have competed over claiming responsibility for mass-casualty attacks in the past. Both groups claimed credit for the Aug. 8, 2016 suicide attack at a hospital Quetta that killed scores of people.
The Pakistani Taliban has executed multiple attacks against schools and universities that were similar to last nights suicide assault in Quetta. The most recent attack took place in January 2016, when a four-man suicide assault team dressed in military uniforms and armed with AK-47 assault rifles and suicide vests attacked Bacha Khan University in the northwestern district of Charsadda and killed 20 people. Khalifa Umar Mansour, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistans leader for Peshawar and Darra Adam Khel, claimed the suicide operation.
Mansour is best known for the brutal December 2014 attack on a military high school in Peshawar that killed more than 120 people, mostly students. He also is responsible for the September 2015 suicide assault on the Pakistani Air Force camp in Badabair. The US is thought to have killed Mansour in Afghanistan last summer.
Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan of sheltering commanders from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. The US has killed several Pakistani Taliban leaders in airstrikes inside Afghanistan. However, the group operates in areas in eastern Afghanistan that are out of the control of the Afghan government.
Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Shabaab fighters in Kenya sometime in 2015
Shabaab, al Qaedas branch in East Africa, launched three separate attacks in Kenya and Somalia today, symbolizing its continued lethality. The jihadist group launched a suicide assault on a Djiboutian military base, an ambush on Ethiopian troops, an assassination of a top Somali intelligence official, and an attack on Christians in a Kenyan border town.
In Kenya, Shabaab launched a deadly assault on Christians living in Mandera. According to the BBC, the target was a guesthouse hosting members of a theatre group who were performing plays in schools in the north-eastern town of Mandera. This is the second attack on Christians in the area this month. The prior was a grenade and gun attack on a residential neighborhood of Mandera.
Shabaab has launched numerous assaults in Kenya in the past. This includes the April 2015 massacre at a university in Garissa, which killed over 140 people. Before that, Shabaab killed dozens after laying siege to the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in 2013. Several smaller attacks have occurred over the years, mainly on Kenyan border towns in Lamu, Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera Counties.
Earlier today, an African Union base north of Mogadishu, manned by troops from Djibouti, was the target of a suicide bombing. Shabaabs Shahada News Telegram account quickly took credit for the bombing, adding that 17 troops were killed. The African Union gave a different account of the events, however. On its Twitter feed, it said that the car bomb was set off outside the camp and all attackers were killed.
In central Somalia, the jihadist group claimed it ambushed Ethiopian troops near the town of Wabho in the Galgaduud Region. Shabaab gave no definite number of troops killed and Ethiopia has yet to comment on this ambush. Yesterday, Shabaab claimed it took control over the town of Halgan in the Hiraan Region after Ethiopian troops withdrew from the nearby base.
Additionally on the Shahada News channel, Shabaab claimed credit for the assassination of a top intelligence official. According to local reports, the official was killed late last night in Mogadishu as he was walking to a mosque.
In Somalia, Shabaab continues to be a potent force, with the ability to capture territory, despite an African Union-led force in the country. It continues to exhibit the ability to launch complex operations in the capital, and has harassed African Union and Somali forces in both southern and central Somalia. In some instances over the past nine months, Shabaab has been able to recapture the cities of Marka, El Ade, and Badhadhe after both African Union and Somali troops were forced to withdraw. It continues to capture small towns in central Somalia, especially with Ethiopian troops continuing to leave their posts.
Caleb Weiss is a research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Anvar Mammadov Trend:
Azerbaijan will not only be able to meet the domestic demand for tobacco, but also to annually export 3,000-4,000 tons of tobacco in the future, Rufat Guliyev, the chairman of the board of the European Tobacco Baku OJSC, the largest tobacco producer in Azerbaijan, told Trend.
He added that this will happen if Azerbaijan increases product quality and brings tobacco prices to the average European level.
Nearly 1,000 tons of Azerbaijani tobacco may be used for the local market if the quality of tobacco increases, the head of the European Tobacco Baku OJSC said. The remaining part can be sent for export. To do this, first of all, it is necessary to increase the experience of tobacco manufacturers.
For this purpose, we even send our foreign specialists to different districts of Azerbaijan, he added.
Azerbaijan also needs to start growing varieties of tobacco used in Europe, and the country has all the necessary climatic conditions for that, Guliyev noted.
Head of European Tobacco Baku OJSC said that the company intends to increase the share of the Azerbaijani tobacco in their cigarettes.
We already use local tobacco in our own cigarettes, the share of which in the blends is about 50 percent, Guliyev said. However, due to the poor quality, tobacco undergoes serious selection. Currently, we plan to increase the share of local tobacco in our blend of cigarettes to 55-60 percent.
He added that it is the highest possible share, given the fact that the company produces relatively cheap cigarettes.
Some 3,100 tons of tobacco were produced in Azerbaijan in January-September 2016, which is 9.8 percent more than in the same period last year, according to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Azad Hasanli Trend:
Azerbaijan calls on Croatian companies to invest in the countrys agriculture, tourism, IT and chemical industry, Rufat Mammadov, head of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), said.
Mammadov made remarks at the Azerbaijan-Croatia business forum in Baku Oct. 25.
He added that favorable conditions have been created in Azerbaijan for making investments, as well as for activity in industrial and technology parks.
"Tourism sector is important for us, he said. This sphere is new for us and it is growing rapidly. We also see a number of opportunities for cooperation in IT sphere."
Mammadov stressed that the chemical industry can be another area of cooperation.
"We could also cooperate in the field of pharmaceutics, he added. Croatia supplies a large volume of pharmaceutical products to other countries.
Azerbaijan almost entirely depends on imports of medications, so the establishment of own production is one of strategically important issues for us, he said. We already have several agreements with international investors in this direction, but we want to offer the Croatian companies to explore the possibility of making investments into this sphere."
Mammadov added that Azerbaijan and Croatia also have great potential for increasing mutual trade in such traditional areas as agriculture, food industry and other industries.
"Azerbaijan could supply, for example, cotton to Croatia, he said. We plan to increase cotton production and export volumes in 2016 and 2017."
Mammadov added that Croatia could also buy Azerbaijani juices, wine, vegetables and fruits.
Mammadov said that on the other hand, Croatia could supply various agricultural products, furniture, vehicles, spare parts, and so on, to Azerbaijan.
"The structure of our trade turnover mainly consists of oil products, vessels and their components, he said. But we see many opportunities for diversifying our trade turnover."
According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Croatia amounted to almost $192 million in January-September 2016, including $141.3 million, which accounted for the export to Croatia.
Using community dialogues to prevent and control NTDs
25 October 2016
A recently implemented community dialogue approach to the prevention of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Nampula, Mozambique, has improved knowledge and increased community ownership of health issues, a preliminary evaluation of the programme has shown.
The need for community-based programmes to raise awareness of NTDs and promote adequate prevention and treatment measures is widely regarded as one of the greatest challenges to preventing and eradicating these diseases in Mozambique.
Mozambique is particularly vulnerable to infectious disease with all of its 27 million people at risk of at least one type of NTD, however there are still no community systems in place that sufficiently reach all people at risk and those already suffering from these diseases.
The community dialogue approach, supported by Malaria Consortium and the Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, has been trialled by the Provincial Directorate of Nampula in four districts and is currently being further tested as a mechanism to facilitate community initiatives for better home care of people suffering from lymphatic filariasis. Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. At present, over 120 million people have been infected, with about 40 million disfigured and incapacitated by the disease.
In a recent interview Dr Solomon Ercilio Jive, head of the NTD Programme of Nampula, said that community dialogues are crucial to the prevention and eradication of NTDs. They serve to fill information gaps on health among community members, identifying problems and helping communities to take collective decisions for improvement of health practices, he said.
The NTD Programme has set specific targets to control, or eliminate, NTDs such as lymphatic filariasis by 2020. However to achieve these objectives Dr. Jive says that the programme needs to increase its coverage, secure additional funding and support and intensify community mobilisation efforts around Mozambique.
Community participation is essential in the timely identification of patients and the promotion of preventive practices. The community dialogue approach is a form of social mobilisation which improves knowledge, attitudes and practices at the community level and promotes ownership of health issues.
This year, more than three million people were reached through a mass treatment campaign for lymphatic filariasis across the 23 endemic districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Maksim Tsurkov Trend:
Railway authorities of Azerbaijan and China have agreed to send five more test container trains via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route through Azerbaijan, head of the press service of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Nadir Azmammadov told Trend Oct. 25.
He said the expansion of cooperation between the railway authorities of the two countries continues.
Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov held a meeting in Chinas Chengdu with director of the citys municipal port and logistics office, as well as director of the citys international railway service, said Azmammadov.
The sides discussed economic opportunities, the export potential of Chinese province of Sichuan, routes for export of goods produced in Sichuan to Europe, as well as opportunities of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, Azmammadov added.
The Chinese side expressed its interest in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and the desire to create a regional hub in Azerbaijan, given its geographical location.
The Chinese partners noted that in order to increase trade turnover with such countries as Iran, Turkey and the countries of southern Europe, they are going to organize the shipment of freight trains through Azerbaijan within the One Belt, One Road project, said Azmammadov.
The project involves using the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, as well as increasing the number of trains on it, he added.
Azmammadov said the parties came to an agreement on sending five test container trains via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route before late 2016, and also decided to hold the next bilateral meeting in Baku.
The agreement to create the Trans-Caspian International Transportation Consortium was signed in April in Baku by the railway authorities of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan.
New competitive tariffs were introduced for the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route on June 1, 2016.
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route runs through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and then through Turkey and Ukraine to Europe.
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Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
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Aidy Bryant isnt just living her best life, she is living everyones best life. The Phoenix, Arizona-raised comedian began doing teen improv groups at 15 years old. She went to college in Chicago for its improv scene, attending theater school by day and doing improv by night (like some sort of non-masked superhero of comedy!). Bryant was asked to join the iO Theaters all-women ensemble, Virgin Daiquiri which was like being asked by the coolest kids to sit at their lunch table, only they werent just cool, they were hilarious and from there she got hired at Saturday Night Live. At age 25. Who does that happen to??
Someone who works insanely hard, is insanely funny and manages to keep her head on her shoulders after Louis C.K. comes up to her after a table read and tells her shes insanely funny.
Shes now on her fifth season of SNL and was chosen by Louis C.K. to act in his web series, Horace and Pete. (Aidy superfans can also enjoy a short film she co-wrote, named Darby Forever, thats available to watch on Vimeo.)
You know what she told Oh Boy host Jay Buim about all of this? The most rewarding part has been the friendships.
Say aww and plug your headphones in.
Follow Aidy on Twitter @aidybrant! Follow host Jay Buim on Instagram @beardwizard and check out his website, too. Logo by Kelly Shami; illustration by Amber Vittoria.
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Trumps Gettysburg Address against the New World
If not now, WHEN? Only the most dedicated Totalitarian Collectivist would want to keep the NWO in power. Those who are so dim-witted to believe that the governance elites are legitimate rulers, exercising moral authority are so ignorant and illiterate that they deserve the fate of sheep taken to the slaughter. The Sheeple designation is apt for a society mired in a distorted reality of serfdom.
The New World Order moved from a centurys old scheme to enslave humanity into a consolidated international community, when the central banksters organized the Bank for International Settlements, with the adoption of the Bretton Woods system of monetary management, the reorganization of nation states with the end of World War II, the creation of the globalist United Nations and the establishment of the centralized bureaucracy of the European Union.
The Trump movement is an existential threat to the established order that consistently adopts the agenda and practices from the demonic cabal of the NWO globalists. It is because of this opposition to the transnational ruling despots that the vicious, deceitful and unending assault on Trump and his followers has been unleashed, since real meaningful change cannot be allowed that would reverse the systematic destruction of Western Civilization.
READ the Entire pledge of action that was presented as the 21st century Gettysburg Address or watch the video.
DONALD J. TRUMP CONTRACT WITH THE AMERICAN VOTER
What follows is my 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again. It is a contract between myself and the American voter and begins with restoring honesty, accountability and change to Washington. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, DC:
FIRST, propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress;
SECOND, a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health);
THIRD, a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated;
FOURTH, a 5 year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service;
FIFTH, a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government;
SIXTH, a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.
On the same day, I will begin taking the following 7 actions to protect American workers:
FIRST, I will announce my intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205
SECOND, I will announce our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
THIRD, I will direct my Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator
FOURTH, I will direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately
FIFTH, I will lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars worth of job producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.
SIXTH, lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward
SEVENTH, cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix Americas water and environmental infrastructure
Additionally, on the first day, I will take the following five actions to restore security and the constitutional rule of law:
FIRST, cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama
SECOND, begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States
THIRD, cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities
FOURTH, begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that wont take them back
FIFTH, suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting.
Next, I will work with Congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my Administration:
1. Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35% tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35 to 15 percent, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10 percent rate.
2. End The Offshoring Act Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.
3. American Energy & Infrastructure Act. Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years. It is revenue neutral.
4. School Choice And Education Opportunity Act. Redirects education dollars to gives parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends common core, brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and make 2 and 4-year college more affordable.
5. Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines, and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.
6. Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act. Allows Americans to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-side childcare services, and creates tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.
7. End Illegal Immigration Act Fully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.
8. Restoring Community Safety Act. Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a Task Force On Violent Crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.
9. Restoring National Security Act. Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values
10. Clean up Corruption in Washington Act. Enacts new ethics reforms to Drain the Swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics. On November 8th, Americans will be voting for this 100-day plan to restore prosperity to our economy, security to our communities, and honesty to our government.
This is my pledge to you. And if we follow these steps, we will once more have a government of, by and for the people.
Publishing the entire list of all these positive measures, which challenge the elitist consortium of a criminal syndicate that impose a neo-feudal enslavement of humanity, documents the essence of the Trump vow of revolutionary nonviolent combat against the forces of satanic evil.
The ironic symbolism of presenting this restoration of national greatness at the site of the historic betrayal of the original American Revolution, one must not forget that Abraham Lincoln embarked upon the initial destruction of the legitimate States Right essence that created the country.
This apocalyptic step, set into motion the underpinnings of a global empire of which, America was never intended to pursue. Lets hope that Donald Trump can rectify some of the damage done to the individual rights embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Gettysburg was not a victory for a union of free men, but was the launching of a lustful hegemony for an Imperium international order.
Only this contract with American citizens can offer any hope of reestablishing a legitimate administration of a limited national government.
SARTRE
Source: http://www.batr.org/totalitariancollectivism/102516.html
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Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Elena Kosolapova Trend:
A refinery in Kazakhstan will process up to 2 tons of Iranian gold in 2017, Sputnik Kazakhstan quoted Kazakh Deputy Investment and Development Minister Albert Rau as saying Oct. 25.
He noted that a Kazakh company is engaged in development of gold deposit in Iran.
Rau, however, didnt reveal the names of neither the refinery nor the company.
As much as 125 kilograms of gold produced in Iran have already been delivered to Kazakhstan for processing and 500 kilograms more will be delivered until the end of 2016, he said.
Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Maksim Tsurkov Trend:
Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR has already completed pumping of the volumes of its own oil envisaged for 2016 via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, a source in the company told Trend Oct. 25.
The mentioned volumes are of nearly 140,000 tons of oil transported in January and February 2016, according to the source.
Since we had no agreement with the Transneft JSC in early 2016 on pumping SOCARs oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline, the company was pumping its oil via the BTC, the source said.
Nearly 140,000 tons of oil were pumped for two months, the source noted. Since March 2016, SOCAR resumed oil export through the Russian port and will continue it till late 2016 if nothing changes. We have no plans to redirect oil to the BTC in 2016 yet.
SOCAR transships its oil via the Novorossiysk port. The oil is delivered to the port via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline.
The BTC pipeline transships oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of Azerbaijani oil and gas fields, as well as oil of producers from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
The total length of the B is 1,768 kilometers, including a 443-kilometer section running through Azerbaijan, a 249-kilometer section in Georgia and a 1,076-kilometer section in Turkey.
Construction of the pipeline started in 2003. It was filled with oil in 2005.
BTC Co. shareholders are: BP (30.1 percent), AzBTC (25 percent), Chevron (8.9 percent), Statoil (8.71 percent), (6.53 percent), Eni (5 percent), Total (5 percent), Itochu (3.4 percent), Inpex (2.5 percent), ConocoPhillips (2.5 percent) and ONGC (2.36 percent).
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Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
COLLINSVILLE-The best way to help Henry County schools is by getting the community involved. Thats the focus of the new Prevention Versus Punishment group, which hopes to form an advisory council with parents, students and other local residents.
The group, coordinated by Dr. Makunda Abdul-Mbacke, will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at New College Institute. This will be its fourth meeting.
Abdul-Mbacke started the group in the summer to gather concerned citizens to investigate and suggest improvements in local schools discipline policies, particularly in regards to suspension and expulsion.
That would be the first topic of attention for a parent advisory committee, but there are many others that should be looked at, Abdul-Mbacke said. Looking into good programs for students who dont go to four-year colleges would be another, she said in example.
My frustration is that as the kids get older, there isnt much of an outlet for the parents. For the most part, parents are relegated to buying and selling stuff for fundraisers, she said.
The younger grades certainly do have a PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization), but when I called for the high school, I was told they havent had a PTO for many years because of a lack of parental interest. Were trying to get more people now, trying to get more voices heard, trying to get movement toward getting more policies at school for having school be a more positive educational environment for students, with higher graduation rates.
Wed like to see as many people out there as possible to represent different constituents. We want a wide swath of people to be involved.
She also hopes people with experience and knowledge would come to the meeting. I would just love it if there was someone who does work on this area or has a passion for it to come out to talk about it also, she added.
At its last meeting, Superintendent (Zeb) Talley was at the meeting with a couple of other people from (the) Martinsville city school board, Abdul-Mbacke said. We got a better impression of what they city schools are doing. They are in the first year of working with a program through the state called PBIS, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
I think that the biggest accomplishment is getting people to talk about the issue and really understanding the consequences of expulsion, she said.
When students miss instruction because they are expelled, many will end up dropping out. Without even a high school degree in this day and age, its very likely to end up with a life of crime, addiction and various other ills that come with not fulfilling your potential, she said.
She said students today miss more instruction that their parents would assume, from their own high school experience. Whereas in decades past, classes would run for 45 minutes, now they are in 90-minute blocks, which is even harder to make up.
She argues that the schools zero tolerance approach creates very high repercussions for what we know is an undeveloped mind. We know we should be expecting that theyre going to have immature behavior.
Its not just whether or not you have kids that are actively enrolled in the schools right now, she said. Its also the fact that the state of Virginia saves more than half a million dollars for each child they are successfully able to education through a high school diploma by not having to support them through welfare and the prison system.
Punishing students by removing them from school is not going to work for society. The U.S., of all the developed countries, has the largest percentage of its population in prison.
Students who do not graduate are left with limited opportunities and while that may not mean incarceration for everyone, it certainly does mean were not working to get the kids to their fullest potential.
I think were getting the conversation started, she said. This is a movement that takes time to build and to get people on board. Each time were having meetings, were having new people there, and weve had some people consistently there.
Holly Kozelsky reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. She can be reached at holly.kozelsky@martinsvillebulletin.com
MARTINSVILLE When you graduate from Patrick Henry Community College, you should be able to get an interview with a local business for an opening that fits your skill set. Thats the goal the college is aiming for, over the next few years.
PHCC Vice President for Financial and Administrative Service Jack Hanbury expressed that goal to the colleges board on Monday while he and Vice President for Academic and Student Development Kris Westover presented the colleges strategic plan for 2016 through 2021. The board approved the plan in a unanimous vote.
Already providing that guarantee is the Center for Advanced Film Manufacturing, at which students learn skills needed to work for high-tech manufacturers, especially those making coated performance films used in vehicles and homes to reduce glare from sunlight. The center is a partnership between PHCC, the New College Institute, the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. and Eastman Chemical, a local maker of such films.
Were not afraid to copy someone elses program, Hanbury said.
PHCC strives to develop a child-care center for students children by the end of 2018, he said, adding that finding affordable childcare is one of the biggest impediments to mothers attending college and/or finishing programs.
The college also wants to increase the number of activities that it offers students, Hanbury said.
An education is not the only thing that attracts students to our campus, he said. Its the whole experience, including academics and student life amenities.
Officials did not discuss how the college will try to accomplish those goals.
Increasing enrollment at PHCC and numbers of credentials that students earn are parts of the strategic plan.
Under its six-year strategic plan, the Virginia Community College System set a goal to triple the number of credentials earned by students statewide by 2021, so PHCC is trying to follow the leader, a document shows.
By that year, the college aims to have at least 2,547 new students enroll annually, its strategic plan shows. That includes 1,620 students in programs for which academic credits are earned and 927 students in workforce training programs. In comparison, a total of 1,765 new enrollees are anticipated this year, including 1,028 credit-bearing students and 737 workforce training students.
Also by 2021, the college aims to have at least 2,375 students annually receiving credentials, such as associate degrees, career studies certificates and industry-recognized licensures. That compares to 1,223 students including 1,071 credit-bearing students and 152 workforce training students expected this year, the plan shows.
Considering the areas declining population trend, achieving the goals will be a stretch, Westover said.
Yet she believes it can be done. She said the goals reflect not only students graduating from high school and entering college, but also people already in the workforce who need training for jobs and people who work for companies needing ongoing training to handle changes in their jobs, as is common in high-tech firms.
PHCC officials will discuss the strategic plan with the public during a town hall meeting Nov. 3 at the colleges Dalton IDEA Center uptown. Refreshments will be served at 5:30 p.m., and the meeting will start at 6 p.m. Business leaders and residents of Martinsville and Henry County will be asked to present ideas on how the college can better meet the communitys educational and workforce needs, officials said.
In another matter, the colleges board approved two new career studies certificates nurse aide and pre-nursing.
The certificates are designed to prepare students to enter the associate degree in nursing program and earn their certifications, and they are aligned with other programs within PHCCs health technology realm, according to Amy Webster, the colleges coordinator of health sciences.
Mickey Powell reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at mickey.powell@martinsvillebulletin.com.
RICHMOND A universitys endowment or other private resources should not be used by the General Assembly to determine how much public money is appropriated to the school, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia said Tuesday.
SCHEV, the states coordinating agency for higher education, adopted resolutions affirming its support for the financial autonomy of public universities and pointing out that, under state code, lawmakers cant reduce appropriations because of endowment funds and gifts.
The council also approved a resolution to allow universities the flexibility to use tuition revenue to supplement faculty salaries. The state has authorized a 3 percent raise for fiscal 2018, but SCHEV said additional merit-based increases are necessary to keep salaries competitive with peer institutions.
SCHEVs actions followed the revelation over the summer that the University of Virginia had amassed more than $2 billion for a Strategic Investment Fund, the earnings on which will be used to finance grant proposals. In August, top UVa administrators were called before a joint assembly committee meeting to explain how the money was amassed.
Nationally, congressional investigators are also studying whether universities are using enough of their wealth to defray costs for students.
Gilmer Minor , the councils chairman, said SCHEVs resolutions are intended to show support for the schools private fundraising efforts. One resolution praises financial management strategies that have allowed universities to maintain their viability through economic downturns.
SCHEV Director Peter Blake said that while the controversy over UVas fund sharpened the focus of the resolutions, the council was speaking to the budget constraints under which institutions operate.
Council wanted to express support for efforts institutions take to help themselves, he said in an email after the meeting. The recent discussions of the SIF elevated the discussions around value, perception and budget, but the resolution is relevant to all institutions, as they all face these issues.
The council also approved budget recommendations, to be sent to the governor and assembly for the next fiscal year, requesting an additional $34.1 million to cover operating expenses. Another $31.2 million would come from the schools, which could be covered by a tuition increase of just over 1 percent, Dan Hix, SCHEVs finance policy director, told the council.
In addition, the council is calling on the state to shell out $11.7 million for student financial aid $8.9 million for undergraduate aid and $2.8 million for the transfer grant program.
The transfer grant funds, divided between $900,000 from this year and $1.9 million for next, are for a need-based award program for students who complete an associate degree at a two-year college before transferring. Hix said that in addition to the grant, students can save about 30 percent on the cost of a bachelors degree by taking that route.
SCHEV also is recommending a maximum award of $3,350 for the Tuition Assistance Grant, which offsets tuition at Virginias nonprofit, private colleges for in-state undergraduates. However, the exact award, which this year is projected to be $3,200 for undergraduates and $1,600 for graduate students, is contingent on participation rates.
For faculty salaries, SCHEV is recommending $43.2 million, evenly divided between the state and schools, with the raises to take effect July 1, 2017. Faculty and all state employees were to receive a 3 percent raise this year, but that funding was redirected because of the state budget shortfall.
Because salary increases at peer institutions are making Virginia colleges less competitive in recruiting faculty, Hix said, the schools should have a little bit more flexibility to look at their tuition to supplement salaries but still remain affordable.
The resolution says tuition-related increases should be minimal and not compromise affordable access for in-state undergraduates.
Hix noted that although last sessions budget brought a reinvestment in higher education and the lowest increase in tuition rates in 15 years, state schools have seen eight cuts in state appropriations in the past 10 years.
The assembly provided an additional $314 million in general fund support for public institutions in the 2016-18 biennium and $1.3 billion additional capital funding.
But Hix said college campuses will see 33 new facilities open during the biennium, leading SCHEV to recommend $13.9 million to cover operation and maintenance costs, with $8.1 million of that amount coming from the states general fund.
One of the new facilities is the library at the University of Virginias College at Wise. Its share of the operating cost is estimated at $432,578 for fiscal 2018. But because of the impact covering that cost would have on tuition rates, SCHEV is recommending full funding come from the state general fund, Hix said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.25
By Leman Zeynalova Trend:
US participation in the OPEC discussion to cut the oil output is out of the question, Gal Luft, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), a Washington based think tank focused on energy security, and a senior adviser to the United States Energy Security Council, told Trend Oct.25.
The reason is that from Saudi Arabias perspective, the US oil industry is the enemy that needs to be defeated, he said.
He pointed out that the entire strategy of Saudi Arabia so far has been to keep the oil prices low enough for long enough to drive US shale producers into bankruptcy.
This strategy seems to be working, but not as fast as the Saudis had expected. As long as the interests of the two countries are diametrically opposed, there is no ground for dialogue, Luft added.
Earlier, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said that the organization will decide on whether to invite the US to its November 30 meeting in Vienna after the US presidential election.
However, later, Saudi Arabias Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that the US will not participate in any agreements related to oil production.
In September, OPEC producers agreed during the informal meeting in Algiers to cut down the oil output to 32.5 million barrels per day (bpd) from current production of 33.24 million bpd.
How much each country will produce is to be decided at the next formal meeting of OPEC in November.
HOLYOKE -- CilantroMex has opened its location in the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on the upper level near JC Penney, according to a news release from the Mall.
It will be the first CilantroMex location in Massachusetts. The 10-location chain has seven restaurants in Rhode Island and two in New York.
One location is near Albany, New York, in Crossgates Mall and in Syracuse, New York, at Destiny USA. Both those malls are also owned by Pyramid Cos. which owns Holyoke Mall.
At Holyoke, ClinantroMex will host a grand opening Friday that will include a discount of 10 percent off purchases for customers throughout the day.
The restaurant's menu includes burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salad bowls and nachos.
The Holyoke CilantroMex is the seventh in a series of new stores and eateries that have opened at the mall in recent months. Others include White Barn, Billy Beez, Shatter & Case, Torrid, Sprint, Zales.
Holyoke Mall claims more than 18 million visitors per year.
SPRINGFIELD - Baystate Health has appointed Ben Craft to the new position of senior director of Government and Public Affairs.
Craft, who has served as the organization's director of Public Affairs since 2012, is assuming the additional responsibility of government affairs to support Baystate's needs for strong connections with local, state and federal government amid continuing rapid change in the healthcare environment.
Craft returned home to western Massachusetts to join Baystate in 2008, having worked previously at the United Nations and The Wall Street Journal in New York City. His work at the UN included communications and policy advocacy with government, nonprofit and civil-society partners. He will report to Jennifer Endicott, Baystate's chief strategy officer and senior vice president of Strategy and External Relations.
"With his deep understanding of the challenges facing healthcare providers today and a strong network of relationships in the community and across Baystate Health, Ben is well-positioned to serve as point person for our local, state and federal government partners," said Endicott. "Ben is committed to finding ways to improve the dialogue between our dedicated elected officials and Baystate Health, the largest provider of safety-net services and largest private employer in western Massachusetts. Ben's previous experience, particularly at the UN, will be invaluable in achieving this goal."
Craft grew up in East Longmeadow and is a 1996 graduate of UMass Amherst.
Oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday, with US crude breaking below $50 per barrel for a second straight day ahead of weekly data that could show a build in domestic inventories, Reuters reported.
Producers' verbal jockeying about the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) planned output cut weighed further on the market, analysts said, noting Iraq's resistance to the plan and its rising output for October.
Brent crude futures fell 64 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $50.82 a barrel by 12:52 p.m. EDT (1652 GMT).
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 60 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $49.92.
Trade group American Petroleum Institute will issue at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) a weekly report of crude stockpiles and other oil supply-demand data, ahead of an official report by the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected the data would show crude stocks rose 800,000 barrels last week, after a drop of more than 5 million barrels in the week to Oct. 14.
"The sentiment is it's a bit more negative," said Scott Shelton, energy futures broker with ICAP in Durham, North Carolina. "There are some expectations that we can see a crude build."
A rallying dollar, which makes greenback-denominated crude less affordable to holders other currencies weighed further on oil, as did falling Wall Street share prices.
The market is also "a bit rubbery in the knees" due to uncertainty around OPEC's planned production cut, said Donald Morton, who runs an energy-trading desk at Herbert J. Sims & Co in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Before this week, prices rose about 13 percent over a three-week span after OPEC announced on Sept 27 its first planned output cut in eight years to combat the steep slump in crude prices, which are far below 2014 highs above $100 a barrel.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Anvar Mammadov Trend:
SPAN, one of the biggest IT companies in Croatia, is ready to create joint ventures in Azerbaijan, SPAN Chairman Nikola Dujmovic told Trend Oct. 25.
SPAN started working in Azerbaijan three years ago on the automation and CRM (customer relationship management) projects in telecommunications, and the company has decided to open its office, SPAN Azerbaijan, Dujmovic said.
SPAN Azerbaijan is being created with a 100-percent Croatian share, but in the future Croatia is ready to establish joint ventures with Azerbaijani companies, he added.
He noted that the company, which is specializing in cyber security, is ready to offer Azerbaijan a number of high technologies.
In addition, Dujmovic said, SPAN is ready to offer a number of services for the financial sector of Azerbaijan.
SPAN also has proposals for banking, insurance and other companies operating in the financial sector, he added.
These proposals cover cooperation in both the field of cyber security and the consolidation of the infrastructure as well as mobile banking, which makes it possible to significantly expand the customer base, Dujmovic noted.
SPAN had preliminary talks with a number of companies, but they were unofficial, he added.
Dujmovic expressed hope that the companys first steps in Azerbaijani market will be taken at BakuTel exhibition to be held in late November.
SPAN is going to present a number of proposals there, some of which will be made together with Microsoft, he said.
Dujmovic noted that the services offered are attractive first of all by lower prices compared to services of other similar companies.
Regarding further expansion of the companys business in Azerbaijan and in the South Caucasus region, the chairman of SPAN said his company currently plans to develop its activities only in Baku.
SPAN doesnt have sufficient human resources to operate in the whole territory of Azerbaijan, and the company doesnt consider entering markets of other countries of the region, either, he added.
SPANs offices are also present in the UK, the US, Czech Republic and Slovenia. The company is a major exporter of intellectual property in Croatia.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 25
By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:
The construction of a new railway from the Turkmen town of Atamyrat to the Afghan settlement of Akina is under completion, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.
"Turkmen builders are completing the construction of the Atamyrat-Ymamnazar section, constructing the railway through the Turkmen-Afghan border, as well as the railway through a small five-kilometer-area from the Turkmen border settlement of Ymamnazar to Akina," the article said.
According to the plan, some 85 kilometers of the main railways of the section account for Turkmenistan, the article said.
"After the completion of the construction, the new railway must connect the Afghan section of Akina-Andkhoy with Atamyrat-Ymamnazar section in Turkmenistan and Panj district in Tajikistan," the newspaper reported.
According to the article, two Gulistan and Ymamnazar railway stations, two large bridges over the Turkmen Karakum canal are being built as part of the project.
The area is part of the transnational railway project along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan route, the newspaper reported.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the new railway in June 2013.
"The Trans-Afghan transport corridor will be an important element in the formation of the extensive transport and communication infrastructure, meeting modern realities, in the Asian region," President Berdimuhamedov was cited in the article as saying.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 25
By Demir Azizov Trend:
The delegation of Uzbekistan headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ulugbek Rozukulov will visit Belarus on October 26-28, the press service of Uzbek Foreign Ministry stated.
The delegation will hold bilateral meetings and talks at different levels. It will also participate at the meeting of Council of heads of governments of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Minsk Oct. 28.
According to the CIS Executive Committee, over 20 draft documents on cooperation in priority areas of the CIS activities are to be considered at the meeting.
Today The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued cybersecurity guidelines today telling automakers they need yo make shielding electronic and computer systems in vehicles from hackers a top priority.
Creighton Magid is a partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney and head of its Washington DC office. Hes also the co-Chair of the firm-wide Products Liability practice. Magid works with clients to reduce their liability risks and to help them navigate the federal regulatory system, particularly in connection with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Hes been following this issue today closely and says:
"NHTSAs "Cybersecurity Best Practices for Modern Vehicles" guidance document, while general in its guidance, makes the point that automobile manufacturers have to take cybersecurity very seriously, and have to make cybersecurity a top priority in the design, testing, and monitoring of vehicles," Magid says.
"Although NHTSAs guidance document is non-binding, meaning that it cant be enforced like a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, nonetheless establishes an important baseline against which vehicle manufacturers will be measured particularly by private parties in litigation," Magid says.
"The guidance document is notable as well because it represents the application to manufacturers of consumer goods the cybersecurity best practices developed for critical infrastructure, such as the energy grid and the financial sector," Magid says.
"The key takeaways from NHTSAs guidance are the importance of making cybersecurity central to vehicle design; performing robust risk assessment and penetration testing; developing a means of identifying and responding to as-yet-unknown attacks; and collaborating closely with others in the automotive industry to share information about cyber vulnerabilities and cybersecurity improvements," Magid says.
"Automakers like manufacturers of other interconnected ("Internet-of-Things") devices must treat their products as cyber-physical systems, with as much attention given to electronically interconnected systems as to the rest of the vehicle. Cybersecurity must be given the highest possible priority, in both word and deed. Cyber concerns must be treated as central to the design process, and considered as much of a safety consideration as brakes and crash protection. Automakers also need to give serious thought, up front, to responding to post-sale exploitation of cyber-vulnerabilities, including remote downloading of patches and redundancies of vehicle systems that ensure safe operation of the vehicle even in the event of an attack," Magid says.
Dorsey & Whitney Missoula https://www.dorsey.com/locations/missoula
That means when legislators convene in January in Cheyenne, they will have to make up the difference through program cuts, tax increases or spending the rainy day fund.
The current revenue shortfall is the result of a decrease in revenue in recent memory.
Laura Hancock 307-266-0581, [email protected]
Full Story: http://trib.com/business/energy/report-wyoming-will-be-in-the-hole-almost-million/article_a4214004-cde6-5fc0-9de7-139616d5e907.html
Williston State College is expanding the area covered by a program that offers free tuition and fees to graduates from high schools in the region.
The two-year school in northwestern North Dakota will make the scholarships available to five counties in northeastern Montana.
Beginning next fall, the program will also be offered in Montanas Daniels, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan, and Valley counties.
Full Story: http://mtstandard.com/news/state-and-regional/williston-state-expanding-free-tuition-program-to-montana/article_7c950ae1-5596-53c0-a8d7-185a3ef9b4db.html
Montana Code School (MTCS)
http://www.montanacodeschool.com is a statewide initiative dedicated to training the states next generation of junior developers with 2017 classes being held in Missoula and Bozeman. We offer intensive, full-time and part-time coding bootcamp programs designed to produce highly employable software developers ready to hit the ground running in Montanas thriving community of startups and tech businesses.
MTCS is a life changing educational experience, dedicated to giving students the tools to become successful web developers. MTCS does more than just provide skills training to our students. We also focus on developing soft skills such as effective communication skills around technical and non-technical topics, teamwork and collaboration.
MTCS is currently seeking an experienced JavaScript developer to lead a 6-month part-time program in Missoula. Our part-time program is on Tuesdays and Thursdays 6 to 9pm and 1 immersive weekend a month. Part-time program runs from January 10, 2017 to June 25, 2017. The instructor we are looking for must be a skilled developer with experience working within highly functional teams. The instructor will be leading a part-time intensive web development bootcamp to:
Support our initiative, which is helping lifelong learners achieve their dreams of launching successful/meaningful careers in software dev.
Work in sync with other co-instructors to guide students through the course.
Dedicate yourself to becoming a better leader through mentoring of fellow peers.
Be the driving force behind the students as they identify their passions and excel through the curriculum.
Play a major role in establishing a safe and challenging learning environment to accommodate for students with a vast spectrum of abilities and learning styles.
What we teach:
HTML/CSS/jQuery/JavaScript
FullStack JavaScript
NoSQL/ SQL databases
Agile Methodologies
Submit your cover letter and resume here:
https://montanacodeschool.submittable.com/submit/69985
Questions? [email protected]
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 25
By Demir Azizov Trend:
The permanent population has increased by 401,800 people (1.3 percent) since early 2016 and amounted to over 31.977 million people in Uzbekistan, the Uzbek State Statistics Committee said in a report.
Some 50.6 percent of the total population accounts for towns, while 49.4 percent for the countryside, the report said.
According to the report, some 532,400 children were born in Uzbekistan in January - September 2016. The birth rate is 22.4 per 1,000 people in 2016 compared to 22.8 per 1,000 people in 2015.
According to the report, some 108,900 deaths have been registered since early 2016. The mortality rate is 4.6 per 1,000 people.
Some 106,500 migrants arrived in Uzbekistan, while 128,200 people left the country in January - September 2016, the report said.
According to the report, the balance of migration is minus 21,700 people compared to minus 23,100 people in 2015.
The number of people engaged to work in the economy reached almost 13.3 million people in Uzbekistan in January - September, which is 1.8 percent more than in the same period of 2015, the report said.
According to the report, the employment rate of the economically active population is 94.9 percent, while the unemployment rate - 5.1 percent (5.2 percent as of early 2016).
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 25
By Demir Azizov Trend:
An Uzbek delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Adkham Ikramov will visit Kyrgyzstans Osh city in line with the previously achieved bilateral agreements, the Uzbek Foreign Ministrys press service said in a message Oct. 25.
The sides plan to discuss practical issues of further development of bilateral relations, border cooperation, according to the message.
The Uzbek delegation includes representatives of the presidential administration, the government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, heads of administrations of Andijan, Namangan and Fergana regions, heads of regional branches of government and public structures, local authorities, business communities, figures of science, education, culture, art and students.
During the visit, meetings and talks will be held with representatives of the Kyrgyz side, as well as with representatives of Batken, Jalal-Abad and Osh regions neighboring with Uzbekistan.
A Kyrgyz delegation led by First Deputy Prime Minister Muhammetkalyy Abdulgaziyev visited Andijan city Oct. 1 at the Uzbek sides invitation. A memorandum of cooperation was signed as a result of the meeting.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Khalid Kazimov Trend:
Iran is ready to help the oil freeze plan, drawn up by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a senior Iranian oil official has said.
Amir Hossein Zamaninia, an Iranian deputy oil minister, said Iran is ready to encourage OPEC members to join the plan aimed at stabilizing oil market, IRNA news agency reported.
The fair price that would bring stability to oil market is between $55 and $60 per barrel, he said.
Zamaninia further forecasted that the oil price in international market will reach somewhere between $55 and $60 by 2021.
Over the past month, OPEC members agreed to cut down the organizations output to 32.5-33 million barrels per day.
The OPEC members are expected to discuss the plan during a meeting in November.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Emil Ilgar Trend:
Iran's next fiscal years budget doesnt include gasoline imports, Abbas Kazemi, deputy of oil minister told Mehr on Oct.25.
Irans next fiscal year will starts on March 21, 2017.
Kazemi said that the country imported about 10-12 million liters per day (ml/d) of gasoline in the first half of the current fiscal year, but currently the volume is around 4.5-5 ml/d.
The new gasoline production units of Bandar Abbas and Lavan refineries would become operational by March 21 and there is no gasoline import anymore. The distillation unit of Persian Gulf Star refinery was also commenced last week, Kazemi, who serves as the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), said.
Iran plans to commence the first phase of Persian Gulf Star Refinery and produce 12 ml/d of gasoline by June 2017.
Last year Iran consumed more than 71 ml/d of gasoline.
Kazemi said that it is expected that the countrys gasoline consumption is expected to increase by 2 percent in the current fiscal year.
Tehran, Iran, October 25
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Chinas Customs has reported that the countrys exports to Iran during the first three quarters of 2016 stood at $11.5 billion.
The source added that trade turnover between the two countries from January to September stood at $22.12 billion, a decline of 17 percent from the same period in 2015, when it stood at $26.6 billion, Tasnim news agency reported October 25.
China had exported $13.7 billion worth of goods to Iran in the first three quarters of 2015.
Plunging oil prices have caused Irans export to China to shrink in value, for most of the export is oil. China is Irans biggest crude oil customer.
The trade balance during the said period was $920 thousand in favor of China.
The two countries trade turnover had jumped by 31 percent in 2014 to hit the record $51 billion, but declined by 34 percent the next year to stand at 34 percent.
Fujifilm officially presented their new ELUXEO endoscopic system at the 24th United European Gastroenterology Week that was held last week in Vienna, Austria. ELUXEO is an innovative endoscopic system that it is equipped with 4-LED Multi Light Technology, a proprietary Fujifilm capability. This technology utilizes four individual LED light bulbs housed in an integrated light source that produces and combines different wavelengths of light, enabling endoscopists to easily switch between three imaging light modes: White Light Mode, Blue Light Imaging (BLI), and Linked Color Imaging (LCI). Each light mode utilizes a unique light spectrum to improve the visualization of specific structures in the gastrointestinal tract.
E LUXEOs BLI uses blue light, which has a shorter wavelength than white light and is better absorbed by hemoglobin. This increased absorption by hemoglobin makes it easier for endoscopists to detect blood vessels and differentiate between tissue layers without having to use a real-time filter like with traditional endoscopes. Real-time filters tend to make images appear darker and of poorer quality.
Professor Alessandro Repici, Director of the Endoscopy Unit at the Humanitas Research Hospital in Milan, Italy, was one of the first users of the ELUXEOs BLI and reports, it facilitates the identification of lesions, inflammations and early stages of colorectal cancers, makes diagnosis easier and more precise and thus contributes to improve patient outcomes.
Additionally, ELUXEO offers cutting-edge 135x Multi Zoom technology to optimally magnify structures and further aide in diagnosis and treatment planning. ELUXEO also comes equipped with a Flexibility Adjuster and has a smaller bending radius to enhance maneuverability and maximize patient comfort. Through optimizing image quality and visualization, Fujifilms ELUXEO aims to transcend traditional endoscopic systems and achieve superior diagnostic and therapeutic results.
Via: Fujifilm
by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, October 25, 2016
In a remarkable coincidence, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which was recently acquired by billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson, has also become the first big U.S. newspaper to officially endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, whose campaign Adelson has also supported.
What are the chances?
Admittedly, the endorsement is lukewarm, at best. The newspapers editors acknowledge: Yes, Mr. Trumps impulsiveness and overheated rhetoric alienate many voters. He has trouble dealing with critics and would be wise to discover the power of humility.
And like many other arguments advanced in favor of the Republican front runner, the rest is mostly a scathing indictment of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, including her plans to raise taxes and enlarge the regulatory state, her lack of familiarity with business and the entrepreneurial spirit, and her support for gun control.
The editorial also notes that her platform includes massive expansions of entitlements in the form of free college and a probable move to single-payer healthcare.
It concludes: Mr. Trump represents neither the danger his critics claim nor the magic elixir many of his supporters crave. But he promises to be a source of disruption and discomfort to the privileged, back-scratching political elites for whom the nations strength and solvency have become subservient to powers pursuit and preservation.
As noted, the LVRJs endorsement stands out at a time when no other big metro daily has spoken in support of the controversial candidate. Instead, many pubs with editorial pages well known for their traditional conservatism, such as the San-Diego Union Tribune, Arizona Republic, The Dallas Morning News and The Cincinnati Enquirer, have endorsed Clinton.
Even more unusual is the number of publications breaking tradition by issuing endorsements in the first place.
Last week, fashion mag Vogue came out in favor of Clinton, joining The Atlantic Monthly, whose cover story arguing for the Democratic candidate marks just the third time it has endorsed a presidential candidate in 150 years of publishing (the others were Lincoln and LBJ).
USA Today also strayed from its usual practice with an anti-endorsement, encouraging readers to vote for anyone but Trump.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, October 25, 2016
Havas reported revenues of 537 million euros (about $585 million at todays exchange rate) in the third quarter -- up 3.8% from the prior year period.
For the first nine months of the year, the French holding companys revenues are up 4.7% to 1.624 billion euros ($1.768 billion).
Organic growth in the third quarter was 2% and 2.7% for the first nine months.
By comparison, Interpublic Group last week reported organic growth of 4.3% for the third quarter and 4.8% for the first nine months, while Omnicom reported third-quarter organic growth of 3.2% and nine-month growth of 3.4%.
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Publicis Groupe reported third-quarter and nine-month growth of 0.2% and 1.9% respectively.
In North America, Havas reported an organic revenue decline of 1.2% for the third quarter. Organic revenue is flat for the first nine months. The company cited a high baseline for the lack of growth so far this year in the region, indicating that Q4 and 2017 would show improvement.
The companys strongest growth by far was for Europe, where it posted a 7.7% gain in the third quarter and 5% for the first nine months. Asia-Pacific and Africa combined showed a decline of 7% in the third quarter and a gain of 1.5% for the first nine months.
Latin America was down more than 6% for the quarter with a gain of 1.7% for the first nine months.
Havas CEO Yannick Bollore stated that revenue and organic growth to date is in line with our targets.
Net new business (based on billings) through September totaled 2.054 billion euros ($2.237 billion). Wins included GSK, Jaguar Land Rover and Dominos.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, October 25, 2016
The Federal Trade Commission is drawing support in its battle with AT&T from other policymakers, including Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and the Federal Communications Commission, as well as privacy experts and advocacy groups.
Blumenthal, the FCC and others are asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a recent decision dismissing an enforcement action against AT&T. The FTC alleged in an October 2014 complaint that AT&T duped more than 3.5 million people by selling them unlimited data plans, but slowing their connections after they exceeded monthly allotments ranging from 3 GB to 5 GB.
AT&T countered that the FTC lacks authority to bring an enforcement action against common carriers. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit recently sided with AT&T, ruling that the FTC can't sue common carriers -- even when the lawsuit centers on a non-common carrier service. (Mobile broadband wasn't considered a common carrier service when the FTC brought the case.)
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Earlier this month, the FTC sought a new hearing in front of at least 11 of the 9th Circuit's judges.
Blumenthal argues in a proposed friend-of-the-court brief that the panel's ruling creates "a wide hole in FTC jurisdiction that undermines the agencys ability to remedy deceptive acts committed by the growing range of companies that engage in common-carrier activity as well as non-common-carrier activity."
"If the panel opinion stands, it will greatly limit the governments ability to police unfair and deceptive practices in fields that Congress has long considered within the FTCs authority," the lawmaker adds.
He goes on to argue that the decision could leave the FTC unable to police companies like Google, which owns the Internet service provider Fiber. "A sprawling Internet behemoth with revenues from selling advertising, hardware (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops), and software (e.g., the Android operating system), Google has historically been subject to FTC jurisdiction," Blumenthal writes. "But Google also owns Google Fiber, a broadband internet service. In light of the panel opinion, Google could argue that Google Fiber renders it immune from government oversight."
The Federal Communications Commission said in a separate proposed friend-of-the-court brief that the panel's decision is "at odds with the realities of the marketplace, in which entities that provide communications common carrier services have expanded their lines of business to include non-common-carrier offerings (or vice versa)."
A group of law professors with expertise in privacy and data security also are weighing in on the FTC's side. The professors say the earlier opinion "creates serious risks for the privacy rights of every American.
"The panel opinions sweeping interpretation would immunize many of the largest information intermediaries in the modern economy -- potentially including companies such as Facebook, Google, and Yahoo -- from almost all meaningful privacy oversight," the law professors say in a proposed friend-of-the-court brief. "This outcome would be disastrous."
A host of outside advocacy groups, including Public Knowledge, New Americas Open Technology Institute and Consumer Union also filed papers supporting the FTC.
AT&T is expected to respond later this month to the FTC's request for a new hearing. The company revised its throttling practices last year. AT&T now only throttles people who consume more than 22 GB of data in a month, and only when the network is congested.
by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, October 25, 2016
When a group of AT&T's unlimited data subscribers sued the company for allegedly slowing down their broadband connections, the telecom successfully argued that the case belonged in arbitration.
AT&T convinced a judge that the company's terms of service, which call for arbitration of all disputes, required him to send the matter to an arbitrator.
And when Verizon users sued the ad company Turn for allegedly violating people's privacy with "supercookies," Turn was able to have the case sent to arbitration. That's because the lawsuit involved allegations about Verizon's tracking technology, and that company's contract with users called for arbitration of disputes.
Consumers have appealed both of those rulings, but it's not yet clear how the judges will view the issue.
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But even if the consumers lose on appeal, Internet service providers may soon find they're no longer allowed to force subscribers to waive their rights to go to court. That's because the Federal Communications Commission is considering a proposal to ban broadband providers from forcing consumers to sign mandatory arbitration clauses as a condition of receiving service.
Broadband providers, not surprisingly, oppose any attempt to restrict their ability to insist on arbitration. Verizon argues in a recent FCC filing that Congress already passed a law -- the Federal Arbitration Act -- that allows arbitration clauses.
The company goes so far as to contend that any attempt to outlaw arbitration clauses would be bad for consumers. "Multiple studies have found that consumers obtain relief in arbitration at rates higher than they do in court," Verizon contends. "Indeed, many companies -- including Verizon -- have voluntarily adopted a set of best practices designed to make arbitration even more consumer-friendly."
Whether Verizon's arguments will carry the day isn't yet known. But many observers have argued that arbitration agreements are the opposite of consumer-friendly.
At least one regulator, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, appears unimpressed with Verizon's claims. She and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) recently co-authored an op-ed arguing that Internet service providers shouldn't be able to force consumers to agree that disputes will be handled by "a private arbitration process that is inherently biased towards corporations and offers no meaningful appeals process."
"A broadband provider is not necessarily out to defraud its customers. But with mandatory arbitration clauses in place, whats to stop them from doing so?" the two wrote. "In an age where reliable and affordable internet access is an absolute necessity, we believe that you shouldnt have to give up your day in court to go online."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Fatih Karimov Trend:
Export Guarantee Fund of Iran has signed cooperation documents with German and Swiss export guarantee agencies on Oct. 25.
Kamal Seyyed Ali, head of Irans Export Guarantee Fund, signed separate memorandums of understanding with Germanys Hermes, which offers export credit guarantee (ECG), and Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV) in Lisbon, Portugal, Tasnim news agency reported Oct. 25.
Under the deals, the parties will cooperate in exchange of economic, banking, and insurance information.
The memorandums also envisage cooperation in the fields of reinsurance and joint insurance as well as training.
Seyyed Ali said that following the implementation of nuclear deal last January, various economic delegations, including representatives of export guarantee institutes have paid visits to Iran and expressed interest to resume cooperation.
A new study examines how one early example of precision medicine - tumor genome testing - is being used in women with breast cancer to reduce overtreatment and maximize the benefits of chemotherapy. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study found that physician recommendations and final treatment decisions correlated highly with test results, suggesting genome testing helped physicians identify which patients could most benefit from chemotherapy, and those for whom chemotherapy could be safely omitted. Additionally, these personalized recommendations appeared to eliminate racial/ethnic and educational disparities in testing or treatment; however, many women who were tested inaccurately recalled their test results.
Most precision medicine studies in cancer have been confined to patients enrolled in clinical trials. Few have examined how physicians in everyday practice use biomarker tests to recommend chemotherapy or have assessed patient experiences with testing and decision-making. To investigate, Christopher Friese, PhD, RN, of the University of Michigan School of Nursing in Ann Arbor, and his colleagues surveyed 3880 women who were treated for breast cancer in 2013 and 2014 in Los Angeles County, CA or the state of Georgia.
A total of 1527 patients with early stage breast cancer responded to the survey, and 778 had received the 21-gene recurrence score assay (RS), which estimates the risk of disease recurrence and the estimated benefit of chemotherapy in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Overall, 47.2% of patients with RS scores received a recommendation against chemotherapy and 40.6% received a recommendation for it. RS results correlated with recommendations: nearly all patients with high scores received a chemotherapy recommendation, whereas the majority of patients with low-risk results received a recommendation against it. Also, most patients with high RS received chemotherapy, whereas few patients with low scores received it. There were no substantial racial/ethnic differences in testing and treatment. Also, women were largely satisfied with RS and chemotherapy decisions.
"We found that most doctors were using tumor genomic tests in ways that were recommended by professional guidelines, although we found that some patients were having the test where there is no professional recommendation for the test," said Dr. Friese. "For example, about 13 percent of women whose lymph nodes were positive for breast cancer had tumor genomic testing, even though currently it is still under study whether women with positive lymph nodes will benefit from testing and resulting recommendations."
Dr. Friese also noted that although most women were highly satisfied with their experience, only 60 percent of tested women accurately recalled their test results. "This suggests that while precision medicine for breast cancer has left the station, we have also left some women behind. The oncology community needs to do a better job explaining to women the purpose of these tests, how to interpret the results, and what the results mean for their breast cancer treatment."
Article: Chemotherapy Decisions and Patient Experience with the Recurrence Score Assay for Early-Stage Breast Cancer, Christopher R. Friese, Yun Li, Irina Bondarenko, Timothy Hofer, Kevin C. Ward, Ann S. Hamilton, Dennis Deapen, Allison W. Kurian, and Steven J. Katz, CANCER, doi: 10.1002/cncr.30324, published online 24 October 2016.
A study in the current journal Oncotarget provides the first evidence linking a disturbance of the most common protein in the body with a poor outcome in pancreatic cancer.
The study reinforces growing evidence that collagen, which forms fibrous networks in skin, tendons and muscles, is intimately involved in several cancers, says the paper's corresponding author, Kevin Eliceiri, director of the Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
For the study, the Wisconsin researchers examined surgical tissues from 114 pancreatic cancer patients and identified a particular rearrangement of collagen fibers surrounding the tumor as a "biomarker" of early death.
A similar rearrangement of collagen has also been found in breast cancer, head, neck, esophageal and colorectal cancers.
"Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body," says Eliceiri. "It's a beautiful molecule - wavy, with a fibrous nature. Without it we would be a sack of nothing. With this little molecule, the specific fiber organization really matters to metastasis."
The images were created using an automated laser scanning microscope developed at LOCI that shines a laser at tumor specimens mounted on microscope slides. The laser's bright, rapid pulses interact with the collagen fibers, which glow and reveal exquisite details of their structure and relationship to nearby fibers.
The new study tested how collagen formation might affect metastasis, Eliceiri says. "We did not know anything about survival when we measured the alignment of the collagen in tumors from 114 pancreatic cancer patients. When we looked at the clinical records, we found that the tumors with highly aligned collagen fibers had the worst survival. To our knowledge, this is the first time this technique was used for prognostic purposes in pancreatic cancer."
First author Cole Drifka, a biomedical engineering postdoctoral researcher, conceived and performed the study under the supervision of Eliceiri and W. John Kao, a professor of pharmacy. "The powerful tissue resource used in this study was made possible by generous financial donations from Teresa's Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer and the Tim and Mary Ann McKenzie Chair of Surgical Oncology Professorship," says Drifka. "Above all, it was made possible by the selfless tissue donations by UW Health patients. The new tissue collection represents a blossoming institutional focus on pancreatic cancer and is now available to all campus researchers seeking to comprehend this challenging disease."
Finding and fighting metastases is a focus in cancer treatment, Eliceiri explains. "The original tumor seldom kills; poor prognosis is usually due to metastases as they spread to new tissues and organs."
The LOCI lab specializes in developing new imaging techniques for living things, with a special interest in studying cells in their microenvironment rather than in isolation. In the case of several major tumor types, the collagen matrix plays a critical role, Eliceiri says.
For reasons yet to be determined, he adds, "cancer progression seems to be associated with the reorientation of the direction of the collagen. The tumor starts with collagen wrapped around it, but when it's time to metastasize, the collagen fiber changes it alignment."
If alignment matters to metastasis, "We want to know what causes the alignment shift, because then maybe we could block that change," Eliceiri says. For example, if a signaling molecule initiates the realignment, it could be a target for drugs.
Collagen, a structural protein often involved in scarring and wound healing, is emerging as an important factor in a number of other diseases, Eliceiri says. "Collagen may be harmful or protective, but in every disease where collagen is present, it's part of the disease process."
More than a dozen labs at UW-Madison are working on various aspects of collagen. For example, Patricia Keely, professor and chair of cell and regenerative biology who studies the matrix surrounding cells, is exploring its link to breast cancer. Paul Campagnola, a professor of biomedical engineering, is exploring its link in ovarian and lung cancer. Sharon Weber, a co-author on the Oncotarget paper and a professor of surgery, concentrates on pancreatic cancer.
Understanding collagen's role in cancer could have several uses, Weber says. "Prognosis, which is our focus in this paper, is one. Can we identify some signature in the pattern of collagen that will help us understand which patients are going to do well and which are not? Might collagen patterns also help us sort out which patients should undergo surgery? The patterns of collagen in cancer might also be used to ascertain the effectiveness of chemotherapy or radiation so that we can utilize those toxic treatments in those patients who will benefit most."
In cancer, Weber says, knowledge is power. "It would be amazing if we could use these differences in collagen patterns to help discover new therapeutic targets for this devastating disease."
Article: Highly aligned stromal collagen is a negative prognostic factor following pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma resection, Cole R. Drifka, Agnes G. Loeffler, Kara Mathewson, Adib Keikhosravi, Jens C. Eickhoff, Yuming Liu, Sharon M. Weber, W. John Kao, Kevin W. Eliceiri, Oncotarget, doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.12772, published 20 October 2016.
Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the liberal pro-Western Yabloko party and its leader Grigory Yavlinsky were medium sized players in the Russian political system. With onset of the "managed democracy" under Putin and the prosecution of its major financial benefactors, Vladimir Gusinksy and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the party vanished from the Duma in the 2003 elections.
In this op-ed on Yabloko's website[1] Yavlinksy, a former vice chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers under Mikhail Gorbachev, explains the failure of Russian liberalism to achieve even an also-ran status in the recent Duma elections despite Russia's economic crisis. When Russian society is constantly bombarded by war-scare propaganda it contents itself with merely being alive. As opposed to late Soviet times, when Russian society reacted with healthy cynicism to such propaganda, in today's Russia the threat of imminent war is taken at nearly face value.
MEMRI reposts Yavlinsky's article, which has been lightly edited for clarity but conforms to the original Russian text.
(Grigory Yavlinsky, Source: Rt.com)
'Russian Society Has Been Steadily Taught To Get Accustomed To The Idea... Of A New War'
"The Russian society has been steadily taught to get accustomed to the idea of proximity and inevitability of a new war. Preparation for the war has been boosted at all levels in the past days. In the context of current Russian foreign and domestic policy and the developments taking place since 2012 [and Putin's return to the post of president], the likelihood of a major war is not very high, but for the first time in half a century the threat of a war is perceived as real. Thus, a quite alien [for Russia] war in Syria, for example, may turn into a direct military clash between Russia and the United States. Russia is deliberately moving towards this conflict.
'It Is Necessary To Frighten Everyone'
"Objectively, no direct external military threat to Russia has existed for many decades. There are, or course, potential threats, as in other countries, and therefore, the powder should be kept dry, - obviously, Russia needs modern and efficient armed forces. However, this has nothing to do with the unleashed propaganda and psychological preparation of the country's population for war.
"The military hysteria has subjective reasons behind it. The Russian government aims to compel the European countries to divide the world once again into zones of influence and recognize an authoritarian semi-criminal corporative system with an unchanging government as an equal partner. Additionally, the Kremlin does not hide its desire to limit the sovereignty of the former Soviet republics. No one in the world is willing to accept this. Therefore, Russia threatens [the world] with a war.
"Putting it quite simply, Vladimir Putin's view of the present world order is approximately as follows:
"- Honesty in politics is just what he and [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov are saying;
"- Ukrainians who think differently than the Kremlin are fascists. International treaties and laws are merely scraps of paper, and not all of them, but only those that Russia likes at the moment, should be fulfilled;
"- Donbass means a 'people's war of liberation', rather than a bloody operation arranged by Moscow to pressure the Ukrainian government;
"- Someone like [Kremlin advisor Sergey] Glazyev or like [former Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych should be the boss in Kiev instead of 'Poroshenko's junta';
"- Europeans should significantly reduce the degree of involvement in their allied relations with the United States, and conduct 'independent' policies, i.e., the policies that will appeal to Russia;
"- The post-Soviet area should be the zone of Russian interests forever, and only what Russia wants may take place there;
"- Americans should immediately understand that Russia is a center of power, like they are, because it also has nuclear weapons. Therefore, everything should be discussed with Russia on an equal basis;
"- As the world does not understand this, Russia is ready to fight, and it is going to scare everyone with war, Russia's own population above all, so that the 'dastardly' foreigners would realize that it is not a joke. The state of emergency is very beneficial.
'In Order To Maintain The Tension In The Society, The Russian Authorities Have To... Feed The Public Imagination... With A War'
"In order to maintain the tension in the society, the Russian authorities have to continuously feed the public imagination associations with a war. Here, for example, is the strange news item in the federal mass media on the formation of grain reserves in St. Petersburg, or the news about re-subordinating the governors, the police, the Emergency Situations Ministry, the Federal Security Service and even the National Guard to the Ministry of Defense in the event of war, or the stories about how the authorities enthusiastically carry out nation-wide civil defense exercises, check underground bomb shelters in Moscow, happily reporting [to the public] that the shelters will be able to accommodate all (!) the population of the metropolis.
"[The WWII German siege of] Leningrad [in the World War II and huger there], bread rations, bomb shelters, 'all for the army, all for the victory' in case of war... It is clear how such word combinations influence people's minds. Every family at once recollects that terrible war [when every Soviet family lost its members in the war]. Now a future war becomes close and even virtually tangible. All this is fertilized by a Sunday television propaganda 'sermon': an odious anchor directly links civil defense exercises with the prospect of a war with the United States.
"They are telling people: it won't be better. However, no one is going to change anything. It cannot be done now: we live in difficult times and war is about to erupt at any moment. Therefore, be grateful that we are living at least for now. After all, in summer before the [September parliamentary] elections they taught people to get used to the idea that there was no money. And in the elections they got the result, about which Vladimir Putin noted that it was surprising that people lived worse but nonetheless voted for the [ruling] United Russia party.
"Now, people are taught to get used to the fact that the country may transfer to military emergency any time. This is, apparently, a new tactics of work with population keeping in mind the presidential elections [of 2018] - [they prefer to] present people with a fait accompli rather than buy their loyalty (as they do not have means for it): that is how it is, indeed, there is no other way for the situation to improve, get adjusted to it. We are not going to change anything!
"In Soviet schools and universities students were taught in the civil defense classes how to behave in the event of a nuclear war, and a black humor joke about it was popular then. The textbook instructions [stated] that "at the outbreak of a nuclear explosion one must quickly lie down on the ground feet towards the explosion, face down and eyes closed", students usually supplemented this with a recommendation to 'cover oneself with a white sheet, and crawl slowly to the cemetery...' The reply to the question 'why slowly' was 'to avoid creating crowds and jams'.
"However, in the late Soviet period, this joke provoked only smiles. I, for example, never met a person during those years, who believed that such skills might come in handy someday. No one wanted a war and no one believed that it could take place. The society aspired to an absolutely different future, very different from the archaic style of civil defense study rooms.
"Now, many people believe in it. They think about a war and speak about it seriously. The algorithm of actions in case of an 'explosion' is restored thirty years later and is firmly imposed on the society by the state and is perceived not as something archaic but as a post-modern, surrealist, but entirely possible prospect. Now in a society pursuing 'the non-existent way', an old anecdote about 'crawling to the cemetery' ceases to be a cheerful joke "
Endnote:
Dr. 'Ali Sa'd Al-Moussa, a columnist for the Saudi daily Al-Watan, wrote on August 22, 2016 that the blood-soaked conflicts and struggles raging across the Arab world have nothing to do with Israel, and that blaming Israel for them is shallow. Al-Moussa wrote with nostalgia about the flowering of culture that took place in some Arab countries in the 1950s, contrasting it with the ignorance and extremism that are rampant there now. He argued that this decline, rather than Israel, is to blame for the devastation and ruin in today's Arab world.
The following are excerpts from his article:[1]
Dr. 'Ali Sa'd Al-Moussa (Image: Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia)
"[The world outside] the blood-soaked region between Mosul, [Syria] and Sirt, [Libya], and between Idlib, [Syria] and 'Aden, [Yemen], does not see even a tenth of the strife [that goes on in that region]... not even between the two Koreas or between the Hutu and the Tutsi in Africa. This proves that the world could have been a safer and quieter place had the Middle East not been in its midst. And I ask that none of you place the blame for this on Israel, for that is [just] a shallow excuse. Israel has nothing to do with the struggle between ISIS and [Jabhat] Al-Nusra, or with what is happening between 'Afash [a nickname for former Yemeni president 'Ali Abdullah Saleh], ['Abd Al-Malik] Al-Houthi [head of the Houthi Ansar Allah group in Yemen] and the Yemeni government, and has nothing to do with the ideological war that is raging in the distant deserts of Libya.
"We in this blood-red region on the world map are born [carrying] the gene of an unknown virus in our body, which soon awakens and multiplies, [triggering] destruction and war, hatred, exclusion and the despicable categorizing [of people]. In the last five years of internecine [fighting], we have killed tens of times more people from our own ranks than were killed in 50 years of historical wars with Israel.
"So who is to blame for this? The culprit is the awakening of ignorance[2] ... Before [Israel] was even born, when it was just an idea and promises on paper, the situation of us [Arabs] was as follows: Egypt had the first printing press outside Europe, even before Japan and China had one. It was also the world's third-largest producer of films. In the mid-1950s Beirut had 50 private libraries, more than in any French city except Paris. In the same period, Tunisia could boast that every single boy there attended a modern public school, whereas today, paradoxically, Tunisia is the country that provides the largest number of young men for ISIS. This is the awakening of ignorance. The Gordon Medical College in Sudan[3] was ranked seventh among the advanced medical colleges in the world, above Yale, Princeton and the Sorbonne. It's a shame that, with this [kind of] historical heritage, Gordon [College] - now [called] the University of Khartoum - suffices with taking visitors to see a museum where [it] exhibits the faded document [recording] its high place in the global ranking of universities.
Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Kuwait was a shining beacon [of culture] that published outstanding cultural magazines. The famous Al-'Arabi magazine circulated 500,000 copies and there wasn't a single Arabic village it didn't reach. Today if you ask the young person nearest to you, 'What do you know about Kuwait?', his only answer will be that it produces oil.
"In sum, not [only] are we born [carrying] the gene of the unknown virus of war, which comes to life the minute an Arab youth is able to carry a dagger or a sword, we are also born with the fly of sleeping [sickness], from which the Arab awakes [only] as part of the awakening of ignorance."
Endnotes:
Say what you want about Donald Trump, but youve all got to admit, the man is pretty meme worthy. Well, one artist decided to take things a step further and literally imagined the world as Trump would see it!
Yanko Tsvetkov, creator behind the hilarious and poignant Atlas of Prejudice, has designed a map that represents how the next President of The United States hopeful views his neighbours and the rest of the world.
The Trump Tower is denoted by a rather subtle image of Trumps body part and is represented in countries that house those audacious towers.
Twitter/alphadesigner
Lets head over to our good old India to see what Trump thinks of our country!
Twitter/alphadesigner
Well, at the very least, Trump thinks that weve got a lot of Sexy Chicks! I say, good for us.
Below is the complete map of the World according to Trump. Lets all take a moment to really think about what would happen if this man was the most powerful person on the planet!
Twitter/alphadesigner
Tehran, Iran, Oct. 25
By Mehdi Sepahvand Trend:
Iranian offshore oil and gas companies are attending Offshore Energy Exhibition 2016 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, SHANA news agency reported October 25.
One of the major events during the exhibit is an Iranian conference with tens of Iranian and European companies in offshore industry.
Iranian Ambassador to the Netherlands Alireza Jahangiri will deliver the opening speech of the conference which will be attended also by high ranking officials from the National Iranian Oil Company as well as other related companies.
Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference (OEEC) is the only dedicated offshore energy event in the Netherlands. Founded in 2008, OEEC has been breaking records year after year.
This annual event is focused on the complete offshore energy industry, from oil & gas to wind and marine energy and is held on October 25 and 26, 2016 in the Europe Complex of the Amsterdam RAI.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Fatih Karimov Trend:
Bosnia and Herzegovina can facilitate Irans entry into the European markets, said Bakir Izetbegovic, head of presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Izetbegovic made the remarks during a joint press conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran Oct. 25, IRINN TV reported.
He said the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or nuclear deal) has provided good grounds for development of bilateral relations between Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He further said that Tehran and Sarajevo must take steps to facilitate grounds for mutual investment.
We will sign agreements for cooperation between the small and medium-sized enterprises of the two countries, Izetbegovic said, adding that facilitating visa issuance and easing bank cooperation are two necessary measures, which should be taken by both countries.
He also referred to tourism as a good sector for cooperation between the two sides.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Izetbegovic said Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina will cooperate in fighting terrorism and extremism, and promoting the true image of Islam.
Rouhani, for his part, said that Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoy friendly ties from beginning, underlining that the JCPOA has provided grounds for development of relations between the two countries.
He said the two parties discussed regional issues as well, highlighting extremism and terrorism as common threats to both countries.
Peaceful coexistence was emphasized by two sides as a basis for peace and stability, Rouhani added.
He also said that promoting moderate Islam can form a basis for peaceful coexistence of all people.
Izetbegovic arrived in Tehran on Oct. 25 morning and held a meeting with Rouhani after an official welcome ceremony.
There has been a growing enthusiasm for closer ties with Iran after the JCPOA came into force last January.
Rouhani has already announced that Tehran welcomes warmer ties with the European countries, noting that such cooperation will greatly contribute to the settlement of regional and international issues.
Innovation Mercks response to Ebola outbreaks Along with international agencies and governments, Merck has played and continues to play a leadership role in responding to Ebola.
Ebola Zaire virus has had a devastating impact on the world and has proved itself to be a deadly and extremely contagious disease. Since its discovery in 1976, the global health community has been working towards stopping its spread and saving communities from its impact.
Along with international agencies and governments, Merck has played and continues to play a leadership role in responding to Ebola. Merck, in collaboration with our public and private global partners, remains committed to supporting current and future outbreak response efforts.
Ebola outbreak response efforts provide key learnings for the global community on the handling of public health crises, including pandemics. Thankfully we continue to make progress in the fight against Ebola.
Merck support
Since 2014, Merck has provided cash donations to a number of organizations involved in Ebola relief and recovery efforts.
Direct Relief
Funding helped support the transport of medical supplies to the region. Donated Merck products were also included in these shipments.
Project HOPE
Funds went towards conducting an assessment in Sierra Leone to determine specific strategies to stop the spread of the Ebola virus and prevent future outbreaks. Merck also sent two infectious disease experts who specialize in infection control to join a team of other specialists to advise and conduct a rapid assessment of the response and relief efforts on the ground.
International Medical Corps
Funding helped build, staff and provide training on effective Ebola isolation units and referral systems at the Phebe and C.B. Dunbar Hospitals in Bong County, Liberia.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Khalid Kazimov Trend:
Iranian Foreign Ministry has hailed the EUs recent resolution on normalization of ties with Iran.
This issue [passing the resolution] demonstrates the positive will of the EU towards expansion and deepening of bilateral ties with Iran in all spheres, IRNA quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying.
According to the report, the EU passed a resolution Oct. 25 on the Islamic Republic, namely EU strategy towards Iran after the nuclear agreement.
Acknowledging the Islamic Republics international and regional role in establishing stability and peace in the region, the resolution emphasizes on the necessity of the constructive participation of our country in resolving regional disputes as well as fighting terrorism, in particular Daesh [the Islamic State terrorist group] and other similar groups, he said.
According to the spokesperson, the resolution also calls for expansion of ties with Iran in diplomatic, economic, energy, scientific, educational and research fields.
Iranian spokesman further called on the EU to find certain solutions to broaden its ties with Iran in the post-sanctions era.
He touched upon Irans missile program, saying the countrys missile tests are carried out in the framework of the countrys defense doctrine.
Irans defense capabilities are not negotiable , he added.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
Trend:
The mechanism of settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be reconsidered, Arzu Naghiyev, deputy director general of Trend Agency, said October 25.
Naghiyev, who is also a political analyst, said that in an interview with Sputnik News Agency, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev voiced the most impartial position on the current processes around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The president stressed that the Azerbaijani side agrees on a gradual settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he said. As for Nagorno-Karabakhs status, the president stated that there can be no compromise on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
The president said there can be a compromise on the local self-government, the self-government of Nagorno-Karabakh, and if an agreement is reached in the future, this can be an autonomous republic, he added.
Elsewhere in his comments, Naghiyev said the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group consider their mission accomplished with making statements.
The main problem is that there is no mechanism of influence on Armenia, he added.
Despite that the OSCE Minsk Group acts under the auspices of the UN, no sanctions are imposed on Armenia and only declarative statements are made, he said.
So far, 11 countries which are members of the OSCE Minsk Group, have not voiced a joint appeal on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Naghiyev said. Azerbaijan, observing all norms of international law, stands ready to hold discussions with Armenia on Nagorno-Karabakhs status within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, provided liberation of our territories.
Unfortunately, Armenia disagrees with this, he said. Moreover, Armenia promised independence as a status to the separatist forces in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is impossible. Therefore, there are problems with the conflict settlement.
Taking into account the abovementioned, appropriate actions must be taken in the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk group must deal with the problem more seriously. This means that the conflict settlement mechanism must be reconsidered, he said.
Commenting on the acquisition of long-range missiles by Armenia, Naghiyev said the Armenian economy is not so developed to have the funds to purchase Iskander missiles or other long-range missiles.
All this is just a simulated attempt to demonstrate power, which means that Armenia does not want to negotiate, he added. Making political maneuvers, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is trying to keep power. Therefore, it is necessary to increase efforts on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.25
By Orkhan Quluzade Trend:
In case of necessity, the Turkish Armed Forces may start ground operations in Iraq, Hurriyet newspaper reported citing Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Oct. 25.
In case events in Iraq threaten Turkeys security, Ankara is ready to take all necessary measures in the framework of international law, said the minister.
In the framework of the Euphrates Shield operation in Syria, Turkey cooperates with all parties which are against the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS). A strong cooperation system was created after normalization of relations between Turkey and Russia. We exchange intelligence information in all fields, and commanders of the General Staffs of the two countries communicate on a regular basis, added Cavusoglu.
Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously announces preparations of the Turkish Armed Forces to ground operations to liberate the ISIS-held Mosul city in Iraq.
The operation to regain Iraqi state governments control over Mosul began October 17 morning. In addition to Iraqi government forces, the operation involves local militia Peshmerga (Kurdish fighters in Northern Iraq). The attack is supported by the international Anti-Terrorism Coalitions Air Force.
Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq with a population of 1.3 million people, has been under the IS control for more than two years. Mosul was surrendered almost without a fight during the extremists attack in June 2014. The Islamic State considers Mosul as its main stronghold in Iraq.
Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed over 500,000 lives.
Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The IS, YPG and PYD are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.
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Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade
Jorge Batlle, a veteran politician who was the fourth member of his Catalan immigrant family to be president of Uruguay, died on Monday, a day before his 89th birthday, Reuters reported.
Battle died at Sanatorio Americano clinic in Montevideo following an operation to treat a blood clot following a fall earlier this month, the clinic said.
A centrist leader of the right-wing Colorado Party, he sought closer ties and free trade pacts with the United States during his 2000-2005 presidency that was also marked by one of the South American country's worst-ever financial crises.
In 2002, Uruguay broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba after Cuban leader Fidel Castro called Batlle a "lackey" of the United States for backing U.S. criticism of rights abuses under his communist government.
Batlle caused a diplomatic incident with neighboring Argentina in 2002 when he said in an interview that its government was very corrupt and Argentines were "a bunch of thieves." He was forced to fly to Buenos Aires a few days later to apologize.
He also created controversy by saying he favored legalizing cocaine to end the power of drug cartels. "If that little powder was worth only 10 cents, there would be no organizations dedicated to raising a billion dollars to finance armies in Colombia," he said in 2002.
The name of the Batlle political dynasty abounds in the South American country - on streets signs and squares and in its history books. Previous presidents in the family were Lorenzo Batlle (1868-1872), Jose Batlle (1903-1907 and 1911-1915) and Luis Batlle (1947-1951), Jorge Batlle's father.
A fiery orator with flowing gray hair and a slightly disheveled, bohemian appearance, the tall and slim Batlle won the presidency on his fourth attempt.
He was a free-marketeer in economic policy and cultivated a friendship with former U.S. President George H.W. Bush. In 2002 Batlle secured an emergency $1.5 billion loan from the United States under George W. Bush to help resolve a banking crisis.
A former lawyer and respected radio journalist, he was imprisoned for several months after a military coup in 1973 and banned from political activity in 1976. He was elected to the Senate in 1984 general elections for a government to replace the military dictatorship which stood down in March 1985.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 25
By Orkhan Quluzade Trend:
Turkeys Interior Ministry announced a reward of 4 million liras (3.0775 TL/USD on Oct. 25) for the information about whereabouts of Adil Oksuz, a member of the movement of Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of involvement in the July 15 coup attempt, Hurriyet newspaper reported Oct. 25.
Oksuz was a coordinator of the Gulen movement in the Turkish Air Force, said the report.
He was arrested at the Akinci air base immediately after the failed coup attempt July 16. However, he was released after the first interrogation.
On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them. However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed.
Previously Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people, excluding the coup plotters, and over 2,000 people were wounded.
He also declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20. It was decided to prolong the state of emergency for 90 more days on Oct. 3
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Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade
People crowd to view UAV models exhibited on the 16th Aviation Expo China at China National Convention Center on Sept. 16, 2015, in Beijing, China. (Photo : Getty Images)
Scientists and engineers in China are developing solar-powered drones capable of staying airborne for at least a month, a senior designer has revealed.
Shi Wen, head of unmanned aircraft development at the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA), told the China Daily on Monday that his team has developed prototypes utilizing new technologies and equipment.
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Last week, the team flew a giant solar-powered drone for the first time at an airport in northwestern China. The 14-meter-long drone has a 45-meter wingspan, "longer than a Boeing 737," and can carry a payload of up to 20 kilograms, Shi was quoted as saying.
He said the mass-produced versions are expected to fly for one to six months.
"We plan to make one that can stay in the air for five years. Our next-generation drones will have a 60- to 70-meter wingspan and will be able to carry a payload of at least 50 kg," Shi said.
A scale model of the drone is part of several designs developed by the academy that will go on show at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, also known as the Zhuhai Air Show, on Nov. 1.
CAAA began its foray into drone technology in 2002 and has conducted its first test flight three years later, Shi said, adding that the academy's engineers have gone on to develop advanced aerodynamic designs, ultralight frames, flight control systems, and high-quality solar cells.
The scientists are continuing to work on improved batteries and motors, he said, noting that China is already one of the world's major producers of solar-powered drones, next only to the United States.
CAAA, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, is one of China's biggest developers of military-grade drones. Shi said one its models, the CH series, has been sold to 20 military buyers in more than 10 countries.
Solar-powered drones are capable of flying at altitudes of 20 to 30 kilometers for long periods of time, making them suitable for use as "atmospheric satellites" to provide services conventionally dominated by space satellites, Shi said.
He added that the drones pose big potential in military reconnaissance, electronic warfare, maritime surveillance, traffic navigation, telecommunications, and aerial surveys.
Shi expressed hope that the solar-powered drones will be well received in the market and said they have already received a lot of attention from potential customers.
Wu Peixin, an aviation industry analyst in Beijing, said researchers around the world are racing to develop high-efficiency solar cells, reliable ultralight frames, and more efficient power management systems to for use in mass-produced solar-powered drones.
Among the contenders is social media titan Facebook, which is currently developing a drone called Aquila that will transmit Internet signals to rural areas that lack the telecom infrastructure for Web connectivity.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has also developed the solar-powered AtlantikSolar UAV as a testbed to demonstrate new technologies.
Chinas Love/Hate Relationship with GMOs: Government Pursues Plans for Its GMO Program, Faces Opposition from Citizens
Top view: A reaper works in a rice field in Tarim reclamation area of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Oct. 11, 2016. (Photo : Getty Images)
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because it has eight legs.
That could be the most recent answer to this old joke.
As the thought of raising chickens with eight legs still might haunt many Chinese citizens who think that such abnormality might be possible when it comes to genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, the government, on the other hand, grooms itself to be a major player in GMOs, with no less than President Xi Jinping pushing for it, reported The New York Times.
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We cant let big foreign companies dominate our G.M.O. crops market, said Xi in a 2013 speech.
The move by state-owned China National Chemical Corp. (ChemChina) to acquire Swiss agriculture and biotechnology company Syngenta for a cool $43 billion affirms the countrys plans to produce and market GMO products on a global scale.
Qin Zhongda, who once served as Chemical Industry Minister and as vice chairman of the committee on environmental protection, strongly, as quoted by The Paper, opposes the purchase, according to Sixth Tone.
Nearly 460 people signed--Qin signed first--a letter addressed to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council to express disapproval.
The letters describes the pending deal as suicidal and a disaster.
If Qin would rely on scientific journals and similar literature to educate himself with GMOs as he revealed in his interview with The Paper, the public could sometimes be swayed by unfounded online reports.
In 2015, many Chinese citizens possibly believed the allegations they read via popular instant messaging platform WeChat about KFCs purportedly genetically modified chickens having six wings and eight legs.
American fast-food company Yum! Brands sued the three Chinese companies who used WeChat to post the said claims that its fried-chicken chain KFC was raising unimaginable breed of chickens, reported Reuters.
It appears that the government needs to disseminate more information about GMOs to create a better public awareness--and eventually, acceptance.
People Versus Government
With only 7-9 percent of its land remaining arable plus climate change, heavy pollution, rapid urbanization and growing population to deal with, China considers relying on GMOs to increase yields.
Bruce Babcock, an agricultural economist and a professor at Iowa State University, said to business site Marketplace that through biotechnology, crops could be drought-resistant.
As the government acknowledges the necessity for GMOs, the public continues to express dissenting views.
Many Chinese simply dont like GMOs.
The recent food scandal that hit the country in September regarding falsified reports on GMOs only intensified public frustration, according to Bloomberg.
People likewise raise safety concerns towards GMOs.
To Eat, or Not to Eat GMOs, That Is the Question
GMOs are organisms--animals, plants, microorganisms--whose DNA or genetic makeup were modified or altered by humans through the use of scientific methods, such as biotechnology and genetic engineering.
Throughout the years, reputable organizations have affirmed the safety of genetically engineered plants or transgenic crops, according to the 2016 report, Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects by the Washington, D.C.-based The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
In 2014, the World Health Organization said, No effects on human health have been shown as a result of consumption of such foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved.
For the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in a 2012 statement: Crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe.
To date, no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population, said the National Research Council way back in 2004.
One Chilean non-profit organization, which exists to inform and educate on agricultural biotechnology, with clear, transparent and backed by scientific studies and/or reliable sources, according to its website, likewise promotes support for GMOs.
The current scientific consensus states that the risks of food products derived from GM crops are essentially the same as those of conventional crops, said Gremial ChileBIO CropLife Association or ChileBIO.
For many intellectuals--Nobel Prize recipients to be exact--biotechnology contributes to crop improvement.
As of Oct. 24, Support Precision Agriculture, the official site of the Nobel Laureates pro-GMO campaign, already gathered 121 signatures from Nobel Laureates in medicine, chemistry, physics, economics, literature and peace.
On a letter dated June 29, 2016 and addressed to non-governmental environmental group Greenpeace, the United Nations and all countries, the signatories urge Greenpeace and its supporters to re-examine the experience of farmers and consumers worldwide with crops and foods improved through biotechnology, recognize the findings of authoritative scientific bodies and regulatory agencies, and abandon their campaign against GMOs in general.
The site gives three reasons why GMOs should be supported: GMOs are safe, green and especially important for small farmers.
As it appears that the government is quite convinced on the benefits it could derive from GMOs, it should now perhaps begin planting more information about genetically modified crops on the minds of the people to harvest greater public trust.
China will lead the robotics industry by 2018. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese robotic technology has reached new levels in terms of innovation but will still need to go a long way, according to experts.
Zhao Jie, a mechanic professor at Harbin Institute of Technology said that the growth of the robotic sector is challenged by the lack of competence to mass-produce reliable key robot parts such as speed reducers.
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Zhao said, "Most of the components are still imported from foreign countries, which increases the cost of robots."
In 2013, China has surpassed Japan as the world's biggest market for industrial robots, according to the International Federation of Robotics. But for every 10,000 employees, there are still only 36 robots in China, compared with 478 in South Korea, 292 in Germany and 164 in the United States in 2014.
"There has never been such a dynamic rise in such a short period of time in any other market," wrote the robotics industry analysts.
The robotics federation estimates that China will produce more than one-third of the industrial robots in 2018, more than doubling over the next two years from 262,900 currently to 614,200 and will be the leading manufacturer of robots globally.
Michael Wang, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said, "Advances in technology, robots would become increasingly affordable and what really mattered was how to expand various application scenarios."
He added, "Currently, most robotic arms are deployed in the automotive industry, whose products are highly standardized. But when it comes to the consumer electronics sector, robots are still not smart enough to assemble smartphones, which require the flexibility of human hands. That is the direction robot makers should move forward."
Wing Chu, a senior economist at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said that China will need to develop core technologies in all aspects.
"In the longer term, China wants to upgrade all its industries," he said.
The Michigan State Police Caro Post is investigating a fatal house fire.
According to police, Tuscola 911 received calls of a house fire at 8:30 p.m. Saturday on Wireline Road west of M-24.
"When the Caro Fire Department arrived, the rear of the residence was fully engulfed in flames," states a news release. "After the fire was extinguished, fire personnel located the body of the victim within the residence."
The victim, who resided at the house, is a 70-year-old Caro man.
"He was alone in the house and lived alone," the release states. "His name is not being released until his next of kin are notified."
The Caro MSP Post was assisted at the scene by the Caro, Fairgrove, Mayville and Akron fire departments. Caro Police and MMR also assisted.
"Caro Post detectives along with the MSP Third District Fire Investigation Unit continue to investigate this incident," the release states. "Anyone with information is asked tocontact the Michigan State Police Caro Post (at 989-673-2156)."
Ingredion Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells starches and sweeteners for various industries. It operates through four segments: North America; South America; Asia-Pacific; and Europe, Middle East and Africa. The company offers sweetener products comprising glucose syrups, high maltose syrups, high fructose corn syrups, caramel colors, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrins, and glucose syrup solids, as well as food-grade and industrial starches, biomaterials, and nutrition ingredients. It also provides edible corn oil; refined corn oil to packers of cooking oil and to producers of margarine, salad dressings, shortening, mayonnaise, and other foods; and corn gluten feed used as protein feed for chickens, pet food, and aquaculture, as well as fruit and vegetable products, such as concentrates, purees and essences, pulse proteins, and hydrocolloids systems and blends. The company's products are derived primarily from processing corn and other starch-based materials, such as tapioca, potato, and rice. It serves food, beverage, brewing, and animal nutrition industries. The company was formerly known as Corn Products International, Inc. and changed its name to Ingredion Incorporated in June 2012. Ingredion Incorporated was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Westchester, Illinois.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals, as well as oil and gas. Its assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Tyrone and Chino in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. The company also operates a portfolio of oil and gas properties primarily located in offshore California and the Gulf of Mexico. As of December 31, 2021, it operated approximately 135 wells. The company was formerly known as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and changed its name to Freeport-McMoRan Inc. in July 2014. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Xi Jinping want an extradition treaty between Canada and China. (Photo : Getty Images)
Every year, many Chinese citizens are still sent back to the mainland by the Canadian government. These deportations have been occurring despite the ongoing negotiations for an extradition treaty.
According to Canada Border Services Agency data, the previous Conservative government sent back more than 330 individuals and this year, Canada has returned 24 people to China.
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"The return of inadmissible persons is a normal part of the bilateral relationship with any country. Nothing has changed with this policy since the change in government in 2015," said Nicholas Dorion of the Canada Border Services Agency.
Stephen Harper in 2014 said that that Canada was eager to collaborate on the return of fugitives. He received praise from China's ambassador to Canada at the time, Luo Zhaohui, and Harper even "stressed that Canada has no intention to 'harbor fugitives.'"
Daniel Jean, former deputy foreign minister, issued a memorandum in 2014 stating, "It is in Canada's interest to have such persons removed."
By 2015, 33 Chinese nationals have been deported. This is the highest number in 10 years.
According to government documents, Jean participated in a "working group on the repatriation of inadmissible foreign nationals." A briefing note indicated that Canadians "do not believe it would be useful to refer to fugitives in the title of this working group and would prefer if China not uses the term when discussing (it)."
Foreign affairs critic Peter Kent said, "We still haven't had a clarification or an explanation from the government on why they're doing this, whether there were strings attached."
"It doesn't make sense to negotiate a formal treaty if some of the people that are probably on the China wish list could very well be subject to either capital punishment or imprisonment," he said.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut.
Ennis, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells business forms and other business products in the United States. The company offers snap sets, continuous forms, laser cut sheets, tags, labels, envelopes, integrated products, jumbo rolls, and pressure sensitive products under the Ennis, Royal Business Forms, Block Graphics, Specialized Printed Forms, 360 Custom Labels, ColorWorx, Enfusion, Uncompromised Check Solutions, VersaSeal, Ad Concepts, FormSource Limited, Star Award Ribbon Company, Witt Printing, B&D Litho, Genforms, PrintGraphics, Calibrated Forms, PrintXcel, Printegra, Falcon Business Forms, Forms Manufacturers, Mutual Graphics, TRI-C Business Forms, Major Business Systems, Independent Printing, Hoosier Data Forms, Hayes Graphics, Wright Business Graphics, Wright 360, Integrated Print & Graphics, the Flesh Company, Impressions Direct, Ace Forms, and AmeriPrint brands. It also provides point of purchase advertising for large franchise and fast-food chains, as well as kitting and fulfillment under the Adams McClure brand name; and presentation and document folders under the Admore, Folder Express, and Independent Folders brands. In addition, the company offers custom printed, high performance labels, and custom and stock tags under the Ennis Tag & Label brand name; custom and stock tags and labels under the Allen-Bailey Tag & Label, Atlas Tag & Label, Kay Toledo Tag, and Special Service Partners brands; custom and imprinted envelopes under the Trade Envelopes, Block Graphics, Wisco, and National Imprint Corporation brands; and financial and security documents under the Northstar and General Financial Supply, and Infoseal brands. It distributes business products and forms through independent distributors. The company was formerly known as Ennis Business Forms, Inc. Ennis, Inc. was incorporated in 1909 and is headquartered in Midlothian, Texas.
General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries; and manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food. The company markets its products under the Annie's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, EPIC, Fiber One, Food Should Taste Good, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto's, Go-Gurt, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Helpers, Jus-Rol, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Liberte, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Oui, Pillsbury, Progresso, Raisin Nut Bran, Total, Totino's, Trix, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, Yoki, and Yoplait trademarks. It sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores, as well as drug, dollar, and discount chains. The company operates 466 leased and 392 franchise ice cream parlors. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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.
Morgan Stanley is the 6th largest financial institution in the US. The company is ranked 61st on the Forbes Fortune 500 list and is the 39th largest bank in the world. A financial holding company, Morgan Stanley provides a full range of financial services to clients around the world.
Morgan Stanley was formed in 1935 as a result of the Glass-Steagall Act. Glass-Steagall separated commercial and investment banking in a way that forced the then-largest bank J.P. Morgan & Co to split into two groups. J.P. Morgan & Co. chose to retain the commercial side of the business while partners Henry S. Morga, grandson of J.P., and Harold Stanley took the investment end. In its first year, Morgan Stanley did 24% of the IPO business and maintains a lions share of the market to this day.
The original company existed and grew through acquisitions until 1987 when it merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co. The new Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Co existed for 14 years until 2001 when the name was shortened back to Morgan Stanley.
The bank is credited in part with both beginning and ending the financial crisis of 2007/2008. The Process Driven Trading unit lost $300 million in one day due to a short-squeeze that popped the bubble in the housing market. After teetering on the brink of failure Morgan Stanley agreed to become a bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve, a key factor in the original decision to split from parent J.P. Morgan & Co. Ironically when given the chance, present-day J.P. Morgan refused to buy Morgan Stanley but that was for the better.
Today, Morgan Stanley operates through three segments via offices in 41 countries and employs more than 75,000 people. Revenue in 2021 topped $49 billion and total assets topped $1.15 trillion.
The operating segments are Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments. The Institutional Securities segment is by far the largest and most profitable. It offers a range of services and products for businesses, institutions, and entities that include capital raising, strategic advisory, underwriting, advice on M&A, restructuring, and real estate. The Wealth Management segment provides brokerage and investment advisory services for individuals and employers. The services include brokerage, financial planning, company stock-plan administration, insurance, mortgage loans, lines of credit, and retirement planning. The Investment Management segment provides investment products to a range of institutions, organizations, corporations, and governments.
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Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. The Consumer Banking and Lending segment offers diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses. Its financial products and services include checking and savings accounts, and credit and debit cards, as well as home, auto, personal, and small business lending services. The Commercial Banking segment provides financial solutions to private, family owned, and certain public companies. Its products and services include banking and credit products across various industry sectors and municipalities, secured lending and lease products, and treasury management services. The Corporate and Investment Banking segment offers a suite of capital markets, banking, and financial products and services to corporate, commercial real estate, government, and institutional clients. Its products and services comprise corporate banking, investment banking, treasury management, commercial real estate lending and servicing, equity, and fixed income solutions, as well as sales, trading, and research capabilities services. The Wealth and Investment Management segment provides personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, and trust and fiduciary products and services to affluent, high-net worth, and ultra-high-net worth clients. It also operates through financial advisors. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
The following companies are subsidiares of Johnson & Johnson: 3Dintegrated ApS, ALZA Corporation, AMO (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd Beijing Branch, AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd Guangzhou Branch, AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd., AMO ASIA LIMITED, AMO Asia Limited (Korea Branch), AMO Asia Limited Taiwan Branch (Hong Kong), AMO Australia Pty Limited, AMO Australia Pty Limited (New Zealand Branch), AMO Canada Company, AMO Denmark ApS, AMO Development LLC, AMO France, AMO Germany GmbH, AMO Groningen B.V., AMO International Holdings Unlimited Company, AMO Ireland, AMO Ireland Ireland Branch, AMO Italy SRL, AMO Japan K.K., AMO Manufacturing USA LLC, AMO Netherlands BV, AMO Nominee Holdings LLC, AMO Norway AS, AMO Puerto Rico Manufacturing Inc., AMO Sales and Service Inc., AMO Singapore Pte. Ltd., AMO Spain Holdings LLC, AMO Switzerland GmbH, AMO U.K. Holdings LLC, AMO United Kingdom Ltd., AMO Uppsala AB, AUB Holdings LLC, Abott Medical Optics, Acclarent Inc., Actelion Ltd, Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Actelion Pharmaceuticals US Inc., Actelion Treasury Unlimited Company, Akros Medical Inc., Albany Street LLC, Alios BioPharma, Alza Land Management Inc., Anakuria Therapeutics Inc., Animas Diabetes Care LLC, Animas LLC, Animas Technologies LLC, AorTx Inc., Apsis, Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Asia Pacific Holdings LLC, Atrionix Inc., Auris Health, Auris Health Inc., Backsvalan 2 Aktiebolag, Backsvalan 6 Handelsbolag, Beijing Dabao Cosmetics Co. Ltd., BeneVir BioPharm Inc., Berna Rhein B.V., BioMedical Enterprises Inc., Biosense Webster (Israel) Ltd., Biosense Webster Inc., Branch of Johnson & Johnson LLC (RU) in Kazakhstan, C Consumer Products Denmark ApS, CSATS Inc., Calibra Medical LLC, Campus-Foyer Apotheke GmbH, Carlo Erba OTC S.r.l., Centocor Biologics LLC, Centocor Research & Development Inc., Cerenovus Inc., ChromaGenics B.V., Ci:Labo Customer Marketing Co. Ltd., Ci:Labo USA Inc., Ci:z Holdings, Ci:z. Labo Co. Ltd., Cilag AG, Cilag GmbH International, Cilag Holding AG, Cilag Holding Treasury Unlimited Company, Cilag-Biotech S.L., CoTherix Inc., Coherex Medical Inc., ColBar LifeScience Ltd., Company Store.com Inc., Conor MedSystems, Cordis International Corporation, Cordis de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Corimmun GmbH, DePuy Hellas SA, DePuy International Limited, DePuy Ireland Unlimited Company, DePuy Mexico S.A. de C.V., DePuy Mitek LLC, DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., DePuy Products Inc., DePuy Spine LLC, DePuy Synthes Gorgan Limited, DePuy Synthes Inc., DePuy Synthes Institute LLC, DePuy Synthes Leto SARL, DePuy Synthes Products Inc., DePuy Synthes Sales Inc., Debs-Vogue Corporation (Proprietary) Limited, Dutch Holding LLC, ECL7 LLC, EES Holdings de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EES S.A. de C.V., EIT Emerging Implant Technologies GmbH, Ethicon Endo-Surgery (Europe) GmbH, Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc., Ethicon Endo-Surgery LLC, Ethicon Inc., Ethicon LLC, Ethicon PR Holdings Unlimited Company, Ethicon Sarl, Ethicon US LLC, Ethicon Women's Health & Urology Sarl, Ethnor (Proprietary) Limited, Ethnor Farmaceutica S.A., Ethnor del Istmo S.A., FMS Future Medical System SA, Finsbury (Development) Limited, Finsbury (Instruments) Limited, Finsbury Medical Limited, Finsbury Orthopaedics International Limited, Finsbury Orthopaedics Limited, GH Biotech Holdings Limited, GMED Healthcare BV, GMED Healthcare BV (Branch), Global Investment Participation B.V., Guangzhou Bioseal Biotech Co. Ltd., Hansen Medical Deutschland GmbH, Hansen Medical Inc., Hansen Medical International Inc., Hansen Medical UK Limited, Healthcare Services (Shanghai) Ltd., Hickory Merger Sub Inc., I.D. Acquisition Corp., Innomedic Gesellschaft fur innovative Medizintechnik und Informatik mbH, Innovative Surgical Solutions LLC, J & J Company West Africa Limited, J&J Pension Trustees Limited, J-C Health Care Ltd., J.C. General Services BV, JJ Surgical Vision Spain S.L., JJC Acquisition Company B.V., JJHC LLC, JJSV Belgium BV, JJSV Manufacturing Malaysia SDN. BHD., JJSV Norden AB, JJSV Produtos Oticos Ltda., JNJ Global Business Services s.r.o., JNJ Holding EMEA B.V., JNJ International Investment LLC, JOM Pharmaceutical Services Inc., Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy (Holding) Limited, Janssen BioPharma LLC, Janssen Biologics (Ireland) Limited, Janssen Biologics B.V., Janssen Biotech Inc., Janssen Cilag C.A., Janssen Cilag Farmaceutica S.A., Janssen Cilag S.p.A., Janssen Cilag SPA, Janssen Development Finance Unlimited Company, Janssen Diagnostics LLC, Janssen Egypt LLC, Janssen Farmaceutica Portugal Lda, Janssen Global Services LLC, Janssen Holding GmbH, Janssen Inc., Janssen Irish Finance Unlimited Company, Janssen Korea Ltd., Janssen Oncology Inc., Janssen Ortho LLC, Janssen Pharmaceutica (Proprietary) Limited, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Janssen Pharmaceutica S.A., Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Janssen Pharmaceutical Sciences Unlimited Company, Janssen Pharmaceutical Unlimited Company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. Japan Branch, Janssen Products LP, Janssen R&D Ireland Unlimited Company, Janssen Research & Development LLC, Janssen Sciences Ireland Unlimited Company, Janssen Scientific Affairs LLC, Janssen Supply Group LLC, Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V., Janssen Vaccines Branch of Cilag GmbH International, Janssen Vaccines Corp., Janssen-Cilag, Janssen-Cilag (New Zealand) Limited, Janssen-Cilag A/S, Janssen-Cilag AG, Janssen-Cilag AS, Janssen-Cilag Aktiebolag, Janssen-Cilag B.V., Janssen-Cilag Farmaceutica Lda., Janssen-Cilag Farmaceutica Ltda., Janssen-Cilag GmbH, Janssen-Cilag International NV, Janssen-Cilag Kft., Janssen-Cilag Kft. Branch Office, Janssen-Cilag Limited, Janssen-Cilag Manufacturing LLC, Janssen-Cilag NV, Janssen-Cilag OY, Janssen-Cilag Pharma GmbH, Janssen-Cilag Pharmaceutical S.A.C.I., Janssen-Cilag Polska Sp. z o.o., Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd, Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd (Branch), Janssen-Cilag S.A., Janssen-Cilag S.A., Janssen-Cilag S.A. de C.V., Janssen-Cilag de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Janssen-Cilag s.r.o., Janssen-Pharma S.L., Jevco Holding Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson (Angola) Limitada, Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd., Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd. Beijing Branch, Johnson & Johnson (Egypt) S.A.E., Johnson & Johnson (Hong Kong) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Ireland) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Jamaica) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Kenya) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc., Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc. (DHCC Branch), Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc. (JAFZA Branch), Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc. Service Center (DAFZA Branch), Johnson & Johnson (Mozambique) Limitada, Johnson & Johnson (Namibia) (Proprietary) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (New Zealand) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Philippines) Inc., Johnson & Johnson (Private) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Thailand) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson (Trinidad) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Vietnam) Co. Ltd, Johnson & Johnson - Societa' Per Azioni, Johnson & Johnson AB, Johnson & Johnson AB Eesti filiaal (Branch), Johnson & Johnson AG, Johnson & Johnson AG (Zuchwil Branch), Johnson & Johnson Belgium Finance Company BV, Johnson & Johnson Bulgaria EOOD, Johnson & Johnson China Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Consumer (Hong Kong) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer (Thailand) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer B.V., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health Care Switzerland Branch of Janssen-Cilag AG, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Holdings France, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (Dominican Republic Branch), Johnson & Johnson Consumer NV, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Saudi Arabia Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Services EAME Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Del Paraguay S.A., Johnson & Johnson Dominicana S.A.S., Johnson & Johnson Enterprise Innovation Inc., Johnson & Johnson European Treasury Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson Finance Corporation, Johnson & Johnson Finance Limited, Johnson & Johnson Financial Services GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Financial Services GmbH (Branch Office), Johnson & Johnson Gateway LLC, Johnson & Johnson Gesellschaft m.b.H., Johnson & Johnson GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Guatemala S.A., Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc., Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions Inc., Johnson & Johnson Hellas Commercial and Industrial S.A., Johnson & Johnson Hellas Consumer Products Commercial Societe Anonyme, Johnson & Johnson Hemisferica S.A., Johnson & Johnson Holding GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Inc., Johnson & Johnson Industrial Ltda., Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC Inc., Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Limited, Johnson & Johnson International, Johnson & Johnson International (Belgian Branch) (European Logistics Center), Johnson & Johnson International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Johnson & Johnson International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (Branch), Johnson & Johnson International Financial Services Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson K.K., Johnson & Johnson Kft., Johnson & Johnson Korea Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Korea Selling & Distribution LLC, Johnson & Johnson LLC, Johnson & Johnson Lda, Johnson & Johnson Limited, Johnson & Johnson Limited (Sri Lanka Branch), Johnson & Johnson Luxembourg Finance Company Sarl, Johnson & Johnson Management Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical (China) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical (Proprietary) Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Medical (Shanghai) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical (Shanghai) Ltd. Beijing Branch, Johnson & Johnson Medical (Suzhou) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical B.V., Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices & Diagnostics Group - Latin America L.L.C., Johnson & Johnson Medical GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Medical Korea Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical Mexico S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson Medical NV, Johnson & Johnson Medical Products GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Medical Pty Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Medical S.A., Johnson & Johnson Medical S.C.S., Johnson & Johnson Medical S.p.A., Johnson & Johnson Medical SAS, Johnson & Johnson Medical Saudi Arabia Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical Taiwan Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Ankara Branch), Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Izmir Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East - Scientific Office, Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ - LLC (Lebanese Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC, Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC (Ghana Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC (Kenya Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC Branch (TSO) (Saudi Arabia Branch), Johnson & Johnson Morocco Societe Anonyme, Johnson & Johnson NCB (Belgian Branch), Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB, Johnson & Johnson Pacific Pty Limited, Johnson & Johnson Pakistan (Private) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Panama S.A., Johnson & Johnson Personal Care (Chile) S.A., Johnson & Johnson Poland Sp. z o.o., Johnson & Johnson Poland sp. z o.o. oddzial w Warszawie "Consumer", Johnson & Johnson Private Limited, Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd. Korea Branch, Johnson & Johnson Pty. Limited, Johnson & Johnson Romania S.R.L., Johnson & Johnson S.A., Johnson & Johnson S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson S.E. Inc., Johnson & Johnson S.E. d.o.o., Johnson & Johnson SDN. BHD., Johnson & Johnson Sante Beaute France, Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision Inc., Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision India Private Limited, Johnson & Johnson Taiwan Ltd., Johnson & Johnson UK Treasury Company Limited, Johnson & Johnson Ukraine LLC, Johnson & Johnson Urban Renewal Associates, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Shanghai) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc., Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Ireland Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson d.o.o., Johnson & Johnson de Argentina S.A.C. e. I., Johnson & Johnson de Chile Limitada, Johnson & Johnson de Chile S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Colombia S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson de Uruguay S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Venezuela S.A., Johnson & Johnson del Ecuador S.A., Johnson & Johnson del Peru S.A., Johnson & Johnson do Brasil Industria E Comercio de Produtos Para Saude Ltda., Johnson & Johnson for Export and Import LLC, Johnson & Johnson s.r.o., Johnson Y Johnson de Costa Rica S.A., Johnson and Johnson (Proprietary) Limited, Johnson and Johnson Sihhi Malzeme Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, LTL Management LLC, La Concha Land Investment Corporation, Latam International Investment Company Unlimited Company, Legal Entity Name, MDS Co. Ltd., McNEIL MMP LLC, McNeil AB, McNeil Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co., McNeil Denmark ApS, McNeil Healthcare (Ireland) Limited, McNeil Healthcare (UK) Limited, McNeil Healthcare LLC, McNeil Iberica S.L.U., McNeil LA LLC, McNeil Nutritionals LLC, McNeil Panama LLC, McNeil Products Limited, McNeil Sweden AB, Medical Device Business Services Inc., Medical Devices & Diagnostics Global Services LLC, Medical Devices International LLC, Medos International Sarl, Medos International Sarl succursale de Neuchatel (Branch), Medos Sarl, MegaDyne Medical Products Inc., Menlo Care De Mexico S.A. de C.V., Mentor B.V., Mentor Deutschland GmbH, Mentor Medical Systems B.V., Mentor Partnership Holding Company I LLC, Mentor Texas GP LLC, Mentor Texas L.P., Mentor Worldwide LLC, Micrus Endovascular LLC, Middlesex Assurance Company Limited, Momenta Ireland Limited, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc., NeoStrata Company Inc., NeoStrata UG (haftungsbeschrankt), Netherlands Holding Company, NeuWave Medical Inc., Neuravi Limited, Novira Therapeutics, Novira Therapeutics LLC, NuVera Medical Inc., OBTECH Medical Sarl, OGX Beauty Limited, OMJ Holding GmbH, OMJ Ireland Unlimited Company, OMJ Pharmaceuticals Inc., Obtech Medical Mexico S.A. de C.V., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals NV, Ortho Biologics LLC, Ortho Biotech Holding LLC, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC, Orthospin Ltd., Orthotaxy, PT Integrated Healthcare Indonesia, PT. Johnson & Johnson Indonesia, Patriot Pharmaceuticals LLC, Peninsula Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pharmadirect Ltd., Pharmedica Laboratories (Proprietary) Limited, Princeton Laboratories Inc., Productos de Cuidado Personal y de La Salud de Bolivia S.R.L., Proleader S.A., Pulsar Vascular Inc., Regency Urban Renewal Associates, RespiVert Ltd., RoC International, Royalty A&M LLC, Rutan Realty LLC, SYNTHES Medical Immobilien GmbH, Scios LLC, Sedona Singapore International Pte. Ltd., Sedona Thai International Co. Ltd., Serhum S.A. de C.V., Shanghai Elsker For Mother & Baby Co. Ltd, Shanghai Elsker Mother & Baby Co. Ltd Minghang Branch, Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Ltd., Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Sightbox LLC, Sodiac ESV, Spectrum Vision Limited Liability Company, Spectrum Vision Limited Liability Partnership, SterilMed, SterilMed Inc., Surgical Process Institute Deutschland GmbH, Synthes Costa Rica S.C.R. Limitada, Synthes GmbH, Synthes Holding AG, Synthes Holding Limited, Synthes Inc., Synthes Medical Surgical Equipment & Instruments Trading LLC, Synthes Produktions GmbH, Synthes Proprietary Limited, Synthes S.M.P. S. de R.L. de C.V., Synthes Tuttlingen GmbH, Synthes USA LLC, Synthes USA Products LLC, TARIS Biomedical, TARIS Biomedical LLC, TearScience Inc., The Anspach Effort LLC, The Vision Care Institute LLC, Tibotec LLC, Torax Medical Inc., UAB "Johnson & Johnson", UAB Johnson & Johnson Eesti Filiaal (Estonian Branch), Vania Expansion, Verb Surgical, Verb Surgical Inc., Vision Care Finance Unlimited Company, Vogue International, Vogue International LLC, Vogue International Trading Inc., WH4110 Development Company L.L.C., XO1, XO1 Limited, Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd., Xian-Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. Beijing Branch Office, Xian-Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. Shanghai Branch Office, Zarbee's Inc., and Zarbee's Naturals.
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The following companies are subsidiares of PepsiCo: Alimentos Quaker Oats y Compania Limitada, Alimentos del Istmo S.A., Amavale Agricola Ltda., Anderson Hill Insurance Limited, Asia Bottlers Limited, BAESA Capital Corporation Ltd., BFY Brands, BFY Brands LLC, BFY Brands Limited, BUG de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Balmoral Industries LLC, Bare Foods Co., Barrhead LLC, Be & Cheery, Beaman Bottling Company, Bebidas Sudamerica S.A., Beech Limited, Bell Taco Funding Syndicate, Bendler Investments II Ltd, Bendler Investments S.a r.l, Beverage Services Limited, Beverages Foods & Service Industries Inc., Bishkeksut OJSC, Blaue NC S. de R.L. de C.V., Blue Cloud Distribution Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arizona Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arkansas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Colorado Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Florida Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Georgia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Illinois Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Indiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Iowa Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Kentucky Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Louisiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Minnesota Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Mississippi Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Missouri Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nebraska Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nevada Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of North Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Ohio Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Oklahoma Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Pennsylvania Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of South Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Tennessee Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Texas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Virginia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Wisconsin Inc., Blue Ridge Sales LLC, Bluebird Foods Limited, Bluecan Holdings Unlimited Company, Bokomo Zambia Limited, Bolsherechensky Molkombinat JSC, Boquitas Fiestas LLC, Boquitas Fiestas S.R.L., Bottling Group Financing LLC, Bottling Group Holdings LLC, Bottling Group LLC, Bronte Industries Ltd, C & I Leasing Inc., CB Manufacturing Company Inc., CEME Holdings LLC, CMC Investment Company, Caroni Investments LLC, Centro-Mediterranea de Bebidas Carbonicas PepsiCo S.L., Ceres Fruit Juices Pty Ltd, ChampBev Inc., China Concentrate Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Chipsy International for Food Industries S.A.E., Chipsy for Food Industries S.A.E., Chitos Internacional y Cia Ltda, Cipa Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cipa Nordeste Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cocina Autentica Inc., Comercializadora CMC Investment y Compania Limitada, Comercializadora Nacional SAS Ltda., Comercializadora PepsiCo Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Compania de Bebidas PepsiCo S.L., Concentrate Holding Uruguay Pte. Ltd., Concentrate Manufacturing Singapore Pte. Ltd., Confiteria Alegro S. de R.L. de C.V., Copella Fruit Juices Limited, Copper Beech International LLC, Corina Snacks Limited, Corporativo Internacional Mexicano S. de R.L. de C.V., CytoSport Holdings Inc., CytoSport Inc., Davlyn Realty Corporation, Defosto Holdings Limited, Desarrollo Inmobiliario Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Dilexis S.A., Donon Holdings Limited, Drinkfinity USA Inc., Drinkstation Inc., Drinkstation Innovation Co. Ltd., Drinkstation Limited, Dutch Snacks Holding S.A. de C.V., Duyvis Production B.V., EPIC Enterprises Inc., Echo Bay Holdings Inc., Elaboradora Argentina de Cereales S.R.L., Enter Logistica LLC, Environ at Inverrary Partnership, Environ of Inverrary Inc., Eridanus Investments S.a r.l, Evercrisp Snack Productos de Chile S.A., FL Transportation Inc., FLI Andean LLC, FLI Colombia LLC, FLI Snacks Andean GP LLC, Fabrica PepsiCo Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Fabrica de Productos Alimenticios Rene y Cia S.C.A., Fairlight International SRL, Far East Bottlers Hong Kong Limited, Food Concepts Pioneer Ltd., Forest Akers Nederland B.V., Forty-Six Peaks Holding Inc., Fovarosi Asvanyviz es Uditoipari Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Freshwater International B.V., Frito Lay Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Frito Lay Poland Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay de Guatemala y Compania Limitada, Frito-Lay Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Frito-Lay Dip Company Inc., Frito-Lay Dominicana S.A., Frito-Lay Global Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Inc., Frito-Lay Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Manufacturing LLC, Frito-Lay Netherlands Holding B.V., Frito-Lay North America Inc., Frito-Lay Sales Inc., Frito-Lay Trading Company Europe GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company Poland GmbH, Frito-Lay Trinidad Unlimited, Fruko Mesrubat Sanayi Limited Sirketi, GB Czech LLC, GB International Inc., GB Russia LLC, GB Slovak LLC, GMP Manufacturing Inc., Gambrinus Investments Limited, Gamesa LLC, Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Gas Natural de Merida S. A. de C. V., Gatorade Puerto Rico Company, General Bottlers of Hungary Inc., Golden Grain Company, Goveh S.R.L., Grayhawk Leasing LLC, Green Hemlock International LLC, Grupo Frito Lay y Compania Limitada, Grupo Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Grupo Mabel, Grupo Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Gulkevichskiy Maslozavod JSC, Hangzhou Baicaowei Corporate Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co, Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Tao Dao Technology Co. Ltd., Health Warrior, Health Warrior Inc., Heathland LP, Helioscope Limited, Hillbrook Inc., Hillgrove Inc., Hillwood Bottling LLC, Hogganfield Limited Partnership, Holding Company "Opolie" JSC, Homefinding Company of Texas, Hudson Valley Insurance Company, IC Equities Inc., IZZE Beverage Co., Inmobiliaria Interamericana S.A. De C.V., Integrated Beverage Services Bangladesh Limited, Integrated Foods & Beverages Pvt. Ltd., International Bottlers Management Co. LLC, International KAS Aktiengesellschaft, Inversiones Borneo S.R.L., Inversiones PFI Chile Limitada, Inviting Foods Holdings Inc., Inviting Foods LLC, KAS Anorthosis S.a r.l, KAS S.L., KFC, Kevita Inc., Kinvara LLC, Kungursky Molkombinat JSC, Larragana S.L., Latin American Holdings Ltd., Latin American Snack Foods ApS, Latin Foods International LLC, Lebedyansky, Lebedyansky Holdings LLC, Lebedyansky LLC, Limited Liability Company "Sandora", Linkbay Limited, Lithuanian Snacks UAB, Mabel, Marbo Product d.o.o. Beograd, Marbo d.o.o. Laktasi, Matudis - Comercio de Produtos Alimentares Limitada, Matutano - Sociedade de Produtos Alimentares Lda., Mid-America Improvement Corporation, Mountainview Insurance Company Inc., Muscle Milk, NCJV LLC, New Bern Transport Corporation, New Century Beverage Company LLC, Noble Leasing LLC, Northeast Hot-Fill Co-op Inc., Office at Solyanka LLC, Onbiso Inversiones S.L., One World Enterprises LLC, One World Investors Inc., P-A Barbados Bottling Company LLC, P-A Bottlers Barbados SRL, P-Americas LLC, PAS Luxembourg S.a r.l, PAS Netherlands B.V., PBG Canada Holdings II LLC, PBG Canada Holdings Inc., PBG Cyprus Holdings Limited, PBG Investment Partnership, PBG Midwest Holdings S.a r.l, PBG Soda Can Holdings S.a r.l, PCBL LLC, PCNA Manufacturing Inc., PR Beverages Cyprus Holding Limited, PR Beverages Cyprus Russia Holding Limited, PRB Luxembourg S.a r.l, PRS Inc., PSAS Inversiones LLC, PSE Logistica S.R.L., PT Quaker Indonesia, Papas Chips S.A., Pei N.V., Pep Trade LLC, Pepsi B.V., Pepsi Beverages Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bottling Group Global Finance LLC, Pepsi Bottling Group GmbH, Pepsi Bottling Group Hoosiers B.V., Pepsi Bottling Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bugshan Investments S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Colombia Ltda, Pepsi Cola Egypt S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Panamericana S.R.L., Pepsi Cola Servis Ve Dagitim Limited Sirketi, Pepsi Cola Trading Ireland, Pepsi Logistics Company Inc., Pepsi Northwest Beverages LLC, Pepsi Overseas Investments Partnership, Pepsi Promotions Inc., Pepsi-Cola Advertising and Marketing Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bermuda Limited, Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Holding C.V., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company Of St. Louis Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach LLC, Pepsi-Cola Company, Pepsi-Cola Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Pepsi-Cola Far East Trade Development Co. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Finance LLC, Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Poland Sp. z o.o., Pepsi-Cola Industrial da Amazonia Ltda., Pepsi-Cola International Cork, Pepsi-Cola International LLC, Pepsi-Cola International Limited, Pepsi-Cola International Limited U.S.A., Pepsi-Cola International Private Limited, Pepsi-Cola Korea Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Management and Administrative Services Inc., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Company Of Uruguay S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing International Limited, Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Mediterranean Limited, Pepsi-Cola Marketing Corp. Of P.R. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mediterranean Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mexicana Holdings LLC, Pepsi-Cola Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Pepsi-Cola National Marketing LLC, Pepsi-Cola Operating Company Of Chesapeake And Indianapolis, Pepsi-Cola Sales and Distribution Inc., Pepsi-Cola Technical Operations Inc., Pepsi-Cola Thai Trading Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola de Honduras S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola of Corvallis Inc., PepsiAmericas Nemzetkozi Szolgaltato Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, PepsiCo ANZ Holdings Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Alimentos Antioquia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Colombia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Ecuador Cia. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Z.F. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos de Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Amacoco Bebidas Do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCo Asia Research & Development Center Company Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Cyprus Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Limited Partnership, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 1 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 2 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Australia Holdings Pty Limited, PepsiCo Australia International, PepsiCo Austria Services GmbH, PepsiCo Azerbaijan Limited Liability Company, PepsiCo BeLux BV, PepsiCo Beverage Sales LLC, PepsiCo Beverage Singapore Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Beverages Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Beverages International Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Italia Societa' A Responsabilita' Limitata, PepsiCo Canada Finance LLC, PepsiCo Canada Holdings ULC, PepsiCo Canada Investment ULC, PepsiCo Canada ULC, PepsiCo Captive Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Caribbean Inc., PepsiCo China Limited, PepsiCo Consulting Polska Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo De Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Del Paraguay S.R.L., PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH, PepsiCo Eesti AS, PepsiCo Euro Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Euro Finance Antilles B.V., PepsiCo Europe Support Center S.L., PepsiCo Finance Americas Company, PepsiCo Finance Antilles A N.V., PepsiCo Finance Antilles B N.V., PepsiCo Finance South Africa Proprietary Limited, PepsiCo Financial Shared Services Inc., PepsiCo Food & Beverage Holdings Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Foods A.I.E., PepsiCo Foods China Company Limited, PepsiCo Foods Group Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Foods Guangdong Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Nigeria Limited, PepsiCo Foods Private Limited, PepsiCo Foods Sichuan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Taiwan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Vietnam Company, PepsiCo France SAS, PepsiCo Global Business Services India LLP, PepsiCo Global Business Services Poland Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Global Holdings Limited, PepsiCo Global Investments B.V., PepsiCo Global Investments S.a r.l, PepsiCo Global Mobility LLC, PepsiCo Global Real Estate Inc., PepsiCo Global Trading Solutions Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Golden Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Group Finance International B.V., PepsiCo Group Holdings International B.V., PepsiCo Group Spotswood Holdings S.a r.l, PepsiCo Gulf International FZE, PepsiCo Hellas Single Member Industrial and Commercial Societe Anonyme, PepsiCo Holding de Espana S.L., PepsiCo Holdings, PepsiCo Holdings LLC, PepsiCo Holdings Toshkent LLC, PepsiCo Hong Kong LLC, PepsiCo Iberia Servicios Centrales S.L., PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited, PepsiCo India Sales Private Limited, PepsiCo Internacional Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., PepsiCo International Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo International Limited, PepsiCo International Pte Ltd., PepsiCo Investments Europe I B.V., PepsiCo Investments Ltd., PepsiCo Ireland Food & Beverages Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Japan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Light B.V., PepsiCo Logistyka Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., PepsiCo Management Services SAS, PepsiCo Manufacturing A.I.E., PepsiCo Max B.V., PepsiCo Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo Nederland B.V., PepsiCo Nordic Denmark ApS, PepsiCo Nordic Finland Oy, PepsiCo Nordic Norway AS, PepsiCo Nutrition Trading DMCC, PepsiCo One B.V., PepsiCo Overseas Corporation, PepsiCo Overseas Financing Partnership, PepsiCo Panimex Inc, PepsiCo Products B.V., PepsiCo Products FLLC, PepsiCo Puerto Rico Inc., PepsiCo Sales Inc., PepsiCo Sales LLC, PepsiCo Services Asia Ltd., PepsiCo Services CZ s.r.o., PepsiCo Services LLC, PepsiCo Twist B.V., PepsiCo UK Pension Plan Trustee Limited, PepsiCo Ventures B.V., PepsiCo Wave Holdings LLC, PepsiCo World Trading Company Inc., PepsiCo Y LLC, PepsiCo de Argentina S.R.L., PepsiCo de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo do Brasil Industria e Comercio de Alimentos Ltda., PepsiCo do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCola Interamericana de Guatemala S.A., Pet Iberia S.L., Pete & Johnny Limited, Pine International LLC, Pine International Limited, Pinstripe Leasing LLC, Pioneer Food Group Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Groceries Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Group Ltd., Pioneer Foods Holdings Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods UK Ltd, Pioneer Foods Wellingtons Pty Ltd, Pipers Crisps Limited, PlayCo Inc., Pop corners, PopCorners Holdings Inc., Portfolio Concentrate Solutions Unlimited Company, Premier Nutrition Trading L.L.C., Prestwick LLC, Prev PepsiCo Sociedade Previdenciaria, Productos Alimenticios Rene LLC, Productos S.A.S. C.V., Productos SAS Management B.V., Punch N.V., Punica Getranke GmbH, Q O Puerto Rico Inc., QFL OHQ Sdn. Bhd., QTG Development Inc., QTG Services Inc., Quadrant - Amroq Beverages S.R.L., Quaker Development B.V., Quaker European Beverages LLC, Quaker European Investments B.V., Quaker Foods, Quaker Global Investments B.V., Quaker Holdings UK Limited, Quaker Manufacturing LLC, Quaker Oats Asia Inc., Quaker Oats Australia Pty Ltd, Quaker Oats B.V., Quaker Oats Capital Corporation, Quaker Oats Europe Inc., Quaker Oats Europe LLC, Quaker Oats Limited, Quaker Sales & Distribution Inc, Raptas Finance S.a r.l., Rare Fare Foods LLC, Rare Fare Holdings Inc., Reading Industries Ltd, Real Estate Holdings LLC, Rockstar Energy Drink, Rolling Frito-Lay Sales LP, S & T of Mississippi Inc., SIH International LLC, SVC Logistics Inc., SVC Manufacturing Inc., SVE Russia Holdings GmbH, Sabritas LLC, Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Sabritas Snacks America Latina de Nicaragua y Cia Ltda, Sabritas de Costa Rica S. de R.L., Sabritas y Cia. S en C de C.V., Sakata Rice Snacks Australia Pty Ltd, Sandora Holdings B.V., Saudi Snack Foods Company Limited, Sea Eagle International SRL, Seepoint Holdings Ltd., Senselet Food Processing PLC, Senselet Holding B.V., Servicios GBF Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Servicios GFLG y Compania Limitada, Servicios Gamesa Puerto Rico L.L.C., Servicios SYC S. de R.L. de C.V., Seven-Up Asia Inc., Seven-Up Light B.V., Seven-Up Nederland B.V., Shanghai PepsiCo Snack Company Limited, Shanghai YuHo Agricultural Development Co. Ltd, Shoebill LLC, Simba (Proprietary) Limited, Simba Proprietary Limited, Sitka Spruce, Smartfoods Inc., Smiles and Bites Holdings S.de R.L. de C.V., Smiths Crisps Limited, Snack Food Investments GmbH, Snack Food Investments II GmbH, Snack Food Investments Limited, Snack Food-Beverage Asia Products Limited, Snacks America Latina S.R.L., Snacks Guatemala Ltd., So Spark Ltd., Soda-Club CO2 Atlantic GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 Ltd., Soda-Club Switzerland GmbH, Soda-Club Worldwide B.V., SodaStream, SodaStream Australia Pty Ltd, SodaStream CO2 SA, SodaStream Canada Ltd., SodaStream Enterprises N.V., SodaStream France SAS, SodaStream GmbH, SodaStream Iberia S.L., SodaStream Industries Ltd., SodaStream International B.V., SodaStream International Ltd., SodaStream Israel Ltd., SodaStream K.K., SodaStream New Zealand Ltd., SodaStream Nordics AB, SodaStream Poland Sp. z o.o., SodaStream SA Pty Ltd., SodaStream Switzerland GmbH, SodaStream USA Inc., SodaStream Osterreich GmbH, South Beach Beverage Company Inc., South Properties Inc., Spitz International Inc., Sportmex Internacional S.A. de C.V., Springboig Industries Ltd, Spruce Limited, Stacy's Pita Chip Company Incorporated, Star Foods E.M. S.R.L., Stokely-Van Camp Inc., Stratosphere Communications Pty Ltd, Stratosphere Holdings 2018 Limited, Streamfoods Ltd, TFL Holdings LLC, Tasman Finance S.a r.l, The Gatorade Company, The Good Carb Food Company Ltd., The Pepsi Bottling Group Canada ULC, The Quaker Oats Company, The Smith's Snackfood Company Pty Limited, Thomond Group Holdings Limited, Tobago Snack Holdings LLC, Tropicana Alvalle S.L., Tropicana Beverages Limited, Tropicana Europe N.V., Tropicana United Kingdom Limited, Troya-Ultra LLC, United Foods Companies Restaurantes S.A., V-Water, VentureCo Israel Ltd, Veurne Snack Foods BV, Vitamin Brands Ltd., Walkers Crisps Limited, Walkers Group Limited, Walkers Snack Foods Limited, Walkers Snacks Distribution Limited, Walkers Snacks Limited, Whitman Corporation, Whitman Insurance Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Beverages JSC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Brands Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Central Asia-Almaty LLP, Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods LLC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Georgia Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann JSC, and Wimm-Bill-Dann Ukraine PJSC.
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Global Payments Inc. provides payment technology and software solutions for card, electronic, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Business and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization services, settlement and funding services, customer support and help-desk functions, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security services, consolidated billing and statements, and on-line reporting services. This segment also provides an array of enterprise software solutions that streamline business operations of its customers in various vertical markets; and value-added services, such as point-of-sale solutions, and analytic and engagement tools, as well as payroll and human capital management services. The Issuer Solutions segment offers solutions that enable financial institutions and retailers to manage their card portfolios through a platform; and commercial payments and ePayables solutions for businesses and governments. The Business and Consumer Solutions segment provides general-purpose reloadable prepaid debit and payroll cards, demand deposit accounts, and other financial service solutions to the underbanked and other consumers, and businesses under the Netspend brand. It markets its products and services through direct sales force, trade associations, agent and enterprise software providers, referral arrangements with value-added resellers, and independent sales organizations. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
The following companies are subsidiares of UnitedHealth Group: 1070715 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1st Avenue Pharmacy Inc., 310 Canyon Medical LLC, 4C MSO LLC, 4C Medical Group PLC, 5995 Minnetonka LLC, ABCO International Holdings LLC, ACN Group IPA of New York Inc., ACN Group of California Inc., AHN Accountable Care Organization LLC, AHN Central Services LLC, AHN Target Holdings LLC, AMIL International S.a.r.l., APS Assistencia Personalizada a Saude Ltda., ASC Holdings of New Jersey LLC, ASC Network LLC, ASC Operators-East Bay LLC, ASC Operators-San Francisco LLC, ASC Operators-San Luis Obispo LLC, ASC Operators-Santa Rosa LLC, ASC Operators-South Bay LLC, ASV-HOPCo-SCA Cornerstone LLC, ASV-HOPCo-SCA Florida LLC, AbleTo Behavioral Health Services P.C., AbleTo Inc., Accurate Rx Pharmacy Consulting LLC, Administradora Clinica La Colina S.A.S., Administradora Country S.A.S., Administradora Medica Centromed S.A., Advanced Surgery Center of Clifton LLC, Advanced Surgical Center LLC, Advanced Surgical Hospital LLC, Advocate Condell Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Southwest Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., Advocate-SCA Partners LLC, Aliansalud Entidad Promotora de Salud S.A., All Savers Insurance Company, All Savers Life Insurance Company of California, Alliance Surgical Center LLC, Allina Health Heart and Vascular Surgery Center LLC, Allina Health Surgery Center-Brooklyn Park LLC, Aloha Surgical Center LLC, Ambient Healthcare Inc., Ambient Holdings Inc., AmeriChoice, AmeriChoice Corporation, AmeriChoice of New Jersey Inc., American Health Network of Indiana Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Indiana II LLC, American Health Network of Indiana LLC, American Health Network of Kentucky LLC, American Health Network of Ohio Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Ohio II LLC, American Health Network of Ohio LLC, American Physicians Inc., Amico Saude Ltda., Amil, Amil Assistencia Medica Internacional S.A., Angiografia e Hemodinamica Madre Theodora Ltda., Anne Arundel-SCA Holdings LLC, Anne Arundel-SCA Surgicenter LLC, Antelope Valley Surgery Center L.P., Analisis Clinicos ML S.A.C., Apothecary Holdings Inc., AppleCare Medical Management LLC, Aquitania Chilean Holding SpA, Arcadia JV Holdings LLC, Arcadia Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., ArchWell Health LLC, ArchWell Health MSO LLC, ArchWell Health Professional Services Holding Co., ArchWell Health Professional Services of Alabama LLC, ArchWell Health Professional Services of North Carolina P.C., ArchWell Health Professional Services of Oklahoma LLC, Archwell Health Professional Services of Arizona LLC, Archwell Health Professional Services of Nebraska LLC, Arise Physician Group, Arizona Physicians IPA Inc., Arlington Surgery Center LLC, Aspectus Inc., Associacao Lusiadas Knowledge Center Health Education and Research, Audax Health Solutions LLC, Aurora Hospitalist P.C., Austin Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., Avella Specialty Pharmacy, Aventura Medical Tower Surgery Center LLC, Avery Parent Holdings Inc., Aveta Inc., AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings LLC, AxelaCare LLC, B.R.A.S.S. Partnership in Commendam, BOSC Holdings LLC, BSC Holdings LLC, Ball Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Banmedica Colombia S.A.S., Banmedica Internacional SpA, Banmedica S.A., Barranca Surgery Center LLC, Beach Surgical Holdings II LLC, Beach Surgical Holdings III LLC, Beach Surgical Holdings LLC, Beaver Medical Group P.C., Bedford Physicians Risk Retention Group Inc., Behavioral Healthcare Options Inc., Beltway Surgery Centers L.L.C., Benefit Administration for the Self Employed L.L.C., Benefitter Insurance Solutions Inc., Bergan Mercy Surgery Center LLC, Bergen-Passaic Cataract Laser and Surgery Center LLC, Bessler MD PLLC, Bind Benefits Inc., Bind LH Holdings Inc., Bind Re Inc., Birmingham Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Birmingham Outpatient Surgical Center LLC, Bloomfield ASC LLC, Blue Ridge Day Surgery Center L.P., Blue Ridge GP LLC, Blue Ridge Properties LLC, Boca Raton Outpatient Surgery & Laser Center LTD., Bordeaux Barbados Holdings I SRL, Bordeaux Barbados Holdings II SRL, Bordeaux Barbados Holdings III S.r.l., Bordeaux Holding SpA, Bordeaux International Holdings Inc., Bordeaux UK Holdings I Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings III Limited, Bosque Medical Center Ltda., Brandon Ambulatory Surgery Center LC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 102 LLC, BriovaRx of Florida Inc., BriovaRx of Maine Inc., BriovaRx of Massachusetts LLC, CCEC Anesthesia Management LLC, CDC Holdings Colombia S.A.S., CLISA Clinica de Santo Antonio S.A., CMO Centro Medico de Oftalmologia S/S Ltda., CMS Central de Manipulacao e Servicos Farmaceuticos Ltda., COI Clinicas Oncologicas Integradas S.A., Cabin Enterprises LLC, Cabin Holdings LLC, California Medical Group Insurance Company Risk Retention Group, Camp Hill Ambulatory Centers, Camp Hill-SCA Centers LLC, Capital City Medical Group L.L.C., Cardinal Holding Company LLC, Care Improvement Plus Group Management LLC, Care Improvement Plus South Central Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus Wisconsin Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus of Texas Insurance Company, Care Logistics LLC, CareMount Dental Member LLC, CareMount Health Solutions ACO LLC, CareMount Health Solutions Employer LLC, CareMount Health Solutions LLC, CareMount Holding LLC, CareMount Medical Foundation Inc., CareMount Value Partners IPA LLC, Carr PLLC, Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha Ltda., Castle Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Castle Rock SurgiCenter LLC, Catalyst360 LLC, Catamaran 2 Unlimited Company, Catamaran Finance Ireland Unlimited Company, Catamaran S.a.r.l., Cedar Park JV Partners LLC, Cedar Park Surgery Center LLC, Cemed Care Empresa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Center for Quality Improvement LLC, Center for Restorative Surgery at Maple Grove LLC, Center for Surgery of North Coast L.P., Central Indiana Care Organization LLC, Central Ohio Care Organization LLC, CentriHealth Corporation, CentrifyHealth LLC, Centro Medico Hospitalar Pitangueiras Ltda., Centro Odontologico Americano S.A.C., Centro de Entrenamiento Capacitacion en Reanimacion y Prevencion Limitada, Centro de Servicios Compartidos Banmedica SpA, Centromed Quilpue S.A., Centros Medicos y Dentales Multimed Ltda., Centura-SCA Holdings LLC, Centurion Casualty Company, Channel Islands Surgicenter L.P., Channel Islands Surgicenter Properties LLC, Charleston Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Charleston Surgery Properties LLC, Charlotte Surgery Center LLC, Charlotte Surgery Properties LTD., Charlotte-SC LLC, Chatham Orthopaedic ASC LLC, Childrens Surgery Center LLC, Citrus Regional Surgery Center L.P., Claims Management Systems Inc., Cleburne Surgical Center LLC, Clinical Partners of Colorado Springs LLC, Clinton Partners LLC, Clinica Alameda SpA, Clinica Bio Bio SpA, Clinica Ciudad del Mar S.A., Clinica Davila y Servicios Medicos S.p.A., Clinica Iquique S.A., Clinica Medico Cirurgica de Santa Tecla S.A., Clinica Portoazul S.A., Clinica San Felipe S.A., Clinica Santa Maria S.p.A., Clinica Sanchez Ferrer S.A., Clinica Vespucio S.A., Clinica del Country S.A.S., Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare Inc., Coalition for Advanced Pharmacy Services Inc., Cobranzas Banmedica SpA, Cogent Healthcare IPA of New York Inc., Cogent Healthcare Inc., Cogent Healthcare Management of New York Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Arizona P.C., Cogent Healthcare of California Prof. Corp., Cogent Healthcare of Georgia P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Illinois LLC, Cogent Healthcare of Iowa P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Jackson MS LLC, Cogent Healthcare of Jacksonville LLC, Cogent Healthcare of Mississippi Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Missouri Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Montana P.C., Cogent Healthcare of New Jersey P.C., Cogent Healthcare of North Carolina P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Oregon P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Pensacola L.L.C., Cogent Healthcare of Tennessee P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Virginia Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Washington P.C., Cogent Medical Care P.C., Cogent Patient Safety Organization Inc., Cogent/Endion Medical Care of New York P.C., Collaborative Care Holdings LLC, Collaborative Care Services Inc., Collaborative Realty LLC, Colmedica Medicina Prepagada S.A., Colonial Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Colorado Innovative Physician Solutions Inc., Colorado Springs Surgery Center Ltd., Comfort Care Transportation LLC, Comprehensive Hospital Physicians of Florida Inc., ConnectYourCare Inc., ConnectYourCare LLC, Connecticut Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Connecticut Surgery Properties LLC, Connecticut Surgical Center LLC, Consorcio Regenero S.A., Constructora Inmobiliaria Magapoq S.A., Consumer Wellness Solutions Inc., Continuum Physicians Group Inc., Continuum Physicians Group of Washington PLLC, Cornell Surgicenter LLC, Cornerstone Surgery Center LLC, Cornerstone Surgicare LLC, Corpus Christi Endoscopy Center L.L.P., Country Scan Ltda., Critical Care Physician of New York P.C., Critical Care Physicians of Illinois LLC, Critical Care Physicians of New Jersey PC, Critical Care Physicians of Pennsylvania P.C., Cross Timbers Surgery Center LLC, Cypress Care Inc., DBP Services of New York IPA Inc., DSP Flint Real Estate LLC, DSP-Building C LLC, DTC Surgery Center LLC, DWIC of Tampa Bay Inc., Dallas Inpatient Specialist PLLC, Danbury Surgical Center L.P., Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company LLC, Definity Health, Dental Benefit Providers Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of California Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois Inc., Denton Endoscopy Surgery Center LLC, Denton Surgery Center LLC, Derry Surgical Center LLC, Diagnostico Ecotomografico Centromed Ltda., Diasnostico por Imagenes Centromed Ltda., Digestive Disease Center L.P., Dilab Medicina Nuclear Ltda., Diplomat Blocker LLC, Diplomat Corporate Properties LLC, Diplomat Pharmacy, Diplomat Pharmacy Inc., Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy Great Lakes Distribution Center LLC, Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy of Chicago LLC, Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy of Ft. Lauderdale LLC, Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy of Los Angeles County LLC, Distance Learning Network Inc., Divisadero Holdings LLC, DocASAP Inc., DocASAP India Technologies Private Limited, DocASAP US LLC, Doctor + S.A.C., Dry Creek Surgery Center LLC, Dublin Surgery Center LLC, Duluth Surgical Suites LLC, Durable Medical Equipment Inc., E Street Endoscopy LLC, EM Orange Tree LLC, EP Campus I LLC, EPIC Health Plan, EPIC Management Services LLC, East Bay Endoscopy Center L.P., East Brunswick Surgery Center LLC, Echo Locum Tenens Inc., Electronic Network Systems Inc., Elual Participacoes S.A., Emerald Coast Surgery Center L.P., Emisar Pharma Services LLC, Emmaus Holdings LLC, Emmaus Surgical Center LLC, Empire Physician Management Company LLC, Empremedica S. A., Endion Hospitalist North P.C., Endion Hospitalist of Western New York P.C., Endion Medical Healthcare P.C., Endion Medical Services P.C., Endoscopy Center Affiliates Inc., Enterprise Life Insurance Company, Equian, Equian LLC, Equian Parent Corp., Esho Empresa de Servicos Hospitalares S.A., Everett MSO Inc., Excelsior Insurance Brokerage Inc., Executive Health Resources Inc., Executive Surgery Center L.L.C., Eye Clinic Oftalmologia Clinico Cirurgica e Diagnostico Ltda., Eye Specialists Surgery Centers LLC, FMG Holdings LLC, Family Health Care Services, Family Home Hospice Inc., Ferrell Physician Services P.C., Fideicomiso Clinica Barranquilla Portoazul FA-517, First Coast Orthopedic Center LLC, First Family Insurance LLC, Florence Surgery Center L.P., For Health Inc., For Health of Arizona Inc., Fort Sutter Medical Building a California Limited Partnership, Fort Worth Endoscopy Centers LLC, Fortified Provider Network Inc., Foundation Surgery Affiliate General of Huntingdon Valley LLC, Foundation Surgery Affiliate of Huntingdon Valley L.P., Franklin Surgical Center LLC, Freedom Life Insurance Company of America, Freeway Surgicenter of Houston LLC, Frontier Medex Tanzania Limited, FrontierMEDEX Inc., FrontierMEDEX Kenya Limited, FrontierMEDEX US Inc., Fundacion Banmedica, GLBESC LLC, GRANTS PASS SURGERY CENTER LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center LLC, Gainesville Surgery Center L.P., Gainesville Surgery Properties LLC, Genoa, Genoa Healthcare Inc., Genoa QoL Wholesale LLC, Genoa Technology Canada Inc., Genoa Technology Inc., Genoa Telepsychiatry Inc., Genoa of Arkansas LLC, Gladiolus Surgery Center L.L.C., Glenwood Surgical Center L.P., Glenwood-SC Inc., Global One Ventures LLC, Golden Gate Endoscopy Center LLC, Golden Outlook Inc., Golden Rule Financial Corporation, Golden Rule Insurance Company, Golden Triangle Surgicenter L.P., Grandview Surgery Center LTD., Greater New Haven ASC LLC, Greensboro Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Greenville Surgery Center LLC, Greenway Surgical Suites LLC, Grossmont Surgery Center L.P., Grove Place Surgery Center L.L.C., H&W Indemnity SPC Ltd., H.I. Investments Holding Company LLC, HCP ACO California LLC, HCentive Technology India Private Limited, HFHS-SCA Holdings LLC, HMG Holding Corporation, HMG Holdings LLC, HMP of Baltimore USH P.C., Harken Health Insurance Company, Harrison Endo Surgical Center LLC, Hawthorn Place Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Hays JV Partners LLC, Hays Surgery Center LLC, Health Care-ONE Insurance Agency Inc., Health Inventures Employment Solutions LLC, Health Inventures LLC, Health Plan of Nevada Inc., HealthCare Partners ASC-LB LLC, HealthCare Partners Affiliates Medical Group, HealthCare Partners Management Services California LLC, HealthCare Partners RE LLC, HealthEast Surgery Center-Maplewood LLC, HealthFirst IPA Inc., HealthMarkets Group Inc., HealthMarkets Inc., HealthMarkets Insurance Agency Inc., HealthMarkets LLC, HealthMarkets Services Inc., HealthSCOPE Holdings Inc., HealthScope Benefits Inc., Healthcare Solutions Inc., Healthplex America LLC, Healthplex Dental Services Inc., Healthplex I.P.A. Inc., Healthplex Inc., Healthplex Insurance Company, Healthplex of CT Inc., Healthplex of DC Inc., Healthplex of MD Inc., Healthplex of ME Inc., Healthplex of NC Inc., Healthplex of NJ Inc., Healthplex of TX Inc., Heartland Heart and Vascular LLC, Help Seguros de Vida S.A., Help Service S.A., Help SpA, Hemonefro Hemodialise e Nefrologia Ltda, Highlands Ranch Healthcare LLC, Home Medical S.A., Honodav SpA, Hospice Inspiris Holdings Inc., Hospitais Associados de Pernambuco Ltda., Hospital Alvorada Taguatinga Ltda., Hospital Ana Costa S.A., Hospital Santa Helena S.A., Hospital de Clinicas de Jacarepagua Ltda., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of Broome County PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Binghamton P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Buffalo P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Newburgh P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Nyack P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Patchogue P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Alabama TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Alabama TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Alaska TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Alaska TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Goodyear Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Nogales Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Phoenix II Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Phoenix Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Sierra Vista Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Tucson II Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Tucson Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arkansas TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arkansas TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Buncombe County PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Apple Valley PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Bakersfield PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Camarillo PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Crescent City PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Fairfield PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Fremont PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Grass Valley PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Jackson PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Oceanside PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Oxnard PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Salinas PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - San Bernardino II PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - San Bernardino PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - San Leandro PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Sonoma PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Stockton II PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Stockton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Thousand Oaks PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Vacaville PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Colorado - Brighton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Colorado - Denver PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Colorado TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Colorado TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut - Manchester LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut - Rockville LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut - Wallingford LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of DC PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of DC TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of DC TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Delaware TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Delaware TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida - Ft. Lauderdale LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida - Jacksonville II LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida - Jacksonville LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida - Palm Coast LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Fredericksburg LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia - Atlanta PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia - East Point PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia - Lavonia PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia - Savannah PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Hawaii - Kealakekua Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Hawaii TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Hawaii TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Idaho - Nampa PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Idaho TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Idaho TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois - Downers Grove LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois - Elmhurst LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois - Rockford LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois - Winfield LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana - Clinton LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana - Mishawaka LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana - Terre Haute LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa - Cedar Rapids PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa - Mason City PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas - Topeka LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas - Wichita II LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas - Wichita LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana - Alexandria Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana - Bossier City Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana - Lake Charles Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana - Shreveport Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maine - Bangor PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maine - Lewiston PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maine TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maine TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Cheverly PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Cumberland PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Frederick PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Laurel PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Rockville PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Brockton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Dorchester PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Framingham PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Holyoke PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Natick PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Norwood PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Springfield PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Stoughton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Taunton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Worcester PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Alpena PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Dowagiac PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Escanaba PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Grand Blanc PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Grayling PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Kalamazoo PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Plainwell PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Port Huron PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Saginaw PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Tawas City PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Minnesota TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Minnesota TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Mississippi LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Mississippi TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Mississippi TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Missouri - Bridgeton Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Missouri - Richmond Heights Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Missouri TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Missouri TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana - Billings PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana - Butte PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana - Miles City PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana - Missoula PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Multiple Practice Sites LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nebraska TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nebraska TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada - Henderson Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada - Henderson II Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada - Las Vegas Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada - Las Vegas II Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada TCG Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada TCS Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Hampshire TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Hampshire TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Jersey - Hackensack PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Jersey - Paterson PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Jersey - TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Jersey TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Mexico - Clovis LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Mexico - Rio Rancho LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Mexico - TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Mexico - TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New York PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Burlington PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Clyde PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Elizabeth City PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Jacksonville PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - New Bern PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Rocky Mount PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Dakota TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Dakota TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Akron Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Batavia Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Canton Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Cincinnati II Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Cincinnati III Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Cincinnati Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Circleville Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Columbus II Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Columbus Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Dover Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - East Liverpool Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Fairfield Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Martins Ferry Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - 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Alexandria LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Front Royal II LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Front Royal LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Mechanicsville LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Midlothian LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Richmond II LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Richmond LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Winchester LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Arlington PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Auburn PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Bellingham PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Bremerton PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Burien PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Coupeville PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - 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Casper LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Wyoming TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Wyoming TCS LLC, Hospitalists Management Group LLC, Humedica, Humedica Inc., Hygeia Corporation, Hygeia Corporation Ontario, IEC Holdings LLC, IHD Holdings LLC, INOV8 Surgical at Memorial City LLC, INSPIRIS of Texas Physician Group, Illinois Independent Care Network LLC, Imagen Technologies Inc., Impel Consulting Experts L.L.C., Impel Management Services L.L.C., InTouch Pharmacy LLC, Indiana Care Organization LLC, Indiana Endoscopy Centers LLC, Inland Surgery Center L.P., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3001 S.A., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3600 Ltda., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo S.A., Inmobiliaria Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Inmobiliaria Vinamed Ltda., Inmobiliaria e Inversiones Alameda S.A., Inpatient Services P.C., Inpatient Specialists of California P.C., Inspiris, Inspiris Inc., Instituto Radium de Cammpinas Ltda, Inter-Hospital Physicians Association Inc., International Healthcare Services Inc., Inversiones Clinicas Santa Maria SpA, Ironman Holdco Inc., Ironman Intermediate Holdco LLC, Isapre Banmedica S.A., JPM Healthcare LLC, Johnston Surgicare L.P., Joliet Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Jordan Ridge Family Medicine LLC, Joyable Inc., Kansal Inc. A Professional Corporation, Knox Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, Kokomo Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, LDI Holding Company LLC, LDI Management Services LLC, LGH-A/Golf ASTC L.L.C., LHC Group, La Esperanza del Peru S.A., Laboratorio ROE S.A., Laboratorios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., Landmark Group Holdings LLC, Landmark Health Holdings LLC, Landmark Health LLC, Landmark Health NY IPA LLC, Landmark Health NY PO LLC, Landmark Health Technologies Private Limited, Landmark Health of California LLC, Landmark Health of Massachusetts LLC, Landmark Health of North Carolina LLC, Landmark Health of Oregon LLC, Landmark Health of Pennsylvania LLC, Landmark Health of Washington LLC, Landmark India LLC, Landmark Intermediate Holdings LLC, Landmark MSO LLC, Landmark Medical of Idaho PC, Landmark Medical of Massachusetts PLLC, Landmark Medical of Tennessee PC, Landmark Primary Care LLC, Laser Acquisition Holdings III LLC, Leehar Distributors LLC, Lemhi Ventures Fund I LP, Lemhi Ventures Fund II LP, Level2 Medical Services P.C. Alaska, Lexington Surgery Center Ltd., Liberty Anesthesia Services LLC, LifePrint Health Inc., LifeWell. Ltd. Co., Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization LLC, Limestone Medical Center LLC, Litomedica S.A., Logan Surgical Suites LLC, Lotten-Eyes Oftalmologia Clinica e Cirurgica Ltda., Louisville S.C. Ltd., Louisville-SC Properties Inc., Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook Inc., Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook L.P., Lusiadas - Parcerias Cascais S.A., Lusiadas A.C.E., Lusiadas Algarve S.A., Lusiadas S.A., Lusiadas SGPS S.A., Lutheran Campus ASC LLC, MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Company, MCNA Health Care Holdings LLC, MCNA Insurance Company, MCNA Systems Corp., MD Ops Inc., MD-Individual Practice Association Inc., ME AHS UC LLC, MGH/SCA LLC, MHC Real Estate Holdings LLC, MIAMI SURGERY CENTER LLC, MSLA Management LLC, Main Line Spine Surgery Center LLC, Managed Care of North America Inc., Managed Physical Network Inc., Mansfield Endoscopy Center LLC, March Holdings Inc., March Vision Care IPA Inc., March Vision Care Inc., March Vision Care of Texas Inc., Marin Health Ventures LLC, Marin Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Marin Surgery Holdings Inc., Marlin Holding Company LLC, Maryland Ambulatory Centers LLC, Maryland-SCA Centers LLC, Massachusetts Assurance Company Ltd. PIC, Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center LLC, McKenzie Surgery Center L.P., MedExpress Primary Care West Virginia Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care Alabama LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Inc. - Ohio, MedExpress Urgent Care Maine Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care New Hampshire Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach LLC, MedSynergies, MedSynergies LLC, Medical Clinic of North Texas PLLC, Medical Hilfe S.A., Medical Support Los Angeles Inc., Medical Surgical Centers of America Inc., Medical Transportation Services LLC, Melbourne Surgery Center LLC, Memorial City Holdings LLC, Memorial City Partners LLC, Memorial Houston Surgery Center LLC, MemorialCare Surgical Center at Orange Coast LLC, MemorialCare Surgical Center at Saddleback LLC, Mesquite Liberty LLC, Metro I Stone Management Ltd., Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of Tennessee, Midlands Orthopaedics Surgery Center LLC, Midwest Center for Day Surgery LLC, Mile High SurgiCenter LLC, Mississippi Medical Plaza L.C., Mobile Medical Services of New Jersey PC, Mobile-SC LTD., Modality Accountable Care Organisation Limited, Moen M.D. P.C., Mohawk Surgery Center LLC, Monarch Management Services Inc., Montgomery Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Monument Health LLC, Moore Orthopaedic Clinic Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Morris County Surgical Center LLC, Mt. Pleasant Surgery Center L.P., Multiangio Ltda., Murrells Inlet ASC LLC, Muskogee Surgical Investors LLC, Mustang Razorback Holdings Inc., My Wellness Solutions LLC, NAMM Holdings Inc., NPN IPA Washington PLLC, NSC Channel Islands LLC, NSC Greensboro LLC, NSC Greensboro West LLC, NSC Lancaster LLC, NSC Seattle Inc., NSC Upland LLC, Naperville Surgical Centre LLC, National Foundation Life Insurance Company, National Pacific Dental Inc., National Surgery Centers LLC, Navigator Health Inc., Nebraska Spine Hospital LLC, Neighborhood Health Partnership Inc., Netwerkes LLC, Nevada Pacific Dental, New Orleans Regional Physician Hospital Organization L.L.C., New West Physicians Inc., New York Proton Management LLC, Newton Holdings LLC, Niagara Hospitalist P.C., Nomad Buyer Inc., North American Medical Management California Inc., North Coast Surgery Center Ltd. a California Limited Partnership, North Dallas Surgical Center LLC, North Kitsap Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, North Puget Sound Oncology Equipment Leasing Company LLC, Northern Nevada Health Network Inc., Northern Rockies Surgery Center L.P., Northern Rockies Surgicenter Inc., Northern Utah Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Hills JV Partners LLC, Northwest Medical Group Alliance LLC, Northwest Spine and Laser Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Surgicare LLC, Northwest Surgicare Ltd. an Illinois Limited Partnership, OC Cardiology Practice Partners LLC, OCC MSO LLC, OSB Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Lda., Omesa SpA, OmniClaim LLC, Oncocare S.A.C., One World Surgery, Ophthalmology Surgery Center of Dallas LLC, Optimum Choice Inc., Optum Bank Inc., Optum Biometrics Inc., Optum Care Inc., Optum Care Networks Inc., Optum Care Services Company, Optum Care of New York Management Inc., Optum Clinics Holdings Inc., Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings Inc., Optum Compounding Services LLC, Optum Digital Health Holdings LLC, Optum Direct To Consumer Inc., Optum Financial Inc., Optum Frontier Therapies Holdings LLC, Optum Frontier Therapies II LLC, Optum Frontier Therapies LLC, Optum Genomics Inc., Optum Global Solutions Colombia S.A.S., Optum Global Solutions India Private Limited, Optum Global Solutions International B.V., Optum Global Solutions Philippines Inc., Optum Government Solutions Inc., Optum Growth Partners Holdings Inc., Optum Growth Partners LLC, Optum Health & Technology Holdings US Inc., Optum Health & Technology Hong Kong Limited, Optum Health & Technology India Private Limited, Optum Health & Technology Servicos do Brasil Ltda., Optum Health & Technology Singapore Pte. Ltd., Optum Health & Technology US LLC, Optum Health Plan of California, Optum Health Services Canada Ltd., Optum Health Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Optum Health Solutions UK Limited, Optum Health and Technology FZ-LLC, Optum Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services LLC, Optum Inc., Optum Infusion Services 100 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 101 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 103 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 200 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 201 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 202 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 203 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 204 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 205 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 206 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 207 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 208 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 209 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 301 LP, Optum Infusion Services 302 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 305 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 308 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 401 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 402 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 403 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 404 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 500 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 501 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 550 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 551 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 553 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 554 Inc., Optum Insurance of Ohio Inc., Optum Labs Inc., Optum Labs LLC, Optum Life Sciences Canada Inc., Optum Management Consulting Shanghai Co. Ltd., Optum Networks of New Jersey Inc., Optum Operations Ireland Unlimited Company, Optum Oregon MSO LLC, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas Inc., Optum Perks LLC, Optum Pharma Services Holdings Inc., Optum Pharmacy 601 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 700 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 701 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 702 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 704 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 705 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 706 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 707 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 800 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 803 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 805 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 806 Inc., Optum Public Sector Solutions Inc., Optum Rocket LLC, Optum SCA CS JV Holdings LLC, Optum Senior Services LLC, Optum Services Inc., Optum Services Ireland Limited, Optum Services Puerto Rico LLC, Optum Solutions UK Holdings Limited, Optum Technology LLC, Optum UK Solutions Group Limited, Optum Venture Global Partners II LP, Optum Venture Global Partners LP, Optum Venture Partners II LP, Optum Venture Partners III LP, Optum Venture Partners LP, Optum Washington Network LLC, Optum Women's and Children's Health LLC, Optum of New York Inc., Optum360 LLC, Optum360 Services Inc., Optum360 Solutions LLC, OptumCare ACO New Mexico LLC, OptumCare ACO West LLC, OptumCare Clinical Trials LLC, OptumCare Colorado ASC LLC, OptumCare Colorado LLC, OptumCare Colorado Springs LLC, OptumCare Endoscopy Center New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Florida CI LLC, OptumCare Florida LLC, OptumCare Holdings Colorado LLC, OptumCare Holdings LLC, OptumCare Management LLC, OptumCare New Mexico LLC, OptumCare New York IPA Inc., OptumCare Portland LLC, OptumCare South Florida LLC, OptumCare Specialty Practices LLC, OptumHealth Care Solutions LLC, OptumHealth Holdings LLC, OptumHealth International B.V., OptumInsight Holdings LLC, OptumInsight Inc., OptumInsight India Private Limited, OptumInsight Life Sciences Inc., OptumRx Administrative Services LLC, OptumRx Discount Card Services LLC, OptumRx Group Holdings Inc., OptumRx Health Solutions LLC, OptumRx Holdings I LLC, OptumRx Holdings LLC, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio LLC, OptumRx IPA III Inc., OptumRx Inc., OptumRx NY IPA Inc., OptumRx PBM of Illinois Inc., OptumRx PBM of Maryland LLC, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin LLC, OptumRx PD of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx Pharmacy Inc., OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada Inc., OptumRx of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumServe Technology Services Inc., Oregon Healthcare Resources LLC, Oregon Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., OrthoNet Holdings Inc., OrthoNet LLC, OrthoNet New York IPA Inc., OrthoNet West Inc., OrthoNet of the South Inc., OrthoWest MSO LLC, Orthology Inc., Orthopedic Center of Palm Beach County LLC, Orthopedic Surgery Center of Palm Beach County LLC, Orthopro Management LLC, Ovations Inc., Owensboro Ambulatory Surgical Facility Ltd., Oxford Benefit Management Inc., Oxford Health Insurance Inc., Oxford Health Plans CT Inc., Oxford Health Plans LLC, Oxford Health Plans NJ Inc., Oxford Health Plans NY Inc., P2P Link LLC, PCCCV Inc., PHC Subsidiary Holdings LLC, PHYSICIANS DAY SURGERY CENTER LLC, PMI Acquisition LLC, PMSI Holdings LLC, PMSI Settlement Solutions LLC, POMCO Inc., POMCO Network Inc., PPH Holdings LLC, PPH Management Company L.L.C., PPH-Columbia Inc., PPH-Gardendale Inc., PS Center LLC, PacifiCare Health Systems, PacifiCare Life Assurance Company, PacifiCare Life and Health Insurance Company, PacifiCare of Arizona Inc., PacifiCare of Colorado Inc., Pacific Cardiovascular Associates Medical Group Inc., Pacific Casualty Company Inc., Pacifico S.A. Entidad Prestadora de Salud, Panama City Surgery Center LLC, Park Hill Surgery Center LLC, Parkway Surgery Center LLC, Patient Care Associates L.L.C., PatientsLikeMe, Patrimonio Autonomo Nueva Clinica, Payment Resolution Services LLC, Peninsula Eye Surgery Center LLC, Penzo Enterprises LLC, Peoples Health, Peoples Health Inc., Perham Physical Therapy LTD, Perimeter Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., Pharmaceutical Technologies LLC, Physician Alliance of the Rockies LLC, Physicians Health Choice of Texas LLC, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland Inc., Physicians' Surgery Center of Downey LLC, Pinnacle III LLC, Plano de Saude Ana Costa Ltda., Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico Inc., Plus One Holdings Inc., Pocono Ambulatory Surgery Center Limited, Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes Multiestrategia, Polo Holdco LLC, Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Post-Acute Care Center for Research LLC, Practice Partners in Healthcare LLC, Preferred Care Network Inc., Preferred Care Network of Florida Inc., Preferred Care Partners Holding Corp., Preferred Care Partners Inc., Preferred Care Partners Medical Group Inc., PreferredOne, PreferredOne Administrative Services Inc., PreferredOne Insurance Company, Premier Choice ACO Inc., Premier Surgery Center of Louisville L.P., Premiere Medical Resources LLC, Presidio Surgery Center LLC, Prime Health Inc., PrimeCare Medical Network Inc., PrimeCare of Citrus Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Corona Inc., PrimeCare of Hemet Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Inland Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Moreno Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Redlands Inc., PrimeCare of Riverside Inc., PrimeCare of San Bernardino Inc., PrimeCare of Sun City Inc., PrimeCare of Temecula Inc., PrimeDoc St. Francis P.C., PrimeDoc of Richmond P.C., ProHEALTH Care Associates L.L.P., ProHEALTH Care Associates of New Jersey LLP, ProHEALTH Medical Management LLC, ProHealth Physicians ACO LLC, ProHealth Physicians Inc., ProHealth Proton Center Management LLC, ProHealth/CareMount Dental Management LLC, Procura Management Inc., Professional Coverage Services PLLC, Progressive Enterprises Holdings Inc., Progressive Medical LLC, Promotora Country S.A., Pronounced Health Solutions Inc., Prosemedic S.A.C., Prospero Benefits Management LLC, Prospero Care Management LLC, Prospero Management Services LLC, Providence & SCA Development LLC, Providence & SCA Off-Campus Holdings LLC, Providence & SCA On-Campus Holdings LLC, Providence & SCA Outreach Markets Holdings LLC, Pulse Platform LLC, QoL Acquisition Holdings Corp., R Cubed Inc., RABessler M.D. P.C., ROC Surgery LLC, ROCS Holdings LLC, RX Ricardo Campos Ltda., Rally Health Inc., ReMedics LLC, Real Appeal Inc., Redding Surgery Center LLC, Redlands Ambulatory Surgery Center, Redlands-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., Reliant MSO LLC, Reliant Medical Group Inc., Reliant Medical Group The Endoscopy Center LLC, Research Surgical Center LLC, Resonancia Magnetica de Colombia Ltda., Resonancia Magnetica del Country S.A., RightCare Solutions Inc., River Valley ASC LLC, Riverside Corporate Wellness LLC, Riverside Electronic Healthcare Resources Inc., Riverside Medical Management LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Meadowlands LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Newark LLC, Robert A. 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Prosecutors hold on to the 10 kilos of subsidised sugar found on him as evidence
A Cairo prosecutor ordered on Sunday the release of a man on EGP 1,000 bail after he was arrested for possessing an amount of subsidised sugar that exceeded possession of amounts reasonable for personal use, amid current shortages in the essential good on the market.
The man, who works as a waiter in a cafe, was arrested by police in Heliopolis as he walked on the street carrying 10 kilogrammes of sugar.
Prosecutors accused the waiter of stockpiling subsidised sugar with the intent of profiteering by selling it to a grocery at higher than the market price.
However, the mans lawyer, Mohamed Naeem, argued his client was carrying the sugar for use at his uncles cafe, not to sell it at a grocery as claimed by police.
Egyptian law prohibits the use of subsidised goods and commodities for commercial purposes.
Prosecutors eventually released the man on bail pending further investigation but confiscated the 10 kilos of sugar as evidence.
The arrest comes as part of a widespread police operation targeting dealers of sugar on the black market, with a hotline set up on Saturday for citizens to report incidents of stockpiling of sugar and rice.
Egypt's supply ministry said on Saturday that it will set the commercial price of subsidised sugar at EGP 6 per kilogramme (compared to EGP 10 for unsubsidised sugar) to be available at the ministry's sales outlets in a move that aims to regulate the market amid a price hike and a shortage of the essential commodity.
Major supermarkets in the country have stopped the sale of subsidised sugar to individuals above personal use.
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Iraqi forces closed to within 10 miles of Mosul on Monday against increasingly heavy resistance on day seven of the offensive to retake the city from the Islamic State.
"One week into Mosul operation, all objectives met thus far, and more coalition airstrikes than any other 7-day period of war," said a Tweet from Brett McGurk, the State Department special envoy for Iraq and Syria.
McGurk warned of a long fight ahead but met in Irbil, capital of the Kurdish Regional Government, with the governor of Nineveh province, which includes Mosul, on an administrative plan for Mosul once the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is defeated.
Reports from the field and from the Pentagon said that 70 to 80 villages had been liberated and 800 square kilometers of territory had been taken back since Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the offensive Oct. 17.
The Iraqi army's press office said that more than 770 ISIS fighters have been killed since Oct. 17, while ISIS outlets said that hundreds of Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters had been killed in the opening stages of the offensive, Reuters reported.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, noted that the village of Bartella east of Mosul had been retaken over the weekend and was in the process of being cleared, putting the attacking forces within 10 miles of the Mosul city limits.
The town of Bashiqa, about 10 miles north of Mosul, also was retaken over the weekend and was being cleared, Davis said, but the advancing forces were facing heavy resistance as they moved closer to the city.
Several military officials, who spoke to Pentagon reporters on grounds of anonymity, suggested that the ISIS fighters are failing back on the city in relatively good order while seeking to disrupt and divert the offensive.
ISIS is using suicide bombers and Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices to slow the advance and cover the retrograde operation back to the city, the officials said.
ISIS fighters in other areas launched attacks in Kirkuk, to the east of Mosul; in Rutbah in Anbar province; and in Sinjar, west of Mosul, as a diversionary tactic, the officials said.
The estimated 3,000 to 5,000 ISIS fighters in Mosul also appeared to be picking up reinforcements from Tal Afar, another city they control west of Mosul, the officials said.
The officials characterized the progress of the Mosul campaign thus far as slow and deliberate against ISIS defenders whose command and control systems are constantly being degraded by U.S. and coalition airstrikes.
On Sunday, U.S. and coalition warplanes carried out six airstrikes, each against multiple targets, near Mosul, according to a statement from Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.
The strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units, two rocket systems, two anti-aircraft artillery systems and two staging areas; destroyed 19 fighting positions, 17 vehicles, 10 heavy machine guns, nine mortar systems, eight command and control nodes, six repeater towers and four tunnels; and damaged four fighting positions, two vehicles, a mortar system and a tunnel, the task force said.
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told an audience Monday that Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, the largest naval base in the world and a key East Coast center of operations for the service, could be endangered in coming decades by rising seas due to climate change if steps are not taken to reverse current trends.
Mabus, who has frequently spoken about his concerns regarding climate change and associated threats to national security during his seven-year tenure as secretary of the Navy, said other bases also might be at risk from projected rising seas.
"We're the Navy; we tend to have bases on the sea. It makes sense," Mabus said. "All our bases are, in some way or another, at risk."
Norfolk in particular has received significant attention in recent years. The base is home to more than 80,000 active-duty personnel and supports some 75 ships and 134 aircraft. At an elevation of just seven feet above sea level, the region is already subject to flooding. And water levels are modestly rising: They're up 1 feet since the 1920s, according to a 2014 NPR report.
Mabus didn't say what he recommended military leaders do to slow the sea level rise or when he believed Norfolk might end up partly or completely underwater. But he said the Navy faces key security challenges today related to ice melt and changing seas.
"And as storms get bigger, as sea levels rise -- as any stability follows, our responsibilities increase," he said. "As the Arctic begins to be ice-free, Russia has already said the waters to its north are an internal waterway. They're not. Part of our responsibility is keeping the sea lanes open, making sure international law is followed."
The Arctic has become an increasingly popular topic of conversation among Navy brass. Leaders including the chief of naval operations, Adm. John Richardson, have said the Navy needs more funding to execute more frequent operations in the region as sea lanes remain open for significantly longer each year than they have in the past.
"Climate change and things like that, it's a risk in the future for things like Norfolk and our bases, but it's here today in terms of increasing our responsibilities, in terms of what we've got to respond to, in terms of how we have to position ourselves and how we have to think about our roles," Mabus said.
-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
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It's official: A company-sized element of Marines is deploying to Norway in January.
The Norwegian government announced in a news release Monday that it had approved a "limited rotational force presence" of about 330 Marines, to be based in Vaernes, near where the Marine Corps has thousands of vehicles and other key pieces of gear stored year-round in climate-controlled caves.
The Marines will deploy for six months, with follow-on rotations to be determined, in a move designed to provide support and collaboration to NATO allies and a ready presence in case of crisis.
"The United States is a long-term and close ally to Norway," Norwegian Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide said in a statement. "US participation in military exercises and training in Norway is one element in this long-standing and close security policy relationship. We receive positive feedback from Allies who find Norwegian cold-weather conditions ideal for training and exercises. I am pleased to welcome additional American troops to train in our superb conditions."
Military.com was first to report earlier this month that the Marine Corps was entertaining the possibility of basing troops in Norway. Vaernes, in central Norway, is about 1,000 miles from the 120-mile border the country shares with Russia to its north.
In a statement released to Military.com, the commander of Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa hailed the decision to allow a Marine presence in Norway.
"The Norwegian government's approval of a rotational presence of Marines is a tremendous opportunity to enhance training and interoperability between Norway and the U.S. Marine Corps, Maj. Gen. Niel Nelson said. Their decision is certain to galvanize our relationship with the Norwegian Armed Forces and improve our collective capabilities."
Eriksen Soreide said a deployed Marine company in Norway would provide new opportunities for bilateral exercises and military collaboration, both at Vaernes and at other locations within the country. The rotation, she said, would also allow the Marine Corps to further develop its prepositioning program. Though it's not clear what current plans are, having a Marine presence in country would enable the troops to perform regular maintenance on stored gear and use it for training and exercises.
The new basing agreement builds on a 10-year-old memorandum of understanding between Norway and the U.S., Eriksen Soreide said. The agreement's renewal in 2006 allowed for the possibility of a significant increase in training and U.S. exercises in Norway, she added.
The first deployment of Marines will be considered a trial period, Eriksen Soreide said. Following that, the Norwegian government will determine how to proceed with the possibility of a rotational presence beyond 2017.
"This US initiative is welcome and also fits well within ongoing processes in NATO to increase exercises, training and interoperability within the Alliance," she said.
The Marine unit that will deploy to Norway has not yet been announced, but it will likely include infantry troops as well as logisticians and other enablers, a U.S. defense official said.
The Corps plans to continue its deployment of the Black Sea Rotational Force, a six-month deployment to countries in Eastern Europe that highlights partnership exercises to promote regional stability and allied relationships.
-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
U.S. airstrikes and special operations raids killed more than 35 ISIS military commanders in the run up to the Mosul offensive, which is proceeding according to plan, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday.
Carter also joined with French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in stressing that the anti-ISIS campaign in Syria will be accelerated to encircle and then retake the self-proclaimed ISIS capital of Raqqa in northeastern Syria, in concert with the Mosul offensive.
Last week, Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, made similar remarks on a coordinated campaign against both Mosul and Raqqa. Votel stressed the "simultaneous application of pressure" on Raqqa and Mosul.
In opening remarks at an anti-ISIS coalition meeting in Paris, Carter said that the U.S. had been steadily targeting the Islamic State leadership in and around Mosul, "including many of the highest in the last 90 days. In fact, you might say the most dangerous job in Iraq right now is to be the military emir of Mosul."
The efforts focused on "mid-tier leaders, which our special operations forces and our air forces have done remarkably well. We have caused a lot of confusion in the ranks of the defenders in Mosul by targeting a lot of mid-tier leaders there," Carter said.
The strikes against the leadership "are going to pay off in the coming weeks" in the Mosul offensive as the Iraqi Security Forces press into the city itself, he said.
Carter said he expects to see moves against Raqqa to commence even as the advance on Mosul continues. "We want to see isolation operations begin, oriented at Raqqa, as soon as possible. We're working with our partners there to do that, and so there will be some simultaneity to these two operations. We've long anticipated that."
Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, overall commander of U.S. and allied efforts in Iraq and Syria as commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, was on board with the need to pressure ISIS in both Mosul and Raqqa, Carter said.
"While Mosul may be in the headlines, it's not the only operation underway," Carter said. He noted that Army Gen. Raymond A. "Tony" Thomas III, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, joined the anti-ISIS coalition meeting in Paris, which also focused on protecting Europe and the U.S. against the ISIS terror threat once Mosul and Raqqa have fallen.
Thomas has been put in charge of preventing ISIS' "external operations," Carter said. "That's another critical issue that we'll discuss today -- our ongoing and intensive efforts to counter ISIL's external operations," he said, using another acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
"We are killing the ISIL terrorists who plot and would carry out such operations, impeding their movement across borders, and hindering their ability to use the Internet to spread ISIL's hateful ideology," he said.
Carter would not rule out that more U.S. and coalition troops might have to be deployed to the region to prevent an ISIS resurgence. He said that more trainers and advisers would be needed to prepare the Iraqis for a continuing counter-insurgency effort against ISIS and to train more Iraqi police and border control personnel.
Both Carter and Le Drian said that the Mosul operation is generally proceeding according to plan. "And while we know it will continue to be a tough fight -- indeed, we'll probably see more resistance as the fight goes on, and almost certainly as our partners approach the core of the city -- I'm confident the Iraqi Security Forces will succeed," Carter said.
On the outskirts of Mosul on Tuesday, Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service units advanced to within two miles of the eastern city limits after pushing through the Christian town of Bartella and paused to allow other forces to move into place, Reuters reported.
At the Pentagon on Monday, U.S. military officials said that the advancing force consisted of about 20,000 Iraqi Security Forces and about 15,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. ISIS is estimated to have 3,000 to 5,000 fighters to defend the city where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a "caliphate" in June 2014.
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
A North Cairo prosecution ordered on Monday the release of Khaled Abdel Latif, the administrator of a satirical Facebook page, pending investigation on charges including insulting state institutions.
Abdel Latif, founder and administrator of a page called Translation Done on Facebook, was arrested last weekend by security forces at his home.
On Sunday, prosecutors had ordered Abde-Latif detained 15 days pending investigation.
Abdel Latif, a copy writer at the prominent night puppet show Abla Fahita on CBC TV, also faces charges of inciting protests on 11 November and disturbing security and public peace.
Translation Cleared, long known for its sarcastic content on social issues and trends on social media, has more than one million likes on Facebook.
Mahmoud Ezzat, a colleague of Abdel Latif at Abla Fahita, told Ahram Online he believes an eight-second video that went viral on social media mocking Egypts President Abdel Fattah El-Sisis Change or Fakka initiative might be the reason behind his arrest.
Ezzat stressed that Abdel Latif does not have any political affiliations.
In the past week, several people have been detained on charges of joining the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood and inciting "illegal protests on 11 November," over the countrys economic situation.
No political or social group have backed the anonymous calls to protest.
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As the Pentagon's top civilian vowed to "resolve" a policy in which Guardsmen were ordered to pay back bonuses, questions swirled about what happens to the hundreds of troops who already returned the money.
An estimated 10,500 service members, mostly from the California National Guard, received enlistment bonuses of as much as $15,000 designed to address a personnel shortage in the ranks a decade ago during the peak of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But the money, which collectively totaled about $22 million, was improperly awarded and troops were ordered to pay it back or face such penalties as interest charges and tax liens, according to a story first reported by David Cloud, a reporter for The Los Angeles Times.
Now, as Pentagon officials and lawmakers consider waiving the debt, it remains unclear whether the fix will somehow accommodate the roughly 1,500 troops who either repaid the money or started the repayment process.
"How do you go back and address soldiers that have paid money back when we start alleviating debts of other soldiers? That's what makes this a very complex issue," Col. Peter Cross, director of public affairs for the California National Guard, said on Tuesday during a telephone interview with Military.com.
"I don't have an answer," he added. "It's going to take some very precise language and studying of the issue to make everybody whole again. Otherwise, you're going to have disparate treatment of soldiers."
Have you been ordered to pay back an enlistment bonus? We'd like to hear from you. Please contact us.
Since the story broke on Saturday, lawmakers and members of the public have reacted with outrage over the Pentagon's bonus repayment policy.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California and a former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, described the move as "boneheaded" and vowed to pursue a legislative fix when Congress returns in mid-November, if necessary.
But California National Guard, or CNG, officials say they warned Congress about the problem in 2014.
"In fact, the CNG even drafted and provided bill language in 2014 that would helped waive these obligations," Cross said in an email. "Unfortunately no action was taken on the legislation."
The issue first surfaced several years ago after Guard officials were accused of mismanaging the bonus program.
Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, who oversaw the program for the Guard, in 2011 pleaded guilty to filing $15.2 million in false claims alone, landing a 30-month federal prison sentence, NPR reported. Interestingly, she didn't appear to do so for any personal gain.
Later, eight current or former members of the California National Guard were indicted on charges in 2014 of fraudulently obtaining recruiting referral bonuses, The Associated Press reported.
In response, the Guard created the Soldier Incentives Assistance Center to advocate for affected soldiers and support their appeals -- an effort that helped about 4,000 soldiers retain $37 million in bonus money, Cross said.
He said a provision to waive the obligations has been included in the fiscal 2017 authorization bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which sets policy goals and funding targets for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. But the language would need to be modified to reimburse troops who already returned the money, he said, and lawmakers haven't yet agreed to a compromise version of the bill.
Congressional leaders have said they're not at fault for the oversight.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy joined other lawmakers in asking the Defense Department to waive the repayments. Meanwhile, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, headed by Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, on Tuesday afternoon announced it had launched an investigation into the matter.
"The committee is seeking information about this serious matter, and to see that officials who mismanaged bonus programs are held accountable," the panel wrote in a letter to Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, adjutant general of the California National Guard, and Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, and obtained by Military.com.
The letter requests that documents be turned over to the committee, including "all audits of overpayments related to bonus and student loan repayments by the California National Guard since 2002."
During brief remarks after an anti-Islamic state coalition meeting in Paris, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Tuesday said he had designated Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work to investigate and resolve the issue. The deputy defense secretary is "working on it right now -- it's got its complexities to it," Carter said. "We are going to look into it and resolve it."
While the Pentagon is looking to speed up the process for granting waivers, the department under current laws and regulations isn't authorized to grant a blanket waiver, so individuals still have to petition the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals to have a debt waived, according to Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
"We have the authority to waive individual payments on a one-by-one basis," Davis has said. "We do not have the authority to waive these things writ large."
The California National Guard also pledged to work with veterans who wish to file appeals to the National Guard Bureau and the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to wipe out the debts, The Los Angeles Times reported.
"While many [soldiers] have been helped," Cross said in an email, "we agree much more needs to be done in [California] and across the country to relieve our Soldiers of this burden and we hope Congressional /DoD leadership will follow through on their commitment to address these issues."
The issue doesn't appear to be unique to the Guard.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon's bomb squad team was saddled with debt due to an accounting error. One member of the team committed suicide. The department agreed to forgive the debt after Military.com and The Washington Post reported on the case.
-- Richard Sisk contributed to this report.
-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
If you're around the greater District of Columbia area the day after Veterans Day, consider attending a reading by veterans at The Writer's Center.
"Veterans Return Home: Readings" starts at 3 p.m. on Nov. 12 and will feature several authors reading from a collection of nonfiction accounts of service members returning to civilian life.
It is a joint event with "Retire the Colors: Veterans and Civilians on Iraq and Afghanistan" and the Veterans Writing Project, and will feature readers from both.
For more information on the event and presenters, visit The Writer's Center website.
I had the opportunity to speak with Dario DiBattista, the nonfiction editor of O-Dark-Thirty, a quarterly literary journal published by the Veterans Writing Project, about the event and what it means to him in the context of Veterans Day.
DiBattista is the editor of the anthology "Retire the Colors: Veterans & Civilians on Iraq & Afghanistan." His work has appeared in the Washingtonian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Connecticut Review and many other publications.
He's also been profiled in The New York Times and has been a commentator on NPR and for the BBC. He served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 2001 to 2007, later becoming a distinguished graduate of the Johns Hopkins University M.A. in Writing Program.
Q: This reading comes the day after Veterans Day, so please tell us what it means to you to be a veteran and why it's important for veterans to share at an event such as "Veterans Return Home: Readings."
A: "I think your average American knows almost nothing about military service. There are some obvious reasons for that -- less than 1% of all the citizenry makes up the armed services at any given time, and less than 1% of Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. You weigh this into the fact that military communities are often segregated from large civilian communities, and it equals a lot less chances for civilians to be connected.
"At the same time, we compartmentalize their service into simple expressions like holding your hand over your heart at a ballgame or saying, "Thank you for your service," which requires no intellectual engagement with the stories of veterans.
"But here's the thing: War is a democratic process. The military does not choose to go to war. The people we elect -- or don't elect -- make those decisions. Everyone has some stake in the lives of our service members. So I think they should take a little bit of time to understand our stories, if they do indeed really want to support us."
Q: Can you tell us about your military time, and how that has helped or hindered you in the civilian world?
A: "I have a theory that simply having served in the military overqualifies you to be a writer. Beyond the qualities of discipline and determination that the military ingrains into its servicemen and women, which are essential tools of seeking a career in arts, there are other unique experiences that make this true.
"First, I think most people would agree that good writing is concise and clear -- right, just making up an example, like, you don't endlessly describe a tree outside of a scene at a bar for no reason. You put a reader in the bar and let them know what's going on as quickly and smoothly as possible. The tree probably doesn't matter. In the military, you're trained to go into an environment -- or "setting," as writers would say -- and figure out what's going on really quickly. This innate understanding helps when trying to create scenes.
"Second, the military forces you to understand people in a way no other job that I know of does. And stories are about people -- period. Who walks point? Who do you give the machine gun? What is your subordinate dealing with back home, and how is that affecting their performance? You have to understand people to be a military leader, and there are so many different people from so many different cultures that you meet.
"Third, and I don't say this lightly, stories are about conflicts, external and internal. And what conflict is bigger than life and death and war? Having gone through these humbling experiences makes someone truly understand stakes and drama."
Q: Why should civilians come to this and similar readings? What do they get out of it?
A: "Like with all good writing, you get a new empathy, a new understanding, a new way of thinking. You'll be exposed to a group of people who have stories you really wouldn't expect. They will shock and enlighten you in a good way."
Q: Do any stories come to mind that really make you appreciate your fellow service members and veterans?
A: "I try not to elevate anyone's experience over anyone else's, but veterans, in general, are really unique people. Whether it was for their country, for school money or for themselves, they took up an oath to swear and defend the Constitution to do something positive. They're dreamers, in this sense. I think day-to-day experiences cause reflection. Experiences like war cause revelation. We can all learn a lot from anyone who's put their life on the line for our country."
Q: You have been involved with veterans and encouraging them to write for several years now. What is it about writing that you would say helps veterans through the transition to the civilian lifestyle?
A: "When someone goes through something traumatic and challenging -- and I'm oversimplifying the science here -- that can be imprinted onto the "lizard brain" we all have as an evolutionary mechanism, through the fight-or-flight experience. When someone uses writing -- or dance, or art, or music, etc. -- they're applying higher brain functioning to those powerful memories. In essence, this can help someone with a painful memory shape, reflect upon and ultimately control it, instead of the other way around."
For more information and to hear these stories, consider attending the event. You can also buy the book, "Retire the Colors: Veterans & Civilians on Iraq & Afghanistan."
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NEW YORK -- Former president Bill Clinton and his wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton released a statement Monday evening on the death of noted activist Tom Hayden.
Hayden died on Sunday, Oct. 23.
"Hillary and I were saddened to learn of the death of Tom Hayden. His eventful life in pursuit of peace and justice ran the gamut from protesting to legislating, with lots of writing and teaching along the way," the statement read.
"Attacked first by the right as a dangerous radical, then by the left for his willingness to compromise, Tom always marched to the beat of his own drummer, doing what he thought at any given time would advance his lifelong goals."
The statement was released on the Clinton Foundation website and Bill Clinton tweeted the statement around 9:30 p.m. Monday. The statement by the Clintons touched on their relationship with Hayden over the last three decades.
"Hillary and I knew him for more than thirty years and valued both his words of support and his criticism. His intelligence, intensity, and willingness to put himself on the line was uniquely American," the statement read. "He will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with Barbara and his children."
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Hayden was the former editor of The Michigan Daily and a founding member of Students for a Democratic Society and its University of Michigan chapter.
He is also one of the famed Chicago 7 who protested outside of the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Hayden was indicted on federal charges of conspiracy and incitement to riot for the protest. Hayden was initially convicted of crossing state lines to incite a riot, but that decision was eventually reversed.
Hayden also served as a California assemblyman for 10 years from 1982-1992 and a California state Senator for eight years from 1992-2000.
ANN ARBOR, MI - U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell is reaching out to the Environmental Protection Agency, raising concerns about the Gelman dioxane plume spreading through the Ann Arbor area's groundwater.
Dingell, D-Dearborn, sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Tuesday, Oct. 25, questioning current efforts to address the toxic chemical plume that has been spreading from the former Gelman Sciences site on Wagner Road for decades, now contaminating much of the groundwater on Ann Arbor's west side and parts of Scio Township west of the city.
An estimate of the extent of the Gelman dioxane plume. Plume boundaries shown here are based on a map created by Washtenaw County in February 2016.
The letter comes after recent developments, including the discovery of
dioxane in shallow groundwater under Waterworks Park
on Ann Arbor's west side, have increased the level of concern in the community.
Dingell said the recent reports of dioxane in shallow groundwater near a neighborhood are deeply troubling and raise questions about the adequacy of existing remediation efforts by Pall Corp. under the regulatory oversight of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Gelman Sciences was acquired in 1997 by Pall Corp., which was acquired last year by Danaher Corp., a multibillion-dollar corporation that some local officials and residents argue has the financial resources to do a better cleanup.
"This is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed immediately and it is my hope that this letter will help inform all stakeholders as we move forward toward a solution that will ensure this contamination is properly cleaned up," Dingell wrote in her letter to the EPA administrator on Tuesday.
"The contamination is the result of irresponsible business practices by Gelman Sciences, now owned by Pall Life Sciences, which incorporated the chemical in its manufacturing of medical filters in Scio Township, Michigan," Dingell wrote to McCarthy, recalling how wastewater containing 1,4-dioxane was sprayed on lawns and stored in unlined lagoons, seeping through soil and rock layers into the groundwater between 1966 and 1986.
Dioxane is classified by the EPA as likely to be carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure. It also can cause kidney and liver damage, and respiratory problems. Short-term exposure to high levels of dioxane in the air can cause eye, nose and throat irritation.
Dingell said the dioxane plume has greatly expanded over the last 20 years, now encompassing more than three square miles.
"It is troubling that the plume continues to grow even as remediation efforts are ongoing," she wrote to McCarthy, adding that the number of monitoring wells that have had their highest-ever reading has increased.
Dingell noted ongoing pump-and-treat remediation efforts by Pall/Gelman are being overseen by the DEQ pursuant to a consent decree.
"What role does EPA have in ensuring that MDEQ and Pall are living up to their obligations and meeting the terms of the consent decree?" Dingell asked in the letter. "Has EPA reviewed whether the remediation plan outlined in the consent decree is consistent with requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act? Based on available information, does EPA assess that the current level of contamination is an immediate threat to human health?"
Dingell said residents have been concerned the expansion of the plume could lead to greater health risks through vapor intrusion into buildings, and the DEQ acknowledges that is a potential exposure pathway.
"Recent testing has now detected 1,4-dioxane in shallow groundwater near a neighborhood," Dingell wrote. "Is EPA concerned that dioxane could be inhaled as vapor when it comes into contact with building foundations and basements?"
She also asked whether the EPA believes the presence of chloroform and trichloroethane, two other chemicals found in shallow groundwater on Ann Arbor's west side, could be related to the dioxane plume.
"Thank you for your prompt attention to these questions," Dingell wrote, concluding her letter.
Dingell's letter comes less than 24 hours after the Ann Arbor City Council voted Monday night, Oct. 24, to direct the city administrator to explore options for more expeditious and effective cleanup efforts and to seek Dingell's assistance in exploring whether the DEQ is fulfilling its delegated authority under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The council also directed the city attorney to continue providing legal advice on a regular basis.
The city is considering a variety of legal options ranging from trying to push for a better cleanup in court to petitioning the EPA for a Superfund cleanup.
The city also is waiting on the state to adopt stricter exposure criteria for dioxane, something it was required by law to do three years ago.
The company responsible for the pollution has spent millions doing pump-and-treat remediation over the years to remove dioxane from the groundwater.
However, the rate of pumping and treating has slowed in recent years and some want to see it increased.
The company is permitted to extract and treat 1,300 gallons per minute, and at one time it was approaching that. The average monthly pumping rate for active extraction wells was 1,115 gallons per minute in April 2011, but it was down to 487 gallons per minute as of earlier this year.
The DEQ has given no indication it will press the company to do more pumping and treating to more aggressively remove the toxic chemical from the environment.
The plume poses a long-term threat to Ann Arbor's water supply and a more immediate threat to private wells in township areas surrounding the city.
Vapor intrusion also is a serious concern now as dioxane potentially spreads through shallow groundwater areas near homes and other buildings.
Stephen_Postema_102416_RJS_01.jpg
City Attorney Stephen Postema, standing over Council Members Chip Smith and Chuck Warpehoski, speaks at a special Ann Arbor City Council meeting on Oct. 24, 2016.
(Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News)
ANN ARBOR, MI - The Ann Arbor City Council went on record again, voicing concerns about the Gelman dioxane plume and new reports indicating there are traces of the toxic chemical under Waterworks Park.
By a unanimous vote Monday night, Oct. 24, the council approved a resolution directing City Administrator Howard Lazarus to explore options for more expeditious and effective cleanup efforts, including possible collaboration with Washtenaw County, Scio Township, Ann Arbor Township and other affected jurisdictions.
The administrator is being asked to report on the status of those efforts monthly, and to seek assistance from the community's Congressional delegation to explore whether the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is fulfilling its delegated authority under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Council Member Chuck Warpehoski, D-5th Ward, said at the Ann Arbor City Council's meeting on Oct. 24, 2016, he wants to see a more vigorous cleanup of the Gelman dioxane plume and more done to hold the polluter accountable.
The council also directed the city attorney to continue providing legal advice on a regular basis regarding the Gelman plume and related legal issues.
The council voted on the resolution after spending about 45 minutes behind closed doors talking with City Attorney Stephen Postema.
The resolution was co-sponsored by Council Members Chip Smith, Chuck Warpehoski, Sabra Briere and Graydon Krapohl.
"We can no longer sit by as passive actors in this drama," Smith said, adding the city was legally excluded from having a seat at the table by a judge's decision years ago and the city needs to work to get a seat at the table.
"I think it's important, whether this is an immediate-action resolution or simply puts us on the course to making a decision in the coming months as to how to proceed both in the courts and politically," Smith said.
"I think we need to do more to become actively engaged in these discussions and to get a seat at the table. We're the people who are affected, and it's people in the 5th Ward who are immediately affected by this."
The city still is considering multiple legal avenues for pursuing a better cleanup of the dioxane pollution that has been spreading from the former Gelman Sciences property on Wagner Road for decades.
There has been some talk of petitioning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to seek Superfund status for the plume and get the federal government involved in overseeing a more aggressive cleanup, but some are concerned that might hurt chances of pursuing other options or affect local property values.
For now, the city is waiting on the state to adopt stricter exposure criteria for dioxane, something it was required by law to do three years ago.
The new standards, which local officials hope to see adopted soon, would lower the allowable level of dioxane in residential drinking water from 85 parts per billion to 7.2 ppb, while establishing screening levels for vapor intrusion.
The DEQ acknowledges it's possible dioxane-contaminated groundwater moving under Ann Arbor's west side could enter buildings as vapor.
The DEQ maintains there's no immediate risk to public health known at this time from the trace amounts of dioxane discovered under Waterworks Park.
However, some citizen activists argue more investigation and ongoing monitoring is needed to determine the extent of a possible shallow plume of dioxane and to make sure the levels don't spike as the chemical, which is in much higher concentrations at points west, spreads toward areas where groundwater is known to rise to the surface, such as at West Park and Waterworks Park.
What's concerning to some is not the low levels detected so far, but what's still unknown, and the possibility that this might be only the tip of the iceberg.
Gelman Sciences was acquired in 1997 by Pall Corp., which was acquired last year by Danaher Corp., a multibillion-dollar corporation that some local officials and residents argue has the financial resources to do a better cleanup.
Danaher last month declined an invitation to meet directly with local officials to discuss options for addressing the Gelman dioxane plume. However, it says Pall Corp. will continue to work with the DEQ, including participating in a community engagement process the DEQ hopes to get going this fall.
Council Member Jack Eaton, D-4th Ward, said Monday night he thinks the city has to be careful to not jump to the conclusion that the newly discovered dioxane in shallow groundwater came from Gelman Sciences. He echoes the DEQ in saying there's no evidence at this time it is part of the Gelman plume.
He spoke in favor of doing more shallow groundwater testing on Ann Arbor's west side to further investigate the issue and including U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who favors getting the EPA involved in a larger cleanup, in ongoing discussions.
Council Member Jane Lumm, an independent from the 2nd Ward, thanked Smith and Warpehoski for taking the lead on bringing forward Monday's resolution.
"I do think it helps to properly prepare council and the city for potential action we might take by ensuring we're fully up to speed on the status and our options," Lumm said, arguing it's more important than ever for the city to be directly engaged.
Smith and Warpehoski said they have heard from several constituents who are concerned about the issue. They noted there will be a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday night and residents are invited to meet with local and state officials at Eberwhite Elementary School to discuss the issue.
Warpehoski said he wants to see a more vigorous cleanup and more done to hold the polluter accountable.
"The question of bringing in the EPA is an important one," he said. "At the stakeholder meeting last week, we heard from other elected officials in other communities who've had experience with the EPA on toxic sites -- not Superfund sites -- but it wasn't always a positive experience, so trying to weigh that carefully is very important. I've been on a call with the EPA about potential involvement. It's an important option and something we need to give due consideration. I don't think it's a slam dunk one way or the other."
Eaton said he wants the city's Environmental Commission to discuss the issue and make a recommendation to council on whether to seek EPA involvement.
He also questioned the timing of Monday night's special meeting to discuss the issue, suggesting there wasn't anything urgent to address.
"I really don't know why we called a special session or why it's so essential that we pass this in a hurry," he said. "In April of this year, the city attorney's office offered us legal advice on the plume and assured us that they would, on an ongoing basis, update that advice. One of the resolved clauses that's in this resolution -- that we're asking them to keep us up to date -- they're already doing that."
Eaton said a resolution the council adopted in 2013 also directed the city administrator to keep the council updated on the issue.
"Simply put, there was no compelling reason to call a special session to do this other than perhaps political appearances," he said.
David Silkworth, Warpehoski's opponent in the Nov. 8 election, said in a statement in response to the discovery of dioxane under Waterworks Park it's obvious more testing and evaluation needs to be conducted.
He said it also is obvious a real solution to the Gelman plume is long overdue, and he supports petitioning the EPA for Superfund designation.
"The problems caused by the Gelman dioxane plume can only be solved by thoroughly cleaning up the source area," he said. "The contaminates must be removed from the site, and our aquifers must be restored. The EPA is the only agency with the power and authority to ensure site decontamination and aquifer restoration to levels that are considered safe by our federal government."
He added, "The EPA also has the power to ensure that the responsible party pays for the cleanup. The DEQ is hampered by weak state laws which do not require permanent solutions. We've wasted enough time dancing around this issue. I think that we need to get serious about achieving a real, long-term solution with tangible benefits for our community."
Mayor Christopher Taylor offered his thoughts on the issue Monday night, saying he shares Eaton's interest in working with Dingell. He said he has spoken with Dingell and she is eager to work with the city and other jurisdictions on pursuing cleanup goals in whatever way each particular jurisdiction sees fit.
"The 1,4-dioxane plume is a problem that was decades in the making, and it is regrettably decades in the solving," he said. "And that is a problem we have due to the legal structures associated with cleanup in Michigan, and those are the constraints under which we operate."
By passage of Monday's resolution, Taylor said, the council and the public will be getting more information about the city's reasonable options moving forward.
Former top auditor Hisham Geneina was removed from his post by a presidential decree last March after charges he exaggerated corruption figures
The case appealing a decision to remove former top auditor Hisham Geneina from his position was postponed on Tuesday due to a change of judges.
The new court will rehear the defence on 20 December.
Geneina was removed from his post by a presidential decree last March, after State Security Prosecution issued a statement accusing him of making false claims about widespread government corruption.
The former auditor was also sentenced in July to one year in jail and an EGP 20,000 fine on charges of spreading false news.
Geneina alleged in statements to local media last year that Egypts coffers had lost EGP 600 billion (about $76 billion) between 2012 and 2015 due to government corruption.
State security prosecution said that Geneina had exaggerated the sums lost to corruption by referencing violations prior to 2012, and that he had abused his position as head auditor in gathering documents to make his case.
The president issued a decree last July in the absence of a parliament, allowing him for the first time to dismiss the heads of regulatory agenciesincluding the top auditor, the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, the financial regulator, and the Administrative Control Authorityraising questions about their independence.
Geneina's defence argues that the presidential decision to remove the auditor from his post is unconstitutional.
Egypt ranked 88th out of 168 countries in Transparency Internationals Corruption Perceptions Index in 2015.
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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi says the government cannot put an overhaul of the country's poor education system high on its agenda, saying Egypt has insufficient resources to do so.
"The country's resources are scarce... and the challenges are huge," El-Sisi told a seminar on education during a three-day national youth conference that kicked off on Tuesday.
Obstacles such as high rates of population growth, slums and a high unemployment rate, would hold the country back from adopting needed reforms to overhaul the flawed system, he told the gathering at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
"Would Egyptians accept having all available cash be put in [education] and have other issues wait?" he wondered.
"Would the youth wait while the country remains at a standstill or go out [in the streets] because they want to make a living?"
In response to questions posed by attendees, who suggested Egypt adopt measures that have been successful in other countries, El-Sisi urged the youth to take into consideration the country's flagging economic situation before proposing a solution, and to think of how much a proposed initiative would cost and how it can be funded.
Minister of High Education Ashraf Shiha, who took part in Tuesday's seminar, said the government's current plan includes working to integrate modern technology into the Egyptian education system, adding that internet speed and the number of computers have been increased at state-run universities.
The minister said that the government is also looking to link state-run schools with the Bank of Knowledge, a state-funded project launched earlier this year that provides free access to net-based research resources.
Over 23 percent of Egyptians above the age of 15 years are illiterate, according to September data from the country's official statistics agency.
More than 12 percent of Egyptians were unemployed in late 2015, with the figure standing at 28 percent for young people.
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The armys role in the economy will diminish within two to three years, Egypts PM Sherif Ismail said on Monday.
In an exclusive interview with Egyptian privately-owned channel CBCs Lamees El-Hadidi, Ismail said that the army maintains a role in managing national projects, stressing that the actual work is usually executed by private sector companies.
The army executes some projects, but the government benefits from the armed forces role in administering projects, Ismail said.
El-Hadidi said that her questions came from private companies who feel unfair competition, due to the armys role in projects, to which Ismail replied that most projects were conducted by private firms.
Isnt the armys sector a part of the state? And isnt the government a part of the state? Today, there are certain projects that the state should be involved in along with the private sector. A states role is needed in some economic projects to ensure a balance and secure the market, he added.
He said this does not mean that hes telling the private sector not to bid for, or execute projects.
But in this stage the state should still have a role. The armed forces are a part of the state and we have to deal with it this way, Ismail said.
We benefit from the army at certain times when we have a problem, and this is a normal procedure because they are organised and they have the capabilities to help us, he said.
This is normal and we dont find fault with it because we know the states apparatus has had problems, due to the accumulation of crises in recent years, he said, defending the militarys role.
CBCs El-Hadidi provided the example of baby formula, and how the army interfered to counter the scarcity.
Ismails comments come nearly a month after the army announced it would intervene to solve the baby formula crisissaying it would provide milk formula at a lower-than-market pricedays after dozens of parents protested shortages and price hikes of the subsidized milk powder.
The move sparked a debate on whether the army had become overly involved in the economy at the cost of its main duty to secure the country.
In a speech later that month, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi defended in the armys role, which also included providing food essentials in the prior period to counter price hikes for low income citizens, suggesting that the action was a choice made by the army to help him build up the country.
We were able to provide it and the army moved as well. This doesnt mean the state didnt interfere, we interfered and the stock provided by the army was added to the market without them making a profit, he insisted.
Describing the relationship, Ismail said that the army acts as a parallel arm along with the state apparatus.
El-Hadidi also raised a complaint that the number of appointed ministers and governors coming from a military background is increasing.
In September, former army general Mohamed Ali El-Sheikh was appointed as the new minister of supply, replacing Khaled Hanafy, who decided to resign from office after a fact-finding parliamentary committee accused him of corruption and graft.
I meet a huge number of civilians for certain posts, of whom the majority decline to undertake the post. I dont want to say that they dont want to handle responsibility but 90 percent of them retract, Ismail said.
Ismail observed that Egypt currently faces a difficult stage, but that his government has a readiness to handle responsibility for its decisions. El-Hadidi asked whether the government would still accept responsibility if its decisions had negative outcomes, which could lead to a sacrifice of Ismails cabinet.
We care only for the interests of Egypt. If this means that we would pay the price as a government, then so be it, Ismail concluded.
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Egyptian women's rights organisation New Women Foundation (NWF) has called on the education ministry to ensure that schoolgirls are not forced to wear the Islamic headscarf as part of the dress code in schools all over the country, said the campaign coordinator Lamya Lotfey.
The NWF launched a campaign last week titled no to imposing the veil on school girls after Lotfey's daughter was punished for not wearing the veil in her middle school in Sharqiya governorate.
After my daughter's case, we [the NWF] received a number of complaints leading us to launch this campaign nationwide, Lotfey said in an interview with Ahram Online.
My own daughter endured physical punishment for not wearing the veil after being instructed to, she said, explaining that a teacher made her stand in the playground after school hours.
My husband and I immediately filed a formal complaint with the educational directorate in the governorate... Frankly, the officials responded quickly and investigated the issue.
Lotfey reveals that the investigations showed that it was a personal decision by the headmistress so girls would not get harassed.
This is a part of the harassment cycle, Lotfey said, adding that boys should be taught to respect the girls in class as their colleagues.
On Monday, the deputy education minister assigned to Sharqiya sent a written order to all schools in the northern governorate clearly stating that the headscarf is not part of the obligatory dress code for girls, but merely a personal choice.
Lotfey said that the campaign demands that this order be instated in schools nationwide.
Even Christian schoolgirls can be forced to wear the Islamic veil during school.
There should be a clear sign [posted in schools] stating that the veil is a choice, instead of the signs at some schools stipulating that the veil is part of the required dress code, Lotfy stressed.
There have been other high-profile incidents in recent years of schoolgirls forced to cover their hair or were punished for not wearing a veil.
Most recently, in March 2016, a teacher in Fayoum governorate cut a strand of hair off a fifth grade student and subjected her to corporal punishment in front of her classmates for not wearing a veil.
In 2012, a female teacher in the Upper Egyptian city of Luxor cut the hair of two sixth-grade girls for coming to class without wearing a head scarf.
The teacher, who was referred to investigation afterwards, threatened other girls in the class with the same punishment if they failed to wear the veil.
Last August, education ministry spokesman Hany Kamal told Aharm Online amid rumours of a ban on the Islamic veil in schools that there is no such thing as a hijab ban, wearing the hijab or taking it off is personal choice.
There is no law in Egypt that regulates dress codes or bans the hijab, Kamal added.
The NWF says that it has received complaints saying that some schools have had the headscarf as part of the dress code for up to one year, yet the cases were not reported.
Parents should also be more proactive and report such cases to either the school or the education directorate, adding that formal channels for submitting complaints should be set up within schools.
Forcing the veil on schoolgirls is an attack on their personal rights, as it is a violation of their right to choose and [affects] their psychological wellbeing, Lotfey said in a Facebook post at the start of the NWF campaign.
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An Israeli army statement says Israeli and Egyptian militaries are investigating the incident.
An Israeli civilian was killed by gunfire along the border with Egypt on Tuesday, the Israeli military said.
The army said in a statement the shooting did not appear to be connected to militant action and that the Israeli and Egyptian militaries were investigating the incident.
An army spokeswoman said the man died of his wounds while being airlifted to an Israeli hospital from the desolate Israel-Egypt border area in the Negev desert where the shooting occurred.
Israeli Channel 2 television said the victim was an employee for a contractor firm hired by the Israeli defense ministry to carry out maintenance work on the border fence.
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The aim of the price change is to increase the flow of foreign currency into the country
EgyptAir has increased its prices for tickets purchased from Egypt for flights taking off from abroad by 10-20 percent, a source at the airline told Ahram Arabic news website.
The aim of the price change is to increase the flow of foreign currency into the country, as many Egyptians prefer purchasing tickets for their relatives abroad.
The new price increase also aims to limit the exploitation of tourism companies and individuals who buy the ticket in Egypt using local currency and collecting its price in dollars to benefit from the exchange rates.
Egypt has been suffering a dollar shortage in recent years.
The Egyptian pound was devalued in March by 13 percent in an effort to close the gap between the official and black market rates, but the move has failed to boost dollar liquidity or close the gap.
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[October 25, 2016] Vetronics Market is Estimated to Generate $4,362 Million, by 2022 - Allied Market Research
PORTLAND, Oregon, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report by Allied Market Research, titled, "World Vetronics Market, by System Type and Geography - Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 - 2022" projects that the world vetronics market is expected to generate $4,362 million by 2022, registering an estimated CAGR of 5.4% from 2016 to 2022. Among system types, the military communication, command, and control segment is expected to dominate the global market throughout the analysis period. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )
Summary of the Vetronics Market Report can be accessed on the website at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/vetronics-market Vetronics refers to vehicle electronics that enable military units to integrate various systems such as communication, command, and control, vehicle electronic warfare system, navigation system, vehicle protection systems, and surveillance system to streamline activities such as communication, navigation, surveillance, and vehicle health management. Military units across the globe have focused on investing in solutions and systems to ensure significant improvement in military operations, and have an edge in the battlefield. Furthermore, increasing need for efficient combat management systems in the defense sector has encouraged prominent players offering military communication, command, and control systems to develop and offer advanced battlefield management systems for military applications. In addition, advancement in wireless communication technology has opened new opportunities for the market players. These factors are expected to drive the military communication, command, and control segment, registering the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. In addition, the vehicle electronic warfare system segment is projected to grow at the second highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to the growing need for monitoring cross-border activities, identifying enemy's weaknesses, and facilitating enhanced connectivity between central and remote vetronics systems. Based on the geography, the vetronics marke is segmented into four major regions, namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Asia-Pacific was the highest revenue contributor in 2014, accounting for around 29% share of the overall vetronics market. The LAMEA vetronics market is projected to grow at the second highest CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period.
"Lack of security measures at the border areas make it immensely easy for illegal border crossers, smugglers, and terrorists to breach the border. This hampers the security of a nation, and harms its natural resources. To keep a security check at the border areas, various countries are expected to heavily invest on procuring efficient vetronics systems such as military communication systems, navigation systems, and electronic warfare systems. This is anticipated to drive the overall vetronics market during the forecast period." says Lead Analyst, AMR. The report features a competitive scenario of the overall vetronics market, and provides comprehensive analysis of key growth strategies adopted by major players. Prominent companies operating in the world vetronics market have adopted various strategies, such as product launch, partnership, collaboration, joint ventures, and others, to strengthen their market position and expand their market presence. Some of the key players operating in the vetronics market include Lockheed Martin Corporation, Leonardo-Finmeccanica S.p.a., Saab Group, Thales S.A., General Dynamics Corporation, Harris Corporation, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, BAE Systems PLC., Raytheon Company, and Rheinmetall AG. Key findings of the Vetronics Market study:
Military communication, command, and control segment dominated the vetronics market in 2014, and is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.
Among system types, the military communication, command, and control segment is projected to create significant growth opportunities for prominent players operating in the global market.
Among regions, the Asia-Pacific dominated the global market in 2014, and is expected to maintain this trend during 2016-2022.
dominated the global market in 2014, and is expected to maintain this trend during 2016-2022. Among countries, the US was the leading region in terms of spending on vetronics systems in 2014, followed by China . In addition, Germany , UK, Spain , and India are projected to provide significant opportunities for major players. Summary of similar reports can be viewed at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/aerospace-&-defence/defence-market-report About Us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact:
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This will be the fourth time a committee is tasked with revising the cases of detained young activists, the president said
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Tuesday the formation of a committee to revise the cases of youth activists detained for non-violent charges in politically related cases
El-Sisi made the announcement during the second session of the National Youth Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, where a discussion took place on the role of youth in political life in Egypt and their participation in the parliamentary elections.
Former leader of the Democratic Front Party Osama El-Ghazali Harb, who participated in the event, asked the president to pardon young people currently detained in non-violent political crimes and have not received jail sentences.
In response, the president said that a committee will be formed with the inclusion of youth participating in the conference, including member of Egypt's National Council for Human Rights Mohamed Abdel-Aziz.
I have no interest in jailing anyone. I will sign whatever this committee submits in accordance with the law and the constitution," the president said, adding that this will be the fourth time a committee is tasked with revising the cases of detained young activists.
El-Sisi has previously pardoned political activists detained in illegal protesting cases.
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business Tatas file caveats to preempt legal action from Mistry A few hours after Tata Group company CEOs met at the head office of the group on Tuesday, ousted Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry confirmed that the Tatas have filed caveats against him.
Sisi said that the conference, the first session of which was focused on education in Egypt, should be used to 'have a dialogue and raise hope'
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated on Tuesday the first annual National Youth Conference in the Sinai resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh with the participation of 3,000 youth from the countrys universities and political parties.
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and a number of ministers, officials and public figures attended the opening ceremony of the three-day conference organised under the auspices of the president.
During his inauguration speech, El-Sisi said that the conference, the first session of which was focused on education in Egypt, should be used to have a dialogue and raise hope.
Regarding the education system in Egypt, El-Sisi said that the government cannot put an overhaul of the country's poor education system high on its agenda at the moment, as the country does not have sufficient resources to do so.
The second session was focused on the evaluation of youth participation in parliament.
The speaker panel for this session included Minister of Youth Khaled Abdel-Aziz, former leader of the Democratic Front Party Osama El-Ghazali Harb, MP Tarek El-Kholi, MP Mohamed El-Sewedy of the Support Egypt bloc, and member of the National Council for Human Rights Mohamed Abdel-Aziz.
During the session, President El-Sisi suggested that each MP be appointed two assistants under the age of 40 so as to prepare the youth for politics.
He also encourage the youth to participate in the upcoming local council elections.
El-Ghazali Harb asked the president to pardon young people currently detained for non-violent political crimes and have not received jail sentences.
In response, the president said that a committee will be formed to revise the cases of youth activists detained for non-violent charges in politically related cases.
The president added that this will be the fourth time a committee is tasked with revising the cases of detained young activists.
In the evening, the Egyptian president attended a meeting with a group of Egyptian youths where he said that the country is in a difficult position and that its young people should not resort to protests, as this would be extremely harmful.
The first National Youth Conference will continue for another two days, where more sessions as well as workshops in different fields will take place, including politics and the economy.
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business Bharti Q2 profit beats estimates at Rs 1461 cr, margin expands Telecom operator Bharti Airtel's consolidated profit during July-September quarter declined marginally to Rs 1,460.7 crore from Rs 1,462 crore in previous quarter but that was far ahead of analysts' estimates on better-than-expected operational performance.
With US President Barack Obama approaching the final weeks of his time in the Oval Office, it is clear he is leaving behind an incomplete vision for democracy and peace in the Middle East, anticipated in his Cairo speech eight years ago.
Syria is perhaps one of the worst troubles left behind by the Obama administration.
In the eyes of prominent political science professor and commentator Gilbert Achcar, Obama did not merely fail to provide answers to the dilemma in Syria before the peaceful calls for democracy metamorphosed into civil war; he is actually responsible for the suffering of the Syrian people that has persisted endlessly for five years.
The Obama administration and Barack Obama himself are directly responsible for the massacre in Syria, Achcar said in an interview with Ahram Online.
According to Achcar, while Russia was getting heavily involved in Syria directly and through its regional allies, the Obama administration failed to take the side of the opposition and it did even put a ceiling on the support that regional powers were providing for those acting against Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad.
The Obama administration denied the opposition anti-aircraft missiles at a time when Assad and his allies from Russia were heavily bombarding the cities where the call for democracy started, Achcar said.
This, he argued, created a situation of imbalance in favour of Assad and left millions of Syrians devastated and dispelled from their own homes and their entire country, carrying a firm belief that the US is to blame for their plight, he said.
Unlike other commentators, the Lebanese-born and London-based professor of political science sees no war by proxy in Syria, simply because in Syria there is no balance, and because while Russia is so heavily involved the US is involved to a much lesser degree.
This lack of balance, which he is not certain will be reversed by a new US administration come January next year, is the driver of ongoing war in Syria.
There is no end in sight and all the political negotiations are simply unable to secure an answer because the situation on the ground does not compel Assad to go. The opposition cannot come to accept the rule of this dictatorespecially considering that in 2013 and 2015, with limited means, they managed to make considerable progress in the face of Assad and regional allies including Hezbollah and other militias, he said during a telephone interview.
Short of a decisive change on the ground there cannot be any ending of the war in Syria because the dictator will continue his war with the support of the Russians; he would not settle for any compromise as long as he knows that the opposition is being denied serious defensive weapons, he insisted.
Achcar is not willing to confuse the war on ISIS with the war in Syria, and said it is impossible that the Obama administration could have been fooled into believing that one is the other. Rather, the Obama administrationand possibly Israelfeared the collapse of Syria in the absence of a credible replacement that could have won approval by all concerned regional and international partners.
Syria, Achcar insisted, will be one of the greatest and most important challenges for the next US presidency. He believes that despite setbacks, the Arab Spring that began in Tunis in the very late days of 2010 is bound to reemerge, because it reflects the true will of people who have had enough with economic injustice and poor governance.
Author of two volumes on the Arab Spring printed in 2013 and the spring of this year under the titles of The People Want: a Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising and Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising, Achcar sees Syria through the lens that the old is dead and the new is yet to be born.
This is precisely the point he argues in his two volumes: the old regimes which prompted so much contemptdemonstrated in the squares by the massescannot be resurrected no matter the political ploys of their remnants. But the progressive alternative is not there yet, and meanwhile we see the continued struggle within the old, between military and Islamist, and not between the old and the new as some might think.
Achcar has no doubt in his mind that contrary to the narrative given by Assad and other leaders in countries currently suffering the setback of the Arab Spring, the US was not the one to instigate the massive show of rebellion.
Those who promote this argument seem determined to overlook the very shocking unfair distribution of wealth in Arab countries, Achcar said.
He insisted that in Syria with Assad, in Egypt with Hosni Mubarak and even in Libya with Muammar Qaddafi who had been collaborating with the West since 2003, the US was taken by surprise and was not sure how to react.
Actually, the only country that could not have been qualified as a US ally was Syria although of course the US never treated Syria as an enemy; like Israel, the US was content with a Syrian regime that kept the borders with Israel peaceful and handled the Palestinian resistance in Lebanon, he said. Despite the friction with the Bush administration, around Syrian opposition to the occupation of Iraq as well as Syrian alliance with Iran and Hezbollah, the Obama administration had improved its relations with Damascus, he added.
According to Achcar, the US actually tried to co-opt the revolution in Syria in its early days through the association of the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar but it failed, just as it failed to present the other Arab Spring countries with regimes that could both appease the demands of the masses and still do business with the US.
Today, Achcar argues that in every Arab Spring country the US remains engaged with regimes that have not bowed to the demands of the masses, beyond empty slogans and false promises to meet the actual demands of redistribution of wealth and developmental policies, and of course democracy.
According to Achcar, while some try to address their socio-economic woes by pursuing IMF-prescribed reform measures, this too is part of the old and it does not provide a sustainable shield against a socio-economic explosion.
However, he argues, the basic political dilemma remains unresolved: the military versus the Islamist, and now we are actually talking about Sunni Islamist versus Shia Islamist with both Saudi Arabia and Iran at loggerheads.
According to Achcar, this is why the situation is still unsettled and will remain as such as long as no new breakthrough manages to finally finish the old and introduce the new; we will see a lot more upheaval and it could take several more years or a few decades but the old has to go completely and the new has yet to be born.
This elimination of the old and the birth of the new are indispensable but not inevitable, argued Achcar. Short of this indispensable radical change, the region will keep suffering from instability and violence.
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Live: What next for Middle East asset manager Investcorp in Indian startup and realty space?
The head of US military operations in the Middle East wrapped up an unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, amid mounting friction over the kingdom's bombing campaign in neighbouring Yemen.
An international outcry over the civilian death toll from the air war against pro-Iran rebels launched by a Saudi-led coalition in March last year prompted the White House to announce a review of US intelligence and logistics support earlier this month.
But Washington has trod a wary line, not wanting to strain already delicate relations with Riyadh, a key Middle East ally and partner in the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in Syria.
US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel held talks on Monday with top officials including the defence minister, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Votel told reporters travelling with him that he wanted to hear Saudi concerns.
"The first thing we are trying to do is listen to what they are telling us. It's important to maintain confidence in the relationship," he said.
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Prince Mohammed and Votel discussed defence cooperation and joint efforts in "combatting terrorism".
An October 8 air strike on a funeral ceremony in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa which killed more than 140 people, most of them civilians, sparked a storm of criticism of both Saudi Arabia and its US ally.
In response, the US National Security Council announced that commanders had begun a review "of our already significantly reduced support to the Saudi-led coalition and are prepared to adjust our support so as to better align with US principles, values and interests."
In the summer, Washington cut the number of advisers deployed to a joint planning cell from 45 to five but the US Air Force stills provides air-to-air refuelling for Saudi bombers operating over Yemen.
The frictions over the air war in Yemen come with relations already strained.
Riyadh was angered by the US Congress's passage last month of a law allowing the families of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom for alleged ties to the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Saudi officials vehemently deny any involvement.
The kingdom has also been alarmed by US moves to improve relations with its bitter regional rival Iran through a landmark nuclear deal last year.
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Turkish-backed rebel forces in northern Syria have gained control of three areas in the last 24 hours as they press a two-month-old operation to drive Islamic State and Kurdish militia forces from the border, the Turkish army said on Tuesday.
It said Turkish howitzers shelled 72 Islamic State and 15 Kurdish YPG militia targets as part of the "Euphrates Shield" operation launched in August, which has also been backed by Turkish warplanes and tanks.
With ground and air fire support the Syrian rebels "largely secured control" over the areas of Tuways, Al Gharz and Tlatinah south of Akhtarin, the military statement said, adding five rebels were killed and 28 wounded in the latest clashes.
The assault appeared to mark the first advance by the rebels in several days, widening the territory which they have seized since the start of the operation to 1,280 square kilometres (494 square miles), according to the statement.
Aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition carried out four air strikes, killing four Islamic State fighters and destroying two buildings and two vehicles, it said.
Turkish-backed rebels fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army crossed into northern Syria on Aug. 24 and took control of the border town of Jarablus from Islamic State largely unopposed.
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday the Turkish-backed forces would press on to the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab, around 15 km (9 miles) from their current location.
The Syrian military said last week the presence of Turkish troops on Syrian soil was unacceptable and a "dangerous escalation and flagrant breach of Syria's sovereignty".
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MORGANTON Brenda Stewart Simmons, 67, of Morganton, departed her earthly home Friday, Oct. 21, 2016. Born in Burke County, Nov. 23, 1948 she was the daughter of the late Nally Craig Stewart and Eva Kiser Stewart. Above anything else Brenda loved her family, especially her grandchildren. She was the greatest Nanny a kid could ever ask for. Brenda was a member of First United Methodist Church of Morganton where she played in the handbell choir faithfully. Leaving behind to cherish her memory are her husband of fifty years, Sidney Simmons; daughters, Kim Simmons Baker and husband, Scott and Kristy Simmons Price all of Morganton; grandchildren, Elliott Baker, Emma Price, and Cooper Price; and sister, Kaye Irvin of Nebo. In addition to her parents, Brenda was preceded in death by a sister, Janice Hancock. The family will receive friends Sunday, Oct. 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. at First United Methodist Church. The funeral will follow at 4 p.m. in the church with the Rev. Dr. John Fowler and the Rev. Charlotte Brendel officiating. Burial will be private. Memorial contributions may be made to First United Methodist Church Music Department, 200 N. King St., Morganton, NC 28655. Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center is assisting the family with the arrangements. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.sossomanfh.com.
A 6-year old girl who was killed by rocket fire from a helicopter gunship. A journalist who was killed because of his ethnicity. A 15-year-old girl who was gang-raped.
A new report by Amnesty International says they are among the victims of crimes committed by South Sudanese soldiers when clashes with the opposition in the capital, Juba, killed hundreds of people in July.
The new report describes how atrocities continued even after the fighting stopped.
Soldiers raped and gang-raped more than 200 women on the basis of ethnicity over a one-week period just after the clashes ended, according to Amnesty International.
The report called the pattern of sexual violence carried out by soldiers "systemic," adding that "pillage and destruction was so enormous that it could not have been done without, at a minimum, a large degree of command acquiescence."
Soldiers also were seen looting a U.N. agency food storage site, used to feed around 220,000 people, two days after the opposition withdrew, the report said.
Opposition fighters also put thousands of civilian lives in danger, according to Amnesty International, entering U.N. civilian protection sites during clashes, potentially in an attempt to use people inside as human shields.
South Sudan's government has agreed to the formation of a hybrid court set up by the African Union to investigate war crimes committed during its civil war, which began in December 2013 and has killed tens of thousands.
A fragile peace deal signed in August 2015 has not stopped the violence.
"Given the country's past record, there is good reason to believe that senior officials responsible for the key decisions behind the abuses will never be brought to justice," the new report said.
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Iraqi security forces on Tuesday regained full control of a western town that was attacked by Islamic State group militants two days earlier, officials said.
Seeking to draw attention away from an offensive to retake the city of Mosul, IS struck the town of Rutba in the country's west and Kirkuk in the north in recent days.
"Our forces completely cleared the town of Rutba," Staff Major General Ibrahim al-Mahalawi said.
An AFP journalist who visited the town confirmed that it was fully back in government hands, as did the local official responsible for the area.
The jihadists attacked Rutba on Sunday, briefly seizing the mayor's office before being pinned back by the security forces but still maintaining control of two neighbourhoods.
The jihadists executed five Iraqis, including members of the security forces, in the town on Monday, army officers said.
On Friday, dozens of jihadist fighters launched a spectacular attack on the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk, killing at least 46 people, mostly members of the security forces.
Iraqi forces are advancing on Mosul, IS's last major stronghold in the country, from three sides after announcing the start of the operation on October 17.
IS overran swathes of Iraq in 2014 and 2015, but has since lost much of the territory it seized.
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Iraqi forces were inching to within striking distance of eastern Mosul Tuesday as defence chiefs from the US-led coalition met in Paris to review the offensive on the militants bastion.
Paramilitary forces were also massing near the battlefield to open a western front they say will aim to retake the town of Tal Afar and cut off routes to neighbouring Syria for Islamic State fighters escaping Mosul.
Forces from the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) retook areas close to the eastern outskirts of Mosul, IS's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.
"On our front, we have advanced to within five or six kilometres (three to four miles) of Mosul," their commander, General Abdelghani al-Assadi, told AFP.
"We must now coordinate with forces on other fronts to launch a coordinated" attack on Mosul, he said, speaking from the Christian town of Bartalla.
Kurdish peshmerga forces are making gains on the northeastern front but federal forces advancing from the south have some way to go before reaching the outskirts of Mosul.
Meanwhile, thousands of men from the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary umbrella group dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias, were preparing for a push to the west.
The Hashed leadership has ordered "us to assume the mission of liberating the Tal Afar district," Jawwad al-Tulaibawi, spokesman for the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, said.
The Hashed's mission will be to "cut off and prevent the escape of (IS) towards Syria and fully isolate Mosul from Syria," Tulaibawi told AFP.
"We expect that it will be a difficult and fierce battle."
Involvement of the Hashed in the Mosul operation has been a source of contention, especially in eventual fighting inside the mainly Sunni city.
Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Arab politicians have opposed its participation, as has Turkey, which has a military presence east of Mosul despite repeated demands by Baghdad for the forces to be withdrawn.
Tensions have been rising between Baghdad and Ankara, whose foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned Tuesday that his country would not hesitate to launch a ground operation.
"If there is a threat posed to Turkey, we are ready to use all our resources including a ground operation," he told Turkish channel Kanal 24.
Relations between the Hashed and the US-led coalition fighting IS are also tense, but the paramilitaries enjoy widespread support among members of Iraq's Shiite majority.
Senior Iraqi and US military officials have reported that IS leaders are already attempting to leave Mosul to reach the Syrian side of their "caliphate".
But a senior official close to French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that a few hundred IS fighters recently moved in the opposite direction, reinforcing the estimated 3,000 to 5,000 jihadists defending Mosul.
"At this stage, we're noticing fighter movement from Syria to Iraq, not the other way around," the official said. "There is therefore a possible scenario in which Daesh (IS) resists to the end."
IS had shown increasing pragmatism in recent battles with a tendency to fall back in the face of superior firepower.
But with its claim to run a "caliphate" losing credibility with every new loss of territory, the group has mounted a fierce and well-organised resistance in the fight for Mosul, now in its second week.
Mosul is where IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the cross-border "caliphate" in June 2014 and its loss could spell the end of the group's days as a land-holding force in the Iraqi part.
Le Drian was meeting with coalition counterparts, including Pentagon chief Ashton Carter, to review the war on IS after more than two years of coalition air strikes, training and on-the-ground military advice.
Besides coordinating their support for the forces closing in on Mosul, ministers will also attempt to iron out differences over priorities in the campaign.
France is keen to tackle the jihadists' Syria bastion Raqa, where a large number of French foreign fighters in IS ranks are stationed.
While the jihadists hunkering down in Mosul are outnumbered about one to 10, there are insufficient forces currently available to take on the estimated 3,000-4,000 IS fighters in Raqa.
"The Syrian side is much more complicated. The forces available are limited," an adviser to the French defence minister said.
If and when Mosul is recaptured by Iraqi forces, Raqa would be the only major city still in IS hands.
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Hundreds of people demonstrated in Yemen's rebel-held capital on Tuesday against what they described as the United Nations' "complicity" in the country's deadly 19-month-old war, witnesses said.
The protesters gathered outside a Sanaa hotel where UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was staying as he tried to convince the warring parties to accept a ceasefire and resume peace talks.
"Leave, leave Yemen," the demonstrators chanted, addressing the UN envoy whom they accused of "sympathising with Al-Saud", the Saudi ruling family.
Riyadh is leading a military coalition that has been battling the pro-Iran Houthi rebels since March 2015 in support of Yemen's internationally recognised government.
"The UN and the Security Council are complicit in the killing of Yemenis," read one of the banners at the Sanaa demonstration.
Some of the protesters wore shirts showing pictures of the victims of an October 8 coalition air raid on a funeral ceremony in Sanaa that killed 140 people and wounded 525.
The strike prompted severe criticism of the coalition, which has logistical support from the United States.
"Yemenis are massacred and we hold the UN responsible for the actions of Saudi Arabia, America, and Israel," shouted the protesters, who were protected by armed men blocking access to the area.
The rally, which was held in response to calls by the rebels, ended as the UN envoy was to leave the hotel for Sanaa airport, witnesses said.
A statement published by rebel-controlled media said the protesters "condemn the UN envoy's intentional obstruction of the talks" and his "silence on the crimes and massacres committed by the Saudi aggressors" against Yemenis.
A 72-hour ceasefire to allow aid deliveries officially ended at midnight Saturday as the two sides traded accusations of violations.
A call by Ould Cheikh Ahmed to renew the truce for three days was ignored by the warring parties as the coalition stepped up its air strikes and clashes raged on the ground.
Peace talks held in Kuwait ended in deadlock in August.
Nearly 6,900 people have been killed in the conflict, more than half of them civilians, while an additional three million are displaced and millions more need food aid.
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Amid the recent emergence of more affordability pressures in the wake of new federal mortgage regulations, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is set to release its first ever red warning for the national real estate sector, a development that points to the presence of problematic conditions in the market as a whole.CMHC has recently observed spillover effects from Vancouver and Toronto into nearby markets. These factors will be reflected in our forthcoming Housing Market Assessment on Oct. 26, the CMHC announced last week.Among the problematic conditions that CMHC looks out for is overvaluation, overbuilding, overheated demand, and overclocked pace of home price growth, Global News reported.TD economist Diana Petramala expressed puzzlement over the CMHCs statements, however, considering that Canadians still have little to worry about at the moment. This is because the regulatory revisions governing mortgages will actually rein in house price growth to more manageable levels.Weve always had embedded in our own forecasts a slowdown to more normal housing activity and we think these new mortgage regulation rules are the way we will get there, Petramala said.To some degree, [the CMHC has] a bit more of an interest in potential downturns because theyve insured a great deal of mortgages.The analyst added that TDs prediction of a 10 per cent decline in Vancouver housing prices wont adversely affect the national economy, as it will just be a normalization rather than the long-feared correction.Its very odd to be coming out with a red reading now that the economy is doing well and market activity has slowed, Petramala said.I think in particular though, CMHCs research is mostly meant to help drive policy around housing and weve already seen the reaction from the federal government on Oct. 3. I think that for the most part this is going to be, Yeah we knew this already and somethings been done.Related Stories:
The uncanny pace of home price growth in Vancouver has paved the way for a dramatic correction in the near future, according to a recent report by the National Bank of Canada.The value of detached homes in the city could experience a decline of as much as 20 per cent over a 12-month period up to late 2017, senior economist Marc Pinsonneault wrote in the report.Prices have accelerated sharply, especially at the beginning of 2016, and many more people were priced out of the market, Pinsonneault stated, as quoted by The Globe and Mail.Observers have pointed at a steady decline in sales volume of detached homes, townhouses, and condos in the city, after reaching record highs in March. The second half of the year saw the introduction of a 15 per cent foreign buyers tax as well as tighter federal rules governing mortgages.Among the hardest hit sectors is the luxury property market, and further slackening in the sales of this housing type will definitely pull down Vancouvers average home price, Pinsonneault warned. Fresh figures from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver backed up this claim: The average detached home price in the city sat at $1.53 million in September, down by 15.7 per cent from April.However, an RBC Economics report released earlier this month countered these fears, saying that once the market has adjusted to the regulatory changes, Vancouver will prove to be just as enticing to wealthy Chinese investors as it was before the announcement of the new rules.Vancouver offers a sought-after lifestyle and prestige for wealthy Chinese that only a handful of other international cities can boast, the RBC report stated.And while the foreign home buyers tax implemented by the B.C. government on August has slowed down sales, the impact on the luxury market of all these measures would be negligible.High net worth individuals are drawn to Vancouver for the same reasons as foreign investors, as well as other factors such as good schools, clean environment and the global passport that Canadian citizenship offers, the report assured.Related Stories:
An initiative for a Yemeni political settlement has been presented to the Houthi faction and ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh loyalists, a source close to Saleh told Ahram Online.
The written initiative was presented to the two allied factions by UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who visited the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday, according to the source.
The UN envoy left before receiving a final reply in hopes that he will be back in a few weeks to prepare a fresh round of talks for a settlement if an initial approval is given, the source said.
The new initiative includes six main points, the first of which is for Yemeni President Abd Rabu Mansour Hady to be recognised as a transitional president with limited authority, and the appointment of a vice president agreed upon by all involved factions and who is to be based in the capital Sanaa, currently under Houthi control.
The second point is the sacking of current Vice President Ali Mohsin Al-Ahmar following the signing of the settlement accord, and the third is the formation of a consensus cabinet from both sides within one month of the agreement.
The fourth point is the amending of the constitution that was in place before the Houthis took power in September 2014, while the fifth is the holding of elections under international supervision after one year.
The sixth point is the withdrawal of the Houthi forces and their allies from the major northern areas Sanaa, Taiz and Al-Hudaida with the stationing of security and military checkpoints in all governorates to oversee the withdrawal.
The source added that the Houthis are amenable to the initiative with the exception of the proposal to keep Hady as president as well as the stipulation related to the constitution, which states that Yemen is a unified state under a single authority.
Another source close to Saudi official circles confirmed from the Saudi capital of Riyadh the authenticity of the reports, stressing that the Houthis and the Saleh faction refuse the condition of Hady staying in power.
It is notable that the proposal did not include the surrender of heavy weapons by Houthi forces, as once pushed for by US Secretary of State John Kerrys initiative.
The new plan focuses mainly on the managing of the security situation in Sanaa, Taiz and Al-Hudaida, and fails to include the northwestern city of Saada in the equation. Saada is the main stronghold of the Houthi rebel movement.
This means that the movement will have to retreat to the city in a fashion similar to what was offered to the Lebanese Hezbollah group in accordance with the Taif agreement.
The Taif agreement, signed in October 1989, was reached to end the Lebanese civil war following mediation efforts by Saudi Arabia stipulating the disarmament of all national and non-national militias; where Hezbollah was allowed to stay armed.
Regarding the initiatives proposed one-year transitional period and the issue of Houthi disarmament, political analyst and media figure in Riyadh Khaled Alyan told Ahram Online that he does not believe that the transitional period stipulated is long enough.
Alyan gives an example of the previous elections, which witnessed a crisis in the electoral lists.
This issue alone following the current war would take more than a year. This comes in addition to the procedures related to elections and their preparations, as well as other problems like territories where the Houthi-Saleh alliance refuses federal state governance, he says.
Ahmed Rafik, who is a member in the leadership circle of Yemens General People Congress Party founded by former president Saleh, says that the conflicting parties may reach a settlement within the next month.
Rafik predicts that there will be another round of fighting before a lasting settlement is reached.
What we need to currently acknowledge... is that Saleh has a problem with Hadi; therefore he insists on his deposal as much as he insists on the removal of General Al-Ahmar, Alyan said.
He added that Salehs problem is a political one that can be resolved through some guarantees from the Gulf states, especially from Saudi Arabia, that he or his son can return to the political scene in the future.
Alyan said that regarding the Houthis, things are more complicated.
They believe that they have the right to rule based on Shia ideology; that any participation in governing should be granted by the Sayyed [leader], not by ballot boxes.
Commenting on disarmament, he said that Houthis cannot surrender their arms, as this is what brought them to power in the first place. They can agree on the transfer of power, but not disarmament.
If Hezbollah in Lebanon had handed over a single weapon to the state, we could have predicted that the Houthis would do so.
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China Oceanside Holdings Group, one of Chinas largest companies, announced plans Monday to acquire Genworth Financial, one of the largest mortgage insurers in the United States.China Oceanwide plans to buy Genworth for $2.7 billion, according to a HousingWire report. Thats about $5.43 per share in cash for oall of Genworths outstanding shares. The acquisition will be handled through Asa Pacific Global Capital, an investment platform owned by China Oceanwide.As part of the deal, China Oceanwide will contribute $600 million to Genworth to address company debt that will mature in 2018, according to HousingWire. It will also contribute $175 million that Genworth Holdings previously committed to the life insurance business.The China Oceanwide transaction is the result of an active and extensive review process conducted over the past two years under the supervision of the board and with guidance from external financial and legal advisors, said James Riepe, non-executive chairman of Genworths board of directors. The board is confident that the sale of the company to China Oceanwide is the best path forward for Genworths stockholders.Genworth is an established leader in both mortgage insurance and long term care insurance, which are markets that present significant long-term growth opportunities, said Lu Zhiqiang, chairman of China Oceanwide. We are impressed by Genworth's purpose and its focus on helping people manage the financial challenges of aging as well as achieving the dream of homeownership.If the deal is approved, Genworth will continue operations as a standalone subsidiary of China Oceanwide, HousingWire reported. Genworths senior management team will continue to lead the business.
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Snake gassing is still a legal thing in Texas and it appears likely to stay that way, at least for a while longer.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission this week yanked a proposed ban on the practice from the November meeting agenda.
For those not familiar with snake gassing, it is the practice of spraying gasoline into snakes' winter dens until the fumes flush them out.
READ MORE: The Texas town that is bombarded with rattlesnakes
That makes the snakes easier to catch and bundle for sale.
Hunters sell rattlesnakes by the pound at an annual spring roundup. They're displayed, milked for venom used in medicine, then slaughtered for their skin and their meat. Fried rattlesnake tastes like chewy chicken. Only the snake has lots of bones.
But, the practice has long-standing critics. Groups, including The Center for Biological Diversity and the Texas Snake Initiative, have asked the state over several years to put a halt to snake gassing.
READ MORE: Hipster Texas snake appears to sport sunglasses, moustache
They say the practice befouls the ground and hurts other, non-targeted animals in the process.
Not just snakes, but foxes, burrowing owls, toads and hundreds of insects can be killed when snake dens are gassed, Collette Adkins, a scientist and attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement.
Currently, 29 states ban the gassing of snake burrows.
READ MORE: Snakes Alive! Texas naturalist outlines venomous snakes
Proponents of the practice say gassing makes it easier to catch the snakes and is an efficient way to handle the hunting.
The decision to drop the issue from the November agenda was made by Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission chairman Dan Friedkin. But, the commission hasn't given any reason for pulling the agenda item.
So, it seems, the battle over flushing out snakes will continue.
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With any luck, no one taking advantage of a "shotgun wedding" sale in West Texas will actually need the shotgun to have the wedding take place.
But, courtesy of a jewelry store in Lubbock, anyone buying an engagement ring at the end of October will get a free Remington 870 shotgun or a bolt action rifle.
Thacker Jewelry in Lubbock has held the "shotgun wedding" sale for about three years. The concept is simple: Anyone buying an engagement ring will also get a gift certificate for a shotgun or a rifle with LSG Tactical, a local gun dealer.
READ MORE: Fort Bend Sheriff's Office post gun warning on Facebook
"The idea, of course, is the word play and the old shotgun wedding," jewelry store owner Joe Thacker told KLBK-TV in Lubbock. "Not going back to the negative connotation playing off of that and it's been a lot of fun. We had a lot of people participate and this year we've even gotten into it more."
LSG Tactical owner Steve Burns called the sale "a natural for most Texans."
"Most guys grew up hunting or at least exposed to hunting if not by their family, but by their friends, or social groups," Burns told the station.
READ MORE: Gun store warns 'prices will skyrocket' if Hillary Clinton is elected
Thacker hopes the sale from Oct. 27 through Oct. 29 will draw plenty of couples looking to tie the knot.
Who doesnt want to get a shotgun or a rifle and in the process capture the love of their lives? Thacker asked.
Iraqi forces were inching to within striking distance of eastern Mosul Tuesday as defence chiefs from the US-led coalition met in Paris to review the offensive on the Islamist militant bastion.
With the Mosul battle in its second week, French President Francois Hollande called for the coalition against the Islamic State (IS) militants to prepare for the aftermath and the next stages of the war against IS.
Forces from the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) retook areas close to the eastern outskirts of Mosul, IS's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.
"On our front, we have advanced to within five or six kilometres (three to four miles) of Mosul," their commander, General Abdelghani al-Assadi, told AFP.
"We must now coordinate with forces on other fronts to launch a coordinated" attack on Mosul, he said, speaking from the Christian town of Bartalla.
Kurdish peshmerga forces are making gains on the northeastern front, but federal forces advancing from the south have some way to go before reaching the outskirts.
Meanwhile, thousands of men from the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary umbrella group dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias were preparing for a push to the west of Mosul.
The Hashed leadership has ordered "us to assume the mission of liberating the Tal Afar district", said Jawwad al-Tulaibawi, spokesman for the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, referring to an area west of the mainly Sunni city.
The Hashed's mission will be to "cut off and prevent the escape of (IS) towards Syria and fully isolate Mosul from Syria", Tulaibawi told AFP.
"We expect that it will be a difficult and fierce battle," he said.
Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Arab politicians have opposed the Hashed's participation in the operation, as has Turkey, which has a military presence east of Mosul despite repeated demands by Baghdad to withdraw its forces.
Tensions have risen between Baghdad and Ankara, whose foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned Tuesday that if there is a threat to Turkey, "we are ready to use all our resources including a ground operation".
In Paris, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was meeting coalition counterparts, including Pentagon chief Ashton Carter, to review the war on IS after more than two years of air strikes, training and on-the-ground military advisers.
Besides coordinating their support for the forces closing in on Mosul, ministers will also attempt to iron out differences over priorities in the campaign.
France is keen to tackle the Islamist militants' Syria bastion Raqa, where a large number of French foreign fighters in IS ranks are stationed.
As the ministers met, Hollande warned that "the recapture is not an end in itself. We must already anticipate the consequences of the fall of Mosul."
"What is at stake is the political future of the city, the region and Iraq," Hollande said, calling for "all ethnic and religious groups" to have a say in the future running of Mosul.
He also called on the ministers to set out "the stages of the next operations" against IS, namely retaking Raqa.
While the Islamist militants in Mosul are outnumbered about one to 10, there are insufficient forces currently available to take on the estimated 3,000-4,000 IS fighters in Raqa.
Seeking to draw attention away from the Mosul campaign, IS has staged attacks in the northern city Kirkuk and western town of Rutba in recent days.
Islamist militants seized two neighbourhoods in Rutba, but officials said that as of Tuesday it was fully back in government hands.
Senior Iraqi and US military officials have reported that IS leaders are already trying to leave Mosul to reach the Syrian side of their "caliphate".
But a senior official close to Le Drian said a few hundred IS fighters recently moved in the opposite direction, reinforcing the estimated 3,000 to 5,000 Islamist militants defending Mosul.
IS had shown increasing pragmatism in recent battles, tending to fall back in the face of superior firepower.
But with its claim to run a "caliphate" losing credibility with every new loss of territory, IS has mounted a fierce and well-organised resistance in the fight for Mosul.
Mosul is where IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the cross-border "caliphate" in June 2014, and its loss could spell the end of the group's days as a land-holding force in the Iraqi part.
In Moscow Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov equated US support for Iraqi efforts to recapture Mosul with Russian backing of a Syrian government offensive to seize rebel-held eastern Aleppo.
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We were surprised when Deborah Land with the Midland County Elections Office told us last week that the number of registered voters had increased by more than more 4,000 people since November and had spiked by nearly 6,000 people compared to 2012.
We were surprised because the increase doesnt jive with expectations based on economic conditions. The same can be said with the increase in the student population in Midland ISD the past two years. We keep getting these reminders that an economic downtown didnt result in fewer people who call Midland home on a more permanent basis.
There are nearly 80,000 people registered to vote in Midland County. We hope every single one of those people study up on the issues and cast a ballot. Early voting starts today and will last through Nov. 4.
Considering the Election Day crunch we saw during the primary, we hope Midland County residents take advantage of the early voting period. We think back to primary night and the two hours some people had to wait in line. It was a night for the history books, as more people voted on the primary Election Day than had voted on any Election Day in more than a decade, including the presidential elections.
Heres one thing to keep in mind. Regardless if you vote on Election Day or during early voting, be prepared to wait. Midlanders like to early vote. In 2012, 31,783 of the 44,600 people who voted did so early. The 70 percent clip is pretty consistent with previous years.
Voting trends
Year Voted early Total voters
2012 31,763 44,600
2008 32,957 46,525
2004 29,901 44,999
Source: Elections Office website
ID required Texas Voters
A voter most present one of the following forms of photo ID when voting in person
- Texas drivers license issued from the Texas Department of Public Safety
- Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
- Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
- Texas license to carry a handgun issues by DPS
- U.S. military identification card containing the persons photograph
- U.S. citizenship certificate containing the persons photograph
- U.S. passport.
If one does not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of these IDs, he or she can fill out a declaration at the polls explaining why and bring one of the following supporting documents.
- Valid voter registration certificate
- Certified birth certificate (must by an original)
- Copy of or original current utility bill
- Copy of or original bank statement
- Copy of or original government check
- Copy of or original paycheck
- Copy of or original government document with the persons name and an address (original required if it contains a photograph)
Early voting information
Times
Today through Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday 1-6 p.m.
Oct. 31-Nov. 4: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Locations
County Annex Building, 2110 N. A St.
Centennial Library, 2503 W. Loop 250 N
Cogdell Learning Center, 211 W. Florida Ave.
Fellowship Community Church, 5206 N. Midland Drive
Manor Park, 5192 Sinclair Ave.
Election Day is Nov. 8. Voting is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 20 different locations across Midland. A list will run in a future edition.
Rod Schroder has been the interim superintendent at Midland ISD for less than two months, and in our view, we have seen enough to say this is the type of leadership the district needs.
He will step aside some time next year to make way for the person the new school board selects as the permanent superintendent. But forgive us for asking: Can he stay longer?
Schroder is the type of leader MISD has needed for years. He brings certainty to a rather uncertain educational arena. He brings optimism and guidance when the district needed it most. He asks the district, its employees and the community to be accountable and not to offer excuses for why performance cant improve.
The latest piece of Schroder magic was reversing the districts course on the type of cuts expected after the community defeated the recent tax ratification election. The perceived logic was that teachers and other employees would have to contribute $100 toward their own insurance. Schroder put a directive out there to see what alternatives were available to prevent putting employees on the hook. It was no insignificant feat. That was an $3 million line item.
When it comes to communication, Midland ISDs past two superintendents have been a contrast in style. One wasnt very effective in explaining his decisions, and he typically put the community at arms length when he needed engagement. The other appeared to have no problem delivering a message, but in retrospect, had trouble communicating where the district stood in terms of performance, including when the community called for accountability.
There are no worries here with Schroder. During meetings, he speaks when the occasion calls for him to weigh in. In a meeting with the Reporter-Telegram Community Editorial Board, he provided a no-nonsense account of where the district stands right now. He didnt mince words about the challenge in front of the district. He expressed optimism about his meetings with campus leaders and teachers and confidence that if the district stays on course with the professional learning communities program in place, then improvement will follow.
Its been a while since our community could rely on its superintendent to deliver the entire truth about the happenings inside the district. Its been even longer since we have seen someone who not only talks the talk but has the record showing he can walk the walk.
Schroder can and is proving that every day at Midland ISD.
Neustar Marketshare Names MDs in UK and Germany
Consumer and media intelligence specialist Neustar Marketshare has appointed Luis Chaves and Sven Bagemihl as Managing Directors in the UK and Germany respectively.
Chaves takes up his London-based role with more than 25 years' experience in the media and marketing analytics industry. He joined analytics technology provider Marketshare in 2014 as VP of Strategy for EMEA, prior to the firm's takeover by Neustar. Before this, he served as CEO of management consultancy Bayes Forecast; worked at computer hardware company Optize as MD, Loyalty; was MD at Carat; and European Retail & FMCG Practice Expert at McKinsey & Company. Earlier, he held senior roles at Credit Agricole, PwC and Nielsen.
Bagemihl joins in Hamburg with twenty years of experience in sales and marketing, with a focus on digital media, digital marketing solutions and display advertising. Most recently, he was an independent consultant, prior to which he was MD of search intelligence firm Captify; VP Sales and Marketing at social media networking platform studiVZ; and he held a variety of roles at behavioral ad and content tech platform wunderloop media services. Earlier in his career, Bagemihl was MD of Advertising.com and a Territory Manager at Oracle.
Both will report to Jean-Philippe Durrios, MD of International Marketing Services, who comments: 'The EMEA region is a key area of growth for Neustar MarketShare and it's important that we develop a leadership team that can help brands leverage our solutions to connect people, places and things. Both Luis and Sven have the proven industry expertise to lead our teams in their respective markets and ensure that our European customers benefit from our services'.
Web site: www.neustar.biz .
Hilary Clinton is not only beating Donald Trump handily in the polls right now, but also in the celebrity endorsements. She has made Jay Z change his tune on her and the "Dirt Off Ya Shoulder" rapper will now perform a concert aimed at black voters in Cleveland, Ohio to support Clinton.
Buzzfeed News first reported the news.
The concert will take place on Friday, Nov. 4, just four days before the election across the United States.
"Jay Z will be joined at the concert by special guests to encourage unity and urge Ohioans to support Clinton by voting early or on Election Day," says the Clinton camp in a statement via Buzzfeed.
Ticket information can be found here. Guests and a venue have not been announced yet.
This could be a major coup for the Clinton campaign that is fighting in key Midwestern "rust belt" battle ground states, such as Ohio. With only four days to go until the campaign, this could be the final reminder and push to get thousands of young African American and democratic-leaning voters out to the polls in Cleveland. Clinton would need a high turnout among this group to defeat Trump. She has led Trump by a large margin among minorities, but it remains to be seen whether or not she can get them to the polls. HOV may be the influence she needs for that.
This will be the first event Jay Z has performed for Hilary Clinton, but at his TIDAL x 1015 concert, many of the performers, such as Robin Thicke, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce, all put their support behind Hilary Clinton and reminded the audience and those watching at home to go vote.
Bill Clinton made an appearance at Jay Z's Made In America festival over Labor Day.
Jay Z has also stumped for presidential candidates in the past. He performed with Bruce Springsteen to help re-elect President Obama in 2012 in Columbus, Ohio.
He won't be the only one performing in Ohio for the Clintons in November. The National also has a gig in Cincinnati on Nov. 2.
2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
An Indonesian court Tuesday jailed an Islamic State group supporter for eight years for his role in a deadly gun and suicide bombing attack in Jakarta, the latest extremist sentenced over the assault.
Ali Makhmudin, 41, was found guilty of breaking anti-terror laws by helping prepare bombs used in the attack in the heart of the Indonesian capital in militants.
The attack -- the first claimed by IS in Southeast Asia -- saw dramatic scenes as a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Starbucks and security forces battled gun-toting militants.
It was the first major attack for seven years in Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamic militancy.
A Jakarta court found Makhmudin guilty of committing an act of terror and sentenced him to eight years in jail.
Although he did not directly take part in the assault, presiding Judge Muhammad Noor said his actions had nevertheless "caused widespread public fear and ran counter to the government's programme to eradicate terrorism".
Makhmudin, who pledged allegiance to IS in 2014, said he accepted the court's decision.
The court heard that Makhmudin made casings for several pipe bombs used in the attack after he was contacted for help by a militant, who went on to take part in the assault.
Makhmudin gave the devices to another militant, who transported them to Jakarta and handed them to the attackers. They were later found at the scene of the attack.
The sentencing came after two other IS supporters were jailed last week over the assault, one for helping to make a bomb and a second for trying unsuccessfully to procure weapons and ammunition.
Dozens of people have been arrested over suspected involvement.
IS has proved a potent new rallying cry for radicals in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, and hundreds have flocked to the Middle East to fight with the jihadists.
Last week police shot dead a man carrying knives, suspected pipe bombs and an IS symbol after he assaulted officers near Jakarta.
Other IS-linked incidents this year include a foiled plan to launch a rocket at an upmarket Singapore waterfront district from an Indonesian island and a botched suicide bombing attack on a police station that killed only the assailant.
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Spain's Interior Ministry says police have arrested two imams suspected of promoting the Islamic State armed group on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza.
A ministry statement said the Moroccan-born imams were arrested Tuesday in the town of Sant Antoni de Portmany.
The ministry said they used the Masllid al Fath mosque where they worked and a social media network to spread propaganda for the armed group among the Muslim community.
It said their activities had intensified since 2012, coinciding with the Arab Spring protests and the increase in fighters traveling abroad to join the group.
The ministry said Moroccan authorities had provided key information for the arrests.
It added that Spanish police have arrested 156 suspected pro-jihad activists since 2015.
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Akufo-Addo should have apologised over hardship ...
A bomb blast at a guesthouse in northeast Kenya killed at least 12 people on Tuesday, in an attack claimed by Shabaab militants which last hit the area earlier this month.
"We have found 12 bodies so far after we managed to access the building," a senior police officer told AFP.
"We are still combing the area with the help of anti-terrorism police and sniffer dogs in the ongoing search and rescue."
Eleven men and one woman were killed in the 3:30 am (0030 GMT) blast at the Bisharo lodge, a police source told AFP. The toll was confirmed in a government statement that said part of the building was collapsed by the blast.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab militant group claimed the attack in a message broadcast by its Radio Andalus media organisation, claiming 15 were killed.
"This attack is part of a series of attacks in which the Mujahideen are hunting down infidels" in northeast Kenya, the group said.
It is the second Shabaab strike in Mandera in three weeks. The previous one on October 6 killed six people at a gated residential building that mainly housed non-ethnic Somalis and non-Muslims, less than a kilometre from the volatile Somalia border town of Beled Hawa.
Mandera governor Ali Roba said the raids were designed to divide communities and destroy the economy.
"This is an attack that is aimed at making sure we don't attract investors, we do not attract a professional workforce, we do not have interaction with the rest of the country," Roba told a press conference on Tuesday morning.
Northeastern regional security boss Mohamoud Saleh said he suspected "local criminal gangs" of complicity since border security had been stepped up after the October 6 attack.
Another security source who did not want to be named told AFP local politics might also be involved, with some seeking to trigger a declaration of a state of emergency that would prevent elections taking place as scheduled next year.
"There is serious political tension in the county," the source said.
The Shabaab has fought to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu since 2007, but turned its sights on Kenya when the army was sent into Somalia in 2011 to fight the Islamic insurgents.
Since then the militants have targeted civilians in different parts of Kenya, including a dramatic assault on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall in 2013 in which at least 67 people were killed.
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French police are being deployed to keep order among the young migrants pushing barriers at Calais' makeshift camp.
Dozens of migrants jumped over railings Tuesday in an attempt to get to the camp's temporary processing center, the first step to being relocated in France.
Most identified themselves as unaccompanied minors with relatives across the English Channel in the U.K. They had made their way to the gates in the port city very early in the morning.
France is in day two of a weeklong, 6,000-person-strong mass evacuation of the controversial slum-like migrant camp.
Hassan Ali, a 25-year-old Pakistani, said Tuesday he was "excited" to leave and hoped to return to university and find a job in France, having been unable to get to Britain.
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Islamic State supporters from Indonesia are travelling to join forces with their counterparts in the Philippines, raising concerns about cross-border violence, Indonesian anti-terrorism officials said on Tuesday.
Authorities in Southeast Asia have been on heightened alert since a gun-and-bomb attack rocked the Indonesian capital Jakarta in January and stamped Islamic State's presence in the region for the first time.
"Some (Indonesian Islamic State supporters) are training in the Philippines," said A. Syamsu of the Indonesian counter-terrorism agency. "There's no exact number yet but it could be dozens."
Authorities across the region have in the last year cracked down on Islamic State sympathizers attempting to travel to Syria.
That has forced many Indonesian radicals to use sea routes to travel to the Philippines instead making it harder to track their movements, national police chief Tito Karnavian said in an interview last week.
Jakarta-based terrorism expert Sidney Jones, in a report that detailed links between Indonesian, Malaysian and Philippine radical networks, said they are now increasing cooperation, making cross-border violence likely.
"As getting to Syria becomes increasingly difficult for Southeast Asian fighters, Mindanao (in the southern Philippines) may be the next best option," Jones wrote in the report.
In June, militants who claimed to be fighting for Islamic State said in a video they had chosen the Philippines' most wanted man, Isnilon Hapilon, to lead their Southeast Asian faction.
The video, posted on social media, marked Islamic State's acceptance of allegiance from Southeast Asian supporters and called for them to launch attacks in the region.
Hapilon is known to be a member of the Abu Sayyaf group based in the Mindanao region and known for kidnappings and extortion.
He has a $5 million bounty on his head from the U.S. State Department for the kidnapping of Americans in 2001.
Authorities in the Philippines say there are a handful of Indonesian and Malaysian militants in Mindanao.
Malaysian police have arrested more than 100 suspected Islamic State sympathizers this year and stepped up security in case fighters try to return from the Middle East in the wake of an ongoing offensive in the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, Iraq.
"In Malaysia, there have been a few attempted (attacks) so it wouldn't be surprising if there are more around the region, especially if they were desperate," said counter-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, adding it was possible Malaysians were travelling to the Philippines.
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San Andreas, CA As that traditionally optimal flu shot-taking window between Halloween and Thanksgiving approaches, health officials warn to get in on the early side.
In fact, Monday afternoon, Calaveras Countys Chief Health Officer Dr. Dean Kelaita sent out an alert, suggesting that Mother Lode residents get vaccinated against influenza, aka the flu, as soon as possible.
Although nationwide, flu activity is still being reported at relatively low levels, there are hot spots of activity, including in southern California where, today, it was announced that an elderly resident near San Diego, reportedly with existing medical conditions, tested positive for influenza A and succumbed to flu-related complications on Oct. 4. The report is considered worrisome by health officials, because it occurred at an unusually early time, relative to the flu season.
Kelaita states that, in California, flu usually begins to increase in late November or December. As it takes a couple of weeks for the body to fully respond to a vaccination, he says that now is the time to get it in order to have optimal protection.
Get The Shot Before The Flu
Deaths related to flu are tragic reminders that the flu virus needs to be taken very seriously, Kelaita says. He further warns that a person with flu may be contagious and begin infecting others, even before feeling sick.
Those coming down with influenza may feel or become feverish; develop a cough and/or sore throat, possibly a runny or stuffy nose; also may feel chills, fatigue and body aches. The flu in children may also cause nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.
Along with getting that flu shot, folks can avoid becoming flu-spreaders, Kelaita says by: staying home when you are sick and limiting your contact with others; avoid touching ones eyes, nose or mouth and covering those coughs or sneezes with the inside of the elbow (aka, The Vampire Cough/Sneeze) or a disposable tissue; washing hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
For flu shot information, times and locations on where they are available, residents can contact their health care provider, physicians office, clinic or local pharmacy.
Several lawmakers are voicing out against the Pentagon ordering thousands of California National Guard members to pay back bonuses and student loan aid.
The Associated Press reports the National Guard offered up to $15,000 in cash or loans for many individuals that reenlisted during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bonuses were wrongly given out by so-called bad actors that were working for the National Guard at the time, and they have been replaced with leaders now trying to resolve the issue. Nearly 10,000 California National Guard members have been ordered to repay the bonuses.
Upon hearing the news, Republican Congressman Tom McClintock, who represents the Mother Lode area, quickly put out a statement, reading, The reports that the California National Guard is demanding repayment of bonuses offered as enlistment incentives is one of the most outrageous injustices I have ever seen. These men and women acted in good faith and responded to incentives that were promised to them in small compensation for their service. For the government now to renege on that promise is dishonorable, despicable and shabby.
McClintock encourages anyone in his district who has been ordered to repay an enlistment bonus to call his office at 916-786-5560 so he can help see that this injustice is corrected.
In addition, District 5 Republican Assemblyman Frank Bigelow is one of 28 lawmakers that signed a letter to the Secretary of Defense yesterday asking for federal officials to waive these repayments. It adds, Reclaiming reenlistment bonuses punishes soldiers for the failures of government bureaucracy.
Others who have come out in opposition to requiring soldiers to repay bonuses include both of Californias US Senators, Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.
A large fire was visible in the northern part of the Calais "Jungle" on Tuesday, on a scale beyond those that can be seen on any day at the migrant camp, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene.
Black smoke rose from the fire as it burned on the second day of the French authorities' operation to clear the camp of an its thousands of inhabitants and resettle them elsewhere.
The operation has been largely peaceful so far.
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With the start of early voting, many are heading to the polls to cast their ballot ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.
Florida not expecting violence at polling sites
Orange County has poll deputies
FLORIDA DECIDES COVERAGE: Latest headlines | How to vote in Florida
Colorado poll workers recently underwent active shooter training after several high-profile mass shooting incidents. Officials in Orange County, however, say there are no trumped-up security concerns.
The Secretary of State has not suggested to us that we be concerned on that level," said Bill Cowles, Orange County Supervisor of Elections. He said poll workers received no special safety training this year. I dont think it goes to that level where we need to. I think we have the procedures in play."
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections said that procedures, like having poll deputies, deputized by the Orange County sheriff, maintain order at polling locations, help to ensure elections run smoothly and safely.
If things get unruly, inside or outside the polling location, poll deputies, or poll clerks, call law enforcement.
On Election Day, well have some visibility at 28 of the polling places," said Sheriff Jerry Demings. The reason why we have law enforcement visibility is based upon sometimes the information that we receive, traffic around the locations, etc. Not specifically because of the tone of the current election cycle itself.
However, Demings said there will be no amped up patrols this election season.
Its purely in terms of keeping the peace, to make certain that the egress and ingress is safe for everyone that is coming," he added.
While Orlando Police Department said they do not get involved with the election process or discuss security measures, if called to one of the polls, they will respond.
Whats more, Cowles said more supervision at polling sites increases safety -- and ensures a fair election.
Theres at least six, seven to eight poll workers in the polling place. This is not a process where one person is in there and can be on their own," he said. The key thing is theres checks and balances through the process to protect their vote, to guarantee that their vote will count.
While recent polls suggest Republican Donald Trump is just a few points ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton among Texas voters, the presidential race is far more lopsided among the state's leading newspapers.
Among the editorial boards of the top 40 newspapers across the state, only one the Waxahachie Daily Light has endorsed Trump. On Oct. 17, the newspaper, which has a circulation of less than 5,000, endorsed Trump, writing that any other choice for President of the United States would be an irresponsible and dangerous one.
Meanwhile, several of the state's largest papers including the Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio-Express News have endorsed Clinton. The Dallas Morning News endorsement drew national attention as the newspaper's editorial board noted it had not endorsed a Democrat for president in more than 75 years.
We've been critical of Clinton's handling of certain issues in the past, the Dallas Morning News editorial board wrote. But unlike Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton has experience in actual governance, a record of service and a willingness to delve into real policy. Resume vs. resume, judgment vs. judgment, this election is no contest.
Several other Texas papers, including the Austin American-Statesman and the San Angelo Standard-Times, have said they will not endorse in this year's presidential race.
On Friday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegrams editorial board took the unusual stance of recommending voters reject Trump but abstaining from endorsing any of his opponents.
Presidential endorsements from a sampling of Texas newspapers:
Clinton: Beaumont Enterprise, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News, The Eagle (Bryan-College Station), El Paso Times, Galveston Daily News, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News
Trump: Waxahachie Daily Light
Anybody but Trump: Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Will not endorse: Abilene Reporter-News, Austin American-Statesman, Longview News-Journal, Midland Reporter-Telegram, San Angelo Standard-Times, Tyler Morning Telegraph, Waco Tribune-Herald
Many of his followers say they like Trump because he makes no attempt to be politically correct, the Fort Worth Star-Telegrams editorial board wrote. "In a troubled world, a troubled economy and a nation that needs sound domestic policy, Trump is not correct for anything.
Despite strong editorial board support for Clinton over Trump, that has not translated to such uniform support of Democrats down-ballot. Both editorial boards at the San Antonio Express-News and the El Paso Times endorsed the re-election of U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio. Hurd's heated rematch against Democrat Pete Gallego has emerged as the states most contested congressional race.
Nationwide, over 150 newspaper editorial boards have endorsed Clinton, Business Insider reports. On Sunday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial page endorsed Trump, the largest newspaper to do so.
Middle East-based Islamic State (IS) militants on Tuesday said fighters loyal to their movement attacked a police training college in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, in a raid that officials said killed 59 people and wounded more than 100.
Pakistani authorities have blamed another militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), for the late-night siege, though the IS claim included photographs of three alleged attackers.
Hundreds of trainees were stationed at the facility when masked gunmen stormed the college on the outskirts of Quetta late on Monday. Some cadets were taken hostage during the raid, which lasted nearly five hours. Most of the dead were cadets.
"Militants came directly into our barrack. They just barged in and started firing point-blank. We started screaming and running around in the barrack," one police cadet who survived told media.
Other cadets spoke of jumping out of windows and cowering under beds as masked gunmen hunted them down. Video footage from inside one of the barracks showed blackened walls and rows of charred beds.
IS's Amaq news agency published the claim of responsibility, saying three IS fighters "used machine guns and grenades, then blew up their explosive vests in the crowd".
Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister of the province of Baluchistan, whose capital is Quetta, said the gunmen attacked a dormitory in the training facility, while cadets rested and slept.
"Two attackers blew up themselves, while a third one was shot in the head by security men," Bugti said. Earlier, officials had said there were five to six gunmen.
A Reuters photographer at the scene said authorities carried out the body of a teenaged boy who they said was one of the attackers and had been shot dead by security forces.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army chief General Raheel Sharif both traveled to Quetta after the attack and participated in a special security meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the prime minister's office said.
One of the top military commanders in Baluchistan, General Sher Afgun, told media that calls intercepted between the attackers and their handlers suggested they were from the sectarian Sunni militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).
"We came to know from the communication intercepts that there were three militants who were getting instructions from Afghanistan," Afgun told media, adding that the Al Alami faction of LeJ was behind the attack.
LeJ, whose roots are in the heartland Punjab province, has a history of carrying out sectarian attacks in Baluchistan, particularly against the minority Hazara Shias. Pakistan has previously accused LeJ of colluding with al Qaeda.
Authorities launched a crackdown against LeJ last year, particularly in Punjab province. In a major blow to the organization, Malik Ishaq, the group's leader, was killed in July 2015 alongside 13 members of the central leadership in what police say was a failed escape attempt.
"Two, three days ago we had intelligence reports of a possible attack in Quetta city, that is why security was beefed up in Quetta, but they struck at the police training college," Sanaullah Zehri, chief minister of Baluchistan, told the Geo TV channel.
The Hakeemullah Mehsud faction of the Pakistani Taliban also claimed responsibility for the attack in an emailed statement, but when members of the group were asked about the statement, they could not confirm it was authentic.
Pakistan has improved its security situation in recent years but Islamist groups continue to pose a threat and stage major attacks in the mainly Muslim nation of 190 million.
IS has sought to make inroads over the past year, hoping to exploit the country's growing sectarian divisions.
Monday night's assault on the police college was the deadliest in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed 70 people in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in Quetta in August.
The August attack was claimed by IS, but also by a Pakistani Taliban faction, Jamaat-ur-Ahrar.
The military had dismissed previous IS claims of responsibility and last month said it had crushed the Middle East-based group's attempt to expand in Pakistan. It also dismissed previous IS claims of responsibility as 'propaganda'.
A photograph of the three alleged attackers released by IS showed one individual with a striking resemblance to the picture of a dead gunman taken by a policeman inside the college, and shared with Reuters.
Analysts say IS clearly has a presence in Pakistan and there is growing evidence that some local groups are working with IS.
"The problem with this government is that it seems to be in a complete state of denial," said Zahid Hussain, an Islamabad-based security analyst.
Wounded cadets spoke of scurrying for cover after being woken by the sound of bullets.
"I was asleep, my friends were there as well, and we took cover under the beds," one unidentified cadet told Geo TV. "My friends were shot, but I only received a (small) wound on my head."
Another cadet said he did not have ammunition to fight back.
Officals said the attackers targeted the center's hostel, where around 200 to 250 police recruits were resting. At least three explosions were reported at the scene by media.
Quetta has long been regarded as a base for the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership has regularly held meetings there.
Baluchistan is no stranger to violence, with separatist fighters launching regular attacks on security forces for nearly a decade and the military striking back.
Militants, particularly sectarian groups, have also launched a campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations of minority Shias.
Attacks are becoming rarer but security forces need to be more alert, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan warned.
"Our problem is that when an attack happens, we are alert for a week after, ten days later, until 20 days pass, (but) then it goes back to business as usual," he said.
"We need to be alert all the time."
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CHESHIRE U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty and her Republican challenger, Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope, took questions from Cheshire High School students at a forum on Tuesday morning.
Esty, a Democrat, and Cope, who are seeking the 5th Congressional District seat, addressed nuclear proliferation, second amendment rights, the minimum wage, global warming and terrorism.
Timothy Galvin, the high schools social studies department chairman, said he felt the well-researched questions from students contributed to the civil and substantive tone of the forum.
It was such a great example in words and actions, he said.
The high school first hosted a congressional forum two years ago. A variety of classes participated, not just social studies or political clubs.
The physics classes developed some questions on nuclear proliferation, Galvin said. We made an effort to make it interdisciplinary and involve the student body.
Candidates differed on a number of issues, such as minimum wage.
Esty said she supports an increase in the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. A better wage would also help businesses by spurring spending.
People who make minimum wage shouldnt be in poverty, she said.
Cope said hes run a business and understands that a minimum wage can hurt employers and reduce employment.
Its a slippery slope to require minimum wage, he said.
The states economy is a function of supply and demand, Cope said, and improving it means making Connecticut more competitive. Government cannot spend its way to economic prosperity.
Theres only one way to do it: cut taxes, cut spending, he said. Businesses will come here and they will prosper.
Esty said education was important to improving the economy.
Companies here like everywhere else want a skilled workforce, she said.
She also called for ways to reduce the burden of education debt, such as the ability to refinance student loans.
Too many young people end up back at home, making coffee as a barista, she said.
The 5th District includes 41 towns and cities, including Meriden and Cheshire.
jbuchanan@recordjournal.com 203-317-2230 Twitter: @JBuchananRJ
The European Union moved Tuesday to prolong border controls in the passport-free Schengen area for three months, after introducing them as an emergency measure to cope with last year's massive migrant influx.
The European Commission, the EU executive, said it recommended for "a period of a further three months" the extension of checks at the borders of Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
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Valero Refining Co. has agreed to pay nearly a quarter of a million dollars to settle violations of air quality regulations at its Benicia plant, officials said Monday.
The Solano County refinery violated emission limits on nine occasions, reported hydrocarbon leaks from storage tanks six times, and had errors in a database that resulted in missed leak inspections for some valves, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which enforces air quality rules in the region.
A London-bound British Airways jet that took off from San Francisco with 425 people aboard made an emergency landing in Vancouver, B.C., after the entire crew became ill, officials said.
British Airways Flight 286 left San Francisco International Airport at 7:15 p.m. Monday. As it was flying over Montana several hours into the flight, the plane was diverted to Vancouver because all 25 members of the crew, including three pilots, had fallen ill, an airline spokeswoman said.
One of the lenders to Cowboys Dancehall is trying to force the popular honky-tonk to sell off the bar and liquidate its assets, according to documents filed in U.S. bankruptcy court in San Antonio on Tuesday.
Cowboys Far West Ltd. the Arlington-based partnership that owns the dance hall would be required to sell its 16.6-acre lot at 3030 Loop 410 on the city's Northeast Side if the U.S. bankruptcy court approves a liquidation plan filed by its mortgage lenders Tuesday. Cowboys would also be forced to sell off all of its inventory and supplies including liquor and beer, office furniture and fixtures, office equipment including sound and lighting gear for concerts, vehicles and other assets as part of a plan to repay its creditors.
San Francisco filmmaker Kevin Epps will not be charged in the fatal shooting of a man in Epps Glen Park home, the district attorneys office said Tuesday night.
Epps, who was arrested on suspicion of murder shortly after the shooting Monday afternoon, was expected to be released from San Francisco County Jail by the end of Tuesday night. The district attorney declined to file charges citing insufficient evidence at this time, officials said.
The arrest of Epps had shocked his friends and others who appreciated his nearly two decades of work, documenting the effects of violence in San Franciscos poorest and most neglected neighborhoods. His gritty films won accolades and established Epps who spoke of escaping his own past as a street hustler as an artist with an original perspective.
Friends said Tuesday, before learning of Epps release, that the 48-year-old man who grew up in Bayview-Hunters Point was gentle and committed to his community and work.
This is one of the last things I would expect to hear, said Stanley Cox Jr., better known as Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B., who was featured in Epps 2006 documentary, Rap Dreams.
Hes one of those guys that you idolize, Cox, 34, said. We developed a big brother/little brother relationship. He became my big brother and mentor because of the work he did in the community.
Epps had been booked on suspicion of murder and being a felon in possession of a gun in connection with the killing just after 1:30 p.m. Monday at his home on the 100 block of Addison Street. Epps declined to be interviewed after speaking with an attorney from the San Francisco public defenders office.
Inside Epps house, detectives found a 45-year-old man dead from a gunshot wound. Friends and family members of the victim identified him as Marcus Polk and indicated the two men knew each other. But police would not elaborate on what happened or discuss a possible motive.
According to court records, Polk was a registered sex offender with prior convictions for attempted robbery and domestic battery.
It wasnt immediately clear why Epps was barred from possessing a gun, but Santa Cruz County Superior Court records show he was charged with two felony counts of penetration with a foreign object in 2002, not long after his breakout 2001 documentary, Straight Outta Hunters Point, which captured the rough neighborhood where he grew up. Details of that case were not immediately available.
What brought Polk to the home on Addison Street is unclear, but on Tuesday afternoon, a woman walked up the homes weathered wooden walkway, lighting a candle outside the locked door and leaving behind a condolence note.
The woman, who declined to give her name, saying she wanted to respect the family, said she had known Polk for a decade ever since the two used to take drugs together in the darker corners of the neighborhood.
Now sober, the woman said Polk had entered a spiral of homelessness and drug addiction 10 years ago, when his mother, whom he had been living with, died. He would sporadically show up at the house on Addison Street where two of his children lived, often unwelcome and always causing problems, the woman said.
Hed show up out of the blue when he was out of jail, she said.
The woman said Polk showed up at her doorstep as recently as a year ago, asking for food and, above all, some company. It hurts so bad, the woman said through tears. I miss his friendliness. He was so sincere, a sincere friend.
Half a mile away at the Vista Del Monte apartments on Goldmine Drive in the Diamond Heights neighborhood, residents recalled Polks recent eviction from an apartment that was a suspected drug den.
The complexs assistant manager, Lena Gilbert, said she served Polk a restraining order that was filed by the apartments tenant. That man filed for the order in September, saying in court papers that Polk had no right to live there and once burned a cigarette on my collar bone.
Evan Sernoffsky and Michael Bodley are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Evan Sernoffsky, @michael_bodley
San Francisco police arrested a local filmmaker in connection with the fatal shooting of a man Monday afternoon inside a home in the Glen Park neighborhood, officials said.
Kevin Joseph Epps, 48, was booked into San Francisco County Jail Monday evening on suspicion of homicide and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to Sgt. Michael Andraychak, a police spokesman.
San Francisco police officers who responded to the home on the 100 block of Addison Street just after 1:30 p.m. found a man in his 40s suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, officials said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
No further details of the circumstances of the confrontation that led to the shooting death were released Monday night.
Shortly after 5 p.m., as a handful of neighbors stood watching in the street, a group of young women pushed past police tape to try to enter the two-unit home where the shooting occurred.
One of the women called out, Please let me see my dad, please, before being ordered off the property by police. The women would not comment on the shooting.
Epps is an award-winning filmmaker known best for Straight Outta Hunters Point, the 2001 movie in which he explored the devastation of the neighborhood in which he grew up.
He made a second movie, Straight Outta Hunters Point 2 in 2014. In both of his films, he captured the violence and drug culture that he described as destroying neighborhoods, and in interviews he said his goal was to faithfully describe the Hunters Point community that was struggling but still had much to offer. Epps has made it his mission to show the world what's going on in the neighborhood where he grew up.
Epps, a community activist, was also a vocal protester of the officer-involved shooting that killed Oscar Grant at an Oakland BART station early on New Years Day 2009.
Rebecca Malette, 72, lives down the street from the site of the shooting and said the neighborhood is quiet. Im sorry for the family, she said. I dont know what happened.
Epps was being held without bail.
Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
Workers escorted by scores of French police officers moved into the "Jungle" in Calais on Tuesday, demolishing shacks and tents emptied of migrants who were being bussed to shelters around France.
The demolition work began on the second day of a massive operation to clear the squalid settlement in northern France, where an estimated 6,000-8,000 migrants, mostly Afghans, Sudanese and Eritreans, have been living.
"The start of the clean-up operations sends a sign that La Lande camp is really over," said Fabienne Buccio, head of security in the region, using the official name for the camp known as the Jungle.
The finality of the operation was driven home by the demolition operation, as mattresses, blankets, clothes, pots and suitcases left behind by the migrants were piled on top of the wood and plastic sheeting used in their shacks.
Wearing hard hats and orange overalls the workers used electric saws to take down wooden shelters and earth-moving equipment to clear debris from the site that has for years been a launchpad for attempts to reach Britain.
Riot police carrying shields sealed off the area.
Beforehand, aid workers and officials had gone tent-to-tent to ensure the area had been vacated.
Since Monday, around 2,700 people have been transferred to shelters around France while around 600 unaccompanied minors have been moved to a container park in the Jungle where families had been staying, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
Others, including a number of Afghans, are waiting until Wednesday, billed as the last day for bus transfers.
Ali Othman, a Sudanese 18-year-old vowed he would not leave voluntarily.
"They can detain me, jail me, throw me out on the street. I still want to go to Britain." he said, smoking a cigarette outside his tent.
But the sprawling shantytown, one of Europe's biggest slums, was rapidly becoming a ghost town.
"It makes me sad to see the camp in this state," said Marie Paule, a charity worker who started volunteering at the Jungle last year.
"I have a heavy heart... but it's the best solution for them."
The migrants face a choice between requesting asylum in France or being possibly deported.
Earlier Tuesday, hundreds of anxious minors queued to be interviewed by French and British officials who will decide their fate.
The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity accused officials picking those who will be accepted into Britain of excluding a number of children by selecting on the basis of appearance.
Cazeneuve said all unaccompanied minors "with proven family links in Britain" would eventually be transferred and that London had also committed to reviewing all other cases where it was "in the child's interest" to settle across the Channel.
Britain has taken in nearly 200 teenagers over the past week. Hundreds more are waiting for a decision.
British Interior Minister Amber Rudd pledged to bring eligible children from France to Britain "as quickly and as safely as possible" in the coming days and weeks, without specifying numbers.
Located on wasteland next to the port of Calais, the four-square-kilometre (1.5-square-mile) Jungle has become a symbol of Europe's failure to resolve its worst migration crisis since World War II.
More than one million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa poured into Europe last year, sowing divisions across the 28-nation bloc and fuelling the rise of far-right parties.
Calais has long exerted a pull on migrants who try to board lorries or jump onto trains heading across the Channel to England, where they believe their job and integration prospects to be better than in France.
Over the past year, police have battled near-nightly attempts by migrants to climb onto trucks bound for Calais port -- a perilous pursuit that has cost dozens of migrants their lives.
Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart said seeing people queue to leave the camp was "a great relief."
But many locals fear more camps will sprout up in the area once the Jungle is razed.
Around France, the resettlement of asylum-seekers has met with a mix of hostility and solidarity. Villagers in the wine-making hamlet of Chardonnay gave two dozen Sudanese youths a chilly reception on Monday while Paris and Nantes saw small pro-migrant rallies.
Back in the Juno togle, Arbat, a 25-year-old Sudanese migrant, said he was ready to move on.
"I know my future is no longer here," he said in good French, adding that he wants to marry a French woman.
"They tell me they are all beautiful. Is it true?" he joked.
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Police shot a car theft suspect Tuesday in San Francisco, and a California Highway Patrol officer was injured in the confrontation, officials said.
The CHP officer was with two other officers from different police agencies doing an operation with the San Mateo County auto theft task force when the incident unfolded, and he suffered abrasions and a minor head injury, said highway patrol spokesman Vu Williams.
The suspect, who had been shot multiple times, was taken to San Francisco General Hospital in critical condition. The shooting occured a little more than a block away from Ocean View playground.
It wasnt clear whether the suspect was armed, said Sgt. Michael Andraychak, a police spokesman.
The incident happened about 3:30 p.m. near Capitol Avenue and Montana Street in the Ocean View neighborhood, and involved a vehicle crash. The officers had followed a stolen Honda from San Mateo County into San Francisco, then stopped the car near Montana Street and Faxon Avenue, Andraychak said.
A 38-year-old man who identified himself as the suspects best friend and gave only his first name, Elisha, said the two grew up together.
Elisha said the suspect was in a stolen vehicle and was being chased by police. He doesnt have a gun, but sometimes carries a blade, Elisha said.
The sounds of the confrontation were heard through the neighborhood.
Lydia Gonzales, 39, was working at home when she heard gunshots and the sound of tires screeching. People soon started yelling at officers, asking if they had shot a man.
I was walking up the street, and then I hear a crash, said Mellody Gannon, 58, who was strolling with her dog at the time. Boom, boom, boom. There were four shots.
Almost immediately, she said, she heard sirens, and police cars rushed to the area.
Nothings worth a persons life, Gannon said.
A similar confrontation happened in May, when Sgt. Justin Erb opened fire on a woman in a stolen car on Elmira Street near Interstate 280. The death of the woman, Jessica Williams, led to Police Chief Greg Suhrs resignation later that day.
The Tuesday shooting happened just two weeks after San Francisco police Officer Kevin Downs was shot in the head while responding to a report of a man acting erratically and threatening people near Stern Grove.
The gunman in the Oct. 14 incident, Nicholas McWherter, was fatally shot by two officers and later died at a hospital. Downs is recovering at a rehabilitation facility.
Jenna Lyons and Kimberly Veklerov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jylons@sfchronicle.com, kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov @jennajourno
Monday night, President Barack Obama made an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and at the end of his segment, Kimmel had the president of the United States read some mean tweets about himself.
In the most presidential installment of "Mean Tweets: President Obama Edition," the commander in chief read off a few funny lines that jabbed at his dancing skills and his trade negotiation history, but the most epic mean tweet read came from a Twitter-loving presidential nominee.
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U.S. Rep. Jim Himes spoke to middle- and upper-school students at Sacred Heart Greenwich Monday about American democracy, his role in the House of Representatives and the importance of exercising your political voice.
I do have a profound respect for what government can do, when government gets it right, he said. When government gets it right, amazing things happen, the Civil Rights movement, public universities, this device, he added, waving his iPhone.
Representative for Connecticuts 4th District since 2009, Himes is a Cos Cob resident whose ninth-grade daughter attends Sacred Heart Greenwich.
The Democrat is currently running for re-election against Republican John Shaban, a state representative from Redding. But despite his campaign schedule, Himes said he speaks to schools in his district every two or three weeks.
I always find it energizing talking to young people, because often they are as well informed as adults and often a little less set in their ways, too, he said.
Fostering an interest in politics in the younger generation is of critical importance, Himes emphasized.
Horribly, our young people dont participate, he said. Voting rates among young voters are very low and as I told them, if you dont vote, you dont get listened to.
Secondarily, a lot of the problems we are dealing with today will have more of a consequence for them than they will for me, he said, citing climate change as an example.
He urged students to think critically about what politicians say and ask tough questions.
During Himess middle-school lecture, fifth-grader Catie Ruf didnt shy away.
Who would protect our country better Trump or Hillary? she asked, her hand shooting up as soon as the question-and-answer session began.
Careful to articulate that he was giving his opinion, Himes endorsed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, gaining cheers from the middle-school girls.
Because she was a senator, because she was secretary of state, she knows the leaders around the world, he said. Quite frankly, I get nervous about some of the statements that I hear from Donald Trump.
In the upper-school session, student questions varied from how to represent a diverse constituency to advice for high schoolers interested in a career in politics.
Senior Anna-Luisa Brackman asked, Is the bipartisan system antiquated?
Ive been doing this for eight years and its been a period of immense polarization, said Himes. He acknowledged that the two-party system made some voters feel alienated but argued for its merit.
This system has its problems but I do think fundamentally, it works really well, he said.
Brackman said she appreciated Himes demeanor in the hype of the 2016 election.
Its nice to see a politician who hasnt been affected by the craziness of the election, she said. I think its interesting that hes able to justify the two-party system. ... A huge chunk of both parties dont like their nominee so its interesting that he still has faith in the system.
Head of the Middle School David Olson said he hoped his students learned that they have a voice in choosing leaders and making policy decisions and they understand the importance of being informed citizens.
It was really interesting to hear him talk about how the House of Representative is unique compared to the Senate, Supreme Court and the president, said Olson. The House of Representative is the only place where the people truly elect someone, and I never really thought about it before.
emunson@hearstmediact.com; @emiliemunson
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Cops: Man tried to solicit sex with boy
COLONIE Police arrested a Greene County man Sunday on allegations he tried to solicit sex from a 14-year-old boy.
That child, it turned out, was an undercover police officer, police said.
Michael A. Proper, 51, of the town of Climax, messaged on the Internet, exchanged text messages and spoke by telephone with undercover investigators of the Colonie police, trying to arrange sexual contact with the minor, police said. He thought he was speaking with a 14-year-old boy and the boy's father.
A meeting was scheduled for Sunday in the parking lot of the Target at 675 Troy-Schenectady Road in Colonie.
Police said Proper arrived at 9:06 a.m. and was arrested without incident. He was charged with an attempted criminal sex act and attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor in the first degree, both felonies.
He was arraigned in Town Court and sent to Albany County Jail.
A search warrant was used on his car and home, police said, and digital media devices were seized for further examination.
Police said they have found no real victims, but asked anyone who might have information to contact police at 783-2744.
The investigation was aided by State Police and the state Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Tim O'Brien
Troy man acquitted in 2015 stabbing
ALBANY Jurors acquitted a Troy man of attempted murder and felony assault charges Monday in the stabbing of a teenager in West Hill last year.
Nathan Hennessy, 20, who faced up to 25 years in prison if convicted, was exonerated following a one-week trial before state Supreme Court Justice Richard McNally.
Prosecutors alleged Hennessy lay in wait for his victim, then crossed a street and stabbed Michael Myrick, 16, in the chest at the corner of North Manning Boulevard and Third Street on Oct. 6. An eyewitness testified that Hennessy was the stabber but jurors were not moved.
The victim, who was treated at Albany Medical Center Hospital, survived. He did not testify.
The defense attorney was Assistant Public Defender Angela Kelley-Sickles.
Robert Gavin
BRIDGEPORT A member of the City Council on Monday sought to delegitimize the Library Boards recent decision to fire city Library Director Scott Hughes.
In my opinion, we dont have a library board, said Councilwoman the Rev. Mary McBride-Lee, an ally of Hughes.
But City Attorney R. Christopher Meyer disagreed.
The nine-person board appoints and reappoints its own members, then submits the names to the City Council for approval. But that process broke down for most of the last decade.
Longtime Library Board members voted 4-1 last week to fire Hughes after placing him on probation eight months ago to try and improve his managerial skills.
In recent weeks, the board has reappointed members and submitted the names to the council for approval. Each is to be be interviewed by the Miscellaneous Matters Committee, which could not move forward Monday night because some of the background checks the city performs on appointees were still pending.
Still, McBride-Lee, with Hughes standing quietly in the audience, took the opportunity to cast doubt on the existing board.
Theyre not legitimate, she said. She added, referring to the councils most recent approval of Library Board members, 2006 thats a long time.
But Meyer said in an interview that the Library Board members who fired Hughes last Wednesday most of them on the panel for a few decades can vote. The City Council may not have reappointed them in 10 years, Meyer said, but until their successor is appointed ... they hold office.
Many of those same board members hired Hughes in 2007, only to sour on him over the last several months. Meanwhile Hughes, in part through his political activities and because he is among the citys few black department heads, has made some powerful friends among minority community leaders like McBride-Lee.
Hughes has not returned phone calls seeking his reaction to his termination, and declined an interview Monday. He did not address the Miscellaneous Matters Committee and left the meeting quietly.
He already has a discrimination complaint a lawsuit questioning the boards authority pending. Late last week his attorney, Josephine Miller, indicated Hughes may also take legal action against being let go from his job.
I do have a record of being a fighter on behalf of my clients, so you can be sure well be contesting that with every legal means available to us, Miller said.
Albany
University at Albany Police continue to investigate an anonymous report of a female student being forcibly touched while on campus Friday afternoon, according to information University Police provided in an email to all faculty, staff and students.
The victim was approached by two males in the area between the Humanities Building and the Dutch Quad parking lot at about 1:40 p.m. Friday, when one of the males touched "an intimate part of her body without her consent," police said.
According to the anonymous report to police, after the victim told the men to stop, one of them attempted to touch her a second time. The incident was interrupted by a bystander, causing the two males to leave the area, police said.
The first suspect is described as a white male, about 5'7", with light hair and blue eyes, who was wearing jeans and a red sweatshirt. The second suspect is described as a white male, about 5'9", with light hair and blue eyes. Both are between 18 and 20 years of age, police said.
University spokesman Joe Brennan said Monday evening that the incident is an ongoing investigation, but police have no reason to believe that Friday's incident is connected to a rape that occurred early Sunday morning at Stuyvesant Tower.
Anyone who may have seen anything or who has information regarding Friday's incident is asked to call University Police at 442-3177.
afries@timesunion.com 518-454-5353 @mandy_fries
GREENWICH Author and New York Times columnist Paula Span will speak on the challenges of caregivers and caring for an elderly family member next week courtesy of the towns Commission on Aging.
Span, whose column New Old Age focuses on aging and caregiving, will speak on Nov. 3 at Greenwich Librarys Cole Auditorium.
She is the author of When the Time Comes: Families With Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions.
According to the latest statistics, 44 million Americans provide 37 billion unpaid hours caring for adult family members, said Lori Contandino, director of Greenwichs Commission on Aging. If were to add in all of those who are already receiving formal care giving services, then that number is going to increase.
The event is free and open to the public but reservations are suggested. People can reserve a spot online at http://bit.ly/2dqkZKy or by calling 203-625-6549.
Its so difficult to know where to begin, Contandino said Its not a role that people very often want to take and sometimes it can come upon them very suddenly. Theres so much you have to know and its important for people to know what the facts are.
Spans discussion is expected to touch on resources available to caregivers, how to set up a team of professionals including doctors, home care, adult day programs, types of facilities and how to find support in both family and in the community.
After the lecture, attendees can get more information from the Commission on Aging and the events 31 other sponsors, which includes Stamford-based Compass Care.
Weve had our eye on bringing in Span for a lecture since our last one in April, Contandino said. We know how important caregiving is and how many people it effects.
This is something thats different for everyone, she said. Just when you think youve got a handle on it, things change.
kborsuk@scni.com
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NEW MILFORD In a party-line vote, the Town Council appropriated $225,000 Monday to renovate the former John Pettibone School, despite pleas from several residents and council members to wait until more information was available.
Renovating Pettibone is part of Mayor David Gronbachs plan to turn the former school into a community space. The proposal includes moving central school staff, several town departments and nonprofits to the building.
I think there are more questions than answers tonight, said Paul Szymanski, who was among the four Republicans to vote against the appropriation. Szymanski also raised questions about the space allocations given to the board, which were smaller than those of a previously presented plan.
So far, only the Parks and Recreation Department, the Youth Agency and Social Services Department are outlined in the $225,000 cost, which will come from the towns Waste Management Account. The price does include some overall building work, though, including electrical work, cleaning and fixing the gym floor.
School board members still havent decided whether they want to move to Pettibone or renovate their East Street building to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and remain at that site.
Many residents, as well as town and school officials, said they were in favor of a community center, but are skeptical of the notion the repairs would only cost what the mayor proposes.
Youre talking about $3 per square foot on a 75,000-square-foot building, and you really dont think were going to dip into our pockets? Councilman Tom Esposito said. These numbers are not correct.
Gronbach stood by the figure, which he said would get the building ready for the departments to move in and is low because most of the work could be done in house.
For $225,000 were going to get this done and its going to be beautiful, Gronbach said.
Esposito urged Gronbach to create a committee with architects, engineers, contractors and others in the construction field to look at the plan to ensure it was done properly. He said the council approved a committee to do this just before Gronbach was elected, and left vacancies for him to fill when he started.
Several residents also called for a committee during public comment, and school board members have repeatedly requested one. Many also asked for comparisons between the East Street building and Pettibone.
Gronbach said he didnt use a committee because departments were chomping at the bit for a new space and something needed to be done with the vacant building.
We can have agencies up and running in the time it takes for the committee to have its first meeting, he said.
Gronbach assured the council the project would be done right and would be safe, because its being reviewed by the fire marshal and the building officer. He said the project would also have a zone change to allow all of the uses.
kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345
Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said the country has sufficient stocks of sugar to cover at least three months and that he expects the recent shortage of the commodity to end in a week.
Egypt has been facing a shortage in sugar supplies for weeks amid a foreign currency crisis and rising global prices that have crippled imports.
But the prime minister said on Monday that sugar reserves are sufficient, largely blaming traders and consumers for the crisis.
"The current available sugar stocks cover at least three months," Ismail said during an interview with Egypt's CBC channel.
He added that the recent government campaign of monitoring traders and factories has had a "positive impact" and that authorities have seized 9,000 tonnes of sugar.
"There are some negative points that we are dealing withthey were a limited number of cases," he said, in reference to raids on factories.
"We can't leave the market without supervision... monitoring is necessary."
Edita Food Industries, one of the country's largest food producers, said on Monday that its factory in Beni Suef had been shut down for three days after authorities confiscated its sugar stocks.
Ismail said he expects the sugar crisis to end in "a week or ten days" if the government continues to distribute a necessary 10,000 tonnes of sugar every day throughout this period.
He said the government already pumps 8,000- 10,000 tonnes into the market daily.
Egypt consumes around 3 million tonnes of sugar annually, with some 2.2 million tonnes produced domestically and the rest imported.
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STAMFORD Westhill High Schools fine arts department has received a $3,658 grant from the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.
The grant will bring ArtLink to the schools Advancement Via Individual Determination program, also known as AVID. ArtLink is Creative Connections international exchange program that connects students from the Stamford area with others around the world through the exchange of artwork.
Westhills AVID students will meet after school each Tuesday through November to create their original artwork. They will then exchange their art with their partner school, Amir Hasan Preparatory Girls School in Amman, Jordan.
In January, students from both schools will participate in a live video conference to discuss the art and what they have learned. In the spring, original and duplicated artwork will be displayed to the public.
The grant is also supported in part by the state Department of Economic and Community Developments Office of the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
noliveira@hearstmediact.com
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Jacquelyn O'Keefe of Berne was promoted to chief warrant officer 5 while serving in the New York Army National Guard's Military Personnel Office at Watervliet Arsenal.
The rank is the highest in the Army's warrant officer corps, which fall between non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers and are technical experts in their field.
Her family reunions can also be called military reunions.
She and her husband, Brian, an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, live in Berne with their daughter, Brooke. O'Keefe's son Bradley is a West Point graduate now serving as a second lieutenant with the 101st Airborne Division. Son Brian Jr. is a master sergeant in the active Army at Fort Bragg. Another son, Brendan, is a specialist in the New York Army National Guard.
Jacquelyn's military career began in 1983 when she enlisted in the Army National Guard as a food service specialist. In 1985, she entered the Active Guard and Reserve program, serving as a full-time soldier supporting the National Guard. She reached the rank of sergeant first class before entering the warrant officer program in 1995.
O'Keefe left the Active Guard and Reserve program in 2001 and re-entered the active duty force in 2005.
She earned a bachelor's degree in administrative management studies from Excelsior College.
Her awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal and the National Guard Recruiting Badge.
Top enlisted leader
New York Air National Guard Chief Master Sgt. Denny Richardson was selected as the 109th Airlift Wing command chief, representing the highest level of enlisted leadership for the wing.
Richardson of Gansevoort is responsible for matters influencing the health, morale and welfare, professional development, training, readiness and proper use of about 700 enlisted airmen assigned to the wing at Stratton Air National Guard Base in Scotia.
Richardson, who has been with the Air National Guard for 27 years, joined the New York Air National Guard's 109th in 1997 as the noncommissioned officer in charge of Aircrew Life Support with the 139th Airlift Squadron. In 2014, Richardson moved to the Force Support Squadron as superintendent and then on to Mission Support Group superintendent before assuming duties as the 109th Airlift Wing command chief.
Richardson deployed to Germany in support of Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2009. He has earned medals for Meritorious Service, Air Force Commendation, Air Force Achievement and Antarctica Service.
Richardson and his wife, Michele, have two sons, Darius and Marcus.
Soldiers advance
Terry Benson of Glens Falls was promoted to major while serving with the Operations Company, 42nd Infantry Division.
Carl Jeremie of Schenectady advanced to major while on duty with the Intelligence and Sustainment Company, 42nd Infantry Division.
Michael Manss of Albany was promoted to major while assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 369th Sustainment Brigade.
Other promotions:
Sergeant: Cassandra Fernandez, Albany, Joint Force Headquarters.
Specialist: Robert Andriola, Clifton Park, Company E (Forward Support Company Infantry), 427th Brigade Support Battalion; Grasse Hart, Hoosick Falls, Company B (Military Intelligence), 27th Brigade Special Troops Battalion; Ryan McCrum, Schenectady, 1156th Engineer Company; Carrie Newton, Spencertown, Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 104th Military Police Battalion; Breanna Soto, Schenectady, Company E (Forward Support Company Infantry), 427th Brigade Support Battalion; Evan Tully, Central Bridge, Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 501st Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal); and Matthew Williams, Charlotteville, Company E (Forward Support Company Infantry), 427th Brigade Support Battalion.
News of your troops and units can be sent to Duty Calls, Terry Brown, Times Union, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 or brownt@timesunion.com.
CASS CITY Texas businessman Mark Molter reiterated his commitment to build a "Farm Fresh Market Grocery Store" in downtown Cass City during the village's last economy development-downtown development authority meeting.
Molter plans to build a $4 million plus, 21,000-square foot store next to the village hall. To do that, the former Fairway Discount store, and the Cass City Antique Mall at 6544 Main St., will have to be raised.
Also officials reiterated their commitment to find a suitable site to relocate Rotary Park to facilitate the market's construction in that location.
Before the Cass City EDC - DDA meeting earlier this month, Molter met with some village officials and with James Espinoza from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation about joint efforts to facilitate opening the grocery store.
The Tuscola County Economic Development Corporation has been working with Molter to secure about $800,000 grants and economic incentives to help with the cost of the project.
According to Molter, the store's development is not contingent on getting the incentives.
The consensus of the Cass City Downtown Development Authority was to recommend to the village council the sale of the Cass City Antique Mall at the proper time as well as the sale of the south municipal alley, and to allow the usage of the attached municipal parking lot at the appropriate time.
There are several legal steps that must be taken over the next several months, including holding a public hearing, adopting an ordinance for the private sale of village owned property, drafting a purchase agreement to satisfy state agencies to qualify for grant opportunities.
"Doing all that is still a ways off, and we are getting ready," said village Manager Peter Cristiano.
In addition, the DDA reaffirmed the continued search for an alternate site for the Rotary Park in order to facilitate the grocery store's development.
Construction of the market is expected to start next spring, with a grand opening before the end of next year.
Molter's market will be a Spartan store, and is expected to have 38 to 40 full-time employees when operational.
He has been interested in operating a grocery store in Cass City for several years. He and his father have 37 stores in Texas.
The community of about 2,375 residents has been without a local grocery store since Erla's Food Center and Packaging at 6233 Church St., closed about three years ago. There also used to be an IGA store along M-81, but that closed several years ago.
Egypt will announce the petroleum companies to float in the bourse in November, with a global road show planned to lure investors, the country's oil minister said in a Tuesday press conference.
Eight companies are currently being considered, Minister Tarek El-Molla said in the AmCham conference. Some of these companies are already in the bourse, and a committee is studying whether to float more of their shares.
"We need to have more companies in the bourse. We don't have to [float] all shares. We can float at least 20 percent of the shares," the minister stated.
El-Molla's statements came at a press conference held by the American Chamber of Commerce as a delegation of US businessmen headed by US Ambassador David Thorne, the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State for economic issues visits Egypt to discuss strategic and economic cooperation between the two countries. The US delegation included nearly 50 representatives from major US corporations.
Egypt's presidency announced in January that Egypt would soon offer shares of "successful" state-owned companies and banks on the local bourseits first public offering of government-owned firms since 2005, when it offered shares in Telecom Egypt, AMOC and Sidi Kerir.
The minister told Reuters in August that "among the names we are studying are Middle East Oil Refinery (MIDOR) and the Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company (ETHYDCO), and we are considering a capital increase for companies Alexandria Mineral Oils Co. (AMOC), MIDOR, and Misr Fertilizers Production Company (MOPCO)."
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Newark,N.J.
Questions over what Republican Gov. Chris Christie knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closings were raised again Monday as a former ally testified she told him a Democratic mayor had expressed concern the resulting traffic jams in his city were political retribution.
Ex-aide Bridget Anne Kelly testified in her criminal trial that she told Christie about Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich's concern while the lanes were closed in September 2013. She said Christie lied three months later when he said at a news conference no one on his senior staff knew.
Kelly said that when she shared Sokolich's concern with Christie, he told her it was a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey project and to "let Wildstein handle it," referring to David Wildstein. Wildstein, an executive at the Port Authority, pleaded guilty to his role in a scheme to punish Sokolich for not endorsing the governor's re-election effort.
"I said, 'He's talking about government retribution,'" Kelly testified. "(Christie) said, 'It's a Port Authority project. Let Wildstein handle it.'"
Christie has consistently denied any knowledge of the plot or the lane closures while they were going on and has not been charged.
Christie spokesman Brian Murray has said the governor had "no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments" and "no role in authorizing them." Murray added that anything said to the contrary "is simply untrue."
Kelly maintains she believed the lane closures were part of a traffic study, but she testified Monday she became confused on their final day after Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye ordered the lanes reopened even though Wildstein said the study was a success.
Kelly is accused of plotting with Wildstein and another former Christie ally, Bill Baroni, to close lanes on the bridge, which connects Fort Lee and New York, as revenge against Sokolich. Kelly and Baroni have pleaded not guilty.
BAD AXE A Bad Axe man, who denied all allegations and maintained his innocence, was taken away to prison on Monday after being sentenced for asking a young girl to "touch his penis" several times more than two years ago.
Brian K. Klemmer, 30, was charged with one count of criminal sexual conduct-second degree, person under 13. He pleaded no contest to the charge in September.
According to police reports, Klemmer was with the victim who was 12 at the time on a four-wheeler in Huron County in July 2014 when he asked her to "touch his penis," which the girl did. The day after, the victim turned 13, and Klemmer asked her to do the same thing.
Police reports also indicate Klemmer asked the girl to "touch his penis" three other times in September 2014 while in Wisconsin where the victim is from.
At sentencing on Monday, Diana Kessler, Klemmer's attorney, told Huron County Circuit Judge Gerald M. Prill she was troubled by the case because "the victim wasn't available or accessible." Kessler said when her client allegedly committed the first offense the victim was 12 years, 364 days old making her 13 during the second incident. She argued there wasn't much information in the police reports to base statements on.
Kessler asked Prill to adopt the recommendation for county jail before Klemmer explained his side of the story.
He said the victim's sister was someone who "pushed" her to do stuff, which would include reporting the incident. An emotional Klemmer said everyone knows his reputation in the area and that this wasn't something he would do.
Klemmer went into great detail about the many things he does for members of the community.
"Your honor, he has spent most of his life being charitable," Kessler interrupted.
Huron County Prosecutor Timothy J. Rutkowski pointed out the defendant claims he didn't do anything, but pleaded guilty to a criminal sexual conduct charge in Wisconsin and pleaded no contest in the Huron County case.
Rutkowski requested a two-year sentence based on the details in the police reports and information provided by the victim.
Prill was brief with his words, adding it was a difficult case.
"To me, I don't care if it happened five times or once," Prill said. "Once is too much."
Klemmer was sentenced to one year, seven months maximum 15 years in Michigan's prison system, with eight days credit for time served. He was placed on Michigan's Sex Offender Registry.
Klemmer will be sentenced in Wisconsin in December on the CSC charge, according to court records.
Martha Stewart has a message for entrepreneurs: People want extraordinary products, and its up to you to supply them.
I dont think there are a lot of utterly fantastic products that go unnoticed nowadays, Stewart told Entrepreneur during an interview. Like anything, its word of mouth, its social media, its networking, its doing a video and getting it hot on YouTube, whatever. Its strange, but it works sometimes for some people.
Related: 4 Secrets for Lifelong Success From Martha Stewart
On Saturday, Stewart hosted hundreds of small-business owners at her Manhattan headquarters for the fifth annual Martha Stewart American Made Summit. In a series of discussions and workshops, Stewart highlighted dozens of companies and their stories, and she invited celebrity entrepreneurs -- including Jessica Alba, Jim Cramer and Sarah Michelle Gellar -- investors and marketers to share their advice with an audience of makers.
Its difficult to measure the size of the maker movement, given the range of trades it encompasses, from 3-D printing to baking. In 2013, Stewart published a guest article in USA Today and cited an estimate that 57 percent of the U.S. adult population were makers at that time. It's a segment that is expanding rapidly in size and economic heft, Stewart wrote. Makers pump some $29 billion into the economy each year, and these figures will surely grow.
For the past two years, President Barack Obama has declared a National Week of Making in mid-June to encourage and celebrate making nationwide, across ages and backgrounds. From 2006 to 2015, the number of maker faires worldwide grew from just one to more than 150.
Whether you categorize participants in this sector as artisans, craftspeople or something else, makers have been around since the dawn of civilization. However, the opportunities for makers are broader than ever before, thanks to online platforms that allow entrepreneurs to spread the word about their creations.
In recent years, Stewart said she has seen a major shift in maker culture. Consumers crave uniqueness, which inspires entrepreneurs to create products or services that stand out.
I think that artisans are making more what they want to make than what they think is acceptable to the marketplace, Stewart says. Theres a lot more, I would call it, self-expression than there had been say, 20 years ago. Its not so much theyre just making aprons, theyre making aprons with fantastic slogans or artwork.
Its easier than ever for makers to find partners as well. The ability to find and hire accountants, lawyers, marketers, social media specialists and more has allowed makers to focus on their craft.
Additionally, concerns about sustainability and social responsibility have become more mainstream. While it can be difficult to scale a business and hold true to these values, Stewart emphasized that there are no shortage of potential like-minded partners out there who can help businesses achieve their goals.
I think that theres a real supply chain now thats interested in the same thing, Stewart said. Sweetgreen is going directly to farms. They can use a tremendous amount of product from a farmer. They can use a whole years worth of stuff. And how great that is, because the farmer knows that he grows a special kind of squash, he has a marketplace for that particular squash.
Today, Stewart said, universities are even teaching budding entrepreneurs how to identify and connect with suppliers. One example is Back to the Roots, one of Stewarts 2013 American Made Honorees. As Berkeley undergrads, co-founders Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora learned that recycled coffee grounds could grow mushrooms. Six years after their launch, Back to the Roots sells milk carton mushroom grow kits in 14,000 stores.
Related: 6 Ways Martha Stewart Is Staying Relevant
Given the unprecedented opportunities for businesses to tell their stories and find collaborators and customers, Stewart explained that theres plenty of room for new makers to emerge and thrive.
The trouble is, theres not enough of the really fantastic products, Stewart said. Were searching for them all the time.
Related:
The Surprising App That Worries 'Mad Money's' Jim Cramer
Martha Stewart: The World Wants Your Unique Product. You Just Need to Find the Right Partners.
Martha Stewart Has Now Entered the Meal-Delivery Space
Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
The Suez Canal Economic Zone Authority will start stipulating the use of foreign currency in its utility contracts with investors, the head of the authority Ahmed Darwish announced on Tuesday.
Darwish said during a press conference at the AmCham in Cairo that it is highly likely the utility contracts in 2017 will be in USD after the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) granted permission to the Canal Authority.
Egypt is struggling with an acute dollar shortage that is hampering trade and its financing needs.
The statements by Darwish, who was appointed by Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in November 2015, come as a delegation of US businessmen headed by US Ambassador David Thorne, the senior advisor to the secretary of state for economic issues, visits Egypt to discuss strategic and economic cooperation between the two countries.
The US delegation includes nearly 50 representatives from major US corporations.
A flagship project for President El-Sisi, the special economic zone will cover an area of 461 square kilometres across the three Suez Canal governorates of Suez, Port Said and Ismailiya, and will include six maritime ports once it is completed by 2045.
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Young Americans across races and ethnicities are now more likely to support Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump for president, and to say the former secretary of state will help people like them, a new GenForward poll shows.
Clinton's largest advantage is among young African-Americans, Latinos and Asian-Americans, but the survey also shows a shift to her among young whites in the last month.
GenForward is a survey of adults age 18 to 30 by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The first-of-its-kind poll is designed to pay special attention to the voices of young adults of color, highlighting how race and ethnicity shape the opinions of a new generation.
The poll also shows that young people across racial and ethnic groups largely agree with Clinton's September comment calling some Trump's supporters "deplorable."
Things to know about young Americans' views on the campaign:
The poll suggests Clinton has opened up an advantage among young whites, who were evenly divided between the two candidates just a month ago and more likely to support 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney than President Barack Obama in 2012, according to exit polls conducted by Edison Research for the AP and television networks.
Clinton has held a large and consistent advantage among young African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanics in GenForward polls, and she continues to hold that advantage in the new survey.
Overall, Clinton leads among young likely voters by 60 percent to 19 percent.
Chad "Pimp C" Butler made millions of dollars as half of the iconic rap duo Underground Kingz, but the recording artist was far from a financier.
Butler, a Port Arthur native, died nearly nine years ago with more debt than fortune, Jefferson County court records show.
"Everybody thinks there's all of these millions of dollars but it doesn't exist," said Craig Schexnaider, an attorney for Chinara Butler, Pimp C's widow.
The Butler estate owes millions to a former manager and the Internal Revenue Service.
A bank in May moved to foreclose the Butler home on Oakmont Drive in Port Arthur, which is valued at about $309,000.
His estate owes more on the home than it is worth, records show, and money generated in music sales since his death are small drops in the bucket.
Chinara Butler coordinated the release of a posthumous record last year, but it has done little to dent the debt.
"Pimp C died close to broke, not by his choosing," Schexnaider said.
"There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow here. There isn't even a rainbow. There's actually very little, if anything. There's more bills than anything, and all of this happened before (Pimp C) died."
A $7.2 million federal tax lien was filed in 2001 and resulved about a year before Butler's 2007 death, and a $5.1 million claim by former UGK manager Byron Hill against Butler's estate was settled in 2011.
The Butler estate owed more than $322,000 on the home as of December 2015, with delinquent monthly payments dating to August 2009, Jefferson County probate records show.
Schexnaider compared Pimp C's financial situation to that of a boxer - agents, managers and promoters soak up the revenue, leaving the performer with scraps.
"These entertainers either don't get anything, or they get very little," Schexnaider said. "It depends on their management."
Chad Butler Jr., Pimp C's oldest son at age 23, is asking a Jefferson County district judge to remove his father's widow as the dependent administrator of his estate.
Pimp C died without a last will and testament.
The younger Butler, who is not Chinara's son, cites financial mismanagement and failure to distribute any portion of the estate to its beneficiaries as grounds for Chinara Butler's removal.
A judge previously found Chinara misapplied $150,000 worth of jewelry and could not account for certain estate assets. She was removed as independent administrator of the estate in February 2010, when attorney Fred Theobold was appointed temporary administrator.
Theobold resigned in June of that year, and a month later Chinara Butler was appointed as head of the estate once again.
Chad Jr.'s application to remove his stepmother, filed June 30, states, "Chinara Butler has taken no action to cure the prior acts of mismanagement of the estate and misapplication of property."
A hearing in the dispute is scheduled for Wednesday.
Pimp C rose to fame in the 1990s.
He and fellow Port Arthur native Bernard "Bun B" Freeman are best known for the 1996 UGK album "Ridin' Dirty" and for backup lyrics on Jay Z's2000 single "Big Pimpin'" and the "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)," featuring Outkast in 2007.
Chinara Butler released Pimp C's posthumous record "Long Live the Pimp" last December, on the eight-year anniversary of the rapper's death.
Chad Butler Jr. criticized the project upon its release, according to hip-hop media blogs, noting a communication breakdown with Chinara.
"The only person who benefits (from album sales) is his wife Chinara," Chad Jr. said in a prepared statement to fans.
---
Correction: The story incorrectly stated that public records show Pimp C's money is tied up in debt - a $7.2 million federal tax lien; $5.1 million owed to former UGK manager Byron Hill; the Port Arthur home in foreclosure. The story has been updated to say that the debts have both been resolved.
BScott@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/BrandonKScott
Sonallah Ibrahim will engage with his readers in an open discussion on Thursday, 27 October at 6:00pm
An open discussion with Egyptian renowned novelist Sonallah Ibrahim will be held on Thursday at 6:00pm at the Osiris cultural center in Cairo.
Sonallah Ibrahim, one of Egypt's most controversial novelists and one of the few alive writers of the 'Sixties Generation,' was born in Cairo in 1937 to an upper-middle class family.
He is known for his left-wing views that landed him in prison from 1959 to 1964. He is also known as the novelist who turned down the state's encouragement award in 2003 in an unprecedented protest move against Hosni Mubarak's regime.
He is best known for his novels Zaat (Self), Beirut Beirut, and the Committee.
Programme:
Thursday, 27 October, 6:00PM
Osiris cultural center
Kasr Al-Aini st, Tsepas Building
Search Keywords:
Short link:
Your business is always just one bad Yelp review from shutting down, Jim Cramer warns.
"Your enemy and your friend is [the smartphone]," the host of CNBC's Mad Money and founder of The Street said on Saturday during Martha Stewart's fifth annual American Made Summit in New York City. "There's an app that will save you and an app that will destroy you."
The former hedge fund manager also runs two small businesses -- an inn and a Mexican restaurant. He and Stewart both emphasized the importance of small businesses in the U.S., with Cramer referring to them as the "heart" of the economy.
Related: Feeling the Sting of Recent Rotten Reviews on Yelp?
Here are the money mans top tips for small-business success.
1. On first hires
"The number one thing is your first hire has to be your accountant," Cramer said. "If you bring in an accountant first, 62 percent increase in odds that you'll succeed."
2. On partnering with friends and family
If you're going into business with a friend or family member, assume it will end badly, Cramer said. "You have to presume everything ends in divorce," he said. "Of course you start with love, but you have to have a document in case something goes wrong. Figure out what happens if [the business] fails or you hate each other."
3. On financing your business
You should always opt for a loan from a friend, family member or bank instead of seeking an angel investor, "who may want your business," he said.
4. On knowing your potential enemies
All business owners need to put a lot of thought into who can "eat" or "stop" them. For example, when Cramer took over his inn, he made friends with the local fire department because he figured there would be a lot of false alarms.
Related: Martha Stewart: The World Wants Your Unique Product. You Just Need to Find the Right Partners.
5. On finding a location
No surprise, but Cramer stressed the importance of location. "Traffic is the most important thing," he said. He pointed out that his restaurant is located near an F train stop, which equates to a lot of foot traffic.
6. On web presence
Cramer also warns that you should not skimp out on your website. "If your website looks amateurish, people will think you're amateurish," he said.
7. On social media
The Mad Money host does all of his own social media, since he doesn't trust anyone else to do it for him. He said that Twitter is "relatively ineffective," although he frequently tweets. "Everyone has to use it," he said, "but the return on investment isn't there."
Related: 101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than $100
8. On avoiding the taxman
Payroll is another area in which business owners need to be vigilant, and he recommends using a service to avoid attention from the government. "If you do it yourself, you're an easy mark," Cramer said.
9. On making it up to customers
Disappointing a customer could lead to a bad review, which could sink your business, Cramer said, so it's important to make things right. "There is a trick that works with Americans," he said, "a free beer."
Related:
3 Leadership Truths Learned Leading 3 Businesses
The Surprising App That Worries 'Mad Money's' Jim Cramer
7 Apps Which Will Keep You On The Go Without Skipping A Beat
Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
BAD AXE The final suspect involved in stealing nearly $20,000 worth of televisions from Wal-Mart, in exchange for heroin, will join his two codefendants behind bars after he was handed a prison sentence Monday.
Brad A. Galloway was charged, and pleaded guilty to, one count of conducting a criminal enterprise and habitual offender-third connected to 11 incidents in which he and two others stole TVs from the retail store. The 33-year-old was the last of three defendants to be sentenced.
Bad Axe attorney Andrew Lockard told the judge his client has support from his family prior to a sentence being imposed. However, Galloway's family growing up wasn't very supportive, Lockard said, adding he was beaten by his stepfather. The attorney noted Galloway's family was in the courtroom, including his 7-year-old child.
" ... That would leave his (child) fatherless until the age of 13," Lockard of the minimum sentence recommendation, six years.
Lockard argued all three defendants had the same involvement when it came to stealing the televisions.
"There wasn't a leader and there wasn't somebody doing more," Lockard said, before pausing and speaking with Galloway.
After a brief moment, Lockard said his client told him the offenses already started when he became involved.
"It's our position (that) a one-year term (in the county jail) would be more than sufficient in this case," Lockard concluded.
Galloway apologized to the court, the prosecutor's office, the people of Huron County and his family for creating the problems that brought him before the court.
"I thought I had a better hold on my drug addiction," Galloway explained.
Huron County Prosecutor Timothy J. Rutkowski briefed the courtroom of the incidents.
Between April 24 and May 19, Galloway and his codefendants Derrick N. Grifka and Justin D. Sturm entered Wal-Mart 11 times and stole $19,958 worth of televisions. Authorities reported the men loaded up shopping carts with the items, walked out the front door and then later traded the televisions for heroin in the Flint area.
"The person that was there (Wal-Mart) the most was Mr. Galloway," Rutkowski said. " ... We are asking for protection of this community from Mr. Galloway and that's what this sentence is."
Huron County Circuit Judge Gerald M. Prill acknowledged the community did suffer from the incidents, but pointed out Galloway's child is suffering too.
"It's something you clearly were not thinking of when all this was going on," Prill said. "Clearly, the drug dependency (and) the drug use is what got you here."
Prill looked over the guidelines before fashioning a sentence.
"I cannot sentence you to county jail, I just cannot," Prill said.
"I understand," Galloway replied.
Galloway was sentenced to four to 40 years in the state's prison system, with credit for 156 days served.
Grifka is currently serving five to 25 years at Kinross Correctional Facility, and Sturm is serving seven to 40 years at Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center for their involvements. The three men were ordered to jointly pay restitution in the amount of $19,958.
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The man accused of intoxication manslaughter in a fatal weekend crash in southeastern Bexar County headed the overnight Security Forces shift at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston and had been arrested three years ago on a public intoxication charge, authorities said Tuesday.
Department of the Air Force civilian police Sgt. Justin Fey, 49, of New Braunfels was suspended without pay in the wake of the Saturday morning crash, which left a husband and wife dead and their three children injured.
As a civilian supervisor on the 502nd Security Forces Squadrons midnight shift at Fort Sam, he oversaw personnel who patrol the installation, man its gates and investigate incidents, said Todd White, a spokesman for the 502nd Air Base Wing. Fey had held the job since May 2012 and had been working on Fort Sam since the previous year.
He was charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter, two counts of intoxication assault and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon his car in connection with the accident in the 200 block of East Loop 1604 South.
A Bexar County Sheriffs Office statement said Fey was driving his pickup east on Loop 1604 when he tried to pass a slower-moving vehicle and struck an SUV head-on. The statement did not say how fast he was traveling when his truck and the SUV collided.
Jose Angel Arias, 36, and his wife, Rosa Maria Arias, 39, both of Adkins, died shortly after the crash. The children, whose ages werent available, were transported to University Hospital and are expected to survive. Sheriffs office spokeswoman Rosanne Hughes confirmed the couple were the childrens parents.
Deputies stated that Fey was treated at University Hospital, where he was given a blood draw, then booked. The magistrates office said he remained jailed Tuesday afternoon in lieu of bail set at $75,000 for each intoxication manslaughter count, $75,000 for aggravated assault and $50,000 bond for each intoxication assault count.
The manslaughter charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison; the other charges have a maximum 10-year sentence.
Hughes said an analysis of the blood draw had not been completed. She said Fey previously faced a public intoxication charge when he cited by New Braunfels police on June 21, 2013.
SAN ANTONIO Some 35,431 people cast ballots on Monday, setting a Bexar County record for the first day of early voting in a presidential election.
The turnout Monday surpassed the county's previous record of 30,087 set in 2012, which topped the 29,119 votes in 2008 when President Barack Obama was first elected.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) Authorities say a tip has led to a fugitive on the Texas 10 Most Wanted sex offender list being captured in Mexico and returned to the U.S.
Cameron County jail records show Cruz Alfredo Bazan of Harlingen was being held Monday for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements and for probation violation.
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SAN ANTONIO A 52-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for his sixth DWI, according to the Bexar County Criminal District Attorneys Office.
Judge Lorina Rummel of the 144th District Court conducted the sentencing of Jeffrey Farris after he pleaded no contest last month to the charge of driving while intoxicated - third or more, a news release said Monday.
RELATED: Records: 47 people arrested on felony DWI charges in Bexar County in September 2016
Farris was leaving a store on Aug. 23, 2015, near Interstate 10 and De Zavala Road, when he struck a vehicle in the parking lot. He then continued to drive and struck more vehicles and several people.
Later, his blood results showed his blood alcohol content was .18, which is more than twice the legal limit in Texas.
RELATED: SAPD: Drunk driver who critically injured 3 pedestrians, including man in wheelchair, has past DWI
During the sentencing hearing, a victim in that crash remembers the incident, saying the memories of that day continue to haunt her and her loved ones, the news release said.
Farris asked that he be granted probation, but the assistant district attorney argued that Farris was a danger to the community and needed to be sent to prison, according the release.
Farris, who was first arrested on a DWI charge in Arizona in 1983, has been in prison before for aggravated assault. Hes also previously been arrested for burglary of a habitation, criminal mischief and assault bodily injury.
RELATED: San Marcos man sentenced to 99 years in prison for 8th DWI so we can all sleep at night'
A DWI third or more charge is generally classified as a third-degree felony, but as a repeat offender, Farris charge was enhance to be punishable by up to 20 years in prison, the release said.
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Investigators have upgraded the charges against a female member of a trio accused of carrying out multiple carjackings on Aug. 4.
Jessica Danielle Suarez, along with Jaime Alberto Medina and Jacob Rigo Luna, all 21, formed a team that robbed at least three car owners at gunpoint in about eight hours that day, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Suarez was initially charged only with third-degree felony marijuana possession, but all three now face aggravated robbery charges.
The three were caught during a chase after intentionally colliding with a pursuing SAPD SWAT vehicle, police said at the time. The affidavit also mentioned a fourth suspect arrested elsewhere but did not name that person or describe any connection to the robberies.
While the group successfully stole at least two vehicles a blue van, and a Ford Mustang their morning had not gotten off to a great start, the affidavit said.
The trio made their first attempt at about 6:30 a.m. at a Valero station in the 4300 block of West Commerce, the document states. As Suarez, sitting in a gray getaway van along with Medina and Luna, spotted a 20-year-old man parking his car at the station, the group parked alongside him, asking the man if he wanted to purchase some Climax, a sexual performance enhancing drug.
When the man declined, one of the men drew a gun and robbed him of his keys and cell phone, only to discover that the vehicle had a DWI probation device installed that prevented the car from starting without passing a breath test, the affidavit states.
Neither Suarez, Medina or Luna were able to successfully start the car, so they fled, leaving the vehicle intact for police. The group went on to nab a blue van and and Ford Mustang over the next few hours.
The Mustang proved to be the trio's undoing. After robbing the owner who was washing the car in front of his house at about 2 p.m. at gunpoint, Suarez, Medina and Luna made off with the Mustang, which still had the victim's cell phone inside, the affidavit states.
Investigators used the signal to trace the phone to a residence in the 2400 block of Monterey Street, where Suarez, Medina and Luna spotted the arriving police vehicles and attempted to flee in a gray van, ramming into one of them as it attempted to bar their path.
With her upgraded charges, Suarez is being held on $67,200 bond, and faces five to 99 years in prison if convicted.
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A 17-year-old man in Central Texas could face life in prison after allegedly slashing his art teacher three times Thursday with an X-Acto knife, according to court documents.
Ryland Alexander Gonzalez, of Leander, faces a first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a public servant, which has a penalty of five to 99 years in prison or life in prison.
RELATED: Austin police seize 8,600 stolen Dos Equis beers and 1 pot plant in SWAT raid
Police responded at about 3:53 p.m. Thursday to the 12000 block of Raider Way in Leander at Rouse High School, where emergency personnel found a teacher bleeding profusely from his right hand. She had two large lacerations on her right middle finger and one smaller laceration on her right index finger, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by mySA.com.
The teacher told police that Gonzalez was allegedly stabbing a Styrofoam dinosaur in her classroom. She confronted him about the knife, told him to stop and asked for him to hand over the knife. She said he then turned and faced her but did not hand her the knife, the affidavit said.
She then reached to grab the knife by the handle, at which point he allegedly yanked it away and then quickly slashed at her hand 3 times, causing the lacerations, according to the affidavit.
RELATED: Police: Austin man who tried to kidnap, rape 2 girls at library detained by patrons
She started bleeding and stumbled into the next-door classroom and was escorted to the nurses office.
She was then transported to St. Davids North Medical Center and received 10 stitches in her middle finger. She was also told to contact a hand surgeon because she may have possible ligament damage, the affidavit said.
The investigator tried to contact Gonzalez that day regarding the incident, but he had already left for home for the day via bus. The next day, Gonzalez was interrogated about the incident at school, and he said he had permission to be using the knife and that the teacher had reached for it while he was using it and she was accidentally sliced by the knife, according to the affidavit.
Gonzalez later told police he did not have permission to use the knife and that when she asked for the knife he refused to hand it to her. He said when she reached for the knife he pulled away but was just playing around, the affidavit said.
RELATED: Austin couple arrested for alleged lewd act in Hippie Hollow nude park
When asked how the teacher received the deep lacerations, he said she might have sliced her finger as he pulled it away. The investigator described the teachers injuries as deep puncture wounds that are not consistent with a clean slice as (Gonzalez) described, according to the affidavit.
Leander is about 27 miles northwest of Austin.
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SAN ANTONIO Police are searching for a gunman who shot a man Tuesday afternoon at an apartment complex on the Northwest Side.
Police responded at about 2:15 p.m. in the 2000 block of Bandera Road at The Park at Bandera complex, where two men in their 30s or 40s got into an argument.
'I would say sometimes the cave simply barfs all the bats inside, and it's overwhelming to the senses.'
Scientists Nickolay Hristov and Louise Allen use high-speed video to study the movements of the thousands of bats emerging from caves in Texas in the summer months.
Children in Texas public schools need better access to special education.
In 2004, the state began limiting access to special education services to children with autism, dyslexia, mental illnesses, speech impediments, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and many other medical conditions.
The move has reportedly saved the state billions of dollars, but at what cost? Limiting access to special education in Texas public schools is a shortsighted cost-saving measure that could prove financially devastating in the long run.
Children whose education needs are not met are less likely to graduate from high school or find gainful employment as adults. They are also apt to have to rely on government-funded services later in life.
Houston Chronicle reporter Brian M. Rosenthals expose of the Texas Education Agencys policies that encourage the states more than 1,200 school districts to limit the number of special education students on their campuses to 8.5 percent has met with swift action from the U.S. Department of Education.
The agency has ordered TEA to eliminate the 8.5 percent benchmark on special education enrollment unless it can prove that it has not kept children with disabilities from receiving services they need.
That will not be easy.
Rosenthals most recent reporting indicates many school districts, such as the Laredo Independent School District, purged hundreds of children from special education programs after the TEA came down on them for their level of enrollment.
There has also been much public outcry in Texas from elected state officials, parents and advocates who were unaware TEA officials had arbitrarily decided in 2004 to set a cap on the number of special education students a school district could have enrolled.
There was no formula used to set the cap at 8.5 percent. What is even more appalling is the extreme measures some school districts used to keep the special education enrollment down to comply with TEA directive.
Many school districts made families go through extraordinary measures to have their children evaluated for special education services. Some districts even went as far as making the special education application forms available only at their administration offices away from the neighborhood campuses.
Some parents gave up the process in frustration and enrolled their children in private schools. Others resorted to home-schooling after encountering repeated roadblocks.
How many children have been left behind due to this bad public policy decision that few were aware existed?
The year TEA implemented the cap, about 12 percent of public school students were receiving some form of special education. Eleven years later, that number has miraculously plummeted to the magical 8.5 percent figure state education officials pulled out of thin air.
TEA officials claim the higher number can be attributed to over-identification of students needing special education services. They also told Rosenthal new teaching techniques have lowered the number of children with learning disabilities.
If that is indeed so, school districts in the rest of the country that have special education populations in the double digits need to hear about it.
Regrettably, its beginning to look more and more like none of the states special education numbers is based on reality.
1 Asylum petitions: At least 35 Turkish diplomats and family members have applied for asylum in Germany since the failed military coup in Turkey, officials said Monday. The Turkish government has launched a crackdown on people suspected of sympathizing with the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who it accuses of instigating the coup attempt in July. Gulen has denied involvement. Germany has a large Turkish minority, numbering more than 3 million.
2 Plane crash: A small plane heading toward Libyas coast to monitor refugee trafficking routes for the French government crashed soon after takeoff from Maltas airport at 7:20 a.m. Monday, killing all five French crew members, authorities said. Video of the twin-prop Fairchild Metroliner slamming into the ground in a huge fireball was captured by a dashboard camera. French officials said the victims were three defense ministry officials and two private contractors. Maltas government said the flight was part of a French customs operation tracing routes of illicit trafficking, both of humans and drugs, leaving Libyas lawless coasts.
Pioneering germ trap technology moves forward with first commercial application (Nanowerk News) Facemasks incorporating an innovative new technology which emerged from research conducted by The University of Manchesters School of Chemistry will be able to comprehensively trap and kill over 99 percent of all flu viruses.
Given the ability to treat inexpensive materials, the antiviral coating technology developed by the University alongside Virustatic has numerous product applications. The first product being developed for Sterling Materials is an antiviral facemask, which will provide the only protection to an influenza pandemic and will be vital in saving millions of lives.
During the 1918 pandemic, approximately 20% to 40% of the worldwide population became ill and it has been estimated that 50 million people died globally. Although the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009 is described as relatively benign, it was a novel virus that nonetheless infected more than 60 million people, with over a quarter of a million hospitalisations and 12,000 deaths recorded in the US alone.
Calling pandemic influenza one of the most severe natural challenges likely to affect the UK, Government guidance further states pandemic influenza emerges as a result of a new flu virus which is markedly different from recently circulating strains. Few - if any - people will have any immunity to this new virus thus allowing it to spread easily and to cause more serious illness.
The conditions that allow a new virus to develop and spread continue to exist, and some features of modern society, such as air travel, could accelerate the rate of spread. Experts therefore agree that there is a high probability of a pandemic occurring, although the timing and impact are impossible to predict.
The Manchester research team, led by Professor Sabine Flitsch, identified a coating to mimic the surface of the cells in the human oesophagus and nasal passages. The method can capture over 99% of all flu viruses, including new strains of pandemic flu that come into contact with it. Virustatic and the University are leading the prototype testing for the impregnated fabric for Sterling Materials.
Paul Hope, Virustatics Technical Director and Inventor, is confident that the combination of research excellence and business acumen will move the technology into mainstream use.
Great ideas have a habit of becoming bad or even non-existent products. The ability to commercialise research is very difficult and the expense often outweighs benefits. Put simply, many commercial products using research breakthroughs are just too expensive to sell.
NASCAR championship contenders have plenty of ARCA Menards Series experience The Championship 4 have been set for the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the contenders in each series all have plenty of experience and in most cases success within the ARCA Menards Series platform.
Two young brothers from Ardfinnan have been named Super Siblings of the Year.
Eoin (12) and Joe (nine) Keane took the title in a national search for outstanding brothers and sisters as part of the Boots Maternity and Infant Awards.
The boys were nominated by their mum Anne Marie who told the judges how her two older boys are fantastic with their twin toddler brothers, Cillian and Conor.
Anne Marie said: In 2014 I found out I was pregnant. I already had two boys, Eoin who is now 12 and Joe who is now 9. At about 9/10 weeks my husband (John) was bursting to tell the boys our news. We told them but told them they couldn't tell anyone else until after 12 weeks. I thought they'd never contain the news but they did!
I went for my twelve-week scan where found out I was carrying twins. I came home and told the boys and they were so excited. They finally got to break the double news when they got to school on Monday morning.
I had a fairly tough pregnancy and all the way through but the boys were fantastic. They helped with all the housework all the time. I ended up going into early labour and the twins, Cillian and Conor were born at 34 weeks.
We then found out that both the boys were born with Down Syndrome. It took myself and my husband a bit of time to get our heads around this but we knew we'd be fine. My husband explained to Eoin and Joe that the boys would have some special needs and would need extra help, to which Eoins reply was, But, dad, theyre our brothers why wouldn't we help them!
Joe and Eoin with their brothers Cillian and Conor and their parents Anne Marie and John Keane.
They took it all in their stride. The twins spent three weeks in hospital before we got to bring them home. We've been really busy with all the boys over the past 22 months. Eoin and Joe are fantastic with the twins. They love helping out with physio or speech and language. They're always really interested in hearing how they got on at appointments and wanting to know what they have to do for their next appointment.
My mum would sometimes babysit if we have something on and she'll always tell us that she had nothing to do as Eoin and Joe will feed the boys, dress them, entertain them, bring them for their naps and anything else that's needed except changing nappies!
To be honest, my husband works long hours and if it weren't for the two boys Id never manage. They're fantastic little men and I'm very proud of them!
Real estate franchisor Re/Max Holdings Inc. is getting into the mortgage brokering business. It is launching Motto Mortgage, which will also be a franchise operation.
The company noted the decline in the market share of originations done by mortgage brokers since 2006 when the subprime market started to implode. But that is why Re/Max said it was entering the business.
"We obsess about ways to improve the real estate experience for the consumer. Mortgage brokers bring choice and service to the consumer and Motto Mortgage will work to expand the market share of mortgage brokers and bring better mortgage choice and service to consumers as a result," Re/Max CEO and Chairman Dave Liniger said
Ward Morrison is the president of Motto Mortgage. He has been with Re/Max for 11 years, most recently as vice president, region operations and business opportunities.
"Our priorities will be educating, training and supporting our franchisees so that they can provide exemplary customer service to their clients. It's the one-stop shop homebuyers want and the experience they will soon come to expect," Morrison said.
Motto Franchising is based in Denver, and will now begin actively selling franchises in certain markets.
Representative Mel Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina and U.S. President Barack Obama's nominee as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), speaks during a Senate Banking Committee nominations hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, June 27, 2013. Watt faced lawmakers skeptical of his knowledge of housing finance issues today at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on his nomination to oversee mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Mel Watt Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
BOSTON Fannie Mae is planning to provide relief to lenders from potential buybacks for loans in which the borrower's income, assets and employment information have been validated through automated underwriting.
The government-sponsored enterprise will also provide relief on appraisals if the underlying property receives a qualifying score when reviewed by Collateral Underwriter, its program designed to evaluate the risk posed by an appraisal. Loans that receive a score of 2.5 or lower on the five-point scale will be eligible for relief.
The changes to Fannie's representation and warranty measures are being made to provide greater assurances to lenders that the GSE will not seek to buyback the loan if it defaults.
"You can have much greater confidence that when you sell us a loanit won't boomerang back," said Tim Mayopoulos, Fannie Mae's president and chief executive officer, at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention on Monday.
Additionally, Fannie is expanding access to a waiver from a property inspection requirement for refinance transactions that are automatically underwritten.
Some rep and warranty relief takes effect immediately, including on income verification. Asset and employment verification for certain Collateral Underwriter scores is scheduled to start on Dec. 10, as is expanded property inspection waiver eligibility.
Freddie Mac is also gearing up to offer rep and warranty relief in exchange for use of its Loan Advisor Suite tools. The GSE said its plans include expanding collateral rep and warrant relief currently being tested to sometime in early 2017.
Around that time, Freddie also plans to introduce a no-cost appraisal alternative, and provide automated assessments of borrowers who lack credit scores.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, meanwhile, is continuing to push lenders to cut back on the extent they add overlays that tighten the credit box on loans they sell.
The market is "not yet supporting access to credit for the full spectrum of creditworthy borrowers," said FHFA Director Mel Watt.
Lenders are still gun-shy about lending too broadly due to the pain they suffered in the wake of the financial crisis due to repurchases by the GSEs, despite the fact that loan performance and operational quality have improved, and buybacks are much rarer.
Reps and warrants remain a liability concern for lenders, but the number of loan buybacks has dropped so significantly it's become much less of one, said Tom Millon, president and CEO of the Capital Markets Cooperative, a subsidiary of Computershare.
"There's very little in the way of repurchases now," he said.
Despite this, lenders remain concerned that the problem could recur if the market comes under stress again.
"There's still a big trust issue with the GSEs about what happens in the next crisis," said Andrew Bon Salle, an executive vice president at Fannie Mae.
Some lenders said they were interested in the rep and warrant relief but wanted time to digest it before using it.
"It may change the way we review loans," said David Sheeler, an executive vice president of Freedom Mortgage's correspondent and servicing finance unit, but added that he wanted to study it further before saying for sure.
Rep and warrant relief is limited to the particular data point validated by the tool as opposed to the loan as a whole, and there are some "life of loan" reps and warrants that remain in place even after the relief is applied.
As the Collateral Underwriter score cut-off suggests, there will also be some loans that don't qualify for the immediate rep and warrant relief the GSEs will be offering. Vanilla mortgages are the ones most likely to be eligible.
"It could help cookie-cutter loans," said Lisa Binkley, a senior vice president at Platinum Data Solutions.
That could give lenders more time and confidence to possibly go after the agency loans further down the credit spectrum that Watt would like to see them make.
"That frees up lenders to pursue those other alternatives," said Les Parker, a senior vice president at LoanLogics.
NATO Allies and partners marked the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution on Monday (24 October 2016) with a special exhibition at NATO Headquarters. The exhibition was opened by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, his father, Thorvald Stoltenberg, who helped Hungarian refugees fleeing the invading Soviet Army in 1956, as well as Hungarian Ambassador to NATO, Peter Sztaray, and Hungarian politician and professor, Dr. Janos Horvath.
The Secretary General stressed that todays exhibition is an opportunity to honour the sacrifices of the Hungarian people for freedom and liberty. He stressed that this important chapter of Hungarian history shows that freedom is stronger than oppression and democracy is stronger than dictatorship.
The exhibition at NATO Headquarters, entitled Where Heroes Are Not Forgotten, There Will Always Be New Ones, features photographs from the time of the Revolution.
(As delivered)
Good morning.
It has been just over one hundred days since NATOs landmark Summit in Warsaw in July.
And in July at the Summit, the Heads of State and Government of NATO took a series of decisions to boost our deterrence and defence and to project stability in our neighbourhood.
Over the next two days, NATO Defence Ministers will take stock of our progress and map out the road ahead.
From early 2017, NATO will have four multinational battalions in the eastern part of the Alliance.
This is credible deterrence.
Not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent conflict.
Concrete proof that NATO can and will deploy thousands of forces to support our Allies. And a clear demonstration of our transatlantic bond.
Tomorrow at our meeting, the framework nations, the nations which are responsible for leading the four different battalions, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States will set out their plans for the battalions they will lead.
And other Allies will confirm their contributions. And tomorrow I will be able to tell you more about the contributions from different NATO Allies to the four battalion.
We will also take forward plans to strengthen NATOs presence in the Black Sea region.
We will assess the infrastructure we need in Allied countries to enable rapid movement of our forces in Europe.
And we will assess the growing role of cyber defence in our operations.
Our second session will be devoted to Projecting Stability in our wider neighbourhood.
Because when our neighbours are more stable, we are more secure.
As part of this effort, NATO is stepping up in the fight against ISIL.
We have already trained hundreds of Iraqi officers in Jordan in areas including military medicine and defusing improvised explosive devices.
And we will expand our support into Iraq itself in the coming months.
All Allies are members of the Global Coalition fighting ISIL.
The Coalitions success has been enabled by the ability to work together, developed through decades of NATO missions and NATO exercises.
And NATO itself is now offering direct support with our AWACS surveillance aircraft.
Providing surveillance to improve the Coalitions air picture.
And making the skies safer.
And I can announce that the first NATO AWACS flight in support of the Coalition fighting ISIL took place last week, on the 20th October.
We are committed to sustaining the Coalition's momentum.
So that ISIL can be defeated once and for all.
Tomorrow, we will also consider the future of our deployment in the Aegean Sea.
And take decisions on a NATO role in the Central Mediterranean, which could support the EUs Operation Sophia.
Illustrating how we are strengthening our cooperation with the European Union.
On Thursday, we will meet with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini to discuss how to deepen NATO-EU cooperation.
The relationship between NATO and the European Union has never been closer.
But we want to do even more.
Including on hybrid and cyber defence, maritime security, and exercises.
We have a full agenda ahead of us.
And in an unpredictable world, NATO is adapting for the future with determination and with purpose.
And with that, Im ready to take your questions.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much. I would just ask you first to identify yourselves before you ask your question. Well start over here with Reuters please.
Q: Thank you Secretary General. Robin Emmett, Reuters. NATO has been watching the Russian battle groups move through the English Channel over the last few days, can you give us any update on what youve learned, how many fighter bombers on board or any idea of whether your initial idea of the battle groups trajectory is correct? Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG (NATO Secretary General): So Russia has the right to operate battle groups, naval ships like this in international waters and we have seen this battle group being deployed before also to the Mediterranean. So that is something which has happened before and we are monitoring the deployment and movement of this battle group in a normal way in a measured and responsible way as we always do. What is different this time is that the battle group may be used to increase Russias ability to take part in combat operations over Syria and to conduct even more airstrikes against Aleppo and this raises serious questions and concerns over Russias commitments to working to a political solution to the conflict in Syria and more airstrikes by Russian planes will exacerbate the humanitarian suffering in Aleppo and therefore we call on Russia to contribute to a political solution to implement a ceasefire and to stop the bombing of Aleppo. So, the concern is that the Kuznetsov carrier group can be used as a platform for increased airstrikes against civilians in Aleppo.
MODERATOR: Go to the second row here please.
Q: (inaudible). So, in the light of what you just said how would you comment on the fact NATO allies supplying the Russian ships?
JENS STOLTENBERG: Well it is for each nation to decide whether these ships can get supplies and fuelling and be fuelled in different harbours along the route towards the Eastern Mediterranean. But at the same time we are concerned and I have expressed that very clearly about potential use of this battle group to increase Russias ability and to be a platform for airstrikes against Syria and this is something I have conveyed very clearly before and I repeat those concerns today and I believe that all NATO allies are aware that this battle group can be used to conduct airstrikes against Aleppo and Syria.
MODERATOR: Well go to NPR please.
Q: Thank you Mr. Secretary General, Teri Schultz with NPR. Im interested in finding out what you know and how much youve been asking about the number of Turkish diplomats and military officers who are no longer here in headquarters, whether youve followed up on this issue with Turkey, if youre concerned about it. Just today Human Rights Watch has put out a new report saying that people being held in detention there are being tortured and if you could also say something about your new Intelligence Chief, in an unrelated matter. Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: First on the Intelligence Chief,, or Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence - NATO has been working for a long time on how we can further strengthen our work on intelligence, how we can do even more when it comes to sharing intelligence and one of the important tasks for NATO is to share intelligence; is to enhance the way we do intelligence cooperation within the Alliance. And therefore we, therefore we decided to establish a new division to coordinate and to strengthen our intelligence work. This division is now being established and I just a couple of days I appointed a new Assistant Secretary General to be responsible for this new division and all of this is about strengthening the coordination and the work inside the Alliance on intelligence and intelligence sharing and Im looking forward to work with the new Assistant Secretary General from Germany on strengthening our focus and the way we work on intelligence in the Alliance. Then on Turkey, I visited Turkey in August, I will visit Turkey again in November and I met with President Erdogan, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and many other political leaders in Turkey when I when I visited Turkey in August. And of course Turkey has the right to prosecute the perpetrators; those behind the failed coup attempt in July. The important thing is that this is done in accordance with the rule of law and this is of course something I have discussed with my interlocutors in Ankara several times and I also welcome the cooperation between Turkey and the Council of Europe because I know that the Council of Europe is very focused on how they can work with Turkey making sure that prosecution of those responsible for the failed coup is done in a way which is in full accordance with the rule of law. Then we have seen a number of changeovers of Turkish military personnel at NATO, at different NATO headquarters. Im certain that Turkey will continue to be able to provide Officers to NATO headquarters and we are in close dialogue with Turkey on this and thats also one of the issues I expect to discuss with my Turkish interlocutors when I travel to Turkey later on this fall.
MODERATOR: Thank you, well go to Al Arabiya in the fourth row in the aisle please.
Q: Noureddine Fridhi from Al Arabiya News Channel. Mr. Secretary General you received the Iraqi Foreign Minister last week. I imagine you discussed the war against DAESH. I would like to know what is specifically NATO is providing to Iraq and to allies, its contribution in the war against DAESH. And I dont know if youre, what is the assessment of your experts if the DAESH fighters in Mosul are now fleeing Mosul to Syria or just the opposite side because some reports are suggesting that they are being joined by DAESH fighters from Syria to Iraq. Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: NATO provides support to Iraq and the global coalition fighting ISIL in Iraq in many different ways. All NATO allies are part of the coalition and of course it is a great advantage for the coalition - the inter-operability, the ability to work together - forces from many different nations that has been developed through NATO exercises, through NATO standardization programs and through NATO operations where NATO allies but also NATO partners have participated over many, many years and this interoperability is something which is very useful now for the counter ISIL coalition in their fight against ISIL both in Syria and Iraq. So, NATO has provided a platform for many of the activities, the way the coalition is now working in Iraq and Syria. Then on top of that NATO provides direct support to the coalition. We have started to provide support with our surveillance planes, our AWACS planes and the first flight took place or happened last week on the 20th of October and we will continue to provide AWACS support for the coalition. We have trained the Iraqi officers in Jordan for a time but we are now moving into also training Iraqi officers inside Iraq and we will start that training in the near future so we can do even more to help the Iraqi forces. And the whole idea is that NATO of course has to be ready to deploy forces in big combat operations as weve done in Bosnia, in the Balkans and in Afghanistan before. But we are more and more focused in NATO on how we can project stability without deploying large numbers of combat troops and the best way to do that is to train local forces, to build local capacity and thats exactly what we are contributing to, by training Iraqi forces because we believe that in the long run its a much more viable and sustainable solution to enable local forces to fight terrorism themselves, to stabilize their own country instead of NATO doing the combat operations fighting their wars and therefore we will train and we will step up our efforts to help the Iraqi forces. When it comes to the operational situation in Mosul, thats something Ive discussed with both the Iraqi Foreign Minister; I discussed it with the Presidential envoy Brett McGurk when he visited NATO last week and I discussed it also recently with Prime Minister al-Abadi but I will not comment on the operational situation, the current operational situation in Mosul because I leave that to those directly responsible for the operations in Mosul.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Well go to the front row in the far left please.
Q: Nash Dziennik, Poland. Mr. Secretary General could you comment on proposed substantial increase of Russian military and defense expenditures; also general economic situation of Russia is declining. Is it the issue that NATO and the West are maybe concerned about?
JENS STOLTENBERG: We have seen a significant military buildup in Russia over many years and defense spending has tripled since the year 2000 in real terms. And this has enabled Russia to invest in new capabilities, in new weapon systems, to do more exercises and to significantly increase their military capability. Combined with the fact that Russia has also been willing to not only invest in their Armed Forces but also to use their Armed Forces against neighbours has we have seen in Crimea, Ukraine - this is the reason why NATO is responding and this is part of a pattern which has triggered a response from NATO. And thats exactly why NATO has implemented the strongest or the biggest reinforcement of collected offense since the end of the Cold War. We are in the process of deploying forces in the Eastern part of the Alliance, the four battalions. We have established eight new small headquarters in the Eastern part of the Alliance and we have increased our ability to reinforce if needed with the new High Readiness Joint Task Force and by tripling the size of the NATO response force. We are also now in the process where we see a shift in defense spending within NATO because after many years of decline in defense spending, especially among European NATO allies, 2015 was the first year where we saw an increase in defense spending across European NATO allies; and 2016 we expect to see an even further increase in defense spending. So after many years of decline we now have seen the first increases in defense spending among European NATO allies. I welcome this and this shows that NATO is able to respond, NATO is able to adapt to a more assertive Russia and the increased military presence of Russia close to our borders But, but let me underline what NATO does is proportionate, it is defensive and it is fully in line with our international commitments and we are responding in a measured and responsible way because we dont want a new cold war, we dont want a new arms race and we continue to strive for a more constructive and cooperative relationship with Russia. So we keep the channels for political dialogue open with Russia because we strongly believe that it is in the interest of both Russia and NATO to avoid a further increase in tensions but to try to find ways to reduce tensions and to avoid a new arms race.
MODERATOR: Well go to Europa Presse.
Q: Thank you. Ana Pisonero from the Spanish News Agency Europa Presse. Quick first question on the AWACS, how many are deployed, and will they have any kind of support role in the operation of, to liberate Mosul? And my second quick question Secretary General you just mentioned that allies would be taking a decision on support to Sophia. Will NATO take on board the three tasks that Sophia is currently doing meaning intel, well getting intel where the traffickers are operating or how they do and also in training the Libyan Coast Guards. And finally, as well to enforce the arms embargo in Libya, will NATO take on board the three roles? And just if you can really tell us where are we on the new NATO operation in the Mediterranean, is that on? We know already all the tasks, thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: First on the AWACS, there will be several flights. We started last week and we will progressively increase the number of flights. So we will provide significant support with AWACS to the coalition with several flights providing support. This support is important because it helps the coalition to get a better picture, air picture and also provides surveillance and information for the coalition air forces. The importance of that is obvious because we see all the difficulties; we see the complex and complicated situation both over Syria and over Iraq. I cannot comment on the exact operational details but I can say that the AWACS planes will not be part of combat operations but they will provide information, surveillance and air picture for the coalition forces which is important for them and which increases air safety for the coalition forces. Then on Operation Sophia and Sea Guardian, I expect Defense Ministers to make decisions - the final decisions on the establishment of the new NATO security mission in the Mediterranean, the Sea Guardian, on the meeting which starts tomorrow. And then also to make decisions on providing support for Operation Sophia, and after those decisions have been taken tomorrow and the day after tomorrow I can give you more details. But of course we are looking into how we can help Operation Sophia conducting the tasks they are conducting especially in areas of sharing information and logistics helping them to conduct and to do what they do in Operation Sophia. Hopefully Ill be able to provide you more details after the meetings which start tomorrow. And I think that was all.
MODERATOR: Well go the third row in the far left please.
Q: Daniel Brossler, Suddeutsche Zeitung. Id like to follow up on Teris question on the Intelligence Chief. Why was it necessary to create a new division here? Is it due to the new security environment or is it just that intelligence sharing within NATO headquarters was not sufficient so far? Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: The reason is that NATO should always be able to adapt and we see a more complex security environment, we see a more dangerous security environment, we see different kinds of threats, we see a more assertive Russia to the East, we see the violence to the South with ISIL, Iraq, Syria on NATO borders. So we have Ukraine bordering NATO, we have we have Georgia bordering NATO and then of course we have Syria and Iraq bordering NATO; and then we have the situation in the Mediterranean and North Africa. All of this is close to NATO, all of this poses different kinds of challenges for NATO and then linked to the terrorist threats and the threats related to foreign fighters and also returning foreign fighters there is a need for more sharing of intelligence and better procedures for how to coordinate intelligence work inside NATO and across NATO allies. And we also decided at our Summit in Wales in 2014 to do more intelligence sharing especially related to foreign fighters and to contribute to the fight against terrorism. So, based on all this we came to the conclusion that the best way to make sure that we improve our intelligence work is to establish a division where the different strands of intelligence: the civilian intelligence inside NATO, the military intelligence inside NATO come together and then this new division with a new Assistant Secretary General would be an added tool to strengthen coordination sharing of intelligence among NATO allies.
MODERATOR: Go the Wall Street Journal please in the middle of the room.
Q: Julian Barns, Wall Street Journal. In the most recent American Presidential debate Donald Trump said NATO allies signalling out Germany are not paying enough for U.S., the U.S. defense contribution. He also noted that NATO countries have increased defense spending and suggested that that was a result of his critique. So, should NATO countries pay the U.S. for its defense contribution to Europe and are Mr. Trumps criticisms on target and does he deserve credit for the turn-around in defense spending?
JENS STOLTENBERG: Im not going to be part of the U.S. election campaign. It is for the people, the voters of the United States to decide whos going to become the next President of the United States. But what I can do and as Ive done before is to clarify what matters for NATO. And it has been a very clear message from NATO over many years that European - especially European NATO allies - should increase defense spending and I strongly welcomed that after our decision in 2014 we have seen a shift that after years of decline in defense spending theres now an increase in defense spending among European NATO allies. But this is not something that was caused by the U.S. election campaign because we made a decision in 2014; it has been on top of my agenda in all my meetings with European leaders and we saw the first increase in defense spending already in 2015 and we see further increase in 2016 and thats not because of the election campaign in the United States but it is because 28 Heads of State and Government in NATO made a decision in 2014 and now we are implementing that decision. Second, I would like to underline that NATOs security guarantees are not conditioned; they are absolute, they are unconditional. So NATO is there to defend and protect all allies against any threat and that is essential for stability in Europe. We do not say that if you dont pay we dont protect you; we protect all allies against any threat and that is essential to keep stability and to prevent conflict. The NATO security guarantees are important for Europe but they are also important for United States. Strong NATO is good for Europe and good for United States. We have to remember that the only time we have invoked Article 5 - our collective security clause - was after an attack on the United States, 9/11. Then NATO provided AWACS surveillance planes for the United States and NATO has been responsible for our biggest military operation ever in Afghanistan where more than a thousand soldiers from non-U.S. NATO allies and partner countries have paid the highest price - have lost their lives in a military operation defending the United States. So Im saying this just to underline that collective defense is important for Europe but its also important for the United States. NATO has played a key role, has been on the front line in the fight against terrorism for many, many years with our operation in Afghanistan, training Iraqi officers, supporting Tunisia and Jordan and in many other ways. So, as Ive stated many times the adaptation of NATO where we focus more on intelligence we step up our efforts to fight terrorism where we increase defense spending is not related to the U.S. election campaign; its the implementation of decisions made by Heads of State and Government in NATO.
MODERATOR: Thank you, were going to go to Norwegian media in row three.
Q: Yes, Im Alf Johnsen, VG Newspaper. Mr. Secretary General ten days ago you expressed concern about that the deployment of the Iskander Missiles in the outskirts of NATO. Is this an enhanced threat to European security and would there be a forceful or will there be any NATO response to the deployment in the short term?
JENS STOLTENBERG: The deployment of the Iskander Missiles to Kaliningrad is yet another example of a Russian military buildup close to NATO borders. Also with dual capable capabilities like the Iskanders because they can carry conventional warheads but they can also carry nuclear warheads. And of course we are concerned about the Russian military buildup close to NATO borders and we see it in the East but we also see it in the South in the Eastern Mediterranean and in Syria close to Turkey, NATO ally. We are responding in a measured and responsible way and thats the reason why we have over a long time now gradually increased our collective defense. With the increased deployment of forces in the Eastern part of the Alliance, with the establishment of the new High Readiness Force - the VJTF - able to deploy rapidly if needed to reinforce and with the tripling of the size of the NATO response force to 40,000. So we are responding but we are responding in a measured and responsible way and what we do is defensive. So its always this importance of responding but not over-reacting and thats also what were doing when it comes to the deployment of Iskander which is only one element of a broader picture.
MODERATOR: Thank you well go to European Pravda please.
Q: Sergiy Sydorenko, Ukraine. More recently you met Ukrainian President Poroshenko and he stated after that visit and after that meeting with you that he expects NATO to help Ukraine push on Russia to fulfil Minsk obligations. Do you see how can NATO push on Russia? Do you see some ways probably with cooperation with Europe with some other measures and to probably you have some new data about Russian presence in Donbass. Thank you very much.
JENS STOLTENBERG: I very much appreciate the frequent meetings I Ive had with President Poroshenko. We met in September in the U.N. and then we met last week here at NATO headquarters and that reflects the very close partnership between Ukraine and NATO. I assured him that NATO will provide strong political support and strong practical support for Ukraine. We provide practical support through our different programs, trust funds and I also encourage all NATO allies to provide support on a bilateral level, training of Ukrainian forces. NATO provides other kinds of support through our trust funds. And we will step up our support. We just made decisions at the Warsaw Summit to establish a comprehensive package for Ukraine. Then we support Ukraine by calling on Russia to make sure that the Minsk Agreements are fully implemented, and Russia has a great responsibility because Russia continues to support the separatists in Donbass, they continue to be present and therefore they have a special responsibility to make sure that Minsk Agreements are fully implemented which means full respect for the ceasefire, withdrawal of their weapons and then access for the international monitors so they can monitor - without being threatened - the implementation of the ceasefire. NATO also strongly supports the initiative by Germany and France - two NATO allies - working on how to implement the Minsk Agreements and also the meeting in the Normandy format and the agreement to try to establish a roadmap, how to step by step implement the Minsk Agreements. So I can assure you that we will continue to call on Russia to seek a peaceful negotiated solution based on the Minsk Agreements and we will continue to support Ukraine and we will continue to support all efforts to implement the Minsk Agreements.
MODERATOR: Well go the front on the left please.
Q: Thank you. Slovakia Daily Prada. My question regarding propaganda and hybrid warfare. NATO has StratCom, E.U. has own task force, now Czechs are also establishing an anti-propaganda centre. Would you like to see some more cooperation among various actors we have? And the second one Im following up on a question about Mr. Trump. Many observers are saying that Russia would be happy having Mr. Trump as a U.S. President. Do you agree with this assessment? Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: First on the propaganda. We see that Russia is providing a lot of, is supporting different groups trying to influence domestic debate in different countries in Europe and we see a lot of propaganda. But NATO will not counter propaganda with propaganda. Our message is that in the long run the truth will prevail so the best answer to propaganda is not more propaganda but the best answer to propaganda is facts, the truth and open democratic debate. And therefore we will continue of course to support the provision of facts of the truth because we are certain that in the long run thats the best way to counter propaganda. We do that by our own efforts in NATO but we work also together with the European Union on the staff level to see how we can improve routines, exchange of information so we can help each other with getting the facts straight. I also welcome very much efforts by different NATO allies on this issue. And the Czech Republic and other countries have done a lot and I welcome that. I will also underline that of course the main responsibility for taking part in the different debate and discussions in different NATO allies lies in the different NATO allies. We cannot do all this from Brussels. What we can do in Brussels is to provide facts, is to help, is to coordinate but the discussions, the countering of the propaganda has to take place in the ifferent member States.
MODERATOR: Im afraid thats all we have time for. I apologize if I didnt get to you there were far more questions than we were able to get to this time but there will be several more
JENS STOLTENBERG: I forgot one.
MODERATOR: Im sorry.
JENS STOLTENBERG: Yes, as I said Im not going to be part of the U.S. election campaign. I just very clearly stated what matters for NATO and that is that the NATO security guarantees are absolute, they are unconditional. We do not say that if you dont pay we dont protect you, we protect all NATO allies and at the same time I welcome that more and more European NATO allies actually are increasing defense spending and thats a result of decisions taken by NATO back in 2014 and I welcome that these decisions are now being implemented.
MODERATOR: Thanks. Im afraid that is all we have time for. There will be several more opportunities over the coming two days. Thank you.
JENS STOLTENBERG: Thank you.
(NaturalNews) The indigenous peoples of the Americas domesticated a variety of superfoods that took on important roles in their culture. Two of these are starting to gain worldwide recognition today as foods packed with protein and other essential nutrients: quinoa and amaranth. Both were banned by Spaniards who were scornful of their use in native religious ceremonies.Both quinoa and amaranth are especially high-protein grains, containing 8 to 9 grams per 1-cup serving. Surprisingly, the protein they provide is actually complete -- meaning that it has all the essential amino acids in the ratios needed by the human body -- a trait that is very rare in plant foods.Although quinoa and amaranth can be used like grains in cooking, they are not members of the grass family and are completely safe for people with gluten or corn allergies. To top it off, both also produce edible leaves.Only now are Westerners really starting to appreciate the potential of these crops, particularly amaranth. While quinoa is hard to grow outside of its native mountain environment, amaranth grows so easily that it is actually regarded as a weed in some areas.
(NaturalNews) The U.S. military is subject to both domestic and international environmental laws, but according to a new report, the Navy has routinely violated them in an area of pristine waters in the Indian Ocean near a base owned by the British government.According to Britain'snewspaper, the U.S. military has dumped hundreds of tons of human waste and sewage into protected coral lagoon areas surrounding the Diego Garcia military base over a span of about 30 years.The base, located on the Chagos Islands, is one of the most remote in the world, as well as one of the most controversial; British troops forcibly removed scores of islanders from there in the early 1970s, during the peak of the Cold War. The base has been used by the U.S. military for a number of strategic air missions. Also, nuclear-armed submarines have used the base for staging.As reported byThe paper said that, according to scientific experts, raised levels of nutrients caused by the waste , which have led to increased nitrogen and phosphate levels four times the norm, could be damaging the coral.Critics of the British base who are fighting for the islanders' return have accused London and Washington of employing double standards, claiming the unspoiled character of the archipelago is the reason why they cannot be allowed back, while at the same time spoiling the region with human waste "While the people who were born and bred on Chagos are not allowed to return to their island, the military base of Diego Garcia houses about 5,000 US servicemen and women and ancillary workers," Philippa Gregory, author and patron of the UK Chagos Support Association, told the paper. "It makes no sense to suggest that Chagossians cannot return because of pressure on the environment."The tiny island atoll is one of the most important of U.S. military strategic assets. It has been used as a staging base for a number of recent U.S. military actions, as well as a base of support for Air Force missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was also used for a pair of CIA-sponsored "extraordinary rendition" flights that carried terrorist suspects in 2002.Information about the waste-dumping came to light last year, the paper said, but has only recently become public after the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office filed written testimony with Parliament."In April last year it came to our attention that the US vessels moored in the lagoon had been discharging waste water into the lagoon since the establishment of the naval support station there in the early 1980s," wrote foreign office minister Mark Simmonds. "This waste water is treated sewage, and water left over from routine processes like cleaning and cooking."Simmonds further conceded that the waste was being dumped into the lagoon in violation of British "policy," and that the dumping could be harming the local ecosystems and coral, the latter of which is protected under the intergovernmental Ramsar Convention on wetlands.Officials say they don't know how much waste has been dumped over the years, but they estimate that a large naval vessel can create several tons of waste and sewage per day. Extrapolating that amount over three decades means the total tonnage is likely massive."Our policy has consistently been that any form of discharge of these substances into the lagoon is prohibited because of clear scientific advice that it would be damaging to coral in the long term. That advice has not changed, and nor has our policy," said Simmonds. "UK scientists concluded that, based on available data, there were elevated levels of nutrients in the lagoon which could be damaging to coral."British government officials have said that "stringent environmental legislation" is in place to protect the ecosystems surrounding the archipelago. Reportedly, the base is overseen by a Royal Navy commander called the British Representative, but it was not clear if any formal action had been initiated against the U.S. Navy, the paper reported.
(NaturalNews) Slowly but surely, the authoritarians are taking over countries that used to be democracies and republics, imposing their own set of behavior and rules on people who used to be free and able to make life choices of their own.The United Kingdom is one such place, where socialist healthcare bureaucrats are now seeking to punish smokers and those who are obese by withholding certain levels of care (even though these people will still be required to contribute a portion of their earnings to the very same socialist healthcare system). So much for "universal" care.The UK's reports that smokers and obese patients will be denied surgical procedures and will instead be referred to a health program for six months under cost-saving measures being taken by a health group (more on this later).The National Health Service's Harrogate and Rural District Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has developed this controversial program as part of a plan to shave 8.4 million (about $10.6 million), though senior surgeons are warning it is "wrong."Here's the plan in a nutshell: If you smoke or if you're overweight, you'll have six months to quit tobacco or shed enough weight to be deemed worthy of surgery. CCG officials aren't exactlythat, but that's the gist of their new program.Thenotes further that smokers and patients with a body mass index of 30 or more will be "offered a referral to either a weight management program or stop smoking service for a six-month period of health optimization before being considered for surgery ."In September, NHS England acted to prevent neighboring NHS Vale of York CCG from implementing a similar policy after the Royal College of Surgeons raised medical ethics concerns that the policy would go against clinical recommendations.St. Helens CCG also had to recently drop a proposal to save money by ending all non-urgent surgical referrals for four months. Ian Eardley, the vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons, told the paper he believed such proposals would create outrage among the public."The policies for smokers and overweight patients that Harrogate and Rural District CCG intend to impose ignore the public outcry that surrounded similar plans announced by neighboring Vale of York" last month, he said.In addition, he said such plans contrast with efforts by NHS England to stem such policies.And while he said the Royal College of Surgeons most definitely backs programs that could help obese patients trim down and smokers kick the habit, "making it a condition of receiving that surgery, no matter how sick they are or how much pain they are in, is wrong."In fact, he added, NHS England the central healthcare authority in the country has said such policies of denying surgical procedures to particular groups of people like smokers and the obese is not consistent with the NHS constitution.Eardley implied that trying to save money was a noble goal but not at the expense of certain demographics, as NHS was established as a health care system for all, without condition."We hope NHS England will now step in to prevent Harrogate and any other CCG's from targeting patients in this way," he said.But one official the CCG's chief officer, Amanda Bloor, defended the policy, saying that it was designed in part to force people to make better lifestyle choices. "It is vital that patients are given the skills and knowledge to take accountability for their own wellbeing to ensure we all lead healthier lifestyles," she intoned.For anyone who still believes Obamacare with its top-down, government-regulated and expensive approach won't someday be used to ration and punish Americans for "lifestyle choices," think again. The only way government-run'saves money' is by cutting back on the services it offers or by forcing people to comply with certain new measures.England was never the "land of the free" in the mold of America, but it's people were promised that a national healthcare system would take care of them, no questions asked. Now that promise is being broken.Just like many of the promises Obama and Democrats made in selling the Affordable Care Act.
A global effort to keep people fat and diseased
'Really??? After all we've done?'
(NaturalNews) A treasure trove of emails released by hactivist site DC Leaks reveals that corporate giant Coca-Cola has launched a worldwide campaign to stop the imposition of soda taxes that many believe could help curb consumption of sugary drinks that contribution to obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes Ninjas For Health is reporting viathat hacked internal company emails show that the effort is massive and coordinated, taking aim at public policy initiatives at the local, state, national and international levels.The emails show exchanges between Coca-Cola vice president Michael Goltzman and Capricia Marshall, a long-time Clinton operative who is currently working as a communications consultant for both Coca-Cola and the presidential campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton The group said it was already aware that Coca-Cola and others like the American Beverage Association had spent large amounts of money to lobby against soda tax policies. However, it noted that the newly released emails the hacking of which Ninjas For Health says it had nothing to do with "illuminate the inner-workings of the soda industry's coordinated political strategy." In short, the group says, the emails lay bare the soda industry's united effort against measures aimed at improving public health.The emails lay out a range of actions that the company is taking to oppose soda taxes in American cities including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Richmond, Va., Oakland, Calif., and others. Also, Coca-Cola has mounted campaigns to oppose state efforts in West Virginia, Connecticut, New York and Iowa, as well as a strategy to thwart federal regulation that may include soda taxes.Coca-Cola has also engaged on an international level to oppose the World Health Organization, which supports soda taxation, and efforts in France, the UK, Israel and Bosnia to impose taxes. In all, the emails make it clear that Coca-Cola and the sugary soda beverage industry are planning to commit a sizeable portion of the billions in profits they reap each year to stave off any attempt to cut into those profits. And while that is ordinarily what you'd expect a major corporation to do on behalf of its shareholders, this industry is at least partially responsible for the sad state of health around the world, and in particular in the West.The lobbying strategies are broad: Coordinated messaging, influencing of reporters, facing off against scientific findings, trolling of social media influencers, building astroturf coalitions and heavily lobbying every level of government. Astroturfing, by the way, is the process of masking the sponsor of a message to make it appear as though it has come from, and is supported by, grassroots participants.In one email instance, Ninjas For Health said that Coca-Cola planned to target a reporter, "to build her brain around our strategy."It appears as though, in this increasingly health-conscious world where organic food sales have been skyrocketing for years , the soda industry believes it can convince people that it is trustworthy enough to become authoritative on all levels of public policy-making, but especially when it comes to taxation issues. It wants to be seen as being part of the solution, not as the problem like the tobacco industry.As for Coca-Cola's ties to the Clinton campaign, reported that executives there fumed after candidate Clinton said this spring that she supported Philadelphia's push to impose a soda tax (which passed, by the way)."'Really??? After all we've done?' was one Coca-Cola bigwig's response to Capricia Marshall, a longtime Clinton crony and major campaign fundraiser," the site reported. In all,reported, Coca-Cola has contributed between $5 and $10 million to the Clinton Foundation.According to the leaked emails, after Coke execs complained about Clinton's support for the tax, they were assured via back channels that she actually wasn't supporting it which is typical for Clinton, who says one thing to one audience, and another thing to the next.
'It's given back quality of life for me'
DEA delays Schedule I classification of kratom
(NaturalNews) The DEA's decision to reconsider its plan to classify kratom as a Schedule I drug has caused thousands of people to breathe a collective sigh of relief, after fears that this natural painkiller that has helped so many would no longer be available.Kratom is a leafy herb grown mainly in Thailand that has been used for hundreds of years for its painkilling and stimulating effects. In recent years, it has become popular in western countries, and is now used to treat not only chronic pain, but also, anxiety and PTSD symptoms.Although kratom has few side effects and appears to be non-addictive, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced on August 31 that it planned to classify kratom as a Schedule I drug in the same group as heroin, LSD and meth by the end of September.This caused an outcry among thousands of users and advocates of the herb, among them veterans who use kratom to successfully treat their PTSD symptoms, as well as those struggling with opioid addictions who have found kratom to lessen withdrawal symptoms, making it easier to kick the habit.People like 27-year-old Jordan Dodson from Texas, a multiple transplant recipient who suffers from chronic pain, were also extremely concerned about losing access to a natural treatment that makes pain management possible without the use of dangerous and addictive prescription drugs."I am still elated," Dodson told. "It's given back quality of life for me. For sure."Dodson has survived two kidney transplants the first when she was 2 years old as well as a liver transplant. "I used to be [on] so many medications, it was hard to keep up," she said.Suffering from from back pain, anxiety and depression, Dodson decided to try kratom and found that it eased the pain and her other symptoms.Nonetheless, the DEA was threatening to put kratom use to an end for people like Dodson.From"The Drug Enforcement Agency called it an 'imminent' health threat, saying kratom was addictive and had been implicated in 15 deaths, though 14 of those involved other drugs as well. The agency also noted that kratom resulted in 660 calls to poison control centers between 2010 and 2015. It is already banned in Vermont, Alabama, Indiana, Arkansas and Wisconsin."But when the agency announced its intentions, there was an unprecedented public response:"They were flooded with calls. Protesters descended on both the U.S. and Colorado capitols to rally against the plan. Fifty-one members of Congress from both parties sent letters to the DEA, the Office of Management and Budget and the Justice Department demanding they reconsider."In an uncharacteristic move, the DEA relented and agreed to delay the Schedule I listing for six weeks while allowing public comment on the issue.That's encouraging news for Dodson and thousands of other kratom users. She plans to add her story to the discussion, and feels hopeful about the eventual outcome."We got this," she said. "We still have a long fight, but we got this, I feel like."The DEA's surprising reversal on the kratom issue may signal a positive shift in federal policy regarding natural plant-based therapeutic substances.It's too early to predict whether the agency will eventually ban kratom or not, but their willingness to reconsider and at least listen to public opinion is a step in the right direction.Perhaps soon the feds will do the right thing and remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs. Given the fact that the therapeutic value of cannabis has now been indisputably proven, and that 25 states have now legalized medical marijuana, it's high time the federal government recognizes what the majority of Americans already know thatlike cannabis and kratom are better than Big Pharma poison.
(NaturalNews) There are a lot of options out there besides pharmaceuticals to help cure a cold, treat an infection, or calm the stomach. And one of those options is medicinal herbs , which cover the spectrum of everything from ulcers and insomnia to psoriasis and inflammation. Here are 15 of the best herbal options you might consider trying:. Often used to help clear the sinuses and treat allergies, peppermint is among the most common medicinal herb. It's traditionally infused into a tea to help digestion and menstrual pain, and breathed as vaporized oil to help aid in quelling respiratory ailments.. A pungent bulb from the onion family, garlic does almost everything. It's an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer herb that helps boost the immune system and ward off colds and coughs. It can also treat skin infections, intestinal worms, and sinusitis.. The root of this plant is a powerful immune booster that helps prevent and treat infections. It also shows efficacy as a remedy for shingles, ulcers, influenza, and tonsillitis, as well as a fix for nausea, aches, and pains, and blood poisoning when used homeopathically.. The gel of this desert plant can be rubbed on the skin to treat sunburns and other skin injuries. It can also be consumed to help cleanse and repair the bowel, thus helping to improve digestion.. Similar to echinacea, feverfew has long been used in traditional herbalism to treat migraine headaches and reduce arthritic pain.. Rich in the omega-6 fatty acid Gamma Linolenic Acid, this native American wildflower seed oil helps reduce joint stiffness and is also said to help boost cognitive function and concentration.. These bright orange flowers can be brewed into a tea and used to treat topical inflammation and varicose veins. It is also beneficial in helping to treat fungal infections , as well as gargled to help fix a sore throat.. Rich in flavone glycosides, ginkgo biloba helps improve circulation by naturally thinning the blood, which has the added effect of helping to boost memory.. A flavorful remedy for stomach pain and nausea, this root plant contains a host of pain-relieving compounds that, in many cases, make it a better option than over-the-counter pain pills.. Often used as a homeopathic remedy for pain, this yellow mountain plant is widely known to help the body heal itself more quickly from an injury. It can also be applied directly to bruised or damaged skin that hasn't been broken to relieve inflammation.. A gum resin extracted from the frankincense tree, this North African oil can help relieve anxiety and stress. This anti-aging herb is also known to help heal stomach ulcers, skin wounds, and respiratory conditions.. This flowery plant from Europe is often used in herbal teas, and for good reason: it helps soothe digestion, relieve the aches and pains associated with menstruation, and relax the nervous system.. A tropical tree from Madagascar and Southeast Asia, Ylang Ylang oil also helps soothe the nervous system, as well as helps address sexual problems and impotence in men.. This herb is often used homeopathically to treat abdominal pain and renal colic. It's also beneficial for women going through menopause.. One of the most pleasant smells in existence, lavender is a soothing herb that can help improve sleep quality while minimizing stress. It can also be applied topically to treat wounds, burns, stings, and even as an insect repellant.
If you thought it is safe enough to swim again in the ocean with sharks, then how about meeting a two-headed shark while enjoying your swim? This can be a terrifying thought. Scientists have recently found such one-of-a-kind, but lucky enough, it's a really rare case, and it won't eventually survive into an adult shark.
Researchers from the University of Malaga in Spain have been studying the cardiovascular system development of the near-threatened Atlantic sawtail catshark (Galeus atlanticus) on its embryonic stage when they have figured out an unusual specimen. Inside the translucent egg was a two-headed catshark.
Featured on ScienceAlert, the article mentioned that the event was truly rare, and it was the first time to ever happen in an egg-laying shark. Each head had a mouth, two eyes, a brain, a notochord [like a spinal cord] and five gill openings on each side... [there] were two hearts, two oesophaguses, two stomachs, two livers, the authors mentioned on the Journal of Fish Biology as cited by Vox.
Michelle Heupel, a researcher from the Australian Institue of Marine Science, tried to elaborate more about the discovery made by the team. "Survival after birth may occur, but would likely be very brief. It is unclear whether the two heads will preclude swimming and prey capture, and whether joined internal organs will function adequately," she said.
She also clarified that the tanks where the embryos developed had no agents that can cause the said defect, and based on their leads, the cause was genetics. "We see two-headed sharks occasionally," Florida Museum of Natural History director George Burgess told the National Geographic. "It's an anomaly, caused by a genetic misfire. There are lots of different kinds of genetic misfires, and most don't make it out of the womb."
According to ScienceDirect, the study used 797 embryos for observation, and one of them was the two-headed shark. To preserve it for future studies, the team euthanized the embryo in formaldehyde and alcohol.
While most people get cake on their birthday, Snooty gets into the Guinness World Records as the world's oldest manatee (in captivity). Born on July 21, 1948 as the first manatee born in captivity, Snooty was brought to South Florida Museum as an 11-month-old calf in 1949. Now 68 years old, he currently lives at the Parker Manatee Aquarium at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton.
Live Science reported that Snooty's longevity is credited to the fact that he lives in a controlled environment. Sharing a 60,000-gallon (230,000 liters) pool with two other manatees, Snooty doesn't seem to mind his pool-mates and other manatees according to Jessica Schubick, communications manager at the museum. Snooty is more interested in people, and the feeling is mutual. When Snooty turned 67 in July 2015, he received birthday cards from his fans around the world.
When interviewed by the Guinness World Records, Marilyn Margold, director of living collections at South Florida Museum, asserted that it was important to apply on Snooty's behalf to spread awareness about the longevity of the manatee life span. "Taken proper care of, paying attention to their habitats, those things can help with their longevity. They are hearty animals overall."
The manatee breeding program of South Florida Museum allows visitors to see that manatees have personalities and a level of intelligence. "I would say that he's intelligent, he's very personable, he has the staff well trained, Margold said of Snooty. "He's just entertaining and calming at the same time."
Previously listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), manatees in the wild are in danger due to algae blooms, fishing debris, and boat strikes. Many manatees in the wild die before they even reach the age of 10. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission monitors manatee populations and has recorded the oldest aged wild Florida manatee at 59 years old. The next oldest sea cow has reached 48 years of age.
Half a century of war in Colombia has been concluded with a peace accord to cease conflict and establish stable and long-lasting peace. Four years of negotiations have resulted in an accord that focuses on ceasefire, guerrilla demobilization, integral rural reform, transitional justice, political participation of ex-combatants, and drug policy.
The end of the war will finally allow Colombia to utilize their natural resources without enriching illegal groups or corrupt politicians. At last, land could be used to create and implement sustainable tourism programs without abusing resource extraction. The preservation and responsible use of resources is expected to produce a better quality of life to the Colombian population.
Dejusticia, a Colombia-based NGO campaigning for strengthening the rule of law and promoting human rights in the country, has pointed out that the armed conflict has been accompanied by bombings of oil pipelines, pollution due to illegal mining, the presence of armed groups and anti-personnel mines in protected areas, and the expansion of the agricultural frontier because of forced displacement.
The conclusion of the war in Colombia finally opens the door to repairing environmental damage and fully focusing on the country's development. The peace accord has the potential to decrease deforestation and concentrate on reforestation and the conservation of natural parks and the Colombian ecosystem.
With the conflict over, important regulations, such as those created to minimize threats to the Columbia Wetland ecosystem and enhance public safety, were enacted on October 19, 2016. Globally recognized as a wetland of great value, the Columbia Wetlands are the source of the greatest river streaming into the Pacific Ocean in North America. Possessing a diverse ecosystem, the Columbia Wetlands contain hundreds of thousands of birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and mammals, and freshwater to surrounding communities.
A North Carolina UFO sighting caught on cam has gone viral over the past few days.
According to Khou11, a man from Charlotte spotted a cluster of strange flying objects outside of the Le Meridien hotel in Uptown Charlotte. The man, with a username "C. Hulbert" uploaded the video on Youtube.
Express notes that the bright lights flickering above the hotel hovered and at some point seemed to form a triangle. A voice in the video can be heard saying: "Whatever they are, they're moving around like fireflies but they're really high up in the air."
Hulbert said he always knew stuff like that existed, but never thought that he would see it with his own eyes.
"Always believed in this stuff...It was definitely awesome and a little freaky at the same time," he said in the comments section.
Meanwhile, one user said the light could simply be created by a plasma light. However, another user said she saw the same thing in 1970s where blue beam projection was not known yet. She also added that during that time, cattle and other farm animals mutilation was strangely happening for unknown reasons.
UFO spotters have been buzzing online following the posting of viral video. In an article, Mirror said the blinking of lights could have been a communication strategy.
In other news, UFO enthusiasts are claiming that they have spotted a 10-kilometer long alien UFO mothership in a photo released by NASA. The Apollo 15 photo was allegedly accidentally released.
On his blog, Scott C. Waring claimed that the massive UFO mothership was located near abandoned near the Waterman Crater on the far side of the Moon. He also added that NASA have known about this for long but has kept it a secret. NASA eventually deleted the photo which was leaked.
Iceland is tapping renewable energy from the Earth's inner heat. Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) is looking to create the hottest hole in the world by the end of the year, with temperatures reaching from 400 to 1,000 degrees Celsius, capable of producing 10 times more electricity than traditional geothermal energy sources.
The Earth's geothermal energy or inner heat is one of the biggest sources of renewable energy. One example of a traditional geothermal project is hot steam from ground vents, which could power turbines and produce electricity.
Iceland is already known to avoid the use of fossil fuels and is continuously looking for ways to tap renewable energy sources. One way is to dig much deeper into the Earth to tap the energy potential of molten magma. Since August, IDDP has been using its rig named "Thor" to drill 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) into the Earth's crust, down into the landscape of old lava flows in Reykjanes in the southwest region of Iceland.
According to Albert Albertsson, assistant director of Icelandic geothermal energy company HS Orka, the drilling will penetrate a landward extension of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is a major boundary between the Earth's tectonic plates.
"People have drilled into hard rock at this depth, but never before into a fluid system like this," Albertsson told New Scientist. Reaching down the depths of the hot seawater at this location underground, the researchers of IDDP aim to find water in the form of "supercritical steam," which is neither liquid nor gas and holds more heat energy. The steam has the potential to create 50 megawatts of energy, which could power 50,000 homes, compared to the typical 5-megawatt geothermal well.
The new hot hole is IDDP's second deep well. The first was in the Krafla geothermal field in the northeast region in 2009, where magma was unexpectedly struck at about 2 km down.
The European Space Agency (ESA) releases the last batch of comet images taken by Rosetta during the final month of its two-year mission.
The images of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which were released to ESA's Archive Image Browser were taken by the spacecraft's NAVCAM from September 2 to 30 when Rosetta was on elliptical orbits that sometimes brought it to within 2 kilometers of the comet's surface, ESA officials said.
A close-up image taken during the spacecraft's descent on a controlled impact on the comet's surface on Sept. 30 shows icing-like landscape on the comet. The image was captured when Rosetta was only 18.1 km from the center of the comet's nucleus during its dramatic crash-landing.
Apart from the NAVCAM images, there could be more images from the spacecraft's OSIRIS camera. The other science instruments are expected to return their last data from between 20 meters to 5 meters above the comet's surface, Universe Today reports.
Other instruments include the ROSINA (Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis), which collected data on the density of gas around the comet and its composition, and the GIADA (Grain Impact Analyzer and Dust Accumulator), which measured the density of dust.
The spacecraft also has a suite of instruments called the RPC (Rosetta Plasma Consortium), which captured the interaction between the solar wind and the surface of the comet. There is also Alice, an Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer like the one on NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which captured high-resolution ultraviolet spectra of the comet's surface, and the RSI (Radio Science Investigation), which took accurate measurements of the comet's gravity field during descent.
ESA also recently released a few images captured by Rosetta's OSIRIS wide-angle camera shortly before impact.
Rosetta had started orbiting Comet 67P in 2014 and gathered information about the comet despite the ill-fated landing of its Philae lander on the comet's surface. The mission ended on Sept. 30 when the spacecraft was deliberately crashed on the comet's smaller lobe called Ma'at to capture data up-close on the icy surface.
Astronomers have discovered that Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, also known as Rosetta's Comet, is relatively new to the inner regions of the solar system.
The European Space Agency's (ESA) comet-chasing Rosetta mission may have ended last month, but research studies on the data collected by the spacecraft during its 12-year journey have just started.
A team of researchers from the Western University in Ontario, Canada has charted the history of Comet 67P, which is a distant icy comet that was previously studied by ESA's Rosetta probe. The comet is said to be home to complex organic molecules that may hold clues about the origin of life on Earth.
"We're putting together the pieces of the puzzle of this really, really interesting comet," Paul Wiegert, a professor at Western University's Center for Planetary Science and Space Exploration and one of the researchers, told CBC Canada.
Using statistical analysis and scientific computing, the researchers charted the history of the comet and found that it might have originated from the far reaches of the Kuiper Belt, which is a region beyond Neptune that is home to asteroids, comets, and other space objects.
According to the researchers, Comet 67P had arrived at the inner solar system only about 10,000 years ago, which means it is relatively a newcomer. Moreover, the comet had spent over 4.5 billion years in a region in the Kuiper Belt known as scattered disc.
"Over the course of the last million years or so the comet has moved inwards closer to the sun," Wiegert said in the same statement. "Its birthplace is quite different from the location it finds itself in right now."
Today's Comet 67P belongs to the Jupiter-family of comets and journeys around the Sun every 6.5 years. But Wiegert and study co-author Mattia Galiazzo showed that in transit, the comet spent millions of years in the scattered disk area, which is about twice the distance of Neptune, Universe Today reports. The researchers' theory is that a collision might have occurred long ago in the Kuiper Belt, flinging fragments across the solar system. These objects may have been pulled by Jupiter's enormous gravity and were placed into short-period orbits.
The researchers suggest that, based on this theory, Comet 67P is made up of primordial matter--minerals that existed in their current form long before the Earth was formed.
The findings of the research were presented at the European Planetary Science Congress in Pasadena, California that ran from Oct. 16 to 21.
The internet has gone berserk after a theory popped up online, claiming that it might have found the reason behind the Bermuda Triangle mystery, and it all points out to hexagonal shaped clouds. However, NBC meteorologist Kevin Corriveau is not convinced at all.
Talking on Science Channel's "What on Earth?' series, a pair of meteorologists claim that hexagonal or honeycomb clouds floating above the area is responsible for the sudden disappearance of boats and planes in the 500,00 square mile triangle located in the Atlantic Ocean. The said triangle connects Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico.
Showing a satellite image of the hexagonal clouds above the east part of the Bermuda Triangle, Dr. Randy Cervery, one of the theorists, said that these honeycomb clouds could be considered "air bombs." These clouds, as Live Science notes, range from 20 to 55 miles.
"They're formed by what are called microbursts. They're blasts of air that come down out of the bottom of the clouds and hit the ocean, and they create waves that can sometimes be massive in size once they start to interact with each other," he explained as quoted by NBC.
These "microbursts," according to the meteorologists, could cause drastic waves as high as 45 feet and strong winds at 100 mph and are powerful enough to destroy air and water vehicles.
But despite the internet going gaga over a possible answer to the Bermuda Triangle urban legend, Corriveau points out something strange in the hexagonal clouds shown by the meteorologists.
"When I look at a hexagonal cloud shape in the Bahamas, this is not the cloud signature of what a microburst looks like, You would normally have one large to extremely large thunderstorm that wouldn't have an opening in the middle," he said.
He also said that the meteorologists comparing the clouds they saw in the Bahamas and those in the North Sea oin Europe just doesn't add up. For Corriveau, comparing weather patterns of two distant locations does not work as the Earth's latitude plays a big part in weather patterns and cloud formation.
"I wouldn't say what we're seeing in the Bahamas is the exact same as in the North Sea," he said.
Space aliens could be alerting humanity of their existence. Two astronomers claim that they have evidence to prove that extraterrestrial life is trying to communicate to Earth and humans through strange messages from stars.
The astronomers' paper titled Discovery of peculiar periodic spectral modulations in a small fraction of solar type stars, which was published in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, explains how "periodic spectral modulations" from 234 stars could be "generated by Extraterrestrial Intelligence."
The study says that these stars, out of the 2.5 million stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, produce strobe-like bursts that are of the same shape with signals written in a previous publication about the same topic.
The fact that they are only found in a very small fraction of stars within a narrow spectral range centered near the spectral type of the sun is also in agreement with the ETI hypothesis, said authors E.F. Borra and E. Trottier via Tech Crunch. Although unlikely, there is also a possibility that the signals are due to highly peculiar chemical compositions in a small fraction of galactic halo stars."
However, not everyone is buying the idea of aliens contacting humans from space through weird messages from stars. In fact, the study has been declined to be published multiple times.
The authors are standing behind their hypothesis but say that further study is needed to prove their claim.
"I am quite skeptical, in particular of the data processing that can take spectrally sampled data, and infer time variations. So Id be a little careful, said the authors. This is a complex and highly speculative issue and we shall not delve on it."
Youll be able to watch the drama of Election Night with popcorn, candy and dozens of like-minded strangers.
AMC Theatres and CNN will broadcast the Nov. 8 presidential election on the big screen at 50 theaters in 25 cities nationwide, including in two theaters in San Diego.
The event is free for members of AMC Stubs , a tiered perks program from the exhibitor chain, and their guests, AMC Theatres said Monday. Audience members can choose between "red" and "blue" locations, depending on party preference.
In San Diego County, youll head to AMC Mission Valley 20 if youre part of the Democratic party and to AMC La Jolla 12 if you favor the Republican party.
Other cities with theaters taking part include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
The broadcast, which will also include major national, state and local elections, will begin at 4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
This isn't the first time this election season that a theater company is getting in the politics game. Last week, Regal Cinemas hosted debate viewing parties in San Diego.
A Bay Area media marketing specialist is leading a campaign to boycott department stores that sell Ivanka Trump's clothing line an effort she said was inspired after vulgar tapes about her father groping women surfaced earlier this month.
And as of Tuesday, Shannon Coulter, CEO of DoubleKnown Marketing and Communications, said 21 stores, including big names such as Nordstrom's, Macy's, Marshall's, and Amazon, were on her #GrabYourWallet boycott list.
"I want to be able to shop with a clear conscience," she told NBC Bay Area in a simultaneous Facebook Live and Skype interview from her office. [[398390771, C]]
Coulter said she is targeting Ivanka Trump, who designs a $100-million empire of clothes, shoes and handbags, because she called her Donald Trump's "official surrogate." Ivanka Trump has since called her father's comments on the leaked tapes "inappropriate and offensive."And at a Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, Ivanka Trump said she is not a "campaign surrogate" for her father, but rather a presidential candidate's daughter, noted by Fast Company.
But Ivanka Trump has not distanced herself, in Coulter's eyes, far enough away from the man who was heard boasting about grabbing women by their "p----" on a 2005 Access Hollywood tape leaked to the Washington Post earlier this month.
She said her grassroots, Twitter-born campaign was "sparked" on Oct. 11 after the release of those tapes. And ever since, she's received about a dozen "nasty" emails from Trump supporters who are espousing "hatred" toward her, which is why she prefers not to state exactly where she lives and works in the Bay Area. She also insists that she didn't start this campaign as a marketing gimmick for her boutique firm. In fact, she said that she is declining all clients now because she is busy.[[398402061, C]]
During her Facebook Live interview on Tuesday, Coulter also received some criticism from viewers commenting on her effort. One woman called Coulter "pathetic." Anoter commenter wondered if she was a "paid shill" of the Democratic National Committee. (She said she is not.) Cindy Cooper Juarez wrote "this woman is ridiculous. I think a visit to a good shrink is in order for her then going shopping anyway."
Coulter said she came up for the boycott idea as she was reminded of a "bad memory" when the Trump tapes surfaced, where he brags about kissing and groping women as an untouchable celebrity.
She detailed those memories in a Friday story in the Guardian the first publication to highlight her boycott in which she said she was felt up by a supervisor at a Silicon Valley company. "He pressed himself right up against me and said, 'Why is it you always look so good?'" Coulter told the Guardian.
At the time the article was published four days ago, more than a million people have viewed her posts and Coulter was receiving an average of 200 direct replies on Twitter per day and hundreds of retweets. Coulter estimated that more than 50,000 respondents have expressed support for her campaign and at least 2,000 have said they will participate. And many of those behind her are men, Coulter said, which is "especially great." A man with the Twitter handle @Mikealbeland wrote "Keep up the pressure. Bigotry is bad for business, Nordstrom. Not a penny from me!"
In terms of public support, Coulter is pleased.
"I give this a 9," Coulter answered when asked to rate her boycott campaign. "If one store drops out, I'll rate it a 10."
But in terms of her actual boycott, there isn't one store that has taken Coulter up on her call to drop the Ivanka Trump line, even though Macy's dropped Donald Trump products in 2015 after he called Mexicans rapists.
So, in terms of an actual effect, Coulter acknowledged, "the campaign isn't working."
Colter updates her boycott list regularly on a Google docs spreadsheet that she is alerted to by fans, and then which she verifies personally. She follows up with a phone call to each company's customer service department. She said the low-level representatives have all been "nice" and responsive. But she said she has yet to hear directly from an executive at any of the stores she's called out.
The Guardian asked the retailers on the list and Ivanka Trump to comment on the #GrabYourWallet boycott campaign. Zappos.com, Amazon, Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus told the news agency they would decline to comment. Nordstrom answered, but the answer wasn't satisfying to Coulter or her supporters. We have heard from some customers about this. We dont currently have any plans to stop offering this collection, the department said in a statement obtained by the Guardian.
Ivanka Trumps chief brand manager Abigail Klem did not immediately respond to NBC Bay Area's request for comment on Tuesday. But she did give the Guardian a generic statement after being asked about the boycott: We are proud that our business is growing rapidly and that our brand resonates strongly with women who are inspired by our messaging and excited about the polished and chic solution-oriented products that we offer.
While the boycott of stores especially Amazon was at first difficult for Coulter, the campaign has now emboldened her to shop consignment, look for local stores and buy directly from companies themselves, instead of heading into a department store for her purchases. She said she also has been shopping at Target and J.Crew, two stores that don't sell the Ivanka Trump line.
"The silver lining," Coulter said "is that there is a ton of Trump-free shopping out there."
Editors note: The Dental Board of California is accepting public input on dental anesthesia until Friday, Oct. 28. If youd like to voice an opinion, e-mail Karen Fischer, the boards executive director, at: Karen.Fischer@dca.ca.gov.
TRACY Mariela Montoya sobs when she recalls the day she took her two-year-old son to the dentist and he never came home.
Acting alone in February 2015, the dentist sedated 2-year-old Alejandro with a local anesthetic to treat a rotten molar.
But following the procedure, Alejandro was rushed to the hospital where Montoya says the diagnosis was brain damage.
They said it was probably from the anesthesia, she said. It was a lot.
Montoya then had a heartbreaking choice: whether to keep Alejandro on life support.
It was hard, she said, crying. I knew he wasnt going to wake up I knew then that he was gone.
Alejandros death echoes the case of Caleb Sears. Hes the 6-year-old boy from Albany who died after visiting a dentist who simultaneously administered anesthesia and removed a tooth.
The circumstances are somewhat different, but the outcome is the same. Both little boys are dead. And the state accused both dentists of failures in drug dosing and monitoring.
REQUIRED REVIEW
After Calebs death in 2015, the state legislature ordered the Dental Board of California, which licenses and polices dentists, to study the safety of dentists giving kids anesthesia.
I keep thinking I wish someone else had done this, said Eliza Sears, Calebs mother. I wish someone else had done this years ago and saved Caleb.
The state has never before tracked how many kids die. NBC Bay Area tried, but discovered records that are heavily redacted and inconsistent. Some dentists send in detailed reports when something goes wrong; others submit just a few sentences.
Dentist Bruce Whitcher reviewed the same data for the board. His study found nine deaths over the past five years. Whitcher spoked at an October board meeting.
There doesnt seem to be a clear pattern, he said.
POSSIBLE CHANGE
Still, the board is considering change -- steps that many states have already taken.
Requiring three people during complex anesthesia
Requiring dentists to get a special permit to sedate children
Requiring more expertise for dental assistants.
I think were doing a lot of things right; I think there are some things we can do better, Whitcher said.
But several experts say these possible changes dont go far enough.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling on the board to ban dentists from administering anesthesia while also performing a procedure.
Pediatrician Dr. Paula Whiteman spoke to the board.
Not one more healthy California child should suffer a potentially preventable death in a dental chair, she said.
CLOSE CALLS CONSIDERED
Some experts say even the cases that dont end in death are important. Yet those arent tracked either.
So, NBC Bay Area spent months reviewing 380 state accusations against dentists. In those involving anesthesia, some patients recovered, but others were left with conditions as severe as brain damage.
Loma Linda University Dental Professor Larry Trapp argues the era of dentists administering anesthesia themselves should end.
Weve got to go with the highest level of care until proven otherwise, he said. And that to me, is having an anesthesiologist and a surgeon assigned to each case.
Board president Doctor Steven Morrow acknowledged the stark contrast between the boards preliminary fixes and testimony of several experts. Yet, he said the dental board is open to change.
We will take those additional comments under consideration and we will continue to develop our recommendations. They are not finished yet, he said.
YOUR VOICE, YOUR CALL
The board has heard from multiple interest groups: dentists, pediatricians, oral surgeons, anesthesiologists, etcetera. Yet, it has heard from exactly zero patients like you -- the people their decision will impact the most.
There are still four days left for you to speak up.
The Dental Board of California is accepting public input until October 28. If youd like to voice an opinion, e-mail Karen Fischer, the boards executive director, at: Karen.Fischer@dca.ca.gov.
The board plans to make recommendations in early December.
No matter what the dental board does, you always have the final word. It you want a separate anesthesiologist to sedate you, ask for one. If your dentist wont honor your request, you have the right to cancel the procedure and find one who will.
The Interfraternity Council at UC Berkeley are setting new guidelines after lifting a party ban that was voluntarily in effect over the weekend.
Sorority and fraternity members from Greek Row met behind closed doors over the weekend to come up with new party standards.
The council voluntarily placed a ban on parties after two women were sexually assaulted at Greek events off campus last week.
Party guests will be given new guidelines about what "consent" means when entering parties.
Under the new rules, every house must have three sober members on-call to report to the council at every party or event. Hard alcohol is also banned from the parties. Anyone caught with hard alcohol will be fined up to $20 per member.
A student who is pledging into a fraternity and new to Greek life said the new rules sends the right message about preventing sexual assault on campus.
"You know you can't get away with it," student Yahn Bruggeman said.
A representative from the Interfraternity Council said it is unclear how long the new rules will last.
Gov. Bruce Rauner offered Ohio Gov. John Kasich a friendly wager on the upcoming World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians.
In a video posted to Rauners Facebook page Monday, the governor proposed the bet alongside Cubs chairman and owner Tom Ricketts outside Wrigley Field. In the video, Rauner called the 2016 Cubs a team of destiny."
John, lets have a little friendly bet, Rauner says. How about lets have a wager on the World Series starting tomorrow night in Cleveland.
The Cubs clinched the National League pennant Saturday night at Wrigley Field with a 5-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Game one of the World Series will be held at Clevelands Progressive Field Tuesday because the American League won this years All Star Game.
Ill bet you that if the Cleveland Indians were victorious, Ill bet you Ill deliver to you a extra large, Chicago-style deep dish pizza and a case of terrific Chicago-brewed microbrew beer, the governor added. How about that John?
Nevertheless, Rauner seemed confident the Cubs would clinch the series.
Youre not going to get that delicious food and beer, Rauner said. Were going to eat it here, because you know what? The Cubs are going to win.
Kasich responded Monday on Twitter, confidently accepting Rauners wager.
Now the governor of Illinois wants to make a bet with me assuming that the Cubs are going to win this World Series, Kasich said. Well, Im going to match him in that bet because I know that the Indians are going to roll. And theyre going to roll not just for Cleveland, but for people all across the great Buckeye state.
If the Cubs 108 year drought comes to an end, Ill send him some of the fan favorites from Cleveland, he added.
There have been a lot of signs pointing to 2016 being the Cubs year, but this may be the wildest yet.
Back in 1993, one Chicago Cubs fan predicted in his high school yearbook that the team would win the World Series 23 years later.
"Chicago Cubs, 2016 World Champions. You heard it here first," the quote under Michael Lee's name reads.
Marcos Meza shows his 1993 yearbook from Mission Viejo High School, featuring a quote predicting the Cubs will win the World Series in 2016.
Fast forward to 2016, and the Cubs are headed to their first World Series in 71 years.
In high school we graduated and I saw that quote and I thought it was a funny quote, said Mission Viejo High School alum Marcos Meza, who said he has known Lee since seventh grade.
Lee was from Chicago but raised in California, Meza said, and always maintained his allegiance to the Windy City. The two friends had lost contact after high school, but connected on social media in 2009, when they first reminisced about the yearbook prediction that was just seven years away.
(10)8 Wild Coincidences That Prove 2016 is the Chicago Cubs' Year
I told Mike, Dude you had the coolest yearbook quote, Meza said.
Michael Lee could not immediately be reached for comment on the story.
Meza, a Dodgers fan, said he didnt think the prediction would come true until the Cubs beat the Dodgers in the NLCS.
I kept quiet on it because Im a Dodgers guy, he said. But once the Dodgers lost I was like, Man Ive got to get this out there.'
After he shared the image, other photos of the yearbook began popping up on Twitter and Reddit.
*mom walks into my room* -look at my yearbook from '93 #...
This dude called the cubs winning the series in 2016 for his senior quote. pic.twitter.com/Dq4kWFIziy Thomas j Dale (@tommydale33) October 25, 2016
Meza said as the photo gained traction on social media, many people questioned if it was photoshopped, so he took videos of his yearbook to verify them.
He said he knows Cubs fans are superstitious but he believes the 23-year-old prediction isnt a jinx, but fate.
Its not like Bartman interfering with the ball but I think the Cubs are there, he said. Those words went from [Lees] lips to Gods ear. And if I was a Cubs fan I'd be mad he didnt predict it in 1999.
Authorities say three women from Chicago were killed when a vehicle ran a red light and slammed their Uber ride in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office released a statement Monday identifying the victims as 32-year-old Amy Taylor, 30-year-old Ashley Sawatzke and 35-year-old Lindsey Cohen. Autopsies are expected Monday.
Police say someone behind the wheel of a Lexus R350 ran through a red light going southbound, striking the Ford Fusion early Sunday morning. Two men in the Lexus fled on foot after the crash, according to police.
The owner of the Ford Fusion was on-duty as an Uber driver and transporting the three women at the time. The 41-year-old driver was taken to a hospital with what police described as non-life threatening injuries. Police have not released the Uber driver's name.
"We are devastated to hear of this tragic accident and extend our deepest thoughts to all those grieving for the loss of their loved ones," Uber spokesperson Kayla Whaling told NBC 5 affiliate TMJ4. "We will support the police investigation in every way we can and hope the person responsible comes forward."
Milwaukee police say a motorist who fled after causing the car crash has surrendered to authorities.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker visited Chicago Tuesday to attend a pair of events for Rep. Tammy Duckworths Senate campaign. In an exclusive interview with Ward Room Tuesday morning, Booker championed Duckworths candidacy and touted her agenda.
Her agenda is, to me, something that is urgently needed in the Senate, Booker said. "We need somebody thats focused on families, somebody thats focused on education, veterans."
I think when she becomes a senator she will become a national voice, really changing the national conversation, he added.
Booker, who was included on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clintons vice presidential shortlist, served as mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013 and has subsequently served in the Senate since 2013. On Tuesday, Booker claimed that, in order for the Democrats to take control of the Senate in next month's election, Duckworth would have to beat out Republican incumbent Mark Kirk.
Tammys essential, he said. If we cant win this race in Illinois, we're not going to be able to really flip the Senate and be able to finally do our job and get things done and stop the gridlock that we see in the Senate right now.
Although Booker called Kirk a friend, he explained that the November election isnt about friendship or personality.
"This is about making sure that the Democrats have control in Washington and can again get us back on track to setting an agenda that's about investing in the people of our country, not with handouts but giving people an extended opportunity, he noted.
The senator said he supports a Democratic agenda that adds jobs, builds the economy, increases the minimum wage and focuses on infrastructure. He also expressed the need to make college more affordable for students and said he wants to pass criminal justice reform within the first 100 days of the new term.
Booker faulted Senate Republicans, namely Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for failing to act on certain issues that have bipartisan support, like criminal justice reform.
We have a Senate right now thats being controlled by the Republicans, by Mitch McConnell, and it's frustrating to me to be in the Senate and see even bipartisan legislation, like criminal justice reform, get stopped when we have probably 70, 80 votes to do some changes there, Booker said. It stopped because Republicans wont put it on the floor, Mitch McConnell wont put it on the floor.
Booker also criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps incendiary rhetoric, calling his campaign damaging and claiming it doesnt reflect Democrats or Republicans."
Weve got to get back to focusing on our values, that's what Tammy Duckworth I think is a profound reminder, Booker said. Here is a diverse female candidate who is, every single day talking about the fundamentals: investing in America, investing in our kids, building out our infrastructure."
Shes going to make sure that we as a country dont focus on right or left, lets just get the job done every single day support American manufacturing, support American education, support this country every single day because if you invest in America, America produces tremendous, tremendous results, he added.
Authorities said a Bristol man charged with fatally shooting his 63-year-old friend in the driveway of his parents' home was drinking before the shooting.
Thirty-five-year-old Chad Couture was arraigned Monday in Bristol on charges of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and criminal possession of a handgun. He's being held on $750,000 bond.
Authorities say Couture told police he drank about half a bottle of vodka before accidentally shooting Daniel Caron on Friday evening. Police say Couture told them he had been carelessly handling a handgun.
Caron was declared dead at Bristol Hospital.
Police say Couture had a revoked pistol permit, but had six weapons registered under his name.
Caron's family said the two men were good friends and spent a lot of time together.
Couture's attorney says his client is a lifelong state resident who held a full-time job as a machine operator.
Couture is due back in court Nov. 8.
Connecticut is one of more than a dozen states where taking a self-portrait, or 'selfie,' in a polling booth is completely legal but moderators can still stop the shutterbugs if photo-takers are not acting appropriately.
At least 18 other states have put a stop the snapshots, saying it could impede on privacy.
"If you want to take a selfie of who you are voting for, so be it," Danielle Bovuier, of West Hartford, said.
"If there is something going on that's disruptive in any way, if someone were to take a selfie and wanted to show everyone in the polling place their selfie, that might be a problem for the moderator," Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said.
State officials said polling moderators can stop voters from taking photos if it becomes disruptive. Selfie-takers are asked to act responsibly.
The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles has been registering people to vote for several months.
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill has described the states motor voter program as a success because its brought in more than 15,000 registrations. But for some, the program has led to confusion.
In West Hartford, Kaitlyn Fydenkevez had her voter registration removed from the towns voter list after she thought she had re-registered during a visit to the DMV to renew her license.
A voter in West Hartford for two years, she said she thought it wouldnt be a problem if she simply renewed her voting information, but I went online two days later to check my registration and it said that there was no record of me at all."
She was told by the election office in West Hartford that a communication from DMV is what led to the change.
"They had a record of me being a voter and they had heard from the DMV in the last week that I had been marked off which apparently means I won't be voting in the town this year."
Fydenkevez isnt alone either.
In Meriden, election officials there said people have showed to their office with letters from DMV telling them that they refused to register to vote, even though they were already registered. The individuals had only turned down a new registration at DMV during a visit to a branch.
Kathy Casey, the Deputy Democratic Registrar in Meriden spoke with several people with the same experience.
"I had three gentlemen come in with letters from the DMV because they told them that they were already registered voters and they got letters from the DMV saying that they refused to register and they came in very upset, she said.
"I think it's very jarring to most people because clearly these people were registered for years and they had always voted and now they were being told by a government agency that they weren't registered to vote."
DMV did not respond to our requests for comment.
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, when asked about the motor-voter issues, said a re-registration shouldnt be a problem.
"No, it's been a great system and if people are just reregistering just in case they don't remember or have moved or something like that, it would be a duplicate registration and it would just remain on the list."
Fydenkevez in West Hartford said she hopes there are no issues on Nov. 8.
"Fingers crossed," she said.
Are you looking for a new job in manufacturing or welding? A new initiative is proving fruitful for getting people hired.
The Eastern Connecticut Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative includes a $6 million grant that funds manufacturing and welding courses. Those course are specifically geared for jobs at several manufacturing companies, including Electric Boat. Already there's a 92 percent hire rate of recent graduates. One tells us it put him at a competitive advantage.
"So many other people going (into a new job) had no idea what to expect. At least when I came in, I had a great understanding of blueprints. I also had a great understanding of what the job entailed," said Christopher Gilbert, a recent graduate of the program. He got hired by EB.
According to Gilbert, staff from some of the hiring companies spoke to the class. Plus he's working with several classmates, so there's and added camaraderie.
Apply here.
Connecticut state police seized over 20 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop on Interstate 95 in Waterford.
State police said the driver, identified as Betsy Cardozo, 25, of Dorchester, Mass. was speeding on I-95 through New London into Waterford when troopers pulled her over. According to police, troopers smelled marijuana and Cardozo admitted to them she had used some earlier.
Troopers searched the car and found 20.6 pounds of marijuana in vacuum-sealed bags in the vehicle.
Cardozo was charged with illegal possession/transportation/distribution/sale of marijuana, possession of less than one half ounce of marijuana, and reckless driving. She was held on a $50,000 bond.
The retired Hartford police officer purportedly seen kicking a handcuffed suspect laying on the ground in a dashcam video linked to an investigation into possible excessive force said the man refused to stop spitting blood, according to reports.
Sgt. Sean Spell said Emilio Diaz had been spitting blood that was leaking from a forehead wound onto another officer during his arrest, Spell wrote in his incident report.
"Diaz was spitting out blood out of his mouth towards me," Spell wrote in the report, filed the day after the arrest of Diaz and Ricardo Perez. Diaz was kneeling and handcuffed when Spell approached the suspect, the report said.
"I told Diaz to stop spitting blood and to lay down prone, or I would force him down, which he refused to comply," Spell wrote in the report. "Not being in possession of latex gloves, I used my right foot forcefully onto the back side of Diaz's head, and forced him to the ground."
The incident reports details the accounts of all officers involved in the arrest of two men who had stolen a Toyota Camry and led police on a chase from Hartford to West Hartford on June 4.
The driver sped off after loudly honking his horn on Zion and Glendale Streets, ran stop signs and led officers through several residential streets before the chase ended on Flatbush Avenue in West Hartford when officers deployed "speed sticks," according to Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley and a Hartford police report.
A dashcam mounted in a West Hartford Police cruiser appears to show Hartford officers kicking or stomping one of the suspects, who was in handcuffs, according to police.
Spell said he "detected a strong, distinct odor of PCP emanating from Diaz, which usually involves violent behavior."
Officer Stephen Barone wrote in his incident report that after the arrest, police found PCP and marijuana while searching the Camry.
Hartford police obtained the dashcam videos from the state's attorney, who is investigating the incident to avoid any conflict of interest.
Police identified the driver they arrested as Perez, 34, of Hartford. As officers approached the car after the chase, Perez hit a Hartford detective with the car, according to police, and hit four Hartford Police vehicles during the pursuit of the vehicle.
Perez and Diaz, 38, of Hartford, had to be hospitalized and Hartford Police said they launched a preliminary investigation the next day when the suspects' bruised and cut faces appeared in mugshots and raised concerns in the department.
The report from Hartford Police said Perez violently struggled with officers and a West Hartford officer, Carlo Faienza, used a stun gun, but it did not affect the suspect, so an offer punched Perez in the torso.
Faienza wrote that Perez "appeared to be under the influence of something and was showing signs of enormous bursts of strength by keeping his hands underneath his body."
Perez's mug shot shows a swollen eye and bandages, while Rivera's shows a gash in his head.
Police also said the car Perez was driving was stolen and they found PCP and marijuana inside.
The state attorney has not determined whether criminal charges are warranted but an investigation is ongoing, Hartford police said.
Later in June, attorney Corey Brinson filed notices on behalf of Perez and Diaz the two men, alleging police used excessive force when arresting Diaz and said they were physically beaten and mentally traumatized.
Brinson told the Hartford Courant that his "client denies spitting blood at anybody."
Spell was part of the department for 20 years retired following the pursuit. Foley said there are no laws in place to prevent an officer involved in a case like this from retiring.
Bloomfield police are investigating the report of sexual assault during a house party near the University of Hartford early Sunday morning.
Police said they responded to a home on Ashley Court at 12:30 a.m. and met with the victim, who was hysterical and said he or she was forced to engage in sexual activity with another person at the party.
The victim identified a suspect and was taken to St. Francis Hospital to be evaluated.
Police then spoke with the suspect, who authorities said was cooperative and said the encounter was consensual.
Police said they investigated further and learned that a mutual friend of the victim and suspect walked into the bathroom and interrupted the sexual activity.
Police are continuing to investigate and the University of Hartford sent out a crime alert saying the Department of Public Safety wants to remind students about information designed to help keep the school community safe, including about rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking and intimate partner violence, as well as how to report crimes, services available and tips on how to try to prevent these crimes.
Police have not said there is any connection between the report of the sexual assault and the university, but a Bloomfield Public Safety report from October 2015 lists the address of the house as one of several residences they had responded to for disturbances involving University of Hartford students.
Vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine attended a fundraiser in Connecticut on Tuesday and went to a private, expensive luncheon, according to sources.
Ted Rossi, CEO of the Rossi Group, a Middletown lumber company, hosted the fundraiser in his Middle Haddam home.
Sources said guests paid between $500 and $2,000 for a ticket to attend and Kaine has since left Middle Haddam
Gov. Dannel Malloy and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, who are all Democrats, attended as well.
The airplane belonging to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign came into Bradley International Airport.
Survivors of an overnight attack that killed 61 people at a Pakistani police academy described chaotic scenes of gunfire and explosions, with militants shooting anyone they saw and cadets running for their lives and jumping from windows and rooftops.
A Taliban splinter group and an affiliate of ISIS made competing claims of responsibility for the four-hour siege late Monday at the Police Training College on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta.
Most of the dead and the 123 wounded were recruits and cadets, said Wasay Khan, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps. Of the three militants who carried out the attack, two blew themselves up with explosive vests and the third was killed by army gunfire, he added.
As the nation reeled and sought to understand how militants were able to carry out such violence, many Pakistanis were reminded of a bloody 2014 attack by the Taliban on an army-run school in Peshawar in which more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed.
Broadcasters on Tuesday showed the aftermath of the attack on the Quetta academy: scorched windows and floors littered with the shoes of the dead and wounded.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif rushed to the scene to meet with survivors, who spoke of the horrors of the surprise attack on about 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff that began about 11:30 p.m.
Cadet Asif Hussain said he had been asleep when gunshots broke out.
"We hid ourselves beneath cots. We had in our mind that if we didn't lock ourselves inside the hall, they will kill us," he said.
The attackers kicked at their door but failed to open it, Hussain said. The gunmen instead fired on them from a window, wounding two cadets before moving to a nearby dorm.
Shortly after entering, one of the attackers detonated his vest inside a hall after firing at cadets.
In the chaos, cadets and trainers ran for their lives, jumping through windows and off rooftops to try to escape.
Troops arrived and "it gave us confidence that we are safe now," Hussain said.
Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told a TV station that the gunmen shot at anyone they saw.
"I ran away, just praying God might save me," he said.
Another witness, Faisal Khan, said he had been chatting with friends when the shooting began.
"We closed the main door and switched off lights," he said.
While most of the casualties were from the academy, some of the soldiers who responded to the assault also were killed, said Shahzada Farhat, a police spokesman in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
The Islamic State group posted a claim of responsibility on the group's media arm, the Arabic-language Aamaq news agency. The claim was not confirmed by Pakistani officials and IS did not offer any previously unknown details about the attack.
A little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, called the Hakimullah group, also claimed responsibility.
In addition, Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force that is primarily responsible for Baluchistan province, said the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighboring Afghanistan and were most likely from the banned militant group Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi, which is affiliated with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Sunni militant group has mainly targeted minority Shiite Muslims whom its members consider to be infidels.
Pakistani officials said they had received intelligence reports that militants had entered Baluchistan province, but there was no indication of possible targets.
Earlier, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, without naming Afghanistan, said enemies of Pakistan were planning attacks in Pakistan from a neighboring country.
Kabul condemned the attack and dismissed the allegations that the assault was planned from bases inside Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan is the biggest victim of terrorism and denounces all terrorist attacks," said Mohammad Haroon Chakhansuri, spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
Ghani himself also condemned the attack, saying, "Terrorism is a threat throughout the region, which is reflected in the brutal act today in Quetta."
Pakistan maintains that militants fleeing army operations in its tribal regions regularly flee over the border and find safe haven in Afghanistan. For his part, Ghani has criticized Pakistan, saying it has provided shelter to the Taliban, and in particular, the violent Haqqani network.
For over a decade, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share in the regional resources.
Pakistan has carried out several military operations against militants in its lawless tribal regions near Afghanistan, including a major push that began in mid-2014 in North Waziristan, a militant base. The militants have killed tens of thousands of people, seeking to install their own harsh brand of Islamic law.
Later Tuesday, the flag-draped coffins of the slain cadets and troops began being moved from Quetta to their families for burial.
One of the dead, army Capt. Rooh Ullah, was given Pakistan's fourth-highest military award for killing one of the militants before he was slain. Sharif, the army chief, attended a service for him in Quetta before the body was flown to his hometown in the northwest.
Ullah's father told a local TV station that he was proud his son died a "martyr."
In Islamabad, minority Christians lit candles for those killed. They chanted slogans condemning violence and vowing to support the victims.
After record warmth not too long ago we've got a big change on the way. Our updated computer models continue to show snow, sleet, rain, and thunder across parts of the state on Thursday.
There are still a few questions that remain. The biggest one that I have is whether or not the snow will accumulate. It appears the best chance of that happening is in the hill towns of Litchfield County above 1,000 feet. Temperatures near the ground will be coldest here and snow will begin falling by late morning. One of my favorite high resolution models is the NCAR ensemble. This graphic shows the probability of temperatures remaining below 32F early in the afternoon tomorrow - there's a clear signal of near freezing air in the highest elevations of northwest Connecticut. A slushy 1"-2" is possible for the hills.
Elsewhere in Connecticut there is the chance for some snow and sleet - even down to the shoreline around New Haven. Enough lingering cold air and some dry air that will result in evaporational cooling as the precipitation begins will be sufficient for a few flakes or pellets. You can see the dry air on this sounding valid at 10 a.m. around Hartford.
This dry air will allow the atmosphere to cool - as snow falls through this dry column the air will cool as the atmospher saturates. This could promote a brief period or snow or sleet even down to the New Haven area - but this will be brief. Any accumulating snow will be confined to the hilltowns.
Temperatures will warm above freezing and any snow will change to rain across the state by late afternoon. The storm will strengthen as it moves into Connecticut with a bit of instability present as well giving us a few thunderstorms and areas of heavy rain are possible. There's an outside chance of a gusty strong storm on the Sound as a bit of surface-based instability tries to work north. The NAM model shown here depicts enough instability for strong thunderstorms over Long Island but not quite enough here in Connecticut. This is worth watching.
With a few flakes in the forecast - how common is October snow? Since 1905 (110 years) snow has been reported in the Hartford area on 45 calendar days but snow has only accumulated 4 times which includes the epic October 2011 snowstorm.
October 29, 2011 - 12.3"
October 10, 1979 - 1.7"
October 19, 1972 - 0.4"
October 30, 1925 - 0.1"
October 18, 2015 (and 39 previous days) - Trace
In the hills, it's a different story. There was a bit of snow on Saturday in Litchfield County and at the summit of Bear Mountain (over 2,000 feet) Jim Dayton sent in this picture of snow that had accumulated there.
Jim Dayton
In Norfolk, the Cooperative Weather Station at the Great Mountain Forest has picked up measureable snow 33 times in their 73 years of weather observing. A trace of snow occurs almost every October.
Get the full forecast here.
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A crowd stood on the corner in front of the Tarrant County courthouse on Miller Street, beckoning voters to cast their ballots.
"Hillary, Hillary," they chanted as they held a Hillary Clinton banner.
"I think immigration is huge," said Tarrant County Democratic Party Chairwoman Deborah Peoples. "We absolutely have to create a path of immigration reform that allows many of these people to stay in the state of Texas and continue to be great Americans."
Among those in the crowd, an immigrant woman and her granddaughter, who did not want to be identified.
She told NBC 5 her daughter, a mother of two young girls who was here illegally, was deported.
"It felt bad because she had to leave both her daughters here," the woman said through her granddaughter's translation. "It's a big change for our family."
"Those are the kinds of tragedies that should not be happening in the United States of America," Peoples said. "We are a nation of immigrants."
The pressure grows on both Hillary Clintons and Donald Trumps campaigns as the days get closer to election day. NBC 5 is doing a side-by-side comparison on where the two candidates stand on major issues. The next issue: deportation.
According to Hillary Clinton's website, her immigration plan includes comprehensive reform. She favors border security, but not in the form of a wall. Clinton supports President Obama's deferred action for undocumented immigrants already here, with a path to citizenship. Clinton has said criminal undocumented immigrants should be deported, but favors doing what is possible to keep families of law abiding immigrants together.
"I always get happy when somebody tells me, 'Oh, I'm voting this election,'" TCU Junior Lea Sandoval said. "Because I'm like, my voice can be heard through them."
Sandoval is what's called a "dreamer." She moved to the United States illegally from El Salvador when she was 6-years-old.
"As a 6-year-old, you don't really think about the laws and if you're breaking any laws," Sandoval explained. "You're just looking forward to being reunited with family."
Sandoval has deferred action status through Obama's executive order.
She worries now that there's paperwork on her and her family, they might be deported if Clinton does not win.
"Mr. Trump has said many comments that make immigrants feel we're not welcome here," Sandoval said. "And if he is elected president, it seems like he would just want to get rid of all of us."
Nearly half of the country's workers believe that artificial intelligence and advanced technologies threaten their jobs, according to a poll released on Monday.
In the poll of 1,006 workers in various fields by the Korea Employment Information Service, some 44.7 percent of respondents said jobs will vanish in their sectors due to AI and other technologies.
A Central Texas man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl must serve 10 years of probation.
George Karns Jr., of Holland, Texas, was also sentenced Monday by a judge to 120 days in jail after earlier pleading guilty in the 2013 assault at his home.
The Temple Daily Telegram reports Karns, who was 17 during the incident, was initially charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Investigators learned of the assault in 2014. Karns, who's now 20, was prosecuted as an adult.
Prosecutors said there was no plea deal. The victim's family agreed to the lesser sexual assault charge to avoid a jury trial -- believing that to be in the victim's best interests, according to the paper.
Karns could have received up to 20 years in prison. The deferred adjudication probation was also an option.
Karns must register as a sex offender.
Dallas has an astounding $5.3 billion backlog of street repair and transportation needs, and Monday city leaders began deciding which projects will get attention.
The list includes $1.7 billion worth of streets beyond the point of repair, in need of complete reconstruction.
But city leaders are planning a 2017 capital improvement bond referendum of only $800 million. And other Dallas needs like old fire stations, police stations and parks are competing for a cut, too.
"This money is not going to go very far," Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan told City Council members Monday. "It sounds like a lot of money, but it's going to go fast."
The entire list of street needs, along with other Dallas capital improvement options, is now posted on a special city website for the 2017 bond referendum: www.dallasbond.com.
The city used a selection criteria to grade those projects for the greatest need and a prioritized list will appear on the site this weekend.
Council members are being asked to decide whether money should be divided evenly between council districts or assigned to projects with the greatest need.
Councilman Lee Kleinman, chairman of the transportation committee, said he favors spreading the money evenly among districts with priority for arterial thoroughfares.
"I think one of the reasons we have so many problems on our residential streets is because, if the arterial is in bad condition, then people feel they need to find alternative routes," Kleinman said.
The briefing Monday showed that some districts have more serious problems. The city has never attained the goal set years ago of 87 percent satisfactory streets with no council district below 80 percent. Currently Dallas streets are rated 73-percent satisfactory. And a Dallas "satisfactory" street can still have problems.
Driver Alexi Williams said she hit a pothole Monday.
"You hit bumps and holes everywhere. Look at the front of my bumper. I hit a hole, just coming from my house," she said.
Driver Ray Calloway said the backlog of street repair causes an expensive problem for Dallas residents.
"Think about the damage to our vehicles," Calloway said. "I've had five flat tires between my car and my motorcycle in the last six months."
Dallas has begun transforming some arterial streets into "complete streets," which include landscaping, wider sidewalks and bike lanes. It costs more than just covering potholes with new pavement.
Greenville Avenue in East Dallas is a partially completed complete street. On Greenville Monday, Dallas Uber driver Mark Evans said his customers prefer the attractive new surroundings.
"The nicer stuff is better, I think. I think it's just going to look better. I think it would attract more people," Evans said
Councilwoman Sandy Greyson said her North Dallas constituents have another transportation priority.
"I have just one word for you all," Greyson said. "Alleys, alleys, alleys."
Council members will be asked to make a final decision on transportation priorities at a November meeting, so now is the time for constituents to check the list to see where projects rank.
"We need this policy direction so we can craft the bond program to meet council's objectives which are the citizens objectives," Jordan said.
Prosecutors in the trial of a former state psychiatrist charged with molesting teenage boys are acknowledging in opening statements that some of his accusers have a history of lying.
But Travis County prosecutor Mary Farrington told jurors Tuesday that past fabrications and the victims' history of mental illness do not change a pattern of predatory behavior by Charles Fischer.
The 64-year-old Fischer was a child psychiatrist at the Austin State Hospital who's accused of having sex with five teens under his care from 2001 to 2005. The Austin American-Statesman reports prosecutors could call as many as 11 people alleging they were victims.
Fischer was indicted in 2012 on multiple charges, including nine counts of sexual assault of a child.
He has denied the claims and pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Donald Trump on Monday told News4Jax that the United States military "conceptually" endorsed him and that "virtually every police department" supports his bid for the presidency. And during the third presidential debate, Trump said his hardline stance on immigration had earned him an endorsement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, NBC News reported.
None of that is true.
Federal agencies are barred by law from endorsing candidates in political elections. The Department of Defense, meanwhile, has its own set of guidelines that tightly restricts any active duty military or civilian personnel from publicly choosing political sides.
ICE has not endorsed any candidate, nor is it able to. Instead the union representing ICE employees, National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, gave the Republican nominee its backing. And it represents just a quarter of the more than 20,000 employees that work at the agency.
There is a growing movement to change the way you merge in traffic.
Some transportation specialists across the country think it could be the remedy to road rage and jump start traffic jams in congested construction zones.
The idea is informally called the Last Minute Merge or Zipper Merge.
"Well the concept is that everyone goes to the end of the merge and then takes turns politely one in front of the other," Texas Department of Transportation representative, Michelle Releford explained.
Many motorists are tempted to make the merge as soon as they see the first warning of a lane ending, but traffic experts think the best idea is to continue driving and merge when you reach the end of the closing lane.
Like the teeth of a zipper, vehicles in the two lanes would take turns interlocking into the open lane. This would alleviate some backups in the open lane.
It's supposed to reduce road rage and its supposed to be more efficient as far as traffic movement," Releford said.
Transportation departments in Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Washington have already started working to make the practice more common on their roadways. Missouri even launched a campaign explaining the usefulness of the practice.
The Dallas District of the Texas Department of Transportation tested the Zipper Merge years ago.
Its been tried in our district 16 years ago. We did it successfully on Highway 66, Releford said.
That test was in an area with lower traffic speeds and lower volume of traffic. Releford warned the practice may not be as effective when higher speeds and volume are introduced.
Ed Guzman of Dallas knows local roadways well as he travels anywhere from 300 to 1,000 miles every week as a part of a courier service and he doesnt like to take chances when it comes to merging.
You know, I can see where that is beneficial but I really have a problem with it. Anything last minute involving a car [can be] dangerous, he said.
The idea of resurrecting the Zipper Merge in Texas could become a reality.
Were actually looking at this again as a study, Releford said. Texas is booming and weve got a lot of traffic. Weve got a lot of people moving here and we are looking for any way. TXDOT especially is looking for any safer way to conduct traffic.
An Amber Alert has been issued for a 7-month-old boy who authorities say was abducted by his mother in Northern California on Sunday.
The California Highway Patrol described the Guerneville boy Monday as having brown hair and grey eyes.
The CHP says the suspect is 35-year-old Hanna Ashley, a woman standing 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 125 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Authorities say Ashley is driving a silver 2005 Subaru Forester with license 5JKZ255.
Sonoma County sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum tells the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports the boy lives in Guerneville with his grandmother, who has legal custody.
He says officials from Sonoma County child protective services fear the infant isn't being adequately cared for.
Crum says Ashley may be headed north.
The tires on a tour bus that crashed during a casino trip in the Southern California desert, killing 13 people, had tires that were overly worn and out of compliance with regulations, investigators said Tuesday.
Tread was below minimum depth on the two front tires and two of the four tires on the drive axle, while the two tires on the rear-most axle were above minimum, NTSB's Earl Weener said at a Tuesday news conference. That means the bus was out of compliance with Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspection criteria and could have been taken out of service under rules for commercial vehicles.
Despite the revelation about the tires, no conclusions have yet been reached about the cause of the crash. Weener did not say whether the tread issue was a factor in the crash, but added that the bus
The details were the first released regarding the investigation by federal authorities since officials began their probe into the deadly crash. NTSB investigators are expected to be in the area for about a week before returning to Washington, D.C., for a thorough investigation that could take up to a year to complete.
The collision, one of the deadliest wrecks in California history, happened Sunday on the 10 Freeway in Riverside County. A big rig in front of the bus, returning to Los Angeles from a desert casino trip, was creeping along at 5 mph because of utility work that had gone on throughout the night along the freeway.
On Monday, investigators said there are no signs that a tour bus driver braked before the bus slammed into the back of the big rig. The bus was traveling at a speed of up to 65 mph, according to authorities.
"There's no indication whatsoever that the driver applied the brakes," said California Highway Patrol Border Division Chief Jim Abele, citing the power of the impact and the fact that no skid marks were found.
An inspection of the bus interior will be the next step of the investigation, according to NTSB.
The NTSB also planned to look into the history of the bus, its owner-driver, and other circumstances, such as what the driver was doing during the four to five hours the bus was at the Red Earth Casino in the desert town of Thermal before making the 135-mile trip back to LA.
Teodulo Elias Vides, 59, owned USA Holiday and was listed as the only driver, according to federal and state records. He had a valid commercial license and a clean record in recent years. The bus had passed annual inspections.
USA Holiday was licensed to travel between states, which subjected the company to federal limits on driver work hours. Under the scenario officials described -- leaving Los Angeles at 8 p.m. and returning less than 12 hours later -- Vides would have been within those limits, which cap driving time to 10 hours within a 15-hour span and do not prescribe specific rest requirements.
A call to the company was not returned.
Vides was named in lawsuits stemming from three freeway collisions, though he was not the driver in any of the cases, according to court records.
In 2007, a USA Holiday bus collided with a Honda Civic in Riverside, killing the car's driver and two passengers. Family members filed a personal injury and negligence lawsuit against the driver of the bus and Vides, whose attorneys argued that the Honda driver lost control.
That case was dismissed.
The 1996 bus did not have seat belts and was old enough that it probably did not have a data recorder that would reveal how fast it was traveling and whether the driver braked before impact.
The Riverside County sheriff-coroner's office has identified 12 of the 13 people killed. The dead included 10 women between 52 and 72, plus the driver and a 62-year-old man. One man remained unidentified. Most were from Los Angeles.
Four passengers remained hospitalized in critical condition, officials said.
The crash comes two years after a FedEx truck veered across an interstate median north of Sacramento and slammed into a bus full of high school students, killing 10 people.
In 1963, 32 Mexican farm workers who were in the Central Valley as part of a work visa program were killed when a freight train struck the flatbed truck they were riding on. In 1976, a bus carrying the Yuba City high school choir plunged off a freeway ramp in Martinez, killing 28 students and one teacher.
Flags at the California State Capitol will be flown at half staff in honor of Jason Finan, the fallen Coronado-based sailor killed in Iraq Thursday.
"On behalf of all Californians, Governor Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown honor Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, who bravely gave his life in service to our state and nation," read a statement from Governor Jerry Brown's office.
Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, 34, died Thursday from injuries suffered by an "improvised explosive device," or roadside bomb, officials said.
Finan was from Anaheim, California, and was serving in Iraq with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 in an advisory capacity, according to the Pentagon.
The Chief Petty Officer's family will receive a letter of condolence from the Governor as well, according to the statement,
Finan was the first U.S. service member to die in combat since the launch of a massive operation to retake the Islamic State-held city of Mosul last week.
More than 100 U.S. special operations forces are embedded with Iraqi units, and hundreds more are playing a supporting role in staging bases.
"The entire Navy Expeditionary Combat Command family offers our deepest condolences and sympathies to the family and loved ones of the Sailor we lost," said Rear Adm. Brian Brakke, commander of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command/NECC Pacific, in a news release.
Three other service members have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led coalition began launching airstrikes against IS in August 2014.
Police searched Tuesday for two males and a female who pistol-whipped a man in a home invasion robbery in Leimert Park.
The robbery was reported at 9:50 p.m. Monday in the 4200 block of Norton Avenue.
The victim, a man in his mid-50s, told responding officers that he was accosted by two males and a female in their late teens when he arrived home, according to the Los Angeles Police Department's Southwest Station.
The man said he was forced into the home, pistol-whipped and had his hands zip-tied before the robbers took off in a white four-door vehicle with jewelry and cash, said Lt. Chuck Springer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southwest Station
The victim suffered a contusion to the head, Springer said.
The victim's brother said he suffered some leg and head injuries.
Other residents who live in the neighborhood were shocked to hear what happened to their neighbor.
"I always laugh at the people who say, 'this doesn't happen in my neighborhood,' but this doesn't happen in my neighborhood, so it's really very upsetting," said Cyd Taylor, a neighbor of the victim.
Investigators were working Tuesday to determine whether or not the man may have been targeted.
Annette Arreola contributed to this report.
A 40-year-old man faces hate crime allegations after his arrest in connection with making criminal threats against the Islamic Center of Southern California, officials said.
Mark Lucian Feigin, of Agoura, was arrested on Wednesday, police said. He was arrested during a traffic stop near his mobile home, where neighbors say he lives with his mother.
He is suspected of calling in threats to the Islamic Center twice -- once on Sept. 19 and again the next day, LAPD Cmdr. Horace Frank, of the Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau, said in a news conference.
During a search of the suspect's mobile home, detectives found numerous rifles, shotguns, handguns, several modified high-capacity magazines and thousands of rounds of ammunition, Frank said.
Police said there's no evidence he had plans to carry out his threats, but they said he had the means to do so.
"The male caller threatened to kill the person who answered the phone along with other members of the center because of the caller's hatred for Muslims and his belief that Muslims will destroy the United States," Frank said. "The right to free speech is a hallmark of our society. But that right is not and cannot be unabated. Mr. Feigin broke the law when he threatened the lives of the individuals at the Islamic Center."
Frank said the investigation is ongoing, but detectives have no evidence of an actual plan.
A felony complaint filed by the California Attorney General's Office in Los Angeles Superior Court on Oct. 18 alleges criminal threats, annoying phone calls and hate crime allegations.
Islamic Center spokesman Omar Ricci said Muslims would stand resilient against such hate.
"The Islamic Center of Southern California has been a bit shaken by this event," he said. "But while we have been a bit shaken by this, this is not unusual."
Feigin has a real estate license. NBC4 found a flier with his picture advertising a free AR-15 assault rifle to anyone who buys a home from him.
Feigin's attorney Dan Perlman described his client as a "good, decent man who believes in brotherhood."
"When we receive the police reports, it will become clear that this was all an unfortunate misunderstanding," the statement reads.
Angie Crouch contributed to this report.
Domestic airlines are launching new routes to winter holiday destinations such as Australia and Saipan to accommodate the growing number of people taking holidays in the cold season.
Budget carrier Jin Air will operate a route connecting Incheon and Cairns in Australia temporarily for twice a week from Dec. 14 to Feb. 4, 2017. T'way Air will fly to Saipan from Incheon seven times a week from Dec. 23 and Eastar Jet will fly to Hanoi in Vietnam from Incheon seven days a week from Nov. 1.
Asiana Airlines will operate a temporary route from Incheon to Christ Church in New Zealand from Dec. 2 to Jan. 27 next year, and Korean Air will launch a new route from Incheon to Delhi in India from Dec. 1.
Competition does not end in launching new routes, but also extends to operating bigger jets to absorb as many winter travelers as possible. Korean Air will run an Airbus A380, which has a capacity of 400 passengers, for the Incheon-Sydney route, instead of a 270-seat Airbus A330. Asiana also plans to fly an A380 to Sydney in Australia by the end of the year.
"The route from Incheon to Sydney is a very popular one, and over 90 percent of seats are being sold consistently," said Koo Eun-kyung at Korean Air.
A mother and her stepfather were arrested Monday for child abuse relating to the death of her 2-year-old daughter, police said Tuesday.
Around 9:14 p.m. Monday, authorities arrived at a home in the 16700 block of Slover Avenue in Fontana to provide medical aid to a 2-year-old child who was not breathing, Fontana police said in a statement.
The child was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Fontana Police Department.
When Fontana police detectives took over the investigation, they found "significant evidence of neglect and abuse against the child, which is believed to have contributed to the child's death," Fontana police said in a statement.
Cheyenne Cobb, 20, the girl's mother, and 47-year-old Jon Palechek, the child's grandfather, were both arrested for felony child abuse causing death, according to Fontana police. They were booked at West Valley Detention Center.
The detectives' investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the child's death was asked to call the Fontana Police Department at 909-350-7740.
A man and woman wanted by Delaware State Police was fatally shot on a Maryland motel balcony Tuesday after emerging from their room with BB guns raised toward police who were there to serve warrants, officials said.
No officers were hurt during the confrontation Tuesday at the New Eastern Inn in Elkton, a city of 15,000 about 45 miles northeast of Baltimore, state police spokesman Greg Shipley said.
Maryland State Police say the Dover couple, identified as Brandon Jones and Chelsea Porter, was on the run from gun charges when police approached them at a Cecil County motel to serve arrest warrants.
"The Delaware State Police had contacted Maryland State Police yesterday, requesting assistance in the location of these two fugitives," Shipley told reporters. "And the state apprehension team took that investigation over and tracked them to this location."
Shipley said the couple, both 25, pointed what police believed were handguns at the officers and repeatedly refused to follow orders to drop them and surrender. Authorities later said the pair was armed with BB guns.
He said uniformed officers from two agencies went to the motel about 10 a.m., knocked on the door of the second-floor room and announced themselves as police officers.
As they shouted at the room's occupants to surrender, one of the officers saw through a window that a man was approaching the door with a handgun, Shipley said. He said the officers retreated from the door but the man came out and refused to obey their commands. The man raised the gun at officers and they fired, Shipley said.
He said the woman came out a few seconds later with a handgun that she raised. She was also shot after refusing to drop the weapon, Shipley said.
He said investigators don't yet know which officers fired the fatal shots or how many times they fired.
The shooting brought a large number of police to the area and prompted road closures. Reporters at the scene could see what appeared to be a body on the balcony, covered by a yellow sheet.
Delaware State Police Cpl. Jeffrey Hale said his agency had asked Maryland State Police to help find a man and woman, who were wanted in connection with an incident on Oct. 18. The man had fired one round from a handgun into the air after threatening to shoot someone, Delaware State Police said in a press release Sunday.
The press release said officers had found about 2,100 small bags of heroin and more than two pounds of marijuana at the man's home, along with $2,700 in cash, a .22-caliber rifle and three handguns, one of which had been reported stolen in 2016.
A doctors career is on the line after four women claimed they were hospitalized with serious complications after undergoing plastic surgery.
The State of Florida is trying to revoke or suspend the license of Dr. Osak Omulepu. Hell face a judge for an administrative hearing starting Wednesday.
Dr. Omulepu is known for what he calls his "specialty" procedure the Brazilian Butt Lift. The procedure involves fat being removed from a patients stomach or back and then being injected into their backside.
Women who arent part of the hearing but say they were operated on by Dr. Omulepu and were unhappy with their results have come forward.
Nicola Mason traveled a thousand miles from her home in Maryland to Miami to undergo the procedure after speaking with Dr. Omulepus assistant.
"She said, 'You'll have better results with Dr. Omulepu, hes our butt lift king, he will take care of you, I promise,'" Mason claims.
But when Mason woke up from surgery, she says she did not get what she paid for. Mason said Dr. Omulepu performed a tummy tuck instead of a Brazilian Butt Lift.
He (Dr. Omulepu) said, 'I changed it, I thought you would rather wake up skinny and you already have a really nice tight [expletive],'" claimed Mason.
Crystal Heath of Chicago claimed the same thing happened to her with the same doctor. She went in for a Brazilian Butt Lift and the doctor performed a tummy tuck instead.
"Im like, a tummy tuck? I didnt need a tummy tuck I paid for a Brazilian Butt Lift," Heath said. "This is ridiculous."
Both women claim not only did the doctor perform the wrong surgery, they said he left them with large holes in their stomachs after cutting them from hip to hip.
"He scarred me for life and he made me not feel like the woman I once was," said Mason.
The upcoming state hearing could result in the doctor losing his medical license. Again, its taking place not because of what Mason and Heath claimed happened to them, but because four other women filed complaints that the doctors procedures landed them in the hospital last year.
Various patients will be speaking and presenting their stories in front of an administrative judge, and Dr. Omulepus attorney and his experts will be presenting their side of the case as well.
In documents filed with the State, the doctors attorney said the complications were covered with the informed consent signed by the patient and also stated because a "complication occurs, that does not indicate he deviated from the standard of care." The doctors attorney also stated Dr. Omulepu has performed more than 5,000 fat transfer procedures without a single incident prior to or since the cases at issue."
In email to the NBC 6 Investigators, Dr. Omulepus attorney Monica Rodriguez stated in part, "Dr. Omulepu, after a year and a half, finally has a chance to defend himself against the allegations being made against him and went on to state He remains committed to the compassionate care of his patients.
Nicola Mason said she has created an online group for patients to connect. She said she finds comfort in knowing shes not alone.
Nobody wants to say Hey, I had plastic surgery and it didnt work and it happened to me, said Mason. Nobody wants to be that poster child but somebody has to do it, she said.
An administrative judge will make a recommendation whether to take action against the doctors license. The recommendation will then be considered by Floridas Medical Board later this year.
The NBC 6 Investigators will cover Omulepus hearing and update this story.
Seven months after the I-Team revealed how New York refers injured workers to physicians who wont help them, the state continues to operate a website that falsely lists dozens of doctors as workers compensation participants.
I couldnt get help from anybody, said George Akturk, an injured supermarket worker who tried to find an eye surgeon on the New York Workers Compensation health provider search website. Akturk, who injured his eye after falling off a ladder, said he combed the states website, but no ophthalmologist would agree to perform the macular pucker surgery he needed to restore his vision.
In March, the I-Team called more than 60 ophthalmologists listed on the health provider search. More than two-thirds of attendants who answered the phones said their doctors would not treat injured workers who rely on workers comp insurance.
The I-Team shared those results with New Yorks workers compensation board but seven months later, most of those non-participating doctors are still listed as participants in the health provider search.
Brian Keegan, a spokesman for the workers compensation board, did not answer specific questions about the false referrals, instead issuing a general statement.
The Board continuously reviews the list of providers to ensure that injured workers have access to needed care, Keegan wrote. He added that injured workers who have trouble finding medical help can email WCBMedicalDirectorsOffice@wcb.ny.gov or call (800) 781-2362.
Ultimately, George Akturk did find an eye surgeon. But he gives no thanks to Albany.
He thanks the I-Team.
What you did for me was a miracle, Akturk said.
After reaching out to several experts on New Yorks workers compensation program, the I-Team was able to connect Akturk with Dr. Benjamin Chang, an eye surgeon who operates out of Long Island and Manhattan. Chang is one of the few retina specialists who accepts workers' compensation in the New York City region.
Im grateful that Im able to help George, Chang said.
But Chang expressed worry that the states workers compensation website may have led his patient into a bureaucratic runaround.
My concern now is, if it took him a year to find a retina specialist to do macular pucker surgery, what if you needed neurosurgery? God forbid. You can't wait a year for something like that.
What to Know Eric Garner died on July 17, 2014 after being put in a police chokehold
A New York grand jury declined to indict the officer on criminal charges
Federal officials have been investigating whether there is sufficient evidence to bring civil rights charges
The Justice Department has overhauled the New York-based team probing the death of Eric Garner over a difference in opinion between officials in the city and in Washington on whether civil rights charges should be brought on the federal level, officials familiar with the case told The New York Times.
Garner, 43, died on July 17, 2014 after being put in a chokehold on a Staten Island street corner by an NYPD officer after he was stopped for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. The chokehold was captured on video, which showed him calling out "I can't breathe" as he was held down. Garner's dying words became a rallying cry at protests nationwide over police killings of black men amid a nationwide debate over police use of force.
Federal authorities have been investigating whether there's evidence to warrant charges that the officers who confronted Garner deliberately violated his civil rights. But, according to the Times, the investigation has been slowed by disagreement between federal officials in New York and Washington. According to the Times, those investigating the case in New York recommended against bringing federal civil rights charges. Officials in Washington, however, thought there was sufficient evidence to do so.
In a rare shake-up, the Justice Department moved to switch out the investigative team in recent weeks, according to the Times, moving federal prosecutors in Brooklyn off the case and bringing in FBI agents from outside New York to take a fresh look at the evidence.
To bring charges in the Garner case, prosecutors would have to convince a federal grand jury that a crime occurred, according to the Times. That poses additional challenges in the wake of a New York grand jury's 2014 decision not to indict Pantaleo, who remains on desk duty, stripped of his gun and badge, while police officials await the results of the federal probe.
The city medical examiner found the chokehold by Pantaleo contributed to Garner's death. Chokeholds are banned under NYPD policy, but Pantaleo's lawyer said the officer had used a permissible takedown maneuver known as a seatbelt. Pantaleo's attorney has maintained his client didn't violate Garner's civil rights and that he was performing his duties, which he was trained to do.
Pat Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, called the investigative shake-up "highly unusual and deeply troubling."
"Two separate investigative teams have already spent more than two years reviewing the evidence in this case, without any action. Now, it appears that they are taking a third bite at the apple in an effort to reach a predetermined outcome," Lynch said in a statement. "It is time to end this fishing expedition and let Police Officer Pantaleo move forward.
Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department responded to the Times' request for comment.
Over the summer, on the second anniversary of Garner's death, Garner's sister, Ellisha Garner, said the years-long wait for the Justice Department to conclude its probe has been trying on the family, but that they'd wait as long as it takes to get justice.
Garner's family reached a $5.9 million settlement with the city last year, but relatives said it was not a victory, adding they would keep pushing for federal charges.
According to the Times, any movement in the federal case is likely months away.
What to Know Shirlene Quigley's father says she was last seen at Port Authority Bus Terminal early Sunday
The father, who lives in California, says his daughter always calls him at 6 p.m. each day; he was concerned when he hadn't heard from her
Quigley's phone was found at a bridal store in Manhattan
Police in New Jersey say they've found the 32-year-old backup dancer from New Jersey who vanished near the Port Authority Bus Terminal over the weekend after making a cryptic comment to friends.
North Bergen Police said in an Instagram post Tuesday evening that Shirlene Quigley has been found safe with the help of NYPD. She was at an undisclosed medical facility, and her father was en route from Los Angeles to reunite with her, police said.
Rihanna and Missy Elliot had posted emotional pleas on Instagram for information on the whereabouts of Quigley, who has also performed with Beyonce.
Calling Quigley a "beautiful soul," Rihanna wrote, "My heart aches thinking of how heavy this is on all who love her!" The Instagram post included a video of the missing woman contemplating peace and love.
"Those who have met her know her spirit is always bubbly and kind & uplifting energy! Sending countless prayers," wrote Missy Elliot.
Quigley, who lives alone in North Bergen and teaches dance at Peridance Capezio Center and Broadway Dance Center in Manhattan, according to her Facebook page, was last seen getting on a bus at Port Authority around 1 a.m. Sunday, her father said.
Police are looking for 32-year-old Shirlene Quigley, a dancer from North Bergen. She has danced with Beyonce and Rihanna, among others. Missy Elliott posted photos of Quigley on her Instagram account and called her a sweet, caring spirit. Quigleys father, who last spoke to her on Friday, said shes everything to me, shes why I live.
Her father, who lives in California, said Quigley normally calls him every day around 6 p.m., and he became concerned when he hadn't heard from her.
"I just want her to come home, or if someone has her to let her be," the father said. "She's everything to me. She's why I live."
Police say Quigley's phone was found at a bridal store in Chelsea; her father says she could've been there to pick up something for a show.
Quigley's father said his daughter made a strange comment to her friend recently along the lines of "Get ready, it's about to happen and I'm going to need you to sub for me."
Quigley attended Liberty Church in Brooklyn; her father says that she is very religious, and that lately she has seemed "euphoric."
Her landlord saw her leave her New Jersey home Saturday afternoon and later called a friend to say Quigley did not seem well, the friend said.
According to her personal website, Quigley's dance career launched when she was 18 and earned a role as one of the "uhh ohh girls" on Beyonce's "Crazy in Love" music video. She has performed on an array of awards shows, including the VMA's, Grammy's and ESPY Awards.
Quigley created the first high heel dance class at a studio in her hometown of Los Angeles and later brought the workshop to New York City. She has also taught at dance studios around the world, her website says.
What to Know A woman is seeking $20 million in damages from KFC over false advertising, according to reports
The Hudson Valley resident says that ads show KFC buckets "overflowing with chicken" but that the real menu item has "half a bucket"
KFC has called the lawsuit "meritless"
A New York woman is suing fast food giant KFC for millions of dollars because her $20 bucket wasn't filled to the brim with chicken as seen in the company's ads, according to reports.
"They're showing a bucket that's overflowing with chicken," 64-year-old Anna Wurtzburger told the New York Post. "You get half a bucket! That's false advertising and it doesn't feed the whole family. They're small pieces!"
Wurtzburger says the buckets of chicken KFC sells do not reflect the chain's advertisements and she's seeking $20 million in damages, the Post reported.
When Wurtzburger phoned KFC's headquarters in Georgia, she was reportedly told that the chicken is shown prominently in the ads "so that the public could see the chicken."
The chain sent her two gift certificates, but Wurtzburger returned them, according to the Post. Her attorney did not immediately return a request from comment from NBC.
In the lawsuit, the 64-year-old Hopewell Junction resident is reportedly demanding that KFC change its advertising.
KFC said the lawsuit was "meritless," according to the Post and confirmed by a KFC spokesperson, who told NBC in an email that the company will ask the court to dismiss the case.
"The guest received exactly what she requested. She purchased an eight-piece bucket of chicken and she indeed received eight pieces of chicken. Our menus and advertising clearly show our $20 Fill Up meal includes eight pieces of chicken," the representative said.
Wurtzburger told the Post about a new advertising idea she has for KFC. It evoked the movie "Oliver": "It was about the little boy growing up in the orphanages and he was hungry and he goes to the man, 'Can I have some more?'"
An 18-year-old student at a Manhattan high school has been arrested for allegedly punching his principal multiple times in the face after he was asked to take off his headphones, authorities say.
According to the Post, the fracas began when Matthew Tossman, principal at Manhattan Early College School for Advertising, which is inside Murry Bergtraum High School on Pearl Street, encountered Luis Penzo in the hallway, his headphones blasting, early Monday afternoon.
Tossman asked Penzo to remove the headphones. At some point, the headphones ended up on the ground and the principal went to pick them up. Then he was attacked.
The principal was treated at a hospital for swelling and lacerations around the eyes, the Post reported.
The Department of Education said in a statement the NYPD "immediately responded to a concerning incident" at the school. Education officials went on to say the safety of students and staff is the top priority, and that its investigation into Monday's altercation is ongoing.
Police say Penzo has two prior arrests. One is for assault; he allegedly punched someone after the two got into a car accident. The other case is sealed.
Family members have identified an artist who was killed Monday when the scaffolding he was on collapsed at a Hollywood building while he was assisting with a mural painting.
Raymond Brown was originally from New Jersey and had worked at Perez Art Museum in Miami since it opened in 2013, family members and PAMM officials said Tuesday.
"Hard to speak right now. Our son was our entire life. He loved his work. He loved his adopted home in South Florida and he loved his many friends within Miami's art community. We are devastated," his family said in a statement.
Brown was assisting a mural artist at the Hyde Resorts and Residence off Ocean Drive in Hollywood when the scaffolding they were on collapsed 40 feet from the side of the building.
Brown and another victim were rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital where he later died. The third victim was held in place by a safety harness and survived with minor injuries.
Police on Tuesday identified the other two victims as 36-year-old Douglas Hoekzema of Boca Raton and 36-year-old Jonathan Olsen of Miami.
"Our PAMMily is heartbroken to hear of the passing of Raymond Brown. Ray was a beloved core member of our art handling prep team. He was a talented artist and musician with a great attitude. Hardworking and dependable, Ray began working with PAMM in 2013 to help open our building. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time," PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans said in a statement.
Investigators from Hollywood Police, Fire Inspectors and OSHA are working to determine what caused the collapse.
Police are searching for a man accused of stealing a car with a child inside in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia Monday night.
A 26-year-old woman told police she had parked her car in the parking lot of a bank on the 6500 block of Frankford Avenue shortly before 9 p.m. The woman got out of the car to go to the ATM and left her 6-year-old son in the backseat. That's when a thief ran into the car and drove off.
"While she was working on the ATM doing a transaction she heard her car speed off," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small. "That's when she immediately screamed and notified police."
Sean MacCartney, who witnessed the theft, followed the suspect as he fled the scene. The suspect drove about two blocks before he stopped the vehicle on the 6400 block of Charles Street, let the child out and then fled from the scene on foot.
"The way he was driving I knew he was gonna wreck," said MacCartney. "So I figured I'd get him in five blocks. When I hit the car in gear and I went down Charles he already probably looked in the rearview, saw a kid and ripped it over to the side and jumped out. And I was right there, got the kid and ran him to his mom and [the suspect] went into the shadows."
The boy, who was not hurt, was reunited with his mother. Small said the suspect stole the woman's wallet that contained her ID and cash.
While the woman did not see the suspect, police say he was captured on surveillance video from nearby homes. The suspect is described as a white male wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black pants and white sneakers. He was last seen running east through a driveway off the 6400 block of Charles Street.
"Not only is this individual looking at being charged with auto theft but due to the fact that there was a 6-year-old boy and he drove two blocks, he's also looking at charges of kidnapping," said Small.
If you have any information on the suspect's identity, please call Philadelphia Police.
Philadelphia detectives have released a surveillance picture of the metal thief they say destroyed a staircase outside the Union League during the heist.
Several different security cameras captured the man walking around the neighborhood with the curved brass railing, which he ripped off the historic club's main entrance early Monday morning.
Police said the man pulled the railing from the front-side stone steps causing the masonry banister and balusters to collapse. Video showing the actual theft was not released.
Philadelphia Police Department
Built in 1865, the Union League is a national historic landmark.
The man could be seen wrapping up the brass railing in a cloth tarp before wheeling it away on a cart.
He's believed to be 40-50 years old, has a thin build and was wearing jeans and a dark hooded jacket. Anyone with information is asked to call 215.686.TIPS.
A thief damaged the historic stairs at the Union League in Center City. NBC10s Lauren Mayk has more on the vandal who was caught on camera.
Prince Albert II of Monaco was in Philadelphia on Tuesday inspecting a house he recently bought: the home where his mother, Oscar-winning actress Grace Kelly, grew up and accepted a marriage proposal from his father, Prince Rainier III.
Albert spent nearly an hour inside the home and walking around the property, which he bought for $754,000. He waved to a handful of fans lined up on the sidewalk across the street from the home but made no public statements.
His cousin John B. Kelly III attended the inspection with him and said afterward the prince is still considering ideas about what to do with the 2.5-story Colonial home.
Kelly said it's possible the home could house the U.S. office of the prince's charitable foundation, which focuses on environmental issues. He said they were also discussing ways the space could be used to showcase interests that Princess Grace held dear, like fashion, Irish literature, drama and athletics. But opening it as a full-time museum is unlikely, adding, "If it was successful, the neighbors wouldn't like us very much."
For now, they are focusing on getting the home back in good condition while discussing ideas for its use.
Kelly said they spent the time inside the house Tuesday reminiscing about parties and "hanging out in the garage."
The home was built in 1935 by Grace Kelly's father, John B. Kelly. He was a three-time Olympic gold medal-winning rower in the 1920s and later a prominent businessman active in Philadelphia politics.
Grace Kelly left Philadelphia at age 20 for Hollywood but remained adored by Philadelphians through the years. The city mourned after she died in 1982 from injuries she suffered in a car crash in France that involved her teenage daughter. She was 52.
Once asked about memories growing up in Philadelphia, Kelly recalled walking along the Wissahickon Creek in Fairmount Park, saying it was her "greatest treat."
Her childhood home last made headlines in 2014 when its 81-year-old former owner pleaded no contest to animal cruelty charges for keeping cats and dogs in unsanitary conditions. Officials with the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals seized 15 cats from the home and found the remains of several others. The owner had lived in the large brick house since 1973.
John Kelly said Prince Albert had wanted to buy the home for a few years, but it hadn't been on the market until now.
"It's been his idea and he really wanted to do this to preserve his mother's house, so he's very happy right now," Kelly said.
The teenager who surrendered to Philadelphia police Saturday for the alleged robbery attempt and subsequent shooting in Rittenhouse Square has been identified as a nearby resident.
Mehdi Fraiji, 17, of South 15th Street near Christian Street, has been charged as an adult in the shooting of a 39-year-old bicyclist who tried to break up an alleged robbery in the center of the downtown park last Tuesday night.
He surrendered at 4 a.m. Saturday morning, police said.
A Good Samaritan was shot trying to break up a robbery in Rittenhouse Square. NBC10s Cydney Long has new information about the incident.
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition for four bullet wounds to the mid-section, Chief Inspector Scott Small said. He was expected to survive, Small said at the time.
A 39-year old man tried to stop a robbery on Tuesday night in Rittenhouse Square, said Philadelphia Police. The search for suspects continued Wednesday morning.
Police gave an updated account of the alleged attempted robbery-turned-violent in a statement announcing Fraiji's identity and charges.
The teen and at least one other male robbery approached two people in Rittenhouse Square and announced that it was a robbery. The victim then intervened. That's when Fraiji allegedly took a gun that another robber was holding and shot the victim.
The alleged robbers then fled without taking anything from the victims. They were last seen running toward 19th and Walnut streets.
A 39-year-old man was shot four times after telling two gunmen to stop robbing a group inside Rittenhouse Square, the popular Center City park that was crowded on a warm October night. Police were still looking for two suspects as well as the three to five victims of the initial robbery.
Witnesses to the shooting, which occurred at the park along Walnut Street between 18th and 19th streets, took to social media to say gunshots could be heard from sidewalk cafes lining the park. Video from some passersby showed crowded dinner tables on the warm October night.
Chaos in Rittenhouse Square. Apparent gunshots. I heard about 5 shots. People ran for their lives. @PhillyPolice showed up very quickly. Greg Berry (@gregmberry) October 19, 2016
Police Lt. John Stanford said police issued a warrant for the arrest of a 17-year-old. Officials said the teen's parents cooperated in the investigation.
The robbery victims know each other and cooperated with the investigation, Stanford said.
Iraqi forces battled Islamic State fighters for a third day in a remote western town far from Mosul on Tuesday, but the U.S.-led coalition insisted the latest in a series of "spoiler attacks" had not forced it to divert resources from the fight to retake Iraq's second-largest city.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi acknowledged that the militants briefly seized the local government headquarters in the western town of Rutba, offering new details about the assault, which U.S. and Iraqi officials have sought to downplay since it began on Sunday.
The White House envoy to the U.S.-led coalition battling IS insisted the militants' strategy was failing, saying there had been "no diversion whatsoever" of forces taking part in the Mosul operation, which is expected to take weeks, if not months.
"Daesh is trying to launch spoiler attacks," Brett McGurk told reporters at a Baghdad news conference, using the Arabic acronym for IS. "This was expected, it's planned for, and we can expect more of it."
The complex assault on Rutba, located hundreds of miles (kilometers) south of Mosul, is just the latest IS attempt to try to divert Iraqi military resources from the fight for the militants' last major urban bastion in Iraq. Last week the group launched a similar attack in and around the northern city of Kirkuk, some 100 miles (170 kilometers) southeast of Mosul, igniting gun battles that lasted two days and killed at least 80 people.
McGurk said the militant attacks on Rutba were carried out by "small, isolated teams" and were "easily defeatable." But he acknowledged there was still a "small Daesh presence" in two neighborhoods.
The Iraqi military has insisted throughout the Rutba assault that the situation is under control, without offering further details.
Al-Abadi acknowledged Tuesday the militants did have some initial battlefield successes at the start of the offensive Sunday. "They took control, it's true, of the municipal headquarters," the Iraqi prime minister told reporters. But he said Iraqi security forces drove them out "within hours" and had regained control of the town.
However, Rajeh Barakat, an Anbar provincial councilman who sits on the security committee, said earlier Tuesday that IS fighters were still clashing with security forces in two southern neighborhoods of Rutba.
"We have reports saying the militants killed some civilians and members of the security forces, but we don't know how many," he said.
Near Mosul, fighting continued Tuesday in a belt of villages and towns to the north, east and south of the city. Maj. Gen. Haider Fadhil said the Iraqi special forces had reached a village some four miles (six kilometers) from the eastern edge of Mosul.
Around 335 civilians were evacuated to a refugee camp from the village of Tob Zawa, about nine kilometers (5 miles) from Mosul, which was retaken by special forces on Monday, Fadhil said. He said the civilians were relocated to protect them from possible IS shelling.
Among them was Ezzat Shaheen, who drove his car along with his wife and some of his 10 children. Others were left behind to take care of their land and cattle.
"To be honest, our life (under IS) was good," the 55-year-old Shaheen said. "There was justice. There were clear principles such as don't shave your beard and pray in the mosque."
"If you don't violate them, no one will (bother) you," added Shaheen, who sported a full white beard.
Others who have escaped the Mosul area have described harsh conditions under militant rule, saying the fighters imposed religious and military training on children and forced people to attend daily prayers.
Abdeljabar Antar, who was among those evacuated from Tob Zawa along with his wife and four children, said the IS militants had included foreign fighters "who spoke languages I don't know Russians, Pakistanis."
In the days before the offensive, Antar said the village ran low on food and supplies, and residents had to get permission from IS to leave.
"I hope life will return to the way it was before 2014," he said, referring to the summer when IS militants swept across northern and central Iraq, capturing Mosul and surrounding towns.
The IS-run Aamaq news agency, meanwhile, released a video purporting to show a missile attack on an Iraqi Abrams tank near Qayara, to the south of Mosul. The footage, which carried a date stamp indicating it was shot Monday, showed what appeared to be a shoulder-fired missile hurtling toward the tank from behind at fairly close range, blowing it up and igniting a massive fireball.
The U.S.-led coalition, which has been carrying out airstrikes in support of the Mosul operation, said five on Monday destroyed 22 fighting positions, eight tunnels and nine vehicles, one of which was rigged with explosives.
The U.S. is also providing ground support, with more than 100 American soldiers embedded with Iraqi units and hundreds more working in staging bases. A U.S. soldier taking part in the operation was killed by a roadside bomb last week.
What to Know Two young boys are expected to recover after their father jumped into the Wanaque River from a bridge while holding them
The father apparently had a domestic dispute with his wife before he decided to leap from the bridge
Police said that they don't have a history with the family and that the boys will be released into the custody of their mother
Two boys are recovering from serious injuries they sustained when their father grabbed them and plunged about 100 feet from a highway bridge onto a wooded embankment following a domestic dispute with his wife, New Jersey State Police said.
The 1-year-old and 3-year-old boys were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital Monday night after their father, identified as John Spincken, jumped off the bridge over the Wanaque River with his children in his arms. Spincken died.
State troopers were called to Interstate 287 near mile marker 56 about 8 p.m. after getting reports from a local police department about the suicidal father.
Police said Spincken was arguing with his wife and that he threatened to harm himself and his children before taking off with the boys in his SUV. The wife called 911 and police used the GPS in Spincken's cellphone to track him within a 2,000 square foot radius.
Searchers found the man and his sons in the woods near the river, troopers said. Spincken was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police found the father's SUV near the bridge. They believe he climbed on top of the vehicle and scaled the "suicide prevention fence" on 287 before he jumped. He and the two boys hit the embankment below.
On Tuesday morning, Pequannock Captain Christopher DePuyt called the boys' expected recovery "a miracle."
One of the boys suffered a collapsed lung and the other boy had a concussion, according to police. They are recovering in the intensive care unit.
A community group left teddy bears outside the boys' home Tuesday, while neighbors and friends wondered why Spincken tried to hurt his kids.
"Something reallyr had to go wrong," said neighbor Abe Balasis. "They looked loving, they really did. But you really don't know what goes on behind closed doors."
DePuyt said that his department didn't have a history with the family before Monday night's domestic dispute and that the children will be released into the custody of their mother.
A vehicle carrying marijuana-laced candy caught fire on the Delaware Memorial Bridge Sunday, causing lane closures and a massive backup.
The Weed World Candies truck was traveling from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia when it caught fire on the northbound side of the bridge around 6 p.m. Two northbound lanes were closed, causing heavy traffic as firefighters responded.
Fire on the Delaware Memorial Bridge from about 35 minutes ago #netde pic.twitter.com/CvPgcLty5b Kim Turner (@KimTurnerInDE) October 23, 2016
Firefighters were eventually able to bring the flames under control and no injuries were reported, according to bridge authority officials.
Weed World Candies is an organization that launched in 1999 that uses tour vehicles to promote the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana. The company also sells marijuana-laced candy.
"Dr. Dro," the owner of 'Weed World Candies,' told NBC10 in Philadelphia that more than $50,000 in merchandise was lost in the fire. The company is visiting colleges on the East Coast.
A father and son were held at gunpoint in Encinitas Monday as a man on the run from deputies carjacked their vehicle and led officials on a high-speed pursuit. The gunman was eventually shot by a deputy and taken into custody, the San Diego Sheriff's Department (SDSO) confirmed.
Joseph Ramos, 35, was spotted on Orchard Wood Road after deputies got reports of a residential burglary around 2:30 p.m., according to SDSO Lt. Ken Nelson.
Ramos was a documented gang member who was wanted on a felony warrant in connection with a string of burglaries involving stolen guns, Nelson said.
"They saw him acting suspiciously and believed he may be getting ready to commit another residential burglary, so they tried to intercede," Nelson said, speaking of the deputies who had attempted to stop Ramos.
When deputies attempted to make an arrest, Ramos took off in his truck, leading them on a pursuit. Due to dangerous speeds and road conditions, SDSO called off the pursuit and followed Ramos from a distance.
Ramos abandoned his truck at Rancho Sante Fe Road and Manchester Avenue and carjacked a two-door Scion in a nearby parking lot. A 27-year old man was buckling his seven-year old son into a backseat when he was forced to drive off, deputies said.
Nelson told NBC 7 that Ramos led deputies on a pursuit onto North Coast Highway 101, driving for about 12 miles before being stopped by a deputy. The pursuit ended on the 1500 block of Leucadia Boulevard near N Vulcan Avenue. The car stopped in front of Bar Leucadian where Ramos got out and allegedly pointed a gun at the deputy.
The deputy then fired several rounds at Ramos, hitting him twice. Ramos suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital.
"He came out of the passenger side of the vehicle and took off running. A sheriff's deputy came out, was yelling, telling him to stop," said Jennifer Cushing.
She told NBC 7 she witnessed the incident from about 30 feet away while she was out delivering pizza at Bar Leucadian.
"He was kind of flipping from his stomach to his back," Cushing said, describing the moments after Ramos was shot. "He was yelling cuss words and he was shouting at the top of his lungs."
SDSO says Ramos will be booked into jail once he is released from the hospital.
Nelson said the carjacking victim and his son were scared but unhurt.
Carlsbad Police issued a traffic alert for the area around 3:45 p.m. southbound Carlsbad Boulevard at La Costa Avenue was shut down.
TRAFFIC ALERT - Southbound Carlsbad Blvd closed at La Costa Ave due to incident in Encinitas, please choose alternate route. Carlsbad Police (@CarlsbadPolice) October 24, 2016
The North County Transit also issued a service alert, saying there would up to a two-hour delay for the Coaster. Service between Poinsettia Lane and Encinitas Boulevard was suspended.
Just after 5 p.m., the Coaster was back in service, heading to Poinsettia Station where a bus then departed to Encinitas.
Employees at an Autozone on Leucadia Boulevard told NBC 7 they did not see the incident, but saw a "flood" of deputies rush by.
#NCTDServiceAlert: Please expect delays up to two hours for COASTER service due to police activity. North County Transit (@GoNCTD) October 24, 2016
Detectives from the San Diego Homicide Detail and SDSO are investigating the incident.
No other information was immediately available.
An 87-year old woman was evacuated from a cruise ship by the local Coast Guard on Monday morning due to a medical emergency.
Coast Guard Sector San Diego was contacted around 12:45 a.m. by the crew of the Carnival Imagination that 87-year old passenger had fallen and injured her head. She was also experiencing seizures.
The ship was about 58 miles northwest of San Diego.
Around 3 a.m., the woman was evacuated off the cruise ship by crew aboard the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. She was then transported to UCSD Hillcrest Hospital.
The extent of her injuries is unknown.
An elderly man was killed at a La Jolla assisted living facility Tuesday when a vehicle crashed through the wall of his bedroom.
The victim, identified by San Diego Police as a 96-year-old man, was asleep in bed when the crash occurred at approximately 12:15 a.m. He suffered major injuries and died soon after the crash, police said.
The driver, 53, was ran the stop sign at Pearl and Olivetas streets and lost control of his car, police said. The 2004 Oldsmobile broke through an exterior wall and struck the elderly resident, police said.
An SDPD sergeant told NBC 7 the driver had a medical condition and was incoherent at the time of the crash. The departments traffic unit is still investigating to see if the driver was under the influence however it appears alcohol was not a factor.
Investigators said a U.S. Border Patrol agent was driving in the area and witnessed the collision.
The driver suffered minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated.
Students at local elementary schools are learning about the dangers and consequences of substance abuse and involvement with criminal activities such as gangs.
The United Stated Attorneys Office has launched a law-related program called Project LEAD at five schools within the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). The eight-week program teaches students to resist pressure to join gangs, drink or take drugs or participate in behaviors like bullying.
Students spend time in the classroom learning about the issues with volunteers from the U.S. Attorneys Office, federal prosecutors, administrative staff and the U.S. Coast Guard. There are approximately 270 fifth graders from nine different classes in the program.
Valencia Park, Johnson, Emerson-Bandini, Logan and St. Rita's elementary schools are participating in the program.
As part of the curriculum, the fifth graders participate in short skits, small-group activities and class discussions.
"We can't solve all of society's problems by prosecuting and incarcerating people," said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. "The best way to stop crime is to prevent it. This is a program that gives children the tools they need to choose a positive path for a productive, happy life. These fifth-graders will be our leaders in 20 years. There is no greater investment our society can make."
Project LEAD was brought to San Diego in 2012 by U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel from Los Angeles, where it had been implemented at 46 elementary schools.
"This program shows kids they can be anything they want to be a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, an architect anything," Curiel said.
Duffy said she hopes to increase the number of schools participating in the program next year.
A man who destroyed signs, tried to break windows with a fire extinguisher and smashed windows at a Hillcrest complex caused more than $20,000 in damages, in part at a local hospital, San Diego Police said.
The incident happened at 4:57 a.m. Tuesday when officers received a report of a man trying to break windows at a building on University Avenue between Fifth and Sixth Streets, police said.
When authorities arrived on scene, they saw a man, later identified as 24-year-old Nicholas Adler, destroying signs and trying to break windows with a fire extinguisher.
A security guard at the building showed NBC 7 some of the damage: smashed windows, bathroom signs ripped off, a broken door handle, doors smashed in, and broken potted plants.
Two of the smashed windows were at a local hospitals ICU, according to a security guard. The other damage was to officers and bathrooms on the fourth floor balcony.
Police said a security guard saw the suspect get down from the fourth floor by climbing down the side of the building.
When officers tried to arrest him, he fled the scene. Adler was ultimately bitten and apprehended by a K-9 unit.
Adler was at a local hospital for treatment; he was booked into jail on charges of felony vandalism, resisting arrest, and being under influence of a controlled substance.
No other information was immediately available.
Estelle Schultz was born before women had the right to vote, and she's hoping she will soon see the first woman president take office.
Schultz, a 98-year-old Rockville, Maryland, resident recently cast her vote for Hillary Clinton.
"I'm very thrilled to be able to be alive at this crucial election," she told News4.
The great-grandmother said she never thought she would see the day a woman was so close to being voted into the White House. Schultz was born in 1918, two years before women across the United States got the vote in 1920.
"I think it's the most exciting thing that can happen to women anywhere, anytime," she said.
Schultz's daughter and granddaughter started a website called I Waited 96 Years! that is collecting the stories of women in their 90s or older who are casting their votes for Clinton. As of Monday evening, the site had stories and photos from nearly 20 women.
I am looking forward to the first female U.S. President. I believe Hillary will do an excellent job as president not because she is a woman but because she is most qualified," a 102-year-old Arizona woman, Geraldine "Jerry" Emmett, is quoted as saying.
"I can't say how proud I am to get to vote for her," a 96-year-old Pennsylvania woman, Alice Siegel, is quoted as saying.
Schultz, a New York native, retired 20 years ago as an assistant schools superintendent in Compton, California. She reads the paper every day and keeps up with every twist and turn of the presidential race.
On one wall of her home hangs a photo of her as a 1-year-old, taken one year before women could vote.
"If you have the privilege, grab it," she said.
Its not unusual to hear candidates on the campaign trail pushing potential voters to their websites for donations or more information, but how do you know the site youre visiting is safe and secure? Jonathan Lampe, the founder of Cybertical, says that can vary from campaign to campaign.
Lampes whats called a "white hatter," a cyber expert working to improve security. The trouble with most of these templates is they do not take into account security," he told the News4 I-Team. "So, they get the site up and then they stop. In 10 seconds I know [the] version he's using, potentially some vulnerabilities on the site."
Lampe examined and graded current presidential candidate sites on their potential for being hacked. He said most of the campaigns made the easy security fixes after he contacted them by March of this year. But he showed the I-Team a potential "phishing" risk remains on www.hillaryclinton.com. Lampe demonstrated how anyone who has signed up with an account can send out invites to people from the official site for events supporting the candidate. But a person who wanted to do harm could also include malware or links for people to click on, Lampe said.
"Its the best bait for a phisher because its official, he said.
The I-Team reached out to the Clinton campaign but did not hear back.
Lampe has looked at more than just presidential candidate sites. When he was recently in town for a security conference, the I-Team asked him to check out other big races in the D.C. area. He graded them based on whether they had basic protections, updated security features and how easily usernames running the site were attainable to would-be hackers. "If they find usernames, they can get into the site. They can change any of the usernames, and potentially, they can upload malware onto the site which allows them to steal everything else that passes through that site," explained Lampe.
Lampe gave two campaigns his highest grade of A: Virginia's 10th Congressional District Democratic candidate LuAnn Bennett and Maryland's U.S. Senate Republican candidate Kathy Szeliga.
Your supporters need to be able to trust you and know that in leadership, you take that very seriously," Szeliga said. "One of the first things we did was make sure that the company we hired prioritized security."
Matt Proud, with Strategic Partners and Media, is the developer behind Szeligas site. Every morning we sit down, we go through everything just to make sure people havent gained access to things theyre not supposed to. But its something that, every day, we see that there are new vulnerabilities that are discovered, said Proud.
Two sites Lampe checked out were graded with a B: Republican Virginia 10th Congressional District incumbent Rep. Barbara Comstock's site and Maryland's Amie Hoeber, the Republican candidate for the 6th District. Lampe said each had some protections. But he said he was still able to get a list of usernames. Lampe said if he was an actual hacker, I would take 5,000 or 10,000 of my favorite passwords; I would try those passwords against the administrators account until I got in."
Two sites Lampe researched got his lowest grade of D, including Maryland Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Rep. Chris Van Hollen.
Lampe said he easily found 10 usernames and logins and vulnerabilities that might allow an attacker to upload files through the website. "They can deface the campaign's website. That's bad. However, there have also been serious cases where people have used legitimate websites as a backchannel to traffic illegal files," said Lampe. He said he found the same potential risk on the site for two-term incumbent Democrat Rep. John Delaney in Maryland's 6th District.
The I-Team reached out to all the campaigns. A spokesman for Congressman Delaney said, Congressman Delaney takes cybersecurity seriously and is always open to ways to improve it. We have hosted multiple events in the district on identity theft, fraud and cybersecurity. We update our campaign websites security features regularly and do not store any personal or financial information on the campaign website. We are not clear of the scope of this vendor's analysis or what the aim of his work was so it is hard for us to comment more specifically on these claims. Van Hollen's campaign said, "We are currently undertaking a regular upgrade to our website, including its security features."
A 23-year-old male Andean bear named Cisco died Monday during an emergency veterinary exam, according to the Smithsonians National Zoo.
Zoo officials said an exam showed Cisco had large amounts of liquid in his lungs and abnormal soft-tissue masses in his chest cavity, resulting in difficulty breathing. While performing a procedure to remove the fluid, Cisco went into cardiopulmonary arrest.
Veterinarians, due to Ciscos grave prognosis, made the decision not to resuscitate him and let him humanely pass pain free and quietly.
Cisco was important to the Andean bear population living in zoos, said Craig Saffoe, curator of Andean bears at the Smithsonians National Zoo. Having come to the National Zoo at 20 years old, he proved that older male Andean bears are quite capable of producing offspring."
"He helped us learn more about Andean bears, and we are sharing everything we have learned about their husbandry, breeding, nutrition and veterinary care from him and our other bears with colleagues in other zoos and in Peru to help the species.
Male Andean bears in human care, on average, live into their early 20s. A final pathology report will provide more details in the coming weeks.
Born in 1993 at the Calgary Zoo, Cisco came to the National Zoo on loan from the Queens Zoo in New York in September 2013. During his time at the National Zoo, he sired two male cubs born in November 2014. Those cubs, Mayni and Muniri, now live at Nashville Zoo.
Andean bears, also known as spectacled bears, are South Americas only bear species. As their name suggests, they live in the Andes and outlying mountain ranges. Andean bears are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Natures Red List of Threatened Species, and it is estimated that there are only 2,000 left in the wild.
The Zoos adult female bear, Billie Jean, can be seen at the Andean bear exhibit.
A judge has decided to allow the sale of a Washington nursing home despite opponents arguing that that the sale violates a law requiring landlords to give tenants rights of first refusal before selling the property.
District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert Rigsby ruled that the Washington Home is not subject to that law because nursing facilities are fundamentally different than housing accommodations.
Washington Home CEO Tim Cox says the nursing home will continue to care for the 24 residents currently at the facility and will work to safely discharge them into other facilities.
The nursing home is scheduled to close on Dec. 15. It will be sold to Sidwell Friends School for $32.5 million.
The Sidwell Friends Lower School campus is located in Bethesda, Maryland, while the middle school and upper school are located in Northwest D.C.
The sale will allow Sidwell to consolidate onto a single campus in the District.
Montgomery County police said a man was shot and killed after someone entered a Gaithersburg, Maryland, home late Monday night.
Police and emergency crews were called to the 7900 block of Muncaster Mill Road just before 10 p.m. Detectives said two men entered the home through an unlocked back door and one of them shot the victim before fleeing the scene.
The victim was identified as Ronald Michael Lone III, 23, of Gaitherburg. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators said the two men were dressed in dark clothing and had their faces concealed. They said they do not believe the home invasion was a random act.
There were multiple people in the home at the time of the shooting, but no one else was injured.
Gunfire in northwest Washington early Sunday morning damaged homes, a Jeep, and forced some residents to duck down for safety in their homes.
Bullet holes riddled the first and second floors of homes, as well as a Jeep Grand Cherokee, in the 800 block of Crittenden Street, Northwest. D.C. police said the shooting occurred just after midnight Sunday, and they have provided a portable light tower for the block.
The Jeeps owner said one bullet went through the bedroom window of his great-grandson, 3. He said the boy was in the living room at the time, where a family celebration had been taking place earlier that evening.
Three weeks ago, police said a man was shot in the 700 block of Crittenden Street, Northwest. The victim ran to a Metro bus stop on nearby Georgia Avenue, where he collapsed. He survived his injury.
Police have not said whether there is a connection between the two shooting incidents.
Police say the woman found dead in a Rockville, Maryland, parking lot Monday was a 55-year-old Delaware resident.
Using fingerprint analysis, detectives identified the woman as Lori Denise Detwiler of Millsboro, Delaware, Montgomery County Police said Tuesday.
Detwiler was carrying no identification when she was found dead, police said.
A man found her body about 6:30 a.m. while on his way to the Twinbrook Metro station, in a parking lot near the fence at the rear of 12349 Parklawn Drive. The parking lot borders an apartment building, and residents often walk through the lot to reach the Metro station, police said.
There was no evidence of trauma to Detwiler's body, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined. Toxicology results are being processed.
Detectives are investigating this as a suspicious death. They're asking anyone with information to call police at 240-773-5070.
A man was shot multiple times at a Prince George's County mall Tuesday, and the suspect remains at large.
The victim was shot in a parking garage at The Shops at Iverson in Temple Hills, Maryland. He was walking with another man on a ramp near the mall's Burlington Coat Factory when he was shot.
The shooting did not appear to be random, Prince George's County Police said.
The victim was rushed to a trauma center. Police said his injuries didn't appear life-threatening.
The suspect ran from scene, police said.
There was a heavy police presence around the mall.
https://twitter.com/TraceeWilkins/status/790953789117390849
Hillcrest Heights Elementary School and Jessie B. Mason Regional School nearby were temporarily placed on lockdown out of an abundance of caution while police searched the area for the suspect. The lockdowns were lifted about 2 p.m.
A woman who answered the phone in the mall's management office about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday said the mall had not been evacuated.
The shopping center was formerly known as Iverson Mall.
Stay with NBCWashington.com for more on this developing story.
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday called for the Pentagon to immediately suspend efforts to recover enlistment bonuses paid to thousands of soldiers in California, even as the Pentagon said late Tuesday the number of soldiers affected was smaller than first believed.
"When those Californians answered the call to duty" to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, "they earned more from us than bureaucratic bungling and false promises," Ryan said. He urged the Pentagon to suspend collection efforts until "Congress has time ... to protect service members from lifelong liability for DOD's mistakes."
Ryan's comments came as the White House said President Barack Obama has warned the Defense Department not to "nickel and dime" service members who were victims of fraud by overzealous recruiters.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday he did not believe Obama would support a blanket waiver of repayments, but said CaliforniaNational Guard members should not be held responsible for "unethical conduct or fraud perpetrated by someone else."
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, meanwhile, promised to resolve a festering conflict that has lingered for a decade.
The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend that the Pentagon has demanded that some soldiers repay their enlistment bonuses after audits revealed overpayments by the California National Guard. Recruiters under pressure to fill ranks and hit enlistment goals at the height of the two wars improperly offered bonuses of $15,000 or more to soldiers who re-enlisted, the newspaper reported.
If soldiers refuse to pay the bonus back, they could face interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens.
The Pentagon said late Tuesday that it instructed at most 6,500 California Guard soldiers to repay the enlistment bonuses. That number is lower than a widely reported figure that nearly 10,000 soldiers have been told to repay part or all of their bonuses.
Defense Department spokesman Maj. Jamie Davis said an audit more than five years in the making concluded last month that 1,100 soldiers improperly received bonuses for which they were ineligible. Another 5,400 soldiers had erroneous paperwork that could have made them ineligible.
The California Guard said Tuesday it has collected about $22 million from fewer than 2,000 soldiers who improperly received bonuses and student loan aid.
Asked about the matter at a news conference Tuesday in Paris, Carter said the issue is complex and is being handled by the deputy secretary of defense, Robert Work.
"The first thing I want to say is that anybody who volunteers to serve in the armed forces of the United States deserves our gratitude and respect period," Carter said. Officials are going to look into the repayment problem "and resolve it," Carter added, but offered no details.
A defense authorization bill passed by the House would establish a statute of limitations on the military's ability to recover future overpayments and scrutinize existing cases of service member debt. House and Senate negotiators are trying to finalize the defense bill and pass it during the post-election, lame-duck session.
Ryan, R-Wis., called the bill an important step to establish a common standard for correcting accounting errors in the military.
Meanwhile, House and Senate oversight committees said they are investigating the California Guard's attempt to reclaim the re-enlistment bonuses.
The House Oversight Committee and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs asked the Guard to turn over documents and audits related to the decade-old payments.
The National Guard has said the bonuses were wrongly paid but its effort to reclaim them from thousands of soldiers and veterans in California and across the country has caused public outcry, including widespread criticism from members of Congress.
House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah and three other Republicans said in a letter that officials who mismanaged the bonus programs must be "held accountable." The lawmakers said Guard officials must turn over relevant documents by Nov. 7.
Senate Government Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said it was "simply unacceptable that the finest among us should be forced to pay literally for the mismanagement and errors perpetrated by theNational Guard leadership."
"Our soldiers deserve better and it's up to the Department of Defense and Congress to fix this," said Deborah Hoffman, a spokeswoman for California Gov. Jerry Brown.
Other states may have been affected, but "California is where the majority of this occurred," said National Guard Bureau spokeswoman Laura Ochoa.
Parking along some of Washington's busiest roads is about to get more difficult in an effort to make the drive through the District faster.
Gridlock has increased along Wisconsin and Connecticut avenues since the start of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Safetrack Program and the Beach Drive construction closure. In an effort to relieve some of the traffic pressure, the Department of Public Works will be increasing enforcement of parking violation, meaning more cars will be towed.
The region has already been struggling with additional traffic since Metros Safetrack rail closures. The closure of Beach Drive, a popular route for commuters from Montgomery County, has forced additional traffic onto already crowded arteries, like Wisconsin Avenue, Northwest, and Connecticut Avenue, Northwest.
We had traffic fairly well stabilized in the first few weeks, and then over the last week, things have been thrown out of balance because of some other situations with Metro, police activity, crashes, said District Department of Transportation Director Leif A. Dormsjo. Its a very fragile system.
Neil Albert, the former deputy mayor of D.C., knows how tough it is to manage traffic in the District. He currently represents businesses in the downtown area that are hoping officials manage to get a handle on the traffic problems.
As people try to leave the District of Columbia, and particularly in the downtown area, where we are standing, there is gridlock between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., 7 p.m., Albert said. I think something has to happen.
Dormsjo said the District is keenly aware of the problems and are working to ease the congestion.
I had a meeting earlier this week with senior city officials. One of the focus areas was Connecticut Avenue, principally with the parking enforcement, Dormsjo said. I think there are some things people should see in the coming weeks from DPW that should make sure that we are getting compliance in regard to the parking restrictions that we do have in place.
The plan is to add two additional tow trucks to the northwest section of Connecticut Avenue for the morning and afternoon/evening rush hours to tow cars off when they park illegally between the 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. extended time.
Since May 2016, they have issued 1,695 tickets, mostly along Connecticut Avenue, Northwest, and Wisconsin Avenue, Northwest, during that extended time. Many of those tickets were given to D.C. and Maryland drivers.
Construction crews working closing lanes during rush hours have also created more problems to throw the traffic flow out of balance.
Its not allowed, but weve got a lot of construction activity across the city, and we dont have an endless supply of inspectors," Dormsjo said. "We try to police that as closely as we can.
DDOT has 20 inspectors that sometimes cant get to construction crew violators fast enough when notified about a lane closure.
Keep in mind, the inspector is going to have to fight through the traffic as well," Dormsjo said. "But we were aware when (News4s) Tom Sherwood made sure that on Twitter we had a minute by minute reporting on what was going on up there.
Metro's SafeTrack program is scheduled to continue until at least April 2017. Construction on Beach Drive is expected to take several years, but it is being done in segments.
Two Massachusetts men have been charged in connection with the murder of a Maine man.
Maine State Police say 20-year-old Marcus Asante of Fitchburg and 27-year-old Darin Goulding, whose hometown was not immediately available, are currently being held on fugitive from justice charges in connection with the murder of Douglas Morin, 31.
Morin's body was found inside his car along a remote road in Sherman on Oct. 16. A cause of death has not been released.
Asante was taken into custody on an unrelated charge in Fitchburg on Friday, while Goulding was arrested on Tuesday in Leominster. Both will face murder charges when they're extradited to Maine. It's unclear if they have attorneys.
State police in Maine say state police in Massachusetts helped them with the investigation leading to arrests.
Morin's murder is still under investigation.
No other details were immediately released.
Two Norwich twins wanted for their suspected involvement in a bank robbery last month have been taken into custody in New York state, Connecticut state police said.
Police have felony arrest warrants for 50-year-old twins, Vince Rollins and Vance Coffin, in connection with a bank robbery at the Savings Institute Bank in a Canterbury on Sept. 23, police said.
On Tuesday state police confirmed that the pair was located in New York. They are awaiting extradition from New York to Connecticut.
Police had previously warned the public to look out for the suspects but not to confront them, as they were considered armed and dangerous.
A Dedham, Massachusetts man accused of murdering his father in the home they shared early Tuesday morning is being held without bail.
Alex Anderson, 25, of Lower East Street, was arraigned in court Tuesday.
Police responded to the home around 2 a.m. and found Paul Anderson, 59, suffering from multiple traumatic injuries. He was taken to a hospital and was later pronounced dead.
Prosecutors say Alex called 911 and admitted to stabbing his father in the face, punching him, hitting him with a hammer and pushing him down the stairs.
A probable cause hearing will be held on November 28.
The case remains under active investigation.
In Concord, New Hampshire, a Democrat has occupied the corner office for more than a decade, but that could change in just two weeks.
I dont think many people trust whats going on in Washington, so we need a leader who is going to have New Hampshires best interest in mind, said Republican Gubernatorial candidate, Chris Sununu. Someone to bring forethought, honesty, and transparency to the Governors office.
In one of the most watched gubernatorial races in the country, the scales have tipped in New Hampshire.
In the race for Governor, Sununu has been leading since the primaries, but according to the most recent University of New Hampshire poll, that changed last week.
For the first time, it shows Democratic challenger Colin Van Ostern ahead by six points.
Its really because we are focusing on whats right for the New Hampshire people, ahead of politics and political interest, Van Ostern said. Chris Sununu has failed a leadership test every day that he continues to support Donald Trump.
Tuesday, Sununu denounced Trumps words in the infamous Access Hollywood video, calling it disgusting and reprehensible, but he still supports and endorses his partys presidential nominee.
My campaign isnt about Donald Trump, my campaign is about the State of New Hampshire, Sununu said.
Political analyst Scott Spradling say the tipping scales in this race could be evidence that Trumps campaign troubles are trickling down the ballot nationwide.
Hes in full-on defense mode and thats one of the main reasons the polls are showing a widening gap and the bigger that gulf gets, the more other Republicans get swallowed in by that lack of momentum, Spradling explained.
When we asked Sununu about that recent UNH poll, he told us it was flawed and that it was Democratic leaning. His campaign says internal polls show Sununu winning.
Spradling says the New Hampshire Gubernatorial race and the US Senate race in New Hampshire are critically dependent on voter turnout. He says they will be too close to call until the final hour.
Families are grieving the loss of five people killed in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 495 in Middleboro, Massachusetts.
Dozens came out for a vigil Monday night to remember Jordan J. Fisher, 19, of Harwich, Massachusetts, Jordan J. Galvin-Jutras, 19, of Barnstable, Massachusetts, and Kraig A. Diggs, age 20, of Paxton and Barnstable, all of whom were cousins; and Cory P. Licata, age 18, of West Babylon, New York.
Diggs was planning to drop off his cousin, Fisher, and Fisher's friend Licata at Becker College. Both were first-year students at the school.
He was then going to drive to Anna Maria College, where he and his other cousin, Galvin-Jutras, were both sophomores.
The school's vice president of student success, Andrew Klein, expressed sorrow.
"Two students who were very popular, very visible on campus," Klein said. "There's very few people who don't feel really touched by this. I'ts hard to deal with every day."
"I didn't believe it cause I just woke up when I found out, so I thought it was just a dream," said John Pierre, who was close friends with Galvin. "This one really touched home."
Richard Guzman had class with Fisher and Licata.
"The thing that really got to me the most was I don't even remember their faces," Guzman said. "I don't even remember their names. So it's like, they're gone. Now I won't be able to get to know them."
On their trip Sunday night, state police say a woman, who has been identified as 31-year-old Valantein V. Burson of Fall River, Massachusetts, was going the wrong way and collided with their car, killing everyone in the crash.
Tuesday, friends remembered Burson for her big smile, bigger heart and warm personality. Her mother drove from Florida to Fall River to go through her late daughter's belongings.
"It's a tragedy for both sides, the kids that passed away and her," said Ian Biberios, who lives across the hall from Burson's apartment. "They are pretty young."
Police say they're not sure how Burson ended up driving on the wrong side.
A statement from Anna Maria College reads in part, "The entire Anna Maria College community is devastated by the news of the tragic accident that took the lives of two of our students."
It adds, "During this time of sadness, let us turn to our faith and our Anna Maria family for support as we mourn for this loss. We pray for them, their families and all of those involved in the accident."
Becker College also released a statement mourning the loss of two of their own students that reads in part, "Our sincere condolences and prayers go out to their families, friends, and local communities. To support our campus community, the college is providing counseling services."
The school said it will hold a memorial service at a later date to honor the lives of the students killed in the crash.
The only gay nightclub in Portland, Maine, is closing. The owner calls it a bittersweet sign of the times.
"We don't have the crowd we used to," said Joshua Moody, who has owned Styxx for 12 years.
It's in line with a nationwide trend: as more members of the gay community branch out and feel welcomed and accepted in all kinds of bars and clubs, the traditional places lose business.
"We never really got the younger gay generation that needs the gay club as much as the older one did," said Moody.
Styxx will close in January after decades in downtown Portland.
"It's sad," said longtime patron and part-time DJ, Chris O'Connor.
When he moved to Maine 18 years ago, O'Connor found a home at the nightclub. He said he has noticed a decline in business at the bar, but was still hit hard when the owner announced the closure.
"We actually sat around and cried," said O'Connor. "It's been a part of our lives for so long."
Longtime gay bars in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have been closing. Burlington, Vermont, hasn't had a gay bar since 2006, when Pearl's closed.
"I think there are other ways people are finding community," said Matt Moonen, executive director of Equality Maine.
Moonen said the fight for LGBT equality has led to widespread acceptance, and people feel "safe" going to a variety of bars.
"It's great to see, but this is one of the side effects of that," he said.
A Boston man is facing charges of animal cruelty after he was caught on video allegedly assaulting his dog at one of the region's busiest train stations.
MBTA Transit Police say witnesses taped 46-year-old John Bowen Monday night striking his Siberian Husky with a closed fist, kneeling on the dog and lifting it off the ground by the leash while at Boston's North Station.
"The dog was hit by the gentleman and at some point he lifted the dog up and smashed her on the sidewalk," said Amanda Kennedy, Director of Boston's Animal Care and Control.
Bowen was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court Tuesday and held on $5,000 cash bail. His bail on an unrelated case out of Malden District Court was also revoked, prosecutors said.
necn has also learned that Bowen is homeless and a level 3 sex offender.
Bowen's 9-month-old dog, meanwhile, is currently limping but stable. The dog, named Sarah, is undergoing a physical evaluation at a Boston animal shelter, prosecutors said.
"She is limping on the back. We're not sure if it's both legs or one leg," Kennedy said. "We're assuming that it's probably related to the abuse last night."
Bowen's next court date is Nov. 22. His attorney didn't immediately comment.
The surviving pilot in the plane crash in East Hartford has been released from the hospital, according to hospital officials.
Arian Prevella was released from Bridgeport Hospital on Friday, officials told NBC Connecticut.
Prevella is the owner of the American Flight Academy and was in the intentional crash that killed student pilot, Feras M. Freitekh on Oct. 11.
Freitekh died of smoke inhalation and heat and fire injuries, according to the office of the chief medical examiner.
Federal investigators have called the crash an "intentional act."
A senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation previously told NBC News that Freitekh was arguing with his instructor and the crash appears to have been a case of suicide, not terrorism.
Officials identified him through fingerprints and the manner of his death is pending further investigation of the circumstances, according to the office of the chief medical examiner.
Freitekh was killed and his instructor, Prevalla was injured when the twin-engine Piper PA 34 they were in crashed on Main Street, near the Connecticut headquarters of military jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney, and burst into flames.
The National Transportation Safety Board previously said the crash that killed Freitekh and seriously injured Prevalla appeared to have been the result of an intentional act.
A senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told NBC News, Prevalla told investigators that Freitekh, a Jordanian national, was at the controls at the time of the crash. Some kind of argument or struggle for the controls ensued, the official said, and the plane crashed. The instructor did not know why it happened.
Police searched Freitek's Hartford-area home but did not find anything to indicate any terrorist interests or sympathies, a senior federal official told NBC News' Pete Williams.
He was also not on any terrorism watch list, the official added.
Police in Revere, Massachusetts are looking for the public's help in finding an armed bank robber who wore a Halloween mask to hide his face.
The robbery of the Citizens Bank at happened 385 Broadway Monday morning.
The suspect was caught on surveillance wearing a skeleton mask. In addition to the Mask police say he wore black clothing, a hat with peace signs on it and black gloves.
He fled the scene on a Green BMX-style bicycle.
He allegedly brandished a gun and did get money from the bank. They found some money stained with red dye near a parking lot on Central Avenue, about half a block from the bank.
Banks often put exploding dye packs in bags of money so it can be identified as stolen. A man who works nearby saw police arrive.
Contact the Revere Police with any information on the incident.
My previous series of posts talked about a present problem for anyone deploying on the internet: what do you need to measure when deploying into the cloud and how do you measure cloud performance?
But planning and deployment issues are not restricted to just the immediate-term questions I was tackling there. Anyone in charge of a network has to think about how that network will evolve. The next articles in this series will be about the internet of the future and will suggest ways in which the internet seems likely to develop.
One of the astonishing things about the internet is that it is voluntary. With very little central organization, the internet emerges because it interconnects networks. And because of network effects, interconnecting different networks makes those networks more valuable, particularly when the network merely provides interconnection for intelligent applications at the edges of the network. This nature of the internet is what has allowed it to subsume other communications technologies.
The internet's flaws
But there are clouds on the horizon. People as different as Malcolm Gladwell and Bruce Schneier claiming the basic, open design of the internet is, in fact, its deepest flaw. Schneier even asserts that the only way the internet can be made safe is through government regulation. It is undeniable that Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are getting worse, even if they are not getting more sophisticated. So, it is unlikely that pressure to do something about security on the internet will let up even if the something is possibly harmful to the very thing one is trying to protect.
At the same time, we see the emergence of systems that are on the internet but not of it. The internet grew and developed in a world of open standards. But we increasingly live in a post-standards world. Historically, the internet worked because different implementers all implemented a common standard. So, interoperation of different systems made by different people was the basic way the internet grew.
More recently, however, we see standards that are living documents (such as those published by the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group), which make interoperability hard to test. In addition, many technologies deployed on the internet are really proprietary APIs running over HTTP (such as those operated by Twitter or Dyn). These kinds of interfaces are by definition not subject to interoperation because the publisher of the API can change them at any time.
Finally, the tendency in the Internet of Things so far has been toward proprietary standards that are, in effect, an effort to create a closed ecosystem that is under the control of a single entity or consortium. Moreover, rather than creating a network of smart devices that mostly talk to each other, the bulk of shipping systems has been using a client-server model, with most of the intelligence in a central service. Formally, the pattern follows the internet model of intelligence at the edge, but it makes the central service the only intelligent part of the system. This pattern resembles the more centralized architecture of the old phone system.
If these trends continue, the internet of the future will be considerably different than the one that has brought us the innovation and dynamism we have seen so far. An internet where there are many gatekeepers would bit be like the internet we have been used to.
In the coming articles, I will examine these trends, consider whether they really represent the future of the internet, and explore what choices we might collectively make to avoid the negative consequences. For only if we make the right decisions will we be building better networks.
Microsoft just released the open-source licensed beta release of the Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit on Github. This announcement represents a shift in Microsofts customer focus from research to implementation. It is an update to the Computational Network Toolkit (CNTK). The toolkit is a supervised machine learning system in the same category of other open-source projects such as Tensorflow, Caffe and Torch.
Microsoft is one of the leading investors in and contributors to the open machine learning software and research community. A glance at the Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) conference reveals that there are just four major technology companies committed to moving the field of neural networks forward: Microsoft, Google, Facebook and IBM.
This announcement signals Microsoft interest to bring machine learning into the mainstream. The open source license reveals Microsofts continued collaboration with the machine learning community.
Microsoft's shift from supporting the research community to enabling customers to use machine learning in new developments is timely. Just a few years ago, machine learning and neural networks shifted from obscurity with few artificial intelligence (AI) practitioners believing that they were useful to the mainstream being deployed or in development at many companies and institutions.
Large projects such as the Imagenet Challenge have proved that machine learning works with highly accurate image recognition. Voice recognition accuracy has achieved similar advances.
Xuedong Huang, Ph.D., distinguished engineer and chief scientist of speech R&D at Microsoft, briefed me on the development. Huang, joined Microsoft from Carnegie Mellon University in 1993, bringing speech recognition research to the research group.
In its shift from research to implementation, Huang spoke of important features of the Cognitive Toolkit:
* Optimized for the Azure Cloud: The Cognitive Toolkit has been optimized to run across clusters on the Azure N platform powered by Nvidia GPUs, currently in preview. Nvidia has invested in research and development to optimize its GPU platforms for machine learning and is widely used in the field. Microsoft has optimized the Cognitive Toolkit to run large models on multiple GPUs and across multiple servers, a very important consideration for companies developing and implementing new applications with the intent of supporting millions of users. Building supporting infrastructure such as this is important because only a handful of companies have the resources to optimize machine learning infrastructure.
* Machine Learning made accessible to data scientists and software developers: Huang said there are more than 20 models built with the Cognitive Toolkit, including customized speech recognition made available using application programming interfaces (API). Some examples of APIs that are available to build apps using these models:
Microsoft
The number of people capable of developing machine learning models is much smaller than the number of software developers and data scientists that can apply them to a wide spectrum of problems. Few companies are prepared to implement machine learning if required to staff a team capable of building models from scratch. Huangs approach is intended to facilitate applications that use models, such as computer vision, emotion recognition and language understanding for companies that do not have large machine learning research staffs.
* Accessibility to different types of developers: Huang said Microsoft added support for both Python and C++ programming languages. This serves two kinds of developers outside of Microsofts large C# base of developers. Python is widely used by web developers and is the programming lingua franca for STEM-trained professionals who work in diverse fieldsfrom sociology to biopharma. Support for Python broadens the application of the Cognitive Toolkit and Microsofts prepackaged machine learning models outside of traditional enterprise developers.
C++ support serves the open source developers who have chosen the Cognitive Toolkit to build large application-specific machine learning systems but will not be able to rely on Microsoft to optimize the training of machine learning models that they build or the execution of the machine learning models, commonly referred to as the inference stage.
Huang mentioned a few interesting developments worth mention. Reading between the lines, some interpretation was added to his comments.
Huang spoke about very favorable benchmarks of the Cognitive Toolkit, demonstrating multi-GPU performance in comparison to the Tensorflow, Caffe and Torch, which were run by the Hong Kong Baptist University and provided the data below.
Microsoft
Benchmarks are application-specific and should be read with your mileage may vary. Machine learning benchmarks are more revealing at the inference stage than the learning stage because inference is an issue when implementing very large models to millions of users in a productions system where the cost of execution can be very expensive and learning is a scientific computing problem with less critical hardware economic constraints.
Nvidias GPUs delivered the horsepower to advance academic research into commercial development. Microsofts attention to performance is very reassuring because the underlying GPU hardware is still in development and will be for years to come. Advancements in machine learning will require hardware that is orders of magnitude faster than what is available today. Attention to the performance of parallel GPU execution will be critical to the commercial deployment of machine learning applications.
Including humans in the training loop is under development. Huangs description seemed similar to the work Facebook is doing building bots for Messenger. Often, the sample data to train machine learning models is incomplete. Building applications that learn through interaction with humans at the inference stage captures new sample data that increases the accuracy of the model over time.
Huang also offered the following dialog, demonstrating highly accurate speech recognition built using the Cognitive Toolkit.
It is an interesting demonstration of accuracy because Huang said few speech recognition models perform well with childrens voices.
This announcement is more than a point release of a toolkit. It is the recognition of AI and machine learning as the next big platform after mobile.
Ministers approve plans during cabinet committee meeting this morning (Tuesday).
A THIRD runway looks set to be built at Heathrow airport after receiving Government backing this morning (Tuesday).
The move, which was recommended in a 2015 report by the Airport Commission, will mean hundreds of thousands more flights in and out of the airport each year.
During a cabinet committee meeting earlier today ministers favoured the Heathrow expansion plans over the option to build a second runway at Gatwick.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: "A new runway at Heathrow will improve connectivity in the UK itself and crucially boost our connections with the rest of the world, supporting exports, trade and job opportunities.
"This isnt just a great deal for business, its a great deal for passengers who will also benefit from access to more airlines, destinations and flights."
Mr Grayling added that the scheme will be subject to full public consultation and would only proceed subject to a "world class" package of compensation and mitigation.
According to the Government the move will create 77,000 local jobs over the next 14 years and provide a 61billion boost to the wider economy over 60 years.
The scheme will now go through a year-long consultation followed by a vote in the House of Commons.
Reading West MP, Alok Sharma, a longstanding supporter of expansion at Heathrow Airport, gave his backing to the Heathrow expansion.
It is no coincidence that ten percent of the UKs economic output is generated in the western wedge around Heathrow and that expansion at the airport has such broad business support right across the United Kingdom," he said.
"This decision will send a clear message that Britain is open for business and that we welcome closer ties with countries around the globe.
Mr Sharma added: With all London airports currently projected to be full by 2030, I believe there will be plenty of scope for expansion at other airports too, but it is vital we get spades in the ground at Heathrow at the earliest opportunity to secure our future as a trading nation and one of the best connected countries in the world.
The decision has also received backing from the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP with chairman, Peter Read, saying: "The expansion of Heathrow is a positive signal from the Prime Minister that in the midst of Brexit uncertainty, the UK remains a strong hub of global connectivity.
"As the most productive sub-region in the country, Thames Valley Berkshires connectivity is crucial to this and to maintaining the UKs competitive advantage.
"The LEP has made public its position of support for the expansion of Heathrow since 2012 and this has always been based on sound evidence.
"It is heartening to see that such a significant decision for the UK economy has finally been made on the basis of sound economic rationale.
However the decision has drawn criticism from some quarters with Green MEPs saying the move lacks 'common sense' and is 'manifestly against the interests of the UK and the British people'.
Keith Taylor, a vocal anti-expansion campaigner and Green MEP for the South East who sits on the European Parliament's Transport committee, said: "There are no two ways about it - this is a disastrous decision for the people of the South East, London, Britain, and the planet.
"Welcome to Theresa May's never-never land, where prime ministers never have to listen to scientists and never have to apologise for increasing CO2 emissions and air pollution levels.
"The Maidenhead MP has flip-flopped on her previous opposition to Heathrow and has kowtowed to the demands of multi-million-pound airport lobbies while ignoring the concerns of her own constituents and the need to take urgent action to mitigate catastrophic climate change.
"Is this what the Prime Minister had in mind when she promised to build a Britain not driven by the interests of a privileged few?"
At the height of the Presidential election, WFXT FOX 25 has lost its political reporter as Sharman Sacchetti leaves the Boston station.
At the height of the Presidential election, WFXT FOX 25 has lost its political reporter as Sharman Sacchetti leaves the Boston station.
Sharman had been on vacation for the past two weeks, and was scheduled to be back to work at the station on Monday. Her departure was announced to staff today by FOX 25 news director Mike Oliveira.
Sharman was key to the stations political reporting, and is a big loss for the station. She recently covered both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions for the station.
Sharman joined FOX 25 in 2005 as a general assignment reporter and became the station's political reporter in 2010. She was raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts and started her broadcast career at WCCM-AM Radio in Lawrence covering politics and breaking news.
Sharman is an award-winning journalist who loves her job! She may be on the front lines of breaking news one moment, or covering local, state and national elections the next. Sharman is widely regarded as one of the best political reporters in New England. She is known for her tough questioning of political figures.
Sharman got her first shot at broadcast news reporting at WETM-TV/WBGH-TV in Binghamton, New York. With experience at several New England broadcast outlets, she became a reporter and morning show anchor at WTEN-TV in Albany, New York before joining FOX 25 News.
Sharman is a graduate of Emerson College with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and a concentration in broadcast journalism.
Sharman has not announced where she is headed next.
Follow Sharman on Social Media:
ENS Economic Bureau By
Express News Service
CHENNAI: In a move that will drastically cut the registration time and allow subscribers to transact through different payment modes including net banking, leading stock exchange BSE on Monday introduced a paperless Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) facility for mutual fund investors.
SIP is an investment vehicle that allows investors to invest in small amounts periodically instead of lump sums. The frequency of investment is usually weekly, monthly or quarterly.
As there will be no requirements to fill physical forms under the new facility, the chances of errors that presently result in rejection of many applications will also not exist, said BSE.Under the paperless SIP facility, the investor will receive an e-mail for all the payment modes, including direct pay, nodal account, one time mandate and cheque, after the SIP.
BSE has also introduced iSIP, which will help the investors to set up a form of SIP without involvement of any documentation, the exchange said....simulation environment has been made available for the new functionalities, it added.
The new feature, which will be available through BSE STAR MF, will allow mutual fund distributors to register SIPs for their clients who can pay SIP amounts through various modes including net banking.
So far, Mutual Fund distributors have the option to register only Exchange SIP (XSIP) for their clients which allows for ECS (electronic clearing service) payment route.
Investments in Indias mutual funds hit a historic high of `16.11 lakh crore during the July-September quarter, according to Crisil research.
CHENNAI: In a move that will drastically cut the registration time and allow subscribers to transact through different payment modes including net banking, leading stock exchange BSE on Monday introduced a paperless Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) facility for mutual fund investors. SIP is an investment vehicle that allows investors to invest in small amounts periodically instead of lump sums. The frequency of investment is usually weekly, monthly or quarterly. As there will be no requirements to fill physical forms under the new facility, the chances of errors that presently result in rejection of many applications will also not exist, said BSE.Under the paperless SIP facility, the investor will receive an e-mail for all the payment modes, including direct pay, nodal account, one time mandate and cheque, after the SIP. BSE has also introduced iSIP, which will help the investors to set up a form of SIP without involvement of any documentation, the exchange said....simulation environment has been made available for the new functionalities, it added. The new feature, which will be available through BSE STAR MF, will allow mutual fund distributors to register SIPs for their clients who can pay SIP amounts through various modes including net banking. So far, Mutual Fund distributors have the option to register only Exchange SIP (XSIP) for their clients which allows for ECS (electronic clearing service) payment route. Investments in Indias mutual funds hit a historic high of `16.11 lakh crore during the July-September quarter, according to Crisil research.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Tata Sons, one of Indias largest and iconic business conglomerates threw a huge surprise on Monday. The salt-to-software conglomerate replaced Cyrus Mistry from the Chairmans post, within four years of his appointment. The groups doyen Ratan Tata has returned as its interim chairman. He would hold the office for a period of four months till the selection committe finds a new person to lead the business empire. The committee includes Ratan N Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Amit Chandra, Ronen Sen and Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya. The positions of chief executives leading the groups companies remained undisturbed.
While the Tata Group remained tight-lipped about the reasons leading to the decision, unconfirmed reports claimed that Mistry himself was planning to move the Bombay High Court against the decision. The sudden announcement on change of guard has come as a shocker for many industry analysts and experts. This is because, Mistrys appointment in 2013 was considered as a move for stability, to ensure a smooth succession plan for the group. Now with his removal, uncertainties have emerged over the conglomerates future. By stating that he would be the interim Chairman, septuagenarian Ratan Tata has made it clear that he is unlikely to take permanent control.
The change in leadership is not expected to be a smooth ride, considering the way things transpired. Cyrus Mistry is the son of Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, an Irish-Indian construction tycoon and chairman of the Shapoorji-Pallonji Group. Interestingly, this group is also the single largest shareholder in Tata Sons with an 18.5 per cent stake. According to unconfirmed reports, Pallonji had termed the development as an illegal move.
A letter from interim chairman of Tata Group, Ratan N Tata,
informing employees about the change in leadership
If the Mistrys move the judiciary as claimed by sources, it could further worsen the selection committees task of finding a new chairman. However, sources also indicate that the Tata Group has consulted and taken legal opinion from senior experts, including the former Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, ahead of the move. It is also said that Ratan Tata has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, informing him about the change in the top management. While details of his letter to the Prime Minister were not made public, the move is pegged to be a confidence-building measure, to minimise any rude surprises at the top-level.
Why this change? Reports suggest that Cyrus Mistry did not enjoy great relations with Tata Trusts and Ratan Tata in particular. Mistrys attempt to create a team of his own choice is also pegged to have been a reason behind the change. Mistry, after his appointment, had announced the need to bring in a generational change in the groups top leadership. He then replaced the group corporate centre and the group executive office for decision-making with a new group executive council (GEC). Within hours of his removal, the GEC was disbanded by the group, agencies reported. Mistrys decision to appoint NS Rajan from Ernst & Young as groups chief human resources officer, and ex-BSE chief Madhu Kannan as head of business development and public affairs, was also not appreciated by the Board, claimed sources within the firm.
Mistry had also gone back on the Tata-Corus deal clinched by Ratan Tata for European steel operations. Tata Steel is currently in negotiations with ThyssenKrupp regarding a merger of operations. Ratan Tata, reportedly, is not happy with the decision to hive off one of his biggest acquisitions. The change at Tata has thrown Britains steel industry into a fresh round of uncertainty, The Guardian reported.
Bombay coup rumours: Those owing allegiance to Ratan Tata also smelt a possible coup attempt by Cyrus Mistry to gain complete control of the Group, say sources privy to the matter. Though these claims could not be independently verified, such an attempt, if proven true, could have alarming consequences considering Shapoorji Pallonji is the biggest shareholder in Tata Group. Incidentally, the board of the Tata Group also underwent considerable changes in the recent months. In the month of August alone, three new members were inducted into the board Venu Srinivasan, Ajay Piramal and Amit Chandra. And interestingly, two of the three new members, Venu Srinivasan and Amit Chandra, also feature in the new selection committee.
NEW DELHI: Tata Sons, one of Indias largest and iconic business conglomerates threw a huge surprise on Monday. The salt-to-software conglomerate replaced Cyrus Mistry from the Chairmans post, within four years of his appointment. The groups doyen Ratan Tata has returned as its interim chairman. He would hold the office for a period of four months till the selection committe finds a new person to lead the business empire. The committee includes Ratan N Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Amit Chandra, Ronen Sen and Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya. The positions of chief executives leading the groups companies remained undisturbed. While the Tata Group remained tight-lipped about the reasons leading to the decision, unconfirmed reports claimed that Mistry himself was planning to move the Bombay High Court against the decision. The sudden announcement on change of guard has come as a shocker for many industry analysts and experts. This is because, Mistrys appointment in 2013 was considered as a move for stability, to ensure a smooth succession plan for the group. Now with his removal, uncertainties have emerged over the conglomerates future. By stating that he would be the interim Chairman, septuagenarian Ratan Tata has made it clear that he is unlikely to take permanent control. The change in leadership is not expected to be a smooth ride, considering the way things transpired. Cyrus Mistry is the son of Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, an Irish-Indian construction tycoon and chairman of the Shapoorji-Pallonji Group. Interestingly, this group is also the single largest shareholder in Tata Sons with an 18.5 per cent stake. According to unconfirmed reports, Pallonji had termed the development as an illegal move. A letter from interim chairman of Tata Group, Ratan N Tata, informing employees about the change in leadership If the Mistrys move the judiciary as claimed by sources, it could further worsen the selection committees task of finding a new chairman. However, sources also indicate that the Tata Group has consulted and taken legal opinion from senior experts, including the former Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, ahead of the move. It is also said that Ratan Tata has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, informing him about the change in the top management. While details of his letter to the Prime Minister were not made public, the move is pegged to be a confidence-building measure, to minimise any rude surprises at the top-level. Why this change? Reports suggest that Cyrus Mistry did not enjoy great relations with Tata Trusts and Ratan Tata in particular. Mistrys attempt to create a team of his own choice is also pegged to have been a reason behind the change. Mistry, after his appointment, had announced the need to bring in a generational change in the groups top leadership. He then replaced the group corporate centre and the group executive office for decision-making with a new group executive council (GEC). Within hours of his removal, the GEC was disbanded by the group, agencies reported. Mistrys decision to appoint NS Rajan from Ernst & Young as groups chief human resources officer, and ex-BSE chief Madhu Kannan as head of business development and public affairs, was also not appreciated by the Board, claimed sources within the firm. Mistry had also gone back on the Tata-Corus deal clinched by Ratan Tata for European steel operations. Tata Steel is currently in negotiations with ThyssenKrupp regarding a merger of operations. Ratan Tata, reportedly, is not happy with the decision to hive off one of his biggest acquisitions. The change at Tata has thrown Britains steel industry into a fresh round of uncertainty, The Guardian reported. Bombay coup rumours: Those owing allegiance to Ratan Tata also smelt a possible coup attempt by Cyrus Mistry to gain complete control of the Group, say sources privy to the matter. Though these claims could not be independently verified, such an attempt, if proven true, could have alarming consequences considering Shapoorji Pallonji is the biggest shareholder in Tata Group. Incidentally, the board of the Tata Group also underwent considerable changes in the recent months. In the month of August alone, three new members were inducted into the board Venu Srinivasan, Ajay Piramal and Amit Chandra. And interestingly, two of the three new members, Venu Srinivasan and Amit Chandra, also feature in the new selection committee.
By Express News Service
CHENNAI: Maragadham from a slum in Teynampet does not like to cry when there are people around, she makes it clear. She does, nevertheless. When her father died on December 1 last year after a prolonged illness, Maragadham and her family had to run with the body as the water swept in, taking with it many things they held dear, including their dignity.
The body was at home for two days. I begged so many to help us bury him. If it hadnt been for my friend, who gave me Rs. 7000 without a second thought, I dont know what I would have done, she said at the Voice of slums in post-flood Chennai, organised by the Department of Service Learning (Outreach), Loyola College.
Representatives from 41 slums and low-income colonies in the city gathered to relive their experiences during the floods and how life has been ever since.Dignity is largely overlooked in the discourse of slum- dwellers, according to activist and policy researcher Vanessa Peter. The medias portrayal of slum-dwellers even during the floods was very disappointing, she said.
When members of the higher economic strata were aesthetically painted as they received the same relief materials, the poor were often shown crowding around the volunteers with outstretched arms, she said.
The slums are being looked at as something that is detrimental to the general hygiene and safety of the community, she said. This should change. Demand the dignity that you deserve. Vanessa also urged the gathering to demand an in-situ rehabilitation.
Many people with whom we work have received subsistence allowance for only four months even though it has been eight months since they moved in, she said.The complaints over the current rehabilitation facilities in Kannagi Nagar, Perumbakkam and Chemmenchery came in fast and frantic to the single representative of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) who was present at the meeting.
The school that is being built in Perumbakkam is too far for the children to go on foot, said a resident. You give us beautician, tailoring and jewellery making courses but what about jobs? asked another.
Though many of these questions went unanswered, the slum-dwellers were in no mood to stop. Spurred on by members of NGOs who were also present at the programme, they were determined to fight.
Check if your slum has been officially recognised, ask for community pattas for government rehabilitation complexes, get sale deeds, remember that relief is your right, said Vanessa.
R Mani, senior journalist, who spoke to the gathering at the inaugural session, called for more effective measures that must be in place as part of flood preparedness.
CHENNAI: Maragadham from a slum in Teynampet does not like to cry when there are people around, she makes it clear. She does, nevertheless. When her father died on December 1 last year after a prolonged illness, Maragadham and her family had to run with the body as the water swept in, taking with it many things they held dear, including their dignity. The body was at home for two days. I begged so many to help us bury him. If it hadnt been for my friend, who gave me Rs. 7000 without a second thought, I dont know what I would have done, she said at the Voice of slums in post-flood Chennai, organised by the Department of Service Learning (Outreach), Loyola College. Representatives from 41 slums and low-income colonies in the city gathered to relive their experiences during the floods and how life has been ever since.Dignity is largely overlooked in the discourse of slum- dwellers, according to activist and policy researcher Vanessa Peter. The medias portrayal of slum-dwellers even during the floods was very disappointing, she said. When members of the higher economic strata were aesthetically painted as they received the same relief materials, the poor were often shown crowding around the volunteers with outstretched arms, she said. The slums are being looked at as something that is detrimental to the general hygiene and safety of the community, she said. This should change. Demand the dignity that you deserve. Vanessa also urged the gathering to demand an in-situ rehabilitation. Many people with whom we work have received subsistence allowance for only four months even though it has been eight months since they moved in, she said.The complaints over the current rehabilitation facilities in Kannagi Nagar, Perumbakkam and Chemmenchery came in fast and frantic to the single representative of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) who was present at the meeting. The school that is being built in Perumbakkam is too far for the children to go on foot, said a resident. You give us beautician, tailoring and jewellery making courses but what about jobs? asked another. Though many of these questions went unanswered, the slum-dwellers were in no mood to stop. Spurred on by members of NGOs who were also present at the programme, they were determined to fight. Check if your slum has been officially recognised, ask for community pattas for government rehabilitation complexes, get sale deeds, remember that relief is your right, said Vanessa. R Mani, senior journalist, who spoke to the gathering at the inaugural session, called for more effective measures that must be in place as part of flood preparedness.
By Express News Service
HYDERABAD: Stating that an Investigation Officer (IO) of Market police station is investigating the case of the 13-year-old Aradhanas death after she finished observing a 68-day-long fast, the North Zone police said that the allegations made by Balala Hakkula Sangham would not attract the provisions of the murder section case against her parents.
The police on Monday filed a counter petition before the Lokayukta stating that the police have registered cases and are investigating the case by collecting evidences. The police also pleaded that the Lokayukta the dismiss the petition filed by Balala Hakkula Sangham keeping in mind the progress of investigation. The police requested the Lokayukta to give one months time to complete the investigation. Following police request, the Lokayukta directed the police to finish investigation in one month and submit a report by November 29.
In the petition, Balala Hakkula Sangham president Anuradha Rao pleaded to the Lokayukta that Aradhana died after she was forced to observe the 68-long-day fast as part of Jain community rituals. The Sangham president also requested to alter Section 302 (murder) on her parents, Lakshmichand and Manisha.
The police replied that they have registered cases under Section 304 part II and JJ Act against the parents and others.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights member Yashwanth Jain on Monday directed the Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy to investigate the case of Aradhanas death and take necessary action. The commission also directed the police to submit a report within 10 days.
In the letter, the commission said that they took notice of the matter of Aradhanas death suo-motu based on the reports published in the newspapers. The commission directed the police officials that a factual report along with authenticated copies of the relevant documents, be sent to the commission within 10 days of issue of the letter.
Balala Hakkula Sangham president Anuradha Rao demanded arrest of the parents and sought to create awareness.
HYDERABAD: Stating that an Investigation Officer (IO) of Market police station is investigating the case of the 13-year-old Aradhanas death after she finished observing a 68-day-long fast, the North Zone police said that the allegations made by Balala Hakkula Sangham would not attract the provisions of the murder section case against her parents. The police on Monday filed a counter petition before the Lokayukta stating that the police have registered cases and are investigating the case by collecting evidences. The police also pleaded that the Lokayukta the dismiss the petition filed by Balala Hakkula Sangham keeping in mind the progress of investigation. The police requested the Lokayukta to give one months time to complete the investigation. Following police request, the Lokayukta directed the police to finish investigation in one month and submit a report by November 29. In the petition, Balala Hakkula Sangham president Anuradha Rao pleaded to the Lokayukta that Aradhana died after she was forced to observe the 68-long-day fast as part of Jain community rituals. The Sangham president also requested to alter Section 302 (murder) on her parents, Lakshmichand and Manisha. The police replied that they have registered cases under Section 304 part II and JJ Act against the parents and others. Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights member Yashwanth Jain on Monday directed the Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy to investigate the case of Aradhanas death and take necessary action. The commission also directed the police to submit a report within 10 days. In the letter, the commission said that they took notice of the matter of Aradhanas death suo-motu based on the reports published in the newspapers. The commission directed the police officials that a factual report along with authenticated copies of the relevant documents, be sent to the commission within 10 days of issue of the letter. Balala Hakkula Sangham president Anuradha Rao demanded arrest of the parents and sought to create awareness.
By Express News Service
HYDERABAD: In a bizzare incident, a 22-year-old youth killed a pregnant dog belonging to his neighbours and sexually assaulted the corpse on Monday.
The youngsters inhumane act came to light with the dogs owner noticing the incident and nabbing the youth red-handed. The incident took place at Sastrynagar of Mailardevpally police limits on Monday.
The locals thrashed the youngster, Aslam Khan alias Subhash Singh, native of Nepal and handed him over to the police. However, his address could not be traced.Mailardevpally police sub-inspector Naga Chary said Aslam Khan came from Delhi to Sastrynagar to meet his friends living in same locality.
When Aslam Khan was passing through the stretch, he noticed a dog in a premises belonging to one Jahangeer. At the time, the dogs owner Jahangeer was pumping water to walls of under construction building on the terrace.
Aslam killed the female pregnant dog by strangulating it and and took it to bushes near the locality where he was sexually assaulting the corpse. Jahangeer who was on terrace of building noticed the incident and alerted his sons to look into the issue. They caught Aslam Khan red handed, SI said.
Police registered cases under section 429 (Mischief by killing or maiming cattle), 377 (committing unnatural offence) of IPC and Section 11 of Prevention of Cruelty against Animals Act.
HYDERABAD: In a bizzare incident, a 22-year-old youth killed a pregnant dog belonging to his neighbours and sexually assaulted the corpse on Monday. The youngsters inhumane act came to light with the dogs owner noticing the incident and nabbing the youth red-handed. The incident took place at Sastrynagar of Mailardevpally police limits on Monday. The locals thrashed the youngster, Aslam Khan alias Subhash Singh, native of Nepal and handed him over to the police. However, his address could not be traced.Mailardevpally police sub-inspector Naga Chary said Aslam Khan came from Delhi to Sastrynagar to meet his friends living in same locality. When Aslam Khan was passing through the stretch, he noticed a dog in a premises belonging to one Jahangeer. At the time, the dogs owner Jahangeer was pumping water to walls of under construction building on the terrace. Aslam killed the female pregnant dog by strangulating it and and took it to bushes near the locality where he was sexually assaulting the corpse. Jahangeer who was on terrace of building noticed the incident and alerted his sons to look into the issue. They caught Aslam Khan red handed, SI said. Police registered cases under section 429 (Mischief by killing or maiming cattle), 377 (committing unnatural offence) of IPC and Section 11 of Prevention of Cruelty against Animals Act.
By The Daily Telegraph
PARIS: Paris's police chief had never heard of Kim Kardashian when she was robbed and has now criticised the reality television star for flaunting her wealth on social media.
Christian Sainte was first alerted to the high profile crime shortly after 3am on October 3rd when the telephone rang at his home. The night officer told him a woman called Kim Kardashian had been the victim of an armed robbery.
Mr Sainte told Vanity Fair: "I asked 'Who is this victim?'"
The night officer had not heard of her either and was unable to tell him. So Mr Sainte got up from bed and went to his computer to search the name on the internet. "I quickly understood who she is," he said. "And now I know almost everything about her. The personality of the victim, Kim Kardashian, is not like anyone else. She has a lot of likes on Facebook."
The robbery took place three weeks ago at the Hotel de Pourtales, a 19th century neo-Renaissance town mansion, where stars stay for reasons of privacy, and where there was little security.
Miss Kardashian, who is married to Kanye West, the rapper, was bound and gagged by an armed gang who stole millions of dollars worth of jewellery.
In previous days she had posted a series of photographs to her tens of millions of followers on social media showing her in Paris wearing expensive jewels. In one image she had a 20-carat diamond ring worth around $4 million on her finger.
Asked if he believed the gang had been following her on social media the police chief told Vanity Fair: "She's giving information on social media all the time." He added: "We can say that there is a professional team that committed this crime and they seem to be organised." The chief would not say whether any suspects had yet been identified.
He is "confident" of catching the gang amid fears the robbery could harm tourism. He said: "It's important because of the implication, is Paris secure?"
PARIS: Paris's police chief had never heard of Kim Kardashian when she was robbed and has now criticised the reality television star for flaunting her wealth on social media. Christian Sainte was first alerted to the high profile crime shortly after 3am on October 3rd when the telephone rang at his home. The night officer told him a woman called Kim Kardashian had been the victim of an armed robbery. Mr Sainte told Vanity Fair: "I asked 'Who is this victim?'" The night officer had not heard of her either and was unable to tell him. So Mr Sainte got up from bed and went to his computer to search the name on the internet. "I quickly understood who she is," he said. "And now I know almost everything about her. The personality of the victim, Kim Kardashian, is not like anyone else. She has a lot of likes on Facebook." The robbery took place three weeks ago at the Hotel de Pourtales, a 19th century neo-Renaissance town mansion, where stars stay for reasons of privacy, and where there was little security. Miss Kardashian, who is married to Kanye West, the rapper, was bound and gagged by an armed gang who stole millions of dollars worth of jewellery. In previous days she had posted a series of photographs to her tens of millions of followers on social media showing her in Paris wearing expensive jewels. In one image she had a 20-carat diamond ring worth around $4 million on her finger. Asked if he believed the gang had been following her on social media the police chief told Vanity Fair: "She's giving information on social media all the time." He added: "We can say that there is a professional team that committed this crime and they seem to be organised." The chief would not say whether any suspects had yet been identified. He is "confident" of catching the gang amid fears the robbery could harm tourism. He said: "It's important because of the implication, is Paris secure?"
By IANS
KIGALI: Tracking the critically-endangered mountain gorilla -- the world's largest ape -- in the lushly-forested steep bamboo slopes of the Virunga Mountains in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda in east Africa is a life-enriching experience.
But it comes at a hefty price tag -- $750 per permit.
However, spotting one of 10 gorilla families in the wild - in altitudes ranging from 2,500 metres to 4,000 metres -- is guaranteed by the park authorities with a single-track dirt path hike that can last from 30 minutes to four hours, depending upon the location of the family.
The remaining nine gorilla families in nature -- far away from public viewing -- are for study and research by biologists for their conservation.
The last remaining habitat of the vegetarian mountain gorilla, with fewer than 800 individuals, falls in the Virunga massif that spreads to three neighbouring countries -- Rwanda, a landlocked country known for a thousand hills, Uganda and war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.
"A vast majority of tourists are visiting Rwanda for tracking the mountain gorillas in the wild," Chief Park Warden Prosper Uwingeli told IANS. "On an average, over 30,000 permits are issued annually for tracking gorillas and a large number of visitors come from the US, France and Germany," he added.
These earned the park a staggering $22.5 million last year. The money is allocated to anti-poaching, community and cultural-based tourism activities.
(Overall, according to the Rwanda Development Board, tourism earned Rwanda $318 million -- about Rwandan franc 251 billion -- in 2015, a four percent increase compared to the previous year. This year it expects an increase of five to six percent.)
Not more than 80 permits are issued per day to groups of up to eight people that are permitted to trek in the Volcanoes National Park, spread over 160 sq km and home to over 300 gorillas. The park is 116 km from the Rwandan capital Kigali, a comfortable two-hour road journey amidst low hills.
"Huhh huhh huhh," grunts the 220 kg Guhonda, a 44-year-old majestic silverback, perhaps the most photographed and the oldest male gorilla in the region that heads the Sabyinyo family, and our guide Cally responds by saying: "Don't be afraid and don't make a loud noise. It's a friendly gesture."
The Sabyinyo (named after a dominant volcano) family, the easily accessible one, comprises 17 individuals, including Guhonda's eldest son Gihishamwotsi, who will replace him after his demise, and two babies.
To minimise the chances of transmitting human diseases, visitors are advised to maintain a distance of seven metres from the gorillas.
A total of 216 baby gorillas have been named since the introduction of Kwita Izina (gorilla-naming ceremony) in 2005. Twenty-two were named in the 12th edition of the ceremony in September.
"Seeing the majestic mammals in their natural habitat is truly a life-time experience. In fact, it's the only place in the world where the gorillas are accessible, with a less arduous trek compared to neighbouring Uganda and Congo," remarked US tourist James Christopher, who was playfully punched by a young gorilla.
The Virunga Mountains are also home to endemic primates like the rare golden monkey, the red tailed monkey, the owl faced monkey, the blue monkey and the grey-cheeked mangabey.
The avian fauna it supports includes 178 species, comprising 13 endemic to the mountains. The prominent bird species are the Archer's ground robin, the dusky crimsonwing, the Ruwenzori turaco and the Ruwenzori double-collared sunbird.
FAQs:
Getting to Volcanoes National Park:
One can reach the park boundaries at Kinigi town either by a private vehicle or by public transport. A travel agent will charge $100 per tourist for organising transportation from Kinigi town to the park. The park is connected by road from Kigali.
Where to stay:
You can stay in resorts located on the outskirts of the park, but they are not cheap and range from $100 to $200 per night.
Kigali, one of the most beautiful cities in Africa, is the hub of budget and posh hotels.
Best time to visit:
Gorillas and golden monkeys can be spotted any time of the year. The best time is the rainy season -- July to September and December to February.
KIGALI: Tracking the critically-endangered mountain gorilla -- the world's largest ape -- in the lushly-forested steep bamboo slopes of the Virunga Mountains in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda in east Africa is a life-enriching experience. But it comes at a hefty price tag -- $750 per permit. However, spotting one of 10 gorilla families in the wild - in altitudes ranging from 2,500 metres to 4,000 metres -- is guaranteed by the park authorities with a single-track dirt path hike that can last from 30 minutes to four hours, depending upon the location of the family. The remaining nine gorilla families in nature -- far away from public viewing -- are for study and research by biologists for their conservation. The last remaining habitat of the vegetarian mountain gorilla, with fewer than 800 individuals, falls in the Virunga massif that spreads to three neighbouring countries -- Rwanda, a landlocked country known for a thousand hills, Uganda and war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. "A vast majority of tourists are visiting Rwanda for tracking the mountain gorillas in the wild," Chief Park Warden Prosper Uwingeli told IANS. "On an average, over 30,000 permits are issued annually for tracking gorillas and a large number of visitors come from the US, France and Germany," he added. These earned the park a staggering $22.5 million last year. The money is allocated to anti-poaching, community and cultural-based tourism activities. (Overall, according to the Rwanda Development Board, tourism earned Rwanda $318 million -- about Rwandan franc 251 billion -- in 2015, a four percent increase compared to the previous year. This year it expects an increase of five to six percent.) Not more than 80 permits are issued per day to groups of up to eight people that are permitted to trek in the Volcanoes National Park, spread over 160 sq km and home to over 300 gorillas. The park is 116 km from the Rwandan capital Kigali, a comfortable two-hour road journey amidst low hills. "Huhh huhh huhh," grunts the 220 kg Guhonda, a 44-year-old majestic silverback, perhaps the most photographed and the oldest male gorilla in the region that heads the Sabyinyo family, and our guide Cally responds by saying: "Don't be afraid and don't make a loud noise. It's a friendly gesture." The Sabyinyo (named after a dominant volcano) family, the easily accessible one, comprises 17 individuals, including Guhonda's eldest son Gihishamwotsi, who will replace him after his demise, and two babies. To minimise the chances of transmitting human diseases, visitors are advised to maintain a distance of seven metres from the gorillas. A total of 216 baby gorillas have been named since the introduction of Kwita Izina (gorilla-naming ceremony) in 2005. Twenty-two were named in the 12th edition of the ceremony in September. "Seeing the majestic mammals in their natural habitat is truly a life-time experience. In fact, it's the only place in the world where the gorillas are accessible, with a less arduous trek compared to neighbouring Uganda and Congo," remarked US tourist James Christopher, who was playfully punched by a young gorilla. The Virunga Mountains are also home to endemic primates like the rare golden monkey, the red tailed monkey, the owl faced monkey, the blue monkey and the grey-cheeked mangabey. The avian fauna it supports includes 178 species, comprising 13 endemic to the mountains. The prominent bird species are the Archer's ground robin, the dusky crimsonwing, the Ruwenzori turaco and the Ruwenzori double-collared sunbird. FAQs: Getting to Volcanoes National Park: One can reach the park boundaries at Kinigi town either by a private vehicle or by public transport. A travel agent will charge $100 per tourist for organising transportation from Kinigi town to the park. The park is connected by road from Kigali. Where to stay: You can stay in resorts located on the outskirts of the park, but they are not cheap and range from $100 to $200 per night. Kigali, one of the most beautiful cities in Africa, is the hub of budget and posh hotels. Best time to visit: Gorillas and golden monkeys can be spotted any time of the year. The best time is the rainy season -- July to September and December to February.
By IANS
BHOPAL: Over 20,000 nurses in government hospitals across Madhya Pradesh are observing a day-long 'symbolic' strike on Tuesday over their seven-point demands, affecting health facilities in the state.
However, the nurses are providing essential health care services.
The nurses are on strike over the Seventh Pay Commission and their seven-point demands, which has hit nursing facilities at medical colleges and hospitals. The nurses are also holding a dharna here.
The strike comes as hospitals are filled with patients suffering from dengue, chikungunya and other diseases. Keeping this in mind, the nurses have decided to provide essential nursing services.
"If government does not fulfil our demands, then nurses from all over the state will go for indefinite strike on November 9," United Nurses Association State Secretary Rekha Parmar told reporters.
Various hospital managements are taking the help from trainee nursing staff to tide over the situation.
BHOPAL: Over 20,000 nurses in government hospitals across Madhya Pradesh are observing a day-long 'symbolic' strike on Tuesday over their seven-point demands, affecting health facilities in the state. However, the nurses are providing essential health care services. The nurses are on strike over the Seventh Pay Commission and their seven-point demands, which has hit nursing facilities at medical colleges and hospitals. The nurses are also holding a dharna here. The strike comes as hospitals are filled with patients suffering from dengue, chikungunya and other diseases. Keeping this in mind, the nurses have decided to provide essential nursing services. "If government does not fulfil our demands, then nurses from all over the state will go for indefinite strike on November 9," United Nurses Association State Secretary Rekha Parmar told reporters. Various hospital managements are taking the help from trainee nursing staff to tide over the situation.
Aishik Chanda By
Express News Service
KOLKATA: The decision of Congress and CPM to contest the West Bengal byelections alone in two Lok Sabha and one Vidhan Sabha seats, slated on November 19 is likely to split opposition votes further and lubricate the path for Trinamool Congresss victory.
Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president and Murshidabad MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhury said, "Though we are worried about splitting of anti-Trinamool votes, but have not yet received any offer of alliance from CPM."
With this, the three seats will see a four-cornered fight in Tamluk and Coochbehar Lok Sabha and Manteswar Vidhan Sabha seats with BJP also testing its strength.
The CPM-Congress alliance had failed to deliver results in Assembly elections earlier this year, with the incumbent Trinamool Congress increasing its tally from 184 to 211 in the 294 seat Assembly.
"TMC has gained strength in North Bengal, even 'taken over' Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad, decimating the Forward Bloc stronghold. And Tamluk has been a traditional stronghold of the Adhikari family. It would be a cakewalk for Trinamool in the Lok Sabha seats. Manteswar in politically-restive northern Burdwan may see violence, clashes and tough fight," a political observer told Express.
Tamluk MP Suvendu Adhikari was made Transport minister in WB chief minister Mamata Banerjees cabinet after he won from Nandigram constituency in this year's Assembly elections. Coochbehar Trinamool MP 67-year-old Renuka Sinha had died of heart attack on August 17.
This necessitated the conduct of byelections in these two constituencies.
Of the 17 gram panchayats under Manteswar Vidhan Sabha constituency, 11 are controlled by CPM and 6 by Trinamool Congress. However, CPM lost the seat after four decades in this year's Assembly polls when Sajal Panja of Trinamool won by just 716 votes. However, he died a month ago due to heart attack. The area has witnessed pitched battles between the two rivals TMC and CPM for control of area.
Four of seven national parties in Bengal byelections fray
For the first time in recent history, four of the total seven national parties of the country would fight it out in the two Lok Sabha and one Vidhan Sabha seats on November 19.
Along with CPM, Congress and BJP, Trinamool Congress will be the fourth national party to fight in the elections. The former regional party was accorded 'national party status' on September 2 by the Election Commission of India (ECI) after it satisfied the conditions required to be recognised as state parties, in the four states.
Trinamool Congress is a recognised state party in West Bengal, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.
KOLKATA: The decision of Congress and CPM to contest the West Bengal byelections alone in two Lok Sabha and one Vidhan Sabha seats, slated on November 19 is likely to split opposition votes further and lubricate the path for Trinamool Congresss victory. Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president and Murshidabad MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhury said, "Though we are worried about splitting of anti-Trinamool votes, but have not yet received any offer of alliance from CPM." With this, the three seats will see a four-cornered fight in Tamluk and Coochbehar Lok Sabha and Manteswar Vidhan Sabha seats with BJP also testing its strength. The CPM-Congress alliance had failed to deliver results in Assembly elections earlier this year, with the incumbent Trinamool Congress increasing its tally from 184 to 211 in the 294 seat Assembly. "TMC has gained strength in North Bengal, even 'taken over' Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad, decimating the Forward Bloc stronghold. And Tamluk has been a traditional stronghold of the Adhikari family. It would be a cakewalk for Trinamool in the Lok Sabha seats. Manteswar in politically-restive northern Burdwan may see violence, clashes and tough fight," a political observer told Express. Tamluk MP Suvendu Adhikari was made Transport minister in WB chief minister Mamata Banerjees cabinet after he won from Nandigram constituency in this year's Assembly elections. Coochbehar Trinamool MP 67-year-old Renuka Sinha had died of heart attack on August 17. This necessitated the conduct of byelections in these two constituencies. Of the 17 gram panchayats under Manteswar Vidhan Sabha constituency, 11 are controlled by CPM and 6 by Trinamool Congress. However, CPM lost the seat after four decades in this year's Assembly polls when Sajal Panja of Trinamool won by just 716 votes. However, he died a month ago due to heart attack. The area has witnessed pitched battles between the two rivals TMC and CPM for control of area. Four of seven national parties in Bengal byelections fray For the first time in recent history, four of the total seven national parties of the country would fight it out in the two Lok Sabha and one Vidhan Sabha seats on November 19. Along with CPM, Congress and BJP, Trinamool Congress will be the fourth national party to fight in the elections. The former regional party was accorded 'national party status' on September 2 by the Election Commission of India (ECI) after it satisfied the conditions required to be recognised as state parties, in the four states. Trinamool Congress is a recognised state party in West Bengal, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.
By PTI
NEW DELHI: BJP today distanced itself from the meeting between Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and a delegation led by its leader Yashwant Sinha, saying the party has nothing to do with it.
"It is not a BJP delegation. BJP has nothing to do with this," its National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
A five-member civil society delegation led by the former Union Minister today met Geelani amid continuing volatile situation in the valley.
Some media outlets have said that it is a BJP delegation which is absolutely wrong, Sharma said, adding Sinha too maintained that he took up the enterprise in his personal capacity.
The other members of the delegation are Wajahat Habibullah, the former chairman of National Commission for Minorities, Kapil Kak, former Air Vice-Marshal, journalist Bharat Bhushan and Sushoba Barve of Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. They plan to meet other separatist leaders too.
NEW DELHI: BJP today distanced itself from the meeting between Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and a delegation led by its leader Yashwant Sinha, saying the party has nothing to do with it. "It is not a BJP delegation. BJP has nothing to do with this," its National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said. A five-member civil society delegation led by the former Union Minister today met Geelani amid continuing volatile situation in the valley. Some media outlets have said that it is a BJP delegation which is absolutely wrong, Sharma said, adding Sinha too maintained that he took up the enterprise in his personal capacity. The other members of the delegation are Wajahat Habibullah, the former chairman of National Commission for Minorities, Kapil Kak, former Air Vice-Marshal, journalist Bharat Bhushan and Sushoba Barve of Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. They plan to meet other separatist leaders too.
By IANS
NEW DELHI: Visiting French minister Christophe Sirugue on Tuesday appreciated the Indian initiatives for addressing the climate change concerns through urban sector projects, an official said.
French Minister of State for Industry Christophe Sirugue met Urban Development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and discussed in detail the new urban sector initiatives and the possible areas of cooperation between the two countries, a release said.
Appreciating India's enabling role in concluding COP-21 Agreement at Paris, the French minister noted that "these initiatives go to prove the country's commitment to address climate change concerns."
"Urban renaissance is the appropriate word for the Indian government's initiatives to recast the urban landscape," he added.
Speaking on urban planning and climate change, Venkaiah Naidu said: "Sustainable and climate friendly urban planning has been made the corner stone of new urban missions launched by the government over the last two years."
Elaborating further, Naidu said that increased emphasis on reliable public transport and non-motorised transport, intelligent transport systems, efficient resource management with focus on renewable energy etc., are some of the mandated provisions under the new urban missions to enable urban renaissance.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) was held in November-December 2015 in Paris, where 191 parties, including India, adopted the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal, out of the total 197 parties to the convention.
France has signed a memorandum of understanding for assisting in smart city development of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.
NEW DELHI: Visiting French minister Christophe Sirugue on Tuesday appreciated the Indian initiatives for addressing the climate change concerns through urban sector projects, an official said. French Minister of State for Industry Christophe Sirugue met Urban Development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and discussed in detail the new urban sector initiatives and the possible areas of cooperation between the two countries, a release said. Appreciating India's enabling role in concluding COP-21 Agreement at Paris, the French minister noted that "these initiatives go to prove the country's commitment to address climate change concerns." "Urban renaissance is the appropriate word for the Indian government's initiatives to recast the urban landscape," he added. Speaking on urban planning and climate change, Venkaiah Naidu said: "Sustainable and climate friendly urban planning has been made the corner stone of new urban missions launched by the government over the last two years." Elaborating further, Naidu said that increased emphasis on reliable public transport and non-motorised transport, intelligent transport systems, efficient resource management with focus on renewable energy etc., are some of the mandated provisions under the new urban missions to enable urban renaissance. The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) was held in November-December 2015 in Paris, where 191 parties, including India, adopted the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal, out of the total 197 parties to the convention. France has signed a memorandum of understanding for assisting in smart city development of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.
By ANI
MUMBAI: The National Congress Party (NCP) has urged the government to take preventive measures to stop ceasefire violations along the International Border (IB).
Unfortunately, unabated ceasefire violations from the other side are going on and there are firings causing injuries to our jawans and even death is caused, it is very sad that this is happening. Our government needs to take some initiatives to prevent this kind from happening and Pakistan must refrain from doing so, NCP leader Majid Memon told ANI.
Two BSF soldiers suffered bullet injuries along with a woman resident in an unprovoked firing in the R S Pura Sector by Pakistani troopers.
BSF soldier Sushil Kumar, 47, succumbed to his injuries in an attack on Sunday night. Kumar, a resident of Kurukshetra in Haryana, was inducted into the force in 1992.
The firing comes after a brief pause of nearly 48 hours as Pakistani Rangers resorted to arms firing and mortar shelling on at least three places in the sector.
This also came after another soldier Gurnam Singh succumbed to his injuries on Sunday in firing by Pakistani snipers in Bobiya area of Hira Nagar sector on the LoC on Friday.
In response the BSF had launched a counter offensive in which, it claimed, seven Pakistan Rangers and a militant were killed on Friday.
MUMBAI: The National Congress Party (NCP) has urged the government to take preventive measures to stop ceasefire violations along the International Border (IB). Unfortunately, unabated ceasefire violations from the other side are going on and there are firings causing injuries to our jawans and even death is caused, it is very sad that this is happening. Our government needs to take some initiatives to prevent this kind from happening and Pakistan must refrain from doing so, NCP leader Majid Memon told ANI. Two BSF soldiers suffered bullet injuries along with a woman resident in an unprovoked firing in the R S Pura Sector by Pakistani troopers. BSF soldier Sushil Kumar, 47, succumbed to his injuries in an attack on Sunday night. Kumar, a resident of Kurukshetra in Haryana, was inducted into the force in 1992. The firing comes after a brief pause of nearly 48 hours as Pakistani Rangers resorted to arms firing and mortar shelling on at least three places in the sector. This also came after another soldier Gurnam Singh succumbed to his injuries on Sunday in firing by Pakistani snipers in Bobiya area of Hira Nagar sector on the LoC on Friday. In response the BSF had launched a counter offensive in which, it claimed, seven Pakistan Rangers and a militant were killed on Friday.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: In about four weeks, women will be able to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. The trust that governs the place of worship bowed in the Supreme Court on Monday to the demand for equal access to women and asked that it be given four weeks to make the required arrangements.
Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, counsel for the Haji Ali Dargah Trust, submitted to the bench that the dargah truly believes in complete equality between men and women.
Satisfied with this submission, a bench headed by chief justice T S Thakur disposed of the trusts petition challenging a Bombay High Court order on Aug. 26 mandating that the inner sanctum be opened to women. Acknowledging the trusts climb down, the apex court said, If you are not allowing both men and women to go beyond a point, there would have been no problem. But if you are allowing some to go beyond a point while others are not, it is a problem.
Although it challenged the Bombay High Court order, the trust had passed a resolution on October 11 to end the ban it clamped back in 2012 disallowing the entry of women. The 2012 ban was based on the trusts notion that it is a grievous sin to let women into the inner sanctum. This and its other defence, that the ban was actually good for women because it prevents sexual harassment, did not stand up in the Bombay High Court. The High Court ruled that the ban contravenes Articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution.
Mondays submission by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust brings to fruition a challenge mounted by two women, Zakia Soman and Noorjehan Niaz of the NGO Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, challenging the trusts ban on womens entry into the sanctum sanctorum.
The Haji Ali Dargah, said to date back 600 hundred years, is a popular religious place located on an island off south Mumbai. It houses a mosque and the tomb of the tomb of Sayed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, and is visited by people of all faiths.
The dargah is the second place of worship - after the Shani Singnapur in Maharashtra - that has had to open its doors to women in the face of determined efforts by equality activists. Womens rights activist Trupti Desai described todays decision of the Haji Ali Dargah Trust as a victory of woman worshippers and the Indian Constitution.
We now request the trustees of the Sabarimala Temple to take a cue from Haji Ali Dargah and allow women to enter the sanctum, she added.
NEW DELHI: In about four weeks, women will be able to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. The trust that governs the place of worship bowed in the Supreme Court on Monday to the demand for equal access to women and asked that it be given four weeks to make the required arrangements. Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, counsel for the Haji Ali Dargah Trust, submitted to the bench that the dargah truly believes in complete equality between men and women. Satisfied with this submission, a bench headed by chief justice T S Thakur disposed of the trusts petition challenging a Bombay High Court order on Aug. 26 mandating that the inner sanctum be opened to women. Acknowledging the trusts climb down, the apex court said, If you are not allowing both men and women to go beyond a point, there would have been no problem. But if you are allowing some to go beyond a point while others are not, it is a problem. Although it challenged the Bombay High Court order, the trust had passed a resolution on October 11 to end the ban it clamped back in 2012 disallowing the entry of women. The 2012 ban was based on the trusts notion that it is a grievous sin to let women into the inner sanctum. This and its other defence, that the ban was actually good for women because it prevents sexual harassment, did not stand up in the Bombay High Court. The High Court ruled that the ban contravenes Articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution. Mondays submission by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust brings to fruition a challenge mounted by two women, Zakia Soman and Noorjehan Niaz of the NGO Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, challenging the trusts ban on womens entry into the sanctum sanctorum. The Haji Ali Dargah, said to date back 600 hundred years, is a popular religious place located on an island off south Mumbai. It houses a mosque and the tomb of the tomb of Sayed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, and is visited by people of all faiths. The dargah is the second place of worship - after the Shani Singnapur in Maharashtra - that has had to open its doors to women in the face of determined efforts by equality activists. Womens rights activist Trupti Desai described todays decision of the Haji Ali Dargah Trust as a victory of woman worshippers and the Indian Constitution. We now request the trustees of the Sabarimala Temple to take a cue from Haji Ali Dargah and allow women to enter the sanctum, she added.
By PTI
NEW DELHI: India is becoming more generous with larger number of people stepping up to support others in tough times, according to a new study that shows the country climbing up the World Giving Index of global generosity.
According to the Index that is compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), India has re-entered the list of top 100 most generous countries, by occupying the 91st rank as opposed to the earlier 106th.
"India has a fabulous tradition and culture of giving and it is great news that India is becoming more generous over time. People generously stepped up to help after the devastating Tamil Nadu floods and the Nepal earthquake.
"It's humbling that people instinctively try to help when they see their fellow citizens suffering adversity. We need to give something back to those who need it and build on the culture of giving of which we should be so proud," says Meenakshi Batra, Chief Executive of CAF India.
Even though, overall India has climbed up the global CAF WGI to rank just above Pakistan and Bangladesh, it still scores significantly lower than some of its neighbours like Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal.
In an impressive finding, the number of Indians helping a stranger, giving money and volunteering their time is more than any other country.
Overall, 401 million people had helped a stranger last year, up from 335m in 2014. More than 200 million had given money, up from 184m in 2014 and 200m had volunteered during the previous month, up from 157m in 2014," the study states.
The index recorded the number of people who helped a stranger in the past month, volunteered their time or gave money to a good cause, to reveal the results.
This year 148,000 people in 140 countries were surveyed as part of the Gallup World Poll, an ongoing research project carried out in more than 140 countries in 2015.
Overall, Myanmar was the most generous country on Earth for the third year running. The United States was second, making it the most generous nation in the western world, followed by Australia.
Other findings include Africa being the continent with the highest increase in generosity in the past year.
Also, high levels of giving in Iraq and Libya despite bloody conflicts, and Nepal, indicate disasters and adversity continue to inspire acts of generosity.
"The generosity of people, even in countries suffering from disaster and turmoil, is truly humbling. In every county, people have this in-built desire to give and help others.
"Governments should encourage that spirit of generosity and create the environment in which a strong civil society can flourish allowing people to reach out to those less fortunate than themselves," says John Low, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation.
NEW DELHI: India is becoming more generous with larger number of people stepping up to support others in tough times, according to a new study that shows the country climbing up the World Giving Index of global generosity. According to the Index that is compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), India has re-entered the list of top 100 most generous countries, by occupying the 91st rank as opposed to the earlier 106th. "India has a fabulous tradition and culture of giving and it is great news that India is becoming more generous over time. People generously stepped up to help after the devastating Tamil Nadu floods and the Nepal earthquake. "It's humbling that people instinctively try to help when they see their fellow citizens suffering adversity. We need to give something back to those who need it and build on the culture of giving of which we should be so proud," says Meenakshi Batra, Chief Executive of CAF India. Even though, overall India has climbed up the global CAF WGI to rank just above Pakistan and Bangladesh, it still scores significantly lower than some of its neighbours like Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal. In an impressive finding, the number of Indians helping a stranger, giving money and volunteering their time is more than any other country. Overall, 401 million people had helped a stranger last year, up from 335m in 2014. More than 200 million had given money, up from 184m in 2014 and 200m had volunteered during the previous month, up from 157m in 2014," the study states. The index recorded the number of people who helped a stranger in the past month, volunteered their time or gave money to a good cause, to reveal the results. This year 148,000 people in 140 countries were surveyed as part of the Gallup World Poll, an ongoing research project carried out in more than 140 countries in 2015. Overall, Myanmar was the most generous country on Earth for the third year running. The United States was second, making it the most generous nation in the western world, followed by Australia. Other findings include Africa being the continent with the highest increase in generosity in the past year. Also, high levels of giving in Iraq and Libya despite bloody conflicts, and Nepal, indicate disasters and adversity continue to inspire acts of generosity. "The generosity of people, even in countries suffering from disaster and turmoil, is truly humbling. In every county, people have this in-built desire to give and help others. "Governments should encourage that spirit of generosity and create the environment in which a strong civil society can flourish allowing people to reach out to those less fortunate than themselves," says John Low, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Arrested Islamic State (IS) member Subahani Haja Moideens revelations on the workings of the terror group suggest that the terror outfits chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may not be alive.
Moideen was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier in October in connection with a case related to activities of the banned IS group. Moideen hails from Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.
Moideen told NIA interrogators that Baghdadi was never seen by any of the 500 recruits at the outfits training centre at Mosul in Iraq or during the jihadi attacks executed by the IS members.
Cadre numbering 500 were divided into three groups and none in the groups could ever catch a glimpse of Baghdadi.
Most of the 500 IS fighters engaged in jihad in Mosul were from Tajikistan, followed by Arab radicals. The third largest group was from east Asian countries.During his stay in Mosul, Moideen had befriended Abu Usman, a Pakistani national who was a member of Moideens group of IS fighters. Moideen was rechristened as Abu Jasmin. Abu Suleiman was the group leader of Umar Ibn Khatab Khatiba, who was in touch with Umar Ismail Mustafi who, in turn, was involved in the Paris attack and had hit a theatre in which 80 people were killed. Mustafi was liquidated by French security forces.
A group comprised only European jihadis and another group had only such fighters who could speak English as well as Arabic, claimed Moideen.According to Moideens account revealed to the NIA, the house in which he was kept in Mosul had a big swimming pool, gymnasium and park and the fighters were offered sex slaves.
Moideen was earlier paid $200 which was later cut to $100 per month. He told the NIA that he could roam around in a restricted area near the training centre and could even visit the market. During fights in June and July this year, Moideen said he commanded jihadi attacks in Mosul.
During questioning, Moideen claimed that two of his fellow agents were killed in shelling by security forces there and that he was very frightened and hence decided to return. When he told his group leader that he wanted to return, he was put behind bars in a Mosul jail. The NIA, however, is yet to ascertain the reason for Moideens return to India.
NEW DELHI: Arrested Islamic State (IS) member Subahani Haja Moideens revelations on the workings of the terror group suggest that the terror outfits chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may not be alive. Moideen was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier in October in connection with a case related to activities of the banned IS group. Moideen hails from Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. Moideen told NIA interrogators that Baghdadi was never seen by any of the 500 recruits at the outfits training centre at Mosul in Iraq or during the jihadi attacks executed by the IS members. Cadre numbering 500 were divided into three groups and none in the groups could ever catch a glimpse of Baghdadi. Most of the 500 IS fighters engaged in jihad in Mosul were from Tajikistan, followed by Arab radicals. The third largest group was from east Asian countries.During his stay in Mosul, Moideen had befriended Abu Usman, a Pakistani national who was a member of Moideens group of IS fighters. Moideen was rechristened as Abu Jasmin. Abu Suleiman was the group leader of Umar Ibn Khatab Khatiba, who was in touch with Umar Ismail Mustafi who, in turn, was involved in the Paris attack and had hit a theatre in which 80 people were killed. Mustafi was liquidated by French security forces. A group comprised only European jihadis and another group had only such fighters who could speak English as well as Arabic, claimed Moideen.According to Moideens account revealed to the NIA, the house in which he was kept in Mosul had a big swimming pool, gymnasium and park and the fighters were offered sex slaves. Moideen was earlier paid $200 which was later cut to $100 per month. He told the NIA that he could roam around in a restricted area near the training centre and could even visit the market. During fights in June and July this year, Moideen said he commanded jihadi attacks in Mosul. During questioning, Moideen claimed that two of his fellow agents were killed in shelling by security forces there and that he was very frightened and hence decided to return. When he told his group leader that he wanted to return, he was put behind bars in a Mosul jail. The NIA, however, is yet to ascertain the reason for Moideens return to India.
Santwana Bhattacharya By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Its a birthday that Akhilesh Yadav would surely never want to remember. Not only did his once- doting father, Samajwadi Party strongman Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had made him chief minister of Uttar Pradesh five years ago, forget the day he did something worse. He openly backed his sons bete noires his own brother Shivpal Yadav and aide Amar Singh in full view of the partys rank and file, reducing the young chief minister to tears.
With this, the feud seemed to lurch to a point of no return. The ageing wrestler-politicians last bid at ending the feud with his own signature written on it had a bad ending. If he was to play umpire for a bout between his brother and son, it was devoid of impartiality. The ringside view was ugly; scuffles became the order of the day. Clearly bristling over his summary removal from Akhileshs cabinet for the second time in a month, Shivpal, also the state party chief, forcibly took the mic from the young chief minister and called him a liar. He even accused him of plotting to break the Samajwadi Party to float his own outfit. Akhilesh Yadav had said to me that he will form another party. He said it, he said it to me, Shivpal asserted, at the partys truce meeting.
An emotionally wrought Akhilesh tried to rebut the accusations. People are saying a new party will be formed. Who is forming a new party? I am not!...I was deeply hurt when I heard from others that you want to remove me. This is your party and Ive no stakesIve nothing in the party. Im only Netajis son, he said. He added that he would resign any day if his father asks him to. However, his close aides and loyalists indicate he has no such intention.
He will fight till the end for what is being considered Mulayams political legacy as well control over the party, prior to the elections and in the future. And Netaji was later on record that Akhilesh will not be removedhe will remain Chief Minister. But that was about the only concession Mulayam was ready to make for Akhilesh. On Shivpal and particularly Amar, Netaji was unwilling to take action. I cant leave Amar Singh or Shivpal Yadav. All of Amar Singhs sins are forgiven. He helped us in difficult times, Mulayam announced at the meeting, to which Shivpal added for good measure that those who are criticising Amar Singh are not even worth the dust of his feet.
The bellicosity apart, two sides stopped short of employing their ultimate weapon. Mulayam, despite his anger, refused to remove his son from the chief minister chair and Akhilesh denied that he would be leaving his father to strike it out on his own. Late-evening talks that Shivpal was pushing for Mulayam to take over as chief minister after sacking his son found no official corroboration.
Mulayam, though, did pooh-pooh Akhileshs brag that he has the youth behind him while the latter rejected as forged the letter his father flashed to claim the minorities one of the SPs trusted votebanks were disgruntled. It was clear that Mulayam realises that Akhilesh remained the partys USP before the election, despite the rift and his assertion that Shivpal was a mass leader.
NEW DELHI: Its a birthday that Akhilesh Yadav would surely never want to remember. Not only did his once- doting father, Samajwadi Party strongman Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had made him chief minister of Uttar Pradesh five years ago, forget the day he did something worse. He openly backed his sons bete noires his own brother Shivpal Yadav and aide Amar Singh in full view of the partys rank and file, reducing the young chief minister to tears. With this, the feud seemed to lurch to a point of no return. The ageing wrestler-politicians last bid at ending the feud with his own signature written on it had a bad ending. If he was to play umpire for a bout between his brother and son, it was devoid of impartiality. The ringside view was ugly; scuffles became the order of the day. Clearly bristling over his summary removal from Akhileshs cabinet for the second time in a month, Shivpal, also the state party chief, forcibly took the mic from the young chief minister and called him a liar. He even accused him of plotting to break the Samajwadi Party to float his own outfit. Akhilesh Yadav had said to me that he will form another party. He said it, he said it to me, Shivpal asserted, at the partys truce meeting. An emotionally wrought Akhilesh tried to rebut the accusations. People are saying a new party will be formed. Who is forming a new party? I am not!...I was deeply hurt when I heard from others that you want to remove me. This is your party and Ive no stakesIve nothing in the party. Im only Netajis son, he said. He added that he would resign any day if his father asks him to. However, his close aides and loyalists indicate he has no such intention. He will fight till the end for what is being considered Mulayams political legacy as well control over the party, prior to the elections and in the future. And Netaji was later on record that Akhilesh will not be removedhe will remain Chief Minister. But that was about the only concession Mulayam was ready to make for Akhilesh. On Shivpal and particularly Amar, Netaji was unwilling to take action. I cant leave Amar Singh or Shivpal Yadav. All of Amar Singhs sins are forgiven. He helped us in difficult times, Mulayam announced at the meeting, to which Shivpal added for good measure that those who are criticising Amar Singh are not even worth the dust of his feet. The bellicosity apart, two sides stopped short of employing their ultimate weapon. Mulayam, despite his anger, refused to remove his son from the chief minister chair and Akhilesh denied that he would be leaving his father to strike it out on his own. Late-evening talks that Shivpal was pushing for Mulayam to take over as chief minister after sacking his son found no official corroboration. Mulayam, though, did pooh-pooh Akhileshs brag that he has the youth behind him while the latter rejected as forged the letter his father flashed to claim the minorities one of the SPs trusted votebanks were disgruntled. It was clear that Mulayam realises that Akhilesh remained the partys USP before the election, despite the rift and his assertion that Shivpal was a mass leader.
Santwana Bhattacharya By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Congress has been rather coy about admitting Priyanka Gandhi Vadras role in the party. Not anymore though or so it seemed on Monday. Priyankas presence at a Congress round-table on Uttar Pradesh elections in the partys Delhi war-room was acknowledged, without the usual ambivalence surrounding her role.
If there was any caginess, it was limited to the explanations given for Rahul Gandhis absence at the meeting. Ghulam Nabi Azad, the party in-charge for the state, who chaired the meeting, had till now maintained that Priyankas formal entry into the Congress would be announced when the time comes. However, theres no big-bang announcement, just a soft-launch.
The acknowledgment of her presence at todays meeting should be seen as first step towards the formalisation of Priyankas role in the Uttar Pradesh elections, a senior leader claimed, adding that the discussion mostly centered on the feedback received from the ground on the Congress Yatras being undertaken.
The party, however, was keen to dispel any notion that Priyanka was replacing Rahul. If at all, she will be a force multiplier for Congress, adding to Rahul Gandhis forceful campaign, a Congress leader said.
Meanwhile, Shiela Dikshit, the partys chief ministerial face, claimed that Rahuls Kisan Yatra was a huge success and if Priyanka hit the campaign trail, it would only strengthen the partys position.
There has been much speculation about Priyanka, daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, joining the Congress campaign in the state. Earlier, it was speculated that the two-part celebrations planned for Indira Gandhi centenary in Delhi and Allahabad would see Priyanka take the plunge. Her close resemblance to her grandmother Indira and her ability to speak her mind in fluent heartland Hindi, without hemming and hawing, are what the partys poll strategist Prashant Kishor wanted exploit in the Uttar Pradesh elections, it was said.
However, at Mondays meeting Priayankas campaign schedule was not what was on the agenda. Thats still is under wraps, one of the UP leaders who attended the meeting said. Candidates, who can contest from where, the role of local leaders, etc, were instead some of the issues.
Dikshit, is said to have urged Priyanka to be more pro-active. Apart from the former Delhi chief minister, state party chief Raj Babbar, R P N Singh, Pramod Tewari and a few others attended the meeting.
And the Congress wants to make the most of the deepening the family feud in the ruling Samajwadi Party. Nevertheless, the BJP and the BSP seem to be in comfortable positions, making the Congress work harder.
NEW DELHI: The Congress has been rather coy about admitting Priyanka Gandhi Vadras role in the party. Not anymore though or so it seemed on Monday. Priyankas presence at a Congress round-table on Uttar Pradesh elections in the partys Delhi war-room was acknowledged, without the usual ambivalence surrounding her role. If there was any caginess, it was limited to the explanations given for Rahul Gandhis absence at the meeting. Ghulam Nabi Azad, the party in-charge for the state, who chaired the meeting, had till now maintained that Priyankas formal entry into the Congress would be announced when the time comes. However, theres no big-bang announcement, just a soft-launch. The acknowledgment of her presence at todays meeting should be seen as first step towards the formalisation of Priyankas role in the Uttar Pradesh elections, a senior leader claimed, adding that the discussion mostly centered on the feedback received from the ground on the Congress Yatras being undertaken. The party, however, was keen to dispel any notion that Priyanka was replacing Rahul. If at all, she will be a force multiplier for Congress, adding to Rahul Gandhis forceful campaign, a Congress leader said. Meanwhile, Shiela Dikshit, the partys chief ministerial face, claimed that Rahuls Kisan Yatra was a huge success and if Priyanka hit the campaign trail, it would only strengthen the partys position. There has been much speculation about Priyanka, daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, joining the Congress campaign in the state. Earlier, it was speculated that the two-part celebrations planned for Indira Gandhi centenary in Delhi and Allahabad would see Priyanka take the plunge. Her close resemblance to her grandmother Indira and her ability to speak her mind in fluent heartland Hindi, without hemming and hawing, are what the partys poll strategist Prashant Kishor wanted exploit in the Uttar Pradesh elections, it was said. However, at Mondays meeting Priayankas campaign schedule was not what was on the agenda. Thats still is under wraps, one of the UP leaders who attended the meeting said. Candidates, who can contest from where, the role of local leaders, etc, were instead some of the issues. Dikshit, is said to have urged Priyanka to be more pro-active. Apart from the former Delhi chief minister, state party chief Raj Babbar, R P N Singh, Pramod Tewari and a few others attended the meeting. And the Congress wants to make the most of the deepening the family feud in the ruling Samajwadi Party. Nevertheless, the BJP and the BSP seem to be in comfortable positions, making the Congress work harder.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh raised the issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism with the top leadership of Bahrain during his three-day official tour to the country that concluded on Tuesday.
Terrorism emanating from Pakistan or from territories under its control remains our most important concern. The support from across the border has incited the current unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. Since there is no change in Pakistans approach of sponsoring terrorism, we cannot take at face value any of the assurances that Pakistan provides with regard to stopping terrorism, Singh told the leadership in Bahrain.
Singh also the Kingdom that the Government of India has taken numerous initiatives over the past two years with the view to realising a peaceful and prosperous South Asia, We have conveyed to Pakistan that we are ready to discuss various aspects involving the two countries There are no good or bad terrorists and terrorism should be dealt with in a comprehensive manner.
Delving into the issue of serious threat posed by international terrorism, Rajnath told the Bahrain leaders that terrorism constitutes the gravest threat to humanity. The build up of ISIS, the most radical , group in the West Asia-Gulf region, particularly in Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, reflects a disturbing trend of spread of religious extremism. Developments in the region and the rise of religious extremism impact negatively on the Muslim population all around. This is of serious concern to India also, Rajnath is learnt to have told the leaders there.
There have been some reports of recruitment of Shia Muslims in India to fight against the ISIS in Syria and Iraq. A few individuals from India have also joined the ISIS ranks, the minister further told the leaders there.
During his three-day visit, Singh called on the King of Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in the capital Manama. He also met the Crown Prince & First Deputy Prime Minister, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Ali Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.
Singh also held extensive talks with his Bahrain counterpart, Interior Minister Lt. Gen. Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh raised the issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism with the top leadership of Bahrain during his three-day official tour to the country that concluded on Tuesday. Terrorism emanating from Pakistan or from territories under its control remains our most important concern. The support from across the border has incited the current unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. Since there is no change in Pakistans approach of sponsoring terrorism, we cannot take at face value any of the assurances that Pakistan provides with regard to stopping terrorism, Singh told the leadership in Bahrain. Singh also the Kingdom that the Government of India has taken numerous initiatives over the past two years with the view to realising a peaceful and prosperous South Asia, We have conveyed to Pakistan that we are ready to discuss various aspects involving the two countries There are no good or bad terrorists and terrorism should be dealt with in a comprehensive manner. Delving into the issue of serious threat posed by international terrorism, Rajnath told the Bahrain leaders that terrorism constitutes the gravest threat to humanity. The build up of ISIS, the most radical , group in the West Asia-Gulf region, particularly in Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, reflects a disturbing trend of spread of religious extremism. Developments in the region and the rise of religious extremism impact negatively on the Muslim population all around. This is of serious concern to India also, Rajnath is learnt to have told the leaders there. There have been some reports of recruitment of Shia Muslims in India to fight against the ISIS in Syria and Iraq. A few individuals from India have also joined the ISIS ranks, the minister further told the leaders there. During his three-day visit, Singh called on the King of Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in the capital Manama. He also met the Crown Prince & First Deputy Prime Minister, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Ali Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa. Singh also held extensive talks with his Bahrain counterpart, Interior Minister Lt. Gen. Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.
By ANI
SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri's residence in Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag district was attacked by terrorist forces on Monday.
This came weeks after militants attacked the residence of a ruling PDP MLA in Shopian town of Kashmir by lobbing a grenade at it.
However, there was no damage done due to the explosion that took place on October 5.
In September, some unidentified militants snatched weapons from police personnel guarding the residence of ruling People's Democratic Party's district President from Anantnag.
Six to eight militants attacked the guard post at the residence of Advocate Jawed Ahmed Sheikh, district President of PDP at Dayalgam and snatched four AK rifles from the security personnel, a police official said.
Further details awaited.
SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri's residence in Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag district was attacked by terrorist forces on Monday. This came weeks after militants attacked the residence of a ruling PDP MLA in Shopian town of Kashmir by lobbing a grenade at it. However, there was no damage done due to the explosion that took place on October 5. In September, some unidentified militants snatched weapons from police personnel guarding the residence of ruling People's Democratic Party's district President from Anantnag. Six to eight militants attacked the guard post at the residence of Advocate Jawed Ahmed Sheikh, district President of PDP at Dayalgam and snatched four AK rifles from the security personnel, a police official said. Further details awaited.
By ANI
MUMBAI: The founder of the Haji Ali Sabke Liye movement, Feroze Mithiborwala, has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his statement that the triple talaq issue should not be treated as a Hindu-Muslim matter, and added that this comment signals the emergence of a positive and liberal climate across the country.
Mithiborwala also lashed out at the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) for creating fear psychosis among Muslims on the issue of the Uniform Civil Code.
Even in this political ambit, the Prime Minister has chosen to speak on it, its a welcome sign. The point being that we have been trying to say this forefront, that do not communalise or politicise the issue, focus on the issue of gender rights, Muslim women, issue of reform within Muslim personal law, the issue of triple talaq, halala and polygamy are now today in SC, Mithiborwala told ANI.
So, if a positive climate is created in this country, the liberal and secular within the Muslim community will find it easier to take the message across the community, he added.
Addressing a rally in Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Modi criticised political leaders and people on the TV debates saying such discussions on triple talaq would keep women "deprived of their rights".
"I request people who participate in TV debates to not make women rights a Hindu- Muslim issue. It is a development issue. The debate should be between the Muslims who are pro and anti-reforms," he said.
He also said that justice would be given to Muslim women under the Constitution.
MUMBAI: The founder of the Haji Ali Sabke Liye movement, Feroze Mithiborwala, has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his statement that the triple talaq issue should not be treated as a Hindu-Muslim matter, and added that this comment signals the emergence of a positive and liberal climate across the country. Mithiborwala also lashed out at the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) for creating fear psychosis among Muslims on the issue of the Uniform Civil Code. Even in this political ambit, the Prime Minister has chosen to speak on it, its a welcome sign. The point being that we have been trying to say this forefront, that do not communalise or politicise the issue, focus on the issue of gender rights, Muslim women, issue of reform within Muslim personal law, the issue of triple talaq, halala and polygamy are now today in SC, Mithiborwala told ANI. So, if a positive climate is created in this country, the liberal and secular within the Muslim community will find it easier to take the message across the community, he added. Addressing a rally in Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Modi criticised political leaders and people on the TV debates saying such discussions on triple talaq would keep women "deprived of their rights". "I request people who participate in TV debates to not make women rights a Hindu- Muslim issue. It is a development issue. The debate should be between the Muslims who are pro and anti-reforms," he said. He also said that justice would be given to Muslim women under the Constitution.
A Surya Prakash By
After seventy years of pussy footing on an issue that militates against the core values of our Constitution, the Union government has made a series of unambiguous assertions in its affidavit before the Supreme Court in the Shayara Bano case, which will go a long way in strengthening our secular, democratic traditions.
The main prayer in this case by a divorced Muslim woman is that the fundamental rights guaranteed to every citizen by the Constitution must prevail over personal laws and that religious practices cannot override constitutional provisions. It is heartening to see that the government has wholeheartedly backed this prayer and said that constitutional provisions ought to supersede everything else. Never before has the Union government expressed itself in such a forthright manner on this issue.
Not only has it opposed triple talaq, but it has said that gender equality is non-negotiable. Muslim personal law in India permits the practice of talaq- e-bidat or talaq-e-badai, which includes a Muslim man divorcing his wife by pronouncing more than one talaq in a single tuhr (the period between two menstruations) or pronouncing an irrevocable instantaneous divorce at one go.
SUVAJIT DEY
The petitioner has told the court that Talaq-e-bidat (unilateral triple talaq) which practically treats women like chattel is neither harmonious with the modern principles of human rights and gender equality, nor is it an integral part of the Islamic faith. She said Muslim women had been given talaq over Skype, Facebook or even text messages and there was no protection against such arbitrary divorces.
But, there is something even more repugnant than this and that is called Nikah Halala. As per this tenet or practice, should a Muslim husband pronounce talaq in a fit of anger or under the influence of an intoxicant and later repent, he cannot take back his wife and restore the marriage.
The woman will have to undergo Nikah Halala (meaning marriage to another man) and then secure a divorce from that man. Only then can the woman re -mar ry her forme r husband. Shayara Bano has challenged these practices and appealed to the court to declare the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 as unconstitutional in so far as it validates talaq-e-bidat, nikah halala and polygamy. She has argued that it violates her fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution.
The Narendra Modi governments views in this matter are quite in contrast to the Rajiv Gandhi governments response to the issue of safeguarding the fundamental rights of Muslim women. Buckling under pressure of the Muslim clergy, that government overturned a progressive judgement of the Supreme Court in the Shah Bano Case which declared that a divorced Muslim woman was entitled to maintenance under the countrys secular law.
Rajiv Gandhi even brought in legislation in Parliament to upturn the apex courts verdict and to virtually uphold the primacy of Muslim Personal Law over fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. This was nothing but petty pursuit of a Muslim vote bank at the altar of our constitutional well-being. The Modi government affidavit however seeks to correct this monstrous folly and restore the primacy of the Constitution over everything else.
The present case rises following the divorce of Shayara Bano by her husband via triple talaq a year ago. Shayara Bano has since moved the Supreme Court and the petitions of several Muslim womens groups and scholars have been clubbed with this petition. The petitioner has appealed to the court to declare the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 as unconstitutional in so far as it validates talaq-e-bidat, nikah halala and polygamy. She has argued that it violates her fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution. The court asked the union government to respond to the petitioners plea. Shayara Bano has cited several judgements of the Supreme Court to back her petition. She has said that in Sarla Mudgals case, the court has observed that bigamous marriage has been made punishable amongst Christians by the Christian Marriage Act, 1872; amongst Parsis by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936; and amongst Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
However, the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 does not protect Muslim women from bigamy. Which means that all women except Muslim women are legally protected from the ill-effects of bigamous marriages. The Union governments affidavit states that gender equality and the dignity of women are non-negotiable, over-arching constitutional values and raises the question as to whether in a secular democracy, religion can be a reason to deny equal status and dignity, available to women under the Constitution of India. Secondly, whether women who profess a certain religion, can be relegated to a status which is significantly more vulnerable than their counterparts who profess any other faith.
Next, the government has said that the underlying idea behind the preservation of personal laws is the preservation of plurality and diversity among the people. But, can this be a pretext for denying to women the status and gender equality they are entitled to under the Constitution, as citizens of India. gender justice is a constitutional goal of overwhelming importance and magnitude.
If this is not accomplished, half the countrys citizenry will be unable to enjoy to the fullest, the rights available under the Constitution. Unlike the humming and hawing that one saw in the past, the Central government has now come out forcefully in defence of the fundamental rights of all its citizens. The bottom line is that the Constitution is supreme. There can be no text above it! So, it is now over to the Supreme Court.
A SURYA PRAKASH The author is the Chairperson of Prasar Bharati Email: suryamedia@gmail.coms
After seventy years of pussy footing on an issue that militates against the core values of our Constitution, the Union government has made a series of unambiguous assertions in its affidavit before the Supreme Court in the Shayara Bano case, which will go a long way in strengthening our secular, democratic traditions. The main prayer in this case by a divorced Muslim woman is that the fundamental rights guaranteed to every citizen by the Constitution must prevail over personal laws and that religious practices cannot override constitutional provisions. It is heartening to see that the government has wholeheartedly backed this prayer and said that constitutional provisions ought to supersede everything else. Never before has the Union government expressed itself in such a forthright manner on this issue. Not only has it opposed triple talaq, but it has said that gender equality is non-negotiable. Muslim personal law in India permits the practice of talaq- e-bidat or talaq-e-badai, which includes a Muslim man divorcing his wife by pronouncing more than one talaq in a single tuhr (the period between two menstruations) or pronouncing an irrevocable instantaneous divorce at one go. SUVAJIT DEYThe petitioner has told the court that Talaq-e-bidat (unilateral triple talaq) which practically treats women like chattel is neither harmonious with the modern principles of human rights and gender equality, nor is it an integral part of the Islamic faith. She said Muslim women had been given talaq over Skype, Facebook or even text messages and there was no protection against such arbitrary divorces. But, there is something even more repugnant than this and that is called Nikah Halala. As per this tenet or practice, should a Muslim husband pronounce talaq in a fit of anger or under the influence of an intoxicant and later repent, he cannot take back his wife and restore the marriage. The woman will have to undergo Nikah Halala (meaning marriage to another man) and then secure a divorce from that man. Only then can the woman re -mar ry her forme r husband. Shayara Bano has challenged these practices and appealed to the court to declare the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 as unconstitutional in so far as it validates talaq-e-bidat, nikah halala and polygamy. She has argued that it violates her fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution. The Narendra Modi governments views in this matter are quite in contrast to the Rajiv Gandhi governments response to the issue of safeguarding the fundamental rights of Muslim women. Buckling under pressure of the Muslim clergy, that government overturned a progressive judgement of the Supreme Court in the Shah Bano Case which declared that a divorced Muslim woman was entitled to maintenance under the countrys secular law. Rajiv Gandhi even brought in legislation in Parliament to upturn the apex courts verdict and to virtually uphold the primacy of Muslim Personal Law over fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. This was nothing but petty pursuit of a Muslim vote bank at the altar of our constitutional well-being. The Modi government affidavit however seeks to correct this monstrous folly and restore the primacy of the Constitution over everything else. The present case rises following the divorce of Shayara Bano by her husband via triple talaq a year ago. Shayara Bano has since moved the Supreme Court and the petitions of several Muslim womens groups and scholars have been clubbed with this petition. The petitioner has appealed to the court to declare the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 as unconstitutional in so far as it validates talaq-e-bidat, nikah halala and polygamy. She has argued that it violates her fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution. The court asked the union government to respond to the petitioners plea. Shayara Bano has cited several judgements of the Supreme Court to back her petition. She has said that in Sarla Mudgals case, the court has observed that bigamous marriage has been made punishable amongst Christians by the Christian Marriage Act, 1872; amongst Parsis by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936; and amongst Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. However, the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 does not protect Muslim women from bigamy. Which means that all women except Muslim women are legally protected from the ill-effects of bigamous marriages. The Union governments affidavit states that gender equality and the dignity of women are non-negotiable, over-arching constitutional values and raises the question as to whether in a secular democracy, religion can be a reason to deny equal status and dignity, available to women under the Constitution of India. Secondly, whether women who profess a certain religion, can be relegated to a status which is significantly more vulnerable than their counterparts who profess any other faith. Next, the government has said that the underlying idea behind the preservation of personal laws is the preservation of plurality and diversity among the people. But, can this be a pretext for denying to women the status and gender equality they are entitled to under the Constitution, as citizens of India. gender justice is a constitutional goal of overwhelming importance and magnitude. If this is not accomplished, half the countrys citizenry will be unable to enjoy to the fullest, the rights available under the Constitution. Unlike the humming and hawing that one saw in the past, the Central government has now come out forcefully in defence of the fundamental rights of all its citizens. The bottom line is that the Constitution is supreme. There can be no text above it! So, it is now over to the Supreme Court. A SURYA PRAKASH The author is the Chairperson of Prasar Bharati Email: suryamedia@gmail.coms
By Express News Service
VIJAYAWADA: An intermediate second-year student G Santosh Kumar, studying in SRR government college and staying in BC welfare hostel in Gunadala, died at new government general hospital (GGH) on Monday morning of severe respiratory problem.
His mother and relatives allege that he died due to the negligence of his doctors. Students of SRR and CVR college and members of the Student Federation of India (SFI) staged a protest in front of the hospital demanding action against hospital officials.
Sub-collector G Srujana reached the spot and went through all medical reports pertaining to the case. Later, Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas Rao ordered a probe under Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and said that necessary action would be initiated once the report is submitted.
Santosh Kumars father expired 16 years ago and his mother is a daily wage labourer. He was a native of West Godavari. He approached the government general hospital following severe stomach pain last Friday.
After medical tests, his problem was identified as appendicitis and doctors were supposed to perform surgery on Monday. Meanwhile, his lungs were affected badly and due to rise in respiratory problem, he succumbed to pains on Monday.
G Santosh Kumar
According to city members of SFI, hospital officials were very reluctant in attending to the patient. Relatives of the deceased asked the doctors to discharge him if they do not have required equipment to treatment him. But, they said that he was fine and would get back to normal after surgery.
VIJAYAWADA: An intermediate second-year student G Santosh Kumar, studying in SRR government college and staying in BC welfare hostel in Gunadala, died at new government general hospital (GGH) on Monday morning of severe respiratory problem. His mother and relatives allege that he died due to the negligence of his doctors. Students of SRR and CVR college and members of the Student Federation of India (SFI) staged a protest in front of the hospital demanding action against hospital officials. Sub-collector G Srujana reached the spot and went through all medical reports pertaining to the case. Later, Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas Rao ordered a probe under Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and said that necessary action would be initiated once the report is submitted. Santosh Kumars father expired 16 years ago and his mother is a daily wage labourer. He was a native of West Godavari. He approached the government general hospital following severe stomach pain last Friday. After medical tests, his problem was identified as appendicitis and doctors were supposed to perform surgery on Monday. Meanwhile, his lungs were affected badly and due to rise in respiratory problem, he succumbed to pains on Monday. G Santosh KumarAccording to city members of SFI, hospital officials were very reluctant in attending to the patient. Relatives of the deceased asked the doctors to discharge him if they do not have required equipment to treatment him. But, they said that he was fine and would get back to normal after surgery.
Yathiraju By
Express News Service
BENGALURU: A City Civil and Sessions Court here on Monday has ordered former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the management of a Kochi-based firm to pay up over Rs 1.6 crore to a Bengaluru-based real estate consultant who was allegedly cheated after being promised a solar power project in Kerala.
Passing a decree in favour of M K Kuruvila, the consultant residing at Koramangala, N R Chennakeshava, LXV Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, ordered the defendants, including Chandy, to jointly pay Rs 1,60,85,700 with costs.
Apart from Chandy, the other defendants are SCOSSA Educational Consultants Private Ltd, having its office in Kakkanad, Kochi, managing director Binu Nair, and directors Andrews and Delijith.
The judge added that Kuruvila incurred expenses in filing this suit and defendants are totally liable to pay Rs 1,60,85,700 with current and future interest at the rate of 12 percent, failing which he is entitled to recover the sum in accordance with law.
In his suit for recovery of money filed before the court on April 30, 2015, Kuruvila claimed that the Kochi firm was familiar with solar power business and was sole selling and distributing agent in India for Da Mool, a South Korean company that provides technology for solar power projects.
In his petition, Kuruvila said defendants allegedly assured him a stake in upcoming solar power project for a payment of Rs 1.03 crore to SCOSSA, Binu, Andrew and Delijith.Kuruvila alleged that after paying up, they never approached him and that he received threat calls.
Besides praying court to grant litigation cost, Kuruvila claimed 18 percent as current and future interest per annum on the amount he paid to them.However, the judge termed it exorbitant and passed decree for 12 percent, saying that it would met the ends of justice.
Heartburn
B1,60,85,700 the cost Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge ordered the defendants, Kochi-based firm and Chandy, to jointly pay to M K Kuruvila, who was allegedly cheated after being promised a solar project
BENGALURU: A City Civil and Sessions Court here on Monday has ordered former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the management of a Kochi-based firm to pay up over Rs 1.6 crore to a Bengaluru-based real estate consultant who was allegedly cheated after being promised a solar power project in Kerala. Passing a decree in favour of M K Kuruvila, the consultant residing at Koramangala, N R Chennakeshava, LXV Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, ordered the defendants, including Chandy, to jointly pay Rs 1,60,85,700 with costs. Apart from Chandy, the other defendants are SCOSSA Educational Consultants Private Ltd, having its office in Kakkanad, Kochi, managing director Binu Nair, and directors Andrews and Delijith. The judge added that Kuruvila incurred expenses in filing this suit and defendants are totally liable to pay Rs 1,60,85,700 with current and future interest at the rate of 12 percent, failing which he is entitled to recover the sum in accordance with law. In his suit for recovery of money filed before the court on April 30, 2015, Kuruvila claimed that the Kochi firm was familiar with solar power business and was sole selling and distributing agent in India for Da Mool, a South Korean company that provides technology for solar power projects. In his petition, Kuruvila said defendants allegedly assured him a stake in upcoming solar power project for a payment of Rs 1.03 crore to SCOSSA, Binu, Andrew and Delijith.Kuruvila alleged that after paying up, they never approached him and that he received threat calls. Besides praying court to grant litigation cost, Kuruvila claimed 18 percent as current and future interest per annum on the amount he paid to them.However, the judge termed it exorbitant and passed decree for 12 percent, saying that it would met the ends of justice. Heartburn B1,60,85,700 the cost Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge ordered the defendants, Kochi-based firm and Chandy, to jointly pay to M K Kuruvila, who was allegedly cheated after being promised a solar project
By Express News Service
HYDERABAD: Likening the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to the fabled Roman emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome was burning, opposition parties on Monday deplored KCRs decision to construct a new building in place of the existing secretariat building citing vastu defects.
The CM is behaving like Nero by doing things as per his whims for a luxurious lifestyle at a time when people in the state are facing hardships. His decision to construct an ultra-modern building for housing secretariat with a whopping Rs 1,200 crore is a classic example of this, TDP senior leader Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy said on Monday.
While interacting with mediapersons separately, BJP MLA G Kishan Reddy also disapproved the decision. Majority of blocks in the secretariat were built just eight years ago. Hence, CMs decision to demolish the existing building is unwise.
He wondered that instead of clearing the dues of Fee Reimbursement Scheme of poor students, which amount to Rs 3,100 crore, Rs 410 crore arrears for Aarogya Sri, how could he spend Rs 1,200 crore on secretariat.
KCR is constructing a posh house for his family to satisfy his desire to lead an expensive lifestyle at public expenses, Congress leader Md Ali Shabbir said.
HYDERABAD: Likening the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to the fabled Roman emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome was burning, opposition parties on Monday deplored KCRs decision to construct a new building in place of the existing secretariat building citing vastu defects. The CM is behaving like Nero by doing things as per his whims for a luxurious lifestyle at a time when people in the state are facing hardships. His decision to construct an ultra-modern building for housing secretariat with a whopping Rs 1,200 crore is a classic example of this, TDP senior leader Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy said on Monday. While interacting with mediapersons separately, BJP MLA G Kishan Reddy also disapproved the decision. Majority of blocks in the secretariat were built just eight years ago. Hence, CMs decision to demolish the existing building is unwise. He wondered that instead of clearing the dues of Fee Reimbursement Scheme of poor students, which amount to Rs 3,100 crore, Rs 410 crore arrears for Aarogya Sri, how could he spend Rs 1,200 crore on secretariat. KCR is constructing a posh house for his family to satisfy his desire to lead an expensive lifestyle at public expenses, Congress leader Md Ali Shabbir said.
COLOMBO: Despite the visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary S.Jaishankar accompanied by a high-level team from the Indian Oil Corporation over the weekend, differences between the Lanka IOC (LIOC) and the government of Sri Lanka over the Trincomalee oil storage tanks persist.
Reliable sources told Express on Tuesday that the basic technical and legal issues which have been preventing the full use of the giant oil tanks remain unresolved though the tanks were handed over to the LIOC ,a subsidiary of IOC ,way back in 2002 for joint development with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).
Because of the war in North-East Sri Lanka, LIOC and CPC could not develop the tanks as desired though the LIOC, PRIMA and the Sri Lanka Air Force were using some. The LIOC had renovated 15 of the 99 tanks at a cost of US$ 15 million and was ready to invest US$ 17 more for further refurbishment. The PRIMA wheat company and the Air Force were using four.
The end of the war in 2009 did not being any relief as relations between India and the Mahinda Rajapaksa government deteriorated over the Tamil issue. In 2013, India abstained from supporting Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not attend the Commonwealth summit held in Colombo.
Given the downturn in relations, the Rajapaksa government unofficially said in 2013, that it might ask the LIOC to quit because the original agreement was not entered into in a proper manner and that the land on which the tanks stood had not been handed over to LIOC legally. And the CPC had no authority to give permission to the LIOC to use the tanks because the CPC did not own the tank farm, which was government property. LIOC was also paying only a nominal fee for the use of the tanks.
However, the government of India unofficially warned Sri Lanka that the IOC-CPC deal was the result of the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 and was a government to government agreement which cannot be unilaterally abrogated. The Sri Lankan government thereafter stopped talking of a takeover but full development of the tanks did not proceed as originally envisaged.
But India was keen on participating in the energy sector in Sri Lanka and had an eye on Trincomalee for development as an Indian Ocean energy hub.
The tank farm consisting of 99 tanks is located on an 850-acre block of land. Each of the tanks has a holding capacity of 12,100 metric tons of oil. The total storage capacity is about one million metric tines.
After the change of government in Sri Lanka in January 2015, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took the proposed an India-Sri Lanka joint venture to develop 30 storage tanks in the first phase. The Government proposes to establish a new venture between Lanka IOC and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to develop the 84 tanks located within the Trincomalee Upper Tank Farm. However, the resoration will cost a lot of money.
The Minister of Petroleum, Chandima Weerakkody, told Parliament that CPC had said that nine could be used after minor repairs. The government wants to increase the total storage capacity to 90,000 MT, enabling it to benefit from the global oil price fluctuations.
However, technical and legal issues relating to the on-going joint venture with the LIOC still persist preventing the implementation of plans of the governments of India and Sri Lanka.
COLOMBO: Despite the visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary S.Jaishankar accompanied by a high-level team from the Indian Oil Corporation over the weekend, differences between the Lanka IOC (LIOC) and the government of Sri Lanka over the Trincomalee oil storage tanks persist. Reliable sources told Express on Tuesday that the basic technical and legal issues which have been preventing the full use of the giant oil tanks remain unresolved though the tanks were handed over to the LIOC ,a subsidiary of IOC ,way back in 2002 for joint development with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). Because of the war in North-East Sri Lanka, LIOC and CPC could not develop the tanks as desired though the LIOC, PRIMA and the Sri Lanka Air Force were using some. The LIOC had renovated 15 of the 99 tanks at a cost of US$ 15 million and was ready to invest US$ 17 more for further refurbishment. The PRIMA wheat company and the Air Force were using four. The end of the war in 2009 did not being any relief as relations between India and the Mahinda Rajapaksa government deteriorated over the Tamil issue. In 2013, India abstained from supporting Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not attend the Commonwealth summit held in Colombo. Given the downturn in relations, the Rajapaksa government unofficially said in 2013, that it might ask the LIOC to quit because the original agreement was not entered into in a proper manner and that the land on which the tanks stood had not been handed over to LIOC legally. And the CPC had no authority to give permission to the LIOC to use the tanks because the CPC did not own the tank farm, which was government property. LIOC was also paying only a nominal fee for the use of the tanks. However, the government of India unofficially warned Sri Lanka that the IOC-CPC deal was the result of the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 and was a government to government agreement which cannot be unilaterally abrogated. The Sri Lankan government thereafter stopped talking of a takeover but full development of the tanks did not proceed as originally envisaged. But India was keen on participating in the energy sector in Sri Lanka and had an eye on Trincomalee for development as an Indian Ocean energy hub. The tank farm consisting of 99 tanks is located on an 850-acre block of land. Each of the tanks has a holding capacity of 12,100 metric tons of oil. The total storage capacity is about one million metric tines. After the change of government in Sri Lanka in January 2015, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took the proposed an India-Sri Lanka joint venture to develop 30 storage tanks in the first phase. The Government proposes to establish a new venture between Lanka IOC and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to develop the 84 tanks located within the Trincomalee Upper Tank Farm. However, the resoration will cost a lot of money. The Minister of Petroleum, Chandima Weerakkody, told Parliament that CPC had said that nine could be used after minor repairs. The government wants to increase the total storage capacity to 90,000 MT, enabling it to benefit from the global oil price fluctuations. However, technical and legal issues relating to the on-going joint venture with the LIOC still persist preventing the implementation of plans of the governments of India and Sri Lanka.
By ANI
KARACHI: Exhibitors in Pakistan will be lifting the self-imposed ban on the screening of Indian films today, the owner of a leading cinema said.
Terming it merely a suspension and not a ban, as there was no government intervention, exhibitors on their own had decided to stop the screening of Indian films, following the ban on Pakistani artists and technicians working in India by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) earlier in October, reports the Express Tribune.
This decision comes in wake of the Indian Armys criticism of the MNS penalty of 50 million rupees on Indian films featuring Pakistani actors
Following the losses, exhibitors had gathered thrice since the suspension of Indian films to ponder over the possible consequences.
In the latest meeting, which took place on Sunday, followed by a brief discussion on Monday, all exhibitors had agreed to resume screening effective from Tuesday.
According to another cinema owner, The Indian Armys statement is a good enough evidence for the change in perspective on the other side of the border. So is the release of Fawad Khans film in India.
A formal announcement will be made by the chairman of Pakistans exhibitors association, Zuraiz Lashari, in Lahore today.
The owner of a leading distribution company said that the resumption of Indian films had to happen since cinema owners relied heavily on Bollywood movies for their revenue.
In a related development, the ministry of commerce has issued NoCs to both Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ajay Devgns Shivay. Shivay is set to be previewed by the censor board.
The secretary of Sindh Board of Film Censors, Razzaq Khuhwar, said The government has issued the NoC for Shivay. We are set to screen today or tomorrow for certification.
The chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification, Mobashir Hasan, said that they will accept and preview Indian films, if and when they are submitted for certification.
KARACHI: Exhibitors in Pakistan will be lifting the self-imposed ban on the screening of Indian films today, the owner of a leading cinema said. Terming it merely a suspension and not a ban, as there was no government intervention, exhibitors on their own had decided to stop the screening of Indian films, following the ban on Pakistani artists and technicians working in India by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) earlier in October, reports the Express Tribune. This decision comes in wake of the Indian Armys criticism of the MNS penalty of 50 million rupees on Indian films featuring Pakistani actors Following the losses, exhibitors had gathered thrice since the suspension of Indian films to ponder over the possible consequences. In the latest meeting, which took place on Sunday, followed by a brief discussion on Monday, all exhibitors had agreed to resume screening effective from Tuesday. According to another cinema owner, The Indian Armys statement is a good enough evidence for the change in perspective on the other side of the border. So is the release of Fawad Khans film in India. A formal announcement will be made by the chairman of Pakistans exhibitors association, Zuraiz Lashari, in Lahore today. The owner of a leading distribution company said that the resumption of Indian films had to happen since cinema owners relied heavily on Bollywood movies for their revenue. In a related development, the ministry of commerce has issued NoCs to both Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ajay Devgns Shivay. Shivay is set to be previewed by the censor board. The secretary of Sindh Board of Film Censors, Razzaq Khuhwar, said The government has issued the NoC for Shivay. We are set to screen today or tomorrow for certification. The chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification, Mobashir Hasan, said that they will accept and preview Indian films, if and when they are submitted for certification.
By PTI
WASHINGTON: Stoking yet another controversy, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took a swipe at an adult film star who has accused him of inappropriate sexual contact, saying "Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before".
Jessica Drake, an adult film star this week became the 11th woman to accuse the 70-year-old business tycoon of inappropriate sexual contact, saying he touched and kissed her in 2006, further damaging the already fragile campaign of the controversial Republican nominee ahead of the November 8 polls.
In an appearance on WGIR radio's "New Hampshire Today," Trump called the accusations against him "total fiction."
"These are stories that are made up, these are total fiction. You'll find out that, in the years to come, these women that stood up, it was all fiction," he said.
"They were made up. I don't know these women, it's not my thing to do what they say. You know I don't do that. I don't grab them, as they say, on the arm," Trump was quoted as saying by CNN.
"One said, 'he grabbed me on the arm.' And she's a porn star. You know, this one that came out recently, 'he grabbed me and he grabbed me on the arm.' Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before," the reality TV star-turned politician
said.
Trump rejected all the accusations saying, "It's all lies, it's all lies, it was made up. It's like dripping water."
Drake, who is being represented by attorney Gloria Allred, is one of the several women who has accused Trump of unwanted sexual advances in recent weeks. Trump has denied all the allegations against him.
In the interview, Trump called Allred "a third rate lawyer" who supported Clinton.
Drake is at least the 11th woman to publicly accuse the real estate tycoon of unwanted sexual advances since the surfacing of a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump brags about being able to grope and kiss women.
Like many of the women before her, Drake said her decision was sparked by watching a 2005 video of Trump bragging about getting away with assaulting women because of his celebrity status.
WASHINGTON: Stoking yet another controversy, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took a swipe at an adult film star who has accused him of inappropriate sexual contact, saying "Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before". Jessica Drake, an adult film star this week became the 11th woman to accuse the 70-year-old business tycoon of inappropriate sexual contact, saying he touched and kissed her in 2006, further damaging the already fragile campaign of the controversial Republican nominee ahead of the November 8 polls. In an appearance on WGIR radio's "New Hampshire Today," Trump called the accusations against him "total fiction." "These are stories that are made up, these are total fiction. You'll find out that, in the years to come, these women that stood up, it was all fiction," he said. "They were made up. I don't know these women, it's not my thing to do what they say. You know I don't do that. I don't grab them, as they say, on the arm," Trump was quoted as saying by CNN. "One said, 'he grabbed me on the arm.' And she's a porn star. You know, this one that came out recently, 'he grabbed me and he grabbed me on the arm.' Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before," the reality TV star-turned politician said. Trump rejected all the accusations saying, "It's all lies, it's all lies, it was made up. It's like dripping water." Drake, who is being represented by attorney Gloria Allred, is one of the several women who has accused Trump of unwanted sexual advances in recent weeks. Trump has denied all the allegations against him. In the interview, Trump called Allred "a third rate lawyer" who supported Clinton. Drake is at least the 11th woman to publicly accuse the real estate tycoon of unwanted sexual advances since the surfacing of a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump brags about being able to grope and kiss women. Like many of the women before her, Drake said her decision was sparked by watching a 2005 video of Trump bragging about getting away with assaulting women because of his celebrity status.
By PTI
WASHINGTON: Underlining that India needs "transformative reforms" to boost its economy, the World Bank today said the country has witnessed "fast-paced" reforms in past two years with the government encouraging digitisation, streamlining electricity supply and supporting manufacturing.
"The country has embarked on a fast-paced reform path," the international lender's annual report on Ease of Doing Business 2017 Report said in a special India-specific box. The report "acknowledges several substantial improvements". Titled 'India has embarked on an ambitious reform path', the report said that the current Indian government was elected in 2014 on a platform of increasing job creation, mostly through encouraging investment in the manufacturing sector.
Soon after the elections policymakers realised for this to happen substantial improvements would be needed in India's overall business regulatory environment, it said adding that 'Doing Business' indicators were employed as one of the main measures to monitor improvements in India's business climate. "As a result of the election platform-driven reform agenda, over the past two years the 'Doing Business' report has served as an effective tool to design and implement business regulatory reforms," the report said.
The data presented by 'Doing Business' indicators have led to a clear realisation that India is in need of transformative reforms. The World Bank said India has achieved significant reductions in the time and cost to provide electricity to businesses. In 2015-16, the utility in Delhi streamlined the connection process for new commercial electricity connections by allowing consumers to obtain connections for up to 200 KW capacity to low-tension networks.
"This reform led to the simplification of the commercial electricity connection process in two ways. First, it eliminated the need to purchase and install a distribution transformer and related connection materials, as the connection is now done directly to the distribution network, leading to a reduction in cost," it said. "Secondly, the time required to conduct external connection works by the utility has been greatly reduced due to the low-tension connection and there is no longer a need to install a distribution transformer."
As a result, the time needed to connect to electricity was reduced from 138 days in 2013-14 to 45 days in 2015-16. And in the same period, the cost was reduced from 846 per cent of income per capita to 187 per cent. India further made paying taxes easier by introducing an electronic system for paying employee state insurance contributions, the World Bank said. In the area of trade, as of April 2016 the Customs Electronic Commerce Interchange Gateway portal allowed for the electronic filing of integrated customs declarations, bills of entry and shipping bills, reducing the time and cost for export and import documentary compliance, it noted
WASHINGTON: Underlining that India needs "transformative reforms" to boost its economy, the World Bank today said the country has witnessed "fast-paced" reforms in past two years with the government encouraging digitisation, streamlining electricity supply and supporting manufacturing. "The country has embarked on a fast-paced reform path," the international lender's annual report on Ease of Doing Business 2017 Report said in a special India-specific box. The report "acknowledges several substantial improvements". Titled 'India has embarked on an ambitious reform path', the report said that the current Indian government was elected in 2014 on a platform of increasing job creation, mostly through encouraging investment in the manufacturing sector. Soon after the elections policymakers realised for this to happen substantial improvements would be needed in India's overall business regulatory environment, it said adding that 'Doing Business' indicators were employed as one of the main measures to monitor improvements in India's business climate. "As a result of the election platform-driven reform agenda, over the past two years the 'Doing Business' report has served as an effective tool to design and implement business regulatory reforms," the report said. The data presented by 'Doing Business' indicators have led to a clear realisation that India is in need of transformative reforms. The World Bank said India has achieved significant reductions in the time and cost to provide electricity to businesses. In 2015-16, the utility in Delhi streamlined the connection process for new commercial electricity connections by allowing consumers to obtain connections for up to 200 KW capacity to low-tension networks. "This reform led to the simplification of the commercial electricity connection process in two ways. First, it eliminated the need to purchase and install a distribution transformer and related connection materials, as the connection is now done directly to the distribution network, leading to a reduction in cost," it said. "Secondly, the time required to conduct external connection works by the utility has been greatly reduced due to the low-tension connection and there is no longer a need to install a distribution transformer." As a result, the time needed to connect to electricity was reduced from 138 days in 2013-14 to 45 days in 2015-16. And in the same period, the cost was reduced from 846 per cent of income per capita to 187 per cent. India further made paying taxes easier by introducing an electronic system for paying employee state insurance contributions, the World Bank said. In the area of trade, as of April 2016 the Customs Electronic Commerce Interchange Gateway portal allowed for the electronic filing of integrated customs declarations, bills of entry and shipping bills, reducing the time and cost for export and import documentary compliance, it noted
By ANI
KOTLI: A group of Kashmiris gathered here to protest against Pakistan's illegal occupation of the area and demanded that Pakistani withdraw its forces.
They recounted that it was on October 22 in 1947 that Pakistani forces entered Kashmir, with the day being observed as black day in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The Pakistani forces were in full lookout to stop such protests, however, to evade these forces small groups of Kashmiris gathered as flash mobs to mount quick anti-Pakistan protests and then quickly disappeared before the crackdown could begin
Later in the evening candle light protests were also seen all across PoK.
In Kotli, Chinari, Muzaffarabad and other places in PoK people lit candles to observe black day.
KOTLI: A group of Kashmiris gathered here to protest against Pakistan's illegal occupation of the area and demanded that Pakistani withdraw its forces. They recounted that it was on October 22 in 1947 that Pakistani forces entered Kashmir, with the day being observed as black day in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Pakistani forces were in full lookout to stop such protests, however, to evade these forces small groups of Kashmiris gathered as flash mobs to mount quick anti-Pakistan protests and then quickly disappeared before the crackdown could begin Later in the evening candle light protests were also seen all across PoK. In Kotli, Chinari, Muzaffarabad and other places in PoK people lit candles to observe black day.
By ANI
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif arrived in Quetta on Tuesday hours after terrorists stormed a police training centre killing at least 60 security personnel, Inter-Services Public Relations reported.
The Army Chief visited the police training college where the incident occurred. He was accompanied by DG ISI Lt-Gen Rizwan Akhtar and DG MI Major General Nadeem Zaki Manj.
A high-level security meet will be chaired by General Sharif during his visit. The Army Chief will also be visiting the hospital to meet those injured in the attack.
Meanwhile, all scheduled commitments have been cancelled by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who will be arriving in Quetta in a couple of hours, reports The Express Tribune.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar while addressing a passing out parade said that he will depart for Quetta shortly.
Chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan, Major General Sher Afgan, said the militants belonged to the Al-Alimi faction of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group which is affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban.
They were in communication with operatives in Afghanistan, he added.
The group has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
At least 60 people, mostly cadets, were killed and 97 others injured as three terrorists stormed a police training college in Quetta Monday night, prompting an operation by military and Frontier Corps forces to clear the premises which houses at least 600 police cadets.
There was an intermittent exchange of fire between the attackers and the security forces for several hours, with reports of a hostage situation.
At least three terrorists were reportedly killed with the security forces claiming that the operation was over.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif arrived in Quetta on Tuesday hours after terrorists stormed a police training centre killing at least 60 security personnel, Inter-Services Public Relations reported. The Army Chief visited the police training college where the incident occurred. He was accompanied by DG ISI Lt-Gen Rizwan Akhtar and DG MI Major General Nadeem Zaki Manj. A high-level security meet will be chaired by General Sharif during his visit. The Army Chief will also be visiting the hospital to meet those injured in the attack. Meanwhile, all scheduled commitments have been cancelled by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who will be arriving in Quetta in a couple of hours, reports The Express Tribune. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar while addressing a passing out parade said that he will depart for Quetta shortly. Chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan, Major General Sher Afgan, said the militants belonged to the Al-Alimi faction of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group which is affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban. They were in communication with operatives in Afghanistan, he added. The group has not claimed responsibility for the attack. At least 60 people, mostly cadets, were killed and 97 others injured as three terrorists stormed a police training college in Quetta Monday night, prompting an operation by military and Frontier Corps forces to clear the premises which houses at least 600 police cadets. There was an intermittent exchange of fire between the attackers and the security forces for several hours, with reports of a hostage situation. At least three terrorists were reportedly killed with the security forces claiming that the operation was over.
By PTI
ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Pakistan have frozen bank accounts with more than Rs. 400 million of over 5,100 terror suspects, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar who is under "protective custody" after the terror attack on the Pathankot air base, officials said.
"Following a request of the Ministry of Interior, we have frozen accounts of all top suspected terrorists, including Masood Azhar, son of Allah Bux," said a senior official of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) who is part of a team monitoring the progress pertaining to this matter.
The interior ministry sent three different lists of thousands of suspects, including kingpins of some proscribed organisations, The News quoted the official as saying.
Around 1,200 suspects whose accounts were frozen by SBP were listed in category 'A' of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, a term used for terrorists put on exceptional risk or high risk, the paper reported.
Azhar has been included in the list's top suspects whose accounts were frozen by the SBP, said officials of the Ministry of Interior and SBP.
"Azhar's name was listed in category 'A' of the 4th Schedule," the paper quoted officials as saying.
"It happened since the government put the JeM chief under 'protective custody' of security agencies after terrorists attacked the Pathankot Airbase," the officials said.
After the attack on the airbase in Pathankot in January, India had in February written to the UN calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the UN Sanctions Committee.
The National Counterterrorism Authority (Nacta) sent around 5,500 names to the SBP earlier this month, they said.
National Coordinator Nacta Ihsan Ghani confirmed that over 5,000 accounts of suspects have been frozen by the SBP.
"These accounts hold net amount worth Rs. 400 million," he said. About Azhar's accounts, Nacta Ihsan Ghani said he would revert with latest updates later this week.
"More than 3,078 accounts of suspects whose accounts were frozen belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, 1,443 from Punjab, 226 from Sindh, 193 from Balochistan, 106 from Gilgit-Baltistan and 27 from the Islamabad Capital Territory," the paper said, adding that 26 suspects belonged to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Accounts of other suspects such as cleric of Islamabad's Lal Masjid Maulana Aziz, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat leaders Maulvi Ahmed Ludhianvi and Aurangzeb Faroogi, Matiur Rehman of al-Qaeda, Mansoor alias Ibrahim of Tehreek-e-Taliban and Qari Ehsan alias Ustad Huzaifa and Ramzan Mengal of Lashkar-e- Jhangvi were also frozen, the paper added.
ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Pakistan have frozen bank accounts with more than Rs. 400 million of over 5,100 terror suspects, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar who is under "protective custody" after the terror attack on the Pathankot air base, officials said. "Following a request of the Ministry of Interior, we have frozen accounts of all top suspected terrorists, including Masood Azhar, son of Allah Bux," said a senior official of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) who is part of a team monitoring the progress pertaining to this matter. The interior ministry sent three different lists of thousands of suspects, including kingpins of some proscribed organisations, The News quoted the official as saying. Around 1,200 suspects whose accounts were frozen by SBP were listed in category 'A' of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, a term used for terrorists put on exceptional risk or high risk, the paper reported. Azhar has been included in the list's top suspects whose accounts were frozen by the SBP, said officials of the Ministry of Interior and SBP. "Azhar's name was listed in category 'A' of the 4th Schedule," the paper quoted officials as saying. "It happened since the government put the JeM chief under 'protective custody' of security agencies after terrorists attacked the Pathankot Airbase," the officials said. After the attack on the airbase in Pathankot in January, India had in February written to the UN calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the UN Sanctions Committee. The National Counterterrorism Authority (Nacta) sent around 5,500 names to the SBP earlier this month, they said. National Coordinator Nacta Ihsan Ghani confirmed that over 5,000 accounts of suspects have been frozen by the SBP. "These accounts hold net amount worth Rs. 400 million," he said. About Azhar's accounts, Nacta Ihsan Ghani said he would revert with latest updates later this week. "More than 3,078 accounts of suspects whose accounts were frozen belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, 1,443 from Punjab, 226 from Sindh, 193 from Balochistan, 106 from Gilgit-Baltistan and 27 from the Islamabad Capital Territory," the paper said, adding that 26 suspects belonged to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Accounts of other suspects such as cleric of Islamabad's Lal Masjid Maulana Aziz, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat leaders Maulvi Ahmed Ludhianvi and Aurangzeb Faroogi, Matiur Rehman of al-Qaeda, Mansoor alias Ibrahim of Tehreek-e-Taliban and Qari Ehsan alias Ustad Huzaifa and Ramzan Mengal of Lashkar-e- Jhangvi were also frozen, the paper added.
Ritu Sharma By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Deputy Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad and lodged protest against the alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) that claimed lives of two civilians.
The demarche from Islamabad came a day after it expressed interest in attending the Heart of Asia conference to be hosted by India and that is aimed to facilitating reconstruction of Afghanistan by attracting investments for the country.
The Pakistan Foreign Office had summoned Deputy Indian High Commissioner JP Singh protested against the unprovoked ceasefire violations on October 23-24 in Phuklian and Chaprar sectors. In a statement the Pakistan Foreign Office said that the Indian side was asked to investigate into the incident.
On Monday Pakistans Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaz Aziz has said that his country will be attending the conference to be hosted by India to discuss enhancement of investment in Afghanistan. This could be the first ice-breaker between the two countries whose relations have been running downhill constantly.
The Heart of Asia Conference will be attended by 14 Asian countries including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and UAE. The supporting countries include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Iraq, Japan, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK, the US and the EU.
NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Deputy Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad and lodged protest against the alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) that claimed lives of two civilians. The demarche from Islamabad came a day after it expressed interest in attending the Heart of Asia conference to be hosted by India and that is aimed to facilitating reconstruction of Afghanistan by attracting investments for the country. The Pakistan Foreign Office had summoned Deputy Indian High Commissioner JP Singh protested against the unprovoked ceasefire violations on October 23-24 in Phuklian and Chaprar sectors. In a statement the Pakistan Foreign Office said that the Indian side was asked to investigate into the incident. On Monday Pakistans Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaz Aziz has said that his country will be attending the conference to be hosted by India to discuss enhancement of investment in Afghanistan. This could be the first ice-breaker between the two countries whose relations have been running downhill constantly. The Heart of Asia Conference will be attended by 14 Asian countries including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and UAE. The supporting countries include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Iraq, Japan, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK, the US and the EU.
By Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO Police in Brazil are looking for at least 10 men in connection with the gang rape of a woman on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
A police statement said the 34-year-old victim was assaulted by several men in a bar and on a street of the city of Sao Goncalo, in Rio's metropolitan area.
Investigator Debora Rodrigues said the alleged crime took place a week ago and asked that the victim be put into a protection program.
Investigators are now analyzing security camera footage. The police statement was released Sunday.
In January, seven men in Rio were charged in the gang rape of a 16-year-old in a case that shocked Brazil. That case made international headlines because videos showing men posing with the unconscious victim were shared on social media.
The attacks are part of a series of brutal sexual assaults that have sparked marches against gender violence across Latin America. Last week, tens of thousands marched in Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, often under the slogan the NiUnaMenos, meaning "Not one less."
RIO DE JANEIRO Police in Brazil are looking for at least 10 men in connection with the gang rape of a woman on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. A police statement said the 34-year-old victim was assaulted by several men in a bar and on a street of the city of Sao Goncalo, in Rio's metropolitan area. Investigator Debora Rodrigues said the alleged crime took place a week ago and asked that the victim be put into a protection program. Investigators are now analyzing security camera footage. The police statement was released Sunday. In January, seven men in Rio were charged in the gang rape of a 16-year-old in a case that shocked Brazil. That case made international headlines because videos showing men posing with the unconscious victim were shared on social media. The attacks are part of a series of brutal sexual assaults that have sparked marches against gender violence across Latin America. Last week, tens of thousands marched in Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, often under the slogan the NiUnaMenos, meaning "Not one less."
By AFP
IRAQ: Iraqi forces were inching to within striking distance of eastern Mosul Tuesday as defence chiefs from the US-led coalition met in Paris to review the offensive on the jihadist bastion.
Paramilitary forces were also massing near the battlefield to open a western front they say will aim to retake the town of Tal Afar and cut off routes to neighbouring Syria for Islamic State fighters escaping Mosul.
Forces from the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) retook areas close to the eastern outskirts of Mosul, IS's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.
"On our front, we have advanced to within five or six kilometres (three to four miles) of Mosul," their commander, General Abdelghani al-Assadi, told AFP.
"We must now coordinate with forces on other fronts to launch a coordinated" attack on Mosul, he said, speaking from the Christian town of Bartalla.
Kurdish peshmerga forces are making gains on the northeastern front but federal forces advancing from the south have some way to go before reaching the outskirts of Mosul.
Meanwhile, thousands of men from the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary umbrella group dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias, were preparing for a push to the west.
The Hashed leadership has ordered "us to assume the mission of liberating the Tal Afar district," Jawwad al-Tulaibawi, spokesman for the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, said.
The Hashed's mission will be to "cut off and prevent the escape of (IS) towards Syria and fully isolate Mosul from Syria," Tulaibawi told AFP.
"We expect that it will be a difficult and fierce battle."
Turkey threat
Involvement of the Hashed in the Mosul operation has been a source of contention, especially in eventual fighting inside the mainly Sunni city.
Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Arab politicians have opposed its participation, as has Turkey, which has a military presence east of Mosul despite repeated demands by Baghdad for the forces to be withdrawn.
Tensions have been rising between Baghdad and Ankara, whose foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned Tuesday that his country would not hesitate to launch a ground operation.
"If there is a threat posed to Turkey, we are ready to use all our resources including a ground operation," he told Turkish channel Kanal 24.
Relations between the Hashed and the US-led coalition fighting IS are also tense, but the paramilitaries enjoy widespread support among members of Iraq's Shiite majority.
Senior Iraqi and US military officials have reported that IS leaders are already attempting to leave Mosul to reach the Syrian side of their "caliphate".
But a senior official close to French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that a few hundred IS fighters recently moved in the opposite direction, reinforcing the estimated 3,000 to 5,000 jihadists defending Mosul.
"At this stage, we're noticing fighter movement from Syria to Iraq, not the other way around," the official said. "There is a possible scenario in which Daesh (IS) resists to the end."
IS had shown increasing pragmatism in recent battles with a tendency to fall back in the face of superior firepower.
But with its claim to run a "caliphate" losing credibility with every new loss of territory, the group has mounted a fierce and well-organised resistance in the fight for Mosul, now in its second week.
Raqa more complicated
Mosul is where IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the cross-border "caliphate" in June 2014 and its loss could spell the end of the group's days as a land-holding force in the Iraqi part.
Le Drian was meeting with coalition counterparts, including Pentagon chief Ashton Carter, to review the war on IS after more than two years of coalition air strikes, training and on-the-ground military advice.
Besides coordinating their support for the forces closing in on Mosul, ministers will also attempt to iron out differences over priorities in the campaign.
France is keen to tackle the jihadists' Syria bastion Raqa, where a large number of French foreign fighters in IS ranks are stationed.
While the jihadists hunkering down in Mosul are outnumbered about one to 10, there are insufficient forces currently available to take on the estimated 3,000-4,000 IS fighters in Raqa.
"The Syrian side is much more complicated. The forces available are limited," an adviser to the French defence minister said.
If and when Mosul is recaptured by Iraqi forces, Raqa would be the only major city still in IS hands.
IRAQ: Iraqi forces were inching to within striking distance of eastern Mosul Tuesday as defence chiefs from the US-led coalition met in Paris to review the offensive on the jihadist bastion. Paramilitary forces were also massing near the battlefield to open a western front they say will aim to retake the town of Tal Afar and cut off routes to neighbouring Syria for Islamic State fighters escaping Mosul. Forces from the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) retook areas close to the eastern outskirts of Mosul, IS's last major urban stronghold in Iraq. "On our front, we have advanced to within five or six kilometres (three to four miles) of Mosul," their commander, General Abdelghani al-Assadi, told AFP. "We must now coordinate with forces on other fronts to launch a coordinated" attack on Mosul, he said, speaking from the Christian town of Bartalla. Kurdish peshmerga forces are making gains on the northeastern front but federal forces advancing from the south have some way to go before reaching the outskirts of Mosul. Meanwhile, thousands of men from the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary umbrella group dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias, were preparing for a push to the west. The Hashed leadership has ordered "us to assume the mission of liberating the Tal Afar district," Jawwad al-Tulaibawi, spokesman for the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, said. The Hashed's mission will be to "cut off and prevent the escape of (IS) towards Syria and fully isolate Mosul from Syria," Tulaibawi told AFP. "We expect that it will be a difficult and fierce battle." Turkey threat Involvement of the Hashed in the Mosul operation has been a source of contention, especially in eventual fighting inside the mainly Sunni city. Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Arab politicians have opposed its participation, as has Turkey, which has a military presence east of Mosul despite repeated demands by Baghdad for the forces to be withdrawn. Tensions have been rising between Baghdad and Ankara, whose foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned Tuesday that his country would not hesitate to launch a ground operation. "If there is a threat posed to Turkey, we are ready to use all our resources including a ground operation," he told Turkish channel Kanal 24. Relations between the Hashed and the US-led coalition fighting IS are also tense, but the paramilitaries enjoy widespread support among members of Iraq's Shiite majority. Senior Iraqi and US military officials have reported that IS leaders are already attempting to leave Mosul to reach the Syrian side of their "caliphate". But a senior official close to French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that a few hundred IS fighters recently moved in the opposite direction, reinforcing the estimated 3,000 to 5,000 jihadists defending Mosul. "At this stage, we're noticing fighter movement from Syria to Iraq, not the other way around," the official said. "There is a possible scenario in which Daesh (IS) resists to the end." IS had shown increasing pragmatism in recent battles with a tendency to fall back in the face of superior firepower. But with its claim to run a "caliphate" losing credibility with every new loss of territory, the group has mounted a fierce and well-organised resistance in the fight for Mosul, now in its second week. Raqa more complicated Mosul is where IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the cross-border "caliphate" in June 2014 and its loss could spell the end of the group's days as a land-holding force in the Iraqi part. Le Drian was meeting with coalition counterparts, including Pentagon chief Ashton Carter, to review the war on IS after more than two years of coalition air strikes, training and on-the-ground military advice. Besides coordinating their support for the forces closing in on Mosul, ministers will also attempt to iron out differences over priorities in the campaign. France is keen to tackle the jihadists' Syria bastion Raqa, where a large number of French foreign fighters in IS ranks are stationed. While the jihadists hunkering down in Mosul are outnumbered about one to 10, there are insufficient forces currently available to take on the estimated 3,000-4,000 IS fighters in Raqa. "The Syrian side is much more complicated. The forces available are limited," an adviser to the French defence minister said. If and when Mosul is recaptured by Iraqi forces, Raqa would be the only major city still in IS hands.
By PTI
KARACHI: Two militants and a security personnel were killed and at least 85 police recruits and security officials injured after around six gunmen stormed a police training centre in Pakistan's Quetta city, the capital of the restive Balochistan province.
The terrorists stormed the centre's hostel on Saryab Road at around 10:00 PM last night, prompting an operation by the Pakistani Army and Frontier Constabulary troops who rescued at least 250 cadets. Balochistan province's home minister, Mir Sarfaraz Bugti told reporters that Pakistani military and other security forces had started a operation in the premises and had managed to clear two floors of the hostel. "The security forces in the operation have killed two terrorists and safely rescued 250 cadets from the ground and first two floors of the hostel," Bugti said.
The deceased security man has been identified as Zubair Hameed. Bugti said the combing operation was going on and it was still not clear how many attackers had entered the police training college's premises in the darkness. A government source said that one of the killed terrorists was wearing a suicide jacket with explosives which were yet to be defused.
The health secretary of the Balochistan government, Abdul Haq Baluch said around 65 injured people had been shifted to the Civil hospital and Military hospital. He said the injured include police recruits, officials and two soldiers of the Frontier Corps. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that five to six terrorists had attacked the police training centre and Pakistan Army and Frontier Constabulary troops had arrived on the spot to start a clean-up operation.
Bugti said initial reports showed they were around 500 police cadets and recruits in the college hostel when the attack took place from a back gate of the college. At least five loud explosions were also heard from inside the college after the terrorists entered the premises around 10.00 PM. Militants have conducted attacks against security forces and national installations in Balochistan, which has been plagued by an insurgency and growing sectarian killings for more than a decade.
KARACHI: Two militants and a security personnel were killed and at least 85 police recruits and security officials injured after around six gunmen stormed a police training centre in Pakistan's Quetta city, the capital of the restive Balochistan province. The terrorists stormed the centre's hostel on Saryab Road at around 10:00 PM last night, prompting an operation by the Pakistani Army and Frontier Constabulary troops who rescued at least 250 cadets. Balochistan province's home minister, Mir Sarfaraz Bugti told reporters that Pakistani military and other security forces had started a operation in the premises and had managed to clear two floors of the hostel. "The security forces in the operation have killed two terrorists and safely rescued 250 cadets from the ground and first two floors of the hostel," Bugti said. The deceased security man has been identified as Zubair Hameed. Bugti said the combing operation was going on and it was still not clear how many attackers had entered the police training college's premises in the darkness. A government source said that one of the killed terrorists was wearing a suicide jacket with explosives which were yet to be defused. The health secretary of the Balochistan government, Abdul Haq Baluch said around 65 injured people had been shifted to the Civil hospital and Military hospital. He said the injured include police recruits, officials and two soldiers of the Frontier Corps. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that five to six terrorists had attacked the police training centre and Pakistan Army and Frontier Constabulary troops had arrived on the spot to start a clean-up operation. Bugti said initial reports showed they were around 500 police cadets and recruits in the college hostel when the attack took place from a back gate of the college. At least five loud explosions were also heard from inside the college after the terrorists entered the premises around 10.00 PM. Militants have conducted attacks against security forces and national installations in Balochistan, which has been plagued by an insurgency and growing sectarian killings for more than a decade.
By ANI
WASHINGTON: The United States has condemned the terrorist attack on the Police Training College in Quetta in which 51 people, mostly cadets, have been killed and 97 others injured.
Spokesperson of the United States' Department of State, John Kirby in a press statement extended condolences to the victims and their families, including the police cadets who are embarking on careers of public service.
"We stand with the people of Pakistan and Government of Pakistan at this difficult hour, and we will continue to work with our partners in Pakistan and across the region to combat the threat of terrorism," he said.
At least 51 people, mostly cadets, were killed and 97 others were injured as three terrorists stormed a police training college in Quetta Monday night, prompting an operation by military and Frontier Corps forces to clear the premises which houses at least 600 police cadets.
There was an intermittent exchange of fire between the attackers and the security forces for several hours, with reports of a hostage situation.
At least three terrorists were reportedly been killed, with security forces claiming the operation to be concluded.
WASHINGTON: The United States has condemned the terrorist attack on the Police Training College in Quetta in which 51 people, mostly cadets, have been killed and 97 others injured. Spokesperson of the United States' Department of State, John Kirby in a press statement extended condolences to the victims and their families, including the police cadets who are embarking on careers of public service. "We stand with the people of Pakistan and Government of Pakistan at this difficult hour, and we will continue to work with our partners in Pakistan and across the region to combat the threat of terrorism," he said. At least 51 people, mostly cadets, were killed and 97 others were injured as three terrorists stormed a police training college in Quetta Monday night, prompting an operation by military and Frontier Corps forces to clear the premises which houses at least 600 police cadets. There was an intermittent exchange of fire between the attackers and the security forces for several hours, with reports of a hostage situation. At least three terrorists were reportedly been killed, with security forces claiming the operation to be concluded.
By PTI
NANTERRE: Six reporters, photographers and media chiefs are to be tried in France for invasion of privacy over topless photos of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge published in 2012, judicial sources said today.
The snaps of Kate, the wife of Prince William, were taken with a long lens and showed her topless on a balcony of a private residence in the south of France during a holiday with her husband. The photos, which first appeared in French celebrity magazine Closer in September 2012, sparking fury from the British royal family and reviving a debate on press intrusion into the private lives of celebrities.
Closer's chief editor, the head of the Mondadori press group which owns the magazine, two photographers of a Parisian agency and a photographer and a senior figure at regional daily La Provence will now have to answer in court over the publication of the intimate photos, under a July magistrate's order.
The pictures in question first appeared on the front page of the regional daily in southern France on September 7, 2012, before Closer gave them a wider audience a week later. The directors of La Provence have denied that one of their photographers took the offending pictures. The topless images were later published elsewhere in Europe, notably in Chi magazine, also owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mondadori media group, as well as in Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Sweden.
The royal couple had lodged a complaint over the pictures. The royal family's lawyers obtained a civil injunction and sought criminal charges in Paris in a bid to curb the spread of the pictures. The pictures revived debate about invasions of privacy by the press and brought echoes of the hounding by paparazzi endured by William's mother, Princess Diana, who died in Paris in 1997 after the car she was in crashed while fleeing scooter-riding photographers. The French trial for the Kate photos will be held some time next year.
NANTERRE: Six reporters, photographers and media chiefs are to be tried in France for invasion of privacy over topless photos of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge published in 2012, judicial sources said today. The snaps of Kate, the wife of Prince William, were taken with a long lens and showed her topless on a balcony of a private residence in the south of France during a holiday with her husband. The photos, which first appeared in French celebrity magazine Closer in September 2012, sparking fury from the British royal family and reviving a debate on press intrusion into the private lives of celebrities. Closer's chief editor, the head of the Mondadori press group which owns the magazine, two photographers of a Parisian agency and a photographer and a senior figure at regional daily La Provence will now have to answer in court over the publication of the intimate photos, under a July magistrate's order. The pictures in question first appeared on the front page of the regional daily in southern France on September 7, 2012, before Closer gave them a wider audience a week later. The directors of La Provence have denied that one of their photographers took the offending pictures. The topless images were later published elsewhere in Europe, notably in Chi magazine, also owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mondadori media group, as well as in Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Sweden. The royal couple had lodged a complaint over the pictures. The royal family's lawyers obtained a civil injunction and sought criminal charges in Paris in a bid to curb the spread of the pictures. The pictures revived debate about invasions of privacy by the press and brought echoes of the hounding by paparazzi endured by William's mother, Princess Diana, who died in Paris in 1997 after the car she was in crashed while fleeing scooter-riding photographers. The French trial for the Kate photos will be held some time next year.
By The Daily Telegraph
LONDON: Donald Trump's presidential campaign is facing a fundraising scandal after a Daily Telegraph investigation exposed how key supporters were prepared to accept illicit donations from foreign backers.
Senior figures involved with the Great America PAC, one of the leading "independent" groups organising television advertisements and grassroots support for the Republican nominee, sought to channel $2 million (pounds 1.3 million) from a Chinese donor into the campaign to elect the billionaire despite laws prohibiting donations from foreigners.
In return, undercover reporters purporting to represent the fictitious donor were assured that he would obtain "influence" if Mr Trump made it to the White House. Last week Eric Beach, the PAC's co-chairman, confirmed to the reporters at an event in Las Vegas that their client's support would be "remembered" if Mr Trump became president.
The disclosure raises questions about the origins of money being ploughed into supporting Mr Trump's candidacy. The PAC "consultant" who brokered the deal proposed using as a conduit a type of organisation he admitted is seen as being responsible for the "'dark money' in politics".
The disclosures also highlight the apparent desperation of Mr Trump's supporters to finance his campaign amid a series of controversies and polls showing him losing in key states.
Mr Trump once labelled Super PACs a "disaster" that have "total control of the candidates", and has criticised Mrs Clinton for relying on outside groups.Undercover reporters posing as consultants acting for a Chinese benefactor approached specific pro-Trump and pro-Clinton fundraisers and groups after receiving information that individuals were involved in hiding foreign donations. Sources also said PACs, "independent" organisations that can raise unlimited sums of money to lobby for or against particular candidates, were being used to circumvent rules. The pro-Clinton organisations did not respond to initial approaches.
This month an undercover reporter spoke by telephone to Eric Beach, co-chairman of the pro-Trump Great America PAC, which has the backing of Rudy Giuliani, a Trump adviser, and the billionaire's son Eric. The reporter said a Chinese client wished to donate to the PAC to support Mr Trump's campaign.
Mr Beach appeared interested despite raising concerns about his nationality and saying he would need to know the donor's identity. He said the donation could be put through a social welfare organisation called a 501(c)(4) - or C4 - which unlike a PAC is not subject to a ban on receiving foreign money, and not required to name donors. He stressed in an email that "any path we recommend is legal".
The reporter received an email from Jesse Benton, a senior figure at the PAC until being convicted in May in connection with buying a senator's endorsement. He said he was a "consultant" and Mr Beach did not want a "paper trail" of contact. Mr Benton proposed channelling the donation through his own company to mask its origin. It would be passed on to two C4s before being donated by them to the PAC, or used to fund projects planned by the PAC.
Mr Benton said the $2 million would "allow us to spend two million more dollars on digital and TV advertising for Trump". The benefactor's generosity would be "whispered into Mr Trump's ear". Mr Beach said at the Las Vegas event: "Trump knows that you know... there's no way that this group won't be remembered."
Yesterday Mr Benton denied "unethical" behaviour. He said he spoke to the reporters after a "business referral" from Mr Beach and that his firm had said "money could not go into a 501(c)4".
Dan Backer, counsel to the PAC, denied Mr Beach asked Mr Benton to act for him and said Mr Benton "has not had a role with the PAC since May". The "referral" was so that "Mr Benton could explore legal options for your reporters' alleged client". He said "the PAC has never... solicited or accepted contributions from a foreign national or entity" and said Mr Beach was suggesting how "a US company with a foreign parent company could potentially engage in legal political activity".
LONDON: Donald Trump's presidential campaign is facing a fundraising scandal after a Daily Telegraph investigation exposed how key supporters were prepared to accept illicit donations from foreign backers. Senior figures involved with the Great America PAC, one of the leading "independent" groups organising television advertisements and grassroots support for the Republican nominee, sought to channel $2 million (pounds 1.3 million) from a Chinese donor into the campaign to elect the billionaire despite laws prohibiting donations from foreigners. In return, undercover reporters purporting to represent the fictitious donor were assured that he would obtain "influence" if Mr Trump made it to the White House. Last week Eric Beach, the PAC's co-chairman, confirmed to the reporters at an event in Las Vegas that their client's support would be "remembered" if Mr Trump became president. The disclosure raises questions about the origins of money being ploughed into supporting Mr Trump's candidacy. The PAC "consultant" who brokered the deal proposed using as a conduit a type of organisation he admitted is seen as being responsible for the "'dark money' in politics". The disclosures also highlight the apparent desperation of Mr Trump's supporters to finance his campaign amid a series of controversies and polls showing him losing in key states. Mr Trump once labelled Super PACs a "disaster" that have "total control of the candidates", and has criticised Mrs Clinton for relying on outside groups.Undercover reporters posing as consultants acting for a Chinese benefactor approached specific pro-Trump and pro-Clinton fundraisers and groups after receiving information that individuals were involved in hiding foreign donations. Sources also said PACs, "independent" organisations that can raise unlimited sums of money to lobby for or against particular candidates, were being used to circumvent rules. The pro-Clinton organisations did not respond to initial approaches. This month an undercover reporter spoke by telephone to Eric Beach, co-chairman of the pro-Trump Great America PAC, which has the backing of Rudy Giuliani, a Trump adviser, and the billionaire's son Eric. The reporter said a Chinese client wished to donate to the PAC to support Mr Trump's campaign. Mr Beach appeared interested despite raising concerns about his nationality and saying he would need to know the donor's identity. He said the donation could be put through a social welfare organisation called a 501(c)(4) - or C4 - which unlike a PAC is not subject to a ban on receiving foreign money, and not required to name donors. He stressed in an email that "any path we recommend is legal". The reporter received an email from Jesse Benton, a senior figure at the PAC until being convicted in May in connection with buying a senator's endorsement. He said he was a "consultant" and Mr Beach did not want a "paper trail" of contact. Mr Benton proposed channelling the donation through his own company to mask its origin. It would be passed on to two C4s before being donated by them to the PAC, or used to fund projects planned by the PAC. Mr Benton said the $2 million would "allow us to spend two million more dollars on digital and TV advertising for Trump". The benefactor's generosity would be "whispered into Mr Trump's ear". Mr Beach said at the Las Vegas event: "Trump knows that you know... there's no way that this group won't be remembered." Yesterday Mr Benton denied "unethical" behaviour. He said he spoke to the reporters after a "business referral" from Mr Beach and that his firm had said "money could not go into a 501(c)4". Dan Backer, counsel to the PAC, denied Mr Beach asked Mr Benton to act for him and said Mr Benton "has not had a role with the PAC since May". The "referral" was so that "Mr Benton could explore legal options for your reporters' alleged client". He said "the PAC has never... solicited or accepted contributions from a foreign national or entity" and said Mr Beach was suggesting how "a US company with a foreign parent company could potentially engage in legal political activity".
By AFP
ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday Ankara could launch a ground operation in Iraq to remove any threats to Turkey that may arise.
"If there is a threat posed to Turkey, we are ready to use all our resources including a ground operation... to eliminate that threat," Cavusoglu said in an interview with Kanal 24 broadcaster.
Cavusoglu referred to Turkey's ambitious offensive in Syria as an example of how Turkey took the threat to its security seriously.
Since August 24, Ankara has supported opposition rebels to clear the Islamic State group (IS) from its border and halt westward advance of the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG.
Turkey views the YPG (People's Protection Units) as a terror group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), waging an insurgency in Turkey's southeast.
The PKK is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union but Washington believes the YPG is the most effective force against IS in Syria.
The PKK has bases in the Qandil mountains in northern Iraq which the Turkish military regularly hits with its warplanes.
Cavusoglu said any threat against Turkey in neighbouring regions of Iraq could draw a response.
"If the threat to us increases (there), we can deal with them using our rights under international law and our strength including a ground operation," he added.
Ankara also said this week it had already hit IS positions with its artillery at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq. But Baghdad has denied Turkey's participation in military operations to retake the northern city of Mosul.
The foreign minister of Turkey said Monday that as a result of the artillery fire from the camp, 17 "terrorists" had been killed.
An offensive to push IS out of Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city, has entered its second week with Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters continuing their advance on the city.
Meanwhile, Turkey's ramped up rhetoric about further military action continued with Cavusoglu warning that if the YPG militia in Manbij, northern Syria, did not leave the city, "we know how to remove them with our own resources".
ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday Ankara could launch a ground operation in Iraq to remove any threats to Turkey that may arise. "If there is a threat posed to Turkey, we are ready to use all our resources including a ground operation... to eliminate that threat," Cavusoglu said in an interview with Kanal 24 broadcaster. Cavusoglu referred to Turkey's ambitious offensive in Syria as an example of how Turkey took the threat to its security seriously. Since August 24, Ankara has supported opposition rebels to clear the Islamic State group (IS) from its border and halt westward advance of the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG. Turkey views the YPG (People's Protection Units) as a terror group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), waging an insurgency in Turkey's southeast. The PKK is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union but Washington believes the YPG is the most effective force against IS in Syria. The PKK has bases in the Qandil mountains in northern Iraq which the Turkish military regularly hits with its warplanes. Cavusoglu said any threat against Turkey in neighbouring regions of Iraq could draw a response. "If the threat to us increases (there), we can deal with them using our rights under international law and our strength including a ground operation," he added. Ankara also said this week it had already hit IS positions with its artillery at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq. But Baghdad has denied Turkey's participation in military operations to retake the northern city of Mosul. The foreign minister of Turkey said Monday that as a result of the artillery fire from the camp, 17 "terrorists" had been killed. An offensive to push IS out of Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city, has entered its second week with Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters continuing their advance on the city. Meanwhile, Turkey's ramped up rhetoric about further military action continued with Cavusoglu warning that if the YPG militia in Manbij, northern Syria, did not leave the city, "we know how to remove them with our own resources".
By AFP
AMMAN, JORDAN: The UN refugee agency is preparing to receive 150,000 Iraqis fleeing fighting around the Islamic State group-held city of Mosul within the next few days, its chief said on Monday.
"The preparations are proceeding well... UNHCR is going to have in two or three days 30,000 tents in Iraq, enough for 150,000 people," Filippo Grandi told reporters in Jordan after visiting Iraq.
Iraqi forces backed by a US-led anti-IS coalition last week launched a massive offensive to push the jihadists from their last major bastion in the country.
They are now fighting in sparsely populated areas, but when they near the limits of the city itself aid groups fear the start of a major exodus.
A million people could be displaced, sparking an unprecedented humanitarian emergency in a country where the UNHCR says more than three million people have already been forced from their homes since the start of 2014, including a third in its autonomous Kurdish region.
Grandi said a key issue was "to find enough sites to be able to receive this huge mass of people should it come out of Mosul".
"Negotiations in this respect are going on with the government of Iraq and with the Kurdish regional government," he said.
So far, "the outflow of displaced people is not yet from the city of Mosul but from the outskirts" where there has been fighting, Grandi said.
"We have about 7,500 displaced people that have moved from the outskirts of Mosul to other locations that have been assisted and we have perhaps around 1,000 that have crossed into Syria," he said.
AMMAN, JORDAN: The UN refugee agency is preparing to receive 150,000 Iraqis fleeing fighting around the Islamic State group-held city of Mosul within the next few days, its chief said on Monday. "The preparations are proceeding well... UNHCR is going to have in two or three days 30,000 tents in Iraq, enough for 150,000 people," Filippo Grandi told reporters in Jordan after visiting Iraq. Iraqi forces backed by a US-led anti-IS coalition last week launched a massive offensive to push the jihadists from their last major bastion in the country. They are now fighting in sparsely populated areas, but when they near the limits of the city itself aid groups fear the start of a major exodus. A million people could be displaced, sparking an unprecedented humanitarian emergency in a country where the UNHCR says more than three million people have already been forced from their homes since the start of 2014, including a third in its autonomous Kurdish region. Grandi said a key issue was "to find enough sites to be able to receive this huge mass of people should it come out of Mosul". "Negotiations in this respect are going on with the government of Iraq and with the Kurdish regional government," he said. So far, "the outflow of displaced people is not yet from the city of Mosul but from the outskirts" where there has been fighting, Grandi said. "We have about 7,500 displaced people that have moved from the outskirts of Mosul to other locations that have been assisted and we have perhaps around 1,000 that have crossed into Syria," he said.
COLOMBO: The Chief Minister of Sri Lankas Tamil-speaking Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, has appealed to the people of the province, especially the youth, to be calm as they mourn the killing of two university students by the police.
In a statement released from London, the Chief Minister said that while conveying his condolences to the bereaved families, he would appeal to the people not to express their anger and grief in ways which would have unpleasant consequences.
Wigneswaran said that he would not comment on the incident before the court had given its verdict. All that he would say now is that the apparently, doctrine of using minimum force had not been observed by the police.
University students Nadaraya Kajan and Pavunraj Sulakshan, who were on a motorcycle, were killed late at night on October 20, when the police opened fire on them at a checkpoint because they did not stop when asked to. One boy was shot in the chest and the other died when the motorcycle crashed. Both were in their early twenties.
The police tried to cover up the killing by claiming that the boys died in an accident. But the government medical officer had certified that one of the boys had died of bullet wounds.
The hartal called by all Tamil political parties and organizations, was peaceful and total. Government offices, banks and commercial establishments were shut as no one turned up for work. Schools and the university were shut. All public transport vehicles were off the roads from 6 am to 6 pm. Sources in Jaffna said that there were no untoward incidents. Students of ten universities in the non-Tamil speaking South Sri Lanka held demonstrations in support of the protest in the Tamil North.
President Maithripala Sirisena had ordered the arrest of the five policemen manning the checkpoint and a Jaffna court had remanded them till November 4. For their safety the policemen were sent to Anuradhapura prison in a Sinhalese-dominated area.
COLOMBO: The Chief Minister of Sri Lankas Tamil-speaking Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, has appealed to the people of the province, especially the youth, to be calm as they mourn the killing of two university students by the police. In a statement released from London, the Chief Minister said that while conveying his condolences to the bereaved families, he would appeal to the people not to express their anger and grief in ways which would have unpleasant consequences. Wigneswaran said that he would not comment on the incident before the court had given its verdict. All that he would say now is that the apparently, doctrine of using minimum force had not been observed by the police. University students Nadaraya Kajan and Pavunraj Sulakshan, who were on a motorcycle, were killed late at night on October 20, when the police opened fire on them at a checkpoint because they did not stop when asked to. One boy was shot in the chest and the other died when the motorcycle crashed. Both were in their early twenties. The police tried to cover up the killing by claiming that the boys died in an accident. But the government medical officer had certified that one of the boys had died of bullet wounds. The hartal called by all Tamil political parties and organizations, was peaceful and total. Government offices, banks and commercial establishments were shut as no one turned up for work. Schools and the university were shut. All public transport vehicles were off the roads from 6 am to 6 pm. Sources in Jaffna said that there were no untoward incidents. Students of ten universities in the non-Tamil speaking South Sri Lanka held demonstrations in support of the protest in the Tamil North. President Maithripala Sirisena had ordered the arrest of the five policemen manning the checkpoint and a Jaffna court had remanded them till November 4. For their safety the policemen were sent to Anuradhapura prison in a Sinhalese-dominated area.
By Associated Press
QUETTA: Survivors of an overnight attack that killed 61 people at a Pakistani police academy described chaotic scenes of gunfire and explosions, with militants shooting anyone they saw and cadets running for their lives and jumping from windows and rooftops.
A Taliban splinter group and an affiliate of the Islamic State group made competing claims of responsibility for the four-hour siege late Monday at the Police Training College on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta.
Most of the dead and the 123 wounded were recruits and cadets, said Wasay Khan, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps. Of the three militants who carried out the attack, two blew themselves up with explosive vests and the third was killed by army gunfire, he added.
As the nation reeled and sought to understand how militants were able to carry out such violence, many Pakistanis were reminded of a bloody 2014 attack by the Taliban on an army-run school in Peshawar in which more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed.
Broadcasters on Tuesday showed the aftermath of the attack on the Quetta academy: scorched windows and floors littered with the shoes of the dead and wounded.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif rushed to the scene to meet with survivors, who spoke of the horrors of the surprise attack on about 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff that began about 11:30 p.m.
Cadet Asif Hussain said he had been asleep when gunshots broke out.
"We hid ourselves beneath cots. We had in our mind that if we didn't lock ourselves inside the hall, they will kill us," he said.
The attackers kicked at their door but failed to open it, Hussain said. The gunmen instead fired on them from a window, wounding two cadets before moving to a nearby dorm.
Shortly after entering, one of the attackers detonated his vest inside a hall after firing at cadets.
In the chaos, cadets and trainers ran for their lives, jumping through windows and off rooftops to try to escape.
Troops arrived and "it gave us confidence that we are safe now," Hussain said.
Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told a TV station that the gunmen shot at anyone they saw.
"I ran away, just praying God might save me," he said.
Another witness, Faisal Khan, said he had been chatting with friends when the shooting began.
"We closed the main door and switched off lights," he said.
While most of the casualties were from the academy, some of the soldiers who responded to the assault also were killed, said Shahzada Farhat, a police spokesman in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
The Islamic State group posted a claim of responsibility on the group's media arm, the Arabic-language Aamaq news agency. The claim was not confirmed by Pakistani officials and IS did not offer any previously unknown details about the attack.
A little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, called the Hakimullah group, also claimed responsibility.
In addition, Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force that is primarily responsible for Baluchistan province, said the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighboring Afghanistan and were most likely from the banned militant group Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi, which is affiliated with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Sunni militant group has mainly targeted minority Shiite Muslims whom its members consider to be infidels.
Pakistani officials said they had received intelligence reports that militants had entered Baluchistan province, but there was no indication of possible targets.
Earlier, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, without naming Afghanistan, said enemies of Pakistan were planning attacks in Pakistan from a neighboring country.
Kabul condemned the attack and dismissed the allegations that the assault was planned from bases inside Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan is the biggest victim of terrorism and denounces all terrorist attacks," said Mohammad Haroon Chakhansuri, spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
Ghani himself also condemned the attack, saying, "Terrorism is a threat throughout the region, which is reflected in the brutal act today in Quetta."
Pakistan maintains that militants fleeing army operations in its tribal regions regularly flee over the border and find safe haven in Afghanistan. For his part, Ghani has criticized Pakistan, saying it has provided shelter to the Taliban, and in particular, the violent Haqqani network.
For over a decade, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share in the regional resources.
Pakistan has carried out several military operations against militants in its lawless tribal regions near Afghanistan, including a major push that began in mid-2014 in North Waziristan, a militant base. The militants have killed tens of thousands of people, seeking to install their own harsh brand of Islamic law.
Later Tuesday, the flag-draped coffins of the slain cadets and troops began being moved from Quetta to their families for burial.
One of the dead, army Capt. Rooh Ullah, was given Pakistan's fourth-highest military award for killing one of the militants before he was slain. Sharif, the army chief, attended a service for him in Quetta before the body was flown to his hometown in the northwest.
Ullah's father told a local TV station that he was proud his son died a "martyr."
In Islamabad, minority Christians lit candles for those killed. They chanted slogans condemning violence and vowing to support the victims.
QUETTA: Survivors of an overnight attack that killed 61 people at a Pakistani police academy described chaotic scenes of gunfire and explosions, with militants shooting anyone they saw and cadets running for their lives and jumping from windows and rooftops. A Taliban splinter group and an affiliate of the Islamic State group made competing claims of responsibility for the four-hour siege late Monday at the Police Training College on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta. Most of the dead and the 123 wounded were recruits and cadets, said Wasay Khan, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps. Of the three militants who carried out the attack, two blew themselves up with explosive vests and the third was killed by army gunfire, he added. As the nation reeled and sought to understand how militants were able to carry out such violence, many Pakistanis were reminded of a bloody 2014 attack by the Taliban on an army-run school in Peshawar in which more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed. Broadcasters on Tuesday showed the aftermath of the attack on the Quetta academy: scorched windows and floors littered with the shoes of the dead and wounded. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif rushed to the scene to meet with survivors, who spoke of the horrors of the surprise attack on about 700 cadets, trainees, instructors and other staff that began about 11:30 p.m. Cadet Asif Hussain said he had been asleep when gunshots broke out. "We hid ourselves beneath cots. We had in our mind that if we didn't lock ourselves inside the hall, they will kill us," he said. The attackers kicked at their door but failed to open it, Hussain said. The gunmen instead fired on them from a window, wounding two cadets before moving to a nearby dorm. Shortly after entering, one of the attackers detonated his vest inside a hall after firing at cadets. In the chaos, cadets and trainers ran for their lives, jumping through windows and off rooftops to try to escape. Troops arrived and "it gave us confidence that we are safe now," Hussain said. Another recruit, his face covered in blood, told a TV station that the gunmen shot at anyone they saw. "I ran away, just praying God might save me," he said. Another witness, Faisal Khan, said he had been chatting with friends when the shooting began. "We closed the main door and switched off lights," he said. While most of the casualties were from the academy, some of the soldiers who responded to the assault also were killed, said Shahzada Farhat, a police spokesman in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. The Islamic State group posted a claim of responsibility on the group's media arm, the Arabic-language Aamaq news agency. The claim was not confirmed by Pakistani officials and IS did not offer any previously unknown details about the attack. A little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, called the Hakimullah group, also claimed responsibility. In addition, Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force that is primarily responsible for Baluchistan province, said the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighboring Afghanistan and were most likely from the banned militant group Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi, which is affiliated with al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Sunni militant group has mainly targeted minority Shiite Muslims whom its members consider to be infidels. Pakistani officials said they had received intelligence reports that militants had entered Baluchistan province, but there was no indication of possible targets. Earlier, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, without naming Afghanistan, said enemies of Pakistan were planning attacks in Pakistan from a neighboring country. Kabul condemned the attack and dismissed the allegations that the assault was planned from bases inside Afghanistan. "Afghanistan is the biggest victim of terrorism and denounces all terrorist attacks," said Mohammad Haroon Chakhansuri, spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Ghani himself also condemned the attack, saying, "Terrorism is a threat throughout the region, which is reflected in the brutal act today in Quetta." Pakistan maintains that militants fleeing army operations in its tribal regions regularly flee over the border and find safe haven in Afghanistan. For his part, Ghani has criticized Pakistan, saying it has provided shelter to the Taliban, and in particular, the violent Haqqani network. For over a decade, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share in the regional resources. Pakistan has carried out several military operations against militants in its lawless tribal regions near Afghanistan, including a major push that began in mid-2014 in North Waziristan, a militant base. The militants have killed tens of thousands of people, seeking to install their own harsh brand of Islamic law. Later Tuesday, the flag-draped coffins of the slain cadets and troops began being moved from Quetta to their families for burial. One of the dead, army Capt. Rooh Ullah, was given Pakistan's fourth-highest military award for killing one of the militants before he was slain. Sharif, the army chief, attended a service for him in Quetta before the body was flown to his hometown in the northwest. Ullah's father told a local TV station that he was proud his son died a "martyr." In Islamabad, minority Christians lit candles for those killed. They chanted slogans condemning violence and vowing to support the victims.
Six Shanghai officials punished by Party for misspending public funds
From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-10-25 02:46
SIX Shanghai officials have been reprimanded for violating the partys Eight Rules on official behavior, the city's discipline watchdog announced today.
Wang Yongjin, former director of the trade union of the Shanghai Open University, was given a serious warning for organizing three tours to Europe at public expenses between January and October in 2013.
Yang Jiguang, director of the Jing'an District Institute of Culture and History, was warned for trip with public funds while leading a group of 10 people in a study visit to other cities in March, 2014, said the CPC Shanghai Commission for Discipline Inspection.
In addition, the accommodation and dining standards of the group were over the limit, the commission said.
Sun Xinjian, deputy director of the Changfeng Ecological Business Area Management Office in Putuo District, was given a warning for touring the Yandang Mountains in Zhejiang Province at the invitation of a company within the area's jurisdiction and attending a company banquet there in April last year.
Teng Wenqian, Party secretary of the Zengjian Village in Jiading District, was warned for touring with public funds and distributing local specialties when organizing all Party members of the village in a visit to another district in May last year, according to the commission.
Wang Zhiguo, an employee of Shanghai Xufang Architecture Co Ltd, was warned for a private trip to Hangzhou in July last year with official vehicle.
Wang was also found using public funds to cover the toll and gasoline fees.
Ma Junjie, general manager of the company, was seriously warned for approving the trip and taking the same vehicle to Hangzhou for private affairs, according to the commission.
Syrian forces capture new area in Aleppo
2016-10-25 09:45
Rebel fighters in Marea city shoot a weapon towards Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) controlled Tell Rifaat town, northern Aleppo province, Syria October 21, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]
DAMASCUS -- The Syrian army on Monday captured a hilltop in the country's northern province of Aleppo, the latest in a series of victories achieved by the government forces in that strategic area, according to state news agency SANA.
The Syrian forces captured the hilltop of Bazo in the southwestern countryside of Aleppo, after the intense airstrikes targeted the rebel positions there.
The rebels of Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, fled the hilltop as a result of the government forces' shelling.
The capture of Bazo comes a day after the Syrian forces recaptured the Air Defense Battalion, near the residential area of 1070 Housing Project.
It's part of the government forces' major offensive against the rebel positions in the countryside of Aleppo and the eastern part of the city.
Aleppo, located near the borders with Turkey, is Syria's largest city and once an economic hub. It has been a focal point of clashes between the Syrian army and the rebels.
Observers believe that Aleppo is going to be the decisive battle ground among the fighting groups, and the winner will be the one dictating its conditions to resolve the crisis, as the province contains all the groups that are supported by regional and international powers, with the civilians paying the price for this proxy war.
New driving forces should play a major role in boosting the economy while the old ones should be revitalized, Premier Li Keqiang said during a trip to Dongguan, Guangdong province, earlier this month.
Renowned as the worlds factory, Dongguan used to focus on making garments and shoes. But now the city is transforming its economic developing mode as new driving forces such as information technology industry are growing rapidly.
Dongguan is only a miniature version of Chinas economy, which is witnessing major transformation and upgrades toward a higher level.
Premier Li inspects an innovation exhibition in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Oct 12, 2016.
In the past nine months, high-tech industry, equipment manufacturing industry and strategic emerging industries saw 10.6 percent, 9.1 percent and 10.8 percent year-on-year increases, respectively, while investment in high-tech industry and service industry had growth of 15.6 percent and 11.1 percent, faster than traditional industrial driving forces.
Mass entrepreneurship and innovation, a policy put forward by the Premier three years ago, is still in the process of boosting and revamping Chinas economy.
In the past three quarters, 14,600 new companies were registered every day, and registered patents saw a 51.3 percent year-on-year increase.
Investment by Chinese companies increased from $1.2 billion in 2005 to $39.4 billion in 2015. In addition, China spent 1.4 trillion yuan on research and development in 2015, second only to the United States.
Premier Li inspects an innovation exhibition in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Oct 12, 2016.
Transformation of the economy also is having an impact on peoples daily life.
With the development of internet technology and business mode, people nowadays can do everything on their cellphones, including shopping, hailing taxis, and registering for medical services.
Such changes also boosted the internet plus industries as online retail sales increased 25.1 percent year on year, 14.7 percent faster than the total retail sales.
Even though the economic growth rate is disappointing in other regions of the world, Chinas economy is running on the right track, said Hao Fuman, a senior official from the World Bank.
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One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
Bedbugs have a long history, and it has been suggested that they originated in caves occupied by humans and animals, such as bats, in the Middle East region. This report summarizes the known history of bedbugs from the reports available.
Ancient History
The first known record of bedbugs was in ancient Greece in approximately 400 BC. Aristotle also made reference to the bugs shortly afterwards.
Pliny the Younger was a well-known figure in ancient Roman times for publishing the first edition of Natural History in circa 77 AD. This edition cited the medicinal value of bedbugs in the treatment of certain ailments, such as ear infections and snakebites. This belief was largely uncontested for the following centuries, until the 18th century.
There was little mention of bedbugs throughout the Middle Ages. They were, however, noted in historical documents in Germany and France in the 11th, and 13th century, respectively.
Modern Era
There was no mention of bedbugs in England until the 16th century, although they remained to be rarely noticed until the 17th century. In fact, some people of that era believed that bedbugs were introduced to London on the imported supplies used to rebuild the city following the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Guettard was a natural doctor in the 18th century who recommended the use of bedbugs in the treatment of hysteria.
One method implemented to eradicate bedbugs used in the 19th century was the smoke from peat fires. Dust has commonly been used to repel insects from grain storage sites throughout history and was also trialed for bedbugs. Some types of soil, such as diatomaceous earth, continues to be used by some for managing a bedbug infestation.
Contemporary History
The prevalence of bedbugs in common households was high in the beginning of the 20th century. In 1933, the UK Ministry of Health published a report indicating that most houses were infested to some degree in many areas of the UK. This was thought to be linked to the significant rise in population at this time and the introduction of electric heating, which allowed the temperature-sensitive bedbugs to survive cold weather.
Bedbugs posed a significant problem to military bases during World War II. This was initially managed with fumigation, later with hydrogen cyanide gas, and finally with DDT.
Throughout the latter half of 20th century, the prevalence bedbugs declined, which is likely due to the introduction of potent pesticides, public health campaigns, and improved cleanliness in households.
In recent decades, there has been a resurgence of bedbug infestations, without a clear cause. This may be due to factors such as resistance, decreased pesticide used, increased travel, and complacency. According to the U.S. National Pest Management Association, there was a 71% increase in calls related to bedbugs from 2000 to 2005.
Historical Methods of Extermination
Throughout history, various methods have been used to repel or exterminate bedbugs. Some of these include the use of:
Actaea racemosa (black cohosh)
Pseudarthria hookeri
Laggera alata
Eucalyptus saligna
Lawsonia inermis
Melolontha vulgaris
Amanita muscaria
Mentha arvensis
Lepidium ruderale
Geranium robertianum
Reduvius personatus
References
Further Reading
A Washington State University-led research team determined rabies vaccines stored at warmer temperatures still protect against the disease in dogs.
The work, published in the journal Vaccine, could lead to improved vaccination coverage in hard to reach, rural areas in Africa and Asia where electricity for cooling is limited.
"Thermotolerant vaccines were a really important feature of the campaign to eliminate smallpox," said Felix Lankester, lead author and clinical assistant professor in the WSU Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health. "We hope it will have the same effect for eradicating rabies."
Recommendations by the World Health Organization are for vaccines to be transported and stored in a "cold chain" at between 2C (35.6F) and 8C (46.4F). Lankester and his colleagues found that Nobivac, a commonly used rabies vaccine, produces the same level of protective antibodies in dogs after being stored for six months at 25C (77F) and for three months at 30C (86F).
"The ability to distribute vaccines widely outside the cold chain will allow for more consistent coverage across communities," said Lankester. "It could be a quantum shift in how vaccines are delivered."
Eradicating one of the deadliest diseases
"Human rabies from dog bites has the highest fatality rate of any human infectious disease," said Guy Palmer, WSU's senior director of global health. "But rabies is easily preventable with regular dog vaccinations.
felix-administering-vaccine-2015-web
Felix Lankester, left, WSU clinical assistant professor, takes a blood sample to test whether a rabies vaccine stored at warmer temperatures is effective against the disease.
Each year roughly 60,000 people, mostly children, die from rabies. Globally, more than 99 percent of human rabies deaths are caused by dog bites -- almost all in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
Millions of people are saved by costly post-exposure prophylaxis - a series of post-bite vaccinations, the first of which must be administered within the first 24 hours after a person is bitten by a rabid dog. But once symptoms appear, the disease is fatal.
Vaccinating 70 percent of the dog population will protect humans and wildlife, such as endangered African wild dogs, from the disease.
WSU, in collaboration with the Serengeti Health Initiative, has been working to control rabies in areas of northern Tanzania through annual mass dog rabies vaccination campaigns. But rabies continues to be prevalent, in part because of the challenges of transporting vaccines to remote areas where vulnerable people live in resource-poor communities.
"If a team-led vaccination campaign misses a village because it is very far or because rain washed out a bridge, then there will be pockets where vaccination coverage is low," said Lankester. "With a community-led initiative, we are hopeful we would improve the coverage levels."
Empowering communities to lead vaccination programs
Mass vaccination teams generally only visit communities once a year, if they can get there at all. When new dogs are born or move into the community, the level of protection against rabies drops. In community-led programs, thermotolerant vaccines could be stored in the community where local coordinators would vaccinate the entire dog population.
"Through community-led programs, coverage could be kept relativity consistently high, which would reduce the likelihood of rabies returning to a community," said Lankester. "These findings also give confidence to those working to control rabies that if vaccines are kept outside of the cold chain for a small time, they don't have to be thrown away."
In the next phase of the research, Lankester and his colleagues will test the effectiveness of using low-tech cooling options for storing rabies vaccines in rural communities.
A new study has found that vitamin A-biofortified orange maize significantly improves visual functions in children.
The study was conducted among school-aged children (4 to 8 years old) in rural Zambia. Children who ate orange maize showed improved night vision within six months. Their eyes adapted better in the dark, improving their ability to engage in optimal day-to-day activities under dim light, such as during dusk and dawn. The study was published in The Journal of Nutrition.
"It shows that in populations that are vitamin A deficient, the eyes can respond well to a good source of vitamin A such as orange maize in a fairly short span of time," says lead author Amanda Palmer of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "It also validates the importance of orange maize for tackling vitamin A deficiency as part of a food-based approach."
Vitamin A deficiency occurs on a continuum. Severe vitamin A deficiency with blinding eye disease and a high risk of death from otherwise curable infections is at one end of the spectrum. But, less severe, incipient vitamin A deficiency -- also an important underlying cause of child deaths--is more frequent and difficult to detect. According to the World Health Organization, lack of sufficient vitamin A blinds up to 500,000 children worldwide every year.
Impairment of the eyes' ability to adapt to low-light conditions is one of the few measurable signs of vitamin A deficiency at its initial stages. In this study scientists used specialized portable equipment to confirm the benefit of eating vitamin A-rich orange maize in a population with marginal deficiency.
"It is an impressive advancement that with portable, more user-friendly equipment scientists are now able to accurately record the changing size of the pupils of the children's eyes," says Erick Boy, Head of Nutrition at HarvestPlus and a pediatrician by training. "In this study, the researchers documented how children's eyes responded to different light conditions before and after a six-month feeding period. This used to be a much more cumbersome task until now."
Testing for vitamin A deficiency is problematic because blood collection can prove difficult in rural settings. Levels of vitamin A in the blood may also be affected by other factors, such as infections. Rapid, reliable and non-invasive tools to measure the positive impact of nutritional interventions on the vision of those suffering from marginal deficiency were practically unavailable before this study.
Scientists in this study used a new device called a Portable Field Dark Adaptometer (PFDA). The PFDA is a set of goggles manufactured with a digital camera and flash inside. The goggles are connected to a desktop or laptop computer, which can accurately record the response of the pupil in each eye to changing light conditions.
The Johns Hopkins team is the first to use this device on a large scale.
"Until now, most of the tools and techniques used to measure night vision have relied on dark rooms, which are impractical in rural field settings. And, results were subjective," says Palmer. "With PFDA we don't need a tent or a dark room and it gives accurate results for people aged 3-4 years or older." This randomized efficacy study was conducted in Zambia's Mkushi District among children who were marginally vitamin A deficient. They were served two meals per day, six days a week for six months. Half of the children got meals made from biofortified orange maize, while the other half consumed white maize meals.
The children wore PFDA goggles to record pupil response. "We measured the responsiveness of the pupil to light and calculated the change in pupil size over a period of time. These goggles enabled us to monitor something that was not possible before," says Palmer.
The biofortified orange maize used in this study was conventionally bred to have higher levels of beta-carotene, a naturally occurring plant pigment that the body converts into vitamin A with higher efficiency as the body stores of the vitamin decrease.
More about orange maize in Zambia
The Zambian Government is actively promoting vitamin A-rich orange maize developed by HarvestPlus and its partners through conventional plant breeding methods. Maize is a staple food in Zambia and its enrichment can help combat the rampant problem of vitamin A deficiency, whose ill effects can include stunted growth and blindness. Zambia has banned the export of orange maize so that nutritious maize stays in the country to nourish its own people. The country's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has included orange maize seeds as one of the material supplies that can be procured under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP). The ministry is urging farmers, millers, and seed companies to become ambassadors and advocates of biofortified nutritious maize. This message is reaching Zambians. The adoption rate for orange maize is fairly high in Zambia, and HarvestPlus expects that at least 600,000 households will have adopted the crop by 2020.
More about orange maize in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has become the latest African country to move toward making biofortified nutritious crops widely available to farmers and consumers. On August 18, 2016, the Zimbabwean Government officially launched widespread distribution and marketing of biofortified crop seeds under a project implemented by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). HarvestPlus is a strategic partner and technical advisor to the project.
Two biofortified crops -- vitamin A orange maize, and iron and zinc beans -- have already been released, with seeds expected to be available across the country in readiness for the 2016/2017 planting season. Farmers in the country can now access one variety of the orange maize and two of the iron and zinc beans, but will soon have more to choose from when varieties already in the pipeline are released.
Hospital admission rates are 55 per cent higher in some areas than in others because of a greater prevalence of conditions such as diabetes, alcoholism, dementia and socioeconomic deprivation. According to research published today, those admission rates could be reduced if GPs were better supported to provide more specialist care for chronic conditions and difficult-to-reach groups.
The study, carried out by the University of Bristol's School of Social and Community Medicine, measured how much admission rates varied between the 8,000 general practices in England during 2011/12, and included 1.8 million admissions.
This study focused on ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) such as diabetes, alcoholism, asthma and dementia, where the provision of better care outside hospital, by GPs and other healthcare professionals, can potentially reduce the need for admission.
Overall, researchers found that admission rates in some practices were 55 per cent higher than others. Chronic conditions such as diabetes, schizophrenia and hypertension tended to be much more variable than acute conditions such as strokes and hip fractures, as were those that disproportionately affect deprived communities, such as alcoholism.
Dr John Busby, lead author of the study, published today in The British Journal of General Practice, said: "Admission rates for some of the conditions in our study, including alcoholism, schizophrenia and diabetes, were over three times higher in some practices than others. Clearly, this raises important questions about why these differences exist and what can be done to standardise care around best practice.
"Existing mechanisms, such as the quality and outcomes framework and NICE guidelines, aim to ensure that patients receive a consistent quality of primary care across all practices in England. Our results suggest that these might not be working effectively and that new strategies are required."
Previous studies have looked at the variation in admission rates for some of these conditions. However, they have tended to focus on a small number of health conditions and have used different methodologies, making it almost impossible to draw comparisons across studies.
This latest study from Bristol applied the same methods to a broad range of conditions, enabling researchers to make more accurate comparisons and to identify which conditions the NHS could focus on in order to improve care.
"Substantial differences in admission rates among general practices could mean that some patients are receiving suboptimal care," added Dr Busby. "Our research suggests that differences in the way GP care is delivered across England could have an important impact on patient health. This could include sub-optimal management of chronic disease which puts patients at higher risk of hospital admission, but also overly-cautious referrals to hospital, or a lack of alternatives to treat patients in the community. Clearly this matters to patients as most would prefer not to be admitted to hospital if it can be avoided, but it is also extremely important to the NHS finances as unplanned hospital admissions are expensive and can disrupt other care."
Researchers now intend to explore why such large variations exist between practices for some conditions, and how those reasons might help improve care. A follow-up investigation is being carried out to assess how the characteristics of a general practice are related to admission rates. This includes factors such as the distance to the nearest A&E, how easy it is to see a GP, how often patients can see their preferred GPs, and how many hospital beds are available in the local area.
Dr Busby added: "Given the results of this study, it will be interesting to see if the importance of each of these factors differs by condition. The way in which primary care is delivered is evolving rapidly, it is important that these changes are informed by good-quality evidence."
Source: University of Bristol
To many people, the Olympus brand is synonymous with digital cameras. In fact, the leading manufacturers high-tech product ranges cover Medical Systems, Life Science Solutions and Industrial Solutions, as well as Camera & Audio technologies.
2016 has proved an extremely busy year for the Olympus KeyMed Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Olympus Corporation, with headquarters in Southend on Sea. A demanding programme of events and workshops worldwide has seen the KeyMed team showcase their latest products and solutions across Surgical Endoscopy, Flexible Endoscopy, Life Science Microscopy, Industrial Endoscopy, Material Science Microscopy, Professional Imaging, Voice Processing and of course Digital Cameras.
Next year, the emphasis will be on streamlining the trade show agenda, to prioritise hand-picked events which promise the best out comes and Return on Investment; including: IBMS; MMC; Offshore Europe; Advanced Engineering/Aero Engineering and Digital Path Europe.
The Olympus team also plans to reduce the amount of equipment on display at each show and instead focus on customer engagement opportunities and activities which increase brand awareness.
As long-standing clients ofQuadrant2Design,Olympusen joys the unique benefits Q2Ds exclusive Prestige Events System provides in terms of technology integration, unlimited reconfiguration options and the ability to revise graphics at a snap. As such, the Olympus team has partnered with the Poole-based events company on over 50 projects to date! The next one being the Saudi Lab Expo in Riyadh from the 21 23 November for which they have purchased some new graphic panels to add to their existing collection.
As well as leading the way in product innovation and manufacturing, Olympus offers a full Customer Care package, including after sales support, a UK-based Service facility and expert training courses.
The Institute of Physics recognises an innovative sensor from The Technology Partnership used by Philips Healthcare to help COPD patients
TTP has been awarded a prestigious Innovation Award by the Institute of Physics for its SonicSense technology, which turns inexpensive piezoelectric buzzers used in doorbells or smoke alarms into highly-accurate, stable and low-power gas sensors. The technology is already being used by Philips Healthcare in its market leading oxygen concentrators, which help care for millions of COPD patients worldwide. TTP is also working with other partners to commercialise the technology, under a development and licensing model, across a range of markets from energy and industrial safety to medical devices.
The award was presented to TTP by the President of the Institute of Physics at a parliamentary reception at the Palace of Westminster last week, attended by MPs, peers, policymakers, business leaders and leading physicists. The IOP Innovation Awards are presented to businesses for bringing new physics-based products, processes or services to market that have had a transformative effect, resulting in increased turnover, profitability and jobs.
Philips Healthcare, Director of Advanced Development, Bob Murdoch explains why they chose SonicSense:
The sensor is used to monitor the purity of the oxygen concentrators gas output and trigger an alarm if the purity is too low. SonicSense offers several advantages compared to current sensors including a long operating life, enabling concentrators to run for tens of thousands of hours. Furthermore, it doesnt require periodic re-calibration, which would be impractical in patients homes and the low power-consumption enables concentrators to operate effectively on battery power.
President of the IOP Professor Roy Sambles offered his congratulations to the winners and commended them on their fantastic achievements:
This years winners all provide excellent examples of the way in which physics can improve and protect lives while also forming an invaluable part of the UK economy.
Dr Andrew Baker-Campbell from TTP said:
I am saddened by what has happened and I have known Cyrus Mistry and I have found him to be a person of integrity and character, said Adi Godrej.
The (group) companies must focus on their market position vis-a-vis competition, and not compare themselves to their own past. The drive must be on leadership rather than to follow, Ratan Tata told managing directors and senior leaders of Tata group companies, according to the statement.
Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the ouster had to do with performance issues and issues concerning Tata Sons ethics.
The leadership battle at Tata Sons seemed headed towards protracted litigation barely 24 hours after the board of the tea-to-telecom conglomerate removed Cyrus Mistry as its chairman with at least one major business leader weighing in on the debate saying that it is neither good for Tatas reputation nor Indian businesses.Shapoorji Pallonji, which holds an 18% stake in Tata Sons, is set to move the National Company Law Tribunal against Mistrys removal invoking a little known clause under Companies Act meant to protect minority shareholder interests.The Tatas have already filed caveat petitions in the Supreme Court, Bombay High Court and the law tribunal to prevent Mistry from getting an ex-parte order against his removal.Mistry, son of Shapoorji Pallonji chairperson Pallonji Mistry, was removed as chairman of Tata Sons in a surprise move by the Tata Board after market hours on Monday.While most of the Indian business leaders remained tightlipped at the goings on at Bombay House, the famed Tata HQ in Indias commercial capital, Chairman of the Godrej Group Adi Godrej told Network18 that the turmoil in Tata Group is not good for Indian business.Elaborating on his point, he said it is neither good for Tatas reputation nor is it good for the Indian businesses. There are better ways of sorting out differences than the way it seems to be heading, he said.On Monday, the board named Ratan Tata as interim chairman of the over $100 billion conglomerate. It said a search committee had been formed and would announce a replacement within four months. A statement issued on Tatas behalf said the arrangement was temporary and a new permanent leadership will be in place.Through the day speculation remained rife on what could have prompted Mistrys sudden exit.Although no official reasons were given for the change in leadership, it is believed that Tata Sons was unhappy with Mistrys approach. It is likely that the ongoing issues at the steel unit, particularly the acquisition of the Anglo-Dutch firm Corus which has been struggling, and the arbitration issues with Japanese firm NTT DoCoMo were the reasons for the change.In an interview with an in-house magazine, Mistry had recently stated that the group should not be afraid of taking tough decisions for the right reasons, with compassion amid challenging situations confronted by some of the group's businesses that would require hard and bolder decisions on pruning portfolio.This was in contrast to steps taken by Ratan Tata, who led the group into some notable acquisitions, starting from Tetley by Tata Tea for $450 million in 2000, to steelmaker Corus by Tata Steel in 2007 and the landmark Jaguar Land Rover in 2008 for $2.3 billion by Tata Motors.During Ratan Tatas tenure, the groups revenues grew manifold, totalling around Rs 475,721 crore in 2011-12 from a turnover of a mere Rs 10,000 crore in 1991.The Tata group comprises over a 100 independent operating companies, whose revenue in 2015-16 was $103 billion. Of these companies 29 are listed with a combined market capitalization of about $116 billion.Shares of the major listed firms of the Tata group like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Power fell between 1 to 3 per cent in Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Tata Communications (- 2.26%), Tata Chemicals (- 2.09%), Tata Coffee (-2.63%), Tata Global Beverages (-2.47%) also lost in value.
New Delhi: Aircraft manufacturer Embraer has agreed to pay over USD 205 million as settlement with American and Brazilian authorities for resolving corruption charges in India and three other countries.
The corruption charges in India relate to alleged payment of USD 5.76 million to an agent in India in kickbacks for clinching a deal for the sale of three aircraft for the IAF's Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS).
The CBI has already registered an FIR in the case.
"The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today announced a global settlement along with the US Department of Justice and Brazilian authorities that requires aircraft manufacturer Embraer SA to pay more than USD 205 million to resolve alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)," an official statement said.
The SEC's complaint alleges that Embraer made more than USD 83 million in profits as a result of bribe payments from its US-based subsidiary through third-party agents to foreign government officials in the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia, and Mozambique.
Embraer allegedly created false books and records to conceal the illicit payments, and also engaged in an alleged accounting scheme in India, the statement said.
According to the SEC's complaint, USD 3.52 million were paid in bribes to an official in the Dominican Republic s air force to secure a military aircraft contract in that country, and USD 1.65 million in bribes were routed to an official in Saudi Arabia to win business there.
An alleged payment of USD 800,000 was made at the behest of a Mozambican government official as a condition of obtaining a contract with a state-owned airline in that country.
Approximately USD 5.76 million was allegedly paid to an agent in India in connection with the sale of three highly specialised military aircraft to Indian Air Force, and the payments were falsely recorded in Embraer's books and records as part of a consulting agreement that was not legitimate.
"As alleged in our complaint, Embraer realised significant revenues by surreptitiously using third parties to mask bribes paid to government officials with influence over contracts it was competing to win," said Andrew J Ceresney, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division.
Kara N Brockmeyer, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division s FCPA Unit, added, "Embraer s alleged misconduct spanned multiple continents, and it has taken significant ongoing coordination among international regulators and law enforcement agencies to uncover the company's complex bribery schemes."
Under the settlement, Embraer must pay a USD 107 million penalty to the Justice Department as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, and more than USD 98 million in disgorgement and interest to the SEC.
Embraer may receive up to a USD 20 million credit depending on the amount of disgorgement it will pay to Brazilian authorities in a parallel civil proceeding in Brazil.
Embraer must retain an independent corporate monitor for at least three years, the statement said.
New Delhi: Flipkart's Chief Financial Officer Sanjay Baweja has put in his papers after a two-year stint, marking the latest top-level exit at the e-commerce major.
"Flipkart CFO Sanjay Baweja has quit. The company has started searching for his replacement. Baweja will continue to work with company till December 31, 2016," an industry source told PTI.
When contacted, a Flipkart spokesperson confirmed the development. Baweja joined Flipkart from Tata Communications about two years back.
Washington: India continues to rank low at 130th position in terms of ease of doing business, with the country seeing little or no improvement in dealing with construction permits, getting credit and other parameters.
In the World Bank's latest 'Doing Business' report, India's place remained unchanged from last year's original ranking of 130 among the 190 economies that were assessed on various parameters. However, the last year's ranking has been now revised to 131 from which the country has improved its place by one spot.
The government has been making efforts to further improve the ease of doing business and aims to bring the country in the top 50.
Expressing disappointment over no change in India's ranking in the World Bank's index on ease of doing business, Indian government regretted that the report did not take into consideration 12 key reforms undertaken by the government.
When it comes to 'distance to frontier' a measurement of the gap between an economy's performance and the best practice score of 100 India's score has improved to 55.27 this year from 53.93 last year.
India is the only country for which the report has a box dedicated to its ongoing economic reforms.
The list of countries in the Doing Business 2017 is topped by New Zealand while Singapore is ranked second. It is followed by Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea, Norway, the UK, the US, Sweden and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Neighbouring Pakistan is ranked 144th in the list.
On the basis of reforms undertaken, the top 10 improvers are Brunei Darussalam, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Belarus, Indonesia, Serbia, Georgia, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
A record 137 economies around the world have adopted key reforms that make it easier to start and operate small and medium-sized businesses, the report said.
Developing countries carried out more than 75 per cent of the 283 reforms in the past year, with Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for over one-quarter of all reforms, it added.
"What we have seen is a remarkable effort on the part of the government to implement business reforms. It looks like we are going to have to wait for another year or so. But the direction of change is fundamentally a very significant one," Global Indicators Group Director Augusto Lopez-Claros told PTI in an interview.
The circular issued by the Defence Ministry, dated October 18, on rank equivalence between defence officers and armed forces headquarters (AFHQ) civil service officers brings the rank of armed forces officers a notch down compared to their earlier status, officers said.
"These are functional responsibilities. They (military officers) will be on the same platform as was done earlier. I will check up myself," Parrikar told reporters on the sidelines of the naval commanders conference here.
After the OROP and disability pension, officers in the armed forces are upset over a Defence Ministry circular which purportedly downgrades their status vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts, prompting Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to say he would personally look into it and resolve the issue.The order has brought an army Major General (rear admiral in the navy and vice-marshal in the air force) on par with a principal director at the Armed Force Headquarters (AFHQ) Civil Service.A Brigadier/Commodore/Air Commodore would be equal in status to a director, and a Colonel/Captain/Group Captain equivalent to a joint director in the civil service.As per the new circular, a civilian principal director, who was earlier equivalent to a Brigadier, would now have the status of a two star general, a director rank officer to aBrigadier and a joint director to a Colonel, a development which has not gone down well with the armed forces.A Major General earlier had the rank of a joint secretary.The circular says that the equations are to be followed at service HQs, and "has the approval of the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri" (defence minister).Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, when asked to comment on the development, said some people were trying to "misguide" as the issue related to only functional responsibility (of armed forces) and not status vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts."First of all, these are only for functional responsibilities...this is not status....there are some people who are trying to misguide," he said.The Minister said he will take a look at all previous orders to see if there was any discrepancy.Parrikar said he and the government were sensitive to the issues related to the armed forces."I can assure you that I am very sensitive to such issues. The moment they are brought out, I act on them. The only difficulty is when it becomes public discussion, I cannot be party to discussion. I will resolve the issue," he said.
New Delhi: Delhi Police on Monday increased the reward amount from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh for information about missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, 10 days after his disappearance following an altercation with some ABVP activists.
In a fresh order, the police said any information or clue regarding the missing/abducted Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student could be given to the Vasant Kunj North police station in charge.
"A cash reward of Rs 1 lakh would be given to anyone who provides information regarding Ahmed's whereabouts," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Nupur Prasad said.
Ahmed went missing on October 15 night from the university hostel Mahi-Mandvi after a brawl with ABVP students.
A police complaint was filed under section 365 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person, and a proctorial inquiry was also initiated by the varsity.
Earlier too, Delhi Police declared a reward of Rs 50,000 for giving information about missing Najeeb. JNU students had also pasted "missing posters" in areas around JNU and on various roads leading to the university.
Meanwhile, expressing solidarity with the missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, the university students took out a march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar.
About 1,000 students gathered at Mandi House and proceeded towards the Jantar Mantar at 4 p.m. raising slogans against the JNU administration and the police.
Police was present at Jantar Mantar to evade any untoward actions and the barricades were also put in place.
It has been ten days since a 27-year-old M.Sc. student, Najeeb Ahmed, has been missing from the university.
"In American law, criminal processes can be compounded (settlement through payment of fines). However, in India, criminal law is not compounded unless the acts are of very minor nature," Parrikar said.
The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer has come under the scanner of the US Justice Department after the former admitted to having paid kickbacks for a range of defence deals with many countries, including India.
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer cannot escape Indian laws just because it has struck a settlement with American authorities over corruption in sale of planes to India and three other countries, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Tuesday.He said a new blacklisting policy will be finalised next month."The CBI investigation into the $208 million deal will go by Indian laws on corruption, kickbacks, whatever it is, subject to evidence," he told reporters.The minister stated that the American laws were different from Indian laws.On being asked whether the three planes supplied by Embraer to the IAF for Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS) will be grounded, the Defence Minister said there was no question of grounding the planes."I can assure you that national requirement is a priority. In fact, I am coming out with a proposal or guidelines for blacklisting. The next Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) will finalise it," he said. "It cannot be a knee jerk reaction. Proper decision making is required," he added.The move comes months after the Defence Ministry laid down norms for engaging agents in defence deals. Sources said the new norms will be a mixture of heavy fines, graded blacklisting and other penalties.Embraer has agreed to pay over $205 million to resolve charges of corruption and making bribe payments to officials in foreign nations, including $5.76 million allegedly being paid to an agent in India, in connection with the sale of three military aircraft for Indian Air Force.Under the settlement, apart from the $107 million penalty to the US Justice Department as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, Embraer must also pay more than $98 million in disgorgement and interest to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).According to the company's admissions, Embraer executives and employees paid bribes to government officials and falsified books and records in connection with aircraft sales to foreign governments and state-owned entities in multiple countries.Parrikar said the Embraer deal was being discussed and efforts were being taken to fine-tune it."The basic concept is that a criminal activity should be punished with a ban. But to what extent the ban should be, will be decided as per the national security. Giving exemption will also be based on national security," he said."If I have a platform where a company has been banned, I cannot stop operating the platform, because the company which is now blacklisted had supplied me the platform. Whose loss is it?," he asked.The Embraer deal was signed in 2008 between Embraer and the DRDO for three aircraft equipped with indigenous radars for AEW&C (airborne early warning and control systems).
"Since the matter relates to Class X exams for CBSE which is under the HRD ministry, we will soon take a decision in this regard separately," Javadekar said.
The Union HRD ministry will soon take a call on whether the Class X board examination should be made compulsory for students of CBSE schools.Speaking to reporters after the 64th CABE meeting on Tuesday, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said that many state boards are already conducting Class X exams.There were reports that a decision regarding the compulsory CBSE Class X board examinations, which were scrapped in 2010 in order to reduce pressure on students, are likely to be reintroduced.Javadekar, however, suggested that the Board exams, if they are introduced may be brought in only from the next session.In the education sector, changes are generally made with regard to the upcoming session, he said.Sources suggested that while there is a view in the ministry in favour of making the CBSE Class X examination compulsory, a final decision may be taken in consultation with the CBSE.A press release issued by the HRD ministry after the CABE meeting also mentioned that a presentation on Compulsory Board examination in Class X was also made.
I hope the state of unrest will be resolved soon," he added.
This meeting has got nothing to meet with the government. The meeting was not fixed with knowledge of government. This can be seen as an independent attempt to reach out to separatists," sources said.
Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday met separatist Hurriyat leader Seyd Ali Shah Geelani at his residence to reduce tension by talks in the valley.Speaking to the media persons, Sinha said, "We are not here as a part of any delegation. We are people of good will. We are here for humanity and our aim is to share the pain and grief of the people in the Kashmir valley."The delegation members were seen entering the highly fortified house where Geelani has been kept under detention for over three months.The team includes former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah, who has served in Jammu and Kashmir, ex-Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, journalist Bharat Bhushan and activist Sushobha Barve landed in Srinagar and straight away drove to Geelani's residence in Hyderpora.They are also expected to meet other separatist leaders, including moderate Hurriyat head Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yaseen Malik. And after two months of detention at a guest-house-turned-jail in Srinagar, the Mirwaiz is now under house arrest at his upscale Nigeen residence. Malik has also been moved from jail to a Srinagar hospital after his health deteriorated.On September 4, after turning down chief minister Mehbooba Mufti's invitation for talks on Kashmir issue, separatist leaders Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq refused to meet an all-party delegation led by CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury.Meanwhile, sources in the government clarified that Sinha's meeting with the separatists is not a part of Centre's move to ensure peace in the valley.Separatist Shahid Islam, welcomed Sinha's initiative. "It's a goodwill gesture," he added.The fresh bid to break ice between separatist groups and the government comes after 108 days of unrest and shutdown that have disrupted normal life in the Kashmir Valley since the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.At least 92 persons were killed and over 12,000 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces.Police have arrested over 7,000 suspected ring leaders of stone throwers. Some have been let off.Sinha and his team are also expected to meet civil society and trade groups including the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) and the Kashmir Centre for Social and Developmental Studies (KCSDS).They will call on Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Governor N.N. Vohra.
London: Internationally acclaimed sitarist Anoushka Shankar will be travelling to India for a six-city tour in December for her new album Land of Gold.
The album was released on Deutsche Grammophon earlier this summer.
Launching on December 2 and culminating on December 11, Anoushka will travel to cities like Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.
"Land of Gold" embraces electronics and cross-genre collaborations, and is Anoushka's fervent response to the humanitarian trauma of displaced people fleeing conflict and poverty.
Organised by her management company, Alchemist Marketing Solutions, this will be Anoushka's fifth countrywide solo tour of India.
"'Land of Gold' is the culmination of my journey to the interior, channelling my distress at the situation in a constructive way, exploring the stories of the voiceless and dispossessed," Anoushka said in a statement.
"The central message of 'Land of Gold' is the recognition of the resilience of the human spirit and of our capacity to find the place where enduring hope resides.
"Everyone is, in some way or another, searching for their own 'Land of Gold': a journey to a place of security, connectedness and tranquillity, which they can call home," she added.
Anoushka feels that the "idea of millions of people being driven out of their homes", is not a political issue, but a "humanitarian issue".
"I'm not pretending I can change the world, or to be an expert on social and political affairs. But I certainly have a right to say when something is wrong," she said.
"It's important to be a part of a culture and community, and to be a positive influence in every aspect of my life that I can," she added.
Lucknow: In a fresh twist to the entire Yadav feud, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday is set to reinstate his uncle and state president Shivpal Yadav back into the cabinet along with three other ministers who were suspended in a series of revenge sackings during the weekend.
Sources told CNN-News18 that a letter in this regard will be sent to Governor Ram Naik from the CM's office and the ministers are also likely to take fresh oath.
The other ministers who were ousted from the cabinet and will be taken back include Narad Rai, Om Prakash and Shadab Fatima.
All the four ministers met party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav at his residence post the announcement.
The development comes a day after party Supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav made multiple attempts on Sunday to broker a truce between the two warring factions within the party.
Mulayam's efforts to strike a peace deal between his son and brother hit multiple hurdles after Akhilesh and Shivpal indulged in an open spat on the podium at the venue of the party meeting.
However, there is no clarity on MLC Udayveer Singh and general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav who were removed from the party by state president Shivpal Yadav and are believed to be part of Akhilesh's camp.
Sources have told CNN-News18 that they will be brought back to the party only after Diwali.
Meanwhile, Former party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav who was expelled from the party for a period of six years attacked SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for praising Amar Singh and claiming that he saved him from going to jail.
"The comments praising Amar Singh are nonsensical. Mulayam singh is jealous of Akhilesh Yadav as Akhilesh is more popular," Ram Gopal told the media.
Ram Gopal said that he has asked Akhilesh to start campaigning as there is no Samajwadi Party without him.
Reacting to the new development, State President Shivpal Yadav said that 'all is well' within the party.
"I will abide by Netaji's comments," Shivpal told CNN-News18
Lucknow: A day after the political crisis within the Samajwadi Party reached its peak and boiled over in full public view, party chief Mulayam Singh signaled a stitched up truce between the warring factions and declared that the party is one and the family is united.
Yadav however remained non-committal over questions regarding the CM candidate for the upcoming state assembly polls and said that with two months left for the elections it was early to decide on these matters.
I will not give a single controversial answer, no matter how many controversial questions you may ask, Mulayam Singh told the media which a series of questions.
Earlier in the day, Mulayam was at the receiving end of a string of attacks by his former party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav.
Yadav, who was expelled from the party for a period of six years attacked SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for praising Amar Singh and claiming that he saved him from going to jail.
Earlier in the day, sources privy to the latest development told CNN-News18 that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is set to reinstate State president Shivpal Yadav and three other ministers into the cabinet.
All the four ministers met Mulayam Singh Yadav at his residence in the morning.
Mulayam who has made multiple attempts to broke a peace deal between the two warring factions in the party was however at the receiving end of Ram Gopal Yadavs barbs.
There is also no clarity on MLC Udayveer Singh and former general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav who were removed from the party by state president Shivpal Yadav and are believed to be part of Akhileshs camp.
Sources have told CNN-News18 that they will be brought back to the party only after Diwali.
Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
Islamabad: Panama Papers and Bahama Leaks are a matter of honesty, transparency and accountability, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said here on Tuesday, amidst demand for the resignation of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on corruption charges.
On the final day of her maiden two-day visit to Pakistan, the IMF Managing Director in her concluding press conference alongside Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said accountability and transparency was the right course forward for the country.
"And that is the best way to go forward whether it is Panama or Bahama or whatsoever," she said in response to a question regarding alleged involvement of Pakistani leaders in Panama Papers scandal.
She said technological progress and access to information will make it impossible to run and hide, Dawn reported.
Lagarde also indicated that the perception of corruption was hurting Pakistan's prospects to grow.
"Pakistan ranks 117 out of 168 countries in perceived corruption," she said while referring to the Corruption Perceptions Index.
She said although direct social and economic losses are difficult to measure, even a perception of corruption deters private investment and impedes efforts aimed at promoting sustainable and inclusive growth.
"Increasing transparency, making people accountable and removing red tape can help" address the issue of perception of corruption, she was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.
In his reply to a question about the Panama Papers, Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said there is no justification of the political agitation regarding the case.
He said the issue is lying in court and the hearing of the case in this regard will be held on November 1.
He said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's sit-in in Islamabad on November 2 demanding Prime Minister Sharif's resignation will cause inconvenience to the people and affect business and economy.
Sharif and some his family members are accused of illegally transferring money abroad after the Panama Papers leaks showed his family of possessing properties in the UK. Sharif and his family have dismissed the allegations of money laundering and denied any wrongdoing.
Lagarde also congratulated Pakistan on having successfully completed its IMF-supported economic reform programme.
"I congratulate Pakistan on having successfully completed its IMF-supported economic reform programme. Improved macroeconomic stability as well as strengthened external buffers and public finances will provide a solid foundation for the economy.
"Many tax exemptions and concessions have been removed, and higher tax revenue has allowed for greater public investment and social spending. About 1.5 million more poor households are benefiting from targeted social assistance than three years ago.
She also noted that power outages have gradually decreased and the financial performance of the power sector is strengthening. A country-wide strategy to improve the business climate is being implemented.
"Improved macroeconomic stability as well as strengthened external buffers and public finances will provide a solid foundation for the economy," she said.
She said it is Pakistan's "moment of opportunity" to address its remaining economic challenges and work towards creating more private sector jobs and higher living standards for all segments of society.
Lagarde said she has emphasised in her discussions with Pakistani leaders the need to continue strengthening resilience by building fiscal and external cushions to be adequately prepared for future economic shocks.
Qaraqosh (Iraq): Iraqi forces advancing on Mosul on Monday faced stiff resistance from the Islamic State jihadist group despite an unprecedented wave of air strikes by the US-led coalition in support of the week-old offensive.
Federal forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters gained ground in several areas, AFP correspondents on various fronts said, but the jihadists were hitting back with shelling, sniper fire, suicide car bombs and booby traps.
IS has also attempted to draw attention away from losses around Mosul with attacks on Iraqi forces elsewhere in the country, the latest coming on Sunday near the Jordanian border.
Following a weekend visit to Iraq by US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter, American officials said the coalition was providing the most air support yet to the operation.
"One week into Mosul operation, all objectives met thus far, and more coalition air strikes than any other 7-day period of war against ISIL (IS)," Brett McGurk, the top US envoy to the 60-nation coalition, wrote on social media.
"There were 32 strikes with 1,776 munitions delivered" against IS targets between October 17 and 23, coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian told AFP.
He said those strikes had destroyed 136 IS fighting positions, 18 tunnels and 26 car bombs.
The offensive, launched on October 17, aims to retake towns and villages surrounding Mosul before elite troops breach the city and engage die-hard jihadists in street-to-street fighting.
On the eastern side of Mosul, federal troops were on Monday battling IS in Qaraqosh, which used to be the largest Christian town in the country.
Army forces entered the town for the third day running but armoured convoys deployed around it were met with shelling from inside, an AFP correspondent reported.
Federal forces also scored gains on the southern front, where they have been making quick progress, taking one village after another as they work their way up the Tigris Valley.
On the northern front, Kurdish peshmerga forces were closing in on the IS-held town of Bashiqa.
Turkey, which has a base in the area, said yesterday it had provided artillery support following a request from the peshmerga.
The presence of Turkish troops on Iraqi soil is deeply unpopular in Baghdad and the Joint Operations Command today vehemently denied any Turkish participation.
But AFP reporters near Bashiqa said artillery fire coming from the Turkish base had been sighted on several occasions since the start of operations a week ago.
While an increasingly pragmatic IS has tended in recent months to relinquish some of its positions to avoid taking too many casualties, US officials said the group was mounting a spirited defence of Mosul.
The Quetta terror attack that killed scores of police cadets brings back to focus the National Action Plan (NAP), Pakistan's grand plan to fight terror, which has been dubbed by critics as the 'National Inaction Plan' for its inability to put any new radical action plan into practice to combat terror and non-state actors.
The NAP was announced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a televised address to the people of Pakistan after the gruesome attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar that left 144 students and staff dead. Pakistan's National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua is chief of NAP Task Force.
Progress on NAP, however, has been uneven and unsatisfactory and, in some cases, extremely slow a fact also borne out by a public near-rebuke of the government by the military establishment, noted journalist Ismail Khan, editor of the Khyber-Pakthunkwa edition of Dawn, wrote on Tuesday, as the country reels under another terror attack.
Among other things, the NAP provided for action against armed militias and the strengthening and activation of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta). NAP was also supposed to lay the ground work for countering of hate-speech and extremist material, choking financing for terrorist and terrorist organisations, ensuring that proscribed organisations and individuals do not re-emerge, establishing a counter-terrorism force and taking steps against religious persecution.
However, Pakistan has consistently turned a blind eye to India's charges that designated international terrorists like Lashkar-e-Toiba's Hafiz Sayeed and Jaish-eMohammeds Masood Azhar have not only been freely roaming around in Pakistan but also collecting funds for terror operation against India.
The failure of NAP was at the centre of the raging debate between Pakistan's civilian and military leadership that spilled over into newspages recently after leaked reports indicated a rift between the two over Army's support to non-state actors like LeT and JeM that the civilian leadership complained was only helping to push Pakistan to a corner internationally.
Initial reports lay the blame for Quetta attacks on the sectarian Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the transnational ISIS Khorasan. While LJ seeks to convert Pakistan into a Deobandi-dominated Sunni state where Shariah would prevail, ISIS is the new kid on the block that has been making steady gains inside the country.
Brutal Militant group #ISIS Khurrassan claimed #Police Academy attack #Quetta #Baluchistan, saying 3 bombers of #IS carried out the attack Saleem Mehsud (@SaleemMehsud) October 24, 2016
The three dead terrorists allegedly behind the attack on Pakistani police training academy in the southwestern city of Quetta that claimed 60 lives and left more than 100 injured were believed to be from the Al-Alimi faction of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban, one of the top military commanders in Baluchistan, General Sher Afgun told media.No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but General Sher Afgum told media that calls intercepted between the attackers and their handlers suggested they were from the sectarian militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), whose roots are in the heartland Punjab province, has a history of carrying out sectarian attacks in Baluchistan, particularly against the minority Hazara Shias. It was unclear what motive the group would have in attacking the police academy, a home ministry official said.The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) was founded in 1996 as a militant offshoot of Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, a Deobandi and anti-Shia group that emerged in the mid-1980s in reaction to class-based conflict and the domestic Pakistani Shia revival that followed the Iranian revolution. LJ seeks to transform Pakistan into a Deobandi-dominated Sunni state, and primarily targets Shia and other religious minorities, according to National Counter Terrorism Centre of the US Government.However, CNN Journalist Saleem Mehsud, covering Federally administered Tribal areas (FATA) and Militancy and Terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan said in a tweet that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), Khorasan, has claimed responsiblity saying 3 bombers of IS carried out the attack on the police training academy.The ISIS Khorasan is a "branch" of the Islamic State that was set up last year inside Pakistan a few months after the Al Qaeda announced its wing for the Indian subcontinent. A BBC report from January 2015 says Khorasan is "a word that carried mythical overtones for some Muslims after an ancient prophecy that black flags would once again fly in Khorasan before the end of the world."ISIS Khorasan operates in tandem with the Pakistani Taliban, which has been waging war against the Pakistani military. Thousands have been killed in the Zardb-Azb military operation launched by Pakistani Army under General Raheel Sharif to weed out Pakistani Taliban which the Army considers as "bad Taliban. Pakistan's state policy of classifying terror groups into "good" and "bad" as per their utility has been internationally criticized.Police, military and paramilitary personnel arrived at the training centre within 20 minutes of the attack and launched an operation which lasted for around five hours, the home ministry said.Monday night's assault was the deadliest in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed 70 people in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in Quetta in August.The attack appeared well coordinated, with senior law enforcement agencies saying that assailants had fired at the police training centre from five different points.Later, the attackers entered the centre's hostel where around 200 to 250 police recruits were resting, security officials said. At least three explosions were reported at the scene by local media.Quetta has long been regarded as a base for the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership has regularly held meetings there in the past.The Afghan Taliban's new leader Haibatullah Akhundzada openly taught and preached at a mosque outside Quetta for 15 years, until May this year. Akhundzada's predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a U.S. drone strike while travelling to Quetta from the Pakistan-Iran border.Baluchistan province is no stranger to violence, with separatist fighters launching regular attacks on security forces for nearly a decade and the military striking back. Militants, particularly sectarian groups, have also launched a campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations of minority Shias.Also read: Quetta Terror Attack: Operation Ends; 3 Terrorists Killed, Over 60 Dead (With agency inputs)
Manchester: U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton slammed her rival Donald Trump on Monday for saying that the week-old effort to re-take the Iraqi city of Mosul from the control of Islamic State was going badly.
"He's basically declaring defeat before the battle has even started," Clinton said at a campaign event in New Hampshire. "He's proving to the world what it means to have an unqualified commander in chief."
In a tweet on Sunday, Trump, the Republican nominee for the November 8 election, said the "attack on Mosul is turning out to be a total disaster. We gave them months of notice. U.S. is looking so dumb."
Iraqi and Kurdish forces, backed by the United States, have mounted a huge assault on the area surrounding the city, the last stronghold of Islamic State forces in Iraq. They have retaken about 80 Islamic State-held villages and towns since the offensive was launched on Oct. 16, but have yet to move on the city itself.
The operation could last weeks, or even months. Islamic State on Monday mounted counter-attacks across the country against the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces, trying to deflect attention away from the Mosul campaign.
With just over two weeks to go until the election, former Secretary of State Clinton is ahead of the New York businessman in national opinion polls. Both candidates are focusing on a small set of swing states that could decide the contest: while Clinton campaigned in New Hampshire on Monday, Trump spent the day in Florida.
Seeking to cement a wide advantage she holds with women voters, Clinton enlisted the help of firebrand U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who slammed Trump over allegations that he tried to grope or kiss several women over a 20-year span.
"He thinks because he has a mouthful of Tic Tacs that he can force himself on any women within groping distance," Warren told the raucous crowd of 4,000 at St. Anselm College in Manchester. "Well, I've got news for you, Donald Trump. Women have had it with guys like you."
At least 10 women have said Trump made unwanted sexual advances, including groping or kissing, in incidents from the early 1980s to 2007, according to reports in various news outlets. Trump has denied the women's allegations, calling them "totally and absolutely false" and promising on Saturday that he would sue his accusers.
Warren's reference to mint candies referred to a moment in a 2005 video that surfaced earlier this month in which Trump was heard boasting about groping and kissing women.
Nasty Woman
Warren also referenced Trump calling Clinton "a nasty woman" at last week's final presidential debate, a phrase that quickly caught fire on social media, sparking hashtags and T-shirts.
"Get this Donald, nasty women are tough," Warren said. "Nasty women are smart. And nasty women vote. And on Nov. 8 we nasty women are gonna march our nasty feet to cast our nasty votes to get you out of our lives forever."
Clinton praised Warren for taking the fight to Trump. "She gets under his (Trump's) thin skin like nobody else," Clinton said.
At an event for farmers in Boynton Beach, Florida, earlier in the day, Trump disputed multiple national and state polls that show him losing to Clinton and accused the media of distorting poll results to discourage his supporters from voters.
"I believe we're actually winning," Trump said.
Just the day before, Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, acknowledged that the candidate was trailing in the race, saying in a TV interview, "We're behind."
According to Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project, which surveys the vote in battleground states, Clinton leads Trump in most of the states that Trump would need to win to have a chance of amassing the minimum 270 Electoral College votes needed to capture the White House.
According to the survey, she has a better than 95 percent chance of winning, if the election was held this week. The mostly likely outcome would be 326 votes for Clinton to 212 for Trump. The Electoral College votes represent a tally of wins from the states.
Washington: Stoking yet another controversy, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took a swipe at an adult film star who has accused him of inappropriate sexual contact, saying "Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before".
Jessica Drake, an adult film star this week became the 11th woman to accuse the 70-year-old business tycoon of inappropriate sexual contact, saying he touched and kissed her in 2006, further damaging the already fragile campaign of the controversial Republican nominee ahead of the November 8 polls.
In an appearance on WGIR radio's "New Hampshire Today," Trump called the accusations against him "total fiction."
"These are stories that are made up, these are total fiction. You'll find out that, in the years to come, these women that stood up, it was all fiction," he said.
"They were made up. I don't know these women, it's not my thing to do what they say. You know I don't do that. I don't grab them, as they say, on the arm," Trump was quoted as saying by CNN.
"One said, 'he grabbed me on the arm.' And she's a porn star. You know, this one that came out recently, 'he grabbed me and he grabbed me on the arm.' Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before," the reality TV star-turned politician said.
Trump rejected all the accusations saying, "It's all lies, it's all lies, it was made up. It's like dripping water."
Drake, who is being represented by attorney Gloria Allred, is one of several women who have accused Trump of unwanted sexual advances in recent weeks. Trump has denied all the allegations against him.
In the interview, Trump called Allred "a third rate lawyer" who supported Clinton.
Drake is at least the 11th woman to publicly accuse the real estate tycoon of unwanted sexual advances since the surfacing of a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump brags about being able to grope and kiss women.
Like many of the women before her, Drake said her decision was sparked by watching a 2005 video of Trump bragging about getting away with assaulting women because of his celebrity status.
AMHERST The owner of a former school on Phelps Road in Madison Heights pleaded guilty in Amherst County Circuit Court on Monday to one misdemeanor count each of violating the building code and failing to comply with a judges order to fix issues on the property.
As part of a plea agreement, Judge Michael Garrett imposed a $2,500 fine on Phelps Road Development LLC but suspended it on the condition the issues causing the code violation are corrected by April 28, 2017. This is the second time the developer has been fined for the same issue.
The Gladys-based developer acquired the building in 2014, intending to turn the building into housing units.
The building was used as an elementary school before it closed 25 years ago. Nathan Young, the countys building official, described the facility as a hazard in a January 2016 letter to Phelps Road Development LLC granting a permit for some needed repairs.
After entering into a previous plea agreement with the Amherst County Commonwealths Attorney Office in General District Court on April 28, the developer failed to meet a 60-day deadline to pass a building inspection. When the inspection wasnt met, Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Stephen Eubank sought a show cause hearing Sept. 1, at which time General District Court Judge Sam Eggleston III imposed a fine.
A deteriorated roof, missing and inoperable exterior gates, broken windows, rusted through gutters and downspouts, exterior walls with holes and rotting materials, wood coverings without paint or protective finishes and signs of rodent damage are among conditions cited in the building code violations, according to a notice of violation the county sent the developer in late 2015.
Scott De Bruin, the attorney representing Phelps Road Development LLC, said after the hearing his client intends to sell the property.
Shes ahead in the polls by roughly three to four points. Given her opposition, however, Hillary Clinton ought be doing a lot better than that.
Consider Clintons structural advantages over Donald Trump.
Shes been wildly outspending him in televised political advertising. She has campaign field offices in most counties; he doesnt have any in most states. The news media despises him.
Then consider her personal advantages.
Trump is a novice, never having run for political office. She has served in the cabinet, presented herself for the Senate twice, run for president, weathered countless scandals and political storms. Whereas he rants and raves incoherently, her experience has taught her how to debate, crisis manage, issue sound bites, and carefully calibrate her every phrase for maximum impact and minimum risk. His main advantage is the perception of authenticity and its a big one, having gotten him where he is now but it has come at a huge price as all his years of running off at the mouth on and off camera are coming home to roost weeks before Election Day.
Trump has infuriated more than half the voters: women. He has insulted one out of 10 male and female Americans: Latinos, and lets not forget Muslims.
Given all that, why is he doing so well? Why is she doing so badly or more accurately, so not well?
Part of Clintons problem is personality. Truth be told, she really isnt likeable enough.
The vote for president is a feel vote, Chris Cillizza wrote in The Washington Post. Do you think this person is someone who understands you and the problems (and hopes and dreams) you have for yourself and your children? Polls have consistently shown that most Americans think she doesnt.
Its not all sexism: Clinton yells into microphones and overly enunciates. Her voice is objectively irritating. Then theres her incredibly ugly, unbelievably hideous wardrobe: its hard to like someone who makes your eyes burn.
But lets face it. Hillary Clinton, probably like you and definitely like me, cant do anything about her personality. At 68, that stuff is baked in. Still, theres a lot she could do to close the deal against Donald Trump to widen her within-the-margin-of-statistical-error lead to a chasm, the insurmountable landslide that her institutional and other advantages would have guaranteed a better candidate.
Its about policy, stupid.
Recommendation No. 1: Guarantee Bernie Sanders a high-profile position in the cabinet. (She should have made him vice president, but its too late for that.)
Even after the Democratic convention in which Sanders endorsed her, more than a third of Bernie voters roughly 1/6 of the electorate still werent behind her. Annoyed that Clinton didnt grant any significant concessions to the partys progressive base, many of them will vote for Jill Stein or stay home. Ive been prognosticating about American politics for decades, and Ive never been more certain of a prediction: a firm guarantee that Bernie Sanders will have a seat at the table for the next four years would singlehandedly put an end to Trumps chances.
Recommendation No. 2: Promise to be a one-term president.
One thing that drives voters crazy is politicians who spend most of their time in office weighing every decision against their future reelection campaign. Nothing would do more than to allay voters worries that she is a slave of her Wall Street masters than to turn herself into a lame duck on day one and free herself of the burden of worrying about 2020. Few presidents get much done during their last four years. Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all saw their second terms tarnished by scandal.
Recommendation No. 3: Turn her weaknesses into strengths by promising to finish her own unfinished business.
One of Hillary Clintons biggest weaknesses is her support of NAFTA and other job-killing free trade deals. Since she cant run away from her record, why not embrace it by calling for a major national jobs retraining and financial assistance program for people who lose their jobs to globalization, as well as a $25/hour minimum wage? Similarly, her awkward reluctance to concede that Obamacare is too expensive should be replaced by an acknowledgement of what everyone already knows the Affordable Care Act should have at least included a public option and that she will add one in January. She could also claimed that she learned a valuable lesson from her email scandal; she could promise to be the most transparent president in history by putting a live camera in the oval office and the cabinet, and promising not to conduct government business (other than national security matters) in private.
Recommendation No. 4: No more optional wars.
On foreign policy, Hillary Clinton has quite the reputation as a warmonger. She voted for wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, even though neither had anything to do with 9/11. As Secretary of State she encouraged President Obama to finance the Islamist fundamentalists who turned Libya and Syria into hell. Now shes saber-rattling with Russia. Americans hate these endless wars. And they do us a lot more harm than good. Hillary Clinton should issue an October Surprise: If elected, she should say, she will never deploy American military power anywhere on earth other than to directly defend the American homeland.
I know she probably wont take my advice. But heres the thing: Shell win if she does.
Rall is a syndicated writer and cartoonist for ANewDominion.net and Skewed.net. His latest book is Trump: A Graphic Biography, an examination of the life of the Republican presidential nominee in comics form. Contact him through his website, Rall.com.
Writer: Clinton not trustworthy
Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?
My favorite candidate was defeated in the Republican primary. I was disappointed when Trump won. And it took a few days to face reality.
The reality is this: Clinton illegally used a unsecured email server in her home that allowed other countries to possibly access U.S. classified information, which put our nation at risk. Deleted thousands of emails. She covered her lawlessness under oath by using the phrase, I dont recall more than 20 times.
While serving in the U.S. Air Force, I was assigned to the 30th Air Defense Missile Squadron, in Bangor, Maine. My duties were in the launch area where security was very tight because of the nuclear warheads on the missiles. I had access to classified information and was trained and understood if I leaked any classified information to any one, I would be courtmartialed. If found guilty, I would be sent to prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. I would not have been allowed to use the phrase I dont recall as my defense.
Reality: Clinton is either a liar by testifying under oath I dont recall more than 20 times, or she has a bad memory. Either one disqualifies her from the Oval Office.
As for me and my family, were voting for Trump.
MAYNARD PLASTER
Madison Heights
Obama on the Supreme Court?
Just a prediction: If Hillary Clinton gets elected president she will likely appoint Barack Obama to the Supreme Court.
OK, I agree. This may be one of those off the wall prophecies that belongs in the Sky is Falling or in the End of Days Are Coming. But think about it: (a) Obama has already noted hes staying in the Washington area after his term in office has expired. (b) We all know hes eminently qualified for a spot in the Supreme Court e.g., a Harvard graduate, a constitutional scholar, about as liberal as they come and very likely to support Clintons already disclosed agenda of continuing Obamas policies, as a third term Obama presidency. (c) The way the election is going, it is likely we will end up with a Democrat majority in the Senate, thanks to Donald Trumps coattails. (d) If appointed and confirmed by a Democratic Senate, Obama will likely vote to throw out any legal issues that may come up to the Supreme Court regarding Clintons email controversies, as well as any other legal challenges she may face. (d) As Obama showed us time and time again, a Clinton presidency is likely to continue to circumvent the law and the will of Congress by issuing executive orders to implement her agenda, which a liberal majority in the Supreme Court, with Obama at the helm, will likely uphold as the law of the land.
Folks, you need to know I hate conspiracy theories. But, I ask: Is it just possible that Obama and Clinton have struck a quid pro quo deal in which if he supports her candidacy so that if elected she will appoint him to the Supreme Court? I find it odd that Obama was known to despise the Clintons, yet he now does a 180, loves, embraces and arduously campaigns for Clinton?
Am I proposing a wild theory? An off-the-wall prediction? Likely. No doubt. On the other hand, however, just imagine a 55-year-old President Obama, as energetic and passionately liberal as weve ever seen, whos said hes staying in Washington after his term expires to do what? Spend his retirement years feeding pigeons while sitting on a bench across from the White House grounds? Think about it.
OMAR MENDOZA
Lynchburg
In his 1962 speech accepting the Nobel Prize in Literature, John Steinbeck said, Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it, and has not changed except to become more needed.
Just a few months later, Bob Dylan released Blowin in the Wind, a song that shook the foundations of folk music and became an anthem for freedom and equality in a volatile time in American history.
To turn Steinbecks quote on its head: Perhaps there was always a human need for Dylan for the words and cadences, the poetry and rallying cries. If so, its a need that has only continued to grow.
Plenty has already been written about Dylan since The Swedish Academy announced earlier this month that it would honor him with the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Cue the pundits and critics. Welcome down from their high towers the professors and writers and scholars.
Songwriting, they like to exclaim, is not literature.
What then, is literature? Winston Churchill retold war stories in monumental works referred to more as memoirs than substantive history. He received a Nobel.
Jean-Paul Sartre, who rejected his prize, wasnt limited to his talents as a playwright. He was, of course, a philosopher at heart.
And prior to his 62 speech, Steinbeck endured heavy criticism. He was referred to as a poor writer unworthy of literatures highest prize, and rumors began to swirl that he was the Academys compromise choice. Even Steinbeck himself later said he didnt deserve the Nobel, which any writer with even a slight degree of modesty would claim.
But youll have a difficult time finding someone who has contributed more to the canon of American literature than Steinbeck. Youll be hard pressed to find a writer who more fully grasped American life, who took a more meaningful stand, who better understood that its not so much the limits of man but the unrelenting boundlessness of the human spirit that mattered most.
Thats a theme that Dylan the musician, the writer, the poet, the philosopher has dealt with over the years. He never carried the folk music banner in the 1960s, but penned some of the most powerful words about inequality and injustice of his or any age.
And if we are to take Steinbecks quote to heart, that literature is as old as speech, then literature has the ability to transcend our understanding of it. Human thought and language are inextricably linked and literature is nothing more than ideas, artfully put together. Literature, then, isnt just limited to paper. Its in our speech, our minds, our music.
Humanity, Steinbeck said, has been passing through a gray and desolate time of confusion.
Its the writers job, he said, to expose the faults of men and women and celebrate mans proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit for gallantry in defeat for courage, compassion and love.
There was Steinbeck, moving through the bleak 1930s, the puzzling 1940s. Two decades later, Dylan did the same, examining his country, finding it inauthentic at its core and woefully lacking in fairness. In that sense, he was the return of Woody Guthrie, a clear-eyed type of Steinbecks wandering preacher, Jim Casy.
For Guthrie and Dylan, the ideas flowed relentlessly. Those ideas werent bound to notebooks. They didnt need to rhyme. They could be prayers or poems, crude drawings or stories wrapped in half-truths.
Just as Guthrie wrote about current events, Dylan, especially in his early days, scoured newspapers, looking for ideas. Sometimes, what emerged was a mostly true account. Other times, the truth was wrapped in fiction.
He broke onto the scene like a hobo from a Steinbeck novel. A few years later, he was like Arthur Rimbaud or the Beat Poets, surreal and abstract. He went underground, emerged with country and western songs in tow, and dove back into rock n roll before becoming a Jimmy Durante-type of crooner the last few years. Theres no genre that defines Dylan, no label that can contain him.
He isnt just a songwriter or just a Voice of His Generation. He simply is.
So it doesnt really matter whether he accepts the Nobel or continues to anger the Swedish Academy. When you give someone an award for having created a new poetic expression within the great American song tradition, you have to anticipate that person may not go by the book in accepting it.
After all, inasmuch as Dylan created a new expression, he did it for people. The human condition and the human spirit are his subjects. Both are worth writing about.
So in a sense, the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature belongs to all of us.
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Mac Farlane channels Cazabon
At the launch, Mac Farlane explained that the band celebrates the Cazabon era with classic designs from: Heather Jones, Dianne Hunt, Peter Elias, Charu Lochan Dass (CLD), Harvey Robertson (Citizens for Conservation), Sonia Mack, Fazaad Mohammed, Dayle Angus, Kaleen Sanois, Claudia Pegus, Adrian Foster, Dhisha Moorjani (House of Jaipur) and Mac Farlane himself. He also stressed that he would not be returning to Carnival full-time, but that this offering was only a catalyst for an upcoming project.
I set the whole feeling and design of the band in that era the late 1800s, early 1900s Cazabon died in the late 1800s. Mac Farlane explained. It was the most beautiful time art was fabulous, fashion was glorious, the architecture was amazing and full of such intricate details so the band for 2017 is Cazabon The Art of Living Im happy to be here. The band is going to be a one-off, whether you believe me or you dont, he said. So if you want to take a chance and say you want to play with me in 2018 youre not cause ah not coming out! If you want to play, 2017 is your chance! Mac Farlane revealed his grand idea for a culture festival in Tobago: This is going to be a catalyst for what I want to do God willing in 2018, he explained.
Ive always looked at Tobago as being a diamond in the rough in terms of culture and I said that when I was asked to do their 25th anniversary of their Heritage Festival and I moved it from a little tent in the car-park to inside the stadium with an incredible stateof- the-art, world class show and since then its been growing and growing, which is very nice My idea is to create an amazing festival in Tobago between five seven days for Carnival 2018, which will focus on many things that we present: it will focus on our culture in the form of: food, fashion, art, music and mas. The celebrated designer also stressed that he was not coming out to compete in 2017 and highlighted his favourite part of the Carnival parade route.
Im not coming out to compete, he said.
Im not coming out to make money, Im coming to present an offering of the people for the people. So, if the band wants to cross the Savannah stage, the band will rule us on Carnival Monday and Tuesday show your hands. If they band wants to cross the stage, we will providing the authorities allow me to cross. Hopefully, they will allow me to give an offering...
One place I will definitely be going to be crossing and again, not to compete is behind the bridge! That has always been the most glorious place for me at Carnival time.
Im always so excited going across and getting in there, the breeze is beautiful, moving along the East Dry River and its just amazing the kind of appreciation you get there. People are all in the plannings and in the houses and you hearing them in the background screaming Mac Mac, we love you and theyre all applauding the costumes as they pass and yuh come down and I end up finding myself in every lil gingerbread house so we will be going there for sure. Images from Cazabon The Art of Living received mixed reviews online and via social media over the weekend with several lively discussions centred around the style of the era depicted and its invocations of slavery and the negative memories associated with that time.
In defense of the portrayal, some persons compared Mac Farlanes mas against that of the many bikini/party bands and highlighted the discussions taking place as part of the relevance and significance of his work.
Mac Farlane added that the band will rest around the fountain in Woodford Square on Carnival Monday and Tuesday and his mas camp will be open to the public within the next month.
DOCTORS SCARED
So concerned are they for their safety that doctors are demanding a beef-up of security systems at the city hospital including having a mobile police unit on the compound and a change in the company that provides security guards to serve the facility. If their demands are not met, the doctors say they will turn away all patients seeking medical care for non-essential ailments from tomorrow.
Doctors said that for far too long, they have been assaulted - both physically and emotionally - by patients, homeless persons who wander into the hospital and there have been robberies and even rapes at the institution. Members of the North West Doctors Association (NWDA), a staff association, formed to tend to the needs of doctors in the North West Regional Health Authority said that doctors decided to make a stand after an armed robbery on Sunday night involving a medical intern.
Dr Sharaz Mohammed, Vice President of NWDA said that doctors for quite some time, do not feel safe at the workplace. The Associations secretary Dr Darren Bodkin added that something must be done to make doctors feel safer so they can continue to provide their services to the public.
The doctors are demanding that a Police post be placed in the hospital, better lighting and cameras be installed in dark and quiet areas of the hospital, and a complete overhaul of the security detail. As physicians we have to treat people regardless of their background. It isnt our job to judge persons on anything they may or may not have done. We cant do so in an environment where we feel our physical safety is at risk, a NWDA official said. Newsday understands that just before midnight on Sunday, the intern was walking toward the Lab Area when she was called out by a man who asked for directions to the Intensive Care Unit, claiming a relative was warded there.
The intern walked the man to the ICU area, some 20 metres away, when he pulled out a firearm from his waist and announced a hold-up.
The man ordered the frightened intern to walk in front of him as he placed the gun to her waist.
During the walk from the ICU area to a parking lot at the back of the hospital near the blood bank, the two walked past four empty security guard posts. No guard was seen anywhere although two companies are contracted by Government to provide 24 hour service to the hospital on a shift system.
When they reached the car part, the man proceeded to rob the woman of 300 and ordered her to walk away and dont look back...
or else. He then walked out of the hospital and escaped. The woman contacted her parents who picked her up and took her to the San Juan police station where a report was made. NWDA officials lambasted security officers posted at the hospital saying that on numerous occasions, no security guard is seen in the booth. Doctors added that security guards - when they are located - are usually asleep. This was confirmed when Newsday visited the hospital yesterday and found a female security guard, in full uniform, seated on a chair near a tree on the compound so fast asleep that she was not aware a photo of her was being taken.
The security checkpoints the intern and the bandit walked past were at an elevator near the ICU, another at the back of the hospital, a third at the blood bank and a fourth at the parking lot. We are thankful the intern was not dragged off to be raped or kidnapped.
Things could have been much worse. Look at how far they walked, look at how many checkpoints she passed and not one...
not one security guard was there, NWDA public relations officer Dr Donna Rampersad said.
Earlier this year, a nurse at the St James infirmary was raped at that compound and last year, an orthopaedic consultant was threatened by a man brandishing a gun on one of the wards in the city hospital.
Doctors said they face being murdered when treating gunshot victims as the persons who shot the victims could very easily walk into the hospital, enter the ward and attack the victim and those attending to him/her. Doctors said security is non-existent to the point where homeless persons walk into the hospital and sleep at various points.
We need a police presence in here because of how open the hospital is. Gunplay from gangsters is a real possibility. The guards are absent from their booths. When you make a check, instead of them going on foot patrol, they sit on chairs and sleep. Look over there, look at that security guard sleeping, said a doctor who pointed to the woman whose head was bent to the right.
Deep, contented snoring could be heard.
Efforts by Newsday to reach Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh for a comment yesterday proved futile although CNC3 reported in its seven oclock news last night that the minister had requested a report on the robbery of the intern.
PCA supports call for body cameras
Joining in the call for the use of body cameras on police officers, the PCA in a release said, it believes the use of the cameras will improve the level of accountability of the police and will improve transparency in the conduct of police operations.
Sealescall for the use of body cameras was made on the heels of the killing of Adalle Gilbert, 34, at the hands of the police at his Carlton Lane, San Fernando home last Thursday.
The release said that the recommendation for police officers to be outfitted with body cameras was not new. The PCA said calls were previously made by former PCA Director Gillian Lucky, now High Court Judge, at an outreach meeting at the Bon Air High School in November, 2012, and subsequently at a press conference in June, 2014.
The PCA noted that calls for the use of body cameras have been growing worldwide and that the Jamaica Constabulary Force has recently introduced them in their line of duty.
Fares increased along Sando -Fyzo route
The salt water along the Creek ( Mosquito Creek in La Romaine) erodes vehicles rapidly. Water from the sea seeps through the cracks in the concrete barriers.
This normally happens three days before and after new moon and full moon, Chattergoon explained.The President noted that when the waters settle along the roadway, it causes vehicular traffic. To avoid the traffic, many of us (maxi taxi drivers) pass through Woodland and that road is very bad. So, we leave one problem and go to another, Chattergoon said. Commuters now have to pay $6 to and from San Fernando to Fyzabad. All short drops are now $4.
Udecott awaiting word on National Oncology Centre
It said in April 2014, the centres original designer/ architect, Farrow Architects filed for bankruptcy and their contact was terminated.
When Newsday contacted Farrow Architects Limited Canada via phone to verify whether the company had in fact gone bankrupt, it was told there was a bad connection and to email the responses.
Checks on the companys website also showed the company having submitted a design for a $1 billion dollar St Pauls Hospital in Vancouver, Canada.
Udecott also told Newsday that after Farrows termination, contractor BBTTCCL (Bouygues Batiment Trinidad and Tobago Construction Company Ltd) was tasked with completing the remaining design elements for the centre. It added that the corporation was awaiting word from the Ministry of Health on the continuation of the project, as it was funded locally under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).
The Ministry of Health in its response to Newsday on the matter said, The National Oncology Centre (NOC) has experienced a series of delays since its inception in 2007.
During this time, private institutions have developed the capacity to provide certain aspects of oncology treatment, such as radiation beam therapy by use of Linear Accelerator.
Access to these services is made available to those who cannot afford it through the Ministrys External Patient Programme. The Ministry of Health is currently reassessing the original scope for the NOC as recent developments may necessitate a different approach as far as how radiation treatment services are offered. Udecotts responses said sections of the floor slab foundation had to be demolished and modified in order to meet current seismic design requirements and to also cater for increased services anticipated to be offered at the facility.
The foundation retrofit was completed.
It was reported in 2014 that former Minister of Health Fuad Khan hoped for a 2015 opening after the project was delayed again in 2014.
Udecott also told Newsday the projects designs were 85 percent complete while construction was 20 percent complete with foundations and floor slab completed. Fabrication of the steel framing for the first level of the main building was also started, it said.
Cabrera: Business sabotaging TT
The obvious question which arises is how have our governments since independence been conducting economic analysis and economic planning without credible data on inequality? Cabrera asked. He pointed out that The ILO has noted that current levels of inequality are an impediment to economic growth. He also spoke about the recent findings by the research organization KAIRI, illustrating growing poverty and inequality in Trinidad and Tobago.
Cabrera observed that the report indicated that almost 25 percent of the national population lives below the poverty level. We know that education lifts people out of poverty, but we also know that secure employment lifts people out of poverty, Cabrera said. We also know that collective bargaining lifts people out of poverty; we also know that trade unions lift people out of poverty. Cabrera added, In Trinidad and Tobago today, social justice which is an objective in the national constitution, is threatened in a real way; is threatened in a big way by the existence of this significant amount of poverty. Pointing out that the unions needed to take stock of available data on our local Labour Force he said they were forced to deal with a time lag in this respect. To reinforce his point, the BIGWU President noted that in the first quarter of 2016, approximately 641,900 persons comprised the labour force in Trinidad and Tobago.
He said the available data is showing that compared to the previous quarter, employment in males decreased by 1.2 percent while employment in females increased by one percent. The total unemployed, he said, stands at 24,100, an increase of 8.1 percent.
He said the unemployment rate has increased from 3.5 percent to 3.8 percent.
Cabrera also pointed out that in financing, insurance, real estate and business services 3,100 persons lost their jobs, representing a decrease of five percent. We ought to be concerned that workers in the financial sector are among the hardest hit by unemployment, Cabrera said. The BIGWU President also criticized businesses who, despite continued profits were taking action resulting in job losses.
The common feature in all these cases is the flying of the flag of restructuring, Cabrera observed.
These employers have proven that as soon as they put restructuring on the table the real intent is retrenchment of as many as possible in the given circumstances. Cabrera said Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, held out in his Budget Statement the governments intention to maintain employment levels. Cabrera said, however, there have been many instances where workers on contract have been terminated in various ministries. This led him to conclude there are elements in the private sector that are intent on sabotaging the economy.
Dow Just Had Its
Best Month Since 1976
(Newser) A mysterious plane crash in nearly inaccessible terrain. A foreign government fails to investigate thoroughly. Missing black boxes. No bodies or blood. An airline that was later implicated in large-scale cocaine smuggling, then went bankrupt. And... a bunch of crocodile skins? These are the mysteries that drew Americans Dan Futrell and Isaac Stoner to the decades-old case of Eastern Airlines Flight 980, which crashed into the side of a Bolivian mountain on New Year's Day in 1985. With journalist Peter Frick-Wright in tow, the pair hopped a plane to South America to see if they could locate the black box flight recorders, which were never found. Surprisingly, they did find bothin pieces. The full tale, published at Outside, turns out to be more fascinating than they could have ever predicted.
Eastern Airlines Flight 980 went down on its stormy approach to La Paz, Bolivia, killing all aboard. The flight, operated by now-defunct Eastern Airlines, originated in Paraguay. Due to a number of factors, the crash site was never satisfactorily investigated by Bolivian or US authorities. The families of the 29 passengers were left in limbo, and conspiracy theorists quickly began whispering about dark dealings involving the Bolivian government, Ronald Reagan's White House, and the Paraguayan mafia. And as it turns out, Futrell, Stoner, and Frick-Wright didn't really have all that much trouble accessing the site, where debris from the crash is slowly sliding down the mountain. They even brought back the black box fragments, as well as the tape, which now sit in Futrell and Stoner's kitchen in legal limbo. So why all the secrecy? As the Bolivian government and the US government aren't on great terms at the moment, it may be a while before we can find out. Until then, Frick-Wright's story is excellent. (Read more Longform stories.)
(Newser) The US military is trying to reclaim signing bonuses and student loan compensation it says it improperly awarded to 9,700 California soldiers during the mid- to late 2000s, at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The LA Times reports that soldiers who served their six-year contracts to completion are now being placed in debt collection for failing to return their bonuses, which in many cases were as high as $25,000. The soldiers, understandably, are less than thrilled that a government they put their lives on the line for is now trying to walk back on its promises. "I signed a contract that I literally risked my life to fulfill," says former Army sergeant first class Robert Richmond, one of the soldiers from whom the government is trying to reclaim money. "Theyll get their money, but I want those years back," says former Army master sergeant Susan Haley.
The issue, NPR reports, stems from a 2010 discovery that California's National Guard office had misspent up to $100 million. Independent audits revealed the money had gone to signing bonuses for soldiers who shouldn't have been eligible for such compensation. (It was meant to be limited to "soldiers in high-demand assignments ... [or] noncommissioned officers badly needed in units due to deploy," per the Times.) A years-long review of the program revealed almost 10,000 incidences of improperly awarded bonusesbonuses the military say it's legally required to recoup. No one, from soldiers to military leadership to lawmakers, is happy about the situation. The military says it would happily defer the debts if Congress would legalize it. As the story gains more media traction, the California House of Representatives on Sunday condemned the Pentagon's effort to recoup the money, and pledged to do what it could to help the veterans. (Read more California stories.)
(Newser) John Cale, founding member of the Velvet Underground, will play the band's "legendary" album The Velvet Underground & Nico live in its entirety next year, the BBC reports. The shows in Liverpool and New York will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the album, which only sold 30,000 copies during its first five years. It has since come to be known as one of the most influential albums ever. Cale will be performing the album with guest musicians: "There will be a lot of characters," he says. "I'm going to find some really good personas to come and join and it will be great." (Read more Velvet Underground stories.)
(Newser) Militants wearing suicide vests stormed a Pakistani police academy on the outskirts the southwestern city of Quetta overnight, killing at least 59 people, mostly police cadets and recruits, and waging a ferocious gunbattle with troops that lasted into early hours Tuesday. Pakistani officials feared the death toll could rise further, as the four-hours-long siegeone of the deadliest attacks on Pakistan's security forces in recent yearsleft 117 wounded, some of them in critical condition, the AP reports. The assault, which involved four to six attackers, caught many of the recruits asleep in their dorms and forced cadets and trainers to jump off rooftops and run for their lives to escape the attackers.
About 700 cadets, trainees, instructors, and other staff were inside the academy when it was attacked. By mid-day Tuesday, conflicting claims of responsibility emerged. ISIS claimed that three of its fighters killed 60 police recruits but the claim was not confirmed by Pakistani officials and ISIS did not offer any previously unknown details about the assault. A little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Hakimullah group, also issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. Maj. Gen. Sher Afgan, head of the Pakistani paramilitary force which is primarily responsible for the province, claimed the attackers had received instructions from commanders in neighboring Afghanistan. (Read more Pakistan stories.)
(Newser) President Obama handed it to haters, including Donald Trump, while reading mean tweets on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday. "President Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States," Obama quoted Trump during the segment. His reply: "Really? Well, @realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a president." Another Twitter user asked, "Barack Obama, bro do you even lift?" to which Obama responded, "Well, I lifted the ban on Cuban cigars. That's worth something."
During his chat with Kimmel, Obama sent more insults Trump's way. He said he'd spent "most" of the presidential debates laughing at Trump, and while discussing aides waking him up in the middle of the night, he said, "What I don't do at 3am, I don't tweet about people who insulted me." Obama later described how he'd lost $5 to Bill Murray during a recent putting contest in the Oval Office in which they tried to putt into a glass. "He won repeatedly," Obama said. Then, mimicking his favorite GOP nominee, he added, "The glass was rigged." (Read more President Obama stories.)
(Newser) Police in Queensland, Australia, are investigating a horrific accident that left four people dead on a ride at a popular Gold Coast theme park. Two men and two women in their 30s and 40s died on the Thunder River Rapids ride at the Dreamworld park on Tuesday, with two people thrown from the ride and two others trapped in a conveyor belt underneath after what police describe as a "malfunction," the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The ridedescribed by visitors as one of the tamest of the park's 50 or so attractionsfeatures six-person circular rafts moving along an artificial river, the BBC reports. The water was drained during a desperate attempt to rescue the two trapped people, reports the Guardian.
Police have yet to name the victims, who are believed to have been part of a family group. "We saw a bunch of people running out hysteric, we saw a little girl screaming for her mum, it was scary," a woman who was lining up for the ride at the time of the accident told reporters. "We believe she was on the ride, I don't believe she was in the same raft, but we do understand from what she said it was her family involved and she was screaming for her mother." Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has promised there will be a full investigation of the "horrific, horrific scene." The theme park, which is Australia's biggest, says it will be closed until further notice. (Read more Australia stories.)
(Newser) Even though it's an election year, one vital issue has been all but ignored: "The United States is waging war in at least five countries simultaneously: Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia," writes Damon Linker at the Week. Blame for the silence goes all around. Republicans want to avoid talking about it because it ruins their narrative that President Obama is a spineless leader when in reality he's governed as more of a hawk than a dove. Democrats don't want to call attention to so much military meddling, especially since the goals and results "are so consistently muddled." Plus, it shows them following George W. Bush's vision. Congress is content to stay mum as well, because the less it says, the less it will be held accountable when things go awry.
The presidential debates focused on some aspects of foreign policy. "But our role in 'advising' the Iraqi army 'a few miles behind the front lines' as it works to take back territory from ISIS? Our 'secret war' against Shabab militants in Somalia? Our support for Saudi Arabia's bloody assault on Houthi rebels in Yemen? Our air strikes pounding positions in and around the city of Sirte on the Libyan coast?" On those issues, silence. Linker reserves a final amount of scorn for the media. Journalists are supposed to be the ones keeping important discussions on track, but "when everybody else decided it was a good idea to forestall a public debate about enormously important and complicated policy questions, the press decided to go along and let it happen." Click for the full column. (Read more war stories.)
(Newser) Cary Heath was arrested Monday at the Texas middle school where he teaches eighth-grade science a day after police say he murdered two of his neighbors, NBC DFW reports. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, shots were fired shortly before 4am Sunday at a home down the street from where Heath lives. Police arrived to find two men dead in the home's driveway. "From my understanding, the guy had an assault rife," a neighbor who woke up to gunshots tells NBC. "From the looks of it, due to the shell casings, he unloaded the whole clip."
Police aren't discussing a motive for the killings, though the first 911 call from the scene was regarding a robbery. The 35-year-old Heath is being held on $1 million bond and has been placed on administrative leave. The school notified parents of the situation via automated phone messages, WFAA reports. One mother says "it's very scary" that someone suspected of murder was teaching children. "They should be safe over there to get their education and come home," she says. Heath served in the Air Force for 13 years before recently becoming a teacher. (Read more murder stories.)
(Newser) Keeping the cremated ashes of a loved one in an urn on your mantel is officially against the rules for Catholics. New guidelines from the Vatican state that ashes must never be scattered or kept by family members, but held in a "sacred place" like a cemetery, reports the BBC. This "prevents the faithful departed from being forgotten, or their remains from being shown a lack of respect," as well as "any unfitting or superstitious practices," the Catholic Church says.
It adds it cannot "condone attitudes or permit rites that involve erroneous ideas about death, such as considering death as the definitive annihilation of the person or as a stage in the cycle of regeneration." If a person requests "cremation and the scattering of their ashes for reasons contrary to the Christian faith, a Christian funeral must be denied," the Vatican adds, noting a burial is preferred "to express faith and hope in the resurrection of the body." (Read more Catholic Church stories.)
(Newser) Former congressman Gary Condit is speaking out publicly for the first time in 15 years over Chandra Levy's murder in 2001. Levy was an intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in DC when she vanished while jogging, and her remains were found in a park. Investigators at the time say Condit admitted that he'd had an affair with the 24-year-old, but he has never publicly acknowledged that. Now, the 68-year-old has co-written a book about the case, Actual Malice, and in an interview about it with Dr. Phil McGraw, he insists he was not romantically involved with Levy and had nothing to do with her killing, ABC News reports. He says police tried to "frame" him. Condit's political career imploded after Levy's murder, though he was ruled out as a suspect early on in the investigation, People notes.
"I saw her one time outside the office, at a restaurant, and she came by my condo once," Condit says. "Well, maybe twice. Yeah, I think it was twice she came by. I want to make this clear: Theres nothing unusual about someone coming by my condo, a lot of people did." Levy's mother, Susan, tells ABC that she doesn't believe he's telling the whole story. "Chandra was secretive about her relationship with Condit," she says. "Chandra shared that her 'Man,' as she called him, was high-profile and it was best to not be seen together." A review of the book at the Modesto Bee notes that it is critical of the Levy family, along with police and the media. Ingmar Guandique, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, was convicted of Levy's murder in 2010, but his conviction has since been overturned. (Read more Gary Condit stories.)
(Newser) Justin Timberlake rocked the vote Monday in Memphis, but he could soon be rocking a prison cell thanks to a Tennessee law that prohibits taking pictures or videos inside polling stations, TMZ reports. According to CNN, the superstar flew to his hometown Monday to vote, taking a selfie in front of the Diebold voting machine in the process. Timberlake posted the photo to Instagram with the caption: "Choose to have a voice! If you don't, then we can't HEAR YOU! Get out and VOTE!" Now he could face 30 days in jail and/or a $50 fine. The local district attorney's office says the incident is "under review." The Tennessee legislature passed the law banning the taking of photos and videos in polling stations in 2015, the Commercial Appeal reports. Timberlake would be the first person prosecuted under the new law.
In addition to voting and possibly breaking a law, Timberlake posed for photos outside the polling station at the New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. Local school board candidate Suzanne Jones posted hers to Twitter. "I said, 'I know youve done it a lot, but Id appreciate a picture with you,'" Jones tells the Commercial Appeal. "Someone was going to take it for me. But he said, 'No, I can take it. I do have gorilla arms, since I do this a lot.'" Timberlake lives in Los Angeles and owns property in Nashville but is still registered to vote in Memphis. The local election commission chairman says that's not really a problem. The selfie, on the other hand... (Read more Justin Timberlake stories.)
(Newser) Paul Beatty's The Sellout, a stinging satire of race and class in the US, won the Man Booker Prize on Tuesdaythe first time an American has taken the prestigious fiction award, the AP reports. Judges said Beatty's provocative book was a satire to rank with the classics, and as timely as the evening news. Historian Amanda Foreman, who chaired the judging panel, said the book "plunges into the heart of contemporary American society, and with absolutely savage witthe kind I haven't seen since (Jonathan) Swift or (Mark) Twain." The Sellout is set in a rundown Los Angeles suburb called Dickens, where the residents include the last survivor of the Little Rascals and the book's narrator, Bonbon, an African-American man on trial at the US Supreme Court for attempting to reinstate slavery and racial segregation.
The book has been likened to the comedy of Richard Pryor and Chris Rock, and Beatty goes where many authors fear to tread. Racial stereotypes, offensive speech, and police violence are all subject to his scathing eye. Beatty was awarded the $61,000 prize by Prince Charles' wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a black-tie ceremony at London's medieval Guildhall. Beatty acknowledged that The Sellout was a hard book both to read and to write. "I don't want to get all dramatic, like writing saved my life," said 54-year-old Beatty, who has written three previous novels. "But writing's given me a life. I'm just trying to create space for myselfhopefully that creates space for others." Founded in 1969 and previously open only to writers from Britain, Ireland, and the Commonwealth, the Booker expanded in 2014 to include all English-language authors. (Read more Man Booker Prize stories.)
AirBnB is a peer-to-peer home-sharing network that allows people to rent out lodging space either short-term or long-term. With the amount of homeowners making money out of AirBnB, the bubble was burst when the service was banned in New York.
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently signed a legislation that imposes penalties of up to $7,500 on AirBnB hosts breaking local housing regulations in the area. This breaks the focal point of AirBnB's mission in helping homeowners make money even while away from home. "The city's hosts generated about $1 billion in revenue last year, and the company took a cut of that amount in fees," writes New York Times.
AirBnB, which is now worth $30 billion, then responded by filing a complaint in federal court preventing the law from being passed. In a Forbes article, "Airbnb claims that the law violates the First Amendment rights of the company and its hosts, as well as the Communications Decency Act of 1996."
AirBnB is claiming that the law is in violation of the Communications Decency Act. This act protects online service providers from content posted by their users. Tech Crunch elaborates that if the law is approved, AirBnB will be held liable for the listings made by third-party platform. AirBnB reports that "the Act unquestionably treats platforms such as Airbnb as the publisher or speaker of third-party content and is completely preempted by the CDA."
AirBnB even went as far as making a proposal for changes to the NYC policies prior to the new legislation like preventing hosts from leasing more than one residence. It will limit short-term leases as well, but the efforts were in vain.
The legislation resulted in the years of battle between New York officials and AirBnB. In fact, in 2013, the state attorney general's office tried to demand information on users of the platform.
The recent cyber attack that shook the technology firms and the U.S. government have got a significant turn now. While the investigation is going on, a group of hackers has been claimed the responsibility of cyber meltdown. The attack which took place on Oct. 21 considered to be one of the major attacks in the recent times and getting more importance in the wake of cybersecurity issues being widely discussed in the ongoing presidential election campaign.
Members of "New World Hackers" claimed the responsibility of recent cyber attacks via the Twitter account. In the massive attack, the group crippled the networks of Twitter, PayPal, Spotify and Dyn Inc. They also created disruptions for CNN, Mashable, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Yelp etc., during the recent cyber attacks. The network outage started at East Coast U.S.A. and spread all across the country and to Europe, reports Reuters.
@NewWorldHacking is responsible for themassive ddos attack that almost shut down the internet anyother team claiming repsonsibility is lying ~#GhostSquadHackers (@GhostSquadHack) October 23, 2016
It is reported that the hackers were executing a Distributed Denial-of-service attack (DDoS) cyber attack. It is a way of making websites unavailable by making excessive traffic from various sources, reports 6abc. It has severely affected the network of Dyn and it confirmed that the recent cyber attacks were one of the biggest to its website.
The cyber attacks were carried out using web cams and digital recorders that were connected to the internet. A complex malware program called Mirai generated overwhelming connection requests to Dyn's customers, cited by The Guardian. Director of research at Flashpoint, Allison Nixon said that it was mainly due to the compromised digital video recorders and IP cameras that are made by a Chinese company called XiongMai Technologies.
"It is important to note that virtually all the products of a company become botnet and now causing cyber attacks in U.S.," Allison said. The products and components of XiongMai being used in many vendors' products, is making things more critical.
It is important to remember what Barack Obama said while he was speaking about the threats of Artificial Intelligence. "Don't worry about any machines ruling the world, but worry about the hostile actors who access systems," he said.
Kerala has the lowest inflation rate in the country, and Rs 4,814 crore was spent during this government's tenure to strengthen the public distribution system, the CM said.
Tour bus crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer on Sunday before dawn, near Palm Spring, California, killing 13 passengers including the driver and injuring 31 passengers, a state police official said Monday.
The bus was en route to Los Angeles from Red Earth Casino, near the Salton Sea.
At a news conference on Sunday afternoon, Jim Abele, a chief with the California Highway Patrol, The bus was traveling west on Interstate 10 when the crash happened near Palm Springs, a city about 100 miles east of Los Angeles.
He said because of the speed of the bus, the truck's trailer pushed about 15 feet into the bus. Causing the massive death of 13 passengers.
The majority of the people killed had been sitting in the front seats of the bus.
Many of the passengers were asleep at the time of the crash, They were all taken to the hospitals.
"In almost 35 years, I've never been to a crash where there's been 13 confirmed fatal accidents, so it's tough. It's not an easy thing." Said California Chief of police Abele.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators on Sunday were expected to examine the crash scene. The investigation shows that there is no indication of the driver applied the brakes.
Meanwhile, the truck driver that got hit by the bus, did not have any seatbelts on, received only minor injuries. The truck driver was said to pass an inspection last April.
This is one of the deadliest crashed in California in years. 10 people were killed in a crash in Orland California last 2014 when a tractor-trailer crossed a narrow median on interstate 5 and slammed into a bus.
After the crash, ours passed, and the fire fighters are still working on the mangled bus.
The families and friends of the passenger who died in the massive car crashed are still in grief.
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574.
New Delhi:
Major General Sher Afgan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, told reporters Tuesday that the attackers appeared to be in contact with handlers in Afghanistan. He said the attackers belonged to the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi group, an Islamic militant group affiliated with al-Qaida.
In a gruesome terror attack on Pakistan police academy in Quetta, at least 60 people were killed and over 100 others injured even as 3 terrorists were gunned down by security forces.
The three terrorists, believed to be from the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Alami, had stormed the centres hostel on Saryab Road at around 11:10 PM last night, triggering an operation by Pakistani security forces who managed to rescue all the cadets from the academy.
Balochistan provinces home minister, Mir Sarfaraz Bugti told reporters that there were around 700 police cadets and recruits in the college hostel when the attack took place.
As far as what I saw it does not mention about battle casualty fund it says army welfare fund thats a separate fund: Manohar Parrikar ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016
Let me express grief for any loss, we do not believe in any kind of violence: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on #QuettaTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/fXbo4JAq2o ANI (@ANI_news) Also read: Pakistan freezes bank accounts of over 5,000 terror suspects, including JeM chief Masood Azhar While two of the militants had blown themselves up, one was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces, he said. #WATCH Terror attack on police training academy in Quetta (Pak),at least 33 killed, several injured. 3 terrorists gunned down #QuettaAttack pic.twitter.com/pzS0Ltc728 ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016 Security forces including the Frontier Corps and Pakistan Army light brigade have cleared 99 per cent of the college area, Bugti said, adding that the number of dead policemen could rise to 30. Pakistans Geo News channel, meanwhile, reported that bodies of 29 policemen were brought to the Civil hospital and Bolan Medical College hospital adding that 116 people were injured. IG Frontier Corps, Major General Sher Afghan told reporters that the militants were communicating with handlers in Afghanistan and taking instructions from them. They are believed to be militants of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Alami outfit, he said. A policeman who was guarding the only entry point of the college was among those gunned down. Militants have conducted several attacks against security forces and national installations in Balochistan, which has been plagued by an insurgency and growing sectarian killings for more than a decade. #WATCH At least 33 killed, many injured in #QuettaTerrorAttack on police training academy, 3 terrorists killed. Injured being taken to hosp pic.twitter.com/NkqJ65TPc1 ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016 Neither Lashker-e-Jhangvi nor any other group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the Islamic State group and breakaway Taliban faction Jamaat-ul Ahrar have claimed responsibility for past attacks in Baluchistan. Lashker-e-Jhangvi has mainly targeted members of minority Shiite sect of Muslims.
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Hyderabad:
Online certification of films would soon be provided by the Censor Board, its chairman Pahlaj Nihalani told on October 24.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) would soon provide online certification to films and also better facilities and online services, an official release quoted Nihalani.
He was speaking during the inauguration of the new premises of Censor Board at its regional office in Hyderabad in which several personalities from the Telugu film industry were also present.
Chief Executive Officer of CBFC Anurag Srivastav said the expert committee on censor board revamp, headed by eminent director Shyam Benegal, had made some recommendations based on which amendments were proposed to the Cinematography Act.
The CBFC will implement the amended provisions and guidelines, he added.
Certification was given to 1,185 films during 2015-16 and 348 of them were feature films, he said.
South Indian Film Chamber Chairman C Kalyan appealed to Nihalani to prevent piracy of films.
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Bhubaneswar:
While the killing of at least 27 Maoists, including seven of their top leaders, dealt a major psychological blow to the outlawed CPI(Maoist) in Odisha, it has boosted the morale of the security personnel as the Maoists have lost their safe home in Malkangiri district.
The killings took place during a joint operation by Odisha and Andhra Pradesh police at Bejingi in the Panasput gram panchayat area under Chitrakonda police station in Malkangiri district, surrounded by hills and forests on three sides and Balimela reservoir on one.
The ultras used to take shelter there after committing violence in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh or Chhattisgarh, said Nihar Nayak, a researcher of the Maoist movement in Odisha, adding that they used to take advantage of the geographical location of the area since they started operating from these parts in the 1980s.
When the Maoists had started using the place as a safe haven in the 80s, the then Odisha government had taken little action because the ultras refrained from creating any disturbance in the state. Their activities were mostly confined to Andhra Pradesh, said a senior police officer.
The Bejingi area, where Monday's operation took place, had hosted a meeting of top Maoist trainers last night. The rebels did not think that the security personnel would launch an assault in the deep forests surrounded by hills and flanked by a reservoir, the officer said.
The Maoists had eliminated at least 38 security personnel, including 35 members of Greyhound, Andhra Pradeshs elite anti-Naxal force, while they were crossing the Balimela reservoir in a mechanised boat in 2008.
At least 27 Maoists, including seven of their top leaders, were today gunned down in a fierce gun-battle with the security forces in Odishas Malkangiri district on the border with Andhra Pradesh.
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Caracas:
Venezuelas government and opposition have agreed to launch talks in the hope of settling the political crisis in a volatile country stricken by food shortages.
The national dialogue aims to calm tensions after the opposition accused socialist President Nicolas Maduro of trampling on democracy by blocking their bid for a vote on removing him.
Months of tension were threatening to boil over after authorities enraged the opposition last week by annulling their drive for a recall referendum.
With the opposition vowing mass street protests as analysts warned of an increased risk of violent unrest, the Vatican stepped in on on Sunday.
Papal envoy Emil Paul Tscherrig joined a meeting in Caracas of government and opposition representatives and announced afterwards they had agreed to launch formal talks.
Maduro meanwhile received a private audience at the Vatican with Pope Francis.
I thanked him in the name of Venezuela for all the support, so that at last, definitively, a formal dialogue could be started in Venezuela between the opposition and the legitimate Bolivarian government that I lead, Maduro said in televised comments afterwards.
In Caracas, Tscherrig announced that the sides had agreed to launch formal talks on October 30 on the Venezuelan Caribbean island of Margarita.
That appeared to be the most significant gesture of appeasement by both sides since the opposition took control of the legislature in January following an election victory.
Sundays preliminary meeting took place in a respectful, cordial atmosphere of political will, Tscherrig told a news conference.The talks will seek to improve the economic, social, political and institutional circumstances that are fundamental for democratic harmony.
In a private audience with Maduro, the pope urged the parties to show courage in pursuing the path of sincere and constructive dialogue, to alleviate the suffering of the people, particularly of the poor, and to promote renewed social cohesion, a Vatican statement said.
Tscherrigs announcement came as a surprise after a weekend of rising tension.
The opposition had earlier vowed to fight what it called Maduros dictatorship as it embarked on a new strategy to oust him.
It threatened to put him on trial and stage massive nationwide protests from tomorrow.
Maduros opponents were furious over a decision by electoral authorities last Thursday to block a referendum on cutting short the presidency of the man they accuse of driving Venezuela, once a booming oil giant, to the brink of collapse.
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London:
Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzengger wishes he would have been able to run for the US presidency this year.
The "Terminator" actor, who was governor of California for eight years until 2011, is unable to contest for the position because he was born in Austria but thinks it would have been the right time to campaign for the Republican candidacy if he had been able to, reported Female First.
Arnold, who recently revealed he won't be voting for Republican Donald Trump, who is contesting for the Commander-in-Chief's role with Democrat Hillary Clinton, said, "If I'd been born in America, I would've run. Because now? This was a very good time to get in the race."
But the 69-year-old star admitted he doesn't "love" politics. "I didn't love politics, but I love policy," he said.
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Washington:
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer paid 5.76 million dollar to a shell company in connection with a contract it secured to sell the Indian Air Force (IAF) three aircraft for about 208 million dollar, US Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
Such a revelation came as Embraer, as per a Justice Department announcement, entered into a resolution and agreed to pay 205 million dollar to resolve charges of corruption and making bribe payments to foreign nations, including to an agent in India for the IAF deal.
Embraer will pay a penalty of over 107 million dollar in connection with schemes involving bribery of government officials in the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia and Mozambique, and millions more over falsely recorded payments in India via a sham agency agreement.
In a parallel resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Brazilian authorities, the company will also have to pay 98 million dollar in disgorgement.
Embraer earned profits of nearly 84 million dollar on the aircraft sale to India. In 2009, Embraer paid an agent 5.76 million dollar pursuant to a false agency agreement with a shell company in connection with a contract it secured to sell the IAF three aircraft for approximately 208 million dollar, the Justice Department said.
"Embraer paid millions of dollars in bribes to win government aircraft contracts in three different continents," said assistant attorney general Leslie R Caldwell.
"Embraer tried to bribe their way into several profitable aircraft contracts around the world," said assistant special agent in Charge William J Maddalena.
According to court documents, on July 3, 2008, Embraer executed a contract to provide three highly specialised military aircraft to the IAF for nearly 208 million dollar.
An agent named 'D'
In connection with the deal, it retained the services of an unknown agent identified in the court as "Agent D" pursuant to a 2005 agency agreement.
"It later paid 5.76 million dollar to Agent D pursuant to a false agency agreement signed in or around 2008," federal prosecutors alleged.
Federal prosecutors said in January 2005, Embraer executed an agency agreement with a shell company domiciled in the UK and affiliated with Agent D (although the name never appeared in the agreement).
Under the agency agreement, Embraer agreed to pay the shell company a commission of 9% of the value of any defence contracts Embraer obtained in India because it believed the agent could help ensure that any contract would be awarded on a single-source, rather than competitive, basis. illegal under Indian law and thus took steps to conceal its existence, including secreting the sole fully-executed version of the agreement in a safe deposit box in London that could be opened only when both an Embraer employee and Agent D or an associate of Agent D were present," federal prosecutors said.
Less than a month after executing the agency agreement with the shell company, on February 8, 2005, Embraer announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to support the development of a new early warning radar system for the IAF which Embraer believed could ultimately result in it securing a contract for the sale of three Embraer-145 aircraft.
The agreement for purchase of three planes for IAF was signed on July 3, 2008. The very next day, on July 4, 2008, Agent D contacted Embraer employees and demanded payment of the commission pursuant to the contract.
"Agent D continued making demands for payment and, in or around February and March, 2009, an Embraer executive met with lawyers representing Agent D to discuss his payment demands.
Following these discussions, Embraer executives agreed to pay 5.76 million dollar to Agent D to settle the claim," court papers said.
To conceal the payment Embraer created a false agency agreement. On November 21, 2009, more than a year after it was awarded the India contract, Embraer through its wholly-owned subsidiary - ECC Investment Switzerland AG - executed an agency agreement with a shell company domiciled in Singapore and affiliated with Agent D for its purported services as an agent in a sale Embraer had made to an unrelated customer in another country that had purchased an Embraer aircraft more than a year earlier in July, 2008.
"The Singaporean shell company never performed any services related to that sale or to the sale to the Indian Air Force," US federal prosecutors alleged.
"The same day that the agency agreement was executed, the Singaporean shell company delivered three invoices to ECC, each for 1.92 million dollar. Embraer, through ECC, remitted three payments to the shell company shortly thereafter. Embraer's books and records did not reflect that this transaction was related to its arrangement with Agent D," the Justice Department alleged.
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Mumbai:
The Bombay High Court has refused to release a prisoner from Kolhapur Central Prison on parolefor treatment of a nasal problem as he had violated furlough condition earlier. However, on humanitarian ground, a bench of Justices Vijaya Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar, in a recent order, allowed the prisoner, Wilson Benjamin Castellino, to undergoreconstruction surgery at a Kolhapur Hospital although he wasrefused parole leave.
As far as the prayer for parole is concerned, the pleaof the petitioner was rejected on the ground that he hadviolated furlough condition earlier. The court observed that on November 19, 2010, he wasreleased on furlough for a period of 14 days and was asked tosurrender on December 4, 2010.
However, the petitioner did notreport back on time and ultimately he had to be traced. He was arrested by police and brought back to prisonon October 8, 2012. Thus, there was an overstay of 674 days. Jail doctor Sanjay Padhye, who is attached to KolhapurCentral Prison, stated that the petitioner indeed has a nasalproblem and he can be referred to a hospital for a nasalreconstruction surgery. Accepting Jail doctor's advise, the the court orderedthat the petitioner should be referred to C.P.R. Hospital,Kolhapur for undergoing nasal construction surgery if foundnecessary.
In case, the said facility is not available inC.P.R. Hospital, the petitioner may be be treated in any otherhospital where such treatment was available. "Needless to state that all necessary medicaltreatment be provided to the petitioner including surgery," itruled. Opposing his plea for parole, the jail authoritiesapprehended that if the petitioner is released from prison, hewill not report back to the prison in time and may abscond.
"Looking into the past conduct of the petitioner, itcannot be said that this apprehension is unfounded, hence, weare not inclined to release the petitioner on parole," thecourt held. The bench, therefore, dismissed the petition of WilsonCastellino seeking leave on parole. The petitioner appeared before the court through videoconference facility and urged that the had a fracture of noseand extra growth of flesh in his right nostril which iscausing him severe problem in breathing.
Srinagar:
Three school buildings were set ablaze by unknown persons in Kashmir over the past 24 hours, setting alarm bells ringing among authorities who have decided to step up security around educational institutions.
A government school was set ablaze by unknown persons on Tuesday in Noorbagh area of Srinagar but the blaze was put out by fire tenders, a police official said.
In another incident, miscreants tried to burn down Government Higher Secondary School at Aishmuqam in Anantnag district, the official said.
The school building was saved by the timely intervention of fire brigade personnel.
On monday evening, fire broke out in a building of Government Middle School in Sadrukote Bala of Bandipora district. Fire tenders were rushed in and the blaze was put out, the official said, adding the incident is suspected to be handiwork of miscreants.
State government has announced that annual board examinations will be held next month even though the schools have remained closed since July following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces. Protests have been held against the government decision to hold examinations.
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Tokyo:
Acid-tongued Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte takes his diplomatic roadshow to Japan on Tuesday days after his apparent tilt towards China raised questions about the leaders strategic intentions.
The Philippines and Japan have long been key US allies in Asia, but Duterte has done a dramatic U-turn since coming to office in late June.
That appeared to culminate last week in Beijing where he declared his separation from the United States, played down a maritime dispute with China and pledged to enhance friendship and economic ties.
Back home on Saturday, however, the former mayor seemed to walk back his comments, saying he would not be severing the alliance with Washington.
And yesterday, he went further, telling Japanese media that the US will remain the countrys sole military ally.
The alliances are alive, it is there, he said in a reference to the United States, according to Kyodo News. There should be no worry about changes of alliances. I do not need to have alliances with other nations.
Other Japanese media including the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun quoted him as saying that all military activities with the US should be halted. His seesawing has been closely watched in Japan, a major investor and aid donor to Manila that is wary of Chinas rising influence.
It is important to have good communication and to listen directly to what Mr Duterte has in mind, Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida, who will dine with the president later today, told reporters when asked about the firebrand leaders elusive comments on ties with Washington.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has worked to beef up relations with Manila by providing patrol boats and has supported it in the territorial row with China, as Japan seeks support in its own maritime dispute with Beijing.
Dutertes predecessor took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive claims in the South China Sea where it has built artificial islands capable of hosting military facilities and the Philippines won a resounding victory in July.
Japans Asahi Shimbun newspaper said that improvement in diplomatic relations among neighbouring nations is desirable in principle.
But if they disrespect the rule of law for the sake of narrow bilateral interest, that would be a grave concern for the Asian region, it said in a Saturday editorial, referring to Dutertes Beijing visit.
Duterte told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that his talks with Abe will centre on economic cooperation and shared interest in an interview ahead of his three-day visit.
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New Delhi:
Shah Rukh and Gauri, the much loved Bollywood couple are celebrating twenty five years of marriage. Though Shah Rukh has been keeping busy as he is shooting for Imtiaz Ali's next, The Ring and post production of his film Dear Zindagi nevertheless he will make time for Gauri on the their special day. Currently he is in Lisbon shooting for The Ring.
According to reports, Shah rukh will resume his shooting soon and return India to celebrate his silver jubilee with his wife.
The couple hosts a Diwali bash every year, so this time it's going to be a double celebration.
As per reports, King Khan said Yes I havent had much time to spend with her over the years, because of my schedule, so the freshness of my marriage is still quite intact.
The actor will celebrates the special day with Gauri and three children- Aryan, Suhana, and AbRam. We wish the couple a a happy twenty five years of marriage.
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Washington:
Taking a pill that stops the accumulation of toxic molecules in the brain may help prevent or delay Alzheimers disease, according to a new study.
Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Childrens Hospital and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US took a three-pronged approach to help subdue early events that occur in the brain long before symptoms of Alzheimers disease are evident.
They were able to prevent those early events and the subsequent development of brain pathology in experimental animal models in the lab.
Common diseases like Parkinsons, Alzheimers and dementia are caused in part by abnormal accumulation of certain proteins in the brain, said senior author Huda Zoghbi.
Some proteins become toxic when they accumulate; they make the brain vulnerable to degeneration. Tau is one of those proteins involved in Alzheimers disease and dementia, Zoghbi said.
We tried to find clues about what is happening at the very early stages of the illness, before clinical irreversible symptoms appear, with the intention of preventing or reducing those early events that lead to devastating changes in the brain decades later, said first author Cristian Lasagna-Reeves, post-doctoral fellow in the Zoghbi lab.
Scientists reasoned that if they could find ways to prevent or reduce tau accumulation in the brain, they would uncover new possibilities for developing drug treatments for these diseases.
To find which enzymes affect tau accumulation, the scientists systematically inhibited enzymes called kinases.
We inhibited about 600 kinases one by one and found one, called Nuak1, whose inhibition resulted in reduced levels of tau, said Zoghbi.
The scientists screened the enzymes in two different systems, cultured human cells and the laboratory fruit fly.
Screening in the fruit fly allowed the scientists to assess the effects of inhibiting the enzymes in a functional nervous system in a living organism.
Brain section from mouse carrying the dementia-causing P301S mutation in human tau shows accumulation of tau neurofibrillary tangles. When Nuak1 levels are decreased by 50 per cent, fewer tau tangles accumulate.
We found one enzyme, Nuak1, whose inhibition consistently resulted in lower levels of tau in both human cells and fruit flies, said Zoghbi.
Then we took this result to a mouse model of Alzheimers disease and hoped that the results would hold, and they did. Inhibiting Nuak1 improved the behavior of the mice and prevented brain degeneration, he said.
Confirming in three independent systems - human cells, the fruit fly and the mouse - that Nuak1 inhibition results in reduced levels of tau and prevents brain abnormalities induced by tau accumulation, has convinced us that Nuak1 is a reliable potential target for drugs to prevent diseases such as Alzheimers, said Zoghbi.
The study was published in the journal Neuron.
Delhi:
Border Security Force (BSF) head constable Sushil Kumar, who was killed in Pakistani shelling while on duty along the International Border, was cremated in his hometown Kurukshetra on Tuesday.
Kumar and one of his colleagues had sustained injuries during the ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops on Sunday in RS Pura sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Kumar succumbed to his injuries at Government Medical College in Jammu, while the other soldier is still undergoing treatment.
Hundreds of residents joined the slain soldier in his final journey. Shops across the city remained shut as a tribute to Kumar.
The BSS too paid tributes to Kumar. A wreath-laying ceremony was organised at the Jammu frontier BSF camp at Paloura where rich tributes were paid to the slain soldier.
Director general, BSF, KK Sharma specially came from Delhi. Arun Kumar, ADG, BSF Western Command, Chandigarh, Rajeev Krishna, IG (Operation), DK Upadhyay, IG, BSF, Jammu, Pawan Kotwal, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, IG, Jammu Police, Danish Rana, the CRPF DIG, along with BSF officers and jawans paid floral tributes to the martyr at the Frontier Headquarters in Jammu.
India and Pakistan have been at odds over the Kashmir issue ever since their independence, fighting two of their three wars over the Himalayan region.
Tensions have escalated sharply between New Delhi and Islamabad following the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army to destroy terrorist launch pads along the Line of Control and inflicted significant casualties. Pakistan has denied such a strike had taken place but vowed to retaliate against any Indian aggression.
The raid by the army was a direct response to a militant attack on an army camp in Uri that left 19 soldiers dead.
(With inputs from agencies)
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New Delhi:
The feud in UPs ruling Samajwadi Party on Tuesday continued as the meetings between different factions of the party began from early morning.
1) Live updates: Meeting Mulayam Singh's residence ends; Narad Rai, Ambika Chaudhary, Om Prakash Singh come out with Shivpal Yadav
On Monday, the high voltage drama in SP came out into the open as party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav sided with his younger brother Shivpal and friend Amar Singh, and reprimanded son Akhilesh Yadav but ruled out his removal as Chief Minister.
2) 60 dead, 100 injured in terror attack on Pak police academy in Quetta , Afghan terror links suspected
Major General Sher Afgan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, told reporters Tuesday that the attackers appeared to be in contact with handlers in Afghanistan. He said the attackers belonged to the banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi group, an Islamic militant group affiliated with al-Qaida.
3) Tata Group stocks take a hit, trip up to 4% after Cyrus Mistry ouster
Tata Group stocks hurtled down by up to 4.2% after Cyrus Mistry was removed as chairman of India's largest conglomerate and replaced by his predecessor Ratan Tata in the interim.
4) No financial turnaround in sight, Twitter planning to cut 300 jobs this week: Reports
According to source based story by a news channel, Twitter Inc may cut about 8 per cent of the workforce, or 300 jobs, the same percentage it did last year when co-founder Jack Dorsey took over as chief executive officer.
5) Watch: Ramgopal Yadav stands by Akhilesh, says will launch election campaign on Nov 3
Ousted Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav on Tuesday accused several party members, including party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, of being jealous of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
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New Delhi:
Indian telecom major Vodafone announced customised Diwali offer for customers visiting any of its stores in Tamil Nadu coinciding with the 'Festival of Lights.
"Vodafone customers can enjoy a unique Diwali offer from October 25 to 27".
"As per the offer, Vodafone will provide its customers visiting any of the 60 stores in the circle, with a customised offer best suited to their? requirements", a company statement said here. Vodafone has about 16 million customers in the circle, it said.
"At Vodafone, we are driven with the singular objective of delivering superior experience to our customers. We realise that each customer has a different need and hence offer innovative products and services relevant to their needs", Vodafone India, Business Head - Tamil Nadu, S Murali said.
"Diwali is one of the most important festivals in the country and a perfect time to invite customers to our stores and present customised offers along with gifts.", he said.
New Delhi:
Indian deputy high commissioner to Islamabad JP Singh was summoned by the Saarc director general on Tuesday as Pakistan accused India of firing in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) along the Line-of-Control (LoC).
Pakistan lodged its protest against the two civilian casualties caused by what it called unprovoked ceasefire violations by India.
"The Indian deputy high commissioner was summoned by the director general (SA & SAARC) today. A strong protest was lodged against the unprovoked ceasefire violations on 23-24 October 2016, by the Indian forces along the LoC in Phuklian and Chaprar Sectors, which resulted in martyrdom of two civilians including one-and-a-half years old girl. Six civilians were also injured as a result of the Indian shelling," a press release issued by the Pakistan's foreign affairs ministry said.
It was conveyed to the Indian side that it should investigate the incident and share the findings with Pakistan, instruct its troops to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit, refrain from intentionally targeting the villages and maintain peace, the release said.
Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Army started heavy shelling at Indian Army positions in Noushera sector of Rajouri district, prompting the army to give a befitting response.
From 10am, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation in Noushera sector of Rajouri district by targeting our positions with mortar bombs and small arms fire, an army officer said.
There was no report of any loss of life or the property on the Indian side as the firing from both the sides was still going on.
A 6-year-old boy and a BSF Jawan were killed and 10 people including 8 civilians were injured in the shelling on Monday when Pakistan Rangers targeted over 25 border out posts in the hamlets along the International Border.
There have been over 40 ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side since the Indian side carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir targeting terror launching pads, post the attack on an army camp in Uri on September 18.
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Delhi:
Tata Sons on Tuesday filed caveat in Bombay high court and National Company Law Tribunal (NCTL) to prevent ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry from getting ex-parte order against his sacking.
A caveat is a notice filed by a party fearing legal action seeking notice before action. Tatas have filed caveats seeking notice from Cyrus Mistry fearing legal action. Cyrus has not filed any caveats. He has already made a statement that such concerns are misplaced at this stage, said Cyrus Mistry's Office after the media reports on Tuesday afternoon about the ousted Tata Sons chairman filing caveats in National Company Law Tribunal.
"Neither the SP Group nor Mr Cyrus Mistry have made any statement yet. While the circumstances are being studied, there is no basis to media speculation about litigation at this stage. As and when a public statement becomes necessary, it would be made," Shapoorji Pallonji also said in an emailed statement released on Tuesday.
Read: Who is Cyrus Mistry? A brief profile of former Tata Sons chairman
In a sudden and dramatic turn of events, Mistry was sacked on Monday as chairman of India's largest conglomerate Tata Group.
After Mistry's ouster, interim chairman Ratan Tata also wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi and his employees stating about the removal of Cyrus Mistry with immediate effect.
What is a caveat
A caveat is a legal notice to a court or public officer to suspend a certain proceeding until the notifier is given a hearing.
New Delhi:
The armed forces are upset with a letter issued by the Defence Ministry regarding their rank parity vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts prompting Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to personally look into the issue and promising to come up with a solution soon.
Defence sources said the issue is likely to be solved within a week.
The circular issued by the Defence Ministry, dated October 18, on rank equivalence between defence officers and armed forces headquarters (AFHQ), and civil service officers, brings the rank of armed forces officers a notch down compared to their earlier status, officers said.
The circular says that the equations are to be followed in service HQs, and "has the approval of the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri" (defence minister).
The order equates an army Major General (rear admiral in the navy and vice-marshal in the air force) to a principal director in the Armed Force Headquarters (AFHQ) Civil Service.
A Brigadier/Commodore/Air Commodore is to be equated with a director, and a Colonel/Captain/Group Captain is to be at par with a joint director in the civil service.
So far, a colonel was equated with a director. A Brigadier did not have a clearly defined equivalence in the civilian hierarchy.
However, they were treated at par with a deputy director-general. A major general was treated as the equivalent of a joint secretary.
Parrikar said that while some people were trying to misguide, the issue relates to only functional responsibility (of armed forces) and not status, vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts.
"First of all, these are only for functional responsibilities. Secondly, I have already asked for exact status of earlier. I will see and if I find any reduction in functional responsibility ... this is not status ... there are some people who are trying to misguide.
"These are functional responsibilities. They (military officers) will be on the same platform as was done earlier. I will check up myself," Parrikar said speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the naval commanders conference here.
The Minister said he will take a look at all the previous orders to see if there was any discrepancy.
Parrikar said he and the government were sensitive to the military issues and one should see if the government acts quickly or not whenever such issues come up.
"I can assure you that I am very sensitive to such issues. They moment they are brought out, I act on them. The only difficulty is when it becomes public discussion, I cannot be party to discussion. I will resolve the issue," he said.
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New Delhi:
The Rs 5 crore demand by MNS from the makers of 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' for Army welfare fund to ensure its smooth release continued to generate heat as two central Ministers have disapproved of the deal and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has also maintained that he was opposing it.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the government does not appreciate catching anyone's neck to contribute, making it clear that donation to the Army was "voluntary" while Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu dubbed the MNS demand as "wrong".
Fadnavis, who is facing heat over "brokering" the deal between the film makers including Karan Johar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, maintained that he had opposed the offer of the Rs 5 crore contribution to the Army welfare fund.
Fadnavis, however, defended his intervention to resolve the issue, saying democratic governments at times would even talk to separatists and left ultras for the sake of peace.
Johar's film faced protests by workers of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for casting Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.
The film's smooth release, later this week, was ensured at a meeting of Film Producers' Guild, producers and Thackeray, mediated by Fadnavis last week.
A key demand conceded at the meeting was Rs 5 crore contribution from makers for the army welfare, which sparked strong reactions from opposition parties and some army veterans
"The concept is voluntary donation and not catching neck of someone. We don't appreciate it," Parrikar told reporters in Delhi on the sidelines of the naval commanders conference.
The Defence Minister said the concept behind the newly created Battle Casualty Fund was to ensure that all those people who wanted to donate voluntarily for welfare of the family of martyrs could do so.
"There will be a scheme managed by MoD with assistance from Adjutant General Branch concerned. It is a voluntary donation and therefore we are not concerned with anyone demanding something to be donated to that," he added.
Naidu while terming the demand as "wrong" said the government has nothing to do with it.
"That was a wrong proposal. We don't agree with their (MNS) proposal. Maharashtra Chief Minister has also clarified that he was not a part of the proposal that was made by some other party...," Naidu told reporters in Delhi.
Stressing that the matter was between "some party" and the "producer", he said the government does not "subscribe to that thinking at all and has no to role play".
Thackeray had put three demands, out of which there was no objections to the other two. When the issue of Rs 5 crore came up, I intervened and made it clear to the Film Producers' Guild that they need not have to agree to it. I also told them that the contribution has to be made voluntarily. However, it was producers' decision to accept it," Fadnavis said last evening at his residence 'Varsha'.
"I categorically told that although it is nice that the Guild has decided to stand by the families of our martyrs but it is not a compulsion. Still if they wish to do, they may contribute whatever amount they feel (is) appropriate. This figure of (Rs) 5 crore came from MNS but was not agreed in the meeting and turned down then and there only," he said.
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DANBURY - A woman accused of beating and burning a 3-year-old girl in her care elected Tuesday to have a Superior Court judge decide her fate during an upcoming trial in the case.
Lidia Quilligana, 32, is facing a slew of felony charges including 23 counts of risk of injury to a minor for what police said was repeated abuse of a 3-year-old girl and her twin 1-year-old siblings.
By electing to have a courtside trial, the video will be reviewed by a judge rather than a jury of Guilliganas peers.
Quilligana was arrested in March 2015, on the day after police said she was recorded on video beating and burning the girl while she was caring for the children as a nanny of a Danbury family. Authorities said the woman is seen in the video force feeding the girl before slapping the toddler, knocking her to the ground, jumping on her and pressing her hands and leg to a stove burner.
After reviewing two weeks worth of video from the familys home security system, prosecutors determined that Quilligana had abused the child and her 1-year-old twin siblings repeatedly, court records show.
She has been held on a $1 million bond since her arrest and rejected a plea deal offered by prosecuters in April. The deal called for a 25 year setence suspended after serving 17 years in prison.
Attorney Jennifer Tunnard, who is representing Quilligana, noted Tuesday that her client is a young woman who has no prior convictions.
As devestating as the charges are for the complainants family, its also been a tragic situation for my client and her family, Tunnard said.
The victims godmother, who asked not to be named, said during a spring court appearance that the the rejected offer was generous.
Its hard to refute the evidence once its seen by the public, she said. Theres no gray area. Theres no interpretation. Its in color, four cameras and audio. The video speaks for itself.
Quilligana, who gave birth to her third child in December, faces a maximum of up to 10 years of prison on each of the risk of injury charges and 20 years in prison on an assault charge.
Judge Kevin Russo, who will be presiding over the trial, said in court Tuesday that the case isnt likely to be heard until December at the earliest.
Quilligana is expected to appear in court again on Dec. 6 when a schedule for the upcoming trial will be formalized.
dperrefort@newstimes.com
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DANBURY - Its possible to miss the bright red nail polish on the little finger of accounting major Mathew Kusaila.
But its hard to miss the scores of other young men on Western Connecticut State Universitys two campuses sporting the same spot of red as a small sign of their pledge not to victimize others sexually .
Midway through a weeks worth of campus awareness and advocacy events to end domestic and sexual violence, the message is spreading that cultural change is possible.
I feel like this is definitely a start to make people aware of what is going on, and hopefully it will be a spark for something greater, and we can fix what needs to be fixed, said Kusaila, 19, a freshman from Goshen. It is definitely a start to make people more aware.
The idea behind the Ohio-born campaign, called Operation Jungle Red, now in its fourth year at Western, is to build solidarity by renouncing violence.
The campaign coincides not only with National Domestic Violence Prevention Awareness Month, but with the presidential campaign, which has been consumed with allegations of sexual assault.
This issue has become so visible and high-profile - especially the way the presidential election is affecting the current environment, said Suzie Farner, a residence director at WCSU and co-chair of awareness campaign. The goal of this project is letting everybody know that they have a stake in this battle, whether it is through bystander intervention or challenging gender norms.
Students who were getting the word out at the universitys westside campus on Tuesday said recorded statements by Donald Trump that he advanced on women could not be justified as locker room talk.
If he is not willing to admit those things are wrong, then he is an absurd human being, and he needs to realize what day and age we are in, said Ryan Manion, 21, an English major from Sandy Hook, who was volunteering at the Operation Jungle Red information table in the student center on Tuesday. We are all equal in this world and we all deserve the same respect as everyone else.
Students hoped to get that message out further at evening events this week, including a presentation about bystander intervention called Where Do You Stand on Thursday at the Westside Student Center. That means to confront sexist acts or attitudes in settings ranging from the locker room to a Saturday night party.
If your friends are maybe saying something at a party or in public that you dont agree with, that isnt helpful towards women - or men - this is what you can do, said Maranda Cox, a residence director and co-chair of the awareness program. We have our own students who have been trained in this and they will be there to show how you can help.
The awareness program comes at a time of change at WCSU and college campuses across the state that are implementing a new standard for sexual abuse know as affirmative consent.
Affirmative consent aims to eliminate the gray area where a persons no is misinterpreted as a yes by requiring active, clear and voluntary agreement for each stage of a sexual encounter.
For example, under the new standard, being drunk or silent does not constitute consent.
It is a really important discussion to have, and we have been having it a lot at our residence halls, Cox said. The Womens Center (of Greater Danbury) has been really supportive helping us with those discussions.
Kusaila said the campaign pledge he signed to honor equality and reject violence was something he believed in, even in the locker room.
When my friends talk like that I kind of sit there awkwardly, because most of the time they might not mean it, so I say Then why say it if you dont mean it? Kusaila said. Are they trying to make it sound like they are cool or something? Thats not right.
For campaign details visit http://www.wcsu.edu/newsevents/operationjunglered.asp.
rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342
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STAMFORD U.S Rep. Jim Himes supports the Iran nuclear deal, while John Shaban does not.
Himes said he is undecided on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, while Shaban is not a fan.
Himes believes the United States is still a respected power among nations and our enemies abroad, while Shaban thinks otherwise.
In contrast to their debate the previous night, the 4th Congressional District incumbent and his Republican opponent found little common ground Monday at the debate centered on foreign affairs.
We started in our debate (Sunday in Wilton) agreeing on Social Security and climate change, Himes, a Democrat, told the packed auditorium at the University of Connecticut Stamford. But what John Shaban just told you isnt (just) wrong; its dangerously wrong.
Himes, who has held the southwestern Connecticut House seat since 2009, was referring to Shabans remarks on the 2015 deal designed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in exchange for relaxing trade sanctions.
This was a bad deal, said Shaban, a state representative from Redding. It was bad for the United States, it was bad for Israel, it was bad for world peace and it was bad for common sense.
Himes said America is safer now than before the deal was signed.
I dont worry about Iran first thing in the morning, the way I did for seven years in Congress before this deal was signed, he said.
Contrasting styles
At the debate, sponsored by UConns World Affairs Forum, the candidates went back and forth on trade agreements and issues involving Syria and North Korea.
Mirroring whats happening at the national level, Himes and Shaban disagreed not only philosophically, but on whether both men had their facts straight.
I like Jim, said Shaban, a 52-year-old attorney. Hes a good man, a smart man, and I appreciate his service. But this is a two-year repeating cycle. You go to D.C., you hide under your desk and do what youre told by the president. Youre on the intelligence committee, but these are not intelligent decisions.
John continues to be dead wrong on everything he says, Himes responded.
Himes, a 50-year-old former Goldman Sachs vice president from Greenwich, serves on the Committee on Financial Services and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He touted his experience working on sensitive issues abroad.
This is Shabans first time challenging Himes for the congressional seat that covers most of Fairfield County and parts of New Haven County. A three-term state representative in the 135th House District representing Easton, Weston and Redding, Shaban sought the Republican nomination for the 4th District in 2014, but withdrew before the party primary.
Espousing compromise
The candidates started the event discussing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal a decade in the making among the United States, Canada and nine countries in the Pacific Rim.
While Himes said he was undecided on the deal, he said he is philosophically pro-trade.
I know that when countries trade together, overall wealth increases, he said. However, when you trade more, there are winners and losers, and globalization has been very hard on the American manufacturing base.
Shaban questioned what impact a wide-reaching deal that encompasses 40 percent of the worlds gross domestic product would have on the United States.
I think we should start over take the good, weed out the bad and start again, he said.
One thing both candidates agreed on was the need for bipartisan compromise.
Working in the topsy-turvy House of Representatives, Himes said, even at the most polarized moments, I reached across the aisle and worked with Republicans to get things done.
Shaban mentioned he was a football coach, following a career as a semi-pro player.
I always mention the football-coach thing because Im a team player, he said. I dont believe theres another side of the aisle. I believe theres a room.
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Taiwan promotes tourism targeting Indians
Taiwan, Province Of China,Lifestyle/Fashion,Business/Economy, Mon, 24 Oct 2016 IANS
Taipei, Oct 25 (IANS) With its lush green mountains, sea, culture and high speed trains, cable cars, amusement parks and other attractions, Taiwan is targeting Indian families, movie industry and businesses, said an official at Taiwan's Tourism Bureau.
The two-way traffic is also set to increase between India and Taiwan given the Act East Policy of the Indian government and increasing Taiwanese industrial investments in India, an expert in international relations said.
"We are looking for Indian families to visit Taiwan. The travel agents have been asked to promote Taiwan as a locale for shooting movies. We are also promoting Taiwan as the destination for corporate meetings and conferences," Shuhan Pan, International Affairs Division, Tourism Bureau of Ministry of Transportation and Communications, told IANS.
According to Pan, last year Taiwan attracted over 40,000 Indian visitors and tourists and as per the trend the numbers are set to grow.
Taiwan has announced a simplified group visa policy to encourage more high-end tourist groups from Southeast Asian countries (India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos) to visit Taiwan.
The group visa is free of cost for five or more persons to increase the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) movement to Taiwan.
Taiwan has also introduced a MICE Incentive Plan for the Indian market in December 2015 with MICE-centric sample itineraries, special schemes and performances designed to attract MICE groups.
Taiwan is also one of the unexplored destinations of Southeast Asia which makes it a unique offering for the adventurous Indian traveller.
According to Pan, there are different categories of hotels, ranging from one-star to five-star, to suit different kinds of Indian purses.
The bilateral relationship between Taiwan and India is where it is expected to take-off in a big way.
"Taiwanese industries like electronics, auto component industries and others are interested in setting up a production base in India," an expert in international relations told IANS preferring anonymity.
He said the chip set -- the heart of mobile phones, laptops and other such devices -- are mostly made in Taiwan.
"Most Indian homes have a Taiwanese product. Furthermore, Taiwanese companies are now looking at building up their own brands instead of being a contract manufacturer for others," he added.
He said Taiwanese companies are now reserving some portion of internship vacancies for Indian students as out of the 3,000 Indians in Taiwan, around 1,000 are students.
--IANS
vj/vgu/
Indonesia sentences Australian paedophile to 15 years in jail
Indonesia,Immigration/Law/Rights,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Tue, 25 Oct 2016 IANS
null
Jakarta, Oct 25 (IANS) An Indonesian court on Tuesday sentenced a 70-year-old Australian man to 15 years in prison after finding him guilty of sexually molesting several girls on the resort island of Bali.
Judges at Denpasar District Court found that Robert Andrew Fiddes Ellis, who was arrested in January, sexually abused 11 girls under the age of 18 between 2014 and 2015, Efe news reported.
In addition to the prison sentence, Ellis was served a fine of 2 billion rupiah (around $153,000) or an additional six months in prison.
Ellis's lawyer later said that he objected to the sentence and would appeal.
--IANS
ksk/dg
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UN, China condemn Quetta terror attack
United States,Politics,Terrorism,Diplomacy, Tue, 25 Oct 2016 IANS
United Nations/Beijing, Oct 26 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and China condemned the Quetta terrorist attack in Pakistani province of Balochistan.
"The Secretary-General extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Pakistan, and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured," Xinhua news agency quoted statement released by Ban's spokesperson on Tuesday.
"He calls for the perpetrators of this abhorrent act of violence to be brought to justice swiftly," it added.
China, for its part said it was shocked by the attack.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang expressed condolences for the victims and extended sympathy to their families.
"China opposes terrorism in all forms and will continue to support the Pakistani government in fighting terrorism, and safeguarding national stability and people's security," Lu said.
On Monday night, three terrorists armed with guns and suicide vests attacked the police training academy in Quetta, killing at least 60 people and injuring 117 others.
A splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic State claimed the responsibility for the attack in separate statements.
--IANS
vgu/
Venezuela votes to begin impeachment of President Maduro
Venezuela,Politics, Tue, 25 Oct 2016 IANS
Caracas, Oct 26 (IANS) Venezuela's National Assembly has voted to begin impeachment proceedings against President Nicolas Maduro for violating democracy, media reports said.
As the decision came on the eve of expected massive protests across the nation, Maduro's government has dismissed the move as meaningless, The Telegraph reported.
On October 19, the National Assembly's plan to hold a referendum to try and recall Maduro, 53, was blocked by the Supreme Court.
With that avenue closed, the opposition coalition has raised the stakes, using its power base in congress to begin legal action against the President.
Maduro made a trip to the Vatican on October 24, where Pope Francis attempted to reconcile the diametrically opposed factions in Venezuela. Opposition leader Jesus Torrealba later announced that talks would be held with the government
But on Wednesday, the opposition rallies its supporters for "The Takeover of Venezuela" and demand the ouster of Maduro.
"In Venezuela we are battling Satan!" said another opposition leader.
His impeachment is unlikely to proceed through the National Assembly as the Supreme Court, which Maduro controls has ruled that measures in congress are null and void until it removes three politicians linked to vote-buying claims.
The National Assembly ordered Maduro to appear at a session next Tuesday and said it would also consider charges of abandoning his post.
--IANS
vgu/
VANCOUVER, Oct. 25, 2016 /CNW/ - If you're looking for somewhere exciting to travel next year, look to Canada, Lonely Planet's number one destination for 2017. Each year, the leading travel media company ranks destinations based on the diversity and quality of travel experiences offered. Results are published in the annual Best in Travel series. The 2017 edition, featuring Canada, hits the shelves today.
"We are honoured to have been selected as Lonely Planet's Destination of the Year for 2017," said the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism. "Of course, this recognition doesn't mean our work is done; it should encourage us to keep this momentum building. Our tourism partners from coast to coast to coast are working hard to provide travellers with unique and unforgettable experiences. There is something for everyone here. The year 2017 is also our country's 150th anniversary, and we couldn't think of a better time to invite the world to discover Canada."
"This is exciting!" said David F. Goldstein, Destination Canada's President and CEO, "We can't think of a better time to invite the next generation of travellers to discover Canada."
"Canada is always popular with us," said Lonely Planet's Canada destination editor Alex Howard, "but there's so much happening in 2017 that made it number one. It's the country's biggest birthday party in recent memory with the sesquicentennial next year, and they won't be shy about celebrating. Now is the time to start planning a trip."
As a premiere four season travel destination, there is no shortage of extraordinary experiences for travellers to Canada. Whether you looking to escape into pristine wilderness or explore our vibrant cities, rich in culture and great food, we have something for everyone.
Over 14 million international visitors chose to explore Canada between January and August 2016, including a record breaking 2.5 million overseas arrivals this summer.
We are ready to welcome the world to #ExploreCanada.
Additional links
Brand Canada Library for rights-ready, free-to-use images and videos
Canadian Signature Experiences for once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences.
About Destination Canada
Destination Canada markets Canada internationally as a premier four-season tourism destination. In collaboration with partners in the Canadian tourism industry, Destination Canada creates marketing campaigns designed to showcase the best our country has to offer. Destination Canada also provides research and industry data to our partnersequipping them to optimize their businesses.
Destination Canada Media Relations:
[email protected]
1.844.856.1161
Destination Canada
Twitter: @DestinationCAN
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/destination-canada
Web: DestinationCanada.com
Explore Canada (for travellers)
Facebook: facebook.com/ExploreCanada
Twitter: @ExploreCanada | #ExploreCanada
Instagram: @ExploreCanada | #ExploreCanada
Web: KeepExploring.com
SOURCE Destination Canada
Image with caption: "LONELY PLANET NAMES CANADA #1 (CNW Group/Destination Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161025_C2772_PHOTO_EN_803088.jpg
Image with caption: "LONELY PLANET NAMES CANADA #1 (CNW Group/Destination Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161025_C2772_PHOTO_EN_803091.jpg
Image with caption: "LONELY PLANET NAMES CANADA #1 (CNW Group/Destination Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161025_C2772_PHOTO_EN_803093.jpg
Image with caption: "LONELY PLANET NAMES CANADA #1 (CNW Group/Destination Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161025_C2772_PHOTO_EN_803095.jpg
Image with caption: "LONELY PLANET NAMES CANADA #1 (CNW Group/Destination Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161025_C2772_PHOTO_EN_803097.jpg
Image with caption: "LONELY PLANET NAMES CANADA #1 (CNW Group/Destination Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161025_C2772_PHOTO_EN_803099.jpg
For further information: Destination Canada Media Relations: [email protected], 1.844.856.1161
TORONTO, Oct. 25, 2016 /CNW/ - Mainstreet Health Investments Inc. (the "Company") (TSX: HLP.U) will release its fiscal 2016 third quarter results on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 after markets close. Management of the Company will hold a conference call at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, November 9, 2016 to review the financial results.
CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS:
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 2016
TIME: 10:00 a.m. ET
DIAL IN NUMBER: 647-427-7450 1-888-231-8191
CONFERENCE ID: 94475585 WEBCAST: Available at www.mainstreethealthinvestments.com/investor-events-and-presentations. Please connect at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be required to join the webcast. The webcast will be archived on the Company's website following the call date.
TAPED REPLAY: 416-849-0833 or 1-855-859-2056 Available from 1:00 p.m. ET on November 9, 2016 until midnight on November 16, 2016
REFERENCE NUMBER: 94475585
About Mainstreet Health Investments Inc.
Mainstreet Health Investments Inc. is a North American health care real estate company with a portfolio of high quality properties located in the United States. Our properties are operated by best-in-class health care providers under long-term, triple net leases. Our mission is to create long-term shareholder value while providing an investment opportunity that matters. For more information, visit www.mainstreethealthinvestments.com.
SOURCE Mainstreet Health Investments Inc.
For further information: Randy Henry, Director of Investor Relations, 1-317-582-6971, [email protected]
TORONTO, Oct. 24, 2016 /CNW/ - The Ontario Securities Commission today unveiled OSC LaunchPad, the first dedicated team by a securities regulator in Canada to help fintech businesses navigate securities law requirements and accelerate time-to-market.
OSC LaunchPad will provide direct support to eligible new and early-stage fintech businesses that provide innovative services, products and applications of benefit to investors. The support will be tailored to each business, allowing for meetings with the OSC LaunchPad team on navigating the regulatory framework, flexibility around current regulatory obligations, or informal guidance at an early stage on potential securities regulation implications. In appropriate cases, the OSC will consider time-limited registration or exemptive relief for innovators to test their products, services and applications.
"This is an exciting opportunity for Canadian innovators. With OSC LaunchPad, emerging fintech businesses now have an opportunity to work with securities law experts from day one," said Maureen Jensen, Chair and CEO of the OSC. "This initiative reflects the OSC's commitment to regulation that is in step with innovation."
OSC LaunchPad is now accepting requests for support from eligible fintech businesses at www.osclaunchpad.ca. The site provides fintech businesses with helpful insights as to whether and how securities regulation may apply to their business models, and features an updated listing of events that the OSC LaunchPad team will host or attend.
The OSC will apply its learnings from OSC LaunchPad more broadly in order to modernize regulation for similar businesses. To this end, the OSC will establish a fintech advisory committee to further understand the unique issues faced by these start-ups. Additional details will be published in the coming weeks.
The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices and to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in the capital markets. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.gov.on.ca
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SOURCE Ontario Securities Commission
For further information: For Media Inquiries: [email protected]; For Investor Inquiries: OSC Contact Centre, 416-593-8314, 1-877-785-1555 (Toll Free)
The Movember Foundation puts a focus on fundraising for its 2016 campaign
TORONTO, Oct. 25, 2016 /CNW/ - On November 1, the Movember Foundation launches its 2016 campaign with a strong message to share: Stop Men Dying Too Young. The state of men's health is in crisis, with men dying on average six years younger than women in Canada. Our fathers, partners, brothers and friends are facing this health crisis, and without people talking, taking action and raising vital funds, nothing will change. This year, the Movember foundation puts the cause at the forefront, asking for donations for the first time in its campaign history to stop men dying too young.
Part of this shift includes a cause-marketing approach spotlighting six Canadian men with real health issues. From survivors of suicide, prostate cancer and testicular cancer, to men who have lost loved ones to the above issues, and men who live with mental health issues, they are the faces of this year's campaign, encouraging men to talk and reach out for support when things get tough. Their stories motivate us to join the fight this Movember to stop men dying too young.
As mentioned, Movember has made several changes this year. These include:
Real stories: The campaign creative showcases real men with real health stories
Sacrifice a beard: Men don't have to start clean shaven. They can sacrifice a beard into a moustache
Donations: For the first time, Movember is directly asking the public to donate money to the cause
Host: A brand new fundraising option, you can now Host a Movember event through Movember.com and browse local events in your area
As well, there are three key weeks to show your support and join the fight this Movember:
Grow a Mo, save a Bro
The moustache is the Movember Foundation's ribbon for men's health. Use it to raise funds and stop men dying too young. Sign up to grow your moustache for 30 days. Sacrifice your beard into a moustache, auction off your face to the highest donor or dye your Mo a different colour every day.
Move: get active for men's health
Raise funds for men's health while you do something good for your own health. Sign up to set yourself a Move challenge. From the big (riding 300kms in 30 days) to the brave (facing the fear of learning how to swim) to the slightly outrageous (working out in costume or having an office dodgeball tournament). Move is all about pushing yourself to reach your personal best.
Host an event
Throw or go to a Movember event. Any excuse for a good time. Events are a great way to have fun and raise funds for men's health. Register at Movember.com to host your own event, or take a look at what's on in your area. Head along and make a donation to stop men dying too young.
In the spirit of Host, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver will be holding official Movember 1st Rickard's Beerbershop Shave Downs to mentally and physically prepare for the month ahead. Held at Movember & Co. in Toronto, 18th Amendment Barbershop in Vancouver, and Best of Seven Barbershop in Calgary, the events encourage the Mo Community to come by, get a clean shave, or sacrifice a beard to properly kick off the month.
"With this year's campaign, we're putting the cause first: men are dying too young, and for no good reason," says Kevin Edwards, Country Director for Canada. "Though the tone of the campaign is a more serious one, we still stand by our values of doing good and having fun, and that's where growing a moustache, moving, and hosting events come in. Our community continues to have fun raising funds for an important and serious cause."
With the money raised, the Foundation has funded over 1,200 game-changing projects in prostate cancer, testicular cancer and suicide prevention around the world, while positively challenging the way in which men's health issues are researched and addressed.
"To truly create an impact, we need every single person supporting men's health the more funds we raise and the more awareness we spread this Movember, the less likely men are to die before their time," says Edwards.
Join the fight at Movember.com and sign up or donate to help stop men dying too young.
About the Movember Foundation:
The Movember Foundation is the only charity tackling men's health on a global scale, year round. By 2030, we will reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25%. The Foundation funds game-changing men's health projects. Millions have joined the movement, raising $770 million to help us fund over 1,200 projects focusing on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.
In addition, our awareness and education program is encouraging men to become more aware of their health, to talk about the big stuff in life, and take action when health issues arise. Our fathers, partners, brothers and friends face a health crisis that isn't being talked about. We can't afford to stay silent. We have one goal: to stop men dying too young.
SOURCE Movember Canada
Image with caption: "Patrice Lavoie (CNW Group/Movember Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161025_C4697_PHOTO_EN_803641.jpg
Image with caption: "Ron Telpner (CNW Group/Movember Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161025_C4697_PHOTO_EN_803640.jpg
Image with caption: "Bubba Nicholson (CNW Group/Movember Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161025_C4697_PHOTO_EN_803642.jpg
For further information: and to arrange an interview with a Movember Foundation spokesperson, a Mo Bro or Mo Sista in your local area contact: Tanya Black, [email protected], 416 666 5352
D-Wave Systems is launching a Washington-focused subsidiary to sell US government customers like the Navy DWave quantum computers
D-Wave, based in British Columbia, is the only company in the world currently offering a functioning quantum computer. They have sold systems, which run in the range of $10 million per computer, to three customers: Lockheed Martin, Google and the Los Alamos national laboratory. Currently the Navy and other government agencies are renting time on D-Wave owned computers.
There is massive potential for DWave systems to help with Big data problems, machine learning and optimization of logistics efforts. The US government and military would save a lot of money with improved logistics. It could also help with big-picture design issues such as scheduling the most efficient constellation for a network of satellites to capture imagery around the world. Machine learning can be used to train autonomous systems.
Russia is claiming that the Afghanit active protection system (APS) mounted on Moscows powerful new T-14 Armata main battle tanks has been proven effective at intercepting depleted uranium-core armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) cannon shells.
If Moscows claims are accurate, the new Russian active protection system would be a game-changing development in the realm of mechanized warfare. While active protection systems were thought to be effective mostly against incoming anti-tank missiles and rocket propelled grenades, most industry and defense experts had believed that active protection systems were ineffective against kinetic energy (KE) round such as the U.S. Armys M829A4 120mm APFSDS. Thus, if the Russians have genuinely achieved a breakthrough in defeating KE anti-tank rounds, U.S. and NATO ground forces could face a very serious problem in the near future as the Armata family of combat vehicles becomes fully operational over the next several years.
The Russian-language news outlet Izvestiaciting a Russian Ministry of Defense sourcehas reported that the Afghanit APS has been successfully tested against incoming depleted uranium-cored APFSDS rounds flying at speeds of been 1.5km to 2km per second.
Currently KAZ Afghani is installed on T-14 tanks. the Armata platform will also be used as the basis of T-15 heavy infantry fighting vehicle.
KAZ Afghans a complex electronic system that combines radar (RLS) with active phased array antenna processing subsystems, as well as mortars with special charges that, explode and send shrapnel that destroy in flight enemy weapons. The active protection on the T-14 and T-15 can be seen as a typical tube-mortars.
Active protection, such as Russias Arena and Blackbird and the Israeli Trophy, do well with anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades. In particular, there is evidence that Palestinian militants in 2011 and failed to destroy a single tank Merkava, equipped with Trophy, he told Izvestia historian Vladislav Belogrud tank building. But the anti-tank ammunition and RPG order of magnitude easier target for KAZ than BPS. In particular, the anti-tank rocket speed about 300 m / s, and the product itself it is actually a thin tube in the electronics, fuel and explosives inside, very vulnerable to debris undermined near CAS charge. BPS same a monolithic steel structure, moreover, flying at a speed of 1.5-2 km / s.
Researcher Mikhail Barabanov, editor-in-chief of the Moscow Defense Briefwhich is published by the Centre for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST) in Russiasaid that it would make sense for the Russian military to focus on the most likely threats that its armored vehicles would face in combat. I think that the characteristics of the Armatas APS is the big secret, Barabanov said. But it is unlikely [the Russian military] developed the new generation of APS without directing them toward the most common threatsuranium APFSDS and top-attack missiles.
Michael Kofman, a research scientist specializing in Russian military affairs at the federally funded Center for Naval Analyses, said he is skeptical about the Izvestia report. I dont see it as realistic, Kofman said. A discarding sabot is a depleted uranium dart, the entire concept is that the material is incredibly dense to serve as a penetrator. The Afghanit APS uses a fragmentation charge and is not liable to do much to the A4the latest variantof U.S. munitions. I can see it possibly pushing the dart off course with some sort of hit-to-kill approach, but I doubt much can stop itbesides combinations of ERA [explosive reactive armor] and composite armor.
The Armata series is currently in limited production and should become operational around 2019. As I understand it, the MOD [Ministry of Defense] ordered 100 pre-series Armata family vehicles including the T-14, T-15 and ARV [armored recovery vehicle], which will be built from 2016 to 2018, Barbanov said
There is a second contract for 70 first series Armata vehicles (or roughly two battalions worth) with delivery expected by the end of 2019.
There could be an up-gunned 152mm variant Armata main battle tank or there will be more types of ammunition for the 125mm gun.
SOURCES- Izvestia, National Interest
By Olivier Ferret 25 October 2016 - 15:05
Fernando Alonso
"Last year the support we received in Mexico City made it one of the best crowds all season, so the whole team is looking forward to going back there for the second time at this famous circuit. The buzz from the fans really makes a difference to the drivers, and, although we didnt have a smooth weekend there last year, I still remember it as one of the highlight events because the whole experience was really enjoyable. Given how tough the race is on our cars, I hope we can achieve good reliability and enjoy a better result on track this time, and make the most of the incredible support."
"Last year we went to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with a lot of unknowns and relatively little information about how the cars would perform on the reconfigured circuit. It poses a very different set of challenges to many other circuits because of the compromise you need between good downforce on the fast straights and also strong balance in the twisty stadium section and then theres the altitude, which affects performance in itself. It will be difficult to bring all of the elements together to get the best out of a lap, but Im looking forward to seeing where our package compares to last year."
Jenson Button
"Were very lucky that we have huge support from fans at all the circuits we go to around the world, but I can honestly say that the reception we got from the Mexican crowd last year was a feeling like nothing else Ive ever experienced. Every time you drove around the stadium section you could actually feel the roar from the fans from inside the car, it was unbelievable. I hope we put on a great show again this year and recreate that incredible atmosphere."
"I really enjoyed driving on this circuit last year. It wasnt an easy track for us, but its a really rewarding layout for a driver. Although the famous banked Peraltada wasnt included in the re-profiled design, the mixture of the very high-speed straights and the infield section at the end of the lap does give you a bit of everything and it really puts a smile on your face. We were definitely strongest in the final sector around the stadium so well need to put those strengths to good use if were to give ourselves a fighting chance next weekend."
Eric Boullier
"We head to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez buoyed by a positive result at the Circuit of The Americas. Like in Texas, were looking forward to the incredibly warm welcome from the fans, who rocked the stadium section and downtown Mexico City over what was a very memorable weekend for fans, teams and drivers alike last year.
"Achieving a similar result to Austin at this circuit will be no mean feat. Its a tough track for the chassis due to the high average speeds and big braking zones, and it makes the power unit particularly the turbocharger work harder than normal because of the high altitude.
"It will be interesting to see how our improving package fares on this challenging configuration, and I hope we can bring all of the elements together to see a more promising performance there than we managed last year. Saturday will be the most crucial day for us, as we need to give ourselves the biggest chance in the race, and we can only do that by maximising everything in qualifying. With the incredible support from the fans, well work hard to give them a great weekend of racing."
Yusuke Hasegawa
"Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is located at the high altitude of 2,200m (7,218ft), which means that the oxygen in the air is very lean, and therefore the turbocharger must work extra hard to force air into the power unit. As a result, the quality and the efficiency of the turbo will be the key factor in the Mexican Grand Prix.
"At the same time, this track has a very long straight, so we need to consider the power effect while matching the power unit to the chassis. We had a very difficult race here last year, but we would like to maintain the good momentum gained in Austin, and also show our technological progress throughout this season. We are hopeful that we can once again target points in the race."
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The headquarters of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) is currently in crisis over the leakage of the list containing the names and ranks ...
The headquarters of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) is currently in crisis over the leakage of the list containing the names and ranks of the sacked senior and junior officers.Findings have revealed that the Comptroller General of the NCS, Col. Hameed Alli (Rtd) is angry with the leak and has threatened to deal with whoever is behind the document leakage.An impeccable source in the NCS told Nigerian Tribune that: The list of sacked Customs officers, their names and rank was already online as early as in the morning of Monday. How it got there, nobody can actually explain. The CG is currently furious and has vowed to deal ruthlessly with whoever is behind the leak.It is not part of Customs tradition to release names of sacked officers, particularly when they have been involved in gross misconduct that includes financial misappropriation".When contacted on the issue, the NCS Spokesman, Wale Adeniyi explained to Nigerian Tribune that the NCS did not release the names of the sacked officers to the public.In his words, I dont know who put the names of the sacked Customs officers online. I did not put it there. The NCS is not obliged to release the names of sacked officers. What we were asked to do was to put up a statement while all the affected officers were communicated individually.(Nigerian Tribune)
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, promised Nigerians that the Federal Government has set machinery in motion to ensure 7,000 mega...
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, promised Nigerians that the Federal Government has set machinery in motion to ensure 7,000 megawatts at the first quarter of 2017 . Osinbajo, who acknowledged that the country was battling with 3,000 megawatts, assured that the 7,000mw is achievable.The vice-President said the Federal Government is currently working on nine transmission stations across the country towards achieving that set target of 7, 000 megawatts electricity generation for the country.He however, attributed the crisis in the power sector to the vandalisation of the folcado terminal and four other export terminals is responsible to the reduction in the megawatts to as low as almost 2500mw of power .The VP who said this in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital while declaring open, the 8th Session of the National Council on Industry, Trade and Investment, adding that the work on the critical transmittions would be completed by the first quarter of the year 2017.Meantime, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on African countries to explore trading opportunities within the continent as part of efforts to boost their economies.Obasanjo made the call yesterday when a delegation from the National Council on Industry, Trade and Investment paid him a courtesy visit at his hilltop mansion in Abeokuta.The delegation led by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enalamah, included the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar, and members of some committees of the National Assembly The delegation was in Abeokuta for the eighth edition of the councils meeting with the theme Diversification of the Nigerian Economy: From Over Dependence on Oil Exports. The former president expressed concern that the share of intra-African trade in Africas total trade over the past decade was only about 12 per cent compared to 65 per cent of Asia.The VP further hinted that the federal government is already encouraging a privately owned oil refinery firm in the country which would refine 650, 000 bpd towards easing the petroleum products supply and accessibility in Nigeria. According to him, when the privately owned refinery project is completed, Nigeria would be saving about 30 percent of the amount it spends on importation of refined crude into the country.
Detectives at the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Milverton, Ikoyi, Lagos, have arrested a 23-year-old suspected fraudster, who allegedly blackma...
Detectives at the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Milverton, Ikoyi, Lagos, have arrested a 23-year-old suspected fraudster, who allegedly blackmails eminent personalities in the country through a website.Some of his targets were Femi Odetola, Wale Tinubu and other high profile businessmen and women.The suspect, Babatunde Oyebode, according to the unit, would write fictitious stories about his targets on the website (naijagistlife.com), accusing them of infidelity, as well as superimposing nude pictures on them.Thereafter, he would allegedly demand huge amount of money to lift the pictures from the site.It was gathered that Oyebode, a Senior Secondary Certificate Examination holder, was first arrested by the unit five months ago, for allegedly attempting to swindle Mr. Wale Tinubu, through the website.The case was taken to the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, from where he was remanded at the Ikoyi prison for one month, with the case still pending in court.However, he was arrested last Saturday by detectives, at his abode on 6th Avenue, Festac Town, in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, following three petitions against him.One of the petitioners, a female lawyer, alleged that the suspect posted a story, saying she was sleeping around with men, including her boss, for money. She alleged further that her supposed naked pictures were also posted.The lawyers statement (names withheld), also alleged that the suspect demanded N3.5 million to enable him remove the provocative pictures from the site. Newsmen were equally informed that the pictures, which went viral, had caused the lady her job and her marriage.The units spokesperson, Mr. Lawal Audu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, who confirmed the arrest, said that the first and second petitions were on threat to life and fraud.However, the suspect denied the allegation, describing himself as a web builder and admitted to have built naijagistlife.com for a blogger, whose identity he claimed not to know.He said: I have been building site since I was in secondary school. Someone contacted me online to build a website, naijagistlife.com, which I did.I did not see the person and I also did not have her contact. The money paid for the service was sent through a cab man. After designing, each website will have the name of the company that designed it and when you click on it, it will take you to my website.The person later contacted me, saying some people were hacking the website and that he needed web security services that would prevent people from hacking the website, which I did.But I was arrested in May over a petition by Wale Tinubu, that I demanded a huge amount of money from him, failure of which I would post a story against him.I was detained, charged to court and remanded at the Ikoyi Prison for one month. But Tinubu has not shown up in court since.I made a mistake for designing a web for a faceless person out of ignorance and also because I am a young chap and people make mistakes, anyway.The suspect, according to the units public relations officer, would be charged to court today.
Poised to engender good governance in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has said he would surely solve the countrys perennial electr...
He also said that public office holders in Nigeria must be made to be accountable, restating the determination of his administration to restore the country to the good old days of accountability.The president spoke at a meeting with the Director, Global Upstream of Shell Oil Company at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday. It is only by doing this that investor morale and confidence will return, and the economy will be positioned on the path of growth, the President said.President Buhari, who commended Shell for their faith in the economy and staying power, gave assurances on some issues of concern raised by the company. On the protracted issue of cash calls, the President assured that the Federal Executive Council will soon consider a proposal for the easing of unpaid arrears owed by the government.President Buhari said that the security of oil infrastructure will continue to be prioritized side-by-side with dialogue with the stakeholder-communities in the Niger Delta. He, however, urged oil companies to take more responsibility in the protection of oil installations to complement the efforts of Nigerian Navy in the region. According to a statement by Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant on media and publicity, the Shell Director, Mr. Andrew Brown, in his remarks told the President of the resumption of oil exportation through the Forcados terminal following its restoration.He called for continued protection by the Nigerian Navy in view of repeated threats of attack by militants. Brown commended the anti-corruption posture of the Buhari administration as well as the efforts to streamline and stabilize the economy for long term projects, saying all the efforts will go a long way to reinforce Shell investment plans in Nigeria.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says for sub-Saharan Africa to record its required growth in 2017, the oil exporters most short-chan...
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says for sub-Saharan Africa to record its required growth in 2017, the oil exporters most short-changed by falling crude prices, such as Nigeria and Angola, must act fast.Speaking on IMF regional outlook for sub-Saharan Africa, Abebe Selassie, director of the IMFs African department, disclosed that economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa in 2016 is set to slow to its lowest level in more than 20 years.The slowdown reflects two broad factors; the external environment facing many of the regions countries has deteriorated, notably with commodity prices at multi-year lows and financing conditions markedly tighter, he said.In addition, the policy response in many of the countries most affected by these shocks has been delayed and inadequate, raising uncertainty, deterring private investment and stifling new sources of growth.He said Africa must give in to pessimism as the fuller picture is one of multi-speed growth, with the aggregate growth number masking considerable diversity across the region.He said most non-commodity exporting countriesrepresenting close to half of the countries in the regioncontinue to perform well, with countries such as Cote dIvoire, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Tanzania foreseen to continue to grow at more than six percent.Selassie noted that a modest pick-up in economic activity is likely, provided strong policy action is taken.Subject to reforms being initiated quickly in the coming months, growth would recover close to 3 percent in 2017. But to make this happen, the hardest-hit countries, especially oil exporters, need to act promptly, he added.Given the scale and persistent nature of the shock, and as existing buffers have been exhausted, a comprehensive three-pronged adjustment effort is needed urgently: Strong fiscal adjustment, enhanced social protection policies, and structural reforms to facilitate competitiveness and diversification.Further delays in addressing the elevated macroeconomic imbalances are certain to undermine growth prospects further and delay a robust and job-rich recovery.
A 48-year-old man, Segla Hunvu, suspected to have been frustrated with the economic situation has committed suicide in the Mowo, Badagry a...
A 48-year-old man, Segla Hunvu, suspected to have been frustrated with the economic situation has committed suicide in the Mowo, Badagry area of Lagos State.It was learnt that the eldest son of the deceased alerted the police at the Morogbo Police Division when calls to his father proved abortive.The police visited Hunvus apartment at Jogbenu Street, Torikovi Town, Mowo, in search of him and found him dangling with a rope around his neck.According to reports, a police source saying:The children tried reaching him on the telephone, but calls made to him did not connect.It was after some days that his body was found in the room.We took photographs and deposited the corpse in a morgue.He said, Hunvu came to the Ajegunle, Apapa area on Monday to see his younger brother, Michael Hunvu. We did not know he came to bid us farewell. He had earlier told his eldest son, who is a teenager, to take good care of himself and his younger ones.He did not come out clearly to say he wanted to kill himself. Nobody knew the reason he killed himself. It is suspected that he was frustrated.The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, who confirmed the incident, said the family has requested for the corpse for burial.
Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, at about 3.40 am, today (Tuesday), bombed a Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, offshore Export Pipeline at Escravos,...
Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, at about 3.40 am, today (Tuesday), bombed a Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, offshore Export Pipeline at Escravos, Warri South-West Local Government Area in Delta State.The militant group in a tweet by its spokesperson, self-styled Brig Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, confirming its involvement, said: At about 3:45am, our strike team 06 took down Chevron Escravos export pipeline at Escravos offshore.It stated:This action is to further warn all IOCs that when we warn that there should be no repairs pending negotiation/dialogue with the people of the Niger Delta, it means there should be no repairs. Any attempt to use dialogue to distract us so as to allow the free flow of our oil will halt the dialogue process, NDA added. Before Niger Delta Avengers claimed responsibility for the attack, today, chair, Ugborodo Community, Ofe Nene, who was contacted by one of our reporters at about 8.00 am, confirmed the explosion, saying: I do not have details of the incident, but a blast occurred last night at an offshore location.A security official, who refused commenting on the incident, said: It is either an attack or a spill; our men in the field were woken up at about 4.00 am by local fishermen that noticed the spill.For now, we cannot confirm if it was as a result of militant attack or rupture on the pipeline, but all I can say is that as I speak with you, there is a spill in the area from a damaged pipeline belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited.Attempts to speak with the General Manager Policy, Government and Public Relations, Chevron, Mr. Deji Haastrup, were fruitless at the time of this report.
The acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, in Kaduna on Monday said there would be no hiding place for...
The acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, in Kaduna on Monday said there would be no hiding place for corrupt public office-holders in the country.Magu, who spoke on the sideline of the National Open Government Partnership retreat taking place in Kaduna, dismissed insinuations from some quarters that the fight against corruption was selective.The EFCC boss, who addressed newsmen in Hausa language, insisted that the commission engaged in thorough investigation before arresting and subsequently prosecuting corrupt persons.According to him, the anti-graft agency does not just go all out to just arrest individuals or group just for the sake of it.Magu, who urged Nigerians to see the anti-graft war as a collective fight in an effort to rid the country of corruption, added that we dont just arrest somebody who has no case to answer.He added, Im here today because this event has to do with transparency and accountability in governance and you should know that anything that has to do with fighting corruption is an area of interest to me.Its not true that we are selective in the fight against corruption. Whoever we arrested for corruption must be guilty of it. We are also making progress in this fight even though its not our fight alone, its a fight for all of us as people of this country.Meanwhile, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will soon sign an executive order on transparency and efficiency in all government ministries, agencies in the country.The minister, who said corruption remained one of the impediments to the nations development, said the Buharis administration was committed to ensuring transparency and accountability in all public institutions across the land.Earlier in his remarks, the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, had said his administration believed in transparency and accountability, saying we are running a transparent government and everyone already knows that we insist on open and competitive bidding for our contracts.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government to declare emergency on the e...
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government to declare emergency on the economy.The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, made the call in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.Adeyeye also advised government to invite competent hands to manage and revive the countrys economy.He, however, said that PDP had been vindicated of its positions following the acceptance of responsibility regarding the economic misfortune caused by the APC.He said Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo, who spoke with newsmen after APC governors meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday accepted the responsibility.Adeyeye quoted Okorocha as saying We must take responsibility and we must never shift the responsibility to anybody. We are responsible for everything happening in Nigeria.The good, the bad, the ugly but we are promising Nigerians that we shall fix it.The PDP spokesman said that the declaration came after several months of bulk-passing to previous PDP administration.He called on the APC to also accept other responsibilities as well correct the impression that previous PDP administration achieved nothing in the economy, infrastructure and policies in 16 years.For the umpteenth time, let us reiterate that the PDPs achievements cannot be wished away.We therefore appreciate the APCs acceptance.We urge them to accept all other responsibilities for all the wrongs they have plunged the country into and equally apologise for their serial lies.(NAN)
Residents of an Enugu community, Agu Obodo of Obeagwu Ozalla in Nkanu West Local Government Area, have protested the arrival of over 200...
The panicky residents said they were overwhelmed by the arrival of over five trucks that were loaded with the herdsmen, their families and cows.The residents urged the strangers to leave their land within three days because they could no longer go to their farms.President-General of Ozalla Development Union (ODU), Chief Afam Ani, who led the protesting women, youths and traditional rulers, said the arrival of the herdsmen at the weekend caused serious anxiety among the people.The community leader said residents living close to their farms abandoned them and took refuge in other parts of the town.He told reporters that when the herdsmen were queried, they claimed to have been evicted from their previous settlement at Maryland in Enugu South Local Government Area and decided to resettle at Ozalla.Ani said the residents had reported the matter to security agencies, the local and state governments to evict the herdsmen.The community leader recalled what he called an ugly experience the community had with the herdsmen in 2012 when they allegedly attacked, raped and destroyed property.He said: There should be no doubt whatsoever that what we are faced with is the forcible invasion of our homeland by Fulani herdsmen who are likely armed with dangerous weapons. We consider this act to be extremely provocative and totally unacceptable to our people.The community leader said the herdsmen agreed to vacate the community within three days, adding that he had pleaded with security agencies to enforce the agreement.A traditional ruler of one of the autonomous communities in Ozalla, Igwe C. O. Okafor, described the development as embarrassing.The monarch said the herdsmen did not consult the community, either themselves or by proxy, before moving into the community.He urged the government and security agencies to evict the herdsmen because of the security threat they posed to the community.
A group of African students under the aegis of African Students in Cyprus has raised the alarm over possible recruitment of young Nigeria...
A group of African students under the aegis of African Students in Cyprus has raised the alarm over possible recruitment of young Nigerians, who travel to Iran into terrorism.President of the students body, Jeremiah Omadachi, stated this in an electronic mail sent to NE after a peaceful protest at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus, against the activities of Iran in Nigeria.According to him, there were indications that Nigerian students were getting military training provided by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.He said: As Africans living here in Cyprus, we have followed events in Nigeria and must confess that we have great concerns about the growing sectarian division there. The names of several sects are coming up in the daily accounts being rendered online but the name of Shiite sect; the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has remained constant.We are aware through contacts with other communities and nationals here that the cover that IMN and Iran use is to make youths pretend they are travelling to get education.The frightening reality however is that young Nigerians that travel to Iran end up being radicalised and indoctrinated into extremism. There has been indications that they are also getting military training provided by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.He called on the Federal Government to stop Nigerian youths from travelling to Iran to study.Omadachi stated that Nigeria faces future security risk if it continued to allow youths to travel to countries where they end up being recruited into terrorism.According to him, some youths who travel to Iran under the guise of studying were shipped off to other countries such as Yemen and Somalia, where they are recruited into terrorism.The students warned Nigerian authorities and Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the threat of radicalisation posed by Ibrahim El-Zakzakkys IMN was real and should not be taken for granted by the country, adding that Oguche and Abdul Mutalabs cases should serve as examples.He called on the government and other African leaders to do everything possible to prevent Iran from expanding the Middle East crisis to Africa by using IMN as a front.According to him, the Islamic Republic must be told in very clear terms that it should sort out its problems with its regional neighbours and not attempt opening a new front in its war of attrition in Nigeria.
The Senate on Tuesday described street begging as a menace that is embarrassing the country.
The Senate on Tuesday described street begging as a menace that is embarrassing the country.It therefore began a move to enact a law that will make street begging illegal.The lawmaker representing Bauchi-Central Senatorial District, Senator Isah Hamma Misau, while moving a motion titled, Menace of Street Begging and the Need to Rehabilitate Beggars, expressed concern over the spate of street begging and nuisance it constitutes on the streets of city centres across the country.Though street begging is a global urban problem, the situation in Nigeria appears intractable and overwhelming, as beggars are now found everywhere, especially at motor parks, religious centres, road junctions, venue of ceremonies and other public places, he said.According to Misau, beggars were persons with physical and mental challenges or grossly indigent in the past.In recent times, there appear to be a new vogue of beggars in town, derisively known as corporate beggars, who take advantage of the sympathy of the society for the less privileged to remain jobless and at times perpetrate crimes in the name of street begging, the senator noted.
The Dangote Group of Companies has denied reports that the disengagement of 36 expatriate and 12 Nigerian workers from the company was due...
The Dangote Group of Companies has denied reports that the disengagement of 36 expatriate and 12 Nigerian workers from the company was due to economic recession in the country.Mr Tony Chiejina, Head of Corporate Affairs, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that the expatriates were disengaged because of job overlap.He said the 12 Nigerians that were affected were in the procurement department whose services were now redundant due to growth in the company.Chiejina said that in spite of the recession, the Dangote group has been expanding its operations into oil and gas, rice and dairy projects, fertiliser and petrochemicals, among others..According to him, this expansion would create more employments in the company.He said that the current recession has been a challenge to the company as it strives to impact more favourably on the Nigerian economy.
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Poker pro Phil Ivey might have to repay $9.6 million he won playing baccarat at the Borgata four years ago, a judge ruled.
(AP Photo/Laura Rauch, File)
Professional poker player Phil Ivey didn't cheat when he won $9.6 million playing baccarat at an Atlantic City casino, but a judge also ruled the former New Jersey resident still might have to pay back the money, according to reports.
Sitting in Camden, U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman said Ivey and an associate were liable for breach of contract when they won the money at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa over a four-day period in 2012. The judge ruled that the pair didn't commit fraud, though.
The judge's ruling was first reported by NorthJersey.com.
Ivey and Cheng Yin Sun employed a technique called "edge-sorting" in which players detect small manufacturer defects in the cards and use it to their advantage.
Hillman said that Ivey and Yin Sun altered the odds to their advantage and in doing so violated the Casino Control Act. The Borgata has 20 days to outline what Ivey owes and then Ivey has 20 days to respond, according to NJLawJournal.com.
Ivey allegedly had Yin Sun ask the dealer to rotate high value cards 90 degrees, which moved the flaw on the card back to the opposite corner and made it identifiable.
Ivey also insisted that a shuffling machine be used (which keeps the cards from being spun and altered) essentially setting up a deck where he was able to identify the value of the next card off the deck to a certain degree.
Ivey says card manufacturer Gemaco was responsible for producing cards within contractual and industry standards. He also says the Borgata knew the card manufacturing process didn't produce perfectly symmetrical card backs and later destroyed the deck of cards so they couldn't be used as evidence.
On one lucrative day, he won $4.8 million in 17 hours by betting an average of $89,000 a hand, according to Court House News Service.
The Borgata learned of Ivey's technique after officials there read a report about a London casino withholding $12.4 million he won playing a game similar to baccarat in 2012. A judge ruled in the casino's favor, but Ivey is appealing.
He is also counter-suing the Borgata.
Born in California, Ivey spent much of his childhood in Roselle before moving to Old Bridge as a teenager. He is a 1995 Old Bridge High School graduate.
Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
John Lewis
Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) endorsed Josh Gottheimer on Tuesday to represent the fifth district.
(Sara Jerde | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
HACKENSACK -- Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) told a packed room Tuesday that everyone needed to turn out in droves on Election Day to elect 5th District Congressional Candidate Josh Gottheimer.
Gottheimer's heated race against seven-term incumbent Rep. Scott Garrett has been characterized as a toss-up. And there was a lot of enthusiasm at the Logan Family Life Center, though most people said they were standing to wait and hear Lewis, a famed civil rights leader, speak.
"I believe in bringing people together," Lewis said. "This young man, you elect him, you will have someone that loves all of us. No one would be left out or left behind."
Lewis was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, organizing sit-ins while he was a student at Fisk University and later participating in the Freedom Riders, an organized protest against segregation on buses throughout the country.
In many of these protests, he was beaten for his actions. He was also part of the Selma to Montgomery Alabama march to raise awareness for voting rights, later known as "Bloody Sunday" because police attacked and beat the participants.
Gottheimer, a former speechwriter for the White House and executive at Microsoft, has raised more money for his campaign than any other than any other New Jersey candidate vying for the House.
Lewis suggested that Gottheimer would better unite Congress, citing Garrett's vote against the reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act. A representative from Garrett's campaign didn't immediately return a request for comment.
"This young man, this young brother, will help lead the people of this district, help lead this county, this city, and our nation to a better place," Lewis said. "We need his vigor, his vitality, his smartness. He will never, ever let you down."
Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) also attended the event, saying that he frequently talks with Gottheimer and thinks he would bring more balance to Congress.
"I'm running for Congress because I believe that this community and all communities are so tired of the politics seeking to divide people," Gottheimer said, adding that he is in favor of keeping taxes low and would work across party lines.
Atta Boamah, 64, drove from Newark to attend the rally on Tuesday to hear what the candidate had to say. He said he'd work up to Election Day as part of the Democratic party to get people out voting.
"It's very important to be here and gather to show them that we will do the best we can do to get people to vote," Boamah said. "Every vote counts."
Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.
NEWARK -- A former assistant vice president of a Fort Lee bank was sentenced Tuesday to more than six years in prison for embezzling more than $1 million from customer accounts.
Miye Chon, of Englewood Cliffs, was sentenced Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Newark to more than six years in prison for embezzling more than $1 million in funds from accounts at the bank where she worked.
Miye Chon, 36, previously pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Newark to charges of bank fraud, embezzlement by a bank employee and aggravated identity theft, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors say Chon, of Englewood Cliffs, was employed as an operations officer and later as an assistant vice president at the Fort Lee branch of BankAsiana, which was acquired by Wilshire Bank in 2013.
Prosecutors say that Chon, over a period of several years, regularly made unauthorized transfers from customers' certificate of deposit accounts in to the bank's vault cash account.
Chon would typically take tens of thousands of dollars at a time, and in one case converted $100,000 from a customer's CD account.
Prosecutors say Chon also opened a bank account under a victim's name and forged checks from the account using their name.
In addition to the prison term, Judge William H. Walls ordered that Chon serve two years under supervised release and pay $1,350,081 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
LYNDHURST -- A New Jersey man who kidnapped a Queens businessman and tortured him for more a month hoping for a multi-million-dollar ransom has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, officials said Monday.
Eduardo Moncayo, 42, of Lyndhurst, and his two alleged accomplices held the 52-year-old hostage in a Long Island warehouse in 2013 for weeks, demanding a $3 million ransom from Pedro Portugal's family in Ecuador, according to New York District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
In this photo provided by New York City police, Eduardo Moncayo, of Lyndhurst, is shown trying to withdrawal money from Pedro Portugal's bank account during his kidnapping.
"This was a terrifying ordeal for the victim," Brown said in a release. "The businessman was forcibly abducted from the streets of Queens County and held against his will in a vacant warehouse for 32 days."
Portugal was beaten and burned with acid by the kidnappers, who also threatened to cut the man's fingers off and eventually kill him if his family did not pay the ransom, according to the trial testimony.
Moncayo was found guilty of first-degree kidnapping earlier this month. Queens Supreme Court Justice Ira H. Marguilis sentenced the Bergen County man to prison Monday.
Portugal was kidnapped on April 18, 2013, and rescued by police 32 days later on May 20, 2013, according to the release.
The two others charged in the kidnapping, Dennis Alves, 35, and Christian Acuna, 38, are awaiting trial.
Craig McCarthy may be reached at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
BURLINGTON CITY -- Plans to dump Delaware River dredge spoils on a portion of Burlington Island will be delayed due to a superior court injunction, according to the Burlington County Times.
The impasse between Burlington City and New Jersey comes after the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $214,000 contract to clear 40 acres of land on the island to dump excavated materials there. New Jersey Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington) proposed a bill to stop such work and the city sent a cease-and-desist letter to the state and the Army Corps.
According to the report, the injunction issued Monday by Burlington County Superior Court Judge John E. Harrington would bring both parties back to court next September unless they come to an agreement before then.
In court, Harrington found that Burlington City's public interest could be harmed by the shipping lane upkeep project and that New Jersey was unable to show ownership of the vacant island.
"The Army Corps is saying it is returning to dump dredge materials on Burlington Island because they did it in 1989, but that just doesn't work for me," Burlington City Mayor Barry Conaway said earlier this month.
New Jersey would also need to prove in court that the dredging was of "immediate" importance for the injunction to be lifted, according to the report.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
MOUNT LAUREL TWP. -- A fast-growing chain of "fast casual" Middle Eastern restaurants has opened its first New Jersey location.
Naf Naf Grill at 7000 Midlantic Ave. was bustling at noon Monday, only five days after its grand opening. Much like a Subway or Chipotle, customers in line picked from dozens of options displayed before them, from fresh pitas and falafel to salads and shawarma.
"It's been going really great," Chad Chmielowicz, Naf Naf's "director of learning," said at the restaurant. They celebrated their opening Thursday by offering free pita sandwiches, which drew a crowd. "People seemed to enjoy the food."
Chmielowicz was supervising the many new trainees, but he also hung out in the restaurant to chat with new customers and, if he encountered anyone new to Middle Eastern cuisine, offer a few suggestions.
Naf Naf Grill provides an easy introduction to Middle Eastern food, and Stacey Murray, a spokeswoman for the company, said that's one major reason the chain is going like gangbusters to open new restaurants.
"We're opening a total of nine from August to the end of the year," Murray said
One new restaurant will be in Marlton, with an opening date in early 2017. The company is also looking at other locations in South Jersey as it looks to expand out of the Philadelphia area.
The Naperville, Illinois-based company moved into the Philadelphia area in the end of August, and plans to open another location on Market Street in November. Other restaurants are in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Sahar Sander, who moved to the U.S. from Israel 25 years ago, started the first restaurant outside of Chicago with a partner in 2009. Two more partners quickly joined to back the restaurant, according to the company's website. He told Philly.com the name is Hebrew slang for "let's start up the fire."
Murray said consumer trends have shown that people want new tastes and experiences. "We're kind of meeting that need," she said.
At Naf Naf Grill, they can pick and choose and customize however they like, she said, from spicy, adventurous sauces to simple salads.
A poster in the window of the Mount Laurel restaurant advertises jobs paying up to $14 an hour.
Chmielowicz said the restaurant is still seeking applicants. Most of their restaurants employ 20 to 30 people to work both part and full time, he said.
Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
CAMDEN -- A Willingboro man was sentenced Tuesday to more than five years in federal prison for selling at least 200 handguns to criminals in the Camden area.
Prosecutors say the 200 handguns Joshua Jackson sold to criminals were either purchased by him from unlicensed dealers or by associates in so-called "straw purchases."
Joshua Jackson previously had pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Camden to charges of dealing firearms without a license, conspiring to deal firearms without a federal license and possessing firearms as a convicted felon, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors say Jackson, 36, obtained most of the guns in Ohio, either purchasing them himself from unlicensed sellers at gun shows or through straw purchases made by associates.
The guns were brought back to Camden either by Jackson himself, in a rental car, or by an associate, who transported the guns in duffel bags aboard Greyhound buses bound for Philadelphia and Mount Laurel, the statement says.
Prosecutors say the sale of many of the guns was brokered through Terrance Laboo, who previously pleaded guilty in the case. Laboo, who admitted he was also dealing PCP and cocaine at the time, sold the guns to other drug dealers in South Jersey, the statement says.
Jackson was sentenced to three years of supervised release in addition to the prison term, according to prosecutors.
Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
CGC TAMAROA (FOR RELEASE)
CGC Tamaroa (USCG Photo courtesy Coast Guard Historian.)
(COAST GUARD HISTORIAN)
CAPE MAY-- A 205-foot Coast Guard vessel with a storied history of service will continue to serve, though at the bottom of the ocean off the South Jersey coast.
The Tamaroa, which was involved in the "Perfect Storm" rescue efforts and also saw action in World War II, will be sunk as part of a program to construct an artificial reef. The sinking could occur sometime in the next week or two, NorthJersey.com reported.
Delaware officials who are coordinating the sinking said Monday no date has officially been set, but were hoping it would take place this fall.
Last month, two other ships were scuttled to help form two other artificial reefs, dubbed the Wildwood and the Axel Carlson. The man-made reefs serve are designed to bolster sea life and provide an attraction for commercial and recreational fishermen, as well as scuba divers.
The state has more than 15 artificial reefs. Environmentalists have criticized the state's reef program, however, arguing that the structures could lead to over-fishing.
Initially christened the USS Zuni, the Navy ship that would later be renamed the Tamaroa towed other ships damaged by torpedoes during World War II. She saw action in the battle of Iwo Jima.
It was later given to the Coast Guard and, as the Tamaroa, would spend nearly the next half-century in service, including during a storm off the New England coast that formed around Oct. 30, 1991.
The 205-foot-long vessel was dispatched to aid in the rescue of a sailboat and the crew of a rescue helicopter which had run out of fuel and ended up in the massive waves, some as high as a four-story building.
The events were chronicled in author Sebastian Junger's book "The Perfect Storm" in 1997. A movie based on the book starring George Clooney was released three years later.
The Tamaroa was decommissioned in the mid-1990s.
Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
DRBC recently hosted a delegation of 15 government officials from South Korea at the commission's West Trenton headquarters. The delegation members were interested in meeting with DRBC staff and learning from them about DRBCs programs and responsibilities concerning water quality management and protection, water supply allocation, and water conservation initiatives.
The delegation spent over 2 hours learning about the DRBC's unique approach to managing the water resources in the Delaware River Basin without regard to political boundaries. DRBC Communications Manager Clarke Rupert gave an overview of the basin and Drs. Tom Fikslin and Namsoo Suk of DRBCs Science and Water Quality Management Branch led a question and answer session on commission water quality programs. Dr. Suk also assisted with translation services.
In addition to hosting several delegations from Korea, the DRBC in recent years has hosted visitors from China, Brazil, and India.
WASHINGTON (AP) The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
From licenses and permits to taxes and insurance, learn what you need to do to start a business in Idaho.
Here's an overview of the key steps you'll need to take to start your own business in Idaho.
1. Choose a Business Idea
First, explore and research ideas for your business. At this stage, take into consideration your own interests, skills, resources, availability, and the reasons why you want to form a business. You should also consider the likelihood of success based on the interests and needs of your community. Read our article for more tips on how to evaluate business ideas.
After you select an idea, consider drafting a business plan to evaluate your chances of making a profit. When you create a plan, you will have a better idea of the startup costs, your competition, and strategies for making money. Typically, investors and lenders will ask to review your business plan before providing financial assistance. To learn more about the benefits of business plans and how to create one for your enterprise see Why You Need to Write a Business Plan.
2. Decide on a Legal Structure
The most common legal structures for a small business are:
sole proprietorship
partnership
limited liability company (LLC), and
corporation.
There also are special versions of some of these structures, such as limited partnerships and S corporations. You'll want to consider which business entity structure offers the type of liability protection you want and the best tax, financing, and financial benefits for you and your business. Read our article for information on how to choose the best ownership structure for your business.
3. Choose a Name
For LLCs and corporations, you will need to check that your name is distinguishable from the names of other business entities already on file with the Idaho Secretary of State (SOS). You can check for available names by doing a business entity search on the SOS website. You can reserve an available name for 120 days by filing an Application for Reservation of Legal Entity Name. There are certain name requirements for LLCs and corporations (like including a word such as "L.L.C." for LLCs or "Company" for corporations). See How to Form an LLC in Idaho and How to Form a Corporation in Idaho for more information.
Is your business a sole proprietorship or partnership that uses a business name that is different from the legal name of the business owner (for a sole proprietorship) or surnames of the individual partners (for a partnership)? If so, you must file a Certificate of Assumed Business Name with the SOS.
If you plan on doing business online, you may want to register your business name as a domain name. See Choose and Register a Domain Name for more information. In addition, to avoid trademark infringement issues, you should do a federal and state trademark check to make sure the name you want to use is not the same as or too similar to a name already in use. See How to Do a Trademark Search for more information.
4. Create Your Business Entity
5. Apply for Licenses and Permits
Tax Registration. If you will be selling goods in Idaho, you must register with the State Tax Commission (STC) to collect sales tax. If your business will have employees, you must register with the STC for employer withholding taxes. You can register for both types of tax, as well as other business taxes, either online via the Idaho Business Registration System (IBRS) or on paper using Form IBR-1, Idaho Business Registration Form.
EIN. If your business has employees or is taxed separately from you, you must obtain a federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. Even if you are not required to obtain an EIN, there are often business reasons for doing so. Banks often require an EIN to open an account in the business's name and other companies you do business with may require an EIN to process payments. You can get an EIN by completing an online application. There is no filing fee.
Regulatory licenses and permits. These cover areas such as:
health and safety
the environment
building and construction; and
specific industries or services.
Different regulatory licenses and permits are issued by different state agencies. For example, permits relating to agriculture are issued by the Department of Agriculture, and permits relating to the environment are issued by the Department of Environmental Quality. The state government website has a Business Wizard that you can use to help figure out what licenses and permits your particular business may need. For information about local licenses and permits, check the websites for any cities or counties where you will do business.
Professional and occupational licenses. These cover people who work in various fields. The licenses section of the state government's website lists many of the professions and occupations requiring a state license.
6. Pick a Business Location and Check Zoning
You'll need to pick a location for your business and check local zoning regulations. Before you commit to a location, take time to calculate the costs of running your business in the desired spot, including rent and utilities. You can refer back to your business plan to evaluate whether you can afford your desired location during your company's early months.
It is important to verify that the spot is zoned for your type of business. You might find zoning regulations for your town or city by reviewing your local ordinances and contacting your town's zoning or planning department. Read our article for more tips on picking a location.
One alternative to opening your business at a new location is running your company out of your home. If you decide to run a home-based business, again check your local zoning laws. In addition, review your lease (if you rent your home) and homeowners association rules (if applicable), either of which might ban some or all home businesses.
7. File and Report Taxes
Idaho taxes every kind of business. See Idaho State Business Income Tax for more information on state business taxes in Idaho.
Sole proprietorships. Pay state taxes on business income as part of their personal state income tax returns (Form 40).
Partnerships. Partners pay state taxes on partnership income on personal tax returns. In addition, Idaho partnerships also must file Form 65, Idaho Partnership Return of Income.
LLCs. Members pay state taxes on their share of LLC income on personal tax returns. In addition, LLCs themselves have to file an additional state tax form either a partnership return or a corporation return. The specific form used will depend on how the LLC is classified for federal tax purposes. Idaho LLCs also are required to file an annual report with the Idaho SOS. See Idaho LLC Annual Filing Requirements for more information.
Corporations. Shareholders must pay state taxes on their dividends from the corporation. A shareholder-employee with a salary also must pay state income tax on his or her personal state tax return. Moreover, the corporation itself is subject to Idaho corporation taxes. And, finally, corporations must file an annual report with the Idaho SOS.
If you have employees, you must also deal with state employer taxes.
And, apart from Idaho taxes, there are always federal income and employer taxes. Check IRS Publications 334, Tax Guide for Small Business, and 583, Taxpayers Starting a Business.
8. Obtain Insurance
Business insurance can protect your company and your personal assets from the fallout of unexpected disasters, such as personal injury lawsuits or natural catastrophes. An insurance agent can help you explore the different coverage options, which might include general liability insurance to protect your business against claims relating to bodily injury or property damage. To learn more, see Nolo's article, What Types of Insurances Does Your Small Business Need?
9. Open a Business Bank Account
No matter the type of business you form, you should consider opening a separate business account to make it easier to track your income and expenses. For some business types, like LLCs and corporations, a separate bank account is necessary to maintain your liability protection. To learn more, see Opening a Business Bank Account.
From licenses and permits to taxes and insurance, learn what you need to do to start a business in Illinois.
Here's an overview of the key steps you'll need to take to start your own business in Illinois.
1. Choose a Business Idea
Take time to explore and research ideas for your business. At this stage, take into consideration your own interests, skills, resources, availability, and the reasons why you want to form a business. You should also evaluate the likelihood of success based on the interests of your community, and whether your business idea will meet an unmet need. Read our article for more tips on how to evaluate business ideas.
After you select an idea, consider drafting a business plan to determine your chances of making a profit. When you create a plan, you will have a better idea of the startup costs, your competition, and strategies for making money. Investors and lenders will want to review your business plan before providing financial assistance, and you can be prepared by drafting a plan before you start soliciting funding.
2. Decide on a Legal Structure
The most common legal structures for a small business are:
sole proprietorship
partnership
limited liability company (LLC), and
corporation.
There also are special versions of some of these structures, such as limited partnerships and S corporations. You'll want to consider which business entity structure offers the type of liability protection you want and the best tax, financing, and financial benefits for you and your business. Read our article for information on how to choose the best ownership structure for your business.
3. Choose a Name
For LLCs and corporations, you will need to check that your name is distinguishable from the names of other business entities already on file with the Illinois Secretary of State (SOS). You can check for available names by doing a name search on the SOS website. You can reserve an available name for 90 days by filing an Application for Reservation of Name. There are certain name requirements for LLCs and corporations (like including a word such as "LLC" for LLCs or "Company" for corporations). See How to Form an LLC in Illinois and How to Form a Corporation in Illinois for more information.
Is your business a sole proprietorship or partnership that uses a business name that is different from the legal name of the business owner (for a sole proprietorship) or surnames of the individual partners (for a partnership)? If so, you must register an assumed business name with the county clerk in the county where you transact business. In addition, you must publish your assumed name filing. Check the website for the relevant county for more information.
If you plan on doing business online, you may want to register your business name as a domain name. See Choose and Register a Domain Name for more information. In addition, to avoid trademark infringement issues, you should do a federal and state trademark check to make sure the name you want to use is not the same as or too similar to a name already in use. See How to Do a Trademark Search for more information.
4. Create Your Business Entity
5. Apply for Licenses and Permits
Tax Registration. If you will be selling goods in Illinois, you must register with the Department of Revenue (DOR) to collect sales tax. If your business will have employees, you must register with the DOR for employer withholding taxes. You can register for both types of tax, as well as other business taxes, either online via the MyTax Illinois website or on paper using Form REG-1, Illinois Business Registration Application.
EIN. If your business has employees or is taxed separately from you, you must obtain a federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. Even if you are not required to obtain an EIN, there are often business reasons for doing so. Banks often require an EIN to open an account in the business's name and other companies you do business with may require an EIN to process payments. You can get an EIN by completing an online application on the IRS website. There is no filing fee.
Regulatory licenses and permits. These can cover areas such as:
health and safety
the environment
building and construction; and
specific industries or services.
Different regulatory licenses are issued by different state agencies. For example, environmental permits may be issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and employment-related licenses may be issued by the Illinois Department of Labor. Check the Registration, Licenses, & Permits section of the state government's illinois.gov website for more information. For information about local licenses and permits, check the websites for any cities or counties where you will do business.
Professional and occupational licenses. Many professions and occupations are regulated by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). The IDFPR website has a section covering Professions Regulated by IDFPR. Each profession and occupation also is more directly regulated by its related state regulatory board.
6. Pick a Business Location and Check Zoning Regulations
You'll need to pick a location for your business and check local zoning regulations. Before you commit to a location, take time to calculate the costs of running your business in the desired spot, including rent and utilities. You can refer back to your business plan to evaluate whether you can afford your desired location during your company's early months. You should also be sure to verify that the spot is zoned for your type of business. You might find zoning regulations for your town or city by reviewing your local ordinances and contacting your town's zoning or planning department. Read our article for more tips on picking a location.
One alternative to opening your business at a new location is running your company out of your home. If you decide to run a home-based business, again check your local zoning laws. In addition, review your lease (if you rent your home) and homeowners association rules (if applicable), either of which might ban some or all home businesses.
7. Review Your Tax Registration and Reporting Requirements
Illinois taxes every kind of business. More specifically, Illinois has a corporate income tax, a corporation franchise tax, and a personal property replacement tax. Most businesses (except sole proprietorships) will be subject to at least one of these three taxes. See Illinois State Business Income Tax for more information on state business taxes in Illinois.
Sole proprietorships. Pay state taxes on business income as part of their personal state income tax returns (Form IL-1040).
Partnerships. Partners pay state taxes on partnership income on personal tax returns. In addition, Illinois partnerships also must file Form IL-1065, Partnership Replacement Tax Return.
LLCs. Members pay state taxes on their share of LLC income on personal tax returns. In addition, LLCs themselves have to file an additional state tax form either a partnership return or a corporation return. The specific form used will depend on how the LLC is classified for federal tax purposes. Illinois LLCs also are required to file an annual report with the Illinois SOS. See Illinois LLC Annual Filing Requirements for more information.
Corporations. Shareholders must pay state taxes on their dividends from the corporation. A shareholder-employee with a salary also must pay state income tax on his or her personal state tax return. Moreover, the corporation itself is subject to various Illinois corporation taxes. And, finally, corporations must file an annual report with the Illinois SOS.
If you have employees, you must also deal with state employer taxes.
And, apart from Illinois taxes, there are always federal income and employer taxes. Check IRS Publications 334, Tax Guide for Small Business, and 583, Taxpayers Starting a Business, available at irs.gov.
8. Obtain Insurance
Business insurance can protect your business and your personal assets from the fallout of unexpected disasters, such as personal injury lawsuits and natural catastrophes. An insurance agent can help you explore the different coverage options for your business, which might include general liability insurance to protect you against claims relating to bodily injury or property damage, or cyber liability insurance to cover litigation and settlement fees following a data security breach. To learn more, see Nolo's article, What Types of Insurances Does Your Small Business Need?
9. Open a Business Bank Account
No matter the type of business you form, you should consider opening a separate business account to make it easier to track your income and expenses. If you own a business with limited liability, such as an LLC or a corporation, you must open a separate bank account to maintain your liability protection. To learn more, see Opening a Business Bank Account.
From licenses and permits to taxes and insurance, learn what you need to do to start a business in Indiana.
Here's an overview of the key steps you'll need to take to start your own business in Indiana.
1. Choose a Business Idea
Take some time to explore and research ideas for your business. At this stage, take into consideration your own interests, skills, resources, availability, and the reasons why you want to form a business. You should also evaluate the likelihood of success based on the interests and needs of your community. Read our article for more tips on how to evaluate business ideas.
After you select an idea, consider drafting a business plan to evaluate your chances of making a profit. When you create a plan, you will have a better idea of the startup costs, your competition, and strategies for making money. Investors and lenders will ask to review your business plan before providing financial assistance. To learn more about the benefits of business plans, and how to create one for your enterprise see Why You Need to Write a Business Plan.
2. Decide on a Legal Structure
The most common legal structures for a small business are:
sole proprietorship
partnership
limited liability company (LLC), and
corporation
There also are special versions of some of these structures, such as limited partnerships and S corporations. You'll want to consider which business entity structure offers the type of liability protection you want and the best tax, financing, and financial benefits for you and your business. Read our article for information on how to choose the best ownership structure for your business.
3. Choose a Name
For LLCs and corporations, you will need to check that your name is distinguishable from the names of other business entities already on file with the Indiana Secretary of State (SOS). You can check for available names by doing a business name search on the SOS website. You can reserve an available name for 120 days by filing a name reservation application with the SOS. There are certain name requirements for LLCs and corporations (like including a word such as "LLC" for LLCs or "Company" for corporations). See How to Form an LLC in Indiana and How to Form a Corporation in Indiana for more information.
Is your business a sole proprietorship or partnership that uses a business name that is different from the legal name of the business owner (for a sole proprietorship) or surnames of the individual partners (for a partnership)? If so, you must file an assumed business name with the county recorder in the county where you will do business. Check the relevant county website for more details.
If you plan on doing business online, you may want to register your business name as a domain name. See Choose and Register a Domain Name for more information. In addition, to avoid trademark infringement issues, you should do a federal and state trademark check to make sure the name you want to use is not the same as or too similar to a name already in use. See How to Do a Trademark Search for more information.
4. Create Your Business Entity
5. Apply for Licenses and Permits
Tax Registration. If you will be selling goods in Indiana, you must register with the Department of Revenue (DOR) to collect sales tax. If your businesses will have employees, you must register with the DOR for employer withholding taxes. You can register for both types of tax, as well as other business taxes, by submitting Form BT-1, Business Tax Application, online through the Business Tax Application section of the DOR website.
EIN. If your business has employees or is taxed separately from you, you must obtain a federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. Even if you are not required to obtain an EIN, there are often business reasons for doing so. Banks often require an EIN to open an account in the business's name and other companies you do business with may require an EIN to process payments. You can get an EIN by completing an online application on the IRS website. There is no filing fee.
Regulatory licenses and permits. Some of the main categories covered by these licenses and permits are:
health and safety
contractor services
daycare services
financial services
transportation, and
professional licensing.
The state publishes a comprehensive Business Owner's Guide that you can view online. Check the Specific Occupational Business Licenses section of the Guide for more details on state licenses and permits. For information about local licenses and permits, check the websites for any cities or counties where you will do business.
Professional and occupational licenses. These cover people who work in various fields. The state's Professional Licensing Agency (PLA) oversees manythough not allof the state's regulatory boards and commissions. Those boards and commissions are in turn responsible for regulating the various licensed professions and occupations. The Professions section of the PLA website lists the many professions and occupations that the PLA oversees.
6. Pick a Business Location and Check Zoning
You'll need to pick a location for your business and check local zoning regulations. Before you commit to a location, take time to calculate the costs of running your business in the desired spot, including rent and utilities. You can refer back to your business plan to evaluate whether you can afford your desired location during your company's early months.
You should also be sure to verify that the spot is zoned for your type of business. You might find zoning regulations for your town or city by reviewing your local ordinances and contacting your town's zoning or planning department. Read our article for more tips on picking a location.
One alternative to opening your business at a new location is running your company out of your home. If you decide to run a home-based business, again check your local zoning laws. In addition, review your lease (if you rent your home) and homeowners association rules (if applicable), either of which might ban some or all home businesses.
7. File and Report Taxes
Indiana taxes every kind of business. See Indiana State Business Income Tax for more information on state business taxes in Indiana.
Sole proprietorships. Pay state taxes on business income as part of their personal state income tax returns (Form IT-40).
Partnerships. Partners pay state taxes on partnership income on personal tax returns. In addition, Indiana partnerships also must file Form IT-65, Indiana Partnership Return.
LLCs. Members pay state taxes on their share of LLC income on personal tax returns. In addition, LLCs themselves have to file an additional state tax form either a partnership return or a corporation return. The specific form used will depend on how the LLC is classified for federal tax purposes. Indiana LLCs also are required to file a biennial report with the Indiana SOS. See Indiana LLC Annual Filing Requirements for more information.
Corporations. Shareholders must pay state taxes on their dividends from the corporation. A shareholder-employee with a salary also must pay state income tax on his or her personal state tax return. Moreover, the corporation itself is subject to Indiana corporation taxes. And, finally, corporations must file a biennial report with the Indiana SOS.
If you have employees, you must also deal with state employer taxes.
And, apart from Indiana taxes, there are always federal income and employer taxes. Check IRS Publications 334, Tax Guide for Small Business, and 583, Taxpayers Starting a Business.
8. Obtain Insurance
Business insurance can protect your company and your personal assets from the fallout of unexpected disasters, such as personal injury lawsuits or natural catastrophes. An insurance agent can help you explore the different coverage options, such as general liability insurance to protect your business against claims relating to bodily injury or property damage. To learn more, see Nolo's article, What Types of Insurances Does Your Small Business Need?
9. Open a Business Bank Account
No matter the type of business you form, you should consider opening a separate business account to make it easier to track your income and expenses. If you own a business with limited liability, such as an LLC or a corporation, you must open a separate bank account to maintain your liability protection. To learn more, see Opening a Business Bank Account.
Community
Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place.
Despite issues with women, minorities, candidate refuses to soften message
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) A defiant Donald Trump blamed his campaign struggles on phony polls from the disgusting media on Monday, fighting to energize his most loyal supporters as his path to the presidency shrinks.
With just 14 days until the election, the Republican nominee campaigned in battleground Florida as his team conceded publicly as well as privately that crucial Pennsylvania may be slipping away to Democrat Hillary Clinton. That would leave him only a razor-thin pathway to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House on Nov. 8.
Despite continued difficulties with women and minorities, Trump refuses to soften his message in the campaigns final days to broaden his coalition. Yet he offered an optimistic front in the midst of a three-day tour through Florida as thousands began voting there in person.
I believe were actually winning, Trump declared during a round table discussion with farmers gathered next to a local pumpkin patch.
A day after suggesting the First Amendment to the Constitution may give journalists too much freedom, he insisted that the media are promoting biased polls to discourage his supporters from voting.
The media isnt just against me. Theyre against all of you, Trump told cheering supporters later in St. Augustine. Theyre against what we represent.
In more bad news for Trump, a new poll shows young voters turning to Clinton now that the race has settled down to two main candidates. Clinton now leads among likely voters 18 to 30 years in age by 60 percent to 19 percent, according to a new GenForward survey.
Young black voters already were solidly in her corner, and now young whites are moving her way, according to the survey by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
With Trump on the defensive, Democrat Clinton worked to slam the door on his candidacy in swing state New Hampshire while eyeing a possible Democratic majority in the Senate.
The former secretary of state campaigned alongside New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is running for the Senate, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was merciless as she seized on recent revelations of Trumps predatory sexual language and several allegations of sexual assault.
He thinks that because he has a mouth full of Tic Tacs, he can force himself on any woman within groping distance, Warren charged. Ive got news for you Donald: Women have had it with guys like you.
Trump has denied all of a recent allegations, and he addressed a new one Monday in an interview with WGIR radio in New Hampshire.
He called the accusations total fiction and lashed out at former adult film performer Jessica Drake, who said Saturday that he had grabbed and kissed her without permission and offered her money to visit his hotel room a decade ago.
One said, He grabbed me on the arm. And shes a porn star, Trump said. He added, Oh, Im sure shes never been grabbed before.
With Election Day two weeks away, Trumps electoral map looks bleak.
The Republican National Committee ignored him altogether in mailers to New Hampshire voters set to be distributed later this week, according to material obtained by The Associated Press. The mail focuses instead on Clintons credibility, featuring a picture of her and former President Bill Clinton and the words, No More of The Lying Clintons.
Trumps campaign manager Kellyanne Conway outlined a path to 270 electoral votes on Sunday that banks on victories in Florida, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina along with New Hampshire and Maines 2nd Congressional District. Assuming Trump wins all of those and he currently trails in some he would earn the exact number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency and no more.
Noticeably absent from the list was Pennsylvania, a state that a top adviser privately conceded was slipping away despite Trumps aggressive courtship of the states white working-class voters. The adviser spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.
Florida was largely the focus on Monday as in-person early voting began across 50 counties, including the states largest: Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach. Remaining counties will start in the coming week.
Early voting by mail has been underway for weeks. Nearly 1.2 million voters in Florida have already mailed in ballots.
Clinton plans to visit Tuesday and Wednesday, while her running mate, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, was making two Florida appearances on Monday. He took a shot at Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in the first, a reminder that Clintons team is fighting to retake a Senate majority.
Kaine noted that Rubio previously called Trump a dangerous con artist, though the senator currently supports him.
Democrats would take the Senate majority if they pick up four seats and Clinton wins the White House.
Trumps difficulties are evident in this weeks travel plans, which include a possible stop in Arizona. A Democratic presidential candidate hasnt won there in 20 years, yet polls show Trump in a close race.
Republicans look worse in New Hampshire, a state Trump must win in the scenario his campaign manager outlined.
Women voters can sway elections here, said Republican strategist Ryan Williams. And hes doing nothing to reach out to them.
The United States and Luxembourg establish a new era of Space cooperation within NATO
Steve Zana, director of Valparaiso Theatrical Companys Lilies of the Field, thinks area audiences will appreciate the stage return of the big-screen favorite.
We like to do shows that people are familiar with, and its something that hasnt been done here in the area for a long, long time, he said. People do remember the movie and they do remember the messages, and its a nice little tight show.
Opening Nov. 4 and running through Nov. 13 at The First Christian Church in Valparaiso, Lilies tells the tale of Homer Smith, an Arizona handyman who offers his services to European nuns on this side of the pond. Originally solicited to make minor repairs, Smith winds up staying with the nuns for an extended period and builds them a chapel.
Based on the 1962 novel by William Edmund Barrett, Lilies was made into a movie in 1963. Sidney Poitier received a Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Smith.
Its got so many different themes in it, Zana said of Lilies. Its got the theme of the American dream, the theme of faith and the theme of lack of faith and how things happen for a reason. There are so many themes and theyre all intertwining.
Nelson Velazquez is Smith in Valparaiso Theatrical Companys production of Lilies and is joined onstage by Vickie Cash as Mother Superior and Rev. Dave Kovalow as Father Gomez.
(The cast is) fantastic and strong from top to bottom, Zana said. Theyre a happy group.
Proceeds from Lilies will go to Northwest Indiana charities.
Next up for Valparaiso Theatrical Company is a An Adult Evening With Shel Silverstein, a joint effort with Crown Point Community Theatre scheduled to open in Crown Point on Jan. 27.
FYI: Lilies of the Field will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4-5 and 11-12 and 2 p.m. Nov. 6 and 13 at The First Christian Church, 1507 Glendale Blvd., Valparaiso. Cost is $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Call (219) 309-6794 or visit VALPARAISOTHEATRICALCOMPANY.ORG
GRIFFITH Pokro Brewing will host a Halloween-themed Oktoberfest celebration Saturday that will shut down part of Broad Street.
POKtoberfest will block off Broad Street from Lake Street to Miller Street. The fall beer fest will take place between 1 to 5 p.m. at the brewery, 311 N. Broad St. A zombie fun run will start at 11 a.m., and VIPs can get in at noon for appetizers.
Participating breweries include Pokro Brewing Company, Wildrose Brewing Company, New Oberpfalz Brewing, The Devils Trumpet Brewing Co., Shoreline Brewery, Windmill Brewing, St. John Malt Brothers, One Trick Pony, Byway Brewing, Bulldog Brewing Co., Ironwood Brewing Co., Four Fathers, Zorn Brew Works, Burn Em Brewing, Route 2 Brews, Figure Eight Brewing, Crown Brewing and Misbehavin Meads. Michigan ciders also will be available for sampling.
Charcuterie, T & S Catering, Villa Pizza, Bridges Scoreboard and Ladys Gourmet Popcorn will have food available for purchase.
The Cosmic Situation and Jason Jakes Duo will play music, and there will be a costume contest with a $300 prize.
Tickets are $50 for VIP, $35 for general admission, and $10 for designated driver, and can be purchased at Pokro Brewing Company or online at http://bpt.me/2594293.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Griffith police and fire departments.
CROWN POINT East Chicago police have arrested Simmone Alston, 26, and Jose La Alisandro Otero Jr., 25, who are facing felony charges in the death of Alstons 16-month-old daughter in March 2015.
Alston is charged with neglect of a dependent, a level 1 felony, and false informing. Lake County prosecutors charged Otero with felony level 1 neglect of a dependent, felony level 1 battery and one count of false informing.
The charges stem from the death of Alstons daughter, Alaynia Alston, on March 10, 2015. Simmone Alston is being held on a $40,000 bond while Oteros bond is $100,000, according to the probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday. The pair will appear before Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez.
East Chicago police were called at 7:44 a.m. to the familys apartment in the 3600 block of Parrish Avenue for reports of an unconscious child, the affidavit states.
Alaynia Alston was taken to St. Catherine Hospitals emergency room in a police cruiser. Detective Miguel Pena reported he saw the baby unresponsive and with burns on her right thigh and buttocks in the ER and that she was pronounced dead at 8:04 a.m., according to the affidavit.
At the hospital Alston and Otero, who is Alstons fiance, told police the baby suffered the burns more than a week before when her brother knocked a pot of boiling water onto her with one of his toys, court records state. Otero said he was baby-sitting the children while Alston worked at Majestic Star Casino. Both said they didnt seek medical attention because they thought they could treat the wounds themselves.
During a forensic interview with the brother, Lake County Sheriffs Detective Jeremy Kalvaitis, of the Special Victims Unit, asked the boy what happened to his sister.
(He) stated that he saw his daddy, Jose Otero Jr., burn her leg at his house, according to the affidavit.
The autopsy report listed the babys death as a homicide, and cause of death as extensive burn wounds over 11.5 percent of the childs body.
During later interviews, both Simmone Alston and Otero changed their stories, according to the court records.
Alston told personnel from the Department of Child Services that she didnt know what happened to her daughter because she was out clubbing with her family at the Link Bar in Gary rather than at work. She also said Otero punched a hole in the wall at the apartment during arguments and that her son is terrified of Otero, the affidavit states.
In an interview with Pena, Otero said he put the girl in a bathtub with hot water running after she soiled herself. Later in the interview, Otero said he sat the girl on a white mat in the tub and turned on the hot water.
Otero stated that he stepped out of the bathroom to get his daughter some clothes, and then heard her scream, Pena states in the probable cause affidavit.
Police also interviewed Simmone Alstons mother, Angela Alston, who said the baby had burns in January 2015.
EAST CHICAGO A man was stabbed in the shoulder Monday after he began fighting with two men at Callahan Park, police said.
East Chicago police were dispatched about 5:30 p.m. to St. Catherine's Hospital for a man with a stab wound, according to a police report.
The man told police he was playing dominoes with several people he didn't know at Callahan Park when a fight broke out between him and two men about 4:50 p.m.
As they fought, a third person stabbed the man in the lower right shoulder, police said.
Police attempted to find witnesses, but no one would talk with an officer.
Anyone with information is asked to call the department's anonymous tip line at (219) 391-8500.
CHESTERTON A woman driving 115 mph with two children not properly restrained in car seats was arrested after trying to outrun police, according to the Porter County Sheriffs Department.
Sabrina Terry, 19, of Michigan City, was charged with resisting law enforcement, neglect of a dependent, possession of a hypodermic needle and reckless driving.
A Porter County Sheriffs Department officer said his radar showed Terry traveling 115 mph on U.S. 20 near County Road 250 East.
The officer said he attempted a traffic stop, but Terry continued to drive and pulled into a storage business, in an attempt to lose the officer.
Police said she pulled back onto U.S. 20 and eventually stopped when the officer caught up to her.
Police said they removed Terry from the car and found several capped needles in her pocket.
She told police she was diabetic and needed the needles to take insulin, but a family member told officers later that she was not diabetic, police said. She also told officers she was going to pick up insulin at a pharmacy in Valparaiso, but she changed her story when the officer said he would call the pharmacy to verify her story.
She also told officers she was speeding to get to a doctors appointment for her children.
Police said there was a 1-year-old and 2-year-old in the back seat of the car. Police said one child was totally unrestrained in the back seat and the other was in a child car seat, but was not buckled in.
Terry was arrested and taken to Porter County Jail. A relative was called to take custody of the children.
The Department of Child Services was contacted and a copy of the police report will be sent to the agency for review.
PORTAGE The Board of Works on Tuesday approved an agreement with the Indiana Department of Transportation in the first step to bringing a compressed natural gas station to the city.
Colin Highlands, long-range planner for the citys Department of Community Development, said this is a unique public/private partnership between the city, South Shore Clean Cities and Family Express to locate a CNG station at the Family Express station on Ind. 249 and AmeriPlex Drive.
The company is receiving a $435,000 Federal Highway Administration Grant.
The funds are funneled through INDOT and the city to Family Express. Family Express will contribute another $435,000 for the construction of the station.
There is no cost to the city.
A message to Family Express was not returned Tuesday.
Mayor James Snyder said this will increase the citys options when purchasing garbage trucks.
He said they have shied away from CNG trucks because there is no place local for them to be refueled.
Highlands said the closest CNG stations are in Hobart and Gary.
With the new station, which is likely to be constructed next year, it will open up options, said Highlands, adding grants are available for municipalities to purchase CNG-fueled garbage trucks, reducing municipal costs. CNG-fueled trucks, said Highlands, emit fewer fumes and are quieter to operate.
VALPARAISO The City Council on Monday rejected a proposal to rezone and donate a 3.7-acre plot of land on the citys north side to two local nonprofit organizations to build affordable housing for low-income and homeless residents.
The vote came after nearly three hours of discussion and a hearing that drew a crowd that overflowed out of the City Council chambers.
More than three dozen residents addressed the council, many citing concerns about safety and property values. Others praised the proposal saying the need for affordable housing in the city is great and the city should follow its strategic plan to encourage more affordable housing.
Lois Reiner said many residents are disenfranchised and this type of housing is needed in Valparaiso.
This is what I love about Valpo. Ive seen the humanity of this community grow and grow and grow.
The Rev. Timothy Leitzke, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, said the amount of affordable, subsidized housing in the city is dwindling.
I am concerned that we seem to be edifying the weakest people in our society for no apparent reason. We have affordable housing that we built in Valparaiso. Much of that affordable housing has now gone on the market.
Leitzke said when this project would have been completed the city still would have experienced a net loss in available affordable housing. Not approving will result in even less available housing, he said.
Please do not cave into the fear over there being residences located next to residences, especially ones we will desperately need in the coming years, he said.
But Suzanne Edwards, who lives on Camilla Drive, a few block away from the proposed apartments, argued against the location of the project.
She said the project was too close to homes, schools and recreational activities and asked the council to vote against it.
Dan Martin told the council that the government raises its money through taxes, not fund drives, and asked that the city concentrate efforts on providing services other organizations cannot provide.
Youre not a church, youre not a charitable organization, youre the city, Martin said. And so we depend on you for safety, security and many other things.
Rick Urschel told the council the reason for zoning is to set up communities in an orderly fashion.
He said the reason the area is zoned as a business park is to encourage businesses to move to that area. He said the city would not allow residential areas in the middle of business areas and neither would it allow businesses in the middle of residential areas.
So to say that this is an ideal location is a little bit disingenuous, Urschel said. Yes, it is located close to all the services that are necessary for those people. ... But we dont typically put that type of development in the middle of a business park because it ... is intended for businesses.
He also raised concerns that this property never came to market, and he believes there are developers who would be interested in buying or exploring the option of developing that land.
Mayor Jon Costas backed the proposal that would have rezoned land between Valparaiso Street and Valley Drive, south of the main post office. The land is a parking lot that is accessible from the former Purdue North Central parking lot and a driveway off Valley Drive.
It was part of a proposal called Aurora View by Housing Opportunities and Porter-Starke Services to build a 31-unit housing complex in an area they argued was close to businesses and city services.
But Republican members of the council, by a vote that followed party lines, raised questions about the need for more affordable housing, the appropriateness of putting housing in an area zoned for business and the outpouring of opposition from nearby residents.
Republican council members Matt Murphy, Lenore Hoffman, John Bowker and Trista Hudson voted against an ordinance to rezone the land from Business Park to Urban Residential.
Supporters, including the mayor, said the land was uniquely located to allow low-income residents a chance to live near businesses and the citys V-Line bus routes.
The project called for the city to donate the land, rezone it and then grant a tax abatement on the land.
Had the council OKd the plan, Housing Opportunities and Porter-Starke would have applied for federal tax credits, which would have allowed for a private investor to finance the project.
The project called for existing four units at 2610-2640 Valparaiso St., directly south of the main post office, to be refurbished. The 15 one-bedroom units in those four buildings would have been for people with disabilities.
Two new buildings, at 1 Valley Drive, the city-owned lot adjacent to the Valparaiso Street property, would have two buildings with a total of 31 units, 12 for permanent supportive housing, and 19 units open occupancy.
Three units in two-story townhomes at 1504 Vale Park Road, also would have been a part of the project and targeted for open occupancy and lease-purchase after 15 years of rental.
Alcohol might be to blame for a single-car rollover crash Monday on I-65 that critically injured a Chicago man and sent a Rensselaer woman to a local hospital, police said.
Terrance D. Nunnally Jr., 23, was driving north on Interstate 65, about three miles south of a Crown Point exit, about 6:40 p.m. when he changed lanes from the left to the right and drove off the road onto gravel, according to Indiana State Police.
Nunnally over corrected, lost control and ran the 2005 Pontiac Grand Am he was driving off the road a second time, police said. The Pontiac rolled multiple times. Nunnally, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the car and landed about 60 feet from the car in a ditch on the east side of the road, police said.
Nunnally had life-threatening injuries and initially was taken to Franciscan Health Crown Point. He was later flown to Memorial Hospital in South Bend.
Charlotte M. Daniels, 20, a passenger in the Pontiac, was wearing a seat belt and had non-life-threatening injuries. She was taken to Franciscan Health Crown Point.
Police said alcohol was believed to be a factor in the crash.
CROWN POINT The step in what would eventually become a new medical campus in the city was taken Monday during a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.
The Board gave a favorable recommendation to the City Council for what would be known as Community Stroke and Rehabilitation Hospital at 10215 Broadway Ave., south of Burns Funeral Home & Crematory and across the street from Bethel Church.
The hospital would be a member of the Community Healthcare system that includes Community Hospital, in Munster; St. Catherine Hospital, in East Chicago; and St. Mary Medical Center, in Hobart.
The four story multi-use hospital would include an immediate care and physical therapy facilities, physician offices, an outpatient clinic and a womens care center. The development means there is potential for Delaware Street, east of Broadway, to extend north to 101st Avenue from where it currently ends at 109th Avenue.
Although the site is about 47 acres, the initial hospital will comprise about 9.5 acres with plans to develop the remaining area as needs see fit.
Its typical of us when we move into an area, said Dave Otte, vice president of engineering for the project. We like to provide services the community needs and we always continue to grow and provide more medical facilities and answer all of the demands of the community.
The architect of the project, Les Dreischerf, of Design Alliance Architects, in Hammond, called the hospital a significant investment.
We think its a win-win for the community, he said.
The plans will go before the City Council at its Nov. 7 meeting. Hospital officials hope to start construction in the spring.
There is an alternative to what could be epic wait times for voters on Election Day.
The Nov. 8 ballot will be a slow read, since it is chock full of candidates for president, governor, U.S. senator, U.S. representative, state legislators, local government officials, judges, school board candidates and a few state and local referendums thrown in.
Northwest Indiana election officials are touting their early voting sites as the quickest and most convenient way to vote this fall.
Our ballots will have six to seven pages and the referendums are always worded in a way that makes it difficult to understand if you dont know the issue. Thats one of the good reasons to vote early, Lake County Election Director Michelle Fajman said.
We really push absentee voting, because we are better equipped to assist people than on Election Day when we are spread thin across the entire county, said Sundae Schoon, Porter County Republican voter director.
Fajman, Schoon and LaPorte Republican Voter Registration Director Diane Gonzalez said voting lines were between 10 and 15 deep Monday.
It depends on when you join the line. We are very busy between 11 a.m. and when we close for the day, Schoon said.
I had a complaint about someone waiting 45 minutes at the Schererville location on the first day, but that probably has more to do with out staff getting acclimated to the process, Fajman said.
Fajman said the Munster Town Hall voting site experienced a power outage about 9 a.m. Monday. Voters were directed three miles east on Ridge Road to the Wicker Park location until power was restored about 11 a.m.
Fajman said they will add an additional voting machine at the Schererville, Munster and Highlands Wicker Park locations where early voting has been heaviest outside of Crown Point.
Fajman said in Lake 12,280 had voted in person by the end of Friday and an additional 4,149 had already voted by mail, through the countys traveling boards, which visit the homebound and by email and fax from overseas.
That includes: 2,803 in Crown Point, 1,801 in St. John, 1,335 in Munster, 1,268 in Schererville, 1,066 in Wicker Park, 833 in Gary, 703 in Lowell, 687 in Winfield, 649 in Hobart Township, 633 in Hammond and 502 in East Chicago.
People are interested, LaPortes Gonzalez said. We have had 2,703 walk-in votes, 715 mail-in votes, 96 email votes and about 100 traveling board votes.
Schoon said 5,067 had cast walk-in votes and 2,592 have mailed in absentee ballots in Porter County.
Gonzalez and Schoon said they expect to equal voter participation marks set in the 2012 presidential election.
HAMMOND A former administrator with Garys information technology department was indicted by a federal grand jury for theft from a local government receiving federal funds in connection with the alleged theft of more than 1,000 Apple iPads and other computer equipment from the city.
Monique Bowling, also known as Monique Bond and Monique Boyd-Bowling, was also indicted on one count of aggravated identity theft and four counts of mail fraud in connection with a separate incident involving pension checks.
As a network administrator for Gary, the 44-year-old Merrillville resident allegedly could order equipment from vendors for Garys departments and agencies connected with it. According to the indictment. from at least June 2013 through the end of April 2015, Bowling allegedly stole and obtained by fraud more than 1,000 iPads and other equipment worth at least $5,000.
A State Board of Accounts report issued in October 2015 said Bowling owed Gary $1.37 million and the state $29,818 for it investigative costs.
Shortly after the State Board of Accounts report was issued, Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said the city was overhauling its purchasing procedures. She also said the city was the one to first refer the issue to Indiana State Police after a vendor called seeking payment for the purchases.
In the matter involving the pension checks, the federal indictment unsealed Monday said a person living at Bowlings residence died on September 2, 2010, Instead of notifying the individuals employer of the death, Bowling and at least one other person allegedly entered into a scheme to obtain the dead individuals pension checks each month through at least May 2015.
The life-size sculptures that have entertained residents and visitors in Crown Point and Valparaisos ever-growing public art events are leaving a social, cultural and economic impact on the two cities.
The 10 Seward Johnson sculptures, as well as a 31-foot-tall statue of Abraham Lincoln, have been displayed in various locations of Crown Point since April, mostly on the downtown square. They will be gone by the end of the month. This is the second consecutive year the city has leased sculptures from the The Seward Johnson Atelier Inc.
A two-year commitment has already been made to continue the program.
Councilwoman Carol Drasga, who heads up the project, said the statues not only introduce art to the community but they help bring business to local merchants.
I think it gives so much energy to our downtown, she said
Drasga said unlike city festivals and sporting events, where visitors may only come for that specific event, the sculptures invite people to park their cars and stroll around and maybe buy some ice cream or have lunch on the square.
Drasga said the art draws not only people from Crown Point but from surrouding communities and beyond. A visitor from Wisconsin snapped photos Saturday on the square and a woman from California took a selfie in front of the Abraham Lincoln statue.
The life-size art is kind of irresistible, Drasga said. People come and take pictures of it. I think it was really a benefit to make Crown Point even more of a destination than it already is.
Valparaiso, which also has a vibrant downtown, continues to draw visitors to its public art.
Known for its Orville Redenbacher sculpture at Central Park Plaza, the city also for the last three years has presented an annual Art Walk featuring sculptures by Ken Thompson of Midwest Sculpture Initiative, which leases sculptures to cities in the Midwest. The outdoor exhibit is at Cumberland Crossing on the northeast corner of Cumberland Drive and Vale Park Road.
During the summer, the city also hosted more than 250 works of visual and performing art displays by 27 artists called The Pop-Up: A Valparaiso Art Experience.
If thats not enough, the city also placed art wraps on its various bike lockers throughout downtown and this summer started doing the same to its utility boxes. One of those utility boxes has a wrap painted by area artist Phillip Herrold, who is also the director of operations for the Enclave Project, which partnered with Valparaiso Events on Pop-Up.
Economic growth is vital for all communities to thrive and all business must be taken seriously, Herrold said. Artists are businessmen and women who can make a difference in their field.
Kurt Gillins, administrator for the citys Art Advisory Committee, said the locations of the art pieces serve as a talking point for residents and visitors to Valparaiso.
When art is located in places where one wouldnt first think about it, it gets peoples imaginations moving on why is it there, he said. They really start to notice it and, in turn, notice the area around it.
LAPORTE A man who served 40-years in prison for strangling a brother and sister whose bodies were found in the crawlspace of his home was back in LaPorte County to face another criminal charge.
Richard Dobeski, 69, was arraigned Friday in LaPorte Circuit Court for failure to register as a sex offender, a level 6 felony.
He was transferred Thursday from the Marion County Jail after completing a 910-day sentence for the same offense.
Dobeski on Monday was still being held without bond Monday in the LaPorte County Jail to face his latest charge, which could bring a sentence of up to 2 1/2 years.
Hes due back in the courtroom on Wednesday, where Judge Tom Alevizos will set bond and conditions of his release.
If hes able to come up with bail money, certainly, were going to be keeping an eye on him like we do all of our sex offenders, said LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd.
Dobeski was 16 in 1964 when he strangled next door neighbors Shawn and Cary Johnston, who were 6 and 3, in Long Beach.
According to authorities, Dobeski already had a history of child molesting and was under psychological evaluation prior to the murders.
Originally, he was given consecutive life sentences.
Upon his 1989 request for post conviction relief, though, his time was reduced to 40 years for each of the killings.
In 2003, Dobeski was released but in 2007 was given an 11-year sentence for child molesting and possession of child pornography for fondling a 7-year-old boy and having naked images of children while living in Westville.
He was released again by the Indiana Department of Correction in 2013.
Dobeski was on parole living in Gary when he cut off the GPS bracelet he was ordered to wear for keeping track of his whereabouts, a parole violation that landed him back in prison until his release in 2015.
He was put on a bus to Michigan City, then went to Gary, but the homeless shelter where he planned to stay was closed, authorities said.
Eight days later, Dobeski was arrested at a library in Indianapolis on warrants out of both LaPorte and Marion counties.
He had seven days to register as a sex offender or contact police to let them know where he was going to be until finding permanent residency, but did neither, police said.
Despite his advancing years, Long Beach Police Chief Robert Sulkowski believes Dobeski poses just as much of a threat to the public.
He should be locked up and the keys thrown away. Hes sick, Sulkowski said.
VALPARAISO A Portage man did not even get the chance Tuesday to argue why he should get his license back early after being convicted of leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in the death of another motorist.
Reinaldo Figueroa IIIs request was cut short by Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Polarek, who successfully argued the 24-year-old was not eligible for the break because his offense involved the death of another person.
Defense attorney Andrew Spica disagreed, arguing the exclusion does not apply to his client because Figueroas charge does not involve causing the death of the other motorist.
Figueroa pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an April 2, 2012, accident that resulted in the death of Frank Ivey, 22, of South Haven, who was riding his moped on County Road 700 North.
Thomas Ivey II, Frank Iveys brother, had asked during the Feb. 20, 2013, sentencing hearing to show no leniency, no mercy because Figueroa showed none to his brother after striking him with his car and leaving him in the road only to be struck by another vehicle.
Polarek accused Spica of splitting hairs, saying leaving the scene of the accident denied aid to the person who died.
Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper agreed with Polarek.
Is there any other cause to the death than the accident? she asked.
Harper had sentenced Figueroa to six years in prison, suspending three years of the term to be served on formal probation after his release from prison. His drivers license also was suspended for four years after his release, which was Feb. 21, 2014, according to the Indiana Department of Correction.
Figueroa sought permission to drive to and from his job at a steel supply company at the Port of Indiana, according to his request. The privilege would be limited to designated hours Thursday through Saturday.
He also wanted to drive from his Portage home to Valparaiso for probation appointments, and for doctor and dentist appointments for himself and his infant daughter.
The mother of his child also lives in Valparaiso, and he hoped to drive there as well, according to the request.
VALPARAISO With Halloween around the corner, police officials want to remind parents about a tool that can help keep their children safe.
Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds is encouraging parents to log onto his departments portercountysheriff.com/" href="http://www.portercountysheriff.com/" target="_blank">website at portercountysheriff.com to research neighborhoods and addresses to determine the proximity of registered sex offenders and to know what houses children should avoid during trick-or-treating. The website also provides tips to discuss with children to keep them safe.
Reynolds, in a press release, said parents can register their addresses and an email using the Offender Watch monitoring system and will be automatically alerted via email when an offender moves within a specified radius of the registered address. Parents can register any and all addresses where children spend time including friends, grandparents and babysitters.
The confidential email alert service allows the department to monitor important addresses, keeping parents up to day on newly registered offenders.
It is the goal of our office to provide accurate information the the public regarding the dangers of sexual predators and to further build community awareness, said Reynolds.
The department began using the Offender Watch software in 2010 and has since sent 25,416 sex offender notifications. More than 1,900 residents have enrolled in the service.
Visit lakefront communities in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, and youll find Lake Michigan dining options charging a premium for the scenic view.
In Northwest Indiana, historically, not so much.
Thats why its encouraging to see a recent push, with both public and private backing, to introduce lakefront dining options that seize upon one of our Regions best, most marketable assets.
These endeavors deserve consideration by all Northwest Indiana communities lucky enough to contain Lake Michigan shoreline.
Our lakeshore has long been the bastion of both heavy industry and scenic outdoor recreation.
Both characteristics are important to our Regions past, present and future.
But we also have seen a push in recent years to reclaim unused, formerly industrial, lakefront parcels for recreation and development.
The Marquette Plan, championed by U.S. House Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, continues pursuing these goals with notable successes.
So the time seems right to consider how developing areas for dining options which attract visitors, generate revenue and increase quality of life options fit into this plan.
Times business reporter Joseph Pete provided a detailed article in Sundays Times, noting many existing and planned dining enterprises.
Michigan City has long known the value of restaurants near the lakeshore. Indiana Dunes State Park is working toward offering a restaurant and banquet facility in a plan to restore and re-purpose the crumbling lakefront pavilion. Whiting is planning a lakeside restaurant.
Other lakefront communities that havent already done so need to join the conversation.
A bigger picture of what our most treasured and marketable asset can bring to this Region awaits.
The people who have voted in past elections have been sorely disappointed throughout the years. We do not have statesmen and women. Instead, we have, by and large, a bunch of individuals looking out for themselves and how they can profit themselves.
The North Bergen Police Department says a dancer and choreographer from New Jersey who was missing has been found.
@nbpolice & @NYPDnews have located SHIRLENE QUIGLEY. She is safe and being treated at an undisclosed location pic.twitter.com/VeSVW7P2XG North Bergen Police (@nbpolice) October 25, 2016
According to the North Bergen Police Department's Facebook page, Shirlene Quigley is safe and is at a medical facility.
The North Bergen Police Department says her father is en route from Los Angeles to reunite with his daughter.
Quigley has performed as a backup dancer with Beyonce, Rihanna, and Missy Elliott.
Elliott took to Twitter to confirm that Quigley has been found.
Thank u 4 all your prayers everyone & @nbpolice #shirlenequigley is safe & being treated in a disclosed location pic.twitter.com/SvEmAK0h9t Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) October 25, 2016
Quigley had been missing since Friday, when she was last seen leaving her home in North Bergen Township.
At least one person reported seeing her at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan on Sunday.
The NYPD found her cellphone at a store in Manhattan, but did not identify the store.
Such doubts have been a major factor in the American political debate over global warming, stalling efforts by Democrats and the Obama administration to pass legislation that would curb emissions of heat-trapping gases. Similar legislative efforts are likely to receive even less support in the new Congress, with many newly elected legislators openly skeptical about climate change.
A large majority of climate scientists argue that heat-trapping gases are almost certainly playing a role in what is happening to the worlds land ice. They add that the lack of policies to limit emissions is raising the risk that the ice will go into an irreversible decline before this century is out, a development that would eventually make a three-foot rise in the sea look trivial.
Melting ice is by no means the only sign that the earth is warming. Thermometers on land, in the sea and aboard satellites show warming. Heat waves, flash floods and other extreme weather events are increasing. Plants are blooming earlier, coral reefs are dying and many other changes are afoot that most climate scientists attribute to global warming.
Yet the rise of the sea could turn out to be the single most serious effect. While the United States is among the countries at greatest risk, neither it nor any other wealthy country has made tracking and understanding the changes in the ice a strategic national priority.
The consequence is that researchers lack elementary information. They have been unable even to measure the water temperature near some of the most important ice on the planet, much less to figure out if that water is warming over time. Vital satellites have not been replaced in a timely way, so that American scientists are losing some of their capability to watch the ice from space.
The missing information makes it impossible for scientists to be sure how serious the situation is.
As a scientist, you have to stick to what you know and what the evidence suggests, said Gordon Hamilton, one of the researchers in the helicopter. But the things Ive seen in Greenland in the last five years are alarming. We see these ice sheets changing literally overnight.
Dodging Icebergs
In the brilliant sunshine of a late summer day in southeastern Greenland, the pilot at the controls of the red helicopter, Morgan Goransson, dropped low toward the water. He used the downdraft from his rotor to clear ice from the surface of Sermilik Fjord.
For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans phone calls parallel to but covering a far longer time than the National Security Agencys hotly disputed collection of phone call logs.
The Hemisphere Project, a partnership between federal and local drug officials and AT&T that has not previously been reported, involves an extremely close association between the government and the telecommunications giant.
The government pays AT&T to place its employees in drug-fighting units around the country. Those employees sit alongside Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local detectives and supply them with the phone data from as far back as 1987.
The project comes to light at a time of vigorous public debate over the proper limits on government surveillance and on the relationship between government agencies and communications companies. It offers the most significant look to date at the use of such large-scale data for law enforcement, rather than for national security.
AT&Ts chief executive, Randall L. Stephenson, has been pretty casual about the costs of failing to push through the telecommunication giants proposed purchase of Time Warner.
Breakup fees are not that relevant in a deal like this, Mr. Stephenson said on Monday in an interview on CNBC.
In its 130-year history, AT&T has transitioned from a telegraph service to a wireless provider to a global communications behemoth.
Now, one of Americas oldest corporations is about to take on what may be its trickiest identity yet: journalist.
Assuming its $85 billion merger with Time Warner is cleared, AT&T will soon find itself in charge of CNN, the cable news stalwart whose profitability itself a crucial lure for suitors of Time Warner relies on an international reputation for legitimate reporting.
The difficulties of defending tough reporting and shielding journalists from powerful antagonists can be hard for any corporation to stomach. And while AT&T gained a foothold in the television industry by acquiring DirecTV last year, the company has no journalistic lineage, meaning its executives will have to face these challenges on the fly.
There were lots of things that were not making sense, she said, and I was getting scared.
Ms. Kelly explained: Kevin ODowd was my boss. I had told him about the traffic study; he was now having a bit of a memory issue. Governor Christie is also my boss; hes having a memory issue, too.
Ms. Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to the governor, is accused of conspiring with two former Christie aides at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge, to close the lanes to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., and then covering it up as a traffic study. Bill Baroni, a former Christie ad ministration official, is also on trial.
Taking the witness stand in her own defense for the second time, Ms. Kelly gave an intimate view of the panicky days of December 2013, as the Christie administration tried to fend off legislative subpoenas and intensifying media scrutiny of the lane closings.
She recalled watching Mr. Christie say in two news conferences that he had known nothing about the closings much less any intent to punish the mayor. When she tried to remind Mr. ODowd and the governor that they, in fact, knew about the closings beforehand, she testified, they ignored her.
Even in January 2014, when a subpoena revealed the incriminating email Ms. Kelly had written before the closings Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee Mr. Christie and his aides were struggling to get their story straight. They found her a lawyer who assured her that everything was going to be fine and that they would find another job for her; then they fired her. (Ms. Kelly subsequently found another lawyer herself; Mr. Christie recently successfully nominated her original lawyer, Walter F. Timpone, to the states highest court.)
The Justice Department has replaced the New York team of agents and lawyers investigating the death of Eric Garner, officials said, a highly unusual shake-up that could jump-start the long-stalled case and put the government back on track to seek criminal charges.
Mr. Garner, 43, died in 2014 on a Staten Island street corner, where two police officers confronted him and accused him of selling untaxed cigarettes. One of the officers, Daniel Pantaleo, was seen on a video using a chokehold, prohibited by the New York Police Department, to subdue him. Mr. Garners last words, I cant breathe, became a rallying cry for protesters around the country.
Federal authorities have been investigating whether officers violated Mr. Garners civil rights in his fatal encounter with the police. But the case had been slowed by a dispute because federal prosecutors and Federal Bureau of Investigation officials in New York opposed bringing charges, while prosecutors with the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department in Washington argued there was clear evidence to do so.
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, who as the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York oversaw the beginning of the federal inquiry before her appointment to Washington, has been considering for months how to proceed.
Almost 90 percent of the handguns that were recovered largely came from six states along Interstate 95, according to the report, called Target on Trafficking, New York Crime Gun Analysis. The six states are Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.
The report, through an analysis of gun-trace data, highlights how guns flow into New York from states with weaker gun laws and intends to put pressure on other states and the federal government to pursue stricter gun laws. An accompanying online interactive, Tracing Analytics Platform, lets residents look at gun data in their neighborhoods.
Its time for the federal government and other states to take common-sense measures and ensure weak gun laws wont continue to take the lives of New Yorkers, the attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, said in a statement on Monday.
The attorney generals office collected and analyzed the data to better understand the continued gun violence in New York, despite the states stricter gun laws, the office said. The interactive allows local law enforcement to reach their own conclusions about how to address crime guns in their area, the office added.
An article in The New York Times on Friday about national gun control laws examined 130 of the countrys worst shootings and reviewed state and federal laws to show how porous gun regulations are and some of the difficulties in tightening them.
ALBANY In 2014, while cruising to re-election, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos efforts to help his fellow Democrats were, to be polite, understated.
The governor, known for often working closely with Republicans in Albany, did spend some money on behalf of Democratic candidates and endorsed a few just before the election. But he did little stumping for anyone other than himself, and all of the candidates he endorsed lost.
But in recent days, Mr. Cuomo perhaps mindful of criticism that he has not been particularly effusive or effective in his support of Democrats has practically become a campaign carnival barker.
On Monday, Mr. Cuomo endorsed two of his partys State Senate candidates on Long Island.
The governor also has three Democratic fund-raisers planned between now and Sunday, including a big-ticket event in Manhattan on Tuesday. The beneficiary of that appearance will be the New York Senate Democrats, who have long growled about not holding the majority despite having enormous advantages in voter registration statewide and, technically, having more members in the 63-seat chamber. (More on this later.)
Obama to Declare MARTIAL LAW If Trump Wins Election. That was the teaser text that recently popped up on my Facebook news feed. It directed me to a post from a page called Nation in Distress, one of the many hyperpartisan Facebook pages that have gained in popularity this year.
The post linked to a website called americasfreedomfighters.com, which linked to a video blog called The Daily Sheeple, which cited a National Enquirer story claiming that Hillary Clinton had a lesbian tryst in a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel in the 1990s. I wasnt able to find the evidence that President Obama would declare martial law if Donald J. Trump won the presidential election.
The next time I opened Facebook, another Nation in Distress post showed up at the top of my news feed this time with a story about how the size of Mr. Trumps campaign plane HUMILIATED the Clinton plane. (Dr. Freud was unavailable for comment.)
In 2005, Stephen Colbert coined the term truthiness: the instinctive feeling that something is or isnt true. At the time, he was skewering right-wing talking heads including Rush Limbaugh, Bill OReilly and Glenn Beck, all of whom still exert significant influence in Republican politics. But in this election, truthiness has become fully weaponized by social media, with Facebook awarding coveted blue check marks to partisan accounts on the right and left, and lending them an air of credibility despite the fact that they have no responsibility to separate truth from fiction.
You are a Republican.
You believe President Obama has been a disappointment if not a failure. You think Hillary Clinton is wrong on most issues, and you worry about her judgment.
You are agonizing about what to do this year, and I understand why. Donald Trump is clearly distasteful. Yet he at least seems likely to appoint conservative judges and sign Republican bills. So what are you supposed to do?
Allow me to tell you about my grandparents.
They grew up as middle-class children of the Depression in Philadelphia. My grandmother was a star athlete who went on to raise a tightly knit family filled with laughter. My outgoing grandfather first sold pens door to door and later sold ads for The Saturday Evening Post and Business Week.
My grandparents believed in American business, and they were small-c conservative. They voted Republican, year after year.
Daniel, a high school dropout, used his 25 years as a security guard to educate himself but despairs that anyone will make use of his intelligence.
I am 52, a high school dropout, in pretty good health, unemployed and with no discernible prospects. I do not expect any pity, but it does happen to be a fact that my I.Q. is 134 and that it is strange that the advanced U.S.A. never managed to translate that intelligence into anything of use for itself. I despised school, dropped out and worked a security guard job for 25 years (same company all that time), and I read like hell, learned to write. Now if a piece of writing on almost anything is placed in the English language before me I can analyze it and often offer a useful opinion. But even with an actual demonstration of my intelligence I doubt I would come to anything in America.
M. L. Chadwick called for a new public works agency, such as was created during Franklin Delano Roosevelts New Deal to provide jobs.
America needs a new WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps, FDR-style, only with wages people can live on.
Eugene called for strengthening unions.
The lack of a discussion about Unions is distressingly clear. The Democrats need to embrace workers over corporatism again.
Halginsberg criticized the trade deals the North American Free Trade Agreement signed by President Bill Clinton; the most favored nation status for China, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership backed by President Obama now under fire from both the left and the right.
No mention of Nafta, MFN for China, or the TPP which is a tragic shame since the real solution the one that apparently dare not speak its name is to abrogate the nation-destroying trade pacts that caused employers to send millions of manufacturing jobs to Canada, south of the border, and overseas.
John saw condescension and mockery at the hands of the cultural elite:
Lets call the federal governments treatment of Appalachian culture exactly what it is: Genocide. Our governments, particularly federal, have been very deliberately and systematically destroying the society, shipping jobs overseas, using schools to assault cultural values, deliberately creating a culture dependent on welfare, destroying industry with environmental legislation and such. Hollywood has been 100% on board with mocking at every turn Appalachian culture, mores and people.
Januarium recounted a classic American dream and what happens when it no longer applies.
My grandfather joined the Navy out of high school and trained to be an electronics technician; he parlayed that into a robust career, co-founded a corporation thats still contracted by the military to develop communication and navigation devices, and went on to develop analog computer systems. His own parents were migrant field workers; he grew up in tent towns, lucky if he had a pair of shoes. Thats quite a leap of upward mobility. I actually think stories like that and many of us have them about our parents or grandparents are part of the reason our own economic struggles can lead to deep depression, lack of self-worth, and addiction.
Zahir was pessimistic that Hillary Clinton would help American men.
Will Hillary help? Well, so far, shes called them a basket of deplorables, and hasnt mentioned any proposals beyond the not-gonna-happen stimulus package. Contrast this with her many concrete plans for women: cabinet position quotas, free child care, free maternity care, a pledge to put all mens salaries online so women can sue their employers for pay discrimination, and more. Its too bad, because Hillary could be in the best position of any president to help men, and by doing so, bring the country together and begin to heal our poisoned gender relations.
John has done what economists advised and taken a pink collar job but earns less than his parents.
White male here, employed in a pink-collar sector (70% female work force). Im downwardly mobile with respect to my parents, despite higher educational attainment, but happy to be employed at all after years of unemployment in the area I went to school for. The industry I had hoped to join was supposed to have a buzillion job openings when the baby boomers retired, supposedly starting in the early 2000s, but that never happened; they just shifted everything to contingent labor (notice I am NOT resentful at all about open jobs going to women and minorities everyone is getting screwed in the shift to contingent employment). No matter what you do more education, retraining for a completely new industry, more willingness to work in nontraditional sectors for your gender youre likely getting paid less and have much lower job security than your parents did.
Jean admires the jobless she teaches in community college.
My class is full of people who have been laid off after 30 years of blue collar work in the same industry, people who have escaped civil wars, teens with babies. They are impressive in their earnestness, lack of sense of entitlement and openness to learning and growth. They inspire me with their warmth and humanness. Attending community college is better than sitting home on the couch feeling hopeless.
Madeline Conant called attention to the plight of black men.
Now that it has happened to working class white men, maybe we can acknowledge what we have done to black men in America for sixty years. We have vilified young black men, especially in the cities, for being in gangs and for perpetrating crime. Do you think those young men could have gotten jobs? No, they could not, because the jobs were not available to them, and we just turned a blind eye to it.
Bill Appledorf was laid off twice, in 1991 and 2000.
One day I had a pile of requisitions on my desk for digital, software, RF, mechanical, manufacturing, and quality engineers; the next the company was laying off. The next financial crash I lived through was the dot.com collapse of 2000. One day I was making $110/hour writing ASP and SQL Server code; the next I was on the street. I have no faith in the American system of corporate predation. We are all disposable, and our fate is in the hands of gamblers on Wall Street who care about nothing but their own bank accounts.
Alan Haigh called for a focus on trade schools.
I am a man who would never have fit into the modern employment of desk jobs in front of a computer. If you want to help people and the country as a whole, please support a national investment in trade schools where 2 years of training could create certified plumbers, electricians, landscapers and general handymen that actually had adequate technical and business training to enter the work force and make a decent living with self-respect.
John Gormley focused on mass incarceration.
Im glad they mentioned prison in this article. Bill Clinton was the one who helped put many thousands of men in prison thanks to his policies, most of who were Black.
Jonathan proposed rethinking our ideas of masculinity.
Weve had a tutorial on worry this year. The election campaign isnt really about policy proposals, issue solutions or even hope. Its led by two candidates who arouse gargantuan anxieties, fear and hatred in their opponents.
As a result, some mental health therapists are reporting that three-quarters of their patients are mentioning significant election-related anxiety. An American Psychological Association study found that more than half of all Americans are very or somewhat stressed by this race.
Of course, there are good and bad forms of anxiety the kind that warns you about legitimate dangers and the kind that spirals into dark and self-destructive thoughts.
In his book Worrying, Francis OGorman notes how quickly the good kind of anxiety can slide into the dark kind. Worry is circular, he writes. It may start with a concrete anxiety: Did I lock the back door? Is this headache a stroke? And it has a nasty habit of taking off on its own, of getting out of hand, of spawning thoughts that are related to the original worry and which make it worse.
Its been clear from the start that the American and Iraqi-led battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State presented a logistical and strategic puzzle even a possible nightmare in which the interests of multiple countries and sectarian groups had to be reconciled and their roles carefully coordinated. Without such coordination, the effort to defeat ISIS and liberate thousands of Mosul residents who have suffered horribly under the terrorist group for two years would be severely undermined.
The nightmare scenario has now become more likely with Turkeys decision to pick a fight with Iraq. Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is demanding a direct role in the battle that no one had designed for his troops, meanwhile seeming to tread on Iraqs sovereignty.
This is a troubling development because if Mr. Erdogan persists, leaders of Iraqi Shiite militias may follow through on their threat to join the battle. Before the fighting started last week, the United States had worked with the Iraqis to assemble a military force that included the Iraqi Army, Kurdish forces and Sunni tribal fighters but not the Shiite militias, which have a record of abuses against Sunnis, the largest religious group in Mosul.
Even before this latest demand, Turkey had angered Baghdad by keeping 600 to 800 troops at a base in Bashiqa in northern Iraq. Ankaras real priority is defeating Kurdish separatists who straddle the border regions of Turkey and Iraq and have engaged in a rebellion against the Turkish government for decades. Mr. Erdogan is also eager to check Irans growing influence in the region and to be seen as a defender of Sunni Arabs and Turkmen, who live in Mosul and the surrounding area.
Azzedine Alaia is the ultimate fashion homebody. Whether he wants to throw a dinner or a fashion show, he does it chez Alaia. That choice is intrinsically tied to the designers ideology: one of welcoming and embracing all, the way his signature clingy knits embrace your figure and invite compliments. When Alaia stages a show, its in a space downstairs from his bedroom; when he invites you to a dinner, you eat in his own kitchen, and he treats you with the kind of solicitude that makes you feel not just like a friend, but like family. (When I was overheating at a dinner back in June, Alaia yanked the power cord of his fridge out of the wall to plug in a fan.)
Logistically, it helps that the house of Alaia (both in the Parisian couture term of maison, and in the parlance of wherever-you-lay-your-hat) is as colossal as the mans talent. Since 1990, his business has been based in a 750,000-square-foot space, a former clock and mattress factory on the Rue de Moussy, in the Marais district of Paris. The artist Julian Schnabel helped with the decoration which includes two of his signature smashed-plate portraits, of Alaia and his much-loved model Stephanie Seymour and the building contains not only his ateliers and a boutique, but also his own apartment, and a small hotel of three chic apartments that Alaia only rents to friends.
The centerpiece is the Galerie Azzedine Alaia, an atrium with a vaulted glass ceiling and mezzanine balcony, where Alaia exhibits art that interests him, screens films, stages performances and presents his biannual collections. The former had just made way for the latter: a Dadaist cabaret by the American-born, Frankfurt-based artist Mike Bouchet, which took place in the space four days before Alaias serene spring/summer 2017 show. In 1991, he even lent said space to another fashion designer, Vivienne Westwood, who showed two seminal collections there as her entree to the official Paris schedule.
A great fear of single urbanites comes unhappily true for the central character in A Life, a bleak new play by Adam Bock that opened on Monday at Playwrights Horizons. David Hyde Pierce stars as a 54-year-old gay man living in New York who has recently been dumped by his boyfriend although thats not the great fear I referred to.
If only.
Mr. Bocks drama begins, unwisely and unfruitfully, with an extended scratch that, lets say endless monologue from Nate Martin (Mr. Pierce), seated on his couch, addressing us directly. (The set, by Laura Jellinek, gives a bravura performance that intermittently enlivens the play.)
Perhaps Nate is still addled from the breakup, but his chatter wanders from topic to topic, although there is an extended sequence in which Nate regales us with his enthusiasm for astrology and his discovery of this life-explaining science (or pseudoscience, depending on your view) when he was living in Providence.
On he goes, showing us a pie chart explaining his astrological particulars apparently Venus will always be battling Jupiter, whatever that means before segueing into references to his many previous unsuccessful relationships: My second boyfriends name was John. Then I dated a Ron, a Don, a Johan. Then I met another John.
Context is not everything when it comes to our experience of theater, but its not nothing, either. The Harvest, a new play by Samuel D. Hunter about a group of young evangelical missionaries in Idaho, has a serious context problem. These idealistic young Christians, all in their 20s, are heading off to save souls in a place referred to only as the Middle East.
Where, exactly? While the territory is considered dangerous Arabic is spoken, there are mountains, and the people are suffering no country is ever specified. For me this became a nagging, ultimately off-putting problem.
For many years, the troubles roiling very different countries in the Middle East have been making headlines, and while I can understand that Mr. Hunter wants to keep the focus on the interpersonal relationships among his American characters, I began to find the lack of specific discussion of the region faintly exasperating. (The time of the play is not mentioned, but it looks and feels very much like the here and now.)
The characters are members of a small church, and the play, which opened on Monday at the Claire Tow Theater in a production from Lincoln Center Theaters LCT3 program, takes place in its grungy basement, where fluorescent lighting cruelly exposes the cheap furnishings. We first meet the church members in full religious ecstasy speaking in tongues, in fact. A supertitle above the stage indicates that it is three days before the group of five will depart for over there, as their destination is also referred to later.
The new line from Trump Hotels wont bear the famous name behind the original brand, but that was the plan all along, according to its chief executive.
The hotelier announced a sub-brand in June but released its name, Scion, late last month.
Unlike Trump Hotels, a collection of 14 luxury properties worldwide that launched in 2007 with nightly rates beginning at $700, Scion, which means descendant of a notable family, according to the news release, will have rooms beginning at $200 or $300 a night, said Eric Danziger, the chief executive of Trump Hotels. He likened the new brand to W Hotels & Resorts (originally a brand from Starwood Hotels & Resorts thats now a part of Marriott International).
The announcement of the new brand has gained attention as the man for which the company is named, Donald J. Trump, is slipping in the polls in his bid to become president. In a piece on the new name, Travel and Leisure quoted a company spokesman as saying data from Hipmunk and Foursquare showing decreased occupancy rates had been manipulated a charge that may echo the tone of the candidate, who on the campaign trail has said the polls are rigged. But the hotel company is run by an executive team that also includes Mr. Danziger and three of Mr. Trumps children.
Mr. Danziger will oversee the new brand while Kathleen Flores, the executive vice president of new brands and innovation at Trump Hotels, will manage the day-to-day details.
After 21 years in the military, three deployments, and a roadside bomb blast that left him bleeding and unconscious, Christopher Van Meter got a letter from the Pentagon saying he improperly received enlistment bonuses and now owed the government $46,000.
I was having to choose between buying diapers and food for my children and paying this debt, said Mr. Van Meter, 42, a former Army captain who now teaches high school near Modesto, Calif. I spent years of my life deployed, missed out on birthdays and deaths in the family, got blown up. Its hard to hear after that that they say I havent fulfilled my contract.
Mr. Van Meter is one of nearly 10,000 National Guard troops in California who have been ordered to repay re-enlistment bonuses and other incentives doled out during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after an audit in 2011 uncovered widespread fraud, mismanagement and overpayment by the Guard in the state.
Some of the troops have been trying unsuccessfully for years to get out from under the debt and many are struggling to repay it. The Los Angeles Times, which first reported on the impact on troops, found years of appeals had not brought relief. Requests for help from Congress by the Guards command went unanswered. Mr. Van Meter had to roll the debt into his mortgage to make ends meet. Others have ruined credit and face stiff penalties for missing payments.
A video posted on Monday by a British newspaper appeared to show a Republican consultant with ties to Donald J. Trump offering to disguise the source of contributions to a super PAC intended to aid Mr. Trumps presidential campaign.
In an accompanying article, the newspaper, The Telegraph, wrote that two of its reporters, posing as representatives of a Chinese national who supported Mr. Trump as the Republican presidential nominee, had proposed making a $2 million contribution in support of him. According to the newspaper, the G.O.P. consultant, Jesse Benton, had proposed routing the contribution through his own public relations firm and into nonprofit groups that do not disclose their donors, disguising the foreign source. The groups would then make the contribution to the super PAC, known as Great America PAC, or spend it to benefit Mr. Trump.
WASHINGTON Staring intently at the dual screens inside a flight simulator this month at the University of Pittsburgh, President Obama tapped the controls in front of him, firing faux thrusters as he pretended to maneuver his space shuttle toward the International Space Station. Pulse up. Pulse to the right. Left. Down. Down. Left. Left.
Uber shuttle, the beaming president told reporters after a brief but successful docking mission, joking that the next market for Uber would be outer space. In case anyone calls, well be there in five minutes.
For nearly eight years, the presidency has been Mr. Obamas science and technology playground, a place where he sought to become the advocate in chief for industries pushing advanced batteries, powerful medical devices and cutting-edge research.
Im a nerd, and I dont make any apologies for it, Mr. Obama said after his faux shuttle flight. He added: Its cool stuff. And it is that thing that sets us apart, that ability to imagine and hypothesize, and then test and figure stuff out, and tinker and make things and make them better, and then break them down and rework them.
WASHINGTON Premiums for midlevel health plans under the Affordable Care Act will increase by an average of 25 percent next year, while consumers in some states will find significantly fewer insurance companies offering coverage, the federal government said Monday.
But the Obama administration said three-fourths of consumers would still be able to find plans for less than $100 a month with the help of federal subsidies.
The open enrollment period under President Obamas signature health law begins on Nov. 1, but consumers got their first look at their options on Monday. Consumers who go without insurance next year could face possible tax penalties of $700 a person or more.
In many parts of the country, the available options are sure to become part of the political conversation in the election seasons closing days. And the rising costs and shrinking options all but ensure that the next president will need to make significant adjustments to the health law, something both Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump have promised.
UNITED NATIONS Ever since United Nations peacekeepers introduced a devastating cholera epidemic to Haiti in 2010, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has insisted that the global body is immune from legal claims. In the past few months, he has acknowledged a moral responsibility for the epidemic, but he has stopped short of saying sorry.
Now, with barely two months left in his term, Mr. Bans administration is scrambling to compensate, for the first time, those who have suffered, with a plan to give them or their communities cash payments from a proposed $400 million cholera response package. He also wants to make good on an unfulfilled promise to eradicate cholera from Haiti as the disease continues to claim lives.
But the United Nations does not have the money it needs for the proposed package, and is facing criticism that it is still avoiding legal culpability for one of the worst calamities to ever befall Haiti, the Western Hemispheres poorest country.
Roughly 9,500 Haitians have died from cholera some researchers say the toll could be far greater and hundreds of thousands have been sickened. The disease has surged in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
CARACAS, Venezuela As President Nicolas Maduro flew to Rome for a hastily arranged meeting with Pope Francis, representatives of Venezuelas government and a leader of the opposition agreed on Monday to allow the Vatican to mediate a dialogue intended to solve the countrys political crisis.
The accord appeared to mark a pause in Venezuelas escalating tension, which intensified last week when the countrys electoral council suspended the oppositions drive for a referendum to recall Mr. Maduro.
This is the first time that the Vatican has succeeded in bringing representatives of the two sides together since it began attempts to intercede in May.
The first formal meeting between the two sides is scheduled for Sunday on Margarita Island. The popes envoy, Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig, will preside over the gathering.
BUFFALO JoAnn Falletta, the music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, stood outside Kleinhans Music Hall here at dusk one recent Saturday and pointed to the brick exterior, punctuated by a line of glass blocks.
When I got here, she said, there was graffiti all over this, and the glass was broken.
That was in the late 1990s, when many assumed that Buffalo and its orchestra were both pretty much finished. Declines in industry and population had decimated this once-thriving city and starved its largest classical music institution, founded in the mid-1930s with support from the federal Works Progress Administration.
The board was tired out, said Ms. Falletta, 62, who on Wednesday leads the orchestra of her alma mater, the Mannes School of Music, at Alice Tully Hall to begin a yearlong celebration of the schools centennial.
The city was tired out by the Philharmonics problems, she added. Every year they were running out of money, and it was Save Our Symphony, Save the Philharmonic. People didnt give up on them, but they wanted to see that the Philharmonic could do it, could be viable.
The Council granted Paisley Park a temporary permit that allowed a limited number of visits by the public, but the delay effectively muted what was to have been a splashy opening for the museum, which organizers expect to draw up to 600,000 visitors a year, a week before The Official Prince Tribute Concert in St. Paul.
Prince died of an accidental overdose of painkillers in April, at age 57.
According to an announcement by Paisley Park, tours of the museum will start again on Friday, and tickets for the remaining dates of 2016 are on sale at the museums website. Tickets for next year are expected to go on sale starting in mid-November, the museum said. The museums tours which cost $38.50 or $100 for a V.I.P. pass promise a glimpse into Princes private working environment, as well as goodies from Princes personal archives like wardrobes, musical instruments and even motorcycles.
Last week, Warner Bros. Records and NPG Records, Princes label, announced a hits collection, Prince 4Ever, due Nov. 22, and a deluxe reissue of Princes classic Purple Rain containing an entire second album of unreleased material, to be released next year.
For decades, television has been cop, judge, jury and jailer. Police and courtroom dramas are a mainstay; a few series, like Orange Is the New Black, have explored prison life. But Rectify, a drama entering its final season on SundanceTV on Wednesday, is exceptional in being concerned with what comes after prison, for ex-convicts, for their families, for an entire community.
In the first episode of the new season, Daniel Holden (Aden Young), who has been released from prison after 19 years, describes what the incarceration did to him. When you are alone with yourself all the time, he says, you begin to go deeper and deeper into yourself until you lose yourself.
Rectify, created by Ray McKinnon, is a small series; it has shown a mere 22 episodes in three seasons and will have eight in its final run. But by focusing on a small world and pacing itself deliberately, it manages to be both intimate and expansive.
Slowing down time the first season takes place over about a week Rectify is a meditative work of reconstruction, with a visual sense of wonder, as if the camera, too, had been released into the world after two decades staring at four walls.
LONDON Syngenta said on Tuesday that its takeover by the state-owned China National Chemical Corporation could be delayed until early 2017, as European authorities take a deeper look at a wave of deals among the biggest producers of seeds and chemicals designed to protect crops.
European Union antitrust regulators briefly suspended, in September, their review of a proposed deal between Dow Chemical and DuPont after the companies failed to supply requested information. Margrethe Vestager, the blocs commissioner in charge of competition policy, has also vowed to closely review Bayers $56 billion proposal to take over Monsanto.
Syngenta, a giant in farm chemicals and seeds, said on Tuesday that European officials and others had requested a large amount of additional information, and that the final approval of its acquisition by China National Chemical, known as ChemChina, would probably be extended into the first quarter of next year. It did not say which other regulators had requested more details.
This might sound like a giveaway to employers seeking to undercut American workers with cheap foreign labor. Neither major party presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton or Mr. Trump, is very likely to embrace the approach in the homestretch of the presidential campaign. And yet it deserves a hearing. In more than half a century, it is the only strategy that has worked.
The idea has been tested before, from the 1940s to the 1960s, under what came to be known as the Bracero Program, named for a Spanish term for laborer who works with his arms. At its peak in the late 1950s, it provided more than 400,000 temporary work visas a year to people from Mexico, most of them employed on farms. Not coincidentally, from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, apprehensions of Mexicans crossing the border unlawfully a rough measure of rises and falls in illegal immigration plummeted to near zero.
Now a group of scholars and policy makers that includes Mr. Gutierrez; Ernesto Zedillo, a former president of Mexico; Eliseo Medina, a Mexican union leader; Silvestre Reyes, a former congressman from Texas and Border Patrol chief; and Doris Meissner, a former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, have come together to pitch a similar framework as the only viable strategy to end illegal immigration for good.
Their essential point is laid out in A Blueprint to Regulate U.S.-Mexico Labor Mobility, just published by the Center for Global Development. Flows of Mexican migrants to the United States have been driven since our grandparents day, they note, by the supply and demand for work on either side of the border, regardless of walls and other obstacles thrown in their way.
History suggests that the United States cannot eliminate immigration of low-skilled workers. But the nation can choose what kind of low-skilled immigration it will have, legal or illegal. The former seems undoubtedly better. Legal flows can be managed to the maximum advantage of the economies and workers of Mexico and the United States. Unauthorized flows cannot.
Sumner Redstone, the media mogul, on Tuesday sued two ex-girlfriends over civil claims including elder abuse, saying he was forced to borrow $100 million from the private company that holds his voting shares of CBS Corporation and Viacom to cover tax obligations on gifts he gave to the women.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks about $150 million that Mr. Redstones lawyers say he gave to his former girlfriends Manuela Herzer and Sydney Holland. Mr. Redstones lawsuit is the newest front in a nearly yearlong litigation war between Mr. Redstone, the 93-year-old former Viacom chairman, and Ms. Herzer.
Ron Richards, a lawyer for Ms. Herzer, said the lawsuit had no merit. All of the gifts Mr. Redstone made to my client and to Sydney Holland were made with his full knowledge and blessing, he said.
In a statement, Ms. Holland called the lawsuit fictional revisionist history. She said that Mr. Redstones lawyers and doctors vetted and approved all payments she received.
Mr. Quint, who constantly tests new brands and mixtures, says that sprinkles are not merely decoration; he loves their waxy crunch and trace of vanilla flavor. They are candy, after all, he said.
He also has strong feelings about colors. White is a waste of real estate, he said, advising me to buy solid-colored sprinkles and concoct my own rainbow mixture. Use half as much yellow as everything else, were his parting words.
I made Mr. Quint my sprinkles mentor as I set out to bake a homemade Funfetti cake, using a recipe from The Sprinkles Baking Book, Ms. Nelsons new cookbook.
Apparently, by 2015, her aesthetic had evolved (or devolved) to include rainbow sprinkles. The 10-year birthday cake she devised for her empire, which now includes 20 stores and 12 Cupcake ATMs, is the Sprinkles Sprinkle Cake, with handfuls of sprinkles both outside the cake and in.
With white frosting and my new house blend (two parts blue, one part pink, one part orange and one part yellow sprinkles), the effect was brightly irresistible.
It tastes like a vanilla cake, but it looks like a happy childhood.
Recipe: Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
One thing we do know: There is a rigid formula for survival. Whether a restaurant opens in hypercompetitive Manhattan or in Californias gold-rush dining scene, it has to make the same equation work: The costs of real estate, labor and food should add up to about 75 percent of its projected sales, leaving a profit margin of roughly 10 percent once smaller expenses are figured in.
A large restaurant group or chain may be able to skate below 10 percent because its volume is so high, but a chef who opens a starter full-service restaurant can end up in trouble if profits dip below that threshold.
To further break down the formula, a healthy restaurant aims to spend about 10 percent of its sales revenue on rent, utilities and other occupancy costs; 30 to 40 percent on labor, including payroll taxes and benefits; and 30 percent on food and beverages.
Because those three expenses account for most of a restaurants costs, we sought the best numbers we could find and compared them for three vibrant dining cities: New York, which has the nations largest roster of independent restaurants; Los Angeles, where the number of independents is growing; and San Francisco, a smaller, volatile market that has responded to restaurant closings with a real estate plan that enables start-ups to hedge their bets.
Heres how the cities stack up, cost by cost.
Real Estate
Space in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn can cost twice as much as in Los Angeles or San Francisco.
CoStar, the nations largest source of commercial real estate data, tracks more than 980,000 listings. Though they are not broken down by use, Joseph Sollazzo, an economist with the firm, created a rough category of restaurant friendly spaces for us: listings from 2,000 to 5,000 square feet, a popular range for independent full-service restaurants, that met criteria like available for all uses and ventilation.
Jeremy Travis, president of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a prominent academic voice for police reform, will step down next year after 13 years, the college announced on Tuesday.
Mr. Travis said he would take a criminal justice fellowship at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and teach at the Graduate School of the City University of New York after he leaves his post in August 2017.
The air crackles with urgent demands to reduce mass incarceration, reform policing, examine new roles for prosecutors and judges, bring data analytics to our understanding of the justice system, broaden our menu of options for responding to crime, and pursue racial justice and social justice as we enforce our laws, Mr. Travis said in a statement about his decision to step down.
A researcher and academic who has written extensively on issues like the size of the United States prison population, Mr. Travis was credited with bolstering John Jay Colleges fund-raising efforts, expanding opportunities for military veterans about 600 currently attend it and integrating the college with other City University of New York programs, including the Macaulay Honors College.
The Legal Aid Society, where Mr. Banks was once attorney in chief, has taken issue with an intake process that requires homeless parents to bring their children along when applying for shelter, forcing the children to miss school, and has accused the city of discriminating against homeless people with disabilities.
And a report issued by the Independent Budget Office this month found that among public school students who lived in shelters during the 2013-14 school year, almost a third missed more than 20 days of school, while another third missed more than 40 days.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, a Democrat who represents Maspeth, has criticized the de Blasio administration for its handling of the homeless crisis. She said Mr. Banks, who, as commissioner of the Department of Social Services, oversees both homeless services and the Human Resources Administration, was juggling too much. He is well intentioned but completely overwhelmed, Ms. Crowley said.
Speaking to a civic group on Thursday, Christine C. Quinn, the former City Council speaker and an unsuccessful mayoral candidate in 2013, put responsibility for the problem squarely on Mr. de Blasio, a fellow Democrat. Our city is hurting in the face of this crisis, and the truth is people dont think its getting any better because its not, said Ms. Quinn, who now leads a nonprofit provider of shelters for families with children. Theyre aching for the mayor to stand up and lead on this issue.
For Mr. de Blasio, the relentless demand that shelter capacity be increased and the broader criticism of his administration on the issue of homelessness reflect the limitations of the mayors liberal agenda in a city where economic inequality has deepened over many years, not least in the housing market.
To the Editor:
Re Bar Association Stifles Its Own Report Labeling Trump a Libel Bully (news article, Oct. 25):
Let me get this straight. The American Bar Association wont publish a report finding Donald Trump to be a libel bully for fear of being sued by him. If my national organization cannot find the courage to stand up to Joseph McCarthys heir apparent, I promise to work pro bono to help defend it if sued.
As a retired assistant public defender, I have stood up to judges and prosecutors without backing down. It appears the A.B.A. could use a few more trial warriors. There comes a time when you have to have the moral courage to tell it like it is: Donald Trump is a wannabe emperor with no clothes.
Is not our democracy worth it?
MICHAEL TEWELL
Palm Harbor, Fla.
Unfortunately, a lack of maturity and prudence today exists among not just the new populist class, but parts of the political establishment. The governing class needs to understand that just because people are embittered and paranoid doesnt mean they dont have a case. A growing number of voters are going into meltdown because they believe that politicians and journalists dont see what they see.
Sure, the injustices they see are, in historical perspective, less stark and obvious than in the days of Marx or King. The injustices of today are smaller, but they are more complex. And this is what makes them all the more terrifying.
If John Steinbeck could travel the West today as he traveled America three generations ago, leaving the highways to visit forgotten towns, documenting peoples struggles as he did in The Grapes of Wrath, he would find much the same to write about. Globalization and its masters have capitalized on enormous pay gaps between West and East, at a huge profit for them, and huge cost to others.
The upper class has gained much more from the internationalization of trade and finances than the working class has, often in obscene ways. Bankers get bonuses despite making idiotic decisions that trigger staggering losses. Giant enterprises like Facebook or Apple pay minimal taxes, while blue-collar workers have to labor harder even taking a second or third job to maintain their standard of living. And this is as true in Germany, France or Austria as it is in Ohio or Florida.
In Germany, some 60 percent of A.F.D. supporters say globalization has mainly negative effects. We live in a world, the liberal British historian Timothy Garton Ash noted lately, which would have Marx rubbing his hands with Schadenfreude.
The grievances of white, often less-educated voters on both sides of the Atlantic are often dismissed as xenophobic, simplistic hillbillyism. But doing so comes at a cost. Europes traditional force of social change, its social democrats, appear to just not get it. When Hillary Clinton calls half of Mr. Trumps voters a basket of deplorables, she sounds as aloof as Marie Antoinette, telling French subjects who had no bread to eat cake. In Germany, a deputy Social Democrat leader, Ralf Stegner, displays a similar arrogance when he calls A.F.D. supporters racists and skunks. Media reports often convey the same degree of contempt.
In Germany a recent poll showed that only 14 percent of the citizens trusted the politicians. This is an alarming figure, in a country where faith in a progressive, democratic government has been a cornerstone of our postwar peace. But this presumes that legitimate anger will be acknowledged as such. If this faith is rattled, democracy loses its basic promise.
Amid their mutual finger-pointing, neither populist nor established parties acknowledge that both are squandering peoples anger, either by turning this anger into counterproductive hatred or by denouncing and dismissing it. Mrs. Clinton has the chance to change, by leading a political establishment that examines and processes anger instead of merely producing and dismissing it. If she does, lets hope Europe once again looks to America as a model for democracy.
WASHINGTON The depressed highway is a road from nowhere, the remnant of an Interstate once planned to cut through residential neighborhoods. Activists blocked the larger plan for the freeway in the 1960s, so this small segment close to the Capitol is left to feed traffic from city streets to other freeways, leading south over the Potomac to Virginia and east across the Anacostia River.
The scuttled plan left an open gash a six-lane trench that divided Capitol Hill from downtown Washingtons East End. Now, a large air rights project is underway to cover the trench with five buildings, bringing with them 2.2 million square feet of offices, apartments, public spaces, shops and restaurants.
Covering three square blocks, it will bridge a divide in the city and restore Pierre LEnfants original street plan for the nations capital.
The seven-acre project, called Capitol Crossing, also entails moving an 1876 synagogue, Washingtons oldest and more recently a museum of local Jewish history.
Leaves scream their final cries in color before dropping to the ground. Their shouts in golden, crimson or scarlet eventually fade to brown bellows, and their lifeless bodies dry up on the forest floor. It absorbs their crinkly corpses and thats it worm food. The fall of a leaf in autumn is an orchestrated death. A complex, brilliant, beautiful death.
Right now across the United States, fall foliage season is peaking, and everyones out to get a peep at the fiery show. Hiking trails are crowded. Mountain roads are packed, and leaf cams are getting lots of love. When you think of it as watching the death of leaves, it sounds morbid, but its captivating nonetheless. Does the way some turn red in the process serve any purpose?
Leaves actually start out yellow. Chlorophyll, the chemical responsible for giving leaves their green appearance and converting light to energy during photosynthesis, just overpowers it in the spring and summer. But when temperature, daylight and weather events like rain or drought cause leaves to die in the fall, chlorophyll breaks down and reveals the yellow or orange helper chemicals known as carotenes or carotenoids that were there all along.
Red is another story, because its made on purpose. As some leaves die, they produce chemicals called anthocyanins (also found in the skin of grapes and apples) from built up sugars. These chemicals produce a red pigment that can combine with green pigments left from chlorophyll and display different shades of red.
WASHINGTON From the political right and the left, AT&Ts $85 billion bid for Time Warner has provoked pushback. But AT&T, in addition to its billions of dollars of capital, has another arsenal at its disposal: one of the most formidable lobbying operations in Washington.
The companys list of nearly 100 registered lobbyists already on retainer in 2016 includes former members of Congress. AT&T is the biggest donor to federal lawmakers and their causes among cable and cellular telecommunications companies, with its employees and political action committee sending money to 374 of the Houses 435 members and 85 of the Senates 100 members this election cycle. That adds up to more than $11.3 million in donations since 2015, four times as much as Verizon Communications, according to a tally by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group.
AT&T has also spent decades building a national alliance of local government officials and nonprofit groups particularly from black and Hispanic communities that it will certainly be asking to weigh in again in Washington, as it tries to get the merger approved.
We have seen our fair share of deals, AT&Ts general counsel, David R. McAtee II, said in an interview. Our job is informing consumers what a good development this is for them.
WASHINGTON When President Obama picked Tom Wheeler, a former cable and wireless lobbyist, to head the Federal Communications Commission in 2013, AT&T celebrated the pick as inspired and the cable industry said it was exceptional.
But after days on the job, Mr. Wheeler quashed the idea that he would look favorably on his past employers. In a meeting at the F.C.C. with the heads of telecommunications, cable and technology lobbying groups, he held up a newspaper article quoting industry executives publicly calling for weaker oversight from the regulatory agency.
This is a rough way to begin a relationship, Mr. Wheeler said, according to one lobbyist at the gathering, which was confirmed by the F.C.C. It turned out that the chairman had big regulations in mind for those industries instead.
Now, as Mr. Wheeler enters his last few months as head of the F.C.C. during the Obama administration the next president is expected to name a new chairman he has turned early supporters into foes and invited an expensive lobbying battle that may stymie a last-ditch pursuit of regulations that starts on Thursday, including voting on a proposal for broadband privacy protections.
SAN FRANCISCO The futurists of Silicon Valley may not have seen this one coming: The first commercial delivery made by a self-driving truck was 2,000 cases of Budweiser beer.
On Tuesday, Otto, the Uber-owned self-driving vehicle operation, announced the completion of its first commercial delivery, having delivered its beer load from Fort Collins, Colo., to Colorado Springs, a roughly 120-mile trip on Interstate 25.
In recent years, Uber has predicted a future in which you can ride in a self-driving car that will take you where you want to go, no driver necessary. But the idea that commercial trucking could be done by robot is a relatively new idea and a potentially controversial one, given the possibility that robots could one day replace human drivers.
We think this technology is inching closer to commercial availability, Lior Ron, co-founder of Otto, said in an interview.
Jake Gyllenhaal, youll be delighted to hear, can speak pointillism. Even more to the, uh, point, he can sing pointillism, which isnt easy at all. It involves concentration and balance and order, not to mention being able to summon all those radiant flecks of color and light.
But when Mr. Gyllenhaal intones, blue, blue, blue, blue, in a bristling succession of notes, you could swear you hear dabs of paint turning into shimmer. With that moment, weve stepped with Mr. Gyllenhaal through the doorway of one mans vision and into the empyrean summoned by his character, the 19th-century French painter Georges Seurat. Its going to be a long and happy time before we have to return to our dimmer daily worldviews.
This blessed moment of passage occurs early in the joyous City Center concert production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapines Sunday in the Park With George, which opened in a gala performance on Monday night and runs only through Wednesday. Starring Mr. Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, with a supporting cast that glows with top-drawer, Broadway-honed talent, this is one of those shows that seems destined to be forever spoken of with misty-eyed bragging rights by anyone who sees it.
Its not as if Sunday in the Park With George, a diptych portrait of the artist at work in the 19th and 20th centuries, is a rarefied novelty to which weve been allowed infrequent access. This is the sixth or seventh version Ive seen of this musical, which won the Pulitzer Prize in the mid-80s, and on each occasion Ive felt thoroughly moved and admiring.
If you get insurance through work, you dont have to worry too much about this news. The health law is much bigger than just the Obamacare exchanges, and many of the new rules offer protections against having coverage that is too skimpy. Your health plan must cover basic services, like drugs and hospitalization; basic preventive services provided by your doctor, like a checkup, a flu shot or a mammogram, can be free.
But while you may feel as if youre paying more for your medical care, premiums for employer-based insurance have been increasing at historically low rates. Premiums for the average single person in the employer market are the same this year as they were in 2015, according to a large survey of employers from the Kaiser Family Foundation; prices for most family plans are rising by 3 percent.
What has probably changed is the size of your deductible, which has been going up steadily. Employers have been shifting costs to their workers, a trend that began long before Obamacare went into effect.
Of course, federal tax dollars pay for the subsidies for low-income people who buy insurance in Obamacare markets about $32 billion this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. If premiums go up by more than 20 percent every year, that will put pressure on the federal budget.
People buying their own insurance should shop around for the best deal. Average numbers arent that useful to a person buying insurance in a particular place. If you already have Obamacare insurance or are buying it for the first time, you need to go to your state exchange website and look at the choices available to you. If you are eligible for a subsidy and willing to switch plans, your costs might actually go down.
If youre not eligible for a subsidy and live in one of the places with big price spikes, finding affordable coverage may be more of a struggle. Wherever you are, if youre on a budget, it pays to look at all the options and see whether theres a plan thats similar to yours and has a better price.
Even if you dont want to shop, you may have to. Several large insurance carriers, like UnitedHealth Group and Aetna, have decided to exit many of the places where they had been offering policies.
The Republicans who devised the laws call them fair and necessary. In federal court, lawyers for Wisconsin have called its election rules voter friendly compared with those of many states, and said the courts voter ID order was so lax that any excuse for lacking proper identification documents, including that the DMV is haunted, was sufficient.
But the crux of the Republicans argument is less whimsical: Tough election laws, they argue, are needed to keep Democrats from stealing elections. What I find is that leaders of the other party are against efforts to crack down on voter fraud, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, said in March. Numerous studies and surveys of voting show the opposite: Election fraud is rare, and the in-person fraud that the laws could prevent is virtually absent.
Wisconsin, too, has been hauled into court for failing to obey a judges order. On Oct. 7, after Judge James D. Peterson of Federal District Court read articles in The Nation and The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel documenting problems with the ID program, he summoned state officials to explain themselves.
The officials acknowledged flaws in the ID-issuing process and promised to fix them. But barely two weeks earlier, they had maintained in a report to the court that the ID process was running smoothly and that clerks in motor vehicle offices had been trained to deal with applicants.
That claim was belied when Molly McGrath, the national coordinator for the voting rights group VoteRiders, dispatched her mother to request help in getting an ID at 10 motor vehicle offices across the state. Few could navigate the application process. Theyre changing things so quick that its hard for us to keep up, one clerk told her. Another, apparently unaware of the courts order to issue IDs promptly, told her that nothings guaranteed.
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Barbara Koester, 89, found herself unable even to register to vote after being erroneously told she first needed an ID, which required a certified birth certificate (it does not). She was born in St. Louis, so I guess I could apply for a copy, her daughter Ann Travers, who escorted her to the office, said in an interview. But I dont know how long that would take.
Cafeteria workers at Harvard, who have been on strike for nearly three weeks in an effort to avoid an increase in their health care costs and to earn higher salaries, could return to work this week after a tentative agreement was reached with the university, a union president said.
Brian Lang, the president of Unite Here Local 26, which represents about 750 cafeteria workers, confirmed that terms had been reached early Tuesday morning that satisfied the workers demands.
Mediators helped work out the agreement between a union subcommittee and the university. On Tuesday, it would be reviewed and voted on by the full bargaining committee. It would then be brought before the entire union membership on Wednesday, and those on strike could return to work as soon as Thursday.
In a March 2015 interview, President Obama said that he had learned about Hillary Clintons use of a private email server as secretary of state the same time everybody else learned it, through news reports.
But that assertion concerned aides of Mrs. Clinton, who knew that the president himself had received emails from the private address, according to a hacked email made public on Tuesday by WikiLeaks.
We need to clean this up he has emails from her they do not say state.gov, Cheryl D. Mills, a top aide, wrote to John D. Podesta, another senior adviser, on March 7, 2015.
Two days later, Mr. Obamas spokesman, Josh Earnest, tried to clarify the presidents remarks, saying that he had, in fact, exchanged emails with Mrs. Clinton through her private account. But Mr. Earnest suggested that the president had no idea the emails could be a problem because he had relied on Mrs. Clinton to make sure that using a private account did not break any laws.
NAIROBI, Kenya Islamist militants struck a hotel in northern Kenya on Tuesday morning, killing a dozen people and stoking outrage from Kenyans who accused their government of not doing enough to protect them from a relentless menace.
The Shabab, a Somali militant group, gleefully took responsibility, saying online that they had bombed the hotel to kill infidels and that all their fighters came back to their positions safely after the operation.
The attack happened at 3:30 a.m. at a hotel in Mandera, a town that sits at the absolute northeastern tip of Kenya. This month, Islamist militants killed six people there. Less than two years ago, Islamist militants slaughtered dozens of miners in the same area, separating the Christians from the Muslims and shooting the Christians in the head.
According to Kenyan officials, the militants detonated a powerful bomb at the hotel on Tuesday when most guests were sleeping. Part of the hotel collapsed, and at least 12 people died in the avalanche of concrete and rebar. Several others were seriously wounded.
OTTAWA There were few common threads in the lives of the eight nursing home patients, who ranged in age from 75 to 96. One owned a tool and die shop; another was a factory worker. Some were pillars of churches; many were parents.
The death notices for some of them suggested that they might have had Alzheimers disease or other chronic medical conditions. Most of the notices described the deaths as peaceful.
On Tuesday, however, the Ontario Provincial Police said that, peaceful or not, the deaths were not natural. Elizabeth Tracey Mae Wettlaufer, a former nurse, was charged with eight counts of first-degree, or premeditated, murder over a seven-year period, from 2007 to 2014. She was arrested on Monday night.
The motive for the killings remains, for now, a mystery. Seven of the patients died at a nursing home in Woodstock, a city of about 37,000 people that has a large Toyota plant and sits in the middle of farm country, some 80 miles southwest of Toronto. The eighth and final killing, according to the police, took place farther along Highway 401 West, at a nursing home in London, Ontario, that briefly employed Ms. Wettlaufer.
BEIJING In a shopping mall in southern China, a polar bear named Pizza paces past murals of icebergs in his glass enclosure. He shakes his shaggy head under artificial lights. He crouches by an air vent to sniff the outside world.
All are distress behaviors, say Chinese animal welfare advocates, who on Tuesday called on Zhu Xiaodan, the governor of Guangdong Province, where Pizza lives in an aquarium at the Grandview Mall in Guangzhou, to move the bear to a more appropriate environment. Pizza has become known as the worlds saddest polar bear, the advocates, from 48 organizations, wrote in an open letter to Mr. Zhu.
They added that they hoped that the Guangdong government would close Grandview Polar Sea World. Hundreds of animals are housed in small enclosures over several floors of the mall, including arctic wolves and beluga whales. They share the retail emporium with an electronic games arcade for children, a 3-D movie theater, a supermarket and leading domestic and international clothing brands. Escalators in an atrium run past signs advertising Swarovski and Estee Lauder products, noodle restaurants and coffee shops.
The activists say Pizzas plight is part of a disturbing trend in China: exhibiting wild animals in malls to attract customers as more people turn to often cheaper and more convenient e-commerce.
The Amaq news agency, which acts as a news service for the Islamic State, posted a picture of three men holding guns and wearing ammunition vests who it said were the attackers. The Islamic State had also claimed responsibility for the last major attack in the Quetta area, an August suicide bombing at a hospital in the city that killed dozens of lawyers.
Pakistani officials, however, earlier blamed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a banned militant group affiliated with the Taliban, for the assault on the police college. After the Islamic State claimed responsibility, a senior security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media, said the Islamic State had outsourced the attack to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
SYDNEY, Australia Four people were killed on Tuesday when a raft in an amusement parks white-water attraction flipped over, trapping them in the rides machinery, the authorities said.
Two children who were riding with the four adults two women and two men managed to free themselves and survived, according to the police.
The accident occurred at Dreamworld, a theme park in Queensland, on an adventure ride known as the Thunder River Rapids ride.
The four adults, who were in their 30s and 40s, and a boy and a girl, 10 and 12, were in a raft when it flipped over at the end of the ride, the Queensland police said.
CROISILLES, France The protests began even before the migrants had arrived.
We dont want them! shouted the demonstrators in this village of 1,900 people, 80 miles from Calais, where the migrants were bused from a camp known as the Jungle on Monday.
This is our home! others yelled at the darkened, disused retirement home where the migrants were being housed. Inside the building, a young Sudanese man pressed his face to the window and looked out at the angry crowd, bemused.
All over France, tiny communities like this one, in the old battlefields of the countrys north, are being forced to deal firsthand with Europes migrant crisis.
It has not been easy. The effort to relocate many of the 6,000 or more people who had made the Jungle their home has thrust Frances divided view of the migrants into plain view.
LONDON After decades of delay, the British government endorsed the expansion of Londons Heathrow Airport on Tuesday. The decision to build a third runway at the airport provoked a ferocious response that illustrated why a succession of politicians have ducked the issue since the 1970s.
The announcement was meant to end years of political paralysis over aviation planning in southeast England, where Heathrow is now operating at 98 percent of its capacity, causing Britain to lose ground to airline hubs on the European Continent.
But the decision announced on Tuesday by Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, is just the start of a lengthy process that is sure to face legal challenges. It also presents Theresa May, the new prime minister who has opposed a Heathrow expansion in the past, with a crucial political test.
The government has bought some time by delaying a parliamentary vote on the matter until next year. Two of Mrs. Mays cabinet ministers Justine Greening, the education secretary, and Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary oppose the project; Mr. Johnson called it undeliverable.
Here are some of the reasons the Mediterranean crossing has become increasingly dangerous.
More Dangerous Methods
The sharp rise in fatalities 3,740 people died through this week can be attributed in part to the changing tactics used by smugglers. They are loading thousands of people at a time and using less seaworthy boats, including inflatable rubber rafts that do not last the crossing.
Smuggling has become big business: Its being done on an almost industrial scale, Mr. Spindler told reporters.
The smugglers are trying to raise profits and reduce the risk of detection, he said.
Trying Over and Over
So far this year, 327,800 people have crossed the Mediterranean, about half the number who crossed in the same period last year.
VATICAN CITY Ashes to ashes is fine, the Vatican says, as long as you dont spread them around.
On Tuesday, the Vatican responded to what it called an unstoppable increase in cremation and issued guidelines barring the scattering of ashes in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way.
The Vatican decreed that the ashes of loved ones have no place in the home, and certainly not in jewelry. It urged that cremated remains be preserved in cemeteries or other approved sacred places.
The instructions, which reiterate the Roman Catholic Churchs preference for burial over cremation, are in line with previous teachings. But local bishops conferences had requested doctrinal clarification because cremation has become increasingly popular and because there were no specific canonical norms for preserving ashes, according to Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which drafted the guidelines.
The new guidelines, which Pope Francis approved this year, were released ahead of All Souls Day, which falls on Nov. 2 for Catholics, who are called to remember and pray for those who have died.
ERBIL, Iraq As security forces bear down on Mosul, the Islamic State has moved hundreds of civilians from villages around the city to use as human shields, and the United Nations said the militants may have killed nearly 200 people. To the east, near the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk, Sunni Arabs who fled there to escape violence are being forcibly displaced as local officials worry about terrorist sleeper cells.
The toll of an intensifying war does not end there: A sulfur plant set on fire by the Islamic State has sent dozens of people for treatment for respiratory problems, and several journalists have been hurt, and two killed, covering the fighting. And a wayward attack either an artillery shell or an airstrike hit a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq, killing more than a dozen women and children.
Just 10 days into the long-awaited offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, the campaign has unleashed a fresh set of horrors across a wide stretch of the country. Although the governments military operation itself is largely meeting its goals in progressing toward the city, the turmoil surrounding it is a sign of just how difficult it would be to secure a lasting peace across Iraqs many divisions even after a victory.
The human toll and factional distrust are early examples of the complex humanitarian crisis that many believed would unfold once the fight to oust the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, from its last major Iraqi stronghold began in earnest.
Irans intelligence minister normally does not find himself on the receiving end of criticism by fellow hard-liners asking how he could possibly have overlooked a visit by a gay state legislator from the United States.
But that is what happened on Tuesday in Irans Parliament, where the minister, Mahmoud Alawi, faced tough questioning about a six-day visit this summer by Jim Dabakis, a state senator from Utah and the Democratic Partys state chairman, who is gay. Mr. Alawis answer: His agents knew the visitors every move.
The minister made it clear that the American politician was kept under surveillance by the intelligence forces during his stay in Iran, the official Tasnim News Agency said in its report about Mr. Alawis parliamentary testimony. Tasnim made no reference in its report to Mr. Dabakiss sexual orientation.
Tasnim said the minister had assured the lawmakers that all schemes with the aim of making inroads into Iran are under control of the intelligence forces.
In addition to sanctioning the countrys more aggressive military footprint in the region, Ayatollah Khamenei regularly issues broadsides against the United States, promising there will be no softening of Tehrans stance against the Great Satan, while quietly opening the door to Western capital and expertise.
And yet, when President Hassan Rouhani faces attacks from hard-liners, Ayatollah Khamenei almost always has his back, at least in private.
Yes, it is part of our new policy to show our strength, but also to reach out to the West, said Saeed Laylaz, an economist and political analyst close to the government of Mr. Rouhani. Both are aimed at strengthening our country and increasing our influence. A contradiction? We are doing exactly what America has been doing for decades.
There is little doubt that Iran is exerting greater force in the region. On the battlefields of Syria, Iranian advisers and volunteers often Afghans and Shiite militias are fighting and dying alongside Syrian government troops to drive rebels out of Aleppo. Near Mosul, Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces, another name for dozens of Shiite militias, are taking cues from other advisers, usually associated with the elite Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards.
With the region in such turmoil, this might seem like an inopportune time to soften restrictions on business dealings with the West and personal freedoms at home. But that seems to be exactly what is happening. The changes are incremental and can be turned back at any moment, but they are unmistakable, analysts say.
In 2012, Victor Wong, a video game designer for a toy company in Toronto, had a tiny midlife crisis in his hotel room while on vacation. He felt burned out on work but was strangely revived by sniffing the hotel toiletries, which came from a niche fragrance line he can no longer recall.
What he does remember is that he swooned over the scents, which were spicy, musky and intense. He knew then and there that he wanted to make perfume.
Returning home, Mr. Wong began haunting the message boards of the cult perfume sites BaseNotes and Fragrantica, feverishly researching the formulas behind his favorite scents. The same notes kept popping up: castoreum, civet, musk, ambergris. He realized that he was drawn, in an instinctual way, to animal-derived scents or rather (because most perfumery materials that come from animals are now banned or heavily regulated) to their lab-created chemical equivalents.
When Mr. Wong worked up the courage to put out an open call online for a perfumer to help him create his fragrance, he already had a specific, and beastly, concept in his head. He would call his line Zoologist, and he would release a series of scents named for the wild creatures that inspired them.
How to get people interested in art? How to engage millennials? How to expose permanent-collection works that sit in storage? These are questions art museums constantly ponder.
Recently, Tate Britain asked another one: How can artificial intelligence help?
It put the question to anyone who wanted to compete for the 2016 IK Prize, which promotes the use of digital technology in the exploration of art at Tate Britain or on the Tate website.
A.I. was chosen as the theme this year because getting machines to do what humans can do is one of the most exciting frontiers in technology, said Tony Guillan, a multimedia producer for Tate who manages the prize, which is named for the philanthropist Irene Kreitman. Is there anything more human than looking at art?
Carolee Schneemanns influence, both acknowledged and unacknowledged, is widespread, and the artist documents this beautifully in a binder she has kept for 20 years called Influence, Plagiarism, I Forgot. It juxtaposes her work with images she comes across in art and pop culture, and last month it was all printed as a magazine by the Artists Institute in New York.
Ms. Schneemann is infamous for using her naked body to challenge boundaries in her groundbreaking interdisciplinary performances and films of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Meat Joy (1964).
The magazines side-by-side comparisons include a 1974 picture of Ms. Schneemann, drawing on surrounding walls while dangling naked in a harness, next to an image of the artist Matthew Barney suspended from ropes in his studio more than three decades later. Another pairing shows a photo of Lady Gaga wearing her meat dress next to a photo from Meat Joy, in which performers revel ecstatically with paint, raw chicken, fish and sausages. Her range of visual connections is great, said Jenny Jaskey, director of the institute, which dedicated its six-month season last year to exhibitions and events related to Ms. Schneemann. Its high, its low.
The magazines publication comes on the heels of Ms. Schneemanns first major museum retrospective, this year at the Museum der Moderne Salzburg in Austria. (The show travels to Frankfurt in 2017.) And on view in New York is a two-part exhibition of Ms. Schneemanns lesser-known works from the 1980s to the present, at P.P.O.W. and Galerie Lelong.
Most people probably wouldnt rush to read a lot of philosophical declarations by artists from the past century. But if those statements known historically as manifestoes were delivered by the actress Cate Blanchett, playing distinctly different characters, audiences might be more likely to pay attention.
At least that was the thinking of the artist and filmmaker Julian Rosefeldt in his creation of Manifesto. A collage of 20th-century artistic pronouncements, reinterpreted as poetic monologues on screen by Ms. Blanchett, his installation will have its North American premiere at the Park Avenue Armory, starting Dec. 7.
Through manifestoes, artists of all kinds have expressed their views of the meaning of their art: Abandon love, abandon aestheticism, abandon the baggage of wisdom (Kazimir Malevich, 1916); Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination (Jim Jarmusch, 2002); A cool early morning wind is blowing around us; he who doesnt want to shiver must stride out (Bruno Taut, 1920).
My idea was to free all the text from the sources, from the dust of art history, Mr. Rosefeldt said in a telephone interview, to make them perceivable again as fresh and eternally actual.
For art to reach you, someone has to find it and believe that you need to see it. Someone like Bisi Silva, Hannah OLeary or Kevin Dumouchelle, curators and specialists who are discovering, and showing to the world, the contemporary art of Africa.
Ms. Silva works from Lagos, Nigeria, as an independent curator and artistic director of the coming ART X Lagos Art Fair.
Mr. Dumouchelle has taken a new job as a curator at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, where hell help shape the narrative through the museums authoritative voice.
Ms. OLeary leads the new Modern and contemporary African art department at Sothebys. In the lead-up to the first auction there focused specifically on contemporary art from Africa, planned for May, Ms. OLeary is spending as much time as possible in Lagos; in Accra, Ghana; and in Johannesburg and Cape Town, investigating the art scenes and how the work there might be seen in the art capitals of London, New York and Paris. (Generally, contemporary African art is defined as work created from the 1970s until now.)
Dr. Bhavika Kaul, who took an observation course as a student and now jointly teaches it at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, credited art observation with helping her catch a patients misdiagnosis during her residency. When I walked in the room, the first thing I noticed was the patient, who had been in the hospital without sun exposure, was 10 shades darker than her family members, she said. I immediately diagnosed her with adrenal insufficiency.
The course had taught me to see beyond just the vital signs and the labs, she recalled.
The first such course was created in 1999 at Yale, where medical students began undergoing training in close observation at the Yale Center for British Art, followed by an analysis of medical images. Both activities illustrate a variety of cognitive and visual features that serve as paradigms for evaluating patients, said Dr. Irwin Braverman of the Yale School of Medicine, who, with his Yale museum partner Linda Friedlaender, published the positive results of a controlled study in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001.
That article inspired Dr. Joel Katz to propose a similar course at Harvard Medical School. It was rejected, said Dr. Katz, who said he was told by the curriculum committee that it would be embarrassing. He taught the class outside the official curriculum at first and generated data showing that observing art did, in fact, improve students diagnostic abilities. Now, Training the Eye, taught with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is an established first-year Harvard elective. The latest trend is for classes to address issues of teamwork, empathy, burnout and tolerance for ambiguity.
Ms. Pitman mapped out the second day of her conference around interactive teaching demonstrations in the galleries at MoMA, the Frick Collection and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At MoMA, Dr. Katz led an exercise intended to improve communication in patients medical teams.
Participants were asked to find a work of art that reflected a professional or personal value that they held dear and to share the stories with one another as they moved between artworks like a medical team on rounds. It opens up conversations that might not happen in the context of the hospital, moments of connection and commonality, said Corinne Zimmerman, Dr. Katzs partner from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
THIS WAY MADNESS LIES
The Asylum and Beyond
By Mike Jay
Illustrated. 255 pp. Thames & Hudson. $45.
Mike Jays This Way Madness Lies accompanies an exhibition currently showing at Wellcome Collection in London called Bedlam: The Asylum and Beyond. Both exhibition and book regard Bedlam, more properly known as the Bethlem Royal Hospital, as the asylum that came to define madness and its treatment.
From its 15th-century home in Bishopsgate, East London, the institution moved to Moorfields and then, in 1815, to St. Georges Fields in Southwark, to a building that now houses the Imperial War Museum. In 1930, the venerable asylum was removed to Monks Orchard, in a London suburb, where it continues to be a safe place to go mad, at least in its ideal conception.
Jay, a historian and a co-curator of the exhibition, provides a chronological account of a cyclical history. For centuries, the treatment of the mentally ill involved neglect and brutality. At times, these conditions stimulated efforts at reform, but energy tended to dissipate. Therapeutic pessimism and institutional decay ensued, new reforms were introduced, and the cycle began again. And today? Troublesome cases, Jay reminds us, are buried within the prison system from which the asylum was designed to rescue them.
This Way Madness Lies tells a colorful history, one rich in incident. In 1800, James Hadfield attempted to shoot George III in his royal box at the theater. He missed and was tried for high treason, but was found to be acting under an insane delusion and acquitted. This sensational verdict created a new sort of madman, the criminal lunatic, and significantly expanded the function of the asylum.
This October, the White House opened its doors to a few thousand people for South by South Lawn, a daylong event described as a festival of ideas, art and action. Both the event and its name were a nod to South by Southwest, the annual technology-and-music festival held in Austin, Tex., where Barack and Michelle Obama showed up as surprise keynote speakers earlier this year. The story goes that they were so impressed by their experiences, they decided to host their own microrendition before leaving office. Attendees at the White House version the types of people who describe themselves in Twitter bios as creator or innovator were told to dress casually, in clothes suitable for a picnic. The D.J. Beverly Bond, of Black Girls Rock, blasted Public Enemys anthem Fight the Power and Parliaments Flash Light across the lawn, which was studded with coffee carts, Lego sculptures and virtual-reality stations. Enormous stages erected for the occasion housed a rotating cast of musical guests and speakers throughout the afternoon. As the sun began to set, volunteers handed out plaid blankets so people could stretch out on the ground.
The event felt like the swan song of the first president who seemed to get it it being the value of start-up culture. A friend in attendance that day told me that she thought Obama wanted us to feel some ownership, that tech doesnt have to be far away or out of our lives. He wants to leave behind a nation of makers, she said. Megan Rose Dickey, who covered the event for TechCrunch, wrote that it left her optimistic that maybe our country can change and learn to do the right thing.
Since then our politics, and our evolving constitutional rights, have been shaped by the articulation and settling of grievances writ large. Slavery was listed as one of the grievances in Jeffersons draft of the Declaration of Independence, but struck from the final version; it would take the 13th Amendment to begin to right that wrong. And half the population didnt appear in the founding documents at all. Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams and a future first lady, wrote to her friend Mercy Otis Warren in 1776 that she had sent a List of Female Grievances to her husband in Philadelphia, where he was working with the Continental Congress to draft the laws of the new nation. I even threatened fomenting a Rebellion in case we were not considered, Adams wrote, and assured him we would not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we had neither a voice, nor representation.
What had been established in those founding documents was a blueprint for how a grievance could be transmuted, through democratic institutions, into a right. In a February 1965 speech in Rochester, Malcolm X reframed the strategy for addressing the persecution and second-class citizenship of black Americans. Anyone who classifies his grievances under the label of human rights violations, those grievances can then be brought into the United Nations and be discussed by people all over the world, he said. For as long as you call it civil rights, your only allies can be the people in the next community, many of whom are responsible for your grievance. It was a kind of vision test: Enough people with enough power had to be able to see the problem clearly in order to have it corrected.
But as more rights were secured by some, they were resented by others, who saw these gains as their own dispossession. Over the next decades, grumblings arose over government programs, from welfare to affirmative action, intended to target the effects of earlier wrongs. In 2003, the former Democratic governor of Colorado, Richard Lamm, gave a Swiftian three-minute speech at a dinner given by the anti-immigration Federation for American Immigration Reform. I would like to share with you my plan to destroy America, he said. As the clinking of forks grew silent, he recited a checklist that ran from bilingualism to high-school dropout rates. I would invest in ethnic identity and victimology. I would get them to think that their lack of success was only the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry.
Lamms speech went viral in the far-right reaches of the internet, where it lives on today: a dystopian vision in which the sort of redress demanded by Malcolm X is an engine for the destruction of American society, a redistribution of privilege and prosperity from whites to blacks and a rising tide of immigrants all permanently changing the we that once defined the nation and those who got to rule it.
Youre a prominent member of Donald Trumps presidential campaign, as the director of African-American outreach, after competing on The Apprentice in 2004. Statistically speaking, he does not seem to be having very much success with either women or minorities. Oh, my God, I disagree. When I took the position, we were polling at zero. Nationally, were at an average of 8 percent. Romney and McCain got around 6 to 7 percent of the African-American vote. Our goal is to get 15 to 20 percent of the African-American vote, and we still think that number is possible.
Im seeing you guys polling at 2 percent. Ill send you the numbers that I have.
Do you think the improvement is because of his oft-repeated line, What do you have to lose? You called it exactly what it is: a line. That is not the totality of our engagement. Hes actually employed an entire program in order to reach out to the African-American community.
He spends a lot of time talking about how terrible things are for black people he has said that if hes elected, black people will be able to walk down the street without getting shot. I assume you, wherever you live, are able to walk down the street without being shot. Not necessarily.
A lot of people dont remember that you were a political appointee in the Clinton administration. I was in Al Gores office for a little under a year, and then I moved to the personnel office.
NYT Upshot/Siena College poll Estimated N.C. vote Strongest for Clinton Strongest for Trump Elizabeth City Winston-Salem Greensboro Durham Rocky Mount Raleigh Asheville Greenville Charlotte Fayetteville Wilmington Elizabeth City Winston-Salem Greensboro Durham Rocky Mount Raleigh Asheville Greenville Charlotte Fayetteville Wilmington Elizabeth City Greensboro Winston-Salem Durham Rocky Mount Raleigh Asheville Greenville Charlotte Fayetteville Wilmington Greensboro Durham Asheville Raleigh Charlotte New York Times Upshot/Siena College Poll Clinton 46% Trump 39%
No state that voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 has posed a bigger challenge for Donald J. Trump than North Carolina. He has trailed in every survey there since the first presidential debate, and he does not have a credible path to the presidency without its 15 electoral votes.
A New York Times Upshot/Siena College survey released on Tuesday confirms that Mr. Trumps standing has deteriorated considerably. Hillary Clinton has a seven-point lead over Mr. Trump in North Carolina, 46 percent to 39 percent, among likely voters in a three-way race including the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
Hillary Clinton leads by a larger margin than other Democratic candidates, a reversal from the last Upshot/Siena poll.
Its a big improvement for Mrs. Clinton since September, when the last New York Times Upshot/Siena College poll showed a tied race in the state as other polls at the time also did. It mirrors a national trend of steady gains for Mrs. Clinton throughout October.
The poll is her best live-interview survey in North Carolina so far this month. In general, it is better to look at an average of polls than any single survey. But the Upshot/Siena poll is hardly alone in suggesting that Mrs. Clinton has an advantage. On average, she has led by three points in North Carolina surveys so far this month.
Mrs. Clintons gain came from incremental improvements across nearly every dimension of the survey.
Her share of the vote among white voters without a college degree increased by five points, to 22 percent from 17 percent.
It puts her just slightly behind President Obama four years ago, and brings her support closer to the performance of down-ballot Democrats, who outpaced her by a much larger margin among these voters a month ago.
North Carolina has a huge educational split. Below, the divide among whites.
She gained three points among white voters with a degree, and now holds 42 percent of the white college-educated vote, to Mr. Trumps 40 percent.
Mr. Trumps weakness among these voters is the main reason hes underperforming Mr. Romney, who won white voters with a degree by more than 20 points.
These well-educated voters have let Mrs. Clinton open up a huge lead in the states growing, well-educated suburbs. She had a 38-point lead in both the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area and in Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte: 61 percent to 23 percent. Mr. Obama won those counties by 23 points, 61-38.
She gained nine points among nonwhite voters and now leads, 81-6, among them.
At the same time, the electorate became incrementally younger and more diverse since our last survey, with hundreds of thousands of disproportionately young and nonwhite new voters registering over the last few months. This was the major reason the non-Hispanic white share of the likely electorate declined from 71.4 percent to 70.5 percent.
The gap between registered and likely voters dissipated.
In the last Upshot/Siena poll, Mrs. Clinton had two-point lead over Mr. Trump among registered voters, but the race was tied among likely voters. In this survey, there was no gap: Mrs. Clinton led by a seven-point margin among both registered and likely voters.
Mrs. Clinton was helped by female and well-educated voters, who are poised to make up a larger share of the electorate than their share of registered voters. Black voters were nearly as likely to say they had voted or were almost certain to vote, a change from September, when they were 12 points less likely to do so than white voters.
White voters Mrs. Clinton has made gains among white voters in the month since the first Upshot/Siena College poll. Black voters Black voters, who overwhelmingly support Mrs. Clinton, make up more than a fifth of the electorate in North Carolina.
And Mrs. Clinton is already reaping the benefits of a strong turnout in early voting. So far, she has a significant lead among people who have already voted, based on the responses from early voters and the demographic characteristics of the people who have voted early, according to the state Board of Elections. Notably, virtually no supporters of Mr. Johnson have turned out.
Most of the voters who have participated in early voting were already considered likely voters. But well be tracking to see whether early voting is changing the electorate over the next few weeks.
Support in a two-way race among voters who are...
The chart below is identical to the one above, except that the groups are scaled according to their share of the likely electorate.
Scaled to size of the electorate (two-way race)
Our poll showed somewhat better trendlines for Republicans down the ballot: The governor, Pat McCrory, and Senator Richard Burr are in slightly stronger positions than they were a month ago, even as Mr. Trumps standing has deteriorated markedly.
But Mr. McCrory still trails his Democratic challenger, Attorney General Roy Cooper, by six points. Deborah Ross, the Democratic Senate candidate, holds a nominal edge over Mr. Burr.
The Republican candidates down the ballot ran ahead of Mr. Trump in part because they enjoyed greater support from Republican voters.
Mr. Trump held the support of just 80 percent of self-identified Republicans in the three-way race, and he was at 83 percent in a two-way race. Mr. Burr, in comparison, had the support of 92 percent of self-identified Republicans.
Mr. Trumps weakness among self-identified Republican voters helps explain why he lags by a decisive margin but it also makes it easier to imagine how he could improve his standing over the final two weeks.
The danger for Mr. Burr and Republicans hoping to hold the Senate is that these dissatisfied Republicans might be likeliest to stay home.
Where this poll fits in with other polls of North Carolina voters
MIAOMIAO LAKE VILLAGE, China Ankle-deep sand blocked the door of their new home. Pushing bicycles through the yard was like wading in a bog. The lake part of Miaomiao Lake Village turned out to be nothing but a tiny oasis more than a mile from the cookie-cutter rows of small concrete-block houses.
Ma Shiliang, a village doctor whose family was among some 7,000 Hui Muslims whom the Chinese government had brought to this place from their water-scarce lands in the countrys northwest, said officials promised we would get rich. Instead, these people who once herded sheep and goats over expansive hills now feel like penned-in animals, listless and uncertain of their future.
If we had known what it was like, we wouldnt have moved here, said Dr. Ma, 41, who, three years on, has been unable to get a job practicing medicine in Miaomiao Lake Village or to find other reliable work.
China calls them ecological migrants: 329,000 people whom the government had relocated from lands distressed by climate change, industrialization, poor policies and human activity to 161 hastily built villages. They were the fifth wave in an environmental and poverty alleviation program that has resettled 1.14 million residents of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a territory of dunes and mosques and camels along the ancient Silk Road.
Han Jinlong, the deputy director of migration under Ningxias Poverty Alleviation and Development Office, said that although the earlier waves were not explicitly labeled ecological migrants, they had also been moved because of the growing harshness of the desert. It is the worlds largest environmental migration project.
What China is doing in Ningxia and a few other provinces hit hard by drought and other natural and man-made disasters is a harbinger of actions that governments around the globe, including the United States, could take as they grapple with climate change, which is expected to displace millions of people in the coming decades.
China has been battered by relentless degradation of the land and worsening weather patterns, including the northern drought. But mass resettlement has brought its own profound problems, embodied in the struggles of the Ma family and their neighbors.
Dr. Ma told me over tea in his living room that each household had to pay a $2,100 resettlement fee and was promised a plot of land to farm as the families left behind plentiful fields and animals. But those who received plots ended up having to lease them to an agriculture company, and were left with tiny front yards, where the Mas grow a few chili plants.
The 11-member family was expected to squeeze into a 580-square-foot, two-bedroom home; like many of the migrants, Dr. Ma erected an extra room with white plastic siding in the yard for his parents.
And the officials designing the new homes put toilets in the same room as showers, an affront to the Hui Muslims. Dr. Ma dug a pit toilet outside, where the front yard meets the road.
Dr. Ma has not only been unable to get officials to appoint him as a village doctor here, but since November has also failed to find construction work unstable and low-paying, but the most common job for the village men. The family must live mainly off the $12 per day his wife, Wang Mei, earns in an industrial farm field.
Together with Dr. Ma, three of Dr. Mas brothers and a nephew brought a total of 38 family members as part of the resettlement. But another brother, Ma Shixiong, was one of a handful who stayed behind in Yejiahe village, a five-hour drive south, defying the governments orders. Officials tore down the homes of the families who left and punished those who remained by refusing to renovate their houses or build them animal pens, and denying them water pipelines and subsidies for raising sheep and cattle.
Wang Lin, who is also unemployed and was one of eight men I spoke to one afternoon following prayers at Miaomiao Lakes Jian Mosque, said he and eight family members planned to return to Yejiahe next year if he did not find a job.
No one has moved back yet, but people are talking about it, said Mr. Wang, 48.We can farm the land there. Our homes are no longer there, but we can dig into the earth and build a cave home.
It is all the responsibility of the government.
As in much of northern China, most of Ningxias 26,000 square miles are desert, including the areas chosen for resettlement. Government officials say places like Miaomiao Lake are still an improvement over Xihaigu the vast region of southern and central Ningxia where the Mas and the other migrants came from because they are closer to highways; to Yinchuan, Ningxias capital; and to the Yellow River, a major water source that helped give birth to Chinese civilization.
An aerial view of Yejiahe, the village from which Ma Shiliang and his family were relocated.
When Prime Minister Li Keqiang visited Ningxia in February, he told villagers that relocating impoverished people from bad natural conditions is an important way to alleviate poverty, according to the website of the State Council, Chinas cabinet.
A third of Ningxias population and most of the people who have been resettled are Hui Muslim. Some Western scholars say that Chinese resettlement policies are at least partly aimed at controlling ethnic minority populations, and that officials may cite environmental reasons as a cover.
Though remote, the parched Xihaigu area has been on the radar of the central government since at least the 1980s, when officials began producing a series of grim reports on the viability of the land. A recent estimate by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Land and Resources said the region could sustain only 1.3 million people; the population in 2014 was about 2.3 million.
The government decided to move people out because the land couldnt feed them, Zhang Jizhong, the deputy director of the Ningxia Poverty Alleviation and Development Office, told me when I met with him and his colleague Mr. Han in their Yinchuan office in August. The factors are rooted in history, nature and society.
Rainfall was increasingly rare. Villagers had cut down many trees for firewood and to build homes, he said. And the government never built enough reservoirs.
Across Ningxia, the average temperature has risen by 2.1 degrees Celsius, or 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit, in the last 50 years, more than half of that increase occurring from 2001 to 2010, according to a book by Ma Zhongyu, a former senior official, citing data from an international study. Annual precipitation has dropped about 5.7 millimeters, or about a quarter inch, every decade since the 1960s.
Mr. Zhang said a main goal of moving people from Xihaigu was to turn the hills green, with a parallel planting program. More than two million acres have been converted to forest and pasture land, he said, citing the Guyuan area, where forest coverage was 22 percent last year, up from 4 percent in the 1980s.
There are more wild animals and vegetables there now, Mr. Zhang said of Xihaigu. When we go there, we can sometimes eat wild chicken.
When the resettlement program was begun in 1983, migrants were given land in the north and told to move and build new homes on their own. These days, the government builds them homes, albeit small ones; of the $3 billion spent on the five waves of relocation, Mr. Zhang said, half was used on the most recent one.
Houses need to be built well, roads need to be built well, schools need to be built well, he said. It is all the responsibility of the government.
The relocation process begins with the government asking geological experts to look for sufficient arable land elsewhere in Ningxia, Mr. Zhang said, then gauging whether enough water can be transferred to those places.
The size of each familys yard plot is about 150 square meters, or 1,600 square feet, with the house taking up a third of that. Many complain about the cramped quarters and the additional one mu of farmland a sixth of an acre that each person is allotted in most cases, far less than they had in their home villages.
Land and water are indeed becoming more scarce in the north, Mr. Zhang acknowledged. In the last wave of relocations, a quarter of the families did not get any land, he said, adding that the government had labeled them labor migrants and was negotiating with companies to give them city jobs, including as cleaners and security guards.
But officials know that even those who get farmland face a struggle.
That is far from enough to get you out of poverty, Mr. Zhang said. It can maybe feed you. The government has been making lots of efforts to get people to be able to work in other sectors, so you dont rely on land itself for a living.
I never worked like this before.
The largest of Ningxias new migrant villages, Binhe Homeland, has more than 16,000 residents. The smallest have just a few hundred each. Miaomiao Lake is in the middle, with 7,000.
The 1,400 homes there look bland and anonymous, separated by low concrete walls, with only numbers to distinguish them: Dr. Mas is House 35 in District 5. Most villages have an elementary school, a market area and mosques, but seem more like refugee camps than organic communities.
One afternoon during one of my three recent visits to the region, Ms. Wang, Dr. Mas wife, came home from the farm to nap during her lunch break. She had been up since dawn spreading fertilizer over a field of watermelons.
After a half-hours sleep, it was time to return to the desert sun.
She said goodbye to Dr. Ma and their younger children, clad in red-and-white school uniforms. Then she drove an electric cart to a highway, where dozens of other women in electric carts were gathering. Most wore pink head scarves, a shock of color against the sand that stretched to the horizon.
MONGOLIA NORTH KOREA Beijing Hohhot Seoul SOUTH KOREA GOBI Taiyuan Yinchuan NINGXIA Yejiahe Xian Shanghai CHINA Chengdu 250 Miles MONGOLIA Hohhot GOBI Yinchuan Taiyuan NINGXIA Yejiahe Xian CHINA 250 Miles
The women clambered onto the flatbeds of two John Deere tractors, which drove off to the watermelon field.
The work is so exhausting, and Im dead tired, said Ms. Wang, 39. I never worked like this before, when we were living in the south. I farmed our own land there, and we lived our days according to our own schedule.
Before the move, Ms. Wang imagined that the family would grow food on its own patch of farmland, to eat and sell, as it had done in Yejiahe. But officials decided that the villagers would be better off leasing the plots a total of 3,300 acres to a large company, Huatainong Agriculture, and other enterprises because the desert land was hard to farm.
New immigrants dont really know how to plant crops on the land, explained Wang Zhigang, the director of the Pingluo County poverty alleviation office, adding that migrant families had tried and failed.
Each family member is supposed to receive 195 renminbi per year, or $29, for leasing their land. Mr. Wang said the money is deposited annually in a family bank account, but Dr. Ma said his household had not received the payment after the first year.
So the familys only steady income is the $12 a day Ms. Wang is paid by Huatainong less than the $15 per day that China says is the average for migrant workers.
Like many in Miaomiao Lake, Dr. Ma has taken out government loans to help meet the familys living expenses.
You cant just make me a coal-mine worker now.
Dr. Ma learned how to give shots years ago, after watching an older brother whose son got sick frequently. When the village of Yejiahe needed a doctor, that gave him a leg up. His formal education had stopped before high school, but he studied medical techniques on his own. He received his medical license in 2011. He mostly administered vaccines and treated colds and other minor illnesses.
But Dr. Ma said he could not get a job as a doctor in Miaomiao Lake because the government had created only one such post there, which he considered absurd for a village of 7,000. He said that he had repeatedly asked the county health department to add a position for him, but that an official had told him the decision could be made only at a higher level. (A county health official said in an interview that there were plans to add two doctors to Miaomiao Lake.)
Still, friends sometimes ask Dr. Ma to administer a shot. In return, he sometimes asks for the equivalent of $1.50.
One afternoon, a fellow worshiper from Jian Mosque came to Dr. Mas home for an intravenous drip of calcium gluconate, a mineral supplement. The man lay on a bed by the front window and held out his right arm. The doctor worked with precision and without charge.
It is difficult to get a handle on employment in Miaomiao Lake. Mr. Wang, the Pingluo County official, said of the 2,000 ecological migrants in the village who had the ability to work, 93 percent had jobs. A senior executive at Huatainong said the company employed 400 to 500 women for half the year, and about 100 at other times. Dr. Ma and many others disputed the official employment figures, saying that most men could not find regular work on construction projects in the new villages or nearby cities.
Once each year, residents said, government officials have offered training sessions of one to two hours to teach villagers how to become welders or bricklayers. Useless, Dr. Ma said. There arent many jobs available.
City-level officials visited the village for a day in May; Dr. Ma said one offered him a job in a coal-washing factory in a city, but he didnt want to go because the lifestyle there is different than ours, with few Hui Muslims and many ethnic Han.
There was also the matter of pride. Ive been a village doctor, he said. You cant just make me a coal-mine worker now. Its not appropriate.
Unable or unwilling to do manual or farm work, some of the migrants run restaurants, pharmacies or other small businesses. Near the front archway of the village is a plaza lined with storefronts, but most were shuttered the morning I visited. No one was renting them.
I found Ma Nuwa in the only open shop along one row. She had been selling blankets there for more than two years, and said she made about $75 per month.
Business is bad; there are no people here, she said. I have three boys. My husband has to go outside to find manual labor.
Some out-of-work men retreat to the mosques, where five daily prayers give life some structure. Sometimes before going to pray, Dr. Ma showers, puts on a crisp white shirt and fixes his skullcap just right, adjusting it in the mirror.
At his home, there are always children around. The parents took the youngest daughter, Shuyun, out of preschool because they could not afford the $150 fee each semester. The oldest, 16-year-old Xiaofang, had been enrolled in a boarding school, but stopped after a year and a half.
I dont like school, and I dont want to go back, she told me one day as she cooked noodles for the family for lunch. I plan to go to Yinchuan after Ramadan to find work.
But Dr. Ma said: My oldest daughter isnt going to Yinchuan. Shes too young.
Its not a very civil lifestyle.
The road to the Mas old village, Yejiahe, winds uphill past a reservoir, past hills covered with soft yellow silt, past horses and haystacks in peoples yards. The landscape is wide and rolling and green, nothing like Miaomiao Lake.
We parked atop a ridge overlooking a valley. Dr. Mas brother Ma Shixiong greeted me at the side of the road, dressed in a blue tunic and skullcap. His face had as many creases as the hills.
He was the man who stayed behind, even as his extended clan, including his elderly parents, had migrated northward. His wife, three of his sons and four grandchildren also remained in Yejiahe; two other sons worked at a restaurant in Beijing. About 300 villagers remained from a population of about 1,400 in the late 1990s.
He handed me a cup of tea in a front room with a brick floor and mud walls that, even in the summer heat, stayed cool.
We didnt have any plans to move out there, Mr. Ma, 50, said of Miaomiao Lake. We knew we would only be given one house.
He told me many Yejiahe families had a long history of being relocated at the whims of government officials. His ancestors lived in south-central Ningxia, near the Yellow River, a very easy place to live, he said. More than 100 years ago, officials under the Qing court ordered the family to move to Yejiahe.
Decades ago, Communist officials divided the village into five teams. The Mas were in one called Xiahe. A few years ago, officials told the Xiahe families they had to relocate to the north. Fifty households moved; nine refused.
Why some chose to stay, even at the cost of fracturing extended families, became clear once Mr. Ma walked me through his home.
Compared with his brothers place in Miaomiao Lake, it might as well have been an imperial palace. Two rows of rooms face a large courtyard. The families of two of his sons, each with two children, have their own quarters. The total area is 300 square meters 3,229 square feet, twice the size of the housing plots in the new village.
Mr. Ma said he had visited his family a half-dozen times in Miaomiao Lake, before their ailing father died in February 2015.
When I first saw that place that little yard and the little house and the little bathroom in front of the door he said, trailing off. The hygiene is not good. Its not a very civil lifestyle.
You dont have land, and you need to go out to find jobs, he added. How can you make a living?
In Yejiahe, Mr. Ma had up to eight acres of land to farm, though occasional floods had destroyed some fields. Behind his home was a large field of corn and oats. The family sold those crops as well as potatoes and millet. In front of the house, a donkey stood in a pen.
The family drew water from a well in the back, as villagers had done for generations. The people who moved to Miaomiao Lake had been relieved to finally get running water. Then they heard that soon after they moved, pipelines for tap water had been installed for much of their former village.
But not for the Xiahe team members who defied the government relocation order. It was as if they were phantom households, Mr. Ma said, wiped from existence.
As we talked, neighbors began crowding into the front room. They had heard that a reporter from Beijing was in town. Each wanted to voice a complaint about local corruption. Its a primitive society here because no one cares about us, Mr. Ma said.
The day was fading, and Mr. Ma led me outside to see his brothers old homes. We climbed up a hill, and the wide valley stretched out in front of us. Mr. Ma and his neighbors said the area had been drying up for years; there was less rain than a decade ago.
But I could see patches of vegetation on the hills. Since the Xiahe team left, trees and shrubs had begun to reappear, Mr. Ma said. Fewer people meant less stress on the land.
We reached a rise above the valley. In front of me was what remained of the mud-wall home where Dr. Ma and Ms. Wang had begun raising seven children. Officials had it knocked down, leaving blocks of earth and crumbling walls in the dirt.
For Ma Shixiong, the memory of his four brothers departure in November 2013 was as clear as the sky overhead. The families had loaded their furniture onto trucks. They had boarded a bus the next morning.
We all cried, Mr. Ma said. They cried, I cried. We were a family, and now were separated. I hope they will move back, but its impossible.
We walked back down the ridge. The afternoon shadows were lengthening, and the homes on the hill stood silent in their ruin.
Children and adults can fellowship, laugh, eat and gain spirituality at one place: Antioch Missionary Baptist Churchs Hallowed Be Thy Name event Thursday.
Its not only a safe haven, but its a spiritual thing, where people can talk to people about God said organizer Robert Lockhart. We try to keep everyone on one accord, where we can be united and not divided.
The event plans to unite people through free fellowship, cake walks, bouncy houses and food, such as fish, burgers and hot dogs.
Lockhart said hes excited about the Rev. Jerry Dowdell has to offer participants.
Rev. Dowdell has a signature recipe for fried chicken, he said. People come from miles around to try it.
Hollowed Be Thy Name has grown from about 100 to approximately 300 people, when it first started. The event is in its 12th year.
With the growing number, Lockhart said the church is accepting donations to continue to raise funds to continue the event.
Lockhart said people should come out to the vent because it is an opportunity for the community to come to a place that where they feel at home. He said participants will have the opportunity to meet the pastor, church members and more, in case they might need spiritual guidance.
Organizer Diane Ambus said the community doesnt have enough socializing and fellowship the event will offer.
It will introduce people to Christ, and let them know we can have a joyous time, she said. You can have fun as a Christian. People think you have to give things up, when you turn yourself over to Christ.
Ambus said several people from the church contributed to the implementation of the event.
The church also received support from organizations, such as Harris Funeral Home, Peterson and William Funeral Home, Bouncin Round, Gentry and Ware Motor Co.,Sams Club, Wal-Mart, Papa Johns, Logans Roadhouse, Subway, Publix, and more.
Hollowed Be Thy Name will be held Oct. 27 at 5:30 p.m. at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 605 W.E. Morton Ave.
A certificate of need application for the relocation of a Sumter County Methadone Clinic to Opelika is being reviewed, officials said.
Marketing director Cheryl Zelenak of Colonial Management Group, LP -- parent company of Metro Treatment of Alabama -- said the company has a certificate of need application pending before the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency.
The Opelika City Council voted to oppose the Metro Treatment of Alabama move from Sumter County to Opelika in an Aug. 2 council meeting.
We dont think there is a need, said Mayor Gary Fuller. Were adamantly opposed to it. They dont have any recovery centers, and were interested in people recovering.
Fuller said he attended a hearing on Oct. 4 with an administrative law judge. He said no decision had been made about the facility coming to Opelika. Fuller said the decision will come from a certificate of need board.
We didnt testify, but we showed our interest, he said.
Zelenak said the counsel for the Colonial Management Group attended all public hearings on behalf of the company.
Colonial Management Group filed a certificate of need application in February to relocate the facility from Livingston, Ala. to 1051 Fox Run Pkwy.
The facility is an opiate replacement treatment center.
According to the companys certificate of need application, Lee County and Sumter County have substantial unmet needs for opiate replacement centers. The organization said its Sumter Countys patients were declining because they had to travel long distances to receive treatment. According to the application, the Sumter County facility reported 66 patients. The company projected 194 patients are expected to use the facility in Lee County.
Alva Lambert of the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency said the organization is waiting on an approval or denial of the certificate of need application from the administrative law judge. He said the agency cant do anything, until a judge makes a ruling.
Construction for the facility would cost about $315,439. The facilitys cost per year would be $54,000, according to the application.
ISLAMABAD The Islamic State claimed responsibility Tuesday for the latest major attack in Pakistan, an overnight assault on a police training college in the southwest that officials said had killed at least 61 people, most of them cadets.
The attack, carried out by three militants wielding guns and explosives, also wounded 120 people at the college outside Quetta, the capital of the restive province of Baluchistan. The militants struck late Monday and battled security forces for several hours before they were killed. Two detonated suicide vests, and the third was shot, said Mir Sarfraz Bugti, a provincial minister.
The Amaq news agency, which acts as a news wire for the Islamic State, posted a picture of three men holding guns and wearing ammunition vests who it said were the attackers. The Islamic State had also claimed responsibility for the last major attack in the Quetta area, an August suicide bombing at a hospital in the city that killed dozens of lawyers.
Pakistani officials had earlier blamed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a banned militant group affiliated with the Taliban, for the assault on the police college. After the Islamic State claimed responsibility, a senior security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media, said the Islamic State had outsourced the attack to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
The assault on the college showed that extremist groups remain a serious threat for the Pakistani military and security forces, which have claimed great success against militants in recent years. As the country reeled Tuesday from the latest attack, security forces were put on high alert across Pakistan, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, said they would visit Quetta.
Baluchistan is home to a decades-old separatist insurgency, and Taliban militants maintain a presence in Quetta and many other parts of the province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, a spokesman for the Baluchistan government, blamed Afghanistan for the attack on the police college.
All such attacks have been managed from across the border in Afghanistan, Kakar said. Hostile intelligence agencies of neighboring countries are directly responsible for terrorism in Pakistan.
Kakar said that some of the wounded were in critical condition and that the death toll could rise. We are investigating the failure of law enforcement agencies, he said.
Baluchistans chief minister, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, said intelligence reports days earlier had indicated that an attack on Quetta was imminent. He suggested that security preparations in the city itself had led the militants to target the college, which is about nine miles from the capital.
Security was already on high alert, and maybe that is why they have targeted the police training center on the outskirts of the city, Zehri said.
One of the wounded cadets, Qasim Ali, said the attack had begun late Monday night as they were getting ready for bed. Suddenly we heard gunshots, he said by telephone from a hospital.
We ran toward the hall door to close it, Ali said. I was wounded in my chest and left leg when the attacker threw an explosive device inside the hall. He said he took cover under a bed and lost consciousness.
I wish wed had enough guns, Ali said. The terrorists could have been killed easily before they could kill us. Cadets ordinarily do not keep weapons with them during training.
KOREATOWN The votive candles and roses left at the corner of Vermont Avenue and Olympic Boulevard on Monday offered little comfort or answers for Lester Gomez.
His father, Gustavo Green Gomez, 62, stood on this corner in Los Angeles Koreatown just two days before. He had been one of 44 people who climbed aboard the USA Holiday charter bus Saturday night to spend a couple of hours at the Red Earth Casino in Thermal near the Salton Sea.
But before dawn on Sunday, Gustavo Green Gomez became one of at least 13 people who died after the bus they were traveling in slammed into a big-rig on the 10 freeway near Palm Springs, on the way back to Los Angeles. Dozens of passengers were seriously injured.
Its difficult right now for us, Lester Gomez said through tears as he talked about his father, who lived in Huntington Park. He had 10 children.
Dozens of people who heard about the crash came to Vermont and Olympic to tuck a rose into the fibrous trunk of a palm tree there, to leave a note or a flower or to say a prayer. They would then talk to each other about the many times they met at the corner to board the USA Holiday charter bus bound for Southern California casinos.
Many said driver Teodulo Elias Vides, who was among the 13 dead, was a good driver. Vides, who was from Alhambra, operated his own charter bus and had contracts with the small casinos. He picked people up, including Rosa Cabello, early in the mornings or late in the afternoon.
He behaved well, Cabello, 79, said. He was a good person.
But Cabello said there were times when she saw him gambling in the casinos, when he should have been resting.
It would have been best if he had napped on the bus, Cabello said.
She began taking the bus more than 20 years ago, when she learned about it from residents in her Koreatown neighborhood.
It was better than sitting at home alone, crying, waiting for children to call or visit, Cabello said as she explained why she paid $20 to take the bus to the casinos.
Cabello said she didnt know many of the passengers by name, but realized some of the ones she had traveled with died in the crash. She could have been one of them, she said.
It hurts, she said of those who died.
The National Transportation Safety Board told reporters Monday it is investigating the cause of the crash.
Meanwhile, the crash left family members across Los Angeles County in mourning.
Jennifer Ruiz, 26, called her mother, Rosa Ruiz, 53, a legend.
Ruiz said her mother enjoyed going to the casinos with her girlfriends to relieve stress.
She loved it, she said. Everything she did, she did it with no regret. That was her thing. Some people go to the movies, my mom loved the casino.
Born in Guatemala, Rosa Ruiz had been living in the U.S. for more than 30 years. She worked most of her life, but was disabled in recent years.
She was a mother of three who enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren, her daughter said. She was often dancing, and playing her cumbias.
I loved that woman so much, Jennifer Ruiz said. Its so empty here now, so quiet. No more music playing.
In Echo Park, Ana Gomez de Magallon, 71, lived with one of her sisters, according to her niece, Yajaira Gomez. Originally from El Salvador, Gomez de Magallon was the oldest of five and lived in Los Angeles for much of the 35 to 40 years shes been in United States. Her niece said she went on weekly trips to the casino in Thermal for the past couple of years.
She went there all the time, Yajaira Gomez said. She loved to go gambling.
Zoila Aguilera, 72, of Los Angeles was remembered by relatives as an optimistic and inspiring woman who overcame obstacles and made sure to teach younger generations to do the same.
The active, great-grandmother was on one of her regular jaunts to a casino with good friend and relative Yolanda Mendoza, 69, when the crash occurred. Both women died.
She was tough, amazing. Even in her bad days, it was always a good day for her, said Aguileras grandson, Ricardo Mendoza, 20, who flew in with his family from Ohio after hearing of the collision.
A native of El Salvador who had lived in L.A. since 1972, Aguilera was a cook and caregiver enjoying her retirement, Mendoza said.
Family members on Monday remembered her as an outspoken woman who maintained a positive outlook no matter what.
Any obstacle, she would say: Dont worry about it, recalled grandson Chris Ramirez, 18, who lives with his family in the back part of a duplex next to his grandmothers home in Los Angeles. She told it like it was. And she taught me that hard work pays off.
Jacquelynn Ochoa, a niece who lives in Rancho Cucamonga, said: She would empower everyone.
She always had the time to listen to you, Ochoa said from her aunts home, where two large candles were lit in remembrance inside the living room.
Im so sad. Im going to graduate in December and she wont be here. She was like a second mom to me, Ochoa explained. All my cousins would say the same: She was like our second mom. Aguilera is survived by six children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Meanwhile at the Koreatown memorial Monday evening, Francisca Escobar, 47, of Los Angeles embraced friends and family as well as dozens of strangers.
She placed a candle at the growing vigil, wiped tears from her face and tried to tape a sign to the tree saying RIP Tony.
Escobar said that she learned hours earlier that her boyfriend, Tony Mai, 50, Los Angeles, had died in a hospital after being in critical condition.
I usually got there early and saved us seats on the bus, Escobar said through a translator. This time he called me and told me not to come.
She doesnt know why.
Escobar and Mai met five years ago on such a bus.
He didnt talk much; he was quiet, she said. But he was caring, she added, her cheeks tear-stained.
During her many trips with Mai to the casino, Escobar, who has diabetes, would lose track of time playing the slots.
Hed bring me food, she said. Hed make me stop playing and eat.
When asked why Mai didnt want her to go with him this time, she shook her head.
I dont know, she said.
Other passengers who died, and were identified by the Riverside County coroners office include:
Aracely Tije, 63, of Los Angeles.
Dora Rodriguez, 69, of Los Angeles.
Concepcion Corvera, 57, of Palmdale.
Milagros Gonzales, 72, of Los Angeles.
Isabel Jimenez Hernandez, 66, of Los Angeles.
Elvia Sanchez, 52, of Los Angeles.
Staff reporters Roxana Kopetman, Stephanie Baer, Christopher Haire, Jason Henry and Alejandra Molina contributed to this report.
The Clinton corruption sagas continue.
Sharp-elbowed Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is the closest Clinton family confidant. He has been on the board of the Clinton Crime Family Foundation and is a long-time bag man for the Clintons and the DNC. And he just got caught influencing the FBI agent in charge of the bureaus non-investigation into Hillary Clintons email crimes.
According to Mondays Wall Street Journal, McAuliffes Democrat cabal gave nearly $500,000 to the election campaign of the wife of an official at the FBI who helped oversee the investigation into Mrs. Clintons email use.
This is the same governor, Terry McAuliffe, who recently signed an executive order allowing more than two hundred thousand felons to vote in his swing state of Virginia. And we know they will vote for Democrats and Hillary in this election. The logic is simple: To any man locked up in prison very long, even Hillary starts to look good.
McAuliffe narrowly won election because he ran against another one of the socially hard-right Republicans I detest. You know the kind of idiotic, socially right-winged Republican whose first objective (if elected) is to outlaw long hair, short skirts and various forms of dancing. McAuliffes Republican opponent wanted to make oral sex illegal, ban gay marriage and reinstate sodomy laws, all part and parcel of the Republican stated objective of getting government out of our lives.
Each fringe wing of the two parties differs on sodomy laws. Hard-right Republicans want to make sodomy illegal. Clinton Democrats want to make it mandatory. We Libertarians feel it should be a choice between consenting parties. Yet to make Gary Johnson look bad for fear he is taking votes from Hillary, MSNBC asked him to locate sodomy on a map of the Middle East.
When I was attending college at Georgetown, I loved visiting Virginia. I really enjoyed Mount Vernon Plantation, where George Washington brewed rye whiskey. George also grew tobacco and hemp, and pretty much slept with whomever he wanted to. He was the father of our country, and I also considered him the father of spring break.
Corrupt inside deals have kept Hillary Clintons trustworthy numbers at an all-time low. Wall Street continues to feed her protection money. It was reported Monday that, of the 56 donors in both parties who gave over $1 million dollars, or about $200 million in total, 83 percent of all donations were to Hillarys cause, and only 17 percent to Trumps.
Crony capitalist billionaires want to keep bidding up the cost of buying politicians; they fear that if the price falls too low, ordinary citizens might someday be able to buy the Clintons, too.
The Clintons do not want to become elitist since they are all about the middle class, so they have begun a starter bribe program where ordinary citizens can probably buy access to one of Chelsea Clintons babies for less than $100,000.
This corruption news comes on the heels of Project Veritas uncovering the DNC funding a black ops effort to send disruptive surrogates to start violence at Trump rallies. And WikiLeaks tells us of a $12 million quid-pro-quo Clinton Foundation shakedown while Hillary was Secretary of State. Its a sad day when a young man with a camera (Veritas) and breakoff Soviet hackers are doing the investigative reporting on Democrats that our mainstream media will not do.
Democrats have turned the DNC, DOJ, IRS and now the FBI into their bullying political enforcement arms. Note that since Democrats have been in charge, they seem to have targeted only Republicans: the GOP former governor of Virginia, opposition filmmaker and author Dinesh DSouza, Tennessee Gov. Haslems family business, Rush Limbaughs biggest sponsor (LifeLock), Sheldon Adelsons casinos, Tea Party donors, and former Republican Majority Leader Tom Delay. Before his sentence was overturned for being overtly political, Delay faced three years in prison. One year was for his alleged crime, and two extra years were tacked onto his sentence for his appearance on Dancing with the Stars.
Ron Hart is a libertarian oped humorist and awardwinning author, Ron is a frequent guest on CNN. He can be contacted at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.
State flags were flown at half-staff Monday outside Californias Capitol and Anaheim city facilities in honor of a sailor killed last week in northern Iraq.
Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, 34, listed as being from Anaheim, died Thursday after an improvised explosive device blast.
Finan died while assisting Iraqi Security Assistance Forces attempting to liberate the city of Mosul from Islamic State militants. He is the first U.S. service member killed in the Mosul offensive.
Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait directed flags at city facilities to be lowered in Finans honor.
On behalf of the city of Anaheim, our deep condolences go out to the Finan family, Tait said in a statement. Jason Finan was a decorated sailor who gave his life in one of the most important fights of our time. Today, we share a familys sorrow, but know Finan served valiantly doing what was right.
Gov. Jerry Brown also ordered state flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff and extended sympathy to Finans family and friends. In addition, his family will receive a letter of condolence from Brown.
Flags in Anaheim will fly at half-staff through sundown today and the Capitol through Wednesday.
WASHINGTON House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday called for the Pentagon to immediately suspend efforts to recover enlistment bonuses paid to thousands of soldiers in California, even as the Pentagon said late Tuesday the number of soldiers affected was smaller than first believed.
When those Californians answered the call to duty to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, they earned more from us than bureaucratic bungling and false promises, Ryan said. He urged the Pentagon to suspend collection efforts until Congress has time to protect service members from lifelong liability for DODs mistakes.
Ryans comments came as the White House said President Barack Obama has warned the Defense Department not to nickel-and-dime service members who were victims of fraud by overzealous recruiters.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday he did not believe Obama would support a blanket waiver of repayments, but he said California National Guard members should not be held responsible for unethical conduct or fraud perpetrated by someone else.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, meanwhile, promised to resolve a festering conflict that has lingered for a decade.
The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend that the Pentagon has demanded that some soldiers repay their enlistment bonuses after audits revealed overpayments by the California National Guard. Recruiters under pressure to fill ranks and hit enlistment goals at the height of the two wars improperly offered bonuses of $15,000 or more to soldiers who re-enlisted, the newspaper reported.
If soldiers refuse to pay the bonus back, they could face interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens.
The Pentagon said late Tuesday that it instructed at most 6,500 California Guard soldiers to repay the enlistment bonuses. That number is lower than a widely reported figure that nearly 10,000 soldiers have been told to repay part or all of their bonuses.
Defense Department spokesman Maj. Jamie Davis said an audit over five years in the making concluded last month that 1,100 soldiers improperly got bonuses for which they were ineligible. An additional 5,400 soldiers had erroneous paperwork that could have made them ineligible.
The California Guard said Tuesday it has collected about $22 million from fewer than 2,000 soldiers who improperly got bonuses and student loan aid.
Asked about the matter at a news conference Tuesday in Paris, Carter said the issue is complex and is being handled by the deputy secretary of defense, Robert Work.
The first thing I want to say is that anybody who volunteers to serve in the armed forces of the United States deserves our gratitude and respect period, Carter said. Officials are going to look into the repayment problem and resolve it, Carter added, but he offered no details.
A defense authorization bill passed by the House would establish a statute of limitations on the militarys ability to recover future overpayments and scrutinize existing cases of service member debt. House and Senate negotiators are trying to finalize the defense bill and pass it during the post-election, lame-duck session.
Ryan, R-Wis., called the bill an important step to establish a common standard for correcting military accounting errors.
Meanwhile, House and Senate oversight committees said they are investigating the California Guards attempt to reclaim the re-enlistment bonuses.
The House Oversight Committee and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs asked the Guard to turn over related documents and audits.
The National Guard has said the bonuses were wrongly paid, but its effort to reclaim them from thousands of soldiers and veterans in California and nationwide has caused public outcry, including widespread criticism from members of Congress.
Homeless people living in the Santa Ana Civic Center will soon have more access to mental-health treatment after Orange County Supervisors voted Tuesday to fund mobile counseling at its new homeless shelter and provide resources for a local contractor to handle bigger mental-health caseloads.
The action comes a week after Susan Price, the countys Director of Care Coordination, reported that one in five of the countys homeless people who sleep outdoors are seriously mentally ill and that a more comprehensive mental-health approach is needed to fix homelessness.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday to amend its three-year contract with the Mental Health Association of Orange County, which operates the Multi-Service Center Services for Homeless Mentally Ill Adults in south Santa Ana, increasing the nonprofits funding from $2.4 million to $3.7 million for the next two years.
That bump will enable the nonprofit to offer mental-health assessments and counseling at the Courtyard homeless shelter on weekends and weekday evenings, filling gaps when current service providers dont operate at the shelter.
The Civic Centers homeless population has grown substantially in recent years, raising concerns about health and safety in the area. The Courtyard, which opened earlier this month, has been billed as a one-stop service center for the countys homeless people, where they can go to be fed, helped with drug addiction or mental health problems, aided in finding jobs and offered a bed for the night.
The boards action also gives the Mental Health Association funding to help more mentally-ill homeless people at its Santa Ana facility, which serves an average of 90 people per day more than the 80 its original 2015 contract supported. That influx has caused local businesses to complain of more homeless people in the region, so the county will also pay for increased security and patrolling of surrounding area.
The board also voted Tuesday to waive the $206 health-permit fee for nonprofit organizations that serve food at the Courtyard shelter, which has become a central location for charitable groups to provide three meals every day to the homeless.
California requires that charitable groups obtain a public health permit if they serve food more then three times in a 90 day period, and Supervisor Andrew Do proposed eliminating the permit fees to remove barriers to feeding the homeless.
Contact the writer: jgraham@scng.com or 714-796-7960
SANTA ANA A Brea man faces decades behind bars after being convicted of using his rehabilitation clinics to submit millions of dollars in false Medicare claims.
A jury at the U.S. District Courthouse on Wednesday convicted Simon Hong, 54, of 19 felonies, including those for healthcare fraud, making illegal kickbacks and identity theft.
Hong, known as Seong Wook Hong, ran several medical clinics in Los Angeles County, including Hongs Medical Management, CMH Practice Solution and Solution.
Authorities believe Hong recruited Medicare beneficiaries for massage and acupuncture treatments. Because those services arent eligible for Medicare reimbursement, prosecutors accused Hongs clinics of falsely claiming that the patients had received physical therapy.
Between spring of 2009 and November 2013, authorities say, Hong and his associates received about $2.9 million in reimbursements thanks to the false claims. Hong himself was accused of pocketing about $1.6 million.
Eight other people, including two Buena Park men, a Fullerton man and two Irvine men, have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the Medicare scheme.
On Jan. 9, Hong is expected to return to the Santa Ana courtroom of U.S. District Judge David O. Carter for sentencing. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, Hong faces two to 129 years in prison.
Contact the writer: semery@scng.com
Supporters of Proposition 64, which would legalize recreational marijuana for Californians 21 and older, have raised 15 times more money than opponents.
But high-profile Republicans and Democrats, health professionals and educators, law enforcement and religious leaders continue to come down on both sides of the controversial issue.
Heres a look at whos supporting Prop. 64, whos fighting it and some of the key reasons theyre giving for their positions.
THE SUPPORT
The official Yes on 64 campaign has raised more than $15 million, with another $4 million sitting in funds for supporting committees.
The campaign has spent $11.3 million, per the latest report filed Sept. 29, with $6.5 million spent on TV and radio ads now airing.
Major funding has come from New Approach PAC, which is a legacy of Progressive insurance mogul Peter Lewis; advocacy group Drug Policy Action, with funding from billionaire George Soros; and Irvine-based Weedmaps.
But roughly half of the measures money has come from one man: Sean Parker.
The Silicon Valley billionaire who co-founded Napster and was instrumental in Facebooks early days hasnt commented on why he supports the measure. But a campaign spokesman insists its a moral rather than financial issue for Parker.
He has zero interest in the marijuana industry and he never will, spokesman Jason Kinney said. He cares about social justice.
Thats a cause frequently cited by Prop. 64 backers, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa. Both men have also argued that the measure will replace failed prohibition with a safe, regulated system.
Dozens of organizations have endorsed the measure, including the California Medical Association and United Farm Workers. So have editorial boards for some of the states largest newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and San Jose Mercury News.
Other key arguments from proponents include the potential to generate new tax revenue, curtail the black market and boost local control.
THE OPPOSITION
The No on 64 campaign has raised more than $1 million and spent nearly half of it, including $50,000 on TV ads.
Some contributions have come from local law enforcement groups and individual residents.
But more than $900,000 or 82 percent of the fundraising total has come from a nonprofit affiliated with Smart Approaches to Marijuana or SAM, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that fights marijuana legalization across the country. And all of the money SAM has contributed has come from one woman: Julie Schauer.
Online records show Schauer is a retired East Coast art professor who manages a family trust apparently linked to her fathers days as a banker. She hasnt done interviews about her opposition to Prop. 64, though social media posts indicate she believes marijuana can be linked to violence and mental illness.
A lack of adequate protections for kids and drivers is a key argument cited by Prop. 64 opponents, including elected leaders such as Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and public safety officials such as Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckus.
There also has been resistance from some medical marijuana advocates and entrepreneurs who are concerned with how Prop. 64 will upset the current system and perhaps open the door for big corporations down the road.
Theyre joined by dozens of organizations opposing the measure, including AAA of Southern California and the California Hospital Association. And theyre backed by newspapers such as the Sacramento Bee and Bakersfield Californian.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7963 or bstaggs@ocregister.comTwitter: @JournoBrooke
Laguna Niguel resident Frances Nielsen celebrated her 107th birthday Friday with an in-home visit from Mayor Laurie Davies.
Nielsen, who lives with her daughter Christine Juniper, sat in a wheelchair decorated with pink and purple balloons as friends and family surrounded her.
Nielsen was asleep during the mayors visit, but Davies presented her and her family with an honorary plaque acknowledging her accomplishment.
She was a wonderful mother, Juniper said. Her family was her life.
Born in Seattle and raised in Idaho, Nielsen used to milk cows as a child. Juniper said her mother had an identical twin and would often use it to her advantage on dates in high school and college, switching with her sister and keeping the boys clueless.
Nielsen later taught elementary and special education students for 35 years, retiring in 1965. She enjoyed dancing, traveling, playing bridge and spending time with her grandchildren.
As to how Nielsen has been able to live more than 100 years, Juniper suggested it was a result of a good, clean life, which included abstaining from smoking, drinking or doing drugs. Juniper said her mother liked to walk everyday, too.
Nielsen kept her drivers license until she suffered a stroke at 92. She has lived with Juniper since then.
Nielsen has three children, six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7844 or snewell@scng.com
Colin L. Powell, the Republican former secretary of state, said Tuesday that he planned to vote for Hillary Clinton for president as he condemned her rival, Donald Trump, at an event on Long Island.
Speaking before the Long Island Association, a trade group that frequently hosts political figures, Powell divulged his intentions come Election Day.
I am voting for Hillary Clinton, he said, according to Matthew Cohen, a spokesman for the association.
Powell went on to praise Clinton for her skills as a leader and her experience.
Paule Pachter, a Long Island Association board member, said that Powell was blunt.
He said he would support Hillary Clinton and he also elaborated on several reason why he felt that Donald Trump was not the right candidate, he said. He spoke about his inexperience, he spoke about the messages that hes sending out every day to his supporters, which really paints our country in a negative light across the globe with all our allies.
The comments were a change from Powells tone in hacked emails from his inbox that were made public in September. In the emails, Powell criticized Trump but also expressed bitterness at Clinton for repeatedly pointing to Powells email habits to explain away her own use of a private email server while she ran the State Department.
Powell comments make him the latest member of the Republican foreign policy and national security establishment to openly condemn his partys nominee, and to say that Clinton is the preferred choice.
But Clinton came under harsh attack Tuesday from Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, who echoed in more pointed language Trumps recent assertions that Clinton should be jailed.
When I see her, I see her in an orange jumpsuit, Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney, said on a Philadelphia talk radio station, WPHT. Im sorry, or at least a striped one. Id have prosecuted her a year ago and probably convicted her by now.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan A police training college in southwestern Pakistan became a battleground early Tuesday as security clashed with three militants who killed a sentry and stormed the college hours earlier, trapping at least 250 cadets, officials said.
At least 59 people were killed and 117 were critically wounded, government officials told The Associated Press. Most of the casualties were cadets.
Within four hours, we have cleared the compound, said Mir Sarfraz Bugti, a minister of Baluchistan province, adding that two of the attackers detonated suicide vests, and the third was shot.
At a news conference with Bugti, Maj. Gen. Sher Afgun of the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force, said the attack began about 11:10 p.m. local time Monday at the police college, which is about 9 miles from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.
The general added that the militants belonged to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an extremist group, and were in contact with handlers in Afghanistan.
The authorities had been warned that an attack in or near Quetta was imminent.
The colleges three compounds have a single entrance, officials said, and the militants were able to enter by killing the sentry in a watchtower.
Quetta, the capital of the restive Baluchistan province, has been simmering with a separatist insurgency by Baluch rebels. And Taliban militants maintain a presence in Quetta and many regions of the province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, the chief minister of Baluchistan, told the local news media that we received intelligence reports three to four days back that terrorists, suicide bombers planned to target Quetta.
Security was already on high alert and maybe that is why they have targeted the police training center on the outskirts of the city, Zehri told the GEO News television network.
The brazen attack showed that extremist groups remain a potent threat for the Pakistani military and security forces, which have claimed great success against militants in recent years.
In August, a suicide bomber killed dozens of lawyers at a Quetta hospital.
SANTA ANA An Arkansas man was sentenced to two years in prison Monday for attempting to pimp a woman in Irvine.
Matthew Alexander Rougely, 31, pleaded guilty to one felony count of attempted pimping, according to the Orange County District Attorneys Office.
Between Oct. 30 and Nov. 5, 2015, Rougely posted sexually explicit advertisements of a 19-year-old woman on a website known for prostitution, prosecutors said.
Around 4 a.m. on Nov. 5, Rougely drove the victim to Irvine and parked at a Circle K gas station in an attempt to pimp her, according to prosecutors.
A member of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force performed a routine check of Rougelys vehicle and he was arrested.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@ocregister.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline
T-I-T-A-N-S.
The 10-foot-tall, gleaming steel letters that spell out the Cal State Fullerton student moniker, Titans, are hard to miss.
The letters, which no doubt will be a popular spot for commemorative photos, are the latest addition to the CSUF campus, part of the Titan Student Unions $20 million renovation.
On Oct. 20, the campus community gathered to inaugurate and celebrate the buildings grand reopening with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
With about 6,000 people using and visiting the facility nearly every day, the TSU is one of the most-used buildings on the CSUF campus.
The 18-month expansion project added 27,000 square feet of space for students, faculty and staff including lounge areas, study spaces and meeting rooms.
The installation of window panels on the new TSU building allows for an increase in natural lighting, meaning less electricity will be needed to power interior lighting in the building.
There is also an added front entrance with a grand staircase, along with an outdoor patio, a new high-tech board room and community tables.
In sync with college students technological needs, the expansion project has added a multitude of AC power and USB port outlets.
Also a major must-have for college students? Coffee. The TSU will soon be home to the campus third Starbucks location.
Referring to it as the campus living room, CSUF President Mildred Garcia, along with TSU expansion project leaders like TSU Executive Director Dave Edwards and President of Associated Students Inc. Yanitza Berrios, spoke of the TSUs importance on campus and all that it will offer the universitys students.
It has been over 20 years since the TSU was expanded, in which time our student population has doubled, Garcia said. So our living room was beginning to feel a bit crowded.
(The TSU) is an important place; its a place where we gather, she said.
Aside from lounging, study and meeting areas, the TSU additionally serves as the home to ASI student government offices, the Dean of Students Office, and Student Life and Leadership.
The renovation was funded by existing cash reserves; no student fees were associated with the project.
The TSU was originally built in 1976 and was expanded to 140,000 square feet in 1992.
Plans for the second expansion project were approved by the California State University Board of Trustees in 2013; the official groundbreaking occurred in 2015.
Contact the writer: amarcos@scng.com
Most people barely manage to pull one car using both their arms, but an Indian teenager can pull two of them using only his unusually strong shoulder blades.
18-year-old Abhishek Choubey, from Indias Madhya Pradesh state, started using his shoulder blades to pull various objects when he was just 8, after noticing that they were of a different shape than those of his friends. At first, he used hooks from the local market, but they didnt fit very well between his shoulder blades, so, after noticing his unusual talent, his father, Avdesh, designed a special wooden hook for him, as a gift. With it he managed to practice with increasingly heavy objects, until he finally managed to pull a car weighing 2314 lbs for 27.5 meters. Inspired by his success, he decided to challenge himself even more, by pulling two cars, and he succeeded.
I realised there are many people who can pull heavy vehicles with ears and even hair, but I am the only one who can pull two cars at a time with my shoulder blades, Abhishek said. His new goal is to have his achievement acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records.
Abhishek may not have the body of a typical strongman, but his incredibly strong shoulder blades have earned him the nickname of Steel Blades and the respect and admiration of his home town. Some of his friends even tried to emulate his feats of strength, but were unsuccessful, and one even suffered injuries and had to see a doctor. Not everyone can do this, Abhishek said. My friend had to see a doctor after he attempted to pull a small chair. It needs a proper exercise. I exercise everyday for at least an hour.
Both of Abhisheks parents have been very supportive of him and declare themselves proud to see their son making a name for himself with his bizarre stunts. I wish that he gets into the Guinness Book of World Records. I am proud of him. I want him to continue his stunts and we also make sure he continues his studies, his father said. If he wishes to pull an airplane, wed always support him. We know its not dangerous. We have consulted the doctors as well.
My son is making his name and that makes me extremely happy and proud, his mother added.
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Scratch Baking Co. has enthusiastic owners, repeat customers and a menu of gourmet doughnuts in flavors including chocolate stout and honey ricotta peach.
What it doesnt have is a storefront or a kitchen.
Where are you guys located? a customer asked on Facebook this summer. I cant find an exact address.
Thats because there isnt one.
Instead, the owners rent kitchen space from a downtown restaurant, bake late at night after dinner service ends, and drag themselves to their day jobs the next morning. To sell their treats, they drive all over town to drop off the doughnuts at area coffee shops, deliver orders placed by email, hustle at farmers markets and host occasional pop-up shops.
The ability to bake whenever we want, that would be really, really awesome, co-owner Anna Padilla said. It really would impact our business. She or her partner would be able to work on the business full time, and they could take on more clients and offer more pickup and delivery options.
Finding an oven of ones own is a problem as a new wave of startup food businesses looks to take advantage of big consumer interest in local or artisan food products. State food code prevents entrepreneurs from just using their home kitchens. There are some exceptions for selling at farmers markets, but generally, food businesses need a permit to operate, which requires a commercial kitchen, according to the Douglas County Health Department.
The kitchen problem comes in addition to the regular new business struggles like marketing, distribution and finding startup capital.
To the rescue? New programs that aim to help food businesses like Scratch take root and grow in the Omaha area. The programs offer a combination of commercial kitchen space and business development mentorship.
The Kitchen Council, an incubator expected to launch early next year in Council Bluffs, is a project of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce.
Its starting around the same time as a similar incubator project in the Florence area of north Omaha, run by the nonprofit No More Empty Pots. That commercial kitchen, set to open Dec. 9, will support a separate bunch of startups including several now working their way through an entrepreneurship program run with help from Wells Fargo.
Like a technology startup incubator, food incubators which took off about five years ago in larger urban centers offer business advice and the chance to network with like-minded entrepreneurs and possibly investors, but also offer that coveted kitchen space.
In organizing their programs, Kitchen Council got advice from one successful incubator, the Washington, D.C.-based Union Kitchen, and No More Empty Pots modeled its program after San Franciscos La Cocina.
Scratchs owners plan to participate in the Kitchen Council and say it could be the road to growth for a new venture like theirs that would be hard-pressed to qualify for a bank loan.
The project ties in with the Omaha chambers focus on agribusiness. The business group is working to build off Nebraskas stature as a top state for beef, corn, soybeans and other food industry commodities, plus its transportation network and long history with food manufacturers like ConAgra Foods, Kellogg Co. and Tyson Foods.
We hope to grow a number of small businesses that could become the future Rotellas, the Omaha bread company, said Pete Tulipana, executive director of the Iowa West Foundation. Iowa West is supporting the Kitchen Council along with the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Omaha Development Foundation.
The Kitchen Council will operate from an old Famous Daves restaurant between Bass Pro Shops and the Mid-America Center, with a view of a major Interstate exchange. Iowa West already owned the restaurant as part of a larger redevelopment project.
Organizers say they plan to be there for two years, before moving somewhere with more of a retail feel, where they can design a facility from scratch.
The vibe isnt exactly doughnut shop. Theres still a faint whiff of barbecue in the air, but after a remodeling this winter, the spacious kitchen might smell like Scratch doughnuts or bakery cakes, Cajun food, egg rolls or any of the other products that entrepreneurs have expressed interest in creating there.
There will be room for 30 member businesses, which will pay a monthly fee depending on level of use: full time, for $425 a month; nights and weekends for $325 a month; or associate member at $50 a month, for those that do have kitchen space but want the business development services.
Kitchen rental at No More Emtpy Pots will run $10 to $25 an hour, depending on the time of day and length of the rental.
Big businesses start small, and planners anticipate plenty of demand from entrepreneurs. It might be a person working in another industry whos always wanted to turn a family recipe into a grocery-store brand, or an existing Omaha food company employee with an idea that didnt quite fit in at their workplace.
In an economy where jobs are easy to find but a professional wage is harder to come by, people are saying, If Ive got to work this hard, I may as well work this hard for myself, said Susan Whitfield, director of operations at No More Empty Pots.
Entrepreneurs may be calculating that now is a good time to enter the food business, with sales growth at small and specialty food businesses far outpacing growth at legacy food giants like ConAgra.
Padilla at Scratch said demand has been hot for her doughnuts despite the price of $2.50 each or $25 for a dozen more like gourmet cupcakes than doughnuts from a national chains drive-thru.
There are so many people that we see walking up to us, that pull out their wallets before they even see the price, she said.
Padilla declined to disclose revenue figures but said the company sold 300 dozen doughnuts in September.
The millennial generation has taken an interest in food as an extension of personal identity, one of several changes driving interest in food and accelerating change in what consumers want out of the food they buy, said Will Rosenzweig, dean of the Food Business School at the Culinary Institute of America.
This is causing tremendous challenges for incumbents and opportunities for challengers, Rosenzweig said.
Big food companies are fighting back by launching new products aimed at millennials, designed for convenience and with organic and healthful ingredients. But theyre also buying small, high-growth food brands. And theyre launching their own venture capital arms to invest in new brands both of which could mean a small brand launched at Kitchen Council or No More Empty Pots could one day end up as part of a company like Campbell Soup or Kellogg Co.
It may be easy to launch a food business, but its not easy to scale up from a home-based business to one thats profitable enough to support many employees, let alone big enough to capture Big Foods attention, Rosenzweig said.
I like to say it takes 15 years to become an overnight success in food, he said.
There are detailed food safety and labeling regulations, complex supply chains, thin margins and a web of policy debates to navigate, he said.
Obed Sanchez is hoping that Kitchen Council will give him kitchen space plus a bit of a business education. The 21-year-old started what has become his Grainolia Bakery as a student at South High School, baking 100 cookies a day and selling them for 50 cents apiece. I didnt really have time to go to school and learn about marketing and business management I overnight decided to go into business, he said. I do need a lot of help.
Now he makes a United Nations of pastries: spanakopita, Brazilian cheesebread, tres leches cake, butternut squash bread.
Sanchez won the top prize of $1,000 in a Kitchen Council contest this month and dreams of opening his own storefront bakery. Thats the ultimate goal, he said. Im doing all of this to get there.
What does a billion dollars mean to you?
To most people it connotes untold luxury, satin sheets and yachts.
To Everett Dirkson, longtime senator, it was the unit for looking at government spending: A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon youre talking about real money.
To me, its something different. Its the line between a small stock and a midsized stock.
Why do I care? Because I believe that the billion-dollar mark is something of a sweet spot in investing. A company with a market value near $1 billion is large enough to have overcome some of its growing pains, yet small enough that it still has potential to be discovered by institutional investors who may push its price up.
Once a year, I publish a portfolio of stocks that are near $1 billion in market value. I call it, logically enough, the Billion Dollar Portfolio.
In 2001-06, and from 2011 to the present, Ive picked a collection of stocks (usually 10, sometimes as few as six) that are near my favorite size.
My Billion Dollar Portfolio has beaten the Standard & Poors 500 Index on a 12-month total-return basis eight times out of 11. It has been profitable nine times.
The average 12-month total return (including dividends) on my Billion Dollar Portfolio stocks has been 16.8 percent versus 11 percent for the S&P 500.
Last year my portfolio edged out the index 8.6 percent to 5.9 percent. I had one big winner, Ebix Inc. (insurance software, symbol EBIX), which rose 99 percent, and one big loser, New Link Genetics Corp. (NLNK), which plunged 62 percent.
Kaman Corp. (KAMN, aerospace and industrial equipment) chipped in a 16 percent gain. The three other stocks, Federal Signal Corp. (FSS), Cray Inc. (CRAY) and Greenbrier Cos. (GBX) didnt do much.
Bear in mind that results for my column picks are theoretical and dont reflect actual trades, trading costs or taxes. The record of my column selections shouldnt be confused with the performance I achieve for clients. And past performance doesnt guarantee future results.
This year I have 10 stocks in the Billion Dollar Portfolio.
Ill start with Lennar Corp. (LEN.B), a homebuilder. Im sweet on this industry because I believe there is pent-up demand for houses. Among Lennars big holders is Ken Heebner of Capital Growth Management, whom I regard as a shrewd stock picker.
Next, Ill choose a Houston company, Comfort Systems USA Inc. (FIX). It designs, installs and repairs heating, air conditioning and ventilation (HVAC) systems. Profitability has been strengthening lately.
A stock Ive recommended before is Employers Holdings Inc. (EIG) of Reno, Nevada, which writes workers compensation insurance. The company has grown its book value (corporate net worth per share) at close to 14 percent a year the past five years.
HFF Inc. (HF), out of Pittsburgh, is a financial company serving the real estate industry. Among other things, it makes construction loans and mortgage loans. Growth has slowed lately, but the company remains unusually profitable.
Knoll Inc. (KNL), based in East Greenville, Pennsylvania, makes furniture, textiles, leather and felt. I like its niche because I feel that millennials will be forming more households in the next two to three years.
From Murfreesboro, Tennessee, comes National HealthCare Corp. (NHC). It operates nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, independent-living facilities, and home health care programs. Certainly demographics are in its favor.
SpartanNash Co. (SPTN) is a grocery distributor based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It has shown a profit 11 years in a row, although its profit margin has decreased in recent years. Revenue growth has accelerated recently. On balance, I like it.
S&T Bancorp Inc. (STBA) has been profitable every year for at least 15 years. Based in the oddly named town of Indiana, Pennsylvania, it is a community bank that also sells insurance and manages investments.
From last years portfolio, Ill bring back one stock. Its Greenbrier, a maker of railcars. If oil prices rise gradually over the next few years, that will give railroads an advantage over trucks, since railroads are more fuel-efficient.
For the brave, Ill throw in one Chinese stock, Autohome Inc. (traded in the U.S. with the symbol ATHM). The Beijing company provides information to car buyers and carries ads from auto retailers. Revenue increased more than 50 percent last year.
Disclosure: I own Greenbrier for a couple of my clients. I have no current positions in the other stocks discussed above and no plans to initiate positions in the next three days.
John Dorfman is chairman of Dorfman Value Investments LLC in Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts, and a syndicated columnist. He can be reached at jdorfman@dorfmanvalue.com.
A Council Bluffs man who killed his father will spend at least the next two decades in prison.
Sean Schendel killed his father, Robert, on Aug. 12, 2015, in a dispute over stolen money. On Monday at the Pottawattamie County Courthouse, Roberts family distanced itself from the relative they called a loser, before Fourth Judicial District Judge Richard Davidson sentenced Sean Schendel to 50 years in prison.
As part of an agreement between the Pottawattamie County Attorneys Office and Schendels attorney, Joseph Reedy of Council Bluffs, Schendel pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, first-degree robbery, two counts of second-degree theft, unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and obstruction of justice.
Its sad; its a sad case, County Attorney Matt Wilber said. A son shot and killed his dad.
At Mondays hearing, the defense and prosecution related what happened that day in August 2015. Sean Schendel stole $100 from his father. Robert Schendel found out, and an argument began.
Robert Schendel chased his son into the sons room. While there, Sean Schendel grabbed a handgun out of a drawer and shot his father.
Schendel then transferred $5,000 from his fathers bank account to his own. After withdrawing that money, Schendel transferred another $10,000, took his fathers 1998 Dodge Caravan and drove to Colorado.
Authorities arrested Schendel in Sterling, Colorado on Aug. 14, about 420 miles away from Council Bluffs.
After the hearing, Wilber said that Schendel wanted to go to Colorado to go to a marijuana dispensary to celebrate his 21st birthday.
It was over pot, he said. A very sad deal.
Including the time already served, Sean Schendel will spend at least 23 years and seven months in prison.
You took your fathers life for the sake of a few days high, Robert Schendels brother-in-law, Larry Marsh, said during a victim impact statement. You took a mans life. How he ever had a son with your lack of empathy, Ill never understand.
A court official read a statement from Linda Marsh, Robert Schendels sister.
Sean, you ruined your life because you were selfish and cared about no one else but you, she said. Because of your actions we lost Bob and you. If you had not been on the drugs, your dad would still be here with us today.
You are a loser, and lazy and had no respect for your dad. I hope this will be on your soul forever. I can no longer call you family.
Sean Schendel declined to address the court after his family members spoke.
CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) A judge has issued an administrative order banning guns and other weapons in and around judicial offices in north Iowa courthouses.
Second Judicial District Chief Judge Kurt Wilke gave the order Oct. 12, according to the Globe Gazette. The ban covers the districts 22 counties.
Areas where weapons are prohibited include courtrooms and offices, as well as hallways, lobbies and conference rooms.
Wilke said the goal of the ban is to remove weapons from situations during which emotions are elevated and there could be an increased threat.
The idea is, in the courtroom setting a lot of times emotions are very high, particularly when you get into domestic issues and that sort of thing, Wilke said.
Law enforcement and court officers are exempt from the ban, which is based on security recommendations by the Iowa State Association of Counties and the Iowa Judicial Council.
Iowa Firearms Coalition Board Member Richard Rogers said he understands the security concerns but believes that the order overreaches when it prohibits citizens from carrying weapons in public areas outside of court venues.
Wilke stresses that the ban is not about taking away gun rights but emphasizing safety.
Copyright 2016 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
It was Saturday, shortly after he returned to his home in rural Tekamah, Nebraska, when Kim Fleischman decided to wash some sheets. He had been evacuated for several days and opened his washing machine. Anhydrous ammonia fumes wafted up. He had to take a step back.
I got a big ol whiff of it when I opened the lid, Fleischman, 60, said Monday, a week after he evacuated as a result of the deadly leak. It was just trapped inside there.
On Saturday, several households near the site of the leak in rural Burt County were allowed to return home. Fleischman and wife, Kathy, found discolored vegetation and lingering gas pockets in their home and elsewhere.
The leak, first reported the night of Oct. 17, led to the death of Phillip Hennig, 59, and triggered the evacuation of 23 households in the rural area north of Tekamah and south of Decatur.
Federal regulators were investigating the leak, and a cause had not been announced.
Kim and Kathy Fleischman had been able to make a few quick trips back so they knew what to expect when they pulled in Saturday: Parts of their lawn were blackened and yellowed. To the west, an alfalfa field had turned from lush green to yellowish white.
Its just kind of different, he said. You just look around and think how lucky we were to get out of there.
He said hes worried about the long-term effects on the 20 head of cattle he has, though there have been no injuries or deaths among them after the leak. He plans to get them checked out by a veterinarian. He had a couple of steers that he was going to sell, but he is going to hang on to them a bit longer now.
You dont want to pass anything along, he said.
Unlike the Fleischmans, Mary Kahlandt lives upwind of the leak. She returned home Saturday to find little damage.
Everything in my house was fine, said Kahlandt, 65. Grass is green. ... I was close to it, but the wind went another way.
The one person still out of his home Monday was Steve Chace, who lives maybe 200 feet east of the leak. He is staying with his mother in Omaha. He said he thinks he may be able to return Wednesday.
It would be nice to get back, but Im not in a hurry to see what the damage is, he said.
Chace, an environmental consultant, said he expects to find most of his trees blackened from the ammonia and possibly dead.
Same with my lawn, he said. Lawn, landscaping everything is probably affected.
A majority of those who responded to a mail-in statewide survey support the use of early childhood care and education programs and want to see quality care as well as more education and higher wages for child care workers.
The survey, developed by the University of Nebraskas Buffett Early Childhood Institute and Gallup, received more than 7,100 responses.
The report on the perceptions of the early care and education workforce in Nebraska was the second in a series of reports from the institute and Gallup. Officials presented the findings Monday at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
The survey found that 66 percent of respondents said an early care and education program or in-home care center was best for families who cant be with their children during the day.
We had really positive responses, said Samuel Meisels, the Buffett Institutes founding executive director. The state supports early childhood care and education.
Despite that support and the fact that most young children in Nebraska are enrolled in these programs, only 15 percent of respondents said they were very satisfied with the quality of the programs. Just 10 percent strongly agreed that most kindergartners are prepared for success in school.
More than two-thirds of respondents expressed support for more state investment in young children.
Susan Sarver, director of workforce planning and development at the institute, said the adults who work with children in their early years have a lasting impact on childrens lives and long-term success.
These workers also are a resource for parents, the survey found. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said theyve turned to child care providers for information about caring for their children. Half of respondents also expressed a need for more post-secondary education for these providers. The majority of parents with children in child care programs said the average salary of $19,200 for child care professionals was not enough.
Nebraskans value these people and know they need more support, Sarver said.
Meisels said the problem of low wages for child care providers is not unique to Nebraska. Weve got to address it, he said. Theres nothing more important than caring for our children. But we arent caring for those who are caring for them.
Meisels and Sarver said the next step is bringing policymakers, community leaders and educators together to address these concerns. The survey findings also will be broken down further to look at the attitudes of parents with younger children and compare responses from those living in urban versus rural areas.
The important thing is that Nebraskans do support and value these issues, Sarver said.
Hundreds of photos of the Speer family, displayed at Calvary Christian Church in Bellevue, showed a young, happy, active family in the prime of life: parents and the girls swimming, boating, playing, holding each other in the tightest of hugs and squeezing in close with relatives and other loved ones.
The family photos and a slideshow on large screens captured both the special and ordinary moments of life for Mike and Michelle Speer, both 36, and the four girls, Elli Perez, 11; Adilynn, 7; Emma, 5; and Anniston, 2. The sweet, tender images also demonstrated why their deaths in a house fire last week were so tragic.
Embers from a living-room fireplace ignited carpeting and furniture, sparking the blaze at their rural Nehawka home Wednesday night, the Cass County Sheriffs Office said Monday.
Monday evening, as the sun set on what otherwise would be a picture-perfect fall day the type that the family would have relished mourners filed through the auditorium at Calvary Christian Church to bid their farewells.
In the church auditorium, people formed a line leading to the stage where a large family portrait stood, along with more than 50 flower arrangements. The familys cremated remains were in the center, in a wooden box inside a glass case; it, too, was covered with flowers and a teddy bear.
Friends and family gathered in the auditorium and elsewhere in the activities center for visitation Monday. Some sat and quietly watched the slideshow, while others greeted one another in tearful embraces.
Jason Elliott was one of the mourners Monday evening. He said he worked with Mike Speer for about six years at Union Pacific, but Elliott hadnt met the rest of the family, he said. Their sudden deaths, he said, were sad.
The funeral, at 10 this morning, also will be in the activities center at Calvary Christian Church, 10100 Cedar Island Road in Bellevue. The activities center is across the street from the main church building. The Rev. Andy Turner, campus pastor at Calvary, said an overflow room in the main church building will be open and will carry a live feed of the funeral. Pastors will be there, too.
The childrens pastor at the church was the Speers close friend, he said.
Fire investigators said Monday that they had determined the origin of the fire by examining fire-damage patterns and interviewing witnesses.
The smoke produced by the fire would have filled the two-story house and led to the deaths of all six people, officials said. The preliminary autopsy report indicates that the cause of death of all the victims was smoke inhalation.
The fire was reported by a neighbor about 12:05 a.m. Thursday. The house was at 10014 McKelvie Road. Fire crews responding to the blaze could see flames from miles away. The fire, officials said, led to the collapse of the houses walls and parts of the roof before firefighters arrived. Firefighters were unable to enter the burning building.
During their examination of fire debris, officials said, the Nebraska State Fire Marshals Office investigative team couldnt find identifiable parts of smoke detectors. However, interviews conducted with relatives and friends indicate that the house had a smoke detector or detectors, but the condition and function of the battery-operated detectors was unclear.
A team of Nebraska State Fire Marshals Office investigators was assisted in the investigation by the Cass County Sheriff Office and the Cass County Emergency Management Agency.
The extensive destruction of the house made the recovery of the victims a lengthy process, officials said, with the final recovery completed Thursday evening. Investigators remained at the scene trying to determine the origin and cause of the fire until 9 p.m. Saturday, officials said.
Autopsies and dental forensic examinations conducted Friday confirmed the victims identifications, officials said.
The sound of church bells rang last weekend for the first time in two years in the Christian town of Bartella in northern Iraq after the countrys armed forces pushed out Islamic State fighters.
It was an inspiring moment in a larger Middle East picture that, long term, remains sobering and difficult.
The Iraqi military, with the Kurdish peshmerga fighters, Shiite militias and U.S. advisers and air power in support, will likely prevail in the end in wresting Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city, from Islamic State control. But no one should expect the battle to be anything less than a bloody, difficult slog. And even then, immense challenges remain in both Iraq and Syria.
Anyone who thinks Mosul can be captured in a lightning-swift sneak attack as if were talking about a SWAT team blasting its way into a single-story building in the middle of the night is embracing a fantasy. The Mosul campaign involves a significant expanse of territory with multiple obstacles, and it was a herculean, months-long task just to assemble Iraqi forces in adequate numbers and strength to mount the campaign.
The Defense One military-news service explained the context well with this dispatch from the early fighting:
The battle for Mosul has seen snipers, car bombs, missiles, oil-filled moats waiting for the torch, secret village-to-village tunnels and a burning sulfur plant and yet U.S. war leaders here warn that this is the light stuff. With each advance of Iraqi, Kurdish, and American forces, ISIS resistance is hardening. In other words, things are going exactly as expected.
Here are a few central points going forward:
Iraq. Even with military setbacks for the Islamic State, Iraq will not stabilize until the national government provides proper respect and protection for the minority Sunni population. Sunni disaffection will leave western Iran vulnerable to continued instability and manipulation by radicals.
Unfortunately, many influential Shiite leaders above all, Nouri al-Maliki, a former prime minister continue to show relative indifference to the Sunnis needs. An additional complicating factor is Irans ongoing efforts at manipulation.
The United States can and should provide aid to rebuild devastated Iraqi cities, but whether Iraq can achieve a semblance of national cohesion is a question only the Iraqis can decide.
Islamic State. The London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation recently released a report explaining how the Islamic State has come to focus its recruitment on criminal elements in Europe, making use of their expertise in illegal funding and weapons.
The rise of this crime-terror nexus, as the report calls it, means that the Islamic State, despite battlefield setbacks in the Middle East, will likely have an ongoing ability to mount terrorist assaults in Europe and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Syria will remain a war zone for the foreseeable future, with a final resolution unclear.
The Mosul campaign is a huge battle, but its only one fight in a long war. For now, we can appreciate the short-term but laudable gains as Islamic State radicals are ousted and freed people ring bells and cheer to announce their freedom.
In last weeks third and (thank goodness) final presidential debate, each candidate did an excellent job of presenting convincing arguments for why people shouldnt vote for the other.
Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton a felon, and Clinton called Trump a traitor. Unfortunately for America, there is plenty of basis for the former charge and less but still disturbing evidence for the latter.
These two may not be the most unpopular pair of major-party presidential nominees in history. James Buchanan and John C. Fremont in 1856 may have been worse, at least judging from their later feckless careers.
But of all the nominee pairs since random sampling polling was invented in 1935, Trump and Clinton certainly win the prize. Majorities of voters look negatively on both and consider each dishonest and untrustworthy. Its not hard to see why.
How did we end up with such nominees? Its easy to blame the presidential nominating process, which is widely and correctly regarded as the weakest part of our political system. Perhaps not coincidentally, it is the only part not addressed by the Framers.
The problem is that theres no way to construct an entirely satisfactory system in a nation with 50 sovereign states and a long history of economic and cultural diversity. Both parties earnest efforts over the past four decades, aimed at repairing previous flaws, have only created new ones.
What gave us these two nominees this year was a combination of dynastic politics and celebrity politics. The Clinton candidacy foreclosed serious opposition and revealed the increasing strength of the Democratic left. The Bush family provided a huge supply of money for a worthy candidate for whom there was insufficient demand.
Much of the $100 million raised for Jeb Bushs super PAC was spent on deconstructing Marco Rubio, who might have been a stronger Trump opponent than Ted Cruz and would have been a stronger Clinton opponent than Trump.
Meanwhile, Trumps celebrity gave him some $2 billion worth of free media, leaving little room for exposure of other Republicans. Until Trump clinched the Republican nomination, mainstream media had as little interest in digging up dirt on him as they have now in airing the scandals swirling around Clinton.
The majority of voters who yearn to see Trump lose can take comfort in the national polling that currently shows him 6 points behind Clinton, compared with his being 1 point behind before the first debate. Almost all target-state polling confirms that picture.
The smaller majority of voters who yearn to see Clinton lose may take what comfort they can from the three national polls (Los Angeles Times, Rasmussen Reports, Investors Business Daily) that show an even race, even though the New York Times Nate Cohn has demonstrated the unreliability of the L.A. Times polls sample.
They might take comfort, as well, from the fact that voters in Britain and Colombia voted, contrary to polls, against an overwhelming tide of respectable opinion in referendums on June 23 and Oct. 2. But the British polls werent far off, and candidates character wasnt a factor in those contests.
There remains uncertainty about what pollsters have trouble projecting: turnout. Clinton struggles to enthuse blacks, Hispanics and young people. Trumps talk about rigging elections may discourage conservative turnout.
The choice of these nominees may result in two significant shifts. One is a recoloring of the familiar political map.
When Trump was running close to even, he was threatening to win previously safe Democratic states. Clinton is now threatening to win previously safe Republican states. The static polarized partisan lines may be shifting.
The other is the opening of new fissures in both parties.
Trump enthusiasts and never Trump critics are already embarked on a civil war. Bernie Sanders enthusiasts are understandably furious about what WikiLeaks has revealed that Clinton and top aides have said in emails and speeches.
A Bloomberg poll asked Republicans and Democrats which of several figures should be the face of their party nationally if their nominee loses. A plurality of Democrats, 32 percent, said Hillary Clinton, and 6 percent said Tim Kaine. But 31 percent said Bernie Sanders, and 23 percent said Elizabeth Warren.
Among Republicans, 24 percent said Trump, far below the percentage supporting him against Clinton. But a total of 71 percent picked the more conventional conservative alternatives Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan and John Kasich.
Thats a crude measure, but it provides an interesting hint of the politics that are just a couple of weeks ahead.
The author is director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.
International trade plays a vital role in the current and future success of Nebraska agriculture.
Right now, Congress is considering the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country trade agreement that would expand trade opportunities in the Asian-Pacific market.
With enhanced access to international markets, this agreement would help grow our ag sector by making Nebraska products more competitive.
Opening up new markets and expanding existing markets for Nebraskas agricultural products has been a key focus of Gov. Pete Ricketts Grow Nebraska Plan, and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture has worked to support international trade and TPP as part of that plan.
TPP would reduce or eliminate tariffs on Nebraska commodities such as beef and open new markets for the states agricultural products. For example, Japans beef tariff, currently as high as 50 percent, would be reduced to 9 percent, while Vietnam and Malaysia would eliminate their tariffs altogether.
By lowering or eliminating tariffs on American ag exports, TPP would make our products more competitive and create a fair playing field for trade in the region.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Nebraska producers export $6.7 billion worth of agricultural goods. A recent economic analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that TPP would increase Nebraskas net agricultural exports by $229.2 million and cash receipts for our farmers by $378.5 million. TPP opportunities for Nebraska beef, pork, soybeans and processed food products are estimated to result in 1,730 new agriculture-related jobs.
Competitors such as Australia have bilateral agreements in place with key markets such as Japan, giving them a competitive advantage. American cattle producers have lost an estimated $119 million or more in sales to Australian producers following Australias free-trade agreement with Japan.
Without TPP to open the market, our producers will continue to miss opportunities in Japan.
We operate in a global economy, and access to international markets is important to Nebraska agriculture and businesses. Agreements such as TPP give Nebraskans access to those valuable markets, bringing dollars to our local economy. Passage of TPP is good for agriculture and good for Nebraska.
Ricketts, along with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, has led trade missions to China, Japan and the European Union to promote Nebraska products and to encourage business development in Nebraska.
In November, the governor will lead another mission to China to continue to build opportunities in the region.
These efforts, coupled with trade agreements such as TPP, will expand the marketplace and ensure that Nebraskas farm and ranch families thrive for generations to come.
#BTS BTS' RM to make solo debut soon RM, leader of the K-pop juggernaut BTS, will release his first official solo album soon, the band's agency said Tuesday. Big Hit Music said RM is currently preparing for the al...
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. A teenager who was arrested Saturday threatened his brother with a butcher knife during an argument over Netflix, police say.
North Platte police were called early Saturday on reports that two males had possibly gotten into a fight.
A 16-year-old boy was apparently watching Netflix on a PlayStation. His 19-year-old brother was trying to sleep and decided that the sound was too loud, so he unplugged the PlayStation and threw it onto the floor, police said.
The two began arguing and wrestling, the older brother said. Then the 16-year-old went into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife, his brother said. Police were told that the younger teen chased the 19-year-old and stabbed holes in the walls.
According to police, the knife-wielding 16-year-old chased the older brother outside and threatened to kill him.
When officers arrived, the younger brother was uncooperative. Police investigator John Deal said the juvenile is on probation in a different case.
The 16-year-old was temporarily placed in the Lincoln County Jail on suspicion of terroristic threats and use of a weapon to commit a felony, and being an uncontrollable juvenile, Deal said.
A knife was recovered at the scene, and photos of holes in the walls were recorded for evidence. No serious injuries were reported.
Congress will bring back old pension scheme in Gujarat, if voted to power: Rahul Gandhi
17 Cong leaders close to Rita Joshi resign from party
India
oi-PTI
Lucknow Oct 25: Seventeen Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh close to their former state chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who last week joined BJP, today resigned from the primary membership of the party in her support.
Among those who resigned were leaders of the city unit and women wing, said Congress state unit secretary Shabnam Pandey, who led the move.
Some 17 leaders in a statement said they have resigned from the primary membership of the party as well as their respective posts, condemning the derogatory comments made against Joshi after she joined the BJP.
"We condemn the act of the Congress workers for insulting Bahuguna, who had served the party for 24 years," she said in a statement here. In a jolt to Congress in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, senior party leader Joshi had on October 20 joined the BJP, with her previous party terming her a "betrayer" and one pursuing "selfish politics".
PTI
Lack of development in J&K for decades was one of the reasons behind rise of terrorism: Rajnath Singh
40 down and counting: Forces on the verge of wiping out Pakistani terrorists in Valley
2-3 Pak soldiers killed in Indian retaliatory firing: Army
India
oi-PTI
Jammu, Oct 25: At least 2-3 Pakistani armymen are believed to have been killed today in the retaliatory firing by Indian troops in the Noushera sector of Rajouri district while seven women, including six members of a family, were injured in R S Pura sector of Jammu district in cross-border shelling.
Heavy exchange of fire, involving use of 82 mm and 120 mm mortar shells besides small arms, was still going on in the evening after it started at around 10 am.
"From 10 am, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control in Noushera sector of Rajouri district by targeting our positions with mortar bombs and small arms fire," an army officer said.
The Indian army is giving a "befitting response" to the ceasefire violation from the Pakistani side, he added. "We have inputs that two to three Pakistani soldiers have been killed in the retaliatory firing by our men," an army officer said.
"The firing is still going on and our side is giving a befitting reply," he said, adding there is no loss of life or injury on our side. In Jammu district, 6 female members of a family were injured in Suchetgarh sector of R S Pura along the International Border after a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan Rangers exploded in their house this evening, another lady was also injured in the Chandu Chak area of the same sector this evening.
Pakistani Rangers among 8 killed in retaliatory firing in Jammu and Kashmir
The injured have been identified as Shakshi (12), Manju Choudhary (15), Veena (26), Soma Devi (40), Kamlesh Kumari (28), Sanjna (10)- all residents of Suchetgarh and Daljeet Kaur of Chandu Chak area of the sector.
"They were given first aid at R S Pura hospital after which they were shifted to Government Medical College (GMC) hospital here," Deputy Commissioner (Jammu) Simrandeep Singh said.
PTI
Induction of Congress MLAs into BJP is death of Parrikar's legacy, says outgoing Goa deputy CM
Swaraj, Parrikar, Ananth Kumar: BJP has lost some of its tallest leaders recently
Army welfare fund voluntary: Manohar Parrikar
India
oi-IANS
By Ians English
New Delhi, Oct 25 Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the Army Welfare Fund Battle Casualties is a voluntary donation and "no one's neck" should be held for it.
Asked about the row surrounding Hindi movie "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" producer Karan Johar being asked to pay Rs 5 crore to the fund, Parrikar said: "Army battle casualty fund is a voluntary donation because many people in India have been requesting us that they want to donate to jawans, shahids (martyrs) who lost their life."
He said a scheme was being formulated to give the benefits to the martyrs. The fund was started by Parrikar.
"It is like the Chief Minister's drought relief fund or flood relief fund.
"It is a voluntary donation and we therefore are not concerned with anyone demanding something to be donated to that...
"Basically, the concept is voluntary donation, and not holding the neck of someone (forcing)," the minister said.
The MNS, which was opposed to Karan Johar employing Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, agreed to the film's release if the producers agreed to pay Rs 5 crore for the army welfare fund.
IANS
Murmu vs Sinha: India to get its 15th President today; Counting begins at 11 am
Cross-votes for Murmu, TMC's abstinence from VP Poll: All's not well in opposition's camp
BJP distances itself from Yashwant-led team's meeting with Geelani
India
oi-PTI
New Delhi, Oct 25: BJP today distanced itself from the meeting between Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and a delegation led by its leader Yashwant Sinha, saying the party has nothing to do with it.
"It is not a BJP delegation. BJP has nothing to do with this," its National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
A five-member civil society delegation led by the former Union Minister today met Geelani amid continuing volatile situation in the valley.
Some media outlets have said that it is a BJP delegation which is absolutely wrong, Sharma said, adding Sinha too maintained that he took up the enterprise in his personal capacity.
The other members of the delegation are Wajahat Habibullah, the former chairman of National Commission for Minorities, Kapil Kak, former Air Vice-Marshal, journalist Bharat Bhushan and Sushoba Barve of Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. They plan to meet other separatist leaders too.
PTI
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Story first published: Tuesday, October 25, 2016, 17:44 [IST]
Cyrus Mistrys eviction from Tata Sons: What we know so far, speculations and who said what
News
oi-Oneindia
By Oneindia
Four years ago, when Cyrus P Mistry took over the reins of India's largest conglomerate, Tata Sons, as its chairperson, Indian business community welcomed an outsider to head a family enterprise.
Because in a country where often sons and daughters (rarely) inherit the riches earned and accumulated by their parents, a Mistry heading the Tata Group is seen as a departure from business "feudalism" and marked the beginning of the making of a truly "professional" corporate world.
In the wake of Mistry's removal, Ratan Tata, patriarch of one of India's most influential families, will take over as the interim chairperson of Tata Sons.
In fact, it was Ratan Tata, who had stepped down as the chairperson to make way for Mistry in late 2012.
Reasons behind the sacking
Hours after the news about the sacking of the 48-year-old businessman was first announced, experts tell us that tension was growing between Mistry and "old guards" in the company for some time now.
According to a report by The Times of India, reasons were many for Mistry's removal.
"There were many theories--ranging from unhappiness over the group's performance, to the handling of certain situations and companies--none of which could be confirmed. At the core, though, there appeared to be a clash of cultures and management styles; there was concern over the erosion of long-held "values" and the reversal of certain policies and practices," added the report.
Possible theories
The Tata Sons board gave no detailed reason for the change in guard, but in a statement said, "It may be appropriate to consider a change for the long-term interest of Tata Sons and Tata group."
A report by the Business Standard says theories like Welspun acquisition and management restructuring under Mistry's tenure proved fatal for the former chairperson's career.
Behind the scenes
Like the business community, rest of India is curious to know what exactly happened "behind the scenes" before the actual episode unfolded.
According to a report by The Economic Times, a day before the Tata Sons board met on Monday, Harvard Business School dean Nitin Nohria met Cyrus Mistry for more than two hours where he conveyed a message from Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan Tata about what might come up for discussion at the meeting.
Government kept in the loop
As soon as the news of the ouster was made public by the Tata Sons board, Ratan Tata informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday about the change in the top management of Tata Group.
Future course of action
The Tata Sons board has constituted a selection committee to choose a new chairman. The committee comprises Ratan Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Amit Chandra, former foreign secretary Ronen Sen and Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, as per the criteria in the Articles of Association of Tata Sons. The committee has been mandated to complete the selection process in four months.
Legal tangle
The "business drama" is likely to unfold further at the doorsteps of the courts. "Mistry is likely to move the Bombay high court this week challenging the decision of the Tata Sons board to dismiss him," says a report by The Times of India.
Reactions from the business fraternity
This is what business leaders had to say about the development.
According to Mohandas Pai, chairperson of Manipal Global Education and former member of the board of directors of Infosys, Ratan Tata shouldn't have come back after walking into the sunset.
Pai in an interview to The Economic Times, said, "It is very surprising this is happened and it is a more surprising that a former chairman has come back."
"I firmly believe than when you finish your term, you must go into the sunset and not come back. Coming back shows that you are dependent on one person and for a very old 150 year old group that is not good," Pai added.
Anand Mahindra, chairperson and managing director, Mahindra Group, refused to give his opinion on the biggest corporate news of the year. When asked on Twitter to comment on the episode, this was Mahindra's reaction:
In today's day & age, we instantly turn into expert commentators well before all the key facts are known. I refuse to fall into that trap https://t.co/to1zU2cYmL anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) October 24, 2016
OneIndia News
Cyrus Mistry's exit a blip in Tata's long, illustrious history
India
oi-IANS
By Ians English
The Tata group is no stranger to Indians. It has had a long and illustrious history in the sub-continent and has been one of the pillars of the country's industrial success post-independence.
Well known for the development of towns and locations where it operates (Jamshedpur is named Tata Nagar as the city developed around Tata's steel factory, the municipality of Mithapur in Gujarat is run by Tata Chemicals), the group is the biggest conglomerate in India. It has combined revenues of $103.51 billion and is thus one of the largest conglomerates in Asia and the world.
The group is also one of the largest to provide employment (660,000 in 2015-16) and also in touching consumers in almost every household with their products and services which range from salt to tea to automobiles to watches to jewellery, IT services and more. It is also safe to assume that most Indians today use some or the other product or service of Tata's. The Tata group has had only six chairmen so far in its 148-year history. Four of them have been Tata's and only two have been people who have been close associates. It is in light of these realities that the October 24, 2016 decision to replace Cyrus Mistry as the chairman becomes crucial.
Several theories and different factors are floating in the media ever since. All, some or none of these could have contributed to the decision. Let's start with the absurdest of these.
The most ridiculous is that Mistry is an Irish citizen. It is inappropriate to think that would have made any difference to his being removed. In that case, he would not have been appointed by the board in the first place. Descent does not seem to be an issue in this specific case.
The second theory that is going around is a family feud. Some commentators are even linking these to the ongoing political feud one is witnessing in the Yadav family in UP just before the 2017 assembly elections. But industry insiders point out that Ratan Tata, named the interim chairman, does not have the persona to remove someone for not being a family insider. Besides this, Mistry has been removed by the board and not by Tata alone. The broader point that commentators are making is about the larger social dynamics at play in the society that could have had a bearing on the decision. However, this also does not seem plausible alone to explain Mistry's removal.
The third factor could have been responsible is the change in approach to viewing investments. Under Tata, the group had made several acquisitions in India and overseas. European steel maker Corus was acquired in a $12.9 billion deal in 2007, and Jaguar Land Rover was acquired in a $2.3 billion in 2008. The Tata group acquired some 40 companies from 2005-2008. This was also the boom period in the global economy.
In contrast, during Mistry's time, the group was mostly seen to be divesting assets. The UK business of Tata Steel was sold to to Greybull Capital, Tata Chemicals sold a urea plant in UP, Tata Communications sold the majority stake of its data center business to Singapore's Temasek holdings; all this underlies a harsh environment and a different business approach which focusses on return on capital.
Though Tata companies under Mistry have also made aquisitions -- Tata Power acquiring Welspun's renewable energy business earlier this year, for instance -- they are few and far in between. Added to this was the order by an International Arbitration Court to pay $1.17 Billion to Japan's NTT Docomo for breaching their agreement. Thus, business interests and the way of functioning seems to be like a likely factor that could have had a bearing on the decision of the board.
The final factor could have been the personal equation between Tata and Mistry. Industry insiders point that Tata was increasing distressed about Mistry's way of functioning. This could have been an additional factor to the return on capital and differences in working styles, which could have resulted in Mistry's removal. His performance as head of Tata Sons does not appear to be particularly bad but was not as stellar as well as acquisition-oriented as Tata's was during his time which saw manifold expansion.
The most likely fallout of this significant development is uncertainty in the near term, which most industry insiders believe is not good for the diverse businesses of Tata Sons. Given that Tata has been reinstated showcases the trust and faith the board has in him and his statement to his employees means he will stand guard to ensure a smooth transition. The PMO being apprised is also a positive development in this regard.
This is probably a blip in Tata's long and illustrious history in India. How Tata group moves from here on is for posterity to decide, but the fundamental questions of corporate strategy, corporate governance and transitioning and transparency in boardrooms in the Indian context are broader points on which there are no clear answers as yet.
IANS
What Karnataka's anti-superstition draft bill could mean to you
Draft anti-trafficking bill awaits Cabinet approval
India
oi-PTI
New Delhi, Oct 25: The draft anti-trafficking bill being prepared by the Women and Child Development Ministry has been sent to the Cabinet for its approval, a senior ministry official said.
The draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016 proposes a National Anti-Trafficking Bureau for preventing and protecting cases of victims of trafficking.
It also provides for stricter punishment of up to life imprisonment for "aggravated" forms of trafficking. This category includes bonded labour, trafficking for the purpose of bearing a child, for marriage, for begging, or trafficking of a pregnant woman or resulting into pregnancy, among others.
There have been at least two rounds of inter-ministerial consultations on the proposed bill, apart from several meetings with NGOs before arriving at the final draft. The draft legislation was sent to the Cabinet last week.
Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi hopes to introduce the Bill in the Winter session of Parliament this year.
The Bill was first made public in May and invited a lot of criticism for being "vague" and "full of loopholes" following which it was revised.
PTI
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Story first published: Tuesday, October 25, 2016, 12:43 [IST]
Khidmat-e-Khalq- ISI's charity wing raises its ugly head in Sri Lanka
India
oi-Vicky
Sri Lanka has yet again raised concerns over the presence of ISI sponsored groups trying to radicalise Muslims in the country. Sri Lankan authorities say that the Lashkar-e-Taiba through its charitable wing, Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK) is trying to set up its base.
Interestingly this is the same charitable outfit that the Lashkar-e-Taiba had set up in Maldives in 2012. A shadow organisation by the name Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq, considered to be a front for the Lashkar, was sent into Maldives to help the Tsunami victims in the year 2004. Since that there has been activity in the country and the results of the same we see today.
Breaking the Sri Lankan Muslim
Following the arrest of Zaheed Hussain, a resident of Kandy in Sri Lanka, there was a lot of clarity in the manner in which the ISI operated in that country.
Hussain was arrested barely 48 hours before the Chennai blast of 2014 and he had confessed that he was reporting to the Pakistan high commission in Colombo and was entrusted the role of planning a Tamil Nadu attack and also recruiting youth.
Intelligence officials, who track the Sri Lanka operations, inform that for the ISI to work through Sri Lankan groups and try and attack South India is a very natural and tempting proposition.
The ISI has a good reach in the North, West and Eastern parts of the country through the border and other routes. The South, on the other hand, has a very vibrant Muslim population in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu which has remained untouched for a long time.
The first signs that emerged in South was through the SIMI and this is something that is growing into a big menace.
Coming back to Sri Lanka, there is a strong Sri Lankan Tamil Muslim population in the eastern part of the country. These people have maintained their identity and remained non-militant for a long time. However, they were victims of the LTTE activities in the East.
These Muslims stayed away from the violence despite being targeted by the LTTE. They remained a strong and vocal group politically.
Despite trying to maintain their individual identity, the ISI did start making attempts ten years back to woo these Muslims. There were reports ten years back that the Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka was becoming active among this population on religious lines.
Despite the ISI trying, they have been rebuffed by these Muslims several times. It was around the same time even the LTTE was trying to set up its base in the eastern part of Sri Lanka, but even they were not successful.
The ISI then used a different ploy. They targeted Maldives and used the operatives from there. The drug market was activated and this was being pushed into eastern Sri Lanka. This caused a great deal of turbulence in the region and once this becomes the situation, it becomes a fertile ground for terror.
The ISI pushed in hawala operators, drug and human traffickers, arms dealers and many such anti-social elements into east Sri Lanka.
This led to absolute confusion and the cause that the Sri Lankan Muslims from the East were trying to espouse became weak. They turned more towards the ISI, who only wanted to use them as pawns to strike in South India.
The ISI found it easier to utilize their services in order to set up bases in South India. Moreover in some instances some of the Muslims were brainwashed by quoting the atrocities meted out to them by the LTTE.
This caused an anger among them and many agreed to be part of a network to attack Tamil Nadu which many feel were soft towards the cause of the LTTE.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Tuesday, October 25, 2016, 12:31 [IST]
PhD student from northeast found dead in JNU hostel
India
oi-PTI
New Delhi, Oct 25: The body of a student from the north east was found in a hostel room in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) today, police said.
The deceased identified as J R Philemon, native of Senapti district in Manipur, was found dead in room no 171 of the Brahmaputra Hostel, police said.
He was pursing his PhD on the subject of West Asia and he hadn't been seen for the last three days, a senior police officer said.
"When a foul smell started emanating from the room, the student in the neighbouring room called other students and security and forcefully opened door. He was found dead in the room," he said. Further investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of death.
PTI
Naxalites capitalise on tribal grievances as part of their revival strategy in AP
India
oi-Vicky
Bengaluru, Oct 25: The killing of 24 Maoists in the Malkangiri forests on the Andhra-Odisha border is a clear signal that the outlawed group is trying to revive itself. This time around the issue that is being raised by them is the license given to Bauxite mining.
The naxalites are trying to capitalise on the resentment raised by the tribals against the grant of this license and also the construction of the Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project which would submerge one lakh acres of land.
There is a lot of resentment among the tribal in these parts of the state. The naxalites are supporting the tribals and in bargain are trying to revive themselves. Over the years the naxalites were finding it hard to operate in these areas due to lack of local support. However, security agencies are closely watching the developments in the areas and are identifying those who provide support to the naxalites.
Desperate attempt to revive
After the breakdown of talks with the government in 2004, there was a major crackdown on them led by the Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh. The naxals suffered heavy casualties which prompted several of their top leaders to shift base to Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Also read: 21 Maoists killed in encounter on AP-Odisha border
However, most of the top leaders who are from Andhra and Telangana want to return to their home land. They are keen on reviving their base in what they call as Telugu land.
Over the past three years several attempts were being made by the naxals to revive their base. There have been instances of naxalites also trying to set up their base in other parts of South India as well.
When the tribals raised issues such as the grant of bauxite license and the Polavaram irrigation project, the naxalites found this to be an opportunity. They started sending in their cadres to talk with the tribals and also assured them of support. In bargain, they were attempting to establish a base with the help of local support.
In the past three years there has been a lot of activity among the naxals. Their operations have been particularly strong in the areas of Vishakapatanam and Vizianagaram.
Several incidents of abductions have been reported. It may be recalled that the naxalites had also abducted an IAS office Vineel Krishna apart from killing police personnel as well.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Tuesday, October 25, 2016, 8:24 [IST]
Pakistan: 15 killed, 20 injured in blast at mosque in Quetta
News Flash: 5 killed as bus falls off bridge in Odisha's Angul
India
oi-Oneindia
By Oneindia Staff Writer
Oct 25: Prime minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate National Tribal Carnival-2016 at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi, later today.
Get all the latest news updates of the day:
11:00 pm: U.S. House to vote on renewal of Iran Sanctions Act as soon as mid-November - congressional aides (Reuters)
10:30 pm: HM Rajnath Singh meets Interior Minster of Bahrain, Lt Gen Sheikh Rashid Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa in a delegation level meeting
9:45 pm: Odisha road mishap: Death toll rises to 6.
9:30 pm: Minimum 5-6 Pak ranger posts have been severely hit and heavily damaged from calibrated and effective retaliation of BSF: BSF Sources
9:15 pm: Supporters of ailing TN CM Jayalalitha offer special prayers and perform 108 agni yagam in Chennai for her speedy recovery
8:45 pm: Chhattisgarh: Tiffin bomb among other things recovered from 5 Maoista arrested from Bastar district.
8:30 pm: Odisha: At least 5 people killed and 30 injured after bus falls off a bridge in Angul.
8:15 pm: Ajay Devgn on Pak artists ban: We all work together and know that there is no terrorist movement between both the countries.
8:05 pm: 3 Naxal commanders surrender before police in Gaya, Bihar.
6.02 pm: We cant stop something that is voluntary in nature: Kiren Rijiju (MoS Home) on delegation gone to meet SAS Geelani.
5.59 pm: DCW has been created by state legislature accordingly police, land and public are not within purview of Delhi's state legislature: Sources.
5.50 pm: Half hour back a shell was dropped in Suchetgarh area injuring 7 women, they are out of danger now. No deaths: S Chaudhary (SDPO, RS Pura).
5.45 pm: New Zealand PM John Key arrives in Delhi.
5.36 pm: We know that Rahul Gandhi is going to become the Congress president soon, but I cannot provide you any further details: Ambika Soni,Congress.
5.26 pm: Cyrus Mistry has not filed any caveats.He has already made a statement that such concerns are misplaced at this stage: Mistry's office on Tata.
5.15 pm: We can see the strengths of these tribal communities and can see their rich contribution to nation: PM Modi at National Tribal Carnival-2016.
5.03 pm: PM Narendra Modi speaking at the inauguration function of National Tribal Carnival-2016 at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi.
5.00 pm: Aditya Sachdeva Case: Police file plea in Gaya court (Bihar) seeking to seize the passport of accused Rocky Yadav.
4.50 pm: 5 Naxals arrested by police in Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh.
4.45 pm: Six of a family injured after ceasefire violation by Pakistan in RS Pura sector in Jammu.
4.31 pm: Cyrus Mistry files a caveat in SC against Ratan tata, Tata sons and Sir Dorabji trust against his sacking order.
4.25 pm: Four killed, more than 25 injured and 5 critically injured after a bus falls off a bridge in Odisha's Angul district.
4.15 pm: 7 people arrested by police for running fake CID in Bazpur; 11 mobiles, 20 ATMs, 12 fake ID cards, laptop and a gypsy recovered in Uttarakhand.
4.00 pm: 5 Maoists arrested in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. Tiffin bomb among other things recovered from them.
3.50 pm: SP and BSP are out of league in upcoming UP elections, they should take an example of BJP and learn something, says Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP UP President.
3.46 pm: Report has been sought, it is festive season and we all should be careful: Kiren Rijiju,MoS Home on Naya Bazaar (Chandni Chowk) explosion.
3.31 pm: But probe is needed on what material was used for it: SBK Singh (Special CP, Law & Order, Northern Range.
3.25 pm: As per investigation as of now, it seems like it was a firecracker explosion: SBK Singh (Special CP, Law and Order, Northern Range) in Naya Bazar.
3.20 pm: I will not give even a single controversial answer, no matter how many controversial questions you may ask: Mulayam Singh.
3.07 pm: Home Ministry seeks report from Delhi Police on Naya Bazaar (Chandni Chowk) explosion.
3.04 pm: Q: Theres a proposition that you should be CM & all problems will be solved Mulayam Singh: Only 2 months left for polls, why think this now?
3.03 pm: I will not give even a single controversial answer, no matter how many controversial questions you may ask: Mulayam Singh
3.02 pm: Yes its true that the majority was in my name (in 2012), we made Akhilesh CM. Now its upto him to carry out responsibilities: Mulayam Singh
5.59 pm: Unki baat ko ab mai mehetva nahin deta hoon: Mulayam Singh on Ramgopal Yadav's statement
5.58 pm: Ye mai mukyamantri pe chorta hoon: SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on being asked if sacked ministers would be reinstated.
2.57 pm: Humara bahumath aane dijiye uske baad aapko pata chal jaaega: Mulayam Singh on UP CM candidate for 2017 assembly polls
2.56 pm: Why bring Amar Singh into everything?: Mulayam Singh to the media
Humara parivaar ek hai, party ek hai, poori taakat ek hai: Mulayam Singh pic.twitter.com/sCM0o1CmLd ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 25, 2016
2.53 pm: Mulayam Singh addresses he media in Lucknow, Shivpal Yadav next to him on the dais.
2.44 pm: Tata Sons already announced that a Selection Committee has been constituted to choose a new Chairman, will complete its mandate in 4 months.
2.43 pm: This will be for a short time. A new permanent leadership will be in place: Ratan Tata on being Interim Chairman of Tata Sons
2.42 pm: Tata companies must focus on market position, says Ratan Tata #CyrusMistry
2.28 pm: As it is we've been unable to address the problems in Kashmir & now they are also creating issues in Jammu: Farooq Abdullah, Former J&K CM
2.27 pm: RSS is now holding rallies in areas like Doda and Kishtwar just to create tension between Hindu and Muslims: Farooq Abdullah, Former J&K CM
2.10 pm: Srinagar (J&K): Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha led delegation meets Mirwaiz Umer Farooq
#SpotVisuals J&K: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Nowshera sector of Rajouri pic.twitter.com/vrPD2sLu7M ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016
#WATCH the moment of explosion in Naya Bazar which led to one death, acc to police "it looks like a firecracker explosion in a jute bag" pic.twitter.com/EpuVmKYkMA ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016
Delhi: Members of the Club Des Chefs Des Chefs (Club of the presidential chefs across the globe) meets PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/vTjuR2crWj ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016
1.15 pm: Mulayam Singh Yadav to address a press conference at 2.30 pm today at Samajwadi Party office
1.06 pm: Mumbai: Ratan Tata leaves from Bombay House, refuses to answer questions of media.
1.03 pm: In meet it was decided that we will ask Govt to convene special assembly session and all parties must meet PM: MK Stalin,DMK #CauveryIssue
1.02 pm: Quetta Terror Attack - Death toll from Pakistan police academy attack rises to 60: Pak Media
12.44 pm: Eurozone approves 2.8 billion euros in bailout funds for Greece: AFP
12.38 pm: Prima facie it looks like a firecracker explosion in a jute bag: Virendra Chahal,Jt CP Northern Range on explosion in Delhi's Chandni Chowk
12.37 pm: Pakistan foreign ministry summons Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh over civilian deaths in 'cross border firing'.
12.25 pm: 'Pakistan Murdabad' slogans raised at the funeral procession of BSF jawan Sushil Kumar in Kurukshetra (Haryana).
12.20 pm: SC directs Vijay Mallya to file a detailed affidavit about his entire assets within a month; fixes Nov 24 as next date of hearing.
12.00 pm: SC wants details of 40 million US dollars Mallya got from Diageo after he left United Spirits Ltd.
11.50 am: Blast reported near Chamber of Commerce building in Antalya, Turkey, many ambulances at scene: Turkish Media.
11.40 am: DMK convenes opposition parties meet on Cauvery Issue , MDMK and VCK boycott the meet.
Chennai: DMK convenes opposition parties meet on #CauveryIssue , MDMK and VCK boycott the meet pic.twitter.com/2qeuCZMEZd ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016
11.27 am: US has condemned the terror attack on a police training centre in Quetta in which over 60 cadets have been killed.
11.15 am: Police says, twelve killed in northeast Kenya bomb attack.
10.43 am: Shivpal Singh Yadav with supporters outside SP party office in Lucknow, Supporters raise slogans in support of Shivpal Yadav.
Uttar Pradesh: Shivpal Singh Yadav with supporters outside SP party office in Lucknow, Supporters raise slogans in support of Shivpal Yadav pic.twitter.com/a1ZhVblCah ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 25, 2016
10.40 am: People's Welfare alliance to not attend the all party meeting called by the DMK over Cauvery water row in Tamil Nadu.
10.34 am: Haryana CM announces Rs 50 lakh compensation to kins' of BSFJawan Sushil Kumar, who succumbed to his injuries on October 23rd.
10.23 am: Mulayam's statement is nonsense statement he should have thought before making such statement that Amar singh managed CBI: Ram Gopal Yadav.
9.44 am: 3 Maoists killed in fresh encounter in Odisha's Malkangiri. 24 were killed yesterday in a police raid.
9.32 am: A government-run school in J&K went up in flames in Bandipora district, on Monday evening. Cause of fire not yet known.
9.00 am: Verdict of Bangalore court (on solar scam) is ex parte; will move Court to get it nullified after receiving verdict's copy: Oommen Chandy.
8.35 am: Mortal remains of BSF jawan Sushil Kumar who succumbed to hs injuries(during ceasefire violations in RS Pura, J&K) brought to Pehowa, Haryana.
Mortal remains of BSF jawan Sushil Kumar who succumbed to hs injuries(during ceasefire violations in RS Pura, J&K) brought to Pehowa,Haryana pic.twitter.com/R0hMmdRkyQ ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016
8.05 am: Supreme Court to hear plea filed by SBI-led consortium of banks against Vijay Mallya for recovery of over Rs 6,000 crores.
8.00 am: 57 police recruits killed, three terrorists killed in an attack on police training centre in Quetta: Pak media.
OneIndia News
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Seven women civilians injured in Pakistani shelling in Jammu district
India
oi-IANS
By Ians English
Jammu, Oct 25: Seven women civilians were injured on Tuesday in heavy shelling of Border Security Force (BSF) and civilian targets along the international border in R.S. Pura Sector of Jammu district by Pakistan Rangers, police said.
The Pakistan troopers used mortars and automatic weapons, injuring the seven women, police said.
"The BSF is effectively retaliating now and heavy shelling and firing exchanges are going on in the area.
"The injured were given first aid at the local dispensaries and later shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu city for specialised treatment," police said.
J&K: Six injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in RS Pura sector pic.twitter.com/DDKhyJ99iz ANI (@ANI_news) October 25, 2016
IANS
Assembly bypolls on 4 seats in UP, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Tripura on Sept 23
Tigers should be punished for eating cows says this NCP MLA
Stalin denies allegation made against him in 2011 polls
India
oi-PTI
Chennai, Oct 25: DMK Treasurer and then candidate for Kolathur assembly constituency M K Stalin today appeared in Madras High Court in connection with a poll petition filed by AIADMK's Saidai Duraiswamy, who was his rival candidate in the 2011 polls, and denied all allegations raised against him.
Duraisamy had moved the court alleging that Stalin abused his position as the Deputy Chief Minister then and misused official machinery to win the April 13, 2011 assembly polls.
Stalin's was examined by his counsel. He denied all the allegations raised by Duraisamy, including the seizure of Rs 1.18 crore from a car by police on April 12, 2011. Duraisamy alleged that the money was arranged by Stalin, won the polls by a margin of 2,739 votes, for distribution to the voters.
Noting that the allegations by Duraisamy that the official machinery, including, police had helped him by not accepting any complaints made against him, Stalin submitted that it was false.
Stalin is my political heir: Karunanidhi
He also denied another allegation that he spent in excess the sum stipulated by the Election Commission and he used the women self help groups for the distribution of money.
As counsel for Duraiswamy's cross examination of Stalin remained inconclusive, the case was posted for further hearing to November 4.
PTI
2 terrorists gunned down in an encounter in J&K's Anatnag
UP ATS nabs 8 with links to al-Qaeda and its affiliate from UP, Uttarakhand
Another targeted killing: Two non-locals killed in targeted attack in J&K
40 down and counting: Forces on the verge of wiping out Pakistani terrorists in Valley
Terrorists must not be glorified: India and Bahrain
India
oi-IANS
By Ians English
New Delhi, Oct 25: India and Bahrain have said that terrorists cannot be glorified as freedom fighters by anyone and urged all states to fight terrorist infrastructure whenever it exists.
This followed extensive talks in Bahrain's capital Manama on Monday between Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Bahrain Interior Minister Lt. General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa.
Welcoming the Indian delegation, Shaikh Rashid said Bahrain had always been a link between the East and West. "We look forward to working together in the fight against terrorism and in strengthening our mutual and regional security."
Rajnath Singh is on a three-day visit to Bahrain which ends on Tuesday.
Shaikh Rashid hailed the first meeting of the Bahrain-India Joint Steering Committee as part of an agreement signed by the two sides on counter-terrorism.
The two countries agreed that "a terrorist in one country cannot be glorified as freedom fighter by another, and called upon all states to reject the use of terrorism against other countries, to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of (others), and to fight terrorist infrastructure whenever it exists".
Shaikh Rashid said Bahrain had experienced terrorist acts that caused loss of life and horrific injuries and damage to infrastructure.
He said: "The Joint Steering Committee should look at how we can work together to address challenges and to follow up the progress of the agreed decision through exchange of visits and expertise and working to achieve common goals."
Rajnath Singh described Bahrain as a civilised and open society that promotes co-existence. "Mutual visits will develop bilateral ties."
He said terrorism was a threat to the whole world and that India was ready to reinforce joint counter-terrorism cooperation with Bahrain.
The two sides agreed to exchange high-level visits to implement agreements between them.
They agreed to take a strong stand against all forms of terrorism, saying terrorism "is a hazard to all countries and communities".
"They rejected the linking of terrorism to any race, religion or culture and agreed to actively implement the counterterrorism agreement for which a joint committee was formed that held its first meeting in the sideline of the visit."
They decided to hold regular committee meetings and exchange information on ongoing terrorism-related investigation and organised crime including terrorism and drug trafficking.
They agreed to promote training courses and seminars held by the two countries for security officials to exchange expertise on crime fighting and other unconventional threats.
IANS
Boat with 1,100 migrants, 17 corpses reaches Sicily
International
oi-IANS
By Ians English
Rome, Oct 25: Over 1,100 migrants reached Sicily aboard a rescue ship with the bodies of 17 others who died on the journey across the Mediterranean.
As the boat docked at Palermo on Monday, workers from the Red Cross, Catholic charity Caritas and the local health authority were waiting to assist the migrants, who included many minors, Italian officials said.
Police were also at the docks to check if any people smuggling suspects were among the migrants disembarking from the rescue ship.
Prosecutors in Palermo have opened a probe into the deaths of the 17 migrants, who are said to include several children.
A further 840 migrants were due to reach the Sicilian port of Messina on Monday aboard a German military vessel and some 800 were expected at the Sicilian port of Augusta, Italian officials said.
More than 3,650 migrants have gone missing or died this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe by boat, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates.
This year's death toll is higher than 2015 (3,138) for the same period, although the number of migrants who reached Europe is less than half, according to the IOM.
Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has appealed to his European partners to come up with a fundamental solution to the migrant issue.
"We cannot go on this way," he said during a visit to Sicily on october 22.
IANS
China's role in Balochistan is imperliastic
International
oi-Vicky
With another attack in Quetta, Balochistan, worries for China have only shot up. There have been a series of attacks in Quetta in recent months and China had said that it is confident that the Pakistan military is in control.
The Balochistan region is crucial for China. It houses the China's ambitious 46 billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project linking its western province of Xinjiang to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan.
China had only last month raised concerns about the security of its workers involved in the $46 billion economic corridor passing through Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province after a Baloch leader warned of attacks targeting the project.
China's role is imperialistic
In the year 2004, the Balochistan Liberation Front led by Dr Allah Nazar Baloch, had claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Chinese engineers at Gwadar. Dr Nazar had told OneIndia that China's role in Balochistan is imperialistic.
"It is supporting Pakistan militarily and financially to crush the Baloch freedom movement. Now a huge Chinese army unit is present in Gwadar. Pakistan has allotted three thousand acre land to China in Gwadar. So Baloch nation considers China a partner of the occupier. Baloch nation will resist both," he said.
Also read: Interview with Baloch commander: "China in Balochistan will destablise India"
He further states that China is present in Balochistan with a number of Chinese army personnel, who are directly involved in Baloch genocide. "It is a threat not only to Baloch but for the entire region as well as India. Now China is demanding new legislation from Pakistan. Pakistan is ready to give it all to China as part of dirty its game, constitutional protection," Dr Nazar also said.
China raises concern
Recently a report stated that in recent months China is increasingly getting worried about the safety of its workers involved in the project even though Pakistan is forming a new security force providing two security men to every Chinese worker.
A Chinese worker was wounded in a bomb attack in May this year. For the first time, Chinese official media said in September that Beijing is concerned over "increasing cost of security" and the "potential setbacks" to the project.
In an article on Sept 13, state-run Global Times said the project is unlikely to have a "plain sailing". "China may not want to put too much focus on the region. At the very least, it would be unwise to put all its eggs in one basket," it said, highlighting for the first time China's increasing disquiet over the project which also also cast a major shadow over India-China relations.
OneIndia News
For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications
Story first published: Tuesday, October 25, 2016, 11:49 [IST]
In Pics: 60 dead as terrorists attack police academy in Quetta
International
oi-Oneindia
By Oneindia Staff Writer
Oct 25: 60 people were killed and hundreds were injured after terrorists stormed into a police training academy in Quetta on Monday night.
According to reports, three terrorists stormed into the academy after killing the guard who was manning the checkpost. Out of the three, two are said to have detonated suicide vests whereas the third one was gunned down by security officials.
More than 200 cadets were at the facility when the attack took place. The terrorists had taken some of the cadets as hostages, reports suggested.
It is said that the terrorists were in touch wit their handlers in Afghanistan while the attack took place. Terrorists exchanged fire with security personnel.
Here are some images of the attack:
Terrorists storm police academy in Quetta Pakistani family members of victims visit a police training center where gunmen opened fire in Quetta, Pakistan on Oct 24. Terrorists take hostages, detonate suicide vests The three terrorists reportedly took many hostages and two are said to have detonated suicide vests causing maximum casualty. Over 200 cadets were in the academy at the time of the attack Over 200 cadets were in the academy when terrorists stormed in to the police academy killing 60 and injuring many. Photo courtesy- ANI Quetta police academy attacked before The police academy in Quetta has been targeted before- once in 2006 and once in 2008.
OneIndia News
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Pray for Quetta: Indians, Pakistanis pay tribute to victims; condemn dastardly terror act
International
oi-Oneindia
By Oneindia
The subcontinent woke up to the terrible terror attack in Quetta, Pakistan, on Tuesday morning.
According to the latest figures, the terror strike has left around 60 people dead, mostly security personnel, and 118 people injured.
Reports say militants attacked a Police Training Academy in Quetta late on Monday night. The number of deaths is likely to increase, fear officials.
Monday's incident is the third deadliest terror strikes in the country this year.
This is what Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister of Balochistan province, tweeted earlier:
44 shaheed 118 inj #QuettaAttack Sarfraz Bugti (@PakSarfrazbugti) October 25, 2016
OneIndia News
For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications
Story first published: Tuesday, October 25, 2016, 9:44 [IST]
Quetta has witnessed 38 terror attacks in this year alone
International
oi-Vicky
Quetta is not new to terror attacks. The death toll for incidents of terror in Quetta for this year is at 227. In the year 2016 alone, there have been at least 36 different incidents of terror in Quetta in which around 227 lost their lives and over 330 were injured.
In the latest attack on the police training college at Quetta in which nearly 57 have died it is said that the terrorists were in touch with their handlers in Afghanistan. It is, however, not clear as to which group is behind the attack. The training college was attacked twice before- in 2006 and 2008.
Attacked repeatedly:
In the 2006 attack on the training college at Quetta, six police personnel of the Anti-Terrorist Force were killed. There were five powerful explosions which rocked the police training college.
Also read: Terrorists attack police training college in Quetta, 57 killed, 3 terrorists neutralised
In the 2008 attack, terrorists attacked the college with rockets and bullets. There was only one person who was injured in the attack. Simultaneously, on the same day there was an explosion at the Quetta Railway Station.
Quetta also witnessed another attack earlier this year in August. In that suicide bombing at a hospital, 73 people were killed. The incident occurred when advocates had gone to mourn the death of their colleague who had been shot dead.
Islamic State group and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had then claimed responsibility for the attack.
OneIndia News
Rodrigo Duterte reiterates he will end military pact wiith US
International
oi-IANS
By Ians English
Manila, Oct 25 Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday reiterated his decision to end the military agreement signed with the US in 2014.
"You have the EDCA (Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement), well forget it," Duterte said in a speech before leaving for a three-day official visit to Japan.
"If I stay here long enough, one day that EDCA will... I look forward to the time when I no longer see any military troops or soldiers in my country, except for Filipino soldiers," Duterte said.
Duterte's statement follows the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in Manila, Daniel Russel, on Monday saying the Filipino President was causing consternation in the US and other countries.
"I am not a 'tuta' (puppet) of any country," Duterte said, calling Russel's comments malicious, and added there is bigotry and discrimination in the US.
Relations between Washington and Manila suffered a setback last week when Duterte, during an official visit to Beijing, announced an economic and military separation from the US.
Since Duterte took office as President in June, the Philippines started distancing itself from the US, one of its greatest allies since 1946 in the aftermath of the World War II.
IANS
Terrorists attack police training college in Quetta, 60 killed, 3 terrorists neutralised
International
oi-Vicky
Quetta, Oct 25: At least 60 people, mostly cadets were killed and 97 injured after three terrorists stormed a police training college in Quetta, Pakistan on Monday night.
According to reports, the terrorists were in touch with their handlers in Afghanistan. The three terrorists were wearing suicide vests.
The three terrorists attacked the training college at 9.30 pm on Monday. The attackers reportedly entered the complex through the front gate after shooting the guard manning the check post, and the attack started at 9:30 pm.
Senior law enforcement agencies said that assailants had fired at the police training centre from five different points.
Two terrorist reportedly entered the premises after shooting at the guard manning the check post near the front gate, while the third reportedly climbed the rear wall of the police centre.
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up which resulted in the maximum casualties. The third was shot dead by the security forces. It took the security forces nearly four hours to conduct the operation as it required precision, the Dawn reported.
Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti also confirmed the death toll and said that the clearance operation has been successfully completed.
The attackers were engaged in an intermittent exchange of fire with security forces for several hours, with reports of a hostage situation. At least three terrorists were reportedly killed, with security forces saying the operation has concluded, the Dawn also reported.
Three explosions were reported at the scene by local media, with one journalist saying the explosions rocked the area. Gunfire and explosions were heard from inside the centre, which houses at least 600 cadets, as the terrorists were said to be carrying AK-47s and grenades.
The training college is situated on Sariab Road, which is considered to be one of the most sensitive areas of Quetta. Militants have been targeting security forces in the area for almost a decade.
The training college had come under attack in 2008 and 2006, with attackers firing rockets into the college playground. The college covers about an acre of land located about 13 kilometres outside the main city of Quetta.
OneIndia News
As the countdown clock struck zero, rocket of Aakash BYJUS took off from Bandra Bandstand
Five-fold compensation for Narmada project affected people: CM
Mumbai
oi-PTI
Mumbai, Oct 24: People affected by Narmada dam project in north Maharashtra will get five-time compensation amount against the current price of their land which would go under water, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here today.
The assurance by Maharashtra CM came during his talks with Union MoS for Agriculture and Panchayat Raj, Parsottam Rupala who was on the state's visit today, an official statement said.
The proposed rise in height of Sardar Sarowar dam has been opposed by some groups alleging little aid being extended to the project affected people (PAP). With Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modu, heading for Assembly elections next year, the discussion with Rupala, a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat and believed to be close to PM, assumes significance.
[Read: Narmada activists demand CBI probe into rehabilitation 'scam']
As per the existing law for land acquisition, land owner generally gets four times higher amount of the land. The dam is being constructed in Narmada district of Gujarat, which shares its border with Maharashtra. The dam is 138.68 metre high and 1,276 long, with most of its construction getting completed, it stated.
[Read: AAP protests raising height of Narmada dam ]
PTI
Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000
Bihar's Gopalganj by-poll to see a tough fight between BJP and RJD
Mulayam Singh capable of solving his problem: Lalu Prasad
Patna
oi-PTI
Patna, Oct 25: Expressing anxiety over the infighting in Samajwadi Party, RJD president Lalu Prasad on Monday said SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is capable of solving such problems.
He said if need arises he would go to Uttar Pradesh to lend a helping hand.
"Mulayam Singh Yadav is capable of solving such problems," Prasad said and appealed him to end the unpleasant situation in the party at the earliest.
Prasad said he was concerned over the feud within the SP family because he was related to that family.
The RJD chief's daughter is married to Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, MP from Mainpuri and grandson of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Also read: Amar Singh feels Akhilesh a fantastic CM, yet to become mass leader
Asked if he would go to UP to lend a helping hand, Prasad said "If need arises I will definitely go there to extend a helping hand."
Prasad's son and Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav said in Saharsa that the situation in UP was an internal matter of the SP.
He said his party has extended support to SP in coming Assembly elections.
As a friendly gesture towards Mulayam Singh Yadav, the RJD has decided not to contest the Assembly polls in UP and extend support to the SP.
PTI
Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzengger wishes he would been able to run for the US presidency this year. The "Terminator" actor, who was governor of California for eight years until 2011, is unable to contest for the position because he was born in Austria but thinks it would have been the right time to campaign for the Republican candidacy if he had been able to.
At least 57 people, mostly cadets were killed and 97 injured after three terrorists stormed a police training college in Quetta, Pakistan on Monday night. According to reports, the terrorists were in touch with their handlers in Afghanistan. The three terrorists were wearing suicide vests.
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This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, recently stated at the UN General Assembly plenary meeting on Syria that
Canada is taking a stand at the United Nations General Assembly today to protect vulnerable Syrians and help find a solution to the conflict engulfing that country.
With the support of 70 other UN countries, Canada is applying as much diplomatic pressure as possible on the UN Security Council to break their impasse on Syria.
On behalf of the government, Minister Dion called today for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the provision of unhindered humanitarian access to the victims of the conflict -- including children and women -- and the resumption of political talks.
I am very proud that our mission at the United Nations, spearheaded by Ambassador Marc-Andre' Blanchard, is leading the charge to protect the many victims of this tragic conflict.
I encourage other countries to help generate forward momentum on Syria, given UN members have a collective responsibility to protect the world's vulnerable and weak when others cannot or will not.
What Trudeau did not say is more important.
He did not say that the illegal regime-change operation, sold under the guise of the "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) doctrine, completely destroyed Libya and made it into a hotbed for terrorists, including ISIS.
He did not say that Canada necessarily advances the reach and scope of terrorism by publicly supporting illegal regime change, by implementing illegal sanctions, by bombing and/or supporting bombing missions in Syria, by supporting all of the terrorists in Syria, by supporting the Wahhabi ideology and terror financiers, and by supporting all other countries, including NATO, that are trying to destroy Syria.
The list of omissions demonstrates the lie of Trudeau's statement.
Trudeau ignored the reality that "cessations of hostilities" provide the terrorists with opportunities to regroup and rearm, and he ignored the fact that his words offer support to Canada's terrorist proxies, and that they strengthen the West's propaganda apparatus, which presents the terrorists as the "good guys", as amply documented by the West's support and adoration of the terrorist-embedded White Helmets.
His words also ignore the fact that the terrorists use captive citizens as human shields. Syrian Lilly Martin Sahounie reports the following, from Syria:
"Breaking news from East Aleppo: Oct 21, 2016: a family were able to get out to safety! Yes, I watched the interview with them on local TV. The wife said they got tired of waiting so many days to evacuate to safety. They knew that snipers were shooting at people trying to leave, but decided they would take their chances, because he husband was ill and needed medicine and food. They noticed a group of likewise civilians waiting to make a dash for it. They all started running. During their sprint out, 10 civilians with her were shot dead, including a pregnant woman! Her husband said he had been 85 kilos' weight, but was now 65 kilos. He was haggard and ill looking, and using one walking cane. The children also stated that they lived in fear of the terrorists. They would not allow children to attend school, they would shoot kids if they stood in the streets and stared at them. Bread had been 25 lira a packet, and was now 1,000 lira. Unbelievable hardships and suffering. I believe these stories because they were coming right out of the mouths of the people, just minutes after running to safety. If it was a reporter recounting stories, I could doubt it, but you can't doubt their stories. I always said to myself, that once the people get out of East Aleppo, you will hear horror stories, and these stories will directly reflect on these American-backed and -supported terrorists. You will also hear the TRUE story later of the White Helmets, it will all be revealed."
To be blunt, the script that the Prime Minister read advances the cancer of terrorism in the Middle East, and sets the stage for more war crimes, beneath the lie of "collective responsibility".
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Every morning I keep on telling myself that today I will spend time to get some semblance of order in my house. Everywhere I look, there are piles of magazines and printed materials. All right, I say to myself, it's about time to unload.
But then I turn to the internet and find a story like Chesty's and think -- okay this won't take long. I want people who love pit bulls to read yet another instance of proving that these much-maligned dogs should be rid of the unfair stigma that for so long has been attached to them.
Somehow when I think of them, I always recall the story of Mindy -- a pit bull who was mistreated in the Pennsylvania shelter she was brought to. No, I don't remember the particulars and I know that I can find her story on the internet, but tears have already welled up in my eyes from just saying her name. Yes, man can be cruel, and sadly she was probably only one of hundreds -- maybe thousands of pit bulls who have been so cruelly maligned and mistreated for years during a period of their cruel and often unwarranted victimization.
So, it was with joy that I read about Chesty, a pit bull who in 2013 was a homeless one-year-old stray dog in Ohio. He was just simply living day by day, trying to keep hunger at bay and find enough water for him to survive. This day he was finding shade under a bush, which gave him some protection from the heat of an Ohio summer.
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From Paul Craig Roberts Website
Presidential Outcome Rigged Before 2016 Election Day?
(Image by moralmatters.org) Details DMCA
Over the course of its history, the New York Times has reported on many American elections that have been rigged or stolen or are suspected of having been being rigged or stolen. For example, as a supporter of the black civil rights movement, the NY Times has many stories in its archives of elections rigged by disenfranchisement of black voters.
But this was when the NY Times was an independent voice before it became a prostitute for the Oligarchs who rule America. When the NY Times reported that black Americans could have no confidence in the integrity of American elections, the NY Times did not denounce itself for delegitimizing American democracy.
The NY Times forgot all of this when it published Max Fisher's article yesterday. Fisher fished up "scholars" among the Hillary advocates, and they obligingly told him that Trump's questioning of the integrity of American elections were the tactics of a would-be dictator who is at work delegitimizing democracy so that he can take over.
What Fisher and his "scholars" overlook is that the US government is already delegitimized in the eyes of the American population, as well as foreign populations. If the US government was not already delegitimized, Donald Trump would not have been successful in what, despite Trump's damnation by the presstitutes, was an easy sweep-aside of the Establishment's candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.
The US government is delegitimized, not only in the eyes of Americans, but also in the eyes of most of the world. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their careers, their hopes, because corrupt bought-and-paid-for-Washington enabled Globalism to send the futures of the American people to China and India. Millions of Americans lost their homes, because the corrupt Federal Reserve came down on the side of five "banks too big to fail" at the expense of the American people.
Millions of Americans, along with much of the world, know that the US government has been slaughtering millions of peoples in seven countries based on lies, wasting not only countries and the lives of millions of peoples, but trillions of American dollars that Americans needed for their welfare.
Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. Assad did not use chemical weapons. Gaddafi was innocent of all the absurd charges that Washington used to destroy Libya, a country that had the most progressive social system on earth. Russia did not invade Ukraine. The Taliban had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11. Yet countries are in ruins because of Washington's war crimes justified by transparent lies.
If the NY Times does not know this, the organization is too stupid to justify its existence. Of course the NY Times knows it. But the Times is no longer a newspaper. It is a cog in the Ministry of Propaganda that works to create a Matrix in which brainwashed Americans accept the dictates of the Oligarchs.
The purpose of the Times' article is to discredit in advance criticism of an election that the ruling Oligarchs intend to steal. If the Times believed that Hillary would have a clear election victory, there would be no point to Fisher's article.
We see voluminous signs of the intended theft of the election. For example, Hillary's lead in the polls is based on the pollsters skewing the affiliation of those polled to Democrats. The percentage of Democrats in the samples is far higher than their percentage of registered voters.
It the past it was difficult to steal elections unless they were very close. Exit polls were a check on vote count, and the disenfranchisement of blacks could be risky if it attracted the attention of the US Department of Justice. The new method, which is unfolding before our eyes, steals the election in advance with the Oligarchs' candidate far ahead in the polls (now by 12 points according to the latest fiction) and by making anyone who questions the faked results into a fascist dictator.
Obviously, if Hillary was really ahead by 12 points -- a landslide -- there would be no need for Fisher's article or for the constant drumbeat against Trump. Judging from the hysteria, as reflected in Fisher's NY Times article, for example, the Oligarchs are aware that objections to their rule has elevated Trump. In order to hold on to power, the American Oligarchs must smash Trump and put their bought-and-paid-for-candidate, Hillary -- whom the Oligarchs have provided along with Bill a personal fortune of $120 million and endowed the Clinton Foundation with $1,600 million -- into the Oval Office.
Pollsters by nature of their business are unreliable. If truthful results offend the establishment political organizations, the pollsters are out of work. Polls have to serve the Oligarchs or the polling firms go down. Trump is an outsider toward whom the ruling Oligarchy is totally opposed, which is why Americans support him. Therefore, polling firms are adverse to betting their future on poll results favorable to Trump, especially when the whores who constitute the American print and TV media, such as the NY Times, are all out to put Hillary in the White House.
As Hillary's public statements have made clear, she is antagonistic toward Russia and the Russian government, calling the president of Russia "the new Hitler." She promises conflict with Russia, which would certainly be nuclear and end life on earth.
Trump says in the face of contrary ruling neoconservative opinion that he sees no point in conflict with Russia and no point in NATO's continued existence a quarter century after the purpose of NATO collapsed with the Soviet Union. Trump might not be successful in appointing a government that serves his instincts, but at least he gives us hope of avoiding military conflict with Russia and China. With Hillary there is no hope whatsoever. My opinion is that the world would not survive Hillary's first term. I have known the neoconservatives since the 1970s. They are crazed fanatics, and they hate Russia. Hillary is their agent.
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But as they nitpick and nuance and sum,
I ask for a standard that ought to become
A simple measure by prez friend or foe,
Equally viable for Bush or Monroe,
And lets us judge all, the first with the late,
And thus plot the course of America's fate.
Scan urbi et orbi and add up the score:
Chaos or order -- which one has gained more?
Is the world more quiescent than eight years ago,
Or should we stuff mattresses with all our dough?
Have the globalized waters lifted all boats,
Or does the wise man grab whatever floats?
So which has made hay by the sun of Obama,
The forces of order or more those of trauma?
Abroad no question: you can barely find space
Where his "moderates" and drones have not erased
Peaceful societies with schools and paved roads,
Which till he dies will be history's goads.
At home he's exemplified American grace:
Cool, kind and funny and those speeches just ace.
He's calmed the waters when cops pulled quick triggers,
And pshawed the idea of election-day riggers.
He did what he could for those who need docs,
Those sad souls with hard lives still up on the blocks.
Yet there's Ed Snowden who put on display
O's five-star indifference, his lack of fair play
With the Constitution, the laws, the Bill of our Rights,
Which fast disappear with technology's bites.
He paid each year's budget with a new-borrowed trill,
Stiff-arming a future that waits for the kill.
Pols have turned plastic and Wash-town a club,
Hence the ferment and secession hubbub.
It's no surprise that Don Trump's a big hit,
Bernie near took it and the right's in a snit.
Good jobs at good wages have shrunk quite a lot,
As money pours into the One Percent pot.
You feel it all over that Chaos has growed,
While Order goes walking the Yellow Brick Road.
Not that I'd blame ol' Barack for it all:
He seems to have striven to hold off the fall,
But can't tame the soldiers or all the king's men,
Content not to put him together again.
Red Rock Canyon area
(Image by Bear Kosik) Details DMCA
2017 looms less with promise and hope than dread and queasiness. When the new regime installs itself as autocratically played as Napoleon crowning himself in 1804, one feature of this election will stand out. People do not care if the issues are approached using logic, experience, data, and intelligence. Voters want to hear what results the candidates can offer, not the reasoning and planning that will bring those results, and certainly not the painfully suspect methods required to bring those results. We need to get things done! Who is best able to do that? When a country is in crisis, agility, reliability, rapidity, and audacity are the essential traits of a leader. The USA has become a demagogue's paradise.
Now, more than ever, the scourge of partisan duopoly has silenced the only means possible to avoid what will be the final step away from the people of the USA having any say in national politics. We already have had to forget about Congress. Political scientists have conclusively shown that members of Congress are twice as likely to endorse laws favored by big donors compared to laws favored by their constituents. It does not matter what proportion of the public wants any specific policy. That makes it almost a good thing that Congress has been so unproductive, since it means fewer measures favoring corporations are passed.
All that remains is who sits in the Oval Office. In one corner is the political neophyte who typically gets what he wants eventually merely by demanding it repeatedly. In the other corner is the political maven who has only gotten what she wanted three times in her life but now knows how to handle the machinery needed to make any demand a reality.
There remain two corners that offer little solace in that their occupants have less substance between them than the typical candidate for judge for surrogate's court. Believing makes it come true magic regarding the alleged futility of voting for third choices is as pervasive as Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. It is the same argument used throughout the ages to discourage people from pushing for something different if not better. People are told, far too convincingly, to sit on their hands when they are disgusted with the GOP and Democratic candidates rather than going to the polls and stating a preference, any preference other than what is being offered.
Taking that third approach is the only viable path out of this swamp. One can only go so far in trying to overcome the ignorance about nearly everything that pervades the GOP candidate's base. While there may be quite a few people hiding their support for Donald Trump from poll takers, it's likely they are not enough to tip the balance in the states in which this would be most common. On the other side, too many people remain convinced that the Democratic candidate is plausible despite the daily drips from WikiLeaks adding to the pool of information demonstrating how false that conclusion is. Enough people refuse to accept that the Clinton campaign has been engaging in Nixonian dirty tricks since Spring 2015 at least that we can almost see a complete repeat of 1972-74, landslide and all.
To this comparative political scientist, the evidence is overwhelming. We are witnessing the exact same polarization and power struggles that occurred at the end of Republican Rome, Restoration France, Imperial China, Tsarist Russia, Weimar Germany, the Soviet Union, and twice under the Stuarts in England. Unfortunately, the docent who can be counted upon to use the study of the particular in order to grasp the attributes of the general and apply them to subsequent cases has no hold over the shaping of political discourse in this country. Even if he did, expertise is, if anything, a reason to deride the logical use of facts in this political environment. The briefest foray into that environment leads to only one conclusion, that Cassandra's plight is alive and well.
Almost all Americans paying the least bit of attention to the election have split the doctrines of the Know-Nothing Party between them and embraced the ones they found most appealing. A good sixty percent or so of the populace wish only to have our nation operated by figureheads (one is tempted to say "bobble heads"). Whether they are prepared or not to issue orders and make decisions in the Oval Office hardly seems relevant when both major candidates are making the election out to be one about the style of leadership the country needs, not the substance of governing necessary to rescue the country from its impending doom.
Our politicians are preyed upon by employees of organizations that claim to be involved in gathering and broadcasting news, but have forgone the basics of journalism in favor of looking for the most popular method of holding up any incident as compelling evidence of one thing or another. Where once reality was observed and fitted into our understanding of the world, what is sold as news now is anecdote peddled as synecdoche. Every utterance of public figures, every recurrence of gun violence, every instance of brutality represents the Problem in today's world. Equally, evidence that contradicts the assumptions of Trump's deplorables, Hillbots, or Bernie-or-busters is a clay pigeon waiting to be shattered by a spray of deeply offended shot.
Any use of incidents as examples of a broader pattern, even when those incidents appear to occur randomly but demonstrate a troubling consistency, is fraught with difficulty because explanation by way of examples has ceased to hold any meaning. Every action or event has its own idiosyncratic spin like bosons, with no two being able to exist in the same quantum of space. Conversely, when every occurrence is similar to every other, such as Donald Trump's pronouncements on any subject, we can all be assured that everyone, except those deplorables, draws the same conclusion. Or rather, anyone who does not must be a deplorable himself.
What is even more bizarre is that people are complaining about the timing of when information becomes public and the motivations of those making the information public. Why does it matter? A lot of people initially did not believe or did not want to believe Woodward and Bernstein. The problem was that it came out during the election campaign against a candidate who could rightfully say he had, in the past, been wrongfully challenged about his ethics. As a result, Nixon landed a handy landslide. All that left us with was eighteen months or so of painful discussion about the involvement of the White House in the Watergate break-in. Would a McGovern presidency have been better for the country? Possibly not actually. He was a rather weak leader.
Facts are facts. Nothing in this world can ever make up for the various times in which Hillary Clinton has demonstrated her condescension toward true progressives, her unchanging focus on being elected president for sixteen years, her deal-making regarding the Iraq War vote that sums up her incapacity to represent New York State effectively in the Senate, her ruinous hubris as Colin Powell described it, and her efforts to cover up the truly wrong things she has done by using the inept attacks of the right as proof that she can't possibly be doing anything wrong. Indeed, the GOP, Tea Party, and Donald Trump have consistently picked the wrong things to criticize about Clinton, which makes perfect sense because they are far from being considered rational, intelligent opponents. They are so bad they chose Trump as their standard bearer. Their ineptitude should not, however, give Clinton a free pass to the White House.
Any right-thinking person ought to be able to see that this situation requires an upwelling of participation by everyone who does not want the lesser of two evils. There is a reason the people most knowledgeable about political analysis are shaking their heads in disgust and wondering what it will take for Americans to see that their political system really does need to be overhauled. The only thing that defines if a goal is realistic is if it is achieved.
Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) October 24, 2016: Whatever else may be said about Hillary Rodham Clinton (born in 1947), the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential candidate, she is not a charismatic speaker. But to be sure, she is an effective debater. She is a pragmatist, not a utopian. Because she has long been in the public eye, American voters who vote for her to be the next president of the United States are probably under few illusions about her.
By contrast, her Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump (born in 1946) summons his white supporters to "Make America Great Again" -- as it was great when it emerged victorious in World War I and then again in World War II. For Trump and his supporters, the once great America they invoke represents a golden age in America's past -- a kind of utopian paradise lost.
To the delight of his supporters, Trump is an equal-opportunity insulter -- which they see as standing up to the spirit of political correctness that they see as pervading liberal and progressive journalists and others. For Trump's white followers, Hillary symbolizes the spirit of political correctness that they detest -- and also whatever they imagine as preventing America from being great again in their eyes.
Ironically, Trump's crude bragging to Access Hollywood's Billy Bush, a member of the Bush family that includes two former U.S. presidents, in mid-September 2005 about his behavior toward women may have helped advance the spirit of political correctness today more than any feminist single-handedly could have. Indeed, in the second televised presidential debate, even Trump said that he was not proud of his recorded comments.
I am not going to quote Trump's crude comments verbatim. However, as a way to measure the crudity of his comments, consider Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New World (1935). In his darkly satirical vision, he envisions a so-called brave new world in which licentiousness, sexual gratification, and orgies are common practices -- but they always involve the free consent of the persons involved. By contrast, Trump boasted to Bush about sexually assaulting women who did not necessarily freely consent to his kissing and groping them -- allegedly because he was a star.
When the moderator Anderson Cooper asked Trump directly if he had indeed acted in the ways that he had boasted to have acted, Trump said that he had not. But his explicit denial then prompted nearly a dozen different women to come forward and describe his sexual assaults toward them.
Thus far, no women have come forward to say that they allowed Trump to kiss them and grope them because he was a star, and no other male stars have yet come forward to say that they also kiss and grope women whenever they feel like it.
Typically, Trump has accused his women accusers of lying. He also said that he would bring lawsuits against them for defamation of character. Of course his threat of lawsuits garnered him still more free media coverage.
In his presidential campaign, Trump's most consistent strategy has been to say things that will receive free media coverage.
In the court of public opinion, Trump's accusers will probably prevail.
Should Trump emerge victorious, which is still not unthinkable, all bets are off as to what he might do, because he is so totally unpredictable.
Should Hillary emerge victorious, the Republicans in Congress will undoubtedly continue their obstructionist tactics. As a result, she is not likely to sign any big new laws.
But should Hillary emerge victorious, Trump's white supporters will unleash a torrent of attacks on her, similar in spirit to the torrent of attacks unleashed on President Barack Obama. See Bill Press' book The Obama Hate Machine: The Lies, Distortions, and Personal Attacks on the President -- and Who is Behind Them (2012). As a result, our culture wars will continue, not subside, because white rage-aholics are virtually incapable of overcoming their addiction to expressing rage.
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Secretary John Kerry and Defense Minister Ashton Carter don't seem to know what is going on, says Ray McGovern, former CIA officer. Mosul has the same rubric that we used in Vietnam when "it became necessary to destroy a town to save it," he adds.
As the Western-backed military operation in Mosul intensifies, officials in Europe are warning that it might backfire with an increased terror threat on the continent.
The UK's International Development minister said that as ISIS gets squeezed in the Middle East, the group's presence will be felt elsewhere including both in Europe and America.
And the EU's law enforcement agency Europol echoed his sentiments claiming that military pressure on the terrorist group could provoke a deadly response.
The operation has been going on for more than a week now and according to the mainstream media, it's been a success.
However, the UN hasn't been so upbeat calling the consequences of the operation a "humanitarian catastrophe."
Former CIA official Ray McGovern thinks the situation is made worse by the fact some key US politicians are simply out of touch.
RT: At the last UN Human Rights Committee meeting it was announced that they expect "the largest man-made displacement crises in recent years" resulting from the offensive to retake Mosul. What actions should be taken by the anti-ISIL coalition and Iraqi forces to prevent a humanitarian crisis?
Ray McGovern:I am not sure that they are anticipating this kind of thing. Their planning for such catastrophes has not been very good; witness Iraq, Syria and Libya. All we have here are people who are not frankly very competent. I had a chance to observe Secretary John Kerry in person just two weeks ago, when he was asked about the breakdown and the ceasefire in Syria he said something which is archetypical of the way he and the Defense Minister Ash Carter operate: "Syria is as complicated as anything I have ever done in my public life in the sense that there are probably about six wars going on at the same time: Kurds against Kurds, Kurds against Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sunni, Shia, everybody against ISIS, people against Assad, Al-Nusra...this is a mixed up sectarian and civil war and strategic and proxies, so it is very difficult to be able to align forces."
That just indicates to me that Secretary Kerry doesn't know what is really going on and neither does Ashton Carter. Carter is trying to persuade the Iraqis to allow the Turks to help out and retake Mosul. Mosul is considered by the Turks their territory. If Carter thinks that he can persuade the people in Baghdad, the Shia there who are running things, to except a Turkish presence in Mosul, he is crazy. Similarly, the Turks invaded Syria. Did anybody say anything? I guess what I'd have to say here is that our statesmen, if that is the right term, are outmatched by the people in Asia who typically outmatch them.
There are a lot of fools who are trying to hustle the East, and the problem is that many thousands of people will be killed and it seems to be the same rubric that we used in Vietnam: We have to destroy that city to save it.
RT: According to the same committee the refugee flow of over 1 mln people is expected as result of the offensive on Mosul, 700,000 of which will need urgent assistance. Do you think that these concerns should be taken more seriously by the coalition?
RM:It is whistling in the wind to think that a million displaced people can be handled by a bunch of tenths. The way to prevent displaced people from being displaced is to stop bombing their homes. The Chinese have a way of saying "This will come to a no good end." And what do I mean by that? The crackerjack, the very expertly trained and equipped Iraqi forces that everybody is depending upon to retake Mosul two years ago they ran away. Not only that, but they left a lot of very heavy sophisticated equipment, tanks on the battlefield. ISIS has those now. What is the guarantee that the crackerjack Iraqi forces will not once again run away. And who will be left? The thousand or so US forces there, some of them are going to get killed and this will become an election issue: why didn't we do more, is what they will say...
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Stephen Schwartz has written an important book called 'The Eight Laws of Change' wherein he asserts (supported by research) that non-violent movements for change are more lasting than violent ones and those intending life-affirming outcomes to be the most lasting. Clearly, if this is true it would assure a positive, life-affirming reality on this planet. Since violence, abuse, exploitation and constant war represent our foreign and domestic policies there must be compelling, over-riding forces extant, in opposition to the 'life affirming', that predominate and control outcomes.
Those of us who seek real change must focus most of our energy toward that goal. However, before we initiate that end it is essential that we understand, as best we can, the dark nature, the awesome power and presence of the powerful few who run our lives, our nation, our planet. The 1% vs the 99% symbolizes the economic disparity but I believe the truly powerful are mostly hidden and reward those who run 'their' system. We see the rewarded--it is not so easy to see behind the curtain.
Further, I contend that our reality is created by those who run the system. The destabilization of the Middle East and North Africa and the further chaos, pain and suffering associated with the mass exodus of refugees we create is reality purposefully created by those who run the US. The weak do not create reality! The tail does not wag the dog! If we look back from this now point toward 9/11 we see what 'they' want. I see the future, our future manifesting more chaos, war and the aftermath of war across the planet---Again, what you see is what they want.
Created reality include ISIS armed with weapons collected by the CIA in Benghazi and manned by unemployed Iraqis. This simply to secure our nominal consent to start killing in Syria.
When a plane is shot down over Ukraine from 30,000 feet we see photos of plane wreckage. Why not a single photo of plane wreckage at the pentagon--right here in our back yard. Why is there not a single reference to the existence of Al Qaeda written or spoken prior to 9/11? Al Qaeda was stood up in the same nine seconds it took to 'burn' the towers down. The same utter absence of plane wreckage in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, also.
This is how easy it is to manufacture perception. I could list numerous bizarre concocted deceptions but haven't space. All of this is painfully tedious but I wanted to make the point as to how little control we have over our 'perception' of state-sponsored truth. I believe the dire circumstance representing our manipulated reality must be acknowledged though I'm not sure if most Americans care if a plane flew into the pentagon or if Al Qaeda was responsible for 9/11. (In 2005 FBI agent Rex Tomb stated that the FBI had no evidence connecting Osama bin Laden to 9/11--good grief, folks.)
Against this background of state fear-mongering and perception management there is no chance for decent people to promote that which is life affirming.
Don Scotten
scotten6|AT|gmail.comEmail address
From Consortium News
On Oct. 5, two women Nobel Peace Laureates were at opposite ends of Israel, each working for peace in different ways. One was walking in Israel with Israeli and Palestinian women with hopes for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the other sailed on the Women's Boat to Gaza to challenge the Israeli blockade of the 1.8 million Palestinians trapped in the crowded Gaza Strip.
Mairead Maguire, the 1977 Nobel Peace Laureate from Northern Ireland who had sailed 1,000 miles in nine days with 13 women from 13 countries, was stopped in international waters by the Israeli military, taken into custody and brought to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod.
On the same day, Leymah Gbowee, the 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate from Liberia, was to the north, on the Israeli border with Lebanon and spoke at the beginning of a two-week "Walk for Hope" through Israel with approximately 5,000 Israeli and Palestinian women.
Gbowee also spoke at the closing ceremony of the walk on Oct. 19 in Jerusalem at a rally in a square near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence.
"If you cannot see hope, if you cannot see peace, then you are blind," Gbowee said. "You must reject the narrative that war is the destiny of our children. War is easy, making peace is hard. But sisters, today you've made history! No one will be able to ignore your call for peace any more."
In an interview with the Haaretz newspaper, Gbowee added: "Men try to demean women's activism as if it isn't important, as if it isn't 'the real stuff.' But guns and bombs are not aimed only at men. Women suffer real pain -- and we have real things to say. And women have the ability to come together and bridge our divides -- and that is very real, very political and very powerful."
Many other women's voices from Israel and Palestine were heard at the Oct. 19 rally.
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Leymah Gbowee
(Image by greenbeltmovement.org) Details DMCA
Women's Power
Hind Khoury, an economist who was the Minister of Jerusalem Affairs in the Palestinian Authority and the delegate general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to France from 2006 until 2010, said, "This is women's power at it's best. But will you last? Will you do the hard work? The hard part begins tomorrow -- will you keep up the hope in our region that is plagued with violence and despair? The 50 years of rule over the Palestinian people, from cradle to grave, cannot go on. Our people are ready for peace. President Abbas is ready for peace. We women have come together to tell all our leaders to work towards a negotiated agreement."
Fadwa Shear from Ramallah said, "We cannot count on men to create peace. We will have to do it by ourselves. We are political women calling on our leaders to reach a political agreement. I am very proud to be here."
The voices of Israeli women were also heard. According to the Haaretz article, "Hadassah Froman, widow of Rabbi Menachem Froman, and her daughter-in-law Michal, who was pregnant when she was wounded in a stabbing attack by a Palestinian in January, 2016, both spoke at the demonstration. The two women, who live in the West Bank settlement of Tekoa, were reportedly warmly welcomed by the crowd. 'There is great energy here, and it can bring us to a new way, to change,' said Hadassah Froman.
"As she held her infant daughter, Michal Froman added, 'I believe that peace, as we want it to be, will come from a place where we can see what is possible and what is impossible. The right can be part of peace, too. Life will be better here if we stop seeing ourselves as the victims of terror or the victims of the occupation. We all have to get over this and begin to work hard.'"
Peace Reciprocity
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SABIC TO INTRODUCE FIRST-EVER SYNTHETIC RUBBER PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED IN SAUDI ARABIA AT K 2016
SABIC to introduce first-ever synthetic rubber products manufactured in Saudi Arabia at K 2016
SABIC will introduce its new range of synthetic rubber products, being manufactured for the first time in Saudi Arabia, at the K-Show Europe Exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany, from 19th to 26th October, 2016.While engaging with global customers at the exhibition, SABIC will underline its commitment to deliver high quality, cost effective, synthetic rubber products.Commenting on the pioneering Saudi-made synthetic rubber products, Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC Executive Vice President, Polymers, said, We are very proud to be pioneering producers of synthetic rubbers in the Middle East to support conversion industries for tires, automotive, building and construction. With our ideal location, we should be able to reach strategic global markets, particularly Europe, further developing customer intimacy. We are looking forward to considerable customer interest and engagement at K-Show.Sami Mohammed Al-Osaimi, vice president, Elastomers, PVC, PS, PET, PMMA and POM, said, Europe is a strategic market for SABICs new rubber products that will be used mainly for automotive applications, such as tires, gaskets, hoses, and weather seals. Key applications for the construction industry include roof sheeting, and building profiles, besides industrial uses such as conveyor belts. At the K-Show, we will be making visitors aware of our world-class solutions to serve our customers and power their ambitions.NOTES TO EDITORS SABIC and brands marked with are trademarks of SABIC or its subsidiaries or affiliates. SABIC is a registered trademark of SABIC International Holding B.V. High-resolution photos are available upon request. SABIC should be written in every instance in all uppercase.ABOUT SABICSABIC is a global leader in diversified chemicals headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We manufacture on a global scale in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, making distinctly different kinds of products: Chemicals, Plastics, Agri-Nutrients, Metals, and Specialties.We support our customers in identifying and developing opportunities in key end markets such as Construction, Medical Devices, Packaging, Agri-Nutrients, Electrical and Electronics, Transportation, and Clean Energy.SABIC recorded a net profit of SR 18.77 billion (US$ 5 billion) in 2015. Sales revenues for 2015 totaled SR 148.09 billion (US$ 39.49 billion). Total assets stood at SR 328.22 billion (US$ 87.53 billion) at the end of 2015.SABIC has more than 40,000 employees worldwide and operates in more than 50 countries. Fostering innovation and a spirit of ingenuity, we have filed more than 10,960 patents, and have significant research resources with innovation hubs in five key geographies USA, Europe, Middle East, South East Asia and North East Asia.The Saudi Arabian government owns 70 percent of SABIC shares with the remaining 30 percent publicly traded on the Saudi stock exchange.At SABIC, we combine a rich track record of doing what others said couldnt be done, with a deep understanding of our customers. But our true impact is as a partner who can help our customers achieve their ambitions by finding solutions to their challenges. We call this Chemistry that Matters.Marketing SolutionsBox 62950KapellenBelgium
NUCLEAR ENERGY IMPORTANCE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH OF POWER
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Recently announced ambitious investments in the Finnish nuclear power sector could create bright prospects for companies directly and peripherally operational in this market through 2030. The nuclear power sector in Finland is expected to receive a fillip with Hanhikivi 1 due to come online by 2024. The 1,200 MW nuclear power plant, once operational, could feed the country nearly 10% of its energy. As of June 2016, it is estimated that the four operational nuclear power plants in Finland collectively supply the country with nearly 30% of its energy.Besides creating a bouquet of opportunities for companies engaged in the nuclear power sector in Finland, multibillion Euro projects such as this one could lend the countrys economic growth a helping hand. Like many of its counterparts in Europe, Finland is also looking to incorporate more biomass-based fuels to satiate its hunger for energy. All the same, recent reports prove that the company is simultaneously looking toward nuclear power to play the anchor role in its energy mix that coal once played. This could create well-paying long-term opportunities in Finlands nuclear industry.Details-ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.ResearchMoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesBlog -866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),+1-518-621-2074,Email to: sales@researchmoz.us,
KACO new energy accelerates the energy turnaround in Thailand
Thumps up for the future of the Thai PV business
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Bangkok / Neckarsulm, 24. October 2016 The German photovoltaic specialist has joined forces with other companies in the industry as part of a new initiative. The Powerful Blueplanet alliance is aiming to further the development of the solar energy business in Thailand. The launch event took place in Bangkok at the end of September.Going by the name of Powerful Blueplanet, KACO new energy GmbH is collaborating with companies with various fields of expertise to serve the Thai market. The group is pursuing the aim of making better use of the huge photovoltaic potential that the South East Asian country has to offer and making it available to a larger target market. With this in mind, the group is targeting both private and commercial customers as well as operators of utility-scale plants.Interested parties can count on the participating companies to provide comprehensive advice, reliable components and to implement projects accurately, thus growing the level of trust in and acceptance of photovoltaic solutions, says David Mabille, Chief Sales Officer at KACO new energy, with regard to the initiatives approach. We also want to take advantage of the breadth of expertise the companies possess in order to develop new, tailor-made solutions for the Thai market in the future, he adds.The leading companies behind Powerful Blueplanet are PEA ENCOM International and Fah Chai Engineering, both established companies in the Thai sustainable energy industry: PEA ENCOM is a large investor in renewable energy generation and a subsidiary of PEA (Provincial Electricity Authority), the sole state-owned power supply company for the rural areas of the kingdom; Fah Chai Engineering has been implementing turnkey projects and providing EPC services for renewable energy projects since 2001. Other founding members are the Australian-Chinese manufacturer of substructures, Clenergy, and the Korean solar cell and module manufacturer, Hanwha Q-Cells. The group commenced work on 21 September at a joint event in Bangkok.Taking part in the initiative reflects the growing importance of Thailand as a key element in the internationalisation of KACO new energy. Fah Chai has been the inverter manufacturers official representative for products and services since May 2015. We have excellent foundations to build on. The geographic location, the increasing demand for energy and the political support in terms of the willingness to provide lines of credit and tax breaks will further the development of our trade greatly. We expect the solar energy industry to grow by 20 percent on an annual basis, says Mr Chotthiwath Chirapatputthitana, Managing Director of Fah Chai.About KACO new energy:KACO new energy is amongst the worlds largest manufacturers of solar inverters. With offices in 16 countries, the company offers inverters for every array size from the smallest homes to the largest solar farms of hundreds of Megawatts. KACO new energy is based in Neckarsulm, near Stuttgart, Germany and the production facilities there, in the Americas and Asia have supplied around eight Gigawatts of inverters since 1999. The company was the first inverter manufacturer to achieve fully carbon-neutral production and is rapidly heading towards power self-sufficiency. KACO new energy also supplies energy storage systems and battery inverters, as well as inverters for PV-Diesel hybrid systems and combined heat and power plants. In 2014, KACO new energy celebrated the centenary of the original company which was one of the first suppliers of inverters in the late 1930s. Read more atContact:KACO new energy GmbHKornelia LauserHead of Global MarketingCarl-Zeiss-Str. 174172 NeckarsulmGermany+49 7132 3818-0+49 7132 3818-703pr(at)kaco-newenergy.de
The Global Artificial Joints Exports Growth Lost Its Momentum
http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/world-artificial-joints-for-orthopedic-purposes-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/
http://www.indexbox.co.uk/news/the-global-artificial-joints-exports-growth-lost-its-momentum/
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According to recently published IndexBox research World: Artificial Joints For Orthopedic Purposes - Market Report. Analysis and Forecast to 2020 (), from 2007 to 2014, global exports of artificial joints for orthopedic purposes showed steady growth, increasing more than twofold over that period. However, it flattened in the last year, amounting to 8,253 million USD in 2015. There was an annual increase of 9.5% throughout the analyzed period.USA continued its dominance in the global supplies of artificial joints for orthopedic purposes. In 2015, exports of artificial joints for orthopedic purposes from USA totaled 1,655 million USD, which accounted for a 20% share of global exports. Belgium, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland were the other key global suppliers of artificial joints for orthopedic purposes in 2015, with a 55% combined share of global exports.Belgium (+45.1% per year) and Germany (+13.3% per year) were the fastest growing exporters from 2007 to 2015. Belgium significantly strengthened its position in the global export structure, growing its share from 2% in 2007 to 17% in 2015.On the other hand, USA (22%, based on value terms), Germany (10%), France (7%), Belgium (7%), and the UK (6%) were the leading destinations of imports of artificial joints for orthopedic purposes in 2015. Imports to Belgium grew at a rapid pace of +20.9% per year from 2007 to 2015. By contrast, the UK contracted its share of imports by -4 percentage points over the same period. Meanwhile, Belgium's share of global imports increased by +4 percentage points.Source and figures:IndexBox is a leading market research publisher in the world. We conduct market research and publish reports. You can find more than 25,000 research reports in our web store, which cover global industries and regional markets. All the worldwide marketing data you need is at your fingertips.Company Name: IndexBoxContact Person: Kirill BezverhiEmail: kirill.bezverhi@indexbox.co.ukPhone: +44 20 3239 3063Country: United KingdomAdress: 44 Main Street Douglas South Lanarkshire Scotland ML11 0QWWebsite:
Russia Strengthened Its Dominance in The Global Asbestos Exports
http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/world-asbestos-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/
http://www.indexbox.co.uk/news/Russia-strengthened-its-dominance-in-the-global-asbestos-exports/
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According to recently published IndexBox research World: Asbestos - Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020 (), the global trade in asbestos amounted to 344 million USD in 2015. The value of trade remained relatively stable throughout the analyzed period, rising with a CAGR of 0.1% from 2007 to 2015.Russia remained the global leader in the supplies of asbestos. In 2015, Russia's asbestos exports totaled 191 million USD, which accounted for a 56% share of global exports. Brazil, Kazakhstan, China, and India were the other key global suppliers of asbestos in 2015, with a 44.4% combined share of global exports.China (+39.4% per year) and India (+7.6% per year) were the fastest growing exporters from 2007 to 2015. Russia significantly strengthened its position in the global export structure, growing its share from 41% in 2007 to 56% in 2015.On the other hand, India (48%, based on value terms), Indonesia (15%), China (7%), Sri Lanka (6%), and Vietnam (5%) were the leading destinations of asbestos imports in 2015. Imports to Indonesia grew at a rapid pace of +14.1% per year from 2007 to 2015. By contrast, China slightly contracted its imports of asbestos over the same period. India's share of global imports increased by +17 percentage points, while the share of China illustrated negative dynamics (-6 percentage points).Source and figures:IndexBox is a leading market research publisher in the world. We conduct market research and publish reports. You can find more than 25,000 research reports in our web store, which cover global industries and regional markets. All the worldwide marketing data you need is at your fingertips.Company Name: IndexBoxContact Person: Kirill BezverhiEmail: kirill.bezverhi@indexbox.co.ukPhone: +44 20 3239 3063Country: United KingdomAdress: 44 Main Street Douglas South Lanarkshire Scotland ML11 0QWWebsite:
China and India Advanced on the Global Antibiotics Market
http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/world-antibiotics-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/
http://www.indexbox.co.uk/news/China-and-India-advanced-on-the-global-antibiotics-market/
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According to recently published IndexBox research World: Antibiotics - Market Report. Analysis and Forecast to 2020 (), the global trade in antibiotics amounted to 11,187 million USD in 2015, showing some fluctuations over the period under review. A slight decline in 2009 was followed by a peak in 2011, until exports decreased again. Overall, there was an annual decrease of -0.1% from 2007 to 2015.China continued its dominance in the global supplies of antibiotics. In 2015, China's exports of antibiotics totaled 3,157 million USD, which accounted for a 28% share of global exports. Switzerland, India, Belgium, and Italy were the other key global suppliers of antibiotics in 2015, with a 35% combined share of global exports.India (+6.5% per year) and China (+5.4% per year) were the fastest growing exporters from 2007 to 2015. China significantly strengthened its position in the global export structure, growing its share from 18% in 2007 to 28% in 2015.On the other hand, Italy (13%, based on value terms), France (9%), India (8%), Germany (7%), and USA (7%) were the leading destinations of antibiotic imports in 2015. Imports to France grew at a rapid pace of +15.2% per year from 2007 to 2015. By contrast, Italy contracted its imports of antibiotics over the same period. France's share of global imports increased by +6 percentage points, while the share of Italy illustrated negative dynamics (-4 percentage points).Source and figures:IndexBox is a leading market research publisher in the world. We conduct market research and publish reports. You can find more than 25,000 research reports in our web store, which cover global industries and regional markets. All the worldwide marketing data you need is at your fingertips.Company Name: IndexBoxContact Person: Kirill BezverhiEmail: kirill.bezverhi@indexbox.co.ukPhone: +44 20 3239 3063Country: United KingdomAdress: 44 Main Street Douglas South Lanarkshire Scotland ML11 0QWWebsite:
For Effective SEO Services With Top Google Ranking, SEOManija is Here
http://seomanija.lt/
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Summary: Present day entrepreneurs know the value of doing business and getting great returns from digital marketing and with SEO. SEOManija is one of the premium search engine optimizing companies that believe in optimizing the fullest potential of the market.Lithuania, October 25, 2016: What makes a business work? Certainly, products and services have to be great, but besides that, an overall know-how of marketing and promotion through various media shall bring in necessary returns.When it comes to marketing, of course, the traditional means are by far, very reliable. However, with changing times and by the speed, online marketing is gaining great footing too. That is why, digital marketing is growing and even now, the fullest potential is not yet there.Digital marketing firms may be aplenty in these present times, but very few firms are like SEO Manija that firstly started with AdWords, and slowly worked on the same lines and acquired six valuable certifications too.Many feathers in the cap highlight efficiency:It always helps to know that the SEO Company, a business chooses for its online marketing has proficiency in the work. It gives a lot of relief to the businesses to know that their businesss marketing is in the hands of companies like SEO Manija, established since 2009, and possesses six Google Adwords and Analytics certificates.The certifications of this company include: Analytics Specialist Certificate Google AdWords Specialist Certificate Google Video Ad (video advertising) advertising specialist Certificate Google Video (display advertising) advertising Specialist Certificate Google for Mobile Devices (Mobile advertising) Advertising Specialist Certificate Google Shopping (Shopping Advertising) Advertising Specialist CertificateThese certificates just guarantee one thing - the firms pride in doing the work efficiently and going for nothing but excellence.Result-oriented work is the onus of online marketing and if a digital marketing firm does not come clear with results and with the analytical data, then the work is nothing but shoddy. So, the firm SEO Manija being in this business since 2009, has taken excellent steps to work on the top programs like Alexa, Moz Open Site Explorer Ahref, SEOprofiler and others. The firm also ensures to get weekly and monthly reports customized as per client requirements.The firm offers services of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), boosts online sales, and even social media marketing services for the clients across the world.About the company:SEO Manija is a Lithuania-based SEO firm that offers a wide variety of services and crystal-clear analytical data for client businesses around the world. For more details about the result-oriented SEO services, kindly visitMedia Contact:SEOManijaZukausko g.49, Vilnius, LithuaniaWebsite:Email: info@seomanija.ltPhone: +370 617 51000
Saudi Arabia Midstream Oil and Gas Industry Outlook to 2021 | Now Available at Researchmoz.us
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Saudi Arabia Midstream Oil and Gas Industry Outlook to 2021: Market Forecasts for Oil Storage, Pipelines and Gas Processing" to its huge collection of research reports."Saudi Arabia Midstream Oil and Gas Industry Outlook to 2021: Market Forecasts for Oil Storage, Pipelines and Gas Processing" is a comprehensive report on midstream oil and gas industry in Saudi Arabia. The report provides oil production, consumption and exports from 2000 to 2020. The report also provides natural gas production and consumption from 2000 to 2020. It also provides historic oil and gas reserves for the period 2000 to 2015. Further, the report provides details such as name, type, operational status and operator for all active and planned (new build) oil storage terminals, major trunk pipelines and gas processing plants in Saudi Arabia till 2021. The report also offers recent developments, financial deals as well as latest contracts awarded in the countrys midstream sector.Scope- Historic and forecast of oil data related to production, consumption and exports for the period 2000-2020, and reserves for the period 2000-2015- Historic and forecast of natural gas data related to production and consumption for the period 2000-2020, and reserves for the period 2000-2015- Updated information related to all active and planned oil storage terminals, major trunk pipelines and gas processing plants in the country, including operator and equity details- Key mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, private equity and initial public offerings in the countrys midstream oil and gas industry, where available- Latest developments, financial deals and awarded contracts related to midstream oil and gas industry in the countryTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Reasons to buy- Gain a strong understanding of the countrys energy sector and midstream oil and gas industry- Facilitate decision making on the basis of strong historic and forecast of production, reserves and capacity data- Assess your competitors major oil storage terminals, major trunk pipelines and gas processing plants in the country- Analyze the latest developments, financial deals and awarded contracts related to the countrys midstream oil and gas industry- Understand the countrys financial deals landscape by analyzing how competitors are financed, and the mergers and partnerships that have shaped the marketTable of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 61.2 List of Figures 82 Introduction 92.1 What is This Report About? 92.2 Market Definition 93 Saudi Arabia Energy Sector 113.1 Saudi Arabia Energy Sector, Market Overview 113.2 Saudi Arabia Energy Sector, Oil 123.2.1 Saudi Arabia Oil, Overview 123.2.2 Saudi Arabia Oil, Supply and Demand Balance 123.2.3 Saudi Arabia Crude Oil, Regulatory Structure 183.3 Saudi Arabia Energy Sector, Gas 193.3.1 Saudi Arabia Gas, Overview 193.3.2 Saudi Arabia Gas, Supply and Demand Balance 193.3.3 Saudi Arabia Natural Gas, Regulatory Structure 234 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry 244.1 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Key Data 244.2 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Overview 244.3 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Storage Operations 244.3.1 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Total Storage Capacity 244.4 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Storage Capacity by Major Companies 264.5 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Storage Capacity Share by Area 284.6 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Storage Capacity by Terminal 294.7 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Asset Details 314.7.1 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Active Asset Details 314.7.2 Saudi Arabia Oil Storage Industry, Planned Asset Details 455 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry 475.1 Saudi Arabia Oil Pipelines 475.1.1 Saudi Arabia Oil Pipelines, Key Data 475.1.2 Saudi Arabia Oil Pipelines, Overview 475.2 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Crude Oil Pipeline Length by Company 475.3 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Crude Oil Pipelines 495.4 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Petroleum Products Pipeline Length by Company 535.5 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Petroleum Products Pipelines 535.6 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Oil Pipelines Asset Details 545.6.1 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Oil Pipelines Active Asset Details 545.6.2 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Oil Pipelines Planned Asset Details 1025.7 Saudi Arabia Gas Pipelines 1045.7.1 Saudi Arabia Gas Pipelines, Key Data 1045.7.2 Saudi Arabia Gas Pipelines, Overview 1045.8 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Natural Gas Pipeline Length by Company 1045.9 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Natural Gas Pipelines 1055.10 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Gas Pipelines Asset Details 1075.10.1 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Gas Pipelines Active Asset Details 1075.10.2 Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Pipelines Industry, Gas Pipelines Planned Asset Details 132Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
CountryFocus: Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape - Malaysia | Now Available at Researchmoz.us
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "CountryFocus: Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape - Malaysia" to its huge collection of research reports.Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape Malaysia. The report is an essential source of information and analysis on the healthcare, regulatory and reimbursement landscape in Malaysia. It identifies the key trends in the healthcare market and provides insights into the demographic, regulatory, reimbursement landscape and healthcare infrastructure. Most importantly, the report provides valuable insights into the trends and segmentation of the pharmaceutical and medical device markets. It is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research, and inhouse analysis by GlobalDatas team of industry experts.In 2013, Malaysias population stood at 29.9 million. The past five years have seen steady population growth, which is expected to continue in the future due to a high birth rate, low mortality rate and increased life expectancy. Government initiatives such as Entry Point Projects (EPPs), specifically EPP3, and National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) to increase investment in the pharmaceutical industry have so far have been successful. The countrys pharmaceutical market was estimated at $1.2 billion in 2008 and is projected to reach approximately $3.7 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 9.5%. The medical device market was worth approximately $585m in 2010, but is growing and currently constitutes approximately 25% of the healthcare expenditure.- These positive trends can primarily be attributed to- An increasing elderly population- Government initiatives to improve healthcare facilities- An increase in medical tourismMake an Enquiry of this report @Scope- he report provides information on the healthcare, regulatory, and reimbursement landscape in Malaysia, and includes- An overview of the pharmaceutical and medical device markets, comprising market size, segmentation, and key drivers and barriers- Profiles and SWOT analyses of the major players in the pharmaceutical market: Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad, Pharmaniaga Berhad, Hovid Berhad, Apex Healthcare Berhad and Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad- Insightful review of the reimbursement and regulatory landscape, of which analysis includes details of the healthcare reimbursement process, the regulatory agencies and the approval processes for new drugs and medical devices- Detailed analysis of the political and economic environment, covering economic indicators, demographics, healthcare infrastructure and healthcare expenditure- An overview of the opportunities for and challenges to growth in the Malaysian healthcare marketReasons to buy- This report will enhance your decisionmaking capability by allowing you to- Develop business strategies by understanding the trends shaping and driving Malaysias healthcare market- Drive revenues by understanding the key trends, reimbursement and regulatory policies, pharmaceutical market segments, and companies likely to impact the healthcare market in the future- Formulate effective sales and marketing strategies by understanding the competitive landscape and analyzing the performance of various competitors- Organize your sales and marketing efforts by identifying the market categories and segments that present the most opportunities for consolidation, investment, and strategic partnership- Identify, understand, and capitalize on the opportunities and challenges in Malaysias healthcare marketTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Extensive Overview on Baby Food in Mexico Industry Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast | Researchmoz
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Baby Food in Mexico" to its huge collection of research reports.Baby Food in Mexico is a new report by ERC that analyzes the Baby Food industry demand prospects in Mexico, key segments, features and developments, future projections based on various trends. This report also examines trends which are currently affecting the industry. Furthermore, it profiles various companies in the Baby Food industry in Mexico along with the foreign trade involving the Baby Food industry.Key Findings- The performance of the Mexican baby food market has been positive over the past six years as a whole, although 2009 saw a fall in consumption, due to the adverse economic conditions, and 2013 saw only muted growth in the economy as a whole.- Per capita intake of baby milks has risen by 9.9% since 2007 to 14.94kg in 2013, making this the largest of the four baby food sectors.- Over the review period, the value of the market appreciated by 52.8% to Pesos 13.1 billion (US$ 1.02 billion) at current prices. In real terms too sales grew fairly strongly (by 18.6%), due to price rises and some trading-up.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Synopsis- Baby Food in Mexico report is a qualitative report providing extensive and highly detailed consumption data on the Baby Food industry in Mexico.- This report is the result of ERC's extensive market research covering Baby Food in Mexico. The report provides consumption data based upon a unique combination of industry research, fieldwork, market sizing work and our in-house expertise in the Baby Food industry in order to offer extensive data about the trends and dynamics affecting the Baby Food industry in Mexico.- This report is aimed at companies operating in the Baby Food industry and for new companies considering entry into Mexico Baby Food industry.- This report provides detailed data for the various companies operating in the Baby Food industry in Mexico along with their key focus product sectors.- Market profile of the various product sectors of the Baby Food industry has also been provided in this report with the key features and developments, segmentation, per capita trends and the various manufacturers and brands.- This report also provides an overview of Food Retailing in Mexico, with a mention of the major Food retailers in the country, along with the Food distribution in Mexico.- This report also provides future projections of the Baby Food industry in Mexico considering various trends which are likely to affect the industry.Reasons To Buy- Baby Food companies require a detailed understanding of Baby Food consumption by individual product categories in order to align their sales and marketing efforts with the latest trends in the market. This report clarifies in detail, by product category, where the growth opportunities are in Baby Food industry to enable effective marketing plan- As consumers' product demands evolve, the dynamics between different Baby Food types also change favoring some product categories and leaving others increasingly out of line with demand patterns. As a result, understanding the shifting market dynamics is key to ensuring maximum sales in the future- The differing growth rates in overall product category sales drive fundamental shifts in the market. This report provides detailed, authoritative data on these changes for marketers- The report provides the latest data on market dynamics in the Baby Food industry in Mexico market, providing marketers with essential data in order to understand their own position in the market and to identify where to compete in the futureMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Bionematicides Market t: Segmented by Cotton, Corn, Soybean, Fruits & Vegetables (Leafy Vegetables, Tomato, Pepper and Others), and Other
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The report covers forecast and analysis for the Bionematicides market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with a forecast from 2016 to 2021 based on volume and revenue (USD Million). The study includes drivers and restraints for the market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes study of opportunities available in the Bionematicides market on a global level.Request Sample Report atIn order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view on the Bionematicides market, we have included a detailed competitive scenario, and product portfolio of key vendors. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters five forces model for the Bionematicides market has also been included, strategic development along with patents analysis is included in this report. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, where in type segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.Request for Table of Content atBionematicides finds widespread applications in Cotton, Corn, Soybean, Fruits & Vegetables (Leafy Vegetables, Tomato, Pepper and Others), and Other Crops. All the segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2015 to 2021.The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S. Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India and Brazil.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Bayer CropScience AG, BASF SE, Monsanto Company, Syngenta AG, Novozymes, Certis USA LLC, Dow AgroSciences LLC, FMC Corporation, Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc., and Valent BioSciences Corporation.This report segments the Bionematicides market as follows:Browse the full report atBionematicides Market: Applications Segment AnalysisCottonCornSoybeanFruits & VegetablesOther CropsBionematicides Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaDo Inquiry before buying atAbout US:Syndicate Market Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Syndicate Market Research cover more than 30 industries includsing energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@SyndicateMarketResearch.comWebsite:
Vape Market to Generate the Largest Part of Its Revenue from North America till 2021
Global Vape Market E- Cigarette Vaporizer Market Research Report
http://www.beigemarketintelligence.com/reports/research-report-consumer-and-retail-market/vape-ecigarette-vaporizer-market-research-report/
North America was the largest region of the global vapor products market, accounting for a market share of 44.27%. The global vapor products market generated the largest part of its revenue from North America. In 2015, North America recorded vapor products revenue worth $3.71 billion. Also, North America will continue to dominate the global vapor products market and is likely to account for a market share of 47.45% in 2021 due to the tremendous popularity of VTMs and low cost of vaping devices in the vapor products market during the forecast period. Also, one of the major influencing factors propelling the market growth in the region is increasing availability of vapor products in vape shops and over the Internet. The key countries contributing the major market share areVape Market in USThe US accounts for the largest share of the vapor products market in North America. It is the worlds largest market for vapor products with increasing end-user base and massive revenue. VTMs has become one of the big businesses in the US and because of the opening of vape shops throughout the country, the growth of the vapor products market in the US is expected to witness a massive growth in 2016 and afterwards.The market has witnessed a high demand for vapor products due to its wide adult smoking population. Approximately 28% of the US population is classified as active smokers. However, a huge portion of them indicated in various surveys conducted in the past that they would like to switch to other nicotine alternatives.Vape Market in CanadaIn 2007, disposable e-cigarettes were introduced in Canada. In 2009, Health Canada, the federal department of the government of Canada, banned the sale of vapor products containing nicotine. Vapor products sold without nicotine and that do not make any health claims can be sold legally in the country. However, nicotine loaded vapor products and those claiming health benefits fall under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drugs Act under which authorization from Health Canada is required by vendors to introduce a new product in the market. The market in Canada is booming because of growing popularity of flavoured e-juices among the young population. In 2015, the market witnessed an increased demand for vapor products. The increased demand of different flavoured e-juices and popularity of VTMs in vape shops are adding into the growth of the vape market in Canada region.The report which consists of 124 pages of information along with 14 Key Sections and 67 exhibits gives a detailed analysis of the market size and forecast of different regions such as North America, APAC, Europe and Rest of the World. It also includes the market analysis of some key countries such as the US, Canada, UK, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Malaysia, China, Chile, Peru, Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, and Algeria.For more information, View the abstract and table of contentsAbout Beige Market IntelligenceWe are a new-age provider of competitive business intelligence, working across various industry verticals. Our expertise and knowledge ensures that the market analysis Beige provides is comprehensive, detailed and complete. The analysis helps our client organizations become aware and make educated decisions, as far as investing or devising a marketing strategy is concerned. The actionable insights delivered through our market research provide a comprehensive market analysis for every level of market segmentation in an industry. Beige Market Intelligence is a quality driven high end Market Research organization. Our team of experts ensure the analysis you receive is not just analyzed and smartly presented, but is completely customized based on the clients requirement. Our deliverables guarantee our current global client base does not look beyond Beige when it comes to any kind of industry and market analysis.Beige Market IntelligenceChinnapannahalli Main Road, Bangalore- 560037contactus@beigemarketintelligence.comUS: +1 347 903 9949UK: +44 20 323 99499APAC: +91 99 012 75473
DPI Research - Leading Market Research Firm
DPI Research
DPI Research is a market research, social research and marketing company which delivers all the information required to solve business and marketing problems. DPI Research is a business solutions firm which offer bespoke syndicated research reports, custom research solutions, marketing services and social research across multi geographies and industry verticals. We deliver wide range of cutting-edge research solutions that helps organizations in making better decisions of the business to business needs.DPI Research provides high standard of business research reports to the clients across industry verticals comprising Life Sciences, Information Technology, Telecom & Internet, Food Beverages & Agriculture, Travel & Tourism, Consumer Goods & Retail, Education and Social Sciences. We are committed to use advanced analytical tools and methodologies to help clients with crucial industry information for decision making.DPI Research approaches for the business research led by a team of dynamic industry experts. DPI Research provides a real insights for effective decisions to help business with the help of current source and accurate data available in the market. DPI Research reach across the globe with global standards from established markets in the North America and Europe to emerging markets in South America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa to provide the best business solutions.DPI Research is a market research, social research and marketing company which delivers all the information required to solve business and marketing problems. DPI Research is a business solutions firm which offer bespoke syndicated research reports, custom research solutions, marketing services and social research across multi geographies and industry verticals. We deliver wide range of cutting-edge research solutions that helps organizations in making better decisions of the business to business needs.DPI Research provides high standard of business research reports to the clients across industry verticals comprising Life Sciences, Information Technology, Telecom & Internet, Food Beverages & Agriculture, Travel & Tourism, Consumer Goods & Retail, Education and Social Sciences. We are committed to use advanced analytical tools and methodologies to help clients with crucial industry information for decision making.DPI Research approaches for the business research led by a team of dynamic industry experts. DPI Research provides a real insights for effective decisions to help business with the help of current source and accurate data available in the market. DPI Research reach across the globe with global standards from established markets in the North America and Europe to emerging markets in South America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa to provide the best business solutions.Vasant Kunj,New Delhi,110070
Gift a Plant to Celebrate Every Breath of Your Life with Ferns N Petals
http://www.fnp.ae/gifts/plant
Can there be any noble gift than a plant? The gift of life is like the best thing that you can give to someone near and dear. Ferns N Petals is here with a wide range of indoor and outdoor plants that would make your life a livelier one. Send online plant gift for your friends and relatives and keep on increasing the oxygen content of air which is of utmost importance in todays life. Be it a birthday, anniversary, Holi, Diwali, Easters, Eid, Christmas, or New Year, when you bring a plant to your house or gift it to someone else, always remember that you are doing a noble job.Some plants would elevate the show of your home while some would make sure that the happiness and prosperity of your home remains intact. Bonsai plant for example is one such indoor plant that makes one modest and patient because one needs to invest a lot of time in taking care of that plant. Lucky Bamboo plant is another plant that heightens the good luck quotient of your life. Apart from providing a friendly look to your home decor, these plants would open a door of happiness for you.Our website have been a famous one for offering a big world of flowers, cakes, and festival specific gifts. But now, we have moved a way ahead and started exploring the world of plants as well so that your life is no less than a celebration. In daily life, we all get busy, tensed, anxious, and depressed. With the presence of plants you would notice a huge change in yourself internally and thats due to the rise in the level of oxygen in your home atmosphere. So, basically, if you want your loved ones to breathe in a fresh and happy air, you must get the plants gifts delivery in Dubai.One of our spokesperson recently said that, To increase the happiness and harmony off our life we have to clear the air we are living in and thus presence of indoor plants is necessary in the name of better life. The world would see a better light if you plant a seed today and so we are promoting more of green plants.Ferns N Petals is an e-gift shop which has been active in this gifting world for more than two decades. From one outlet to more than 225 outlets, the journey has been a splendid one. The finest quality of flowers, cakes, and other gifts is coupled with shortest delivery timeline and that makes Ferns N Petals the number one choice among its wide customer base.Ferns N Petals Pvt.LtdU D M A N Floral Trading LLC Warehouse No-4, Street 6a, Al Quoz, 393728 - Dubai - United Arab EmiratesConatct : +971 56 358 8918Web Address:
Communications Test and Measurement Market : Latest Innovations and Key Events 2016 - 2024
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Communication test and measurement equipment is integrated test equipment comprising of software and hardware that is used by original manufacturers and network operators in order to deliver superior experience in data, video and voice communication. The communication test and measurement market provides efficient management of internet protocol TV by providing management, repair and deployment of services and networks. As digital communication network is increasing, the need for reliable and accurate test and measurement has increased.Request for Sample Copy of Report @Growth in telecommunication industry is expected to grow the communication test and measurement market. Additionally, introduction of next generation cellular and wireless technology, growing demand of mobile phone and increasing bandwidth demand is expected to propel the communication test and measurement market. However, the major restrain of communication test and measurement equipment is, keeping pace with technological advances. The paradigm shift in cloud computing and evolving artificial intelligence technologies is expected to provide major opportunity for communication test and measurement market.Wireless communication test equipment market is expected to grow at fast rate compared to lab analytical instrumentation market and general purpose test equipment market. Increased adoption of 3G and 4G network is expected to drive the wireless communication test equipment market. By end user, the communication test and measurement market is segmented as network equipment manufacturers, mobile device manufacturers, telecommunication service providers, and enterprise. Globally, North America leads the communication, test and measurement equipment market followed by Europe. However Asia Pacific shows bright growth prospects due to increasing R&D investment.Request for Table of content @The key players of communication test and measurement market include Spirent communications, Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co KG, Octoscope, Agilent Technologies, Danaher Corporation, Exfo Inc., JDS Uniphase Corporation, Anritsu Corporation, Calnex Solutions and Yokogawa Electric among others.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each PMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With a wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve clients and satisfy their overall research requirement.For information regarding permissions, contact:Persistence Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Call for Photography - 5th Annual "All Photography" Art Competition
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Jupiter, FL, USA -- Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery announces a call for photography for the gallery's 5th Annual "All Photography" Online Art Competition for the month of November 2016. Photographers from around the world are called upon to make online submissions for possible inclusion into the Gallery's December 2016 online group art exhibition.The gallery encourages entries from amateur or professional photographers regardless of where they reside and regardless of their experience or education in this media to submit their photography to this competition. Digital, film, manipulated and alternative photographic and printing processes will be accepted into this competition. This is competition does not have a specific theme. The deadline to apply to this art competition is November 26, 2016.Winners of the "All Photography" Art Exhibition will receive extensive worldwide publicity in the form of email marketing, 70+ press release announcements, event announcement posts and social media marketing. Our goal is to make the art world aware of the exhibition and in particular, the winning artists' accomplishments. Links back to each artist's website is included as part of this award package.Artists will also receive a digital Award Certificate, Event Postcard, Press Releases and "Leveraging Your Success" marketing materials if they place in this exhibition.Interested artists should provide their best photography now or before the deadline. For further information:About Light Space & Time Online Art GalleryLight Space & Time Online Art Gallery conducts monthly art competitions and monthly art exhibitions for new and emerging artists on a worldwide basis. It is Light Space & Time's intention to showcase this incredible talent in a series of monthly themed art competitions and art exhibitions by marketing and displaying the exceptional abilities of these worldwide artists. The art gallery website can be viewed here:Media Contact:John R. MathLight Space & Time Online Art Gallery118 Poinciana DriveJupiter, FL 33458888-490-3530info@lightspacetime.com
Growth of AFP Testing Market is Poised to Grow with Rise in Geriatric Population
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Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the most widely found plasma protein in human fetus. The AFP protein found in humans is encoded by the AFP gene that is located on chromosome 4. It is a major plasma protein which is produced during fetal development in yolk sac and the liver. AFP is a glycoprotein which is found in monomeric, dimeric and trimeric forms.Download Exclusive Sample of this Report:The protein is normally made by immature liver cells in the fetus therefore; infants have higher levels of AFP, which falls to normal adult level by the end of first year. Usually, low level of AFP protein is found in pregnant womens and in the blood of healthy adults. However, biochemical tests are performed to check the level of AFP protein in pregnant womens blood.The high or low level of AFP helps doctor to estimate the chances of birth defect or other problems. These AFP based screening test helps to determine certain chromosomal aberrations such as Downs syndrome or Edwardss syndrome, neural tube defects and certain types of cancer.AFP screening tests are being used widely and many of them are commercially available due to their sensitivity in cancer diagnosis. Usually, level of AFP in human blood is below 10ng/ml but it elevates up to 500ng/ml in patients suffering from chronic hepatitis. In addition, high level of AFP is also witnessed in patients suffering lymphoma, Hodgkins disease, brain tumors and renal cancer.Cancer diagnostic segment is growing exponentially as the researchers are discovering new techniques and specific antigens to further enhance the treatment mode. Therefore, AFP testing market is expected to grow with rise in cancer incidences. Similarly, growth in AFP testing market is also poised to grow with rise in geriatric population, which is more susceptible to diseases and tumor development.Browse Research Report:Some of the market players in this industry are Abbott Laboratories, Biomedical Diagnostics, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Beckman Coulter, Kreatech Diagnostics, Roche Diagnostics and other significant players.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Assignments4u Australia Hires Reliable finance Assignment Writers
Those students studying in Australia-based universities and colleges with major in finance can get their assignment written with the help of reliable online expert writers on our official website assignments4u.Students of finance now need not worry to search for genuine online expert writers in Australia. We are here to offer them with the best writing services at best possible price. This has become possible because of the experts we have been hiring for years and now due to bulk orders we are recruiting more experts of finance. What they can do is just simply visit our company website and drop their CVs in the contact email provided there.Assignments4u has become the ultimate online destination where Australian students can avail finance assignment help services from our reliable writers. We hire Our writers after rigorous interviews with many rounds of the same and who have the following features that make them reliable and most worthy: Excellent academic background:We hired and still hiring Doctoral and Masters level writers whove graduated from reputed institutions. They even have many years of professional experience in preparing finance assignment materials for the students as per the latest academic policy and protocols in Australia. Versatile writing skills:Our expert writers are proficient in developing standard as well as tailor-made (custom) finance assignment materials for Australian students with ease. They can develop these help materials on various topics like equity market, asset analysis, financial regulations and-and so on. Fast and capable of delivering on timeOur expert writers ensure to deliver finance assignment help materials to Australian students long before the agreed deadline. Even if the topic is tough, they never delay on their work.We have a team of around 2000+ expert writers all over the world in which apart from finance, there are writers who cater to other academic areas like project management, nursing, law, engineering and much more. Australian students can also avail MBA assignment help services from our writers that are precise to the core. Our experts can deliver duty material on numerous project management topics like Planning, Organizing, Execution, Timing, and so on.All our writers assure to provide top quality assignment help services so that students from all across the country never tend to lose their trust from them. Our writers can prepare standard as well as custom assignment help material on numerous subjects.Being an experienced online education support brand, we never rip off Australian students instead of providing qualitative finance assignment help services. Our strong and proficient writers even ensure to maintain the confidentiality of all our Australian customers, including students who need finance homework assistance.Assignments4u Provides online assistance to students in their academic studies in various streams including engineering, law, management, finance, humanities and much more.Essay writing, dissection papers, research papers optimization , proofreading and lots more services are offered at lowest cost.Assignments4u10685-B HazelhurstDr. # 16127 Houston,TX 77043, USA
Allcroft Winthorp Seeking Partners within Abu Dhabis Capital Markets
In the last two decades Abu Dhabi has been one of the fastest developing cities in the worldSince 1992 Abu Dhabi has recorded double-digit growth almost every year except during the global recession of 2008 and 2009. Soaring high above the city skyline, the Abu Dhabi World Financial Community stands as a symbol of commerce and culture that speaks to the citys emergence as a global capital and it was with this in mind that Adham Al Ghurair, Allcroft Winthorp' Chief Investment Officer went to Abu Dhabi to attend the Investments Conference, a conference dedicated to providing the latest industry information whilst also providing deep analysis on industry hotspots.The conference brought together many delegates from the various industries all over the world who were looking for more transparent and more accessible ways of trading within the financial sphere. The event whilst acting as a networking forum allowed delegates to mingle and share ideas about their companies and ventures. Allcroft Winthorps main focus was on finding new investors and partners to put in place its proprietary investment strategies. Not only can these strategies trade global markets, they can also market themselves and their strategies to all of Allcroft Winthorps global customers.Allcroft Winthorps investment strategies will appeal to propriety traders, hedge funds and individuals who are looking for more advanced ways to invest. Allcroft Winthorp is a next generation investment company providing its clients with direct access to a broad range of financial instruments and global markets.Allcroft Winthorp offers a new and exciting way for investors to trade. Global economies, particularly emerging markets, are driven more and more by the new world, which is exemplified by Dubais strength and contribution to global growth. Middle East is using its growing status as a knowledge-based economy to open new doors and provide growth opportunities for investors and it is here that Allcroft Winthorp finds its niche.About Allcroft WinthorpAllcroft Winthorp offers comprehensive investment management capabilities that span nearly all segments of the global capital markets. Our investment solutions, tailored to the unique return and risk objectives of clients in more than 40 countries, draw on a robust body of proprietary research and a collaborative culture that encourages independent thought and healthy debate. As a private partnership, the firm believes our ownership structure fosters a long-term view that aligns our perspectives with those of our clients. Allcroft Winthorp combines the resources of a large, global, diversified multi-asset manager with the small-company feel of an independent, privately held partnership.Almas Tower, Sheikh Zayed Road, Jumeirah Lake Towers
Global Electronic Cylinder Lock Credentials Market is projected to extent US$ 351.0 Mn by 2016
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According to a recent report published by Persistence Market Research (PMR), revenue generated by the global electronic cylinder lock credentials market is estimated to reach US$ 351.0 Mn by 2016 end, witnessing an increase of 10.1% over 2015 revenue. Low frequency RFID is estimated to be the largest technology segment in terms of value contribution by 2016 end, accounting for US$ 297.6, which is up from US$ 271.3 in 2015.View Sample Report @Requirement for enhanced security in the residential sector, with enhanced growth in the construction and real estate sectors, are factors expected to fuel construction activities, thereby fuelling demand for electronic cylinder lock credentials. Demand is expected to pick up in the residential sector due to recent trends such as improving living standards, increasing per capita income etc.The market in Europe is estimated to be the largest revenue contributor to the global electronic cylinder lock credentials market by 2016 end, with a revenue share of 35.9%. Owing to a large number of leading players offering home security solutions in Europe, the market in the region is becoming increasingly competitive in nature and is expected to continue growing in terms of revenue contribution. Region-wise, North America is estimated to be the second largest market in the global electronic cylinder lock credentials market, with revenue at US$ 89.8 Mn an estimated increase of 8.4% by 2016 end over 2015.Among all product types, RFID key (cards) segment is estimated to account for leading market revenue share by 2016 end, owing to the fact that it is cost-effective, easy to deploy, and users can use any Bluetooth-enabled hand-held gadget to access electronic door lock systems. Demand for electronic key (contact based) is estimated to witness highest growth rate by 2016 end, owing to its increasing utilization in commercial, residential, industrial, and government sectors.Request TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:Among all technology segment, low frequency RFID is estimated to lead in terms of overall revenue contribution by 2024, high frequency RFID (NFC) segment is estimated to witness highest growth rate by 2016 end. Locks being accessible using NFC technology, smartphones, tablets or Bluetooth-enabled gadgets, is a primary factor for consumers shifting to high frequency RFID (NFC) locks.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Tech-nology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Elec-tronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business deci-sions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solu-tions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Europe and North America Men's Underwear Market is Estimated to Increase at CAGRs Of 5.1% and 3.9% By 2020
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According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research, titled Men's Underwear Market: BRIC to Witness Highest Growth by 2020, the men's underwear market is projected to account for US$ 8,420.8 Mn by the end of 2015 at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2015 to 2020, to reach US$ 11 Bn by 2020.View Sample Report @There are generally two types of men's undergarments; one type covers the torso and the other covers the waist and legs. For undershirt, we include vest, sleeved vest and muscle vest. For briefs, we include regular briefs, trunk and boxer shorts. Long underwear is preferred to offer extra warmth to wearers during winters.Growing disposable income, preference for branded underwear that offer better fit and comfort are major factors fuelling demand for premium underwear, thereby driving the growth of the men's underwear market. However, a high degree of competition and unorganised market in developing countries are major factors hampering the growth of the overall men's underwear market. The men's underwear market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 5.8 % from 2015 to 2020, to reach US$ 11,167.6 Mn by 2020.Request TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:By region, BRIC dominated the market with over 35% market share and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. Europe was the second dominant region with 17.4% share in 2014. The men's underwear market in Europe and North America is expected to expand at CAGRs of 5.1% and 3.9% respectively during the forecast period. On the basis of age group, the market has been segmented into 1525, 2635, 3645, 4655 and 56 and above. The 3645 segment accounted for 24.2% share of the global men's underwear market in 2014 and is expected to register a CAGR of 5.8% over the forecast period. On the basis of distribution channel, the market has been segmented into online sales and offline sales, where offline sales are further sub-segmented into the mass merchant, speciality store, mono-brand store and others. The online sales segment accounted for 7.7% share of the global men's underwear market in 2014 and is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 12.8% over the forecast period. Mass merchant sub-segment accounted for a dominant market share of around 58.5% in 2014.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Tech-nology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Elec-tronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business deci-sions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solu-tions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Fosfomycin Calcium to Treat Urinary Tract Infection and Veterinary Infection Treatments Drivers the Growth of Fosfomycin Calcium Market Across the Globe
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Fosfomycin calcium has a unique mechanism of action. Fosfomycin inhibits the initial step in peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Fosfomycin inhibits UDP-N-acetylglucosamine enolpyruvyl transferase, the enzyme responsible for catalysis of the first committed step in peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Fosfomycin has a broad range of activity against a wide range of gram negative and gram positive bacteria. Fosfomycin is highly active against gram negative bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and against gram positive pathogens such as Enterococcus and Staphylococcus aureus.Get a Sample of Research Report:Molecular formula of fosfomycin calcium is C3H5CaO4P. Fosfomycin calcium exists as white or yellow colored powder. Fosfomycin calcium is slightly soluble in water, practically insoluble in acetone, methanol and in methylene chloride. Fosfomycin calcium is also known as [(2R, 3S)-3-methyloxiranyl] phosphonic acid calcium salt.Fosfomycin calcium is administered orally, thus it is also known as oral fosfomycin. Fosfomycin calcium is a fosfomycin antimicrobial agent with a characteristic structure. After oral administration, fosfomycin calcium is absorbed and excreted through the kidneys in unchanged form, without undergoing metabolism in the body. On the basis of this characteristic, fosfomycin calcium is indicated for the treatment of urinary tract diseases, including cystitis and pyelonephritis, particularly those caused by Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis. Fosfomycin calcium has a very low protein binding ability.Due to this, fosfomycin calcium has fine distribution into tissues, achieving clinically relevant concentrations in kidneys, serum, prostate, lungs, bladder wall, inflamed tissues, cerebrospinal fluid, heart valves, abscess fluid, and bone. Fosfomycin calcium is used in combination with tobramycin to treat lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. Fosfomycin calcium is growingly used as a veterinary medicine to treat diarrhea caused by coliform and salmonellosis in cows and pseudotuberculosis in perciformes. Fosfomycin calcium is used as an additive in feed or drinking water.The ability of fosfomycin calcium to treat urinary tract infection, and in various veterinary infection treatments are acting as major drivers for the growth of fosfomycin calcium market across the globe. The threat of developing resistance to fosfomycin calcium during therapy can act as a restraining factor for the growth of fosfomycin calcium market. The global fosfomycin calcium market is predicted to grow at a single digit CAGR from 2014 to 2020.Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing market for fosfomycin calcium in the next six years. Possibly the prevalent reason for this is the growing demand for fosfomycin calcium from developing countries such as China and India. The key companies operating in the fosfomycin calcium market are largely focusing on growing economies for tapping their enormous market potential. The Asia Pacific market is expected to be followed closely by European market.Browse Research Report:Some of the major companies operating in the global fosfomycin calcium market are Ercros S.A., Mingshui Fukang Chemical Co., Ltd., FarmaSino Pharmaceuticals (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., Northeast Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., China Sinopharm International Shanghai Co., Ltd., SINTOFARM FARMACEUTICI S.p.A., AdvaCarePharma, and Serendex Pharmaceuticals A/S.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
China Luggage Market is expected to increase from 52.6% in 2012 to 70% by 2030 According to the China Development Research Foundation
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According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research Global Market Study on Luggage: Travel Bags to Witness Highest Growth by 2020, the global luggage market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during 2014 to 2020 and to reach an estimated value of USD 43.4 billion in 2020.View Sample Report @Increasing urbanization and changing lifestyles are the key drivers for the global luggage market. Technological advancements are further creating opportunities for luggage sales among high net-worth individuals, for whom safety is a major concern. Increasing travel and tours, rising business activities, and growing number of educational courses are further propelling the demand for luggage. Luggage is sold through various types of distribution channels such as specialist retailers, factory outlets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, and internet sales. Owing to the boom in online commerce, luggage sales through the Internet have been growing at a significant pace.Increasing urbanization is escalating demand for lifestyle products. To some extent, luggage is also considered as a lifestyle product, especially in developing countries. Earlier, people in developing countries used one luggage for all purposes such as travel, tour, and business. However, owing to growing urbanization and rising disposable income, their lifestyles have changed, which is also reflected in their usage of purpose-based luggage. Asian and African countries are expected to experience highest urban growth in the future. According to the China Development Research Foundation, urban population in China is expected to increase from 52.6% in 2012 to 70% by 2030. Urbanization is growing at a swift pace across Asia Pacific. Pacific countries such as Australia and New Zealand already have high urbanization.Request TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:Increasing the inclination of the global population towards travel and adventure has been beneficial for industries such as travel & tourism, and, in turn, for industries involved in the manufacture of related travel gear such as luggage. Luggage is an integral part of travel & tourism activities. The rising disposable income and changing recreation patterns of the global population is one of the key reasons for the growth of the travel & tourism industry. Europe was the largest tourism destination during 2010 2013, followed by Asia-Pacific. People across countries such as the U.S., Finland, and Sweden are the most frequent international and domestic travelers.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Tech-nology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Elec-tronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business deci-sions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solu-tions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Market Attractiveness Analysis of the Medical Laser Systems Market, By Geography in 2018
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Transparency Market Research has published a research report to point out the key trends and dynamics impacting the global medical laser systems market. This research report, titled Medical Laser Systems Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2012 - 2018, details the overall laser systems market with SWOT analysis and Porters five forces analysis. These market measurement tools have enabled the research reporters to compile an accurate and exact report charting the trajectory of this market for the coming years.You can download a sample research report:According to the research report, the global medical laser systems market was valued at of US$0.9 bn in 2011 and is expected to reach US$2 bn by 2018, registering a CAGR of 12.50% from 2012 to 2018. The growth of the global medical laser systems market is attributable to the high incidence of age-related ophthalmic disorders, rise in disposable incomes, and an increasing awareness of medical aesthetics.Lasers emit a high-intensity beam composed of coherent monochromatic light with a stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The term "laser," in fact, is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. These devices are primarily used for cutting, drilling, aligning, and guiding in several treatment procedures. The lasers used in the medical industry for surgical procedures and diagnosis are known as medical laser systems. Various types of medical laser systems are used in cosmetic surgeries, refractive eye surgeries, dental procedures, and general surgeries. Some of the best-known benefits of laser systems are reduced blood loss, minimal postoperative discomfort, reduced chances of wound infection, and better wound healing.The global medical laser systems market is segmented on the basis of product, application, and geography. The products in this market are diode laser systems, solid state laser systems, gas laser system, and dry laser systems. The application of these products is seen in areas such as dermatology, ophthalmology, gynecology, urology, dentistry, cardiovascular, and others such as gastroenterology, rheumatology, and traumatology. Geographically, this market is segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World.Out of all the applications, the cardiovascular segment is expected to grow at a fast pace through 2018 due to the increasing introduction of cost-effective treatments and growing cases of cardiovascular diseases across the globe. Geographically, North America leads the global medical laser systems market with a 35.0% share in the market. The market in North America is being driven by the high prevalence of chronic disorders such as diabetes and obesity.Some of the important players studied in the global medical laser systems market report are AngioDynamics, Spectranetics Corporation, PhotoMedex, Lumenis, BIOLASE, Syneron Candela, and American Medical Systems. The research report offers a comprehensive explanation of the competitive landscape of the global medical laser system market and the impact of the regulatory framework. The medical laser systems market has also been studied from the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental point of view. Additionally, the report also mentions the financial overview, research and development activities, business and marketing strategies, and investment outlook of the key players in the market.Browse Research Report on Global Medical Laser Systems Market:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
Global Animal Cage Industry Analysis 2016 Market Research 2021
Animal Cage Industry
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A market study based on the " Animal Cage market " across the globe, recently added to the repository of QY Insights, is titled Global Animal Cage Market 2016. The research report analyzes the historical as well as present performance of the global Animal Cage market, and makes predictions on the future status of Animal Cage market on the basis of this analysis.Global Animal Cage Industry Analysis 2016 Market Research 2021The report studies the market for Animal Cage across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Animal Cage market & dynamics of demand and supply of Animal Cage into consideration.Get Sample Copy Of Report:The ' Animal Cage 'research study covers each and every aspect of the Animal Cage market globally, which starts from the definition of the Animal Cage market and develops towards Animal Cage market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Animal Cage market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Animal Cage market. The geographical segmentation of the Animal Cage market has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Animal Cage is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Animal Cage market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Animal Cage market worldwide.Read Full Report :The global Animal Cage market 2016 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Animal Cage production volume, data regarding demand and Animal Cage supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the market for Animal Cage across the globe.About Us:QY Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Website: QY Market ResearchEmail: sales@qymarketresearch.com
Global Kaposi Sarcoma Market, by Type of Treatment, 2016 2024
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The global market for Kaposi sarcoma is projected to expand at a modest 2.2% CAGR from 2016 to 2024, with the opportunity in the market rising from US$118.5 mn in 2015 to be worth US$143.2 mn by the end of the forecast period. Hospitals formed the leading distribution channel in 2015, generating over US$40 mn revenue that year. The segment is also slated emerge as the fastest growing segment in the KS market, expanding at a 2.6% CAGR from 2016 to 2024.Request a PDF Brochure with Report Analysis:The global Kaposi sarcoma (KS) market is immensely consolidated and the top two players, namely Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. Inc. accounted for almost 50% of the overall market in 2015. The contribution of domestic players such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited is presented low. However, Transparency Market Research predicts that the contribution of these companies will increase during the forecast period owing to the patent expiry of several major drugs.Partnerships, acquisitions, and collaborations with other leading companies for the development of newer products with improved efficacy are part of the growth strategies adopted by a number of players in the Kaposi sarcoma market. For instance, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd launched a new Global Access Program in September 2014 in partnership with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and the Global Fund. The program was centered on HIV viral load testing.High Incidence of HIV/AIDS, Organ Transplants Driving Growth of KS MarketIncreased organ transplant procedures are a leading factor driving the Kaposi sarcoma market since the incidence of the cancer is high among patients who have undergone an organ transplant. Organ transplant patients are given immunosuppressive agents to prevent their body from rejecting the graft. This makes them highly susceptible to Kaposi sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) infection, the author of the study explains. The long term use of these agents increases the rate of risk of these patients by more than 100 times compared to the general population.The high incidence of HIV/AIDS associated Kaposi sarcoma is one of the major factors driving the adoption of HAART therapy, which subsequently fuels the overall KS market.High Cost of Treatment a Major DrawbackThe cost of cancer drugs used for the treatment of Kaposi sarcoma has been on the rise in the past few years, making it difficult for patients to seek treatment. This is a major concern for both the patients and the payers. The prices of patented drugs have increased by over five times in the past few years in the U.S. and continue to rise, the TMR analyst comments. For instance, prices of major drugs used for the treatment of KS, such as liposomal doxorubicin, liposomal daunorubicin, or paclitaxel in combination with HAART, have been increasing significantly, making these unaffordable for middle and lower income groups.Slow but Steady Growth in Store for Kaposi Sarcoma MarketBy type of treatment, HAART led the overall Kaposi sarcoma market in terms of revenue, with chemotherapy and immunotherapy poised to register the highest growth rate over the coming years. In terms of region, the global Kaposi sarcoma market was led by North America in 2015 and the MEA region will record the fastest growth by 2024.Browse Research Report on Global Kaposi Sarcoma Market:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
Global Sodium Reduction Ingredients Market: Growing Packaged Food Industry to Drive Demand, says TMR
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The increasing demand for healthy nutritious food products coupled with the rising consumer awareness about harmful effects of excess sodium intake are driving the global sodium reduction ingredients market., states a new report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). The report is titled, Sodium Reduction Ingredients Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2023. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), many serious health disorders can be caused owing to the consumption of food with high sodium content. Thus, manufacturers in the food and beverages industries are increasingly developing products with sodium reducing ingredients. Thus, the global sodium reduction ingredients market is expected to witness substantial growth in the coming years.Know More About Sodium Reduction Ingredients Market Report At:With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulating the salt content in food products and also taking efforts to make consumers aware of the nutritional content in various foods, the demand for sodium reduction ingredients is expected to surge. Moreover, governments as well as private entities are also creating a heightened awareness among consumers regarding the harmful effects of sodium. This will further aid the growth of the sodium reduction ingredients market worldwide.The growth in the demand for processed food is expected to increase the demand for sodium reduction ingredients to some extent. The packaged food industry is also driving the market. In addition to this, sodium reduction ingredients are being used in food flavors and preparations such as seasonings and sauces, strengthening their demand. However, only a restricted section of consumers compromise on the taste of the food, posing a challenge for the global sodium reducing ingredients market.According to the report, North America is a key consumer of sodium reducing ingredients due to the dense presence of fast food joints. Europe is expected to follow North America in terms of high consumption of sodium reducing ingredients due to the presence of a large number of health conscious consumers. In addition to this, Asia Pacific is also anticipated to witness a surge in the demand for sodium reducing ingredients, driven by factors such as large population in countries such as India and China and growing preference for packed food. However, the Rest of the World is expected to experience a sluggish growth in the coming years.Browse Full Report With ToC:Players in the global sodium reduction ingredients market are increasingly investing in research and development so as to develop improved ingredients, thus helping them gain a competitive edge above others. Some of the players profiled in the report are: Kerry Group PLC., Tate & Lyle PLC, Angel Yeast, Royal DSM N. V., Sensient Technologies Corp., Innophos Holdings Inc., Givaudan SA, Cargill Inc., Dupont, and Jungbunzlauer AG.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
ELC Boston to host prestigious IALC Workshop in 2017
https://www.elc.edu/ialc-workshop-2017/
English Language Center (ELC) will host the 34th annual IALC Workshop in 2017 in Boston Massachusetts from March on 23 26 March. The English Language Center last hosted IALC 20 years ago in the same city. With fam trips promised to other US and Canadian destinations, it is a perfect chance to travel to the USA, the worlds leading destination to learn English.ELC hosts the annual IALC WorkshopELC was founded in 1978 in Los Angeles, by Ellyn Levine the current president of ELC. Today ELC is still a family-run school now with three locations, in Los Angeles, Boston, and Santa Barbara. ELC also organizes summer junior programs for students between the ages of 14 and 17, at UCLA, MIT, Wheelock College, and UCSB. ELC offers the highest quality English language courses including General English, Test Preparation Courses, Academic Programs, Business English Courses, 50+ Plus Program, English Plus Programs, and more.IALC Workshop 2017 in BostonThe International Association of Language Centres (IALC) was founded in 1983 by member schools, as a non-profit organization to accredit and represent independent language schools teaching the official language of their country. Currently there are more than 120 members from around the globe, in more than 20 countries, representing the leading language schools of the world. Each year a IALC member school hosts the annual IALC Workshop where educational agents can meet the owners and directors of IALC language centres worldwide, as well as top industry service providers offering solutions in technology, accommodation, insurance, international payments, logistics and more.This workshop includes:-The widest global range of language offerings of any workshop-1000s of quality language study programmes in 20 countries-The Big Debate 2017 IALC Research into Student Expectations-More practical seminars: marketing, technology, destination expertise-Networking with owners and directors of schools and agencies-Experience the vibrant education hotspot of Boston, USA-Visit market-leading English Language Center-Optional fam trips across USA and CanadaFor more information and news please contact ialcboston@elc.edu or visit the website of the International Association of Language Centres.ELC - English Language CenterLos Angeles- Boston- Santa BarbaraThe English Language Center (ELC) has been dedicated to providing English programs of the highest quality to international students since 1978. By employing highly qualified and dedicated instructors and by utilizing a dynamic and comprehensive curriculum, ELC provides the perfect environment for rapid language improvement. ELC also offers students extensive support services to ensure that their stay in the United States is culturally as well as educationally enriching.ELC Boston11 Beacon St Floor 2Boston, MA 02108+1 (617) 536-9788elcboston@elc.edu8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Thoughtful Minds- leading website development company in Jaipur, India in contract with infrastructure company.
Thoughtful Minds- leading website development company in Jaipur, India in contract with infrastructure company.
www.thoughtfulminds.org
www.thoughtfulminds.org
Jaipur, India, Thoughtful Minds, quite a renowned name in website development and digital marketing is again in news and this time, the reason is bigger. Yes, the company has recently signed a contract with a popular infrastructure company engaged in construction of roads, bridges and apartments for building their overall online presence. It simply means, now Thoughtful Minds is going to be behind the website development, content writing, and digital promotion of the company.It is important to note, it is not the first time that company is working for a big segment as it already has names like Rajasthan Powergen, Great Steel and Metals, Netmarkers, Srsl International etc, in its portfolio. When asked about the strategy, the CEO of the company,Mr. Swadesh Rohilla said, working for a big group is encouraging, but at the same time, it is challenging as well. When you work for a big company,then you have a kind of consciousness that all eyes are on you, and you have to come up with something extraordinary.Although, we never disappointed our clients in the past, still there is a pressure and we want to work under it so as to avoid deviation from our goal.The company is offering website development services and benefitted over 300 clients that include small scale companies, medium business segments and large ones. Based in Jaipur, this website development company has strong hold in content writing services and that is evident from the fact that it is among the top 10 content writing services in India that offer writing in almost any niche including technical content writing, creative writing, health writing, academic writing, astrology content writing, website content writing and so on. The company has the biggest community for content writers in India and that is enough to showcase its strength in India.Most of the projects developed by Thoughtful Minds are usually based on Wordpress and Php and the reason behind is to put a check on the cost. Yes, the company understands how important it is to offer quality services at affordable prices and so works on technologies that are advanced but less expensive. In order to satisfy its customers, the company from time to time keeps survey check so as to ensure they are happy with the work and are not facing any issue.The company is also offering digital marketing services in India to help startups and the running companies get good exposure and get promotion that they actually deserve. Thoughtful Minds also works on creating enough employment opportunities and offers work from home job option in India, so that even those who cant join the office for any reason can get benefitted.The company from time to time goes for campus recruitments to have young talent and to help freshers get into the corporate world. In all, it aims on creating a better world with more job options, healthy competition and constant growth. May be, this is the reason behind the success of this 10 years old company that is now among the reputed IT companies in India.Thoughtful Minds() offering digital marketing services in India to help startups and the running companies get good exposure and get promotion that they actually deserve. Thoughtful Minds also works on creating enough employment opportunities and offers work from home job option in India, so that even those who cant join the office for any reason can get benefitted.LG 14-20, Geejgarh Tower, Next to Hotel Hilton, Civil Lines,
Global Civil Helicopter MRO Market Will Grow At A CAGR Of 3.93% During The Period 2016-2020
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About Civil Helicopter MROHelicopters play a key role in remote area connectivity, intra-city movement, law enforcement, disaster relief, search and rescue, and emergency medical evacuation. Aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) has become an essential component to ensure a fleet's proper maintenance, airworthiness, and passenger safety.MRO companies perform functions such as repairs, inspections, routine checks, and overhaul. Aircraft utilization, global fleet size, and air traffic volume influence the global civil helicopter MRO market. Operators and OEMs in the market are strictly governed by national and international aviation regulatory bodies to ensure that stringent regulations and practices are adhered to. Companies that conduct such services require approval and certification from the necessary aviation safety bodies.Scheduled maintenance tasks are developed after recommendations from OEMs. Based on type of maintenance, the global civil helicopter MRO market is classified into the following:Airframe heavy maintenanceEngine maintenanceComponent maintenanceTechnavios analysts forecast the global civil helicopter MRO market to grow at a CAGR of 3.93% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global civil helicopter MRO market for 2016-2020. It provides a global overview, market shares, market segmentation by MRO type, and growth prospects by region (Americas, EMEA, and APAC).The market is divided into the following segments based on type:ComponentAirframeEngine and modificationsTechnavio's report, Global Civil Helicopter MRO Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Key vendorsAgustaWestlandAirbus HelicoptersBell HelicopterRussian HelicopterSikorsky AircraftOther prominent vendorsHeli-OneKitchener Aero AvionicsStandardAeroTranswest HelicoptersMarket driverGrowing demand for civil helicoptersFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeSafety and regulatory complianceFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreased utilization of compositesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Make an Enquiry of this report @ResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @
Global and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales Market 2016 Import, Export, Revenue, Trend 2025
and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales.png
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QY Market Research Has Recently Announced The Report On " and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales Market Raw Materials Sources Analysis, Application, Defination, Industry Policy Analysis And Marketing Trader Of Top Key Player Consumption to 2022 " To Its Research Database. A market study based on the " and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of QY Market Research, is titled Global and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales Market 2016. The research report analyzes the historical as well as present performance of the global and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market, and makes predictions on the future status of and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market on the basis of this analysis.Get Sample Copy Of Report :The report studies the market for and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market & dynamics of demand and supply of and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales into consideration.The ' and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales 'research study covers each and every aspect of the and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market globally, which starts from the definition of the and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market and develops towards and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market segmentations. Further, every segment of the and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market. The geographical segmentation of the and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market has also been covered at length in this report.Inquiry About Purchase Report Here :The competitive landscape of the global market for and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market worldwide.The global and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales market 2016 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales production volume, data regarding demand and and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the market for and China Variable Optical Attenuators Sales across the globe.About Us:QY Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Website:Email:sales@qymarketresearch.com
E-Beam Wafer Inspection System Market by Application - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024
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Electron beam wafer inspection system is a semiconductor fabrication device, which is primarily used during the process of semiconductor wafer manufacturing. The primary application of the system is to locate a fault in the wafers before packaging it. With the growing technological advancement the application of electron beam wafer inspection system is spreading across the automotive, industrial and consumer electronics field globally. The market has been segmented into by application which includes consumer electronics, automotive, industrial segment among others. The market for electron beam wafer inspection systems by geography has been segmented into, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South America.With rising research activities in the field of e-beam wafer inspection system, the application of the system are growing in the high-end industrial, consumer electronics and automotive application segments. Growing adoption of consumer electronic and communication devices is one of the major reasons behind the rising popularity of e-beam wafer inspection system. Increasing usage of smartphones, LCDs, SSDs, LEDs, tablets, and other wearable smart gadgets are fueling the market for e-beam wafer inspection system across different regions globally. Furthermore, rising demand for advance quality silicon wafers in the semiconductor devices is one of the prime factors fueling the market.The growing research and development in the field of advanced electron beam wafer inspection solutions and equipments for major semiconductor processing fabs is contributing in the positive development of the market. Electron column and electron gun technologies are effective and crucial fault inspection solutions and algorithms. Furthermore, in the manufacturing process of high end and advanced IC, electron-beam inspection plays a crucial role. Moreover, the application of electron-beam inspection system plays an essential role where sensitivity is required to find defects in the process. The system is also important in the production process in order to monitor major process steps primarily for fault excursions. E-beam wafer inspection technology is generally applied to locate physical faults which are unable to detect optically. The system can find the subtle defects in the time of manufacturing process while introducing new device structures and materials.Asia Pacific is dominating the electron beam wafer inspection systems market worldwide. Rapid usage of consumer electronics and communication devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearable, LCDs, LEDs, SSDs and other smart electronic devices in economies such the Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, South Korea and India is contributing in the positive growth of this market across Asia Pacific (APAC). North America is another major region which is contributing in the positive growth of the electron beam wafer inspection systems. The U.S., Mexico and Canada are some of the major economics contributing in the positive development of this market. Brazil, Argentina and U.A.E are expected to witness positive growth over the forecast period from 2016 to 2024 across South America, Middle East and Africa. With increasing advancement in the consumer electronics, industrial and automotive field, the application of electron beam wafer inspection systems is growing rapidly.PDF Sample For Latest Advancements with Technological breakthroughs is @Research and development along with merger and acquisitions and strategic partnership agreements are some of the key business strategies adopted by the companies operating in this industry in order to strengthen its presence across different regions globally. Applied Materials, Inc. (The U.S.), ASML Holding (The Netherlands), KLA-Tencor Corporation (The U.S.), Lam Research Corporation (The U.S.), Hermes Microvision Inc (Taiwan), Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Japan), Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (California, The U.S.), STMicroelectronics (Switzerland), GlobalFoundries (The U.S.), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (Shanghai, China), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (Taiwan), NXP Semiconductors N.V. (The Netherlands), Renesas Electronics Corporation (Japan) among others are some of the major players operating in the electron beam wafer inspection systems market.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Dart arranges Brand Gallery for Panasonic
Cameras or Micro-Four-Thirds-objectives can be tested single-handedly and with real photo models.
www.d-art-design.de
From 19 to 23 of September 2016 Panasonic impressively documents its enthusiasm for the medium photography and moving pictures at the Photokina in Cologne. For that purpose, Dart Design Gruppe turns Panasonics corporate architecture into a brand gallery: Here, internationally renowned star photographers present their works as Panasonics ambassadors with the newest innovations of the Japanese electronics group.Panasonic radiates sovereignty and dominance in hall 3.2 of the Photokina and leaves a strong and positive impression in the photo industry community that has gathered in Cologne. The corporate architecture that offers a high-quality and uniform design frame for the exhibited Panasonic products and was developed by Dart for all national leading trade fairs contributes to this impression. The architecture communicates from the brand to the product: Back-lit brand panels that were taken of the wall conspicuously define the 1,500 sqm large brand space. White frames constitute the equivalent; they structure the exhibition area. Here, the experienced expert visitors can discover Panasonics image world in all its depth and with all its details.Panasonic Brand GalleryThe large frames are used as gallery walls at the Photokina, which respectively put an individual product or product topic into the context of real image projects. Presented on steles or in glass displays, the products function as exhibition objects. Leading technology, image quality and functionality of, amongst others, the Panasonic flagship Lumix are made visible by the hands of star photographers, artists or by the fair visitors themselves. Expressive photos and emotional images worlds on the gallerys walls generate the creative, professional and fascinating context for Panasonics imaging products.Shoot like a StarFair visitors can feel like star photographers thanks to the central arrangement with its own photo stage. Selected cameras or Micro-Four-Thirds-objectives can be tested single-handedly and with real photo models: Female models swing above the stage with a South Pacific scenery and make up the perfect motive for all photography fans. Panasonics in-house experts are present at technology and professionals counters in order to give comprehensive advice to visitors. Those, who want to have their cameras to be cleaned, can get this service for free for all Panasonic models.The Dart Design Gruppe is one of the leading agencies for spatial communication in Germany, in which creative design skills are merged with interdisciplinary expertise. A recipient of numerous international design awards, the Dart Design Gruppe designs brand experience and adventure spaces for clients such as 3M, adidas, Amtico, Britax, C.H. Beck, Electrolux, Gabor, Grafe und Unzer, Grundig, Kanzan, Lloyd, MFI, Norske Skog, Panasonic, Parador, Philips, Reebok, RWE, Schuco, Turck, Wurth und Zaha Hadid.Dart Design Gruppe GmbHInge Bruck-Seynstahl (Director Corporate Communications)Haus am Pegel | Am Zollhafen 5 | 41460 NeussFon: 02131 - 40 30 7 - 37pr@d-art-design.de |
Global Automotive Heat Shield Market: Emergence of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Positively Influencing Demand, notes TMR
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The global automotive heat shields market is moderately fragmented, with the leading four players accounting for less than 50.0% of the market in 2015. These companies, namely Federal Mogul Corp., Dana Holding Corporation, Autoneum Holding AG, and Lydall Inc., have been investing in product innovation, technological advancement, and maintaining quality standards in order to retain their dominance in the market.For instance, Dana Holding Corporation launched a new aluminum cooling technology in November 2014, which is especially designed for electric and hybrid vehicles. This technology enabled the company to strengthen its portfolio of thermal management products.Get More Information :Transparency Market Research states that the global automotive heat shield market is set to expand at a strong CAGR of 9.7% from 2016 to 2024, with the opportunity presented by the market rising from US$11.4 bn in 2015 to US$25.3 bn by 2024.Spark Plug Boot Heat Shields Most Attractive Product TypeAmong all product types of automotive heat shields, exhaust shield insulation dominated the global automotive heat shield market in terms revenue, accounting for 22.5% market share. The spark plug boot heat shields segment, on the other hand, is projected to expand at a CAGR of 10.8% during the forecast period, emerging as the most attractive product type.In 2015, rigid heat shields accounted for the leading share in the global automotive heat shield market by type. Textile heat shields, on the other hand, are likely to exhibit the highest growth in the coming years. Geographically, while Asia Pacific led the global automotive heat shield market in 2015 with a 35.4% share, RoW is forecast to develop at an impressive 10.1% CAGR from 2016 to 2024.Browse The Full Report :Surge in Vehicle Production across Developing and Developed Economies Spurs DemandOne of the most obvious factors driving the demand for automotive heat shields is the proliferation of the global automotive industry. The surge in vehicle production over the years can be attributed to the rising disposable income of the global population. The automotive industry is now on the path toward recovery, even in countries in which its growth has been subpar over the recent past. This signals the imminent demand for automobiles and subsequently, automotive heat shields.This trend is especially true for North America a region that has undergone challenging conditions as far as the automotive sector is concerned, the author of the study reports. Rise in fuel prices, heavy competition, and high input costs have had a negative impact on the demand for automobiles in the region, which has, in turn, resulted in the limited demand for automotive heat shields.Rise in Raw Material Prices an Ongoing ChallengeAluminum is the main raw material used for the manufacturing of automotive heat shields. However, the rising prices of aluminum has been inhibiting the global market. The London Metal Exchange (LME) reports that the price of aluminum has risen from US$1,400 per metric ton in October, 2015 to US$1,550 per metric ton in January, 2016. This price rise is expected to continue in the coming years owing to high exchange rates and physical delivery costs. This is expected to increase the cost of production, thereby restricting the automotive heat shields market.However, the emergence of new vehicle segments, such as electric and hybrid, is likely to have a positive influence on the automotive heat shields market in the near future. Growing awareness among consumers regarding the harmful impact of carbons emissions on the environment has benefited the uptake of electric and hybrid vehicles in several countries. These new vehicle types require high-performance automotive heat shields and the integration and customization of heat shields with advanced technologies is likely to ensure innovative components for these vehicles, the TMR analyst notes.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Latin America Energy-efficient Lamps and Ballasts Market to Expand at 23.0% CAGR 2012-2018 Fueled by Strong Cost-competitiveness
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The market for energy-efficient lamps and ballasts in Latin America has been segmented based on product type. The market for energy-efficient lamps includes compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), fluorescent lamps, high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, light emitting diode (LED) lamps, and induction lamps. The market for ballasts includes magnetic fluorescent ballasts, electronic fluorescent ballasts, LED driver modules, CFL ballasts, magnetic HID ballasts, and electronic HID ballasts.Factors driving the fluorescent lamps market are their features such as long operational life and energy efficiency and the cost-competitiveness compared to incandescent lamps. In contrast, the presence of traces of mercury hampers the demand for fluorescent lamps.PDF Sample For Full Details with Technological breakthroughs is @The market for CFLs is fueled by beneficial features such as low maintenance cost of CFLs, longer operational life, high output, higher efficacy compared to incandescent lamps, and lower power consumption. On the flip side, the CFL market is inhibited by cost issues and mercury content.The demand for LED lamps is driven by their ability to provide lighting solutions to remote areas, their environment-friendly applications, their use in several lighting applications, and their high energy efficiency and longer lifetime. On the other hand, the high cost of the lamps, a unidirectional light output, and their inability to work in heat-sensitive applications are some of the key restraints hampering the LED lamps market.The Latin America energy-efficient lamps and ballasts market is segmented on the basis of geography into Central America, South America, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Argentina, and Brazil. Brazil and Argentina are currently the largest markets for energy-efficient lamps and ballasts given that they are in the advanced stage of switching to energy-efficient lighting systems as recommended by the United Nations Environment Program. These two countries, along with Mexico, are anticipated to emerge as the fastest growing regional markets for energy-efficient lamps and ballasts in Latin America. Central America and the Caribbean Islands are projected to witness steady growth in the second half of the forecast period owing to increased assistance from the neighboring countries to switch to energy-efficient lighting solutions.The major players currently active in the Latin America energy-efficient lamps and ballasts market include Acuity Brands, Panasonic Lighting, OSRAM, Philips Lighting, Havells, GE Lighting, and Cooper Lighting. These players have been profiled in the report based on attributes such as company overview, financial performance, recent developments, and business strategies.Latin America Energy Efficient Lamps Market, By Product TypeFluorescent lampsCFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps)LED (Light Emitting Diode) lampsHigh intensity discharge (HID) lampsInduction lampsLatin America Ballasts Market, By Product TypeElectronic fluorescent ballastsMagnetic fluorescent ballastsCFL ballastsLED driver modulesElectronic HID ballastsMagnetic HID ballastsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Canadian Romantic Fiction Author Rusty Blackwood Announces Upcoming Events In Ontario, Canada Area
Romantic Fiction Author Rusty Blackwood
http://www.rusty-blackwood.com
Canadian Indie romantic fiction novelist Rusty Blackwood has announced a series of upcoming events throughout the Niagara area. Blackwood is the author of two romantic fiction books, 'Passions In Paris' and 'Willow's Walk'.Rusty was interviewed on The Joe Show for a segment of Fun Food Friday. The show will air on October 28th at the show site. Blackwood also did a reading from 'Willow's Walk'.On October 30th she will hold the first official book signing for 'Willow's Walk' at Ancaster Chapters, Ancaster, Ontario between 1:00 and 4:30 pm.She will also be taking part in the Ridley College Xmas Market on Friday, December 2nd from 2-7pm at the Ridley College Fieldhouse, 2 Ridley Rd., St. Catharines, ON."I am very much looking forward to sharing the October 28th airing of my participation in The Joe Show's Fun Food Friday," stated Rusty Blackwood. "I had such fun taking part in this weekly Friday segment, and I hope my readers will enjoy listening to it." Miss Blackwood goes on to add, "I am also pleased to announce my first official signing for my newly modified 'Willow's Walk'. Ancaster Chapters, located on the outskirts of Hamilton, Ontario, is an interesting and extremely bustling bookstore, so I am hoping to meet new readers, and discuss my newest romance novel with them. The same can be said with regard to my return to the Field house at Ridley College for their Annual Christmas Market. 'Passions in Paris' and I took part in it last year, and I am pleased to be invited back. This is, without a doubt, one of Niagara's largest Christmas venues, so I am greatly looking forward to it, and to be once again offering 'Passions in Paris', as well as the newly re-released 'Willow's Walk'."Blackwood's latest romantic fiction novel, 'Willow's Walk', follows the release of 'Passions in Paris: Revelations of a Lost Diary'. Her first romantic fiction novel is a sweeping saga written in the tradition of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' and 'What Dreams May Come'. It has been compared to Erich Segal's 'Love Story' and Nicholas Sparks' 'The Notebook'.Willow's Walk' is a gripping new tale, certain to hold readers captive from the very first page. Set in the beautiful city of Ottawa, Canada in 2003, this touching story centers on the life and times of a woman determined to prevail at all costs, regardless of what is set before her, the result of which is certain to leave the reader reeling in its wake.The path each person walks is entirely their own. The pitfalls along that path, as well as the way in which they are dealt with are entirely up to the individual. But Willow Sutherland-Crosby walks a far-different path, and with her own agenda.Abuse, deception, intrigue, and a never ending quest for happiness and love - will she find these, or will her blind determination be her downfall?'Willow's Walk' has received a number of 5 star reviews from professional reviewers. Maria Beltran stated, "I highly recommend this book." Gisela Dixon said, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the life of a person presented in such a wonderful manner." Another said, "Brutally honest. I was touched by the bittersweet conclusion that sometimes purpose and happiness are only found through great tragedy ..."'Passions in Paris' has also received rave reviews. Linkk Kula Kane said, "Passions in Paris I think stands its ground with these other powerful romantic stories like 'The Notebook' by Nicolas Sparks." Reader Fred Pifer stated that 'Passions', is a fascinating book of a love story that seemed to be written with me in mind. In the book 'Love Story' by Erich Segal, he told of a deep abiding love story that reminds me of Cullen and Joys in Ms. Blackwoods book, but the twists of intrigue and mystery that she adds keeps the reader on edge throughout."Information on the new romantic fiction release, including a new book trailer, is available at Blackwood's site on the 'Willow' page. Readers can download paperback and Kindle versions of both books at Amazon sites worldwide, including Amazon.ca.Rusty Blackwood is available for interview in the Toronto and Niagara areas and can be reached using the information below or by email at writerrusty@hotmail.ca. More information is available at her website.Rusty Blackwood is a prolific Indie author of romantic fiction, short story comedies, contemporary and traditional poetry and children's books. Her first love is romantic fiction, but she crosses genres with ease.PO Box 1618Shallotte NC 28459
Lucintel identifies and prioritizes opportunities for growth in the global commercial airport baggage handling system market by sorting technology, components, and region
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According to a new market report published by Lucintel, the future of the global commercial airport baggage handling system market looks good with opportunities in the conveyor system, scanner, and sorting device market. The global commercial airport baggage handling system market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.0% from 2016 to 2021. The major drivers of growth for this market are construction of new airport terminals and the expansion of existing facilities.In this market, barcode system and radio frequency identification system (RFID) are some of the major segments. On the basis of its comprehensive research, Lucintel forecasts that the RFID segment is expected to show above average growth during the forecast period.Within the global commercial baggage handling system market, the conveyor system segment is expected to remain as the largest market. Newly constructed and upgraded airports will be equipped with interlinked baggage conveyor system, which would spur growth for this segment over the forecast period.Europe is expected to remain the largest market due to tightening of the airport security standards and increasing investments in the terminal expansions.Asia Pacific and Rest of the World are expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period because of growth in the passenger traffic, setting up of new airports, and huge demand for airport infrastructural improvement.For market expansion, report suggests innovation and new product development to provide automatic and customized baggage handling solutions to the customers. The report further suggests the development of partnerships with customers to create win-win situations and development of low-cost solutions for customers.Emerging trends, which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the industry, include the introduction of home-printed bag tag solutions to enable the passengers in printing their own bag tag at office or home, development of auto bag drop solutions, and hybrid check-in system for passengers to help the airlines in managing long queues effectively. Vanderlande Industries B.V., Siemens AG, Beumer Group, Daifuku, and Pteris Global Limited are the major baggage handling system manufacturers in the global commercial airport baggage handling system market. Some companies are opting for merger and acquisition as strategic initiatives for driving growth.Lucintel, a leading global strategic consulting and market research firm, has analyzed opportunities in the global commercial airport baggage handling system market by sorting technology, component, and regions and has come up with a comprehensive research report, Growth Opportunities in the Global Commercial Airport Baggage Handling System Market 2016-2021: Trends, Forecast, and Market Analysis. The Lucintel report serves as a spring board for growth strategy as it provides a comprehensive data and analysis on trends, key drivers, and directions. The study includes a forecast for the global commercial airport baggage handling system market through 2021, segmented by sorting technology, component, and regions as follows:By Sorting Technology ($ billion from 2010 to 2021): Barcode System RFID SystemBy Components ($ billion from 2010 to 2021): Conveyor System Scanner Sorting Device Destination Coded VehicleBy region ($ billion from 2010 to 2021): North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of the WorldThis 139-page research report will enable you to make confident business decisions in this globally competitive marketplace. For a detailed table of contents, contact Lucintel at +1-972-636-5056 or helpdesk@lucintel.com. Lucintel offerings include Aerospace Report, Defense Market Report, SWOT Matrix, Due Diligence and Mergers & Acquisitions.This report answers following 11 key questions:Q. 1 What are some of the potential, high-growth opportunities are for commercial airport baggage handling system market by sorting technology, components, and regions?Q. 2. Which segments will grow at a faster pace and why?Q. 3. Which region will grow at a faster pace and why?Q.4 What are the key factors affecting market dynamics? What are the drivers and challenges of the market?Q.5. What are the business risks and threats of this market?Q.6 What are emerging trends in this market and reasons behind them?Q.7 What are some changing demands of customers in the market?Q.8 What are the new developments in the market? Which companies are leading these developments?Q.9 Who are the major players in this market? What strategic initiatives are taken by key players for business growth?Q.10 How is the competitive rivalry and threat of substitution in this market?Q.11. How many M & A activities happened during last 1- 2 years and what are their impacts?Lucintel, the premier global management consulting and market research firm, creates winning strategies for growth. It offers market assessments, competitive analysis, opportunity analysis, growth consulting, M&A, and due diligence services to executives and key decision-makers in a variety of industries. For further information, visitLucintel222 Las Colinas Blvd West, Suite 1650, Irving, TX 75039, USA+1-972-636-5056marketing@lucintel.com
Global Sweet Spread Market: Longstanding Popularity of Sweet Spread Fuels its Demand across Developed Regions, Reports TMR
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Sweet spreads such as marmalades, jam, jellies, chocolate spreads, honey, nut-based spreads, and others comprise a vital part of traditional breakfast menu or snack in the western world. The longstanding popularity of various sweet spreads across developed economies has been the key factor propelling the global sweet spread market. In a report, titled Sweet Spread Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 2019, Transparency Market Research (TMR) presents insights into the growth drivers and restraints having implications on the market. It uses several industry-leading analytical tools to present an executive-level blueprint of the global sweet spread market.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :Currently, Europe and North America account for the leading share in the global sweet spread market. These regions have sustained their dominance since a long time and is expected to continue their growth run through the forecast period between 2013 and 2019. In Europe, sweet spreads are a part of traditional breakfast. Hence, consumers in this region often spend significantly on the purchase of sweet spreads, which has remained a key factor accelerating the demand for sweet spreads.Besides this, the convenience provided by sweet spreads is a primary factor persistently fuelling their demand across developed economies where people prefer less elaborate food to fit in their hectic lifestyle. Since it does not take long enough to prepare food using sweet spread, it is witnessing widespread adoption particularly as a popular breakfast food.However, in Asia Pacific the market is witnessing sluggish growth. The diverse food culture and the lack of longstanding tradition related to sweet spreads are inhibiting the growth of the market in Asia Pacific. However, the market sees lucrative scope, as the region reports increasing urbanization. The companies are looking to capitalize on the untapped opportunities in Asia Pacific, primarily because the region boasts a huge base of consumers. TMR expects Asia Pacific to emerge as a lucrative market for sweet spread manufacturers in the forthcoming years.To establish their footprint in Asia Pacific, manufacturers are focusing on product innovation to match the preference of consumers in the region. Taste innovation has shaped as a major trend in developed countries as well and is expected to remain a vital avenue for research and development in the near future.The presence of a large number of players has made the global sweet spread market fairly fragmented, thus competitive. The market also provides sufficient opportunities for new entrants to compete with existing players. Some of the prominent enterprises operating in the market are Wellness Foods Ltd., Premier Foods Plc, Unilever Group, and Ferrero Group.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Visible Light Communication Market: Benefits Over Wi-Fi Doubles the Market Growth!
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The players in the global visible light communication market are expected to make revolutionary changes with focus on developing hybrid VLC systems that negate the inherent VLC technology issues for seamless transmission of data.Some of the key players operating the global visible light communication market are PureLiFi, Ltd, Axrtek Outstanding Technology, Co., General Electric Company Nakagawa Laboratories, Inc., and LVX System, observes Transparency Market Research in its latest publication.The report states that the global visible light communication market is expected to represent an opportunity worth US$113.27 bn by 2022, rising remarkably from its 2014 valuation of US$267.6 mn. Between 2015 and 2022, the global visible light communication market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 109.2%. Amongst various end users, the retail indoor positioning segment held the leading position in the overall market and is expected to surge at a CAGR of 93.82% from 2015 and 2022.Download PDF for Technological Insights atKey Takeaways:Global visible light market to reach US$113.27 bn by 2022 as demand for location-based services growsRetail indoor positioning segment to emerge as the significant one, progressing at a CAGR of 93.82% between 2015 and 2022North America holds a prime share in the global VLC market and is anticipated to reach a valuation US$47.88 bn by 2022North America Leads the Way with Strong Presence of VLC PlayersGeographically, the global visible light communication market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. Out of these, the North America visible light communication market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 108.65% between 2015 and 2022. The presence of leading players who are working towards high product innovation has resulted in the growth of this regional market in recent years. By the end of 2022, the North America visible light communication market is expected to reach US$47.88 bn.Benefits of Visible Light Communication over Wi-Fi Drive Global MarketThe rise of the retail indoor positioning market due to high traffic from the occupants and better illumination has paved the way of growth of the visible light communication market. The benefits of visible light communication over Wi-Fi, such as no additional infrastructure and higher accuracy, are also augmenting the growth of this market. The demand by retailers to send instant notifications to customers to enhance the shopping experience and increase sales is also anticipated to boost this market. This trend will lead to an uptake of retail indoor positioning, thereby encouraging the growth of the global visible light communication market.View Report atThe increasing investments in the research and development of new products have also bolstered the global market in the recent years. These efforts have introduced products that overcome the challenges of VLC technology and promoted commercialization. The emergence of visible light communication start-ups has also given this market a significant momentum.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
New update "Ultrasound Device Market, Numbers & Forecast Worldwide Analysis" The Report covers current Market Trends, Analysis, Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.
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"Ultrasound Device Market, Numbers & Forecast Worldwide Analysis" The Report covers current Market Trends, Analysis, Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-United States is the leading country in the worldwide ultrasound device market. But in terms of numbers of Ultrasound; China has the highest market share. By clinical segment Radiology is leading clinical application. By 2021 China and India Ultrasound market is expected to be triple and double of their market in 2010 respectively. The ultrasound device market in developed countries has become mature, but there is still a need to replace aging equipment and upgrade to new technologies, whereas in developing countries, healthcare infrastructure is still evolving and lot of market is still untapped.Get Sample Report With TOC @The Report provides a comprehensive assessment of the fastevolving, highgrowth worldwide ultrasound device market. This 85 page report with 68 Figures studies the worldwide ultrasound device market from 4 view points:Worldwide Ultrasound Device Market & Share AnalysisWorldwide Ultrasound Device Number & Share AnalysisUltrasound Device Market by Country/RegionUltrasound Device Market by Clinical ApplicationsKey Players Ultrasound Device SalesWorldwide Ultrasound Device Clinical Application Segment Analysis (2010 2021)Radiology Ultrasound Device MarketObstetrics & Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) Ultrasound Device MarketCardiovascular Ultrasound Device MarketGastroenterology (Gastro) / Endoscopic Ultrasound Device MarketMusculoskeletal Ultrasound Device MarketOthers Ultrasound Device MarketWorldwide Ultrasound Device Company Wise Sales Analysis (2010 2021)GE HealthcarePhillips HealthcareSiemens HealthcareToshiba Medical SystemOthersResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesBlog -866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),+1-518-621-2074,Email to: sales@researchmoz.us,
New update "United States Printed Sensors Industry 2016 Market Research Report" The Report covers current Market Trends, Analysis, Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.
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"United States Printed Sensors Industry 2016 Market Research Report" The Report covers current Market Trends, Analysis, Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-The United States Printed Sensors Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Printed Sensors industry.The report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Printed Sensors market analysis is provided for the United States markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status.Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and Bill of Materials cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.Get Sample Report With TOC @The report focuses on United States major leading industry players providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Printed Sensors industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.With 149 tables and figures the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview1.1 Definition and Specifications of Printed Sensors1.2 Classification of Printed Sensors1.3 Applications of Printed Sensors1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Printed Sensors1.5 Industry Overview of Printed Sensors1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Printed Sensors1.7 Industry News Analysis of Printed Sensors2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Printed Sensors2.1 Bill of Materials (BOM) of Printed Sensors2.2 BOM Price Analysis of Printed Sensors2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Printed Sensors2.4 Depreciation Cost Analysis of Printed Sensors2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Printed Sensors2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Printed Sensors2.7 United States Price, Cost and Gross of Printed Sensors 2011-20163 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of United States Key Manufacturers in 20153.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of United States Key Printed Sensors Manufacturers in 20153.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of United States Printed Sensors Key Manufacturers in 20153.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of United States Printed Sensors Key Manufacturers in 20154 Production Analysis of Printed Sensors by Regions, Type, and Applications4.1 United States Production of Printed Sensors by Regions 2011-20164.2 United States Production of Printed Sensors by Type 2011-20164.3 United States Sales of Printed Sensors by Applications 2011-20164.4 Price Analysis of United States Printed Sensors Key Manufacturers in 2015ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesBlog -866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),+1-518-621-2074,Email to: sales@researchmoz.us,
Global neurovascular intervention market forecast - poised to reach nearly US$ 4 Billion by 2021
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ReportsWorldwide has announced the addition of a new report title Neurovascular Intervention Market (by Device Category, Disease Segment, Country Wise and Company) and Forecast to 2021 - Global Analysis to its growing collection of premium market research reports.The global neurovascular intervention market is poised to reach nearly US$ 4 Billion by 2021. The market growth is attributed to factors such as an increased adoption of neurovascular devices, ageing population, rising prevalence of cerebrovascular diseases, technological advancements and deal making activity globally. However, the factors such as regulatory standards and compliance, unmet needs and a dearth of skilled neurosurgeons are restraining the growth of neurovascular interventional market.The report Neurovascular Intervention Market (by Device Category, Disease Segment, Country Wise and Company) and Forecast to 2021 - Global Analysis provides a comprehensive assessment of the fast-evolving, high-growth global neurovascular intervention market.To view a detailed description and Table of Contents please visit:This 124 Page report with 61 Figures and 10 Tables has been analyzed from 8 viewpoints:1. By Device Category - Global Neurovascular Intervention Market and Forecast (2009 - 2021)2. By Disease Segment - Global Neurovascular Intervention Market and Forecast (2010 - 2021)3. By Country - Neurovascular Intervention Market and Forecast (2013 - 2021)4. Global Neurovascular Intervention Market - Company Analysis5. Neurovascular Intervention Market - Major Deals6. Neurovascular Intervention Market - Major Products Approval Status7. Competitive Landscape of Major Neurovascular Companies8. Neurovascular Intervention Market - Driving Factors and ChallengesGlobal Neurovascular Intervention Market and Forecast - 8 Device Category Analysis1. Coil2. Carotid Stent3. Clot Removal Device4. Liquid Embolic5. Coil Assist Balloon6. Coil Assist Stent7. Flow Diverter Stent8. Micro wire/CatheterGlobal Neurovascular Intervention Market and Forecast - 4 Disease Segment Analysis1. Aneurysm2. Intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD)3. Ischemic Stroke4. Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM)Neurovascular Intervention Market and Forecast - 10 Countries Analysis1. United States2. Germany3. France4. Italy5. Spain6. UK7. Japan8. China9. India10. BrazilGlobal Neurovascular Intervention Market and Forecast - 6 Companies Analysis1. Stryker2. Medtronic3. Terumo Corporation4. DePuy Synthes5. Penumbra Inc.6. OthersTo Get Sample Copy of Report please visit @About ReportsWorldwide.comReportsWorldwide.com is a leading provider of global market intelligence reports and services. With research reports from top publishers, consulting and advisory firms, ReportsWorldwide.com offers instant online access to a growing database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, geographies and trends.Abigail CrastoSenior Vice President101, Arch StreetBoston, MA 02110USPhone +1 (617) 398-4994Fax +1 (617) 398-4995abigail@reportsworldwide.com
Updated at 2:45 p.m.
A former Gladstone police sergeant who arranged the 2011 death of his wife in her beauty salon was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Lynn Edward Benton made no statements before a Clackamas County judge imposed the sentence. The decision arrived four days after a jury found Benton guilty of aggravated murder, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and attempted murder in the death of Debbie Higbee Benton. The salon store owner was found shot, beaten and strangled in a storage room in her shop in May 2011.
Although Benton's sentencing brings some finality to the long-running murder case, Higbee Benton's death could be at the center of two more trials. Benton's longtime friend, Susan Campbell, and her son Jason Jaynes also are accused of aggravated murder in the case. Jaynes is scheduled for trial in March. No trial date is set yet for Campbell.
Benton, 54, and his wife of seven months were well known in Gladstone, the Clackamas County town of about 12,000. Benton was a police officer in the town for more than two decades and was once the face of the department as its public information officer. Higbee Benton was a beloved owner of the beauty salon on the town's main street for at least 20 years.
In an agreement signed Tuesday, Benton waived his right to a sentence decided by a jury and agreed to accept a prison term of life without parole. Jurors could have imposed the death penalty, life without parole or a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years. He can still appeal his sentence.
Benton met Higbee Benton in 2008, and they married in October 2010. Born Lynne Irene Benton, the sergeant spent the majority of his law enforcement career as a female. He began to transition to male in 2010, before he wed Higbee Benton. He legally changed his name to Lynn Edward Benton.
The couple's relationship began to deteriorate after Benton's transition. He moved out of their Gladstone home a month before his wife's death.
According to witness testimony, Higbee Benton had disclosed that Benton once pinned her arm behind her back and slammed her into a wall, causing her to tear her rotator cuff. She also claimed Benton pinned her against a wall with his forearm against her throat on another occasion.
Prosecutors said Benton wanted his wife dead in part to prevent domestic violence allegations from affecting his job. Benton offered Campbell and Jaynes $2,000 to kill Higbee Benton, prosecutors said. He also made an earlier attempt on his wife's life by trying to give her an overdose of fentanyl, prosecutors said.
Benton, wearing a gray suit, appeared to show little emotion at his sentencing hearing. After the sentence was announced, he appeared to take a deep breath as he stood alongside his attorneys Patrick Sweeney and Deanna Gentry. Sweeney put his hand on Benton's shoulder, and Gentry stood on the other side of him and rubbed his back.
Higbee Benton's younger brother, Tony Stephens, and Stephens' girlfriend, Marcy Juntunen, said after the hearing that prosecutors had met with them Monday. The victim's family explained that Higbee Benton would have wanted a life sentence.
"My sister Debbie would never have wanted anybody to be put to death," Stephens said.
Stephens and Juntunen both read statements to Benton in court. Stephens said he'd always remember his sister's laugh and smile.
"I hope no one does to you in jail what was done to my sister in her salon," Stephens said in his statement. "The beating she took, no one deserves that. Not even you."
Stephens said he recalled happier times with his sister and brother-in-law, including spending holidays together and celebrating the couple's wedding. But he said Benton became more distant when he began transitioning to male. Higbee Benton swore their mom and sister to secrecy after telling them Benton was abusing her, he said. Stephens said he lives with guilt of not knowing and confronting Benton about it.
Benton's attorneys, prosecutors and Benton's family declined to comment after the hearing.
The sentencing means an ongoing civil case against Benton can move forward. A $900,000 wrongful death lawsuit filed by Higbee Benton's mother, Irene Berg, has been on hold since May 2016, pending the outcome of the murder trial.
Benton also faces separate charges in Multnomah County of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. The charges stemmed from the time of his arrest, when police found fentanyl prescribed to Higbee Benton. The case is currently on appeal as Benton's attorneys and prosecutors argue over the search warrants used in the case to obtain the drugs.
-- Everton Bailey Jr.
ebailey@oregonian.com
503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey
We didn't even know she was pregnant.
This December, the team behind Southeast Portland Italian restaurant Renata will open Figlia, a "little daughter" cafe serving breakfast and lunch inside Southeast Portland's Rejuvenation Hardware.
"Renata is very elegant and sophisticated and Italian and serious in some ways, and I wanted to do something that was a little more playful and relaxed and approachable," says co-owner Sandra Arnerich. "This new place is like Renata's daughter, a daughter who has deep roots from her Italian mom, but is also very American."
The former F&B Cafe space is getting a facelift, with new white walls, black accents and pastel light fixtures, plus a large communal table and a counter arrayed with pastries. Arnerich, who co-owns the restaurant with husband Nick, drew inspiration for the 42-seat Figlia from Ottolenghi in London and Gjusta in Venice, California. She says the new cafe corresponds to a shift at Rejuvenation Hardware, adding more of their own designs to the vintage home-good mix.
Salad and sandwich tasting at Figlia
Figlia will focus on bagels, grab-and-go panini and big salads, including vegetable salads like the Brussels sprouts, pomegranate and pecorino number that was a hit at Renata last winter. Meats for the Italian and American sandwiches -- porchetta, anyone? -- will be made either in house or at the nearby Renata, where chef Matt Sigler is developing Figlia's menu. Jamie McDonald, one of Renata's original line cooks, will oversee Figlia's day-to-day operations. Coffee comes from Caffe Umbria.
"Working there every day, I'm always just puzzled by why there isn't a place where I can grab a quick lunch and feel good about it and not spend $25," Arnerich says.
Figlia is due in early December at 1100 S.E. Grand Ave.
-- Michael Russell
Mitsui.JPG
Mark Mitsui, Portland Community College's president, was hired July, 2016. A Northwest native, Mitsui said he's been surprised to find just how hot Portland's housing market is.
(Andrew Theen/The Oregonian)
Mark Mitsui, Portland Community College's new president, is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest.
He grew up in Seattle then studied at Western Washington Universiy in Bellingham. He led a community college in Seattle before joining the U.S. Department of Education. But when he arrived in Portland two months ago, he was admittedly taken away by the housing market.
He was used to high prices in the nation's capital, the 59-year-old father of two said, and found that Portland "was not too different. That was surprising."
The Oregonian/OregonLive sat down with the new president of the state's largest post-secondary institution Monday to talk about his new job, his thoughts on Oregon and what he will focus on in the coming his year. Questions and answers were edited for brevity and clarity.
Question: How's it going so far? What do you like about the job so far?
Answer: It's a very close-knit community, in terms of folks staying at PCC for many years. I've been learning student stories. We have students who've gone on to Yale, and I met a student [who] ... is going to be doing an internship at the Marshall Space Station with NASA. He wants to be an astrophysicist. We have students who were struggling with drug and alcohol issues and then came to school after they got clean and are just doing great work. That's the community college story. I think PCC really exemplifies all that's great about the community college world.
Q: What is the biggest challenge facing PCC, as you see it?
A: I think part of what we're looking at is funding -- in terms of identifying what it costs and what we're going to need to do to really improve our completion rates and help decrease disparities in outcomes. I think that we've got a great start. We're moving to a more evidenced-based approach so that we can look at different indices of where students would be most appropriately placed to help them be successful. That's a big change. We've had a group working on it and, it's a movement that's already happening and I'm going to try to add to that.
Q: Fewer than one-quarter of PCC students who are first-time, full-time freshmen graduate in three years. What should the completion rate be for an institution like PCC?
A: First, we have to get our metrics down. What we're going to work on is what's a better set of metrics for us to employ that accurately reflects students' outcomes based on intent. What do students want to do? When a student comes in, let's say from a company, and they just want to take an Excel course. Should they be counted along with degree-seeking students? If they come in and only take one class and then leave and never come back again, is that a failure? What about students who go out and get jobs, like our welding students. They ... often get jobs before they graduate because it's such a hot job market. Should they be counted as failures? ... Once we identify the right metrics we can talk about where we want to go.
Q: What did you make of the Oregon Promise program, which helps cut tuition costs for first-time students before you got to PCC?
A: In Oregon, it's a last [dollar]-in program. It is an important way to reach students who normally wouldn't be going to college. I was at South Seattle Community College, and [we] created something that was called the 13th Year, also a last-in program. We noticed that it did something to students who weren't even thinking about going to school. Students would go home, they had their letter and they would say, "I'm going to college." ... I think Oregon Promise will have a similar kind of impact, where there will be students who weren't really thinking about going to college and they then know that it's a possibility. The other thing, there are a lot of students who don't fill out the FAFSA [Free Application for Federal Student Aid], so they leave funding on the table when they could've been able to ... access that and go to college.
Q: PCC made national headlines with its Whiteness History Month. What did you make of that?
A: I know there was a lot of backlash, however PCC continued to move forward and continued to sort of close the loop on that initiative. To me, that said, there's some dedication there. It would've been easy to just stop it, but I didn't see that. It sounded to me like PCC moved ahead with it, and learned a lot about itself from that. I think we can build on that foundation now.
Q: You talk about data a lot - are you a data guy?
A: Good data is important for helping large organizations get feedback. I'm also a mixed methods person, so it's both quantitive and qualitative. That old saying of not everything that's measured counts, and not everything that counts can be measured. It's also true, that which is measured tends to change and tends to draw attention and you tend to focus on it. It's a way of making a statement. I think it's important to know the strengths and weaknesses of certain metrics, but just because a metric may have weaknesses we shouldn't be afraid to use it.
Q: Is there anything that you've seen so far that makes you say, "I want to change that?
A: I can tell you what my predispositions are. Throughout my career I've focused on equitable student success. So how do we help more students to meet those rigorous and high standards? How do we do that in a way that doesn't exacerbate preexisting academic disparities? How do we make sure that the education that we're providing is also preparing our students for success in work and life? There are skills gaps that are out there and this is an issue nationally. So how do we align our offerings in a way that provides the biggest return for students? We are in this really to change lives, and part of that is creating opportunities for the students.
-- Andrew Theen
atheen@oregonian.com
503-294-4026
@andrewtheen
University of Oregon Board of Trustees approves tuition increase as students walk out
The University of Oregon Board of Trustees approved a tuition increase Friday March 4, 2016 despite the opposition from dozens of students and staff. The UO and other schools to invest tuition and state dollars in equities as a way of reducing risk, and they say, ultimately helping students
(Andrew Theen/The Oregonian)
Oregon's seven public universities installed independent governing boards in recent years. But the schools soon discovered their newfound independence only went so far.
A 2013 state bill that set universities on the path to independence gave schools the ability to manage their own money, but a provision in the state constitution still stands in the way.
Oregon's constitution forbids all state agencies, including the four-year schools, from investing in "the stock of any company, association or corporation." Independent foundations working with universities have that right. But the schools themselves can't invest tuition dollars or state appropriations in the stock market and raise even more money for programs.
But Measure 95, on the ballot this fall, would change that. Oregon lawmakers voted overwhelmingly earlier this year to refer the proposal to voters.
Anna Richter-Taylor, a spokeswoman paid by the UO Foundation to advocate for the measure, said universities primarily rely on state appropriations as well as tuition and fees from students.
"The ability to invest in equities provides universities with a tool to generate revenue from resources that don't come from raising tuition, taxpayers or cutting jobs," she said.
Richter-Taylor said public university systems in California, North Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada and New Mexico have similar abilities.
No one has filed an official argument opposing the measure, but three university presidents wrote an opinion in favor of the proposal.
Investing in stocks and other equities "provides an opportunity for us to generate additional revenue when public resources are limited to support student access, academic success and contain growing tuition costs," the presidents of the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Eastern Oregon University jointly wrote.
The University of Oregon would likely invest roughly $30 million to $50 million from about $300 million to $400 million in operating funds, said Jamie Moffitt, vice president for finance and administration.
"What we're talking about is investing funds that are nowhere needed in the short term," Moffitt said.
If approved, the school would develop and provide quarterly reports to the Board of Trustees at UO outlining the types of investments and amount invested. Moffitt said UO will likely contract with the investment staffer at the foundation, which oversees the school's endowment, to manage the account.
-- Andrew Theen
atheen@oregonian.com
503-294-4026
@andrewtheen
Would you believe that October is already on its way out the door? Bid the month a proper farewell with one of these seven things to do in and around Portland (some of which have nothing to do with Halloween).
Thrill the World Portland
Everyone's a dancer when Michael Jackson's "Thriller" comes on, which it does frequently around Halloween. Catch a large group of the undead rising to the groove in tandem with ghouls around the globe, or join in yourself.
3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29; Irving Park, Northeast 7th Avenue and Northeast Fremont Street; free; more information at Thrill the World Portland's Facebook page
Kumoricon
Fan conventions can get a little broad, what with the incessant deluge of popular culture that hasn't slowed down since the middle of the last century. This one hones things in a bit, focusing on just anime and Japanese culture.
7 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30; Oregon Convention Center, 777 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; $20-$40 for a single day pass, $60 for the whole weekend; kumoricon.org
West Linn Haunted Trail
A walk through the woods can be plenty scary at night, even without the frightening scenes and characters strategically placed to scare you senseless at this haunted trail fit for months of nightmares.
7-10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28-Saturday, Oct. 29; Mary S. Young Park, 19900 Willamette Dr., West Linn; $13-$15; westlinnoregon.gov
America's Largest Antique & Collectible Show
The winter holidays are sneaking up fast. Find some quirky gifts for loved ones - or yourself - among this show's many tables that make even the largest of antique malls look tiny.
9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30; Portland Expo Center, 2060 N. Marine Dr.; $7; christinepalmer.net
Hump Film Festival
This film festival has a raunchy reputation. And rightfully so. Piloted by famed sex advice columnist Dan Savage, it features short erotic films that its website describes as "a cornucopia of body types, shapes, ages, colors, sexualities, genders, kinks, and fetishes--all united by a shared spirit of sex-positivity." Well, you don't see that on every theater marquee.
Various times Thursday, Nov. 3-Saturday, Nov. 5 and Friday, Nov. 11-Saturday, Nov. 12; Revolution Hall, 1300 S.E. Stark St.; $20-$25; humpfilmfest.com
Doll Asylum
If a whole house packed with creepy dolls sounds like a fun time, one benevolent North Portland family has you covered. Take a self-paced stroll through their all-doll Halloween display without the stress of haunts jumping out at you.
Various times Friday, Oct. 21-Sunday, Oct. 23 and Friday, Oct. 28-Monday, Oct. 31; 6315 N. Michigan Ave.; free; dollasylum.com
Eek Week at Portland Children's Museum
Not sure the kids are quite ready for the spookier side of Halloween? Shield their innocence for at least another year with help from the Portland Children's Museum, which is offering Halloween-themed activities and crafts in the days leading up to All Hallows' Eve.
Various times Thursday, Oct. 27-Monday, Oct. 31; Portland Children's Museum, 4015 S.W. Canyon Rd.; $9.75-$10.75; portlandcm.org
--Dillon Pilorget
503-294-5927
OHSU campus
Oregon Health & Science University is part of a team that will be working on improving trauma care for the Department of Defense.
(Mark Graves/The Oregonian/OregonLive.com)
Oregon Health & Science University is part of a team that will study ways to improve trauma care for the Department of Defense.
The contract will span a decade and could draw $90 million from the department. Besides OHSU, the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and the University of Colorado are participating.
Their work is expected to benefit the military and civilians, said Dr. Martin Schreiber, OHSU principal investigator.
"This unique collaboration has the potential to make historic changes in how trauma patients are managed," Schreiber said.
The project will include creating a nationwide network of trauma systems to gather data to improve injury care. That research could involve thousands of trauma cases across the country and track care from emergency responders to after discharge from the hospital.
-- Lynne Terry
1trump.JPG
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pumps his fist in the air during a campaign rally at the Collier County Fairgrounds on October 23, 2016 in Naples, Florida.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
By Noah Feldman
With Donald Trump's chances of winning the White House narrowing, it's not too soon to ask: If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency in November, what attitude should Democrats and Republicans alike take toward Trump voters?
It will be tempting to excoriate or patronize them, or to woo them to your cause. But all of these approaches would be mistaken. A much better strategy -- for both parties -- is to engage in selective memory, and to treat Trump voters as though the whole sorry episode of his candidacy never occurred.
That may seem counterintuitive, especially because there's no doubt that Trump's candidacy shows the system needs fixing. But it's based on the solid intuition that Trump voters, many of them alienated already from mainstream party politics, will only be further alienated by anything that associates them with a candidate whose brand was victory and who delivered defeat.
Even assuming a convincing Clinton win, many, many Americans are going to vote for Trump on Nov. 8. They will do so for various reasons, and I don't want to make the mistake of assuming that those reasons can be captured in a few sentences.
What can be said definitively about Trump voters is that they will have judged that, whatever his flaws and demerits, he was a better pick than Clinton. That doesn't necessarily mean all Trump voters will have thought Trump should be president; if the polls are sufficiently lopsided on Election Day, it will be logically possible to vote for him as a protest.
But it does mean at a minimum that the voter wanted to communicate that Trump's vision is preferable to Clinton's.
This brute fact about what Trump voters must be trying to say could lead to some potentially dangerous responses from those who don't vote for Trump. One characteristic risk would be moral outrage. Democrats might be tempted to say that anyone who voted for Trump has bad morals and belongs in the much-discussed "basket of deplorables." The Republican version of moral outrage against Trump voters would be to say that the candidate's words (and maybe conduct) around sexual morality made him undeserving of election, and that anyone who voted for him must share his morals.
But moral outrage would be a moral mistake. Plenty of Democrats who don't care for Bill Clinton's personal sexual conduct voted for him -- twice. Lest we forget, it's a credible (if today highly unpopular) view that a candidate's sexual morality is irrelevant to his or her qualifications for the presidency. That view may be wrong, but it isn't inherently morally outrageous.
As for condemning a Trump voter morally for endorsing a candidate who has called for immoral policies toward Latinos and Muslims, this, too, assumes that Trump voters necessarily share his views. Of course, some may applaud the things Trump has said. But it's also morally permissible to vote for someone who has expressed moral views with which you strongly disagree. Otherwise, it would have been immoral for some Democrats to vote for Barack Obama when he still opposed gay marriage. Put another way, voting always means picking and choosing between candidates who don't share all of the voter's views.
Patronizing Trump voters would also be a mistake -- practically, rather than morally. The risk of condescension is especially great given polls that suggest Trump is doing better with white voters who don't have a college degree than other Republican candidates have done. It will be tempting to think -- as some have already argued -- that Trump voters have been hoodwinked by a skilled salesman.
Democrats and Republicans alike would do well to remember that whites without college degrees have been especially vulnerable to the reduction in manufacturing jobs in recent decades. Their historically high support for Trump can be explained by the sense that Trump is drawing attention to their political and economic concerns. That's a perfectly justifiable reason to vote for someone, no matter what you might think about the rest of his policies or his character.
That leads to the final temptation, namely to try to win over Trump voters either by crafting policies aimed at saving the white lower-middle class or by using Trump-like dog-whistle politics that scapegoat immigrants and minorities. The former is at least an admirable goal -- but only provided it can be accomplished realistically, without doing much more harm than good, for example by adopting extreme protectionism and starting a trade war with China. The latter isn't even admirable -- and worse, it won't work, at least not at the national level.
The alternative is to treat Trump voters as though they were ordinary, rational voters choosing among policy options available to them. That will require pretending retrospectively that this election wasn't somehow special or distinctive, and that Trump wasn't a uniquely dangerous candidate.
That would be a noble lie, well worth it to help Trump voters feel more connected to a polity that will (hypothetically) have rejected their candidate. The last thing the U.S. needs is for large numbers of citizens to feel that they've been morally repudiated for supporting Trump. The country doesn't need more cultural condescension toward white people who didn't go to college. And it doesn't need pandering to those who voted for Trump, either.
Come Election Day, we should vote as though this election matters more than others. Fundamental political structures and morality really are at stake. And on Nov. 9, we should go back to pretending it never happened, and that in the words of Sinclair Lewis, it can't happen here.
Feldman, a Bloomberg View columnist, is a professor of constitutional and international law at Harvard.
(c) 2016, Bloomberg View
1vote.JPG
Attendees listen to U.S. President Barack Obama speak during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Cheyenne High School on October 23, 2016 in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
By Jonathan Bernstein
As Election Day approaches, we're getting closer to when campaign operatives will begin sharing their secrets. Here are some things I'm interested in learning.
1. Why did Christian conservatives and their allies, especially in Iowa, make the shortsighted decision to back Texas Sen. Ted Cruz? It probably turned out to be the single most important decision by Republican party actors during the nomination process. Had they backed someone more widely acceptable to the rest of the party, there's a very good chance that candidate would have won it all.
2. How close did Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, come to running for president, and what did she learn that influenced her not to? Warren consistently said she wasn't running, but she maintained wiggle room until January 2015. Perhaps she never intended to run no matter what. Perhaps the party actors she hoped to recruit were already committed to Hillary Clinton. If so, which ones did she consider crucial? Were they donors? Politicians? Operatives?
3. What was Ohio Gov. John Kasich thinking? From his initial decision to run as a moderate, to his decision to stay in the race after a very modest second-place finish in New Hampshire, to his strategy contesting a small number of states (where he performed poorly), to his abandonment of debates once Donald Trump backed out of them, to his failure to run serious ads against Trump -- none of it made any sense.
4. Why did Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus choose to tilt toward Trump instead of away from him in the final weeks of the nomination season, and especially at the Republican National Convention? Was it a personal decision? Or were Republican party actors urging him to take that position in order to have an orderly convention. How many of them, by contrast, were willing to risk chaos in Cleveland to avoid the problems with having Trump as the nominee?
5. Why didn't we see more negative material on Trump before he won the nomination? Yes, some of it showed up in ads by his Republican rivals, but plenty did not. Rarely were there sustained attacks. Did Republican opposition researchers just miss much of it? Or did they dig stuff up, but decide it wouldn't derail the reality-show star? To what extent was their reticence strategic, with candidates assuming they could defeat Trump one on one, so they didn't want to destroy him before other candidates had dropped out?
OK, there are more than five things. Why did Cruz choose to drop out after losing the Indiana primary instead of continuing through the final contests and picking up at least a few more delegates in a long-shot attempt to force a deadlocked convention? What pushed Republican candidates to drop out before Iowa even when they weren't out of money?
And back to the Democrats: Did Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or his campaign believe he had a legitimate chance to win the nomination (and, if so, for how long), after the primaries and caucuses began?
This isn't just historical curiosity, as fascinating as the nomination contests this year were. The more we learn about what happened, the better we'll understand how parties and the nomination process work -- and the more prepared we'll be for the 2020 presidential race, which, like it or not, begins on Nov. 9.
Bernstein is a Bloomberg View columnist covering U.S. politics.
For more columns from Bloomberg View, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/view.
Approximately 12 F-16s from the 121st Fighter Squadron, District of Columbia Air National Guard, are set to deploy to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, at the beginning of November.
The U.S. Air Force routinely deploys fighter aircraft to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to provide U.S. Pacific Command and Pacific Air Forces with Theater Security Packages, which help maintain a deterrent against threats to regional security and stability.
Movement of U.S. Air Force TSPs into the region has been a routine and integral part of U.S. Pacific Commands force posture since March 2004.
These theater security packages demonstrate the continuing U.S. commitment to stability and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
The final days of show season
A U.S. Marine assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 out of Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, Calif., clears ice off the canopy of an F/A-18C Hornet aircraft from the same squadron, Oct. 20, 2016, during RED FLAG-Alaska (RF-A) 17-1, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. RF-A exercises are vital to maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Eric M. Fisher)
For the first time in years, aircraft from Kunsan and Osan Air Bases appeared on the aprons of Sacheon Base.
On Oct. 20, 2016, an F-16 from the 80th Fighter Squadron and an A-10 Thunderbolt II from the 25th Fighter Squadron landed at the annual Sacheon Airshow to provide static support to our Republic of Korea Air Force partners.
Over the next four days, children and adults alike stopped to take photos with the pilots and aircraft, ask questions, and learn about the capabilities the United States brings to the peninsula.
The ROK maintains F-16s in their fleet, so the 8th Fighter Wing has the privilege to bring even more firepower to the fight, said Capt. Matthew Alexander, 80th Fighter Squadron pilot. We work together to be able to deter aggression from any potential adversaries we may encounter.
While the U.S. F-16 units fly in conjunction with ROK F-16s, the A-10 is strictly an American asset.
The 25th Fighter Squadron offers one of the best means of close air support here, providing sustainment of the front lines in the event of war, said Staff Sgt. Jason Crowell, 25th Aircraft Maintenance avionics system craftsman. One of our first priorities would be the search and rescue of downed Airmen, in which the A-10 is truly in a class all its own.
Showcasing these two aircraft alongside our Korean partners creates a unique opportunity for our host nation citizens to see how closely our two nations work together.
Its been a pleasure working with the ROKAF representatives to be a part of this airshow, said Alexander. Its been a great opportunity to build even better relationships with our community.
The sentiment was shared by ROKAF as well.
Despite all difficulties, we were able to overcome it with the cooperation of all sectors, said ROKAF Lt. Col. Soon-Guen Bae, Sacheon Airshow planning chief. I would like to express my gratitude of the participation of the United States Air Force.
The airshow, which was attended by more than 260,000 people, featured 33 static aircraft displays and more than eight performance teams, including the ROKs premier air performance team, the Black Eagles.
Many gathered around in anticipation as F-16 Fighting Falcons soared into the sky during a Range Day event here, Oct. 21.
Range day is a yearly event coordinated by the 35th Operations Support Squadron, allowing Misawa personnel and families to spectate F-16s drop bombs and strafe targets at the Draughon Range.
This event is unique to Misawa, said 1st Lt. Jorden Simons, a 35th OSS intelligence analyst. Compared to other United States Forces Japan bases, we are the only base in Japan with a live air-to-ground training range.
Simons said the purpose of the event was to demonstrate the combat capability of the 13th and 14th Fighter Squadrons as well as displaying the many uses of the Draughon Range to personnel.
There are few chances to actually show those who are not directly involved in the mission here in Japan what it looks like when the bombs actually hit targets, Simons said.
Although air-to-ground tactical demonstrations were the main focus of the event, there were also other organizations present to show their capabilities.
Weather, aircrew flight equipment, explosive ordnance disposal and many other shops also displayed their equipment to the public, letting them get a closer look at the devices implemented in the Misawa fight.
It was very awesome! said Karen Humphrey, mother of Capt. Shea Humphrey, the 35th Operation Support Squadron chief of intelligence weapons and tactics. It is nice to see the comradery between everyone and see how the different units contribute to the mission. It was awesome to see the jets up close and personal [as they flew by].
Updated : Mar 10, 2020 in Culture
Some Things You Need to Know About Pakistani Culture - In the previous article I discussed the history, the system of government and its economy,
NORMAL In 1935, Sinclair Lewis wrote It Can't Happen Here against a backdrop of rising fascism and approaching war in Europe and its impact on America.
Monday night at Illinois State University's Westhoff Theatre and about 50 locations in 24 states an adaptation of the novel-turned-play was presented against a backdrop of a contentious presidential campaign confronting issues similar to those that arose more than 80 years ago.
Although the program stated any resemblance of the events in the play to current events is purely coincidental, the reading of that line prompted murmured laughter from the crowd that filled the theater.
It's scary how close it is to some elements of the current campaign, Sally Parry, associated professor of English, said before the performance began. By the end of the novel, there's a war with Mexico.
In the play, a three-way race splits the vote, allowing an extremist named Buzz Windrip to become president with the backing of a group called the League of Forgotten Men and the protection of supporters who call themselves the Minutemen.
A key character is Doremus Jessup, a liberal Vermont newspaper editor who starts out thinking Windrip could never be elected then slowly comes to the realization that he can't be stopped.
Lori Adams, co-director of the play, described it as an amazing story because of how timely it is and how Sinclair Lewis was worrying about the same things we continue to face.
She said the presentation is timely because the divide seems so deep in the current campaign.
Both sides refuse to see their candidates' flaws and refuse to see the positives of the other candidates, said Adams.
Monday's presentation was a new adaptation commissioned by the Berkeley Repertory Theater, which thought an election-themed performance during a highly contested election would be a good idea, explained Parry, executive director of the Sinclair Lewis Society.
The major lesson to be learned is, in a democracy, it is important to be aware of what candidates are really talking about and be involved in the political process, she said.
Noting that these days, you hear people say, 'I don't like either candidate, so I won't vote,' Parry said the message of the play is to stay educated and stay involved. That's part of living in a democracy.
The performance was a staged reading, with 15 actors taking on about 50 roles. It was presented on a sparse stage with a simple backdrop, no props and folding chairs in a semicircle.
In a rousing speech, days before the election, Windrip tells his followers, You are officially forgotten no more and says, Anger fueled our Revolution. We are harvesting that anger.
Jessup's son tells the editor that even if they don't like Windrip, they need to understand why others support him.
The truth for you may not be the same truth for the average man, he said.
At another point, one of the townsfolk says, They all lie all of them. There's not a single politician in the country who can tell the truth and get elected.
Adams said it is the job of journalists to dig deep and inform the public and it's the job of the public to then read this and, with great thought, make decisions based on facts.
PONTIAC The failure of a Livingston County woman's lawyer to call several witnesses during her murder trial on charges that she killed her foster daughter in 2011 denied her a fair trial, claims her new attorney.
Heather Lamie of Cullom is serving life in prison for killing 4-year-old Kianna Rudesill, who was placed along with her three siblings with the Lamie family by the state.
At Lamie's 2014 trial, State's Attorney Seth Uphoff told jurors that the girl's traumatic injuries were the result of abuse by her foster mother.
Defense witnesses said Kianna had a history of harming herself, including a pattern of banging her head.
Dr. William Puga, the Streamwood doctor who treated the girl for mood disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder, testified that he had never seen such severe head injuries in children who banged their heads.
Lamie's new defense lawyer, Josh Rinker, contends in his post-conviction petition set to be argued Dec. 6 that Lamie's previous lawyer, John Coghlan, failed to call several critical witnesses during the trial, including people who saw the child injure herself.
Annalisa Greer, a former caseworker at The Baby Fold who testified at an abuse and neglect hearing related to Lamie, has firsthand knowledge of the girl's self-destructive behavior, claims the defense motion. The caseworker's report was barred from Lamie's trial, but Coghlan did not attempt to locate the caseworker to testify, Rinker argued.
The defendant's daughter, Breanna Lamie, has information that could support Lamie's denial that she hurt the child, Rinker argues, but Coghlin did not call the daughter as a witness. Breanna saw the foster child cut herself with a knife, according to court records.
Jurors also did not hear from four members of Lamie's church who may have seen the victim hit her head on a pew shortly before her death, Rinker contends in his request for a new trial.
The defense also renewed its request for a new sentence for Lamie based on arguments that a life sentence was not an option at the time Lamie was sentenced in February 2015. In 1999, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down mandatory life sentences for a people over 17 who murder a child under 12 because it violates the single subject rule of the Illinois Constitution. That rule prohibits legislators from combining more than one element in a single provision.
Still in effect is the law mandating life for child killers who kill more than one person. Current Illinois law makes Lamie eligible for 20 to 60 years on the murder charge, contends her defense lawyer.
NORMAL At least one local legislator will attend a town hall meeting Thursday about Connect Transit's funding woes.
State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said he'll "attend and be there for as long as I can." The meeting is scheduled 6 to 8 p.m. in the Normal City Council chambers on the fourth floor at Uptown Station.
State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, said he won't be at the meeting due to a prior commitment in Iroquois County, but will send a representative to speak and listen.
State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, and state Rep. Keith Sommer, R-Morton, are also expected to send representatives, said Connect Transit Business Development Manager Melissa Chrisman.
My representative will have the factual information about what were up against and relay to my constituents that I understand the problem and that were working on it, Barickman said. If there are specific ideas the people in attendance raise, I expect my staff to relay those to me.
Connect Transit hopes the public will turn out to speak about how losing bus service would affect them. The Bloomington-Normal mass transit service is facing a January shutdown after state funding was shut off this fall.
The system has released digital infographics and other media encouraging riders to contact Gov. Bruce Rauner, Comptroller Leslie Munger and legislators. Citizens to Ensure Fair Transit, a local advocacy group, helped make an online form that uses an address to direct a form letter to the user's legislators.
Written comments will be accepted at Connect Transit's office at 351 Wylie Drive in Normal or info@connect-transit.com.
Barickman and Brady said they've both heard from many constituents about the funding problem.
The resolution in the big picture is passing a balanced budget, Barickman said. In the short-term, we plan to work with the comptrollers office. ... What Im hearing from their office is it could be December before funds are paid out. Thats not ideal. They may be things we could do in the legislature meanwhile.
Barickman said one solution is allowing the comptroller's office to release funds only to transportation systems in desperate need. The office is legally mandated to pay every system at once, he said.
In theory, that could be changed," Barickman said. We dont know yet whether the mood is there in Springfield.
No action is expected before the legislature's fall veto session, which begins Nov. 15.
Brady emphasized that the issue is one of several presented by the state's revenue shortfalls.
"We are working on this as a priority, but we have other priorities in the state, and our pension payments and general state aid payments to K-12 schools are also priorities, he said. Its my hope we can calm the fears and advise folks we continue to do everything we can.
SPRINGFIELD Supporters of a proposal to create a lockbox for transportation funds say an amendment to the Illinois Constitution is necessary because the General Assembly too often diverts money meant for roads and bridges to other purposes.
But critics of the proposed amendment, which will be put to voters Nov. 8, point out that the new rule wouldnt just apply to the state. Local governments also would be restricted in how they could use revenue collected from local gas taxes, vehicle stickers, parking meters and other transportation-related sources.
Many local governments use a portion of their road tax proceeds to help pay for their operating costs in collecting (taxes) and administering their governments, said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a Chicago-based budget watchdog. This will put into a constitutional question whether they will be able continue to do that.
Resolving that question could result in lawsuits that would likely have to go all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, Msall said.
The Illinois Municipal League, which lobbies on behalf of cities and villages across the state, has not taken a position on the proposed amendment.
Executive Director Brad Cole said the groups board heard a presentation at recent meeting from Citizens to Protect Transportation Funding, a coalition primarily composed of road builders and labor unions thats backing what it calls the Safe Roads Amendment.
There were several questions and inquiries that we are gathering more information about to answer concerns that mayors had, Cole said earlier this month, and in the interim, we have not taken a position on the proposal.
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, which is responsible for regional planning in northeastern Illinois, has also raised questions about the proposals impact on municipalities.
Many local governments in the region raise revenues from the transportation system that are not always directly reinvested in transportation improvements, including vehicle registration stickers and local option motor fuel taxes, the agency noted in a recent memo to board members.
But local leaders in some downstate communities arent concerned about how the amendment would affect them.
Decatur City Manager Tim Gleason said the city already devotes its local gas revenue to road projects. The City Council in February approved new charges of 5 cents per gallon of unleaded gasoline and 1 cent per gallon of diesel.
Reserving the money for road projects was my intention when I presented and proposed it to this council, and I know this council has every intention for it to remain dedicated to local roads, Gleason said.
Bloomington City Manager David Hales likewise said the amendment wouldnt present any problems for the city, which collects a 4-cent local tax on each gallon of gasoline and charges a 0.75 percent use tax on residents' vehicle purchases.
I dont see how that constitutional amendments going to impact us on either one of those, Hales said, adding that Bloomington uses the revenue to pay for transportation-related expenses.
The amendment would also ensure the maintenance of state roads that run through the city, he said.
Mike Sturino, president and CEO of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association and a spokesman for Citizens to Protect Transportation Funding, said municipalities should be commended because the vast majority are already doing what the amendment would require of all units of government in Illinois.
In nearly every case in local government, the revenues spent on transportation far exceed the revenues generate from transportation-related activities, said Sturino, a former village attorney and administrator. The localities are already doing the right thing.
BLOOMINGTON The need of families is increasing in McLean County, which is why Home Sweet Home Ministries and Midwest Food Bank are asking the community to donate more turkeys for Thanksgiving this year.
The agencies announced at Midwest Food Bank on Tuesday a goal of 2,000 turkeys to feed 10,000 people in the 2016 Give Thanks campaign. The annual campaign is for turkeys and boxes of ingredients for side dishes to be distributed to people in need for their Thanksgiving dinners.
Last year, 1,675 turkeys and meal boxes were distributed before Thanksgiving.
"Every year, the need increases," said Mike Hoffman, Midwest Food Bank director of operations.
"The increasing need is a reflection of increasing costs of food, housing and other expenses," said Matt Burgess, Home Sweet Home chief operating officer. Wages don't always keep up for people in low-wage jobs, he said.
The misconception is that people who wait in line for a turkey and meal box are lazy, Hoffman said. In fact, some are between jobs and others are working minimum wage jobs, which makes it difficult for them to afford a turkey and trimmings for their family, said Hoffman and Burgess.
Closing of Mitsubishi Motors North America in Normal increased the need, Hoffman said.
Distribution for families in need will be at 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 19 and 2 to 6 p.m. Nov. 21 at the food bank, 1703 S. Veterans Parkway, Bloomington. Individuals are asked to bring a photo ID to receive a meal box but don't need to pre-register, Burgess said.
"We believe that people who need this type of assistance are the people who come for this assistance," Burgess said. "Some folks just need a little help. And that's what we're about."
People who wish to help may do so in the campaign that began Tuesday and concludes Nov. 21. Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco and Vale Church are selling $15 turkey cards which people may buy, with proceeds going to purchase the turkeys.
In addition, people may purchase and deliver turkeys to the food bank or Home Sweet Home, 303 E. Oakland Ave., Bloomington, during business hours.
Checks also may be written to either agency, with "Give Thanks 2016" on the memo line and donations are being accepted at www.hshministries.org and www.midwestfoodbank.org, said Home Sweet Home CEO Mary Ann Pullin.
The good news is 2,000 boxes of ingredients for side dishes have already been received, thanks to congregants from seven Bloomington-Normal churches and others who donated food during Big Give Sunday on Sept. 18, Hoffman said.
"But we still need 2,000 turkeys," Hoffman said. "That's a lot."
As McLean County residents reflect on their blessings, the goal will be attained, Hoffman and Pullin said.
"What better way to enjoy Thanksgiving than to give to someone else," Hoffman said.
Two one-acts that share a common thread opened over the weekend in Illinois State University's Westhoff Theatre.
While The Coffee Bar is set in Egypt in the 1960s and The Walls takes place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, sometime in the past," both plays focus on the plight of an individual who has been trapped, and whose prospects of escape are grim, at best.
Gina Cleveland assertively plays the role of the Producer in The Coffee Bar." It is up to her to determine which plays will make it on to the stage, and what changes the author must make to the text in order for this to happen.
She initially appears friendly toward the Author, who is enthusiastically portrayed by Daija Nealy.
However, as their meeting progresses it becomes obvious that the Producer has her own agenda and is willing to go to extremes to get the Author to bend to her will and change the script, calling the Author a dog and threatening her.
When asked, Do you believe in these changes or are you giving in out of fear?," the author ultimately acquiesces to the Producers demands, unable to resist the prospect of being paid for her art in cold, hard, cash.
During the act break, the setting changes from a lavish office to a modestly furnished bedroom with a sitting area.
Samantha Gribben has designed a set that seamlessly transitions from one play to another, establishing not only a change in location, but a shift in tone, as well.
In The Walls, the Usher (Ryan Groves) shows the Young Man to the room. I was expecting to find a cell, responds the Young Man who is portrayed with pathos by Daniel Esquivel.
Having been brought there against his will, the Young Man hangs on every word of the Functionary (Daniel Balsamo) when he comes to visit him. Although, never articulated by the Functionary, it becomes clear that the news is not good, and the fate of the Young Man swings in the balance.
Both of these plays are examples of the Theatre of the Absurd genre, where the lines of reality become blurred, and questions about the vagaries of human existence are posited to the audience.
Believe it or not, electrical stimulations or shock devices are still being used among special needs kids. The Judge Rotenberg Center, a residential facility in Massachusetts, is widely known to use these shock devices to control or regulate the behavior of their special needs patients.
There have been numerous calls for the facility to end the practice, citing that it is akin to torture and human rights violation. In May, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a ruling that shock devices should already be banned, via Regulations.Gov. However, the public is still awaiting the results of this proposal.
Disability Scoop reports that six U.S. senators have written FDA Commissioner Robert Califf with regards the proposal. The senators call the practice done by Judge Rotenberg Center staff as "outrageous." Thus, they are asking for an immediate end to using shock devices to control special needs patients.
A petition lodged on Change.Org also calls on the ban of these devices. A former staff at the center alleged that the administration has reasoned out that the shock devices have been FDA-approved and were deemed a safe means for treatment and behavior control.
Based on what the petitioner has witnessed, however, the special needs patients only end up being physically and emotionally hurt and traumatized. They also incur "bloodied scabby injuries" from the electric stimulations.
Among the shock devices used against special needs patients at this center is the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED), which is attached to the head. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights reports that this shock device has multiple stimulations, but it is of lesser voltage than the Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) device. The ECT is apparently used in mental health facilities.
Judge Rotenberg Center is a science and technology-based residential facility for people with special needs. It has both children and adult patients, who are subjected to the same rules and procedures. It has been in operation since the '70s.
Patagonia, a California outdoor gear and clothing company, has operated for more than three decades while offering the best work-life balance for its workers. In recent years, it has improved on its child care program, so much so that it has able to retain 100 percent employment of its working mothers.
Quartz reports that Patagonia's remarkable 100 percent retention rate for working mothers is even higher than the whole of the United States' work force, which currently sits at 79 percent. Many of these women even hold management positions at Patagonia. However, even male workers are also benefiting from the company's support for working parents.
What the company did was to establish an in-house daycare center for employees with children. This child-care program, which is already running for 30 years, has actual teachers. Some of these teachers are bilingual to cater to multicultural families.
So, as the parents work in Patagonia, their children are within the office premises being cared for and reared by professionals. Families having lunch together is a common sight at the office cafeteria. It also also common to see parents use their break times to visit their kids at the childcare center for some minutes of reading or play.
If an employee has to travel for work, the company also pays for the nanny. If not, one of the center's teachers can tag along on the business trip to tend to the employee's child. These benefits are so remarkable that the parents don't miss out on quality time with their children even if they are at work.
The New York Times recently profiled Patagonia's founder, Yvon Chouinard. A lover of the outdoors, the head of the company has always believed that work-life balance is vital and that family is the priority above anything.
When Chouinard formed his company, he did so by hiring friends. When his company grew, so did his friends' families. That's when the company recognized that it should be supporting what the family needs, instead of cutting down on benefits. Learn more about Patagonia in this video below.
A six-year-old girl did not just defend her brother for being called weird at school due to being autistic but she spoke to many and sent a strong message for those who have the condition. The girl penned a statement about the matter saying that she would like it if disabilities such as autism would be taught in school for more kids to be aware.
The six-year-old girl, who's reportedly from the United Kingdom, was identified as Lex Camilleri. She wrote a letter in order to raise awareness about the disability of her brother after a classmate said that her brother is "weird." She told the child who said that her brother is weird that her sibling has autism but the former child did not know what the disability was, CBS News reported.
In the letter, Camilleri said that she felt very sad because of what the girl in her class said about her brother. She added in her short but powerful letter, "I would like it if we could learn about all disabilities in schools so that everybody understands that some people are different." She noted that despite the differences, all people should be treated the same.
The letter was posted by her mother, Sophie, on her Facebook page on Oct. 10. The photo has since become viral and has been shared almost 30,000 times. Her mother said that she is very proud of Camilleri that she has a view to change the way other children look at people with disabilities.
Sophie continued to reveal that her daughter wanted to talk about "Disability Awareness In Schools" that is why she wrote the letter. The handwritten letter has since been submitted to the school where she is studying, New York Daily News reported.
The National Autistic Society's Facebook page also shared the post. Sarah Lambert of the National Autistic Society said that they agree with Camilleri whole heartedly adding that it is an incredible thought coming from a six-year-old.
A father from Fresno, California was sentenced to 1,503 years in prison for repeatedly raping his daughter. The crime took place in the course of four years and the sentence is said to be the longest known sentence handed down in a court in Fresno.
The man was identified as 41-year-old Rene Lopez. He was found guilty last September of 186 felony counts of sexual assault that included dozens of counts of rape of a minor. CBS 8 reported that the rapes were from May 2009 to May 2013. The teenage daughter was reportedly raped two to three times in a week. He also impregnated his own daughter but paid for her abortion, confirmed Judge Edward Sarkisian, Jr.
The girl was able to muster up the courage to leave her father and the abuse came to an end subsequently. However, she was still harassed by Lopez as authorities said that he drove to his daughter's new home and left love songs on her voicemail. Lopez was eventually arrested in November of 2013 when his daughter reported the abuse.
Fresno prosecutor Nicole Galstan said in a statement that Lopez ruined his daughter's teenage years and made her feel like it was her fault. The teenager was first sexually abused by a family friend before her father did the multiple rapes. Galstan added that instead of protecting his daughter, he turned her into a piece of property to satisfy his sexual needs.
The daughter of Lopez is now 23 years old. She said in a statement, "When my father abused me, I was young. I had no power, no voice. I was defenseless," People reported. Lopez reportedly never showed remorse of what he did to his daughter and when he spoke in court, he never acknowledged her presence.
Lopez was initially offered 13 years behind bars in exchange for a guilty plea. He rejected the offer. He was offered to serve 22 years in prison if he confessed to the charges but he contended that he should be released from jail because he served time from his arrest. Lopez also said in a letter to the judge that he did not get a fair trial and that his daughter lied.
Aside from the 1,503 years sentence, Lopez must also register as a sex offender. What are your thoughts about this appalling story? Feel free to share your comments below.
The search efforts for the missing daughter of one of the members of The Piano Guys was dropped by authorities as they have no leads or any trace of her whereabouts or the reason of her disappearance. Despite this, her family is hopeful and is not giving up that they will eventually find her.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the 21-year-old missing daughter was identified as Anna Schmidt, the daughter of The Piano Guys' member, John Schmidt. She has been missing since last week in Columbia Gorge of Oregon.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, the massive search to find Anna has been cancelled. She was last seen by her roommate in Portland on Oct. 16 and was reported missing on Oct. 19. She moved to Oregon from Salt Lake City in July this year. She is known to be an avid hiker. Her car was found unoccupied parked off Interstate 84, which is near Bonneville Dam and the Tooth Rock Trailhead.
It is believed by authorities that Anna went out to hike in one of the many trails in the area. She reportedly just purchased a new tent and a backpack. It is believed that she might have been injured or was not prepared well enough because the weather at the trails is extreme and not average.
Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson said in a statement that more than 150 miles of the trails in the area were search as of Sunday and more than a dozen agencies have joined the three-day search efforts. Ground crews, aircrafts and dogs were deployed in the search.
The volunteers came from agency units from Multnomah, Washington, Clatsop, Clackamas and Hood River counties. The search efforts were cancelled because there were no signs or any lead regarding her whereabouts. They will resume the search efforts if they receive any type of development.
The mother of Anna said that she does not think her daughter is still alive. The mother added, "Honestly, that brings me comfort knowing she is with her Heavenly Father, that she's not hurting, that she's not suffering. But we do want to find her body." Her father also said that they are not giving up and are organizing their own efforts to try and look for Anna, New York Daily News reported.
Anna is said to stand 5'44" tall and is 125 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone who has information is urged to call 911.
The sound that wakes parents in the middle of the night may not be part of a horror movie but might as well bring about apprehension and anxiety. Famous pediatrician Harvey Karp partnered with the MIT Media Lab to aid parents in getting over this nightmare.
Although the sound of a wailing baby might be considered as normal as changing diapers or preparing formula, sleepless nights still bring about frustration. Karp designed the smart crib, SNOO, along with the director of MIT Media Lab's Laboratory for Social Machines Deb Roy and Jawbone designer Yves Behar.
QZ highlights Karp's initiative to promote longer sleep for the entire family. Postpartum depression, roadway accidents, and infant death will definitely drop as a domino effect.
SNOO recreates the atmosphere in a mother's womb, thus, resulting to a pacifying effect on the infant. The swaying motion has been designed to soothe a fidgety baby in less than a minute.
Itechpost features the smart crib's ability to capture the infant's cries and determine what type of special sound can relax and bring the baby back to sleep. In addition, the crib is provisioned with a blanket that will hinder the baby from falling over.
The director of the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center at Seattle Children's Hospital, Maida Lynn Chen, is concerned that SNOO will be too expensive for single parents and those without leave benefits. These are the group that most likely needless fatigue.
SNOO is outlined for use until the baby's six months. With a market cost of $1,160.00, financing plans have been made available to those who are unable to pay upfront, The Washington Post reports. Shipping will start on November 1 of this year and will be available for pre-order.
Watch here below a demonstration on how SNOO may help put your baby to sleep:
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The top reason that Apple's iPhone 6 mania swept the globe back in 2014 was because they introduced their first phablet to go toe-to-toe with Samsung who pioneered that category. Samsung laughed at Apple's late entry into this category believing that they owned that segment lock, stock and barrel. They made the very same mistake that Steve Ballmer did when Apple's iPhone first came to market. Ballmer openly and heartedly laughed at Apple's new gadget and yet he laughs no more. While Samsung tried to play it down, the fact is that in 2014 Apple smashed South Korea's record for a foreign company selling smartphones. They took 33% market share that year, easily overtaking LG and dropping Samsung down from 60% to 46%. Samsung's smartphone sales, and more importantly profits, plummeted for two years running after the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. To this day Samsung's Heir Apparent was hoping that the "Galaxy Note7 would outflank the iPhone 7 and it wasn't meant to be. The Note7 was rushed to market to beat the iPhone 7 and cutting corners led to the Note7 battery crisis and demise of this year's Note smartphone; a complete derailment.
The LG G5 Modular Smartphone Dies a Painful Death
As we noted earlier, LG was the other smartphone looser in 2014/2015 when Apple's iPhone 6 mania swept the globe. In an effort to regain their place in the sun, LG also took a big gamble this year when they introduced their bold new LG 5, the "World's first smartphone with modular expandability." An idea that they borrowed from Google's failed moonshot known as 'Project Ara.'
According to the Korean press today, LG has unofficially killed their modular smartphone concept and will return to a standard smartphone structure for their 2017 G6 smartphone. Insiders say that they will be abandoning the 'Modules' framework.
The report further noted that "LG Electronics was not able to achieve results that it expected because need for modules was not really needed when people had actually used the G5. There was inconvenience in removing and attaching modules and users had to buy additional devices."
They also noted in their report that "Sales of the G5 were very low as there was a problem regarding production yield due to the more complicated module structure. Even LG Electronics admitted that the G5 was not a success and it led to huge change in executives who were responsible for development of G5."
Samsung Seeking the Holy Grail of Smartphone Designs
With the demise of Samsung's Note7 due to never ending reports of exploding phones, Samsung was trying to maintain a brave face and announced that their new Galaxy S8 would introduce dual cameras like the iPhone 7 Plus, no Home Button and the world's first 10nm processor. The also hinted that they might introduce a foldable smartphone to excite the market with. Then two weeks ago another Samsung foldable phone patent came to light with more advanced models being contemplated.
Last week a new Samsung patent surfaced at USPTO that revealed a more advanced scrollable smartphone/tablet/TV. This is Samsung's third major patent on the subject. The first two could be reviewed here and here. Their third patent which was filed in the U.S. in February 2016 and published last week illustrates a more refined idea for a scrollable device.
Samsung's patent FIGS. 12 to 15 noted below are views illustrating content being displayed on a display area as a flexible display of an electronic device is being withdrawn or retracted
Samsung's patent notes that "This type of flexible display may be used in an electronic device such as a TV, a mobile device (smartphone), tablet PC and the like." Interestingly, they place a lot of emphasis on a scrollable TV. For example, they note that "a flexible display may be mounted on a main body of a TV such that it may be withdrawable or retractable, thereby realizing a wall-mountable TV.
When the TV is turned off, the flexible display may be rolled into the main body of the TV, thereby not exposing a display area to outside or exposing only a small portion of the display area to the outside. When the TV is turned on, the flexible display may be withdrawn or retracted from the main body of the TV, exposing the display area of the flexible display to the outside.
In order to withdraw or retract the flexible display from the main body of the TV, a user's force may be used to pull the flexible display or a driver may be used configured to automatically withdraw or retract the flexible display from the main body of the TV."
Whether it's mobile and/or stationary, the marketing angle may be that either or both will relate to a next-gen television.
Also noted in the Korean tech press today was Qualcomm announcing in Korea that their next generation G5 modem would be available for smartphones either in late 2018 or 2019 in that country. Samsung and LG are expected to be able to take advantage of this first and Qualcomm talked about being downloading a 1.5GB film in just three seconds flat.
So bendable and scrollable smartphones (and other devices) are on Samsung's mind as they seek a new form factor that could provide them with a longer standing edge over Apple that they lost when the iPhone 6 Plus phablet came to be.
Will Samsung be able to find another another home run in the coming years ahead to take on Apple's iPhone or will all of their fancy patents be sold in the form of a coloring book of fantasy inventions for children? Only time will tell.
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The recently elected president of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, the son of a Hitler-fleeing Jewish father and a Swiss mother, consecrated his family as well as Peru to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the National Prayer Breakfast held in Lima last Friday at the Swisshotel of San Isidro. The annual event is usually attended by business and political leaders of the country, but this was the first time in thirty-one years that the president attended.
By the authority vested in me, I make an act of consecration of myself, my family and the Republic of Peru, to the love and protection of Almighty God through the intercession of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Kuczynski stated. The president asked God for forgiveness for his personal sins from the past, as well as those committed by the Republic of Peru; including all decisions taken that were contrary to Gods commandments. (Translation from CNA).
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was born in Lima in 1938 in the district of Miraflores. A well known economist, politician, and public administrator, he first ran for president in 2011 and lost. He won this year by a very small margin, upsetting Keiko Fujimori who believed she had the victory secured. He was sworn in on July 28th, Perus independence day. Kuczynski worked at the World Bank in the USA and returned to Peru eventually to become the General Manager of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru. He served as Secretary of Energy and Mines, Secretary of the Economy, and Prime Minister for various past governments.
Interesting family trivia of the president is that his brother-in-law Harold Varmus received the Nobel Prize in 1989, and his first cousin Jean-Luc Godard is a well-known French-Swiss film director.
I pray that Perus new president will continue to guide the country towards peace and prosperity. May he pay attention to the needs of the poorest and the marginalized, while conducting all business with transparency.
I am rarely left as speechless as I was upon reading this post by James Riley. Riley is upset with evangelicals like Max Lucado who have come out publicly against Trump. Riley calls them Pharisees.
The #NeverTrump movement is defined by this Pharisee spirit. It is chock full of it. Texas pastor Max Lucado is a great example.
What did Lucado do? He spoke out against Trump, accusing him of being a man who holds up a Bible one day, and calls a lady bimbo the next. Riley says Donald Trump called a bimbo a bimbo, making it no secret where he stands on appropriate ways to talk about women. Bear in mind that Riley wrote his piece in August, before Trumps comments on sexual assault, and that Lucidas comments were made the previous March. But I want to look at Rileys piece nonetheless, because his Pharisee accusation is worth digging into.
Riley describes those evangelicals who reject Trump as Pharisees:
Another of my Pharisee correspondents on Facebook wrote this about Donald Trump: If you are unconvinced that a foul mouthed, arrogant, strip club and casino owning, philanderer who boasts about being able to shoot people in the streets without losing voters, is immoral then Im not really sure where to go with this conversation. Yet another invoked scripture in his rejection of Trump: And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Riley responds to the allegations his friends have raised against Trump as follows:
Lets take a few of these, one by one, starting with wagering. The Bible, folks, doesnt say much about gambling. Our pious ancestors in New England used lotteries to build churches. If your only objection to Donald Trump rests in casino ownership, you really would feel right at home with the Christ-killing band because you have imbibed legalism as doctrine. Foul mouthed? Im guessing you havent read scripture with any real scrutiny, because when God gets angry, He doesnt hold back. His prophets call harlots harlots. His Son called religious hypocrites, white washed tombs full of dead mens bones. Vipers. Sons of the Devil. But even if you value a polite tongue, and thats your virtue, dont begin comparing that virtue to being courageous in the face of Islamic jihad. I will take a foul mouth defender of life over a church-sitting coward any day. Arrogant? I always get a kick out of people who spend all day in some corner of the bureaucracy, who never need to make a sale, who never need to appear confident, because they get paid every day, whether they do anything useful or not. Donald has to convince people a skyscraper is worth building, folks. You are mistaking confidence, faith even, for arrogance, because youve never had to really make a sale. Try it sometime, and see if you can do it without boosting your confidence and risking looking a little arrogant. Strip clubs and philandering. I wont make any defense for that, but I would ask you to look to yourselves. Do you buy television cable services from a company that also offers pornography? Do you stay in hotels with adult content on their television screens? Is your stock portfolio scrubbed clean of anyone who profits from soft porn? Whats in your wallet and where are you spending it? The press has been watching Donald pretty closely now for 18 months. Have you seen any philandering stories? I havent.
None of this gets to the heart of peoples concerns about Trump.
Im going to move past the discussion of gambling, though I suspect that Riley is the sort of person who is all about rules when its an ordinary churchgoer who violates them, rather than a braggart billionaire turned politician. Next, Riley confuses arrogance as confidence. Theres a difference. Add to this that Riley apparently thinks Trump is being just like God (or something?) when he derides and belittles those around him. Thats . . . just weird. And finally, the last paragraph reads as rather humorous, coming as it does in the end of October, after the release of Trumps 2005 tape and the women who have come forward in its wake.
But I dont want to dwell on Rileys excuse-making. Riley writes that:
And I would ask you to look to your Bibles again. God uses some pretty gritty characters to work His glorious and sovereign will. Jacob was a trickster who lied to his father. Abraham had wives and concubines. Samson kept a harlot. Solomon had hundreds of concubines. Peter betrayed Christ. Saul of Tarsus, was a murderous wretch. You actually know all about that, but when you see a flawed man, in the flesh, you act just like a stoning torch mob, and you wont even admit it.
Why do I get the uncomfortable feeling that Riley would be the first to join a stoning torch mob if the individual in question was a gay man or a woman having premarital sex, rather than a rich and famous real estate developerunafraid to snub and use those around himwith his name on the Republican ticket?
Look, Jacob paid dearly for lying to his father. Abraham paid dearly for doubting Gods promise that Sarah would conceive and taking a concubine to bear his heir for him. Samson paid dearly for being indiscrete with Delilah, who had been sent to learn the secret of his strength. As for Solomon, while it was expected for a king to have wives and concubines, Solomon allowed his to turn him away from God, and, once again, he paid dearly for thisGod literally tore his kingdom apart. Peter bitterly regretted betraying Christ, and while Saul of Tarsus did persecute Christians, he underwent a dramatic conversion and become a changed man before God used him to spread the gospel as the Apostle Paul. That transition was a painful (and long) one. Im surprised Riley didnt mention David, but he, too, paid dearly for his sin.
I get the feeling Riley doesnt actually read his Bible very carefully, if he could throw out that list of names and then so flippantly suggest that Trump is somehow equivalent to them. When has Trump ever faced consequences for his actions? The men on Rileys list suffered ostracism from their parents, the loss of children, death, and the destruction of their kingdoms. When has Trump experienced any of this as a result of his misdeeds? Then men on Rileys list were either separated from God or underwent often dramatic conversions, their lives and even their personalities changing to meet Gods needs. When have we seen any of that happen with Trump? We havent.
Yes, it is consistent with evangelical beliefs to argue that God uses flawed people. But there are a couple of problems with using this argument in defense of Trump. Trump has neither repented verbally of his past actions nor changed his present behavior. Trump has made his career screwing people over, he has never expressed any regret or admitted wrongdoing, and he does not appear to have stopped screwing people over. Trump isnt a flawed but otherwise well-meaning individual. Trump is flawed to his very core.
But lets return to Riley:
Jesus knew all about this dismissive, self-righteous character of ours. He knew our nature. He knew theres a Pharisee spirit in us that takes pride in being faithful to our wives, even as our horn-dog spirit wrestles with Donald Trumps beauty pageants. Are we righteous, or just jealous? When the harlot adorns Jesus feet with precious ointment, are we accusing or praising God for forgiveness?
Oh interesting. It appears that Riley wrote his piece only for men, with his comment about taking pride in being faithful to our wives while our horn-dog spirit wrestles with beauty pageants. Could someone please let him know that women exist, and that we read blogs too? And let me just say that this bit does not make me think well at all of evangelical men, if Riley is a fair representation. The way he writes this makes me feel like an object that exists for either being faithful to or wrestling with. It makes me feel icky. Im not a piece of meat, Im a person.
But theres a bigger problem here. Trump is not the harlot who adorned Jesus feet with precious ointment. Or is Riley really suggesting that Trump is a marginalized member of society who faces derision from the rich and powerful and ostracism from most others? Jesus did not defend the rich and powerful. No, he defended the poor and at-risk. When a rich man came to him wanting to be his disciple, Jesus told him to go and sell all of his possessions and give them to the poor. The rich man never returned.
What does it mean to be a Pharisee? As Riley uses the term, and as I heard it used growing up, it meant to be legalistic and judgmental of others. It meant to believe that you were better than others, and to believe that the letter of the law was more important than the spirit of the law.
Besides, where was this torrent of calls on evangelicals not to judge when the governor of North Carolina passed a law barring trans people from public restrooms? Where was it when evangelicals condemned Lawrence v. Texas, lamenting that gay men could no longer be arrested for having consensual sex? Where was it when a teenage Tina Anderson was sent across the country to bear her baby in shuttered silence? Where was it when Trayvon Martin lost his life? Why is it that evangelicals only seem to call on others not to judge when the person in question is wealthy, white, powerful, and male? What about the poor and marginalized whom Jesus spent so much time defending? Why is it acceptable to judge those at the bottom, who are often already struggling, while evangelical or conservative leaders can do terrible things and still get a pass?
Once again, lets return to Riley:
Donald Trump is more righteous than you think. He wants to protect you from Islamic zealots. He wants to protect your right to defend your families with firearms. He even wants to exempt your pulpits from IRS tyranny. He wants to end the death tax, so you can pass on your farms and your family business to your children. He wants to lower your taxes. He wants to protect the lives of unborn children and appoint Constitutional judges. But you and Max Lucado dont like his style. Your priorities are all mixed up, just like the people who killed Christ.
Ouch.
Speaking of mixed up priorities, though, I dont remember the New Testament saying anything about resisting taxes, or about guns, or about protection. In fact, Im pretty sure Jesus and Paul both instructed their followers to pay their taxes. Im pretty sure, too, that Jesus told his followers to turn the other cheek when someone caused them offense, which rather speaks against the focus on guns and protection here. Whatever happened to you shall know them by their love? When did evangelicalism morph into you shall know them by their political conservatism? Actually, I know the answer to that. It happened over the course of the twentieth century. It wasnt pretty, and was sometimes a calculated ploy by political activists.
Are you curious how Riley responded to the 2005 Trump tape earlier this month?
So spare me your indignation, Paul Ryan, at Donald Trumps crude hot mic banter. Any honest man in America has heard that sort of thing, dozens of times, and so have most women. Does it represent our best and brightest moment? Of course not. Is it a crime against women? Get a life. This is precisely the sort of crude comedy that earns Sarah Silverman a spot at the Democratic National Convention.
Riley doesnt know what consent is, or why it matters, and thats scary.
[The Apostle Paul] even said that anyone dumb enough to attempt to please God by cutting off his foreskin should go ahead and cut the whole thing off. (That sounds something like Paul grabbing them by the p***y, doesnt it? Would Paul Ryan approve?)
Um. Riley? Youre scaring me, bro. You really cant tell the difference between someone messing with their own genitals and someone messing with someone elses genitals without their permission?! HOW CAN YOU NOT. O_o
In the end, what is a Pharisee, and what does it take to not be one? Id argue that a Pharisee is one who elevates rules over people. The problem is that while Trump may not care about the rules, he also doesnt care about people. Do evangelicals who oppose Trump do so because he breaks the rules, or because he doesnt care about people? That is an interesting question, and would have made an interesting blog post. But that is not the question Riley sought to answer. Instead, Rileys goal was to defend a man who cares about neither rules nor people. And that, my friends, is both terribly sad and horribly frightening.
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Patna: Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma, at a seminar on 'Social Transformation of Bihar through Empowerment of Women of the Marginalized Community: Rhetoric or Reality?' at the A. N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies in Patna on Tuesday said that the fact that women in Bihar were more empowered in Bihar under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was a reality and not a rhetoric.
"Entire India is praising the empowerment of women in Bihar in both urban and rural areas. One must go deep in villages to see the women empowerment in action. In a recent meeting of women representatives from all across the nation in Delhi at the behest of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, women from other states had nothing but praise for Bihar's commitment towards women empowerment," Verma said.
The minister also talked about various social schemes initiated by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar like uniform and bicycle schemes for girls, Kanya Suraksha Yojana, reservation for women in government jobs and Panchayat elections, and imposition of prohibition in the state as examples of the government's commitment towards women empowerment.
The program was jointly sponsored by the Mahila Vikas Nigam and the Gender Resource Center of Bihar.
Mahila Vikas Nigam managing director and the Principal Secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department N. Vijaylaxmi, Gender Resource Center official Anand Madhav, A. N. Sinha Institute Director Prof. Sunil Ray, Center for Women's Development Studies (New Delhi) faculty member Mary E. John, Prof. Neelmani, and Dr. Renu Chowdhary were among others who also spoke on the occasion.
Patna: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi, holding his weekly press conference at his Polo Road residence in Patna on Tuesday, accused the state government of abandoning all road or bridge-related projects in Bihar while saying the Road Construction Minister was utterly inexperienced in dealing with such a huge department.
"For the last three years there had been no new Road Over-Bridge (R.O.B.) work started in Bihar. This is not just rhetoric but is proven by facts. The truth of the matter is, our Road Construction Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav is too green to deal with such a large department. His inexperience is coupled by the fact that his advisors are also keeping him in dark by giving him bad advices," Modi said.
The former Deputy Chief Minister, accusing the Nitish government of putting development of Bihar on the back burner since coming back into power with the help of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress.
"The Chief Administrative Officer of the Railways sent letters to the Chief Secretary and the Secretary of the Road Construction Department on September 15 and September 23 respectively to seek explanation about zero progress in the 23 proposed R. O. B. across the state. However, the government is yet to reply to those two letters," he said.
Continuing his assault on the Grand Alliance government, the BJP leader said that since Nitish Kumar broke ties with the BJP nearly three years ago, the Chief Minister himself kept the Road Construction Department for a year. Later, he handed over the department to his party leader and close aide Lallan Singh. While Singh managed the department for another year, it was once again handed over to none other than Lalu's son Tejaswi Yadav who, Modi said, had zero experience in running any department. "As a result, all the road over-bridge projects have come to a standstill in Bihar," he said.
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UK lifts sanctions on key Iranian bank
10/25/16
Source: Press TV
The British government has announced that it has removed Bank Saderat Iran (BSI) from its list of sanctioned entities. The announcement was made by the UK Treasury which added that the BSI assets had also been unfrozen.
Bank Saderat Iran (BSI)
The Treasury said in a release that the Iranian bank had been blacklisted as a result of nuclear sanctions against Iran.
The decision to delist the bank, it said, was in line with the amended regulations by the European Union regarding the lifting of sanctions against Iran.
The regulations required the sanctions against the BSI to be maintained until 22 October 2016.
"As that date has now passed, Bank Saderat Iran and Bank Saderat PLC are no longer subject to the restrictive measures set out in the Regulation, including the asset freeze," read part of the British Treasury announcement.
Britain has previously lifted sanctions against three other Iranian banks. In January, the Bank of England announced that it had reactivated the licenses of Melli Bank, Persia International Bank and Bank Sepah International - that had been subject to EU and US sanctions - thus allowing them to resume operations in the UK.
This followed the implementation of a nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries - the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.
Based on the deal that was sealed last summer, Iran agreed to restrict certain aspects of its nuclear energy activities in return for measures by the P5+1 to remove certain economic sanctions imposed against the country.
Iran, Bosnia sign economic MoU
10/25/16
Source: Press TV
Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the promotion of business cooperation and mutual investment. The document was signed by the countries' officials in the presence of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the visiting chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bakir Izetbegovic, during a ceremony at Tehran's Sadabad Complex on Tuesday.
BIranian President Hassan Rouhani with the visiting chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bakir Izetbegovic
It envisages the expansion of cooperation among the countries' enterprises and industrial parks.
The Bosnian statesman arrived in the Iranian capital earlier in the day at the head of a high-ranking political, economic, and cultural delegation on a four-day visit.
Rouhani said during the ceremony that, ever since Bosnia's independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992, Iran and Bosnia have maintained favorable bilateral relations.
He said there was peaceful coexistence among Muslims, Serbs, and Croats in the European country, which could function as a proper basis for peace and security there.
Rouhani referred to Islam as the religion of mercy, which he said invited the people of the world toward such coexistence, saying, "The promotion of moderate Islam can serve as a major cultural basis for European Muslims, including those of Bosnia and Herzegovina."
A joint commission to be held in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in December is to examine and finalize the list of the areas of cooperation between the two countries, the Iranian chief executive said.
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The votive candles and roses left at the corner of Vermont Avenue and Olympic Boulevard on Monday, Oct. 24 offered little comfort or answers for Lester Gomez.
His father, Gustavo Green Gomez, 62, stood on this corner in Los Angeles Koreatown just two days before. He had been one of 44 people who climbed aboard the USA Holiday charter bus Saturday night to spend a couple of hours at the Red Earth Casino in Thermal near the Salton Sea.
But before dawn on Sunday, Gustavo Green Gomez became one of at least 13 people who died after the bus they were traveling in slammed into a big-rig on the I-10 near Palm Springs, on the way back to Los Angeles. Dozens of passengers were seriously injured.
Its difficult right now for us, Lester Gomez said through tears as he talked about his father, who lived in Huntington Park. He had 10 children.
Photos: Memorial at Alhambra home of Teodulo Elias Vides who died in crash
Dozens of people who heard about the crash came to Vermont and Olympic to tuck a rose into the fibrous trunk of a palm tree there, to leave a note or a flower or to say a prayer. They would then talk to each other about the many times they met at the corner to board the USA Holiday charter bus bound for Southern California casinos.
Many said driver Teodulo Elias Vides, who was among the 13 dead, was a good driver. Vides, who was from Alhambra, operated his own charter bus and had contracts with the small casinos. He picked people up, including Rosa Cabello, early in the mornings or late in the afternoon.
He behaved well, Cabello, 79, said. He was a good person.
But Cabello said there were times when she saw him gambling in the casinos, when he should have been resting.
It would have been best if he had napped on the bus, Cabello said.
She began taking the bus more than 20 years ago, when she learned about it from residents in her Koreatown neighborhood.
It was better than sitting at home alone, crying, waiting for children to call or visit, Cabello said as she explained why she paid $20 to take the bus to the casinos.
Cabello said she didnt know many of the passengers by name, but realized some of the ones she had traveled with died in the crash. She could have been one of them, she said.
It hurts, she said of those who died.
The National Transportation Safety Board told reporters Monday it is investigating the cause of the crash.
Meanwhile, the crash left family members across Los Angeles County in mourning.
Jennifer Ruiz, 26, called her mother, Rosa Ruiz, 53, a legend.
Ruiz said her mother enjoyed going to the casinos with her girlfriends to relieve stress.
She loved it, she said. Everything she did, she did it with no regret. That was her thing. Some people go to the movies, my mom loved the casino.
Born in Guatemala, Rosa Ruiz had been living in the U.S. for more than 30 years. She worked most of her life, but was disabled in recent years.
She was a mother of three who enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren, her daughter said. She was often dancing, and playing her cumbias.
I loved that woman so much, Jennifer Ruiz said. Its so empty here now, so quiet. No more music playing.
In Echo Park, Ana Gomez de Magallon, 71, lived with one of her sisters, according to her niece, Yajaira Gomez. Originally from El Salvador, Gomez de Magallon was the oldest of five and lived in Los Angeles for much of the 35 to 40 years shes been in United States. Her niece said she went on weekly trips to the casino in Thermal for the past couple of years.
She went there all the time, Yajaira Gomez said. She loved to go gambling.
Zoila Aguilera, 72, of Los Angeles was remembered by relatives as an optimistic and inspiring woman who overcame obstacles and made sure to teach younger generations to do the same.
The active, great-grandmother was on one of her regular jaunts to a casino with good friend and relative Yolanda Mendoza, 69, when the crash occurred. Both women died.
She was tough, amazing. Even in her bad days, it was always a good day for her, said Aguileras grandson, Ricardo Mendoza, 20, who flew in with his family from Ohio after hearing of the collision.
A native of El Salvador who had lived in L.A. since 1972, Aguilera was a cook and caregiver enjoying her retirement, Mendoza said.
Family members on Monday remembered her as an outspoken woman who maintained a positive outlook no matter what.
Any obstacle, she would say: Dont worry about it, recalled grandson Chris Ramirez, 18, who lives with his family in the back part of a duplex next to his grandmothers home in Los Angeles. She told it like it was. And she taught me that hard work pays off.
Jacquelynn Ochoa, a niece who lives in Rancho Cucamonga, said: She would empower everyone.
She always had the time to listen to you, Ochoa said from her aunts home, where two large candles were lit in remembrance inside the living room.
Im so sad. Im going to graduate in December and she wont be here. She was like a second mom to me, Ochoa explained. All my cousins would say the same: She was like our second mom. Aguilera is survived by six children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Meanwhile at the Koreatown memorial Monday evening, Francisca Escobar, 47, of Los Angeles embraced friends and family as well as dozens of strangers.
She placed a candle at the growing vigil, wiped tears from her face and tried to tape a sign to the tree saying RIP Tony.
Escobar said that she learned hours earlier that her boyfriend, Tony Mai, had died.
This time he called me and told me not to come.
She doesnt know why.
Escobar and Mai, who she said was 50, met five years ago on such a bus.
He didnt talk much; he was quiet, she said. But he was caring, she added, her cheeks tear-stained.
During her many trips with Mai to the casino, Escobar, who has diabetes, would lose track of time playing the slots.
Hed bring me food, she said. Hed make me stop playing and eat.
When asked why Mai didnt want her to go with him this time, she shook her head.
I dont know, she said.
Other passengers who died, and were identified by the Riverside County coroners office include:
Aracely Tije, 63, of Los Angeles.
Dora Rodriguez, 69, of Los Angeles.
Concepcion Corvera, 57, of Palmdale.
Milagros Gonzales, 72, of Los Angeles.
Isabel Jimenez Hernandez, 66, of Los Angeles.
Elvia Sanchez, 52, of Los Angeles.
Staff reporters Roxana Kopetman, Stephanie Baer, Christopher Haire, Jason Henry and Alejandra Molina contributed to this report.
Contact the writer: sabram@scng.comTwitter: @sabramLA
Backers of a 1 percent sales tax to support city government services in Menifee are holding an informational meeting Tuesday, Oct. 25, to discuss the ballot measure.
The town hall-styled gathering is scheduled at 6 p.m. in St. Vincent Ferrer Church, 27931 Murrieta Road, in Menifee.
City Council members put Measure DD on the Nov. 8 ballot with the goal of raising revenue that could be used for expenses such as emergency police and fire responses and street and road maintenance and repair.
The revenue would help offset the damage to the citys finances resulting from the states takeaway of its vehicle license fee money in 2011. That decision has cost the city more than $3 million annually.
Approval of Measure DD requires yes votes on 50 percent of the ballots, plus one.
For information on Menifee elections, call the citys elections official at 951-672-6777.
Contact the writer: 951-368-9690 or michaelwilliams@pressenterprise.com
A day after losing her mother, Jennifer Ruiz couldnt fight back tears when talking about the woman who she described as a legend.
But she felt it necessary to let others know how great of a person Rosa Ruiz was.
I want my moms story out there, said Jennifer Ruiz, 26, of Los Angeles in a telephone interview. I want them to know how amazing she was.
Rosa Ruiz, 53, was one of the 13 passengers who died in a Palm Springs-area bus crash Sunday, Oct. 23.
She said her mother and her girlfriends were on their way home from visiting the Red Earth Casino, something she enjoyed doing to relieve stress.
She loved it, she said. Everything she did, she did it with no regret. That was her thing. Some people go to the movies, my mom loved the casino.
Sometimes she would come home (from the casino), and say, Get dressed, were going out, she added. She was amazing. She tried everything possible to make everything whole.
Born in Guatemala, Rosa Ruiz had been living in the U.S. for more than 30 years. She worked most of her life, but was disabled in recent years.
She was a mother of three who enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren, her daughter said.
She would take the grandkids out to eat, volunteer to pick them up from school, and take them outside to play. She enjoyed taking them on train rides, and babysitting them when needed.
Rosa Ruiz liked to have fun.
She was often dancing, and playing her cumbias.
I loved that woman so much. Its so empty here now, so quiet. No more music playing, her daughter said.
Since news of her passing has spread, more and more of her mothers friends have stopped by the house.
Everybody knew her and she knew everybody,she said.
Shes a legend.
Two gofundme accounts have been set up for funeral expenses.
https://www.gofundme.com/2vsrwj8
https://www.gofundme.com/mother-in-law-2vp4qhdn
Contact the writer: 951-368-9462, amolina@scng.com, or on Twitter @alemolina
The German humanistic Philosopher and social Psychologist-Erich Fromm captured the true essence of giving to others when he said:
Giving is the highest expression of potency. In the very act of giving, I experience my strength, my wealth, my power. This experience of heightened vitality and potency fills me with joy. I experience myself as overflowing, spending, alive, hence as joyous. Giving is more joyous than receiving, not because it is a deprivation, but because in the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness.
Dr. Adu Boateng, CEO of EndPoint Homeopathic Clinic with branches in Accra, Tema and Kumasi is on a daily unending mission to help humanity, by providing affordable and sometimes even free healthcare to those in needwhen he can easily forget humanity and amass as much wealth as possible.
Beyond the services of EndPoint Homeopathic Clinic, Dr. Boateng is a donor to many Ghanaian charitable organisations and also operates an in-house charitable initiative of reaching out to the poor which has seen him erect several buildings for the needy across the country, with one his recent being for the Eye of the Lord Orphanage at Nsawam.
I obtained my first degree from the University of Education, Winneba, he toldGhanaCelebrities.Coms Editor-Chris Vincent Agyapong Febiri during a recent road trip from Accra to the University of Education, Winneba, a place he still holds close to his heart.
Not long ago, Dr. Boateng promised to help solve one of the biggest problems facing students who become mothers while studying at the university at the 9th anniversary of the institutions Childhood Care Education Students Association of Ghana (CCESAG), an event he chairedby building a modern Day Care Centre for the University.
The initiative is to support student mothers to be able to attend the needed lectures while their children are taken care of at the on-campus Day Care centreto ensure that female students do not drop out by virtue of becoming a mother.
To achieve it, Dr. Boateng is single-handedly funding a 6-class room Day Care Centre, equipped with an office, a resource centre and toilet facilities which is about to be roofed.
Speaking to GhanaCelebrities.Com, Dr. Boateng stated that, its my wish to see many of our women get higher education and one of the obstacles to this is child birth, even for those who are already in universities.
The moment a student gives birth, she is presented with the difficult choice to either truncate her studies to take care of her child or have the child taken away. Even our mature students face this same predicament, he added.
Dr. Boateng who regards the Day Care Centre to be his small contribution to solving a bigger nationwide educational problem mentioned that this is my alma mater and with time, I will even do more to help with the education of those who will also pass through this place.
Check out videos of Dr. Boatengs 6-Class Rooms Day Care gifted to the University of Education, Winneba.
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Founder and leader of the International God's Way Church Bishop Daniel Obinim has stated that he is a dangerous man of God capable of many things including rigging elections for any party of his choice.
Speaking on OBTV, the pastor who professes to have angelic powers said God has given him the ability to do outstanding things in this world, something he says makes him a dangerous man of God.
"Even Jesus Christ knows I am a dangerous man of God... I can choose to kill five billion people in one night and it will happen", he said.
Touching on the upcoming December elections, the controversial man of God said one of the 'easiest things' for him to do is to rig the elections for any particular party or candidate should he be approached.
He said "for those of you who think you are voting for NDC, NPP, CPP or PPP when you are done voting for your candidate physically, I will spiritually change your vote. If you voted for NDC I can change the vote for NPP and do same for the NDC if you voted for the NPP'.
He added however that because of this ability of his he has warned the various political parties to stay away from him.
Bishop Daniel Obinim has been in the news severally over his 'angelic' claims and capabilities as well as suggestions of his invincibility. He at one point in time spoke of his ability to transform into any animal of his to serve a spiritual need.
Recently, Bishop Obinim has had to battle criminal charges of assault and fraud with the country's security apparatus with the latest being defrauding under false pretense following a gold scam.
According to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service, the man of God allegedly defrauded one Okomfo Gyapata of Mampong Nkwanta near Koforidua of some 11.6 million Ghana Cedis.
Source: ghanaweb
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The police had to be alerted when stunned locals in the town of Murcia, south-eastern Spain, heard a voice coming from a tiny rubbish bin. It turned out that there was a man inside, a Romanian, who had climbed in, apparently mistakenly, thinking it contained old clothes he could take.
According to reports, passers-by, who heard the man calling for help, initially ignored it, suspecting it was a candid camera stunt, but eventually somebody called the police, who turned up and confirmed that it wasnt a stunt and that the man was indeed trapped in the bin.
When he explained that he was stuck, they tried to free him, but failed and in the end had to call in council staff to open the bin manually. This worked and the man was finally freed, without the need to call the local fire brigade.
The Police believe he was probably with an accomplice who would have kept watch outside, but ran off when his friend got stuck.
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, October 24, 2016, began his 5-day tour of the Volta Region with a clarion call to residents of the region to help change President Mahamas government on December 7, and return the country onto the path of progress and prosperity.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, the time has come for us to put people in office who are capable of giving this country a really effective and efficient government, so that we can make progress in our country.
The NPP flagbearer made this known when he addressed Togbui Agamela IV, the acting Paramount Chief of the Peki Traditional Council, in the South Dayi constituency, which was his first port of call in the Region.
The President is going around telling everybody that in his next term, he is going to create jobs. In his next term, hes going to concentrate on agriculture. Everything is in his next term. He doesnt tell us anything about what is going on now.
Hes been in power for 8 years, and apart from the green book, we dont know what else hes been able to produce, Nana Akufo-Addo said.
He assured the Chiefs and people of Peki that it is possible for us to develop rapidly if the correct policies are put in place. We have outlined many of these policies, which are to do with reviving our agriculture, reviving our industry.
Nana Akufo-Addo reiterated his commitment of helping to establish a factory in each of the 216 districts across the country in order for the districts to be the centre of economic activity and growth.
On the rationale for setting up the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme, Nana Akufo-Addo explained that, we (in the NPP) want to change the way the monies of our country are allocated. The monies are not getting down to assist the people to deal with the issues confronting them.
That is why we have proposed that, from the 1st budget of our government, every constituency in the country is going to be allocated directly the equivalent of $1 million a year to deal with basic infrastructural needs of the constituency.
The NPP flagbearer also assured of the effective implementation of the Free SHS policy, as well as the revival of the National Health Insurance Scheme, which, he described as one of the greatest social programmes, not just of Ghana, but in the whole of Africa.
The NHIS, however, in the hands of President Mahama and the NDC is being compromised. The NHIS is in serious decline, and it is my hope and intention that, if the people of Ghana bring the NPP back into office, we are going to revive the NHIS to make it work for everybody, as was the original intention.
Nana Akufo-Addo appealed to the people of South Dayi to throw their support behind him and the NPP, so development, jobs and wealth can be brought to every part of the country without discrimination.
I have come to you here in Peki, and in other areas of the Volta Region to ask for your support. It has not been forthcoming to us in big numbers in the Volta Region. But, I was happy to hear you (Togbui Agamela IV) say that I shouldnt assume everybody is an NDC member here. That is a very reassuring statement for me. I am also hoping we will get many people who will say they are not NDC, and will help the NPP come back into office, he added.
Nana Akufo-Addo, in concluding, assured the Chiefs and people of the Volta Region that the NPP will not be the origin of any disturbance in our country over these elections. He urged the Electoral Commission to also play its role as a fair and impartial referee, as this will enhance the peace and stability of our country.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Yaw Obimpeh, has alleged that the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) was training mercenaries and arming them in neighbouring Ivory Coast.
The motive, he said was to use them to disrupt the 2016 elections and cause mayhem if they were to lose the elections.
Addressing a campaign launch of Mr Samuel Sarpong, the NDCs parliamentary candidate for Nhyiaeso in Kumasi, Mr Obimpeh though he had informed President John Mahama about the ploy, he was urging residents in the Ashanti Region to be on the lookout.
This is because very soon the mercenaries will arrive and stay in the region from where they will launch their attack, he alleged.
He said because the security agencies recently unravelled that the NPP had brought in three South African security experts to train people on how to handle arms to ostensibly destabilise the country and deported them, they have resorted to training mercenaries in Ivory Coast.
Source: Daily Graphic
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Alhaji Sulemana the campaign manager for lawyer Andy Appiah -Kubi the Parliamentary candidate (PC) for the NPP has debunked the story purported to have happened on the 21st of October 2016 at the Agogo Community Centre in the Asante Akyem North Constituency during a program organized by the NCCE which was pasted on the Ghana web" Andy Appiah--Kubi exposed".
The story is totally false, lies, unfounded and untrue. The story alleged that Andy Appiah --Kubi called for his supporters to cause mayhem at the grounds of the said program. The campaign manager asked " How can a candidate who wants to win the upcoming election failed to use the occasion to explain his vision to the people but rather caused mayhem as suggested by the story?"
The story further alleged that lawyer Andy Appiah--Kubi did say that the MP of the area Kwadwo Baah Agyeman has misappropriated health insurance funds allocated to the communities. According to the campaign manager Andy Appiah--Kubi never said that but rather explained how he will use the funds if voted into power to the benefit of the aged and the under 18years of age as demanded by law.
The story further noted that Rev Father Adusei Poku of the Catholic church wanted to intervene to stop the PC from walking away from the community centre unceremoniously after he has caused the mayhem. The PC never attempted to walk from the program unceremoniously for which will called for the Rev father to intervene. Alhaji sulemana has advised the MP who he suggested is behind the publication to desist from such act.
Alhaji Sulemana rhetorically asked "Are you the only person who has lost his seat? Stop defaming the PC and the party that has made you who you are now. On the said program according to Alhaji Sule the MP rather walked in unceremoniously to cause confusion and campaign for the NDC candidate after which he was shouldered by the NDC supporters which infuriated the NPP supporters but the police quickly took him away from the program for the continuity of the program.
Source: New Crusading Guide
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Mr Isaac Asai Odamtten, the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive has dismissed the prediction of the UK based research group- the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), that President John Dramani Mahama would lose the December 7, general election.
He said President Mahama, Flagbearer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) would win the elections to shame the EIU.
We have seen predictions like this before, In 2012, for instance when Professor Adu Bonna, based in the United States predicted that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo was surely going to win the election, he told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.
Mr Odamtten said the electoral victory for Nana Akufo Addo of the New Patriotic Party was one of the erroneous predictions of the EIU.
He predicted that just like how the NPP Presidential Candidate lost in 2008 and 2012 elections, he would lose again in 2016.
Source: GNA
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Campbelltown Arts Centre and Sydney Festival will be working together to exhibit a collection of works from Myuran Sukumaran, an artist who, along with one other member of the Bali Nine, was executed by firing squad in Indonesia for drug trafficking.
The show, entitled Another Day In Paradise, will have over 100 of Sukurans paintings, including some gut-wrenching self-portraits he painted in his last few hours before execution.
Co-curated by Campbelltown Arts Centre Director Michael Dagostino and Sukumarans close friend Ben Quilty, it will also feature commissioned artworks from Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Safdar Ahmed, Megan Cope, Jagath Dheerasekara, Taloi Havini, Khaled Sabsabi, and Matthew Sleeth that will explore themes surrounding the death penalty and the transformative power of art:
Were honoured to present Myuran Sukumarans first major exhibition and to place his work alongside leading Australian artists. Myurans story is proof of the true potential for art to change lives, even in the most extraordinary circumstances. A contemporary art gallery in the heart of Western Sydney, we are pleased to present an exhibition which explores one of the most complex but important issues of our time.
Quilty said he had invited Indonesias president Joko Widodo and hoped that it would have an impact on him:
I hope that all political leaders around the world who still advocate for the death penalty will get a copy of the catalogue that we make for this exhibition, and will see the humanity in it and the absolute waste of human life. Myurans artistic practice was sacred to him: Despite being faced with the most barbaric act of execution, Myuran maintained the most extraordinary dignity. It speaks a lot to the human condition and even more to the practice of art, he found solace in it. For Myuran, painting was his religion.
The show will run from January 13th to March 26th, which will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the hanging of Ronald Ryan, the last man to be hanged in Australia.
Photo: Getty Images / Jason Childs.
In all likelihood, in your job sucks. Not to say that your job is bad and you should be ashamed of it, but like, going to work is a drag. Youre giving five perfectly good days a week to sew merkins or launder diapers or whatever it is you do, and for what? Money? Because you have to? Its not a great deal.
Wouldnt it fuckin suck the hugest of asses if it turned out you were giving your precious goddamn lifeblood to these bloodsucking monsters (your boss might be great, Im just assuming), and they were stiffing you right where it hurts: the pay cheque?
Luckily, theres a way for you to find out. In response to some recent stories revealing absolutely criminal (literally criminal) underpaying of backpackers in Australia, the National Union of Workers threw together a handy little tool for figuring out if your job is hunky dory or just a bloody rort.
Just chuck your deets into this little tool right here, and gird your loins for some angry letter writing if it turns out your employers are actually assholes.
Source: News.com.au.
A backup dancer who has worked with some of the biggest musicians in the world has gone missing in the US, and stars like Rihanna and Missy Elliott are desperately looking her.
Shirlene Quigley has previously worked as a backup dancer for RiRi, and the superstar has this afternoon has posted a video to Instagram pleading with her fans to speak up if theyve seen her.
In the video, Quigley speaks of a world where everyone treated each other like family:
Imagine if we treated each other like we all really came from the same family. I know people probably think Im crazy because Im always telling everyone I love you! I love you! Because the minute that I meet somebody I do love them because I know in my heart and in my spirit that thats my brother and my sister, thats my neighbor. If I make a connection, a relationship whether it be one minute, one year or the rest of my life, if you are in my life, I love you.
Rihanna calls the dancer a beautiful soul and begs fans to contact North Bergen Police Department in New Jersey if they have seen her.
This beautiful soul, and former dancer of mine is MISSING!!! My heart aches thinking of how heavy this is on all who love her! If anyone has seen or has any information on @shirlenequigleys whereabouts .. PLEASE CONTACT the North Bergen Police Department 201 392 2100 !!!! A video posted by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Oct 24, 2016 at 5:37pm PDT
Rapper Missy Elliott has posted a similar photo, with a collage of images of Quigley:
Quigleys extensive career as a dancer took off after she was featured as a dancer in Beyonces 2003 music video for Crazy In Love with Jay-Z. She was also in Rihannas S.O.S video in 2009, and has also danced in many of her shows.
According to People, the dancer was reported missing after she failed to call her dad, which she always does at 6pm. He told police that shed recently made a strange comment, saying to a friend,
Get ready, its about to happen and Im going to need you to sub for me.
She was last seen getting on a bus in New York City, and police have found her phone in a bridal store in Chelsea. She was reportedly wearing a pink jacket and 3-4 inch heels.
Source: Instagram / People.
Photo: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty.
It is coming close to nine years since Heath Ledger died, and that is an extraordinary fact to process.
He died of a fatal and accidental drug overdose on January 22, 2008, after a now well-documented obsession with his second last role as the Joker in The Dark Knight.
Now one of the police investigators who responded to the 911 call has told Page Six that Ledgers New York City apartment had been turned into a shrine to the villain.
The unnamed police source told the publication that when officers arrived at the scene, they found his apartment filled with Batman comic books, literature on the Joker and clowns, small clown statues and recordings of Ledger practicing his oddly shifting Joker voice in high and low octaves.
They found that the Oscar-winning actor had delved deep, deep into his characters origins.
He was studying the origins of clowns and all of the previous Jokers like Jack Nicholsons character and Cesar Romeros, who was the first Joker on TV, the source said. He was trying to make his role different from the roles of the other actors. He was even studying how to make his voice different from theirs.
The source also noted that Ledgers apartment was immaculately clean.
He was a perfectionist who clearly had a lot of respect for the character. All of that stuff was very tidy. He cared a lot about it.
Ledgers official cause of death was acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine, the result of a deadly cocktail of painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs.
It occurred just a few months after he finished filming The Dark Knight.
One day, not too long from now, well all be living in a world where Heath Ledger has been dead for longer than hes been alive, and that will never not be weird.
Source: Page Six.
Photo: The Dark Knight.
Imagine walking into your crib to find a loaf of mouldy bread thats been covered in crusty dog shit. Logic tells you that there couldnt possibly be a singular human whod be motivated to smear crusty dog shit on a mouldy loaf of bread, but there it fucking is sitting on your granite bench-top, stanking out your kitchen.
Alas, logic has failed you. Just like how itll fail you when trying to comprehend why internet trolls behave the way that they do, because if there was a digital way of covering a mouldy loaf of bread in crusty dog shit, theyd be dropping it in your comment thread five minutes ago.
Research conducted by Federation University (the first of its kind in Australia, FYI) has THANKFULLY answered some of the Qs surrounding whats making internet trolls tick. Sadly, however, it was launched after the death of Charlotte Dawson in 2014 who, after tirades of online attacks, took her own life.
Spearheaded by the unis psychology researcher Dr Evita March (youre doing the lords work, Dr March), the study surveyed close to 400 people and uncovered several attributes that Facebook trolls usually possess. Additionally, it honed in on who the typical troll is, claiming theyre normally gents who metaphorically jack off / rub their nipples after creating an uproar of mayhem.
They take enjoyment from hurting others, says March.
They have low empathy, are callous and they are higher in psychopathy and sadism They are really motivated by creating this mayhem.
Its almost like a release for some people.
This whole release thang really demonstrates their deviation from basic human behaviour. Like, why cant you just masturbate like the rest of us?
March reckons one in three people admit theyre guilty of trolling in some capacity, but only 10% of those surveyed believe theyre cyber bullies.
Trying to expose their shitcuntery to the public at large isnt the best way to combat them, cause theyre often operating on fake accounts. Actually, March says being all like, YO, LOOK AT THIS ASSHOLE, can get them even closer to climax.
They are not going to feel shame, they want that attention, its reinforcing.
Her advice, which is a bit *tugs shirt collar*, is to try and ignore a trolls comments.
If we can educate people not to take it personally, thats probably the best first step.
Its about giving people the tools so they can psychologically protect themselves and prevent adverse affects on themselves.
Seeing as the laws and regulations around cyber bullying are in their infancy, we wholeheartedly get where Marchs coming from by suggesting a T-Swift, shake it off approach. However, the idea does have a, just ignore that douchelord on the bus being a racist / sexist / homophobe, kinda vibe to it. If something horrible thats said IRL could potentially lead to criminal charges, trolls should cop the same punishment.
Lock up the trolls pls. Lock them up somewhere out of sight n out of mind. Perhaps we should fang em all into the nearest
DUNGEON LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.
Source: Herald Sun.
Photo: Harry Potter.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has partnered with Flight Centre to get your damn-fine self to Europe as soon as humanly possible. Why? Because theres nothing worse than NOT summering O/S when all your mates are. Dont be the potato whos forced to live vicariously through the Instagram feeds of others book with Flight Centre HERE.
Social media has forced a ferocious deluge of incessant vanity upon us all, which most of us are, yknow, more than happy to participate in ourselves. This is all well and good when its an even playing field, but when someones placed in a position to really go HAM on Insta / Facebook, your feelings can often get the better of you.
Were of course referring to the emotional roller-coaster of grief thats taken us all for a ride when our friends, frenemies and fam are documenting every single frivolity theyre up to while summering in Europe.
Yes, a big ol EAD to those of you who seem to be in a financial position to travel every year whilst simultaneously not having a job because you have enough time to travel EVERY GODDAMN YEAR?!
Walk with me, good person of the internet, as we revisit the turmoil of being stuck at home in the freezing cold when everyone we know is living large in the Euro Zone.
STAGE 1: DENIAL
Kevin, or Kev as hes more commonly know as down at the footy club, lives and breathes da boishhhhhh. His career, relationships and finances revolve around his crew like an inflated-egoed Earth revolves around a were-going-nowhere-with-our-lives, pile-on group of lads who say, damn, son more frequently than they can sink a meat pie.
When a summer Euro trip was broached by the gents one night over frothies, Kev paid no heed to it. You blokes can barely tie ya shoelaces let alone organise a trip, ay, said Kev. In a similar fashion, however, to a biblical miracle, their ambitious banter began to form full-fledged plans and six months later they were off to London.
Kev, understandably devastated, blocked it all out. Theyre just all sick like that time Davo fed us off snags, hed tell himself. Theyll be back tomorr-ah.
But they didnt, and Kev was forced to endure the tall-tales of the footy clubs elderly veterans for six weeks never once accepting, or even acknowledging that he could also be having a boonta time with the boys.
STAGE 2: ANGER
Oh, would you look at this crap. What are they, best friends or something? I, like, invented them you know?
Bridget hadnt stopped criticising her wider group of friends trip to Europe at least, what was being presented of it to her via Instagram since her and her boyfriend had gotten in the car for a Maccas run. Now in the drive-through, Bridget was almost at boiling point.
Charlottes changed, she would never post something like this at home, she remarks passive aggressively.
I dunno, babe. They just look like theyre having a good time, sall, her boyfriend timidly replies.
Bridget turned her head away from her phone to face him so slowly it looked as though shed been instantaneously possessed by an ancient, demonic spirit.
What?
Its just a photo of them at dinner, babe. Just because she posted a photo of her food doesnt mean shes changed, surely?
This point of reason was all it took to send Bridget off the deep end.
YOU DONT KNOW SHIT ABOUT SHIT. HOW DARE YOU? HUH? I CANT BELIEVE YOUD EVEN SAY THAT? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.
The irrational verbal tirade continued for another 30 seconds before being interrupted by a timid voice asking, can I take your order please?.
STAGE 3: BARGAINING
Mike has been desperately flipping between Safari windows on the bus to uni for 30 minutes now. One windows dedicated to hunting down last-minute flights, while the other serves to suss potential avenues of finance in lieu of proper savings. Why didnt he just book tickets to Croatia with the rest of his mates when they were talking about it last year? Because Mikes a dumbass.
The list of questions he asks himself seem endless. Is it worth throwing away half a semester for a trip? Will it be worth paying three times what everyone else has? Will I be able to pay everything back when I return? Why am I such a dumbass?
He begins to bargain, both with himself and the universe: if I do this, Ill overload next semester to make sure I dont fall behind at uni. Ill work extra shifts to clear off the money. Ill give up my left testicle if this pans out.
The stress becomes too much, and upon arriving at uni, he hops on the first bus back home. Ill watch the lecture tomorrow, he lies to himself.
Mike doesnt end up booking the trip because, as mentioned, Mikes a dumbass.
STAGE 4: DEPRESSION
Honey? enquires Tashs mum at her bedroom door.
What? Tash replies flatly, the sound of her voice slightly muffled.
Her mother opens her door and is hit by a wave of dead air. If tears had a smell, itd be just that. Before her lies a lump thats covered by a doona only a tied-up mass of greasy hair is protruding.
Come on, youre being a bit melodramatic now, she says as she peels back the layers of grease-stained blankets to reveal her daughters inflamed face.
You dont understand, mum, Tash says as tears begin to fall down her cheeks.
Okay, then help me understand. Why are you so upset?
Theres a large gap of silence before Tash shifts herself upright in her bed, takes a deep breath of preparation and wipes the tears away.
Okay, so theres this guy I like called John. Like, its not as if I like like him, but you, like, get the picture. Anyway, this girl Kim no, not that Kim, mum, a different Kim went over to Mykonos with Mel and crap. Im, like, friends with her, but not like hell good friends with her, you know? Ive just met her a few times because of Mel. Anyway, Kim and John used to be together nothing serious, they ended because John hooked up with Kims friend at James party but, judging by everyones Snapchats, its back on. Im, like, in a glass cage of emotion, mum. Firstly, I feel like Im missing out on the trip of a lifetime because you and dad were too cheap to pay for it. Secondly, Im, like, fucking pissed at Mel my supposed best friend because she hasnt put a stop to them hooking up and whatever. Lastly, John and I couldve, like, fallen in love while watching the sunset on a Greek Island, mum, and now my life is over.
Tashs mother is speechless. She sits, staring at her daughter, wondering how this FOMO-suffering human is the fruit of her loins.
STAGE 5: ACCEPTANCE
Have we got a story for the final emotional stage for ya? Nope. Lets cut the BS thats leaving you perpetually uming and ahing.
Throw your damn-fine self into the frivolities of #EuroTrip17 by getting amongst Flight Centre including utilising their partner tour groups Topdeck and Contiki by heading HERE.
Photo: Bridesmaid.
WEST PENNSBORO TOWNSHIP--The West Pennsboro Township Board of Supervisors weren't swayed by a packed house of objectors on Monday night during a public hearing on a rezoning request by a developer who wants to build warehouses on 125 acres of land in the township.
More than 20 residents on Monday night shared their concerns about air pollution, plummeting property values, noise, and more--several of them begging for the township supervisors to listen to them and vote to represent the unanimous outcry of their constituents.
But once the public hearing ended and the supervisors began their regularly scheduled meeting, they voted unanimously to approve the rezoning request.
Allen Distribution, located in Carlisle, wants to change the property stretching from Meadowbrook Road to the 1600 block of Newville Road, from residential zoning to industrial zoning--the first step in moving forward with their building plans.
According to Hubert Gilroy, an attorney representing Allen Distribution, the warehouses would add hundreds of jobs and more than $800,000 to the tax rolls.
The township supervisors scheduled Monday night's meeting in September when residents said they were not given proper notification for an earlier meeting in May on the issue. Carlisle attorney Nathan Wolf, who represents one of the residents, had filed a land-use appeal notification indicating the same.
Residents, especially some of those representing the 45 homes that would be most directly affected by the warehouse proposal, certainly took advantage of another opportunity to protest.
"It's starting to affect my family at this point," said Carl Smith, who lives across the street from the proposed warehouse site. "This has become very personal to me."
He said before deciding to buy a house in the township, he researched the zoning it was located in, and was encouraged by a township website that boasted quaint villages, beautiful stone houses, and a seal that included a farm. "This is the type of information I used when I made the decision to move here."
Now, he said, he's fighting a fight he never thought he would--against noise, light, and construction pollution that will come with such a massive warehouse build.
Many others expressed similar sentiments, adding that they were also concerned about how their property values would be affected if the plan moved forward.
Several questioned the need for more warehouses in an area that was already over-saturated with them, and said the workers in the already existing distribution sites come mostly from out of town, which doesn't benefit the local economy.
Those neighbors with asthma, bronchitis, and other lung conditions, were especially worried about how it would affect their health.
Kevin Stewart, with the American Lung Association, said Cumberland County is notorious for being one of the worst counties for air pollution in the association's annual report, and that diesel exhaust, especially, like that coming from tractor-trailer trucks, puts those who are vulnerable, such as children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases, at risk.
"There needs to be a clear, independent assessment," he said.
Following public comment, Nathan Wolf, the attorney representing one of the residents, reminded the supervisors that 50 to 100-plus residents have attended every hearing on this issue, and that "Everyone is saying the same thing."
"We don't have to have any more warehouses," he said, adding "There's a popular decision in front of you. The greatest impact will be felt by those who live in close proximity. I ask you to seriously consider...if you were in their shoes, would you want your supervisors to listen...would you want your supervisors to protect you?"
Board president Gerald Barrick said any rezoning issue decision is "not easy," and that they had to consider both the interest of the applicant and the neighbors that would be most impacted, as well as what would be most beneficial to the township as a whole.
At the other end of the township, he said, there is land already zoned for this type of construction, and said that would be "a bigger nightmare" for traffic, since there is no four-lane highway there.
He also said the fact that the Cumberland County Planning Commission and the Western Cumberland Council of Governments recommended the plan had bearing on their decision.
Supervisors Dan Martin Jr. and Richard Adler did not say anything before or after the vote.
Once a land development plan is submitted, the township planning commission will be tasked with addressing conditional uses and concerns such as noise and lighting levels before the supervisors would vote on approving a plan.
united-kingdom
(Bikeworldtravel via shutterstock.com)
It seems as though the Brexit issues have faded from the news, but I'm still frequently asked how post-Brexit has affected travel to the United Kingdom.
Having recently spent two weeks touring and cruising the British Isles, I can tell you it was full of tourists, mostly Americans. Nothing seemed different. The English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh tour guides only talked about Brexit when asked.
Actually, they were much more interested in hearing our thoughts and learning about "the Donald" and the upcoming election.
As I'm writing this column, the pound-versus-dollar exchange rate is a positive for Americans traveling to Britain. So if you're missing "Downton Abbey" or want to experience an authentic English Dickens Christmas, travel to the UK might be just what you're looking for.
Starting in London
Typically, airfares to London are low from the end of November through the first three weeks in December. (I have found the best rates nonstop roundtrip, Philadelphia-Heathrow, via American or British Airways.)
London is a fabulous city -- but it can be expensive. As long as it's not Christmas week, you should be able to get some good values on hotels, theatre tickets and special dining options.
Beginning mid-November, the early, dark nights show off all the sparkle as festive London Christmas and holiday celebrations take place. Glowing Christmas lights criss-cross the busy streets. Holiday shopping is in full swing. Popular Christmas festivals and decorated Christmas trees are everywhere, and relaxing with a pint in a friendly pub (sitting near a warm fire, of course) is a perfect way to end a day.
Two of my favorite ways to take in the historic London landmarks (and many other sights) is a Thames River Cruise, giving you a different perspective from the water, and the London Hop On/Hop Off Bus Tour. Just be sure to bundle up.
I also loved the London Eye experience. This enormous Ferris wheel takes you on a 30-minute bird's-eye-view tour of London inside an egg-shaped capsule. (If you're afraid of heights or claustrophobic, you may want to skip this.)
Heading into the countryside
If you use London as your home base, you might want to take some time and head to the English countryside or seaside villages. You can take a train (BritRail.com) or rent a car and travel to some of the most stunning scenic regions and stay at beautiful Manor House hotels or family run B&B's along the way.
I love traveling throughout the UK at any time of the year, but if you're looking for something a bit different and oozing with charm, you might want to spend some time in the snow-dusted English countryside during the winter months.
Here are just a few of my favorites - and I haven't even touched Scotland, Ireland or Wales.
The Durham Dales and Blanchland:
The Cotswolds:
Bath:
Tune into Sandy Fenton's show, "Let's Talk Travel with AAA," from 11 a.m. to noon on Saturdays on WHP580. For show information, go to www.whp580.com and click on the link to "Let's Talk Travel."
Joe Biden
Vice President Joe Biden campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the Sinclair Community College Automotive Technology Building, Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
(John Minchillo)
PITTSBURGH -- Vice President Joe Biden, in a Pittsburgh campaign stop on Tuesday, called on voters to embrace Democrats both up and down the ballot on Nov. 8. He also said that after months of rebuking Donald Trump for his controversial campaign-style and rhetoric, he's "finished" with the Republican candidate.
"I bet your parents didn't let your younger brothers and sisters watch the debates, whether they're Democrats or Republicans," Biden told a crowd at Pittsburgh's Chatham University.
"I have four granddaughters, and I was embarrassed by the crass words he used. Talk about dumbing it down."
Biden was referring to Trump's graphic comments about groping women in a now-infamous Access Hollywood recording. Trump maintains his comments were not confessions to actual deeds, but rather hyperbolic "locker-room" banter. He also denies subsequently revealed allegations from nearly a dozen women who claim he sexually assaulted them in real-life.
Biden, who is working on behalf of Trump opponent Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and those of other Democratic candidates for down ballot Senate seats, has spent months criticizing Trump for his rhetoric on everything from immigration to Islam. And on Tuesday, he continued the attack, while appearing increasingly exasperated by the subject and the tone of this campaign.
"This man [Trump] is thoroughly unqualified based on his conduct and abuse of power and lack of substance and lack of knowledge. He lacks the basic knowledge needed to be president of the United States, and so I'm finished with Donald Trump," Biden said.
His dismissal comes as Clinton maintains a sizable lead over Trump in the polls, polls which Trump disputes. It also comes as Clinton herself turns the focus of her campaign toward ensuring the election of down ballot Democrats for Congress in states like Pennsylvania.
Democrats only need four seats and the presidency to reclaim the Senate.
In a Pittsburgh campaign stop over the weekend, Clinton blasted incumbent Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) for his failure to explicitly condemn Donald Trump after a string of campaign controversies.
And in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Biden did the same, urging voters to also elect Toomey's opponent, Democrat Katie McGinty, to replace him, saying Congress has been rendered "almost non-functioning as of late" and could use an infusion of new blood.
He used the Senate's failure to confirm Obama administration Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, as proof, calling it an "abuse of power" and an abuse of the Republican Party's majority.
Biden, while calling Toomey a "decent guy," linked him to that "abuse of power" as an incumbent Senate Republican. Biden also said Toomey's failure to disavow Trump equaled support, adding, "Silence is consent."
Biden also blamed Trump for monopolizing media coverage of this election, saying, "Because of the outrageous and from comical to ugly things Trump has said from the primary to today, the press has had no choice but to lead the top of the news with these things. And so what happens is he undermines the notion of what a democratic election is supposed to be about. It's supposed to be about debate. ... And nobody really has heard much about the issues in this campaign. Think about it."
Trump, meanwhile, blames the press for helping Democrats to rig the election against him, a call he continues to mount with some success and with just weeks left before Election Day.
UPDATE:
An accident has closed PA 283 westbound between PA 772/Mount Joy and Clover Leaf road.
All lanes are closed.
For more traffic information, follow live traffic updates, accident reports and road closures below from PennDOT, Total Traffic Network and other Twitter sources.
Get a look at conditions on local roads -- via PennDOT traffic cameras -- anytime here on PennLive. For Pennsylvania Turnpike updates and possible travel delays visit the Turnpike website here.
Tweet us at @pennlive with any incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.
Eric Trump.jpg
Eric Trump, second from right, met with members of the Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania State Lodge in Harrisburg Monday afternoon.
(Eric Veronikis)
HARRISBURG - Eric Trump met in private with a group of police officers as he stumped for his father, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in the city Monday afternoon.
When asked why he didn't want the press to hear his conversation with about eight members of the Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania State Lodge, Trump said the police wanted to have a "comfortable" discussion with him.
That didn't appear to be the initial intent, since media was invited to cover the meeting.
After he attended an impromptu campaign rally at the state Capitol building, media was invited to attend his second Harrisburg stop at the FOP headquarters along North Front Street at 3 p.m.
After arriving about 30 minutes late, Eric Trump walked in and told the group his dad has their backs and would fight for their interests as commander in chief.
He blasted Obamacare and said he never realized higher health care premiums stemming to the federal universal healthcare plan would hurt police.
Then, the conversation ended, in front of the press away.
After about 10 minutes of back-n-forth with the FOP, Trump asked the media in attendance to wait outside so he could speak with the cops privately. When he emerged about 20 minutes later, he took questions outside.
"You guys did b-roll for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, I think (the FOP) wanted to have a frank conversation, give me their insight," Trump said of why he called for the closed-door meeting. "I think it was really nice conversation. So obviously, I think they appreciated having you guys in there. And obviously, you know, just wanted to have a comfortable conversation."
When the conversation turned to the strained relationship between police and the community, Trump called the continuing friction "the toughest conflict in the world."
President Barack Obama has not "done any wonders" to help quell the volatile relationship, he said, adding that politicians have caused many of the problems that exist between the public and the police.
Trump promised his dad would work to bring the two sides together.
"You have to bring law enforcement, they have to have respect for the communities. Communities have to have tremendous respect for (police). They have to have respect for the churches, because they play in such a tremendous way. You saw that down in Charlotte," he said.
So how does Trump feel about his father's faltering poll numbers?
When told many polls suggest Donald Trump has a tough road ahead to the Nov. 8 election, Eric Trump said maps are all over the place; some even have his dad ahead by a few points.
"We're bringing states that have never been won by a Republican into play. Look at Nevada, look at Wisconsin. Look at Michigan," he said. "This isn't a campaign; this is a movement. My father's created a movement. People are sick and tired of career politicians."
Former high-profile attorney Karl Rominger of Carlisle will now serve an additional 20 months in prison on federal tax evasion charges on top of the 5-and-a-half to 18 years he is serving for stealing more than $767,000 from clients.
Rominger, 43, shackled and clad in a rumpled orange prison jumpsuit, was sentenced in federal court Tuesday morning after pleading guilty in July to tax evasion and failing to file tax returns.
Judge Sylvia Rambo ordered Rominger, a former member of Jerry Sandusky's defense team, to pay restitution of $317,602 to the IRS, with interest waived. He will also be on supervision for two years after his release.
Rominger told the judge he apologizes to the court, U.S. "and all my other victims."
"I ask for the court's mercy at this point. I have a lot of money to pay back," Rominger said. While he said he won't be able to return to work for some time, he added, "But I intend to pay it back."
Calling his tax crimes "blatant and repeated," Rambo sentenced Rominger to 20 months on the first count and 12 months on the second count, to run concurrently with each other, but consecutive to the current state prison term he is now serving in Somerset County.
While Rominger's attorney William Costopoulos had asked for the sentence to run concurrent with the state prison term now being served, Judge Rambo disagreed.
"This is a different crime," Rambo said, with a "great need for deterrence."
She echoed U.S. Attorney Joseph Terz's comments in arguing for additional prison time. Terz said a concurrent sentence would give Rominger "a pass" for the offenses he committed against the U.S.
Deterrence is "especially important in tax cases because so few are filed and pursued in this country," Terz said, due to the time they take and lack of IRS resources.
Terz said Rominger, who opened his practice in 2000, did not file a federal tax return since that year.
While operating a high-profile law practice, being a member of the state and county bars associations, and having a radio talk show giving advice to callers, "he was not paying a single penny to live or work in this country," Terz said.
Terz recommended the minimum sentence of 27 months, to be served after the current sentence Rominger is serving. The maximum could have been six years.
In reducing the sentence to 20 months, Rambo said she felt it was "sufficient without undermining the need to punish."
Of the sentence, Terz said "We're satisfied."
Costopoulos had asked for the sentence to run concurrent with the prison time Rominger is now serving.
"We accept responsibility," Costopolous said, telling the judge Rominger chose not to file tax returns after 2010 because he knew he had stolen clients' funds, and didn't want to file a false return. He said he did file from 2006-2010.
With reductions allowed, Costopolous also said Rominger's state prison sentence will be a minimum of four years and seven months, followed by 18 years of probation and supervision.
"He was a good lawyer," Costopolous said, who had high-profile clients and also those for whom he did pro bono work. But Costopolous said the prosecution has not shown that Rominger impeded or obstructed justice.
In the throes of a gambling addiction, he said Rominger brought the fact he had cheated clients out of an estimated $800,000 to the attention of the Cumberland County district attorney. After a two-year investigation, he said they determined the amount was $776,000.
For the last two years he was practicing law, Rominger slept on the second floor of his office because he had lost his home, Costopolous said.
"No one knew the dark side of his personal life," he said.
Costopolous asked the judge to allow Rominger to be returned to state prison in Somerset County as soon as possible, since he wants to be present for job assignments that are going to be made.
After the hearing, Costopolous said "I understand the reason for the sentence being imposed. I look forward to Karl Rominger starting over some day."
"I do believe his apology to his clients and the government was sincere," Costopolous added. He is not planning to appeal.
Rominger was accused of misdirecting an IRS agent who asked for information on the bank accounts used to operate his law firm, Terz has said. The IRS found the funds in accounts under other names, Terz said.
In August he was sentenced to 5-and-a-half to 18 years in state prison in Cumberland County court on charges he stole more than $767,000 from 18 clients.
Rominger has admitted using the funds to feed his gambling addiction. Some of it was taken from non-profit Bethesda Mission that helps the homeless in Harrisburg.
About $574,000 of the funds stolen from victims was paid back from the Pennsylvania Lawyers Fund for Clients, First Assistant Jaime Keating said in August.
Rominger surrendered his law license after Cumberland County authorities began investigating him in 2014.
Disbarred attorneys have to wait a minimum of five years before applying for reinstatement, Elaine Bixler of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has said. The reinstatement process takes another year, with review by a hearing committee coming before the final say by the state Supreme Court.
Capitol Aircraft
In this April 15, 2015 file photo, a member of a bomb squad checks a small helicopter after a man landed on the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington. Officials plan to destroy a helicopter-like aircraft that made headlines when its owner flew it on to the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in 2015 as a political protest. A U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman says the craft's destruction will likely occur within weeks. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
(Manuel Balce Ceneta)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Officials plan to destroy a helicopter-like aircraft that made headlines when its owner flew it on to the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in 2015 as a political protest.
A U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman says the craft's destruction will likely occur within weeks.
The craft's former owner, Florida resident Douglas Hughes, pleaded guilty to operating a gyrocopter without a license for his April 15, 2015, flight in the bare-bones aircraft to the Capitol's West Lawn.
Hughes agreed to forfeit the aircraft as part of a plea deal and was sentenced to four months in prison. He finished his sentence earlier this month according to the Bureau of Prisons' website.
Cars, boats, planes and other property like jewelry and artwork that are forfeited to the government as part of a court case can be sold. But Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said in an e-mail Monday that the gyrocopter's "sale would not be appropriate considering its role in his irresponsible and unlawful act last year."
In flying from Gettysburg, Pa.to the U.S. Capitol, Hughes violated airspace restrictions around the nation's capital -- some of the most restricted airspace in the nation. Hughes said his stunt was a way to call attention to the influence of big money in politics and protest government corruption.
A mailman at the time of his flight, he was carrying a letter for each member of Congress. He had a Postal Service logo on the tail of his aircraft.
HARRISBURG--State officials toured a sinkhole-ravaged block in Harrisburg Tuesday morning and announced that they had identified enough disaster relief money to be able to buy out all the homeowners on the block.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development in June identified the sinkhole area as a priority for $8.5 million in disaster relief federal housing money. At that time, it was unclear if the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would approve the state's amended action plan to include the sinkholes.
During the tour Tuesday, DCED Secretary Dennis Davin said he received word last week that the amended plan was approved. That means the project has the final approval required to try to acquire and demolish all 53 homes in the 1400 block of South 14th Street.
"I've never had the opportunity to tour the area," Davin said, explaining his presence on the block Tuesday. "We've worked very closely with HUD to identify funding."
The amended plan earmarks $8.5 million to address the Harrisburg sinkholes as well as three flood-damaged areas of the state. Davin did not know how much money from the $8.5 million would go to the Harrisburg sinkholes, because he said it would depend on how many homeowners applied for the voluntary program.
"We are still evaluating the numbers," he said.
Davin also did not know how much money would go to the other three competing projects across the state.
If the pot of $8.5 million ends up being insufficient to complete the Harrisburg sinkhole remediation project, Davin said his office has "no problem going back to get additional funding."
The money comes from unspent disaster money originally approved in 2013 for damage related to Tropical Storm Lee. City officials worked with engineers who tied the sinkholes to Lee.
The state money for the sinkholes would be in addition to $2 million in pre-disaster mitigation money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address the sinkholes.
The FEMA grant is supposed to cover the first phase of the sinkhole remediation plan, buying and demolishing about 25 homes at the center of the block. The center of the block was the most severely damaged from a giant sinkhole that erupted in March 2014.
The state money would go to acquire and demolish the 28 remaining homes on the ends of the block and to convert the entire area into green space.
An official with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said he planned to schedule meetings with residents through the mayor's office in the next two weeks to begin filling out aid applications.
Applications from residents in the center of the block would be processed first, said Stephen Bekanich, a PEMA spokesman.
A handful of residents attended the tour Tuesday, pointing out damage to properties and sharing their stories of living in fear and limbo for more than two years. Their homes became virtually worthless overnight after the sinkhole ripped open the center of their street.
The biggest sinkhole opened directly in front of Sheena Mosley's home. She had to evacuate immediately and live in a hotel for 26 weeks with her four children.
Mosley later found a townhouse for her family, where she has had to pay more than $1,100 a month in rent for more than 18 months while her paid-off home sat vacant and deteriorating.
Mosley on Tuesday said the concrete porch in front of her home had sunk even further into the ground due to a 15-foot chasm underneath while other smaller holes have opened up across her lawn.
A neighbor's cinderblock basement, meanwhile, is disintegrating, Mosley said. Once it collapses, it will act as the first domino to fall, she said, pulling down other basement walls from connected homes.
Another resident said she has had to replace a second-floor window twice after it broke from the house shifting. The window was broken again Tuesday and cracks were visible along the facade of her house leading to the window.
The tour led by City Council President Wanda Williams on Tuesday was announced by DCED Monday night, giving residents and the mayor's administration, little notice.
When Mayor Eric Papenfuse learned of the planned announcement Monday night, he advised against it, saying that financial details had not been finalized and residents needed to "be informed and prepared for media coverage."
DCED proceeded with the event despite his objections and absence.
Williams said she has been meeting with officials from DCED and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency in recent months to help coordinate the rollout of the emergency grants.
gavel.jpg
(File)
WILLIAMSPORT -- A former co-defendant has implicated the man on trial accused of gunning down a man in a blaze of gunfire on a Williamsport street in 2015.
Cosme Berrones, 21, of Williamsport, Monday gave incriminating testimony on the first day of the Lycoming County court trial of Terence X. Perez.
Berrones last week pleaded guilty to charges of third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.
The defense questioned whether a plea agreement that calls for a sentence of 12 to 25 years was the motivation for his testimony since he would receive an automatic life term if found guilty of being an accomplice to first-degree murder.
Berrones testified he agreed to testify because "I feel bad for what I did. I should be punished like everybody else."
He admitted he initially lied when interviewed by police but said he told the truth Monday and when he testified at Perez's preliminary hearing.
In her opening statement, First Assistant Public Defender Nicole J. Spring claimed credibility of the witnesses would be an issue in the trial.
Perez, 22, is charged with an open count of homicide in the May 11, 2015, shooting death of Jamil Bryant, 21, outside his home in the 400 block of Anthony Street.
In his opening statement, District Attorney Eric Linhardt told jurors the shooting followed an all-day argument that started when Bryant shorted another man three grams of marijuana and that individual wanted $60 back.
The argument escalated into a fist fight, during which Bryant displayed a handgun, he said.
Brandon Love, another co-defendant who is awaiting trial, exchanged angry phone calls and text messages with Bryant on behalf of the other man, Linhardt said.
Perez, who got involved after Bryant threatened to kill Love and his family, commented that Bryant was not the only one with guns, Berrones said.
Berrones testified he drove Perez to his home after 7 p.m., where he removed an ankle monitor to create a fake alibi. Perez was under supervision for a 2013 drug conviction.
From there, Berrones said, he drove Perez to a storage unit, where he got a rifle Linhardt described as an AK-47 type.
Berrones said he later drove Perez, with Love in the car, to the Anthony Street area and, after dropping him off, heard what he said sounded like firecrackers.
When Perez returned to the car, Berrones said, he remarked he had shot him "in his muffin," which Linhardt explained is street talk for head.
Later, according to Berrones, Perez asked him to "let me know when that pussy died, I'll be able to sleep better at night."
Retired city police Lt. Arnold Duck Jr. testified Bryant was hit 13 times and 16 casings were found in the area of the shooting. Two houses and a car also were struck, he said.
Berrones hid the rifle in his basement and later told police where to find it.
Perez left the city and was arrested about three weeks later in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He is being held without bail, as area Love and Berrones.
The trial could last into next week.
We have to hand it to "MMM-hmmm-mmm, I'm Nathan Carter", AKA Mr. Wagon Wheel himself. We did not have high expectations for this and were pleasantly surprised.
'Republic of Telly' returned to RTE2 last night and, along with their excellent 'Irish Fans Who Can't Come Home From The Euros' sketch, pulled out another fantastic pisstake of James Corden's 'Carpool Karaoke', this time featuring Ireland's own country crooner Nathan Carter.
Bonus points also need to be awarded for shoehorning Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh in at her manic best.
The kings of Judah had special duties to shepherd the nation according to the Law of the Almighty. They should have rescued the needy and the oppressed from the hands of those who abused them. They were not to be agents of violence against the weak. If they ignored the Law of the Lord of Israel, their land would become a desolation. Though Jerusalem was precious in the Lords sight, He would make it an uninhabited city. He would appoint destroyers who would come against them and humble them. But if they instead obeyed the Word of the Lord, then all would be well with both the king and the people of Judah.
How could a man be a truly great king? Was the Lord pleased more with Josiah or with his sons and grandson who were the final kings in Judah? Was God impressed with a king who built the most glorious edifices? In the case of the great king Josiah, he led the nation in true repentance. We are told that he did justice and righteousness, and it went well with him. He judged the case of the poor and needy with equity. He used the authority of his station in order to bring justice to those who seemed to have no power. When he reigned in this way, he demonstrated that he truly knew God.
Josiah's descendants did not follow in his good example. They had their hearts set on dishonest gain. They shed innocent blood and pursued a determined course of wickedness. Could they expect that everything would go well for them?
Jeremiah brought a message of devastation for both king and people. One of the sons of Josiah would have no more honor on the day of his burial than one would expect to find at the death of a donkey. Josiah's grandson would be so utterly rejected that God announced, I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die.
Having the right king is a very important matter. Jesus is our leader. We have been brought into the kingdom of God through a Man who was a servant of the weak. He came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)
This great Kings death is at the center of our faith. Though there were many in Israel who showed profound disrespect toward Him, no one would ever be able to take away the power of His death. The success of the cross was not dependent upon the opinion of the crowds or of the Jewish leaders. The death that Jesus died was for the satisfaction of the holiness of Almighty God. His resurrection was a public vindication of the full accomplishment of His mission. In His great work of sacrificial love, Jesus gave His life as a servant of His people. When He returns in glory, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, forever. (Philippians 2:10-11)
Prayer from A Book of Prayers
Women's Resource Center adapts to meet rising domestic abuse concerns
With many victims unable to reach out during the pandemic, the Women's Resource Center had to find new ways to connect.
Venezuela's National Assembly moves to challenge president
Venezuelan Congress accuses president of staging coup
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 10 24 2016
Venezuela's opposition-led Congress, consistently undermined by the executive and judicial branches since taking control about 10 months ago, upped the ante on Sunday.
During a four-hour extraordinary session in Caracas, which was interrupted for about 30 minutes after government supporters breached security and threatened lawmakers on the National Assembly floor, Congress approved a series of actions in response to last week's decision suspending a referendum process to recall President Nicolas Maduro.
The government has overseen a coup; they have chosen to steal the votes of all Venezuelans, opposition lawmaker Julio Borges said. Facing the abandonment of the constitution, we as Congress, declare ourselves in rebellion.
With Maduro touring Iran, Saudi Arabia and other countries to discuss oil prices, Congress said it would try to oust him, a group of Supreme Court justices that were approved without their permission and some electoral-body board members. Even with near-record low approval ratings and a deepening economic crisis, Maduro has managed to tighten his grasp on power through his control over the National Electoral Council, Supreme Court, intelligence agencies and the military.
The actions approved Sunday include presenting a case at the International Criminal Court against Supreme Court justices and electoral body members, trying to replace key figures in those institutions and asking the military to not follow orders from the Maduro government -- as well as setting a debate for Tuesday on the constitutionality of his presidency.
While the opposition has tried all year to organize a recall referendum, the electoral authorities have dragged their feet on approving phases of the process until suspending it altogether last week. If Maduro were removed via referendum before Jan. 10, there would be fresh elections. If he's removed after that date, his vice president would finish his term which ends in 2019.
The opposition is calling Venezuelans to march in protest on Wednesday.
Nalle Hukkataival climbs Burden of Dreams and proposes worlds first 9A boulder problem
24.10.2016 by by Planetmountain
Finnish rock climber Nalle Hukkataival has made the first ascent of Burden of Dreams, his project at Lappnor in Finland, for which he has now suggested 9A. Should the grade be confirmed, this would be the first boulder problem to breach this difficulty worldwide.
The news hit like a bombshell and is what all boulderers have been anticipating for years: Nalle Hukkataival has freed his Lappnor project, a sheet of overhanging rock criss-crossed by the tiniest of crimps that now have a name and a grade: Burden of Dreams, 9A. Should this be confirmed - one day in the distant future - then this would mean that the 30-year-old from Helsinki has just become the first climber in the world to breach these unheard of difficulties.
Its superfluous to say that Hukkataival is one of the worlds foremost boulderers, a legend in his own right who for years has been exploring the world in search of the perfect boulder problem. The quantity of 8Cs freed and repeated by Hukkataival has few equals, also in terms of the speed in which he makes his sends, and during his globetrotting trips he has left his mark pretty much everywhere, from Fontainebleau to Magic Wood, from Rocklands to Red Rocks, via Hueco Tanks, Bishop, Grampians And also Varazze where in 2014 he checked in with the third ascent of Gioia, recognised as the worlds first 8C+, after the ascents of Christian Core in 2008 and Adam Ondra in 2011. And also Maltatal, where in 2014 he made the first ascent of Bugeleisen sit start, stating that at the time the line "could be the hardest thing I've climbed."
Ironically, Hukkataival discovered the perfect boulder years ago close to home, in Finland's Lappnor region, thanks to his friend Marko Siivinen. In 2013 he described it as "a very pure boulder with straight forward and thuggy frontal climbing. No trickery, just raw power!" With grit, determination and unwavering dedication he attempted the project every spring and autumn season, slowly managing to understand the intricacies and subtleties of its moves, often alone.
In May this year he managed to climb the problem in two sections, but he was then forced to put the project off to a later date as friction, even at night, simply wasnt good enough. Yesterday Hukkataival managed the send, and today he described his historic feat as follows: "Waking up today I cant help but look at the world with different eyes. Having achieved the first ascent of Burden of Dreams marks a new level in my climbing. With a handful of existing 8C+ boulders in the world, proposing 9A is the logical step."
In an effort to make the high-crime area of Vine City in downtown Atlanta more secure, five Atlanta Police officers will move into new, two-story houses on James P. Brawley Drive starting in mid-November.
The 2,000-square-foot structures, featuring around three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, were built through a partnership between home builder PulteGroup, the city, the Atlanta Police Foundation, the Atlanta Housing Authority, and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
We believe this is at the core of what community policing should be, Dave Wilkinson, president and CEO of the APF, said Friday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the houses.
The five officers are the first of what officials hope will grow to a community of 20 to 25 officers over the next four years.
The announcement also comes as Mayor Kasim Reed is trying to encourage builders who receive public funding to set aside affordable housing for police officers, firefighters, teachers and families. As the economy has improved and more people move in the city, skyrocketing housing costs have made living in Georgias capitol increasingly unaffordable for some.
The new police homes include granite countertops, two-car garages, and large closets throughout. The five officers will buy the homes for about $145,000.
The officers hope their presence will provide not only a sense of comfort for the community, but will help build trust.
A Columbus, GA, police officer injured Friday during a burglary investigation was shot in the vest, which deflected the bullet and protected him from more serious injury, reports the Ledger-Enquirer.
Officer Joshua McQuien is listed as the victim in the 1:22 p.m. shooting at 3312 Hilton Ave. where his ballistic vest deflected one of the shots fired by burglary suspect Daniel Ray Crisp, 34. Crisp is held without bond in the Muscogee County Jail where he now faces an aggravated assault on a police officer charge for a 9 a.m. Thursday hearing in Recorder's Court.
A bullet struck the officer's vest while he was searching an upstairs bedroom and saw a flash. Police have not said how many shots were fired, but McQuien was hit once in the left shoulder area. He was treated at Midtown Medical Center and later released.
Police Chief Ricky Boren said McQuien has been with the department about three years. He said the bullet didn't penetrate the officer's skin but left the officer with a bruise.
Crisp was taken into custody at 6 p.m., more than four hours later when police tossed tear gas inside the home and forced the suspect from a hiding place. "It was very uncomfortable with him in the house with the gas," the chief said. "Fortunately, he came out."
Officer Matthew Morris (Photo: Boston PD)
The second of two officers shot in East Boston nearly two weeks ago has been released from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Police said Saturday, and transferred to a Spaulding Rehabilitation facility, reports the Boston Globe.
Officer Matthew Morris, a 12-year veteran, will undergo continued treatment and care at Spaulding, the department announced on its Twitter page.
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Instead of using campaign money to get out the vote or help his fellow Republicans, Donald Trump spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign cash on copies of his own book that he then made royalties off of.
The Huffington Post reported:
Donald Trump used small donors money to buy nearly $300,000 worth of books from the publisher of his Art of the Deal last month, continuing a pattern of plowing campaign money back into his own businesses.
The Oct. 15 Federal Election Commission filing for Trump Make America Great Again Committee does not specify which books in particular were purchased, but the committees own website suggests it was Trumps 1987 business bestseller.
The scam worked like this. Trump had the campaign buy the books at a higher cost than the standard bulk publishing deal. For every book that the campaign bought, Trump was owed a royalty. It is estimated that the campaigns book purchase generated $70,000 in royalties for Trump.
The book themselves were then signed and offered back to contributors for a $184 donation to the campaign, which means that Trump managed to make money off of books that he didnt buy while depriving the Republican Party of resources that it desperately needs on the ground.
The campaign has been nothing more than a giant Trump money making scheme. As the nominee, Donald Trump has sucked the Republican Party dry but has guaranteed himself a profit out of running for president.
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It appears that Nevada, an important battleground state that looked somewhat favorable to Donald Trump throughout the 2016 campaign, is quickly slipping away from the Republican nominee.
Two polls out on Monday show that Hillary Clinton is leading Trump in the swing state by 7 points and 4 points. The latter poll was conducted by Rasmussen Reports, which has been a pro-Trump survey throughout the campaign.
The picture below, courtesy of RealClearPolitics, shows just how drastic the shift has been toward Clinton over the past month:
After showing a tight race, or Trump ahead, Clinton has jumped quickly to a 4.7 percentage point lead over the course of the past several weeks.
Clintons polling momentum in the Silver State comes as Democrats are getting a huge advantage among early voters in Nevada. Despite the medias constant claims that there is no enthusiasm on the Democratic side without Barack Obama on the ballot, they are outperforming 2012 when it comes to number of early ballots cast, as Jason Easley wrote earlier today.
Nevada is only the latest in a series of swing states have fallen out of contention for the Republican nominee.
Earlier this month, Donald Trumps presidential campaign pulled out of Virginia. Polling conducted in the state since shows that it was probably a smart move Hillary Clinton leads by an average of 8 points in the state, according to RealClearPolitics.
Colorado, a state many believed would be close this year, has the Democratic nominee ahead by the same margin.
Of course, the Trump campaign also claimed they would carry Pennsylvania in November, too, but Clinton leads there by an average of roughly 6 percentage points.
If these important states remain in the Clinton column, as likely will be the case, Donald Trump could win every remaining swing state including North Carolina and Florida, where he is currently behind and still lose the presidency.
With two weeks until Election Day, the Electoral College is solidifying around Hillary Clinton and slipping fast from Donald Trump.
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With two weeks to go before election day, the Trump campaign is facing a major fundraising scandal as Trump supporters were caught on tape trying sell influence with Trump to foreign donors.
The Telegraph (UK) sent reporters undercover to a Trump super PAC, and what they found was a desperate group of supporters who willing to illegally sell influence with Trump to foreign donors.
The Telegraph reported:
Senior figures involved with the Great America PAC, one of the leading independent groups organising television advertisements and grassroots support for the Republican nominee, sought to channel $2 million from a Chinese donor into the campaign to elect the billionaire despite laws prohibiting donations from foreigners.
In return, undercover reporters purporting to represent the fictitious donor were assured that he would obtain influence if Mr. Trump made it to the White House.
The Great America PAC is supported by top Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani and Trumps own son Eric.
Everything that The Telegraph caught on tape was a violation of US campaign finance laws. The issue goes deeper than Donald Trumps corrupt campaign and a network of super PACs. The willingness of the Great America PAC to engage in such blatantly illegal activity shows how Citizens United has gutted campaign finance laws.
The behavior exposed by the undercover investigation is why Citizens United must be overturned. The US electoral process is being corrupted by an endless flood of untraceable dark money.
These revelations are devastating for Donald Trump, whose entire campaign is based on the slogan Make America Great Again, but they are also proof that Citizens United has got to go ASAP.
The choice for voters who care about the influence of money in politics has been made clear. Donald Trump is selling access to the US presidency to foreign nationals, while Hillary Clinton is campaigning on overturning Citizens United.
Not since the dark days of Richard Nixon has there been a person seeking the presidency who is as overtly corrupt as Trump.
Donald Trump is a symptom. Citizens United is the larger disease that is poisoning our democracy.
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It is amusing to listen to Trump talk about polls and watch him tweet about how poll after poll puts him in the lead, yet on Meet the Press, asked point-blank, Do you acknowledge that youre behind? Kellyanne Conway answered, We are behind.
Is he? Or isnt he? Based on actual polling numbers, he is behind. In Trumps own mind, its anyones guess. Anderson Cooper, seeking to get answers, tasked RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer to answer:
ANDERSON COOPER: So Sean, youve seen the results of the new CNN poll. Trump trails by five points. He said today at a rally that hes actually winning, do you believe hes winning?
SEAN SPICER: Yeah, I think when you look at the battleground states, whether its Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, I think where it matters, yeah, were winning. And I think we have a path to 270 thats going to make him put him in the White House, come November 8th. Again and I think the other thing, Anderson, is you look at states where we can start to see some evidence of that, right? So, Florida were up over the Democrats in the early votes, not just the absentee ballots requested, but then returned. Same thing in Iowa, and in places excuse me, like Iowa and North Carolina in Iowa, excuse me, in places like Iowa and Ohio where traditionally we dont do as well as early votes, you see actually a consolidation of where weve been in the past, to its a much closer race for us. We do so well there on election day.
Yet just yesterday, we saw that Nevada has tipped toward Clinton. In fact, in early voting, Clinton is off to a better start than even Obama in 2012. Early voting data also shows Clinton surging in Florida, and an October 20 Suffolk poll shows Clinton and Trump tied in Ohio.
Maybe at this point, for the Trump campaign and the RNC, a tie is a win.
Earlier in the month, the Trump campaign took the monumental step of canceling ads in both Florida and Ohio, not because it didnt need them but because it either couldnt afford them or as an acknowledgment of defeat.
Reality has never matched up well with rhetoric in the Trump campaign. Cooper pointed to Real Clear Politics, the poll of polls, which shows Clinton in the lead. We also find that the most current data on Nevada, a state whose name Trump cant even pronounce, you see:
Cooper told Spicer,
Even if Trump wins all the states that CNN currently has as tossups, he still comes up short of 270. So I mean, youre looking just you say youre looking at early polling
Spicers nonsensical answer, based on polling data and the canceled ads, was that,
No, if you take If you take right, but no, if you take Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Iowa, North Carolina, and then add in New Hampshire and Maine, too, which is both areas that I think were doing very well in, that gets us over the 270 mark.
Sure, if you do that, but why would you do that? Why count states youre losing and/or canceled ads in? Spicer tried to claim that an ABC News poll showing a 12-point Clinton lead is phony, but Cooper was having none of that, pointed out that it is Trumps online polls that are phony.
Observe how Spicer goes down flailing helplessly under Coopers barrage of facts:
COOPER: Phony polls are the online polls that Donald Trump always seems to be referencing. Even the Rasmussen poll, you know, isnt something we would use.
SPICER: Okay, well again but you get to make that decision. I think when you look at the Rasmussen poll and IBD poll, one of the IBD poll was the most accurate poll going back a couple cycles. So, I get you may not like it, but its actually been one of the most accurate polls going forward. Secondly, its if a poll
COOPER: The reason just for clarification, the reason we dont use it because they dont reveal all their methodology
SPICER: I understand that, but that doesnt
COOPER: and the Rasmussen poll uses a combination of online polling and television telephone polling.
SPICER: Right. I understand that, but Im not saying that you have to accept it, but it doesnt make it phony.
The Trump campaign, its surrogates, Fox News, and the RNC, have nothing, certainly not even a passing relationship with the facts. This is just embarrassing, for a spokesperson for the RNC to go on air and flub every factual statement placed before him.
Sean Spicer is actually claiming that Rasmussen, which incorporates notoriously unreliable online polling, is somehow reliable. Once you have included online polling, you have thrown science out the window.
Trump is losing, and efforts to deny or explain that fact has gone to increasingly bizarre lengths in Republican circles, where they are now reduced to claiming nonscientific polls are accurate, and scientific polls are not and that losing is somehow winning.
Image: Screen Capture
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The cost to Republicans of having Trump at the top of the ticket is beginning to be felt in other races as four formerly thought to be safe California House Republicans are in danger of losing their seats because of Trumps poor performance in the state.
The Washington Examiner reported:
Rep. Darrell Issa, the high-profile former chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform committee, is now in trouble; so are Rep. Jeff Denham; Rep. Steve Knight and Rep. David Valadao.
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But Republican insiders there and in Washington say that Trumps unpopularity in ethnically diverse California is now threatening to crater their party down ballot hurting members who were previously presumed safe from top of the ticket headwinds.
Republican internal polling has Trump at 28%, which would be record-breaking low for a Republican presidential nominee in the state. Trump is on pace to shatter Alf Landons low water mark of 32% support in 1936. Trump is performing 7 points worse than McCain and Romney, and if he finishes below 35% in California, he may take several House Republican incumbents down with him.
Trumps underperformance in swing states and red states is getting some examination, but it is his potential underperformance in blue states that could also cost Republicans House seats.
The landscape is uglier for Republicans than it was for Democrats during the 2010 and 2012 midterm elections. Democrats knew where the bottom of their decline was in the midterms. Republicans are underfunded and rushing to hang on to seats at every level of government because they have no idea how low Trump will take them on November 8.
Trump promised Republicans victories, but what he didnt tell them is that those victories might be for Democrats.
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In one day of early voting, Democrats virtually erased the Republican lead in ballots cast in Florida due to a surge of turnout in the states Democratic counties.
1.6 million Florida voters have already cast their ballots. Republicans had a 2% lead after 1.3 million mail-in ballots were casts, but Democrats dominated the first day of early voting and cut the Republican edge down to 7,000 votes. An additional 251,000 voters with no party affiliation have also voted.
Early voting turnout was up 6% over 2012, and it was especially high in Democratic counties:
Turnout was especially high in Democratic counties compared to 2012. Miami-Dade +41%, Broward +13%, Orange +27%. (3/4) Lily Adams (@adamslily) October 25, 2016
24k more Democrats cast ballots than Republicans on the first day of in person early vote in FL (4/4) Lily Adams (@adamslily) October 25, 2016
The Democratic plan has always been to build up such a huge early voting advantage in North Carolina and Florida that the states will be won before November 8.
It is encouraging for Democrats that Hillary Clintons lead in the polls appears to be translating to early voting. After weeks of Trump scandals and strong Clinton debate performances, it looks like Democrats are more motivated to vote in this election than Republicans.
Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party have invested time, money, and resources into getting out the Democratic vote. While Donald Trump holds big rallies, Hillary Clinton has been targeting voting and building the Democratic ground operation.
Trumps rallies may have played well on television, but it Democrats who have been doing the work that is required to win an election.
So far, the Democratic ground game is crushing Trumps yard signs, hats, and TV bluster.
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The RNC is holding members-only call tomorrow, where it is possible that they will raise the white flag on the presidential race by cutting off Donald Trump.
Politico reported on an RNC members only call that is taking place on Wednesday:
The RNC chairman last held a nationwide conference call two weeks ago, shortly after damaging revelations emerged that Donald Trump, in 2005, had bragged about sexually assaulting women. During that call, Priebus informed members that the committee would be standing by its besieged presidential nominee, despite a flurry of rumors to the contrary.
The committee is continuing to pour resources into Trumps presidential bid, even as his poll numbers crater and GOP strategists worry about maintaining the partys congressional majorities.
The logical conclusion to be drawn from the timing of this call, which was described as a political update, is that Priebus is going to announce that the Republican Party is finally taking the Trump campaign off of life support and redirecting their dwindling resources toward saving endangered Republican Senators.
Priebus wouldnt be holding a private call with RNC members only if the news was good.
The RNC has continued to fund Trumps campaign activities even after the Access Hollywood tape was released and the GOP nominee got trounced in the final two presidential debates.
Donald Trump doesnt have a campaign operation of his own. He is dependent on the RNC for everything from rally organization to get out the vote efforts. Trump has no data operation, no real advertising operation, and no grassroots organization.
If the RNC cuts off Trump, the Republican Party will be effectively conceding the White House to Hillary Clinton.
The Republican Party appears to be finally be getting the message that funding Trumps campaign is a waste of resources.
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Better days are coming, people.
If you are like 81% of the people polled in a Huff Post You Gov poll, you are sick of this election and cant wait for it to be over. So sick of it that you cant bear to pay attention to it.
Not because you dont care, but because you already know who youre voting for and youre worried about the outcome of the election. Even with the polls showing Democrat Hillary Clinton in a lead, people are nervous and over it.
If youre like the Politicus readers I speak to, you dont want to listen to Republican Donald Trump lie about late term abortions, belittle Hispanics, talk about my African American, incite violence, or wax on about fantasy gamed online polls let alone see or hear about his sex tape, the tape in which hes busted bragging about sexual assault, or his latest run in with a porn star in which he seems to excuse his alleged sexual assault by saying, Oh, Im sure shes never been grabbed before.
Yeah. Im ready to vomit, so I dont blame you all.
There are rewards coming for all of you dedicated citizens whove managed to not flee the country before you vote if you all actually get out and vote, and bring friends and family with you.
Here are a five things to look forward to if sane people get out the vote:
1) Donald Trump has damaged his brand and that is really the only legit business he seemed to have had. It will be satisfying watching the racist, misogynistic, vindictive, immature, lying serial assaulters brand wither over time.
2) Madame President.
Yeah, thats right. A sane and exceptionally competent woman named Hillary Rodham Clinton will be at the helm. We wont always agree but we will know shes grounded in reality and she is an expert at her job. The best, most qualified candidate in modern history.
3) Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) might be kicked out of his job as Lead Obstructer of Nice Things for America. Sure, the House will still be a joke, but it might be less of a joke and if only Democrats can manage to not fall into their 2010 mistakes, perhaps real progress can be made in a few years. In the meantime, any speed bump to Republican extremism and wasteful government spending on bills that are going nowhere will be welcomed.
4) Knowing that the people of this country rejected Donald Trumps hate. This is a biggie. Imagine how you will feel on the evening of November 8th if Donald Trump is expected to give a concession speech. Imagine how your heart and soul will feel knowing that your fellow citizens rejected Trump big league.
This will mean that your fellow citizens value LGBT rights, dont want to kick Muslims out of the country, dont want a wall built between our county and Mexico, want compassionate and legal immigration options, dont think African Americans and black people are synonymous with inner cities, want everyone to have the actual and protected right to vote, want safe water for all of our children not just rich white children, respect those who contribute to our country and troops by paying taxes, and so much more. It means you can live amongst them without dying inside.
5) Women have been through a lot this cycle, as has every minority but women have had it nonstop from the Trump machine. In the HuffPost/YouGov poll, women are 15 points likelier than men 41 percent to 26 percent to say theyve found this election very stressful.
That was really to be expected with the first woman candidate on a major ticket, but who could have imagined the horror that is Donald Trump. His violence towards women, his nasty contempt for women, his rejection of our right to live these things were not expected and theyve been too much.
Not just for women, but for all people with souls. Yes, plenty of men are so angry with Trumps treatment of women that they cant bear to hear him speak now.
Reward? Women might well keep Donald Trump from the White House.
If this happens, women will see their power not only in keeping Trump from the White House, but in having a president who knows how pregnancy really works and knows womens issues because shes lived them. No more mostly white men deciding things for womens bodies without even hearing from a woman, because Madame President will loom over their decisions as a moral authority from the bully pulpit.
These are just a few rewards you have coming to you if everyone stays engaged and gets out the vote like their life depends on it. Remember Brexit and dont let it happen here (even though they are not the same and comparisons are rather silly still, mind the Brexit).
Donald Trump is disgusting a nation, but dont give up, good things are in sight.
The National Parks Service is a bureau of the U.S. Department of Interior.
A worker delivers heating oil to a home in Pennsylvania two years ago. The U.S. Department of Energy is projecting that bills are likely to be higher through March for all primary winter heating fuels.
File/The Tribune-Democrat via AP
Singapore Airlines said Thursday it will buy 19 additional 787-10 Dreamliners made exclusively at Boeing Co.'s North Charleston campus. The carrier previously ordered 30 of the wide-body jets.
File/Provided/Boeing Co.
EL Education CEO says a hotel employee recorded audio of an employee for the nonprofit that works in several SC school districts, mentioning both Lexington County and critical race theory, but someone spliced together the audio in a deceptive way to create a false political controversy. Read moreFox News used 'false and crudely edited' audio to target SC schools, nonprofit CEO says
This month will mark the 83rd anniversary of the Soviet Union's attack on Finland in November 1939, when the Soviet Goliath pounced on the neighboring David. It started a conflict that became one of the most intensely brutal engagements of the Second World War, much of it in temperatures 30 Read moreCommentary: Are Russian leaders headed for another winter war?
Electric vehicles arent a panacea. They dont reduce traffic congestion or the need to spend billions of dollars repairing and expanding our highways, the way mass transit, ride sharing and more walkable and bicycleable communities can. To the contrary, they make it more difficult to pay for the necessary upgrades, because despite some modest steps, politicians here and elsewhere have been unwilling to change our tax laws to ensure that vehicles using little or no gasoline pay their fair share for those improvements. Read moreEditorial: SC electric vehicle expansion helps state in multiple ways
PRESTON The rural Lanesboro man shot and killed Sunday afternoon near his residence was armed with a pellet gun equipped with a scope , officials said late Monday.
The Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner' s Office in Rochester late Monday identified the man killed as Kristofer Daniel Youngquist, 45. He was shot by a Rochester police officer acting as a member of a tactical unit.
The incident began about 10:48 a.m. Sunday when Fillmore County sheriff' s deputies responded to a 911 call reporting domestic violence at an address in rural Peterson , said Sheriff Tom Kaase. A family member of the domestic violence victim, a former girlfriend of Youngquist's, made the call.
"The deputy established a felony domestic assault took place and began to locate (Youngquist)," Kaase said. Youngquist had been identified by witnesses of the domestic violence as the suspect.
The witness said upon learning that law enforcement had been called, Youngquist fled the home near Peterson, Kaase said. About 1:30 p.m. Sunday, deputies found Younquist at his home in the 36000 block of Dogwood Road , where he refused to cooperate with the officers, Kaase said.
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Because of Youngquist's history and reported access to weapons, the sheriff's office requested assistance from the Rochester/Olmsted Emergency Response Unit, which provides resources to surrounding law enforcement agencies.
After three hours of negotiations and repeated commands to surrender
According to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's preliminary investigation, Youngquist emerged from and retreated back into his residence as the ERU entered his property. After three hours of negotiations and repeated commands to surrender and come out of the home, Youngquist reportedly pointed a firearm at law enforcement.
An officer positioned outside fired his weapon, fatally striking Youngquist; his weapon was later determined to be a pellet gun equipped with a scope, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension .
Rochester Police Chief Roger Peterson on Monday identified the officer as Sgt. Steve Thompson, a 19-year veteran of the department and a member of the ERU since 2007.
A team leader of the unit, Thompson "has very extensive experience both on the police department" and the tactical response unit, Peterson said.
"He has a stellar record as far as being a police officer, including four life-saving awards," the chief said.
Thompson has been placed on standard administrative leave, Peterson said.
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The incident is the first Rochester police officer-involved shooting in nearly 10 years; the first for the ERU since its inception in 1983.
The BCA investigation into the incident is ongoing. Once the investigation is complete, the BCA will present its findings to the Fillmore County Attorney's Office for review under Minnesota statutes.
A review of Youngquist's criminal history reveals a 2004 conviction for obstructing the legal process and fifth-degree assault; in that case, one count of fourth-degree assault of a peace officer was dismissed. In 2008, he was convicted of felony fifth-degree drug possession; a felony firearm violation was dismissed in that case.
As students trickled into Century High School Tuesday morning, they were greeted by voting booths.
While the talk of selecting our next president has seemingly been relentless the last few months, the group of high school got to make their pick for our country's top office a few weeks early.
That's because high schools like Century and John Marshall are joining about 280 high schools throughout the state in the first statewide mock election, sponsored by the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office. Two weeks before voters will head to the polls to cast their vote on Nov. 8, the mock election is an an attempt to familiarize students with the voting process and casting a ballot.
It's about "getting good habits started early," said Secretary of State Steve Simon in a news release.
"I think it's awesome because they're learning the actual process instead of just us talking about it, they actually get to see how it works," said Kathryn Gardner, a Century social studies teacher.
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Gardner said they wanted to make the experience as authentic as possible and considered handing out ballots in classrooms, but settled on setting up a polling place in the school's common area.
"It probably would have been easier to just hand a ballot to every kid in a classroom, but then it's not like the real thing," she said. "Nobody comes to my workplace and gives me a ballot."
All of the students were automatically "registered" to vote, and their names were listed on a sheet at the voting station. They walked up to check in, had to read an oath and were handed a ballot with just the presidential ticket, listing nine options for the presidential race. Gardner said the school didn't want to get into any other races because the students are coming from so many different districts.
For many students, it was their first time casting a vote. They came out of the voting booth and received that ubiquitous stamp of civic duty, the red "I Voted" sticker.
One student approached Gardner with a huge grin on his face.
"Ms. Gardner, that's the first time someone from our family voted," said Guydan Hajsakor, 17, a Syrian refugee who has been in the U.S. about 11 months. "You know, my dad never went for the Syrian presidential race because he said it's a big lie."
He said he plans to vote in the next presidential election when he'll be a citizen.
"It's a big deal, your voice is heard," Hajsakor said. "When I'm a citizen, my voice will matter."
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Other students, like Zach Picha, 18, willl have the opportunity to vote in the actual election in two weeks, but he said it's nice to get a feel of what the school will vote for, even though most of the students aren't old enough yet to officially vote. He noted he's still undecided.
"It's nice to see whether or not they're participating in the politics that are happening right now," Picha said. "It's nice of the school to pique our interest in politics a little early and make sure we're trying to follow them and whatnot," Picha said.
The school has about 1,400 students, Gardner said, adding she'd be thrilled with a 50 percent turnout.
The school will count the votes later in the day, and will record results on a site the Secretary of State's Office set up. Results will be announced on Nov. 1 one week before Election Day, according to the Secretary of State.
"I like this because they're really running it like a real election," Gardner said.
Freshman Rep. Peggy Bennett is asking House District 27A voters to send her back to St. Paul to continue protecting the interests of taxpayers while her rival Gary Schindler argues it's time for a less partisan representative.
Bennett, a Republican, won election to the Minnesota House in 2014. The retired elementary school teacher said making sure that taxpayers' dollars are being spent well has been a strong priority for her.
"When I am voting to spend money up there, I look at it as my neighbor's money, and I want to spend it wisely and make sure it's being put to good use," she said.
Schindler, a Democrat, said he was inspired to run because he wants to help the region be successful. The dean of students at Riverland Community College said Bennett votes most of the time with her party not something that is needed in these times of extreme partisanship.
"We have to have more legislators in the middle that are willing to listen to both sides," he said.
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If re-elected, Bennett vowed that she would make reforming the legislative process her number one priority. She said she would work with experts at the state Capitol to change the system so that controversial issues like raising the gas tax or funding the Southwest Light Rail Transit system can't be stuffed into a bigger bill. Instead, she argues those types of measures need to stand alone.
"We need to have transparency. If something is worth voting for, then you should be able to put your name on it and say, 'I voted for that and here's why,'" Bennett said.
Schindler said the top issue he hears about from local leaders is workforce development. Employers are already having trouble filling jobs and that problem is expected to continue. To begin to address the labor shortage, he would start by making sure more people have access to higher education.
"I want to make sure that college tuition is affordable so that people would be inclined to either finish a program of study they began years ago or look for some re-training," Schindler said.
He also believes there needs to be more college grants available for middle class families. He also supports child care tax credits to enable parents to go back to school.
Disagreement on transportation
The two candidates disagree on how best to fund the state's long-term transportation needs. Bennett backed the plan put forward by House Republicans that used bonding and surplus dollars to pay for transportation. It also called for redirecting existing sales tax revenue from auto parts, car rentals and leases to transportation. Bennett is not in favor of the gas tax to pay for roads and bridges. She opposes raising the gas tax and also wants lawmakers to change the state's prevailing wage laws. Prevailing wage is the minimum hourly wage employers must pay employees who are working on construction projects where state dollars are used to fund the project.
"The (prevailing wage) formula is not working for our area. It just drives up the cost of everything," she said.
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Schindler backs the idea of using bonding for roadways and is open to the idea of dedicating sales tax revenue on auto-related items to transportation, but he wants to make sure that would not end up taking money out of the state's general fund. He supports raising tab fees to pay for transportation. When it comes to raising the gas tax, he said local voters are very divided.
He added, "To me, it's is on the table, but I am not advocating for an increase in the gas tax at this point."
House District 27A: Peggy Bennett
House District 27A: Gary Schindler
Name:Tim Gabrielson
Age:67
Hometown:Austin
Occupation:Retired
Political experience:8 years as 1st District Mower County Commissioner
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Mower County tax abatement plan
The Mower County tax abatement plan started as a co-operative with the city of Austin, and our board felt that if we were to be involved, it should be available to all of Mower County.
Its initial goal is to encourage people in need of housing to build new if possible.
Shortage of affordable housing units
There is a great demand for both single and multi-family housing.
Transportation infrastructure
Our roads and bridges, not only in Mower County but all over the state, have not been properly funded for the last 40 years. Our state has failed miserably to help fund this important infrastructure. The state has told us that in the next 10 years it will cut $10 billion and $50 billion in the next 20 years. If we don't at least do something on our own in greater Minnesota, we will be back to dirt and gravel, with many roads closed or abandoned. We are a farm-to-market county, and if our farmers can't get their crops into town, we are all in trouble.
Name:James Williams
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Age:33
Hometown:Rural Brownsdale
Occupation:Self employed / farm laborer
Political experience:Red Rock Township Supervisor
Mower County tax abatement plan
Tim Gabrielson, Mike Ankeny and Polly Glynn have sold out our county, and it doesn't take a lot of imagination to guess who the buyers are. With this plan, Hormel and Mayo can now entice future executives, young professionals, nurses and doctors with new, tax-free housing safely segregated from the proletariat that works on the line and changes the bedsheets. The blighted parts of our community are now less likely to see the improvements that increased housing demand could have brought. This will keep rent prices low, better allowing the two big employers' wages to remain stagnant.
Shortage of affordable housing units
I completely disagree with the premise of the question. I have lived in at least six different Minnesota ZIP codes; 55912 has by far the most affordable housing out of them all. In short, it is none of the county's business, and we should do nothing.
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Transportation infrastructure
At this time, the county should take no action on this matter. We must hold the state accountable. I would open a dialogue with other rural counties in an effort to collectively pressure our state to adequately fund rural infrastructure. I prefer not to further burden our residents with a sales tax that will not even significantly close the funding gap. If given time and an election cycle the residents of this state don't make it clear to our representatives that we expect better rural representation, I will consider a sales tax increase for transportation only. The increase should more completely close the funding gap.
Name: Dan Vermilyea
Age: 63
Hometown: Rural Lansing
Occupation:Steele County Planning and Zoning
Political Experience:Lansing Township Supervisor
Mower County tax abatement plan
By implementing a tax abatement plan, I feel Mower County is encouraging economic growth, community development and home ownership. These benefits will embrace the pillars of a healthy community, both socially and economically, by providing neighborhood stability, expanding the local market for affordable housing, promoting property owners to maintain their real estate investment, all while fostering the growth of our local economy. These benefits will encourage current and prospective property owners to establish root in the community, where families can grow and prosper and children can be educated to ensure that Mower County will continue to have great leadership throughout the community for years to come.
Shortage of affordable housing units
Affordable housing is a serious issue placing many people, young and old, in a financially difficult position. Many times these citizens are spending 40 percent to 50 percent of their income on housing, which is an unsustainable situation. Many times these are citizens on a fixed income or with a growing family. Their struggle has effects that ripple far beyond the individual families, contributing to some of the more pressing social issues such as chronic health conditions, persistent poverty and poor educational outcomes. Mower County needs to look at options to encourage home ownership. Communities with high home owner occupancy tend to be progressive and forward thinking. That is the goal that Mower County should strive to obtain.
Transportation infrastructure
Transportation infrastructure is a core function of county government. Mower County must provide quality roads and bridges to move people and products safely and efficiently. The word transportation is a broad statement that includes roads and bridges, buses, light rail and bike trails. It is a concerning fact that Mower County has allowed a core function of county government to deteriorate to this level. With my grass roots experience, knowledge and skills as a local elected government official, I believe I can lead Mower County to better prioritizing and spending of transportation infrastructure to better serve the greatest number of taxpayers.
President Obama is endorsing down-ballot candidates, including a Rochester Democrat running for the Minnesota House.
Obama endorsed House District 25B candidate Duane Sauke on Monday. Sauke is running against former Republican Rep. Fran Bradley for the open seat. They are battling to replace Rochester DFL Rep. Kim Norton, who announced last year she would not seek re-election.
Sauke is one of eight DFL Minnesota House candidates endorsed by Obama. He is the only candidate endorsed by the president in southeast Minnesota.
Sauke said he found out about the president's endorsement 48 hours before it was announced. He said the endorsement helps highlight the importance of these statehouse elections.
"It does draw a light on the importance of every vote," he said.
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Sauke's campaign sent out a press release announcing the endorsement. In a statement, Jessica Post, executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said "We are thrilled that President Obama is endorsing our candidates in some of the most compelling races across the country. His endorsement highlights how crucial state legislative elections are to building on the progress the president has achieved and to continue to move our nation forward."
The race in Senate District 27 features a veteran lawmaker who is being challenged by a longtime party volunteer.
Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, first won election to the Minnesota Senate 2002. He touts that experience as a prime reason why voters should send him back to the Capitol.
"Rural Minnesota is losing representation at the state level, so I think now more than ever it's important to have experienced leaders with a track record of working across the aisle like I've done with everyone and see that our needs are addressed," Sparks said.
Hayfield carpenter Gene Dornink is making his first run for public office, even though he has long been active in the local Republican party. He argues that Sparks has lost touch with the voters and it is time for a change. If elected, Dornink said he would rely on his common sense and vows he would limit himself to a maximum of three terms in office.
"I will listen to my constituents, and I will be out there to talk to them about what happened during the session," Dornink said.
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Support for tax cuts
Both candidates say passing tax relief is a major priority. Sparks said he wants lawmakers to pass the $260 million package of tax cuts that failed to become law this year after the governor refused to sign it due to a one-word error. He said that bill provided needed relief for working families, businesses and veterans.
"We were able to put together a really good bill. I think it proved that both Democrats and Republicans can work together to come up with tax relief for all Minnesotans," Sparks said.
Dornink agrees that lawmakers did a good job putting that tax bill together and said he was disappointed to see the governor block it. He wants to see additional steps taken to reduce the tax burdens on small businesses.
"We need to make the business climate friendlier for our business people. Nobody's against paying taxes. We know we have infrastructure (needs). we have things we have to do. That's fine. There just comes a point where people are leaving the state because the burden is too high," Dornink said.
Disagreement on gas tax
The candidates split on whether or not a gas tax increase should be part of a long-term transportation funding plan. Sparks said he is open to the idea of a small gas tax increase. He said that could be combined with bonding dollars and general fund money to boost transportation funding.
"We have to have compromise. I don't think one source is going to totally do it," he said.
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Dornink opposes the idea of a gas tax increase. Instead, he likes the plan put forward by House Republicans that would redirect some auto-related sales taxes from the general fund to transportation. He also supported the $1 billion bonding bill that failed to pass, which had $700 million in funding for transportation.
He added, "I don't want the gas tax because it hurts commuters. I think there are other ways."
Senate District 27: Dan Sparks
Senate District 27: Gene Dornink
The city of Rochester will continue as planned with its 2017 request for proposals process to select an operator for the city's public transit system next year.
The Rochester City Council on Monday reconvened its meeting in a recessed session from last Monday, to open a public hearing on whether to suspend the RFP process. An attorney for Rochester City Lines and an attorney for the city traded testimony during the session.
The council had been under the impression Rochester City Lines had asked for the RFP to be suspended pending litigation filed by Rochester City Lines with the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Steven Diaz, legal counsel for Rochester City Lines, on Monday told the council that was not accurate.
According to the RFP language, Diaz said, the city's moderator attorney Justin Templin, who was retained to oversee the RFP process had final authority to grant or not grant a stay in the process. Templin had previously denied a Rochester City Lines request to stay the process.
"The mediator has exclusive authority to determine whether there would be an administrative stay with regard to the evaluation of proposals," Diaz said.
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Rochester City Lines had not requested the council act on granting a stay, as Diaz believed it was outside the council's authority to do so.
Rochester City Lines General Manger Dan Holter later told the Post-Bulletin the company had no desire to delay the process.
"We're not looking to delay it at all," Holter said.
Suspending the RFP process could put the city's public transit system, in particular its bus service, in danger of not operating past Jan. 1. The city's current contract with public transit operator First Transit is set to expire at the end of this year. If the city suspended its RFP process to find an operator for 2017, it would need to negotiate a contract extension with First Transit to maintain service.
It was unlikely the city would be able to negotiate that contract in time, said Richard Freese, city public works director.
"I think it's fair to say at this particular point in time there's no assurance or guarantee that you and First Transit will be able to reach a mutually agreeable agreement prior to expiration of current contract," Freese said.
Faced with no request from Rochester City Lines to delay the process and the real possibility of losing the city's public transit service next year, the city council opted to take no action and continue the RFP process as planned.
"That's what I'm hearing from a couple of my colleagues no decision is mandatory at this point, so if we render no decision, essentially the request for proposals process will continue," Council President Randy Staver said.
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The council agreed by consensus to take no action and close the meeting.
It was a conclusion for the time being but not one that pleased council members.
"We're well over half a million dollars in expenses on this deal and it seems like the only folks winning here are the attorneys at the cost of the taxpayers. It's our job here to provide the citizens of this community a good transit option and that's what we're going to do," Council Member Ed Hruska said.
A Rochester resident has filed a complaint with the city that alleges Rochester City Council President Randy Staver violated the city's Code of Ethics due to a conflict of interest.
Abe Sauer, a local business owner, filed the complaint Oct. 14 with the city's Ethical Practices Board. The complaint alleges Staver failed to disclose his memberships as a trustee of the Greater Rochester Arts and Cultural Trust and as vice chair of the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Board.
Staver sent a response to the Ethical Practices Board that described the complaint as "groundless" and asked for the complaint to be dismissed.
The Ethical Practices Board was working to schedule a special meeting to hear the complaint, said Audrey Ericksen, board chairwoman. If it did not schedule a special meeting sooner, the board would take up the complaint at its regular meeting Nov. 16.
Council members and Rochester elected and appointed officials file an annual "Ethics Disclosure" form with the city that lists all community, civic and nonprofit organizations of which the official is a member. In his 2016, Staver listed the Eagles and Lions organizations.
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Staver failed to note his involvement with the Greater Rochester Arts and Cultural Trust, according to Sauer's complaint. The complaint also asserts Staver improperly took part in a discussion of a Greater Rochester Arts and Cultural Trust request for funding at a council committee of the whole meeting last year.
Meeting minutes show Staver acknowledged his involvement with the group at a regular meeting of the council on May 18 and abstained from discussion and voting on the arts trust's $15,000 funding request.
"Regardless of whether a group is noted on the annual (disclosure) form, it is incumbent on council members to appropriately identify relationships and perhaps abstain from voting should a matter come before the council," Staver wrote in an email to the Post-Bulletin.
"That is exactly what I did in the case of the arts request. I knew my relationship, acknowledged it and abstained from discussion and voting," Staver said.
Sauer's complaint called Staver's omission "worthy of note" partly because members of the arts trust have contributed to Staver's campaign for re-election to the city council president position.
Mark Koehler, treasurer for Staver's election campaign, confirmed local businessman Joe Powers, who is a trustee of the arts trust board of directors, organized and hosted a fundraiser for the campaign at a business owned by Powers.
Bari Amadio, secretary of the arts trust, also appears on a campaign finance report filed by Staver's campaign, claiming a $1,000 contribution to the campaign from Peter and Bari Amadio.
Sauer's complaint also notes Staver's omission of his role with the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors as an Executive Board member. Staver responded by citing city policy and RCVB bylaw that do not require him to note that membership on an ethical disclosure form. Staver was appointed by the council to serve on the RCVB board.
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As to his membership with the Greater Rochester Arts and Cultural Trust and omission of that membership on his disclosure form, Staver wrote: "That is a true statement and was an oversight on my part."
Palace Museum to build new offshoot to display more exhibits Updated: 2016-10-25 11:05 (chinadaily.com.cn)
The Palace Museum [Photo provided to China Daily]
The Palace Museum will build a new museum in North Beijing to showcase more items, as currently the exhibits displayed each year account for less than one percent of its collections, Shan Jixiang, curator of the museum said.
According to Chinanews.com, Shan made the remark during the International Smart Tourism Conference 2016 in Hangzhou. He said that as the Palace Museum has a special identity as a tourist destination, museum, and a cultural education institution, it cannot fully display its abundant collection. In major museums around the world, generally, 10% or even 20% of their collections are on show, while the Palace Museum can only display 0.5% of its entire collection through around 80 exhibitions each year. Therefore, the building of a new museum is quite necessary. The plan has been approved by the authorities and it is already in process.
Shan revealed that the new museum, 25 kilometers away from the current site, is in a picturesque area neighboring tourist attractions, to the north of the Old Summer Palace, to the south of Badaling Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. The new museum will be a museum in a park, surrounded by a lake in the south and a river in the north.
The first stage of the project will cover an area of 12,500 square meters, which can be used to showcase a large number of exhibits with different themes. Meanwhile, the public will be able to view the process of cultural relic restoration at the new site.
"The new museum will surely be a green, low-carbon, zero emission and responsible example of modern architecture, which is also a harmonious museum which is best for the display of museum collections and for tourist visits," Shan said.
The Palace Museum is one of the top five museums in the world, along with the Louvre Museum in France, Metropolitan Museum of Art in US, the British Museum in the UK and the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg of Russia. It is the largest wooden architectural complex, the most complete palace building complex, and the museum that receives the most visitors in the world.
Sometimes a shop is more than just a shop.
Yellow Monkey, a store that will carry repurposed furniture and other things as well as consignment items, is swinging its way to northwest Rochester.
However, this project is about more than just selling merchandise, according to owner Cindy Rigotti.
"I wanted to create a place for young adults with disabilities to get work experience," she said.
She understands the difficulties these young people face because her son has a disability.
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While there are places in the Rochester area that try to help people with disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome, with jobs, Rigotti wants to create opportunities that go beyond duties such as cleaning.
"I want them to do it all. I want to help then get the experience they need to put on a resume," she said.
Her plan is to staff the business with people with disabilities who need help transitioning from school to being productive members of the workforce. They will start out as volunteers, though Rigotti hopes to be successful enough to eventually start paying them.
She is reaching out to Rochester Public Schoolsto work with the adults in RPS' Rochester Academy for Independent Living. RAIL teaches young adults beyond high school age basic life skills.
The hope is to open the doors of the Yellow Monkey at 1119 Seventh St. NW in the retail center anchored by $5 Pizza. The Yellow Monkey will be next to SkinLab Piercing And Tattoo.
Why call it the Yellow Monkey?
"I wanted a fun name. My favorite color is yellow," Rigotti said.
Barb Phelps and LeighAnn Peltoma, of Paramark Real Estate Services, handled the deal to bring Yellow Monkey into the empty spot.\\\
There couldn't have been a more pivotal moment in the U.S.-Mexican relationship for the Philadelphia Museum of Art to open a landmark exhibit of Mexican art.
Of course, the timing of this stunning show is coincidental, coming in the midst of a presidential campaign in which Donald Trump has labeled illegal Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists. He has also repeatedly denounced the NAFTA accord with Mexico.
Yet it is impossible to separate this brilliant show called Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism 1910-1950 from politics. These masterpieces by Diego Rivera and other greats were painted at a time when Mexicans were furiously debating their political direction; they arrive here while America is going through unprecedented political turmoil. Mexican immigrants and the U.S.-Mexico relationship have been used by Trump as a pinata that he constantly whacks to woo his faithful.
Last week, I had a chance to discuss all this with Mexico's elegant foreign minister, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, who was in Philly for the exhibit opening and who has made 30 trips this year to the United States. She hopes to set the record straight.
"We see the need to inform the American people better about the strategic value and many benefits of our relationship," she told me. "The best way to meet prejudices is to talk objectively about the contributions of our community to the United States."
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Of Trump's broad brush portrayal of migrants as criminals, she says, "The picture Trump has presented is misinformed and prejudiced." It ignores the fact that most illegals work and a large percentage pay taxes (and it also insults the many successful Mexican American businessmen and professionals). Moreover, Trump never tells you that Mexico has a negative rate of migrant inflow into the United States.
As documented by the Pew Research Center, since 2009 more Mexicans have returned to Mexico than have migrated here (most illegals now crossing the border come from Central or South America or the Caribbean). One reason for the falling numbers is that surprise! border security and deportations have increased in recent years.
However, Massieu is quick to say that the problem of undocumented immigrants needs addressing by both countries. "We have to work together to meet the challenge of migration flows, says Massieu. "We also need to work on root causes of migration in countries of origin."
Trump's talk of lining the border with a concrete wall debunked by most experts as geographically impossible and prohibitively costly doesn't fly with Mexico.
Will Mexico pay for the wall, as Trump insists? "We wouldn't even consider it," Massieu swiftly responds. "This is an absurd proposition."
Why then did Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto invite Trump to visit and never publicly repudiate the "Wall" proposal in his presence?
Massieu's explanation: "Our government believes in dialogue, particularly when there is a candidate who has a glaring lack of knowledge of what our country contributes to U.S. growth."
Which brings us to the subject of NAFTA, a trade accord with Mexico and Canada that was passed on President Bill Clinton's watch. Trump calls it "one of the worst deals ever" and says he'd renegotiate or junk it because it has sucked out American jobs. He pledges to "bring our jobs back."
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What Trump doesn't say is that many of those manufacturing jobs so prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s have been overtaken by automation and are never coming back. Moreover, Mexico, the United States, and Canada are now tied into a single integrated economy that would be extremely difficult to tear apart.
"For every dollar spent on Mexican exports, 40 percent is U.S. content," Massieu says. In other words, the less complex parts of an American car may be made in Mexico, the more complex parts in the USA, and the car assembled there, or here.
"Technically it is possible (to disrupt that chain), but in reality it is not possible to undo the commercial chains and production ties we have," says Massieu, especially because those chains extend beyond governments and link industries in many states directly to Mexico.
If Trump tore up NAFTA and imposed tariffs on Mexico, it would destroy many jobs north of the border without the certainty of creating new ones. American consumers would have to pay far more for their goods.
None of this is to say that there are not problems with immigration or some provisions of trade deals. Pressed from the left by Bernie Sanders, Clinton has echoed Trump in rejecting the trade deal that was supposed to supersede NAFTA, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mexico is waiting uncertainly to see what she would do, if elected, on trade.
But there is no question whom the Mexicans would prefer to win the U.S. election. "Candidate Trump doesn't have the knowledge of our bilateral relationship that Mrs. Clinton has," says Massieu. "She knows the strategic value of our relationship."
"We will work with whatever government, no matter who wins," the minister adds. But the U.S.-Mexican relationship would no doubt turn frosty under a President Trump.
Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Will Waggoner wants to represent the House District 26A residents who feel they aren't being represented.
In challenging Tina Liebling for the seat, the Rochester Republican says too many people say aren't being heard, "People have a lot to say and don't think anyone wants to listen," said the recent political science graduate, who's been knocking on doors in the district that covers much of Rochester.
Representing district
Waggoner, a HyVee assistant manager who spent part of his college career advocating for Minnesota state education grants, said he understands the feeling. As someone who was able to attend classes at Gustavus Adolphus College due to grant funding, he said he was disappointed when lawmakers didn't seem to listen to his pitches on behalf of the Minnesota Private College Council.
He says Liebling was one of those lawmakers.
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"There's a lot of people who are not satisfied with our representation, and I think I can offer a great alternative," Waggoner said.
Liebling, a six-term DFLer, says she feel she matches the needs of the diverse district, which spans a broad economic spectrum, as well as serving diverse racial and cultural populations. "I think I fit this district really well because I have sort of a foot in a lot of the different constituencies in the community," she said, citing her public health background and connections to many groups with diverse interests.
Those connections have served the district and the lawmaker well. Liebling has been a strong voice for health care in the House's Health and Human Services Finance Committee and has plans to tackle mental health, long-term care financing and child-care shortages, if re-elected.
Waggoner voiced concern about Liebling's voting record, noting it too often line up with metro-area lawmakers. He said his research indicates a 95 percent match with her party or metro-area concerns.
The number isn't surprising since metro-area legislators share Liebling's concerns for diverse populations. A growing Rochester is going to have needs that match Minneapolis and St. Paul.
More upsetting is the fact that Waggoner appears to be trying to draw an us-versus-them line that doesn't need to exist.
Differing opinions
When talking about the issues, the two candidates' answers frequently came from differing points of view. Liebling tends to talk about programs seeking to help Minnesotans, while Waggoner looks at costs and stresses the need to cut taxes.
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The split is highlighted by their comments on Local Government Aid. Liebling supports an increase to help provide equity throughout the state to reduce local property taxes, but Waggoner said more spending isn't needed and he wants to lower state taxes.
In talking to the Post Bulletin Editorial Board, the challenger was most pointedly upset by Liebling's decision this year not to sign on to a bonding request for the Rochester-based Reading Center.
The bill was penned by Rep. Nels Pierson and Liebling's refusal to sign on was discussed at a Rochester Chamber of Commerce event in May, during which Liebling said she was upset that she wasn't allowed to carry the bill for a facility in her district because she was in the minority party.
We see it as part of Liebling's willingness to buck the partisan system and stand up for what she believes is right and fair. "I'm not a go-along to get-along person," she told us. "I never have been."
Rochester has benefited from that attitude, and it could help spur change in the Minnesota Legislature. After a second session ended with concerns over last-minute actions, Liebling said individual lawmakers must be willing to refuse to vote on bills presented too late for appropriate review. That's what she did on the bonding bill and she opposed the tax bill, in part, because she hadn't had time to study it. "I think that would solve the problem rather quickly" she said about sending a message by refusing to vote.
Waggoner also sees a need to make sure lawmakers have a chance to review bills and suggested setting earlier deadlines for bills and amendments.
In our eyes, the race ultimately comes down to experience. Liebling, who has helped move many bills that have benefited the state and region, offers and expertise in health care issues that Rochester residents cannot afford to reject. That expertise is why the Post Bulletin Editorial Board is endorsing Tina Liebling's re-election to House District 26A.
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Learn more
The Post Bulletin Editorial Board endorsements are offered to provide one view of candidates for local and regional offices.
We encourage you to do your own research as you get ready to vote.
To find out more about the candidates in Minnesota House District 26A, visit their websites:
Tina Liebling
www.tinaliebling.org
Will Waggoner
willwaggoner.org
For information on polling places and sample ballots, visit the Minnesota Secretary of State website at www.sos.state.mn.us.
John covered one of the videos released by James OKeefes Project Veritas Action Fund last week in Undercover video shows Democrats plotting violence at Trump rallies. In the plotting depicted in the cited video released last week, Scott Foval and Robert Creamer (since departed from the scene) play starring roles.
In todays update, OKeefe posts Rigging the election video III: Creamer confirms Clinton involvement video below. Robert Creamer again plays a starring role.
The video is accompanied by a recap and summary. Here is the opening of the summary:
Part III of the undercover investigation dives further into the back room dealings of Democratic politics. It exposes prohibited communications between Hillary Clintons campaign, the DNC and the non-profit organization Americans United for Change. And, its all disguised as a duck. Several Project Veritas Action undercover journalists catch Democracy Partners founder directly implicating Hillary Clinton in FEC violations. In the end, it was the candidate, Hillary Clinton, the future president of the United States, who wanted ducks on the ground, says [Robert] Creamer in one of several exchanges. So, by God, we would get ducks on the ground. It is made clear that high-level DNC operative Creamer realized that this direct coordination between Democracy Partners and the campaign would be damning when he said: Dont repeat that to anybody. It was earlier this year when people wearing Donald Duck costumes started showing up at Donald Trump events all over the country. Brad Woodhouse is the president of Americans United for Change (AUFC) and he worked with Robert Creamer, Scott Foval, and DNC Rapid Response Coordinator Aaron Black to launch their Donald Ducks campaign.
The report adds this explanation: Hillary Clinton and the DNC wanted the Donald Ducks agitators at Trump and Pence campaign events. The direct involvement of the campaign and the Democratic National Committee with Americans United for Change and activists wearing Donald Duck costumes smacks strongly of illegal coordinated campaign expenditures.
According to the report, we need not take Robert Creamers assertions at face value. The Project Veritas reporters witnessed some of the planning and coordination: Representatives of Clintons campaign were on daily conference calls which [Project Veritas] journalists witnessed with Creamer, AUFC managers and their operatives. They were talking about where to send the duck and the ducks message. Not only was the campaign in on it, but apparently Donna Brazilles Democratic National Committee was in on it as well.
The Obama administration admitted today that Obamacare premiums will rise an average of 22 percent for the Silver Plan in 2017. The Silver Plan is the Obamacare benchmark upon which federal subsidies are based.
The subsidies will shield many Obamacare purchasers from the impact of the increase, but a large of number of purchasers will be hammered. And, of course, taxpayers will be hit as well by virtue of the increased subsidy payments.
Most significantly, the skyrocketing premiums non-subsidized Obamacare customers face will fuel the cycle thats causing premiums to skyrocket. Premiums have risen dramatically because too few healthy people who arent entitled to subsidies are enrolling in Obamacare. Thus, those who havent yet eschewed it are required to pay more.
But the more they are asked to pay, the more likely they are to eschew Obamacare in the future. This will mean that premiums must be significantly hiked again the next time, and the cycle or death spiral will continue.
Premium hikes arent the only bad news for those who purchase Obamacare and for the viability of the program. The number of Obamacare carriers will drop from 298 to 228 next year in the federal exchange and selected states. And 21 percent of consumers returning to the exchanges will only have one carrier to chose from, though that insurer may offer multiple plan choices.
Finding a doctor and hospital one likes will also be more challenging than ever for Obamacare consumers in 2017. To keep costs down, insurers have been narrowing their networks of providers, says Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown Universitys Health Policy Institute.
With premiums higher and choice of plans, doctors and hospitals reduced, the death spiral will likely accelerate.
The enrollment figures already reflect disenchantment with Obamacare. Last year, the CBO projected that enrollment would reach the 20 million mark this year. Now, it has revised its estimate down to 13 million.
What impact will the bad Obamacare news have on the upcoming election? I doubt that it will move the needle much in the presidential race. Unfortunately, the battle lines between Clinton and Trump have been drawn elsewhere.
Congressional races are probably another matter, especially if the Democrat voted for Obamacare or against its repeal. In Arizona, where Obamacare is truly a mess, Sen. John McCain has hammered Rep. Anne Kirkpatrick over the issue to good effect. Its difficult to see Sen. Evan Bayh, whose vote was necessary to pass Obamacare, not being damaged by the latest news.
For these and other Republicans in tough races, the Obamacare news can be thought of as a favorable October surprise. All over the country, Republican congressional candidates should be trying to break Sen. Tom Cottons single debate record for mentioning his opponents support of Obamacare (around two dozen times, I think).
There really isnt anything surprising, though, about Obamacares latest woes. They were widely predicted. Obamacare was ill-conceived so ill-conceived that some suggest it was designed to fail and be replaced with a single-payer style system.
Obamacares passage is an object lesson in what happens when Democrats control the White House and the Congress. The latest news should help drive that lesson home just in time for the election.
President Obamas signal foreign policy achievement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, guarantees and finances the Iranian regimes development of a nuclear arsenal. It also enhances their regional power until that time. All in all, from the perspective of the national security of the United States and its allies, it must be the stupidest deal of all time.
Some Americans nevertheless see it as a brilliant stroke. Take, for example, New York Times travel writer Elaine Sciolino, as Lee Smith calls her. She thinks the deal with Iran, such as it is, is a marvelous idea.
The Washington Post called on Sciolino to review Wall Street Journal reporter Jay Solomons new book, The Iran Wars. The Post puts the headline over Sciolinos review A journalists dark perspective on the nuclear deal with Iran. The headline suggests that Solomon is guilty of a bad attitude.
Lee Smith reviews Sciolinos review in Washington Post tells readers to ignore inconvenient facts of Iran deal. Smith provides a helpful context within which to Sciolinos review in a context that is otherwise lacking. [H]er published work on Iran at this point has little bearing on national security, Smith writes. Shes a travel writer.
Smith quotes Sciolinos recent article about tile work for Travel & Leisure: Isfahan boasts tilework so dense and seductive that if you gaze at it too long, you feel slightly drugged. Swirling calligraphy and precise geometries are often unexpectedly paired with bright floral patterns. Smith then notes:
Sciolino is a member of the Times Tales from Persia team, which includes other Timesmen, like opinion columnist Roger Cohen. Tales From Persia is one of the Timess luxury travel packages that offers readers a chance to visit the places they read about, led by the people who write about those lands. The travel business is part of an arrangement between the Times and the clerical regime that the paper of record, especially its Tehran correspondent Thomas Erdbrink, not to go too hard on the ruling clique in Tehran, or it will shut down the business. In other words, Sciolino has a stake in painting a favorable picture of the clerical regime. Exactly how much she is paid to lead tours of Iran the Times would not confirm by press time, nor would the Post confirm if its editors were aware it was assigning a review to a writer with a conflict of interest that touches on personal and corporate finances. How did this happen? Or what had to happen to the media environment that a travel writer was given space in one of Americas last remaining newspapers to attack, on what the reviewer herself acknowledges are ideological grounds, a book written by a top national security reporter?
Smith concludes with this judgment on the merits: The pro-JCPOA advocates won the deal but lost the national security debate. Insofar as rational discourse does matter, they were wrong. And thus they now have no choice but to keep peddling pretty, delicate, and colorful fictions, or the political equivalent of Persian tile work.
If you have any interest in the subject, you will want to read the whole thing here.
Socialists around the world never hold up Venezuela (or North Korea, or the Soviet Union, or Albania, or Cuba) as an example of a successful socialist economy. That honor nearly always goes to Sweden; never mind that Sweden isnt actually socialist. But it is a welfare state, and thats the best the Left can do. But the idea that Sweden proves welfare state policies are a path to prosperity is false.
Dan Mitchell notes five good arguments against that proposition, with supporting graphs and data omitted here:
1. Sweden became rich when government was small. Indeed, until about 1960, the burden of the public sector in Sweden was smaller than it was in the United States. And as late as 1970, Sweden still had less redistribution spending that America had in 1980. 2. Sweden compensates for bad fiscal policy by having a very pro-market approach to other areas, such as trade policy, regulatory policy, monetary policy, and rule of law and property rights. Indeed, it has more economic freedom than the United States when looking an non-fiscal policies. The same is true for Denmark. 3. Sweden has suffered from slower growth ever since the welfare state led to large increases in the burden of government spending. This has resulted in Sweden losing ground relative to other nations and dropping in the rankings of per-capita GDP. 4. Sweden is trying to undo the damage of big government with pro-market reforms. Starting in the 1990s, there have been tax-rate reductions, periods of spending restraint, adoption of personal retirement accounts, and implementation of nationwide school choice. 5. Sweden doesnt look quite so good when you learn that Americans of Swedish descent produce 39 percent more economic output, on a per-capita basis, than the Swedes that stayed in Sweden.
Powerful stuff. Mitchell adds this chart, which comes from Professor Professor Olle Krantz, and tracks Swedens per capita GDP is a ratio to the average of 16 industrialized countries, from 1870-1997.
My state, Minnesota, is a lot like Sweden in this respect: liberals dont pretend that states like Illinois and Connecticut are evidence of the success of blue-state policies, but they like to offer Minnesota as proof that liberal policies can work. Unfortunately, that isnt true.
Xinjiang Culture Week held in Sri Lanka Updated: 2016-10-25 11:35 (Chinaculture.org)
Xinjiang Art Troupe stages performance at the Xinjiang Culture Week in Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka, Oct 20, 2016. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]
A Xinjiang Culture Week themed Charming China, Colorful Xinjiang was staged in Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka, from Oct 18-20 to promote cultural exchanges between the two counties.
The three-day event featured elements of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region through exhibitions of intangible cultural heritage, traditional costumes and musical instruments as well as cultural performances and lectures.
The opening ceremony was held on Oct 18, attended by Rauff Hakeem, Sri Lanka's Minister of City Planning and Water Supply, S.B. Nawinne, Sri Lanka's Minister of Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs, and Yi Xianliang, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, as well as a number of other officials.
"The splendid ancient Chinese civilization has attracted scholars from all around the world to travel a long way to study in China. Nowadays, the Belt and Road Initiative, especially the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund, will help provide huge development dividends to countries along the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road," said Hakeem while addressing the opening.
"Sri Lanka will seize the opportunities and enhance cooperation with China in economic, trade, cultural and other areas," he added.
The Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. The initiative helps build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.
Oil exports have resumed at Forcados terminal, a key platform attacked by the Niger Delta Avengers in early 2016.
The director of Shell Oil Companys Global Upstream, Andrew Brown, confirmed the development on Tuesday.
He spoke at a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Forcados, with a 400,000 barrels-per-day capacity, was attacked by the so-called Niger Delta Avengers in February.
The attack significantly cut Nigerias oil output.
It compelled Shell to announce a force majeure, a declaration made by a party to an agreement when it is unable to meet an obligation due to unforeseen circumstances.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said at least N689 billion was lost during the period.
It is unclear when Shell and its partners, Axion Energy Argentina SA and Pampa Energia SA, actually resumed sales of oil through the channel.
Although the repair of the terminal was initially scheduled for May, reports suggested that operations only started in late September.
The governors of APC controlled states have complained about the recent ambassadorial appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari.
One of the governors, Simon Lalong, faulted the decision of the president to come up with the list and send it to the Senate without adequate consultation.
He said consultations across board would have ensured fairness, citing an example of his state where the two nominees came from the same zone.
One of the nominees from Plateau, a former deputy governor of the state, Pauline Tallen, rejected the offer citing concerns about her ailing husband and lack of consultation with the governor.
Mr. Lalong, however, said beyond the issue of her sick husband is also a political consideration.
Emerging from a meeting of the APC governors with Mr. Buhari on Monday at the State House Presidential Villa, Mr. Lalong, who spoke to journalists, said many other states apart from Plateau have also raised concerns over the ambassadorial list.
He said the governors have raised the issue with Mr. Buhari and they have also resolved to forward their complaints on the matter to the president in writing.
So all the states that have complains are going to put it in writing and the president promised he is going to look into it, he said.
He said the case of Mrs. Tallen is a good example of the lopsided nature of the appointments.
It is not a big issue but at times a little consultation would have solved that problem because these are issues in the interest of the state.
So you cant have two appointments , very key appointments like that coming from a particular zone that is already overloaded with appointments.
All the federal appointments is from the southern zone, so it would not be fair.
So it is the issue of fairness and now we are approaching Mr. President to consider fairness and appoint people from those areas that do not have representation.
Pauline is an astute politician from my state, and part of the issue we also raised was on some of the appointments that were made.
It is not only about her husband I think it is the dimension of Plateau politics because I had already made complaints to Mr. President that appointments should not be concentrated in one zone.
So the complains that are coming from our state is not about her own personal interest, but is the fact that two ambassadorial appointments are coming from the same zone that we had complained, he said.
The Plateau governor said he also hails from the same zone in question and they had resolved earlier that any appointment coming to Plateau should go to the other zones.
And I think as a matured politician, she stepped down and sacrificed that for the people of Plateau. We are still working on a replacement for that, he said.
The Lagos Division of the Federal High Court on Tuesday fixed December 12 for its ruling on an application filed by Government Ekpemupolo (popularly known as Tompolo), to refer his case against the Nigerian government to the Court of Appeal.
Mr. Ekpemupolo, who was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in February, had sued the Nigerian government seeking an end to his trial for alleged fraud.
The former militant leader is facing prosecution by the EFCC for allegedly stealing about N45 billion.
He had ignored several court summons since February, and has been on the run ever since.
In the same month, his lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, approached the Court of Appeal, asking it to set aside the warrant of arrest issued against him.
In April, he filed an action before a federal court in Lagos asking for an interpretation and nullification of sections 221 and 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
He said the said sections violated his constitutional rights.
Section 221 of the law states that: Objections shall not be taken or entertained during proceedings or trial on the ground that of an imperfect or erroneous charge.
According to Section 306: An application for stay of proceedings in respect of a criminal matter before a court shall not be entertained.
Mr. Ekpemupolo said the sections prevented the court from exercising its jurisdiction to entertain any objection to a criminal charge and an application for a stay of proceedings pending appeal.
On Tuesday, Tolu Mukoro, counsel representing the Attorney-General of the Federation, urged the court not to grant Mr. Ekpemupolos application on the grounds that the Nigerian Constitution permits the government to enact any law, including the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
That is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society and Tompolo cannot seek to strike down the ACJA, he said.
Mr. Mukoro added that since the ex-militant leader had consistently failed to respond to court summons, he should not be allowed to benefit from his wrong-doing by obtaining a favour from the court.
I.B Mohammed, counsel to the EFCC, argued that since the matter commenced under the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules, it can no longer be referred to an appellate court.
There is no provision in the said fundamental rights rules to justify such transfer, Mr. Mohammed said.
In his reply, Mr. Adegboruwa said the Section 45 cited by Mr. Mukoro was inapplicable, adding that his client was not seeking to strike down the entire ACJA but two of its provisions.
Mr. Adegboruwa also argued that the EFCC could not rely on its main counter-affidavit at the interlocutory stage since the substantive case is yet to be argued.
After taking argument from all counsels, Justice Olatoregun Ishola adjourned the case to December 12, 2016, for ruling.
The National Judicial Council has put in place a policy to curb the disclosure of petitions against judicial officers.
The new policy will bar the media from reporting on details of such petitions until the council considers it right for such disclosures.
The policy is coming at a time of intense public scrutiny of the regulatory body, following the arrest and investigation of several senior judges on allegations of corruption.
Seven judges were arrested two weeks ago by operatives of the State Security Service.
The NJC has been accused of not doing enough to stem judicial corruption. It has also been accused of not investigating petitions raised either by the public or security agencies.
The Nigeria Bar Association called for the suspension of the arrested judges, but the NJC said the suggestion was unacceptable.
Under the new policy, petitioners willing to file complaints against judicial officers must first depose to an affidavit pledging that no content of such petitions would be made public, by them or by persons known to them.
The council said it would discard any petition made public, even after investigations have already commenced.
Where complaints on allegations against judicial officers and court employees are submitted for investigation, the complainant or complainants shall be made to give an undertaking not to do anything to prejudice investigation or actions that may be taken, it said.
The institutions of the judiciary concerned with investigation or and implementation of decisions taken on such complaints shall be obliged to cease further action where such complaints are leaked or discussed in the media.
Where such a leakage is occasioned after the submission of a complaint then all investigations on the complaints shall be suspended, the leakage investigated and if such leakage is from the complainant on through other parties known to such a complainant, such a complaint should be discarded.
Where such leakage is occasioned prior to the presentation of the complaint and the source of the leakage is found to be the complainant or through other parties known to and connected with the complainant then such complaint shall not be accepted, upon submission, by the appropriate disciplinary body, the council said.
The council further said it would only allow the publication of complaints after investigation had been concluded.
Upon the conclusion of any investigation, the judicial disciplinary bodies may allow public disclosure of their findings, subject to following the proper channels for such disclosure, it said.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday proposed new adjustments to some line items in the 2016 budget to address financial urgencies.
The presidents proposal was contained in a letter to the National Assembly on Tuesday, in which he seeks a total N180.8 billion in virement for line items in both capital and recurrent expenditures.
Mr. Buhari said the need for government to augment funds in the federal coffers was caused by renewed militant activities in the Niger-Delta.
He said the destruction of oil installations had left his administration unable to pay overhead costs as the nation has no viable alternative means of revenue.
The most viable option now is the virement of appropriated funds from heads or sub heads , Mr. Buhari said in the letter addressed to Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara.
Areas where the president said needed urgent injection of funds include security, intervention programs, education and services.
The president said there was no point allowing funds to lay idle in some agencies while activities are grounded in others due to financial shortfalls.
The Public Complaints Commission was shut down last week following months of financial crisis. The agency is part of those the president plans to inject funds.
The Buhari administration had been grappling with low internal revenues for several months amid an economic recession.
The situation has been blamed on the situation in the Niger-Delta, where attacks on oil installations led to oil multinationals including Shell and Agip suspending some activities for a large part of the year.
The deputy spokesperson of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, Timi Frank, has said that the party must resolve its ongoing crisis or risk losing reelection in 2019.
Mr. Frank, who addressed a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja said, the national chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, must resign his position for promoting impunity within the party.
He said what is happening in the APC now is what led to the departure of some prominent members of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that eventually saw it lose the 2015 election after 16 years in power.
As the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Frank was expected to assume the position of the spokesperson of the party after the departure of Lai Mohammed who was appointed Information Minister by President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, the leadership of the APC under Mr. Oyegun blocked him from assuming the position which has pitched him against the national chairman.
We cannot keep quiet anymore. The crisis in the APC is getting worse every day. We cannot pretend to hide some of these critical issues anymore. The time to reform now, otherwise it might be too late, he said.
Mr. Frank said the APC was running out of time because politicians have already begun preparations for 2019 elections.
There are a lot of political alignment going on in the country and my party has only between now and January 2017.
If we do not; I repeat; if we do not harmonise all the interests, grievances and crisis before January 2017, I fear it might be too late. Many leaders will be thinking of the next step to pursue their political agenda.
I am speaking out of experience. This was the same thing that chased some of us away from the PDP and that is what is happening today in the APC, he said.
Mr. Frank said members of the new PDP, including five governors and many senators and members of the House of Representatives, kept pushing for the removal of the then chairman, Bamanga Tukur, from office due to what he called infighting and impunity.
He however, said the president at the time, Goodluck Jonathan, refused to listen to our cries but by the time they decided to remove Bamanga Tukur it was already late.
Mr. Frank said beyond addressing the media, he has concluded plans to write another letter to President Buhari as well as the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and many other top leaders of the APC.
He also said he would follow up his letters with personal visits to all the leaders of the party and founding fathers.
This is a rescue mission that I am about to embark on. Let me use this opportunity to let you know that this fight to rescue our party is not personal. Its because I love this party so much and as a loyal member of this party, I will do everything it takes to ensure that we re-build this party, he said.
Oyegun can still frustrate Buhari
Mr. Frank also said Mr. Buhari should recall that it was Mr. Oyegun as national chairman of the ANPP that frustrated him out of the party in the past, forcing him to form a new party, the CPC.
Mr. President should go back and rethink his experience with Oyegun when he was the National Chairman of the ANPP.
It was because of the incompetence of Oyegun at the time that drove him out of ANPP and force him to form the CPC. Buhari was frustrated out of ANPP.
The president must act fast to see reason why Oyegun has to go because the same thing that drove him out of ANPP then is now about to drive majority of our members out of APC, he said.
Mr. Oyegun was not the national chairman of ANPP. He was the partys deputy national chairman, south.
Mr. Frank also accused Mr. Oyegun of planning to appoint an acting spokesperson for the party. He said the chairman has no such powers. He also said if a new spokesperson is named other than him, he would sue the chairman and the party.
He said he was speaking the mind of many APC faithful and that if things continue this way, Nigerians will lose confidence in us and there might be no APC in 2019.
Forkfuls of charity Updated: 2016-10-25 08:13 By Mike Peters(China Daily)
Meatballs for charity: Diners get an exclusive deal and a party atmosphere at the monthly Beijing Foodies events. [Photo provided to China Daily]
As I dig into a platter of Korean barbecue at a new Beijing restaurant, Jim Boyce is in a bar a few blocks away, enjoying Belgian beer and "liar's dice". At her Shunyi home, Allison Cooke is dreaming of tasty gingerbread houses studded with gumdrops, the roofs made "snowy" with thick white icing.
What such local foodies have in commonbesides a rather well-developed fondness for good food and drinkis finding ways to combine our appetites with charity. Proceeds from the "Korean tapas" meal being wolfed down by 80 guests at the just-opened Sulyi restaurant will support refugees who arrive in Greece with literally nothing but the clothes they are wearing. "Maovember" events organized by Boyce and others will generate funds for Chinese orphans. Cooke's gingerbread fantasyand plenty of hot mulled wine and a freshly roasted whole pigwill be served up at the German Christmas bazaar in late November, which generates hundreds of thousands of yuan for disadvantaged children and families in China.
Christmas bazaars go back 400 years in Germany, but traditions like thatespecially those that marry food and fundraisingare much newer in the Middle Kingdom.
The idea, however, has been embraced quickly. Chi Fan for Charity, in Beijing and Hong Kong on Nov 5 and in Shanghai on Nov 12, will attract hundreds to some of the top restaurants in those cities to raise money for those less fortunate.
Nigerians on social media have mocked the Economic and Financial Crimes for arresting the former presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, just days after he penned an article about Nigerias seat of power, Aso Rock.
The EFCC says Mr. Abati, a columnist, was arrested for his alleged links to the ongoing investigation of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
EFCC sources said other reasons for Mr. Abatis detention would be made known later.
But, with the raging speculation on social media, the arrest may have been wrongly timed.
The fact that specific details of Mr. Abatis arrest have so far remained fuzzy, has done little help to douse concerns on the social media that the arrest was a fallout of the article.
In the article, which was published in The Guardian, Mr. Abati argued that the Nigerian presidential palace had been occupied by evil spirits for decades.
I am ordinarily not a superstitious person, but working in the Villa, I eventually became convinced that there must be something supernatural about power and closeness to it, Mr. Abati had earlier written.
Mr. Abati said the demons were so ruthless that some married men were deprived of the ability to exercise their social status, leaving their wives little choice but to seek alternative means of satisfying their sexual cravings.
He said his suspicion that officials in the State House were putting up with evil spirits was the primary reason he declined to pack into an apartment provided for his family there.
The article ignited heated debate on social media, with Femi Fani-Kayode coming out to support Mr. Abati.
Mr. Fani-Kayode suggested that even President Buharis infamous argument that his wife belongs to the kitchen, was a manifestation of supernatural powers compelling him to utter disparaging statements.
But presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, disagreed.
Mr. Adesina, in an opinion piece over the weekend, said Mr. Abatis hypothesis did not reflect the reality on ground.
For over one year, I have lived in the house allocated to me at the Villa. I sleep so soundly, I even snore, Mr. Adesina said. In fact, I snore so loud that at times, I wake myself up with the sound.
By Monday evening, the news that Mr. Abati had been arrested, sent Nigerias blogosphere into a meltdown.
I hope the evil spirits in Aso Rock did not possess our revered journalist Reuben Abati ooh! abi EFCC want to do deliverance session? A user, Alabi Michael, wrote.
Another user, Uche, was more authoritative with his conclusion.
So Reuben Abati will spend the night at EFCC detention facility because of his article on evil spirits in Aso Rock? Just like that.
Another user Chidi Ajuzie said Mr. Abati might be interrogated about more offences than corruption.
Reuben Abati must now explain, in full with full workings, to EFCC; the operations of the evil spirits he claims are in Aso Rock, Mr. Ajuzie said.
On PREMIUM TIMES Facebook page, Michael Martins said he had predicted Mr. Abatis arrest since he wrote the controversial column.
I knew this will happen since I saw that article about demons in Aso Rock.
If u think this is about fighting corruption, then why was the walking free until he started his article?
Was it just a coincidence that once someone is outspoken about this administration he ends up in EFCCs cell?
Other social media users suggested that the EFCC must come out clean on its actions against Mr. Abati to ward off the allegations and avoid a public relation setback.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government to declare an emergency on the economy.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Dayo Adeyeye, made the call in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.
Mr. Adeyeye also advised the government to invite competent hands to manage and revive the countrys economy.
He said the PDP had been vindicated of its positions following the acceptance of responsibility regarding the economic misfortune caused by the APC.
He said Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo, who spoke with jour after APC governors meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday accepted the responsibility.
Mr. Adeyeye quoted Okorocha as saying We must take responsibility and we must never shift the responsibility to anybody. We are responsible for everything happening in Nigeria.
The good, the bad, the ugly but we are promising Nigerians that we shall fix it.
The PDP spokesman said that the declaration came after several months of bulk-passing to previous PDP administration.
He called on the APC to also accept other responsibilities as well correct the impression that previous PDP administration achieved nothing in the economy, infrastructure and policies in 16 years.
For the umpteenth time, let us reiterate that the PDPs achievements cannot be wished away.
We therefore appreciate the APCs acceptance.
We urge them to accept all other responsibilities for all the wrongs they have plunged the country into and equally apologise for their serial lies.
(NAN)
An Abuja division of the Federal High Court will on November 17 determine whether or not the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, will be joined in a case of alleged forgery currently before the court.
Mr. Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, made an application on Tuesday, before Justice Gabriel Kolawole, seeking to be joined as plaintiffs in a motion by a Senator, Gilbert Nnaji.
The motion is challenging a police report on investigations conducted into the case of alleged forgery of the senate standing rules, against Messrs. Saraki and Ekweremadu.
Mr. Gilbart had asked the court to set aside the police report on the grounds that the alleged infraction was an in-house matter, which the National Assembly had the constitutional mandate of resolving.
He alleged that the report was inspired by a petition from the secretary of the senate unity forum, Suleiman Hunkuyi, and four other senators for the sole aim of incriminating the Senate President.
At Tuesdays session, Mr. Sarakis lawyer, Paul Erokoro, said Messrs Saraki and Ekweremadu would like to be joined in the suit, filed by another of his client, Mr. Nnaji.
The applicants have a substantial interest in the relief sort, said Mr. Erokoro, who noted that he would be representing Mr. Nnaji, and the senate leaders.
The judge, Mr. Kolawole, fixed November 17 to rule on the said application.
Since the application was filed in July, 2015, Mr. Nnaji had remained the plaintiff, while the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, were the defendants respectively.
Mr. Hunkuyi had asked to be joined in the matter, but his application was struck out when his lawyers failed to attend court session to move his motion.
The Afenifere Renewal Group has criticised the statements attributed to the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, over the recent inauguration of Anti-Grazing Enforcement Marshals in Ekiti State.
In a statement Monday, the Yoruba socio-political body said the cattle breeders groups reaction to the creation of the Marshals was an assault on Yoruba people and will be treated as a terror threat until an apology is tendered.
Such open threat against the people and government that accommodate your business interest is terrorism, said Kunle Famoriyo, ARGs publicity secretary.
Governor Ayodele Fayose, last week, inaugurated a team that would enforce the Prohibition of Cattle and other Ruminants Grazing law in Ekiti State.
The law restricts animal grazing to designated ranches within the state and between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm.
But the Miyetti Allah group accused the governor of using the Marshals to harass their members and to seize their cattle.
We have been reliably alerted (by) an impeccable source in Ado-Ekiti that the Anti-Malu vigilante group (as the Marshalls are referred to in the state) shot five cows and carted away with the meat but the herdsmen (sic) was able to flee with the rest of his cattle, a representative of the group, Othman Ngelzarma, said in a statement last weekend.
We are hereby constrained to implore the federal government through its security agencies to wade into this unprovoked and primitive aggression against our members, before this macabre incident develops into unquenchable inferno involving our members and Ekiti State government.
In its statement on Monday, the ARG said the Miyetti Allah group, MACBAN, had always exonerated its members from herdsmens crimes, blaming it on foreigners from other countries.
Sanity therefore prescribes that MACBAN should be happy for the enactment of such law that will ensure genuine cattle breeders are not stigmatized by these criminals from other countries, said Mr. Famoriyo.
The new law, being first of its kind, may not be perfect and its enforcement may not be smooth initially.
The responsibility therefore lies on major stakeholders to organise sensitisation workshops for its members so that the new law can achieve its objective of stemming crises arising from herdsmen-farmers relations.
MACBAN has so far shunned this democratic approach and preferred to use intimidation and warring tactics and languages.
The ARG said the right of governors, as the chief security officers of their respective states, to make laws consistent with the culture and rights of their people should not be wished away by intimidation or threat.
We recall that in 2013, the Hisbah Police in Kano reportedly destroyed more than 20,000 crates of beer bottles, said Mr. Famoriyo.
Despite the freedom of movement and trade guaranteed by the Constitution, what mattered then was that Kano does not want beer within its jurisdiction even though it hypocritically shares from the VAT generated from sales of alcohol in other states.
Between 2013 and 2015, the Kano State Hisbah Board, the states religious police, destroyed 326,151 bottles of beer, in enforcement of the ban on alcoholic beverages in the state.
Why should governors of northern states have the freewill to protect their people and religious disposition, while their southern counterparts are subjected to intimidation? Mr. Famoriyo asked.
Nigeria is not a slave camp of any ethnic nationality and MACBANs statement is therefore considered an assault on Yoruba people and will be treated as a terror threat until an apology is tendered.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has warned the Nigerian government to make sure that one of its (PDP) chieftains, Femi Fani-Kayode, who is in detention, does not die.
Mr. Fani-Kayode was re-arrested on Friday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in Lagos.
Mr. Fani-Kayode was the spokesperson for the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization in 2015. He is also a former minister.
An aide to Mr. Fani-Kayode, Jude Ndukwe, said on Tuesday that the former Minister of Aviation collapsed on Saturday at the EFCCs facility.
He was however, said to have been promptly revived by a team at the EFCCs medical facility. But for the quick and professional intervention of the medical team in the EFCC medical facilities, the story could have been different, it could have been fatal, Mr. Ndukwe said in a statement.
The PDP said the re-arrest of Mr. Fani-Kayode within the premises of a Federal High Court in Lagos is the latest in a series of plans designed to further harass and intimidate our members and supporters using the security and intelligence apparatus of the Nigerian State.
The party, in a statement by its spokesperson, Dayo Adeyeye, recalled that a few days before his arrest, Mr. Fani-Kayodes wife, Precious Chikwendu, and their eight-month-old son, Aragorn, were arrested and would have been detained but for the timely intervention of Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State.
What is not common knowledge is that at the time of his arrest, Chief Fani-Kayode was ill and taking medication. Since his arrest, he has been denied access to his medication and medical doctors who are conversant with his medical history, the party said.
It also said that officials of the EFCC continued to deny Chief Fani-Kayode access to his medication up till Tuesday morning.
The only conclusion that can be reached is that the APC led Federal Government and EFCC want Chief Fani-Kayode to die in detention.
In the light of the prevailing circumstances where EFCC are detaining an obviously weak and ill man, this is an inescapable conclusion.
These continuous violations of the constitutional rights and freedoms of the Nigerian people by the Buhari Administration must stop.
The Federal Government cannot, and must not, be allowed to continually infringe on the rights of the very people it swore to uphold.
We call on all well-meaning Nigerians to urge the Federal Government to desist from its path of human rights abuses, PDP said.
Workers of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Tuesday morning shut down the headquarters of the agency in Abuja and denied the acting director general, Yetunde Oni, access to her office.
The development was in continuation of a protest by the workers against the management of the agency.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the workers had halted operations at the headquarters of the agency since last week when they began their protest.
Our reporter saw Mrs. Oni making a call on her phone in front of the gate on which the workers had hung a heavy padlock.
She declined to comment when asked the reason why the premises was shut down.
A few minutes later however, a team of armed policemen arrived at the scene, apparently in response to her call.
The officers later forced the lock open to allow Mrs. Oni into the premises.
The policemen cordoned off the area to deny the protesting workers access.
Later, another truck brought in heavily armed mobile police men as reinforcement.
Mrs. Oni and members of the NAFDFAC staff declined talking to PREMIUM TIMES as at the time of filing this report.
President Muhammadu Buhari has restated the determination of his administration to restore the country to the good old days of accountability.
Speaking at a meeting Tuesday with the Director, Global Upstream of Shell Oil Company at the State House, Abuja, President Buhari said he would leave a legacy of improved infrastructure, particularly in the power sector, and ensure better security in the Niger Delta.
It is only by doing this that investors morale and confidence will return, and the economy will be positioned on the path of growth, the president said.
President Buhari, who commended Shell for their faith in the economy and staying power, gave assurances on some issues of concern raised by the company.
On the protracted issue of cash calls, the president assured that the Federal Executive Council would soon consider a proposal for the easing of unpaid arrears owed by the government.
President Buhari assured that the security of oil infrastructure will continue to be prioritised side-by-side with the dialogue with stakeholder-communities in the Niger Delta.
He, however, urged oil companies to take more responsibility in the protection of oil installations to complement the efforts of Nigerian Navy in the region.
In his remarks, the Shell Director, Andrew Brown, informed the president of the resumption of oil exportation through the Forcados terminal following its restoration.
He called for continued protection by the Nigerian Navy in view of repeated threats of attacks by militants.
Mr. Brown commended the anti-corruption posture of the Buhari administration as well as the efforts to streamline and stabilize the economy for long term projects, saying all the efforts will go a long way to reinforce Shell investment plans in Nigeria.
Twenty-nine ethnic groups in the communal violence-prone southern district of Kaduna state have signed a peace accord, a week after the latest flare left scores of persons dead in the area.
The accord, tagged Kafanchan Peace Declaration, was signed on Tuesday by leaders of the groups from the five local government areas in the district. It was brokered by Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a civil society organization based in Nairobi, Kenya.
No fewer than 20 persons were feared killed and properties worth millions of naira destroyed in the latest crisis that started from a clash between herdsmen and farmers in Godogodo, a chiefdom of Jemaa local government area of southern Kaduna.
The violence instantly spread to other towns and villages in the area, with the worst affected being Ninte, Gada Biyu, Gidan Waya, Antang, Dogon and Kagoro.
The day after the killings on October 15, protesting youth set up roadblocks and burnt vehicles on the Kafanchan-Kagoro road.
To curtail the mayhem, the state governor, Nasir el-Rufai, on October 16 imposed a 24-hour curfew on Kafanchan, the headquarters of Jemaa and epicenter of the violence.
After order was restored, the leaders from Kachia, Kaura, Jemaa, Sanga and Zangon Kataf local government areas began a meeting in Kafanchan that led to Tuesdays peace accord.
The communique announcing the accord was signed by Dakachi Anthony (for Jemaa); Norman Shekarau (Kachia); Ignatius Raymond (Kaura); Danlami Adamu, (Sanga); and Simon Saddih (Zangon Kataf).
In the communique made available to journalists, the leaders stated that the community-driven inter-communal dialogue, involving the twenty nine ethnic groups, has succeeded in helping us begin to jointly find solutions to our issues and concerns.
They said the dialogue cut across all levels of civil society, and sought the buy-in and support of key stakeholders (Federal, state and local government, the business community, traditional rulers, community and religious leaders, women and young people).
They added: The bottom-up approach provided a different model for addressing the issues and was received positively by our communities.
We cultivated a new culture among ourselves of embracing dialogue as the mechanism for dealing with our disputes, hoping to ultimately lead to peaceful co-existence between us.
The Kafanchan Peace Declaration stated that every attempt would be made to end the attacks and ensure that there were no reprisals. We are conscious that the failure to implement an agreement is worse than not reaching an agreement at all, it stressed.
As part of fence-mending, the leaders agreed on joint condolence visits to families affected by the last crisis and resettlement of displaced Fulani and natives. They vowed to hold perpetrators of violence accountable so as to end impunity.
To ensure permanent end to the conflict, the communique urged the state and local governments to define specific conflict prevention and goals, and to factor the promotion of conflict prevention objectives into polices and legislation.
The urged their various communities to intensify the dissemination of information on the peace accord to the broader community.
Boris Neenwi, the All Progressives Congress stalwart, shot dead recently by unknown gunmen in Rivers, may not have had the foreboding that death was lurking around, but he certainly knew that life was short and brutish, for the APC members in the state going by the spate of killings in the state.
Mr. Neenwi, an ardent supporter of a former Rivers senator, Magnus Abe, was assassinated at Nonwa Tai, Gokana local government area of the state, two days after celebrating his birthday on October 1.
He was killed alongside one Cecilia Loveday, said to be his girlfriend, and her brother, Nornubari Loveday, and one Manager Nkoba.
The circumstance surrounding the killing is still sketchy.
The police spokesperson in the state, Nnamdi Omoni, told PREMIUM TIMES, last week, that the police was holding back details of the incident, so as not to jeopardize its investigations.
The police said no one has been arrested yet.
On August 30, exactly thirty-three days before he was gun down, Mr. Neenwi wrote on Facebook, Were now like a sacrificial lamb. O God where are you?
His remark highlighted the seeming helplessness of the APC members in the face of constant brutal attacks.
APC accuses the PDP-led state government of being behind the attack, but the government denies having a hand in the attacks.
Mr. Neenwi, in the Facebook post, had accused President Muhammadu Buhari of abandoning the APC members in Rivers to their fate, after they supported him to win the 2015 election. He said it was criminal for the president to remain silent over the killings in the state.
When Ken Atsuwete, a popular human rights lawyer and a fierce critic of Governor Nyesom Wike was murdered in August in Port Harcourt by unknown gunmen, Mr. Neenwi posted a dirge on Facebook: The volume of condemnation and tears poured on your behalf shall beckon on God the Almighty to avenge your brutal murder. You were never silent in the face of injustice.
The APC Chairman in the state, Davies Ikanya, described the killing of Mr. Neenwi as senseless, and said that it must not be swept under the carpet.
Mr. Abe said the late Mr. Neenwi was a hardworking and ambitious young man.
He was a councilor. After he finished as a councilor, he went back to University of Maiduguri to study law. Despite the challenges in the north east, he persevered until he finished his law programme, and graduated. He came back home very excited, jubilant and expectant, and with big plans for himself and his family, only for him to be cut down at the prime of his life, the senator said.
Its such a terrible thing.
Whether he was my supporter or not is immaterial, the point is that the man was a citizen of the federal republic of Nigeria, it is the responsibility of the state to protect the lives of all Nigerians, and punish those who willingly and willfully take the life of another.
What has been happening in Rivers state is that people are taking the lives of others, and nothing is done about it, and that emboldened them to do more. The boys who are doing these killings, there are not up to 30 of them.
The striking Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, in Abia on Tuesday threatened to continue its strike unless the Abia government complied with a 2014 court order.
The Chairman of union, Emmanuel Onyemereibeya, said at an event to mark the Abia Legal Year in Umuahia that the state government had not attended the meetings scheduled to discuss resolution of the strike.
Mr. Onyemereibeya said that it could be interpreted to mean that they have no interest in resolving the matter.
He insisted that the strike would continue as directed by the national body of judiciary workers until the state government complied with the provisions of the order.
Speaking further on the strike, the unions Secretary, Chinedu Eze, said that the other aspects of the order, which included payment of capital and overhead costs to court heads, had not been complied with.
He said the state government still owed the judiciary workers some months salaries and the 2015 CONJUSS arrears.
Mr. Eze said the union was concerned that funds accruable to the courts were not given to heads of the courts to manage.
The state government has not paid the judiciary workers since August and yet they have paid the state assembly for September. This is not fair.
If they say that there is no money in the state, then all the workers should feel it, not that some workers will be paid and others will not be paid; it is not right, he said.
The secretary said the body would not stop the strike unless the state government complied with the provisions of the agreement.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Abia chapter of JUSUN had gone on strike on October 10 to pursue the implementation of a court order granting the judiciary financial autonomy in Abia.
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu began partial compliance with the order in 2015 with the payment of the Consolidated Judicial Salary Structure (CONJUSS) with a N40,000 minimum wage.
(NAN)
Fighting corruption key to improving governance Updated: 2016-10-25 07:45 (China Daily)
LI MIN/CHINA DAILY
Comprehensive and strict management of the Party
Asit K. Biswas, distinguished visiting professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
At the ongoing Sixth Plenum of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Party is analyzing key issues for the comprehensive and proper management of the Party. Good and strict governance needs to begin with the Party itself. As an official statement notes: "Intra-Party supervision is the basic and primary form of supervision, and only by pushing forward other forms of supervision alongside intra-Party supervision can we guarantee the comprehensive and strict management of the Party."
In the less than four years since Xi Jinping became China's top leader, China has made commendable progress and the country is now established as a global power. This was evident during the G20 Summit in Hangzhou in September. Xi's proposals in 2013 for a Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road have already received considerable global interest and attention. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has been established in a record time and at a much higher level than even its most ardent supporters expected. This is in spite of the fact that both the United States and Japan strongly objected to it for political reasons. And under Xi's leadership, China has ratified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. It is expected to reduce its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 percent between 2005 and 2030, a Herculean task under the best of the circumstances.
But while China has made remarkable social and economic advances over the past three decades, it has also been facing economic headwinds in recent years. Its economic growth rates have slowed, and a big challenge now is how to reenergize and reinvigorate the world's second largest economy so that it does not fall into the dreaded middle income trap.
Not surprisingly, as the economy grew, corruption increased. Now the top leadership, headed by Xi, has made fighting corruption a central pillar for improving the governance of the country. The anti-corruption campaign has picked up steam.
Cecilia Tortajada, a senior research fellow at the same School
The anti-corruption campaign has ensnared officials at all levels, from high-level officials to grassroots officials, both the so-called tigers and flies. For the first time very high-level Party figures such as former Security Chief Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, former Central Military Commission Vice-Chairman Xu Caihou, Ling Jihua and Su Rong have been convicted of corruption. In addition, tens of thousands of middle and low level corrupt officials have been caught and punished. The prosecutions of the latter do not make national or international news, but as all Chinese and visitors to China have realized, corruption will no longer be tolerated.
This year's plenum is likely to approve rules for good governance which must be followed by important Party institutions, and all cadres, including powerful members of the Central Committee and the Political Bureau. The rules of political conduct for Party members were drawn up during the era of Deng Xiaoping, and the rules of internal supervision of the Party were approved in 2003.
China will change even more over the next decade. Thus it requires new rules of governance, which need to be strictly implemented in a transparent manner.
The CPC has been in power for 67 years. Party chief Xi and the Party need to think for the long term. He needs to put the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation at the top of his political agenda so that by 2021, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party, China becomes a moderately prosperous country. This can be achieved if the Sixth Plenum approves the new norms of good governance which would guide political life under changing conditions and will cover all government institutions and officials at every level.
Last week many Dearborn City Council members left another dispatch consolidation study session with more questions than answers. Many of us taxpayers were left scratching our heads. However, one thing was clear: Dearborn Fire Chief Joe Murray and Mayor John OReilly, Jr. offered a sweetheart of a deal to the City of Melvindale.
What everyone can agree on is upgrading Dearborns dispatch center to the much more efficient state mandated 800MHz radio system is long overdue. Many of our smaller neighboring cities are already on 800MHz. The city also wants to relocate the dispatch center from police headquarters to the Dearborn Administration Center (DAC). One can argue the dispatch center is just another part of our citys key infrastructure that has been neglected over the last decade. You can add Crowley and Whitmore Bolles swimming pools and the 19th District Court to that list as well. The city couldnt even maintain our beautiful fountain at Henry Ford Centennial Library or old city hall for that matter.
Speaking of old city hall.
Its interesting that only now, as the mayor looks to justify the DAC purchase, that he has made upgrading dispatch a priority. The rank and file in Dearborns fire and safety departments have been asking for it for years. When Mayor OReilly sold us on the DAC move, he did so by convincing us other government entities would move there as well and share in the cost. Entities such as the Dearborn Public Schools offices for instance. It turned out DPS wanted no part of the DAC and neither has anyone else. So relocating the dispatch center to the DAC would help to justify its $9 million-plus price tag.
To relocate the dispatch center and upgrade the radio system the city says it would cost about $5.5 million. At least thats what they said. The cost seems to rise with each study session. To offset the cost the city wants to secure a federal grant of $3.5 million. So Chief Murray wrote a grant request. In order to qualify for the grant, Dearborn must consolidate its dispatch center with at least one other municipality to make a regional call center.
Convincing other cities to consolidate is a tough sale. Lets face it, we Dearbornites wouldnt want our 911 calls going to some call center in Taylor. Since many cities are reluctant, Chief Murray and Mayor OReilly had to sweeten the pot. Enter Melvindale. Melvindale is the most likely candidate to consolidate with because we have already merged our fire departments.
The fire department merger is a classic example of how consolidations are supposed to work. Dearborn took over Melvindales fire and rescue services and in return they pay us $1.5 million a year. Easy, right? To merge our dispatch centers and take over Melvindales 6,000-plus 911 call volume, they were going to pay us an additional $150,000 a year.
Heres where things get sketchy. For whatever reasons, the mayor and fire chief offered to waive the $150,000 fee for five years, essentially giving Melvindale a $750,000 gift just for consolidating. In this deal, the taxpayers of Dearborn shoulder all the costs and risks, so of course the Melvindale City Council voted in favor of it.
Making things even more convoluted is the fact that one of Melvindales city councilmen who voted in favor also happens to work for the Dearborn Fire Department. Not only does he work there, he happens to be the appointed assistant fire chief under Murray. If your boss is asking you to vote for his plan, what would you do? To many of us, this is a clear conflict of interest. Everything about this deal stinks.
Lets be clear: upgrading our dispatch center is a must, most everyone agrees with that. But thank you to Dearborn City Council members for raising these questions and not jumping into this half-baked consolidation deal. The council said it isnt opposed to consolidation and neither am I for that matter. But it must be the right deal. The bottom line is we should be putting Dearborn first and negotiating the best possible deal for Dearborn taxpayers. Giving away the farm for a few old cows isnt wise and two wrongs dont make a right.
Regan Ford is a Dearborn resident and business owner, past president of the Southwest Outer Drive Neighborhood Association and is on the Rotary Club of Dearborn board of directors. He can be reached at rford@vividclean.com
A do-ahead Thanksgiving side: Spiced cranberry chutney Updated: 2016-10-25 09:18 By Meera Sodha(China Daily)
Spiced cranberry chutney from a recipe by Meera Sodha. [Photo/Agencies]
Although Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday, some of my American friends and I celebrate it here in London every year.
A few years back, after cooking a turkey curry, I learned the hard way never to mess with the traditional roasted turkey, the star of the show. Since then my contribution is always to spice up the sides, quite literally. This year I've narrowed my focus to cranberries.
There are only a handful of cranberry farms in the UK, partly because they can only grow under very special conditions, like acidic peat soil and fresh running water that are more commonly found in the United States. So when I see them in London supermarkets, I get very excited.
My favorite thing to do with them, in the run up to our Thanksgiving dinner, is to turn them into a rich sticky chutney. A little sugar helps counter the extreme acidic sourness these fresh berries can have, while a few warming spices like cloves, black pepper and red chili add just enough heat and zing to perk up the turkey.
Happily, this chutney is not just for Thanksgiving. It works really well in cheese sandwiches, and alongside ham and game meats. It can be prepared a few weeks in advance too, giving you more time to have a holiday on actual Thanksgiving.
Spiced Cranberry Chutney
Start to finish: 45 minutes
Servings: 24(Makes three 1-cup jars)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 red onions, diced
5 cups cranberries, fresh or if frozen, thawed
2/3 cup superfine sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Sterilize your jars by washing them in hot soapy water, then rinse them and let them dry in a cool (135 C) oven. Or use dishwasher-clean jars fresh from the machine.
Heat the oil in a large deep pan over medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and cinnamon stick. When the seeds pop, add the onion and cook for around 10 to 12 minutes or until the onion is translucent and turning golden.
Add the cranberries to the pan along with the sugar, lemon juice, white wine vinegar and follow with cloves, pepper, cumin, chili and salt. Stir and bring to a boil before leaving to simmer for around 20 minutes until the chutney thickens. Bottle in sterilized jars and refrigerate. This chutney will keep for up to 3 weeks.
Nutrition information per serving: 54 calories; 16 calories from fat; 2 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0mg cholesterol; 43mg sodium; 10 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 8 g sugar; 0 g protein.
Meera Sodha is an Indian foods expert and author of Made in India: Recipes from an Indian family kitchen.
ATLANTIC CITY Students are used to solving math problems.
But can they also solve the problem of oversleeping and being late for school?
Sure, with the Snoozle, a ro-botic alarm clock game designed by students from Jordan Road School in Somers Point.
Or how about spending too much time on computers and not enough time getting exercise?
Stick the tablet in a locking Fitcase that wont open until a fitness band determines the wearer has achieved his or her exercise goals.
Area students displayed their entrepreneurial spirit Tuesday by selling the products they created to solve real world prob-lems before a panel of seven judges at the New Jersey School Boards Conference at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
The first STEAM Tank challenge invited students to submit ideas that incorporated science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM). Seventeen projects were chosen from 41 submitted, including five from Somers Point, three from the Atlantic County Institute of Technology and two from Egg Harbor Township High School.
Somers Point students were the first to present Tuesday and impressed the judges with their inventiveness, research, presentation and confidence.
I was stressed going in, said Riley Murray, 13, a member of the Fitcase team. But in the end, I remembered I knew a lot about my product.
The projects were developed last year with teacher Randall Kohr and were finished this year under STEM teacher Larry Randour, who admits he did very little.
My job was to stay out of their way, he said. They had brilliant ideas. I just made sure they had the time to develop them.
Teams from Somers Point and ACIT presented Tuesday and EHT and others will present Wednesday. The winner will get $150 for their school and a trophy. A few judges said theyd be ready to invest.
They are innovative, bright, enthusiastic and coming up here with confidence, said judge Lisa Ascolese, of the Association of Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs and founder and CEO of The Inventress. I see myself in them, but I didnt have the same opportunities at their age.
Other Somers Point projects included the Click-It, a microchip sticker that can be attached to frequently lost items then retrieved with an app; a programmable study game to take the boredom out of homework; and interchangeable sneaker soles called Clickers, ideal for parents of children in multiple sports.
Students from ACIT presented the Maximus Ocean Cleaner, a solar-powered device that would pull plastics from the ocean; a Tidal Stream Turbine for the Absecon Inlet that could generate electricity; and a Pop-up Storm Shelter to provide better and more efficient shelters for people uprooted by natural disasters.
Egg Harbor Township students are addressing the bee crisis with a bee-like robot to pollinate flowers, and a touch pad-activated control circuit that could be used by wounded veterans.
The challenge was developed by Sgt. George Johnson, of the U.S. Army Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Battalion, with assistance from the NJSBA and the New Jersey Technology Educators Association. He said next year they plan to hold county competitions and then have each county winner compete at the convention.
Schools presenting STEAM projects at the conference said students enjoy solving real-world problems and working on projects that have a practical use.
Micah Wenker, who teaches pre-engineering at the Cape May County Technical High School, said his students are designing and building their own remote-controlled aerial device. He sees the program linking to plans for drone testing at the Cape May Airport.
This is a pipeline to jobs, he said.
Somers Point interim Superintendent Thomas Baruffi said the STEAM Tank projects showed how people working together using all their skills can generate real-life learning. It was school board member Karen Broomall who read about the project and proposed it last year and teacher Randall Kohr who embraced it.
And while the common-core content standards have been somewhat maligned, Baruffi said they do call for teaching students public speaking and presenting at a young age, and he sees his students reaping the benefits.
Look at what these students are doing here today, he said.
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Chinese fund to channel investment into UK warehousing and logistics Updated: 2016-10-24 21:33 By Cecily Liu in London(China Daily UK)
A Chinese fund intends to channel 1 billion yuan of investment into the UK's logistics and warehousing industry, to meet the UK's desire to strengthen logistics capacities post Brexit.
Shanghai based private equity firm PGC Capital signed an agreement on Monday with the UK's McCafferty Asset Management Group to launch a UK Logistics Warehouse Investment Scheme, targeting Chinese institutional investors. The actual launch date is yet to be announced.
PGC Capital will extend this scheme to Israel, Germany, South Africa and Switzerland, after successfully testing the water in the UK. McCafferty Group is in charge of selecting actual warehouse projects for investment.
Sangeeta Khorana, a professor of Economics at Bournemouth University, said this scheme comes at a time when the UK is building its own logistics strengths, realizing it can no longer rely on European logistics centers like Germany and Holland for international trade, if it leaves the European single market.
Hence British ports like Liverpool, Southampton Dover and Brighton, as well as London airports and Manchester Airport all require more logistics capacity, said Khorana said.
This week the UK government is due to give green light to adding a new London airport runway. Manchester Airport is meanwhile in process of constructing its 800 million pound business hub around the airport, including a big logistics capacity boost.
PGC Capital's move came at a time of Chinese exporters increasingly building their own logistics centers in the UK to improve supply chain efficiency and add customer service to in the UK, said William Franklin, founder of the London-based China Investors Club.
"We've seen growing Chinese exporters setting up warehousing facilities in the UK particularly in the past 12 months, especially medical devices, advanced machinery and raw materials for the transport sector like metals and steel," Franklin said.
"Since the referendum vote we've seen inquiries from these Chinese exporters grow two-fold. They're keen to build UK warehouse facilities to avoid sending products to EU logistics centers first," Franklin said.
Franklin added that Chinese exporters' warehousing investment in the UK fits into the story of growing Chinese trade along the Belt and Road countries, and he expects warehousing demand along all those countries to grow.
PGC Capital, founded in 2015, is best known in the UK for funding the development of Birmingham's Jewel Court, a project that will build 77 luxury apartments, with construction to finish in 2017.
Denise Li, CEO of PGC Capital, said the warehouse scheme already has in mind 3-5 potential warehouses near Manchester. It will raise 1 billion yuan in a year, and investment will be made with a time horizon of more than 5 years.
The fund will be aimed at Chinese institutional investors and individuals who qualify under the government's Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) scheme, which allows them to invest overseas bypassing China's capital restrictions.
Charles Whittle, CEO of McCafferty Group, said, said he is confident about this scheme, judging on warehouse demand.
The vacancy rate of UK warehouses decreased to 7.1 percent in 2016 compared with 18 percent in 2012, while unit rents have grown rapidly at an annual rate of 5 percent, Whittle said.
To contact the reporter: cecily.liu@chinadailyuk.com
A.C. OKs fiscal plan, cuts 100 more jobs
{child_byline}CHRISTIAN HETRICK
Staff Writer
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{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)86558028-917f-11e6-93e5-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset){/span}ATLANTIC CITY After the city approved a fiscal recovery plan to avoid a state takeover including a $103 million settlement of the $150 million tax refunds the city owes the casino Borgata denied any agreement Tuesday.
Joe Corbo, the vice president and general counsel for the casino, said in a statement there has been no agreement and the casino will wait until the city reaches a consensus with the state to continue negotiations.
Borgata has not agreed to accept any offer to settle its tax refund judgments and pending tax appeals. Borgata has had an ongoing dialogue with City and State representatives this year in an attempt to reach a fair and equitable settlement. In those meetings we have repeatedly expressed our willingness to compromise the amount due to Borgata. Once the City submits its fiscal plan and reaches consensus with the State, we look forward to resuming our settlement negotiations and putting this matter behind us, the statement said.
City officials Monday night approved the plan, 5-3-1. City officials went to the state Department of Community Affairs on Tuesday to submit the plan, and the state will have until Nov. 1 to accept the plan or take over the citys finances for five years.
The city plans to cut 100 more full-time workers, sell Bader Field to its water authority and settle with Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa over tax refunds, among other cost-cutting and revenue-raising measures. If implemented, the citys budget would drop to $207 million by 2021, according to a summary of the plan. The citys budget was $262 million in 2015.
It is a comprehensive document that we, professionally, all believe will work if it is adopted and embraced, said Michael Nadol, a consultant from The PFM Group, which helped the city draft the plan.
The cornerstone of the plan is selling Bader Field, a 143-acre former airstrip, to the Municipal Utilities Authority for $110 million. Those proceeds, plus $105 million in low-interest financing, would pay down all outstanding debt to Borgata, MGM and the state for deferred employee benefit costs, according to the summary. It would leave the city with $30 million in reserves.
The plan indicated that the city and Borgata would settle for $103 million on tax refunds the city owes the casino. The city owed Borgata $150 million in tax refunds before interest after successful tax appeals by the casino. A financial consultant for the city said the settlement had not been finalized, as Borgata waits to see if the state will accept the citys plan.
The city would reduce its full-time workforce from 965 to 865 post-recovery plan. That would be done by transferring a majority of the citys senior and health services to Atlantic County, bidding out 10 services to the private sector and using early retirement buyouts to have as few disruptive layoffs as possible, according to the summary. The city has offered buyouts to 165 senior workers.
Atlantic City would also see savings in renegotiated labor agreements that include no salary increases, an elimination of longevity for future workers, a more affordable medical plan and a reduction in overtime pay. The labor deals also end terminal-leave payments and use a new salary scale with longer pay progressions for future police hires.
The plan does not include a tax increase for five years and relies on state aid to balance budgets. The city received $13.5 million in Transitional Aid in 2015. By 2021, the city projects receiving $13.8 million. The city will get $26.2 million in Transitional Aid for 2016, city officials said.
The city wasnt united as it rolled out its plan to stave off a takeover.
Residents, activists and four councilmen held a news conference ahead of the meeting, accusing city officials of not being transparent about the plan and the citys finances. Councilman George Tibbitt said he didnt receive the 120-page document until 11 a.m. Monday, six hours before the meeting. Steve Young, of the National Action Network, called the situation a conspiracy.
The four councilmen Tibbitt, Frank Gilliam, Moisse Delgado and Chuen Jimmy Cheng tried but failed to adjourn the meeting to get more time to review it. They suggested postponing the vote for two days.
You expect us to say, Take this Monday, vote on it Monday, Gilliam said. The public doesnt have a clear understanding (of the plan). We dont have a clear understanding. I may be able to speed read, but I cant speed read 120 pages in five hours.
Councilman Kaleem Shabazz said, We dont have any more time for people to obstruct.
Council President Marty Small said the councilmen had the chance to meet financial consultants earlier this year but chose not to.
Every part of this process you voted against saving the city from the state, Small said to Gilliam. You say you dont want the state to take over, but your actions and your votes speak otherwise.
The tense meeting spilled over into public comment, where some residents yelled at the dais.
Mayor Don Guardian held a news conference after the meeting and said he expects the state to accept the plan, but added that they city will appeal to court if the state rejects it.
A state committee hearing on the plan takes place Wednesday in Trenton.
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The coldest night of the fall so far is on the way across South Jersey Tuesday night, with a widespread frost or freeze expected for many.
The National Weather Service has issued freeze warnings for the South Jersey Pinelands, and a frost advisory for Cape May County for Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning.
The coldest temperatures are expected right around sunrise Wednesday.
Lows are forecast to drop as cold as 30 to 35 degrees in the Pinelands, where a widespread frost or freeze is most likely. Farther south, lows around 35 to 40 degrees on the mid to lower Cape will lead to areas of frost.
Along the shore, enough of a breeze will set up to keep the air stirred and keep frost from forming, with lows on the islands generally around 40 degrees.
South Jersey has not seen below freezing temperatures in 193 days, since April 16 when the temperature fell to 29 degrees at the Atlantic City International Airport in Egg Harbor Township.
The perfect conditions for the coolest nighttime temperatures are clear skies and no wind. Skies are expected to be clear Tuesday night, but a light wind will likely persist and keep temperatures from plummeting into the 20s.
Two Hammonton residents were arrested in connection with vandalism to the Apple Pie Hill Fire Tower in Wharton State Forest.
State Park Police charged Robert Lloyd, 49, and Donna Campanella, 46, Friday with criminal mischief, trespassing and other park-related offenses.
Police had launched an ongoing investigation due to repeated reports of damage to the fire tower.
In September, the state closed access to the tower, which provides the highest viewpoint in the Pinelands.
Vandals had thrown television sets off the 60-foot tower, scribbled graffiti and left trash, according to environmentalists and officials.
They also had stolen and damaged New Jersey Forest Fire Service equipment at the Tabernacle, Burlington County, site, according to previous reports.
It was one of the last towers in the state visitors could climb without an appointment. On clear days, visitors can see Philadelphia to the west and Atlantic City to the east from the top, according to a state Department of Environmental Protection website.
In early September, Forest Fire Service officials constructed a fence around the tower and posted restricted-area signs in an attempt to reduce the damage. Since the fence was constructed, officers have stepped up patrols in the area, but reports of damage to the fence had continued, according to a release from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
On Oct. 5, Lloyd and Campanella were observed on video surveillance entering the area of the secured tower, dismantling the fence and causing damage in excess of $1,000, including hours of repair, according to the release.
Both Campanella and Lloyd are in the Burlington County jail on $1,500 bail each, awaiting a court hearing.
State Park Police will continue to monitor the tower.
TRENTON Atlantic City pitched its recovery plan Tuesday to the state officials who will decide the citys fate.
City and Department of Community Affairs officials met privately for two hours to go over the citys proposed fiscal recovery plan. The state has a week to decide whether to accept the plan or take over the citys finances for five years.
Mayor Don Guardian, who carried a cardboard box full of hard copies of the plan, said he was happy with the citys presentation and said he felt better about the state accepting the plan after the meeting.
I think they understood and asked questions about each part of the plan, Guardian said. I cant say that they accepted any part of the plan. They told us that they were completely open-minded.
DCA Commissioner Charles Richman, the man who must decide on the plan, said the meeting was a fruitful discussion that went through the plan step by step. He declined to give an opinion on the plan.
Now the department is going to undertake the review, and we have five business days to complete it, Richman said.
If the state rejects the citys plan, the city will appeal the decision in court, Guardian said Monday night.
Guardian, City Council President Marty Small, Councilman Kaleem Shabazz, Business Administrator Jason Holt, Chief of Staff Chris Filiciello and representatives from the financial firms hired by the city The PFM Group; McManimon, Scotland & Baumann; and NW Financial attended the meeting on behalf of the city. Richman, Local Government Services Director Tim Cunningham and other DCA officials represented the state.
Small called the presentation the most important meeting in Atlantic Citys history.
The meeting was very productive, Small said. We presented them with a detailed plan. We appreciate them for giving us an opportunity on behalf of the residents of Atlantic City to maintain our self-governance.
The citys plan calls for selling Bader Field to its water authority, cutting 100 workers and settling with Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa over tax refunds the city owes the casino, among other cost-cutting and revenue-raising measures. The citys budget would drop to $207 million by 2021. It was $262 million in 2015. The city would still rely on state Transitional Aid to balance its budget through 2021. The plan projects $13.8 million in Transitional Aid in 2021. The city received $13.5 million in 2015 and $26.2 million in 2016.
The city would settle with Borgata for $103 million less than the $150 million the city owes the casino before interest if paid timely under the Recovery Plan, according to the plans summary. A financial consultant said Monday there is no written agreement with the casino, as Borgata waits for the state to rule on the plan.
On Tuesday, Borgata said it had not agreed to anything.
Borgata has not agreed to accept any offer to settle its tax refund judgments and pending tax appeals, Joe Corbo, vice president and general counsel for Borgata, said in a statement. Borgata has had an ongoing dialogue with city and state representatives this year in an attempt to reach a fair and equitable settlement. In those meetings we have repeatedly expressed our willingness to compromise the amount due to Borgata. Once the city submits its fiscal plan and reaches consensus with the state, we look forward to resuming our settlement negotiations and putting this matter behind us.
City officials declined to comment on Borgatas statement.
The DCA meeting was the first of many for city officials, who are going on tour across the state to sell the plan. Guardian said he plans meetings with newspaper editorial boards, individual elected officials, bond counsels and civic associations. There is also an Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing on the plan Wednesday morning.
A Pennsylvania woman is suing to permanently close a North Wildwood beach where her husband and several other people drowned in the past six years, alleging its not just dangerous for swimming but for walking, fishing or any other activity.
The lawsuit is aimed at the Hereford Inlet beach along a seawall and is in addition to an ongoing wrongful-death lawsuit she filed two years ago after her husband drowned in 2012.
We decided to file a separate lawsuit to get the attention of the city to close this beach down, attorney Paul DAmato said during a press conference at his Egg Harbor Township law office Tuesday.
North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello referred comments to the citys attorney, Michael Barker, of Linwood, who was not available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Paul Bradley Smith, 52, of Horsham, Pennsylvania, was walking in the surf at the inlet with his then-7-year-old daughter, Brandy; his friend Scott Sunderland; and Sunderlands daughter when they lost their footing and slipped into the water.
Smith was able to save Brandy, but he disappeared into the water. Sunderland and his daughter were able to get to safety.
Smiths wife, Sandra, appeared with her attorneys seeking to close the beach permanently from Surf to Spruce avenues.
In the past, Rosenello has said the area is not protected by lifeguards and is closed to swimming.
DAmato said there are a few signs in the area that show swimming is prohibited, but they are closer to the seawall and some are faded.
The case was filed this month in Cape May County Superior Court against the city of North Wildwood and New Jersey.
The lawyers hired Richard Weggel, a former official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to investigate the area where Smith drowned. Weggel concluded that during low tide, high-velocity areas are created, undermining the sand. He likened it to a trap door.
In one sense, its a predictable event, Weggel said, because of the shape of the shoreline. (But) its really unpredictable, because you dont know exactly what time its going to happen.
Weggel said, in his opinion, you need to close the beach.
After the press conference, Sandra Smith said she was surprised to learn many other people had been swept into the water in that area, including the 2009 drowning of 28-year-old Jamilah Watkins and 15-year-old Shayne Hart.
Domonique McNeil, now 20, of Cape May Court House, was with Watkins and Hart that day and survived the incident. She attended the press conference Tuesday with Harts mother, Tasha.
McNeil said Watkins and Hart, who was in town visiting family, were walking along the beach when they were pulled into the water, similar to what happened to Smiths family.
Smith said she hasnt been back to North Wildwood since her husbands body was recovered three days after he drowned. She said she fears every summer hearing about a drowning there.
In 2015, after a teen from Pennsylvania drowned in the inlet, Smith renewed her call for the beach to be closed.
VENTNOR About 25 people sitting in Ventnor Coffee tapped their feet, munched on snacks and enjoyed free Wi-Fi while they listened to the house band during the coffee houses weekly jazz night.
We know were a hub for millennials, but we have a good range of people that come in, owner Mike Einwechter said as he watched customers come up to the counter for a second cup of coffee.
Places such as Ventnor Coffee may represent the future of the city, at least if predictions are right that millennial-friendly businesses will thrive when Stockton University finishes building its campus just over the border in Atlantic Citys Chelsea neighborhood.
Stockton officials talk about Atlantic City campus ATLANTIC CITY Stockton University representatives spoke about the economic impact their At
The campus, part of the $200 million Gateway Project, will bring an influx of millennials with its beachfront dorm hall and academic building. But officials in Ventnor say just having the campus next door wont be enough to help the areas sagging economy.
A millennial is defined by Pew Research as someone born between 1982 and 2004. This group has passed baby boomers as the countrys largest living generation, according to Pew Research.
In Ventnor, officials say the town will have to go through a transformation to make the normally sleepy city south of Americas Playground a hotspot for millennials to hang out and live.
Part of that transformation could start as early as Nov. 8, when residents will vote on a referendum that would allow restaurants in the city to serve alcohol, which officials think could spur economic growth in the citys business district.
Millennials are a new group, and theyre going to be the largest group, Ventnor City Commissioner Lance Landgraf said. We need to make sure our ordinances accommodate that.
The effort to appeal to millennials comes as the city updates its master plan for the first time since 2006. Officials point to millennials, the Gateway Project and environmental amenities as economic catalysts for a town that has seen its economy steadily sink over the past several years.
But the town will have to strike a balance between the coming students and longtime residents, officials say. Residents at a town meeting discussing the master plan expressed concerns about how an influx of young people could change the city.
Landgraf said some of the new businesses the city is looking at are brewpubs, coffee shops and new stores. Brewpubs and coffee shops with free Wi-Fi could become regular meeting spots for students working on homework, but they could also be a benefit for full-time residents.
Were not looking for a club or bars, Landgraf said. Our goal is to have restaurants with liquor.
On Election Day, residents will be asked to approve allowing restaurants to serve alcohol. City officials have been advocating for the referendum, which failed to gain approval in the 1970s. The question was brought up at a meeting discussing the citys master plan earlier in October.
Beyond restaurants and alcohol, officials say coffee shops would be a great addition to the city.
Ventnor Coffee, on Dorset Avenue, attracts people of all ages with a variety of nonalcoholic drinks, food and open mic and jazz nights.
Courtney Hovendon, a millennial and an em-ployee of Ventnor Coffee, said theres not much to do around Ventnor for younger people besides going to the beach in the summer.
This place is definitely a place to go, said Hovendon, 22, of Galloway Township. We see students from Stockton, (Atlantic Cape Community College) and high schoolers come in here a lot. Its a great place to study, stay awake and get free Wi-Fi.
Einwechter and his wife, Christine Pagano, said they believe other businesses will start popping up around the city just before the campus is set to open in 2018. Einwechter said he looked into opening a second location on Stocktons campus, but the price to do that was extremely high.
The couple said they dont fear the potential competition the campus could bring.
Were a landmark here in Ventnor, and wed rather see other coffeehouses pop up instead of corporations like Starbucks, Pagano said. Millennials want places that are cheap and effective because theyre buried in student debt.
Still, Landgraf said, it is very important that Ventnor be friendly to people of all age groups, not just the coming millennials.
Theres always going to be change in a community, he said. Were not forgetting our current demographics, but we are planning for the future.
UPDATE: A key part of the city's plan would be settling its outstanding tax appeal with Borgata for $103 million, down from the $150 million it originally owed.
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The battle over an Atlantic City state takeover enters its final stretch today, with city officials unveiling its fiscal recovery plan Monday night.
City Council will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. to introduce and hold a public hearing on the plan.
Once the plan is submitted, the state will have five days to decide whether to accept it or take over the citys finances and major decision-making powers for five years.
Mayor Don Guardian will hold a news conference after the council meeting. Residents and activists plan to protest the stealing of Atlantic City in the lobby of City Hall at 4 p.m.
The city has already announced parts of its plan. City Council gave preliminary approval to selling Bader Field to its water authority for $110 million. The money will be used to pay down the citys roughly $500 million debt.
The city offered buyouts to 165 senior workers, renegotiated labor contracts and plans other cost-cutting and revenue-generating measures.
Ventnor standards questioned in convicted firefighter rehiring
What does it take for a firefighter to get fired?
Ventnor, which has high taxes, has re-hired disgraced firefighter Michael Tripician.
Tripician, who is also a lifeguard, flipped his SUV on the beach, while intoxicated, with his two children in the vehicle.
In any other walk of life, a person would never, ever get their job back after these circumstances. But I guess in Ventnor city government, they dont hold public servants to as high a standard of decency. Or maybe, just maybe, some folks enjoy special privileges due to their personal political connections.
I know that another firefighter, a military veteran, was fired for a lesser offense than Tripicians.
I hope Ventnor has a really compelling reason for bringing back someone who betrayed the public trust so badly, because I have a feeling Ventnor taxpayers wont stand for the massive back pay and bloated pension that comes along with re-hiring a city government crony.
Syd Teich
Atlantic City
Trump supporters hate Obama
Donald Trump touts his Ivy League education from the prominent Wharton School of Business. Yet he speaks the language of someone who barely graduated from high school.
What is redeemable about Trump? The chickens have come home to roost the hatred that some Americans have held is now eating its offspring.
President Obama was correct when he said they cling to their guns and their religion. Trump supporters tussled the storms of desegregation of public schools, the enactment of the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act and feel disenfranchised without remedy. And, even with Trumps birtherism and the blatant contempt and disrespect RNC legislatures at every level have for Obama, their faithfulness has gone unrewarded and again they are on a sinking ship and losing.
I say, cleave to your God and heed his words: Repent and turn from your evil ways.
Patricia D. King
Pleasantville
Blames Whelan for gas tax
Sen. Jim Whelan has sold out his voters. Atlantic County residents are hurting and he voted for a 23 cent gasoline tax increase. Perhaps he is getting something from George Norcross in Camden County.
Roughly 11 percent of the state population will benefit from the tax breaks, which means 89 percent will pick up the tab again. Politicians such as Whelan are more concerned about themselves than their voters.
The three-eighths of a percentage point off the sales tax means we would have to spend $46,000 a year to break even with the new gas tax. I will be working against his reelection.
Roland Kraus
Mays Landing
Its an annual tradition each October.
A few dozen snowplow operators assemble at the Egg Harbor Township headquarters of Fresh Cut Lawn Care. Owner John Ferrie treats them to food and drink while they plan for the coming winter.
This years feast was a little lighter than usual, a reflection of last winters snow or lack thereof.
Coincidentally, October is also when the long-range winter outlooks start coming out. Early forecasts suggest this winter will be closer to average in terms of cold and snow but also potentially active with frequent opportunities for rain, snow and coastal storms.
Last winter wasnt a good one for snowplow drivers, Ferrie said, because more than half the winter snow fell during one storm, Jonas. Then there was snow during the middle of spring cleanup in April, not to mention the incredibly warm December.
But Ferrie also knows no two winters are the same in South Jersey. And early forecasts suggest this one will be much different than last and likely closer to a normal winter.
To say this winter will be colder than last year is pretty much an easy slam dunk, said meteorologist Steve DiMartino, owner and founder of NY NJ PA Weather.
DiMartino spent the past 2 months devising his annual winter outlook. He predicts a more typical winter in terms of cold and snow and an active storm track.
Im expecting more of a front-loaded winter this year, with most of the cold and snow when we usually expect it from December through early February, DiMartino said.
Thats much different than the past three winters, which all featured significant snow late into March. According to DiMartino, that shouldnt be the case this year.
For the first time in a few years, we may actually have an early spring, he said.
While long-term forecasting is far from an exact science, there is support for NY NJ PA Weathers winter prediction.
On Oct. 20, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued its outlook for December, January and February.
According to NOAA, an average winter is forecast for South Jersey, both in terms of temperatures and precipitation.
NOAA also reissued a La Nina watch, after initially canceling it in September. Cooler-than-average ocean temperatures are expected in the eastern Pacific Ocean, a trademark sign of a La Nina.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)f35ca410-c588-5384-9adc-b68da8a943b2(/tncms-asset)
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Last year, a record El Nino, the opposite of La Nina, was the primary cause for an overall warm and dry winter.
The numbers tell last winters strange story. December 2015 was the warmest December ever, according to the National Weather Service, including a record high of 71 degrees on Christmas.
The first snowflakes didnt occur until after the new year, and the first measurable snow didnt fall until Jan. 17.
After last years strange winter, average is good, Ferrie said.
DiMartino did express concern that the warmer-than-average ocean temperatures could lead to a few strong coastal storms and more coastal flooding, as well as trickier-than-normal snowfall forecasts.
Im going to have to buy a lot of coffee, as I doubt I will have one winter storm without having to figure out when and where snow will mix with sleet and rain, he said.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)092da10c-47ac-506c-891a-f1a71c510ac8(/tncms-asset)
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Ferrie and his team of snowplow drivers will likely stock up on coffee for the winter, too.
Long-term forecasts are helpful, but regardless, we have to be ready by Nov. 1, Ferrie said.
Winter officially begins at 5:44 a.m. Dec. 21.
{child_tagline}
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{child_related_content}{child_related_content_item}{child_related_content_style}Bio Box{/child_related_content_style}{child_related_content_title}Winter of 2016-17 forecast highlights{/child_related_content_title}{child_related_content_content}
Temperatures: Slightly below average
Snowfall: Average for far South Jersey, but above average points north
Most cold and snow: Late December through early February
An early spring possible for the first time since 2012
Lots of rain/snow line issues, mixing with sleet and rain
Higher than usual coastal flooding and coastal storm concerns
-Winter forecast by Meteorologist Steve DiMartino, founder and owner of NY NJ PA Weather
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Security persuades Chinese visitors to avoid France and neighbors Updated: 2016-10-24 21:42 By Harvey Morris in London(China Daily UK)
Travel bookings made in China for visits to Western Europe have dropped by as much as a quarter in the year since multiple terror attacks in Paris killed 130 people, according to travel industry analysis published on Monday.
Travel experts ForwardKeys said France was hard hit by a decline in bookings from the Asia-Pacific region. And neighboring countries, including Italy and Germany, had also been affected by the trend that coincided with heightened security concerns in Europe.
Bookings from China for trips to France were down 23.4 percent, which was around the average for people throughout the Asia-Pacific region.Travel to Italy's Milan, Rome and Venice was also down by as much as a quarter. Chinese bookings to Istanbul in Turkey, where more than 40 people were killed in an attack at Ataturk airport in June that was blamed on the Islamic State group, were down by as much as 27 percent.
Other countries benefited from a rise in bookings from Chinese tourists, which could be attributed to travelers seeking to avoid potentially unsafe destinations.
The ForwardKeys analysis showed that destinations including Moscow, London, Dublin and Manchester were seeing more Chinese visitors.
The increased volume was partly because of security concerns elsewhere, but, in the case of the UK, was also linked to a fall in the value of the pound, which has dropped by about 20 percent since Britain voted in June to leave the European Union. The lower pound has made travel to Britain, and goods bought here, a more attractive prospect.
Visits from China to Britain were already up by 46 percent last year, moving China into Britain's top 10 most valuable inbound tourism markets. ForwardKeys said earlier this month that flight bookings from China to the UK were up 24 percent for the period from October to December.
Places seen as safer included Copenhagen (up 14 percent), Helsinki (up 13.1 percent) and Stockholm (up 12 percent). Moscow saw the biggest increase, 23 percent year-on-year, reflecting its growing popularity with Chinese visitors and the downturn in bookings to France.
The writer is a senior editorial consultant for China Daily UK.
Chinese hostages freed by pirates are heading home Updated: 2016-10-25 04:18 By Pan Zhongming in Nairobi and Wang Qingyun in Beijing(China Daily)
Sailors who were released in Somalia after being held hostage by pirates formore than four years smile, with tears in their eyes, as they arrive in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday. AP
Nine of the 10 Chinese sailors released after four-and-a-half years as hostages of Somali pirates boarded a China Southern Airlines flight home from Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on Monday.
One who is sick remained in Kenya.
The sailors, escorted by a working group of the Foreign Ministry, were expected to arrive in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Tuesday morning before going to their hometowns.
The 10 Chinese sailors nine from the Chinese mainland and one from Taiwan were among 26 hostages released by pirates in Somalia on Saturday. The others are from Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam. They were the last of the sailors taken hostage at the height of Somali piracy, although several hostages taken later still remain.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, at a regular news briefing on Monday, said China has always put priority on ensuring the life and security of the crew members, and he thanked the agencies and people involved in gaining the sailors' release.
Table by China Daily
The sailors were taken captive when their Omani-flagged fishing vessel, the Naham 3, was seized in March 2012 south of the Seychelles.
Pirates initially took 29 crew members hostage, but one person died during the hijacking and two more "succumbed to illness" during their captivity, according to a statement from the US-based group Oceans Beyond Piracy. Of the three who died, one was from the Chinese mainland and one from Taiwan.
"Am so, so happy. Really, am so, so happy. ... Thanks to you all," one of the hostages, Sudi Ahman, whose country was not immediately known, said after being flown to Kenya on Sunday.
Some of the sailors were unable to hold back tears on Sunday, while others hugged each other and smiled broadly.
One of the Chinese sailors arrives at Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday. SUNRUIBO/ XINHUA
Bile Hussein, a representative of the pirates, was quoted by media as saying that $1.5 million in ransom was paid for the sailors' release. The claim could not be independently verified.
John Steed, coordinator of Hostage Support Partners, which helped negotiate the release, had gone to the Somali city of Galkayo to fetch the crew of the Naham 3, who had been held hostage for longer than any other crew except for four Thais released last year after nearly five years in captivity.
"The crew members are all malnourished. ... They have spent over four-and-a-half years in deplorable conditions away from their families," he said.
"We have achieved what we achieved today by getting elders, the religious community and local leaders and regional government all involved to put pressure on these guys to release the hostages," Steed added.
He said one of the hostages had a bullet wound in a foot, one had suffered a stroke and another had diabetes.
The weakness of Somalia's central government made it hard for negotiators to reach "emergency contacts", thus compromising intergovernmental efforts, said Yuan Tiecheng of Riskon International, a Beijing-based security service provider.
Such cases usually require involvement of private participants, since a large role by governments might induce kidnappers to raise the ransom amount, Yuan added.
Wang Hanling, a researcher of maritime law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the release was difficult due to the fact that maritime piracy had become organized in the region.
"The successful release shows that the Chinese government has indeed tried all it can to ensure the safety of the sailors held hostage, and that China's diplomacy is for its people," Wang said.
International mediators said the action marks a turning point in the long battle against Somali piracy.
Piracy off Somalia's coast was once a serious threat to the global shipping industry. Attacks have dropped off dramatically in recent years amid patrols by the navies of China, India and NATO countries.
Wang, the CASS researcher, said the incident shows that it's necessary to continue such patrols to ensure the safety of the region.
At the peak of the piracy epidemic in January 2011, Somali pirates held 736 hostages and 32 boats.
According to Oceans Beyond Piracy, while overall numbers are down in the Western Indian Ocean, pirates in the region attacked at least 306 seafarers last year.
While there has not been a successful attack on a commercial vessel since 2012, there have been several on fishing boats. Ten Iranians taken hostage last year and three Kenyans one a seriously ill, paralyzed woman remain in the hands of pirates, said Steed.
Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Contact the writers at panzhongming@chinadaily.com.cn
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.
Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.
Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.
to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.
Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.
View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.
Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.
Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.
Description
An exhibition of objects inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, recalling the architectural masterwork of the Emperor Hadrian, will be a highlight of the inaugural edition of TEFAF New York Fall, October 22-26, 2016 at the Park Avenue Armory. Inspired by the ancient temple, Phoenix Ancient Art, one of the foremost antiquities specialists in the world, with the work of Dutch master stand-builder Stabilo, will meticulously recreate a spectacular Pantheon booth in the Park Avenue Armory, complete with a vaulted dome ceiling and distinctive central oculus illuminating the space. The Emperor Hadrian is noted in antiquity as emperor, connoisseur of the arts, and architect.
About Phoenix Ancient Art
Phoenix Ancient Art is considered to be one of the world's leading dealers in rare and exquisite antiquities. Founded in the mid-1960s by the late S. Aboutaam, Phoenix Ancient Art is now managed by his sons, Ali and Hicham. Growing up with their father's business, these brothers developed a great love for, and first-hand knowledge of, many objects of ancient art like those in their Geneva and New York galleries. Both galleries exhibit works originating from cultures that contributed significantly to the foundation of Western Civilization. Their offerings include antiquities of the highest quality and interest coming from a broad geographic range covering the Mediterranean region and western and central Asia. The scope of the collection includes objects from the lands that formed the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine world, as well as cultures in Mesopotamia, the Near East, Egypt, Europe, the Balkans, Eurasia, and the Steppes. The galleries display exceptional works extending over more than 7,000 years of human history, from the Neolithic Period of the 6th Millennium B.C. to the 14th century A.D.
About TEFAF New York Fall
TEFAF New York Fall, October 22-26, 2016 at the Park Avenue Armory, is an essential next step for the worlds top art and antique dealers for whom North America is an important meeting ground in a global community of collectors, curators, interior designers and art lovers. Offering an unparalleled collection of museum-quality works, TEFAF New York will offer an exceptional opportunity to view and purchase the best pieces available on the market, across multiple collecting areas, including furniture, decorations, objects, ceramics, glass, silver, textiles, tapestries, antiquities, jewelry, paintings, drawings, sculpture, arms and armour, books, manuscripts and autographs, Tribal, Oceanic and Ethnographic Art, Asian Art, and Faberge, offering something of interest for every visitor.
For more information:
http://www.phoenixancientart.com/
https://www.tefaf.com/
tel: +1 212 288 7518
info@phoenixancientart.com
Have a story idea or tip about something happening in the East Village? Or maybe a photo? Or several photos? Or video! We'd love to hear about it. Or see it. Or something. Please go here to submit a tip.
PORTLAND, Oregon, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
A new report published by Allied Market Research titled, "Asthma and COPD Drugs Market by Disease and Medication Class - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecasts, 2014-2022", projects that the global market for Asthma and COPD Drugs was valued at $38,960 million in 2015 and would reach $50,359 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 3.7% from 2016 to 2022. Asthma segment dominated the market in 2015 and expected to continue its dominance throughout the forecast period. North America accounted around for around half of the Global Asthma and COPD Drugs market share in 2015.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )
Increase in incidence and prevalence of asthma and COPD, growing geriatric population, technological advancement in the treatment of asthma and COPD diseases, growth in initiatives implemented by the government and non-government associations around the Global are the factors that majorly drive the growth of this market. However, stringent government regulations for the product approval, patent expiry of branded drugs, and side effects associated with drugs restrict the market growth.
Summary of the Medical Imaging Informatics Market Report can be accessed on the website at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/asthma-COPD-drug-market
In 2015, the asthma segment accounted for over 65% share of the overall Asthma and COPD Drugs market. Increase in introduction of generic drugs, and rising prevalence of asthma coupled with geriatric population and changes in lifestyle are the major factors that attribute to the rise in growth of this market.
Among the medication classes, the combination products segment held major share of the Global COPD and asthma drug market in 2015. This segment is expected to maintain its leading position in the overall market throughout the analysis period, primarily because of increase in focus on the effective asthma and COPD management and increase in the research and development of innovative treatment of the diseases.
North America led the market share in 2015, and is expected to maintain this lead throughout the forecast period. The growth in the Asthma and COPD Drugs market in these regions attributes to the increase in the asthma and COPD patients, technological advancement in the treatment. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing region, registering a CAGR of 5.1% during the analysis period. This is mainly due to the increase in adoption rate for the technological advancement for treating asthma and COPD diseases. In addition, increase in research outsourcing from emerging markets, improvement of healthcare infrastructures, and increase in expenditures in the emerging markets (such as India and China) have boosted the market growth.
Key findings of the study:
In 2015, COPD was the leading segment of overall Asthma and COPD Drugs market revenue, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period.
Anticholinergics segment is expected to grow at a remarkable CAGR of 6.7%, owing to increased and effective treatment of the disease.
North America led the Global Asthma and COPD Drugs market in 2015.
led the Global Asthma and COPD Drugs market in 2015. The combination products segment is projected to be the largest revenue-generating medication class segment.
Japan alone is the major shareholder in the Asia-Pacific region accounting for over two-fifths share of the Asia-Pacific Asthma and COPD Drugs market.
"The key players of the Global Asthma and COPD Drugs market are employing novel concepts and ideas to improve, manage and control asthma & COPD, and also enhance their profitability so as to gain a competitive edge over the other market players. Seretide/Advair, Symbicort, and Singular were leading brands and accounted for around one-fourth share in Global Asthma and COPD Drugs market" Says Sachin Sinha, Healthcare Analyst at Allied Market Research.
The key players in the Asthma and COPD Drugs market are highly focused on expanding their business operations in the fast-growing emerging countries with new product launches as the preferred strategy. The key players profiled in this report include GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (U.K), Novartis AG (Switzerland), Merck & Co. (U.S), Abbott Laboratories (U.S), Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany), AstraZeneca (U.K), Roche Holding AG (Switzerland), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries(Israel), Vectura Group (U.K), and Pfizer Inc. (U.S).
Read similar market research reports on Pharmaceuticals at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/life-sciences/Pharmaceuticals-market-report
About Us:
Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.
We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.
Contact:
Rahul Thakur
5933 NE Win Sivers Drive
#205, Portland, OR 97220
United States
Direct: +1-503-894-6022
Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)
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E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com
Website: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com
SOURCE Allied Market Research
Biologics IP A Strategic Review is part of the TechVision (Health & Wellness) Growth Partnership Service program and provides a strategic overview of the patenting activity of the top 13 pharma-biotech companies in the area of biologics. The analyses will help pharma-biotech companies understand the competitive landscape and the available white space so they can align their IP strategy with their corporate strategy.
For complimentary access to more information on this research, please visit: http://corpcom.frost.com/forms/EU_PR_JSchoneborn_D6AE_Oct16
"Big pharma that are keen to stay ahead of the curve have harnessed the rapid improvements in the field of biotechnology and genomics, and rolled out biologics-based drugs," finds TechVision Senior Consultant Manmohan Singh. "Key merger and acquisition deals such as Roche-Genentech and Sanofi-Genzyme were largely driven by companies' vision of building complementary capabilities in the area of biologics."
Roche, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck & Co. are the top three patent holders. Antibodies, peptides and vaccines are the top three biologics types, while the top three therapeutic areas experiencing the highest patent activity are oncology, infectious diseases and immunological disorders.
"Yet, as biologics have proved safer and more efficient than small molecules, major pharmaceutical companies are investing greater resources in the R&D of large molecule products," notes Singh. "With biosimilars, or follow-on biologics, production is based on reference biologics after the patents for these biologics expire."
About TechVision
Frost & Sullivan's global TechVision practice is focused on innovation, disruption and convergence, and provides a variety of technology-based alerts, newsletters and research services as well as growth consulting services. Its premier offering, the TechVision program, identifies and evaluates the most valuable emerging and disruptive technologies enabling products with near-term potential. A unique feature of the TechVision program is an annual selection of 50 technologies that can generate convergence scenarios, possibly disrupt the innovation landscape, and drive transformational growth. View a summary of our TechVision program by clicking on the following link: http://ifrost.frost.com/TechVision_Demo.
About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion
Biologics IP A Strategic Review
D6AE
Contact:
Jana Schoneborn
Corporate Communications Europe
P: +49 (0)69 77033 43
E: jana.schoeneborn@frost.com
Twitter: @TechVision_FS
Linkedin: www.frost.com/techvisionlinkedin
http://www.frost.com
http://ww2.frost.com/research/techvision
Related Links
http://www.frost.com
SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
PEORIA, Illinois, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT / NYSE Euronext: CATR) informs its stockholders that today, a Form 8-K has been furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") with respect to third quarter 2016 financial results. On October 24, 2016, Caterpillar also furnished a Form 8-K to the SEC with respect to monthly retail statistics.
Caterpillar files electronically with the SEC required reports on Form 8-K, Form 10-Q, Form 10-K and Form 11-K; proxy materials; ownership reports for insiders as required by Section 16(a) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and registration statements on Forms S-3 and S-8, as necessary; and other forms or reports, as required. All of the forms and reports filed electronically with the SEC are available on the SEC Internet site (www.sec.gov ).
Caterpillar also maintains an Internet site (www.Caterpillar.com) and copies of its annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports filed or furnished with the SEC are available free of charge through Caterpillar's Internet site (www.Caterpillar.com/secfilings ) as soon as reasonably practicable after the relevant document has been filed with the SEC.
CONTACT: Rachel Potts, Corporate Public Affairs, +1-309-675-6892
This is a disclosure announcement from PR Newswire.
SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.
Fraud and embellishment among job candidates affects businesses worldwide
LONDON, Oct. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fraud among job applicants is a serious problem worldwide. To help organizations address this critical business risk, CRI Group has developed EmploySmart, a robust new pre-employment background screening service.
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CRI Group's experts use EmploySmart to analyze a job candidate's claims and credentials, exhaustively checking and verifying details provided at all levels of the application, interviewing and hiring process. Based in Dubai, UAE, CRI Group is a global leader in background screening and due diligence investigations, with clients across Europe, Asia Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and North America.
Fraud can occur at various points in the hiring process. A job candidate's application might omit criminal history, prior bankruptcies or other important info. A resume might embellish past work experience or education details. In some cases, a prospective employee might even use a false name and personal details to present an entirely fake persona.
A recent Purdue University study found that resume fraud is linked to "job search envy." According to the article: "For the first part of the study, researchers surveyed 335 unemployed job-seekers. When job-seekers compared their search efforts to those of peers, they expressed greater likelihood to commit resume fraud intentionally embellishing or fabricating information to keep up."
EmploySmart's comprehensive criteria for checking a job candidate's background includes verification of name, date-of-birth and address; criminal history; credit checks; previous employment verification; credentials verification; bankruptcy checks; civil litigation checks and other details to help fully vet the individual.
Zafar Anjum, Group Chief Executive Officer for CRI Group, said that EmploySmart provides the "most thorough vetting process possible" to help protect organizations from fraud.
"In business, what you don't know can hurt you, and no organization can afford to have employees on staff who aren't what they claim to be," Anjum said. "Even a seemingly innocent embellishment can indicate more background problems under the surface, and the potential for future problems down the road."
To find out more about EmploySmart, visit http://www.employsmart.com/ or UAE: +971 800 274552 | UK: +44 207 8681415 | Pakistan +92 (51) 111 888 400
ABOUT CRI GROUP
Over the past 26 years, CRI Group has emerged as a global leader in corporate investigations and risk management, serving distinguished clients across Europe, Asia Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and North America. CRI Group safeguards businesses by establishing the legal compliance, financial viability, and integrity levels of outside partners, suppliers and customers seeking to affiliate with an organization. CRI Group excels in providing support to the global business and financial sectors in the areas of Forensic Accounting, Employment Screening, Corporate Intelligence, Investigative Due Diligence, Corporate Security Consulting and Fraud Risk Investigations.
CONTACT CRI GROUP
Zafar Anjum, MSc, CFE, CII, MICA, Int. Dip. (Fin. Crime)
Group Chief Executive Officer
Corporate Research and Investigations Limited
2nd Floor, 5 Harbour Exchange Square
South Quay, London E14 9GE, UK
Tel: +44 207 8681415
M: +44 7588 454959
EMAIL: zanjum@crigroup.com
Related Links
http://www.crigroup.com
SOURCE Corporate Research and Investigations
AMSTERDAM, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
The Elsevier Foundation provides a three-year $300,000 grant to MSF/Epicentre's Niger Research Center
Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, and renowned international humanitarian-aid organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), have agreed to cooperate in fighting the root causes of some of Africa's most vexing health challenges, including diarrhea and infectious diseases, which leave millions of people dying or severely diminished every year.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161025/432178 )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161025/432177 )
As part of the agreement, the Elsevier Foundation has awarded a $300,000 partnership grant to Epicentre's Niger Research Center which was founded in 2009 to produce high-quality and high-impact studies aimed at transforming medical practice. The African-led research center focuses on adapted, concrete responses to diarrheal diseases, malnutrition and malaria. The three-year partnership will support the development of Epicentre's medical and scientific staff training and mentoring and aims to boost the Center's overall visibility through a "Scientific Day" Conference to be held in Niger.
The joint Collaboration Agreement represents a cooperative effort between four organizations: Doctors without Borders, Epicentre (Doctors without Borders' research and training arm), the Elsevier Foundation (Elsevier's corporate charity focused on global health and research capacity building) and Elsevier, which will provide courtesy access to products and services such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, Clinical Key, Embase and Mendeley.
Youngsuk "YS" Chi, President of the Elsevier Foundation, underscored: "Our goal is to support MSF and Epicentre's mission to empower trained local medical staff in Africa to provide high-quality care in their home countries. This work resonates well with the Elsevier Foundation's focus on supporting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals through the development of science, technology and medicine in Africa and across the world."
Jerome Oberreit, Secretary General of MSF, said: "Elsevier's support of our work goes beyond financial support. It will allow our medical teams to have access to scientific, technical and medical information that is essential to improve the quality of humanitarian healthcare MSF provides to the most vulnerable populations in the world."
Ron Mobed, CEO of Elsevier, said: "Both Elsevier and MSF share a commitment to advancing healthcare and research in developing and emerging markets. We hope that providing MSF and Epicentre with essential clinical tools such as ClinicalKey and ScienceDirect will equip them with the timely, accurate knowledge they need to develop treatment protocols for doctors, nurses and epidemiologists tackling epidemics, malnutrition, natural disasters and armed conflicts. In short, the work they do is so critical and we are proud to support it in any way we can."
Read more on Elsevier Connect.
Photos available on request. Contact Elisa Nelissen at e.nelissen@elsevier.com or +31 622 73 50 02.
About MSF
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. MSF offers assistance to people based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of neutrality and impartiality. Thousands of health professionals, logistical and administrative staff - most of whom are hired locally - work on programmes in some 69 countries worldwide. http://www.msf.org
About Epicentre
Created in 1986 by doctors from MSF, Epicentre is a nonprofit association, with a two-fold mission: research, contributing to the design and promotion of original operational medical projects in MSF intervention settings, or similar environments and training to support MSF teams in conducting operational response. Epicentre focuses on the most prevalent diseases: malaria, tuberculosis, HIV infection, children malnutrition, as well as diseases with epidemic potential: cholera, meningitis, measles, hemorrhagic fevers (yellow fever, Ebola, Marburg as well as Buruli ulcer, psychological care, sleeping sickness. Epicentre's research departments cover clinical and epidemiological research as well as training. Epicentre has a staff of around 40-people working in Europe (Paris, Geneva and Brussels) and 450 in Africa (Uganda and Niger). http://www.epicentre.msf.org
About the Elsevier Foundation
The Elsevier Foundation is a corporate not-for-profit 501(c)(3), funded by Elsevier, a global provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The Elsevier Foundation provides grants to knowledge centered institutions around the world, with a sustainability focus on innovations in health information, diversity in STM, research in developing countries and technology for development. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than 100 grants worth over $6 million to non-profit organizations working in these fields. Through gift-matching, the Foundation also supports the efforts of Elsevier employees to play a positive role in their local and global communities. http://www.elsevierfoundation.org
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey - and publishes over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 35,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. http://www.elsevier.com
Media contact
Elisa Nelissen
Press Officer, Elsevier
+31 622 73 50 02
e.nelissen@elsevier.com
SOURCE Elsevier
Providing connectivity to Fiji from 15 additional U.S. cities and now, London
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fiji Airways, Fiji's National Carrier, and American Airlines are strengthening their codeshare agreement to include more cities in the United States, as well as a significant international connection, London's Heathrow Airport (LHR). The extended agreement allows for convenient connections when flying between Fiji, across the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
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"This extended codeshare agreement is a truly remarkable achievement for Fiji Airways. Just as important, it allows for more of America's customers to visit our home, Fiji, and seamlessly access our network in the South Pacific," said Fiji Airways Managing Director & CEO, Andre Viljoen.
Fiji Airways will add eight (8) new codeshare departure cities to and from Los Angeles and seven (7) connecting to and from San Francisco (SFO). This gives customers traveling on Fiji Airways' non-stop flights from LAX and SFO better access to Fiji from major U.S. cities such as: Atlanta, Nashville, Portland, Philadelphia, Seattle, Dallas, New York, Miami, Phoenix, and more. In total, the codeshare agreement now provides the customers of Fiji Airways with accessibility from 38 cities across the U.S and, for the first time, the United Kingdom, via American Airlines.
American Airlines customers also gain new codeshare service on Fiji Airways between SFO and Nadi, Fiji (NAN). Members of the AAdvantage program can now earn and redeem miles on all Fiji Airways flights.*
Guests can book travel today on these codeshare flights directly through Fiji Airways and American Airlines. The two airlines began their codeshare partnership in 2011 and with this expansion the codeshare now includes 49 destinations in the South Pacific, United States and Europe.
*For conditions regarding AAdvantage miles, please visit https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/partner-airlines/fiji-airways.jsp
For media inquiries, contact:
Lauren Hammerson
Myriad Marketing for Fiji Airways
LaurenH@myriadmarketing.com
+1 310-649-7700
Related Links
http://www.fijiairways.com
SOURCE Fiji Airways
DUBLIN, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global OTT Devices and Services Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.
The global OTT devices and services market to grow at a CAGR of 20.6% during the period 2016-2020.
Global OTT Devices and Services Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.
Increased adoption of RTB will be a key trend for market growth. RTB is an online ad serving process, which involves an online bidding process allowing marketers, advertising agencies, and media buying agencies to trade display advertising inventory in real time. RTB vendors provide a suitable platform to carry out this auction process. When a customer visits a publisher's website, it sends a request to the vendor. The vendor sets a floor price for that visitor, and different advertisers are allowed to check the visitor and the floor price and bid accordingly. The winning bid is then selected by the vendor, and the ad of the winning bidder is displayed for the visitor. With an increasing number of consumer metrics available for the vendors to target their audience, RTB can be the tool that can enhance an OTT vendor's subscriber base.
According to the report, growing production of in-house web series will be a key driver for market growth. In-house web series are widely popular online video content since these series provide new and innovative content that interests consumers. For instance, New Zealand's official online rural television channel and online video platform, Rural TV launched an in-house web series in 2016, aimed at encouraging the young rural population in the country to opt a career in agriculture.
Key questions answered in this report
What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?
What are the key market trends?
What is driving this market?
What are the challenges to market growth?
Who are the key vendors in this market space?
What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?
Key vendors
Amazon
Apple
Facebook
Hulu
Netflix
Other prominent vendors
Akamai Technologies
Activevideo
CinemaNow
Google
Indieflix
Nimbuzz
Popcornflix
Roku
Key Topics Covered:
Part 01: Executive summary
Part 02: Scope of the report
Part 03: Market research methodology
Part 04: Introduction
Part 05: Market landscape
Part 06: Market segmentation by revenue model
Part 07: Market segmentation by type
Part 08: Geographical segmentation
Part 09: Key leading countries
Part 10: Market drivers
Part 11: Impact of drivers
Part 12: Market challenges
Part 13: Impact of drivers and challenges
Part 14: Market trends
Part 15: Vendor landscape
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/gkzz6t/global_ott
Media Contact:
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630
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Related Links
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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBAI, UAE, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
- Manthan Retail Analytics to enable leading Middle Eastern Retailer with improved inventory and product visibility for over 100,000 SKUs
Manthan, a global leader in BI and Big Data analytics solutions , today announced that Grand Hypermarkets, a leading Hyper and Super market chain, has chosen Manthan Retail Analytics to gain actionable insights across its 40 stores in the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, India and Qatar.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160321/346132LOGO )
Grand Hypermarkets, part of the Regency Group, focuses on providing high quality goods and services, and as a result garnered over 1 Billion AED in annual revenue last year. As part of the multi-year contract, Manthan will deploy state of the art retail analytics to help Grand Hypermarkets integrate business information spread across multiple functional silos, improve stock visibility and operational efficiencies.
"With over 100,000 SKUs, diving deep into our store and product performance is no easy feat. Manthan has a comprehensive, award-winning, advanced analytics portfolio and an unmatched experience of serving more than 200 global brands. Expertise in FMCG retail, coupled with a ready-to-use, SaaS Retail Analytics solution, made Manthan a natural choice for Grand Hypermarkets," said Abbas Khan, GM of Retail Operations, Grand Hypermarkets.
"Manthan's pre-built role based dashboards and ready-to-use retail templates will enable us to Switch On Analytics and quickly leapfrog various stages of analytical maturity. The distinct difference we see is that, Manthan's Retail Analytics can go beyond just mining data and providing insights. Here we have guided analytics with insights that understand business contexts - supported by rich visualizations that the business users can understand," added Abbas.
"We are extremely delighted that Grand Hypermarkets chose Manthan, as it marks another step towards our aim to democratize analytics in the Middle East, through our regional office at Dubai. This further demonstrates our leadership in Grocery retail in MEA, complementing our well acknowledged expertise in fashion and apparel retail. Manthan's advanced analytics solutions are designed to empower every decision maker in the company with actionable insights to drive profitable sales and growth," said Ehtesham Mohammed, VP Middle East and Africa, Manthan.
"Manthan really understands the FMCG retail business. By leveraging on-demand access and deep insights across products, promotions, placements, pricing and in-store merchandising, Grand Hypermarkets will be able to make faster, competitive decisions that improve assortment mix and space utilization," added Seema Agarwal, VP Retail Analytics, Manthan.
Manthan's Retail Analytics is the only built for retail solution that blends retail specific enterprise BI, best of breed data discovery powered by Tableau, and advanced analytics. With comprehensive analytics that spans discovery, descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics, Manthan Retail Analytics will enable Grand to provide management and merchandising teams with a single version of the truth.
Manthan will again have a major presence at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Convention & Expo that will be held January 15-17, 2017 at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Meet Manthan's Analytics experts at booth #4111 at the NRF Convention & Expo.
About Manthan
Manthan is the Chief Analytics Officer for consumer industries worldwide. Manthan's portfolio of analytics-enabled business applications, advanced analytics platforms and solutions are architected to help users across industries walk the complete data-to-result path - analyze, take guided decisions and execute these decisions real-time. Sophisticated, yet intuitive analytical capability coupled with the power of big data, mobility and cloud computing, brings users business-ready applications that provide on-demand access and real-time execution - the only path to profit in a contemporary, on-demand and connected economy. Manthan is one of the most awarded analytics innovators among analysts and customers alike. To see how your business can gain from analytics, visit http://www.manthan.com.
SOURCE Manthan
Hainan Airlines initiates recruitment campaign with scheduled stops at leading universities in China, US and UK
BEIJING, Oct. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd. has already started its 2017 worldwide campus recruitment drive with scheduled stops in Beijing, Xi'an, Sichuan province, Tianjin, Wuhan, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Boston, Berkeley (California), Seattle and Chicago. The campaign will run from October 15 to November 9 with the goal of visiting the campuses of leading universities and bringing on board highly talented individuals.
In light of Hainan Airline's accelerated global expansion, the carrier is in urgent need of top-level talent worldwide. This year, the global campus recruitment campaign is expected to bring on board a diversified group of talented individuals with specialization in marketing, finance, HR, aviation operations, aircraft and aircraft parts procurement, as well as aviation safety supervision, among other segments of the civil aviation industry, with the number of individuals to be recruited increasing to 500 from last year. Interview venues will be set up at the same time in China and in other countries as part of the worldwide recruitment plan. In the US, the recruitment schedule includes stops on both coasts and in between, visiting the top colleges and universities in four of the country's leading metropolises. Hainan Airlines plans to kick off campus recruitment in the UK in early November, with stops in the country's political and cultural center, London, and its busy commercial and trade center, Leeds. The carrier aims to create its own team of international talent, establish an international employee structure, and implement a global talent management strategy.
Hainan Airlines, a flagship company of HNA Group, abides by a human-centered development concept with an international focus, with the aim of encouraging and supporting the healthy development of each member of the airline's staff. Through the building of a young and talented team and an emphasis on enterprise-wide outbound communications efforts, entrepreneurship, and comprehensive talent training and management programs, as well as well-functioning talent acquisition and promotion channels, the airline offers its staff a wide array of talent development platforms.
Hainan Airlines, having operated a fleet of aircraft with an excellent safety record spanning 23 years, has, over the last few years, expanded its network to include over 700 domestic and international routes connecting more than 100 cities. Following the launch of international services to Boston, Seattle, Toronto, Chicago, Manchester, Berlin, Paris and Sydney, the airline plans to further expand the network by adding services to other international cities, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Melbourne, during the second half of this year. In keeping with its ever growing demand for highly talented individuals from all corners of the globe, the airline is committed to continually upgrading its talent management strategy.
SOURCE Hainan Airlines Co., LTD
NEW YORK, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Strong demand for internet-enabled devices, expansion of Cloud networking and proliferation of Wi-Fi technology to drive India enterprise network LAN equipment market through 2021
According to TechSci Research report, "India Enterprise Network LAN Equipment Market By Type, By End Use Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021", the India enterprise network LAN equipment market is anticipated to cross $ 2.5 Billion by the end of 2021. Growing demand to improve the overall efficiency and productivity in an organisation, Surging bandwidth requirements, growing data security concerns and escalating adoption and integration of LAN network equipment in large business setups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are some of the major factors expected to aid the growth of India enterprise network LAN equipment market during 2016-2021. Moreover, launch of 4G services and expansion of Cloud networking are anticipated to further aid the enterprise network LAN equipment market in the country over the span of next five years.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663730 )
Browse 59 market data Tables and 69 Figures spread through 200 Pages and an in-depth TOC on
"India Enterprise Network LAN Equipment Market"
https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/india-enterprise-network-lan-equipment-market-by-type-switches-routers-gateways-cables-ethernet-nic-adapters-hubs-others-by-end-use-it-telecom-bfsi-healthcare-etc-competition-forecast-and-opportunities/810.html
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of broadband subscribers reached 136.53 million by the end of 2015. As per the National Telecom Policy-2012 (NTP-2012), the Indian government has decided on some targets pertaining to broadband subscriptions. Moreover, as this policy, broadband subscribers base is expected to reach 175 million by 2017 and 600 million by 2020. Rise in the need for increased speed of data transmission and broadband penetration is boosting the demand for the deployment of different LAN equipment in a network enterprise.
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On the basis of type, India enterprise network LAN equipment market has been segmented into switches, routers, gateways, cables & ethernet, NIC Adapters, Hubs & Others. Among these categories, switches dominated the country's enterprise network LAN equipment market during 2011 - 2015. In an enterprise, switches are used to communicate within the same subnet as they facilitate information sharing and resource allocation, which, in turn, increases the overall productivity of employees. IT & Telecom is the largest consumer of enterprise network LAN equipment in India, and the same trend is anticipated to continue over the next five years as well.
"Growing population and rise in the number of connected devices is expected to add billions of heterogeneous devices on public and private networks. LAN equipment such as cables & ethernet, routers, switches, hubs, etc. allow different devices to be interconnected. This, in turn, increases the degree of interoperability among devices, and allows different verticals in an enterprise to access information. Consequently, increasing usage of IoT products & services is expected to drive the country's enterprise network LAN equipment market over the next five years.", said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm.
"India Enterprise Network LAN Equipment Market By Type, By End Use Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021" has evaluated the future growth potential of India enterprise network LAN equipment market and provides statistics and information on market size, structure and future market growth. The report intends to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyses the emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in India enterprise network LAN equipment market.
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About TechSci Research
TechSci Research is a leading global market research firm publishing premium market research reports. Serving 700 global clients with more than 600 premium market research studies, TechSci Research is serving clients across 11 different industrial verticals. TechSci Research specializes in research based consulting assignments in high growth and emerging markets, leading technologies and niche applications. Our workforce of more than 100 fulltime Analysts and Consultants employing innovative research solutions and tracking global and country specific high growth markets helps TechSci clients to lead rather than follow market trends.
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SOURCE TechSci Research
NOKIA, Finland, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
The new world record for the fastest car on two wheels is 186.269 km/h (115.742 mph)
The new world record was set when Nokian Tyres' product development, Vianor's professional pit crew and well-known stunt driver Vesa Kivimaki combined their strengths. The tyres on the record-breaking car had been reinforced with Nokian Tyres Aramid Sidewall technology. The new world record for the fastest car on two wheels was measured at Seinajoki Airport on 31 August 2016.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430908 )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430909 )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430910 )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430912 )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430911 )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430919 )
The role of the tyres becomes very important at extreme speeds. This is especially true when two tyres - in practice, two palm-sized patches - are the only contact with the road. In order to break the record, the vehicle needed tyres that were as durable as possible. Nokian Tyres Aramid Sidewall technology allowed for constructing a sidewall that is particularly resistant to wear and cuts.
- When driving on two wheels, the sidewall maintains the road contact, so we had to design a special tyre for this purpose. The Aramid fibre added to the sidewall rubber compound strengthens the sidewall and gives it substantially better tear strength. This unique sidewall compound technology combined with a special structure created a specification that is suited for speed records, says Matti Morri, Technical Customer Service Manager for Nokian Tyres.
The secret behind Aramid Sidewall technology is the extremely strong aramid fibre that is also used in the aviation and defence industries. The technology is utilised in the latest SUV tyres, for example.
- The passion and creative madness required for this world record attempt are also descriptive of Nokian Tyres' product development. We need to try new things and test our limits. Only this will allow us to develop safer, more durable tyres in the future, Morri says.
Vianor's expert pit crew also participated in the world record by taking care of the record-breaking car and its tyres. The team could change tyres rapidly and report the condition of the car and tyres in real time to the driver.
- I have made earlier attempts to break the record for the fastest car on two wheels, but have not been successful. At some point, I realised that the key to record-breaking speed is to have tyres that are exceptionally durable. Cooperation with Nokian Tyres and Vianor made it possible to break the record, says Vesa Kivimaki, the holder of a new world record.
The world record for the fastest car on two wheels was set according to the rules defined by Guinness World Records. The car needs to be mass produced, not a prototype manufactured
for the record attempt. Within one hour, the car must drive both ways through speed measurement gates that are located one hundred metres apart. The world record is the average of these two measurements.
The record run was made on a 2-kilometre long, 50-metre wide runway. The distance used for the average speed measurement was 100 metres.
The previous record was from 1997, when the Swedish Goran Eliason drove on two wheels at a speed of 181.25 km/h (112.62 mph).
http://www.nokiantyres.com/fastestwheelie
Photos:
http://www.nokiantyres.com/fastestwheeliephotos
The master of extreme conditions
Nokian Tyres is the world's northernmost tyre manufacturer. The company promotes and facilitates safe driving under demanding conditions. It supplies innovative tyres for passenger cars, trucks and heavy machinery mainly in areas where extreme conditions such as snow, forests and seasonal variations place heavy demands on tyre performance.
Vianor - Probably the World's Most Comfortable Pit Stop
Vianor is a global tyre and car service chain that consists of equity owned and entrepreneurial outlets. The Nokian Tyres owned Vianor offers tyres and auto service easily, quickly and reliably covering all customer groups, products and car services. Vianor is the biggest chain of tyre stores in the Nordic countries, and comprises of over 1,470 outlets in 26 countries. The name Vianor comes from Latin words Via Nor that mean "Northern road".
More information:
Vice President, Marketing and Communications Antti-Jussi Tahtinen, tel. +358-10-401-7940, antti-jussi.tahtinen@nokiantyres.com
Stunt driver Vesa Kivimaki, tel. +358-40-086-4106, vesa.kivimaki@crazydrivers.fi
SOURCE Nokian Tyres
DUBLIN, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Closed 20th acquisition last week
OASIS Group, the fastest growing records and information management company across Europe, have confirmed the completion of their 20th acquisition to date. In a deal finalised October 20th, the company acquired Westcountry Storage Solutions located in Plymouth, United Kingdom.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160420/357828LOGO )
This landmark acquisition marks the entry into a new region for OASIS Group. Providing services to the South West of the UK was a strategic move that supports their goal to better serve their clients while continuing to grow and expand their overall client reach.
"We are pleased that Westcountry Storage Solutions is now part of the OASIS Group family," states Brian Connolly, Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Group CFO of OASIS Group. "To reach our 20th acquisition is not something we take lightly but we are delighted that it also marks our entry into a new territory. As our expansion plans continue, so does our interest in providing a full suite of services to our existing and newly attained clients."
The integration of both companies is now underway.
About OASIS Group
Serving clients since 1999, OASIS is one of the largest and most diverse professional record and information management companies in Europe. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with locations across the EU, OASIS employs over 300 team members and offers its services to over 4,700 clients throughout several industries with particular emphasis in the financial, legal, healthcare, government and educational sectors. http://www.OASISGroup.com
LinkedIn: OASIS Group
Media Contact:
Barbara Ellis
+353-1-866-6317
bellis@oasisgroup.com
SOURCE OASIS Group
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig is an interoperability certification program from the Wi-Fi Alliance, with products based on technology defined in the IEEE 802.11ad specification. As one of the leading wireless chipset manufacturers, Peraso has been an active participant in the standardization of 60GHz technology and development of the IEEE 802.11ad specification.
The Peraso WiGig chipset will enable the development of a host of wireless applications, including residential and enterprise networking, wireless display, multi-gigabit broadband and mesh networking, and wireless virtual reality.
"We congratulate Peraso on achieving selection to the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGigTM test bed," said Wi-Fi Alliance CEO Edgar Figueroa. "Peraso's participation in the development of this program has been instrumental in the achievement of an industry-wide certification for this program."
WiGig technology delivers multi-gigabit connectivity in the uncongested 60GHz spectrum, providing unparalleled speed and performance, where throughput, low latency and reliability are essential. Peraso's WiGig USB Adapter Reference Design is fuelling the WiGig ecosystem, providing a solution for backward compatibility of existing Wi-Fi equipment.
Interoperability is the cornerstone of a new communications standard," added Ron Glibbery, President and CEO of Peraso. "Multiple chipset vendors give OEMs comfort they have multiple sources of supply, and a competitive environment to develop long term product strategies."
WiGig enables a range of applications, both in-room as well as outdoor line-of-sight, where the need for extremely high bandwidth is critical to deliver an optimized user experience, including: AR/VR, media streaming, video/security monitoring, enterprise applications, metropolitan backhaul, gaming and more.
"Today's news represents a huge step for WiGig and demonstrates its market readiness," said Phil Solis, Research Director at ABI Research. "With multiple chipset vendors including Intel, Qualcomm and Peraso achieving certification, 2017 is going to be the year consumers begin enjoying the high speed connectivity of WiGig."
Peraso is currently in production with WiGig IC solutions, addressing both next generation Wi-Fi opportunities in the consumer electronics (CE) space, as well as outdoor devices in the 60 GHz wireless infrastructure space, and continues as a vital player in the Wi-Fi Alliance compliance efforts.
About Peraso Technologies, Inc.
Peraso is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The company is focused on the development of 60 GHz chipsets and solutions compliant with the IEEE 802.11ad specification. 60 GHz has been adopted for interoperability certification by the WiFi Alliance under the WiGig brand, and WiGig has seen strong industry endorsement by tech giants such as Samsung, Qualcomm and Intel. www.perasotech.com
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(C) Copyright 2016 Peraso Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
For further information: Company Contact: John Tryhub, Peraso Technologies, Inc., john@perasotech.com; PR Contact: Melinda DeNicola, Peraso Technologies, Inc., mdenicola@perasotech.com
Related Links
http://www.perasotech.com
SOURCE Peraso Technologies Inc.
WILTZ, Luxembourg, October 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Fabrice Agbassi (50) will support the leadership team of UNITED CAPS as Chief Commercial Officer. He will replace the former CCO Yves Jozefiak and will now be responsible for the commercial strategy of the company. By employing Fabrice Agbassi the company makes yet another step towards implementing its new growth strategy for even greater innovation excellence and increased customer proximity. UNITED CAPS is an internationally leading manufacturer of innovative caps and closure solutions based in Luxembourg.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161014/428806 )
The family-owned company offers high-performance standard products as well as customized solutions for clients of different branches. Innovation excellence and increased customer proximity are thereby important driving forces of UNITED CAPS' growth strategy. "Our demand is to always develop the most efficient and high-quality solutions for our customers", says Benoit Henckes. "The CCO plays an important part in this as he is responsible for our customer support and for driving business growth and market share."
Integrated commercial success
With Fabrice Agbassi, the company has gained a renowned international management and sales & marketing expert. Before joining UNITED CAPS, the MBA holder worked in leading positions for different European companies within packaging, sales and marketing management. He has also experience within Key Account Management and multicultural and multi-site team management. "Fabrice Agbassi is the perfect choice for us", says UNITED CAPS CEO Benoit Henckes. "Together with him, we will optimize the integrated commercial success of UNITED CAPS."
About UNITED CAPS
UNITED CAPS is an internationally leading manufacturer of innovative caps and closure systems headquartered in Wiltz, Luxembourg. The company has seven production facilities in Europe and employs more than 500 people. In 2015, it achieved net sales of 122 million Euros. Innovation leadership, a close relationship with their customers and responsibility for people and the environment are the most important success drivers for the internationally growing family-owned company.
Press Contact:
komm.passion GmbH
Laura Sorgenicht
PR Manager
laura.sorgenicht@komm-passion.de
T +49 211 600 46 223
SOURCE UNITED CAPS